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Palm shows Pre at D

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In one of the more anticipated chats at D: All Things Digital, Palm Executive Chairman Jon Rubinstein showed off the Palm Pre and talked about several features of the smartphone for the first time.

Rubinstein showed how the device can search Amazon's MP3 store and download songs directly to the device, a feature mentioned at the Pre's unveiling at CES in January. The Pre is scheduled to go on sale June 6 with a price tag of $199.99, after rebate.

He also showed a "media sync" feature that lets users grab nonprotected media … Read more

D7 puts tech on the hot seat

Hosted by Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher, the D: All Things Digital conference, now in its seventh year, brings out some of the biggest names in the online business.

Video: Hands-on look at the Zune HD As All Things D wrapped up on Thursday, CNET News' Ina Fried got a quick chance to get close to the Zune HD, which Microsoft plans to ship this fall. (Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried) May 28, 2009 3:47 PM PDT

Palm shows Pre at D Former Apple hardware guru Jon Rubinstein shows some new features of the Pre smartphone and … Read more

Mozilla executives address Firefox's challenges

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Although it has managed to grab nearly a quarter of the browser market, Mozilla now finds itself in an unenviable position--competing against Microsoft, Apple, and Google all at the same time.

Speaking at D: All Things Digital on Thursday, Mozilla's Mitchell Baker noted that the company didn't set out with that in mind.

"That's not the business model you are going to pick," Baker said. "It is a daunting space to compete with the three giants of the era."

That said, Baker and fellow Mozilla executive John Lilly said there is still a place for Firefox.

"We've just got to be us," Lilly said. "Mozilla has always been about scratching an itch."

Another challenge, Lilly said, is that people don't perceive the browser as something that changes their Web experience. "Most people just think it's this pane of glass," Lilly said. Three quarters of people use the browser that comes with their computer, he said.

But browsers are important, Lilly maintained.

"We spend more time with our browser than we do in our cars," Lilly said. "The real truth, I spend more time with my browser than I do with my family." … Read more

At D7, Washington Post meets Huffington Post

CARLSBAD, Calif.--The Washington Post publisher Katharine Weymouth on Thursday tried to put the best face on the changes that have battered the newspaper industry.

"There is no doubt we have our challenges," Weymouth said, appearing on the D: All Things Digital stage along with Arianna Huffington. "We are going through this incredible seismic shift in the industry."

At the same time, she noted that 90 percent of The Washington Post's Internet traffic is outside he Washington Post, presenting the paper with an opportunity that didn't exist in print.

"We have to adapt,&… Read more

NBC's Zucker: 'Seinfeld' wouldn't make it today

CARLSBAD, Calif.--NBC Universal's chief executive said the changing economics of television means that networks have to change the way programming is done.

There's room for hits and there's room for inexpensive programming, Jeff Zucker said Thursday, speaking at the D: All Things D conference.

"What's gone is the middle," Zucker said. "You cannot sustain just average programming."

That also means shows have less time to mature, he said. Zucker noted that "Seinfeld" would probably not make it in today's environment, noting it did just so-so in an initial … Read more

Ballmer on Bing, the economy, and more

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer kicked off his speech Thursday talking about the economy, though he also plans to show off Microsoft's revamped search engine within minutes.

In a speech at D: All Things Digital, Ballmer was asked by moderator Walt Mossberg to discuss the economy and how long the downturn will last. Ballmer said that he didn't expect the the economic collapse to be a 50-year-thing, but it won't turn around in three months either. (Thanks for narrowing that down)

"People generally agree this is a different recession," Ballmer said. "To think … Read more

Cuban: Internet video progress 'disappointing'

CARLSBAD, Calif.--Mark Cuban says that despite the growth of YouTube, the Internet video market over the last decade has actually been a disappointment.

The problem, he said, is that when Google bought YouTube it focused on ubiquity rather than making money. The result, he said, is that the market can't really sustain itself.

"This is a company that is literally subsidizing the bandwidth for the world," Cuban said, speaking at the D: All Things Digital event. That's a risk, Cuban said, if someone were to ever find a better search business model than Google.

"… Read more

MySpace CEO: We need to innovate faster

CARLSBAD, Calif.--MySpace's problem is pretty simple, says former Facebook executive Owen Van Natta, who is now MySpace's CEO.

"If you don't continue to innovate...people are going to shift interest elsewhere," Van Natta said, appearing on stage at D: All Things Digital, along with with News Corp. digital chief (and former AOL executive) Jon Miller. "We need to continue to innovate a lot more rapidly than we have been."

Van Natta said that, on the plus side, MySpace is more open than a lot of its rivals.

"There's a lot … Read more

D7 Demos: Immersion and Plastic Logic

CARLSBAD, Calif.--In between the big name CEOs speaking at D: All Things Digital, Kara Swisher and Walt Mossberg also have a few tech companies on stage to show their wares.

A short while ago, electronic book maker Plastic Logic showed off the user interface of its touch-screen reader, which is due out early next year. The interface seemed simple, although the page turns on the prototype seemed interminable.

The company wouldn't reveal pricing, but did say that the device will have both Wi-Fi and 3G wireless, though it did not specify the carrier. As for color screens, they said they have it working in their labs, but it won't be a next year kind of thing.

Currently, the CTO of force feedback specialist Immersion is showing a couple new technologies, including a prototype touchscreen keyboard. When a user presses a key on the soft keyboard they not only see and hear which key they have pressed but can feel it as well.

"It is a very natural experience," said Immersion CTO Cristophe Ramstein. "Sounds are not as profound as touch to give you this feel."

The second demo was what the company is calling "hapticons," essentially adding feel to an electronic message. He sent a love note to Mossberg, with his screen pulsing to a beating heart.… Read more