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The European Commission has its eye on the issue of Net Neutrality, and the throttling and blocking activities of some European telecoms providers.

In a speech yesterday about the European Union's role in safeguarding the open Internet in the single market, European Commission VP Neelie Kroes outlined the role of regulation in the telecommunications market, with regard broadband services, both wired and wireless.

Kroes targeted four main areas in the market. Firstly, Kroes seemed to point out where regulators should not interfere, and that's in the choice provided by the free market for varying types of broadband services, from home basic packages for the casual browser to high-end expensive services required for businesses, for example. In other words, there would appear to be no EU-wide plan for basic broadband "standards" like you would see in some individual states, dictating basic speeds and other factors.

While Kroes seems to feel the European regulator has no part there, she did however say that EU telecoms providers should be forced into full transparency. That is, if you buy broadband services from any provider within the European market, you must be told what exactly you are paying for including the actual broadband speeds you should expect and not a theoretical maximum, and refereed to other "nasty surprises" that consumers may only realize after signing a contract, which could include data usage limits for example. Just as in the United States, services that claim to be "unlimited" typically have many hidden "fair usage" limits.

Microsoft's Xbox One console is likely to cost around $400 at launch, while the PS4 will have a $350 price tag, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter.

His predictions are based on bill of materials figures, which he reports at $275 for the PS4 and $325 for the Xbox One console. Analysts have expected that the next generation consoles will cost less than previous consoles. When the Xbox 360 launched in 2005, it was available for $300 or $400 depending on the model.

A year later, the PS3 console sold for $500 or $600 based on the model.

While the Xbox One is likely to coat more from the shelf than the PS4, Pachter's note points out the likelihood of a subsidized model too.

"We believe the ability to watch live TV from a cable, telco, or satellite set-top box through Xbox One could entice an MSO to drive subscriptions through a subsidised box in exchange for a multi-year contract," Pachter said.

"The 'always connected' requirement for the Xbox One likely means that a broadband connection will be required, suggesting to us that ISPs may have an incentive to offer a subsidy as well."

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a bogus charger for Apple's iPhones that can infect it with malicious software within a minute.

The three researchers - Billy Lau, Yeongjin Jang and Chengyu Song - were able to get around all of the built-in defences of the popular smartphones and install whatever code they wanted.

"All users are affected, as our approach requires neither a jailbroken device nor user interaction," they said.

They are due to provide more detailed information on the attack method at the Black Hat USA conference this year.

To create the malicious charger, the researchers used a BeagleBoard barebones system that costs around $45. "This hardware was selected to demonstrate the ease with which innocent-looking, malicious USB chargers can be constructed," wrote the researchers in their conference summary.

The U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) has found that several of Apple's older iPhone and iPad devices infringed a patent held by arch rival Samsung.

It issued a limited order to halt the importation and sale of AT&T models of iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, iPad 3G and iPad 2 3G. The order will now go to U.S. President Barack Obama, who has 60 days to review it and decide whether to veto it or not.

"We are disappointed that the commission has overturned an earlier ruling and we plan to appeal. Today's decision has no impact on the availability of Apple products in the United States," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet said in a statement.

Samsung said that the ruling confirmed Apple's history of "free-riding" on Samsung's technological innovations. The patent in question relates to 3G wireless technology

The decision represents a small win in a global patent war between the two. They have met in court in ten different countries over their smartphone and tablet products.

Police in London have written to the operators of two websites it alleges are profiting by breaking copyright laws.

The City of London Police, working with the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, targeted the sites for sharing links to music, movies and games without permission from the copyright holders. They have until June 14 to contact police or risk facing further actions.

"These websites are able to operate and profit from advertising on their sites without having licenses or paying the creators and owners of the films, TV programmes, music and publications," a statement reads.

"Intellectual property crime is a serious offence that is costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year."

The two websites were not named, but apparently are known to be located and operating beyond the UK's borders.

CyberLink Corp. has announced that it is developing a new next-generation HEVC / H.265 video codec.

The software vendor, which provides solutions for video playback and editing across PC and mobile devices, announced that it is working on its new HEVC (High Efficiency Video Coding ) codec. HEVC, or H.265, can sharply reduce the bandwidth requirements for high definition and 4K video streaming.

"For over 15 years, CyberLink has pioneered development of video codecs, and as one of the first Independent Software Vendors to adopt the recently approved HEVC standard, we are excited about the enhanced digital experience it will bring to our customers," said Alice H. Chang, CEO of CyberLink.

"Our early investment and development strategy reflects our belief that this is the right technology to take mobile and HD media to the next level."

CyberLink's new codec offers optimized decoding and encoding of H.265 format video. Benefits include faster and smoother downloading and streaming of better quality video content to PCs and mobile devices, and also more economic storage and burning of high definition video.

For the time being, the CyberLink H.265 codec in its current form is only available for demonstration to OEM partners.

Twitter's extremely popular social video sharing Vine is finally available for Android after months of availability on iOS.

The app lets users create 6 second video clips and animation creations that are then easily shared like Instagram. Vine users can turn full stories into 6 second videos due to the apps ability to stop and start recording with just a tap.

Twitter says the app has 13 million active users.

As a bonus for Android users, their version of the app includes a Zoom feature not seen on the iOS version.

Get it here: Vine

Acer has unveiled the world's first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W3.

Introduced today at Computex, the device has a 1,280 x 800 display, is powered by a dual-core 1.8GHz Atom Z2760 processor, has 32GB internal storage (likely only half of which will be usable due to Windows 8 installation files), weighs 1.1 pounds and is about 0.48-inches thick.

