HELSINKI — Nokia Corp. said Tuesday it has begun shipments of its N9 smartphone model, ahead of the Windows Phone 7 launch expected later this year.
The cellphone maker said the N9, based on the MeeGo open platform, has free navigation and voice-guided maps, storage ranging from 16GB to 64GB and a swipe feature to return to the home screen. It is priced at $650-750 (€480-560).
After the N9, Nokia has said it will use the Windows Phone operating system as its main platform — hoping to regain momentum against stiff competition, especially from Apple Inc. and Research in Motion.
Nokia stock closed up more than 6 percent at €4.23 ($5.71) on the Helsinki Stock Exchange.
A shareholder of Comtech Telecommunications Corp., investment firm, MMI Investments LP, said Monday that it nominated two candidates for the company's board of directors because of concerns about Comtech's declining revenue and earnings.
Comtech, whose products include satellite modems and various transmission technologies, said it recently met with representatives of MMI and is evaluating its proposal.
Comtech shares rose 58 cents, or 2.2 percent, to $27.10 in afternoon trading.
The investment firm owns 3.3 percent of Comtech's outstanding shares. Jerome Lande, a partner at MMI and one of the two directors MMI is nominating, said there is an "urgent need for change" at Comtech.
"With the dramatic declines in revenue and earnings from the loss of the company's two largest contracts and management's and the Board's potentially value-destroying acquisition strategy, we believe shareholders deserve better than the status quo," Lande said in a statement.
The other director nominee is Samme Thompson, a former executive at Motorola.
Comtech's board currently has 6 members.
Shareholder nominations are often a way for investment firms to engineer a takeover, prime a company for a sale from the inside, or otherwise exert their influence on key decisions such as acquisition strategies and other financial issues.
NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- The Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission are investigating whether Motorola Solutions(MSI) paid bribes to win business in Europe, people familiar with the matter told The Wall Street Journal.
U.S. officials have asked Motorola Solutions for information over the past two years about transactions in seven European countries.
The government is searching for evidence that Motorola Solutions may have violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the people told the newspaper. The law bars American companies and their agents from offering bribes to foreign government officials.
A spokesman for Motorola Solutions declined to comment for the Journal.
The investigation began in 2009 after the company opened its own internal probe into possible breaches of anti-bribery laws and alerted U.S. authorities, said people familiar with the matter.
The internal investigation initially focused on a suspicious transaction in Turkey, but U.S. authorities are concentrating on the company's dealings in Europe, said a person familiar with the matter, theJournal said.
Motorola Solutions makes two-way radios and systems for law enforcement agencies and public-safety organizations.
Launching in private beta today is “Chomp Search Ads”, a new program that will allow developers to bid on the keywords or phrases that will deliver their ads to users who search for those terms within an app search engine. The ad engine then matches app ads to the most relevant potential customer based on what apps they’re currently searching, making ads less annoying and more relevant for the consumer and ideally more lucrative for developers.
During the early stage of its private beta, Chomp will be opening up its search ad engine to a select group of advertisers, with Milk and Zaarly being two of the first companies to participate.
“Being able to advertise the Oink app to people that are in the process of looking for something just like it is a form of targeting we haven’t seen before”, says Milk (and Digg) founder Kevin Rose. For advertisers and developers, this additional targeting is absolutely huge. Just consider the market. As Erick reported back in January, according to Gartner, $893 million was spent on app advertising in 2010, with total app revenue predicted to skyrocket to $50 billion by 2014 — up to $20 billion of which is likely to be spent on advertising in apps.
And what’s even more relevant to app search engines like Chomp? Over 200 million iOS and Android users search for apps every month. Needless to say, if the ad engine’s implementation goes smoothly and matching is up to par, this could be a huge move for Chomp, potentially encouraging developers (who spend 20 to 30 percent of app revenues on marketing etc.) to come flocking.
"Regulation can get in the way of innovation," said Kevin Lo, who as general manager of access oversees the Google Fiber project to bring extremely fast Net access to Kansas City in Missouri and Kansas. "Regulations tied to physical infrastructure sometimes defer the investment altogether," he said in a speech at Broadband World Forum here.
Tension between private-sector ambitions and public-sector constraints have endured for centuries, but Google--an Internet juggernaut that tries to move at startup speeds--feels it particularly acutely. Much of the company's ambitions are held back by broadband access that's too slow or missing altogether.
"We're about moving the Web forward," Lo said. "We have product managers who are very frustrated. They have apps that don't work because they don't have the speeds."
Lo called for three specific reforms: ease access to public rights-of-way where fiber-optic cables can be laid; ease access to utility poles; and enable special service districts to free sections of municipalities from zoning restrictions. He also said the Kansas City's "very pro-business" attitude was key to its selection for the Google Fiber project. "They demonstrated they could work at Google speeds," he said.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20112042-264/google-to-government-let-us-build-a-faster-net/#ixzz1ZCUOzFmO
Google celebrates its 13th birthday today with a low-key doodle, which can be found on display on the front page of the main search site.
The logo, transformed for one day only, falls in line with the search giant marking the day of anniversaries of births, deaths, inventions and public holidays. Its own birthday is no different; this year sporting a plasticine-filled room with a birthday cake and an exclamation point, which was once included in the original Google logo.
Now officially a teenager, expect a strop half way through the party, and a storming off moment as “everything is so unfair”, mostly because uninvited party guest Facebook is locked in bitter rivalry with the search giant.
(Source: Google)
While comScore statistics show that U.S. web users spend more time on Facebook than any other website, Google still commands a 65 percent share of the global search market, according to StatCounter. But Microsoft’s integration of its Bing search engine in Facebook and Yahoo threatens the search dominance of Google.
Neilsen, however, suggests that Google has 90 percent of the search market. Either way, Google still reigns as the true winner of the search sphere.
For the first time, living people will be eligible to be honored on U.S. postage stamps.
