News written by James Delahunty (June, 2013)

Planning manager for Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Kinect, Albert Penello, has said that focusing on Xbox One and PS4 specs is meaningless to the next generation of gaming.

Instead, he believes consumers make their choice on gaming consoles based on the types of software content that is available on the systems over their lifetimes.

"The problem is that Sony decided to go out and publish a bunch of numbers, which are in some ways meaningless. Because this isn't like 1990, when it was 16-bit versus 32-bit," he told OXM.

"Here's what you care about, you bought a system to play great games and have great experiences. I feel like our games and experiences are going to be every bit as good, if not better, technically--on top of all the magic we're going to add with the instant switching, and the power of the cloud."

He said he would rather not even have a discussion on the differences in the under-the-hood specs of the Xbox One or PS4 because in the long run, it's not going to matter.

Intel's new CEO, Brian Krzanich, said he is focused on pushing out Intel Atom chip technology for smartphones, tablets and wearable technology.

Krzanich took over as Intel boss in May, being promoted from the posts of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer after Paul Otellini stepped down from the CEO post.

His top priority is the roll-out of chips for smartphones, tablets and wearable technology, seeking to push Intel into a space that it overlooked for too long while chip rivals thrived. He also said Intel continues to work on its push into television, but is taking a caution approach.

"We believe we have a great user interface and the compression-decompression technology is fantastic," Krzanich said, according to the Retuers news agency.

"But in the end, if we want to provide that service it comes down to content. We are not big content players."

The priority is to rapidly develop and rollout new Atom chips to be ready for emerging technology, such as wearable tech. "I think you'll start to see stuff with our silicon toward the end of the year and the beginning of next year," Krzanich said.

A U.S. District Judge is to scrutinize a proposed settlement from Facebook resulting from a lawsuit over its advertising practices.

U.S. District Judge Richard Seeborg in San Francisco gave preliminary approval to a proposed $20 million settlement from Facebook to settle a case brought against it over its "Sponsored Stories" program. However, on Friday, plaintiffs told the judge that Facebook's settlement did not do enough to keep content created by minors out of the hands of advertisers.

Facebook said it would pay $20 million to settle the proposed class action, to compensate class members and said it would also make changes to its policies to give users more control over how their content is shared. Plaintiffs lawyers estimated changes as worth up to $145 million, a figure which Seeborg found to be highly speculative.

Children's Advocacy Institute attorney Robert Fellmeth told the Judge on Friday that minors' content should not be shared with advertisers. Seebord though, reminded him that his role is only to determine whether Facebook's settlement offer is fair.

A U.S. federal judge in Seattle has dismissed a patent infringement case filed by Triton against Nintendo.

Triton had accused Nintendo of infringing its patented technology (U.S. Patent No. 5,181,181) with the Wii MotionPlus accessory. It initially filed its lawsuit in Texas but Nintendo won a transfer of the case to Seattle.

In Seattle, U.S. Federal Judge Judge Richard A. Jones heard Triton's legal arguments before promptly rejecting the case.

"We feel vindicated by the court's ruling," said Nintendo of America deputy general counsel Richard Medway.

"Nintendo's track record demonstrates that we vigorously defend patent lawsuits, like the Triton lawsuit, when we believe that we have not infringed another party's patent. Consumers respect Nintendo because we develop unique and innovative products, and because we respect the intellectual property rights of others."

Research conducted by UK-based consumer product testing group 'Which?' found Samsung's Galaxy S4 provided the best performance and battery life.

Which? tested all major smartphone vendors' flagship smartphones using its Geekbench 2 test. The test measures process and memory performance of smartphones and assigns them a speed rating based on the results.

The GeekBench 2 test gave Samsung's Galaxy S4 a score of 3188. In second place was the HTC One, with a score of 2798.

The Galaxy S4 also did well in battery life tests, scoring the highest for average call time on a charge (1,051 minutes) and the highest for average Internet usage with 405 minutes.

Versions of the mega-popular Minecraft have reached over 7 million sales for the Xbox 360 console, according to the developer.

Mojang announced on Twitter that the Xbox 360 version of the game had reached 7 million sales, but did not break down the numbers to indicate whether it was combined sales of the XBLA download and the disc sales. Minecraft on XBLA hit 6 million sales at the end of March.

Combined sales of Minecraft for Windows PCs, Macs and Linux systems have crossed over 11 million.

Minecraft on Xbox has now sold 7 million copies!!! CRAZY! =D

-- Daniel Kaplan (@Kappische) June 28, 2013

Google is allowing third parties to borrow its Street View Tekker gear in order to capture more hard to reach areas.

If you represent an organization such as a tourism board, non-profit, government agency, university or research group that would like to take photos with the Trekker for future inclusion on Google Maps, then you can apply to borrow Google's gear.

The Street View Trekker allows for people to carry the equipment on their backs while walking, so areas where vehicles or even bicycles can't reach can be covered.

Recently, Street View got imagery from the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the tallest building in the world. That was the first time the service had covered a skyscraper.

Nintendo does not believe that it is releasing too many Mario games, saying that keeping old popular franchises fresh with innovation keeps them relevant.

Nintendo senior director of corporate communications Charlie Scibetta said that the Japanese gaming firm releases new Mario titles based on fan freeback, and that so long as every new Mario iteration is innovative in its own way, the brand will stay fresh and relevant.

"We think we're putting out the right number of Mario games based on what fans are asking for, based on what our own developers' creative visions are," Scibetta said.

"The key to that is as long as there's innovation is occurring within the gameplay, as long as there's new features, then marrying the characters and the IPs that people love is the right call from our standpoint."

Nintendo is criticized often for relying too much on old IPs rather than aiming to develop new blockbuster IPs.

"You could call all the games that we're making here new IP in the sense that they're new gameplay experiences," he said. "They just happen to also have the IP that people associate with."

Earlier this week, BlueStacks announced its new GamePop Mini offer, which provides a free console with a 12 month subscription.

It is the mini version of the GamePop console, which sells for $129. It also will run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean. In order to get a GamePop Mini, you need a 12 month subscription to the GamePop service at $7 per month, which technically means the console will cost you $84.

"We have always planned on having a free console option," said BlueStacks CEO, Rosen Sharma.

"The biggest value of the GamePop service is its content – not the box. Hardware costs have come down so fast that we're able to undercut the rest of the market. With the free promotion we've been doing in June we're already seeing a ton of adoption. That volume then attracts more developers and therefore more and better content. It's building momentum."

BlueStacks touts 500 mobile gaming partners. Recently it announced its "Looking Glass" technology that will allow iOS-only developers to easily launch on GamePop.

"We want to make things as easy as possible for app developers to come on board," said Ben Armstrong of the company's developer relations team.

Microsoft has bolstered its apps for cloud-based services with new SkyDrive Pro apps for Windows 8 and iOS for SharePoint Online users in Office 365.

The apps let you access, view, and upload your documents from anywhere to Microsoft's cloud storage service. You can use the SkyDrive Pro apps to view documents in your SkyDrive Pro folder, select specific content to take offline when you are travelling or have low bandwidth, organize your content by creating new folders, and upload new content and share with others.

The Apps are available from the Windows Store and the Apple App Store.

Facebook has changed its policies toward advertising practices after BSkyB and Marks & Spencer pulled ads from the social network.

M&S had become aware that a BSkyB ad - offering an M&S voucher - was being displayed on a Facebook page titled "cute and gay boys," which features photographs of teenage boys. In response, M&S asked BSkyB to remove the advert and it suspended some of its own Facebook ads.

Facebook has now announced that its advertising policies are changes so that ads will not be displayed on pages with controversial material, such as violence.

"We recognize we need to do more to prevent situations where ads are displayed alongside controversial Pages and Groups. So we are taking action," the company said in a blog post.

Firms like BSkyB and M&S would feel that their ads appearing on pages with controversial material would do damage.

This is not the first time Facebook has run into problems like this. Only weeks ago, women's groups had led protests against Facebook due to alleged 'misogynist content', which led to some advertisers suspending campaigns.

Nokia has initiated a new Trade Up program in the United Sates, letting Americans trade in their older smartphones to get discounts on newer Lumia devices.

Nokia's Trade-Up program allows consumers in the United States to get a Visa prepaid card up to $300 towards a new Nokia Lumia smartphone. For example, you can get up to $250 for an iPhone 4S, $210 for a Samsung Galaxy SIII or $250 for a HTC One.

"Send us your old phone with proof of purchase for your new Nokia Lumia, and we'll send your prepaid card – it's as simple as that," Nokia's Conversation blog reads.

More Info: Nokia's Trade Up program.

In a preliminary decision issued on Friday, a judge at the International Trade Commission (ITC) found that Nokia, ZTE and Huawei did not violate patents held by InterDigital Inc.

InterDigital deals in patent acquisition and licensing, and it accused several electronics makers of violating patents it owns relative to 3G wireless technology. It manage to get a settlement out of LG Electronics earlier, but other firms decided to wait for the ITC.

On Friday, a judge issued a preliminary decision finding that neither Nokia, Huawei or ZTE violated any of seven patents related to aspects of 3G wireless communication.

The full decision in the case is expected from the ITC in October.

Tech companies in patent disputes turn to the ITC due to its ability to get cases covered in a speedier fashion than federal courts might be able to, while also having the power to block the import and sale of devices found to be infringing.

Symantec's Norton Mobile Security for Android discovered a strange behaviour in Facebook's Android app that leaks the device phone number even without logging in.

The latest version of Norton Mobile Security for Android contains the new Norton Mobile Insight technology, which has analysed over 4 million Android apps and processes tens of thousands of new apps every day. Mobile Insight is able to automatically discover malicious applications, privacy risks, and potentially intrusive behavior.

Symantec notes one surprising flag raised by Mobile Insight. It automatically classed the Facebook app for Android because it leaked the device phone number. This happened when the application was launched, even before attempting to login. You clearly didn't need a Facebook account, it would simply send the device phone number to Facebook.

Symantec contacted Facebook about the problem, and the social network said it will provide a fix in its next app update for Android. It also said that any gathered phone numbers have been deleted and were never used in any way.

Sharp Corp is to form an alliance with China Electronics Corp for the production of LCD panels.

The $2.9 billion alliance between the Japanese and Chinese manufacturers includes an agreement by Sharp to license its IGZO technology. It will create a new venture that will be 92 percent owned by China Electronics, which is a major supplier of equipment to the Chinese military.

Given Sharp's Japanese roots, tying up with a supplier to the Chinese military may seem a surprising move, but the pair had previously discussed such a joint venture but were delayed by geopolitical forces.

The new venture will manufacture LCD panels for televisions, notebooks and tablets. Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide (IGZO) displays provide for much better power consumption than convention LCDs - up to a tenth of the power consumption in fact - while also supporting high resolution and fast reaction speed.

Sharp also has tenth generation LCD manufacturing technology, which CEC will have coveted.

In a filing with the SEC, Sony revealed that Dubai dealers resold about $12.8 million worth of Sony video equipment and medical instruments to Iranian ministries.

The equipment was specifically sold to Iran's broadcasting unit and health ministry, while some dealers were also seeking to sell equipment to the information technology department of Iranian policy.

Such disclosures must be made as the United States and the European Union had enacted strict sanctions against specific targets in Iran, both governmental and industrial. The goal is to force Iran to halt the enrichment of uranium that Western countries say is ongoing in order to build nuclear weapons, while Iran claims its enrichment process is for peaceful purposes only.

"If the relevant authorities were to impose penalties or sanctions against Sony, the impact of such sanctions could be material," Sony said in its filing with the SEC.

Companies accused of breaking the sanctions on Iran can have enormous fines and other penalties imposed upon them by authorities in the U.S., Europe and other regions of the world.

Facebook has paid $20,000 to a man in the United Kingdom for discovering and reporting a serious bug with the social network's text messaging system.

Jack Whitton found a flaw that could have allowed an attacker to compromise the account of another user by spoofing Facebook's text message verification system into sending a password reset code for an account that wasn't it.

Facebook has a White Hat system (responsible disclosure) where bug hunters find and report flaws for reward, rather than making them public or selling the information to cybercriminals.

"Facebook's White Hat programme is designed to catch and eradicate bugs before they cause problems," Facebook told the BBC.

"Once again, the system worked and we thank Jack for his contribution."

Reports suggest that the Drug Enforcement Administration in the United States has seized digital Bitcoins from an alleged drug dealer.

According to Ars, the DEA seized 11.02 Bitcoins worth about $814.22 from a man who allegedly was selling controlled substances on the Silk Road online marketplace, which can only be accessed as a TOR Hidden Service to protect the true location of the server and its users from identification.

The individual in question allegedly traded pharmaceutical drugs like Adderall, Dexedrine, Vyvanse, Klonopin, Clonazepam, and suboxone.

What is not clear yet is how the DEA actually seized the Bitcoin. It could possibly have been a honeytrap where the Bitcoin was transferred from the accused's wallet to one controlled by the DEA, or the DEA could be in possession of a computer with an unencrypted wallet.

It is also unclear whether it was part of an investigation into the Silk Road, which the DEA is reported to be actively investigating, or whether the man's trading on Silk Road was coincidental.

Amazon has expanded its AutoRip service to its UK customers who have purchased CDs and Vinyls.

