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Apple settles patent suit over iPhone visual voice mail

Apple has settled a patent-infringement lawsuit over the visual voice mail system used in the iPhone by signing a license for the technology in question.

Klausner Technologies sued Apple and AT&T last December over the visual voice mail feature inside the iPhone, which lets you select and listen to voice mail from a list of messages, just like an e-mail in-box. Reuters reports that Apple, AT&T, and eBay are all now licensees to Klausner's technology, although financial terms of the deal were undisclosed.

AOL and Vonage had already signed deals with Klausner before it came … Read more

SproutCore to spruce up Apple's Safari Web applications?

Apple may be looking at an open-source solution as a way to get around Adobe Systems' Flash technology.

Roughly Drafted was able to find a developer willing to talk about last week's Worldwide Developers Conference sessions, which are supposed to be confidential. But these things have a way of coming to light, and one session on Friday apparently covered a technology called SproutCore that could give Apple a way to get its Cocoa development frameworks into the hearts and minds of Web developers.

Web applications are big these days, and developers are continuously looking for ways to improve the … Read more

T-Mobile Germany to offer 3G iPhone for 1 euro

T-Mobile is gearing up to offer a 3G iPhone in Germany for only 1 euro, provided users sign up for its monthly 69-euro service plan, according to a Reuters report on Monday.

That translates into an iPhone purchase of roughly $1.55, and a monthly service plan of $107.

Under T-Mobile's offering, the telecom provider will sell the phones with 8GB of memory, while a 16GB phone will go for 19.95 euros, or nearly $31.

T-Mobile's announcement of its 3G iPhone offering comes a week after Apple rolled out the latest version of its popular cell phone. … Read more

$15 to check a bag, but free to charge an iPod

United Airlines has been subject to some pretty bad press recently for being one of several airlines to slap a $15 fee on checked bags, but here's a perk: the commerical carrier announced on Monday that it's starting to install iPod and iPhone connectivity features in its airplanes.

More specifically, owners of Apple's media devices can hook them up to the planes' in-flight entertainment systems; they can navigate through music and video on the seat back televisions while charging the devices in the process. The connectivity technology has been manufactured by Panasonic Avionics.

United is the first … Read more

Will AOL's iPhone app pave way for Pandora?

Details of AOL's streaming radio application for the Apple iPhone 3G have surfaced after it was revealed that the application won an Apple design award for "Best Entertainment Application" at this year's WWDC. The free application will be available for the iPhone 3G next month, allowing users to stream 200 AOL online radio stations and 150 terrestrial radio stations over both Wi-Fi and 3G cellular connections.

While news of streaming radio capabilities coming to the iPhone is certainly exciting, personally, the thought of listening to terrestrial and AOL online stations doesn't exactly get my blood … Read more

Best iPod alternatives for Mac

Some Apple devotees wouldn't dream of questioning the Steve Jobs-sanctioned threeway between their Mac, iTunes, and their iPod. But the truth is that there are other fish in the sea when it comes to finding a Mac-friendly MP3 player (in fact, there are some great iTunes alternatives for Mac, too).

Maybe you're shopping for a player with an FM radio, a larger screen, better sound quality, or maybe you're just short on cash. Whatever your motivations, here's a roundup of our favorite non-iPod MP3 players for the Mac.

Gadgettes 94: The Solar Episode

Lindsey's going green, pigeons! Molly and Jason never knew she was such a hippie. But she'll have a chance to explain herself on this week's solar powered episode of Gadgettes. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 94

Microinverters track solar panels via the Web http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-9964732-54.html

The solar powered golf cart at Hammacher Schlemmer http://www.hammacher.com/publish/11164.asp

Floating solar farm juices up winery http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9954667-1.html

Profolio solar bag, take solar with you anywhere you need it! http://www.rewarestore.com/product/profolio.html

Artificial … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 745: Spit to spam to Spain

Microsoft and Yahoo are dead, over, done, in the ground, and Yahoo has moved on to Google, and that's the end of it. Or is it!? Also today, spitting crosses the line, cell phones cause serious (like, for real) addiction in some Spanish teens, Metallica retracts its redaction of some blogger reviews, and MySpace is getting a new design. Phew. Finally.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 745

Analysts don’t rule out a Microsoft-Yahoo deal just yet http://news.cnet.com/8301-10784_3-9967862-7.html http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080612-microsoft-yahoo-deal-really-seriously-dead-this-time.html http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2008/06/our-agreement-to-provide-ad-technology.html … Read more

Is resurrection possible in technology?

TechCrunch's post mortem on Yahoo! is a bit overdone, but for me it begs an important question: Is it possible to resurrect a failing technology company?

Look at IBM, and you'd say "Yes." IBM had been on a serious decline, only to be revived by Lou Gerstner. Or how about Apple, which has gone from also-ran to industry leader in ten years.

But there are precious few IBM and Apple stories to tell. Digital? SGI? And so on. There are far more technology companies who rose, plateau'd, and then faded into obsolescence or bankruptcy.

It'… Read more