Articles by Walaika Haskins

Nearly a century has passed since the first commercial radio broadcast went out over the airwaves. Aside from the invention of frequency modulation (FM) in the early 1930s and advances in recording and music playback devices, radio technology had remained much the same -- that is, until the late 1990s, when iBiquity Digital developed HD radio, a hybrid system that sends out bundled digital and analog signals...

It's been a long wait, but for fans of the super popular first-person shooter series "Halo," Tuesday was a very good day indeed. Not only were gamers just hours away from the launch of the multiplayer beta for the highly anticipated game, Microsoft finally announced the game's release date -- Sept. 25 As the day of the beta release arrived, howe...

DirecTV could test a high-speed Internet delivery service over power lines within the next year, chief executive Chase Carey said Monday Carey's comments came during the Reuters Global Technology, Media and Telecoms Summit in New York....

For the makers and fans of the blockbuster games "Halo" and "Halo 2," Tuesday will be almost like Christmas Eve. "Halo 3" is set to go live with its public beta Wednesday For two years, gamers have been counting the days until they could get a glimpse of the game in action....

Game maker Electronic Arts (EA) revealed details on its forthcoming title, "The Simpsons Game," Wednesday during an event announcing the new video game as well as 12 other new titles. Set for release this fall, the game turns the tables on the characters of the well-known TV family: The whole Simpsons clan is perfectly aware that they inhabit a video game...

The success of Apple's iPod, sales of which recently surpassed 100 million units, not only changed the way digital audio player (DAPs) makers thought of and designed their devices. It also caught the eye of mobile phone manufacturers. After adding cameras, then video recorders, it was natural that cell phone makers decided to try their hand at giving their devices digital audio playback capabilities...

Xbox 360 owners may be in for a pleasant surprise the next time they connect to Xbox Live using the next-generation console. Microsoft released its Spring Update for the Xbox 360 Wednesday on a rolling basis to the Xbox Live (XL) community. The software upgrade brings with it communications support for Windows Live Messenger as well as a host of tweaks for a new and improved dashboard that reduce the operating system's annoyance factor...

Social networking powerhouse MySpace and Photobucket, a photo-sharing site, have come to terms on a possible buyout deal, according to published reports A preliminary deal has been reached, and the acquisition of Photobucket will cost MySpace up to US$250 million, Reuters reported Monday, citing unnamed sources familiar with the negotiations....

Nearly half of American adults have a "distant or nonexistent relationship" with information and communication technology (ICT) such as the Internet, mobile phones and other gadgets, according to a new report by the Pew Internet Project (PIP). The study examined the sort of technology used by adults, how they use it and how they think about technology...

Apple rival Creative introduced its answer to Apple's iPod Shuffle Thursday. The Zen Stone offers the same 1 GB storage capacity of the Shuffle, but at half the price. However, without a full package of services such as iTunes, will the Zen Stone drop like a rock? "The Creative Zen Stone, at just (US)$39.99, opens up a huge new market for MP3 playe...

Dell took another step toward fulfilling its promise of brining preinstalled Linux operating systems to select consumer computers Tuesday when it announced it has selected Canonical's Ubuntu as its distribution of choice While many Linux enthusiasts have hailed the announcement and look forward to the moment when the Dell computers go on sale at th...

Joost, the video-on-demand site boasting the world's first broadcast-quality Internet television service, hung out its open sign Tuesday with the announcement of its commercial launch. The site also entered the final beta stage, allowing beta testers to issue an unlimited number of invitations to friends, family and colleagues "Today marks the begi...

Google filed documents with the U.S. District Court Monday, addressing the US$1 billion lawsuit it faces from Viacom. In the response, filed in the Southern District of New York, Google contends that it has not violated the rights of the media conglomerate based on a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), enacted in 1998. Google also alleges that Viacom's lawsuit threatens to derail the phenomenon of user-generated content sites...

The latestet iteration of Microsoft's next-generation gaming console, the Xbox 360 Elite, hit store shelves Sunday. The new model boasts a 120 GB hard drive, a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) port for connecting to HDTV, a wireless controller and a premium black finish on the console's exterior "Today's games and entertainment enthusias...

Mattel, maker of the iconic Barbie doll, announced Thursday that Barbie will go online with BarbieGirls, a new virtual world. The site offers the opportunities to create a virtual character, play games and chat with other girls. The toy company also plans to release the "Barbie Girls" device, a doll-shaped MP3 player, in July "Our focus since the e...

PlayStation 3 (PS3) owners will be able to see and be seen this summer with a new accessory for its next-generation gaming console Sony announced Thursday. The PlayStation Eye is an intelligent camera and noise-canceling microphone that the game maker said will expand and boost gaming and communication options "With the release of PlayStation Eye, ...

Taiwanese computer maker Acer announced a voluntary recall of 27,000 lithium-ion laptop batteries Wednesday. The batteries, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said, may overheat and pose a potential fire hazard to consumers "Acer advises customers to stop using these recalled batteries immediately and contact Acer to receive a free replace...

Advanced networking consortium Internet2 announced on Tuesday that an international team of researchers led by the University of Tokyo have set two new Internet2 Land Speed Records The achievement came over the course of two days during which university researchers added the new records to the eight others that other University of Tokyo-led teams h...

Lord of the Rings (LoTR) fans now have the opportunity to cast themselves as their favorite Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf or Man. Game software makers Turbine and Midway announced Tuesday the release of "The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar (LoTRO)." The game is the first massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game based on J.R.R. Tolkien's popular tri...

IBM released open beta software Monday that enables x86 Linux applications to run on IBM's System p servers The IBM System p Application Virtual Environment (System p AVE) is designed to allow some 2,800 Linux applications to run on the System p Unix platform without code modifications....