Oracle continues to demonstrate its uncanny resemblance to the “Star Trek” universe’s Borg, the massive, unfeeling entity that doesn’t merely capture and feed on prey so much
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
The company launches volume purchase program for its App Store. Schools can buy 20 or more apps at the same time with purchase vouchers. Originally posted at The Digital Home
JDS UNIPHASE
JDA SOFTWARE GROUP
JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES
IXYS
ITRON
As regular readers are undoubtedly aware, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with our commenters. Well, okay, it’s more hate/hate. I find it amusing, but I realize not everyone does. Some people say they avoid our stories just so they don’t feel the need to take a shower after reading our comment section. I have good news for those people: there’s an extension for that.
Remove TechCrunch Comments is a Google Chrome extension made by user hrparmar. He actually made it back in January, but we’re just seeing it now. And it’s awesome.
COMMSCOPE
COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS
COMPAL ELECTRONICS
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
D-LINK
Leapster inadvertently (or not) spilled the beans on a forthcoming learning handheld way back in May, and with nary a peep from the company, it has managed to launch said unit just as the next school year was fixing the start. The $70 handheld ain’t the cheapest in the world, and considering that the “learning” cartridges are $25 a pop, it won’t take long for this investment to get serious. USA Today’s Ed Baig managed to wrangle one for review, and while he certainly let his kids do the dirty work, he couldn’t help but express frustration by the inability to use older games with this new system. Forward progress aside, Ed found his kids enamored by the device, and while that led to him making quite a few digital Leaplet purchases (downloadable games), it also kept his youngsters occupied and engaged in something beneficial. All told, he handed out 3.5 of 4 shiny stars to the minuscule device, and so long as you’re cool with daily demands for new software from Johnny and Jane, this might be the best back-to-school gift ever.Leapster’s $70 Explorer learning handheld gets reviewed, loved by a father originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Aug 2010 10:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | USA Today | Email this | Comments
QIMONDA
QUALCOMM
QUANTA COMPUTER
RESEARCH IN MOTION
ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS
Look out, Sprint — if you aren’t careful, you might just end up pulling a Palm. Shortly after Dan Schulman, Sprint’s prepaid business honcho, announced that he’d be leaving The Now Network for a position at American Express, product development guru Kevin Packingham has announced that he’ll be packing out on Monday. The 39-year old is responsible for spearheading some of Sprint’s most highly sought after products, namely the HTC EVO 4G and Samsung Epic 4G. He’ll be leaving his Senior VP office in order to “run another company in Kansas City,” but Sprint’s remaining mum on what exactly that company will be. For what it’s worth, a spokeswoman for the carrier confessed to the Wall Street Journal that the departures aren’t a concern, and that “Steve Elfman, president of Sprint’s network operations and wholesale business, and Fared Adib, vice president of product development and Mr. Packingham’s lieutenant, will share oversight of product development.”Sprint’s product development guru bolts from yellow pastures, heads to greener ones originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 20:35:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Mobile Burn | The Wall Street Journal | Email this | Comments
SAIC
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
RF MICRO DEVICES
RED HAT
RADISYS
Keith Alexander says to protect military networks government must focus on several key areas, including hunting for malware and working with stakeholders.
COMPAL ELECTRONICS
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
D-LINK
DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
DIRECTV GROUP
An iStoryTime iPad app for the children’s book “Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy” is the first to include a sign language mode for deaf children, and costs $2.99.
TNS
TIBCO SOFTWARE
TIBCO SOFTWARE
THQ
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
In the early days of free software, the struggle was just to get companies to try this new and rather unconventional approach, without worrying too much about how that happened. That typically meant programs entering by the backdoor, surreptitiously installed by in-house engineers who understood the virtues of the stuff — and that it was easier to ask for forgiveness after the event than for permission before.
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IKON OFFICE SOLUTIONS
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Microsoft employees will apparently be given free Windows Phone 7 smartphones, according to staffer Tweets escaping from Microsoft Global Exchange, the company’s annual sales conference (Mary Jo Foley tweeted about it first). Gizmodo’s also posted an internal e-mail purportedly from Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, with additional details:”I am thrilled to announce that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world. The process will vary based on your market, your carrier and your launch date so stay tuned for more information closer to launch.”This is exactly what you’d expect, no? Apple employees walk around campus with the iPhone, Google employees have a tendency to whip out their Android in meetings, so it stands to reason that Microsoft staffers would follow suit.I’ve expended a lot of digital ink on the question of whether Windows Phone 7 will succeed. But this week’s earnings numbers from both Apple and Microsoft make the stakes of that success all too clear. On the strength of its mobile devices–the iPhone and the iPad in particular–Apple posted quarterly revenues of $15.7 billion… while analysts predict that Microsoft, with much of its energies still focused on the desktop, will post revenues of $15.27 billion (the earnings call takes place at 5:30 EST).Microsoft knows it needs to diversify into the cloud and mobile–its Worldwide Partner Conference last week devoted substantial amounts of time to both. If Windows Phone 7 succeeds beyond expectations, then Microsoft will have another robust vertical to supplement Windows 7 and the other flagship software that support its current revenue model. If it fails, then Microsoft will find itself trapped in its old paradigm, at least in the short- to medium term; while the company has a number of cloud initiatives, none have translated into awe-inspiring cash flow. (So many heads would roll in the event of a Phone 7 meltdown, it would make the recent restructuring in the Entertainment & Devices Division look like a haircut by comparison.)Being trapped in the old paradigm is, frankly, unacceptable. Microsoft knows this. Giving its 88,000+ employees a Windows Phone 7 is a no-brainer; the next step is seeing whether it can convince a few million outsiders to put down cash for the privilege.
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
YAHOO!
YAHOO
Many of you may have heard about TechCrunch editor Michael Arrington’s harrowing experience on a recent Delta flight. Since then others have emerged complaining about poor service on the airline. While the airline may need to focus its efforts on its customer service, it looks like Delta has been hard at work on something else: its social media strategy. Today, the airline announced a new initiative that allows users to book flights directly on Facebook.
Called the ‘Ticket Window,’ the feature allows anyone to book a flight directly from Delta’s Facebook page. It looks like they are one of the first airlines to allow a full travel booking on the social network. And Delta says that it will expand the Ticket Window, which is powered by Alvenda, to other social media sites, including online banner ads to allow full booking capabilities within the airline’s advertisements. It’s unclear if Facebook gets a cut from any of he flights booked on the platform.
AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
AMPHENOL
ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL
APPLE COMPUTER
APPLIED MATERIALS
Microsoft warned customers this week that a record number of just-patched bugs will probably be exploited in the next 30 days.
FORMFACTOR
FISERV
FIRST SOLAR
FINISAR
FEI COMPANY
Home Depot is selling an LED bulb bright enough to replace a 40-watt incandescent. Is the $20 threshold enough to entice more people to LEDs?
NETGEAR
NCR
NATIONAL SEMICONDUCTOR
NATIONAL INSTRUMENTS
MOTOROLA
TiVo users, even with boxes provided by their cable company in the case of RCN and Comcast, have so far had to make a compromise: Choose their cable company’s video on-demand offerings, or bring their own DVR and access online video from sources like Amazon and Netflix — but that’s no longer the case. Cox and TiVo have reached an agreement — sound familiar? — that will see allow retail CableCARD equipped TiVo Premiere DVRs to access Cox’s VOD, as well as all that over the top internet video we’ve come to love. The SeaChange powered VOD will work similarly to RCN’s, but we’re waiting to see if this can give the new universal search an extra source to pull from as well. The deal also means Cox will cross promote the TiVo in its own marketing, and provide free installs for units purchased at Best Buy and other outlets including the TiVo website.
The only bad news here? While TiVo plans to start testing later this year, it won’t see a wide rollout (in “all major markets”) until 2011. Check out the press release for all the details before calling your cable company, why should Cox customers get to choose between two different modernized, integrated set-top box platforms while the rest of us are stuck with interfaces and access rules that have been around since before the X-Games?Continue reading Cox to offer retail TiVo Premiere DVRs next year, first with cable VOD & Amazon, Netflix accessCox to offer retail TiVo Premiere DVRs next year, first with cable VOD & Amazon, Netflix access originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | Comments
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
D-LINK
DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
DIRECTV GROUP
ELPIDA MEMORY
It’s time for the Kin autopsy.Days after Microsoft discontinued its social-networking phone, much of the blogosphere is alight with competing theories over what killed the project, and what its demise means for the company’s overall fortunes in the mobile space. Is Kin’s death evidence of larger dysfunction within Microsoft? How exactly does someone blow the equivalent of a medium-size country’s defense budget on a device that sold so poorly? And how many units did Kin sell, anyway?Over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber is claiming a “well-placed little birdie” told him that Microsoft sold 503 Kin phones before the plug was unceremoniously pulled. As pointed out on sites like Pocketnow.com, though, there are 8,810 “monthly active users” of the Kin Facebook application, for which you need either the Kin One or Kin Two. However–as yet someone else helpfully suggested–at least a portion of those users could be Microsoft employees, meaning the number of actual devices sold at retail and subsequently present in the wild could be far, far less.Imagine spending $150 million to make a summer blockbuster, and you sell only $200.50 in tickets. You can understand why a number of Microsoft employees, at least according to Mini-Microsoft, are reportedly walking around this week feeling embarrassed. In any case, Kin is dead–but nonetheless continues to overshadow Windows Phone 7, scheduled to debut near the end of this year.Personally, I think Windows Phone 7 faces a challenge (or a problem, if you want to frame it more negatively) similar to the one that killed the Kin phones. Kin died because it was overpriced, and lacking in a number of features that appealed to its target demographic; limited in its abilities, it was marooned and left to shrivel in a harsh environment–one where, for roughly the same price as Verizon’s prohibitive monthly plan, you could get an actual smartphone on which you could run actual third-party applications.With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft seems very determined to push the smartphone operating system’s platform alongside other company products. Its “Office” hub, perhaps understandably, revolves around programs such as SharePoint; the “Games” hub will center on Xbox; “Music” is all about Zune. That’s all to the good, but Microsoft could be trying to ram through a vision of Windows Phone 7 so tied to other company products that it neglects to focus on other vital areas–namely, creating a robust ecosystem of third-party apps.Sure, enterprise users will appreciate being able to open documents on their new device (if their administrator doesn’t stick them with using Windows Mobile 6.5), and an Xbox-enabled smartphone could be a potential competitor to other handheld gaming systems–but as both the iPhone and Google Android devices are demonstrating, apps are perhaps the single most crucial selling point when it comes to smartphones.But Microsoft doesn’t seem to be generating a lot of momentum from the developer community for Windows Phone 7 apps. They’ve been pushing business-centric developers to create programs, and rumors suggest they’ve approached gaming developers about porting the more popular iPhone games onto the platform–but I haven’t been hearing a lot of chatter from the developers themselves about building Windows Phone 7 products. And with four or five months until the smartphones launch, that presents a potentially substantial problem.Lack of applications for Windows Mobile 6.5 was a major symptom of that operating system’s problems. Kin died at least partially because it stuck to a limited amount of features, and offered no path for a third-party developer with a particularly cool idea to port their product onto the device. In the spirit of avoiding those previous systems’ fates, I feel that Microsoft needs to focus less on “Let’s see how many of our products we can possibly squeeze onto this smartphone,” and more on, “How can we build the versatile, robust mobile ecosystem that we need?”
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
Microsoft released its fourth and final Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9 for developers Aug. 4, as part of its ramp-up towards the browser’s September beta release. This Preview features native JavaScript integration and fully hardware-accelerated HTML5, among other features.After previewing IE9 at the MIX 2010 conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft has released preview versions of IE9 to developers roughly every eight weeks; the three previous Platform Previews have been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, according to Microsoft. The newest preview can be downloaded from this site.”The fourth Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9, available now, shows the opportunity of fully hardware-accelerated HTML5,” Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, wrote in an Aug. 4 posting on the Windows Internet Explorer Weblog. “You can run new test drive samples that show modern SVG and native JavaScript integration in action… With this installment, you will find more performance and more support for the same markup.” By integrating the JavaScript engine directly into the browser, apparently, IE9 achieves speeds greater than its predecessors.Microsoft also contributed 519 new tests to the standards bodies with Platform Preview 4, bringing the total number of tests contributed during IE9 development to 2,138.Despite a strong challenge from rival browsers such as Firefox and Chrome, Internet Explorer has managed to make incremental gains with regard to overall users. Net Applications estimated Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market at 60.74 percent (a slightly increase from June’s 60.32 percent), followed by Firefox with 22.91 percent, Chrome with 7.16 percent, Safari with 5.09 percent, and Opera with 2.45 percent.User adoption of Internet Explorer 8 has been on the rise, even as the respective shares for Internet Explorer 6 and 7 continue their decline. Over the past few months, Microsoft executives have positioned the latter two versions’ slide as a natural trend they encourage. Despite that, Microsoft currently intends to support Internet Explorer 6 through April 2014, despite concerns from some quarters over its security and relevance.But Internet Explorer’s privacy policies have also raised some users’ hackles–particularly after an Aug. 1 article in The Wall Street Journal that alleged company executives had killed the Internet Explorer team’s initiative to create software that counteracts common tracking tools; the concern, apparently, was that such programming would interfere with the company’s online-ad selling operation.In response to that controversy, Microsoft issued an Aug. 1 posting on The Windows Internet Explorer Weblog, insisting that “browsing the Web is fundamentally an information exchange” and that “your Web browser offers information in order to get information.” That posting also called attention to Internet Explorer’s InPrivate Filtering, which allows users to regulate their privacy settings.
VERISIGN
VERIFONE HOLDINGS
VEECO INSTRUMENTS
VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES
UNITED ONLINE
Like your Samsung Galaxy S with a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and a dash of WiMAX? Sprint’s website has finally spilled the beans: the Epic 4G will arrive Tuesday, August 31st for $249.99 on contract (after $150 instant rebate and $100 mail-in rebate). Oddly enough, we’ve gotten a number of screencaps from readers who see an August 20th date, one that coincides with an upcoming Epic 4G promo we caught wind of, but the press release definitively lists the 31st. No way to pre-order at this point — reservations begin Friday, according to the press release — but feel free to sign up for reminders. Whew, glad that mystery’s finally solved. PR after the break.
Update: With Sprint now offering two Android-powered 4G smartphones, you’re probably wondering, Epic 4G or EVO 4G? Fortunately, Sprint’s got a video laying out the differences highlighting the Epic’s Super AMOLED display, keyboard, Samsung Media Hub movie store (available post-launch), and DLNA to wirelessly send pics and video to other DLNA devices in the home. Check it out after the break.
Update 2: Although reservations for in-store pickup aren’t set to begin until tomorrow, we’ve been tipped on a reservation link intended for premier customers. [Thanks, Miguel]
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Continue reading Epic 4G coming August 31st for $249.99 on contract (updated)Epic 4G coming August 31st for $249.99 on contract (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Aug 2010 00:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Sprint (1), (2) | Email this | Comments
LAND SOFTWARE
LAM RESEARCH
L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS
KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
KEY
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/CDMA_iPhone_in_engineering_tests_may_arrive_in_January’;
It’s not as cut-and-dry as last night’s declaration that a new Retina Display-equipped iPod Touch is due in the next few weeks, but our man John Gruber just put up a lengthy post on the long-rumored CDMA iPhone for Verizon in which he says the mythical handset is codenamed “N92″ and has reached “engineering verification test” (EVT) status. According to Gruber, that’s just one step below “design verification test,” which is what that stolen iPhone 4 prototype was — meaning the CDMA iPhone is apparently just two hops away from production. Mix in persistent rumors of large CDMA chipset orders these past few weeks and a dash of AT&T hinting that exclusivity might be over, and it’s sounding like ol’ N92 could well arrive in January as first reported by Bloomberg — perhaps at Verizon’s CES press conference. In Gruber’s words, “the CDMA iPhone is no longer a cold storage, keep-it-alive-just-in-case-we-need-it project.”
