cents

Poll: Are 99-cent TV shows a good idea?

Confession time: In the nearly five years since iTunes began selling TV shows, I've purchased exactly zero. Why? Because I think Apple's $1.99-per-episode price tag is too high.

Apple seems to think so, too, which is why the company is reportedly looking to drop show prices to 99 cents. Unfortunately, the networks aren't too keen on the idea, as indicated in last Sunday's New York Times story: "Networks Wary of Apple's Push to Cut Show Prices."

I'm not sure why Hollywood's number-crunchers fail to grasp basic economics, but I think … Read more

Xbox Live Game Room brings back the classic 25-cent arcade

LAS VEGAS--While it was great to get some solid hands-on time playing PS3 in 3D, Microsoft debuted something for the Xbox 360 that we'll actually be able to play in late March; not to mention it's much more practical, too.

Xbox Live Game Room essentially allows you to create your own arcade, offering titles from many classic developers such as Atari, Intellivison, and Konami. When the service goes live in late March, 30 titles will be immediately available, with five to seven new games being released each week.

There's no dashboard update required for Game Room; you'… Read more

Gameloft's iPhone games on sale for 99 cents

Remember a few weeks back when Konami cut its iPhone/iPod Touch game prices to 99 cents? (They're still available, FYI.)

Now Gameloft has followed suit, offering some (but not all) of its game titles for the appetizing price of a buck apiece--a significant savings in some cases. Here's the rundown (links are to CNET reviews where applicable, otherwise to the App Store):

Blades of Fury (originally $6.99) Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes (originally $9.99) Castle of Magic (originally $4.99) Hero of Sparta (originally $5.99) NFL 2010 (originally $4.99) Real Tennis 2009 (… Read more

Konami's iPhone games on sale for 99 cents

I once wrote for an app review site where the guidelines insisted price shouldn't factor into a game's rating. Nuts, right? That's like saying as long as you like the car you're test-driving, forget about the sticker.

For a cheapskate like me, price absolutely matters, which is why I'm happy to see every game in Konami's iPhone catalog temporarily on sale for 99 cents each.

That includes Metal Gear Solid Touch, which is widely regarded as one of the top iPhone shooters. It normally sells for $5.99 (and was $7.99 at launch).… Read more

EU's MySQL inquiry may backfire for open source

It takes time, leadership, and a fair amount of luck to successfully build an open-source community. It also takes money. Lots of it, if IBM's $1 billion commitment to Linux is any indication.

Unfortunately, the return on such open-source community investments may be permanently scuppered by the European Commission's misguided defense of MySQL from Oracle's intended acquisition. If the EC is going to punish successful open-source endeavors like MySQL, will investors still clamor to finance the rise of open source?

In many ways, MySQL is the quintessential commercial open-source success story. On the financial side, MySQL managed … Read more

Oracle and Novell Linux: Caught between a Red Hat and a CentOS

Novell has been positioning itself as the Avis of Linux, a distant but gaining Red Hat competitor that "tries harder." Like Oracle, Novell argues that it can give customers Red Hat value at a lower price.

There's just one problem with this marketing spin: the "low-cost alternative" to Red Hat isn't Novell. It's CentOS. And CentOS is free as in $0.00.

It's true that adoption of unpaid Linux like CentOS is booming, and that this no-cost alternative to more expensive solutions like Red Hat is a real threat to Red Hat. … Read more

Linux is booming, but unpaid adoption may hurt vendors

Even as the recession continues to cool CIO appetites for software purchases, Linux is bucking the trend, according to a new IDC report.

IDC is projecting Linux revenue to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 16.9 percent from 2008 to 2013, topping $1.2 billion in 2013.

As IDC notes, this growth will comprise just 4 percent of total software market revenue by 2013, up from 2.2 percent in 2008. However, for the second time, IDC has also examined nonpaid deployments of Linux, revealing some troubling data.

I've always assumed Red Hat's primary Linux … Read more

CentOS Linux developers threaten mutiny

Offering a free clone of Red Hat Enterprise Linux turned out not to be such a simple matter after all.

The CentOS project aims to reproduce Red Hat's tested, supported, and certified version of the operating system, without its per-server subscription fees. Because RHEL is open-source software, it's theoretically possible for an outsider to select the same software packages, apply the same patches, and produce a version of the Linux product that works the same.

But several lead programmers in the project went public on Thursday with complaints that CentOS founder Lance Davis is threatening the project with … Read more

Play against 50 Cent in 'Blood on the Sand'

50 Cent is pimping the launch of his second video game, "50 Cent: Blood on the Sand," by giving fans the chance to play against him.

Xbox Live Gold members will be able to bump heads with Fif' and his buddies by sending a friend request to gamertags Fifty Cent GWF, Fifty GWF 2, Fifty GWF 3, and Fifty GWF 4 half an hour before the sessions kick off at 3 p.m. PST on Sunday.

"Blood on the Sand" lacks a deathmatch mode, so chances are you'll be required to play as a member … Read more

Are your teens having sex? Check their iPod

Perhaps your teen is one of those who, when exposed to the movie "The Exorcist," begins to twirl her head around, declare she is the devil, and vomit green pea soup.

Well, then you will be one of those not surprised by research, from the University of Pittsburgh, that suggests any teen who listens to the bulk of 50 Cent is more likely to partake of sex early and often.

I am being unfair to Fitty. The academics looked at other musicians whose lyrics they deemed to include a "power differential"--that is, one of the … Read more