The AutoRip track matching service provides MP3 copies of music that was previously purchased by Amazon customers either on CD or Vinyl, over the past 14 years of the service.

Digital versions of tracks already purchased on a different format will be automatically added to a customers' Cloud Player library, allowing the music files to be streamed from Amazon's servers or downloaded by the customer.

As is the case with the U.S., music tracks added to the Cloud Player library will not be counted against the customer's storage limit.

Of course, AutoRip doesn't support all albums, but it does support a collection of more than 350,000.

Microsoft has confirmed that the Kinect bundled with the Xbox One console will not work with Windows PCs.

After the original Kinect was launched in 2010, it didn't take long before developers had managed to get it working with PCs, thanks largely to its standard USB connector.

With Xbox One however, the connector is proprietary and Microsoft has no plans to offer any kind of adapter to allow use with a PC. Instead, Microsoft has referred to its separate Kinect for Windows that will have more or less the same technical abilities as Kinect for Xbox One.

"The Kinect for Xbox One sensor will not have an adapter that allows it to plug into a computer. Instead, the new generation Kinect for Windows sensor will connect to computers using a standard USB3 port [emphasis added]," a Microsoft spokesperson told Ars.

The spokesperson added: "The new generation Kinect for Windows sensor will be a fully tested, licensed, and supported Kinect experience on Windows. Kinect for Xbox One is being built for and tested with the Xbox One."

CyberLink Corp. has announced its new Media Suite 11, an all-in-one multimedia suite for media playback, digital content creation and disc burning.

The Media Suite 11 pack integrates the best of CyberLink's products, including PowerDVD, PowerDirector, PhotoDirector, Power2Go, MediaShow and PowerProducer.

"CyberLink Media Suite 11 includes the latest versions of our innovative software and is designed to serve all of the diverse needs of today's digital home. In essence, Media Suite 11 provides a one-stop solution for every member in the family." said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink.

"Media Suite 11 also grants compatibility with Window 8, and further extends the support from traditional desktop software to touch-friendly Windows 8 Modern UI apps, merging media entertainment and creation from PC to mobile."

CyberLink Media Suite 11 provides the following solutions and features:

• Easy-to-use – Media Suite 11's unique PowerStarter interface integrates shortcuts to frequently used features in the standalone software, allowing users to easily uncover and access the tasks they want to perform.
• Play & Organize - Watch movies and HD videos beyond HD quality with the world's No.1 media player, PowerDVD 13. Users can organize videos and photos with MediaShow 6 and convert videos and watch them on over 100 devices with MediaEspresso 6.7.
• Edit & Share – Create HD home videos in ultra fast speed with multi-award-winning video editing software, PowerDirector 11. Edit, adjust and enhance photos with highly praised PhotoDirector 4 and author Hollywood-style Blu-ray and DVD discs with PowerProducer 6. The Media Suite 11 Ultimate version also includes over $100 of premium content designed for video editing purposes. Users can also access more than 350,000 free effects, templates and photo presets from CyberLink's unique DirectorZone service.
• Burn & Backup – Burns 256-bit data encrypted BDXL, Blu-ray and DVD discs with Power2Go 8. Users can also esign and print disc labels with LabelPrint 2.5 burning and backup software.
• Windows 8 mobile apps – Media Suite 11 Ultimate also includes 3 touch-friendly mobile apps, further extending the entertainment and creativity from PC to mobile devices.
  • PowerDVD Mobile playback provides versatile HD video performance with subtitle support.
  • PowerDirector Mobile allows users to instantly create and share videos.
  • PhotoDirector Mobile, a new solution that provides a wide range of photo editing, enhancement and adjustment tools with the touch-friendly user interface.

Turkish authorities are cracking down on social network users who posted insults about officials, or incited riots using popular social networking services.

According to the Associated Press, Turkey's deputy prime minister said on Thursday that authorities were investigating people for allegedly insulting officials or using Twitter, Facebook and other services to fuel riots during the month of June.

Protests over government policies broke out in Turkey in June, unprecedented in size and hard to suppress. While the mainstream media in Turkey appeared unwilling (at least at first) to cover the unrest, possibly due to intimidation, social networks filled the void of information.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan had referred to Twitter as a menace among other insults, saying it was being used to spread lies about the government.

Since then, Turkey reportedly asked Twitter to open a representative office in the country, reportedly to make gaining information on users easier. It seemed, at the time, to be condemning Twitter relative to Facebook, which there seemed to be suggestions of cooperation with.

Sony's Shuhei Yoshida has told Japanese daily Famitsu that PS4 gamers will need to pay to play PS3 games online due to the resource investment in the service.

Currently, PS3 owners can play games online for free and smile smugly at Xbox 360 owners who need an Xbox LIVE Gold Membership to do the same. However, when the PS4 was unveiled, it quickly became apparent that the days of free Online Play were coming to an end.

"The main pillar for the PS4 will be online play. We're developing many new ways to play and connect which requires a large investment of resources," Yoshida said, translated by Kotaku.

"Considering the cost, to try to keep such a service free and consequently lower the quality would be absurd. We decided that if that's the case, then it would be better to receive proper payment and continue to offer a good service."

Toshiba has announced a new series of 4K Ultra HD TVs, available in 58-, 65- and 84-inch models.

With 4K TVs, a sobering price tag is to be expected in these early days. The 58-inch model has an MSRP of $4,999, which bumps to $6,999 for 65-inch and $16,999 for 84-inch. Sobering indeed.

The L9300U Series are powered by Toshiba's proprietary CEVO 4K Quad+Dual Core Processor, to deliver the highest quality 4K image processing, including Resolution Restoration to restore clean near 4K image quality from less than 4K content.

"While the content creators work to create more 4K content and figure out how to distribute it, consumers can still enjoy the clearer, more natural and lifelike images on a 4K Ultra HD TV," said Scott Ramirez, vice president of product marketing and development, Visual Products, Toshiba America Information Systems, Digital Products Division.

"This year, consumers can enjoy Blu-ray Discs with near 4K resolution thanks to powerful upscaling technology; however when choosing a brand, they should choose one that has high-quality processing and proven engineering skill to optimize the 4K experience right, like Toshiba."

Vine for Android has been updated to include the ability to use front-facing cameras, and it also has an added Upload Manager for unsubmitted posts.

Vine is a popular mobile app that lets users record and post video footage no longer than 6 seconds and share/embed them into updates posted to social networking services such as Twitter, who bought Vine in October 2012. It was available for iOS when purchased by Twitter, which then released the first version of Vine for Android earlier this month.

Now the Vine for Android app has been updated for performance and to add some new features:

• Front-facing camera
• New upload manager for unsubmitted posts
• Improvements to settings
• Improvements to camera loading time and support for more devices
• Speed improvements overall
• Bug fixes and UI improvements

While the Nintendo Wii console once led Microsoft's Xbox 360 console by over nine million in lifetime sales in the U.S, it is likely to lose its American crown this year.

When the Nintendo Wii first launched in 2006, the Xbox 360 had been on the market for a year in the United States. At that point, there were three million Xbox 360s in the home of gamers. However, the cheaper Wii console which had eaten up attention due to its motion control gaming came along and quickly started to eat into Microsoft's lead.

Month after month you simply couldn't stop the Wii from dominating the hardware sales charts. It was simply a given that the Wii would win the month, every month, the Xbox 360 would come second, and for a while, the PS3 would finish way behind.

But as time went on and the novelty of the Wii reduced, and with the cost of both the Xbox 360 and PS3 coming down while the games got more plentiful and better, it was only a matter of time before the tables would turn.

In May 2010, there were over nine million more Wii consoles in the U.S. than Xbox 360 consoles, but that's where the decline of its American reign began. Starting in June 2010, the Xbox 360 has outsold the Wii every single month. In November and December 2012 alone, 1.75 million more Xbox 360 consoles were sold than Wiis.

With the launch of the PlayStation 4 console set for the holiday season, Sony is reassuring PS3 owners of potential buyers that the console has years left.

In an interview with Japanese Weekly Famitsu, translated via Kotaku, Sony Japan president Hiroshi Kawano and his counterpart at Sony Worldwide, Shuhei Yoshida, were asked about the continued life of the PS3 console following the launch of the PS4 later this year.

"It's been seven years since the release of the PS3 and the console continues to sell at a constant pace, plus we have many upcoming titles." Kawano said. "We have no intention of immediately shifting from the PS3 to the PS4."

He added: "With the 2014 launch of our cloud service in the US allowing users to play PS3 games on the PS4, some people may switch consoles from the PS3 to the PS4. But that'll be a gradual process, and to say 'we're releasing a new console, so trade in your old ones for it' would be a maker's ego talking, plain and simple."

Sony continued supporting its PS2 console for years following the release of the PS3 also. After the PS3 was launched, the Japanese electronics giant promised ten years of support.

Naughty Dog has apologized for an "honest mistake" that led to real-world phone sex numbers being visible in its mega-popular 'The Last of Us' game.

The developer has pledged to remove the numbers as soon as possible. They were spotted by a reader of gaming news site, Kotaku, from the game's virtual Pittsburgh. They appear on a bulletin board in an ad for pest control.

The problem is, the numbers in the real world are for phone sex services. Oops!

"That was an artist's mistake," creative director Neil Druckmann said. "What happened was, they put some phone numbers in the game and then they thought they could just change the area code to 555, then it's invalid because it's what they do in movies. But I guess that doesn't work when you have a 1-800 in front of it."

Actress Ellen Page also accused Naughty Dog of ripping off her likeness in the game, while an artist attacked Naughty Dog for including a redesigned MBTA map he made without permission.

The European Commission has revealed results of tests that show European broadband Internet speeds run an average of 25 percent slower than advertised.

When you buy broadband Internet services, you are given a theoretical maximum speed that you are going to get with the service. On a cabled broadband network, for example, this limit would be set in the modem/router you are provided via configuration updates from your ISP.

Whatever the method in defining the maximum speed across services, there are many reasons why service could be subpar to your expectations, such as network congestion or the limitations of remote servers.

Still, you rightfully expect a reasonable return for your monthly payments. The European Commission had research conducted on the performance of Internet services offered to consumers throughout the bloc, to see how performance stacks up against advertisements.

The report is based on three billion pieces of data from nearly 100,000 households in Europe, that ran 75 million tests. It showed that the average speed in Europe is 19.7Mbps, with cable providers doing the best to deliver promised service at 91.4 percent the advertised speed.

Foxconn has revealed a smartwatch that will be compatible with Apple's iPhones.

Foxconn (Hon Hai Precision Industry) is the Taiwanese mass manufacturer of electronics goods, typically on contract from large multinational corporations. Apple is one of its largest customers, with Foxconn churning out iDevices to feed a global demand.

With rumors circulating that Apple is developing an iWatch that will wirelessly interface with iPhones, iPads and possibly other Apple gear, Foxconn appears set to beat it to the market.

At a shareholder meeting, Hon Hai executives showed off a prototype watch that works with Apple's iPhone. It can monitor health stats from the wearer - heartbeat and respiration - and feed the data back to the iPhone. It also can be used to view messages and notifications from the iPhone, just like Sony's SmartWatch 2 can pair with NFC-compatible Android devices.

"With such a device, you can keep your phone in your pocket and simply check all kinds of messages on your watch," Hon Hai chairman Terry Gou told shareholders.

Pic Source: Want China Times

Roaming fees in the European Union will be cut by up to a third depending on where you are visiting, under continued EU pressure to scrap the fees altogether.

Citizens of member states of the European Union have broad rights to travel with ease around the EU, with 17 of them even using the same Euro currency. Likewise, trade within the EU is done with ease, due to the single European marketplace.

One area that the EU needs to reign in, however, is the telecommunications industry. The European Commission is seeking creating a single telecoms market across the bloc, which it says will benefit consumers by cutting costs.

One easy target is roaming fees, which the EU has been chipping away at for years. Roaming fees are the premium rates that you pay for use of mobile voice, SMS and data usage when travelling throughout the bloc. Since data usage over mobile networks increased with the rising popularity of smart phones, roaming fees brought about the bill shock phenomenon, where holidaymakers returned home to find they had excessively large phone bills.

The EU moved to impost EU-wide restrictions on data roaming fees, along with voice and messaging.

From Monday, July 1, the fees will drop again. Making calls can cost no more than 24c per minute while roaming within the EU, down from 29c, while receiving calls drops to a maximum of 7c per minute. Sending text messages has been cut to 8c from 9c, while receiving text messages is exempt from roaming fees.

Microsoft has made installation ISOs for the Windows 8.1 Preview available to download.

At the BUILD conference, Microsoft showed off some of the changes in Windows 8.1, responding to consumer feedback about the Windows 8 operating system launched last year.

Now you can download an ISO file and install it yourself.

Windows 8.1 Preview (English) 64-bit: WindowsBlue-ClientwithApps-64bit-English-X1899605.iso
SHA-1 Hash: 0xD76AD96773615E8C504F63564AF749469CFCCD57

Windows 8.1 Preview (English) 32-bit: WindowsBlue-ClientwithApps-32bit-English-X1899604.iso
SHA-1 Hash: 0x8BED436F0959E7120A44BF7C29FF0AA962BDEFC9

PRODUCT KEY: NTTX3-RV7VB-T7X7F-WQYYY-9Y92F

If you are running Windows 8, simply double-click on the ISO file and run Setup.exe. If you are running an older version of Windows, you will need to either burn it to a DVD or create a bootable USB installation.

