Laura Sydell

With New Xbox, Microsoft Makes A Bigger Play For Living Room

Laura Sydell — Mon, 20 May 2013 21:28:00 +0000

Microsoft hasn't exactly had a great couple of years.

Its new Windows 8 operating system was held responsible for the drop in PC sales last quarter. Sales of its Windows Phones lag far behind both the iPhone and Google's Android phones.

The light in the darkness for Microsoft has been the Xbox 360, which has been the top-selling game console for over two years — beating out both the Nintendo Wii and Sony's PlayStation.

Google Launches A Streaming Music Service

Laura Sydell — Wed, 15 May 2013 20:47:00 +0000

The competition for your ears — and dollars — just got a little tougher. On Wednesday, Google launched a paid music subscription service that will put it in direct competition with other streaming services like Spotify and Pandora. The announcement may just be the beginning for Google.

As it gets easier to access the Internet, more fans are streaming their music — not downloading it.

Consumers Facing Subscription Service Overload Will Only Get More Choices

Laura Sydell — Thu, 09 May 2013 07:33:00 +0000

YouTube is expected to announce in the coming days that it will launch paid subscription channels, a first for the online video platform that's been around since 2005. But, with the growing number of subscription services available for entertainment, shopping and news, some consumers say they're reaching digital subscription overload.

Mary Gaughan and her husband get near that point when they think about what movie or TV show they want to watch on free evenings at home. "Where do we get it?

Blazing The Trail For Female Programmers

Laura Sydell — Mon, 29 Apr 2013 07:25:00 +0000

This story is part of our series, The Changing Lives of Women.

Sarah Allen has been the only woman on a team of computer programmers a few times in the more than two decades she has worked in the field.

Crowdsourcing Creativity At The Cinema

Laura Sydell — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 06:57:00 +0000

These days, if they can't find a producer to fund their latest film, a lot of artists turn to crowdsourcing sites like Kickstarter to raise money for production.

But here's a new twist: a project headed up by director Ron Howard that is crowdsourcing the inspiration.

Directors get a lot of credit for great films. Hitchcock, Goddard, Scorsese, Bigelow — they're auteurs, creative visionaries. On that list, some might also include Howard, who directed such films as Apollo 13, The Da Vinci Code and A Beautiful Mind.

T-Mobile: Adds iPhone Ditches 2-Year Contracts

Laura Sydell — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 08:40:00 +0000

T-Mobile announced Tuesday that it's eliminating its two-year contracts in an effort to make its plans more transparent. Subscribers can pay off their phones in two years, and the cost of their plans will go down. T-Mobile is currently the No. 4 carrier.

On Its 7th Birthday, Is Twitter Still The 'Free Speech Party'?

Laura Sydell — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 06:57:00 +0000

It's hard to believe, but seven years ago no one had ever heard of a tweet. Thursday is the anniversary of the first tweet from Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey. It wasn't profound. He wrote:

Since then the social media company has been an important communication tool in everything from the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, to its use as a megaphone for celebrities. Over the years, its relationship to its free speech principles has changed.

From Trivial To Global Town Hall

When it was founded, Twitter seemed rather trivial.

Controlling Your Computer With A Wave Of Your Hand

Laura Sydell — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:41:00 +0000

If you've had wrist and shoulder pain from clicking a mouse, relief may be in sight. This spring, a new motion sensing device will go on sale that will make it possible for the average computer user to browse the Web and open documents with a wave of a finger.

The Leap Motion Controller is on display at the South by Southwest Interactive conference in Austin, Texas, for the first time.

Why Unlocking A Cellphone Could Land User In Jail

Laura Sydell — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 11:31:00 +0000

Maybe you don't like your mobile phone carrier, but you like your phone and you want to keep it but change providers. An obscure change in federal law makes it illegal to switch without permission from your carrier.

If you have, for example, AT&T, in order to switch to T-Mobile you have to unlock the phone, and AT&T can now stop you from doing that.

The change in the copyright law has some people upset, and they're petitioning the White House for a fix.

Sina Khanifar, who is backing the petition, has been personally affected by the rules.

'It's About Time': Facebook Reveals New Search Feature

Laura Sydell — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 07:09:00 +0000

Facebook has launched a new feature that will let its users search for more detailed information across the social network. Soon, you'll be able to find the restaurants and TV shows your friends like or see every picture they've taken at the Grand Canyon.

As much as users may like the new features, the company hasn't exactly been a Wall Street darling. So, the new feature may be less about you and me and more about Facebook's bottom line.

"It's about time," Nate Elliott, an analyst at Forrester Research, said about the new feature.