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BBC Worldwide has announced the launch of the global BBC iPlayer App for more countries this week, starting with Finland, Sweden and Denmark.

The player launched in 11 nations in July, and Australia last month.

Subscriptions for the streaming service are ?6.99 a month (or ?64.99 for an annual subscription) and the player is available at bbc.com/iplayer/tv.

iPlayer content come from eight genres: News Specials & Documentaries; Entertainment; Drama; Comedy; Science & Nature; Family & Kids and Music & Culture and Lifestyle.

Matthew Littleford, General Manager for Global iPlayer added:

We're proud to be one of the first international broadcasters to give access to our shows in a perfectly packaged app. Reviews of the app have been overwhelmingly positive since its launch in 11 other Western European countries and in Australia earlier this year.

The extension into Finland, Sweden and Denmark is an important step in our strategy of pursuing multiple platforms for our programmes and brands, taking British programmes to new digital audiences around the world in an innovative, creative and easily accessible format. During this pilot phase we have an exciting vision for what this service could become and will develop it based on feedback from within all markets.

Google has announced the death of Buzz, the company's foray into social networking before Google+.

The network gave the company issues when it automatically opted-in all 200 million Gmail users without asking for permission. Google paid $8.5 million to settle the case.

Says Google of the move:

In a few weeks we'll shut down Google Buzz and the Buzz API, and focus instead on Google+. While people obviously won't be able to create new posts after that, they will be able to view their existing content on their Google Profile, and download it using Google Takeout...

...Changing the world takes focus on the future, and honesty about the past. We learned a lot from products like Buzz, and are putting that learning to work every day in our vision for products like Google+. Our users expect great things from us; today's announcements let us focus even more on giving them something truly awesome.

Bloomberg is reporting today that Apple is on pace to sell up to 4 million iPhone 4S this weekend, the first weekend of availability.

The phone went on sale today in the U.S., Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K. and will easily outpace last year's 1.7 million iPhone 4 sold in the first weekend.

That figure is not too surprising, however, as the iPhone 4S is now available on three of the major carriers in the U.S.; Sprint, AT&T and Verizon. Last year's June launch was only for A&T.

While the average estimate is for 2.5 million sold, Yankee Group analyst Carl Howe set the high with 4 million.

As with past releases, all Apple stores had lines that filled the block with eager buyers.

The news has sent Apple's stock to within pennies of its all-time high at $422 per share, up 14 percent since the death of founder and former CEO Steve Jobs.

Motorola has launced their Xoom Family edition today.

The tablet runs on Android 3.1, has a 10.1-inch IPS screen, dual-core 1GHz processor, a 5MP camera and 16GB of internal storage.

Most notably, the price has been dropped to $379 and comes with $40 worth of "family" apps. One app is Kid Zone Zoodles, which doesn't allow kids to access apps unless otherwise allowed by the parent.

Additionally, pre-loaded are SimCity Deluxe, Asphalt 6, Netflix, Quickoffice Pro HD and the "MotoPack."

Best Buy is the exclusive seller beginning on October 16th.

Microsoft and Quanta Computers have signed a patent agreement that will cover Android devices.

The agreement will give Quanta coverage under Microsoft's patent portfolio and include the company's smartphones, tablets and "any device running the Android or Chrome Platform."

Just like with past agreements Microsoft has made, the company will receive somewhere in the $5-15 range per device sold.

Says Microsoft:

We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Quanta, and proud of the continued success of our Android licensing program in resolving IP issues surrounding Android and Chrome devices in the marketplace.

The patent agreement is another example of the important role IP plays in ensuring a healthy and vibrant IT ecosystem. Since Microsoft launched its IP licensing program in December 2003, the company has entered into more than 700 licensing agreements and continues to develop programs that make it possible for customers, partners and competitors to access its IP portfolio. The program was developed to open access to Microsoft's significant R&D investments and its growing, broad patent and IP portfolio.

A Dutch court has rejected Samsung's request for an injunction barring sales of the iPhone 4S for patent violations.

Samsung filed for the injunction in reaction to Apple's barrage of patent lawsuits over various Galaxy smartphones and tablets around the world. Unlike Apple's lawsuits, Samsung's claims revolve around technology essential to mobile phone communications.

Ultimately, that was the reason for the judge's decision. Owners of patents for technology essential to mobile standards are required to offer FRAND (Fair, Reasonable, And Non-Discriminatory) licensing terms to any and all manufacturers.

According to AFP, a panel of judges found that Samsung is "obliged to grant a licence to Apple according to the terms of FRAND for the patents."

Ultimately, this is the same decision expected in other jurisdictions where Samsung has filed similar lawsuits. In fact, lawsuits of this type are exactly the reason FRAND licensing exists.

Apple has made some changes to the AppleCare extended warranty plan for the iPhone 4S which you should understand before you buy one.

The new plan is called AppleCare+, and is the only extended warranty option available from Apple for the iPhone 4S. This is separate from any replacement plan which may be offered by your carrier.

The primary reason you will need to understand how AppleCare+ works before buying your phone is you can't wait until later to purchase it.

Every new iPhone comes with a limited warranty on the hardware for 1 year and 90 days of technical support. Previously you could purchase AppleCare for your iPhone any time during that first year.

With the iPhone 4S you won't have that option. AppleCare+ must be purchased with the phone.

There is an exception if you pre-ordered the iPhone 4S. In that case, you will have until November 14 to buy an AppleCare+ plan for your new iPhone by calling 1-800-275-2273.

Not every mobile provider will offer AppleCare+ plans to subscribers. An Apple rep told PCMag.com you will still be able to buy a plan directly from them, but you should make sure not to wait until after your phone is activated.

