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'Star Wars' Blu-rays set record

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2011 10:19

'Star Wars' Blu-rays set record George Lucas' blockbuster franchise can add another milestone to its celebrated history, the biggest first-week sales for a Blu-ray, ever.

The 9-disc-set made $84 million globally, with 515,000 units sold in North America, alone.

Additionally, the set was the most pre-ordered title, ever.

Despite its popularity, fans have universally panned the films due to their "tweaks," such as added lines or re-done scenes to the original series.

The set includes all six movies, and three extra discs with hours of interviews, making-of documentaries and deleted and alternate scenes.




AfterDawn: News

FBI arrests LulzSec and Anonymous members

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2011 12:55

FBI arrests LulzSec and Anonymous members The Justice Department has confirmed that the FBI has arrested two alleged members of LulzSec and Anonymous.

A third suspect, has had charges secured and an arrest is forthcoming.

Additionally, search warrants were being executed in more cases.

Cody Kretsinger, 23, Christopher Doyon, 47 and Joshua Covelli, 26 were each indicted. Kretsinger was charged with conspiracy and the unauthorized impairment of a protected computer while the others were charged with conspiracy to cause intentional damage to a protected computer, causing intentional damage to a protected computer and aiding and abetting.

Kretsinger, known as "recursion," is said to have been a former member of LulzSec, and is accused of hacking Sony Pictures Entertainment earlier this year via SQL injection.




AfterDawn: News

Netflix to be integrated into Facebook, except for in U.S. due to law

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Sep 2011 12:09

Netflix to be integrated into Facebook, except for in U.S. due to law Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has confirmed today at the Facebook F8 developer conference that the company's services will be integrated into the social network, except for in the U.S. where it is illegal due to law.

After logging into Facebook, users can see what movies or TV shows their friends have been streaming and watch right from their browser within Facebook via an overlay player.

Hastings says the services will be integrated in 44 countries, but the U.S.' Video Privacy Protection Act, passed in the 80s, does not allow the integration to happen here in the U.S.

Netflix currently has 23 million subscribers, with most in the U.S., making the new deal pretty useless.

Hastings says the VPPA is currently being reviewed and could be amended soon.




AfterDawn: News

AOC releases ultra-thin 23-inch monitor

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2011 11:33

AOC releases ultra-thin 23-inch monitor AOC releases specs and prices for their i2353Fh monitor.

The new ultra-thin monitor is just 9.6mm thick, 23-inches and LED-backlit.

An IPS panel with 178/178 degree viewing angles, AOC's display has 1080p resolution, a 5ms response time, two HDMI connectors and D-Sub.

The i2353fh also has a dynamic contrast ratio of 50,000,000:1 and 250 cd/m2 typical brightness.

AOC has put an MSRP of €179.




AfterDawn: News

Could Amazon buy Netflix?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2011 6:50

Could Amazon buy Netflix? One analyst believes the move is coming.

Wedbush Securities, in a report to clients today, says Amazon could be ready to purchase Netflix and become the market leader in the streaming business.

Says the client note:

Upon reflection, it appears to us that the driver for the separation of Netflix into two businesses—Netflix.com (for streaming) and Qwikster.com (for DVD rentals—was to position the streaming business for sale to Amazon.com (Nasdaq: AMZN)...In our view, Amazon has always wanted to be in the streaming business, and has been constrained from buying Netflix due to tax considerations.

"We arrive at our $155 price target through a sum-of-the-parts valuation analysis that values the Netflix streaming business at $130/share, and the Qwikster physical DVD rental business at $25/share. For Netflix streaming, we have assigned a 24x P/E multiple to our 2012 diluted EPS estimate of $3.63, plus an additional 50% premium should Amazon acquire it. For Qwikster, we have assigned a 14x P/E multiple to our 2012 diluted EPS estimate of $1.75. This multiple is roughly in-line with its primary DVD rental competitor, Coinstar.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Hulu Plus hits a million paid subscribers

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 22 Sep 2011 5:40

Hulu Plus hits a million paid subscribers Hulu Plus now has 1 million paid subscribers according to CEO Jason Kilar.

The announcement from Hulu's chief executive came at an investor conference yesterday. This milestone matched a prediction by Kilar earlier in the year when they had 875,000 paying customers.

He also promised the company's content investments will reach $375 million in 2011.

