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The US Transportation Security Administration (TSA) may purchase up to $3 million in Apple hardware over the next three years. Up to a thousand Macintosh and a thousand iOS mobile devices purchases are planned. The Apple equipment has been declared to be "critical to meet a variety of operational, programmatic, and mission-specific requirements" by the TSA.... |
Following last year's Microsoft partnership with Nokia, Bing Maps is the latest product to see a benefit. Starting today, users in 24 countries will be able to view active traffic data in Bing Maps as a result of Nokia services integration. United States traffic coverage will include side street traffic as well as freeway information. Behind the scenes, Nokia's geocoding services are now being used to offer improved turn-by-turn directions.... |
As part of Nvidia's annual investor meeting, the company's GM of Tegra operations, Mike Rayfield, boasted that the quad-core Tegra 3 platform is proving to be quite popular, powering 30 different smartphones that are expected to arrive on the market before the end of the year. Nearly half of the models are said to carry a transfer price below $300, in contrast to current Tegra 3-equipped phones that tend toward the high end of the price spectrum.... |
Apple earlier today filed an 8-K form with the Securities and Exchange Commission, indicating that the board of directors has decided to give restricted stock holders the same $2.65-per-share dividend they expect to give public shareholders. CEO Tim Cook has requested he not be awarded the dividend, however, costing him an estimated $75 million dollars over the next decade.... |
Fox, NBCUniversal, and CBS have all filed suit independently against Dish Network over the new AutoHop service, which with the right set-top box allows viewers to automatically skip commercials, assuming the recorded content isn't watched on the day of broadcast. The broadcast networks call the DVR technology a violation of their copyrights, a danger to quality programming, and an assault on their financial ecosystem. In an effort to counter the separate legal attacks, Dish has filed a countersuit against the three, plus ABC, in an attempt to establish the legality of advertisement skipping.... |
An Apple fan dissatisfied with the attention the company has paid to its Mac Pro line of recent has taken to Facebook, posting a fan page petitioning the computer maker to refresh its line of professional-level desktops, or at least to let Mac Pro fans know what is going on with the line. The page has subsequently taken off, with more than 4,100 Likes and a number of shares from users around the world.... |
Google has shed more light on URL takedown requests that it receives from various companies reacting to alleged copyright violations. The search giant has broadened its transparency reports to visualize trends, highlighting the surge in takedown notices. More than 1.2 million takedown requests were processed just last month, issued from thousands of copyright owners and reporting organizations.... |
Online media company RealNetworks has settled a lawsuit brought by the Washington State Attorney General regarding the company's practice of charging some users for services they did not want. MSNBC reports that, over the course of seven years, more than 500 people complained to the Better Business Bureau about RealNetworks' practices. As a result of the settlement, RealNetworks will establish a $2 million compensation fund for subscribers who were overcharged between January 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009.... |
The Munich Regional Court has found Motorola to be in violation of Microsoft's text-messaging patent involving "communicating multi-part messages between cellular devices using a standardized interface." The judgement follows an International Trade Commission-ordered import ban against Android-based Motorola devices that infringe on a different Microsoft patent for event scheduling.... |
Research firm IDC has published its latest smartphone market-share report, finding Android and iOS to be responsible for eight out of 10 smartphones shipped in the first quarter of 2012. Android captured 59 percent of all sales, while iOS took 23 percent of the 152 million smartphones shipped in the first quarter. Linux phones maintained the same small share held for four quarters. Symbian and Blackberry shipments continued to drop precipitously.... |
Intel is looking to expand beyond its traditional semiconductor business and develop computers that can learn about their user, Reuters reports. To that end, the company is said to be making a significant investment in research that could yield devices that mimic the human brain by 2014 or 2015.... |
Facebook has launched its own camera app for the iPhone (free, App Store), complementing the social network's existing iOS utilities. Following on the heels of the company's recent Instagram buyout, Facebook Camera provides a photo editor that can be used to crop shots or apply various filters.... |