The U.S. Postal Service announced Monday that it is ending its longstanding rule that stamps cannot feature people who are still alive and it's asking the public to offer suggestions on who should be first.
Since Jan. 1, 2007, the requirement has been that a person must have been deceased five years before appearing on a stamp. Before that, the rule was 10 years. (By tradition, though, former presidents are remembered on a stamp in the year following their deaths.).
The post office announced that it will consider stamps for acclaimed American musicians, sports stars, writers, artists and other nationally known figures.
"This change will enable us to pay tribute to individuals for their achievements while they are still alive to enjoy the honor," Postmaster General Patrick Donahoe said in a statement.
Stamp Services manager Stephen Kearney said, "Engaging the public to offer their ideas is an innovative way to expand interest in stamps and the popular hobby of collecting them."
They are inviting suggestions through Facebook, Twitter, a postal service website and, of course, by mail to the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee, c/o Stamp Development, Room 3300, 475 L'Enfant Plaza SW, Washington DC 20260-3501.
The advisory committee receives as many as 40,000 suggestions for new stamps each year and culls them down to about 50 finalists, which are sent to the postmaster general for a final decision.
The fans, her staff and the network are relieved to see her recover immediately within that day. Ellen proceeded to tape a segment for her show as if nothing happened. Luckily, the chest pains were not severe enough that required hospital admission.
On her show, Ellen related the story of her experience. She began by telling her audience that she was going to reveal her story because TMZ, a tabloid website, is also telling them her story. TMZ was the first to break the news of her chest pains, even beating Ellen Degeneres twitter followers.
DeGeneres said that she first noticed the chest pain when she was awakened at the middle of the night. She ignored the pain, thinking that her two cats are lying on top of her. Their weight must have caused her to feel the tightness in her chest.
DUBLIN — Twitter, the San Francisco-based micro-blogging website, is to open an international office in Dublin, the Irish Industrial Development Agency announced -- in a tweet.
"Ireland is trending. Twitter to establish international office in Dublin," the message said.
Twitter joins a band of high-profile technology and computer multinationals with bases in Ireland, including Citigroup, Dell, Facebook, GlaxoSmithKline, Google, Intel and Microsoft.
Foreign companies are attracted to Ireland by its 12.5-percent rate of corporation tax, one of the lowest in Europe.
"IDA is absolutely thrilled that Twitter has decided to establish an international office in Ireland," the agency's chief executive Barry O'Leary said in a statement.
"Twitter is a fantastic addition to Ireland's dynamic digital media cluster and we are excited to support the company's continued international growth."
As it expands operations outside the United States, Twitter already has offices in London and Tokyo.
Tony Wang, Twitter UK's general manager, said the new Dublin office would not mean the demise of the London branch.
"The UK office is here to stay, we will have offices both here and Dublin," he tweeted.
British newspaper the Daily Telegraph quoted Twitter as saying that as it expands beyond the United States, it will "continue to evaluate the need to designate a location for our non-US headquarters."
Created in 2006, Twitter's text-based posts of up to 140 characters attract more than 400 million users every month, with an average of 230 million tweets fired off daily.
The U.S.’ largest mobile provider, Verizon, has sided with Samsung as Apple pursues its case to ban some of Samsung’s handsets in the country.
Many of Samsung’s phones run on high-speed networks. If Apple’s injunction goes ahead to ban a select number of Samsung’s phones, Verizon will struggle in adopting its high-speed network to end users, it is argued.
Samsung phones are the most popular devices in the United States. By banning the sales of certain Samsung devices, combined with the end-game goal of a higher adoption than other networks, Verizon would struggle to gain its projected marketshare of high-speed subscribers if Samsung were to be faced with a sales injunction.
In the court filing, Verizon argues: “The accused Samsung devices are among the few products that can access Verizon Wireless’s next-generation high-speed network.” It also states that a slowed high-speed network deployment would be “contrary to the stated goals of the U.S. government”.
Though Verizon continues to sell iPhones, it also sells the Samsung Droid Charge, which is compatible with its 4G network.
Apple sued Samsung in April, asking for a ban of its devices in the U.S., as Verizon only recently submitted its filing ahead of a hearing in mid-October.
THE HAGUE, NETHERLANDS
Samsung asked a Dutch court Monday to slap an injunction on Apple Inc. to prevent it from selling iPhones and iPad tablets in the Netherlands, saying Apple does not have licenses to use 3G mobile technology in the devices.
The legal battle is the latest round in a series of claims and counterclaims of patent breaches by the rival technology heavyweights playing out in courtrooms around the world.
Samsung Electronics Co. lawyer Bas Berghuis told a civil judge at The Hague District Court that Apple "never bothered to ask about licenses" before it started selling 3G-enabled iPhones.
Apple lawyer Rutger Kleemans hit back by accusing Samsung of using the patent dispute to "hold Apple hostage" because of Apple's legal battles accusing Samsung of copying its iPhone and iPad designs.
"It's a holdup," Kleemans said. "Because Apple dared to take action against Samsung's copycat tactics."
Kleemans urged the court to reject the injunction request, saying the patents involved "are not designed to be used as a weapon against Apple."
No date was immediately given for a ruling.
INDIANAPOLIS - Do you know who's keeping a close look at your Facebook page? It may not just be your friends.
Your employer may have a Facebook policy. If they do, it may be time to learn what it says.
"There's no free speech," one person told us. That person didn't want their identity known and chose their words carefully.
"You have to watch what you say," the person told us. Especially, they said, on Facebook and other social media.
"I have heard about people getting in trouble for what they put on Facebook, but I never thought it would happen to me," the person explained. But it did. They told us a co-worker and Facebook friend reported them to the boss for talking about work on the social media site.
"They gave me a verbal warning and told me to remove my place of work from Facebook," they explained. "You catch yourself starting to write something, then turn around and no, I better take that off."
