| Guatemala detains software guru McAfee, to expel him to Belize Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:54 PM PST  GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) - Guatemalan police arrested U.S. software guru John McAfee on Wednesday for illegally entering the country and said it would expel him to neighboring Belize, which he fled after being sought for questioning over his neighbor's murder. McAfee, who had been in hiding for three weeks, crossed into Guatemala with his girlfriend, Samantha, to evade authorities in Belize who wanted to question him as "a person of interest" about the killing of fellow American Gregory Faull. ...
|
| Apple's shares swallow biggest loss in four years Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:49 PM PST  NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc shares tumbled more than 6 percent on Wednesday, chalking up their biggest single-day loss in four years as fears grow about intensifying competition in the mobile device market. Investors and analysts blamed the sell-off on a mix of factors, including a forecast by an influential research firm that the iPad maker is continuing to cede ground to rival Google Inc's Android gadgets, and unconfirmed reports that at least one major stock-clearing house was raising margin requirements on Apple stock trades. ...
|
| Samsung files redacted copy of Apple-HTC deal in U.S. court Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:35 PM PST  (Reuters) - Lawyers for Samsung Electronics Co Ltd filed a redacted copy of a 10-year patent licensing agreement struck by Apple Inc with Taiwan's HTC Corp in a U.S. court late on Wednesday following a judge's order. The Korean electronics giant had earlier filed a motion to compel Apple -- with whom it is waging a bitter legal battle over mobile patents across several countries -- to reveal details of a settlement that was reached with HTC on November 10 but which have been kept under wraps. ...
|
| 8 Festive YouTube Videos for Your Hanukkah Celebration Posted: 04 Dec 2012 08:07 PM PST 1. PS22 Chorus - "I Have a Little Dreidel" |
| 5 Ways to Watch TV and Movies on Your iPad Posted: 04 Dec 2012 06:00 PM PST  The iPad can perform many wonderful feats. One of our favorites — its ability to stream television shows, movies and even some live broadcasting on a high-res screen. And we don't even have to tote around a heavy laptop.
|
| Best E-Reader for Under $100 Posted: 05 Dec 2012 08:52 AM PST E-readers are some of this year's hottest gifts. And good news: they have dropped way down in price. But in the battle for Best E-reader for Under $100, which one comes out the winner? Top Contenders The basic model Kindle, the Nook Simple Touch, and the Kobo Touch all share a few traits other than [...] |
| U.S. agency backs Apple in essential patent battle Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:05 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Google unit Motorola Mobility is not entitled to ask a court to stop the sale of Apple iPhones and iPads that it says infringe on a patent that is essential to wireless technology, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday. In June, Judge Richard Posner in Chicago threw out cases that Motorola, now owned by Google, and Apple had filed against each other claiming patent infringement. Both companies appealed. In rejecting the Google case, Posner barred the company from seeking to stop iPhone sales because the patent in question was a standard essential patent. ...
|
| Megaupload's Dotcom gains access to NZ spy records Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:59 PM PST  WELLINGTON (Reuters) - A New Zealand government spy agency was ordered on Thursday to provide records of its illegal surveillance and involvement in the unlawful raid on Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom's home, which may bolster the internet tycoon's fight against U.S. extradition for online piracy, fraud and money laundering. ...
|
| In brewing rivalry, Instagram trims ties to Twitter Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:56 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's recently acquired photo-sharing service Instagram removed a key element of its integration with Twitter, signaling a deepening rift between two of the Web's dominant social media companies. Instagram Chief Executive Kevin Systrom said Wednesday his company turned off support for Twitter "cards" in order to drive Twitter users to Instagram's own website. Twitter "cards" are a feature that allows multimedia content like YouTube videos and Instagram photos to be embedded and viewed directly within a Twitter message. ...
|
| Wanted: A mobile device for all my gaming needs Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:48 PM PST As a journalist who covers video games for a living, I have a whole lot of different platforms on which I play games. Currently, I game on my iPad, Galaxy Nexus, 3DS, Wii, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and over Black Friday I bought a PS Vita. Those aren't even all the platforms I own, but rather the ones that still get use. |
| Washington, Massachusetts and Delaware are the three best states for broadband Posted: 05 Dec 2012 07:57 PM PST  If you want quality broadband in the United States, you probably need to move to the Northeast or the West Coast. Technology lobbying firm TechNet has released its State-by-State Broadband Report and has found that states on the two coasts have the best broadband service in the entire country. Washington, Massachusetts and Delaware account for the top three states, followed by Maryland, California, New Jersey, Vermont, Virginia, Utah and New York. Arkansas, Alaska and Hawaii, meanwhile, were the three lowest-ranked states for broadband service in the U.S. TechNet ranked states' broadband services based on a variety of factors, including broadband adoption, average broadband speeds, and the extent to which states' economies had an "orientation toward broadband."