Hulu first added a subscription service to their free offerings less than a year ago. They immediately faced criticism over a shortage content.

Since then they have secured exclusive deals to add movies from Criterion Collection and Miramax, as well as expanding their selection of TV episodes.




AfterDawn: News

US Senators accuse Google of search fixing

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 22 Sep 2011 4:44

US Senators accuse Google of search fixing Google's Eric Schmidt faced accusations of his company illegally rigging search results to favor his company's services at a US Senate subcommittee hearing yesterday.

Although some Senators were clearly on Google's side, the majority made thinly veiled accusations that Google's search algorithms, combined with their dominant position in the search market, violated antitrust laws.

Complaining about the ranking of Google Products listings in their search results, Utah Senator Mike Lee said:

I see you magically coming up third every time. I don't know whether you call this a separate algorithm or whether you've reverse engineered one algorithm, but either way you've cooked it, so that you're always third.


He went on to accuse Google of favoring not just their own services, but also websites running Google provided ads.

Most of the questions for Schmidt centered around the specifics of Google's search algorithm which, predictably, he was unable to answer in any detail. Instead his responses concentrated on the ease of transitioning from Google services to their competitors and their focus on delivering answers rather than just links.

None of that swayed Google's detractors, who argued that when those answers come primarily from other Google services they may violate antitrust laws.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

AllthingsD: Meg Whitman to be named HP CEO today

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2011 1:15

AllthingsD: Meg Whitman to be named HP CEO today Kara Swisher has reported today that former eBay CEO Meg Whitman will be named the new CEO of HP.

Current CEO Leo Apotheker will be fired after just 11 months on the job.

As reported yesterday, in his 11 months on the job, Apotheker has lost HP $20 billion in market value while slashing sales forecasts three times.

Apotheker, who had a failed stint as CEO of software giant SAP, has recently purchased Autonomy for $10 billion, a move that has been completely criticized by all shareholders due to its huge price tag. The CEO also shut down webOS and firesaled their tablets at $99, just a few months after the company's acquisition of the mobile OS from Palm.

Sources say Whitman will be hired for the long-term, not just an interim position as speculated.

Says one source:

Meg is not someone who wants to be a steward of a process to find another CEO for HP. She wants to run the company and be a strong leader for what she considers an important tech powerhouse.




AfterDawn: News

OnStar changes ToS to be able to stalk you, always

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2011 11:51

OnStar changes ToS to be able to stalk you, always OnStar, the service that allows connected drivers to call live operators in case of emergency or even for directions, has recently changed its ToS and has come under fire.

Beginning later this year, OnStar will continue collecting data from users who have discontinued their service, unless they specifically call in and say they want the connection severed.

Speed, location, and other GPS data will remain collected, even if you don't pay for the service anymore.

Adding to concerns is the fact that the ToS says the data collected can be shared with or sold to third parties for any purpose, as long as personal identifiers are removed.

GM, the owners of OnStar, say leaving the connection on will let it send car owners updated warranties, recall data or warn of dangerous weather conditions.




AfterDawn: News

Convert your 2D videos into 3D on YouTube, now

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 22 Sep 2011 11:25

Convert your 2D videos into 3D on YouTube, now YouTube has announced today that their 3D video conversion tools are now live, after months of testing.

You can now convert your standard 2D videos into 3D, although you will still need a 3D glasses-free display (or a display + glasses) if you want to truly enjoy the new videos.

Furthermore, the company says they have removed the 15 minute video limit as long as you are a verified user.

The company is quick to note that the video will not be as good of quality as video caught properly with 3D capable cameras. The software simply "measures the motion and color of a single video to simulate depth and hobble together a hacky, 3D-ish video," says TC.

Finally, YouTube rounded out their announcements confirming a video editing partnership with Magistro and an effects partnership with Vlix.




AfterDawn: News

LightSquared claims to have solved GPS interference problems for their 4G network

Written by Rich Fiscus @ 22 Sep 2011 10:58

LightSquared claims to have solved GPS interference problems for their 4G network Would be wholesale mobile provider LightSquared says they have a fix for GPS interference problems with their proposed LTE network. Unfortunately their solution raises as many questions as it answers.

LightSquared's plan involves operating a terrestrial 4G network in a frequency range normally reserved for satellite communications. This has raised objections from both private industry and government regulators due to interference issues with a broad range of GPS systems.