The Australian Classification Board has justified its refusal to classify Saints Row IV for the market, singling out the use of 'anal probes' and narcotics.

The alien anal probes used in Saints Row IV amounts to "implied sexual violence," in the opinion of the Classification Board. It also takes issue with the use of illicit drugs also referred to as being "alien" in nature.

"The game includes a weapon referred to by the applicant as an 'Alien Anal Probe'. The applicant states that this weapon can be 'shoved into enemy's backsides'. When using this weapon, the player approaches a (clothed) victim from behind and thrusts the weapon between the victim's legs and then lifts them off the ground before pulling a trigger which launches the victim into the air," a statement from the Classification Board reads, according to GameSpot.

"A weapon designed to penetrate the anus of enemy characters and civilians constitutes a visual depiction of implied sexual violence that is interactive and not justified by context."

The Board also pointed out an optional mission in the game where the player obtained and smokes "alien narcotics," giving the character superpowers.

Netflix users who test out the Windows 8.1 preview release will be able to use the Microsoft browser to watch high quality movies and TV shows without installing plug-ins.

Netflix had previously pushed for HTML5 video support through Premium Video Extensions. This would allow premium video playback in a browser without requiring the installation of third-party plugins.

Microsoft's implementation of the Media Source Extensions (MSE) using the Media Foundation APIs within Windows provides for GPU hardware acceleration of 1080p video playback, while an implementation of the Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) using Microsoft PlayReady DRM provides content protection for the streams.

Internet Explorer 11 also has WebCrypto implemented, allowing Netflix to encrypt and decrypt communication between its JavaScript application and its own servers.

"We expect premium video on the web to continue to shift away from using proprietary plugin technologies to using these new Premium Video Extensions," Netflix' blog reads.

"We are thrilled to work so closely with the Microsoft team on advancing the HTML5 platform, which gets a big boost today with Internet Explorer's cutting edge support for premium video. We look forward to these APIs being available on all browsers."

The Xbox Music app in Windows 8 has been given an overhaul as part of the revamp of Microsoft's Windows 8.

The changes to Xbox Music are based on user feedback, according to Alex Garden, General Manager, Xbox Music. This new Xbox Music experience, set to launch later this year with Windows 8.1, is entirely redesigned from the ground up and will bring music lovers closer to their favourite experiences.

The navigation column on the left side of the screen will enhance usability and performance by offering:

• Built-in Search: You'll have faster access to your favorite songs, artists and albums with an in-app "Search" bar.
• Improved Collection Management: Simple access to your music starts in the "Collection," where the music that you've saved in the Xbox Music cloud and your local music and will be at the forefront of the app.
• Streaming Radio Stations: "Radio" will offer seamless creation of new streaming Internet-radio stations based on artists you like and will give you faster access to your favorite Radio stations that you've already created.
• Exploring the Music Store: "Explore" will take you into the Music Store where you can browse millions or songs, artists and albums.
• Lists of Playlists: Your custom playlists will be available at a glance to quickly begin playback or make edits, and your playlists will continue to seamlessly sync to your other Xbox Music devices--like Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 8.

British Airways is set to relax rules on the use of electronics after its planes have landed at airports.

Passengers are not allowed to have electronic devices like mobile phones, tablets or laptops switched on during the critical take off and landing periods, where most accidents occur. There are two reasons for the restriction, with the obvious first being possible interference at a critical part of the flight, and the second being concerns about passengers being distracted during take off and landing.

Once over 10,000ft, devices can be generally be switched on, and airlines have been taking in more revenue by offering premium wi-fi services at high altitudes.

BA's rules relaxation will simply allow passengers to power up devices once they are off the runway, rather than waiting until they reach the terminal.

"Customers will no longer have the frustration of having to wait until their plane has arrived at the terminal building before being able to use their mobile phones and other handheld electronic devices," said Ian Pringle, BA flight training manager.

"Now they'll have that extra time to phone ahead for that important business meeting, check their emails, or make sure someone is there to meet them at the airport."

Aereo is on the verge of expanding its online antenna/DVR technology to 19 new U.S. cities by the end of next months.

That's according to Aereo CEO and founder Chet Kanojia, who made the revelation in a fireside-style chat at CE Week conference in New York. Having originally started out in New York City, Aero then expanded to Boston and Atlanta, letting customers rent a remote antenna, which they can use to transmit local OTA television content to their mobile devices, and tans advantage of a remote DVR functionality.

The service did not go unnoticed by broadcasters, who felt Aereo was violating copyrights and should be liable to pay retransmission fees for the service.

To this point, Aereo has managed to shrug off every major challenge in the courts, and is seeking declaratory judgement in New York, which could declare the ruling in that district as applicable to the entire country. Otherwise, Aereo is open to new lawsuits every time it expands into a new district.

"What really is at stake...is your ability to control your own media," Kanojia said, adding that big media companies are telling consumers they must pay a tax every time they store media away from home. He also said the company is prepared to be unprofitable as it fights the battle in court and fine tunes its service to make it more attractive.

Facebook has denied claims made by a Turkish official that implied the social network was handing over user information to authorities in the country.

The Turkish government had blasted Twitter, with Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan calling it a "scourge" that is used to spread lies about the government with the goal of terrorizing society in the country. It was requesting that Twitter setup a representative office within Turkey, apparently to make it easier to acquire information on users. For several weeks, Turks have been staging anti-government protests, largely organized through social media.

Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim had made comments that seemed to suggest that Facebook had been cooperating with authorities, while he was blasting Twitter for not doing so. Not true, says Facebook.

"Facebook has not provided user data to Turkish authorities in response to government requests relating to the protests. More generally, we reject all government data requests from Turkish authorities and push them to formal legal channels unless it appears that there is an immediate threat to life or a child, which has been the case in only a small fraction of the requests we have received."

As expected, Samsung has rolled out its curved 55-inch OLED TV in South Korea, jumping into a niche market after rival LG Electronics.

While it is great to see organic light-emitting diode TVs on the market, Samsung has warned that industry forecasts might be a bit optimistic. DisplaySearch had forecast that over 50,000 OLED TVs will be sold this year, rising to 600,000 in 2014 and up to 7 million in 2016.

However, LG has had a 55-inch curved OLED (and an non-curved OLED) on the market since January and is estimated to have only sold a few hundred so far.

OLED screens consist of thousands of self-emitting diodes, providing brighter and better quality pictures while consuming less powered than a comparably sized LCD screen with a backlight. Production is more complex than LCD panels however, meaning that for the moment they must remain toys for high-end consumers.

PS3 System Software v4.46 has been released by Sony today, fixing an issue with v4.45 that led to PS3 consoles becoming unbootable.

Those who didn't install the v4.45 system update can get the new update the same way as ever. For those who did apply v4.45, and ended up being unable to reach the XMB on the console, here are the instructions on how to fix your console.

For these steps you will need a USB Mass Storage device (USB flash drive etc.) with at last 168MB of free space. You will also need to manually download the PS3 System Software v4.46 from the link below.

http://dus01.ps3.update.playstation.net/.... (right-click and save as)

After you have the Update, there are three stages to go through; Step 1 - Preparing the Manual Update, Step 2 - Activating Safe Mode on your PS3 and Step 3 - Manually Update PS3 Software.

Step 1 - Preparing the Manual Update

1. You will need a USB Mass Storage device such as a USB flash drive with at least 168 MB of free space. If your PS3 is either CECHA00/CECHB00 series model, you can also use Memory Stick, SD Memory Card, and CompactFlash.
2. Create a folder named "PS3" on the storage media or USB device. (all letters UPPERCASE)
3. Within the PS3 folder, create a folder named "UPDATE". (all letters UPPERCASE)
4. Using your computer, click the following hyperlink to begin downloading system software 4.46
5. Download the update data from the webpage and save it in the "UPDATE" folder.
   • Location: Save in the "PS3" folder > "UPDATE" folder
   • File name: Save as file name "PS3UPDAT.PUP"

1. With the PS3 off (power light should be red), touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep indicating that the PS3 is powering on.
2. Continue to hold the power button, and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear a 2nd beep.
3. Continue to hold the power button and after 5 more seconds you'll hear a 3rd beep, and system will power off (Power light goes red).
4. Release power button.
5. Touch and hold the Power button, you will hear the 1st beep, again for PS3 power on.
6. Continue to hold and after approximately 5 seconds you will hear the 2nd beep for video reset.
7. Continue to hold and after 5 seconds you will hear a quick double beep. At that point release power button.
8. If you succeeded in activating Safe Mode, you will see a message on screen saying, "Connect the controller using a USB cable and then press the PS button".
9. Connect a controller to the PS3 with a USB cable.

1. Connect the storage media to PS3 system.
2. Select [6 - System Update] and Press X.
   • Please note: Data and settings may be deleted if you choose any of the first (5) options. Please make sure to only choose option [6 - System Update].
3. Press Start and Select at the same time.
4. The PS3 system will restart and recognizes the update file in the storage media.
5. Press right on the d-pad to scroll through the update description and user agreement.
6. Press X to confirm the update.
7. The system will now install the new system software and restart automatically upon completion.

According to a report from IGN, Sony made the decision to unbundle the PlayStation 4 camera (Eye) in order to gain an advantage over Microsoft's Xbox One console.

IGN cites multiple sources in reporting that the original plan for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) was to have it bundled with the camera for a retail price of $500, but the company decided that cutting the camera could give it a significant price advantage.

That prediction turned out to be correct, with the PS4 set to launch for $100 less than Microsoft's Xbox One, which comes bundled with Kinect and requires it to function properly, at a cost of $500.

In order to keep the news quiet until the price was announced, Sony only informed its retail partners that the camera would not be bundled with the system, but not that it was cutting the price.

The move definitely has made the PS4 look more attractive ahead of the holiday season, but it has also relegated the camera to an optional accessory, meaning that game developers will be less likely to work with it than they would be if every PS4 owner had one.

The Turkish authorities want Twitter to setup a representative office inside the country, after it singled out the service for aiding weeks of anti-government protests.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan has referred to Twitter as a "scourge" that is used to spread lies about the government with the goal of terrorizing society in the country.

"We have told all social media that ... if you operate in Turkey you must comply with Turkish law," Transport and Communications Minister Binali Yildirim, told reporters.

"When information is requested, we want to see someone in Turkey who can provide this ... there needs to be an interlocutor we can put our grievance to and who can correct an error if there is one."

Reuters cites an unnamed official as saying Twitter had been asked to identify users who posted messages deemed insulting to the government or the Prime Minister.

Facebook voiced concerns about proposals that would see Internet firms being obliged to hand over data more frequently, and denied that it has provided any user data to the Turkish authorities.

Google has made vast improvements to its Earth satellite imagery across several of its products, cleaning up previous bad images and wiping even clouds from the skies.

The improvement virtually eliminates clouds, includes refreshed imagery for regions of the world where high-resolution imagery is not yet available, and offers a more comprehensive and accurate view of the texture of our planet's landscape.

Using Google Earth Engine technology, Google's engineers mined hundreds of terabytes of data from the USGS's and NASA's Landsat 7 satellite, resulting in an image of the entire planet with a resolution of 15 meters per pixel.

The resulting 800,000 megapixel global image is so big that if you wanted to print it at a standard resolution of 300 dots per inch you would need a piece of paper the size of a city block.

Check out Google's Maps blog for pictures highlighting improvements.

Sharp has unveiled its new 70-inch AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV, the first television to receive the coveted THX 4K certification.

Capable of displaying content up to 3840x2160, the 70-inch class (69.5-inch diagonal) TV could display breathtaking 4K content. It will cost you though, with a price tag of $7,999.99.

"Sharp has a rich history of leading the electronics industry in innovation. Today we continue that tradition with the introduction of the AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV," said John Herrington, President, Sharp Electronics Marketing Company of America.

"With four times the pixel resolution of HD, the 70 inch class AQUOS Ultra HD LED TV is our finest television ever."
Read more...

BitTorrent has attempted to clarify the position of the company and the BitTorrent protocol with regard to Internet piracy.

Responding to media reports about the piracy figures for the previous season of Game of Thrones, BitTorrent took to its blog to clarify something important; there is no "BitTorrrent Piracy Record," because that happens outside the BitTorrent ecosystem.

"We don't host infringing content. We don't point to it. It's literally impossible to illegally download something on BitTorrent," wrote BitTorrent's Matt Mason.

"To pirate stuff, you need more than a protocol. You need search, a pirate content site, and a content manager. We offer none of those things. If you're using BitTorrent for piracy, you're doing it wrong."

It's understandable that the company would react this way, given that it is a legitimate business providing legal content. Over two million pieces of licensed, legal content are available to download over the BitTorrent protocol.

While "Game of Thrones" has been touted as something of a champion in the Internet piracy scene, BitTorrent insists that the real Kind is a show called Epic Meal Time, which is legally available and boasts 8,626,987 downloads.

