Good Morning Silicon Valley

Turns out I wasn’t too far off when I joked that Sony’s PlayStation 3 would launch with an indentured servitude purchase plan. At a recent appearance in Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment CEO Ken Kutaragi offered a few more details about the guts of the console and its lofty price tag. “We’re looking at a life [...]

Microsoft has shipped the beta of its newly re-christened Vista operating system early, a first for the next-generation OS, which has suffered from a conga line of high profile delays. Vista was delivered to about 10,000 key developers this morning, almost a week ahead of its promised August 3 ship date. “This beta is designed [...]

A study published today confirms what anyone who isn’t somehow affiliated with the Recording Industry Association of America has long known: File sharing is not the major cause of declining music sales over the past few years. Rather, it’s a trend driving what could someday prove to be one of the music industry’s most lucrative [...]

“Dear Sen. Clinton:
I’m writing to commend you for calling for a $90-million study on the effects of video games on children, and in particular the courageous stand you have taken in recent weeks against the notorious ‘Grand Theft Auto’ series.
I’d like to draw your attention to another [...]

If you haven’t yet registered your copy of Windows with Microsoft, you’d better. Because if you don’t, Redmond will cut you off from the free, regular system updates it provides. Microsoft on Tuesday officially launched Windows Genuine Advantage, a program designed to temper the widespread counterfeiting of the company’s software by requiring Windows users to [...]

Looks like the yearlong slide in Amazon’s profitability has finally ended (see “Amazon investors: Run away! Run away!“).
Amazon shares surged 11% on Wednesday after the online retailer reported second-quarter sales and profit that topped Wall Street expectations. Excluding expenses, Amazon reported operating income of $104 million in the quarter, up 21 percent from a year [...]

Has Sun finally turned the corner? The company, which has struggled financially since the end of the dot-com era in 2001, would certainly like us to think so. After market close Tuesday, the computer maker reported a profit for its fourth quarter, albeit on declining revenues. Excluding all the charges and gains in the quarter, [...]

Avoider, an infuriating and quite addictive little flash game and USB cable bolognaise

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