Samsung has announced that their ChatOn messaging service has reached a "global subscriber base" of 100 million users.
The service is available on iOS, Android, Windows Phone and on desktops, making it a truly cross-platform service similar to WhatsApp and others.
Reads the press release: "Samsung Electronics is proud to announce that ChatON now has a global subscriber base of over 100 million users. The service was launched in October 2011, hitting the 50 million subscriber mark in May 2013 and doubling that number to 100 million only four months later.
ChatON's growth can be attributed to the support it offers across international markets and various OS platforms. The service provides a seamless experience where users can access ChatON through PCs, Samsung feature phones, and all the major smartphone operating systems: Android, iOS, Blackberry and Windows Phone. ChatON's multi-screen support also allows users to sign-in on up to five different devices using one Samsung account ID."
Thanks to a leaked log from the upcoming LG D820 (The Google Nexus 5), we now have most of the specs for the upcoming Android flagship.
The phone will feature a 4.97-inch, 1080p display with a massive 442ppi, will be powered by a Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and 2GB RAM. The device will run on Android 4.4 KitKat and include 16GB internal storage for its base model.
For the cameras, the device will use an 8MP sensor on the back and a 1.2MP front-facing camera.
Additionally, the Nexus 5 will feature dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n/ac, LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and GPS connectivity.
Wireless charging capabilities are built-in, and the phone has a 2300mAh battery.
The publisher behind Batman: Arkham Origins has confirmed that the Wii U version of the game will not include online multiplayer mode and will therefore cost $10 less.
Multiplayer is available for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC versions, but the Wii U will not have it. Warner Bros. Interactive says the open-world single-player campaign will remain the same as its brothers, however.
It appears that the Wii U console has such little usership that the publisher could not justify keeping online servers.
The game will be released on October 25th. Warner has priced the Wii U version at $50, compared to the regular $60.
While Sony has made a grand effort to make their digital distribution platform a success, it is certainly not without its problems, as seen by the recent Grand Theft Auto V launch this month.
A significant number of PSN users have reported failed downloads of the game, or other errors, some that have spanned days.
With a total file size approaching 18GB through the PlayStation Store, corrupted or failed downloads is not something you want to see, and Sony has apologized for the experience.
PlayStation UK head Fergal Gara says the experience will be completely revamped in time for the launch of the PlayStation 4, on November 15th.
"There are big innovations in the PS4 to make it more attractive," he added, including the fact that gamers can begin playing their PS4 downloads before it has completed. "We've done a lot of work on pre-delivering files. It's not perfect. It's not seamless. But it's a major area of focus"
Sprint CFO Joe Euteneur says the company is taking a "wait and see" approach in regards to BlackBerry and whether it will follow rival T-Mobile in its strategy of removing BB devices from its retail stores.
Euteneur says the company does not want to "rock the boat" with its business customers, who have always been the biggest consumers of BlackBerry devices.
T-Mobile no longer offers the devices in their stores, but continue to take orders online and in-store for direct ship.
Earlier in the week, Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said their decision on BlackBerry would be based completely on their customer's wishes.
Thanks to French carrier SFR, Samsung fans now have a roadmap for when their devices will receive the latest Android update.
The flagship Galaxy S4 will allegedly receive the OTA update in October, while the older Galaxy S3 and the Galaxy Note 2 will receive their respective updates in November or December.
This roadmap may be different for U.S. carriers, who are infamous for being slow with updates for Android due to extensive testing and usually the addition of bloatware.
Google is expected to introduce Android 4.4 KitKat in the next month, so Galaxy owners will be a generation behind, at least for a number of months.
Samsung is rumored to be working on Galaxy F devices, moving away from the cheap looking plastic look of the Galaxy S and Galaxy Note line and moving towards more 'premium' designs.
The new devices will include high-end metal designs, and will be smaller than the Note in size, say the sources.
Outside of the metal design, the phones are also said to have "top-of-the-line internals." Such a move would allow Samsung to position the Galaxy S as a cheaper (yet still viable) option, just like Apple's new iPhone 5C.
For now, this is just a rumor, but one that makes perfect sense, and one that will likely be well received by consumers.
Earlier this month we reported on CyanogenMod becoming an official company, with plans to release an app that will make installing the operating system easier than ever.
We now have an idea on how the installer will actually work, but it's not as simple as originally implied.
When you first install the app it will guide you through the process of loading the operating system, a process which will require a PC. The app will link you to a URL where you will download a PC app that actually does the installation.
Sources that have been able to rest the installer, say the PC app does all the heavy lifting, with users really only forced to hit "next." Altogether the process takes 10 minutes or less.
Flashing the custom ROM will wipe your device, so as always it is pertinent to backup your device.
After over a decade at the helm, Microsoft announced earlier this year that CEO Steve Ballmer would be retiring.
Investors and Microsoft fans were generally happy about the news, and the company's stock jumped 7 percent on the day of the announcement.
The Verge was able to get footage of Ballmer's last speech to employees, and describes it as "powerful and touching footage -- one of the most influential men in the history of technology saying goodbye to the company he helped create."
According to new ABI Research data, the global tablet market is now Android's to lose, following years of Apple dominance.
The firm saysiOS has now "passed the baton to the Android ecosystem," and the firm cites three specific reasons this has happened.
For the Q2 2013, Android tablets sold tallied 30.5 million, compared to 14.5 million iPads. Of the $12.7 billion of revenue from tablet sales for the quarter, Apple finally fell below the 50 percent majority mark (but barely), leaving Android to control that metric.
Finally, the iPad's average selling price has fallen 17 percent over the last year thanks to strong sales of the iPad Mini while Android tablet prices have seen an increase of 17 percent in the same period.
As far as brands go, Apple was easily the top dog, with their 14.5 million iPad sales. Samsung came in second at 8.1 million units sold.
Microsoft may have finally turned a corner in its ongoing efforts to move users away from the aged Windows XP operating system.
While most market research firms show Windows XP as still controlling 33 percent (or higher) of the OS market, Microsoft's own figures have that number lower, at about 27 percent.
According to Paul Thurrott, this means there are still 405 million XP users around the globe, good for the second most of any operating system, behind Windows 7.
The operating system will be retired on April 8th, 2014, and Microsoft says it hopes only 13 percent of users will stick with the OS past the support date.
Intel has been forced to postpone the launch of its Internet TV service as it continues to seek partners to help it launch.
The company has been actively searching for content and content partners to help launch a TV service that it believes can compete with cable and satellite giants like Comcast, DirecTV and Verizon.
Intel Media had originally planned to debut the "On Cue" service in November, but that has been pushed indefinitely and sources say the entire project may have to scrapped if the company cannot get to a "workable solution."
Reportedly, the company has approached Netflix to team up but discussions have never gone anywhere. Netflix has long said they will not build a service that competes with traditional cable and satellite TV
Intel confirms they remain committed to searching for "prospective partners which have synergies," including other broadband companies.
Chinese tech site DoNews has posted what they claim are photos of the upcoming Apple iPad Mini 2 in champagne (gold) colorway along with a new Touch ID fingerprint sensor.
Additionally, the site says a "space grey" colorway will be unveiled, as well, just like the new iPhone 5S.
One important fact that remains unclear is whether the new tablets will have high-res Retina displays, but it would seem Apple will need to boost the resolution of the device to compete with new 7-inch devices with 1080p such as the Nexus 7 FHD.
Adding to the reliability of the photos are posts from @SonnyDickson, the same source who posted accurate iPhone 5S and 5C details a month ahead of launch. Dickson agrees with the colors and the Touch ID sensor.
Dickson also claims that the iPad mini 2 will use Apple's new A7 64-bit chip, making it a multitasking powerhouse.
Following announcements from Sprint and T-Mobile that the carriers will no longer be offering BlackBerry 10 devices in store, BlackBerry has begun selling unlocked Q10 and Z10 smartphones directly through their own site.
The move also follows a recent earnings report in which the company saw revenue fall 50 percent year-over-year and the company took a massive $1 billion writedown due to excess Z10 inventory.
Somewhat surprisingly given their precarious situation in the market, the devices are still highly priced. The Z10, available in white and black, will sell for $449 and will work with any GSM carrier.
The Q10, with its full keyboard that is still popular with enterprises, will sell for $550. The Q10 has a 3.1-inch Super AMOLED display, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, LTE connectivity, NFC, a microSD slot and a 2100 mAh battery.
It appears the Walkman brand is not dead just yet.
Sony has unveiled new Walkman devices, the high-end ZX1 and the F880 series.
Both media players have 1GHz dual-core processors, 854 × 480 touchscreens, WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC, and "S-Master HX" digital amp along with HQ audio playback (192kHz/24bit) in AIFF, ALAC, FLAC and WAV. Both players run on slightly modified Android 4.1 bases and have access to the Google Play Store.
The ZX1, with its 4-inch screen, has 128GB internal storage and will be priced out of this world at 75,000 yen ($750 USD) when it launches in December.
A more budget-conscious option, the F880 has a 3.5-inch screen and 16,32,64GB options priced between 27,000 and 40,000 yen ($270-$400).
According to multiple sources, Motorola is planning the Moto DVX as a lower-cost followup to their popular Moto X flagship.
The device will be similar to the X, but only include the option for four interchangeable backplate colors as compared to the hundreds of different options available through the Moto X Moto Maker store.
Motorola's latest will be launched for lower-cost carriers, such as regional Republic Wireless, at the end of October.
Besides the lack of colors, the device is also expected to lack LTE support, and the design is expected to be "less polished."
The move follows CEO Dennis Woodside's recent comments that Moto X is a brand and there was the possibility of other devices to follow.
Toshiba has revealed their latest high-end gaming laptop, the Qosmio X75.
The device has a 17.3-inch 1080p display, a fourth generation Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB RAM, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 770M discrete graphics chipset with Optimus technology and 3GB of DDR5 video memory.
For storage, the X75 has an SSD boot drive, a 1TB hybrid hard drive, and a Blu-ray Disc re-writable optical drive.
In addition, the X75 packs quad Harman Kardon speakers and UltraHD (4K) output via HDMI.
If you are a video editing professional (or even an enthusiast), Toshiba has pre-loaded Adobe Photoshop Elements 11 and Adobe Premiere Elements 11.
U.S. officials have said this week that Iran hacked or attempted to hack into unclassified Navy computers repeatedly over the past few weeks.
The officials say the attacks were brought by hackers working for the government or by groups approved by Iranian officials.
Government officials says the most recent incident was for the week starting September 15th, before a security update was put in place.
To date, Iranian-backed hacking groups have targeted U.S. banks and computer networks running energy companies. Attacking the military directly would be an escalation in the cyberwar. In the most recent case, the attackers "penetrated an unclassified computer network that is used for email and the service's internal intranet," officials added.
Fortunately, the officials said they believed that no information of significant value was stolen.
"We take these attempts seriously and work to learn lessons from every one of them," a department spokesman said.
Delta airlines has confirmed it will be distributing Microsoft Surface 2 tablets to pilots and Nokia Lumia 820 smartphones to flight attendants.
Nearly 19,000 flight attendants will receive the Windows Phone devices, and it is unclear how many pilots will receive the upcoming tablet.
Says the airline: "In less than two years, Delta cockpits will be paperless as we roll-out the Microsoft Surface 2 tablet running Windows 8.1 RT as our company-issued device. The 757/767 fleet will be the first to make the transition with the 777, 747 and MD88 as fast followers. Look for an announcement from Delta and Microsoft in the coming days about our partnership on the initiative."
Delta currently allows pilots to bring their own iPads, but it wants "current iPad Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) users to transition to a company-issued device."
French authorities have announced that they are fining Google over $400,000 for data privacy violations.
The National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) says Google has not satisfactorily responded to requests to be more upfront about how the search giant collects data from its users.
Regulators had also wanted Google to give users a chance to opt out of having their data centralized.
The CNIL said it will now launch formal sanction proceedings, and that the process could take a few months.
Google spokesman Al Verney quickly responded to the charges: "Our privacy policy respects European law and allows us to create simpler, more effective services. We have engaged fully with CNIL throughout this process and will continue to do so going forward."
The fine itself is laughable, as Google makes $400,000 in profit roughly every 20 minutes.
Microsoft has begun building its own cloud gaming service to compete with Sony's Gaikai.
The company showed off an internal prototype this week, demoing Halo 4 running from the cloud on Windows Phones and PCs.
Latency on a Windows Phone is down to just 45ms, say sources, and even better on PC.
Rival Sony will be using Gaikai streaming technology to make PSOne, PS2 and PS3 games available to owners of the upcoming PS4 and the PS Vita starting next year.
For the time being, Microsoft has stressed the service is just a prototype but it may eventually be launched for the Xbox One and other Windows devices. Microsoft's senior director of Xbox, Albert Penello, recently said in an interview that "We just have to figure out how, over time, how much does that cost to deliver, how good is the experience."
Valve has announced "a different kind of gamepad" this week, the Steam Controller.
The controller uses two circular trackpads rather than standard D-Pads or buttons.
Adds the company, "Driven by the player's thumbs, each one has a high-resolution trackpad as its base. It is also clickable, allowing the entire surface to act as a button. The trackpads allow far higher fidelity input than has previously been possible with traditional handheld controllers. Steam gamers, who are used to the input associated with PCs, will appreciate that the Steam Controller's resolution approaches that of a desktop mouse."
What Valve wants to do is make "whole genres of games that were previously only playable with a keyboard and mouse" playable in the living room. "In addition, games like first-person shooters that are designed around precise aiming within a large visual field now benefit from the trackpads' high resolution and absolute position control."
Additionally, the new controller also features "a new generation of super-precise haptic feedback, employing dual linear resonant actuators. These small, strong, weighted electro-magnets are attached to each of the dual trackpads. They are capable of delivering a wide range of force and vibration, allowing precise control over frequency, amplitude, and direction of movement."
A week after the company pre-announced some parts of their quarterly earnings, the company reported another three months of heinous sales.
For the fiscal Q2 2014, BlackBerry had just $1.6 billion in revenue and reported a loss of $248 million. Revenue was down from $2.9 billion year-over-year, an almost shockingly high drop.
The company sold just 5.9 million smartphones to end users, and sadly most of them were older BlackBerry 7 devices, such as the Bold, which was released over two years ago.
Last week, BlackBerry announced it would take a writedown of nearly $1 billion due to an excess of Z10 inventory.
"We are very disappointed with our operational and financial results this quarter and have announced a series of major changes to address the competitive hardware environment and our cost structure," said CEO Thornsten Heins.
As previously rumored, Microsoft will indeed buy back your used iPhone for at least $200 in Microsoft Store credit.
To take advantage of the deal, all you have to do is "bring in your gently used iPhone 4S or iPhone 5 and get a minimum of a $200 gift card to the Microsoft store."
The company does the same for iPads, as well.
If you are looking to move away from Apple and into the world of Windows Phone, the deal could be good, especially if you have the old iPhone 4S, which is now three generations old.
In addition, Beats will repay a $150 million promissory note, plus any accrued interest.
Two years ago, HTC took a 51 percent stake in the company for $300 million, and they began integrating the tech into their smartphones and even bundled some lower-end Beats headphones with many of their devices.
HTC, after having a number of extremely profitable years and market share growth, has collapsed, with shares falling over 90 percent since 2011. The company even warned that it may have its first quarterly loss since 2008.
In an effort to become relevant again, the company has hired Robert Downey Jr. to promote its smartphone brand through a new marketing initiative.
Netflix has announced that all subscribers will now have access to the highest quality streaming quality, 'Super HD.'
The SHD stream had previously been ISP-dependent.
As Netflix says, "this means that the great TV shows and movies on Netflix will look even better on HD screens with a higher bit rate stream, Super HD, that applies less compression to the 1080p image."
The streaming giant continued, "Netflix uses 'adaptive streaming' to dynamically adjust the video quality based on the available bandwidth. This means that the ability to receive Super HD depends on broadband quality and performance. Netflix members who subscribe to an ISP with a direct Netflix connection will get the best experience."
It is important to note that only a smaller percentage of titles even have the option of the higher quality streams.
Each channel will have its own fans, especially parents with younger children and sports fans. Over the last few weeks, Apple has added many new features to the device, including iTunes Radio, the Disney Channel, The Weather Channel, Vevo, and more.
Being region-locked means buyers in Europe will not be able to use an American SIM when they travel (or vice versa, of course) and will have to stick with Wi-Fi or pay roaming fees.
UK retailer Clove first brought the fact to light, before Samsung confirmed the practice. Clove posted: "If you travel internationally (outside Europe) and usually insert a local SIM card when in those countries, the Note 3 will NOT be able to use the local network. It will lose all mobile connectivity with the exception of emergency calls. For example, if you travel to the USA and insert a SIM card issued in the USA, you will not be able to use the Note 3 for any voice calls, text messages and mobile data connection. It will work via a WiFi connectivity only."
Without a doubt the move is a black mark for Samsung, as there is no consumer-friendly reason to ever region lock a device, especially an unlocked one on the GSM standard.
VideoLAN, the group behind the popular open-source video playback app VLC, has updated the platform to version 2.1.
With the new update, the group has improved audio processing, most notably adding full support for surround sound output.
In addition, 2.1 adds 4K video playback support, although the group warns that it is in its early stages.
Finally, VLC for Android and iOS have been updated, as well, with support for more devices now included. If you have Windows Phone 8, Windows 8 or Windows RT, there are now "partial ports" of the applications available.
Samsung's Galaxy Note line, originally a surprise hit and now a standard bearer in the industry, has reached 40 million units sold.
The figure was confirmed by Samsung's general manager for Taiwan, Andy Tu, during the launch of the Note 3 in the nation.
Tu says about 10 million of the original Note were sold, followed by 30 million Note II.
Early expectations for the Note 3 are for the phablet to beat out its older brothers, but the phone has generally had less hype than in the past.
One news source says pre-orders for the device have been noticeably disappointing. However, we will have a better idea when the device actually launches.
Samsung has unveiled the pricing and availability of their "2014 edition" Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet.
The tablet, which will ship with a stylus, goes on sale on October 10th for $550, a surprising choice given Apple's next flagship iPad will sell for $500.
Galaxy Note 10.1 tablets have a high-resolution 2560 x 1600-pixel display and are powered by a quad-core Exynos processor and 3GB RAM.
"Last year's launch of the Galaxy Note 10.1 introduced the integration of S Pen capabilities to the tablet category and created a new experience for consumers,"said Travis Merrill, vice president of tablet marketing at Samsung Electronics America. "We continue to evolve the Galaxy Note experience with the new Note 10.1 – 2014 Edition. With premium software features and a sophisticated design, we're delivering an exceptional and even more engaging tablet experience."
Pebble has announced that AT&T will be the exclusive carrier for the smartwatch.
The company set Kickstarter records last year by raising over $10 million, and this year began shipping to early adopters. The device is also available through Best Buy.
Starting on Friday, AT&T customers can purchase a Pebble in some retail stores and at att.com. The release should rollout to all AT&T stores by late October.
"The Pebble is fun, practical, and easy to use,"adds AT&T's director of Mobility's Accessory Portfolio, Michael Cowan. "It is simple to see why people have been clamoring to get their hands on it."
Netflix will soon to available to subscribers of Swedish pay TV service Com Hem, securing its second deal with a cable TV provider in Europe.
Swedish subscribers of Com Hem will be able to access Netflix content through their TiVo set-top-boxes from December, the company announced. Com Hem boasts more than 600,000 subscribers in Sweden.
The deal is a boost to Netflix, who already managed to secure a similar deal with Virgin Media in the United Kingdom this month.
Getting its service right to set-top boxes is an important goal for Netflix as it seeks to make it as easy as possible for consumers to use its service, rather than having to switch over to games consoles, Blu-ray players or PCs to stream video.
"We would love to reduce the friction to the end consumer, and to be available via the existing device in the home which is the set-top box," Netflix CFO David Wellssaid at an investor conference in New York.
An NVIDIA executive has insisted that games consoles cannot keep up with PCs for performance any longer.
Tony Tamasi, senior vice president of content and technology at NVIDIA, said that the company spends around $1.5 billion every year in R&D related to graphics, which totals more than $10 billion in the average console life-cycle. Marketers of video games consoles, like Sony and Microsoft, just can't afford that kind of investment.
"I'll tell you why. In the past, certainly with the first PlayStation and PS2, in that era there weren't really good graphics on the PC. Around the time of the PS2 is when 3D really started coming to the PC, but before that time 3D was the domain of Silicon Graphics and other 3D workstations. Sony, Sega, or Nintendo could invest in bringing 3D graphics to a consumer platform. In fact, the PS2 was faster than a PC," he said in an interview with PC PowerPlay.
By the release of the PS3 and Xbox 360, the consoles were on par with PCs, he said, but even by that time, all of the graphics innovations were coming from PC graphics companies.
T-Mobile US has revealed it will no longer stock smartphones made by BlackBerry in its stores.
The Canadian firm has hit hard times as of late as its new BlackBerry 10-packed devices fail to reverse a decline in demand from consumers.
T-Mobile US has decided that its time to stop stocking BlackBerry devices in its stores, but says it will still ship BlackBerry devices to interested customers directly.
"Keeping stock in the retail distribution system was inefficient,"David Carey, executive vice president for corporate services at T-Mobile US, told the Reuters news agency.
Carey said that BlackBerry devices are mostly bought by businesses who do not make their decisions in stores anyway.
UK regulators are investigating practices of app developers who charge in-game fees, seeking to enforce guidelines to protect consumers.
We are all familiar with "freemium" game apps by now; they are games that are free to download and use but that attempt to generate revenue via in-app purchases. There is, of course, nothing wrong with generating revenue by marketing add-ons and other premium features, but the manner in which they are offered is the subject of a UK regulatory investigation.
The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is looking at "potentially unfair and aggressive commercial practices" after checking 38 very popular titles.