What has developed, social media and legal experts told Eyewitness News, is a sophisticated and damning version of the workplace complaint session at the bar after hours. Only on social media sites, it's in print... and doesn't go away.
"The Internet never forgets," said Stacie Porter Bilger with Indy Web Experts, a firm that helps companies and political candidates make their social media mark.
"Social media's not going away," said Bilger. And she said more companies are creating social media policies for employees and consulting lawyers when they do.
"As an employee you should know what your policies are and you should probably follow them," she explained.
Users and privacy advocates have reservations about Facebook’s planned redesign, the way the change will affect third-party apps and the network’s general approach to privacy.
Third-party apps will be fully integrated into a user’s profile page, with updates about activity on each app. That means that users won’t actively click to share updates from apps — the apps will add that information to a user’s page automatically.
With this change, users will have to think more carefully about what apps they use, since their private media consumption, exercise routines and other habits could be automatically published on their profiles.
On Sunday, self-proclaimed hacker Nik Cubrilovic accused Facebook of using cookies to track users while they are logged off, something Facebook engineer Gregg Stefancik denied in a comment on Cubrilovic’s post. Stefancik confirmed that Facebook alters rather than deletes cookies when users log out as a safety measure, but said the company does not use those cookies to track users or sell personal information to third parties. He also said that the company does not use cookies to suggest friends to other users.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, said that the organization is opposed to changes made to the Timeline, Facebook’s newly designed profile page. Acting as a sort of digital scrapbook, the Timeline now shows all the information a user has put on Facebook in chronological order. The new format changes rules about how information is accessed, Rotenberg said, adding that the problem is that this has happened after the company has already acquired user data. EPIC is preparing a letter to the Federal Trade Commission about the changes, he said. The organization has led the charge calling for the agency to look into Facebook’s privacy policies.
The change in format is also confusing to many users. Pam Dixon, executive director at the World Privacy Forum, said the nonprofit has heard from several consumers who don’t understand how their privacy settings will work. In an attempt to make privacy controls more granular, Facebook has made it an option for users to set privacy limitations on every post, which also apply to its associated likes and comments.
Facebook is forming a political action committee, strengthening ties of the social networking giant with Washington politicians as the company also faces growing questions about how it handles users’ privacy.
Facebook’s PAC “will give our employees a way to make their voice heard in the political process by supporting candidates who share our goals of promoting the value of innovation to our economy while giving people the power to share and make the world more open and connected,” spokesman Andrew Noyes said in a e-mailed statement.
With 800 million users around the world, Facebook’s PAC widens its footprint in Washington, where it has expanded its office and hired big names from the White House and Capitol Hill. On Monday, Republican lawmakers including House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) held an event at Facebook to discuss technology and jobs.
This is a story with huge implications for the future of the web. Even if you don't use Facebook or Spotify - I don't - and couldn't care less, you can nevertheless start to see how business relationships will develop.
Last week's alliance between Facebook and Spotify turns out to be a much better deal for Facebook than Spotify. While Facebook declined to anoint any one music company as its exclusive provider, and a dozen are signed up, it has extracted exclusivity from the music companies. Or at least one of them. New sign-ups to Spotify must be Facebook members - the non-Facebook world will have to go somewhere else.
Such is the power of distribution platforms. Facebook has got one, and if you want to be on it, you play by Zuckerberg's rules. It has always been thus. There isn't an industry in the world where this ancient rule doesn't apply. And while people may get misty-eyed about the "open web", or the "neutral net", this kind of utopianism was always naive in the extreme.
Deals are made. It's business, folks.
The Facebook music deal also opens all of your Spotify listening to Facebook users - your listening habits, playlists and history are all shared with a billion others, and you must turn this off manually to regain your privacy.
Spotify users are upset about this, and upset about being herded onto the Zuckerberg Reservation.
Korean electronics giant Samsung has retaliated against Apple getting its Galaxy S smartphone banned in certain EU markets by asking a Dutch court to also ban Apple iPhone and iPad devices.
Samsung alleges that Apple has violated its mobile patents and doesn’t have the license to use 3G technology b ased on the Universal Mobile Telecommunications Standard (UMTS).
If Samsung succeeds it could impact the launch of the iPhone 5 in The Netherlands.
Apple says that the 2.4pc per chip demanded by Samsung in relation to the patents was excessive.
It is likely to use the defence of fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms under which patents are licensed.
A new world war
Apple and Samsung are currently locked in over 20 lawsuits worldwide. It all appears to be part of a patent lawsuit epidemic that has consumed the major players in the mobile world.
Samsung’s counsel is arguing that Apple should have asked for a license hen it launched the iPhone globally in 2007 and in The Netherlands in 2008.
The battles have already seen Samsung Galaxy smartphones blocked in The Netherlands and its Galaxy Tab tablet computer blocked in Germany.
Apple has asked for an injunction in the US that would see Samsung Galaxy S 4G smartphones and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet computer removed from shelves.
Samsung meanwhile is seeking to have imports of iPhones and iPads blocked in the US. In Australia Samsung has been forced to delay the launch of Galaxy tablet computers.
The iPhone 5 will come in the "unibody" form Apple uses in its Macbooks, an analyst predicts.
A Wall Street analyst has said that the Apple would release two phones -- iPhones 5 and a cheaper iPhone 4S -- at its upcoming event, expected for Oct. 4.
"We continue to expect 2 new iPhone SKUs (a mid-range iPhone and iPhone 5) to be introduced at Apple's upcoming event," Deutsche Bank analyst Chris Whitmore wrote in a note to clients.
"Specifically, we expect an iPhone 5 with aluminum uni-body construction, better camera and slightly larger screen size as well as a cost-down iPhone 4, or iPhone 4S," Whitmore wrote.
On its Macbook Pros and Macbook Airs, Apple uses the unibody construction method, which allows for a consistency of production and reliability by reducing many moving parts to one part. Also, it makes the product thinner and stronger.
