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Opera is Facebook's best browser play

Facebook may acquire Norwegian browser maker Opera Software, developer of the Opera and Opera Mini browsers for desktops and mobile phones, according to a report. The purchase of Opera would give Facebook a way to quickly create a dedicated browser customized for the social networking giant and its estimated 900 million active monthly users. It would also put Facebook in the middle of a browser battle with Microsoft (Internet Explorer), Mozilla (Firefox), Google (Chrome) and Apple (Safari). Some of those companies -- like Microsoft -- have partnered with Facebook, while others -- such as Google -- compete in the social networking space. U.K.-based technology website Pocket-lint first reported Friday that Facebook "is looking to buy Opera Software," citing an unnamed source it described only as "trusted." Other sites, including The Next Web, claimed that while their sources could not verify Facebook's interest, they did say Opera's management has been talking to potential suitors. Both Opera and Facebook declined to comment on Pocket-lint's report. Opera is really the only top-five browser that Facebook, or anyone for that matter, could conceivably acquire. Three of the five are locked into operating systems: Internet Explorer, with Windows; Chrome, with ChromeOS; and Safari, with OS X and iOS. And Firefox, while not associated with an OS maker, is backed by the non-profit Mozilla Foundation, which has used the "open Web" mantra since its inception. It's hard to believe that Mozilla would sell Firefox to Facebook, a company that has reaped billions from a self-contained ecosystem. But while Opera is the one viable deal Facebook could make, the Norwegian browser comes with its own baggage: It's the fifth browser, and a distant fifth at that, in a five-browser market. Last month, Opera accounted for just 1.6% of the world's in-use browsers, according to data from metrics company Net Applications. Opera has never cracked the 3% mark, never been in anything but fifth place on the desktop. Even No. 4 Safari has three times Opera's usage share. And on mobile, the numbers are little better. Even though Opera claims about 210 million Opera Mini users worldwide, Net Applications pegged the browser's share of mobile at 12% for April, just half what it was a year earlier. Most of Opera Mini's losses have gone to Apple's Safari, the default browser on the iPhone and iPad, whose owners have a voracious appetite for the Web. (Net Applications' Irish rival, StatCounter, showed Opera with a 21.5% share in April, with Safari at 23.7%.) That's not to say that a Facebook-owned Opera and Opera Mini wouldn't change those numbers: In the U.S., Facebook collects about one-in-every-five page views. If Facebook branded Opera and Opera Mini with its own nameplate and pitched them to its members, it could quickly boost the browsers' shares. Opera Mini also has an edge that could play to Facebook's advantage: Apple refuses to allow third-party browsers not built atop Safari into the App Store. But Opera Mini is already in the iOS App Store, managing that feat because it really isn't a browser, at least as Apple defines one. Rather than render HTML locally on the device, Opera Mini is essentially a proxy that shuttles page requests to Opera's own servers, which render the page, then aggressively compress it before sending it back to the device.

