AC/DC releases new album, Black Ice

Eight years after its latest album, AC/DC released its new album titled "Black Ice" available only at Wal-Mart in an exclusive deal. Fans are cheering AC/DC’s 15-track return, a familiar hard-rock assault produced by Brendan O’Brien. As an appreciation by the fans, the album quickly reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart with 784,000 copies sold making it the second -biggest sales week for an album this year.

For more see ChicagoSunTimes.com

Debt-relief business generate a lot of complaints.

According to the Wall Street Journal citing federal and state regulators, most of the companies that promises to help people settle their credit cards debts for less, do not deliver. The Federal Trade Commission has seen such increase in complaints that it held a workshop last month on the issue and some states attorney general are pushing for more oversight .The debt settlements companies have gotten such a bad reputation that some credit cards companies like American Express say they won't even work with them the Wall Street Journal said.

For more, see WSJ.com

Cheap cellphone rates for calls overseas.

For a lot of people with the need to call overseas via a cellphone, exorbitant costs have always been a major deterrent. But now thanks to some new sevices, that proposition is much more affordable. The new services are offered by companies like Truphone.com, Jajah.com, or Rebtel.com to name a few. Instead of using traditional phone lines to route international phone calls, these new services direct calls over the Internet using VoiP or voice over Internet protocol made popular by other companies like Vonage Holdings (Vonage.com). Each service is a little different on how it works. But according to the WSJ, they most share the same basic; all you need is a cellphone with Internet access and a credit card. After you sign up online, you will receive a text message with a link to download and install the software that will allow your future calls to be routed through the Internet. A preset amount of money will be put on hold from your credit card and the actual amount of the phone calls you make later are then deducted from that. Still according to the Wall Street Journal, these services are a work in progress therefore they are not without their share of problems like static, echo, fainting, etc. But overall, considered the huge savings that they provide, they are well worth the try. For instance, a cellphone call to China on Jajah can cost as little as 3.3 cents a minute or 2 to 18 cents a minute to UK using Rebtel. None of these services covered every country on earth and each one offer different rates for different countries.

For more, see WSJ.com

Bill targetting illegal online pharmacies signed.

On October 15, president Bush signed into law a new bill targeting illegal Online pharmacies and those selling drugs without a valid prescription. The new law, called "The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act," was named after a California teenager who died after overdosing on Vicodin which he purchased online. The new bill pushed by the world biggest Online domain names reggistrar, Go Daddy.com, will require online pharmacies to comply with states laws in which they do business as well as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). With the new requirements, federal authorities will be able to provide Web companies like go daddy.com, a list of legally approved pharmacies. Those companies in turn will be more effective in shutting down illegal pharmacies.

For more see, WebHostingIndustryReview.com

Maverick Mobile Solutions helps you track a lost cellphone.

Ever lost your cellphone or have it stolen just to be depressed at the thought of losing a vital communication device and all the precious contacts information stored in it? Help is on the way. An Indian software company called Maverick Mobile Solutions is testing a new application for cellphone that promises to address the problem. Here how it works: you download the application called Maverick Secure Mobile, on your cellphone and give the company a second phone number to communicate with you in case your cellphone is lost or stolen, and that where it becomes interesting . If your cellphone is lost or stolen and the thief or the person who has it replaces the SIM card with his own, the phone encrypts all the data stored in it and send them to you at the second phone number that you provided.
The application does more by sending you a text message with the location of the phone. It has a feature called Spy Call, with which you can eavesdrop on the person's calls. Also the application let you play a trick on the person possessing the phone by allowing you to make the phone play an annoying loud siren. When you thing that the person has enough of the tricks and maybe be ready to toss the phone, you can send him a text message with your name and location and maybe a reward for returning it.
The application is currently in testing mode, but Nokia has already signed a deal to begin offering it on some of its phones.


For more see NYTimes.com

Wordia.com, an online way to democratise the dictionary.

