thorfunds blog's

Huawei T521

Samsung SCH-B269

Samsung SCH-M490

Samsung SCH-W229

Samsung SCH-W690

Samsung SGH-I900L

Similar to what happened two weeks ago, new Samsung models dominated the Federal Communications Commission’s approval database this week. Because the FCC has to certify every phone sold in the United States, not to mention test its SAR rating, the agency’s online database offers a lot of sneak peeks to those who dig. And to save you the trouble, Crave has combed through the database for you. Here are a selection of filings from the past week on new and upcoming cell phones. Click through to read the full report.

2Pad grabs photos and videos from your e-mail in-box.

There are a slew of other companies that let you do this (see Yoono, Evernote, Clipmarks, JetEye, and Diigo), but the fact that this works without software is handy in case you want to get some clipping done while using a borrowed or public computer.

Several of the companies from the TechCrunch50 demo pit are brand-new and have some really neat products to show off. For one reason or another they were not chosen to be among those pitching to the crowd–either out of editorial selection or not being able to meet the day-of-the-conference launch requirement.

Two products I wanted to highlight are of interest because they do some handy things that many other start-ups have attempted with the use of software or browser-specific extensions. In both cases the below products (Snipd and 2pad) manage to do just about the same thing without software. Let’s break them down:

The one weak point is the individual media pages which scale down the image or video to fit your screen with a wide border. This works OK with wide-screen videos, but you’ll need to full screen nearly every photo to see it in a reasonable amount of detail. Otherwise, it’s very snappy and managed to pull in about 100 photos from my Gmail account in about half an hour.

Snipd in action from Alex Schliker on Vimeo.

2pad grabs photos and videos floating around the depths of your Web e-mail in-box and various folders. You just plug in your credentials and it spends a few hours culling it together. Like Xoopit, which is currently Gmail-only, you get to view all of this in a really simple file browser. 2pad manages to do this, Windows Live Hotmail, Apple’s MobileMe, and AOL mail as well.

(Credit:
CBS Interactive)

Snipd is a very simple text and media grabbing tool that works with nothing more than a bookmarklet. You just drag it up to the top of your browser and a single click gives you the option to copy over text to a bucket, hosted in the cloud.

The company is planning to make money off of photo prints and printed gift books, which users can create, buy, and order using media it pulls together.

You have to admire the guile (stupidity?) of a company has already faced so much anti-trust heat and still do crazy things like this. Essentially, Microsoft is saying that the contacts that users put into MSN messenger belong to MS, not the user. And if that user wants to import those contacts to a social networking site, the site should pay them. Bizarre and stupid.

The problem typically arises when a social network, say, offers its users the ability to import the list of contacts they’ve accumulated on Microsoft Hotmail.

Since the summer, my friends tell me, Mister Softie has been sending cease-and-desist letters to startups that try to do this. These nastygrams are typically followed up by a meeting with Microsoft reps, who then try a couple different approaches to get the startup to integrate Messenger into their service.

If the company wants to offer other IM services (from Yahoo, Google or AOL, say), Messenger must get top billing. And if the startup wants to offer any other IM service, it must pay Microsoft 25 cents a user per year for a site license.

More on the attempt to squelch the growth of the internet via the full post on Fortune’s Techland Blog

(Credit:
AOL)

This post was expanded at 6:43 AM PT with details from the AOL-Bebo conference call.

In a conference call on Thursday, Falco and Ron Grant, AOL’s president and COO, as well as Bebo president Joanna Shields, said that integration between Bebo and AOL’s AIM and ICQ messaging properties will be crucial. Combined, they said, AOL will own a “social graph” of 80 million people, bigger than the 67 million that the independently-run Facebook currently counts but still significantly smaller than News Corp.’s MySpace.com.

