Originally slated for release in October, Apple's upcoming iTunes 11 release will not be made available until late into November, according to a CNET report.
"The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right," Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr told CNET.
"We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November."
Apple's new iTunes 11 update takes a cue from iOS 6, with a focus on album covers that can expand out to show you songs -- both in your library, and other tracks from Apple's iTunes Music Store.
Megaupload user asks court to return property, query government employees.
Kyle Goodwin was a Megaupload customer. Less than a year ago, when Megaupload was subject to a raid, Kyle lost access to his own files, which still have not been released by U.S. law enforcement agencies as the case against Megaupload proceeds.
The court overseeing the Megaupload case is contemplating holding a hearing to get to the bottom of what really happened when the government shut down Megaupload, seized its assets, and deprived millions of customers of their property. Goodwin filed a brief outlining what that hearing should cover, and how, so that the court can get what it needs to help ensure Megaupload's customers finally get their stuff back.
The EFF hopes the court will "hear from government employees, including members of the FBI, who were involved in the January searches and seizures that left Mr. Goodwin without his data, and from an independent expert who can discuss what the government could have done to avoid this scenario and what it can do now to make up for the damage it caused."
Acer has decided to delay the launch of tablets that run Microsoft's Windows RT operating system after Microsoft opted to release the Surface with Windows RT tablet last Friday.
Acer, an important partner for Microsoft, will wait to see and assess the performance of the Surface with Windows RT tablet before committing its own devices to the platform.
"Originally we had a very aggressive plan to come out very early next year but because of Surface, our R&D development doesn't stop, but we are much more cautious," Acer President Jim Wongtold Reuters on Tuesday.
"Originally our plan was Q1, but now I don't think it will be earlier than Q2."
Acer has been a vocal critic of Microsoft's Surface tablet for some time. According to Wong, Lenovo and Asustek had plans to introduce Windows RT tablets at around $599, but Microsoft surprised everyone with the $499 Surface tablet (though that would not include the keyboard/cover).
The Cambridge-based chip designer has shown is 64-bit architecture that will power the next generation (and beyond) of smartphones and tablets, while also providing Intel Corporation with competition in the servers market.
The British company's designs are at the core of Apple's iPhone, iPad and iPod devices, as well as rivals in the Android space like Samsung's Galaxy S III, thanks to their combination of computational ability and low-power consumption. Now ARM has shown its first blueprints for 64-bit processors to power the next generation of devices.
"When we are looking at 'superphones' and tablets, the consumer is having to deal with much more data, particularly if they start to originate material on these devices," ARM's processor division marketing VP Noel Hurley, said.
On Monday, Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) announced it would make ARM-based processors for servers, as well as continuing to make chips based on x86 architecture, putting heat on Intel, which has dominated the server space.
Ofcom, the UK's communications regulator, is warning UK consumers about a mobile scam in the region. The scam involves text massages that impersonate Ofcom and seduce a consumer into clicking a particular link.
"This is a scam. If you receive the text message then do not click on the website," Ofcom was warned UK mobile users.
The text message at hand claims to be from the "Ofcom Communications Team", and it comes with a mobile phone number of the sender in six digits. You can report the scam to Action Fraud by calling 0300 123 2040 or via the website http://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
If you are concerned that you may have submitted your personal details then contact the Information Commissioners Office on 0303 123 1113, or via the website http://www.ico.gov.uk/
As far as we know, hell is not actually freezing over, but the BBC iPlayerIS headed to compatible Sky HD boxes. Users with a compatible set-top box, and broadband connection will be able to access hundreds of hours of BBC programmes on demand, as BBC iPlayer rolls out on Sky+.
Sky customers will be able to enjoy programmes from the full range of BBC TV channels. They can choose to browse by day or from a range of categories, including genres such as comedy, drama, food or history. Other options available include flicking through a selection of most popular on demand BBC shows from the last seven days.
Programmes will be downloaded directly their Sky+ planner and ready to watch when the customer feels up to it.
BBC iPlayer joins catch-up TV services from Sky, ITV and Five, all located within a dedicated Catch Up section within the On Demand section of Sky. Sky customers will very soon be able to enjoy the full line-up of free-to-air terrestrial catch-up TV services, delivered straight into their living room.
Chinese mobile users were shocked (or thrilled) that the iPhone's Siri mobile assistant was something of a pimp. Siri would direct users to brothels or other erotic services - if you asked the right questions - despite the fact that prostitution is illegal in China.
A Mandarin version of Siri was launched just this summer. The problem is, Siri seems to have kept her ear to the ground in China. Apparently, she could direct an inquisitive Chinese user to a brothel or escort service on demand.
A public outcry was probably inevitable, and now it seems that Apple has cleansed Siri of her dark ways in China. She no longer seems to provide usable information when asked for directions to sex services, and so forth, in the world's largest mobile phone market.
Just last year, Apple had to deny that Siri has an anti-abortion (or pro-life?) bias because the service could not point out an abortion clinic, but would offer counselling and other services instead. Siri at one point also claimed that the best smartphone ever was the Nokia Lumia 900.
Apple. apparently. has no problem changing how Siri behaves if her behaviour threatens the bottom line.
The new service from EE (formerly Everything, Everywhere) is available in London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Glasgow and Southampton. The carrier says Belfast, Derby, Hull, Newcastle and Nottingham will be active by year's end.
The service promises between 8Mbps and 12Mbps. Other mobile operators in the United Kingdom will be unable to offer 4G service until they acquire 4G spectrum next year.
EE's service is the first 4G service in the UK, but the price might put off most consumers. The entry level plan costs £36 per month, and only includes 500MB of data. To put that into perspective, a programme on the BBC iPlayer could use up to as much as 225MB of data, almost half the mostly allowance.
It is a legitimate question to ask wh at is the point of a high-speed 4G service when the data usage limitations are just unrealistic?
EE got a jump on the competition when it was allowed by the UK regulator Ofcom to use its existing spectrum. Rival carriers in the UK have to bid on 4G spectrum next year.
The reported deal is worth $4.05 billion in stock and cash, which is good news for George Lucas, who is the sole owner of the studio.
It was also announced that Star Wars: Episode 7 would be targeted for release in 2015. That will be followed by Episodes 8 and 9.
"Lucasfilm reflects the extraordinary passion, vision, and storytelling of its founder, George Lucas," said Robert A. Iger, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Walt Disney Company.
"This transaction combines a world-class portfolio of content including Star Wars, one of the greatest family entertainment franchises of all time, with Disney's unique and unparalleled creativity across multiple platforms, businesses, and markets to generate sustained growth and drive significant long-term value."
The $4.05 billion valuation is based on the terms of the agreement, and the closing price of Disney stock on Friday, with Disney paying approximately half of the consideration in cash and issuing approximately 40 million shares at closing.
"For the past 35 years, one of my greatest pleasures has been to see Star Wars passed from one generation to the next," said George Lucas, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Lucasfilm.
The Microsoft chief had previously told of strong demand for Windows 8 (stronger than Windows 7 saw, apparently) since the new Windows revision was released to the public on Friday.
Today, Ballmer revealed that the company has sold four million upgrades for Windows 8, which suggests that there is indeed strong consumer demand for the product, despite some other reports suggesting a more muted reaction to Microsoft's flagship OS.
Ballmer told a meeting of software developers at the company's HQ that "hundreds of millions" of Windows systems will be sold in the next year, and that strong interest has been shown by business users.
Rockstar Games confirms rumors of Spring 2013 launch.
Earlier today, UK retailer GAME had let the cat out of the bag on the launch window for Rockstar Games' hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V. A tweet from one of its branches urged consumers to come on down and pre-order the game now, while also showing a picture of some promotional material.
News on Grand Theft Auto V was expected in November anyway, but with two leaks of this kind in the past three days, Rockstar may have been forced to officially confirm the release window today.
"Today, we're proud to announce that Grand Theft Auto V is expected to launch worldwide spring 2013 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3," Rockstar Games confirmed.
"Starting next week November 5, 2012, Grand Theft Auto V will become available for pre-order everywhere and fans can expect a host of new information to become available in November."
Developed by series creator Rockstar North, Grand Theft Auto V takes place in a re-imagined, present-day Southern California in the largest and most thriving game-world we have ever created set in the sprawling city of Los Santos and for miles beyond – from the tops of the mountains to the depths of the ocean.
Is Nokia patent limiting multiple users to tablets?
TechCrunch has an interesting write-up about the limitation on the use of multiple accounts with Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It muses that a patent held by Nokia may have forced the feature to be limited to tablets, and not become available for smartphones.
The "Multi-user mobile telephone" patent describes a mobile device "designed to be used by several different end-users at different times."
A first end-user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that first end-user and a subsequent end-user can alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that subsequent end-user; each end-user has only to respond to prompts displayed on a screen in order to alter the mobile telephone so that it operates in a manner specific to that end-user.
The patent is attributed to inventor Tim Ocock, who is an ex-Symbian employee.
Of course, we all view our smartphones as our personal devices, we generally don't share them. However, Nokia's patent is likely aimed at emerging markets where smartphones are much more expensive for consumers, and a family, for example, could share the same phone.
Read more...
"The iPad mini is the future.... it's the future until May at least... probably more like the end of May.... or more than likely June."
A spoof iPad mini commercial is becoming something of a sensation. The brilliant mimic of Apple's ads pokes fun at its latest products, the iPad mini (which is DEFINITELY not the iPod touch!) and the fourth generation iPad (which now makes the third generation iPad the "Old new iPad")
The video also pokes fun at Apple's obsession with making products thinner.
The spoof ad also comes as another shot at Apple from U.S. comedian Conan O Brien received some attention. "You're just trying to fill the empty void in your sad life,"Conan asserted to people who will buy everything from Apple's stores on release day.
Enough reading, watch the wonderful "banned" iPad mini commercial..