Now, Gruber is very careful to say that none of this is a sure thing, and that Apple’s CDMA work could have nothing to do with Verizon specifically; it could be for Sprint, or for various international CDMA carriers. What’s more, we definitely have our doubts about a CES announcement — we’re expecting to hear a lot about Verizon’s LTE plans at the keynote, and it would certainly be an odd capstone to launch an incredibly high-profile CDMA device at the same time. (Not to mention Apple’s historic aversion to sharing the spotlight with others at CES.) Even still, we’ve definitely been hearing noise about a CDMA Verizon iPhone from all manner of sources for months now — if this is ever going to happen, we’d say this is the last time it’s going to make any sense before both Verizon and AT&T start to get serious about 4G.CDMA iPhone in engineering tests, may arrive in January, says John Gruber originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 18:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Daring Fireball | Email this | Comments
VISHAY INTERTECHNOLOGY
VIRGIN MEDIA
VIEWSONIC
VERISIGN
VERIFONE HOLDINGS
Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman visits Niagara Falls. While he doesn’t get a chance to see the massive Niagara Power Project, he does think it’s worth an explanation.
L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS
KINGSTON TECHNOLOGY COMPANY
KEY
JDS UNIPHASE
JDA SOFTWARE GROUP
Google announced that its Google Analytics Data Export API beta is now available for developers….
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
KDDI
KLA-TENCOR
Last week, HP Labs mathematician Vinay Deolalikar started circulating a startling paper that claims to have solved the preeminent open problem in computer sci
TECHNITROL
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE
SYNTEL
SYNTAX-BRILLIAN
SYNOPSYS
Samsung’s HDTV-based App Store has doubled in size since it was launched at CES but apparently that’s not enough, so it’s putting up 500 stacks plus several home theater packages in the “Free the TV Apps” contest. For those skilled in Java, XML and Flash Lite who are interested in getting their app up on TVs and Blu-ray players next to ESPN Next Level, Hulu Plus, a soon to launch 3D Video On Demand app and all the rest, the contest runs from today through November 11, and requires a working app submission and video description. By the end, 14 developers will walk away with between $1,000 and $200,000 each, plus a 3DTV, Blu-ray player and starter kit for each of them . We figure developing for a Samsung Apps platform with a few million network connected devices out there and more shipping every day is a secondary bonus (unless Google TV is where you’d rather be) but check out the video and press release after the break or the competition website if you’re still not entirely sure it’s worth the effort.Continue reading Samsung puts up cash, HDTVs for developers in ‘Free the TV Apps’ contestSamsung puts up cash, HDTVs for developers in ‘Free the TV Apps’ contest originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 11 Aug 2010 11:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | FreetheTVChallenge.com | Email this | Comments
FIRST SOLAR
FINISAR
FEI COMPANY
FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL
FAIR ISAAC
A new Forrester Research report finds that while a number of open source BI (business intelligence) offerings are providing many of the capabilities enterprises require, certain shortcomings remain.
IMATION .
IKON OFFICE SOLUTIONS
IDT
IBASIS
HYPERCOM
Dek:
These products have features missing in the iPad, and they're slated to ship this year
Source:
Network World
No
JDS UNIPHASE
JDA SOFTWARE GROUP
JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES
IXYS
ITRON
In an interview with CNET, Ford’s K. Venkatesh Prasad talks about how the car is being transformed by, and is itself transforming, the Internet.
GOOGLE
GOOGLE
FORMFACTOR
FISERV
FIRST SOLAR
In an apparent attempt to reverse the effects of Apple’s long-running Mac versus PC campaign, Microsoft launches a site that suggests among other things that PCs are more fun. Originally posted at Technically Incorrect
LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL
LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS
LAWSON SOFTWARE
LAND SOFTWARE
LAM RESEARCH
“Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office (33 Photos)” is indeed a hoax, say its creators John and Leo Resig.
I’d love to pull out some well-worn meta-media analysis about how memes are increasingly where we get our culture and we need to be more circumspect when filtering information yada yada, but I’ll leave that to my betters. Elyse Porterfield or “Jenny DryErase,” who went straight from our inboxes to the “1,000,000 Strong for Jenny DryErase to Pose in Playboy” Facebook fan page, should speak for herself.
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
In an odd bit of timing, news is breaking that former United States Senator Ted Stevens was on board a plane that crashed in his native Alaska last night. A former aide stated earlier that Stevens passed away in the crash, but Stevens’ family has yet to comment. Stevens was the longest-serving Republican Senator in history, serving from 1968 until 2009. He was known for a number of key legislation that helped his state of Alaska grow and prosper, and also for his role in helping to establish the United States Olympic Committee. And then of course there was his controversial re-election campaign in 2008 — which was carried out while he was under indictment by a federal grand jury for ethics violations. Though he was found guilty, the charges were later dropped — but not until after he lost his re-election bid.
But around the Internet, Stevens is best known for the meme he helped create: “series of tubes.” I note that the timing of Stevens’ plane crash is odd because that phrase Stevens coined was done so in the context of net neutrality — a subject which is obviously very much in the news today due to the Google/Verizon dealings. Stevens was actually the Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee which was debating the issue in 2006. At that time, he gave an 11 minute speech about the topic that compared the Internet to a “series of tubes.” The rest is history.HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
It looks like Intuit just acquired Cha-Ching, a Mac web app and iPhone app to help consumers manage their personal finance. According to the site of Midnight Apps, the developer of Cha-Ching, “The Cha-Ching team has merged with Intuit and will continue to provide you great design, useful features and incredible products as part of the Intuit Personal Finance Group.”
Cha-Ching appears to have been taken down from the App store. Similar to Mint.com (which Intuit acquired last year for $170 million), Cha-Ching’s Mac and iPhone apps allow users to keep track of daily transactions and bank accounts. You can schedule bills and payments, set budgets and upload receipts. JACK HENRY & ASSOCIATES
IXYS
ITRON
IRON MOUNTAIN INORATED
IOMEGA
Google may be trying to make nice and play ball with all the thoroughly outraged governments affected by its unintentional WiFi snooping with Street View cars, but that apparently hasn’t been good enough for South Korea. Earlier this morning, Google’s Seoul HQ was subjected to a raid and search operation by the cyber crime unit of the Korean National Police Agency, due to suspicions that it may have collected and stored data from WiFi networks without authorization. So it’s the same old complaint the rest of the world’s been dealing with, only the zeal of the methodology seems to have been turned up to 11. It’ll be interesting to see if this raid uncovers anything more salacious than what we already know; we’ll keep you posted if it does.
[Thanks, D. Kim]Google’s South Korean offices raided by police as part of Street View investigation originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Reuters | Email this | CommentsAT&T
AUTODESK
AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING
AVNET
BHARTI AIRTEL
A newly revealed picture of what appears to be a NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
NOVELL
NETWORK APPLIANCE
NETGEAR
NCR
This is interesting: Microsoft’s developing some sort of new mobile OS, according to Mary-Jo Foley, who’s apparently spent months digging for details of a project code-named Menlo.
A just-published Microsoft research paper (PDF) describes Menlo as “a prototype mobile device with a capacitive touch screen (4.1 [inch] diagonal, 800 x 480) running Microsoft Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 which incorporates a Bosch BMA150 3-axis accelerometer and Bosch BMP085 digital pressure sensor (barometer).”
Foley’s Aug. 8 blog post includes an image, taken from the paper, of a smartphonelike device. Additionally, a number of the project’s researchers seem focused on sensors, particularly within the context of geolocation (an application layered atop Menlo, “Greenfield,” apparently enables users to retrace their path). Even with that information, though, it’s hard to glean the project’s ultimate aim: Microsoft already has Windows Phone 7 prepped for the mobile arena, and it’s unlikely the company will pursue another homegrown phone project after taking a multimillion-dollar bath on the whole Kin debacle.
As Foley hints, this might have something to do with Microsoft and ARM’s recent architecture licensing agreement, which could see Microsoft using ARM’s technology offerings to build tablets or smartphones. Or maybe Microsoft’s just pursuing yet another research avenue, with no definitive goal in mind. If it’s the former, we’ll probably find out relatively soon–Microsoft is prepping for a major play (some would say “make or break”) in the smartphone and tablet arena over the next several quarters.
METHODE ELECTRONICS
MENTOR GRAPHICS
MCAFEE
MAXIMUS
MANTECH INTERNATIONAL
CNET UK was on hand Saturday for the launch of Apple’s biggest store and explored the many cavernous chambers of the new shop. Originally posted at Crave
THQ
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
TERADATA
TELETECH HOLDINGS
TECHNITROL
Apple Developer Connection members have long had access to the company’s compatibility labs, which allow them to test their software on a variety of Apple hardware configurations. But on Monday, Apple added a new option: a $99 Single Lab Day Pass for members of its Mac Developer Program.FORMFACTOR
FISERV
FIRST SOLAR
FINISAR
FEI COMPANY
Dek:
These products have features missing in the iPad, and they're slated to ship this year
Source:
Network World
No
INTERDIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS
INTEL
INSIGHT ENTERPRISES
INGRAM MICRO
INFORMATICA
The Nexus One, the phone that was supposed to launch Google’s online phone sales strategy, may not be available anymore from the search giant’s online store, but Google is still selling it — to developers. On Thursday, Google said that the Nexus One is now its Android Dev Phone. People who are registered as Android developers can buy the phone for $529.DIRECTV GROUP
ELPIDA MEMORY
EMC
FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS.
FISERV
More than a few of you have cut business travel to the bare minimum, I’m guessing. The improvement in video calling and presentations is probably the biggest reason – with things like Skype video and screen sharing we’re not all that far away from having a near-in person virtual experience. But the orchestrated indignities of air travel – and you know exactly what I mean – also play a part. Flying from one place to another, unless you are doing it from a small airport on a private jet, is just going from bad to intolerable.
I’m not talking about leg room, which for someone like me who’s 6′4 makes flying coach over long distances torture. Or the indifferent TSA, who often seem to be the biggest security threat in any given airport. I can’t get a bottle of water past security, but I’m pretty sure I could get a gun on board a plane if I wanted to. No, what’s really making flying just terrible are all the people that work for the airlines. My expectations are pretty low after flying mostly with United Airlines for the last decade. And even so, Delta managed to, somehow, make United actually look good.
The newer crop of airlines understand that happy employees tend to make good employees. Southwest, JetBlue, Virgin America – I’ve had recognizably positive moments on all of these airlines. Sometimes just from an employee who went slightly out of their way to do something right.RED HAT
RADISYS
RACKABLE SYSTEMS
QUEST SOFTWARE
QUANTUM
If you can’t beat them, buy them. At least that’s what executives at Intel Corp. seem to be thinking.F5 NETWORKS
EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
EMS TECHNOLOGIES
EMC
Apple maintains that complaints about the iPhone 4’s antenna design and reception were overblown. But an executive in charge of device hardware engineering has parted ways with Apple, according to media reports.AMAZON.COM
AMERICA MOVIL
AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
AMPHENOL
ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL
It’s usually other industries that get all the sex scandals. Politics, sports, entertainment — hardly a week goes by without someone getting their dangle in a mangle. But high tech? Not so much. Finally, our long painful drought is over.MAXIMUS
MANTECH INTERNATIONAL
MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES
LSI
LINEAR TECHNOLOGY .
Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman couldn’t get into the National Security Agency, but he did visit its museum. Think Enigma.COGNIZANT TECH. SOLUTIONS
COMCAST
COMMSCOPE
COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS
COMPAL ELECTRONICS
Microsoft released its fourth and final Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9 for developers Aug. 4, as part of its ramp-up towards the browser’s September beta release. This Preview features native JavaScript integration and fully hardware-accelerated HTML5, among other features.After previewing IE9 at the MIX 2010 conference in Las Vegas, Microsoft has released preview versions of IE9 to developers roughly every eight weeks; the three previous Platform Previews have been downloaded more than 2.5 million times, according to Microsoft. The newest preview can be downloaded from this site.”The fourth Platform Preview of Internet Explorer 9, available now, shows the opportunity of fully hardware-accelerated HTML5,” Dean Hachamovitch, general manager of Internet Explorer, wrote in an Aug. 4 posting on the Windows Internet Explorer Weblog. “You can run new test drive samples that show modern SVG and native JavaScript integration in action… With this installment, you will find more performance and more support for the same markup.” By integrating the JavaScript engine directly into the browser, apparently, IE9 achieves speeds greater than its predecessors.Microsoft also contributed 519 new tests to the standards bodies with Platform Preview 4, bringing the total number of tests contributed during IE9 development to 2,138.Despite a strong challenge from rival browsers such as Firefox and Chrome, Internet Explorer has managed to make incremental gains with regard to overall users. Net Applications estimated Internet Explorer’s share of the browser market at 60.74 percent (a slightly increase from June’s 60.32 percent), followed by Firefox with 22.91 percent, Chrome with 7.16 percent, Safari with 5.09 percent, and Opera with 2.45 percent.User adoption of Internet Explorer 8 has been on the rise, even as the respective shares for Internet Explorer 6 and 7 continue their decline. Over the past few months, Microsoft executives have positioned the latter two versions’ slide as a natural trend they encourage. Despite that, Microsoft currently intends to support Internet Explorer 6 through April 2014, despite concerns from some quarters over its security and relevance.But Internet Explorer’s privacy policies have also raised some users’ hackles–particularly after an Aug. 1 article in The Wall Street Journal that alleged company executives had killed the Internet Explorer team’s initiative to create software that counteracts common tracking tools; the concern, apparently, was that such programming would interfere with the company’s online-ad selling operation.In response to that controversy, Microsoft issued an Aug. 1 posting on The Windows Internet Explorer Weblog, insisting that “browsing the Web is fundamentally an information exchange” and that “your Web browser offers information in order to get information.” That posting also called attention to Internet Explorer’s InPrivate Filtering, which allows users to regulate their privacy settings.
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
KDDI
KLA-TENCOR
If you know what this is and where it’s located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.
YAHOO!
YAHOO
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WESTERN DIGITAL
VOLT INFORMATION SCIENCES
Microsoft employees will apparently be given free Windows Phone 7 smartphones, according to staffer Tweets escaping from Microsoft Global Exchange, the company’s annual sales conference (Mary Jo Foley tweeted about it first). Gizmodo’s also posted an internal e-mail purportedly from Andy Lees, senior vice president of Microsoft’s Mobile Communications Business, with additional details:”I am thrilled to announce that a new Windows Phone 7 will be made available to every Microsoft employee as we launch in each market around the world. The process will vary based on your market, your carrier and your launch date so stay tuned for more information closer to launch.”This is exactly what you’d expect, no? Apple employees walk around campus with the iPhone, Google employees have a tendency to whip out their Android in meetings, so it stands to reason that Microsoft staffers would follow suit.I’ve expended a lot of digital ink on the question of whether Windows Phone 7 will succeed. But this week’s earnings numbers from both Apple and Microsoft make the stakes of that success all too clear. On the strength of its mobile devices–the iPhone and the iPad in particular–Apple posted quarterly revenues of $15.7 billion… while analysts predict that Microsoft, with much of its energies still focused on the desktop, will post revenues of $15.27 billion (the earnings call takes place at 5:30 EST).Microsoft knows it needs to diversify into the cloud and mobile–its Worldwide Partner Conference last week devoted substantial amounts of time to both. If Windows Phone 7 succeeds beyond expectations, then Microsoft will have another robust vertical to supplement Windows 7 and the other flagship software that support its current revenue model. If it fails, then Microsoft will find itself trapped in its old paradigm, at least in the short- to medium term; while the company has a number of cloud initiatives, none have translated into awe-inspiring cash flow. (So many heads would roll in the event of a Phone 7 meltdown, it would make the recent restructuring in the Entertainment & Devices Division look like a haircut by comparison.)Being trapped in the old paradigm is, frankly, unacceptable. Microsoft knows this. Giving its 88,000+ employees a Windows Phone 7 is a no-brainer; the next step is seeing whether it can convince a few million outsiders to put down cash for the privilege.