Read more of News.com’s coverage: “What Bebo means to AOL”

Additionally, despite the fact that performance monitoring firms have pegged it as sluggish, Bebo’s technology was likely appealing to AOL. The social network’s developer platform supports both OpenSocial and Facebook applications; it also has an “Open Media” platform for audio and video content from big-media names like CBS and MTV as well as online production outlets like Next New Networks and Ustream. AOL, meanwhile, has opened up AIM to developers.

Rumors had floated over the past few months that Bebo, which has over 40 million members, was up for sale. Reports suggested a $1 billion price tag, but there were few hints as to potential buyers. Though Bebo had already partnered with AOL’s AIM messaging client to facilitate friend-invite interoperability between the two services, even the most creative blogger speculation didn’t seem to point to AOL eventually buying the social network.

AOL has made it clear that buying Bebo is a move geared toward international growth, as the youth-oriented social network is wildly popular in the U.K., Ireland, and New Zealand. AOL reported that it has launched “17 international web sites over the last year and has plans to expand to 30 countries outside the U.S. by the end of 2008,” as well as international versions of its home page and some services. Bebo, meanwhile, plans to launch five localized versions of its service this year (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands), and AOL will make it a major part of the company’s international expansion strategy.

Grant estimated in Thursday’s conference call that the deal will ideally be complete within a month.

“Bebo is the perfect complement to AOL’s personal communications network and puts us in a leading position in social media,” said AOL chairman and CEO Randy Falco in a statement. “What drew us to Bebo was its substantial and fast-growing worldwide user-base, its vision of a truly social web, and the monetization opportunities…This positions us to offer advertisers even greater reach and marketers significant insights into the desires and needs of consumers.”

In an unexpected move, AOL has acquired social-networking site Bebo. The price tag: $850 million in cash.

Ironically, AOL itself has been talked about as an acquisition target. Jeffrey Bewkes, CEO of Time Warner, which operates AOL, has spoken recently about plans to spin off or sell divisions of the company.

Joanna Shields, president of the San Francisco-based Bebo, will continue to run the social network and will report to Ron Grant. The deal was brokered on AOL’s side by Bank of America Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities. Bebo had hired investment bank Allen & Co. when it opted to put itself up for sale.

Still, at the core, the Bebo acquisition is all about the advertising. It comes at a time when AOL is still struggling to make the transition to a leader in online advertising after amassing nearly $1 billion worth in acquisitions–Tacoda, Buy.at, Quigo, and AdTech, to name a few–into its Platform-A ad network, as well as social-media buys like Goowy. Bebo, like most other social-networking sites, relies on ad revenue, and as projections claim that social-media ad buys will keep rising (eMarketer predicts 75 percent year over year), AOL undoubtedly wants a piece of the pie.

“The distribution aspect of linking up with AIM and ICQ is an extraordinary opportunity for us,” Shields said in the conference call.

But it’s still an uphill climb for AOL. Just this week, the company confirmed that Platform-A president Curt Viebranz was departing the company amid a management shakeup.

Episode Nine of the Open Season blog just went live. This time we had Dave McAllister, Adobe’s open source guru, join us. We talked about some of the things Adobe is doing with open source (a lot more than most people think), as well as Microsoft’s Open Value Subscription (it’s not), Red Hat’s new CEO (he’s cool), the death of the Open Source Application Foundation’s Chandler (bye!), and more.

commentary

Well, except for anything interesting to say.

From open source IPOs to the top open-source companies of 2008, this installment of Open Season had it all.

The real bargains were in the software area. While PCs and printers get used, scuffed, and outdated sitting on store shelves, software stays pretty much the same inside its nearly empty box.

A cage full of Vista and Office copies–all 40 percent off.

There weren't many Apple accessories, but they did have a bunch of MagSafe power adapters.

(Credit:
Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

(Credit:
Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

There were many varieties of Office 2007 as well as many flavors of Windows Vista–all for 40 percent off. There was even a stack of the special Bill Gates-signed limited edition version of Vista Ultimate. On the Office front, there was everything from Office Ultimate for the Home and Student to copies of individual programs such as Word and OneNote.

