Luke Wilson tries to Boost Morale at At&t - Fails at It

Yesterday Gizmodo got an audio recording of Luke Wilson leaving a message to At&t employees, which was obviously read from a cue card, wishing that the At&t team had a happy holiday, as well as try not to be too sad faced :( over all the back and forth they've been dealing with. I'm sure Mr. Wilson was earnestly trying, but maybe he could've done them one better by throwing them a party, or sending some to vacation. I mean I'm sure some of the employees are at the breaking point due to pressure coming from corporate bosses because of all the backlash they've received from the iPhone MMS problem, 3G coverage, and call quality issues.

A couple of employees chimed in on Gizmodo's comments, leaving their bit on the Luke Wilson call

Microsoft Loses Case, but Still can Sell Word

Ricardo Trejo Dec 24, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Microsoft

Microsoft was sued back in 2007 by a company named i4i, whose XML editing patent was breached upon when MS put it in Office 2007's Word. Microsoft says it's a "little used feature", but it's that little feature that's going to cost them $290 million in damages, as well as force them to change up their software to abide to the court's ruling. 

"We couldn't be more pleased with the ruling from the appeals court which upheld the lower court's decision in its entirety. This is both a vindication for i4i and a war cry for talented inventors whose patents are infringed. The same guts and integrity that are needed to invent and go against the herd, are at the heart of success in patent litigation against a behemoth like Microsoft."

                                                                                   -Loudon Owen, i4i Chairman

Some people were starting to fear that Microsoft would have to start pulling down copies of Word and Office off of store shelves, but it seems that's not the case as the court ruled that only copies sold after Jan. 11th, 2010 would have to have the XML feature removed.

Also, just to note, Office 2010 does NOT have the technology that infringes on the XML patent at all.

[PC Mag]

Apple Tablet Announcement Coming January 26th???

Ricardo Trejo Dec 24, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, News

The Register can't help but think that the Apple's iPad, MacTablet, or whatever it's called will be shown at their secret event in San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts on January 26th - but then again, neither can we. 2009 was the year of the netbook, but 2010 is guaranteed to be the year of the tablet, with concepts and releases coming from every direction - the Courier and the JooJoo (now in legal troubles) just to name a few.

Here's the Register's evidence as to why they expect a tablet announcement on Jan. 26th:

Item #1: "Very connected sources" who have "been amazingly accurate" in the past have told The Boy Genius Report that they're one-hundred per cent certain that a seven-inch iPad will be announced by Apple in January. No news of an announcement of the oft-discussed 10-inch model, but no news against it, either.

Item #2: The Silicon Valley Insider reported Wednesday that Apple reps have asked "select developers" to prepare full-screen resolution touch-screen apps for a major demo to be held in January.

Item #3: The Financial Times reported, also on Wednesday, that Apple has booked space at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in preparation for an event on January 26th. This venue, as you may recall, is where Steve Jobs emerged from his medical leave in September to pimp Apple's updated iPods.

Very convincing stuff to say the least!

[The Register]

Planet of the Apps - Documentary on the Rise of Phone Applications

Ricardo Trejo Dec 23, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, Applications, Mobile, News, iPhone

I've got an iPhone, you've got an iPhone, we all have iPhones - and with that iPhone is the App store. Oh, the beautiful app store - you can browse that thing all day. I have apps for ESPN sports scores, AOL Radio, Skype, Flickr, a flashlight, and even a level to hang stuff with; my iPhone can be likened to Batman's utility belt. And I'm sure your's is the same way. But who's making these apps, and are they raking in any dough from them? CNBC is going to ask that question, as well go into how this new "business" came about. 

Check out the press release.

On Thursday, January 7th at 10PM ET/PT, CNBC presents "Planet of the Apps: A Hand-Held Revolution!," a CNBC original reported by CNBC’s Scott Wapner that goes inside the apps gold rush. CNBC introduces viewers to some of the creators who are designing applications and striking it rich and explains just how the big business of apps really works.

The one-hour program looks at how the launch of the Apple iPhone in June of 2007 gave birth to a revolution in mobile technology— an apps explosion. As the popularity of apps continues to soar and users view them as an essential tool for everyday life, Apple has opened the door for outside developers to create new apps and a new breed of entrepreneurs allowing anyone from an engineer to a Hollywood star to an everyday person to become an app developer.

                                                                -CNBC Press Release

Be sure to tune in since I'm sure it'll be an interesting look into the lives of these App Developers - most of them doing this as a hobby on the side.

Dell pulls ads from Jersey Shore, calls show 'derogatory'

It seems that the big corporations are deciding to slowly pull ads from MTV's Jersey Shore which has been a constant source of amusement for late night talk shows. TMZ reports that Dell has joined with a growing list of advertisers that are backing away from the reality series. A company spokesman has gone on record stating that Dell doesn't condone or support ethnic bashing in any form.

I've watched the show because it's just hilarious but for god sakes MTV can't make people say the things they do say. Yes the show isn't completely "real" but no show is no of days and their is some truth to it. Here is a little SNL video making fun of one girl in the house named "Snooki" who gets punched in the face around episode 4.

Video after the break...

the 15 Best Firefox themes of 2009

We all use it, we all love it, we all would defend it in any browser war, its Firefox and it rules. The main reason we love it is because it is wide open to developers for addons, plugins and themes. Most of us could not live without our favorite Firefox addons n' stuff, and we are always on the prowl for the next best addon, or theme. The one thing that sets Firefox apart from every other browser is the theme capabilities. There are literally thousands and 80% of them aren't that great. In this countdown of the greatest Firefox themes, we look at the themes that will change your browsing experience forever. The best Firefox themes of 2009 - after the break.

Video: Unreal Engine 3 Running on the iPhone 3GS - End of DS and PSP

Brandon Davenport Dec 23, 2009 Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Me Follow Us Apple, Gaming, Videos, iPhone

Just when you thought the Jesus phone could do anything, by watching this video, you can see it can do everything imaginable! It is running the Unreal 3 gaming engine -- yes, the same Unreal Engine 3 that powers games like BioShock, Gears of War and Mass Effect. This is when we start to see gaming reaching the next level.

For now, it's just a demo of the tech that Epic's put together, which relies on the OpenGL ES 2.0 graphics in the 3GS and latest iPod touch. The main thing here is that Epic is planning "to make this available to licensees at some point in the near future," which means we could soon see lots of games in the app store, using the Unreal 3 engine. The sad part is, this is 3GS only, so none of this is possible on the 3G yet.

Read more - Over at Gizmodo