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By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
This was previously announced in December, but now it has a real name: “Pepsi Stuff.”
Four billion (with a b!) specially marked packages of Pepsi products will have collectible points on them that can be “banked,” starting Feb. 1, on PepsiStuff.com - and later redeemed for purchases at Amazon MP3.
This was one […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Is it sufficient to say “woo-hoo”?! Many have been jonesing for an Asus Eee PC with Windows XP for some time, not just in terms of the upcoming new models, but also because the first-gen Eee PC could supposedly support it as well. Wednesday, in an emailed press release, Asus outlined […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
If you were annoyed by the hoops Sony BMG said you had to jump through to get DRM-free downloads of their music, you can rejoice. In a major coup, Amazon.com announced Thursday that by the end of January you’ll be able to download MP3 versions of Sony BMG music from […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
The rumors of Paramount dropping HD-DVD in favor of Blu-ray were dispelled - at least temporarily - earlier in the week when Paramount flatly denied it was leaving the HD-DVD camp. But a report in Daily Variety confirms that Universal’s commitment to HD DVD has expired. And with Paramount […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
To address charges by the European Union that different pricing in the U.K. violates E.U. rules, Apple has announced it will be lowering pricing in its U.K. iTunes Store to match the already standardized pricing in the rest of Europe, but … there’s that word “but” again.
The wording of the press […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
The Financial Times has a report that if true, would send HD-DVD into the same abyss as Betamax: it states there is a clause in Paramount’s contract with the HD-DVD group that would allow it to switch sides in the event of Warner backing Blu-ray, and that Paramount is “poised” to […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Friday Warner Bros., the last “on the fence” studio, announced its decision to drop HD-DVD at the of end of May and focus on Blu-ray only. Fallout, as well as some crowing, and even some veiled threats, has begun.
First the HD-DVD Group issued a short, terse press release in response […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
According to a report, Sony BMG is about to become the last of the top four music labels - or should we say, the last holdout - to drop DRM. The first signs of this will come in the form of the Amazon/Pepsi 1 Billion Song giveaway, according to Business […]

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
Anyone remember the Foleo? We do - it was Palm’s ill-fated attempt to marry an underpowered UMPC with a cell phone, and it died a very, very swift death. See our coverage “5 Reasons Why Palm’s New Foleo Device Will Fail”
Today we fond out that the Foleo concept is rising from the […]

By Alice Hill
RealTechNews
OK - so it isn’t, but after all the ugly iPhone imitations, this is the first concept design that actually looks appealing. We hereby take quick a break from reality to bring you the following idea. A forum member on ZuneScene named Teccom747 dreamed up this concept phone. His specs:
The Zune 3 is […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Less than six months after Intel and the One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Foundation buried the hatchet, with Intel joining the OLPC board as its 11th member, the partnership is over. The reason was apparently continued friction over the Classmate PC, which was a source of friction between the two groups […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
What’s “Naked DSL?” It’s DSL you can get without having to have phone service as well. With more people going totally wireless phone-wise, it’s a “tier” people want. And it was part of the conditions (.PDF) AT&T agreed to in order to get FCC approval of the BellSouth […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
iTunes, Wal-Mart, and Amazon’s “Amazon MP3” service sell DRM-free music downloads, but so far only from EMI (along with a “test” by Universal Music Group). Today Amazon.com announced it has beaten Apple (!) to the punch; it’s signed a deal with Warner Music Group to sell MP3 downloads, giving customers […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
I wrote earlier about the Nintendo Wii “Raincheck Program,” exclusive to GameStop. That program will run one day only— Dec. 21st (it was originally said on a Nintendo teleconference to be the 20th and 21st). Today GameStop issued a press release outlining the full program details.
Rather than calling it […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
As we know, earlier this month CompUSA announced it had sold its assets to restructuring firm Gordon Brothers Group, which will sell or close the remaining 103 stores after the holidays. While it was clear the stores would sell as much merchandise as possible in close-out sales, there were still […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
My thought is Carlos Slim, wanting to keep his status as (arguably) richest man in the world, has decided to stop throwing money down a hole. CompUSA will shut down after the holiday season.
Slim has owned CompUSA since 2000. It’s a subsidiary of his U.S. Commercial Corp S.A.B. de C.V. […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
Remember when George Lucas digitally remastered the original Star Wars trilogy? He said it was to “finish the film the way it was meant to be.” Most of the changes were cosmetic, enhancing the films with special effects that were not available when the films were first made. […]

By Michael Santo
Executive Editor, RealTechNews
The idea of free wi-fi across the entirety of San Francisco, championed by Mayor Gavin Newsome, has become contentious. The proposal has bogged down over issues such as user security, speeds, and contract terms. The idea was for Earthlink to build the system, and recoup its costs by offering […]