According to a new study by app analytics firm Distimo, you must gross $47,000 per day to crack the Apple App Store's top 10 paid apps list.
The app that ranked 10th for top paid averaged about 4000 downloads a day, on average, in May 2013, says the report.
To break into the top 50, you have to average revenue of $12,000 per day.
Moving over to free applications, the 10th spot required 72,000 downloads per day and the top 50 required 23,000 or more downloads.
Somewhat strangely, Distimo found that Thursdays were the easiest day of the week to break into the top lists, as less downloads are done on that day. Weekends see major surges and the top lists do not move usually.
According to new comScore data, Apple still tops smartphone market share in the U.S. over other brands, even though Android remains the top operating system.
Apple ended May with 39.2 percent share, up 0.3 percentage points from the quarter before. Rival Samsung saw strong growth from 21.3 percent to 23 percent by the end of May, likely thanks to the launch of the Galaxy S4.
Other smartphone makers continue to fall into irrelevance behind the duopoly, with HTC, Motorola and LG all falling. HTC now has 8.7 percent, Motorola has 7.8 percent and LG has 6.7 percent rounding out the top 5.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has signed a new deal with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. for component supplies, helping the company somewhat break its dependency on bitter rival Samsung.
The first chips for the joint venture will reach production lines in early 2014.
Apple's agreement will have TSMC building next-generation 20nm A-series SoCs for the iPhone and iPad. Samsung will remain the main supplier of the chip for 2013.
Sources claim the deal was years in the making, but TSMC was "unable to manufacture silicon up to the speed and power standards required by Apple." That hurdle has now been jumped.
In their ongoing effort to move away from Samsung, who for a time was their exclusive A-series processor maker (among other components), the company has signed display deals with LG and Sharp and NAND memory deals with Toshiba.
Apple has begun testing a patch/update for their new mid-2013 MacBook Air and its 802.11ac Wi-Fi issues.
Although the issues have not been widespread, there have been complaints about bugs and connectivity issues relating to the Wi-Fi which has the future-proofed 802.11ac standard.
Apple has been providing select customers the option to test the pre-release version of the "MacBook Air WiFi Update 1.0," asking them to give feedback on bugs or any issues with the installation process.
So far, Apple has not sent the pre-release software, perhaps waiting until more users sign up to test it.
This is not the first time Apple has quickly had to patch their new devices for a Wi-Fi issue. Last year's MacBook Pro with Retina had glitches with connecting 802.11n networks in the 5GHz band.
Google has listened to the significant outcry from its Android users and returned the easy access delete button to their native Gmail app.
The new version, 4.5.2, will allow users to delete emails when long pressing the actual email from the inbox (or other folder).
In the previous version, which was a major overhaul in its own right, Google removed the trash icon, making the default selection "Archive." To delete the file, users had to go to the setting and "Show Delete Only" from the Archive menu. It was annoying.
More info here in the official Gmail updates page: Gmail for Android
The U.S. Department of Justice will probe a retired four-star general of the Marine Corps over the release of confidential information related to the Stuxnet virus.
NBC claims the general, James Cartwright, has been under investigation for allegedly leaking details of the virus to various sources. Cartwright was also a vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
To date, eight people have been prosecuted under the Espionage Act by the Obama administration over the leaks.
Stuxnet was designed to disable Iran's uranium-enriching centrifuges and in 2010 the virus caused over 1000 of the devices to spin at such high rates that they went out of control and became useless temporarily. The centrifuges are crucial to the country's nuclear program, a program which could eventually lead to atomic weapons.
The virus is generally believed to have been created by Israel and the U.S. jointly to avoid having to bomb the facilities.
Cartwright was one of the top military officers involved in the "Olympic Games" cyberwar program started by President GW Bush and continued by President Obama. The origins of the virus were revealed in an award-winning piece in the New York Times.
If you are a Google early adopter and have signed up for their experimental "field trials," a new feature has been added.
Gmail contact info is now added to Google Search results, meaning you can see people you know when making relevant searches.
Google had previously added shipping and flight results from your Gmail allowing you to ask questions like "When does my flight leave?" and receive the right answer.
The search giant promises Google+ information will be added in the near future, as well.
As always, only you can see the results, and you can even use it with voice search.
Appleappears to be keeping to their two-week release cycle for iOS 7 beta launches, with the third version expected to hit on July 8th.
The new software is expected to launch this September alongside the iPhone 5S.
Beta 3 will likely be available for all iOS devices, including iPads, iPhones and iPod Touches. The iPad was unsupported until Beta 2 and Touches are still not supported.
From a design standpoint, Apple has made everything sharper, flatter and slimmer, and frankly it looks much, much better.
The company has added a new control panel that slides up from the bottom of the home screen and gives access to your most frequent settings such as airplane mode, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, brightness and also adds a new flashlight, quick access to AirDrop, AirPlay and a slider for your current music.
According to a new 24/7WS report, the Apple iPhone is now the profitable product in the U.S.
Beating out long-time staples like Coke and Marlboro cigarettes, the iPhone topped the list, thanks to a huge profit margin and tens of millions of sales.
In 2012, $80.5 billion of Apple's revenue came from iPhones, and the company sold 125 million units last year, with that number expected to go up again this year.
Apple's gross margins on the iPhone are between 49% and 58%, depending on the model. The overall profit margin is around 38 to 40%, higher than the company's overall 35.3% margin.
EA has announced it is planning to "re-establish Origin as a service to gamers, not as a means to drive transactions."
Origin, the company's digital game distribution platform, is a rival to Steam and has been available to Windows users since 2011 and Mac users since earlier this year.
"In the near term, quite frankly, our focus is making that download better, making that install better, making that automatic patching better," executive vice president Andrew Wilson said. "Making that friends presence better, making the various game services better. That's what you're going to see from us over the next year, which is really re-establish Origin as a service to gamers, not as a means to drive transactions."
Wilson also confirmed that the company has acknowledged that the service does not necessarily have the greatest of consumer sentiment, following a scandal in which it was discovered that EA's Origin EULA allowed for spying on your personal information, regardless of its relation to the actual program.
"I want to reiterate, it's very important for people to understand that we don't expect that all of a sudden people are going to get up and go 'Oh! Great! We now love Origin!'" Wilson said. "We get it. We understand it," he added. "We have heard, we have made some changes already in terms of how we do things, and we're looking at more changes that we'll talk about over the coming months that really are gamer-focused."
Thanks to a leaked roadmap, we now know the release dates for a few major phone launches coming to the T-Mobile USA carrier.
Among the most important devices are the Sony Xperia Z and the Nokia Lumia 925. Additionally, the yet-unknown T-Mobile 768 (likely a ZTE or Huawei device branded by T-Mobile) will launch during the month, as well.
All three devices will launch on July 17th, three days after the company announces a "Major EIT Release," likely to be additions to carrier's "UNcarrier" plans.
The two high-end devices are expected to sell for $99.99 down and $579 total (24 monthly payments of $20).
Although the show's first season will not reach the streaming service until July 11th, Netflix has renewed the upcoming 'Orange is the New Black' for a second season.
The comedy is Netflix's most recent original program, following the launch of House of Cards, Hemlock Grove and a new season of Arrested Development.
OITNB is written by Weeds creator Jenji Kohan and follows the story of a woman sentenced to 15 months in federal prison.
The show will be available in all Netflix regions on July 11th.
Marking one step in our ongoing commitment to provide the best developer environment for creators, this collaboration will make it even easier for developers to bring popular games, entertainment and apps to Microsoft platforms.
Developers who build games published by Microsoft Studios now have access to Unity tools for Xbox 360 and Xbox One free of charge and can create interactive 3D and 2D experiences. Unity will develop tools for Xbox One, including support for features like multiplayer matchmaking, SmartGlass, enhanced Kinect gestures and recognition, and the power of the cloud.
Adobe has announced this week that it will be acquiring major digital marketing software company Neolane for $600 million in cash.
The company operates the platform for managing digital marketing campaigns over multiple platforms.
Adobe says the move will "bring critical cross-channel campaign management capabilities to the Adobe Marketing Cloud." Adobe is best known for building Flash and packaging Photoshop and Acrobat.
The company's Marketing Cloud is a tool set that includes analytics, social, advertising, targeting, and web experience management solutions.
Neolane, which was privately held, has major clients such as Bridgestone Tires and Barnes & Noble among others. Their platform automates and executes digital marketing campaigns across the Web, email, social, mobile, call center, direct mail and point of sale.
Microsoft has confirmed that it will no longer charge devs to update and patch their Xbox 360 titles, a huge update to previous policy.
The software giant has always charged a large fee when developers first submit their games to be certified and approved for release. Microsoft then offered one title update (patch) for free. Any subsequent re-certification, however, could cost tens of thousands of dollars, a figure that most indie developers simply could not afford even if they needed to desperately patch their game.
Confirmed by Xbox boss Larry Hryb, the new policy of making all re-certifications free of charge applies to both Xbox Live Arcade games and full retail games.
There is, of course, some fine print. If developers are deemed to "make an excessive number of re-submissions due to an update failing certification, Microsoft reserves the right to issue a charge."
"Microsoft eliminated fees for Title Updates on Xbox 360 Arcade games in April 2013," a spokesperson concluded. "We're constantly evaluating our policies and implementing feedback. While our development policies are confidential, and will remain so, we're pleased to say that this is just one of many ongoing changes and improvements we've made to ensure Xbox is the best place possible for developers and gamers."
MIT professor Dina Katabi and graduate fellow Fadel Adib have announced today a new tech that could allow you to see through walls, sort of.
Dubbed "WiVi," which is a mix of Wi-Fi and "vision," the tech will allow viewers to "see" any persons moving behind a wall.
As explained by the professor, "the subtle reflections of wireless inter signals bouncing off a human could be used to track that person's movements." In the duo's previous experiments, however, the tech had very limited use since it required a wireless router already be in the room being tracked or a large specialized radio.
The new tech use the same wireless antennas seen in your smartphones, tablets and other mobile devices and technically could be eventually embedded into your devices. The biggest issue is the ability to cancel out all interfering signals. Wi-Fi bouncing off walls, for example, are thousands of times more powerful than a reflection off a human body.
WiVi "sends out two wireless signals, one of which is the inverse of the other. Te two signals cancel each other out unless they hit a moving target – such as a human. To silence the noise, we change the structure of the Wi-Fi signal so all the undesired reflections cancel."
Despite promising to update their PlayBook tablet to the new BB10 operating system in 2013, BlackBerry has decided against the idea, citing performance issues.
CEO Thorstein Heins revealed the information yesterday during the company's fiscal Q1 2014 earnings report. The company's stock cratered 28 percent after the report thanks to an unexpected loss and poor guidance for earnings moving forward.
"Our teams have spent a great deal of time and energy looking at solutions that could move the Blackberry 10 experience to PlayBook. But unfortunately, I am not satisfied with the level of performance and user experience, and I made the difficult decision to stop these efforts and focus on our core hardware portfolio," Heins added.
The PlayBook has been dead for some time. The company was forced to fire sale it just months after launch, dropping the price from $500 to $300 and then $169 just to move inventory. Even at its current price, only 100,000 PlayBooks were sold during the recent quarter, compared to 19.5 million iPads and over 20 million Android tablets.
As of tomorrow, Sprint will officially decommission and tear down the Nextel iDEN network that allowed consumers to speak to others via "push-to-talk" on their mobile phones.
The move will help Sprint free up much needed spectrum and cell towers that will now be used for the company's relevant 4G LTE network.
At midnight tonight, your iDEN device will stop working, even for emergencies (like 911 calls) so you will have a paper weight if nothing else. Sprint has been letting iDEN network users know since 2010 that the network would be shut down for good by June 2013.
Earlier in the century, the network had 6 million subscribers, and Nextel had 20 million subscribers in total. Sprint acquired Nextel for $36 billion in 2005 and 3 years later wrote down almost $30 billion as a loss, a major financial disaster for the companies.
For those who still want push-to-talk, Sprint does still offer it via their CDMADirect Connect network.
The accurate French tech rumor site NowhereElse has reported on alleged leaked blueprints/schematics for the upcoming next-generation iPad.
In their report (translated), the site says the new iPad "should be less bulky than the current iPad 4 or iPad Retina and has a design modeled on that of the iPad Mini."
The iPad Mini has arguably the nicest look of any tablet on the market, and one of the thinnest frames.
Finally, the site compares the schematic to the current generation iPads and you can see more subtle curves, as well. The device is expected to launch in October with a quad-core A6 processor and a 12MP camera.
Twitter has announced the launch of Vine for Kindle Fire, beating out rival Instagram to the platform.
Vine, which allows users to share six second video clips, is now available for iOS, Android and Kindle.
Although Amazon has never revealed exact figures of Kindle sold, the line of devices is generally accepted as one of the top selling Android-based tablets.
Instagram, owned by Facebook, recently updated the application to allow 15 second video clip sharing, along with filter use that has made the application so popular. There is no native Instagram app for Kindle, as of yet.
In the ongoing rivalry, Vine just added front-facing camera support, and the company's founders have teased a major update coming in July.
According to the official Twitter account of Nokia Spain, the much-anticipated "Amber" update for Lumia devices is planned for August.
The tweet (below) translated, says: "The Amber update for the Nokia Lumia WP8 series will arrive in August, giving users the same experience as that of the #Lumia925."
Nokia's Lumia 925, which launched earlier this month, is the company's new flagship device for Windows Phone.
As part of the update, Nokia will add "Glance Screen" to all Windows Phone 8 devices, which shows the clock, battery life and ringer volume all while the device is on standby (as pictured). When in Glance Screen, you can double tap the screen to unlock it.
Additionally, the Smart Camera app will now be added to all WP8 Lumias.
La actualización Amber para la gama Nokia Lumia con WP8 llegará en agosto dando la misma experiencia de usuario que el #Lumia925
BlackBerry shares were decimated today after the company reported their fiscal Q1 2014 earnings for the quarter ended May 2013.
