Newsy - Tech

Sex Offenders Fight For Right to Use Facebook

Thu, 31 May 2012 09:12:38 -0500

(Image Source: The Verge )

BY LOGAN TITTLE

Several registered sex offenders are speaking out against laws banning them from joining social networking sites like Facebook and LinkedIn.

Here’s KMOV.

“More registered sex offenders are fighting for that right. There are legal battles going on right now in Indiana, Nebraska and Louisiana where sex offenders have been banned from the social media site…”

The plaintiffs argues not everyone registered as a sex offender is guilty of being a sexual predator. The range of crimes in some states includes things like indecent exposure.

CNet notes, even some courts have even been fighting the social networking restrictions with offenders. A Louisiana judge tried to toss out the law back in February because he felt it had too many restrictions—but his decision was overturned on appeal.

WVLA reports, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (JIN-dull) signed new legislation on Thursday that is less restrictive, but still bans “certain” sex offenders from social networking sites.

He told the station …

“Louisiana families should have the comfort of knowing their children are able to access the Internet without the threat of sex predators…As technology advances, so too must law enforcement’s tools, so that we can stay ahead of the monsters that prey on our children.”

Fox News Radio reports, the big issue is whether this is a violation of offenders’ First Amendment right to free speech. And if it is — where do states draw the line between free speech and child protection?

The ACLU says the Internet ...

“...is now essential for communication and all should have access, including sex offenders. Critics call it a place for them to find new victims, saying sex offenders can still use a phone or send a letter.”

The ACLU is currently arguing a case in Indiana saying a ban on social sites denies offenders the right to online discussions, to communicate with family and to post business profiles on LinkedIn.

The Associated Press reports the case is scheduled for a court hearing Thursday.

Google+ Local Overhauls Search

Thu, 31 May 2012 00:30:01 -0500

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image source: Google

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR CANDICE AVILES

Google just got more locally relevant: a new service called Google+ Local is serving up info on the restaurants and businesses near you.

Search results now include overhauled scores and recommendations, especially for eateries. Google bought restaurant review aggregator Zagat last year, and TechCrunch reports the service is now showing up in Local.

“Google says that from now on, all places will be scored using the 30-point scale used by Zagat that covers the areas of food, decor and ambience. However, Google also says that recommendations and reviews from your contacts will remain ‘front and center.’”

PaidContent wonders if this will be the jolt that gives Google+ some momentum.

“By turning it into something like a Yelp for friends, with reviews, photos and opinions submitted by people you know, who possibly share your interests and taste, Google+ could potentially offer users new value.”

Regardless of its success, Search Engine Land says this will mean changes for both consumers and marketers.

“They will enhance the consumer experience with a relatively small adjustment and learning curve. … Google probably hopes that millions of local merchants creating and enhancing dynamic pages and content can bring additional usage and greater engagement to Google+.”

Softpedia reports those merchants will probably jump on board — their old Google Places pages have been automatically added to Google+.

“The increased visibility will mean that more businesses are aware of the feature and the need to manage their places. What’s more, more businesses will also feel compelled to manage the pages since they’re integrated into Google+ and not just some obscure Google feature.”

Local is available now on your Google+ profile. Google promises more upgrades in the coming months.

Apple CEO Touts TV as 'Area of Intense Interest'

Wed, 30 May 2012 16:50:06 -0500

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(Image source: All Things Digital)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

There’s hardly a rumor mill as active as an Apple one. When CEO Tim Cook told a crowd television is an area of “intense focus,” that old mill went churning.

HLN: “The new CEO of Apple is tantalizing Wall Street...”

WTVT: “Analysts widely expect Apple will expand into the TV business and possibly make flat screens as well as the software that powers them.”

CNBC: “These messages that Tim Cook is sending is don't buy a TV, we are working on something.”

Apple already sells Apple TV, a set-top box which lets users to stream video to their TVs.

At the AllThingsDigital conference where Cook was speaking, Kara Swisher asked whether Apple TV was “good enough.” Cook’s response? The company will “keep pulling the strings and see where it goes.” The Mac Observer’s Bryan Chaffin says...

“...this clearly says that Apple doesn’t see set top boxes as the end-all, be-all... Mr. Cook is saying that if Apple is going to make a bigger foray in TVs, it will need to be able to take more ownership over the customer experience...”

The rumor’s not new. Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson, he’d “finally cracked” a simple user interface for an integrated TV set.

But it seems the bigger foray would stop at TVs — at least according to Digital Spy — whose Andrew Laughlin doesn’t see content itself in the cards.

“[Cook] added that Apple should not aim to become a ‘content business’ (seemingly ruling out a major acquisition), but instead look to partner with the existing players...”

Amazon Instant Video Heads to Xbox 360

Wed, 30 May 2012 11:07:00 -0500

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(Image source: Gear Live)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Looking for another streaming video option on your Xbox? Amazon on Tuesday announced Instant Video for the Xbox 360.

Users with an Xbox Live Gold account can instantly stream more than 17,000 movies and shows. Amazon’s Whispersync will keep things lined up across devices — you can pause on your tablet, resume on your Xbox, and use Kinect voice commands to control playback.

17,000 titles may not seem like a lot when compared to Netflix, but GigaOM says it’s about more than just library size.

“That’s still substantially less than Netflix’s around 50,000 movies and TV show episodes, but catalog is only one piece of the puzzle. Presence on connected devices plays a big role as well in the battle for the living room…”

Of course, if the numbers are important, GeekWire points out you can actually watch some 120 thousand shows from Amazon on your Xbox. You just can’t buy them there.

“People without an Amazon Prime subscription will be able to watch, on the Xbox 360, movies and TV shows that they’ve purchased or rented from Amazon Instant Video. However, they’ll have to make the purchase or rental on a computer or tablet.”

Still, VentureBeat says, another outlet for video content is good news for Amazon.

“An Amazon Xbox Live app makes perfect sense for the company. Not only has media usage on the Xbox risen above the console’s main purpose of gaming, but it’s also part of Microsoft’s overall strategy to break into the digital media market.”

And as Time points out, the strategy is working well.

“This helps cement its position as an all-in-one home entertainment device, which is necessary to expand its appeal beyond gamers.”

To help expand that appeal, Microsoft and Amazon are running a promotion: Xbox Live Gold account holders get a free month of Amazon Prime — and access to all that instant content.

Google Debuts Latest Chromebook, New Chromebox

Wed, 30 May 2012 09:08:00 -0500

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(Image source: Google)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

Google and Samsung debuted the latest Chrome OS offerings Tuesday, with a refreshed Chromebook laptop and a new bring-your-own-screen computer called the Chromebox.

Each offers average hardware and the range of standard connectivity. The Chromebox will even support multiple monitors. But more important, industry watchers say, is a Google OS that’s coming into its own. ReadWriteWeb explains.

“We're now at a point where an everyday consumer can weigh up a typical HP laptop with a Google Chromebook and not see much difference on the software side.

In its testing, The Verge found Google has worked on making Chrome OS feel more like an actual OS, rather than a fancy browser.

“There’s a much better windowing experience. You can open things as tabs, or as standalone windows that basically just look like apps, so Gmail starts to feel like a native app, rather than just another tab in a chrome window.”

But CNET says Chrome OS still isn’t ready for primetime.

“But for most people… Chrome OS isn't yet up to scratch, no matter how fast the hardware. And the new machines still aren't as fast as modern PCs, despite an upgrade from last-generation Intel Atom chips to more powerful Intel Core chips this time around.”

Google will provide corporate support for a one-time fee. ZDNet sees the Chromebox’s potential business use as an always-connected thin client.

“In other words, a corporate Chromebox will run you $479 for hardware and support. If that hardware price comes down — and there's no reason to believe that it won't — Google shops that use Google Apps or browser-based software-as-a-system tools may have an entry point.”

Good for business, maybe not as good for home use. In any case, Engadget says modders and cloudheads could have some fun with the Chromebox.

"The Chromebox Series 3 is exactly what you'd expect -- a cloud-based workstation in a box. …despite the somewhat hefty $329, it's going to be hard for software and hardware tinkerers to resist the appeal of this extremely hackable little box."

Before you get any ideas — one thing the Chromebox probably won’t do is replace a home theater PC. There’s not much local storage for movies or music.

Sprint to Shut Down Nextel as Early as June 2013

Wed, 30 May 2012 02:00:01 -0500

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(Image: WirelessIndustryNews)

BY JIM FLINK

ANCHOR NEVILLE MILLER

R-I-P, Nextel phone service.

Sprint has officially announced it will kill off its former rival – then partner – June, 2013.
PC Mag has more.

“The cell phone giant will send written notices to business and government customers beginning June 1, with more information about the eventual iDen shutdown … Nextel users will have the option to pick up their service with Sprint via its Direct Connect service or move on to a competing carrier.”

Sounds like a plan.

Except that Sprint has reportedly been killing off Nextel, almost since the beginning of its merger in the mid-2000s.
And, CNN Money notes, it’s done so without much success in keeping the old Nextel customers.

“Though 5.4 million customers remained on Nextel's network as of the end of March, Sprint has been transitioning them off it. The problem is that many aren't sticking with Sprint when they leave. Last quarter, Nextel lost 455,000 contracted customers, and only 228,000 rejoined the Sprint-branded service.”

Apparently, while the goal is to keep as many Nextel customers as possible, it’s not the big-game-fish Sprint is hunting.
CNET says, Sprint has other big things on its mind.

“The phasing out of iDEN is part of Sprint's larger Network Vision plan, which is an overhaul of its existing network and move to 4G LTE technology.”

But one Bloomberg analyst says, this is a race against time.

Can Sprint dump its underperforming sectors, and move fast enough to that next big thing, quickly enough, to survive the barking bankruptcy wolves at its door?

“It is a reasonably high probability of bankruptcy.”

“And on the other hand, a certain probability that the equity is worth much more I think at this point it is so hard to tell which of the two outcomes you are going to come out with.”

Sprint closed Tuesday’s trading day up a half a percent, at $2.67 per share.

Cyber Weapon 'Flamer' Infects Middle East

Tue, 29 May 2012 09:25:00 -0500

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(Image Source: Naked Security)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

A new virus is burning through the Middle East dubbed “Flamer” and it’s said to be responsible for recent data loss in seven countries.

Here’s News12—

“It’s described as the most complex cyber weapon ever created… It’s designed to turn on PC microphones to listen to people.”

The Iranian Computer Emergency Response Team says it’s comparable to two other large viruses, known as Stuxnet and Duqu, that have affected Middle Eastern databases in the past—but this time it’s on a much bigger scale.

RT explains—

“Its code is 20 times the size of Stuxnet and it can make use of a computer’s webcam, its keyboard monitoring facilities and screenshots…"

And it's a discreet little devil. Malware researchers from Kaspersky Lab claim the powerful PC pollutant could have been bugging computers as far back as five years ago. But it’s so big! How could you miss it?

Kerspasky says—that’s exactly the reason.

“The large size of the malware is precisely why it wasn’t discovered for so long…today’s malware is small and focused. It’s easier to hide a small file than a larger module…over unreliable networks, downloading 100K has a much higher chance of being successful that downloading 6MB.”

So who could possibly be behind the malicious malware?

According to the CrySys security lab — it was most likely developed by a government agency. Iran’s National Computer Emergency Response Team says its working on a fix.

Absinthe Jailbreaking Software Gets Record Downloads

Mon, 28 May 2012 12:09:00 -0500

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(Image Source: Web Pro News)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

While Apple works to make its products impenetrable, another team is working to break them — jailbreak that is.

The Chronic Dev Team launched the latest in jailbreaking software Friday with the Absinthe 2.0.

Cult of Mac says it isn’t just breaking phones—but records.

“The numbers add up to roughly 1.2 million total devices jailbroken in just under 3 days.”

So what exactly does jailbreaking allow you to do? It creates access to apps you wouldn’t otherwise find on Apple’s App store. Basically, it lets users customize their phone — rather than sticking to Apple’s automatic displays. (video source: iClarifies)

And App Advice reports there’s already a 2.02 version of the software — since Apple just happened to release a new update the same day as the Absinthe 2.0.

But PC Mag warns—

“Installing new updates from Apple can be a pain in the butt, as they might very well jack up your device or revert it back to its normal, unjailbroken state…Also, any problems you have with your iPhone or iPad that might be taken care of by Apple's Genius Bar could be yours to deal with exclusively – jailbreaking does void your Apple warranty…”

But if you’re feeling brave--CNET says its a simple task.

“The jailbreak process...couldn't be easier. In fact, the developers of the jailbreak claim ‘it's so easy, your grandma could do it.’”

CNET provides a 5-step process to jailbreaking your phone on their website. The only device the tweaking technology can’t touch is the iPad2--for now.

Facebook Using Ex-Apple Engineers to Make Smartphone

Mon, 28 May 2012 09:30:30 -0500

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(Image Source: Pinoytutorial.com)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

Got the Facebook app? How about a whole phone?

WPTV says—it might be possible.

“…according to Facebook employees, the social media site could build its own smartphone by the end of next year. The company has already hired more than a dozen apple software and hardware engineers.”

The New York Times notes this would be the social site’s third crack at the mobile market—and the cause is clear—Facebook doesn't want to be left behind.

A Facebook employee told the Times—

“Mark is worried that if he doesn’t create a mobile phone in the near future that Facebook will simply become an app on other mobile platforms…”

Last year, All Things Digital reported Facebook teamed up with HTC to create a phone code-named “Buffy”—you know, the vampire slayer.

The site says it may need the same aggressiveness associated with the name if its going to join mobile moguls like Apple and Google.

“Apple has fought to maintain strict control over payments within its mobile apps…and it also made Twitter its social partner. Google is increasingly a direct competitor, as it is working to promote and integrate its own social network, Google+, across all its products.”

So does Facebook have a chance?

A writer for Chip Chick isn’t too optimistic.

“One does not simply walk into today’s smartphone market with established players like Research in Motion struggling just to survive...it’s not enough to have a set of core apps—they need to be popular…Facebook would have a great advantage leveraging its strengths to makeit’s doubtful that will excite enough people to get on board with a Facebook phone.”

IT Web explains the Buffy handset is still in the works and Facebook is supposedly checking out other smartphone projects.

PayPal Extends In-Store Purchasing

Sun, 27 May 2012 06:00:00 -0500

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(Image Source: GigaOM)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

PayPal is reaching new distances—off-line.

EBay is expanding PayPal user’s purchasing power into over a dozen retail stores allowing customers to pay for goods without even opening their wallet. Simply punch in your cell phone number and a PIN and voilà – you just bought Febreze. (Video source: PayPal)

ZDNet says PayPal’s system has already been used in thousands of Office Depot stores and this new deal will include a range of retailers from Toys R Us to Advanced Auto Parts—Three of which had previously signed up for Google Wallet.

“The aim is to make the system ubiquitous, or at least to have all the major categories covered. Consumers are less likely to adopt a payment system that works in a single store, or even a major chain, than a system that works almost everywhere.”

And All Things Digital says—while PayPal is getting a late start compared to Google—it may be more practical.

“PayPal has the user base, and it has the technology with the lowest barriers to entry… if a consumer has signed up for the service…they will be able to conduct transactions using their mobile phone number and PIN—without changing carriers or phones. Likewise, merchants won’t have to upgrade their point-of-sale hardware.”

And a blogger for Smart Planet is also seeing good things for the new system.

“Considering that PayPal orchestrated more than $118 billion in total payment volume last year, its influence on the rapidly changing mobile payment and digital wallet space is already undeniable. The appeal of PayPal lies in the fact that it builds an existing POS technology rather than forcing a replacement.”

But a writer for Daily Disruption points out—PayPal is jumping on a pretty crowded bus and may have a bigger fight for a seat than they think.

“…the scene is divisively fragmented already, with many players all trying to put their hat in the game and use their own proprietary systems…With PayPal investing heavily in its own mobile payment solution, consumers will have yet another choice on their plate, but that doesn’t mean they will eat it up…”

PayPal’s VP of retail and prepaid products said on the company’s blog—it’s only the beginning and the company will continue re-imagining money to work better for partners and customers.

Internet Defense League Will Use Cat Signal to Protect Web

Sun, 27 May 2012 03:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: Internet Defense League)

BY TRAVIS ZIMPFER

ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT

A group of Internet superheroes has chosen, what else, a cute cat signal to be their beacon.

The extremely happy, and slightly deranged looking kitten symbol will unite websites in a fight against perceived censorship. The Huffington Post reports the Internet Defense League emerged from January’s SOPA protests.

“The organizers behind that protest have formed a new coalition aimed at harnessing the same online organizing muscle to fight other measures believed to threaten online freedoms. The group is likening itself to the Internet's ‘bat signal.’”

One of the League’s leading activists told the Los Angeles Times Reddit, WordPress and the Cheezburger Network have already joined up — allowing the group to reach tens of millions of webizens.

Digital Trends explains how the Internet Defense League will sound the alarm.

“Anyone with a website — from a personal Tumblr blog on up to major Web destinations — signs up with the IDL using an email address. Anytime a bit of legislation that threatens the open Web pops up, the IDL will release the custom-tailored code, which webmasters can embed in their site. “

However, some are skeptical of the IDL’s methods. SlashGear says they’re going to …

“... go ahead and guess that the technique the Internet Defense League plans on using will be found a bit suspicious in light of the forces they wish to fight … the code implanted on willing user’s websites will have the ability to blackout the entire site its embedded on.

And a blogger for Geekosystem isn’t sure larger sites will join the cause.

“Something tells me that titans like Wikipedia and Google, who really turned the tide in the SOPA blackouts, are going to stick with an opt-in approach to Internet protesting as opposed to an ‘install-this-widget-and-it’ll-say-things-automatically’ approach”

With or without those powerhouse sites, the cat signal will still shine in times of Internet peril. However, plans to install a spotlight on the roof of the Gotham City Police Department have yet to be announced.

NASA Warns Lunar Explorers Not to Touch its Stuff

Sun, 27 May 2012 02:00:01 -0500

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(Image source: NASA)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE

If you’re heading to the moon, stay away from NASA’s old toys. The space agency released official guidelines this week detailing exactly how close other lunar explorers can get to its historic sites. Popular Science explains.

“The 93-page document … contains a spectacular amount of both tech-talk and legalese.
But it boils down to: ‘Don’t land in our craters and we won’t land in yours; mostly don’t land in ours.’”

The announcement comes in the middle of what’s being called the New Space Race. Several nations have announced plans to go back to the moon, including Japan, Russia and even Iran. Universe Today says — NASA is worried about it getting crowded up there. (Video source: RT)

“NASA isn’t expecting a rush of astro-looters to descend upon the Moon, but with China discussing a Moon landing, and with several Google Lunar X PRIZE teams hoping to send robotic landers, they want to make sure nothing from previous missions is disturbed.”

The guidelines lay a protected radius around historic sites. For instance, NASA wants all landings to take place over a mile away from their artifacts so they don’t get blasted with moondust. Wired notes — even approaching from the ground has limitations. (Video source: SpaceRip / YouTube)

“The Apollo 11 and 17 sites — the first and last places visited by man — are singled out in particular for extra care and respect. ... And NASA has placed less restrictive protective radii around their other Apollo-era sites and artifacts, asking that robots ... remain three to nine feet from flags, tools, storage bags, and other pieces.”

Of course, NASA can’t force anyone to obey its guidelines. But Google’s Lunar X PRIZE and other organizations have voluntarily signed on. Many were even invited to contribute to the document. A writer for Engadget says that’s about all they could do.

“That certainly sounds more reasonable than, say, plopping some dude in a spacesuit at a lunar outpost to shoot trespassers with a plasma shotgun while yelling, ‘Get off my property!’”

But a writer for Gizmodo points out NASA will eventually have to either actively protect its artifacts or make room for the newcomers.

“While the significance of these sites is understandable, how realistic is it for NASA to expect these things are going to sit undisturbed forever and ever?”

Video from Google's Project Glass Released

Sat, 26 May 2012 08:00:02 -0500

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(Image source: Ars Technica/Thomas Hawk)

BY ROBERT ABEL

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

Google has released the first video shot with its Project Glass reality headset.

Google has previously released still photos from the headset but this is the first time video has been seen. It suggests the headset will be capable of shooting both video and still photography and shows the user doing something that would be difficult with a traditional camera.

The new camera has a wide angle which attempts to mimic the user's actual point of view. Max Braun is the tech lead on Project Glass. He told PCWorld.com...

“We see Glass as an evolution of cell phone photography … so this means it's the next step of the camera that's always with you.”

Google’s been granted at least nine new patents related to the technology. Including the ability to help head-of-hearing and deaf users to interpret sounds. A writer for ArsTechnica explains...

“The glasses’ heads-up display would show arrows and flashing lights to indicate the direction and intensity level of the sound, and even display the words nearby people are speaking.”

Google isn’t the only company that is experimenting with high-tech eyewear. Sunglass maker Oakley is working on integrating smartphone technology into glasses. Oakley CEO Colin Baden told USA TODAY...

“The glasses would sport a heads-up display, and potentially include voice commands and smartphone connectivity via Bluetooth.”

There is no word on when the glasses will be made available for the public. Ubergizmo.com says there is speculation the eyeware may go on sale by the end of the year.