It’s worth noting that not all of the CompUSA stores are closing for good. Systemax acquired the CompUSA name and plans to keep open up to 16 of the stores, also rebranding some of its TigerDirect retail stores with the CompUSA name.

With the CompUSA liquidation in full swing, some of the deals at closing stores have started to get quite interesting.

The hardware was not necessarily much of a bargain. During a recent stroll through the downtown San Francisco store, I found desktops and notebooks discounted 20 percent, and in many cases there was only a well-used demo model for sale. There were also printers (some new in boxes and some demo machines), but I suspect one can get a PC or printer for a better price just by shopping the weekend circulars.

Included among the Vista copies were several of the Bill Gates-signed limited edition Ultimate version.

There wasn’t a ton of pro software on either the Mac or PC side, though I did notice several copies of Final Cut Studio 2 in one of the cages.

On the
Mac side, there were only a couple of demo Macs–and those were just 15 percent off. However, there were copies of .Mac for 40 percent off the standard $99 price as well as the chance to get AppleCare extended warranties for half the usual price. For those who happen to need a MagSafe power adapter, there was a basket of those located several paces from the now-abandoned Apple Shop.

Speaking of cables, there was also a section that seemed like the dregs from the repair shop featuring a ton of power bricks, cords, and remote controls. It’s not for everyone, but if you’ve been missing a cord and don’t mind rummaging, there might be something up your alley.

(Credit:
Ina Fried/CNET News.com)

If the business of liquidating stores is a science, with its practitioners knowing just when to drop the discounts a little further, buying from such sales is an art. I’m sure there are plenty of artists out there. What was your best find?

Another deal breaker for the labels has been the turmoil at the company. An executive shuffle in Dec. 2006 and SpiralFrog’s money troubles has given the big music firms pause, said the sources.

Meanwhile, social networks, such as Imeem and Last.fm, which stream music to users’ PCs, can boast licensing deals with the majors. And MySpace and Facebook are also in talks with the labels about offering music.

The good news is the New York-based company topped 1 million unique visitors in January and music-industry sources say it has made several hires in recent weeks.

Turns out, SpiralFrog’s managers renegotiated the loan terms and the company now has a year to repay, according to a company spokeswoman.

At the end of the month, privately held SpiralFrog is due to report year-end earnings for 2007 (the company reports like a public company as part of an agreement with investors). That report could hold important clues about the company’s prospects.

The troubled ad-supported music service that has needed loans to keep operating was supposed to pay creditors $7 million by April 19. At least from the outside the situation looked bad because it was only three months ago that SpiralFrog needed a $2 million loan. Where would a start-up that’s only been in business for six months get that kind of money?

SpiralFrog needed to pay Universal Music $3.3 million before it ever sold a single song. Even if managers convince another major to sign on, where are they going to get the money to pay the fees?

Those financial worries may continue to undermine the company.

Once trumpeted as a potential iTunes killer, SpiralFrog’s music library is dwarfed by iTunes. After two years of trying to sell the four largest music companies on its business model, SpiralFrog executives have managed to sign one: Universal Music Group. It’s extremely hard for a music service to compete against Apple’s music store, but it’s nearly inconceivable to do it without songs from all top four labels.

In the third quarter, SpiralFrog burned through $3.4 million while reporting revenue of $20,400. But the free-music service, which launched in September, had only been open for a three weeks during that period. Starting with the fourth-quarter report, we’re going to start seeing how scrappy SpiralFrog really is.

But the service still wrestles with the same problem it has tried to remedy for two years: a highly limited song selection.

Early indications are that SpiralFrog, which attracted lots of media attention two years ago when it announced plans to offer free legal music, has met with mixed results.

So SpiralFrog keeps hopping, but for how much longer?

Numerous sources close the record labels said SpiralFrog’s problem mostly comes down to its business model. Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group don’t have much faith, the sources said. EMI Music Group’s publishing unit already has an agreement with the service and the label could eventually sign, according to one source.

SpiralFrog continues to dodge bullets.

