Samsung's big push for 2013: content, corporates

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• Samsung's big push for 2013: content, corporates
• Panasonic considers headcount savings, asset sales in revival plan
• Justice Department against most sales bans for infringing key patents
• Brad Pitt Joins Sina Weibo, Sends Surprising First Message
• Slick New Bravo App Personalizes Your Smart TV Experience
• Why Your Next Laptop Won’t Be Just a Laptop
• Windows 8 sales steady, hit 60 mln since October launch
• Apple working on cheaper iPhone: report
• Panasonic, in one-upmanship, unveils biggest OLED TV
• New Android apps worth downloading: Facebook Pages, SwiftKey Flow Beta update, Steampunk Racing 3D
• Who needs a hard drive? Kingston announces 1TB flash drive
• AP Exclusive: Richardson pressing NKorean test ban
• iOS app downloads could exceed 100 million per day within four years
• Flextronics looks to Android for manufacturing innovation
• ZTE Grand S ‘phablet’ announced with a quad-core CPU and 1080p display
• AMD's Su says engineers transitioning from PC culture
• TV-over-Internet service expands despite lawsuits
• Verizon looks beyond mobile phones for increased revenue in coming years
• Google exec gets look at NKoreans using Internet
• Smart TVs get smarter, by just a little bit
• CES Day 1: Bigger phones, tablets, and TVs dominate
• Dish Network makes $5.15B bid for Clearwire
• Tablet sales expected to surpass notebooks in 2013
• Fueled by fanboy-ism, an empire swells at Nerdist
• Corning demonstrates the strength of Gorilla Glass 3 [video]
• The Cheap iPhone Rumor Has Returned
• DirecTV says it added 100,000 subscribers in fourth quarter
• Seagate expects second-quarter revenue above its forecast
• Auto Industry Drops Robot Chauffeurs in Favor of the Safest Car of All Time
• WSJ: Apple may launch less expensive iPhone in 2013
• LG targets March U.S. launch for next-generation TVs
• Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses since launch
• Closely watched Internet TV startup Aereo raises $38 million
• Panasonic unveils new 20-inch tablet

Samsung's big push for 2013: content, corporates Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:09 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics, the global leader in consumer smartphones, is planning two major thrusts in 2013: bulking up mobile content and moving faster into the corporate market dominated by Research in Motion. The South Korean electronics company is investing in devices that enterprise users like corporations will endorse, with a higher level of security and reliability than general users need. In doing so, Samsung is capitalizing on doubts about the longevity of the BlackBerry as its Canadian maker struggles to revive growth. ...

Panasonic considers headcount savings, asset sales in revival plan Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:46 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic Corp may see its headcount fall further and may sell non-core money-making business units to raise cash, president Kazuhiro Tsuga told reporters at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas on Tuesday. Hammered by competition from South Korean rivals such as Samsung Electronics, Panasonic may also squeeze wages and seek joint ventures in its semiconductors and other struggling operations in a bid to rekindle profit growth, Tsuga said. Shares in Panasonic slipped 1.4 percent to a two-week low in Tokyo morning trade, compared to a 0. ...

Justice Department against most sales bans for infringing key patents Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:12 PM PST WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Companies that own a key patent, such as those that ensure mobile and other electronic devices work together, should be allowed to win sales bans as a punishment for infringement only in rare, very specific cases, the Justice Department and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office said in a joint policy statement on Tuesday. The Federal Trade Commission, which with the Justice Department enforces U.S. antitrust law, has also argued that infringement of "standard essential patents" should be punished with monetary damages, not bans, except in a handful of specific cases. ...

Brad Pitt Joins Sina Weibo, Sends Surprising First Message Posted: 07 Jan 2013 08:30 PM PST Brad Pitt joined China's Twitter alternative Sina Weibo this week, gaining thousands of followers after sending a message that raised eyebrows: "It is the truth. Yup, I'm coming."

Slick New Bravo App Personalizes Your Smart TV Experience Posted: 07 Jan 2013 07:32 PM PST Bravo unwrapped a new app for connected TV devices on Monday. The app supplements Bravo programming and lets people -- who use Samsung smart TVs, Samsung Blu-ray players, Yahoo Widgets or Google TVs -- personalize their viewing experiences.

Why Your Next Laptop Won’t Be Just a Laptop Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:32 AM PST Your next laptop is probably going to be a lot more than just a laptop. Touch screens are spurring wild new designs in a category called convertibles. So will your next notebook flip, rip, double or roll? Let's think of this historically; your old laptop opens and closes. Or maybe you have a tablet with [...]