Google has introduced in-app subscriptions to its Play store, according to the a post on the company's official Android developers blog. From today, App developers can use in-app billing to sell monthly or annual subscriptions from within the app itself. The addition brings Google's app portal in line with the Apple App Store in offering recurring billing to its customers and developers, with all subscriptions being auto-renewing by default.... |
Google is working with British charity Teach First to provide teachers and computing equipment to disadvantaged communities. The search giant will donate funding to support 100 teachers, with the aim of increasing student exposure to the basics of computer science. As the BBC reports, the program will make use of the Raspberry Pi, a tiny, low-cost computer that plugs directly into a display's HDMI input.... |
Apple has reportedly established a licensing agreement with patent holder SimpleAir, putting an end to the patent infringement battle that began late in 2009. SimpleAir had filed its original lawsuit in the federal district court for the Eastern District of Texas, a venue frequented by plaintiffs in intellectual-property lawsuits, however the settlement was said to have been reached shortly before the formal proceedings commenced.... |
Just two months after being introduced, the third-generation 2012 iPad has managed to catch up to the market share of the first-generation iPad in the US, market analysis firm Localytics reports. The new model now accounts for over 20 percent of all US-based iPads, just over the percentage of active first-generation iPads. The iPad 2, released in 2011 and still available new for $100 less than its original price, leads the pack.... |
New York State Senator Thomas O'Mara is attempting to push "right to know" legislation that would effectively ban online speech posted anonymously. The bill aims to "amend the civil rights law" to "protect a person's right to know who is behind an anonymous Internet posting."... |
Netflix has admitted that it may play a role in keeping its subscribers from doing "something." That, Ad Age... |
Just two months after Foxconn bought a 10 percent stake in Sharp, the two companies have announced a collaboration on a plant in Chengdu, China that will be used to build iPhone displays and potentially displays for other products. Foxconn will build the plant, and Sharp will assist by supplying technology, which may be used to further expand its ability to produce displays using its IGZO formulation, along with possible poly-silicon LCD screens.... |
Application and file sharing app Bump (Free) has been updated to allow for photo transfers between a phone and a computer. Users of the app can go to the Bump website on a computer, then after selecting photos to share, can bump the phone into the spacebar to send the images to the browser. Images could then be saved to the computer or shared through social networks with a short link.... |
The Huawei Ascend P1 smartphone has now completed FCC testing. The Chinese phone-maker still hasn't revealed any official launch information for the 4.3-inch flagship, and it's missed its originally promised April reveal date. This FCC approval means the company is at least certified to sell the handset in the US.... |
Security researchers have started work on a project to combat malware on Android-based devices. Led by researchers at NC State and masterminded by Xuxian Jiang, the Android Malware Genome Project aims to look at the way malware works in an effort to protect current Android builds and future iterations of the mobile operating system. The collaborative effort is a stark contrast from normal antivirus developers, which typically keep their findings private.... |
Google has just began offering the latest version of its Google+ app for Android, version 2.6 (free, Google Play). The update includes a refreshed user interface and a better integration with the Hangout video chat feature. Dubbed Mobile Hangouts, video chats with up to nine friend can now be initiated while users are on the move.... |
A cybercriminal who is responsible for hacking into and sabotaging the computers of more than 30 million people has been sentenced to four years in prison. According to the BBC, Georgiy Avanesov was tried and judged by an Armenian court. He was arrested at the country's Yerevan airport in 2010.... |
President Barack Obama has ordered all major federal agencies to make more services available on mobile devices in the next year. The administration wants to increase governmental technology use, with agencies ordered to make services available for public access within 12 months. The news comes at the same time as reports that the US Navy will add LTE capabilities to three of its ships, allowing Android smartphones to be used out at sea.... |
In a pair of related developments, Microsoft has retreated from earlier claims that its phone OS was more popular in China than iOS just as new figures for the first quarter of 2011 show that Apple has nearly tripled its sales of iPhones in the country and raised its share from eight to 19 percent, mostly due to the launch of the iPhone 4S, which was launched with two of China's major carriers in January to great demand and some crowd issues.... |