Samsung Galaxy S III Review

If there’s such a thing as heritage in the relatively fledgling world of smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy S III has it. Seldom does a phone – at least, one not wearing an Apple logo – arrive to so many expectations, and this time around Samsung even managed to match its Cupertino rival for pre-launch hype, rumor and intrigue. If the original Galaxy S convinced us Samsung could indeed be a top-tier player, and the Galaxy S II played an instrumental role in overshadowing the rest of the Android ecosystem, then we probably won’t be satisfied until the Galaxy S III trounces every other handset on the market. The Korean firm has the ambition, certainly, but does it have the device to do it? Read on for the full SlashGear review. Contentious. There’s not much better a word to describe the Galaxy S III’s aesthetic, one of the more hotly discussed elements of the third-generation flagship in the run-up to its launch, and perhaps the most divisive afterwards. Hopes were high that Samsung might break with tradition and opt for more premium materials for its casing, even whispers of a ceramic body (subsequently traced back to a poorly-translated South Korean report that referenced an early “ceramic white” color option). Those hopes were dashed when Samsung revealed the new phone earlier this month. It’s resolutely plastic, albeit with a lacquer that, the designers claim, makes it more resilient to scratches and give it a somewhat “pottery glaze” feel. Perhaps we don’t spend sufficient time in Korean tea ceremonies, but it feels like regular glossy polycarbonate to us. Samsung offers white and blue versions, each with a strip of silver trim around the bezel and a Gorilla Glass fascia. Is it going to break in your hand? Probably not, and though the back cover flexes considerably when pulled off the phone, it’s sturdily held in place when attached. Does it feel cheap? That probably depends on what you’re coming from: if it’s an iPhone 4S or an HTC One X, then yes, there’s a strong possibility that the glossy plastic of the Samsung will prove a tactile disappointment. Those stepping up from the Galaxy S II, however, will find a more cohesive design in the hand, with fewer contrasting textures. What first seems a simplistic design – reminiscent of a bar of soap, particularly with our white review unit – makes more sense as you live with it. There’s no ridge on the lower back section, unlike the Galaxy S II and Galaxy Nexus, which means it feels slimmer than its 8.6mm thickness (just 0.3mm thinner than the Nexus, but a fair difference from the Galaxy S II which is 9.89mm at its fattest point). The curve of the corners has a shallower radius than on the Nexus, too, which helps the new phone feel softer and more comfortable when you grip it. "It’s not a daring aesthetic: there’s no eye-catching experimentation" It’s not a daring aesthetic, then – there’s no eye-catching experimentation with the polycarbonate, as with Nokia’s Windows Phones, for instance – but then Samsung probably didn’t need it to be. This is a phone for the high-end mass market, and one which has already had time to cement its brand recognition: it doesn’t need to surprise to gain market share, only turn up on the shelf in as inoffensive way as possible. We’ve tried to avoid dropping our review handset, but it’s no worse the wear for a couple of trips in our pockets alongside keys and coins, and while fingerprint-prone it sheds grease and smears with a quick wipe. There’s an easily pressed volume rocker on the left edge and a power button on the right, while the 3.5mm headphone jack is on the top and the microUSB port on the bottom. The needle-punched slit of an earpiece sits in a silvery strip next to light sensors and a front-facing camera, with a multicolor LED indicator light hiding under the bezel on the other side. Two microphones, one on top and one on bottom, give themselves away with pinpricks, while the rear camera sits between an LED flash and a square speaker grill. Samsung may have toed the party line with Google’s pure Android guidelines on the Galaxy Nexus, but it has strayed from that path with the Galaxy S III. Like HTC, it opted for dedicated buttons rather than the Nexus’ virtual Home and other keys. The broad, physical Home button is flanked by touch-sensitive menu and back keys, eschewing Google’s preferred app-switcher shortcut. That feature is triggered by a long-press on the Home button (double-pressing it loads up S-Voice, more on which later), familiar to anyone upgrading from the Galaxy S II. If the Galaxy S III runs the risk of being outwardly mundane, no such accusation can be leveled at its specifications. Just as its predecessor re-wrote the rulebook on what a top-tier smartphone should deliver, so does the new device push the envelope of today, the perfect showcase for Samsung’s prodigious component manufacturing infrastructure. Most obvious is the display, a step up to 4.8-inches and 1280 x 720 resolution from the 4.3-inch 800 x 480 of before. That puts Samsung on a par with the HTC One X and gives it more pixels than Apple’s recent iPhones, though their physically smaller screens mean the Galaxy S III can’t match the pixel density (around 306ppi versus the 4S’ 326ppi). It’s not that aspect of the pixels that has been prompting discussion, though, but Samsung’s decision – forced, to be fair, by the current state of technology and the lacking availability of alternatives – to use a PenTile panel. PenTile, for those who have (wisely) steered clear of the Great Display Technology Debates of recent years, is basically a patented system of sub-pixel arrangement where green pixels are interleaved with alternating red and blue pixels. Advocates argue it makes for a brighter screen at lower power levels, because it takes advantage of the human eye’s greater sensitive to the color green. Critics claim PenTile panels have more obvious sub-pixel structures leading to visible grittiness or grain, or indeed blurring to text, particularly when the background is a strongly-saturated color. The good news is that, despite being a Super AMOLED HD screen (rather than the non-PenTile Super AMOLED Plus that Samsung also makes, only not yet in 4.8-inch 720p form), the Galaxy S III is a treat to the eyes. Colors are bright and vivid; text is clean and readable. Go hunting for PenTile’s flaws – slap the Samsung under a microscope, for instance, if you have access and inclination – and you’ll unsurprisingly find them, but most owners will be content to bypass lab equipment and instead enjoy the broad viewing angles and generally premium feel. They might be tempted to fiddle with the brightness control, however. Samsung may have outfitted the Galaxy S III with one of the largest smartphone batteries around – 2,100 mAh, only 400 mAh smaller than the phone/tablet hybrid Galaxy Note – but it hasn’t been able to resist a draconian auto-brightness regime that leaves the new phone noticeably dim for much of the time. Unfortunately there doesn’t appear to be a way to avoid that, bar turning off the automatic adjustment altogether; while “Screen power saving” is a part of the optional Power Saving mode that’s activated by default, toggling it off made no apparent difference. "When the brightness is manually ramped up, it’s a deeply immersive display" When the brightness is manually ramped up, it’s a deeply immersive display. Direct sunlight in outdoor situations is still enough to all but overwhelm it – you can usually make out Caller ID, but navigating anything more complex requires a shading hand – but everywhere else it’s plenty vivid. Is it better than a great Super LCD 2 panel such as on the One X? They’re arguably more on a par now than the two technologies have ever been before, with the AMOLED tending as usual to some over-saturation in color that can admittedly be tweaked using the temperature options Samsung provides. The other headline feature is the processor, Samsung following the quadcore crowd with a new chipset of its own. The Exynos 4 Quad runs at 1.4GHz, is built on power-saving 32nm processes, and throws in an ARM Mali-400 quadcore GPU too. That’s for European models at least, set to be the first to market. In the US, among other places, Samsung will offer a version of the Galaxy S III with a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 dualcore, itself a chip that, despite being short on cores, has nonetheless done a great job besting benchmarks. Connectivity includes HSPA+ 21Mbps and GSM/EDGE, at least in our European model. In the US, there are likely to be a pair of models, most likely a GSM/HSPA+/LTE version alongside a CDMA/LTE device; it’s that LTE requirement that forces the Snapdragon inclusion. Samsung US spokespeople told us back at the Galaxy S III launch that they were looking to be less profligate with their carrier-specific models; whether that means a faster update cycle as new versions of Android emerge – or, indeed, fewer silly names as Verizon, AT&T and the rest attempt to rebrand the Samsung to the umpteenth degree – remains to be seen. Elsewhere, there’s WiFI a/b/g/n with support for WiFi Direct, Bluetooth 4.0, NFC, and MHL-HDMI output on the microUSB port. Peel off the back cover and, alongside the microSIM slot, there’s a microSD slot too, happy with up to 64GB microSDXC cards. That way, owners will be able to take the Galaxy S III up to as much as 128GB of storage, assuming they pick hold off for the 64GB model that’s due to follow on shortly after the cheaper 16GB and 32GB versions that will launch first. Of the 16GB in our review unit, 11.35GB was free for apps and data, and with the right microUSB to USB port adapter – not included – you can also mount external USB memory sticks. GPS, aGPS and GLONASS, together with a barometer, digital compass, accelerometer and a light sensor are all onboard. We had no problems getting a location fix in Google Maps, with none of the “Searching for GPS” lag forcing us to wait. Samsung’s NFC uses a special battery with the NFC chip integrated, rather than building it into the phone itself, just as with the Galaxy Note; there’ll be a special Olympics 2012 Galaxy S III using Visa payWave mobile payments, though there’s no word yet on which payment providers will be supporting the regular handset. The Galaxy S II was known for its photographic abilities, and the Galaxy S III doesn’t shirk on specs there. Unlike the 5-megapixel Galaxy Nexus, there’s an 8-megapixel main camera with autofocus, Full HD 1080p video recording and an LED flash on the back, together with a 1.9-megapixel front-facing camera for video calls and vanity shots. Samsung prompted a minor uproar among audio enthusiasts when it dropped the Wolfson DAP from the Galaxy S II, having previously included it in the original Galaxy S. That’s apparently been rectified for the third-gen model, with early hands-on reports revealing a Wolfson Micro WM1811 DAC onboard for improved audio output. It’ll obviously need high-bitrate or, preferably, lossless audio files in order to shine, however; Samsung’s bundled wired headphones are surprisingly good when fed with 320kbps MP3s or lossless tracks, but throw in a decent aftermarket set and the Galaxy S III can really shine. It’s worth noting that there’s apt-X Bluetooth support, too, for higher-quality wireless audio (if you have compatible headphones), along with an FM radio, though that requires a wired headset to act as the antenna. Samsung can’t help but fiddle when it comes to Android, and so it came as little surprise to see TouchWiz make a reappearance on the Galaxy S III. Gone is the Tron-esque black and electric blue of Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, redressed in Samsung’s new Nature UX that according to the marketers is “designed for humans, inspired by nature.” TouchWiz was, to be blunt, a major sticking point on the last Galaxy flagship. The S II’s UI felt cartoon-like and almost cheap, with gaudy icons that undermined the handset’s prestige; that the dualcore CPU turned out to be so well suited to overclocking meant it was a popular target for unofficial Android ROMs. This new iteration of TouchWiz, however, is a