If posting goofy videos on YouTube is not enough, now you have another avenue not only to make fool of yourself, but to give your own definition of any given word in a recorded video. Wordia.com is the new Web site that makes it possible; think about it like a combination of YouTube and Wikepedia. Its backers among whom is Michael Birch the co-founder of Bebo the social networking site, call the new site a "democratically- compiled" dictionary. democratise

For more, see TheHerald.com

InSpot.org STD e-mail alert service is expanding

A free Web site called InSpot.org created by a Californian non profit organisation by the same name has been allowing users who find out that they have contracted a STD, to anonymously send their partners an e-mail notification to be tested for STD such as HIV, gonorrhea, chlamydia , syphilis etc. Here how it works: the user goes online , fills out a form showing which STD they have contracted and the email address of the person to be alerted, selects a model of e-card and the content of the message then send it either anonymously or with their reference in it. Started in San Francisco, the service has now spread to 10 cities and it is reported that since its creation in 2004, 30,000 people have used the service to send about 50,000 e-cards.



For more, see CNN.com

Crossloop, new computer remote service, to help non techie.

For non techie faced with frustating computer problems and without deep pockets or a stand by IT department , the best next solution is a new free sertvice called Crossloop downloadable at crossloop.com .
The new product is a computer remote control service designed for collaborative help where the person needing help can initiate a session in which a more knowledgeable person in a different location is given access to the disabled computer for a diagnostic and help solve the problem.
For the system to work, both parties need to download the free service on their computers and for security reasons, the person being helped have to sit by the disabled computer and be the one that initiate the session by choosing the share tab. By clicking the share tab, the person seeking help will generate an access code different for each session, and only then can he gives it to the person providing the help to access his computer. That person providing the help can be a family member, a friend or a consultant in a list maintained by CrossLoop. In the case of the use of a listed consultant, there is a reasonable fee to pay the consultant depending on the case. An interesting feature of the service is a rating system in which the person being helped can rate the person providing the help in how helpful he has been.
For now the new service is only available for computers with Windows operating system; a Mac version is on the works and should be available in the next months.

For more, see WSJ.com

Peek, simple gadget to send and receive emails on the go.

For people in constant need of checking their emails on the the fly, a new service called Peek may be the answer. It is a device with one mission and one mission only: to send and receive emails. It does not have a built-in phone, camera or all the other gimmicks that the so called smart phones and other digital devices came with. It is sold at GetPeek.com and Target for $100 plus a $20 monthly fee without a contract. The device supports the majors web based email services like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail etc and supports up to three accounts.

For more, see pcmag.com

Aluratek USB thumb drive provides free Internet radio access.

For Internet radio lovers, a new device by Aluratek called USB Internet Radio Jukebox, is a handy tool to listen to music online from more than 13,000 Web radio stations in 150 countries.
The device the size of a USB flash drive, has all those radio stations information stored in its memory. Plug it in, and an iTunes-like user interface pops up and allows you to search trough thousand of stations. The device lets you search by genre, geographical area, or top 10 stations in each country and you can store your selection to a favorite folder. It retails for about $30 and requires Windows 2000, XP or Vista and Internet Explorer 6 browser or a more recent one.

For more, see thestreet.com

Unlimited domain names are coming soon.

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers or ICANN which administrate the Internet domain names addresses, has planned to open up the system to allow business and organizations to purchase unlimited number of top-level domains. What that means is, business and organizations will no longer be limited to purchase domain names within the limits of the existing 21 top-level domains like .com, .net or .biz.
Anything, popular subjects, types of business, geographic locations, you named it, could constitute a top-level domain. ICANN has reportedly invested $10 million to build the infrastructure for the new system set to start next year. The cost for each of the new domains is estimated to start at $100,000 and the most sought after may be auctioned off. One of the appeal of this new top domains is the fact that buyers of these new domains, can turn around and sell the rights to sub addresses within the domain. For instance, someone who owns the domain .shoes, can sell as many sub addresses within the domain; with that in mind, a shoes retailer doing business under the name Original George, can purchase the unique sub address OriginalGeorge.shoes.
But , a lot of critics are worried that instead of helping , the new naming system may causes too much confusions.