|
| Samsung promotes founder’s grandson to vice chairman Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:58 PM PST  Samsung (005930) on Wednesday promoted the grandson of its founder to vice chairman. Jay Y.Lee, the chief operating officer and president, is the son of Lee Kun-hee's, the company's chairman for the past 25 years, who is in turn the son of Samsung founder Lee Byung-chull. A Samsung executive familiar with the matter told Reuters that "it is a stamp of approval from the chairman that the vice chairman has shown capability to manage Samsung" and added that "it's a major step forward [for Jay Lee to become] the future successor at Samsung." Shares of Samsung gained 1.25% following news of Lee's promotion and the stock closed at an all time high of ₩1.455 million South Korean Won, equal to roughly
|
| Zynga seeks real-money gambling license in Nevada Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:39 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Social games maker Zynga Inc said on Wednesday it filed a preliminary application to run real-money gambling games in Nevada, a significant step in cracking a complex but potentially massive new market that could resuscitate its faltering business. The Nevada Gaming Control Board will now examine whether Zynga is fit to hold a gaming license that would allow gamblers in the state to bet real money on the San Francisco-based company's popular games like Zynga Poker, which currently involve only virtual chips with no monetary value. ...
|
| Occupy Wall Street protester whose tweets were subpoenaed to plead guilty Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:33 PM PST NEW YORK (Reuters) - An Occupy Wall Street protester who has waged a legal battle to keep his tweets from falling into prosecutors' hands will plead guilty to a charge of disorderly conduct on Friday, his lawyer said on Wednesday. The case against Malcolm Harris, 23, one of hundreds arrested during a mass march across the Brooklyn Bridge in October 2011, had drawn the attention of electronic privacy advocates who worry that it could limit the rights of Twitter users in the future. ... |
| HTC reportedly betting big that its ‘M7′ smartphone will be its savior in 2013 Posted: 05 Dec 2012 06:01 PM PST  HTC (2498) has had a lousy go of things over the past two years despite putting out some high-quality smartphones such as the One X and the DROID DNA. Focus Taiwan is now reporting that the company is pinning its hopes for a comeback on a smartphone codenamed the "M7″ that will launch in Spring 2013 and will become its new flagship device. What makes this interesting is that Focus Taiwan says that HTC is telling its suppliers "to prepare 4 million to 5 million M7 components in the first quarter of 2013," which alone would be more than half of the "estimated total shipments of 7 million for HTC in the current quarter." Since HTC has already produced quality
|
| Call of Duty: Black Ops II crushes records as sales hit $1 billion in 15 days Posted: 05 Dec 2012 05:05 PM PST  Who says the first-person shooter genre is getting stale? Activision (ATVI) announced on Wednesday another milestone for its recently released Call of Duty: Black Ops II game. Having made over $500 million in its first 24 hours, Black Ops II has now reached $1 billion in worldwide sales since it launched 15 days ago. By comparison, last year's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took one more day to reach the same amount of worldwide sales. Activision says Black Ops II even managed to beat James Cameron's 2009 movie Avatar, which grossed $1 billion in 17 days. Equally impressive is that 150 million hours of Black Ops II have been logged on Xbox LIVE and the PlayStation Network. "Since Call of Duty was launched, cumulative franchise revenues from players around the world are greater than current worldwide
|
| AT&T says it has already sold 6.4 million smartphones this quarter Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:09 PM PST  Being named "America's worst carrier" hasn't stopped AT&T (T) from being a powerhouse in the wireless industry. CNET reports that AT&T wireless chief Ralph de la Vega has been crowing about his company's smartphone sales in the fourth quarter this year, which he says already total 6.4 million. De la Vega also said that AT&T will sell 26 million smartphones in all of 2012, or 1 million more than the company's original projections. "What we're seeing is tremendous response in the marketplace," de la Vega told an investor conference this week. "Excitement is at all time high. I feel very good about momentum going into December." Although some had speculated that an LTE iPhone could hurt AT&T smartphone sales growth, the
|
| Exclusive: Mexico Yahoo plaintiffs open to settlement Posted: 05 Dec 2012 04:03 PM PST  MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Two companies in Mexico which won a surprise $2.7 billion preliminary judgment against Yahoo Inc in a contractual dispute said on Wednesday they are willing to settle for less money, which might avoid a long legal battle. The ruling by the 49th Civil Court of the Federal District of Mexico City, which was issued on Friday and perplexed the tech world, involves allegations of breach of contract related to an online yellow pages listings service, according to Yahoo. The lawsuit was filed in November 2011 by Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas S.A. ...
