The Amazon-backed streaming service in Europe has signed a new content deal with Miramax to bring over popular titles like "There Will be Blood" and the "Aviator."
Subscribers in the UK and Germany will have access to video on demand titles from the studio.
The companies did not disclose the financials of the deal.
Starting later in the summer, LoveFilm users will get hundreds of titles, many from popular directors like Martin Scorsese and Quentin Tarantino.
"This exciting deal will enable us to deliver even more high-quality content to our members and reinforce, once again, our leading position as the first choice subscription service when it comes to exceptional range and unbeatable value for money," added Jim Buckle, managing director at LoveFilm.
Spotify has announced some new milestones for the company, with some impressive figures.
Speaking at the 'Global Business Summit on Creative Content, Spotify Chief Content Officer and Managing Director of Spotify N. America Ken Parks said the unlimited streaming service has now reached 15 million active users and 4 million paying subscribers.
Additionally, the company also announced a new update to its popular Android app which adds mobile radio functionality that will rival Rdio.
Growth has been strong for the streaming company, which had just 2 million paying subscribers as of late September.
Vizio has announced today that it cannot keep the new Co-Star Google TV set-top in stock due to high demand.
The company began pre-orders on the $99 device last week and says the first batch sold out within 12 hours. Vizio allowed for pre-orders again briefly afterwards, but they are currently shut down.
Co-Stars are expected to ship August 14th and the company is offering free shipping, as well.
The device will be the first Google TV device to have built-in OnLive support, allowing for cloud-based gaming.
On top the standard Google TV features, the gadget will have pre-loaded Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, iHeartRadio, and OnLive apps.
The Co-Star will come with a dual-sided Bluetooth remote, with one side being a full QWERTY keypad. The set-top has 802.11n Wi-Fi and USB ports.
The National Cheng Kung University in Taiwan has filed a lawsuit against Apple, alleging that the mobile giant has infringed on two patents relating to speech recognition.
More specifically, the suit claims "all voice activated assistant capabilities otherwise known as Siri" infringe upon said patents.
Siri was introduced last year with iOS 5 for the iPhone 4S but will be added to the new Retina Display third-generation iPads later this year with the release of iOS 6.
The move seems to be a push back against Apple for its patent cases against Taiwanese manufacturer HTC. Apple's suit against HTC caused a two-week customs hold up for the One X and Evo 4GLTE, leading to some missed sales.
Apple fans have been flocking to Apple's latest Mac OS X upgrade, downloading the release 3 million times during its first four days of availability.
The update tightly integrates with cloud storage solutions for Mac users, as well as steal multiple features from iOS, the company's mobile operating system. Among the new features is an OS-based integration with social networking giant Facebook, microblogging giant Twitter and other services like Flickr for sharing pictures. Additionally, "Messages" will replace the former iChat system, allowing you to send instant messages to any Apple user, whether they are using an iOS device or a Mac. Finally, the update will also bring basic dictation to your Mac, allowing you to talk into the mic and have it converted to text.
Although those features are notable, they certainly aren't mind-blowing, and Apple seems to have admitted this by making the update just $20. It is also quite simple to upgrade, as long as you have the right current operating system.
You head into the Mac App Store, buy the OS as if it was an app, let it install in the background and then finally reboot.
According to iMore, which has a good track record, Apple will unveil its new iPhone on September 12th, with actual shipment dates starting on the 21st, a Friday.
Additionally, the company will debut the so-called iPad Mini, as well, alongside a new iPod Nano, say the sources, which "have proven accurate in the past."
The iPhone 4S was released on October 4th last year, meaning the new update will debut a little under a year after its predecessor.
Along with the new devices, Apple will give a final presentation for its upcoming iOS 6 operation system, which adds an HD Maps app (one that isn't powered by Google) and the company's new 'Passbook' for mobile payments.
On the hardware side, the next iPhone should include the new 19-pin dock connector, a 4-inch screen, a quad-core processor and LTE support. The iPad Mini will be a scaled down, 7.85-inch version of its older brother, just with no Retina Display.
Ubisoft has patched their Uplay DRM system today, hours after it was discovered to be full of malware.
The DRM, which forces gamers to always be connected to the Internet or not be able to play their games (even in single player mode), has already been universally panned since its introduction in 2010.
Before the patch, game installations were coming with a browser plug-in that gave any website full access to a user's system, without permission.
"Ubisoft takes security issues very seriously, and we will continue to monitor all reports of vulnerabilities within our software and take swift action to resolve such issues," said the games company.
The first to discover the malware was actually a Google engineer who was downloading the latest Assassin's Creed to his laptop.
Google has announced today that Gmail's video chat system will be upgraded and rehauled.
The new update will bring Google+ Hangouts, a popular feature of the social network.
By doing so, the quality and performance of video chats through Gmail should improve significantly. If you have a Google+ account, you will also be able to communicate with up to 9 other participants at the same time. Currently, Gmail only lets you do one-on-one.
Additionally, Gmail users with Google+ accounts will be able to watch YouTube videos simultaneously, share Google docs and even share screens.
Finally, you can chat with all Google+ circles through Gmail now, not just your Gmail friends.
According to an audit by New York Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Apple was given a sweetheart deal by the MTA for its massive Grand Central location lease.
The audit revealed that Apple and the MTA had already been negotiating the lease for over a year before a proposal was sent in. Metrazur, the restaurant that was occupying the space at the time, had already entered into a $5 million buyout pact with Apple, as well.
MTA officials then made it a requirement for all companies bidding for the space to pay the same $5 million upfront, a task that left Apple as the only real bidder.
'The MTA set a troubling precedent when it played favorites and gave Apple a competitive edge over others,' added DiNapoli.
MTA Chairman Joseph Lhota said the audit was worthless: "The MTA's lease process with Apple was open, transparent and followed both the spirit and letter of the law. This audit is not fact-based, and accordingly, the auditors' opinion is worthless."
Google admitted this week that it did not delete all of the personal data its Street View cars collected in 2010.
In May of 2010, the company confirmed that it accidentally collected data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in over 30 countries. That data included email addresses.
Later that year, the company signed a deal that it would delete all such data, but they have yet to complete the task, and therefore notified Britain's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO).
"The ICO is clear that this information should never have been collected in the first place and the company's failure to secure its deletion as promised is a cause for concern," reads the ICO's statement.
In their notification to the ICO, Google had this to say: "Google has recently confirmed that it still has in its possession a small portion of ... data collected by our Street View vehicles in the UK. Google apologizes for this error."
HTC has issued an apology statement to DesireHD owners over the flip-flopping in regards to an update to Ice Cream Sandwich.
After weeks of switching between "yes, we will" and "no," HTC decided that owners would not get the update to Android 4.0.
Reads the statement:
"We've heard your feedback on our decision not to update the HTC Desire HD to Android 4.0. We completely understand that this is a controversial decision.
For more background, due to how storage on the HTC Desire HD is partitioned - and the larger size of Android 4.0 - it would require re-partitioning device storage and overwriting user data in order to install this update. While technically advanced users might find this solution acceptable, the majority of customers would not. We also considered ways to reduce the overall size of the software package, but this would impact features and functionality that customers are currently using. Even after installing the update, there were other technical limitations which we felt negatively impacted the user experience.
According to reputable online ad provider Chitika, brand new Mac OS X Mountain Lion reached 3.2 percent of total OS X market share after just 48 hours.
That quick rate puts Mountain Lion well ahead of OS X Lion which took three months to reach 14 percent share and currently sits at around 34.
Most likely, the quick adoption is thanks to Apple's decision to sell the upgrade for just $19.99 as a digital-only download.
Apple's update tightly integrates with cloud storage solutions for Mac users, as well as steal multiple features from iOS, the company's mobile operating system.
The OS will only be sold as a digital download, hence the cheaper price, and you must be running the latest Lion or Snow Leopard to upgrade.
Among the new features is an OS-based integration with social networking giant Facebook, microblogging giant Twitter and other services like Flickr for sharing pictures
"Power Nap" lets your computer stay "updated" even while in sleep mode, meaning your emails will autosync, software updates will download automatically, and any file backups will work as well. This feature is available to Mountain Lion users with the latest MacBook Airs or Retina Display MacBook Pros.
Samsung doubled up on Apple last quarter for phones shipped, becoming the top mobile phone seller in the world.
The company knocked Nokia from its place at the top after over a decade.
Apple sold 26 million iPhones last quarter, a huge amount but less than expected. In the previous quarter, the company sold over 35 million.
Samsung, for its part, says it shipped over 10 million of the new Galaxy S III, with a total of 50.5 million smartphone units shipped for the quarter.
Globally, the company sold 93 million phones and now has a market share of 25.7 percent. Apple, which only sells one phone, has a global share of 7.2 percent.
Despite several weeks of rumor that a deal was imminent, Reuters is reporting this weekend that Apple is not looking to take a stake in microblogging giant Twitter.
Earlier reports had claimed Apple was looking to invest hundreds of millions to take a minor stake in Twitter. Some reports said Apple had the discussions last year, while other claimed it was still ongoing.
Reuters says there are no current discussions, although they did not rule out past negotiations occurring.
Apple is not known for buying stakes in companies, preferring to buy them outright.
Twitter has 140 million users, and is valued at above $3 billion.
Earlier this week, Valve boss Gabe Newell made some interesting comments in regards to the future of open platforms.
The exec went as far as to call the upcoming Windows 8 a 'catastrophe,' saying: "I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space. I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."
This weekend, Rob Pardo, executive vice president of game design at Blizzard, agreed with that sentiment. His tweet read: "Nice interview with Gabe Newell - "I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space* - not awesome for Blizzard either"
Most of the criticisms have to do with the expectation that Microsoft will restrict publisher's options to sell software directly, instead redirecting them to the Windows Store where the company takes a 30 percent royalty cut.
Google recently joint forces with the RIAA to help shut down sites that allow for the download and conversion of YouTube videos.
Such sites let you download the video in MP4 form or as MP3 audio files.
A German man, using Change.org, is trying to petition to get Google to allow such third-party recording, and the petition has been successful.
As of writing, there are over 1.26 million signatures for the campaign, with a target of 1.5 million.
The petition is in English, French, German and Turkish. Reads the statement: "In the past people have been able to record TV shows and CDs using home recording equipment. Now, Youtube wants to block users doing the same from its site. I launched this petition to make the point that changing technology should not affect peoples' rights as a consumer. I have been amazed at the response to my petition but surprised that the company has not responded. I would very much like to sit down with them and discuss this issue."
According to a new report, the Nintendo Wii U console will cost just $299 when it launches in time for the holidays this year.
The report, via a source who heard the rumor through "certain channels," has not been confirmed by Nintendo or anyone else.
Another report, citing a "senior publishing source," says the console will ship at under £250, which would be the equivalent of $400 USD. The UK always gets higher prices for electronics, however.
Earlier in the year, the credible Japanese business paper Nikkei claimed the console would sell for 30,000 yen in Japan, about $375 USD.
AT&T will be cutting the price of the popular Android-based HTC One X in half on Sunday, in a limited time promotion.
The carrier currently sells the phone for $199, and will drop the price to $99 tomorrow.
HTC would not say how long the sale will go on for, only to say that it is a limited back-to-school promotion.
The One X is generally considered a top 3 Android device, alongside the Galaxy Nexus and the much newer Galaxy S III, and boasts powerful specs along with LTE connectivity.
Apple has removed download links for Windows versions of its Safari browser from its website.
The site now only shows off Safari 6, which was unveiled earlier in the week alongside OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion.
Even searching for Safari on the site will lead you to the main page, with all references to older versions that support Windows being gone.
Unless this is some temporary glitch, it appears that Safari 5.1.7 will be the last version for Windows users, with cross-development likely being stopped.
Safari for Windows has been around since early 2007, originally in beta form.
The move shouldn't upset too many, as Safari only has around 6 percent of the entire browser market share, with over 5 percent of that coming from Mac users.
Internet giants Facebook, Google, Amazon and eBay have teamed together to form a new US lobbying group.
The group will be called the Internet Association, and will launch in September. The group will lobby for Internet issues in Washington including political and regulatory ones.
Google is a large spender on lobbying, having already spent $5.4 million in 2012. Facebook spent $650,000 so far this year, as well.
The group's main goal, however, is to "educate lawmakers" about the Internet. "We want to educate [lawmakers] about the impact of the internet in their congressional districts," says former adviser to the chairman of the House of Representatives Energy And Commerce Committee and new Internet Association president Michael Beckerman.
More companies have joined the group, but they will be revealed in September, added Beckerman.
Asus has unveiled the first 144 Hz gaming monitor, designed to improve 3D gaming performance.
The monitor, dubbed VG278H, is 27-inches, and will be the first with a panel enabling such a smooth frame rate.
