Latest news

Hackers releasing 8GB of data allegedly stolen from Italy's CNAIPIC.

CNAIPIC (National Computer Crime Centre for Critical Infrastructure Protection) oversees the country's critical IT infrastructure. Anonymous claims to have gotten the 8GB data dump from a source, and alleges that the files were taken from evidence-storing servers of the CNAIPIC group.

Among the documents being leaked is information about government offices in different countries, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Australia's Ministry of Defence. Data related to private firms such as Russia's Gazprom and Exxon Mobil is also being leaked.

Information about CNAIPIC staff and management is also among the 8GB dump.

The release of the data is believed to be retaliation for the arrest of several people alleged to be part of Anonymous in Italy earlier this month.

Aol has announced the launch of their "AOL HD" app, which will "deliver rich high-definition video to users across connected TV platforms."

The free app will give access to AOL video and audio content, on platforms like Boxee and Roku, which have dedicated channels.

Says Rob DelaCruz, General Manager for AOL HD:

There has been explosive growth in the number of users who watch and interact with internet content on their televisions. We’re uniquely positioned to serve this audience, delivering premium original content in a rich high definition experience and engaging users across all of their screens.

AOL HD will feature content from Huffington Post, Engadget and Moviefone alongside AOL Music’s full CD Listening Party (CDLP) audio content.

Within days of signing a content streaming deal with CBS, Amazon has now signed a similar deal with NBCUniversal.

The new licensing agreement will give Amazon Prime members access to movies from Universal Pictures.

A few of the titles (no new releases) are “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” “Elizabeth,” "Gosford Park," "Babe,” “Flipper,” “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Notting Hill,” “Being John Malkovich”, “Fletch,” and “Billy Elliott.”

Amazon has around 9000 movies and TV shows available for free to Amazon Prime subscribers on over 300 compatible devices.

The e-tailer's recent CBS deal was mainly for TV shows.

Rival Netflix has over 20,000 videos in its "Watch Instantly" streaming catalog.

Nintendo has announced today that it will be dropping the price of the 3DS handheld, starting August 12th.

The company is taking a huge chunk off the MSRP, dropping the price from $250 to $170.

Adds NoA President Reggie Fils-Aime:

For anyone who was on the fence about buying a Nintendo 3DS, this is a huge motivation to buy now. We are giving shoppers every incentive to pick up a Nintendo 3DS, from an amazing new price to a rapid-fire succession of great games.

The move will "create momentum for the Nintendo 3DS and accelerate its market penetration toward the year end sales season, when the lineup for the applicable software shall be enriched," adds the company.

Nintendo says it has sold 830,000 3DS in the U.S. since launch, and all current owners will be offered 20 free games from the newly launched Nintendo eShop.

Additionally, users who take advantage of the eShop deal are also enrolled in the "3DS Ambassador program," which allows for 10 free NES Virutal Console downloads like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong Jr. Finally, "Ambassadors" will also get 10 free Game Boy Advance Virtual Console games like Mario vs. Donkey Kong and Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Verizon says it will release the much-anticipated LTE-enabled Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet on Thursday for $529 (16GB) or $629 (32GB).

Data plans for tablets on Verizon start at $30 for 2GB with 2-year contract.

Chances are, however, that you will need the more expensive plans if you are an active user, $50 for 5GB or $80 for 10GB.

The Wi-Fi-only version of the tablet sells for $500.

Featuring Android 3.1 Honeycomb, the Tab 10.1 has a 10.1" WXGA TFT LCD display with 1280x800 resolution and a dual-core 1GHz processor.

The device weighs just 1.24 pounds, and has a standard 8MP camera with 1080p recording support and a 2MP front-side camera.

Actor Will Wheaton (of 'Stand By Me' and a ton of TV shows) has blamed the entertainment industry for video piracy, noting that honest consumers are getting frustrated with the lack of ease for legal alternatives compared to piracy.

The video comes via an interview with ScreenRant, and includes a guest appearance with Colin Ferguson of SyFy show 'Eureka.'

A couple of quotes from the interview:

As soon as the entertainment industry provides an alternative to bit-torrent -- or an alternative to piracy -- that makes it easy for honest people to get access to the program, then the piracy dries up.

Gabe Newell [CEO of Valve] says that pirates provide better customer service. How many times have you paid for a DRM license for something and the server goes down, or you travel across the border? I rented some episodes on Amazon of Doctor Who: when I went to Canada -- I paid for them in America; I live in America -- they say “you can’t watch it anymore because you’re not in America anymore.” That made me angry because I was being honest; I was an honest person. If I had stolen it, I would be watching it.

Nielsen has posted figures on Hulu and Netflix usage, by device, and it appears that a full 50 percent of all users stream the service via gaming consoles.

For Netflix, 42 percent watch via their computers, 25 percent watch from their Wii, 14 percent stream from their TV (hooked up to computer), 13 percent use their PS3 and 12 percent use the Xbox 360.

Because the 12,000 users surveyed were allowed to give multiple answers, it is unclear how many use consoles or their computer exclusively.

Many users also connected via Blu-ray players, set-top boxes, and mobile phones.

For Hulu, 89 percent used their computers, unsurprisingly since the service costs money on any mobile device or console.

73 percent of Hulu users "primarily" watched TV shows while Netflix had that figure at 11 percent.

The Sundance Institute has announced they have partnered up with with major online video providers, broadening the scope of the indie filmmakers.