LightSquared's network would cause problems for high precision GPS units used by the military, and also in a wide range of commercial applications, including aviation, agriculture & surveying.

Their proposed solution would require GPS users to modify existing equipment to use newly developed hardware which they say is capable of filtering out the problem transmissions.

In a conference call with the media, a company spokesman said, "LightSquared is in active conversations with the government about covering the cost in whatever way we can legally, of retrofitting all the federal government GPS precision devices."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Secure boot requirement for Windows 8 could affect Linux installations

Written by James Delahunty @ 22 Sep 2011 9:21

Secure boot requirement for Windows 8 could affect Linux installations Security measure could impact on Linux dual-boot options.

In order for a PC to be sold bearing a "Designed for Windows 8" logo, it must ship with secure booting (enabled by UEFI) enabled. This could pose problems for users who wish to install (an unsigned) open-source operating system.

For most users, the solution would simply be to disable the secure booting in the UEFI settings. That will not effect Windows 8 booting. However, this does mean that the hardware vendor is responsible for making it possible to disable the security feature.

Why protect the bootpath? In recent years, malware authors have resorted to attacking the bootpath to get around security features in Windows. As an example, the TDL-4 rootkit utilizes a bootkit to disable the Windows kernel mode code signing policy of the 64-bit version of Windows 7.

The only airtight way to counter the threat is to protect the bootpath by requiring that all firmware and software involved in the boot process have been signed by a CA. Google has done the same thing with its Chromebooks to avoid bootpath attacks. Google mandates that a Chromebook feature a physical switch (under the battery component) which would allow it to be disabled.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

OnLive gaming service launches in UK

Written by James Delahunty @ 22 Sep 2011 8:50

OnLive gaming service launches in UK "Cloud console" service makes jump to UK market.

Partnered with retailer GAME, OnLive offers UK gamers a subscription to play the latest top-tier games on demand, delivered over the Internet form OnLive's powerful cloud gaming technology. UK gamers can play on their HDTV, PC, Mac or any combination of the above, regardless of performance capabilities, and soon they will even be able to play on iPad and Android tablets.

They can buy the games they want individually, with prices starting at £1.99, or subscribe to OnLive's PlayPack Bundle, which now offers access to more than 100 games for just £6.99/month.

OnLive has struck a strategic partnership in the UK with BT, the first internet service provider in the UK to offer cloud-based gaming to customers through the exclusive partnership. To mark the launch, BT is giving its 5 million broadband customers three months free access to 100+ games when customers sign up at: www.bt.com/onlive.

"We're incredibly excited to see the OnLive community expand across the globe, bringing OnLive’s unprecedented live instant gaming experience to Europe. UK and US members can now play live in our massive spectating Arena and chat with players and spectators across the Atlantic," said Steve Perlman, Founder and CEO, OnLive.




AfterDawn: News

Adobe Flash Player 11, AIR 3 will launch in October

Written by James Delahunty @ 22 Sep 2011 8:40

Adobe Flash Player 11, AIR 3 will launch in October Adobe to deliver major update for "game console of the web."

Adobe has announced that Adobe Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will launch early next month. It promises that the release will enable the next generation of immersive application experiences across devices and platforms including Android, Apple iOS (via AIR), BlackBerry Tablet OS, Mac OS, Windows, connected TVs and more.

Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 will enable game publishers to deliver "console quality" 2D and 3D games over the Internet to nearly all PCs, and a host of other mobile devices.

"Media companies can take advantage of new features to seamlessly deliver protected feature-length, cinema-quality HD video through the Web, in mobile apps, and even with surround sound for connected TVs. Flash Player 11 and AIR 3 provide a cross-device entertainment platform, enabling the best in online gaming and premium video while helping content publishers to reach the broadest possible audience with highly-leveraged development investments."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Pandora releases new HTML5 player, removes caps

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 21 Sep 2011 11:46

Pandora releases new HTML5 player, removes caps Internet radio service Pandora has shown off its new completely redesigned HMTL5-based player, now available to all users.

Thanks to a new influx of cash after going public during the summer, Pandora has been testing the service and has now rolled it out to the public.

Besides being easier to use, the old Flash-based service is now completely gone, a relief to many.

Perhaps more notably is the fact that Pandora has now removed the 40-hours-per-month cap it had on free music.

As a long time user I can confirm it's much faster and frankly more aesthetically pleasing.

Check it out, as always, here: Pandora





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