considerable improvement. The iconography and widgets are less childish, while the somber black backgrounds only show up when you’re digging through the settings pages, rather than turning the app launcher into a drab, uninspiring place. Instead, there’s movement and sound inspired, as Samsung insists, by more natural elements. So, the lockscreen is now a shimmering pool of water, playing what Samsung claims are real recordings of droplets as you tap your fingers across it, while the wallpaper is carried over from the seven-pane homescreen to the app launcher too. As on native Ice Cream Sandwich, there are four shortcuts running persistently along the bottom of the homescreen (and an app launcher button), then a 4×4 grid for icons and anything else up above. We wouldn’t have argued with the extra column of icons found on the Galaxy Note, but it’s no significant drawback. New icons and widgets can be added either by tapping and holding from the app launcher or via a long-press on the homescreen. Oddly, the only way we’ve found to change the persistent shortcuts is by first dragging icons to a regular homescreen pane and then pulling them across to the bar along the bottom. Similarly, you can’t create a folder by dropping one icon on top of another; instead, you have to manually create the folder via a long-press menu, and then drop icons into it. We wish we could change Samsung’s default messaging icons, too: the SMS icon is particularly similar to the Gmail icon – they’re basically the same shape but slightly different in size – rather than the default speech-bubble icon base Android uses for texts. On the flip-side, there are some improvements brought by TouchWiz too. The drop-down notification pane not only has a shortcut to the settings pages, but a side-swiping row of toggles for WiFi, GPS, sound (cycling through on, vibrate and mute), screen rotation, Power Saving mode (which throttles the CPU, changes the background color in the email app and browser so as to save battery, and shuts off haptic feedback), "There are some improvements brought by TouchWiz too"notifications mute, mobile data, Bluetooth, Driving Mode, and data sync. The pinch-zoom view of all homescreen panes has returned, having been dropped from pure Ice Cream Sandwich, and you can now optionally have a battery percentage next to the regular icon in the status bar. In the app launcher, there’s now the option to hide icons rather than fully uninstall them. That should come into its own when carrier-modified versions of the Galaxy S III reach the market, complete with the inevitable preloaded and unremovable crapware networks love to include. The lockscreen has four (customizable) shortcuts, triggered with a swipe up from the icon – you have to dig through into the security settings page to actually change them – as well as including direct access to new text messages and missed calls. Optionally, it can show weather and a news/stock ticker. There are some new widgets, too, ranging from simple toggles for mono audio, negative colors and an “assistive light” that uses the LED flash as an impromptu torch (all surprisingly 2×1 blocks, where they could easily be single icon sized), to a Video Player that plays clips directly from the homescreen, the S Memo notes block carried over from the Galaxy Note, a Game Hub and several S Planner calendar widgets, including month and task views. Thanks to a temporary exclusivity deal – already undermined thanks to some judicious leaking of the APK installation file – there’s the new Flipboard for Android app preloaded too, with the curated news experience looking great on the Galaxy S III’s sizable display. Another deal sees the app for cloud storage provider Dropbox preloaded on the phone, complete with an extra 48GB for two years on top of the basic 2GB included with every free account. That’s twice as much as HTC offers with the One Series, and thanks to Android’s proclivity to play nicely with third-party sharing services, actually uploading videos, photos and other content to the cloud is a straightforward matter. That’s not the only way to get media off the Galaxy S III. The most obvious is plugging in via USB, with the smartphone showing up as a regular external drive to Windows machines. We struggled with the Android File Transfer app for Mac, however, which refused to recognize the new Galaxy had been plugged in. Instead, we were left with Kies via WiFi – which connects with Samsung’s free PC and Mac Kies Desktop app, used for backing up the phone, installing firmware updates and synching media; as the name suggests, Kies via WiFi allows you to do your synchronizing wirelessly. However, there’s also Kies Air, something we loved on the Galaxy S II, and curiously offered as an optional download from the Play Store for the Galaxy S III rather than coming preinstalled. Kies Air basically sets the smartphone up as a mini-server of sorts, giving you an IP address to punch into another computer on the same WiFi network, and turning a regular browser into comprehensive management window for photos, music, video, calendar, contacts, messaging and more. We’re not sure why Samsung isn’t opting to preload it still, though since it lacks firmware upgrade functionality it’s possible the company is pushing Kies Desktop for that instead. Samsung’s “designed for humans” tagline isn’t just vague marketing hyperbole: the company has boosted TouchWiz’s design changes with some special functionality. As you might expect, it’s of varying use. We had mixed success with Smart Stay, which uses the front-facing camera to track when you’re looking at the Galaxy S III’s display and make sure it doesn’t go into standby, even when you’ve not touched it for a while. Sometimes it worked, but other times we still ended up with a dim screen, despite being dead-center in front of the phone. To be fair, Samsung does warn that it might be confused in low-light conditions, among others. AllShare Cast and AllShare Play continue Samsung’s quest to popularize DLNA streaming, dressing the underlying technology in different ways for screen-sharing and remote file access. AllShare Cast basically puts the Galaxy S III’s screen onto your TV, turning it into a media remote or an impromptu games console. You’ll obviously need a DLNA-compatible TV – though not necessarily one made by Samsung – on the same home network. As for AllShare Play, that uses a combination of DLNA and WiFi Direct to share photos, music, video and documents from the Galaxy S III to tablets and computers, as well as allowing the smartphone to access such content on those other devices. Also using WiFi Direct is S Beam, Samsung’s supercharged update to Android Beam. Where Android Beam uses NFC to exchange URLs, contacts, YouTube links, directions and app shortcuts between devices equipped with the short-range wireless, S Beam tweaks it so that NFC is only relied upon for the initial “handshake” between gadgets. Once the impromptu pairing is established, it uses a far faster WiFi Direct link to actually complete the data transfer. Unfortunately, while Android Beam worked with no issues between the Galaxy S III and a Galaxy Nexus, with only one review unit we were unable to test S Beam. We did, however, try the system at the Galaxy S III’s launch, finding it to work as described albeit with a caveat. S Beam is turned on by default, but WiFi Direct is not, and when we first tried it simply gave us an error message regarding establishing the connection. What we’d have liked to have seen is the phone automatically realize we wanted to use WiFi Direct and turn it on itself, or at least take us to the appropriate point in the settings pages so that we could do so manually. If you’ve ever been browsing the gallery on your phone and been overcome with the urge to call a friend and tell them “I saw your face and had to be in touch” then Social Tag might appeal. A combination of face recognition and (manual) contacts linking, it automatically picks out faces in photos – or allows you to point them out yourself – and presents you with a list of your contacts from your address book, Facebook and Google+ to link to them. After that, the Galaxy S III attempts to flag up each appearance of that person with shortcuts to call them or message them, as well as access to their latest social network status. It’s a good use of inter-app linking, certainly, but we’re not entirely sure how frequently we’d actually want to call people based on seeing them while browsing through our gallery. Then there are the gesture and sensor-based tweaks. Swipe the edge of your hand across the screen, right to left or vice-versa, and the Galaxy S III takes a screenshot; tilt to zoom/pan within the browser, gallery and when rearranging icons has been carried over from the Galaxy S II. You can also shake to update in compatible apps, rather than digging through the context menu, and as well as flipping the phone face-down to mute or pause it, you can also place your palm over the touchscreen to do the same. The latter is useful during speakerphone calls, when you might want to quickly confer without the caller hearing. Direct Call automatically rings whatever contact is open in the messaging, contacts or call log apps when you put the phone to your ear, somewhat like a reverse of the screen lock that uses the proximity sensor to turn off the display when you’re on a call. Less useful is Smart Alert, which gives the phone a mild buzz when you pick it up if there have been calls, messages or other alerts in the meantime. It’s a little too blunt to be practical, though: power-users are likely to be checking their phone regularly anyway, and thus most times they pick up the Galaxy S III it’ll be buzzing. The big question is whether TouchWiz legitimately adds to the Galaxy S III or if Samsung would’ve done users more of a service by delivering untampered Ice Cream Sandwich instead. There’s no doubt that Android 4.0 marked a vast improvement in native UX over earlier iterations, and we’re big fans of ICS’ simple UI too. Third-party reskins inevitably lead to delays in OS upgrades – and Samsung has a mixed track record for that anyway – while users new to the skin generally have a steeper learning curve. On the flip side, those coming from an earlier Samsung device should be able to dive straight in, and will probably find at least one or two improvements in the Nature UX that work to their advantage. It’s the cleanest version of TouchWiz so far, and while none of the tweaks are earth-shattering, there are undoubtedly several which we could easily see ourselves integrating into daily use. Side-swiping the Samsung on-screen keyboard to quickly flip between letters and numbers/symbols is a good example. In short, it’s not the deal-breaker that many felt it was before. If the Galaxy S III’s design is the most contentious point among Samsung fans, S Voice is probably the cause of the most arguments between them and users of Apple’s iPhone 4S. The speech command system follows on the heels of Siri, Apple’s still-in-beta version, and Samsung did itself no favors with the design of the app itself: the speech bubbles and dominant, flickering microphone key are both strongly reminiscent of Siri’s UI, even if not identical, and the company must have known comparisons would be drawn. "S Voice bests its rival with the range of commands supported" S Voice bests its rival with the range of commands supported – apps can be opened by voice, unlike on the iPhone 4S, and you can send out Twitter and Facebook status updates courtesy of integration with Samsung’s Social Hub – though the basics like setting alarms and timers, calling or messaging contacts, search, triggering music playlists, storing memos and tasks, and programming navigation destinations are all onboard. Like Apple, Samsung queries Wolfram Alpha to answer questions regarding facts, measurement conversions and the like, offering to do a web search if the service doesn’t deliver. As all of the speech processing is server-based, you need a web connection to get any answer, even if you’re looking for content based on the phone itself. Unfortunately, just like Siri, the functionality can be hit and miss. There’s no