Consumer content

Teacher turns to tech to stop cheating

Writing a term paper and thinking about borrowing one that already got someone else an A, or at least is geared to deliver a mere passing grade?

For some California high school students, that dodgy maneuver now means reckoning not just with the sharp (or tired) eyes of the teacher, but also the algorithms of a Web-based plagiarism sniffer.

San Mateo High School is trying out the services of Oakland-based Turnitin.com, according to a report from CBS station KOVR-TV in Sacramento. (Note: CNET News is a unit of CBS Interactive.) Students are asked to submit their essays online, and … Read more

iTunes rolls out high-def movie downloads

As expected, iTunes customers (Windows|Mac) can now buy and rent films in high definition, Apple said Thursday.

Customers can buy hit titles for $19.99 and rentals will cost $4.99. Rentals will be available a month after a film is released on DVD. Prior to this offer, high-def films were only available for rental.

The high-def quality movies are compatible with Macs and PCs. But iPhones and iPods can still only play films in standard definition, the company said. Each high-def film comes with a standard-def copy to play on Apple's handhelds.

"Customers have made HD … Read more

Google: Most takedown notices are illegitimate

As part of a plea to lawmakers in New Zealand to overturn a new pro-copyright law, Google claims that most takedown notices are bogus.

According to a story in PC World, Google says 57 percent of the takedown notices it has received under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act were sent by businesses trying to undermine a competitor.

About 37 percent of the notices weren't valid copyright claims, Google wrote.

New Zealand is considering whether to force Internet service providers to cut off Web access to those accused of violating copyright law. Google opposes the plan.

The law would "… Read more

Cisco buys Flip Video maker for $590 million

Updated 7:46 AM PT with comments from executives at Cisco and Pure Digital.

Cisco Systems, the world's largest maker of switches and routers that power the Internet, has taken another step toward becoming a major player in the consumer electronics market.

On Thursday the company announced it has acquired Pure Digital Technologies, the maker of the popular Flip Video camcorders. Cisco will pay about $590 million in stock for the company and will also provide about $15 million in retention-based equity as incentives to PureDigital employees, the company said in a statement.

Pure Digital started selling its consumer-friendly mini camcorder in May 2007. The device, which is a little bigger than a deck of cards and has a built-in USB connection, was designed to provide an easy and simple way to take video and upload it to the Internet, especially to popular sharing sites like YouTube and MySpace.

The device, which costs between $100 and $229, depending on the version purchased, has built-in memory storage to take up to 30 minutes or 60 minutes of video. The integrated software also makes the device easy to upload video to PCs or Macs. The product line has grown and now includes the Flip MinoHD, a small high-definition camera. Pure Digital says it has sold more than 2 million total Flip video units since the product first went on sale.… Read more

Google deal brings classic books to Sony Reader

Sony's e-book reader is about to get a little help from Jane Austen in its battle with the Kindle.

Sony announced a partnership with Google Wednesday night that will bring a half-million classic books to the Sony Reader Digital Book. Users will now be able to access the free book downloads through Sony's eBook Store.

For years, Google has scanned books and converted them to digital format--at least in part--for its Google Book Search project. For now, Google is providing books to Sony whose copyrights have expired, which means most of the new additions to the Sony Reader … Read more

Netflix: Silverlight 3 could help with glitches

Netflix said on Wednesday that the next version of Silverlight shows some promise in helping ease recent issues that some users have had while trying to stream videos on lower-end computers.

"There are test configurations in our lab where we are seeing an improvement," said Kevin McEntee, vice president of Web development for Netflix. McEntee told CNET News that the company went out and bought computers such as an Asus Netbook that users had said were causing problems. In some cases, the low-end machines weren't able to keep up with the video and were dropping frames, McEntee … Read more

At SXSWi, how much should big media be listening?

AUSTIN, Texas--With panels and discussions every year about social engineering, hacking, remixing, and culture jamming, South by Southwest Interactive is the must-attend conference for geeks who want to shake things up.

Maybe that's why the many panels at the conference about the future of media--from print to broadcast to music to film--were tinged with the message that fast, often radical change is necessary. With panel topics like "How Copyright Law Failed The Digital Age," "New Think for Old Publishers," and "Old Media Finds New Voice Through Twitter," this year's SXSWi promised to … Read more

SXSWi 2009: Tech fest in Texas

roundup South by Southwest Interactive in Austin is the ultimate petri dish for tech enthusiasts eager to try out innovative ways to meet up, socialize, and consume media.

Latest coverage Featured stories At SXSW, attendees confront Twitter saturation So many people are using the "#sxsw" tag in their tweets that it has become extremely hard to filter for worthwhile panels and parties. That is creating an opportunity for other services. (Posted in Webware by Daniel Terdiman) March 14, 2009 1:10 PM PDT Facebook: It's party time for the social Web...on the iPhone Facebook Connect for … Read more

Muziic: YouTube approved our site

Muziic, the service that acts as a media player for YouTube music videos, has agreed to make changes asked for by YouTube managers, and the service's 15-year-old co-founder saw nothing else standing in Muziic's way.

Last week, YouTube managers raised objections to the size of Muziic's video player and said it violated the company's API terms of use, said David Nelson, Muziic's teenage co-founder. After discussions that occurred over several days, Nelson agreed to increase the size of the player, which has been postage-stamp size since launch.

On Tuesday, Nelson told CNET News that changes … Read more