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Update: Back up.


This is a quick blurb for now as there is no other information on the matter but the world's second largest portal, Yahoo.com is currently down with visitors receiving the "Connection Timed Out" error.

Earlier today we reported that AOL and specialty firms were in talks to bid for the portal.

More info as it becomes available.

Filed in 2008 and granted by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office this week, Apple has been awarded a patent for filtering text message content.

The patent is titled "Text-based communication control for personal communication device."

It is unclear whether the patent will ever find its way into an iOS product but it seems Apple's intention is to cut down on "offensive" texts sent from consumers using Apple devices.

Reads the patent: "One problem with text-based communications is that there is no way to monitor and control text communications to make them user appropriate. For example, users such as children may send or receive messages (intentionally or not) with parentally objectionable language."

Additionally, the patent proposes a way to encourage better grammar in texts. The filtering system can not really work without proper grammar, as many phone users write in shorthand or use words that may not necessarily be in a dictionary, like "LOL."

Apple's patent would disallow the use of non-dictionary words.

T-Mobile has confirmed today that they will begin throttling smartphone owners that use excessive amounts of data.

Subscribers that hit over 5GB of bandwidth per month will have their speeds throttled at that point.

The carrier says the rule will affect less than 1 percent of its 35 million subscribers.

Reads the announcement:

"Beginning on October 16, T-Mobile will begin to reduce data speeds when a customer reaches 5GB of usage in a billing cycle, in accordance with T-Mobile terms and conditions. This change should only affect extreme data users (less than 1 percent) and is being made to ensure that all subscribers receive the best Web performance available by limiting the number of extreme data users on our network.

The majority of T-Mobile customers should not be affected by this change. The new 5 GB threshold limit, which is equivalent to approximately 125,000 yahoo.com page visits, is enough bandwidth to satisfy most customers’ Web and data needs.

Yahoo shares surged as high as $17 today before fading after the WSJ reported last night that the Internet portal company AOL was interested in purchasing it.

In 2008, Microsoft offered $47.5 billion for Yahoo, but the company snubbed the offer.

Today, Yahoo's market cap is under $22 billion and any takeover would command a smaller price than what Microsoft offered just two years ago.

Because AOL can not afford the takeover solo, the company is teaming with specialty firms Blackstone and Silver Lake, known for taking over companies whose stock has fallen out of favor with the market.

Talks are still preliminary.

Microsoft, in 2008, offered $33 a share for Yahoo. The company's stock currently trades at $15.84.

Analyst Colin McGranahan of Bernstein Research has said today the Apple iPad is the fastest selling gadget of all-time, with an estimated 8.5 million units sold since launch in April.

Leading to the strong sales is the fact that consumers seem to replacing new computer purchases with tablet purchases.

NPD says that 13 percent of iPad owners would have instead purchased a new computer had the tablet not been available.

McGranahan calls the iPad a "runaway success of unprecedented proportion."

Apple has recently made the tablet available via Amazon, Target and Wal-Mart so sales are expected to spike over the holiday season.

According to the latest IDC Quarterly PC Tracker Survey figures, Apple shipped 1.99 million Macs during the Q3 2010, good for 10.6 percent market share.

For the quarter, a total of 18.9 million PCs were shipped in the United States.

At 10.6 percent, Macs are at their highest share ever in history. Perhaps more importantly, Apple saw 24 percent growth year-on-year whereas other computer makers remained stagnant.

HP stayed on top at 24.3 percent share, with Dell right behind at 23.1 percent.

Overall, Q3 PC shipments rose just 3.8 percent, against an expected 11 percent, so Apple's growth is even more impressive in that regard.

Why is Apple seeing such growth for its Mac line? An IDC analyst says one word: iPad.

"It is very possible that the iPad's marketing right now is impacting [Apple's Mac] business as a halo effect, just like we saw several years ago with the iPod," says David Daoud. "The momentum went on with the iPhone, now it appears the iPad is playing a similar role, stimulating sales across its product line."

Microsoft has confirmed today that they will be releasing Zune software for Macs by the end of the year, following many months of speculation.

Says the software giant: "Later in 2010 Microsoft will make a public beta available of a tool that allows Windows Phone 7 to sync select content with Mac computers."

Windows Phone 7 owners should be able to quickly connect their smartphones to their Macs, and sync media content stored on their hard drives.

Microsoft first announced the news via Twitter: "Daily #WP7 Announcement: I'm glad to confirm that Mac users would be able to use Zune on their Macs to sync with #WP7. More details soon."

The company finally unveiled its initial WP7 lineup earlier this week, with two phones headed to T-Mobile, three headed to AT&T and one each on Verizon and Sprint next year.

Evan Williams, Twitter's co-founder, has said this week that he expects the microblogging site to hit 1 billion users, although he would not give a time frame.

Earlier in the month, Williams stepped down as CEO.

Twitter currently has just over 165 million members, but the service has been seeing exponential growth since 2008.

