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AfterDawn: News

Apple shipped 1 million MacBook Air units in the Q4

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 06 Mar 2011 11:53

Apple shipped 1 million MacBook Air units in the Q4 Apple's updated MacBook Air line has quietly become a hit, with the company having shipped 1 million of the notebooks in the fourth quarter.

The figures come via Concord Securities analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, who says recent checks in Asia imply that Apple shipped 1.1 million units for the three months ended December 31st, 2010.

If accurate, the numbers will indicate one of the strongest Mac launches in history.

Furthermore, Kuo says the Air are now selling at a 1:2 ratio to the MacBook Pro laptops, Apple's best-selling.

Kuo says he expects Apple to "set a new Mac sales record during the [upcoming] quarter."




AfterDawn: News

Best Buy to give iPads to all sales associates?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 06 Mar 2011 9:27

Best Buy to give iPads to all sales associates? According to multiple reports, large retailer Best Buy may be ready to give iPads to all on-floor sales associates.

Best Buy has about 1100 stores in the United States.

Forbes, via AI says:

A source with knowledge of corporate mobile device deployments has told Forbes that one of the 10 largest retailers in the U.S. will soon distribute iPads to all its sales staff. The source noted that the retailer in question operates 1,100 U.S. stores, making Best Buy, which had 1093 U.S. stores as of September 2010, the most likely candidate.


Best Buy and Apple have a long retail history and the retailer is set to begin selling the iPad 2 on March 11th.

The retailer has 180,000 employees, although it is unclear how many are on-floor sales staff.

Associates will likely use the iPad for a new point-of-sale and inventory management system.




AfterDawn: News

Courtney Love settles and pays $430,000 over Twitter defamation case

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 11:37

Courtney Love settles and pays $430,000 over Twitter defamation case Courtney Love has reportedly settled her Twitter defamation case out of court for $430,000.

In 2009, Love used the micro-blogging service to throw a tirade against fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir (the Boudior Queen), who promptly sued the rocker.

Love will make the payments on a monthly basis from now until 2014.

Simorangkir and Love were in a dispute over a $4000 payment for clothing, and the Boudior Queen says Love's Twitter tirade ruined her reputation and business.

In one of the more nasty tweets, Love called Simorangkir an "a**wipe nasty lying hosebag thief."

Simorangkir's attorney was pleased with the settlement (via THR):

The amount of the settlement says it all. Her reprehensible defamatory comments were completely false and $430,000 is quite a significant way to say I am sorry. One would hope that, given this disaster, restraint of pen, tongue and tweet would guide Ms. Love’s future conduct.


Love's attorney was also satisfied with the settlement:

Because of the extended payout it's a modest settlement. They got out with an amount that left them bragging rights but nothing else.




AfterDawn: News

Marvell posts weak earnings, highlights market shift by RIM

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 11:00

Marvell posts weak earnings, highlights market shift by RIM Marvell Technology posted weak earnings on Friday, leading to a 10 percent dip in the company's shares.

Perhaps more notably, Marvell's report highlighted the continued struggles of RIM, maker of the BlackBerry smartphones.

Marvell makes the application processors in BlackBerry devices.

Overall revenue in the wireless and mobile markets fell 13 percent year-over-year and CEO Sehat Sutardja said the decline was due to the fact that RIM "was shifting entry-level smart phones, an area where we do not currently participate."

The shift came as a shock to most, although one analyst explains:

Demand for low-end smart phones is rapidly outpacing growth in the high-end segment in emerging economies given their lower cost.

RIM Blackberrys are particularly attractive in this market given the Blackberry Messaging service which allows free Blackberry-Blackberry messaging and lowers the total cost of usage.


Nielsen reported this week that Android had taken the crown as top smartphone OS in the U.S. with 29 percent share, followed by iOS and BlackBerry at 27 percent each.




AfterDawn: News

Google Docs editing now available in 44 more languages

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 10:25

Google Docs editing now available in 44 more languages Until November, mobile Google Docs users could only open and view their documents, but not edit. In mid-November, Google added editing capabilities in English.

Today, the search giant says "we’re excited to announce that you can now edit your docs on the go in 44 more languages."

You must be running iOS 3.0 or higher or Android 2.2 to be able to access the latest Docs with editing.

If you meet those requirements, navigate to docs.google.com from the mobile browser and sign into your Gmail account.

Users can change from view to edit mode by pressing 'Edit.'




