Dell in talks to go private, shares surge

Dell in talks to go private, shares surge
Apple shares fall on reports of cuts to iPhone parts orders
U.S. says Java still risky, even after security update
GetGlue-Viggle Merger Canceled
Chevy Unveils 2014 Corvette at Detroit Auto Show
Facebook shares rise in buildup to mystery event, earnings
Samsung urges U.S. court to keep allowing Galaxy phone sales
RIM shares jump ahead of BlackBerry 10 launch
These iOS games revitalize the adventure genre
What's Facebook's secret? Company tells all today
Aaron Swartz Isn't the First Hacker to Commit Suicide in the Face of a Federal Investigation
Google Fiber turned Kansas City into a magnet for tech startups
Netflix will offer animated shows from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network on March 30th
CNET reporter quits over CBS interference
Latest Chrome Beta lets developers integrate speech recognition into their web apps
Apple stock wilts on worries about iPhone demand
Verizon may be prepping a new mid-range Samsung smartphone with a 720p display
The Year's Worst Case of the Mondays, According to Science
Dell shares surge on report it's in talks to go private
Michael Dell, back in the spotlight once more
Mass. lawyer: Told prosecutor Swartz suicidal
Oracle says Java is fixed; feds maintain warning
Smartphone data consumption tops tablets for the first time ever
Samsung sells 100 million Galaxy S smartphones
Dell's stock soars on report of possible buyout
Oracle issues Java fix; feds maintain warning
Samsung still fighting a potential sales ban on its Galaxy smartphones
Swartz lawyer: Feds insisted on prison time
Can We Trust CNET Again After a Scandal This Shady?
PlayStation 4 could be unveiled in May
Samsung roadmap suggests the Galaxy S IV could have a five-inch display, 440 PPI
Oracle says Java patch fixes security problem
Apple is still a great company, but it’s no longer defying economic gravity
No-Book Library? BiblioTech Is Coming
Branch makes its conversation threads available to all

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 05:02 PM PST

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc is in talks with private equity firms on a potential buyout, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, confirming reports that sent shares in the world's No. 3 PC maker soaring 13 percent to nearly a eight-month high. The firms are now holding discussions on a deal with billionaire Chief Executive and founder Michael Dell, who owns about 14 percent of the company, according to one source with knowledge of the matter. ...

Apple shares fall on reports of cuts to iPhone parts orders

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 06:33 PM PST

(Reuters) - Shares in Apple Inc dipped below $500 for the first time in almost one year after reports it is slashing orders for screens and other components from its Asian supplier as intensifying competition erodes demand for its latest iPhone. Japan's Nikkei reported on Monday that the world's largest technology corporation began sharply reducing buying of liquid crystal displays about a month ago from suppliers like Japan Display Inc and Sharp Corp. Sharp's stock dipped as much as 7 percent in early trading on Tuesday and shares in South Korean Apple suppliers such as LG Display also fell. ...

U.S. says Java still risky, even after security update

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 01:16 PM PST

(Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Homeland Security warned that a security update of Oracle Corp's Java software for Web browsers does not do enough to protect computers from attack, sticking to its previous advice that the program be disabled. "Unless it is absolutely necessary to run Java in web browsers, disable it," the Department of Homeland Security's Computer Emergency Readiness Team said on Monday in a posting on its website. ...

GetGlue-Viggle Merger Canceled

Posted: 13 Jan 2013 08:12 PM PST

Television check-in app GetGlue is no longer merging with Viggle, the startup announced in a blog post Sunday.

Chevy Unveils 2014 Corvette at Detroit Auto Show

Posted: 13 Jan 2013 05:46 PM PST

Unveiling of the 2014 Corvette Stingray

Facebook shares rise in buildup to mystery event, earnings

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 02:17 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc's stock opened on Monday above $32 for the first time since July as anticipation about upcoming products and financial results underscored Wall Street's renewed confidence in the online social network. Facebook will on Tuesday host its first major press event at its headquarters in Menlo Park, California, since its troubled initial public offering in May, triggering a guessing game among technology observers and online blogs about what it could unveil - everything from a smartphone to a search engine. "There's a lot of speculation. ...