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Despite a blizzard of bad press about the iPhone 4’s antenna, more than nine out of 10 consumers who have the smartphone said they’re happy with their purchase, a pollster said today. But early buyers of the iPhone 4 are less likely to be satisfied with the smartphone than were early adopters of last summer’s iPhone 3GS, acknowledged Paul Carton, research director at consumer spending research company ChangeWave.SES
SHAW COMMUNICATIONS
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE
SYNTEL
SYNTAX-BRILLIAN
SYNOPSYS
SYNNEX
RIM revealed the BlackBerry Torch 9800 this week with much fanfare, but with mixed reviews and a lukewarm reception. The launch of the BlackBerry Torch seems déjà vu — reminiscent of the hype and reception of the Palm Pre which ultimately turned out to be Palm’s swan song.SYNTAX-BRILLIAN
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SYKES ENTERPRISES INORATED
Back in February, the first glimpses of Glitch, a new massively multiplayer online game created by Tiny Speck, were shown to the world. Stewart Butterfield, the co-creator of Flickr and co-founder of Tiny Speck, gave us a walk-through of the game at that time. Even in its very early stages, it looked pretty damn good. And the potential was very apparent. Now it’s even more apparent, as the game gets ready to enter beta testing.
For the past several weeks, Glitch has been doing extensive alpha testing. Tiny Speck has set up Twitter accounts for the game to allow eager users to cut the invitation queue and try it out right away. We’ve heard from a few of those testers that the game is getting pretty solid — and addicting.SYNNEX
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SYKES ENTERPRISES INORATED
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The free or “lite” versions of apps get a new category in the App Store. Originally posted at Circuit Breaker
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
YAHOO!
YAHOO
The European Commission has started legal action against Britain, claiming the country is allowing Internet service providers to target users by letting the companies use technology that accesses personal data….QLOGIC .
PROGRESS SOFTWARE
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We?ve been hearing Verizon iPhone rumors for years now.
It?s to the point that no one really believes the rumors anymore, since analysts and pundits have cried wolf so many times. But this time looks to be different due to some key dynamics in the semiconductor value chain, and I am going to go on record to say Verizon will be selling an iPhone this coming January. Here?s why:SYNOPSYS
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SYKES ENTERPRISES INORATED
SYBASE
Planning to jailbreak your Apple iPhone? You may want to think twice — or at least wait until Apple patches a security hole that lets remote attackers take control of a jailbroken device. In other news: Google waved good-bye to Wave, its less-than-hugely-popular social networking collaboration tool; RIM debuted a new touchscreen BlackBerry just in time to get banned by a handful of countries; and Facebook ruled the roost as American’s No. 1 time-wasting activity. Care to waste a little more time trying to beat our quizmaster? Give yourself 10 points each time you get it right.GRUPO IUSACELL
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HCL TECHNOLOGIES
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HIGH TECH COMPUTER
Those living toward the northern areas of the planet are in for a visual treat over the next couple days, thanks to the sun spitting plasma directly at the planet.LSI
LINEAR TECHNOLOGY .
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LAWSON SOFTWARE
First came reports of how many more deals Ron Conway was doing in New York than he’s done in the past. Then, there was a report that showed the number of venture firms were predicted to decline in traditional markets, and grow in emerging markets like China, India and Brazil. Now, the latest Pepperdine Capital Markets Survey finds that Silicon Valley based VCs have wanderlust too.
According to the survey the number one location where VCs said they expected to invest in the next year was Southern California. Specifically, 17.4% named Southern California, 12% said they planned to invest in the Southwest and 10.5% said they planned to invest in the Southeast. Only 7.9% of VCs surveyed?most of whom live in Silicon Valley?said they intended to invest in Silicon Valley.
Wait.
What? COMCAST
COMMSCOPE
COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS
COMPAL ELECTRONICS
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman stops in on the National Cryptologic Museum and sees a bit of the history of codes and codebreaking.FAIR ISAAC
FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS
F5 NETWORKS
EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
A new rumor says Apple is holding its annual iPod refresh event a little earlier than usual this year–possibly as soon as in a week and a half. Originally posted at Web Crawler
NII HOLDINGS
NIKON
NINTENDO
NOKIA
NVIDIA
SPARQCode, a startup that provides an API that allows other companies to generate and perform analytics on 2D barcodes, has raised a $550,000 seed round led by Andy Liu (Buddy TV), with other participants including Chris DeVore (Founders Coop), and John Keister (Marchex).
Founder Jesse Chor says that SPARQCodes are similar to standard QR codes, but with a few key differences. For one, he says that most QR codes try to embed all of their payload data into the 2D barcode itself, which can result in barcodes that are visually complex and harder for phone cameras (which are generally low quality) to scan. SILICON LABORATORIES
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SCIENTIFIC GAMES
SANDISK
Low-cost Android tablets resembling Apple’s iconic iPad are on sale through retail sites like eBay for $50 to $125, though observers say they could be a pain to own since they lack hardware and software support. The inexpensive tablets come in different designs, with some resembling the iPad. The devices have 7-inch touchscreens, which are smaller than iPad’s 9.7-inch screen, and run the older Android 1.7 OS.CHINA MOBILE
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Road Trip 2010: When CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman takes U.S. Route 30 east, he stumbles onto Day 2 of the NFL team’s training camp.INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
KDDI
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Hoping to leapfrog over Google and Apple’s successes in the smartphone market, Microsoft plans to use cloud-based speech recognition and natural language processing technology to offer user interface capabilities not found on the iPhone or Android devices.INGRAM MICRO
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It’s time for the Kin autopsy.Days after Microsoft discontinued its social-networking phone, much of the blogosphere is alight with competing theories over what killed the project, and what its demise means for the company’s overall fortunes in the mobile space. Is Kin’s death evidence of larger dysfunction within Microsoft? How exactly does someone blow the equivalent of a medium-size country’s defense budget on a device that sold so poorly? And how many units did Kin sell, anyway?Over at Daring Fireball, John Gruber is claiming a “well-placed little birdie” told him that Microsoft sold 503 Kin phones before the plug was unceremoniously pulled. As pointed out on sites like Pocketnow.com, though, there are 8,810 “monthly active users” of the Kin Facebook application, for which you need either the Kin One or Kin Two. However–as yet someone else helpfully suggested–at least a portion of those users could be Microsoft employees, meaning the number of actual devices sold at retail and subsequently present in the wild could be far, far less.Imagine spending $150 million to make a summer blockbuster, and you sell only $200.50 in tickets. You can understand why a number of Microsoft employees, at least according to Mini-Microsoft, are reportedly walking around this week feeling embarrassed. In any case, Kin is dead–but nonetheless continues to overshadow Windows Phone 7, scheduled to debut near the end of this year.Personally, I think Windows Phone 7 faces a challenge (or a problem, if you want to frame it more negatively) similar to the one that killed the Kin phones. Kin died because it was overpriced, and lacking in a number of features that appealed to its target demographic; limited in its abilities, it was marooned and left to shrivel in a harsh environment–one where, for roughly the same price as Verizon’s prohibitive monthly plan, you could get an actual smartphone on which you could run actual third-party applications.With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft seems very determined to push the smartphone operating system’s platform alongside other company products. Its “Office” hub, perhaps understandably, revolves around programs such as SharePoint; the “Games” hub will center on Xbox; “Music” is all about Zune. That’s all to the good, but Microsoft could be trying to ram through a vision of Windows Phone 7 so tied to other company products that it neglects to focus on other vital areas–namely, creating a robust ecosystem of third-party apps.Sure, enterprise users will appreciate being able to open documents on their new device (if their administrator doesn’t stick them with using Windows Mobile 6.5), and an Xbox-enabled smartphone could be a potential competitor to other handheld gaming systems–but as both the iPhone and Google Android devices are demonstrating, apps are perhaps the single most crucial selling point when it comes to smartphones.But Microsoft doesn’t seem to be generating a lot of momentum from the developer community for Windows Phone 7 apps. They’ve been pushing business-centric developers to create programs, and rumors suggest they’ve approached gaming developers about porting the more popular iPhone games onto the platform–but I haven’t been hearing a lot of chatter from the developers themselves about building Windows Phone 7 products. And with four or five months until the smartphones launch, that presents a potentially substantial problem.Lack of applications for Windows Mobile 6.5 was a major symptom of that operating system’s problems. Kin died at least partially because it stuck to a limited amount of features, and offered no path for a third-party developer with a particularly cool idea to port their product onto the device. In the spirit of avoiding those previous systems’ fates, I feel that Microsoft needs to focus less on “Let’s see how many of our products we can possibly squeeze onto this smartphone,” and more on, “How can we build the versatile, robust mobile ecosystem that we need?”
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HCL TECHNOLOGIES
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HON HAI PRECISION IND.
Images surface of parts purportedly set to go in the next version of Apple’s touch-screen iPod. Originally posted at Circuit Breaker
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VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES
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TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR
We’re still waiting on leaked (or official, we’re not partial) images to confirm, but based on a presentation slide and a bit of insider information passed on to Notebook Italia, ASUS is gearing up to replace its aging EeeBox EB1501 with the EB1501P. Reportedly, the box will be based around Intel’s dual-core Atom D525 processor and will feature NVIDIA’s Ion GPU, a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 802.11n WiFi, an HDMI output, six USB sockets and Bluetooth. That aligns quite nicely with the EB1501U (shown above) that we spotted back at CeBIT, which has yet to launch in any capacity since. A proper introduction at IFA, perhaps? We’ll be watching, ASUS.ASUS’ EeeBox EB1501P leaks out with Atom D525, Ion GPU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Notebook Italia | Email this | CommentsCHINA MOBILE
CISCO SYSTEMS
COGNIZANT TECH. SOLUTIONS
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We suppose the good news is that Cablevision COO Tom Rutledge mentioned the intent is to bring all of its services — broadcast TV, video on-demand — to networked devices capable of displaying video, specifically mentioning the iPad, and that it is also working on program guide software for Android and PCs. Unfortunately, unlike the TV Everywhere websites from others like Comcast, or Dish’s Sling-powered placeshifting Cablevision only plans to allow access within the residence. According to Light Reading, the comments came during the company’s second quarter earnings call, when he also noted that the PC to TV Media Relay for bringing web video to the cable box was still undergoing testing ahead of a fourth quarter launch, while the long awaited network DVR is in its second phase of testing will also begin rolling out later this year. We’re not sure if Cablevision’s reluctance to extend video beyond our four walls is a technical issue, greed, or if it’s simply tired of fighting Hollywood over content rights after the network DVR legal battle, but we’re still hoping for a change of plans down the line.Cablevision promises TV, VOD streaming to iPads, other networked devices — but only at home originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 08:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Light Reading | Email this | CommentsNANYA TECHNOLOGY
NII HOLDINGS
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We’re still waiting on leaked (or official, we’re not partial) images to confirm, but based on a presentation slide and a bit of insider information passed on to Notebook Italia, ASUS is gearing up to replace its aging EeeBox EB1501 with the EB1501P. Reportedly, the box will be based around Intel’s dual-core Atom D525 processor and will feature NVIDIA’s Ion GPU, a 250GB hard drive, 2GB of DDR3 memory, 802.11n WiFi, an HDMI output, six USB sockets and Bluetooth. That aligns quite nicely with the EB1501U (shown above) that we spotted back at CeBIT, which has yet to launch in any capacity since. A proper introduction at IFA, perhaps? We’ll be watching, ASUS.ASUS’ EeeBox EB1501P leaks out with Atom D525, Ion GPU originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 23:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Notebook Italia | Email this | CommentsHARRIS
HCL TECHNOLOGIES
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
The Nexus One, the phone that was supposed to launch Google’s online phone sales strategy, may not be available anymore from the search giant’s online store, but Google is still selling it — to developers. On Thursday, Google said that the Nexus One is now its Android Dev Phone. People who are registered as Android developers can buy the phone for $529.MEMC ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
MICROSOFT
MILLICOM INTL. CELLULAR
MOBILE TELESYSTEMS
NANYA TECHNOLOGY
Anybody want to buy a content farm? Demand Media filed its IPO registration today. It describes its business this way:
While traditional media companies create content based on anticipated consumer interest, we create content that responds to actual consumer demand. Our approach is driven by consumers’ desire to search for and discover increasingly specific information across the Internet.
It is also filled with all sorts of detailed financial data. It turns out that Demand Media is not yet a very profitable business. Last year it reported $22 million in losses on $198 million in revenues. In the first six months of this year, however, it brought its net loss down to $6 million, on revenues of $108 million.
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It’s no secret that advertisers are flocking to social networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter to connect with users. In fact, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg recently told Bloomberg BusinessWeek that the social network’s advertisers have increased spending by “at least 10-fold” over the past year as Facebook crossed the 500 million member mark.
But advertisers are moving beyond Facebook. Adapt.ly is entering the field to allow marketers deploy ads simultaneously on multiple social networks ad platforms. The startup, which was incubated by DreamIt Ventures, is in private beta. We have invites for TechCrunch readers; enter the code ‘techcrunch’ here. NOVELL
NETWORK APPLIANCE
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Despite a blizzard of bad press about the iPhone 4’s antenna, more than nine out of 10 consumers who have the smartphone said they’re happy with their purchase, a pollster said today. But early buyers of the iPhone 4 are less likely to be satisfied with the smartphone than were early adopters of last summer’s iPhone 3GS, acknowledged Paul Carton, research director at consumer spending research company ChangeWave.RED HAT
RADISYS
RACKABLE SYSTEMS
QUEST SOFTWARE
QUANTUM
My mom doesn’t know smartphones, but she wants Facetime. The same woman who used a Motorola RAZR for most of the last decade now wants to drop – or, more precisely, wants me to drop – $299 for a new iPhone 4 so she can see the grandkids. Why? Because it seems like magic to her that she can see live video of the grandkids without having to make my dad hobble over to the computer and fire up Skype.
Video chat is not new and to most geeks Facetime is an affornt to the hard work and patience they put into getting video chat to work over Wi-Fi and cellular networks over the past few years. The Euros all scream “But we had video chat on our Nokias during the Clinton administration!” while streaming zealots claim they were video chatting with each other for years before Apple barged in. But with rumors that the new iPod Touch will have a front facing camera and will be launched sometime in September, I think Apple is about to own the video chat space.TIBCO SOFTWARE
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What’s being hailed as North America’s first public-use quick-charge station for electric vehicles has just been unveiled in Portland. The station, built by NEC subsidiary Takasago, is installed in a PGE headquarters parking garage and will charge electric vehicles with lithium-ion batteries to 80% in about 20 to 30 minutes. So yeah, it’s public, as long as you’ve got a PGE badge apparently. Anyway, the grand opening was led by Governor Ted Kulongoski, pictured above carefully maintaining a safe distance while charging a Nissan Leaf. Guess you can never be too careful when pumping 50kW into a pre-production vehicle. Click through to see a video demonstration of the future, if we’re lucky.