Windows 8 sales steady, hit 60 mln since October launch Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:02 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp has sold 60 million licenses and upgrades for its new Windows 8 operating system in the 10 weeks since its launch, one of the top executives of the company's Windows unit said at the Consumer Electronics Show on Tuesday. The figure marks a solid but unspectacular start for Microsoft's new flagship product, which has not managed to revive lagging personal computer sales, while new touch-screen Windows devices have not yet captured consumers' imaginations. ...

Apple working on cheaper iPhone: report Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:52 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Apple Inc is working on a cheaper version of its popular iPhone that could be released this year, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal on Tuesday. The device could resemble the existing iPhone, but might use less expensive materials, such as a shell made of polycarbonate plastic, according to the report, which cited anonymous sources. Apple could decide not to move forward with the lower-end iPhone, the report noted. ...

Panasonic, in one-upmanship, unveils biggest OLED TV Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:48 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Panasonic Corp, in a display of technological one-upmanship with its South Korean rivals, unveiled a prototype of the world's largest OLED screen on Tuesday. The half-inch thick, 56-inch television, based on organic light-emitting diode technology, is a mere inch bigger than ones offered up by Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics a year ago in Las Vegas. The technology in theory allows for thinner screens that consume less power. Japan's Sony Corp, which is cooperating with Panasonic in OLED technology, on Monday unwrapped its own 56-inch ultra high-definition model. ...

New Android apps worth downloading: Facebook Pages, SwiftKey Flow Beta update, Steampunk Racing 3D Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:16 AM PST Another of Facebook's special  standalone apps, Facebook Pages, has finally made its way over to the Google Play store. It allows you to manage your Facebook page just as you would from the web, which is handy if you're running a brand or building a community. We've also got an update to the SwiftKey Flow beta, bringing some fixes to the gesture keyboard, and Steampunk Racing 3D, a game that has you blasting turn of the century vehicles with outlandish weapons.

Who needs a hard drive? Kingston announces 1TB flash drive Posted: 08 Jan 2013 07:44 PM PST Remember the scene in This is Spinal Tap when guitarist Nigel Tufnel showed off amplifiers whose volume went all the way up to 11? Well it looks as though Kingston has taken a similar approach with its new DataTraveler HyperX Predator 3.0 flash drive that can store as much as 1TB — yes, that's one terabyte — of data. Needless to say, such an enormous flash drive packs some decent speed as well and Kingston says it delivers a maximum 240Mbps read speed and a 160Mbps write speed. Kingston hasn't yet announced pricing for its 1TB flash drive, but given that its 512GB drive sells for $1337, then it's highly likely that the 1TB version will be in the $2,500 range.

AP Exclusive: Richardson pressing NKorean test ban Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:15 PM PST PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson said Wednesday that his delegation is pressing North Korea to put a moratorium on missile launches and nuclear tests and to allow more cell phones and an open Internet for its citizens.

iOS app downloads could exceed 100 million per day within four years Posted: 08 Jan 2013 06:12 PM PST It can't be said enough: people really do love mobile apps. And according to new analysis published by Asymco's Horace Dediu, Apple (AAPL) fans may love mobile apps to the tune of 100 million downloads per day by the start of 2017. Dediu arrived at this figure after he looked at growth trends in mobile app downloads over the past few years and found that app downloads have grown at a significantly faster rate than other downloadable media such as songs or books. Dediu also surmised that since app downloads spiked from an average of 50 million per day for most of 2012 to 65 million per day over the holiday season, the App Store could see its first ever 100 million

Flextronics looks to Android for manufacturing innovation Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:26 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - Flextronics International Ltd's recent agreement to take over Motorola Mobility's factories amounts to a big bet by the contract manufacturer on Google Inc's Android ecosystem, a senior executive said. "We're doubling down on Android because we believe strongly in Google's innovative capability and ability to be a leader like Microsoft and Apple in iconic hardware," said Mike Dennison, head of Flextronics' High Velocity Solutions group, which manufactures smartphones, tablets, laptops, game consoles and other consumer electronics. ...

