News written by James Delahunty (November, 2012)

Mega will launch in January.

The new Mega service will give users complete control, as well as full responsibility, for the files they upload to the service. While Mega is seeking partners around the world, it will not use U.S. Hosting companies as partners in order to avoid a shut down by U.S. authorities.

"The new Mega will not be threatened by U.S. prosecutors," Kim Dotcom told Reuters. "The new Mega avoids any dealings with U.S. hosters, U.S. domains and U.S. backbone providers and has changed the way it operates to avoid another takedown."

The new Mega service will encrypt and decrypt your data on the fly, and only the user will have the keys. Not even the site operators will have keys for files.

Fighting pirate content on the network will be the job of content providers, Kim Dotcom argues, while adding that it will still be possible for files to be removed.

"Content owners can still remove infringing material and they will even get direct delete access if they agree not to make us responsible for actions of users," he said.

He is facing extradition to the United States on copyright-related charges, despite the fact that a New Zealand court found the January raid on his home to be illegal.

Google Earth for mobile features come to Desktops.

Google Earth for mobile enables users to view some cities and locations in 3D in excellent detail, while also providing a tour guide feature that acted as a local expert for a covered location.

Now, Google has announced Google Earth 7 for Desktops, which brings both previously mobile-only features to your PC screens. The tour guide feature now covers 11,000 popular sites around the world, and the list of cities with 3D imagery is growing.

For whichever area you're viewing in Google Earth, thumbnails highlighting pre-created tours in the same area will dynamically update at the bottom of the screen. Simply click on one of the tours, and you'll embark on a virtual flyover of famous, historical and cultural sites close by.

Educational and fun facts from Wikipedia will also appear on the screen as you fly in and around locations like the Great Wall of China, Stonehenge, and more.

Download Google Earth 7 from here.

iOS 6.0.1 comes with some bug fixes.

The update fixes a problem with the display, where users reported seeing horizontal lines on their iPhones. Another bug was causing trouble with software updates over-the-air on the iPhone 5, while another affected the smartphones camera flash.

Users had also reported problems staying connected on some Wi-Fi networks, and Apple's release notes for iOS 6.0.1 do mention improved reliability on WPA2 networks for iPhone 5 and fifth generation iPod touch models.
This update contains the following fixes, improvements:

• Fixes a bug that prevents iPhone 5 from installing software updates wirelessly over the air
• Fixes a bug where horizontal lines may be displayed across the keyboard
• Fixes an issue that could cause camera flash to not go off
• Improves reliability of iPhone 5 and iPod touch (5th generation) when connected to encrypted WPA2 Wi-Fi networks
• Resolves an issue that prevents iPhone from using the cellular network in some instances
• Consolidated the Use Cellular Data switch for iTunes Match
• Fixes a Passcode Lock bug which sometimes allowed access to Passbook pass details from lock screen
• Fixes a bug affecting Exchange meetings

EA insists it is addressing concerns.

The BBC's Watchdog program and website report on instances where consumers have complained about a product or service. Watchdog turned its eyes on EA Sports, after receiving a flurry of complaints from gamers who were having very bad experiences trying to play FIFA 13.

The title has already sold four million copies since it launched in September, and Watchdog had reported on some complaints about glitches and freezing that popped up within days.

Some complaints spoke of invisible players on the field of play, and crashes that result in a system freezing up - both claims I have personally witnessed, incidentally.

Watchdog reported on FIFA 13 again after it felt EA had not responded adequately to the problems. Its report told the story of one 14 year old kid, Semir from Suffolk, who spent £20 on FIFA points to acquire gold packs in the game, in order to obtain better players in "Ultimate Team." One day after he spent his money on them, they disappeared.

EA has responded to Watchdog with a letter, which is pasted in its entirety below.

Sprint to offer first 4G LTE tablet on its network.

It has announced that it will offer the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 from Sunday, November 11, for $549.99, excluding taxes and any surcharges. It will be available at Sprint stores, at sprint.com or by calling 1-900-SPRINT1.

"Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 brings Sprint 4G LTE to a new category of device and expands a portfolio already recognized as one of the industry's best," said David Owens, vice president – Product Development, Sprint.

"This new tablet combined with the Sprint 4G LTE network and our aggressively priced tablet rate plan options offer consumers and business users an exciting new way to stay connected and productive with a large workspace in an easily portable device."

Monthly plans start at $14.99 for 300MB of 3G/4G LTE data, $34.99 for 3GB of data, $49.99 for 6GB of data and $79.99 for 12GB of data. Sprint smartphone customers can add Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 to their account with a discounted rate plan that includes 1GB of data for $15 per month, or $10 per month for 100MB of data on the Sprint network.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 comes with Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor and a beautiful 10.1-inch touchscreen display.

Apple's non-apology was not compliant with court order.

The iPad-maker did add a page explaining that a UK court had ruled that Samsung did not infringe on the design of Apple's tablet PC, with the Galaxy Tab 10.1.

However, reading the message that Apple posted, you would get an impression of mockery rather than an apology. Apple also went as far as to mention court orders in other countries had gone in its favor.

Samsung complained that the statement made by Apple on its website did not comply with the court order, and UK judges have agreed with the South Korean firm. They ordered Apple to remove the statement within 24 hours, and re-write and publish another within 48 hours.

Michael Beloff QC, representing Apple, told the Judges that Apple felt it complied with the order, and also commented that Apple was being made grovel. He requested that the company be allowed 14 days to post the replacement statement, but the judges rejected the request.

"We are just amazed that you cannot put the right notice up at the same time as you take the other one down," Lord Justice Longmore told Mr Beloff.

Firm claims it invented Live Tiles in the 90s

SurfCast, a software firm, has sued Microsoft in Maine over the Live Tiles that appear on the Start Screen of Windows 8 - as well as Windows Phone 7 and Windows Phone 8.

Its case comes down to a patent filed in the year 2000, and granted in 2004, describes a "system and method for simultaneous display of multiple information sources". Microsoft's Live Tiles are one of the points it keeps bringing up about how Windows Phone 8 differs from iOS and Android, which have static icons on their screens.

"A Tile is different from an icon because it can be both selectable and live - containing refreshed content that provides a real-time or near-real-time view of the underlying information," SurfCast's website states.

It has complained that Microsoft has infringed its tile patent, and that it is actively encouraging other developers to do so by asking them to design Live Tiles for their Apps.

"We developed the concept of Tiles in the 1990s, which was ahead of its time," Ovid Santoro, CEO of SurfCast, said on the website. "Microsoft's Live Tiles are the centrepiece of its new operation systems and are covered by our patent."

Internet radio firms pay up to 50 percent of revenue in royalties.

At the same time, traditional AM/FM stations pay nothing at all, and satellite radio pays only about 10 percent of revenues to record labels and artists. This huge disparity comes from how the three judge Copyright Royalty Board decides in a trial-like examination every three years.

Internet radio, satellite radio and cable radio firms are on one side, while SoundExchange (an RIAA spin-off) represents music labels and musicians on the other. The judges hear witnesses and evidence about the value of recorded music and the technology for delivering it to people's ears. The three judges then decide what royalties each kind of music service will have to pay for the next five years.

For satellite and cable radio, the judges set prices to give the labels and artists a "fair return" and the music service a "fair income." In practice, the judges tell these services to pay about 10% of their revenues to the artists and labels.

For Internet radio, though, the judges are supposed to set rates based on what a "willing buyer and a willing seller" would do in an open market.

That little detail is the difference between forking out 10 percent of your revenue, and 50 percent of your revenue. Sound fair?