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Lenovo recalling All-In-One PCs

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 3:02

Lenovo recalling All-In-One PCs Lenovo has announced it will be recalling 160,000 ThinkCentre M70z and ThinkCentre M90z all-in-one (AIO) desktop PCs.

The move comes in conjunction with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) for computers sold between May 2010 and January 2012.

Due to a failure in the power supply, the system has a small chance of overheating and being a fire hazard and is therefore being recalled. The company received two customer reports in the last year of fires that resulted in damage to the computers in question.

All affected systems can be identified by machine type and serial number here at the Lenovo support page and if yours is affected Lenovo says "you should immediately stop using the affected desktop PC, and unplug the power cord."

Effective today, Lenovo will send free power-supply replacements for all affected ThinkCentre M90z and ThinkCentre M70z.




AfterDawn: News

Analyst: Verizon to sell more LTE iPad than AT&T

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 2:49

Analyst: Verizon to sell more LTE iPad than AT&T According to one analyst, Verizon will sell more LTE iPads than rival AT&T.

Kevin Smithen of Macquarie Securities USA says Verizon will sell 3-4 million of the new iPad this year while AT&T lags behind at 2 million units. Both companies have LTE networks, although Verizon's covers a significantly higher portion of the population.

The carrier will likely benefit more from the tablet's launch due to its wider footprint and the fact that the tablet can be used as a mobile hotspot with Verizon and not with AT&T.

Verizon's LTE network covers 200 million customers while AT&T's only covers 74 million.

Apple launched the LTE iPad on March 7th for release on the 16th. The device features a Retina Display (2048x1536) screen, an A5X chip with quad-core graphics and a new iSight camera with an f/2.4 aperture and a five-element lens, capable of 1080p video recording with improved software stabilization.




AfterDawn: News

Warner wants to convert your existing disc collection to UltraViolet

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 1:36

Warner wants to convert your existing disc collection to UltraViolet Since its launch, the UltraViolet movie cloud locker service has seen its share of ups-and-downs, but it appears to now be receiving a large push from Warner Home Entertainment.

Kevin Tsujihara, president of Warner Home Entertainment Group, says the group will start a disc-to-digital program that will help drive adoption of UV, as well as bring traffic to the movie recommendation site Flixster.

Tsujihara says there are currently 20 billion movie discs owned in domestic households around the world and there are only 32 UV releases with another 150 planned for release this year.

Warner is working with retailers like Wal-Mart and Best Buy to offer technology that will allow consumers to bring in their discs and have them uploaded to the UltraViolet cloud for playback anywhere. If you purchase your discs online (via Amazon for example) you will be sent emails asking if you want to convert the discs to UV. All converted files will have the UV DRM embedded.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Apple to create new jobs with new campus in Texas

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 1:18

Apple to create new jobs with new campus in Texas Apple has announced it will invest $300 million to build a new campus in Austin, Texas.

The new campus will bring 3600 jobs with it over the next decade, doubling the current workforce the company has in Austin.

Apple's current workforce in the city take care of customer support and complaints via the Web and phone.

Says spokesman Steve Dowling (Reuters): "Our operations in Austin has grown dramatically over the past decade from less than 1,000 in 2004 to more than 3,500 today."

The new jobs will be again in customer support but also include sales and accounting.

Texas governor Rick Perry signed off on the deal, and Apple will be getting some small incentives from Austin and $21 million over 10 years in investment from a state fund.




AfterDawn: News

Turntable.fm signs deal with EMI?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 1:11

Turntable.fm signs deal with EMI? According to a Cnet report, the popular DJ-ing startup Turntable.fm has signed a licensing agreement with EMI and may be on the verge of signing deals with the other majors, as well.

Turntable exploded last year in popularity as it allows users to share music and become DJs in virtual rooms with friends or strangers who vote to keep you as DJ or boot you if they do not like the music.

The deal with EMI is a "recorded-music deal" and the site is close to agreements with Sony and UMG. Warner Music., always the laggard in licensing deals, is still in talks with the service.

Last year, Turntable signed an agreement with the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers, the group that collects royalties for song writers and then began to negotiate with the Big 4.




AfterDawn: News

Sony VP: We messed up with PlayStation Move

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 12:47

Sony VP: We messed up with PlayStation Move Sony Computer Entertainment UK's new managing director Fergal Gara has admitted this week that the company did not use PlayStation Move to its fullest potential.

