New Technology Updates & Latest Gadgets News 2012

EU says Google must change search results presentation: FT

2013-01-10T20:44:00.000-08:00

LONDON (Reuters) - Google will be forced to change the way its search results are presented in Europe or face antitrust charges for "diverting traffic" to its own services, The Financial Times reported the European Union's antitrust chief as saying.

The EU's competition commissioner, Joaquin Almunia, told the newspaper in an interview published on Friday that he intends to prevent Google from allegedly distorting choices for consumers and taking business from rivals.

"We are still investigating, but my conviction is are diverting traffic," the newspaper quoted him as saying, referring to Google's preferential treatment of its own vertical search services.

"They are monetizing this kind of business, the strong position they have in the general search market and this is not only a dominant position, I think - I fear - there is an abuse of this dominant position," he said.

The EU issued Google an ultimatum on December 18, giving it a month to come up with detailed proposals to resolved a two-year investigation into complaints that it used its power to block rivals such as Microsoft [ID:nL5E8NIF8C]

Google has been the center of a two-year investigation by the EU based on complaints that Google unfairly favored its services over its rivals in search results and that it may have copied material from travel and restaurant websites without permission.

Almunia told the newspaper that his concern was "the way they present their own services" and that he was "not discussing the algorithm" the top-secret formula behind Google's search engine.

The FT said this suggested one facet of the solution would be labeling when Google's in-house services - such as shopping comparison information - are artificially given higher billing than rivals, although other changes would likely apply to how Google services are displayed within general search engines.

He also said that while Google showed a more constructive approach at a meeting in December, he warned that he would be "obliged" to issue formal charges if its proposal was unsatisfactory.

Google spokesman Al Verney said: "We continue to work cooperatively with the commission."

DIVERGENCE FROM U.S.

Almunia's spokesman confirmed the quotes in the FT but said they did not add a new position on behalf of the European Commission.

"He was highlighting that we think the preferential treatment may lead to diversion of traffic, which we consider anticompetitive. That's a basic concern we have as we explained last May," the spokesman, Antoine Colombani, told Reuters.

The EU's stance on Google marks a sharply different approach to that of U.S. regulators, who last week ended their investigation into the company and concluded that it had not manipulated its Web search results to hurt rivals, a verdict which disappointed its rivals.

Almunia told the FT that the EU's rare divergence with the U.S. was due to the differing legal standards for abuse of dominance, as well as Google's stronger position in Europe where it handles more than 90 percent of searches.

He also dismissed the idea that an intervention would cause a rift with the US and trigger outrage at a European meddling with a US corporate giant.

He said, "I have never received a single message coming from the other side of the Atlantic saying, 'hey, what are you doing?' Everyone knows this is global."

Almunia said a separate a less advanced probe into Google's Android's operating system will remain open and outside the settlement.

Resource : Yahoo News

New ‘higher-end iPhone’ reportedly launching by June, low-end model could be coming as well

2013-01-07T20:49:00.000-08:00

A new report adds weight to recent rumors suggesting Apple (AAPL) is preparing to launch one or more new iPhone models by mid-2013. In a note to investors on Monday, Canaccord Genuity analyst T. Michael Walkley told clients that Apple’s iPhone 5 saw “very strong” demand in the holiday quarter, likely pushing cumulative sales for fiscal 2013 above analysts’ consensus to 173 million units. Moving into the summer months, Walkley sees Apple launching a new “higher-end iPhone” sometime in the June quarter, and a low-end model could be in the works as well.

[More from BGR: Smooth sailing is over for Apple]

“We believe Apple could launch a higher-end iPhone model by the June quarter versus its more typical September/October timing for a new iPhone launch,” Walkley wrote. “We also believe Apple could potentially launch a lower-end iPhone focused on more price-sensitive pre-paid markets, as we believe consumers in markets such as China, Latin America and Eastern Europe would have very strong demand for a more affordably priced 3G iPhone.”

[More from BGR: Android squashes iPhone 5 in latest Consumer Reports ratings: iPhone ranked lowest among top phones]

An earlier report from Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White suggested that Apple is planning to launch the “iPhone 5S” in May or June with several new color options instead of just black and white. He also said Apple will launch two different versions of its new iPhone, one with the current 4-inch display and a second smaller version at a lower cost that will target emerging markets.

Walkley reiterated his Buy rating on Apple shares with a 12-month price target of $750.

Resource : Yahoo News

It's Easy to Save Videos From Facebook Poke Permanently

2012-12-28T20:49:00.000-08:00

Apps like Snapchat and Facebook Poke let users send short messages, photos or videos that automatically self-destruct after a few seconds. However, it's actually very easy for a recipient to save some of those messages permanently -- and without the sender knowing.

Both apps will alert the sender if the recipient takes a screengrab of whatever was sent, of course, but by connecting your phone to a PC or Mac, the messages can be secretly offloaded without the sender knowing -- a possibility first reported by BuzzFeed. For an iPhone, all you'll need is a third-party file manager like iExplorer.

[More from Mashable: Facebook in 2013: More Growing Pains Ahead]

For Poke, only videos can be permanently stored in this manner, and only videos that you haven't already viewed. But it's very easy. Once you've installed your file manager, connect your iPhone and you should see a list of your apps. Select the Poke folder, then navigate to Library>Caches>FBStore>315_14_>MediaCache. There you should see every Poke video that you haven't yet watched. (See screencap below.)

From there, all you need to do is drag and drop the files to any other folder on your computer to copy and store them. After that, you can open the file in Poke, let it self-destruct, and the sender will be none the wiser.

Although permanent storage only works for videos in Poke, performing similar steps for Snapchat will let you save both videos and photos.

SEE ALSO: Facebook Poke App Is Frustrating as Hell

While it's a bit surprising that it's so easy to save messages that are ostensibly deleted permanently, it may be a stretch to characterize this file caching as a "vulnerability" of the apps, which are generally intended for casual use. Facebook's official statement on the matter appears to take this stance:

"Poke is a fun and easy way to communicate with your friends and is not designed to be a secure messaging system. While Pokes disappear after they are read, there are still ways that people can potentially save them. For example, you could take a screenshot of a photo, in which case the sender is notified. People could also take a photo of a photo you sent them, or a video of a video, with another camera. Because of this, people should think about what they are sending and share responsibly."

What do you think of the potential for someone to save a Facebook Poke or Snapchat message? Let us know in the comments.

Top image courtesy of iStockphoto, JimmyAnderson

BONUS: How Facebook Poke Works

Facebook Poke: Startup Screen

Poke, the new iPhone app from Facebook, lets you send short messages, photos and videos to friends that automatically self destruct after a few seconds. If you have the Facebook app on your phone already, logging in is effortless.

Resource : Yahoo News

France extends deadline for publishers' talks with Google

2012-12-21T20:53:00.002-08:00

PARIS (Reuters) - The French government said it would extend to the end of January the deadline for talks between Google Inc and the French press to settle a dispute over the search engine's links to online news articles.

Press associations in France, and other European countries, want Google to pay when it displays links to newspapers in Internet searches.

In reply, Google has threatened to stop indexing articles from the French press.

Talks between the search engine and French publishers, which the government said are advancing, were expected to wrap up by the end of the year.

If no deal were struck, France would press ahead with a law that would force Google to pay for the right to provide links to online news articles.

(Reporting by Elena Berton; Editing by Gerald E. McCormick)

Resource : Yahoo News

ITC judge sides with Apple against Google on phone patent

2012-12-18T21:24:00.000-08:00

(Reuters) - Google's Motorola Mobility unit cannot assert a patent against Apple Inc which covers a sensor that stops phone users from dialing wrong numbers on touchscreen devices, a U.S. trade judge ruled.

In an entry on the U.S. International Trade Commission docket on Tuesday, Administrative Law Judge Thomas Pender ruled the Motorola patent invalid.

"We're disappointed with this outcome and are evaluating our options," Motorola spokeswoman Jennifer Weyrauch-Erickson said. An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment.

