Ed Sutherland

Opera Software today unveiled Opera 9, an update marked by “widgets” and the inclusion of the controversial BitTorrent file distribution system. Despite attracting the wrath of entertainment trade groups, such as the RIAA and MPAA, which are angry over distribution of copyrighted material via BitTorrent, Opera became the first browser company to license the technology. […]

Microsoft Windows Live Messenger came out of beta today to join the voice-enabled IM landscape already strewn with AOL, Yahoo and Google. But Skype isn’t worried. Like Skype, Microsoft’s offering enables users to make PC-to-phone calls using cordless phones from Motorola, Philips and Uniden America. The phones employ the Windows Live Messenger contact lists. According […]

*UPDATED: The creation of Nokia Siemens Networks, a merger of the telecommunication equipment divisions of the wireless and wireline giants estimated to be worth $30 billion, is both a sign of a consolidating industry and a move toward a two-tiered market, analysts said. “Birth has been given to a new child -– it didn’t take […]

Google isn’t talking about reports the company is testing an online payment service that could compete with eBay’s PayPal. The system reportedly is dubbed “Gbuy” and set for beta release later this month. In a carefully worded statement, a company spokesperson said billing and payments have “historically been a part of Google’s advertising program and […]

Verizon Communications   announced a multi-year agreement with PBS to broadcast public television stations via its FiOS   Internet TV service. Starting today, local public television stations will appear throughout the country where Verizon’s fiber-based IPTV service is available, according to the Association of Public Television Stations (APTS). Under the agreement, Verizon FiOS systems, available […]

Online security firm RSA Security  is the latest tech company to get caught in an expanding whirlwind surrounding stock options grants. RSA, based in Bedford, Mass., is among some 40 companies that in recent weeks have revealed they are under investigation about options grants practices. The company said it received a subpoena from the U.S. […]

WildBlue Communications, a Denver, Colorado-based broadband provider, has signed a five-year exclusive deal bringing broadband Internet to Dish and DirecTV satellite subscribers. The pact will focus on small town and rural markets, the companies said. When it launches this fall, the service will carry the Dish and DirectTV brand names: “Dish Highspeed Internet,” a spokesperson […]

Online auction powerhouse eBay plans to integrate Skype, its $2.6 billion Voice over IP investment, into more than a dozen categories of listings. From cars to cameras, a “Skype Me” button will allow buyers and sellers to stay in contact. Last year, eBay bought Skype, insisting the purchase would enhance the online marketplace. Since then, […]

Not only is Vonage facing a growing class action lawsuit, it’s facing Wall Street probes. Kahn Gauthier Swick LCC has joined a class action lawsuit against Vonage over its ill-fated IPO. While refusing to comment on the specifics, the Internet phone company said it will mount a vigorous defense. Vonage will “contest the allegations vigorously […]

Microsoft did a fan dance of sorts today, giving the public a glimpse at the upcoming Vista operating system. While offering downloads of the first public beta of Vista, the software giant warned it is not for the faint of heart. The download, part of the Windows Vista Customer Preview Program, “should not be used […]

After signing a pact last week to share technologies for a farther reach, eBay and Yahoo are set to face off in South Korea. Yahoo announced it has acquired a 10 percent stake in Gmarket, the No. 2 Internet retailer in South Korea. Yahoo was not immediately available for comment. “Yahoo is nothing if not […]

UPDATED: Internet giant Google, which has defended its decision to comply with China’s censorship, has discovered that its main search engine has been blocked in most Chinese provinces, a Paris-based media rights group said in a statement. Due to the blocking, local Internet users are limited to a censored version of Google, Google.cn, which was […]