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Samsung has announced an upgrade program for South Korean customers who purchased a Galaxy Note7 and traded it in for a Galaxy S7.

If you traded in your exploding Note7 you can trade up to a Galaxy S8 or Note8 next year through a special upgrade program. You will only have to pay half the price of the S7 to upgrade to the S8 or Note8, marking a pretty significant discount.

For now, the program is only in Korea but could be extended to other markets, added the company.

Samsung has been offering pretty extensive incentives to keep customers happy although it is expected that 7 million will leave the Samsung ecosystem following the debacle.

Chinese tech company Hangzhou Xiongmai Technology has confirmed that its products were involved in the massive DDoS attack that took down major sites in the U.S. on Friday.

The company sells DVRs and IoT cameras and admits that security vulnerabilities in the devices, including weak default passwords, led to many of the devices becoming part of the massive botnet.

"Mirai is a huge disaster for the Internet of Things," Xiongmai said. "(We) have to admit that our products also suffered from hacker's break-in and illegal use." Mirai, of course, is the infamous malware that attacks IoT devices like cameras, DVRs, smart TVs and even refrigerators, which normally have little to no security.

Mirai has been found in over 500,000 devices, but that appears to be just a small portion of the attack on DNS service provider Dyn, who said they observed millions of discrete IP addresses. Surely, the attack on Friday was the largest in history, surpassing the 665 Gbps of traffic that was used to take down the site of cybersecurity expert Brian Krebs last month.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was on CNBC yesterday reminiscing about the time the company bid for Facebook in 2010.

Ballmer says the company offered $24 billion to buy Facebook in 2010, about two years before it went public at a valuation of $100 billion.

Quite obviously, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg declined the offer outright, even though he would have netted $7 billion or so from the deal. Facebook's growth and ambitions were too large for the company to be taken over at the time, and Ballmer says he respected the decision.

As of writing, Facebook is one of the largest companies on the planet with a market valuation of $380 billion.

AT&T, fresh off their massive $48.5 billion acquisition of DirecTV, has now offered $85 billion to purchase Time Warner Inc.

The deal, which would be one of the largest in history, would give the massive telecom company the movie studio Warner Bros, TV channels like HBO and TNT and a plethora of other media assets like a stake in Hulu.

AT&T offers wireless and broadband services, as well as satellite TV services now thanks to DirecTV.

It is unclear how the company will pay for the acquisition. AT&T currently has $7.2 billion in cash and $120 billion in debt so it will likely have to line up expensive financing to pay for this deal. There are also regulatory questions given AT&T's size and the chance for monopoly.

Time Warner's board would also have to approve the acquisiton which is not a given since the company rejected an $80 billion bid from rival Fox in 2014.

Major chip producer Qualcomm has agreed to purchase NXP Semiconductors for $110 per share, or $35 billion.

The acquisition would be the largest in the history of the industry and shows the desperate need in the industry to merge to stay relevant and create growth.

Qualcomm is the largest smartphone chipmaker but smartphone sales growth has stalled in many developed nations. NXP is the largest semi for other devices, including chips required for cars. NXP also manufactures themselves, unlike Qualcomm, which could bring manufacturing expertise in-house.

Because NXP is based in the Netherlands, Qualcomm can likely use a good portion of their $30 billion cash hoard (most of which is kept overseas for better tax rates) to make the purchase.

Didi Chuxing, the popular Chinese ride-hailing company, is looking to expand outside of its home country.

"We're definitely going global," said Jean Liu, Didi's president. "We're a big sponsor and a big believer in local players. If there are no existing local players, we'll go there by ourselves. We will play a global game."

The company services 20 million rides per day in China. "If you look at this industry globally, it's in the infancy stage," added Liu.

Didi recently acquired Uber's China operations and is also an investor in rival Lyft.

Earlier this week, Nintendo unveiled the Switch console (codenamed NX), an interesting tablet/console hybrid that includes a new type of controller called the Joy-Con.

We now have a little more information about the console's guts, which include a custom Tegra processor from NVIDIA.

The Tegra is notable because it is an extremely powerful mobile SoC that combines both the CPU and GPU in one and the SoC has been used to great success in the NVIDIA Shield tablet.

NVIDIA also confirmed that developers will use ARM this time around (standard compared to previous Wii and Wii U) but the company says there will be custom software, APIs, tools, and a new Nintendo OS so it does not appear cross-platform options are in the cards just yet.

Hardcore gamers will likely stick to the PS4 and Xbox One and their powerful, custom AMD processors but Nintendo seems to be aiming for those who want to take their consoles on-the-go.

According to a new Consumer Intelligence Research Partners (CIRP) report, the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus accounted for 43 percent of all iPhone sales for the Q3 2016, despite only being available for two weeks before the quarter ended.

The company's research showed that 31 percent of all sales were the iPhone 7 and 12 percent were the dual-camera-packing iPhone 7 Plus.

CIRP says the percentages are high enough to describe the situation as 'a positive reception for the new 7 and 7 Plus models.'

Unsurprisingly, 36 percent of all sales came from iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners but more surprisingly a large 17 percent came from last year's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus.

Apple is slated to report earnings this week and it will be interesting to see how popular the devices truly are.