In a surprise, an Apple patent application for an optical stylus has turned up on the USPTO website. Steve Jobs had derided the stylus as an input method for the iPhone and the iPad once famously saying that ëIf you need a stylus, youíve already failed.í However, Jobs was well known for throwing the opposition a curve ball from time to time speaking out against an idea, only to have been developing a concept behind the scenes. One example was when he said that consumers liked having a separate iPod while also carrying their phone, only to reveal the ultimate convergence device in the iPhone a... |
Update: Axis was temporarily pulled by Yahoo due to a security vulnerability, but has already been updated.Yahoo has released Axis, which it is calling a 'visual search' application. It has been released as a full mobile browser for iOS and as a cross-platform desktop browser extension that uses page snapshots in live search results instead of text. The iOS app, while having the same tabbed browsing and bookmarking found in Safari, has a user interface focussing on image-heavy search, with cross-device synching possible between iPhone, iPad and the desktop browser extension.... |
Googleís first foray into the hotly contested tablet market is set to reach userís hands sometime in July. According to Digitimes, the first Google co-branded Android tablet will start shipping out of ASUSí factories from next month, with an initial volume expected to be around 600,000 units. Originally rumored for a May release, the tablet was said to have been pushed back in order to trim the entry-price by adjusting its specifications so it can tackle the Amazon Kindle Fire head-on at $199.... |
High-level talks between Apple and Samsung regarding patent infringements have reportedly failed, according to the Korea Times. Apple CEO Tim Cook met with Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung along with Samsungís head of mobile, Shin Jong-kyun. Although Tim Cook has stated that he prefers to settle when he can, two days of talks yielded nothing that will avert the case proceeding to trial as scheduled.... |
Windows Phone fans currently face a limited selection of new devices, however a few companies, including Samsung, continue to release new offerings powered by Microsoft's mobile OS. Electronista checked out Samsung's Focus 2 earlier this month at CTIA's spring conference for a quick hands-on preview, however our full review takes a closer look at the latest budget-priced Windows Phone offering to arrive at AT&T.... |
Apple has released two new televisions commercials featuring the iPhone 4S, its Siri voice capability and a celebrity in need of company. Like the first two ads in the series, a famous actor (in this case thespian and director John Malkovich) is inside a white house alone, making conversation with Siri. Unlike the previous commercials, Malkovich never leaves his chair, and gets two distinct ads -- one of which reveals the meaning of life.... |
Electronics technician Ken Shirriff has completed a teardown in minute detail of the Apple iPhone charger, revealing higher-quality manufacturing techniques and parts along with more attention to detail than is normally seen in smartphone chargers. The $29 charger and cable combo costs more to make than a typical AC USB charger, but remains a highly-profitable unit despite the extra care taken. Shirriff also did a teardown on a cheaper "clone" iPhone charger, and strongly recommends that under no circumstances should they be used, calling them "tiny, cheap, and dangerous."... |
Patrick Spence, 14-year veteran of Research in Motion (RIM) and its head of global sales, has departed the company. Spence "will be taking on a leadership position in a different industry," according to RIM spokeswoman Rebecca Freiburger. No comment has been made if the move is in response to the announcement of RIM's new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer three weeks ago.... |
Researchers at the German institution Technische Universitat Darmstadt have published a paper demonstrating a technology that could eventually bring complex, physical object-based control to pico projectors. Were the technology, dubbed LightBeam, to be integrated with smartphones, it could engender a much wider array of interactions and methods of navigating data.... |
In a move that signals a greater commitment to hardware design and manufacture, Google has purchased industrial design firm Mike and Maaike. Mike and Maaike is a studio that worked on the first Google Nexus phone, and the purchase seems to indicate a greater focus for Google on hardware design in the wake of its acquisition of Motorola Mobility.... |
