AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Yelp to acquire SeatMe, online reservation startup

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jul 2013 8:48

Yelp to acquire SeatMe, online reservation startup Yelp has announced today the acquisition of startup SeatMe, which helps organize reservation space.

The purchase price was $2.2 million in cash and another 263,000 shares of Yelp common stock (valued currently at $11 million).

SeatMe, which was started to battle market leader OpenTable in the reservation space market, is a web service and iPad app.

Via the web service, restaurant owners can add a full online reservation system to their site or Facebook page and the iPad app lets the host manage tables while on the move. Besides the basics, the service allows for texting customers when their tablet is ready and noting seating preferences for returning customers.

Yelp will be integrating the SeatMe team to build their own reservation system, likely meaning existing deals with OpenTable will eventually expire. The assumption is that reservation system will eventually be expanded to include dentists and salons (for example).




AfterDawn: News

Google: 1.5 million Android devices activated daily

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jul 2013 9:32

Google: 1.5 million Android devices activated daily Speaking during the company's quarterly earnings conference call, Google CEO Larry Page revealed some strong figures for Android.

Page says 1.5 million Android devices are activated daily, extremely strong growth from last year's similar report.

Additionally, the company says 900 million Android devices have been activated since the operating system launched in 2008, with 1 billion expected in the very near future.

At last year's I/O conference, Page noted that 400 million devices had been activated.




AfterDawn: News

.Amazon rejected as domain name

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jul 2013 9:10

.Amazon rejected as domain name E-commerce giant Amazon has been rejected in their attempts to use .amazon as a new top-level domain name.

Thanks to objections by a large group of Latin American countries, a committee for Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) has blocked the attempt. ICANN is the international group responsible for governing the Internet.

ICANN has been reviewing applications for new domain suffixes submitted by companies, countries and other organizations.

Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Uruguay wrote a letter to ICANN asking the request to be denied due to their proximity to the might Amazon river: "In particular '.amazon' is a geographic name that represents important territories of some of our countries, which have relevant communities, with their own culture and identity directly connected with the name. Beyond the specifics, this should also be understood as a matter of principle."

The group also sent a letter to reject ".patagonia" (submitted by the cold-weather clothing company) as Patagonia is a geographical region in Argentina.




AfterDawn: News

Samsung close to device deal with FBI, US Navy

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 19 Jul 2013 8:53

Samsung close to device deal with FBI, US Navy According to sources, Samsung is close to signing deals with the FBI and U.S. Navy for its devices.

The government has traditionally used BlackBerry smartphones, but Apple and Samsung have been making pushes to get into the market, with strong results so far. Samsung, for example, has created an enterprise devoted division within the company and collaborated with popular third-party software companies to increase email and general phone security.

Supposedly, the FBI order will be large while the Navy deal will be smaller, and neither has closed of yet.

All Samsung devices acquired by government agencies come equipped with the company's KNOX security software, an added interface layer on top of the stock Android.

The orders would be the first for Samsung since receiving US Department of Defense approval earlier this year. Apple's latest iOS and BlackBerry 10 also received approval.




AfterDawn: News

Microsoft takes $900 million loss due to Windows RT devices

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 10:33

Microsoft takes $900 million loss due to Windows RT devices Microsoft has reported its fiscal Q4 2013 earnings today, admitting to some unexpected losses and missing estimates.

The company has reported revenue of $19.9 billion and profits of $4.97 billion, much lower than the analyst estimates of $20.74 billion in revenue and $5.51 billion profit.

One of the biggest drags on earnings was the Windows RT-based Surface RT. The company has taken a $900 million writedown related to "Surface RT inventory adjustments." That most certainly means there is a ton of excess supply and the company just recently slashed the prices of the tablet from $500 base to $350 base.

The failing PC market certainly did not help matters as desktop and laptop sales fell double digits, again.

"While our fourth quarter results were impacted by the decline in the PC market, we continue to see strong demand for our enterprise and cloud offerings, resulting in a record unearned revenue balance this quarter. We also saw increasing consumer demand for services like Office 365, Outlook.com, Skype, and Xbox LIVE," said Amy Hood, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "While we have work ahead of us, we are making the focused investments needed to deliver on long-term growth opportunities like cloud services."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Google surprisingly misses earnings estimates

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 10:06

Google surprisingly misses earnings estimates Although the company delivered very strong earnings, Google missed analyst estimates by a large margin, and the company's stock is currently down over 4 percent as a result.

For the Q2 2013, Google reported revenue of $14.1 billion and net income of $3.23 billion. Analysts had been expecting $3.6 billion in profits and $14.6 billion in sales.

Despite missing estimates, revenue was up 19 percent year-over-year, extremely strong growth for a company worth over $300 billion.

Looking into the numbers, total ad revenue jumped 15 percent and paid clicks were up 23 percent year-over-year.

Google's hardware division, which includes Motorola Mobility, accounted for a measly $998 million in revenue. That figure is expected to grow with this year's launch of the Moto X.




AfterDawn: News

Baidu buys app distributor for $1.9 billion in largest Chinese Internet takeover, ever

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 9:40

Baidu buys app distributor for $1.9 billion in largest Chinese Internet takeover, ever Chinese search giant Baidu has announced the biggest Internet company takeover in the nation's history, purchasing Android app distributor 91 Wireless.

The company will pay $1.9 billion for the company, which should help them keep market share against rivals like Tencent, Alibaba and Qihoo.

91 Wireless is majority owned by gaming firm NetDragon, and NetDragon has been actively exploring spinning off the subsidiary. 91 owns community websites, is the largest third-party app distribution platform in China and also offers e-reader software and customized launch screens for handsets.

The company was able to get so big in China due to Google's limitations in the nation. The official Google Play store is open for business in China, but does not carry paid apps.

There are an estimated 750 million smartphone users in China, with Android making up a majority.




AfterDawn: News

Android 4.3 will be a minimal update

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 9:26

Android 4.3 will be a minimal update Thanks to a new leak, we have a strong idea of what will entail the upcoming Android 4.3 operating system update.

4.3, which is still part of Jelly Bean, will be a minor update ahead of Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, which is still expected for later this year.

A welcome update (as all Nexus users can attest too) is the update to the dialer. The phone will now automatically suggest your contacts as you dial numbers, like it used to before 4.2. You currently have to type out the full number or head to contacts to search.

It is important to note that the new dialer autofill will not be turned on by default.

Additionally, the camera application will come with new minor updates. Another cool update is a setting that you can allow your Wi-Fi to be turned on to get a lock on your location before it is automatically turned off again. Apps will not send you push notifications asking you to try to hop on a Wi-Fi network anymore if you have that setting enabled.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Nokia posts more bad quarterly earnings but Lumia sales are increasing at strong pace

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 9:07

Nokia posts more bad quarterly earnings but Lumia sales are increasing at strong pace Finnish giant Nokia reported its second quarter earnings today, and they were once again not pretty.

Net sales were $7.5 billion (€5.7 billion) and the company reported an operating loss of €115 million ($150 million). Compared to last year, the improvement is large, however, as the company lost over $1 billion in the same quarter in 2012.

Perhaps more importantly for the company, Lumia Windows Phone sales increased significantly to 7.4 million units sold, up from 5.6 million devices last quarter.

Nokia's "mobile phone" segment, which includes Asha and other feature phones, saw sales drop 27 percent year-over-year to 53.7 million units and its smartphone segment (which includes Lumia and legacy devices) also fell 27 percent by volume due to the final death of Symbian.

CEO Stephen Elop saw a bright future, however, as he expects Lumia devices to finally stop declines in the smartphone segment. The bigger question is likely whether their mobile phone division can stop the bleeding, as well.




AfterDawn: News

HTC officially announces HTC One Mini

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 18 Jul 2013 8:48

HTC officially announces HTC One Mini HTC has finally unveiled one of the industry's worst-kept secrets, the One Mini.

