Looking to boost the number of computers whirring away in living rooms, Intel unveiled its first list of companies whose products are expected to work with the chip maker's upcoming Viiv entertainment PC platform.
So far, about 40 companies that develop TV, movie, music, gaming and photo-editing products are testing and verifying services, programs and gadgets that will interact with the Intel (INTC) technology.
The goal of the Viiv label, he said, is to avoid consumer confusion and questions over interoperability. It also will ensure the products will work when the PC is being controlled from a distance by remote control.
Digital video recorder pioneer TiVo (TIVO) plans to use the technology to make it simple not only to transfer from TiVo set-top box to a Viiv PC but also allow for the transfer of shows on the PC to a TiVo. Viiv also will make it easier to move the content to a DVD or handheld player.
Intel declined to comment on whether Apple is participating in Viiv. Earlier this year, Apple announced that it would start using Intel microprocessors in its Macintosh computers, and it also has released entertainment PC-like software for its latest iMacs.
Viiv owners will be able to put their PCs in a standby state with the press of a button and reawaken it instantly the same way. The machines also ship with 5.1 surround sound, with an option to upgrade to 7.1. In addition, the systems will have a media server "engine" that reformats digital content for viewing on a variety of devices.
Viiv is expected to be available in the first quarter of next year.
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Call the primitives for free: Cingular is testing a service that allows unlimited calls between its cell phones and the home phones of AT&T's local telephone customers.
The test program, dubbed Mobile2Home, comes as local phone operators face increasing competition from cable providers, and as mobile providers have to fight harder to win new mobile users and hold onto existing ones.
Mobile2Home will cost $6 a month and will be available only until February 25 to Connecticut customers who combine their AT&T local phone bills with their Cingular phone bills.
One analyst predicted that the trial would be popular with consumers and force rivals to follow suit.
If the service is expanded, it would be a step toward U.S. operators' ambitions to integrate traditional landline phone services with wireless services to improve convenience and tie in customers for longer.
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Really, really simple: Looking to gain another edge on its rivals, Yahoo will begin testing a new email folder designed to make it easier for people to track the latest information posted on their favorite websites.
The free feature relies on RSS, an increasingly popular technology that can compile content from a wide array of websites catering to a user's personal tastes.
Millions of people have signed up to receive automatic feeds on everything from the international news to family recipes since Yahoo (YHOO) first began providing its RSS service last year.
Creating an email folder for RSS seemed like a logical way for Yahoo to educate more people about the technology because email remains the most popular application online.
Initially, the latest RSS feature will be available to less than half of Yahoo's email accountholders as the company tests the new format. Yahoo has been gradually moving its email users to a more dynamic version of the service since introducing a series of upgrades in September.
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Wireless charity: To help boost its stalled economy, hurricane-ravaged New Orleans is offering the nation's first free wireless internet network owned and run by a major city.
Mayor Ray Nagin said the system would benefit residents and small businesses who still can't get their internet service restored over the city's washed out telephone network, while showing the nation "that we are building New Orleans back."
The system started operation in the central business district and French Quarter. It's to be available throughout the city in about a year.
Hundreds of similar projects in other cities have met with stiff opposition from phone and cable TV companies, which have poured money into legislative bills aimed at blocking competition from government agencies -- including a state law in Louisiana that needed to be sidestepped for the New Orleans project.
The system uses hardware mounted on street lights. Most of the $1 million in equipment was donated by three companies: Intel, Tropos Networks and Pronto Networks. The companies also plan to donate equipment for the citywide expansion. Tropos is connecting the system to the internet at no charge.
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Compiled by Keith Axline. AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
