Major carrier rivals AT&T and T-Mobile USA have agreed to share their networks to customers of the other company in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, namely in New York and New Jersey.
Millions of customers were affected by power outages and flooding after the two day hurricane rolled through the East Coast.
The network roaming agreement calls for no fees or charges to their current rate plans if they roam.
"AT&T and T-Mobile customers will be able to place calls just as they normally would, but their calls will be carried by whichever network is most operational in their area," the press release reads. "This will be seamless for AT&T and T-Mobile customers with no change to their current rate plans or service agreements even if the phone indicates the device is attached to the other carrier's network."
AT&T and T-Mobile use the same GSM and UMTS standards, making an agreement possible. Sprint and Verizon use different CDMA standards.
Microsoft has unveiled that the popular Halo franchise has sold 46 million units since original launch in 2001.
The franchise has generated $3 billion in revenue, in total, with most of the games bringing in over $100 million in revenue on day one.
More recently, Halo: Reach brought in $200 million in revenue in 24 hours across the U.S. and Europe.
"Halo is a $3 billion blockbuster franchise which has shaped entertainment history and defined a generation of gamers," added Microsoft's Chris Lewis (via GI.biz).
To boost awareness of the upcoming Halo 4 (not that it needs any), Lewis says: "From the world's first ever red-carpet premieres for a video game to sending a man strapped to a jet-pack 50-foot above London's iconic skyline, Halo launches have continually broken the mould and we are back with a colossal bang for Halo 4, transforming a country on the biggest scale imaginable".
Originally slated for release in October, Apple's upcoming iTunes 11 release will not be made available until late into November, according to a CNET report.
"The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET.
"We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November."
Apple's new iTunes 11 update takes a cue from iOS 6, with a focus on album covers that can expand out to show you songs -- both in your library, and other tracks from Apple's iTunes Music Store.
Megaupload user asks court to return property, query government employees.
Kyle Goodwin was a Megaupload customer. Less than a year ago, when Megaupload was subject to a raid, Kyle lost access to his own files, which still have not been released by U.S. law enforcement agencies as the case against Megaupload proceeds.
The court overseeing the Megaupload case is contemplating holding a hearing to get to the bottom of what really happened when the government shut down Megaupload, seized its assets, and deprived millions of customers of their property. Goodwin filed a brief outlining what that hearing should cover, and how, so that the court can get what it needs to help ensure Megaupload's customers finally get their stuff back.
The EFF hopes the court will "hear from government employees, including members of the FBI, who were involved in the January searches and seizures that left Mr. Goodwin without his data, and from an independent expert who can discuss what the government could have done to avoid this scenario and what it can do now to make up for the damage it caused."
Acer has decided to delay the launch of tablets that run Microsoft's Windows RT operating system after Microsoft opted to release the Surface with Windows RT tablet last Friday.
Acer, an important partner for Microsoft, will wait to see and assess the performance of the Surface with Windows RT tablet before committing its own devices to the platform.
"Originally we had a very aggressive plan to come out very early next year but because of Surface, our R&D development doesn't stop, but we are much more cautious," Acer President Jim Wongtold Reuters on Tuesday.
"Originally our plan was Q1, but now I don't think it will be earlier than Q2."
Acer has been a vocal critic of Microsoft's Surface tablet for some time. According to Wong, Lenovo and Asustek had plans to introduce Windows RT tablets at around $599, but Microsoft surprised everyone with the $499 Surface tablet (though that would not include the keyboard/cover).
The Cambridge-based chip designer has shown is 64-bit architecture that will power the next generation (and beyond) of smartphones and tablets, while also providing Intel Corporation with competition in the servers market.
The British company's designs are at the core of Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, as well as rivals in the Android space like Samsung's Galaxy S III, thanks to their combination of computational ability and low-power consumption. Now ARM has shown its first blueprints for 64-bit processors to power the next generation of devices.
"When we are looking at 'superphones' and tablets, the consumer is having to deal with much more data, particularly if they start to originate material on these devices," ARM's processor division marketing VP Noel Hurley, said.
On Monday, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced it would make ARM-based processors for servers, as well as continuing to make chips based on x86 architecture, putting heat on Intel, which has dominated the server space.
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, is warning UK consumers about a mobile scam in the region. The scam involves text massages that impersonate Ofcom and seduce a consumer into clicking a particular link.
"This is a scam. If you receive the text message then do not click on the website," Ofcom was warned UK mobile users.
The text message at hand claims to be from the "Ofcom Communications Team", and it comes with a mobile phone number of the sender in six digits. You can report the scam to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or via the website http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
If you are concerned that you may have submitted your personal details then contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113, or via the website http://www.ico.gov.uk/
As far as we know, hell is not actually freezing over, but the BBC iPlayerIS headed to compatible Sky HD boxes. Users with a compatible set-top box, and broadband connection will be able to access hundreds of hours of BBC programmes on demand, as BBC iPlayer rolls out on Sky+.
Sky customers will be able to enjoy programmes from the full range of BBC TV channels. They can choose to browse by day or from a range of categories, including genres such as comedy, drama, food or history. Other options available include flicking through a selection of most popular on demand BBC shows from the last seven days.
Programmes will be downloaded directly their Sky+ planner and ready to watch when the customer feels up to it.
BBC iPlayer joins catch-up TV services from Sky, ITV and Five, all located within a dedicated Catch Up section within the On Demand section of Sky. Sky customers will very soon be able to enjoy the full line-up of free-to-air terrestrial catch-up TV services, delivered straight into their living room.
Chinese mobile users were shocked (or thrilled) that the iPhone's Siri mobile assistant was something of a pimp. Siri would direct users to brothels or other erotic services - if you asked the right questions - despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in China.
A Mandarin version of Siri was launched just this summer. The problem is, Siri seems to have kept her ear to the ground in China. Apparently, she could direct an inquisitive Chinese user to a brothel or escort service on demand.
A public outcry was probably inevitable, and now it seems that Apple has cleansed Siri of her dark ways in China. She no longer seems to provide usable information when asked for directions to sex services, and so forth, in the world's largest mobile phone market.
Just last year, Apple had to deny that Siri has an anti-abortion (or pro-life?) bias because the service could not point out an abortion clinic, but would offer counselling and other services instead. Siri at one point also claimed that the best smartphone ever was the Nokia Lumia 900.
Apple. apparently. has no problem changing how Siri behaves if her behaviour threatens the bottom line.
The new service from EE (formerly Everything, Everywhere) is available in London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton. The carrier says Belfast, Derby, Hull, Newcastle and Nottingham will be active by year's end.
The service promises between 8Mbps and 12Mbps. Other mobile operators in the United Kingdom will be unable to offer 4G service until they acquire 4G spectrum next year.
EE's service is the first 4G service in the UK, but the price might put off most consumers. The entry level plan costs £36 per month, and only includes 500MB of data. To put that into perspective, a programme on the BBC iPlayer could use up to as much as 225MB of data, almost half the mostly allowance.
It is a legitimate question to ask wh at is the point of a high-speed 4G service when the data usage limitations are just unrealistic?
EE got a jump on the competition when it was allowed by the UK regulator Ofcom to use its existing spectrum. Rival carriers in the UK have to bid on 4G spectrum next year.
Just a couple of weeks before launch, Nintendo has revealed the digital benefits of purchasing a Wii U Deluxe set.
The set, which costs $50 more than the Basic model, comes with a number of hardware upgrades and accesries, which have long been known. The system itself is in the black colorway, there is 32GB of internal memory (compared to 8GB for the basic), the console comes with NintendoLand, and Nintendo is including a charging cradle and stand for the tablet controller, as well as a stand for the system itself.
Alongside those upgrades, if you opt for the Deluxe set, you get digital promotions, as well. Gamers will earn 10 percent of their purchase back in points at the Nintendo eShop, for everything they purchase. For every 500 points, you receive $5 in eShop money to spend as you please, making it a pretty solid deal if you were planning to buy some titles that cost $59.99 right off the bat.
The U.S. DOE has activated the world's most powerful supercomputer, dubbed the 'Titan.'
Speaking from their Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) facility, the agency said the supercomputer was live, with the ability to calculate at 20 petaflops (FLOPS stands for "Floating Point operations per Second", so 20 PFLOP/s == 20 quadrillion floating point operations per second, or 20,000,000,000,000,000 floating point operations per second).
Titan is 10 times more powerful than the ORNL's current 'Jaguar' machine, which is the sixth fastest machine in the world after long being the top dog.
The ORNL's press release says the computer is powered by the Cray XK7 system:
"The Cray XK7 system contains 18,688 nodes, with each holding a 16-core AMD Opteron 6274 processor and an NVIDIA Tesla K20 graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerator. Titan also has more than 700 terabytes of memory. The combination of central processing units, the traditional foundation of high-performance computers, and more recent GPUs will allow Titan to occupy the same space as its Jaguar predecessor while using only marginally more electricity."
Yesterday we reported that Apple was in the midst of a major management overhaul, with long-time executive and iOS boss Scott Forstall being let go.
Additionally, new retail boss John Browett was let go, as well. Supposedly, Forstall was fired because he would not sign off on the company's apology over the buggy iOS 6 Maps.
According to multiple reports, Apple's employees are actually very happy with the recent turn of events. Said one employee: "This was better than the Giants winning the World Series. People are really excited."
Read a second report: "Forstall's firing was met with a sense of quiet jubilation, especially among people who worked in the engineering groups. Or as one my sources quipped: there are a lot of people going out for celebratory drinks, even if there is a little bit of doubt about their roles in the future."
Obviously, iOS remains a massive part of the Apple bottom line, with iPads and iPhones accounting for at least 70 percent of all revenue on a quarterly basis.
According to a lead voice actor, Infinity Ward's next game will be "Modern Warfare 4," as expected.
Bill Murray (not that Bill Murray), is the voice actor for Captain Price, the protagonist of the series. In an interview with ThisIsXbox, Murray says he has already begun work on the next game, with a meeting next week to speak with the developer about the title.
The title will start where the last game ended: "Yeah on Monday I am off to meet Infinity Ward about the next game, Modern Warfare 4, I'm doing work on the sequel to Modern Warfare 3, it carries straight on and I only ever appear in the Modern Warfare games..."
Infinity is releasing COD Black Ops 2 in the coming weeks, and MW4 likely to see release for the holidays of next year.
As of this morning, Apple's initial supply of new fourth-generation iPads have sold out, with shipping times being pushed to one week after release.
The tablet is set for release on Friday, as is the new iPad mini, which also sold out in record pace and now has a shipping time of 3 weeks.
Apple unveiled the device last week, and the tablet sells for $499 base, the same price as the third generation iPad which was released in March.
The new tablet brings the new A6X processor, which clocks in at 1.4GHz and paired with 1GB RAM promises double the performance of the third-generation device.
In their ongoing efforts to expand the Windows Store app ecosystem, the Redmond giant has unveiled new apps from major developers.
PayPal, the online payment system, will be supplying an API for developers who want to use the services within their own Windows Store apps.
Dropbox, the extremely popular cloud syncing service, is "coming soon," says Microsoft, although there was little else revealed.
Just like it does for other platforms, the new ESPN app will aggregate scores and videos, with pin support as a live tile for the new Windows 8 start screen.
The reported deal is worth $4.05 billion in stock and cash, which is good news for George Lucas, who is the sole owner of the studio.
It was also announced that Star Wars: Episode 7 would be targeted for release in 2015. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9.
"Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
"This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value."
The $4.05 billion valuation is based on the terms of the agreement, and the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm.
The Microsoft chief had previously told of strong demand for Windows 8 (stronger than Windows 7 saw, apparently) since the new Windows revision was released to the public on Friday.
Today, Ballmer revealed that the company has sold four million upgrades for Windows 8, which suggests that there is indeed strong consumer demand for the product, despite some other reports suggesting a more muted reaction to Microsoft's flagship OS.
Ballmer told a meeting of software developers at the company's HQ that "hundreds of millions" of Windows systems will be sold in the next year, and that strong interest has been shown by business users.
Rockstar Games confirms rumors of Spring 2013 launch.
Earlier today, UK retailer GAME had let the cat out of the bag on the launch window for Rockstar Games' hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V. A tweet from one of its branches urged consumers to come on down and pre-order the game now, while also showing a picture of some promotional material.
News on Grand Theft Auto V was expected in November anyway, but with two leaks of this kind in the past three days, Rockstar may have been forced to officially confirm the release window today.
"Today, we're proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto V is expected to launch worldwide spring 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3," Rockstar Games confirmed.
"Starting next week November 5, 2012, Grand Theft Auto V will become available for pre-order everywhere and fans can expect a host of new information to become available in November."
Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V takes place in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California in the largest and most thriving game-world we have ever created set in the sprawling city of Los Santos and for miles beyond – from the tops of the mountains to the depths of the ocean.
Is Nokia patent limiting multiple users to tablets?
TechCrunch has an interesting write-up about the limitation on the use of multiple accounts with Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It muses that a patent held by Nokia may have forced the feature to be limited to tablets, and not become available for smartphones.
The "Multi-user mobile telephone" patent describes a mobile device "designed to be used by several different end-users at different times."
A first end-user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that first end-user and a subsequent end-user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that subsequent end-user; each end-user has only to respond to prompts displayed on a screen in order to alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that end-user.
The patent is attributed to inventor Tim Ocock, who is an ex-Symbian employee.
Of course, we all view our smartphones as our personal devices, we generally don't share them. However, Nokia's patent is likely aimed at emerging markets where smartphones are much more expensive for consumers, and a family, for example, could share the same phone.
"The iPad mini is the future.... it's the future until May at least... probably more like the end of May.... or more than likely June."
A spoof iPad mini commercial is becoming something of a sensation. The brilliant mimic of Apple's ads pokes fun at its latest products, the iPad mini (which is DEFINITELY not the iPod touch!) and the fourth generation iPad (which now makes the third generation iPad the "Old new iPad")
The video also pokes fun at Apple's obsession with making products thinner.
The spoof ad also comes as another shot at Apple from U.S. comedian Conan O Brien received some attention. "You're just trying to fill the empty void in your sad life,"Conan asserted to people who will buy everything from Apple's stores on release day.
Enough reading, watch the wonderful "banned" iPad mini commercial..
The search giant announced the latest update for Chrome Remote Desktop, officially taking it out of beta. It also detailed a couple of new features for the app.
"From adjusting printer settings on your mom's computer to finding a lost file on your dad's laptop, Chrome Remote Desktop has made you the family hero by helping you remotely access other computers -- including your own -- via Chrome," Google said.
Chrome Remote Desktop's new features include the addition of a real time audio feed on Windows, and you can now also copy and paste between the local and remote machine.
The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) has approved a wireless power specification that will allow consumers to charge their mobile devices on a variety of compatible surfaces. The specification is based on a concept of spatial freedom, extending wireless power applications beyond the accessory or add-on market to fully integrated solutions in the device as well as surfaces such as furniture and automobiles.
"The Alliance for Wireless Power and its members have been focused on creating a more flexible wireless power specification that sets the stage for formal standardization in the future," said Dr. Kamil A. Grajski, president of the A4WP.
"Approval of the A4WP wireless power specification establishes a true path forward for the commercialization of wireless charging that will satisfy the needs of most consumers. A4WP and its members will now set their sights on building compliant wireless applications that can be integrated by key industries including automotive, furniture and retail."
The specification brings some benefits to the wireless charging ecosystem...
For consumers, the A4WP specification supports simultaneous charging of multiple devices with various power requirements such as handsets, Bluetooth headsets, MP3 players, GPS devices and mobile tablets
For industrial designers, the A4WP specification leverages a loosely coupled magnetic resonance technology and provides more flexibility for charging applications to be installed into automobiles, furniture and other surfaces
For the consumer electronics industry, the A4WP specification takes advantage of broadly adopted wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth 4.0, which will allow manufacturers to minimize hardware requirements
A4WP members will meet October 30 and 31 in Dallas to discuss strategies to bring wireless charging technology to mobile consumers and the mass consumer electronics marketplace.
BusinessWeek is reporting that Google confirmed there are now 700,000 applications available for Android devices, though Google doesn't seem to have officially announced the figure at this time.
Reaching the 700,000 milestone means that Android has caught up to the app tally for iOS devices, which is an area that Apple has held an edge for some time. Reports recently have shown that there is more investment going into Android app development, while investment in iOS apps is stagnating.
Apple had also announced last week that 700,000 apps were now available from the App Store, during the iPad mini launch event.
The rivalry between Google and Apple was on display in the past week, with court judgements, new tablets and so forth, and then Microsoft also jumped into the ring with the Windows 8 launch on Friday, and Windows Phone 8 yesterday.
ISP Elisa took on the copyright lobby in Finland, seeking to overturn a ban on the Pirate Bay websites in the country, but the Supreme Court decided today that the ban on the notorious BitTorrent websites should stay in place.
Elisa is one of only a few ISPs in Europe who have decided to fight orders to ban the website. In Ireland, for example, the largest ISP Eircom does ban the Pirate Bay, but UPC in the country went to court to resist the order, and won.
In the UK, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is now seeking a ban on three more sites; Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents. It hopes that bans on sites that offer pirate content (or links to it) can be sped up compared to the many months it took to force ISPs to block the Pirate Bay.
Digital rights and advocacy groups are crying foul on the growing trend in Europe.
"Web blocking does not seem to be reducing infringement but is aligning copyright industries with a policy of censorship. It is encouraging further calls of censorship and financing enhanced censorship technologies. Web censorship needs to be resisted and rolled back," said Jim Killock, chairman of the Open Rights Group.
Only a few short days ago, a Polish blog posted images that suggested Rockstar Games' hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V will launch in 2013. While that report slated it for Autumn, UK retailer GAME may have leaked a Spring 2013 release window on Twitter.
A tweet from a Brighton branch containing an image of Grand Theft Auto V posters signal a "Spring 2013" release window for the game. While the tweet told consumers to "Pre-order now!!!!!!!," it has since disappeared from the retailers' Twitter feed.
Here is the picture tweeted by the GAME retailer (pic source: IGN)
The Finnish handset maker will deliver some of its new line of Lumia smartphones, starting in European markets, this week. A lot of faith is being put into the new handsets to help Nokia turn around a catastrophic decline in the market for smartphones, and change the company's fortunes for the positive again.
Rovio has released the first gameplay video for the upcoming Angry Birds: Star Wars edition.
In the demo, Rovio shows Luke and Leia in action, using the "traditional" Angry Birds physics but with some new special moves. For example, Luke can use a lightsaber attack post-launch and Leia can use a laser shot.
Additionally, the pigs have gotten some weapons, as well, with their areas being able to shoot projectiles.
Of course, besides the characters, there are popular Star Wars locations, including Hoth and Tatooine.
The game will be available for iOS, Android, Mac and PC on November 8th.
It is the first SSD shipped by Intel that uses an using industry leading 20-nanometer (nm) NAND flash memory process. The 6Gb/s SATA SSD 335 series comes in a 240 gigabyte (GB) capacity that performs 500 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) sequential reads and 450 MB/s sequential writes to provide users a blend of cutting-edge performance and Intel quality.
The 20nm NAND flash memory process was jointly developed by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT). It uses a new cell structure that enables more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures. The 20nm 64Gb NAND uses a planar cell structure -- the first in the industry -- to overcome the inherent difficulties that accompany advanced process technology, enabling performance and reliability on par with the previous 25nm generation.
"The Intel SSD 335 uses Hi-K/metal gate planar cell technology, which overcomes NAND process scaling constraints to deliver the smallest-area NAND cell and die in the industry," said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Solutions Group.
"By pushing technology constraints and using process innovation, Intel can continue to progress SSD technology and pass along savings to our customers."
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) has announced that the number of A/V produces getting DLNA certification has doubled since 2010. DLNA has Certified more than 500 AV systems to date, providing consumers with the ability to enjoy music and video content on a range of consumer electronics products throughout the digital home.
DLNA certified devices can be a digital media player or renderer, allowing consumers to control their integrated home theater systems by easily browsing, playing and controlling video or music from DLNA Certified products such as Blu-ray players, laptops, mobile phones, tablets and televisions.
With nearly 20,000 DLNA Certified device models, consumers can enjoy their music and video content on AV systems from an array of DLNA Certified products.
DLNA equipment is made by Harman International, Huawei, LG, ONKYO, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha and others.
"AV devices have become a vital component of today's connected home," said Nidhish Parikh, chairman and president of DLNA.
"Consumers are demanding more from their digital content and are looking for ways to access media from multiple devices on their home network. DLNA Certified AV systems are able to communicate with other consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, televisions and NAS devices, effectively expanding the boundaries of the digital home through easy interoperability."
Microsoft has released a new Windows Phone App in the Windows Store. The app replaces the Zune client, which was used to manage content on Windows Phone devices. Now all of your syncing needs and so forth can be carried out using the new app instead - if you are on Windows 8 of course.
App features...
Get your music, photos, and videos from your computer to your phone (and vice versa).
Quickly share things from your phone with Windows 8 apps (like Photos, or Search). You don't even have to open the Windows Phone app to move things around.
Automatically save photos and videos you take with your phone to your PC.
See at a glance how much space you're using for each type of content, so it's easy to make sure you never run out of room on your phone.
Get to WindowsPhone.com to download apps, learn more about your phone, or find it if it's lost.
The Windows Phone App is available from the Windows Store.
Religion inspired defacing hits French Euromillions website.
The website was defaced on Sunday and replaced with a passage from the Koran. The passage, which condemns gambling, was shown in both French and Arabic. Koranic verses call games of chance and alcohol consumption works of the devil, that are intended to steer people away from God.
The Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) company, responsible for the Euromillion lottery in France, said other gamers were unaffected by the hack, and that no important data was compromised.
The Euromillions lottery is played in nine European countries, which jackpots that have closed in on €200 million.
FDJ said on Monday it was in the process of putting the website back online.
Up to 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers may have been exposed to hackers in a security breach involving computers at the Department of Revenue in South Carolina.
Predictably, this revelation has led to considerable unease with taxpayers who fear their information may have been stolen, with some angry that state officials may have taken too long to disclose the major security breach. State police have begun investigating the incident, which occurred earlier this month.
"This wasn't an issue where anyone in state government could have done something to avoid it," South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said.
"This is a situation where a sophisticated, intelligent individual got into a database and is unbelievably creative in how he did it, and now we're having to deal with it."
The Republican governor, who claimed she wanted the hacker "slammed against the wall," announced ways in which concerned citizens in South Carolina could find out if their information was involved.