Apple has been litigating around the world against various manufacturers of phones that operate on Google's Android operating system. Google acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion this year, partly for its library of telecommunications patents.

The ITC, a U.S. trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods, is a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it can bar the importation of infringing products and because it issues decisions relatively quickly.

In August, the commission found that Apple had not violated three other Motorola patents, and ordered Pender to further examine the touchscreen sensor patent. The full ITC will now review Pender's latest ruling.

The case in the ITC is In the Matter of Certain Wireless Communication Devices, Portable Music and Data Processing Devices, Computers and Components Thereof, 337-745.

Resource : Yahoo News

Microsoft vs Google trial raises concerns over secrecy

2012-11-04T21:08:00.000-08:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Two weeks before a high-stakes trial pitting Google's Motorola Mobility unit against Microsoft, Google made what has become a common request for a technology company fighting for billions of dollars: A public court proceeding, conducted largely in secret.

Google and Microsoft, like rivals embroiled in smartphone patent wars, are eager to keep sensitive business information under wraps - in this case, the royalty deals they cut with other companies on patented technology. Microsoft asked for similar protections in a court filing late on Thursday.

Such royalty rates, though, are the central issue in this trial, which begins November 13 in Seattle.

U.S. District Judge James Robart has granted requests to block many pre-trial legal briefs from public view. Though he warned he may get tougher on the issue, the nature of the case raises the possibility that even his final decision might include redacted, or blacked-out, sections.

Legal experts are increasingly troubled by the level of secrecy that has become commonplace in intellectual property cases where overburdened judges often pay scant attention to the issue.

Widespread sealing of documents infringes on the basic American legal principle that court should be public, says law professor, Dennis Crouch, and encourages companies to use a costly, tax-payer funded resource to resolve their disputes.

"There are plenty of cases that have settled because one party didn't want their information public," said Crouch, an intellectual property professor at University of Missouri School of Law.

Tech companies counter that they should not be forced to reveal private business information as the price for having their day in court.

The law does permit confidential information to be kept from public view in some circumstances, though companies must show the disclosure would be harmful.

Google argues that revelations about licensing negotiations would give competitors "additional leverage and bargaining power and would lead to an unfair advantage."

Robart has not yet ruled on Google and Microsoft's requests, which, in the case of Google includes not only keeping documents under seal, but also clearing the courtroom during crucial testimony.

It is also unclear whether Robart will redact any discussion of royalty rates in his final opinion. The judge, who will decide this part of the case without a jury, did not respond to requests for comment.

NOT PAYING ATTENTION

Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp have been litigating in courts around the world against Google Inc and partners like Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, which use the Android operating system on their mobile devices.

Apple contends that Android is basically a copy of its iOS smartphone software, and Microsoft holds patents that it contends cover a number of Android features.

Google bought Motorola for $12.5 billion, partly to use its large portfolio of communications patents as a bargaining chip against its competitors.

Robart will decide how big a royalty Motorola deserves from Microsoft for a license on some Motorola wireless and video patents.

Apple, for its part, is set to square off against Motorola on Monday in Madison, Wisconsin, in a case that involves many of the same issues.

In Wisconsin, Apple and Motorola have filed most court documents entirely under seal. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb did not require them to seek advance permission to file them secretly, nor did she mandate that the companies make redacted copies available for the public.

Judges have broad discretion in granting requests to seal documents. The legal standard for such requests can be high, but in cases where both sides want the proceedings to be secret, judges have little incentive to thoroughly review secrecy requests.

In Apple's Northern California litigation against Samsung, both parties also sought to keep many documents under seal. After Reuters challenged those secrecy requests, on grounds it wanted to report financial details, U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh ordered both companies to disclose a range of information they considered secret - including profit margins on individual products - but not licensing deals. Apple and Samsung are appealing the disclosure order.

In response to questions from Reuters last week, Judge Crabb in Wisconsin, who will also decide the case without a jury, acknowledged she had not been paying attention to how many documents were being filed under seal. Federal judges in Madison will now require that parties file redacted briefs, she said, though as of Wednesday, Apple and Motorola were still filing key briefs entirely under seal.

"Just because there is a seed or kernel of confidential information doesn't mean an entire 25-page brief should be sealed," said Bernard Chao, an intellectual property professor at University of Denver Sturm College of Law.

Crabb promised that the upcoming trial would be open.

"Whatever opinion I make is not going to be redacted," she told Reuters in an interview.

CHECKING THE COMPS

Microsoft sued Motorola two years ago, saying Motorola had promised to license its so-called "standards essential" patents at a fair rate, in exchange for the technology being adopted as a norm industrywide. But by demanding roughly $4 billion a year in revenue, Microsoft says Motorola broke its promise.

Robart will sort out what a reasonable royalty for those standards patents should be, partly by reviewing deals Motorola struck with other companies such as IBM and Research in Motion - much like an appraiser checking comparable properties to figure out whether a home is priced right.

In this case, though, the public may not be able to understand exactly what figures Robart is comparing. Representatives for Microsoft and Google declined to comment.

In its brief, Microsoft said licensing terms could be sealed without the need to clear the courtroom.

"Permitting redaction of this information will minimize the harm to Microsoft and third parties while also giving due consideration to the public policies favoring disclosure," the company argued.

IBM and RIM have also asked Robart to keep licensing information secret.

Chao doesn't think Robart will ultimately redact his own ruling, even though it may include discussion of the specific royalty rates. "I can't imagine that," he said.

Most judges cite lack of resources and overflowing dockets as the reason why they don't scrutinize secrecy requests more closely, especially when both parties support them.

In Wisconsin, Crabb said that even though she will now require litigants to ask permission to file secret documents, it is highly unlikely that she will actually read those arguments - unless someone else flags a problem.

"We're paddling madly to stay afloat," Crabb said.

The Wisconsin case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Wisconsin is Apple Inc. vs. Motorola Mobility Inc., 11-cv-178. The Seattle case in U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington is Microsoft Corp. vs. Motorola Inc., 10-cv-1823.

Resource : Yahoo News

Google can't enforce German Microsoft injunction: ruling

2012-09-28T21:58:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday ruled that Google Inc's Motorola Mobility unit cannot enforce a patent injunction that it obtained against Microsoft Corp in Germany, diminishing Google's leverage in the ongoing smartphone patent wars.

The injunction would have barred Microsoft from "offering, marketing, using or importing or possessing" in Germany some products including the Xbox 360 and certain Windows software.

The ruling against the German injunction came from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

Microsoft deputy general counsel David Howard said the company was pleased with the ruling. A representative for Google's Motorola unit declined to comment.

Brian Love, a professor at Santa Clara Law school in Silicon Valley, said the decision helps Microsoft counteract a favorable dynamic for Google in Germany.

"To some extent Germany has a reputation as place you can go and get an injunction relatively easy," Love said.

The current Xbox 360 is the market-leading console in the United States. Microsoft is expected to unveil its next generation Xbox video game console in 2013.

Microsoft has said that Motorola's patents are standard, essential parts of its software and that Motorola is asking far too much in royalties for their use. Google closed on its $12.5 billion Motorola Mobility acquisition this year.

Microsoft sued Motorola in the United States in 2010, and Motorola then filed a lawsuit in Germany. Earlier this year, Microsoft announced plans to move its European distribution center to the Netherlands from Germany ahead of a possible injunction.

After a court in Mannheim issued the sales ban, U.S. District Judge James Robart in Seattle granted Microsoft's request to put the German order on hold earlier this year. According to Robart, the ruling would remain in effect until he could determine whether Motorola could appropriately seek a sales ban based on its standard essential patents.

In its ruling on Friday, a three-judge 9th Circuit unanimously upheld Robart's order. Since Microsoft had already brought a lawsuit against Motorola for breach of contract in the United States, U.S. courts have the power to put the German injunction on hold, the 9th Circuit said.

