News written by Andre Yoskowitz (November, 2011)

There has been speculation for months on when Asus will finally release their much-anticipated Transformer Prime.

Today, it appears that date has been unveiled as December 8th for the U.S.

In Europe, the release date will be in January, dependent on what country you live.

Specs:

Nvidia Quad-Core Tegra 3 Processor
Additional 5th core to reduce power consumption when 2 or 4 cores are not needed
10.1″ IPS+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass and 178 degree viewing angle
1 GB RAM (LP DDR2)
8 megapixel auto-focus rear camera with 1080P video capture and large F2.4 aperature
1.2 megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing
12 hours of battery life, up to 18 hours when paired with the keyboard dock
2 color schemes: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold
2 storage options: 32GB and 64GB ($499 and $599 price points) with expandable storage via microSD
8.3 millimeters thick, weighs in at 1.29 lbs.

According to sources, Microsoft is planning to bring a functional version of its Office suite to the iPad next year.

The iPad controls 70 percent of the tablet market and a reasonably priced business app will likely be a hit with the intended crowd. Current rivals include the popular QuickOffice and Polaris.

Furthermore, a version for OS X Lion will hit in early 2012, as the current version, Office 2011, is only technically supported up to Snow Leopard 10.6.8.

Office 2012 for Windows is in beta and will be available next year, as well.

The app is expected to work with Office 365 and should cost $10, say the sources.

Office remains a huge seller for Microsoft, bringing in $11 billion revenue in 2011, so far.

Droid-Life now has official pics of the upcoming Motorola Droid 4.

Leaked spec sheets imply the phone will be released on December 8th.

Motorola's latest device will have a 4-inch qHD screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, a form-factor similar to the Droid Razr, a 5-row keyboard that is "edge-lit" and dual cameras 8MP/1.3MP.

The phone will also have a large 1785mAh battery.

Additionally, the device will be a world phone, including support for all radio bands and be 4G supported.

Pics (including a comparison that taunts Droid 3 owners, who bought the phone just months ago):

Deutsche Bank analysts have forecasted this week that Nokia will indeed be able to reach its 2 million unit estimate for Lumia sales in the Q4.

The devices, the Lumia 710 and 800, are the company's first to run on Windows Phone 7.5.

Other analysts had expressed doubt that Nokia would reach its goal, including Jefferies and Pacific Crest.

Each said the Lumia models "showed mixed development, leading to doubts that fourth-quarter volumes would reach the expectations."

Nokia says first week sales were the highest for a Nokia smartphone in the UK in 5 years.

Analyst Rob Enderle has torn the rumored Facebook 'Buffy' phone apart this weekend in a post, going as far as to call it "stupid."

Additionally, the analyst compared the phone to the now-defunct Zune media player line created by Microsoft.

Facebook is said to be teaming with HTC to create a Facebook phone, one that is based on Android, but a variant.

By doing so, the company risks angering Google, a major HTC partner, who may not like having its operating system altered. Additionally, Facebook could anger Microsoft, an investor in Facebook and the creator of the Windows Phone 7 operating system.

Says Enderle (via PCM):

You see, HTC is on the other side of the Zune problem. Just as Microsoft lost trust from its hardware partners, an OEM like HTC stepping out against their software partner should have the same kind of collateral damage.

Read more...

The newly launched BlackBerry Bold 9790 caused a riot this weekend in Indonesia, leading to 90 people being injured.

Available for 50 percent off at a mall in Jakartam, it appears that the crowd became "disorderly" after the retailer said there would not be enough units for everyone waiting on line.

200 police officers and mall cops were called in before the crowd was subdued.

Three people were hospitalized with broken bones.

The BlackBerry normally sells for 4.6 million rupees in Indonesia (about $520) and BlackBerry remains the top brand in the nation. BGR says that four of the top five selling smartphones in the nation are BlackBerrys.

A video of the crowd before it got crazy:

Sales of the new Apple iPhone 4S have been very slow in South Korea, as the phones has been deemed "uncompetitive" in the nation.

Customers have passed on the device due to its lack of 4G, bad battery life and lack of other high-end features.

Says one current iPhone 4 owner in the nation:

I dropped my plan to buy the iPhone 4S. It's not wholly-new and also there are big problems relating to hardware-related issues. I am a big Apple fan. But I'm very disappointed by the uncompetitive iPhone 4S.

Except for the 'Siri' function, I didn?t find any wow factors about the iPhone 4S and that's why I decided to buy Samsung's LTE smartphone. Also Siri doesn't support Korean language and that means the iPhone 4S is technically the same as the iPhone 4. Why should I pay more to buy the same thing? It's nonsense to purchase the 4S just to show my personal tribute to the late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.

Sony has said it will not be selling the PlayStation 3D TV in the UK this year, delaying the launch until next year.

Amazon, on its page for the TV writes:

We have been informed by our supplier that there will be a delay in obtaining stock for this item and it will no longer be released in Europe in 2011.

If you have ordered this item from us at Amazon.co.uk your order will take longer to fulfill than originally estimated. We are expecting an update in the new year.

Google has given a first look into its upcoming Aura window manager for Chrome and Chrome OS.

Aura is a hardware accelerated UI that will give users a chance to manage their multiple windows much easier.

The company has revealed a quick teaser (posted below), showing off the UI's features which include translucent window frames and constrained window dragging.

Furthermore, Google is adding a data "timeline" for graphing data sent/received by the browser, a new pointer lock and a new flag.

Finally, the browser will get a chrome://sessions local URL showing the user what tabs are open, no matter how many windows are open.

A newly leaked ROM for the BlackBerry Bold 9900 shows off a new unexpected feature, Wi-Fi Hotspot.

The latest build, which is for BlackBerry OS 7.0.1.74 will likely be sent to devices in the next month, but you can download it at the end of the article if you have the latest BlackBerry and want to tinker.

Additionally, the ROM brings Wi-Fi Calling (if you have a T-Mobile device) which allows phone calls to be made over the wireless instead of cell network.

Other carriers have refused to add the ability to call with UMA (Wi-Fi Calling) but T-Mobile allows you to do so wherever there is connection. The minutes go against your minute plan, however.

Finally, the ROM may add BlackBerry Tag, the NFC tap-to-share solution RIM just announced.

Download here.

It has only been a few years since Apple dumped Nvidia for AMD for its video card needs but it appears that the company will be switching back in 2012.

Semi reports that three years after Apple infamously dropped Nvidia GPUs for AMD/ATI, the company has changed their mind thanks to a dispute over the AMD "Llano" line, which were supposed to be in MacBook Airs this year.

The Llano GPUs were expected to be in MBA models this year but there were supply issues which infuriated Apple.

Nvidia has now won the order for the next upgrade of Macs, most likely with Ivy Bridge models set for release in the Spring.

Sony Europe president Jim Ryan has said this weekend that it would be highly "undesirable" for the company to release the PlayStation 4 too far after rivals Microsoft and Nintendo launch their next-gen consoles.

To quote, Ryan says:

I think we would consider it undesirable to be significantly later than the competition [with the next PlayStation].

The extremely stacked Sharp Aquos SH-01D will go on sale on December 2nd, says carrier NTT DoCoMo.

Available in Japan only, for now, the powerful Android device has a 4.5-inch 720p display that is also glasses-free 3D.

Additionally, the smartphone runs on 1GHz dual-core TI OMAP4430, has Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, DLNA, NFC, and a massive 12.1MP camera.

At launch, the device will have Android 2.3.7, but will likely be upgradeable to Ice Cream Sandwich.

The phone has made its way through the FCC in the U.S. but most remain skeptical that it will ever make it to our shores.

More info (in Japanese): Sharp Aquos SH-01D

Eurogamer has reported today that a future firmware update will allow PS Vita remote play for all PS3 titles.

While that is the good, the bad is that the games will only be at 480x272 resolution that is upscaled to fit the 960x544 resolution of the Vita. 480x272 was the native resolution of the original PSP.

In the future, all developers will be able to create 480p modes aimed specifically at the Vita.

Sony has showed off how the Vita will add any missing Dual Shock controls to the touchscreen, and how players can use the handheld in co-op mode for PS3 games.

Video of Remote Play Killzone 3:

According to police reports in the Philippines, four citizens are accused of hacking into the accounts of AT&T business customers in the U.S. and diverting money to help aid terrorist attacks in Asia.

The group is accused of working with Jemaah Islamiyah, a terrorist group that has been linked to Al Qaeda and which took responsibility for the 2002 Bali bombings which killed over 200 people.

Three men and a woman have been arrested in Manila.

FBI officials said they are working with Filipino police to investigate into the hacking, which began in 2009.

The NYT says "the suspects remotely gained access to the telephone operating systems of an unspecified number of AT&T clients and used them to call telephone numbers that passed on revenues to the suspects."

All of the customers have hacked have been reimbursed for the charges, which amounted to over $2 million.

Last year, Google quietly began censoring terms it deemed were being used by pirates from its "Instant" and "Autocomplete" search.

This week, the company has blacklisted even more terms, including the names of certain popular sites.

A few of the new blocked search terms are "thepiratebay," "the pirate bay," "isohunt," "torrentreactor," "btjunkie," "kickasstorrents," "sumotorrent," "btmon," "extratorrent," "Torrent," "BitTorrent," and "RapidShare" have now all made the list along side cyber lockers like "4shared, "wupload" and "filesonic."

Google does make it clear, however, that it is not blocking the sites and terms from its search engine completely, just from the Instant and Autocomplete, making it a bit more annoying for the average lazy pirate.

High-bandwidth Digital Content Protection (HDCP) has been cracked by a group of computer scientists at Germany's Ruhr University.

The protection, created by Intel and used by most monitors to allow encrypted transfer of HD signals via DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI, was first "cracked" last year when the master key was leaked online but there has been little practical use for the key.

Explains Reg: "Computer scientists in the Secure Hardware Group at Germany's Ruhr University built a custom board using relatively inexpensive FPGA chips. A Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA featuring an HDMI port and a serial RS232 communication port was created and sat between a Blu-ray player and a flat screen TV, intercepting and decrypting traffic, without being detected."

The latest rumor has Microsoft releasing two separate gaming consoles to replace the Xbox 360.

If accurate, the devices will launch in 2013, allowing the manufacturer Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) time to perfect their 28nm manufacturing process, says TS.

One console will be an "entry-level system" while the second will be aimed the true hardcore gamer.

The entry-level console will be small like a set-top box and be aimed at the casual gamer. The device will access to many streaming services like Hulu Plus and Netflix and will allow for downloadable games from Xbox Live.

Moving up to the gamer's upgrade, the console will have an HDD, an optical drive, backwards-compatibility with 360 games and updated hardware, obviously. Rumored specs are a six-core CPU, AMD graphics and 2GB of DDR3 memory.

Despite withdrawing its merger proposal for T-Mobile from the FCC, AT&T has a "Plan B" in the works, one in which it would sell up to 40 percent of the carrier if its acquisition is approved.

The asset sale would be necessary to have the acquisition approved. The Justice Department sued to block the merger in August saying it would "substantially lessen competition" in the market, which only has 4 major carriers, Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile.

Although the plan could work, in theory, there are few bidders out there for wireless assets that can afford such a huge purchase. Verizon would undoubtedly be blocked, and Sprint is having money issues.

AT&T is said to be okay with divesting a significant amount of subscribers whilst holding on to much-needed spectrum.

If the acquisition falls through, AT&T will owe T-Mobile parent Deutsche Telekom a $4 billion breakup fee that includes assets and cash.

The Motorola Droid 4 has been outed, less than 6 months after the release of the Droid 3.

Leaked spec sheets and pics are now available of the device, which is expected to be released on December 8th.

Motorola's latest device will have a 4-inch qHD screen, a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, a form-factor similar to the Droid Razr, a 5-row keyboard that is "edge-lit" and dual cameras 8MP/1.3MP.

The phone will also have a large 1785mAh battery.

Additionally, the device will be a world phone, including support for all radio bands and be 4G supported.

Pictures:

A few talented devs have ported the brand new Android 4.0 to the first ever Android phone, the T-Mobile G1.

The G1 was released way back in 2008 with Android 1.0, running on a single-core processor and hardly any RAM.

When viewing the video, it is clear the phone struggles with the new OS, but that is absolutely expected,

The devs say they are working on hardware acceleration, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and screen rotation but those issues should be sorted rather quickly.

If you still have your old G1 laying around, it may be fun to throw on the new ICS, likely before you get it on your 2011 device.

Check it here.

The Ville, HTC's upcoming Android 4.0 device has seen some more specs and pics leak today.

Rumor has the device being HTC's thinnest, to date, at just 7.9mm thick.

Expected to be launched in February, the device will run Ice Cream Sandwich, have a 4.3-inch Super AMOLED display with qHD resolution and a new 28nm dual-core Snapdragon processor running at 1.5GHz.

As is standard the device will have dual cameras 1.3MP/8MP, 1080p capture and support, Beats Audio, HSPA+ and a 1650mAh battery.

If the launch date is accurate, the Ville will likely be in consumer's hands by late March.

Microsoft may be looking to buy Yahoo, again, just 4 years after its failed $44 billion bid for the company fell flat.

The software giant has signed a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with Yahoo that will allow it to poke into its finances.

Yahoo, since firing its CEO Carol Bartz in September, has been looking for a buyer or to sell off its most profitable assets, like its stake in the Alibaba Group.

The board of the company is expected to move forward with a plan in the next few weeks.

Although the NDA could signal Microsoft is an interested party, it could also just be the company protecting its search ad joint venture with Yahoo. Microsoft would like to keep that alliance, even if Yahoo is sold off.

Google TV, which saw its update to Honeycomb earlier this month, now has updated YouTube and Photo apps.

The YouTube app "introduces playlists to your living room. You can now easily watch your YouTube subscriptions on your HDTV and quickly access your other playlists like Watch Later and Favorites. If you have your own channel, you can now add videos to it from your Google TV. So whether you're a newshound wanting a constant stream of world events or you're a curator in search of an even more endless summer of content, you can sit back on your comfy couch and enjoy YouTube's thousands of options in the High Definition brilliance of your Google TV."