Among examples it disapproved of were the attempted exploitation of children by withholding previously promised rewards until they spent money. Other examples appealed to emotion, such as showing an ill virtual animal and promising they could be healed if something was purchased.
"I don't think children are always aware that when they click 'yes' it's spending money,"Cavendish Elithorn, executive director at the OFT, told the BBC.
"Although parents can change their device settings to deal with some of that, many parents might not know, or it's only when they get the bill that they realise the setting was wrong. So, part of what we're keen to do is support parents in having the right tools to be aware of what their children are doing online."
A French regulatory body is investigating conditions in Apple contracts with national mobile providers that sell its iPhones.
DGCCRF is investigating clauses in Apple's contracts - such as sales volume requirements and restrictions on adverts - amidst reported complaints about the sway Apple holds in negotiations. Given the popularity of Apple's iPhone products, a mobile carrier would be at a severe competitive disadvantage if they did not offer them, giving Apple quite a lot of authority when it gets down to the details.
Clearly, France's competition authorities suspects this influence damages competition in the marketplace and probably hurts consumers in the long run.
This latest development adds to a growing number of headaches Apple is experiencing in France and indeed, the wider European market. The European Union is already probing potential antitrust violations in the market involving the distribution of Apple's i-devices.
In July, its offices in France were searched in an investigation into its relationship with wholesalers.
An airport in Alaska gas to close an aircraft access route and erect barricades because Apple's Maps app directed drivers across an actively used runway.
Fairbanks International Airport witnessed two incidents where drivers had driven along a taxiway and across a runway. It turns out the Apple Maps app on their devices had indicated that was a correct route to take.
Through the attorney general's office, the airport contacted Apple about the problem a couple of weeks ago, asking that they disable the service in the area.
"We asked them to disable the map for Fairbanks until they could correct it, thinking it would be better to have nothing show up than to take the chance that one more person would do this,"Melissa Osborn, chief of operations at the airport, told Alaska Dispatch.
Apple has since changed their system to provide a message of "not available" rather than display the earlier route.
This is not the first time that the Maps app has been criticized on safety grounds. Australian police branded it "life threatening" after motorists were stranded in a national park after getting the wrong directions to Mildura, Victoria.
Valve has announced that 'Steam Machines' will be available in 2004, and it will be running a limited beta of its own hardware this year.
Just as with the announcement on Monday of SteamOS, Valve was light on details about Steam Machines, but did say that a variety of different hardware products will be available from different manufacturers - including Valve - and they would differ in specs, price and so forth. They will all run SteamOS and are all linked to bringing the Steam digital gaming system to the living room to compete with consoles.
Steam Machines will be on the market from 2014, but until then, Valve is running a limited hardware beta for its own product. It has designed a high-performance prototype that is optimized for gaming, for the living room and for Steam. It is also completely "open and upgradable."
Valve intends to ship 300 of these boxes to Steam users this year for free to be part of the testing program. If you want to apply, follow this link for details.
Valve will make another announcement on Friday, which is expected to address questions about input when a game is being streamed to a Steam Machine from a PC in another room.
After a two day delay, a Swedish appeals court has reduced the hacking sentence for Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg in half.
The hacker will now face one year in prison for his part in hacking the Swedish IT company Logica and the Nordic bank Nordea. Svartholm was convicted of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud in the original case.
In the appealed decision, the Svea court dismissed the charges related to Nordea, citing new evidence that showed that Warg's computer may have been remotely operated during the incident.
Warg was also convicted in 2008 along with the other three founders of the Pirate Bay for copyright infringement.
According to DisplaySearch and iSuppli, Microsoft's oft-rumored Surface "Mini" will ship with a 7.5-inch display, slightly smaller than the iPad Mini but larger than the Kindle Fire HD and Nexus 7 FHD.
The current Surface tablets have 10.6-inch displays, which nobody else in the industry use, so Microsoft is not new to unique sizes for their devices.
Earlier this year, developer tools for Windows 8.1 referenced 7.5-inch tablets with a 4:3aspect ratio and 1440x1080 resolution.
The device is expected to go into mass production later this year for a 2014 release.
Amazon has introduced new higher-end Kindle Fire tablets, dubbed HDX, in 7-inch and 8.9-inch varieties.
The displays feature very nice resolutions, 1920x1200 at 323 ppi for 7" and 2560x1600 at 339 ppi for the 8.9" and under the hood are quad-core Snapdragon 800 processors running at 2.2GHz. Amazon boasts that they are the only company offering clock speeds above 2GHz.
In addition, the company has dropped the weight of the larger tablet to 13.2 ounces, 34 percent lighter than the second-generation Kindle Fires. The tablets will launch with Fire OS 3.0, which upgrades and improves on many of Amazon's popular features such as X-Ray, Cloud Collections and Goodreads. The company says battery life is much improved, as well, with up to 11 hours of mixed use, and 17 hours of reading.
Amazon has added dual stereo speakers with Dolby Digital Plus audio and virtual 5.1 multi-channel surround sound, and dual cameras, 2MP/8MP with 1080p video recording capability.
"It's been just two years since we introduced the first Kindle Fire, and the team is innovating at an unbelievable speed," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "2.2 GHz processor, 339 ppi display, new 34% lighter design, Fire OS 3.0, and new exclusive features like the Mayday button, X-Ray for Music, Second Screen, and Prime Instant Video downloads. We've worked hard to pack this much hardware, innovation, and customer obsession into these prices."
YouTube will be radically redesigning its comments section, a section which is globally infamous as being a cesspool for racism, anti-Semitic comments, sexism, homophobia and overall terrible grammar and fanboyism.
Starting today, the comments section will now be transformed into "conversations that matter to you," and will be tied to the commenter's Google+ account.
Google says the new goal is for relevance, not recency. YouTube has removed the reverse chronological order for new comments, where the latest comment shows at the top. For popular videos, like music, the comments can reach tens of thousands, making finding relevant conversations almost impossible to find.
Nundu Janakiram, a YouTube product manager, admits the comments needed much improvement. The new design will bring the more interesting discussions to the top and more relevant to you, such as posts from the video's creator, and people in your Google+ circles. More active discussions will be threaded, as well.
How did the company decide what is relevant? "This is a very complex problem," says Janakiram (via Verge). "Trying to surface meaningful conversations is something that takes work." They company used existing signals (up/downvotes) and completely new ones, 'like the level of engagement in threaded conversations.'
Valve has announced SteamOS, a linux-based free operating system aimed at bringing PC gaming into the living room.
Set to be available soon, SteamOS will be free forever and will help to bring better PC gaming into the living room. Not only does Valve claim to have achieved significant performance increases in graphics performance (and is working now on audio and reducing input latecy) but you can also stream games from your PC or Mac to a living room "machine" running SteamOS.
Sony and Taco Bell have announced a new promotion in which gamers can receive free PS4s every 15 minutes from September 26th to November 10th.
The PS4 goes on sale on November 15th.
Says Sony: "You have six weeks to head over to your local Taco Bell for your chance to 'Play the Future First.' Taco Bell will mark their $5 Buck Boxes– which include a Crunchwrap, Crunchy Taco, Burrito Supreme and medium fountain drink – with a special code that you can text in for a chance to win a PS4 prize pack."
The prize pack includes the console, a copy of 'Knack,' and a one year PS Plus membership.
Over the last few years, Google has acquiesced to Hollywood and the music industry, blacklisting almost fifty piracy-related terms from appearing in Autocomplete and Instant Services.
According to Freak, Google has recently unbanned at least two of those terms, the most popular clients, 'BitTorrent' and 'uTorrent.'
BitTorrent Inc., the company behind the client, has long shown disappointment that Google labeled them as "piracy related."
For the last few months, the company has continuously pleaded to Google to get the name removed from filters, and those efforts appear to have paid off.
"This is almost certainly a result of that improving understanding helped by products like BitTorrent Bundle and BitTorrent Sync. They help those who are confused about BitTorrent understand that it is not a piracy website," a BitTorrent Inc. spokesperson added.
Electronics giants Samsung and LG have ended their year-long dispute over display tech patents.
The patents had led to a number of brutal lawsuits between the rivals.
"It was agreed that we two should focus more on cementing our leadership in the global market by cooperation, instead of engaging in all-consuming patent disputes," Samsung Display said in a statement.
"What's most important for both of us is upgrading our competitiveness globally," LG added.
The tech in question was mainly for LCD and OLED hardware, and the companies accused each other of stealing key engineers, as well.
According to research firm IDC, the Chinese smartphone market will likely reach over 450 million units shipped in 2014.
The major increase will be driven by new government issued 4G licenses, and the oft-rumored addition of the iPhone to China Mobile, which has over 700 million subscribers, more than most of the world combined.
For this year, IDC says 120 million 4G-enabled smartphones will ship, with total shipments reaching 360 million.
Samsung remains the leader in the country, with 18.5 percent market share, followed by Lenovo at 9.8 percent. Apple was in sixth place, but is expected to gain a decent percent of share following the release of their iPhone 5C and 5S this week.
Apple has declined to provide sales figures for China for the new devices, so far.
Spotify has expanded to Argentina, Greece, Turkey and Taiwan, meaning the platform is now available in 32 nations.
The music streaming company first expanded to Asia in April with releases in Singapore, Hong Kong and Malaysia, and Taiwan will play a big part in the expansion to the "Mandarin pop" industry.
Desktop streaming in the nation is free and premium (unlimited/mobile play) will cost $4.99 (NT$149), half of what it costs in the U.S. and other countries.
Adds Spotify: "We're delighted to announce that Spotify is available in Argentina, Taiwan, Greece and Turkey starting today. There are millions of songs on Spotify – from old favourites to the latest hits. Just hit play to stream anything you like!"
Apple recently revealed that 9 million new iPhone 5S and 5C were sold over launch weekend, beating out last year's iPhone 5 launch which saw 5 million units sold.
It appears, probably to Apple's delight, that the high-end 5S is clearly outpacing its cheaper plastic brother around the globe.
Analytics firm Localytics says that for every iPhone 5C being activated in the U.S., there are 3.4 iPhone 5S units doing the same. In Japan, that factor is 3.7x, and there are similar figures in other nations.
The 5C is still widely available (with one day shipping time from the Apple online store), while the 5S has a shipping date of October, at the earliest.
So far, the 5C, which lacks 64-bit processing and the new fingerprint scanning Touch ID but has colorful varieties, seems to be a flop (by Apple standards) but it may also be too early to tell given that there is still stock of the iPhone 5 out there.
In addition to showing off two new tablets today, Microsoft also unveiled new and updated accessories for the devices.
The Type Cover 2 now comes with backlit keys, the Power Cover adds typing ability and will add 2.5 times more battery life, and the new docking station pretty much turns your tablet into a full-fledged PC.
Touch Cover 2. Thinner and lighter than the original Touch Cover, measuring only 2.75 mm thin, Touch Cover 2 features backlit keys for even better readability. Touch Cover 2 is more rigid, registers keystrokes with greater accuracy and features updated sensors that support a variety of gestures across the entire keyboard. Touch Cover 2 has an estimated retail price of $119.99. It will be available for pre-order on Sept. 24 in all markets where Surface devices are available for pre-order.
Alongside their announcement of a Surface RT sequel, the company also unveiled the sequel to their flagship, the Surface Pro 2.
The Pro 2, which comes with the full version of Windows including legacy app support for hundreds of thousands of your favorite applications, has seen its share of hardware updates, as well.
For the display, it remains a 10.6-inch panel with 1080presolution, but Microsoft says the tablet has 50 percent better color accuracy and better graphics performance.
Under the hood is a 1.6GHz Core i5 Haswell processor which will give users 75 percent better battery life than the previous model, a huge boost. When added to the Power Cover (check our other post), the tablet will have over 300 percent better battery life than the first-generation model. For connectivity, the device has three USB 2 ports, a single USB 3 port, mini DisplayPort and Ethernet. There is an included stylus, as well.
Microsoft used a press event today to unveil the new Surface Pro 2 and Surface 2 (sequel to the Surface RT) along with a plethora of new accessories and updated keyboards.
Surface 2, which comes on the heels of a huge writedown due to excess Surface RT units, is vastly improved from its predecessor.
The tablet will now feature a 1080p ClearType display, a Nvidia Tegra 4 quad-core processor (with 'dramatically' increased CPU speed, 25 percent better battery life, a USB 3.0 port and improved bus speeds for the memory and Wi-Fi. Additionally, it is lighter and thinner and built from two pieces of magnesium, as opposed to three.
Microsoft says the tablet should run 300 percent faster than the RT, which was generally panned by critics and consumers alike for its lackluster performance.
Finally, Microsoft also says it improved the camera sensor to manage the light better when using Skype or other webcam videos. Surface buyers will also receive 200GB of free SkyDrive storage, for two years, and a year of free international calling and Skype hotspot access. The base product (with 32GB) will sell for $449 and go on sale on October 22nd. Pre-orders go live tomorrow.
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) was supposed to launch on iOS and Android devices over the weekend, but technical problems have pushed it back to next week on the platforms.
The issue stems from an unreleased app for Android that leaked to file sharing websites before the weekend. The app had a known flaw that resulted in volumes of data traffic orders of magnitude higher than normal for each active user, so it ended up really hammering BlackBerry's systems and putting the whole roll-out on ice.
The version that was supposed to roll-out to Android on Saturday fixed the known issue, but unfortunately for BlackBerry, it could not block users of the faulty leaked app. As users of the bad app neared a million, BlackBerry pulled the plug altogether.
"The team is now focused on adjusting the system to completely block this unreleased version of the Android app when we go live with the official BBM for Android app," wrote Andrew Bocking, head of BBM.
"We are also making sure that the system is reinforced to handle this kind of scenario in the future. While this may sound like a simple task – it's not. This will take some time and I do not anticipate launching this week."
A judge has found that HTC Corp. violated patents held by Nokia with several of its smartphone and tablet products.
Nokia filed a complaint with the International Trade Commission (ITC) against HTC last year, alleging that it violated patents it holds with several of its tech products, including the HTC Amaze 4G, the Inspire 4G, Flyer, Jetstream, Radar 4G, Rezound and Sensation 4G.
A judge has agreed with Nokia, in a preliminary ruling for ITC finding that HTC violated two patents related to signal technology in the devices.
The ITC is approached constantly with such complaints, because it has the power to block products from being imported into the United States if found to be infringing.
A crowd-funded contest to hack Apple's Touch ID has ended with a verified hack that emerged during the weekend.
We reported on Friday that a website had been setup - IsTouchIDHackedYet.com - by security researcher Nick Depetrillo and Robert David Graham as a crowd-funded contest to see who could spoof the Touch ID system into accepting a fingerprint lifted from an item.
"Big congratulations to Starbug (of the Chaos Computer Club), the first to demonstrate the hack! Starbug is giving the challenge pledge funds to Raumfahrtagentur, a spinoff from CCC-Berlin," the hack challenge website reads now.
"We don't have exactly the video we wanted from him, but others have confirmed it, including Marc Rogers (@marcwrogers) and the team of Mudge Zatko and Dominick Rizzo. We are in contact with Starbug, he's working on the video for us (apparently he's got a day job that delays things), but since we have several confirmations, it's pointless to hold things up."
Canadian smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed in principle to a $4.7 billion takeover deal led by Fairfax.
Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited already owns a 10 percent stake in BlackBerry, and now it seeks to bring the company under private ownership in a deal that would pay shareholders $9 per share. The consortium would acquire for cash all of the outstanding shares of BlackBerry not held by Fairfax.
Back in August, BlackBerry formed a Special Committee to review strategic alternatives for the company, and it has advised the BlackBerry Board of Directors to approve the terms of the LOI (letter of intent agreement) under which the consortium would acquire BlackBerry and take the company private subject to a number of conditions, including due diligence, negotiation and execution of a definitive agreement and customary regulatory approvals.
Diligence is expected to be complete by November 4, 2013.
During the Diligence period, BlackBerry is permitted to enter into negotiations for alternative deals.
Once a pioneer in smartphones, BlackBerry has struggled to regain its position in the market due to the emergence and rapid growth of iPhones and Android devices. It has made efforts to fight its downward trend with the release of new devices running a revamped BlackBerry 10 operating system, but according to reports it has a stock of over $1 billion worth of unsold phones.
Rockstar Games has confirmed it is working to fix a bug where players' upgraded vehicles vanish from their garages.
The developer says it has received reports from players about problems with cars and garages in the blockbuster title. Gamers found that when they upgraded vehicles in the game and then completed a mission, the vehicles can do a disappearing act.
"Unfortunately, we do not currently have a workaround to recover a car if it is missing," Rockstar said in a support page about the problem.
"This issue may occur if you drive another character's personal vehicle. We are looking into a fix to prevent this from occurring in the future. In the meantime, please try to avoid parking a car in a garage, driving one already in a garage, or getting in a default vehicle, when playing as a character other than the one with your upgrades."
Other reports about problems with GTA V included a PSN streaming lag issue, and reports of older Xbox 360 consoles freezing during gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto V reached $1 billion in sales in just three days of availability.
Valve has announced SteamOS, a linux-based free operating system aimed at bringing PC gaming into the living room.
Set to be available soon, SteamOS will be free forever and will help to bring better PC gaming into the living room. Not only does Valve claim to have achieved significant performance increases in graphics performance (and is working now on audio and reducing input latecy) but you can also stream games from your PC or Mac to a living room "machine" running SteamOS.
That in-home streaming feature might help some PC gamers to move to their HD TV, but the technical details jkust aren't available now. Gamers will likely have questions about whether they can use existing controllers in this setup or maybe concerns about the limits of Wi-Fi streaming.
Valve also promises that SteamOS will provide entertainment from the "media services you know and love," which to us means at least Netflix, but again, there is no confirmation on any service yet.
Family Sharing allows you to easily share games with family members, allowing you to take turns playing one another's games while earning your own Steam achievements and saving your individual game progress to the Steam cloud.
The New York Police Department is endorsing Apple's iOS 7 update for compatible iPhones and iPads.
According to numerous reports on Twitter and from media sources, NYPD officers were handing out fliers on the street encouraging iPhone owners to upgrade to iOS 7, due to a new feature that could discourage the theft of Apple's smartphones.
For the first time in two decades, New York City's crime rate rose, and officials are blaming it on "Apple picking", which is smartphone theft.
There has been calls for Apple and other smartphone manufacturers, like Samsung, to build in more anti-theft measures into their devices.
iOS 7 brings a feature that allows a device to be remotely secured if it is stolen. Once activated, the device cannot be wiped and used again until its associated Apple ID and password are entered.
Such measures may discourage smartphone theft, and so the NYPD is making it its business to let iPhone-owning New Yorkers know about the advantages of having iOS 7 installed.
Four uniformed NYPD officers were at my subway stop tonight asking me to upgrade to iOS 7. Not a joke! pic.twitter.com/CGdR2RqtKJ -- Michael Hoffman (@Hoffm) September 21, 2013
Apple sold 9 million iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c smartphones in just 3 days since they launched on Friday.
Apple's iOS 7 update is also now present on 200 million iOS devices, which Apple claims is the fastest software upgrade in history.
"This is our best iPhone launch yet―more than nine million new iPhones sold―a new record for first weekend sales," said Tim Cook, Apple's CEO.
"The demand for the new iPhones has been incredible, and while we've sold out of our initial supply of iPhone 5s, stores continue to receive new iPhone shipments regularly. We appreciate everyone's patience and are working hard to build enough new iPhones for everyone."
Apple's press information doesn't indicate which smartphone sold more units but it was no secret that the iPhone 5s was out of stock in most places very quickly. In the UK, mobile providers were frustrated that Apple sent them ample supplies of the iPhone 5c and only "tens" of the iPhone 5s to sell at launch.
Nevertheless, Apple is entitled to celebrate yet another very successful launch.
Earlier this year, The Pirate Bay co-founder Gottfrid Svartholm was found guilty on multiple cases of hacking.
The prosecution and the defense have taken the case to appellate courts, but it appears the Court of Appeal's decision has been delayed, as the decision was due today.
After a quick two-week trial for his part in hacking the Swedish IT company Logica, Svartholm was convicted of hacking, aggravated fraud and attempted aggravated fraud. He was sentenced to two years in prison.
In appeal, the court reassessed the evidence and allowed new testimony, as well.
Major phone leaking @Evleaks has posted purported press images of the upcoming NokiaLumia 929, which may be a phablet.
A phone recently hit the FCC, the Nokia RM-927, which is set for Verizon, and has a 5-inch display.
The press photo shows a device with a plethora of home screen tiles, so it definitely has a larger screen than we are used to for a Windows Phone 8 device but most likely not as big as the rumored 1520's 6-inch display.
New devices from Nokia are expected on October 22nd.
There appears to be multiple reports that older Xbox 360 consoles are having trouble playing Grand Theft Auto V.
The issue seems to involve Xbox 360 consoles manufactured or refurbished between 2006 and 2008. Players report that they cannot play for more than thirty minutes without the game freezing up the console.
"I'm thinking it might be my 20GB HDD? After I installed the game I probably [have] a couple hundred MB left. Could it possibly be a problem that I don't have enough excess memory after the install?"
Other users report that they have run into the same problem even on larger capacity drives.
"Same problem here. Xbox from 2006, original 20gb model, sent in for repairs in 2009 for RROD,"said another user.
"I bought a 250 gb hard drive for it, but otherwise it's the same console I've had for years. I can't play for more than 30 minutes without the game freezing on me, and I've tried every troubleshooting step I've seen here and on other websites."
The Chaos Computer Club has claimed that its "biometrics hacking team" has broken Apple's Touch ID, just days after the release of the iPhone 5s.