The search giant announced the latest update for Chrome Remote Desktop, officially taking it out of beta. It also detailed a couple of new features for the app.
"From adjusting printer settings on your mom's computer to finding a lost file on your dad's laptop, Chrome Remote Desktop has made you the family hero by helping you remotely access other computers -- including your own -- via Chrome," Google said.
Chrome Remote Desktop's new features include the addition of a real time audio feed on Windows, and you can now also copy and paste between the local and remote machine.
The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) has approved a wireless power specification that will allow consumers to charge their mobile devices on a variety of compatible surfaces. The specification is based on a concept of spatial freedom, extending wireless power applications beyond the accessory or add-on market to fully integrated solutions in the device as well as surfaces such as furniture and automobiles.
"The Alliance for Wireless Power and its members have been focused on creating a more flexible wireless power specification that sets the stage for formal standardization in the future," said Dr. Kamil A. Grajski, president of the A4WP.
"Approval of the A4WP wireless power specification establishes a true path forward for the commercialization of wireless charging that will satisfy the needs of most consumers. A4WP and its members will now set their sights on building compliant wireless applications that can be integrated by key industries including automotive, furniture and retail."
The specification brings some benefits to the wireless charging ecosystem...
For consumers, the A4WP specification supports simultaneous charging of multiple devices with various power requirements such as handsets, Bluetooth headsets, MP3 players, GPS devices and mobile tablets
For industrial designers, the A4WP specification leverages a loosely coupled magnetic resonance technology and provides more flexibility for charging applications to be installed into automobiles, furniture and other surfaces
For the consumer electronics industry, the A4WP specification takes advantage of broadly adopted wireless technologies, such as Bluetooth 4.0, which will allow manufacturers to minimize hardware requirements
A4WP members will meet October 30 and 31 in Dallas to discuss strategies to bring wireless charging technology to mobile consumers and the mass consumer electronics marketplace.
Read more...
BusinessWeek is reporting that Google confirmed there are now 700,000 applications available for Android devices, though Google doesn't seem to have officially announced the figure at this time.
Reaching the 700,000 milestone means that Android has caught up to the app tally for iOS devices, which is an area that Apple has held an edge for some time. Reports recently have shown that there is more investment going into Android app development, while investment in iOS apps is stagnating.
Apple had also announced last week that 700,000 apps were now available from the App Store, during the iPad mini launch event.
The rivalry between Google and Apple was on display in the past week, with court judgements, new tablets and so forth, and then Microsoft also jumped into the ring with the Windows 8 launch on Friday, and Windows Phone 8 yesterday.
ISP Elisa took on the copyright lobby in Finland, seeking to overturn a ban on the Pirate Bay websites in the country, but the Supreme Court decided today that the ban on the notorious BitTorrent websites should stay in place.
Elisa is one of only a few ISPs in Europe who have decided to fight orders to ban the website. In Ireland, for example, the largest ISP Eircom does ban the Pirate Bay, but UPC in the country went to court to resist the order, and won.
In the UK, the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is now seeking a ban on three more sites; Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents. It hopes that bans on sites that offer pirate content (or links to it) can be sped up compared to the many months it took to force ISPs to block the Pirate Bay.
Digital rights and advocacy groups are crying foul on the growing trend in Europe.
"Web blocking does not seem to be reducing infringement but is aligning copyright industries with a policy of censorship. It is encouraging further calls of censorship and financing enhanced censorship technologies. Web censorship needs to be resisted and rolled back," said Jim Killock, chairman of the Open Rights Group.
Only a few short days ago, a Polish blog posted images that suggested Rockstar Games' hotly anticipated Grand Theft Auto V will launch in 2013. While that report slated it for Autumn, UK retailer GAME may have leaked a Spring 2013 release window on Twitter.
A tweet from a Brighton branch containing an image of Grand Theft Auto V posters signal a "Spring 2013" release window for the game. While the tweet told consumers to "Pre-order now!!!!!!!," it has since disappeared from the retailers' Twitter feed.
Here is the picture tweeted by the GAME retailer (pic source: IGN)
The Finnish handset maker will deliver some of its new line of Lumia smartphones, starting in European markets, this week. A lot of faith is being put into the new handsets to help Nokia turn around a catastrophic decline in the market for smartphones, and change the company's fortunes for the positive again.
It is the first SSD shipped by Intel that uses an using industry leading 20-nanometer (nm) NAND flash memory process. The 6Gb/s SATA SSD 335 series comes in a 240 gigabyte (GB) capacity that performs 500 megabytes-per-second (MB/s) sequential reads and 450 MB/s sequential writes to provide users a blend of cutting-edge performance and Intel quality.
The 20nm NAND flash memory process was jointly developed by IM Flash Technologies (IMFT). It uses a new cell structure that enables more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures. The 20nm 64Gb NAND uses a planar cell structure -- the first in the industry -- to overcome the inherent difficulties that accompany advanced process technology, enabling performance and reliability on par with the previous 25nm generation.
"The Intel SSD 335 uses Hi-K/metal gate planar cell technology, which overcomes NAND process scaling constraints to deliver the smallest-area NAND cell and die in the industry," said Rob Crooke, Intel vice president and general manager for the Intel Non-Volatile Memory (NVM) Solutions Group.
"By pushing technology constraints and using process innovation, Intel can continue to progress SSD technology and pass along savings to our customers."
The Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) has announced that the number of A/V produces getting DLNA certification has doubled since 2010. DLNA has Certified more than 500 AV systems to date, providing consumers with the ability to enjoy music and video content on a range of consumer electronics products throughout the digital home.
DLNA certified devices can be a digital media player or renderer, allowing consumers to control their integrated home theater systems by easily browsing, playing and controlling video or music from DLNA Certified products such as Blu-ray players, laptops, mobile phones, tablets and televisions.
With nearly 20,000 DLNA Certified device models, consumers can enjoy their music and video content on AV systems from an array of DLNA Certified products.
DLNA equipment is made by Harman International, Huawei, LG, ONKYO, Philips, Pioneer, Sony, Yamaha and others.
"AV devices have become a vital component of today's connected home," said Nidhish Parikh, chairman and president of DLNA.
"Consumers are demanding more from their digital content and are looking for ways to access media from multiple devices on their home network. DLNA Certified AV systems are able to communicate with other consumer electronics such as smartphones, tablets, televisions and NAS devices, effectively expanding the boundaries of the digital home through easy interoperability."
Microsoft has released a new Windows Phone App in the Windows Store. The app replaces the Zune client, which was used to manage content on Windows Phone devices. Now all of your syncing needs and so forth can be carried out using the new app instead - if you are on Windows 8 of course.
App features...
Get your music, photos, and videos from your computer to your phone (and vice versa).
Quickly share things from your phone with Windows 8 apps (like Photos, or Search). You don't even have to open the Windows Phone app to move things around.
Automatically save photos and videos you take with your phone to your PC.
See at a glance how much space you're using for each type of content, so it's easy to make sure you never run out of room on your phone.
Get to WindowsPhone.com to download apps, learn more about your phone, or find it if it's lost.
The Windows Phone App is available from the Windows Store.
Religion inspired defacing hits French Euromillions website.
The website was defaced on Sunday and replaced with a passage from the Koran. The passage, which condemns gambling, was shown in both French and Arabic. Koranic verses call games of chance and alcohol consumption works of the devil, that are intended to steer people away from God.
The Francaise des Jeux (FDJ) company, responsible for the Euromillion lottery in France, said other gamers were unaffected by the hack, and that no important data was compromised.
The Euromillions lottery is played in nine European countries, which jackpots that have closed in on €200 million.
FDJ said on Monday it was in the process of putting the website back online.
Up to 3.6 million social security numbers and 387,000 credit and debit card numbers may have been exposed to hackers in a security breach involving computers at the Department of Revenue in South Carolina.
Predictably, this revelation has led to considerable unease with taxpayers who fear their information may have been stolen, with some angry that state officials may have taken too long to disclose the major security breach. State police have begun investigating the incident, which occurred earlier this month.
"This wasn't an issue where anyone in state government could have done something to avoid it," South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley said.
"This is a situation where a sophisticated, intelligent individual got into a database and is unbelievably creative in how he did it, and now we're having to deal with it."
The Republican governor, who claimed she wanted the hacker "slammed against the wall," announced ways in which concerned citizens in South Carolina could find out if their information was involved.
State officials have provided a toll=free number for taxpayers to call to obtain a year of credit and identity theft protection from Experian, paid with state funds. Some callers however claimed that they received busy signals, recordings or no answer when they tried to get through.
Aereo is a start-up service in the New York area that sends broadcast TV content to Internet-enabled devices like smartphones and tablets. Each subscriber of Aereo actually has control of a dime-sized antenna on a rooftop in Brooklyn. Aereo argues that its service is entirely legal since any U.S. citizen is entitled to use an antenna to receive broadcast TV signals.
Of course, Broadcast and TV networks certainly do not agree. Aereo was sued for copyright infringement by ABC, Fox, Univision, Disney, CBS, NBC, and PBS in March this year for not paying license fees.
The trial court declined to shut down Aereo during the lawsuit, and the broadcasters appealed. The appeals court must now decide whether Aereo can stay operating while the case proceeds. The EFF, along with Public Knowledge and the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), filed a "friend of the court" brief, asking the court to side with Aereo.
"Just because Aereo's system sends TV signals to customers doesn't mean that Aereo needs permission from the broadcasters," said EFF Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz.
"Personal TV transmissions don't violate copyright – it's a private use that copyright law doesn't reach. This is just a craven attempt by TV executives to profit from technology that they didn't think of first."
In December, a UN agency meeting will take place in Dubai, and the control of the Internet will be on the agenda. China, Russia and other nations have backed a move to take measures that effectively place the Internet under the authority of the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) - a U.N. agency that has acted as a standards setting body.