Asus used a Twisted Nematic (TN) LCD panel with 1920x1080 pixelresolution and 2 ms (g2g) response time. On the 3D front, the monitor supports Nvidia's 3D Vision 2, although that will require a separate kit.
For ports, the monitor has HDMI, dual-link DVI, D-SUB VGA and 2x3Watt stereo speakers built-in including an audio jack for headphones.
Google has launched their Google Fiber Internet service this week for Kansas City residents.
The gigabit broadband service will be offered in different packages, with one being completely free for the next seven years.
Says the search giant: "Google Fiber works better when communities are connected together so we've divided Kansas City into small communities we call fiberhoods. We'll install only where there's enough interest, and we'll install sooner in fiberhoods where there's more interest. You can check out your fiberhood's pre-registration goal, as well as a real-time status update of all Kansas City fiberhoods on our rankings page."
Kansas City residents can pre-register for the service providing they pay a $10 processing fee and reveal some basic personal information. The deadline is September 9th.
"When you participate, not only will you help bring Google Fiber to your home, you'll also help bring it to your community--if your fiberhood reaches its pre-registration goal, we'll also connect community buildings like schools, libraries and hospitals with free Gigabit Internet," added the company in its statement.
During his company's first public earnings conference call, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg killed the rumor that the social network is building a smartphone.
However, Zuckerberg may have left the door slight ajar, as he did not deny that any third-party OEM may be building one.
Over the past few month, major news outlets have reported on a Facebook-branded phone coming within months. Most cited HTC as the OEM, and pointed to early 2013 for launch.
Zuckerberg had this to say of the rumors, however: "There are lots of things that you can build in other operating systems as well that aren't really building out a whole phone, which I think really wouldn't make much sense for us to do. We want to support a development ecosystem where other apps can build on top of Facebook."
The company will move forward with supporting developers to create applications built around Facebook.
Facebook's stock fell heavily after the earnings report, and is now at $24 per share, down almost 50 percent from its peak on IPO day.
On Friday, Apple made headlines by purchasing the publicly traded biometrics company AuthenTec for $356 million.
In doing so, it appears that the company will take a serious look at turning the iPad and iPhone into serious enterprise players.
AuthenTec is best known for fingerprint readers on PCs and other computing devices used by governments. Additionally, the company sells a product for consumers called TrueSuite, allowing users to lock down social networks with a fingerprint scan.
The companies have signed a development agreement in which Authentec will perform contract work for Apple with all future intellectual property being property of Apple. Furthermore: "Upon completion of the services, project materials will be returned to Apple or destroyed at Apple's sole discretion."
Finally, Apple will now be in control of a decent sized portfolio of mobile security patents.
Apple almost broke the bank to make the acquisition and now has only $116 billion in cash left to spend.
During the Black Hat security conference this week, both Nokia and Samsung devices were hacked due to an NFC vulnerability.
NFC, which is still in its infancy, is now becoming a standard on new smartphones and analysts expect NFC to be used in $180 billion worth of consumer purchases by 2017.
Charlie Miller, a principal research consultant at security firm Accuvant, hacked a Samsung Nexus S, a Galaxy Nexus and a Nokia N9: "It turns out that through NFC, using technology like Android Beam or NDEF [NFC Data Exchange Format] content sharing, one can make some phones parse images, videos, contacts, office documents, even open up Web pages in the browser, all without user interaction."
NFC-based mobile systems have been slow to adoption, with the number one reason usually being security.
OnLive, the popular cloud video game service, has announced a new partner today, the upcoming Kickstarter-funded Ouya.
Says OnLive: "Like Ouya, we came to gaming with a new vision for making top-quality gaming accessible to more people, and we continue to look for ways to expand on that vision."
Ouya's version will have hundreds of on-demand games, demos and will allow for syncing of saved games from other devices, like your tablet, for example.
OnLive specifically mentioned it has console games from publishers like THQ, Warner Bros. Interactive and 2K.
OUYA has a quad-core Tegra 3, 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a final price (potentially) of $99.
Additionally, the OUYA team says the console will be the size of a Rubik's Cube, making it ultra-portable.
Google has updated their search results to include a new scientific calculator.
Formerly, the results would just show the calculated results if you were to type, for example, 5+5, but now the result will pop up on a full calc with 34 buttons including logarithmic functions.
Additionally, if you search the term "calculator," the new tool pops up first, as well.
A Google spokesperson added: "Users have been able to search for equations for a while and quickly see the answer on the search results page, and we recently expanded the feature to include a graphing function and 3D graphing. Today we've updated the calculator feature to be more intuitive and easy to use."
Perhaps the "coolest" feature is the fact that it works with Desktop Voice search, allowing users to speak equations out loud and get answers.
Intel has made a big push over the past few months to promote the fact that Android will run on its new Medfield platform of chips.
Unfortunately for the company, two of its biggest partners, Motorola Mobility and Lenovo, have announced this week that they will be delaying such devices until late November.
According to supply chain sources, the decision has already put a severe dent in Intel's plans for world domination.
Intel itself would not comment on its partner's products.
Lenovo, which had a working engineering sample of the tablet as early as April, says many factors were built into the decision. After the company "evaluated" the competition (namely Google and Apple) and the launch of Windows 8 Pro and Windows RT, they decided to hold off for time being.
Microsoft has confirmed that apps purchased from the Windows 8 Windows Store will come with a trial period.
App purchases will come with seven day trials, including having "built-in functionality to make app trials hassle-free for both developers and users."
The news should be a welcome relief to consumer who are used to either having no trials on iOS or 15 minute trials via Android.
If you choose to upgrade from the trial to the full app, all of your customizations and data settings will stay along for the ride. The Windows 8 API will prompt users to upgrade after the trial is up, and Microsoft will also give developers "analytics to show the conversion process."
Valve boss Gabe Newell made some interesting comments at Seattle's Casual Connect conference last night in regards to the future of open platforms.
The exec went as far as to call the upcoming Windows 8 a 'catastrophe.'
"I think Windows 8 is a catastrophe for everyone in the PC space," Newell said. "I think we'll lose some of the top-tier PC/OEMs, who will exit the market. I think margins will be destroyed for a bunch of people. If that's true, then it will be good to have alternatives to hedge against that eventuality."
Newell says the best alternative is Linux, and he hopes to soon have all 2500 games on Steam running on Linux.
Into the future, Newell says the future of computing will be in wearable gear that can overlay info on physical objects.
Sony has responded to the reports that their PlayStation Vita handheld has been experiencing overheating issues in Japan.
In some extreme cases, the Vita would even began actually burning.
A few gamers in the nation reported the issue, and Japan's independent National Institute of Technology and Evaluation began looking into the situation.
Sony has since responded: "SCE confirmed that a small number (23 in Japan) of PS Vita's and USB cable's multi-use port were damaged during recharging, and have reported them to NITE (National Institute of technology and Evaluation). The cases were caused by partial short-circuit on the multi-use port of PS Vita and USB cable due to small particles or liquid attached to it. We believe this is not product oriented issue. The short-circuit damaged the multi-use port, resulting in being unable to boot the system."
As any active Twitter user knows, it is currently almost impossible to find your old messages, even after a few days (or weeks).
CEO Dick Costolo says that is about to change.
The exec told reporters that the microblogging giant will soon be adding a tool to allow users to download a file that includes all their tweets since joining the service: "We're working on a tool to let users export all of their tweets. You'll be able to download a file of them."
While users would be able to check through their own archives, Costolo says he does not anticipate the company letting its users have access to the archived tweets of other users. He added that search issues are a whole different monster and you "can't just put three engineers on it."
Costolo did not give a timeframe for the release of the download tool or for the upgraded search.
Many active users have long requested a download tool for their archived tweets, and it is even law in the EU. Users in the EU who have asked for the tweets have been sent a zip file containing your account details, tweets, favorites, direct messages, lists and saved searches. This alone means the company certainly has the capabilities to create such a tool.
Qualcomm has decided to get into the tablet hardware market.
The company's new branded tablet was developed for the developer community, and its specs show why.
Running on a quad-core Snapdragon APQ8064 at 1.5GHz, the tablet has a 10.1-inch display, WXGAresolution and an Adreno 320 GPU. The processor had not been in any other hardware before now.
Furthermore, the tablet has a 13MP camera with flash and LTE support.
According to multiple reports, Archos will be one of the first to market with an Android 4.0 ICS-based gaming console.
Called the Ludo G10, the console will run on a dual-core TI 4470 chip clocked at 1.8GHz. Additionally, the console will run on a PowerVR SGX554 graphics and have 1920x1080 resolution.
The Ludo will directly compete against the Kickstarter-funded OUYA.
OUYA has a quad-core Tegra 3, 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a final price of $99.
Additionally, the OUYA team says the console will be the size of a Rubik's Cube, making it ultra-portable.
It is hard to see how the Archos can compete on those fronts, but we shall see.
The highest-funded Kickstarter project of all-time will delay shipping slightly from their original launch target of September.
Pebble has kept supporters fully in the loop since May, providing regular updates on the progress of the Android-based watch.
Reads the latest note to supporters (myself included): "While we won't be able to start shipping Pebbles in September, our current schedule has us on track to go from manufacturing zero to 15,000 Pebbles per week as soon as possible."
The delay is not without reason. The company, when joining Kickstarter, had a shipping estimate of just 1000 smartwatches in a few colorways. The project then went viral, and over 85,000 were ordered. That being said, full production might take a bit longer.
Despite the small delay, CEO Eric Migicovsky says "we are sticking pretty closely to an aggressive timetable we put together at the end of May."
Finally, the company also revealed the colorway that will be shipped to those who donated $125; a glossy orange finish. Everyone else who purchased at the regular price will get black, white or red.
The latest OS X variant hit final beta earlier this month, and devs have had sufficient time to "play" with the new operating system.
Apple's update will tightly integrate with cloud storage solutions for Mac users, as well as steal multiple features from iOS, the company's mobile operating system.
The OS will only be sold as a digital download, hence the cheaper price, and you must be running the latest Lion or Snow Leopard to upgrade.
Among the new features is an OS-based integration with social networking giant Facebook, microblogging giant Twitter and other services like Flickr for sharing pictures
"Power Nap" lets your computer stay "updated" even while in sleep mode, meaning your emails will autosync, software updates will download automatically, and any file backups will work as well. This feature is available to Mountain Lion users with the latest MacBook Airs or Retina Display MacBook Pros.
More notably, "Messages" will replace the former iChat system, allowing you to send instant messages to any Apple user, whether they are using an iOS device or a Mac.
Within the company's earnings report this afternoon, Netflix CEO Reed Hasting teased that the company could eventually partner with HBO for its fantastic original content.
Unfortunately for fans of Netflix and HBO, the cable television network has shot down the possibility, just like it did in the past.
Says HBO: "We are not in discussions and have no plans to work with Netflix."
The blunt response is unsurprising given the fact that Hastings has often called HBO its main competitor. Earlier this year, HBO would not sell its DVDs to Netflix at wholesale prices, forcing them to buy box sets like True Blood and Boardwalk Empire at full price to offer them to their subscribers.
In the shareholder letter, Hastings wrote: "While we compete for content and viewing time with HBO, it is also possible we will find opportunities to work together - just as we do with other networks." He later clariifed by adding: "We're just another network, and then when you have multiple networks, they often find ways of working together."
During the company's after-earnings conference call, CEO Tim Cook spoke about the success of the Apple TV set-top box.
The company sold 1.3 million of the device during the quarter, bringing the fiscal yearly total to 4 million.
Despite the strong sales, the exec still called the set-top a "hobby" for the company. Added Cook: "We think it will lead us somewhere., we'll keep pulling the string."
Year-over-year, the growth is strong, as well, 170 percent as of now.
Earlier this year, Cook was quoted as saying: "We're not a hobby kind of company as you know. Our tendency is to do very few things. And, if something creeps in and isn't a big success, we get it out of the way and put our energies on something else. With Apple TV though, you see what we've done. We've stuck in this, it's not the fifth leg of the stool. It's not the same size as the iPhone or Mac or tablet business. But last year we sold a little less than three million Apple TVs."
Apple posted quarterly earnings today that completely missed analyst expectations, a rare miss for the company, although profits and revenue were still massive.
The company reported revenue of $35 billion and a net profit of $8.8 billion, compared to $7.3 billion and $28.6 billion during the same period a year ago. Analysts had been expecting profits near $10 billion and revenue above $37 billion.
Apple sold 26 million iPhones during the quarter, down substantially from the record 35 million sold during the first quarter. The drop makes sense as investors wait for the expected launch of the iPhone 5 in October.
CFO Peter Oppenheimer blamed speculation of the upcoming device for the shortfall: "Our weekly iPhone sales continue to be impacted by rumors and speculation of future products." The iPhone 5 is expected to have a 4-inch screen, quad-core processor, LTE and an improved display.