Apple has touted the security of its fingerprint scanner system that can be used to unlock an iPhone 5s and for iTunes purchases. It said that the system cannot be beaten as easily as some other fingerprint scanners, which have found to be particularly weak.
In fact, Apple even discounted the possibility that a severed finger could be used.
Enter the Chaos Computer Club, a group many of you will have heard of before. It now claims that just days after the iPhone 5s release, it can already spoof Apple's Touch ID "using easy everyday means."
"A fingerprint of the phone user, photographed from a glass surface, was enough to create a fake finger that could unlock an iPhone 5s secured with TouchID," CCC claims.
"This demonstrates – again – that fingerprint biometrics is unsuitable as access control method and should be avoided."
A hacker with the nickname Starbug claimed all the group had to do was ramp up the resolution of its fake. "As we have said now for more than years, fingerprints should not be used to secure anything. You leave them everywhere, and it is far too easy to make fake fingers out of lifted prints."
Cook pointed out that a substantial amount of tablet sales come from traditional PC manufacturers who have decided to produce low-cost Android devices.
Of course, he then went on to bash those low-cost Android tablets.
"I think if I bought [an Android tablet] and used it, and I thought that was a tablet experience, I'm not sure I would ever buy another tablet,"he said.
"The responsiveness isn't there. The basic touch is really off. The app experience is a stretched-out smartphone kind of experience. It's not an optimized experience."
According to reports, the National Security Agency (NSA) in the United States buys Zero Day exploits and other tools/information from French firm Vupen.
Vupen does research looking for vulnerabilities in popular software, like web browsers, and then sells that information rather than disclosing it to the software vendor.
According to paperwork released under a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request, the NSA is a Vupen customer, buying a 12 month subscription to a "binary analysis and exploit service" sold by the French company, reports The Hacker News.
How much money exactly the NSA has given to Vupen is unclear, as the information is redacted in documents.
Vupen is criticized by security experts and has even been branded a "zero day cyber weapon merchant." It reportedly has promised not to sell services to non-NATO countries and not to deal with oppressive regimes.
Apple has updated its Apple TV software, bringing support for iTunes Radio, the store and Airplay from iCloud.
With Airplay from iCloud lets you "use your iOS device to play videos from iTunes in the Cloud," meaning that the streaming will go right to the Apple TV device rather than the iOS device. However, Apple TV takes reportedly a long time to buffer ahead before playing from the Cloud, so the feature is not enabled in the update by default.
In contrast, streaming to iOS device begins almost immediately, though AirPlay from iCloud is for iOS 7 devices only.
The update also brings support for the iTunes Music Store, and replaces Photo Stream with iCloud Photos and Videos.
AT&T has confirmed this week that it is exploring options to sell its wireless broadcast towers, but any sale would depend on the terms for their own ongoing use of the towers.
The company would sell the towers and then lease back some space from the new operators to ensure there is no interruption of their cellular services.
Analysts believe the towers could fetch up to $5 billion.
A few of the names seen as potential acquirers are Crown Castle International Corp, American Tower Corp and SBA Communications Corp.
Sony has confirmed that the PS4's camera will support voice and gesture control.
Unlike Kinect, the PlayStation Camera is not bundled with the PlayStation 4 (PS4) consoles as Sony made the decision to keep the price lower.
If you do buy a $60 camera, you will be able to use voice and gesture control features, Sony confirmed to Engadget from the Tokyo Game Show this week.
The Amazon listing for the new camera listed "navigational voice commands" among its features beforehand, so Sony just confirmed what was already rumoured.
The PS4 launches in North America on November 15, in Europe on November 29 and only launches in its home territory of Japan in February 2014.
Facebook apologized this week after it emerged an ad running on the social network was using a photo of a teenager who committed suicide.
Seventeen year old Rehtaeh Parsons took her own life after months of cyber bullying and an alleged sexual assault. A Facebook user noticed an ad for an online dating site was using the girl's picture and grabbed a screenshot of it. After tweeting the screenshot, outrage quickly ensued.
Facebook became aware of the issue and took prompt action to remove the ad and ban the advertiser.
"This is an extremely unfortunate example of an advertiser scraping an image from the Internet and using it in their ad campaign," a spokeswoman for Facebook said.
"This is a gross violation of our ad policies. We apologize for any harm this has caused."
LinkedIn, the world's most popular professional-networking site, was recently sued this week by customers who are accusing the site of "appropriating their identities for marketing purposes by hacking into their external e-mail accounts and downloading contacts' addresses."
While there have been hundreds of complaints, even on LinkedIn's own forums, the company had called the suit meritless, and written a large response via their blog.
As you may have read recently, a class action lawsuit was filed against LinkedIn last week. The lawsuit alleges that we "break into" the email accounts of our members who choose to upload their email address books to LinkedIn. Quite simply, this is not true, and with so much misinformation out there, we wanted to clear up a few things for our members.
We do not access your email account without your permission. Claims that we "hack" or "break into" members' accounts are false.
We never deceive you by "pretending to be you" in order to access your email account.
We never send messages or invitations to join LinkedIn on your behalf to anyone unless you have given us permission to do so.
We do give you the choice to share your email contacts, so you can connect on LinkedIn with other professionals that you know and trust. We will continue to do everything we can to make our communications about how to do this as clear as possible.
Mozilla, which has delayed the browser multiple times, has finally released a preview of the upcoming Firefox for touchscreen Windows 8 machines, including tablets.
The browser is now available in the "Aurora" release channel, after spending over a year in the more obscure (and highly unstable) Nightly dev channel.
As a stable release, Mozilla still has a January or February 2014 release timeframe.
Similar to Microsoft's Modern/Metro version of Internet Explorer, the new Firefox gets rid of most of the header and other interface elements that can clutter a browser window. In their place are swipe gestures and two buttons on the side of the screen, one for opening new tabs and the second for going back. That's it.
Under the hood is the same Gecko engine as the standard Firefox and there is support for WebGL and Mozilla's asm.js for high-performance JavaScript apps. There is also support for Windows 8 charms, accelerated HTML5 video and WebM and H.264.
A report this week from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) blasted search engines for failing to fight copyright infringement.
The report, titled "Understanding the Role of Search in Online Piracy", claims that 58 percent of search queries people used before viewing copyright infringing content "contain generic of title-specific keywords only." What that means is people find infringing copies of content easily without specifically requesting them with keywords.
The results of a survey it conducted show that 74 percent of respondents admitted to using search engines as a means to find pirated content.
"Search engines bear responsibility for introducing people to infringing content - even people who aren't actively looking for it," said Chris Dodd, chairman of the MPAA.
"The television and movie community is working every day to develop new and innovative ways to watch content online, and as the internet's gatekeepers, search engines share a responsibility to play a constructive role in not directing audiences to illegitimate content."
However, Internet Association president and chief executive, Michael Beckerman, has rejected the MPAA's criticism, saying the trade group just blames the Internet and technology for all of its problems.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has said that revelations about U.S. spying programs hurt users' trust in U.S.-based Internet services.
He was in Washington to attend an event hosted by the Atlantic magazine and to lobby congressmen about immigration reform earlier this week, when he gave his take the NSA surveillance programs that dominated much of the news over the past few months.
"What I can tell from the data that I see at Facebook is that I think the more transparency and communication the government could do about how they're requesting the data from us, the better everyone would feel about it,"he said.
"From reading in the media, you couldn't get a sense whether the number of requests that the government makes is closer to a thousand or closer to a 100 million. ... I think the more transparency the government has, the better folks would feel."
To services like Facebook, the media reports combined with government statements served to hurt trust of users outside the U.S. most of all.
"Response to the NSA issues that have blown up are a big deal for the Internet as a global platform. And some of the government statements I think have been profoundly unhelpful," he said.
Prosecutors in the United States joined with the mayor of London in recommending that iPhone owners upgrade to iOS 7.
The issue of smartphone theft in urban areas has prompted politicians and prosecutors around the world to push manufacturers to build more anti-theft systems into their devices. On top of the agenda is the "Kill Switch" that would render a device useless remotely in the event that it is stolen.
Manufacturers are reluctant to make such features available, due to the potential for abuse. Still, there are other measures that can be taken that could discourage the theft of devices.
One such feature is the Activation Lock in iOS 7, present on the new iPhone 5c and iPhone 5s. Users of iPhones from iPhone 4 onwards can upgrade to iOS 7.
Still, the presence of activation lock in iOS 7 is not likely to bring down the number of smartphone thefts. There will likely need to be an industry-wide effort to tackle the problem.
Last week, after Apple officially unveiled the iPhone 5C, Nokia's marketing team headed to Twitter to seemingly mock the company for its latest product, which features multiple colors.
The tweet read, "thanks, Apple" and included an image of the Lumia family (in all its colorful varieties) with the text "imitation is the best form of flattery."
It was a small poke at Apple, but fans seem to have responded in force to the tweet. The tweet has 39,600 retweets and counting and Twitter admitted it was one of the top corporate tweets in history.
Apple is expected to sell over 3 million iPhone 5C this weekend, a figure similar to what Nokia sells in Lumia devices per month.
LinkedIn, the world's most popular professional-networking site, has been sued this week by customers who are accusing the site of "appropriating their identities for marketing purposes by hacking into their external e-mail accounts and downloading contacts' addresses."
The customers hope to make the suit into a group class action, and have asked a federal judge to ban the company from repeating the same alleged violations. Additionally, they are demanding that LinkedIn return "any revenue stemming from its use of their identities to promote the site to non-members" and they are seeking additional damages.
As part of their complaint, the customers cite that even "LinkedIn's own website contains hundreds of complaints regarding this practice." LinkedIn has over 230 million users and has seen rapid growth in recent years.
"LinkedIn is committed to putting our members first, which includes being transparent about how we protect and utilize our members' data,"says LinkedIn, which has vowed to fight the 'meritless' suit.
The complaint says that LinkedIn required all members to provide an email address as their username on the site, and then used that information to access those email accounts, in an effort to steal contacts. "LinkedIn pretends to be that user and downloads the e-mail addresses contained anywhere in that account to LinkedIn's servers," they added. "LinkedIn is able to download these addresses without requesting the password for the external e-mail accounts or obtaining users' consent."
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), which was expected to go live for Android this morning, has still not made its way to the Google Play Store.
The iOS app has begun its rollout in some nations, but has not hit North America, either.
The app is free on both platforms. Android users will need to be running 4.0 or higher to get the app, and iPhone users will need iOS 6 or higher.
BBM for Android and iPhone features:
BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don't have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.
Mike Lazaridis, one of the co-founders of BlackBerry, has been speaking to private equity firms about a potential bid for the failing company.
Lazaridis stepped down as co-CEO in 2012, as the company searched for a new direction.
The former exec has had conversations with the Blackstone Group and the Carlyle Group about an offer, but the talks are preliminary and could lead to nothing.
As the company continues to search for a buyer, or other 'strategic alternatives,' its shares continue to collapse and reached $8.73 per share on Friday. At its peak in 2008, shares traded at $144, meaning it has seen a 94 percent drop in five years.
Lazaridis co-founded the company in 1985 and is one of its largest shareholders.
It appears that Apple fans around North America are updating their devices to the latest iOS 7, at a record pace.
According to Chitika, in the first two days of availability (Wed-Fri), nearly 32 percent of North American iOS web-based traffic has come from the new operating system.
iOS 6, released last September, took three days to reach the 30 percent mark.
The latest operating system is one of Apple's biggest design changes since the launch of the iPhone in 2007, changing to a "flatter," more professional design, with more built-in features than before.
Spain, infamous for being a hotbed of piracy, has increased the jail time admins of piracy sites can face for their crimes.
The country, facing trade sanctions from the U.S. and strong criticism from Hollywood, appears to be at least trying to move away from its title as one of the kings of piracy.
As part of the new law, site owners who are making money "from linking to copyrighted material provided illegally by third parties, whether it be 'direct or indirect profit,'" can face up to six years of jail time along with fines.
The law goes into effect early next year.
Until this new law, Spanish authorities could only prosecute uploaders and sharers of the illegal content. Now, downloaders and other users will not face any punishment and P2P platforms and search engines are excluded, as well.
Google has announced that their mobile payment app Google Wallet is now available for iOS devices.
The app will bring over most of the features known to Android users, including transfers to friends and family, loyalty card tracking and local offers.
iOS does not support NFC yet, however, so tap-to-pay will obviously not work, and that feature is one of the main points of using Wallet (or rival payment services).
On the security side, the app is locked by PIN and if your device gets lost, the app can be disabled and wiped remotely via Google's site.
Check the app here, if you are running iOS 6.0 or higher.
The RIAA and MPAA have begun distributing new research about the perils of piracy on the entertainment industry, trying to get Congress to take a second look into potential legislation on the matter.
Additionally, the trade groups are once again accusing search engines of not doing enough to direct traffic away from well-known pirate file sharing sites.
"We invite Google and the other major search engines to sit down with us to formulate a plan that goes beyond promises of action and actually serves its intended purpose of deterring piracy and giving the legitimate marketplace an environment to thrive," RIAA Chairman Cary Sherman told a House panel (via 3N).
MPAA boss Christopher Dodd added, "as the internet's gatekeepers, search engines share a responsibility to play a constructive role in not directing audiences to illegitimate content".
Legislators have shied away from sweeping legislation following last year's try at CISPA, which was met with massive criticism from the general public and from major corporations. Smaller measures have been taken, such as credit card processors like Visa and Mastercard blocking access to businesses that thrive off piracy, and ad networks have also pulled business from warez sites. Google also tweaked its algorithms to give 'less visibility' to certain sites.
Terry Myerson, Microsoft's former Windows Phone boss and now head of Microsoft's mobile operating systems group, has detailed the company's plans for the future of Windows RT and the company's longstanding promise of a common app and developer tool between the different Windows platforms.
Myerson says the company has organized its new OS groups around three key points; commonality, the cloud, and tailored experiences for devices.
"The first of those is that we really should have one silicon interface for all of our devices," says the exec (via Verge). "We should have one set of developer APIs on all of our devices. And all of the apps we bring to end users should be available on all of our devices."
Microsoft is finally working on multi-platform compatibility, meaning a Windows phone app will work on a Windows 8 tablet, just like how Android and iOS operate.
BlackBerry investors have taken another beating today, as the company reported a near billion dollar loss and announced it would cut 4500 jobs, about 35 percent of its global workforce.
The company's shares closed down 18 percent, after falling as much as 25 percent. Shares are now down to their lowest point since last November.
BlackBerry 10 sales were extremely weak, and the company has a large stockpile of unsold Z10 phones leading to a good portion of the quarter's losses. The company says 3.7 million smartphones will have been sold to end users in the quarter. Sales to retailers and carriers are no longer counted if those devices don't sell, in an effort to be more transparent.
Sadly, of those 3.7 million devices, the majority are older BlackBerry 7 phones, like the Bold, which were released in 2011.
After laying off 4500 more employees, the company will be down to 8000 employees. At its peak, the company employed 20,000.
The 64-bit processor that powers Apple's iPhone 5s is fabricated by Apple's great South Korean rival, Samsung.
Of course, all of Apple's custom designed AX chips that power its iPhones, iPads and iPod touch have been fabricated by Samsung's plants, but in recent years the relationship between both companies has soured considerable.
A global patent war erupted over similarities between the iPhone and iPad, and Samsung's Galaxy-branded smartphones and tablets.
It's no secret that Apple would like to cut Samsung out of its supply chain as much as possible, and reports suggest that it is eyeing Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co to possible produce SoC's for future iPhones and iPads instead of its great rival.
An analysis of the iPhone 5s internal components by Chipworks found the A7 to be fabricated in Samsung's facilities, and seeks to confirm that the A7 utilizes Samsung's 28-nanometer Hi K metal Gate. The M7 motion coprocessor in the iPhone 5s is made by NXP.
Check the Chipworks analysis for more detailed information: chipworks.com
Popular music video streaming service Vevo will be blocking YouTube's upcoming offline viewing mode for mobile apps.
The new feature will go live in November, and will allow users to download the videos and play them offline for up to two days.
Vevo is one of YouTube's biggest content suppliers, with videos reaching tens of billions of views every year. Unfortunately, they are not fans of the new offline mode: "We're not going to allow viewing of our music videos or other programming in offline mode,"says a Vevo spokesperson.
All of YouTube's largest partners will have the ability to opt out before the service goes live.
Apple chief executive Tim Cook has joined Twitter following the launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c.
Twitter verified the account of the Apple CEO shortly after media reports pointed him out, and at the time of writing, he has already amassed over 120,000 followers. Given his position in the industry, that number is likely to explode over the coming days.
For his first tweet, Cook recounted visiting retail stores in Palo Alto as the new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c launched.
Visited Retail Stores in Palo Alto today. Seeing so many happy customers reminds us of why we do what we do.
Sprint has confirmed their recently leaked early-upgrade smartphone program, 'One Up.'
Like rival plans, One Up will let wireless subscribers change their phones once per year, while paying monthly installments for the device. Additionally, the plan will work with tablets, as well.
Sprint unlimited everything plans start at $65 per month.
With most high-end smartphones (priced at $550), you will pay an additional $27 per month for the phone with One Up (after taxes), and there is no down payment necessary for the device.
Sprint says you will save, over the course of a year, $208 over T-Mobile's plan, $500 over AT&T's plan and $539 over Verizon's plan.
U.S. Senator Al Franken has written a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook requesting information about Apple's Touch ID fingerprint technology.
Franken asks Cook questions that Apple may have already answered in its PR campaigns about the iPhone 5s and the safely of the Touch ID fingerprint technology.
The Cupertino-based giant assured users that fingerprint data is safely stored in the A7 SoC that powers the iPhone 5s, and that it is stored as mathematical data. Franken asks Cook in his letter if it is at all possible that the fingerprint data could be converted into a digital or visual format, and whether the raw information could be extracted from an iPhone, which Apple doesn't think likely.
The senator also raised questions about Apple's ability to share fingerprint information with law enforcement or other federal authorities, asking Cook to provide assurances that Apple will never share fingerprint data with government agencies without due process.
However, Apple has already stated repeatedly that fingerprint data is stored in the A7 only, and is never backed up to iCloud or in any way transferred to Apple servers, or even to other devices.
"Passwords are secret and dynamic; fingerprints are public and permanent," wrote Sen. Franken.
Microsoft will provide no more updates for Skype on Windows Phone 7, the Skype blog has revealed.
The Skype for Windows Phone 8 app has been getting quite a few updates as of late. It was the first Skype mobile app to offer HD video calling, and more recently, the Windows Phone 8 app got a new Video Messaging feature that allows you to record and leave video messages for contacts when they are offline.
Given that the majority of Skype's Windows Phone base is running Windows Phone 8, there will no longer be any Skype updates for the older Windows Phone 7.
"As we look ahead to the future, we are focusing all our efforts to bring great experiences and improved performance to Windows Phone 8, building on the capabilities of the platform," The Skype blog reads.
"As a result we are not planning to release further updates to Skype for Windows Phone 7."
Verizon has announced that their updated FiOS app will bring live TV watching to your favorite mobile devices, while using a mobile data connection.
For the time being, the service will only extend to nine cable channels; BBC America, BBC World News, EPIX, NFL Network (iPad-only), HGTV, DIY, the Tennis Channel and Scripps Networks Interactive channels, Food Network and Travel Channel.
The app, for iOS and Android, is dubbed FiOS Mobile.
Last year, the app launched for iPad with 75 channels of live TV, but you needed to be connected to Wi-Fi to use it. With the updated app, if you are using Wi-Fi, you still have access to all 75 channels, and additionally local affiliates of ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox and UniMas and Univision if you are in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C.
Finally, the app has added on-demand content, like FiOS's 45,000 Flex View titles.
Valve has setup a new teaser site to drive interest ahead of an announcement that will be made on Monday.
"The Steam Universe is expanding in 2014," we are told, with most expectations being that Valve is likely to announce the Steam Box, which is hardware the company has been working on for the living room.
"Last year, we shipped a software feature called Big Picture, a user-interface tailored for televisions and gamepads. This year we've been working on even more ways to connect the dots for customers who want Steam in the living-room. Soon, we'll be adding you to our design process, so that you can help us shape the future of Steam," the teaser website states.
A countdown clock is set to expire on Monday afternoon (Eastern Time, US).
Either this will be a Valve-branded Steam Box (Valve co-founder Gabe Newell did reveal already that the Steam Box will be distributed entirely by Valve) or perhaps its the announcement of partnerships with hardware manufacturers to make PCs that are more living-room/TV friendly?
The Obama administration is petitioning the FCC to make moves that will thwart a law that criminalizes the unlocking of smartphones and tablets that are owned by users.
Through the NTIA - the President's principal adviser on domestic and international telecommunications and information policy - the White House is petitioning the FCC to make new rules related to unlocking smartphones and tablets.
The new rules would act thwart a law scheduled to take effect on January 26, 2014, that would make it punishable for up to five years to unlock a mobile phone without permission from a carrier.
It is common practice for carriers to lock smartphones to their networks when customers buy a subsidized device on a specific plan, like a two year plan. At the end of this time, customers may feel they want to take their device - which they now own - to another network.
Every three years, the Library of Congress examines possible exemptions to copyright laws. In the latest round, it decided not to renew an exemption that affects the unlocking of phones, setting the course for the law to take effect in January.
The Obama administration already asked the U.S. Congress to act on the issue, but as usual, the Congress has been slow to act. Therefore, the administration is looking to the FCC as another route.
Sony has officially unveiled the Bravia Smart Stick, a new Google TV device that plugs directly into your TV.
The dongle will sell for $149.99 and will only work with Sony Bravia TVs from this year (and into the future).
Featuring 8GB of on-board storage, the device plugs directly into the MHL port of Bravia TVs, and a provided USB cable is the power source. Additionally, the Smart Stick comes with a voice-activated remote control, allowing users to better control their content and entertainment.