Speculation is that the iPhone 5 will have an 8-megapixel camera, a dual-core A5 processor with a clocking speed of at least 1.2GHz and a 4-inch display. Apple's iPhone 5 would also feature the new iCloud service in operatingiTunes for wireless remote access of music from all computers and mobile devices. iPhone 5 would be running on iOS 5, which Apple would be releasing this fall.
On the other hand, the analyst said iPhone 4S should help Apple drive greater penetration into the mid-range smart-phone market and drastically expand Apple's addressable market. He also said that iPhone 4S is nothing but an 8 GBiPod Touch with a radio frequency module.
BOSTON & GENEVA, Sep 27, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- PHT Corporation, the global ePRO System innovator, continues to maximize high quality data monitoring for clinical trials with the release of the industry's first ePRO smartphone application. SmartReports Mobile grants site monitors instant access to every clinical trial site and subject compliance data, and compares that data against compliance protocols. The app is free within StudyWorks(R), PHT's online clinical patient data reporting system.
One sponsor said, "This app brings mobile convenience to clinical trial compliance monitoring. SmartReports Mobile lets monitors stay completely updated and enables them to drill down on patient compliance and safety anywhere -- airport, hotel lobbies, between meetings, wherever -- without even opening a laptop!"
Monitors can check that sites and subjects are within compliance rates specified by the protocol and can quickly locate subjects who need follow-up. One tap immediately calls the site to expedite any issues. Many sponsors report that clinical trial sites which frequently check compliance reports often have higher compliance rates. SmartReports Mobile users also can tap on the site to activate the GPS capability of the smartphone to locate the site quickly.
PHT President and CEO Philip Lee said, "We continue to focus on developing new technologies that support our ePRO clients' goals to save time, improve data accessibility and increase compliance in their trials. SmartReports Mobile goes a long way towards strengthening compliance without a lot of overhead -- a real game-changer for the ePRO industry."
Enough Samsung news? No sweat. HTC has a real bombshell to throw, too, as they have just announced their new Amaze 4G for T-Mobile. It's certainly the most impressive (spec-wise) phone that T-Mob has ever had grace their network, and it'll probably remain the high-end champ for some time to come. It's a bold, beautiful phone with a 4.3" qHD display, 1.5GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S3 processor, support for the company's new HSPA+ 42Mbps and even an NFC chip, perfect for those future mobile payments.
There's also an 8MP camera, a 1080p camcorder mode, support for HTC Watch / T-Mobile TV and a copy of Android 2.3.4. You'll also find HTC's latest edition of "Sense," not to mention SmartShot (which captures five photos and creates the best shot using clear faces with smiles and no blinking); PerfectPics (which is a separate album in the gallery created by scoring and filtering the best photos to the surface); and ClearShot / BurstShot. Talk about a camera that doubles as a phone.
The N9 features an interesting UI that’s controlled with a simple swipe. The buttonless smartphone features three home views (Applications, Events and Live Applications) that are designed to enable people to easily and swiftly navigate the interface. Expect a hands-on soon.
The phone is available in three colours (black, cyan and magenta) with 16GB and 64GB storage options. The retail price is 480 euros (roughly $650) for the former, and 560 euros (~$755) for the latter, before taxes or subsidies to be clear.
Nokia says the phone will be on sale in countries around the world. Pricing and availability evidently varies from region to region and operator to operator, the company says in a statement.
Call me crazy, but I’d love to give this one a thorough spin some day.
Let’s be honest. If you buy the fastest, most powerful smartphone in the world, in all likelihood you’ll use about 20 percent of its full potential.
Motorola aims to rectify that problem with the LapDock.
Featuring an 11.6 inch screen, dual USB ports and a full-size keyboard, the LapDock is remarkably thin – only .43 inches to be precise, and weighs in at a puny 2.4 pounds.
Simply plug your phone into the LapDock’s cradle and you’ve got an instant netbook, ready to do some serious work.
To my surprise, the LapDock didn’t just enlarge the screen from the Bionic. It’s got a totally separate interface, designed specifically for the 11.6 inch display.
The LapDock offers access to a full version of Mozilla’s popular Firefox browser and allows you to open and close various programs on the phone using an interface similar to Windows or Mac’s OSX.
I found the LapDock to be surprisingly fast and user-friendly. The Bionic’s dual core processors and copious amounts of memory made running apps and using programs a snap.
A welcome feature was the mobile view. It allows you to access and interact with the display on your phone in a separate window – albeit on a larger scale.
I was able to take a phone call while playing with the LapDock. It popped up a window and switched to speaker mode – I can see the potential for placing conference calls here.
The LapDock concept is one that is likely to grow increasingly popular as people become aware of the devices. It combines the convenience of a laptop with all of the data and information in your phone.
Read more: http://www.timesleader.com/news/Motorola_LapDock_helps_you_get_most_out_of_your_smartphone_Nick_DeLorenzo_Tech_Talk_09-26-2011.html#ixzz1ZCLYR0Ct
It's hard to build a tablet these days if your name isn't Apple. Aside from competing for LCD resources and trying to match the iPad 2's battery life, you also have to deal with possible design patent infringements (read: anything that looks like a rectangle with a black bezel around it). Samsung's in hot water for allegedly "copying" the iPad's tablet design.
So in a bid to differentiate itself and avoid any lawsuits, Motorola's Xoom 2 sports a new design with "tucked corners" that's 9mm thick. There will reportedly be two models: 10.1 and 8.2-inch. Guts include a 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 1GB RAM, 11 hours of battery life, 4G LTE and will shoot 1080p HD video.
The Xoom 2 will also have its own optional keyboard dock and stylus.
I was excited for the first Xoom, but it really let us down. What about you? Given up on "fat" Android tablets yet?
SandForce's second-generation controller got off to a rocky start. OCZ's Vertex 3 stormed out of the gates in April, seizing control of our performance graphs. Despite an impressive showing, early adopters reported many glaring bugs with SF-2200-based drives. Those claims sent OCZ and other manufactures scrambling to release a series of firmware updates.
Fortunately, most of the major kinks seem to have been ironed out now and that's given even more vendors, such as Patriot and Kingston, the confidence to launch SandForce-flavored SSDs. Despite an increasingly saturated market, OCZ has maintained a stiff grip on the competition as it still offers the best performance versus price ratio of any SF-2200 SSD
IMDb, the Internet Movie Database—an online encyclopedia of Hollywood—has released a new trivia game app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Called IMDb Trivia, the game pulls general knowledge and fun facts about movies, film, television, and celebrities from IMDb into a light mobile game for smartphone users.
Representatives from IMDb said they created the app in response to the high traffic they were seeing on the main Web site's trivia pages, found via a link at the bottom of most pages for actors, directors, film titles, and television series.
"IMDb, the number one movie Web site, has one of the largest collections of movie and TV trivia in the world," said Col Needham, founder and CEO of IMDb. "We created this game in response to a clear customer need: IMDb trivia pages receive more than 100 million page views annually; IMDb users spend more than 4 million hours on IMDb.com’s trivia pages per year. Fans were even making up their own trivia games on IMDb message boards."
While the world anxiously awaits for Apple to pull the cloak off the iPhone 4S/5, the thing most people seem to be neglecting is its software. The 9to5Mac Apple blog claims the next iPhone's killer feature won't just be a hardware refresh, it'll include robust voice control, too.
The iPhone's "Voice Control" will be renamed "Assistant" and it's going to be awesome. It'll essentially be a system-wide integration that'll allow you to do everything — hands-free. 9to5Mac claims you'll be able to input voice commands for things like making appointments, setting reminders, finding directions via the Maps app, and creating voice to text messages via SMS/iMessage.
English not your first language? No problem.
Facebook's highly-anticipated iPad application is reportedly set to launch at Apple’s upcoming iPhone 5 media event after being delayed because of negotiations between the two companies.
Facebook will launch the iPad application and an updated iPhone app at the Oct. 4 event, Mashable reported on Monday. Recent reports suggested that Apple will announce the fifth-generation iPhone next Tuesday and that the event will be hosted on Apple’s campus, although the Cupertino, Calif.-based company has not yet issued press invites for the keynote.
On Monday, Facebook's former lead developer for the iPad app, Jeff Verkoeyen,revealed that he had left the social networking company in part because of personal frustrations at the slow progress made by the company after the project reached the feature-complete stage in May. The feature-complete phase is usually the final step before beta tests can take place.
In June, it was reported that the Facebook for iPad application would launch in weeks. iOS users even found access to the app hidden inside the current version of the iPhone app in July, but the social networking giant quickly blocked access to it.
If you use a paid-for web service at someone else's domain you're a tenant. A second class citizen. You don't have much control. You'll probably have to live with your landlord's furniture and decoration and a restrictive set of rules. Your content will only exist at these URLs for as long as you keep paying the same people that monthly fee and for as long as your provider stays in business. Experience tells me that this isn't very long. As a paying customer you'll have a few rights under your contract, but they probably won't amount to very much. When you leave you'll probably be able to get your data back in a useful format, but when you put it back on the web somewhere else you'll lose all your inbound links, search engine rankings and many of your visitors. This kind of service seems like a good deal until the day you need to move.
But they are causing friction with some users and consumer groups.
Facebook unveiled last week services that make it easier for its 800 million users to share more information about themselves and their lives online. The social networking service showed off a dramatic redesign of users' profiles, a timeline that charts in chronological order all the information users have shared in the past. Facebook also said that third-party applications would — with users' consent — automatically share every action users take, such as the songs they listen to or the videos they watch.
Privacy watchdogs are urging the Federal Trade Commission to look into the new features that they say push users to share more than they may feel comfortable sharing.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the watchdog group Electronic Privacy Information Center, which has criticized Facebook in the past, said he was sending a letter to the FTC pressing his organization's concerns, which he says the agency has so far failed to address.
"It's getting really difficult to evaluate the changes that Facebook makes, and I say that as a privacy professional. I can't imagine what the typical user goes through," Rotenberg said. "Users might opt in to what Facebook is planning to do, but Facebook never gives users that option. It just marches forward and users have to go along."
In June, I reported that the Facebook iPad application had been in the works for almost a year and was essentially complete. According to people briefed on Facebook’s plans at the time, the app was scheduled to be available in theApple iTunes store a couple of weeks later.
It never appeared. No big announcement. No shiny new iPad application. Just silence.
The app, it turns out, had become the hostage of a tense negotiation between Facebook and Apple executives for a deal to further integrate Facebook into the next version of Apple’s operating system, iOS 5.
On Monday, news of the iPad app surfaced online again. MG Siegler, of the blog TechCrunch, discovered a blog post by Jeff Verkoeyen, a former Facebook employee who said he worked on Facebook’s iPad application. (His site may be down or overloaded.) He said he had quit the company after the iPad app had been completed and placed on shelves for several months.
“It is now nearly five months since the app was feature complete and I haven’t seen it released,” Mr. Verkoeyen wrote on his blog. “Needless to say this was a frustrating experience for me. The experience of working on this app was a large contribution to the reasons why I left Facebook.”
A Facebook spokeswoman declined to comment about the existence of the application and said, “We have nothing to announce now and cannot comment on future Facebook products.” Apple did not respond to a request for comment.
Although Apple and Facebook have successfully worked closely together on a number of products, including the Facebook iPhone application, the two companies have also had a strained relationship.
Google top-brass went before lawmakers on Capitol Hill last week for the beginning of a Senate Judiciary subcommittee hearing titled "The Power of Google: Serving Consumers or Threatening Competition?" With anti-competitive and antitrust allegations being lobbied at Google for months now, it looks as if the search engine superstar has reached out to Republican lobbyists in hopes of evening out its pull on politicians.
