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The serial entrepreneur and business tycoon, who currently owns the Dallas Mavericks and is one of the finalists to buy the Chicago Cubs, is in hot water for insider trading, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission, which has filed a civil lawsuit against Cuban.

Cuban, a billionaire who started his career selling local-area network and connectivity products, may be ending his career because he tried to avoid $750,000 in stock losses. The SEC is charging Cuban with insider trading based on knowledge he had about Internet search company Mamma.com (now Copernic).

"Fundamentally Unfair'

In June 2004, Cuban was contacted by Mamma.com's chief executive and told in confidence about a private investment in public equity, or PIPE, offering, according to court documents. Cuban was angry about the PIPE offering and said, "Well, now I'm screwed, I can't sell."

The information was supposed to be kept confidential by Cuban, but he sold all his shares the next day.

Scott Friestad, deputy director of the SEC's Division of Enforcement, said Cuban promised to keep the information private, but instead, four hours later, he sold all his shares.

"As we said, it is our position that it is fundamentally unfair for people to use their access to nonpublic information for personal gain," said Friestad.

Cuban sold 600,000 shares in the company and would have lost $750,000 if he had not sold the stock, according to Friestad.

Cuban responded Monday on his official blog. "I wish I could say more, but I will have to leave it at this and let the judicial process do its job," he wrote, and then referred to a prepared statement: "I am disappointed that the commission chose to bring this case...

The black-and-chrome device has a 3.2-inch touchscreen and haptic support that vibrates to confirm selections on the touchscreen.

Three dedicated keys on the lower portion of the device streamline navigation. The phone also supports an accelerometer that automatically detects the device's motion and the orientation. That makes it possible for users to tap into capabilities like autorotation of the display, motion-sensing games, and photo scrolling by tilting the device.

"Eternity can provide endless entertainment options for AT&T customers," said Jeff Bradley, senior vice president of devices for AT&T's mobility and consumer operations. "Our customers are looking for mobile phones to be a remote control for their life, bringing music, the Internet, GPS navigation, and even TV with them on the go."

Betting on Mobile TV

Samsung characterizes the Eternity as a multimedia-rich device. It offers a full QWERTY keypad that lets customers tap into the mobile broadband Web on AT&T's 3G network. Customers can also wield the AT&T Navigator, listen to AT&T Mobile Music with Napster Mobile, and take pictures with a three-megapixel camera.

"This is a touchscreen feature phone -- it is not a smartphone," said Avi Greengart, an analyst at Current Analysis. "That means while it has a great mobile-TV features it won't synchronize your calendar or contacts and it can't be expanded to do new things in the way that the iPhone or the G1 or even a Windows Mobile smartphone can be."

Eternity users will get instant access to continuous streaming television content and sporting events from top networks, including programming from leading entertainment brands CBS Mobile, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN Mobile TV, FOX News, FOX Mobile,...

According to a Princeton study commissioned by the Pew Research Center's Internet and American Life Project, nearly half of all consumers -- 48 percent -- need assistance with a new technological device, such as a cellular phone or the Internet. The study surveyed more than 2,000 individuals over the age of 18.

From the time we wake until we settle in for the night, we have our hands on technical devices. In the morning, we may start our day using an iPod while at the gym. Later, we use the Internet to check our e-mail from iPhones, BlackBerry smartphones, laptops or home computers. Throughout the day, we use some of these same devices while at work or at our home office, and then again at the end of the evening.

Although fixing these products was frustrating for 59 percent of those surveyed -- and 48 percent felt discouraged, while 40 percent felt confused -- a whopping 72 percent felt confident that they were on the right track when fixing whatever problem was upsetting them at the time, according to the report.

Mars vs Venus

While most of these devices are "wired" differently, the study also found differences in how males and females are wired.

While a high percentage of men (33 percent) were more likely to fix their gadgets themselves compared to women (22 percent), more women (18 percent) compared to men (12 percent) asked for help.

Seventy-six percent of male respondents were more likely to be confident about the problem, compared to 68 percent of women. Still, men were no less likely than women to report being confused, discouraged or impatient during the time...

Any major upgrade to Flash is significant because 81 percent of worldwide online videos are viewed with Flash technology, making it the number-one format for video on the Web, according to comScore. Adobe's Flash Player is also installed on 98 percent of Internet-connected desktops and a growing number of mobile devices.

"Adobe Flash technology has empowered the developer community to revolutionize the Web and how we interact with it," said Adobe Vice President David Wadhwani. "The Adobe Flash platform continues to evolve, providing everything companies need to rapidly design and develop compelling business-critical applications, interactive Web content, and dynamic video that will reach users across the entire Web."