The important earnings report, since it included sales of the first BlackBerry 10 device, the Z10, failed to enthuse investors.
BlackBerry shipped 6.8 million smartphones in the quarter, of which only 2.7 million were BB10 devices including the aforementioned Z10 and the QWERTY-packing Q10 that was released in Canada and the UK but did not reach the U.S. in time for this earnings report.
By comparison, Apple shipped over 37 million iPhones in the last quarter, and Samsung shipped over 40 million.
The company reported a loss of $84 million on revenue of $3.1 billion, and cited Venezuelan foreign exchange regulations as the sole reason for the loss.
Microsoft has announced a new deal with Time Warner Cable that will bring 300 live TV channels to the Xbox 360 console as long as you are an Xbox Live Gold member.
Time Warner Cable subscribers can now watch their favorite shows right from the console, "including favorites like AMC, BBC World News, Bravo, Cartoon Network, CNN, Comedy Central, Food Network, HGTV and more."
Making the TV experience different than a standard cable box is the ability to control the channels using your voice thanks to Kinect.
"TWC TV is a significant addition to Xbox 360, bringing our customers their favorite entertainment in one place--enhanced TV experience, games, movies, music, sports and entertainment apps,"said Blair Westlake, corporate vice president, Media & Entertainment Group at Microsoft. "Our partnership with TWC enhances all that is available on Xbox 360 today, which will we continue expand. We're thrilled to offer TWC TV to U.S. Xbox Live members and Time Warner Cable subscribers."
Earlier this month, Facebook introduced video-sharing features to Instagram, allowing over 100 million users to share 15 second clips enhanced by Instagram's famous filters.
Vine, owned by Twitter, and currently the most popular way to share video clips via mobile devices, seems to have taken a severe hit to traffic following the launch.
According to Topsy research, "the number of links to Vine videos on social networks fell by nearly half a million the day after video was added to Instagram."
At the same time, an extra 300,000 Instagram links were shared.
Yesterday, a week after the app was updated, there were "50% more Instagram than Vine links being shared on the net." The numbers are significant, but it remains unclear whether they will stick.
Vine allows for 6 second clips and is deeply integrated into Twitter.
Reminiscing about the "old days" during an interview, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak called the first Macintosh device "lousy."
In 1982, Apple's CEO John Sculley began to have issues with Steve Jobs, who was working on the "Lisa" PC project. Sculley moved Jobs over to the Macintosh project, to work with Woz.
"The Macintosh should've been a whole different product, not a mouse-driven GUI machine like it was, and the Lisa, he should've just waited five years, and then it would've been ready," Woz added. "Steve really took over the [Macintosh] project when I had a plane crash and wasn't there.
Lisa needed more memory than the Macintosh did, and since 1 MB cost the equivalent of $10,000 in today's dollars, Jobs did his best to make the first Mac as cheap as possible.
"What he did was he made a really weak, lousy computer, to tell you truth, in the Macintosh, and still at a fairly high price. He made it by cutting the RAM down, by forcing you to swap disks here and there. It was a lousy product. The Macintosh failed, really hard, and who built the Macintosh into a success later on? It wasn't Steve, he was gone. It was other people like John Sculley who worked and worked to build a Macintosh market when the Apple II went away," Woz added.
T-Mobile USA has announced today that it has purchased 4G spectrum from regional carrier U.S. Cellular.
The wireless spectrum covers the Mississippi Valley and should allow T-Mobile to expand their LTE network to 29 more markets and 32 million more people.
The biggest markets in the valley are St. Louis, Nashville, Kansas City, Memphis, Lexington, Little Rock-North Little Rock, Birmingham, New Orleans and Louisville.
In its press release, the company says the deal will cost them about $308 million in cash.
The deal must still pass FCC approval but is expected to close later this year.
Microsoft has made it clear that Windows Phone is the third-largest smartphone ecosystem in the world, with their sites set on taking more share from Google and Apple.
Senior Windows Phone product manager Larry Lieberman added, "We think we're solidly the third ecosystem right now. That's a huge announcement in some respects."
Windows Phone overtook the share of the dead BlackBerry brand last month. When asked about BlackBerry, which once dominated the market, Lieberman said, "I don't think they can bring to the table some of the things we have. The fact that we're delivering across such a different set of price points to such a large audience."
Microsoft has also decided to take on Google head-on for the low-end emerging markets, announcing the Nokia 521, a device that will sell for $150 off-contract.
Four months ago, Skype unveiled video messaging, a mixture of its instant messaging and video chat services.
While the service was well accepted, it was limited because you needed a premium Skype account to use it on an unlimited basis.
As of today, the feature is now free to all users, no matter what type of account you have. Video messaging options are now available for the desktop versions of Skype, iOS, Android, and BlackBerry.
Somewhat surprisingly, Windows Phone owners cannot send video messages, just receive them for the time being.
According to the WSJ, Google is actively developing an Android-based gaming console and a smartwatch, both of which could potentially launch this year.
The move would be huge expansion for Android, which has remained primarily on smartphones and tablets.
Additionally, the sources claim Google is building a second version of its failed media-streaming orb, the Nexus Q.
As of the last month, Android is now on 75 percent on all smartphones and 57 percent of tablets, beating out rival Apple handily.
If the gaming console comes to fruition, it would likely put the kibosh on Ouya and other cheap Android-based consoles that have recently reached the market.
Microsoft has announced today that there are now over 160,000 apps in the Windows Phone Store.
Additionally, the software giant has temporarily dropped that annual registration fee paid by all developers who publish in the store to $19 from $99.
The offer is only good for the next 60 days for developers wanting to publish to the Store.
As a relatively new platform, the 160,000 apps is quite a large number but it is small compared to the 800,000 seen in both the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store.
Finally, Microsoft says transaction volumes in the Store has reached 200 million per month and daily revenues have grown 250 percent since launch.
In a second hit to CEO Charlie Ergen's ego, major satellite provider Dish Network has withdrawn their bid for Clearwire.
Reads the small press release: "DISH Network Corporation (NASDAQ: DISH) today announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, DISH Acquisition Holding Corporation, is withdrawing its tender offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock of Clearwire Corporation ("Clearwire"), including any shares of Class A Common Stock issued in respect of outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock, for $4.40 per share. DISH's tender offer provided that it could be withdrawn, among other reasons, as a result of the recent change in recommendation by Clearwire."
Sprint had increased their bid for 4G spectrum holder Clearwire to $5 per share, 14 percent higher than Dish's bid, and almost 40 percent higher than their own original bid. The bid would allow Sprint to purchase the 50 percent of the company it does not already own. Additionally, Sprint managed to get major investor and board member support, sticking the final dagger in Dish.
According to Strategy Analytics, India has surpassed Japan to become the world's third largest smartphone market, behind China and the U.S.
The news is not too surprising given that India has a population of 1.3 billion, but it is notable as Japan has long held the spot.
Apple, Samsung and Indian AndroidOEM Micromax have been driving higher sales thanks to improved distribution, says the analytics firm.
While the average global growth for smartphone shipments is around 40 percent year-over-year, India is at 163 percent. India's market is growing much quicker than China at 86 percent, Japan at 24 percent and the U.S. at 19 percent.
Although Apple is seeing strong growth in the nation thanks to its price cuts and financing programs, Micromax and other cheap domestic Android OEMs are seeing exponential growth figures, ranging from 200 to 500 percent.
Google's Motorola Mobility has dramatically updated their logo today, as the company continues to re-invent itself.
Moving away from the black, bold and italic "MOTOROLA," the new logo features a softer, skinnier all-lower-case title.
While the "M" design remains the same, it will now be surrounded by a colorful highlight.
Additionally, Google has finally made it clear who is in charge, by adding the tagline "a Google company" below the name.
Moving away from the old bloated Motorola, Google has laid off over 20 percent of the workforce, slimmed down the company's lineup of products, and will soon be releasing the American-made X Phone flagship.
Just days after dropping the price of their upcoming handheld console and announcing a June launch, the company has delayed its release for a month.
The console, which was initially priced at $349 to much criticism, will cost $299 now when it launches sometimes towards the end of July.
Nvidia says they discovered a mechanical issue, but they would not specify except to say it was with a third-party component.
In their statement, the company says "We want every Shield to be perfect, so we have elected to shift the launch date to July."
NVIDIA SHIELD's specifications:
Tegra 4 – The world's fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
There's more – NVIDIA put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack
Two of the best Android phones are the market just got a little better today, as Google has made the Nexus editions of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One available through the Google Play Store.
Both versions have been stripped of their third-party user interfaces and will run stock Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. Each will get the quickest updates, moving forward, the same as the Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4.
Each are unlocked and contract-free, meaning they have hefty price tags. The HTC One is now available for $599 and the Samsung Galaxy S4 for $649.
It is also important to remember that in getting stock Android, you also lose some highly-rated features of the devices, such as the One's camera app and Samsung's suite of premium apps like S-Touch.
Microsoft has announced today a trio of new apps for their Windows Phone platform.
The new apps will allow users to watch full episodes of their favorite shows on Discovery Channel, TLC, and Animal Planet.
Additionally, you'll be able to view thousands of curated clips and special behind-the-scenes material from the programs.
Special to Windows Phone, you can pin your favorite shows to the Start Screen for quicker access and set calendar reminders for your favorite episodes.
In a case that is now 9 years in the making, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled this week that Joel Tenenbaum must pay the $675,000 in damages to the record industry.
The original court decision was in 2009 and has been back and forth through the appeals process ever since.
Tenebaum, a graduate student at the time, was accused of sharing 30 tracks via Kazaa in 2004. The student did not admit to sharing the tracks, but also tried a "fair use" defense that was thrown out. His actions in court also made it clear he knew exactly what he was doing and felt no remorse. After the defense fell apart, the original jury awarded the RIAA $22,500 for each of the 30 songs, due to willful infringement.
After the first case, the damages were reduced by one judge, but the RIAA appealed and won. Tenebaum tried to take the case to the Supreme Court in 2011, but was denied last year.
Reads the final ruling: "Joel Tenenbaum illegally downloaded and distributed music for several years. A group of recording companies sued Tenenbaum, and a jury awarded damages of $675,000, representing $22,500 for each of thirty songs whose copyright Tenenbaum violated. Tenenbaum appeals the award, claiming that it is so large that it violates his constitutional right to due process of law. We hold that the award did not violate Tenenbaum's right to due process, and we affirm."Read more...
Massive Spanish wireless carrier Telefonica has announced today that it will be backing Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.
When asked why, the company responded they hope to end the "current duopoly of Android and iOS." As part of their backing, the companies have signed a 12-month "enhanced marketing agreement" that will see a major increase in advertising for Windows Phone 8 devices in the UK, Germany, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, and Chile.
Additionally, the company has pledged to "provide customers with a more personal smartphone experience like Windows Phone offers." By backing the number three player in the market, Telefonica hopes to "dilute the polarisation of installed base in operating platforms."
The carrier will be working closely with Nokia, HTC and Samsung to ensure "the availability of high-quality devices," as well.
Motorola's upcoming flagship device, the X Phone, has been leaked again in a new report.
The device, which is expected to launch on August 1st, has now been seen on Sprint, and is likely to be available for all the rest of the major U.S. carriers, as well.
Rumored specs for the device are mid-range: 4.7-inch 720p display, a quad-core 1.7 GHz Snapdragon chipset, 2 GB of RAM and 16 GB of internal memory.
The device is going with the code of Motorola XT1056 for Sprint, and XFON for AT&T.
Despite what we know, the phone is expected to have features not yet seen on an Android device, but so far those features are unknown. We should know more later this summer.
Google has updated their Transparency Report to include a new section in which they highlight malware.
Says the site: "Google Safe Browsing scans millions of websites to identify those sites that install malware without a user's knowledge. We discover and categorize these sites by autonomous system (AS) numbers, thousands of which exist on the Internet."
Additionally, there is a heat map that allows you to mouse over every country and view the rate of sites infected with malware or attempting to phish personal information.
The U.S. scored very well, with a malware rate of 2 percent. Latin American countries like Mexico and Chile had higher rates, 12 and 11 percent respectively, while India, Bosnia, Hungary and others had massive 15 percent rates.
Google does note that the data is "not comprehensive and is best viewed as an indicator of the global malware problem." Check the heat map here: Google TR
Barnes & Noble reported its most recent quarterly earnings today, and they were not pretty.
The company posted a net loss of $118.6 million on revenue of $1.3 billion.
For the year, the company lost $154.8 million on revenue of $6.8 billion. Quarterly revenue for its retail business (brick and mortar stores and BN.com) was down 10 percent to $948 million, although the company said Fifty Shades of Grey inflated last year's numbers.
Nook Media, the company's failing e-reader and media division, posted a meager $108 million in quarterly revenue, down 34 percent from the same quarter last year.
The company's tablets, including the Nook HD+, have recently been firesaled in an effort to boost sales. The company's high-end $279 HD+ is now selling for $149 with a 9-inch Full HD screen and access to the Google Play Store.
Barnes & Noble has also announced it will open up the Nook brand to OEMs who can build their own tablets and license the Nook platform. The company will no longer offer their own tablets, but will continue to sell e-readers like the Simple Touch Glow.
Today, Sprint shareholders approved SoftBank's updated $21.6 billion deal for a 78 percent controlling stake in the company.
Eight months after their initial bid for the U.S.' third largest carrier, and a slight bidding war with satellite provider Dish Network, it appears that one of Japan's largest wireless carriers will finally get their long wanted presence in the U.S.
SoftBank has already received three out of four regulatory approvals needed and is waiting for final approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).
Shareholders overwhelmingly voted for the transaction, with 96 percent favoring the deal.
"We are pleased to have the support of Sprint shareholders," SoftBank said in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to receiving FCC approval and promptly completing the transaction so that we can begin implementing our plans to deploy an advanced Sprint network that supports innovative devices and service packages tailored to the rapidly expanding mobile needs of U.S. consumers."
