Comcast launches 105Mb/s Internet tier for $105

Comcast has finally announced the initial availability of its Extreme 105 Xfinity Internet service, which is currently available to 40 million homes in major markets such as Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

First introduced last May, the service delivers download speeds of up to 105Mb/s (10Mb/s upstream), which is a substantial boost over the company's previous 50Mb/s service. According to the company's figures, you can download an HD movie in five minutes and a standard-def TV show in 20 seconds.

That speed comes at a premium, of course, as pricing is currently set at $105 per month when customers add it to their "Triple Play" bundle (TV, phone and Internet). That's an introductory rate which expires in 12 months, and then you're looking at $130 a month on top of your cable and phone.


Although that probably sounds like a lot, it's far less than the $200 per month Comcast originally intended to charge when it first announced its 105Mb/s tier. It's also relatively competitive with Verizon's flagship FiOS offering of 150Mb/s download and 35Mb/s upload for about $200 per month.

Considering Extreme 105 Xfinity requires DOCSIS 3.0, you'll probably have to upgrade your modem unless you intend to lease one from Comcast. Also, despite its blistering speeds, the new tier still has a data cap of 250GB per month for residential accounts. Business accounts are unlimited but cost more.

Read More

Comcast launches 105Mb/s Internet tier for $105

Comcast has finally announced the initial availability of its Extreme 105 Xfinity Internet service, which is currently available to 40 million homes in major markets such as Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Indianapolis, Miami, Philadelphia, Portland, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, and Washington DC.

First introduced last May, the service delivers download speeds of up to 105Mb/s (10Mb/s upstream), which is a substantial boost over the company's previous 50Mb/s service. According to the company's figures, you can download an HD movie in five minutes and a standard-def TV show in 20 seconds.

That speed comes at a premium, of course, as pricing is currently set at $105 per month when customers add it to their "Triple Play" bundle (TV, phone and Internet). That's an introductory rate which expires in 12 months, and then you're looking at $130 a month on top of your cable and phone.


Although that probably sounds like a lot, it's far less than the $200 per month Comcast originally intended to charge when it first announced its 105Mb/s tier. It's also relatively competitive with Verizon's flagship FiOS offering of 150Mb/s download and 35Mb/s upload for about $200 per month.

Considering Extreme 105 Xfinity requires DOCSIS 3.0, you'll probably have to upgrade your modem unless you intend to lease one from Comcast. Also, despite its blistering speeds, the new tier still has a data cap of 250GB per month for residential accounts. Business accounts are unlimited but cost more.

Read More

Amazon crowned the most reputable company in the US

Amazon has been named the most reputable company in the US this year (up from 21st place last year), according to the sixth annual list of the 150 Most Reputable Companies from advisory firm Reputation Institute (RI), in partnership with Forbes Media. The list is based on RI's US RepTrak Pulse Study, which measures trust, esteem, admiration, and good feelings consumers have towards the largest 150 companies based on revenue in the US. The ratings are analyzed from nearly 33,000 online consumer responses taken in January and February.
Amazon had a pulse score of 82.70, which was 5.76 points higher than last year and 1.30 points higher than Kraft Foods, the second most reputable company. The Seattle-based company earned first place ranking by providing value to users, staying ahead of the curve in technology and innovation and responding quickly and ethically to scandals. Here are the top 10 companies for this year, and their corresponding categories (if you want to see the full list of 150 companies, head over to Forbes):

1. Amazon.com (Retail – General)
2. Kraft Foods (Food – Manufacturing)
3. Johnson & Johnson (Consumer Products)
4. 3M (Industrial Products)
5. Kellogg's (Food – Manufacturing)
6. UPS (Transport & Logistics)
7. FedEx (Transport & Logistics)
8. Sara Lee (Food – Manufacturing)
9. Google (Information & Media)
10. Walt Disney Company (Information & Media)

In addition to Amazon and Google in the top 10, here are some other notable rankings for technology companies: Texas Instruments was number 11, Staples was number 19, and Intel was number 22. Then there are many of them in the 40s. Hewlett-Packard was in 40th and Cisco Systems took 42nd. IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle were all very close: 44th, 46th, 47th, and 49th, respectively.
"People can understand their business model, which is a little unusual in today's world," Anthony Johndrow, RI's managing partner, said in a statement. "And Amazon really takes pains to establish solid governance rules so the free-for-all, Wild West the Internet has become in some arenas, feels like a place where you can conduct transactions and get fair value in a safe environment."