The compact version of their popular HTC One flagship includes the UltraPixel Camera, HTC BoomSound and HTC BlinkFeed.

While the One has a full 1080p screen, the Mini has a 720p 4.3-inch display with 341ppi. True to its name, the device is quite small, but really not that much thinner than its bigger brother. The dimensions of the new device are 5.2 inches tall by 2.5 inches wide by 0.36 inch thick.

Under the hood is a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 and 1GB RAM, both large steps down from the One but should be reasonable performers.

There is no word on pricing or availability yet.




AfterDawn: News

AT&T starts 'Next' program for annual device upgrades

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jul 2013 1:06

AT&T starts 'Next' program for annual device upgrades Just a few days after T-Mobile USA unveiled their "Jump" program for upgrading your phone multiple times per year, AT&T has unveiled a similar system.

Staring next week, AT&T Next will allow buyers to purchase new smartphones or tablets once per year without a down payment. You can trade in your existing device after 12 months or pay an installment plan for 20 months and then keep the device.

Unlike T-Mobile's plan, which costs $10 per month and allows users to upgrade their phone every six months, AT&T Next will only spread out the cost of the device over time and allow annual upgrades.

For example, a Samsung Galaxy 4 will cost $32 per month on top of your data and voice/text plan. It is unclear if the iPhone will be included.




AfterDawn: News

PC giant Lenovo starts manufacturing in U.S.

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jul 2013 12:39

PC giant Lenovo starts manufacturing in U.S. Chinese PC giant Lenovo has opened a manufacturing plant in the U.S.

Lenovo, which is now the top manufacturer of PCs in the world, beating out HP, will beat Apple to the punch with American labor.

Apple recently announced it would build upcoming Mac Pros in the U.S.

Rival Google is also building the new Motorola X phone in the U.S., allowing for quicker delivery of customized shells and colors.




AfterDawn: News

Ubisoft: Only blockbusters franchises are worth making

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jul 2013 12:00

Ubisoft: Only blockbusters franchises are worth making Major publisher Ubisoft has made it clear what kind of games they are willing to make.

Tony Key, the publisher's VP of sales and marketing, says the company is now only interested in video games that can be later developed into franchises.

"That's what all our games are about; we won't even start if we don't think we can build a franchise out of it," Key said. "There's no more fire and forget -- it's too expensive."

Giving examples, Key pointed to the massive marketing behind a series like Assassin's Creed and expressed hope that Watch Dogs could be a blockbuster franchise, as well. Key also noted that they would not be satisfied with Watch Dogs "until we're the biggest game of the year."

"You're making a huge bet on the development side, you've got to be all in," he said (via Verge). "It became very clear to us about two years ago that this is a blockbuster world we live in now."




AfterDawn: News

Report: PrimeSense denies acquisition by Apple

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jul 2013 7:06

Report: PrimeSense denies acquisition by Apple PrimeSense, the company behind the gesture-based tech seen in Microsoft's popular Kinect sensor, has denied reports that is being acquired by Apple.

In the original report, it was noted that the purchase price would be in the range of $280-300 million.

However, sources speaking to TechCrunch say that price, and the talks in general, are not accurate.

The sources claim the report is "journalist delusion based on unverified and twisted hints. 280M? Come on! We're worth 10 times that. :)"

While maybe not in the works currently, a PrimeSense acquisition would make perfect sense, especially as the company reportedly is trying to get into the living room with a dedicated HDTV.




AfterDawn: News

Intel purchases Israeli gesture computing firm Omek

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jul 2013 6:28

Intel purchases Israeli gesture computing firm Omek Intel has acquired gesture computing firm Omek.

The talks are said to have begun in March, and grinded on until this week.

Most reports have the purchase price in the range of $30 million to $50 million. The firm had raised $14 million since its inception, so it appears investors will make some good returns.

Omek will move all their employee's to Intel's computing division in Haifa, Israel.

The move "will help Intel push through barriers with perceptual computing, and gesture recognition with 3D cameras will all go towards improving the overall user experience of portable and desktop devices," say the reports.





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