one consistent flaw in S Voice, only an overall success ratio that’s arguably lower than we’ve come to expect from smartphone feature performance in general. Misinterpreted questions or commands, sluggish response despite having access to a speedy network connection, and an incomplete answer-base all make for a system you can’t rely on 100-percent of the time. The basics generally work as promised – calling a contact (which presents you with any numbers for that contact, and lets you choose from them by voice) and setting alarms or timers were usually hiccup-free – but S Voice often mangled number recognition and queries phrased in more regular terms. Perhaps the most frustrating is the ability to wake up the Galaxy S III using a spoken instruction – “Hi Galaxy!” by default, but user-customizable. Samsung bills this as a way to access S Voice without even needing to touch the phone, but more times than not it ignored us entirely. Even when we set our own instruction, which requires repeating the chosen phrase until S Voice has four versions it thinks are sufficiently similar, our hit-rate didn’t seem to improve. The good thing is that, with so much of S Voice server-based, Samsung and its voice-recognition partners can continue to finesse the feature over time. It’s not clear if, as Apple says of Siri, it learns the style of your speech and becomes more accurate, but hopefully there’ll be an uptick in usefulness as early feedback comes through. For the moment, S Voice can be relied on for the basics, but you may find it’s quicker to do more complex tasks the old-fashioned, manual way and deign to touch the screen. “Maximized processing power and seamless performance” is the Samsung promise, and the Galaxy S III is undoubtedly a powerhouse when it comes to specifications. The outward design may split opinion, but it’s hard not to be impressed by what’s going on inside the phone: a 1.4GHz quadcore chipset paired with 1GB of RAM (2GB in the upcoming Japanese versions) and performance graphics. Samsung has even included a feature that seems purpose-made to show off the Galaxy S III’s raw grunt, with “Pop up play” detaching a video clip from the media app and floating it in a repositionable box over any other app. It’s certainly impressive – we saw zero stuttering or lag even when watching a high bitrate clip and browsing a full webpage simultaneously – but we’re not entirely sure how useful it is. Perhaps if Samsung had extended support to video calling, allowing you to continue to see your counterpart while navigating elsewhere in the phone, it would make more sense, but so far it’s limited to the video app only. Still, you see evidence of the Exynos 4 Quad’s strength all through the system. From the smooth water-ripples of the lock screen, through to homescreen pane transitions, the way the app launcher surges into life, apps themselves loading with alacrity, and Full HD video playing with nary a blemish or dropped frame, the Galaxy S III is Android at the speed it should be. The raw benchmarks back that up. The Galaxy S III scored 5,365 in Quadrant Pro (4,078 in Power Saving mode), putting it neatly ahead of the S4 HTC One X’s 4,835 and the Tegra 3 One X’s 4,850. In AnTuTu, the Samsung scored 10,392 (AnTuTu got stuck on CPU testing in Power Saving mode and wouldn’t complete); it managed 1,441.7ms in the SunSpider 0.9.1 test of JavaScript performance (1,962.0ms when in Power Saving mode). Samsung’s Galaxy S II made a name for itself as a great camera-phone, and while the Galaxy S III doesn’t improve on megapixels, it’s still a solid way to take photos and video. The combination of speed and quality are what sing here, the customized camera app loading quickly, shots being taken and stored without lag, and the end-results looking more than impressive. By default there’s a camera shortcut on the lockscreen, though you can also turn on a gesture control which loads the app if you keep your finger on the screen and rotate the phone into horizontal orientation. Colors are accurate, though the Galaxy S III does show a tendency to expose the frame more than we’d prefer. You can notch that down manually, but it would be easier if the tap-to-focus also set exposure as well. There are a range of shooting modes, too, including a burst mode that will continue firing off frames for as long as you keep your finger on the shutter release control (there’s no dedicated camera shortcut button, unfortunately). Samsung also includes an optional “Best photo” setting which fires off eight pictures in rapid succession and then flags up the one it believes is the best, based on exposure, brightness, whether people have their eyes open and smiles on their faces, and other elements. You can override its decision if you disagree. Then there’s a very usable HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode, which combines several shots at different exposures and thus picks out more detail in brighter and murkier parts of the frame. Sharing rears its head again too, with a Share Shot mode that uses WiFi Direct to instantly squirt across a freshly-taken image to a nearby computer, phone or tablet, and Buddy Photo Share that uses face-recognition to suggest a possible recipient based on who’s in the frame. We’ve been spoiled in recent weeks by Nokia’s 808 PureView, with its lossless digital zoom, but even without such technical prowess – and the accompanying bulk, of course – the Galaxy S III delivers decent crops and close-ups despite the dip in resolution. We wish Samsung would borrow Nokia’s clever video zoom control, however, which allows you to pre-control the zoom level and then have the picture reframed when you lift your fingers, rather than the normal pinch-zooming which usually results in over-enlarging and then having to back off again. Video in general is only marred by some occasional focus hunting, but otherwise free of shake, jelly-like motion during faster pans, or glitches in general. Up to Full HD 1080p resolution is supported, and the end result looks great, with plenty of detail in the frame. Playback via MHL-HDMI was strong, as was DLNA streaming using AllShare Cast. As all-singing, all-dancing multimedia, messaging, browsing, navigating and photographing machines, it’s easy to forget that today’s smartphones are also, well, phones. All too often voice performance feels like an afterthought, and thankfully that’s not the case with the Galaxy S III. Voice calls were clear and crisp, with the earpiece cranking up to background noise-fighting levels, and the speakerphone taking over after that with a fullness and clarity that belies its down-facing position on the rear of the handset. We’d expected it to sound muffled when the Samsung was laid flat, but it doesn’t. Samsung doesn’t talk specifics for its noise cancellation technology, but the dual microphones seem to play their part well and we had no complaints from callers as to how well they could hear us. Not a single dropped call, either, though admittedly that’s in the reasonably well covered environs of London. Nonetheless, if you frequently play it old-school and actually ring your friends and family rather than message them, poke them, Tweet them or IM them, the Galaxy S III has you covered. It also scores points out of the box for its user-accessible battery. We’ve seen something of a shift among smartphone manufacturers toward sealed battery packs, generally in the name of increasing style and reducing bulk, but Samsung has avoided the temptation. Still, with a quadcore processor under the hood, we did wonder whether the decision was prompted more through fear of owner reprisals after heavily truncated runtimes, rather than for reasons more noble. "We needn’t have worried about battery life" We needn’t have worried. With ample use through the day, including plenty of photography, push Gmail turned on, Google+ and Facebook auto-updating (and, for Google+, uploading new images over a mixture of 3G and WiFi connections), some GPS navigation in Google Maps, some web browsing, a few text messages and a couple of short voice calls, we reached the evening still showing around 20-percent of power left on the handy gage. Benchmarking while running off AC power, as well as longer periods of video playback and gaming which required the screen be active, unsurprisingly took their toll on the battery. If you want to push the Exynos 4 Quad hard then you have to expect a corresponding hit on runtime. The good news is that, thanks to some judicious throttling – without necessarily showing itself in the actual immediacy of day-to-day use – Samsung does a solid job of balancing potency with longevity. The iPhone’s accessory ecosystem is second to none, and so Samsung has done some homework for the Galaxy S III in an attempt to give eager owners something else to buy. Unfortunately, most accessories aren’t expected to be available simultaneously with the smartphone’s own launch, with the most anticipated – the wireless charging kit – now not due for a few months. That will use a replacement back cover for the phone and a special desktop dock to wirelessly rejuice it, as we’ve seen from the Palm Pre and other webOS phones in the past. There’s also the S Pebble, a compact MP3 player with 4GB of internal storage and a purported battery life of 17hrs, which can sync music directly with the Galaxy S III via a microUSB to 3.5mm headphone jack cable. Those making ample use of the Full HD video recording, but who don’t have a networked TV with DLNA support, might find the Allcast Share Dongle provides a suitable compromise. A small box hooking up via HDMI, works with AllShare Cast over WiFi on the Galaxy S III to put the phone’s display on your big-screen TV, whether you’re playing games, browsing the web, flicking through photo galleries or watching video clips. Finally – beyond the usual array of cases and folios – there’s the C-Pen, a capacitive touchscreen stylus for more accurate use as well as sketching and, supported by the Galaxy S III as an alternate input option, handwriting recognition. Unlike the S-Pen of the Galaxy Note, the C-Pen doesn’t use the super-accurate Wacom active digitizer technology, the nib merely mimics a fingertip. We’ll review the Samsung Galaxy S III accessories in full when they’re available. "This isn’t the epiphany in metal, ceramic and glass we were hoping for" No, this isn’t the epiphany in metal, ceramic and glass we were hoping for from Samsung, but if the company had to compromise in some places on the Galaxy S III, we’d rather accept a somewhat plasticky handset with the incredible performance, brilliant screen and great camera than a nicely-dressed dog. We try not to read too much into raw benchmarking, but the day to day experience of the Galaxy S III suggests this is one of the best performing, most usable Android devices around, if not the best. There’s a chance that Samsung’s dominance could be relatively short-lived. The iPhone 5 is expected within the next few months, and that will inevitably shake up the smartphone leaderboard. That won’t make much difference to the cadre of Android enthusiasts who would never even countenance buying an iOS device, but the mass market – Samsung’s bread & butter – could well be swayed. The Galaxy S III has a few months to cement its position, at least – though that depends on how quickly it can bring US models to store shelves – and if you’ve a taste for big-screen devices then we won’t be surprised if your mouth is watering already. Phrases like “best ever smartphone” are overplayed: the market moves so fast, for a start, and the range of sizes and features out there mean what may be a key priority for you might be a minor quibbling point for someone else. Still, if your phone has become your multimedia and entertainment hub; if you love a sizable display for gaming, browsing, navigation and multimedia; if you demand high-quality photos and video without bulk; and if you want to future-proof yourself over the typical two-year contract, then the Galaxy S III delivers all that in spades. We’ve a feeling Samsung will discover those are key motivators for many, many buyers, and they’re unlikely to be disappointed with the Galaxy S III.

