A well-backed Silicon Valley company is launching a test version of a new search engine that it says adds a human touch to the process.

Blekko claims that the Internet has become increasingly populated with spam-like websites that have been specifically designed and optimized for good performance through Google's services. Such websites have content heavier on marketing pitches than substantive information, according to the company.

Blekko Chief Executive Rich Skrenta said that the key to eliminating this problem is to narrow searches to groups of websites that have been approved by people. This almost seems like a step backwards when you first hear it since search services have utilized increasingly complex algorithms to order and index the massive amounts of information in cyberspace.

Nevertheless, Blekko has raised $24 million in funding from some big name backers. Investors include Marc Andreessen, who co-authored Mosaic, the first widely-used web browser, and Ron Conway who has previously invested in Google, Foursquare and Twitter.

Blekko is certainly brave to take on Google, as many have tried and failed to dethrone or even significantly compete with it. Cull, which was founded by ex-Google employees, quietly threw in the towel in September, two years after launch.

Google says that it welcomes such competition because it brings benefits for everybody. "Having great competitors is a huge benefit to us and everyone in the search space-it makes us all work harder, and at the end of the day everyone benefits from that," Google said in a statement to Reuters.

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AfterCAD announced a service earlier this week that can bring video games from remote PCs to Google TV devices (amongst others).

The company also uploaded a concept video showing Blizzard's World of Warcraft being played using a LogiTech Revue. "Using GameString Adrenalin, you can now play high quality game titles using the new Google TV." said Chris Boothroyd, CEO of Aftercad.

"The Google TV is pretty cool and we thought it could also serve as a great game console for people who would want to play games they already have on the big screen right along side all of the other great content available on the Google TV. Now you can have it all!"



"Our GameString technology represents the next generation in cloud gaming as it doesn't rely on downloads, plugins, java or obscure codecs to work. The proof is in the fact it works with the Google TV right out of the box while other cloud gaming services will have to write an app to run it on. For Game Publishers looking to leverage the cloud to spice up the production values for Flash based social games, it is clear our approach is the way of the future and the way to go."

To sign up for the GameString Adrenalin Beta, point your browser to adrenalin.gamestring.com

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Spotify is not in talks with Apple about a possible takeover of the music streaming service despite several media reports.

Apple had been reported to have approached Spotify about a possible acquisition, according to TechCrunch. "Apple and Spotify are in on-again, off-again discussions about an acquisition, but at best it's very early in the process," TechCrunch wrote.

"No firm price has been offered, no term sheet tabled. Still, it's interesting that the two are talking."

However, Spotify spokesman Jim Butcher denied that any such talks have ever taken place. "We wouldn't normally comment on this kind of speculation, but we wanted to make it clear that we have absolutely no intention of selling Spotify," he said.

Spotify's journey from Europe, where it has been quite successful, to the United States has been rocky to say the least. The company still insists that it will manage to get its streaming service to the country by the end of the year. There had been reported that at least some of Spotify's troubles could be due to Apple's influence over record companies.

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Dan Hesse. Chief Executive Officer Sprint Nextel Corporation, has cleared up the providers plans for its 4G services over the coming years.

Hesse said that Sprint's 4G network would use WiMAX "full stop," and that the company only played around with WiMAX' competitor, Long Term Evolution (LTE), for testing purposes in case Spring needed to support multi-mode phones that use both formats in the future.

Sprint made the decision to go with WiMAX for its 4G offerings instead of the widely-adopted LTE technology because it would allow the company to establish a 4G network much quicker than the competition. Verizon won't switch on its 4G network until the end of this year, while 2011 is the target for both AT&T and T-Mobile.

"When we had the opportunity to move into 4G, WiMAX was the only 4G interface, and it was perfect with the spectrum we owned," Hesse said. "We moved to establish the network because we didn't want to wait, and we believe that being first to the market is an advantage."

Additionally, Hesse dismissed reports that Clearwire (which Sprint has a 54 percent stake in) would be working with T-Mobile after Sprint executives left the Clearwire board.

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Amazon has been begun taking pre-orders for the T-Mobile model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab, with a price tag of $700 with no contract.

That price makes it $100 more expensive than Verizon sells it for without contract.

With contract, the T-Mobile models sells for the same price as all rivals, $400.

Shipping date for the Galaxy Tab is November 9th from Amazon, with buyers getting it on the 10th.

Samsung's tablet runs on Android 2.2, has a 1GHz processor, a 7-inch multi-touch screen and dual cameras.

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Earlier this week, the Wi-Fi Alliance announced that certification of Wi-Fi Direct products had commenced, for device-to-device transmission of data.

With portable content like photos, videos and music taking center stage in the digital consumer experience, Wi-Fi Direct devices meet an important consumer need: directly connecting devices for applications such as content sharing, synching, printing, and gaming anywhere with ease.

Wi-Fi Direct allows the wireless network requirement to be cut out much more easily between popular consumer devices.

"We designed Wi-Fi Direct to unleash a wide variety of applications which require device connections, but do not need the internet or even a traditional network," said Edgar Figueroa, CEO of the Wi-Fi Alliance.

"Wi-Fi Direct empowers users to connect devices – when, where and how they want to, and our certification program delivers products that work well together, regardless of the brand."