LeEco, "the Netflix of China," has announced a new U.S. streaming video service this week, marking the latest entrance into a crowded industry.

The company also unveiled an impressive number of partners including MGM, Lionsgate, Vice, Showtime, Sling, Machima, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, Food Network and more.

Unfortunately, the company did not unveil too much about the service itself (or how it will manifest) but it is expected to at least be available via Vizio smart TVs (LeEco bought Vizio last year).

Although it is unclear what content will make it to the service, there is a good chance they will have one exclusive; the Matt Damon-powered The Great Wall which was produced by LeEco.

Google's previously announced pop-up shop in lower New York City is now open, giving consumers a chance to check out new Google hardware before buying.

The search giant is prominently demoing the new Pixel smartphones, the Daydream VR headset and the Google Home voice-assisted smart home companion.

Strangely, the shop will not have any inventory for sale, so after you test out the products (or just learn more) you will still have to buy them online or at other retailers.

What's cool about the shop is how Google set up different areas to truly test out the devices. The company re-created a living room so you can test out the Google Home, for example, and an interesting lighting installation that allows to test out low-light photos with the Pixel.

For those in the area, the pop-up shop is open Monday–Sunday from 10AM to 8PM at 96 Spring Street.

According to Microsoft's latest earnings report, the company's Surface business is booming, with growth that far outpaces other tablet and computer makers.

Revenue for the company's Surface products jumped 38 percent year-over-year, with revenue at $926 million for the quarter.

The boost for the quarter came via the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4, two products that are critically well received and have been given a large marketing budget. Microsoft is expected to launch a new Surface all-in-one next week at a special event, with perhaps a glimpse at future Surface tablets.

Source:
Microsoft

Kodak has revealed their second smartphone, a device that is more camera than it is phone.

Dubbed "The Ektra," the phone has inspiration from the company's classic 1940s Ektra camera and has a powerful and feature-rich 21MP shooter.

The phone has a steel-rimmed f/2.0 aperture 26.5mm lens for the 21MP camera, including 4K video capture and a powerful Sony IMX230 image sensor. From a design standpoint, the Ektra has a curved bottom, a leather back for easier grip and a dedicated camera shutter button.

Kodak used Bullitt to build the device, which runs on a mostly stock Android 6.0 and runs on a Helio X-20 deca-core processor, 3GB RAM, 32GB internal storage and a 3000mAh battery. The device also has a 1080p 5-inch screen, a 13MP selfie camera and can take microSD cards. The specs are certainly above mid-range but are nothing to write home about.

It will be interesting to see the kind of buyers that Kodak lines up for this type of device, especially at 500 euro when it launches in December.

LinkedIn has said this week that a Russian hacker recently arrested in the Czech Republic took part in the 2012 data breach of the professional social network that led to the theft of over 115 million passwords.

"Following the 2012 breach of LinkedIn member information, we have remained actively involved with the FBI's case to pursue those responsible," company officials said. "We are thankful for the hard work and dedication of the FBI in its efforts to locate and capture the parties believed to be responsible for this criminal activity."

The man was arrested in Prague on Tuesday and accused of unspecified cyber attacks on U.S. companies.

Here is a video of the raid:

Nintendo has finally pulled back the curtain on the mysterious "NX" console, known officially as the Nintendo Switch.

The gaming company unveiled a "Preview Trailer" today showing off the console/tablet hybrid that has two detachable, one-handed controllers (Joy-Cons) that "can be employed by numerous people for a variety of gameplay options. They can easily click back into place or be slipped into a Joy-Con Grip accessory, mirroring a more traditional controller."

If you aren't a fan of the Joy-Con you can use a Nintendo Switch Pro Controller that looks similar to a traditional Xbox or other dual-analog controller.

The tablet connects to a TV via a dock, and can slide out easily when you want to take gaming on the go. "In addition to providing single and multiplayer thrills at home, the Nintendo Switch system also enables gamers to play the same title wherever, whenever and with whomever they choose," Nintendo added. "The mobility of a handheld is now added to the power of a home gaming system to enable unprecedented new video game play styles."

Perhaps most importantly, Nintendo announced major third-party support, includingSquare Enix, Sega, Konami, Activision, Bethesda, Capcom, Take-Two, Warner Bros. and EA. This is a stark contrast to the Wii U which died after game publishers stopped supporting the console.

Tesla has been sneaking in autonomous driving feature to its cars for a while now. Depending on the model and what options you choose a Tesla car might already have a capability for fully autonomous driving.

In addition, Tesla has recently announced that all upcoming cars will be given the new autopilot mode that will enable fully automatic driving from start to finish. Now Elon Musk and the Tesla team has released a video showcasing what to expect from future autopilot.

In this impressive video the car drives completely without any aid from the passenger from the garage it starts to the parking spot it ends up picking at Tesla HQ. It even drops off the passenger before continuing the search for a free spot and doesn't choose the vacant spot meant for the handicapped.

It seems clear that this is what the future of transportation will be – at least when it comes to personal transportation. Soon you don't even have to pay the very premium price of the car in question (Model X starting at $74,000 and going as high as $150,000). Even the more affordable Model 3 (starting at $35,000) launching next year will have this feature.