SEJ Thanks the United States Coast Guard

During and after Hurricane Katrina Coast Guardsmen saved more than 33,500 lives. I have spoken to many people that didn’t know that the Coast Guard is considered part of our military defense; they are and they play a critical role. Two crucial roles are protecting our borders (Ports, waterways, coastal security) and rescuing many Americans

Internet Guru Robert Scoble Says Twitter Feels A Lot Like A Ghost Town

Google+ isn't getting a lot of fair coverage in the press, says Internet guru Robert Scoble. While a lot of the tech press has said Google+ is a "ghost town," Scoble says it's actually Twitter's started to feel more like a ghost town. "Seriously, I know Twitter's not a ghost town, but it sure feels like that because of the usage model there," Scoble said in a post on Google+. "As it has turned into more of an "information utility" and less of a community it feels more and more empty." Since July of last year, he's gone from 0 to 1.5 million followers on Google Plus, and 13,000 to 261,000 followers on Facebook. But he's only gone from 240,000 followers to 260,000 followers on Twitter. He said that's because there aren't any noise controls on Twitter, so users are getting overloaded and aren't following more people. Here are some of the highlights of his argument over on Google+: So, what's the new social media ghost town? I say it's Twitter. Follower growth has NOT kept up there with the other services, which is telling me something. 1. That while number of tweets have gone up, people are getting overloaded so they aren't following more people. Why is that? Because there isn't any noise controls on Twitter (Facebook's feed, on my screens, is a LOT more useful than Twitter's feeds).2. I'm on Google+'s suggested user list, which is gifting me a huge number of followers. But I got up to 230,000 without ever being on that list here. Lots of people are signing up and at least a few ARE sticking around here.3. Over on Facebook there are ways to get spread around more, and juice its suggested user feature (this is one thing Facebook does better than Twitter or Google+ since this list is algorithmic and doesn't show a single same list to every user), which gets you more users.4. Facebook juices its subscriber numbers through lists. If you get put on a list with, say, 30,000 followers, all those followers will be added to your follower count. Please follow SAI on Twitter and Facebook.Join the conversation about this story »

Internet Guru Robert Scoble Says Twitter Feels A Lot Like A Ghost Town

SEJ Thanks the United States Navy

I have always been in awe of the US Navy troops. They fight, the transport other military branches, the travel & fight underwater, they stay out on ships for so long to keep us safe and they fly. The video below is a great representation of what all they do for us. We thank the

Autonomy boss Mike Lynch blames exit on Hewlett-Packard 'turmoil'

Autonomy founder Mike Lynch has blamed his exit from the company on a strategy U-turn by its new owners, Hewlett-Packard.

German teen solves 300-year-old mathematical riddle posed by Sir Isaac Newton

A GERMAN 16-year-old is the first to solve a centuries-old mathematical problem posed by Sir Isaac Newton.

Comcast releases Xfinity TV Player for Android

We've been waiting on this one for a while now, but thankfully Comcast has finally decided to release an Xfinity streaming app for the most popular mobile OS on the planet. With Xfinity TV Player for Android you can stream thousands of on-demand movies and television shows from Comcast, right to your Android phone or tablet. The only catch (you knew there would be one) is you have to be a Comcast customer and have to be paying the monthly subscription for the premium channels you want to stream content from. The biggest plus here is the tablet availability. Other on-demand streaming apps (hello HBOGo) are a little late with the tablet support, but Xfinity says it's compatible with any Android device running 2.3 or higher, and we've verified it works on the Transformer Prime and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. The app itself is free and available in the Google Play store, and will stream with any data connection. If you've been waiting, go grab it! Download Xfinity TV Player from Google Play Thanks everyone who sent this in!

Jury decides in favor of Google in Oracle's lawsuit - allvoices

BloombergJury decides in favor of Google in Oracle's lawsuitallvoicesBy sarah1 Oracle filed a lawsuit against Google, saying that the search giant had violated their patent rights in the development of Android mobile operating system. The complaint has now been rejected by a federal jury, which examined the case.Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) Slides To Near 4-Month Low On Broader WeaknessRetirement PlanningGoogle's patent trial win seen as 'near disaster' for OracleWashington PostGoogle's Android Didn't Infringe Oracle Patents, Jury SaysBloombergPC Magazine -Mobile bloom News -Wall Street Journalall 196 news articles »

SpaceX Capsule Has 'New Car' Smell

A day after the unmanned SpaceX Dragon spacecraft berthed with the International Space Station and made aerospace history, NASA astronaut Donald Pettit was the first man inside the cargo-filled vessel. His first reaction? [More from Mashable: 10 Nerdy Accessories for Your Summer BBQ] "The smell inside smells like a brand new car," he said, adding that the Dragon was remarkably clean and dirt-free -- which was good for Pettit's sake, who was wearing protective gear to protect himself from any debris that might've worked itself loose in the Dragon's ascent from Cape Canaveral, Florida, according to The New York Times. The Dragon launched on Tuesday aboard a Falcon 9 rocket. On Friday, Pettit worked in unison with two other astronauts, NASA's Joe Acaba and the European Space Agency's Dutch-born Andre Kuipers, to grab the Dragon with one of the space station's robotic arms and join the two craft. [More from Mashable: Tech Has Transformed How We Find Missing Children] "Looks like we caught a Dragon by the tail," said Pettit after successfully completing the birthing operation. SEE ALSO: SpaceX Dragon Makes History, Docks With the ISS [PICS] SpaceX is the first privately-owned company to send a spacecraft to the International Space Station. The company is owned and operated by Elon Musk, known for founding PayPal as well as Tesla Motors, which manufactures high-tech electric cars. "Just awesome," tweeted Musk after the attachment was made. Astronauts on board the ISS will have only a few days to move the Dragon's cargo onto the space station and fill it with equipment destined for Earth. It will depart Thursday for its planned plunge into the Pacific ocean, where it will be recovered by a SpaceX crew. How could the SpaceX Dragon usher in a new era of space exploration? Tell us your thoughts in the comments. This story originally published on Mashable here.

SEJ Thanks the United States Army

SEJ wants to thank the US Army, past and present. Admiration, respect and awe are words we could use to describe each member of the US Army. You are amazing people. Thank you for your service and our freedom. Army Facts Active Since – 14 June 1775 – present Active Soldiers – 500,000+ Army Specials

Google Wallet: one year later

The rumors and leaks go back a bit further, but it was a year ago today that Google officially revealed its Google Wallet mobile payment service -- a platform that the company is still betting big... Trendy Gadgets feed assembled by lesslimits.de

SEJ Thanks the United States Marine Corp

SEJ wants to thank the Marines, past and present, that have served and protected us. We salute you this Memorial Day weekend and we appreciate all the sacrifices you make for our freedom. Below you can learn some facts about the USMC and we highly encourage you to watch the tribute video. Branch Active Since

Space crew enter Dragon capsule

"Like the smell of a brand-new car" were the words of International Space Station astronaut Don Pettit on Saturday after he carefully opened the hatch and entered the Dragon capsule for his first glimpse inside.

Space crew enter Dragon capsule

Astronauts float inside SpaceX Dragon capsule

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. May 26 (Reuters) - Astronauts aboard the International Space Station opened the hatch and floated inside a Space Exploration Technologies' Dragon capsule on Saturday, the first privately owned spaceship to reach the orbital outpost, NASA said.