On the other end, iPad sales exploded, with the company selling 17 million during the quarter compared to 12 million in the first quarter. Mac sales declined, after posting moderate growth for the last two years, with the company selling 4 million units for the quarter.
Netflix reported their second quarter earnings this afternoon and investors were not pleased.
The video streaming company posted disappointing subscriber growth, which is usually strong during the first half of the year.
For the last quarter, the company added just 1.1 million streaming subscribers, adding up to a total of 27.6 million.
Last year, the company added 2 million subscribers during the same period.
The company charges $7.99 per month for unlimited streaming of the company's "Watch Instantly" catalog. The catalog has over 25,000 movies and TV episodes. The movie categories are lacking, but the TV catalog is quite substantial.
CEO Reed Hastings added that the company will likely struggle to add subscribers in the third quarter, as the Olympics will fill the "entertainment needs" of most.
Despite all the headwinds, including losing 900,000 DVD-by-mail subscribers, the company still made a profit of $6.2 million.
Vizio has begun taking pre-orders for its $99 Co-Star device powered by Google TV.
The item is expected to ship August 14th and the company is offering free shipping for the next few days.
Additionally, the device will be the first Google TV device to have built-in OnLive support, allowing for cloud-based gaming.
On top the standard Google TV features, the gadget will have pre-loaded Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, iHeartRadio, and OnLive apps.
"Our focus to deliver the best consumer experience continues with today's announcement of the Co-Star, which delivers a superior smart TV interface that anyone can add to their existing HDTV," Matt McRae, VIZIO's Chief Technology Officer said in a released statement last month. "We combined the powerful features of Google TV with an intuitive and easy to use interface, giving users the power to enjoy an entire world of entertainment."
Earlier this week, we reported that just a year after they sold 50 percent of the company to HTC, Beats Audio had bought back 25 percent of that stake.
HTC originally purchased their 50 percent stake for $300 million, and Beats bought their 25 percent share back at the same equivalent price, $150 million. Beats now has a controlling 75 percent stake. Beat's official explanation is that now they will have "more flexibility for global expansion."
Allegedly, however, there is more to the story.
According to one source, the handset maker did not meet "all of the financial commitments it has made to Beats."
Regardless of past wrongs, HTC will keep exclusivity on the Beats Audio tech for mobile, meaning you won't be seeing it in Samsung, Motorola or other company's phones anytime soon. Additionally, the two companies will also work on a major joint marketing campaign later this year.
Google has made the Nexus Q streaming device available from its Google Play Store.
The company says any order placed today will ship within 5 business days.
Unveiled during Google's I/O event, the orb is described by the company as such: "Nexus Q streams your favorite entertainment directly from the cloud to your living room. Just use the Google Play and YouTube apps on your Android phone or tablet to surf an ocean of music, TV, movies and music, and Nexus Q will play it all on the biggest speakers and screen in the house. There are no downloads, no syncing, no running out of space. Just the stuff you love -- at home and out loud."
The all black orb has a flat bottom to place it on tables and a middle LED strip that goes on when the Q is being used to stream songs, videos and other content.
In terms of connectivity, there's a Micro-HDMI output, an optical audio port, Ethernet jack, plus a Micro-USB port, a set of banana jack speaker outputs, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and NFC (near-field communication) support. The banana jacks allow for speakers to connect to the built-in 25-watt amp with no separate AV receiver required.
Antitrust regulators in the EU have let optical disk drive makers know that they are facing potential fines over rigging bids as part of a cartel.
The thirteen companies were not revealed, yet.
European Commission officials sent statements of objections to each of the companies.
"The Commission has concerns that those suppliers may have coordinated their behavior in bidding events organized by two major original equipment manufacturers for optical disk drives used in personal computers (desktops and notebooks) and in servers," said the EC (via Reuters).
Each of the companies manufacturer or sell optical disk drives like CD, DVD and Blu-ray readers and writers.
According to analysts, Amazon now has ample room to aggressively drop the price of the Kindle Fire tablet.
Cost of supplies has fallen to $133.80 since launch, says iSuppli, down from $185.60 in November of last year.
Memory prices have fallen significantly, and the display price has fallen, too.
Notes Brad Gastwirth of independent research firm ABR Investment Strategy: "Memory prices have been in free fall - with roughly a 50 percent price reduction in the past year. On the display side prices have also come down."
The Kindle Fire currently sells for $200, the same price as the recently launched Nexus 7, which has much more powerful specs.
Breaking from its normal mass marketing strategy, Nokia may be looking to exclusively launch their first Windows Phone 8 smartphone later this year with one carrier, building a "buzz" like Apple did with the original iPhone on AT&T.
Instead of their current strategy, which is to get their phones into the hands of as many customers on as many carriers as possible, the new plan would be to have a dedicated partnership with dedicated support for the phone.
In doing so, Nokia will offer the carrier a piece of the revenue from the devices, thus giving incentive to make the phones successful.
Electronic Arts' CEO John Riccitiello has speculated today that both the PS4 and Xbox 8 will be unveiled next year, in preparation for either a holiday release or a 2014 release.
Riccitiello would not cite any specifics, but as the head of one of the world's largest publishers, his words carry some weight.
It has become clear that Microsoft and Sony are only worried about each other and not Nintendo, who's Wii U hardware will be released later this year and could have up to a two-year headstart on its rivals.
The CEO believes better visibility for the next-gen consoles will help slumping software sales, which have been in an extended, multi-year downtrend. Knowing which platforms they will be focusing on should help reverse the trend for publishers, adds Riccitiello.
Catherine Venusto of Pennsylvania has been charged with hacking into the computer system of the Northwestern Lehigh School District and changing the grades of her two children.
Venusto formerly worked as an administrative office secretary from 2008 through April, 2011 and was familiar with the system.
Before quitting, she was accused of changing one of her daughter's failing grades to a "medical exception." In 2012, the woman was accused of changing her son's grade of 98 to 99.
Venusto has now been charged with 6 felonies, three counts of unlawful use of a computer and three counts of computer trespassing and altering data.
Although there is little chance it will get that far, Venusto is facing 42 years in prison and a $90,000 fine.
In January 2010, Kodak sued both companies seeking an import ban on BlackBerrys and iPhones from the International Trade Commission (ITC). It accused both companies of patent infringement for the '218 patent which covers "Initiating Capture of Still Images while Previewing Motion Images."
In March, an ITC judge sided with Apple and RIM, claiming the patent is invalid, and the ruling went to final approval.
That final approval has come through this week, ending Kodak's hopes to make some money from the suit.
The '218 patent has been one of Kodak's most lucrative, as it looks to repay creditors after filing for bankruptcy in February.
In the past, Kodak filed claims against Sony, JVC, Samsung, LG, and Fujifilm over the same patent.
Sophia Ellison of Fairfax, Virgina, went into her local Best Buy and left her old iPhone with the Geek Squad in an effort to have photos, music and contacts transferred from the old device to her new 4S.
The employee, George, promised to wipe the old content from the phone and then offered to buy the old phone for $60. He did not give her a receipt and paid right from his wallet.
After a day, the transfer had not been done so Ellison called in and George called her back saying the photo retrieval would be done.
Supposedly, the already creepy situation took a turn for the worse. George called her back, said he had made a CD of the photos, and that she should drive by to pick it up from his house.
Ellison then contacted her lawyer. "I felt sick. I'm a woman. I love to model. I'm not a model, but I love to model. I have some pretty racy photos of myself, for me. Even the words 'Best Buy' gives me chills," says Ellison in a taped video.
According to a number of analysts, the oft-rumored AppleHDTV may be U.S.-only and may not be released until 2014.
Giles Cottle of Informa's broadband content and online video analyst division says he wouldn't find it "surprising if the Apple television wasn't launched exclusively in the US first, [because] content rights can be a massive burden and have to be managed on a country-by-country basis."
IHS senior analyst Paul Erickson also noted that "an initial US focus is possible as [Apple's] strongest video content availability on iTunes is in the US. Apple wouldn't want to spend the effort and marketing dollars to push a TV in markets where both Apple video product demand and local content availability are low at the current time."
The rumored TV will be between 42-55 inches, include built-in Wi-Fi and run on a variant of Mac OSX or iOS. The TV may also be the first to offer a la carte channel selection, giving users a chance to buy only the channels they want.
According to a Samsung Electronics exec, brisk sales of the Galaxy S III have reached 10 million since launch in late May in Europe and in late June, early July in the U.S.
Shin Jong-kyun, the president of Samsung's information technology and mobile communication division, made the announcement to reporters earlier this weekend.
The exec would only say 10 million units were sold, without giving an exact number.
At its current pace, the Galaxy S III is killing its predecessor, the S II, which took over 5 months to reach the same milestone.
Sales are expected to remain strong, and Samsung will introduce a 64GB model later this year.
Amazon has proudly announced a new, exclusive licensing deal for Warner Bros. content.
The deal will bring popular TV shows like Fringe and classic shows like The West Wing to the Amazon Prime instant video catalog.
Prime is a $79-per-year service that gives customers unlimited free 2-day shipping and $3.99 one-day or same-day shipping and access to the full Prime streaming service with over 18,000 TV episodes and movies.
Additionally, Prime users can read thousands of Kindle books for free each month.
The service is available on hundreds of devices, including the Xbox 360, PS3, Roku boxes and on any computer with an Internet connection.
Amazon's main competition is Netflix, which has over 20 million customers for its streaming Watch Instantly catalog.
Google has sold out of the 16GB model of their new Nexus 7 tablet.
According to sources, this sellout is due to the fact that Google severely underestimated demand for the device at launch: "Google's planners had thought that buyers on the Google Play store, more than from physical or online retailers, would be more committed to the company's 'cloud' concept, and so would have more of their content stored online, rather than wanting to keep it on the device. But most buyers appear to have noted that the storage on the device cannot be upgraded and decided to get the larger model."
That fact, that Google left out a microSD slot, has been the only major complaint from new buyers and critics.
Google still has the 8GB model available through Google Play, with a 3-5 day delay in shipping.
The tablet sells for $199 for the 8GB model and $250 for the 16GB version.
Samsung has confirmed that it will release a new model of the Galaxy S III smartphone later this year.
The new model will include 64GB of internal storage, double the current storage of the popular device.
Says the company: "The 64GB model of the Galaxy S III will be available during the second half of this year. The market availability and timing may vary and will be determined at the time."
There was no word at all to narrow the time frame, but the extra storage will be a welcome addition to consumers who like to download a lot of movies, music and books.
Just a year after they sold 50 percent of the company to HTC, Beats Audio has bought back 25 percent of that stake.
HTC originally purchased their 50 percent stake for $300 million, and Beats bought their 25 percent share back at the same equivalent price, $150 million. Beats will now have a controlling 75 percent stake.
Beats says it will now have "more flexibility for global expansion."
For its part, HTC will keep exclusivity on the Beats Audio tech for mobile, meaning you won't be seeing it in Samsung, Motorola or other company's phones anytime soon.
The two companies will also work on a major joint marketing campaign later this year.
Uniloc, the notorious patent troll, has sued the creators of 'Minecraft,' claiming it infringes on patents they hold for certain copy protection software.
The company, making their case even more ridiculous, calls the game "Mindcraft" in the official filing.
Creator Markus 'Notch' Persson, known for his sense of humor, has already responded to the filing: "Step 1: Wake up. Step 2: Check email. Step 3: See we're being sued for patent infringement. Step 4: Smile. Unfortunately for them, they're suing us over a software patent. If needed, I will throw piles of money at making sure they don't get a cent."
Uniloc's patent, awarded back in 2005, is for a system "preventing unauthorized access to electronic data" between a portable device and a license registration authority. Uniloc has long claimed they have rights to all software that verify licensing on the Android OS.
Notch says Minecraft does not perform licensing checks in any manner similar to the patent.
Restoring faith in humanity, Lenovo CEO Yang Yuanqing has distributed his bonus check to almost 10,000 junior level employees.
The company posted a great quarterly earnings report in May, and the exec was given a $3 million bonus for his work and the performance.
Rather than pocketing the money, however, the CEO paid checks of $314 to almost 10,000 production-line workers, assistants and receptionists. The average monthly salary for most of these employees ranged from $350-$450, so the bonus check was significant.
Not to take anything away from the CEO's outstanding gesture, but Yuanqing did earn over $14 million last year for his position (with bonuses).
Regardless, it is great to see an exec giving money back to the employees that help him earn it.
Earlier this month, we reported that DirecTV had dropped over two dozen Viacom cable channels thanks to an ongoing dispute over licensing fees.
Popular channels like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV went dark while the two companies tried to work out an agreement on fees.
Earlier this week, the groups announced a formal agreement, and 26 channels have been returned.
Says Viacom: "Viacom is extremely pleased to bring its programming back to DirecTV subscribers, and thanks everyone affected by the disrupting for their patience and understanding during this challenging period."