It is likely this proposal will be opposed by major Western nations. U.S. officials in particular argue that placing the Internet under UN control could undermine the freewheeling nature of cyberspace, which promotes open commerce and free expression. It could also, they argue, enable some states to crack down on dissidents and political opponents.
"The most likely outcome is a tie, and if that happens there won't be any dramatic changes, although that could change if the developing countries make a big push," said James Lewis, director of the Technology and Public Policy Program at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies.
"But there is a lot of discontent with how the Internet is governed and the US will have to deal with that at some point."
Valve is seeking to extend the Steam gaming platform to Linux operating systems, and is looking for experienced Linux users to beta test the software. The move comes after Microsoft launched Windows 8 - an operating system criticized by a co-founder of Valve.
The company had previously outlined a Vision to build a Steam client for Ubuntu 12.04 that would function just as well as the Windows client.
Valve co-founder Gabe Newell had publicly criticized Microsoft's direction with Windows 8, describing it in July as a "catastrophe" for people working in the PC space. Speculation following his comments surround fears that the new OS could lead to content update filtering by Microsoft, potentially bottlenecking Steam updates.
Minecraft creator Markus Persson also criticized Windows 8, going as far as to claim the game wouldn't be ported to Windows 8.
Pandora 4.0 for iOS and Android is the culmination of a year's planning, design, engineering, and testing to deliver the biggest update made to the mobilee apps since the service first launched. Pandora 4.0 brings a new lean in experience that's not possible with traditional radio and provides an ideal environment for you to better discover, explore and share your favorite music.
New features in Pandora 4.0 include...
Improved Listening Features - We've focused on improving the core listening experience - making it easier than ever to create new stations, add variety to your stations, and browse our massive selection of more than 400 genre stations curated by our team of music experts.
Social Sharing and Discovery - Easily share your music discoveries and stations with friends on Pandora, Facebook and Twitter. A new music activity feed offers a centralized place for you to find and follow friends and other musical mentors on Pandora opening up an entirely new way to discover great music you'll love.
Artist and Track Pages - For those times you want to dive in deeper and explore new worlds of music, we've added millions of artist, album, and track pages that let you learn more about the music you love - complete with full lyrics, related artists, and musicological traits from the Music Genome Project.
Read more...
Windows 8 was officially launched to the public on Friday, along with the Surface with Windows RT tablet. There has been speculation about whether Windows 8 will allow Microsoft to dive into the tablet market - which is dominated by Android and iOS - while also keeping the good ole PC user happy.
If you are to believe Microsoft's chief Steve Ballmer, then all is A-OK so far.
"We're seeing preliminary demand well above where we were with Windows 7, which is gratifying,"Ballmer said during an event to unveil Windows Phone 8, on Monday.
"Over the weekend we saw an incredible response around the globe to Windows 8 and the Microsoft Surface."
Seeing stronger demand for Windows 8, if true, is a great sign for Microsoft, given that Windows 7 has been its best selling Windows revision in its history. More than 670 million Windows 7 licenses have been sold by Microsoft in the three years that the operating system has been available.
The mobile app for the Windows Phone 8 operating system has been built from the ground up to integrate as fluently as possible with the OS. Like the Skype app for Windows 8, the mobile app lets you receive chats and notifications for voice and video calls while on lock, or on another app and with minimum battery usage. Incoming calls on Skype use the same incoming calls screen as a normal cellular call on Windows Phone 8.
Skype also makes use of the Windows Phone 8 Start screen, feeding information to the Live tiles about your latest messages and so on. Skype notifications can be added to the lock screen to appear alongside missed calls, unread emails and text messages, so there's no need to unlock your phone to check if you've missed a message or call in Skype.
Just like Windows 8, once you sign in to Skype on your phone, your Skype contacts are automatically added to your Windows Phone, making it possible to call the people who matter to you via Skype right from the People Hub.
Following the Windows and Mac Skype applications, you can now also see and chat with your Messenger buddies on Skype, if you have linked you Skype Name and Microsoft account.
The Redmond giant's latest mobile operating system is to be deployed on new smartphones from Samsung, Nokia and HTC, bringing new features that Microsoft showed off today.
"We can't wait for the world to meet Windows Phone 8, the most personal smartphone there is," said Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of the Windows Phone Division at Microsoft. "Windows Phone 8 comes on a range of phones that are stunning, colorful and unique."
Windows Phone 8 Video Demo
Windows Phone 8 Features
The Windows 8 Start screen is designed to be more personal than the default user interfaces of rival mobile operating systems. Live Tiles have been a major part of Microsoft's efforts to bring smartphones to life, so of course they are center stage of Microsoft's demoes of Windows 8. With Live Tiles, information is brought right to the Start screen, such as the Groupon deal of the day, flight information and news headlines. In Windows Phone 8, some Live Apps such as Facebook can deliver real-time information right to your lock screen with updated wallpaper.
Read more...
The event was originally scheduled for Monday (29th) in New York, but Hurricane Sandy has forced Google to cancel the Android event.
"We are canceling our Monday morning event in New York due to Hurricane Sandy. We will let you know our plans as soon as we know more," a statement from Google reads.
The Android event has been widely anticipated, expected to be a launch pad for new Nexus products, including the Nexus 4 from LG and Nexus 10 tablet from Samsung. It gave Google a well timed chance to respond to Apple's latest iPad announcements, and the launch of Windows 8 and the Surface with Windows RT, earlier this week.
Last year, Google cancelled a previous Nexus event following the death of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs.
It alleges that Zynga is planning massive layoffs and plans to send jobs overseas, saying it has documents that expose Zynga's strategy which includes firing about a thousand people.
"With a billion dollars cash sitting in a bank we do believe that such actions are an insult to the population and the behaviour of corporations like Zynga must change," a message posted on Anonnews reads.
The message posted also claims that if Zynga doesn't reverse its policy, them they will release "all the games we've taken from their servers for free."
Last year, a huge PlayStation Network (PSN) data breach affected so many people that apparently any news of a new hack can lead to users getting worried. Chris Boyd, senior threat researcher at GFI Software, said that the incidents lately will not affect regular gamers.
"The Playstation Network itself is still secure and users shouldn't panic. I've already seen one person say they cancelled their credit card as a result of thinking the PSN had been compromised (it hasn't). With the PS4 on the horizon, this may prompt SONY to speed up work on the upcoming console,"he said.
The incidents being referred to are a release from a Chinese group BlueDisk-CFW, and a later release of the LV0 decryption keys for the console. The news of the hack seems to have been interpreted, at least by some, as another PSN security threat.
"The only real benefit to this is for those already running custom firmware on hacked machines, who are now able to update their PS3 and go online. While they may be able to play games online until Sony change the PSN passphrase, it's unlikely to cause a wave of in-game cheating and modding," Boyd said.
Steven Sinofsky headed up the development of the Windows 8 operating system, which officially launched this week, along with Microsoft's Surface with Windows RT tablet. It wasn't alone in breaking onto the scene however, as Apple launched its anticipated iPad mini earlier in the week, too.
Speaking with AllThingsD, Sinofsky explained that Microsoft and its partners work to bring down the cost of devices, so that a student, for example, can buy a Windows computer that will last them through their college life. He pointed to one Windows 8 machine in particular, and said, "It's $279, here we are, talking about seven inch recreational tablets for $329."
Of course, while there are cheap PCs, laptops and such that run Windows 8 available, Microsoft's Surface tablet sells for $499, and if you want the optional cover/touch keyboard, it costs $599. When Microsoft launches the Surface Pro tablet next year, running the full Windows 8 operating system, it is expected to start at around $799.
Andy Smith, an Internet security chief at the Cabinet Office, advised Internet users to give false details in many cases while using the Internet. For example, he suggested that you lie about your date of birth, and other information, while using social network websites, and give false information to websites that you can't fully trust.
"When you put information on the internet do not use your real name, your real date of birth," he told a Parliament and the Internet Conference in Portcullis House, Westminster. "When you are putting information on social networking sites don't put real combinations of information, because it can be used against you."
Obvious exceptions to Smith's suggestions include filling out government forms, such as tax returns, or to sources you know you can trust to protect your information. Lord Erroll, chairman of the Digital Policy Alliance, backed Smith's suggestions, pointing out that many banks use a person's date of birth as part of their verification process online.
Not everyone received Smith's suggestions so well however; Labour MP Helen Goodman found them totally outrageous. "This is the kind of behaviour that, in the end, promotes crime," she told the BBC News website. "It is exactly what we don't want. We want more security online. It's anonymity which facilitates cyber-bullying, the abuse of children. I was genuinely shocked that a public official could say such a thing."
Boston Children's Hospital is to publish results of a study into using a video game to help kids control their anger. The study involves children with serious anger management issues, and aged between nine and seventeen years.
They are split into two groups, both receiving typical anger management treatments, but only one of which using a video game called "Rage Control." While playing the game, a device on the player's finger monitors heart rate. If it gets too high, the player loses the ability to shoot at enemy spaceships, and must calm down in order to regain it.
"The connections between the brain's executive control centres and emotional centres are weak in people with severe anger problems," said senior investigator on the study, Dr Joseph Gonzalez-Heydrich. "However, to succeed at Rage Control, players have to learn to use these centres at the same time to score points."
Reuters reported the story after analyzing documents surrounding Huawei - a Chinese firm that came under the suspicion of U.S. lawmakers for possible ties to Beijing.
A Tehran based firm, called Soda Gostar Persian Vista, is the supplier of Huawei equipment to Iranian firms. The report says that it tried to sell 6 cellular tower antennas made by Andrew LLC - a U.S. company - to MTN Irancell, a cellular service provider in Iran.
Sanctions imposed on Iran by the U.S. government forbid the sale of tech equipment to firms and government agencies in Iran.
When MTN Irancell realized that the equipment was subject to embargo, it cancelled the order.