For more, see WSJ.com

Cheap aifares for college students and teachers.

In a time when air travel is dreaded by many because of the many hassles associated with it and the airline compounding the situation with countless surcharges, it is refreshing for students travelers to know that there are still ways to secure airlines tickets at fractions of their costs.
The discount airline tickets for students is today dominated by two major players, STA Travel Inc and StudentUniverse.com.
According to the WSJ, here are some comparisons between airfares bought through those discount outlets and some regularly priced through the airlines directly: a one way ticket between Dallas and Hartford Connecticut is offered at $242 by STA Travel for one-way on an American Airlines flight on December 20; the same ticket purchased through American , would cost $1,006 according to Orbitz.com.
Another example, a fare between New York and London on the same day on Virgin Atlantic Airways is offered at $364 by StudentUniverse.com while listed at $865 on Virgin's own web site.

For more see WSJ.com

live video broadcasting solution offered by Kyte.com and Qik.com

For people looking for a quick and easy way to shoot video on the go and share it almost instantly with an audience, two software companies have distinguished themselves in that field with very appealing products. Those two companies are Kyte.com and Qik.com.
Both these services allow users with the right cell phones and software to shoot video from their phones and broadcast it live on the Web sites of those companies. Example of those phones include the Nokia N series smart phone which runs between $400 and $895 or the Motorola Q, the Sony Ericsson Xperia, the HTC Touch Dual and the Blackjack II. For a live unlimited streaming, users need to have an unlimited Internet data streaming with their mobile phone plans or add the coverage for about $15 to $20 a month.
Beside live streaming, the videos can also be sent to blogs and social networks right from a cell phone. But the coolest thing about the these new services is the possibility for viewers to chat with each other while watching the video. The comments will appear instantly at the bottom of the viewer's screen.
Right now, Kyte services is free for registers users; business too are using it on a free trial base . In the future, the company plans to charge commercial users based either on traffic or revenues.

For more see NYTimes.

American Airlines offers in-flight Internet access.

In partnership with Aircell a telecommunication company, American Airlines has started since August to offer in-flight Internet access on Boeing 767 aircraft's from New-York to Los Angeles, San Francisco and Miami. The service is named Gogo and is a six months trial program. According to the New York Times, with the service, you can send emails, instant-messages or surf the Web. One thing you can not do with it, is connect to VoIP services like the one offered by Skype, to make phone calls via the Internet. Gogo technology is capable of allowing it but a filter have been put in place to prohibit it. Another restriction that has been just added, is the ability to visit adult sites.
For a cross country flight, the gogo service costs $12.95.
Delta and Virgin America are in the work to offer the service by year end while Air Canada plans to do so by next spring.

For more see NY Times

Google creates links to music stores from YouTube.

In its continuous effort to try to monetize YouTube, Google just announced a way for the video site users to buy songs from Apple's iTunes or Amazon.com.The way it works is like this: when users watch a video with a music track on YouTube, they will be able to click on an icon appearing next to the video to pay and download that song from one of the two music stores without having to leave the site.
Google plans to expand the program to include other merchants as well as other products like concerts tickets, video games etc.
For now, the program is only available in the U.S., but Google plans to roll it out internationally in the coming months.

For more, see PCmagazine.com

BlackBerry Storm smart phone to hit stores by year end.

Research in Motion Ltd. the company behind the BlackBerry brand, will be entering the smart phone market dominated by Apple's iPhone. According to the Wall Street Journal, like the iPhone, the BlackBerry Storm has a touch screen and will work on broadband networks both in the U.S. and Europe. In the U.S., Verizon Wireless will be the exclusive carrier while in Europe, it will be Vodafone. The BlackBerry Storm will be preloaded with applications for social network sites like Facebook and photo-sharing sites like Flickr and many other applications. But unlike Google's Android phone, it will not be an open platform. It is set to go on sale in the U.S. by year end and the price is not known yet. Verizon Wireless only suggested that the price will be competitive which make some experts think that it will sell in the neighborhood of $200 to $300 .