NASA astronauts open SpaceX capsule hatch and begin unloading cargo

Less than 24 hours after a historic docking, astronauts aboard the International Space Station clambered into SpaceX's unmanned Dragon spacecraft and began unloading supplies that were packed inside.

Google Now Searches JavaScript

mikejuk writes "Google has been improving the way that its Googlebot searches dynamic web pages for some time — but it seems to be causing some added interest just at the moment. In the past Google has encouraged developers to avoid using JavaScript to deliver content or links to content because of the difficulty of indexing dynamic content. Over time, however, the Googlebot has incorporated ways of searching content that is provided via JavaScript. Now it seems that it has got so good at the task Google is asking us to allow the Googlebot to scan the JavaScript used by our sites. Working with JavaScript means that the Googlebot has to actually download and run the scripts and this is more complicated than you might think. This has led to speculation of whether or not it might be possible to include JavaScript on a site that could use the Google cloud to compute something. For example, imagine that you set up a JavaScript program to compute the n-digits of Pi, or a BitCoin miner, and had the result formed into a custom URL — which the Googlebot would then try to access as part of its crawl. By looking at, say, the query part of the URL in the log you might be able to get back a useful result." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Cookie law set to come into force

Thousands of UK websites are expected to be in breach of a law that dictates what they can log about visitors.

Google Pushes First Penguin Algorithm Update 1.1

No matter that it’s late Friday night on the start of a three-day holiday weekend in the U.S., Google has just pushed out the first update to its recent webspam-fighting Penguin algorithm. Google’s Matt Cutts announced the news a short time ago on Twitter, calling it a “data... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Cookie law set to come into force

Thousands of UK websites are expected to be in breach of a law that dictates what they can log about visitors.

Facebook Pushes ‘Close Friends’ List, Becomes More Like Google+

Facebook is testing a new feature called Close Friends, which lets you know every action the people you add to the list take on the social network. Facebook told Mashable it began the push to some users Thursday. When you sign into Facebook, you’ll be prompted to “Star Your Close Friends” to guarantee you don’t miss their important moments. In other words, you can now stay close to people you indicate as high-priority friends without ever interacting, visiting their profile or catching an update in your news feed. Facebook’s explanation of the new features emphasizes organizing your friends into Smart Lists, based on where you work, live, went to school or family, to ensure you share with just the right people. You can also view a news feed of your Close Friends update — much like a feed of a certain Google+ circle — by selecting the list from below the Friends tab on the left-hand side. I decided to try out the new feature Friday morning, by adding about 20 friends to my Close Friends list. I added stars — Facebook conveniently suggests a pretty good idea of who you consider your close friends based on your interactions — and was ensured my friends wouldn’t know they’d been added to my list. Within an hour, I’d received a handful of notifications — only none of them had anything to do with me. My friends had joined events, shared stories and posted to their Timelines and I didn’t miss a beat. I was eager to test out the feature because it seemed like an easier way to create lists — something I’ve been meaning to do on Facebook since Google+ rolled out its Circles feature. But the Close Friends feature became annoying as soon as my phone was flooded with status updates that looked like this one (taken from the phone of someone who put me on their Close Friends list): If you receive mobile notifications from Facebook, it will send you an update every time someone you add to the list takes an action. If you’ve never restricted your push notifications on mobile before, this feature might be the one to drive you to cut some of them. Do you organize your Facebook friends into lists? If so, do you only share certain posts with certain people? BONUS: 10 Facebook Tips for Power Users 1. View Photos Full-Screen You can browse Facebook photos in full-screen mode, making for a better gallery viewing experience. In an album, click on the first image, then hover over the photo. A floating menu will appear along the bottom of the image. Click on "Options" and you'll see the ability to "Enter Fullscreen." Now you can browse with a clean, black background. To return to normal mode, simply hit the Escape key or the "X" on the top-right of your display.Click here to view this gallery. More About: Facebook, GoogleFor more Tech coverage:Follow Mashable Tech on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

Prepare for the Facebook Browser [RUMOR]

Are you ready for a Facebook browser that integrates the social networking behemoth into your online life more than ever? That’s exactly what could be on the way soon, according to one report. A Friday Pocket-lint report cites a “trusted source” that Facebook wants to buy Opera Software — manufacturers of the Opera web browser, which claims more than 200 million users worldwide. The Facebook browser would include default menu bar plugins, further permeating Facebook into users’ general web experience, according to the report. A Facebook spokesperson declined Mashable‘s request for comment. A custom browser would be a significant step toward Facebook becoming your web, as opposed to just an Internet site you visit and service you use. Opera’s mobile browser has received strong reviews online, meaning a functional Facebook browser using it could be even more powerful. Facebook has struggled to penetrate mobile use as deeply as many think it should be able to — and will need to in order to sustain long-term growth. A Facebook browser would also bolster the newly public company’s competition with Google. Google Chrome recently became the web’s most-used browser, but Facebook’s gigantic user base of more than 900 million people would present a potential serious threat down the line. It would be interesting to see Facebook try to battle Google for browser dominance as Google+ struggles to play catchup in social networking. We’ll see if the Opera rumors are true, but if Pocket-lint‘s “man in the know” is even remotely hooked in, it’s not hard to imagine the arrival of a Facebook browser being only a matter of time. How could a Facebook browser help the company take over the web — or can it? Share your perspective in the comments. More About: Facebook, web browser

Apple's boss rejects $75m payout

Apple's boss, Tim Cook, turns down a payout worth about $75m (£48m) that he was due from the technology giant's upcoming dividend.

This clever hack allows you to add MIDI files of your own choice to the Moog Google doodle

The thing about putting smart things on the internet is that other smart people are likely to do something even more interesting with it. It’s a bonus for sharing. Earlier in the week we reported on the pretty epic interactive Google doodle that was an homage to Dr Robert Moog. The super cool landing page allowed visitors to mess around with a virtual Moog synthesiser and then share their noisy creation with others as an application recorded and played back the sounds (On a virtual reel-to-reel no less!) One smart engineer is all it takes to push a project further of course. Karl Koscher is a Phd student studying computer security at the University of Washington, and he told TNW that it was partly his security skills that enabled him to work out the hack. “They did some interesting things encoding the data and the URL so it took me a while to figure out how that was being done and once that was done it was fairly straight forward,” says Koscher. “I was taking a look at their javascript code and trying to reverse engineer how it worked. They run their source code through a compiler and that removes all the useful information like variable and function names. So it’s kinda hard, but once you start pulling it apart you can kinda make sense of it.” Koscher says it took about three nights of hacking to work it all out and pop the code up online. What that means for us mere mortals who cannot code to this level, is that there is an opportunity to upload our own MIDI files. So what inspired this work? Koscher says, “There’s a guy who works at Google, he’s a funny guy and he created this rendition of the ‘Leekspin music‘ from the online meme. I thought ‘you could do a lot better with this’ and I noticed that the data was encoded in the URL so I thought I might as well take a shot at making a MIDI file to URL converter for this. I felt inspired to come up with a better way of putting music into that doodle than tapping it out on a keyboard.” Koscher has kindly shared his code via his Google+ account so that others can take a look and try for themselves. So, after getting this neat hack up in three nights, is Koscker worried that Google might try to employ him? “I’ve done an internship at Google twice before,” he laughs. “I need to finish up my Phd now. But I would certainly open to doing that after I’m done.” We’ll be keeping an eye out for the first Koscher Google Doodle in the future. As ever, the Google Doodle has moved on from the front page of the search giant, but you can still mess about with oscillators to your heart’s content on the Doodle blog. If you’re still hungry for sounds, you might also like the Mo Beat Retro Synth app where you can get your fill of electronic fuzziness.

