News for Dallas, Texas | Dallas Morning News | Personal Technology

11/20/2008

Fabric treatments taking clothes to a new level
As technology improves, clothes will begin fighting odor, tears, sags, pilling, pet hair and sunlight. "The companies that supply this technology to the apparel industry are almost invisible to the public, but we're doing some pretty incredible things behind the curtain," said Mark Brutten, director of marketing and product development at Nano Tex in Oakland, Calif.

Dr Pepper to sponsor video gamer
Plano-based Dr Pepper said Wednesday that, for the first time, it is promoting a professional athlete on bottles that it will distribute nationally.

11/19/2008

Online retail sales growth slumps as consumers cut back
The U.S. Census Bureau said Wednesday that e-commerce sales increased 5.7 percent in the third quarter, only the second time the quarterly increase wasn’t in double digits since the measurement started in 1999.

Spammers sent packing — for now — by Web shutdown
The break won't last long. Garbage e-mail levels are already swelling again, and are expected to return to normal in a matter of days.

Online Money: Save with online book rentals
Modeled on the online movie rental company Netflix, the subscription service sends between three and 11 books at a time to its customers, who can keep them for as long as they like with no late fees.

Google gives online life to Life mag's photos

Google

The new service debuted Tuesday with about 2 million photos. Eventually, Google plans to scan all 10 million photos from Life's library so they can be viewed on any computer with an Internet connection.

Facebook application plan rankles some developers
Initially, developers file a form to register their application, and after it is reviewed by Facebook, the developers fill out paperwork and submit a $375 annual fee for each application.

11/18/2008

Zune could lend Microsoft a rare rhythm infusion
The Zune team has been beefing up its software and courting artists like Common, a dashing MC with mainstream appeal who might just help make Zune — dare we say it? — cool.

National Geographic getting into video games
The first title — available now for computers and the iPhone — is "Herod's Lost Tomb," a simple hidden-objects game built on a story in the magazine's December issue and a television show about King Herod.

HP shares soar after solid 4Q outlook
HP's $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems Corp., completed in August, boosted the quarter's revenue, which grew 19 percent year-over-year.

Yahoo's Yang decides he's no longer the right CEO

Analysts believe Yang's departure will clear the way for a major overhaul that could culminate in Yahoo's sale to Microsoft — something Yang refused to do in May, to the great irritation of shareholders. Yang's emotional attachment to the company he co-founded in 1995 is intense.

11/17/2008

Green at the heart of Panasonic's bid for Sanyo
While Sanyo's solar panels are being used to generate electricity for homes and businesses — and are presumably going to enjoy higher demand because of climate-change fears — Panasonic does not have a solar panel operation.

Online startup aims to improve patent quality
Article One Partners, is offering a reward to anyone who can turn up evidence to settle whether the patents at the heart of these cases — along with a handful of other valuable, high-profile patents — are valid or not.

Law professor fires back at song-swapping lawsuits
Nesson argues that the Digital Theft Deterrence and Copyright Damages Improvement Act of 1999 is unconstitutional because it effectively lets a private group carry out civil enforcement of a criminal law.

Many consumers leave broken gadgets unfixed, survey finds
Gadget makers love to sell us on all the things their devices can do, whether it's letting us chat with distant friends anytime or watch movies on our commute. But can anyone fix this stuff when it breaks?

11/14/2008

Microsoft says rebate program draws new searchers
Under Microsoft's Cashback program, launched in May, the company rewards shoppers with rebates from a few cents to $20 or more on items they find using its search engine, Live Search.

October video game sales jump 18 percent
Microsoft's epic role-playing game "Fable II" was the month's best-selling title with 790,000 units sold, followed by Nintendo's "Wii Fit" exercise game with 487,000 copies.

Tech review: Adobe Photoshop Elements upgrade makes editing a little better
Adobe Photoshop Elements 7 improves upon its predecessor in dozens of minor ways. It provides new tools to tweak nearly every aspect of every photo – and it's a bit easier to use.

11/12/2008

3 LCD firms plead guilty in price-fixing scheme
In a plea deal filed Wednesday, LG Display Co. Ltd., Sharp Corp., and Chunghwa Picture Tubes Ltd., agreed to cooperate in an antitrust investigation being run by the Justice Department.

Artists stage street scenes to lurk in Google maps
This idea draws some of its inspiration from the way that Google Street View has preserved many random, mundane moments in time as its cameras have swept through cities capturing images.

IBM to help build broadband network in power lines
Rather than compete toe-to-toe with large, entrenched cable or DSL providers, they're is looking for rural customers that have been largely left out of the shift to high-speed Internet.

IDC expects 2009 tech spending growth to slow
IDC now expects worldwide information technology spending to grow by 2.6 percent in 2009, down from its earlier forecast of 5.9 percent growth.

Staples offers free Dell PC recycling
Under the partnership announced Wednesday, people can drop off any amount of Dell-branded PCs, monitors, keyboards, printers, mice and other accessories at any of Staples' 1,500 U.S. stores for recycling, without having to make a purchase.

Google to add videoconferencing to Gmail
Google Inc. said Tuesday it will add videoconferencing features to its Gmail e-mail service to lure users from Yahoo Inc. and Microsoft Corp.

11/11/2008

Ga. town advances cell phone parking payments
After entering the parking space number, parkers get a text message with a Web site address to create an account using a credit card. Once an account is created, drivers can just call the number each time to draw down their account.

Vacation rental Web startup reaps $250M investment
HomeAway's sites, which include VacationRentals.com and GreatRentals.com, will end the year with about 325,000 paid listings, up from 257,000 last year.

After banning YouTube, military launches TroopTube
Members can upload personal videos from anywhere with an Internet connection, but a Pentagon employee screens each for taste, copyright violations and national security issues.

11/10/2008

Music headphones can interfere with heart devices
Have a pacemaker or an implanted defibrillator? Don't keep your iPod earbuds in your shirt pocket or draped around your neck — even when they're disconnected.

Sun to help old foe Microsoft get search traffic