france

Report: Euro telcos want tech companies to pay

European telcos say companies like Google, Apple, and Facebook should pay to help them keep up with growing demand for data on their networks, according to an article published by Bloomberg today.

France Telecom-Orange, Telecom Italia, and Vodafone Group would like to charge content providers fees linked to usage to help cover the cost of upgrading wireless broadband networks.

France Telecom-Orange Chief Executive Officer Stephane Richard discussed the issue at the "Le Web" conference in Paris Wednesday. Richard said the current mismatch between revenue and investment for Internet infrastructure providers is not sustainable.

"Service providers are flooding … Read more

The 404 720: Where an Angry Bird in the hand is worth two in the Hanukkah bush (podcast)

You can thank today's guest Natali Del Morris for the clever show title that incorporates two of Jeff's favorite things: Angry Birds and Hanukkah! Actually, only one of those statements is true.

Topics for today include the arrival of Angry Birds Seasons, Mark Zuckerberg's upcoming interview on "60 Minutes," Michael Jackson's new song release, the top searches in Yahoo Search and Microsoft Bing, a Playboy external hard drive, and a 3D porn channel launching in France. The rundown is packed today, so enjoy the show!

If you're as obsessed with Angry Birds as Wilson, you'll be happy to hear that Rovio, maker of the top-selling smartphone game, plan to release a console version for PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii next year. For non-players like Natali and me, here's the gist: the video game tests your accuracy with a slingshot; it's one of the most popular smartphone games right now, with more than 36 million downloads as of November.

Even better, Rovio will also release Angry Birds 2, a follow-up to the original game that will feature more of the same characters but with even more pigs to shoot with a slingshot. No word on whether Angry Birds will support motion control on those consoles, but if you can't wait another year, the holiday expansion pack titled Angry Birds Seasons is now available for your addiction in the App Store.

It's going to be a lot harder to hide this from your partner/parents/roommates, but imagine holding 56 years of Playboy magazines loaded onto an external hard drive. That won't mean much to the kid with a hundred gigs of bootleg skinema buried in a system sub-folder, but surely some of our listeners remember analog porn and will appreciate the entire Playboy catalog in a 2.5-inch portable enclosure!

And while we're on the subject, you should also check out the FleshDrive, a similar peripheral for the more "selective" consumer, and France's new 3D on-demand porn channel.

Just after the break we wish a very happy birthday to Richard from Atlanta, who sent us this video voice mail!

If you'd like to leave a comment for the show, record a YouTube video and send the link to the404(at)cnet(dot)com! You can also leave an audio-only voicemail at 1-866-404-CNET (2638), or just shoot us a note at the404(at)cnet.com!

Episode 720 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Cyber Monday, a massive marketing scam

Links from Monday's episode of Loaded:

Today is Cyber Monday, which is mostly a marketing scam in IMHO. Regardless, you will find it worthwhile to check out CNET's gift suggestions

Angry Birds' Christmas Edition is coming soon

Meanwhile, Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 is not coming soon

Richard Branson is said to be launching an iPad magazine to compete with Rupert Murdoch's rumored iPad magazine. Branson's version will simply be called Project

A village in India has banned unmarried women from using cell phones

Lady Gaga and the Twitterati have gone silent on social networks … Read more

That's Steve Jobs at Paris Opera store

For some reason, a 7-second YouTube clip of Apple CEO Steve Jobs walking through the company's new Paris Opera store has some online questioning its authenticity.

The clip, embedded below, shows Jobs quietly shuffling past shoppers in the multi-storied retail outlet at 12 rue Halevy, which opened this past weekend. The clip may be brief, but Jobs is clearly videotaped walking through the store behind Steve Cano, Apple's senior director of international retail.

Not much to see here other than Jobs checking out what certainly has to be one of the grandest interiors for any Apple store. Very … Read more

The 404 575: Where true love smells like Jasmine (podcast)

Today we celebrate the anniversary of Jasmine France's first visit to The 404 studios. This time around we've given her a few days to recover from her flight to New York, but if you don't remember what happened last year, we've got a hilarious clip at the start of the show to refresh your memory.