Allegedly, DirecTV will pay out $600 million per year for access to the channels, which is an increase of over 20 percent from the previous deal.
Additionally, with the new deal, DirecTV subscribers will be able to watch Viacom content via "tablets, laptops, handhelds and other personal devices" using the DirecTV Everywhere platform.
DirecTV has 19 million subscribers and is the largest satellite TV provider in the nation.
HTC has confirmed today that their latest phones will be getting Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The popular One X and One S devices will be getting Google's latest operating system and all of its goodies.
Word comes via Jeff Gordon, HTC's Global Online Communications Manager: "We know HTC fans are excited to get their hands on Google's latest version of Android. At this point in time, we can confirm that we have plans to upgrade our HTC One X, HTC One XL and HTC One S to Jelly Bean. Please stay tuned for more updates regarding device upgrades, timing and other details about HTC and Jelly Bean."
Apple has expanded its iTunes in the Cloud for movies service to 35 new nations.
The new nations with access to movies are Australia, Argentine, Bolivia, Brazil, Brunei, Cambodia, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Ireland, Laos, Macau, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Philippines, Singapore, Slovakia, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.K., Venezuela, and Vietnam.
American and Canadian users already had access since launch.
Not all content is available due to licensing restrictions but the selections should be pretty hefty for most.
According to the latest figures from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), the amount of Internet users in the nation has grown to 538 million.
Additionally, 388 million are accessing the Internet from mobile devices.
China's growth has been exponential since 2008, when there were only 298 million users. Just 6 months ago, in January, there were 513 million users.
The CNNIC does say overall growth has slowed since 2011, which is understandable after a few years of furious growth.
Over 100 million Chinese use their mobile phones to watch video, which was an increase of 27.7 percent.
Microsoft reported record revenue during their quarterly earnings today, although they had to post a loss, their first ever.
Revenue came in at $18.06 billion, a record, but the company had to report a loss of $492 million. The loss was due to a massive write-off of $6.2 billion from their 2007 acquisition of aQuantive. The ad company just never panned out, and Microsoft lost almost all it invested to purchase it.
Without the one-time charge, revenues were up 7 percent year-over-year and profits would have been up 12 percent.
Revenue in the Entertainment and Devices division (Xbox 360, Windows Phone, Xbox Live) grew the most, spiking 20 percent to $1.7 billion.
For the fiscal year, Microsoft posted $73.72 billion in revenue and $21.76 billion in operating income.
AT&T will give users the chance to sign up for shared data plans starting this August.
Dubbed the "AT&T Mobile Share" plans, new and existing users can choose to move to the new plans where they can share a "bucket" of data, minutes and texts across multiple devices.
Moving to a shared contract is not mandatory but can be done without extending your current contract length.
Each plan can have 10 devices attached and each comes with tethering and unlimited texts and voice calls.
"We offer customers a broad choice and the best lineup of plans, now enhanced by Mobile Share," said David Christopher, chief marketing officer, AT&T Mobility. "With these new plans, the more you share, the more you save. They'll be a good fit for a variety of new and existing customers. But if customers want to stay on their current plan or choose from our existing plans, they can do that, too. It's their choice.
"Today we think of people's smartphones and tablets sharing a bucket of data. But in the future we'll see health care monitors, connected cars, security systems and other devices in the home all connected to the mobile Internet," said Christopher. "Our Mobile Share plans are simple, easy and a great value for individuals or families with multiple mobile Internet devices."
Nokia reported its quarterly earnings earlier this morning, which as expected, were a disaster.
The company had an operating loss of €826 million, and would have been much worse had it not been for a crutch by Microsoft.
Microsoft pays Nokia royalties on a quarterly basis, and the most recent check led to a rise in net cash of €102 million. Last quarter, even with Microsoft helping, the Finnish company showed a loss of €1.3 billion, its largest ever.
Lumia sales, since launch, totaled 4 million. In the U.S. and Canada, Nokia only shipped a total of 600,000 units during the quarter, meaning the Lumia 900 was certainly a flop, even at its $99 price tag. The company has since slashed the price to $49 to spur sales.
While the Lumia sales were not a complete mess, Nokia's feature phone and Symbian/MeeGo phone sales continue to fall, with overall sales down 4.8 million compared to the comparable period last year.
Nokia says it expects the third quarter to be "challenging," as well.
While most manufacturers are planning Windows Phone 8 devices for the end of this year, Acer seems to be taking a backseat, waiting until the 3Q 2013 for their first entry to the market.
Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Huawei, among others, have already announced phones for this year running on Qualcomm chips.
Acer released a Windows Phone 7 smartphone for Europe last year, with low-end specs, which was met with mediocre sales.
For now, the company is focused on Android, says Acer spokesperson Chen Guowei.
Windows Phone 8 is expected to launch alongside the release of the desktop Windows 8, in late October. The new OS will allow for multi-core processor support, NFC, mass storage support and 720p screen resolution.
The world's largest video sharing website has added the new feature to its system.
YouTube will now allow users to blur human faces automatically in videos they upload, in an effort to help protect the identities of those who would not want to identified, like political dissidents or children.
"Whether you want to share sensitive protest footage without exposing the faces of the activists involved, or share the winning point in your 8-year-old's basketball game without broadcasting the children's faces to the world, our face blurring technology is a first step towards providing visual anonymity for video on YouTube," YouTube said in a blog post.
Already uploaded videos can be updated with the blur, and originals can be deleted.
"YouTube is proud to be a destination where people worldwide come to share their stories, including activists," YouTube added.
According to a new report from research firm Capstone Investments, Facebook usership has fallen again, at least in the U.S.
The same may be accurate for other major markets, as well, but growth in Asian nations has helped Facebook keep up strong overall growth numbers.
In the U.S., Facebook's user base dropped 0.7 percent over the past three months, after a 1 percent drop in the three months before that.
The investment firm used proprietary software for the report, analyzing user growth in over 200 countries.
In the U.S., Facebook has more than 50 percent market penetration, just like the company has in 23 other countries. In all but 9 of those nations, the user base fell, showing a trend.
"Facebook penetration estimates indicate that growth starts to flatten or decline once a market exceeds 50% population penetration," reads the report. "We believe this could be an issue for future Facebook growth since we estimate that outside of Southeast Asia and some countries in Latin America, most markets are approaching 50% penetration."
Sony's latest has a 3.5-inch touchscreen and runs on a dual-core Nvidia processor. The device will be available in 16GB or 32GB flavors.
F800 buyers will have access to a number of pre-installed apps, including Sony-built media gallery and email apps. Users will have access to the Google Play Store, as well.
Furthermore, the device has built-in Bluetooth, S-Master MX Digital Amplifier and the five Clear Audio technologies.
The 16GB F800 will sell for an expensive $269.99 and the 32GB for $299.99.
A Taiwanese teenager collapsed and died at an Internet cafe after playing Diablo III for 40 straight hours.
18 year-old Chuang had booked a private room at noon on July 13th, and collapsed on the morning of the 15th, after having not eaten during the entire time he was playing.
Before collapsing, an attendant found Chaung napping on his table. After she woke him, he got up, stood briefly and then fainted.
Chaung passed away after reaching the hospital.
While the cause of death is still unknown, the prolonged hours in a sedentary position, combined with no food, almost certainly led to cardiovascular problems.
Earlier this year, another young adult died in a similar fashion after playing 23 hours straight.
The judge presiding over the Kim Dotcom case in New Zealand has stepped down following comments he made about the U.S.
Judge David Harvey made the comment, in which he called the U.S. "the enemy" during an internet conference about copyright. Harvey is an internet law expert, and was specifically chosen for the case.
Says district court chief judge Jan-Marie Doogue: "He recognises that remarks made in the context of a paper he delivered on copyright law at a recent internet conference could reflect on his impartiality and that the appropriate response is for him to step down from the case."
Harvey's full comment, a reference to Walt Kelly, was this: "We have met the enemy and he is [the] U.S."
The case, which will begin next March, will now be heard of Judge Nevin Dawson.
Dotcom, the founder of Megaupload, was arrested earlier this year and charged with copyright infringement as the U.S. and other nations teamed up to take down the world's most popular cyberlocker.
Microsoft has confirmed the exact release date for Windows 8.
The upcoming operating system will be available October 26th, making clear the time frame that was formerly just "late October."
Microsoft called "Metro," the key new feature of Windows 8, the most important interface redesign in over a decade.
Metro is built for touchscreen devices, and Microsoft is releasing its standard desktop OS along with two tablet version, Windows RT for ARM devices and Windows 8 Pro for Intel/AMD.
The company revealed its own tablet, the Surface, last month, to much acclaim.
After months of speculation and rumor, Google unveiled its Nexus 7 tablet last month at their annual I/O event.
Rightfully so, the tablet has received serious notice, as it will be the first true Android experience tablet, one not marred by any third-party UI or OEM-branded apps.
Additionally, the tablet comes with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the first device to receive it, and it certainly shows in the performance.
Read on for the rest of our review on this excellent new entry to the tablet market.
Multiple reports have posted new features coming to Windows Phone 8.
Codenamed Apollo, the upcoming major update for the Windows Phone series is expected to be the biggest upgrade yet to the fledgling mobile OS.
The first feature, which was practically asked for by all current users of Windows Phone 7, is support for microSD cards and the mass storage protocol. Most find mass storage easier than the "media transfer" protocol, and I'd have to agree it's just much easier and user friendly.
Secondly, WP8 will add the ability to take screenshots, a smaller, less important feature, but a great addition nonetheless. iOS always had the ability and Android has had for some time now. You had the ability to do so with Windows Phone before now, but only if you have a developer kit.
With the update, pressing the Windows Key and the camera key at the same time will allow you to take easy screenshots.
Large games publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has admitted today that hardcore gamers still have major issues with the Origin download platform.
In response, the company says it is making Origin the 'best download site' it can be, looking to turn skeptics into fans.
Additionally, EA is offering a new promotion where Kickstarter-funded games can get listed on Origin for free.
Adds Origin boss David DeMartini (via MCV): "The hardcore sometimes has issues with Origin, but they seem to love these crowd-funded games. It was one of the few things we have done that wasn't controversial and nobody had anything negative to say."
DeMartini concludes:
"People forget that when Steam launched, there was a lot of backlash from the core. Origin represents a change, and anytime EA does something that is significant in the industry, it generates a certain amount of reaction.
Really it's just to give customers an opportunity for choice."
According to multiple reports, Samsung and LG employees have been charged with stealing OLED technology and info.
Former researchers at Samsung and executives at LG have been indicted, accused of leaking information related to the production of larger OLED displays. Allegedly, the Samsung researchers leaked the info in an effort to get jobs at LG.
OLED is still in its infancy for larger displays but is used in many smartphones, smart watches, tablets and other small form factor devices. OLED displays emit light rather than using a backlight, allowing for much richer colors, increased brightness and incredibly thin forms.
Companies like Samsung and LG have shown off the first large commercial OLED TVs this year, but with price tags upwards of $10,000, they certainly have not yet reached the mainstream.
AT&T has announced it will be sponsor DefCon Kids, a competition for kids to find the most zero-day bugs in mobile apps.
The carrier has teamed up with 11-year old hacker "CyFi," who reported a number of mobile vulnerabilities to the carrier last year.
One such vulnerability, explains DR, was a "'time-travel' flaw in her mobile gaming app that let her move time ahead on the device so she could further progress in the game. That meant she didn't have to wait for things to happen in the game, for example. These bugs affect any app on any mobile tablet and smartphone operating system platform."
Many popular apps have this flaw and the app developers have not yet fixed it, despite having a year to do so.
Whoever discovers the most bugs during the competition will get a new iPad and $1,000.
The event will be held alongside the adult DefCon from July 27 to 29 and also includes sponsoring from the National Security Agency (NSA), the Defense Department, AllClear ID, HacKid, Max Kelly, and the EFF.
The European Commission, EU's executive body, has announced this week that it has begun an investigation into Microsoft's tactics in regards to browser selection.
Back in 2009, Microsoft made antitrust commitments to the EC, including an obligation to add a "browser choice screen" to its Windows operating systems. By having the screen, users could select which browser they wanted right at first boot and not have to use Microsoft's own Internet Explorer.
Microsoft admitted it "fell short" on its commitments due to a tech erro, and the EC says the company may face "severe" fines: "Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7."
Windows 7 without SP1, Windows XP and Windows Vista PCs did have the screen, however.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia says the screen has not been provided since February 2011, leaving 28 million consumers without options.
The Australian government has released a new paper that details a potential (and scary) new legislation.
According to ZeroPaid, the legislation would give Australian authorities the ability hack your PC for information, among other features.