|
| How to Get Over the Twitter-Instagram War on Photos Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:37 PM PST  So Instagram made sharing its photos a lot more annoying for Twitter users Wednesday morning, which stinks, but isn't likely to change. Because, see, the publicly traded, accountable-to-shareholders Facebook owns Instagram. Ergo, like the social network, the filtered photo-sharing site needs to do things that will make it money, which might sometimes get in the way of the user experience. That's exactly what happened Wednesday morning in what's being called a "brewing rivalry" with Twitter: Instagram wants people on its site, and CEO Kevin Systrom said so. ...
|
| iPad smokes other tablets in battery life tests Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:14 PM PST  Anyone who needs their tablet to have a long-lasting battery has a pretty simple choice to make: It's the Apple (AAPL) iPad. The Which? Tech Daily blog in the United Kingdom has conducted a series of tests among several different tablet models and has found that the iPad simply outclasses other tablets when it comes to battery life. Overall the blog found that the Retina display iPad lasted for 811 minutes surfing the web over Wi-Fi, significantly higher than every other 10-inch tablet measured. In fact, the 10-inch tablet that comes closest to matching the new iPad's battery life is the iPad 2, which clocked in at 590 minutes. Other 10-inch tablets that fared well in the study were the
|
| What James Cameron Found in the Sea; Cannibal Lobsters Posted: 05 Dec 2012 03:11 PM PST  Discovered: James Cameron comes up for air; savage lobsters are eating each other; French men are becoming more impotent; is this the new oldest dinosaur?
|
| Nokia announces budget-friendly Lumia 620 with Windows Phone 8 for $249 [video] Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:17 PM PST ![Nokia announces budget-friendly Lumia 620 with Windows Phone 8 for $249 [video]](http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/qHdUHEM5fIejodzX995Shg--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9ZmlsbDtoPTg2O3E9ODU7dz0xMzA-/http://media.zenfs.com/en_US/News/BGR_News/nokia-lumia-620.jpgw619h417crop1 "Nokia announces budget-friendly Lumia 620 with Windows Phone 8 for $249 [video]") Nokia (NOK) announced on Wednesday it's adding another Windows Phone 8-powered Lumia device to the family in Q1 2013: the Lumia 620. Unlike the flagship Lumia 920 and mid-range Lumia 820, the Lumia 620 can be considered an entry-level device. The Lumia 620 has a 3.8-inch TFT screen with 800 x 480 resolution, 1GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 Plus processor, 512MB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage (expandable via microSD card), 1,300mAh battery, five-megapixel rear cam with LED flash, VGA-resolution front cam, NFC and Bluetooth 3.0. With its interchangeable shells, users can mix and match with seven different colors. Nokia will launch the Lumia 620 in Asia first, then Europe and the Middle East for $249 without any subsidies. Nokia's press release follow below. Nokia
|
| The Battle of the Prenatal Tests Posted: 05 Dec 2012 02:01 PM PST  The Battle of the Prenatal Tests
|
| How the AP-GfK poll was conducted Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:58 PM PST The Associated Press-GfK poll on Congress and the budget was conducted by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Corporate Communications from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3. It is based on landline telephone and cellphone interviews with a nationally representative random sample of 1,002 adults. Digits in the phone numbers dialed were generated randomly to reach households with unlisted and listed landline and cellphone numbers. |
| Website names tied to crowdfunding spike: NASAA Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:57 PM PST (Reuters) - A spike in website names related to crowdfunding suggests an upcoming wave of websites through which small businesses and entrepreneurs could raise investments using the online strategy, state securities regulators said on Wednesday. The website names have soared to 8,800 from fewer than 900 in January, according to the North American Securities Administrators Association, a Washington-based group of state securities regulators. They are proliferating as businesses await rules from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for structuring crowdfunding deals, the group said. ... |
| Verizon celebrates two years of 4G LTE, now covers over 250 million Americans Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:48 PM PST  Happy birthday, 4G LTE. Verizon Wireless (VZ) launched the first LTE network in the United States two years ago on December 5th, 2010. The high-speed wireless technology has since become the standard of the wireless industry and most major carriers have rolled out or have begun production on their own LTE networks. Verizon's high-speed network is now available in 440 markets and is accessible to more than 250 million Americans. What's more, the nation's largest wireless provider has introduced a total of 46 LTE-enabled devices over the past two years, which now account for more than 35% of data on the company's network from more than 11 million LTE customers. Verizon was also recently ranked as the highest-rated carrier in the
|
| John McAfee Reveals His Murder Alibi in This Super Weird 'Vice' Video Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:17 PM PST  Of course John McAfee has revealed his alibi for the murder of his neighbor in this super-bizarre Vice video, which begins as more of a reality-TV clip and ends with that supposed press conference — in his new home in exile in Guatemala — that he's been hyping this week in the midst of his awkward partnership with the gonzo magazine. While talking with the filmmakers in the car ride over to the presser, McAfee claims he spent the night of his neighbor Gregory Faull's death with his girlfriend Sam and apparently half a dozen witnesses can confirm that. ...