State officials have provided a toll=free number for taxpayers to call to obtain a year of credit and identity theft protection from Experian, paid with state funds. Some callers however claimed that they received busy signals, recordings or no answer when they tried to get through.
Aereo is a start-up service in the New York area that sends broadcast TV content to Internet-enabled devices like smartphones and tablets. Each subscriber of Aereo actually has control of a dime-sized antenna on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Aereo argues that its service is entirely legal since any U.S. citizen is entitled to use an antenna to receive broadcast TV signals.
Of course, Broadcast and TV networks certainly do not agree. Aereo was sued for copyright infringement by ABC, Fox, Univision, Disney, CBS, NBC, and PBS in March this year for not paying license fees.
The trial court declined to shut down Aereo during the lawsuit, and the broadcasters appealed. The appeals court must now decide whether Aereo can stay operating while the case proceeds. The EFF, along with Public Knowledge and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), filed a "friend of the court" brief, asking the court to side with Aereo.
"Just because Aereo's system sends TV signals to customers doesn't mean that Aereo needs permission from the broadcasters," said EFF Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz.
"Personal TV transmissions don't violate copyright – it's a private use that copyright law doesn't reach. This is just a craven attempt by TV executives to profit from technology that they didn't think of first."
In December, a UN agency meeting will take place in Dubai, and the control of the Internet will be on the agenda. China, Russia and other nations have backed a move to take measures that effectively place the Internet under the authority of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - a U.N. agency that has acted as a standards setting body.
It is likely this proposal will be opposed by major Western nations. U.S. officials in particular argue that placing the Internet under UN control could undermine the freewheeling nature of cyberspace, which promotes open commerce and free expression. It could also, they argue, enable some states to crack down on dissidents and political opponents.
"The most likely outcome is a tie, and if that happens there won't be any dramatic changes, although that could change if the developing countries make a big push," said James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"But there is a lot of discontent with how the Internet is governed and the US will have to deal with that at some point."
Valve is seeking to extend the Steam gaming platform to Linux operating systems, and is looking for experienced Linux users to beta test the software. The move comes after Microsoft launched Windows 8 - an operating system criticized by a co-founder of Valve.
The company had previously outlined a Vision to build a Steam client for Ubuntu 12.04 that would function just as well as the Windows client.
Valve co-founder Gabe Newell had publicly criticized Microsoft's direction with Windows 8, describing it in July as a "catastrophe" for people working in the PC space. Speculation following his comments surround fears that the new OS could lead to content update filtering by Microsoft, potentially bottlenecking Steam updates.
Minecraft creator Markus Persson also criticized Windows 8, going as far as to claim the game wouldn't be ported to Windows 8.
Apple's iPad Mini shipping times have jumped to two weeks now as pre-orders from the online store have sold out.
The white 16GB Wi-Fi version sold out within 20 minutes when it went on sale on Friday at 3 AM but the black version remained available for a few more days.
Quick sales have been a constant with the iPad, but it is unclear how many units Apple made available.
The iPad Mini costs $329, and is the smallest tablet Apple has made available. It is 7.2 mm thin and weighs 0.68lbs, 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, featuring a 7.9-inch multi-touch display. It features FaceTime HD and iSight cameras. It's battery life matches that of its bigger brother, at 10 hours. The iPad mini is powered by an A5 chip, the same dual-core chip powering the third-gen iPad.
With Hurricane Sandy picking up strength as it reaches the East Coast, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has tweeted some advice to those in affected areas.
The agency says cell networks will likely be congested over the next day or two, and texting or using social networks will help alleviate such strain on the networks.
So far, over 700,000 people on the East Coast have lost power, and for many cell use is all they have left.
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said this week that he is very confident about Wii U launch sales.
The exec says there were strong pre-order figures for the console, in all regions where it is launching. The console will hit North America, Europe and Australia next month and Japan in December.
"If you look at how preorders are doing at the moment, it is not an exaggeration to say that Wii U is sure to sell well in this holiday season," noted Iwata.
Most retailers sold out of both Wii U bundles, and Iwata noted last week there were 250,000 people on a waiting list. By comparison, the best selling console in the U.S. currently, the Xbox 360, sold about 275,000 consoles last month.
Iwata also noted that some launch games have been pushed back to 2013 to keep gamers interested: "Nintendo tends to release too many titles at the launch of a hardware system and as a result suffers a drop in new games for quite some time after launch, and for the Wii U launch, we are being very careful not to let it happen. Fortunately, third-party publishers overseas are launching many titles for us this time, and we were able to push back the release of some of the titles that we had originally intended to release as launch titles until next year."
Apple has just announced a major shakeup within its management, announcing that John Browett and Scott Forstall will both be stepping down.
Browett was hired last year to run the company's retail division and Forstall was the head of iOS and a longtime Apple executive.
As part of the changes,current execs Jony Ive, Bob Mansfield, Eddy Cue and Craig Federighi will be given more responsibility.
Forstall will remain as an advisor to CEO Tim Cook until next year, confirmed the company.
"We are in one of the most prolific periods of innovation and new products in Apple's history," added Cook. "The amazing products that we've introduced in September and October, iPhone 5, iOS 6, iPad mini, iPad, iMac, MacBook Pro, iPod touch, iPod nano and many of our applications, could only have been created at Apple and are the direct result of our relentless focus on tightly integrating world-class hardware, software and services."
Pandora 4.0 for iOS and Android is the culmination of a year's planning, design, engineering, and testing to deliver the biggest update made to the mobilee apps since the service first launched. Pandora 4.0 brings a new lean in experience that's not possible with traditional radio and provides an ideal environment for you to better discover, explore and share your favorite music.
New features in Pandora 4.0 include...
Improved Listening Features - We've focused on improving the core listening experience - making it easier than ever to create new stations, add variety to your stations, and browse our massive selection of more than 400 genre stations curated by our team of music experts.
Social Sharing and Discovery - Easily share your music discoveries and stations with friends on Pandora, Facebook and Twitter. A new music activity feed offers a centralized place for you to find and follow friends and other musical mentors on Pandora opening up an entirely new way to discover great music you'll love.
Artist and Track Pages - For those times you want to dive in deeper and explore new worlds of music, we've added millions of artist, album, and track pages that let you learn more about the music you love - complete with full lyrics, related artists, and musicological traits from the Music Genome Project.
Google has announced today that it will roll out the popular Google Music cloud service to Europe on November 13th.
Perhaps more importantly, the service will also include the new scan-and-match feature, which is great for users who do not want to, or cannot upload their entire libraries manually.
Europe will get scan-and-match first, with Google Music, with the U.S. getting it "soon after."
The service will also be free, beating out competitors like Amazon and Apple who charge $25 per year for it.
Windows 8 was officially launched to the public on Friday, along with the Surface with Windows RT tablet. There has been speculation about whether Windows 8 will allow Microsoft to dive into the tablet market - which is dominated by Android and iOS - while also keeping the good ole PC user happy.
If you are to believe Microsoft's chief Steve Ballmer, then all is A-OK so far.
"We're seeing preliminary demand well above where we were with Windows 7, which is gratifying,"Ballmer said during an event to unveil Windows Phone 8, on Monday.
"Over the weekend we saw an incredible response around the globe to Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface."
Seeing stronger demand for Windows 8, if true, is a great sign for Microsoft, given that Windows 7 has been its best selling Windows revision in its history. More than 670 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold by Microsoft in the three years that the operating system has been available.
The mobile app for the Windows Phone 8 operating system has been built from the ground up to integrate as fluently as possible with the OS. Like the Skype app for Windows 8, the mobile app lets you receive chats and notifications for voice and video calls while on lock, or on another app and with minimum battery usage. Incoming calls on Skype use the same incoming calls screen as a normal cellular call on Windows Phone 8.
Skype also makes use of the Windows Phone 8 Start screen, feeding information to the Live tiles about your latest messages and so on. Skype notifications can be added to the lock screen to appear alongside missed calls, unread emails and text messages, so there's no need to unlock your phone to check if you've missed a message or call in Skype.
Just like Windows 8, once you sign in to Skype on your phone, your Skype contacts are automatically added to your Windows Phone, making it possible to call the people who matter to you via Skype right from the People Hub.
Following the Windows and Mac Skype applications, you can now also see and chat with your Messenger buddies on Skype, if you have linked you Skype Name and Microsoft account.
The Redmond giant's latest mobile operating system is to be deployed on new smartphones from Samsung, Nokia and HTC, bringing new features that Microsoft showed off today.
"We can't wait for the world to meet Windows Phone 8, the most personal smartphone there is," said Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of the Windows Phone Division at Microsoft. "Windows Phone 8 comes on a range of phones that are stunning, colorful and unique."
Windows Phone 8 Video Demo
Windows Phone 8 Features
The Windows 8 Start screen is designed to be more personal than the default user interfaces of rival mobile operating systems. Live Tiles have been a major part of Microsoft's efforts to bring smartphones to life, so of course they are center stage of Microsoft's demoes of Windows 8. With Live Tiles, information is brought right to the Start screen, such as the Groupon deal of the day, flight information and news headlines. In Windows Phone 8, some Live Apps such as Facebook can deliver real-time information right to your lock screen with updated wallpaper.
Alongside their new hardware, Google also unveiled Android 4.2 today, the latest update to the mobile operating system.
The software will be available immediately on the Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 devices when they are released on November 13th.
As rumored, Android 4.2 will allow multiple user accounts, meaning family members or other groups can share the device while keeping their own settings.
Additionally, the OS adds a "quick settings" icon, similar to the power control bar currently on Android devices, and very similar to the quick settings option of HTC Sense. In Android 4.2, the icon will allow you to rapidly switch between user accounts, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, airplane mode, adjust brightness and more.
Google has also redone the gallery app, adding "Photo Sphere." Sphere lets you take 360-degree panoramic photos, an update from the panorama of Android 4.0 and 4.1.
Finally, the update brings gesture typing, similar to Swype and SwiftKey's new Flow beta.
The Nexus 7 features a 7" 1280x800 HD display (216 ppi), Android 4.1, Tegra 3 quad-core processor, 1GB RAM, scratch-resistant Corning glass, a 1.2MP front-side camera, NFC (Android Beam) and a 4325 mAh battery.
Google has unveiled their Nexus 10 tablet today, the full-sized brother to the popular Nexus 7 and a true iPad competitor.
Built by Samsung, the device features a 10.1 inch display with an incredible 2,560 x 1,600-pixelresolution. With a ppi of 300, the company has built a display that rivals and surpasses Apple's Retina.
Android head Andy Rubin says even with the display, the Nexus 10 will last 9 hours when playing video and 500 hours on standby.
Priced ultra competitively, just like the new Nexus 4, the 16GB version of the tablet will cost $399 and $499 for the 32GB model.
Under the hood is a dual-core, Cortex A15-based 1.7 GHz Samsung Exynos 5250, which Google says is faster than Apple's new iPad A6. Furthermore, there is a Mali T604 GPU, stereo speakers, 2GB of RAM, NFC, 802.11 b/g/n (MIMO + HT40) WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, with front-and rear NFC (Android beam) radios. There are dual 5/1.9-MP cameras, a microUSB, Pogo Pin, microHDMI for connectivity, and a thin frame of just 8.9mm.
Google has unveiled its poorly kept secret, the LG Nexus 4.
The powerful device features a a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 320 ppi IPS+ LCD display, runs on a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, has 2GB RAM, an 8 megapixel camera and a 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wireless Charging.
Google has also made the back of etched glass that sparkles as if it is different layers. The phone also includes a large 2100mAh and the screen is protected by Gorilla Glass 2 tech.
The search giant has priced the device extremely competitively, at just $299 for 8GB of storage, or $349 with 16GB without contract.
With the amazing price and specs, there is one downside, no LTE radio. The unlocked device does have access to fast 4G HSPA+, but no LTE. Additionally, it may upset some consumers that there is no microSD slot.
Amazon has updated their homepage to show off how the Kindle Fire HD compares to the new iPad Mini.
While the "attack" is tame compared to Samsung's recent ad campaigns, it does take a shot at how little Apple is really offering with its new tablet.
The Kindle Fire HD sells for $199 while the new iPad sells for $329. The Kindle has a better screen resolution and a better PPI to go along with its dual speakers.
Amazon also added a quote to the homepage, from a Gizmodo article it appears: "...your [;] 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You're cramming a worse screen in there, charging more, and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy."
Apple stepped into this world with its latest tablet, and should likely expect more heat from rivals, including Google, Samsung and Amazon.
The low-end Nokia 510 has been made official in China and India.
Nokia will introduce the phone as its entry-level Lumia in the nations.
Under the hood is Windows Phone 7.5, a Snapdragon S1 800MHz single-core processor, 256MB RAM, and 4GB internal memory. There is a 5MP rear camera, but it lacks autofocus and flash.
The display is 4-inches with a WVGA (480x800) resolution.
A Polish website has posted new posters of the upcoming GTA V game, showing off an autumn 2013 release date, at least for Europe.
The posters look very official, but Rockstar has not confirmed the authenticity.
If the posters are legit, the date is a bit later than earlier speculated.
Wedbush Securities' Michael Pachter had already said that the delay of the upcoming BioShock title hinted that GTA V will launch in May of next year.
Take-Two's financial figures are what caused Pachter to believe that. The publishers' figures show that it anticipates between $1.75-$1.85 billion for the year ending March 31, 2013.
Pachter believes that the guidance is "unattainable" without a major Rockstar title. He believes the developer will provide $1.1 billion to Take-Two's bottom line, with $300 million coming from Max Payne 3 and its DLC, and a further $150 million from Rockstar's existing catalog. That leaves a void of $650 million, which Pachter believes could easily be accounted for by GTA V.
Even though it was made available unofficially at Staples last week, it appears the Google Nexus 7 is finally official and widely available.
Office Depot and Gamestop are offering the tablet at $249, replacing the price point of the 16GB model. The 16GB has seen a price drop to $199, with the 8GB model being discontinued.
The spec sheet did reveal one surprise, however, and that is the version of Android. Most speculated it would run the upcoming 4.2 right out of the box, but the specs say 4.1.2.
It is likely that 4.2 is coming, very soon, as Google was supposed to unveil the update at their press event on Monday. That has since been postponed due to the incoming Hurricane Sandy.
Additionally, the search giant is expected to unveil the Nexus 4 smartphone and the Nexus 10 full-sized tablet at the event.
If you live on the East Coast of the U.S., you have no doubt been inundated by news about the incoming "Frankenstorm," Hurricane Sandy.
For those that live in New York and New Jersey, states of emergency have already been declared by the Governors of the respective states and even by President Obama, who has backed the states with aid and FEMA support.
A great way to follow the storm, especially if you live in the affected states, is through webcams that are situated at popular spots.
The event was originally scheduled for Monday (29th) in New York, but Hurricane Sandy has forced Google to cancel the Android event.
"We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more," a statement from Google reads.
The Android event has been widely anticipated, expected to be a launch pad for new Nexus products, including the Nexus 4 from LG and Nexus 10 tablet from Samsung. It gave Google a well timed chance to respond to Apple's latest iPad announcements, and the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface with Windows RT, earlier this week.
Last year, Google cancelled a previous Nexus event following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
It alleges that Zynga is planning massive layoffs and plans to send jobs overseas, saying it has documents that expose Zynga's strategy which includes firing about a thousand people.
"With a billion dollars cash sitting in a bank we do believe that such actions are an insult to the population and the behaviour of corporations like Zynga must change," a message posted on Anonnews reads.
The message posted also claims that if Zynga doesn't reverse its policy, them they will release "all the games we've taken from their servers for free."
Last year, a huge PlayStation Network (PSN) data breach affected so many people that apparently any news of a new hack can lead to users getting worried. Chris Boyd, senior threat researcher at GFI Software, said that the incidents lately will not affect regular gamers.
"The Playstation Network itself is still secure and users shouldn't panic. I've already seen one person say they cancelled their credit card as a result of thinking the PSN had been compromised (it hasn't). With the PS4 on the horizon, this may prompt SONY to speed up work on the upcoming console,"he said.
The incidents being referred to are a release from a Chinese group BlueDisk-CFW, and a later release of the LV0 decryption keys for the console. The news of the hack seems to have been interpreted, at least by some, as another PSN security threat.
"The only real benefit to this is for those already running custom firmware on hacked machines, who are now able to update their PS3 and go online. While they may be able to play games online until Sony change the PSN passphrase, it's unlikely to cause a wave of in-game cheating and modding," Boyd said.
Steven Sinofsky headed up the development of the Windows 8 operating system, which officially launched this week, along with Microsoft's Surface with Windows RT tablet. It wasn't alone in breaking onto the scene however, as Apple launched its anticipated iPad mini earlier in the week, too.
Speaking with AllThingsD, Sinofsky explained that Microsoft and its partners work to bring down the cost of devices, so that a student, for example, can buy a Windows computer that will last them through their college life. He pointed to one Windows 8 machine in particular, and said, "It's $279, here we are, talking about seven inch recreational tablets for $329."
Of course, while there are cheap PCs, laptops and such that run Windows 8 available, Microsoft's Surface tablet sells for $499, and if you want the optional cover/touch keyboard, it costs $599. When Microsoft launches the Surface Pro tablet next year, running the full Windows 8 operating system, it is expected to start at around $799.
Andy Smith, an Internet security chief at the Cabinet Office, advised Internet users to give false details in many cases while using the Internet. For example, he suggested that you lie about your date of birth, and other information, while using social network websites, and give false information to websites that you can't fully trust.
"When you put information on the internet do not use your real name, your real date of birth," he told a Parliament and the Internet Conference in Portcullis House, Westminster. "When you are putting information on social networking sites don't put real combinations of information, because it can be used against you."
Obvious exceptions to Smith's suggestions include filling out government forms, such as tax returns, or to sources you know you can trust to protect your information. Lord Erroll, chairman of the Digital Policy Alliance, backed Smith's suggestions, pointing out that many banks use a person's date of birth as part of their verification process online.
Not everyone received Smith's suggestions so well however; Labour MP Helen Goodman found them totally outrageous. "This is the kind of behaviour that, in the end, promotes crime," she told the BBC News website. "It is exactly what we don't want. We want more security online. It's anonymity which facilitates cyber-bullying, the abuse of children. I was genuinely shocked that a public official could say such a thing."
Boston Children's Hospital is to publish results of a study into using a video game to help kids control their anger. The study involves children with serious anger management issues, and aged between nine and seventeen years.
They are split into two groups, both receiving typical anger management treatments, but only one of which using a video game called "Rage Control." While playing the game, a device on the player's finger monitors heart rate. If it gets too high, the player loses the ability to shoot at enemy spaceships, and must calm down in order to regain it.
"The connections between the brain's executive control centres and emotional centres are weak in people with severe anger problems," said senior investigator on the study, Dr Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich. "However, to succeed at Rage Control, players have to learn to use these centres at the same time to score points."
Reuters reported the story after analyzing documents surrounding Huawei - a Chinese firm that came under the suspicion of U.S. lawmakers for possible ties to Beijing.
A Tehran based firm, called Soda Gostar Persian Vista, is the supplier of Huawei equipment to Iranian firms. The report says that it tried to sell 6 cellular tower antennas made by Andrew LLC - a U.S. company - to MTN Irancell, a cellular service provider in Iran.
Sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. government forbid the sale of tech equipment to firms and government agencies in Iran.
When MTN Irancell realized that the equipment was subject to embargo, it cancelled the order.
Huawei has said that it complies with U.S. laws and also requires that its partners do so, though this claim has come under scrutiny from the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. MTN Irancell's parent, the MTN Group in South Africa, said that it was a mistake, and that Huawei, "through its local partner Soda Gostar, mistakenly provided details of U.S.-manufactured antennas," and that the cellular provider was seeking antennas made in Germany.
Redbox had decided to allow its contract with Warner expire, since the studio was demanding that a 28 day window in which Redbox could not offer its new Blu-rays and DVDs for rentals, should be extended to 56 days.
The low-cost rentals provider decided that 56 days was just too long and said it would purchase Warner movies elsewhere.
Fast forward several months and now the two seem to have made up, and come to a new arrangement - or well, more or less the arrangement they had before Warner tried to extend the release window to 28 days. The agreement is valid between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014.
"We are pleased to once again have a direct relationship with Redbox, providing their consumers access to our movies," said Ron Sanders, president, Warner Home Video.
"In addition, we look forward to working together on other key initiatives such as UltraViolet and creating promotional opportunities to offer consumers great content when and where they want it."
Microsoft decided that it would make "Do Not Track" the default setting in its Internet Explorer 10 browser (on Windows 8), which if honoured would dramatically reduce advertisers' ability to snoops on web users' habits. At the time, it was warned that making the setting default might force some web services to ignore the flag entirely.
The first sign that the predictions were correct came as Apache patched its open source web server software, present on around 60 percent of all websites, to ignore the DNT setting in Internet Explorer 10.
Now. Yahoo has decided that it will ignore the DNT flag in Internet Explorer 10 also. It says that the DNT standard is not finalized yet, and that Microsoft's decision could "degrade the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them."
The web giant stresses that it does support DNT in principle, but believes that the option should be available for users to select themselves, rather than being a default settings - so in other words they want us to be in a position to voluntarily opt out, not opt in.
Microsoft has come out swinging with its first ARM-based tablet, but does it live up to all of Microsoft's promises?
Back in June, Microsoft unveiled the Surface tablets, one based on the popular ARM architecture seen in most tablets and smartphones and one based on the standard Intel/AMD x86/x64 architecture seen in nearly all PCs. The first to be released is the ARM-based device, which features its own form of Windows 8 dubbed Windows RT.
The device is priced equal to the Apple iPad and higher-end Android tablets but it is being branded as more than just a tablet, it is being branded as a desktop/laptop replacement.
In this review, we will discover if Microsoft has lived up to that promise.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has confirmed that foreign hackers attacked the South Carolina Department of Revenue, stealing 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers.
For the cards, 16,000 were unencrypted, but the exposed social security numbers will affect 78 percent of all of South Carolina's population.
Says Haley: "The number of records breached requires an unprecedented, large-scale response by the Department of Revenue, the State of South Carolina and all our citizens."
If you have filed a tax return in the state since 1998, the Governor is urging you to call 1-866-578-5422. If your number was exposed, you will be given a free year of identity theft protection through Experian's ProtectMyID service.
Authorities say the attack was definitely foreign, and the FBI and Secret Service have joined in the investigation.
Apple's latest, the iPhone 5, will reach a plethora of new nations on November 2nd.
The company had allegedly prepared to release the device in the nations this week, but supply issues forced the delay.
As part of their global rollout plan, the phone is headed to India, Mexico, Greece, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Bulgaria, Malta, Romania, and Thailand.
