AfterDawn: Tech news

Latest news

AfterDawn: News

T-Mobile HSPA+42 users average 1.3GB data consumption per month

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 9:07

T-Mobile HSPA+42 users average 1.3GB data consumption per month According to consulting firm Chetan Sharma and T-Mobile USA CTO Neville Ray, it appears that carrier's "4G" HSPA+42 users consume much more data than other T-Mobile smartphone users.

The average 4G user consumes 1.3GB per month, just about double the 760MB used by its total smartphone base, including slower HSPA+21 users.

In the U.S., only 30 percent of smartphone users consume over 1GB of data per month, in general.

Ray noted that 48 percent of overall HSPA+ traffic was due to video accounts like Amazon Instant and Netflix and YouTube.

While technically HSPA+42 is not "real" 4G, speeds are still on par with the low end of Verizon and AT&T's LTE, at around 8Mbps.




AfterDawn: News

Dell XPS 14, 15 ultrabook specs leak

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 5:45

Dell XPS 14, 15 ultrabook specs leak Specs for the upcoming Dell XPS 14 and 15 ultrabooks have been revealed by Chinese site IT168.

Alongside just a couple of pics, the specs are none too surprising, but do surpass most other high-end ultras.

The XPS 14 will run on an Ivy Bridge Core i7, 8GB RAM, have video powered by a NVIDIA GT 630M 1GB GPU and a 1600 x 900 LCD display.

Internal storage is a mixed 32GB SSD and a 500GB standard HDD. Battery life is claimed at 11 and a half hours.

Moving up, the XPS 15 also runs on an i7 Ivy Bridge and 8GB of RAM, along with a NVIDIA GT 640M 2GB and 1920x1080 display. Internal storage is a huge 256GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. The ultra also has a slot-loading optical disc drive. Battery life is unsurprisingly shorter and rated at 8 hours.

Both devices have backlit keyboards, HDMI, DisplayPort and USB 3.0 ports. The displays are protected by Gorilla Glass.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

MacBook Pro with Retina Display battery replacement price revealed

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 4:25

MacBook Pro with Retina Display battery replacement price revealed Earlier in the week, we reported that the MacBook Pro with Retina Display had received iFixit's lowest score for ability to upgrade or replace internal parts.

Today, thanks to Apple's documentation, we have the cost of replacing the integrated battery.

Previous 15-inch models cost $129 to replace the battery, but the Retina model will set you back $199. At that price, it is the most expensive Apple product to have the battery replaced.

It is unclear why there is such a huge price jump, but likely has to do with the fact that the battery packs are tightly glued in place, "sandwiching the trackpad cable between them and the chassis in the process," says Slash.

As you can imagine, with such tightly packed components, replacement can get tricky.

In Apple's documents, they claim the notebook's battery can hold 1,000 charges before hold drops to 80 percent capacity. This should give most average users three years of full battery life.




AfterDawn: News

Linux chief architect says 'F*** you Nvidia' for lacking support

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 3:37

Linux chief architect says 'F*** you Nvidia' for lacking support Linus Torvalds, the Finnish-born chief architect behind the Linux kernel (and project coordinator), had some choice words for Nvidia this week.

Nvidia does not support Linux with its Optimus technology, and that makes Torvalds not a fan.

The developer called Nvidia "the single worst company we've ever dealt with" and then dropped the F-bomb alongside with gesture using a certain finger.

Furthermore, Torvalds seems pissed that Nvidia and their Tegra line of processors are selling so well because of Android, the OS that is based on Linux. Fortunately, Nvidias stance is "the exception rather than the rule."

Here is the full video, it's long but the reason you are here is at the 49th minute:




AfterDawn: News

Tomorrow's major Microsoft announcement to involve Barnes & Noble?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 3:05

Tomorrow's major Microsoft announcement to involve Barnes & Noble? That is a strong possibility, says The Verge's Tom Warren.

Microsoft is rumored to be announcing a Windows RT tablet tomorrow, one built without third-party manufacturers. The tablet is said to be a new competitor to the iPad and the Kindle Fire, and likely to Google's anticipated Nexus tablet.

Another rumor is that tomorrow's announcement will be a deal with Hulu, to purchase and then integrate the streaming service to upcoming Windows products.