Unhappy with this turn of events, Rambus argued that the court lacked jurisdiction to even give the ruling, since its offer to pay Samsung the attorney fees rendered the case moot. In April of this year, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit sided with Rambus, vacating the previous order and remanding the case back to the court with instructions to dismiss Samsung’s complaint. The Supreme Court’s decision not to hear Samsung’s appeal leaves the lower court’s decision in place.

The Supreme Court has refused to consider appeals from Samsung Electronics in a case against Rambus, a memory design and patent licensing company, closing a saga that began in 2005 over alleged patent infringement.

The court’s decision to stay out of the case leaves in place an April appeals court ruling (PDF) that a district court had no jurisdiction to grant an order that–while technically in favor of Rambus–included negative opinions about the company.

In a similar case, a district court found Rambus guilty of spoliation of evidence. Rambus quickly settled that case and, in September 2005, moved to dimiss
its claims against Samsung. However, Samsung’s attorney fees were still in dispute, so Rambus offered to fully compensate for them.

Rambus first sued Samsung in 2005 for allegedly violating its patents of various dynamic random access memory, or DRAM, devices. Samsung immediately countersued in the Eastern District
Court of Virginia, claiming that the patents were invalid and unenforceable.

Samsung refused the offer but continued with its court motion to obtain them. The district court in July 2006 denied Samsung its attorney fees–in that sense ruling in favor of Rambus–but included in its ruling a lengthy opinion addressing allegations that Rambus was guilty of tampering with evidence.

Features include a 3.2-megapixel camera with video recording, stereo Bluetooth, a personal organizer, a speakerphone, messaging, USB transfer and mass storage, PC syncing, and a music player. And in a new (and welcome) move, Sony Ericsson ditches its proprietary Memory Stick format and opts instead for a microSD card slot.

The handset comes in two versions: the T715 and the T715a. While both are quad-band GSM world phones, the former is formatted for European 3G bands and the latter will support North America 3G. We don’t have pricing yet, but the phone should be available in the third quarter of this year.

Sony Ericsson T715

(Credit:
Sony Ericsson)

A month after Sony Ericsson introduced three high-end media phones, the company scaled things down just a bit by unveiling the midrange Sony Ericsson T715. Also released in London, the T715 sports a very Sony Ericsson slider design in galaxy silver or rogue pink. It’s relatively compact (3.6 inches by 1.9 inches by 0.6 inch) and it offers a 2.2-inch display that supports 262,144 colors.

(Credit:
AFP Photo/Yoshikazu Tsuno)

The Winglet comes in three sizes, which also have different handlebar heights.

(Credit:
Toyota Motor)

A parallel link mechanism lets riders go forward, backward, and turn by shifting body weight, making the Winglet potentially useful for maneuvering in tight spaces or crowded urban environments.

The Winglet comes in small, medium, and large sizes ranging in height from 18 inches to 3 feet 8 inches, with handlebars that also rise to different levels. All three models are about 18 inches wide and 10 inches long. The smallest version weighs 22 pounds, and can be folded and tossed into a (big) bag for optimal shoulder dislocation. All versions of the device take an hour to charge.

Riders can cruise around at a leisurely 3.7 mph–not ideal for rushing to a meeting, but nice for scooting around a shopping mall, perhaps. (The Segway, by comparison, can hit 12.5 mph.)

A Toyota employee displays a Winglet prototype at the company's showroom in Tokyo. She is riding the medium-size scooter.

No word yet on when we might see commuters atop the contraptions. The company will start testing the vehicle this fall at a Japanese airport and a seaside resort. More testing is planned for 2009 at shopping complexes and other bustling locales.

The “Winglet” has a body the size of an A3 sheet of paper that houses an electric motor, two wheels, and internal sensors that constantly monitor the rider’s position and make adjustments in power to ensure stability.

Toyota Motor on Friday showed off a new stand-up scooter that could one day be seen zipping alongside the Segway on the personal-transporter superhighway.