Samsung has made its Galaxy S4 LTE-A smartphone, designed to work with LTE Advanced networks, official.

The world's first LTE Advanced-capable smartphone also comes loaded with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 Processor with 2.3GHz Quad Core CPUs, proving a significant performance improvement over the original Galaxy S4, launched only around two months ago.

LTE-Advanced networks promise twice the download rate of LTE networks, and over ten times the rate provided by 3G networks.

The announcement of the new LTE-A capable Galaxy S4 coincides with the launch of South Korea's first LTE-Advanced network, delivering download speeds up to 150Mbps.

SK Telecom Co. is launching an LTE-Advanced network in South Korea this week, claiming it as the world's fastest network.

The LTE-A service will initially be available in Seoul and its suburbs, promises download speeds of up to 150Mbps, twice as fast as possible with an LTE network and over ten times faster than 3G networks can provide.

The network's upload speed has not improved upon LTE however, promising up to 37.5Mbps.

South Korea has witnessed rapid growth in its digital communications infrastructure, with its population more than willing to move to faster standards very quickly. It is estimated that 60 percent of all smartphone users in South Korea are using LTE devices.

To provide for the new emerging network, Samsung has announced its Galaxy S4 LTE-A smartphone.

The official Twitter account for the Ouya Android console - launched yesterday - has removed a retweet celebrating emulation after Kotaku pointed out its piracy implications.

Being able to use emulators with Ouya is old news. The ambitious project had been asked about whether emulators would be available from the Ouya store, to which is confirmed that it will accept emulators but not Roms, and not any retro games that are not properly licensed.

Yesterday, when the Ouya officially launched and promptly sold out, the official Twitter account was retweeting Ouya owners on their reasons for investing in the console. One of the tweeters commented, "Use current controllers, expand ports, and #retro games," referring to using an Xbox 360 controller with the Ouya to play old games.

In a picture he added to the Tweet, you can clearly see Super Mario Bros on the screen, a game that is not officially available for Ouya.

Not only did the Ouya Twitter account retweet him, but it also added #FreetheGames to the tweet.

Kotaku picked up on the tweet and contacted Ouya, suggesting that its encouragement of playing another console maker's games on emulation is provocative, to which Ouya replied by removing the tweet and restating the company's policies on emulators.

U.S. senator Chris Murphy (D-CT) has responded to questions from GameSpot as part of a Google hangout on the issue of video game violence and their potential role in mass shootings.

Murphy, whose state of Connecticut witnessed a horrific tragedy at the Sandy Hook elementary school in December, had spoken of the effect violent games could have on mentally ill players, or players with a predilection to violence. GameSpot asked him about his comments on video games, made in January.

"Obviously, this is a very sensitive issue in Connecticut. Newtown is still in crisis," Murphy said.

"Not enough healing going on there in the wake of the murder of 26 children and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School. And you know, what we know are the facts about that crime. What we know is that this young man, deeply mentally ill walking the school with an assault weapon armed with 30-round magazines. What we know is that he was very, very severely mentally ill; that his mother had been trying to get him help for years. And what we also know, is that he spent a lot of time playing violent video games."

The Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has strongly backed Google in a case over whether Google should be obliged to remove some legit search results from its index.

The case stretches back to 2009 when a Spanish man complained about outdated information on his personal finances that could still be found in Google search results. The results pointed to online reports of how his home had been repossessed due to his situatiuon.

He felt that since his situation has now changed, there was no legitimate reason for the link to still be in Google's search index. His first attempt to get the original article removed failed, as it was found to be "in the public interest."

He then took his case to the Spanish Data Commissioner who upheld the previous decision, prompting the man to seek help from the European Court of Justice.

Yesterday, ECJ Advocate General Niilo Jääskinen strongly backed Google in an issued opinion.

"Requesting search engine service providers to suppress legitimate and legal information that has entered the public domain would entail an interference with the freedom of expression," the Advocate General said. "It would amount to censorship."

Saints Row IV has become the first game to be refused classification in Australia, effectively banning the game until develop Volition can change its content.

The Australian Classification Board follows the Guidelines for the Classification of Computer Games in determining a rating for a game. The new guidelines only came into effect in January. Before this point, Australia had no category for games intended for an adult audience only, which lead to many high profile titles running into trouble in the country.

However, it would appear the Classification Board finds Saints Row IV so bad that even adults should be protected from playing it in its current form.

In the Board's opinion, Saints Row IV, includes interactive, visual depictions of implied sexual violence which are not justified by context. In addition, the game includes elements of illicit or proscribed drug use related to incentives or rewards. Such depictions are prohibited by the computer games guidelines.

Volition has confirmed that it will now have to modify the content in Saints Row IV and resubmit it in order to release the title in the territory.

Sony has unveiled the new Xperia Z Ultra, touting a 6.4-inch 1080p display, Qualcomm's quad-core Snapdragon 800 (2.2GHz) and with LTE support.

The ultra-slim (6.5mm) and light (212 grams) device comes with 16GB of internal storage (up to 11GB available for general use) and a microSD slot for expanded storage (up to 64GB SDXC). It runs Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) and can record Full HD video with its 8MP camera, even underwater according to Sony.

It's giant 6.44-inch, 1920x1080 TFT display benefits from Sony's unique TRILUMINOS Display for mobile, creating a wider palette of rich natural colours thanks to Sony's BRAVIA TV expertise. A 3,000 mAh battery provides up to 550 hours standby time (GSM, 530 for UTMS, 510 for LTE) and Sony claims its 120 hours of music listening time is the world's longest on a charge for a smartphone.

Sony has unveiled its SmartWatch 2, referring to it as a second screen for your Android smartphone.

The SW2 features a 1.6-inch, 220x176 colour display supporting touch/swipe gestures that is readable in sunlight. It runs a version of Android (4.0 or later), supports Bluetooth 3.0 connectivity and is charged via microUSB. Battery charge holds for 3-4 days with typical usage, or 5-6 days if on low usage.

The SmartWatch 2 combines with your Android phone to provide a second screen, delivering notifications form your phone, or letting you easily handle calls by a touch of your wrist, or remotely control the camera of your phone. You can also use Presentation Pal to control your presentations remotely, or use an Android mapping app to check a route if you are on the move.

It can download e-mails from your phone and is also very useful for working out. If using your Android device to play music, you can use the SmartWatch 2 to change tracks or control the volume.

It sports a sleek water and dust resistant design,though of course it's not suitable for use in a swimming pool or bath.

Sony has announced that an update for its Music Unlimited app for iOS devices will come with high quality audio streaming and the ability to listen to music offline.

The v1.3 update is currently being vetted by Apple but it should be available soon. The update brings a feature that has been available on the Android version of the app already, the ability to download individual albums and tracks, as well as any playlists they have created to their device and enjoy music even when a cellular or Wi-Fi connection isn't available, or when they want to conserve battery life or curb data usage.

Users of the iOS app will also be able to listen to 320kbps AAC high fidelity audio while streaming.

High quality streaming will have to be switched on in the App settings. A 12-month membership to the Music Unlimited service is $41.99 for PS Plus members, or $59.99 for those without a PS Plus membership.

South Korea has issued a cyber attack alert after an attack on government and private websites in the country.

One of the attacks was against the website of the presidential office, and others included media sites. The attacks appeared to be coordinated. They come on the anniversary of the start of the 1950-53 Korean War, which resulted in the Korean peninsula being divided into two very different countries.

"The government can confirm a cyber attack by unidentified hackers that shut down several sites including the Blue House," the Science Ministry said in a statement.

Messages were placed on the hacked websites praising North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and claimed that hacktivist group Anonymous was responsible. Anonymous used a Twitter account to deny any involvement.

In March, South Korea was also hit by a cyber attack against six of its banks and broadcasters, with an estimated 32,000 computers affected.

BlackBerry has launched its promised Secure Work Space service, allowing governmental and corporate clients to secure and manage iOS and Android devices on their networks.

Secure Work Space is a new containerization, application-wrapping and secure connectivity option that delivers a higher level of control and security to iOS and Android devices, all managed through the single BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 administration console.

Managed applications are secured and separated from personal apps and data, providing an integrated email, calendar and contacts app, an enterprise-level secure browser and secure attachment viewing and editing with Documents To Go.

While BlackBerry has attempted to step up competition against iOS and Android devices by releasing the Z10, Q10 and Q5 running BB10, it also shifted toward providing services for clients that have large amounts of rival's handsets already in place.

"With an integrated management console, our clients can now see all of the devices they have on their network, manage those devices and connect to them securely," David Smith, the head of enterprise mobile computing at BlackBerry, said in an interview.

Microsoft's Age of Empires will reportedly soon be available for IOS and Android devices, through a partnership with Japan's KLab Inc.

The move comes as Microsoft seeks to generate more revenue from mobile gaming, which has been emerging as a bigger rival to traditional games consoles and PC gaming in recent years. It has made some of its games available for mobile platforms before, but Age of Empires will be its most popular.

KLab will be tasked with developing the mobile version of Age of Empires, which will be released "before the end of March," according to a KLab spokesperson.

Nintendo is being urged by industry analysts to do the same thing with its own popular franchises, which it typically reserves for its own hardware.

A Chinese group is claiming to have already cracked the Lightening authentication feature ahead of the iOS 7 launch.

Defeating the authentication system would allow manufacturers to make Lightning-compatible accessories without getting approval from Apple.

iPhone5mod's Lightning crack is hardware based, and it claims Apple could not defeat the crack without changing its own Lightning hardware. It now lists Lightning products on its website that are listed as "for iOS 7.0".

iO7 devices will prompt a warning message to users when an uncertified Lightning cable is connected to it.

Here is a video from iPhone5mod about the hack.

Sony has scheduled routing maintenance for its PlayStation Network service for the morning of Tuesday, June 25.

This maintenance will start at approximately 9:30AM PT (10:30AM MT / 11:30AM CT / 12:30 PM ET) and will last until around 4:00PM PT (5:00PM MT / 6:00PM CT / 7:00PM ET).

During the maintenance period, you may receive a maintenance notification when attempting to access PSN.

PlayStation Home, the PlayStation Store and Account Management will not the available during the maintenance period but you will be able to access online play and apps provided that you have signed in to the Network at some before the maintenance begins.

"We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and thank you for your support," the PlayStation Blog reads.

Google feels that it has done enough to ease concerns of European regulators over its Search and other services.

The European Commission first began its Google probe three years ago, after complaints from Microsoft, British price comparison site Foundem, and more. They claimed that Google was using its dominance of the market to squeeze them out.

Subsequently, the Commission outlined areas of concern to Google, and Google responded with proposals to settle the case, which could potentially lead to a fine of up to $5 billion.

Among Google's proposed concessions was a pledge to make switching to alternative advertising platforms easier, as well as clearly labelling its own products and services when they appear in its search results.

EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia has indicated since that Google would need to improve its proposals, but the search giant feels it has done enough.

"As we've always said, we build Google for users, not websites. And we don't want to hamper the very innovations that people like best about Google's services," Kent Walker, Senior Vice President and General Counsel at Google, wrote.

Google's Street View has just covered its first skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, letting you take a look at the world's tallest building.

The Street View Trekker and Trolley were used to cover areas of the iconic building, the first collection made by the service in the Arab world. Described as a "vertical city," the Burj Khalifa is the world's tallest manmade structure, towering over the Dubai skyline at 828 meters (2,717 ft).

In addition to the breathtaking views from the world's tallest observation deck on the 124th floor, you can also see what it feels like to hang off one of the building's maintenance units on the 80th floor, normally used for cleaning windows.

Visit the highest occupied floor in the world on the 163rd floor, experience being in the fastest-moving elevators in the world (at 22 mph) and check out the highest swimming pool in the world on the 76th floor.

Photo-sharing service Snapjoy has announced it is shutting down only six months after the service was bought by cloud storage service Dropbox.

In a blog post on Saturday, the Snapjoy team informed users that no more photos can now be uploaded to the service, and that the Snapjoy iPhone app is no longer available. Photos previously uploaded to the site will be available to download until July 24.

After July 24, all remaining data will be permanently deleted.

"After two years of building Snapjoy, the time has come for us to shut down the service," the post reads. "It's been a journey unlike anything we'd imagined, and we can't thank you enough for your support and input along the way."

Users can easily download all of their content by logging in and downloading it as a ZIP archive.

Sony and Disney are running a test in South Korea, offering on-demand streams of movies that are still in theaters.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the pair started trialing the on-demand service quietly in South Korea some time back, with Django Unchained, Wreck-it Ralph, and Brave all part of the experiment.

Running the test in the South Korean market is a safer bet for the studios, as movie theater groups in the United States or European countries would likely kick up a major fuss if the exclusive theatrical window was effectively reduced to nothing.

In 2010, a plan to reduce the exclusive theatrical release window of Alice in Wonderland almost resulted in Odean cinemas in Ireland, the UK and Italy dropping the movie altogether.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has contacted Google over its $1.1 billion acquisition of Israeli maps firm Waze.

Google confirmed it has been contacted by FTC lawyers, but did not provide details of the antitrust review. Previously, Consumer Watchdog had written to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission urging that it block the deal on antitrust grounds.