Update: We’re being told that the quick charge station is installed in a public parking garage that is part of the World Trade Center building in downtown Portland (where PGE’s headquarters are). It costs $3 to park, but charging is on the house. Thanks, Chris!Continue reading North America’s first public-use quick-charge station opens in Portland: 3-handed politician not includedNorth America’s first public-use quick-charge station opens in Portland: 3-handed politician not included originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 06 Aug 2010 06:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsNINTENDO
NOKIA
NVIDIA
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POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR
Hoping to leapfrog over Google and Apple’s successes in the smartphone market, Microsoft plans to use cloud-based speech recognition and natural language processing technology to offer user interface capabilities not found on the iPhone or Android devices.APPLIED MATERIALS
ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT
ARROW ELECTRONICS
ASML HOLDING
ASUSTEK COMPUTER
The European Commission has started legal action against Britain, claiming the country is allowing Internet service providers to target users by letting the companies use technology that accesses personal data….MISCROSOFT OFFICE
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MICRON TECHNOLOGY
Zynga just officially confirmed their buy of Tokyo-based startup Unoh , which we reported on yesterday. Japanese business publication The Nikkei estimated the price at several billion yen. When contacted, Zynga representatives declined to comment on financial details.
The Unoh offices in Tokyo will be the base of Zynga Japan?s mobile initiatives, a joint venture between Zynga and the SoftBank Group which recently invested $150 million into the social gaming company.DIODES INORATED
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IT spending has shown some hefty recovery after the economic travails of previous years. According to research from IDC, global sales of software and hardware have recovered from the low point of the recession and, consequently, the analysis company has revised its spending forecasts for the year. According to the research, services expenditure is set to rise two percent, software spending by four percent and hardware spending by a whopping 11 percent. IDC is projecting an overall increase in expenditure of six percent.TIBCO SOFTWARE
THQ
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TELETECH HOLDINGS
The Nexus One, the phone that was supposed to launch Google’s online phone sales strategy, may not be available anymore from the search giant’s online store, but Google is still selling it — to developers. On Thursday, Google said that the Nexus One is now its Android Dev Phone. People who are registered as Android developers can buy the phone for $529.DELL
CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR
ACCENTURE
ACER
ADOBE SYSTEMS
ELV Motors adds lightweight foldable electric bicycle to its repertoire of electric bikes, scooters, and motorcycles.
KLA-TENCOR
KONINKLIJKE KPN
LAM RESEARCH
LIBERTY GLOBAL
LM ERICSSON
It’s funny — I know Twitter is down. I know it has been down for about an hour now. And yet, I can’t stop visiting the site to see if just maybe it’s back up. And I’m hardly alone.
I’m sitting here at the Techonomy conference in Lake Tahoe, CA and Twitter’s current downtime seems to be what a huge number of people are talking about. And they’re talking about it in person, because they can’t on Twitter.SPSS
SPANSION
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Not like it matters much now — after all, Project Natal has had time to incubate and come out as Kinect — but those wondering about the inner workings of the motion sensing system now have more one outlet to investigate. A patent application filed on February 23, 2009 was just made public today, describing a “gesture keyboarding” scenario where users can make gestures that are caught by a “depth camera” and then converted into in-game controls. Of course, those paying close attention could’ve read between the lines when we toyed with a camouflaged PrimeSense demo at GDC, but here’s the fully skinny in black and white. And a bit of blue, if you count the buttons. Give that source link a tap once you’re settled in. Gallery: Microsoft’s Kinect patent applicationMicrosoft’s Kinect patent application goes public, reveals gobs of fine print originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Electronista | USPTO | Email this | CommentsVERIFONE HOLDINGS
VEECO INSTRUMENTS
VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES
UNITED ONLINE
UNISYS
In the battle of Foursquare versus Gowalla in the location space, Gowalla is often thought of as “the pretty one.” But Foursquare has been attempting to improve their look and feel recently with a number of changes. The latest comes today with new profile pages.
As you can see, the new user pages have a much cleaner design. Just as with the recently redesigned venue pages, Tips are now more clearly labeled and To-Dos are explained better. It seems clear that Foursquare is trying to move the service beyond the check-in and attempting to provide more utility to users with their other features.SRA INTERNATIONAL
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Reach deep into the grey matter and try to recall a little post we did back on December 30th of 2009. That’s the day we learned about HP’s filing for the “Zeen” trademark on a “portable handheld device.” Now here we are today, eight months and one major aquisition later, with an FCC filing for a very tablety device with 802.11b/g/n WiFi. The name? HP eStation Zeen. Unfortunately, that’s all we know due to the short-term confidentiality request put in place until December 31st. Still, product CQ720A looks very much like the mythical HP Slate don’t you think? It’s definitely a tablet of some kind. Now if only we knew the chosen OS, price, ship date, consumer or business focus, and about a dozen or so other details. Baby steps, people, baby steps.
Update: This is crazy, but we’ve now gotten multiple tips claiming that the Zeen is actually an Android-based tablet with e-reader functionality that can also dock with an HP printer and become its interface. E-reading, Zeen, magazine — get it? Based on HP’s repeated previous statements about webOS hitting printers and tablets, we’d assume the Zeen has since been shifted over to Palm’s OS, but we can’t be sure, as that would undoubtedly add development time and we’re told this thing has been kicking around for months.
Whatever this is, it appears HP still has some work to do: one of our sources described the Android-based prototype as feeling like a “brick” and being “extremely unpolished” with poor battery life. It’s also been pointed out in comments that the CQ in the product number typically indicates a Compaq device, so that could eventually be the branding. We’ll see what’s real soon enough, we suppose.Continue reading eStation Zeen is HP Slate? Update: Or a Compaq Android tablet for printing?eStation Zeen is HP Slate? Update: Or a Compaq Android tablet for printing? originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 10:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | FCC | Email this | CommentsSPANSION
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SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
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Watches that try do something really different aren’t exactly all that common, but you can certainly say that about the just-announced Mutewatch. Described as a “silent alarm in the shape of a vibrating wristband,” the watch features a hidden screen that activates on touch and lets you swipe to scroll between the timer, clock and alarm — the latter of which simply vibrates rather than making a sound, and can be dismissed by pinching the watch. Best of all, this isn’t simply a concept — you can secure a pre-order for your choice of a white, gray or red watch now for €19, which will be deducted from the full €199 (or about $260) price when it eventually ships.Mutewatch aims to be a less watch-like watch originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 13:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Mutewatch | Email this | CommentsIMS HEALTH
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Newly created GM Ventures takes a minority stake in Bright Automotive, which has created a plug-in hybrid utility van that can get up to 100 mpg.
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It’s rare that a company spends any time talking about the visual design of a desktop intended to be sold en masse to big corporations before being unceremoniously stuffed onto or under desks. Odd, then, that Lenovo is highlighting the aesthetics of two new ThinkCentre PCs for enterprises, pointing out such things as silver rings around power buttons and crimson eject buttons. Right. Moving on to the hardware, there are two models here, the M70e pictured above and the rather more slim A70, shown after the break. Each come with your choice of Intel processors, up to 4GB of DDR3 RAM, gigabit Ethernet, DVD burners, and storage capacities of 500GB on the A70 and 1TB on the M70e. That latter machine starts at $559, going up from there, while the A70 starts at a rather more affordable $379. That, it seems, is the machine for your new posse of go-getter interns, while you can save the M70e for the clock-watching middle-management types.Continue reading Lenovo’s M70e and A70 desktops are coming soon to a cubicle near youLenovo’s M70e and A70 desktops are coming soon to a cubicle near you originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 05:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Lenovo files | Email this | CommentsELECTRONIC DATA SYSTEMS
ELECTRONIC ARTS
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EASTMAN KODAK CO
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Spirit, in electronic hibernation to endure a harsh Martian winter, has not phoned home since March 22, but engineers are hoping for a miracle from Mars.FIRST SOLAR
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Microsoft, along with Yahoo and Google, is apparently in discussions with News Corp. about possibly scoring a future advertising partnership with MySpace. That’s according to a July 6 article in the Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” News Corp. also owns the Wall Street Journal, by the way. Just throwing that out there.News Corp.’s existing deal with Google for MySpace–which will expire within weeks–has the search-engine giant paying $900 million to sell “small ads” on the site. But given how nobody’s actually been on MySpace since early 2007, except for a few tiny bands with roughly 10 fans, apparently the traffic milestones aren’t being met. Enter Microsoft and Yahoo, who are apparently willing to negotiate at a time when MySpace is trying to (yet again) retool itself into something other than a digital ghost-town.(And yes, I know–thanks to the original WSJ article–that MySpace apparently attracted 109 million unique visitors in May. That still doesn’t come close to matching Facebook’s 500-million-plus users; more importantly, once News Corp. started plastering MySpace with ads, it promptly lost its cachet as a destination Website for its target audience.)Microsoft has been involved in social networking for some time. It made a $240 million investment in Facebook back in 2007, and initiatives such as Bing and Windows Live Messenger have focused on integrating information from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. But that’s not enough. As the early-June rumors about a possible Microsoft buyout of AOL suggested, any moves that Redmond could make to either profit from social networking–through advertising or capital investment–or increase its presence in the space–via baking others’ content into its own offerings–are moves that would merit serious consideration.And I’m sure that, should a MySpace deal work itself out, Microsoft would earn itself a tidy little profit, especially considering that News Corp. will likely be forced to set lower traffic milestones. A few short years ago, the entire landscape looked very different (back then, my MySpace profile picture still had hair); now it’s possible to look at potential deals like this as a snapshot of the Web’s current state, where previously dominant players in one area (MySpace, social networking) find themselves battled over by the same groups of titans (Google, Microsoft). The more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.
SIEMENS ZORAN
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YAHOO!
YAHOO
Logitech’s been making quality peripherals for as long as many of us have been computing, introducing some of us to our first wheel, wireless and infrared mice in the process. But when it comes to the latest in gaming peripherals, the company’s not always ahead of the curve. Razer and Microsoft have had high-end hybrid wireless mice for over a year now, and the 2.4GHz wireless headset isn’t exactly a new concept. That said, the company’s reputation is strong for a reason, and we were pleasantly surprised to find that Logitech’s created a mouse and headset that leapfrog — rather than just catch up to — what competitors have offered. See what we mean in our review after the break.Continue reading Logitech G700 mouse and G930 headset reviewLogitech G700 mouse and G930 headset review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 05 Aug 2010 08:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsNUANCE COMMUNICATIONS
NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
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Research In Motion executives said on Tuesday that the company isn’t ignoring Flash, but continuing to work with Adobe Systems on bringing support for the multimedia platform on its mobile devices. RIM unveiled the new BlackBerry Torch 9800 smartphone on Tuesday during a press event in New York, but Flash support on the device was not announced. RIM said its latest smartphone runs on the new BlackBerry 6 OS with a WebKit browser, and supports the HTML 5 standard for video playback.WESTERN DIGITAL
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VIEWSONIC
How will people work 10 years from now? Gartner thinks it has a pretty good idea, predicting 10 major changes that will occur during the next 10 years. “Work will become less routine, characterized by increased volatility, hyperconnectedness, ’swarming’ and more,” said Tom Austin, a Gartner fellow, in a media announcement.TAKE-TWO INTERACTIVE SOFTWARE
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Tesla has released the details of their 2010 Q2 financial performance, and it looks like things are coming up roses for the nascent auto maker. Sales are up, with nearly $27m in sales coming in — translating to a total of around 250 Roadsters shipped. Their gross margins are up, though; their business is growing, and hopefully cash on hand will suffice to pay for R&D and manufacturing until they start eking out a profit.
Critically, the launch of the Model S sedan is on track, and much of the cost of development is already behind them. With a far lower price and larger target demographic, it is likely the first Tesla car many will actually see on the road, and not parked in some entrepreneur’s driveway in Mountain View.F5 NETWORKS
EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
EMS TECHNOLOGIES
EMC
Massachusetts attorney general gets a 10 percent price reduction from Cape Wind, a deal that highlights the challenge of cost for offshore wind.
TRIDENT MICROSYSTEMS
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TIBCO SOFTWARE
ELV Motors adds lightweight foldable electric bicycle to its repertoire of electric bikes, scooters, and motorcycles.
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HON HAI PRECISION IND.
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Yeah, it may look like the Dell Aero when peeking it head-on, but Motorola’s Glam is apt to be far more sophisticated that the self-proclaimed “world’s lightest Android phone.” Launched today over in South Korea, this Android 2.1-based handset (which we toyed with earlier in the year when it was known as the XT800) boasts a 3.7-inch capacitive multitouch panel (854 x 480), dual LED flash, a 5 megapixel camera, Bluetooth 2.1+EDR, 3.5mm headphone jack, USB 2.0 connectivity, an HDMI socket, 1GB of NAND Flash, 512MB of SDRAM, an 8GB microSD card, inbuilt GPS and support for a multitude of multimedia formats. Mum’s the word on a price, but it should be shuffling over to SK Telecom — high heels and all — by the end of August.Motorola Glam brings Android 2.1, plenty of ritz to South Korea originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 04:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Akihabara News | ITNews, Motosmart Korea | Email this | CommentsNETWORK APPLIANCE
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Despite the iPhone 4’s antenna issues, Apple’s iOS experienced its largest single month market share gain ever in July, research firm says.
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FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS.
What is your company doing to collect all those emails, PDFs, and other documents that never get printed? Regulators want to know….INTERNATIONAL RECTIFIER
INTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES (IBM)
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Back in May we reported a rumor that Telefonica was in talks to acquire Tuenti, the ‘Spanish Facebook’, for ?80 million? ($104 million), but Tuenti vehemently denied it at the time.
Now, according to Spanish news site Expansion, the two sides have “virtually sealed the deal” whereby Telefonica will take 90% of the share capital of Tuenti, valuing the company at around ?75 million or close to $99 million. There is further confirmation from Martin Varsavsky, founder of FON who has been informally advising the company, who repeats the Expansion story and adds that “all shareholders of Tuenti but management sold all their shares to Telefonica.”DELL
CYPRESS SEMICONDUCTOR
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Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman stops in on Raytheon’s Integrated Defense Systems facility in Rhode Island and got the low-down on the DDG 1000, the U.S. Navy’s most advanced destroyer ever.TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR
TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED
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Steve Jobs may have another reason to keep Adobe on his enemies list (alongside the Copyright Office and the Congressional Librarian, which has deemed jaIBASIS
HYPERCOM
HEWLETT PACKARD CO
HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS
GOOGLE
Road Trip 2010: When CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman takes U.S. Route 30 east, he stumbles onto Day 2 of the NFL team’s training camp.QIMONDA
QUALCOMM
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RESEARCH IN MOTION
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If anyone’s still in the market for a Kin phone, you’re officially out of luck: Verizon Wireless will no longer carry the devices, 19 days after Microsoft decided to pull the plug due to anemic sales. Dustbin of history (or at least dead tech), here they come.”Verizon Wireless will no longer sell the Kin One or Kin Two in our company-owned stores,” Verizon spokesperson Brenda Raney told the blog Phone Scoop on July 19. “Existing customers should not be impacted. There are no current plans to change any of the services associated with either the phone or the customers’ services.”Right before the end, Verizon had slashed the price of the stubby Kin One from $49.99 to $29.99 with a two-year plan; the more rectangular Kin Two was also given a price-tag haircut, from $99.99 to $49.99. But the carrier did nothing to lower the price of the devices’ calling/data plan, which many pundits found excessive.The Kin devices had one cool feature, and that was their ability to seamlessly port users’ photos and other content to a cloud repository–I’m testing a number of upcoming smartphones right now, for a set of reviews, and I sorely wish (with some of them) that it was easier to lift photos and video from the device and into the digital stratosphere. But everything else about Kin was pretty much half-baked, from the social-network updates to the conspicuous absence of games and third-party applications.Given the phones’ narrow target demographic (teenagers and young adults), and lack of true smartphone functionality, I’m not sure there are many lessons that Microsoft can draw from this fiasco, except maybe don’t try it again.