AfterDawn: News

Samsung admits their upcoming tablet is 'inadequate' compared to iPad 2

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 3:56

Samsung admits their upcoming tablet is 'inadequate' compared to iPad 2 Samsung has reluctantly admitted this week that the iPad 2 has made its upcoming Galaxy Tab 10.1 Honeycomb tablet "inadequate," and that the company will have to improve some aspects before release.

VP of Mobile Lee Don-Joo says the iPad 2's super thin design and pricing model have forced the company to go back and "improve the parts that are inadequate" on the 10.1.

The tablet is a successor to the original Galaxy Tab, and includes a dual-core processor, a 10.1-inch screen and run on the tablet-optimized Android 3.0 Honeycomb.

Apple announced the iPad 2 on March 2nd with a launch date of March 11th, much quicker than most anticipated. The iPad 2 will also sell with a base price of $500, underselling the base model of the first Honeycomb tablet, the Motorola Xoom, by $100.

The underpowered Android 2.2-based original Galaxy Tab still sells for over $400 without contract.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Researcher blames U.S., Israel for Stuxnet

Written by James Delahunty @ 05 Mar 2011 3:29

Researcher blames U.S., Israel for Stuxnet German security researcher Ralph Langner has told an audience at this years TED conference that the United States and Israel were most likely behind the Stuxnet malware.

He said that the malware was designed specifically to cripple systems related to Iran's nuclear program. Langner was one of the first researchers to show how Stuxnet is used to take control of industrial equipment. The most likely target of the malware was equipment used for the enrichment of uranium.

"My opinion is that Mossad is involved," he said. "There is only one leading source, and that is the United States."

Symantec had suggested in a report on Stuxnet that it would have taken a team of between 5 and 10 developers about six months to create the Stuxnet worm. Langner says they needed to have inside information to get the worm to its intended targets and to carry out its duties.

Analysts say that Stuxnet was likely designed to damage centrifuges used in the process of enriching uranium. The worm targeted programmable logic controllers (PLCs) made by Siemens, which are used to control a wide variety of industrial systems.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Student charged with grade-fixing racket

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 3:19

Student charged with grade-fixing racket Tyler Coyner, a 19-year-old student at University of Nevada has been charged with being the ringleader in a group that charged money for increasing classmates' grades at his former school, Pahrump Valley High School.

Coyner and 13 others are now facing charges for conspiracy, theft and computer intrusion. The student hacked the password for the Pahrump Valley High School's grade system and over his senior year charged other students money in exchange for a bump in their grades.

Additionally, Coyner bumped his own grades so high (to a 4.54 GPA) that he was the salutatorian at his graduation, an honor given to the student with the second highest GPA in the school.

When Coyner's dorm room was raided, the police found a stolen LCD TV and equipment for making fake driver's licenses.

Two other 19 year olds have been charged while the rest are minors. All of the minors are those who paid to have their grades changed.




AfterDawn: News

Judge gives Sony the right to acquire all IP addresses of visitors to Geohot site

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 05 Mar 2011 2:51

Judge gives Sony the right to acquire all IP addresses of visitors to Geohot site A federal judge has ruled this week that Sony can subpoena the Web host for George 'Geohot' Hotz's website, and acquire all the IP addresses of anyone who has visited his site in the last 26 months.

Furthermore, Sony also won subpoenas for data from YouTube, and for Geohot's Twitter account.

Sony has accused Hotz of violating the DMCA by publishing a master key for the PS3 that allows others to run homebrew on the console.

As part of the ruling, web provider Bluehost must give "documents reproducing all server logs, IP address logs, account information, account access records and application or registration forms" of Hotz's site. Furthermore, Sony must receive "any other identifying information corresponding to persons or computers who have accessed or downloaded files hosted using your service and associated” with the www.geohot.com website, including but not limited to the “geohot.com/jailbreak.zip file."

Sony was given the subpoena rights for two reasons; one to prove that Hotz "distributed" the hack and the other so Sony can prove that its lawsuit in San Francisco will not have to be transferred over to a court in New Jersey, Hotz's home state. Sony says seeing the IP addresses will prove that a significant amount of the hits were from California compared to New Jersey, so San Francisco is a more "proper venue."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Turkey blocks blogspot over football feeds

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2011 4:34

Turkey blocks blogspot over football feeds A row over the rights to broadcast football games has resulted in a ban of Google's blogspot service in Turkey.

Digiturk, a satellite TV provider in Turkey, made a copyright complaint after discovering feeds of its broadcasts of football matches on Google's blogspot service. A court in Turkey dealt with the problem by simply blocking the service altogether, which is permitted by the country's copyright laws.

The move is likely to anger the estimated 600,000 users of blogspot in the country who will now either have to wait for another resolution, or use a technical measure to get around the block.

Google acknowledged the blocking of its popular blogging service in Turkey, saying those with concerns about piracy should use its simple takedown systems rather than banning the service outright. "The process for making a copyright claim for content uploaded to Blogger is straightforward and efficient, and we encourage all content owners to use it rather than seek a broad ban on access to the service," said a Google spokesperson.

"That way, people in Turkey can continue to enjoy Blogger whilst we respond to the specific complaint."

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

Virus-laced Android apps booted from Marketplace

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2011 4:18

Virus-laced Android apps booted from Marketplace Google has thrown out some rogue applications from the Android Marketplace after it emerged that they contained a virus.

All in all, more than 50 applications got the boot and three accounts were suspended after the discovery. A Reddit user, "Lompolo" is credited with finding the first dodgy apps after he noticed an application was listed under the name of a developer he knew didn't develop it.

The application was exactly the same as the original except for a change of title and of course, the malicious code buried inside it.

He initially found 21 apps but a further investigation by Android Police uncovered 50 in total. Lompolo estimated the rogue applications to have been downloaded between 50,000 and 200,000 times.

The virus lurking in the applications is "DroidDream", which immediately would call home to a remote server and send certain information, such as the phone's unique ID number. It checks first whether the handset is already infected and if not, will utilize a bunch of known security flaws in the operating system to infect the handset.

Once infected, code can be installed on the phone remotely and sensitive information can be stolen.

Read more...


AfterDawn: News

New investment values Facebook at $65 billion

Written by James Delahunty @ 04 Mar 2011 4:18

New investment values Facebook at $65 billion Facebook has been valued at $65 billion as General Atlantic looks to invest in the popular social networking giant.

General Atlantic is seeking to buy about 2.5 million shares of Facebook from former employees, which will give the firm a 0.1 percent stake in the company. The deal has not closed as it requires the approval of Facebook first, which has not given public comment on the original report from CNBC.

Back in January this year, Facebook announced that it raised $1.5 billion from investors that included Goldman Sachs and Digital Sky Technologies. At the time, the investments valued Facebook at about $50 billion.

The mammoth valuation of Facebook reflects its penetration into the every day lives of millions of people around the world. The site, launched originally in 2004, has amassed half a billion users across the world.




AfterDawn: News

Apple to finally remove draconian music download limit?

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 04 Mar 2011 2:19

Apple to finally remove draconian music download limit? According to Bloomberg, Apple may finally be on the verge of removing their one-time-only download limits.

In the iTunes Store, the TOS reads:

Products may be downloaded only once and cannot be replaced if lost for any reason. Once a Product is downloaded, it is your responsibility not to lose, destroy, or damage it, and Apple shall not be liable to you if you do so.


Bloomberg says that limit may be removed, according to "three people with knowledge of the plans."

Apple is currently negotiating with UMG, SME, WMG and EMI.

The new agreement will give "iTunes customers a permanent backup of music purchases if the originals are damaged or lost."

Downloads will also be available via iOS devices, as long as those devices are linked to the same iTunes account.




AfterDawn: News

News Corp. in talks to sell MySpace to Zynga, Zynga laughs at asking price

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 04 Mar 2011 2:04

News Corp. in talks to sell MySpace to Zynga, Zynga laughs at asking price According to multiple sources, Zynga has had introductory talks with News Corp. about purchasing the dying social network MySpace.

News Corp. is asking for over $100 million in Zynga stock, a number far too steep for the social gaming company to even consider.

MySpace continues its death spiral, with traffic already at 50 percent lower than it was in 2010, which was 30 percent lower than it was in 2009.

Annual revenues have fallen to $80 million, from over $300 million in 2008. News Corp. purchased the site for $660 million in 2006.

If Zynga walks, MySpace CEO Mike Jones is said to be raising money for a possible bid.




AfterDawn: News

No Twitter IPO coming this year, says co-founder

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 04 Mar 2011 1:34

No Twitter IPO coming this year, says co-founder Twitter co-founder Biz Stone has said today that the micro-blogging site is not planning to go public this year, nor does it need another round of funding from private investors.

The founder also denied the multiple reports that JPMorgan Chase was looking to buy a massive 10 percent stake in the service for $450 million.

When asked about a possible IPO, Stone said:

We have so many other things before we even think about that. We are not even discussing it internally. It's too far off.


Twitter has over 200 million users.

Following its latest funding round in December, the microblogging company has a value of almost $4 billion.





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