For more, see SFGate.com

Yahoo new APT display Ads system announced.

Yahoo announced last month its new ads buying and selling system called APT. The new system aims to make buying and selling ads easier by allowing publishers and advertisers to manage display advertising across various Web sites. Formerly known as AMP, Yahoo new system will involve the more than 800 newspapers members of an alliance with the search company as well as as agencies and ad networks. But newspapers are set to benefit the most from the new system by allowing them to use Yahoo targeted advertising technology which will yield more returns for their ad inventories. Also advertisers are poised to benefit from the new system with the possibilities to reach more sites with just one ad buy. For publishers, APT will give them the option to let yahoo or other newspapers sell their excess inventory at a certain price.
The program is being tested by some newspapers and will be extended to advertisers, ad agencies and ad networks throughout the end of this year and unto the new year.

For more see, editor&publisher.com

A year later, Vudu movies delivery system is still little known.

For movies lovers, a year old device called Vudu is just what the doctor ordered. Vudu is a set top that connects to your TV and allow you to choose from 10,000 movies and TV shows to play directly from the Internet. The device sells for $300 with a limited time movie credit of $200 for any new purchase. Most most movies become available for sale on the Vudu service the day they are out on DVDs and available for rental 30 days later. Starting this month, a free software upgrade will deliver a new movie-quality called HDX which is better quality than most Hi-Def enabled services.
Users who rent movies will have 30 days to initiate viewing. Once initiated, viewing must be completed within 24 hours or before the end of the 30th day, whichever is sooner. You can extend your rental for another week for $1.99 or for another day with $1.
If you buy movies, you may view it for as long as you own your VUDU Equipment, with or without a VUDU Service account.

For more, see PCmagazine

New Web Site Tributes.com a place to pay respect to the deceased.

Using the tools of networking or archiving of sites like classmates.com or wedding.com, Tributes.com is a new web portal aiming to offer people a one stop place to search for the names of the deceased, learn more about their lives and memorialize it. According to the New York Times, Tributes.com compile its database using information from funeral homes and the Social Security Administration's Death Index database going back to the 1890s.
People can place obituaries up to 300 words at no charge or pay $80 for a year placement or $300 for an unlimited placement period. Others services offered by the site include, the posting of funeral details, an email alert system of the passing of a loved ones etc. A feature addition will allow users to download their address book to the site to be kept informed about the passing of people in that book.

For more, see NYTimes.

Netflix adds Starz movies to online streaming service.

Netflix Inc struck a deal last week with Starz Entertainment that will add about 2,500 movies, television shows and music concerts to Netflix's actual library of about 12,000 videos available for online viewing. The deal is the latest in a series that Netflix has been making to help boost its online movies offerings (see previous post) The new deal will cover the rights to stream movies from Disney and Sony corp with titles such as "Superbad", "Ratatouille", "No Country for Old Men" etc. These movies and more are already available online through a service called Starz Play that Starz provides to other partners like Verizon who offer the streaming to subscribers for a monthly fee. But Netflix subscribers of one of its unlimited plans will get the new movies from the new deal, free.

For more, see Reuters.

Fitbit Tracker to help achieve a healthier lifestyle.

Introduced last month at TechCrunch50 conference in San Francisco, a new device called Fitbit Tracker has a lofty goal to monitor people's health factors such as calories burned, amount and quality of sleep, etc. It's a tiny wireless device the size of a person's thumb that the user can attach almost anywhere on his or her person to help him or her monitor the health factors described above and much more. According to the New York Times, the device uses a motion sensor called accelerometer like the one in use in the Nintendo Wii to track and convert motion into intelligble data. The device which will go on sale starting next year, will cost $99 and comes with a wireless base that collects the data and send it to a free Web site. On the site, users can enter additional information related to the their food consumption and others personal factors to get a bigger picture of their overall health.

For more, see USAToday