Huawei has said that it complies with U.S. laws and also requires that its partners do so, though this claim has come under scrutiny from the U.S. House Intelligence Committee. MTN Irancell's parent, the MTN Group in South Africa, said that it was a mistake, and that Huawei, "through its local partner Soda Gostar, mistakenly provided details of U.S.-manufactured antennas," and that the cellular provider was seeking antennas made in Germany.
Redbox had decided to allow its contract with Warner expire, since the studio was demanding that a 28 day window in which Redbox could not offer its new Blu-rays and DVDs for rentals, should be extended to 56 days.
The low-cost rentals provider decided that 56 days was just too long and said it would purchase Warner movies elsewhere.
Fast forward several months and now the two seem to have made up, and come to a new arrangement - or well, more or less the arrangement they had before Warner tried to extend the release window to 28 days. The agreement is valid between January 1, 2013 and December 31, 2014.
"We are pleased to once again have a direct relationship with Redbox, providing their consumers access to our movies," said Ron Sanders, president, Warner Home Video.
"In addition, we look forward to working together on other key initiatives such as UltraViolet and creating promotional opportunities to offer consumers great content when and where they want it."
Microsoft decided that it would make "Do Not Track" the default setting in its Internet Explorer 10 browser (on Windows 8), which if honoured would dramatically reduce advertisers' ability to snoops on web users' habits. At the time, it was warned that making the setting default might force some web services to ignore the flag entirely.
The first sign that the predictions were correct came as Apache patched its open source web server software, present on around 60 percent of all websites, to ignore the DNT setting in Internet Explorer 10.
Now. Yahoo has decided that it will ignore the DNT flag in Internet Explorer 10 also. It says that the DNT standard is not finalized yet, and that Microsoft's decision could "degrade the experience for the majority of users and makes it hard to deliver on our value proposition to them."
The web giant stresses that it does support DNT in principle, but believes that the option should be available for users to select themselves, rather than being a default settings - so in other words they want us to be in a position to voluntarily opt out, not opt in.
It has announced an updated version of its award-winning media player, PowerDVD 12, to ensure users of Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 operating system continue to enjoy a premium entertainment experience on their new Windows 8 PCs.
CyberLink also launched a new mobile application designed for Windows 8 tablets. PowerDVD Mobile brings the premium playback features of CyberLink PowerDVD to Windows 8 mobile devices so that consumers can watch movies, view photos, and listen to music in the best quality, wherever they are.
"With over 100 million units sold every year, PowerDVD is the world's number one media player with a proven record of high quality and market-leading innovation," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink.
"PowerDVD is the essential software for Windows 8 users who want to maintain the ability to watch their Blu-ray Discs, DVDs and other videos on their PC or tablet, in addition to their music and photos, all in a premium digital experience."
Consumers purchasing PowerDVD 12 during the launch of Windows 8 will receive bonus copies of PowerDVD Mobile and PhotoDirector.
Earlier this week, the Dutch authorities decided to OK a levy on the sales of consumer electronics equipment - namely computers, smartphones, set top boxes, audio and video equipment and hard drive storage - to cover losses for content creators from "home copying."
The fee varies, but is as high as € for a new PC, for example. According to two groups representing the content industries, Buma/Stemra and Stichting Thuiskopie, the fee of €5 is actually too low.
This appears to be a direct contradiction of figures from accountancy firm PriceWaterHouseCoopers, which estimated the loss from home copying in the country at about €12.1 million. By comparison, the new levies are expected to generate about €27 million.
Rockstar Games to deliver Vice City on Android, iOS.
The developer will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the release of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City on the PlayStation 2 (PS2) games console, with an anniversary edition for mobile devices.
"In conjunction with the anniversary, we're pleased to announce that we'll be releasing an Anniversary Edition of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City for select iOS and Android devices later this fall," Rockstar announced.
"This upcoming version will bring the full experience to mobile devices, featuring native high-resolution graphics and several enhancements unique to the iOS and Android platforms. Stay tuned for more details in the weeks ahead including a list of compatible iOS and Android devices."
It did the same for Grand Theft Auto III already, throwing a lot of us down memory lane.
The rumor can be linked to the recent decision by Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to step down from the board of directors at Microsoft. Essentially, the logic follows that if Microsoft was considering a serious bid for Netflix, then Reed Hastings could not be on the board whilst such discussions were under way.
Alternatively, however, Hastings may have stepped down for personal reasons, or might have found Microsoft's increase push into content as too competitive to stay on the board.
Microsoft has also made it company policy to acquire popular web services recently, paying a cool $8.5 billion for Skype last year, and we will all remember the multiple Yahoo takeover sagas that amounted to nothing. Microsoft can certainly afford Netflix, reportedly hoarding almost $69 billion in cash and investments.
New app censors friends' political rants on Facebook.
So the U.S. Presidential Election is only about ten days away, and the political rants and propaganda are taking over the social sphere like never before. If you find that your Facebook friends are making the service less fun with all of their partisan spewing, there's a solution that just might help.
The new Chrome extension, Unpolitic.me, will analyse your social feeds and locate any political talk. It will then remove the post and replace it with an image. You can define your own image-based RSS feeds - and you might want to, as the default feed is of pictures of cats.
The extension was developed by Buzzfeed and the makers of Unbaby.me - a similar plug-in that filtered pictures of babies. Unpolitic.me only seems to be available for Chrome users for the moment, whereas Unbaby.me worked with Firefox too.
Keywords that are filtered by default include Obama, Romney, Ron Paul, Paul Ryan - and also politically charged words such as taxes, deficit, trickle down economics and of course, "how messed up is this country." You can also add and remove your own keywords to fit your loud-mouthed soapbox enthusiasts, or to make it more relevant to your country (like adding Eurozone, Merkel, Greece, Spain, PIIGS and so on if you live in the EU).
Getyourgoogleback.com leads you to a simple Google page that shows you quickly how to do two things on Windows 8; make the Google Chrome web browser your default web browser (as opposed to the included Internet Explorer 10) and to put Google Search right onto the Start Screen.
While these things sound pretty easy - in fact they are easy - there have been reports of confusion among consumers who are trying out Windows 8, and seem stumped by the new user interface.
In case you know of somebody who might need help "getting their Google back," send them to Getyourgoogleback.com and save yourself the few minutes of your time.
That's according to a report by Der Spiegel, a popular news magazine in Germany, which blames the Pirate Party itself for declining interest. Germany's Pirate Party holds some seats in state legislative bodies such as the Berlin state parliament and in North Rhine-Westphalia, but do not hold any seats in the Federal parliament.
Recent polls put the Pirate Party near the so called "five-percent hurdle," which is the percentage of votes a party needs in order to take up any seats in the Bundestag.
The report blames the Pirate Party's mismanagement, and poor public relations for Germany citizens turning away from them. It focuses some attention on Johannes Ponader, who has been plastered all over the German media after an appearance on a talk show in which he explained his polyamorous lifestyle - he likes multiple relationships - ad his feet massaged and threw his arms around the host.
Attention has also been called to his frequent dependence on Germany's "Hartz IV" benefits program for the long-term unemployed, and his request for party supporters to donante funds for a salary (his position with the Party is voluntary) has given the Party bad press. Some other members of the Party even reportedly asked him to make fewer media appearances.
On January 19th this year, Megaupload.com was taken down in a series of raids and arrested on the order of the United States government. At its peak, the file-locker service was pulling in 50 million users every single day.
In January of 2013, Megaupload's founder Kim Dotcom will follow the Pirate Bay and launch a new raid-proof service called "Mega", with the aim to have it launched and worked on the one year anniversary of Megaupload's closure.
The new service starts from scratch, so your Megaupload account is still non-existent and you won't get your Megaupload files back (although, the Megaupload defence is trying to get users files released). According to Kim Dotcom, the new Mega service will have a wider range of applications than just file sharing.
He says the new venture will morph into a "massive global network," with all non-US hosters able to connect servers and bandwidth.
Files stored by Mega will be encrypted using the AES algorithm, with the uploader provided a unique decryption key providing them with the sole responsibility for deciding who is able to obtain full access to the content.
Microsoft Studios head Phil Spencer revealed to Polygon that its forthcoming Holiday season blockbuster, Halo 4, is also the company's most expensive entertainment product. "Nothing's even close," he commented.
Halo 4 is the first "new" title in the franchise to be developed by 343 Industries, after Bungie opted to go independent. 343 had released the Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary remake last year.
Halo: Reach was reportedly Microsoft's largest ever marketing expense to promote a game. It had spent $6.5 million on promotion alone for Halo 3 too.
Halo 4 is extremely important to Microsoft's games business during the upcoming holiday season to drive sales of its Xbox products and fight off the competition.
It was charged with breaking state securities laws in Massachusetts over the improper release of confidential information about Facebook before the social network's IPO. Mark Mahaney, the senior analyst involved in the case, is no longer with the firm and a junior analyst has also been fired.
This junior analyst had allegedly sent the bank's confidential views on investment risks and revenue estimates for Facebook to TechCrunch. The incident occurred three weeks prior to Facebook's IPO.
It has won the "Ultimate game of the year" award at the Golden Joysticks, while also winning the award for "Best RPG" and the "Top Gaming Moment" for 'Throat of the World'. Winners of Golden Joystick's awards are voted for by gamers.
This year is the 30th anniversary of the first Golden Joysticks awards.
"The awards have been bigger and better than ever, a fitting tribute to a games industry in rude health,"said James Kick from the Golden Joysticks. "This year voting doubled on our previous world record, smashing four million votes from international gamers keen to make their voice heard."
Other notable winners were Batman: Arkham City for "Action/Adventure", FIFA for "Sports Game" and Minecraft for "Downloadable."
Golden Joystick Awards, 2012 Winners
Ultimate game of the year: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Top gaming moment: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim: Throat of the World
Iwata admits every game system will be sold at a loss.
Other Nintendo hardware, such as the Wii when it was launched, made a profit on every sale. The launch of the Wii U marks a departure from that comforting statistic.
When the Wii was launched - whole six years ago now - Nintendo bragged about making a profit on every unit of the console sold, and on the sale of software, right from the launch day. It highlighted that as another area where its philosophy differs from the competition, with both the Xbox 360 and PS3 consoles selling at considerable losses at launch. In Sony's case, every PS3 represented a loss of $300 in 2007, but in 2010 the PS3 system became profitable.
Nintendo will have to focus on making money from the sale of software for the Wii U, and cutting its manufacturing costs in the long run.
Paul Ceglia irks U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
He was arrested this morning and charged in a billion dollar scheme to defraud Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg. Ceglia became famous overnight when he claimed that he possessed a contract signed by Zuckerberg that entitled him to a huge chunk of the giant social network.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan is charging Ceglia with mail fraud and wire fraud, having allegedly fabricated the controversial contract at the center of his case against Facebook.
"Ceglia used the federal court system to perpetuate his fraud and will now be held accountable for his criminal scheme," Facebook and Zuckerberg's lawyer, Orin Snyder, said in a statement.
Vulnerabilities in Shockwave player are very serious.
They affect both Windows and Mac users of the Adobe Shockwave Player (check if you have it installed here.). Adobe issued an advisory warning of six separate security vulnerabilities, and urged users to upgrade to Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.8.638 as soon as possible.
"Adobe has released a security update for Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions on the Windows and Macintosh operating systems. This update addresses vulnerabilities that could allow an attacker, who successfully exploits these vulnerabilities, to run malicious code on the affected system. Adobe recommends users of Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.7.637 and earlier versions update to Adobe Shockwave Player 11.6.8.638."
Unless you update the player, you run the risk of encountering crafted shockwave content on the web that could install malicious software on your PC or Mac.
The company had been ordered earlier this month to publish apologies to Samsung for claiming that the South Korean firm had ripped off its iPhone and iPad with the Galaxy brand of smartphones and tablets. Today, Apple had taken those steps, posting a link on its UK site's mainpage to a note about the ruling in the UK.
However, if this was supposed to be an apology, it reads more like a defence of Apple and a gloating of the "coolness" of its designs. Well.. you be the judge..
Samsung / Apple UK judgment
On 9th July 2012 the High Court of Justice of England and Wales ruled that Samsung Electronic (UK) Limited's Galaxy Tablet Computer, namely the Galaxy Tab 10.1, Tab 8.9 and Tab 7.7 do not infringe Apple's registered design No. 0000181607-0001. A copy of the full judgment of the High court is available on the following link www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Patents/2012/1882.html.
In the ruling, the judge made several important points comparing the designs of the Apple and Samsung products:Read more...
The U.S. Copyright Office periodically consults the public for possible exemptions to copyright laws in the country. For example, jailbreaking smartphones is exempt from the DMCA due to a previous review on how the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) affects consumers' legal use of electronics and content.
A frequent request is for an exemption for circumventing copy protection mechanisms in place on DVDs (CSS, for example) in order to make backup copies legally, and to allow the modifying (or jailbreaking if you prefer the term) of games consoles.
"[T]he record demonstrated that access controls on gaming consoles protect not only the console firmware, but the video games and applications that run on the console as well. The evidence showed that video games are far more difficult and complex to produce than smartphone applications, requiring teams of developers and potential investments in the millions of dollars. While the access controls at issue might serve to further manufacturers' business interests, they also protect highly valuable expressive works – many of which are created and owned by the manufacturers – in addition to console firmware itself."
While the exemption for jailbreaking smartphones has been upheld in this review, the Copyright Office failed to extend it to tablet PCs, arguing that an ebook reading device might be considered a tablet, as might a handheld video games device.
Read more...
The Dutch anti-piracy firm has convinced a court in The Hague that XS Networks - formerly the web host of SumoTorrent - should be liable for damages due to copyright infringement aided by the BitTorrent tracker. XS Networks has already ceased operations, but it was once the web host for SumoTorrent.
The court found that XS Networks is guilty of facilitating copyright infringement for refusing to shut down a website which it knew was illegal. SumoTorrent is still in operation from a host in Ukraine, so it's unlikely to be affected by the decision.
"We take down more than 600 sites a year - these are sites which give access to illegal content,"Tim Kuik, the head of Brein, told the BBC News website.
"If the sites are unco-operative, we go to the hosting provider that has to take them down according to a Dutch law, which states that if a site [falls into the category of] 'evidently illegal sites', the hosting provider has to take it offline. What is new now is that the court has ruled that a hosting provider that doesn't act promptly becomes liable for damages."
Still, profits in the three month period were $8.2 billion, rising from $6.6 billion - about 27 percent - from the same period of last year. Sales of iPhones were very strong in the financial fourth quarter to September 29th, reaching 29.6 million, which Apple sold 14 million iPads.
That is somehwat short of expectations. Analysts say the likely cause for the slowdown was the rumors of the upcoming iPad mini, where potential customers were reluctant to buy an iPad until they witnessed what new model Apple had to offer.
"We were happy with the 14 million iPad sales in the quarter. It exceeded our expectations," said Apple finance director Peter Oppenheimer. "But as the summer went on, the rumours were pretty rampant about the iPhone and iPad."
Apple shares initially dropped 1.5 percent in after hours trading, but analysts did not see any reason for concern.
A lot of attention is now on the iPhone 5 smartphone, which was only on sale for less than two weeks of Apple's fourth quarter, and is expected to be a hot selling item in the important holiday season.
At a launch event in New York, Microsoft's Steven Sinofsky - who headed up the development of Windows 8 - showed off new hardware running the new operating system to members of the media and representatives from hardware partners. Sinofsky showed off devices made from firms including Acer, Lenovo and others, but dedicated quite a bit of time to Microsoft's Surface tablet.
"One person called it historic, unique. It's starting at $499 for the 32 GB version and we think that's a pretty darn good price. It's twice the amount of storage as a competing tablet for the same price," Sinofsky said.
Later on, Panos Panay - who headed up the Surface development efforts at Microsoft - showed off some of the Surfaces abilities with multimedia, and its keyboard-packing ultra-thin case before intentionally dropping the device on the floor to show its durability.
Earlier, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer had told Reuters that the company has re-imagined Windows and the entire PC industry. The firm has been struggling to deal with the growth of Apple and Google in the mobile space, and Windows 8's Metro tiled user interface is designed as an alternative for consumers to the familiar Android and iOS platforms.
US District Court Judge Anthony Battaglia has dismissed most claims laid against Sony, arguing that the firm has not violated consumer protection laws in California partly because the PSN service is free to use. He also threw out claims of neglect, negligence, unjust enrichment and bailment.
The bailment claim, and the claims of violation of California consumer protection laws, were dismissed with prejudice, but Battaglia did leave the door open for amending and bringing forth other dismissed claims again.
Sony was seeking that the case be dismissed entirely, but Battaglia stopped short of that decision. The PS3-maker claims that plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate any actual injury from the theft of their personal information.
In Battaglia's opinion however, the increased likelihood of future harm due to the leak of sensitive personal information represents enough of a loss that the case can proceed.
Nintendo's numbers are too optimistic, Pacther believes.
The Wii U console launches in just a few weeks time, and Nintendo is projecting about 5.5 million units to be sold in the 2013 financial year. It also predicts the sale of 24 million Wii U software units, which suggests an attach rate exceeding four to one.
Pachter notes that this prediction "is highly unrealistic given pricing and release slate."
"Wii U will fight for holiday wallet share with the existing consoles (which have the bulk of their most compelling releases in the December quarter), Amazon's Kindle Fire HD, and Apple's iPad Mini, among a slew of other devices,"he wrote.
He did, however, acknowledge that the Wii U software line-up is rather positive. Launch day titles include Activision Blizzard's Call of Duty: Black Ops II, EA Sports' FIFA Soccer 13, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. U and Nintendo Land, and Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed III and ZombiU.
"However, demand will probably wane once Nintendo's core fan base has purchased the first 5 - 6 million units, negatively impacting long-term hardware and software sales as well."
These so called "Tube" sites allow users to upload content to the services, and view content free of charge. This is certainly a change for Internet porn that is causing major headaches for the industry, and regulators are also finding it difficult to keep up.
The Authority For Television On Demand (Atvod) in the UK has the power to close sites based in the region if they don't adequately control their content. UK law requires that all pornographic websites that a base level of steps to keep under-18s away from porn images and videos.
Tube sites however, are largely located in the United States, and their operation makes it difficult for regulators to police their actions.
Even the old giants of pornography are feeling the pain, with DVD sales plummeting and the days of "big budget" porn nearing death. "Less work comes around because people aren't supporting the porn industry," said Tom Dennis of the Adult Industry Trade Association (AITA).
"They'd rather watch their porn for free then pay for it."
It's not all bad for people in the industry however, with many using Tube sites to advertise their own live webcam services.
It has announced new data plans for U.S. consumers with 4G tablet PCs that come with up to 20 percent more data than competitors. The third largest carrier in the U.S., Sprint also said that it will waiving the activation fee on all 3G and 4G LTE tablets for a limited time.
It offered up four new monthly plans for 4G LTE tablet data usage, starting at $14.99 for just 300MB of data. Mid-level plans for 3GB and 6GB of data will be priced at $34.99 and $49.99 per month, respectively. A high-level plan costing $79.99 per month will allow LTE data use up to 12GB per month.
None of the new data plans require a contract.
For customers who already have a smartphone on the Sprint network, the carrier also said that a discounted rate applies to add a tablet to your existing plan. In that case, 1GB of tablet data will cost an extra $15 or 100MB will cost $10.
France cuts anti-piracy agency's funding by 23 percent.
Hadopi is the entity responsible for fighting piracy by Internet users. Its actions led to the first French court conviction of an offender under the three strikes rule in the country. The French government however will slash its budget by 23 percent for next year.