Since its launch in 2010, the company has shipped 10.5 million Move controllers and it is unclear how many of those have been sold. Microsoft's popular rival, the Kinect system, has sold over 10 million and continues to be updated and expanded.

Gara says: "[Sony] could have done a better job on the titles," and adds that maybe the system should be used for the casual market instead.

There are very little games that scream "Move!" with the exception of the new GoldenEye 007 title, and the controllers are not cheap.

Microsoft is expected to launch its game-changing Kinect 2 with the unveiling of the Xbox Next (720) either this year or next.




AfterDawn: News

Sony Tablet P already rooted

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 12:38

Sony Tablet P already rooted Just 4 days after launch, the Sony Tablet P has been rooted, with very little effort.

All that is required is an ADB installer and a special Sony Tablet Root tool. If you own a Tablet P (doubtful) the instructions to root are here: Pocketables.

After over seven months of delays, Sony released its foldable Tablet P device last Sunday to poor reviews.

AT&T is offering the device on-contract or off and the tablet costs $550 with no contract, and $400 with a two-year contract making it more expensive than the iPad.

Running on Android 3.2, the device has dual 5.5-inch displays with 1024x480 resolution each, a 1GHz Tegra 2 dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, dual cameras 0.3/5MP and just 4GB internal storage. The tablet does have 4G HSPA+ capability, as well.




AfterDawn: News

Over half of U.S. households own current-gen console, says Nielsen

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 12:31

Over half of U.S. households own current-gen console, says Nielsen According to Nielsen, 56 percent of U.S. households have at least one current generation gaming console.

That figure is up from 50 percent last year, and is accurate as of January.

Additionally, the firm says there "is increasing overlap and competition in the mobile / handheld / tablet gaming space with 66 percent of households with kids age 6-12 that own a Nintendo DS or Sony PSP also having an Apple iOS device."

On the other end of the spectrum, Android OS gaming is peak amongst adults aged 25-34.

Gamers are also increasingly getting distracted and play across multiple devices. 24 percent play on a combination of two consoles, PCs or handheld/tablet/mobile phones and 6 percent play on all three.




AfterDawn: News

Feds: Hacker 'Sabu' also sold drugs, was being evicted

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 10 Mar 2012 12:16

Feds: Hacker 'Sabu' also sold drugs, was being evicted According to unsealed court documents, Hector Xavier Monsegur aka "Sabu," was not only a top hacker but also a drug dealer who carried around an armed gun.

Earlier in the week it was revealed that Sabu has been working with the government since August, in secret, collecting information to arrest the other members of the team that caused havoc and headlines for a brief period in 2011. Last summer, Sabu plead guilty to 12 counts of conspiracy, computer hacking, aggravated identity theft, and bank fraud.

Among Sabu's past crimes included illegal handgun possession and two attempts to sell over 1 pound of marijuana. Additionally, the hacker was about to be evicted from his apartment in a housing project on the lower east side of Manhattan after two years of legal proceedings. Sabu "has not been a legal tenant in good standing," read the statement.

On top of all the other charges, the hacker is also facing a misdemeanor charge for impersonating a federal agent. The case is likely to be thrown out however, given the circumstances and his work as an informant.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

CD Project Red: No more DRM, ever

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Mar 2012 11:40

CD Project Red: No more DRM, ever Speaking at the GDC event, CD Project Red CEO Marcin Iwinski has noted that the developer will never use DRM ever again.

The developer is behind the hit 'Witcher' games, and has been an advocate in the past of removing DRM from the industry.

Says Iwinski: "Every subsequent game we will never use any DRM anymore, it's just over-complicating things. We release the game. It's cracked in two hours, it was no time for Witcher 2. What really surprised me is that the pirates didn't use the GOG version, which was not protected. They took the SecuROM retail version, cracked it and said 'we cracked it' -- meanwhile there's a non-secure version with a simultaneous release. You'd think the GOG version would be the one floating around."

The company sold over 1 million copies of Witcher 2 after building the game on a "modest budget."

Concluded the CEO: "DRM does not protect your game. If there are examples that it does, then people maybe should consider it, but then there are complications with legit users."




AfterDawn: News

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T coming April 22nd?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Mar 2012 11:14

Nokia Lumia 900 for AT&T coming April 22nd? While Nokia has been notably silent on the release date for its upcoming flagship device, sources now say the Lumia 900 will hit the States in late April.

Past expectations had Nokia and Microsoft releasing the phone on March 18th but the latest rumor is for an April 22nd launch.