"The BRAVIA Smart Stick answers the question, 'What's on TV,' with 'whatever you want to watch'"said Jamie Marsh, TV marketing manager for Sony Electronics Home Entertainment & Sound Division. "It brings the full power of Google services to your TV. From the apps in the Google Play store to the power of Google search, the BRAVIA Smart Stick integrates seamlessly with Sony's own BRAVIA apps and navigation to deliver an amazing connected TV viewing experience."
Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console will not support gameplay capture at launch, according to a Sony executive.
Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios, was responding to a question on Twitter about whether HDMI capture of gameplay footage will be possible from launch day, or if it will be something Sony rolls out later on.
The PlayStation 3 (PS3) console protected HDMI signals using HDCP, which meant users had to rely on analogue cables to record gameplay footage from the console.
It was announced this week that the PS4 will allow gameplay capture through HDMI, but now we know it will not be possible at launch.
Given that the PS4 will be able to record and even stream clips of games at the software level, this delay is unlikely to be a problem at all for the vast majority of PS4 users.
The FCC has approved AT&T's proposed acquisition of Atlantic Tele-Network's (Alltel) retail wireless business.
Although the agency says the transaction "will likely cause some competitive and other public interest harms in several local markets" it is approving the deal since AT&T has accepted a number of conditions.
One such condition is that AT&T must maintain Alltel's CDMA network through June 2015.
The approval was not a guarantee. In August, FCC stopped reviewing the transaction because they said AT&T did not provide enough information on how the carrier would integrate Alltel's prepaid customers to its network.
Besides the agreement to keep the CDMA network running, AT&T also agreed to ensure that all of Alltel's CDMA network footprint would be covered by the company's own HSPA+ faux-4G service within 15 months of the transaction closing. Additionally, 75 percent of the footprint must have access to LTE within 18 months.
Finally, and perhaps most importantly, all Alltel customers will be provided "a handset comparable to his or her existing handset, at no cost to the customer and without requiring a contract extension."
An Apple stores in Southern California had an eventful launch for the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5s when people were arrested for fighting.
Pasadena Police Lieutenant Jason Clawson said that two men among the line-up of hundreds waiting for a new iPhone got into a fight. The men, identified as 23 year old George Westbrook of Compton, and 43 year old Lamar Mitchell of Pasadena, were arrested for fighting in public.
In a separate incident at the same store, another man was detained for a 72 hour mental evaluation. He had gotten into an argument with another man whom he said paid him to keep his place in line. Several news sources report that it was a homeless man paid to keep a place in line by another man who clearly didn't feel like camping out.
Apple hired two Pasadena police officers to stay at the store throughout the rest of the day, and there was no major incident.
Apple fans waited in line to get their hands on a new iPhone 5s - or maybe an iPhone 5c - on Friday, but there was no shortage of complaints about supply, particularly of the gold coloured smartphones.
Apple has already pledged to fix a lockscreen bug on iOS 7, and now a second bug has emerged that enables users to make calls from a locked iPhone.
The bizarre bug was discovered by Karam Daoud, a 27-year old from Ramallah, who passed on a video and information about it to Andy Greenberg at Forbes.
This new bug affects devices locked with a passcode. Basically, all a user needs to do is access the emergency call screen and tap in any number. Then, repeatedly tap the Call button until it eventually appears to get stuck, and the iPhone crashes to the Apple logo.
Even though the Apple logo appears on the screen, the call is actually placed. The trick works with international numbers and premium rate numbers.
Take-Two has announced that its Grand Theft Auto V blockbuster has reached $1 billion in sales in just three days of availability.
The latest in the GTA series was expected to reach $1 billion in its first month, but after a staggering $800 million on its first day, it became clear that it was set to break new records. It has reached the milestone faster than any entertainment property has before it.
"Grand Theft Auto is a cultural phenomenon and Rockstar Games continues to redefine what can be achieved in interactive entertainment," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnicksaid in a statement.
"We are incredibly proud of the extraordinary critical and commercial response to Grand Theft Auto V."
For comparison, Call of Duty: Black Ops II hit the milestone in 15 days.
Conan O'Brien has posted an awesome review of Grand Theft Auto V, which develops into a vendetta against a virtual Strip Club.
In his "clueless gamer" review, Conan shows that he would be utterly useless as a getaway driver in the game - he didn't even make it out of Michael's driveway - and that he likes a good fist fight with strangers.
The best parts of the review are Conan's reaction to finally getting Franklin onto a yacht on the back of a truck tearing down a freeway, and later on his encounter with bouncers at a Strip Club.
After being first thrown out of the club for getting too "handsy" with the ladies, Conan's character (Mike) ends up in a rundown hospital, but very much alive, after being shot to death at the club. Conan credits this incredible medical treatment to Obamacare.
He then returns to the club where he gets a private dance from two virtual ladies, but then once again his hands land him in trouble and he gets booted out.
Later on - unable to get over the encounter at the strip club earlier - Conan jacks a helicopter that fires missiles and returns to get revenge.. twice.
Here's the video (CONTENT WARNING: Rated R in US, Adult in most territories)
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has claimed Google has a monopoly in its business practices, and that it is worth of discussion with competition authorities.
His comments came during a presentation at Microsoft's financial analysts meeting. When responding to questions about how the Redmond giant can generate revenue from consumer services, Ballmer alluded to Google's alleged monopoly in the search space.
"They have this incredible, amazing, dare I say monopoly that we are the only person left on the planet trying to compete with," he said.
Microsoft's Bing service has grown to a 17.9 percent share of the search market in the United States, but still way behind Google at 67 percent. Most of Bing's gains have come from losses at other rival search engines other than Google.
"If we have exactly the same quality of algorithms, but a lot less scale in search advertising, we will get less revenue per search than Google does, which means they have more money to pay for distribution on Samsung devices, or Apple," Ballmer said, reports the Verge.
He then went on to explain that he believes the competition authorities may have a role to play.
UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg has warned about the corrosive effect of violent video games in the wake of the recent Navy Yard shooting in the United States.
The Liberal Democrat leader and deputy to Conservative PM David Cameron was commenting on his LBC Radio phone-in show. Reports questioned the gaming habits of the shooter at the Navy Yard in Washington D.C. (though he also apparently heard voices in his head...) following the latest gun-related tragedy to blight the United States.
"These games can have an incredibly powerful effect, and I expect in some cases a corrosive effect, on someone's behaviour," said Clegg.
"They occupy a hermetically sealed world of their own and that can have a very detrimental effect."
Typical of a politician, Clegg offered absolutely no evidence for his statement.
Microsoft is advising against standing its upcoming Xbox One console upright, saying it is designed to be laid flat.
The Xbox 360 can be stood vertically or laid flat during use, but that doesn't extend to the new Xbox One console, according to Albert Penello, who leads planning for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect at Microsoft.
"We don't support vertical orientation; do it at your own risk,"Panello told Gamespot.
"It wouldn't be a cooling problem, we just didn't design the drive for vertical. Because it's a slot loading drive, we just didn't design it for both."
Interesting warning, given that other consoles use a slot drive and don't have warnings against vertical orientation. Nevertheless, you have been warned.
Internet security firm RSA is advising developers not to use one of its own encryption algorithms, fearing the NSA may be able to decrypt code that results.
A New York Times report indicated that the NSA may have intentionally introduced a flaw into the SP 800–90A Dual Ellipctic Curve Deterministic Random Bit Generation algorithm before trying to get the National Institute of Standards and Technology to adopt it.
During the 90s, the NSA had argued publicly that it should be able to decrypt all cryptographic systems in order to be able to effectively fight against security threats, but privacy rights and free speech advocates won the day.
Nevertheless, the NSA has been in a tug of war with cryptographers who create increasingly sophisticated encryption systems. The NSA does have considerable super-computing power, and cryptographic expertise of its own too.
Google has posted a short video showing Google Chromecast working with a tablet, phone, laptop and TV.
Chromecast is basically another system that aims to bring content from your laptop and mobile devices to your HDTV over a home network, not that much unlike AppleTV and other services.
It works with Netflix, YouTube, Google Play, Chrome and more.
Working with Android tablets and smartphones, iPhones and iPads, Mac and Windows, you can choose what to play, control playback and audio levels with your device as your remote control.
The Chromecast hardware plugs directly into the HDMI slot of a HD TV, and is powered by connecting to a USB port. It costs $35.
At GamesCom in Germany this year, 974 people played a custom Super Mario Bros time trial, which has all been combined into this one video.
Have you ever wondered what it would look like if 974 different gamers played a Super Mario Bros time trial level, and were all combined into one 1:34 video? Well, neither did we frankly, but here is a video of that happening at GamesCom in Germany anyway.
There was a 3 second penalty for dying which explains all the frozen Marios. Also note that enemies and objects may not appear synced to the players - that is due to the way Mari0 (and the original SMB) works.
If you are looking to cut a few dollars off the cost of games this weekend, then go to Toys R Us and use a promo to get 20% off.
Unfortunately, the promo does not cover pre-orders of games for Microsoft's Xbox One, or Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4). Still, you can get the discount on the recently released Grand Theft Auto V, Saints Row IV, Madden NFL 25 and more.
To avail, go to the Toys R Us website and add games to your shopping card. At the checkout, use the promo code FRIENDS20 for the 20% discount. Please note that the promo code is a one time use deal.
Sony revealed at the Tokyo Game Show that it made a business decision based on feedback to bump the PS4 from its original 4GB, to 8GB GDDR5 memory.
The upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) console was to feature 4GB of memory, but Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Worldwide Studios, revealed that it had made a decision to bump up the memory following feedback.
"And because we chose expensive memory...we really liked the performance, but it's pricy, right? So going to 8GB was a bit of a business decision,"Yoshida told GameSpot.
"But we were able to make that decision because of a lot of the feedback from developers."
Sticking with 4GB would have caused some frowns in the gaming community as memory is vitally important to delivering optimal performance for the longest possible time.
Mobile networks in the UK are annoyed with Apple for under-supplying them with the new iPhone 5s smartphone.
Ahead of today's launch of the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c in the UK market, the BBC News website reached out to mobile providers in the region about the launch and found that they were frustrated over the stocks provided to them by Apple.
Basically, the providers were rolling in stocks of the cheaper, plastic iPhone 5c, but were reportedly "drip fed" stocks of the premium iPhone 5s.
None of the carriers the BBC spoke to wished to be identified by name, fearing further disadvantages when supplies were replenished. However, there was speculation that Apple was supplying them with far more iPhone 5c models to drive sales by inducing a shortage of iPhone 5s. The plastic iPhone 5c has reportedly failed to gain adequate attention from Apple customers prior to launch.
The iPhone 5s is listed on Apple's UK website as being unavailable for 7-10 business days, following the launch.
The iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c smartphones go on sale today and there is already an iOS update for them available.
The small update includes some fixes for bugs that Apple has found in its latest operating system, but the iOS 7.0.1 update is only available for iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c for now, and not for the older Apple devices that support the latest iOS iteration.
Specifically, the iOS 7.0.1 update fixes a problem with Apple's TouchID fingerprint authentication system. Apparently the bug is not related to unlocking the device using the fingerprint scanner, but instead is related to using the scanner for iTunes purchases.
Given that the iPhone 5c doesn't have a TouchID fingerprint scanner, it's unclear what bugs will be fixed by the iOS 7.0.1 minor update on the new lower-cost (but still fairly pricey) iPhone.
Grand Theft Auto V is likely to be released for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles sometime next year, according to Colin Sebastian of Robert W. Baird & Co.
In a note to investors, he said the game will be launched on the next generation platforms - PlayStation 4 and Xbox One - sometime in 2014, saying it would help to extend the value of the franchise.
The next generation systems go on sale during November in the U.S. and Europe, with Sony aiming to sell five million before the end of its fiscal year, March 31.
While we ponder on when the new GTA will hit the next generation consoles, a petition seeking the blockbuster's release on PC has reached almost 480,000 signatures.
Sharp has introduced a new 70-inch Aquos 4K Ultra HD LED TV for the U.S. market.
The company had initially projected a mid-August launch for the TV, but supply issues kept it off shelves until now.
Besides the high-end specs, the TV is also THX-certified and will sell for $7,499.99 MSRP.
"For the past several years the focus with high-end television panels was on delivering a more exciting experience through size. With the introduction of our AQUOS 4K TV, we now offer consumers an even more life-like TV experience coupling size with resolution and clarity," said John Herrington, President, Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America.
The TV will upscale all non-4K content to 4K using Sharp's own 'Revelation 4K Upscaler.'
Apple's latest iOS upgrade fixed 80 security flaws in the older iOS 6 iterations of the software, according to reports.
Ironically, a fairly simple exploit can be used to bypass the lockscreen on iOS 7 and gain access to photos already, but the bugs fixed in iOS 7 are, in cases, very serious. Some could be used as part of DOS attacks on devices, or even be used to execute arbitrary code which could potentially leave a device open to being taken over.
One flaw (CVE-2013-0957) could allow an attacker to break an app in the third party Sandbox and determine the user's passcode.
The update also fixed a widely reported flaw that allowed a modified charger to be used to hijack a device. Other bugs included s Safari bug that made previously-deleted history visible again and a memory corruption issue related to the handling of XML by the Apple browser.
Sony has detailed how you can upgrade PS3 copies of select games to PS4 versions for just $10 after the PS4 launch.
So far only four titles will be included in the upgrade program, but they are big titles. If you have a copy of Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag, Call of Duty: Ghosts, Watch Dogs, and Battlefield 4 - either on Blu-ray Disc or Digital - you can upgrade to a PS4 version for $9.99.
If bought on Blu-ray, you will find a code packed into the PS3 version that you can redeem on PlayStation Store. Note that you will still need to use the PS3 disc to play the PS4 version of the game, so don't think about selling it.
If you buy any of the titles as digital versions, then you don't need to redeem any code, just look for the PS4 version of the game on PlayStation Store – it will appear on PlayStation Store on your PS4 for the discounted price of $9.99.
For those of you who have a redeem code, you don't have to wait until the PS4 comes out, you can redeem it right away and then download the digital copy when your PS4 arrives.
The program last for a limited time one. You will need to redeem codes and make the purchases before January 31, 2014 for Assassin's Creed IV and Watch Dogs, before March 28, 2014 for Battlefield 4 or before March 31, 2014 for Call of Duty: Ghosts.
The bug was found by Jose Rodriguez, who previously found bugs to bypass the lockscreen in iOS 6 and iOS 7 beta. This time he has found a flaw in iOS 7 that lets you bypass the lockscreen, access photos and use photo sharing with twitter, flickr, email and so on. Apple is already aware of the problem and is promising a fix as soon as possible, according to Forbes.
The flaw is shown in the video embedded below. Basically, it works by first swiping up the lockscreen to access the phone's "control center", and then opening up the alarm clock. Holding the sleep button brings up the option to turn it off, but if you tap cancel and then double click the Home button you get to the multitasking screen (the second click should be stretched a bit, apparently).
Microsoft has revealed the pricing scheme for Windows 8.1, which is set for release on October 18th.
If you have Windows 8 installed, 8.1 is a free update via the Windows Store.
However, if you don't have Windows 8, Windows 8.1 is going to cost you. Base price for the operating system is $120, and Windows 8.1 Pro will set you back $200.
Microsoft notes that 8.1 will be slightly different than 8: "One shift to note in Windows 8.1 is that we will be offering "full version software" at retail and online for download that does not require a previous version of Windows in order to be installed. The copy of Windows 8 that is currently available for sale at retail and online is an "upgrade version." This shift allows more flexibility for customers in specific technical scenarios and is in response to feedback we've received. It will be easier for those consumers who want to build PCs from scratch, run Windows 8.1 in Virtual Machine (VM) environments, or run Windows 8.1 on a second hard drive partition."
Apple's TouchID fingerprint reader and authentication system will be a fun challenge for hackers after the launching of a crowd-funding effort to provide motivation.
IsTouchIDHackedYet.com has been launched by security researcher Nick Depetrillo and Robert David Graham, listing pledges from Twitter users to provide money (including BitCoin) and other prizes - like a bottle of wine and a "dirty sex book" - for whoever can demonstrate a working hack of the feature.
In order to be in with a shout of getting some rewards, the hacker will need to provide proof of a method to break into an iPhone 5s by lifting prints from other surfaces, like a glass, and using it somehow for authentication.
Fingerprint scanners have been defeated quite easily in the past. Mythbusters even beat one by simply printing out a finger print and using the print-out.
Apple insists however that TouchID is special, claiming it can't even be beaten by severed finger.
According to comments given to Forbes, Depetrillo decided to go ahead with this challenge because he has so much faith in the TouchID system not to be easily beaten, but that being proven wrong will be a "pleasant surprise."
Dish Network has struck another victory as a NY judge has ruled to not issue a preliminary injunction against the company's 'Hopper' technology, a set-top DVR that allows for ad-skipping.
The hardware will remain legal in New York now, against the wishes of ABC, which had requested the injunction.
Besides ABC, CBS and other companies have all separately sued Dish over the Hopper and its native software, the AutoHop.
The decision marks the second victory for the company, as a judge in California made a similar ruling in July in a case brought by News Corp. (Fox).
ABC was understandably not happy: "Today's ruling is only a preliminary decision and the first step in the judicial process. We continue to firmly believe that Dish's AutoHop and PrimeTime Anytime services breach our retransmission consent agreement with Dish, infringe upon ABC's copyrights, and unfairly compete with the authorized on-demand and commercial-free options currently offered by ABC and its licensees."
Google has made their popular document editing software QuickOffice free for all Android and iOS users.
The PRO version of the software previously cost $19.99, and includes powerful editing software for Microsoft Office documents, and other file types.
QuickOffice was purchased by Google over the summer last year, after being a longstanding top 50 app in the Play Store. The app is now integrated directly to Google Drive, Google's cloud storage solution.
As part of the promotion (which is permanent), users who get the app and log in with their Google account before September 26th will be given an extra 10GB of free storage within Google Drive.
A BBC TV programme in the UK has tested how a consumer can get the fastest possible response to their complaints to corporations.
It is hardly a surprise that The One Show on the BBC TV in the UK found that e-mailing a complaint is one of the worst ways of going about it. In a test, the show contacted five separate companies by e-mail with complaints, and only one responded within 24 hours.
Taking your grievance to Twitter has a much better result, it would appear, with the fastest response time after complaining on Twitter being just 3 minutes. The slowest was 1 hour and 10 minutes.
It is not difficult to understand these results. When you complain to a company by e-mail, the complaint is made in private for your eyes and the company's eyes only.
When you complain on Twitter or through other social media, you are effectively calling out the company in public, in full view. Therefore, it is in their best interest to get back to you as soon as possible.
Still, just because you get a quick response time doesn't mean you will have your problem solved quicker, but it's much better than checking your e-mail inbox, listening to elevator music on the phone (or talking to a badly programmed automated response system) or going out to complain in person. Of course, the public nature of a Twitter complaint is probably not suitable for all problems.
Hiroshi Yamauchi, who led Nintendo into a position as the most recognizable video games brand in the world, has died at the age of 85.
Nintendo announced the passing of Hiroshi Yamauchi on Thursday, who succumbed to pneumonia. He was the third president of Nintendo, joining the company in 1949, and was succeeded by Nintendo president and CEO Satoru Iwata. He died as the largest Nintendo shareholder, with an estimated net worth of around $2.1 billion as of April, 2013.
In his early years at Nintendo, the company produced Hanafuda cards - a form of Japanese playing cards - and also introduced the plastic Western playing cards to Japan for the first time. In 1959, Yamauchi signed a licensing agreement with Walt Disney for playing cards.
Under Yamauchi, Nintendo listed on the stock exchange and became a huge name in Japan for card games intended for family use.
He realized very quickly the potential that the emerging markets for electronics had, taking note of the likes of Atari. It was with the entrance of Nintendo into the American arcade market that saw the eventual rise of Shigeru Miyamoto's Donkey Kong, in 1981.
In 1992, Yamauchi became the majority shareholder of the Seattle Mariners.
A U.S. Court has halted a deal that would see Activision buy Vivendi's $8.2 billion stake in the publisher.
A Delaware court put a temporary hold on the deal after an investor Douglas Hayes sued, claiming that the companies did not put the deal to shareholder vote as legally required. It is very rare for a U.S. court to take this action, but it is unlikely to kill the deal according to analysts.
The deal was announced in July by Vivendi, after it had agreed to sell its stake to the publisher for $8.2 billion.
Both companies can appeal the court's decision, and if successful, could close the deal very quickly. Otherwise, Activision can call a shareholder vote, which will take more time and likely won't change the outcome.
Verizon Wireless has responded to quite a bit of criticism for not activating Google's Nexus 7 following its launch.
Consumers who got their hands on the new Google tablet earlier this week were in for an unpleasant surprise when they tried to activate the device on Verizon's LTE network. It didn't take long before tweets were aimed at Verizon about the issue.
Given that Verizon Wireless made considerable commitments to device support while bidding for spectrum, and the display of a Verizon logo at the Nexus 7 unveiling, this tweet was received with confusion, and anger by some.
Verizon has gone on to use its main Twitter account (as supposed to support) to explain that the Nexus 7 will be "supported" soon.
Nexus 7 is not yet VZ certified; we expect it to complete testing soon, then we'll work to make avail on our network http://t.co/DmAhqYRPSF
A U.S. court has ruled that using Facebook's 'Like' feature to show support for a political candidate amounts to legally protected speech.
The decision was made by the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in a case involving the firing of a former deputy sheriff in Hampton, Virginia. He claimed that he had lost his job because during an election campaign, he liked the Facebook page of a candidate running for the position of city Sheriff, against his boss.
In total, six former employees of Hampton Sheriff B.J. Roberts claim they were illegally fired for having supported his opponent, Jim Adams, in the election which took place in 2009.