Zeus Kerravala of Yankee Group Research says the goal is huge but possible: "A billion does seem a bit aggressive. But I do think, over time, social networking will overtake e-mail as the most popular communication tool. In that light, 1 billion isn't out of reach. Younger people will choose Twitter and Facebook over e-mail."

Kerravala also said e-mail was becoming an "old people's" tool, while Twitter was the modern equivalent.

"Over the next five years, as high school kids go to college and college kids enter the workforce, we'll see a rapid shift away from 'old people' communication tools like e-mail and the phone," he continued. "Twitter allows you to reach out to thousands of people at once."

Wal-Mart has started taking pre-orders for the Apple iPad via their website today, with the retailer having the tablet in stores starting on Friday.

The retailer is not allowing for home delivery of the device, however, meaning you will need to pick it up in-store.

Furthermore, Wal-Mart will reportedly sell the tablet through its gigantic Sam's Club warehouses.

All six models of the device are listed up for pre-order, starting with the 16GB/Wi-Fi version at $500 all the way up to the 64GB/Wi-Fi/3G model at $830.

The iPad has quickly made its way into major retailers in the United States such as Best Buy, Target, Amazon and now Wal-Mart, the largest retailer in the nation.

Estimates have placed overall iPad sales at 8.5 million to date.

Google's dashboard service has made it clear this week that almost three-quarters of all Android devices now run either versions 2.1 or 2.2, the latest updates to the popular mobile operating system.

In April, that number was just around 25 percent.

Android 2.2 adoption has jumped to about 30 percent, with the remaining 43.8 percent going to Android 2.1.

Around 10 percent of Android smartphone owners are still running the terribly outdated 1.5 with another 15 percent running the equally as outdated 1.6.

The strong adoption rate for 2.1 and 2.2 comes right as Android 3.0 Gingerbread prepares for its eventual launch by the end of the year.

Besides adding new features, Gingerbread should focus on improving the user experience and interface.

Just weeks after it started selling the iPad in brick-and-mortar stores around the nation, AppleInsider is reporting that the large retailer Target is set to start selling the iPhone, as well.

Target has recently begun re-fitting 850 of their outlets with mobile phone centers, and having the iPhone alongside Android and other smartphones would certainly help drive traffic.

The centers are run together with Radio Shack, which provide the system needed for in-store activations on phones that require it.

Target would not confirm the rumor, just saying they have "nothing to announce at this time."

Apple has made it a priority to offer their products in an increasing amount of retailers, recently offering the iPad tablet in Wal-Mart, Amazon, Best Buy and of course, Target.

Both O2 and Vodafone have announced their plans to sell the Apple iPhone 4 in Germany, breaking T-Mobile's long time exclusivity on the smartphone in the nation.

T-Mobile has offered the iPhone in Germany since its launch in 2007.

Unfortunately, neither carrier has unveiled plans or pricing.

Most nations now have multiple carriers for the iPhone, with the biggest exception being AT&T in the U.S. That is expected to change soon, as Apple readies a dual-GSM/CDMA iPhone 4 that can be released for T-Mobile USA and Verizon.

T-Mobile is Germany's largest carrier, at 37 million subscribers.

LG has unveiled the world's largest LED-backlit 3D HDTV this week.

The 72-inch Infinia 72LEX9 is available in Korea, and is now the largest commercially available 3D HDTV using LED.

Among the specs (says Crunch) of the television are a 480Hz TruMotion panel, full LED backlighting, 10,000,000:1 contrast ratio, four HDMI ports, one USB port, a wireless AV link, DLNA support and YouTube, Google Picasa support.

It is unclear if 3D HDTV will come bundled with the necessary stereoscopic 3D glasses.

Mitsubishi currently offers two 3D-ready HDTVs, at 75 and 82-inches, which hold the record.

The Lower Merion School District has settled litigation brought against it by the families of two students for allegedly spying on them at home using a webcam built into laptops issued by the district.

The Pennsylvania school district has agreed to a settlement of $610,000. Of that settlement, $175,000 is to be placed in a trust for Harriton High School student Blake Robbins, and $10,000 goes to a second student, Jalil Hassan. who sued later on.

The students' attorney, Mark Haltzman, will get $425,000 in legal fees. "A major impetus behind settling this matter now is the recent agreement by our insurance carrier, Graphic Arts, to cover more than $1.2M of the fees and costs associated with this litigation to date," Lower Merion School Board President David Ebby said in a statement.

The district provided high school students with laptops as part of a technology initiative, but did not alert families that the laptops were equipped with webcams that could be turned on remotely. Robbins, who was 15 at the time, did not know about this until school officials allegedly accused him of "improper behavior in his home," citing a photograph taken from the webcam while he was at home.

Sony has announced that it will not meet the November release date for the Gran Turismo 5 title that has been eagerly awaited by PS3 owners for some time now.

"We sincerely apologize to GT fans for the delay, however, creator Kazunori Yamauchi and the team at Polyphony Digital want to make certain they are creating the perfect racing experience, and we are confident that this ambitious game will exceed expectations when it launches," the official PlayStation blog reads.

However, the blog did say that despite not meeting the November 2 release date, the title "will" be released this coming holiday season.