Additionally:
B. Government is considering the following proposals:
Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979
8. Streamlining and reducing complexity in the lawful access to communications regime – this would include:
a. Creating a single warrant with multiple TI powers
9. Modernising the Industry assistance framework –
a. Implement detailed requirements for industry interception obligations
b. extend the regulatory regime to ancillary service providers not currently covered by the legislation
c. implement a three‐tiered industry participation model Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979
10. Amending the ASIO Act to create an authorised intelligence operations scheme. This will provide ASIO officers and human sources with protection from criminal and civil liability for certain conduct in the course of authorised intelligence operations.
11. Amending the ASIO Act to modernise and streamline ASIO's warrant provisions to:
a. Establish a named person warrant enabling ASIO to request a single warrant specifying multiple (existing) powers against a single target instead of requesting multiple warrants against a single target.
b. Align surveillance device provisions with the Surveillance Devices Act 2007
c. Enable the disruption of a target computer for the purposes of a computer access warrant
d. Enable person searches to be undertaken independently of a premises search
e. Establish classes of persons able to execute warrants.
Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer their new CEO, snatching away one of Google's top executives.
Mayer will be the fifth CEO for the company in as many years, succeeding the interim chief Ross Levinsohn. Levinsohn took over for Scott Thompson this year, who was fired over resume inaccuracies after a high-profile hiring following the firing of Carol Bartz.
During her time at Google, Mayer became a well-known personality, and will now be one of the most powerful women in Silicon Valley. Mayer was part of the team that designed the "look and feel" of Google search, Gmail and Google News.
"I am honored and delighted to lead Yahoo, one of the Internet's premier destinations for more than 700 million users," added the new CEO in a statement.
Mayer spent thirteen years at Google, most recently overseeing 1000 product managers for the company's location and local services, including Google Maps.
The French government is considering an Internet tax on international companies that sell online but pay much less taxes than companies with brick-and-mortar stores in the nation.
Major companies like Google, Apple, Facebook and Amazon are being targeted, as the companies combine to bring in sales of five billion euros in France.
The report quoted Yves Le Mouel, head of the French Telecommunications Federation (FFT).
If accurate, the report claims that the government will launch a new study and consider new levies on Internet-based companies.
"Our fiscal system has trouble integrating new transaction forms generated by the digital economy. The result is a loss of income for public finances and a competitive disadvantage for French companies with respect to international groups which have organized themselves to evade or diminish their taxes," reads the news (via EET).
Earlier today, the NYT had a report on Apple's alleged plans for the iPad tablet.
After months of rumor, the paper jumped on the 'iPad Mini' bandwagon, claiming the company will indeed be releasing a smaller 7.85-inch iPad later this year.
All the report would say is they expect the tablet to cost "significantly less" than the current $499 base iPad. This all seemed regurgitated but the report did have one interesting note, regarding Amazon.
Reads the paper: "Amazon is working on a new version of the Kindle Fire, with a larger display, that could compete more directly with the iPad, according to a developer briefed on Amazon's plans who did not want to be identified talking about unannounced products."
The e-tailer is expected to release a second-generation Kindle Fire later this summer.
60 days into the Netherland's and UK's 'experiment' in forcing ISPs to block The Pirate Bay, one ISP says the tactic is completely ineffective in controlling traffic to and from P2P and torrent sites.
Major Dutch ISP XS4All told TF that torrent traffic actually increased after the block.
UPC in the Netherlands says there was only a small temporary blip down before traffic returned to normal.
Another two ISPs, KPN and Ziggo, say volume is exactly where it was before the ban.
In response to the reports, the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI) says they are not dissuaded and will "take further steps to deal with illegal sites that line their pockets by ripping off everyone who makes the music we enjoy."
NBC News has announced today that they have acquired 100 percent share of msnbc.com and its digital networks from Microsoft.
The site will be rebranded as NBCNews.com
"Some really talented journalists have passed through the doorway of msnbc.com and taken us to the point where we have something that is an outstanding set of properties, and we value them to such a degree that we decided that we wanted to own them outright," added NBC News President Steve Capus.
Charlie Tillinghast, the site's president and publisher, added that the site will hugely benefit from "proper brand alignment between the TV properties and their Web counterparts -- NBC News and NBCNews.com, MSNBC cable and msnbc.com and TODAY show and TODAY.com."
For the time being, MSNBC will still be the same URL, but will reflect the NBC News home page.
Symantec, the maker of anti-virus software, has confirmed that an update to its popular Symantec Endpoint Protection 12.1 and Norton anti-virus software for businesses has caused some PCs to be bricked (inoperable) without servicing.
The update, for users with Microsoft Windows XP, caused an instant "blue screen of death," one that could not be fixed with a reboot.
So far, the company admits over 300 corporate customers have been affected and 60 consumer customers have seen the deadly BSOD.
Angry customers say it took Symantec hours to identify the bug, and that the company needed to send their own techs to fix the issue unless customers manually removed the software via a time-consuming process.
The company says the glitch was due to "software compatibility issues that arose after an update was released late on Wednesday." Symantec says it will "compensate" users.
According to the latest figures from Nielsen, two out of every three Americans who bought a phone in the last 90 days chose to purchase a smartphone.
Furthermore, as of June, 54.9 percent of all mobile subscribers now have smartphones, a huge jump from May when the number was at 50.4 percent.
In the mobile OS war, Androidleads the pack at 51.8 percent, edging out Apple at 34.3 percent. RIM fell to its lowest figure in a very long time, at 8.1 percent, while Windows Phone came in at just 1.3 percent.
Americans bought up Apple en masse, with the iPhone taking a 34 percent market share with Samsung in second at 17 percent. On a global scale, Samsung still remains in the lead. RIM remained in third at about 9 percent market share.
Microsoft has unveiled a limited-edition "Halo 4" Xbox 360 console.
The system will go on sale when Halo does, on November 6th.
For $400, fans can get a Halo 4-themed console with 320GB HDD, custom sound effects, two skinned controllers, a wired headset and of course, a copy of the game.
The system's "ring" lights blue instead of the standard green, as do the controllers.
Finally, the gamer will receive exclusive DLC and avatar content.
Customers in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and San Antonio now have access to 4G LTE speeds if their phone can support it.
Says the company: "To better meet the growing voice and data demands of wireless customers, Sprint is building an all-new, nationwide 3G and 4G LTE network through the Network Vision program. This means that whether a Sprint customer is using a smartphone to share a picture or to check the Web, Sprint 4G LTE will make it faster. Coupling the speed of 4G LTE with the industry's only truly unlimited data plan for smartphones makes Sprint the best choice in wireless. Additionally, the new network provides significant enhancements to Sprint 3G service. Customers will experience better signal strength, fewer dropped/blocked calls, faster data speeds, expanded coverage and better overall performance as the improvements roll out across the country."
Outside of the five metro areas, Sprint expects to launch in more cities soon with a December 2013 expected date for a complete rollout.
After mediocre sales of their first tablet, the Flyer, and its variations, HTC has been working on something special in the tablet space, although they will not disclose what.
Apparently, the company has been waiting "until it had something unique to offer" before launching.
Microsoft recently snubbed the company, not giving it a license for the upcoming Windows RT or Windows 8 Pro.
That being said, the new tablet will certainly run Android 4.0 or 4.1 but it is unclear what the killer new "unique" feature is.
Struggling smartphone maker RIM will have to pay $147 million in damages after losing a patent suit to Mformation Technologies.
The jury upheld claims that RIM violated patents taken out in 1999 by Mformation.
Most of the software involved relates to "software that allows companies to access employees' mobile phones remotely for upgrades, password changes or to delete data."
To get the $147 million, the judge in the case calculated the fine as $8 for every BlackBerry sold since 2008, when the claims were initially filed.
The case will also likely force RIM to pay royalties on future sales and international sales, as well.
"We believe [the patents have] been fundamental to the success of Research in Motion," added Amar Thakur for the plaintiffs. "Mformation created the mobile device management category in the late 1990s and was innovating in this area well before most of the market understood the fundamental importance of wireless mobility management."
Nokia has slashed the price of their flagship device, the Lumia 900, in half for the U.S. market.
The popular Windows Phone device has only been on the market for three months and came to market already discounted at $99.
As of today, the Lumia 900 will sell for just $49 with contract from AT&T.
"This move is a normal strategy that is put in place during the lifecycle of most phones," Nokia spokesman Doug Dawson told the WSJ. "It allows a broader consumer base to buy this flagship device at a more accessible price."
AT&T recently announced that the phone would be receiving firmware update 7.5 and a new colorway, pink.
Although unconfirmed, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is expected to unveil a beta version of the upcoming Office 2013 suite.
The company has a news conference planned on July 16th, but industry sources are the ones claiming it will be the new Office.
As anticipated, Office 2013 will have deep integration to the upcoming Windows 8, and the beta will most likely work with the upcoming Windows 8 Release Preview to give users a look into both before buying.
In the past, Microsoft has launched the final product 28 weeks after the public beta. If this is true, the expected release will be January 2013.
Windows 8 and its Metro UI will launch in late October with a range of price tags. Additionally, the company is releasing Windows RT for ARM-based tablets, Windows Phone 8 for smartphones and Windows 8 Pro for Intel/AMD-based tablets.
The XMBC team made a surprise announcement today, letting the world know that Android will be getting its own version of the popular media center.
Reads the blog post:
We have been keeping a little secret.. the kind that is so much fun to share when the time comes.
Today we announce XBMC for Android. Not a remote, not a thin client; the real deal. No root or jailbreak required. XBMC can be launched as an application on your set-top-box, tablet, phone, or wherever else Android may be found.
The feature-set on Android is the same that you have come to expect from XBMC, no different from its cousin on the desktop. Running your favorite media-center software on small, cheap, embedded hardware is about to become a hassle-free reality. And as Android-based set-top-boxes are becoming more and more ubiquitous, it couldn't be a better time. In fact, primary development was done on a Pivos XIOS DS set-top-box. And that is no coincidence, you will notice that Pivos is now listed as an official sponsor (more on that later). XBMC is stable and works great there, as well as on various tablets and phones. Though with Android, as many of you probably know, that is only the beginning of the story.
Major retailers are all showing encouraging signs for launch sales of the Google Nexus 7 tablet.
GameStop, one of the largest gaming retailers in the world, says it has already sold out of its first two allocations of the device. Sam's Club and Staples also listed the tablet as sold out on their respective websites.
Google began shipping all pre-orders this morning.
The Nexus 7, built by Asus, was announced in late June during the company's I/O event.
Google's first tablet has a 7-inch 1280x800 HD (216 ppi) back-lit IPS display, is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC and comes in 8GB or 16GB models. Additionally, the device is the first with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.
Additionally, the tablet has a large 4325 mAh battery for 8 hours of use, has built-in NFC, GPS and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.
Last week, we reported that a recent filing by Sony with the FCC showed off the upcoming launch of a new model(s) of the PS3.
The CECH-4011A, CECH-4011B and CECH-4011C appear to be somewhat slimmer than previous models and will include new internal components.
Today, leaked pictures from the Brazilian Agency of Telecommunications seem to show off the new console.
In the pictures, the PS3 has a ridged texture and a top-loading drive, removing the more expensive slot-loading drive.
The site also states that the three models will have 16GB, 250GB, and 500GB of storage. The 16GB version will compete against the 4GB Xbox 360 and may retail for as cheap as $150.
Last month, Google CEO Larry Page missed several important events, prompting the media to become concerned as to whether there was something seriously wrong with him.
The executive told employees that there is "nothing seriously wrong with me," but an unspecified condition that affects his vocal chords seems to still be affecting him.
Page did arrive for work this week, still not fully recovered, but healthy enough to run a meeting.
Says Eric Schmidt, Google's Executive Chairman: "He's still recovering. Larry is doing much better. He was in the office on Monday. Larry ran the meeting. He is talking, but talking softly."
Page is still expected to miss the company's' earnings and conference call next week.
Thanks to a new report from Kanzatec IP Group, an intellectual property consulting firm, it appears that Apple is involved in a full 60 percent of all "major" mobile patent suits.
Reads the report: "With its growing global market share and huge amount of cash on hand for possible settlements, Apple is becoming a bigger and more attractive target for patent holders. I would speculate that Apple will continue to be at the center of the litigation map of large mobile IT companies for as along as it maintains its dominant place in the market."
Apple is both the defendant and the aggressor in the suits but the majority of the time it has begun them. Over the past years, the company has secured injunctions against Android products from Samsung, HTC and Motorola and has tons of others pending rulings.
Last week, Nvidia shut down its forums while citing a "system issue."
Today, the company has more details, claiming that they were in fact hacked on a large scale.
After an internal investigation, Nvidia says the hacker was able to gain access to usernames, emails, hashed and salted passwords and all "about me" profile info.
All passwords are hashed with a random salt value, making them secure, but the company still recommends that you change your password and is sending a temporary password once the services comes back online.
Nvidia adds (via Verge): "Three Nvidia sites were affected -- Nvidia Forums, which has about 290,000 registered users; Nvidia Developers Zone, with about 100,000; and the Nvidia Research site with about 1,200."
