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Remember the bad old days of customer self-service? Automated systems would present you with five or more different options -- any one of which could lead to five or more other options. With touchtone systems, accidentally pressing the wrong number at a prompt could result in instant death by disconnection. Then came the speech-recognition systems, with their own specific tortures: creepily cheery voices reciting five or more options; systems that went into lockdown if you sneezed into the phone. Let's not even talk about systems that couldn't understand your accent, whether you were from another country or just another region.
In this second installment in the E-Commerce Times' series ontravel-planning Web sites, I'll review the strengths and weaknesses of Expedia, a top aggregator. My first impression of the site -- one that I used to frequent but haven't visited in at least a year -- is that its design is refreshingly straightforward: a three-column layout relatively ...
Dell is expanding its electronic medical records offerings with a new hardware, software and service bundle designed to help hospitals ease the transition from paper to digital records. The service is an end-to-end solution that touches upon all aspects of this process in the hospital setting, Dell spokesperson Cathie Hargett told TechNewsWorld.
Palm is expanding its line of WebOS smartphones -- and ratcheting up competition with Apple -- with the introduction of a new mobile device called the "Pixi." The phone, meant to supplement the more serious Pre smartphone, will be available during the holiday seaon through its exclusive carrier, Sprint.
Open Invention Network announced Tuesday that it acquired 22 Linux-related patents that Microsoft recently sold to the Allied Security Trust. OIN consists of a group of companies -- including Microsoft rivals IBM, Sony, Red Hat and Google -- that have been girding themselves for a legal fight over Linux. OIN acquired the patents to ensure that the...
Google has proposed modifying its proposed digital books deal with publishers and authors in an effort to tamp down growing opposition to the project. The changes would limit the number of out-of-print books it places online. Industry groups were given a venue to complain about the proposed agreement at a hearing sponsored by the European Commiss...
This story was originally published on May 19, 2009, and is brought to you today as part of our Best of ECT News series. Zappos, online shoe emporium extraordinaire, has been expanding itsline of merchandise in recent years -- offering clothes, watches and otherjewelry, and even housewares. For the consumer, the shift has appearedeffortless -- jus...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit has temporarily stayed an injunction against the sale of Microsoft Word that had been set to go into effect next month. Microsoft will be able to continue selling copies of its ubiquitous word processing software -- at least until the appeal of the original judgment is heard.
Travel Web sites were among the first category of e-commerce ventures to actually make a buck a decade or so ago. It is astounding, therefore, that recent industry reports show a deep dissatisfaction among many users of these portals. In particular, Forrester Research recently reported on the failings of several of these sites, both in terms of tools and customer service.
Congress should enact strict controls on how online advertisers can monitor and track consumers' behavior, according to 10 privacy groups that formed a coalition to lobby for the cause: theCenter for Digital Democracy; theConsumer Federation of America; Consumers Union; Consumer Watchdog; theElectronic Frontier Foundation; Privacy Lives; thePrivacy Rights Clearinghouse; Privacy Times; theU.S. Public Interest Research Group; and the World Privacy Forum.
IBM is rolling out a public desktop cloud offering that it claims is the first subscription service of its kind. IBM Smart Business Desktop on the IBM Cloud "enables end-users to have the same capabilities of the traditional desktop, but with a thin client and delivered from the data center," said Arthur Chiang, VP of global end-user services in I...
Wikipedia plans to roll out a new feature with the goal of enhancing the site's credibility. Called "WikiTrust," the optional feature color codes entries based on reliability, according to a Wikipedia page describing the new development.
Intel has boosted its sales forecast for Q3, providing an injection of confidence to the tech sector, where it's viewed as an industry bellwether Intel now expects revenue for the third quarter to be US$9 billion, plus or minus $200 million, compared with the previous range of $8.5 billion, plus or minus $400 million. Wall Street had been expecting...
Facebook will be overhauling its privacy policy following an investigation by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada, which concluded that the social networking site's policies posed significant risks. The changes will affect Facebook's entire global user base. The investigation was originally prompted by a complaint from a privacy advoc...
Do you have a video that has the potential to really go viral, like the wedding entrance dance or David after the dentist? Post it on YouTube -- notonly for the notoriety, but also for the cold hard cash. At least that is the offer Google, YouTube's corporate parent, is extending to users The company is expanding its revenue-sharing YouTube Partner...
At four minutes and 15 seconds, a public service announcement produced in Wales, UK, clocks in at an unusually long running time, as TV spots like this one go. However, its length is not likely to be the reason why it sticks in viewers' minds. The video, produced by the Gwent Police Department to warn against the dangers of texting while driving, ...
A coalition of firms that oppose a settlement reached last year between Google and some representatives of the publishing industry over its Google Books project is growing. New members now reportedly include a troika of Web giants: Amazon, Microsoft and Yahoo. The coalition, called the "Open Book Alliance," is backed by groups opposing the court s...
Someone, somewhere did not like Liskula Cohen, a model in her 30s who lives in New York. A blog was launched from Google's Blogger platform, apparently devoted to maligning her, complete with uncomplimentary photos. To be sure, such online attacks are hardly rare; indeed, Cohen's story diverges from most such incidents because she fought back -- and it appears she has been, to some degree, successful...
Microsoft has asked an appeals court to stay an injunction that Judge Leonard Davis of the U.S. District Court for Eastern Texas issued against the sale of Microsoft Word. The judge made the ruling after a jury found that Microsoft had infringed on a patent held by Toronto-based i4i. It is set to go into effect in October. The injunction would for...
Albert Gonzalez, 28, a hacker already in jail awaiting trial for what was deemed the largest identity theft in the U.S., has apparently topped himself. Along with two unnamed coconspirators, Gonzalez has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New Jersey for an identity theft that trumps the previous record-setter: 130 million credit and debit card numbers stolen over a two-year period, from 2006 to 2008. ...
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