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As with any jailbreak or rooting of a handset, “hacking” a phone OS is usually exactly that: exploiting a weakness to get unsigned code onto a device. That means that any other hacker, be they sufficiently nefarious, could use that same exploit to mess with your phone in the bad, not-installing-emulators-off-of-Cydia sense. Early iPhone jailbreaks (back when installing your own ringtones was a wild idea) took advantage of a TIFF exploit, the recent EVO 4G root found a hole in Flash Lite, and the JailbreakMe exploit is stuffing its code in a PDF font. Until Apple patches this exploit (when asked, Apple told us it was “aware of the reports and looking into them”) we’d be extra careful about which PDFs we open — there aren’t any reports of malicious use so far, but with Safari’s seamless handling of PDFs, it wouldn’t be hard for some hacker to hide a potentially phone-invading PDF behind some harmless looking hyperlink. The iPhone devteam points out that this isn’t the only known exploit for Safari on iOS, so there’s no need to start hyperventilating about this particular one… unless it’s a slow day at your mainstream media publication and you’re looking for something to hyperventilate about.
Oh, and are you looking for a surefire way to steer clear of PDFs? Cydia has a PDF loading warner that lets you skip PDFs your browser is trying to load on a case by case basis. Of course, you’ll need to jailbreak your phone to use it. Ironic, right?JailbreakMe using PDF exploit to hack your iPhone, so could the baddies; Apple looking into reports originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 15:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink TUAW | F-Secure | Email this | CommentsSTANDARD MICROSYSTEMS
SRA INTERNATIONAL
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SPANSION
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The latest version of software that allows iPhone owners to install applications not approved by Apple has been released just days after the practice was declared legal under U.S. copyright law.EARTHLINK
DST SYSTEMS
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
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The VMforce cloud platform in development by EMC VMware and Salesforce.com will be most useful for customers with existing Salesforce deployments, but can technically be used to build any Java application, a VMware official says.NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
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Douglas Smith built a telescope out of plywood, aluminum, and porthole glass. Now he can see the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter.AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
AMPHENOL
ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL
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APPLIED MATERIALS
CNET Car Tech gets to take the Nissan Leaf electric car for a preview drive. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog
TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES
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THQ
Hewlett-Packard has reached a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over allegations that HP paid kickbacks to systems integrators in order to help it secure government contracts, HP said on Monday. As a result of the settlement, HP expects to take a one-time charge of about $0.02 per share against its earnings for the third quarter, the company said.HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
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INVENTEC
Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman visits IBM’s Thomas J. Watson Research Center in order to get a sense of how Big Blue expects to stay ahead of its competition–and help its customers and clients.INGRAM MICRO
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If you know what this is and where it’s located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.
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The company that launched the Kwedit alternative payment product earlier this year, to much controversy, is testing a new feature that lets users purchase Facebook Credits with cash.
The new product, called PayNearMe, allows people who don’t have or don’t want to use credit or debit cards to purchase Facebook credits with cash at nearly all of the 6,000 7-11 stores in the continental U.S. And it’s a heck of a deal.NETGEAR
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MOTOROLA
Okay, so maybe that’s a stretch, but there’s no question that Huawei’s newest mobile hotspot is indeed a looker. Blessed with a silver and black motif as well as a subtle 1-inch color OLED for providing status information at a glance, the new E583C follows in the footsteps of the E585 and Vodafone’s R201. Functionally, it’s fairly predictable, offering a 3.5G HSPA connection to up to five devices over WiFi and a sixth via a direct USB connection. There’s support for Windows, Mac and Linux platforms, with a promise of hitting upwards of 5.76Mbps (up) and 7.2Mbps (down). Huawei’s also tossing in a microSD card slot, and if you aren’t turned on by MiFi-esque mobile routers, the newly introduced E173u USB modem just might do the trick. Catch ‘em later this month in Hong Kong for HK$1,380 ($177) and HK$498 ($64), respectively.Continue reading Huawei’s E583C mobile hotspot: looks so good, you’ll wish it weren’t portableHuawei’s E583C mobile hotspot: looks so good, you’ll wish it weren’t portable originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 03 Aug 2010 03:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink iTechNews | | Email this | CommentsFAIR ISAAC
FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS
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EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
While rival Foursquare seems firmly focused on the business side of things, Gowalla continues to focus on building a beautiful product. The next step in that comes on Wednesday when the service will unveil a way to make customized Passports.
Your Gowalla Passport is essentially your profile page, but Gowalla organizes it in a way to highlight some of the core features that help them differentiate themselves — namely: pictures, comments, stamps, and pins. Beginning on Wednesday, you’ll be able to completely customize the design of this area. Gowalla will provide you with a few themes designed by their team (a heavily design-focused team), or you can build your own. Previously, these custom passports were only available as a premium feature viven to select partners such as LIVESTRONG, CNNMoney, and USA TODAY.
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Evatran introduces a “hands free” EV charging station that eliminates the need to remember to recharge at the end of the day–or dirty your hands. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog
VARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT ASSOCIATES
UNITED ONLINE
UNISYS
TRIQUINT SEMICONDUCTOR
TRIMBLE NAVIGATION LIMITED
If you know what this is and where it’s located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.
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MANTECH INTERNATIONAL
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LINEAR TECHNOLOGY .
digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/apple/Official_iPhone_4_jailbreak_hits_from_iPhone_Dev_Team’; The Library of Congress made it legal, MuscleNerd showed us it was a go, and now Comex and company have delivered the long-awaited jailbreak to the fourth rendition of iPhone. According to their new page JailbreakMe, the hack works right on the iPhone 4 (or 3GS, or 3G, or iPad, or…) itself, using via the handset’s Safari browser to reportedly break into most any iOS device. The servers are getting slammed pretty badly, and only a few Engadget editors have so much as seen the page pictured above so far, but rest assured we’re testing this as we speak and will have more details up soon.
Update: Sorry folks, we’ve tried repeatedly, but apparently the servers just can’t handle the load — Comex tweets that the purple screens we’re seeing are evidence of server fail. Here’s hoping for a Cydia celebration when the stampede is over.
Update 2: Comex says you might want to reboot if you got stuck staring at that purple screen, and you could also try their backup server (click our second source link) to help the Dev Team divide the load.
Update 3: We successfully got the jailbreak to start working, but it crashed Safari. Upon reboot of our phone we’ve got… nothing but the Apple logo. Take note, this can brick your phone, so proceed with caution! Video of the experience after the break. After a reset, our phone is giving us nothing but the Apple logo. (Update to the update, the phone has been restored).
Update 4: Our intern Sam has successfully jailbroken his iPhone 4 according to this pic, so it can be done!
Update 5: Comex reports that iPads running iOS 3.2.1 aren’t presently working properly, and that MMS problems after jailbreak are a known issue.
Update 6: Good news? Saurik (of Cydia fame) has pitched in to secure JailbreakMe some better hosting. Bad news? Reports indicate that FaceTime doesn’t work after jailbreak, either.
Update 7: Seven updates? You bet, because it’s looking like there’s already a fix for the missing FaceTime and MMS features. Head on over to Redmond Pie (in more coverage below) for instructions to install the Cydia package that brought video chat back to two of our iPhone 4 handsets. If you’re just downloading JailbreakMe for the first time though, you shouldn’t need to do a thing, as Comex claims both have been fixed in a new version of the hack that just went live.Continue reading Official: iPhone 4 jailbreak hits from iPhone Dev Team (updated with video)Official: iPhone 4 jailbreak hits from iPhone Dev Team (updated with video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 01 Aug 2010 17:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink 9 To 5 Mac, @comex (Twitter), @MuscleNerd (Twitter) | JailbreakMe (1), (2) | Email this | CommentsACCENTURE
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ADOBE SYSTEMS
ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING
ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS
A system out of Israel lets the severely disabled navigate wheelchairs, surf the Net, or communicate with others via a pattern of inhalations and exhalations.SHAW COMMUNICATIONS
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
YAHOO!
Welcome to Engadget’s Back to School guide! We know that this time of year can be pretty annoying and stressful for everyone, so we’re here to help out with the heartbreaking process of gadget buying for the school-aged crowd. Today, we’ve got laptops and netbooks in our sights — and you can head to the Back to School hub to see the rest of the product guides as they’re added throughout the month.
You didn’t think we’d let back to school season roll around without rounding up the latest gear, did you? Good, because here at Engadget we understand that not only is heading off to college nerve wracking, but picking out the best gadgets can as equally scary. We couldn’t think of kicking off our back to school guide with anything but our top netbook / laptop choices since, you know, a good performing and well-rounded machine is absolutely essential for those hours of Facebook stalking, err of homework and studying. No matter what your budget, we’ve got you covered with recommendations and loads of mobile computing options. Now, on to the laptops…Continue reading Engadget’s Back to School guide: Netbooks and laptopsEngadget’s Back to School guide: Netbooks and laptops originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsGOOGLE
FORMFACTOR
FISERV
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Most high-profile smartphones launch exclusively on one of the major carriers in the U.S. The Samsung Galaxy S, though, will come to market via all of them under different names, different industrial designs, and, in one case, with different input options. And yet, its screen’s quality and size – big but not too big – will certainly make it a contender at all of them.
But the handset will encounter anything but a level playing field in its respective portfolios. The Galaxy S will provide a good lab in which to study how much motivation to push a high-end portfolio device counts versus the muscle of having the largest subscriber bases but stronger handset competition. With the Galaxy S’s lack of exclusivity already dampening some carrier enthusiasm for promoting it heavily, it appears as though the handset’s impact goes down as the number of carrier subscribers goes up. Let’s look at the universe of Galaxy S distribution.Continue reading Switched On: The Galaxy S paradoxSwitched On: The Galaxy S paradox originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 21:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsAT&T
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AUTOMATIC DATA PROCESSING
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Novell this week unveiled Mono Tools for Visual Studio 2.0, which enables development of Microsoft .Net applications for Linux, Unix, and Mac OS X from within Microsoft’s Visual Studio IDE.NOKIA
NVIDIA
ORACLE
POWERCHIP SEMICONDUCTOR
PRICELINE.COM
The latest version of software that allows iPhone owners to install applications not approved by Apple has been released just days after the practice was declared legal under U.S. copyright law.MICROS SYSTEMS
MICRON TECHNOLOGY
MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY
METHODE ELECTRONICS
MENTOR GRAPHICS
Well this is interesting. One of the key points at Apple’s recent press conference to discuss the iPhone 4’s antenna, was that the problem (called “attenuation”) is not unique to the iPhone 4. To highlight this, Apple showed videos of the problem on smartphones by rival companies. Those videos were then posted to a special antenna page on Apple’s website. Those videos are now gone.
As you can see on this page, the videos are nowhere to be found. Instead, the page now only shows the overview of the antenna design and test labs. A search of Apple’s website brings up a few of the landing pages where the videos used to be — here’s the Droid X one, for example — but now those just redirect to the antenna design page as well. Odd.KDDI
KLA-TENCOR
KONINKLIJKE KPN
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You know what?s getting old? The debate about ageing.
In today?s Observer, molecular biologist Aubrey de Grey is interviewed about how he sees no reason why a human being alive today might not live to 1000. If the prediction sounds familiar it?s because de Grey – this time described as a gerontologist – was subject to a similar profile in Friday?s New York Times, thanks to his being a key subject of Jonathan Weiner?s book Long For This World: The Strange Science of Immortality.
Right here on TechCrunch, Halcyon Molecular?s William Andregg spoke to Cyan Banister about the need for humans to conquer death to allow us the time to reach the stars. And of course, Ray Kurzeil has been at this stuff for years: according to a 2005 Wired profile ?Kurzweil ingests 250 supplements, eight to 10 glasses of alkaline water and 10 cups of green tea. He also periodically tracks 40 to 50 fitness indicators, down to his ‘tactile sensitivity.’” Christ.SANDISK
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RF MICRO DEVICES
Slowly but surely, Samsung’s future as a tablet PC provider is taking shape. Details on the outfit’s foray into the world of the slate has been trickling out over the past few months, and shortly after learning that a so-called Galaxy Tab would be out and about in Q3, now we’re finding out two more critical details: screen size and operating system. According to the company, the Q3-bound device (assumed to be the aforesaid Galaxy Tab) will boast a smaller-than-average 7-inch screen, and rather than humming along on Bada or Windows 7, Google’s Android will be at the helm. We’re being forced to wait for further information, but given the proximity to Q3, all should be crystal clear in the not-too-distant future.
[Thanks, Keith]Samsung’s Q3-bound tablet to boast 7-inch display, Android OS originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Reuters | Email this | CommentsADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING
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Tomorrow night, July 31, Twitter has announced they are having some planned downtime. Beginning at 11 PM PT, Twitter will likely be down on and off for up to 5 hours, Twitter warns.
The reason for the downtime? NTT America, Twitter’s hosting provider is upgrading a part of the internal network. This is interesting because Twitter is in the process of opening their own data center in Utah later this year. Despite the new tweet digs, they’ve said they’ll keep working with NTT America, so this maintenance is clearly necessary.ADVANCED SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING
ALLIANCE DATA SYSTEMS
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Let’s call this a single source rumor. But the source is Paul Carr’s camera, so we feel pretty good about it. The picture was taken last night at the TechCrunch summer party at August Capital.
Tello, says our source (the camera), has raised $100,000 from angel investor Dave McClure, who’s checks appear to have an imprint of the Twitter fail whale in the background. This is one of his first investments from his shiny new 500 Startups fund.
What’s Tello? We don’t actually know. Founder and CEO Joe Beninato was previously the CEO of Presto. We had a lot of fun with that one. Cofounder and CTO John Cwikla has experience at GameLayers, Doostang, Xoom and other startups.
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TERADATA
It’s taken quite a bit of chasing (and Kmart stalking) this week to score Augen’s $150 Gentouch Android tablet, but lo’ and behold, the gadget is now in its rightful home… our home! We don’t need to tell you that we ferociously ripped open the box to finally see how the Android 2.1 tablet performs, test out its touchscreen and see if it actually has access to app stores (unlike Augen’s smartbook which we toyed with earlier this week). We’re assuming you’re just as eager to find out the answers to those questions, so hit that read more button for some early impressions as well as a hands-on video. Gallery: Augen Gentouch 78 previewContinue reading Augen Gentouch 78 previewAugen Gentouch 78 preview originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsKDDI
KLA-TENCOR
KONINKLIJKE KPN
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To win at Mario Kart on a console you must master two things: drifting and power-ups. Half of that is replicated in these R/C Mario Kart toys, which we saw standing still last month but now can finally see in action motoring around what looks to be either Corporate Carpet Raceway or CDR Castle. The controller emits that familiar jingling item select sound when you’ve snagged a virtual power-up, and you can see how mushrooms boost your speed while banana peels cause your opponents’ cars to freak out. Sadly there is no drifting to be found in this version of the game, but we’re wondering if a little tape on the rear wheels wouldn’t help address that shortcoming.
[Thanks, Jarom]Continue reading Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don’t drift but do shoot (video)Remote Control Mario Kart toys tested, don’t drift but do shoot (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 13:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsRF MICRO DEVICES
RED HAT
RADISYS
RACKABLE SYSTEMS
QUEST SOFTWARE
You’re probably heard about the Russian spies lurking around American suburbia, doing their best impersonations of Joe and Jane Six-Pack while stealing U.S. intelligence secrets with all the professionalism and grace of the Keystone Kops on a hefty dose of Thorazine. What you probably didn’t know–until today, at least, when the story found its way into seemingly every newspaper in the western world–was that one of the alleged spies worked for a few months as an entry-level software tester at Microsoft.
