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Latest by Geoff Duncan

Tunny rebuild

World War II codebreaking machine fully rebuilt

The UK's National Museum of Computing has finished rebuilding a Tunny machine, crucial to decrypting German communiques during World War II.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer

Ballmer: 95 percent of Chinese software revenue lost to piracy

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer says China's PC market is almost the same size as the U.S., but generates only 5 percent of the software revenue.
Tunisian Flag

Tunisia bans all pornographic sites

In a second instance of Internet censorship, a Tunisian court has ordered all pornographic sites be blocked in the country.
Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (May 2011)

Elop: Symbian will be updated “at least” until 2016

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop might be betting his company's future on Windows Phone, but wants to assure partners Symbian isn't vanishing overnight.
HP McCartney library

HP finishes Paul McCartney’s private digital library

HP has launched Paul McCartney's private cloud-based media library with more than a million items...just for Sir Paul and his friends.
AOL TV infographic

AOL rebrands AOL TV, takes Huffington Post to Canada

AOL is relaunching its television site AOL TV with help from i.TV, and the Huffington Post has launched its first international edition - in Canada.
Ricoh CEO Shiro Kondo (Times Square June 2010)

Ricoh cutting 10,000 jobs over three years

Japanese electronics giant Ricoh says it plans to eliminate 10,000 jobs - nearly 10 percent of its workforce - and may shutter some businesses.
Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz

Bartz: Yahoo will be “appropriately compensated” for Alipay

Yahoo says it will get paid for Alibaba spinning off Alipay; in the meantime, Alipay has been granted a license to conduct online payments in China.
Disney Universe

Disney Universe promises multiplayer mashup action

Disney Universe will be a multiplayer action-adventure mashup spanning Disney's animated an life action franchises...and it'll be on consoles, PCs, and Macs.
internet-social-networking-computer-monitor-privacy-monitoring

Most EU countries quietly ignoring new privacy laws

Most European countries are not complying with the EU's ePrivacy Directive that requires explicit consent before a site can store cookies on a users' device.
Sony Vaio S Series

Sony debuts Vaio S-series and Vaio F-series notebooks

Sony's Vaio S-series run up to 15 hours battery life, while the F series offer a full HD 16.4-inch display, Blu-ray, Nvidia graphics, and an Intel Core i7 CPU.
Mac OS X Snow Leopard w/MacBook

Apple to directly combat MacDefender scareware

Apple says it will be updating Mac OS X to directly detect and remove MacDefender scareware and known variants.
Sparkbuy

Sparkbuy consumer electronics search bought by Google

Google has acquired consumer electronics comparison service Sparkbuy for an undisclosed amount...and as of now, Sparkbuy is no more.
Yahoo Mail update May 2011

Yahoo Mail taps into Facebook, Twitter, and more

Yahoo says the newest version of Yahoo Mail is up to twice as fast - and lets users tap into Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, and more.
Barnes & Noble Nook Simple Touch eReader

Barnes & Noble debuts Nook Simple Touch ereader

Barnes & Noble's new Nook SImple Touch Reader features a 6-inch touchscreen display with 50 percent better contrast and up to two months of battery life.
Mark Zuckerberg

Zuckerberg: Kids under 13 should be allowed to use Facebook

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says children under 13 should be allowed to use Facebook...as a way to improve education, of course.
Dell XPS 15z

Dell introduces slim XPS 15z notebook

It's not as thin as an Adamo, but it packs second-generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, Nvidia graphics, USB 3.0, and an option for a 1080p display.
Bing logo

MasterObjects brings instant search suit to Microsoft

Microsoft is MasterObjects' latest target in a suit claiming instant search features violate their patents.
Firefox 5 channels

Mozilla rolls out Firefox 5 beta

It's only been a few weeks since Firefox 4 launched, but guess what? The first Firefox 5 beta is already here.
Toyota Prius plug-in hybrid

Toyota to make private social network for drivers – and their cars

Toyota plans to make "Toyota Friend," a private social network that links customers with their cars, dealership, and Toyota HQ.
Kobo eReader Touch Edition

Kobo eReader Touch Edition adds page turns, virtual keyboard

The forthcoming $129.99 Kobo eReader Touch Edition will feature an infrared touchscreen so users can turn pages and use a virtual keyboard.
Vudu logo

Vudu getting its own button on Vizio remotes

Following Netflix's lead, Vudu is getting its own button on remote controls for selected Vizio products...with more brands to follow.
Sony logo

Sony to declare $3.2 billion loss for year

Sony says it expects to declare a $3.2 billion loss for its fiscal year due to a one-time charge and disruptions from Japan's earthquake and tsunami.
eMusic

EMI makes back-catalog deal with eMusic

Digital music service eMusic has landed its final major label, announcing the addition of over 15,000 EMI albums to its catalog.
HTC Flyer

Best Buy launching Wi-Fi HTC Flyer May 22

Best Buy will begin offering the Wi-Fi version of the HTC Flyer Android-based tablet May 22...for $500 and apparently without the stylus.
Clickfree C2 Rugged HDD (three colors)

Clickfree C2 Rugged hard drives offer automatic backups

Clickfree's new C2 Rugged hard drives can handle falls up to four feet, and they automatically back up a PC or Mac as soon as they're connected.
Nokia Windows Phone concepts

Nokia looking to Qualcomm and beyond for Windows Phone chips

Nokia will be using Qualcomm chipsets in its first Windows Phones, but is looking to other chipmakers going forward, including ST-Ericsson.
Yahoo and 5to1

Yahoo buys online ad firm 5to1

Yahoo is buying online ad firm 5to1 for a reported $28 million...even though so far the company seems mostly in the business of losing money.
Barnes & Noble

Liberty Media offers $1 bln for 70 pct of Barnes & Noble

Liberty Media has offered $1 billion to essentially take over Barnes & Noble: if the deal goes through, it would own 70 percent of the company.
NYC-Apple-Store

Apple stores mark tenth anniversary

Apple opened its first two retail stores a decade ago, and almost everyone thought they would go over like a lead balloon. How times change.
Xbox 360 Slim

Microsoft offering students free Xbox 360 with new PCs

As of May 22, Microsoft is reaching out to students, offering a free 4 GB Xbox 360 to students who buy a new computer over $699.
Mac Defender screenshot

Trojan “Mac Defender” starts to chalk up victims

A fake security program for Mac OS X pretends to scan for security problems, then offers to fix them - for a fee.
Ericsson logo

Ericsson to manage Clearwire’s WiMax network

In a cost-cutting move, Clearwire has signed a seven-year agreement with Ericsson to manage its WiMax network.
Amazon Kindle (Special Offers)

Amazon now selling more Kindle books than printed books

Amazon says its customers are now buying more Kindle books than all hardcover and paperback books combined.