"Liking a political candidate's campaign page communicates the user's approval of the candidate and supports the campaign by associating the user with it," Chief Judge William Traxlerwrote for a three-judge panel.
"It is the Internet equivalent of displaying a political sign in one's front yard, which the Supreme Court has held is substantive speech."
The decision partly reverses a ruling that liking a Facebook page was "insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection," made by U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson in Newport News, Virginia last year.
Even though Canonical's crowdfunding efforts for the Ubuntu Edge fell well short, the Ubuntu Touch OS is still on its way.
The company now plans to release the OS on October 17th, after first announcing it back in January. In february, a preview release was made available for 20 smartphones including those made by Sony, Samsung and HTC.
Canonical QA community coordinator Nicholas Skaggs says the company "committed to delivering an image" of the OS for Android Nexus devices on that date.
For the time being, preview releases are still available and Canonical says interested users should download and forward any bus to their QA team.
Facebook has announced some shocking numbers about its photo volume since launch.
The social networking giant says over 250 billion photos have been uploaded since the site launched in 2004, and everyday, the company's 1.15 billion user uploads an average of 350 million photos.
Additionally, the company says 4.75 billion total pieces of content (comments, status updates, photos and more) are posted daily. 4.5 billion "Likes" and 10 billion messages are sent through Facebook Messenger everyday, as well.
The numbers decimate other photo sharing sites, as Flickr only sees 3.5 million photos per day and Instagram (owned by FB) sees 55 million per day.
It appears that the iPhone 5S' new fingerprint scanner is not restricted to just human prints.
TechCrunch put the device to the test and was able to successfully get his cat's paw print to lock and unlock the new smartphone using the Touch ID sensor.
Cats have similar (and unique) identifying prints like humans, so the site says no other cats were able to unlock his phone.
5S users have up to five Touch ID profiles, allowing people that use your phone most frequently to save their prints, as well.
The software giant will pay $5 billion for the mobile phone division, and $2.17 billion for Nokia's patent trove when the deal is approved. Additionally, Microsoft extended at $1.5 billion loan to Nokia. The company says the transaction will close in the Q1 2014, pending approval by shareholders and regulatory approval.
Elop will make the money immediately alongside an announcement the deal has been approved, as he will also be standing down from his position. Microsoft will pay 68 percent of the fee.
The exec will head back to work at Microsoft after the deal closes, which has had many in the Finnish media calling him "a Trojan horse." Indeed, Nokia's handset business collapsed since he was named CEO and Microsoft was able to purchase the company for cheaper than anyone would have expected even just a few years ago.
Apple has upped the limit for App Store downloads over data and not Wi-Fi, from 50MB per app to 100MB.
The move comes alongside the rollout of iTunes 11.1 and iOS 7, the latter of which is expected to already have been downloaded on 35 percent of all compatible iOS devices.
Apple most likely expects apps to get 'beefier' as they use the 64-bit processor in the iPhone 5S and updated GPU rendering.
If you are on a 3G/4G network, you will receive an error notice when trying to download an app above 100MB. You will then need to wait until you are on a Wi-Fi network to complete the download.
Apple CEO Tim Cook sat with Bloomberg, and within the interview he discussed Microsoft's recent acquisition of Nokia's handset business.
"Everybody is trying to adopt Apple's strategy," says Cook. "We're not looking for external validation of our strategy, but I think it does suggest that there's a lot of copying, kind of, on the strategy and that people have recognized that importance."
When asked about Nokia, which will still operate under its own name, Cook says the industry needs to read up on the story of the once prominent phone maker. "I think [Nokia] is a reminder to everyone in business that you have to keep innovating and that to not innovate is to die," said Cook.
Before the launch of the iPhone and Android, Nokia controlled as much as 80 percent of the smartphone market with its Symbian operating system. While the company continued to innovate on the design side of the hardware, the software fell behind to the point of no return and eventually the company had to strike a deal with Microsoft for Windows Phone.
When the company unveiled the PlayStation 4 earlier this year, it confirmed that since PS3 discs would not work with the device, gamers would be able to stream their favorite PS3 games using Gaikai, the streaming tech company they acquired in 2012.
Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida has now acknowledged that the service will be available to North American gamers early next year, for the PS4, the PS Vita and the new PS Vita TV set-top console.
The processing is taken care of in the cloud, and Sony says the service will launch with a "decent number" of titles.
KGI Securities analyst Ming-chi Kuo, who correctly called the 5C, 5S, fingerprint reader and new colors for the devices, has posted a new research note projecting the sales tally for the first weekend of sales.
The devices, which officially launch on Friday, after a week of pre-orders, has been sold out from most carriers and retailers. There have also been reports that the iPhone 5S has seen supply constraints overseas.
Kuo expects the company to sell between 6 and 8 million combined handsets by the end of the weekend. Even if the low-end of that projection is hit, it would be significantly higher than last year's record-breaking iPhone 5 launch.
The analyst also expects that the iPhone 5s will account for between 35% and 45% of total opening-weekend sales.
Earlier this month, Sony unveiled a new model of their PS Vita handheld.
The new Vita PCH-2000 is 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the original model while increasing battery life by one hour on average.
Additionally, the new device will be Wi-Fi-only and be a Japanese exclusive for the time being, launching on October 10th. Sony has hinted at potentially sending the handheld elsewhere but so far has not given any notice or confirmation of such a move.
The new Vita will be available in pink, black, blue, grey, lime green, and yellow color options), come with a micro-USB charger rather than Sony's proprietary port, and have 1GB internal storage. To save on costs, Sony has changed the display to an LCD rather than an OLED.
Furthermore, Sony will drop the prices of their memory cards, with the baseline 4GB card dropping to 1,554 yen ($15) and the high-end card, 64GB at 10,479 yen (about $105).
The device will sell for 19800 yen, about $190 USD.
Within those titles, there are over 2000 episodes, although a good portion will only be available to Hulu Plus subscribers.
Hulu had recently put itself up for sale, receiving billion dollar bids from Yahoo, DirecTV, and Time Warner, but its owners were not satisfied and instead invested $750 million into their company and new content.
The company will also increase original programming content, in an effort to better compete with Amazon and Netflix, which have been investing hundreds of millions on their own exclusive shows.
Eldar Murtazin, known for leaking Nokia info in the past, has reported that Microsoft is already pushing the company to cancel a few of its upcoming products.
Microsoft recently purchased Nokia's handset unit for over $7 billion and began licensing all of its patents.
Although the deal has not closed (it is expected to do so next year), Murtazin says Microsoft is pushing Nokia to cancel the upcoming Sirius Windows RT tablet, and at least half of the low-end Asha touchscreen music phones.
The software giant will pay $5 billion for the mobile phone division, and $2.17 billion for the patent trove when the deal is approved. Additionally, Microsoft extended at $1.5 billion loan to Nokia. The company says the transaction will close in the Q1 2014, pending approval by shareholders and regulatory approval.
The American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) has released its annual customer satisfaction ratings for personal computers, with Apple leading the way for the tenth year running.
ACSI includes traditional computers and tablets in their rating, and Apple finished the year with a satisfaction rating of 87, well above the competition.
The ratings take into account customer expectations, perceptions of quality, and perceptions of value.
Apple must be happy with the result as just last month, ASCI ranked the Galaxy S3 above the iPhone 5 for top smartphone satisfaction.
For the PC ratings, Apple topped the list at 87, followed by HP at 80, Dell at 79, and Toshiba at 78.
Sony Corp revealed an ambitious early goal for the PlayStation 4 console; to sell five million units by the end of its fiscal year.
That would mean that Sony hopes to sell 5 million PS4 consoles worldwide by the end of March 2014. Andrew House, President and CEO of Sony Computer Entrainment (SCEI) revealed the early ambitious goal in Sony's keynote presentation at the Tokyo Game Show today.
Given that the PlayStation 4 (PS4) breaks with Sony tradition by not launching first in its home territory of Japan - which won't get the PS4 until February - the target does seem to be set on the high end. It took Sony almost a full year before the PlayStation 3 (PS3) console sold five million worldwide.
The PS4 doesn't launch in Japan until February 22. It launches in North America on November 15, and in Europe on November 29.
CyanogenMod, the popular custom Android developer has become a real company, Cyanogen Inc., raising $7 million in venture capital funding.
Founder Steve Kondik says the goal of the company is to make Cyanogen one of the most popular smartphone operating systems in the world. To get started on that goal, the company knows it needs to make the process of installing the software easier than it currently is.
Kondik calls the current installation process "hideous," and it does indeed need advanced Android knowledge to install the OS. It also requires root.
To remedy this, Cyanogen Inc. will bring a CM installer to the Google Play store in the next month. Android phone owners will download the app, click one or two buttons and install CM to their device.
CyanogenMod is a stock version of Android, along with streamlined features, additional personalization and added security features. CM also updates the OS regularly, so you will not have to wait for your carrier, or phone maker (HTC, Samsung) to approve and test all OS updates. That process normally takes months after Google releases their latest firmware.
Twitter has updated its apps for iPhone and iPad to coincide with the launch of iOS 7.
Of course, the updates are fully compatible with iOS 6 and iOS 5, but the main reason for the update was for iOS 7 and the new features it brings to Twitter.
In the Music app on an iPhone or iPad running iOS 7, you can now discovery music that's trending on Twitter through the Twitter #music station on iTunes Radio.
Siri on iOS 7 will now also search through Twitter to find tweets about topics or people that you have asked about.
BlackBerry has confirmed the new Z30 smartphone runnign BB 10.2, and featuring some upgrades over the previous BlackBerry Z10.
The new Z30 features a larger 5-inch Super AMOLED display (720p), an upgraded Snapdragon S4 Pro dual core processor at 1.7GHz, 2GB of RAM and an Adreno 320 GPU. Internal storage is also 16GB but can be expanded through the use of a microSD card.
Aiming at business users, BlackBerry has included its new generation of antenna technology that dynamically tunes reception to provide better connectivity in areas of poor signal. The Z30 is also BlackBerry's first smartphone to feature a 2880 mAh battery.
The Z30 is LTE-compatible (no specifics on bands), supports Wi-Fi (802.11 a/b/g/n), Bluetooth 4.0 and NFC.
Another touted improvement is with sounds; the Z30 features stereo speakers that immerse you in your music, videos, apps and games, and makes conversations sound like you're face-to-face, the Canadian firm claims. BlackBerry Natural Sound is new technology exclusive to BlackBerry and part of BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2 that makes BBM Voice and BBM Video chats sound more natural and realistic.
Other improvements and features include the BaclBerry Priority Hub which organizes your e-mail, messages and social media data by priority, and also the new in-app message preview that allows you yo respond to a message from any app. However, both these new features come from BlackBerry 10.2, which will be available soon as an update for some older BlackBerry devices.
Apple has released iTunes 11.1 to coincide with the release of iOS 7, and the firm's new iTunes Radio service that will rival the likes of Pandora.
iTunes 11.1 delivers iOS 7 device support as the latest iteration of the Apple mobile OS also rolled out today. iTunes 11.1 will be a requirement for devices running iOS 7, so keep that in mind.
The big new feature delivered to the Desktop in iTunes 11.1 - albeit for U.S. users only at this time - is iTunes Radio, an ad-supported personalized radio service that rivals Pandora. For those subscribed to iTunes Match ($25 a year), you will not have to suffer the advertisements.
Like Pandora, iTunes Radio offers custom stations based on artists, genres and other factors.
For Podcast consumers, Podcast Station will also create custom stations featuring your regularly downloaded podcasts. These will automatically update with new podcast and sync the playback position for each across your Apple devices.
BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) will be available as a free download for both Android and iPhones this weekend.
Once available exclusively on BlackBerry devices, its upcoming availability on alternative platforms was announced earlier this year, much to the delight of former BlackBerry users who have switched to different smartphones in recent years that would like to still use BBM.
BBM will be available from Google Play for Android phones from Saturday, September 21, and then available for iPhones from the App Store on Sunday, September 22.
The app is free on both platforms. Android users will need to be running Ice Cream Sandwich or Jelly Bean to get the app, and iPhone users will need iOS 6 or iOS 7 installed.
BBM for Android and iPhone features:
BBM Chat – Enjoy real, immediate conversations with friends on Android, iPhone and BlackBerry smartphones. Not only does BBM let you know that your message has been delivered and read, it also shows you that your friend is responding to the message.
More than chat – With BBM you can share files on your phone such as photos and voice notes, all in an instant.
Keep your group in the loop – Multi-person chats are a great way to invite contacts to chat together. BBM Groups lets you invite up to 30 friends to chat together, and go a step further than multi-chat by sharing photos and schedules. And, with Broadcast Message, you can send a message out to all your BBM contacts at once.
Post Updates and stay in the know – BBM lets you post a personal message, profile picture and your current status, and lets your contacts know instantly in Updates.
Your unique PIN – Every BBM user has a unique PIN that maintains your privacy, so you don't have to give out your phone number or email address to a new or casual contact.
Google has announced the formation of Calico, a new company that will focus on human longevity, health and well-being, and particularly on diseases and the challenges faced from the aging process.
The new company will be headed up by chief executive Arthur D. Levinson, who is Chairman and former CEO of Genentech and Chairman of Apple.
Specifics about Calico are few and far between, but the upcoming September 30 edition of TIME magazine features a provocative cover asking; "Can Google solve DEATH?" The issue will profile Larry Page and this new venture.
One of the challenges for Calico, it seems, is to analyse how resources should be used on health research to get the best results. Page points out to TIME magazine that with all the exceptional amounts of money spent on cancer research, curing cancer would only add approximately three years to the average life expectancy of human beings. Of course, there are reasons why cancer gets so much attention, it affects us all at some point in our lives through our own health or the health of family and friends.
There are other efforts under-way too that seek to unravel the inner-workings of age-related illnesses and hopefully find ways to drastically delay the effects, halt, or even reverse them. The SENS Research Foundation is an example, also based on Mountain View.
Take-Two is reporting $800 million in retail sales on the launch day of Grand Theft Auto V, blasting analysts expectations out of the water.
Analysts point out the figure suggests between 13 and 14 million copies of the game have been sold on its launch day. By comparison, Grand Theft Auto IV sold 13 million copies in its first year.
When Grand Theft Auto IV first launched, there were far less Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles in homes. Five years later, analysts were expecting Grand Theft Auto V to easily outsell its predecessor within the first month - perhaps hitting a billion dollars in retail sales - but $800 million in a day comes as a big surprise.
"We're looking for 23 million units of games sold by March 2014 and we won't change that, but $800 million in the first day is phenomenal,"said Mike Hickey, an analyst at the Benchmark Company.
Reviews of the game are by far mostly positive at this time, with gamers praising the beautiful Los Santos city, the three-main-character storyline and open-ended gameplay.
Rockstar Games has release the iFruit app for iOS devices, allowing you to interact with your GTA V world from your mobile device.
"iFruit hooks directly into your experience of Grand Theft Auto V with some fun activities to further postpone the need for real social interaction," its description reads.
With iFruit, you can keep up to date on the latest GTA V news, login to the Rockstar Games Social Club, stay connected with LifeInvader and launch other Rockstar Games apps.
A "Los Santos Customs" app lets you customize vehicles from your phone, or even create and reserve custom license plates for both Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online. You can choose from paint jobs, window tints, smoke colors, wheels, hoods and spoilers. Upgrade your engine, brakes, exhaust, suspension, and accessorize with new lights, horns, tires and body armor.
In the "Chop the Dog" app, you can interact with Franklin's canine sidekick in Grand Theft Auto V. Pet him, feed and water him, play fetch and tug-of-war, teach him tricks. Too much or too little of an activity, however, will cause Chop to become unhappy, and nobody likes an unhappy Rottweiler, Rockstar warns.
NVIDIA has revealed the Tegra Note tablet platform, utilizing Tegra 4 and NVIDIA DirectStylus technology, in tablets starting at $199.
You may recall NVIDIA demoing the Tegra Tab at Computex in June, which was an early version of Tegra Note. Tegra Note is a complete tablet platform designed by NVIDIA, and will be brought to the market as physical products by its hardware partners.
The new platform goes beyond NVIDIA's Project KAI, which was a Tegra 3 reference design intended to direct the building of low-cost, high quality tablets that are powered by Tegra 3. Google's Nexus 7 was one of the hardware products that resulted. Tegra 4 goes beyond Project KAI by delivering a complete platform, not just the hardware, but also suggests retail prices starting at $199, as did Project KAI.
Of course, the actual price of a tablet based on Tegra Note depends entirely on the third part manufacturer.
In terms of specs, Tegra Note dictates...
Processor - Tegra 4 mobile processor with quad-core Cortex-A15 CPU and 72-core GeForce GPU
Display - 7-inch HD IPS LCD display (1280 x 800)
Camera - Rear 5MP and front VGA webcam
Storage - 16GB storage with microSD expandable up to an additional 32GB
Audio - Front-facing "HD Audio" stereo speakers with a unique bass-reflex port
Stylus - Chisel and Brush tips for natural writing and broad strokes
Peripherals - Micro HDMI connector to drive big screen TV videos and gaming
OS - 100% Android with latest version of the OS
Software Updates - Over-the-air software updates directly from NVIDIA
Battery Life - 10 hours HD video playback
Tegra Note-based devices will roll out in the next few months from NVIDIA partners, including EVGA and PNY Technologies in North America; EVGA, Oysters and ZOTAC in Europe; Colorful, Shenzhen Homecare Technology and ZOTAC in Asia-Pacific; and XOLO in India. HP, ASUS, Toshiba, Kobo and Xiaomi have already announced Tegra 4-based products too.
Internet radio service Pandora has gotten an important court decision in its favor as it seeks to stop music publishers from narrowing a license that lets it stream their music.
Universal, EMI and Sony had sought to withdraw new media licensing rights from the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) so that they could negotiate directly with services like Pandora on the licensing of new media.
Pandora went to court, seeking a ruling that the withdrawal by publishers would not affect the ASCAP license, and that the existing antitrust consent decree requires that the publishers license all works through 2015.
ASCAP responded that Pandora was aware that, at any time, the content decree could be narrowed. Nevertheless, U.S. District Judge Denise Cotesided with Pandora in summary judgement.
"ASCAP argues that 'ASCAP repertory' refers only to the rights in music works that ASCAP has been granted by its members as of a particular moment in time," the judge wrote. "Pandora argues that 'ASCAP repertory' is a defined term articulated in terms of 'works' or 'compositions,' as opposed to in terms of a gerrymandered parcel of 'rights.' Pandora is correct."
A day after the launch of Grand Theft Auto V for Xbox 360 and PS3, a petition to bring the blockbuster to PC has hit 440,000 signatures.
The amount of people adding their names to the petition has significantly increased since the game launched yesterday. It had hit 200,000 in July, and was up to 350,000 just before launch. Now the petition is at around 442,000 signatures at the time of writing.
It needs 58,000 more to hit a target of 500,000 signatures.
Signatories add their name to an open request to Rockstar Games to consider bringing GTA V to PC.
"To:
Rockstar Games
Please release GTA V on PC. GTA games have been a large part of so many people's lives and it's a big shame not seeing the newest iteration of the game being released on the most powerful platform. Things like modifications have always been a HUGE part of PC gaming and modded GTA is some of the most insanely fun times you can have.
I hope you consider the release of GTA V on PC as it'll make many people very happy!
Sincerely,
[Your name]"
Rockstar Games has advised owners of Grand Theft Auto V on Xbox 360 not to install the Play disc on the console's hard disk drive.
The Xbox 360 copy of GTA V is spread across two discs. The first disc acts only as an install disc, and cannot be "manually installed" in the same way that other Xbox 360 games can be. Once the install is finished, the gamer is prompted to insert Disc 2 to continue, and after a few moments the install will be complete.
This second disc is the Play disc you need to insert to launch the game. Unlike Disc 1, you can manually install the second disc in the same way that you can manually install any other Xbox 360 games. However, if you are doing that to boost performance (as is the case with other games), then Rockstar is advising you to hold off.
"For optimal performance, we recommend not installing that disc," Rockstar Support said on Twitter on Monday just ahead of launch, promising more details after the launch.
The issue probably arises from the HDD being used to retrieve data from the installed Play disc, and the installed Disc 1 simultaneously, which might make using the DVD drive for the Play disc the optimal choice.
Either way, there doesn't seem to be any reports yet of performance problems from installing the disc, but the game has only been out over the past day.
YouTube has revealed that its mobile apps will get a new Offline Viewing feature this November.
The feature was announced on the YouTube Creator's blog. It will allow YouTube users to store videos on their devices for a temporary period, so they will not need an Internet connection to view the videos.
"This upcoming feature will allow people to add videos to their device to watch for a short period when an Internet connection is unavailable," The YouTube Team announced.
"So your fans' ability to enjoy your videos no longer has to be interrupted by something as commonplace as a morning commute,"
This is part of an effort at YouTube to maximise the way users of its mobile apps enjoy videos and channels.
The popular phone leaking @EVLeaks has posted the first picture of the upcoming Kindle Fire HD, which unfortunately appears to look exactly the same as its predecessor.
As with past models, the 2013 edition of the tablet will have large bezels and a similar form factor and shape.
Amazon had been expected to unveil the tablet this month, but may have pushed the launch to not compete directly with new offerings from Microsoft, Samsung and Sony. Apple is also expected to show off its latest iPad Mini next month.
Previous reports had claimed Amazon will be releasing three new tablets, including a 7-inch model with a 1,920 x 1,200 resolution and powered by a Snapdragon 800 Qualcomm aimed directly at the Google Nexus 7 FHD.
According to multiple sources, Nokia has delayed the launch of the Lumia 1520 'phablet' following Microsoft's purchase of their handset division.