Parallel Work Flows

Flash has been tightly integrated with Creative Suite 4 -- Adobe's popular design and development software for handling creative work flows. Developers use the enhanced platform's upgraded tools, frameworks, clients and servers to develop Web applications, content and video that run consistently across operating systems and devices.

Available immediately in a preview release, the platform's Flex Builder upgrade provides designers with data-centric capabilities for creating rich Internet applications. Moreover, Flex Builder's capabilities are further enhanced by Flash Catalyst, which Adobe intends to release as a public beta in early 2009.

Previously code-named Thermo, Flash Catalyst will enable artwork from Creative Suite 4 to be imported with full fidelity and quickly converted into dynamic components such as buttons, scroll bars, and input fields. When used in tandem with Adobe Flex Builder, Flash Catalyst will enhance developer productivity by enabling design and development work to proceed in parallel.

Flash Catalyst will permit developers to publish projects that run outside the browser on multiple operating systems. Finished projects are published directly to...

According to the NPD Group, sales of U.S. video games and hardware rose 18 percent from the year-ago period. Specifically, hardware sales were up five percent to $494.7 million.

"In the U.S., third-quarter total industry unit sales grew eight percent versus 2007, even as the economy showed accelerating signs of recession," said Anita Frazier, an NPD analyst.

"As would be expected at this point in the console life cycle, games sales are starting to take the spotlight even as the average retail prices of games increased slightly," she continued. "Heading into the critical fourth quarter, the U.S. game industry is on solid ground."

Nintendo Leads the Charge

In down markets, video-game consoles tend to maintain their sales strength, largely because gaming consoles are perceived as high-value purchases, according to Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy for Jupitermedia.

"When there is a downturn in the economy, often that's when consumers spend their money on in-home entertainment," Gartenberg said. "It's for the same reason that game consoles sell well in lower-income households."

Nintendo led the way once again with its Wii console. Nintendo sold 803,000 Wii units in October, up from 687,000 in September. In all, Nintendo has sold more than 13 million units since it debuted in November 2006 -- and might have sold more if it hadn't seen widespread shortages of the console.

"With the Wii, the perception is that this console is not only going to be valued by the gamer in the family, but it's going to have appeal to lots of family members beyond the hard-core gamers," Gartenberg said. "That helps drive adoption."

Clash of the Consoles

Microsoft's Xbox 360 game console sold 371,000 units in October, just...

Pirates are using software to create imitation Blu-ray disks with a format called AVCHD, which allows both high-definition and standard-definition recording. The format is used in tapeless camcorders that record onto DVD and Blu-ray disks. For high definition, all major variations are supported, including 720p, 1080i and 1080p.

Victims may not be able to tell the difference between real Blu-ray disks and the counterfeit versions.

A Growing Problem

The Blu-ray Disc Association added several layers of protection to disks, but some hackers claim to have cracked the codes. Last year, an employee at Slysoft Software said he had cracked BD+ and posted this message: "Note to Twentieth Century Fox: as you can see, BD+ didn't offer you any advanced security, it just annoyed some of your customers with older players."

The association's Advanced Access Content System (AACS) helps control the use of digital media and is more advanced than the encryption for standard DVDs. Blu-ray disks also use BD-ROM mark and BD+ layers of protection. The ROM mark embeds a unique mark and undetectable identifier and can only be copied with equipment licensed to BD-ROM manufacturers.

In 2007 alone, the MPAA assisted authorities in the Asia-Pacific region in investigating more than 36,000 cases of piracy. It also helped in 13,000 raids resulting in the seizure of more than 31 million illegal optical disks, 40 factory optical-disk production lines, and nearly 7,000 disk burners, according to the MPAA. Around the world, the MPAA seized 118 million illegal optical disks.

The MPAA estimates that member companies, including Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, and Warner Brothers, lose about $1.2 billion each year in potential revenue...

While Google employees even posed for photos showing an iPhone running its voice-search app, the free application the world expected to appear on Apple's App Store still hadn't shown up as of Monday morning.

So instead of reviews about Google's app, there's speculation about what's taking Apple so long to get the app posted so iPhone users can begin downloading and using it.

"We're seeing so much talk about the application not being available partly because Google got so much press," said Michael Gartenberg, vice president of mobile strategy at Jupitermedia. "But Google is the one that said it was going to be available on Friday. Apple's process moves as fast as Apple's process moves."

Certification First

Apple wasn't immediately available for comment. Presumably, Apple didn't complete its review of Google's app in time to meet hyped expectations.