For the new Photos app, Google says, "the app already syncs with your online photo albums uploaded to Picasa & Flickr, and now we've added a great new feature called Discover to your Google TV Photos app. Discover creates an animated and constantly changing collage using photos from the albums you have uploaded online and synced with your Google TV. When you click on one of the photos in Discover, you go straight to the album where you can start a slideshow or simply view other photos in the album. With Discover you now have an even more fun way to rediscover your favorite memories caught on camera."

As usual, the geniuses over at Ubisoft are blaming piracy for their troubles.

The troubled gaming studio has announced today that it will not be releasing a PC version of the upcoming Ghost Recon Future Soldier because they believe everyone would just pirate it, anyways.

Instead, the company will be releasing a free-to-play Ghost Recon Online.

The news follows "I Am Alive" creative director Stanislas Mettra telling gamers to stop "bitching" about the lack of a PC version, since everyone with a computer is just a pirate.

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for the PS3 and Xbox 360 is set for a March release and PC gamers will get the F2P version at the same time.

Says producer Sebastien Arnoult (via Escapist)

We are giving away most of the content for free because there's no barrier to entry. To the users that are traditionally playing the game by getting it through Pirate Bay, we said, 'Okay, go ahead guys. This is what you're asking for. We've listened to you - we're giving you this experience. It's easy to download, there's no DRM that will pollute your experience.'

Read more...

HMV will be the next retailer to join the digital video rental market.

The company's service, at hmvondemand.com, will allow customers to stream or download movies when they go on sale on DVD.

On Demand will be powered by FilmFlex, a venture by Sony Pictures and Walt Disney. The service also has films from Film4oD and Virgin Media.

HMV and FilmFlex will share all revenue from the new service, says FT.

The launch titles are new releases like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows ? Part 2, Cars 2 and X-Men First Class.

To start, the movies will only be available for rental on PCs but will eventually be available in the cloud for mobile access and as a download-to-own model.

HTC is looking into building a Chromebook, despite slow sales for current Chromebooks on the market from Acer and Samsung.

Chromebooks, which run on the cloud-centric Chrome OS operating system offer a fast-booting, Internet-only device and access to cloud services like Google Docs, Google Music and many other apps via the Chrome Web Store.

If accurate, the reports say HTC will be looking to "combine the advantages of Android and Chrome OS," although it remains unclear how they will do so.

One rumor has HTC running the operating system on an ARM chipset like those seen on smartphones. ARM chips are much more power efficient than Intel and could give large battery life to users.

LG has announced today the renewal of its mobile phone partnership with high-end fashion name Prada.

The two companies have already created two "premium" Prada phones in the past and the PRADA phone by LG 3.0 will launch in February of next year.

Says the Prada CEO:

The partnership between Prada and LG has always been characterised by an innovative approach and uncompromised quality of style, design and breakthrough technology. These values are common to both our brands, which have always anticipated, and often set, the trends in many fields. We were therefore delighted to cooperate again with LG in the development of the latest creation of the mobile communication industry.

Our working relationship with PRADA is unique in its longevity and success, something no other phone company and luxury brand have been able to replicate. Having successfully launched two PRADA phones by LG, we look forward to collaborating further to develop premium handsets with a strong identity and the most sophisticated style.

Groupon, the daily deal giant who went public earlier this month continues to see its stock fall, with share prices now under the IPO pricing.

The company IPOd at $20 per share and the service now trades at $17 just three weeks later, showing investor jitters in a company with questionable accounting and no chance for profits.

Groupon, one of the founders of "daily deals," sites that offer highly discounted deals to local restaurants and other retailers, was launched in 2008 and is expected to see $1.5 billion in revenue this year.

While the growth is strong, the company remains unprofitable and now has competition from behemoths like Amazon and Google.

Groupon will lose over $400 million this year, mainly due to payroll for its 10,400 employees.

According to multiple sources, HP still wants webOS for one thing only, its printers.

The company acquired the mobile operating system when it purchased Palm in 2010 and recently shut down its webOS hardware division.

HP is actively looking for a buyer of webOS, which cost them $1.2 billion to purchase and $1.66 billion to run into the ground.

Because of their want to have the operating system on their printers, it has apparently become a sticking point with potential buyers that they must be able to license the OS back "on the cheap" for use in the printers.

Intel, Amazon and Qualcomm are said to be early stage potential buyers of Palm, webOS and all its patents, which are worth hundreds of millions on their own.

9to5 has posted a leaked list of Apple's Black Friday deals.

The sales are similar to past years and aren't too spectacular.

For example, the iPad 2 base model will sell down $41 at $458 while the higher capacity 64GB model will sell down $61 at $631.

Macbook Air, Pro and iMacs will sell down $101 which isn't even as cheap as Best Buy is offering the devices.

Additionally, there are accessories on sale like the Smart Cover and Magic Trackpads.

Check the photos:

According to analyst firm Jefferies & Co., Apple will use Sharp to create its rumored HDTV.

The TV could be introduced as early as the Q2 2012, says the firm, and will be a huge win for the manufacturer.

Says analyst Peter Misek (via BW):

It's a huge deal for Sharp because they spent significant amounts of capital to try and expand capacity and upgrade their facilities. It gives Apple a partner that they can control manufacturing and secure supply at a lower price.

Massive smartphone maker has shocked the world today, revising its Q4 forecasts lower, again.

The company cited weakening global demand and a huge uptick in competition as its main factors.

Revenue is now expected to come in at around NT$104 billion, down from its already lowered forecast of NT$125 billion.

If accurate, HTC will see no growth year-over-year, a huge disappointment to investors.

While smartphone demand continues to grow, HTC has seen increasing competition from Samsung and Motorola in the Android market, and Nokia now in the Windows Phone 7 market.

HTC will ship 12 million phones in the quarter, the first time it has seen a drop in shipments in 2 years.

Spotify has said today that it has reached 2.5 million paying subscribers, with growth accelerating by the day.

The company launched its service in the U.S. during the summer and has seen mass adoption.

In June, before the U.S. launch, the company had 1.6 million subscribers which jumped to 2 million in September.

Spotify Free allows 10 free hours of music per month, with ads.

Premium subscriptions allow for unlimited streaming and access via mobile devices.

YouTube has announced today that they are adding hundreds of Disney and Pixar titles available for streaming rental.

So far, the company has only added a handful of films like the latest "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Cars 2" but the rest will be available "shortly."

The site will also be adding Disney behind-the-scenes clips and featurettes.

All videos will be available on the site and through Google TV and other services with a YouTube app.

Universal, Sony and Warner have made 3000 films available for rent on YouTube this year, making Disney the 4th major to join.

Rentals cost $1-$4 and can be viewed for 48 hours.

More info here: Welcoming your favorite Disney movies

Construction workers at the site say the retail store will not be open in time for Black Friday.

Says the worker (via Mashable):

It won't be any time too soon. We still have a lot to do, so my guess is that it will be ready in December.

YouTube VP of global sales Lucas Watson has noted this week that the global video site is now serving up 3.5 billion videos every day.

Watson made the announcement during a presentation at the Monaco Media Forum.

In May, YouTube announced that it was delivering 3 billion videos per day and in May 2010 the number was 2 billion.

Additionally, the site has 800 million unique viewers per month making it the third most trafficked site in the world.

65 percent of all viewers are non-English speakers.

The much anticipated tablet is finally available for pre-order, at least via Amazon.

Asus' new Transformer Prime, the first quad-core tablet on the market, will sell for $500 for its base 32GB model.

Here are the full specs (AandM):

Nvidia Quad-Core Tegra 3 Processor
Additional 5th core to reduce power consumption when 2 or 4 cores are not needed
10.1″ IPS+ display with Corning Gorilla Glass and 178 degree viewing angle
1 GB RAM (LP DDR2)
8 megapixel auto-focus rear camera with 1080P video capture and large F2.4 aperature
1.2 megapixel front-facing camera for video conferencing
12 hours of battery life, up to 18 hours when paired with the keyboard dock
2 color schemes: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold
2 storage options: 32GB and 64GB ($499 and $599 price points) with expandable storage via microSD
8.3 millimeters thick, weighs in at 1.29 lbs.

The latest Android operating system is headed to the popular tablet via CyanogenMod.

Steve Kondik (Cyanogen) has posted on his Google+ account today that the custom ROM is headed to the tablet "soon":

ICS on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is pretty great. Coming soon to a CM mirror near you :)

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled today that Apple's iOS products do not infringe on patents held by S3 Graphics, the company recently purchased by HTC.

Because an ITC judge ruled initially last month that the products were not infringing, this decision is final and the ITC has closed their investigation into the matter barring any appeals.

The patents were related to functions like power management, phone dialing and texture compression.

HTC purchased S3 for $300 million, and many believed they did so to gain access to the patents.

Apple and HTC have been battling with dueling ITC complaints since last year, with both companies looking to have the other's products banned from import and sale.

Google, despite a strong history of successes, has also had its fair share of failed experiments.

Today, the company says they are shutting down some more of the products or integrating them into other projects.

The company ultimately wants to streamline its "Google experience" to be more intuitive and simpler.

Here is the list of products being shut down or altered (the most notable is probably Wave):

Google Bookmarks Lists-This is an experimental feature for sharing bookmarks and collaborating with friends, which we're going to end on December 19, 2011. All bookmarks within Lists will be retained and labeled for easier identification, while the rest of Google Bookmarks will function as usual. As Lists was an English-only feature, non-English languages will be unaffected.

Google Friend Connect-Friend Connect allows webmasters to add social features to their sites by embedding a few snippets of code. We're retiring the service for all non-Blogger sites on March 1, 2012. We encourage affected sites to create a Google+ page and place a Google+ badge on their site so they can bring their community of followers to Google+ and use new features like Circles and Hangouts to keep in touch.

Read more...

Rachel Brown of London has posted her horror story with daily deal giant Groupon.

Brown signed up her 'Need a Cake Bakery' to the site, selling a dozen cupcakes for $10, 75 percent off its usual $40 price tag.

Because the company did not allow her to set a limit to vouchers, 8500 people purchased Groupons - meaning Brown had to create over 100,000 cupcakes.

The baker was forced to hire extra workers and work overtime, overall losing about $20,000 in weeks.

Says Brown (via CNBC):

Without doubt, it was my worst ever business decision. We had thousands of orders pouring in that really we hadn't expected to have. A much larger company would have difficulty coping.

My poor staff were having to slog away at all hours ? one of them even came in at 3 a.m. because she couldn't sleep for worry. We are still working to make up the lost money and will not be doing this again.

Microsoft has acquired startup video search engine VideoSurf for $70 million.

The software was created by Israeli entrepreneurs Lior Delgo, Professor Achi Brandt, Dr. Eitan Sharon and Shai Deljo.

Outside of a number of important Israeli investors, the company also had investments from former U.S. Vice President Al Gore and Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg.

VideoSurf is "a visual identification video search engine" that indexes over 250 million videos from sites like YouTube, CNN and Facebook. The software is used by Warner Bros. and CBS on their web pages.

Microsoft will likely integrate the company into its Bing search in an ongoing effort to steal market share from Google.

Nintendo has announced the availability of two special Zelda bundles for its 3DS and Wii consoles.

Bundling the brand new Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii with a gold Wii remote with MotionPlus and a special edition music CD, the first bundle will cost you $70.

If you don't care for the controller, the bundle with the CD only will set you back $50.

For the 3DS handheld, Nintendo is releasing a black with gold-trim Zelda 3DS with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D game for $200.

Best Buy has it on Black Friday for $180.

Activision has announced today that it has sold one million premium subscriptions to Call of Duty Elite in just the first 6 days of availability.

As a comparison, the publisher says it took Netflix, Sirius and Xbox Live on average one year to reach the same milestone.

Overall, 4.2 million gamers have registered for the service and 80,000 Elite clans have been created. Furthermore, "100,000 user-generated videos have been uploaded to Call of Duty Elite and the service has had more than three million daily logins," says Activision.

"The audience response to Call of Duty Elite's premium service has been beyond our expectations, and we want to thank Call of Duty players around the world for their unprecedented enthusiasm. The number of gamers who have registered for Call of Duty Elite further illustrates how this service is poised to redefine social gaming and set a new bar for interactive entertainment," said Bobby Kotick, CEO, Activision Blizzard.

Check the service here: http://www.callofduty.com/elite

According to the latest NPD Group figures, HP is the top selling tablet maker for all of 2011 not named Apple.

Overall, the company has sold 204,000 TouchPads, just slightly beating out Samsung at 192,000 tablets sold.

HP has accounted for 17 percent of non-iPad sales, with Samsung close behind at 16 percent.

Of course, it has to be noted that HP was not selling any devices until they firesaled the TouchPad for just $100, cancelling production 48 days after its launch.

NPD has ignored the Kindle Fire and Nook Color for their figures, however, and both are likely well above HP in sales to date.

Says the NPD Group (view full report here):

If you look at the tablet market without Apple there are a number of high-profile brands vying for that number two spot. According to NPD's Consumer Tracking Service, 76 percent of consumers who purchased a non-Apple tablet didn't even consider the iPad, an indication that a large group of consumers are looking for alternatives, and an opportunity for the rest of the market to grow their business.

Samsung president Yoon Book-Keun has said today that the company is in the final stages of negotiating a deal with Google to bring a Google TV device to the market.

The HDTV will likely be unveiled at CES in January.

Currently, the only official partner Google has in the project is Sony, as Logitech recently bowed out. The company, which made the Revue set-top box, said they lost $90 million due to sluggish sales.

Google recently updated the software to Honeycomb 3.1, its largest update since launch.

LG will officially become a partner when it launches its own Google HDTV at CES.

The Pakistani government has announced this week that it will begin to censor texting in the nation.

If ultimately successful, the move will block Pakistani citizens from 'obscenities' like "Jesus Christ" and "Sex."

All together, there are 1600 'obscene' terms and the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has already told carriers to begin blocking texts from November 21 and forward.

The policy is in response to multiple consumer complaints from citizens receiving "graphic texts."

1100 of the terms are in English while the rest are in Urdu, Pakistan's native language.

The true out-roar comes from the choice of words, which include relatively and benign terms like "poop," "fairy, "athlete's foot," and "harder."

Android fans that went out and purchased the much-hyped Galaxy Nexus will have to deal with no Flash support, at least for the next month.

Google and Adobe have confirmed that there are no current versions of mobile Flash that support Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Says Adobe (via BGR):

Adobe will release one more version of the Flash Player for mobile browsing, which will provide support for Android 4.0 - expected to be released before the end of this year.

Samsung and Acer have slashed prices on their Chromebook models, and Samsung has introduced a new Series 5 netbook, as well.

In conjunction with Google, the Chromebooks have been dropped to $299 and the new Series 5, which is black (and removes 3G) will sell for same price.

The devices previously cost $350 and $429, respectively.

Additionally, Google has updated the ChromeOS operating system that runs the computers, adding a cleaner login screen and easier access to the file manager.

"We've also been working closely with our partners to continually improve the overall Chromebook experience while making them even more affordable," added Venkat Rapaka, Senior Product Manager.

Apple Macs have reached 5.2 percent of all worldwide computer sales, the highest total since 1996, says Needham & Co. analyst Charlie Wolf.

Growth, as expected, far outpaced the overall PC market, for the 22nd straight quarter.

Mac growth was a healthy 24.6 percent compared to 5.3 for the rest of the industry.

A good portion of that growth came in the business segment which saw a 43 percent increase.

Mac sales continued to grow in the Asia-Pacific region, most notably China:

The growth of Apple's sales in China represents a perfect storm between an iconic brand and a rapidly growing middle class that's more brand-conscious than consumers in most other regions of the globe.

Amazon has brought Black Friday deals early this year, offering up every smartphone it carries for 1 penny.

The retailer, which has brand-new Android, WP7 and BlackBerry devices from Sprint, AT&T and Verizon, is now selling the phones for 1 cent with new two-year contract.

Included are expensive brand new devices like the HTC Rezound 4G, Droid Razr, Samsung Focus S and BlackBerry Bold 9930 among many others.

As expected, however, Apple iPhones are not included in the deal as Amazon does not carry them.

Finally, Amazon is giving away $100 credit to anyone who signs up for a hotspot data plan via Amazon Wireless.

The deal ends on Cyber Monday, next week.

Infinity Ward announced this weekend that it had banned 1600 Modern Warfare 3 players, each accused of using glitches in the game to either hack or cheat in-game.

More players are expected to be banned as the week progresses.

Says the company via Twitter:

Any attempt to cheat, hack, or glitch in #MW3 will not be tolerated. 1600+ bans issued. Updates in works. Please [continue] to report offenders.

We are doing mass bans on PC as well while we work on updates.

Western Digital has been hit with an arbitration court ruling ordering the drive maker to pay rival Seagate $525 million.

The decision comes as all drive makers are reeling from heavy flooding in Thailand that has disrupted up to 40 percent of all hard drive production to the entire world.

Although the case will head to an appeals court soon, the original suit alleged "misuse" of confidential information, most notably trade secrets from a former Seagate executive.

WD responded to the decision:

We do not believe there is any basis in law or fact for the damage award of the arbitrator. We believe the company acted properly at all times and we will vigorously challenge the award.

This does not affect our ability to conduct our operations, to complete the recovery and recommencement of our Thailand operations or, subject to obtaining the required regulatory approvals, to consummate our planned acquisition of Hitachi GST.

The Android smartphone OS has become a hotbed of malware, says Juniper Networks.

Since July, malware apps have increased 472 percent and that number is expected to continue growing.

Notes Juniper (via Fire):

The majority of malicious applications target communications, location, or other personal identifying information. Of the known Android malware samples, 55 percent, acts in one way or another as spyware. The other major type of attack, which make up 44%, are SMS Trojans, which send SMS messages to premium rate numbers owned by the attacker in the background of a legitimate application, without the person's knowledge. Once these messages are sent, the money is not recoverable, and the owners of these premium rate numbers are generally anonymous.

The normally reliable iLounge has posted a few tidbits of info from their "top source" on next year's iPad 3 and iPhone 5.

Additionally, the site has some info on updated MacBook Pros.

Reads the report:

(1) The third-generation iPad will become modestly thicker (0.7mm) in order to accommodate the twin light bar system needed for its higher-resolution display. It's currently on track for a March timeframe release, and according to our source could be publicly shown as early as January, depending on conditions.

(2) Our source says that the next-generation iPhone will not look like the teardrop-shaped version that was widely rumored for release in 2011. We've been told that the device will have a 4-inch display and will be 8mm longer than before, with a metal casing (probably aluminum). It is on track to be introduced in summer of 2012, and is still in the engineering phase, not early production. We suspect that poor battery life doomed the prior prototype version, and that this one is being built with LTE-ready battery drain in mind.

Read more...

Nintendo has shown off two custom made real-life Mario Karts, built by West Coast Customs of "Pimp My Ride" fame.

The karts are the ones driven by Mario and Luigi in the upcoming Mario Kart 7 for 3DS game.

West Coast Customs says the electric cars can actually be driven and Nintendo will be giving both away next month as part of its GameStop PowerUp Rewards promotion.

Both companies have kept quiet on how the cars were built and how much they cost but the project will be showcased in a special in February on TV.

Says West Coast (via PCM):

We've played Mario Kart games for years, so it's a dream come true to bring these karts to life. We think people will be blown away by seeing these cool video game vehicles in person.

Asus has denied that it is considering dropping out of the tablet market next year, refuting a recent DigiTimes article.

The PC maker says: "As usual, the rumors and reports from DigiTimes are incorrect. ASUS is not exiting the Android Tablet business."

Digitimes had claimed that major PC vendors like Asus, Acer, Dell and HP would be bowing out of the tablet market due to poor sales performance.

The report cited component supplier sources.

Asus, maker of the extremely popular Transformer tablet, is said to be selling 400,000 per month, surely not "poor" by most measures.

As of midnight, Best Buy is selling the high-capacity 64GB RIM BlackBerry Tablet for just $230, down from its $700 list price.

The move is seen as an effort to dump unwanted inventory into the busy holiday.

RIM's PlayBook features the standard 1GHz dual-core processor and 1GB RAM but its real differentiating factor is its Internet experience. The browser has support for Adobe Flash, Adobe AIR, and HMTL 5.

Additionally, the PlayBook has a 7-inch screen, 1024x600 resolution, dual cameras, a microHDMI port and the BlackBerry App World, which has thousands of apps.

The main reason the tablet has been universally hated is the fact that RIM botched the software launch so badly there was not even a native email client.

Get the tablet here: BlackBerry - PlayBook Tablet with 64GB Memory

First it was November 7th, then it was November 10th, then it was November 17th and then it was Black Friday but now it's possibly December 8th.

The U.S. launch of the Galaxy Nexus has been delayed from its original early November date to a possible December 8th launch, suggests a leaked internal document.

Says the memo: "The Samsung Nexus is now scheduled to launch in all locations on Thursday, 12/8."

The Android 4.0 ICS device will have a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, a 4.65-inch HD Super AMOLED screen with 1280x768 resolution and dual cameras 1.3/5 MP. The phone has a curved design, is thin and has an impressive no-shutter lag camera.

Sprint has introduced the Express smartphone this weekend, a $20 device created by Huawei.

Running on Android 2.3, the device has a small 2.6-inch display and 320x240 resolution to accompany its full non-slideout QWERTY keypad.

Furthermore, the device has 512MB RAM, a 3.2MP camera, a microSD slot and a 1600mAh battery.

The device has 3G capability but no 4G WiMax or LTE support.

Available here, the phone is just $20 with contract compared to $200 for most high-end Android devices.

The Marketplace continues to see strong developer interest.

In just over a year, the Marketplace seen on Windows Phone 7 devices (and the Zune HD) has moved to 40,000 apps, a strong number for the operating system that has yet to see much traction in the industry.

Of course, compared to the more established iOS App Store and the Android Market, the number is minuscule but both stores had modest growth at the onset.

Microsoft has pushed very hard to attract developers even going as far as giving away 2500 high-end phones and creating interactive tutorials on coding for the platform.

At the current rate, the Marketplace should start the new year with 50,000 available apps.

The Brin Wojcicki Foundation has donated $500,000 to the Wikimedia Foundation, the company behind Wikipedia.

Wikimedia began its annual fundraiser on November 16th.

Wikipedia is viewed by 477 million unique visitors each month, making it the fifth most-trafficked site in the world.

The Brin Wojcicki Foundation, which was started by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and his wife (and 23andMe co-founder) Anne Wojcicki, has donated money to the Michael J. Fox Foundation among other notable organizations.

Adds Sue Gardner, executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation:

This grant is an important endorsement of the Wikimedia Foundation and its work, and I hope it will send a signal as we kick off our annual fundraising campaign this week. This is how Wikipedia works: people use it, they like it, and so they help pay for it, to keep it freely available for themselves and for everyone around the world. I am very grateful to Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki for supporting what we do.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department's organized crime unit has joined the ongoing investigation into accounting fraud at Olympus, implying the company had some ties to gangsters such as the Yakuza.

Olympus, the camera company, admitted to hiding billions of dollars in losses for a decade through fraudulent accounting and it still remains unclear what the total writedowns will amount to.

Currently, the investigation is being led by the Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission and the Tokyo prosecutors office.

One source says "Olympus made payouts amounting to many times the losses it sought to hide, and investigators suspect much of the additional money went to crime groups." Reports have Olympus' hidden payouts at a staggering $4.9 billion.

The company's president, vice-president and internal auditor have all been fired or resigned in the past two months.

Netflix announced yesterday that it had signed a deal with Fox to develop new episodes of the cult classic show "Arrested Development."

The new episodes of the show, which was cancelled in 2006, will be available on the streaming service in the Q2 2013.

Fox and Imagine Television will co-produce the episodes and Netflix will back "some" of the production costs.

There are likely to be 9 new episodes, one for each of the main characters, before the long-awaited Arrested Development movie is released in theaters.

The move is in-line with Netflix's move towards original content. The service paid top-dollar to exclusively air the upcoming drama series "House of Cards" with Kevin Spacey.

Over the past week we have posted a few articles on the disaster that is the proposed SOPA bill.

The bill will usher an era of Internet censorship in the United States and will create a huge innovation roadblock.

Americancensorship.org has posted a fantastic infrographic that explains the proposal, one that is criticized by all the major tech firms and the public.

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

Staples and other major retailers are preparing to fire sale the RIM BlackBerry PlayBook tablet this holiday season in an effort to clear out remaining inventory of the unpopular tablet.

Starting this afternoon, Staples in Canada will slash $300 off the price, bringing the base 16GB model to just $199, in line with the Kindle Fire. The 32GB and 64GB models will sell for $299 and $399, respectively.

The sale will run from today until December 1st.

While the Canadian fire sale is first, American fans are expected to get a similar deal starting on Black Friday, next week, in Staples and potentially other retailers like Office Depot.

The underwhelming tablet saw just 200,000 units sold last quarter, about 50 percent lower than analyst expectations.

HP has introduced its first business-oriented ultrabook, the HP Folio 13.

The computer will have a 13.3-inch HD BrightView display, is just 0.71-inches thick, and weighs 3.3 pounds.

Says the company:

This category of product breaks new ground and will be a likely choice for businesses to offer to employees looking for a more consumer-centric experience. We expect Ultrabooks will re-ignite interest in the small form factor PC category, and by 2015 expect 95 million Ultrabooks will be shipping worldwide annually.

Google has announced that 200 million Android devices have now been activated.

In just 3 years, the operating system has been sold on 200 million devices and Google says there are 550,000 new activations every day.

Google noted in May that activations were running at 400,000 a day.

In the last six months, total devices have jumped from 100 million to 200 million.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the company's biggest software update, to date, was just released with the launch of the Galaxy Nexus.

Logitech, which saw a massive loss due to its failed Revue set-top box has said it would back Google TV again, but would be much more cautious this time around.

CEO Guerrino de Luca admits the company was far too bullish on the technology when it launched the box, overinvesting at a time when it was still unclear whether the technology would be widely embraced.

Google TV allows users to stream videos and access sites and apps via their TVs using a set-top box and impressive keyboard. Media companies have mostly blocked access to their streaming sites via Google TV, however, making the service useless in its current form.

Adds the CEO (via Reuters):

Google TV is a great concept, but the product was not mature at the launch.. [however] embracing the platform was a good idea.

A previous report from IHS had estimated costs at $210.

Research firm IHS iSuppli has done a thorough teardown of the Amazon Kindle Fire and found that the component costs are about $201.70. Amazon sells the device for $199.

By far, the most expensive part was the 7-inch display, which came in at $87 per unit. The displays are LG E-Ink.

The 1GHz processor is a Texas Instruments OMAP4430 processor which costs $14.65 per unit. Texas Instruments also supplied the "power management device and the audio codec" which accounted for another $9.35.

To save money, Amazon skipped out on a camera, microphone, microSD card slot, HDMI port and 3G/4G wireless radios.

By comparison, the 16GB iPad 2 has a teardown price of $326 but with a much richer feature set.

Concludes IHS:

The Kindle Fire, at a retail price point of $199, is sold at a loss by Amazon, just as the basic Kindle is also sold at a loss at the current $79 retail price point.

Read more...

The big boys of online porn have joined together to sue ICANN in an anti-monopoly lawsuit.

Manwin, the company behind YouPorn, Brazzers, PornHub and Xtube has teamed up with Digital Playground to sue ICANN and the ICM Registry over the newly created .XXX top level domains.

Both companies want a full injunction to stop .XXX and a re-opening of competition with "reasonable price constraints."

The lawsuit claims "(...) monopolistic conduct, price gouging, and anti-competitive and unfair practices, broadly harming competition, businesses, and consumers, arising out of the establishment of .XXX, a new Top-Level Domain Name (TLD) intended for adult-oriented content."

The 44-page lawsuit continues:

ICM initially attempted to coerce ICANN to approve the .XXX TLD and to approve ICM's anti-competitive .XXX registry services. That coercion took the form of misleading predatory conduct and aggressive litigation tactics, described more fully below.

Eventually, ICANN agreed to approve the .XXX TLD, and to approve ICM as the XXX registry, not only in response to those improper and coercive tactics but also because ICM promised to pay ICANN what is expected to be millions of dollars in fees.

Apple fans are experiencing a new issue with their new iPhone.

Since its launch last month, iPhone 4S owners have had multiple problems to work through, including excessive battery drain and a non-working Siri.

Now, the latest issue is that the smartphone stops recognizing the SIM card inside, leaving users without a way to make phone calls through cellular service.

At some point during the day, the phone will flash an error message that says the SIM card is not valid or a message that says there is no SIM card inside, at all.

The issues is widespread across multiple carriers and it is unclear whether it is a hardware issue, a software issue or just a plain SIM card issue.

According to a new survey, Americans seem to have made piracy an acceptable practice, although a very small amount can be considered "hardcore" pirates.

70 percent of 18-29-year-olds surveyed admitted to pirating music, TV or movies, but only 2 percent said they had pirated over 1000 music tracks and only 1 percent said they had downloaded over 100 episodes or movies.

Additionally, 67 percent of pirates also purchased legal content, via outlets like iTunes.

The research is from the report "Copy Culture in the US and Germany" although so far, only the American research has been released. The data is via a Princeton Survey Research Associates telephone poll of 2,303 American adults this summer.

Overall, 46 percent of those surveyed admitted to piracy but a significant portion said they now pirate less due to the launch of "more attractive legal services" like Netflix streaming.

Video game players with "modified consoles" came in at only 3 percent, and mainly Xbox 360 users.

Perhaps the most interesting part of study came when the question was asked whether pirates should be punished for their actions, with only 52 percent agreeing. When asked what kind of punishment, a simple warning led the way at 51 percent, with jail time bringing up the rear at 12 percent. For music pirates, an "acceptable" fine was overwhelmingly seen at $10 or less per track.

Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic House Leader, has said today that she does not support SOPA, the proposed anti-piracy bill that would lead to Internet censorship in the U.S.

Pelosi tweeted: "Need to find a better solution than #SOPA #DontBreakTheInternet." The quote was in response to being asked "Where do you stand on internet censoring and #SOPA?"

On the other side of the political spectrum, California Republican Darrell Issa has said the act has no chance of passing (via the Wrap):

Congress is realizing there are so many unintended consequences that they can't just use Google as a piñata and bash on it here. There is a very broad coalition from far left to far right who realize this will hurt innovation, something we can't afford to do. And there are other ways to accomplish what they say is their goal.

Although it was never really a question, Samsung has confirmed today that its popular Galaxy S II smartphone will be getting the Android 4.0 (ICS) update.

The tweet from Samsung UK says: "Hi, yes it will be released but no confirmed date yet. We will keep you updated." Out of context that makes no sense, but the tweet was in response to the question "ICS on GSII?"

Google showed off the operating system update last month to praise, and the first device to use the OS, the Galaxy Nexus has launched this week. Google also released the source code for 4.0 on Monday.

The Galaxy S II has a 4.27-inch WVGA Super AMOLED Plus touchscreen, Android 2.3.4, a 1.2GHz Samsung dual-core processor, an 8.49mm thin chassis (at lowest), an 8MP camera with autofocus and 1080p recording, NFC support, 4G, a 2MP front-side camera and HSPA+, WiFi a/b/g/n and Bluetooth 3.0+HS.

Facebook, through its private share sales, appears to be losing value.

SharesPost, which auctions private shares of companies that have not yet gone public says Facebook shares have fallen from their peak in August at $33 per share to $30 today.

On August 16th, 100,000 shares were sold for $33 per share. On October 26th, 70,000 shares were sold at $32. Yesterday, a large block of 75,000 shares sold for $30 per share, implying a 9.1 percent drop in value in just 2 months.

Facebook is set to go public next year, with a market value of over $70 billion, making it a top tech firm.

Recently, companies like LinkedIn, Groupon and Yelp have gone public and commanded large premiums due to their social networking nature.

Seagate CEO Stephen Luczo has some bad news for anyone in need of a new hard drive - prices will stay inflated until at least the end of next year.

Due to the flooding in Thailand, which has left 13 million people homeless and a significant amount of factories with over 3 feet of water, hard drive prices have soared 20 percent in the last month.

Says the CEO:

This is going to take a lot longer than people are assuming, until the end of 2012 at least. And by then, demand will have gone up.

Starz CEO Chris Albrecht has said today that the company is looking to starting an online version of its TV and movie channel that will operate just like HBO Go.

The streaming service, available for free to paying subscribers, will offer the ability to watch the company's premium programming via the Internet, on-demand.

Starz currently has 52 million subscribers.

Additionally, the company could also launch a stand-alone version of the service for subscribers who don't want the channels on their TV (or don't have TV).

Albrecht believes the service "would help reduce customer losses, increase availability beyond the home and attract younger subscribers."

Citigroup analyst Mark Mahaney says Amazon's oft-rumored smartphone will be released at the end of 2012.

The device is being built by Foxconn and developed by Amazon.

Mahaney notes that the phone will be "mid-level," not running with high-end specs.

The phone will be very price competitive, costing Amazon $150 to build. The phone will then be sold to carriers at $170 who could choose to subsidize it to consumers for free.

In comparison, HTC sells their phones for $243 on average to carriers (good for 30% margin) and Apple sells their latest iPhone for $600 to carriers, ensuring a massive 55 percent margin.

The Amazon smartphone will run the same Android-based OS as the Kindle Fire, and will closely integrate Amazon shopping, music, movies, Kindle ebooks, daily deals and cloud storage.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has broken yet another sales record.

The game grossed just over $775 million during its first five days of availability, says publisher Activision.

Adds CEO Bobby Kotick:

Life-to-date retail sales for the Call of Duty franchise have exceeded $6 billion worldwide, which makes Call of Duty one of the most valuable entertainment properties in the world.

Microsoft has announced a multi-year sponsorship deal with the National Football League (NFL) to have the Xbox 360 become the official console of the league.

As part of the deal, the software giant will work with the NFL's "Play 60" kids health program in order "to help teach kids the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle while having fun with Kinect for Xbox 360."

The program is based on getting kids to be physically active for 60 minutes every day.

From now on, the Kinect motion control system will be integrated into Play 60 events.

According to sources speaking to Edge, the Xbox Next/720 will be launched in 2012 in order to beat out rivals Nintendo and Sony.

The source says Ubisoft Montreal "is currently working with next generation target boxes based on the intended specifications of Microsoft's Xbox 360 successor."

Furthermore, a few other major developers, like EA, also have the units.

The "target boxes" are PCs with components about equal to the specs of the upcoming console. AMD is said to be providing the GPU.

If accurate, the sources say Microsoft will make some announcements at CES in January for the game console launching in late 2012.

The SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) bill has been dubbed draconian by a number of tech giants, including Google and Facebook.

Both companies say the bill is too strict and will lead to an incredible amount of unintended consequences.

SOPA was proposed as a way to censor access to sites like The Pirate Bay.

If SOPA was to pass, copyright holders could complain and have websites shutdown. Additionally, payment processors and search engines will have to block those sites, as well.

Outside of Google and Facebook - AOL, eBay, LinkedIn, Mozila, Yahoo, Twitter and Zynga filed the formal complaint with key Senate and House lawmakers.

Reads the complaint (via CNN):

We support the bills' stated goals. Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities [and] mandates that would require monitoring of web sites.

Google Music, the cloud streaming service introduced earlier this year, has moved out of beta today, adding a download catalog.

The store will compete directly with iTunes and Amazon MP3 but goes a step further by allowing users to trade and share songs with friends on Google+, the social network.

Just like rivals, tracks will cost $0.99 to $1.29 and around $9.99 per album but will be better quality at 320kbps.

Additionally, the original features of Google Music will remain intact, allowing users to upload 20,000 tracks to the cloud for free and stream them on Android devices or any PC with Internet access.

Looking to get new artists out there, Google has created Artist Hub, a service that allows unsigned bands to build storefronts in Google Music and sell from their YouTube pages. The fee is just $25 (one-time) for the service.

Google Music has 8 million tracks from Sony Music, Universal Music and EMI but is notably missing Warner Music, who has so far declined to sign a licensing agreement.

Google, whilst announcing their Google Music music download store today, has announced why T-Mobile was invited to the event.

The carrier will be Google's first carrier partner, with others expected to join later.

T-Mobile will allow you charge purchases right to your monthly bill, paying nothing up front.

Finally, the carrier also says they will have exclusive content for their subscribers, although they did not make it clear what that would entail.

A quick glance shows some free tracks from Drake.

Adult movie maker Vivid Entertainment has sent a cease-and-desist letter to smartphone maker HTC over the new "Vivid" phone for AT&T.

The company wants HTC to change the name or risk a lawsuit over trademark infringement.

HTC has responded with a canned release:

We are reviewing the complaint and don't expect to have any further comment until it is resolved.

Spotify has now expanded to three new countries, Belgium, Switzerland and Austria.

Last month, the company expanded to Denmark, the ninth country to have the unlimited music service.

As with other countries, there will be three different models.

Spotify Free features occasional advertising but offers free streaming of millions of tracks for a certain point.

Spotify Unlimited offers unlimited streaming, no ads.

Spotify Premium gives unlimited access, no ads, mobile access and better sound quality.

Engadget has posted the HTC Zeta concept phone today, a possible flagship device featuring a 2.5GHz quad-core processor.

The leaked handset will also have a 4.5-inch 720p HD screen, with 1280x768 resolution.

Additionally, the device will ship with Ice Cream Sandwich installed, HTC Sense 4.0 and 1GB RAM.

Finally, the phone will have 32GB internal storage, integrated Beats Audio, dual cameras 8MP/1.3MP, Bluetooth 4.0 and weigh 5.15 ounces.

The site also has pics, posted here below. As stated, the phone is just a concept for now, but could become reality next year.

Just one day after release, the Kindle Fire has already been rooted.

On the XDA forums, the developer has rooted the popular tablet using ADB and SuperOneClick 2.2.

By rooting the device, you can side load apps and eventually add custom ROMs to the device.

For those on the fence, Amazon has said it will not try to stop people from rooting their devices, but did not go out of its way to encourage it.

For those interested, read the post here: [ROOT][ONE-CLICK] How-To Get ADB running AND Root with SuperOneClick

According to multiple sources, Sony is considering beginning an online service that will be an alternative to cable TV.

The company has already approached several media companies in an effort to negotiate rights to offer TV channels via the Internet.

If Sony is successful, the company will be able to stream the channels via Sony devices like the PlayStation 3, BRAVIA TVs and Blu-ray players.

Sony has 18 million PS3 owners in the U.S., alone, and there are an estimated 15 million more Sony Internet-connected device owners.

By comparison, the largest cable operator, Comcast, has 22.4 million subscribers.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has ended speculation today by announcing that Windows 8 would be made available on phones.

The operating system had been confirmed for PCs (obviously) and tablets, so far.

Says Ballmer: "We are driving Windows down to the phone with Windows 8."

Because the operating system will also be somewhat integrated to the Xbox 360, the OS will unify all of Microsoft's platforms for the first time ever.

Windows Phone will likely not be identical to its tablet and desktop counterpart but will most likely share the same NT kernel.

There is a debate as to whether Ballmer just misspoke (didn't pause long enough to separate sentences but guess for yourself):

According to research firm Gartner, the Android operating system was on 52.5 percent of all smartphones sold in the Q3.

Year-over-year, the OS jumped from 25 percent share.

Overall, smartphone sales volume increased by 42 percent, even with eager buyers waiting until October to purchase the iPhone 4S.

Says Gartner (via Bloomberg):

Android benefited from more mass-market offerings, a weaker competitive environment, and the lack of exciting new products on alternative operating systems.

The entry-level Android smartphones are getting better and better. This lower end is really what will be driving more growth next year.

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has started a new ad campaign targeting the brand new Super Mario 3D Land video game for the Nintendo 3DS.

The group seems to be up in arms over Mario's "Tanooki" racoon suit.

Says PETA:

Tanooki may be just a 'suit' in Mario games, but in real life, tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it's OK to wear fur.

Mario often takes the appearance of certain animals and objects in his games. These have included a frog, a penguin, a balloon and even a metallic version of himself. These lighthearted and whimsical transformations give Mario different abilities and make his games fun to play. The different forms that Mario takes make no statement beyond the games themselves.

Nokia Music, the music playback app for Windows Phone 7 devices, has added "Pandora"-like intelligent playlists based on the owner's own music collections.

The service comes via a deal with The Echo Nest and is called "Mix Radio."

Mix Radio scans the owner's existing collection (on their desktop, not just what is on the device) and then puts together customized radio stations from your music and Nokia's 15 million-strong music catalog.

From then on in, your "Taste Profile" will allow you to create new radio stations from tracks, artists or albums.

The service will be available on the new Lumia 800 starting tomorrow.

(Pic via Slash)

Yesterday, Android Open-Source Project software engineer Jean-Baptiste M. "JBQ" Queru posted that they were pushing the Android 4.0.1 Ice Cream Sandwich source code to the git servers.

As of today, the code is fully available.

Reads the post:

Hi! We just released a bit of code we thought this group might be interested in.
Over at our Android Open-Source Project git servers, the source code for Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is now available.

Here's how to get it:Follow the instructions at http://source.android.com/source/downloading.html Check out the
'ics-release' branch:repo init -u
https://android.googlesource.com/platform/manifest -b android-4.0.1_r1
That's it! However since this is a large push, please be aware that it will take some time to complete. If you sync before it's done, you'll get an incomplete copy that you won't be able to use, so please wait for us to give the all-clear before you sync. This is actually the source code for version 4.0.1 of Android, which is the specific version that will ship on the Galaxy Nexus, the first Android 4.0 device. In the source tree, you will find a device build target named "full_maguro" that you can use to build a system image for Galaxy Nexus. Build configurations for other devices will come later.

Unfortunately we still don't have our Gerrit code review servers back online. That remains our top priority though, and we hope to have them back soon.

Read more...

Facebook has confirmed today that it is investigating into a giant wave of gory and pornographic images that have been posted to the social networking site.

The pictures, links and videos include manipulated pictures of celebrities in sex acts, bestiality and violent acts, sometimes performed on animals.

Says Facebook:

We have recently experienced an increase in reports and we are investigating and addressing the issue. We are always working to improve our systems to isolate and remove material that violates our terms. Protecting the people who use Facebook from spam and malicious content is a top priority for us.

It's precisely this kind of problem which is likely to drive people away from the site. Facebook needs to get a handle on this problem quickly, and prevent it from happening on such a scale again.

Razer, the company behind the upcoming 17-inch Blade gaming laptop has said today that two prototypes have been stolen from their R&D lab in California.

The company says they are working with authorities and is urging fans not to purchase the laptops online, or via classified ads.

What makes the Blade a "gaming laptop" is the fact that it has customizable keys that require custom software from developers.

Additionally, the laptop has an LCD panel next to the keys that serves as either a multi-touch controller or to show in-game stats like lives, ammo, etc.

The Razer Blade has a 17-inch display, an Intel Core i7 at 3.5GHz, 8GB DDR3 memory and a GeForce GT555m with 2GB GDDR5. The laptop will sell for $2800.

For the first time since 2004, album sales have actually increased although revenue continues to fall.

Thanks to Spotify, discounts and major releases like Lady Gaga, the music industry is on pace to see its first sales growth in over half a decade.

On exec was very happy with the figures, Vivendi CEO Jean-Bernard Levy (Vivendi owns Universal Music Group):

There's a clear rebound in music sales this year. We don't want to claim victory. But the music industry may be at a turning point.

Spanish blog TecnoDroidVe has posted screenshots of the upcoming Google Music download service.

Currently, Google Music is a free cloud streaming service that allows you to upload your music and access it from anywhere with an Internet connection, including your Android device.

The blogger says he stumbled upon the non-operational store from his HTC Inspire 4G.

In the store, you can see recommendations for artists and a "free song of the day," similar to other music stores.

The store is expected to be announced officially on Wednesday although potentially without music from Sony or Warner, two of the Big 4 labels.

This weekend we reported that Apple was recalling its 1st generation iPod Nano music players in the U.S. and sending all those affected replacements.

It was unclear, however, if users would be sent the same model (which launched in 2005) or a new media player, which is now in its 6th iteration.

Today, Apple has made it clear that they will be shipping out the same model (1st Gen) and that turn-around time is 6 weeks.

Original article:

Apple has announced this week that it is recalling its first generation iPad Nano in the U.S.
The devices, which launched in September 2005, apparently have a rare overheating issue.

Apple is telling users to stop using their devices immediately and the company will replace them for free.

Battery overheating issues on the 1G iPod Nano is not a new issue, and the replacement program is expanding to add the U.S. It is currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Reads the post:

Read more...

Iran has confirmed today that their computer defense systems have been hit by the super-virus dubbed "Duqu."

Last year, the "Stuxnet" worm successfully knocked out the Iranian nuclear centrifuges, the devices used to enrich uranium.

Says Gholamreza Jalali, the head of Iran's civil defense program:

We are in the initial phase of fighting the Duqu virus. The final report which says which organisations the virus has spread to and what its impacts are has not been completed yet.

All the organisations and centers that could be susceptible to being contaminated are being controlled.

It is apparent to Symantec that the authors of this new threat had access to the Stuxnet source code, not just Stuxnet binaries.

Read more...

According to the NYTimes, Google has a secret product lab called Google X that is out there trying to change the world.

Google X is the team behind the driver-less cars seen around California and the lab is also working on other projects like "space elevators" and Internet-connected household devices.

Sources claim that the labs are run "as mysteriously as the C.I.A." and work out of two locations, one undisclosed and one in Google's headquarters.

The lab is mainly run by robotics engineers and a few software engineers.

Google would not comment on the existence of the mysterious labs.

AMD, the second-largest computer processor maker in the world, has announced today that it will try to regain relevance in the server market with its first new design since 2003.

Since 2006, AMD has fallen from a 26 percent share in the server chip market to just 5.2 percent. Rival Intel controls the other 94.8 percent.

The new chips, based on the "Interlagos" design, will sell for $125-$1019.

Patrick Patla, general manager of the server business notes (via Bloomberg)

We've got to get relevance back. We want to drive rapid expansion of our market share.

Intel has unveiled a chip for the "we have too much money crowd," the Core i7-3960X.

The Extreme Edition Sandy Bridge chip is six-core, 12-thread at 3.3GHz.

Additionally, the chip supports up to four channels of DDR3 memory, has 15MB of L3 cache, and can be overclocked with one click to 3.9GHz with Intel's Turbo Boost.

The processor uses 130W TDP and will cost above $1000 at retail, given that Intel is selling it at $990 wholesale.

According to multiple reports, HTC is preparing a quad-core tablet to be announced at the Mobile World Congress event next year.

The tablet will be powered by a Tegra 3 processor, likely at 1.2GHz.

Additionally, the company is expected to launch two new smartphones, including one with a quad-core processor. It been rumored those devices are the HTC Edge and the HTC Ville.

All of the devices will run Android 4.0.

MWC starts on February 27.

Last week, Adobe announced it was killing development on its mobile Flash player.

Today, the company's principal product manager for developer relations Mike Chambers has confirmed that it was Apple's rejection of the format that lead to its demise:

The Flash Player was not going to achieve the same ubiquity on mobile as it has on the desktop. This one should be pretty apparent, but given the fragmentation of the mobile market, and the fact that one of the leading mobile platforms (Apple's iOS) was not going to allow the Flash Player in the browser, the Flash Player was not on track to reach anywhere near the ubiquity of the Flash Player on desktops.

Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan has let it slip that the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich source code may be released this week.

The exec says Google is preparing for a November 17th release date, but it is unclear whether that date is set in stone or an educated guess based off talks with the Android dev community.

Giving more credibility to the rumor is Shravan's leaks in the past to other Android developments.

Additionally, it has been rumored that the Galaxy Nexus will launch in Europe on the same day.

For more info on ICS, check here: Samsung unveils Galaxy Nexus with Android 4.0, SDK available now

Nintendo has noted this weekend that the 3DS handheld is on pace to have stronger sales than the original DS had in its first year.

The old handheld had 2.37 million units sold in its first year.

Nintendo launched the console in March to lackluster sales and reviews. When sales dried up, the gaming company was forced to drop the price from $250 to $170.

The company, in its press release, says the 3DS has sold 1.65 million units in the U.S., alone, not mentioning overseas sales.

Nintendo should see very strong sales this holiday, thanks to the release of games like Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7.

Kobo has followed in the footsteps of Amazon, launching a Touch e-reader that is subsidized with ads.

Priced at $99, the device automatically displays "sponsored screens and valuable offers" when the e-reader is not in use, replacing standard screen savers.

Additionally, the ads can show up "in other discreet places that are always outside of the reading experience, like on the bottom of your home screen."

The release date has not been revealed, but the product page says the e-reader is shipping in "2-3 weeks."

Featuring an e-ink display, the device has a 6-inch screen, weighs about 0.45 lbs, has 1GB internal memory, an SD card slot and access to the Kobo store, which has 2.2 million books.

According to new data from video services provider Ooyala, tablet owners were more engaged while watching videos, compared to desktop or mobile users.

Video completion was also significantly higher, with rates 30 percent higher than desktop users.

For every minute viewed on a desktop, tablet owners watched 1 minute 17 seconds.

Tablets, mobile devices, and game consoles are becoming the preferred devices for medium and long-form videos, videos over 10 minutes long.

As expected, the iPad was the most popular tablet for viewing videos, accounting for 97.7 percent of all play time.

(Pic, source via Cnet)

Romanian tax authorities have seized local assets of Nokia due to unpaid debts.

It appears that the company owed around $10 million.

Sorin Blejnar, the head of the authority, confirmed the move:

We decided to seize the assets as a precautionary measure to prevent Nokia from selling them before they pay their debt to the state. This won't affect the activity of the factory.

According to research firm eDataSource, Amazon took 500,000 pre-orders for the Kindle Fire tablet before October 28th, and sold over 1 million to retail partners during the same time frame.

Additionally, the firm says some people are actually buying multiple devices, which is almost unheard of for tablets.

Says Carter Nicholas of eDS:

I think it resets the bar. In our data, we're seeing people ordering two and three of them. That's not the majority of people, but it is showing up.

Amazon has begun offering a $50 credit to buyers of the Playstation 3 160GB, the Microsoft Xbox 360 4GB or the Xbox 360 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Bundle.

Additionally, it is offering $60 credit with a purchase of the Xbox 360 250GB Holiday Value Bundle.

The Amazon credit is good for any future Amazon purchase but cannot be used on digital purchases like Kindle e-books.

For the PS3, the 160GB model sells for $250. The low-end Xbox sells for $200 and the MW3 bundle is selling for $400.

Included in the bundle is a custom Modern Warfare 3 320GB Xbox, two custom wireless controllers, special Avatar items from the store, a black wired headset, and of course, a copy of the game.

Check the deals here: Amazon $50 credit towards video game hardware

Google and LG will launch a new Google TV devices at next year's CES event.

There are very few details available about the HDTV, except that it will be debuted at the show in January and released within a few months.

The news comes on the heels of Logitech CEO Guerrino De Luca calling their investment in Google TV "a mistake."

Earlier this year the company released the $299 Revue set-top box to major criticism and lackluster sales. During the summer, the company was forced to drop the price to $99.

Later this month, Google TV devices will finally get Android 3.2 Honeycomb, adding Android Market apps and an updated interface.

According to the NPD Group, unit sales of the Xbox 360 console rose over 20 percent in October in the U.S., year-over-year.

The research firm said the console was the lone "bright spot" in an industry that was overall pretty flat.

Total sales of software, hardware and accessories rose just 1 percent to $1.08 billion, buoyed by hardware sales which grew 6 percent to $295.6 million.

Additionally, the group says the Xbox 360 has 44 percent share in the market and sold 393,000 units in the month.

Xbox console sales have seen a revival since releasing the launch of the Kinect last year.

Apple has announced this week that it is recalling its first generation iPad Nano in the U.S.

The devices, which launched in September 2005, apparently have a rare overheating issue.

Apple is telling users to stop using their devices immediately and the company will replace them for free.

Battery overheating issues on the 1G iPod Nano is not a new issue, and the replacement program is expanding to add the U.S. It is currently available in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Reads the post:

Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk. Affected iPod nanos were sold between September 2005 and December 2006.

This issue has been traced to a single battery supplier that produced batteries with a manufacturing defect. While the possibility of an incident is rare, the likelihood increases as the battery ages.

Apple recommends that you stop using your iPod nano (1st gen) and follow the process noted below to order a replacement unit, free of charge.

Read more...

Google is expected to launch the Music service on Wednesday.

At a press event in California, Google is expected to add downloading to its cloud-based music service along side new social networking features.

However, it appears that Google was never able to get deals in place with Sony Music or Warner Music Group, the 2nd and 3rd largest labels on the planet.

Universal Music Group has signed a licensing agreement, and it is unclear whether EMI will join.

Talks between the labels and Google are ongoing, however.

One sticking point is the labels want the app "MP3 Download Pro" to be removed from the Android Market as it encourages piracy on Android devices. The app has been downloaded over a million times.

Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has said this weekend that it will begin production on its 28nm GPU "Kepler" chips soon, for availability in 2012.

The Kepler architecture will be featured in a "massive amount of notebook designs" next year, adds the exec.

Says Huang:

The vast majority of the increase is coming from the very significant increase in design wins that we have in several areas. We have more notebook design wins for the Ivy Bridge cycle than we ever had in notebooks; this is likely the most successful notebook cycle we have ever experienced. And so we have got a lot of engineers dedicated to getting those notebooks into production.

Activision has announced this weekend that Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5 million copies in its first 24 hours of availability.

Making that massive number even more impressive is the fact that the game is only available in North America and the UK right now.

Rival EA announced last week that their shooter Battlefield 3 had sold 5 million in its first week, a blockbuster by any normal standard.

Says Activision CEO Bobby Kotick (via Ars):

We believe the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 is the biggest entertainment launch of all time in any medium, and we achieved this record with sales from only two territories. Other than Call of Duty, there has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records three years in a row. Life-to-date sales for the Call of Duty franchise exceed worldwide theatrical box office for Star Wars and Lord of the Rings, two of the most successful entertainment franchises of all time.

Amazon, who is losing at least $10 on every Kindle Fire sold, appears to also be losing money on every $79 Kindle they are selling.

According to a teardown from research firm IHS, the hardware is costing the company $84.25 to make.

The bill of materials is $78.59 but the added $5.66 includes everything else, says the firm.

It is also important to note that the figure only includes costs "incurred until the end of the assembly line," and does not include shipping and R&D.

As with the Kindle Fire, Amazon is expected to quickly make the money back through sales of e-books. The Fire, however, should be a much larger money maker given its access to Amazon shopping, books, music, movies and cloud storage.

Apple has now made unlocked iPhone 4S pre-orders available in the U.S.

The devices have a 1-2 week ship time but all colors and capacities are available.

As of now, unlocked devices are delivery only and cannot be picked up in store.

Unlocked devices will work with all GSM micro SIM cards worldwide.

If you are interested, the 16GB (in black or white) will set you back $649, the 32GB will lighten your wallet by $749 and the 64GB will make you cry at $849.

Citigroup has finally managed to sell off large record label EMI.

Universal Music Group has purchased the recorded-music unit for $1.9 billion, while Sony Music has purchased the publishing arm of the label for $2.2 billion.

EMI has been up for sale since earlier this year, after Citigroup was forced to take it over. The former owner could not pay its debt and lost the collateral.

Universal and Sony were not expected to be the winners in the auction, where Warner Music and Bertelsmann were long considered the favorites.

Citi was hoping for $4 billion for the businesses, but most industry analysts had expected them to receive a figure closer to $3.3 billion given the credit markets.

Regulatory approval of the deals are expected to take up to 20 months, and Universal will most likely have to sell hundreds of millions worth of non-core assets.

In addition to the quad-core-powered Edge, HTC seems to have another monster smartphone in the wings.

Dubbed the Ville, the device will be the first to run on the 28nm Snapdragon S4, says BGR.

The rumored specs:

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
HTC Sense UI 4.0
4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED display
1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon S4 (MSM8960)
8-megapixel backside-illuminated camera with 1080p HD video capture
Beats Audio
Metal construction case and just 8mm thick
1650 mAh battery

Confirming reports over the past few days, Valve has responded that the Steam databased was indeed hacked, with personal information stolen.

The Steam forums have been down for days, but many speculated that is how far the hacking went.

Private data like usernames, encrypted passwords and addresses were taken, says Valve.

The company says credit card data should be safe, but will not guarantee it.