Read More

Amazon crowned the most reputable company in the US

Amazon has been named the most reputable company in the US this year (up from 21st place last year), according to the sixth annual list of the 150 Most Reputable Companies from advisory firm Reputation Institute (RI), in partnership with Forbes Media. The list is based on RI's US RepTrak Pulse Study, which measures trust, esteem, admiration, and good feelings consumers have towards the largest 150 companies based on revenue in the US. The ratings are analyzed from nearly 33,000 online consumer responses taken in January and February.
Amazon had a pulse score of 82.70, which was 5.76 points higher than last year and 1.30 points higher than Kraft Foods, the second most reputable company. The Seattle-based company earned first place ranking by providing value to users, staying ahead of the curve in technology and innovation and responding quickly and ethically to scandals. Here are the top 10 companies for this year, and their corresponding categories (if you want to see the full list of 150 companies, head over to Forbes):

1. Amazon.com (Retail – General)
2. Kraft Foods (Food – Manufacturing)
3. Johnson & Johnson (Consumer Products)
4. 3M (Industrial Products)
5. Kellogg's (Food – Manufacturing)
6. UPS (Transport & Logistics)
7. FedEx (Transport & Logistics)
8. Sara Lee (Food – Manufacturing)
9. Google (Information & Media)
10. Walt Disney Company (Information & Media)

In addition to Amazon and Google in the top 10, here are some other notable rankings for technology companies: Texas Instruments was number 11, Staples was number 19, and Intel was number 22. Then there are many of them in the 40s. Hewlett-Packard was in 40th and Cisco Systems took 42nd. IBM, Apple, Microsoft, and Oracle were all very close: 44th, 46th, 47th, and 49th, respectively.
"People can understand their business model, which is a little unusual in today's world," Anthony Johndrow, RI's managing partner, said in a statement. "And Amazon really takes pains to establish solid governance rules so the free-for-all, Wild West the Internet has become in some arenas, feels like a place where you can conduct transactions and get fair value in a safe environment."

Read More

Baidu to pay artists for pirated music

 

China's largest search engine Baidu has announced that it will begin paying Music Copyright Society of China, an agency that takes care of songwriters, for music downloaded from the site. The decision comes after years of complaints from the record industry saying that the Chinese search engine has been providing direct download links to MP3s from the darker corners of the Internet.

The two companies will work together in the hope of protecting digital music. Baidu will take note of the songs downloaded from its site, give data of what has been downloaded to Music Copyright Society of China, and pay copyright holders appropriately. Major record labels likely still won't be pleased given that they are being excluded from the deal; the money will be sent directly to songwriters. Baidu also plans to eventually add a licensed content page on its music search site.
Baidu has only recently started fixing up its reputation. The Music Copyright Society of China has been trying for years to push it to protect copyright holders, even taking legal action against the company. Late last year, however, the two began working an agreement to protect copyright holders.
Last month, the search engine was still being criticized by the US Trade Representative for being useful to pirates. It's surprising, but it appears the message has finally hit home and Baidu wants to change, if only at least a little.

Read More

Baidu to pay artists for pirated music

 

China's largest search engine Baidu has announced that it will begin paying Music Copyright Society of China, an agency that takes care of songwriters, for music downloaded from the site. The decision comes after years of complaints from the record industry saying that the Chinese search engine has been providing direct download links to MP3s from the darker corners of the Internet.

The two companies will work together in the hope of protecting digital music. Baidu will take note of the songs downloaded from its site, give data of what has been downloaded to Music Copyright Society of China, and pay copyright holders appropriately. Major record labels likely still won't be pleased given that they are being excluded from the deal; the money will be sent directly to songwriters. Baidu also plans to eventually add a licensed content page on its music search site.
Baidu has only recently started fixing up its reputation. The Music Copyright Society of China has been trying for years to push it to protect copyright holders, even taking legal action against the company. Late last year, however, the two began working an agreement to protect copyright holders.
Last month, the search engine was still being criticized by the US Trade Representative for being useful to pirates. It's surprising, but it appears the message has finally hit home and Baidu wants to change, if only at least a little.

Read More

Sprint plans to appeal AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse has declared that his company plans to submit its worries over AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile to Congress. At a wireless industry conference in Orlando, Florida, Hesse explained that he believes the deal would hurt the wireless industry as the combined company would have "tremendous" power. "I have concerns it would stifle innovation," Hesse said. AT&T, for its part, is taking the complaint in stride.

"We understand Sprint has concerns, and we'll be happy to address any they present, whether at the Justice Department, the FCC or the Congress," Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president at AT&T, told Bloomberg. "We feel we have good and compelling answers. And we feel policymakers will readily understand that any company with whom AT&T competes may not be especially positive about anything which makes AT&T a better competitor in the wireless market."