The suspected spook’s name is Alexey V. Karetnikov, and his Facebook page can be found here. He has 40 friends (sad!), lists his current city as Redmond (but at this point it should say, “Back in the (former) U.S.S.R.”), and features Microsoft and a company called Neobit among his employers. According to Bloomberg, via The Wall Street Journal, Neobit is a software company that lists the Russian Ministry of Defense and the FSB among its partners (warning sign, anyone?)
For Microsoft, this is a prime opportunity. No longer does the company need to endure the humiliation of saying it discontinued the Kin due to poor sales–now they can say the phones’ inglorious demise was the result of sabotage from the inside! That sounds a lot better. And best of all, Karetnikov’s not exactly going to say anything about it, because it’s probably a good bet he’s halfway to Siberia by this point.
NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS
NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
NOVELL
NETWORK APPLIANCE
NETGEAR
For reasons that aren’t immediately evident, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has declared that his “job-one urgency” iAMPHENOL
ANIXTER INTERNATIONAL
APPLE COMPUTER
APPLIED MATERIALS
ARIAN SEMICONDUCTOR EQUIPMENT
At first somewhat of a mystery, the iPad’s utility is now clear. Originally posted at Nanotech – The Circuits Blog
SALESFORCE COM
SAIC
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
RF MICRO DEVICES
RED HAT
Douglas Smith built a telescope out of plywood, aluminum, and porthole glass. Now he can see the rings of Saturn and the moons of Jupiter.HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
Dek:
Check Point and Ponemon Institute asked where Web 2.0 security risks rank on the list of priorities. Here are the results
Source:
Network World
No
FAIR ISAAC
FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS
F5 NETWORKS
EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
It’s on like “Donkey Kong,” as the kids say.
Days after Microsoft’s lead attorney opened fire (rhetorically speaking) on Yahoo Japan’s selection of Google for its search and search ad technology, Microsoft announced it would take more concrete steps to scuttle the deal.
“We plan to present evidence to the Japanese FTC explaining why we believe that this deal is substantially more harmful to competition than Google’s deal with Yahoo in 2008 that the U.S. Dept. of Justice found to be illegal,” a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK in an e-mail July 30.
In a July 27 statement e-mailed to eWEEK, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith argued that the Yahoo Japan deal “gives Google virtually 100 percent of all searches in Japan, both paid and unpaid.” For its part, Yahoo Japan has insisted that Google’s Japanese-language services currently outpace those of Microsoft.
Bing currently powers Yahoo’s back-end search in 59 countries, and Microsoft no doubt hopes that the major components of its search-and-advertising deal with the Web portal company–which will see Bing power search for all of Yahoo’s online properties, while Yahoo takes over worldwide sales force duties for both companies’ search advertisers–will be in place by the end of 2010.
But Yahoo only owns 35 percent of Yahoo Japan (according to Bloomberg), meaning the subsidiary can choose its vendors without mother-ship interference. Now, ordinarily, I’d caveat that statement with “in theory,” but Yahoo Japan CEO Masahiro Inoue seems determined to go his own road on this one; if the U.S. Yahoo tried to apply leverage before this situation erupted, it evidently didn’t work.
As I mentioned in my previous post on this, the brouhaha suggests that Microsoft may face a decidedly heavy battle in some markets as it tries to expand Bing’s international reach. The latest twist suggests that Microsoft is willing to use the tools at its disposal, including an army of lawyers, to make that happen; it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Redmond tries to face down an opponent with equally substantive cash flow and leverage.
NVIDIA
NUANCE COMMUNICATIONS
NOVELLUS SYSTEMS
NOVELL
NETWORK APPLIANCE
T-Mobile USA topped other top U.S. wireless carriers in providing overall customer care during the first half of this year, according to a J.D. Power and Associates report released Thursday. The eighth annual U.S. Wireless Customer Care Performance Study is based on a survey of 9,690 wireless customers who had contacted their carrier’s customer service department over the past six months.QUANTUM
QLOGIC .
PROGRESS SOFTWARE
PLANAR SYSTEMS
PEROT SYSTEMS
Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman’s travels take him to where 250,000 pints a day head off for happy mouths.SONUS NETWORKS
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS
SILICON LABORATORIES
SI INTERNATIONAL
Less than 50 days after Microsoft launched Kin, its pair of phones for the social-networking set, and less than 24 hours after I wrote “Microsoft Kin Price Cuts Likely Mean Sales Trouble,” the company announced the project’s demise.”We are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases,” reads the Microsoft statement currently drifting around the Internet.Verizon had recently slashed the price of the stubby Kin One, previously marketed at $49.99, to $29.99 with a two-year plan; the rectangular Kin Two, formerly $99.99, was lowered to $49.99. In addition to making calls, the phones also posted regular updates from their users’ social network; but there were no third-party apps, no Flash support for the browser and no games.What killed the Kin?Even before the phones met their ignoble end, analysts pointed out a possible Achilles’ heel: the cost of the monthly data plans. At $69.99 for unlimited calling (the Cadillac option) or $39.99 for 450 minutes (the lowest possible), plus $29.99 for data, the options were likely too expensive for parents unwilling to spend a monthly $70 to $90 on their kid’s phone–and not many teenagers self-generate enough income to spend that sort of money lightly.Despite that, the speed of Kin’s death suggests still another factor at work. In late May, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division underwent a massive shakeup, one that saw the departures of both Robbie Bach, the unit’s president, and J Allard, its senior vice president of Design and Development. The division is devoted to Microsoft’s consumer-centric endeavors, including the Xbox franchise, Zune media player and the Kin.In the wake of that shakeup, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promoted Senior Vice President Andy Lees to head the Mobile Communications Business, reporting directly to him. According to his official bio, Lees is not exactly a fun-and-games sort of guy; in his previous iterations at Microsoft, he served as corporate vice president of Microsoft Server & Tools Marketing and Solutions Group, and held a variety of positions in the company’s Worldwide Sales and Marketing and Services Group.A June 30 posting on Engadget, based on information from a “reliable source” within Redmond, suggests that Lees had been involved with the Kin long before his May promotion, originally instructing everyone involved in the project to “go back to the drawing board and rebuild the OS based on Windows CE.” This was after some initial work had been done to create a phone that leveraged both cloud and social-networking capabilities. The OS shift apparently forced an 18-month delay in the Kin’s release schedule, during which time Verizon cooled on the project’s prospects.So while Microsoft launched Kin with a heavy marketing campaign–including a Twitter feed and a Facebook page, and 30-second television spots seemingly every five minutes–Verizon was allegedly less than enthused about pushing the devices. Poor sales would have aggravated the situation even further.You could chalk the Kin up as yet another failed tech product, and move on; but Engadget’s source suggests the whole situation could have a negative effect on the upcoming Windows Phone 7.”Our source says that the fallout from this troubled partnership is that Microsoft has backed away from Verizon as a Windows Phone 7 launch partner,” adds the post, “claiming that the first handsets you see won’t be offered on the CDMA carrier–rather that we should expect GSM partners to get first crack.”The failure of Kin is something that Microsoft–not to mention the Entertainment and Devices Division–could probably absorb with relatively little net loss. But if Microsoft encounters speed bumps in the ramp-up to Windows Phone 7, its smartphone-franchise revamp, then the company has a potentially epic problem on its hands.
ALLTEL
AMAZON.COM
AMERICA MOVIL
AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
AMPHENOL
The Home Star program has a shot at passage in an oil spill-focused energy bill, paving the way for services and goods to improve home energy and water efficiency.
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
YAHOO!
YAHOO
Some owners of the older model iPhone who upgraded to the most recent system software have complained of slowness and quickly drained batteries. Originally posted at Circuit Breaker
HARRIS
HCL TECHNOLOGIES
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
Microsoft’s Kinect will debut on Nov. 4 for a retail price of $149.99, marking the company’s next big bet in the console-game space. Specifically, the bet is that the same millions of people who gravitated toward the Nintendo Wii (where you gripped two controllers and waved them around like a severely over-caffeinated maniac trying to hail a cab) will think that having no controller at all–where you operate your onscreen avatar via body motion, thanks to the Kinect’s 3D camera–is the new greatest thing.The new Xbox 360 4GB with Kinect can be had on that same date for $299.99.Kinect won’t play a part in Microsoft’s July 22 earnings report, but given how gaming has become an increasingly vital part of the company’s overall bottom line, you can bet its sales numbers will be watched closely toward the end of the year. Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices division contributed around 11 percent of the company’s overall $14.5 billion revenue in the first quarter of 2010, slightly up from the year-ago quarter.The Xbox 360 4GB/Kinect bundle is priced correctly, I feel, but the standalone Kinect unit at $150 is priced way too high; the market for the device is casual gamers, who’ll blanch at that price-tag. If Microsoft wants to make the Kinect a hit, they may want to revert to the model that’s served the video game industry well for years: slash the price of the Kinect, eat a steeper bottom-line loss on hardware, and then make up the balance with game sales.(Also, Microsoft needs to figure out what body motion best simulates “reverse;” my first time playing the Kinect, I took a spin on the racing game Joy Ride and promptly plowed my digital jalopy into an inconvenient wall. Many frantic body-twistings on my part later, the car had only managed to grind itself more deeply against the obstacle, and the Microsoft employee monitoring my progress–wincing in sympathetic embarrassment–was forced to reset the Xbox. Leaning back just slows your vehicle down; when you’re stuck facing forward, you’re really stuck. Just saying.)
SYNOPSYS
SYNNEX
SYMANTEC
SYKES ENTERPRISES INORATED
SYBASE
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates back in 1975, is apparently planning to give most of his wealth to charity after he dies. That wealth reportedly totals $13.5 billion, which will buy a lot of nonprofit scientific research.
“Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime,” Allen said in a statement reprinted by Reuters on July 15. “I’ve planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of [the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation] and to fund nonprofit scientific research.”
Allen has also “successfully completed a course of chemotherapy and currently has no medical issues,” according to a spokesperson paraphrased in the Reuters report. Back in November 2009, Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, or the network of lymph nodes that help provide the body with immunity against disease; according to WebMD, around 49 out of every 100 patents diagnosed with the disease are alive after a decade, which puts Allen on the track towards being one of the lucky ones.Of course, Allen can count himself as a lucky one already; in 1983, he was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for which he underwent a successful round of treatment. That same year, Allen resigned from his position as a Microsoft executive.
Allen and Gates co-founded Microsoft after seeing an article in Popular Electronics about the MITS Altair 8800, and decided to develop a programming language, Altair BASIC, that would run on it. Microsoft’s Website calls Altair BASIC “the first computer language program written for a personal computer.”
Allen owns the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers; in addition to those sports teams, he has investments in a number of areas. He’s also a big fan of yachts.
SRA INTERNATIONAL
SPSS
SPANSION
SONUS NETWORKS
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
The recently released PS3 firmware 3.41 seemed to just be a minor update that added a new “You May Like” section to the PlayStation Store, but it looks like it’s been causing nothing but headaches for anyone trying to upgrade the hard drive in their console. As a 30-page strong thread on the official PlayStation forums reveals, folks upgrading their hard drive have been getting a “no applicable data” error after trying to install the update, which has left them with a non-working PS3 and, in some cases, a corrupted original drive. According to CVG, the issue may have something to do with a newly discovered feature of the 3.41 update that allows for more incremental patches, which might also explain why the problem only seems to be affecting PS3s where the firmware is stored in on the hard drive instead of the system’s memory. As for Sony, it hasn’t offered an official explanation just yet, but all indications are that it’s a bug and not an intentional blocking of hard drive upgrades — at least we hope it is. Head on past the break for a video of the problem.Continue reading PS3 firmware 3.41 said to be causing hard drive upgrade problemsPS3 firmware 3.41 said to be causing hard drive upgrade problems originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 31 Jul 2010 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | PlayStation Forums | Email this | CommentsD-LINK
DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
DIRECTV GROUP
ELPIDA MEMORY
EMC
Criticising Valleywag in 2010 is something of a pointless exercise, like offering diplomatic counsel to the Ottoman Empire ten years after the Treaty of Lausanne. More pointless still, attacking the site?s titular editor Ryan Tate is like appealing to the guy responsible for writing parking tickets in Constantinople.
I mean, I get that.
And yet despite the irrelevance of Gawker?s saddest sub-domain and the tragic impotence of its editor, the influence of its parent means that when a Valleywag story oozes its way on to the front page of Gawker.com, it?s important to take notice. And to mop it up so that no-one slips.
Here goes then.FINISAR
FEI COMPANY
FAIRCHILD SEMICONDUCTOR INTERNATIONAL
FAIR ISAAC
FACTSET RESEARCH SYSTEMS
Extending protection against unauthorized use of applications, stewards of the Google-backed Android mobile platform Tuesday unveiled a licensing service for applications in the Android Market. The free service provides a secure mechanism to manage access to Android Market paid applications targeting Android 1.5 or higher, said Eric Chu, of the Android Developer Ecosystem, in a post on the Android Developers Blog.SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS
SILICON LABORATORIES
SI INTERNATIONAL
SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY
SCIENTIFIC GAMES
The iPhone was as much of a revolution to carrier networks as it was to consumers — it was the first phone that gave users a reason to wirelessly gobble data, and that was before “there’s an app for that” became a colloquialism. According to an upcoming study, though, Verizon smartphones now take the data consumption crown.MANTECH INTERNATIONAL
MANHATTAN ASSOCIATES
LSI
LINEAR TECHNOLOGY .
LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL
Soladigm, which adds thin films to glass to block light and heat, plans a manufacturing plant in Mississippi to make its green building gear.
SAIC
SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES
SES
SHAW COMMUNICATIONS
SIEMENS
Chinese company TESO has an unrequited love for all things Apple. Not that it cares, we’re sure it’s doing just fine on the grey market with its KIRFy Cupertino crafts. But maybe it’s time for this Shenzhen cloner to go mainstream with what’s purported to be a 9.7-inch tablet running “MeGoo” (a MeeGo typo, certainly) or “Andriod2.2″ (that’d be Froyo) OSes on a 14-mm thick LPAD powered by Intel’s newest 1.9GHz Z600-series Moorestown processor. Of course, it’s a hell of a lot easier to list specs on paper than it is to ship highly spec’d product. And given TESO’s inability to correctly copy the names of its choosen operating systems onto a sheet of paper, what hope is there of it cloning the user experience of a class-leading tablet?Keepin’ it real fake: TESO LPAD runs ‘MeGoo’ or ‘Andriod’ on Moorestown originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsMETHODE ELECTRONICS
MENTOR GRAPHICS
MCAFEE
MAXIMUS
MANTECH INTERNATIONAL
Dek:
Dude, where's my flying car?! We look at 11 venerated visions of future technology that totally missed the mark
Source:
PC World
No
KDDI
KLA-TENCOR
KONINKLIJKE KPN
LAM RESEARCH
LIBERTY GLOBAL
Today during our Social Currency CrunchUp, Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman and John Hanke, a Google VP of Product Management, took the stage. Given that the two companies seem to be at odds with one another recently (following a failed acquisition), it was a little tense.
Specifically, Google’s strong moves into local with their new Places push seem to be going right at Yelp’s core. Sure’s it’s potentially about more than just local venue reviews, but that’s a huge part of it. And that’s what Yelp is all about.
Moreover, Google is using Yelp data to bulk up their Places offering. Yelp can’t like that too much. In fact, we’ve heard they’re particularly unhappy because they used to have a deal with Google for this data, but they pulled out of that deal a couple years ago. But Google decided to use Yelp’s data anyway simply by crawling it. Yelp can’t stop them from doing that unless they want to delist themselves from Google — a move which could kill them.HON HAI PRECISION IND.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
It’s on like “Donkey Kong,” as the kids say.