Facebook Looking to Build Own Browser?

Sat, 26 May 2012 06:00:03 -0500

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(Image Source: my.opera/Duncan Williams)

BY MATTHEW PICHT

Yahoo may not be the only company jumping into the browser business. Rumor has it Facebook wants a browser to call its own--and it might have just found one.

It all started with an exclusive story on PocketLint, where a “trusted source” revealed Facebook was looking to purchase Opera Software, the company behind the small but ubiquitous Opera browser. The story points out, Facebook wants to move towards monetizing its mobile market, and its recent IPO has given it plenty of capital to spend.

It’s an interesting bit of gossip, but little more than that--until The Next Web caught wind of the story. TNW talked to a source close to Opera, who revealed the following:

“1) Opera Software management is talking to potential buyers right now...
2) We’re told that there’s currently a hiring freeze at Opera, which is a surefire sign that something big is about to happen – or at least that Opera wants something big to happen.”

The rumor has taken off since then. The International Business Times notes, ever since its $16 billion IPO, Facebook seems to be in an acquiring mood.

“...Considering it spent $1bn on Instagram which returns no profit, then buying Opera would seem like a pretty good idea.”

And VentureBeat points out, given the “Facebook Phone” rumors, a browser would be the next logical step.

“The company is expected to release a Facebook-branded phone this summer…It follows, then, that Facebook would want to control — read: profit from — how users browse and access its social network on mobile. A Facebook phone running a Google browser doesn’t sound quite right, now does it?”

No official word from either Opera or Facebook on a potential deal.

Private Spacecraft Docks with International Space Station

Fri, 25 May 2012 17:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: MSNBC)

BY JASMINE BAILEY

Just three days after the successful launch of SpaceX’s Dragon capsule toward the International Space Station, the dragon has finally landed. USA Today has the video.

“Capture is confirmed (Applause). … Houston, congratulations on a wonderful capture, you’ve made a lot of people happy over in Hawthorn and right here in Houston. Great job guys.”

SpaceX is the first private company to successfully launch its own spacecraft and attach to the International Space Station. Although there are no people inside, the Dragon is designed to help people. Gizmodo.com explains.

“Just to be clear, this Dragon capsule is unmanned. The design of this one would primarily be used for resupply missions, but that’s a very critical element of what NASA does. Them astronauts gotta eat.”

The Dragon’s hatch is scheduled to open Saturday morning. The six astronauts aboard the ISS will then unload a thousand pounds of cargo including batteries, clothing, and food. It has been a momentous day in spaceflight, but the mission did not go off without a hitch. MSN has the details.

“The Dragon was on its way to a 30-meter checkpoint when the team at SpaceX’s Mission Control in Hawthorne, Calif., ordered the spacecraft to retreat to a distance of 70 meters. NASA’s Mission Control said the SpaceX team wanted to correct bad laser sensor readings that the Dragon was getting from a stray reflector on the station’s Japanese-built Kibo laboratory.”

Although there are many accomplishments to boast about, the founder of SpaceX, Elon Musk has not quite reached his long term goal. The Wall Street Journal has the interview.

“I really want SpaceX to help make life multi-planetary. I’d like to see a self-sustaining base on Mars.”

SpaceX hasn’t reached Mars just yet, but what could their new accomplishment mean for the future of spaceflight? AstroEngine.com has one opinion.

“ This is no silver bullet to solve all our spaceflight woes, but it could be the start of something a little bit special…If SpaceX can build rockets and spaceships, perhaps companies, governments and institutions will buy his (Elon Musk’s) company’s services to travel through interplanetary space.

So what does the future of NASA look like? Will it be replaced by privately owned industries? Well, arospaceblog from wordpress.com says the answer is, no.

“Rather than building a government-owned and operated replacement for the shuttle, the Obama administration is supporting private industry efforts to develop cargo ships and space taxis so NASA can buy flight services instead, a far cheaper alternative.”

SpaceX has a five-year, $1.5 billion dollar contract with NASA to make 12 more deliveries. Another company, Orbital Sciences is expected to make its first flight later this year.

Facebook Launches Camera App

Fri, 25 May 2012 00:00:01 -0500

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(Image source: Facebook)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Would you like another Facebook app?

Facebook Camera is now in the Apple app store.

Facebook unveiled it — where else — on Facebook.
Complete with the ability to swipe to see albums — and tap to see enlarged photos.
And that’s not all. Facebook chimes in from its newsroom.

“Now you can quickly share multiple photos all at once instead of having to post one at a time. Just select the shots you want to share by tapping the check-mark on each photo and then hit post. You'll have a chance to add a caption, say where you were and tag friends before you share.”

All of the sudden, something else is coming into focus.
All Things D says, that purchase of Instagram for a cool billion bucks, makes a whole lotta sense now.
It appears Facebook has been going to school.

“Photos in Facebook Camera are full-bleed, spanning the entire width of the iPhone’s screen … You’re able to comment and ‘Like’ photos directly from the stream. And, of course, there are filters...”

So, bulk photo uploads — Into Mobile notes, this is going to be a whole lot easier to share pictures.

“Instead of launching the Facebook app, waiting for it to load, hitting the add photo button, choosing or taking a photo, having it attach and then sharing, you can now just share photos with just a few taps. The layout is also much more conducive for seeing all of your friends’ albums.”

And while it’s less than a day old, at least one early review is positive. Slashgear likes it.

“To get to your feed of photos, you’ve only to pull the screen up. To get to your own gallery of images to share, you’ve only to pull down. To get to the actual camera interface, you have to tap the camera button in the upper left.”

This is the third standalone app in addition to the FB app...they also have Messenger and Page Manager.

Top News Headlines: Facebook Debuts 'Camera' App

Thu, 24 May 2012 16:37:00 -0500

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(Image source: Facebook )

BY NATHAN BYRNE AND MALLORY PERRYMAN

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Well, it’s not Instagram — but it kind of looks like it. Facebook released a standalone iOS app today called “Camera.” The company recently announced its billion-dollar acquisition of photo-sharing app Instagram. The Verge showcases one of the app’s features.

“The app is built to be the best way for you to bulk-upload photos and browse photos that others have posted to Facebook. The key feature is that you can actually tap these green checkmarks to upload up to 30 pictures … ”

Representatives from Iran and six world powers wrapped up talks in Baghdad Thursday. Another round of meetings is set for next month in Moscow. Al Jazeera explains the current discussion.

“Western powers are concerned about Iran’s nuclear program and a possible military dimension to it. But Tehran insists its program is for peaceful purposes.”

Police have arrested a man who confessed to killing Etan Patz — the New York boy missing for 33 years. A source tells CNN …

“ … the man’s name is Pedro Hernandez. Once owned a convenience store, owned this bodega in Etan Patz’s neighborhood. The source says Hernandez claims he strangled the little boy 33 years ago.”

The president of the Vatican bank has been ousted after a unanimous vote from the bank’s governing body. Sky News explains — the bank president has been a polarizing figure since his appointment in 2009.

“A statement from the Holy See says a unanimous vote was in response to Ettore Gotti Tedeschi failing to carry out duties of primary importance. He’s currently being investigated on suspicion of money laundering.”

HP Announces Massive Layoffs

Thu, 24 May 2012 13:09:00 -0500

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(Image Source: Venture Beat)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND DANIELLE CARTER

HP has announced it will lay off 27,000 people, or eight percent of its 375,000-person workforce, all by October 2014.

Venture Beat says — while the company turned out some pretty good earnings for the year, it still has some issues.

“HP may not be as bad off as Yahoo, the sick man of the valley, but it hasn’t kept up with the times.”

The layoff news comes on the heels of the company’s second-quarter revenue report — where sales are down 3 percent from this time last year. And as Bloomberg reports — the numbers aren’t so hot on the Dow either.

“Although over the course of the last year if you look at the stock chart for one year Hewlett Packard has not performed well at all, it’s one of the worst, it’s THE worst performing stock in the DOW.”

The Wall Street Journal reports — the layoffs are part of a bigger plan by HP’s chief executive Meg Whitman to turn the company around.

“This is something everyone has been expecting, back in late March, Meg Whitman said she was going to combine the company’s big PC and printer units together, as well as some other moves like that.”

Silicon Beat says that kind of approach developed a splintered company.

“HP is not so much a company as it is a patchwork of acquired pieces of technology and companies, a kind of Frankenstein monster of the high-tech industry.”

But how are HP execs supposed to know who to keep and who to let go? A Forbes reporter says — with such a deep pool of employees, it’s a sign of bad management to push so many layoffs.

“When the group size is 3,500 employees, there is no way for the executive in charge to know whether staffing is too tight or too loose. And 350,000 employees? It is preposterous for a CEO to imagine that she knows what to do about headcount.”

Computer World says HP will lay off 9,000 workers by October of this year.

Yahoo Debuts Axis Browser

Thu, 24 May 2012 12:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: Techradar)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

Is there room in your life for another browser? Yahoo hopes so. Its new Axis browser is a polished search tool for iOS devices and PCs that makes finding answers very visual.

“Axis provides visual preview of the sites you need, and gets you there with just a tap ... On your computer, Axis is a plugin that easily works with your favorite browser.”

Axis skips the traditional list of links for more immediate website thumbnails. CNET says it’s an odd play for Yahoo’s search group — maybe a little backwards at first glance.

“Yahoo, which still generates more than a billion dollars a year in revenue from its search division… runs ads on search result pages. On Axis, there are no search result pages.”

Chris Velazco at TechCrunch came away impressed with mobile Axis — the visual search works well on a touch device, and it’s very functional.

“The iOS app is surprisingly good — it’s more than handsome enough, it runs very smoothly (thanks mostly to its WebKit underpinnings), and your bookmarks sync between devices quickly once you make sure you’re logged in.”

But The Verge says the browser addon version isn’t there yet.

“When a search is entered, results are presented in the same fashion as the iOS app, but without the aid of a touchscreen, the experience is slow and unintuitive. More importantly, the add-on weighs down on browser performance, especially with multiple tabs open.”

So Axis is a decent offering, but it’s not without its hiccups. Blogger Nik Cubrilovic uncovered a pretty glaring security flaw. The Axis extension for Chrome was signed with Yahoo’s private certificate file — the text your browser uses to confirm that this extension came from Yahoo and can be trusted.

“With access to the private certificate file a malicious attacker is able to create a forged extension that Chrome will authenticate as being from Yahoo! …with the private certificate file and a fake extension you can create a spoofed package that captures all web traffic, including passwords, session cookies, etc.”

A Yahoo rep commented on Cubrilovic’s post, and Yahoo took the offending extension offline for a fix. Sophos reports.

“Yahoo has since released an updated version of the extension that removes the private key.

Now that the original private key has been leaked to the public, Yahoo has begun using a new certificate so that the old one can be revoked.”

Security bugs aside, ReadWriteWeb is impressed with Yahoo’s drive amid the fallout from changing management and layoffs. But Axis probably won’t replace Google any time soon.

“This is the Yahoo we all want to see: one that innovates with technology, instead of in-fighting and trying to make money with patents. But I think it's stretching it to call Axis a ‘browser’. It's a shopfront for Yahoo search, but there really isn't enough reason to use it over Google search.”

If you want to try it out, Axis is available online for your iDevices and your preferred browser.

iPhone 5 Rumor: 3.999-inch Screen

Wed, 23 May 2012 17:02:00 -0500

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(Image source: 9to5Mac)

BY EVAN THOMAS

You’ll need precisely one grain of salt for this rumor, and no more — 9to5Mac says it’s obtained some curiously specific new info on the next-gen iPhones.

iPhone prototypes are reportedly floating around Apple’s HQ, wearing bulky armor to disguise their actual designs. They’re said to have new displays — 3.999 inches diagonally, compared to the current iPhone’s 3.5-inch display.

The end result will be basically 16:9, says VentureBeat. That’s close enough for media at native resolution.

“By elongating the screen, the next iPhone could have a resolution much closer to the 16×9 movie format, which means it’ll be even easier to watch widescreen films.”

But ZDNet worries about real estate for the sake of real estate.

“A bigger phone is not necessarily better — sorry, Android fans — and pocketability remains important. On the other hand, a slight increase could relieve a few nagging issues… with the smaller format without turning the thing into an iPad-like device…”

Any screen expansion would be mostly vertical. The Next Web suggests app designers wouldn’t need to immediately rework their interfaces.

“This means that a large portion of the apps in the App Store will work on day one, but that many others, especially those that use custom graphics, will have to be pillar-boxed or letter-boxed depending on orientation.”

But overhaul will have to happen eventually. The Examiner points out Apple tends to do what it wants — and developers will have to fall into line if they want to stay on board.

“When Apple changes things, it's because: 1. It's good for Apple, 2. It's good for users, 3. It's good for Apple's bottom line. In other words, if this change is going to happen, Apple doesn't really care that much how it affects developers - or at least, third party developers.”

Chances are the world won’t see the next iPhone until late in the year. But Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is coming up in June, where it’s said we’ll hear more about iOS 6.

Anonymous Hacks Dept. of Justice

Wed, 23 May 2012 16:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: Social Barrel)

BY LYNDSEY GARZA

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

The hacktivist collective Anonymous has yet again incited more mayhem — Monday Mail Mayhem — by releasing 1.7 GB of data from the Department of Justice server.

In an official press release, Anonymous explains — it does not operate for government or a party, but for the truth that is hiding — notably cybersecurity breaches.

“We are releasing data to spread information, to allow the people to be heard and to know the corruption in their government. We are releasing it to end the corruption that exists, and truly make those who are being oppressed free.”

Anonymous released the data on torrent-sharing site The Pirate Bay . But as Mashable reports — the data dump didn’t go as smoothly as planned.

“Anonymous member @planethacks, who is allegedly responsible for the data dump, has said the download is stalling because another hacker is interfering with the download process.”

Here’s some of those tweets from @planethacks...

“The reason everyone is stuck at 94% is because zeekill, a person we have heard of before, is attacking our seedboxes.”

“The issue will be resolved soon......”

So what’s in the 1.7 gigs of data? The Department of Justice is remaining hush-hush about the damage done. ZDNet argues, this attack could be irrelevant.

“It remains to be seen if there’s anything incriminating in this leak. After all, the [Bureau of Justice Statistics] is simply a federal government agency belonging to the U.S. Department of Justice that collects, analyzes, and publishes data relating to crime in the U.S. (including hacker attacks).”

While Anonymous claims it took the website down, Tampa’s Bay News 9 emphasizes the government has not called foul play — yet.

“The department is looking into the unauthorized access of a website server operated by the Bureau of Justice Statistics that contained data from their public website.”

While the government refutes the website outage, Anonymous tweets tell a different story.

“‘The Bureau of Justice Statistics website has remained operational through this time.’ BULL****”

In the end of the Anonymous press release, an unmasked hacker threatens — this is not the last of the group, noting if the government shuts down the Internet, the people will shut down the government.

Ballmer Expects 500M Users for Windows 8

Wed, 23 May 2012 12:30:20 -0500

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(Image source: Business Insider)

BY EVAN THOMAS

Steve Ballmer is calling the upcoming release of Windows 8 a “rebirth” for Microsoft.

Neowin reports the Microsoft head said Tuesday that as many as half a billion people will be running a Windows 8 device by the end of 2013. Since the official release date is expected before the end of this year — that should give the OS about a year to catch on.

But Softpedia points out – Windows 8 looks significantly different than its predecessors — and Ballmer’s projection assumes users will get on board with the new Metro interface.

“Many people are already complaining about the fact that the Metro UI, designed mainly for the touchscreens of tablets, is hard to use on PCs relying on keyboard and mouse for input, and many say they would gladly stick with Windows 7 because of this.”

Microsoft is just getting into the tablet game. But PC World says Microsoft could do well if it grabs users from Android — and ignores the Apple-shaped elephant in the room.

“The good news for Microsoft is that Android-based slates, aside from Amazon's Kindle Fire, have yet to resonate with either consumer or business users. If Windows 8 fulfills its promise as a mobile OS, it may soon become a player in the tablet market.”

Bloomberg parses out the numbers from a Gartner analysis. If nothing else, that report indicates Windows tablets will be grabbing more of the market.

“More than 103 million tablet devices will be sold in 2012, with sales tripling to 326.3 million in 2015 … Apple is set to account for two-thirds of the market in 2012 … The company’s share will drop to 46 percent by 2015, while Microsoft’s will climb to 11 percent.”

The majority of Windows users will still be on the PC, though. Bloomberg reports the latest IDC numbers indicate the PC market will see some five percent growth this year alone, thanks largely to Windows 8.

The First Official Inquiries into Facebook's IPO

Wed, 23 May 2012 10:03:30 -0500

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(Image source: CNBC)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

The wheels fell off Facebook’s IPO, and now the official fallout is on its way. Subpoenas and class action suits have already started flying, and there are rumblings of an SEC investigation.

CNET quotes SEC chairman Mary Schapiro, who says the commission needs to “look at” how the market handled Facebook.

“I think there is a lot of reason to have confidence in our markets and in the integrity of how they operate, but there are issues that we need to look at specifically with respect to Facebook.”

But MarketWatch columnist David Weidner wonders how much good it will do.

“I don’t know if it changes anything at this point. There were problems with the Google IPO, many, many years ago. In the outcome of that, nothing really happened.”

The news broke Tuesday that a Morgan Stanley analyst cut his outlook on Facebook just days before the company went public. Bloomberg reports Massachusetts wants some answers.

“The state of Massachusetts, for one, has subpoenaed the bank over claims an analyst shared negative news about Facebook with institutional investors ahead of the IPO.”

PC Magazine reports via Reuters — Massachusetts regulators want to know why analysts shared sour earnings guidance with some investors, but not others. This selective disclosure meant bigger institutional investors had better information to base their trades on — and, critics say, an unfair advantage.

Meanwhile, CNBC reports an investor plans to sue the Nasdaq for negligence.

“Phillip Goldberg, a Maryland resident, is seeking class-action status on behalf of all investors who lost money because Nasdaq delayed or otherwise mishandled their buy, sell or cancellation orders for Facebook stock on May 18.”

A hedge fund manager spoke to Business Insider on condition of anonymity. He says he’s heard of the plans for a suit.

“The question is will NASDAQ do the right thing. They made $400 million last year and could pay out some. There's so much exposure and so much press on this and finger pointing, if they turn around and say they screwed up but they don't care that's a pretty big deal…”

Facebook, meanwhile, closed its third day of public trading at $31 a share.

Facebook IPO Draws Increased Scrutiny

Wed, 23 May 2012 04:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: Flickr/deneyterrio)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

It’s not just bleeding — it’s hemorrhaging in the business press over the downward slide of Facebook’s shares.

ITV: “Facebook have continued their slide down by nearly 9% today.”

Fox Business: “This is a textbook case of a broken IPO. … FB should be FK for falling knife.”

Sky News: “...has now sunk by more than 18 percent in just three days of trading.”

Reporters and analysts have been scrambling to piece together just what happened with the pricing of Facebook’s initial public offering.

Al Jazeera: “Morgan Stanley is being investigated over claims it informed some investors that the revenue estimates for the social network had been cut before Facebook’s IPO last week.”

CBS: “...an analyst reportedly Scott Dewitt, sent out a cautionary note that Facebook's outlook was weakening but only to a select group of the bank's top clients.”

Morgan Stanley — the lead underwriter on the deal — says it followed all the same procedures it does for all IPOS. But Reuters reports the bank told clients its internet analyst had lowered his revenue forecasts for the company. On top of that — Business Insider reports — albeit acknowledging the information is unconfirmed — that Facebook itself downgraded its own prospects.

“...we have now heard from one source that … one of the underwriter’s analysts has said he was told by a Facebook financial executive to cut his estimates.”
Leading the Insider’s Henry Blodgett to conclude...
“In one of the biggest IPOs in history, in which a huge amount of stock was sold to small investors, privileged Wall Street insiders once again got top-notch information...and individuals got the shaft.”

Still others blame Morgan Stanley for botching the IPO, and allege it sold the public too many shares. Meanwhile though, Bloomberg’s Jonathan Weil has had enough of what he calls Facebook’s “whiny” investors.

“Nobody forced anyone to buy Facebook shares. Blaming the company’s underwriters for the stock’s plunge is like losing money at a casino and then waiting until afterward to complain about the house's odds.”

Still — allegations the banks shared information with some and not all investors could put the IPO under regulatory scrutiny. Both the Securities and Exchange Commission as well as the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority are considering looking into Facebook’s process.

Google Merges With Motorola Mobility

Tue, 22 May 2012 15:15:00 -0500

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(Image source: Motorola)

BY MATTHEW PICHT

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Software giant, meet hardware titan.

After a lengthy wait, Google has finally acquired Motorola Mobility in a $12.5 billion merger. The deal, which was announced last August, closed Tuesday after approval from Chinese regulatory agencies over the weekend. CNET reports, Google is promising to keep Motorola’s operations independent.

“However, according to reports, China was not so convinced of that, and forced Google to agree to keep Android open and free for a period of five years to ensure it didn't change its stance and give Motorola preferential treatment.”

So what is Google getting for its money? Well, protecting the Android is one major reason behind the merger. Bloomberg’s Betty Liu notes Motorola’s established stake in mobile hardware will bolster Google’s mobile operating system.