Google has long been considered a more left-leaning corporation than any other stance. Eric Schmidt, the company’s executive chairman, campaigned on behalf of Barack Obama during the 2008 election cycle and was reportedly even considered for a position under the president. Last year the DC-based outlet The Hill reported that the pro-free-market group National Legal and Policy Center had labeled the company “the Halliburton of the Obama years,” to which Google attempted to defending by saying they don’t take sides.
“Technology isn’t a partisan issue,” Google spokeswoman Mistique Cano responded to The Hill at the time. “We’ve believed for a long time that it’s important to build relationships on both sides of the aisle, and that’s something we’ve done for years.”
As a congressional probe stands to impact the search engine giants, however, Google has reached deep into the Republican Party to get a grab at some top-ranking GOP members in hopes of garnering the support of the right.
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Shares of the following companies had unusual moves in U.S. trading. Stock symbols are in parentheses and prices are as of 4 p.m. New York time.
Commodity shares climbed as optimism about Europe pushed copper and oil higher. Allegheny Technologies Inc. (ATI US) jumped 7.4 percent to $41.62, the biggest increase in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index. Range Resources Corp. (RRC US) rose 5.7 percent to $63.41. Denbury Resources Inc. (DNR US) rallied 4.4 percent to $12.77. Newfield Exploration Co. (NFX US) advanced 2.8 percent to $43.40. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. (FCX US) increased 3.1 percent to $34.82.
Industrial shares gained. Manitowoc Co. (MTW US) surged 11 percent, the most in the Russell 1000 Index, to $7.78. Joy Global Inc. (JOYG US) climbed 5.2 percent to $69.59. Rockwell Automation Inc. (ROK US) advanced 5.7 percent to $57.98.
Accuride Corp. (ACW US) slumped 30 percent, the most in the Russell 2000 Index, to $5.69. The maker of wheels and other components for trucks and trailers cut its earnings forecast, saying it will earn 4 cents a share at most. The company had previously anticipated profit of as much as 50 cents a share.
Flotek Industries Inc. (FTK US) rallied 27 percent, the most since March 17, to $5.87. The maker of equipment for the oilfield services industry reported August sales of about $25 million and said its cash totaled $23 million as of Sept. 20.
The Los Gatos company has lost almost $9 billion in market value since July, before a price increase and the rebranding of its DVD-by-mail service as Qwikster alienated customers and drove away investors. Netflix, which still earned more per dollar invested than 99 percent of the biggest American companies in the past year, was valued at $129.36 a share last week, half its record, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
While Netflix may have lost more than 500,000 U.S. subscribers after boosting rates, the company has more paying customers for movies and TV shows than Amazon, Google and Sony. Amazon could now pay a 50 percent premium for Netflix's streaming service and still get the entire company for 26 percent less than its value just two weeks ago, according to data compiled by Wedbush Securities and Bloomberg.
"It's an attractive asset," Todd Lowenstein, who helps oversee $17.2 billion for Highmark Capital Management Inc., said in a telephone interview from Los Angeles. "There would be some interested suitors taking a look at it, especially given the substantial pullback in the share price."
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/26/BUB41L9KHE.DTL#ixzz1ZCHpFy00
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Offers, the local deals service the search engine provider intends to use as an incentive to get users to patronize its Google Wallet mobile payment service, has stormed back from a lethargic August to see robust sales in September.
Daily deals aggregator Yipit noted that revenue for Offers, a Groupon-like service that offers consumers discounts of 50 percent or greater in over three dozen U.S. cities, dropped 23 percent from July despite a 22 percent increase in the total number of offers.
The firm noted that revenue per deal declined 37 percent, propelled by a 46 percent decline in the number of vouchers sold per deal.
Offers has enjoyed quite a bounce back in September. In the third week of the month, Google has already surpassed last month's total revenue of $265,000 and is on track to more than double this figure by month's end, Yipit said. That's a half a million dollars for the fledgling service that plays were the barrier to entry are nil.
Thanks in part to a high-profile heads-up on its Google.com homepage, Google's most notable deal this month was an offer for tickets to the Museum of Natural History in New York, which grossed more than $85,000. Now Google knows Google.com makes for an effective advertising vehicle.
Unaiz Kabani, a data analyst for Yipit, said in a blog post it isn't that Google has piled on deals in its markets; deals are just performing better than they had, with sales per deal up 160 percent (from $2,794 to $7,256).
Also, the number of vouchers sold has improved 5 times the August rate, from 169 per deal to 893 per offer. That's more than Groupon (736) and LivingSocial (372).
My son told me about a breakthrough ad strategy he stumbled upon for his affiliate businesses: reduce your Google AdWords spend, yes, you drop down from #1 in the Google advertising order to #3 or so, but the conversion rate is still good and it’s costing a lot less.
The reason I’m sharing this tidbit is because it reminded me of this: When Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google, testified recently in front of a Senate committee, he was asked about a puzzling set of search results, ones that consistently showed Google sites in the #3 position…
CNET reported that Senators Al Franken, Mike Lee, and the subcommittee’s Chairman Herb Kohl asked Mr Schmidt about this strange set of search results, which nearly always showed Google’s sites in the #3 position, across hundreds of product and service searches.
Inrix, which just raised $37 million from Kleiner Perkins and August Capital, aggregates and crowdsources real-time traffic information from more than 30 million sources including cars, taxis, delivery vehicles, trucks and other channels, Inrix’s data software aggregates and enhances traffic-related information from hundreds of public and private sources and then sells this data to mobile app developers and websites.
