GOOGLE LAUNCHES AN OPERATING SYSTEM, ONLINE RADIO STATIONS COME TO A ROYALTY AGREEMENT WITH THE MUSIC INDUSTRY, AND THAT SILLY LG WATCH PHONE WILL ACTUALLY HIT THE MARKET AFTER ALL. ITS WEDNESDAY, JULY 8TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
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GOOGLE ANNOUNCED ON TUESDAY THAT THE COMPANY IS WORKING ON AN OPERATING SYSTEM. THE GLOVES ARE OFF! THE OS WILL BE CALLED THE GOOGLE CHROME OPERATING SYSTEM AND IT IS DESIGNED FOR THE NETBOOK BUT CAN RUN ON ANY PC. A GOOGLE SPOKESPERSON SAID IN A STATEMENT: ���We���re designing the OS to be fast and lightweight, to start up and get you onto the Web in a few seconds.��� I WONDER WHY THEY WOULDN'T CALL THIS ANDROID? IT WOULD CLEAR UP CONFUSION ABOUT OPERATING SYSTEMS FOR CONSUMERS. NEVERTHELESS, I THINK IT IS SAFE TO ASSUME: MICROSOFT IS NONE TOO HAPPY ABOUT THIS. GOOGLE CHROME OPERATING SYSTEM WILL LAUNCH LATER THIS YEAR UNDER AN OPEN-SOURCE LICENSE SO YOU CAN MODIFY IT TO YOUR LIKING. IT WILL START SELLING IN NETBOOKS IN THE SECOND HALF OF NEXT YEAR.
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THE TREASURY DEPARTMENT, SECRET SERVICE, FEDERAL TRADE COMMISSION, AND TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT WEB SITES HAVE ALL BEEN HACKED IN A CYBER ATTACK THAT BEGAN ON JULY 4. THE ATTACK TOOK ALL THE SITES DOWN AT ONE POINT OR ANOTHER AND SOME OF THEM ARE STILL EXPERIENCING PROBLEMS. U.S. OFFICIALS ARE NOT TALKING ABOUT THE WHO, WHAT, WHERE, OR WHY BUT THEY ARE ISSUING INTERNAL WARNINGS. WE WILL FOLLOW THIS STORY AS IT DEVELOPS.
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GOOD NEWS FOR INTERNET RADIO. A NEW ROYALTY AGREEMENT HAS BEEN REACHED IN A TWO-YEAR LEGAL BATTLE. THE MUSIC INDUSTRY HAD BEEN TRYING TO IMPOSE FINES THAT ONLINE RADIO BROADCASTERS LIKE PANDORA HAD CLAIMED WOULD PUT THEM OUT OF BUSINESS. THE FEE WOULD HAVE BEEN 0.19 CENTS PER SONG PER STREAM. THE NEW AGREEMENT WILL TREAT EACH BROADCASTER DIFFERENTLY, DEPENDING ON ITS SIZE AND BUSINESS MODEL. BIGGER COMPANIES LIKE AOL RADIO AND PANDORA WILL PAY MORE THAN THE SMALLER MOM AND POP STREAMERS. FEES WILL START AT 0.08 CENTS AND GO UP TO .14 CENTS IN 2015. THIS STILL SEEMS A BIT STEEP TO ME BUT TIM WESTERGREN FROM PANDORA, WHO HAS BEEN QUITE ACTIVE IN FIGHTING THIS ROYALTY POLICY, SEEMED PLEASED. HE TOLD THE NEW YORK TIMES: ���This is definitely the agreement that we���ve been waiting for."
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DELL LAUNCHED A SUITE OF PRODUCTS FOR THE CSI-CROWD. IT IS A DIGITAL FORENSICS PACKAGE THAT CONSISTS OF HARDWARE AND SOFTWARE TO ALLOW MULTIPLE ANALYSTS TO WORK SIMULTANEOUSLY ON THE SAME DATA. IT WILL ALSO REDUCE BACKLOGS THAT CAN BE AS LONG AS TWO YEARS AND KEEP TRACK OF WHO HANDLES THE EVIDENCE. THE COMPANY LAUNCHED THE SERVICE WITH INTEL IN AN EFFORT TO TARGET ITS PUBLIC SECTOR.