Jasmine is CNET's senior associate editor for MP3s and digital audio, but she joins us today to talk about her new Tech Dos and Don'ts column on the MP3 Insider blog and the social politics of finding love on Facebook.

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter encourage users to share interests and connect with friends new and old, so it makes perfect sense that some will inevitably use them for romance.

In fact, Jasmine suggests that many users actually prefer Facebook to spark a flame instead of going to dedicated online dating sites like OKCupid or Match.com that practically force you into an uncomfortable situation. On Facebook, it's easy to hit that "like" button or add a comment to show common interest.

We have our own suggestions for online loveseekers as well. For example, stop with the poking already. Seriously, 86 percent of FBers don't even know that exists, and even if they do happen to notice it much later, the gesture remains just as meaningless if not slightly creepy and confusing, so stick with the "like" button... UNLESS your object of lust just changed their relationship status to single, in which case you should definitely send the "Heyyyyy couldn't help but notice..." message. OK, I'm joking, but now you see now why Jasmine's tips are so crucial.

Another tip we didn't get to address on the show is the question on every single person's mind: what is the appropriate amount of time to wait before adding "someone of interest" on Facebook? The answer is easy: you simply update the same rules that previous applied to the first-date phone call. Three days seems to be the consensus and gives the other person enough time to digest your initial meeting--friending in less than three days makes you come off (at best) overly accessible or (at worst) a genuine Internet stalker. At the end of the day, you're really just trying to dodge that "ignore" button, because once the relationship enters Facebook request purgatory, you might as well just delete your account and try your luck with Make Out Club.

Jasmine's got plenty more tips on how to comport yourself in an online dating environment, so check out today's show and let us know YOUR thoughts--leave a comment, send us an e-mail at the404(at)cnet[dot]com, or you can leave a voice-mail for our daily Calls From the Public segment at 1-866-404-CNET (2638)!

EPISODE 575 Subscribe in iTunes audio | Suscribe to iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Buzz Out Loud 1194: Pee2Pee (Podcast)

The show's a pretty well-controlled train wreck right up until we start talking about the underwear that texts when it's, um, moist. No, you're not listening to the 404 (or Gadgettes), it's actually Buzz Out Loud. In real news (if you will), the first week's worth of iPads have apparently sold out and actual competition is coming to the wireless space ... around 2011. Also, cosmic rays are making your car go fast. No, really.

Subscribe with iTunes (audio) Subscribe with iTunes (video) Subscribe with RSS (audio) Subscribe with RSS (video) EPISODE 1194

Apple runs out … Read more

Paris gets tres chic with world's largest disco ball

Finally, the City of Light lives up to its name, thanks to conceptual artist Michel de Broin's 24-foot disco ball suspended by crane 164 feet above the Jardin du Luxembourg. It's even more impressive in action and up close.

It took de Broin 1,000 mirrors to construct the disco ball for his Nuit Blanche project, and spotlights positioned throughout the city to make it sparkle for one night late last year.

The main purpose of the giant mirror ball--other than having a raging citywide disco throwdown--was to simulate a starry sky normally obscured in urban areas by … Read more

France planning Google Books rival

After tangling with Google Books over copyright issues, France is hoping to create its own version of the book-scanning service.

Frederic Mitterrand, France's culture minister, announced Tuesday that his country is planning a new French-based online portal to offer its citizens scanned versions of Gallic books and other documents.

The service would initially tap into an existing database called Gallica, which is run by the country's national library and currently is home to under a million documents. But Mitterrand aims to build the online collection by striking deals with French publishers in order to incorporate their books and … Read more

France Telecom exec says Apple tablet coming soon

Apple has said nothing official about the tablet, but plenty of others have.

That group now includes France Telecom/Orange executive Stephane Richard. In an interview Monday with French radio station Europe1, Richard responded to a series of questions from journalist Jean-Pierre Elkabbach, giving the impression he was confirming the existence of an Apple tablet.

The conversation went like this (courtesy of Google Translate):

Elkabbach: "According to the weekly Le Point, a few days your partner Apple will launch a tablet with a webcam."

Richard: "Yes."

Elkabbach: "Is that Orange users will also benefit." … Read more