The device launched in 9 countries on September 21, followed by an additional 22 countries the next week.
Casio has unveiled a new enterprise Android tablet that will also double as a scanner.
Dubbed the "Paper Writer," the tablet has a front-facing camera that faces downward, allowing it to take images of any documents placed directly in front of the device.
Built in is special software for character recognition that works with hand-written notes and uses symbols as tags for saving. As long as the paper being scanned has "reasonable contrast" to the ink, you should have no issues with scanning. Early reviews say there is a business card feature as well, although it is still buggy.
The base model will sell for $2500 in Japan in November, boasting a 10-inch screen, a low end dual-core 1.5GHz OMAP processor, a large 7000mAh battery and a rubberized case for water and shock resistance. An American and European launch is set for later in the year.
According to Apple marketing boss Phil Schiller, customers have finally stopped asking for Blu-ray drives in their Macs.
Many of the new Macs, especially the popular Mac Air ultrabook line, do not have an optical drive to begin with, so that may be helping Apple's case.
In 2008, former Apple CEO Steve Jobs made headlines when he called Blu-ray "a bag of hurt." At the time, Jobs said: "Blu-ray is just a bag of hurt. It's great to watch the movies, but the licensing of the tech is so complex, we're waiting till things settle down and Blu-ray takes off in the marketplace."
Two years later, Blu-ray had become mainstream but Jobs reamined anti-Blu: "Blu-ray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD - like it will be beaten by Internet downloadable formats."
Schiller said this week in an interview that native Blu-ray support is probably never coming to Macs: "Schiller pointed out that one major application for optical drives, software distribution, has gone largely digital. As for video, he said that "Blu-ray has come with issues unrelated to the actual quality of the movie that make [it] a complex and not-great technology...So for a whole plethora of reasons, it makes a lot of sense to get rid of optical discs in desktops and notebooks."
BriefMobile has posted an official photo of the upcoming, yet still unofficial, Google Nexus 10 tablet.
The tablet is expected to be released on Monday at Google's press event where it will unveil the Nexus 4 phone, Android 4.2 and the Nexus 10, a tablet built by Samsung.
Besides Android 4.2, under the hood the tablet features a dual-core Cortex-A15-based 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5250, a Mali-T604 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 5MP rear-facing camera, NFC / WiFi and Bluetooth 4.0. unfortunately, there is no microSD expansion slot.
While some may complain about the processor being dual-core, the Exynos has clocked in much faster than the Snapdragon S4 Pro and the new Apple A6, making it an incredibly efficient and powerful chip.
It has announced an updated version of its award-winning media player, PowerDVD 12, to ensure users of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system continue to enjoy a premium entertainment experience on their new Windows 8 PCs.
CyberLink also launched a new mobile application designed for Windows 8 tablets. PowerDVD Mobile brings the premium playback features of CyberLink PowerDVD to Windows 8 mobile devices so that consumers can watch movies, view photos, and listen to music in the best quality, wherever they are.
"With over 100 million units sold every year, PowerDVD is the world's number one media player with a proven record of high quality and market-leading innovation," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink.
"PowerDVD is the essential software for Windows 8 users who want to maintain the ability to watch their Blu-ray Discs, DVDs and other videos on their PC or tablet, in addition to their music and photos, all in a premium digital experience."
Consumers purchasing PowerDVD 12 during the launch of Windows 8 will receive bonus copies of PowerDVD Mobile and PhotoDirector.
Earlier this week, the Dutch authorities decided to OK a levy on the sales of consumer electronics equipment - namely computers, smartphones, set top boxes, audio and video equipment and hard drive storage - to cover losses for content creators from "home copying."
The fee varies, but is as high as € for a new PC, for example. According to two groups representing the content industries, Buma/Stemra and Stichting Thuiskopie, the fee of €5 is actually too low.
This appears to be a direct contradiction of figures from accountancy firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers, which estimated the loss from home copying in the country at about €12.1 million. By comparison, the new levies are expected to generate about €27 million.
Google has begun trialing same-day delivery, testing the service in San Francisco for employees and friends.
The search giant has not officially unveiled the service, but sources claim it has been in development for over a year.
Supposedly, one major apparel chain has already signed up, with more expected before an eventual launch.
Amazon started the trend of same-day shipping last year, and eBay, Wal-Mart and even the US Postal Service are testing similar services now.
Google will not own or operate their own warehouses or shipping service but will instead team up with delivery companies and major retailers.
While it is clear why same-day delivery is a huge victory for retailers and consumers, it remains unclear why Google is getting into the business. The NYTimes speculates the company will use the service to help profit from mobile advertisements: "On computers, Google and advertisers know if a user clicks on an ad and visits or buys on another Web site. But they lose track of customers who look up a business or product on their phone and then put their phone away, walk into the store and buy something. Online ordering and delivery could help solve that problem."
Rockstar Games to deliver Vice City on Android, iOS.
The developer will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the PlayStation 2 (PS2) games console, with an anniversary edition for mobile devices.
"In conjunction with the anniversary, we're pleased to announce that we'll be releasing an Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for select iOS and Android devices later this fall," Rockstar announced.
"This upcoming version will bring the full experience to mobile devices, featuring native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements unique to the iOS and Android platforms. Stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead including a list of compatible iOS and Android devices."
It did the same for Grand Theft Auto III already, throwing a lot of us down memory lane.
The rumor can be linked to the recent decision by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to step down from the board of directors at Microsoft. Essentially, the logic follows that if Microsoft was considering a serious bid for Netflix, then Reed Hastings could not be on the board whilst such discussions were under way.
Alternatively, however, Hastings may have stepped down for personal reasons, or might have found Microsoft's increase push into content as too competitive to stay on the board.
Microsoft has also made it company policy to acquire popular web services recently, paying a cool $8.5 billion for Skype last year, and we will all remember the multiple Yahoo takeover sagas that amounted to nothing. Microsoft can certainly afford Netflix, reportedly hoarding almost $69 billion in cash and investments.
Following in the footsteps of Apple, it appears a Google employee has lost a prototype of the upcoming LG Nexus 4 at a San Francisco bar.
Back in 2010, a prototype iPhone 4 was left at a bar and was later purchased by a Gizmodo editor, who revealed it to the world months before its highly-anticipated official unveiling.
According to Wired, a bartender at the 500 Club in San Francisco, Jamin Barton, found the unclaimed smartphone in September, with the Google branding and a sticker that read "not for sale."
Barton gave the phone to a friend who contacted Google in an effort to return it. The next day, the friend told Barton that he had been threatened by Google, and that the search giant's Global Investigations & Intelligence Manager, Brian Katz, began telling employees at the 500 Club that Google could potentially file criminal charges over the phone.
A couple of days later, Google retrieved the phone, and Katz offered Barton a free phone if he kept the situation to himself.
Clearwire has announced this week that it will use equipment from large Chinese firm Huawei to upgrade its data network starting next year.
The plan has been blessed by the U.S. government, more specifically by "the technical arms of multiple federal agencies." The company says it has "great respect for the U.S. government and their oversight role over the nation's infrastructure."
A congressional report earlier in the month had tried to block such a move, claiming Chinese state influence as a potential security threat.
Clearwire is majority owned by Sprint, which uses the high-speed network to boost its own spectrum and capacity. Sprint also provides carrier services to the U.S. government.
Overall, Huawei equipment will only represent about "5 percent of Clearwire's total budget for the network upgrade to Long Term Evolution Technology and that the company is "materially reducing their footprint" for its LTE network."
New app censors friends' political rants on Facebook.
So the U.S. Presidential Election is only about ten days away, and the political rants and propaganda are taking over the social sphere like never before. If you find that your Facebook friends are making the service less fun with all of their partisan spewing, there's a solution that just might help.
The new Chrome extension, Unpolitic.me, will analyse your social feeds and locate any political talk. It will then remove the post and replace it with an image. You can define your own image-based RSS feeds - and you might want to, as the default feed is of pictures of cats.
The extension was developed by Buzzfeed and the makers of Unbaby.me - a similar plug-in that filtered pictures of babies. Unpolitic.me only seems to be available for Chrome users for the moment, whereas Unbaby.me worked with Firefox too.
Keywords that are filtered by default include Obama, Romney, Ron Paul, Paul Ryan - and also politically charged words such as taxes, deficit, trickle down economics and of course, "how messed up is this country." You can also add and remove your own keywords to fit your loud-mouthed soapbox enthusiasts, or to make it more relevant to your country (like adding Eurozone, Merkel, Greece, Spain, PIIGS and so on if you live in the EU).
Getyourgoogleback.com leads you to a simple Google page that shows you quickly how to do two things on Windows 8; make the Google Chrome web browser your default web browser (as opposed to the included Internet Explorer 10) and to put Google Search right onto the Start Screen.
While these things sound pretty easy - in fact they are easy - there have been reports of confusion among consumers who are trying out Windows 8, and seem stumped by the new user interface.
In case you know of somebody who might need help "getting their Google back," send them to Getyourgoogleback.com and save yourself the few minutes of your time.
That's according to a report by Der Spiegel, a popular news magazine in Germany, which blames the Pirate Party itself for declining interest. Germany's Pirate Party holds some seats in state legislative bodies such as the Berlin state parliament and in North Rhine-Westphalia, but do not hold any seats in the Federal parliament.
Recent polls put the Pirate Party near the so called "five-percent hurdle," which is the percentage of votes a party needs in order to take up any seats in the Bundestag.
The report blames the Pirate Party's mismanagement, and poor public relations for Germany citizens turning away from them. It focuses some attention on Johannes Ponader, who has been plastered all over the German media after an appearance on a talk show in which he explained his polyamorous lifestyle - he likes multiple relationships - ad his feet massaged and threw his arms around the host.
Attention has also been called to his frequent dependence on Germany's "Hartz IV" benefits program for the long-term unemployed, and his request for party supporters to donante funds for a salary (his position with the Party is voluntary) has given the Party bad press. Some other members of the Party even reportedly asked him to make fewer media appearances.
On January 19th this year, Megaupload.com was taken down in a series of raids and arrested on the order of the United States government. At its peak, the file-locker service was pulling in 50 million users every single day.
In January of 2013, Megaupload's founder Kim Dotcom will follow the Pirate Bay and launch a new raid-proof service called "Mega", with the aim to have it launched and worked on the one year anniversary of Megaupload's closure.
The new service starts from scratch, so your Megaupload account is still non-existent and you won't get your Megaupload files back (although, the Megaupload defence is trying to get users files released). According to Kim Dotcom, the new Mega service will have a wider range of applications than just file sharing.
He says the new venture will morph into a "massive global network," with all non-US hosters able to connect servers and bandwidth.
Files stored by Mega will be encrypted using the AES algorithm, with the uploader provided a unique decryption key providing them with the sole responsibility for deciding who is able to obtain full access to the content.
Apple has intensified their recent discussions with the major music labels in an effort to get their own streaming radio service launched.
The service would be supported by ads and would be a direct competitor to Pandora.
For now, the negotiations are revolving around how the labels and the company will share ad revenue.
Sources close to the discussion say a deal could be reached by as soon as mid-November, with Apple starting the service in February or March of 2013.
Pandora was one of the pioneers of the service, allowing customers to hear streaming music that is placed into playlists due to their similar rhythms, genres, or artists. Apple will look to do away with Pandora's largest restriction, which is the amount of times per hour an artist can be played and how many times tracks can be skipped.
Apple is the world's largest music retailer, offering over 20 million tracks through iTunes to its 400 million registered users. The service would be tailored to iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users, with little focus being placed on a Web browser-based option.
Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer revealed to Polygon that its forthcoming Holiday season blockbuster, Halo 4, is also the company's most expensive entertainment product. "Nothing's even close," he commented.
Halo 4 is the first "new" title in the franchise to be developed by 343 Industries, after Bungie opted to go independent. 343 had released the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remake last year.
Halo: Reach was reportedly Microsoft's largest ever marketing expense to promote a game. It had spent $6.5 million on promotion alone for Halo 3 too.
Halo 4 is extremely important to Microsoft's games business during the upcoming holiday season to drive sales of its Xbox products and fight off the competition.
It was charged with breaking state securities laws in Massachusetts over the improper release of confidential information about Facebook before the social network's IPO. Mark Mahaney, the senior analyst involved in the case, is no longer with the firm and a junior analyst has also been fired.
This junior analyst had allegedly sent the bank's confidential views on investment risks and revenue estimates for Facebook to TechCrunch. The incident occurred three weeks prior to Facebook's IPO.
It has won the "Ultimate game of the year" award at the Golden Joysticks, while also winning the award for "Best RPG" and the "Top Gaming Moment" for 'Throat of the World'. Winners of Golden Joystick's awards are voted for by gamers.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the first Golden Joysticks awards.
"The awards have been bigger and better than ever, a fitting tribute to a games industry in rude health,"said James Kick from the Golden Joysticks. "This year voting doubled on our previous world record, smashing four million votes from international gamers keen to make their voice heard."
Other notable winners were Batman: Arkham City for "Action/Adventure", FIFA for "Sports Game" and Minecraft for "Downloadable."
Golden Joystick Awards, 2012 Winners
Ultimate game of the year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Top gaming moment: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Throat of the World
Iwata admits every game system will be sold at a loss.
Other Nintendo hardware, such as the Wii when it was launched, made a profit on every sale. The launch of the Wii U marks a departure from that comforting statistic.
When the Wii was launched - whole six years ago now - Nintendo bragged about making a profit on every unit of the console sold, and on the sale of software, right from the launch day. It highlighted that as another area where its philosophy differs from the competition, with both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles selling at considerable losses at launch. In Sony's case, every PS3 represented a loss of $300 in 2007, but in 2010 the PS3 system became profitable.
Nintendo will have to focus on making money from the sale of software for the Wii U, and cutting its manufacturing costs in the long run.
Paul Ceglia irks U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
He was arrested this morning and charged in a billion dollar scheme to defraud Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ceglia became famous overnight when he claimed that he possessed a contract signed by Zuckerberg that entitled him to a huge chunk of the giant social network.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan is charging Ceglia with mail fraud and wire fraud, having allegedly fabricated the controversial contract at the center of his case against Facebook.
"Ceglia used the federal court system to perpetuate his fraud and will now be held accountable for his criminal scheme," Facebook and Zuckerberg's lawyer, Orin Snyder, said in a statement.
Vulnerabilities in Shockwave player are very serious.
They affect both Windows and Mac users of the Adobe Shockwave Player (check if you have it installed here.). Adobe issued an advisory warning of six separate security vulnerabilities, and urged users to upgrade to Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.8.638 as soon as possible.
"Adobe has released a security update for Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. This update addresses vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker, who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities, to run malicious code on the affected system. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions update to Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.8.638."
Unless you update the player, you run the risk of encountering crafted shockwave content on the web that could install malicious software on your PC or Mac.
GameStop has announced a new store concept aimed directly at kids, or those that remain kids at heart.
The aptly named GameStop Kids will be rolled out to 80 malls around the U.S.
"We are always striving to make the shopping experience better for holiday gift givers," added Bob Puzon, GameStop's vice president of merchandising. "GameStop Kids takes that one step further by having the hottest brands and products that people of all ages can love – from Star Wars and LEGO to modern favorites like Skylanders Giants."
Each of the stores will feature video games and accessories including toys and collectibles:
Skylanders: GameStop exclusive Golden Dragonfire Cannon Battlepack, additional characters, throws, backpacks, carriers and displays
Angry Birds: Angry Birds plush with sound effects, splat balls, mash'ems launcher pack, backpack clips, mugs and coming soon: Angry Birds Star Wars plush
LEGO: Lord of the Rings, Stars Wars and Harry Potter build sets along with Marvel character build sets
Star Wars: Two-foot plush talking Chewbacca, key chains, phone cases, banks and more
Minecraft: Minecreeper head, LEGO Minecraft Microworld and foam pick axe
The company had been ordered earlier this month to publish apologies to Samsung for claiming that the South Korean firm had ripped off its iPhone and iPad with the Galaxy brand of smartphones and tablets. Today, Apple had taken those steps, posting a link on its UK site's mainpage to a note about the ruling in the UK.
However, if this was supposed to be an apology, it reads more like a defence of Apple and a gloating of the "coolness" of its designs. Well.. you be the judge..
Samsung / Apple UK judgment
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:
The U.S. Copyright Office periodically consults the public for possible exemptions to copyright laws in the country. For example, jailbreaking smartphones is exempt from the DMCA due to a previous review on how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) affects consumers' legal use of electronics and content.
A frequent request is for an exemption for circumventing copy protection mechanisms in place on DVDs (CSS, for example) in order to make backup copies legally, and to allow the modifying (or jailbreaking if you prefer the term) of games consoles.
"[T]he record demonstrated that access controls on gaming consoles protect not only the console firmware, but the video games and applications that run on the console as well. The evidence showed that video games are far more difficult and complex to produce than smartphone applications, requiring teams of developers and potential investments in the millions of dollars. While the access controls at issue might serve to further manufacturers' business interests, they also protect highly valuable expressive works – many of which are created and owned by the manufacturers – in addition to console firmware itself."
While the exemption for jailbreaking smartphones has been upheld in this review, the Copyright Office failed to extend it to tablet PCs, arguing that an ebook reading device might be considered a tablet, as might a handheld video games device.
The Dutch anti-piracy firm has convinced a court in The Hague that XS Networks - formerly the web host of SumoTorrent - should be liable for damages due to copyright infringement aided by the BitTorrent tracker. XS Networks has already ceased operations, but it was once the web host for SumoTorrent.
The court found that XS Networks is guilty of facilitating copyright infringement for refusing to shut down a website which it knew was illegal. SumoTorrent is still in operation from a host in Ukraine, so it's unlikely to be affected by the decision.
"We take down more than 600 sites a year - these are sites which give access to illegal content,"Tim Kuik, the head of Brein, told the BBC News website.
"If the sites are unco-operative, we go to the hosting provider that has to take them down according to a Dutch law, which states that if a site [falls into the category of] 'evidently illegal sites', the hosting provider has to take it offline. What is new now is that the court has ruled that a hosting provider that doesn't act promptly becomes liable for damages."
Still, profits in the three month period were $8.2 billion, rising from $6.6 billion - about 27 percent - from the same period of last year. Sales of iPhones were very strong in the financial fourth quarter to September 29th, reaching 29.6 million, which Apple sold 14 million iPads.
That is somehwat short of expectations. Analysts say the likely cause for the slowdown was the rumors of the upcoming iPad mini, where potential customers were reluctant to buy an iPad until they witnessed what new model Apple had to offer.
"We were happy with the 14 million iPad sales in the quarter. It exceeded our expectations," said Apple finance director Peter Oppenheimer. "But as the summer went on, the rumours were pretty rampant about the iPhone and iPad."
Apple shares initially dropped 1.5 percent in after hours trading, but analysts did not see any reason for concern.
A lot of attention is now on the iPhone 5 smartphone, which was only on sale for less than two weeks of Apple's fourth quarter, and is expected to be a hot selling item in the important holiday season.
Earlier this month, we reported that Microsoft was blocking mature PEGI 16+ rated games from the Windows 8 marketplace in Europe or ESRB MATURE in the U.S.
Today, it appears Microsoft will revise the Windows Store guidelines to allow such games, much to the relief of developers and gamers alike.
Had the rule remained, in Europe, games such as Halo, Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed would have been banned from the Store, due to their rating.
Despite reports that it would be delayed, LG has brought the first Ultra HDTV to the U.S.
The TV, which is 84-inches, will retail for $20,000 and be available only at Video and Audio Center, an independent electronics retailer in California. The store is selling the massive TV for $17,000, a discount on its MSRP.
Ultra HD, formerly known as 4K, is a standard that requires a 3840 x 2160 pixelresolution and 16:9aspect ratio. Additionally, any Ultra HD display must have at least one digital input for native 4K video, not just upscaling.
Amazon reported their quarterly earnings today, posting a loss for the first time since 2003.
The big drag was struggling daily deal giant Living Social and higher expenses for their ecosystem and delivery system.
Amazon, the world's largest e-tailer, saw a loss of $274 million even though revenue jumped 27 percent to $13.8 billion year-over-year.
CEO Jeff Bezos says the company is opening 19 worldwide fulfillment centers to offer faster delivery for the holidays. With this, however, expenses jumped 28 percent, dragging on potential profits.
The biggest loss came via LivingSocial, however, where the company owns a majority stake. After investing $175 million in the service, the company was forced to take a $169 million loss this quarter.
According to Sprint's latest quarterly earnings report, earnings improved although the company did post a large loss.
The company saw a net loss of $767 million, down from $1.38 billion last quarter.
Furthermore, the carrier added 410,000 subscribers, slightly down from last quarter's 442.000 gain but still healthy.
Sprint's biggest bet in history, the iPhone, saw 1.5 million units sold during the quarter, same as last quarter. Last year, the company made a massive $15.5 billion investment with Apple for four years worth of iPhones. CEO Dan Hesse admitted that the carrier had to pay Apple a 40 percent higher subsidy than Verizon and AT&T.
Major Japanese carrier recently announced its intention to purchase Sprint for $20.1 billion.
At a launch event in New York, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky - who headed up the development of Windows 8 - showed off new hardware running the new operating system to members of the media and representatives from hardware partners. Sinofsky showed off devices made from firms including Acer, Lenovo and others, but dedicated quite a bit of time to Microsoft's Surface tablet.
"One person called it historic, unique. It's starting at $499 for the 32 GB version and we think that's a pretty darn good price. It's twice the amount of storage as a competing tablet for the same price," Sinofsky said.
Later on, Panos Panay - who headed up the Surface development efforts at Microsoft - showed off some of the Surfaces abilities with multimedia, and its keyboard-packing ultra-thin case before intentionally dropping the device on the floor to show its durability.
Earlier, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had told Reuters that the company has re-imagined Windows and the entire PC industry. The firm has been struggling to deal with the growth of Apple and Google in the mobile space, and Windows 8's Metro tiled user interface is designed as an alternative for consumers to the familiar Android and iOS platforms.
Although it has been rumored for over a month and even seen via very official looking press photos, Google has not officially unveiled the LG Nexus 4 just yet, instead waiting for their press event on October 29th and release just one day later.
The company put up a pre-order page, including a pic and specs of the device, and an inventory screenshot shows the price.
LG's latest will feature a 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 768 resolution, Android 4.2, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor, NFC, and an 8-megapixel rear camera. As rumored, the phone will have just 8GB on internal storage, 2GB RAM and be just 9.1mm thick.