Reads the press release:

Dear Steam Users and Steam Forum Users,

Our Steam forums were defaced on the evening of Sunday, November 6. We began investigating and found that the intrusion goes beyond the Steam forums.

We learned that intruders obtained access to a Steam database in addition to the forums. This database contained information including user names, hashed and salted passwords, game purchases, email addresses, billing addresses and encrypted credit card information. We do not have evidence that encrypted credit card numbers or personally identifying information were taken by the intruders, or that the protection on credit card numbers or passwords was cracked. We are still investigating.

Read more...

On the heels of their successful campaign to have a piracy service blocked by the ISP BT, the MPA has now demanded that more providers begin doing the same.

Virgin Media, Sky and TalkTalk have all received letters from the industry group to block the newsgroup service Newzbin2. BT was asked to block The Pirate Bay torrent tracker.

TalkTalk commented on the letters:

There are some elements of the order, for instance that we have to pay the costs of implementing it, that we think are inappropriate.

Massively popular Canadian rapper Drake has posted on Twitter that he is okay with his latest album being leaked early.

The CD, "Take Care," is set for an official release next week but most of the tracks have already been leaked online.

Says the rapper's tweet:

Listen, enjoy it, buy it if you like it...and take care until next time.

A bombshell has dropped in the ongoing saga of cyberlocker Hotfile versus Warner Bros.

The studio has admitted that it sent false take down notices, thus getting files removed from the site that it did not even own copyrights for.

One employee specifically deleted Open Source download accelerators (it is unclear which one) and that other false takedowns were the result of filtering software gone rogue, says TF.

After being sued earlier this year, the cyberlocker Hotfile countered-sued Warner Bros., for fraud and abuse.

In its complaint, the company originally said:

Not only has Warner (along with four other major motion picture studios) filed this unfounded and contrived litigation against Hotfile employing overly aggressive tactics, Warner has made repeated, reckless and irresponsible misrepresentations to Hotfile falsely claiming to own copyrights in material from Hotfile.com.

Warner further admits that, given the volume and pace of new infringements on Hotfile, Warner could not practically download and view the contents of each file prior to requesting that it be taken down through use of the SRA (anti-piracy) tool.

Read more...

Toy retailer Toys R Us has announced the launch of the Nabi, a tablet aimed at kids.

The tablet runs on Android and has a custom user interface on top to make it very easy for kids to browse the web, play games, read books and learn.

Here are the specs (via Into)

7-inch 800×480 resolution display
533MHz dual-core Cortex-A9 processor with PowerVR SGX530 GPU for 3D gaming
4GB of internal storage
3,000 mAh battery for up to 5 hours of non-stop gaming
Front-facing camera
1080p HD video support

Amazon has ordered more Kindle Fire tablets, again.

Thanks to overly strong demand, Amazon has called its manufacturing partners and added an order for another million tablets.

Amazon already has around 4 million on order.

The device will be 7-inches and run on Android but will remove some functionality seen on rival tablets like the iPad. Offering Wi-Fi but no 3G, the device also removes a camera and a mic, in an effort to cut down costs. Despite its smaller size, the display is impressive IPS with Gorilla Glass.

The Kindle Fire will have its own new mobile browser dubbed Amazon Silk. The browser is "cloud-accelerated" and uses Amazon's EC2 to turn 100 millisecond waiting times into 5. Additionally, all buyers get a 30-day free trial to Amazon Prime, and access to free TV and movie streaming along with the usual free two-day shipping and discounted 1 day shipping.

As expected, Amazon has closely integrated their ecosystem of services into the Android operating system make it very easy for users to find music, movies and magazines. Cloud access, via the Cloud Drive and Cloud Reader, are also one-click away.

Warner has signed a deal with startup company "AnyClip."

The site slices clips from high-quality films and makes them available, searchable by actor, music, dialogue and more.

AnyClip signed a deal with Universal in March but had done nothing else since. The company has rights to 12,000 films now, including Vivendi and independent distributors.

User of the site can watch and share the clips, as well as embed them in their blogs or social network pages. Links to purchase the DVD and Blu-ray at Amazon or included on each page.

Warner says they will initially add Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, The Shining, Dirty Harry, 300 and some of the Harry Potter and Batman movies. Hundreds more will be added over time.

Asus' much-anticipated Transformer Prime tablet has been officially outed today, and it packs a powerful punch.

The device is the world's first quad-core tablet, has a very sleek form factor, and comes with the optional keyboard dock that made its predecessor, the Transformer, so popular.

Asus says the tablet weighs in at 1.29 lbs, is just 8.3mm thick, and has a 178-degree viewing angle. The 10.1-inch screen has a 1280x800 IPS+ display with Gorilla Glass.

Under the hood is the Tegra 3 processor, 1GB RAM, 32GB or 64GB internal storage, an 8MP rear camera with auto-focus and LED flash and a 1.2MP front-side camera for video chat.

For connectivity (not using the dock) there is a micro-HDMI port.

The Prime will launch next month with Android 3.2 but will quickly be updated to Ice Cream Sandwich.

Asus is selling the tablet for $499 base model and the dock for $150.

Six Estonian natives have been arrested today and charged with a scheme that brought in $14 million in fraudulent profits.

Four million computers worldwide were hijacked, and Internet users were often re-routed to sites that helped rack of the profits via ads.

Of those computers, 500,000 were in the U.S. and included PCs being used by government agencies like NASA.

Reads the indictment:

The defendants engaged in a massive and sophisticated scheme that infected at least 4 million computers located in over 100 countries with malicious software or malware. Without the computer users' knowledge or permission, the malware digitally hijacked the infected computers to facilitate the fraud.

Starting November 22nd, Google will be pulling all support for its native Gmail app on BlackBerry devices.

If you already have the app, you can continue to use it, but it will be pulled from the market on the 22nd, as well.

Says Google:

Over this past year, we've focused efforts on building a great Gmail experience in the mobile browser and will continue investing in this area. Users may continue to use the app, if installed, however it will not be supported by Google.

A crazed man in Colorado threatened to blow up his local Best Buy store after the employees messed up his Modern Warfare 3 pre-order and told him the game was sold out.

Lomorin Sar, 31, grew irate after the employees of the store said they did not have his game. The manager offered him a gift card or an upgrade to a more expensive copy of the game, but Sar would not have it.

Instead, the man began asking employees what time they got off work, so he could shoot them outside their cars. Before he was done, he had threatened to blow up the store.

Employees promptly called the police who arrested Sar as he was leaving.

Says detective Bob Friel (via Escapist):

Investigating officers issued a criminal summons to a man who threatened to carry out his own version of Modern Warfare at the electronics store. Fortunately, this situation did not end in violence.

According to Verizon CFO Fran Shammo, new and existing smartphone users will receive double the data limit they currently have, at no extra cost.

For example, if you are on the current $30 for 2GB plan, you will now have 4GB for the same price.

The promotion will run through the holidays, and is the equivalent of a "price cut," the first one Verizon has offered in a very long time.

Existing users will need to call in to be grandfathered into the higher data while all new contract users will automatically have it in their accounts.

Sharma notes that Verizon is using the promotion to "understand consumer behavior" and develop a pricing strategy going forward with LTE and data.

The deal will put Verizon well ahead of AT&T from a price standpoint, but still behind smaller carriers T-Mobile and Sprint, which offer unlimited data for $30. T-Mobile does throttle speeds down from 4G to 2G after 5GB, however.

First shown off in September, AT&T has announced that the HTC Titan will be released on November 20th.

The device is the most anticipated Windows Phone 7.5 Mango phone, and will cost just $200 with two-year contract.

Running on WP 7.5, the Titan has a 1.5GHz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage. Most notably, the device has a 4.7-inch display and dual cameras 8MP/1.3MP.

To ring in the new software, Microsoft will be throwing various events at major cities.

The company started its events by installing a 60-foot-tall Windows Phone in NYC.

(Pic via Slash)

Warner Bros. has finally announced the release date for the PC version of their hit game Batman Arkham City.

The console version for PS3 and Xbox 360 hit stores on October 18th.

North Americans will get the game on November 22nd with Europe getting the game on the 25th.

Developer Rocksteady had first said the game would be available on November 18th.

Trailer:

According to VB, Facebook users have already listened to 1.5 billion songs since the launch of the service's social music tools.

Introduced in late September, the giant social network gives access to streaming music services like MOG, Spotify and Rdio, allowing users to stream music and share with friends with the click of a button.

The full list of services available are Spotify, MOG, Rdio, Rhapsody, Turntable, VEVO, Slacker, Songza, TuneIn, iheartradio, Deezer, Earbits, Jelli and Mixcloud.

Many of the startups have experienced huge growth spurts since the announcement, with Spotify adding 4 million new users and MOG seeing a 246 percent explosion since September.

Facebook has 760 million members.

Despite some issues with downloads, iOS 5 is now on 38 percent of all iPhones.

According to Chitika Insights, one month after release, the new OS is on 38 percent of iPhones, 30 percent of iPads and 12 percent of iPod Touch.

The firm uses mobile ad network impressions to analyze traffic.

Says Chitika (BGR):

The iPhone 4S sold over 4 million units in the first weekend, so this certainly contributes to the heightened volume. However, this could be compounded by the fact that many consumers use their cellphones as their primary mobile device, and update it as necessary due to its great utility.

Kobo E-reader, the company behind the, you guessed it, Kobo line of e-readers, has been purchased by Rakuten for $315 million in cash.

Rakuten is not a household name but is a massive e-commerce company in Japan and the owners of Buy.com in the U.S.

The acquisition will help the company in its push into downloadable media, beginning with e-books.

Kobo CEO Michael Serbinis says the Kobo devices have about 9 percent market share in the U.S. and will use the money to grow internationally. Kobo e-readers were available in Borders locations but the retailer has since gone bankrupt.

Adds Serbinis (via AllTD)

The U.S. is absolutely important. It's fundamental. We have millions of U.S. users today, and we plan to grow that substantially, and internationally represents a big opportunity as well.

Earlier this week, Adidas confirmed that a number of its sites were taken offline due to a "sophisticated cyber attack."

Says Adidas:

On November 3, 2011, the adidas Group found out that it was the target of a sophisticated, criminal cyber-attack. Our preliminary investigation has found no evidence that any consumer data is impacted.

But, while we continue our thorough forensic review, we have taken down affected sites, including adidas.com, reebok.com, miCoach.com, adidas-group.com and various local eCommerce shops, in order to protect visitors to our sites.

We are working to restore the site as soon as possible. As the site was also scheduled for a number of exciting updates, we will use the current down time to make those changes. This way the site will launch again with the latest and greatest developments already in place.

Amiga, the high-end computer company from the 1980s, is back, this time with a low-end tablet.

The Amiga Xperdio 7MTB is a 7-inch multi-touch tablet running on Android 2.2.

Under the hood is a VIA Technologies WM8650 ARM chip at 720MHz, 256MB LPDDR2 memory, 4GB internal storage and a microSD slot.

To keep the price under $100, the touch screen is resistive two-point.

Additionally, a bundled version (with USB keyboard and protective case) sells for $118.

If you are willing to spend more money, the Xpedio 7 MT for $189 jumps to an ARM Cortex-A8 processor ticking at 1GHz, 512MB LPDDR2 memory and 8GB storage. The screen is capacitive.

Delivery starts on Christmas.

Huawei has confirmed today that Microsoft has approached them demanding royalty payments for its Android devices.

The company has coerced deals out of Samsung, HTC, Wistron, Quanta, Acer, Compal and General Dynamics Itronix, so far.

Victor Xu, CMO for Huawei Devices, has said "negotiations are in progress" for licensing:

We always respect the intellectual property of companies. But we have 65,000 patents worldwide too. We have enough to protect our interests. We are a very important stakeholder in Android.

Spotify has announced the expansion of their streaming service to Windows Phone 7 devices.

The app is the 7th mobile app for the unlimited streaming music service.

Features of the app:

Search, browse & play our catalogue of millions of tracks
Explore & play your friend's playlists, top artists and tracks
Stream over WiFi or 2.5/3G - all your existing playlists are available
Offline playlists - play your music without an internet connection
On-the-fly sync - every track you add to a playlist appears on mobile and computer
What's New view
Receive music from friends via the inbox
Starred tracks - tag all your favourites into a special list

According to a new study from Cornell University, we may have more friends on social networks nowadays, but we have less real-life ones.

Matthew Brashears, a Cornell University sociologist, surveyed 2000 American adults and found that from 1985 to 2010, the number of close friends per person dropped from 3 to about 2.03.

The sociologist considered truly close friends as "the people you think of as your real confidants, your go-to people if you need something."

Brashears surveyed people from the online database TESS (Time-Sharing Experiments for the Social Sciences).

From those surveyed, 4 percent said they had no close friends, 48 percent said they had 1, 18 percent said 2 and 29 percent said more than 2.

While we have an increasing amount of friends on social networks, Brashears does not believe that is the reason for the decline. In fact, the sociologist believe that online friends provide social support and advice.

Could HP be cutting its losses while there is still value?

According to Reuters, HP may be looking to unload its webOS division, just 20 months after purchasing it.

In April 2010, HP bought Palm and all of its patents and software for $1.2 billion, saving the company from imminent bankruptcy.

HP is now being advised by Merrill Lynch as to whether they should sell the division, a move that will likely only bring in $500-700 million.

Palm and its patent cove remain an attractive asset, and one source says Oracle may be interested.

Earlier this year, HP decided to pull out of the webOS hardware game after just one tablet and one smartphone.

Multiple sources are reporting on the leaked pictures and specs of the upcoming HTC Edge, the world's first quad-core smartphone.

The device will have a massive 4.7-inch screen, 720p resolution, be just 10mm thick and run on Android 4.0.

Under the hood, the device has 1GB RAM, a Tegra 3 processor at 1.5Ghz, a backlit 8MP camera with a 28-millimeter f/2.2 lens, 32GB storage, Beats Audio and Bluetooth 4.0.

Additionally, the device will run the updated Sense UI which adds the HTC Listen music store, the HTC Read bookstore, the HTC Play multiplayer gaming hub and the HTC Watch HD movie rental portal.

The device will have support of the very fast 21Mbps HSDPA+ "4G" network but no LTE.

