Hi, I'm Molly Wood, and welcome to the Buzz Report � the show about the tech news that
everybody�s talking about. This week, it�s China spyware, Facebook URLs, and a little something
called the new iPhone. With that, it�s time for the Gadget of the Week.
I think you already know it�s the iPhone 3GS. Super mega fabuloso iPhone, woo! Better battery
life, better phone, better speed, better camera that also takes video and has autofocus and has
up to 32GB of onboard storage. It has voice control, it has a compass, it will have all the amazing
features of iPhone 3.0 when that software becomes available, like multimedia messaging once
AT&T gets around to supporting it at the end of the summer. You can tether it to your
computer, once AT&T gets around to rolling out a tethering �plan,� which they haven�t given a
date for and which, yes, will cost extra. It's pretty much the killer device ... except for how AT&T
apparently wants to kill everything that's good about it. But it's also clear from the jabs Apple
took at AT&T during the WWDC keynote that � they�re not too happy with Ma Bell either. So,
believe me on this one thing. That new iPhone looks awesome. Do NOT sign a brand-new two-
year contract with AT&T right now. You feel me?
And now for the news. China is requiring PC makers to include filtering software on all
computers sold in that country. Computer makers have until July first to install software that
filters out pornography and whatever else the government doesn�t want you to see when you�re
surfing the Web. And no one�s really sure what the software does, exactly, so it�s a good bet it�s
also spying on users. Bloggers and computer users have complained loudly about the mandate,
while computer makers are � talking behind the scenes, off the record, hoping to convince the
Chinese to reconsider, and � just in case � installing spyware on billions of personal computers
headed directly for the world�s largest cash-cow. What. You think they�re not gonna do it? Just
don�t buy any cool second-hand Chinese netbooks on Craigslist, or that government will be
coming for you, too.
In other news, Facebook this weekend will begin offering personalized URLs � for free! Instead
of a URL with a big clunky number at the end, you could get, say, facebook.com/mollywood.
Don�t steal that. It�s mine. And therein lies the biggest problem with Facebook vanity URLs.
Good idea, though!
CNET News.com reported this week that Microsoft will stop selling its personal-finance
software, MS Money. Probably because no one has enough money anymore to actually make
personal finance software necessary.
The Palm Pre was released last Saturday, as expected, and despite smallish lines at most stores,
the phone sold out almost immediately. Because, apparently, Palm only released three hundred
and twenty-six actual phones. Palm? I can�t help you if you don�t help yourself.
And this weekend marks the official DTV transition � the switchover to digital television. Yeah,
no, for real, no delays. A report this week from Nielsen says almost 3 million homes are still not
prepared for the switch, however � about 2.5 percent of the television-watching audience. But
when they were going to switch in February, before the delay, almost SIX million people weren�t
ready. So you have to figure the 2.8 million left who still haven�t gotten the message are kind of
beyond hope. I can say that, because if they haven�t heard about the digital TV transition yet?
You KNOW they�re not watching my little Internet TV show.
And speaking of my little Internet TV show, I got to attend the Webby awards ceremony this
week, since CNET TV won the People�s Voice award, thanks to you and your kind voting. I was a
little dismayed to find all these celebrities crashing my party �
But ultimately, the night was really just about the one thing �
So, thanks again.
And that�s the Buzz Report for this week, everyone. We won�t have a new episode next week
because all of CNET TV is gearing up for the 1000th episode of Buzz Out Loud on Thursday, June
18th. We�ll be live-streaming a special episode starting at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time, and the party
will go on all day after that. Don�t miss it, and I�ll see you the following week. I�m Molly Wood!
Thanks for watching.
