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AP Technology NewsBrief at 8:05 a.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Pentagon uses Facebook, Twitter to spread messageFORT MONROE, Va. (AP) _ You don't often hear a three-star general using the word "friend" as a verb. But for Lt. Gen. Benjamin Freakley and other Army brass, a new era has brought a new language _ and new tools like online social networks Twitter and Facebook _ for seeking out young recruits and spreading the military's message. Disney joins NBC and News Corp. with Hulu stakeLOS ANGELES (AP) _ Disney movies and ABC TV shows will be available on Hulu.com now that Walt Disney Co. is taking an equity stake in the popular video streaming site, joining its founders, NBC Universal and News Corp. The deal announced Thursday will bring older Disney movies to the site, along with ABC and Disney Channel shows such as "Lost," "Grey's Anatomy" and "Wizards of Waverly Place" after they run on TV. Disney hopes to gain new online viewers that it does not already capture on ABC.com and pick up new income from sharing ad revenue on Hulu. Texting delays mar popularity of $50 Boost planNEW YORK (AP) _ A new $50 unlimited-calling plan sold under the Boost brand has been a badly needed success story for Sprint Nextel Corp., luring hundreds of thousands of new customers, by industry estimates. But dealers and customers report widespread problems with texting on the Boost network. Messages are frequently delayed by hours, in many cases reaching their recipients early in the morning. AOL names yet another head of online ad businessNEW YORK (AP) _ AOL, the struggling Internet unit that Time Warner Inc. is likely to spin off, said Thursday that it will put a new executive in charge of its online advertising business _ making him the fourth person to hold that title in little over a year. Former Google Inc. executive Jeff Levick will be the new president of global advertising and strategy, heading the company's Platform-A ad business. He will take the post in the next few weeks. Is quitting Twitter more popular than re-tweeting?SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Twitter quitters outnumber the flock of habitual tweeters on the rapidly growing online communications service, a new study suggests. Most people aren't joining the Web site's jumble of conversations for very long. More than 60 percent of Twitter's U.S. users don't return a month later, based on an analysis of traffic trends unveiled this week by the research firm Nielsen Online. Poll: Swedish pro file-sharing party gains supportSTOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) _ A new poll shows a Swedish party that calls for legalizing Internet file-sharing could win a seat in the European Parliament in June. The poll published Thursday in the Stockholm newspaper Dagens Nyheter shows the Pirate Party's backing has surged after a court verdict against The Pirate Bay file-sharing site. Four men behind The Pirate Bay were convicted this month of copyright violations and sentenced to a year in prison. Comcast 1Q profit up 6 percent on new customersPHILADELPHIA (AP) _ Shares of Comcast Corp. rose Thursday after the nation's largest cable TV provider reported a 6 percent increase in first-quarter earnings and said it gained more subscribers than expected, without having to do much discounting. Comcast said that while it did see some customers pare back on purchases of pay-per-view and watch more free video on demand, its average revenue per subscriber still rose in the quarter. Motorola loss widens; analysts see worrisome signsNEW YORK (AP) _ Motorola Inc. defeated low expectations Thursday, posting a smaller first-quarter loss than Wall Street had expected and regaining its position as the world's fourth-largest maker of cell phones. Investors were largely unimpressed, and analysts pointed to deterioration in the Motorola units that have been propping up the dismally performing cell phone operations. China scales back IT disclosure demandsBEIJING (AP) _ Beijing has temporarily averted a trade clash with Washington by scaling back a demand for foreign suppliers of computer security technology to disclose how their products work. Such a disclosure will no longer be required for commercial sales but the rule still will apply to products sold to the government, the Chinese enforcement agency said in statement Wednesday. The rule was to have taken effect Friday, but the agency said that would be postponed by one year to May 1, 2010. Report: US cyber warfare needs oversight, debateWASHINGTON (AP) _ Shrouded in secrecy, the U.S. government's policies on how and when to wage cyber warfare are ill-formed, lack adequate oversight and require a broad public debate, a new report by the National Research Council says. The report warns that the "undeveloped and uncertain nature" of the government's cyber warfare policies could lead to them being used hastily and ill-advisedly during a crisis. That danger is compounded by secrecy and lack of oversight, the report's authors cautioned on Wednesday. (c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |