News about what is happening in technology today!

Apparently TiVo has been giving up some details about the Series 3 today—no official announcements, but the folks at Megazone have someone gotten the scoop. It’s and HDTV unit with two CableCARD slots in back, and a window that shows what you are watching/recording while it’s at work.

Yes, the unit is dual-tuner - actually, like the HD DirecTiVo it can use any two of the tuners it has, and it has six. 2 cable tuners, 2 ATSC tuners, and 2 NTSC tuners. Yes, it supports digital and analog cable, digital ATSC OTA, and analog NTSC OTA.

The remote has been upgraded too. I’ll get over to TiVo first thing tomorrow and update with more info.

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Here is my eyewear model Vince with sunglasses that look an awful lot like the THUMP/RAZRWIRE but are in fact much more viable. These are Bluetooth headphones, there is no built-in MP3 player to mess with. It just streams the music from your phone, but all the controls are on the glasses (which have a Plutonite lens and semi-rimless design). This makes it lighter than even the THUMP, but still pretty much just as ugly. These are made to go with the ROKR E2, of course. Available in the first half of 2006, price TBA.

CNNMoney has an article entitled, ‘Gates unveils his Urge.’ From the piece: ‘Bill Gates aims to take over your living room and late Wednesday he unveiled a new music service and new software to do it. Using an appearance with Justin Timberlake, the Microsoft chairman debuted a new music service, Urge, to directly compete with the iTunes music store and interface. Urge launches with over 2 million tracks for purchase or as part of an all-you-can eat subscription, an option the iTunes music store doesn’t have. The offering will include exclusive material from MTV.’ Begin the living room wars we must.”

An Midwest internet service provider was awarded an $11.2 billion judgment against a Florida man for sending millions of unsolicited e-mails advertising mortgage and debt consolidation services.

The lawsuit, filed in 2003 by Iowa’s CIS Internet Services, also prompted earlier judgments against companies in Florida and Arizona worth more than $1 billion.

“This ruling sets a new standard,” said CIS owner Robert Kramer III. “Gross abusers of e-mail risk exposure to public ridicule as well as the economic death penalty.”

The most recent judgment was issued Dec. 23 against James McCalla of Florida, who is also barred from accessing the internet for three years.

The lawsuit claimed that McCalla sent more than 280 million illegal spam e-mails into CIS’s network, which provides internet connections in Eastern Iowa and parts of Illinois.

Kramer’s lawsuit initially named numerous defendants, many of whom were dropped from the lawsuit in the last couple of years. In 2004, judgments totaling more than $1 billion were issued against Cash Link Systems and the TEI Marketing Group, both of Florida, and AMP Dollar Savings of Arizona.

The lawsuit said the defendants used the cis.net domain in the e-mails as part of a false return address to disguise their source and deflect complaints to CIS.

Kramer claimed that under state law he was entitled to $10 per illegal e-mail but didn’t expect to receive any of the judgment money.

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Rival Google may be nipping at its heels, but Microsoft wasn’t flashing any defeatist signs Wednesday as it showcased its latest plans to help make living in the digital world safer, easier and more fun.

In his 10th keynote to kick off the International Consumer Electronics Show, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates highlighted the Windows Vista program, a major operating system upgrade set for release later this year. He also discussed how Microsoft’s Xbox game console and media-oriented software for PCs and electronics gadgets are aiming to help consumers connect more easily with each other, get more entertainment, and deliver more high-definition video.

“Consumers are getting more and more connected, and software is at the center of that,” Gates said.

Gates’ speech was just two days before Google hosts its first CES keynote, in a sign of the internet giant’s rising influence. Rumors are swirling among analysts that Google may unveil a Google-based PC, or some kind of Google-based software that would compete directly with or at least indicate the increasing irrelevance of Windows desktop software, Microsoft’s bread and butter.

In a memo to his top executives in November, Gates acknowledged that Microsoft should act quickly in offering web-based services to best formidable competitors.

But in a phone interview preceding his address, Gates downplayed a Google threat.

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