“It gives Google more firepower in its competition with Apple and the iPhone, and also gives them about 17,000 patents, which it can use against its competitors.”

But smartphones aren’t the only possible beneficiary. ComputerWorld reports, Google might be looking to enter the home entertainment market, another area where Motorola’s established hardware sector will come in handy.

“With Motorola, Google may be better able to push its way into the home entertainment market with its Google TV platform. In addition to being a world-renowned smartphone maker, Motorola also is a major player in the home set-top box sector.”

Now that the deal is formally closed, ZDNet says Google has a lot of work ahead of it.

Among other post-merger tasks, Google will need to reassure other Android partners like HTC and Samsung that Motorola products won’t receive preferential treatment. Google will also have to decide the future of Motorola’s struggling manufacturing arm. Rumor has it that massive layoffs might be in the near future.

As part of the acquisition, Motorola’s CEO Sanjay Jha, has stepped down. Replacing him is Google veteran Dennis Woodside. In a company blog post, Google CEO Larry Page says, this merger creates a synergy in mobile space, calling it a “great time” to be in the business.

“Many users coming online today may never use a desktop machine, and the impact of that transition will be profound--as will the ability to just tap and pay with your phone.”

As for the future of Motorola, Woodside has said that the company will focus on “fewer, bigger bets.” Beyond that, we can only speculate what Google has in store for the company.

What Caused Facebook's Lackluster IPO?

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:30:00 -0500

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(Image source: Technorati)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

It wasn’t the perfect arrival investors wanted for Facebook. After its second full day of trading, the social network is languishing below its IPO price. Bloomberg has the details.

“It just speaks to the fragility of the initial public offering system. A hot IPO had all kinds of technical issues coming out. Its underwriters tried to support the issue through close of trading on Friday, discovered that was a very expensive proposition…”

The New York Times reports a series of hitches accompanied Facebook’s debut.

“A systems error at the Nasdaq, where shares of Facebook are listed, hampered trading in the first few hours. With the company hovering around its offering price of $38 a share, Morgan Stanley had to step in to help stabilize the price.”

Venture Beat explains — thanks to that systems glitch, the Nasdaq’s computers couldn’t keep up with the actual stock price.

“The computer system backup led to traders not [knowing] if their orders went through for hours and many times, they found out too late that shares weren’t available at the price they wanted.”

But it wasn’t just computers making things difficult, according to CNET. Facebook made a last-minute call to boost its IPO range, and offered more shares.

“… it was to accommodate inside investors looking to take advantage of the higher range and dump more stock. It's not a good sign when the smart investors with the company from the beginning increase the number of shares they want to sell before it goes public.”

The move may have put those insiders in the black, but the Wall Street Journal says the market paid the price.

“It seems there was too many shares out there in the market, and there wasn’t enough demand to meet the supply of shares out there. ... You could just see it by watching the chart that Morgan Stanley and the other underwriters were in there — they were propping up the stock.”

But the biggest trouble might have been kept out of the spotlight. Reuters reports analysts from three different underwriters, including Morgan Stanley, cut their earnings forecasts for Facebook just days before the company went public.

Business Insider says that’s bad news.

“…the fact that these analysts suddenly all cut their earnings forecasts at the same time, during the roadshow, and then this information was not passed on to the broader public, is a huge problem. What's more, it's likely that news of these estimate cuts dampened interest in the IPO among those who heard about them.”

Business Insider wonders if the SEC will have anything to say about this selective disclosure.
In the meantime, the Nasdaq says it will earmark at least $13 million to compensate investors who got burned by the exchange’s technical issues.

SpaceX Successfully Launches First Private ISS Mission

Tue, 22 May 2012 13:10:00 -0500

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(Image source: NASA Kennedy Space Center)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

It’s been dubbed “Dragon Launch,” the opening shot in the era of private spaceflight.

In the early hours of Tuesday morning, SpaceX successfully launched its Dragon space capsule into orbit. Here’s CBS on what their success means. (Video source: NASA Kennedy Space Center)

“The launch of what could be a new era of American manned spaceflight. Think of this morning’s liftoff as the first audition for SpaceX, one of the private companies hoping to become NASA’s taxi to the space station.”

SpaceX’s founder Elon Musk compared the launch to winning the Superbowl. On Twitter, congratulations rolled in.

User Matt Bonatesta tweeted:

“I got chills just now from reading the launch tweets; I even teared up. Thank you SpaceX. Live long and prosper.”

Even the White House got in on the Dragon praise, adding:

“Every launch into space is a thrilling event, but this one is especially exciting because it represents the potential of a new era in American spaceflight.”

SpaceX is contracted for a dozen cargo flights and hopes to get the contract to start flying astronauts to the ISS in a few years. For this flight, Dragon is mostly carrying food. But ABC reports one of the rocket stages had even more precious cargo on board.

“Also on board, in fact, the ashes of 308 people, including James Doohan — Scotty from Star Trek. The ashes, in a canister, will be jettisoned into space.”

If the mission is a success, SpaceX will be only the fifth organization to send a capsule to the ISS — and the other four are all government agencies. A CNN analyst lays out the mission’s next few days.

“By tomorrow they’ll have rendezvoused and they will check out the systems. … If all of the systems check out, all the software is working, then the following day they will go ahead and attempt the actual berthing.”

Elon Musk told reporters, even if Dragon fails to reach the ISS, he’ll still consider the launch a success.

Sony Music Unlimited Debuts on iOS

Tue, 22 May 2012 10:46:45 -0500

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image source: Digital Trends

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Mobile users these days are spoiled for choice when they want to stream their music from the cloud. On Monday, Sony jumped into the market with Music Unlimited for iOS.

9to5Mac reports Music Unlimited is free for the first month. After that, $4 a month gets you standard channels and the opportunity to match some of your own music to Sony’s catalog. $10 monthly gets you premium channels, full access to Sony’s music library and offline listening.

The Verge says the music matching works — but then again, you’re limited to Sony’s catalog. The rest of the service will be familiar to anyone who uses Pandora.

“On the cheaper plan the only way you'll be able to listen to individual tracks is to match them with Sony's catalog from your PC library, but thankfully there are no limits on how many songs you skip when listening to genre-specific channels and there are no ads.”

Clearly a new play in the marketplace. But Pandora, Spotify and other services are already entrenched. Redmond Pie wonders if Sony’s clout with Big Music will give it more traction.

“New releases are added weekly, and with a great deal of influence within the music industry per se, it will be interesting to see whether Sony’s service can yield the same following as the likes of Spotify.”

GottaBeMobile suggests it will be an uphill battle, at least at first — Sony’s one and only app is designed for the iPhone.

“Sadly Sony didn’t create an iPad app, so iPad users have to deal with the iPhone app. That isn’t so bad when the app is pixel-doubled on the new iPad, but it’d be nice to see an iPad app like the recent Spotify one.”

iDownloadBlog argues these are just nitpicks. Users could still be locked into iTunes, after all.

“An app that provides access to a rival music service would have been unheard-of on the App Store not so long ago. How times change, eh?”

Music Unlimited debuted in the New Zealand App Store. Sony says it will be available more widely — including in the U.S. — shortly.

Chrome Overtakes IE in Browser Wars

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:57:11 -0500

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(Image source: Engadget)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

There’s a decent chance you’re watching this video in Chrome. If so, you have a lot of company.
According to one analytics service, Google’s offering has overtaken Internet Explorer as the most-used browser worldwide.

Joey Devilla over at Global Nerdy spotted the milestone. He points out that, over the course of one year, Internet Explorer’s share of the market sank about ten percent, while Chrome’s grew by about the same amount, to about 33 percent.

Now, this is just one measure of browser usage, and a potentially shaky one at that. But The Next Web says, it’s safe to pull some trends from.

“Measuring the Web is an imprecise science, very often based on scaling up small scale measurement surveys, but the gist of Statcounter’s data over the last year indicates that Chrome use is rising of Chrome at the expense of IE and Firefox…”

As Marketing Pilgrim points out, it’s not from a lack of MIcrosoft and Mozilla innovating.

“Microsoft’s IE 9 has been out for over a year now and seems to be more likable than past IE versions. Firefox is marrying up with Twitter with Do Not Track capabilities to separate itself.”

And The Verge demonstrates — things become less cut-and-dried once you start breaking the stats down by region.

“In Europe, Chrome has been ahead of IE for the past two weeks, but only by a percentage point, and Firefox is ahead of both. Also, IE has a massive lead over second-place Chrome in Oceania, and Firefox is dominating both IE and Chrome in Africa.”

But Jake Smith at 9to5 Google thinks it’s only a matter of time before the current trend becomes indisputable.

“As time goes on, I think we will see the market change to where Chrome has a commanding lead. Its Omnibox paired with tab syncing make it a one-stop-shop solution for every browser user’s needs.”

Chrome’s lead is thanks mostly to Asia and South America. Here in the U.S., Internet Explorer is still top dog, with about 38 percent of the market.

Microsoft Debuts So.cl Network

Mon, 21 May 2012 13:50:59 -0500

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(Image source: TechCrunch)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHORED BY JIM FLINK

In the midst of the Facebook IPO frenzy, Microsoft quietly launched So.cl. It, too, is a social network, but don’t mistake it for Facebook.

Microsoft is billing so.cl as a research network for students. Users will be able to aggregate interesting content on a topic into a single post, then apply standard social networking features like sharing, commenting and tagging.

Despite this very focused targeting, ReadWriteWeb says it is unimpressed. So.cl already seems stale.

“The attempts at innovation in So.cl seem forced. An option labeled 'riffing' is supposed to be 'a new way to interact and improvise with content' - but in reality, it simply means to re-share a post and optionally add your own comment or content.”

And Computerworld says, unlike Facebook, content on So.cl is designed to be disseminated.

“Unless marked as private, search results, and any other data posted to So.cl can be viewed by all other So.cl users. Data that was publicly posted on So.cl will be broadly available for use by other entities and individuals.”

That much openness makes sense for experimenters, but why was it widely released? Drew Olanoff at The Next Web thinks it’s because it worked for Microsoft’s competition.

“In the same way that I believe Google+ to be the ‘social glue’ to all of Google’s products, including search, So.cl appears to be the exact same play for Microsoft. …it’s clearly in response to Google’s success in pulling all of its products together with a ‘social spine’.”

But is there a market for that kind of thing?
Danny Sullivan at Marketing Land suggests the whole thing is a little redundant.

“… I find it confusing about why anyone wants to use this given how many other social networks are out there, much less Microsoft already having baked social sharing into Bing.”

As So.cl has been released to everyone, you can give it a shot yourself. Let us know what you think of it, in our comments section.

Yahoo to Sell Half its Alibaba Stake

Mon, 21 May 2012 11:54:27 -0500

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(Image source: The New York Times)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

The makeover over at Yahoo! is still a work in progress. Monday, the company announced it was selling off a portion of its stake in Chinese e-commerce firm Alibaba Group.

According to its press release, Yahoo plans to sell half of its 40 percent stake in Alibaba. The deal will net Yahoo about $7.1 billion dollars, mostly in cash, and will value Alibaba at $35 billion.

The Wall Street Journal expects a lot of Yahoo!’s proceeds will go straight back to its shareholders.

“There's a fair bit of pressure just to give investors better returns. Selling off some of this stake allows them to do a large share buyback. We're expecting maybe on the order of $5 billion."

The deal allows Yahoo! to make more and different investments in China. But The Next Web doesn’t think it’s likely.

“With Yahoo reportedly keen to also offload its stake in Yahoo Japan - its joint venture with operator Softbank - the prospect of further investment in Asia is unlikely and would appear to go against its restructuring."

VentureBeat says, what the cash infusion will do is help give Yahoo! some much-needed momentum.

“Yahoo seriously needs cash to help it come up with new direction and new products, especially in light of the company losing CEO Scott Thompson recently in an embarrassing resume-padding scandal.”

Alibaba, for its part, has indicated it may expand in the near future. Bloomberg reports.

“The deal values Alibaba at $35 billion, and now Alibaba chief executive officer Jack Ma is considering an IPO for his company in the next few years.”

And PC World says since Yahoo! will still have a stake in Alibaba, it would benefit from such a move.

“The agreement also allows Yahoo to cash in on its remaining stake, once Alibaba decides to go public in the future. Alibaba will be required to buy one quarter of Yahoo's current stake at the initial public offering price, or allow Yahoo to sell off those shares.”

Yahoo could then sell off its remaining stake, if it so chose — and per this agreement, Alibaba would provide marketing support for that sale.

Billionaire Zuck Ties Knot With Longtime Girlfriend

Sun, 20 May 2012 09:45:00 -0500

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BY JIM FLINK

Multiple choice. Which would you rather be.
A. Head of a company that just launched a successful IPO at age 28.
B. A billionaire. or C. Married to your longtime sweetheart.
For Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the choice was easy: all three. Here’s Mashable.

“In the span of just seven days, the Facebook CEO has turned 28, taken his company public, become worth almost $20 billion and married his college sweetheart. On the one hand, thinking about all of those life-altering events happening in such a short period of time makes us dizzy. On the other hand, it should make remembering anniversaries easier!”

The wedding was reportedly in the works for months, but the couple kept it quiet. Forbes’ Brian Caulfield noticed some clues on Friday, staking out the Zuck-pad.

“A truck from Hartmann Studios was parked in the driveway of the home Friday. The thirty-year old company is known for staging high-end weddings, fundraisers, and corporate events. ‘Be Worry-free,’ Hartmann’s site promises.”

Still — some of the guests were completely flabbergasted.
Tech Crunch reports, they thought they were attending a graduation party for Zuck’s gal-pal.

“His longtime girlfriend Priscilla Chan gets her medical degree from the UC San Francisco. … About 100 of their closest friends and family showed up at the backyard of their Palo Alto home, thinking they were going to celebrate Chan’s graduation. When they arrived, they were told it was a wedding.”

It’s enough to make the geek-wired go hay-wired.
BTW, it was a white wedding. Geekwire is all like — look ma’ — no hoodie.

“OK, now you’ve got to believe that the Hollywood producers are going crazy thinking about ways to dramatize this very special moment in tech history.”

We can see it now, The Social Network, the sequel. Coming to a theatre near you.

Facebook Shares Fall Flat on IPO

Sun, 20 May 2012 04:00:01 -0500

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(Image Source: VentureBeat)

BY AUSTIN ALONZO

ANCHOR LAUREN ZIMA

After a chaotic IPO, Facebook’s much-hyped stock fell flat of expectations, earning only 28 cents at the close of trading on Friday.

The stock rose in value by 10 percent to $42 per share within minutes of opening as investors overwhelmed the NASDAQ with trades, but by end of the day Facebook’s underwriters had to step in to keep the stock above the IPO price of 38 dollars.

The Wall Street Journal explains...

“Morgan Stanley … had to dip into an emergency reserve of around 63 million Facebook shares — worth more than $2.3 billion at the offer price — to boost the price ... In successful IPOs, the reserve … is used by underwriters to meet soaring demand but in this case, it was used to prop up Facebook's ailing share price.”

Both retail and institutional investors rushed in to buy the stock, but experts weren’t impressed. CBS News spoke with an economist who said the stock fell on its face …

“The average first day is about a 15 percent gain over-all … so we have basically a nothing percent gain. So they unveiled the next great starlet of the tech world and she fell on the red carpet.”

Despite a mixed reception, Facebook aims to raise around $18 billion on its IPO shares. But the BBC reiterates -- there are doubts the $104 billion company can turn its users into revenue.

“It’s very early days in developing this business model. The company is still rolling out new ways for advertisers to reach those 900 million users.”

Facebook has faced tough questions about whether its advertising is effective. The Christian Science Monitor reports revenues are shrinking, especially on mobile devices.

“GM decided to pull a $10 million ad buy. And with revenue growth slowing, Facebook has also struggled in the mobile space, which will become, according to Zuckerberg, its prime goal this year.”

Investors and interested parties can look forward to this summer when Facebook releases their post IPO financials in their first quarterly earnings report.

Historic SpaceX Launch Abruptly Aborted

Sat, 19 May 2012 08:40:47 -0500

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(Image source: NASA)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Mission aborted — at least for now.

Private company SpaceX was trying to make history with a launch to the International Space Station, but had to abruptly cancel the mission after computers detected a problem with one of the rocket’s engines. This as countdown almost reached zero.

Shortly after — billionaire rocket designer Elon Musk tweeted: “...slightly high combustion chamber pressure on engine 5. Will adjust limits for countdown in a few days...”

Orlando’s WESH calls the effort “valiant” but ultimately a no-go.

“Computers cut it off with less than a second to go in the countdown after the engines had already started with the bolt that is hold the rocket to the launch pad still there. Those bolts did not explode and let go because the computer told them not to...”

According to the Associated Press, Tuesday is the soonest SpaceX can try again. In fact in a press conference after the aborted launch — NASA officials confirmed the rescheduling.

“We're looking at the additional launch opportunities this 22nd looks good, that was pre-planned. The 23rd looks like it's a good date from the trajectory.”

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell was careful to say the cancellation was not a “failure” but rather purposeful. A CBS report airing on affiliate WBZ has more on the last minute abort.

“SpaceX is one of five U.S. firms competing for NASA contracts to take supply and astronauts into outer space. … The final shuttle flight was last July so NASA is now looking for a cheaper way to get to space.”

And SpaceX is hoping to be that cheaper alternative. But BusinessWeek’s Brendan McGarry suggests — the cancelled launch might raise more questions.

“The decision to rely on commercial technology ... ‘is inherently risky because the vehicles are not yet proven and are experiencing delays in development’ according to a March report by the Government Accountability Office... NASA doesn’t have agreements with its Russian, Japanese and European partners beyond 2016, according to the report. If those deals and the commercial launches don’t work out, ‘the situation could lead to a potential cargo shortfall,’ the GAO said.”

According to Space.com — forecasts predict a 60 percent chance of good conditions for liftoff Tuesday.

Top News Headlines: Facebook Stock Rises in Debut

Fri, 18 May 2012 16:00:01 -0500

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(Image source: Facebook)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Following its record $16 billion IPO, Facebook has options analysts talking about what’s next. Bloomberg explains what the experts are watching for.

“ … no matter how big the hype is around the listing, unless there is sustained volume and trading in the stock, it’s not going to be a very good options market.”

Mitt Romney has rolled out his first general election ad. It’s reportedly set to run in Iowa, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virginia. Here’s CNN.

Anchor: “This day one ad is all about the economy.”

Reporter: “And by the way, it’s playing in battleground states that are really important to him in this election.”

The conflict in Syria — nuclear weapon threats — and fighting famine — all topics up for discussion at this weekend’s G8 summit. But Fox News notes the most pressing matter on the agenda.

“The leaders of the world economic powers converging on Washington today for the G8 summit as a growing economic crisis in Europe threatens to hurt our economy here at home.”

Amid speculation that Greece could soon leave the eurozone, Germany’s leader called up the Greek president to lend some advice.

“The German Chancellor Angela Merkel suggested that Greece actually hold a referendum on its euro membership. This is alongside the general elections that are June, in the middle of next month in June.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day.

Twitter Now Supports 'Do Not Track'

Fri, 18 May 2012 11:37:19 -0500

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(Image source: The New York Times)

BY EVAN THOMAS

Twitter announced Thursday it will begin support for the privacy feature known as “Do Not Track.” This allows users to prevent those bits of code — called cookies — from collecting personal information for web tracking or advertising.

The news comes right as Twitter debuts a new “tailored suggestions” service, which will help you find people to follow based on your interests. The service uses those same cookies.

“We receive visit information when sites have integrated Twitter buttons or widgets… By recognizing which accounts are frequently followed by people who visit popular sites, we can recommend those accounts to others who have visited those sites within the last ten days.”

Blogger Dustin Curtis says that basically means Twitter is tracking you — and that’s a slippery slope.

“Right now, that data will make better suggestions for accounts you might want to follow. But what other things can it be used for? The privacy implications of such behavior by a company so large are sweeping and absolute.”

ZDNet notes Do Not Track can counter this cookie surveillance. But only if all the parts of the system work together.

“…the system is not perfect. Currently it works on a two-pronged approach: the browser you use must support Do Not Track and have it enabled, while the website you visit must also support the mechanism for blocking third-party cookies…”

A Wall Street Journal blogger speculates Twitter could be trying to counter cookie worries.

“Announcing support for Do Not Track along with Tailored Suggestions could help blunt any possible privacy backlash that Twitter would face for using Web surfing data from its buttons in such a way.”

In any case, says Geekosystem, Twitter was refreshingly transparent in talking about its tracking policies.

“…it’s surprising that Twitter has been so forthcoming about it. Not only forthcoming, but that they have also provided two means by which users can avoid having their data collected. Perhaps what’s more surprising is that this kind of good behavior is the exception and not the norm.”

Turning on Do Not Track varies from browser to browser. Twitter’s support page has a walkthrough for the major ones.

Top News Headlines: Arrest Made in MS Highway Shootings

Fri, 18 May 2012 07:55:00 -0500

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(Image source: WREG)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

An alleged police impersonator is under arrest in Mississippi.

Twenty-eight-year-old James D. Willie is a suspect in the recent highway shootings there.

Here’s CNN with more.

“Police say they’ve linked Willie’s gun to those two separate shootings that left a man and a woman dead after terrified people driving, frankly, in that state.”

Newly released evidence in the George Zimmerman murder case shows police said Trayvon Martin’s death was quote, “ultimately avoidable.”

HLN says police urged prosecutors to charge Zimmerman two weeks after the fatal shooting.

“This is brand new information and it comes from hundreds of pages of evidence that we just got our hands on. And they paint and even more complicated picture of what happened the night of February 26.”

The Facebook IPO is finally here.

Fox News does the math on what $38 a share means to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

“This man is instantly worth $19.1 billion. And for every $2 that the stock goes up — if it goes up — for every $2, his net worth goes up $1 billion.”

Sixteen Spanish banks are getting a credit downgrade from ratings agency, Moody’s.

Euronews explains.

“ … Moody’s cited a renewed recession, the ongoing real-estate crisis and high levels of unemployment. It also said Spain’s ability to provide financing to support troubled lenders had been reduced.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day. For Newsy, I’m Nathan Byrne, highlighting the top headlines making you smarter, faster.

A Segway for Your Butt: Honda Unveils New Uni-Cub

Fri, 18 May 2012 04:00:01 -0500

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(Image source: ABC News)

BY JOE CHIODO

You’ve probably heard of the Segway, right? Well now Honda is taking hold of the ropes with its new version of an alternative walking device. It’s call the UNI-CUB -- or as some are saying… the segway for your butt. XETV has the story.

“You sit on the top and control it by shifting your weight backwards or side to side...It goes about four miles per hour. Unlike the segway though, it’s small enough to be used indoors.”

New York Daily News says creators have billed the device as...

“...allowing the “same freedom of movement in all directions that a person enjoys while walking”

The UNI-CUB is the world’s first omni-directional driving wheel system. But CNN says why not just walk?

“How lazy can we get? Apparently this Lazy...a personal mobility device. Remember when your legs were your personal mobility device. Oh not so much more. It’s kind of like an electric mobile office chair.”

And News 12 Long Island agrees. They say it could only worsen a growing epidemic.

“You talk about obesity in America, you could go through the drive-thru with that without a problem. Pick up a big mac on the stool with wheels.”

But According to Honda’s website, the company is simply...

“...aiming always to offer more and more people the joy and fun that comes from freedom of movement.”

Honda says that it will be tested by Japan’s National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in June. If successful, it could hit the market later this year.

Pinterest Valued at $1.5 Billion

Thu, 17 May 2012 15:33:00 -0500

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(Image source: The Atlantic Wire)

BY MALLORY PERRYMAN

A virtual bulletin board worth more than a billion big ones. Social networking startup Pinterest has raised $100 million in a financing round that values that scrapbooking site at $1.5 billion. Here’s KNTV.

“Pinterest, just down the street from Facebook, has raised $100 million worth of private investment this morning, mostly from a Japanese investor.”

That investor — Rakuten — is the largest e-commerce site in Japan. All Things D reports...

“It’s interesting that the latest round was not led by an institutional investor, since everyone and their mother wanted in on the deal.”

So what is Rakuten? And why does it want a piece of Pinterest? Business Insider explains — the Japanese e-commerce giant is trying to crack into the U.S. market.

The company recently picked up Buy.com for $250 million, and may use Pinterest to try and drive traffic to the site. If that doesn’t pan out...

“...Rakuten can make money from Pinterest through Linkshare, which ... it owns. Linkshare sends traffic to retailers sites and gets a commission for each sale. If Pinterest does a deep integration with Linkshare, Rakuten will make lots of money.”

But as of right now — Pinterest isn’t actually making any money. A blogger for The New York Times says, that’s OK.... for now.

“Whether Pinterest can generate revenue remains to be seen. Still, with a healthy round of new funding, the company has bought itself time to explore all its options for turning millions of ‘pinned’ photographs from around the Web into real money.”

According to The Financial Times — in March — Pinterest had about 19 million users.

Verizon to Turn Off Unlimited Data

Thu, 17 May 2012 11:51:01 -0500

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(Image source: VentureBeat)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

So — enjoying unlimited 3G data on Verizon? You might wanna enjoy it while you can.

FierceWireless reports, Verizon is preparing to axe its $30-a-month unlimited data plan for those users who have held contracts since before last year. Verizon CFO said when users upgrade to Verizon’s upcoming 4G LTE network, they’ll be required to buy the associated data plan.

Grandfathered customers aren’t required to immediately switch over to a 4G phone.
But GottaBeMobile points out, if they ever do want to upgrade, they’ll have to leave their unlimited data behind.

“Verizon, for its part, doesn’t plan to release any 3G smartphones in 2012 and instead, will be strictly launching 4G LTE devices. This clearly will force the hand of customers who wish to remain with the carrier.”

AllTwitter compiled some of the 140-character fallout. It would appear Verizon is about to lose a fair few customers. Some say they’ll head to Sprint, the last carrier with true unlimited, unthrottled data left.

For those who remain, it’s not all bad news. Verizon’s new data plan will let users lump as many devices together as they choose, which will all draw from the same per-month data reservoir. Computerworld says it’s likely to be a better deal that way.

“Although the end of unlimited data is bad news for grandfathered subscribers, shared data will likely be a money saver for customers who want to use phones, tablets and hotspots without paying separately for each device.”

And All Things Digital points out such a plan could mean getting some truly mobile use out of anything with a cellular radio.

“Despite the convenience of having a tablet with a built-in cellular connection, most customers so far have opted to stick with Wi-Fi. One of the big reasons has been that, for the most part, such devices have required smartphone customers to sign up for another data plan.”

Verizon’s new 4G plan is scheduled for release this summer. Pricing hasn’t been set yet.

DDoS Attack Knocks Pirate Bay Offline

Thu, 17 May 2012 10:35:24 -0500

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(Image source: The Pirate Bay)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Pirates – under invasion? The notorious site, Pirate Bay suffered a ‘distributed denial of service’ attack for nearly 24 hours Wednesday. A Pirate Bay source told TorrentFreak, the site was inaccessible across most of the world.

Last week The Pirate Bay issued a statement criticizing a DDoS attack which shut down Virgin Media, one of the UK Internet Service Providers blocking traditional access to the torrent site. TorrentFreak wonders if the attack might be retaliatory.

Anonymous confirmed the reports on one of its Twitter accounts, but explicitly denied any involvement in the latest attack.

VentureBeat says, that makes sense. The interests of Anonymous and The Pirate Bay often align, after all.

“The Pirate Bay — as well as its Swedish founders — embodies the piracy/anti-censorship movement. I also rule out copyright holders, who wouldn’t want to risk jeopardizing credibility in lawsuits against those accused of piracy or malicious online actions against them.”

And Softpedia reports, a person calling himself Nyre has claimed credit.

“…we cannot verify if Nyre’s claims are true, but these days if you control a large enough botnet, there are a lot of things you can accomplish. However, we would have expected something like a government, or the motion picture industry to be behind the attack on The Pirate Bay, not a single Anonymous-hater hacker.”

WebProNews says if true, that’s a pretty impressive feat.

“The Pirate Bay is a priority target to almost every government and media corporation on the planet, but none of them have ever been successful in truly taking down the Web site. It would appear that somebody finally has done the impossible though – restrict access to The Pirate Bay on a global level.”

Nyre reportedly stopped the assault yesterday. As of this morning The Pirate Bay is back up and appears stable.

Mind-Controlled Robot Gives Paralyzed Woman A Hand

Thu, 17 May 2012 06:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: PopSci)

BY MATTHEW PICHT

ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS

Cathy Hutchison picked up a thermos of coffee, took a sip and the room erupted into applause. For the first time in fifteen years, the paralyzed Hutchison was able to accomplish simple motor tasks with her mind, and a little robotic assistance.

“Cathy had a tiny array of electrodes implanted into her brain, five years ago...Now, for the first time, Cathy has used the same implants to control a robot arm.”

Ever since a severe stroke in 1996 left her paralyzed, Cathy has been confined to a wheelchair, unable to manage even the simplest tasks by herself. Now, a new method of computer-brain interaction allows Cathy to bypass her damaged nervous system and control a robotic prosthetic with her mind.

“The experiments are part of a continuing clinical trial of a "neural interface" system known as BrainGate... The system detects electrical signals in the brain and uses them to control an external device—in this case, a robotic arm.”

Cathy’s sip of coffee is both a triumph for neurology and a personal milestone. In an interview with the BBC, Professor John Donoghue was visibly elated at the success of the experiment.

“There was a moment of true joy, true happiness. I mean, it was beyond the fact that it was an accomplishment.”

The project lead, Professor Leigh Hochberg, hopes this test will lead to further advancement. Eventually, he says, neural implants could cut out the mechanical middleman entirely.

“Hochberg said his dream, still many years away on the horizon, is not only for paralyzed people to use BrainGate to control devices, but to reroute neural signals back into their limbs, allowing them to again control their bodies.”

Interestingly, though there are approximately 100 billion neurons in the average human brain, the scientists found they only needed the signals from a few dozens neurons in order to control the robotic arm.

Google ‘Knowledge Graph’ Revamps Search Engine

Wed, 16 May 2012 17:05:15 -0500

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(Image source: Google)

BY ZACH TOOMBS

Facebook is making most of the tech headlines this week with its upcoming public offering, but a huge shake up for Google’s search engine is turning heads. WFLX reports.

“Google’s not letting Facebook get all the attention this week with the IPO. That happens Friday.”

“They’re unveiling what’s called the Knowledge Graph designed to get you better, more accurate, more intelligent search results.”

The new feature — unveiled Wednesday — produces info-boxes which appear to the right of search results. A video on Google’s blog explains further.

“Let’s say you wanted to learn about the most important Renaissance painters. You might search for Leonardo da Vinci.”

“Now, you’ll see information right in the search results that helps you explore the broader topic of Renaissance painters.”

Mashable says the change basically comes down to the difference between recognizing and understanding.

“In this world, ‘New York’ is not simply the combination of two keywords that can be recognized. It’s understood by Google as a state in the U.S. surrounded by other states, the Atlantic Ocean and with a whole bunch of other, relevant attributes.”

As it stands now, the Knowledge Graph can connect about 500 million people, places and objects — and Forbes reports that number is growing.

“The Knowledge Graph is the result of a two year project to crawl hundreds of broad based Web sources — Wikpedia, the World CIA Factbook, Google Local, Google Books, Google Shopping and other sites — to create an immense database of things and [their] various attributes.”

But Wired writes — although the new feature is both impressive and helpful — it’s not all that original.

“Google’s not the first to try to know about the thing that you are searching. In 2009, Microsoft’s Bing introduced a set of specialized boxes for universities and cities that contained information that searchers might want to know, but those appear to have been removed.”

According to Wired, Google users in the U.S. will be able to tap into the Knowledge Graph immediately, but the company has not announced when, or if, the feature will become available internationally.

Top News Headlines: Facebook to Offer 25 Percent More Shares

Wed, 16 May 2012 15:00:01 -0500

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(Image source: CNET)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Facebook says demand is driving the company to offer 25 percent more shares in its IPO Friday.

Here’s the BBC.

“The social media giant is set to now sell about 421 million shares, raising around $18 billion.”

Meanwhile, Google is launching an addition to its search-results — and it’s a tool that claims to draw on the knowledge of 500 million people.

Google’s “Knowledge Graph” is the result of a two-year project to crawl hundreds of web sources like Wikipedia.

Forbes reports the enhanced-search began rolling out today.

Defense attorneys in the John Edwards corruption case rested just two days into the trial.

CNN explains what’s next.

“Closing arguments are set to begin tomorrow and the jury’s expected to get the case on Friday. Edwards didn’t take the stand. Neither did his former mistress, Rielle Hunter.”

Evidence in the Trayvon Martin murder investigation show George Zimmerman had a pair of black eyes, a fractured nose and cuts to the back of his head.

ABC News reports.

“This three-page medical report obtained exclusively by ABC News shows Zimmerman suffered a close fractured broken nose, black eyes, a swollen lip, a pair of gashes on the back of his head.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day. For Newsy, I’m Zach Toombs, highlighting the top headlines making you smarter, faster.

iPhone Screen Size to Grow? Apple Order Provides Clues

Wed, 16 May 2012 14:21:00 -0500

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(Image source: The Wall Street Journal)

BY BRIAN BONDUS

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

Bigger is better right? That’s what reports say Apple decided when it comes to the new iPhone screen. CNBC has the story.

“Apple's next version of the iPhone may have a significant new look. Apple has ordered mobile phone screens from Asian suppliers that are larger than the ones by the iPhone since its debut in 2007.”

The order is for 4-inch screens — current iPhone screens measure in at 3.5 inches. Philly.com says this order has put to rest previous rumors about the new screen specs.

“That seemingly puts the kabosh on a recent story that a flexible, non-breakable OLED screen would be part of the next iPhone package, as Samsung is leading in that tech innovation.”

The Samsung Galaxy S II has a 4.8-inch display. Analysts for The Wall Street Journal discuss whether Apple is upsizing to match the competition.

“It doesn’t necessarily mean Apple is being threatened. Apple’s strengths lies more in the fact is has the applications and user interface. The whole ecosystem it has built around the iPhone.”

That analyst goes on to say — Apple sets the agenda for smartphones. Appleinsider adds — Apple also sets the agenda for app developers designing for iOS.

“A larger screen would be a major change for the device, and could require developers to update their applications to take advantage of the larger display.”

Most analysts expect Apple to release the new iPhone later this year.

GM Pulls Paid Ads From Facebook

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:00:00 -0500

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(Image Source: Left Lane News)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

No more sponsored stories from Chevy on your Facebook feed. GM has pulled its paid ads citing poor return on investment.

A GM official told the Wall Street Journal the paid Facebook ads were doing little to affect buyer choice concerning new vehicles. And the worry is that GM is only the first of many such withdrawals.

“What’s to stop Ford following suit? If GM’s not doing it, why should Ford do it, and why should Chrysler do it, and why should Toyota, if it doesn’t work? Presumably they all have access to the same data.

Did GM move too quickly? Forbes wonders — if the goal is to promote interest in its brand, why not use tools its target audience will use? Like Facebook.

“GM also is pulling the plug on a way to appeal to younger consumers, too. …a third of Facebook users are between 23 and 35, according to Pew Internet, an age group that car companies are having more and more trouble attracting.”

But what about other, non-carmaker advertisers? Business Insider says Facebook’s worst-case scenario is a full-on exodus.

“This is Facebook's worst nightmare: If P&G (read: Procter & Gamble) and GM both question why they should pay to be on Facebook, how long before Facebook's other big advertisers—American Express, AT&T, Disney, Verizon—suddenly ask, Hey, where's the return on investment?”

But ReadWriteWeb says this is no reason for Facebook — or anyone else — to panic.

“…the loss of one big advertiser is not enough to upend a company that could be worth more than $100 billion by this time next week. More importantly, the automaker is depriving Facebook of only $10 million in direct advertising buys; it will continue to spend about $30 million annually on Facebook content…”

Ars Technica quotes an analyst, who says the timing as it relates to Facebook’s IPO is happenstance.

"It would be naive to panic about GM's decision to pull out of Facebook advertising. If any investor sees this as a bad omen, it means they did not do their homework."

That IPO is set for Friday. In the meantime, GM will maintain a lot of presence on the site — including its free profile page.

HTC's Latest Phones Stalled at Customs

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:55:00 -0500

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(Image source: HTC)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Still waiting on HTC’s latest phones? Thank Apple — HTC’s One X and Evo 4G LTE are stalled at U.S. customs by an Apple-obtained court order.

Apple has a patent that covers the menus and functions that pop up when you tap on contact information, like a phone number or email address. It got a ban from the International Trade Commission on all infringing HTC devices.

Fortune reports Apple originally won the ruling back in December 2011, but the International Trade Commission gave HTC some time to address the functionality before the ban went into effect. HTC said it would pull the offending functions from all U.S. devices.

And The Register reports HTC did get a bit of a foothold before the ITC enacted the ban.

“The trade commission's ban only started on 19 April, so HTC did manage to get enough One Xs into the country to launch the phone, but it is unclear how much stock is left.”

Not much at all, according to iDownloadBlog. The customs layover is especially bad news when HTC has a sellout phone on its hands.

“Of course, any kind of delay is a big deal to HTC right now, who has been struggling to find a hit product over the past 12 months. And while the One X has drawn a lot of attention from both the media and consumers, it’s currently sold out in most major US retail stores.”

Meanwhile, Engadget got HTC’s statement.

“The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order. We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval.”

The Evo 4G LTE was scheduled to debut on Friday, but it may not make the date. HTC will have to wait on Customs to complete its inspection.

Google to Streamline Android Devices

Wed, 16 May 2012 12:35:00 -0500

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(Image source: ZDNet)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR EMILY ALLEN

The dreaded OS upgrade lag on Android devices may soon be a thing of the past. The Wall Street Journal reports Google is changing up partnerships with equipment manufacturers which make its Nexus phones.

Sources say Google will release the latest version of Android to as many as five manufacturers, and sell the resulting flagship phones and tablets directly to consumers through its own store rather than moving phones through carriers.

Under the current business model, there’s usually just one vanilla flagship running the latest OS at a time. Computerworld explains.

“The choice and diversity within the platform are fine; that's an inherent part of the open model. But for users who want the Android that Google designed, who want the guarantee of timely and reliable OS upgrades, and who want a bloatware-free experience, there's typically only one option…”

So, if you follow that line of reasoning, Google increasing control over its Android ecosystem is good news. PocketNow does, and says fragmentation helps no one, least of all consumers.

“That would mark a huge shift in how accessible new Android releases are, and hopefully help avoid some of the issues that have led to so few Android users having access to Ice Cream Sandwich, even this long after the platform debuted.”

GigaOM says the trick is to cut carriers out of the equation. Unlocked phones are typically more expensive than their subsidized brethren, but they can be used anywhere and will likely be more up to date.

“Should Google be able to stimulate demand for unlocked phones and tablets not tied to wireless carriers, it would presumably be able to update those devices in a much more timely fashion than at present, when carrier concerns can hold up new software for weeks or months.”

But IntoMobile says pricey hardware and an unfamiliar OS hobbled Google’s first shot at selling Nexus phones directly. It offered the Nexus One from an online storefront in 2010.

“It recently jumped back into this game by offering an unlocked pentaband Galaxy Nexus for $399 directly from the Play Store. It’s only been on the market for a few weeks, so it’s unclear how well this has done.”

Google plans to have the new Nexus line out by Thanksgiving, running the Android 5.0 OS – codenamed Jelly Bean.

New Virus Generates Safe, Cheap Electricity

Wed, 16 May 2012 00:00:01 -0500

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(Image Source: ABC)

BY MATTHEW PICHT

ANCHOR EMILY ALLEN

An experiment leads to a shocking discovery. A research team at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has developed a virus that generates electricity when prodded. ABC News explains...

“By pressing down on this thin rubbery film, Professor Seung-Wuk Lee is generating electricity--enough to power a small digital circuit.”

The circuit is being powered by what scientists are calling harmless genetically engineered viruses.

When pressure is applied to these layers, they convert the mechanical force into electricity.

Science magazine notes this isn’t the first invention to harness mechanical energy in this way.

“They take advantage of the "piezoelectric effect," which was first discovered in 1880 and is a property of certain crystals, proteins, and even DNA...Today, piezoelectrics are used in everything from electric lighters to scanning tunneling microscopes.”

What makes these viruses different is they’re biological--making them safer, cheaper, and easier to handle than similar generators.

“The piezoelectric devices that are currently on the market rely upon toxic materials such as lead and lithium … (so) … scientists turned to a biological solution.”

While the model generator isn’t quite ready for commercial implementation, researchers hope the device will lead to more research and development.

Twitter Announces Weekly 'Best of Twitter' Emails

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:43:00 -0500

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(Image source: Engadget)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Twitter is betting users will read more than 140 characters at a time. On Monday the blogging service announced a weekly email update that shows users which Twitter content is getting the most attention from the people you follow.

The message will list the stories your friends shared the most, what they’re saying about them and will give you the option to post your own take right from the email. The weekly digest will also track the most popular tweets your friends are seeing, even if you don’t already follow whoever posted them.

GigaOM wonders if this is a step towards more focused media aggregation by Twitter — a little less platform, a little more production.

“The company isn’t saying, but it wouldn’t be a crazy idea… people desperately need better filters and curation to sift through the massive streams of information that are flowing past us all day every day, and Twitter is in a perfect position to provide them.”

But VentureBeat says email seems like the anti-tweet.

“If it were any more old school, they’d be printing it out and having a child on a vintage bicycle hurl it at your front door.”

Not to mention tweets can go stale in a matter of hours. TechCrunch wonders how this meshes with Twitter’s existing service.

“After all, what’s the life span of the average tweet? Then again, that’s probably the point — by sending out a best-of weekly digest, Twitter is extending the relevance of messages which might have otherwise gone unnoticed.”

Softpedia agrees. Twitter’s been trying to figure out how to let its users get on the radar.

“Twitter has been working hard on ‘discovery’ lately, which is something the service is lacking. It's easy to keep up if you're constantly using Twitter, but finding new people to follow or making sure that you don't miss out on great tweets or discussions is harder.”

