Editors’ note: This is a guest column. See Larry Downes’ bio below. LAS VEGAS–The Obama administration and its allies at the Federal Communications Commission are retreating from a militant version of Net neutrality regulations first outlined by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in September. That’s my reading of a number of recent developments, underscored by comments …

Sony has excellent reasons to try and enthuse us about 3D. It makes piracy harder, which keeps the people at Sony’s film division happy. It also requires a new TV and Blu-ray player, such as the ones announced today, which keeps the consumer electronics people in new shoes. Filmmakers and broadcasters all need new 3D cameras, which helps Sony’s professional …

Here at CES 2010, Samsung has announced it will be creating its own app store, but unlike its rivals, who offer applications on mobile phones, the Korean giant intends to supply apps that work across phones, computers, Blu-ray players, home-cinema systems and even TVs. The Samsung Apps feature — essentially an evolution of the company’s Internet@TV concept — will ship …

Consumer demand is what you’d see if Ford said it was working on building a car powered by sneezes. It’s not what we’re seeing for tablet computers. Let’s look back to 2006, when nobody was asking for £200 robot dinosaurs, but Ugobe said it had designed one anyway. People continued not to demand them into 2007, but in oblivious response, …

The Federal Communications Commission says it needs more time to come up with its National Broadband Plan, which was supposed to be submitted to Congress next month. The FCC said Wednesday that it is asking lawmakers to extend the February 17 deadline for its report by at least a month. The report, which the FCC has been working on since …

The Motorola Backflip is like the Dext but with a horrific back injury. It’s an Android-powered smart phone with a slide-out Qwerty keyboard, and it’s got similar rounded looks, but its screen also flips back at an angle. With the display at a jaunty angle, in what Motorola calls ‘tabletop mode’, the Backflip is perfect for watching videos or for …

DataViz and Quickoffice have long been racing for the glory of creating the most advanced office suite for iPhone. Their products, Documents To Go and Quickoffice Mobile Suite, have leapfrogged one another as they developed. This time, Documents To Go Premium pulls into the lead with version 3.0 of the $14.99 app that is now capable of creating and editing …

The Nexus One is a superphone James Martin/CNET If you watched Tuesday’s Nexus One press conference, you would have noticed that the Nexus One was not the only thing announced. Yes, we got our first official glimpses of the long awaited “Google phone,” but we were also introduced to a new classification of handset. I’m referring, of course, to the …

Bar code apps are all the rage these days, and with good reason: with one quick pass of your iPhone’s camera, you can get all kinds of information about a product. Joining the ranks of RedLaser, Pic2shop, and SnapTell, the aptly named Barcode Reader helps you compare prices, which is great for those times when you’re out shopping and want …

3D television is the future. We know it’s the future because at every CES we’ve ever been to, manufacturers bang on about it like it’s the cure for cancer. This year Panasonic has turned the hyperbole into reality with its first 3D high-definition Viera television, 3D Blu-ray player and 3D video camera, as well as offering the first 3D TV …

What’s the most you’ll pay for an iPhone/iPod Touch game?(answers) Anyone who knows me knows that I’m a cheapskate. (I even have a blog that says so.) Needless to say, when it comes to buying games for my iPhone, I tend to choose titles that are free or supercheap. In fact, my buying habits work like this: If a game …

Updated 1/6/10 12:55 p.m. PT: More up to date information on where the Nokia Ovi store is offered has been added to this story. LAS VEGAS–Nokia on Wednesday said its Ovi application and mobile-content store is now available in the United States for AT&T wireless customers. Consumers using Nokia devices such as the E71x, the Surge, the Mural, the 6650, …

We’ve flown a £21,500 radio-controlled chopper and crashed a model P51-D Mustang on the streets of London, but throw in an iPhone and the ability to shoot at our friends, and we’re insanely excited about the Parrot AR.Drone helicopter. The AR.Drone connects to the iPhone or iPod touch over Wi-Fi, and uses the phone’s accelerometer so you can fly it …

LAS VEGAS–Cisco Systems will soon be testing a home version of its TelePresence video conferencing product, the company said Wednesday from the Consumer Electronics Show here. Cisco, which is the world’s largest supplier of networking equipment, has been selling videoconferencing equipment to large companies for the past few years. Cisco’s TelePresence 500, introduced in 2008 as a simpler, cheaper version …

LAS VEGAS–From new cell phones to set top boxes to emerging devices, AT&T is looking beyond the iPhone as it focuses on a rapidly expanding application business. The company’s top wireless executive, Ralph de la Vega, told developers at the company’s fourth annual application developer conference here Wednesday that AT&T’s future is in applications. AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la …