THE U.S. DIRECTOR OF CYBERSPACE STEPS DOWN, IRIVER MAY RELEASE A
TOUCHSCREEN TABLET TO COMPETE WITH THE APPLE TABLET THAT WE
DON'T EVEN KNOW EXISTS, AND YAHOO CLOSES DOWN BIX, WHICH
MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR KARAOKE ACT ON THE ROAD. ITS
TUESDAY, AUGUST 4TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET
LOADED.
[*]
MELISSA HATHAWAY, ACTING CYBERSPACE DIRECTOR FOR THE WHITE
HOUSE'S NATIONAL SECURITY AND HOMELAND SECURITY COUNCILS,
RESIGNED FROM HER POST THIS WEEK. SHE REPORTED PERSONAL
REASONS AS HER REASON FOR RESIGNATION. HATHAWAY WAS NOT
SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE JOB PERMANENTLY THOUGH. PRESIDENT OBAMA
WAS REPORTEDLY VERY CLOSE TO CHOOSING A PERMANENT
REPLACEMENT FOR HER IN THE POSITION HE CALLS "CYBER CZAR."
HATHAWAY WAS A CANDIDATE FOR THAT JOB BUT SHE REMOVED
HERSELF FROM THE RUNNING A FEW WEEKS AGO AND NOW REMOVES
HERSELF FROM THE POSITION ALTOGETHER. SO DUST OFF YOUR RESUME.
MAYBE YOU ARE THE RIGHT MAN..OR WOMAN, FOR THE JOB.
[*]
IF YOU TEND TO GET EXCITED ABOUT STORAGE, YOU'LL LIKE THIS:
TOSHIBA ANNOUNCED THE WORLD'S FIRST 64 GIG MEMORY SD CARD
TODAY. THE COMPANY CLAIMS THAT IT HAS THE FASTEST DATA
TRANSFER SPEEDS AROUND. IT HAS A TOP WRITE SPEED OF 35 MEGABITS
PER SECOND AND A READ SPEED OF 60 MEGABITS PER SECOND. IT WILL
START SHIPPING TO MANUFACTURERS IN NOVEMBER AND TO THE
GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE SPRING OF 2010.
[*]
GOOGLE CEO ERIC SCHMIDT IS RESIGNING FROM HIS POSITION ON APPLE'S
BOARD OF DIRECTORS. THIS IS NOT A SURPRISE. IT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A
GREY AREA AS TO WHETHER OR NOT HIS INVOLVEMENT WITH APPLE WAS
A CONFLICT OF INTEREST. AS GOOGLE MOVES FORWARD WITH A CHROME
OPERATING SYSTEM AND ANDROID PHONES THAT COMPETE WITH THE
IPHONE, THAT AREA BECOMES LESS GREY. SCHMIDT HAS SERVED ON
APPLE'S BOARD FOR THREE YEARS.
[*]
ACCORDING TO THE UK TIMES, APPLE TRIED TO SILENCE A FATHER AND
DAUGHTER AFTER THE CHILD'S IPOD EXPLODED. APPARENTLY, LAST
MONTH THE IPOD TOUCH MADE A HISSING NOISE. THE FATHER REPORTED
FEELING THE DEVICE GETTING HOTTER AND EVENTUALLY SMOKING. HE
THEN EXPLAINED THAT THE DEVICE MADE A LOUD POPPING SOUND
BEFORE IT EXPLODED AND FLEW 10 FEET IN THE AIR. APPLE HAS
REPORTEDLY ATTEMPTED TO HUSH THIS INCIDENT BY OFFERING THE
FAMILY A FULL REFUND ONLY IF THEY SIGNED A SETTLEMENT FORM. IF
THEY AGREED TO THE PROPOSED SETTLEMENT, THE FAMILY WOULD
HAVE BEEN LEFT OPEN TO LEGAL ACTION. THE FATHER REFUSED TO SIGN
IT AND CLAIMED ALL THEY WANTED WAS A REFUND. NOW I DID NOT SEE
THIS WITH MY OWN EYES BUT I AM VERY CURIOUS ABOUT AN IPOD'S
ABILITY TO FLY 10 FEET IN THE AIR. I'M NOT CALLING THESE PEOPLE
LIARS. I JUST HAVE SUSPICIONS OF PARANORMAL ACTIVITY.
[*]
RESEARCH IN MOTION RELEASED AN UPDATE TO BLACKBERRY APP
WORLD. VERSION 1.1 CONTAINS ENHANCED SEARCH OPTIONS. THIS
ALLOWS USERS TO FIND APPS BY CATEGORY AND BY SORT BY HIGHEST
RATING OR PRICE. TO GET THE NEW VERSION HEAD TO
BLACKBERRY.COM/APPWORLD OR MOBILE.BLACKBERRY.COM FROM
YOUR PHONE.