Twitter says the best-of emails will be popping up in user inboxes in the next few weeks.

Amazon Said to be Prepping Front-Lit Kindle for July Release

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:20:08 -0500

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(Image source: CNET)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Reading in the dark could get a little easier soon. Reuters reports Amazon is preparing a front-lit Kindle for July release.

Geek.com explains — since e-ink displays don’t let light pass through, a front-lit display is the only way to build a light source into an e-reader. Barnes & Noble is already using the tech in its Nook Simple Touch.

It was inevitable, says Computerworld. Incorporating a light is a no-brainer solution.

“An illuminated screen resolves one of the biggest shortcomings of today's Kindle eReaders: Reading in dark environments, such as in bed at night, requires an external light source. A bedside lamp will do, of course, and several vendors sell aftermarket lights that clip onto the Kindle. But a lighted display with an on/off switch would be far more convenient.”

CNET says consumers shouldn’t have to worry about a premium, either.

“The big question is how much will the new ‘Glow’ Kindle cost. The Reuters source suggested that Amazon was ‘likely to keep prices the same, or raise them by a very small margin, if at all.’ (If history is any indicator, Amazon will undoubtedly undercut Barnes & Noble's $139 price).”

Corroborating this report is a visit TechCrunch paid to an Amazon research lab last month.

“The device I saw was crudely camouflaged in a sort of cardboard enclosure, but the screen was clearly visible. With a tap, a slider popped up on the screen, and as it was dragged to the right, the screen lit up evenly with a rather cool light.”

Amazon could shed more light on the rumors later this year. Reuters’ source says Amazon was planning a holiday season refresh for it e-readers.

MacBook Pro Refresh Expected

Tue, 15 May 2012 09:40:00 -0500

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image source: OS X Daily

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Looking for a new MacBook? You might want to wait a little longer. Sources tell Bloomberg new MacBook Pros are coming at this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference.

According to Bloomberg’s sources, the new laptops will sport faster Intel chips, retina displays, flash memory, USB 3 and no optical drive. That means a thinner form factor — even slimmer than the current models, which are less than an inch thick.

ZDNet says this would make for the first real MacBook Pro design overhaul in four years, toward the hot-selling thinness trend set by the MacBook Air.

“But while the MacBook Air basks in the spotlight, the workhorse MacBook Pro (like its big brother the Mac Pro) hasn’t garnered much attention. Last updated by Apple in October 2011, the MacBook Pro has sported the same unibody aluminum industrial design since its debut in the Fall of 2008.”

The specs and design info were readily confirmed by multiple sources, just like the upcoming iOS maps overhaul was. MacRumors suspects Apple wants us to know what’s in the pipeline.

“The report is likely a ‘controlled leak’, something that Apple PR has been known to do in the past to share product details.“

But while everyone is quoting the same specs, release dates are a little more disputed. Computerworld quotes analysts who say Apple isn’t necessarily waiting for WWDC to release the new models. Once supply is sufficient, they say, the new MacBooks will be released with little fanfare.

But The Next Web points out Apple’s other products have release schedules, too. And where there’s a conflict, something has to move.

“Apple has introduced new Macs at the conference before and it probably needs to do some shuffling around of its release schedule now that the iPhone and iPod, and perhaps a 7″-ish iPad, are a late-year item.”

WWDC will kick off on June 11 in San Francisco. Other announcements expected there include an iCloud overhaul, iOS 6 and a debut date for Mountain Lion.

Scott Thompson Out at Yahoo, Board Shuffles

Mon, 14 May 2012 10:34:00 -0500

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(Image source: CNN)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR ALLIE SPILLYARDS

After four months as CEO of Yahoo, Scott Thompson is on his way out.

All Things Digital reports Thompson stepped down from his position on Sunday. Ross Levinsohn will take over as interim CEO, and there’s a boardroom shuffle underway, too.

Thompson’s had a controversial last week at Yahoo. He tried to defend a falsified computer science degree on his resume. Official sources aren’t saying as much, but Business Insider suggests this outcome was inevitable.

“By waiting a week to offer any sort of explanation for the bogus degree on his bio--and then having his explanation immediately and angrily exposed as a lie by the headhunting firm he blamed for the mistake—there was no conceivable way Thompson could have remained as CEO.”

On top of that, sources familiar with the discussion tell the Wall Street Journal, Thompson announced he had been diagnosed with thyroid cancer right as the resume issues came to light.

“I am told that part of the reason why he agreed to step down was because he is ill, and it is a serious illness, as you might imagine.”

A press release by Yahoo doesn’t say exactly why Thompson is leaving, but it does say five directors fast-tracked their plans to step down and left immediately along with him. Dan Loeb and two others from Third Point Capital have joined the board, Fred Amoroso takes over as chairman, while Ross Levinsohn steps in as the new interim CEO.

Forbes says Levinsohn is a much better fit for Yahoo than Thompson was. For starters, he knows how the digital media business works.

“And while Scott Thompson — the now ousted CEO — was famous for saying that he didn’t much understand advertising or media, Levinsohn understands both. And he’s careful not to over promise and under deliver.”

Bloomberg agrees, saying Levinsohn’s experience will help Yahoo get its bearings after the game of musical chairs in the boardroom.

“He is a media guy. He has a long history of digital media. He’s done stints at Fox, HBO, also CBS, and that’s likely the direction he’s going to steer the company in.”

Sources tell All Things Digital Yahoo terminated Thompson’s employment for cause, because of the inaccuracies on his resume. If that’s the case, he won’t get his severance.

Top News Headlines: Three JP Morgan Executives to Resign

Mon, 14 May 2012 08:10:00 -0500

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(Image source: CNN / JP Morgan)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Three top executives at JP Morgan are expected to leave the company over their role in the bank’s massive trading loss. CNN reports Ina Drew, the highest-ranking of the trio, is expected to resign as early as Monday.

“She is the bank’s chief investment officer. She ran the risk management division, or she oversaw it at least, that was responsible for the bet that cost the nation’s largest bank $2 billion.”

New Department of Defense rules have gone into effect opening 14,000 combat jobs to women. This overturns a 1994 rule barring women from combat-adjacent jobs, like tank mechanic and radio operator. HLN has more.

“Military officials say as positions open women can apply. There are still more than 200,000 military jobs that are only available to men.”

In Germany, a key regional election handed Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic party their worst defeat in decades. Euronews reports this is a serious blow to Europe’s austerity policies.

“The disastrous results for Merkel leave her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.”

Ugandan forces have captured a high-ranking commander in Joseph Kony’s Lord’s Resistance Army. A military spokesperson told Al Jazeera the capture of Caesar Achellam will hopefully encourage more fighters to leave the LRA.

“They say they ambushed him Saturday in the Central African Republic after tracking him for weeks in the jungle.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day. For Newsy, I’m Allie Spillyards, highlighting the top headlines making you smarter, faster.

Top News Headlines: Yahoo! CEO to Resign, Reports Say

Sun, 13 May 2012 16:34:52 -0500

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(Image source: CNN/Yahoo!)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Reports say Yahoo’s CEO will resign after recently claiming innocence over his disputed academic record.

Here’s Fox News.

“The internet giant’s CEO Scott Thompson stepping down. Sources close to the situation say it’s because of a fake computer science degree he had on his biography.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” Sunday, David Gregory reminded JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon that he called concern over the company’s derivatives-trading situation a quote, “tempest in a teapot” just two weeks ago.

“ … I was dead wrong when I said that. I obviously didn’t know, because I never would’ve said that. ... We took a $2 billion loss and we made it clear it could get worse before it gets better.”

At least 49 mutilated bodies have been found in northern Mexico.

Al Jazeera explains.

“Authorities say the bodies were stuffed in bags and dumped on a highway near the city of Monterrey. The discovery is similar to several other recent cases in which drug gangs have left bodies scattered in public places.”

Greece appears to be headed for another election.

The BBC reports — coalition talks have stalled.

“The president of Greece has met with the leaders of the main three political parties in a last effort to form a coalition government.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day. For Newsy, I’m Nathan Byrne, highlighting the top headlines making you smarter, faster.

Apple Maps Out a Google-Free Future

Sat, 12 May 2012 11:00:00 -0500

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image source: Wired

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

There could be even less Google in your next iPhone. 9to5Mac reports Apple will drop Google Maps in favor of an in-house solution with iOS 6.

The blog cites trusted sources, who say Apple’s maps will be faster and more reliable than Google’s. The application will be built on various mapping companies Apple acquired over the last few years, and the overhaul will come complete with a new icon.

All Things Digital independently confirmed the rumors. One source said the new maps will “blow your head off.”

“I’m not quite sure what that means, and the source in question declined to elaborate, but it’s likely a reference to the photorealistic 3-D mapping tech Apple acquired when it purchased C3 Technologies.”

All Things Digital says C3’s mapping tech is based on software originally designed for missile targeting. An airborne array of cameras picks up images from various angles, which are crunched into the 3D images seen in this video from Cult of Mac.

The visual polish is a nice touch, but TechCrunch says Apple wouldn’t have been able to cut ties with Google if it hadn’t had a database of its own.

“While C3′s tech seems to have been used in building features, the purchase of white-label mapping service Placebase presumably allowed Apple to build up their store of map data to the point where they apparently feel comfortable giving Google the boot.”

And GigaOM suggests Apple is indeed comfortable in distancing itself from a competitor.

“This is the same company that Steve Jobs promised to go “thermonuclear” on and accusing it of “grand theft” in designing Android. It makes sense not to incorporate product from one of your chief rivals in mobile into your most important product.”

So a switch makes good business sense. But John Gruber at Daring Fireball says Apple has to make sure its offering is a categorical improvement.

“This is a high-pressure switch for Apple. Regressions will not be acceptable. The purported whiz-bang 3D view stuff might be great, but users are going to have pitchforks and torches in hand if practical stuff like driving and walking directions are less accurate than they were with Google’s data.”

9to5 Mac expects iOS 6 to debut at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference in mid-June.

Xbox 360 Kinect To Become Full Browser Experience?

Fri, 11 May 2012 19:22:09 -0500

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(Image source: Xbox Kinect)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND JIM FLINK

ANCHOR ZACH TOOMBS

Gamers are about the get the full power of web browsing — without ever getting up from the couch. That is, if the rumors are true about XBox 360’s Kinect. Here’s The Verge with the scoop on present and future browsing.

“Microsoft's new Internet Explorer browser for Xbox will expand on this functionality to open up a full browser for the console. … Microsoft has also integrated Kinect gestures and voice control heavily into the experience”

Now, the Xbox 360 already includes Bing voice search, but so far it's been limited to media results. Kotaku says, this would fill a service gap on the 360.

“This rumor has the ring of truth since it's a conceptual extension of the same thinking that brought Bing to the Xbox 360. Integration of social networks like Twitter and Facebook has existed on the 360 for a while now, but there's been a conspicuous lack of robust web-browsing on the home console.”

And Digital Trends notes, it’s a service gap that’s kind of glaring.

“Think about it. You can download movies, music, games, watch college basketball on ESPN, watch Major League Baseball, Game of Thrones through HBO, but if you want to look up somebody’s address in Google Maps, well, you’re out of luck. Even the Wii can do that, and that little box is basically a box of tissues with a disc drive in it.”

Ok, so we get it. It’s about time. But SlashGear notes, it’s about something more than that — it’s about market share!

“…Internet Explorer has been steadily losing ground to Chrome and Firefox for the last few years, and Microsoft’s Xbox division is one of its undeniable hits. Associating future versions of IE with the Xbox… could be advantageous. The PlayStation 3 and Wii both have browsers built in, though neither is as complete as Internet Explorer.”

While this is still a rumor -— and there’s no official word yet — this Kinection could materialize for real in a matter of weeks.

Robotic Butt can Clench, Twitch, Confuse

Fri, 11 May 2012 15:47:00 -0500

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(Image source: Discovery News)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

It’s creepy. It’s robotic. And it’s from Japan. Prepare to be skeeved out.

Say hello to Shiri, a robotic butt from The University of Electro-Communications. It can twitch and tense up using its artificial muscles, and responds differently to being poked, caressed, or slapped. (Video source: YouTube/novriki)

The butt-otics researchers say the Shiri project has two goals: to use technology in an innovative way, and to explore the emotional interactions between humans and robots. Weird... but, as far as the first one goes, Popular Science says it’s actually pretty cool.

“The artificial posterior is comprised of a silicon skin and a ‘rigid urethane skeleton,’ in a full-scale size. Mostly it looks like each ‘cheek’ is a little red airbag, with modulating pressure that gives it its reaction.”

As for that second goal, the researchers said they want to explore how people feel as they communicate with Shiri. It should be easy to get a reaction, when you consider how creepy this thing is. TIME has that one pretty well figured out.

“For example, when poked, the robot can quiver in fear. Rub it and it will protrude, which is supposed to signify happiness, although all you’ll be feeling is deep shame.”

Shiri, which means “buttocks” in Japanese, isn’t the first bizarre robot to come out of this lab. Discovery News says — these researchers have a track record.

“In a move that should surprise absolutely no one, Shiri was built by none other than Nobuhiro Takahashi and his team... If you recall, Takahashi was responsible for the equally creepy kiss transmitter device that lets people make out over the Internet. I'm no mathematician, but I can put two and two together.”

And of course, the internet being what it is, there had to be jokes. Here are a few from the big tech blogs. TIME went with the pop culture reference.

“Professor Mix-a-Lot could not be reached for comment.”

Kotaku — a pun.

“Boy, sometimes science sure is cheeky.”

And io9 — well this one got downright philosophical.

“For what good is sentience if one cannot feel — and what good is feeling, if one cannot feel it upon one's ass cheeks?”

But on a serious note... you know what? I’ve got nothing.

Bing Announces Overhauled Search

Fri, 11 May 2012 11:30:52 -0500

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image source: Microsoft

BY EVAN THOMAS

Microsoft debuted a fresh take on search results Thursday — and it’s going toe-to-toe with Google over the social side of search.

Bing’s new search results will be organized into three columns: the standard algorithmic blue-links results we’re used to seeing; quick, vital data-like pictures, maps and pricing; and a completely discrete column for social search — information from friends and experts across the web.

“We believe a better search engine starts with the results you’re looking for, and combines the best of the web with the people you know to make the web more meaningful.”

But ZDNet says the new Bing has the potential to be pretty disruptive — because people trust their friends.

“The general consensus amongst search engine services is that adding social networking will fix a major problem with traditional search, namely that users often have a hard time figure out which links are worth the click. Having friends give them insight removes any uncertainty, at least in theory.”

Business Insider suggests Microsoft’s got an edge up in a key market segment, because it’s focusing on more than just one social network.

“The big problem with this is that Google doesn't offer info from other social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, as prominently. Microsoft did. And it's using this access to trump Google in social search.”

Search Engine Land reports Microsoft has deals in place with Facebook and Twitter to pull content — deals Google lacks.

And Microsoft pulls info from public Google+ profiles just as effectively as Google itself does.
Bing will also grab social results from those people it identifies as influential or knowledgeable on networks like LinkedIn and Quora.

Bing VP Derrick Connell tells Bloomberg he expects quick adoption. He says as much as 25 percent of Bing’s 100-million-strong user base could get on board to start with, and it will grow from there.

“We’ll see how it goes, but in that range. The product is built to be viral. All of those users have an opportunity to reach out to their friends, ask for help, and then we hope that will also bring in some new customers.”

Whether they’ll stick around remains to be seen. Digital Trends notes even if the new Bing turns out great, it will still be a feat to break the Internet’s collective Google inertia.

“Still, Google has its massive reach in its corner, and Bing still has to get people to try its service. It seems crazy, but one of the largest hurdles for the service will be breaking our Google search reflexes.”

Microsoft says the new Bing will be rolling out in the next few days.

Top News Headlines: Classmates: Romney Bullied Gay Student

Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:19 -0500

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(Image source: Think Progress)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT

Here’s a look at your top news headlines from Newsy.

Five of Mitt Romney’s high-school classmates tell The Washington Post the GOP presidential hopeful bullied a classmate.

Romney apologized in a radio interview with Fox News — and said he didn’t recall the incident described here on CNN …

“ … Romney and a group of his friends tackled and cut the hair of a fellow student, who was rumored to be gay. The alleged victim of the bullying incident, according to the Post’s account, cried and screamed for help.”

The Los Angeles Times says the Rev. Jesse Jackson is likening the support of same-sex marriage to the fight against slavery.

Jackson praised President Obama’s decision, but says he wishes Obama would have pushed further — for federal protection of all citizens, rather than leaving the issue up to each state.

Tech giant Sony is reporting a record annual loss. Toronto’s CFTO has the details.

“Sony has recorded its worst year on record taking a 5.7 billion — that's billion –– dollar hit. The company had a 10 percent drop in sales this year, moving fewer tvs, cameras, game consoles and computers.”

New legislation would make it illegal to force employees to give up their social media passwords. WRTV in Indianapolis explains the bill that’s been introduced in both houses of Congress.

“...the Password Protection Act. It would make it illegal for employers to force workers to reveal their passwords. Discussions about the law started several months ago when more employers began trying to monitor private messages to limit embarrassing or damaging information.”

Stay with Newsy for more multisource video news throughout the day. For Newsy, I’m Nathan Byrne, highlighting the top headlines making you smarter, faster.

Deutsche Telekom Seeking to Merge MetroPCS and T-Mobile

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:25:58 -0500

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(Image source: Bloomberg)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND JIM FLINK

Deutsche Telekom has a new plan for T-Mobile USA — this time, hoping to repackage it in a merger with MetroPCS Communications Inc.

Bloomberg broke the story and reports, DT is proposing a stock-swap transaction which would give the German company control over the combined entity.

"Europe’s second-biggest phone company … wants to bolster the business’s ability to gain size and customers … T-Mobile USA has cut jobs and stepped up investments in faster networks as it tries to stop a flight of contract subscribers to rivals. … Combining with a smaller player 'isn’t really the option they prefer, but they don’t really have a choice...'”

That’s a reference to the failed sale last year of T-Mobile to AT&T — a deal scuttled by regulators. And while it isn’t a first choice, VentureBeat says, this just might work.

“DT would have an easier time passing a merger between T-Mobile and MetroPCS through U.S. regulators .. As the fourth and fifth-place U.S. wireless carriers, a merger wouldn’t have the monopoly concerns that the AT&T deal did …”

A Fox Business analyst looks at the possibilities.

“This would give Deutsche Telekom some options, especially with Metro PCS, which is a customer-losing business, not really going very well.”

T-Mobile stands to get more than a few subscribers out of the deal, says CNET.

“MetroPCS could also contribute a small bump in customers. With T-Mobile so heavily in the prepaid business already, adding MetroPCS would work on a business level.”

GigaOM isn’t so sure, noting, this is like running two different businesses under one roof.

“Mergers are supposed to be about ‘synergies’ and economies of scale. T-Mobile would have to sell separate handset portfolios. It would have to maintain two separate sets of networks. The only thing the T-Mobile has in common with Metro is an LTE network in the same spectrum band.”

Sony Reports Worst Year Ever

Thu, 10 May 2012 16:00:00 -0500

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(Image source: CBC)

BY LAURA JANVIER

Tech giant Sony once stood proud with products like the Walkman and PlayStation dominating markets.
Now, CFTO has details on the company’s record annual loss.

“Sony has recorded its worst year on record taking a 5.7 billion — that's billion dollar hit. The company had a 10 percent drop in sales this year, moving fewer tvs, cameras, game consoles and computers.”

Venture Beat reports on several reasons contributing to the drop.

“Sony pointed to supplier and factory damage in Japan — a result of last year’s earthquake and tsunami — as a big reason for its poor year. The company was also impacted by the floods in Thailand last year, which affected its production suppliers.”

Compared to today’s tech titans, Sony has lots of ground to gain. The BBC explains.

“Basically, Sony is living and competing in the world of Apple and Samsung. It’s fair to say the American and South Korean firms are giving us only an absolute hiding. To show you the gap of the difference Sony's worth is only three percent of Apple and only eight percent of Samsung.”

According the Associated Press Sony is aiming for a comeback under the company's appointed president Kazuo Hirai, Sony forecast a return to profit for the fiscal year through March 2013 at 375 million dollars, banking on the growing smartphone and tablet business, as well as a recovery from last year's disasters.

CNET reports Sony is confident next fiscal year will be much better, despite all the tough decisions.

Bill Would Stop Employers From Asking for Facebook Passwords

Thu, 10 May 2012 15:06:00 -0500

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(Image source: Forbes)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN

Big Brother boss, beware. New legislation would make it illegal to force employees to give up their social media passwords. WRTV explains.

The legislation is similar to a bill nicknamed SNOPA introduced last month. Like the Password Protection Act, SNOPA made it illegal to force disclosure of social media passwords — but WGAL notes — the new legislation goes further.

“...extending such limitations to smartphones, private email accounts, photo sharing sites, and any personal information that resides on computers owned by workers.”

It’s been introduced in both houses of Congress. The bill’s supporters say it’s in response to a growing number of employers making password sharing compulsory as a condition of employment.