The large software company Autonomy, now owned by HP, announced today that they have sold off their remaining shares in the oft-forgotten video search engine company Blinkx.
Autonomy sold 45.7 million shares at 120 pence per, giving the deal an $84.48 million value. The sale was actually at a 5 percent discount to the company's current price, but was sold through an accelerated issue to institutional investors.
Last year, Blinkx became the provider of AOL's video search, replacing Truveo.
HP had a small statement: "HP is selling its stake in Blinkx as part of our ongoing efforts to refocus the company on our strategic priorities."
Ouya game consoles are finally available today for anyone who could not pre-order it via Kickstarter.
The box, which runs on Android and a quad-core processor, was one of the highest funded projects on the site, with $8.6 million in funding from over 60,000 backers.
Additionally, the company raised another $15 million from venture capitalists.
So far, the console has been generally panned, due to its sluggish controller and small current selection of games. These reviews, of course, came for the beta edition of the console received by early adopters.
There are currently only 150 games available, all of which are free-to-play models, meaning they are either fully free or are free to download and play but you will need in-game purchases to really move forward or unlock new content.
The Ouya is available for $99 with a controller at places like Amazon and Target.
The 21.5-inch tablet has a 1080p touchscreen, runs Android 4.2.2 and is powered by a Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor.
"Customers are looking for technology that simplifies their lives while keeping them connected to the entertainment they enjoy and the content they need," said Jun Kim, vice president and general manager, PC Displays and Accessories, HP. "The HP Slate21 allows families to easily access content through the cloud and enjoy it together on a large, interactive screen."
The company says the HP Slate21 All-in-One is expected to be available in the U.S. in September, with a starting price of $399.
Samsung has denied reports that it is planning to shut down its current PC business.
The report, originally from the Korea Times, said Samsung had decided to shutter its PC division, consolidating their businesses by moving to the OEM side and sticking to mobile devices for the consumer side.
Says Samsung: "The rumor that Samsung is withdrawing from the PC desktop business is groundless. Samsung will continue to offer diverse PC products according to consumer and market needs."
The reports did not make much sense to begin with, especially since Samsung just unveiled new Ativ touch-screen PCs during a full press event and reiterated support for notebooks and ultrabooks.
That being said, the traditional PC market is expected to see another annual decline in shipments, likely in double digits.
A few weeks after announcing the tablets, Samsung has officially priced their Galaxy Tab 3 10.1, 8.0 and 7.0 models.
The tablets will cost $399, $299 and $199, respectively, making them extremely competitively priced.
Each of the devices will be available at retailers such as Best Buy, Fry's and Amazon starting on July 7th, with pre-orders beginning in the next couple of hours.
The 8-inch version runs on a 1.5 GHz Exynos dual-core processor, has a WXGA TFT 1280 x 800 (189 PPI) display, 1.5GB of RAM, 1.3/5MP cameras, a 4,450 mAh battery, and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage depending on your needs.
Notably, the 10.1-inch model will run on a 1.6GHz Intel Haswell dual-core processor, a major score for the company as it tries to finally make a dent in the mobile markets. The device has a 1280 x 800 (149 PPI) WXGA TFT display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, and a large 6,800 mAh battery. Strangely, the cameras are 1.3/3MP, a letdown for those that were hoping were decent photo taking.
Major chipmaker Qualcomm has completed its investment in the struggling display maker Sharp.
The company announced it would be investing up to $120 million last December, but the second part of its investment was delayed when Sharp failed to meet certain conditions.
Now with all $120 million invested, Qualcomm is a 3.53% shareholder, one of the largest in the company.
Into the future, Qualcomm will be teaming up with Sharp for high-res IGZO displays mixed with Qualcomm MEM display products for smartphones and tablets.
Research firm Gartner has said today it expects combined PC, tablet and mobile phone shipments to reach 2.35 billion in 2013, a solid 5.9 percent increase from 2012 despite falling PC sales.
Tablet shipments are expected to jump 67.9 percent year-over-year, making up for a steep 10.6 percent decline in traditional PC shipments.
Traditional PCs (desktops and notebooks) will total 305 million units in 2013, with ultrabooks buoying that figure somewhat.
Tablet shipments will reach 202 million units, and mobile phones will grow to 1.8 billion units, a small 4.3 percent jump year-over-year.
"Consumers want anytime-anywhere computing that allows them to consume and create content with ease, but also share and access that content from a different portfolio of products. Mobility is paramount in both mature and emerging markets,"added Carolina Milanesi, research vice president at Gartner.
While Sony has kept mum on the exact release date, multiple sources reported today that the upcoming PlayStation 4 will be released on November 13th.
So far, Sony has only said the console will launch during the "holiday 2013" but has not revealed an exact date.
One source is retailer Media Markt in Germany, who has already put up posters with the 11/13 date. Additionally, Dutch retailer Bol.com also put up advertisements with the date.
A Sony spokesperson was quick to call the retailer listings "speculative" but there was no official denial.
TorrentFreak has put together their most recent list, the top 10 most pirated TV shows of the last season.
Game of Thrones was the clear champion but there were a few surprises on the list, as well.
Perhaps most notably, the number of downloads for the HBO blockbuster jumped 25 percent from last season.
The below list is an estimate per single episode, for the season that started in March and just ended in June. The data is collected from public torrent trackers, and does not include cyberlockers, online streaming or private torrent trackers, meaning these numbers are likely very low compared to the real figures.
AppleInsider has posted two high quality 3D renders of the alleged upcoming low-cost 'iPhone Lite.'
Shown below, the device is based on blueprint images and schematics that leaked earlier this month.
Accessory companies have led credence to the leak and are currently building cases for the new form factor.
From what we know so far, the device will have a 4-inch screen, have circular speaker and microphone holes just like the 6th generation iPod Touch, include a Lightning port, the volume controls are pill shaped and the back corners are curved. The phone will have a plastic back cover and will be thicker than the iPhone 5.
Although it is considered a "Lite" model it is not expected to be really cheap. The device is expected to take the spot of the iPhone 4S when the 5S is released, since it will be more powerful.
According to Digitimes, Apple and Samsung have begun developing ultra-thin heat pipes for their upcoming smartphones, with the potential to reveal "heat pipe-adopted models in the fourth quarter."
The companies would not be the first to launch such a model, as NEC just unveiled their Medias X06E, a smartphone with a 4.7-inch 1,280x720 OLED display, a 1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro 4 processor and heat pipes for improved cooling.
Digi says the "conventional graphite plus foil cooling method is no longer able to dissipate enough heat in modern smartphone models efficiently" mainly thanks to the standardization of LTE chips.
Ultrabooks currently use heat pipes with diameters of 1-1.2mm, but NEC's has a tiny 0.6mm diameter. Due to Apple's tiny screens, that may have to be even smaller for upcoming devices.
According to Sony UK, the upcoming PlayStation 4 launch does not mean the company is dropping the price of the PS3.
UK Managing Director Fergal Gara says the aging console will not get a price cut following the holiday launch of the PS4.
"There's no plans as yet," Gara says. "The PlayStation 3 is a system where it hasn't been particularly easy to get the costs down."
Although the PS3 lost the company money on every console sold at launch, Sony has said the PS4 will be around breakeven right from launch. The PS3 launched at $499 and the PS4 will launch at $399.
As expected, Facebook yesterday announced that its popular photo-sharing application Instagram has been updated to include Video sharing features.
The move was made to rival Vine, Twitter's video sharing app for iOS and Android.
Instagram's updated platform allows for 15 second videos, much longer than Vine's 6 second video restriction.
Says Kevin Systrom, Instagram CEO:
Today, we're thrilled to introduce Video on Instagram and bring you another way to share your stories. When you go to take a photo on Instagram, you'll now see a movie camera icon. Tap it to enter video mode, where you can take up to fifteen seconds of video through the Instagram camera.
You'll also find that we've added thirteen filters built specifically for video so you can keep sharing beautiful content on Instagram. When you post a video, you'll also be able to select your favorite scene from what you've recorded as your cover image so your videos are beautiful even when they're not playing.
Popular cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp has reported 250 million active monthly users, a huge boost from the recently reported 200 million less than two months ago.
The company launched four years ago but did not become mainstream until last year. The company has a $0 marketing budget, making the growth even more impressive.
At 250 million users, the app is now in elite company amongst more established brands like Twitter and Skype.
The app itself costs just $1 per year, and gives access to unlimited messaging across platforms such as iOS, BlackBerry and Android.
According to multiple sources, HTC has signed A-list star Robert Downey Jr. for a new marketing campaign set for the next two years.
The deal is worth $12 million and will include television, print, and billboard advertising all around the world. Additionally, Downey will keep some level of creative control.
HTC recently dropped its long-time "Quietly Brilliant" tagline, claiming that the company now needed to be louder to keep up with rivals. All new campaigns will use the terms "bold," "authentic," and "playful."
Downey Jr. has been busy, coming off major hits like "Sherlock Holmes" and of course, "Iron Man" and "The Avengers." The actor is set to reprise his role as Iron Man in the Avengers sequel, slated for 2015.
Looking to end their long-standing bidding war, Sprint has increased their bid for 4G spectrum holder Clearwire to $5 per share, 14 percent higher than Dish's bid, and almost 40 percent higher than their own original bid.
The bid would allow Sprint to purchase the 50 percent of the company it does not already own. Additionally, Sprint managed to get major investor and board member support, so unless Dish counters with a massive increase this looks like the final purchase price.
Of the Sprint offer, Clearwire's CEO says, "The path that we took has created a fantastic value for shareholders. This deal is going to be simple for us to execute and we expect to close it quickly."
With the latest move, Dish has been rejected in both of its attempts to gain access to the U.S. wireless market. The company bid $25.5 billion for Sprint and was rejected, and $4.40 per share for Clearwire.
The original bid for Clearwire, last December, was $2.97 per share, prompting the bidding war between the companies and forcing Sprint to pay much more than they expected and hoped for.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of the infamous torrenttracker The Pirate Bay, has been sentenced to prison time for his part in hacking the Swedish outsourcing firm Logica.
Warg had been accused of accessing computers illegally and making illegal money transfers.
The prosecution argued and proved that Warg managed to transfer 24,200 Danish crowns but attempted to transfer 683,000 euros. "The hacking has been very extensive and technically advanced,"added the prosecution. "The attacker has affected very sensitive systems."
Warg is already serving one year in prison for breaching copyright as owner of the torrent tracker, which remains active today.
The site is registered in Sint Maarten, a Dutch territory in the Caribbean.
HP and Samsung have teamed up to fight Windows OS piracy in China.
The companies will now ensure that all PCs sold in the nation are pre-installed with licensed versions of Windows and Microsoft Office.
Microsoft announced the new agreements as part of an anti-piracy campaign event in the Chinese city of Nanjing. The campaign, dubbed "Keep it Real," is meant to educate the Chinese public "on security risks of using unlicensed Windows software."
Additionally, Microsoft has been warning dozens of Chinese resellers to stop selling pirated versions of Windows in the nation.
The move is similar to the deal Microsoft struck with Lenovo, one of the world's biggest PC makers, two months ago.
China is widely regarded as a country with high rates of Windows piracy, where users are more open to exploits due to outdated versions of the operating system.
Resident crazy person John McAfee has released a video to his YouTube channel, showing off how to uninstall McAfee anti-virus software, the software he founded.
The four-minute video, dubbed "How To Uninstall McAfee Antivirus," includes a lot of green screen action, nudity, drugs and supposedly, humor.
Please be reminded McAfee has been questioned for murder and has admitted to consuming the drug known as bath salts
Dish Network has announced today that they will not be making new bids for Sprint, instead choosing to focus on 4G spectrum company Clearwire.
The news should be a relief for Japanese carrier SoftBank, who had to up their original bid as Dish tried to counter. SoftBank bid $21.6 billion for a 78 percent share of the company.
Although the company says it "continues to see strategic value in a merger with Sprint" but will not offer a new bid before the June 18th deadline set by Sprint's board.
Sprint also bid for Clearwire earlier this year, at $3.40 per share. Dish countered with $4.40 per share, and Clearwire's board recommended that shareholder vote for Dish's superior offer.
Large Chinese network equipment and smartphone maker Huawei has denied it has interest in purchasing struggling phone maker Nokia.
The company responded to multiple reports by stating it has "no plans to acquire Nokia," although a partnership could make sense.
Huawei vice president for external affairs Bill Plummer, added that the company's Windows Phone offerings do not have enough penetration yet around the globe.
The company is one of the top smartphone makers in the world, but has literally no presence in the U.S.
Evleaks, well respected for leaks in the mobile phone industry, has posted the specs for the upcoming Moto X device.
The phone is expected to be the centerpiece of Motorola's new fall 2013 lineup, and it will have significant input from new parent company Google.
If the leaked specs are accurate, the phone will be disappointing a 1.7GHz Snapdragon MSM8960 Pro SoC, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 720p display, a 10MP camera and stock Android 4.2.2.
The Moto X has been rumored to be a customizable phone, allowing users to pick and choose certain specs, so these could well be base components.
Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have announced today a new exclusive deal that will make the streaming service "the home of new original series from the award-winning creators of global box-office hits including the Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to Train Your Dragon franchises."
The streaming service says the deal is the largest in its history for first-run content.
DreamWorks has been looking to expand its television production and distribution worldwide and the new deal is for 300 hours of programming. The new shows will include characters well known from their time on the big screen.
The first shows are expected to air in 2014, and the series will be available in all Netflix territories.
"DreamWorks Animation is a valued partner in our global efforts to provide families the most engaging stories delivered however, whenever and wherever they want,"said Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos. "This deal represents a major expansion of what's already a phenomenal relationship, allowing us to bring beloved DreamWorks characters to the 40 countries where Netflix operates and setting the stage for us to innovate together as we expand into new markets."
Facebook is holding a press event later this week, in which it is expected to announce something big for its platform.