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YAHOO LAUNCHED A PRODUCT CALLED SEARCH PAD THIS WEEK. IT IS A WAY TO SAVE AND ORGANIZE INFORMATION WHILE YOU'RE SEARCHING THE WEB. IT REMEMBERS THE SITES YOU'VE VISITED, ALLOWS YOU TO CLIP SECTIONS FROM THOSE SITES, AND MAKE NOTES ABOUT THOSE CLIPPINGS. I SEEM TO THINK YAHOO HAD SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THIS BEFORE...NO WAIT! THAT WAS GOOGLE NOTEBOOK. THESE CLIPPING AND SHARING SERVICES ARE NOT NECESSARILY NEW BUT I HAVE NEVER REALLY SEEN ANYONE USE THEM IN THE WAY THEY WERE INTENDED. IN THEORY, THEY ARE GREAT FOR ACADEMIC COLLABORATION, PRICE SHOPPING, TRAVEL RESEARCH, YOU NAME IT.
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THE PALM PRE IS COMING TO EUROPE, HOPEFULLY BY THE END OF THE YEAR. TELEFONICA HAS THE EXCLUISVE OFFERING ON THE NEW PALM PHONE THROUGH O2 IN THE UK, IRELAND AND GERMANY, AND MOVI-STAR IN SPAIN. INCIDENTALLY O2 ALSO HAS THE EXCLUSIVITY FOR THE IPHONE IN THE UK SO NOW THEY WILL HAVE BOTH. PALM HAS ALSO SAID THAT THE PRE IS ON ITS WAY TO CANADA AND THAT CARRIER WILL REPORTEDLY BE BELL MOBILITY.
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SONY IS OFFICIALLY MAKING NETBOOKS NOW. THIS IS FURTHER PROOF THAT THE VIAO P WAS NOT REALLY A NETBOOK AFTERALL. THE NEW OFFICAL VIAO W IS A NETBOOK. IT IS 10 INCHES, RUNS WINDOWS XP, AND HAS A 1.6 GIGAHERTZ PROCESSOR. IT WILL COME IN 3 COLORS AND BE AVAILABLE SOME TIME NEXT MONTH.
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GMAIL AND THE REST OF THE GOOGLE APPS PRODUCTS ARE FINALLY OUT OF BETA. THIS INCLUDES GOOGLE CALENDAR, GOOGLE DOCS, AND GOOGLE TALK. IT IS ALMOST SILLY THAT THIS SHOULD HAPPEN NOW, YEARS AFTER THE RELEASE OF THESE PRODUCTS BUT NEVERTHELESS GOOGLE TOOK IT UPON THEMSELVES TO ANNOUNCE THIS SO NOW WE CAN TAKE GOOGLE APPS MORE SERIOUSLY, IF WE WEREN'T ALREADY. OF COURSE IF YOU LIKE THE BETA, YOU CAN ALWAYS GO BACK THROUGH YOUR GMAIL SETTINGS.
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I NEVER THOUGHT WE WOULD SEE THE LG WATCH PHONE COME TO MARKET BUT I GUESS I WAS WRONG. LG SHOWED OFF THE WATCH AT CES BUT THEY WERE VERY ELLUSIVE WITH DETAILS. NOW WE HAVE DETAILS. THE WATCH WILL BE A GSM PHONE WITH HSDPA FOR BROWSING. IT WILL HAVE BLUETOOTH AND VIDEO CALLING AND BE SOLD THROUGH ORANGE IN THE UK. OH AND IT WILL COST $2000. DID I FORGET TO MENTION THAT? LG IS ALSO SHOWING OFF A LESS OSTENTATIOUS PHONE: A NEW VERSION OF THE CHOCOLATE. IT IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE A 5 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA AND AN 800-BY-344 DISPLAY IN A 21-BY-9 ASPECT RATIO. OTHER THAN THAT, IT IS HARD TO TELL WHAT THE PHONE IS REALLY ABOUT FROM THESE PHOTOS BUT I'M HOPING FOR SOME CHOCOLATE LOVE.
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THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I WILL SEE YOU RIGHT HERE TOMORROW WITH MORE. THANK YOU FOR WATCHING. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNETTV AND YOU JUST BEEN LOADED.