US District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia has dismissed most claims laid against Sony, arguing that the firm has not violated consumer protection laws in California partly because the PSN service is free to use. He also threw out claims of neglect, negligence, unjust enrichment and bailment.
The bailment claim, and the claims of violation of California consumer protection laws, were dismissed with prejudice, but Battaglia did leave the door open for amending and bringing forth other dismissed claims again.
Sony was seeking that the case be dismissed entirely, but Battaglia stopped short of that decision. The PS3-maker claims that plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate any actual injury from the theft of their personal information.
In Battaglia's opinion however, the increased likelihood of future harm due to the leak of sensitive personal information represents enough of a loss that the case can proceed.
Nintendo's numbers are too optimistic, Pacther believes.
The Wii U console launches in just a few weeks time, and Nintendo is projecting about 5.5 million units to be sold in the 2013 financial year. It also predicts the sale of 24 million Wii U software units, which suggests an attach rate exceeding four to one.
Pachter notes that this prediction "is highly unrealistic given pricing and release slate."
"Wii U will fight for holiday wallet share with the existing consoles (which have the bulk of their most compelling releases in the December quarter), Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, and Apple's iPad Mini, among a slew of other devices,"he wrote.
He did, however, acknowledge that the Wii U software line-up is rather positive. Launch day titles include Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Black Ops II, EA Sports' FIFA Soccer 13, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land, and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III and ZombiU.
"However, demand will probably wane once Nintendo's core fan base has purchased the first 5 - 6 million units, negatively impacting long-term hardware and software sales as well."
These so called "Tube" sites allow users to upload content to the services, and view content free of charge. This is certainly a change for Internet porn that is causing major headaches for the industry, and regulators are also finding it difficult to keep up.
The Authority For Television On Demand (Atvod) in the UK has the power to close sites based in the region if they don't adequately control their content. UK law requires that all pornographic websites that a base level of steps to keep under-18s away from porn images and videos.
Tube sites however, are largely located in the United States, and their operation makes it difficult for regulators to police their actions.
Even the old giants of pornography are feeling the pain, with DVD sales plummeting and the days of "big budget" porn nearing death. "Less work comes around because people aren't supporting the porn industry," said Tom Dennis of the Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA).
"They'd rather watch their porn for free then pay for it."
It's not all bad for people in the industry however, with many using Tube sites to advertise their own live webcam services.
It has announced new data plans for U.S. consumers with 4G tablet PCs that come with up to 20 percent more data than competitors. The third largest carrier in the U.S., Sprint also said that it will waiving the activation fee on all 3G and 4G LTE tablets for a limited time.
It offered up four new monthly plans for 4G LTE tablet data usage, starting at $14.99 for just 300MB of data. Mid-level plans for 3GB and 6GB of data will be priced at $34.99 and $49.99 per month, respectively. A high-level plan costing $79.99 per month will allow LTE data use up to 12GB per month.
None of the new data plans require a contract.
For customers who already have a smartphone on the Sprint network, the carrier also said that a discounted rate applies to add a tablet to your existing plan. In that case, 1GB of tablet data will cost an extra $15 or 100MB will cost $10.
France cuts anti-piracy agency's funding by 23 percent.
Hadopi is the entity responsible for fighting piracy by Internet users. Its actions led to the first French court conviction of an offender under the three strikes rule in the country. The French government however will slash its budget by 23 percent for next year.
It's budget will be reduced from €10.3 million to €8 million, yet Hadopi has said it will expand its monitoring activity to include pirated video games.
Under President François Hollande's new regime, there were hints that Hadopi could be done away with completely, when French Minister of Culture, Aurélie Filippetti, suggested a significant reduction in Hadopi spending, commenting that a €12 million was too expensive "just to send e-mails."
A person found to have clocked up three strikes will have their Internet connection suspended temporarily.
Microsoft's announcement earlier this year that it would release its own tablet PC line with its new operating system software installed didn't come with blanket approval from its hardware partners. Acer chief executive and chairman, JT Wang, made his objections to the plan public, warning that Microsoft's Surface would have "a huge negative impact for the [PC] ecosystem and other brands."
Dell on the other hand was more welcoming of Microsoft's move. "The announcement of Surface was necessary to have a proof of concept and to get people excited about what was coming to push application development and create some buzz out there," said Kirk Schell, vice president of Dell's client and consumer product group, adding that Microsoft had invested so much in Windows 8 that it was important to make it work.
Steve Ballmer has confirmed to the BBC that Microsoft is obviously going to be doing more hardware, which has been a rarity for Microsoft outside of its gaming business.
"Is it fair to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are,"he said. "Where we see important opportunities to set a new standard, yeah we'll dive in."
According to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, the Nintendo Wii U has blasted past their pre-order expectations.
Additionally, there are now 250,000 GameStop customers on a wait list for the console.
Unsurprisingly, the Wii U Deluxe is selling better than the cheaper Basic set, due to its extra accessories. Each bundle is set for release on November 18th, with the base model costing $300 and the deluxe edition selling for $350.
The base model will include the Wii U console with 8GB memory and the Wii U GamePad in all white. The deluxe edition comes with 32GB and a GamePad charging cradle. Additionally, it will come bundled with the game NintendoLand.
"As production only started this summer, it is has now become more likely that it is our production capacity, rather than consumer demand, that will place limits on our Wii U prospects for this calendar year," Iwata said. "But we will make every effort to supply as many units as possible, and we will strive to continue to ship Wii U hardware without any interruptions in each regions even after its launch."
Microsoft will sell the Xbox 360 with a two-year subscription to Live Gold for $99, the cheapest the hardware has ever been available for.
The company recently announced they had reached 70 million units sold, leading the PlayStation 3 in the console race. Consumers in the U.S. purchased 270,000 consoles last month, alone.
For your $99, you receive a 4GB Xbox 360 and a Kinect sensor, but you commit to two years of Xbox Live Gold. The service will cost $13 a month, making the full price of the bundle about $420 after two years.
The bundle was available at Microsoft retail stores, but those are available only on the West Coast. The bundle will now be available at Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart and Toys "R" Us stores.
"I think that the $99 program has always been a test to see if Microsoft can do it with the launch of the next Xbox," add video game industry analyst Michael Pachter. "They're rolling out to broader retail so everyone is ready for the next generation launch, likely to be subsidized by cable companies since the next generation will likely have a TV tuner built-in."
According to a new report, Microsoft will not release a second service pack for Windows 7.
Instead of packaging everything into a service pack, Microsoft will just continue to patch every month until support for the OS comes to an end.
The software giant has not confirmed nor denied the report, so it is unclear whether the new move will be a standard moving forward with Windows 7 and the new Windows 8.
Looking backwards, Windows XP launched in 2001 and saw its first SP one year later. SP2 was released in 2004, followed by service pack patches and then finally SP3 in 2008, a year before the launch of Windows 7.
Vista got SP1 in 2008, a year after launch, and SP2 in 2009. Windows 7 got its first, and possibly only SP, in 2010.
Microsoft has unveiled the pricing for their cloud-based Office 365 University.
The productivity suite is aimed at college kids and will be cheaper than a regular license.
Starting in February, college students can subscribe to the service for a four-year subscription price of just $79.99. Microsoft notes this costs students just $1.67 per month.
If you do not graduate in four years or move on to Master's and Doctorate programs, you can renew for another four years at the same price. Faculty and staff of higher education institutions can also access the software.
Being a "cloud" service means all documents created are automatically saved to your SkyDrive cloud storage locker. With each subscription, students are given 27GB of free storage.
Office 365 can be installed on two devices and includes access to online versions of Word, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook, Publisher, and Access.
Judge Thomas Pender said that Samsung violated four patents of the seven originally alleged by Apple (one of which was dropped during litigation) in a complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) last year.
The patents Samsung is found to have infringed cover a touchscreen's interpretation of a users actions while scrolling or switching between apps, and a patent that enables a device to overlay a translucent image over another image on the screen.
The International Trade Commission will now decide in February whether to uphold or reject the decision by the judge.
So much litigation is on-going between Apple and manufacturers of Android-based devices that hardly a day goes by without an event somewhere in the world. Apple and Samsung are currently battling in ten countries, with decisions falling to both on different aspects of their patent war.
The two firms have done a lot of business together over the years, with Samsung being a provider of chips that power Apple's iOS devices, memory chips that are inside them and their screens. Apple's main beef however, is with Google, who is behind the Android push into the market.
The Internet Service Provider (ISP) has refused to block access to piracy websites or implement three strikes policies in Ireland, winning court actions brought against it by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) in 2010. Ireland's largest ISP, Eircom, already blocks access to the BitTorrent tracker.
However, UPC was asked to clarify its position this week after access to the Pirate Bay seemed to be blocked, displaying a message from the ISP instead.
The Pirate Bay has been blocked. The website you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Further to a request from Irma, the Irish courts have ordered UPC to block access to The Pirate Bay website."
However, access to the Pirate Bay was restored later, and UPC made a statement that seemed to contradict its own notice. "UPC Ireland's position has not changed. UPC is not required by any court or authority to block The Pirate Bay and does not intend to voluntarily block The Pirate Bay," the statement reads.
"Periodically testing is carried out across our European network, which may have been observed by Irish customers."
The research firm is predicting that by 2016, Android will have dethroned Microsoft's Windows operating systems as the dominant OS in the world. It projects that there will be 2.3 billion PCs, tablets and smartphones running Android software, while there will be 2.28 billion devices running Windows.
By the end of this year, Android won't even be half way toward beating Windows overall, with 1.5 billion devices running Windows, to 608 million running Android. Of course, if you focus on the smartphone market, Android beats all already with over two thirds of the market.
Android's rise is phenomenal, when you consider it only broke into the market in 2008. It had been described by the late Apple founder Steve Jobs as a stolen product, and Apple is suing manufacturers of Android devices in courts all over the world in an attempt to subdue it.
Microsoft's launch of its Surface with Windows RT tablet brings the company to the market properly, but its lateness is evident in reviews of the devices, which say it is spoiled by a lack of apps for the platform. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates promised an October surprise recently for apps that will run on Windows 8/RT.
The Patent and Trademark Office in the Unites States found that about 20 patents held by the iPad-maker "lack novelty." Some were rejected because there was not significant innovation over technology that existed prior to the patents.
The preliminary ruling from the patent office has been promptly passed to U.S. federal judge Lucy Koh, who is considering an appeal in a California lawsuit that saw Samsung ordered to pay $1.05 billion in damages to Apple. Samsung has appealed the case, suggesting that the jury foreman failed to answer questions truthfully and may have been biased.
Apple alleged that Samsung violated patents by including "overscroll bounce" features in its smartphones, referring the "bouncing" animation that occurs when a user scrolls past the end of a page on a touch-screen device.
Huawei is the world's second largest supplier of telecoms equipment, after Ericsson, but it is currently being hammered by U.S. lawmakers and other world governments for alleged ties to the Chinese government. The company denies any ties to Beijing, and has promised to be more open and transparent, while fighting the image being portrayed of it.
"Huawei has done a very poor job of communicating about ourselves and we must take full responsibility for that," the chairman of its Australian business, John Lord, told reporters on Wednesday. "Huawei has a duty to set the record straight, to dispel the myths and the misinformation."
Lord said that there are no grounds for any governments to fear doing business with Huawei. The Australian government has barred Huawei from a $38 billion project in the country, while U.S. lawmakers have also expressed concerns about the Chinese firm.
To alleviate concerns in Australia, the company is offered to setup a center in Australia where security-cleared officials will be able to examine all of its source code and equipment. It already has such a center in Britain, where it is now the sole equipment provider for Britain's national broadband network. The firm also offered to do the same in the United States, as did ZTE, but a U.S. congressional intelligence committee found that such a center would fall short of addressing security concerns.
Regulator won't probe Windows RT browser restrictions.
Several rival browser makers have made noise over Microsoft disallowing the full install of rival browsers on Windows RT, limiting those with only the Metro UI to using the Internet Explorer browser. Considering the European Commission investigated Microsoft for competition concerns due to its bundling of Internet Explorer with previous versions of Windows, the EU regulators might have been expected to repeat the same actions or consider that the previous settlement with Microsoft extends to newer versions of Windows.
However, Vice-President of the European Commission, Jaoquin Almunia, ruled out a new probe into Microsoft's browser policies for Windows on Tablet PCs.
"There are no grounds to pursue an investigation on this issue," he told a news briefing when asked.
The investigation that led to the 2009 agreement between Microsoft and the European Commission - which brought about the Browser Choice screen - was driven by the fact that Microsoft's Windows was the dominant operating system on PCs within the EEA. The Commission viewed Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows as an abuse of that position. With Windows for Tablet PCs, perhaps the commission does not see Microsoft in the same position, and does not feel that the 2009 agreement extends onto tablets from home PCs.
Apple had accused Samsung of patent infringement in the use of "pinch to zoom" features on its Galaxy brand of smartphones and tablet PCs. Last year, Apple lost a preliminary judgement on the same patent in the Dutch courts, and had also failed to convince a court in Britain that HTC violated it, or that Samsung and Motorola Mobility had in Germany.
"With these products Samsung does not infringe the claims that Apple has made," the court in The Hague said in its ruling on Wednesday, acknowledging that its ruling is similar to the others made in separate EU states.
Samsung and Apple are locked in a battle in ten countries, fighting over the growing smartphone and tablet PC markets. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to make a decision in an important case between the two this week.
Samsung welcomed today's court decision, while Apple did not comment to the media.
European regulator says Microsoft failed to completely comply with "Browser Choice" commitments.
Microsoft had agreed to present a web browser choice screen to all users in the European Economic Area (EEA) in order to settle a competition investigation, in which the European Commission outlined its preliminary view that the company abused its dominant position in the market for client PC operating systems through the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows.
Since then, millions of European users will have seen the Browser Choice screen appear on their Desktop. The screen is an unbiased browser selection program that allowed a user to install an alternative web browser, or stick with Internet Explorer as a default.
However, Microsoft failed to roll out the browser choice screen with its Windows 7 Service Pack 1, which was released in February 2011, the European regulator has said. From February 2011 until July 2012, millions of Windows users in the EU may not have seen the choice screen. Microsoft has acknowledged that the choice screen was not displayed during that period.
If a company has breached commitments made legally binding by way of an Article 9 decision, it may be fined up to 10% of its total annual turnover.
The study showed that 51.5 percent of participants used their tablet PCs for gaming within a two week period. That represents an average of 10.9 percent of total incidents of use, which apparently beats social networking or watching video.
Checking e-mails was clearly a favourite for tablet users, with 84.5 percent using a tablet to check e-mails within the period, and e-mail accounting for 18.9 percent of total incidents of use.
Google's results are largely in line with a similar study conducted by Nielsen into what consumers use their tablet PCs to do.
"By better understanding current tablet activities and their context, these findings may serve as a basis for anyone designing and developing applications and sites for tablets," the Google report notes.
Over the past few years, there has been several breaches of the PS3's security, which is geared toward controlling what can be run on the device. A few days ago, it suffered another big setback when a crew calling itself "The Three Musketeers" released the LV0 keys into the wild.
The group claimed that the keys were only made public because another group was using the code to develop its own customer firmware (BlueDiskCFW) to sell.
According to reports, the keys may be used to decrypt future console updates in order to incorporate changes into custom firmware packages, or get around new security measures.
"You can be sure that if it wouldn't have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day," the group wrote in a note with the release. "Only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
T-Mobile USA has made the Samsung Galaxy Note II available today, although the price tag is big enough to scare off anyone who was on the fence about buying the "phablet."
The powerful Jelly Bean-powered phone will cost $370 with contract and be available in just the "Marble White" and "Titanium Gray" colorways to start.
If you want the phone, off-contract, it will set you back $649.99.
The new device runs on Android 4.1, has a 5.5-inch screen, a new 16:9aspect ratio meaning 1280x720 resolution.
Additionally, despite having a larger screen, the Note II is actually thinner than its predecessor, at 9.4mm. The new S Pen is longer, and also thicker than last year's, but with a more ergonomic grip.
Under the hood, the phone is powered by a quad-core 1.6GHz processor and 2GB RAM. The device has an 8MP LED rear camera and a 1.9MP front-side camera, a microSD slot, MHL, NFC, dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS and Glonass, Wi-Fi Direct, 21 Mbps HSPA+ or 4G LTE support.
Following their press event yesterday in which they unveiled the the long-rumored iPad Mini as well as a refreshed iPad, the company has quietly dumped the price on a refurbished third-generation model.
The third gen iPad was released in just March but has now been discontinued, meaning Apple has some inventory to unload.
As of yesterday, Apple is now selling the Wi-Fi only 16GB Apple iPad 3 in White or Black with a 1-year Apple warranty for just $379, including free shipping. That price is much lower than the $500 consumers were paying for the same model (new) just two days ago, which may anger recent purchasers. Apple has said it will upgrade your recently purchased iPad to the new fourth-generation if you purchased the tablet within the last 30 days and it is in mint condition.
The new refresh of the tablet Apple is powered by the A6X chip, promising double the processing and graphics performance over the third generation iPad. It features a 9.7-inch Retina Display, and adds a FaceTime HD camera. Apple also promises twice the performance from Wi-Fi with the fourth generation iPad, along with broader international support for LTE.
Sharp has said today that their new IGZO display tech will lead to triple the battery life in smartphones and tablets, as well as offer better touch sensitivity.
The company also proudly boasted that shipments of devices with the new tech will "surge," although they neglected to state a time table.
For the time being, only two devices have been announced with the tech, both from Sharp themselves for sale in Japan.
IGZO is a backplane technology describing the materials used for the thin film transistors that drive the display. The tech requires less LEDs for backlighting leading to a huge improvement in power draw and therefore, battery life. So much so, that Sharp says mobile devices could have up to 300 percent better battery life, a number that cannot be ignored.
For example, Sharp's own Aquos Phone has a 2,320mAh battery and the company says it should last a full 48 hours on a single charge with "normal usage." Most current smartphones (with the exception of the Motorola Maxx line), including the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy S III average 18-24 hours for "normal" usage on a single charge.
Netflix released its Q3 2012 earnings today, sending shares falling as much as 12 percent.
On the positive side, Netflix revealed it now has 25.1 million streaming subscribers in the U.S., up significantly from the 23.9 million users last quarter, and 21.5 million during the same period last year.
DVD subscribers dropped by 690,000 as it continues its trend to zero. International streaming customers also increased exponentially, from 1.5 million during the same quarter in 2011 to 4.3 million as of this quarter.
Revenue increased to $905 million, and net income came in at $8 million.
CEO Reed Hastings took time to discuss threats to their streaming service, including Amazon and HBO. The company downplayed both but did note that HBO will likely "go direct-to-consumer in the U.S., and become more of a competitor to Netflix" in the future.
In an effort to curb the piracy of their products in the nation, Microsoft has announced they will not offer boxed versions of Windows 8 in China.
If you want to purchase the OS legitimately in the nation, you will need to purchase it digitally or have it pre-installed on a new computer.
"After having talked to many customers, Microsoft has made the decision to simplify the distribution model of Windows in China, by taking all physical Windows media off the market," the company noted.
Although that doesn't make too much sense, Microsoft did add later that the move was made to help protect customers from malware and spyware. Many counterfeit copies sold on the streets include some type of spyware pre-installed.
China has long been one of the world's worst offenders in regards to piracy, with the BSA claiming the illegal software sales market in 2011 totaled $9 billion compared to $3 billion for legal sales.
By some accounts, pirated Windows copies account for 85 percent of the total Windows copies installed in China.
Apple has confirmed that it will give consumers who purchased a third-generation iPad in the last 30 days a free upgrade to the newly announced fourth generation iPad.
That being said, the exchange will have to be done in stores, and is at the discretion of the store itself.
Some stores may not choose to exchange, but anyone who purchased in the last two weeks is still under the 14-day return policy no matter what.
The new fourth generation iPad is powered by a new A6X chip, promising double the processing and graphics performance over the third generation iPad. It features a 9.7-inch Retina Display, and adds a FaceTime HD camera. Apple also promises twice the performance from Wi-Fi with the fourth generation iPad, along with broader international support for LTE.
The fourth generation iPad also features the new lightning connector, which can be utilized for TV out via a "Lightning to HDMI" or "Lightning to VGA" cable, and other cables adapters also support cameras and SD cards.
The new iMac is packed into an aluminum and glass enclosure with up to 40 percent less volume than its predecessor and an edge that measures just 5 mm thin. The new iMac also features a completely reengineered display that reduces reflection by 75 percent.
It is powered by Intel Core i5 processors, or Core i7 if you wish to upgrade. The latest NVIDIA GeForce processors deliver up to 60 percent faster performance for advanced gaming and graphics intensive apps.
Every new iMac now comes standard with 8GB of 1600 MHz memory and a 1TB hard drive, and customers can choose to configure their iMac with up to 32GB of memory and a new 3TB hard drive, or 768GB of flash storage for ultimate performance.
For connectivity, the new iMac features two Thunderbolt and four USB 3.0 ports.
Apple also described its new Fusion Drive option, an innovative new storage choice that gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance.
The new MacBook Pro is just 0.75 inches thick and weighs just 3.57lbs, making it 20 percent thinner and just under 1lb lighter. The 227 ppi display was predicted to be a feature of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro over the last few weeks. It comes with a FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones, improved speakers, three-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a MagSafe 2 power port.
The new notebook features a 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processors with the option to choose faster 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 processors, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, and up to 768GB of flash storage. Two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports allow users to connect to multiple displays and high-performance devices, and a new HDMI port offers quick connectivity to an HDTV.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro battery delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity and can remain in standby for up to 30 days, according to Apple.
Microsoft has announced that Xbox SmartGlass will be launched the same day as Windows 8, on Friday.
The new feature will be the company's first real try at "second-screen entertainment," blending together movies, media and games between Microsoft-powered gaming consoles, smartphones, tablets and PCs.
For right now, only Windows 8 tablets and smartphones will have access to the feature, but the company has promised iOS and Android apps in the near future.
The company listed the games and other applications that have SmartGlass support, right at the launch.
Games: Ascend
Dance Central 3
Forza Horizon
Halo Waypoint
Home Run Stars
Karaoke
Kinect Sesame Street TV Prima Games
Sports: ESPN
NBA Game Time
UFC
Entertainment Apps: Elections 2012
HBO GO
MSN
NBC News
NOW TV
Slacker Radio
TODAY
Univision
Apple showed off two new iPads today. First the company introduced the new fourth generation iPad, which is powered by a new A6X chip, promising double the processing and graphics performance over the third generation iPad. It features a 9.7-inch Retina Display, and adds a FaceTime HD camera. Apple also promises twice the performance from Wi-Fi with the fourth generation iPad, along with broader international support for LTE.
