AT&T AND GOOGLE GO TO BLOWS OVER GOOGLE VOICE, MICROSOFT TAKES ISSUE
WITH GOOGLE CHROME, AND YOUR DOCTOR MAY BE MAKING FUN OF YOU ON
TWITTER. IT'S MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 28TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S
TIME TO GET LOADED.
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AT&T AND GOOGLE ARE ABOUT TO GO TO BLOWS OVER GOOGLE VOICE. AT&T IS
ACCUSING GOOGLE OF BEING HYPOCRITICAL ABOUT NET NEUTRALITY WHEN IT
COMES TO GOOGLE VOICE BECAUSE THE PHONE SERVICE BLOCKS CERTAIN
PHONE CALLS. AT&T HAS WRITTEN TO THE FCC, ASKING THAT THE
GOVERNMENT AGENCY TAKE A CLOSER LOOK AT GOOGLE VOICE. GOOGLE
RESPONDED THAT IT SHOULD NOT HAVE TO FOLLOW THE SAME GUIDELINES AS
AT&T BECAUSE GOOGLE VOICE IS NOT A CARRIER. IT IS A FREE SERVICE.
GOOGLE'S RESPONSE ACKNOWLEDGES THAT AT&T HAS TO FOLLOW SOME
WONKY LAWS BUT THOSE LAWS SHOULD NOT CARRY OVER TO GOOGLE. I
WOULD HAVE TO AGREE, I WOULD HATE TO SEE A WEB APPLICATION LIKE
GOOGLE VOICE SUBJECT TO TELECOMMUNICATION LAWS THAT ARE SILLY BUT
THEY WILL HAVE TO ABIDE BY SOME TELECOMMUNICATIONS LAWS. THIS ONE IS
GOING TO GET INTERESTING.
[*]
MICROSOFT'S NEW OPERATING SYSTEM, WINDOWS 7, WILL GO ON SALE ON
OCTOBER 22 BUT YOU CAN GET A COMPUTER WITH THE NEW PROGRAM AS
EARLY AS OCTOBER 13. MICROSOFT HAS GIVEN COMPUTER MAKERS THE GO-
AHEAD FOR A WEEK-EARLY LAUNCH DATE. THIS WAY YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY A
NEW COMPUTER AND THEN UPGRADE YOUR OS. SO WAIT JUST A LITTLE BIT
LONGER IF YOU'RE IN THE MARKET.
[*]
THE PALM PRE IS STILL NOT SELLING AS WELL AS PALM HAD HOPED SO THE
PRICES ARE FALLING ALL AROUND US. YOU CAN NOW BUY THE NEW PALM
PHONE AT WAL-MART FOR $79 AND ON AMAZON FOR $99. THIS IS OVER $100
LESS THAN IT COST WHEN IT LAUNCHED IN JUNE. OVER THE WEEKEND RUMORS
STARTED FLOATING ABOUT THAT PALM WASN'T GOING TO SELL THE PHONE ON
VERIZON EARLY NEXT YEAR. THOSE RUMORS WERE QUICKLY SQUASHED SO WE
ARE STILL EXPECTING THE PRE ON VERIZON SOON ENOUGH. THE BLOGOSPHERE
IS FICKLE LIKE THAT.
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WE ARE JUST A FEW WEEKS AWAY FROM THE MOTOROLA CLIQ LAUNCH. THIS IS
THE ANDROID PHONE THAT COMES OUT OCTOBER 19 ON T-MOBILE. MOTOROLA
POSTED A GUIDE THAT GIVES US A HINT OF WHAT THE PHONE WILL COME PRE-
LOADED WITH AND IT IS IMPRESSIVE: ALL THE GOOGLE TOOLS, SINCE IT IS A
GOOGLE PHONE AFTER ALL, BUT ALSO, YAHOO MAIL, DIGG, MINT, FACEBOOK,
TWITTER, TRAVEL CHANNEL, MTV, AMAZON'S MP3 STORE, AND TELEVAN
NAVIGATOR. NOT BAD! YOU HARDLY NEED AN APP STORE WITH ALL THAT. NO
I'M KIDDING. YOU DO.