The FTC will probe whether the deal will have a significant impact on competition in the space, and whether there was ulterior motives in paying such a large fee for the company, such as buying it just to keep it out of hands of competitors.

Microsoft admitted that it was an investor in Waze but has not revealed whether it made a bid for the firm. Facebook had also been considered in the running to buy the firm, since it now relies on Bing Maps, and Apple.

Google said that it would keep Waze as a separate service, but that Waze' traffic data will be incorporated into its Google Maps service, and likewise some of Google Maps' features will be added to Waze.

The Waze navigation app has been downloaded by 45 million people in 190 countries.

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is considering dropping 3D broadcasts of World Cup 2014, to be hosted by Brazil next summer.

Its unease about 3D broadcasts comes just days after ESPN revealed it will abandon 3D broadcasts altogether. ESPN found that there simply wasn't enough viewers in the United States to make continued investment in 3D broadcasts worthwhile.

"We know that the technology has had a few setbacks in recent days, if you refer to some of the statements by (ESPN)," Niclas Ericson, FIFA's director of television, said on Wednesday.

"It's clear when a big sports broadcaster like ESPN makes an announcement like that it creates a lot of extra tension (for the technology)."

Only an estimated 6 percent of household TVs in the United States can show 3D programming. Consumer demand for 3D has cooled largely due to costs associated with 3D, and the inconvenience of using active shutter glasses.

Nevertheless, FIFA has questioned rights holders about their interest in 3D coverage of the World Cup next year. Ericson said there is still some interest from broadcasters, but that FIFA was still reviewing the cost of it.

Microsoft revealed this week that its actions taken against Citadel botnets freed around 2 million PCs that made up the botnets.

On June 5, Microsoft was aided by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in attempting to take down 1,400 malicious computer networks known as the Citadel Botnets by severing the access to infected machines. The operation, according to Microsoft, was a big success.

"We definitely have liberated at least 2 million PCs globally. That is a conservative estimate," Richard Domingues Boscovich, assistant general counsel with Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit, said in an interview.

"We feel confident that we really got most of the ones that we were after. It was a very, very successful disruptive action."

The ringleaders are still at large, while their identities are being probed. Boscovich said they believe the ringleader, known as "Aquabox," is in Eastern Europe.

As much as $500 million is alleged to have been stolen from bank accounts worldwide due to these malicious networks.

NVIDIA announced this week that it was cutting the price of its SHIELD handheld games device to $299, ahead of its launch on June 27.

That's a drop of $50 off the original $349 price tag. If you've already pre-ordered SHIELD, you'll be charged the new, lower price, NVIDIA assured those who jumped on it early.

The handheld will be available from Newegg, GameStop, Micro Center and Canada Computers on Thursday, June 27.

"We want to get SHIELD into the hands of as many gamers as possible," an NVIDIA press release said.

The unveiling of the SHIELD (then Project SHIELD) at CES, and prior rumours, came as something of a surprise since the SHIELD enters a space already occupied by Nintendo, Sony and now every modern smartphone and tablet PC too.

NVIDIA SHIELD's specifications:

• Tegra 4 – The world's fastest mobile processor delivers rich graphics and unbeatable performance thanks to 72 GPU cores, four CPU cores and 2GB of RAM
• Console-grade controller – Precise control thanks to dual analog joysticks, a full-sized D-Pad, left and right analog triggers, full-sized bumpers and A/B/X/Y buttons
• Multi-touch display – 5-inch, 720p retinal multi-touch display for high-fidelity visuals
• Integrated speakers – Custom, bass reflex, tuned port audio system – we think this is SHIELD's sleeper feature
• Wi-Fi – 802.11n 2X2 MIMO game-speed Wi-Fi for game streaming
• Pure Android – Latest Android Jelly Bean operating system from Google, for access to Android games and apps
• There's more – NVIDIA put into SHIELD everything we would want in a premium mobile gaming device: 16 GB memory, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, a mini-HDMI output, micro-USB 2.0, a microSD storage slot, a 3.5-mm stereo headphone jack

Samsung is preparing to roll out its new 55-inch OLED television in its home South Korean market, according to a report by the Yonhap news agency.

This means Samsung is bringing forward its plans slightly, most likely to respond to moves made by LG Electronics, which began taking orders for its own 55-inch organic light-emitting diode TV in January this year.

Samsung is the global leader of flat-panel televisions, and certainly won't want to concede too much group early in the battle over next-generation TVs. OLED TVs promise slimmer designs, much better images and better power consumption than other technologies, such as LCD TVs that require a backlight.

Samsung is also expected to launch an OLED TV with a curved in South Korea, along with its 55-inch TV.

Early adopters however will really have to break the bank, with the estimated cost of a beautiful 55-inch OLED display from Samsung being around 10 million won, or about $8657 at the current exchange rate.

Intel has joined the Board of Directors of the Alliance for Wireless Power - A4WP - a group developing standard for interoperable wireless charging solutions.

Intel joins existing A4WP board member companies including Broadcom, Gill Industries, Integrated Device Technology (IDT), Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics.

A4WP technology, which uses near-field magnetic resonance technology, is uniquely capable of enabling the simultaneous charging of multiple devices and the flexible positioning of devices to be charged in multiple dimensions and at power levels and charging times that meet consumer expectations.

The A4WP organization is composed of more than 40 global, technology industry leaders. For industrial designers, the A4WP specification utilizes a near-field magnetic resonance technology that provides increased flexibility for charging solutions to be installed into all types of products and surfaces (cars, furniture, etc.).

"Intel believes the A4WP specification, particularly the use of near-field magnetic resonance technology, can provide a compelling consumer experience and enable new usage models that make device charging almost automatic," said Navin Shenoy, vice president, PC client group and general manager, mobile client platform division at Intel.

BitTorrent has announced that it has reached a new mobile milestone of 25 million users using its apps.

"We're stoked that 25 million of you are now getting your torrents to go. Guess this smartphone revolution thing that people are talking about is for real," a post on the company blog said.

It also announced updates to the BitTorrent and µTorrent mobile apps for stability, performance and speed. A new central location for uTorrent mobile apps will also be launched soon at utorrent.com/mobile.

"To all our mobile users: thank you times 25 million," the blog post reads.

Of course, 25 million is nothing compared to the numbers of BitTorrent users on PCs. Obviously, limitations with data, storage and the usefulness of downloaded files may hold mobile apps back, but Android versions of BitTorrent clients are likely to get more popular as more low-cost Android devices are sold as alternatives to PCs.

Amazon.com has set the launch date of the Xbox One console for November 27th, despite Microsoft not revealing an official date yet.

On the Product Page of the "Xbox One Console - Day One Edition", Amazon declares that the $500 console will be released on November 27, 2013. Whether that indicates it is privy to official information is unclear though, as it wouldn't be the first time that it was wrong.

The website also has listed the launch date of Forza Motorsport 5, Dead Rising 3 Day One Edition, and Kinect Sports: Rivals Day One Edition at November 27.

Elsewhere, numerous sources claimed that Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) console is set to launch on November 13.

If the dates are correct, then it should help somewhat with possible supply shortages before Christmas. Microsoft has already warned that its pre-order sales quotes are selling out around the world. Whatever happens, the launch supply simply could not be as limited as the Xbox 360 was.

Google announced earlier this week that the number of stores selling Chromebooks has tripled worldwide to 6,600, greatly expanding access to the low budget devices.

It announced earlier this week that Walmart has made the newest Acer Chromebook, which has a 16GB Solid State Drive (SSD), available in approximately 2,800 stores across the U.S., selling for $199. Over the weekend, Staples also began selling Chromebooks from Acer, HP and Samsung to every store in the U.S.--more than 1,500 in total.

In the 10 other markets worldwide where Chromebooks are sold, availability in national retailers continues to expand. In addition to Dixons in the UK, now 116 Tesco stores are selling Chromebooks, as well as all Media Markt and Saturn stores in the Netherlands, FNAC stores in France and Elgiganten stores in Sweden.

In Australia, all JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman stores will be carrying Chromebooks for their customers as well.

"We're working hard to bring Chromebooks to even more countries later this year," David Shapiro, Director of Chromebook Marketing, wrote.

Malwarebytes has released a beta of its new Anti-Exploit tool, a result of its acquisition of ZeroVulnerabilityLabs' ExploitShield application.

Anti-Exploit is not an anti-virus or anti-malware tool. Instead, Anti-Exploit runs in the background and monitors some popular applications, preventing vulnerabilities in the software from being exploited. This could be, for example, an attempt to exploit a bug in a web browser that used a maliciously crafted website.

It does not need to download large amounts of definitions every day to work either, it can even be effective at blocking the exploits of vulnerabilities that are not known about by the vendor of the software.

The tool is made with simplicity in mind; simply run the installer and it will then run in the background automatically. If you check the System Tray, you will see an icon that you can double-click to bring up the user interface of Anti-Exploit, allowing you to enable/disable protection, view a list of applications it protects against exploitation, view a log of blocked exploit attempts and set any exceptions that you would like.

Sony's PlayStation Europe twitter feed is promising another update to the console to address an issue with a recent pulled update that disabled a number of PS3 consoles.

Some unlucky PS3 owners who applied the recent 4.45 update found that their console now just hangs on start-up. When the issue started to get attention, Sony pulled the 4.45 update and began to investigate the issue.

Now, according to the PlayStation Europe twitter feed, Sony has identified the issue related to the 4.45 update, and is planning to release a new software update that resolves the issue on June 27.

Hi guys, we have identified the issue related to PS3 software update (4.45) that impacted a small number of PS3 systems earlier this week.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

A new system software update is planned to be released on June 27 that resolves the issue.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

Thanks again for your patience and understanding and we apologise for the inconvenience.

-- PlayStation Europe (@PlayStationEU) June 21, 2013

Google has once against come under fire in Europe, with France and Spain probing its change to its privacy policies, made in 2012.

The search giant had been warned by the European Union about its move to "simplify privacy," in which it combined its users' data across all of its services such as GMail, YouTube and Google+. At the time, the European Union gave Google four months to rethink its actions, but the deadline came and passed.

Now, individual states within the EU are starting their own actions against Google.

Spain's Data Protection Agency claims to have identified evidence of five serious privacy laws breaches, including a disproportionate use of private data, diverting private data for other uses, storing private data for excessive or undetermined periods, failure to handle private data in a legitimate way and obstructing users in the exercise of their rights.

The French National Commission on Computing and Freedom (CNIL) also wants Google to explain what it is using personal data for, and how long it is held by the company.

These latest actions join similar probes into alleged privacy violations by Google, being carried out in the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

Electronic Arts has ruled out a return of its Online Pass program on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One games consoles.

Both next generation consoles will now support the playing of used games, which had prompted questions about how EA's recent decision to abandon Online Pass would be affected.

Speaking to Polygon, an Electronic Arts representative ruled out a return of the Online Pass system in the next generation.

"There is no change to our decision to discontinue Online Pass," the rep said. "It is dead."

EA said the decision to kill off Online Pass on both future games, and retrospectively on older titles, was down to customer feedback. Systems like Online Pass - which were also adopted later by other publishers - are widely seen as a way for publishers to get revenue out of the resale of video games.

The English Premier League is to request a court order forcing Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block access to a Sweden-based sports streaming website.

The Premier League wants access to FirstRow1.eu blocked by all the major ISPs in the UK, following the lead of the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) trade group which has been successful in forcing ISPs to block access to the Pirate Bay.

Some questions about a possible conflict of interest in this case have been raised by the Open Rights Group. BT, the largest ISP in the UK and the firm that typically challenged blocking demands on behalf of the industry, has recently paid £246 million to buy the rights to show Premier League football online.

"All of the major ISPs now have differing degrees of conflicts of interest," Jim Killock, of the Open Rights Group, said.

"Sky, BT, Virgin and TalkTalk all supply televisions services now, so we have to expect that there will be more reluctance to be as transparent as they have been in the past."

He also raised concerns that any increase in the pace of granting court orders to block websites will lead to legitimate websites being hit.

A charity in the UK is warning Internet users about a trend of webcam hacking, where hackers switch on webcams on compromised PCs to remotely view victims.

Childnet International is warning that webcams should be disconnected or covered up when not used, and shouldn't be left in bedrooms or other private areas. A BBC Radio 5 investigation found websites where hackers exchanged images and videos of people they had recorded after hacking a PC or a laptop.

Commons Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz urged teachers to talk to pupils in schools about the dangerous of using webcams, and called on manufacturers to improve security.

The BBC also tells the story of Rachel Hyndman, 20, from Glasgow, who was reportedly watching DVD while in the bath when she noticed that the smell LED light indicating that her laptop's webcam was active had turned on. "I was sitting in the bath, trying to relax, and suddenly someone potentially has access to me in this incredibly private moment and it's horrifying," she said.

"To have it happen to you without your consent is horribly violating."

Horrifying indeed, but is there really anything new to the story? For many years now, trojan horse malware (or now commonly called remote access trojans, or RATs) provided a hacker with considerable control over a victim's PC, including full hard drive access, full control over software that is run, the ability to capture screenshots or even record the screen, turn on a connected webcam or microphone and so on.

A court in Tokyo has sided with Apple in ruling that Samsung Electronics' devices infringed the iPhone maker's so called "bounce back" patent.