It's budget will be reduced from €10.3 million to €8 million, yet Hadopi has said it will expand its monitoring activity to include pirated video games.
Under President François Hollande's new regime, there were hints that Hadopi could be done away with completely, when French Minister of Culture, Aurélie Filippetti, suggested a significant reduction in Hadopi spending, commenting that a €12 million was too expensive "just to send e-mails."
A person found to have clocked up three strikes will have their Internet connection suspended temporarily.
Microsoft's announcement earlier this year that it would release its own tablet PC line with its new operating system software installed didn't come with blanket approval from its hardware partners. Acer chief executive and chairman, JT Wang, made his objections to the plan public, warning that Microsoft's Surface would have "a huge negative impact for the [PC] ecosystem and other brands."
Dell on the other hand was more welcoming of Microsoft's move. "The announcement of Surface was necessary to have a proof of concept and to get people excited about what was coming to push application development and create some buzz out there," said Kirk Schell, vice president of Dell's client and consumer product group, adding that Microsoft had invested so much in Windows 8 that it was important to make it work.
Steve Ballmer has confirmed to the BBC that Microsoft is obviously going to be doing more hardware, which has been a rarity for Microsoft outside of its gaming business.
"Is it fair to say we're going to do more hardware? Obviously we are,"he said. "Where we see important opportunities to set a new standard, yeah we'll dive in."
Judge Thomas Pender said that Samsung violated four patents of the seven originally alleged by Apple (one of which was dropped during litigation) in a complaint filed with the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) last year.
The patents Samsung is found to have infringed cover a touchscreen's interpretation of a users actions while scrolling or switching between apps, and a patent that enables a device to overlay a translucent image over another image on the screen.
The International Trade Commission will now decide in February whether to uphold or reject the decision by the judge.
So much litigation is on-going between Apple and manufacturers of Android-based devices that hardly a day goes by without an event somewhere in the world. Apple and Samsung are currently battling in ten countries, with decisions falling to both on different aspects of their patent war.
The two firms have done a lot of business together over the years, with Samsung being a provider of chips that power Apple's iOS devices, memory chips that are inside them and their screens. Apple's main beef however, is with Google, who is behind the Android push into the market.
The Internet Service Provider (ISP) has refused to block access to piracy websites or implement three strikes policies in Ireland, winning court actions brought against it by the Irish Recorded Music Association (IRMA) in 2010. Ireland's largest ISP, Eircom, already blocks access to the BitTorrent tracker.
However, UPC was asked to clarify its position this week after access to the Pirate Bay seemed to be blocked, displaying a message from the ISP instead.
The Pirate Bay has been blocked. The website you are trying to reach is currently unavailable. Further to a request from Irma, the Irish courts have ordered UPC to block access to The Pirate Bay website."
However, access to the Pirate Bay was restored later, and UPC made a statement that seemed to contradict its own notice. "UPC Ireland's position has not changed. UPC is not required by any court or authority to block The Pirate Bay and does not intend to voluntarily block The Pirate Bay," the statement reads.
"Periodically testing is carried out across our European network, which may have been observed by Irish customers."
The research firm is predicting that by 2016, Android will have dethroned Microsoft's Windows operating systems as the dominant OS in the world. It projects that there will be 2.3 billion PCs, tablets and smartphones running Android software, while there will be 2.28 billion devices running Windows.
By the end of this year, Android won't even be half way toward beating Windows overall, with 1.5 billion devices running Windows, to 608 million running Android. Of course, if you focus on the smartphone market, Android beats all already with over two thirds of the market.
Android's rise is phenomenal, when you consider it only broke into the market in 2008. It had been described by the late Apple founder Steve Jobs as a stolen product, and Apple is suing manufacturers of Android devices in courts all over the world in an attempt to subdue it.
Microsoft's launch of its Surface with Windows RT tablet brings the company to the market properly, but its lateness is evident in reviews of the devices, which say it is spoiled by a lack of apps for the platform. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates promised an October surprise recently for apps that will run on Windows 8/RT.
The Patent and Trademark Office in the Unites States found that about 20 patents held by the iPad-maker "lack novelty." Some were rejected because there was not significant innovation over technology that existed prior to the patents.
The preliminary ruling from the patent office has been promptly passed to U.S. federal judge Lucy Koh, who is considering an appeal in a California lawsuit that saw Samsung ordered to pay $1.05 billion in damages to Apple. Samsung has appealed the case, suggesting that the jury foreman failed to answer questions truthfully and may have been biased.
Apple alleged that Samsung violated patents by including "overscroll bounce" features in its smartphones, referring the "bouncing" animation that occurs when a user scrolls past the end of a page on a touch-screen device.
Huawei is the world's second largest supplier of telecoms equipment, after Ericsson, but it is currently being hammered by U.S. lawmakers and other world governments for alleged ties to the Chinese government. The company denies any ties to Beijing, and has promised to be more open and transparent, while fighting the image being portrayed of it.
"Huawei has done a very poor job of communicating about ourselves and we must take full responsibility for that," the chairman of its Australian business, John Lord, told reporters on Wednesday. "Huawei has a duty to set the record straight, to dispel the myths and the misinformation."
Lord said that there are no grounds for any governments to fear doing business with Huawei. The Australian government has barred Huawei from a $38 billion project in the country, while U.S. lawmakers have also expressed concerns about the Chinese firm.
To alleviate concerns in Australia, the company is offered to setup a center in Australia where security-cleared officials will be able to examine all of its source code and equipment. It already has such a center in Britain, where it is now the sole equipment provider for Britain's national broadband network. The firm also offered to do the same in the United States, as did ZTE, but a U.S. congressional intelligence committee found that such a center would fall short of addressing security concerns.
Regulator won't probe Windows RT browser restrictions.
Several rival browser makers have made noise over Microsoft disallowing the full install of rival browsers on Windows RT, limiting those with only the Metro UI to using the Internet Explorer browser. Considering the European Commission investigated Microsoft for competition concerns due to its bundling of Internet Explorer with previous versions of Windows, the EU regulators might have been expected to repeat the same actions or consider that the previous settlement with Microsoft extends to newer versions of Windows.
However, Vice-President of the European Commission, Jaoquin Almunia, ruled out a new probe into Microsoft's browser policies for Windows on Tablet PCs.
"There are no grounds to pursue an investigation on this issue," he told a news briefing when asked.
The investigation that led to the 2009 agreement between Microsoft and the European Commission - which brought about the Browser Choice screen - was driven by the fact that Microsoft's Windows was the dominant operating system on PCs within the EEA. The Commission viewed Microsoft's bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows as an abuse of that position. With Windows for Tablet PCs, perhaps the commission does not see Microsoft in the same position, and does not feel that the 2009 agreement extends onto tablets from home PCs.
Apple had accused Samsung of patent infringement in the use of "pinch to zoom" features on its Galaxy brand of smartphones and tablet PCs. Last year, Apple lost a preliminary judgement on the same patent in the Dutch courts, and had also failed to convince a court in Britain that HTC violated it, or that Samsung and Motorola Mobility had in Germany.
"With these products Samsung does not infringe the claims that Apple has made," the court in The Hague said in its ruling on Wednesday, acknowledging that its ruling is similar to the others made in separate EU states.
Samsung and Apple are locked in a battle in ten countries, fighting over the growing smartphone and tablet PC markets. The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) is expected to make a decision in an important case between the two this week.
Samsung welcomed today's court decision, while Apple did not comment to the media.
European regulator says Microsoft failed to completely comply with "Browser Choice" commitments.
Microsoft had agreed to present a web browser choice screen to all users in the European Economic Area (EEA) in order to settle a competition investigation, in which the European Commission outlined its preliminary view that the company abused its dominant position in the market for client PC operating systems through the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows.
Since then, millions of European users will have seen the Browser Choice screen appear on their Desktop. The screen is an unbiased browser selection program that allowed a user to install an alternative web browser, or stick with Internet Explorer as a default.
However, Microsoft failed to roll out the browser choice screen with its Windows 7 Service Pack 1, which was released in February 2011, the European regulator has said. From February 2011 until July 2012, millions of Windows users in the EU may not have seen the choice screen. Microsoft has acknowledged that the choice screen was not displayed during that period.
If a company has breached commitments made legally binding by way of an Article 9 decision, it may be fined up to 10% of its total annual turnover.
The study showed that 51.5 percent of participants used their tablet PCs for gaming within a two week period. That represents an average of 10.9 percent of total incidents of use, which apparently beats social networking or watching video.
Checking e-mails was clearly a favourite for tablet users, with 84.5 percent using a tablet to check e-mails within the period, and e-mail accounting for 18.9 percent of total incidents of use.
Google's results are largely in line with a similar study conducted by Nielsen into what consumers use their tablet PCs to do.
"By better understanding current tablet activities and their context, these findings may serve as a basis for anyone designing and developing applications and sites for tablets," the Google report notes.
Over the past few years, there has been several breaches of the PS3's security, which is geared toward controlling what can be run on the device. A few days ago, it suffered another big setback when a crew calling itself "The Three Musketeers" released the LV0 keys into the wild.
The group claimed that the keys were only made public because another group was using the code to develop its own customer firmware (BlueDiskCFW) to sell.
According to reports, the keys may be used to decrypt future console updates in order to incorporate changes into custom firmware packages, or get around new security measures.
"You can be sure that if it wouldn't have been for this leak, this key would never have seen the light of day," the group wrote in a note with the release. "Only the fear of our work being used by others to make money out of it has forced us to release this now."
The new iMac is packed into an aluminum and glass enclosure with up to 40 percent less volume than its predecessor and an edge that measures just 5 mm thin. The new iMac also features a completely reengineered display that reduces reflection by 75 percent.