ZTE Grand S ‘phablet’ announced with a quad-core CPU and 1080p display Posted: 08 Jan 2013 05:21 PM PST ZTE (0763) on Tuesday became the latest company to showcase a full HD "phablet" at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The Android-powered Grand S smartphone comes with a 5-inch 1080p display, a quad-core Snapdragon S4 processor clocked at 1.7GHz and a 13-megapixel rear camera. The handset is also remarkably thin, measuring in at a mere 6.9 millimeters, and also includes 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, 4G LTE and Android 4.1 Jelly Bean. The Grand S is slated to arrive in China during the first quarter of 2013, but no pricing information was announced and it is unclear if the device will make its way to the U.S. market. ZTE's press release follows below. ZTE Announces World Debut of the Thinnest 5.0

AMD's Su says engineers transitioning from PC culture Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:57 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - A senior executive at Advanced Micro Devices said the chipmaker's plan to expand beyond the struggling PC market has involved a difficult shift in company culture but is well under way. Lisa Su, AMD's Senior Vice President and General Manager of Global Business Units, told Reuters at the Consumer Electronics show in Las Vegas that veteran engineers who for years have specialized in designing PC chips based on Intel's "x86" architecture are warming to new ways of doing things. ...

TV-over-Internet service expands despite lawsuits Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:41 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — The Barry Diller-backed Internet company that challenged cable and satellite TV services by offering inexpensive live television online plans to expand beyond New York City this spring.

Verizon looks beyond mobile phones for increased revenue in coming years Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:39 PM PST Lowell McAdam, chief executive officer of Verizon Communications (VZ), believes the company can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in additional revenue from its wireless network if it looks beyond smartphones and tablets. The executive notes that Verizon will focus on other areas of business, from healthcare and automobiles to energy management. Utilizing wireless networks beyond mobile devices is expected to be a major theme at this year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada and in the future. Verizon's biggest rival, AT&T (T), on Monday announced plans to develop a wireless home security network, for example. "It's safe to say this is a market potential of billions in the 2020 timeframe," McAdam said in an interview with Reuters, adding

Google exec gets look at NKoreans using Internet Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:38 PM PST PYONGYANG, North Korea (AP) — Students at North Korea's premier university showed Google's executive chairman how they look for information online: They Google it.

Smart TVs get smarter, by just a little bit Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:32 PM PST LAS VEGAS (AP) — In the not-so-distant future, couch potatoes will be waving, pointing, swiping and tapping to make their TVs react, kind of like what Tom Cruise did in the 2002 movie "Minority Report." That's the vision of TV manufacturers as they show off "smart TVs."

CES Day 1: Bigger phones, tablets, and TVs dominate Posted: 08 Jan 2013 04:29 PM PST The overarching theme during the first day of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was bigger, faster and stronger.

Dish Network makes $5.15B bid for Clearwire Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:51 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — Satellite TV provider Dish Network is offering to buy wireless network operator Clearwire — which agreed to sell itself to Sprint in December — for $3.30 per share, or $5.15 billion.

Tablet sales expected to surpass notebooks in 2013 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:48 PM PST While some have pegged 2013 as the year of the phablet, the latest report from NPD DisplaySearch paints a different picture. The firm estimates that shipments of tablet PCs will surpass 240 million units worldwide in 2013, topping notebook PC shipments, which are expected to reach 207 million, for the first time ever. Apple (AAPL) has dominated the tablet market since its inception, however NPD predicts that smaller tablets will replace the 9.7-inch iPad as the tablet market leader in 2013. The firm estimates that tablets with a screen size between 7- and 8-inches will account for nearly half the market, or 45%, compared to an estimated 17% share from 9.7-inch slates. NPD previously predicted that tablet shipments would top

Fueled by fanboy-ism, an empire swells at Nerdist Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:21 PM PST NEW YORK (AP) — There's no media entity more pleased to be called an empire than Nerdist, the online factory of earnest pop culture enthusiasm.

Corning demonstrates the strength of Gorilla Glass 3 [video] Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:09 PM PST The Consumer Electronics Show is in full swing and every company is vying for attention. Engadget was drawn to Corning's (GLW) booth, where the company was showcasing its third-generation Gorilla Glass, destined for smartphones and tablets around the world. Corning tweaked the chemical and atomic composition of the raw materials in the glass and has made it even more scratch and dent resistant than ever before. In fact, the company demonstrated just how strong its Gorilla Glass 3 really is by dropping a 130-gram ball on to it from different heights to see if it would break. To say the results were impressive is an understatement — the glass didn't scratch, dent or break. A Corning employee then placed more

The Cheap iPhone Rumor Has Returned Posted: 08 Jan 2013 03:09 PM PST Here's a familiar promise from the mysterious Apple whisperers: The company is working on a lower-end iPhone that will cost less and arrive by the end of this year, sources tell The Wall Street Journal's Jessica E. Lessin. It will look like the iPhone we love, only with cheaper parts — a plastic shell instead of aluminum... and recycling!

