Accessibility links
Technology Latest technology news and breakthroughs in technology, science, and industry. Download the NPR Technology podcast and Technology RSS feed.

Technology

Business

Brick-and-Mortar Music Retailers Struggle to Keep Up

Music retailers are having a hard time avoiding red ink in the age of MP3s and Amazon.com. Musicland, the owner of Sam Goody, has decided to try to remake its stores by embracing downloading and the ringtone craze in an effort to keep brick-and-mortar music retailing relevant. Jeff Horwich of Minnesota Public Radio reports.

Brick-and-Mortar Music Retailers Struggle to Keep Up

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4982356/4982357" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

How Much Is Google Really Worth?

Shares of Google have risen from $85 to more than $350 during the last 15 months. Is Google undervalued, overvalued, or fairly valued? Motley Fool analyst Rick Munarriz shares his thoughts on the future of Google.

How Much Is Google Really Worth?

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4980622/4980623" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Education

Black Students and the Future of Technology

Ed Gordon talks with Omar Wasow, co-founder of Blackplanet.com, about his efforts to encourage college students across the country to think about the future of technology.

Black Students and the Future of Technology

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4971279/4971280" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Digital Life

Reversing Technology's Racial Divide

Technology experts say there is still a vast "digital divide," with more people of color with little or no access to computers or the Internet than ever before. Ed Gordon discusses ways of reversing the trend with News & Notes tech expert Mario Armstrong and Tyrone Taborn, chairman and CEO of Career Communications Group.

Reversing Technology's Racial Divide

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4971267/4971268" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Lawmakers Eye 2009 for Digital TV Conversion

House and Senate lawmakers are beginning to settle on a date for ending traditional analog broadcasts and transitioning to digital frequencies. Congress is proposing a $3 billion program to help consumers buy converter boxes for older televisions.

Lawmakers Eye 2009 for Digital TV Conversion

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4971002/4971003" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

The Marketplace Report: 2009 Deadline for Digital TV

A U.S. Senate committee on Thursday recommended a 2009 deadline for converting all the nation's television signals from analog to digital. Alex Chadwick talks with John Dimsdale of Marketplace about what that deadline would mean for industry and consumers.

The Marketplace Report: 2009 Deadline for Digital TV

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4968600/4968601" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Public Surveillance: Security vs. Privacy, Part 2

Ed Gordon talks with two experts about security cameras and their effects on civil liberties. Guests: Barry Steinhardt, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Program on Technology and Liberty, and Kristin Mahoney, chief of technical services for the Baltimore Police Department.

Public Surveillance: Security vs. Privacy, Part 2

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4968501/4968502" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Public Surveillance: Security vs. Privacy, Part 1

Closed-circuit TV cameras keep watch in many metropolitan areas. While police and community activists say the cameras make their streets safer, some residents and civil liberties groups say they feel their privacy is threatened.

Public Surveillance: Security vs. Privacy, Part 1

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4968498/4968499" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

High-Tech Hasn't Eased Calif. Traffic Woes

California, the state that gave birth to the American freeway, is now trying out a number of new high-tech tools to improve traffic flow. Rachael Myrow of member station KPCC reports that several of those novel approaches have led to little improvement, despite millions of dollars invested by the California Department of Transportation.

High-Tech Hasn't Eased Calif. Traffic Woes

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4967125/4967126" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Business

America Online Cuts 700 Jobs

America Online, the new-media behemoth that bought Time Warner five years ago, announced 700 layoffs in its dial-up operations Wednesday. AOL is now a division of Time Warner and is being courted by other Internet companies.

America Online Cuts 700 Jobs

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4966599/4966600" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Going Mobile: Choosing a Cell Phone, Part 1

Tech expert Mario Armstrong talks about cell phone technology and what consumers need to know about cell phones and service. Armstrong also covers technology for Baltimore-area NPR member stations WEAA and WYPR.

Going Mobile: Choosing a Cell Phone, Part 1

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4965278/4965279" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Watermarks Help I.D, Printer, Copier Documents

Robert Siegel talks with Purdue University Professor Edward Delp, one of a team who devised a way to watermark pages from copiers and printers. This technology allows for the tracing of documents to specific printers or to a certain model of printer.

Watermarks Help I.D, Printer, Copier Documents

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4964472/4964473" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

San Francisco Weighs Wi-Fi Plans

San Francisco is considering proposals for an ambitious plan to offer wireless Internet access, or Wi-Fi, to its residents. Google has thrown its hat in the ring, prompting speculation that they're looking beyond just San Francisco.

San Francisco Weighs Wi-Fi Plans

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4962484/4962485" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Health

Software May Improve Utility of Implants for Deaf

Twenty years ago, the FDA approved the first devices to help the deaf understand speech through cochlear implants. Now Duke University researchers are using software to make the implants more suitable for hearing music.

Software May Improve Utility of Implants for Deaf

Listen
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/4961269/4961270" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript