AfterDawn: Tech news

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AfterDawn: News

Netflix to add multiple profiles for families that share accounts

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 1:37

Netflix to add multiple profiles for families that share accounts As any Netflix user that shares their account with family, a spouse or others knows, your recommendations will always be completely out of whack due to the wide variety of viewing habits.

That is set to change.

Netflix Vice President of Product Innovation Todd Yellin has confirmed that the service will soon be adding multiple profiles for those that share accounts, giving each their own personalized recommendations.

The move is a long time coming. Netflix has long said that customers who share accounts has led to "junk data" for them, since recommendations and social-sharing features are often skewed and inaccurate.

Yellin first mentioned the separate profiles at this year's CES in January.




AfterDawn: News

Pandora buys FM radio station to get better licensing deals

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 1:15

Pandora buys FM radio station to get better licensing deals In order to ensure they continue to get access to music licensing rights, Internet radio giant Pandora has announced it is buying a terrestrial FM radio station.

Pandora has been alleging that the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) has allowed artists to selectively back out of licensing popular songs to the service, and has even filed a motion claiming "ASCAP has violated the terms of its antitrust consent decree with the Department of Justice."

The company has now purchased KXMZ-FM in Rapid City, SD, in an effort to gain access to the alleged preferential treatment ASCAP has given terrestrial stations.

In theory, Pandora's general assistant counsel, Christopher Harrison, Pandora should now get the same deals that online competitors get, such as iHeartRadio (which is owned by massive terrestrial radio station provider Clear Channel).




AfterDawn: News

Amazon: '1984' book sales up 4000 percent since news of NSA spying

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 12:52

Amazon: '1984' book sales up 4000 percent since news of NSA spying Amazon has noted that sales of George Orwell's '1984' novel have jumped over 4000 percent since news hit of the U.S. government collecting personal data like phone records.

The popular book, written originally in 1948, is Orwell's look into a future where "Big Brother" government monitors and tracks their citizen's every move.

In Amazon's "Classics" section, the book is now up to #2, and overall it remains in top 100 best-sellers, moving from 11,800 last week.

The PRISM computer system, which was revealed to be used by the NSA (National Security Agency), allows access to data from video and audio messages, emails, phone calls and connection logs from companies like Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Apple and others. Each of the companies has denied that the NSA has server-side access to their information.

Rival book retailer Barnes & Noble also says they have seen a "significant spike in sales recently as government surveillance and Orwell have been paired in the news," even though the book has long been a top seller.




AfterDawn: News

Block Google's buyout of Waze, group tells regulators

Written by James Delahunty @ 12 Jun 2013 12:35

Block Google's buyout of Waze, group tells regulators 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."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

ESPN to shut down ESPN 3D this year after failed adoption

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 12:18

ESPN to shut down ESPN 3D this year after failed adoption ESPN will shut down its specialized ESPN 3D channel by the end of the year, proving once again that 3D is a gimmick that the general public could not care less about.

The move was confirmed via Twitter by an ESPN PR affiliate, who cited the lack of adoption of 3D TVs and services as the reason.

A second spokesperson added: "Nobody knows more about sports in 3D than ESPN, and we will be ready to provide the service to fans if or when 3D does take off."

The channel launched in June 2010 to broadcast the FIFA World Cup.








AfterDawn: News

Samsung officially unveils Galaxy S4 Zoom with 10x optical zoom camera

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 11:54

Samsung officially unveils Galaxy S4 Zoom with 10x optical zoom camera Samsung has made their camera/smartphone hybrid official.

The device is notable thanks to a large 16MP CMOS sensor and 10x optical zoom lens with dual Xenon flash and optical image stabilization.

Additionally, the phone runs on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, has a 4.3 inch qHD sAMOLED (960x540) display, 1.5GB RAM, an unspecified 1.5GHz dual-core processor and 8GB internal storage expandable with microSD.

"The Samsung GALAXY S4 zoom represents yet another step forward in the way Samsung is working to enhance the lives of our customers around the world," said JK Shin, President and CEO, Head of IT & Mobile Communications Division, Samsung Electronics. "As communication continues to become increasingly visual in nature, people wish to capture and share their moments in the highest quality possible, but often do not have the space or inclination to carry a dedicated camera for this purpose. The GALAXY S4 zoom changes this forever, combining the industry leading functionality and connectivity of the GALAXY S4 with the high quality photographic experience you'd expect from a compact camera. The result is truly the best of both worlds, without compromise."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Nokia will ship last Symbian devices this summer

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 12 Jun 2013 11:35

Nokia will ship last Symbian devices this summer Nokia has confirmed that later this summer will see the end of the Symbian line, for good.

An exact date was not given as the company says there are still outstanding inventory in some emerging markets that need to be sold.