According to ABC — more and more job-seekers are reporting being asked for passwords so potential employers can see restricted profiles.

Connecticut Democrat Richard Blumenthal — who sponsored the Senate version — calls that practice “abhorrent.”

But ZDNET notes — the legislation leaves out at least one group of big-time social media users.

“...this legislation’s protections do not extend to students who are also frequent targets of this practice. Additionally, it allows states and the federal government to exempt some classes of employees...”

Those classes of employees who could be exempt include those who deal with national security information.

Still — the ACLU blog “Free Future” calls it at least a “good start”:

“...the PPA is sweeping in scope. It doesn’t just apply to just Facebook or social networks, but rather to any situation when an employer coerces an employee into providing access to information held on any computer that isn’t owned or controlled by the employer.”

Democratic lawmakers introduced the House and Senate versions to their respective chambers Wednesday.

Smartphones Could be History's Fastest-Growing Technology

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:25:05 -0500

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(Image source: WWL Radio)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND NATHAN BYRNE

It took landline phones nearly a century.

Mobile phones did it in 20 years.

Now MIT’s Technology Review says smartphones are on track to reach market saturation in half that time. And tablets could get there even faster.

“ … figures show that smart phones, after a relatively fast start, have also outpaced nearly any comparable technology in the leap to mainstream use. … despite a recession. … the only technology that moved as quickly to the U.S. mainstream was television between 1950 and 1953.”

And you can’t tie growth to GDP like you can with other tech, says extremetech.

“Historically, the adoption of advanced technologies is usually closely linked to a country’s GDP — but mobile phones have completely bucked that trend. In 2001, there was just one billion mobile phone subscribers — most of them in developed countries. Today there are six billion subscribers, and 73% of those (4.4 billion!) are in developing countries that account for just 20% of the world’s total GDP.”

A writer for Geekosystem says it helps that you can put a smartphone in your pocket.

“That’s really saying something, considering how long it took, say, telephones and electricity to permeate. Then again, smartphones don’t necessarily require much extra infrastructure over mobile phones in general, which really enables a speedy climb.”

According to WWL Radio in New Orleans, the chairman of the FCC says more people worldwide have mobile phones than electricity or running water.

Google+ Getting Crisper With New iOS App

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:24:51 -0500

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(Image source: The Next Web)

BY JIM FLINK

Sharper pictures. Crisper fonts. And a virtual stream you can swim in all day long.

That’s what Google says it’s offering in its latest Google+ iOS app — with a big focus on fullscreen visuals and slick transitions.

“Looks alone aren't enough—you also need an app that's fast and fluid. Even a simple swipe gesture can inspire the same ‘wheeee!’ as the bubble wands and ball pits we enjoy(ed) as kids. So today’s update pays special attention to fun and performance...”

Okay, so that’s the sales pitch.

Who’s buying?

GigaOM for one, who says the app shows off the two faces of Google+.

“One part is Google+ the social layer, which enables users to personalize search and add functionality to ... GMail and Google Drive. The second part is Google+, the social network, which is more directly competing with Facebook. It’s becoming increasingly clear that Google views media and especially photos as a key asset in this competition.”

And The Verge says, it likes the idea.

After all, good design is good design.

“While Google's still fighting off claims that its social network is a bit of a letdown, an app this well-designed makes us want to spend more time with the service — Google's likely hoping its recent redesigns will make its users do the same.”

Now for the buzzkill.

VentureBeat says, this app is “all hat, no cattle.”

“Let’s call this what this is: a window-dressing with important implications for a social network that still lacks a unique purpose. In a flash, Google+, at least in mobile form, has gone from drab to fab and just begs to be touched.”

And for a little sarcasm, BuzzFeed calls it "the most beautiful social networking app you’ll use -- once."

“This new app, as sugar sweet as the user experience is, doesn't change the fact that Google+ as a social network doesn't give us a fundamental reason to use it instead of, or in addition to, all of the other social networks we already use.”

Google really wants to know what you think.

The iPhone update is rolling out now to the App Store — and the Android update is coming in a few weeks.

Liberty Rocket Could Become NASA's Space Taxi

Thu, 10 May 2012 13:15:31 -0500

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(Image source: Tecbubble)

BY LAURA JANVIER

A Utah-based company wants to be the first in line to to fly astronauts to and from low-Earth orbit. WKMG has the details.

“A new company is ready to send astronauts to space within the next five years. Alliant Techsystems says it is working on a rocket called the Liberty, it is built with a mix of technology from American and European rockets.”

The BBC reports, “The Liberty rocket is made up of two main parts - the NASA space shuttle's side booster and the core from European rocket Ariane 5, which is mainly used to launch satellites.A capsule to carry a crew of astronauts would sit on top of Liberty.”

MSNBC explains what the technology could mean for the U.S.

“If NASA lends its support to the system, known as Liberty, the project could end America’s dependence on the Russians to fly its astronauts in as little as three years.”

Florida Today reports — right now NASA pays Russia about $60 million per seat to fly astronauts back and forth. Alliant Techsystems — or ATK — isn’t the only company looking to provide an alternative shuttle service.

“ATK is one of several companies competing for all or part of the next round of NASA seed money for firms developing commercial crew transportation services for astronauts.”

According to The Wall Street Journal, competing companies include...

“...Closely-held Space Exploration Technologies Corp., Boeing Co. and other companies that have benefited from NASA development dollars...these companies, however, are working on new technologies that carry larger price tags and longer anticipated timetables.”

MSNBC reports — ATK technicians say they plan to launch the Liberty for test flights in 2014.

Facebook Announces App Center

Thu, 10 May 2012 10:43:48 -0500

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image source: Facebook

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

You might be able to skip the App Store when you pick up the latest Angry Birds. Facebook has plans to consolidate a bunch of your desktop and mobile apps into one location — the App Center.

The App Center will track engagement, feedback and ratings to control quality, and give developers real-time feedback. The higher the quality, the more prominently an app will be featured. Facebook says The App Center will list any app, Android or iOS, that uses Facebook login, and there are plans for a flat-rate paid-apps system, too.

This is a welcome evolution from the social growth model — where users see what their friends are watching, reading and listening to on Facebook and elsewhere. Apps like the Washington Post Social Reader track the most popular stories among your friends.

But All Things Digital says popular apps like the Washington Post’s are the lucky few. Facebook apps could use a clearinghouse.

“But as Facebook seems to realize with Wednesday’s announcement, developers can’t rely entirely on social discovery for their apps to grow. Sure, you’ll get the occasional breakout successes… but users still need a home page to browse through apps.”

VentureBeat points out since it’s not tied to any one OS, Facebook has the opportunity to become a go-to solution for apps, no matter if users are on their desktop or mobile.

“…it has the Mechanical Turk-style combination of human intelligence (in the form of star ratings) and machine intelligence (in the form of app performance and usage data) to render better scores of quality than just about any other distribution channel.”

Cross-platform app indexing? The Next Web is impressed. And speculative.

“That’s a pretty big deal, I think. The bigger deal though is that Facebook, whether it wants to admit it or not, is setting itself up to be a huge player if it were to ever launch its own phone or operating system.”

Of course, Facebook has routinely shot down rumors to that effect. And ZDNet points out in its latest S-1, Facebook warned investors it’s still lacking in the mobile department. Facebook still isn’t making any revenue there. But Softpedia says the App Center could provide the catalyst — thanks to Facebook’s 900-million-odd users.

“It may look like a me-too effort, but Facebook's approach is different than anything we've seen so far, and the site's got some big advantages, the single biggest being its unmatchable size.”

For now, the App Center URL seen in Facebook’s screenshots doesn’t actually work. Facebook says we can expect access “in the coming weeks.”

Visa and Samsung Partner On New Mobile Payment System

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:00:01 -0500

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(Image Source: DigitalTrends)

LAURA JANVIER

ANCHOR DAVID EARL

Samsung Electronics and Visa announced Wednesday Samsung Galaxy S III will be Samsung’s special mobile phone for the Olympics that will use Visa technology to allow contactless payments. Telegraph reports.

“The phone, which will use ‘Near-Field Communications’ (NFC) will be branded as ‘Samsung Olympic and Paralympic Games’ mobile handset. The device, and any other NFC-capable phone, will be able to pay for purchases at over 60,000 locations in London."

As shown in this video the smartphones will be equipped with Visa's payWave technology, which allows users to pay for merchandise by waving their Galaxy S III at the register during checkout at participating London retailers.

Digital Trends says availability of the phone is limited.

The Olympic S III won’t be going on sale and will only be available to sponsored athletes, although exactly which ones or how many isn’t known....the standard version will be released in the UK and Europe on May 29th, with the USA to follow during the summer.”

Analyst: Mark Zuckerberg's Hoodie is 'a Mark of Immaturity'

Wed, 09 May 2012 16:54:02 -0500

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(Image source: CBS News)

BY LAURA JANVIER

Could Mark Zuckerberg be a fashion risk to Facebook? Wedbush Equity analyst Michael Pachter tells Bloomberg he thinks so.

“Mark and his signature hoodie: He’s actually showing investors he doesn’t care that much; he’s going to be him. I think that’s a mark of immaturity.”

On Monday the Facebook CEO was criticized for wearing a hoodie to meet with Wall Street investors. WMDN reports the big question for investors is whether or not to trust the guy in the hoodie.

“You're buying him, you're buying his zany, wild, brilliant creativity and if that comes with a hoodie instead of a pinstriped suit, that's just fine by me.”

CNN’s Doug Gross disagrees with Pachter and thinks the trademark signature hoodie says nothing about Zuckerberg’s ability to run Facebook.

“..Pachter's take reinforces the inevitable culture clash that occurs when a 27-year-old titan of California's freewheeling startup culture meets the buttoned-down world of Wall Street. ... [I]n Facebook's early days, he once showed up for a meeting with a venture-capital firm in his pajamas."

The Next Web says the only person showing disrespect here is Pachter, saying he apparently has no idea what he is talking about.

“If Zuckerberg started wearing a suit ... it could be misconstrued as the company ‘growing up,’ which could scare employees who currently like the way that it runs. And, since Facebook is doing quite well, in case you hadn’t heard, that’s pretty important."

Yahoo Director Who Headed CEO Search Steps Down

Wed, 09 May 2012 13:10:23 -0500

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(Image source: Silicon Republic)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND NATHAN BYRNE

ANCHOR LAUREN GORES

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson has been under fire for a false claim on his resume. Now, the board member in charge of vetting that hire will step down.

The company revealed the news about Patti Hart in a press release Tuesday. The Wall Street Journal has more.

“They are saying she resigned and decided not to stand for reelection because her own company — she’s the CEO of a gaming systems company — asked her to pull herself back from it, but she was going to go no matter what.”

Hart is the CEO of International Gaming Technology. Her company’s board requested she distance herself from Yahoo. Silicon Republic has her statement.

“…my primary responsibilities are to serve as chief executive officer of IGT and to eliminate activities that may interfere with my ability to carry out my commitments to IGT and its valued stakeholders.”

Board member Dan Loeb started the whole investigation into Thompson’s background. AllThingsD reports Loeb once went after Hart for the same transgression.

“Loeb’s allegations also nailed Hart in much-less-egregious padding of her own college record, making it appear as if she had economics and marketing degrees. She has one in business administration, with “specialties” (Yahoo’s ridonkulous word, not mine) in economics and marketing.”

Venture Beat quotes the IGT chairman, who says, Hart’s credentials are fine.

“After a thorough review, the IGT Board of Directors has found no material inconsistencies in Patti Hart’s academic credentials. The Board unanimously stands behind Patti as our CEO and fully supports her leadership and the direction she has set for the Company.”

PaidContent says the IGT board made a smart call.

“Why wouldn’t the board of International Game Technology … prefer its CEO’s energies go toward running that company rather than co-starring in Yahoo’s latest soap opera?”

Once Hart completes her term, Yahoo’s board will be made up of nine directors.

Twitter Fighting For User in Court

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:00:00 -0500

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image source: ITProPortal

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

How important are those 140 characters to Twitter? Important enough to go to court to protect them.

The ACLU reports Twitter is fighting a subpoena against one of its users. Malcolm Harris is charged with disorderly conduct in connection with Occupy Wall Street protests last year. The New York District Attorney in Manhattan wants his tweets, and Twitter has motioned to quash the court order.

Digital Trends reports Harris has already tried to fight the subpoena once, but a New York judge ruled he didn’t have control of the content in question.

“New York criminal court Judge Matthew Sciarrino Jr ruled last month that police could subpoena tweets without the need for a search warrant because, according to Sciarrino, tweets are not actually the property of the person who posted them.”

Twitter says that’s not the case. In its motion, it pointed to its own terms of service, which state users keep the rights to any content they post on Twitter.

Twitter goes further, saying a subpoena violates the Stored Communications Act, which lets users challenge access to their online records. And the social media giant says the Fourth Amendment applies, as well.

WebProNews applauds Twitter. This battle could set a new legal precedent.

“I didn’t think I would ever see the day when an Internet company would lay the legal smackdown on the courts. Twitter has essentially proven, at least in the case of their service and their state, that the Fourth Amendment does apply online.”

The Verge says it’s a win-win for Twitter. It wouldn’t have to step in every time a court wants access to tweets, and it’s good PR, too.

“…the company can't afford to sit between every single defendant who uses Twitter and the law enforcement authorities who might want to look at their accounts. More importantly, the company needs to reassure users that it's standing up for them…”

If Twitter is successful in quashing the subpoena, the DA will have to come back with a warrant for Harris’ tweets.The account in question, meanwhile, hasn’t been updated since April.

Zynga Releases its First Arcade-Style Game

Wed, 09 May 2012 07:00:02 -0500

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BY LEAH BECERRA

Zynga, the company which unleashed a full gamut of “ville” themed games on Facebook, is coming out with an arcade-style game for social media audiences. It’s called ‘Bubble Safari.’ The concept is simple:

Bubbles the monkey is following a trail to retrieve his monkey-girlfriend. To succeed he has to avoid traps and other hazards. Clearing levels requires players to fire colored bubbles at a stack, ultimately trying to group three of the same colored bubbles in a row. The teaser trailer reminded Kotaku of some bubble-shooters of the past.

“Bubble Safari is Turmell and co.'s acknowledged riff on Bust-a-Move. They take the classic shoot-similarly-colored-bubbles-at-other-bubbles mechanic and add in special trick shots and an NBA Jam-style ‘On Fire’ mode.”

The Turmell that Kotaku is referring to is Mark Turmell, the creator of NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. So it’s safe to say that he isn’t a noob to arcade-style game creation. VentureBeat points out hiring Turmell last summer was a smart move for Zynga.

“...the game mechanics that used to be popular in arcade machines are becoming popular again on Facebook. King.com and Wooga have shown that...their recent releases …grabbed big audiences on the social network.”

So, this release marks new territory in game-development for Zynga, but TechCrunch points there’s another reason ‘Bubble Safari’ is an important launch for the company.

“...it’s also the first time Zynga is simultaneously launching a game to Facebook and its own destination site (in a sign that the company is really trying to diversify off the social network).”

‘Bubble Safari’ may be one more arcade-style game in the basket for Turmell, but it’s one giant leap for Zynga’s future business plans.

Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE Makes it Debut

Wed, 09 May 2012 07:00:00 -0500

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(Image: Phonedog)

BY LAURA JANVIER

ACHOR ZACH TOOMBS

HTC made a big announcement at the bi-annual U.S. convention of the wireless industry. PC World reports...

“HTC and Verizon kicked off this week’s CTIA show in New Orleans with the release of the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE. … According to Verizon, the Droid Incredible will be available in the next few weeks, but pricing has not yet been announced.”

A tech blogger from Engadget explains some of the features on the new phone.

“This is a 4-inch super LCD display and then in the back here is the back here is an 8 megapixel auto-focus camera with flash, HTC logo.-

CNET senior editor Brian Bennett gave his review of the new phone.

“This phone is basically a follow up to the Droid Incredible 2, but now it has ice cream sandwich. It also has HTC’s latest version of ‘sense 4,’ which is much lighter than the original version.”

A tech blogger from Time Techland feels there wasn’t any huge surprises with the new phone, but appreciated a couple small advancements.

“There’s nothing cutting-edge about HTC’s Droid Incredible 4G LTE....yet the new Droid Incredible might become one of Verizon’s most desirable phones, simply because you can hold it comfortably in one hand.”

A tech analyst from Android Central explains what he likes about the latest Verizon phone.

“Everything is really snappy, everything is really quick, everything looks really nice, this phone is really light, not the thinnest that I’ve ever seen, but like I said, you will know that this is an incredible phone.”

Phone Arena explains Verizon is promising to make the phone available for purchase both online and in its retail stores within a few weeks. Details regarding pricing, however, have yet to be announced.

Nevada Approves Driverless Cars

Wed, 09 May 2012 06:00:00 -0500

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(Image Source: The Register)

BY DAVID EARL

Robot cars are leaving the test track and will begin roaming a western U.S. state. Here’s the headline from WPVI.

“Google has the greenlight to take its driverless car from the test track to the streets. Nevada is the first state in the nation to allow the futuristic cars to venture on to real roads.”

And DMV folks -- even the governor -- have been along for a couple of rides. But if a cop happens to pull this robot car over, SlashGear says there better be not one, but two people inside.

“Although Nevada has allowed the autonomous Prius fleet to pilot themselves, they’re only allowed to do so if two people are in the car at all times: one of whom must be behind the wheel to seize it in the case of an emergency.”

Mobiledia is worried though that the people behind the wheel aren’t gonna be paying attention. And the cars can’t think through an accident scenario like a person can.

“Auto-piloted cars invite the people inside to focus on other things, which will wreak havoc if a glitch occurs when the passengers aren't paying attention. Instead of curbing distracted driving, the cars may cultivate it, lulling the people inside into a false sense of security.”

Which, would ultimately defeat the purpose of the robot cars. KOKI names Google’s end-game.

“The self-driving vehicle project aims to help prevent traffic accidents, they’re wanting to free up people’s time and reduce carbon emissions but fundamentally changing car use.”

But, there is some evidence on Google’s side for safety. It’s a stat that would make some human drivers jealous … Through more than 200,000 miles of testing, the car has performed perfectly. No accidents.

Google’s not the only one on this robot-car bandwagon. Nevada’s DMV expects to issue more licenses to other companies.

Sports Watching App Rewards Couch Potatoes

Tue, 08 May 2012 22:00:02 -0500

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(Image source: Kwarter)

BY BRIAN BONDUS

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

Think you’re a sports fanatic? Now you can prove it with Kwarter’s new IOS app, Fancake. Here’s how it works.

"When something happens in the game you are watching like a homerun or touchdown. A metal will fly across the screen. Catch it, and you will collect that sports moment. Metals for big moments like home runs are worth more points.”

Users can also earn points by making predictions. So if you’re watching a basketball game and a player gets fouled a screen will pop up and you get to guess how many free throws the player will make. A correct guess gets you closer to prizes such as...

“20 percent discounts at Fanatics, $20 off tickets from ScoreBig, as well as FanCake Rewards boxes filled with logo stickers, a T-Shirt and other exclusive FanCake items.”

Business 2 community.com says this interactive way of watching sports revolutionizes the activity by adding a second screen — the TV, of course being the first — the second, the iPhone or iPad you’re accessing the app with.

“...Other than harmless trash talk sports fans have no control over the action they’re watching on the first screen but they can do something about it through FanCake’s second screen app.”

Fancake is not the only app like it on the market, but VentureBeat says it may have a leg up on the competition.

“Rivals include PrePlay, GrabFan, Viggle, and PlayUp. Kwarter is trying to create a better user experience with a focus on gameplay, original artwork, messaging, and navigation. Kwarter has raised $1 million to date from Kima Ventures and private angel investors.”

Washington Post Social Reader Users 'Quitting in Droves'

Tue, 08 May 2012 21:11:43 -0500

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(Image Source: Poynter)

BY JIM FLINK

ANCHOR ANA COMPAIN-ROMERO

How bad is the news over at The Washington Post? It starts with terrible earnings news, a drop in readership, and now, a dramatic fall in its innovative Facebook social reader app.
That pioneering app required signup to use, and apparently, after mass adoption, people have had enough.

BuzzFeed shows a chart from Appdata.com, which shows a dramatic drop in use of the reader app.
Look at this graph — which BuzzFeed calls, devastating.

“This forceful behavior is how the Post's reader app gained tens of millions of users in a few short months; it's also how … the Washington Post seems to have worn its readers — or Facebook — out. They're annoyed, and they're quitting in droves...”

The drop-off occurred after Facebook adopted Open Graph — a system of sharing reading and viewing activity with friends. Jeff Bercovici at Forbes says, this is a double whammy for WaPo.
Losing present users is one thing — but this drop represents the company’s future.

“It would be hard to overstate the importance and centrality of the Social Reader to the Post’s strategy. When I interviewed the Post Co.’s chief digital officer … he pointed to the app as one of the company’s most promising new products...”

Now, the system which brought in potentially rich customers is collapsing.
WaPo’s Engagement Producer Ryan Kellett sought to explain the drop via Twitter this week.

“Social reader ‘collapse’ is b/c of evolving FB modules. Before: ‘double-double,’ 4-5 stories down in a list, w/ friend icon - drove growth.”