[*]
RUMOR HAS IT THAT IRIVER IS LOOKING TO LAUNCH A TABLET
TOUCHSCREEN PC/E-READER WHATEVER. IT IS BASICALLY A HYBRID OF
THE KINDLE, THE IPOD TOUCH, AND THE NON-EXISTENT APPLE
TOUCHSCREEN TABLET. AGAIN THIS IS A BIG FAT RUMOR BUT AN
AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT MANAGER SAYS THAT IT WILL BE CALLED THE K2
AND HAVE A 3.5-INCH TOUCHSCREEN, WI-FI, BROWSER, ACCELEROMETER,
BLUETOOTH, AND A DIGITAL TV TUNER. MOST OF US AT CNET AGREE
THAT IRIVER IS ONE OF THE FEW COMPANIES THAT COMPETES WITH
APPLE FOR SEXY PERSONAL MEDIA PLAYERS. IN WHICH CASE, LETS HOPE
THIS IS TRUE!
[*]
TECHCRUNCH POINTED OUT THAT YAHOO HAS CLOSED BIX. FUNNY THAT
NO ONE ELSE REALLY NOTICED. BIX WAS YAHOO'S KARAOKE SITE THAT
LET USERS SING THEIR HEARTS OUT AND COMPETE AGAINST EACH
OTHER, A LOT LIKE MYSPACE KARAOKE. BIX WENT DOWN SOMETIME IN
THE LAST WEEK BUT IF YOU GO TO BIX.YAHOO.COM NOW, IT JUST TAKES
YOU TO A YAHOO WEB PAGE. WHICH MEANS YOU'LL HAVE TO TAKE YOUR
RENDITION OF ACHY BREAKY HEART ELSEWHERE.
[*]
THERE ARE RUMORS THAT NETFLIX IS LOOKING TO BRING ITS WATCH
INSTANTLY MOVIE STREAMING SERVICE TO MOBILE PHONES. OR MORE
SPECIFICALLY, THE IPHONE. THIS WOULD MEAN THAT YOU COULD
WATCH MOVIES IN YOUR NETFLIX CUE ON YOUR PHONE ON THE GO. THIS
IS SOMETHING I THINK WILL EVENTUALLY HAPPEN BUT NOT SOON AND
NOT OVER 3G. AT&T DOESN'T NORMALLY ALLOW STREAMING VIDEO
SERVICES ON ITS 3G NETWORK. NORMALLY IT REQUIRES WI-FI. SO IF THIS
IS TRUE, IT WOULD LIKELY BE ANOTHER WI-FI ONLY APP. IN OTHER
NETFLIX NEWS THAT IS TRUE, THE COMPANY IS NOW STREAMING ABC'S
TOP SHOWS IN ITS WATCH NOW SERVICE. THESE SHOWS LIKE LOST ARE
ALREADY AVAILABLE ON ABC.COM FOR STREAMING BUT THE NETFLIX
DEAL ALLOWS ABC TO BRING ENTIRE SEASONS FOR RENTAL TO NETFLIX
CUSTOMERS ONLINE, ON THE ROKU BOX, ON NETWORKED BLU-RAY
PLAYERS AND TV'S AND MORE.
[*]
10 NEW U.S. CITIES ARE GETTING WIMAX AS OF SEPTEMBER 1ST.
CLEARWIRE ANNOUNCED THAT THEY WOULD BE EXPANDING THE
NETWORK TO PLACES INCLUDING BOISE, IDAHO, BELLINGHAM,
WASHINGTON, AND EIGHT CITIES IN TEXAS. CLEARWIRE'S 4G NETWORK IS
CURRENTLY AVAILABLE IN 4 CITIES.
[*]
HEY, SO YOU SHOULD MEET ME AT THE SHACK. OH YOU DON'T KNOW
WHAT THE SHACK IS? TIME TO GET WITH THE PROGRAM! THE SHACK IS
THE REBRANDED NAME FOR ELECTRONICS STORE RADIO SHACK. THE
COMPANY IS CHANGING ITS IMAGE WITH THIS NEW MONIKER,
UNDOUBTEDLY AIMING TO BE COOLER. THEY ARE ALSO HAVING NET-
TOGETHERS, WHICH IS A GATHERING THAT STARTS UP ON THE WEB, IN
SAN FRANCISCO AND NEW YORK THIS WEEK. FOR MORE INFORMATION,
GO TO RADIOSHACK.COM/THESHACK. WHAT DO YOU THINK? GOOD
NAME? LAME NAME? WRITE IN AT LOADED@CNET.COM
[*]
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.