"What I think is interesting about all of this is that it doesn't make a difference if you are Google or a small developer," Gartenberg said. "You still have to go through the certification process before the application gets put out there to ensure it's going to do what it's supposed to do."

Some news headlines have suggested that Apple "forgot" to add the Google application to the App Store. Gartenberg, however, doesn't subscribe to that theory. "At the end of the day, Apple wants as many cool and interesting applications for the iPhone as possible because those applications help sell the iPhone," he said.

Is Google's Application iPhone-Ready?

With Google's app, an iPhone user asks a question, such as "Where's the closest hardware store?" or "How tall is the Empire State Building?" The user's voice is converted to a...

To promote this year's version of its Give One/Get One (G1G1) program, the Cambridge, Mass.-based OLPC has arranged for donations of television time, billboards and magazine ads by such major media companies as the News Corporation, CBS and Time Warner, according to a story in Sunday's New York Times.

Amazon Fulfillment

The TV ads running in donated airtime feature children who benefit from the technology. One shows a young girl sitting in front of a glowing screen in a dark room in a South African township. Another says children will learn the tools they need to survive, whether a semiautomatic weapon or an XO, as the laptop is called.

The media donations will be used to raise the visibility of G1G1. A customer in a developed country pays $399, and gets two XOs. One machine is for the customer, and one is donated to a child in a target country. Alternatively, the customer can just donate the $199 needed to give the XO to a child.

Last year, the G1G1 program resulted in orders for more than 160,000 units in less than two months, but there were reports of issues with delivery. OLPC has said the problems arose because fulfillment was being handled by different vendors.

To solve that problem, OLPC this year will work with Amazon in the U.S. and United Kingdom to provide fulfillment at cost. U.S. customers who order this holiday season can get their machines in 2008, although U.K. customers will receive their machines next year. Amazon said it would begin taking orders Monday.

Half-Million XOs

Having created a highly innovative, rugged laptop that could be used in remote villages and elsewhere, OLPC...

The planned legislation follows a long battle between the Federal Communications Commission and cable-TV and Internet service provider Comcast. It would have the Internet Freedom Preservation Act bar cable and telephone companies from being Internet "gatekeepers" and keep the Internet open and free, according to Dorgan, who has introduced previous bills on net neutrality.

"He was the lead sponsor of net-neutrality bills for this session of Congress, which is about to end, and he will be introducing a bill in the next session of Congress," said Justin Kitsche, a spokesperson for Dorgan's office.

"We don't believe legislation is necessary in this area and could harm innovation and investments," said Sena Fitzmaurice, Comcast's senior director of government affairs and corporate communications, in a phone interview. "We have consistently said that all our customers have access to content available on the Internet."

Superhighway or Gravel Road

Dorgan has been outspoken on the issue, saying ISPs such as Comcast, AT&T and Verizon Communications are trying to block or manage what has always been a free Internet.

"What is happening in our country today is we have big interest, increasingly big interest, from cable and telephone companies and others who want to be gatekeepers and want to have toll charges on the Internet," Dorgan said in a video message on his Web site. "Some have said they would like to say to content providers: If you want to go on a superhighway, you'll have to pass extra money. If not, you'll have to pass on a gravel road somewhere on the Internet, to use a metaphor."

Doing so would be...

Jim Balsillie told investors at an RBC Capital Markets conference that this is most intensive economic period he has ever known.

"There are more variables, more need to navigate, more need for hands on the wheel and eyes on the road right now. If you don't, you do it at your peril," he said.

The BlackBerry maker's shares closed Thursday on the Toronto Stock Exchange at C$53.59 ($44). Shares were at a 52-week high of C$150.30 (US$124) last May and dropped to a 52-week low of C$51.21 ($42) in October.

The BlackBerry is dominant among business users, who prize its secure e-mail that automatically downloads into the device. It has moved increasingly into the consumer space and faces competition from other smartphones including Apple's new and faster iPhone.

Balsillie said RIM is better at what it does now than five years ago when the company's stock leapt from under the equivalent $10 to over $15 in a single day.

He was upbeat about RIM's expected performance.

"I am really quite excited by what we think we can do coming into this season. What I think we can do throughout the rest of this year and the next year," adding he doesn't believe that people will give up mobile phones in a tougher economy.

Despite Balsillie's optimism, some analysts were more pessimistic.

UBS analyst Jeffrey Fan said RIM will be affected by the slowing market.

"Although consumers are unlikely to get rid of cell phones, they may be more cautious about adding incremental monthly data fees, which could slow sales. We expect replacement cycles to continue to lengthen," said Fan.

Early adopters of the high-end BlackBerry Bold and the BlackBerry touchscreen Storm should help in...