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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."

Google has updated their Transparency Report to include a new section in which they highlight malware.

Says the site: "Google Safe Browsing scans millions of websites to identify those sites that install malware without a user's knowledge. We discover and categorize these sites by autonomous system (AS) numbers, thousands of which exist on the Internet."

Additionally, there is a heat map that allows you to mouse over every country and view the rate of sites infected with malware or attempting to phish personal information.

The U.S. scored very well, with a malware rate of 2 percent. Latin American countries like Mexico and Chile had higher rates, 12 and 11 percent respectively, while India, Bosnia, Hungary and others had massive 15 percent rates.

Google does note that the data is "not comprehensive and is best viewed as an indicator of the global malware problem." Check the heat map here: Google TR

(Pic via Om)

Barnes & Noble reported its most recent quarterly earnings today, and they were not pretty.

The company posted a net loss of $118.6 million on revenue of $1.3 billion.

For the year, the company lost $154.8 million on revenue of $6.8 billion. Quarterly revenue for its retail business (brick and mortar stores and BN.com) was down 10 percent to $948 million, although the company said Fifty Shades of Grey inflated last year's numbers.

Nook Media, the company's failing e-reader and media division, posted a meager $108 million in quarterly revenue, down 34 percent from the same quarter last year.

The company's tablets, including the Nook HD+, have recently been firesaled in an effort to boost sales. The company's high-end $279 HD+ is now selling for $149 with a 9-inch Full HD screen and access to the Google Play Store.

Barnes & Noble has also announced it will open up the Nook brand to OEMs who can build their own tablets and license the Nook platform. The company will no longer offer their own tablets, but will continue to sell e-readers like the Simple Touch Glow.

Today, Sprint shareholders approved SoftBank's updated $21.6 billion deal for a 78 percent controlling stake in the company.

Eight months after their initial bid for the U.S.' third largest carrier, and a slight bidding war with satellite provider Dish Network, it appears that one of Japan's largest wireless carriers will finally get their long wanted presence in the U.S.

SoftBank has already received three out of four regulatory approvals needed and is waiting for final approval from the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

Shareholders overwhelmingly voted for the transaction, with 96 percent favoring the deal.

"We are pleased to have the support of Sprint shareholders," SoftBank said in an e-mailed statement. "We look forward to receiving FCC approval and promptly completing the transaction so that we can begin implementing our plans to deploy an advanced Sprint network that supports innovative devices and service packages tailored to the rapidly expanding mobile needs of U.S. consumers."

The large software company Autonomy, now owned by HP, announced today that they have sold off their remaining shares in the oft-forgotten video search engine company Blinkx.

Autonomy sold 45.7 million shares at 120 pence per, giving the deal an $84.48 million value. The sale was actually at a 5 percent discount to the company's current price, but was sold through an accelerated issue to institutional investors.

Last year, Blinkx became the provider of AOL's video search, replacing Truveo.

HP had a small statement: "HP is selling its stake in Blinkx as part of our ongoing efforts to refocus the company on our strategic priorities."

Blinkx is valued at around $650 million.

Ouya game consoles are finally available today for anyone who could not pre-order it via Kickstarter.

The box, which runs on Android and a quad-core processor, was one of the highest funded projects on the site, with $8.6 million in funding from over 60,000 backers.

Additionally, the company raised another $15 million from venture capitalists.

So far, the console has been generally panned, due to its sluggish controller and small current selection of games. These reviews, of course, came for the beta edition of the console received by early adopters.

There are currently only 150 games available, all of which are free-to-play models, meaning they are either fully free or are free to download and play but you will need in-game purchases to really move forward or unlock new content.

The Ouya is available for $99 with a controller at places like Amazon and Target.

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.