LG has confirmed it will pay $380 million to settle a civil lawsuit over LCD price fixing over the last decades.
The settlement will be the largest of the ten companies who have already settled the same case.
Additionally, Toshiba will pay $21 million and manufacturer AU Optronics will pay $170 million to settle.
The lawsuit had claimed that multiple companies conspired in the 90s and early 2000s to fix LCD prices, leading to much higher costs for end users of PC monitors, laptops, and TVs.
Toshiba would not admit wrongdoing, just saying the company "denies any wrongdoing on its part in the LCD business, and it entered into the settlement to avoid further expense and the distraction of protracted litigation."
Samsung, Sharp and Hitachi each settled earlier this year. Overall, the lawsuit will bring $1.1 million for the defendants, which is all buyers of certain electronics from 1998 to 2006.
Amazing Alex, the latest game from Angry Birds creator Rovio has jumped to the top of iOS game downloads in its first day of availability.
The game, which is of the chain reaction puzzle variety, costs $0.99 for the iPhone and is the top app in 35 countries. The iPad version, at $2.99 and in HD, took the top spot in 50 nations.
On Android, the game, which is available for free with ads, ad-free, and in HD at the same price points as iOS, is creeping into the top 10.
It appears that Apple's promotion of the game in 107 countries has significantly helped Rovio's chances at success.
According to the latest figures by the NPD Group, sales of video game hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. fell again, continuing a multi-year trend.
Overall sales fell 29 percent in June to just $700 million.
The industry has seen a prolonged slump as the market for systems like the Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3 mature and more casual gamers move away from hardcore consoles to stick with Android/iOS and Facebook gaming.
Nintendo, which saw its first loss in years earlier this year, sold 155,000 3DS handhelds and 150,000 DSi/XL consoles, whilst also selling 95,000 Wiis.
"The 3DS is still up nearly 25 percent over where the Nintendo DS was in a similar point in time after release to market, and has topped portable hardware sales for the last 11 months," said Anita Frazier, the lead video game NPD analyst.
Microsoft remained the top console seller, with 257,000 Xbox 360 consoles sold during the month. Sony did not reveal their figure, but it was higher than the Wii and lower than the Xbox.
Thanks to Apple's decision to withdraw from an environmental ratings registry, the city of San Fransisco has said it will no longer buy Mac computers with city funds.
Officials with the San Francisco Department of Environment simply stated that Macs will "no longer qualify" to be purchased with city funds, although waivers can be procured through a long and tedious process.
EPEAT is a non-profit that strives to make it easier to buy environmentally friendly electronics. Most of the major manufacturers like Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and Sony are in the registry.
According to sources, Amazon may have to delay shipments of its upcoming generation of Kindle devices.
Apparently, mass production is being delayed due to issues with the device's front-light design.
If the issues are not resolved, the device will have to be delayed until later in the third quarter, say the same sources.
The front-light design, which was introduced earlier this year by Barnes & Noble with their Nook Simple (with GlowLight), allows for illumination in low-light areas. Amazon will need to match the game-changing feature, and fast.
Reports indicate that Amazon has been forced to stop some parts shipments while the issues are worked out.
Sprint has confirmed that Samsung will remove the universal search function from its latest Galaxy S III device.
The removal will come via the next software update for the device.
Says the carrier: "The new software update does disable the universal search function on Galaxy S III."
Universal search is the ability to use the Google search bar to search for locally-installed apps, contacts, texts along with regular Internet searches.
The Galaxy Nexus will also have the feature removed, thanks to the ongoing Apple, Samsung lawsuit that has stretched across the planet over a range of patents. Both companies are seeking injunctions on the other's products.
Sony Music head Doug Morris has said that YouTube needs to lower the rates it charges VEVO or the companies may be headed for a divorce.
YouTube, owned by Google, charges a significant sum to host the music video site's content.
VEVO is a joint venture between UMG and Sony but they have content from EMI, as well. Warner is the big holdout from the Big 4 labels.
The company sells advertising on official music videos, and pays Google a technology fee from their revenue.
Morris says the rates are too high, however, considering how much traffic VEVO creates for YouTube. Morris also says YouTube rivals are actively looking for a VEVO contract.
Concludes Morris: "Google is charging us a lot of money to put our videos on their platform, and we would like them to reduce their fees. If not, there are at least three other companies who want to take our videos."
Payphone booths, once a staple of life before cell phones, will get a second chance at life in New York.
The city is piloting a program which will install free Wi-Fi hotspots in select booths.
For starters, the free Wi-Fi is headed 10 payphones in three boroughs and will be completely free to the public.
You will just need to agree to the terms and you will be redirected to the city's main tourism website. There are no ads currently but that could change in the future.
According to OM, "the payphones have been outfitted with 'military grade' antennas that provide service up to 300 feet away."
Van Wagner Communications will provide the installation for free, which would cost $2000 otherwise. The company owns most of the payphone booths.
The once-popular social sharing site Digg has sold for just $500,000 this week.
Bought by Betaworks, the company had raised over $45 million since foundation, making it a huge loser for many investors.
A few of the more notable investors were Marc Andreessen, Ron Conway, and venture firm Greylock Partners.
Digg was once the go-to site for user-curated news, but was killed by sites like Reddit and even Twitter. Founder Kevin Rose, which made unpopular decisions at Digg that helped lead to its demise, saw the writing on the wall and left in 2011 to join Google.
Betaworks launched sites like Bit.ly and will use Digg to boost the tech for their latest startup, News.me, which is a daily news aggregator.
Today more than 450,000 login details for Yahoo have been leaked. A hacking collective that calls themselves D33Ds Company has taken responsibility of the breach.
D33Ds Companytold Ars Technica that they used SQL injection technique for one of the Yahoo's subdomains. Their intention was to bring up the security concerns on subdomains.
The hackers posted all of the 453,492 plain text usernames and passwords for all to see. We won't be linking to the leaked list with passwords for obvious security reasons. However, we have gathered the list of affected email addresses and made a search that you can safely use to find out if your account is amongst the leaked. We do NOT store any of the passwords in the searchable database.
DirecTV has dropped over a dozen Viacom cable channels this week thanks to an ongoing dispute over licensing fees.
Popular channels like Nickelodeon, Comedy Central and MTV have gone black while the two companies try to work out an agreement on fees. The dispute is expected to last for more weeks.
DirecTV has 19 million subscribers and is the largest satellite TV provider in the nation.
Says the company of the issue at hand: "Viacom is pushing DirecTV customers to pay more than a 30% increase, which equates to an extra $1 billion." The company adds that there has been declining ratings for many of Viacom's channels over the course of the last 12 months.
The company also notes that it wanted to keep the channels available for viewers but Viacom would not allow it: "Let's be clear, Viacom took these channels from DirecTV viewers."
Of course, Viacom took the other side, claiming the increase is "a fair deal that amounted to an increase of only a couple pennies per day per subscriber."
Viacom's channels currently cost between 16 and 50 cents per subscriber.
According to Asus, the Google Nexus 7 tablet will hit European markets in early September, costing €249 for the 16GB model.
The smaller capacity 8GB model will likely cost €199, although that was not confirmed.
Built by Asus, the device will hit American buyer's hands in the next few days.
Google's first co-branded tablet has a 7-inch 1280x800 HD (216 ppi) back-lit IPS display, is powered by a quad-core Tegra 3 SoC and comes in 8GB or 16GB models. Additionally, the device is the first with Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and its new impressive features.
Additionally, the tablet has a large 4325 mAh battery for 8 hours of use, has built-in NFC, GPS and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.
Following their settlement over the trademark of the iPad name, Apple will begin selling the third-generation tablet on July 20th in China.
Last week, the company announced it would be paying $60 million to settle the year-old dispute.
The new tablet will sell for $500 base and the iPad 2 will fall to $399.
Chinese buyers can purchase the device online and through approved Apple retailers.
The third generation tablet was launched in March in the U.S. and many other nations but had been delayed in the world's most populous nation due to the lawsuit. The tablet brings Retina Display, a faster processor and other new features and upgrades.
Video game industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan says the upcoming Xbox 8 will likely sell at a huge discount since it will come with a two-year contract.
The biggest feature of the new console will be its ability to be "all-encompassing" for media entertainment needs.
Says Pachter (via CVG): "Console will have to be multiple purpose devices. The Xbox 720, this is my prediction, is going to be your television as well [as your game console]. You'll be able to tune into television through it.
You wont need a 'smart TV' when you've got an Xbox 720, it will be your television and your internet. It's going to be open architecture and I think it's real trick will be that one Xbox will be able to display television to as many screens as you have in your possession."
If true, Pachter believes the console will be completely integrated into Windows and Windows Phone, making for a wonderful ecosystem:
"The next Xbox will be Windows for sure, and you'll be able to open up multiple TV channels in different windows and you'll use SmartGlass to shoot off different channels to how ever many screens you want. That is happening, that I'm certain of.
It's official, Windows 8 is coming at the end of October.
According to Microsoft's Tami Reller, the Release to Manufacturing (RTM) will be available the first week of August, with a retail date at the very end of October.
The company is supposedly "on track" to finishing up the final copy of the new operating system by its internal roadmap, in early August.
In May, the company said it expected the RTM by the end of July, so there appears to be a slight delay but nothing too major.
One of the major revisions from the Consumer Preview will be the removal of Aero Glass from the desktop UI.
Nokia's flagship device will not be getting the upgrade to Windows Phone 8 this fall, but AT&T has promised it will be getting the watered down version, firmware 7.8, after 7.5.
AT&T would only say the update was being readied "in the coming weeks," which could be a large range.
Additionally, the carrier is adding a usage tracking counter and "new contact sharing feature."
Finally, the phone will soon be available in pink.
A massive collection of video games has just sold for $1.23 million on eBay.
French video game collector "Andre" (no last name), put the auction up last week and it included just over 7000 video games from classic gaming consoles.
The consoles in question are from Famicon, NEC, Sega and Nintendo and has 22 full sets.
"I perfected some full sets by getting every title of them factory sealed, just for the challenge of it," Andre said in an email. "Some titles are extremely hard to come by brand new when they're 25 years old. Now that the mission is complete, maybe it's time to move on."
Many of the systems include every game ever made for them, and Andre says the rarest game he has is "Go-Net" for Sega Mega Drive. He has one of only two copies on earth, says the collector. Kunio-Kun Dodgeball Gold for the Super Famicom is one of just eight copies in the world, making it extremely rare, as well.
Aluratek and Coby have settled and will pay royalties to Microsoft over Android devices.
The companies are now added to the huge list of companies that pay Microsoft whenever they sell an Android device.
Microsoft proudly boasted that it now collects royalties on 70 percent of all Android phones and tablets.
Coby makes low-end tablets and netbooks (among other items) and Aluratek makes cheap Android e-readers and tablets.
Microsoft has long held that Android and Chrome OS infringe on their patents, and it is becoming clear that whatever patent they have is strong enough that no company is even risking taking it to court.
After once being a rising star, the Firefox browser has quickly lost its luster while losing share quickly to Chrome and to a lesser degree, Safari.
Mozilla dev Jono DiCarlo has admitted this week that the browser's rapid release cycle has killed Firefox's reputation and is leading to its demise.
The company has alienated plugin makers and annoyed users, says DiCarlo, and that has led to many defecting to Chrome: "Ironically, by doing rapid releases poorly, we just made Firefox look like an inferior version of Chrome. And by pushing a never-ending stream of updates on people who didn't want them, we drove a lot of those people to Chrome; exactly what we were trying to prevent."
Until they tried to mimic Chrome, Firefox would make major releases once a year or so, but they have now flown to version 13 from version 4 in less than two years, forcing users to update with intrusive dialog boxes that pop up while you are browsing.
"After years of aspiring to improve software usability, I've come to the extremely humbling realization that the single best thing most companies could do to improve usability is to stop changing the UI so often! Let it remain stable long enough for us to learn it and get good at it. There's no UI better than one you already know, and no UI worse than one you thought you knew but now have to relearn," adds DiCarlo.
According to new figures from Needham & Company, Android continues to dominate China, with Apple still trying to play catch-up despite major growth.
Apple had sales of $7.9 billion in the last quarter from the region, up over 300 percent from the same quarter in 2011. It wasn't enough.
Android still controls a full 70 percent of the smartphone market, with iOS at just 17.3 percent.
Apple has been hurt due to the fact that it is not on the largest carrier in the nation, which also happens to be the largest carrier in the world, China Mobile.
China Mobile has 655 million subscribers and is expected to be a partner when the iPhone 5 is launched in October.
Despite being left for dead by Nokia, the MeeGo operating system has been revived by a group of former employees.
Jolla, the Finnish-based startup, will bring a handset to the market later this year. Chief Operating Officer Marc Dillon worked for Nokia for the last 11 years, most recently as the principal engineer for Meego.