"At bottom, this case is a private dispute under Washington state contract law between two U.S. corporations," the court ruled.

European regulators are investigating claims that Motorola over-charged Microsoft and Apple Inc for use of its patents in their products and thereby breached antitrust rules.

The case in the 9th Circuit is Microsoft Corporation vs. Motorola Inc, Motorola Mobility Inc and General Instrument Corporation, 12-35352.

(Additional reporting by Malathi Nayak in San Francisco and Bill Rigby in Seattle; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang)

Resource : Yahoo News

2012-09-27T21:47:00.002-07:00

NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook is rolling out a service called Gifts which, as its name suggests, lets users send chocolate, coffee, socks and other real-life presents to one another.

Facebook Gifts launched Thursday to a subset of users in the U.S. and will roll out to more over the coming months as people begin to send gifts to each other.

Users will be able to click on a "gifts" icon on their Facebook friends' pages on Facebook's website or on Android mobile phones. (IPhone and iPad versions are coming soon.)

The icon will also show up on the right side of users' Facebook pages with the notifications for friends' birthdays, weddings and other life events. For example, if your friend's birthday is coming up in two days, you'll now see a "give her a gift" link and the gift icon next to her name and photo.

Clicking the icon will display presents you can buy, such as a Starbucks gift card, cupcakes or a teddy bear.

The recipient will be notified through Facebook to enter a shipping address for the presents. In some cases, they'll be able to select their own cupcake flavors or size and style of socks. They can also exchange gifts for other items if they don't like chocolate or don't wear socks.

The move represents Facebook Inc.'s first real foray into e-commerce. The company will take an unspecified cut from each item sold. On Thursday, possible gifts included gourmet ice cream, Andy Warhol prints, flowers, organic dog toys and spa packages.

Facebook Gifts is the result of Facebook's acquisition of Karma, a 16-person startup based in San Francisco. Facebook bought the company on May 18, the day of its rocky initial public offering. Karma's mobile app let people send gifts to their friends on the go. Facebook Gifts, of course, works both on computers and mobile devices.

Lee Linden, the former head of Karma, is now head product manager for Facebook Gifts, which he says incorporates "the heart and soul of the Karma experience."

"We think gifting is a form of communication," he said.

Resource : Yahoo News

Apple's iPhone 5 pre-orders exceed expectations

2012-09-18T21:48:00.001-07:00

REUTERS - Demand for Apple Inc's (NSQ:AAPL - News) new smartphone, the iPhone 5, has exceeded initial supply, making it the fastest-selling iPhone ever and pushing the delivery date for some pre-orders to next month.

Apple said on Monday that pre-orders for the new mobile device surpassed 2 million in the first 24 hours. A majority of pre-ordered phones will be delivered as planned by September 21, but many will not be delivered until October, it said.
Pre-orders "have shattered the previous record held by iPhone 4S, and the customer response to iPhone 5 has been phenomenal," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing.
It is not unusual for Apple products to sell out the first day. Orders for the previous iPhone, the 4S, the last product the company introduced before the death of co-founder Steve Jobs, surpassed 1 million in the first 24 hours, beating Apple's previous one-day record of 600,000 sales for the iPhone 4.
Apple's U.S. store, at www.apple.com, on Monday morning showed pre-orders for the iPhone 5 would take two to three weeks to ship.
AT&T (NYS:T), the No. 2 U.S. mobile service provider, said it set a sales record with the iPhone 5 over the weekend, making it the fastest-selling iPhone the company has ever offered.
AT&T did not disclose how many iPhones it sold but said the iPhone 5 was still available for pre-order and would go on sale September 21 at AT&T retail stores.
The phone's other carriers, Verizon Communications Inc (NYS:VZ - News) and Sprint Nextel Corp (NYS:S), also showed similar delays in shipping the phone.
Topeka Capital Markets analyst Brian White said demand was well above expectations.
"Given the much stronger-than-expected iPhone 5 pre-order sales, we expect a meaningful jump in the three-day sales results for the iPhone 5 compared to the over 4 million iPhone 4S weekend sales last year," he said.
Although more consumers were opting for the pre-order method, White still expects long lines Friday when the phone goes on sale in stores.
Apple began taking orders for the iPhone 5 at midnight Pacific time September 14 (0700 GMT September 15). Shipping dates for the slimmer, faster smartphone slipped by a week within an hour of the start of pre-orders.
Apple previously said it would start shipping the iPhone 5 by September 21 in the United States and most of the major markets of Europe such as France, Germany and the UK. It goes on sale September 28 in 22 other countries.
Analysts have forecast that more than 30 million iPhones, including older models, will be sold by the end of September. Sales of iPhones account for more than half of Apple's revenue.
Shares of Apple were up less than 1 percent at $694.88 in premarket trading on Monday. They closed at $691.28 on the Nasdaq on Friday. (Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh and Sakthi Prasad in Bangalore and Nicola Leske in New York; Editing by Mark Potter, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and John Wallace)

Resource : Yahoo News

Google puts Motorola’s smartphone laptop dock out to pasture

2012-09-13T21:54:00.000-07:00

Motorola’s Lapdock was undoubtedly a cool idea — it let users plug their smartphones into a laptop dock to view their smartphone interface on their laptop — that had one gaping flaw: No one ever used it. Now PhoneNews reports that Google (GOOG) has decided to pull the plug on this not-ready-for-primetime innovation and notes that Verizon (VZ) has started selling the Lapdock at the fire sale price of $50. Unnamed sources have also told PhoneNews that Google has ordered the Webtop software used to interact with the Lapdock removed from all of Motorola’s new big-name smartphones including the Droid RAZR M, the RAZR HD and the RAZR HD MAXX.

Resource : Yahoo News

T-Mobile gets Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G with QWERTY keyboard and Ice Cream Sandwich

2012-09-06T22:28:00.000-07:00

Continuing its commitment to offering smartphones with a wide variety of form factors, Samsung (005930) and T-Mobile jointly announced the Galaxy S Relay 4G — a slider smartphone with a QWERTY keypad and Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich packed with business-friendly features such as enhanced Microsoft Exchange ActiveSYNC and AES-256 bit encryption. The Galaxy S Relay 4G will run on T-Mobile’s 4G HSPA+ 42 network and will have a 4-inch Super AMOLED screen, 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 5-megapixel rear camera and 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera capable of shooting in 720p HD. Although specific pricing and release timing weren’t announced, T-Mobile says the Galaxy S Relay 4G should arrive in the coming weeks. T-Mobile’s full press release follows below.

T-Mobile Continues to Expand Popular Samsung Galaxy Lineup With the Samsung Galaxy S^® Relay^™ 4G

Exclusive to T-Mobile, the Android-powered Galaxy S Relay 4G offers another choice for customers who want to stay connected no matter where their job or life takes them

BELLEVUE, Wash. — Sept. 6, 2012 — T-Mobile USA, Inc., the No. 1 mobile operator brand in Samsung Galaxy S^™ sales, and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the No. 1 mobile phone provider in the U.S.¹, today announced the upcoming availability of the Samsung Galaxy S^® Relay^™ 4G — a T-Mobile^® exclusive and the newest smartphone to join T-Mobile’s popular Galaxy S^® portfolio. Powered by Android^™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the Galaxy S Relay 4G leverages T-Mobile’s fast 4G (HSPA+ 42) network, allowing consumers to quickly and efficiently balance business productivity with entertainment and play on one device.

The Galaxy S Relay 4G is also a SAFE^™ (Samsung Approved for Enterprise)-designated device that offers a full portfolio of enterprise-ready features and capabilities. Samsung SAFE offers comprehensive IT Policy support for top-tier mobile device management (MDM) solutions, on-device AES-256 bit encryption, and enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync^®, as well as integrated support for a range of virtual private network solutions. The Galaxy S Relay 4G also boasts a full 5-row QWERTY keyboard and 1.5-GHz Dual-Core Qualcomm^® Snapdragon^™ S3 processor that enables business customers to accurately and quickly view and edit documents and share files instantly. The smartphone also features Wi-Fi Calling and support for Smartphone Mobile HotSpot for up to five devices with a qualifying rate plan.