The same patent at the center of the dispute was deemed invalid by the U.S. Patent and Trademark office earlier this year, although the office did say that certain aspects of the bounce back feature on Apple's iPhones could be patented.

Samsung had changed some of its newer products since Apple first sued it over the feature, showing a blue line at the end of documents.

Apple has long accused Samsung of "slavishly cloning" the iPhone and iPad with its Galaxy-branded line of smartphones and tablet PCs. The two are engaged in court battles all over the world.

The French government is planning to introduce new restrictions that would stop Amazon from being able to offer discounts on books, while also offering free delivery.

French law already forbids discounts of more than 5 percent on books, to prevent smaller sellers from being crushed by huge retail chains. While Amazon doesn't offer more than a 5 percent discount on books - complying with the existing laws - it does offer free delivery services.

"I'm in favor of ending the possibility of offering both free delivery and a five percent discount," Frence culture minister, Aurelie Filippetti, told BFM news television on Friday.

"We need a law, so we're going to find a legislative window to introduce one."

Amazon can afford to take the losses that providing both discounts, and free delivery, can impose, whereas other booksellers cannot. The SLF book retailers' union backs the socialist government's plans, and has already sued Amazon in court.

"Today, the competition is unfair... No other book retailer, whether a small or large book or even a chain, can allow itself to lose that much money," Guillaume Husson, head of the SLF union, said.

Google has been given 35 days to destroy data it had collected from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in the UK.

The search giant had accidentally grabbed and stored data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks in dozens of countries as its Street View vans took pictures for the popular service. Subsequent investigations had ordered Google to delete the data, which it pledged to do.

In the UK, it emerged last year that additional disks had more data accidentally collected from unsecured networks, prompting the UK Information Commissioner's Office to re-open the investigation.

It has ordered Google to destroy the data within 35 days and to report to it if any additional disks should emerge.

"Today's enforcement notice strengthens the action already taken by our office, placing a legal requirement on Google to delete the remaining payload data identified last year within the next 35 days and immediately inform the ICO if any further discs are found," said Stephen Eckersley, the office's head of enforcement.

"Failure to abide by the notice will be considered as contempt of court, which is a criminal offence."

The Office did not impose a fine on Google, however, saying that the breach failed to meet the levels required to justify a monetary penalty.

Facebook has revealed that a bug in its software could have exposed some personal information of more than six million of its users.

The social network giant said it received a report to its White Hat program (collaboration with external security researchers in order to weed out and fix problems) that identified a bug that could put the e-mail address and/or phone numbers of some of its users at risk.

The problem laid with the Download Your Information (DYI) tool and how Facebook uses some data to make friend recommendations. When people upload their contact lists or address books to Facebook, it tries to match that data with the contact information of other people on Facebook in order to generate friend recommendations. In this way, the service won't recommend that people invite certain contacts to Facebook if those contacts already have a Facebook account.

Due to the bug, some of the information used was inadvertently stored in association with people's contact information as part of their account on Facebook. As a result, if a person went to download an archive of their Facebook account through our Download Your Information (DYI) tool, they may have been provided with additional email addresses or telephone numbers for their contacts or people with whom they have some connection.

Samsung Electronics has unveiled two new tablets today; the ATIV Q and ATIV Tab 3.

The new Samsung ATIV Q tablet allows users to experience both Windows 8 and Android (Jellybean 4.2.2) on the same device. Users will not only get access to Android apps via Google Play but also be able to transfer files, or sharing folders and files from Windows 8 to Android.

The ATIV Q features a 13.3-inch, 3200x1800, 275ppi display that sits over a keyboard that can be folded out for typing or set to act as a stand, powered by an Intel Core i5 (Haswell) processor and Intel HD Graphics 4400. It comes with 4GB DDR3L memory and a 128GB solid state drive.

It also features a 720p HD camera, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 2.0 port, HDMI,RJ45 and a microSD slot. The battery offers up to 9 hours on a full charge. The ATIV Q weights 1.29kg (about 2.8lb).

Microsoft has caved to criticism from gamers and others in the industry, killing plans to require Internet connection for Offline play and limiting the ability to play used games.

The announcement has come from Microsoft just one week after E3, where the new Xbox One system was unveiled by the company, before the PS4 was shown off to the world. Microsoft's policies toward playing used games and a requirement of regularly connecting to the Internet were heavily criticized, handing a huge advantage to Sony's console.

Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft, said that company listened to gamers' reactions to the new console, and has decided to make some changes.

European Commission Vice President Viviane Reding has made it clear that national security does not provide states with an 'anything goes' right to spy on citizens.

VP Reding had met with U.S. attorney general Eric Holder on Friday at the EU-U.S. Ministerial meeting held in Dublin, Ireland. Previously, the commissioner had sent a letter to Holder asking for information on recent revelations of NSA spying, and how it affected citizens of the 27-national European Union bloc who use Internet services from U.S. firms.

At the meeting, the two delegations agreed to quickly convene a meeting of EU-U.S. experts to look into the "PRISM" revelations and the safeguards available for EU citizens. Reding also called for intensified efforts to reach an EU-U.S. data protection agreement that would provide equal protections for citizens of both regions.

"The concept of national security does not mean that "anything goes": States do not enjoy an unlimited right of secret surveillance," Reding said in a statement.

"In Europe, even in cases involving national security, every individual – irrespective of their nationality – can go to a Court, national or European, if they believe that their right to privacy or to data protection has been infringed. I have made my point clearly: this is what I want for European citizens also in the US."

Microsoft has revealed that it received between 6,000 and 7,000 requests for user data from U.S. government sources at the local, state and federal level during the last six months of 2012.

It joins Facebook in reporting these figures following media reports about NSA requests for information. The total number of accounts affected in one way or another from the 6,000-7,000 requests is around 31,000-32,000 accounts.

Microsoft is stressing that it is only allowed to provide information on FISA requests (related to intelligence services) as long as it is included with all other law enforcement requests and only in blocks of 1,000 (hence, the "between 6,000 and 7,000 requests," as opposed to a specific figure).

Microsoft had joined Google and Facebook in pushing the U.S. government to allow it to provide more information on the volume of requests it receives. Facebook revealed earlier that it received between 9,000-10,000 information requests during the same period, also from sources at the local, state and federal level in the United States.

It explained that while some of these requests may involve intelligence related activity (counter-terrorism etc.), it also frequently gets requests for information in missing persons cases, or in the cases of fugitives who are being hunted by law enforcement. It also made it clear that it does not comply with all requests, downright rejecting some of them, while providing much less data than requested for others. Basically, Facebook stressed it only complies to its legal obligation and no more.

Google has introduced Project Loon, an ambitious project that would provide Internet access from high up in the atmosphere to regions of the world where affordable access is too expensive or impossible.

The idea sounds crazy, and Google admits that it is called Project Loon because it is crazy. However, there is solid science behind it, Google asserts.

Google believes that it is possible to build a ring of balloons that would fly around the world on the stratospheric winds, way high up in the atmosphere beyond even commercial airliners. These balloons could beam Internet access to the ground at speeds around those offered by 3G connections, or better.

"As a result, we hope balloons could become an option for connecting rural, remote, and underserved areas, and for helping with communications after natural disasters," Google's Mike Cassidy, Project Loon leader, said.

There are of course many challenges associated with this approach, though Google feels it is finding solutions to them. Using just wind and solar power, Google believes it can actually move the balloons in the sky up or down to catch winds they want them to travel in, allowing Google to control their path in the sky.

The European Commission is asking mobile providers and handset makers about their deals with Google to use Android, which could potentially lead to another antitrust probe into the Internet giant.

It has sent a questionnaire to providers and handset makers, asking 82 questions about the nature of their dealings with Google, seeking to establish whether the search giant is abusing its power in the mobile space. Respondents have until July 26 to reply, at which point the commission will decide whether there is a case or not.

The action follows an April complaint from Microsoft and Nokia, alleging that Google uses its Android operating system to push its Search, and other services, to the detriment of competitors.

The questionnaire asks the firms whether their agreements with Google make it more difficult or impossible to launch devices with rival operating systems installed. It also questions compatibility requirements and whether Android-powered devices can be freely shipped with mobile services like compete with Google services.

"Android is an open platform that fosters competition. Handset makers, carriers and consumers can decide how to use Android, including which applications they want to use," Google spokesman Al Verney said.

Apple executive Eddy Cue has told a federal court that the company did not set e-book prices, defending the iPad maker from prosecutor allegations that it conspired to fix prices of e-books across the industry.

The U.S. government accused Apple of conspiring with 5 publishers in order to raise the prices of e-books across the industry. The likely target of the move was Amazon, which in late 2009 had about 90 percent of the e-books market. The publishers separately reached settlement deals with the government.

"I didn't raise prices," Cue told the federal court. He had acted as the primary negotiator with U.S. publishers ahead of the launch of the iPad in 2010, and has been described by a Justice Department lawyer as the "chief ringleader."

At the time, Cue says that Apple was seeking the same type of deal that Amazon had with publishers, which was to buy in bulk and sell on to customers at their own prices. In the end, Apple agreed with an agency model with the publishers, allowing them to set the prices of the books as long as Apple got its 30 percent cut. Apple had, of course, expressed some upper price caps.

Microsoft has finally unveiled a long-awaited Microsoft Office app for iPhone, which lets Office 365 subscribers create and edit documents and spreadsheet stored in the cloud.

Currently, there is no iPad version of the Microsoft Office app, and it is limited to the United States. It will also only work with iPhones or iPod touch models running iOS 6.1.

After signing in to an Office 365 account, you can access, view and edit Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents from anywhere, and Microsoft promises that all formatting will remain intact so documents still look the same when you get back to a PC.

You can access your content from SkyDrive or SkyDrive Pro. When you're on your phone, you'll easily find the content you viewed on your computer in the Recent Documents panel.

Here's a video that covers some features.

The European Commission has made a huge leap toward ending mobile roaming charges within the European Union, as it seeks to aid a single telecoms market.

In the European Union single market, one area that has remained strongly fragmented and inconsistent is the telecommunications industry. Services, costs and rules vary widely between EU member states, despite several EU regulations that addressed some concerns.

One aspect of travel familiar to all EU citizens is roaming charges - the charges you must pay when you use your mobile phone in an EU state outside of your own. Earlier this week, the group of 27 commissioners voted on telecoms proposals, one of which paves the way for roaming fees on voice calls, texts and internet access to be scrapped by next year.

"They agreed that this time next year we will have got rid of these charges," a Brussels source said.

European regulators are targeting the telecommunications market in the EU as it sees its current state as a block to innovation, and detrimental to millions of EU customers.

According to a report in Korean media, Samsung will be the primary supplier for 7.9-inch Retina displays for a new iPad mini that will launch this year.

Korean outlet, ETNews, reported that Apple ran into yield and quality problems with alternative suppliers Sharp and AU Optronics.

That leaves Samsung as the primary source of 7.9-inch displays with a resolution of 2,048 x 1,536, which is the same as the latest iPad. Samsung will ship the displays in Q3 and Q4 this year.

While Apple does also provide quite a bit of business to LG Display, it still must use Samsung as a huge parts supplier for its products. This relationship was shaken in recent years due to a spat of lawsuits around the world over each others' smartphone and tablet PC products.

Regardless, relations between Apple and Samsung Display have allegedly improved recently, and Samsung is not likely to lose its position as an Apple supplier for the foreseeable future.

Microsoft and Best Buy have revealed a partnership to open 600 Windows stores within Best Buy outlets in the United States and North America.

The comprehensive store-within-a-store will open at 500 Best Buy locations in the United States and more than 100 Best Buy and Future Shop locations in Canada.

They will range in size from 1,500 square feet to 2,200 square feet and will be the premier destination for consumers to see, try, compare and purchase a range of products and accessories, including Windows tablets and PCs, Windows Phones, Microsoft Office, Xbox and so on.

Watch this promotional video announcement.

Facebook has revealed that it received between 9,000 and 10,000 data requests from U.S. government entities during the second half of 2012.

You may recall that earlier this week, Facebook was one of the major Internet firms to appeal to the U.S. government to allow it to be transparent about how many requests it receives for user data. The social network was joined in its call by Google and Microsoft, who were desperate to counteract media reports that the NSA had "direct access" to their servers; a claim they all denied, and which now seems to have been likely false.

Following negotiations with U.S. national security officials, Facebook can now give details about the FISA and other national security requests it receives from various government sources.

"For the six months ending December 31, 2012, the total number of user-data requests Facebook received from any and all government entities in the U.S. (including local, state, and federal, and including criminal and national security-related requests) – was between 9,000 and 10,000," Ted Ullyot, Facebook General Counsel, wrote.

Those 9,000-10,000 requests received by Facebook during the six month period involved about 18,000-19,000 accounts. The reason for the claims is not all national security either. While some do relate to terrorism investigations, Facebook is also requested to help in cases of missing children or pursued fugitives. Facebook data in those cases could shed light on where people are.

The European Commission is seeking answers from U.S. attorney general Eric Holder on NSA data requests.

Commission Vice President, Viviane Reding, wrote to Holder expressing concerns that American spying practices could have "adverse consequences for the fundamental rights of EU citizens."

In the letter, Reding highlighted seven areas of concern for the European Commission...