The FCC has sent a letter to AT&T asking for more details about the number of US jobs which would be created and eliminated by their proposed buyout of T-Mobile USA.

AT&T, the number 2 wireless carrier in the US, is attempting to buy the number 4 carrier from corporate parent Deutsche Telekom. The deal is opposed by the Justice Department on antitrust grounds.

In their letter, FCC commissioners complain that AT&T has "produced almost nothing" in response to their request for details about the affect on jobs in both operations.

Certainly there is reason to be concerned about the matter. AT&T has made a big deal about planning to bring 5,000 call center jobs back to the US which had previously been outsourced to other countries.

At the same time, one of their promises to shareholders was a savings of $10 billion in support costs, which includes call centers, over the next 3 years.

The obvious question, then, is how they plan to save money while increasing payroll. That appears to be exactly what the FCC is looking to answer.

The bidding for Hulu has ended with the company's owners deciding not to sell.

The saga of Hulu's quest for a buyer began in June with an unsolicited offer from Yahoo. In the weeks that followed, other companies, including Google and Amazon got involved.

Eventually Yahoo dropped out of the deal, thanks to the recent corporate shakeup which resulted in the firing of CEO Carol Bartz over the phone.

When the dust settled, the 2 top bidders were reportedly Dish Network and Google. Google offered the most money, but demanded longer guarantees for content than Hulu's controlling owners, News Corp, Disney, and Providence Equity Partners, were interested in.

Dish Network was willing to agree to their terms, but offered significantly less money. In the end, both offers were rejected.

Today a statement was released on the official Hulu blog stating:

After delaying the launch party of the Nexus Prime (and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich), Samsung has sent out invites for the new release party.

The announcement is set for October 19th in Hong Kong.

Samsung's Nexus Prime will be an ultra-thin 9mm device with a large 4.65-inch 1280 x 720 Super AMOLED HD display.

For screenshots of Ice Cream Sandwich, check here: Hello, gorgeous: Ice Cream Sandwich screenshots leaked

Samsung will not be selling the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Australia in the foreseeable future now that Apple's request for an injunction barring sales of the the tablet has been approved.

The injunction is the latest development in Apple's patent lawsuit filed in April over touchscreen technology. Samsung had agreed to delay the Australian launch of the tablet until Justice Annabelle Bennett ruled on the matter.

The ruling, which prohibits sales of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 pending a conclusion to the lawsuit, comes less than 2 weeks after Samsung offered Apple a temporary settlement. That offer was rejected last week.

While not the end of the lawsuit, it does appear to have put an end to Samsung's plan to sell the tablet in Australia before Christmas.

Samsung seems to be hoping to change the focus to their own lawsuit against Apple, whom they accuse of violating wireless communications patents. According to the Sidney Morning Herald, a statement from Samsung said:

The CyanogenMod team has ported Android to the HP TouchPad, but the devs are encouraging you not to download it yet.

In public alpha, the ROM is still very buggy, and the devs say most apps probably still don't work.

For now, ClockWorkrecovery, multiboot support, ten-point multitouch, functional WiFi, camera support for video chat and limited GPU acceleration are working now, but are also buggy. Wi-Fi disconnects are aplenty, sleep doesn't really work so battery drain is significant

For a full list of working features and an install guide, check here: [RELEASE][ALPHA][Discussion] CyanogenMod team Touchpad port

AfterDawn will not be putting together a guide on rooting and adding CM7 to your TouchPad until the platform reaches a stable release or at least a beta.

Senator Ron Wyden has sent a letter to President Obama protesting the signing of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) as an executive agreement.

The secretly negotiated intellectual property agreement was signed by representatives of 8 countries, including the United States, on October 1. A few parties to the negotations, including the European Union, have yet to add their signatures.

In his letter, Wyden accuses the president of overstepping his authority by entering into an agreement which covers international trade and intellectual property. He explains that authority for both are explicitly assigned to Congress by the US Constitution.

His criticism also extends to the office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), who negotiated ACTA on behalf of the US, for misleading statements about its legality.

He wrote:

The USTR long asserts authority to enter ACTA as a "sole executive agreement" with no congressional authorization or approval. In its latest explanation on this topic, the ISTR stated:

ACTA is consistent with U.S. law and does not require the enactment of implementing legislation. The United States may therefore enter into and carry out the requirements of the Agreement under existing legal authority, just as it has done with other trade agreements.

TorrentFreak has posted a list of the 10 most pirated films of all-time, using weekly data they have compiled since 2006.

What is clear from the list, however, is that despite being massively pirated, all the films did particulary well at the box office, breaking Hollywood's mantra of "piracy killing ticket sales."

The data is gathered from only public torrent trackers since 2006, so please keep that in mind as there are certainly other ways to pirate movies including private trackers, warez sites, p2p and newsgroups. None of those figures are included.

In first is the highest-banking film of all-time, Avatar, followed by the $1 billion grossing The Dark Knight in second.

The rest of the list:

According to research firms Gartner and IDC, HP remains the top PC company but for the first time ever Lenovo has moved into second, surpassing Dell.

HP controls 17.7 percent share of PC shipments, up from 17.3 percent last year, says Gartner. IDC has similar numbers, with HP at 18.1 percent.

Lenovo, thanks to a huge influx of laptop sales, moved to 13.5 percent from 11.1 percent last year.

Dell remained about even at 11.6 percent.

While sales have been shrinking for a couple of years due to recession and the development of tablets, IDC says there will likely be a large bounce back next year when "ultrabooks" become mainstream.

Ultrabooks are ultra light notebooks with lots of battery life and network connectivity.