Currently the company offers data for 22 countries across North America and Europe and reaches more than 100 million users. Inrix’s other partners include Audi AG, ADAC, ALK, ANWB, Coyote, the Ford Motor Company, I-95 Coalition, MapQuest, Microsoft, NAVIGON, Tele Atlas, Telmap, TeleNav, Texas Transportation Institute and Toyota. In an ongoing independent test of traffic information in the world, the University of Maryland found Inrix’s real-time traffic information to be accurate within 5 mph of actual traffic speeds over 90 percent of the time.
Inrix says that the flexibility and architecture of its fusion engine and APIs makes it easy tof partners to integrate the data. With Google, Inrix went from contract to implementation in under 45 days. Initially available in 8 countries, Inrix’s real-time traffic information for all major motorways will be integrated with Google products and services online and on mobile phones.
JERUSALEM: Two thousand years after they were written and decades after they were found in desert caves, some of the world-famous Dead Sea Scrolls went online for the first time on Monday in a project launched by Israel's national museum and the web giant Google.
The appearance of five of the most important Dead Sea scrolls on the Internet is part of a broader attempt by the custodians of the celebrated manuscripts - who were once criticized for allowing them to be monopolized by small circles of scholars - to make them available to anyone with a computer.
The scrolls include the biblical Book of Isaiah, the manuscript known as the Temple Scroll, and three others. Surfers can search high-resolution images of the scrolls for specific passages, zoom in and out, and translate verses into English.
The originals are kept in a secured vault in a Jerusalem building constructed specifically to house the scrolls. Access requires at least three different keys, a magnetic card and a secret code.
The five scrolls are among those purchased by Israeli researchers between 1947 and 1967 from antiquities dealers, having first been found by Bedouin shepherds in the Judean Desert.
The scrolls, considered by many to be the most significant archaeological find of the 20th century, are thought to have been written or collected by an ascetic Jewish sect that fled Jerusalem for the desert 2,000 years ago and settled at Qumran, on the banks of the Dead Sea. The hundreds of manuscripts that survived, partially or in full, in caves near the site, have shed light on the development of the Hebrew Bible and the origins of Christianity.
With each passing court hearing, new details emerge about the global battle between Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. over patents for smartphones and tablet computers. And on Monday, the best new info (and the most drama) came out of a hearing in the Netherlands where Samsung argued that Apple should pay Samsung royalties for 3G transmission technology used in Apple’s iPhones and iPads.
The hearing was live-tweeted by Andreas Udo de Haes of Webwereld, a Dutch technology news web site, and covered by a few other local publications. The reporters were kicked out of the courtroom a few times when the companies discussed sensitive financial matters before the judge.
- Associated Press
- A lawyer holds an Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab in a German court last month.
But among the details the Dutch reporters were able to hear was Samsung has been trying to get Apple to pay a royalty of 2.4% of the price of the transceiver chip on each of four Samsung patents that are in the 3G transmission standard.
An Apple lawyer revealed the figure during the hearing, but there was no confirmation of it by Samsung lawyers in the presence of the public and press. A Samsung spokesman in Seoul on Tuesday said in an email, “We don’t have any official statement about it.”
If true, that would add a 9.6% fee to what Apple now pays for the transceiver chips in the iPhone and in 3G iPads.
According to a breakdown analysis by iSuppli Inc. of the iPhone 4, Apple pays about $12 to Intel Corp. for each transceiver chip. So a royalty of around $1.15 for each of approximately 80 million iPhones that Apple will sell this year would give Samsung about $92 million. Add up the 3G version of iPads, at least another 10 million units, and Samsung’s royalty claim would pass $100 million for the year.
Whoever said that all new superphones had to be powered by Android? Exactly.Samsung has placed all of that noise from the ongoing Apple patent battles on hold for a moment, long enough to launch a Windows Phone 7 device that will certainly make waves across the industry. The Omnia family is gaining another member with the Omnia W, their first smartphone to be based on Mango. The company's prior WP7 offers were long before the newest version of the software, and users have been eager as ever to get their hands on the newest iteration.
Like some other high-powered Samsung handsets, this one also has a 3.7" Super AMOLED display, an enriched content and social communication experience enabled by People Hub, 5MP camera, 1.4GHz processor, integrated 14.4Mbps HSPA+ connectivity and access to Windows Live Sky Drive, which provides 25GB of free storage and allows documents and media files to be easily stored and accessed anywhere.
Seamless access to entertainment is afforded by the integration of a Picture Hub, Music & Video Hub – powered by Microsoft Zune – and Game Hub, which provides the latest in social gaming experiences through Xbox live, meaning that friends can chat with each other while gaming. Users can stay up-to-date with the latest news and events through the Now 2.0 app, which provides up-to-the minute current affairs, stock market and weather information on the go. RSS Time allows RSS feeds for newspapers, magazines and blogs to be downloaded onto the device. The device features enhanced social network integration, with Twitter and LinkedIn weaved throughout the Omnia W in addition to Facebook.
The Harmony Link connects to your home Wi-Fi network and comes with an IR blaster that beams the signal over to the devices you want to control, even if it can’t see them. Initial setup requires that you plug the module into your PC or Mac and tell it what devices you own. It then cross-references those with its own database of over 5,000 brands and matches them.
In the case of cable, satellite or over-the air antenna, you get a full guide where you can browse and change channels at will. You can also set up sequences, like turning on the TV, setting the right input and powering on a Blu-ray player to start watching.
The Harmony Link will be launching very soon with a price point of around $100.
Griffin Beacon
Though it says it works with an iPad, the Beacon actually uses an iPhone and iPod touch-optimized app called Dijit. The module connects to your iOS device via Bluetooth with the pebble-shaped IR blaster on top. The app has cool features, like artwork for shows you find in the guide, and includes Netflix integration.
It’s a bit confusing when it comes to setting up simultaneous functions, and the app could use a little improvement, but at $80, the Beacon (online link: ; print link: store.griffintechnology.com) is a pretty slick product.