Late last week, AT&T announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $39 billion. AT&T and Verizon Wireless would hold 79 percent of the US market if regulators approved the deal, leaving Sprint as an even weaker number three player in the US.

Earlier this week, Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead denied that his company was interested in Sprint and, at the same time, said he would not oppose the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile, which still needs to receive regulatory approval. Sprint, on the other hand, will do everything it can to see a rejection from US regulators.

The US House Judiciary Committee said yesterday it will hold a hearing in regards to the deal to look into possible anticompetitive impacts. Frankly, we'll be surprised if the acquisition isn't delayed, at the very least.

Read More

Sprint plans to appeal AT&T acquisition of T-Mobile

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse has declared that his company plans to submit its worries over AT&T's acquisition of T-Mobile to Congress. At a wireless industry conference in Orlando, Florida, Hesse explained that he believes the deal would hurt the wireless industry as the combined company would have "tremendous" power. "I have concerns it would stifle innovation," Hesse said. AT&T, for its part, is taking the complaint in stride.

"We understand Sprint has concerns, and we'll be happy to address any they present, whether at the Justice Department, the FCC or the Congress," Jim Cicconi, senior executive vice president at AT&T, told Bloomberg. "We feel we have good and compelling answers. And we feel policymakers will readily understand that any company with whom AT&T competes may not be especially positive about anything which makes AT&T a better competitor in the wireless market."

Late last week, AT&T announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $39 billion. AT&T and Verizon Wireless would hold 79 percent of the US market if regulators approved the deal, leaving Sprint as an even weaker number three player in the US.

Earlier this week, Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead denied that his company was interested in Sprint and, at the same time, said he would not oppose the AT&T takeover of T-Mobile, which still needs to receive regulatory approval. Sprint, on the other hand, will do everything it can to see a rejection from US regulators.

The US House Judiciary Committee said yesterday it will hold a hearing in regards to the deal to look into possible anticompetitive impacts. Frankly, we'll be surprised if the acquisition isn't delayed, at the very least.

Read More

Verizon: we have no interest in Sprint

Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead has declared that he has no interest in buying Sprint Nextel. Verizon, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, will lose its top position in the US wireless market due to a recently announced decision by AT&T to acquire T-Mobile.

"We're not interested in Sprint. We don't need them," Mead told Reuters ahead of the CTIA Wireless Conference. In regards to the AT&T/T-Mobile deal having to go through US regulatory approval, he said: "Anything can go through if you make enough concessions." The deal will likely be approved if the companies agreed to certain conditions, and AT&T is expected to have to sell some assets.

Late last week, AT&T announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $39 billion. Interestingly, Mead said he would not oppose AT&T's plans because he does not want his company to be distracted from its goal of being the most profitable US wireless operator.

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse is a lot more worried about AT&T's decision to acquire T-Mobile than Verizon's CEO appears to be. He said he's concerned that the deal will hurt his company and the industry, as the biggest two players strengthen their dominance. "I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation and too much power would be in the hands of two," Hesse said in a panel discussion at cellphone conference in Orlando, Florida, according to The Associated Press.

Mead's cool stance is very odd. More often than not, companies are up in arms when their competitors join forces against them. It's possible that the Verizon CEO is banking on the merger slowing the two down while his company plows ahead.

Read More

Verizon: we have no interest in Sprint

Verizon Wireless CEO Daniel Mead has declared that he has no interest in buying Sprint Nextel. Verizon, a joint venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, will lose its top position in the US wireless market due to a recently announced decision by AT&T to acquire T-Mobile.

"We're not interested in Sprint. We don't need them," Mead told Reuters ahead of the CTIA Wireless Conference. In regards to the AT&T/T-Mobile deal having to go through US regulatory approval, he said: "Anything can go through if you make enough concessions." The deal will likely be approved if the companies agreed to certain conditions, and AT&T is expected to have to sell some assets.

Late last week, AT&T announced that it had entered into a definitive agreement to acquire T-Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom in a cash-and-stock transaction valued at approximately $39 billion. Interestingly, Mead said he would not oppose AT&T's plans because he does not want his company to be distracted from its goal of being the most profitable US wireless operator.

Sprint Nextel CEO Dan Hesse is a lot more worried about AT&T's decision to acquire T-Mobile than Verizon's CEO appears to be. He said he's concerned that the deal will hurt his company and the industry, as the biggest two players strengthen their dominance. "I do have concerns that it would stifle innovation and too much power would be in the hands of two," Hesse said in a panel discussion at cellphone conference in Orlando, Florida, according to The Associated Press.