Neither of those is happening, says the site. In April, Microsoft invested $300 million in Barnes & Noble as part of a strategic partnership and new subsidiary. The company was created to "accelerate e-reading innovation across a broad range of Windows devices." Former Windows Phone boss Andy Lees has been in charge of a project for some time now, which an SEC filing uncovered reveals is a "Microsoft Reader." Furthermore, Windows 8 and Windows Phone will have their own dedicated Barnes & Noble app with access to all content.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Twitter will now show exact retweet count

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 2:26

Twitter will now show exact retweet count Until recently, popular Twitter users were stuck with not seeing how many people retweeted or favorited their posts.

The posts would simply state "50+" if you got over 50 retweets or favorites, but now the site will show the exact count, even for past posts.

As one can imagine, Justin Bieber has a few posts with shockingly high amounts of retweets, including one where all he said was "New York City. #BELIEVE." That post saw 22,276 retweets.

A more important tweet, from Bill Gates promoting polio awareness, saw 1,178 retweets and 119 favorites. (Via Crunch).




AfterDawn: News

Facebook settles privacy suit for $10 million

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 2:03

Facebook settles privacy suit for $10 million Facebook will pay $10 million to charity in order to settle a privacy suit brought against them.

The suit accused the social networking giant of violating user's right to control their own likenesses, including photos and names.

Five angry Facebook users brought the suit after they believe they "violated California law by publicizing users' "likes" of certain advertisers on its "Sponsored Stories" feature without paying them or giving them a way to opt out," says Reuters.

"Sponsored Stories" are ads that show up on the right side of the screen and include one of your friend's names, sometimes their picture, and the assertion that they "liked" the advertiser.

Had the suit gone class-action, it could have affected over 100 million Americans and likely would have cost Facebook billions.




AfterDawn: News

Amazon Cloud gets full music label licensing

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 1:05

Amazon Cloud gets full music label licensing According to Cnet, Amazon's cloud music service has now been fully licensed by the Big 4 major labels.

If accurate, Amazon will start rolling out new features for the service in July.

The cloud deals, who's intricacies remain unclear, are with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, Warner Music and EMI. One source says Amazon will introduce a Scan and Match feature just like Apple's iCloud. iCloud, for $25 a year, will let you convert all your thousands of songs to "official" tracks through iTunes. Supposedly, the Amazon service will work exactly the same, just with Amazon MP3.

As Cnet explains: "When Amazon launched its cloud music service last year, the retailer required users to upload each of their individual song files to the company's servers. For people with a lot of music, this was a hassle. Amazon now has the rights to scan each user's hard drive to see what songs they possess. Then the merchant can just give users to access to copies of the songs stored on Amazon's library. They're listening to the same song but not their own song files."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Functioning Apple 1 sold at auction with Steve Jobs memo

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 12:49

Functioning Apple 1 sold at auction with Steve Jobs memo Sotheby's has auctioned off a functioning Apple 1 computer, alongside a memo written by Steve Jobs during his time at Atari.

The computer sold for double the estimate, reaching $374,500. The memo sold for $27,500, also much higher than expected.

In total, there were about 200 Apple 1s ever created, as each was hand-built by co-founder Steve Wozniak. The fully assembled circuit board cost $666.66 when they originally sold in 1976. The Woz chose the number because "it was easier to type."

There are only 50 the boards expected to still be in existence, with much less actually functioning.

Job's four-page note was written in 1974 and included his thoughts on how to improve its arcade football game "World Cup."




AfterDawn: News

Leaked document: Xbox 720 to cost $299 with Kinect 2

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 2:36

Leaked document: Xbox 720 to cost $299 with Kinect 2 Thanks to a 56-page leaked document that has since been removed by Microsoft from the social publishing site Scribd, we have a clearer look at next year's Xbox 720.

The presentation is almost two years old but references newly introduced features like the Metro dashboard and SmartGlass.

If accurate, the next-gen console will support Blu-ray, native 3D output, multi-tasking apps, Kinect 2 and Kinect glasses.

The console promises a 6x performance boost from the Xbox 360, and either "six or eight ARM or x86 cores clocked at 2GHz each with 4GB of DDR4 memory alongside three PPC cores clocked at 3.2GHz each for backwards compatibility with existing Xbox 360 titles," says Verge.

