WiMax dealt another blow: new Sprint phones to be LTE-only

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Sprint is putting another nail in its WiMax coffin by confirming at an Orlando mobile carrier conference that it will no longer release new WiMax phones, instead relying on devices that run on its upcoming LTE 4G network. It’s news likely to be watched closely by Bellevue-based wireless broadband provider Clearwire, which has received a… Read More…

Best Buy’s 50 closing big-box stores may be Amazon’s victims

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There’s a lot of speculation about who or what is to blame for Best Buy’s decision to shutter 50 of its big box stores. But Goldman Sachs analyst Matthew Fassler thinks a large part of the reason might reside in Seattle, and Amazon.com. Fassler is quoted by the Associated Press as writing that when it comes to Best… Read More…

Weekend project: How to build a Star Wars TIE fighter

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If you have a spare 30 hours and $300 this weekend, you may want to try a do-it-yourself project that’s a bit more satisfying to your inner geek than, say, installing new linoleum flooring. Dave Putnam, who put his eight-foot by eight-foot, roughly one-third scale replica of the iconic TIE fighter from Star Wars up… Read More…

Seattle schools to offer digital animation, game courses

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Budding digital animators and game programmers will soon have another option for learning those skills — through Seattle Public Schools’ new Skills Center. Applications are now being taken for the Skills Center, which will offer high school programs in Aerospace Science and Health Science, as well as a Cisco/Microsoft IT Academy for those pursuing careers… Read More…

Amazon.com’s Jeff Bezos plans historic deep-sea Apollo 11 engine recovery

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A massive bit of space history that inspired an entire generation of geeks has been found by Jeff Bezos — and ideally would be headed to Seattle’s Museum of Flight. The Amazon.com founder’s Bezos Expeditions has announced it’s identified, under 14,000 feet of water, the huge F-1 engines that powered the initial stage of Apollo… Read More…

Seattle ranks in top 5 for broadband download speed

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Feeling a bit sluggish, Seattle? Perhaps a move to Austin, San Francisco or Boston will perk you up. Pando Networks, which delivers content and downloads for MMO games, has released its annual American Broadband Study. And in it, Seattle ranks fourth for average download speeds among the largest cities in the U.S., with an average… Read More…

Urbanspoon updates iPhone app; adds filters, partners

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Urbanspoon is, if you’ll forgive the pun, shaking up its signature iPhone app with a completely new interface and by adding recommendations, filters and maps. The new app available today still preserves the traditional slot-machine “shake” method of finding restaurants for which Urbanspoon is known. But the free app now highlights other methods of finding… Read More…

Raveld reveals Klout-like score for cloud spending on AWS

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It may start getting easier to make optimal Amazon Web Services purchasing decisions. Or, at least, less expensive. Raveld, a Seattle-based startup formed last year, is launching a new free service to help organizations decide which AWS resources they need. At its heart, it is a report containing what the company calls the Raveld Score,… Read More…

Kindle Touch to launch in Europe April 27

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Amazon’s Kindle Touch will finally make it across the pond to Europe, five months after its U.S. launch — but not the advertising-subsidized version. The BBC is reporting that April 27 is the launch date of the touchscreen-driven Kindle in the UK, Germany, France, Spain and Italy. However, notes the Beeb, “there will not be… Read More…

T-Mobile sued by Israeli firm over near field technology

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Wireless carrier T-Mobile USA is facing a lawsuit over its near field communication (NFC) technology. Israel’s On Track Innovations (OTI), which has products that include the COPNI (Contactless Payment and NFC Insert) device to add NFC capability to non-NFC mobile phones, said it filed the patent infringement suit against the Bellevue, WA-based carrier in New York… Read More…

Amazon adds DRM to ‘DRM-free’ Harry Potter eBooks

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Those expecting to unwind with all seven Harry Potter volumes in glorious, DRM-unencumbered pixel are likely in for a disappointment, according to early buyers. An original announcement about the pending digital publication of J.K. Rowling’s epic said Rowling’s Pottermore site, “will sell DRM-free eBooks of the series for the first time.” Apparently, not exactly. Nate Hoffelder of… Read More…

Microsoft embraces, extends open source mapping

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File this under “the enemy of my enemy is my friend:” Microsoft is reportedly lending “big support and big dollars” to an open source mapping project in order to counter Google Maps. OpenStreetMap, which is run by the U.K.-based non-profit OpenStreetMap Foundation, is a self-described “free wiki world map” which operates much like Wikipedia. Volunteers… Read More…

Microsoft’s goal to ‘disrupt,’ not just take down, Zeus botnet

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It’s a seemingly unending battle. Botnets get put up by bad guys, taken down by good guys and are replaced presumably by either the same or newer bad guys. But Microsoft’s highly publicized leadership role in last Friday’s take down of several botnets using Zeus malware is being called “unprecedented” — by Microsoft itself. In… Read More…

No Comcast bandwidth cap for on-demand Xbox video

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Comcast is releasing a few more details on its promised Xfinity TV for Xbox 360 service with what might be an unexpected plus: video streaming to an Xbox through the service won’t count against Comcast’s monthly 250GB broadband cap. In an updated FAQ on the Comcast site, Comcast notes the cap won’t apply because, “the… Read More…

HasOffers sees opportunity in Apple’s UDID blocking

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Apple reportedly has begun rejecting new iOS apps that access unique device identifiers, leading to developer concern — and potential upside for ad tracking firms including Seattle’s HasOffers. Over the weekend, TechCrunch reported that Apple had begun bouncing new apps that use the UDID (Unique Device Identifier), an alphanumeric character string specific to each individual… Read More…

Playwright Mike Daisey: ‘I would like to apologize’

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Ten days after being put in an unflattering spotlight after public radio’s This American Life retracted its story about him, playwright Mike Daisey has posted a public apology on his blog. Daisey, whose one-man show “The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs” both raised awareness of issues at plants operated by Apple device manufacturer… Read More…

7 steps to raise a geek child

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It’s inevitable. New babies are coming into the world. I began to notice this when former colleagues were no longer available for a chat, coffee or Words with Friends. Instead, I heard them use long-forgotten phrases, terms such as “t-ball practice” or “play date.” And I suddenly realized my geek acquaintances were producing little geeklets…. Read More…

Inside Alaska Airlines’ new Boeing Sky Interior

Sculpted ceiling, sloping bins and window recesses add to a feel of spaciousness

For 17 years, I have qualified to be a sardine. That is to say that — since some time in 1996 —  I have so often tightly packed my 6’4″ self into winged metal containers filled with people that I have qualified for MVP Gold status on Alaska Airlines every year. “Sardine” is one of… Read More…

How car dealers embrace, and erode, the web

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We may finally be seeing how business, when faced with a technological threat, adapts. Not by changing practices. But by waiting until it can develop antibodies to overwhelm the intruder. Twelve years ago, I bought my first car online. Routine as it might sound now, it was a Big Deal back then. The web (still… Read More…

Microsoft and education: lead or cheerlead?

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In the Seattle area there is a powerhouse co-founded by Bill Gates, dedicated to using advances in technology to change education. And then there is Microsoft. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has, over the past several years, poured hundreds of millions of dollars into education reform in the U.S. With grants to, and through,… Read More…