Gizmodo reports that the Nintendo Wii has debuted their new connected feature dubbed the Wii News Channel. The feature lets Wii junkies check in on news headlines, which are mapped on a 3-D globe. The map & news mash-up is decidedly Web 2.0 for a video game console.
In a hearing set for next week, Democratic senators will aggressively interrogate the Republican-run FCC on issues such as "media-ownership diversity, Internet access, broadcast decency
standards and delays."
Microsoft announced a promotion that will give laptops running Vista free access to T-Mobile hot spots for three months. Cruising boys at Starbucks just got much more connected!
In related Vista news, Microsoft, for the first time, will make the Vista and MS Office upgrades available for purchase by download, the company announced this week. Both are released next week.
Several
big mobile phone companies announced that they are teaming up to
develop an open-source, Linux version of an operating system for cell
phones. A mobile Linux platform will follow in the steps of Windows Mobile and iPhone's OSX.
Other Music, an influential record store in New York City that outlasted Tower Records by offering hand-picked indie artists, will launch a downloadable online music store in February. Co-owner Josh Madell told Wired this week: "I personally prefer vinyl to CDs and CDs to MP3s, but in the end I'm
just glad people are listening to music, and the convenience factor of
MP3s is undeniable."
Google announced a newly invigorated version of its Google Groups discussion forums. Said a Google spokesman: "We see the new version of Groups as wikis for the masses, with discussions woven in." Google groups are an extension of Usenet, one of the oldest and most popular message board discussion communities online.
Daniel Williford is our TowleTech correspondent.
You can visit him at his blog, Until Today…