The fourth generation iPad also features the new lightning connector, which can be utilized for TV out via a "Lightning to HDMI" or "Lightning to VGA" cable, and other cables adapters also support cameras and SD cards.
iPad mini
The real star of the show however - and the device we were waiting to cover - is the iPad mini. It is 7.2 mm thin and weighs 0.68lbs, 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, featuring a 7.9-inch multi-touch display. It features FaceTime HD and iSight cameras. It's battery life matches that of its bigger brother, at 10 hours.
Amazon has discontinued the original Kindle Touch today, choosing to focus on its new Paperwhite model instead.
The $99 Touch is no longer available through Amazon, and heading to its page will instead redirect you to the Paperwhite product page, which costs $20 more but is thinner and offers "Paperwhite," backlighting so you can read your books in low light or no light environments.
Amazon's latest is also on backorder for 4-6 weeks, due to huge demand (and probably some supply side issues, as well).
It appears now that Paperwhite was always seen as a replacement to the Touch, and that Amazon was looking to sell through any remaining inventory of the Touch.
As reported last week, the company also said good night to its oversized 9.7-inch Kindle DX.
Essentially, when the Skype app is running in the background on Windows 8, it stops using the CPU of the device entirely and takes advantage of a feature called Connected Standby in modern chips, and Microsoft's cloud servers.
One minute after a user switches to another app, the Skype app will be suspended entirely after it registers its change of activity with Windows Push Notification Services (WNS), which is Microsoft software that runs in the cloud.
Skype typically has worked by maintaining open connections with all active contacts. This way, the Microsoft cloud servers will take on the job of alerting the Windows 8 device that there is an incoming call or message, with the Skype app not using the system resources at all. When the device receives the notification from Microsoft's servers, it will reactivate the Skype app and the app will handle the activity. The reactivation will happen within a fraction of a second after a user tries to make an incoming call.
"Skype evolved on the desktop as a large application that maintains a connection with all of your peers," Piero Sierra, Skype's director of program management, told the BBC News website.
The 20 year old reportedly worked out of his parents basement, where he wrote rogue Android apps that came laced with malicious code. The malware sent premium SMS messages, which affected over 17,000 victims, and netted the alleged author about half a million euros since 2011.
The malware also stole usernames and passwords from gaming and gambling sites accessed by the owners.
He admitted his guilt shortly after his arrest, but stressed that his actions were not motivated by greed, but rather by a love for computer technology.
Rogue apps are becoming a big problem for Android. They mimic other popular apps, such as Instagram, Skype and Angry Birds, but they come loaded with extra nasties, often leaving the owner of the handset with a huge bill for premium SMS.
IWF warns that porn sites want your racy photos so badly they will steal them.
It shouldn't come as any surprise to a reader that posting pictures of videos of you online - that are of a sexual nature - is probably not a very good idea when sober. Apparently though, many people do in fact post such content, even to social networks, and porn sites are only too happy to snap up pictures of you and host them.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) primarily investigates images and videos of child sexual abuse online, but this warning isn't just about the youngest Internet users' actions. The group tracked 12,000 self-generated photos and videos that had been posted online (social networks and so forth), and found that 88 percent of them had been reposted by pornography websites.
What the IWF wants to get into everyone's head is that when you post something online, it may become impossible to force it offline. Many people, especially teenagers, don't seem to realize how quickly you can lose control of content online, it is even impossible for celebrities and royalty with expensive legal resources at their disposal to do it.
Michael Paul McIver posted a video he recorded while travelling on a new motorbike. In the video, the speedometer showed that he was travelling up to 120.6mph, over 11 miles in Denbighshire along the A5 near Corwen, and the A5104 at Llandegla.
The 25 year old was ashmed of his actions depicted in the video, Prestatyn magistrates heard. He has been banned from driving for a year, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.
The prosecutor conceded that the speed was the only factor that he was being punished for, as the video showed that the bike was well controlled over the journey. Nevertheless, McIver accepted that his actions were dangerous.
It is not the first - and is not likely to be the last - incriminating video posted on YouTube showing a driver smashing the speed limit. Why do they post the videos?
Your smartphone may be filthier than your bathroom.
We've all had the delightful experience of a greasy touch-screen smartphone by now, but what lives on that greasy surface is a cause for concern for some health professionals. Your smartphone is warm most of the time in your pocket (and from its own internal operating temperature), and you handle it many times per day with your bare hands - as some of your friends or family might also - and then you raise it to your face to speak into it.
This combination is a perfect scenario for some really filthy microbiology to breathe and migrate into your body. That's the message coming from the American Academy of Family Physicians, whose President Jeffrey Cain warns goes completely unnoticed to most smartphone users.
Bacteria on a phone can easily cause conditions such as Pinkeye or Diarrhea, and viruses such as influenza can be transferred from the hands, or from proximity to a sneeze or cough, to a handset's surface.
Of course, the same thing is true for keyboard, a mouse or a landline phone, but the difference with a handset is you carry it around with you all the time, you use it constantly, and you touch it to your face. The Wall Street Journal decided to test some handsets for any nasty passengers while reporting on this issue.
Nokia seeks to raise cash to fight competition, and bolster struggling finances.
It will raise almost a billion dollars by issuing convertible bonds, which can be very lucrative to investors when they are converted into shares years after they are issued. The cash will help it to push back against Apple and Samsung, who are gobbling the smartphone market up to Nokia's detriment.
The Finnish handset giant is struggling to compete in the rapidly changing, and very lucrative market. It is burning through its net cash, which fell from euro;4.2 billion in June, to €3.6 billion in Septemmber. At the end of Q3 2012, Nokia recorded €3.8 billion in liabilities, and faces €1.75 billion in bonds and loans maturing in 2014. Over the past year, it has seen its credit rating cut to junk.
Nokia's focus now has to be on breaking further into the market for smartphones, and is betting on new Lumia models to do just that. The Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 run Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 operating system, and are due to arrive in stores in November. The company also recently unveiled its $199 Lumia 510, an update of the Lumia 610 handset with a larger screen - it does not run WP8.
The iPad-maker will host a press event in a few hours time which is widely anticipated to the be the unveiling of a new smaller iPad. A source told THG that Apple will only unveil the iPad Mini today, and not other potential revelations that have been speculated, such as a beefed up iPad 3 or Retina Display-touting MacBook Pro.
Apple has looked on as Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets, and Google's Nexus 7 served as a proof of concept - consumers are interested in small form factor tablets. The iPad line has been enormously lucrative for the company, clearly 84 million devices sold since the first iPad launch in 2010. The next iteration of the iPad is expected in Spring next year.
Right now, Apple hopes to provide Amazon and Google with a serious competitor for tablets in the ~7-inch range.
The launch is another test for Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is attempting to fill the shoes of Steve Jobs, who passed away just over a year ago. While this move seems like a no-brainer, there are some slight worries that Apple might end up offering a new smaller iPad to the detriment of its larger ~10-inch iPads. Will Apple customers decide to get a new iPad Mini instead of a fourth generation iPad next year?
Earlier today, we reported that Samsung was allegedly ending its LCD contracts with Apple by 2013.
Samsung has quickly denied the rumor, which came from a Korea Times report citing an anonymous Samsung official. The company says the story was completely untrue and that "Samsung Display has never tried to cut the supply for LCD panels to Apple."
Original Story:
The rift between both giants continues to widen as Samsung is reportedly cutting its LCD supply contracts with Apple. The report from the Korea Times said that Samsung has already cut its LCD shipments to Apple in recent months, but will cease shipping LCD screens to the iPad-maker in 2013.
Samsung was the largest supplier of LCD screens to Apple in the first half of 2012, topping 15 million screens, somewhat ahead of LG Display's 12.5 million. In the third quarter however, Samsung shipped less than 3 million LCDs to Apple, and is expected to ship only around 1.5 million LCD screens in the fourth quarter.
The poorly kept secret that is the LG Nexus 4 will be officially unveiled on October 29th, says an LG exec.
LG's Head of Mobile Product Planning in India, Amit Gujral told a reporter that the phone will indeed be unveiled next week, at Google's previously announced press event. Google is also expected to unveil a 10-inch tablet and an update to Android itself.
As rumored, the device will have a 4.7-inch 1280x768 display, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, dual cameras and Android 4.2.
Under the hood is 2GB RAM, 16GB storage and a large 2100mAh battery.
What remains unclear is when the device will be available, and at what price from the Google Play Hardware Store.
Hulu has unveiled a dedicated Hulu Plus app for Windows 8.
The app will be optimized for touch screen, and just like the newly launched Skype app, will be available with Windows 8's launch on Friday.
"The Hulu Plus app uses a tile-based view common to the new Windows UI. This will make it easy for you to find the latest episode of the shows you want to watch, but also to discover new ones," Hulu added in a post.
Additionally, "launching the app presents you with an immersive panorama of your favorite shows and episodes laid out in a wide canvas," Hulu said.
Gaining access to Britain's first 4G mobile service will cost from £36 per month under EE's plans, as it aims to lure smartphone users from competing operators in the region before they have their own 4G services off the ground.
Whilst providing connections that are up to five times faster than their (3G) competitors, the EE tariffs include the typical data limitation buzz-kill. The £36 plan comes with a measly 500MB of data, while upgrading to a £56 tariff pushes it up to 8GB, which is somewhat better, but is it worth paying an extra £20 per month?
The 4G service will launch in 10 cities in the UK on October 30th.
"Our business model is more built around a fast adoption of 4G services ... because of our whole tariffing structure and tariffing strategy and because the UK in general has a big appetite to move to new technologies," Chief Executive Olaf Swantee said.
EE gained a competitive edge over competitors - including O2, Vodafone and Three - when the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, permitted it to re-use existing spectrum for its 4G service, much to the disgust of its rivals who must wait until next year to obtain spectrum for 4G services.
Sprint has announced its biggest 4G LTE rollout yet.
The carrier has expanded the fast data network to new markets in Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, and Texas for a total of 32 markets.
Users who want the faster LTE will now have it in Hutchinson and McPherson, Kan.; New Bedford and Fall River, Mass.; and Wichita Falls, Texas. Additionally, the rollout includes Addison, Bolingbrook, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Kankakee, Rockford, Joliet, Naperville, Palatine, Plainfield, Ill., and Gary, Ind.
By the end of the year, Sprint says it expects to have LTE available to over 125 markets. By comparison, Verizon's faster LTE is available to 400 markets and AT&T is available to 77.
BPI wants Pirate Bay block followed up with three more blocks.
The trade group, which represents record companies and labels in the United Kingdom, has contacted all six major UK Internet Service Provides - BT, Sky, Virgin Media, O2, EE and TalkTalk - requesting that they now also block access to Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents.
UK ISPs have already blocked access to the Pirate Bay web tracker, and the BPI is hoping that further blocks will be implemented more quickly, now that there is legal precedent.
Responding to the BPI's latest request, the six major ISPs will comply and block access but only if they are obliged to with a court order. The BPI made the demand in a letter that was not meant for public viewing, but was seen and reported by the BBC News website.
"Like The Pirate Bay, these websites are profiting illegally from distributing music that isn't theirs, without permission and without paying a penny to the musicians, writers and producers who created it," a spokesman for the BPI told the BBC.
"It is plain wrong. The existence of these sites damages the growth of Britain's burgeoning digital music sector."
The Microsoft chairman hinted that Redmond's long term plan for its Windows and Windows Phone operating systems is to merge them into a universal OS, saying they are "evolving literally into being a single platform." He was addressing the increasing amount of sharing between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
He also took time to praise the Microsoft Surface tablet, and promised an "October surprise" in the area of Windows 8 apps, which is a weak area compared to the alternative app collections for Android or iOS.
Watch the short in-house interview with Bill Gates below.
Microsoft has unveiled the long-awaited Skype for Windows 8, which will be available starting on Friday with the launch of the Surface and other Windows 8 products.
The company says the software will be a brand new experience, with contacts and messaging placed at the forefront. Right after the client is launched, recent chat bubbles, messages and your most frequently messaged contacts will appear.
"Skype has also made it even easier for you to call landlines or mobile phones directly, with a new modern dial pad," added Mark Gillett, chief development and operations officer at Skype. "You can easily see how much Skype Credit you have along with active subscriptions and your recent calls all in one easy view."
As with most new apps, the new Skype will show up in Windows 8 as a live tile, including notifications for any missed calls or messages.
Microsoft purchased Skype for $8.5 billion last year, ensuring the popular international video chatting service is available on all Windows devices into the future.
Sony ends partnership with Stanford University's Folding@home.
Folding@home has been available on PS3s since 2007. Since then, more than 15 million users have participated in the program, logging more than 100 million computation hours to the project. Now, with the 4.30 firmware update for the games console, the partnership between Folding@Home and PlayStation is being terminated.
Folding@home is a distributed computing program that simulates protein folding as part of research into the causes of a variety of diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and types of cancers. The contribution from PS3 users has had a considerable effect on the progress made by the program.
Nintendo has praised a court ruling that led to a patent infringement lawsuit concerning technology in the Nintendo Wii home console, and the Balance Board peripheral, being dropped. Impulse Technology Ltd had sued Nintendo, claiming that both products violated a patent it held related to an interactive exercise system.
Earlier this month, the Judge overseeing the case gave his own interpretation of the wording of the patent at the center of the lawsuit, and the result of his opinion was Impulse dropping its case against the Japanese game-maker.
"We are very pleased with the court's ruling, which forced Impulse to walk away from this lawsuit," Nintendo of America deputy general counsel Richard Medway said.
"Nintendo vigorously defends patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent. We will continue our tradition of developing unique and innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others."
BT and Virgin Media objection enrages Birmingham council.
The city council plans to build a 100Mbps+ broadband network to serve areas of the city. It says that in some places, such as Digbeth, Eastside and the city's Jewellery Quarter, businesses do not have access to affordable high speed broadband.
The council applied for funding from the European Commission State Aid to improve its broadband infrastructure throughout the city, and was successful in its application. However, Virgin Media and BT are opposed to the plan.
Virgin Media claims that Birmingham already has significant overbuild with its current network, contrary to the council's belief that providers have underserved local areas.
"The city has worked in a very positive and collaborative way with them over the last few years to help inform and develop our business case and we are surprised that they have now chosen to appeal at such a late stage," Councillor James McKay said.
"We are liaising with government and the European Commission and we are advocating that this matter be treated with some urgency as a 'test case' for Europe and that everything that can be done to expedite it through the legal process is done."
BlackBerry hurting as federal agency to spend $2.1 million on switching to iPhones.
These are not good days for Research in Motion (RIM) and the BlackBerry brand, and it is no secret. While RIM is betting on its upcoming BB10 smartphone, which will compete with iPhones and Android devices, it has lost some important business lately. The latest blow comes as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) prepares to arm 17,600 employees with iPhones, ending a long partnership with BlackBerry.
According to ICE, RIM "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency." It picked Apple's devices over Android phones because of Apple's strict controls over the hardware platform and operating system.
"The iPhone services will allow these individuals to leverage reliable, mobile technology on a secure and manageable platform in furtherance of the agency's mission,"the agency declared in a solicitation document posted last week.
BlackBerry's have been popular among government and enterprise users for years, largely due to perceived supremacy in security over the competition. Apple has done some work in this area to make iPhones more appealing to government and business.
Hundreds of apps found to be vulnerable to "man in the middle" attacks.
Research conducted at the University of Leibniz in Hanover and the computer science department at the Philipps University of Marburg, found that hundreds of Android apps can leak personal or sensitive information. The researchers tested 13,500 Android apps from the Google Play store, and found that 8 percent of them failed to protect bank account details, or social media login details, adequately, due to SSL weaknesses.
The test utilized a crafted attack tool and a fake Wi-Fi hotspot to spy on data transmitted from the apps. In many cases, the researchers were able to retrieve login credentials for banking, email, social media or corporate networks. They could also disable security programs or spoof them into labelling secure apps as infected, and in cases could even inject code into the data stream and force apps to carry out specific commands.
Since the researchers intentionally focused on popular apps, some of the tested apps have clocked up millions of downloads.
The Orthodox Christians apparently believe that the iconic Apple logo - an Apple with a bite taken out of it - symbolizes the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Bible. In fact, the Apple logo (and company name) is inspired by Isaac Newton, who became obsessed with gravity after an Apple allegedly landed on his head after falling from a tree.
Regardless of the facts though, there are reports that some Christians in Russia have even taken to covering up the Apple logo with images of the cross. Anti-blasphemy laws have been introduced in the Russian parliament, much to the disgust of more secular types in Russian politics and society.
Tensions in Russia between the Orthodox Church and secular elements in society have been escalating in recent times. One incident that gained international attention was the case of the Pussy Riot band, who staged a protest in one of Russia's main cathedrals, landing the band members in a whole lot of trouble.
Russian political party Yabloko may back Apple in any dispute with the religious orders, or the state. The party (its name translates as "Apple") has been a critic of what it sees as attempts to create a "clerical-police state" and to fuel conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and secular civil society.
The rift between both giants continues to widen as Samsung is reportedly cutting its LCD supply contracts with Apple. The report from the Korea Times said that Samsung has already cut its LCD shipments to Apple in recent months, but will cease shipping LCD screens to the iPad-maker in 2013.
Samsung was the largest supplier of LCD screens to Apple in the first half of 2012, topping 15 million screens, somewhat ahead of LG Display's 12.5 million. In the third quarter however, Samsung shipped less than 3 million LCDs to Apple, and is expected to ship only around 1.5 million LCD screens in the fourth quarter.
According to the Korea Times report, Samsung's move to cut Apple off from its LCD business completely stems from an industry rumor indicating that Apple is seriously considering moving chip production away from Samsung. The Korean firm currently supplies the custom chips that power Apple's mobile devices, but reports suggest that Apple will tap Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in the near future to replace Samsung.
Netflix announced the launch of their service in the Nordics last week. The on-demand streaming service is now open in four new countries: Sweden, Finland, Norway and Denmark.
During the launch event in Helsinki, Finland on Thursday, we briefly met with the CEO and founder of Netflix Reed Hastings and discussed a little bit about launch in the Nordic region and future plans.
Netflix launched with an expected monthly price of 7,99 euros sporting a broad device support that is their trademark.
Reed Hastings confirmed that having broad device support is one of the most important aspects. However, in the bigger picture, it is important to offer an easy-to-use experience, which comes down to more than device support.
Talking about the competition and entering the Nordic market, Hastings said that it's not important to think about the competition. They have more experience in the field than anyone else and they trust what they've managed to build.
The large resolution display format "4K" will now be known as "Ultra High Definition" for consumers.
The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) made the announcement this week, claiming the new name would make it more clear for consumers that the displays have a resolution above Full HD 1,920 x 1,080 pixels.
Ultra HD will require resolution of 3,840 x 2,160 pixels vertically, the CEA said. Furthermore, any Ultra HD display will require at least one 4K-capable digital input and be able to display 4K content natively without upconverting.
"This new terminology and the recommended attributes will help consumers navigate the marketplace to find the TV that best meets their needs," concluded president and CEO of CEA Gary Shapiro.
Microsoft has sold 70 million Xbox 360, a strong milestone for the aging console.
The console launched in November 2005, a year ahead of the rival Sony PlayStation 3.
At 70 million, Microsoft will have the eight best selling console of all-time, just ahead of the PS3 at 64 million and just behind the PSP at 74 million. Sony's PlayStation 2 remains the leader (likely of all-time unless the DS sneaks in some more sales) at 153.6 million.
Last year, Microsoft announced 50 million units had been sold, so the company has sold an impressive amount of consoles over the last two years. In the last quarter, however, the company only sold 1.7 million, a large 30 percent drop from the same quarter last year.
The video game industry itself has been struggling of late, with a downtrend in sales that has not let up for almost a year.
Earlier this week, Google sent out press invites for an event on October 29th.
Today, TNW is reporting that Google will use the event to not only introduce the new Nexus 4, but also to unveil the rumored 10-inch Nexus tablet with Samsung.
The "premium" Nexus 10 tablet will have Samsung as the manufacturer and include a massive pixel density, higher than that of the iPad's Retina Display.
If accurate, the sources say the tablet will have a 2560 x 1,600 display and a PPI of 299. The third-gen iPad has 264 PPI and a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution.
Furthermore, Google will also unveil Android 4.2, which includes new features like "Tablet Sharing," "Content in the Center" and new vertical panoramic photo capture, as well.
Earlier this week, Netflix expanded to Nordic nations including Finland, Denmark and Sweden.
To be able to properly expand, the company added native language subtitles to some of the videos.
However, it appears that a few of those streams were "unauthorized" fansubs, created by the popular fansub community "DivX Finland." DXF has been translating subs for TV eps and movies since 2003 and has seen their subtitles downloaded 26 million times, says Freak.
Making a joke, DXF wrote on Twitter: "It's nice to see that the texts are used, but they did not ask permission."
Netflix apologized and pulled the subs immediately: "We buy movies and TV shows from many different distributors. Generally they provide the subtitles. We're investigating how these subtitles were added to Andromeda. We have removed the series from Netflix pending the investigation. We are a legitimate service and pay a lot of money for the TV programs and movies on Netflix, including subtitles."
As of last week, T-Mobile has done away with their existing 200MB data plan for all new smartphone activations.
The new minimum is 2GB, which is the standard for the other carriers.
For existing customers, you can keep your grandfathered 200MB plan, but all new subscribers will need to adhere to the new policy.
T-Mobile says the new policy is in place because "modern smartphones consume data at a faster rate" and "2GB will protect consumers from unexpected overages."
Last week, Best Buy announced their first tablet, the Insignia Flex.
The company did not reveal all too much about the tablet, except to say it would have a 9.7-inch screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor and battery life of 10 hours. Insignia is Best Buy's in-house branding.
Additionally, the company noted the device will initially run on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an update to 4.1 Jelly Bean possible in the future. The tablet has a mic, headphone port and microSD slot, but other ports are unknown.
The device will ship in the second week of November but there was no word on price. This week, however, we have a better idea of the pricing, thanks to Reuters.
"$239 to $259" will be the price, says the report, likely implying a price tag of $249.99 when the price is officially unveiled.
For a 9.7-inch tablet, the price undercuts anything out there and the price matches the upcoming 32GB 7-inch Nexus 7.
According to the Center for Copyright Information, the controversial "Copyright Alert System" will hit the U.S. within weeks.
"Over the course of the next two months, each participating ISP expects to begin rolling out its version of the CAS," added the Center.