Samsung urges U.S. court to keep allowing Galaxy phone sales

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 11:23 AM PST

(Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has urged a U.S. appeals court to stand by its denial of Apple Inc's request to ban sales of the Galaxy Nexus smartphone while Apple challenges its patent, according to a document filed late last week. In October, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit blocked Apple's bid for a pretrial sales ban. Apple has asked all nine active Federal Circuit judges to reconsider that decision, a process known as "en banc" review. The October ruling by the Washington D.C. ...

RIM shares jump ahead of BlackBerry 10 launch

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 08:40 AM PST

TORONTO (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion Ltd surged as much as 11 percent on Monday as the countdown toward the January 30 launch of its long-awaited BlackBerry 10 smartphones winds down and carrier support for the new line builds. RIM stock rose as high C$15.08 in early Nasdaq trading. Some analysts said a dearth of any major smartphone news at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last week boded well for RIM as it inches closer toward unveiling the make-or-break new line. ...

These iOS games revitalize the adventure genre

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 12:48 PM PST

2012 saw some pretty great game releases in the mobile space, on consoles and PCs as well. One game that topped many lists of all those platforms was Telltale Games' Walking Dead: The Game, a free adventure title (with additional episodes available for purchase) based on Robert Kirkman's graphic novel of the same name.

What's Facebook's secret? Company tells all today

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 09:08 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Facebook's mystery "press event" on Tuesday could reveal a more robust search feature that would intensify the competition between the social networking giant and its rival Google Inc.

Aaron Swartz Isn't the First Hacker to Commit Suicide in the Face of a Federal Investigation

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 08:53 PM PST

Few people close to him doubt that an overzealous federal prosecution team contributed to Aaron Swartz's suicide last Saturday. And quite tragically, he wasn't the first to find himself in that position. On Monday night, BuzzFeed dug up the case of Jonathan James, a young hacker who was implicated in the largest personal identity hack in history. Not only was the same department involved in James's case as in Swartz's, but it was also the same prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Heymann, who pursued each of the young men.

Google Fiber turned Kansas City into a magnet for tech startups

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 07:21 PM PST

Soon no one will snicker when Kansas City residents proudly refer to their city as the "Silicon Prairie." As the Associated Press reports, the presence of Google's (GOOG) high-speed fiber network has turned Kansas City into a major attraction for tech startups that want to take advantage of the fastest Internet connectivity in the United States. According to the AP, "several startup-friendly locations… have sprouted up in Kansas City in recent months" in residential buildings that give entrepreneurs room for "working on their ideas for the next high-tech startup." The AP profiles one such startup residence, dubbed the "Home for Hackers," that offers entrepreneurs "a deal that allows them to live rent-free" for up to three months "while they develop their

Netflix will offer animated shows from Adult Swim and Cartoon Network on March 30th

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 06:12 PM PST

Netflix (NFLX) on Monday announced a new licensing agreement with Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Brothers to bring even more content to the streaming service in the coming months. Animated and live-action programming from Cartoon Network, Warner Bros. Animation and Adult Swim will be available to American subscribers on March 30th, while the TNT drama Dallas will come to the service in January 2014. Netflix, which has more than 60,000 titles and is available for $7.99 a month, announced this week that it will also be bringing 1080p content and 3D video streaming to Cablevision and Google Fiber customers. The company's press release follows below. BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 14, 2013 — Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., The Warner Bros. Television Group

CNET reporter quits over CBS interference

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 05:25 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Technology reviews by website CNET have long been respected for their thoroughness and integrity, but that reputation has come under scrutiny after a top reporter quit over what he says is editorial interference by its parent company, CBS Corp.

