Tracy Davidson

Stay tuned for more fee disputes threatening local television stations on cable TV lineups.
Broadcasters hurt by declining ad revenue are demanding more fees from cable and other subscription TV providers to carry the stations. The providers are resisting, and in the latest tussle, Cablevision Systems Corp. dropped the ABC station in New York in the [...]

In the near future, TV is going to be available anywhere, on any device, at any time. Just don’t expect it to be free.
That’s because of the big, unanswered question being asked by networks, cable companies, advertisers and technology providers: How do we make money from it?
Viewers are already taking full advantage of online television. [...]

Consumer Reports magazine names the cars, trucks and SUVs it rates highest in popular categories
Best Overall: Lexus 460L
Price: $70,925
Mileage: 24 Hwy, 16 City
Parent company Toyota has been taking its lumps lately, but the carmaker and its luxury division Lexus still makes some very good vehicles. Case in point: the Lexus LS full-size luxury sedan scores [...]

You’ve seen Apple’s “There’s an app for that” TV commercials. But can you participate in the apps bonanza if you don’t own an iPhone, much less any other smartphone?
You can, according to GetJar, even with the most basic handset. The San Mateo, Calif., company says it has more than 60,000 downloadable mobile applications worldwide, including [...]

Have you ever wondered how much money is left on a gift card, or go to shop somewhere and realize you left the gift card at home?  Target now has the ultimate convenient gift card- save your Target gift card to your phone, use it to check out and see your balance anytime.
Give your gift [...]

Google is feeling the heat from red-hot social network Facebook.
The search giant is upgrading its Gmail program to add social-media tools similar to those found on Facebook. Google will incorporate photo and video sharing within the Gmail application, along with a new tool for status updates. Google will hold a press conference at its Mountain [...]

Automobile Consumer Services, Inc. (ACS), the leader in online direct-to-consumer auto leasing and financing, released a list of the top 10 diesel vehicles to lease from its popular website www.LeaseCompare.com.
“Not your father’s diesel car from yesteryears, today’s generation of clean diesel cars are fuel-efficient, quiet, low emission, and have the performance [...]

Apple Inc. CEO Steve Jobs has unveiled the iPad, a tablet-style computer that resembles the iPhone, but larger.
“It’s so much more intimate than a laptop and so much more capable than a smart phone,” Jobs said Wednesday at the device’s highly anticipated debut in San Francisco.
Apple had kept its “latest creation” tightly under wraps, though [...]

More business travelers are getting what they say they want most from hotels: free Internet access in their rooms.
Corporate business travel managers are taking advantage of the downturn in travel to negotiate the prized service, says DeAnne Dale, a sales executive at online business travel management firm Travelocity Business.
They’re also getting free service from big [...]

Nokia will follow Google, offering free maps on its cellphones, in a move to boost handset sales and prices, but one that will hit other satnav players.
Nokia hopes free navigation will bolster its flagging position in the global smartphone market. It still sells more smartphones than any of its rivals, but it has lost ground [...]