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Nokia introduces their high-end Windows Phone -- Lumia 900

Written by Matti Robinson @ 09 Jan 2012 6:48

Nokia introduces their high-end Windows Phone -- Lumia 900 Nokia has today announced their third Windows Phone and the first ever LTE Nokia device. Lumia 900 follows the design path of Lumia 800 and N9. The main difference in the design is the size you get with the 4,3 inch AMOLED display.

As with the the previously announced Nokia Windows Phones you get a 1,4 gigahertz single-core processor but they've increased the display size to 4,3 inches. The AMOLED display relies on the Nokia's own ClearBlack technology. Battery is said to be 1830 mAh which is quite a bit more than with Lumia 800 (1450 mAh) or Lumia 710 (1320 mAh).

The phone also packs a Carl Zeiss camera with large aperture (F2.2) and wide angle focal length (28mm). It produces 8 megapixel stills and 720p/30fps video.

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AfterDawn: News

Influential US legislator bows to Reddit pressure and speaks out against SOPA

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 09 Jan 2012 5:40

Influential US legislator bows to Reddit pressure and speaks out against SOPA Members of the online community Reddit, often referred to as redditors, have notched another minor victory in the war against SOPA, the widely criticized anti-piracy bill being considered in the US House of Representatives.

Last month redditors were behind a campaign to boycott Internet domain name registrar GoDaddy because of their support for SOPA. When the dust settled, GoDaddy lost a lot of customers and ultimately decided to retract their official support for the bill.

Fresh off that victory, redditors set their sights on unseating a federal legislator. After much debate, which actually involved a number of issues besides SOPA, a target was chosen. That target was Wisconsin Representative Paul Ryan.

Ryan was not one of SOPA's sponsors, and in fact had never made a statement of any kind on the bill before the Reddit campaign started. Today that changed when the following was posted on his official page:

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AfterDawn: News

CES: AT&T teases new 4G Nokia Windows Phone and details Android additions

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 09 Jan 2012 4:44

CES: AT&T teases new 4G Nokia Windows Phone and details Android additions During today's build up to the opening of this year's Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, which officially starts tomorrow, AT&T has announced some major additions to their lineup of LTE smartphones.

Perhaps the most anticipated announcement was a teaser for the new Nokia Windows Phone, which is set to be formally unveiled at a Nokia press conference in a couple hours. However they did offer significantly more details about the HTC Titan II, which has a 4.7 inch display, a 16 megapixel camera, and is powered by a 1.5GHz Qualcomm.

Leaks, rumors, and general speculation from around the web about the Nokia phone tell us it's an updated version of the Lumia 800 with a bigger display, and of course, LTE support as well. That last part AT&T has officially confirmed.

Today they also officially announced an Android smartphone everyone knew was coming. Samsung's Galaxy Note has been upgraded with LTE support and some new capacitive buttons. They also announced two other Samsung Android models, the Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD with a 720p (1280×720) display and the eco-friendly Exhilarate, which is made from 80% recycled material.

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AfterDawn: News

CES: BitTorrent shows off certified home theater hardware

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 09 Jan 2012 3:22

CES: BitTorrent shows off certified home theater hardware BitTorrent is making a big splash at CES in Las Vegas with the introduction of new partners in the BitTorrent Certified program. These companies will be making TVs, Blu-ray players, as well Set-top and NAS (Network Attached Storage) boxes with BitTorrent support.

Although primarily identified with illegal file sharing, BitTorrent was designed from the beginning for content delivery. Having been largely ignored by commercial content providers, the company has focused more on products to make it easier for consumers to share their own content, such as personal pictures and home movies.

These new devices focus largely on that task, as well as enabling the sharing of content with multiple devices on the same home network. The company will be demonstrating prototypes of most of these devices privately this week.

Dune HD and Antik Technology will be making BitTorrent certified set-top boxes. AirTies will also be producing set-top boxes, as well as NAS units and routers. BBK Electronics' products will include TVs and Blu-ray players. Each of the new BitTorrent partners sees personal content, particularly the explosion of HD video, as a key motivator for adopting the technology.

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AfterDawn: News

CES: Rovi announces an UltraViolet content access solution

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 09 Jan 2012 1:56

CES: Rovi announces an UltraViolet content access solution Rovi, the software company who bought Sonic Solutions a few months ago, is introducing a new framework for offering consumers digital copies of their DVDs and Blu-ray discs.

Rovi Digital Copy Solution is designed to be integrated into computer software and consumer electronics devices as a client for viewing content licensed via the UltraViolet, aka UVVU or UV, rights management system.

UltraViolet is a "digital rights locker" which allows you to register Blu-rays or DVDs which have the UVVU logo on them. In theory this allows you to stream or download them to a variety of devices, but the process of enabling this is convoluted to say the least.

