GOOGLE VOICE HITS A SETBACK ON THE IPHONE, VERIZON CONFIRMS THAT IT WILL GET THE PALM PRE AND TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS A LOT MORE DANGEROUS THAN YOU MIGHT HAVE ORIGINALLY THOUGHT. ITS TUESDAY, JULY 28TH. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE AND IT'S TIME TO GET LOADED.
GOOGLE HAS ABANDONED SHIP ON AOL. THE COMPANY INVESTED $1 BILLION IN AOL IN 2006 BUT SOLD ITS 5 PERCENT STAKE FOR ONLY $283 MILLION. I'M NO MATHEMATICIAN BUT IT IS SAFE TO SAY, THAT IS NOT A GOOD DEAL. TIME WARNER IS CURRENTLY SPINNING AOL OUT AS ITS OWN SEPARATE COMPANY. SO AOL WILL BE LEFT TO FEND FOR ITSELF WITHOUT BACKING FROM TIME WARNER OR GOOGLE. THAT'S GOTTA HURT.
SPEAKING OF GOOGLE, THE COMPANY HIT A SETBACK FOR GOOGLE VOICE AS IT PERTAINS TO THE IPHONE. THE THIRD PARTY GOOGLE VOICE APPLICATION CALLED GV MOBILE HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM ITUNES. TECHCRUNCH IS REPORTING THAT AN OFFICIAL GOOGLE APPLICATION HAS ALSO BEEN REJECTED BY APPLE BEFORE IT EVER HIT THE MARKET. APPLE APPARENTLY THINKS IT IS TOO CLOSE TO WHAT THE IPHONE ALREADY DOES. THAT STINKS. I WAS HOPING FOR AN OFFICIAL GOOGLE VOICE APP SOON. ESPECIALLY BECAUSE GOOGLE VOICE ACTUALLY GETS MY VOICEMAILS AND MY IPHONE NEVER DOES.
SPEAKING OF APPLE, THE FINANCIAL TIMES IS REPORTING THAT THE COMPANY IS IN FACT WORKING ON A TOUCHSCREEN TABLET PC. WE'VE HEARD THIS BEFORE BUT THE FINANCIAL TIMES IS REPORTING IT VERY FACTUALLY. THE PAPER ALSO SAYS THAT APPLE IS IN TALKS WITH THE FOUR LARGEST RECORD LABELS TO BUNDLE MUSIC INTO SOME KIND OF DIGITAL BOOKLET THAT WOULD INCLUDE MUSIC, ALBUM ART, SLEEVE NOTES, AND SOME KIND OF INTERACTIVE ELEMENT. THE PROJECT IS CODENAMED COCKTAIL. THE TWO REPORTS COULD BE RELATED, APPLE COULD BE WAITING TO ANNOUNCE THE TABLET WITH COCKTAIL. OR THEY COULD BE UNRELATED. OR THEY COULD JUST BE NORMAL APPLE RUMOR FLUFF. THE FINANCIAL TIMES REPORTS THAT THIS WILL BE A PART OF APPLE'S HOLIDAY SHOPPING EFFORTS.
A VERIZON SPOKESPERSON CONFIRMED THAT THE COMPANY WOULD BE SELLING THE PALM PRE SOMETIME NEXT YEAR. THE COMPANY'S CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER DENNY STRIGL SAID THIS ON A CONFERENCE CALL WITH ANALYSTS AND INVESTORS ON MONDAY. WE'VE SUSPECTED THIS FOR A LONG TIME AND NOW WE KNOW FOR SURE.
T-MOBILE CUSTOMERS CAN LOOK FORWARD TO A NEW BLACKBERRY CURVE IN JUST A FEW DAYS. THE CURVE 8520 WILL BE PRETTY STANDARD BLACKBERRY FAIRE EXCEPT IT HAS AN OPTICAL TRACKPAD. OTHERWISE, THE USUAL: WI-FI, 2 MEGAPIXEL CAMERA, BLUETOOTH 2.0. IT COSTS $130 AND WILL BE AVAILABLE ON AUGUST 5.
FULL TEXT MESSAGE INTEGRATION IS BACK FOR TWITTER USERS WHO HAVE O2 IN THE UK. TWITTER PULLED BACK AND FORTH TWITTER TEXTING LAST YEAR BECAUSE IT WAS COSTING THEM TOO MUCH. OF COURSE USERS COULD ALWAYS SEND OVER SMS. IT WAS THE RECEIVING THAT WAS THE ISSUE. NOW THERE WILL BE NO EXTRA FEES TO SEND OR RECEIVE TWITTER AS A TEXT.
VERIZON FIOS AND VERIZON BROADBAND CUSTOMERS CAN NOW GET ONLINE FOR FREE AT ANY BOING WIRELESS HOTSPOT. THESE ARE THE WIRELESS NETWORKS YOU FIND MOSTLY AT AIRPORTS. ALL YOU DO IS LOG IN WITH YOUR VERIZON ID AND AWAY YOU GO. I WOULD SAY THIS IS BETTER NEWS FOR BOINGO THAN FOR VERIZON. WHO PAYS $12.95 FOR AN HOUR OR SO ON A WI-FI NETWORK? THIS MAKES BOINGO A LOT MORE APPEALING.
EBAY IS CONTINUING TO CUT PRICES FOR SELLING ITEMS ON THE SITE. THE COMPANY JUST ANNOUNCED THAT IT WILL SLASH FEES BY 20 PERCENT FOR TOP-RATED SELLERS AND PUSH THEIR LISTINGS HIGHER UP IN THE CUE. THIS IS A MOVE TO INCITE MORE PEOPLE TO BECOME POWER SELLERS. THE NEW PRICING WILL EFFECT ABOUT 150 THOUSAND EBAYERS. THE NEW PRICING WILL EFFECT ABOUT 150 THOUSAND EBAY USERS IN THE US, UK, AND GERMANY. THEY MUST CONDUCT AT LEAST 100 TRANSACTIONS PER YEAR FOR A TOTAL SALES VOLUME OF AT LEAST $3,000. THE NEW PRICING GOES INTO EFFECT IN OCTOBER.
A NEW STUDY SHOWS THAT YOU ARE 23 TIMES MORE LIKELY TO GET INTO A CAR ACCIDENT IF YOU TEXT MESSAGE WHILE DRIVING THAN IF YOU ARE NOT. OF COURSE WE KNOW THAT TEXTING WHILE DRIVING IS DANGEROUS. THAT IS NOT NEWS. BUT THE ACTUAL SCOPE OF THE DANGER IS SHOCKING. THE STUDY COMES FROM THE VIRGINIA TECH TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE. THEY MOUNTED CAMERAS INSIDE CARS AND STUDIED DRIVERS EYE PATERNS. THEY FOUND THAT THE AVERAGE TEXT MESSAGE TAKES THE DRIVERS' EYES FROM THE ROAD FOR 4.6 SECONDS, WHICH IS ENOUGH TIME TO TRAVEL THE LENGTH OF A FOOTBALL FIELD AT 55 MILES PER HOUR. A LOT OF DAMAGE COULD HAPPEN WITHIN THAT TIME. I'M NOT GOING TO END THIS STORY WITH A JOKE OR AN ANECDOTE LIKE USUAL. I JUST WANT TO MAKE SURE YOU TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY. JUST PLEASE HAVE DISCIPLINE AND DON'T TEXT AND DRIVE. REALLY.
THOSE ARE ALL OF YOUR HEADLINES FOR TODAY. I WILL BE BACK TOMORROW WITH MORE. I'M NATALI DEL CONTE WITH CNET TV AND YOU'VE JUST BEEN LOADED.