Days after Microsoft’s lead attorney opened fire (rhetorically speaking) on Yahoo Japan’s selection of Google for its search and search ad technology, Microsoft announced it would take more concrete steps to scuttle the deal.
“We plan to present evidence to the Japanese FTC explaining why we believe that this deal is substantially more harmful to competition than Google’s deal with Yahoo in 2008 that the U.S. Dept. of Justice found to be illegal,” a Microsoft spokesperson told eWEEK in an e-mail July 30.
In a July 27 statement e-mailed to eWEEK, Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith argued that the Yahoo Japan deal “gives Google virtually 100 percent of all searches in Japan, both paid and unpaid.” For its part, Yahoo Japan has insisted that Google’s Japanese-language services currently outpace those of Microsoft.
Bing currently powers Yahoo’s back-end search in 59 countries, and Microsoft no doubt hopes that the major components of its search-and-advertising deal with the Web portal company–which will see Bing power search for all of Yahoo’s online properties, while Yahoo takes over worldwide sales force duties for both companies’ search advertisers–will be in place by the end of 2010.
But Yahoo only owns 35 percent of Yahoo Japan (according to Bloomberg), meaning the subsidiary can choose its vendors without mother-ship interference. Now, ordinarily, I’d caveat that statement with “in theory,” but Yahoo Japan CEO Masahiro Inoue seems determined to go his own road on this one; if the U.S. Yahoo tried to apply leverage before this situation erupted, it evidently didn’t work.
As I mentioned in my previous post on this, the brouhaha suggests that Microsoft may face a decidedly heavy battle in some markets as it tries to expand Bing’s international reach. The latest twist suggests that Microsoft is willing to use the tools at its disposal, including an army of lawyers, to make that happen; it’ll be interesting to see what happens when Redmond tries to face down an opponent with equally substantive cash flow and leverage.
SHAW COMMUNICATIONS
SIEMENS ZORAN
ZIONS BAN
YAHOO!
Last month, we noted that Twitter was testing a “You both follow” feature, showing users you and another user both follow. That’s interesting, but not particularly useful. Today, they’ve begun to roll out a new “Suggestions for You” feature which looks at who you follow, and who the people you follow follow, and suggests new people for you to follow. Yes, just like Facebook does. This is very useful.
In fact, this is arguably the most useful social graph feature that Twitter has rolled out yet. A few weeks ago, Twitter rolled out a new name results area for search — which was incredibly helpful for finding celebrities or brands on Twitter. But this is better. This is all about finding people you may actually be interested in based on your current social graph, but for whatever reason, haven’t connected with yet.QIMONDA
QUALCOMM
QUANTA COMPUTER
RESEARCH IN MOTION
ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS
NVIDIA teased us with the introduction of the 3D-ready G51JX back at Computex (you may remember it as one of the founding “3D PCs”), and now AVADirect is bringing that very machine to US soil. Said rig boasts a 15.6-inch display, Core i7-720QM processor, 6GB of DDR3 memory and a 1GB GeForce GTS 360M GPU. Better still, Clevo’s W860CU offers an identically sized display, NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX 285M (1GB), Core i5 or i7 CPU options and 8GB of DDR3 RAM. Both units ship with all the necessary 3D Vision components to get your 3D kick on right from the box, with the ASUS going for around $1,600 and the Clevo for $1,800. Humility is free with purchase, we’re told.Continue reading Clevo W860CU 3D and ASUS G51JX-3D bring three-dee to US laptopersClevo W860CU 3D and ASUS G51JX-3D bring three-dee to US laptopers originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 03:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Hot Hardware | | Email this | CommentsSUN MICROSYSTEMS
STANDARD MICROSYSTEMS
SRA INTERNATIONAL
SPSS
SPANSION
The company updates its Safari Web browser, offering users a gallery with extensions from the likes of Amazon, Bing, MLB.com, and Twitter.
HYNIX SEMICONDUCTOR
INFOSYS TECHNOLOGIES
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
INVENTEC
KDDI
Workers erect the first section of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge’s Self-Anchored Suspension Span (SAS), one piece weighing 2.3 million pounds.COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
D-LINK
DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
DIRECTV GROUP
ELPIDA MEMORY
Evatran introduces a “hands free” EV charging station that eliminates the need to remember to recharge at the end of the day–or dirty your hands. Originally posted at The Car Tech blog
FIDELITY NATIONAL INFORMATION SVCS.
FISERV
GOOGLE
GRUPO IUSACELL
HARRIS
We’re not experts or anything, but cutting down trees to manufacture your headphones ($30), ear buds ($20), and iPhone cases ($25) does not really seem all that “green” to us. But what good is selling stuff made from “reusable, environmentally friendly and recyclable materials” if you can’t broadcast your sense of social responsibility with “rustic wood grain finishes and smooth earthy tones” that “mirror the true beauty that surrounds us?” Is we right, or is we right? The Grass Roots Collection (get it?) starts shipping August 1st. PR after the break.
Update: A rep from iWave just sent in an email to assure us that no trees whatsoever were harmed in the making of the Grass Roots collection. We just want to take this opportunity to set the record straight — and to point out that the Earth in the above illustration reminds us of a Chia Pet. Thanks!Continue reading How many trees must die for iWave’s Earth-friendly headphones, iPhone cases? (update)How many trees must die for iWave’s Earth-friendly headphones, iPhone cases? (update) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 16:23:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | iWave | Email this | CommentsGOOGLE
GRUPO IUSACELL
HARRIS
HCL TECHNOLOGIES
HEWLETT-PACKARD
Chinese company TESO has an unrequited love for all things Apple. Not that it cares, we’re sure it’s doing just fine on the grey market with its KIRFy Cupertino crafts. But maybe it’s time for this Shenzhen cloner to go mainstream with what’s purported to be a 9.7-inch tablet running “MeGoo” (a MeeGo typo, certainly) or “Andriod2.2″ (that’d be Froyo) OSes on a 14-mm thick LPAD powered by Intel’s newest 1.9GHz Z600-series Moorestown processor. Of course, it’s a hell of a lot easier to list specs on paper than it is to ship highly spec’d product. And given TESO’s inability to correctly copy the names of its choosen operating systems onto a sheet of paper, what hope is there of it cloning the user experience of a class-leading tablet?Keepin’ it real fake: TESO LPAD runs ‘MeGoo’ or ‘Andriod’ on Moorestown originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 08:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsQUALCOMM
QUANTA COMPUTER
RESEARCH IN MOTION
ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS
SAIC
A conciliatory end? Looks like we spoke too soon. Yes, Google and China seem to be on a collision course yet again, with the company’s “Mainland China service availability page” showing that web search and ads have once again been fully blocked. Additionally, image and news search have been downgraded from “fully accessible” yesterday to “partially blocked” today. YouTube, Picasa, and other services already blocked remain as such. Looks like the saga continues.
Update: TechCrunch reports hearing back from Google, who now say this is all much ado about nothing — or rather, it’s a false alarm. Apparently there was “relatively small blockage” last night, but it has since returned to normal.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Google search blocked in China, again; other services partially blocked (update: false alarm, says Google) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 29 Jul 2010 19:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Market Watch | Google | Email this | CommentsNANYA TECHNOLOGY
NII HOLDINGS
NIKON
NINTENDO
NOKIA
Tomorrow, Friday, is our fifth annual yearly blowout party at August Capital – the event I look forward to all year. Tickets to that event are long gone, but a handful are left for the all day conference we hold prior to the party, the Social Currency CrunchUp.
Here’s five reasons why you’ll want to attend:HARRIS
HCL TECHNOLOGIES
HEWLETT-PACKARD
HIGH TECH COMPUTER
HON HAI PRECISION IND.
Paul Allen, who co-founded Microsoft along with Bill Gates back in 1975, is apparently planning to give most of his wealth to charity after he dies. That wealth reportedly totals $13.5 billion, which will buy a lot of nonprofit scientific research.
“Today I also want to announce that my philanthropic efforts will continue after my lifetime,” Allen said in a statement reprinted by Reuters on July 15. “I’ve planned for many years now that the majority of my estate will be left to philanthropy to continue the work of [the Paul G. Allen Family Foundation] and to fund nonprofit scientific research.”
Allen has also “successfully completed a course of chemotherapy and currently has no medical issues,” according to a spokesperson paraphrased in the Reuters report. Back in November 2009, Allen was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, a cancer of the lymphatic system, or the network of lymph nodes that help provide the body with immunity against disease; according to WebMD, around 49 out of every 100 patents diagnosed with the disease are alive after a decade, which puts Allen on the track towards being one of the lucky ones.Of course, Allen can count himself as a lucky one already; in 1983, he was first diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, for which he underwent a successful round of treatment. That same year, Allen resigned from his position as a Microsoft executive.
Allen and Gates co-founded Microsoft after seeing an article in Popular Electronics about the MITS Altair 8800, and decided to develop a programming language, Altair BASIC, that would run on it. Microsoft’s Website calls Altair BASIC “the first computer language program written for a personal computer.”
Allen owns the Seattle Seahawks and the Portland Trail Blazers; in addition to those sports teams, he has investments in a number of areas. He’s also a big fan of yachts.
SPANSION
SONUS NETWORKS
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS
SILICON LABORATORIES
At this point, we’re starting to think that Motorola is intentionally (and cruelly) teasing us with its Droid successor. Today we can add to the parade of leaks preceding the Droid 2’s debut in the form of the above hard case, which has just landed in Best Buy’s storerooms. Before you go off on some conspiracy theory comparing this to the iPhone’s Bumper and questioning whether this Droid might need a jacket, you should be aware that Rocketfish does similar paraphernalia for the Droid Incredible, marking this out as an entirely unremarkable run-of-the-mill accessory. Which might be the best news of all, we figure — if the unexciting peripherals are already being shipped, the handset itself shouldn’t be too far behind.
[Thanks, Justin]Continue reading Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow?Droid 2 cases arrive at Best Buy, Droid 2s soon to follow? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 02:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSPSS
SPANSION
SONUS NETWORKS
SONIC AUTOMOTIVE
SKYWORKS SOLUTIONS
Hackers appear to be increasingly counting on configuration problems and programming errors rather than software vulnerabilities in order to steal information from computer systems, according to a new study from Verizon.F5 NETWORKS
EPICOR SOFTWARE
EMULEX
EMS TECHNOLOGIES
EMC
The Apple CEO said it can take years to add new cell sites in cities like San Francisco. We set out to discover if that’s true. Originally posted at Circuit Breaker
MICROSOFT
MICROSEMI
MICROS SYSTEMS
MICRON TECHNOLOGY
MICROCHIP TECHNOLOGY
Nuance strikes deal with Ricoh, other network multifunction printer (MFP) makers to create paper-to-PDF solution for non-programmers….HYPERCOM
HEWLETT PACKARD CO
HEARTLAND PAYMENT SYSTEMS
GOOGLE
GOOGLE
Apple lost its bid today to criminalize “jailbreaking,” the practice of hacking an iPhone to install unauthorized apps on the smartphone, according to a decision by the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress. The decision, which was announced Monday by Librarian of Congress James Billington, adds jailbreaking to the list of practices that do not violate the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).COMMUNICATIONS HOLDINGS
COMPAL ELECTRONICS
COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
D-LINK
DIGITAL CHINA HOLDINGS
A successful test flight of a prototype Terrafugia vehicle has led to structural improvements just unveiled. The company hopes to start shipping late next year.LEVEL 3 COMMUNICATIONS
LAWSON SOFTWARE
LAND SOFTWARE
LAM RESEARCH
L-1 IDENTITY SOLUTIONS
A report from Cenzic as well as the exploitation of Apple Safari, Mozilla Firefox and Microsoft Internet Explorer during the recent Pwn2Own contest at CanSecWest underscore the need to keep bolstering browser security.Web browser developers have responded by tightening security in te face of continued vulnerability to Web exploits….MICROSEMI
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The Blink line of charging stations for commercial services and home use will have cellular-network capability, as well as LAN, Wi-Fi, and ZigBee.
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ON SEMICONDUCTOR
Zynga issued a press release tonight confirming the more than month-old news of an investment by Softbank – $150 million – and are announcing a joint venture to “develop and distribute social games across Japan.”
Zynga didn’t talk about the other $150 million they took from Google in connection with a partnership over the new Google Games property. Although they soft-confirmed it to the New York Times in a recent article about the company.
Zynga has raised a whopping $519 million in venture capital, including that chunk from Google. Here’s the press release:QUALCOMM
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As part of its smart grid and digital energy push, GE contributes to a $5 million investment in SynapSense, which uses sensors to manage data center energy.
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LOGITECH INTERNATIONAL
Love at first sight may be debatable, but we had a feeling we’d be into Hori’s PS3 Slim LCD dock just as soon as we laid eyes on it. A few months after first appearing overseas, the simplistic device — which mounts an 11.6-inch LCD atop your PlayStation 3 Slim console — is ready to be imported into these great States of America. Play-Asia is coming through in the clutch once more, offering the gizmo to those situated far, far from the Land of the Rising Sun for $259.90. It’s in stock and ready to ship within 24 hours, so we’d get it on it if you were planning to get on it. Just sayin’.
[Thanks, Craig]Hori’s mesmerizing PS3 Slim LCD dock now available for import originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 09:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Play-Asia | Email this | CommentsROGERS COMMUNICATIONS
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The 525-passenger aircraft is hardly nimble, but an Airbus A380 pilot still manages to show some grace and pizzazz in a at the Farnborough air show flight.VIRGIN MEDIA
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VEECO INSTRUMENTS
South Korea’s LG Electronics will launch its first smartphone designed around Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 software by the end of September and will follow with more by the end of the year, a company representative said Wednesday. Photos of one of the LG smartphones have already been shown off by a number of enthusiast blogs. That phone is ready to go, according to LG.HEWLETT PACKARD CO
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Microsoft, along with Yahoo and Google, is apparently in discussions with News Corp. about possibly scoring a future advertising partnership with MySpace. That’s according to a July 6 article in the Wall Street Journal, quoting unnamed “people familiar with the matter.” News Corp. also owns the Wall Street Journal, by the way. Just throwing that out there.News Corp.’s existing deal with Google for MySpace–which will expire within weeks–has the search-engine giant paying $900 million to sell “small ads” on the site. But given how nobody’s actually been on MySpace since early 2007, except for a few tiny bands with roughly 10 fans, apparently the traffic milestones aren’t being met. Enter Microsoft and Yahoo, who are apparently willing to negotiate at a time when MySpace is trying to (yet again) retool itself into something other than a digital ghost-town.(And yes, I know–thanks to the original WSJ article–that MySpace apparently attracted 109 million unique visitors in May. That still doesn’t come close to matching Facebook’s 500-million-plus users; more importantly, once News Corp. started plastering MySpace with ads, it promptly lost its cachet as a destination Website for its target audience.)Microsoft has been involved in social networking for some time. It made a $240 million investment in Facebook back in 2007, and initiatives such as Bing and Windows Live Messenger have focused on integrating information from the likes of Twitter and Facebook. But that’s not enough. As the early-June rumors about a possible Microsoft buyout of AOL suggested, any moves that Redmond could make to either profit from social networking–through advertising or capital investment–or increase its presence in the space–via baking others’ content into its own offerings–are moves that would merit serious consideration.And I’m sure that, should a MySpace deal work itself out, Microsoft would earn itself a tidy little profit, especially considering that News Corp. will likely be forced to set lower traffic milestones. A few short years ago, the entire landscape looked very different (back then, my MySpace profile picture still had hair); now it’s possible to look at potential deals like this as a snapshot of the Web’s current state, where previously dominant players in one area (MySpace, social networking) find themselves battled over by the same groups of titans (Google, Microsoft). The more things change, it seems, the more they stay the same.