The CCI has worked with major ISPs and the media companies to come up with the system which progressively sends out warnings to alleged online pirates. Eventually the warnings will cease and will lead to penalties. Jill Lesser, CEO of the CCI says the system will cover 75 percent of all American Internet users when deployed.
The exec also says the system will be more of an educational program: "It is not a six strikes program. This is an educational program; there are a series of educational alerts that will be sent out to subscribers."
Through this education, Lesser hopes pirates will be steered towards legal content, which is readily becoming easier to access.
If you reach the fifth or sixth strike, rightsholders will have the option to bring lawsuits, and ISPs could kick you from their service, although there is little financial incentive for them to do so. Participating ISPs include AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon.
Just one week before their biggest ecosystem launch in history, Microsoft reported weak earnings.
For the fiscal Q1 2013, the company had $16.01 billion in revenue (far below expected $16.5) with net income of $5.31 billion, down 22 percent year-over-year.
Windows sales lagged significantly, leading to the profit drop, due to the upcoming launch of Windows 8 and consumers holding off. In total, the Windows and Windows Live divisions saw revenue fall to $3.24 billion, a 33 percent decrease year-over-year.
Looking at the bigger picture, PC shipments in general lagged, down 8 percent in the quarter as consumers waited out the launch of Windows 8 and the expectation of better deals over the holiday season.
Microsoft's biggest cash cow, the business division (with Microsoft Office), grew by 1 percent to $5.50 billion.
Next quarter's earnings will be historically volatile for the company which normally has steady sales. The company is launching the Surface tablet, Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and potentially its own Surface smartphone.
According to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, Google has sold somewhere between 800,000 and 1 million Nexus 7 tablets since launch in June.
The analyst came to the conclusion after reading through Google's recent quarterly earnings report. The company did not directly report the Nexus 7 unit sales.
Munster says the "other income" entry in the report was a reference to the tablet. 'Other Income' came in at $666 million for the Q3. Adds Munster: "We believe Google's Other Income of $666 (compared to Street at $477) suggests that Google likely sold 800k-1m Nexus 7s in Q3. Excluding our estimated Nexus 7 impact, core net revenues would have been up 2.5 percent quarter-over-quarter vs. 4.7 percent."
Google CEO Larry Page did not waste any time urging investors to purchase the popular tablet: "Today there are over half a billion Android devices-half a billion – with 1.3 million more being activated every day. You should all run out and buy the Nexus 7 tablet for $199. It's had rave reviews and recently won Gadget of the Year from T3, the gadget experts. You'll love the integration with Google Play. It is an amazing device."
Sony has finally revealed which of its devices will get the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean update.
The company will certainly anger some its users, but a significant amount of its phones will be getting the best Android available.
Here is the full list:
Xperia T
Xperia TX
Xperia V
Xperia S Xperia acro S
Xperia ion
Xperia P Xperia go
Xperia J
This year's low end devices, such as the Xperia U and Tipo, will not get the update, however. Additionally, the company's entire 2011 line will be trapped with Ice Cream Sandwich.
The time table is not entirely laid out except for the TX and V, which are getting the update sometime in February.
Sharp has introduced a new 7-inch tablet for availability in Japan.
Most notably, the tablet will have IGZO display technology, which consumes much less energy than LCD due to special backlighting. The company recently showed off an Aquos phone with the same tech.
Dubbed the Sharp Aquos Pad SHT21, the tablet is set for launch in Japan in December.
The Aquos Pad will have a 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dual core processor, 1280 x 800 resolution, 1GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and 4G LTE, weigh 9.3 ounces and include a small 2040mAh battery due to the efficiency of the IGZO screen.
Nicholas Allegra, the infamous "Comex," has been terminated after his quick employment at Apple.
The 20-year old Brown University student, became infamous for jailbreaking all of Apple's iPhones and iPads and releasing Jailbreak tools, usually within days or weeks of their release.
Comex revealed his departure from Apple via Twitter: "So...no point in delaying. As of last week, after about a year, I'm no longer associated with Apple. As for why? Because I forgot to reply to an email."
Supposedly, Apple sent an employment letter asking Allegra whether he wanted to continue his time as a remote intern, which the hacker accidentally forgot to answer. The letter was soon rescinded. "I wasn't too happy about it, but it didn't seem like I was able to fix it. So that's what it is."
Allegra took the internships because, in his own words, he got "bored" with jailbreaking.
Verizon has launched the new Motorola RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD flagships.
Starting with the Maxx HD, the phone has a 4.7-inch, 1280-by-720 Super AMOLED HD display with 312 pixel-per-inch density and Motorola's own ColorBoost technology which makes for 'more vibrant color reproduction.'
The phone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, which should be as efficient and powerful as quad-core equivalents. Inside is 32GB internal storage and a massive 3300mAh battery. Dual cameras 8/1.3MP are standard as is a microSD slot, NFC, LTE and an HDMI port.
At launch, the device will have Android 4.0.4, with a Jelly Bean update expected before the end of the year.
AT&T has confirmed that it has an exclusive deal to market and sell the upcoming Nokia Lumia 920.
What the carrier did not reveal, however, is how long that exclusive would last.
A new report today claims that AT&T has a full 6 month exclusivity pact, leaving Verizon, T-Mobile and Sprint users in the dark until at least April or May.
The 920 has a nice 4.5-inch TrueBlack display and a fast dual-core S4 Snapdragon processor. The phone also offers a curved glass display just like the Lumia 800 before it. A new addition to Windows Phone is a microSD slot. Always fans of nice cameras, Nokia brought the PureView software from its 808 phone, adding that the camera catches 10x more light than other smartphones, making it ideal for dark shots.
A new feature is 'City Lens,' an augmented reality piece of software that 'overlays details about nearby points of interest or businesses onto the phone's display - providing information including reviews, ratings and contact information for nearby shops or restaurants at a glance,' says ZD.
Over the past two weeks, rumors have been picking up about Google's supposed new Nexus phone, the LG Nexus 4 (or Optimus Nexus).
Today, we have one more rumor; the price.
Multiple reports are claiming that Google will sell the phone unlocked via its Google Play Store for just $399.
Why $399? Apparently because the phone will have just 8GB internal storage and no LTE radio. Supposedly, the device will launch on October 29th, after a Google press event in NYC.
LG's device looks like a slightly revamped LG Optimus G, which is the company's new flagship. Under the hood, the device will feature a quad-core Snapdragon S4, 2GB RAM and a large 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 768 display.
One question that remains is whether the phone will introduce a new Google operating system despite the fact that Jelly Bean is on less than 2 percent of all Android devices, currently. Most screenshots reveal the OS will be 4.1.2, a minor update to Jelly Bean, which makes the most sense and is already available for the Galaxy Nexus.
Earlier this week, following an investigation, Foxconn admitted to hiring underage interns, in breach of child labor laws.
In China, the legal working age is 16 but some of the interns were found to be as young as 14. While Foxconn did not admit it, some reports claimed the interns were working many hours including overtime.
Today, Nintendo has responded to the news, since their upcoming Wii U is built by Foxconn:
Nintendo is in communication with Foxconn and is investigating the matter. We take our responsibilities as a global company very seriously and are committed to an ethical policy on sourcing, manufacture and labor. In order to ensure the continued fulfillment of our social responsibility throughout our supply chain, we established the Nintendo CSR Procurement Guidelines in July 2008. We require that all production partners, including Foxconn, comply with these Guidelines, which are based on relevant laws, international standards and guidelines. If we were to find that any of our production partners did not meet our guidelines, we would require them to modify their practices according to Nintendo's policy.
It appears that both LG and Samsung will be delaying the release of their respective 55-inch OLED HDTVs.
Display analyst firm DisplaySearch says the delays are due to manufacturing issues. If accurate, the report says the displays will be delayed until 2013.
Says the firm: "Samsung and LG recently scrapped their plans to mass-produce 55-inch OLED televisions this year as the companies are having serious difficulties in improving manufacturing yield. Samsung and LG planned to start selling OLED TVs at major outlets worldwide during the London Olympics. But mass-produced OLED TVs will be available from late next year, not this year."
LG, for its part, says the report is inaccurate, claiming the display is on track for "initial launch in late 2012". without any specific time table
OLED TVs offer frames 50 percent thinner than even the thinnest LED TVs and also offer the blackest blacks and sharpest colors.
Acer has gotten into the AndroidJelly Bean mix with its latest tablet, the Iconia Tab A110.
The 7-inch device has a 1024x600 resolution and is powered by a 1.2GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor and Android 4.1.
Under the hood is 1GB RAM, 8GB internal storage, a microSD card slot, Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 3.0, and Micro USB and Micro HDMI ports.
There is no rear camera but a 2MP front-facing should do just fine for video calls.
Battery life is stated at 7.5 hours.
Unfortunately for would-be buyers, the A110 will cost $229.99, more expensive than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the more popular Google Nexus 7, which should keep sales muted.
Nokia announced their quarterly earnings this morning, and the numbers were not pretty.
The company saw an operating loss of €969 million ($1.27 billion) for the quarter, on revenue of just €7.2 billion ($9.45 billion).
Even though the company is supported by Microsoft, net cash and cash equivalents fell from €4.2 billion ($5.5 billion) to €3.56 billion ($4.7 billion) in just one quarter, showing the company is burning money fast.
Unfortunately for the company, Lumia sales lagged, with just 2.9 being sold during the quarter, even though the average selling price fell from $244 to $210. For comparison's sake, Apple sold 2 million iPhone 5 in just the first 24 hours of pre-order, and Samsung has sold 20 million Galaxy S III in the last 4 months.
Microsoft is a company very much used to the market changing around them rather than the other way around. As happens so often for companies in that position, their executives didn't realize they were out of step with the market until they saw a major competitor (Apple in this case) leading the market in another direction entirely. Like most companies finding themselves in that position they immediately dedicated themselves to major changes in their product line.
But also typical for such companies is that their changes are mostly superficial when the real problem is the fundamental understanding of the market itself. For all the obvious changes in Windows 8, Microsoft still hasn't learned some of the most important lessons about why they were so wrong or how to correct their course in the long term.
1. Windows and Office are not an ecosystem
Steve Ballmer has made it clear that he believes in the "Windows experience" but it would be more accurate to say he's selling the Microsoft experience. It is Microsoft as the arbiter of app availability and provider of the foundation for all software development in the form of the Windows Store and Windows Runtime API (WinRT) respectively. While Windows itself is certainly a foundation for modern Windows programs, it is far from the foundation.
Today, the hit-or-miss site DigiTimes reported that Google is actively building a $99 Nexus tablet, following up on past rumors from prominent analysts and east Asian suppliers.
In the report, the site claims Google is working with manufacturers WonderMedia, HannStar, and Quanta. Furthermore, Google will use a WonderMedia PRIZM 8950 processor, reads the report.
This however, is where the story seems to fall apart. The PRIZM is a single-core Cortex-A9, running at just 800MHz, making it particularly useless for a tablet which would run Android 4.1 with hopefully an HD display. There is little chance Google will choose to ruin their highly regarded Nexus brand with an under-powered, under-performing device.
Most likely, if Google is really trying to create a $99 tablet, it will use a capable yet low-end S4 Pro from Qualcomm, or potentially a TI OMAP 4 like the one in the Kindle Fire.
Google has just sent out a press event invite in which they will likely unveil either the next version of Android or the next Nexus hardware.
Most rumors have the new Nexus device coming from LG. The phone will be based on the LG Optimus G, and include high-end specs.
Under the hood, the device will feature a quad-core Snapdragon S4, 2GB RAM and a large 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 768 display.
One question that remains is whether the phone will introduce a new Google operating system despite the fact that Jelly Bean is on less than 2 percent of all Android devices, currently. Most screenshots reveal the OS will be 4.1.2, a minor update to Jelly Bean, which makes the most sense but Google could come out swinging with a new updated OS and the hardware.
According to Strategy Analytics, the amount of smartphones in use has crossed 1 billion for the first time ever.
That number is expected to double by 2015, thanks to demand for iPhones, Android and Windows Phone devices.
In the third quarter, the figure reached 1.038 billion, a 47 percent jump from the same time period in 2011.
Back in 1996, Nokia introduced the first real "smartphone" to the scene, but the industry really only heated up after the release of the BlackBerry and then the iPhone and Android.
"Smartphone penetration is still relatively low," added Neil Mawston of Strategy Analytics. "Most of the world does not yet own a smartphone and there remains huge scope for future growth, particularly in emerging markets such as China, India and Africa."
Samsung is the world's top smartphone maker, followed by Apple.
HTC has unveiled the specs and pictures of their new superphone, dubbed the HTC J Butterfly in Japan.
The phone has been rumored as HTC's version of the Nexus, with high-end specs.
Featuring a 5-inch Super LCD 3 display with 440ppi, the display is much more detailed than any current smartphone, including the new iPhone 5 and its Retina Display.
The phone is just 9.1mm thick, has a nice curved design and is powered by a quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro APQ8064 processor, 2GB of RAM, and an 8MP rear camera. Even better, the phone will come with Android 4.1.2 right out of the box.
HTC has placed a large 2020mAh battery in there too, which should lead to long battery life.
There is no word on American naming, availability, or pricing anywhere.
After an investigation, Foxconn has admitted to hiring underage interns, in breach of child labor laws.
In China, the legal working age is 16 but some of the interns were found to be as young as 14.
Reads the company's statement: "This is not only a violation of China's labor law, it is also a violation of Foxconn policy and immediate steps have been taken to return the interns in question to their educational institutions. We are also carrying out a full investigation, in cooperation with the respective educational institutions, to determine how this happened and the actions that must be taken by our company to ensure that it can never happen again."
Foxconn's investigation came quickly after a report from China Labor Watch claimed it could confirm the underage interns at the Yantai facility.
Read the CLW report: "These underage interns were mainly sent to Foxconn by schools, but Foxconn did not check the IDs of these young interns. The schools involved in this incident should take primary responsible, but Foxconn is also culpable for not confirming the ages of their workers."
Foxconn says it will fire any employee who helped facilitate the hiring of the interns.
Motorola was asked why they don't ship stock Android with their new phones in the U.S., despite being owned by Google. The answer was not pretty.
Senior Vice President of product Rick Osterloh said the company would like to ship all new devices with stock Android, but the U.S.'s largest carrier, Verizon, won't have it.
Says Osterloh: "Going forward, we're going to try to be as close to the base as we can be, because we think that's the right thing for users. We think users also want fast upgrades and upgrades for their phones over the long haul, so we're going to be focus on that as well. It's a little bit different than what a lot of OEMs are doing and certainly what Motorola did in the past, but going forward that's going to be our strategy."
One good example is Motorola's new Razr HD. The OS is very close to stock Android, but it comes with some Verizon bloatware and a minor skin overlay. Because of this, the device ships with Android 4.0, not 4.1 Jelly Bean.
The world's worst kept tech secret, literally, has finally been confirmed by Apple.
On October 23rd, the world's largest public company will unveil the so-called iPad Mini, a smaller, cheaper version of their market leading tablet.
In the invite, Apple simply says "We've got a little more to show you."
The device will allegedly feature a 7.85-inch display, making it a direct rival to the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7. Supposedly, the tablet will lose Retina Display and cellular data connectivity, and will not add the A6 processor seen in the iPhone 5. However, the tablet will also allegedly lose some of its hefty price, with the $249 figure being thrown around the most. At $249, the device will be more expensive than its rivals, but $250 cheaper than the third-generation iPad and $150 cheaper than the aging iPad 2.
Furthermore, the new iPad will have the new Lightning connector, which could alienate Apple fans who purchased expensive docks for the older proprietary port.
Netflix has announced expansion of the streaming service to Sweden and Denmark.
The company promised to do so earlier in the year but never gave an exact timeline.
In Sweden, the service costs 79 krona ($12), per month and even more expensive in Denmark, at about 79 krone per month ($14). In the U.S., the service costs just $7.99 and has the largest catalog of movies and TV shows.
New customers are all eligible for a free trial.
Additionally, iPhone fans will be happy as the new countries (and their languages) are supported in the iOS app.
Netflix has 27 million subscribers in the U.S. and about 3.6 million in Canada, Latin America and the UK.
Four months after first unveiling the Surface, Microsoft has finally priced the tablet and begun pre-orders.
The tablet goes on sale on October 26th, and will cost $499 for a 32GB model with no accessories. Moving up the price ladder is the 32GB model with Surface Touch Cover in black for $599 and the 64GB model with cover for $699.
If you want a Type Cover (better keyboard), you can buy it separately for $129.99.
The Surface has a 16:9 display, 10.6-inch screen, the edges are beveled at 22 degrees, and is just 9.3mm thick. The display has Gorilla Glass 2 and you can connect to "the strongest Wi-Fi connection ever." The case is built of magnesium, and the "liquid metal is formed into an ultra rigid and light frame" while weighing just 1.5 lbs.
Under the hood is 2GB RAM, a quad-core Tegra 3 processor, dual-cameras, Bluetooth 4.0, Stereo speakers, a full-size USB 2.0, a microSDXC card reader, Headphone jack and HD video out port.
MetroPCS shareholders have sued over the upcoming merger with major carrier T-Mobile USA.
The shareholders claim the new merger will "drastically undervalue" the company.
Additionally, they suit claims that the MetroPCS board of directors are "conflicted and serving its own financial interests" rather than that of its shareholders.
Reads the complaint: "The process leading to the proposed acquisition was tainted by conflicts, tilted towards T-Mobile and driven entirely by the board and company management, who together control 15.4 percent of PCS' outstanding stock and seek liquidity for their illiquid holdings. [Metro]PCS' officers and directors will receive millions of dollars in special payments -- not being made to ordinary shareholders -- for currently unvested stock options, performance units and restricted shares, all of which shall, upon the merger's closing, become fully vested and exercisable,"
In the deal, T-Mobile USA will merge with MetroPCS with the smaller company taking a 26 percent stake in the combined company and gaining $1.5 billion in cash. Deutsche Telekom, parent of T-Mobile, will keep the remaining stake.
The deal still requires FCC and DOJ approval, which will likely take 6 months.
On Saturday, EA began giving gamers a special promo code if they completed a survey. The promo code was supposed to be good for one free download from the Origin digital download store.
However, as gamers quickly discovered, the code was not secured properly, and was good for as many games as your bandwidth could handle, for free.
Additionally, the code worked for Canadian Origin account holders, as well, and it didn't matter if you ever took the survey or not.
The code was out there for at least a few hours, prompting users to download all they could during the loophole period. One Redditer posted a screenshot of the 90GB worth of games he was able to download and boost his collection.
Amazon has discontinued its least popular Kindle, the over-sized DX.
The DX had a large 9.7-inch screen and is now only available through third-party sellers on Amazon.
Jay Marine, vice president of Kindle at Amazon, recently said the company is "pretty much done with it," when asked about the DX, so the new move should not be seen as too much of a surprise.
Amazon, which recently dropped the price of the e-reader from $380 to $300, has not said if the device will come back on sale, but its highly doubtful given the price drop to clear inventory.
The giant e-tailer also recently announced their Kindle Paperwhite e-reader and Kindle Fire HD tablet, each of which are cheaper than the DX and offer more features and newer software.
Early this morning, Microsoft formally announced their long-awaited Xbox Music streaming service.
The service will allow some Microsoft customers to stream music for free, as well as discover new artists or play full albums on-demand. You can create playlists, and create stations based on genre/artists/music type, as well, just like major rivals Spotify and Pandora. Additionally, the service will offer music videos, as well.
If you have a Windows Phone 8 device or an Xbox, the service will cost $10 per month for unlimited access to all 18 million songs.
The biggest catch of the service is the lack of support for existing software. The service will be available on Windows 8 and RT tablets, PCs, Windows Phone 8 and Xbox 360. Yes, you read that correctly, no Windows 7 or Windows Phone 7 support, nor Mac, iOS, Android or Linux.
According to supposed leaked screenshots of internal inventory of large European retailer Media Markt, the Apple iPad Mini may have the prices most have assumed all along.
If accurate, the base Wi-Fi 16GB model will sell for $250, half the price of the third-generation iPad and $150 cheaper than the older iPad 2.
At its most expensive, a 64GB model with cellular data connectivity will cost $650, making it easily the most expensive 7-inch tablet on the market.
Microsoft has released their first Windows 8 commercial today, two weeks before the company prepares its commercial launch.
The new operating system will hit shelves on October 26th, and the company's marketing campaign is said to be above $1 billion, many times the figure spent on Windows 7.
In the commercial, Microsoft shows off some Windows 8 features and the campaign's motto, "Windows Reimagined," playing off the OS' new 'Metro' theme.
Windows 8 costs $70 for a physical disc, or $40 for a digital upgrade.
Best Buy has announced its first tablet, the Insignia Flex.
Insignia is the company's in-house branding, used for HDTVs, Blu-ray players and more.
The company did not reveal all too much about the tablet, except to say it will have a 9.7-inch screen, a 1GHz dual-core processor and battery life of 10 hours.
Additionally, the company noted the device will initially run on Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich, with an update to 4.1 Jelly Bean possible in the future. The tablet has a mic, headphone port and microSD slot, but other ports are unknown.
The device will ship in the second week of November but there is no word yet on price. Insignia is known for lower priced items, so most speculation has the tablet at $199.
Late last week I announced a new guide for preparing Blu-ray assets to be used in a new series of AfterDawn guides for authoring Blu-ray discs. Today I'm pleased to announce that the first of those guides is finally available.
EasyBD is a line of Blu-ray authoring software sold by DVD-Logic. It features a simple and straight forward interface which makes authoring simple discs as easy as it can possibly be while also supporting almost any Blu-ray feature you can think of.
In the first lesson of our tutorial for authoring Blu-ray discs with EasyBD you will learn the basics of the interface by creating a simple disc with a single title featuring one video stream, one audio stream, one subtitle stream, and a handful of chapters. This lesson lays the framework for future guides which will cover more advanced features like additional audio and subtitle streams, multiple titles, and menus.
OnLive, the cloud-based gaming company, was sold for just $4.8 million, literally pennies on the dollar for the company that was once valued at close to $2 billion.
The service allowed gamers to play PC games via a set-top box on your HDTV or on a PC that does not have powerful specs. The games were streamed via cloud servers and cost a nominal amount per month.
OnLive seemed to be having a good year, signing deals with Google's Android, Ouya and others. However, two months ago, the wheels fell off and the company laid off all its employees and began looking for a buyer before going bankrupt.
After the sale, the service remained active and the buyer, venture capitalist firm Lauder Partners, began taking new investments.