The phone maker had been expected to unveil the device this month, possibly alongside a Windows RT tablet.
Now, the launch event has been pushed back until at least October, say the sources. Both companies will still operate separately, so it is unclear what has caused the delay.
The Lumia 1520, from what we know via leaks, features a massive 6-inch screen with 1080presolution, is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor and 2GB RAM.
On the back, a 21MP PureView camera will "take a dual shot consisting of a 16MP picture and a 5MP one for playing around with and sharing." 32GB internal storage is standard but there is also a microSD slot.
Microsoft has refreshed its Bing search engine, giving the design an overhaul, all the way down to its logo.
Lawrence Ripsher, Bing general manager of user experiences, says the new look shows that Bing is "no longer just a search engine on a web page," but an experience that integrates as part of Microsoft's new "One Microsoft" strategy to unify all of its brands.
Among the new features are "Page Zero" which is a beefed-up version of the auto-fill suggestions well known by all search engine users. Says the company: "We are introducing Page Zero, a new function in Bing that helps a user get an answer or take an action before they even seethe first results page. We do this by showing key tasks associated with the query while they're typing. This not only provides important information and services to them quickly, but enables them to see what kinds of things they can explore on Bing and across the Web. For example, if you type Katy Perry, we understand what you're looking for before you've even searched and give you a quick glance of who she is and suggest other popular search tasks associated with the singer."
Adobe has announced its quarterly earnings today, showing strong subscriber growth for its cloud-based bundled services.
Subscribers for Creative Cloud, the subscription-based version of its popular software bundle, also crossed the one million mark for the first time ever, after adding 331,000 subscribers in the third quarter.
CFO Mark Garrett says the company will top that figure in the fourth quarter, after closing more corporate contracts during the quarter than during the entire first half of the year.
Adobe began its move to a Web-based service last year, moving away from physical, licensed software.
A Robert W. Baird analyst is predicting that Rockstar Games' latest Grand Theft Auto title will beat the early success of its predecessor, released in 2008.
When released in 2008, Grand Theft Auto IV has sold over 25 million copies worldwide. It sold 3.6 million copies off the shelf on its very first day. The number swelled to 6 million copies in the first week, and 11 million in the first month.
Fast forward over five years to today, with the release of the hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and there are plenty of reasons to expect it to beat GTA IV, according to Colin Sebastian, a Robert W. Baird analyst.
"Given the significantly higher installed base of relevant console platforms at launch, greater sales concentration among the top video game franchises, and unprecedented pentup demand, we expect GTAV to outpace GTAIV sales, and generate roughly $1 billion in retail sales during the first month,"he said in a note to investors.
Grand Theft Auto V breaks from tradition by allowing you to control three different main characters; Michael De Santa is a retired bank robber, Trevor Phillips is a former criminal associate and Franklin Clinton is a repo man looking to expand his horizons a bit. Their stories are interconnected and they combine their skills to pull of missions.
Microsoft has acknowledged a zero-day vulnerability affecting all versions of Internet Explorer, and has rushed out a temporary fix while working on it.
The flaw affects all versions of Internet Explorer from 6 to IE11, although so far only Internet Explorer 8 and Internet Explorer 9 are subjects of attacks in the wild.
This issue could allow remote code execution if an affected system browses to a website containing malicious content directed towards the specific browser type. This would typically occur when an attacker compromises the security of trusted websites regularly frequented, or convinces someone to click on a link in an email or instant message.
While Microsoft is working on an update for its hrowser to immunize against exploits in the wild, it is offering IE users a workaround in the form of a Microsoft Fix It solution, which you can download from Microsoft.com.
Google's new Nexus 7 tablet is reportedly being shunned by Verizon, which has said the tablet cannot be activated on its network.
The news comes as a surprise given that the Verizon logo was clearly visible at the Nexus 7 unveiling. Customers who have just gotten their hands on the new Google tablet were running into problems activating the device on Verizon's network, and according to Verizon Support on Twitter, it simply can't be activated.
@jeffjarvis I'm excited you got your Nexus 7 but not all LTE tablets are created equal. It's not part of our line up & can't be activated^JH
One workaround is to use an LTE SIM card that has been transfered from another device working on the Verizon network.
The news is likely to get under Google's skin very quickly, as it had urged the FCC to make Verizon understand that the open access provisions in its license obligations - when it licensed wireless spectrum at auction in 2008 - must be complied with
Pre-orders of Apple's new iPhone 5C and iPhone 5S have hit 100,000 according to China Unicom Hong Kong Ltd.
When Apple released its iPhone 5 in China in December of last year, over 2 million units were sold in the first three days of availability. China is seen as crucial in the extremely competitive smartphone market, but it clearly is a hard nut to crack.
The simple fact is the vast, vast majority of Chinese mobile users could never afford to pick up an iPhone, but at the same time, China has a growing wealthy population and a growing middle class.
Mozilla has released the Firefox 24 update, addressing some serious security flaws in the open source browser.
In total, the update addresses 17 security advisories, of which Mozilla deemed it necessary to rate 7 as critical flaws.
"Mozilla developers identified and fixed several memory safety bugs in the browser engine used in Firefox and other Mozilla-based products. Some of these bugs showed evidence of memory corruption under certain circumstances, and we presume that with enough effort at least some of these could be exploited to run arbitrary code."MSFA 2013-76 states.
The bugs were also fixed Firefox ESR (Extended Support Release) 17.0.9 (the browser packed in the TOR browser bundle), Thunderbird 24.0, Thunderbird ESR 17.0.9 and Seamonkey 2.21.
Besides security updates, Firefox 24 also brings support for a new scrollbar style in Mac OS X 10.7, the ability to tear-off chat windows to view separately by simply dragging them out, and a new option to close all open tabs "to the right" of an active tab, by right clicking and selecting the option. This is intended to make life easier for those of us who end up with dozens of tabs open after shotgun browsing for too long.
SanDisk has unveiled the fastest memory card in the world, the Extreme Pro CFast 2.0.
As the product name suggests, it is based on the CFast 2.0 draft specifications released by the CompactFlash Association recently - the first of its kind. It will be available with storage capacity of 60GB and 120GB, and it should be noted that write speed drops to 225MB/s for the 60GB card.
According to SanDisk, the beast of a card supports read speeds of up to 450MB/s and write speeds up to 350MB/s. With the SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 memory card, it takes only four minutes to transfer 100GB at max speed, according to SanDisk, though these numbers are subject to many factors such as host device, file attributes and so on.
"With the SanDisk Extreme Pro CFast 2.0 card, we are enabling a next generation card format to meet the needs of high-end professional cinematographers," said Dinesh Bahal, vice president, product marketing, SanDisk.
"These cards will enable new digital solutions for professional filmmakers looking to embrace technologies such as high-quality 4K video, and are another example of SanDisk's innovation and leadership in flash memory storage."
Netflix is a legal alternative to using piracy to get content online, but it admits that piracy sites give it valuable information about what subscribers likely want to watch.
One of the most difficult constant challenges for Netflix is gaining the rights to stream content. It needs to strike a balance between the often exceptional fees demanded by content providers, and making sure to have listings good enough to attract potential new customers to the relatively low-cost service.
Given that Netflix needs to restrict content it streams by region, the job is even more difficult, as is determining what content will be the best investment in each region.
That is where sources of online piracy offer a valuable, free service to the streaming giant; in order to figure out what to add to its listings in a particular region, Netflix checks the torrent (and other) sites to see what is the most pirated in that region.
"With the purchase of series, we look at what does well on piracy sites,"Kelly Merryman, Vice President of Content Acquisition at Netflix, told Tweakers (Dutch).
Mozilla has confirmed that its Windows 8 'Modern' version of Firefox has been postponed, again, this time until January.
The company had estimated an early December launch for the touch version of the browser, following two prior delays.
A "Preview Release" will still be released on Tuesday along with the alpha build of Firefox 26.
"The goal of the Metro Preview Release is to gather feedback and defects from the larger Aurora community," Mozilla noted. "Whether or not the Metro Preview Release will graduate from Aurora to Beta and Release channels is still to be determined. At a minimum, it should significantly increase the number of testers and feedback."
Mozilla started developing their Modern edition 18 months ago, with a very basic preview released alongside Windows 8 in October 2012. At the time, the company expected the browser to be completed by January 2013. That clearly did not happen.
Tencent has announced it will acquire a large 36.5 percent stake in Sohu's Sogou search engine.
The search engine is the third-largest in China, but one of its fastest growing.
After the purchase, the company's share could increase to 40 percent in the future, says Tencent.
The company will pay $448 million for the share.
Sogou has 10 percent share of the market, ahead of Tencent's Soso search engine at 3.15 percent, but well below Qihoo 360 at 17 percent and Baidu at 66.4 percent.
Intel has purchased the Spanish artificial intelligence technology startup Indisys, a company that focuses on natural language recognition.
The deal was reportedly around €20 million ($26 million) and follows Intel's recent acquisition of Omek, an Israeli startup with specialties in gesture-based interfaces.
Indisys employees have joined Intel already, confirms the company: "Intel has acquired Indisys, a privately held company based in Seville, Spain. The majority of Indisys employees joined Intel. We signed the agreement to acquire the company on May 31 and the deal has been completed. However, I can confirm that the value of the transaction is not material to Intel."
Intel would not confirm how they are using the tech: "Indisys has a deep background in computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, cognitive science, and machine learning. We are not disclosing any details about how Intel might use the Indisys technologies at this time."
Following the launch of T-Mobile's Jump early upgrade program, rival carriers have scrambled to unveil their own services.
It is Sprint's turn now, with the company ready to debut 'One Up' on September 20th, say reports.
As with other services, customers will pay monthly installments for their new phones and have the ability to trade it in every year for a new one at no extra charge.
Making 'One Up' different is that, unlike T-Mobile, there is no additional fee per month. T-Mobile costs $10 extra per month to sign up for the program. Verizon and AT&T don't offer any discounts on your monthly service plan, but One Up does.
When broken down, One Up charges about 50 percent of the phone's retail price to let you use it for a year, before you can trade it in.
After long threatening to do so, Kim Dotcom has sued the New Zealand government over the illegal spying against him and the raid on his home and personal property.
The government admitted the spying was illegal, and a New Zealand court granted Dotcom the rights to sue earlier this year.
Dotcom and other plaintiffs are seeking about $7 million in damages. In court documents, Dotcom claims that the 'Five Eyes' spy-network (UK, US, Canada, NZ and Australia) were actively spying on him, illegally.
Dotcom notes that the GCSB, New Zealand's version of the U.S.' National Security Agency had been spying on him "since at least December 16, 2011," well before the 2012 raid. Cameras were installed on adjacent properties to spy on Dotcom, reads the filings, and a hidden pencam was "used by Senior Constable Homan when he visited the Mahoenui Valley property on January 19, 2012, and that no search warrant had been obtained for this search."
AT&T, one of the ISPs that participates in the Copyright Alert System and its "six-strikes" system for copyright infringers, will in some cases terminate your account entirely if you are a repeat offender.
The CAS' main goal is to educate Internet users about copyright, whilst showing off legal alternatives.
Initial alerts will tell customers that their Internet is being used for unauthorized downloads, and subsequent alerts could range from more emails to mandatory educational courses online or even throttling of your speed.
AT&T, surprisingly, is taking it a step further telling alleged copyright infringers that an account termination is a possibility.
Here is the full CAS letter sent by AT&T (via TorrentFreak):
Copyright Infringement Alert
Dear (Primary Account Holder),
We are sending you this alert as part of our participation in the Copyright Alert Program -- an industry-wide initiative intended to help users understand their rights and responsibilities in the distribution of copyrighted content online.
According to Reuters, a handful of private equity firms are looking into BlackBerry, but there has so far been a very lukewarm response to buying the whole company.
Instead, the buyers seem interested in different parts of the struggling smartphone maker.
The company is currently valued at just above $5 billion, but in a break up could be worth upwards of $10 billion. BlackBerry's assets include the "services business that powers its security-focused messaging system, worth $3 billion to $4.5 billion; a collection of patents that could be worth $2 billion to $3 billion; and $3.1 billion in cash and investments."
Of course, the hardware business is worthless, but will cost up to $2 billion to liquidate entirely.
The report says at least five PE firms have "signed confidentiality agreements or have agreed to meetings with the company to gain access to the company's books." The sale process will likely start in a few weeks.
The hits just keep on coming for the struggling smartphone maker.
HTC has confirmed it has laid off 20 percent of its HTC America division, which includes employees and contractors. The division only has 150 employees but it is still significant for any division to get hit for such a figure.
The statement:
Today's reduction in force is a decisive action by HTC Corp (US) to streamline and optimize our organization and improve efficiencies after several years of aggressive growth. Realigning its human resources against key strategic initiatives will help HTC more effectively advance into a new stage of growth and innovation. This is a hard decision that has direct impact on people who have contributed to the growth HTC has experienced the past several years. However, to achieve our long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to our shareholders, this is a necessary step to drive ongoing innovation, ensure our ability to create strong products like the HTC One, and forge strong customer relationships that solidify our future. HTC is proud of its employees and has a track record of hiring the best and brightest; we continue to hire in strategic areas and encourage impacted employees to apply for open positions that are a fit for their skills.
From now until Monday, Best Buy will be giving you an iPhone 5 if you exchange your old smartphone.
The retailer is giving a guaranteed minimum $100 trade-in credit for old smartphones as long as you switch to the iPhone 5 on AT&T, Sprint or Verizon with a two-year activation in the store. The phone costs $99 with contract making the deal a pretty good one if you are willing to take a one-year old device.
After the promotion ends, the iPhone 5 will likely be gone for good from stores, replaced by the plastic iPhone 5C and the new flagship iPhone 5S. The 5C also sells for $99, and the 5S takes the $199 slot.
The deal is great for customers with old, working smartphones, especially devices that would not get you $100 elsewhere, even on Craigslist. The deal is good for Best Buy as it helps clear out inventory in the quickest way possible.
Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console is settling better with developers than Microsoft's Xbox One, according to developers who spoke to EDGE about the hardware.
It, of course, is stressed that both Sony and Microsoft are still tinkering with the hardware of both consoles at this time, with Microsoft just recently kicking up the clock speed on its console.
Still, according to the developers, at this point, the performance difference between the two is significant and obvious, with the PS4 touting memory reads at 40-50 percent quicker than the Xbox One. The PS4's ALU was also estimated at 50 percent faster.
It's not all doom and gloom for Microsoft though, with the next generation console finding its own areas where it edges its Japanese rival.
"Let's say you are using procedural generation or raytracing via parametric surfaces – that is, using a lot of memory writes and not much texturing or ALU – Xbox One will be likely be faster," said one developer.
One issue that seemed to affect both consoles was the continued development of drivers for each console, and the desire of Sony and Microsoft for developers to use unique features of their consoles (such as DS4's touchpad and the Kinect sensor), which right now there isn't that much incentive to do.
According to a New York Times report, Nokia had Android running on Lumia handsets before it was negotiating a deal to sell its phone and services assets to Microsoft.
The report cites two sources (unnamed) briefed on an internal Nokia project that ported Google's Android operating system to Lumia smartphones, which are sold running Microsoft's Windows Phone software only.
Nokia's Lumia devices were aimed at fighting the company's declining status in the smartphone business. In that regard, they largely failed given that Nokia's share of the smartphone market plunged to 3 percent during the first half of 2013, down from 32.8 percent in 2010.
However, over 80 percent of all devices sold running Windows Phone software are Nokia devices.
The iconic Finnish firm had the option to exit the Windows Phone partnership at the end of next year, and it would appear that releasing smartphones running Android was part of a "plan B".
According the New York Times sources, Microsoft was aware of Nokia's Android project, but that it was not a factor in the negotiations for Microsoft's acquisition of Nokia's phone business.
Google has decided not to remove the Pirate Bay homepage from its search results after the URL was included among thousands in a DMCA notice.
The search giant receives requests to remove millions of URLs from its search results from content providers/trade groups looking to lighten the exposure that illegal sources of content have online. Google typically complies with requests as the URLs do usually point to infringing content or outright host it.
However, in a request sent to Google from the BPI with 2,056 URLs included, Google took no action on just one URL: thepiratebay.sx
The fact is, the Pirate Bay homepage does not link to any infringing content directly at all, and therefore Google likely finds that its removal is not warranted.
Google did temporarily block the Pirate Bay in the past following a request allegedly from "Remove Your Content," and later restored it admitting it was in error.
The European Commission is plotting the death of mobile roaming charges through the 28-nation bloc by 2016.
Reforming the telecoms market across the European Union is high on the agenda of the European Commission as it seeks to stop the region from falling behind other parts of the world.
There are 28 members of the European Union (Croatia became the 28th member in July) and as things stand, there are 28 different telecoms markets too. Anyone who has travelled between countries in the EU has had the unpleasant experience of an inconsistent telecoms market, with price hikes being the norm as you go "roaming."
The European Union has made moves in the past to reduce the cost of roaming charges, but they are still considerably higher than mobile communications costs for customers in most EU countries. By 2016, the European Commission would like roaming charges to be consigned to history.
Killing off roaming charges is just one part of an ambitious plan to combine all 28 telecoms markets into one EU-wide telecoms market. Regulations would be harmonized across the union, which the commission argues will be of benefit to providers and customers alike.
Police in the United Kingdom are to take on the issue of intellectual property violation in a renewed effort against criminals who profit from piracy.
The Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (Pipcu) - of the City of London Police - will tackle serious intellectual property crimes. On Friday morning, UK detectives arrested two men in Birmingham for allegedly importing £40,000 worth of counterfeit DVD boxsets.
"Our focus will be the professional criminals using intellectual property crime to generate illicit gains," Det Ch Supt Oliver Shawtold the BBC.
The new unit will work with international law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI and Department of Homeland Security in the United States. It will also have the ability to press service providers to take down websites found to be selling illicit products.
In addition, it will inform legitimate advertisers who are running ads on illegal websites in an effort to disrupt revenue streams.
Outside of piracy of digital content, the unit will also tackle the problem of the physical production and sale of counterfeit goods, such as branded car tyres.
A federal appeals court has rejected Google's attempt to have a lawsuit concerning Street View data interception dismissed.
In May 2010, Google publicly revealed that the vehicles it uses to take panoramic shots of streets around the world had been accidentally intercepting and storing payload data from unsecured wireless networks. Analysis of the data done in various regions showed that the data included private communications of Internet users.
Since then, regulators around the world have instructed Google on what they should do about the accidental hoarding of the data, with pretty much all ordering it be destroyed as soon as possible.
On the litigation front, Google is facing a lawsuit which alleges it violated federal wiretap laws by intercepting payload data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in the United States. It had asked the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the lawsuit - finding that Google was exempt from liability under the act - but the effort has failed.
Judge Jay Bybee wrote that Wi-Fi communications do not qualify as a radio communication, or electronic communication that is readily accessible to the general public.
"Even if it is commonplace for members of the general public to connect to a neighbor's unencrypted Wi-Fi network,"Bybee wrote, "members of the general public do not typically mistakenly intercept, store, and decode data transmitted by other devices on the network."
Vodafone Germany has revealed that personal details of two million of its customers were exposed in a hack.
The information gained by the hacker included names, addresses, back account numbers and birth dates, but did not include phone numbers, PIN numbers, credit card details or passwords.
"Vodafone deeply regrets the incident and apologises to all those affected," the operator said in a statement/
The information was stolen from a database on the Vodafone Germany's internal network.
It is not clear when the attack took place, as Vodafone was asked by police to delay notification to customers while an investigation was underway. A suspect has since been identified and police carried out a raid on a house, prompting Vodafone Germany to notify affected customers.
Samsung will follow Apple by putting 64-bit processors into its smartphones, according to the South Korean electronics giant.
Apple unveiled its new iPhone 5S smartphone this week, featuring a 64-bit A7 chip that would work with its new iOS 7. Samsung backs the move to 64-bit chips, but of course it will have to wait on the development of Android too.
Upon unveiling the iPhone 5S, Apple boasted that the A7 offered "desktop-class architecture", but the benefit of 64-bit support won't be significant for some time in the smartphone market.
Nevertheless, Samsung is to follow suit, according to the Korea Times newspaper. It quoted co-chief executive officer Shin Jong-kyun as saying that 64-bit chips would not the used "in the shortest time" but will be in some of Samsung's next smartphones.
Microsoft has launched a new promotion in which it will buy back your Apple iPad 2, iPad 3, and iPad 4 for at least $200, payable as a Microsoft gift card.
Of course, there are catches. The devices must be "gently used" or better condition and you must bring the tablet into a Microsoft brick & mortar store (there aren't many).
The company hopes to convert iPad owners over to its struggling Surface brand of tablets.
Microsoft has slashed the price of their current generation tablets, ahead of September 23 in which the company will unveil two new devices, the Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2.
With just a tweet last night, Twitter announced it was filing for an IPO, marking the highest-profile tech debut since Facebook.
In their tweet the company says, "We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale."
Filing for an S-1 means that Twitter has less than $1 billion in revenue, but growth remains outstanding at the microblogging site.
Twitter has been privately valued at over $10 billion, but could come to the market with an even bigger value given the service's extreme popularity.
Max Wolff of Greencrest Capital adds (via Reuters): "It's completely conquered mobile. It has an enormous social network. It's becoming a key utility as a second screen to TV and it's literally the first draft of history. Normally a company like Twitter would have been public for some time."
As of writing, Twitter has over 200 million active users and over 400 million posts per day. More importantly, the company has been at the forefront of breaking news, including Osama Bin Laden's death and Middle Eastern troubles.
We've confidentially submitted an S-1 to the SEC for a planned IPO. This Tweet does not constitute an offer of any securities for sale.
Although the Blu-ray Disc Association has not confirmed, Singulus has claimed that they have been providing machine tech to support triple-layer Blu-ray Discs.