Mead's cool stance is very odd. More often than not, companies are up in arms when their competitors join forces against them. It's possible that the Verizon CEO is banking on the merger slowing the two down while his company plows ahead.

Read More

Massive quake halts Japanese tech, automotive production

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunamis struck Japan today, devastating property and killing hundreds. The 8.9-magnitude quake hit 230 miles east of Tokyo and is the largest the country has seen in over a century. Tsunamis rose up to 33 feet tall. The disaster left many technology companies scrambling in the wake. Although the amount of damage is still unknown, many firms have reported their initial losses.

Sony evacuated six factories in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. At least one facility that manufacturers Blu-ray discs and magnetic tapes was flooded. Panasonic's three-year-old EV Energy manufacturing plant in Sendai is believed to have been leveled. Several employees at Panasonic's three factories in Miyagi and Fukushimi have sustained minor injuries, according to a company spokesperson.

Sharp, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and many other companies have ceased operations in various locations and begun damage assessments. At least one Honda employee was killed after a wall collapsed at a research and development center in Tochigi, while 30 others were injured. Samsung and Canon were more fortunate than others as both say the disaster will have little to no effect on production.


The full extent of damage won't be recognized for weeks or longer. Outside of property losses and fatalities, the impact of halting output could be enormous, causing worldwide shortages in the automotive and other industries. Shares for Toyota and Sony have fallen 2.43% and 2.36% on the New York Stock Exchange as traders buy put options in case of a prolonged shutdown in automotive production.

Our sincerest condolences go out to all those affected by the catastrophe. If you'd like to pitch in, you can text "REDCROSS" to 90999 (30333 for Canadians) to donate $10 to the Red Cross. PayPal has also launched a relief effort allowing users to freely send money to any US 501(c)(3) and Canada Revenue Agency registered charities raising funds to aid Japan. This will last from today through April 10, 2011.

Read More

Massive quake halts Japanese tech, automotive production

A massive earthquake and subsequent tsunamis struck Japan today, devastating property and killing hundreds. The 8.9-magnitude quake hit 230 miles east of Tokyo and is the largest the country has seen in over a century. Tsunamis rose up to 33 feet tall. The disaster left many technology companies scrambling in the wake. Although the amount of damage is still unknown, many firms have reported their initial losses.

Sony evacuated six factories in the Tohoku region of northeastern Japan. At least one facility that manufacturers Blu-ray discs and magnetic tapes was flooded. Panasonic's three-year-old EV Energy manufacturing plant in Sendai is believed to have been leveled. Several employees at Panasonic's three factories in Miyagi and Fukushimi have sustained minor injuries, according to a company spokesperson.

Sharp, Sanyo, Mitsubishi, Toyota, Honda, Nissan and many other companies have ceased operations in various locations and begun damage assessments. At least one Honda employee was killed after a wall collapsed at a research and development center in Tochigi, while 30 others were injured. Samsung and Canon were more fortunate than others as both say the disaster will have little to no effect on production.


The full extent of damage won't be recognized for weeks or longer. Outside of property losses and fatalities, the impact of halting output could be enormous, causing worldwide shortages in the automotive and other industries. Shares for Toyota and Sony have fallen 2.43% and 2.36% on the New York Stock Exchange as traders buy put options in case of a prolonged shutdown in automotive production.

Our sincerest condolences go out to all those affected by the catastrophe. If you'd like to pitch in, you can text "REDCROSS" to 90999 (30333 for Canadians) to donate $10 to the Red Cross. PayPal has also launched a relief effort allowing users to freely send money to any US 501(c)(3) and Canada Revenue Agency registered charities raising funds to aid Japan. This will last from today through April 10, 2011.

Read More

Mail service costs Netflix 20 times more than streaming

Netflix currently pays up to $1 per DVD mailed round trip, and the company mails about 2 million DVDs per day. By comparison, the company pays 5 cents to stream the same movie. In other words, the company pays 20 times more in postage per movie than it does in bandwidth, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Doing some simple math, Netflix is spending some $700 million per year in physical disk postage. Rising content prices are offset by declining postage fees for the company, as more and more users choose the streaming-only option. Furthermore, subscriber revenues will continue to increase as Netflix increases the size of its streaming library.

Two months ago, Netflix announced an $8 streaming-only plan, and raised its DVD prices. More recently, Netflix removed the "add to DVD queue" button on its streaming devices.