As of today, we have learned that Lauder paid just $4.8 million for the service: "Had the sale to the buyer not taken place, the assignee would have been left with inadequate capital to fund the significant costs to preserve and market OnLive's patents and other intellectual property, thus greatly reducing expected recoveries essentially to those of a forced piecemeal auction," added Joel Weinberg, president of Insolvency Services Group (ISG), the firm in charge of the potential bankruptcy proceedings.
Reuters has confirmed that Apple will have a press event on October 23rd to unveil the iPad Mini.
The event will be three days before the major Microsoft event where the company will launch the Surface tablet, the first Windows RT device.
Says one analyst: "We actually had the opportunity to play with a pilot iPad Mini used by one of the vendors. This 7.85-inch iPad Mini fit our hands like a glove and we were easily able to tuck the device in our sport coat, offering consumers a more mobile iPad experience for certain use cases."
Original story:
he device will feature a 7.85-inch display, making it a direct rival to the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7. There have been plenty of rumors about the device, mainly about what features it is missing compared to its larger brother.
Supposedly, the tablet will lose Retina Display and cellular data connectivity, and will not add the A6 processor seen in the iPhone 5. However, the tablet will also allegedly lose some of its hefty price, with the $299 figure being thrown around the most. At $299, the device will be more expensive than its rivals, but $200 cheaper than the third-generation iPad and $100 cheaper than the aging iPad 2.
Major Japanese carrier Softbank has agreed to purchase a 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel.
According to sources, the stake will cost them $20 billion. Softbank will buy $8 billion in direct shares and another $12 billion in shares on the market.
The news is especially notable since Sprint only has a market value of $17 billion.
The company is the third largest carrier in the U.S. behind Verizon and AT&T but ahead of T-Mobile, who is also looking to boost subscribers and spectrum by merging with pre-paid king MetroPCS.
Softbank is worth about $40 billion and is led by Japan's second-richest man, Masayoshi Son. The company recently purchased eAccess in Japan for $1.84 billion, giving it 39 million subscribers. Sprint has 56 million in the U.S.
During a recent interview, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos admitted that the company does not make any money on its new Kindle Paperwhite or Kindle Fire HD hardware, selling the lineup at cost, give or take a few pennies.
The strategy is notably different from Apple, which sells each iPhone or iPad with a margin as high as 40 percent, making significant profit on every piece of hardware they sell.
Amazon does not have the same strategy instead choosing to get the devices into as many hands as possible so consumers can purchase more online content from Amazon's extensive ecosystem.
The company offers shopping, music, movies, apps, and books.
"What we find is that when people buy a Kindle they read four times as much as they did before they bought the Kindle," added Bezos. "But they don't stop buying paper books. Kindle owners read four times as much, but they continue to buy both types of books."
In last week's installment of our series on mobile devices and the companies who make them looked at Microsoft's efforts to launch an ARM-powered Windows 8 platform (Windows RT) and its synergy with Windows Phone 8. Of course those are only two pieces of the Windows 8 puzzle. The other piece, and arguably the biggest one financially, is the standard x86 version of the OS; the one officially called Windows 8.
At first glance the decision to support ARM processors in Windows 8 seemed to be all about compatibility with the only hardware capable of the extended battery life necessary for a modern tablet. That's certainly how Microsoft described it from the beginning. However the biggest differences between Windows 8 for ARM (Windows RT) and the standard version of Windows 8 actually ended up being an unprecedented level of control and lack of user options.
Unprecedented for Windows anyway. It's actually almost identical to the type of control Microft built into Windows Phone 7 where a walled garden reminiscent of Apple's tightly controlled app environment is standard. It's pretty clear that Microsoft's goal with Windows RT, which also happens to be essentially the tablet version of Winodws Phone 8, restricting tablet users to installing apps via Microsoft's official app store.
Best Buy has announced that it will price match online prices of competition for in-store customers to avoid "showrooming."
Showrooming is where customers go in-store to try out a product before going back home to buy it online at places like Amazon for better prices and in some states, no tax.
Most brick-and-mortar retailers, like Best Buy, price match other brick-and-mortar store prices but will not price match online prices, which almost always are lower.
While the new move is certainly an improvement, it is not absolute. The match will be given "on an if asked basis" and is ultimately at the discretion of the staff.
Additionally, the company will not price match special one-off sales. For example, if Amazon is doing a Gold Box sale where they slash prices on an item by 50%, Best Buy will reject the price match. If an item is out of stock, Best Buy will ship it to you for free, as well.
The new policy is in effect until November 17th and then from November 27th to December 24th, carefully avoiding Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Apple has agreed to license the iconic clock created by the Swiss national railway (SBB).
Last month, Apple's latest iOS operating system finally gave iFans a native clock app, and most new users found the app to be "beautiful" or "gorgeous." However, fans were not the only ones to notice the style of the new app, and the SBB accused the company of stealing the design.
Apple's design is "identical" to their own, which was created in 1944 and trademarked, said the spokesperson at the time, and they certainly had a point.
As of today, the two companies have agreed to a licensing agreement although neither company disclosed the financials.
According to AllThingsD, Apple will unveil the oft-rumored iPad Mini on October 23rd.
The device will feature a 7.85-inch display, making it a direct rival to the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7. There have been plenty of rumors about the device, mainly about what features it is missing compared to its larger brother.
Supposedly, the tablet will lose Retina Display and cellular data connectivity, and will not add the A6 processor seen in the iPhone 5. However, the tablet will also allegedly lose some of its hefty price, with the $299 figure being thrown around the most. At $299, the device will be more expensive than its rivals, but $200 cheaper than the third-generation iPad and $100 cheaper than the aging iPad 2.
Furthermore, the new iPad will have the new Lightning connector.
Microsoft has allegedly revealed that it will block mature PEGI 16+ rated games from the Windows 8 marketplace in Europe or ESRB MATURE in the U.S.
The exact quote, in Microsoft's content legislation, is "Your app must not contain adult content, and metadata must be appropriate for everyone. Apps with a rating over PEGI 16, ESRB MATURE, or that contain content that would warrant such a rating, are not allowed."
Additionally, the legislation says "Your app must not contain content or functionality that encourages, facilitates, or glamorizes illegal activity. Your app must not contain content that encourages, facilitates or glamorizes excessive or irresponsible use of alcohol or tobacco products, drugs or weapons. Your app must not contain excessive or gratuitous profanity."
If the report is accurate, the move will do nothing but infuriate developers, many of which offer Mature titles that are their most popular.
Last month, Motorola unveiled their new Razr line of smartphones, three new devices aimed at the entire spectrum of Android fans.
The company has announced today that two of the devices, the RAZR HD and RAZR Maxx HD will hit the U.S. on October 18th.
Starting with the Maxx HD, the phone has a 4.7-inch, 1280-by-720 Super AMOLED HD display with 312 pixel-per-inch density and Motorola's own ColorBoost technology which makes for 'more vibrant color reproduction.'
The phone is powered by a 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, which should be as efficient and powerful as quad-core equivalents. Inside is 32GB internal storage and a massive 3300mAh battery. Dual cameras 8/1.3MP are standard as is a microSD slot, NFC, LTE and an HDMI port.
A hacker who goes by the name "Pinkie Pie" has had a nice pay day.
Pinkie Pie was paid $60,000 by Google for hacking the Chrome browser during the ongoing Hack in the Box Conference event in Kuala Lampur.
Google allows hackers to attack their Chrome browser as long as they report vulnerabilities. The grand prize was $60,000 for anyone who found a "full exploit." All partial exploits have prizes of $50,000.
The search giant called the hack "critical" and says it will not reveal the vulnerability until the majority of its users have patched their system.
Other companies like Mozilla and Facebook offer similar bounty programs, offering money for those who come forward after finding exploits.
Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo has introduced the Sharp Aquos Phone Zeta SH-02E, the first commercial phone to feature Sharp's new IGZO tech.
The device has a 4.9-inch 1280x720 display, a 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro, Adreno 320 graphics, LTE, NFC and a 16MP camera. The phone will launch with Android 4.0 with an update to 4.1 in near future.
Outside of the great specs, the IGZO display is the real selling point.
IGZO is a backplane technology describing the materials used for the thin film transistors that drive the display. The tech requires less LEDs for backlighting leading to a huge improvement in power draw and therefore, battery life.
Unfortunately, like most phones that hit Japan, the Aquos phone is not expected to reach the U.S.
The L6 E960, better known as the still unconfirmed upcoming LG Nexus 4, finally has seen some clear shots revealed of its front and back aesthetics.
It looks like a slightly revamped LG Optimus G, which is the company's new flagship.
Under the hood, the device will feature a quad-core Snapdragon S4, 2GB RAM and a large 4.7-inch display with 1280 x 768 display.
The device is expected to be launched on October 29th.
One question that remains is whether the phone will introduce a new Google operating system despite the fact that Jelly Bean is on less than 2 percent of all Android devices, currently. Most screenshots reveal the OS will be 4.1.2, a minor update to Jelly Bean, which makes the most sense.
The new device will have a smaller 4-inch Super AMOLED WVGAresolution display with 800 x 480 pixels resolution. The phone has a solid 233 PPI and weighs just 3.93 ounces. The screen size is identical to Apple's latest iPhone.
Under the hood is a 1GHz dual-core S3 processor, a significant step down from the S III's global quad-core processor and high-end dual core model in the U.S.
The Mini will also step down to a 5MP camera and a 1.2MB front-side camera and remove LTE support, making sure the phone is definitely not going to the U.S. anytime soon.
Furthermore, the phone has Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, 8GB or 16GB storage with a microSD slot, a 1500mAh battery, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and all software from the S III, including S Voice.
HTC has confirmed it has discontinued tablet sales in the U.S., at least for now.
The company will focus instead on its smartphone lineup, which includes the new One X+ and the Windows Phone based 8X and 8S.
Says HTC: "Bottom line, HTC is pleased with the results of our first foray into tablets, and like any products in the mobile space that were released some time ago, those products have run through their planned lifecycles. We're continuing to watch the tablet market very closely for the right opportunity to offer a product that's compelling, differentiated, and inspiring to our customers."
HTC released the Flyer and Jetstream tablets, neither of which saw much traction with consumers due to their prices that matched the iPad.
The company may have to take an extended break from the tablet market as it is unclear if they can compete against Google or Amazon at the $199 price point or Apple or Microsoft at the higher-end.
The Taiwanese government has asked Apple to blur some of the images in its Apple Maps mapping service.
The images are of the Hsinchu airbase, where the military recently added a new radar defense system. The station will help the country detect if any missiles are fired from nearby nations, most notably China.
Legally, no one can force Apple to change the images (sensitive area or not), but the nation has asked for the blur as a gesture of goodwill.
There are blurred areas in rivals mapping services, such as Google's, but all of their blurred areas were purchased that way.
Apple made headlines when it launched iOS 6 with Apple Maps, leaving out Google Maps, the current gold standard. The service is so bad it spawned its own Tumblr page.
Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple, has taken another jab at the company.
During an interview, the Woz was asked about his thoughts on the iPhone 5 in which he responded:
Part of me wishes Apple had not been so arrogant and feeling like 'We're the only one with the right clue.' I wish they had made a wider version [of the iPhone 5]...I think Apple tricked itself by saying 'Oh, you can reach everything with one thumb.'
I don't see anybody having trouble using the larger screen. But Apple said that as a defensive move because everyone else had larger screens...Not all people want the same thing. A lot of people really like big screens.
As he usually is, Wozniak is of course right that Apple has become arrogant believing that consumers only want one thing and that they can provide it. Android and even Windows Phone offer larger screens, expendable memory, and removable batteries (for the most part), making them more consumer friendly.
Earlier this week we reported on Pandora CEO Tim Westergren noting that the company pays some of the top artists in the world over $1 million per year in royalties, with Lil Wayne and Drake topping the list at $3 million per year.
Additionally, the exec mentioned that over two thousand artists were making $10,000 or more per year.
Today, Billboard took a look behind the numbers, which appear to be a bit misleading.
While the artists do make money from Pandora, Pandora pays SoundExchange which then gives the money to the artists. SoundExchange gives artists 45 percent of net royalties, while the record labels get 50 percent. The other 5 is given to session musicians and any backup singers. SoundExchange takes 5.3 percent off total revenue to start to get to net royalties.
That being said, for the example of Drake, while net royalties may be $3 million, the rapper will see $1.35 million.
While those figures are still nice for the larger artists, it is less than Pandora originally suggested.
Large Japanese carrier Softbank is in active talks to buy a major stake in Sprint Nextel, confirms the American carrier.
The majority stake would cost Softbank 1 trillion yen, or about $12.75 billion USD.
Sprint's stock has jumped 20 percent today following the news. The news is especially notable since Sprint only has a market value of $17 billion, meaning the Softbank stake will likely be very substantial.
The company is the third largest carrier in the U.S. behind Verizon and AT&T but ahead of T-Mobile, who is also looking to boost subscribers and spectrum by merging with pre-paid king MetroPCS.
Softbank is worth about $40 billion and is led by Japan's second-richest man, Masayoshi Son. The company recently purchased eAccess in Japan for $1.84 billion, giving it 39 million subscribers. Sprint has 56 million in the U.S.
Canal Plus CEO Bertrand Meheut has let it slip that Amazon is preparing to launch a subscription video-on-demand service next year, most likely in March.
Meheut told the French Council of State: "Amazon will launch its SVOD service in France in March 2013. We know it because our branch Studio Canal has been selling exclusive rights to Amazon for a launch of their service in March on the Kindle Fire."
Canal Plus has been banned from keeping VOD and SVOD rights exclusive for its own network, following its merger of main competitor TPS. Canal Plus has been arguing that needs such rights to able to compete against companies like Amazon, which have quickly gained market share outside of their native nation.
Amazon, for example, has two million subscribers in Europe through its LoveFilm SVOD business and would likely not have to abide by French regulations barring exclusive rights.
Several months ago I contacted Valery Koval, the owner of a small software company called DVD-Logic. I was hoping to get extended access to one of his company's programs so I could write a guide for using it. Plus I really wanted an excuse to play around with it. DVD-Logic sells an entire line of very impressive Blu-ray authoring software, including two different menu creation programs. In fact one of those programs was what prompted me to get in touch with him.
Instead of simply granting my request for an extended license to Quick BD Menu, the program I had inquired about, he countered with a much more generous offer. He suggested that I might prefer to write some guides for what at the time was essentially the full range of DVD-Logic's Blu-ray authoring sotware and gave me a sort of extended trial license so I could continue using it far beyond the normal 21 day trial period.
That was a little more than nine months ago and I've spent much of the intervening time learning not just how to use EasyBD, Quick BD Menu, and IGEditor, but also about Blu-ray itself. One of the first things I realized when I finally decided I was ready to get to work on the tutorials for those programs I will begin unleashing on the public later today was that it was too complex a subject to expect anyone to follow along if I began in the middle - yet that's certainly what it would mean to just jump into the authoring process.
It appears that streaming music may actually be great for artists, despite what the record labels may believe.
Pandora CEO Tim Westergren noted today that it pays some of the top artists in the world over $1 million per year in royalties, with Lil Wayne and Drake topping the list at $3 million per year.
Says the exec: "For over two thousand artists Pandora will pay over $10,000 dollars each over the next 12 months (including one of my favorites, the late jazz pianist Oscar Peterson), and for more than 800 we'll pay over $50,000, more than the income of the average American household. For top earners like Coldplay, Adele, Wiz Khalifa, Jason Aldean and others Pandora is already paying over $1 million each."
Some smaller, upcoming acts, like Drake friend French Montana will make $138,567 this year, despite being the 17,000th best-selling artist on established platforms like Amazon, says Westergren.
"These are all working artists who live well outside the mainstream--no steady rotation on broadcast radio, no high profile opening slots on major tours, no front page placement in online retail," the CEO concludes.
A new report claims that Apple's still unconfirmed 'iPad Mini' will be Wi-Fi only, leaving out cellular data support.
The alleged device, which will be 7.85-inches and directly compete with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Google Nexus 7, is widely expected to be announced later this month although Apple has made no mention of it, as is their policy.
If accurate, the move will certainly save Apple some costs, and Apple has long said consumers don't really care about data on their tablets, with most consumers opting for Wi-Fi only models.
Additionally, the same sources claim a new full-sized iPad update is coming soon with a Lightning connector and an A6 processor.
T-Mobile USA has announced its own exclusive Windows Phone 8 smartphone.
The Nokia 810, which will be a mid-range device, will be similar to the AT&T exclusive Lumia 820 announced last month alongside the flagship Lumia 920.
810 devices will feature a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 resolution display, dual cameras 8MP/1.2MP and an unknown dual-core processor.
Unfortunately, the carrier hasn't announced the internal storage or whether there will be a microSD slot. Just like the 820, wireless charging will not be bundled but available separately as an accessory.
Additionally, the phone is missing the PureView camera tech but will come with all other built-in feature apps like CityLens and Group Shot.
Last month, Valve said it would allow 1000 Linux users to test out the popular Steam platform as a private beta starting this month.
Steam has been available to Mac and Windows users for years now, but Linux users have been left in the dark. Valve announced earlier this year that Linux users would be getting access and four months later fans have a beta. Founder Gabe Newell became specifically involved in the process, expediting the process.
This week, entries into Valve's Content Description Record database for Steam have leaked the games that will be available to Linux users, at least during the beta phase.
Those games are Amnesia: The Dark Descent, Crusader Kings 2, Cubemen, Dynamite Jack, Eversion, Galcon Fusion, Serious Sam 3: BFE, Solar 2, SpaceChem, Steel Storm: Burning Retribution, Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, Trine 2, Waveform and World of Goo.
The company has also enabled UltraViolet for some of its content, meaning if you purchase a BBC DVD, you will also get streaming access online, no matter where you are.
For the time being, UV-enabled shows will be few and far between with just Doctor Who Series 7 Part 1, Rollercoaster, a Top Gear title and Attenborough: 60 Years In The Wild getting the treatment.
To stream the UltraViolet films, you will need to register for Flixster, Time Warner's movie site.
The BBC says: "Details concerning the redemption process will be provided on a leaflet, designed in collaboration with other participating studios, which will be in the DVD case. Post-launch, users will be able to visit a BBC Worldwide site for further information after which they will be automatically transferred to the relevant Flixster location."
According to multiple sources, Google is currently working on the 10-inch "premium" Nexus 10 tablet with Samsung as the manufacturer.
The tablet will have a massive pixel density, higher than that of the iPad's Retina Display.
If accurate, the sources say the tablet will have a 2560 x 1,600 display and a PPI of 299. The third-gen iPad has 264 PPI and a 2,048 x 1,536 resolution.
Richard Shim, an analyst at NPD DisplaySearch, also noted that Samsung will be building the tablet, instead of Asus who built the Nexus 7. Samsung has developed some of the most popular Android devices, and worked with Google on the Galaxy Nexus, which featured Ice Cream Sandwich when it first launched.
HTC has reported another horrible quarter, as the company struggles to stay relevant in the smartphone market that is quickly becoming a two-horse race.
The company, which is the fifth-largest smartphone maker in the world, reported that Q3 profit fell 79 percent year-over-year, missing even their own downgraded forecasts.
Net profit came in at $133 million, down from $640 million during the same quarter last year.
By comparison, Apple posted a net profit of $8.8 billion last quarter and Samsung more recently posted a net profit of $7.3 billion for the quarter.
HTC will look to turn its fortunes around with the new Windows Phone 8-based HTC 8X and Android-based One X+.
Warner Bros. Entertainment has signed a new pay TV deal with French media giant Canal Plus that will give Canal's subscribers access to new films and also catalog titles via their TVs, mobile device or gaming console.
The new deal covers all of Canal's channels including Canal+, CINE+, Comedie+ and Jimmy, and each of their "catch-up" on-demand services.
"We are proud to give our subscribers access to the films of one of the most prestigious American studios," says Canal Plus deputy general director Rodolphe Belmer.
Adds Warner Bros. International Television president Jeffrey Schlesinger: "Canal Plus has always had a deep appreciation of Warner's productions and successful cinematographic legacy. We are delighted with our return to Canal Plus in 2013."
Canal Plus has 13 million subscribers, each of who will get access to top movies like Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: trilogy, Argo, The Great Gatsby and The Hangover III, all 10 months after theatrical release.
According to the latest Digital Music Index (DMI) report, Gainesville, Florida is the new 'pirate capital' of the world.
The report is a global look into music piracy and digital music trends are the world. The companies behind the report investigate BitTorrent file sharing.
In a number that seems low, the report states that Americans downloaded 759 million songs illegally using torrents during the first six months of the year. Americans remained the worst offenders, says the group.
Gregory Mead, global CEO of Musicmetric: "Detailed data analysis is of great value to the industry and just as retailers need to know their customers, we need to do the same online. Offering people better insight into music through the DMI will help the industry begin to reclaim its past glories and we're excited about working with labels to achieve this."
Unauthorized file sharing did decrease slightly in areas where Spotify and Pandora were available, but YouTube remains far an away the most popular way to listen to music online, with 33.5 billion plays in the last year.
Rovio and Lucasfilm have announced the next stage of the blockbuster Angry Birds franchise; "Angry Birds Star Wars."
The new game will hit on November 8th and will incorporate classic Angry Bids character into the stories of Star Wars.
Says Rovio: "From the deserts of Tatooine to the depths of the Death Star – the game and merchandise will feature the Angry Birds characters starring as the iconic heroes of the beloved Saga...The Force is definitely strong with this one."
Adds Lucasfilm: "Both Star Wars and Angry Birds share the instant and irresistible appeal of hands-on fun. People seem to instinctively know what to do when handed a lightsaber or a bird in a slingshot, so this is a natural combination."
Additionally, starting October 28th there will be a huge retail merchandising launch including plush toys, costumes and action figures.
The game will be available across the spectrum on iOS, Android, Amazon Kindle Fire, Mac, PC, Windows Phone and Windows 8.
T-Mobile has begun stocking nano-SIM cards for unlocked iPhone 5 owners.
Despite not being an official carrier, the company has made it a priority to woo iPhone owners over.
Unfortunately for most of the U.S., the iPhone 5 is not supported on T-Mobile's 3G or 4G AWS bands, making it almost useless given 2G/EDGE's slow speeds. However, T-Mobile has iPhone-supported 4G HSPA+ (1900 band) in major markets Seattle, Las Vegas, and New York City, with more cities gaining access in the near future. The carrier hopes to have migrated to the 1900 band nationwide by the Q1 of next year.
Additionally, you will need to get access to an unlocked device, or unlock it yourself when the methods become available.
Apple recently unveiled the iPhone 5, which features a 4-inch Retina Display, a new A6 processor, a new 'Lightning' dock connector, the nano-SIM slot, iOS 6, LTE support and a thinner frame.