“Consumers are increasingly looking for a powerful device that makes it easy to integrate their busy work and personal lives,” said Andrew Morrison, vice president of product management, T-Mobile USA. “The Galaxy S Relay 4G is the perfect addition to T-Mobile’s popular Galaxy smartphone lineup, providing our customers with a reliable and business-centric Android experience — and the easy access to entertainment for which Galaxy devices are known.”

In addition to its business features, the Galaxy S Relay 4G makes it easy to enjoy entertainment on its 4-inch, Super AMOLED^™ screen. The new smartphone includes a number of compelling features, such as T-Mobile TV in mobile HD² for watching live TV programming, Samsung Media Hub for renting and buying the latest movies and TV shows, and Google Play Music for streaming and purchasing music. The Galaxy S Relay 4G also makes capturing photos and HD videos a breeze with its 5-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera and 720p HD camcorder (1280×720) resolution.
Availability

The Samsung Galaxy S Relay 4G is expected to be available nationwide at T-Mobile retail stores, select national retailers and dealers, and online via www.T-Mobile.com in the coming weeks. For more information, visit www.T-Mobile.com.

Resource : Yahoo News

Facebook rules out share sale to cover tax bill

2012-09-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Facebook Inc promised not to sell stock to cover a nearly $2 billion tax bill and said it will allow employees to cash in their stock weeks ahead of schedule, moving to soothe nervous investors and its own staff as its share price spirals downward.

The world's largest online social network company, which has lost more than 50 percent of its market value since going public in May, said on Tuesday its total shares outstanding will be reduced by roughly 101 million shares as a result of the move.

Shares of Facebook rose 1.8 percent in after hours trading to $18.05.

Facebook will cover the stock compensation tax bill with existing cash and with borrowing from its credit facilities, the company said in a regulatory filing.

"The fact that they are using cash is a good thing. It feels like a mini buyback in a way because you're in essence reducing your share count by 101 million shares," said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung.

Facebook has suffered a painful debut on the public markets, as investors have fretted about its slowing revenue growth and a large pool of additional shares set to hit the market as "lock-up" restrictions on employees selling shares expire.

"Coming out and showing that they're being a little more active in supporting the stock is good for investors," said Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian.

"These are the kinds of things they can do until the figure out how to better monetize the sites, to help alleviate some of the pressure on the stock," he said.

While Facebook, with 955 million users, is challenging entrenched Web companies such as Google Inc for consumers' online time, Wall Street has become increasingly skeptical about its long-term money-making potential.

Earlier on Tuesday, analyst Scott Devitt of Morgan Stanley, which acted as the lead underwriter for Facebook's IPO, cut his price target for Facebook to $32 a share from the IPO price of $38. JP Morgan, which also underwrote the IPO, cut its price target to $30 from $45 on Tuesday.

Shares of Facebook set a new low of $17.55 Tuesday, before closing at $17.73 on Nasdaq.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg will not sell any shares in Facebook for at least 12 months, while directors Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham will sell some shares to cover their tax obligations, according to the filing. Other than the tax-related sales, Facebook said Andreessen and Graham have no plans to sell any shares held by them personally.

Facebook said it has waived a "market stand-off provision" that prohibited employees from selling shares until November 14. As a result, employees will now be able to sell their vested shares on October 29 - four trading days after it reports third-quarter financial results on October 23.

About 234 million shares held by employees will be eligible for sale in the public market on October 29, it added.

Allowing employees to sell sooner could win Facebook some points from staff who have been unable to cash out any equity as the stock has steadily declined even as other insiders and early investors have sold, said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

And the move could help make the massive share lock-up expirations less disruptive to the stock, by breaking up some of the big portions of shares set to become available for trading, he said.

"That helps with the digestion of these shares," said Wieser.

More than 1 billion Facebook shares held by employees, insiders and early investors are set to become available for trading by year's end.

Facebook estimated in the filing that it will owe roughly $1.9 billion in tax obligations as a result of the vested restricted stock units that its employees have been compensated with, assuming a 45 percent tax rate and based on Thursday's closing price of $19.09.

"We currently do not expect to conduct any offering of our equity securities near the initial RSU settlement date to fund this obligation," Facebook wrote in the 8-K filing on Tuesday. Facebook also said it did not expect to conduct any offering in connection with the expiration of the lock-up restrictions in the fourth quarter.

Resource : Yahoo News

Exclusive: Walmart tests iPhone app checkout feature

2012-09-03T22:04:00.001-07:00

(Reuters) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc is testing a system that would allow shoppers to scan items using their iPhones and then pay at a self-checkout counter, a move that could trim checkout times and slash costs for retailers.

If the "Scan & Go" test by the world's largest retailer is successful, it has the potential to change the way people shop and pay, making the process more personal and potentially faster.

Earlier this week, Walmart invited employees with Apple Inc iPhones to participate in a test at a Walmart supercenter in Rogers, Arkansas, near the company's headquarters, according to a form on the Survey Monkey website. (https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/selfcheckout)

"All of the effort is to speed your way through the checkout so that we can reduce costs and improve the shopping experience," said Paul Weitzel, managing partner at retail consulting firm Willard Bishop, who said he had not seen Walmart's test. "With smartphones and improved technology we're only going to see more of this."

The test comes months after Walmart said that it would add more self-checkout lanes at its Walmart and Sam's Club stores as it continues to look for ways to lower costs and prices for its shoppers.

Pushing more shoppers to scan their own items and make payments without the help of a cashier could save Walmart millions of dollars, Chief Financial Officer Charles Holley said on March 7. The company spends about $12 million in cashier wages every second at its Walmart U.S. stores.

Shoppers often complain on Twitter and in other forums that it takes too long to pay at Walmart, where sometimes only a few of the several checkout lanes are open and staffed with cashiers. While some retailers employ baggers to speed up the checkout process, at Walmart one employee scans and bags items.

"We're continually testing new and innovative ways to serve customers and enhance the shopping experience in our stores," said Walmart spokesman David Tovar.

Walmart's iPhone app already includes functions such as letting shoppers create lists and seeing which items are in stock.

The test comes as retailers and restaurants are trying to figure out ways to speed up the checkout process by letting customers pay with a tap of their smartphones.

In the Walmart iPhone scanning test, shoppers can scan products with their phone and put them in bags while they shop, and then pay at a self-checkout counter.

The test does not allow users to pay on their phone. The app transfers the scanned items to the self-checkout kiosk and then shoppers complete the transaction using the normal self-checkout process.

Walmart declined to give details on where the test might lead, but it could conceivably allow for scanning on other smart phones and be paired with mobile payment.

Walmart earlier this month said it was joining with other retailers to develop a mobile payment network, a retailer-led initiative that would match similar services by Google Inc and eBay Inc, among others.

While self-checkout aisles are common at many stores, the ability to scan items with one's mobile phone while shopping is not a typical process. Among other tests, Supervalu Inc's Jewel-Osco chain once let shoppers use handheld scanners and then enter that information at the checkout to pay, but that test ended years ago.

"This is probably the fourth technology that we've tried between shopping carts, RFID chips, the handheld scanners and now we've got smartphones," Weitzel said of the retail industry. "We're looking for ways to improve that experience as an industry."

Walmart's test appears to be limited to one store, but it appears that the company sought out participants beyond its staff for its study. The company asked employees to reach out to friends and family in its search for participants, according to a copy of an email sent by the company's @WalmartLabs team and obtained by Reuters. A company spokesman would not verify this on Friday afternoon.

Walmart offered participants in one-hour sessions $100 for their time and a $25 gift card to use in the store for purchases, according to the form on the Survey Monkey website.

Walmart shares closed up 35 cents at $72.60 on Friday on the New York Stock Exchange.