The Singulus BLULINE III discs can support up to 100GB of storage, enough to print a 4K (UltraHD) movie.
While the content will be available through streaming services like Sony Unlimited and Netflix, the huge size of the files makes discs a viable option.
The biggest question is whether current-gen Blu-ray players, including the PS3, will support the new discs via a firmware update. It absolutely seems possible, but there will still likely be 4K Blu-ray players in the future when the format becomes more mainstream.
Although it has still not been confirmed, it seems to be a lock now that LG is building the Nexus 5, and we have already seen it in action thanks to an inadvertent Google slip.
The FCC has now posted pictures of a device that is made by LG and looks almost identical to the image we saw in Google's Android 4.4 statue video.
FCC's filings show off at least a prototype of the Nexus 5, which will certainly have an improved camera from its predecessor.
There is little else known about the phone but it is rumored to have a 5-inch screen, a quad-core Snapdragon 800, 2GB RAM and LTE support.
The final price is $13.75 per share and will also include a 13 cent special dividend. With current outstanding shares, the total buyout price is $24.9 billion for shareholders.
When the process began in June of last year, the price was lower, but there has been significant investor opposition, including Carl Icahn who became the company's second largest investor in order to propose a 'structured recapitalization' which would have had Icahn and another firm buy 72 percent of Dell shares and leave the remaining to trade publicly.
The argument was that the Silverlake/Dell deal locked out investors from any future turnaround the company may have.
McDonald's has begun testing a mobile payment application in Austin and Salt Lake City ahead of a possible national rollout.
After you order with the mobile app, you can pick up your food in stores, at drive-thru windows, or curbside depending on your location. Using the system will also enroll you in a loyalty program and give you offers and special promotions.
The news comes via executive notes discovered by Bloomberg. "While many competitors are publicizing their efforts to get an initial foothold in the mobile arena, no one has developed a comprehensive solution that integrates all the opportunities this technology presents," reads the notes.
McDonald's would not confirm the report, however. "We're always looking at new technologies to make the McDonald's experience better for our customers," says a spokesman. "We are testing some of these technologies in a few markets, so it's premature to speculate on the decisions we may make after the tests, but we're excited to bring a cutting-edge experience in the future to our customers."
The fast food giant has 14,000 locations in the U.S., alone.
Asus has unveiled a new transformer tablet running on the efficient Intel Bay Trail processor architecture.
The device will run on the upcoming Windows 8.1 operating system, has a 10.1-inch, 1366 x 768 IPS display, 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage, a good portion of which will be taken up by the operating system.
Perhaps most importantly, the device will cost just $349 for the full Windows experience and keyboard.
Connectivity options include micro-USB, micro-HDMI, and a USB 3.0 port in the dock.
"The ASUS Transformer Book T100 is the perfect transformation of the Eee PC with full compatibility, detachable touch screen, immersive entertainment and enough battery for all-day computing,"added ASUS Chairman Jonney Shih. "It is truly a game-changer for our mobile lifestyle."
Google has announced this week that their Chromebook family is about to get significantly larger.
New devices based on the new Intel Haswell architecture have been unveiled, from Acer, HP, Asus and Toshiba.
Some of these notebooks will cost as low as $199, and NPD recently reported that Chromebooks currently account for 25% of the $300-and-under computer segment.
Additionally, 20 percent of school districts, and 5000 schools, have deployed the notebooks to their students.
Haswell processors have significant improvements over previous models, including 200 percent battery life in some cases. In the real world, the Chromebooks should offer at least 12 hours of battery.
Motorola Mobility has confirmed today that the company is shopping 100,000 Moto X per week from its Texas manufacturing facility.
The Moto X is the first made-in-the-US smartphone, and teardowns have found that building here in the States only adds $9 or so to costs.
Motorola CEO Dennis Woodside has said the facility is capable of producing tens of millions of phones per year, but that kind of expansion will depend on demand.
The current pace of 100,000 units per week, Woodside says, is just the first phase of a much larger plan. "When you set up to ramp a factory you need a plan, and we have shipment targets we need to make with our carrier partners, and where we need to be right now is 100,000 units and that's where we are," Woodside added.
Woodside did not break down how many of the units were models being sent to wireless carriers and how many were custom-made models built by consumers through AT&T's Moto Maker service.
Dell has revealed their latest entry into the tablet market, a Windows 8.1 device dubbed 'Venue,' following the same brand as previous devices that were discontinued last year.
The tablet will have an 8-inch screen and run on Intel's new 'Bay Trail' Atom processor.
Neil Hand, vice president at Dell, says the tablet will be marketed to both businesses and consumers, and will feature long battery life and LTE capabilities.
There was little else shared about the tablet, but a full launch will take place on October 2nd.
Intel recently showed off their latest Bay Trail chips, which feature 8 cores.
Despite the company ignoring the set-top during their latest press conference, ATD is reporting that the company will unveil an updated version of the Apple TV next week.
Additionally, the updated hardware will come with updated software, as well.
The new Apple TV will be released on September 18th, the same day as the iOS 7 operating system.
Sources claim the company will tweak the AirPlay system, "allowing people who have purchased content from Apple's iTunes store to play that stuff on other people's TVs, via its AirPlay system."
Along with their other announcements yesterday, Sonyalso unveiled a new micro-console, the PS Vita TV.
The tiny console, at 6.5cm x 10.5cm x 1.3cm, will compete with Android-based gaming set-tops like the Ouya.
Allowing you to play Vita games on your TV, the hardware has a slot that lets you load games from the handheld and then play it with a standard DualShock 3 or 4 PlayStation controller.
Additionally, the hardware will let you use streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu Plus and eventually will let you play your PlayStation 4 via Remote Play with DualShock 4, an impressive feature.
Finally, if you have a controller, you can play PSOne Classic and original PSP games, as well.
Virgin Media UK TV has added streaming giant Netflix to its cable offerings.
For the time being, Virgin will test Netflix for 40,000 customers who use TiVo set-top boxes, before rolling out to all 1.7 million of its TiVo customers. You will need a Netflix subscription to use the service.
Virgin will be able to search for Netflix shows on the same guide screens they use for pay-TV programs.
"It's a huge win for Netflix,"said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Securities. "Cable sees Netflix as a possible problem for them, an alternative to cable. This is an acknowledgement by Virgin that its customers want that type of service as well."
Virgin Media UK has 3.77 million customers, with 44 percent using TiVo set-tops for DVR.
"We're delighted to be bringing yet another groundbreaking service onto TV screens in millions of Virgin Media homes," Dana Strong, Virgin Media's chief operating officer.
Following the recent trend started by many retailers and Apple, Wal-Mart has started their own smartphone trade-in program.
The program will launch on September 21st at 3600 Wal-mart stores and additionally in 500 Sam's Clubs.
Steve Bratspies, EVP of general merchandise, notes that you will get anywhere between $50 to $300 in credit depending on the condition and type of phone, and as long as it is working.
To receive the credit, you must sign up for a new two-year contract with AT&T, Sprint or Verizon while at the store, or you can sign up for Wal-Mart's prepaid wireless plans.
So far, exact credit tiers have not been revealed, but a good condition iPhone 5 will get you the full $300 credit.
Apple has announced today that it will ship its 700 millionth iOS device next month.
In June, the company reported 600 million sales, so it appears that iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch sales have stayed steady.
Rival Android reached 1 billion device activations earlier this year, as the two operating systems continue to dominate the smartphone market.
Apple expects a nice sales boost this coming quarter, after releasing two new iPhones today, including a "cheaper" plastic model for the global markets.
Newly hired Intel CEO Bryan Krzanich spoke today during the company's Intel Developer Forum, telling observers that there will be tablets available "at price points below $100" during this holiday season.
The exec had previously said touchscreen laptops with new Haswell processors could fall to under $200 this year, but prices under $100 have traditionally led consumers to impulse purchases. The price point would also match those of high-end e-readers.
Of course, Krzanich would not comment on the quality or the capabilities of the cheap tablets but it could help Intel gain some more share in the market dominated by rival ARM-based processors.
Intel can support both Windows 8 and Android with their latest Atom line.
Apple has unveiled its new iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c smartphones, catering to the high-end and low cost smartphone markets.
The iPhone 5s is available in gold, silver and grey, designed with high-grade aluminium with cut chamfered edges. As widely speculated before today, the new iPhone 5s supports fingerprint authentication through Touch ID. It uses a laser cut sapphire crystal, together with the capacitive touch sensor, to take a high-resolution image of your fingerprint and intelligently analyze it to provide accurate readings from any angle. It is built right into the Home button.
All fingerprint information is encrypted and stored securely in the Secure Enclave inside the A7 chip on the iPhone 5s; it's never stored on Apple servers or backed up to iCloud
The iPhone 5s is powered by the new 64-bit A7 chip, which provides processing and graphics performance twice as fast as the A6, according to Apple. The upcoming iOS 7 comes with native 64-bit kernel, libraries, and drivers, with Xcode support and backwards compatibility.
The iPhone 5s also includes the new M7 motion coprocessor that gathers data from the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass to offload work from the A7 for improved power efficiency. The new CoreMotion APIs will let developers exploit the advantages of the M7.
Sony has unveiled a new model of their PS Vita handheld.
The new Vita PCH-2000 is 20 percent thinner and 15 percent lighter than the original model while increasing battery life by one hour on average.
Additionally, the new device will be Wi-Fi-only and be a Japanese exclusive for the time being.
The new Vita will be available in pink, black, blue, grey, lime green, and yellow color options), come with a micro-USB charger rather than Sony's proprietary port, and have 1GB internal storage. To save on costs, Sony has changed the display to an LCD rather than an OLED.
Furthermore, Sony will drop the prices of their memory cards, with the baseline 4GB card dropping to 1,554 yen ($15) and the high-end card, 64GB at 10,479 yen (about $105).
The device will sell for 19800 yen, about $190 USD.
Buried deep in a press release, Samsung has confirmed the lifetime sales of its Galaxy Note line of smartphones.
The Galaxy Note and its sequel, the Note II, have sold 38 million devices ahead of the launch of the Note III, which was introduced last week.
Samsung CEO JK Shin says he expects "10 million units will be sold" of the new Note III right on launch, which is September 25th in 149 countries.
The Galaxy Note 3 has a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED 1080p display with 368 ppi pixel density, 151.2mm x 79.2mm x 8.3mm dimensions, a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, (or 1.9GHz Samsung Exynos Octacore if you are in Europe), Android4.3 with TouchWiz, a 13 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11ac, LTE Category 4, a 3,200 mAh battery and an LED/IR combo making the phone into a controller.
Microsoft has sent out invites for a press event where they will unveil the new generation of Surface tablets.
There were no other details given about the event but the invite itself shows off a cartoon version of the tablet along with a Type Cover.
The new Surface Pro is expected to have a display higher than 1080p, an Intel Haswell processor for extended battery life and efficiency, and 8GB of RAM. The new lower-end Windows RT will have a 1080p display, a Tegra 4 quad-core processor and be available in white and black colorways.
Each will ship with Windows 8.1 variants, and there will also be a new "Power Cover," a Type-cover with a built-in battery that should extend the tablet into an all-day device.
According to Forrester analyst Charles Golvin, this is the year that will mark the end of the iPod Classic, Apple's high-capacity storage music players.
The device does not have a touchscreen, nor does it have the new Lightning dock connector and the MP3 player has not been updated in two years.
Anthony Scarsella, chief gadget officer of Gazelle.com, which buys and sells used Apple products (among other electronics), agreed with Golvin (via Wired). "It's been a couple of years since the iPod classic has been updated. We can assume it will be phased out, unless we see it updated on September 10th."
With a heavy lineup of new products expected tomorrow during their press event, Apple is not expected to unveil an updated Classic, which offers 160GB of internal HDD storage. By comparison, even high-end iPhones and iPod Touch devices only have 64GB flash storage.
iPod sales peaked in 2008, after 7 years as the undisputed king of the MP3 player market. The sales numbers have gotten so bad that Apple did not even report the figures during their latest earnings report.
A fake torrent of Grand Theft Auto V has hit the Internet, an elaborate hoax posing as a leak of the new game.
Fans of the game franchise looking to possibly begin the game earlier than its September 17th release date are warned to avoid the torrent as it is packed with malware and was created as a scam.
How the scam works is as follows: Users who download the game will get to a certain point in the installation where it says it cannot be completed until a survey is completed and a confirmation code is sent. In order to receive that code, you need to provide a valid mobile number and to send a text to a certain number provided.
With your number, the scammers sign you up for a premium service that charges your mobile bill daily until the service is cancelled.
While you are being scammed on your mobile bill, the installation finishes, installing the well-known malware, Trojan.GenericKDV.1134859 to your PC and leaving you with a pirated copy of the game 'The Cave.'
A little over a month after the Wi-Fi-only version of the Nexus 7 FHD went on sale in North America, Google has made the 4G LTE version available through the Google Play Store.
The new tablet will sell for $349 in the Store, above the Wi-Fi model at $229.
Additionally, the company says T-Mobile will sell the model in their stores starting next week, as well.
Sony has confirmed the release date for its upcoming PlayStation 4 console in its home country of Japan.
The device will launch on February 22nd, 2014, and cost ¥39,980 ($400 USD), the same as it will in North America.
There will be three bundles available at launch, the standard, one with a free downloadable copy of 'Knack' and a one-year warranty extension and the third will include the PlayStation Camera for an additional $40.
Sony has noted that the delayed launch is the company can complete software that is tailored for the region.
Rival Microsoft has not given any timetable for a Japanese release.
Following a recent FCC leak and a Google video in which in employee was using an LG-built Nexus 5, there is now a detailed mock of the upcoming device.
The device is 131.9 x 68.2 mm, and has a screen of 126 mm with a 16:9 screen ratio.
Additionally, the phone will run on the new Android 4.4 KitKat, include LTE support, and Bluetooth 4.0.
Microsoft is preparing General Distribution Release 3 for Windows Phone 8, a new update aimed at upcoming hardware and current-gen high-end devices.
A poster in the WP Central forum says he purchased a device from Craigslist that includes the new update.
Taking a ton of screenshots, the poster showed off a new Driving Mode, which will mute calls and texts automatically when you are driving and connected to a paired Bluetooth.
Additionally, there is a new ability to close apps in the multitasking view, one of the operating system's most requested features. Microsoft is also adding support for custom sounds within texts, voice mails, emails, and reminders.
Finally, the OS will now allow Windows Phone 8 users to restore from backup using Wi-Fi.
A major fire at a Chinese plant run by SK Hynix is likely to cause a global disruption in supply of memory chips.
At any given time the plant is responsible for up to 10 percent of the world's supply of DRAM chips, and the plant also accounts for almost half of SK Hynix's production capability.
Hynix itself accounts for 30 percent of the world's share of DRAM chips. The company is one of the largest three suppliers, next to Micron and Samsung.
If production continues to be halted at the plant, shipments for 11 million notebooks and 10 million smartphones will be delayed.
Additionally, due to the supply crunch, prices have gone up 3 percent since the fire, the biggest one-month increase in over three years.
According to former WSJ reporter Jessica Lessin, Amazon is looking to give away its upcoming smartphone for free, trying to steal as much market share as humanely possible in the shortest amount of time.
Amazon has long been rumored to be working on a smartphone, but nothing has come of these rumors since 2011.
The etailing giant has had discussions with wireless companies about offering the device through their channels, but likely it will only be available through Amazon's own site. The phone will be free without a new contract, but it is unclear if it will require a subscription to Amazon Prime, which costs $79 per year.
If accurate, the move will fit exactly into Amazon's plans. CEO Jeff Bezos has long sold hardware at cost or with tiny margins in order to deliver content. An Amazon smartphone would be integrated into the company's music, video, TV, games and app ecosystem.
Multiple sources have confirmed that Microsoft will unveil a 'Power Cover' for its Surface Pro and upcoming Surface Pro 2 tablets.
The cover will include a built-in battery to 'significantly' increase battery life. It will also work just like the original Type Cover in that it will make your tablet a notebook by all purposes, with full typing capabilities.
Sources say the Power Cover will be compatible with the current-generation Pro, the upcoming Pro 2 and Surface RT 2, but not with the original RT.
The Power Cover will charge the Surface when in use, just like any external power supply. If connected, the Cover will charge will the Surface is charging, as well.
At 1.1 pounds, it is double the weight of the current-gen Type Cover and it is also thicker at .38 inches compared to .21 inches for the current model.
The Power Cover will ship this year, after the Surface RT 2 and Surface Pro 2 are released.
For their last two Mac OS X releases, the company waited until the week of their quarterly earnings report. The company is expected to release their fiscal Q4 earnings the week of October 21st, which could work with the new report.
Apple, during their WWDC event, said the release will have improved features for power users, better battery life and much better responsiveness.
First, the new OS will have "Finder Tabs" with their own location and own view mode. Second, when you save a document you can now tag it, making it much easier to search for in the finder sidebar.
In 10.9, you can also access your menus across multiple displays, a big plus for developers.
A federal judge has issued an injunction against Apple following their loss in the ebook antitrust case.
In July, Judge Denise Cote concluded Apple was liable of conspiring with five major publishers to fix the prices of ebooks sold through the newly-created iBookstore.
The injunction will go in place next month and will last five years. Additionally, the court can continue to extend the injunction at the request of the Department of Justice or individual states.
As part of the penalties, Apple is now banned from "enforcing most-favored-nation clauses in any ebook publishing contracts for five years, and also forbids the company from entering into any book publishing contracts that contain them for five years." Apple had tried to get the provision to include only the publishers that had settled with the DOJ, but the injunction names all current and future publishers.
Additionally, Apple will have to stagger new contract negotiations with each of the publishers; HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Penguin and Macmillan. All of the publishers are also required to enter new contracts with retailers that allowed the retailers to discount their books for two years, but this can be extended almost indefinitely with the new injunction.
According to the WSJ, Apple is preparing to ship cheaper iPhones to China Mobile, the largest carrier on the planet.
The companies have been negotiating for over three years, with talks intensifying in recent months as China has become Apple's third largest market in terms of sales.
China Mobile has 700 million subscribers, well ahead of European carrier Vodafone's 450 million subscribers and over six times more than the U.S.'s largest carrier, Verizon, at 115 million subscribers.
Apple is expected to launch new iPhones at an event on September 10th, and there is a separate Chinese event set for the next day.
China Mobile would not be getting the new iPhone 5S, however, but they will get the alleged new iPhone 5C, a lower-cost plastic version of the year-old iPhone 5. China Mobile's 3G network, which uses proprietary tech, is generally considered to be unreliable, and the radio was expensive for Apple to add, say sources. This seems to have been a hurdle that has been jumped, however.
Sony has unveiled two new 4K TVs and also its previously announced 4K video download service.
The service, dubbed 'Video Unlimited 4K,' will be available in the U.S. at launch, and eventually globally. At launch, there will be 70 full-length Ultra HD movies and TV shows, and by the end of the year there will be around 100.
To use the service, you will need one of Sony's 4K Ultra HD Media Players (FMP-X1). Rentals for films start at $7.99 and purchases will lighten your wallet by $29.99.
The FMP-X1 home server costs $700, comes with 2TB of storage and 10 free films. Of course, to take advantage you will need a 4K Ultra HD TV, which will set you back at least $3000 today, as well.
Motorola has confirmed that the Moto X will reach carrier Sprint tomorrow, followed by US Cellular later this month.
The device has been available through AT&T and Verizon for two weeks now.
Just like with rivals, Sprint will offer the phone for $199 with contract, and only in black and white colorways. AT&T allows exclusive access to thousands of different color combinations, including different backplates, front trim, and buttons.
US Cellular is adding a free Motorola Boom Bluetooth headset valued at $59.99 to anyone who pre-orders for them.
The HDMI Forum group has officially unveiled HDMI 2.0, a couple of days after most of its specs were leaked.
Bandwidth capacity has been increased to 18Gbps allowing for 3,840 x 2,160 resolution at up to 60fps.
Additionally, the standard now has support for up to 32 audio channels, "dynamic auto lipsync" and even more CEC extensions.
Furthermore, the standard will accept up to "1536kHz audio sample frequency, dual video streams for multiple users on a single screen, multi-stream audio to as many as 4 users at once and support for 21:9 widescreen displays."
The group says the connector itself will remain unchanged, an added bonus for backwards compatibility since high-speed Category 2 cables will support the new standard.
"We are pleased to continue our work in supporting the HDMI Adopter base as well as the entire HDMI ecosystem,"said Steve Venuti, president of HDMI Licensing, LLC. "Adopters can now continue to develop new product functionality over the HDMI interface as well as look to HDMI Licensing, LLC as their single contact for all their licensing and administrative needs."
Earlier this week Microsoft announced that the Xbox One will support up to eight controllers.
Unfortunately, for Sony fans, the PlayStation 4 cannot match that kind of party. The company has confirmed the upcoming console will support four controllers.
The news is somewhat surprising, as even the PS3 supports up to seven controllers.
With the rise and ease of multiplayer online gaming, the news should not be a deal-breaker but may be an annoyance for some.
Panasonic has announced it will be exiting the smartphone market in Japan, instead outsourcing production to emerging markets like India.
The struggling company, which has lost $15 billion in two years, has staked the entire company on turnaround efforts. The company is trying to move from consumer gadget maker to supplier.
As part of the plan, President Kazuhiro Tsuga says he would cut out any division that cannot meet a 5 percent operating margin minimum within three years.
Tsuga says the mobile division was likely to lose $11.02 million this year, following an $80 million loss last fiscal year. In 2001, the company had 19 percent of Japan's mobile market share. That share is now down to 7 percent. "It's not acceptable for the company to be bleeding red ink like this, so we have to think about ways to develop assets that we do have in a more effective direction," Tsuga added.