|
| Verizon plans to use customers’ location data, browsing history to deliver targeted ads Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:17 PM PST  The nation's largest wireless provider has come under fire over its plan to launch a new marketing initiative that critics say is invasive of users' privacy. Starting this week, Verizon Wireless (VZ) will begin sending select customers advertisements based on location data, web browsing habits and mobile application usage, as well as other information such as customer demographics and interest data. The program, known as Verizon Selects, will then target customers with various services, coupons and promotions through online or mobile advertisements, email, text message and postal mail based on the collected information. Privacy advocates have voiced their concerns with the program, however Verizon maintains that all information collected is anonymous and the program itself will be opt-in only. "We are
|
| Plaintiff in Mexico Yahoo case says open to settlement Posted: 05 Dec 2012 01:09 PM PST MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A plaintiff in a case against Yahoo Inc in which a Mexico City civil court made a $2.7 billion preliminary judgment against the U.S. firm said on Wednesday he and his partners were willing to accept a legal settlement for less. The ruling by the 49th Civil Court of the Federal District of Mexico City, which was issued on Friday and perplexed the tech world, involves allegations of breach of contract related to an online yellow pages listings service, according to Yahoo. The lawsuit was brought by Worldwide Directories S.A. de C.V. and Ideas Interactivas S.A. de C.V. ... |
| Instagram's Systrom coy on ad plans, user data Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:50 PM PST  PARIS (Reuters) - Instagram's youthful Chief Executive Kevin Systrom allowed himself a luxury at a Paris technology conference that he never feels comfortable doing in San Francisco: wearing a tie. The founder of the popular photo-sharing app, now owned by Facebook, looks less comfortable when asked whether he'll soon be adding advertising to his service. "We don't have any specific plans to share about advertising yet, mostly because we're focused on growing the company as quickly as possible," Systrom said in an interview with Reuters TV at LeWeb technology conference in Paris. ...
|
| BlackBerry 10 won’t let you use dumb passwords such as ’123456′ or ‘password’ Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:47 PM PST  In October, SplashData revealed the 25 worst passwords of 2012 and to nobody's surprise, "password" and "123456″ took the top two slots. In a rather smart move, RIM (RIMM) is taking extra precautions to make sure nobody is foolish enough to use such weak passwords in its upcoming BlackBerry 10 operating system. According to RapidBerry, there are 106 common passwords that BlackBerry 10 just won't allow you use. Words such as "blackberry," "computer" and "qwerty" are banned. At this point, we're not sure what's more sad, the fact that RIM has decided to block certain words from being accepted as passwords or that people still don't know how to choose proper passwords. The full list of 106 forbidden passwords follows below.
|
| App revenue intrigue Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:15 PM PST  This week, Canalys estimated that just 25 developers made half of all app revenue on iPhone and Google (GOOG) Play apps in the United States during the first 20 days of November. Canalys seems to have excluded iPad app revenue for some reason. The 25 developers were estimated to have grossed $60 million in 20 days, translating to a roughly $90 million monthly run rate in November. The entire app market thus generated $180 million in November. Apple (AAPL) is usually estimated to create roughly four times as much app revenue as Google Play in the U.S. market. With only iPhone apps included in the Canalys estimate of $180 million in November, the split is perhaps something like $130 million
|
| EU mulls more flexible online copyright law Posted: 05 Dec 2012 12:11 PM PST BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Internet users in Europe may be allowed to copy parts of some copyrighted files legally under reforms to outdated rules governing the murky world of online piracy, EU officials said on Wednesday. Entertainment and software companies, who say they are losing billions of dollars of revenues to pirates, have been lobbying the bloc to outlaw all unlicensed copying and sharing of their digital films, music and applications. ... |
| New net rules would hit digital economy: diplomat Posted: 05 Dec 2012 11:50 AM PST DUBAI (Reuters) - Inter-governmental regulation of the Internet could deter investment, raise costs for consumers and hinder online access, a U.S. diplomat said on Wednesday. The United States has been leading efforts to stop a United Nations body from extending its authority into cyberspace. U.S. Ambassador Terry Kramer reiterated his country's "hands off" message at a summit hosted by the International Telecommunication Union that could decide the future of the Internet, at present largely unregulated at a global level. ... |
No comments:
Post a Comment