Resource : Yahoo News

LG announces Optimus L9 with 4.7-inch display, integrated translator

2012-08-29T21:44:00.002-07:00

Hot on the heels of the company’s Optimus Q unveiling, LG (066570) has taken the wraps off another new smartphone ahead of the annual IFA trade show in Berlin, Germany. Powered by Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the LG Optimus L9 features a 4.7-inch high-definition IPS display, a 1GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel camera and a 2,150 mAh battery. The handset also features LG’s new QTranslator app, which includes OCR technology and can translate words and sentences from 44 different source languages to more than 60 user languages. No pricing or launch details were provided. LG’s full press release follows below.

LG EXTENDS L-SERIES WITH GLOBAL DEBUT OF OPTIMUS L9

Premium Optimus L9 to Offer Best of L-Style with Innovative UX

SEOUL, Aug. 29, 2012 – The LG Optimus L9 will continue the stylish L-Series lineup of smartphones with its global debut. Following the successful launches of the Optimus L3, Optimus L5, and Optimus L7 earlier this year, the Optimus L9 is anticipated to continue in the success of the L-Series emphasizing premium design heritage developed from LG’s design leadership.

Inheriting LG’s premium L-Style design philosophy, the Optimus L9 has a 9.1mm thin body with a slimming metallic streak and modern square style that offers a comfortable grip from its slim and stylish design.

The largest-in-class 4.7-inch IPS display of the Optimus L9 offers clear and true-to-life images with incredible detail for comfortable viewing experience. The high-density 2,150mAh SiO+ battery allows users to enjoy the various new UX features all day long with maximized performance while retaining its incredibly sleek design.

The Optimus L9 was also developed to be a smarter smartphone through LG’s differentiated UX features, such as the QTranslator and My Style Keypad function along with the ever-popular QMemoTM.

The QTranslator function instantly translates not only words, but also entire sentences and phrases with a simple scan from nearly 44 foreign languages to 64 user languages. Using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology, it recognizes letters upon scanning with the camera and utilizes electronic dictionary or online translation engine to translate words, sentences or phrases.
The My Style Keypad function comfortably adjusts the key formation of the keypad according to whether the user is texting with one hand (right or left-handed) or two hands. Lastly, the Optimus L9 will also include the QMemoTM, allowing users to capture, memo and share their ideas with others using their fingertip or handwriting.

“The Optimus L9 is a great smartphone that appeals to every consumer,” said Dr. Jongseok Park, President and CEO of LG Mobile Communications Company. “LG will continue to offer differentiated value through the Optimus L9 and strengthen our position in the smartphone market.”

Key Specifications:
OS: Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich
Chipset: 1GHz Dual-Core
Main Display: 4.7-inch IPS Display
Memory: 1GB DDR2 (RAM) / 4GB e-MMC
Camera: 5MP rear / VGA front
Battery: 2,150mAh SiO+
Size: 131.9 x 68.2 x 9.1mm / 125g
Others: DLNA, QMemoTM, QTranslator function, My Style Keyboard function

Resource : Yahoo News

DROID RAZR M photos leak ahead of September 5th announcement

2012-08-28T22:15:00.000-07:00

A week after BGR exclusively reported details about Verizon’s (VZ) upcoming DROID RAZR M smartphone, Engadget has published additional information about the device. An alleged spec sheet confirms earlier reports that the RAZR M will be equipped with a 4.3-inch qHD Super AMOLED Advanced display and a dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor. The handset will also feature global roaming capabilities, 4G LTE connectivity, an NFC chip, on-screen navigation keys, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal storage, a microSD slot, a 3-megapixel front-facing camera and an 8-megapixel rear camera that is capable of shooting 1080p video. The DROID RAZR M will cost $149.99 with a new two-year agreement and is expected to be announced alongside the DROID RAZR HD at Verizon and Motorola’s press conference on September 5th. An additional image follows below.

Resource : Yahoo News

Apple seeks quick bans on eight Samsung phones

2012-08-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

(Reuters) - Apple Inc is seeking speedy bans on the sale of eight Samsung Electronics phones, moving swiftly to translate its resounding court victory over its rival into a tangible business benefit.

The world's most valuable company wasted no time in identifying its targets on Monday: eight older-model smartphones, including the Galaxy S2 and Droid Charge. While Apple's lawsuit encompassed 28 devices, many of those accused products are no longer widely available in the world's largest mobile market.
Although Samsung's flagship Galaxy S III phone was not included in the trial, the jury validated Apple's patents on features and design elements that the U.S. company could then try to wield against that device. Apple may not have to seek a new trial over the S III, but can include it in a "contempt proceeding" that moves much faster, according to legal experts.
Many on Wall Street believe Apple now has momentum behind it in the wake of its near-complete triumph over the South Korean company on Friday.
"The evidence and weight of the case are heavily in Apple's favor," said Jefferies & Co analyst Peter Misek. "We expect there's a two-thirds chance of an injunction against Samsung products."
An injunction hearing has been set for September 20. If U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh grants sales bans, Samsung will likely seek to put them on hold pending the outcome of its appeal.
Samsung said it will take all necessary measures to ensure the availability of its products in the U.S. market. A source familiar with the situation said Samsung has already started working with U.S. carriers about modifying infringing features to keep products on the market should injunctions be granted.
Apple's win on Friday strengthens its position ahead of the iPhone 5's expected September 12 launch and could cement its market dominance as companies using Google Inc's Android operating system - two-thirds of the global market - may be forced to consider design changes, analysts say.
Apple was awarded $1.05 billion in damages after a U.S. jury found Samsung had copied critical features of the iPhone and iPad. The verdict could lead to an outright ban on sales of key Samsung products.
Apple's stock scored another record high on Monday.
While the victory does not cover new Samsung products including the Galaxy S III, Apple will push its case on these products in the near-term, Evercore Partners analyst Mark McKechnie said.
"While a ban would likely increase Apple's leading smartphone share in the U.S. market, we believe this verdict could lead to Samsung also delaying near-term product launches as it attempts to design around Apple's patents," Canaccord Genuity analysts said in a note.
TOOTH-AND-NAIL
Apple's shares gained 1.9 percent to close at $675.68, tacking on another $12 billion-plus to its already historically leading market value. Samsung lost about the same amount in market capitalization as its shares slid 7.5 percent in Seoul.
Samsung shares rebounded 1.8 percent on Tuesday.
"The ruling marks an important victory for Apple against Android. Competitors may now think twice about how they compete in smart mobility devices with the industry's clear innovator," Barclays analyst Ben Reitzes wrote on Monday. "If Apple forces competitors to innovate more, it could take longer for competitive products to come to market, and make it more expensive to develop them."
The victory for Apple - which upended the smartphone industry in 2007 with the iPhone - is a big blow to Google, whose Android software powers the Samsung products found to have infringed on patents. Google and its hardware partners, including the company's own Motorola unit, could now face legal hurdles in their effort to compete with the Apple juggernaut.
Google shares closed 1.4 percent lower at $669.22. Microsoft Corp, a potential beneficiary if smartphone makers begin to seek out Android alternatives, ended up 0.4 percent. Nokia, which has staked its future on Windows phones, gained 7.7 percent.
Even Research in Motion - which has hemorrhaged market share to Apple and Google - climbed more than 5 percent, before ending 2 percent higher.
"The mobile industry is moving fast and all players, including newcomers, are building upon ideas that have been around for decades," Google responded in a Sunday statement. "We work with our partners to give consumers innovative and affordable products, and we don't want anything to limit that."
The verdict came as competition in the device industry is intensifying, with Google jumping into hardware for the first time with the Nexus 7 and Microsoft's touchscreen-friendly Windows 8 coming in October, led by its "Surface" tablet.
Samsung, which sold around 50 million phones between April and June - almost twice the number of iPhones - will have to pay damages equivalent to just 1.5 percent of the annual revenue from its telecoms business.
"The verdict does not come as a surprise," wrote William Blair & Co analysts. "From Apple's perspective, Samsung's market position and its leadership in the handset world was something the company could no longer overlook, and viewing this as another 'imitation is a form of flattery' was not possible."
"Companies such as Samsung, who we categorize as fast followers, have been viewed by the industry for their ability to quickly adopt the latest handset trends ... rather than their ability to introduce fundamental innovation."
(Reporting by Sayantani Ghosh and Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bangalore, Jennifer Saba in New York; Additional reporting by Miyoung Kim in SEOUL; editing by Joyjeet Das, Matthew Lewis, Richard Chang and Ian Geoghegan)

Resource : Yahoo News

Samsung shares shed $12 billion after Apple's legal victory

2012-08-26T22:28:00.000-07:00

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics shares tumbled around 7 percent on Monday, wiping $12 billion off the South Korean giant's market value, as a sweeping victory for Apple Inc in a U.S. patent lawsuit raised concerns about its smartphone business - its biggest cash cow.

