- Report finds online censorship more sophisticated
(AP):
AP - Repressive regimes have stepped up efforts to censor the Internet and jail dissidents, Reporters Without Borders said in a study out Thursday.
- Feds pledge tough review of Comcast-NBC deal
(AP):
AP - Federal regulators are pledging rigorous reviews of Comcast Corp.'s proposed purchase of NBC Universal to ensure that it would not stifle competition or harm consumers.
- VeriSign to spend more than $300M on tech upgrades
(AP):
AP - VeriSign Inc., whose technology is key to allowing Internet users to access Web sites with names ending in ".com" and ".net," plans to spend more than $300 million over the next decade to upgrade its systems.
- February video game sales drop 15 percent
(AP):
AP - U.S. retail sales of video games declined 15 percent in February, hurt in part by an ongoing decline in sales of music games and lower sales of the Wii system.
- Twitter unveils tool to share tweeting locations
(AP):
AP - Twitter can now let the world automatically know your whereabouts as well as your thoughts and activities.
- Sony unveils new motion contoller to slow Nintendo
(AP):
AP - Sony has a new message for Nintendo Wii gamers: Come join us.
- Web will be 'critical' revenue source for Times: publisher
(AFP):
AFP - Charging online readers will give The New York Times a critical second revenue stream but the print newspaper will be important for "many years to come," publisher Arthur Sulzberger said Thursday.
- Firemint wins four Pocket Gamer Awards
(Macworld.com):
Macworld.com - On Wednesday, Firemint was honored with four awards from handheld gaming Website Pocket Gamer at a ceremony held at the annual Game Developers Conference. The company behind Flight Control () and Real Racing () has few titles on the iPhone market—virtually every one has become a mega-hit.
- Verizon Expects a 4G Smartphone Earlier Than Planned
(NewsFactor):
NewsFactor - Verizon Wireless hopes to debut its first 4G smartphone in the middle of next year, months earlier than planned, a company executive revealed Wednesday. The new handset will debut about three to six months after its Long-Term Evolution network launches, Verizon Wireless CTO Anthony Melone told The Wall Street Journal.
- Ga. man who posted 'Elton John must die' arrested
(AP):
AP - A Georgia man who posted a video of himself on the Internet holding a sign that said "Elton John must die" has been arrested for making terroristic threats.
- Summary Box: Video game sales drop 15 percent
(AP):
AP - THE GAMES: Video game software sales dropped 15 percent in February compared to a year ago to $624.4 million. "Bioshock 2" from Take 2 Interactive, which launched in February, and "New Super Mario Bros." from Nintendo were the top two sellers.
- New iPhone OS Rumored To Finally Allow Multitasking
(NewsFactor):
NewsFactor - Version 4.0 of the operating system for Apple's iPhone, iPod touch, and the forthcoming iPad will represent a major overhaul of the software and will feature a "full-on solution" to one long-standing gripe about Apple's devices -- their inability to multitask.
- SkillSoft 4Q net income falls 16 pct
(AP):
AP - SkillSoft PLC, an education software company that has agreed to be taken private, said Thursday its fourth-quarter net income fell 16 percent from a year earlier, when it benefited from a tax windfall.
- RadiSys acquires Pactolus; terms not disclosed
(AP):
AP - RadiSys Corp., a maker of servers that support wireless phone networks, said Thursday it acquired privately held Pactolus Communications Software Co. Terms were not disclosed.
- It's Time to Finally Drop Internet Explorer 6
(PC World):
PC World - A security researcher has published exploit code for the latest Internet Explorer zero-day flaw on the Web and Microsoft is warning that more attacks against the unpatched vulnerability can be expected in-the-wild. One thing seems to be more apparent with each passing Internet Explorer (IE) vulnerability: its time to upgrade the Web browser.
- Prototype $200 Tablet Runs Android, Chromium OS, Linux
(PC World):
PC World - $200 tablet PCs have been something of a pipe dream. There was the Crunchpad, which was supposed to be $200, but that didn’t last very long, coming out as the $400 Joo Joo. If what Freescale showed off at Mobile World Congress becomes reality, though, the dream may finally come true.
- Safari 4.0.5 offers improvements to Top Sites, third-party plug-ins
(Macworld.com):
Macworld.com - Whether you’re a fan of Apple’s Web browser, or just having some problems with its competition, there’s now a new Safari update available just for you. Well, you and everybody else—you wouldn’t want them to feel left out, would you?