Pangea has released its first Mac game port, Runic.

Use Spotlight's comments to help group unrelated files together, to launch applications more quickly, or to find obscure documents in a hurry.

The romance is gone

OSBC Red Hat chief executive Matthew Szulik today told startups to forget the "romance" of open source and build businesses that compete with proprietary vendors on services and value.

Thin on the inside and on details

Sun Microsystems will vend Hitachi's latest high-end "virtual" storage system as the Sun StorageTek 9990V.

Google's been talking about wireless spectrum for a while now, both as part of a coalition asking for the white space around TV channels to be opened up, but it's also been mentioned as a possible bidder in the upcoming 700 MHz spectrum auctions later this year. While Google's not commenting on whether or not it will bid on the spectrum, it has made a proposal to the FCC to allow for a "real-time airwaves auction model" for it. Google wants to set up a system for the spectrum that would work much like AdWords does, only instead of advertisers bidding for impressions, service providers would be bidding for spectrum. While we're supportive of ways to make spectrum more flexible and useful, and support the idea of allowing spectrum to be leased and sold in general, it's hard to see a lot of benefit in Google's plan. It says the auction would allow for spectrum to be fully utilized by letting companies easily auction off excess in real-time. That may be true, but it seems unlikely that there will be a lot of interest from potential bidders. Short-term leases that carry few guarantees aren't exactly attractive if you're trying to build a sustainable business -- for instance, it's not a great idea to start up a mobile broadband service one month, then tell your customers that you're sorry, but you got outbid this month, so you've gone dark, but they can be sure and check back next month to see if the service is up again. Perhaps the bottom line here is that spectrum owners should have the flexibility to do something like this, or lease their spectrum another way, should they see fit. But simply having that ability doesn't automatically make it a good idea to do so.

Filed under: Cellphones

There are carrier exclusivity agreements, and there are carrier exclusivity agreements -- and Apple's iPhone deal must have been pretty sweet for Cupertino to guarantee their new hotness to AT&T and AT&T alone for five friggin years. USA Today reports the supposed half-decade deal precludes Apple from developing a CDMA handset in that time (duh), meaning that if you live in the US and don't want to move to AT&T, it's going to be 2012 before you even have a chance at an iPhone. Better still, Today reports that Cingular's arch-nemesis Verizon is claiming to have an iPhone-killer in the wings. According to Denny Strigl, Verizon CEO, "We do have a very good response in the mill. You'll see that from us in the late summer." It's war, people, make no mistake about it.

[Thanks, Eric]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Office Depot Featured Gadget: Xbox 360 Platinum System Packs the power to bring games to life!

Electric car startup Tesla Motors has signed a deal to sell $43 million worth of lithium-ion battery packs to a Norwegian electric car company. This is a big deal for the company, as it's evidence of a growing market for the company's technology. The technology, however, is only part of the story. What's interesting is that a new generation of auto companies have business models that look more like computer makers than Detroit automakers. Instead of simply thinking about the car as the finished product, new companies in the automotive space (with Tesla being the most prominent) are able to focus on specific technology problems while nimbly swapping in and out parts made by other companies. It'll be some time before the change is complete, but it's clear that the technology itself is only part of the revolution.

We hear reports of Mac misbehavior -- yellowing cases, faulty batteries, flawed displays -- but wonder how to put those reports in context. Are they happening to lots of Mac users or a vocal few? And how hard is it to get problems resolved when they do flare up? To find out, we commissioned a survey to gauge how Mac users rate their machines for reliability and satisfaction. The results may surprise you.

Goes Swiss with STMicroelectronics

Intel has followed AMD's lead by creating a separate flash memory business with a partner.