Acer is including a full version of Office 2013 free, and an optional full-sized keyboard will retail for $79-$89 (unclear as of yet), making the device very good for productivity and portability.

Additionally, there are dual camera, Bluetooth 4.0, a microUSB port, microHDMI, and a microSD slot.

The device will sell for $379, and is available for pre-order tomorrow at a number of retailers including Amazon. The device is set for release the last week of June.

Samsung has updated their Galaxy Tab line, introducing 8-inch and 10.1-inch models of the new Galaxy Tab 3.

The 8-inch version runs on a 1.5 GHz Exynos dual-core processor, has a WXGA TFT 1280 x 800 (189 PPI) display, 1.5GB of RAM, 1.3/5MP cameras, a 4,450 mAh battery, and either 16GB or 32GB of internal storage depending on your needs.

Notably, the 10.1-inch model will run on a 1.6GHz Intel Haswell dual-core processor, a major score for the company as it tries to finally make a dent in the mobile markets.

The device has a 1280 x 800 (149 PPI) WXGA TFT display, 1GB of RAM, 16GB or 32GB of internal storage, and a large 6,800 mAh battery. Strangely, the cameras are 1.3/3MP, a letdown for those that were hoping were decent photo taking.

Both tablets will run on Android 4.2.2 and include Samsung's TouchWiz and premium apps. There is no word on pricing.

Yahoo has discontinued their Mail Classic, requiring all users to upgrade to a new version that allows for your emails to be scanned for targeted ads.

The company's updated ToS says the scans will be to "deliver product features, relevant advertising, and abuse protection". You can opt out of seeing the ads, but you must accept the ToS or dump Yahoo Mail for good.

In case you thought there might be a workaround, Yahoo placed this in a new Help center FAQ:

"Beginning the week of June 3, 2013, older versions of Yahoo! Mail (including Yahoo! Mail Classic) will no longer be available. After that, you can access your Yahoo! Mail only if you upgrade to the new version. When you upgrade, you will be accepting our Communications Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. This includes the acceptance of automated content scanning and analyzing of your communications content."

For the month of May, Google's Chrome saw a loss in share, while other browsers saw marginal gains.

Internet Explorer share grew from 55.81 percent to 55.99 percent, Firefox jumped from 20.30 percent to 20.63 percent, Safari grew 0.08 percentage points to 5.46 percent and even Opera took an irrelevant hop from 1.73 to 1.77 percent.

Chrome, on the other hand, fell from 16.35 percent to 15.74 percent and seems to be stuck in third place after a very strong run over the past few years.

Internet Explorer 8 still remains the most popular browser in the world, at 22.99 percent share IE10, now available for Windows 7 users, took the biggest jump, to 9.26 percent.

Firefox remains fragmented, as consumers are still slow to upgrade to the latest overnight builds. Chrome is the most notable, as the browser has fallen to share not seen in almost two years, says the report. It is unclear what is causing the downtrend.

According to Bloomberg, Apple will unveil its long-awaited iRadio unlimited music streaming service.

The company has reportedly secured key licensing agreements ahead of their announcement, including Warner Music, who had allegedly been holding out for better rates.

As part of that deal, Apple will pay Warner 10 percent of ad revenue from the service, a figure that is double what Pandora pays for use of the catalog.

The move follows Google's recent entry to the market, "All Access," which offers a similar service to Spotify, Rdio and other existing companies.

It will be interesting if the service could bring something innovative to the table, or act like Google's and simply copy existing services just within their own environments.

According to research firm Kantar, Windows Phone has taken more market share in the U.S. smartphone market than Android, year-over-year.

For the period ended April 2013, Android now accounts for 51.7 percent of all smartphone sales, followed by 41.4 percent for iOS and Windows Phone at 5.6 percent share.

RIM and Symbian kept their marginal shares at 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent, respectively.

42 percent of Windows Phone buyers came from feature phones, 25 percent from other Windows devices and 23 percent from Android.

"But it's not just about capturing the market that is yet to upgrade. Windows is also seeing success in the younger group. When looking at those who changed device, between 2011 and 2012 Windows was more successful at capturing older consumers aged 50-64. But when looking at those changing now and in the last year, we're seeing Windows now gaining share among those aged 25-34," said a Kantar analyst.

Tumblr's creative director and one of its first employees has left the company following its acquisition by Yahoo.

Jacob Bijani joined the site in 2008 and is one of the first five employees of the company.

It is unclear why Bijani is leaving so quickly, but the timing of the acquisition and is departure seems suggestive.

Reads his farewell letter:

Today was my last day at Tumblr.

Five years ago I joined a team of four as Tumblr's first designer, creative director, and product engineer. That team has since grown to 182 of the most wonderful and talented people around.

I'm so proud of what we've all created together, and it's been a privilege to contribute to something beloved by so many. I can't wait to see what's next for the product; I'm sure it will be nothing short of incredible.

There's still a lot more I want to accomplish, and I'm really excited about this next chapter. For now, I'm going to take some time off to digest the last few years. I have about a dozen different projects planned, so expect more from me soon!

It has been unofficially leaked for almost a month now but AT&T has finally shown off the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active.

The Active is a 5-inch 1080p device powered by a quad-core 1.9GHz Snapdragon 600 CPU that is very similar to the Galaxy S4 except that some of the aesthetics have been changed.

Samsung says the device will be aimed at those with a more active lifestyle that require a more rugged phone.

The device has an 8MP camera instead of the 13MP camera seen on the S4, to keep prices lower, and the device will be available in grey and teal.

AT&T will begin offering the device on June 21st, although price remains unclear.