Google and Disney have said today that the two companies are teaming up to bring video content "tailored" to Disney audiences.

Co-branded "video destinations" will be available from Disney.com and YouTube.com starting next year.

The programming will be considered family-friendly and will be aimed at younger audiences.

Disney says a video series based ont he popular game "Where's my Water" will be the first project, launching in February.

Says Disney (via USAT):

With online video consumption exploding and YouTube at the center of that trend, we see an opportunity for Disney Interactive and YouTube to bring Disney's legacy of storytelling to a new generation of families and Disney enthusiasts on the platforms they prefer.

6000 copies of the upcoming Modern Warfare 3 game were stolen this week in France, following a daring armed robbery.

The truck was crashed into by a car in southern Paris before two armed and masked individuals jumped out, tossed tear gas then stole the truck.

Reports say the lot is worth about 400,000 euros.

There was little other to report on the theft but French citizens are told to look out for stolen copies of the game selling before its official release date.

According to Ticonderoga analyst Brian White, the Apple iPhone 4S sold out in Hong Kong in just 10 minutes.

Pre-orders on the device went live on November 4th and almost immediately sold out.

The device will hit the nation on the 11th as Apple expands the the iPhone 4S to 16 new countries.

A full sell-out is surprising as Siri lacks global language support:

We believe this rapid sell out $76.83 will rest concerns surrounding the uptake of the iPhone 4S in the Greater China region that were driven by the limited language capability of Siri, which did not launch in Mandarin or Cantonese.

Time Warner Cable has confirmed today that its Internet customers experienced a temporary outage this morning.

Says the ISP:

We appear to be recovering from a large but brief internet outage affecting most of our service areas.

According to the latest "rumors and tips," the next generation Xbox gaming console will be smaller, cheaper and be based on ARM processors and the Windows 9 operating system.

The rumor comes via blogger "MSNerd":

With a heady mix of rumors, tips and speculation, I am now stating that Xbox codename "loop" (the erstwhile XboxTV) will indeed debut a modified Win9 core. It will use a Zune HD-like hardware platform- a "main" processor with multiple dedicated assistive cores for graphics, AI, physics, sound, networking, encryption and sensors. It will be custom designed by Microsoft and two partners based on the ARM architecture. It will be cheaper than the 360, further enabling Kinect adoption. And it will be far smaller than the 360. It will also demonstrate how Windows Phone could possible implement Win9's dev platform on the lower end.

For the month ended October 31st, it appears that Android 2.3.3-2.3.7 (Gingerbread) has finally taken the lead in distribution.

43.9 percent of all Droids now use the operating system compared to 40.7 percent for Android 2.2 Froyo.

The numbers should continue to move in favor of Gingerbread as carriers and handset makers finally update the devices to the OS update that was released many months ago.

There are no more phones being launched with 2.2.

Honeycomb has moved to about 1.1 percent share, as it is available only on a few elite tablets.

Perhaps the most notably is the fact that there are some poor fools still stuck on Android 1.5. It's time to upgrade, guys.

Giant retailer Best Buy has announced today that it will buy out its British partner Carphone Warehouse from the joint venture the two have in mobile phones.

Best Buy will pay $1.3 billion for Carphone's share.

The news about the Best Buy Mobile buyout was announced today along side news that Carphone would close all 11 trial Best Buy superstores in the UK due to poor performance.

Carphone has also noted that it will return some of the profits from the sale as a special dividend to shareholders.

Best Buy initially purchased 50 percent of Carphone's retail operations for $2.1 billion in 2008, in an effort to use the popular company's expertise in the mobile arena.

The Mobile venture has been mightily successful, but the brand's expansion into the UK has been a massive flop.

Top smartphone seller HTC has announced today that a number of its most popular devices will be getting the much-anticipated Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich update in the near future.

For now, the company only describes the update as "coming in early 2012," so HTC fans can hope that means as early as possible.

Reads the company's Facebook post:

HTC knows how excited our fans are to get their hands on Google's latest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, so we're thrilled today to announce the first wave of HTC phones that will receive upgrades.

Ice Cream Sandwich is coming in early 2012 to a variety of devices including the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XL and HTC Sensation XE, as well as the HTC Rezound*, HTC EVO 3D, HTC EVO Design 4G* and HTC Amaze 4G* through close integration with our carrier partners.

We're continuing to assess our product portfolio, so stay tuned for more updates on device upgrades, timing and other details about HTC and Ice Cream Sandwich.

Carphone Warehouse will close all of Best Buy UK superstores, citing very disappointing financial performance.

Each of the 11 stores opened at some point in 2010, after being delayed for opens in 2009.

Best Buy and Carphone teamed up to bring the popular American retailer to Europe, but competition and a Europe on the brink of recession has killed the venture.

Performance was so bad that Carphone's plans to launch 200 stores in the EU by 2013 was scrapped after the first 11 were built.

When asked for comment, Carphone only had this to say (via Lint):

We always said we would open 11 stores and then conduct a strategy review. We are now conducting our evaluation with our partners and will provide an update in due course.

GameStop has announced today that the special white colorway PlayStation 3 will hit Germany and the UK beginning tomorrow night at midnight.

The limited edition "Classic White" console is an exclusive for the retailer.

Consoles will ship with 320GB storage and two white Dual Shock 3 controllers for 250 pounds in the UK.

Additionally, a holiday bundle for 299 pounds will add a game and a 25 pound credit for PSN.

In Germany, the same 320GB console will sell for 300 euro or just 150 euro when you trade in a slim PS3 and two games.

Firefox 8, set for an official release on November 8th, is available now via AfterDawn.

The updated browser adds integrated Twitter search in the address bar, a number of tab tweaks and more security restrictions for third-party add-ons that could potentially be malware.

Download the browser here at AfterDawn:

Firefox 8 for Windows

Firefox 8 for Mac

Firefox 8 for Linux

After numerous high-profile losses in court, the RIAA's senior vice president of litigation Jennifer Pariser says the labels may soon ask Congress to make changes to the DMCA.

Pariser claims that the DMCA does not protect against online piracy like it is supposed to.

The attorney, speaking during a recent panel discussion said (via Greg Sandoval of Cnet):

I think Congress got it right, but I think the courts are getting it wrong. I think the courts are interpreting Congress' statute in a manner that is entirely too restrictive of content owners' rights and too open to [Internet] service providers.

We might need to go to Congress at some point for a fix. Not because the statute was badly drafted but because the interpretation has been so hamstrung by court decisions.

Earlier this week, Samsung announced that the flagship Galaxy Nexus would go on sale in Europe on November 17th.

The device will cost 549 euro unlocked, as expected.

Today, we get our first hint as to an American price for the smartphone, via Costco.

A leaked screenshot of the inventory shows the wholesaler selling the device for $289.99, making it likely that Verizon will sell the phone at their average $299 price point for LTE phones with contract.

There is still no word on release date but rumors have pointed to Black Friday.

According to multiple sources in the supply chain, Amazon is prepping an 8.9-inch version of the Kindle Fire for future release.

Amazon's upcoming tablet/e-reader has a 7-inch screen and will retail for $199.

Many had expected the company to launch a 10.1-inch screen device that would directly compete with the iPad and other larger tablets, but if the report is accurate, that is not so.

Panel suppliers Chunghwa Picture Tubes and LG Display have already begun to prepare production capacities for the displays.

The Kindle Fire, set for a November 15th release, is so popular that it allegedly seeing 50,000 pre-orders per day. Analysts expect up to 5 million to be sold in this quarter, alone.

Winamp, made popular in the late 90s as a light media player with a heavy feature set, has finally made its way over to Macs.

The Winamp for Mac Sync Beta is the first ever version of the software to hit Apple products but it is very light on the features.

As a "Sync Beta," the software will focus on the wireless and wired syncing abilities of music and playlists to Android devices.

Of course, the software will do its basic job of playing music just fine.

Nullsoft, the company behind the product say they have a "new long-term commitment to the Mac OS platform," and will be updating features regularly.

You can download the software here: Winamp.com/Mac

Verizon has confirmed that the much-anticipated Motorola Droid Razr will be released on 11-11-11, and some flyers even have the device being launched at 11:11 AM.

The time is not confirmed, however.

Motorola's latest smartphone will be available to Verizon customers for $299.99 with a 2 year contract.

The device will run on Android 2.3.5 (Gingerbread), a 1.2GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB of internal storage, and a 4.3 inch Gorilla Glass display. In addition, it has an 8 megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording capability and a front facing camera for video chat.

Additionally, the phone is just 7.1mm thick, has a Kevlar body, and water resistant coating.

In anticipation of the upcoming "Nook Tablet" (Nook Color 2), retailer Best Buy has slashed the price of the first-generation Nook Color.

Best Buy has dropped the price $50, from $250 to $199.

The move will also help the device compete against the upcoming Amazon Kindle Fire, which will retail for the lower price.

B&N's upcoming Nook Tablet will allegedly offer the same 7-inch touchscreen along with a powerful 1.2Ghz dual-core processor and 16GB internal storage. The device will launch at the $250 price point of its predecessor.

Amazon's tablet offering will have lesser specs but will be deeply integrated with the Amazon ecosystem of shopping, e-books, music, movies, TV, cloud storage and streaming.

Kotaku has reported today that some upcoming Vita titles will require gamers to purchase an external memory card.

Many Vita titles will let you save the progress right to the game cart but others will not.

The list (for launch titles):

Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention
@Field
Hot Shots Golf 6
Monster Radar
Dream Club Zero Portable
Touch My Katamari

Despite Samsung's rise to top smartphone seller (by volume), Apple remains far and away the most profitable phone maker.

In the last quarter, Samsung took advantage of consumer's wait for the iPhone 4S and rose to the top volume seller of smartphones.

According to figures from Canaccord Genuity, Apple was the most profitable, collecting a whopping 52 percent of the industry's operating profits during the quarter.

Making that figure more impressive was the fact that Apple controls under a 5 percent market share in the global handheld market.

In order to be so profitable, Apple made "35 cents for every dollar of handheld sales," a number that was 110 percent higher than any competitor.

On the other end, Nokia continued its quickly accelerating death spiral while collecting just 4 percent of the industry's total operating profits with a much larger market share.

Just two days after releasing the first beta, Apple has now launched a second fix for the iOS 5 battery issue.

Critics of the firmware claim the battery has had excessive drain, making the iPhone 4S less useful than expected.

Apple has released the updated software to developers, meaning the public will probably see the fix within the month.

Additionally, iOS 5.0.1 will add multitasking gestures to iPad 1 owners.

Finally, the security issue with Apple's Smart Cover for the iPad 2 has been fixed.

Last month, hacking group 'Anonymous' threatened to attack the Mexican drug cartel "Los Zetas."

The Zetas are notoriously violent and considered the most ruthless in the world, specializing in assassinations and beheadings in their native land.

In total, there were over 15,273 drug-related crimes in Mexico in 2010 and over 40,000 people have died in the country since 2006 in drug related violence.

Anonymous had threatened to reveal police and media members allied with the cartel, unless an allegedly kidnapped member of the hacking group was freed in the city of Veracruz.

Apparently, the kidnapped member has now been freed so the group has backed off their threats. Allegedly, the group was also sent death threats from the cartel, which many believe is the real reason for the downplay of the attack.

The Zetas has said they would kill 10 Anonymous members for every name the hacking group revealed.

HTC has launched their Rezound smartphone this week, a multimedia-heavy device that promises "thundering bass, soaring midrange and crisp highs" due to integrated Beats Audio.

The company acquired Beats over the summer for $300 million.

Rezound owners will enjoy an Android 2.3 phone with a powerful 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 16 GB of on-board memory, 1GB of DDR2 RAM, a 16GB microSD card, an 8MP camera with autofocus, dual LED flash and an f/2.2 and 28 mm wide-angle lens with BSI sensor.

The device will have an HD 720p display and a 4.3-inch super-LCD screen.

Beats Audio co-founder Jimmy Iovine added:

The sixth-largest carrier in the U.S., U.S. Cellular, has noted this week that it will delay its LTE 4G rollout.

Instead of the Q4 2011, the network will be available for 4G-capable phones in the Q1 2012.

U.S. Cellular says the LTE rollout will be enabled by King Street Wireless. The carrier has a stake in the spectrum management company.

The carrier has 6 million subscribers across the U.S. and the LTE network will initially service just one quarter of them.

First, the LTE rollout will hit cities in Iowa, Wisconsin, Maine and North Carolina with additional markets receiving the network support later next year.

Says U.S Cellular:

With a 4G LTE network and cutting-edge 4G LTE devices, customers will be able to connect to their friends and family even faster and get more done when they're away from their home or office. We're excited to partner with King Street Wireless to bring 4G LTE speed to more customers next year that will help them be more productive. Our commitment to providing products and services that simplify and enhance customers' lives is one of the reasons we have the happiest customers in wireless.

Best Buy has announced today that they are giving away free HTC smartphones to anyone who purchases the upcoming blockbuster game "Modern Warfare 3."

The phones are available from Sprint, Verizon, or AT&T and will require you to sign a new two-year contract.

A few of the more notable phones are the HTC EVO 4G, the Droid Incredible 2 and the Inspire 4G. Each normally costs $150-200 with contract, making the deal a good one.

Best Buy is allegedly doing the promotion to build consumer awareness about its growing mobile business.

Activision has said it expects to sell 20 million copies of the game before the end of the year, making it by far the best selling game of the year.

As expected, Barnes and Noble will unveil their Nook Color sequel next week at a New York press event.

According to a leak (via Slashgear), the company will call the e-reader the "Nook Tablet" and sell the device for $249, a $50 step up from the upcoming Amazon Kindle Fire.

To warrant the price, the Nook Tablet will have better specs than the Fire including a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 16GB storage and a light 7-inch frame.

Additionally, the device will have integrated Netflix and Hulu Plus.

If accurate, the Nook Tablet will hit stores on the 16th, one day after Amazon is shipping their Fire.

According to the latest figures by Nielsen, Android has moved to 43 percent market share of the U.S. smartphone market.

Apple remained firmly in second with 28 percent share following another strong quarter of iPhone sales.

Most notably, overall smartphone ownership grew to 43 percent up from 38 percent just 6 months ago.

Nielsen says (via Fortune):

-62% of Americans aged 25-34 who own any kind of mobile phone own a smartphone.