Latest Chrome Beta lets developers integrate speech recognition into their web apps

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 04:59 PM PST

Pretty soon, every major web app could have its own version of Siri. Google (GOOG) on Monday released a new version of Chrome Beta that includes a new Web Speech API that Google says will let developers more easily integrate speech recognition capabilities into their web apps. Among other things, Google says that the API will let developers create apps that let users "dictate documents" or "control game characters with your browser using only your voice." Google's efforts to give Chrome web apps more speech recognition capabilities come after some developers late last year started a new Chromium project dedicated to bringing the voice-enabled Google Now personal assistant to the Chrome browser.

Apple stock wilts on worries about iPhone demand

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 04:19 PM PST

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple's stock slipped below $500 for the first time in 11 months on Monday as investors reacted to reports signaling the company's latest iPhone is falling further behind a slew of sleek alternatives running Google's Android software.

Verizon may be prepping a new mid-range Samsung smartphone with a 720p display

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 04:00 PM PST

Samsung (005930) and Verizon (VZ) have previously teamed up on a mid-range line of QWERTY smartphones known as the Stratosphere and Stratosphere II. Results from GLBenchmark's database suggest the two companies may soon be planning to release another QWERTY handset. The device carries the model number SCH-I425, which falls in line with the two earlier models: SCH-I405 and SCH-I415. Details are slim, although the benchmarks reveal that the handset will include a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, 4G LTE connectivity and Android 4.1.2. Perhaps the most interesting specification will be the SCH-I425′s 1280 x 720 HD display, a rare feature for a mid-range smartphone. The actual screen size is unknown, however we can assume it will somewhere in the neighborhood

The Year's Worst Case of the Mondays, According to Science

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:54 PM PST

Discovered: the most depressing day of the year; the problem with dieting after age 75; the truth about chimps; the dingo might not even be Australian.

Dell shares surge on report it's in talks to go private

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:39 PM PST

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Dell Inc is in talks with private equity firms on a potential buyout, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, confirming a Bloomberg report that sent its shares soaring 13 percent to near an eight-month high. The world's No. 3 PC maker is in talks with at least two private equity firms about going private and the discussions are preliminary as the financing has not yet been secured, said Bloomberg, citing two people with knowledge of the matter. ...

Michael Dell, back in the spotlight once more

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:39 PM PST

(Reuters) - Michael Dell gave up day-to-day control of the computer company that bears his name once, an experiment that went poorly and ended relatively quickly - but he may be willing to try it again in another bid to reverse the company's fortunes. Dell Inc is in talks with private-equity firms about possibly going private, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters, confirming a Bloomberg News report. It was not clear how many firms might be involved, or how much of the company Michael Dell might own after a deal, relative to the 14 percent he controls now. ...

Mass. lawyer: Told prosecutor Swartz suicidal

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:15 PM PST

BOSTON (AP) — A lawyer who formerly represented Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz on hacking charges said Monday he told federal prosecutors about a year ago that Swartz was a suicide risk.

Oracle says Java is fixed; feds maintain warning

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:07 PM PST

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oracle Corp. said Monday it has released a fix for the flaw in its Java software that raised an alarm from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week. Even after the patch was issued, the federal agency continued to recommend that users disable Java in their Web browsers.

Smartphone data consumption tops tablets for the first time ever

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 03:06 PM PST

A study released Monday by Arieso found that for the first time ever, smartphones consistently used more data than tablets in Europe. The "hungriest" mobile devices in 2011 were the iPhone 4S, iPad 2 and original iPad. In 2012, however, the hungriest devices were all smartphones — iPhone 5, Galaxy S III and Sensation XL. It was discovered that iPhone 5 users consumed four times as much data as iPhone 3G users and 50% more than iPhone 4S users, while Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 users demanded 20% more data than iPad users. The firm, which specializes in mobile network optimization, notes that the study's results can be applied to carriers around the world and not just Europe because "relative consumption between device

Samsung sells 100 million Galaxy S smartphones

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 02:41 PM PST

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Samsung Electronics Co. said Monday that global sales of its Galaxy S smartphones surpassed 100 million units since the first model in the series was released less than three years ago.

Dell's stock soars on report of possible buyout

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 02:33 PM PST

ROUND ROCK, Texas (AP) — Dell's stock soared 13 percent Monday on a report that the struggling personal computer maker is in talks to take the company private.