The Lumia 900 has 4.3-inch AMOLED display, 1.4GHz single-core processor, Nokia's ClearBlack technology, LTE support, an 1830 mAh battery, 512MB RAM, 16GB internal storage and an 8MP Carl Zeiss camera with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm). The phone also has a 1MP front facing camera.

More importantly, however, is the rumored price. Sources say the phone will sell for just $99 with contract, making it a very attractive device for the price.




AfterDawn: News

Asus, Google 'Nexus Tablet' coming as soon as May?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Mar 2012 10:02

Asus, Google 'Nexus Tablet' coming as soon as May? According to industry sources, the Google and Asus 'Nexus Tablet' could be launched as soon as May.

Although the device is still unconfirmed, many expect the companies to team up to create the first Nexus tablet, a 7-inch device with vanilla Android and a price point that will compete with the 7-inch market leader, the Kindle Fire.

The sources claim the device will come with Android 4.0 and sell for $199-$249, which will put it in direct competition with the underpowered but extremely popular Amazon device.

Google had tried to co-brand with HTC at the end of 2011, but the company believed that such a low-priced device would cannibalize its other products. Acer was another potential partner, but the company did "not have in-house R&D capability." Asus was finally chosen for its strong brand image in the tablet market, and good product quality.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Microsoft shutting down Windows 6.x Marketplace

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 09 Mar 2012 9:35

Microsoft shutting down Windows 6.x Marketplace Microsoft has announced today that it will be shutting down the Windows Marketplace for devices running Windows Mobile 6.x.

The old operating system has since been discontinued with the launch of Windows Phone 7, and Microsoft is slowly phasing the OS out.

In an email to Windows Mobile 6.x customers, the company says:

Beginning May 9, 2012, the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service will no longer be available. Starting on this date, you will no longer be able to browse, buy or download applications directly on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone using the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace application and service.

Applications and games acquired from the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service installed on your Windows Mobile 6.x phone will continue to work after the service is discontinued on May 9, 2012. However, additional downloads of these applications and games from the Windows Mobile 6.x Marketplace service will no longer be available.


To break that down even more simply, as of May 9th, if you are still running a Windows Mobile 6 device, you will not be able to download any new apps via the store, or get updates. If you ever hard reset (factory wipe) your device, the apps will be lost forever, as well.




AfterDawn: News

Proview Shenzen tells distributors to stop iPad sales in China

Written by James Delahunty @ 09 Mar 2012 9:32

Proview Shenzen tells distributors to stop iPad sales in China Proview targets distributors.

The company claims to own the rights to the iPad trademark in China, and is currently engaged in a court battle with Apple Inc. over the sale of iPads in the country. Apple is appealing a court decision that sided with Proview, with a decision expected from the Higher People's Court in Guangzhou within the next few weeks.

Proview isn't waiting on the court however. It fired off a letter to distributors in China, warning them about the consequences of selling the Apple product in the region.

"Anybody who continues to do so will be seen as intentionally infringing rights and the company will adopt the most severe measures by taking legal action," the company said in an open letter to distributors.

According to Chinese media, Proview is seeking up to 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) in compensation from Apple for trademark infringement, and has indicated that it would favour an out of court settlement.




AfterDawn: News

Abortion site hack leads to UK arrest

Written by James Delahunty @ 09 Mar 2012 9:25

Abortion site hack leads to UK arrest Metropolitan Police e-Crime Unit questioning man in hacking case.

The hack was aimed at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service (BPAS), though the group has insisted that no medical or personal information on women who received treatment had been accessed by hackers. However, details of people who requested information from the website was reportedly compromised.

Police were alerted to the attack on Thursday, while claims later appeared on Twitter suggesting that the culprit had names of women who had undergone terminations and was threatening to release them,

The Metropolitan Police e-Crime Unit arrested a 27 year old man in Metropolitan Police e-Crime Unit, and he is now in custody at a West Midlands Police station.

"The website does store details (names, addresses and phone numbers) of people who have requested information from BPAS via the website, including those making personal inquiries as well as health and education professionals, the media and students." BPAS said in a statement.

"These may have been inquiries relating to contraception, pregnancy, abortion, STI testing and sterilisation. Relevant authorities were informed and appropriate legal action taken to prevent the dissemination of any information obtained from the website. While the confidentiality of women receiving treatment was never in danger, this episode was taken very seriously indeed."





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