Samsung, which says it will contest the verdict, was ordered to pay $1.05 billion in damages after a California jury found it had copied critical features of the hugely popular iPhone and iPad and could face an outright sales ban on key products.

"There are still too many variables including the final ruling to come at least a month from the recent verdict, and whether there will be a sales ban on Samsung's main sellers such as the Galaxy S3," said a fund manager at a Korean asset management company that was one of the biggest institutional holders of Samsung's stock as of end-March.

Shares in Samsung - the world's biggest technology firm by revenue - tumbled as much as 7.7 percent, its biggest daily percentage drop in nearly four years, to 1.177 million Korean won ($1,000), versus a 0.2 percent drop in the broader market.

Trading volume was heavy, more than doubling last week's daily average by early Monday trade.

In the most closely watched patent trial in years, the jury at a federal court in San Jose, California, just miles from Apple's headquarters, found that Samsung infringed on six of seven Apple patents.

The verdict, which surprised many analysts with its speed - coming after less than three days of deliberations - and the extent of Apple's victory, will likely solidify the U.S. firm's dominance of the exploding mobile computing market.

Apple's triumph was also seen as a blow to Google, whose Android software powers the Samsung products that were found to infringe on Apple patents.

Analysts estimate Samsung's earnings will be reduced by 4 percent this year due to increased patent-related provisioning.

"Samsung should be OK - it means a 4-5 percent hit to the bottom line," said a Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager who declined to be identified.

"Both companies are in the midst of a squabble but I don't think it's a structural negative for Samsung. At the end of the day, as Forbes reported recently, Samsung has 65,000 patents versus 9,000 for Apple. Furthermore, Apple relies on Samsung for the processing brains of their phones. I sold Samsung four months ago but am watching the stock closely now."

The court case had weighed on Samsung's stock in the week leading up to Friday's verdict, but even after Monday's slide it remains up around 75 percent over the last 12 months, during which time galloping smartphone sales have powered record profits.

EYES ON GALAXY S III

Apple plans to file for a sales injunction against Samsung, its lawyers said, and the judge in the case set a hearing date for September 20. Samsung, in turn, said the verdict "is not the final word in this case".

Top executives at Samsung, led by Vice Chairman Choi Gee-sung and head of its mobile division JK Shin, held an emergency meeting on Sunday.

The biggest concern for Samsung remains whether its latest flagship product the Galaxy S III, which was not included in the case, will also be targeted by Apple. The model is Samsung's best selling smartphone, with sales topping 10 million since its late May debut.

But Samsung's skill as a "fast executioner" - quick to match others' innovations - would likely mean tweaked, non-patent infringing devices would be on the market soon after any ban came into place, analysts said.

"The ruling is a costly lesson for Samsung - but also an opportunity for a true alternative to Apple's well-known hardware with more innovative thinking and imaginative products ahead," Morgan Stanley analysts said in a note.

"There are more ways to build a touch screen smartphone and thanks to its fast execution capability, Samsung could quickly work around design changes, upgrading models and introducing new technology such as flexible displays, Galaxy S III and Galaxy Note to differentiate its devices from Apple."

Samsung was disappointed by the verdict and plans to keep up the legal fight to have its claims accepted, according to an internal memo sent to its employees and released to the media.

"We've sought to settle this through negotiations, as Apple is our customer but had no choice but to counter sue," the memo said. "History has shown there has yet to be a company that has won the hearts and minds of consumers and achieved continuous growth when its primary means to competition has been the outright abuse of patent law, not the pursuit of innovation." ($1 = 1134.05 Korean won)

Resource : Yahoo News

SKorean court rules Samsung didn't copy iPhone

2012-08-24T22:24:00.000-07:00

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korean phone maker Samsung won a home court ruling Friday in its global patent battle against Apple and its popular iPhone and iPad devices.

The ruling came hours before Apple prevailed in a similar case in the U.S.

Judges in Seoul said Samsung Electronics Co. didn't copy the look and feel of the iPhone and ruled that Apple infringed on Samsung's wireless technology.

However, the judges also said Samsung violated Apple's technology behind a feature that causes a screen to bounce back when a user scrolls to an end image. Both sides were ordered to pay limited damages.

The Seoul Central District Court ruling called for a partial ban on products from both companies, though the verdict did not affect the latest-generation phones — Apple's iPhone 4S or Samsung's Galaxy S III — or the newest iPad. Both sides were also ordered to pay limited damages.

The ban applies only to sales in South Korea, and the ruling is part of a larger, epic struggle over patents and innovation unfolding in nine countries.

The biggest stakes are in the U.S., where Apple is seeking $2.5 billion from Samsung over allegations it has created illegal knockoffs of iPhones and iPads. Hours after the South Korean ruling, a federal jury in San Jose, California, ruled that Samsung ripped off the innovative technology used by Apple to create the iPhone and the iPad.

The jury ordered Samsung to pay Apple $1.05 billion, though an appeal is expected. A judge was expected to rule later on whether Samsung must pull devices from the U.S. market.

The fact that both rulings came Friday was coincidental. The judge overseeing the U.S. case had ordered jurors there to refrain accessing any news regarding the two companies.

The Seoul ruling was a rare victory for Samsung in its arguments that Apple has infringed on its wireless technology patents. Those arguments previously have been shot down by courts in Europe, where judges have ruled that they are part of industry standards that must be licensed under fair terms to competitors.

"This is basically Samsung's victory on its home territory," said patent attorney Jeong Woo-sung. "Out of nine countries, Samsung got the ruling that it wanted for the first time in South Korea."

The ruling ordered Apple to remove the iPhone 3GS, the iPhone 4, the original iPad and the iPad 2 from store shelves in South Korea, saying that the products infringed on two of Samsung's five disputed patents, including those for telecommunications technology. South Korea is not a big market for Apple.

The court also denied Apple's claim that Samsung had illegally copied its design, ruling that big rectangular screens in cases with rounded corners had existed in products before the iPhone and iPad.

"It is not possible to assert that these two designs are similar based only on the similarity of those features," the court said in a ruling issued in Korean and translated into English by The Associated Press. It also said individual icons in the Samsung products do not appear similar to the icons Apple used in the iPhone.

But the court ruled that Samsung had infringed on one of Apple's patents, covering the bounce-back feature. The court banned sales of Samsung products using the technology, including the older Galaxy S II, in South Korea.

Court spokesman Kim Mun-sung said the court's ruling was to take effect immediately, although companies often request that sanctions be suspended while they evaluate their legal options, such as an appeal.

Nam Ki-yung, a spokesman for Samsung, said the ruling "affirmed our position that one single company cannot monopolize generic design features."

Apple did not respond to multiple calls seeking comment.

The court ordered each company to pay monetary compensation to its competitor. Samsung must pay Apple 25 million won ($22,000) while Apple must pay its rival 40 million won.