Dell has announced its fiscal-year 2013 first-quarter results on Tuesday, as the continuing skid in profits continues. Quarterly revenue was down four percent from a year ago to $14.4 billion. Profit continues to fall and dropped a staggering 33 percent to $635 million. The consumer division continues to weigh down the company, with a revenue of $3 billion, a 12 percent decline year-over-year.... |
At its annual investor meeting, Nvidia unveiled a new platform, known as Kai, which the company hopes will allow for the production of quad-core Android 4.0 tablets that are priced comparably to Amazon's Kindle Fire. The Kai project is both a reference tablet design, which could be turned into a consumer product, and a roadmap for the development of similar low-priced but powerful tablets.... |
Facebook is in the process of launching a system to allow advertisers to measure the impact of their advertising efforts on the social network. The company is also looking to allow external advertising agencies to buy premium ad slots in users' news feeds. As The Financial Times reports, the changes to the site's advertising policies come as Facebook attempts to instill confidence in its capacity to leverage its massive user base in the world of targeted advertising.... |
Apple is by far the largest buyer of all kinds of microprocessors, buying 50 percent more RAM, processor and other chips than any other company, with its appetite having tripled since 2009 due to the success of its iOS devices (and to a lesser extent its growing Mac business). At an industry conference, IHS iSuppli researcher Dale Ford said that the company will buy $27 billion worth of chips, up from $9B in 2009.... |
Federal Communications Commission chairman Julius Genachowski, speaking during Boston's The Cable Show, has voiced support for data caps on Internet plans. The chief feels that tiered pricing will "increase consumer choice and competition" and result in "lower prices for people who consume less broadband," though he did not clarify what mechanism would drive prices down. Consumer advocates and public-interest groups immediately responded, decrying the comments and urging the FCC to more closely examine the effect of broadband data caps on the market, pricing, and innovation.... |
HP has reported its fiscal second-quarter financials, pointing to a slight slide in net revenues to $30.7 billion. Earnings per share fell to $0.80, slightly higher than the internal forecast of $0.68 to $0.71, however the company nonetheless confirmed plans to eliminate eight percent of its workforce.... |
The imbroglio over Facebook's initial public offering continued today with the announcement of a class-action lawsuit alleging wrongdoing on the part of Facebook and its underwriters. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims that Facebook, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase, among others, misled investors and caused them to lose more than $2.5 billion in the wake of the IPO. As Bloomberg reports, the plaintiffs have yet to specify the amount sought for damages. The case comes in the wake of the revelation yesterday that the Securities and Exchange Commission will be... |
Microsoft is preparing to release tablet versions of its Office suite for both Apple's iOS and Google's Android platforms, a source familiar with the software has told BGR. The company had been previously rumored to be bringing its Office suite to the iPad, and the new details, if true, will see the productivity suite arriving on tablets in November.... |
A jury at the US District Court of Northern California has determined that Google has not infringed on six claims contained in two Oracle patents. The unanimous decision is viewed as a partial win for the search giant, however the company still faces potential damages in an earlier verdict that focused on copyright violations for a number of Java APIs.... |
The FBI is reportedly forming a unit to develop new technologies for electronic surveillance, enabling the agency to expand monitoring capabilities for VoIP, wireless signals, and the Internet. According to Cnet, the Domestic Communications Assistance Center, located in Quantico, VA, will serve to intercept Skype conversations and analyze data received from a social network or carrier.... |
The Kyocera Hydro smartphone running Android Ice Cream Sandwich has been seen at the Federal Communications Commission for testing. Filings on the FCC website under model number C5170 show tests were conducted relating to its CDMA 1900MHz radio, 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth support.... |
The Acer Iconia A510 Olympic tablet will be reaching the UK in June through Carphone Warehouse. The special-edition tablet shares the specs of the Iconia Tab A510, with the main differences being an engraving of the Olympic rings on the back and a pre-loaded trial of Eurosport Player, to watch the broadcaster's Olympic coverage.... |
AT&T has just introduced a new smartphone for its GoPhone pre-paid offering, the Samsung Galaxy Appeal. The first side-slider for GoPhone sports a hardware QWERTY keyboard and a 4.3-inch, 480x320 touchscreen. It's powered by an 800MHz Qualcomm processor and Android 2.3.... |
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