-Among 18-24 and 35-44 year olds the smartphone penetration rate is hovering near 54%.

-Around 40% of teens 12-17 years old and 40% of 45-54 year-olds reported owning a smartphone

-The second fastest-growing smartphone penetration rate is those aged 55-64. Smartphone penetration among this older group is only 30%, but it jumped 5% this quarter.

The new flagship Google device gets rooted weeks before its official launch.

The Galaxy Nexus, Samsung's new flagship Android device and the first to run Android 4.0 ICS has already been rooted by MoDaCo's Paul O'Brien.

Samsung is releasing the device on Black Friday, in three weeks.

Using his "Superboot" program, users can install a specialized boot image to the Galaxy Nexus which will then automatically root the device on first startup.

Instructions (for when you get the device in three weeks): 03 Nov r1: Superboot - rooting the Galaxy Nexus

"Steve Jobs," the only authorized biography of the founder and former CEO of Apple, has sold 379,000 copies in just one week of availability, in the U.S.

Figures from Nielsen BookScan put the book way ahead of the competition, with the next best-selling title, John Grisham's "The Litigators," selling 125,000 copies.

For nonfiction, the title beat out Bill O'Reilly's "Killing Lincoln," which sold 47,500 copies to stay in second for the week.

The book was released on October 24th and is based off of hundreds of interviews with Jobs, former and current employees, family, friends and acquaintances.

If orders remain strong, the book will likely be Amazon's top selling book for 2011.

It is unclear how many of those purchases were digital compared to hardcover.

After being released for Android last month, the team at Opera has now brought the mobile browser to other popular platforms.

Opera Mini 6.5 is now available for iOS, S60, J2ME and BlackBerry.

Additionally, Opera Mobile 11.5 (which is pretty much the same thing) is now available for Symbian, Maemo and MeeGo.

The biggest update in Opera 6.5 is a small counter that shows you how much data you have used browsing and how much Opera's compression software has helped you save.

Since November 2nd, Opera has had a global counter on their homepage showing how much data the compression has helped users save. The number is above 313 TB as of writing.

According to new data from netmarketshare.com, Internet Explorer has fallen under 50 percent in total market share, mainly thanks to Safari's 62.17 percent share in mobile traffic.

Safari, the default browser for iOS devices like the iPhone, has helped IE fall to 49.6 percent share.

For the month ended October 31st, Firefox remained in second at 21.20 percent of traffic with Chrome in 3rd at 16.60 percent.

Safari came in fourth at 8.72 percent and along with Chrome, saw significant increases at the expense of the leaders.

Some more figures:

It has been rumored and implied for over a year now, but it seems that PayPal payments may finally be headed to the Android Market.

Google announced it was working with PayPal to bring the ability to pay with Paypal instead of needing to use Google Checkout or carrier billing when buying apps and games.

The updated Market (version 3.3.11) which was leaked this week makes references to Paypal in its coding (pic via Aguys).

You can try the new Market by downloading the APK directly from here: Android Police

According to AOL's latest quarterly earnings, the company still has 3.5 million dial-up subscribers accessing the internet with 8Kbps download speeds.

Additionally, the company only lost 630,000 subscribers in the quarter, its smallest loss ever. AOL has had a price promotion available to new users for months now and it appears the promotion worked as 200,000 people actually added the service.

As broadband became mainstream in the early-mid 2000s AOL was losing up to 5 million subscribers per year.

Surprisingly, the monthly bill for AOL dialup is still $17.50, down just $0.50 from 2001.

Full chart (via BI):

Motorola has officially launched the Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition tablets today.

Under the hood the devices are practically the same. Each runs on a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, Android 3.2, 1GB RAM, dual cameras 5/1.3MP and the full line of Google apps.

While the Xoom 2 keeps the common 10.1-inch HD display, the Media Edition will only have an 8.2-inch screen. The Xoom 2 has a larger battery, as well, and will run for 10 hours compared to 6 for the smaller device. Each has Gorilla Glass, as well.

The Media Edition also includes the MotoCAST remote media streaming service.

Notably, the tablets don't appear to be headed to the U.S., at least not this month. Motorola is releasing the tablets in the U.K and Ireland in "mid-November." Pricing is unknown but the smaller device, at least, is expected to retail for 399 pounds.

Last month, LG announced that its flagship Android device, the Optimus 2X, would unfortunately not be receiving an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Users were not all too shocked as they are still on the outdated Android 2.2, but the device launched in February so many were upset at being locked into contract with a phone that will not be updated.

Today, LG has made amends, updating the device to 2.3 and announcing that the device will get ICS in the future.

Via their Facebook page, the company says:

LG firmly denies the rumours that claim LG will not be providing the Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) OS update for the LG Optimus 2X. These rumours are NOT true. LG is currently in the process of planning the ICSOS update for the LG Optimus 2X as well as other LG high-end smartphones. Detailed information on the ICS OS update schedule for specific models will be announced, once the ICS OS is publicly released by Google. Please stay tuned for more updates from LG.

EA's new hit shooter "Battlefield 3" for PC has been plagued by criticism due to the publisher's forceful inclusion of the "Origin" account, a DRM required to play the game online.

Origin, which is still in beta, has been in the news as it gives EA the rights to access your personal info and practically spy on you. That's without mentioning that Origin is prone to crashing and customer service issues.

Gamers who decided to purchase the retail edition of the game have been having issues, as well, with Origin.

Warez group Razor 1911, patching games since the 1990s, has come to the rescue with a patched .exe.

Says the group:

Razor1911 doesn't accept and support the online DRM "Origin" from EA.

This release is dedicated to our fans worldwide who bought this game on
legal way and don't want to install the trojan from Electronic Arts to play
online.

Install Notes
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1. Unpack
2. Copy bf3.exe to your install folder
3. Have fun!

Apple has confirmed today that some iPhone 4S (and other iPhone) owners are experiencing bad battery life.

The company is working on a fix for iOS 5 and will release it within weeks.

Says the company (via ATD):

A small number of customers have reported lower than expected battery life on iOS 5 devices. We have found a few bugs that are affecting battery life and we will release a software update to address those in a few weeks.

Does Nvidia have plans to get into the PC vendor market?

Nvidia has filed a patent for a "portable computer system," a mini device that will be the size of a USB flash drive.

The PCS will pack a Tegra processor, flash storage, RAM, one USB port, LAN, WiFi and another interface like HDMI.

Most notably, the computer will be just 40-60 mm long, 10-20 mm wide and 5-10 mm thick.

The idea of the computer is to bring it anywhere, connect it to a TV or monitor and perform tasks with a computer that uses only 10 watts.

Additionally, the price would be under $100.

Google's poorly kept secret is now live.

After showing off a preview in July and having leaked screenshots hit the Web for weeks, Gmail's new look is now live.

On the bottom right of your Gmail there will be a little clickable button that says "Switch to the new look."

The new Gmail will have streamlined conversations:

Conversation view has been completely redesigned to help you read through your email threads. You?ll now see profiles pictures for your contacts, so it?s easier to keep track of who said what. We also stripped out as much as possible so you can focus on communicating with your friends and colleagues.

We know that you use Gmail from a variety of screen sizes and devices, so now the spacing between elements on the screen will automatically change based on the kind of display you?re using. If you prefer a denser view all the time, you can change your density manually in the Settings menu.

Sees fourth consecutive annual loss.

Sony has announced today that the company will see a $1.2 billion annual loss, compared to the $800 million profit they expected.

Additionally, the company has cut its TV, Blu-ray and PC sales targets due to the floods in Thailand.

TV sales have been lowered to 20 million units from 22 million and the floods will also delay the launch of new cameras, which combined will hurt profit expectations by $320 million.

In an effort to turn-around the struggling TV division, the company will write down the value of some facilities, launch less models and cut marketing expenses over the next two years.

Since 2003, the company has lost a shocking $6.15 billion from its TV division, alone.

Like with all Japanese companies, Sony is struggling with the strong yen, which reached levels not seen since World War II last week and is cutting severely into earnings.

Barnes & Noble may do the unexpected and beat the $199 price set by the upcoming Kindle Fire.

Next week the company will launch its Nook Color 2 e-reader/tablet next week.

Analysts now believe that B&N must beat Amazon on price to stay relevant:

The issue [facing Barnes & Noble] is price and availability of content, which is the key issue for all tablets going forward.

Rockstar has released the first Grand Theft Auto V trailer today.

Going back to its roots, the game will take place in San Andreas.

GTA V will include an environment based on California and the trailer shows off planes, jetskis, police chases, bank robberies and bad sweaters.

Not to mention, the graphics look fantastic.

Check it here:

Despite Activision's best efforts, the game has now been leaked for PC and Xbox 360, a week before launch.

Earlier this week we reported that one disc of the two-disc PC game was stolen from a factory in California and leaked to the web.

Today, the Xbox 360 version has been leaked, as well, 6 days before the game's official retail launch.

The NFO of the leak, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 XGD3 0800 REGION FREE-P2P says:

Region Free
Stealth patched
Ixtreme Compatible [LT+2.0 required]
XGD3 0800
SSV2

Rovio says gamers play 300 million minutes per day.

Angry Birds, the runaway success mobile game, has hit 500 million total global downloads this week, in just under 2 years of availability.

There are now three versions of the game, the original Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons (updated for new holidays) and Angry Birds Rio, a tie-in of the animated movie.

The game is available for iOS, Android, the Chrome browser, PCs, macs, webOS, the PS3 and Symbian.

Overall, gamers have played "200,000 man years of Angry Birds," says the developer.

Says the CEO (via GPro)

This is a fantastic landmark achievement for us, and we're extremely delighted to see such an incredible amount of people enjoying our games. We remain committed to creating more fun experiences and bringing exceptional quality to Angry Birds fans everywhere.

If a leaked Verizon roadmap is to be believed, the much-hyped Galaxy Nexus flagship phone has been delayed until Black Friday.

After being delayed for a few days after the death of Steve Jobs, Samsung and Google triumphantly launched the smartphone last month, the first to come with Android 4.0 ICS, the company's biggest firmware update yet.

The phone was set to be released on November 10th but Samsung then announced it would be pushed until the 17th. Now it appears eager buyers will have to wait another week, until Black Friday.

Here is the leaked roadmap (via Droid_life):

MOG, the unlimited music streaming service, had a good month and plans for bigger one this month.

In September, social networking giant Facebook launched their music platform which allows users to stream and share music via Spotify, Turntable.fm, Vevo, MOG and others.

Thanks to the integration, MOG saw 264 percent growth, moving to 160,000 average users in October.

The company says the growth isn't just a spike, and they now expect an average 2 million users by the end of the year.

MOG offers a free version of the streaming service to Facebook users.

"This is the best distribution platform we've ever had," noted MOG CEO David Hyman.

The Pentagon has finally decided on its first secure Android device, and its a defunct one.

Dell's now defunct Streak 5 smartphone is now certified for secure unclassified communications.

The Defense Information System Agency (DISA) began working with Dell a year ago to certify the device to provide to personnel.

Unfortunately for those personnel, the device is no longer supported by Dell and runs on the very outdated Android 2.2.

Government rules for enhanced security means the phones have remote wipe ability, password protection that will wipe the device after 5 incorrect entries, and the Streak's security can be monitored remotely by the Pentagon's IT team.

Apple has noted today that the iPhone 4S is headed to 15 new countries on November 11th.

The device will be made available in Hong Kong, Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, El Salvador, Greece, Guatemala, Malta, Montenegro, New Zealand, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania and South Korea.

Pre-order on the device in those nations begin on November 4th.

Currently, the iPhone 4S is available in 29 countries and Apple says it will be available in 70 by Christmas.

For more info on the 4S click here.

While RIM continues its long fall from the top.

HTC topped all other smartphone vendors for the Q3 2011, barely beating out Apple and Samsung.

RIM, maker of the once-popular BlackBerry, fell to under 10 percent for the first time since it was created.

The Taiwanese company took 24 percent share for the quarter edging out Samsung at 21 percent.

Apple came in third at 20 percent, mainly due to the fact that fans waited out purchasing a device in order to get their hands on the iPhone 4S.

Overall, HTC shipped 5.7 million devices and Samsung shipped 4.9 million.

Republic Wireless has announced it will launch a cellular and VoIP service next week that promises unlimited 3G data, texting and voice for just $19 a month.

The only real catch is you will need a special Android handset from the vendor.

Calls and texts can be sent over Wi-Fi or over cell service.

The concept of Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) is certainly not new, but it has also never been this cheap.

In order to supply the service, Republic will purchase wholesale minutes from third-party carriers like Sprint or T-Mobile. The company's own VoIP service handles the rest.

(Screenshot via Om)

Asus has confirmed the launch date for their upcoming quad-core tablet, the Transformer Prime.

The device will launch on November 9th and will be the first tablet to be powered by a Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

Additionally, the tablet will supposedly also come with Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0) which would put the tablet light years ahead of other current devices.

Furthermore, Asus is looking to "focus on innovation and product perfection" with two upcoming tablets in the Q1 2012.

Asus will also unveil Windows 8 tablets in the Q3 2012.

Electronic Arts (EA) has announced today that Battlefield 3 is their fastest selling game of all-time.

The game sold 5 million copies in its first week of availability.

Figures include global sales for all consoles and PC.

Additionally, the publisher notes that the game has 2.5 million "likes" on Facebook and over 200,000 followers on Twitter.

Gamers have already "executed 73 million savior kills, 48 million revives and destroyed 67 million vehicles," adds EA.

By comparison, EA's last war game, Medal of Honor, sold five million copies in 120 days.

Without a doubt the most highly anticipated game of the month is Activision's Modern Warfare 3, the latest in the Call of Duty blockbuster franchise.

This weekend, it appears part of the PC version of the game was stolen from a shipping warehouse in California.

The disc has inevtitably leaked its way to warez, p2p and torrent sites.

Because the disc is disc 2 of a two-disc set, it isn't particularly useful but some pirates have already tried playing it online.

Activision is shutting down that kind of behavior, however, with one pirate claiming he was fined $5000 for trying to play the game. "Do not buy MW3 before release date. They will come get you. I already went through it," said the pirate.

MW3 will be released on November 8th and Activision is expecting 20 million sales across all platforms in 2011.