Latest news

As of tomorrow, Sprint will officially decommission and tear down the Nextel iDEN network that allowed consumers to speak to others via "push-to-talk" on their mobile phones.

The move will help Sprint free up much needed spectrum and cell towers that will now be used for the company's relevant 4G LTE network.

At midnight tonight, your iDEN device will stop working, even for emergencies (like 911 calls) so you will have a paper weight if nothing else. Sprint has been letting iDEN network users know since 2010 that the network would be shut down for good by June 2013.

Earlier in the century, the network had 6 million subscribers, and Nextel had 20 million subscribers in total. Sprint acquired Nextel for $36 billion in 2005 and 3 years later wrote down almost $30 billion as a loss, a major financial disaster for the companies.

For those who still want push-to-talk, Sprint does still offer it via their CDMA Direct Connect network.

The accurate French tech rumor site NowhereElse has reported on alleged leaked blueprints/schematics for the upcoming next-generation iPad.

In their report (translated), the site says the new iPad "should be less bulky than the current iPad 4 or iPad Retina and has a design modeled on that of the iPad Mini."

The iPad Mini has arguably the nicest look of any tablet on the market, and one of the thinnest frames.

Finally, the site compares the schematic to the current generation iPads and you can see more subtle curves, as well. The device is expected to launch in October with a quad-core A6 processor and a 12MP camera.

Check all the pics at the source.

Twitter has announced the launch of Vine for Kindle Fire, beating out rival Instagram to the platform.

Vine, which allows users to share six second video clips, is now available for iOS, Android and Kindle.

Although Amazon has never revealed exact figures of Kindle sold, the line of devices is generally accepted as one of the top selling Android-based tablets.

Instagram, owned by Facebook, recently updated the application to allow 15 second video clip sharing, along with filter use that has made the application so popular. There is no native Instagram app for Kindle, as of yet.

In the ongoing rivalry, Vine just added front-facing camera support, and the company's founders have teased a major update coming in July.

If you own the Kindle, get the app here: Vine for Kindle

According to the official Twitter account of Nokia Spain, the much-anticipated "Amber" update for Lumia devices is planned for August.

The tweet (below) translated, says: "The Amber update for the Nokia Lumia WP8 series will arrive in August, giving users the same experience as that of the #Lumia925."

Nokia's Lumia 925, which launched earlier this month, is the company's new flagship device for Windows Phone.

As part of the update, Nokia will add "Glance Screen" to all Windows Phone 8 devices, which shows the clock, battery life and ringer volume all while the device is on standby (as pictured). When in Glance Screen, you can double tap the screen to unlock it.

Additionally, the Smart Camera app will now be added to all WP8 Lumias.

La actualización Amber para la gama Nokia Lumia con WP8 llegará en agosto dando la misma experiencia de usuario que el #Lumia925

-- Nokia Spain (@NokiaSpain) June 28, 2013

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."

BlackBerry shares were decimated today after the company reported their fiscal Q1 2014 earnings for the quarter ended May 2013.

The important earnings report, since it included sales of the first BlackBerry 10 device, the Z10, failed to enthuse investors.

BlackBerry shipped 6.8 million smartphones in the quarter, of which only 2.7 million were BB10 devices including the aforementioned Z10 and the QWERTY-packing Q10 that was released in Canada and the UK but did not reach the U.S. in time for this earnings report.

By comparison, Apple shipped over 37 million iPhones in the last quarter, and Samsung shipped over 40 million.

The company reported a loss of $84 million on revenue of $3.1 billion, and cited Venezuelan foreign exchange regulations as the sole reason for the loss.