Wi-Fi Direct-certified devices can connect with older Wi-Fi certified devices, enabling a vast range of devices already in use to connect with products implementing Wi-Fi Direct from the certification program's inception. With 82 million Wi-Fi-enabled portable consumer electronics and 216 million Wi-Fi enabled handsets set to ship this year, and growing at annual rates of 26 percent through 2014, consumers will be able to use Wi-Fi Direct to connect a huge range of digital devices.

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Recent disputes between Fox and several television signal providers has shown that broadcasters have retained an upper hand in disputes over content fees.

Some analysts believe that Cablevision may have allowed a dispute with Fox to go all the way to a channel blackout because it wanted to see what the government would do. If true, the stunt failed to get the Federal Communications Commission to do anything more than offer to act as a mediator between both companies.

When both sides could not reach a deal over fees, Fox blacked out content for three million Cablevision subscribers for 15 days. After viewers had already missed two games of the World Series, Cablevision caved in to terms it said were unfair.

The FCC basically claims its hands are tied in such a situation. "Under the present system, the FCC has very few tools with which to protect consumers' interests," FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said in a letter to Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass.

"Current law does not give the agency the tools necessary to prevent service disruptions," he added.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Fox said Cablevision had engineering the entire dispute in a "misguided efforts to effect regulatory change to their benefit."

Dish Network had announced on Friday that it reached a settlement with Fox, two days before Fox broadcast signals could have been blacked out to some of its 14.3 million customers.

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The U.S. Supreme Court is to hear arguments on Tuesday concerning a federal court's decision to throw out a ban on the sale of violent video games to minors in California.

The original legislation was first signed into law by California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 2005, but it was declared unconstitutional last year by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. It prohibited the sale of titles that depicted "killing, maiming, dismembering, or sexually assaulting an image of a human being" to anybody below the age of 18.

The federal court found that the law violated the minor's constitutional rights under the first and fourteenth amendment. It also found, as did other courts in other U.S. states, that there was insufficient evidence showing that violent games caused physical or psychological harm to minors.

"It's not so much a video game case as a First Amendment case," said George Rose, chief public policy officer at Activision Blizzard Inc. Other gaming companies and the ESA oppose such legislation, pointing out that the industry already takes steps to protect minors from content inappropriate for them.

Sales of games with an M (Mature) or AO (Adult Only) to minors are already prohibited under the industry's self-regulation. The Federal Trade Commission has commented that the games industry has done considerably better at preventing minors form buying content not intended for them than the film or music industry.

The FTC fopund that 20 percent of minors were able to buy games with an "M" rating in a study last year, down from 42 percent three years ago. In contrast, the study found that 72 percent of minors were able to buy music CDs that had an "explicit content" warning, 50 percent could buy R-rated and unrated DVDs and 28 percent were given tickets to R-rated movies at theaters.

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According to an e-mail sent to subscribers of the Xbox Live service, a mandatory Dashboard update for the Xbox 360 console is due to be pushed out on Monday.

Failing to install the update will make using the Xbox Live service impossible until the update is applied. "On November 1, 2010, there will be a mandatory service update to Xbox LIVE," the message reads. "This update will both add new features to your service and also enhance the interface, navigation, and responsiveness of Xbox LIVE."

A major update for the Xbox 360 Dashboard had been expected before the November launch of the Kinect motion control system for the console, and many users are already using a beta of the update.

"The time required to complete the update will vary based on your Internet connection speed. However, for most users, the update will require between 5 and 10 minutes to complete. You will not be able to use your Xbox 360 console while the update is processing," the message reads.

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Asus has said this weekend that the company will release six new tablets in 2011, and one more before the end of 2010.

President Jerry Shen says the company will launch tablets in four different sizes.

The first of the 2011 tablets is a 12-inch slate which will run on an Intel chipset and feature Windows 7. That device will go into mass production in December with sales beginning in January.

THG says Microsoft gave the company a lot of help "when it came to enhancing current touch and UI technologies for the device."

The following two tablets will be of the 7-inch variety, with the first expected to hit in March. The first will be Wi-Fi-only and the second will include "3.5G" data access and phone capabilities.

By the end of March, the company will launch two 9-inch models, the first being a Windows/Intel model and the second being a Nvidia Tegra 2/Android 2.3.

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Less than a week after unveiling a prototype of the oft-hyped PlayStation Phone, Engadget has revealed more pictures, and some more slight details.

The device is codenamed "Zeus" and the prototype, at least, is running Android 2.2. The phone is expected to launch with 2.3 Gingerbread.

Furthermore the smartphone will come with an 8GB microSD card, a minimum of 512MB internal storage, and be around 17mm thick, almost exactly the same as the PSPgo.

From the original report:

Engadget says the phone will hit the market "soon," likely in the Q1 2011.

The device will run on Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), with a fast 1GHz Qualcomm MSM8655 processor, 512MB RAM, 1GB ROM and a 4.1-inch screen.

In the gaming part of the slide-out, the PSP Phone has a multi-touch touchpad, shoulder buttons and a microSD slot.

New pictures:

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News Corp. returned their Fox signal to Cablevision subscribers last night, just in time to watch Game 3 of the World Series.

Both companies have agreed "in principle" on a new deal over retransmission fees, and Cablevision subscribers now have their Fox, Fox Deportes, NatGeo Wild and My 9 channels back.

The signals had been blacked out since October 16th, when negotiations between the companies hit a wall.

News Corp. was asking for $150 million in retransmission fees, more than Cablevision pays for ABC, NBC and CBS combined.

Terms of the new deal were not disclosed.

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