Despite exiting the consumer smartphone market, Tsuga says the company will develop enterprise smartphones similar to the "Toughbook" laptop PCs.
SoC maker Qualcomm has introduced their own smartwatch this week, the Toq.
The Android-based device uses the company's Mirasol low-energy display tech, which has struggled to catch on with other device makers. The tech will make reading the device in direct sunlight easier, and will make battery life significantly better than rival devices.
Qualcomm says the device will last five days per charge, compared to one day for the Galaxy Gear.
Users can connect to all Android 4.0.3 or higher devices to accept calls, read texts, notifications and reminders, as well as control music playback. Additionally, the device can pull stock quotes, weather and will feature different watch face designs.
For charging, you can "simply set the device down on its case to charge the Toq without the need for plugs or clunky cables" adds the company.
The latest model of the phablet is slimmer, bigger, lighter and more powerful, an impressive feat. On the design side, the bezels are much slimmer, and the edges are sharper, a marginal move from previous devices.
Samsung's latest has a 5.7-inch SuperAMOLED 1080p display with 368 ppi pixel density, 151.2mm x 79.2mm x 8.3mm dimensions, a 2.3GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, (or 1.9GHz Samsung Exynos Octacore if you are in Europe), Android4.3 with TouchWiz, a 13 megapixel rear camera, 2 megapixel front camera, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage, Bluetooth 4.0, WiFi 802.11ac, LTE Category 4, a 3,200 mAh battery and an LED/IR combo making the phone into a controller.
After months of leaks and speculation, Samsung has finally made the Galaxy Gear smartwatch official today at the IFA event.
The device has a 1.68-inch sAMOLED display with 320x320 resolution and a 1.9MP BSI sensor and an auto-focus lens for the camera. The camera is intended for low-resolution shots on-the-go and up to 10 seconds of 720p video. Under the hood is an 800MHz processor and a small 315 mAh non-removable battery.
Additionally, there are two built-in mics (with noise cancellation), a single speaker, Bluetooth 4.0, an accelerometer and gyroscope, 4GB of internal storage and 512MB of RAM.
On the app side, there is third-party support, including access to fitness applications, sharing apps like Evernote and even other notable apps like Line and eBay.
Unfortunately, the device will only be compatible with the upcoming Galaxy Note III and the Note 10.1 tablet. As a companion device, the smartwatch will give you access to S Voice, Find My Device, the pedometer and other features.
Microsoft has finally announced the release date of the Xbox One console.
The system will go on sale on November 22nd, a week after the PlayStation 4 does in the U.S. and Canada.
Gamers in the UK, Ireland, Austria, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia and NZ will see the console on the 22nd, at a cost of $499 /€499 / £429. Notably missing is Japan, which the Xbox 360 bombed in, but is a large territory for gamers as a whole.
Microsoft has called the release a "global launch" although the initial rollout was supposed to be larger. "Many more markets" will receive the console next year, adds Microsoft Xbox boss Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb.
The company also confirmed that the console is in full production and that the processor clock speed has been tweaked to 1.75GHz from 1.6GHz. "It means that the processing power to make those games that we've been showing off at Gamescom that already look great will look even better," corporate marketing VP Yusuf Mehdi added.
Just after Nokia has sold its phone business to Microsoft, AfterDawn has learned that Renesas Mobile Europe Oy will be sold to Broadcom. Renesas Mobile Europe was formed after Renesas' acquisition of Nokia's modem business in 2010.
According to the documents we have received, Renesas Electronics has decided to transfer all the shares of Renesas Mobile Europe Oy and Renesas Mobile India Private Limited to Broadcom. Also certain assets related to the LTE Modem technology will transfer to Broadcom.
The expected purchase price will be approximately USD 164 million. Nokia's modem business was sold to Renesas three years ago for 200 million US dollars.
In July, Renesas announced that it will shut down the operations of Renesas Mobile Europe. According to AfterDawn's sources this will mean that previously announced mass terminations have been canceled.
One of the most highly-anticipated new phones of the fall is the Sony Xperia Z1, codenamed 'Honami.'
Besides high-end specs, the phone is getting a lot of attention due to its high-end camera and the ability to snap-on real SLR lenses through one of the phone's port, effectively turning the device into a touchscreen DSLR.
Today, another leak about the phone has hit the Web, the fact that at least some markets will receive a free Sony smartwatch with their Honami purchase. The Sony SmartWatch 2, released in June, works with Android 4.0 (or higher) devices, and has 200 built-in apps.
Full specs (via PA) for the Honami, which will be officially unveiled tomorrow:
Google made a surprise move today, changing the name of their upcoming operating system from Key Lime Pie to Kit Kat, as part of a marketing deal with Nestle.
The OS, which will be either Android 4.4 or 5.0, had been long confirmed by the media as Key Lime Pie until just this week, when Google added a giant Android mascot statue made of KitKat bars on their campus.
Despite the obvious cross-marketing involved, the company says neither side is paying the other for use of the brands: "This is not a money-changing-hands kind of deal," said John Lagerling, director of Android global partnerships. "We wanted to do something fun and unexpected"."
Lagerling says the decision was made last year to call the OS KitKat, even though developer files and documents continued to use KLP. "We realised that very few people actually know the taste of a key lime pie," he added (via BBC). "One of the snacks that we keep in our kitchen for late-night coding are KitKats. And someone said: 'Hey, why don't we call the release KitKat? We didn't even know which company controlled the name, and we thought that [the choice] would be difficult. But then we thought well why not, and we decided to reach out to the Nestle folks."
In a huge move for both companies, Microsoft has announced they have acquired Nokia's Devices & Services business, will license and use Nokia's patents and will also license and use Nokia's mapping services.
The software giant will pay $5 billion for the mobile phone division, and $2.17 billion for the patent trove. The company says the transaction will close in the Q1 2014, pending approval by shareholders and regulatory approval.
Microsoft is making a large, bold investment in the future of Windows Phone, expanding their partnership with Nokia from early 2011 that saw the start of the Lumia brand of smartphones. Microsoft is looking to "accelerate the growth of its share and profit in mobile devices through faster innovation, increased synergies, and unified branding and marketing."
Although unconfirmed, it appears that T-Mobile USA will be dropping BlackBerry 10 devices from stores.
The carrier won't be dropping the devices completely, just moving to 'direct ship', meaning they will not carry the devices and just serve as an intermediary for consumers to purchase through.
One employee, posting to the popular Crackberry forums, added this: "My manager told me the other day that all blackberry 10 devices will now be only available via direct ship. I work at a corporate store in Cleveland I have to go check the Email but I'm not sure if this has just affected NorthEast Ohio."
Other reps from other states have made similar claims, but T-Mobile USA has not confirmed the news yet.
The news is just another in a long string of bad headlines for the dying smartphone maker.
Acer has revealed its new flagship smartphone, the Liquid S2, which is the 'first' phone with 4K-recording capabilities.
The phone has a large 6-inch IPS display with FullHD resolution and 368 PPI. Under the hood is a 2.2GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800, 2GB RAM, 16GB internal storage and a 3300 mAh battery.
At 13MP, the rear camera has auto-focus, f2.2, 28 mm lens, BSI sensor, LED ring flash and 4K video recording. The front camera is 2MP and has a f2.2, 24 mm lens, 88° wide angle, BSI sensor and 1080p video recording.
For connectivity, the phone has LTE, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC and Wi-Fi 802.11ac/a/b/g/n.
Acer is quick to point out the features of the camera:
• BSI Sensors and LED Ring Flash: Sharper pictures in any environment
• Video Recording: 4K Ultra HD, fast full HD 1080p 60FPS, 4 x slow motion
• Full Panorama Pictures: Up to 27-megapixels in a single picture
• Quick First Shot: Take picture right from unlock the screen with automatic center-focus by tapping any location on the screen
• Smart Best Shot: Automatically detects photo type and takes multiple shots for best selection
• Tag Widget: Convenient photo browsing with scene tag.
• Favorite Mode: Create up to five profiles with customized effects, flash, capture mode and scenes
• Exposure Control: One finger focus and exposure adjustment
• Freehand Capture: Crop out anything on the screen using hand or a digital pen
• Live Screen™: Share ideas and journey through pictures and scribble
Sony has confirmed that the upcoming PlayStation 4 will do voice recognition through the PS Camera.
The company confirmed the news, but left little in the way of details. "We can confirm that PS Camera does allow voice recognition. We will share more details on this shortly."
During a presentation for retail staff, Sony revealed a slide that stated, "From navigational voice commands to facial recognition, the PlayStation Camera adds incredible innovation to your gaming." (Jump to the 5 minute 30 seconds mark.)
Sony, unlike Microsoft, decided not to bundle the Camera with the console, allowing consumers to make the choice and keeping the price down for the hardware.
After a month-long blackout, Time Warner Cable and CBS have reached a deal over retransmission fees and the channels are back in all major markets.
Besides just CBS, other channels returning are Showtime, The Smithsonian Channel, and CBS Sports Network. Affected cities were NY, LA, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Denver and Detroit.
CBS CEO Les Moonves wrote in an email to employees: "The final agreements with Time Warner Cable deliver to us all the value and terms that we sought in these discussions. We are receiving fair compensation for CBS content and we also have the ability to monetize our content going forward on all the new, developing platforms that are right now transforming the way people watch television."
Time Warner emailed subscribers: "We're pleased to announce that we've reached an agreement with CBS that will return their blacked out channels to our lineup immediately (including Showtime, TMC, Flix, Smithsonian, and the CBS broadcast stations in NY, LA, Dallas, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Denver, and Pittsburgh).
As in all of our negotiations, our main goal was to hold down costs and retain our ability to deliver a great video experience for our customers. We're pleased that we successfully achieved both. We hate that these fights have to happen--and that our customers get caught in the middle--but they do allow us to negotiate deals that provide better outcomes for our customers."
Three HTC executives have been arrested on suspicion of leaking trade secrets to the Chinese, causing the company's stock to fall to 8-year lows.
Vice president of product design Thomas Chien, research and development director Wu Chien-Hung and senior manager of design and innovation Justin Huang were all arrested all over the weekend.
Besides being accused of leaking the secrets, the three are also accused of filing 'fake commission fee claims' that totaled over $330,000.
HTC had filed a complaint last month accusing the executives of passing the trade secrets, and says the investigation and subsequent arrests will not have any impact on operations.
Authorities said the executives were readying a new mobile design company using stolen interface technology. The company would aim its products at Chinese vendors.
According to the latest market share data from NetApplications, Windows 8 saw its share grow significantly for August.
While still comparatively small, Windows 8 jumped 37 percent, moving from 5.40 percent to 7.41 percent.
Windows 7 jumped from 44.49 percent to 45.63 percent, with the two new operating systems taking share from the extremely aged Windows XP. XP fell to 33.6 percent, over a 10 percent drop from July.
Mac OS X (in all iterations) moved slightly to 7.28 percent.
It is unclear why Windows 8 saw such a large jump for the month, but there is the potential that the large price drops on the Surface tablets had an effect on the OS' share.
Verizon Communications has agreed to purchase Vodafone's 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless for $130 billion in one of the largest acquisitions of all time.
The company will finally have full access to the top U.S. wireless carrier, and its large profits.
Vodafone will use the proceeds to invest in their own networks and also to pay back investors through stock buybacks and dividends. Over $80 billion will be returned to shareholders and used to pay down debt. Verizon's CEO confirmed that the companies had spoken about merging, but that a sale was better for both.
The financial terms of the deal are as follows; Vodafone will receive $59 billion in cash, $60 billion in Verizon stock and another $11 billion from a deal that will close in the Q1 2014. Verizon raised $60 billion in bridge financing from multiple banks including JPMorgan Chase.
By purchasing the stake, the company says its earnings per share will jump 10 percent right off the bat. The added debt will likely keep the company from making any other large transactions in the coming years, however. After the deal, Verizon will have debt of $115 billion.
Under the hood, the new tablet will run on a Snapdragon 800 SoC, compared to the older, but still powerful Snapdragon 600 in the A80.
Furthermore, the new tablet will be available in white, as well as black, compared to just black for the A80. The design, other than the color, will be identical, so the current dock will work.
The Padfone Infinity sells for $900 and is notable because it is a phone that uses a tablet as a dock to be a two-in-one device.
In 2011, Belgium began blocking the infamous torrenttracker The Pirate Bay, following a court ruling.
This week, the country's ISP have added new torrent sites to their blockade, including many of the largest in the world such as Kat.ph, ExtraTorrent, BitSnoop and H33T. Anyone visiting the sites will be greeted by a "STOP" sign and a small message explaining that the sites are "considered illegal according to Belgian legislation."
The legislation in question was a lawsuit filed by the Belgian Anti-Piracy Foundation (BAF) and two major ISPs, Belgacom and Telenet. The court ruled in favor of the ISPs first, but an appeal overturned that decision. The Pirate Bay has been blocked in the nation since that decision.
Of course, the ISPs and legislators have been slow to block the ever-changing domains for the sites, and KAT's latest, Kickass.to is still available.
The startup streaming music service Grooveshark has settled one of its outstanding lawsuits, with publisher Sony ATV Music.
Grooveshark, along with the settlement, has signed a licensing deal that will see the music added to its current catalog.
Says the startup: "We are excited to add Sony / ATV Music's impressive array of songwriters to our catalog further advancing our mission to empower creators with the best audio platform in the world."
Last month, the company signed a similar deal with EMI Music, thus avoiding another lawsuit over copyright violation claims.
Grooveshark began receiving the record labels' ire by allowing users to upload their own music to share with others, no matter if they were copyrighted or not.
VentureBeat got an in-depth look into the upcoming Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which is set for unveiling on September 4th.
The site does note that the watch they got to look at was a prototype sent to select developers and partners so it may not reflect the final design although it will likely be very close.
After spending some time with the device and seeing an internal promotional video, the site reports that the smart watch is great as a fitness device and adequate as a smartphone companion. At 3-inches diagonally, the watch is huge, as most designer watches top out at 55mm (2.16 inches). The screen is square but bezels turn it rectangular, but with rounded corners.
The watch has Bluetooth to easily connect to the Galaxy line of smartphones and tablets, and it is likely also able to connect to all Android devices. Of course, the device also has built-in Wi-Fi. The device has a 4MP camera in the strap and tiny speakers in the clasp. You can use Samsung S Voice for voice commands, download Android apps, use swipe gestures, initiate calls from the watch to send to your Galaxy phone and integrate social media directly.
Activision has defended their yearly Call of Duty releases, saying "there's demand and excitement" every year for a new game.
CEO Eric Hirshberg added: "The cadence of the releases seems to have found a nice equilibrium with people's appetite. There's demand and excitement each and every time out. Then people are playing throughout the year."
The exec added that more people are playing Call of Duty now than have ever before, but Activision admits that "we don't take anything for granted." Activision uses two studios for the games, Infinity Ward and Treyarch, with each releasing a title every other year. Hirshberg says the companies always try to outdo each other, which leads to better games for consumers.
"Having alternating studios is one of the secrets to the franchise's success," Hirshberg said. "You have different creative people who are strong-willed and have minds of their own. Everyone gets what makes a great Call of Duty game. Treyarch and IW are the masters, and have built this thing. So, there's a lot of common DNA from year to year."
First depicted in pictures in the last weeks, we now have a couple of videos detailing the casings of the new iPhone 5S colors, 'champagne' and 'graphite.'
Additionally, the videos showcase the differences between the iPhone 5 and the upcoming 5S, which is set to be unveiled on the 10th.
The iPhone 5S will keep the same form factor as the iPhone 5, but with notable improvements under the hood.
Apple is also expected to unveil a plastic version of the iPhone 5 for the emerging markets, dubbed the iPhone 5C.
Research firm IDC has posted their latest data into the tablet market, and the company is forecasting a slowdown moving forward.
The firm predicted a slight drop for 2013 from their previous forecast in May, to 227.4 million from 229.3 million units shipped. Even with the downgrade, the number is still 57.7 percent higher than 2012's shipments, showing a healthy market for the devices.
IDC believes wearable devices will lead to tablets peaking sooner than expected, with devices including smartwatches and Google Glass. Additionally, 'phablets,' which are now above 6-inches, will cannibalize their larger siblings, as well.
Samsung will unveil their Galaxy Gear smartwatch next week, and Apple is expected to unveil a flexible-display iWatch in 2014.
New Zealand has passed a new bill this week, banning software patents in the nation.
The bill in its entirety will be posted as a link at the end of this article, but here is one of the most relevant parts:
We received many submissions concerning the patentability of computer programs. ... Open source, or free, software has grown in popularity since the 1980s. Protecting software by patenting is inconsistent with the open source model, and its proponents oppose it. A number of submitters argued that there is no "inventive step" in software development, as "new" software invariably builds on existing software. They felt that computer software should be excluded from patent protection as software patents can stifle innovation and competition, and can be granted for trivial or existing techniques. In general we accept this position. ...
[With regard to corporations fighting for proprietary software,] After careful consideration we concluded that developing a clear and definitive distinction between embedded and other types of software is not a simple matter; and that, for the sake of clarity, a simple approach would be best. We received advice that our recommendation to include computer programs among the inventions that may not be patented would be unlikely to prevent the granting of patents for inventions involving embedded software.
According to new info from the states' Attorneys General, millions of consumers are in line to receive refunds following five major publisher's admission to price fixing and Apple's recent court loss for the same crime.
Once the settlements are finalized, customers who purchased ebooks from the publishers between April 1st 2010 and May 1st 2012 will be eligible for up to $3.06 per book. The refund will be given back as a credit to the bookstore you made the purchases, including Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo and iBookstore. If the book you purchased was a New York Times best seller, you are eligible for the full $3.06 and if it was not, you are eligible for up to $0.73 per book.
HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster settled in April 2012, but Penguin and Macmillan settled much later, meaning their damages have not been finalized even though they have been approved by the Department of Justice.
If you have not received an email from your digital bookstore, you will likely be receiving one this week.
According to @evleaks, who has been extremely right with his leaks for a long time, the Moto X will drop to $100 on contract in the next quarter.
Additionally, the wood-grain back cases will be available at the same time, at a price of $50.
Google's Moto X has a 4.7-inch AMOLED 720p display, Android 4.2.2 (with minor Motorola bloat), a 10MP "ClearPixel" camera, and a new Motorola X8 chipset that includes a powerful 1.7GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4, an Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB RAM and built-in specialized processors for natural language processing.
The Moto X has a motion-sensitive Active Display, always-on Google Now voice commands and a camera activation gesture that requires just two wrist twists.
If you were considering buying the device, it may pay to wait another month.
Morgan Stanley has decided to hold off on upgrading employee devices to BlackBerry 10, citing the fact they do not know if the company can back the platform over the long-term.
The investment bank will choose to stay with BlackBerry 7 until it can get assurances that support for BlackBerry 10 is long-term. BlackBerry is currently exploring strategic alternatives including a full sale of the company.
An unnamed bank, said to be Bank of America, has reportedly started a small pilot program for 100 workers with BlackBerry 10, giving a 90 day window to monitor the phone's performance. Morgan Stanley has over 55,000 employees and a move to BB10 would certainly be a boost for the struggling phone maker.
The company has two new flagships, the touch-screen Z10 and the enterprise-aimed Q10 which has a full physical keyboard.
Canadian banks have upgraded to the devices, possibly because the devices were made available two months earlier in the country and also possibly due to brand loyalty to the Canadian company.
Target's long-awaited video download and streaming service, 'Ticket,' is ready for launch.
Consumers will be able to rent and purchase digital copies of their favorite movies and TV shows, and then stream them across any device they own including TVs, Blu-ray players, smartphones, tablets, consoles, and set-top boxes.
At launch, there will be 15,000 titles, ranging from classics to new releases. New movies will cost $15 to buy and rentals will cost $3.99/$4.99, on par with biggest rival, iTunes. A TV episode will cost $2.99 and a full season will cost in the range of $34.99.
Networks already signed up are ABC, AMC, CBS, CW, Fox, FX, HBO, The WB, NBC, Showtime, Starz, and USA.
While iOS and Android devices work out of the gate (among plenty of other devices), Crunch reports that only Samsung TVs and Blu-ray players will work with Ticket at launch, with Sony, Panasonic, Funai and Philips support coming in very near future.
LG has used a relatively quiet press release to unveil their iPad Mini rival, the G Pad.
The device will have a full announcement next week at the IFA 2013 event.
Among the powerful specs are an 8.3-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200 pixels / 273 ppi) display, a 1.7GHz Quad-Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 Processor, 16GB eMMC internal storage, 2GB RAM, dual 5MP/1.3MP cameras, Android 4.2.2 and a large 4,600mAh battery,
The device is heavier than the iPad Mini at 338 grams, but it does have a marginally larger display to account for the extra weight.
Among the new LG-exclusive features:
Slide Aside enables seamless multitasking by simply "sliding" currently open apps off to the side using a three-finger swipe
QSlide controls up to three different apps in one window with no interruption, especially convenient on a large screen
KnockON turns the device on and off by tapping the display twice
Bert Nordberg, part of BlackBerry's board committee, has said the company can survive as a niche smartphone maker, but they will have to sell off parts.
The board is in charge of exploring 'strategic alternatives' to keep the company afloat, including a sale of parts or the entire company.
Nordberg did not specify which parts of the company should be sold off.
The director did admit that being a tiny overall player in the global market is difficult and will only get worse for BlackBerry. Nordberg says most importantly, the "company needs to close the gap between its value on paper and how Wall Street perceives the company's worth," via Reuters.
BlackBerry is reportedly seeking to spin off its popular messaging service (BBM) into its own subsidiary with more independence.
Samsung has announced that their ChatOn messaging service has reached a "global subscriber base" of 100 million users.
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The publisher behind Batman: Arkham Origins has confirmed that the 
