Cody Taylor

Glyn Moody writes “They might be, if a new European Commission consumer protection proposal, which suggests ‘licensing should guarantee consumers the same basic rights as when they purchase a good: the right to get a product that works with fair commercial conditions,’ becomes law. The idea of making Microsoft pay for the billions of dollars of damage caused by flaws in its products is certainly attractive, but where would this idea leave free software coders?”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Parz writes “The recent announcement that the upcoming Ghostbusters game will be a timed PlayStation exclusive in the PAL territories — revealed a mere month before release — has set a nasty precedent which could have long-term repercussions for the industry. This Gameplayer article explores how this generation of gaming has spiraled into a tit-for-tat war on third-party exclusivity deals instigated by Sony and Microsoft, and the effect it is having on the psychology of the consumers. The Ghostbusters developers aren’t pleased by Sony’s deal, and the Guardian questions whether the game will be big enough to really affect console sales.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

CWmike writes “Microsoft will not dump Vista when Windows 7 launches, and plans to keep selling it to computer makers, system builders, volume licensees and consumers at retail until at least January 2011, a Microsoft spokesman said, citing long-running policy. Earlier today, a Microsoft general manager hinted that the company might ditch Vista as soon as Windows 7 ships. He also said that support for all versions of Vista will end in April 2012. Neither is true, according to the company. Michael Cherry, an analyst with Directions on Microsoft, said, ‘to try to stop Vista or make it unavailable, that would just draw attention… The truth is, few people will be likely to order it once Windows 7 is available.'”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A wave of companies are aiming to give consumers new ways to tap into social networks.

Saul Hansell writes in the NY Times about how various services offered by cable companies affect their spending and their revenue. As it turns out, a lot of the cost increases and investment needs are coming from television and video services rather than internet connectivity. The scramble for high-def and rising licensing fees for programming seem to be the biggest headaches for Comcast and Time Warner right now. Quoting: “By all accounts, Web video is not currently having any effect on the businesses of the cable companies. Market share is moving among cable, satellite and telephone companies, but the overall number of people subscribing to some sort of pay TV service is rising. (The government’s switch to digital over-the-air broadcasts is providing a small stimulus to cable companies.) However, if you remember, it took several years before music labels started to feel any pain from downloads. As the sour economy and the Web start putting more pressure on the cable companies, they may be forced to consider breaking up the big bundles of channels they now insist that consumers buy and instead offer individual channels or smaller groups of channels on an à la carte basis.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A wave of companies are aiming to give consumers new ways to tap into social networks.

suraj.sun tips news that Google and 47 other companies are being sued over use of the “Android” name. Eric Specht of Android Data alleges that Google “stole first and asked questions later.” According to The Register, “Google applied for a trademark for Android in October of 2007, but had that application denied in February of 2008. The USPTO’s reasoning for the denial was simple: Since both Google and Specht were involved in the development of software and related services, ‘consumers are likely to conclude that the goods are related and originate from a single source.'” Reader ruphus13 points out related news that Motorola is planning several Android-based phones for later this year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Like many consumers, John Mayberry was looking to upgrade his iPod. The IT technician had 50,000 songs stored on his computer, but his 60-gigabyte iPod maxed out at 12,000 songs. And Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) wasn’t helping. Last year the company discontinued its largest iPod, a 160GB model, citing concerns about its design.

zxjio recommends a pair of articles in The Economist discussing television over broadband, and the effects of DVR use. “Cable-television companies make money by selling packages of channels. The average American household pays 0 a year for over 100 channels of cable television but watches no more than 15. Most would welcome the chance to buy only those channels they want to watch, rather than pay for expensive packages of programming they are largely not interested in. They would prefer greater variety, too — something the internet offers in abundance. A surprising amount of video is available free from websites like Hulu and YouTube, or for a modest fee from iTunes, Netflix Watch Instantly and Amazon Video on Demand. … Consumers’ new-found freedom to choose has struck fear into the hearts of the cable companies. They have been trying to slow internet televisions steady march into the living room by rolling out DOCSIS 3 at a snails pace and then stinging customers for its services. Another favorite trick has been to cap the amount of data that can be downloaded, or to charge extortionately by the megabyte. Yet the measures to suffocate internet television being taken by the cable companies may already be too late. A torrent of innovative start-ups, not seen since the dot-com mania of a decade ago, is flooding the market with technology for supplying internet television to the living room.” And from the second article on DVR usage patterns: “Families with DVRs seem to spend 15-20% of their viewing time watching pre-recorded shows, and skip only about half of all advertisements. This means only about 5% of television is time-shifted and less than 3% of all advertisements are skipped. Mitigating that loss, people with DVRs watch more television. … Early adopters of DVRs used them a lot — not surprisingly, since they paid so much for them. Later adopters use them much less (about two-thirds less, according to a recent study).”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Z80xxc! writes “Paul Thurrott’s WinSuperSite reports that Windows 7 will include a built-in virtual machine with a fully licensed copy of Windows XP Professional SP3. The VM runs in a modified version of Virtual PC, and applications running in the VM can interact directly with the host operating system as if they were running on the Windows 7 installation itself. While details are scarce for now, it looks as if this feature will only be available as a (free) addon for Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows 7. Also, a processor supporting hardware virtualization will be required, indicating that this is perhaps aimed more at power users and corporate users, rather than consumers. Microsoft confirmed the feature last night.”

Read more of this story at Slashdot.