• Are they only aimed at gathering the data of US citizens and residents, or are they also - or even primarily - targeting non-US nationals, including EU citizens?
• Is the data collection limited to specific and individual cases and, if so, what criteria is applied?
• How regularly is the data of individuals collected or processed in bulk?
• What is the scope of Prism and other such programmes? Is it limited to national security and foreign intelligence, and if so how are such terms defined?
• How might companies in the US and EU challenge the efforts to access and analyse the data?
• What ways might EU citizens find out if they have been affected? How is this different to the situation for US citizens and residents?
• How might EU citizens and companies challenge any effort to access and process their personal data? How does this compare to the rights offered to US citizens and residents?

Officials in the United States are calling on smartphone makers to make changes that will deter the theft of mobile phones.

Handset makers have been criticized in the past for dragging their feet on adding features that could fight against the epidemic of handset theft. New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and San Francisco District Attorney George Gascon formed a coalition to address the problem, and to work with vendors to create features, like a "kill switch", that can render a stolen device useless.

Law enforcement authorities have been warning about mobile phone theft, as it becomes increasingly violent and prevalent. In San Francisco, more than half of reported robberies in 2012 involves a mobile phone. One study estimated the cost of phone theft at about $30 billion.

"This nationwide coalition of leaders is committed to doing everything in our power to encourage industry to be good corporate citizens and take responsible steps to ensure the safety of our consumers," Schneiderman said in a statement.

Twitter has been ordered by a French court to reveal the identities of users who posted anti-Semitic tweets on the service.

The Paris High Court ordered the micro-blogging service to reveal the identities to France's Union of Jewish Students (UEJF) and four others, and this week it has rejected an appeal made by Twitter against the order.

"We are disappointed that the court has decided not to hear our appeal. We are considering our options, including resubmitting the appeal," a Twitter spokeswoman said.

Twitter did block the content in France after it had been reported to the service. The Paris High Court had ordered it to set up and easily accessible and visible method for users to notify the management of content that constituted "apology for crimes against humanity and incitement to racial hatred."

"Twitter has not made any progress in regards to respecting our country's laws," said UEJF's president Jonathan Hayoun. "The first step towards making any kind of progress could be finally listening to the court's decision, and making sure that its social network is not a lawless place."

A Japanese telecommunications company is running a trial in Japan this week, delivering 4K video content over the Internet to set-top boxes connected to 4K TVs.

While 4K televisions are already on the market, 4K content itself is much less prevalent. The new H.265 codec cuts the streaming bandwidth requirements for 4K (and 1080p) roughly in half, compared to common H.264 currently in wide usage.

NTT West in Japan is testing a 4K-STB system to determine the feasibility of streaming 4K content over the Internet straight to the TV, as broadcasts in 4K will take more time to become common. Japan will be the first country to broadcast 4K programming over satellite, aiming to be ready in time for the 2014 World Cup.

The test underway this week will hint at whether online streaming services, like Netflix, can get the jump on everyone else this time by becoming the first services that can deliver premium 4K content to 4K televisions.

A report suggests that Apple is thinking about following Samsung's lead and releasing iPhones with larger screens, as well as cheaper handsets.

According to Reuters sources, Apple is considering releasing two iPhones with larger screens measuring 4.7-inches and 5.7-inches. The intent is to compete with South Korean bitter rival Samsung Electronics in the market for "phablets".

Sources also told Reuters that Apple is planning much cheaper iPhone models that come in 5-6 colours, with a goal of providing a model at just $99.

The new strategy would cater to investor demands who find Apple's pace of innovation and release cycle too slow. Samsung also has put a lot of different devices on the market with a variety of price points, providing consumers with far more smartphone options than Apple is.

This year, Apple is expected to launch two new iPhone models. The "iPhone 5S" is expected to launch with new fingerprint technology, and the cheaper model with a plastic case is also rumoured.

Eight charged in New Jersey with conspiracy to commit cyberattacks on financial institutions and government sites, to commit money laundering and identity theft.

The group are charged with a scheme to use information hacked from customer accounts held at more than a dozen banks, brokerage firms, payroll processing companies and government agencies in an attempt to steal at least $15 million from U.S. customers

Allegedly, Oleksiy Sharapka, 33, of Kiev, Ukraine, directed the conspiracy with the help of Leonid Yanovitsky, 38, also of Kiev.

Oleg Pidtergerya, 49, of Brooklyn, N.Y.; Robert Dubuc, 40, of Malden, Mass.; and Andrey Yarmolitskiy, 41, of Atlanta, managed crews in their respective cities. Richard Gundersen, 46, of Brooklyn, and Lamar Taylor, 37, of Salem, Mass, worked for Pidtergerya and Dubuc, respectively. Ilya Ostapyuk, 31, of Brooklyn, allegedly facilitated the movement of fraud proceeds.

"According to the complaint unsealed today, cybercriminals penetrated some of our most trusted financial institutions as part of a global scheme that stole money and identities from people in the United States," said New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

"Today's charges and arrests take out key members of the organization, including leaders of crews in three states that used those stolen identities to 'cash out' hacked accounts in a series of internationally coordinated modern-day bank robberies. We will continue to pursue our investigation into this scheme and our fight against the rising threat of criminals for whom computers are the weapon of choice."

Facebook has decided to take advantage of the all powerful hashtag to drive larger discussions across the social network.

Every Twitter user knows the importance of hashtags. They link together tweets under one topic, getting a large "conversation" going. You see topics presented with hashtags on all kinds of TV shows during broadcasts, in an effort to get people talking about the content.

Facebook has decided that it needs to embrace the hashtag.

"Starting today, hashtags will be clickable on Facebook. Similar to other services like Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, or Pinterest, hashtags on Facebook allow you to add context to a post or indicate that it is part of a larger discussion," Greg Lindley wrote on the Facebook blog.

"When you click on a hashtag in Facebook, you'll see a feed of what other people and Pages are saying about that event or topic."

#SoundsFamiliar

Researchers have detailed a weakness effecting some iPhone that can be exploited to force devices to connect to malicious Wi-Fi networks.

Even if the iPhone had never connected to a Wi-Fi network before, this attack method could still work, Skycure researchers found. The problem actually lies with the configuration settings installed by wireless carriers.

In order to provide customers with more reliable data connections on the move, Wi-Fi hotspots are setup in public places targeted at just their customers. For example, AT&T pre-sets iPhones to connect to networks with an SSID of "attwifi". The problem is simple, this connection can happen automatically with no user interaction.

"Setting up such Wi-Fi networks would initiate an automatic attack on nearby customers of the carrier, even if they are using an out-of-the-box iOS device that never connected to any Wi-Fi network," the researchers wrote.

A test carried out in a restaurant in Tel Aviv resulted in 60 connections to an imposter network within a minute. At the International Cyber Security Conference, Skycure did the same thing and recorded 448 connections within a two and half hour period.

Google's acquisition of Israeli maps and traffic data firm Waze should be blocked on antitrust grounds, according to Consumer Watchdog.

It is calling on regulators in the United States to block the billion dollar acquisition, writing to both the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) and to the Federal Trade Commission. The deal will require regulatory approval to go ahead.

"Google already dominates the online mapping business with Google Maps. The Internet giant was able to muscle its way to dominance by unfairly favoring its own service ahead of such competitors as Mapquest in its online search results," wrote John M. Simpson Consumer Watchdog Privacy Project Director.

"Now with the proposed Waze acquisition the Internet giant would remove the most viable competitor to Google Maps in the mobile space. Moreover, it will allow Google access to even more data about online activity in a way that will increase its dominant position on the Internet."

The consumer group even quoted Waze chief executive Noam Bardin describing Google as its "only competitor" at the All Thing's Digital conference last May.

"You should take Bardin at his word. Approval of the Waze deal can only allow Google to remove any meaningful competition from the market. It will hurt consumers and hinder technological innovation. If the acquisition comes before the you, I urge you to reject it in the strongest possible terms."

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) and Ouya are in an interesting stand-off at E3 this year.

Ouya - the Android games console that resulting from a successful Kickstarter campaign - is "kind of" in attendance at E3 this year. You wont find them in the Los Angeles Convention Center with the bigwigs, but you will find them in the parking lot.

Basically, to avoid the fees associated with getting inside the convention center, and then the costs of setting up booths and wooing attendees, Ouya decided to just show up outside the convention center, renting parking spaces in a nearby lot.

The Entertainment Software Association (ESA), which organizes the E3 event, was not amused and responded at first by parking trucks right in front of Ouya's little booths.

Undeterred, Ouya responded by renting parking spaces in front of the trucks and setting up again.

A judge in the United States has sent a Chinese national to prison for operating a huge software piracy operation.

Xiang Li was arrested in the US Pacific territory of Saipan in June, 2011, and pleaded guilty to accusations he had sold over $100 million worth of pirated software through his website.

Li would get the pirated software from Internet forums, then list it on a website posing as a software dealer. The software included popular names from Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and Rockwell Automation. Li sold the pirated software for far lower prices than retail, some for $20 and some for $1,200.

The actual value of some of the software items reached $1 million.

In total, Li had more than 2,000 dodgy copies of software for sale.

This marks the first time that a Chinese national has been prosecuted in the United States for crimes related to copyright infringement.

Microsoft and Facebook have followed Google in asking for prohibitions on transparent reporting of government data requests to be lifted.

On Tuesday, Google published an open letter to U.S. attorney general Eric Holder, and FBI director Robert Mueller, pushing to be allowed to provide more information to the public about the National Security requests it receives for data.

Google was specifically referring to FISA requests - Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act - which it receives from the U.S. government when it seeks data on particular Google accounts.

Due to a non-disclosure provision, Google is not allowed to even publicly report how many FISA requests it receives, let alone how many it complies with or how many accounts the requests cover. For this reason, Google argued that the government's actions are damaging its reputation and hurting its users' confidence, due to its lack of ability to respond with facts to sensationalized media reports.

Not long after Google released the open letter, Microsoft and Facebook backed the call in a moment of rare unity between the three giants.

"Permitting greater transparency on the aggregate volume and scope of national security requests, including FISA orders, would help the community understand and debate these important issues," Microsoft said in a statement, reports Reuters.

A group of 86 Internet firms and civil liberties groups have written an open letter to the United States Congress demanding that NSA spying be stopped.

The letter coincides with the launch of StopWatching.us, which can be signed by netziens who oppose the NSA's domestic and foreign data spying programs.

The group is demanding that Congress act to reform the controversial PATRIOT Act, used recently to force Verizon to hand over data on millions of subscribers. It also calls for the FISA Amendment Act to be reformed.

"Now is the time for Congress to act. We don't need a narrow fix to one part of the PATRIOT Act; we need a full public accounting of how the United States is turning sophisticated spying technology on its own citizens, we need accountability from public officials, and we need an overhaul of the laws to ensure these abuses can never happen again," Mark Rumold, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), said.

Here is the full text of the letter, along with the identities of all 86 behind it.

Dear Members of Congress,

We write to express our concern about recent reports published in the Guardian and the Washington Post, and acknowledged by the Obama Administration, which reveal secret spying by the National Security Agency (NSA) on phone records and Internet activity of people in the United States. Read more...

Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) will reportedly drop region locking - meaning games bought in any territory should work with any PS4 console.

Region locking is a practice common with forms of digital media intended to lock a movie or game to a specific territory. This is done for a variety of reasons, but the most obvious is to discourage the importing of content from regions where they have lower prices than in richer economies.

Movies on DVD, for example, have often been sold for very low prices in regions of Asia where street piracy is rampant. In order to stop consumers in the Western World from simply buying in bulk from developing countries, region locking was enforced. This led to entire databases of "region hacks" for DVD players being built, and gave another reason to make hardware modifications to games consoles.

Now, according to Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, the PlayStation 4 will be region free when it launches this holiday season.

And yes, PS4 is region free :D

-- Shuhei Yoshida (@yosp) June 11, 2013

Google has written an open letter to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI director Robert Muller seeking to release more information about National Security requests that it receives.

The letter (full text quoted below) hints that media reports about Google's compliance with National Security requests - specifically Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests - for user data, have been overblown.

However, Google's hands are tied by non-disclosure obligations, meaning it cannot specify in its own transparency reports how many FISA requests it gets, and how many accounts they cover. The letter seeks to end such non-disclosure obligations so that Google can provide real numbers to the public to counteract press assertions.

Dear Attorney General Holder and Director Mueller

Google has worked tremendously hard over the past fifteen years to earn our users' trust. For example, we offer encryption across our services; we have hired some of the best security engineers in the world; and we have consistently pushed back on overly broad government requests for our users' data.

We have always made clear that we comply with valid legal requests. And last week, the Director of National Intelligence acknowledged that service providers have received Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) requests. Read more...

Google has confirmed that it has closed the acquisition of Israeli maps firm, Waze.

Speculation that Google was close to a deal at around $1.3 billion to buy the firm has been around for several weeks now, with Apple and Facebook also thought to have been interested.

Google's Brian McClendon took to the official company blog to announce the acquisition, but didn't elaborate on financial terms.

"We've all been there: stuck in traffic, frustrated that you chose the wrong route on the drive to work. But imagine if you could see real-time traffic updates from friends and fellow travelers ahead of you, calling out "fender bender...totally stuck in left lane!" and showing faster routes that others are taking.