Says the company:
The Jolla team is formed by directors and core professionals from Nokia's MeeGo N9 organisation, together with some of the best minds working on MeeGo in the communities.
Nokia created something wonderful - the world's best smartphone product. It deserves to be continued, and we will do that together with all the bright and gifted people contributing to the MeeGo success story.
The Jolla team will be mainly staffed by MeeGo's former core engineers and directors.
Verizon has confirmed that the Galaxy S III will finally reach the carrier on July 12th, after a slight delay.
The carrier had initially announced the phone would launch online and in retail stores on July 10th.
If you pre-ordered the phone, you will still get it (or already have) but for those that like to actually feel the device in-store, you will have to wait a couple more days.
The phone sells for $199 with two-year contract via the carrier.
RIM has announced a significant milestone for its line of BlackBerry devices.
The company says the BlackBerry App World has reached 3 billion downloads, growing from 2 billion at the beginning of the year.
App World only has 90,000 apps and customers are downloading at a rate of 2.5 million per day.
While the milestone is certainly significant, it pales compared to Apple and Google. The Google Play Store recently saw its 20 billionth download and Apple announced 4 months ago the iOS App Store saw 25 billion downloads. That number is likely over 30 at this point.
Each store also has significantly more apps, with Google having over 600,000 and Apple having over 650,000.
According to sources close to Samsung, the company is planning to release Windows RT tablets in October.
Windows RT is the upcoming version of Windows 8 built for hardware running on ARM chipsets.
The haul is huge for Microsoft, who has struggled to have partners sign on to back Windows RT. Many long-time partners, such as HP, have only announced devices that will use Windows 8 Pro, made for hardware running on Intel chipsets.
If accurate, the Samsung device will use a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, but there is always the chance Samsung will decide to use its own Exynos processors instead.
Microsoft is also in the business, announcing their own Surface tablets, one that runs on W8Pro and one that run on Windows RT.
RIM, struggling to survive in the ever-evolving mobile market, will need to spend a significant sum to make sure their upcoming BlackBerry 10 even makes it into consumer's hands.
The company currently has $2.25 billion in cash, but may need to spend up to $1 billion of that cash to ensure the launch of the operating system, say certain analysts.
Barclays had a brighter outlook, claiming the cash "burn" will only be $677 million, over the next three quarters.
Other analysts believe the company will need to spend up to $400 million for research and development and another $600 million in sales.
The operating system is expected to flop, after over a year of delays.
According to multiple reports, Samsung will release the sequel to their popular Galaxy Note smartphone in September.
The reason for the September release will be to beat the new iPhone to the street, say the sources.
Samsung's original device has a massive 5.3-inch screen, but the new device will go even bigger, up to 5.5-inches. The device will feature ultra-thin "unbreakable plane display (UBP)," which is "a precursor to flexible display technology, and leaves room for a thinner design without sacrificing internal hardware."
If accurate, the device will also come with 2GB RAM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, a 12MP camera and a Samsung quad-core processor.
Finally, the Note 2 will have significantly imporved memo and document editing features including "professional writing features for several specialized fields," says VR.
Gaming developer Square Enix has stated that next-gen consoles will need much more RAM if they want devs to create "better experiences."
Creative Director and Senior Manager Takeshi Nozue says memory size is the biggest challenge for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and he hopes the console makers will improve on this important aspect.
The company showed off some very impressive tech at E3 this year, including the Agni's Philosophy tech demo for its Luminous Engine. The demo ran on an expensive high-end PC with a GTX 680 video card.
Enix believes the PS4 and Xbox 8 will need as much RAM as possible if they want to match the experience of PCs with ever-evolving hardware.
The next-gen consoles are expected to be released for the holidays next year.
According to new reports, Best Buy is looking to convert some of their stores in Apple Store look-a-likes.
Best Buy is looking to change 60 of their 1100 branches in the United States into outlets that look and feel like the popular Apple retail shops.
Dubbed 'Best Buy 2.0,' the new converted stores will have a large help desk similar to the Genius Bar, focus mainly on mobile devices like tablets/smartphones/e-readers and let shoppers pay from multiple locations around the store.
Best Buy's version of the Genius Bar is called 'Solution Central' and will be occupied by Geek Squad. The desk will have chairs for customers, allowing for a better connection between employees and customers.
Finally, the stores will be 20 percent smaller than the average size of a Best Buy location, and will move away from the standard yellow and blue color scheme to a blue and white one.
AT&T has announced that the Samsung Galaxy S III is available via the carrier, after over a week of delays.
Says the company: "Thousands of customers, who just couldn't wait, have already preordered it and have the device in hand. The reviews are fantastic and now it will be available for same day purchase in AT&T company-owned retail stores and online with overnight shipping starting July 6.
We know our customers already love the Galaxy S III and we're thrilled that you will now be able to walk out of the store with the device in hand, ready to experience all the fabulous features and start sharing it with their friends."
The new flagship has seen such high demand that it has been delayed on AT&T, Verizon and Sprint.
Mozilla has confirmed today that it will be halting development on its popular free email client, Thunderbird.
While there won't be any new features, Mozilla says it will continue to support the software indefinitely.
"We have come to the conclusion that continued innovation on Thunderbird is not the best use of our resources given our ambitious organizational goals," Thunderbird Managing Director Jb Piacintino wrote in a letter.
"We're not 'stopping' Thunderbird. But proposing we adapt the Thunderbird release and governance model in a way that allows both ongoing security and stability maintenance, as well as community-driven innovation and development for the project."
Mozilla's Thunderbird staff will be moved to other projects, although many have already been transferred.
Yahoo! and Facebook have issued a joint press statement today noting the resolution of their patent dispute.
Additionally, the companies announced "that they have entered into definitive agreements that launch a new advertising partnership" and "extend and expand distribution arrangements."
The parties will cross-license their patent portfolio and also "work together to bring consumers and advertisers premium media experiences promoted and distributed across both Yahoo! and Facebook."
"We are excited to develop a deeper partnership with Facebook, and I'm grateful to Sheryl and her team for working hard together with our team to develop this dynamic agreement. We are looking forward to building on the success we have already seen to provide innovative new products and experiences for both consumers and sponsors," added Ross Levinsohn, interim CEO of Yahoo!. "Combining the premium content and reach of Yahoo! as the world's leading digital media company with Facebook provides branded advertisers with unmatched opportunity."
The original suit included 12 charges of intellectual property theft of Yahoo patents.
Furby, the creepy children's toy from the late 90s is back, this time with a bigger price tag and new tech.
The 2012 version has backlit LCD eyes with mechanical eyelids and touch sensors, a built-in microphone and more realistic fur and ears.
Hasbro, the toy maker behind the doll, added this: "You never know what Furby might do or say." The toy can now differentiate between the rhythm of different songs, the sound of your voice, and the sounds of another Furby.
Additionally, Furby "can understand high frequency audio codes to 'talk' with your iPad or another Furby," says the NYT.
Thanks to a new filing by Sony with the FCC, it seems there is an even slimmer model of the PS3 coming, one that will likely be the final iteration of the popular console.
The new CECH-4x model will likely also include a number of significant component changes, says sources.
Sony will release the new console for the U.S. and Canada, but there was little other information available.
Rumor has it Sony will reveal the ultra-slim version at next month's Gamescon trade show.
Most believe that the new model will be the final PS3, one that will still be available after next year's expected launch of the PS4 and into the future.
According to Bloomberg, Amazon is developing a smartphone that will look to directly compete with Apple's iPhone.
Foxconn is building the device, and helping with design, say the sources.
Furthermore, Amazon is set to purchase patents that will cover a wide range of wireless tech and help the company defend itself against inevitable lawsuits over infringement.
Amazon is looking to take a piece of the 398.4 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012, and will likely create a mid-range model that can be sold for cheap. Amazon will make most of its money from its digital ecosystem, which includes books, movies, music and cloud storage.
The company is speaking with sellers of patent portfolios as we speak, say the sources.
EA has confirmed that the company is quickly moving towards being all-digital in the future.
Frank Gibeau, EA Games president, noted that their digital arm was the fastest growing and that the transition was inevitable.
Overall, the company made $1.2 billion in revenue last year for its digital downloads, premium subscriptions and mobile apps.
Says Gibeau: "It's in the near future... it's coming. For us, the fastest growing segment of our business is clearly digital and clearly digital services and ultimately Electronic Arts, at some point in the future...we're going to be a 100 percent digital company, period. It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable."
Additionally, it appears the company is looking to cut out retailers in general, a move that would certainly hurt the already struggling industry.
"We have a clear line of sight on it and we're excited about it. Retail is a great channel for us. We have great relationships with our partners there. At the same time, the ultimate relationship is the connection that we have with the gamer.
Analysts have noted today that NetEase is close to signing a deal that would make it the exclusive host of Diablo III in China.
Rival Tencent just hit an exclusive deal with Blizzard for the "Call of Duty" franchise, so NetEase certainly needs a strong deal to counter the move.
"Despite Tencent's recent licensing deal with Activision Blizzard to operate Call of Duty in China, NTES remains well positioned to clinch a deal with ATVI on Diablo III," Oppenheimer analyst Andy Yeung noted. (Via IBD)
Yeung believes the game could launch in the nation in the Q3 this year, or as late as the Q1 2013.
NetEase has been the exclusive license holder for "World of Warcraft" since 2009, but has not made much deals since.
Motorola Mobility has unveiled their first smartphone since being purchased by Google.
The AtrixHD and its specs were accidentally posted by Motorola on their site before being taken down.
In regards to specs, the device has a 4.5-inch display with 720presolution, Android 4.0.4, a dual-core processor at 1.5GHz, 8GB internal storage, 1GB RAM, dual cameras 8MP/1.3MP.
AT&T will be the carrier selling the device, as expected as a sequel to the Atrix 2 launched last year.
On the design side, the Atrix HD has a very slim 0.33-inch profile, a Kevlar-coated backplate and removes physical buttons to instead use software.
The Atrix HD will use a light version of Motorola's own UI, as well.
Silicon Valley veteran Jean-Louis Gassée has made some bold comments relating to Nokia and their struggles.
Gassée says the handset maker should fire current CEO Stephen Elop, as well as the entire Board of Directors.
Adds the tech vet: "I think that Elop will have to go, but I also think that the board also needs to be renewed with people who have an understanding and working knowledge of the mobile industry."
Elop has come under heavy fire multiple time since being named CEO, most notably after his 'burning platform' memo and more recently when he allowed partner Microsoft to make Nokia Windows Phone 7 products obsolete by announcing Windows Phone 8 months ahead of schedule.
"Microsoft can do that with new versions of Windows; IBM used to do that in the olden days. But I'm shocked that the board of Nokia allowed Elop to do that," noted Gassée.
Windows Phone 7 devices, including the well-received Nokia Lumia 900, cannot upgrade to Windows Phone 8, although they will get a downgraded version, called Windows Phone 7.8.
Netflix shares jumped over 13 percent today after an analyst claimed that the company's online audience is now larger than cable and TV networks.
According to the report from analyst Rich Greenfield of BTIG Research, 24 million domestic subscribers are watching an average of 40 hours of programming online per month.
The estimate was based on recent figures revealed by CEO Reed Hastings.
"Among households with Netflix, Netflix would have been the No. 1 watched network overall, including broadcast and cable," Greenfield added.
Hastings also noted that the company is testing separating movies from TV on its website, adding new subcategories making it easier for users to find programs.
Point Grey has released the first 4K camera, dubbed the Flea3, to reach the consumer's "sweet spot" at under $1000.
4K resolution is a digital cinematography standard being used for new releases like 'The Hobbit.' The new camera uses a resolution of 4096 x 2160.
Other manufacturers, like RED and JVC, each sell 4K cameras for film companies, although theirs are priced well into the tens of thousands.
The small Canadian company, Point Grey Research, will try to get such cameras into the hands of consumers, at a price point of just $945. All design, research and manufacturing is done in Vancouver.
Point's Flea3 has built-in USB 3.0 support and can deliver Full HD (1920x1080) resolution in up to 150 frames per second. The camera delivers 21 frames per second using the 4096x2160 (True 4K) pixel resolution. Additionally, "the camera uses Sony Exmor R (IMX121) 8.8 million CMOS sensor known from Cyber-Shot cameras," says VR.
Embattled cyberlocker founder Kim Dotcom has accused American VP Joe Biden of being the man who put the hit out on Megaupload and its related sites.
Thanks to "insider information," Dotcom says Biden ordered attorney Neil MacBride to target his site.
The news would not be all too surprising, given the fact that Biden's best friend is Chris Dodd, the head of the MPAA.
Dotcom is being somewhat secretive with the information, saying some more info will be released when the time is right: "I do know from a credible source that it was Joe Biden, the best friend of former Senator and MPAA boss Chris Dodd, who ordered his former lawyer and now state attorney Neil MacBride to take Mega down.