Some industry watchers expressed concern over the South Korean ruling to protect industry standard patents. They say the decision could invite a trade war by giving Samsung and fellow South Korean company LG Electronics Inc. — both industry standard patent holders — more room to block rivals' entrance into South Korea if they don't agree to licensing terms.

"It would mean that foreign companies would either have to bow to Samsung's and LG's demands ... or stop selling in Korea," said Florian Mueller, a patent expert in Munich, Germany, who has been closely following the case.

Courts in Europe, including Netherlands, France, Italy and Germany, have rejected similar claims by Samsung that Apple violated its wireless patents, with judges arguing that the patents have become part of industry standards. Standard-essential patents are a crucial technology for new players to make products compatible with the rest of the market and must be licensed under fair and reasonable terms.

Europe's antitrust regulator launched an investigation earlier this year into whether Samsung was failing to license those patents under fair and reasonable terms.

In Friday's ruling, the South Korean court said Samsung did not abuse its market power as an industry standard patent holder.

Samsung, which is based in Suwon, South Korea, filed a complaint in South Korea against Apple shortly after Apple filed its lawsuit in the U.S.

Apple claims some of Samsung's smartphones and tablet computers are illegal knockoffs of Apple's iPhone and iPad. Samsung denies the allegations and argues that all companies in the cutthroat phone industry mimic each other's successes without crossing the legal line. Apple, which is based in Cupertino, California, wants $2.5 billion and Samsung's most popular products pulled from the U.S. market.

The battle is more complex as Apple and Samsung are not only competitors in the fast-growing global market for smartphones and tablet computers, but also have a close business relationship.

Samsung, the world's biggest manufacturer of memory chips and liquid crystal displays, supplies some of the key components that go into Apple products, including mobile chips that work as a brain of the iPhone and the iPad.

The South Korean firm overtook Apple in less than three years in smartphone markets. In the second quarter of this year, Samsung sold 50.2 million units of smartphones, nearly twice as many as Apple's 26 million units, according to IDC.

Despite the ruling that is widely seen as Samsung's victory, Samsung's share fell 0.9 percent in Seoul.

Resource : Yahoo News

BlackBerry 10 phones rumored to feature 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processors

2012-08-23T22:22:00.002-07:00

RIM (RIMM) hasn’t revealed very much about the hardware of its upcoming BlackBerry 10 devices just yet, but unnamed sources have told BlackBerryOS that the company’s new devices will feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro MSM8960T, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor that will easily be the most powerful processor yet installed in a BlackBerry device. BlackBerryOS says “this news will be comforting” for BlackBerry fans who “will finally be able to hold in their hands a BlackBerry device with some serious computing power.”

Resource : Yahoo News

Twitter and Tumblr Set Their Relationship Status to 'It's Complicated'

2012-08-22T21:36:00.003-07:00

Twitter's been kind of distant lately, what with all their new rules and everything, and now they're sort-of breaking up with Tumblr. But Tumblr doesn't want them to break up because they've been together for so long, and this was all so out of the blue. Things are very complicated right now.

On Wednesday afternoon, Buzzfeed's Matt Buchanan put on his robe and wizard hat and tried to figure out which companies were going to feel the wrath of Twitter because of the company's new privacy guidelines everyone's worked up over. "Currently, when you sign up, Tumblr offers to poke through who you're following on Twitter, giving it access to your follow and interest data. This is data that Twitter does not want it to have, particularly as they've effectively both become media companies," he explained.

Buchanan already knows he's right, because shortly after his post went up The Next Web reported Twitter isn't allowing Tumblr to use their 'Find Friends' app anymore. Tumblr users can still send their posts out using a built-in widget, but they're no longer allowed to search for their followers' Tumblrs. In a statement, Tumblr played the mom card and said they were 'truly disappointed,' by Twitter's decision. "Given our history of embracing their platform, this is especially upsetting. Our syndication feature is responsible for hundreds of millions of tweets, and we eagerly enabled Twitter Cards across 70 million blogs and 30 billion posts as one of Twitter’s first partners," Tumblr said, rehashing the good times of the relationship. Elsewhere, some Twitter staffers aren't pleased with how the company's been handling the break up. Twitter engineer Alex Choi told the New York Times' Nick Bilton that "this @tumblr business just stinks," after Bilton defended the move.

So, why? Why break up now instead of later? Twitter's staying tight lipped. They pointed to the same statement they gave when they pulled the same feature from Instagram. Like, Twitter's actual response to this was, "see our Instagram statement." Which, if you're wondering, says:

“We understand that there’s great value associated with Twitter’s follow graph data, and we can confirm that it is no longer available within Instagram.”

Replace Instagram with Tumblr and you get the drill. This is like getting broken up with via a recycled note. "Dear Jessica, Tumblr, I think it's time we see other people. It's not you, it's me. I just need my space right now. I need to be independent. Hope we can still hangout, Twitter." That's the note they passed to Tumblr.

Resource : Yahoo News

Nokia dominates Windows Phone market, still on track to get hosed

2012-08-21T21:40:00.002-07:00

The good news for Nokia (NOK): if Windows Phone does as well as Microsoft (MSFT) hopes, it will be in an excellent position to reap the benefits. The bad news: Windows Phone isn’t doing as well as Microsoft had hoped right now — not by a long shot. The latest data from analytics firm Localytics shows that while Nokia has become the dominant player among Windows Phone manufacturers, the growth in the overall Windows Phone market has been too small for Nokia to really benefit.

According to Localytics, Nokia’s share of the Windows Phone market has surged from just 22% this past January to 59% in July. The trouble is, according to the most recent numbers from IDC, Windows Phone smartphones still account for only 3.5% of all smartphones shipped, meaning that simply ruling the Windows Phone roost won’t be nearly enough to help Nokia escape its current woes unless things start to pick up soon.

Resource : Yahoo News

Apple, Samsung CEOs talk but no trial settlement reached

2012-08-20T21:42:00.004-07:00

SAN JOSE, California (Reuters) - The chief executives of Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd have talked but did not settle the high stakes patent dispute between the two electronics companies, a Samsung attorney said in court on Monday.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh had requested that the two talk on the phone at least once more before the jury begins deliberating this week.

Apple and Samsung are going toe-to-toe in a patents dispute that mirrors the struggle for industry supremacy between the two rivals that control more than half of worldwide smartphone sales.

Apple accuses Samsung of copying the design and some features of its iPad and iPhone, and is asking for a sales ban in addition to monetary damages. South Korea's Samsung, which is trying to expand in the United States, says Apple infringed several patents, including some for its key wireless technology.

Top executives from both companies had participated in mediation with a U.S. magistrate judge before trial, but Koh asked them to explore settlement once again.

"I see risks here for both sides," Koh said last week.

Closing arguments are scheduled for Tuesday. In court on Monday, Samsung attorney Kevin Johnson told Koh nothing had come from the talk.

"We will see you tomorrow," Johnson said.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California, is Apple Inc v. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd et al, No. 11-1846.

Resource : Yahoo News

Clown had iPad stolen from Steve Jobs' home

2012-08-17T21:39:00.001-07:00

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Families waiting for San Francisco's cable cars on a recent morning couldn't help but notice Kenny the Clown, who wore a curly rainbow wig as he twisted brightly colored balloons into animal shapes for visitors, blasting Michael Jackson's "Smooth Criminal" from an iPad at his feet.

Little did the clown know that the tablet doubling as his stereo would turn out to have been stolen from the home of the late Steve Jobs.

"The thing that is embarrassing to me is I'm a huge fan of Steve Jobs," said Kenneth Kahn, 47, a professional entertainer who police say unwittingly received a silver 64GB iPad pilfered from the home of the Apple co-founder last month. "It's just bizarre."

Kahn's friend, Kariem McFarlin, 35, of Alameda was arrested on suspicion of breaking into Jobs' Palo Alto residence on Aug. 2.

The pair had been planning a vacation to Hawaii, and when their trip fell through, Kahn said McFarlin gave him the iPad in exchange for money he had borrowed.