For starters, UltraViolet doesn't actually provide any copies. It is nothing more than a clearinghouse for content licenses. They keep track of what content you have purchased, but you have to find a third party service provider to actually get copies of the content.

That's where the new Rovi solution comes in. It can be built into clients for software or consumer electronics devices, allowing them to automatically identify and help you register your UVVU discs. It also provides an interface for service providers to find out what UVVU titles you have registered.

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AfterDawn: News

CES: Victorinox introduces 1TB mobile SSD

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 09 Jan 2012 11:34

CES: Victorinox introduces 1TB mobile SSD During the lead up to CES today, Victorinox is unveiling a new line of mobile SSD drives with capacities up to 1 terabyte. Victorinox is best known for their Swiss Army knives, but in recent years has added USB flash drives to their product lineup.

Fittingly, the new Victorinox SSD drives could perhaps be best described as the Swiss Army knives of mobile storage. They offer USB 2, USB 3, and eSATA compatibility through a single connector. In addition to the 1TB option, there will also be 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB versions available.

They will also be showing off their new Victorinox Slim 3.0 line of USB flash drives. As the name suggests, these drives feature USB 3 support. They will be available in capacities ranging from 16GB to 128GB.

As with all their solid state storage products, both new lines use knife bodies to protect the drive. The Slim 3.0 will be offered either with the standard selection of knife and tool blades or in a flight friendly blade-free version. The SSD drives will include both housings, allowing you to switch between them.

Victorinox Head of Electronics Andrea Huder said in a statement:

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AfterDawn: News

Finnish ISP forced to block The Pirate Bay

Written by Matti Robinson @ 09 Jan 2012 6:47

Finnish ISP forced to block The Pirate Bay The district court of Helsinki has ordered one of the Finland's largest internet service providers to seize access to the popular filesharing site The Pirate Bay. Extending the original ruling in October last year the court has specified the domain names and IP addresses that are to be blocked.

Block has only been forced on the ISP Elisa which is said to be the most frequently used ISP amongst TPB users in Finland. In the press release by Elisa, the company calls the block temporary and has already appealed.

The ISP refused to block the filesharing sites under the original ruling because of not specific enough terms. Now that the domain names and IP addresses have been named the block is in effect.

Included in the blocked addresses are most of the domain names and IP addresses owned by The Pirate Bay as well as at least one URL which now redirects to Electronic Frontier Finland (EFFI) foundation. The domain in question (piraattilahti.fi) has previously redirected to thepiratebay.org but is operated by an individual not connected to The Pirate Bay.




AfterDawn: News

CES: Lenovo unveils TV running on Android 4.0

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 11:40

CES: Lenovo unveils TV running on Android 4.0 Lenovo has shown off their first TV today at CES.

Making the HDTV special is the fact that it runs on Android 4.0, the only television that has ever done so.

Dubbed the Lenovo K91 Smart TV, Lenovo says the device will be available first in China and could eventually make its way overseas.

Lenovo has created their own custom interface called "Sandwich" that uses video on demand, apps and standard TV functionality. It is important to note that Lenovo is using Android instead of Google's struggling Google TV platform. Powering ICS is a Qualcomm 1.5Ghz dual-core processor and include a 5MP camera for video chatting. There will be 42-inch and 50-inch 3D LED models.

Lenovo says the TV will have access to thousands of apps via the Android Market and the Lenovo Store.

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AfterDawn: News

CES 2012: Toshiba unveils world's thinnest tablet

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 10:42

CES 2012: Toshiba unveils world's thinnest tablet Toshiba has announced the Excite X10 tablet today at the CES event, the world's thinnest tablet.

The X10 is just 7.7mm thick, very impressive for a 10.1-inch IPS display. For comparison, the iPad 2 is 8.8mm thick. Additionally, the tablet has a Micro USB port, a Micro HDMI port, an SD card slot and a dock connector.

Toshiba's latest tablet runs on a dual-core 1.2GHz processor with 1GB of RAM, along with a 2MP front facing camera and a 5MP rear facing camera. The device will come with either Android 3.2 or Android 4.0 ICS, it is unclear so far.

BI says the tablet is made out of magnesium alloy instead of the titanium seen in other tablets, which makes it lighter, "but not as resilient."

The Excite X10 will go on sale in the "first quarter of 2012" for $529.99 (16 GB) and $599.99 (32 GB).

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AfterDawn: News

Rumor: Apple to open stores in Target locations

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 8:21

Rumor: Apple to open stores in Target locations According to sources, Apple will open stores within Target locations around the U.S.

By doing so, Apple can cheaply expand into smaller metro areas.

If accurate, Apple will open Apple-branded stores in 25 of the larger Targets at points during this year.