The most cited rumor is that Facebook will update its popular photo-sharing app Instagram to include short video sharing, just like rival application Vine.
Facebook's event is on June 20th, but the social networking giant has kept details under wraps.
Instagram has been said to be internally testing video and it is unclear whether the update will allow filters for video, as well.
The move would be a direct reaction to the Twitter-owned Vine, which allows users to share six seconds of video footage via iOS and Android and is deeply integrated with Twitter. Despite being much newer, Vine shares have already surpassed Instagram shares on Twitter.
Speaking earlier this week with GamesBeat, Nintendo marketing exec Scott Moffitt says the company has no plans to drop the price of the struggling Wii U console.
Many had expected a price drop at E3, but it never came.
Says the exec: "We have no plans to change the price of Wii U. The Wii U is a great value. With great content coming, that will drive the hardware installed base. We've gone from being the highest-priced console on the market to now being a great value with the announcements from our competitors. The perception of our price has changed, but what's also changed is that people now see what great content is coming. They'll see the value in those games. They'll be able to enjoy a Wii U in their household for a lot less than a competing console."
The games Moffitt is talking about are the upcoming first-party guaranteed hits, Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda and Mario Kart 8.
Last night, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Samsung and Jay-Z played a three minute commercial showing off a new partnership between the two brands.
Jay-Z's newly announced album, "Magna Carta Holy Grail," which goes on sale on July 7th, will be available to 1 million lucky Galaxy S3, S4 and Note II owners who download a special app.
The app will be available on June 24th and gives an "unprecedented inside look into the album personal stories and inspiration," besides the actual album itself. App downloaders get the album three days early, on Independence Day, for free.
Reports claim that Samsung paid $5 for each album, meaning Jay-Z and his label have pocketed $5 million weeks before the CD even launches.
On June 13th, Amazon put a poll up on their Video Games division's Facebook page asking consumers one simple question; Do you prefer the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One.
Three days and over 40,000 votes later, the etailing giant has taken down the poll prematurely, as it was set to run until June 20th.
The PS4 absolutely demolished the Xbox One, with 38,984 votes for the Sony console and just 2162 votes for the Microsoft rival.
At this point in the next-gen console wars, it appears Sony has the upper hand, thanks to a more pro-consumer approach.
Sony has no restrictions on used discs being played on any console, does not require online authentication to play single player modes, and costs $399 compared to the Xbox at $499, although that does include the Kinect system, as well.
CinemaBlend has reported that Microsoft did not use a dev kit to demo its Xbox One games at E3, instead using high-end PCs.
The console maker was using an HP built Windows 7 system with a Nvidia 700 series GTX GPU.
Making that more notable, is the fact that the upcoming console will use a mid-range AMD GPU, a far cry away from the Nvidia used. It is also odd that the company did not use a dev kit, like Sony did for their presentation.
Also of note, the company did not use their latest Windows 8 operating system, leading many to believe that the company did not trust its own struggling OS.
Shuhei Yoshida, Sony Computer Entertainment's first-party game boss, said during an interview this week that the company has pledged 10 years of support for the PS4.
The company expects the console will have as long of a lifespan as its predecessors, namely the PS2 and PS3.
"I would say the same or similar," says Yoshida, "because the PS4 has an incredible amount of RAM and I don't think any launch titles need that 8GB of RAM. So there's room for growth in both game content and system features".
One of those features, the oft-requested cross-game voice chat for the PS3, was never made available because system-level limitations made it impossible to launch. The PS4, however, can adapt and evolve. "In the middle of PS3 we really hit the limit with what we could do on the system side. We wanted to add the cross-game voice chat that many people asked us about, but we had no room in the system memory at all to add it. So the PS4's enlarged, very fast memory allows us in the future to improve and add more new features. And at the same time we are continuing to invest and add onto the online services so that, three years from now, the PS4 will be much, much better than PS4 this holiday - and that was the case on PS3 and PS Vita."
Multiple sources have been diligently putting together all of the announced games for the PS4, and we have a full list for the console now.
Starting with the exclusives:
Knack (Sony)
DC Universe Online (Sony Online Entertainment)
Planetside 2 (Sony Online Entertainment)
Hohokum (Sony Santa Monica)
The Order: 1866 (Ready At Dawn)
Killzone: Shadow Fall (Guerrilla Games)
Infamous: Second Son (Sucker Punch)
Drive Club (Evolution Studios)
Unnamed Move Game (Media Molecule)
Moving on to the third-party games:
Abe's Oddysee: New 'n' Tasty (Just Add Water)
Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag (Ubisoft)
Watch Dogs (Ubisoft)
Tom Clancy's The Division (Ubisoft Massive)
Final Fantasy XV (Square Enix)
Kingdom Hearts 3 (Square Enix)
Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (Square Enix)
Battlefield 4 (DICE)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (CD Projekt RED)
EA Sports UFC (EA Sports)
NBA Live (EA Sports)
Madden 25 (EA Sports)
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain (Konami)
Deep Down (Capcom)
Daylight (Zombie Studios)
Mad Max (Avalance Studios)
Diablo 3 (Blizzard)
Destiny (Bungie)
Warframe (Digital Extremes)
Wolfenstein: The New Order (Machine Games)
The Evil Within (Tango Gameworks)
Sniper Elite 3 (505 Games)
Yager's Unreal Engine 4 game (Yager)
Batman: Arkham Origins (WB Montreal)
Cyberpunk 2077 (CD Projekt)
APB: Vendetta (Reloaded Entertainment)
War Thunder (Gaijin Entertainment)
Carmageddon (Stainless Games)
Primal Carnage: Genesis (Lukewarm Media)
Mirror's Edge 2 (DICE)
The Crew (Reflections)
Star Wars Battlefront (DICE)
Dragon Age: Inquisition (BioWare)
PES 2014 (Konami)
Thief (Eidos Montreal)
Blacklight: Retribution (Zombie Studios)
Call of Duty: Ghosts (Infinity Ward)
Skylanders: Swap Force (Activision)
Need for Speed Rivals (Ghost Games)
Elder Scrolls Online (Bethesda)
Dying Light (Techland)
According to EA Labels president Frank Gibeau, the company will resume developing games for the struggling Wii U console when "it becomes a viable platform" to sell games.
Last month, the company confirmed it would not be bringing popular sports titles like Madden 25 and FIFA 14 to the console, and a spokesperson later confirmed there were no games in development for the system.
Gibeau's comments mirror those of Ubisoft, which earlier this week announced they would not develop any more exclusives for the console until Nintendo sold more hardware. Unlike EA, however, Ubisoft remains committed to the console for non-exclusives.
"Look, the only thing they can do to fix it is to sell more boxes. We're a rational company, we go where the audience is. We publish games where we think we can make a great game and hit a big audience, and make money. That's why we're here, that's why we have an industry,"said Gibeau.
Earlier in the week, Apple announced that it had reached 575 million iTunes accounts, a huge jump from previous announcements.
In 2009, the company revealed that figure as 100 million.
Apple analyst Horace Dediu took a deeper look into the numbers, including gross revenue, and figured out that each iTunes account is worth $40 in iTunes spending to the company.
Then, Dediu took into account that most Apple fans don't just have an iTunes account, but more than likely have multiple Apple devices, as well.
By his calculations, which can be found here, each iTunes account is worth just about $300 per year to Apple, a hefty figure which is perhaps larger than Amazon's Prime member value.
Dediu also believes iTunes Radio, as long as it helps people discover music that they later buy, will significantly boost the figure.
Thanks to a new FCC listing, we may have a complete spec sheet for the second generation of the popular Google Nexus 7 tablet.
A new Asus tab, with model K009, is powered by a Qualcomm APQ-8064 S4 Pro quad-core, 1.5GHz processor with Adreno graphics, front and rear cameras, 4,000 mAh Li-ion battery and LTE radios.
Additionally, the base model will have 32GB internal storage.
For the display, "This tablet features a 7" LED-backlit capacitive multitouch screen for easy carrying and fantastic multi -media experience everywhere. It is enpowered by Qualcomm ® Snapdragon ™ 600 Quad-core CPU with the highest performance. Wireless networking Ensures simple connection to the Internet without wires."
The device is expected to launch towards the end of the summer.
Beginning today, AT&T will be sending an OTA update to iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 owners that includes Wireless Emergency Alerts such as AMBER alerts for missing children.
Other alerts include emergencies such as man-made or natural disasters, and Presidential alerts.
Most of the alerts are not mandated by law and are easily shut off if you do not want them. With the exception of the Presidential alerts, you can head to Settings >Notifications>Turn On/Off.
Additionally, alerts will not go against your data or messaging plans. The update will be sent to users with iOS 6.1 or higher.
According to multiple reports, Microsoft is offering money up front to certain developers for them to write Windows Phone 8 apps.
While the company currently offers anyone who develops up to $2000 ($100 per app), big name developers can make up to $100,000.
Of course, paying to bring popular apps over to the fledgling operating system makes perfect sense, given how far behind they are behind Android and iOS.
For the operating system, Microsoft has had extraordinarily deep pockets. The company pays struggling phone maker up to $1 billion per year to exclusively build Lumia Windows Phone devices.
Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs biopic finally has a new release date.
Originally scheduled to reach theaters on April 19th on the anniversary of Apple's founding, distributor Open Road Films decided it needed to be delayed.
The movie covers the years 1971-2000, right before the release of the original iPod and the beginning of Apple as the giant it is today. The film will show off Jobs' founding of the company, his ouster, the founding of NeXT and Pixar, and his return to the company after Apple purchased NeXT in 1996 for $429 million. NeXT's software highly influenced Mac OS X and iOS. Some of the movie was filmed in the original garage in which Apple was founded.
The film is now slated for a wide release on August 16th.
Microsoft has confirmed that its first-party titles for the upcoming Xbox One will cost $59.99, just as they do on the Xbox 360.
Speaking bluntly, a company representative says "I can confirm that Microsoft Studios games on Xbox One will be $59.99 (MSRP)."
Sony America president Jack Tretton made a similar announcement for his company earlier this year, saying "We're going to welcome free-to-play models, games from $.99 up to those $60 games."
Amazon, Gamestop and other major retailers have been pricing pre-order games at the $59.99 price point.
Less than a week after the company purchased an FM radio station in an effort to get better royalty rates, the BMI has sued Pandora, calling the purchase a "stunt" and a cry for attention.
BMI collects license fees for songwriters and composers.
"Pandora's stunt makes a mockery of the performing rights licenses and the rate court process," BMI said in its suit. It is now asking the court to set "reasonable, market-driven fees for Pandora." The organization claims direct negotiations have completely fallen apart.
Pandora has been alleging that the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) has allowed artists to selectively back out of licensing popular songs to the service, and has even filed a motion claiming "ASCAP has violated the terms of its antitrust consent decree with the Department of Justice."
The company then purchased KXMZ-FM in Rapid City, SD, in an effort to gain access to the alleged preferential treatment ASCAP has given terrestrial stations.
Microsoft, in an ongoing effort to alienate fans, has left confusing messages as to whether the upcoming Xbox One console will function properly outside of the "supported" countries it is being released in.
For example, Microsoft says the Xbox One "requires account on Xbox Live in an Xbox One-supported Xbox Live country" and "Xbox One games are for activation and distribution only in specified geographic regions."
Xbox support has also responded on Twitter to questions about playing imported games, or taking your console on the road, and the answers are not promising (see below). Microsoft has only confirmed 21 countries for the console this year, with more expected next year at unknown times. A few major gaming hubs, like Japan, are not on that list.
The Verge asked Microsoft directly if the console is IP-locked:
At this time, we have announced Xbox One will be available in 21 markets in November this year and additional markets later in 2014. Similar to the movie and music industry, games and other content must meet country-specific regulatory guidelines before they are cleared for sale - which means that games will work in the broad geographic regions for which they have been cleared, much as today with Xbox 360. While the console itself is not geographically restricted, a user's Xbox Live account, content, apps and experiences are all tied to the country of billing and residence.
AT&T has finally confirmed the release date for the rugged Samsung Galaxy S4 Active.
The Active is a 5-inch 1080p LCD device powered by a quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 CPU that is very similar to the Galaxy S4 except that some of the aesthetics have been changed.
Samsung says the device will be aimed at those with a more active lifestyle that require a more rugged phone. The phone is IP67 certified to be water-resistant and dust-resistant.
The device has an 8MP camera instead of the 13MP camera seen on the S4, to keep prices lower, and the device will be available in grey and teal.
One of its biggest developer partners, Ubisoft, has said today it will not create any more exclusive titles for the Wii U console until the company sells more units.
Bluntly, CEO Yves Guillemot said, "We need more [Wii U] sold."
Earlier this year Ubisoft said they remain committed to the console, even when others like EA took the opposite stance, discontinuing development for the console. The publisher has one of the biggest hits for the Wii U, ZombiU, which was so popular that Nintendo even created hardware bundles around it.
Nintendo recently announced updates for first party smash hits Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, Mario Kart, Super Smash Bros., and Donkey Kong Country, all of which are almost guaranteed to be hits. Guillemot says he hopes the new games will help spur hardware sales, as well.
Xbox boss Don Mattrick, during an interview this week, had an interesting response for gamers who may not be fans of needing an always-on Internet connection.
"Fortunately we have a product for people who aren't able to get some form of connectivity, it's called Xbox 360,"said Mattrick. "If you have zero access to the internet, that is an offline device."
Mattrick conveniently ignored the millions of gamers out there that may have slow or unstable Internet. The Xbox One requires authentication (phoning home) every 24 hours, even if you are playing in single player mode.
The company recently unveiled a slimmer, new form-factor Xbox 360 and announced hundreds of new games would still be headed to the console in the coming years, making it a perfectly usable platform.
As any Netflix user that shares their account with family, a spouse or others knows, your recommendations will always be completely out of whack due to the wide variety of viewing habits.
That is set to change.