After we received information from an insider we scanned the White House visitor logs for all meetings of Chris Dodd and studio bosses with Joe Biden and Obama. They are publicly available on the White House website.
It is interesting that a man by the name of Mike Ellis of MPA Asia, an extradition expert and former superintendent of the Hong Kong police, was also at a meeting with Dodd, all studio bosses and Joe Biden. The same Mike Ellis met with the Minister of Justice Simon Power in New Zealand."
FBI deadline may see thousands of Internet users unable to browse web.
These users have been affected by malicious software (dubbed DNSChanger, associated with TDL4 rootkits and a bootkit) that, among other nasty deeds, changes DNS settings on their PCs, Macs and maybe even wireless routers in order to present a spam-filled altered version of the Internet.
The FBI took down the rogue operation in November 2011 (Operation Ghost Click), but after it was found that hundreds of thousands of users were using the rogue DNS settings without knowledge, the decision was made to put clean DNS servers online using the same IP ranges as the malicious servers.
That bought infected users some time to detect and fix the problem. However, even with the support of giants like Google (which alerts some users in search results if their DNS settings appear altered), there are still reportedly hundreds of thousands of users worldwide who rely on the DNS servers - which are due to be disconnected on Monday, July 9.
Although it has been rumored for over a year, it appears Bloomberg feels strongly that an iPad 'Mini' is coming this October to compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire line and Google's new Nexus line.
The new model will allegedly be 7.85-inches, and will not feature a Retina Display like its standard sized third-generation iPad has.
Supposedly, the Mini will "have the same number of pixels as those in the iPad before it was upgraded to the so-called Retina Display earlier this year", meaning a resolution of 1024x768. By having the same resolution as past devices, Apple will avoid any developer fragmentation issues.
The Wall Street Journal earlier claimed that Apple's component suppliers will be in full production on the device starting in September.
Some evidence this week suggests that Microsoft's upcoming console will be called "Xbox 8" instead of Xbox 720 or Xbox Next.
Microsoft secured a handful of domains from a Chinese citizen, after winning their case in the National Arbitration Forum.
A few of the domains include XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org.
Naming the console Xbox 8 would be a smart move for Microsoft, who is set to unveil their Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems later this year, each of which integrate with all Microsoft products.
The console is expected for the holiday season next year.
According to multiple sources, Amazon has ordered 2 million Kindle Fire 2 for August, preparing for the launch of the updated tablet.
The new device will allegedly have a metal frame and a plastic chassis, somewhat similar to older iPhone smartphones like the 3GS.
If accurate, the new update will be a welcome relief to Amazon fans, many of which complained about the bland design of the original Kindle Fire.
Although Amazon has a huge lead in the 7-inch tablet market, it needs to release an updated model to compete with Google's new powerful Nexus 7, which ships in two weeks.
Additionally, Apple is expected to release an iPad-mini at competitive pricing, which could be a death knell for Amazon and Google.
European Parliament does not wait on European Court.
In February, European Commissioner for Trade, Karel De Gucht, announced that ACTA would be referred to the European Court of Justice (ECJ). The court will assess whether ACTA is incompatible with the EU's fundamental rights and freedoms, such as freedom of expression and information or data protection and the right to property in cases of intellectual property.
Today, however, the European Parliament has voted heavily against the treaty. Only 39 MEPs voted in favour of ACTA, while 478 voted against the measure and 165 abstained. This marks the first time that the Parliament has rejected an International trade agreement - a power it only gained in 2009 with the adopting of the Treaty of Lisbon.
Samsung's latest flagship device, the Galaxy S III, is easily the most hyped Android device of the year, and possibly of all-time. The question is whether the phone is worth the hype, and whether it appeals to the broad spectrum of Android fans out there.
While the specs aren't too different from competitors like the HTC One X, what really differentiates the device is its software, which is quite frankly Samsung's own evolution of Android, itself. Built on Android 4.0, the S III adds new features on top of its standard TouchWiz UI (now Nature UX), including S Beam, S Memo, S Planner, S Voice, Smart Stay, Direct Call, and early access to the new Flipboard Android app.
According to the LinkedIn resume of SCEA's ex-R&D director, the PS4 has been in development since 2010.
Attila Vass, who was director from 1998 until earlier this year, has in his resume that that he began developing the graphics library and security on the "Next Generation PlayStation" in August 2010.
The PlayStation Vita is listed separately, so that implies that Vass is speaking about the PS4 and not anything else.
Reads the profile (via Videogamer): "In 1998 I started as the first engineer in the Playstation US R&D. I worked on graphics ( COLLADA, PSGL ) and a lot of network related technologies ( advertising, telemetry, PVRs ) for the Playstation2-x, PSP, Vita and Next Generation platforms. Platform security was occupying most of my time at the last years... "
The PS4 is expected to launch for the holidays next year.
Eastman Kodak has been granted approval in bankruptcy court to sell its large collection of "Digital Capture and Kodak Imaging Systems and Services (KISS)" patent portfolios.
Both Apple and little known company FlashPoint Technology had contested the auction, laying claim to some of the patents in the portfolio. The court did not agree, ruling all of the patents are property of Kodak's estate.
"We are gratified that the Court has enabled us to move ahead with our patent auction in a timely manner and with clarity on ownership for the winning buyer," said Timothy Lynch, Kodak Vice President and Chief Intellectual Property Officer.
All interested buyers can make confidential bids on the portfolio, which could reach a price in the billions.
Microsoft has confirmed that Halo 4's multiplayer mode will require 8GB of free space.
This means, if you are a Halo fan and you own an Xbox 360 Arcade or Core, you will be out of luck unless you purchase a USB memory stick or some other form of flash memory.
Of course, Microsoft recommends the Xbox 360 hard drive for the "optimal experience." The 8GB Microsoft flash drive costs a massive $40 and the 16GB drive costs $60. A 320GB Microsoft hard drive costs $130.
When asked for comment, the company says: "Halo 4 will push the limits of the Xbox 360 in terms of visual and audio fidelity, and will be delivering significant post-launch content." Apparently, that limit pushing requires a lot of space.
According to a leaked roadmap, RIM has 5 devices planned for 2013.
Each of the new devices will run on RIM's BlackBerry 10 operating system, which was set for release late last year but instead has been delayed until 2013.
The company's fortunes and hope lie in the arms of BB10, which is expected to bring RIM to at least on par with Windows Phone in terms of features. It is not expected to be able to touch iOS or Android in capabilities.
For the Q1, two BB10 smartphones are on the roadmap, "London" and "Nevada," the first of which will be touchscreen while the latter has a full keyboard.
RIM's successor to the failed Playbook tablet, codename "Blackforest," will hit in the Q3.
Verizon Wireless will no longer subsidize prices on tablets they sell.
The move came alongside Verizon's "Share Everything" family plans, but was more subtle.
Thanks to the end of subsidies, tablets will cost full price and not require a dedicated data line. The tablets will now sell for prices on par with the iPad, which was never subsidized and starts at $500 for the latest generation.
Share Everything lets families on Verizon share a "bucket" of data, minutes, texts instead of requiring everyone to have their own tier of data, whether or not they use all of it or even get close.
T-Mobile, Sprint and AT&T still offer subsidized tablets, but also the option to buy full price with no contract.
It may have taken over 8 months, but it appears that Android 4.x has reached a new, significant milestone, 10 percent device share.
Google gets the numbers from the amount of devices that access the Google Play Store so there is of course some small margin for error there, but the number is significant as Google hopes to move Android away from crippling fragmentation.
At 10.9 percent, the figure is double last month's figure, and can almost certainly be attributed to the Galaxy S III and HTC One X, popular devices released in the time frame.
Gingerbread (2.3) fell from 65 percent to 64 percent, the first time the OS version has ever seen a drop.
2.2 and lower still accounted for 22 percent despite drops in support.
Microsoft aims to make transition to Windows 8 as painless as possible.
If you are running Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, you will qualify to download an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $39.99. The promo will start when Windows 8 is launched this fall, and will end January 31, 2013. Additionally, the add features option in Windows 8 will allow upgraders to download Windows Media Center for free.
If you would prefer to buy an upgrade from a retail store, it will cost $69.99 during the promotion.
VLC for Android was announced as being in development last year, and welcomed by every user of VLC on another platform. VLC is a commendable project; a free, open source media playing, streaming and capturing solution that is used by millions of Windows, Mac, Linux and other users.
The first beta of VLC on the Android platform has been added to the Google Play market, giving a taste of what to expect over the coming months. The app is, most definitely, far from being anything considered "final" - a fact that the VideoLAN project alludes to in its warning on the app description:
"It might kill your kitten, destroy your house and start the mayan apocalypse. Use it at your own risk. Have Fun! :)".
Sony, in an effort to boost its cloud offerings, has acquired streaming game company Gaikai.
The final price is $380 million for the four year old company.
Gaikai offers a full on-demand library of video games to be streamed online or to certain devices. For this reason, it has been dubbed the "Netflix for gaming."
It is unclear how Sony will integrate the company into its PSN service, but it will most likely be done by the end of the year, giving PS3 and PS Vita users access.
The expected service will include casual and social games as well as "immersive core games with rich graphics."
After almost a year of testing and waiting for approval, VLC for Android has been released for some in beta.
VideoLAN, maker of the desktop and mobile versions of the app, says the new beta is nowhere near stable, but it should play video content without too many issues.
For now, the app is not available for American users, and is only supported on devices with "ARMv7 processor that supports the NEON engine." This happens to be most current Android phones, but VideoLAN will release separate apps to support a wider range of devices in the future.
The basic widget (for those who can download it), will let you play, pause and skip tracks.
If you want to try it in the U.S., here is the download: VideoLAN Nightlies
After months of threats, Dish Network has dropped all AMC channels from its network.
The satellite company says the channels will be replaced by HDNet Movies, Style and HDNet.
AMC consists of AMC, WE TV and IFC Films.
Saturday was the last day for the existing contract between the companies, and Dish says they did not renew due to the "high costs compared to their relatively low viewership."
AMC, for its part, claims the move is retaliation for the "entirely separate" billion dollar court case between Voom HD (now AMC) and Echostar (now Dish) that ended with Echostar losing. The cable network says their hit show "The Walking Dead" was the top scripted show available via Dish for the month of May.
Mozilla has announced that its upcoming mobile operating system will be simply called "Firefox OS" and launch in Brazil in 2013.
After the initial release, the U.S. will see devices running the OS, thanks to a partnership with Sprint.
Firefox OS is HTML5-based and will be a completely open mobile ecosystem, says the company:
"The introduction of the open mobile OS continues the Mozilla mission to promote openness, innovation and opportunity on the Web for users and developers. As billions of users are expected to come online for the first time in the coming years, it is important to deliver a compelling smartphone experience that anyone can use."
Handset makers TCL and ZTE will build the devices which will run on Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.
Mozilla announced more carrier support, as well, including Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Telecom Italia, Telefonica and Telenor.
Apple has agreed to pay Shenzhen Proview Technology $60 million to end a dispute over the ownership of the name "iPad."
The dispute, had it gone to a jury, could have possibly led to the tablet being blocked from sale in China, a key market for Apple.
Apple has long claimed they bought the global rights to the name "iPad" from Shenzhen in 2009 but Chinese authorities say the rights were never officially transferred over.
Last year, a Chinese court ruled that Shenzhen still owned the name, and they immediately asked Chinese authorities to seize iPads in the nation.
Apple had purchased the name in various regions from an affiliate of Shenzhen, which trademarked the name in 2001, for the measly sum of $55,000. The original court ruling said Proview was not bound by the sale.
How do you keep your (or a family member's) Windows PC/Laptop secure? Most of the time, the first answer to that question is to ensure that all security updates have been installed. Windows downloads updates automatically in the background for the operating system, but many users neglect ensuring that third-party software is updated, which can present a big risk to security and privacy.
There are many ways to check if third-party software is updated and safe. One such solution is an application called Secunia PSI (Personal Software Inspector). If you have used this application before, then you know how useful it can be. If not, you should try it on your system or a system you are cleaning/repairing.
Amazon will expand their popular digital ecosystem to Brazil in the fourth quarter, reports Reuters.
The company itself was named after Brazil's longest river, and it appears they are finally trying to get a piece of one of the world's fastest growing online retail markets.
Amazon will begin selling the Kindle family of e-readers in the nation, while adding a Portuguese-language catalogue of digital books.
By going all-digital, Amazon can avoid Brazil's complex (and costly) tax system, as well as any downturns in consumer demand.
"Brazil would be the first country Amazon enters only with digital (products) and that is because of the logistic and tax difficulties," says the source. "Having a full retail operation? That's the goal."
The Amazon-backed streaming service in Europe has signed a new content deal with Miramax to bring over popular titles like "There Will be Blood" and the "Aviator."