Of course, the launch will be a small test, as Target has 1752 stores in the U.S. Apple has 359 of its own stores around the world, including 245 in the U.S. Apple currently has a similar setup in 600 Best Buy stores. Some of the stores even have Apple Solution Consultants and are dubbed "Apple Shops."

Apple had previous retail relationships with Circuit City, Office Max and Sears until a decade ago, when they began opening their own retail stores. The Best Buy deal is relatively new.

Target has long sold Apple products, starting with the iPod in 2002.




AfterDawn: News

ViewSonic releasing ViewPhone3 Android phone

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 6:59

ViewSonic releasing ViewPhone3 Android phone ViewSonic is expanding into the Android market.

The company is expected to reveal their new low-end ViewPhone3 at CES next week.

Sources say the company will sell unlocked in the U.S. for T-Mobile and AT&T but will be aimed at emerging Latin Markets like Brazil.

The ViewPhone3 will run on Android 2.3 Gingerbread and an 800MHz Qualcomm processor. The device has a 3.5-inch display, 512MB, dual-SIM slots and a 5MP camera.

ViewSonic will sell the phone directly through their website for $250 with no contracts.

As you can see from the specs, the device is very outdated and not too powerful, but the dual-SIM slots are interesting and not seen on too many American phones.




AfterDawn: News

HTC Dev unlock tool now supports five more devices

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 6:06

HTC Dev unlock tool now supports five more devices The HTC Dev unlock tool is now expanded for more consumers.

HTC smartphone owners can use the tool to unlock the bootloaders on their device, legally, making it easier to add custom ROMs.

The new devices to be supported by the tool are the Wildfire S, Wildfire, Salsa, Merge and Desire. There are now 22 different devices that are supported, with more to be added into the future. Most of the devices on the list are newer devices but the company promises older devices will continue to be added.

CEO Peter Chou noted last year that all new devices would have unlocked bootloaders, following criticism from the developer community.

With unlocked bootloaders, users can install ROMs like CyanogenMod thanks to the ability to add custom recoveries.




AfterDawn: News

Netflix launching in UK with tons of promotions

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 5:16

Netflix launching in UK with tons of promotions Netflix is preparing to launch in the UK this week, and the company will have an expensive marketing campaign alongside a number of promotions for discounted or free films and TV shows.

The streaming service will compete with Amazon's established LoveFilm service in the nations.

Netflix is expected to add new deals with Sony, Disney, Paramount, Channel 4 and ITV in the coming weeks to compliment the current deals it has announced with BBC, Miramax, Lionsgate and MGM. Popular British shows like Top Gear and Doctor who will be available to rent from launch.

Despite having a monopoly for years in the U.S. (no longer), Netflix will have a much harder time with its expansion into the UK. Besides LoveFilm, BSkyB and Blinkbox are also established competitors with good brand reputations.

Netflix has a lot invested in its UK service, as CEO Reed Hastings noted earlier this year that it would halt its international expansion until it can provide an "aggressively priced, compelling service" in the UK.

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AfterDawn: News

Asus Transformer getting ICS very soon after the Prime

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 4:39

Asus Transformer getting ICS very soon after the Prime Last week, Asus announced that its new Transformer Prime would be getting the Android 4.0 ICS software update on January 12th.

Today the company has confirmed that the original Transformer will also be getting the update, as well, and very soon.

Reads the company's Facebook page: "ICS 4.0 will be coming to existing Eee Pad Transformer TF101. Exact date TBC but we are working on making the FOTA update available a.s.a.p. after Jan 12th launch with Prime TF201."

The Transformer, launched in early 2011, has a 10.1" LED backlit WXGA display with 1280x800 resolution and currently runs on Android 3.2. The tablet is powered by a Tegra 2 processor at 1.2GHz, 1GB RAM, 16 or 32GB internal storage and dual cameras 5MP/1.2MP.

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AfterDawn: News

Rihanna is the top selling digital artist, ever

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 08 Jan 2012 2:57

Rihanna is the top selling digital artist, ever According to Nielsen's 2011 year-end stats, Rihanna has become the top-selling digital artist of all-time.

The Grammy-award winning singer has released six albums and 27 singles since debuting in 2005, making her one of the more prolific musicians of this generation.

Furthermore, Rihanna has produced 20 Hot 100 top-10 singles in the quickest time ever, beating out Madonna.

The full list (via EW):

Artist (downloads)
1. Rihanna (47,571,000)
2. Black Eyed Peas (42,405,000)
3. Eminem (42,290,000)
4. Lady Gaga (42,078,000)
5. Taylor Swift (41,821,000)
6. Katy Perry (37,620,00)
7. Lil Wayne (36,788,000)
8. Beyonce (30,439,000)
9. Kanye West (30,242,000)
10. Britney Spears (28,665,000)





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