"He owed me $300 for the plane tickets, so he said he had an Apple computer that he wasn't using anymore. I said fine, not having any clue what the hell was going on," Kahn told The Associated Press on Friday.

Kahn, a well-known local street performer who has also made unsuccessful bids to become mayor of Alameda and San Francisco, said he never examined the contents of the device and had no idea where it came from.

It was unclear if Jobs had ever used it.

Kahn said he downloaded Dave Brubeck's "Take Five," the "Pink Panther," and other tunes for his clowning routine, which includes magic shows and torch juggling on a unicycle.

Kahn said he played pop songs on the iPad for a few days at several San Francisco landmarks and at an Alameda street fair before police came for it. The device has been returned to the family of Jobs, who died last Oct. 5.

Apple investigators identified McFarlin after he used the stolen device to connect to his iTunes account on the Internet, police said. He acknowledged to police that he broke into Jobs' residence, as well as other homes, and wrote an apology letter to Jobs' widow, according to a police report.

The unoccupied Palo Alto home was targeted on July 17 because it was under renovation, authorities said. When construction crews left, a burglar hopped a fence and found a spare key, the San Jose Mercury News reported.

The newspaper said the thief apparently didn't realize he was in Jobs' house until he saw a letter addressed to the Silicon Valley icon.

During the 15-hour overnight heist, Jobs' wallet and driver's license were taken as well as iPhones, iPads, iPods, Mac computers, champagne and $60,000 worth of Tiffany & Co. jewelry, police said.

Kahn said he met McFarlin when he coached him on a high school basketball team in Alameda more than a decade ago.

"Kariem and I used to talk about ethics all the time, so I thought we were on the same page," Kahn said. "I guess he just got desperate, and made a terrible decision."

McFarlin remained jailed on $500,000 bail and was expected to appear in court Monday. If convicted, he could face almost eight years in prison.

Kahn said he has not been questioned in the case. Law enforcement officials did not immediately respond to a request for further comment.

The Santa Clara County public defender's office, which is officially representing McFarlin, did not immediately provide comment. McFarlin has recently hired a private attorney who wants to remain anonymous until Monday's hearing.

Resource :Yahoo News

RIM plans new contact management features on BB10 devices

2012-08-16T22:03:00.001-07:00

TORONTO (Reuters) - Research In Motion plans to provide BlackBerry users with an easy way to tap their contacts' public profiles -- including blog posts, tweets, emails and other details -- in its latest push to regain ground in the shartphone market.

The new contact management feature, which pulls in contact details from social media and other Internet sites into a single Blackberry page, will be available on RIM's next generation of smartphones that are set to launch early next year, the company said on Thursday.

RIM has seen its once dominant position in the smartphone market slip away to rivals including Apple Inc. and Samsung -- and the company's fate depends on the success of the BB10 devices.

"BlackBerry has always had this heritage of productivity ... We are just going to make it better yet again, when we launch BB10," said T.A. McCann, who is spearheading the development of the contacts and BlackBerry Messenger applications for the new platform.

The new smartphones that will replace RIM's current line-up of aging devices will run on the BlackBerry 10 operating system that is currently in development.

McCann said the built-in contacts app on BB10 will aggregate all contact information, status updates and meetings for a contact in one place. It will also pull in any current status updates from contacts on Facebook, Twitter and other places giving users a wealth of up-to-date information on their contacts.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is hoping that its new line of devices will help it regain market share that has been ceded to snazzier devices such as Apple's iPhone and others that run on Google Inc's Android operating system.

McCann, who was the founder and Chief Executive of Seattle-based Gist that was acquired by RIM in early 2011, promises that BlackBerry users will get to enjoy many of Gist's innovative contact management ideas on the new BB10 platform.

McCann said many of the features have already been built into the contact management system on the latest version of the operating system that powers RIM's PlayBook tablet device.

Resource : Yahoo News

Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 launches Friday for $349.99 at Verizon

2012-08-15T22:06:00.000-07:00

Verizon (VZ) subscribers will be able to able to pick up the Samsung (005930) Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 at their local retail stores starting on August 17th. Verizon is selling the 7-inch tablet for $349.99 with no contract required, although users will have to sign up for a Verizon LTE data plan to get the tablet. In terms of specs, the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 features Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, a 1.2 GHz dual-core application processor and 8GB of internal storage. The full press release follows below.

VERIZON WIRELESS ADDS SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 2^®7.0 TO EXPANSIVE TABLET PORTFOLIO
Affordable 7-inch Tablet with Access to Rich Multimedia on America’s Largest 4G LTE Network

BASKING RIDGE, N.J., and DALLAS – Verizon Wireless and Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile) today announced the latest addition to the Samsung Galaxy Tab portfolio, the Samsung Galaxy Tab^® 2 (7.0), available beginning Aug. 17 in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.com. Galaxy Tab 2 customers will have access to the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network which covers more than 75 percent of the U.S. population and will soon be available in more than 400 markets nationwide.
The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) features power and portability with its 4G LTE connectivity and 7-inch display making mobile entertainment easy. The Galaxy Tab 2 runs Android^™ 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, and comes loaded with multimedia-rich apps like Netflix and Samsung’s Media Hub for watching movies and TV shows while on the go or on the couch. Customers can also take advantage of the compact design and use the Amazon Kindle app to keep their favorite books with them at all times. The Peel Smart Remote app turns the Galaxy Tab 2 into a universal remote, helping customers easily find their favorite shows, while eliminating the need for multiple remote controls.
The Galaxy Tab 2 is also a SAFE^™ (Samsung Approved For Enterprise) device featuring on-device AES-256 bit encryption, enhanced support for Microsoft^®Exchange ActiveSync^®, and support for industry-leading Virtual Private Network (VPN) and Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions. Additionally, the Galaxy Tab 2 can maximize productivity with the Polaris^® Office application to easily create and edit documents. The app is optimized for tablets and has support for various file types like Microsoft Word, Excel^®, PowerPoint^®, Adobe^® PDF, Zip files and more.
Additional features

4G LTE – Customers can expect fast download speeds of 5 to 12 megabits per second (Mbps) and upload speeds of 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G Mobile Broadband coverage areas

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich – Support for Google Mobile^™ Services including Gmail^™, YouTube^™, Google Talk^™, Google Search^™, Google Maps^™and access to more than 600,000 apps available to download from Google^™ Play Store

3.2-megapixel rear-facing camera and VGA front-facing camera for video chat

1.2 GHz dual-core application processor

Bluetooth^® 4.0 technology

Multiple video file formats supported, including DivX and XviD support

Wi-Fi^® Connectivity (802.11 b/g/n)

8 GB internal memory with support for up to 64 GB microSD^™ card

Business features
Samsung’s SAFE mobility solutions provide flexibility and connectivity for mobile workforces, ensuring that customers are able to operate more efficiently on the move.

Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync (EAS) – Customers communicate directly with Microsoft Exchange Server enabling push email, calendar and contacts

VPN and MDM support from Industry-Leading Solutions Providers – Supports industry-standard VPN protocols to help customers efficiently tap into VPN networks, and MDM capabilities that allow IT departments to effectively safeguard employees’ mobile devices and corporate data

On Device Encryption – SAFE helps prevent unauthorized access to mobile data by leveraging the AES 256-bit encryption standard, encrypting all data, including app-specific internal data and internal/external memory

Price and availability

The Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 (7.0) will be available in Verizon Wireless Communications Stores and online at www.verizonwireless.comstarting Aug. 17 for $349.99.

Customers purchasing the Galaxy Tab 2 will need to subscribe to a Verizon Wireless data plan. Share Everything Plans allow customers to add the Galaxy Tab 2 to their account for $10 monthly access. For additional information, customers should go to: www.verizonwireless.com/shareeverything.

For additional information on Verizon Wireless products and services, visit a Verizon Wireless Communications Store, call 1-800-2 JOIN IN or go towww.verizonwireless.com.

Resource : Yahoo News