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Start those finger-stretching exercises now to stay on top of Apple's iPod event Tuesday with our live blog.

Apple is planning one of its trademark special events for Tuesday, starting at 10 a.m. PDT. I'll be inside the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts in San Francisco--home to Apple's 2006 iPod event--live-blogging the action with a host of other CNET folks.

Make sure to follow the action here on our One More Thing live blog, and come back to CNET News later in the day for video and detailed photos of what we expect will be … Read more

The evil power of Dr. M is even greater than we thought...strong enough, in fact, to tarnish the shining reputation of the long-awaited Spore. Also in the news today, DVD ripping goes legit, a little too late, thanks to RealDVD, but we determine it's probably not worth getting sued over. And we put gurus against geniuses in a battle to the tech support death. Listen now: Download today's podcast

Happy Birthday Google - 10 http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=9930 http://www.usatoday.com/tech/products/2008-09-06-google-ten-years_N.htm

DVD ripping goes legit with RealDVD … Read more

The first smattering of user reactions to RealNetworks' RealDVD software--which allows users to legally rip DVD movies to their PC hard drives--is less than enthusiastic, to say the least. The most telling comment: "Lack of mobile device support is the killer for me." Indeed, Real's product lets you move ripped movies between a total of five licensed PCs, but that assumes they're on a USB hard drive or some sort of flash media--thus far, there's no provision for network streaming, and no support for transferring the movies to portable devices."

Of course, when people say "portable media players," it's pretty much a synonym for "iPod." And while we could imagine Real eventually cutting deals to have devices that are compatible with its proprietary RealDVD format, it's a safe bet that Apple won't be among the partners. But the whole existence of RealDVD raises another question: if Real can release software that makes it quick, easy, and legal for users to rip their DVDs to their PC hard drive, why can't Apple? … Read more

One has to wonder if Apple must exert so much control in order to deliver a superior customer experience. Reading through the October 2008 edition of Macworld magazine, I was troubled to read about Apple's poor treatment of its partners.

Microsoft grew to be a multibillion-dollar company by largely catering to its partner ecosystem. Apple? Fan I may be, but it's almost sickening to see how condescendingly the company treats its partners.

Take Apple's management of the iPhone App Store. Apple has been delaying updates to iPhone applications by a week or more, and apparently without any communication to its developer community as to why the delays are happening, or when to expect an update to go live.

That's the developer's problem, right? Exactly, as Fraser Speiers, owner of Connected Flow (Exposure Flickr application on the iPhone), details:

I don't have a problem with updates being reviewed (by Apple prior to posting), but it has to go a lot faster...Given the no-demos rule, an app lives or dies by App Store reviews. It's incredibly frustrating to watch review after review complain about a bug that you fixed and "shipped" two weeks ago.

In other words, Apple's lack of communication and service is hurting its developers, who already have to give up a big chunk of revenue from application sales to Apple. Apple is making them pay for poor service.

Not that Apple is reserving this customer disservice solely for iPhone application developers. It also takes a pound of flesh from its iPod and iPhone accessory developers. How?… Read more

Other than football fans, there are probably few people in America happier to see the month of September than Apple executives.

Apple will look to put the last six weeks behind it with the expected launch of new iPods this week during one of its trademark media events in San Francisco on Tuesday. This summer, the company received a stark reminder that while its singular ability to produce a technology event still generates buzz, the products must match that hype.

The rumors regarding this particular launch event, Apple's fourth September iPod-related event in as many years, have been fairly … Read more

These days, people are managing so much information on a daily basis that being able to find it quickly and efficiently is becoming crucial.

With its Spotlight desktop search tool--part of Mac OS X--Apple made it possible to search not just text-based files like Word documents, but also things like PDF files that don't have modifiable text.

Windows users, too, have choices for desktop search, like offerings from Google and Microsoft.

But now, Windows users will have a more powerful tool at their disposal, Rebus Technology's Recollect Desktop, a search tool that, according to Rebus, can find just … Read more

If you've spent any time using iPhone apps, you probably have gotten a hint of the fact that they may well be the hottest thing going and, in some ways, the future of software.

That's largely due to the fact that, especially with iPhone 3G, the device combines GPS, an elegant interface, Mac OS X, an accelerometer and high-speed Internet connectivity.

Now, Dial Directions, a company that has focused on providing speech recognition tools to cell phone users, is getting in the iPhone game.

And on Monday, the company announced at DemoFall its Say Where iPhone app, a … Read more

You know they'll make a movie out of this one. Well, at least something with "based on a true story" in small letters after the title.

The iPod was, apparently, invented not by some genius at Apple (not even a British one) but by a British furniture salesman who left high school at 15 and still has not been paid a dime for his brilliance.

London's Daily Mail is claiming that court documents prove that Apple has finally acknowledged Kane Kramer, a 52-year-old inventor who left high school 37 years ago, as the true father of … Read more

Some people love it. Some people hate it.

Which is why Crispin Porter and Bogusky, the agency responsible for the otherworldly new Microsoft TV spot featuring the clowning Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld, is already happy.

The first aim of any Crispin campaign is to get people talking about the ad. So it seems to be a success. The only real question is whether people outside of the tech world will be talking about it.

Naturally, those in the techie bubble think the work is aimed at them. However, it is really aimed at everyone out there whose warm feelings … Read more