DirecTV says it added 100,000 subscribers in fourth quarter Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:49 PM PST (Reuters) - DirecTV's Chief Executive said on Tuesday that the top U.S. satellite provider added 100,000 net subscribers in the fourth quarter and is still mulling an acquisition of Vivendi's Brazilian telecom unit, GVT. CEO Mike White said DirecTV had a "good quarter" and that the churn, or rate of cancellations was better than expected. "The U.S. business delivered 100,000 net adds. That was significantly above where we thought we'd be," he said, speaking at an investor conference in Las Vegas. ...

Seagate expects second-quarter revenue above its forecast Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:42 PM PST (Reuters) - Hard drive maker Seagate Technology Plc said it expects to report higher second-quarter revenue than its previous forecast, sending its shares up 9 percent. Seagate, which been struggling with weak PC sales like rival Western Digital Corp, shipped nearly 58 million hard drives in the quarter ended December 28, in-line with first-quarter shipments. Analysts expected Seagate and Western Digital, who together control over 90 percent of the market, to ship lower number of drives as the industry battles a slower Windows 8 adoption and falling investment in technology by businesses. ...

Auto Industry Drops Robot Chauffeurs in Favor of the Safest Car of All Time Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:13 PM PST What's the difference between a robotic car made by Google, and the ones made by actual carmakers? The future, as always, was on display at the Consumer Electronics Show today, where Toyota and Audi unveiled their new autonomous cars of the future — concepts that should not be confused with the Google version, which is a self-driving car. Now, they're pretty much the same thing, with a series of sensors and automated controls that let a car think and act on its own. ...

WSJ: Apple may launch less expensive iPhone in 2013 Posted: 08 Jan 2013 02:10 PM PST The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday confirmed multiple earlier reports stating that Apple may have plans to launch a low-cost version of the iPhone sometime in the second half of 2013. The smartphone is said to resemble the current iPhone, although it could feature a new external design. One possibility, The Journal suggests, is that Apple (AAPL) will use a different shell made of polycarbonate plastic to bring the price down, although many of the other components could remain the same or be recycled from older iPhone models. Earlier reports have suggested that Apple could launch the "iPhone 5S" by June with several new color options.

LG targets March U.S. launch for next-generation TVs Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:51 PM PST LAS VEGAS (Reuters) - LG Electronics will begin selling televisions based on "OLED" technology, which allows for thinner displays that consume less power, in the United States in March. TV makers like Samsung and LG are banking on the next-generation, "organic light-emitting diode" screens to prop up flagging sales of televisions. "You have been waiting patiently for the launch (of OLED). Well, the wait is over," LG's chief technology officer, Skott Ahn, told reporters at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. ...

Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses since launch Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:24 PM PST Despite initial concerns that Microsoft's (MSFT) Windows 8 operating system wasn't living up to expectations, a company executive on Tuesday revealed that sales have been in line with the launch of Windows 7. Tammi Reller, chief financial and chief marketing officer of Windows, announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada that Microsoft has sold 60 million Windows 8 licensees to date. The figure includes sales to manufacturers for new PCs, as well as upgrades. The executive said that while "Windows 8 is a big, ambitious change," sales are "roughly in line with where we would have been with Windows 7." Microsoft previously revealed that it had sold 40 million licenses of Windows 8 by the end of November.

Closely watched Internet TV startup Aereo raises $38 million Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:17 PM PST (Reuters) - Aereo, the Internet TV startup backed by the media company run by billionaire Barry Diller, has raised $38 million and will expand to 22 U.S. cities including Chicago, Houston and Miami. Diller is chairman of IAC, which led the latest investment round along with Highland Capital Partners. This is its biggest funding round to date. It previously raised $20.5 million last February in a round led by IAC. Aereo was launched last March to New York-area subscribers for $12 per month. ...

Panasonic unveils new 20-inch tablet Posted: 08 Jan 2013 01:11 PM PST For most tablet users, smaller is better. Handheld devices like the iPad Mini and the Kindle Fire HD have taken the commercial market by storm with screens well under 10 inches.

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