Netflix Vice President of Product Innovation Todd Yellin has confirmed that the service will soon be adding multiple profiles for those that share accounts, giving each their own personalized recommendations.
The move is a long time coming. Netflix has long said that customers who share accounts has led to "junk data" for them, since recommendations and social-sharing features are often skewed and inaccurate.
Yellin first mentioned the separate profiles at this year's CES in January.
In order to ensure they continue to get access to music licensing rights, Internet radio giant Pandora has announced it is buying a terrestrial FM radio station.
Pandora has been alleging that the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) has allowed artists to selectively back out of licensing popular songs to the service, and has even filed a motion claiming "ASCAP has violated the terms of its antitrust consent decree with the Department of Justice."
The company has now purchased KXMZ-FM in Rapid City, SD, in an effort to gain access to the alleged preferential treatment ASCAP has given terrestrial stations.
In theory, Pandora's general assistant counsel, Christopher Harrison, Pandora should now get the same deals that online competitors get, such as iHeartRadio (which is owned by massive terrestrial radio station provider Clear Channel).
Amazon has noted that sales of George Orwell's '1984' novel have jumped over 4000 percent since news hit of the U.S. government collecting personal data like phone records.
The popular book, written originally in 1948, is Orwell's look into a future where "Big Brother" government monitors and tracks their citizen's every move.
In Amazon's "Classics" section, the book is now up to #2, and overall it remains in top 100 best-sellers, moving from 11,800 last week.
The PRISM computer system, which was revealed to be used by the NSA (National Security Agency), allows access to data from video and audio messages, emails, phone calls and connection logs from companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple and others. Each of the companies has denied that the NSA has server-side access to their information.
Rival book retailer Barnes & Noble also says they have seen a "significant spike in sales recently as government surveillance and Orwell have been paired in the news," even though the book has long been a top seller.
ESPN will shut down its specialized ESPN 3D channel by the end of the year, proving once again that 3D is a gimmick that the general public could not care less about.
The move was confirmed via Twitter by an ESPN PR affiliate, who cited the lack of adoption of 3D TVs and services as the reason.
A second spokesperson added: "Nobody knows more about sports in 3D than ESPN, and we will be ready to provide the service to fans if or when 3D does take off."
The channel launched in June 2010 to broadcast the FIFA World Cup.
ESPN discontinuing its 3D operation by end of year
Samsung has made their camera/smartphone hybrid official.
The device is notable thanks to a large 16MP CMOS sensor and 10x optical zoom lens with dual Xenon flash and optical image stabilization.
Additionally, the phone runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, has a 4.3 inch qHD sAMOLED (960x540) display, 1.5GB RAM, an unspecified 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 8GB internal storage expandable with microSD.
"The Samsung GALAXY S4 zoom represents yet another step forward in the way Samsung is working to enhance the lives of our customers around the world," said JK Shin, President and CEO, Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. "As communication continues to become increasingly visual in nature, people wish to capture and share their moments in the highest quality possible, but often do not have the space or inclination to carry a dedicated camera for this purpose. The GALAXY S4 zoom changes this forever, combining the industry leading functionality and connectivity of the GALAXY S4 with the high quality photographic experience you'd expect from a compact camera. The result is truly the best of both worlds, without compromise."
Nokia has confirmed that later this summer will see the end of the Symbian line, for good.
An exact date was not given as the company says there are still outstanding inventory in some emerging markets that need to be sold.
Symbian, once the most popular smartphone operating system, by a long shot, was left for dead by Nokia after the introduction of Android and iOS and was mostly discontinued two years ago as the company moved to Windows Phone thanks to a partnership with Microsoft.
At its peak, Nokia was shipping nearly 30 million Symbian devices per quarter, but that figure slipped to 1.2 million in 2013.
The last release was the Nokia 808 Pureview, released a year ago with its 41MP camera. The camera failed to be successful thanks to a high price tag and little marketing.
Last night, Sony announced to great applause that there would no restrictions on playing used discs.
Today, Sony America CEO Jack Tretton, confirmed that publishers would still have the ability to dictate DRM for used games online, just like they do with the PS3.
This morning, Tretton said: "Well, I mean, we create the platform, we've certainly stated that our first-party games are not going to be doing that, but we welcome publishers and their business models to our platform. There's gonna be free-to-play, there's gonna be every potential business model on there, and again, that's up to their relationship with the consumer, what do they think is going to put them in the best fit. We're not going to dictate that, we're gonna give them a platform to publish on. The DRM decision is going to have to be answered by the third parties, it's not something we're going to control, or dictate, or mandate, or implement."
His original comments spooked some PlayStation fans but Sony was quick to clear up any confusion: "Similar to PS3, we will not dictate the online used game strategy (the ability to play used games online) of its publishing partners. As announced last night, PS4 will not have any gating restrictions for used disc-based games. When a gamer buys a PS4 disc they have right to use that copy of the game, so they can trade-in the game at retail, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend, or keep it forever."
After weeks of speculation, and bids from Facebook and Apple, Waze has been officially acquired.
Google, an unlikely suitor except for the fact that they are one of the biggest mapping companies on the planet, has pulled the trigger, buying the Israeli startup for over $1 billion.
We've all been there: stuck in traffic, frustrated that you chose the wrong route on the drive to work. But imagine if you could see real-time traffic updates from friends and fellow travelers ahead of you, calling out "fender bender...totally stuck in left lane!" and showing faster routes that others are taking.
To help you outsmart traffic, today we're excited to announce we've closed the acquisition of Waze. This fast-growing community of traffic-obsessed drivers is working together to find the best routes from home to work, every day.
The Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now. We're excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google's search capabilities.
Read more...
Barnes & Noble has quietly discontinued support for their Nook for PC and Nook for Mac applications.
Reads the company's email to users:
We are no longer supporting NOOK for PC for Windows 2000/XP/Vista. To enjoy the NOOK content on your PC please use the NOOK for Windows 8 App or NOOK for Web. [ link ]
The moves are none too surprising, given that B&N stopped updating the apps in November 2011 and March 2012, respectively.
At the same time, Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of their Nook+ HD to $149, $120 off the regular price as they practically give the tablet away.
According to Bloomberg, Sprint has broken off talks with the Dish Network, who had bid $25.5 billion for full control of the company.
Among the issues was the size of a breakup fee that is awarded if the deal falls apart. Sprint allegedly wanted $3 billion while Dish would not budge past $1 billion.
Japanese carrier SoftBank now seems to have smooth sailing towards the acquisition, following their approval from the US Justice Department and a recent increase in their bid. The company just upped their deal by 7.5 percent, to $21.6 billion.
A vote is scheduled for June 25th for shareholders, and the deal is expected to close by the end of July if approved.
Dish may now take a stab at the U.S.' fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile USA.
BREAKING: Sprint says special committee has now terminated talks with Dish $S
A day after announcing the console would launch in North America and Europe in November, the company confirmed that the Xbox One will not reach Asia until 2014.
The software giant says the rollout is part of a "staged approach" to marketing the new console.
Alan Bowman, Microsoft's regional vice president for sales and marketing in Asia, says the company is working hard on "ensuring a great experience for customers" in the region, including the addition of more localized content and services.
Notably, Bowman says the device will only be released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and India; leaving China and Japan out. The company says those nations are high-growth for consoles, and have seen decent sales for the Xbox 360.
The console will sell for $500 in the U.S. when it is released.
Apple used the stage today to officially unveil iOS 7, the first true rehaul of the dated operating system.
Even CEO Tim Cook admitted the new OS was the biggest change to the platform since iOS was first introduced in 2007 with the iPhone.
From a design standpoint, Apple has made everything sharper, flatter and slimmer, and frankly it looks much, much better.
The company has added a new control panel that slides up from the bottom of the home screen and gives access to your most frequent settings such as airplane mode, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, brightness and also adds a new flashlight, quick access to AirDrop, AirPlay and a slider for your current music.
Here is a look at all the updated icons, redesigned with new a color palette and fonts:
Taking the complete opposite stance from Microsoft, Sony unveiled some details of the PS4 to massive applause.
The PlayStation 4 will not impose any restrictions on used games. Sony says if you own the game, it is your right to trade it in, sell it to a friend, play it on another PS4, whatever you choose.
Additionally, you will not need an Internet connection for authentication, ever, and you can play your single player games without interruption for as long as you want.
Microsoft, on the other hand, requires authentication every 24 hours.
In response to Dish Network's unsolicited bid of $25.5 billion for the carrier, SoftBank has upped their own bid by 7.5 percent, to $21.6 billion.
The original bid had been $20.1 billion for a 70 percent stake. The revised bid will be $16.6 billion to Sprint shareholders and another $5 billion in new capital, leading to a 78 percent stake.
SoftBank is the third biggest carrier in Japan and is actively looking to break into the U.S. market.
Dish, on the other hand, has been looking for ways to offer a bundle of television, Internet and mobile services and CEO Charlie Egan has money to spend.
After a busy WWDC keynote, Apple has finally confirmed the worst kept secret in the world, its iTunes Radio streaming music service.
The service will directly compete with Pandora, Spotify, Google Play All Access and Rdio in offering unlimited music.
iTunes Radio is free with ads, and if you're an iTunes Match subscriber, it's completely free, which should give it leverage against other services that charge a monthly fee. iTunes Match is $25 per year and converts all your existing music to iTunes AAC copies.
The new service is built into iOS 7, iTunes on OS X, and AppleTV, so almost all Apple fans will have access. The service has millions of tracks from Sony Music, Warner Music and Universal Music.
Apple has shown off a prototype of their upcoming refreshed Mac Pro desktop.
The device uses a cylinder design and will include high-end specs and be built in the U.S. Apple exec Phil Schiller also brought a little fury, yelling "Can't innovate anymore, my ass," before showing off the device.
First, the desktop is 1/8th the volume of the previous model of the Pro, hiding 4 USB ports, Gigabitethernet, HDMI out, 6 Lightning 2.0 ports and more in a tiny frame.
Under the hood is a monster 12-core, 256-bit Intel Xeon processor with 1,866MHz DDR3 RAM and a purported 60GBps performance. The Mac Pro also ships with dual AMD FirePro GPUs, which supports three 4K monitors.
Microsoft, to great applause, has announced it will be killing off the Microsoft Points system currently used to purchase games and other content via Xbox Live.
All digital purchases will now use real currency, rather than the points, with exec Marc Whitten adding triumphantly that "We're moving to real money."
Additionally, USD will not be the only currency as users in a few countries will be able to use their own local currency. It is unclear which countries will have that ability.
MS Points had been often critiqued due to the fact that you could only buy certain round numbers, but many games cost odd numbers, leaving you with a small amount of extra points that were unusable.
Apple has used WWDC to unveil updates to their Safari browser.
The company says there is a new sidebar that displays your reading list and also adds shared links from your friends and follows on places like Twitter and LinkedIn.
In terms of performance, Apple says JavaScript has been improved so majorly that the browser now beats Chrome, IE and Firefox (using SunSpider benchmarks).
Using JS bench, Safari also now beats Chrome.
In regards to energy usage, Safari now uses less energy than Chrome and easily demolishes Firefox.
Additonally, Apple has introduced iCloud keychain, which remembers your website logins, credit card numbers and personal details. It's encrypted and requires you to remember a single password/security code.
Apple has unveiled their latest operating system for Macs, OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
The company noted that they named the last nine OSX releases after cats, but have now run out of cat names. The company will now use places in California that inspire them, and the Mavericks surfing area appears to be first.
Apple says the release will have improved features for power users, better battery life and much better responsiveness.
First, the new OS will have "Finder Tabs" with their own location and own view mode. Second, when you save a document you can now tag it, making it much easier to search for in the finder sidebar.
In 10.9, you can also access your menus across multiple displays, a big plus for developers.
After teasing that they would be making Xbox 360 announcements before moving on to the Xbox One, Microsoft has not disappointed.
During their E3 keynote, the company unveiled a smaller and supposedly quieter model of the hardware, available today in the U.S.
The console has a glossy and matte design like the Xbox One and Xbox Gold users can get free games each month and "hundreds of upcoming games" including GTA V and Metal Gear Solid V.
After weeks and weeks of speculation, it seems that Israeli mapping startup Waze will be getting sold.
Google is said to be purchasing the company for $1.3 billion, higher than Facebook's original reported bid of $1.1 billion.
Waze specializes in satellite navigation for mobile devices, and uses members' smartphones to generate maps and traffic data. More importantly, Waze collects user's traveling speed and direction, which is extremely valuable data if monetized correctly. Google Maps and other popular mapping apps do not include such data.
The company currently has 47 million users, with 12 percent coming from the U.S. It also has particularly strong penetration in Brazil and its home country.
Last week we reported on screenshot leaks for the upcoming Windows Phone Blue operating system. The screenshots came via a Lumia 920 that had been purchased on eBay by a young Windows Phone fan in Seattle.
It appears that there is much more to the story, says Verge,as Microsoft has quietly retrieved the phone back.
An employee lost the phone on a bus, and whoever picked it up sold it to Jeremiah Wong, who told his story to the source. "The phone in the pictures looked different. Mainly the Start Screen had the feedback hub, also etching on the back that read MSFT." Wong figured the device was a developer kit due to the special etching on the screen, but it was more than that.
After posting his phone number inadvertently in one of the screenshots, Wong was contacted by Microsoft's legal team who asked him to remove the photos from his Flickr account, which he did. Microsoft then reimbursed him for the phone and sent a replacement Lumia 920. "I was incredibly surprised at the lack of intimidation and even more surprised at their accommodation," says Wong.
Apple has confirmed today that it will be live streaming its WWDC event today, but there is a catch.
To be able to view the stream you must be using an Apple product.
For hardware, you can stream via your Apple TV. On the software side, you must use Safari 4 or 5 on Macs or iOS, or QuickTime 7 or higher if you are on a Windows device.
The company will unveil iOS 7 today, but they may also have some extra surprises. We will have a full report after the show, which begins at 1PM EST.