Oracle issues Java fix; feds maintain warning

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 02:21 PM PST

Samsung still fighting a potential sales ban on its Galaxy smartphones

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 02:02 PM PST

A three-judge panel for the U.S. Court of Appeals blocked Apple's request in October to ban sales of Samsung's (005930) Galaxy line of smartphones. Since then, the company has asked the nine active Federal Circuit judges to reconsider their decision, while Samsung has urged the appeals court to stand by its pretrial ruling. Reuters reported on Monday that Samsung argued in a recent court filing that Apple (AAPL) did not have enough evidence to show a "causal nexus" between its patented technology and iPhone sales to warrant a sales ban against the Galaxy Nexus. The company went on to state that because the Federal Circuit's panel already ruled against Apple with "well established" reasoning, the iPhone maker should not be allowed to seek

Swartz lawyer: Feds insisted on prison time

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 01:46 PM PST

BOSTON (AP) — A lawyer for Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz said federal prosecutors told him two days before Swartz's death that Swartz would have to spend six months in prison and plead guilty to 13 charges if he wanted to avoid going to trial.

Can We Trust CNET Again After a Scandal This Shady?

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 01:34 PM PST

CNET, one of the Internet's first and most influential authorities on gadgets and tech news, watched its editorial integrity spiral out of control Monday, with staffers quitting and editors left to explain themselves in the wake of explosive new charges over its annual Consumer Electronics Show awards — a scandal, it would appear, that goes all the way to the top of its corporate umbrella, and could shake the entire ecosystem of online tech journalism.

PlayStation 4 could be unveiled in May

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 01:22 PM PST

A Sony (SNE) executive may have revealed the company's upcoming plan to announce its highly anticipated PlayStation 4 console. Hiroshi Sakamoto, deputy senior general manager of Home Entertainment at Sony, said in an interview with Chilean news website Emol that the company could announce its next-generation gaming console in May. It had previously been speculated that both Sony and Microsoft (MSFT) would unveil their latest consoles at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in June. An earlier announcement would allow the PlayStation 4 to receive more press, however, rather than competing with the Xbox 720. Sakamoto said that an "announcement may be in [E3] or even earlier in May," adding "in that time we expect to deliver great news, but we must wait until May

Samsung roadmap suggests the Galaxy S IV could have a five-inch display, 440 PPI

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 12:38 PM PST

Before we get all hyped up for the rumored iPhone 5S launch later this year, we're likely going to go through Galaxy S IV mania as well. AnadTech last week spotted what appears to be a roadmap for Samsung (005930) Galaxy smartphones at the Consumer Electronics Show showing that an upcoming Samsung smartphone will have a five-inch display with a resolution of 440 pixels per inch and that will be released in the first quarter of 2013. While the roadmap didn't specifically label the upcoming smartphone as the Galaxy S IV, we've heard rumors that the sequel to Samsung's hugely popular Galaxy S III will also feature a five-inch screen, along with a 2GHz quad-core Exynos processor, 2GB of RAM and

Oracle says Java patch fixes security problem

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 11:54 AM PST

REDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (AP) — Oracle says it has released a fix for the flaw in its Java software that raised an alarm from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security last week.

Apple is still a great company, but it’s no longer defying economic gravity

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 11:52 AM PST

Apple's (AAPL) share prices again got hammered on Monday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the company had dramatically slashed its supply orders for the iPhone 5. This comes on top of recent rumors that Apple is preparing to make a cheaper iPhone that could help it compete with low-cost Android handsets in emerging markets, despite the fact that it could lower the company's smartphone margins. None of this should be seen as a sign that the world's most valuable company is about to completely implode, of course — it's more that Apple for the first time in years is being forced to obey the laws of economic gravity. Some perspective: Apple's earnings over the past several years have

No-Book Library? BiblioTech Is Coming

Posted: 14 Jan 2013 11:31 AM PST

A Library in Texas Will Have Only E-Books.