Symbian, once the most popular smartphone operating system, by a long shot, was left for dead by Nokia after the introduction of Android and iOS and was mostly discontinued two years ago as the company moved to Windows Phone thanks to a partnership with Microsoft.

At its peak, Nokia was shipping nearly 30 million Symbian devices per quarter, but that figure slipped to 1.2 million in 2013.

The last release was the Nokia 808 Pureview, released a year ago with its 41MP camera. The camera failed to be successful thanks to a high price tag and little marketing.




AfterDawn: News

E3: ESA ask cops to shut Ouya down

Written by James Delahunty @ 12 Jun 2013 10:32

E3: ESA ask cops to shut Ouya down 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.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

U.S. jails Chinese software pirate

Written by James Delahunty @ 12 Jun 2013 10:11

U.S. jails Chinese software pirate 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.




AfterDawn: News

NSA requests: Tech firms plea for transparency

Written by James Delahunty @ 12 Jun 2013 10:02

NSA requests: Tech firms plea for transparency 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.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Sony's Jack Tretton confirms third-party publishers can enforce DRM for playing used games online, just like with PS3

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Jun 2013 9:08

Sony's Jack Tretton confirms third-party publishers can enforce DRM for playing used games online, just like with PS3 Last night, Sony announced to great applause that there would no restrictions on playing used discs.

Today, Sony America CEO Jack Tretton, confirmed that publishers would still have the ability to dictate DRM for used games online, just like they do with the PS3.

This morning, Tretton said: "Well, I mean, we create the platform, we've certainly stated that our first-party games are not going to be doing that, but we welcome publishers and their business models to our platform. There's gonna be free-to-play, there's gonna be every potential business model on there, and again, that's up to their relationship with the consumer, what do they think is going to put them in the best fit. We're not going to dictate that, we're gonna give them a platform to publish on. The DRM decision is going to have to be answered by the third parties, it's not something we're going to control, or dictate, or mandate, or implement."

His original comments spooked some PlayStation fans but Sony was quick to clear up any confusion: "Similar to PS3, we will not dictate the online used game strategy (the ability to play used games online) of its publishing partners. As announced last night, PS4 will not have any gating restrictions for used disc-based games. When a gamer buys a PS4 disc they have right to use that copy of the game, so they can trade-in the game at retail, sell it to another person, lend it to a friend, or keep it forever."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

It's official: Google buys Waze

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Jun 2013 8:08

It's official: Google buys Waze After weeks of speculation, and bids from Facebook and Apple, Waze has been officially acquired.

Google, an unlikely suitor except for the fact that they are one of the biggest mapping companies on the planet, has pulled the trigger, buying the Israeli startup for over $1 billion.

Reads the release:

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...


AfterDawn: News

B&N stops support for their Nook for PC and Nook for Mac apps

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Jun 2013 7:56

B&N stops support for their Nook for PC and Nook for Mac apps Barnes & Noble has quietly discontinued support for their Nook for PC and Nook for Mac applications.

Reads the company's email to users:

We are no longer supporting NOOK for PC for Windows 2000/XP/Vista. To enjoy the NOOK content on your PC please use the NOOK for Windows 8 App or NOOK for Web. [ link ]


The moves are none too surprising, given that B&N stopped updating the apps in November 2011 and March 2012, respectively.

At the same time, Barnes & Noble has reduced the price of their Nook+ HD to $149, $120 off the regular price as they practically give the tablet away.




AfterDawn: News

Dish no longer in the running for Sprint

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Jun 2013 7:41

Dish no longer in the running for Sprint According to Bloomberg, Sprint has broken off talks with the Dish Network, who had bid $25.5 billion for full control of the company.

Among the issues was the size of a breakup fee that is awarded if the deal falls apart. Sprint allegedly wanted $3 billion while Dish would not budge past $1 billion.

Japanese carrier SoftBank now seems to have smooth sailing towards the acquisition, following their approval from the US Justice Department and a recent increase in their bid. The company just upped their deal by 7.5 percent, to $21.6 billion.

A vote is scheduled for June 25th for shareholders, and the deal is expected to close by the end of July if approved.

Dish may now take a stab at the U.S.' fourth largest carrier, T-Mobile USA.





AfterDawn: News

Microsoft to launch Xbox One in Asia in late 2014

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 11 Jun 2013 7:35

Microsoft to launch Xbox One in Asia in late 2014 A day after announcing the console would launch in North America and Europe in November, the company confirmed that the Xbox One will not reach Asia until 2014.

The software giant says the rollout is part of a "staged approach" to marketing the new console.

Alan Bowman, Microsoft's regional vice president for sales and marketing in Asia, says the company is working hard on "ensuring a great experience for customers" in the region, including the addition of more localized content and services.

Notably, Bowman says the device will only be released in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and India; leaving China and Japan out. The company says those nations are high-growth for consoles, and have seen decent sales for the Xbox 360.

The console will sell for $500 in the U.S. when it is released.





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