[*]
NOKIA IS TOYING WITH THE IDEA THAT WE MIGHT NOT NEED APPLICATIONS AT
ALL. THE COMPANY IS GETTING READY TO LAUNCH MOBILE APPLICATIONS THAT
LET YOU DO ALL OF YOUR SOCIAL NETWORKING OVER TEXT MESSAGE. OKAY, WE
MIGHT NOT REALLY WANT THIS BUT THESE APPLICATIONS ARE GEARED
TOWARDS COUNTRIES THAT HAVE LOWER-COST PHONES AND LESS DATA AT
THEIR DISPOSAL LIKE INDIA AND AFRICA. ONE APPLICATION, "WE MEET," IS A
SOCIAL NETWORK THAT ALLOWS GPS-LOCATING, CHAT, MESSAGE THREADS, AND
MORE.
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IF YOU HATE SPAM, YOU DON'T WANT TO MOVE TO IDAHO. AND NOT BECAUSE
SPAM DOESN'T GO WITH POTATOES (BECAUSE IT DOES), I'M TALKING ABOUT
EMAIL SPAM. IDAHO HAS BEEN NAMED THE NUMBER ONE STATE FOR SPAM BY
SYMANTEC. OTHER UNLUCKY STATES: KENTUCKY, NEW JERSEY, AND ALABAMA.
THE LEAST SPAMMED STATES WERE PUERTO RICO, MONTANA, ALASKA, AND
KANSAS.
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AS EXPECTED, MICROSOFT DOES NOT WANT YOU TO INSTALL CHROME'S PLUG-IN
FOR INTERNET EXPLORER. THIS IS THE PROGRAM THAT LETS YOU RUN I.E. ON
CHROME'S BACKBONE. A MICROSOFT SPOKESPERSON TOLD ZDNET'S MARY JO
FOLEY: "Google Chrome Frame running as a plug-in has doubled the attack area for
malware and malicious scripts. This is not a risk we would recommend our friends
and families take." NOT SURPRISING .THEY DON'T WANT YOU USING GOOGLE TO
RUN THEIR FLAGSHIP BROWSER. THE QUESTION IS: IS THIS A TRUE AND VALID
REASON OR ARE THEY FEARMONGERING?
[*]
IN NICER GOOGLE NEWS, THE COMPANY LAUNCHED PLACE PAGES FOR GOOGLE
MAPS. IT IS A LANDING PAGE FOR BUSINESSES, POINTS OF INTERESTS,
LANDMARKS, TRANSPORTATION, AND MORE AND IT SITS ON TOP OF GOOGLE
MAPS. SO IF YOU SEARCH FOR A LOCATION WITHIN GOOGLE MAPS, A "MORE
INFO" LINK WILL APPEAR AND YOU'LL GET ALL THE INFO ABOUT THAT PLACE. A
NICE LOGISTICAL RESOURCE I WOULD SAY.
[*]
GOOGLE HAS ALSO MADE A SMALL CHANGE TO ITS SEARCH SNIPPETS. THIS IS
THE PREVIEW OF INFORMATION YOU SEE UNDER YOUR SEARCH RESULTS. NOW,
NOT ONLY WILL YOU GET A PREVIEW OF THE INFORMATION THERE, YOU'LL
ALSO GET A LOOK AT THE CONTEXTUAL LINKS INSIDE OF THAT PAGE, SHOULD
YOU CHOOSE TO GO THERE. YOU CAN EVEN JUMP STRAIGHT TO THE LINKED
PAGES WITHIN THE MAIN SITE STRAIGHT FROM THE SEARCH PAGE.
[*]
MOST OF US HAVE WONDERED IF OUR DOCTORS MAKE FUN OF US WHEN THEY
LEAVE THE EXAMINATION ROOM. WHAT IF THEY DID THIS OVER TWITTER? AND
NEW STUDY FROM THE JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION
SHOWS THAT MEDICAL STUDENTS ARE INCREASINGLY UNPROFESSIONAL WITH
THEIR SOCIAL NETWORKS, OFTEN VIOLATING DOCTOR-PATIENT
CONFIDENTIALITY. 60 PERCENT OF SURVEYED INSTITUTIONS REPORTED
INCIDENTS OF STUDENTS POSTING UNPROFESSIONAL ONLINE CONTENT.
OFFENSES INCLUDED USE OF PROFANITY, DESCRIBING INTOXICATION,
DISCRIMINATORY LANGUAGE, OR SEXUALLY SUGGESTIVE MATERIAL. SO YES
YOUR DOCTOR IS MAKING FUN OF YOU, ESPECIALLY IF HE OR SHE IS A RESIDENT.
TIME TO FOLLOW THEM ON TWITTER.
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THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING.
I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
