Top technology news headlines

• 

  BlackBerry Storm packs
  more of a drizzle

  review Phone features an innovative touch screen that provides tactile feedback, but the onscreen keyboard is a bit cramped, and the smartphone can be sluggish, and speakerphone quality is choppy.
  • Verizon's answer to the iPhone

  Read full story
• 

  Sources: Apple, labels talk DRM-free songs

  Should the deals get done, the songs offered via iTunes would no longer be restricted to playing on Apple devices, such as the iPhone or iPod.
  • Wal-Mart to carry iPhone after holidays?

  Read full story

• Google shutting down 'Lively'

  The search giant's virtual world project, launched during the summer, never really got off the ground. Google has decided to shutter the initiative at year's end.

  (Posted in Gaming and Culture by Daniel Terdiman)

• Microsoft, labels try to revive subscriptions

  Those who pay for a $14.95 a month Zune Pass will now get to keep 10 songs a month regardless of whether they remain subscribers.

  (Posted in Beyond Binary by Ina Fried)

• iTunes customers angry over copy protection moves

  Apple forum heats up with Mac users upset that they are having problems watching iTunes content on their external displays.

  (Posted in Apple by Elinor Mills)

• Guns N' Roses album to debut on MySpace

  Members of the social networking site will be able to listen to the band's new album for free on the Web before it goes on sale next week.

  (Posted in Digital Media by Steven Musil)

• Analyst: 'big 'bang' to hit PC and handset industry

  PC and handset industry will clash on tweener products like Netbooks and smartphones.

  (Posted in Nanotech - The Circuits Blog by Brooke Crothers)

• IBM gets DARPA cognitive computing contract

  Initiative is first of several phases intended to eventually reproduce the computing power of the brain, as well as its efficiency.

  (Posted in Gaming and Culture by Daniel Terdiman)

• Obama transition team names tech policy group

  Two former Federal Communications Commission staffers and the head of Google.org will help president-elect's transition team write tech policy.

  (Posted in Politics and Law by Stephanie Condon)

• Netflix streaming service suffers licensing setback

  update Some reports say Sony discriminated against Xbox. Not true. Netflix just didn't get a deal done with Sony that included Xbox.

  (Posted in Digital Media by Greg Sandoval)

• U of Tennessee blocked P2P sites before RIAA law

  RIAA didn't need a law to persuade Tennessee, the home of country music, to block P2P sites back in August.

  (Posted in Digital Media by Greg Sandoval)

• Report: Swedish carrier planning iPhone MMS app

  There's no officially sanctioned way for iPhone users to send pictures and video via the MMS standard, but Telia might soon bring that feature to its Swedish customers.

  (Posted in Apple by Tom Krazit)

• Broadband proponents to Congress: Invest in future, not autos

  Investment in broadband deployment is more likely to help our economy than investments in the auto industry, panelists at a symposium said Wednesday.

  (Posted in Politics and Law by Stephanie Condon)

• Start-up Meraki to sell solar-powered Wi-Fi gear

  The mesh Wi-Fi provider's long-awaited solar power Wi-Fi repeater will be available in December.

  (Posted in Wireless by Marguerite Reardon)

• Photos: Nokia, Navteq team up as traffic monitors

  Nokia and GPS mapping subsidiary Navteq are developing an application that uses GPS cell phones to collect data about real-time traffic patterns.

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