"We're doing this so we can concentrate on offering you the titles that are available to watch instantly," a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. "Further, providing the option to add a DVD to your Queue from a streaming device complicates the instant watching experience and ties up resources that are better used to improve the overall streaming functionality. This change does not impact the Netflix Web site, where most members manage their DVD Queues."

Users are very annoyed with the change, but as we've come to deduce, the reason the company is doing so comes down to cost. Streaming is the way to go, and Netflix wants to slowly but surely kill off its DVD mail service, or at least significantly make its streaming options look much more attractive.

Read More

Mail service costs Netflix 20 times more than streaming

Netflix currently pays up to $1 per DVD mailed round trip, and the company mails about 2 million DVDs per day. By comparison, the company pays 5 cents to stream the same movie. In other words, the company pays 20 times more in postage per movie than it does in bandwidth, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Doing some simple math, Netflix is spending some $700 million per year in physical disk postage. Rising content prices are offset by declining postage fees for the company, as more and more users choose the streaming-only option. Furthermore, subscriber revenues will continue to increase as Netflix increases the size of its streaming library.

Two months ago, Netflix announced an $8 streaming-only plan, and raised its DVD prices. More recently, Netflix removed the "add to DVD queue" button on its streaming devices.

"We're doing this so we can concentrate on offering you the titles that are available to watch instantly," a Netflix spokesperson said in a statement. "Further, providing the option to add a DVD to your Queue from a streaming device complicates the instant watching experience and ties up resources that are better used to improve the overall streaming functionality. This change does not impact the Netflix Web site, where most members manage their DVD Queues."

Users are very annoyed with the change, but as we've come to deduce, the reason the company is doing so comes down to cost. Streaming is the way to go, and Netflix wants to slowly but surely kill off its DVD mail service, or at least significantly make its streaming options look much more attractive.

Read More

Rumor: Apple ditching Nvidia for Intel and AMD

Apple has outfitted its notebooks with Nvidia's graphics chips for years, including the existing MacBook line, but that may not be the case in future systems , Apple plans to drop Nvidia's mobile graphics chips for the integrated solution in Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge processors. 

Intel's IGPs are generally associated with lackluster performance, but early benchmarks suggest that Sandy Bridge's integrated graphics core is on par with basic discrete cards such as the Radeon HD 5450. If true, that's a substantial leap forward and would at the very least be sufficient for entry-level MacBooks. 

"Historically, if you look at those low-end devices, the 13-inch class products, there's not a lot of room for a discrete GPU. So, going forward, if [Apple was] going to use Sandy Bridge in a low-end product, I think they would have to rely exclusively on the Sandy Bridge integrated graphics," said an Insight64 analyst. 


Using the graphics core built into Intel's processors would presumably reduce system costs, and assuming Apple passes that on to the consumer, we could see more mainstream pricing for lower-tier MacBooks. By cutting Nvidia's discrete parts, there's also potential for increased battery life and slimmer machines. 

We imagine Cupertino will continue to ship premium notebooks with discrete graphics chips, but not necessarily Nvidia's. CNET's sources say that Apple will rely on AMD to supply it with graphics processors for future MacBook Pros, with the possibility of AMD's upcoming Fusion chips appearing in low-end MacBooks.

Read More

Rumor: Apple ditching Nvidia for Intel and AMD

Apple has outfitted its notebooks with Nvidia's graphics chips for years, including the existing MacBook line, but that may not be the case in future systems , Apple plans to drop Nvidia's mobile graphics chips for the integrated solution in Intel's upcoming Sandy Bridge processors. 

Intel's IGPs are generally associated with lackluster performance, but early benchmarks suggest that Sandy Bridge's integrated graphics core is on par with basic discrete cards such as the Radeon HD 5450. If true, that's a substantial leap forward and would at the very least be sufficient for entry-level MacBooks. 

"Historically, if you look at those low-end devices, the 13-inch class products, there's not a lot of room for a discrete GPU. So, going forward, if [Apple was] going to use Sandy Bridge in a low-end product, I think they would have to rely exclusively on the Sandy Bridge integrated graphics," said an Insight64 analyst. 


Using the graphics core built into Intel's processors would presumably reduce system costs, and assuming Apple passes that on to the consumer, we could see more mainstream pricing for lower-tier MacBooks. By cutting Nvidia's discrete parts, there's also potential for increased battery life and slimmer machines. 

We imagine Cupertino will continue to ship premium notebooks with discrete graphics chips, but not necessarily Nvidia's. CNET's sources say that Apple will rely on AMD to supply it with graphics processors for future MacBook Pros, with the possibility of AMD's upcoming Fusion chips appearing in low-end MacBooks.

Read More