Posted 09/17/09 at 09:33:41 AM by Paul Lilly

Some say the third time's the charm, but for the TechCrunch50 conference, the third time is the last, if event co-founder Jason Calacanis is to be believed. In a strange puppet interview (NSFW - explicit language) with humorist Loren Feldman, Calacanis said it has been a good three-year run, but it's all coming to an end.

"I can tell you that this is the last TechCrunch50,"  Calacanis responded when probed about an open feud between him and event co-founder /TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington.

According to Cnet, the fallout between the two began when Arrington publicly called attention to plagiarism charges against Calacanis, which you can read all about here. What happened after that is anyone's guess, and while Calacanis seems convinced this is the end of the line for TechCrunch50, Arrington doesn't sound ready to throw in the towel.

"I don't know how to respond to that. After seeing that video, it seems to me that he's engaging in theatrics and fireworks," Arrington told VentureBeat in a phone interview. "I'm waiting to see what his plan is. It seems to be distracting from the startups."

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Posted 03/02/09 at 03:21:48 PM by Andy Salisbury

At today’s DEMO conference Always Innovating plans to debut their new netbook, which will offer 10 to 15 hours of battery life, weighs under two pounds and will feature a touchscreen, all for less than an Amazon Kindle.

Always Innovating will offer a base model of the netbook for $299 that will not feature a touchscreen, but will have an ARM Texas Insturments OMAP3 processor, a 1024x600 8.9-inch screen, 8GB of flash storage, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, Bluetooth, and 6 USB ports. For $100 more, you can upgrade to the touchscreen version.

It’s reported that the Touch Book will be available in the U.S. around May or June 2009.

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Posted 02/26/09 at 01:35:11 PM by David Murphy

It almost seems like common sense, but 37signals' Jason Fried had some specific words for those in attendance at this year's Future of Web Apps conference in Miami, Florida: the future is not free.

Continuing on, his point is that companies need to turn away from the business model of pump-and-dumping free applications to a gleeful audience.  Open-source and free software might be an excellent means for attracting attention and eyeballs to a product, but now is not the time to pack alternate revenue strategies around these concepts.  Advertising and other extraneous revenue add-ons are a distraction, argues Fried.  It's time to shift back to a meat-and-potatoes business model, and that involves selling a product that contains enough quality to make an audience want to pay for it, even given the current economic difficulties.

That said, there's still room for free in some capacity--read on to find out where Fried thinks free applications can exist!

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Posted 02/04/09 at 07:14:15 PM by Norman Chan

If you check the list of hot topics on Twitter right now, you’ll fine #TED at the top of the list. That’s because today is the opening day of the annual TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) conference, a prestigious gathering of just over 1000 of the world’s most influential thinkers, entertainers, and futurists. This private event (registration costs $6,000, and that’s only after you’re invited) hosts a series a thought-provoking presentations aimed at stimulating the minds of attendees who are then encouraged to engage in an exchange of ideas throughout the week-long session.

Past speakers include Al Gore, JJ Abrams, and Jeff Bezos, who each gave provocative talks about their passions and innovations. This year’s lineup includes Green Auto Pioneer Shai Agassi, web pioneer Tim Berners-Lee, and one Bill Gates. The public typically has to wait several months before videos of these 18-minute long TED talks get uploaded, but we’ve received special access to the live stream of the main stage. Over the next three days, we’ll be posting recaps of tech-related talks to give you some insight into what goes on in this exclusive and enlightening forum. Keep tabs on our TED coverage by clicking this link!

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Posted 02/22/08 at 09:10:52 PM by The Maximum PC Staff

This week, Dave, Will, Gordon, and Andy spend hours upon hours dissecting all the hot news from this week's Game Developers Conference. We also chat about all the fun stuff we're doing in the Lab--including media streaming and virtual machines--and answer your crazy reader questions!

Subscribe: http://feeds.feedburner.com/maximumpc/1337

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Posted 08/05/07 at 09:17:26 PM by Erin Simon

Dispatches from Defcon 15 from your intrepid law-blogger

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