Microsoft's upcoming update to their Windows Phone mobile operating system, codenamed Blue, has been outed in some very early screenshots.
The OS will soon include a notification center, an updated calendar interface, and better sorting abilities for apps and lists.
Screenshots came via a strange source, a Reddit user who purchased a Lumia 920 on eBay. The phone had some sort of internal build, identified as 12084.WPMAIN(wpbldlab).20130509-1407. The name shows a date of May 9th, 2013, so the build is not too old.
Multitasking improvements are in the build, as well, including the ability to close multiple apps in the multitasking view. Microsoft also has test applications that start with a lower case "z", such as zBattinfo.
The Verge says it has been able to confirm that the screenshots are legit.
Earlier this week, a poster with the name "mistysilver" made a large post on Reddit claiming that "reputation managers" were being paid by the software giant Microsoft to post positively about the upcoming Xbox One console.
The post said Microsoft employees were voting down any negative comments and voting up or adding pro-Xbox One comments across the popular social news site. In the post, (which has since been taken down), Silver introduced himself by saying "I work for a marketing firm in Redmond that has a contract with Microsoft. I can't say specifically which division, but suffice to say we are not involved with the Xbox." While at Microsoft, the poster says he saw an employee "mass-downvoting a ton of posts and comments, and he kept switching to other tabs to make posts and comments of his own. I couldn't make out exactly what he was posting, but I presumed he was doing RM (reputation management) and asked my boss about it later. According to my boss, MS have[sic] just brought in a huge sweep of SMM managers to handle reputation management for the Xbox One."
Intel has intensified their talks to buy content from media companies in an effort to introduce set-top boxes and an Internet TV service.
Apparently, the company is willing to pay a major premium, as much as 75 percent higher than traditional cable rates, in order to secure these deals.
Intel has yet to close any programming deals, however, say the sources, perhaps leading to some desperation on their part. So far, CBS, News Corp. and Viacom have all reached deals in principle over how the content could be used, but no actual licensing deals have been made.
The service is expected to be launched by the end of the year, but will obviously require more work. Intel is still in talks with Comcast for NBCU content, but those talks have not been as successful as the other media companies.
Intel is creating their own set-top box that would deliver content through your Internet connection and give you more flexibility in regards to what channels you want, instead of paying a flat fee for hundreds of bundled channels you may never watch. The service would offer live and on-demand channels. Intel is said to also be looking for access to a cloud-based DVR. Customers could view the content on mobile devices, as well.
Samsung has promised to reveal new products on June 20th at a press event in London.
One of the devices is the Galaxy S4 Zoom, the company's smartphone/digital camera hybrid. Sam was able to get a picture of the device, which should be interesting especially if having a high-end camera with your phone is important to you.
The device has a 4.3" qHD sAMOLED display, runs on Android 4.2.2, a 1.6GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, a microSD slot, and the standard Bluetooth 4.0, Wi-Fi and A-GPS. It is unclear whether the device will have LTE support.
Amazon has announced the launch of its free online took dubbed "Storyteller," which automatically converts scripts into "dynamic and professional storyboards."
The software is currently in beta, but will automatically identify scenes, locations, characters and more from any script that you have uploaded to Amazon Studios. Afterwards, "it 'casts' these objects from a library of assets that includes 'thousands' of characters, props and backgrounds."
If you believe the automatic conversion does not do justice to the ideas/concepts you have in your mind, Amazon allows you to upload your own images and change positions, facial expressions and more of the characters. You can also add captions for additional dialogue or explanatory actions.
After you are done editing, the storyboard can be published to Amazon Studios, where peers can leave feedback.
"We've found that many writers want to see their story up on its feet in visual form but find it harder than it should be to create a storyboard,"said Roy Price, Director of Amazon Studios. "Storyteller provides a digital backlot, acting troupe, prop department and assistant editor – everything you need to bring your story to life. We want to see great stories turned into movies and television shows and we'll continue to develop new features and tools."
SoftBank has been in talks with Deutsche Telekom AG for a deal for T-Mobile USA in case its long-standing bid for Sprint falls apart.
The Japanese carrier bid $20.1 billion to take a 70 percent share of Sprint, but Sprint recently received a $25.5 billion counterbid from Dish Network, leaving the company's future up in the air.
T-Mobile USA is the fourth biggest carrier in the U.S. and has a market value of about $15 billion.
Telekom has a 74 percent stake. MetroPCS has the rest.
On June 12th, Sprint shareholders will vote on whether to give SoftBank final approval to purchase the company.
Snapchat has raised almost $100 million in new funds, valuing the company at over $500 million.
The service allows Android and iOS users to send and receive photos and videos that disappear after a certain amount of time (under 10 seconds).
Two months ago, the company raised $13.5 million from Benchmark Capital and the new $100 million is from undisclosed investors.
Snapchat has seen huge growth in value since February when it was valued at $70 million. CEO Evan Spiegel says users upload 150 million images per day, up from 20 million last October. The app has 5 million active users.
It is unclear why the valuation is so high, especially since the app has yet to monetize its userbase.
According to multiple reports, Sony Music Entertainment has signed a deal with Apple for the upcoming iRadio service, meaning all of the majors are now signed up.
Universal Music and Warner Music are said to have made deals within the last month.
The service is expected to be advertising-supported and will compete directly with Pandora, allowing users to build custom stations based on tracks, artists and genres.
Sony Music is a joint venture between Sony/ATV Music Publishing and the estate of Michael Jackson. The licensing deal will be for a two-year introductory period and gives Sony a full 10 percent of all advertising revenue generated by their catalog via the service.
10 percent is more than double that standard 4 percent that companies like Pandora pay, and leaves margins much much lower for Apple.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, infamous as one of the co-founders of The Pirate Bay torrenttracker, is facing even more hacking charges, this time in Denmark.
Warg had just stood trial in Stockholm over major hacking charges and is awaiting a decision.
The co-founder and an unnamed 20-year-old Danish man have been in arrested and are accused of accessing the country's driver's license database, social security database and stealing the emails and passwords of over 10,000 police officers and tax authorities.
If convicted of all charges, both men could face six years in prison.
Warg had stood trial in Sweden over charges of hacking Logica, an IT firm that works with Swedish tax authorities. That attack eventually led to 9,000 Swedes having their personal identity numbers unveiled.
After months of delays, Amazon has finally put the Kindle Paperwhite and Fire HD up for sale in China.
The Paperwhite with Wi-Fi costs $138 (849 yuan), and the 16GB Kindle Fire HD will sell for $245 (1499 yuan). For the time being, the 3G model of the Paperwhite and all other Kindle Fire are not yet available and it's unclear if they ever will be.
Amazon has always said they are planning a full lineup launch for the nation.
If you are looking to purchase the device, Suning is the exclusive retail channel, adds the company.
Amazon has been actively expanding their presence outside of their high-traffic areas, including opening a store in India that so far only has books and DVDs.
TiVo announced this morning that it finally settled a dispute with Motorola, Time Warner Cable and Cisco over DVR patents.
The company will collect $490 million, which is much less than analysts and industry insiders had estimated, sending TiVo's shares down 20 percent today. Even TiVo had once suggested the amount could be upwards of a billion, so the amount was somewhat shocking.
Cisco and Google will now enter a patent-licensing agreement with TiVo to use the technology. Altogether, TiVo has now collected $1.6 billion in awards and settlements related to use of the patents.
Motorola and Cisco had been providing the DVRs to Time Warner for six years, and the case was set for trial next week. TiVo has already settled with Dish, AT&T, Verizon and others, most of which now license the patents. Cisco says it will pay $294 million of the damages.
Apple is preparing to begin an in-store iPhone trade-in program this month, one that will allow users to turn in their older iPhones to help pay for a new iPhone 5.
The electronics giant has joint up with Brightstar Corp., a major mobile-phone distributor, to create the program.
As with most trade-in programs, Apple benefits in many ways. Fans upgrade to the latest devices, and Apple gets to resell the older phones overseas. Customers who may not be savvy enough to sell their phones themselves on sites like eBay should find the ability to trade-in an added bonus.
Brightstar currently works with AT&T and T-Mobile USA for all types of smartphones, including iPhones. For example, AT&T will pay up to $200 for mint condition iPhone 4S models. With contract, the iPhone 5 costs just $200 so some consumers could pay nothing up front for their new device.
Samsung's stock fell 7 percent today following multiple reports that sales of its new flagship Galaxy S4 have slowed.
The reports also highlighted the fact that Samsung recently introduced two other models of the S4, which should hurt their profit margins due to a lower price tag.
Despite becoming Samsung's fastest selling device right after it launched in April, sales have slowed considerably, say analysts. "Sales of high-end handsets are lagging behind expectations, while low- to mid-end handsets are selling briskly worldwide," noted Kim Young-chan, an analyst at Shinhan Investment Corp. "As the portion of low- to mid-range handsets is expected to increase in Samsung's overall mobile phone business, this has also sparked concerns about thinning margins and lower growth."
Altogether, the drop accounted for a loss of $12 billion in the company's market value.
During the ongoing Computex 2013 show, Intel unveiled their latest generation Atom chipset.
The processor is quad-core, based on the Trail-T SoC, with built-in 4G LTE and 4K support. The chips are designed for Windows 8 and Android tablets.
Just like the new Haswell processors, the Atoms are built on a 22nm process.
Intel is planning octo-core SoCs later this year. The company says the quad-core CPUs deliver twice the performance of current generation chips, when in a single-threaded situation.
Finally, the company promises over "8 hours of battery life on a 30Wh battery while playing a 1080p@30 fps video."
After extreme backlash and outcry over their purported anti-consumer Xbox One, Microsoft has finally come clean, unveiling the official policies for Kinect, used games and online connectivity.
Internet Connectivity
In regards to Internet connectivity, rumored had it that the Xbox One would use "always-on" DRM, meaning an Internet connection is required at all times to play a game, even in single player mode. Microsoft has confirmed the Xbox One will use a restrictive DRM but it is not "always-on." You will be allowed to play on your home console for 24 hours without a connection, but after that you will need to login again to continue playing and get another 24 hours. If you log in with your Xbox account to someone else's console, you will need Internet every hour, even in single player mode. Blu-ray, DVD and TV watching is not affected.
Read more...
Just days after it began shipping its 4th-generation Core series processors (Haswell), the company has also updated its requirements for Ultrabook devices.
Thanks to the huge power efficiency boost of Haswell processors, the baseline requirements to get certified have been increased.
Ultrabooks must include better graphics performance, battery life of 9 hours while idle, 6 hours of HD video playback and also 7 days of standby.
Additionally, the company has broken down ultrabooks into four different variants; Responsive, Mobile, Stylish and Protected. (Pictured)
Following the unveiling of Nexus editions of the Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One flagships, the latest rumor has Sony getting in on the action, building a Nexus model of their Xperia Z flagship.
The device is set for launch in July through Google Play just like all other Nexus phones.
Sony has been quietly working on AOSP (Android Open Source Project) versions of Jelly Bean 4.2.2 for some time and an alpha version for the Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z is now available. A fully working version of stock Android would need to be available before the phone could launch as a Nexus later this year.
The hardware itself has been very well received by critics and users alike.
Sony Computer Entertainment has promised that it will show off 40 PlayStation titles during E3 next week.
The games will be for the PlayStation Vita, the PS3 and the upcoming PS4.
Besides its keynote on Monday, June 11th, Sony will also broadcast three days of livestreamed demos and other interviews with developers and executives.
Sony notes that the games will be a mix of first-party and third-party games including DriveClub, Destiny, Infamous: Second Sun and Killzone: Shadow Fall for the PS4; Gran Turismo 6 and Beyond: Two Souls for the PS3 and Vita games Tearaway and Killzone Mercenary.
If you plan to watch the livestream, it will be available via Playstation.com, Facebook, the Nico Nico video app on your PS device and Ustream.
According to Topeka Capital analyst Brian White, Apple's next innovation will be fingerprint scanning tech.
The tech will be added to the next iPhone and iPad, says the analyst.
White has been on a "tech tour" of Taiwan, speaking with sources during the Computex tradeshow. The analyst promises that "fingerprint technology will greatly simplify and speed up a customer's interaction with iOS devices."
He believes the iPhone 5S will use the technology, thus making it more than just a marginal update from the current iPhone 5.
"Our research suggests that users will simply place their finger on the home key of the iPhone 5S and this will automatically unlock the device, nullifying the need to enter a four-character Apple ID Password," noted White, "Additionally, we believe this new feature will allow users to more quickly and easily make purchases from iTunes, the iBook Store and the App Store, while also accessing Game Center."
Amazon has announced a new expanded digital video licensing deal with Viacom to add content to its Amazon Prime service.
The new deal will brings thousands of more TV episodes to the service, and some of the new shows will even be exclusive to Prime.
Making the deal more significant is the fact that Netflix's similar deal with Viacom expired last month and was not renewed. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings says the company is moving towards exclusive and original content rather than expensive non-exclusive bulk deals like the one it had with Viacom.
Prime members will now have access to popular shows like "Awkward," "Tosh.0" and "Workaholics" and kids will get shows like "Dora the Explorer," "Bubble Guppies," and "The Backyardigans."
"Kids' shows are one of the most watched TV genres on Prime Instant Video," Bill Carr, Amazon's vice president of digital video and music, said in a statement. "And this expanded deal will now bring customers the largest subscription selection of Nickelodeon and Nick Jr. TV shows online, anywhere."
Amazon Prime costs $79 per year and gives buyers free 2-day shipping on items they purchase from the e-tailer and other perks including free books for their Kindles and free access to the streaming movie/TV catalog.
Despite an MSRP by BlackBerry of $249 due to its "premium" appeal for enterprise users, Verizon and AT&T have announced they have priced the Q10 smartphone at $199 with contract.
The price is in-line with the Galaxy S4 and the iPhone 5, and it's clear the carriers did not believe it would sell for more than the two most popular phones on the planet.