It is powered by Intel Core i5 processors, or Core i7 if you wish to upgrade. The latest NVIDIA GeForce processors deliver up to 60 percent faster performance for advanced gaming and graphics intensive apps.
Every new iMac now comes standard with 8GB of 1600 MHz memory and a 1TB hard drive, and customers can choose to configure their iMac with up to 32GB of memory and a new 3TB hard drive, or 768GB of flash storage for ultimate performance.
For connectivity, the new iMac features two Thunderbolt and four USB 3.0 ports.
Apple also described its new Fusion Drive option, an innovative new storage choice that gives customers the performance of flash storage and the capacity of a hard drive. It combines 128GB of flash with a standard 1TB or 3TB hard drive to create a single storage volume that intelligently manages files to optimize read and write performance.
Read more...
The new MacBook Pro is just 0.75 inches thick and weighs just 3.57lbs, making it 20 percent thinner and just under 1lb lighter. The 227 ppi display was predicted to be a feature of a new 13-inch MacBook Pro over the last few weeks. It comes with a FaceTime HD camera, dual microphones, improved speakers, three-stream 802.11n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and a MagSafe 2 power port.
The new notebook features a 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5 processors with the option to choose faster 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7 processors, Intel HD Graphics 4000, 8GB of 1600 MHz memory, and up to 768GB of flash storage. Two Thunderbolt and two USB 3.0 ports allow users to connect to multiple displays and high-performance devices, and a new HDMI port offers quick connectivity to an HDTV.
The 13-inch MacBook Pro battery delivers up to 7 hours of wireless productivity and can remain in standby for up to 30 days, according to Apple.
Read more...
Apple showed off two new iPads today. First the company introduced the new fourth generation iPad, which is powered by a new A6X chip, promising double the processing and graphics performance over the third generation iPad. It features a 9.7-inch Retina Display, and adds a FaceTime HD camera. Apple also promises twice the performance from Wi-Fi with the fourth generation iPad, along with broader international support for LTE.
The fourth generation iPad also features the new lightning connector, which can be utilized for TV out via a "Lightning to HDMI" or "Lightning to VGA" cable, and other cables adapters also support cameras and SD cards.
iPad mini
The real star of the show however - and the device we were waiting to cover - is the iPad mini. It is 7.2 mm thin and weighs 0.68lbs, 23 percent thinner and 53 percent lighter than the third generation iPad, featuring a 7.9-inch multi-touch display. It features FaceTime HD and iSight cameras. It's battery life matches that of its bigger brother, at 10 hours.
Read more...
Essentially, when the Skype app is running in the background on Windows 8, it stops using the CPU of the device entirely and takes advantage of a feature called Connected Standby in modern chips, and Microsoft's cloud servers.
One minute after a user switches to another app, the Skype app will be suspended entirely after it registers its change of activity with Windows Push Notification Services (WNS), which is Microsoft software that runs in the cloud.
Skype typically has worked by maintaining open connections with all active contacts. This way, the Microsoft cloud servers will take on the job of alerting the Windows 8 device that there is an incoming call or message, with the Skype app not using the system resources at all. When the device receives the notification from Microsoft's servers, it will reactivate the Skype app and the app will handle the activity. The reactivation will happen within a fraction of a second after a user tries to make an incoming call.
"Skype evolved on the desktop as a large application that maintains a connection with all of your peers," Piero Sierra, Skype's director of program management, told the BBC News website.
The 20 year old reportedly worked out of his parents basement, where he wrote rogue Android apps that came laced with malicious code. The malware sent premium SMS messages, which affected over 17,000 victims, and netted the alleged author about half a million euros since 2011.
The malware also stole usernames and passwords from gaming and gambling sites accessed by the owners.
He admitted his guilt shortly after his arrest, but stressed that his actions were not motivated by greed, but rather by a love for computer technology.
Rogue apps are becoming a big problem for Android. They mimic other popular apps, such as Instagram, Skype and Angry Birds, but they come loaded with extra nasties, often leaving the owner of the handset with a huge bill for premium SMS.
IWF warns that porn sites want your racy photos so badly they will steal them.
It shouldn't come as any surprise to a reader that posting pictures of videos of you online - that are of a sexual nature - is probably not a very good idea when sober. Apparently though, many people do in fact post such content, even to social networks, and porn sites are only too happy to snap up pictures of you and host them.
The Internet Watch Foundation (IWF) primarily investigates images and videos of child sexual abuse online, but this warning isn't just about the youngest Internet users' actions. The group tracked 12,000 self-generated photos and videos that had been posted online (social networks and so forth), and found that 88 percent of them had been reposted by pornography websites.
What the IWF wants to get into everyone's head is that when you post something online, it may become impossible to force it offline. Many people, especially teenagers, don't seem to realize how quickly you can lose control of content online, it is even impossible for celebrities and royalty with expensive legal resources at their disposal to do it.
Michael Paul McIver posted a video he recorded while travelling on a new motorbike. In the video, the speedometer showed that he was travelling up to 120.6mph, over 11 miles in Denbighshire along the A5 near Corwen, and the A5104 at Llandegla.
The 25 year old was ashmed of his actions depicted in the video, Prestatyn magistrates heard. He has been banned from driving for a year, and ordered to carry out 200 hours of community service.
The prosecutor conceded that the speed was the only factor that he was being punished for, as the video showed that the bike was well controlled over the journey. Nevertheless, McIver accepted that his actions were dangerous.
It is not the first - and is not likely to be the last - incriminating video posted on YouTube showing a driver smashing the speed limit. Why do they post the videos?
Your smartphone may be filthier than your bathroom.
We've all had the delightful experience of a greasy touch-screen smartphone by now, but what lives on that greasy surface is a cause for concern for some health professionals. Your smartphone is warm most of the time in your pocket (and from its own internal operating temperature), and you handle it many times per day with your bare hands - as some of your friends or family might also - and then you raise it to your face to speak into it.
This combination is a perfect scenario for some really filthy microbiology to breathe and migrate into your body. That's the message coming from the American Academy of Family Physicians, whose President Jeffrey Cain warns goes completely unnoticed to most smartphone users.
Bacteria on a phone can easily cause conditions such as Pinkeye or Diarrhea, and viruses such as influenza can be transferred from the hands, or from proximity to a sneeze or cough, to a handset's surface.
Of course, the same thing is true for keyboard, a mouse or a landline phone, but the difference with a handset is you carry it around with you all the time, you use it constantly, and you touch it to your face. The Wall Street Journal decided to test some handsets for any nasty passengers while reporting on this issue.
Nokia seeks to raise cash to fight competition, and bolster struggling finances.
It will raise almost a billion dollars by issuing convertible bonds, which can be very lucrative to investors when they are converted into shares years after they are issued. The cash will help it to push back against Apple and Samsung, who are gobbling the smartphone market up to Nokia's detriment.
The Finnish handset giant is struggling to compete in the rapidly changing, and very lucrative market. It is burning through its net cash, which fell from euro;4.2 billion in June, to €3.6 billion in Septemmber. At the end of Q3 2012, Nokia recorded €3.8 billion in liabilities, and faces €1.75 billion in bonds and loans maturing in 2014. Over the past year, it has seen its credit rating cut to junk.
Nokia's focus now has to be on breaking further into the market for smartphones, and is betting on new Lumia models to do just that. The Lumia 820 and Lumia 920 run Microsoft's new Windows Phone 8 operating system, and are due to arrive in stores in November. The company also recently unveiled its $199 Lumia 510, an update of the Lumia 610 handset with a larger screen - it does not run WP8.
The iPad-maker will host a press event in a few hours time which is widely anticipated to the be the unveiling of a new smaller iPad. A source told THG that Apple will only unveil the iPad Mini today, and not other potential revelations that have been speculated, such as a beefed up iPad 3 or Retina Display-touting MacBook Pro.
Apple has looked on as Amazon's Kindle Fire tablets, and Google's Nexus 7 served as a proof of concept - consumers are interested in small form factor tablets. The iPad line has been enormously lucrative for the company, clearly 84 million devices sold since the first iPad launch in 2010. The next iteration of the iPad is expected in Spring next year.
Right now, Apple hopes to provide Amazon and Google with a serious competitor for tablets in the ~7-inch range.
The launch is another test for Apple CEO Tim Cook, who is attempting to fill the shoes of Steve Jobs, who passed away just over a year ago. While this move seems like a no-brainer, there are some slight worries that Apple might end up offering a new smaller iPad to the detriment of its larger ~10-inch iPads. Will Apple customers decide to get a new iPad Mini instead of a fourth generation iPad next year?
Gaining access to Britain's first 4G mobile service will cost from £36 per month under EE's plans, as it aims to lure smartphone users from competing operators in the region before they have their own 4G services off the ground.
Whilst providing connections that are up to five times faster than their (3G) competitors, the EE tariffs include the typical data limitation buzz-kill. The £36 plan comes with a measly 500MB of data, while upgrading to a £56 tariff pushes it up to 8GB, which is somewhat better, but is it worth paying an extra £20 per month?
The 4G service will launch in 10 cities in the UK on October 30th.
"Our business model is more built around a fast adoption of 4G services ... because of our whole tariffing structure and tariffing strategy and because the UK in general has a big appetite to move to new technologies," Chief Executive Olaf Swantee said.
EE gained a competitive edge over competitors - including O2, Vodafone and Three - when the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, permitted it to re-use existing spectrum for its 4G service, much to the disgust of its rivals who must wait until next year to obtain spectrum for 4G services.
BPI wants Pirate Bay block followed up with three more blocks.
The trade group, which represents record companies and labels in the United Kingdom, has contacted all six major UK Internet Service Provides - BT, Sky, Virgin Media, O2, EE and TalkTalk - requesting that they now also block access to Fenopy, H33t and Kickass Torrents.
UK ISPs have already blocked access to the Pirate Bay web tracker, and the BPI is hoping that further blocks will be implemented more quickly, now that there is legal precedent.