As part of the Artist Services Initiative, the Institute has partnered with Amazon, iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, SundanceNOW and YouTube.

Says Sundance Institute executive director Keri Putnam:

The landscape has changed a lot. So we built this new initiative to support the filmmakers who want to find new opportunities. We heard from our community that they needed help.

Distributor New Video will act as the portal, with both the Institute and New Video taking a small percentage of all revenue with the rest going to the filmmakers, who keep all ownership and licensing rights to their film.

Adds New Video’s Susan Margolin (via THR):

They’re on board with the mission of providing maximum exposure for the films, providing new revenue streams and bringing these very important films to new audiences for the first time. I see this as nothing short of revolutionary.

BitTorrent has said today that they will release a premium version of the popular µTorrent client, dubbed µTorrent Plus.

The company did not say how much they will charge for the torrent client, but did say it would not supplant the free offering, which will continue to see the "same level of commitment and development" as it does currently.

Not all of the details are clear yet, but BT says Plus is built for those that need a "single solution" for finding content on the web, and playing it on any number of devices.

µTorrent, in its free variation, is now up to version 3.0, which added over 20 new features. BitTorrent and µTorrent have 100 million monthly users.

If you are interested in Plus, you can keep with updates here: uTorrent Plus.

Microsoft has announced a new Media Remote for the Xbox 360, alongside a new Bluetooth wireless headset.

Both products should be released in early November.

The controller, as implied, will serve owners who use their console for its media center capabilities, including streaming and video/music playback via the dashboard UI.

Additionally, the remote can control live TV if you have it via your cable TV provider.

Microsoft is selling the controller for $20.

The Bluetooth headset will retail for $60 and include two ear adapters and a cable with a micro USB connection for charging.

Watch Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb with the headset:

Boot to Gecko project draws on some parts of Google's Android.

Gecko is the rendering engine that is used by the Firefox browser to display content from the web. Mozilla is looking to expand its capabilities to be at the core of a web-centred operating system that will be developed in the open with all code shared as soon as it is written.

The OS will draw on some parts of Google's Android operating system, but most of the code will be freshly written. If successful, it could become a competitor for Android itself, Apple's iOS, webOS, Chrome OS and Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system.

The Mozilla team said the project is only now in its infancy, but has made it public to attract interested experts in the Mozilla community and elsewhere, whom it encourages to join the effort.

Communications Consumer Panel says action must be taken for rural communities.

The group is urging Ofcom to oblige operators to extend services to rural areas, estimating that as many as 1,400 new base stations are required to address the problem. It identified the forth-coming 4G spectrum auction as an opportunity to force through a solution.

An estimated three million people live in areas of the UK that are under-covered, so called mobile not-spots. The consumer panel said it is concerned that the new 4G services might not extend the existing coverage at all. The 4G auction begins next year, with networks using next-generation technology expected to launch in 2013.

The 800MHz band, now available due to the transition to digital TV, will provide better in-building coverage, necessary for people intending to use 4G networks for home broadband.

"This is a critical moment, and we have a unique opportunity to resolve the persistent problem of inadequate mobile coverage," said panel chair Bob Warner. "Most places that were mobile coverage notspots 10 years ago are still notspots today, and the spectrum auction represents perhaps the only chance we have in the next decade to improve coverage in the nations and for rural communities."

Xbox 360's official Twitter account urges fans to buy album to remember star.

Microsoft has apologized for a tweet that encouraged fans of deceased artist Amy Winehouse to buy one of her albums from the Zune Marketplace. The tweet, which stated, "remember Amy Winehouse by downloading the ground-breaking 'Back to Black' over at Zune," was immediately met with a backlash from fans, who called it crass and vile.

"Talk about cashing in on someone's death!" a response from Simacco read. Soon after, an apology was posted by the account. "Apologies to everyone if our earlier Amy Winehouse download tweet seemed purely commercially motivated," it read. "Far from the case we assure you."

A further tweet posted later declared that the world had lost a huge talent, and that, "our thoughts and prayers are with Amy's family and friends at this very sad time."

Of course, we all expect to see Amy Winehouse' albums being pushed more aggressively now by music retailers, as is the case when there is any death of a star within the music industry. The tweet though, did seem distasteful, badly timed and exploitative of the situation.

Display maker bets on large-sized OLED.

LG Display chief executive Kwon Young-soo revealed that the company does not want to concentrate completely on small to medium sized AMOLED displays intended for use with mobile handsets or tablet PCs, and instead will look to bring large-sized OLED TVs to the market.

"Instead of investing in OLED displays for mobile applications, the company will now put all its efforts into large screen sizes for TVs," Kwon said. "LG-Display will launch a 55-inch OLED TV by the second half next year."

Initial volume will only be in the tens of thousands of units due to limitations of production facilities, with mass production expansion eyed shortly afterwards.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this year, LG Display showed off a 31-inch OLED 3D display that gained considerable attention. OLED promises sublime picture quality and low-power consumption.

Fujitsu-Toshiba have announced the first Windows Phone 7 device with Mango, today, the IS12T.

The device will launch very soon, and Mango has gone Release to Manufacturing (RTM), as well.

Toshiba's new device will have a 3.7-inch LCD, single-core 1.5GHz processor and 32GB internal memory.

Additionally, the device will be water and dustproof.

'Mango' adds 500 features to the WP7 operating system including multi-tasking, Internet Explorer 9, HTML5 support, Twitter and Facebook integration.