Microsoft has begun moving away from the controversial Microsoft Points payment system, moving instead to good old cash.
For services like XBL and also in Windows 8 betas, customers have been forced to pay in Points, which almost always left scraps of points left that are unusable because they are so low or oddly numbered.
One dollar of real money has equated to about 80 Microsoft Points, and users could not use a credit card to pay, instead having to buy Points first.
The new changes are for Windows 8 and the way customers purchase or rent videos and music, and will allow credit cards and other cash payment types. You can still use Points if you have them, however.
Motorola has announced it will abandon all development of its Webtop software.
The software turned smartphones into workable laptop operating systems when the phones were connected to the company's Lapdock accessory.
Citing slow (or no) adoption, Motorola will shut down the program after just 18 months.
Says Motorola: "Motorola's Webtop app helps users extend their smartphone experience to larger screens. While consumers around the world have adopted Webtop and the concept spurred a lot of innovation in the industry, the adoption has not been strong enough to justify continued resources being allocated to developing Webtop on future devices. We have also seen development of the Android operating system focus on the inclusion of more desktoplike features. Beginning with Photon Q and Droid Razr M/Droid Razr HD/Droid Razr Maxx HD, we will no longer be including Webtop on our products moving forward."
It is unclear for how long Motorola will continue to support existing Webtop software, but it is already outdated.
In 2010, Sony began a new marketing campaign that included comedic actor Jerry Lambert as Kevin Butler, an alleged Sony VP of whatever the company was marketing in that ad.
The character and the ads were an instant hit, and Sony has stuck with them ever since, letting Butler introduce most new features and items for the PlayStation 3.
Most recently, however, Lambert took a job with Bridgestone for their "Game On" promotion. In the commercial, Lambert is portrayed playing a Nintendo Wii console. As one can imagine, Sony is not happy.
Sony Entertainment has now filed suit against Bridgestone Tires and Wildcat Creek, the ad agency behind the commercials. The company says Kevin Butler is their intellectual property and seeing Lambert playing a Wii will confuse consumers and hurt the brand.
Bridgestone pulled the ads last month after just a few days live, following the filing of the suit.
Says Sony: "Sony Computer Entertainment America filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone and Wildcat Creek, Inc. on September 11. The claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship. We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he's become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years. Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony's intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony."
One of Nokia's most senior executives has abruptly left the company, without word or statement from Nokia.
VP of product marketing Ilari Nurmi was in charge of the company's entire smartphone strategy. It remains unknown why the executive left after 15 years with little more than a Tweet.
The move follows Nokia's recent launch of the Lumia 820 and 920, flagship Windows Phone 8 devices, which were well received but left the consumer with questions, mainly the price and release date.
More embarrassingly for the company, Nokia was found to have faked a promotional video, using a professional DSLR camera to take photos and pretending they were taken with a Nokia device instead.
I have left Nokia. I am thankful for almost 15y there. I wish Nokia all the best and look forward to getting Lumia 920 once available.
iPhone 5 owners have complained of a purple ring at the edge of their photos, and it appears Apple sees it to be a real issue since they have issued a statement about the bug.
Apple says if you have any kind of light source right outside the viewing area of the phone's lens, you might get some purple light leakage in your photos.
The company says the issue is well known, and it affects many more devices than just the iPhone:
"Most small cameras, including those in every generation of iPhone, may exhibit some form of flare at the edge of the frame when capturing an image with out-of-scene light sources. This can happen when a light source is positioned at an angle (usually just outside the field of view) so that it causes a reflection off the surfaces inside the camera module and onto the camera sensor. Moving the camera slightly to change the position at which the bright light is entering the lens, or shielding the lens with your hand, should minimize or eliminate the effect." – Apple
Officially, Apple calls the symptoms "a purplish or other colored flare, haze, or spot is imaged from out-of-scene bright light sources during still image or video capture."
Acer has announced their first Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W700.
The device will retail for $799 just like Asus and Lenovo's Windows 8 tablets, and launch on the 26th, as well.
Owners will get a tablet with a large 11.6-inch, 1,920 x 1,080, IPS display and the tablet will come bundled with a Bluetooth keyboard, protective case, Micro HDMI-to-VGA cable and a docking cradle, making it an ideal productivity device.
The base $799 model will come with an Intel Ivy Bridge Core i3, have 64GB SSD storage and dual cameras 5MP/2MP.
FlixChip, a new startup company, has announced that it will release films pre-loaded to USB flash drives, in an effort to replace DVDs, Blu-rays and other streaming options.
The company is currently in negotiations with major film studios, indie distributors and also video game producers and they have recently signed a content deal with FilmChest Media Group.
FlixChip is looking to offer its products online and in brick-and-mortar stores by the holiday season.
Dubbed the "muvichip," the company's product is a USB flash drive pre-loaded with movie content and other extra features. The device can be loaded directly into computers or devices that can read from USB, including Blu-ray players.
Additionally, "to accommodate tablets like the iPad that don't have USB ports, FlixChip also has developed muvifi, a small-portable player that accepts the muvichip and streams its content to any wifi-enabled smartphone, tablet or TV. As many as five devices can stream a movie from muvifi at the same time," says THR.
MoDaCo has revealed some details of the supposed LG Optimus Nexus (name up for debate), which is now expected to be unveiled later this month.
Supposedly, the phone will be based on the Optimus G but with a different "look."
The device will feature a 1280 x 768 "True-HD" IPS screen, a powerful quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor and 2GB RAM. The screen will be around 4.7-inches (like the G) and the device will have 16GB internal storage with no microSD slot and a non-removable battery, two features that will do nothing but turn consumers off.
It appears the big selling point, besides vanilla Jelly Bean and the quickest access to new operating system updates will be wireless charging right out of the box.
If accurate, the device is expected to be available in mid-November. Additionally, the sources say LG may not be the only OEM to release a Nexus phone, which would be very interesting although we are not sure why Google would sign off on such a move.
Last month, Nintendo finally revealed the price of their upcoming Wii U console, with the base model selling for $299 and a Deluxe model selling for $349.
The console goes on sale in the U.S. on November 18th.
Pre-orders have sold out at all major retailers, and Nintendo has noted demand will likely exceed supply well into launch.
Wii U Deluxe set pre-orders are on sale via eBay, at a 60 percent mark-up, meaning prices above $550 for the console. The base model is selling for an average 15 percent premium.
Elsewhere, some sellers on Amazon have gone off their rockers and are offering the console for $1000.
Apple has paid tribute to Steve Jobs on the first anniversary of his passing.
The company has replaced their home page with a short tribute video to the co-founder of the company. The video features black and white images and notable quotes from Jobs who passed away last year after a long fight with pancreatic cancer.
The 1-minute, 45-second video consists of black-and-white still images, as well as quotes from Jobs, who died on October 5, 2011 after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.
Current CEO Tim Cook added a letter to the video:
Steve's passing one year ago today was a sad and difficult time for all of us. I hope that today everyone will reflect on his extraordinary life and the many ways he made the world a better place.
One of the greatest gifts Steve gave to the world is Apple. No company has ever inspired such creativity or set such high standards for itself. Our values originated from Steve and his spirit will forever be the foundation of Apple. We share the same privilege and responsibility of carrying his legacy into the future.
I'm incredibly proud of the work we are doing, delivering products that our customers love and dreaming up new ones that will delight them down the road.
Rumors are running rampant that Microsoft is preparing to launch its own branded smartphone.
The sources each claim the device will be ready for launch in the Q1 2013, which means a Mobile World Congress introduction could be on the horizon.
There are precious other details about the alleged device, except that it will be considered a "premium" phone just like the iPhone, Galaxy S III and the (aging) Galaxy Nexus.
Microsoft could use the Surface name and line for its smartphone if its tablets prove to be popular.
For now, those looking into Windows Phone 8 devices will have to wait for HTC 8x, Lumia 920 or Samsung ATIV coming early next month.
In the first two installments in this series examining the mobile device market we have looked at Apple and Amazon. This time around we'll be talking about a company who currently only competes in the smartphone market but whose tablets are perhaps the most anticipated product to come along since the original iPad. That company is Microsoft and obviously the tablets are the numerous models which will launch with (and following) Windows 8.
As the dominant operating system in the PC market, Windows revenue has obviously dropped with the platform as a whole in decline. Meanwhile Microsoft has watched as Apple has not just reinvented the personal computing market with the iPad, but also managed to maximize profit margin at the same time. Beginning with Windows Phone 7 and continuing with the Windows 8 family of operating systems Microsoft appears to be betting on combining their established licensing model and Apple-like levels of control to regain their OS dominance.
Continuing a strategy first introduced with Windows Phone 7, Windows 8 and its derivatives (Windows RT and Windows Phone 8) are designed first and foremost as clients for Microsoft's software and media distribution efforts. It's not a coincidence that Windows Phone and Windows RT (their ARM-based Windows 8 tablet platform) are configured to prevent users from installing unapproved software and despite their insistence to the contrary the reason isn't security. It's the opportunity to make themselves a gatekeeper for apps and media and cut themselves in on any profits from selling those commodities.
Despite Apple reducing orders for processors and display, Samsung posted a massive $7.3 billion quarterly profit, a record for the company.
Samsung says sales of high-end HDTVs and Galaxy smartphones more than helped offset Apple's decision to look elsewhere.
The company does expect to have slightly lower profit next quarter, as marketing budgets are expected to go up, and performance bonuses to their 200,000 staff members will add up. Samsung is said to have spent $2.7 billion in advertising/marketing for the last quarter alone, mainly on their Olympics and Galaxy campaigns. Additionally, the company may have to put $1 billion aside to pay Apple after losing their patent dispute in the U.S. in late August.
Smartphone shipments totaled 58 million during the quarter, with 22 million being S III units.
The company expects a full year profit of about $24 billion, a record for the company.
Samsung is making a major announcement next week, and the general consensus is the company will release the so-called Galaxy S III 'Mini.'
The event will take place in Germany, and the Korean giant has sent out invites with hints as to what they are unveiling.
In the invite, the Galaxy S logo is found in the background and the title directly translates to "So big can be small, and small can be big." Additionally it says "On 11.10.2012 comes a small sensation out of [something] really big."
These hints have led most to believe the "Mini" is coming, as rumored.
The rumored device will have a 4-inch display with 480x800 display, a dual-core Snapdragon, 5MP camera and AndroidJelly Bean.
At an undoubtedly a cheaper price tag than its older brother, the mid-range device could be another hit.
Redbox will begin selling tickets to concerts and other events via their rental kiosks.
VP for new business and strategy Mark Archler says the company's strong reputation as an "impulse buy" company will help it sell tickets that wouldn't ordinarily sell, such as "nosebleed" seats for concerts.
There will be a $1 surcharge on each ticket purchase, much cheaper than other event purchasing services like TicketMaster or StubHub.
It is unclear if the tickets will be discounted, and "impulse buys" are less attractive at $100 (for example) than a $2 Blu-ray.
If you do end up purchasing, the kiosk will not print the tickets, as you have to do that at home or pick them up at the event.
AMD's latest A10-5800K APU has been overclocked to extreme levels.
Using "32nm manufacturing technology from GlobalFoundries and the new Piledriver cores using the clock mesh technology from Cyclos Semiconductor," the chip was pushed to an incredible 7.3GHz with extreme cooling.
Using air cooling, the A10 clocked to 5.1GHz, which is very impressive, as well, for a chip that costs just $122.
For those into overclocking and high-performance for cheaper chips, the A10-5800K APU has certainly upped the ante against Intel.
The latest rumor, from sources out of Europe, claim Microsoft is preparing to purchase digital music streaming company Rdio.
So far Microsoft and Rdio declined comment, but the deal would certainly make sense.
Microsoft is currently planning its new music streaming service Xbox Music for the Xbox console, Windows and Windows Phone 8.
Rdio, the ad-free music service is available in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany, Brazil, Australia, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Norway and New Zealand, practically every major market Microsoft would be aiming for with its new service.
The popular service is available for Mac, Windows, iOS, Android and Windows Phone and could provide an excellent framework (as well as added customer base) for Microsoft.
Rdio's catalog now has 18 million songs and attracts new musicians by giving them a revenue split for new subscribers they attract. While Rdio is popular now, it is getting blown out of the water by rival Spotify, which has a partnership with Facebook. A purchase by Microsoft would certainly help the company compete.
Social media giant Facebook has announced today that it has reached the 1 billion user mark, a milestone certainly never seen before in history.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg says the milestone was hit on September 14th, and the figure is a small jump from June when the company hit 950 million.
Perhaps more importantly for the company, Zuckerberg said the network now has 600 million mobile users, although the main struggle for the company has been how to monetize such users.
Facebook recently saw revenue increase by 32 percent to $1.18 billion in the latest quarter, with 84 percent coming from advertisements. However, the average Facebook user uses the site only from their mobile device, where there are no ads.
Amazon has already sold out of their latest e-reader, the Kindle Paperwhite.
The device's page now reads "four to six weeks delivery," meaning you will have to wait over a month to receive your e-reader after ordering.
Paperwhite devices offer a higher resolution screen than previous models, as well as a much more responsive touch interface and a lighting system for dim-light or no-light situations. Navigation of the interface and all touch elements are fast and lack any lag like some previous models.
So far, the Paperwhite has been a critical success, with most major outlets calling it hands down the best dedicated e-reading device, ever.
It is clear Amazon has another hit on their hands. Now they just need to produce more of them.
Google and Verizon have dropped the price of the flagship Galaxy Nexus for the carrier.
With two-year contract, the Nexus will now cost just $50, down from its original price of $200 and more recently, $149.99 online.
The carrier has added a new "Promo" discount when purchasing online, in a clear effort to clear out remaining inventory for the plethora of new devices headed to shelves soon.
The Nexus line is popular due to its "vanilla" version of Android straight from Google and not marred by any third-party overlay such as HTC Sense or MotoBlur.
Samsung has started the next round in the long-standing legal battles between themselves and rival smartphone maker Apple.
The Korean giant has filed suit over alleged patent infringement in Apple's latest, the iPhone 5.
Adds Samsung: "We have little choice but to take the steps necessary to protect our innovations and intellectual property rights." Unfortunately for them, the case is expected to go to trial in the Q1 of 2014. By that time, there will be plenty of rumors of the iPhone 7.
Additionally, the company is asking that the courts add the iPhone 5 to its current lawsuits already underway in the U.S. Federal Court. The new phone allegedly infringes upon "a total of six utility patents in addition to two standards essential patents," says Tom's.
In their filing documents, Samsung says "the iPhone 5 has the same accused functionality as the previously accused versions of the iPhone, so the proof of infringement of the patents-in-suit by the iPhone 5 is the same as for other Apple devices already accused of infringement in this litigation."
Deutsche Telekom is speaking again with MetroPCS in an effort to possibly merge its T-Mobile USA carrier with the smaller pre-paid brand in an effort to better compete with AT&T and Verizon.
The plan will merge the companies but leave Telekom as the majority shareholder. Deutsche Telekom's supervisory board could approve such a transaction as soon as tomorrow, say the sources.
T-Mobile USA has 33 million subscribers, the smallest of the majors in the U.S. MetroPCS has about 9.5 million, meaning they would still be the smallest major carrier in the nation, even after the merger.
"The talks are at a stage where significant issues have not yet been finalized, contracts have not yet been signed and the conclusion of the transaction is still not certain," added Deutsche Telekom in a statement. "The board of management and supervisory board of Deutsche Telekom have therefore not yet taken the resolutions necessary for such a transaction."
Both MetroPCS and Telekom investors seemed very excited by the prospects of the merger, moving their stock prices.
According to Pew, Apple's iPad is quickly losing its majority share of the tablet market.
A year ago, Apple controlled the lion's share, 81 percent, but that has fallen to 52 percent as Android tablets continue to hit the market at a quick pace.
Amazon's Kindle Fire line accounts for 21 percent of the overall market, representing a hefty portion of Android's 48 percent share.
The new report did not include the popular Google Nexus 7 or Amazon's brand new Kindle Fire HD, meaning the numbers may even be closer to 50/50.
As is their monthly tradition, Google has released the share splits for Android devices.
Google says Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and 4.1 Jelly Bean now account for 25.5 percent share, still far behind the outdated 2.3 Gingerbread by a significant margin, but growing rapidly.
Jelly Bean is only on 1.8 percent of devices, a very disappointing figure for the far and away best version of the operating system.
Gingerbread remains on 55.8 percent of devices, with versions before 2.3 still on 16.8 percent of devices.
Google has promised to work on fragmentation, but carriers and OEMs do not appear to be to helpful in their endeavor.
Earlier this morning, search giant Google surpassed Microsoft in terms of market value before failing to keep the title of world's second largest tech company.
Google ended the day valued at $247.56 billion, slightly below Microsoft who closed at $248.8 billion.
Both combined still remain below the somewhat bloated valuation of Apple, at $620 billion, the world's largest public company.
Google has seen its shares soar this year, up 35 percent since July, alone. Microsoft has also seen gains, about 11 percent for the year.
New numbers from NetApplications show that Windows 8 pre-launch numbers are severely lagging those of its predecessor, Windows 7.
Adoption numbers are low, lagging Windows 7 by a 5-to-1 ratio: "With just weeks before the public launch of Windows 8, users are five times less likely to be running the new OS than they were Windows 7 at the same point in its countdown."
As of this week, only 0.33 percent of all Windows computers are running Windows 8, whether that be earlier betas, the Consumer Preview, or the leaked RTM versions. At the equivalent time before the Windows 7 launch, the OS was running on 1.64 percent of all Windows PCs.
While of course these figures are early, they certainly are not what Microsoft was hoping for.
Large research firm Gartner says Microsoft gambled by making an excellent tablet OS into a desktop OS, and that the gamble will likely not pay off. Gartner says they expect Windows 8 to peak at 20 percent of the enterprise market, an extremely low figure for Windows.
Showtime has put the season 7 premiere of Dexter and the second season premiere of Homeland on YouTube, in their entirety.
The premium cable channel is looking to entice new users, by offering a glimpse into the top-rated shows they offer weekly.
Showtime's move is not the first in the industry. Fox aired the pilot for "New Girl" online weeks before its launch on TV. The airing was extremely successful, so much so that Fox made the same move for the new "The Mindy Project."
NBC followed suit this year with their shows "The New Normal" and "Revolution."
So far, the Dexter episode has 55,000 views, certainly a success for the company if it took users who may have otherwise pirated away from doing so with a legal offering.
Japanese Internet users who download unauthorized movies, music and games can now face up to two years in prison or a fine as large as 2 million yen ($25,000).
The new penalties are an amendment to a 2010 law for copyright infringement crimes which formerly invoked no penalties.
Critics of the law say efforts should have been concentrated on stopping uploaders of copyrighted material instead of punishing those who consume it. In the nation, uploaders face a max sentence of 10 years and a 10 million yen fine.
Japan is the second-largest music market in the world behind the U.S., and media companies say the country is plagued by piracy just like in all nations. The Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ) says illegal downloads surpassed legal ones at a pace of 10 to 1.
The WSJ is reporting that Apple is quietly looking to expand to India, the world's second most populous nation.
Currently, Apple sells the iPhone and iPad through partnerships with local distributors Redington and Ingram Micro, although they have no Apple Store retail presence in the nation.
India has made it tough for high-end brands to setup retail stores in the nation, with local companies controlling distribution and most of the vertical integration.
There is a rule that requires mandatory 30 percent local-sourcing requirement for foreign retailers, but it appears Apple is in discussions with the Indian government to have that legislation (and some others) relaxed.
If completed, Apple will then look to open multiple stores in 2013.
Sharp has announced that it has begun mass production of a new 5-inch, 1080p display that boasts a pixel density of 443ppi.
Manufacturing started last week and will be increased throughout October.
The company also notes that the display will feature a "new pixel design," one that is 30 percent denser than their current 720p displays.
Today's announcement should do little to quell the rumors that HTC is preparing the new Nexus 5 for Google using the Sharp display and other 'superphone' features.
Motorola Mobility has lost an appeal in their Xbox software lawsuit against Microsoft.
The three-judge panel upheld an order that blocked Motorola from enforcing a sales ban injunction they had won in May in Germany over Microsoft.
Motorola and Microsoft are in a battle over patents used by the Xbox gaming console and smartphones. Motorola says it is owed royalties for Wi-Fi and video compression tech used in the console, while Microsoft says all of Motorola's Android phones use Microsoft tech and patents.
To avoid the injunction, Microsoft could start taking steps toward a licensing agreement, as long as the rate is determined by Motorola.
"We're pleased that Judge Robart's decision has been affirmed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, preventing Motorola from enforcing an injunction in Germany until its use of standard essential patents can be closely examined," added David Howard, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft. "It continues to be our hope that Google and Motorola live up to their promises to standards organizations."
According to the scientific journal Nature, Australian researchers claim to have moved closer than ever towards quantum computers.
The researchers say they were able to "create the first qubit based on a single atom in silicon."
This is considered a major milestone since only 300 qubits "would be required to store a number greater than the number of particles in the universe."
Tom's Hardware explains: "The researchers are able to use their discovery to read and write information from and to the qubit. "Quantum computation" is now possible within "1 to 2 years" and "transporting quantum information across chips" within 3 to 4 years."
The next step is building pairs of quantum bits.
Altogether, the first quantum computers can potentially be built within 10 years.
According to multiple sources, Apple's plans for a Pandora rival are being held up by one major music publisher.
The sources say the service has hit a speed bump with licensing for music controlled by Sony/ATV, the world's largest music publisher.
What is in dispute is unsurprisingly the rates for streaming Sony/ATV tracks, with Apple wanting to pay less than what is being asked.
Sony purchased EMI Music Publishing earlier this year for $2.2 billion, giving them two million extra songs including tracks from the Beatles and new artists like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift.
For now, Apple will need to keep negotiating before it has a chance to release its still unconfirmed 'Pandora-killer.'
Sony, along with their Android 4.0 update, has added 'Glove Mode' to their latest smartphones.
"Glove Mode" will let users take advantage of floating touch technology, and the phone will detect the user's fingers, even through gloves.
The 4.0 update was brought to the Xperia Sola, Xperia Go and Xperia U but only the Sola will get Glove Mode.
Alongside the standard 4.0 updates, the update brings "Sony applications like the Walkman music app, extended standby mode and various bug fixes" says Sony.
Major carrier rivals AT&T and T-Mobile USA have agreed to share their networks to customers of the other company in areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, namely in New York and New Jersey.
iTunes 11 pushed back to November.