Responding to the BPI's latest request, the six major ISPs will comply and block access but only if they are obliged to with a court order. The BPI made the demand in a letter that was not meant for public viewing, but was seen and reported by the BBC News website.
"Like The Pirate Bay, these websites are profiting illegally from distributing music that isn't theirs, without permission and without paying a penny to the musicians, writers and producers who created it," a spokesman for the BPI told the BBC.
"It is plain wrong. The existence of these sites damages the growth of Britain's burgeoning digital music sector."
The Microsoft chairman hinted that Redmond's long term plan for its Windows and Windows Phone operating systems is to merge them into a universal OS, saying they are "evolving literally into being a single platform." He was addressing the increasing amount of sharing between Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8.
He also took time to praise the Microsoft Surface tablet, and promised an "October surprise" in the area of Windows 8 apps, which is a weak area compared to the alternative app collections for Android or iOS.
Watch the short in-house interview with Bill Gates below.
Sony ends partnership with Stanford University's Folding@home.
Folding@home has been available on PS3s since 2007. Since then, more than 15 million users have participated in the program, logging more than 100 million computation hours to the project. Now, with the 4.30 firmware update for the games console, the partnership between Folding@Home and PlayStation is being terminated.
Folding@home is a distributed computing program that simulates protein folding as part of research into the causes of a variety of diseases, such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and types of cancers. The contribution from PS3 users has had a considerable effect on the progress made by the program.
Nintendo has praised a court ruling that led to a patent infringement lawsuit concerning technology in the Nintendo Wii home console, and the Balance Board peripheral, being dropped. Impulse Technology Ltd had sued Nintendo, claiming that both products violated a patent it held related to an interactive exercise system.
Earlier this month, the Judge overseeing the case gave his own interpretation of the wording of the patent at the center of the lawsuit, and the result of his opinion was Impulse dropping its case against the Japanese game-maker.
"We are very pleased with the court's ruling, which forced Impulse to walk away from this lawsuit," Nintendo of America deputy general counsel Richard Medway said.
"Nintendo vigorously defends patent lawsuits when we firmly believe that we have not infringed another party's patent. We will continue our tradition of developing unique and innovative products while respecting the intellectual property rights of others."
BT and Virgin Media objection enrages Birmingham council.
The city council plans to build a 100Mbps+ broadband network to serve areas of the city. It says that in some places, such as Digbeth, Eastside and the city's Jewellery Quarter, businesses do not have access to affordable high speed broadband.
The council applied for funding from the European Commission State Aid to improve its broadband infrastructure throughout the city, and was successful in its application. However, Virgin Media and BT are opposed to the plan.
Virgin Media claims that Birmingham already has significant overbuild with its current network, contrary to the council's belief that providers have underserved local areas.
"The city has worked in a very positive and collaborative way with them over the last few years to help inform and develop our business case and we are surprised that they have now chosen to appeal at such a late stage," Councillor James McKay said.
"We are liaising with government and the European Commission and we are advocating that this matter be treated with some urgency as a 'test case' for Europe and that everything that can be done to expedite it through the legal process is done."
BlackBerry hurting as federal agency to spend $2.1 million on switching to iPhones.
These are not good days for Research in Motion (RIM) and the BlackBerry brand, and it is no secret. While RIM is betting on its upcoming BB10 smartphone, which will compete with iPhones and Android devices, it has lost some important business lately. The latest blow comes as the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) prepares to arm 17,600 employees with iPhones, ending a long partnership with BlackBerry.
According to ICE, RIM "can no longer meet the mobile technology needs of the agency." It picked Apple's devices over Android phones because of Apple's strict controls over the hardware platform and operating system.
"The iPhone services will allow these individuals to leverage reliable, mobile technology on a secure and manageable platform in furtherance of the agency's mission,"the agency declared in a solicitation document posted last week.
BlackBerry's have been popular among government and enterprise users for years, largely due to perceived supremacy in security over the competition. Apple has done some work in this area to make iPhones more appealing to government and business.
Hundreds of apps found to be vulnerable to "man in the middle" attacks.
Research conducted at the University of Leibniz in Hanover and the computer science department at the Philipps University of Marburg, found that hundreds of Android apps can leak personal or sensitive information. The researchers tested 13,500 Android apps from the Google Play store, and found that 8 percent of them failed to protect bank account details, or social media login details, adequately, due to SSL weaknesses.
The test utilized a crafted attack tool and a fake Wi-Fi hotspot to spy on data transmitted from the apps. In many cases, the researchers were able to retrieve login credentials for banking, email, social media or corporate networks. They could also disable security programs or spoof them into labelling secure apps as infected, and in cases could even inject code into the data stream and force apps to carry out specific commands.
Since the researchers intentionally focused on popular apps, some of the tested apps have clocked up millions of downloads.
The Orthodox Christians apparently believe that the iconic Apple logo - an Apple with a bite taken out of it - symbolizes the original sin of Adam and Eve in the Bible. In fact, the Apple logo (and company name) is inspired by Isaac Newton, who became obsessed with gravity after an Apple allegedly landed on his head after falling from a tree.
Regardless of the facts though, there are reports that some Christians in Russia have even taken to covering up the Apple logo with images of the cross. Anti-blasphemy laws have been introduced in the Russian parliament, much to the disgust of more secular types in Russian politics and society.
Tensions in Russia between the Orthodox Church and secular elements in society have been escalating in recent times. One incident that gained international attention was the case of the Pussy Riot band, who staged a protest in one of Russia's main cathedrals, landing the band members in a whole lot of trouble.
Russian political party Yabloko may back Apple in any dispute with the religious orders, or the state. The party (its name translates as "Apple") has been a critic of what it sees as attempts to create a "clerical-police state" and to fuel conflict between the Russian Orthodox Church and secular civil society.
The rift between both giants continues to widen as Samsung is reportedly cutting its LCD supply contracts with Apple. The report from the Korea Times said that Samsung has already cut its LCD shipments to Apple in recent months, but will cease shipping LCD screens to the iPad-maker in 2013.
Samsung was the largest supplier of LCD screens to Apple in the first half of 2012, topping 15 million screens, somewhat ahead of LG Display's 12.5 million. In the third quarter however, Samsung shipped less than 3 million LCDs to Apple, and is expected to ship only around 1.5 million LCD screens in the fourth quarter.
According to the Korea Times report, Samsung's move to cut Apple off from its LCD business completely stems from an industry rumor indicating that Apple is seriously considering moving chip production away from Samsung. The Korean firm currently supplies the custom chips that power Apple's mobile devices, but reports suggest that Apple will tap Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co in the near future to replace Samsung.
iTunes 11 pushed back to November.
Megaupload user asks court to return property, query government employees.
Acer to wait and see.
ARM goes 64-bit.
Scam impersonates regulator.
Sky is (really) embracing the BBC iPlayer.
Siri cleans up its act in China.
UK gets first 4G mobile service.
Disney to buy Lucasfilm.
Steve Ballmer provides some figures.
Rockstar Games confirms rumors of Spring 2013 launch.
Is Nokia patent limiting multiple users to tablets?
"The iPad mini is the future.... it's the future until May at least... probably more like the end of May.... or more than likely June."
Google's remote Desktop app out of beta.
A4WP approves Wireless power specification.
Finnish ISP failed to have ban struck down.
GAME spills the beans on Rockstar blockbuster.
New Lumia smartphones to ship this week.
Intel unveils SSD 335 series.
Certifications double since 2010.
New app replaces Zune client.
Religion inspired defacing hits French Euromillions website.
Haley hopes to calm fears, anger.
EFF hopes appeals court will keep Aereo alive.
Who should control the Internet?
Seeking experienced Linux users.
Pandora refreshes for iOS, Android.
Skype exhibits itself on Windows Phone 8.
Microsoft has unveiled its Windows Phone 8 OS.
Hurricane spoils launch event.
Group threatens to take Zynga, Facebook down.
GFI Software researcher re-assures regular PS3 gamers.
Sinofsky touts value of Windows 8 PCs, devices.
Hospital turns to gaming to help kids calm down.
Huawei partner offered U.S. tech to Iranian firm.
Redbox, Warner end stand off.
Yahoo to ignore DNT in IE10.
CyberLink revamps line-up for Windows 8.
Fee up to €5 per device is too low, apparently.
Rockstar Games to deliver Vice City on Android, iOS.
Rumor bumped Netflix shares on Friday.
New app censors friends' political rants on Facebook.
Google site is for new Windows 8 users.
Pirate Party losing support.
Halo 4 bleeds cash from Microsoft.
Securities regulator fines Citigroup $2 million.
Skyrim bosses Golden Joysticks.
Iwata admits every game system will be sold at a loss.
Paul Ceglia irks U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan.
Vulnerabilities in Shockwave player are very serious.
No exemptions for ripping, modding.
BREIN wins important court decision.
Redmond bets big on Windows 8.
PSN breach hack suffers major setback.
Tube sites irk both regulators and porn giants.
France cuts anti-piracy agency's funding by 23 percent.
Redmond will release more gear.
ITC judge decision is in Apple's favor.
UPC accidentally blocks Pirate Bay.
Regulator won't probe Windows RT browser restrictions.
Multi-touch patent not infringed.
Google report highlights gaming on Tablets.
New iMac looks pretty, picks up pace.
New 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display.
Apple refreshes iPad.
Skype app designed to use less power.
IWF warns that porn sites want your racy photos so badly they will steal them.
Biker off the road for twelve months.
Your smartphone may be filthier than your bathroom.
EE spills beans on 4G service prices.
Gates talks Microsoft future in interview.
Impulse backs off in court.
BlackBerry hurting as federal agency to spend $2.1 million on switching to iPhones.
Hundreds of apps found to be vulnerable to "man in the middle" attacks.
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Samsung ending LCD contracts with Apple.