Behold: The First Video Taken with Google Glasses

Google has debuted the first video taken with its new set of eyewear from its Project Glass project. And for those of you who haven’t been keeping up, Project Glass’ sci-fi-looking glasses allow a person to do many of the same things you do with your smartphone, except without the need of a separate device. The eyewear will display user interfaces for different programs, allow you to snap pictures, and as we said, even record live video that is likely to cause nausea in some people upon viewing. Over the past week, Google co-founder Sergey Brin and others from the company have been field testing the eyewear, and taking pictures to show off what it can do in a real life setting. We’ve embedded the video below of a Google employee performing flips on a trampoline. Let us know what you think in the comments. Photo via Google Filed under: offBeat, VentureBeat

What Trademark Search Data Can Reveal About User Behavior

I can’t count the number of times I’ve been challenged by advertisers on the topic of trademark search. The question is simple: why “waste” money buying traffic on trademark keywords when it is clear that the user intends to get to their site? Researching the topic, there have been a number of... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Online Marketing News: Local Optimization Opportunity, Facebook Advertising Issues, Google Knowledge Graph Takes Over

The Local Web – The Single Largest Opportunity For National Brands This infographic by Balihoo shares the significance of marketing locally to your potential customers. According to this infographic: 73% of online search activity is related to local content 82% of local Internet searches follow-up offline 23.6% the percentage that digital media is expected to

Is Facebook the next Google?

Facebook's IPO took place last Friday. When comparing their performance to that of Google, a number of key differences emerge, questioning the the ~2x multiple vs. Google. Google grew faster, was, and still is, more profitable, while offering a clearer value proposition to their users and customers.

Google snags the webOS Enyo team, HP says open source plans are still on schedule

At one time the Enyo app framework was supposed to help webOS run faster and on a wider variety of devices, but as HP continues to struggle, reports have surfaced from The Verge and AllThingsD that much of the team behind it, including leader Matthew McNulty, has been hired away by Google. Numbering a half dozen or so, the immediate danger is the effect this might have on HP's efforts to open source webOS, but in a statement the company indicated it remains on track and will stick to the roadmap it announced in January. Less clear is what these employees might end up working on for Google, although Enyo's focus on web apps and HTML5 suggests the possibility they'll end up working on ChromeOS projects.Google snags the webOS Enyo team, HP says open source plans are still on schedule originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 02:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | The Verge, AllThingsD | Email this | Comments

Sony ST26i benchmarks reveal Android 4.0, 4-inch FWVGA display and lackluster performance

Rumors of the Sony ST26i smartphone have been swirling for a while now, but up until recently, we've had nothing to sink our teeth into. Thankfully, we've now come across an OpenGL benchmark test and system profile for the yet-to-be-announced handset, and while this one seems destined for emerging markets and budget-minded consumers, the ST26i will come with just enough niceties to hold its head high. First and foremost, the system profile reveals Ice Cream Sandwich on the handset, and even better, it'll include a 4-inch, 854 x 480 display -- none of that HVGA crap here. To keep costs low, sacrifices had to be made: the phone will include a Qualcomm MSM7627A SoC, which includes a pedestrian 800MHz CPU and an Adreno 200 GPU. Curiously, the ST26i was previously rumored to contain an ST-Ericsson U8500 chip with a dual-core 1GHz CPU, which leaves open the possibility that we may see different configurations based on markets. Still, if Sony is able to exercise some restraint with its custom skin, the ST26i could shape up to be a very nice handset.Sony ST26i benchmarks reveal Android 4.0, 4-inch FWVGA display and lackluster performance originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 25 May 2012 01:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Ubergizmo | GLBenchmark, IT168 | Email this | Comments

The Verge: HP’s WebOS Enyo Team Is Going to Google

Verge: The HP team responsible for Enyo — webOS’s HTML5-based application framework that debuted on the TouchPad — will be leaving the company and starting at Google shortly, The Verge has learned. What this means for the future of Open webOS is unclear; Enyo and the developers supporting it are central to HP’s open source strategy for the operating system going forward, and it’s hard to say whether this move will have any effect on the planned late 2012 release for version 1.0. It is pretty clear webOS is over. With similar roots in Linux, the team could probably do some good with Google’s Android and Chrome products. //

Huawei in competition complaint

China's Huawei files a competition complaint against US firm InterDigital with European Union regulators.

Cookie use deadline approaches

The deadline for UK websites to comply with new cookie regulations is set to pass, with most sites expected to be in breach of the rules.

Google Asked To Take Down Over 1.2 Million URLs Last Month From Search Results

Google announced they have enhanced the Google Transparency Report to include the removal requests to take down individual search results from showing up in Google. In fact, Google has told us in the past month they have received 1,246,713 removal requests from 24,129 different target domains of... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Google Adds Subscription Billing To Its Android App Store

In what should be a very welcome addition for Android developers, Google is adding subscription billing to its app store. That should give developers yet another to earn revenue on top of in-app purchases of virtual currency, downloads of paid apps and advertising. It will probably most benefit mid and hardcore game developers, who are more likely to have rabid fans willing to pay for monthly access. It will also help magazine publishers, who are still figuring out how to sell content on tablets. All of the subscriptions are auto-renewing and can be set with monthly or annual fees. Developers set the price themselves. There’s also an HTTP-based publisher API that lets enterprise-scale backend servers validate or cancel subscriptions. It’s inter-operable with subscriptions on the web, so users can take their paid access with them across devices and web destinations. The revenue share is just the same as it is with paid apps and in-app purchases. Google takes a 30 percent cut. When Apple launched subscriptions on iOS, some publishers like The Financial Times balked at Apple’s cut and instead built HTML5 apps to circumvent the fees. Google’s situation is a little more complicated as it relies more on carrier billing, which means most of their 30 percent cut may actually go toward mobile operators. Google hand-selected a few developers to launch with subscriptions today. One of them is Glu Mobile, which is a publicly traded mobile game developer. They’re best known for “action-adventure” games like Gun Bros and they did just over $17 million in smartphone revenue in the first quarter of this year (which was a pretty impressive 72 percent increase from the quarter before). Google is playing catch-up with iOS in terms of helping developers make money from their apps. Mobile analytics firm Flurry found that for every dollar a developer earns on iOS, they earn about a quarter of that on Android. Most of this has to do with how Android just has fewer paying customers on file. If you look at revenue on a per-user basis (or how a paying user spends on average), it’s actually almost the same on iOS and Android. So as long as Google can get more payments information on Android users, it looks promising.

Google+ Android Update: Start Hangouts Right From Your Phone

Google just rolled out an update to its Google+ Android app, revamping the layout of the “stream” with bigger photos and less white space, similar to the app’s recent update on iOS. Another highlight: Now users can start video chats — also known as hangouts — right from their phones. In a blog post, Google says the update is all about “polish and performance.” The change in layout and navigation ties with the search giant’s recent changes to the look of its services, what it calls a “simpler, more beautiful Google.” Now when users launch the app, they’ll be brought right to their stream instead of a sparse menu of options that’s heavy on the white space. To navigate, simply touch the stream icon (the “house”) in the top right corner. That brings up a menu that slides in from the side — similar to how Facebook‘s mobile apps work. SEE ALSO: Google News Gets Deeper Ties to Google+ Google has had mobile support for its multi-person video hangouts since last fall, but today’s update (version 2.6) brings the ability to start them from your Android device, phone or tablet. “Hangout” is now in the main navigation menu — simply tap it and enter the name, email or circle of the people you want to chat with (Hangouts support up to 10 people simultaneously chatting). In addition to enhanced hangout abilities, Google+ for Android now lets you +1 posts right from the stream, download photos from posts, and even edit posts right on your phone. Checking out the new version on a couple of Samsung Galaxy devices, we love the improved layout and navigation. The larger layouts for photos really beg to be touched, and the way they “fade in” as you swipe make the app feel more dynamic than it is. What do you think of the Google+ update? Share your thoughts in the comments. Google+ Android Update (Version 2.6) Google just updated the its Google+ Android app, revamping the layout and adding the ability to start video hangouts right from the app.Click here to view this gallery. More About: android, apps, Google, hangoutsFor more Tech coverage:Follow Mashable Tech on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Tech channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

How To ‘Protect’ Brand Keywords For Less

Imagine you own a restaurant and one day, a couple of big guys in nice suits come through your front door. One of the men introduces himself: “Good evening. My name is Gino, and this my colleague, Salvatore. We’re helping local businesses with their marketing and wanted to see if we could help... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

