time

Moody's cut Hewlett-Packard's rating today, topping a day marked by a rash of critical articles about the Silicon Valley giant.

Moody's Investor Services cut HP's long-term credit rating to Baa1, three levels above junk, from A3, according to Bloomberg. The rating agency said that HP's "credit profile will remain weaker than previously expected over the intermediate term," among other reasons.

This comes in the wake of an $8.8 billion writedown related to alleged fraudulent accounting at Autonomy, the software company HP acquired last year.

And HP's core businesses aren't faring … Read more

Jeff Bewkes, speaking during a Business Insider conference in New York, said he hopes Apple makes an innovative TV. And he expects other companies to create similar products as well.

"I think Apple's a great device company," with the ability to take products that were called commodities, create differentiation, charge premium prices, build ecosystems, and create loyalty, he said.

"If they bring good interface navigation skills to the interface of TV and devices, when we're talking about 200 channels of … Read more

Maker Studios, a company that delivers professional programming to YouTube, is getting a big cash infusion from Time Warner, according to a new report.

Time Warner Investments, the venture-capital division at the media conglomerate, is leading a $40 million round of financing for Maker, All Things Digital reported yesterday, citing people with knowledge of the deal. The round is expected to close by the end of the year.

Maker Studios stands with Machinima, a company that produces gaming videos, at the leading edge of what has become a more professional push on YouTube. Maker Studios offers what's called "… Read more

AT&T has loosened its grip on FaceTime availability.

FaceTime access has opened up to those who own the iPhone 4S and who have grandfathered unlimited data plans. Macrumors discovered the feature from users in forums.

An AT&T representative said "we're looking into it."

At one time, AT&T had banned FaceTime access via its cellular network, limiting use to Wi-Fi systems. But earlier this month the company announced that it would open it up to those who had an LTE-equipped device and a Mobile Share data plan. All others were left out. … Read more

It's hard not to love the New York Times. There's so much "there" there that it's like a lover who has so many facets you can't embrace them all at once.

And yet one of those facets is that the Times is sometimes touchy.

Indeed, it has just engineered the blocking of a Twitter account, ostensibly because it doesn't enjoy the idea of the account having an avatar that includes the Times' legendary 't' -- which is something of a trademark.

For some, this might appear to be a storm in a t-cup. … Read more

NEW YORK CITY -- Verizon and Time Warner Cable said today they won't pull the plug on customers accused of piracy through a forthcoming "six strikes" program.

Link Hoewing, Verizon's vice president, and Fernando Laguarda, Time Warner Cable's vice president, said at a forum organized by the Internet Society that after they repeatedly inform customers that that their activities appear to violate copyright law, the companies' obligation is fulfilled -- and no account termination will take place.

That could reduce some of the privacy and due process concerns about the Center for Copyright Information, a … Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- NY Times posts violent takedown review of Guy Fieri's new restaurant in Times Square, New York.

- Travel Channel's Anthony Bourdain rips into Guy Fieri.

- Guy Fieri's last name isn't really Fieri.

- How Sony is turning into a ghost in Japan and around the world.

- Seriously though, how cool is this vintage Sony Sports transistor radio?

- Head to Sonyvintage.com for more photos and specs on vintage Sony hi-fi products.

- Japanese photo booth 3D prints mini models of an entire human being.

Bathroom break video: Grand Theft Auto V gets a new trailer and screenshots.… Read more

What looked like an easy shortcut to earn some extra cash could now ending up costing Papa John's millions. The pizza chain is being targeted in a $250 million class-action lawsuit in which customers allege that Papa John's sent out hundreds of thousands of illegal text messages.

"After I ordered from Papa John's, my telephone started beeping with text messages advertising pizza specials," one of the plaintiffs in the case Erin Chutich said in a statement. "Papa John's never asked permission to send me text message advertisements."

Apparently, in 2010, Papa John'… Read more

The Internet is a pretty great resource for work or school, but it can also be an enormous distraction. timeStats is an extension for Google Chrome that allows you to see how you spend your online time. A few clicks will get you a chart distribution of your Internet activity; a couple more, and you can get even more detailed reports. The reports break down your daily/weekly/monthly activities with awesome pie charts and bar graphs showing what you did on which day. It can also show you other details such as the sites, domain zones, and time spent … Read more