When asked about the prices, Kristian Tear, BlackBerry's chief operating officer, said the MSRP "is definitely a good price," for corporate users. "If you want to do a more consumery play, I think they wanted to make it simple and have one price," Tear added.
The Q10 features a full keyboard and runs on the much improved BlackBerry 10 operating system.
Both companies have begun pre-orders for the device.
HTC Chief Operating Officer Matthew Costello has resigned from the company after less than three years at the position following the company's struggles to remain relevant in the market.
Fred Liu, the current president of engineering and operations, has taken on Costello's roles.
Over the last 18 months, HTC has seen four senior executives leave the company. Year-over-year, quarterly earnings fell 98 percent, and the company's stock has fallen over 75 percent in the same time frame.
The company has put most of its eggs in one basket, with the new One smartphone which includes a powerful quad-core processor, a 5-inch 1080p display and UltraPixel camera technology that uses multiple 4MP sensors.
HTC will need the phone to be a hit if it wants to reverse the downtrend its seen on its market share. Once above 10 percent in 2011, share in the global market is down to 4.2 percent.
The new Napster, owned by Rhapsody, has now expanded to 14 more European countries.
Already available in the UK and Germany, the streaming music service is now available in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and The Netherlands.
Rhapsody has priced the service at €9.95 per month for unlimited web and mobile streaming, which includes offline.
The company is betting on the Napster name, once one of the most infamous services for P2P and general music piracy, to help expand in a region where there is no shortage of competition including Spotify, Deezer, Google and soon Apple.
Napster has over 20 million songs and is available for iOS and Android alongside its web versions.
According to leaked photos, HTC appears to be preparing a 4.3-inch One "Mini" similar to how Samsung releases a "Mini" version of their Galaxy devices.
The 4.3-inch display will be 720p compared to the 1080p display of the full-sized HTC One, and the device will include 2GB RAM, a dual-core processor (not quad-core like the One), 16GB internal storage and the same 4MP UltraPixel camera hardware.
Sources claim the device will be released in August for €399.
Microsoft has confirmed today that future Windows 8 tablets in the 7 to 8-inch range will ship with free copies of Office 2013.
Windows CFO Tami Reller says Office Home and Student 2013 will be bundled with the smaller form factor tablets. The software includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote but does not include Outlook 2013.
Reller added that Outlook would be included in upcoming Windows RT 8.1 tablets.
Acer recently announced the first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, but Microsoft and others are expected to follow suit in the near future.
Microsoft's Windows 8.1 update, set for release later this year, will drastically improve the OS on smaller tablets, so it appears that manufacturers may be waiting.
Twitter's extremely popular social video sharing Vine is finally available for Android after months of availability on iOS.
The app lets users create 6 second video clips and animation creations that are then easily shared like Instagram. Vine users can turn full stories into 6 second videos due to the apps ability to stop and start recording with just a tap.
Twitter says the app has 13 million active users.
As a bonus for Android users, their version of the app includes a Zoom feature not seen on the iOS version.
Acer has unveiled the world's first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W3.
Introduced today at Computex, the device has a 1,280 x 800 display, is powered by a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 processor, has 32GB internal storage (likely only half of which will be usable due to Windows 8 installation files), weighs 1.1 pounds and is about 0.48-inches thick.
Acer is including a full version of Office 2013 free, and an optional full-sized keyboard will retail for $79-$89 (unclear as of yet), making the device very good for productivity and portability.
Additionally, there are dual camera, Bluetooth 4.0, a microUSB port, microHDMI, and a microSD slot.
The device will sell for $379, and is available for pre-order tomorrow at a number of retailers including Amazon. The device is set for release the last week of June.
Samsung has updated their Galaxy Tab line, introducing 8-inch and 10.1-inch models of the new Galaxy Tab 3.
The 8-inch version runs on a 1.5 GHz Exynos dual-core processor, has a WXGA TFT 1280 x 800 (189 PPI) display, 1.5GB of RAM, 1.3/5MP cameras, a 4,450 mAh battery, and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage depending on your needs.
Notably, the 10.1-inch model will run on a 1.6GHz Intel Haswell dual-core processor, a major score for the company as it tries to finally make a dent in the mobile markets.
The device has a 1280 x 800 (149 PPI) WXGA TFT display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, and a large 6,800 mAh battery. Strangely, the cameras are 1.3/3MP, a letdown for those that were hoping were decent photo taking.
Yahoo has discontinued their Mail Classic, requiring all users to upgrade to a new version that allows for your emails to be scanned for targeted ads.
The company's updated ToS says the scans will be to "deliver product features, relevant advertising, and abuse protection". You can opt out of seeing the ads, but you must accept the ToS or dump Yahoo Mail for good.
In case you thought there might be a workaround, Yahoo placed this in a new Help center FAQ:
"Beginning the week of June 3, 2013, older versions of Yahoo! Mail (including Yahoo! Mail Classic) will no longer be available. After that, you can access your Yahoo! Mail only if you upgrade to the new version. When you upgrade, you will be accepting our Communications Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This includes the acceptance of automated content scanning and analyzing of your communications content."
The move may seem invasive, especially the way Yahoo is doing it, but Gmail has been scanning your emails for quite some time, as well.
For the month of May, Google's Chrome saw a loss in share, while other browsers saw marginal gains.
Internet Explorer share grew from 55.81 percent to 55.99 percent, Firefox jumped from 20.30 percent to 20.63 percent, Safari grew 0.08 percentage points to 5.46 percent and even Opera took an irrelevant hop from 1.73 to 1.77 percent.
Chrome, on the other hand, fell from 16.35 percent to 15.74 percent and seems to be stuck in third place after a very strong run over the past few years.
Internet Explorer 8 still remains the most popular browser in the world, at 22.99 percent share IE10, now available for Windows 7 users, took the biggest jump, to 9.26 percent.
Firefox remains fragmented, as consumers are still slow to upgrade to the latest overnight builds. Chrome is the most notable, as the browser has fallen to share not seen in almost two years, says the report. It is unclear what is causing the downtrend.
According to Bloomberg, Apple will unveil its long-awaited iRadio unlimited music streaming service.
The company has reportedly secured key licensing agreements ahead of their announcement, including Warner Music, who had allegedly been holding out for better rates.
As part of that deal, Apple will pay Warner 10 percent of ad revenue from the service, a figure that is double what Pandora pays for use of the catalog.
The move follows Google's recent entry to the market, "All Access," which offers a similar service to Spotify, Rdio and other existing companies.
It will be interesting if the service could bring something innovative to the table, or act like Google's and simply copy existing services just within their own environments.
According to research firm Kantar, Windows Phone has taken more market share in the U.S. smartphone market than Android, year-over-year.
For the period ended April 2013, Android now accounts for 51.7 percent of all smartphone sales, followed by 41.4 percent for iOS and Windows Phone at 5.6 percent share.
RIM and Symbian kept their marginal shares at 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.
42 percent of Windows Phone buyers came from feature phones, 25 percent from other Windows devices and 23 percent from Android.
"But it's not just about capturing the market that is yet to upgrade. Windows is also seeing success in the younger group. When looking at those who changed device, between 2011 and 2012 Windows was more successful at capturing older consumers aged 50-64. But when looking at those changing now and in the last year, we're seeing Windows now gaining share among those aged 25-34," said a Kantar analyst.
Five years ago I joined a team of four as Tumblr's first designer, creative director, and product engineer. That team has since grown to 182 of the most wonderful and talented people around.
I'm so proud of what we've all created together, and it's been a privilege to contribute to something beloved by so many. I can't wait to see what's next for the product; I'm sure it will be nothing short of incredible.
There's still a lot more I want to accomplish, and I'm really excited about this next chapter. For now, I'm going to take some time off to digest the last few years. I have about a dozen different projects planned, so expect more from me soon!
It has been unofficially leaked for almost a month now but AT&T has finally shown off the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active.
The Active is a 5-inch 1080p device powered by a quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 CPU that is very similar to the Galaxy S4 except that some of the aesthetics have been changed.
Samsung says the device will be aimed at those with a more active lifestyle that require a more rugged phone.
The device has an 8MP camera instead of the 13MP camera seen on the S4, to keep prices lower, and the device will be available in grey and teal.
A documentary crew has now received approval to dig up a site in New Mexico where Atari allegedly buried millions of unsold Atari 2600 consoles and games.
The urban legend of the desert site has been around for at least two decades, and gamers (and former gamers) will certainly follow the story.
That year, the video game industry saw a large downtrend due to greater market factors, leaving Atari with millions of unsold and sealed consoles and games, including over 3 million copies of E.T. The company then, according to the myth, dumped the unsold merchandise in an Alamogordo landfill which was later covered by concrete.
If reports from the New York Times are accurate, there could have been as many as 20 dump trucks full of merchandise dumped in the landfill.
The white colorway version of the LGNexus 4 is now available in the U.S., through Google Play or T-Mobile USA.
A global rollout is expected within the month.
As part of the launch, if you purchase through Google Play, the company is adding a free bumper case.
The Nexus 4 has a 4.7-inch 1280-by-768 True HD IPS Plus display (320ppi), runs the latest version of Android and is powered by a quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor and 2GB RAM.
Pricing matches the original at $299 for the base model (8GB).
The long-standing open-source Web browser Camino has been discontinued.
Camino's devs say the browser, which launched for Macs almost 10 years ago had fallen too far behind modern browsers like Chrome and that the current speed of updates would lead to serious security issues for users.
Although Camino's overall browser market share has been around 0.1 percent for years, at one point it was popular as it embraced the services and overall look of older Mac OS X builds.
After a decade-long run, Camino is no longer being developed, and we encourage all users to upgrade to a more modern browser. Camino is increasingly lagging behind the fast pace of changes on the web, and more importantly it is not receiving security updates, making it increasingly unsafe to use.
Fortunately, Mac users have many more browsers to choose from than they did when Camino started ten years ago. Former Camino developers have helped build the three most popular – Chrome, Firefox, and Safari – so while this is the end of Camino itself, the community that helped build it is still making the web better for Mac users.
Read more...
Although it had been a lock that Sprint would be purchasing the rest of 4G spectrum operator Clearwire, Dish Network recently upped their bid by a significant amount, leading shareholders to reconsider.
Sprint had offered $3.40 per share in April, and a vote was set for this week before Dish countered with $4.40 per share, a huge increase.
One large shareholder, Crest Financial, which currently holds 8 percent of outstanding shares, has said the company should open itself to competitive bidding now given the new offer.
Making the move even more complicated is the fact that Dish has offered $25 billion to buy Sprint as a whole, competing with an offer from Japan's third largest carrier, Softbank.
A special committee from Clearwire will take two weeks to review the new proposal and vote on June 13th.
After launching two weeks ago in NYC and Philadelphia on iOS devices, Disney has expanded its livestreaming ABC app to the Amazon Kindle Fire and Fire HD.
The app brings live broadcast TV to your tablet just as if it was being broadcasted on TV. That includes commercials of course, but will also allow you to go mobile as long as you have a data connection.
Disney says the live feed will be based on your current location and you will need your cable or satellite TV subscription credentials to login and authenticate.
It is important to note the app is not yet available for Android, just the Kindle, but Disney says it is working on a version of the application for Samsung's Galaxy lineup.
According to investment bank Credit Suisse, iPhone sales have jumped over 500 percent in India following the institution of installment payment plans in the nation.
Apple is now selling 400,000 handsets per month there, compared to 80,000 before the new pricing schemes. Besides the monthly installment plans, the company also implemented a discount program.
This is according to analyst Sunil Tirumalai, who added "the 4-9% implicit discount coupled with the option of easy EMIs (equal monthly installment) spread over 6-12 months became popular. Within a few months, our discussions with handset retailers indicated that iPhone sales went up 3-5x, forcing companies to respond."
The EMIs allow would-be buyers to put a down payment on an iPhone 4 or 4S and then pay the rest over 6 to 12 months, interest free.
Last month, the company added an 18 percent cash discount to the iPhone 4, almost erasing the entire down payment and certainly making the device affordable to first time smartphone buyers.
Hulu has upgraded their Hulu Plus "experience for the living room" for multiple devices today, including Samsung Smart TVs, Blu-ray players, Roku set-tops and the Nintendo Wii.
The user interface has been updated to better help viewers find and search for new shows.
Among the improvements are navigation, controls, search and Hulu says even the artwork is "larger and more vivid." Playback should be easier, as displaying the playback menu now just requires you to hit "up" on your remote. Fast forward and rewind use right and left, respectively.
On the search side, the results will appear right under the search in a tray-style format.
Hulu Kids has also been added, a welcome addition for parents.
PS3 owners should be well versed on the updates, since most of them were added to the console app over the past few months.
Microsoft has begun offering a free Touch or Type Cover to all new U.S. and Canadian buyers of the Surface RT tablet.
The move is aimed at attracting buyers to the struggling tablet and is a pretty good deal given that the covers cost between $100 and $129 depending on how you purchase them.
Touch Covers will be available in cyan, red, magenta, white, or black. The Type Cover is only available in black.
It is unclear how long the promotion will last but Microsoft says it is a "limited time offer."
Sales to date of the tablet have been lackluster, to say the least. Since launch in October, the company has only sold slightly above 1 million.
In news that has big repercussions for American citizens, a federal judge has ruled that Google must comply with the FBI's warrantless "National Security Letters" in which they request user details.
The search giant had been trying to get 19 of such letters thrown out, claiming the demands are unconstitutional.
U.S. District Judge Susan Illston made the ruling after a high-ranking assistant director at the FBI submitted classified affidavits.
The trial is very important, as the FBI has made 192,499 such demands since 2003, to Google and other companies that hold sensitive personal data for Americans. Illston did not completely shut down Google either, as the company is allowed to bring the case again, but this time they will need arguments "specific to the 19 NSLs at issue." Additionally, two of the 19 NSLs will require more information from the government before they can be ruled on, says the Judge.