Jury: Google did not infringe Oracle patents with Android | The Verge

theverge.com - Bryan Bishop Over a week after it began deliberations, the jury has returned a verdict in the patent infringement case between Oracle and Google, finding that the search giant did not infringe upon Oracle's patents with Android. In play were infringement counts on eight different claims across two separate patents: RE38,104 and 6,061,520. Given the decision, there will be no need for a damages phase in connection with the patent claims, and with the recent agreement by Google and Oracle to postpone any dama show all text posted by friends: (1) @davewiner: Jury: Google did not infringe Oracle patents with Android. http://t.co/rdAqmcSg 23.05.2012 22.08.23 posted by friends of friends: (2) @Techmeme: Jury: Google did not infringe Oracle patents with Android (@bcbishop / The Verge) http://t.co/JWmNiOTy http://t.co/umWqImez 23.05.2012 22.15.55 @BreakingNews: Jury finds Google innocent of infringing on Oracle patents with Android - @verge http://t.co/u8o4qG48 23.05.2012 22.15.25

Jury: Google did not infringe Oracle patents with Android | The Verge

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Yahoo Axis Shines on iPad, an Afterthought on Desktop [REVIEW]

It’s been a while, but Yahoo just made some noise again in the search business. With the release of Axis, a new search app and add-on for both iOS and desktop browsers, Yahoo aims to make browsing the Web a more visual and convenient experience. And it succeeds — at least on the iPad. This is surprising, since on iOS Axis is essentially running a skin over top of Safari — similar to what the Atomic browser does. In Yahoo’s case, though, it’s a powerful skin, filled with features you won’t find on Apple’s browser, such as easy toggling between regular and image searches, and instant syncing of bookmarks and tabs between desktop, iPhone and iPad. At the same time, the app isn’t cluttered. It’s nice and minimalist, combining the search and address bar into a single field similar to how Chrome works (seriously, why don’t all browsers do this?). And your bookmarks conveniently appear in every new tab you open, letting you instantly tap to go somewhere familiar. However, it doesn’t put your most recent bookmarks first, which is a bit annoying. Searching With Gas One of the major thrusts of Axis is that it makes search more visual. It delivers pretty well on this promise, displaying a strip of site preview thumbnail images whenever you input a search term. This is quite handy even if the sites themselves aren’t particularly visual. For example, for most subjects, a Wikipedia entry is one of the first to appear. While Wikipedia pages tend to be mostly text, they’re instantly recognizable, even as a thumbnail. The thumbnails tap out after you swipe through the first 20 or so, though, getting replaced with basic text summaries. The most powerful feature of Axis, though, could be its near-flawless device syncing. Open a page on your iPad, and you can pick up right from there on your iPad or any major desktop browser (via an add-on or extension). All your bookmarks are synced, too — Yahoo even conveniently names one of your folders “Read Later.” SEE ALSO: Google Search Just Got 1,000 Times Smarter As I said, though, it’s only near-flawless. You can only see the last tab you had open on whatever device you’re picking up from. It also doesn’t sync your search history (though it will pass along the last search you performed on the other device). Social networkers will appreciate that Axis integrates Pinterest. Whatever page you’re on, you can tap a virtual button to instantly switch over to the Pinterest iOS app and pin the page, although you’ll need to switch back to Axis manually. It’s a convenient addition that Safari doesn’t have — although Axis has no “Print” or “Add to Home Screen” options. Desktop Blues In all, though, the Axis experience on iOS is compelling, which is in contrast to the underwhelming desktop integration. To be fair, it would be expecting too much of Yahoo — who doesn’t make any kind of desktop browser — to come up with something groundbreaking here, and Axis ends up being not much more than an impressive syncing tool. There seemed to be technical difficulties with the pre-release Chrome extension, and I never got it to work. It did better on Firefox, though, but I was disappointed that I had to wait for pages to finish loading completely before I could use Axis. Regaled to a small search box on the bottom of your browser, Axis is more of an unwanted intruder on the desktop, and its abilities didn’t provide much in functionality that I couldn’t get from any of the many add-ons in my browser. It’s also more limited than the iOS version — your Axis search history, for example, is nowhere to be found. Axis is a worthy experiment, though, and I hope Yahoo quickly iterates its iOS app. It’s quite simply one of the best browsers you can get for your iPad, and if it keeps improving and adding new abilities, it could help define how we consume the web on tablets. Just as long as Apple doesn’t kill it. What do you think of Axis? Check it out for yourself at the Axis site, and let us know in the comments. Yahoo Axis, Splash Screen The screen that greets you when you launch Axis on iPad.Click here to view this gallery. More About: Axis, Browsers, search engine, Yahoo

Blue Links Be Gone: Yahoo Introduces Browser And Visual Search Experience “Axis”

Search launches seem to come in threes. A couple of weeks ago we had Bing Social, then came Google with Knowledge Graph and now Yahoo introduces Axis. When I met with Yahoo earlier this week to hear about it I received the now familiar speech that Yahoo is still very much in search and continuing... Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.

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Hewlett-Packard cuts 27,000 jobs

Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest computer maker, is to cut 27,000 jobs by end of 2014 as part of a drive to "simplify" the business.

Hewlett-Packard cuts 27,000 jobs

Hewlett-Packard, the world's largest computer maker, is to cut 27,000 jobs by end of 2014 as part of a drive to "simplify" the business.

The Verdict Is In: Google Did Not Infringe On Oracle’s Patents

Just over a week ago, the jury began deliberations on the ongoing patent infringement case between Google and Oracle. After waiting in the wings, with bated breath, the verdict is finally in, as Judge Alsup has this afternoon dismissed the jury and decided that the search giant’s mobile OS did not in fact infringe on Oracle’s patents. The decision follows an opposing verdict earlier this month, in which the jury in the long-running infringement case found that certain components of Android APIs had too close of a resemblance to code used in Oracle’s Java programming tools. However, the jury ended up splitting on the notion of whether or not Google could in fact claim fair use in its defense (which could have then led to a mistrial.) The jury’s decision was obviously a laborious one, following two years of a legal back-and-forth between the two tech giants. Oracle had initially filed the lawsuit back in August 2010, in which the company asserted that Android infringed on certain parts of the technology it acquired from its purchase of Sun Microsystems. Of course, that decision was only the first act in the three-part deliberations, which was slated to be followed by consideration of copyright, patent issues, and finally the damages Google would be liable for were they found guilty. Updating

Verdict: Google Wins in Oracle Patent Suit

This story is developing. Check back soon for more updates. A California jury ruled on Wednesday that Google did not infringe on Oracle’s patents in developing the Android operating system. Following a week of deliberations, the jury has come back with an unanimous verdict that Google did not infringe on Oracle’s Java patents. “Today’s jury verdict that Android does not infringe Oracle’s patents was a victory not just for Google but the entire Android ecosystem,” Google said in a statement. Earlier this month, a federal jury issued a partial verdict in the case. The jury found that Google infringed on Oracle’s Java patents, but it deadlocked around the question of whether Google proved that its use of Java constituted fair use. Oracle sued Google in 2010 over its use of the Java programming language and software tools. Oracle acquired Java when it purchased Sun Microsystems in 2010. Image courtesy of iStockphoto, maybefalse More About: android, Google, patentFor more Business coverage:Follow Mashable Business on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Business channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad

10 Google Moog Doodle Recordings to Rock Your World

You’ve probably noticed today’s interactive Google Doodle — a playable, recordable synthesizer in honor of Robert Moog’s 78th birthday. It’s also no coincidence that productivity has likely been down this morning. Internet users have already shown a wide range of talented, creative Moog Doodle examples, as YouTube user FableA2 shows us in the video above. Some have created their own covers and original songs, but this one impressively syncs with the Doctor Who theme song. SEE ALSO: Google’s Moog Doodle: The Inside Story There’s a very helpful demonstration video with tips on how to make the most of the fun synthesizer. We’ve gathered 10 exceptional covers of popular songs created by web users. Think you can do better? Share your best song in the comments. 1. The Godfather Mashable reader Nick Cicero shared his version of The Godfather theme song.Click here to view this gallery. More About: Google, google doodle, movie theme songs, Music, robert moog, trending, YouTubeFor more Entertainment coverage:Follow Mashable Entertainment on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Entertainment channelDownload our free apps for Android, Mac, iPhone and iPad