To be fair, Inside Facebook notes, WaPo isn’t the only media site seeing a decline in social reader usership as a result of Facebook changes. Yahoo! and The Independent are seeing declines as well.

“However, a closer look at some of the less popular news integrations show that the decrease in MAU is not consistent across all apps. In fact, MTV.com, Mashable and ESPN have all seen increases in that same period.”

TechCrunch says Facebook did change out the old “recently read articles” widget on Facebook feeds with a smaller, cleaner one that shows fewer headlines at a time.

“What these user count fluctuations really mean is that Facebook is in firm control of what apps and content types receive traffic from its news feed. It can dial up and down the presence of anything, be that photos, games, news readers…”

RIM Hires Two New Chiefs

Tue, 08 May 2012 19:05:59 -0500

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(Image source: Engadget)

BY LAURA JANVIER

Research in Motion has made two steps up. Effective Tuesday, RIM adds two executives to its team. Bloomberg reports on the details.

“I’m watching Research in Motion this morning, the company has some new faces in the C suite mainly a new Chief Operating Officer and Chief Marketing Officer.”

Chief Executive Officer Thorsten Heins says Kristian Tear, who joins RIM from Sony Mobile Communications where he served as executive vice- president, will be the new COO and Frank Boulben, the former executive vice-president of strategy, marketing and sales for LightSquared, will serve as CMO.

According to the Wall Street Journal RIM is preparing for the launch of its next-generation BlackBerry. The two new executives have been hired to help bring the Blackberry back into the competition.

“RIM has struggled with shrinking market share in the lucrative North American smartphone market, as well as falling BlackBerry sales world-wide.... first priority is the successful launch of BlackBerry 10...”

BlackBerry 10 is the company’s newest operating system, and it’s expected to be released later this year. But CNet suggests the company might be a little too late in trying to make up lost ground.

"Its once popular BlackBerry devices are struggling to find customers in the wake of heavy competition.”

Beyond that — analysts at Canada’s BNN point out — Boulben’s previous company LightSquared was headed toward bankruptcy. For the panel — that begs the question: Is RIM attracting top talent?

“Are these two men emblematic? In particular Mr. Boulben who was clearly coming from a company that's failed. Is he the right person? He's also not as experienced in handsets.”

But Business Week reports newly-appointed Frank Boulben is staying optimistic about the future of Blackberry 10.

“We all know how fast the mobile arena evolves and with the BlackBerry 10 platform, I believe RIM will once again change the way individuals and enterprises engage with each other and the world around them. I could not resist the opportunity to be part of that transformation.”

Angry Parties Call for Yahoo CEO's Resignation

Tue, 08 May 2012 17:25:39 -0500

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(Image: Forbes)

By Evan Thomas and Allyson Brown

Anchor Megan Murphy

Trouble is brewing at internet giant Yahoo.
A Yahoo minority investor, Dan Loeb and his investment company, Third Point are invoking the law in their investigation into Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson’s background -- and asking for Yahoo’s records.

The trouble stems from Thompson listing a degree he never earned on his resume — but still being hired by the company.

All Things Digital has Third Point’s press release:

“Third Point demands ‘under Section 220(b) of the Delaware General Corporation Law to inspect books and records relating to the hiring of CEO Scott Thompson, the appointment of Patti Hart to the Yahoo! Board, and the selection of Board Members…’”

Third Point’s reason for all this is to find out whether Thompson intentionally lied … and why the higher ups at Yahoo didn’t fact check.

“They’re really all about how Scott Thompson was picked, what he said about himself, what directors asked about him, and then how the company evaluated that information.”

But some believe Loeb’s attention stems from a personal vendetta.
Loeb has repeatedly demanded representation on the board.
And PCWorld says this is another case of Yahoo’s chronic problem -- board infighting.

“Gee, a high-tech CEO brought down by a disgruntled board member -- where have I heard that before? Oh yeah -- at Yahoo, about a half-dozen times now. That story is familiar to anyone who's followed Yahoo's frankly hilarious history over the last five years.”

Business Insider polled employees lower on the totem pole …. here are some reactions -- that Business Insider characterizes as representative of the overall sentiment at Yahoo.

“He cheated and lied his way to his position at PayPal, didn't get caught, got brazen, and decided to swing it to become a CEO of an ailing giant. I hope he falls hard and lands on his thick head!

...

“... we are all very unhappy about the resume issue... not because of the issue itself but because we have had so much drama. It's becoming unbearable and this is the icing on the cake …”

No official response from Yahoo yet, but The Washington Post reports the board has met to discuss the situation. Loeb says he could file a lawsuit against Yahoo for any documents relating to Thompson.

Apple Television Prototype Spotted?

Tue, 08 May 2012 13:24:21 -0500

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image source: Cult of Mac

BY EVAN THOMAS

Got your salt shaker handy? Cult of Mac reports a source has actually seen the Apple Television.

According to the anonymous insider, it looks like a current Thunderbolt display, only larger. It’s got built-in Siri control and an iSight camera with facial tracking and zoom for longer distance viewing. These speculative images aren’t the real thing — Cult of Mac commissioned them from designer Dan Draper.

Steve Jobs is quoted in his bio as saying he’d “cracked” the easy interface question. MacRumors asks — what easier interface is there than voice?

“With Jobs calling it ‘the simplest user interface you could imagine’, speculation immediately leapt to Siri, which could allow users to change channels and find shows using only their voice.”

And GottaBeMobile says iSight with zoom would beat crowding in front of the TV on the wall.

“That means users should still be able to sit on the couch away from the TV and appear relatively close to the camera to other users on FaceTime.”

Forbes says none of this is particularly groundbreaking. The tech already exists, after all.

“If the report is right, it would suggest Apple will use existing software and hardware technology to offer new experiences not available on current TVs. But the report lacks a lot of obvious detail: price, ship dates, other features…”

WebProNews says one thing’s for sure -- the product won’t be called iTV.

“...owing to the fact that two separate entertainment companies – one British, one American – currently operate under the name ITV.”

It all sounds very plausible, but Redmond Pie says — wait for the more official word.

“I presume that someone somewhere has faith in this ‘source,’ but until they tell me something that nobody knows about something that it is debatable as to whether it even exists, you’ll have to forgive me for not throwing up the banners and kicking off the parade.”

Apple is remaining typically tight-lipped, to the point that this television is still complete speculation.

Fair Use Deadlock In Google-Oracle Trial

Tue, 08 May 2012 12:24:56 -0500

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image source: SlashGear

BY EVAN THOMAS

A messy split decision in Oracle’s case against Google. The San Jose Mercury News reports a federal jury has made its first decision in the case — but it raises more questions than it answers.

The jury found Google did infringe on Oracle’s copyrights by mirroring the structure of Oracle’s existing software instructions in its code for Android. But infringement was only half the question. Bloomberg explains.

“The jury came back and said ‘yes, they did use all of those instruction sets, and those were copyrighted, but we’re not sure if that use was fair or not. We can’t decide on that one.’”

With this copyright argument, Oracle was after a cut of Android’s profits. But Marketing Land points out without a jury decision on fair use, Oracle can’t collect much.

“If the court or a later trial decides that the inclusion of Java code qualifies as ‘fair use,’ the damages available would be far lower than what Oracle is asking for. They would be capped at $150,000 and could be much less.”

Meanwhile, given the lack of an immediate decision on fair use, Google has moved for a mistrial. The Verge reports the judge will have to figure out whether and how to surmount the jury’s indecision.

And Ars Technica says depending on how that decision comes down, it could have significant implications for more than just Google and Oracle.

“Java is an open source language, but now it's not clear how free programmers are to use it, since Oracle has said that anyone following the Java APIs—which are basically sets of instructions about how to use Java—needs a license.”

Following the jury’s findings, the trial now considers Google’s infringement on Java patents. Damages for Oracle could be higher there, but they won’t be decided until later.

An Xbox 360 for $99, But There's a Catch

Tue, 08 May 2012 05:00:05 -0500

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(Image source: Gameaxis)

BY LAURA JANVIER

If you’re in the market for an Xbox 360, wait a week before you buy. But first, read the fine print. Here’s Cincinnati’s WCPO.

“Starting next week Microsoft will offer an Xbox bundle for $99. The bundle includes an Xbox 360 and a kinect sensor. But, there’s a catch you must sign up for a 15 dollar two-year monthly service package.”

Venture Beat explains customers may not mind paying more in the long run if the start up cost is cheaper.

“To purchase the same Xbox 360 plus Kinect bundle now, you’d have to shell out $299, plus another $120 for a two-year Xbox Live Gold contract, for a total of $420. With the new bundle, you’d be paying $459 over two years — a difference that many consumers likely wouldn’t mind.”

CNN reports many consumers are weighing whether the extra cost will be worth it.

“Whether that extra cost would be worthwhile depends largely on the precise features Microsoft offers for the new monthly subscribers, and how comfortable consumers are with being essentially locked to their game system for a two-year period.”

Platform Nation explains that Microsoft will position the package as a competitor to Apple TV, Roku, and PlayStation 3.

"This $99 Xbox 360 with Kinect bundle could mean a revolution in the living room as long as the support of applications like Netflix, HBO Go, YouTube, SyFy, VEVO, Hulu & MSNBC. Control of what you want to watch in your living room could be at hand for a margin off of the traditional price."

Zuckerberg Kicks Off Facebook IPO Road Show

Mon, 07 May 2012 22:06:09 -0500

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(Image Source: CNNMoney)

BY TATIANA DARIE
ANCHOR JIM FLINK

Investors who might want to get in on the Facebook IPO lined up in New York City on Monday to meet Mark Zuckerberg and his team as the social network begins its road show presentations. CNBC has the story...

“New York City being the first stop in what it’s expected to be an 8 to 9 day road show but very excited day for Facebook and we’ll have to see what investors say- whether they are impressed with the content that comes out today.”

Or maybe not. Facebook plans to raise as much as $11.8 billion in its IPO with a share range of $28 to $35 a share — which would make the company worth as much as $96 billion. But the Chicago Sun Times reports there are those who believe the valuation is too high...

“A common sentiment was that the easy money has been made. Get in now, and you risk being a sucker or, to use the term of Goldman Sachs Group (GS), one of the lead underwriters for Facebook, a “muppet.”

While big investors will buy a lion’s share of the stock, small investors will have a shot. The New York Times reports …

“The company is seeking to give retail investors a bigger cut because it sees itself as a service created for, and driven by, consumers. It is not known how much will eventually go to these mom-and-pop investors, but Wall Street estimates the retail share could be as much as 20 to 25 percent of the offering.“

Everyone seems to be concerned about the possible payoff. The numbers in Facebook’s first public quarterly earnings reported a drop in sales and profit — something that left IPO watchers like Francis Gaskins of IPODesktop worried. Yahoo Finance has his comments...

"There's no growth there right now based on the numbers. They're basically trying to reinvent themselves, saying 'trust me' they can monetize their 901 million users...But they don't really have a track record of success with their new endeavors."

This might be a tough sell but Zuckerberg probably won’t have trouble pitching to his prospective investors. Herman Leung, an analyst at Susquehanna International Group, tells Bloomberg...

“It’s important to hear directly from him for investors who are about to put millions and millions of dollars into a company...Convincing others now they should buy shouldn’t be that hard for a company that has amassed a user base of over 900 million.”

The face of Facebook could be changing once the IPO is complete. The Guardian reports its users should be prepared to see all kinds of advertising on the website’s main page...

“...there's no such thing as an entirely free lunch... The line between popular social service and vulgar commercial medium could turn out to be thin. Don't forget these are still early days: Facebook is only seven years old.”

The Facebook team will meet other potential shareholders in Boston and different locations in California.

Adobe Launches Creative Suite 6

Mon, 07 May 2012 21:00:07 -0500

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(Image source: Hothardware)

BY LAURA JANVIER

Adobe announced the Creative Suite 6 is now officially for sale. Macworld explains the new version of Creative Suite is designed to deliver tools to professionals across all platforms.

“With the launch of Creative Suite 6, Adobe has realigned, tightened, and refocused its collection of software and targeted bundles into four disciplined groups. CS6 reflects the updated, streamlined, real-world workflow of many creative operations.

The Next Web reports— Adobe actually announced Creative Suite 6 a few weeks ago.

“This year’s release was interestingly lacking in suspense, as much of the news was leaked long before the official presentation. That said, there are certainly plenty of features to get excited about ...”

KIRO explains Creative Suite 6 offers a little something new with its latest release.

“Creative Suite 6 will be available with a monthly subscription through Adobe Creative Cloud service. That is a switch from the old plan, which forced users to buy the software for thousands of dollars.

Adobe explains the new feature.

“Adobe Creative Cloud is the digital hub that lets you download and install every Adobe Creative Suite 6 application; access online services for file sharing, collaboration, and publishing; and benefit from new apps and features as soon as they're released.”

With Creative Cloud Adobe is trying to attract the next generation of creators with alternate pricing models.

For those web developers who don’t want to spend about $1300 for the base edition of Creative Suite 6 — or $2,600 for the Master Collection, a Creative Cloud subscription offers less expensive price ranges from $50 to $75.Creative Cloud is set to launch on Friday, May 11.

Apple to Announce $799 MacBook Air?

Mon, 07 May 2012 21:00:04 -0500

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(Image Source: Inquisitr)

BY LUKE LEONARD

It’s thinner. Lighter. And soon — cheaper?

Digitimes reports Apple may be gearing up to release a new Macbook Air with a smaller price tag.

“Apple is reportedly considering responding to the upcoming second-generation ultrabooks by launching a US$799 MacBook Air in the third quarter of 2012, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.”

Many analysts expected Apple’s super-portable computers — coined as “ultrabooks” — to become the next standard in mobile computing. But a writer for Mashable points out — these super light laptops haven’t exactly been flying off the shelves.

“...ultrabook sales haven’t been blockbuster right out of the gate as many consumers have turned their attention to the growing tablet market.”

Apple’s current pricing starts at $999 for the smaller 11.3 inch Macbook Air, and climbs to a possible $1599 for the higher-end 13.3 inch model. Although Apple’s pricing is slightly steeper than its competitors, Mac Rumors says the introduction of a cheaper price may be unnecessary.

“...Given the strong performance of the MacBook Air as Ultrabooks continue to struggle, it is not immediately obvious whether Apple would even see a need to lower pricing on its models.”

Mac Rumors points out — dropping the price of the Air would bring down profit margins. To that — ComputerWorld says, Apple may opt for accessibility over profitability in order to dominate the mobile computing market.

“Any move on the part of Apple to squeeze this margin would inevitably impact its competitors in the mobile computing space...[which] isn't a space the company is prepared to cede without a struggle... With Apple now globally recognized as a brand to beat and with Mac marketshare crossing the 10 percent threshold in recent months, it isn't impossible Apple under Tim Cook may move to consolidate its leadership position.”

Digitimes says to expect the cheaper Macbook air sometime in the third quarter of 2012. According to Mac Rumors, Digitimes has been pretty hit or miss with Apple predictions in the past.

Google's Smart TVs Are Coming

Mon, 07 May 2012 18:55:10 -0500

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(Image Source: Technorati)

LAURA JANVIER

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Reuters reports the world’s number-2 TV maker is planning to launch its Google-enabled smart TVs in the U.S. ABC explains — South Korean firm LG says the TVs could hit shelves by May 21st.

“In today's ‘techbytes,’ a date for Google TV. A top executive says its internet-enabled television set will go on sale in the U.S in about two weeks. Google TV allows users to access services such as search and Youtube from their screens.”

Logitech and Sony both carried the first generation Google TV platform — and CNET says that model never really hit any kind of sweet spot with consumers.

“…while Google hopes Google TV will do for the TV market what Android did for the mobile market, it's been plagued with problems like high prices, low sales, and difficulty with program distribution."

ZDNet notes — the biggest problem with the first Google TV platform was a frustrating user experience.

“The second iteration did address those problems, but it still remains to be seen if that was sufficient enough to win over consumers.”

The Verge reviewed some of the prototype Google TV’s from LG at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show and reports — they were “fairly impressed”.

But it’s the buyers that LG and Google have to impress.

And a reporter for Fast Company says — they better get to it.

“The move is said to be a preemptive one, designed to grab market share before the arrival of the Apple television (which, at this point, is still an entirely imaginary product) and comes just as rival TV makers like Sony are seeing their TV divisions make huge losses.”

Reuters also reports — LG has yet to reveal any details relating to screen sizes, or pricing of the new TVs.

FileVault Creates OS X Lion Password Protection Problem

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:45:51 -0500

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BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR DAVID EARL

There’s new light shining through a security hole in Apple’s Lion OS. Some users who have upgraded from Snow Leopard are at risk of exposing login passwords as human-readable plain text.

Security researcher David Emery discovered the problem and discussed it on the Cryptome mailing list. The problem stems from FileVault, Mac OS’ built-in disk encryption software. Someone, presumably an Apple software engineer, accidentally left a development option enabled in Lion that displays information about FileVault — including login passwords.

ZDNet says that could be catastrophic for individuals and businesses that use the software.

“If an employee has their Mac stolen ... anything they encrypted, as well as anything that requires those credentials, can be accessed without hindrance if the vulnerable configuration is in place.”

For what it’s worth, the vulnerability is pretty specific. Gizmodo reports.

“To be hit by the problem, you'll need to have used FileVault encryption prior to Lion, upgraded to Lion, but kept the folders encrypted using the legacy version of FileVault.”

The Naked Security blog highlights the real issue here. This flub is akin to building a fortress around your data and then leaving the back gate unlocked.

“This incident demonstrates the importance of implementation over technical arguments like key strength and password complexity. That Apple promises AES encryption doesn't mean anything if it chooses to store your password in an accessible log file.”

If you’re affected, CNET has a walkthrough to fix the problem. You can turn FileVault off completely, or update to version 2, which fixes the log issue. If you share your computer with other users, you’ll need to change your password, too.

A more official fix will have to wait. Apple has yet to comment on the security hole.

Creepier Facebook? Update Shows Locations, Status

Mon, 07 May 2012 12:15:16 -0500

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(Image source: Redmond Pie)

BY STACEY WELSH

ANCHOR CHRISTINA HARTMAN

The privacy police say Facebook keeps pushing privacy boundaries. A new feature for its messenger app tells you if someone actually read your message. So, say goodbye to the good ol’ days of ignoring someone’s message for as long as you want. PC World reports:

“The ‘read receipts’ also work for group messaging and display the names of the people who've seen the message directly under a sent message.”

The update also shows you where someone was when they sent a message. Tech Crunch reports this feature might be useful...

“...if you’re coordinating a meetup and get the message ‘We’re on our way’ you’ll be able to instantly tell where from.”

But… there is reportedly no way to turn off the “read receipts.” Facebook does allow you to opt out of the location service, but it’s turned on by default. A blogger for Engadget snarkily comments:

“...in addition to knowing how aloof you've become, [your friends will] be able to track you down and slap your face.”

But a blogger for Venture Beat thinks these changes are absolutely reasonable.

“...you may sacrifice a little privacy in favor of better conversations, but the exchanges are with people you presumably like, so maybe more information is better.”

Tech Crunch also reports Facebook rolled out changes in the iOS and Android messenger apps, but they will later move into primary mobile apps and the web... just in case you were seeking safe haven there.

'Draw Something' App Drops 5 Million Users After Zynga Deal

Mon, 07 May 2012 05:00:02 -0500

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(Image source: TG Daily)

BY EVAN THOMAS AND CHRISTINE KARSTEN

When OMGPOP’s Draw Something app was riding high, Zynga snapped up the company for $200 million. Six weeks later, Draw Something has shed some 5 million daily users. Shares are hurting too. A writer for CNET says...

“More painful than the Draw Something player dropoff is the decline in the company's stock price. Since its acquisition of OMGPOP, Zynga's stock has declined more than 38 percent. Shares closed today at 8.95, up 49 cents, or 5.8 percent.”

GigaOM suggests the only way to keep a game like Draw Something profitable is to keep growth going. Snapping it up for some fast cash is wasteful — and sets a bad precedent.

“After all, it not only shows a lack of judgment from management in buying into a fad when it’s at its very peak, but it also suggests that the company wants to strip mine new assets rather than build them up.”

Geekosystem wonders if Zynga will regret the fast-burning investment.

“It’s also a bit telling that perhaps they jumped the gun when there’s no clear way to monetize Draw Something beyond color packs and having advertisers pay to include their products as words in the game.”

There might be potential there. Ad Age reports the NHL was one of the first advertisers on board, and it’s curated some of its sponsored terms into a Pinterest page. Shame it can’t have its users draw some money.

Buffett Won't Buy Facebook Stock

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:01:06 -0500

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(Image source: CNN)

BY NATHAN BYRNE

Facebook’s IPO will own tech and business headlines Monday. But the Oracle of Omaha isn’t buying in.

Warren Buffett said at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholder meeting this past week — he doesn’t buy offerings.

Eighty-eight-year-old Charlie Munger — the right-hand Robin to Buffett’s Berkshire Batman — wouldn’t click “like” on the stock, either.

He tells CNN …

"I don't invest in what I don't understand. And I don't want to understand Facebook … I don't want people putting all this personal stuff into a permanent record when they are 15 years of age. I think it's counterproductive. I just basically don't like it."

