The latest attempt by the department of telecom to block access to 17 websites on grounds of national security has gone spectacularly wrong.
First, it has ended up blocking not 17 but thousands of sites or weblogs (or blogs) hosted by popular hosting services like Google’s Blogspot and Yahoo’s Geocities. Second, the ban has been effected….
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eBay is banning sellers from requesting payment through Google Checkout. The online auction giant updated its Safe Payments policy this week to add Google’s new payment service, Google Checkout to its list of online payment methods not permitted on eBay.
A spokesperson for Google said it has no restrictions regarding marketplace use. “We want to work with everybody,” she said on Wednesday.
eBay’s Safe Payments policy states that a payment service must have a “substantial historical track record of providing safe and reliable financial and/or banking related services.”
Google’s spokesperson said yesterday, “Google Checkout is not a beta product. Google has a long history in billing and payments for AdWords and for premium services, such as Google Video.”
Two multi-channel eBay-management services announced integration with Google Checkout - Marketworks and ChannelAdvisor. Both worked with Google during initial development and testing. But eBay sellers may not accept banned services on their customized eBay checkout systems, according to eBay spokesperson Hani Durzy last week.
eBay also appears to have renamed the policy this week. Introduced as the Safe Payments Policy in October 2005 at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/safe-payments-policy.htm, the page now redirects to a policy called Accepted Payments Policy at http://pages.ebay.com/help/policies/accepted-payments-policy.html.
Ok, by now it’s more or less an open secret that Microsoft is going to shift away from its current model and go straight after the iPod with a portable media player of its own, but we’ve landed some exclusive details about the new player courtesy of a trusted insider who is party to some of the discussions Microsoft is having with potential content partners.
Here’s what we’ve learned:
Microsoft’s new portable audio and video player will have a screen that’s “bigger than that of the iPod video” (which isn’t really saying much) and built-in WiFi so you can not only download content directly to the player (sort of like with the MusicGremlin), but actually participate in an Xbox Live-like social network that will help you connect with other people with similar taste and interests. Whether that’s going to be the Live Anywhere service they introduced at E3 we don’t yet know. But we do know the tag line they’re pitching for the device combined with this new network is “Connected Entertainment.”
But it gets better. To attract current iPod users Microsoft is going to let you download for free any songs you’ve already bought from the iTunes Music Store. They’ll actually scan iTunes for purchased tracks and then automatically add those to your account. Microsoft will still have to pay the rights-holders for the songs, but they believe it’ll be worth it to acquire converts to their new player.
Right now the new player is schedule to launch in November, but our source also tells us that Microsoft isn’t stopping with a WiFi-enabled PMP, they’re actually going to launch an MVNO next year using all Windows Mobile-powered HTC handsets. These handsets will let users connect to the same social network you’ll be able to access over WiFi using the portable media player.
Samsung’s SCH-A990 phone will be available to Verizon customers for about $350 after rebate plus a two-year service agreement.
“The launch of the A990 marks the first time a multimedia phone is fully integrated with a high resolution camera in the United States,” said Samsung Senior Vice President Peter Skarzynski. “The a990 is the premier print quality camera phone for photo enthusiasts in the U.S. market.”
The companies said in a news release that the A990 produces photos comparable to a stand-alone camera and also has the ability to transmit the images to a Bluetooth-enabled printer.
The device is also Mobile Web 2.0-capable and accommodates V-cast technology for video and music downloads.
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