LEXMARK INTERNATIONAL
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Some owners of the older model iPhone who upgraded to the most recent system software have complained of slowness and quickly drained batteries. Originally posted at Circuit Breaker
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ELECTRONICS FOR IMAGING
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Worldwide mobile memory revenue is expected to grow by close to 50 percent this year on increased smartphone shipments, research firm iSuppli said on Friday. The revenue from mobile memory NAND flash, NOR flash and mobile DRAM, used in devices such as wireless handsets and smartphones, is expected to rise to $10.2 billion this year, up from $6.8 billion in 2009.GOOGLE
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Road Trip 2010: CNET reporter Daniel Terdiman visited the factory where some of the best ice cream on the planet comes off a conveyor belt at the rate of 250,000 pints a day.
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Someone should really tell T-Mobile USA it’s got a rather large hole that needs plugged. Hot on the heels of the (presumably) T-Mob-bound G1 Blaze leak comes this duo, which includes a purported leak of the myTouch HD (or 3G HD) as well as a web portal that quite clearly prepares us for the launch of the carrier’s first HSPA+ smartphone. Of course, there’s no official confirmation that the handset you’re peering at above is anything more than a fan render, but it certainly has a look of authenticity to it; sadly, there aren’t any rumored specifications to tag alongside the JPG, but it’s a pretty safe bet that this one will run some flavor of Android and rely heavily on screen presses for letter input. As for the promo page? Scrutineers have drawn a link between it and the Vanguard that we peeked a few weeks back, so feel free to let your imagination run a bit wild there. Looks like it’s gearing up to be quite the second half for America’s number two GSM operator.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Purported myTouch HD leaks out alongside promise of T-Mobile’s first HSPA+ smartphone originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | T-Mobile | Email this | CommentsINTERNATIONAL GAME TECHNOLOGY
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INSIGHT ENTERPRISES
Road Trip 2010: On the east coast, the mileage comes slower, what with the density of the region, and longer stays in places like New York and Boston. Still, Road Trip 2010 has now gone far enough to cross the country.
AMKOR TECHNOLOGY
AMPHENOL
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APPLE COMPUTER
APPLIED MATERIALS
The 525-passenger aircraft is hardly nimble, but an Airbus A380 pilot still manages to show some grace and pizzazz in a at the Farnborough air show flight.MCAFEE
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Well well, what’s this? We just got an invite to a joint RIM / AT&T event next Tuesday, and we’d guess that means we’re about to see the official unveiling of the well-leaked BlackBerry 9800 slider with a side dish of BlackBerry OS 6. Either that, or RIM CEO Mike Lazaridis is going to explain how working two-way Gmail sync is a real problem that affects every smartphone and give us a tour of RIM’s top-secret email integration labs, but yeah — we’ve got our bets on new hardware. We’ll obviously be there live covering every detail, so make sure to tune in!RIM and AT&T event next Tuesday — BlackBerry slider and OS 6 en route? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsLAM RESEARCH
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Nuance strikes deal with Ricoh, other network multifunction printer (MFP) makers to create paper-to-PDF solution for non-programmers….COMCAST
COMMSCOPE
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COSMOTE MOBILE TELECOM.
If you know what this is and where it’s located, you could win a prize in the CNET Road Trip Picture of the Day challenge.
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The Large Hadron Collider particle accelerator has moved rapidly from tentative operation to scientific results, researchers say at a Paris conference.INFOCUS
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Two initiatives to make it easier for developers to sell mobile applications through multiple channels will merge from September.AVNET
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BT GROUP
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Created by Jason Baptiste, PadPressed is a Wordpress plugin that makes any Wordpress blog look like a native iPad app when accessed from iPad. Bestowing upon your humble blog the iPad features we’ve come to know and love such as “swipe to advance” articles, touch navigation, accelerometer positioning and home screen icon support when you’re really jonseing for that authentic app feeling.
While Baptiste started with WordPress because 8.5% of all websites (including our own) are Wordpress but has grander aspirations, “We did Wordpress first because it’s the largest thing there is next we’re doing Tumblr, Posterous, Moveable Type, and then custom CMSs.” Exciting!ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS
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Apple was sued last week over claims that its iPad easily overheats, then suddenly switches itself off. In a complaint filed with an Oakland, Calif. federal court last Friday, a trio of plaintiffs accused Apple of everything from fraud and deceptive advertising to violations of California’s consumer protection and unfair business practices laws by making, marketing and selling allegedly defective tablets.MICROSOFT
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BlackBerry smartphones have been the subject of much debate over the years. Some reasons are for good, and some are for bad. Regardless, BlackBerry devices seem to wind up being discussed along with security concerns quite often, and while it took South Korea years to finally accept these always-connected handhelds, the United Arab Emirates are now causing quite a stir. The UAE is obviously exploding, with Dubai being one of the most happening cities in the world right now. So it’s no surprise that BlackBerryFISERV
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Interest in the SaaS (software as a service) delivery model is growing to the point that by 2012, almost 85 percent of new vendors will be focused on SaaS services, according to new research from analyst firm IDC. Also by 2012, some two-thirds of new offerings from established vendors will be sold as SaaS, IDC said.DIRECTV GROUP
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Filed under: Browsers, Android
Opera Mini 5.1 for Android has been released — visit m.opera.com, or simply search for ‘Opera’ on Android Market. This is only a minor patch, but it should be both faster and easy to use. Mini can now also be set as your default browser — about time!
Anyway, without any real way to benchmark Opera Mini 5 against other mobile browsers, I decided to pit it against a desktop browser — Chrome 6, to be exact. Watch the video; be impressed! Opera Mini certainly isn’t as fast as a desktop computer — but then again, what mobile browser is? Also, bear in mind that I’m using a very high-speed Internet connection. On a crippled ‘2G’ or Wi-Fi link, the difference between Mini and Chrome would be far smaller — Opera’s compression technology only really shines when there is limited bandwidth available.
Still, you can see that Opera Mini makes an excellent replacement for the default Android browser. There’s no reason why you shouldn’t use Opera Mini 5, put it that way.
Now I need to find some way of artificially limiting my bandwidth so that I can see if Opera Mini is actually faster than desktop Chrome!
tweetmeme_url = ‘http://www.downloadsquad.com/2010/07/14/opera-mini-5-1-for-android-released-compared-desktop-chrome’; tweetmeme_source=’DownloadSquad’; tweetmeme_style = ‘compact’; Share Opera Mini 5.1 for Android released, put to the test against desktop Chrome (video) originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Read | Permalink | Email this | CommentsNIKON
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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer used his keynote speech, during the opening day of the company’s Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Washington, D.C., to insist that the rich client is here to stay.A “rich client” isn’t a deep-pocketed celebrity in desperate need of an expensive lawyer; it’s a PC with a fatter processor and more robust functionality apart from a centralized server. A thin client, on the other hand, is a PC that needs the mother-like nurturing of a server (or another PC) in order to execute basic tasks.”Many people, especially in corporate IT, they say we’re only going to use thin clients,” Ballmer told the audience at the Verizon Center, where Microsoft is hosting the WPC keynotes. “I don’t believe that at all. I don’t believe the cloud is a place where thin clients will take over. Again and again, we see the advantage of rich clients.”A rich-client device, Ballmer added, “can be higher performance; the rich device can do more on behalf of the user without network latency; the rich device saves bandwidth.”The thin client has been a continuous target for Ballmer. Way back in the summer of 2009, during Microsoft’s annual Financial Analyst Meeting, he took aim at thin clients as a Trojan Horse for browser-based operating systems, specifically Google’s Chrome OS.”We have competitors who say they believe in thin clients,” he told the assembled analysts. “What they are really saying is they believe in the browser operating system… But don’t think there is some magic technology, [a] revolutionary thing that they believe in differently.”At the time, Ballmer also fired a shot at netbooks, insisting that customers wanted bigger screens. He suggested that a new line of ultrathin PCs would debut before 2010, providing lightweight computing at a presumably higher cost–and which would presumably run versions of Windows 7 that offered the company higher margins.
“We want people to be able to get the advantages of lightweight performance and be able to spend more money with us,” Ballmer told the analysts.By running a higher-priced version of Windows 7, along with other software like Office 2010, rich clients offer Microsoft the chance to make more money. Despite Ballmer’s insistence, however, I think thinner clients are here to stay: not only netbooks, which remain a staple of Microsoft’s manufacturing partners’ lineups, but also tablet PCs and more esoteric phone/tablet/PDAs like the Dell Streak.Microsoft’s already taken baby steps toward embracing the thin-client mentality–look at its Office Web Apps, which allow document viewing and (lightweight) editing via the browser. And its cloud initiatives are dominating this year’s WPC.But maintaining a market position in areas such as tablet PCs may demand a more radical step: stripping Windows 7 (and succeeding versions) into a lightweight, streamlined OS optimized for tablets and the like. If the recent Windows 8 rumors are true, they’re already considering the idea; what’s left is to take the step off the proverbial cliff. The alternative is to stay with the robust rich-client mentality, which may not jibe with an increasingly mobile future.
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Q: I have some books and stories in .lit format. Is there a way to open the files to read them?
File Management – Microsoft Reader – Windows – File Managers – File ComparisonCOMMSCOPE
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D-LINK
Always on the cutting edge of “stuff that goes onto your power meter in the basement and you forget about” technology, Microsoft and Blue Line Innovations have teamed up to release the Hohm PowerCost Monitor and WiFi Gateway. The device sticks to your power meter and reads the actual usag (N.B. it may not work on some older meters) and then transmits it to your Windows PC.
The kit presumably forces you to change your habits by showing you just how much power you’re using at any one time.
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Mobile devices are slick, powerful and convenient, but the news this week that AT&T suffered a data breach on thousands of iPads highlighted another quality: They’re vulnerable.
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Why settle for a separate iPad stand and external battery when you can have both in one device? Why indeed. That’s the thinking from the folks at Sanho at least, who have just rolled-out the first-of-its-kind HyperMac Stand. It packs two slots that can hold your iPad at either an 18 or 45-degree angle (with or without a case), and a built-in 40-watt-hour rechargeable lithium-ion battery that promises to extend your battery life by a full 16 hours. Of course, that combination does make this one of the more expensive iPad stands around at $129.95, but that’s not exactly too out of line when compared to a standalone HyperMac battery. Head on past the break for the complete press release.
Continue reading HyperMac Stand doubles as an external battery for your iPadHyperMac Stand doubles as an external battery for your iPad originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | HyperMac | Email this | CommentsIMATION .
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HP’s Z200 Workstation SFF desktop is a compact system designed for business users. Packing impressive performance in its modest dimensions, the machine costs just over $2000 (as configured, as of June 1, 2010). That price puts the Z200 on a par with other business-class machines we’ve reviewed, but…
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It’s looking very much like yesterday’s hypotheticals about Apple refreshing its hardware are about to bear fruit. The online store has been put on temporary hiatus — presumably to get all those delicious new specs and pictures in — and we can probably expect it to churn back into action around the company’s typical 8.30AM timeslot.Apple Store goes down, get your credit cards ready originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 06:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | | Email this | CommentsFISERV
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Pottery HD is a unique virtual clay pottery app that can really only be done on the iPad. It shows what an enterprising developer can do with a large multitouch interface. This game is fun and relaxing.
When the game first launches, I was caught a little off guard as I had no idea what to [...]Pottery HD for iPad- app review is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store. TiPb – The #1 iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch Blog
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Less than 50 days after Microsoft launched Kin, its pair of phones for the social-networking set, and less than 24 hours after I wrote “Microsoft Kin Price Cuts Likely Mean Sales Trouble,” the company announced the project’s demise.”We are integrating our Kin team with the Windows Phone 7 team, incorporating valuable ideas and technologies from Kin into future Windows Phone releases,” reads the Microsoft statement currently drifting around the Internet.Verizon had recently slashed the price of the stubby Kin One, previously marketed at $49.99, to $29.99 with a two-year plan; the rectangular Kin Two, formerly $99.99, was lowered to $49.99. In addition to making calls, the phones also posted regular updates from their users’ social network; but there were no third-party apps, no Flash support for the browser and no games.What killed the Kin?Even before the phones met their ignoble end, analysts pointed out a possible Achilles’ heel: the cost of the monthly data plans. At $69.99 for unlimited calling (the Cadillac option) or $39.99 for 450 minutes (the lowest possible), plus $29.99 for data, the options were likely too expensive for parents unwilling to spend a monthly $70 to $90 on their kid’s phone–and not many teenagers self-generate enough income to spend that sort of money lightly.Despite that, the speed of Kin’s death suggests still another factor at work. In late May, Microsoft’s Entertainment and Devices Division underwent a massive shakeup, one that saw the departures of both Robbie Bach, the unit’s president, and J Allard, its senior vice president of Design and Development. The division is devoted to Microsoft’s consumer-centric endeavors, including the Xbox franchise, Zune media player and the Kin.In the wake of that shakeup, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promoted Senior Vice President Andy Lees to head the Mobile Communications Business, reporting directly to him. According to his official bio, Lees is not exactly a fun-and-games sort of guy; in his previous iterations at Microsoft, he served as corporate vice president of Microsoft Server & Tools Marketing and Solutions Group, and held a variety of positions in the company’s Worldwide Sales and Marketing and Services Group.A June 30 posting on Engadget, based on information from a “reliable source” within Redmond, suggests that Lees had been involved with the Kin long before his May promotion, originally instructing everyone involved in the project to “go back to the drawing board and rebuild the OS based on Windows CE.” This was after some initial work had been done to create a phone that leveraged both cloud and social-networking capabilities. The OS shift apparently forced an 18-month delay in the Kin’s release schedule, during which time Verizon cooled on the project’s prospects.So while Microsoft launched Kin with a heavy marketing campaign–including a Twitter feed and a Facebook page, and 30-second television spots seemingly every five minutes–Verizon was allegedly less than enthused about pushing the devices. Poor sales would have aggravated the situation even further.You could chalk the Kin up as yet another failed tech product, and move on; but Engadget’s source suggests the whole situation could have a negative effect on the upcoming Windows Phone 7.”Our source says that the fallout from this troubled partnership is that Microsoft has backed away from Verizon as a Windows Phone 7 launch partner,” adds the post, “claiming that the first handsets you see won’t be offered on the CDMA carrier–rather that we should expect GSM partners to get first crack.”The failure of Kin is something that Microsoft–not to mention the Entertainment and Devices Division–could probably absorb with relatively little net loss. But if Microsoft encounters speed bumps in the ramp-up to Windows Phone 7, its smartphone-franchise revamp, then the company has a potentially epic problem on its hands.
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Okoro Media Systems has been producing pre-fabricated HTPCs for years now, and even as the niche narrows, they’re continuing to be one of the go-to places for new living room computers. Now, the company is looking for ways to convince consumers to spring for an HTPC when they wouldn’t otherwise, and the newly equipped SX100 is just the thing. It’s just 3″ tall, which is extremely slim for a full-fledged HTPC. And despite what you may assume, Okoro has managed to equip the machine with some pretty respectableACCENTURE
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Plastiki, constructed of more than 12,000 discarded soft-drink bottles, arrives in Australia after an 11,000-mile journey.
DISCOVER FINANCIAL SERVICES
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DIEBOLD
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Colin Crowell’s fingerprints are all over some of the biggest technology and telecommunications statutes of the last two decades. He’s one of the most influential tech policy operatives you’ve never heard of.
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