Buffett’s investing M.O. is also — go with what you know.

Here's Fox Business.

Reporter: " … I asked him, ‘Is this anything, Warren, that you would ever touch for your portfolio?,’ Here’s what he said."

Warren Buffett: "I kind of ventured quite a ways out to buy IBM. Facebook would be — my doctor would require a check-up then."

These comments might not make any friends at Facebook. But a writer for The Daily Mail says Buffett …

“ … was careful to say he did not believe high-tech stocks were in a valuation bubble similar to the one that burst at the end of the 1991-2000 dotcom boom.”

Buffett did have good things to say about Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. He even compared Zuck’s situation to his own.

Buffett told CNBC …

"He's a very smart guy. He's built an incredible company. … he's going to keep control of his company, that's for sure. So he will get to paint the painting he wants to paint. And I've always advised any entrepreneur to try and retain that ability and fortunately I've been able to do it at Berkshire."

According to Bloomberg, Facebook’s IPO is expected to happen Monday.

FBI Pushes for Wiretap Access to Social Media Sites

Sun, 06 May 2012 17:01:05 -0500

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(Image source: Gizmodo)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

The FBI wants a new backdoor to the Internet. CNET reports the bureau is proposing legislation that would require social networks and other Internet companies to allow wiretapping.

Under the proposal, companies like Google, Microsoft and Facebook would have to make their online services more accessible to the FBI, so it can monitor and record conversations when legally permitted to do so. Companies would have to provide the bureau with decryption tools to make sense of the information it captures.

Wired explains the closest existing law is the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, or CALEA, which requires telecom providers grant the FBI wiretap access to their networks. The FBI’s currently proposed legislation is something of an extension of the act.

“The Federal Communications Commission extended CALEA in 2004 to apply to broadband providers like ISPs and colleges, but web companies are not covered by the law.”

The proposed expansion of law would address the FBI’s worries that its monitoring isn’t keeping pace with the advancing technology of the web. The Consumerist quotes a bureau spokesman.

“‘The FBI believes that if this gap continues to grow, there is a very real risk of the government 'going dark,' resulting in an increased risk to national security and public safety.’”

Meanwhile, the FCC is looking at expanding CALEA to cover video and voice-over-internet applications like Skype, Facetime and Xbox Live voice chat. Gizmodo worries there may be no escaping the monitoring.

“The thought of this happening is terrifying, especially when you consider that many of us are required—for work, school, etc—to use these major services.”

For the moment, however, the FBI’s proposal remains only that. The White House has yet to pass anything official to Congress for consideration.

AT&T Chief Calls Unlimited Data a Mistake

Sat, 05 May 2012 14:00:00 -0500

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image source: iDownloadBlog

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson says he regrets ever offering unlimited data plans, saying it cost the carrier a lot to maintain the network for unrestricted use. Here are his comments from a wireless conference this week.

“I wish we had moved quicker to change the pricing model, to make sure that people who were consuming the bandwidth were paying for the bandwidth. We had a model where the high-end users were being subsidized by the low-end users. We got that model straight.”

Now, except for certain users grandfathered in on their old unlimited data plans, AT&T uses a tiered data price model. CNET says it’s a balancing act.

“Carriers are taking in billions from tiered data plans, but increasingly users are actually using up a higher percentage of their data allowances. That means more network traffic without more revenue to compensate…”

Critics say, it’s not like AT&T’s doing poorly. 9to5 Mac reports tiered pricing is actually making the company loads of money.

“AT&T discontinued its unlimited data plan in 2010 and moved to a pricey tiered data plan, which it has since reprised and restructured. The plans paid off, because the company earned a whopping $6.1 billion in revenue during Q1 alone.”

Indeed, Stephenson says he doesn’t regret offering the first iPhone on AT&T back in 2007. iDownloadBlog suggests that choice is largely responsible for the network’s revenue and general success.

“It’s feasible to assume that if AT&T hadn’t signed on to exclusively carry the iPhone back then, that it wouldn’t be competing with Verizon for the nation’s number one carrier spot now.”

And analysts say, it would appear AT&T’s momentum in iSpace will continue. More than 70 percent of the smartphones the carrier activated last quarter were iPhones.

Lawsuit Spurs Sale of Lumia 900 for $39.99?

Fri, 04 May 2012 20:05:12 -0500

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(Image Source: Forbes)

BY TATIANA DARIE

ANCHOR LOGAN TITTLE

For someone who wants to upgrade a smartphone, Amazon is offering the new Nokia Lumia 900 for as little as $39.99. For that price though you have to renew your contract. But there is a reason for the cut-rate price — a lawsuit. The Inquirer has the story....

“An angry shareholder has filed a class action lawsuit against Nokia, claiming the company misled investors with the promise of Windows Phone success ... saying the Finnish phone firm falsely talked up Lumia’s chances of turning the company’s fortunes around.”

Pocketgamer reports the shareholder Robert Chmielinski is suing Nokia for having pushed its luck too far...

“Chmielinski isn't criticising Nokia for failing to judge the ups and downs of the smartphone market accurately...Rather, his view is Nokia knew exactly how tough times were going to be, but talked up its chances regardless in order to justify its wholesale move towards Microsoft's platform to shareholders.”

InformationWeek suggest that the drop in the price is due to the bad sales of the Windows Phone devices overall...

“The Lumia 900 is selling well below its list price online, an indication that dealers are still struggling to build market share for Nokia's flagship smartphone, which runs Microsoft's Windows Phone 7.5 operating system.”

On the other hand, a blogger for the 24/7Wall St. says the Lumia 900 has gotten some good reviews and has a chance to recover some lost ground when Windows Phone 8 comes out this year...

“The Nokia-Microsoft combination might not ever cause any sleepless nights at Apple or Samsung, but that’s no reason to call the Lumia 900 a flop and to sue the company for not turning around in a couple of quarters...”

At less than 40 dollars it might make you wonder why the Lumia 900 is so cheap. TomsGuide blogger comments...

“Are Nokia's phones failing on the market even though they're getting great reviews? Or is Microsoft merely trying to saturate the market with this flagship device before the arrival of Apple's iPhone 5, taking a hit in the wallet?”

With a lawsuit staring it in the face, Nokia might have to change its strategy. An IntoMobile blogger comments...

“All signs point to Nokia sticking to their plan until at least the first half of 2013. After that, it’ll be time to reassess the situation and see if the Finnish handset maker should have gone with Android all along. This will be fun to watch.”

Nokia has issued a statement saying it is reviewing the allegations and believes that they are without merit.

Facebook Makes IPO Roadshow Video

Fri, 04 May 2012 20:00:46 -0500

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(Image Source: Venture Beat)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

The ultimate status-updating site may be going official with users—Facebook official.
CNBC has the story.

“The social networking giant is reportedly near completion of review of its S1 and could potentially hit the road to talk to investors next week.”

But talk is cheap—so Facebook released a video featuring its executives explaining how the company and its users have bloomed since 2005—hoping to appeal to potential investors in a more personal way.

“Facebook’s mission is to make the world more open and connected ... our life is an amazing story that a lot of people would be interested in if you told it.”

Venture Beat points out other companies like Groupon have also posted promotional productions leading up to their IPO’s—but Facebook has done it a little differently.

“They talk about the beginnings…when the only photo you could upload was a profile picture… then… the company’s expansion to photo albums… displaying pictures of mothers and babies…representatives of Everyman... it even includes a cameo of Ben & Jerry’s executives talking about Facebook’s reach. What’s more heart-warming than ice cream?”

And TIME has dubbed it the “longest Kodak moment ev-uh.”
But not everyone’s heartstrings are feeling the tech company’s tender tug.
TechTrend24 thinks the half-hour long love video gets a little too close for comfort.

“We're impressed with its overall look—it's got gentle lighting, soft focus, and lots of feigned sincerity—but we can't help noticing something a little disconcerting about the whole thing. All that gentle lighting, soft focus, and feigned sincerity, can't stop Facebook's leaders from sounding a little creepy.”

But can Facebook really sweet-talk investors into spending? Chief economist of GreenCrest Capital Management told ABC News it will have to work a little harder than that.

"'The bigger you get, the harder it becomes to maintain that kind of growth…’ Facebook's biggest road show challenge… will be to convince investors that it can do a better job of monetizing its millions of users—a problem he calls ‘dicey,’ since to ‘bombard them with an avalanche of advertising’ would be to risk alienating them.”

Facebook’s IPO is rumored to happen May 18. You can watch the full video on Facebook’s website.

Amazon's Kindle Fire Sales Drop

Fri, 04 May 2012 15:48:22 -0500

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(Image source: Bloomberg)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

Kindle Fire’s sales are burning up — and not in a good way.

Here’s Bloomberg—

“Sales of Amazon’s Kindle Fire are slumping big-time, pushing the Fire to number three in the tablet market...Samsung also beat out the Kindle Fire for that number two spot.”

Analysis firm IDC reports Kindle’s market share sank 75 percent from Q1 last year, going from 4.8 million units to fewer than 750,000. The Fire now holds just more than 4 percent of the global tablet market share.

And it was a surprising plummet — even for those who expected Amazon’s numbers to shrink this quarter. Computerworld quotes the IDC’s Bob O’Donnell.

“‘We expected to see a significant drop in Amazon Fire [in the first quarter]...But honestly, the drop was a little bit more than we expected.’”

Geek.com suggests that drop might have been built into the calendar.

“There are obviously some factors that affect Kindle sales. The Fire was brand new in late 2011, and there was pent up demand. Also, Q4 is the holiday season, when otherwise right-thinking adults spend huge sums of money on things they might not need.”

But The Verge points out the Fire seems to be doing okay in the U.S.

Numbers from April showed the Fire had more than half the stateside Android market.

“It's also a considerable disparity with what we've heard from the US… so either there's a difference in methodology or the international tablet market has grown enough to overtake the US-only Kindle Fire.”

The iPad remains number one in the market and Business Insider says the Apple tablet is moving 18 times as fast as the Fire.

Next iPhone: More Spec Rumors Swirl

Fri, 04 May 2012 15:02:06 -0500

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(Image Source: ILounge.com)

BY JIM FLINK

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

Longer. Thinner. More connectivity. Another round of rumors about the next iPhone, whatever it’s called.
iLounge has the supposed specs: 4” screen, flat metal back, new dock connector, 20% thinner.
And that’s not all that’s changing.

“As the new iPhone won’t widen, this appears to confirm that Apple will change the new iPhone’s aspect ratio for the first time since the original iPhone was introduced in 2007, adding additional pixels to the top and bottom of the screen.”

And that’s creating some serious grist for the rumor mill. After all, Pocket Lint notes, a change in aspect ratio could create some developer headaches.

“... that change in aspect ratio would mean that every developer would have to update their app to cope with the new screen resolution and dimensions – something that here at Pocket-lint we think Apple might not be ready to force on people.”

Au contraire, says iDownloadBlog. The site shows off what a French designer thinks the sixth-generation Liquidmetal iPhone might look like.
And the site says, remember that word — Liquidmetal.

“The use of the new metallic glass alloy would let Apple create a stronger, lighter and thinner iPhone … The question is, would Apple really buck its own trend and blow up the iPhone’s display to a whopping 4.5 inches?”

But webpronews isn’t buying into that hype, saying, liquidmetal is overblown.

“Historically the iPhone’s rear panel has been one single piece (be it plastic or glass). Blending two different materials in one rear panel is a design choice that Apple has tended to avoid (with good reason).”

While many ponder the outer iPhone, Boy Genius Reports dissects the impact of its innards.

“…Apple’s move to introduce a thinner and smaller dock connector is likely a necessary step toward making the iPhone insanely thin. One barrier that Apple has not yet tackled is the 3.5 mm headset jack, which some day might disappear completely in favor of Bluetooth and AirPlay streaming.”

BGR says — Apple is still on course for an autumn release, likely September or October.

Researcher Killed by Disease He Was Trying to Cure

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:42:21 -0500

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(Image source: Wikimedia Commons)

BY STEVEN SPARKMAN

ANCHOR MEGAN MURPHY

A researcher in San Francisco was reportedly killed by the disease he was studying. KTVU has the story.

“Hospital officials say he was infected while working on a vaccine for a rare strain of bacteria that can cause a deadly bloodstream infection or meningitis.”

Twenty-five-year-old Richard Din worked in an infectious disease lab on a deadly strain of meningococcus. After he left work Friday night, he complained of headaches, a fever, and chills. KQED tells what happened next.

“The next morning, his symptoms worsened, and he developed a full body rash. The man asked his friends to take him to the hospital but became unresponsive in the car and arrived at the VA around noon without a pulse. … His death came just 17 hours after the first symptoms had appeared.”

So far, no one else has reported an infection, and around 60 people who came in contact with Din were given antibiotics — just in case. KCBS reports, while labs have rigorous safety protocols for working with these types of diseases, infections still happen.

“More than half a million people work in laboratories in the U.S. A survey of U.S. labs found a third reported at least one laboratory-associated infection.”

A CDC spokesperson says the lab didn’t give out vaccinations to the researchers, which is standard protocol. But in Din’s case, it might not have helped. His strain is resistant to vaccines. In fact, Din was trying to develop a vaccine for the disease that killed him. An infectious disease specialist told ABC that’s the risk researchers take, saying:

“...procedures and protocols can never eliminate the hazards of working with infectious diseases. ‘There are very elaborate, very thoughtfully prepared safety protocols in place, but there's always a risk,’ he said, a risk researchers carefully weigh against the benefits of vaccines and treatments that save millions of lives.”

People close to Din say he got into his line of work, combating infectious disease, because of the tragic death of a family member.

You Are Not Your IP Address, Judge Says

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:38:26 -0500

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(Image source: Digital Trends)

BY EVAN THOMAS

ANCHOR NATHAN BYRNE

A bit of privacy news being welcomed around the Internet this week: A New York magistrate judge has ruled a person cannot be directly identified by an IP address.

Judge Gary Brown issued what TorrentFreak called a landmark ruling: an IP address is insufficient to identify a person in court. Simply put, he said, it’s not specific enough.

“‘An IP address provides only the location at which one of any number of computer devices may be deployed, much like a telephone number can be used for any number of telephones.’”

The Verge welcomes Judge Brown’s understanding of modern network technology. His ruling is good law, for now.

“It's important to note that this is just a single magistrate judge, and this ruling alone doesn't carry the kind of precedent-setting oomph a ruling from an appellate, or higher, court would. Still, it's a welcome bit of sanity…”

Brown’s ruling doesn’t bind other courts the way a Supreme Court ruling would, but ZDnet hopes other judges will follow along.

“Why this is especially bitter to copyright trolls is that while other judges don’t have to follow his recommendations, they should take note of the [recommendation.] This should put, we can but hope, a considerable dent on mass copyright lawsuits using only an IP address and a BitTorrent trail as evidence.”

Gizmodo explains — such scattershot suits are complex affairs that use nothing but the IP address scraped from a torrent tracker as grounds for litigation.

“The ruling comes in the context of mass torrent lawsuits that just dump thousands of IP addresses into the court and charge everyone associated with them. Cases like the Hurt Locker suit filed against 5,000 people for downloading the movie."

And Judge Brown doesn’t want to see that tactic in his district anymore. In his recommendation, he implies it’s a waste of judicial resources, and says it improperly lumps defendants together and could lead to unfair outcomes.

For now, at least in Eastern New York District Court, plaintiffs wanting to bring this sort of infringement suit must do so against individual defendants — and they’ll have to have more than just an IP address to go on.

Yahoo CEO Lists False Degree on Resume

Fri, 04 May 2012 14:04:08 -0500

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(Image Source: CNN)

BY LOGAN TITTLE

Next time you hire a CEO -- double-check that degree. You remember what they say about “assuming,” right?

CNN has the story—

“Yahoo! board of directors is now reviewing CEO Scott Thompson’s resume after a hedge fund investor, Third Point, claimed he lied about having a degree in computer science.”

The information was listed in a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Third Point--a Yahoo investor fighting for representation on the Internet company’s board--later confirmed with Thompson’s college that he did not actually have the listed degree. In fact--computer science degrees weren’t offered until four years after he graduated.

Market Watch reports Yahoo’s board of directors released a statement in Thompson’s defense saying he does hold a degree—in business administration, but—

“There was an inadvertent error that stated Mr. Thompson also holds a degree in computer science. This in no way alters the fact that Mr. Thompson is a highly qualified executive with a successful track record leading large consumer-technology companies.”

Business Insider calls this an “outrageous and insufficient response” revealing Thompson had listed his false degree in two other previous jobs- as PayPal’s CTO and chief information officer at Barclays Global Investors.

But a writer for Benzinga says what brought on the investigation is also questionable. Third Point hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb has a specific interest in Thompson’s place—and might not be acting as the voice of reason.

“…Daniel Loeb ... is seeking to topple the Yahoo board of directors … This news will give Loeb … a huge chunk of leverage…”

He wrote in a letter to the board—

’If Mr. Thompson embellished his academic credentials we think that it 1) undermines his credibility as a technology expert and 2) reflects poorly on the character of the CEO who has been tasked with leading Yahoo at this critical juncture…’”

If Yahoo does decide to let Thompson go, they will have to appoint their fourth CEO in the past year.

Galaxy SIII on the Horizon

Fri, 04 May 2012 05:00:00 -0500

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(Image Source: Gizmodo UK)

BY SUZANA DALUL

ANCHOR CHRISTIAN BRYANT

Samsung finally revealed the latest Galaxy smartphone – SIII, at a launch event in London. The new gadget by the world’s biggest phone manufacturer sports an 8 megapixel camera and an HD 4, 8 inch Super AMOLED display. CNET talks more specs:

“At the front is a 2 mp camera, which works with something called Smart Stay to keep the screen from dimming while you are looking at the phone. Inside is Samsung’s own quad core chip running at 1.4 GHz.”

The Galaxy SIII, running the latest version of Android – Ice Cream Sandwich, is expected to be one of the best smartphones on the market. Gizmodo calls it the new ‘Android emperor’, but notes it will also have features to compete with the iPhone:

“S Voice … is a Siri-like voice recognition feature that you can use to enquire about the weather; take a photo and other tasks such as locking the phone, or controlling music.”

But the company seems to focus not so much on specs, as on a new image. TechCrunch has the details from the launch:

“… what we got was long on references to intuitive design, with lots of non-tech buzzwords: ‘nature’, ‘organic’, and so on.”

On the other hand, not everyone thinks the design is impressive. SlashGear says it falls behind HTC’s One X when it comes to quality and TechRadar warns Samsung’s design might be disappointing to some:

“…the plastic feeling of the Galaxy S3 won't appeal to all. It feels very lightweight (despite tipping the scales at 133g) in the hand, and some people will read this as feeling a little cheap.”

But Samsung is still ahead of the competition, according to the Telegraph tech editor Matt Warman.

“Things like DropBox… They’ve got 50 GB of online storage. And to give you an idea that’s twice as much as HTC has got and HTC had more than anyone else.”

The Galaxy SIII will be available in ‘marble white,’‘pebble blue’ and with built in storage of either 16, 32 or 64 GB. The device is expected to hit stores in the UK in late May and this summer in the U.S.

Facebook IPO: Share Price Speculation

Fri, 04 May 2012 00:00:01 -0500

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(Image Source: CNET)

BY JIM FLINK

Facebook is about to become the most valuable U.S. internet company ever.
That is, as soon as it launches its IPO in a couple of weeks.
CNBC has the lowdown.

“Facebook’s IPO may actually price in the mid-20s to low-30 dollar range, which would put a valuation according to the Journal, of about 85 to 95 billion dollars.”

The Wall Street Journal broke the story and says — that would put Facebook just behind Amazon.com’s market cap, and ahead of tech giant HP.
But it asks — with questions about monetizing its users circling, is Facebook really worth it?

“When investors start thinking, a site that has a billion users, coming in an being engaged by it, has all this monetization potential, I think that’s what people are buying on, more than the actual numbers they see now..”

337 million shares will be made available, including more than 30 million belonging to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
CNBC tweets...

“Mark Zuckerberg selling 30.2 million shares in IPO. $FB #FacebookIPO”

But before you go thinking Zuck might be cashing out of the company here, Business Insider says — not so much.

“So Zuckerberg will still have a ton of Facebook stock, and he will control 57.3% of voting share post-IPO.”

As good as all this sounds, Facebook is actually shooting LOWER than some expected.
It was once thought this IPO could exceed $100 billion.
The Verge says, Facebook has had questions about its true value circling since IPO talk began.

“Recent tech IPOs like Groupon and Pandora have seen big bumps on the first day, sometimes doubling in value ... Facebook reported its Q1 financials two weeks ago, and the results showed a significant slowdown in growth and drop in profit. The new, more conservative IPO price range may be a reflection of that slide.”

And slide is not how Facebook, or any other IPO, wants to start out.
An analyst tells Bloomberg, this pricing gives Facebook the proper runway and trajectory for growth.

“The worst thing for an IPO, on the way they’re marketed to the street, is to see the price decline. So you want to start with the lowest range you can stand, and give you some room to work.”

In the lead up to the IPO, Facebook officials plan to tour the country on a road show — designed to drum up support for the stock offering.