Additionally, the console will have an "always-on" state, allowing for a quick return to gaming and background DVR function.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

T-Mobile looking to deploy LTE Release 10 network

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 17 Jun 2012 2:11

T-Mobile looking to deploy LTE Release 10 network T-Mobile is looking to be the first carrier to support LTE Release 10, the next generation of the 4G network.

The carrier is already deploying base stations and will go live with the network next year, besting rivals like Verizon and AT&T, which are still rolling out their first generation LTE networks.

Release 10 supports up to 40MHz channels, carrier aggregation, 8x8 MIMO antennas and has the ability to "use separate spectrum bands in a single service." This means much higher peak data rates and theoretically much more reliable connections for users.

"We're excited about the capabilities of what we can bring with Release 10," says Neville Ray, chief technology officer.

The carrier aggregation is seen as the most important aspect of the network, as the industry is struggling to find more spectrum. T-Mobile will spend $4 billion over the next two years deploying the network. The money comes via AT&T, who had to pay the large break-up fee after their acquisition plans were denied.

Reportedly, T-Mobile will also be the first to deploy Voice over LTE, removing the need for 3G networks to carry voice: "I think they want to run voice service on LTE to put as many users into the new network as possible and hopefully migrate their existing users to it and shut down old network. That's sensible, and it's what I would do," says a source (via EET).




AfterDawn: News

Samsung, Apple account for 90 percent of smartphone profits

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2012 5:45

Samsung, Apple account for 90 percent of smartphone profits According to the latest ABI research, Samsung and Apple account for 90 percent of all smartphone market profits, leaving little room for competition like HTC, LG and Nokia.

The market itself grew 41 percent year-over-year, marking the fifth consecutive year of exponential growth.

Apple and Samsung are in a league of their own, however, taking 55 percent share of phone shipments in the Q1 2012. Samsung shipped 43 million devices, with Apple close behind at 35 million.

Rounding out the top 5 were Nokia and RIM at 11.9 million and 11.1 million respectively and Sony at 7 million.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Making a Skype call in Ethiopia comes with jail time

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2012 5:17

Making a Skype call in Ethiopia comes with jail time Thanks to new legislation passed by the government, using Skype in Ethiopia can come with a 15-year jail sentence.

The legislation actually criminalizes the use of VoIP in the country, and that includes notable services like Skype and Google Voice.

In the nation, all citizen's communications are monitored by authorities, but VoIP was the exception.

Ethio Teleco is the only communications infrastructure in the country, and it is run by the government. The new legislation also bans video chatting, social media, e-mail, and "any other data transfer service capable of communicating information."

Finally, the new law also "gives the government the right to inspect any imported voice communication equipment as well as the power to ban any inbound packages that don't have prior permission from the state," says VB.

Long story short, using the Internet to make phone calls can get you 15 years in jail and a large fine. Using VPN and Tor may not work either, as the government has installed a system to block access to such services.




AfterDawn: News

Vizio officially enters the PC market

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 16 Jun 2012 4:36

Vizio officially enters the PC market Vizio has officially entered the PC market this week, launching their first all-in-ones and notebooks first announced at CES.

Starting off the Vizio lineup is the Thin + Light ultrabook, which comes in 14-inch or 15.6-inch models. The book runs on new Ivy Bridge processors and Windows 7.

The 14-inch Thin + Light also has two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI output, 1600x900 resolution, SRS Premium Sound and claimed 7 hours of continuous battery life. The device is only 0.66-inches thick, as well.

Each of the Vizio All-in-One models (24-inch and 27-inch) can double as HDTVs, says the company.

Both devices have a base price of $898, placing them in the "value" category for their markets.






AfterDawn: News

Zynga working with CBS to turn 'Draw Something' into TV gameshow

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 15 Jun 2012 11:35

Zynga working with CBS to turn 'Draw Something' into TV gameshow Earlier this year, social gaming giant Zynga purchased developer OMGPOP for $210 million, gaining full rights to the popular 'Draw Something' mobile game.

It was unclear how the company planned to monetize the purchase, but it appears now we know how.

Zynga is working with broadcaster CBS to turn the game into a new primetime game show, with the show produced by Sony Pictures Television, Ryan Seacrest Productions, and Embassy Row.

According to Variety, the "pilot concept will reportedly pit multiple celebrities and users against each other in front of a studio audience."

Viewers at home will be able to play along, as well, although it is unclear how they will interact.

If picked up, the show will likely begin airing in 2013.





  Newer entries Older entries  

News archive