Read more: http://www.calgaryherald.com/technology/Your+smartphone+tablet+your+universal+remote/5461894/story.html#ixzz1ZCFJgXHb
Geneva, Switzerland, Sept 27, 2011 (ACN Newswire via COMTEX) -- China Mobile and HTC have launched the first smartphone to be based on ST-Ericsson's powerful new NovaThor platform. The Sensation Z710t offers consumers immersive 3D graphics, fast web browsing, high-definition multimedia and the ability to run several advanced Android applications simultaneously with exceptional performance and battery life.
Underneath the hood of the HTC Sensation Z710t are ST-Ericsson's Nova(TM) A9500 dual-core application processor, running at 1GHz, and ST-Ericsson's Thor(TM) M6718 modem, which can connect to China Mobile's extensive TD-SCDMA network, enabling consumers to get online at broadband speeds across much of China. The HTC Sensation Z710t also sports an eight megapixel camera and a 4.3 inch display.
"ST-Ericsson's new NovaThor platform has enabled us to develop a world-class Android smartphone for China Mobile's TD network," said Matthew Costello, Chief Operating Officer of HTC. "Consumers are going to be captivated by the fast and responsive multimedia experience delivered by the HTC Sensation Z710t."
In the midst of a tense legal dispute with Apple, Samsung strangely appears to have borrowed the iPhone maker's icons for the App Store and Mobile Safari for inclusion on a wall of app icons at a "shop in shop" retail location in Italy.
Update: SetteB.IT reports (via Google Translate) that the app wall is part of the Euronics store's design and not commissioned by Samsung.
A photo of the South Korean electronics giant's new mini-shop, located inside a Euronics store at the "Centro Sicilia" shopping mall in Catania, Italy, appears to show one wall of the shop covered with app icons, including several apps from Apple found only on its iOS platform, AllThingsD reports (via HD Blog).
It should be noted, however, that it's not immediately clear whether Samsung authorized the app wall as part of its shop. Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
According to the photo, the store's display features a prominent advertisement for the Galaxy Ace smartphone and contains a number of demo units of the company's smartphones and tablets. A variety of accessories also appear to be on offer at the shop.
Samsung and Apple will directly compete with each other at the Centro Sicilia, as Apple is set to open an Apple Store there on Saturday.
Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. has infringed upon Samsung Electronics patents since entering the mobile-phone market with the iPhone 3G, a lawyer for Samsung told a Dutch court as the Korean company seeks a ban on some Apple products in the Netherlands.
“Apple just entered the market in 2008 without taking care of the licenses,” Bas Berghuis van Woortman, a lawyer for Simmons & Simmons LLP who represents Samsung, said in The Hague court. “Apple is consciously, structurally infringing the 3G patents.”
Samsung, the world's second-largest maker of mobile phones, filed four lawsuits against Apple in the Netherlands and the first scheduled hearing was yesterday. Samsung is claiming Cupertino, California-based Apple's iPhone and iPad that use third-generation technology infringe Samsung patents and is seeking a ban on their sale in the Netherlands.
The legal battle between Apple and rival smartphone makers is intensifying as an increasing number of consumers use smart phones and wireless handsets to surf the Web, play games and download music and videos. Samsung and Apple have been involved in lawsuits around the globe since Apple claimed in an April lawsuit filed in the U.S. that the Korean company's Galaxy devices copied the iPhone and iPad.
We’re just a few short weeks away from CTIA, we’re expecting quite a few announcements within that time. While doing some digging on the CTIA site, someone tipped off GSMArenaabout some interesting finding within CTIA’s Hot for the Holidays Award Finalists list, which includes two unannounced devices. Could these devices possibly be either the Nexus Prime or a new 7 inch Galaxy Tab?
What gives this rumor legs, you ask? Well, it’s a rumor and it really doesn’t have much to stand on but we can at least expect to have Sammy announce a new product of some sort, be it the Nexus or not, at some point at CTIA.
Two categories have unnamed products that have found their way into the finalist positions; one from Samsung and one from an unknown manufacturer. The first device is found in the Gamer and Entertainment Enthusiasts category. One of the three simply says, “A product to be announced from Samsung Mobile, Samsung Telecommunications America.” While this could be a handset, given that the two other products in the category are tablets, TheSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Tab 8.9, respectively, this new product may be the new 7 inch Galaxy Tab.
We haven’t heard much about Sammy’s latest 7 incher as of late, but we have heard that it will be rocking a Super AMOLED display and arrive sometime in the fall, which we heard back in June. At the time, it was expected that the tablet wouldn’t be shipping with Android Honeycomb but Gingerbread instead, and while that’s entirely possible, we can imagine that the latest iteration in the Galaxy Tab family would at least be running Android 3.x. With the Galaxy Tab 7.7 already announced (and likely won’t come to the U.S.), could this be the T-Mobile Galaxy Tab Plus we saw just last week?
"These three additions to the Galaxy family of products are impressive examples of our commitment to offering consumers an unrivaled array of choices for entertainment and information on-the-go," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile, in a statement.
"People want their mobile device to fit their lifestyle and the Galaxy Tab 8.9 and Galaxy Players offer unparalleled power and portability to meet the widest consumer needs."
The Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 8.9 (pictured above left and below) comes in two flavors, a 16GB tablet priced at $469, and a 32GB version priced at $569, the company said at its Samsung Experience event in New York. Samsung's Galaxy Player 4.0 is priced at $269 and the Galaxy Player at $229—both are set for U.S. release on Oct. 16.
The tablet was made available for pre-order at www.samsung.com Monday, while the two media players can be pre-ordered starting Tuesday.
The Galaxy Tab 8.9 joins the Galaxy Tab 10.1 in Samsung's stable of tablets. Like the larger device, the Galaxy Tab 8.9 is thin at 8.6 millimeters and has a light, portable design that weighs less than a pound. The multi-touch WXGA TFT display has 1280-by-800 resolution and is fortified by Gorilla Glass.