NSLs, which remain of questionable constitutionality, allow FBI officials to send secret requests to ISPs, telcos and companies like Google and Facebook requesting the "name, address, length of service" (and some other details) for anyone they choose, without the need for a judge's approval. Additionally, the companies cannot disclose such requests to those they are disclosing info about.
ISP BT will be moving all of its customers from Yahoo! after a decade of service following relentless claims of hacking and account abuse.
Customers have claimed that hackers have repeatedly taken control of their accounts and used them to send mass spam emails.
BT says now the accounts will begin to migrate within weeks and that the new system will "feature in-built anti-virus and anti-spam solutions."
Adds the company: "We will be switching customers' email over to BT Mail, which will include the features and functions they expect from a modern email service. We will be keeping our customers fully informed about what changes to expect and when they will be able to enjoy the new services."
All emails, folders and preferences will move over (as well as your original address), but users will likely be prompted to change their password.
Acer has announced its DA220HQL all-in-one, one of the first AIOs to run on Android and not Windows.
The 21.5-inch multitouch panel has 1080presolution, runs on Android 4.0 and a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 dual-core ARM Coretex-A9 processor.
Some resellers had incorrectly posted that the AIO would run on the upcoming Intel Haswell 4430, but that does not appear to be accurate.
Under the hood is 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, front-facing camera, built-in speakers, Wi-Fi, Micro-HDMI, Micro USB 2.0, and wireless keyboard and mouse.
More importantly, the device will be cheap, with retailers currently pricing it at $399 to $425.
CBS has announced its acquisition of TV Guide Digital, including the site TVGuide.com and TV Guide mobile.
The company had already owned 50 percent, and the rest was owned by movie studio Lionsgate. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.
With the deal, the online/mobile versions will be separated from the TV Guide Network, the basic cable channel available in almost every American household despite its low ratings. Additionally, the weekly magazine will remain part of the TV Guide Network's assets, not the digital.
The digital guide will be integrated into the rest of CBS' properties, such as TV.com, GameSpot, Metracritic and even possibly Last.fm. TVGuide.com has 16.5 million monthly visitors. "It's a brand that has a nice-size audience, and a highly monetizable category that has a lot of relevance going forward," says CBS. "That's why it fits so well with our strategy."
Asus has unveiled their PQ321 monitor, an extremely high-end 31.5-inch IGZO display with 4K resolution (3840 x 2160).
Additionally, the monitor will be the thinnest 4K (UltraHD) yet, at just 35mm.
The display has dual HDMI ports and DisplayPort, and the company says you can combine two inputs at the same time to offer picture-by-picture support.
4K UHD monitors remain a dream for most, given the prices and the lack of current generation support for such outputs. However, Intel's upcoming HD Graphics 5000 (integrated card) will offer 4K resolution support via DisplayPort 1.2 and should be able to playback 4K video, as well.
Asus says the monitor is aimed at creative users, but should also be popular with gamers with SLI or even larger GPU setups.
Google has added nutritional information to its Knowledge Graph, meaning it has been added to search results.
Says the search giant: "This new nutritional information builds on our work on the Knowledge Graph, which brings together all kinds of information from across the web that wasn't easily accessible."
Perhaps more importantly the information is available through voice search and works on the web and via mobile devices.
The move should be great for those trying to diet.
A New Zealand court has ordered that the FBI and police must return Kim Dotcom's personal data that was seized during the raid of Megaupload last year.
Additionally, they must specify all information that is at the core of their case against the file sharing service that once accounted for a large share of the world's Internet traffic at any given time.
High Court Justice Helen Winkelmann ruled again that the raid of Dotcom's mansion was illegal since they did not have proper warrants. The police and FBI must now return any digital data that is not relevant to the case.
Furthermore, the Justice ordered the FBI to destroy all clones they have of Megaupload's hard drives that contain personal information or other none relevant information to the case.
Dotcom and the rest of the defendants must be given copies of the hard drives and information that will be used in the case against them.
It is unclear if users will get their personal data back, but it seems to be a step in the right direction.
Yesterday, Razer unveiled their "Blade" notebook, a device they claim is the 'world's thinning gaming laptop.'
The notebook is just 0.66-inches thick, and the company says it offers "more power-per-cubic-inch than any other laptop in the world."
Under the hood is a 4th generation Intel Core processor (Haswell), a new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 756M GPU, 8GB of 16000 Mhz DDR3L memory and 128GB SSD storage in its base model. The device runs on 64-bit Windows 8. Despite being thin it is not too light, at 4.135 pounds.
"We've designed and built the thinnest, most powerful 14-inch laptop in the world," Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan noted. "Thinner than a dime and more powerful than other traditional desktop replacements today, we've created an entirely new category of thin and powerful laptops that is generations ahead of other PCs."
According to reports, HTC has canceled all plans to develop a 10-inch (or larger) Windows RT tablet.
The company cited weak demand for "full-sized" tablets in a world that it is moving towards the 8-inch form factor made popular by the iPad Mini.
Despite dropping plans for the full tablet, the company is still planning to build a 7-inch tablet using Microsoft's crippled version of its OS. At the same time, HTC will step back into the Android market with a 7-inch tablet running on Jelly Bean and based on the HTC One hardware.
Both tablets will run on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors, although it is unclear which ones.
Windows RT is almost dead already, after just 8 months on the market. The OS does not allow access to legacy Windows applications, meaning everything must be acquired through the Windows Store, which is still tiny compared to Android and iOS.
According to a new study by app analytics firm Distimo, you must gross $47,000 per day to crack the Apple App Store's top 10 paid apps list.
According to new comScore data, 
According to 
Google has listened to the significant 
The U.S. Department of Justice will probe a retired four-star general of the Marine Corps over the release of confidential information related to the 
If you are a Google early adopter and have signed up for their experimental "
According to a new
EA has announced it is planning to "re-establish Origin as a service to gamers, not as a means to drive transactions."
According to 
Thanks to a leaked roadmap, we now know the release dates for a few major phone launches coming to the T-Mobile USA carrier.
Although the show's first season will not reach the 
Earlier this week, 
Adobe has announced this week that it will be acquiring major digital marketing software company Neolane for $600 million in cash.
MIT professor Dina Katabi and graduate fellow Fadel Adib have announced today a new tech that could allow you to see through walls, sort of.
Despite promising to update their PlayBook tablet to the new BB10 operating system in 2013, BlackBerry has decided against the idea, citing performance issues.
As of tomorrow, Sprint will officially decommission and tear down the Nextel iDEN network that allowed consumers to speak to others via "push-to-talk" on their mobile phones.
The accurate French tech rumor site NowhereElse has reported on alleged leaked blueprints/schematics for the upcoming next-generation iPad.
Twitter has announced the launch of Vine for Kindle Fire, beating out rival Instagram to the platform.
According to the official Twitter account of 
BlackBerry shares were decimated today after the company reported their fiscal Q1 2014 earnings for the quarter ended May 2013.
Earlier this month, Facebook introduced video-sharing features to Instagram, allowing over 100 million users to share 15 second clips enhanced by Instagram's famous filters.
According to a new 
Reminiscing about the "old days" during an 
T-Mobile USA has announced today that it has purchased 4G spectrum from regional carrier U.S. Cellular.
Four months ago, 
In a second hit to CEO Charlie Ergen's ego, major satellite provider Dish Network has withdrawn their bid for Clearwire.
According to Strategy Analytics, India has surpassed Japan to become the world's third largest smartphone market, behind China and the U.S.
Google's 
Just days after dropping the price of their upcoming handheld console and announcing a June launch, the company has delayed its release for a month.
Two of the best 
In a case that is now 9 years in the making, the First Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled this week that Joel Tenenbaum must pay the $675,000 in damages to the record industry.
Massive Spanish wireless carrier Telefonica has announced today that it will be backing Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.
Motorola's upcoming flagship device, the X Phone, has been leaked again in a new report.
Google has updated their Transparency Report to include a new section in which they highlight malware.
Barnes & Noble reported its most recent quarterly earnings today, and they were not pretty.
Today, Sprint shareholders approved SoftBank's updated $21.6 billion deal for a 78 percent controlling stake in the company.
The large software company Autonomy, now owned by 
Ouya game consoles are finally available today for anyone who could not pre-order it via Kickstarter.
A few weeks after announcing the tablets, 
Major chipmaker Qualcomm has completed its investment in the struggling display maker 
Research firm Gartner has said today it expects combined PC, tablet and mobile phone shipments to reach 2.35 billion in 2013, a solid 5.9 percent increase from 2012 despite falling PC sales.
On Friday, Facebook upgraded its Instagram photo-sharing service to support video.
While 
Legendary hip-hop group Public Enemy has just released their latest single as a special, free 
Over the weekend, Wal-Mart announced it has slashed prices on the 
According to 
According to 
As expected, Facebook yesterday announced that its popular photo-sharing application Instagram has been updated to include Video sharing features.
Popular cross-platform messaging app WhatsApp has reported 250 million active monthly users, a huge boost from the recently reported 200 million less than two months ago.
According to multiple 
Looking to end their long-standing bidding war, Sprint has increased their bid for 4G spectrum holder Clearwire to $5 per share, 14 percent higher than Dish's bid, and almost 40 percent higher than their own original bid.
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, co-founder of the infamous 
Resident crazy person John McAfee has released a video to his YouTube channel, showing off how to uninstall McAfee anti-virus software, the software he founded.
The 
Large Chinese network equipment and smartphone maker Huawei has 
Evleaks, well respected for leaks in the mobile phone industry, has 
Netflix and DreamWorks Animation have announced today a new exclusive deal that will make the 
Facebook is holding a press event later this week, in which it is expected to announce something big for its platform.
Speaking earlier this week with 
Last night, during Game 5 of the NBA Finals, 
On June 13th, Amazon put a poll up on their Video Games division's Facebook page asking consumers one simple question; Do you prefer the PlayStation 4 or the Xbox One.
Shuhei Yoshida, 
Multiple 
According to EA Labels president Frank Gibeau, the company will resume developing games for the struggling 
Earlier in the week, 
Thanks to a new 
Beginning today, AT&T 
According to multiple 
Ashton Kutcher's Steve Jobs biopic finally has a new release date.
Less than a week after the company purchased an FM radio station in an effort to get better royalty rates, the 
AT&T has finally confirmed the release date for the rugged 
The hits just keep on coming for 
In order to ensure they continue to get access to music licensing rights, Internet radio giant Pandora has announced it is buying a terrestrial FM radio station.
Amazon has 
ESPN will shut down its specialized ESPN 3D channel by the end of the year, proving once again that 3D is a gimmick that the general public could not care less about.
After weeks of speculation, and bids from Facebook and 
Barnes & Noble has 
According to 
A day after announcing the console would launch in North America and Europe in November, the company confirmed that the Xbox One will not reach Asia until 2014.
Taking the complete opposite stance from 
In response to Dish Network's unsolicited bid of $25.5 billion for the carrier, SoftBank has upped their own bid by 7.5 percent, to $21.6 billion.
Earlier today, during their E3 keynote presentation, 
After a busy 
Speaking during their 
After teasing that they would be making 
During their E3 keynote today, 
After weeks and weeks of speculation, it seems that Israeli mapping startup Waze 
Last week we reported on screenshot leaks for the upcoming Windows Phone Blue operating system. The screenshots came via a 
Microsoft's upcoming update to their Windows Phone mobile operating system, codenamed Blue, has been outed in some very early screenshots.
Earlier this week, a poster with the name "mistysilver" made a large post on Reddit claiming that "reputation managers" were being paid by the software giant 
Amazon has announced the launch of its free online took dubbed "Storyteller," which automatically converts scripts into "dynamic and professional storyboards."
Snapchat has raised almost $100 million in new funds, 
According to multiple 
Gottfrid Svartholm Warg, infamous as one of the co-founders of The Pirate Bay 
After months of delays, Amazon 
Samsung's stock fell 7 percent today following multiple reports that sales of its new flagship 
During the ongoing Computex 2013 show, 
Just days after it began shipping its 4th-generation Core series processors (Haswell), the company has also updated its requirements for 
Following the unveiling of Nexus editions of the 
According to Topeka Capital analyst Brian White, Apple's next innovation will be fingerprint scanning tech.
Amazon has announced a new expanded digital video licensing deal with Viacom to add content to its Amazon Prime service.
Despite an MSRP by BlackBerry of $249 due to its "premium" appeal for enterprise users, Verizon and AT&T have announced they have priced the Q10 smartphone at $199 with contract.
The new 
According to leaked photos, 
Twitter's extremely popular social video sharing Vine is finally available for 
Yahoo has discontinued their Mail Classic, requiring all users to upgrade to a new version that allows for your emails to be scanned for targeted ads.
For the month of May, Google's Chrome saw a loss in share, while other browsers 
According to 
According to research firm 
Tumblr's 
It has been unofficially leaked for almost a month now but AT&T has finally shown off the 
A documentary crew has now received approval to dig up a site in New Mexico where Atari allegedly buried millions of unsold Atari 2600 consoles and games.
The white colorway version of the 
The long-standing open-source Web browser Camino has been discontinued.
After launching two weeks ago in NYC and Philadelphia on 
According to investment bank Credit Suisse, iPhone sales have jumped over 500 percent in India following the institution of installment payment plans in the nation.
Hulu has upgraded their Hulu Plus "experience for the living room" for multiple devices 
In 
ISP BT will be moving all of its customers from Yahoo! after a decade of service following relentless claims of hacking and account abuse.
Twitter has updated its "lists" feature this week.
DirecTV, the U.S.' second largest pay TV service, has upped their bid to over $1 billion for video 
CBS has announced its acquisition of TV Guide Digital, including the site TVGuide.com and TV Guide mobile.
Google has added nutritional information to its Knowledge Graph, meaning it has been added to search results.
A New Zealand court has ordered that the FBI and police must return Kim Dotcom's personal data that was seized during the raid of Megaupload last year.
Yesterday, 
According to 