To help you outsmart traffic, today we're excited to announce we've closed the acquisition of Waze. This fast-growing community of traffic-obsessed drivers is working together to find the best routes from home to work, every day.

The Waze product development team will remain in Israel and operate separately for now. We're excited about the prospect of enhancing Google Maps with some of the traffic update features provided by Waze and enhancing Waze with Google's search capabilities. Read more...

A U.S. International Trade Commission judge has found that Netflix does not infringe 4 patents held by Rovi Corp, in a preliminary decision dated June 7.

The preliminary decision appeared on the ITC website on Monday, ahead of a planned final decision by the ITC on the patent infringement case in October.

Rovi has already managed to secure settlements with LG Electronics and Mitsubishi for infringing patents related to interactive television program guides. In its complaint against Netflix, Rovi charged that the Internet streaming giant infringed four of its patents.

ITC Judge David Shaw issued a preliminary decision that Netflix didn't infringe any of the patents, and also found one of the patents to be invalid.

"We are pleased that the majority of the patents involved were confirmed valid," Samir Armaly, a Rovi executive vice president of worldwide intellectual property, said in a statement.

"We will continue to seek to license companies to the technologies that we've developed and to protect our intellectual property from unlicensed use."

The finale of the third season of hit TV show Game of Thrones is the most pirated TV show episode so far, according to TorrentFreak.

Within 24 hours of its broadcast, it had already been downloaded a million times. At one point, the episode was being shared by 170,000 peers. The first episode of the same season was being shared by 160,000 people shortly after it aired.

The majority of downloads of the season finale were in Australia, followed by the United States, Canada and then the UK.

Earlier this year, Director David Petrarca seemed to brush aside any concerns over the claims that Game of Thrones is the most pirated TV show.

HBO programming president Michael Lombardo also seemed to downplay the situation in April, when he told Entertainment Weekly that it was a "compliment of sorts" for the show.

"The demand is there. And it certainly didn't negatively impact the DVD sales. Piracy is something that comes along with having a wildly successful show on a subscription network," Lombardo said.

Sony's upcoming PlayStation 4 (PS4) console will come with an upgradable 500GB hard disk drive, it has been confirmed.

The next generation of PlayStation gaming was shown off at E3 last night, and received a generally positive response from the industry.

Sony today released some more information (through its Japan sites) about the upcoming console, including that it will feature a 500GB HDD as standard, which is the same internal storage that will come with an Xbox One console. Shuhei Yoshida, President of Worldwide Studios, Sony Computer Entertainment, also confirmed that owners can choose to upgrade the internal storage, same as with the PS3 console.

A PlayStation Eye camera has also been priced at $60 (one will not be included with the console), which additional DualShock 4 controllers will retail also for $60.

More Info (JP, PDF): Sony Japan

AMD has unveiled its 'first-ever' 5GHz FX-9590 CPU, available from system integrators globally beginning this summer.

It also unveiled the new 4.7 GHz FX-9370 CPU. Both new processors feature the "Piledriver" architecture, and AMD Turbo Core 3.0 technology to dynamically optimize performance across CPU cores and enable maximum computing for the most intensive workloads.

"At E3 this week, AMD demonstrated why it is at the core of gaming," said Bernd Lienhard, corporate vice president and general manager, Client Products Division at AMD.

"The new FX 5 GHz processor is an emphatic performance statement to the most demanding gamers seeking ultra-high resolution experiences including AMD Eyefinity technology. This is another proud innovation for AMD in delivering the world's first commercially available 5 GHz processor."

The new AMD FX CPUs will be available from system integrators globally beginning this summer. Two models will be available:

• FX-9590: Eight "Piledriver" cores, 5 GHz Max Turbo
• FX-9370: Eight "Piledriver" cores, 4.7 GHz Max Turbo

A Kotaku report suggests that GameStop will be dropping the Wii U Basic 8GB model from its retail stores over the next few weeks.

It cited a trusted retail source in reporting that retail GameStop stores were contacted with the following messages.

"Nintendo Wii U Basic Recall - Two Week Preparation On Tuesday, 6/18, all stories will need to return all new/unopened Wii U Basic (020359). .. Stores that have 10 or more in stock will receive shipping cartons from the [distribution center]. .. All other stores will need to save shipping cartons for this recall."

Saudi Arabia has reportedly banned the use of the Viber communication app in the country.

Such communications services are much more difficult for regimes to monitor, but reports also indicated the block was done to protect the revenue of licenses telecommunications companies in the country.

"The Viber application has been suspended ... and the (regulator) affirms it will take appropriate action against any other applications or services if they fail to comply with regulatory requirements and rules in force in the kingdom," the Communications and Information Technology Commission (CITC) said in a statement.

The regulator in the country issued a warning back in March, saying that services such as Skype, WhatsApp and Viber broke local laws in the country but didn't explain exactly how.

Local media had also reported that the regulator asked telecommunications providers about their abilities to monitor or block such applications.

The Interior Ministry also separately complained that Islamist militants were taking advantage of such social media services to foment unrest.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has reportedly met with Hollywood executives about content opportunities for the Xbox One platform, according to Deadline.

Ballmer was reportedly joined by Nancy Tellem, entertainment and digital media president of Microsoft, as he met with the likes of CBS CEO Leslie Moonves about what they could do with Xbox One in the areas of sports, music, reality TV and regular programming.

He also stated that Microsoft does not "want to be a cable channel."

Microsoft's Xbox One reveal event last month focused heavily on using the next generation console to consume television content. Seeking to get exclusive content from Hollywood is a natural step to push that agenda much further, while the gaming community hopes for more information on the gameplay aspects of the console at E3.

Microsoft has posted a video showing a preview of some of the changes in its upcoming Windows 8.1 update.

The company already put out a lot of details about changes that it has made in Windows 8.1, largely responding to consumer criticism of the user interface and so forth. The update will be available for free later this year for Windows 8 users.

Microsoft has today posted a video showing how some of these changes look. If you are a Windows 8 user then it is definitely worth a watch.

The 7-inch Wikipad tablet will be available in the United States from June 11, at a retain price of $249 with a global launch planned for summer.

The Wikipad aims to bring together the console quality experience with the functionality and portability of a premium tablet.

"The launch of the Wikipad 7 tablet signals a transformative turning point in the direction of the mobile gaming industry. Wikipad's tablet combines the latest range of features found in a premium Android tablet together with the unrivaled console video game experience only available with a gamepad," said Matthew Joynes, Chairman of Wikipad Inc.

Wikipad offers a multi capacitive 7 inch touch screen, 16 GB memory with an additional micro SD slot to support a further 32 GB of storage, together with micro USB, GPS, accelerometer and gyroscope.

The tablets ultra-light and thin chassis is powered by the NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core mobile processor that's optimized for cloud gaming with a 12 core Nvidia GPU. With an aspect ratio of 16:10, a 2-mega-pixel front facing camera the Wikipad tablet offers true widescreen HD display and HDMI out. It runs full Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

On the gaming side, customers will have access to over 700,000 apps from Google Play, and more from PlayStation Mobile games and TegraZone.

The NPD Group is reporting that number of viewers watching television shows using SVOD services increased 34 percent compared to the same period of last year, with Netflix still firmly on top.

NPD's VideoWatch Digital tracking puts Netflix at 90 percent share of video-streaming units during Q1 2013. In the TV category, Netflix holds an 89 percent share. Hulu Plus has grown in Q1 2013, with a 10 percent share, while Amazon's Prime accounts for less than 2 percent.

"There's no doubt that Netflix is driving the growth in SVOD, particularly with increased attention to television programming," said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

"We are also seeing good gains in the streaming numbers from Hulu Plus and Amazon Prime, and while neither pose an immediate threat to Netflix it is interesting to see which services later adopters will try."

More Info: NPD Group

Apple has denied that it conspired with publishers to fix the price of e-books after the launch of the iPad, as the trial in New York gets under way.

The Justice Department has accused Apple of conspiring with five publishers (who already settled with the government) to fix the price of e-books after the launch of the iPad, claiming that the move was aimed at Amazon's own services.

Apple flatly denies the allegations and has called the Justice Department's case "bizarre." It insists that it acted in its own business interests when it made deals with publishers to supply e-books through its iBooks platform, encouraging them to set the price of their own e-books rather than letting retailers set the price.

Prosecutors argue that Apple aimed to cause problems for Amazon, and noted that after the launch of the first iPad in 2010, the average price for a best seller on Amazon rose from $9.99 to $12.99 or $14.99. This change cost consumers hundreds of millions of dollars, the prosecution has claimed.

Orin Snyder, lawyer representing Apple, said that the government has "reserve engineered a conspiracy" by linking Apple's deal with publishers to the rise in prices at Amazon, arguing that Apple cannot be held responsible for the business decisions of others.

The European Commission has its eye on the issue of Net Neutrality, and the throttling and blocking activities of some European telecoms providers.

In a speech yesterday about the European Union's role in safeguarding the open Internet in the single market, European Commission VP Neelie Kroes outlined the role of regulation in the telecommunications market, with regard broadband services, both wired and wireless.

Kroes targeted four main areas in the market. Firstly, Kroes seemed to point out where regulators should not interfere, and that's in the choice provided by the free market for varying types of broadband services, from home basic packages for the casual browser to high-end expensive services required for businesses, for example. In other words, there would appear to be no EU-wide plan for basic broadband "standards" like you would see in some individual states, dictating basic speeds and other factors.

While Kroes seems to feel the European regulator has no part there, she did however say that EU telecoms providers should be forced into full transparency. That is, if you buy broadband services from any provider within the European market, you must be told what exactly you are paying for including the actual broadband speeds you should expect and not a theoretical maximum, and refereed to other "nasty surprises" that consumers may only realize after signing a contract, which could include data usage limits for example. Just as in the United States, services that claim to be "unlimited" typically have many hidden "fair usage" limits.

Microsoft's Xbox One console is likely to cost around $400 at launch, while the PS4 will have a $350 price tag, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

His predictions are based on bill of materials figures, which he reports at $275 for the PS4 and $325 for the Xbox One console. Analysts have expected that the next generation consoles will cost less than previous consoles. When the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, it was available for $300 or $400 depending on the model.

A year later, the PS3 console sold for $500 or $600 based on the model.

While the Xbox One is likely to coat more from the shelf than the PS4, Pachter's note points out the likelihood of a subsidized model too.

"We believe the ability to watch live TV from a cable, telco, or satellite set-top box through Xbox One could entice an MSO to drive subscriptions through a subsidised box in exchange for a multi-year contract," Pachter said.

"The 'always connected' requirement for the Xbox One likely means that a broadband connection will be required, suggesting to us that ISPs may have an incentive to offer a subsidy as well."

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a bogus charger for Apple's iPhones that can infect it with malicious software within a minute.

The three researchers - Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song - were able to get around all of the built-in defences of the popular smartphones and install whatever code they wanted.

"All users are affected, as our approach requires neither a jailbroken device nor user interaction," they said.

They are due to provide more detailed information on the attack method at the Black Hat USA conference this year.

To create the malicious charger, the researchers used a BeagleBoard barebones system that costs around $45. "This hardware was selected to demonstrate the ease with which innocent-looking, malicious USB chargers can be constructed," wrote the researchers in their conference summary.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has found that several of Apple's older iPhone and iPad devices infringed a patent held by arch rival Samsung.

It issued a limited order to halt the importation and sale of AT&T models of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. The order will now go to U.S. President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to review it and decide whether to veto it or not.

"We are disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal. Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

Samsung said that the ruling confirmed Apple's history of "free-riding" on Samsung's technological innovations. The patent in question relates to 3G wireless technology

The decision represents a small win in a global patent war between the two. They have met in court in ten different countries over their smartphone and tablet products.

Police in London have written to the operators of two websites it alleges are profiting by breaking copyright laws.

The City of London Police, working with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, targeted the sites for sharing links to music, movies and games without permission from the copyright holders. They have until June 14 to contact police or risk facing further actions.

"These websites are able to operate and profit from advertising on their sites without having licenses or paying the creators and owners of the films, TV programmes, music and publications," a statement reads.

"Intellectual property crime is a serious offence that is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year."

The two websites were not named, but apparently are known to be located and operating beyond the UK's borders.

CyberLink Corp. has announced that it is developing a new next-generation HEVC / H.265 video codec.

The software vendor, which provides solutions for video playback and editing across PC and mobile devices, announced that it is working on its new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding ) codec. HEVC, or H.265, can sharply reduce the bandwidth requirements for high definition and 4K video streaming.

"For over 15 years, CyberLink has pioneered development of video codecs, and as one of the first Independent Software Vendors to adopt the recently approved HEVC standard, we are excited about the enhanced digital experience it will bring to our customers," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink.

"Our early investment and development strategy reflects our belief that this is the right technology to take mobile and HD media to the next level."

CyberLink's new codec offers optimized decoding and encoding of H.265 format video. Benefits include faster and smoother downloading and streaming of better quality video content to PCs and mobile devices, and also more economic storage and burning of high definition video.

For the time being, the CyberLink H.265 codec in its current form is only available for demonstration to OEM partners.