Google+Facebook+iPhone: 11/05/11

Saturday, 5 November 2011

iPhone 4S a Bestseller for Top 3 U.S. Mobile Carriers [Apple's iPhone 4S is #1 Smartphone in Top 3 Carriers; iPhone 4 Still Popular] Read: iPhone 4S a Bestseller for Top 3 U.S. Mobile Carriers [Apple's iPhone 4S is #1 Smartphone in Top 3 Carriers; iPhone 4 Still Popular] | TFTS

Apple is in for a happy holiday season this year, as the iPhone 4S becomes the top-selling smartphone among the three top mobile carriers in the U.S. Previous model iPhones — the 4 and the 3GS — are also doing well.

Apple is the darling of consumers and mobile phone carriers, apparently. According to October estimates by Canaccord Genuity analysts, the iPhone 4S was the best-selling smartphone for Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint for the month of October, despite the handset being available for only half of the month. The same trend is expected through November and throughout the rest of 2011. “Our October checks indicated the iPhone 4S was the top selling model at AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon with the iPhone 4, now $100, a top 3 selling model at each of those channels, says analyst Mike Walkley of their industry estimates.

And even with the launch of the iPhone 4S, older versions like the iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS are still going strong due to price drops. The iPhone 4 is now selling for $99 with plan. Meanwhile, AT&T is now offering the iPhone 3GS for free with a plan, which makes it a strong challenger against low-end smartphone offerings running Android.

Read: iPhone 4S a Bestseller for Top 3 U.S. Mobile Carriers [Apple's iPhone 4S is #1 Smartphone in Top 3 Carriers; iPhone 4 Still Popular] | TFTS

Rapper RoseMo Killed After Twitter Beef WorldStar Video

LOS ANGELES — Jomo Adoula Zambia who rapped under the name, “RoseMo,” was killed in Los Angeles, California while driving his car. Zambia crashed his car into a police car after being shot in Inglewood and died shortly after.

Just two days ago, a video was posted of Zambia beating up another rapper, Boskoe1, on popular hip-hop website, WorldStarHipHop.com. Zambia is an affiliate of Los Angeles rapper Ice Burgandy and he previously claimed to have beaten up rapper The Game on Twitter as well.

Boskoe apparently also had beef with Ice Burgandy which may have led to the beating. Ice Burgandy recorded several songs with rap artist, Waka Flocka, and claims to be a Bricksquad Affiliate.

Anonymous Again Says It Will Not Attack Facebook on Saturday

Facebook will not be targeted by Anonymous on Saturday, the hacking group said in one of its Twitter accounts, again distancing itself from a threat that has gotten broad publicity since it surfaced several months ago.

"We told you many times ddosing Facebook was a fake operation," reads a message posted on Friday in the group's AnonOps Twitter account.

The threat to "destroy" Facebook on Nov. 5 via a DDOS (distributed denial of service) attack originated with a video posted on YouTube in mid-July.

However, the plan was never announced in Anonymous'Twitter feeds nor on its blog, anonops.blogspot.com.

On Aug. 10 the group said on Twitter that it wasn't involved in planning a Facebook attack.

"WE DONT 'KILL' THE MESSENGER. THAT'S NOT OUR STYLE," reads that post on the group's AnonOps Twitter account.

In a statement released on Friday, Anonymous said the initiative against Facebook was led by an individual acting on his own, according to a Cnet report.

This man was warned to stop promoting the attack as an Anonymous action but he pressed on, so as retaliation Anonymous has released his name and contact information, including a phone number, according to the Cnet article.

When You Tweet, the CIA Listens

Careful what you say on Twitter, the spooks may be listening.

As a fascinating and rare insider report by AP reporter Kimberly Dozierreveals, the Central Intelligence Agency is analyzing millions of Twitter posts each day to get the inside skinny on events transpiring half a world away.

A team jokingly referred to as the "vengeful librarians" analyzes up to 5 million tweets in a wide range of languages, then cross references them against media reports and public opinion surveys to determine which Twitter users are reliable sources.

These spies are less like Matt Damon in the Bourne movies and more like Robert Redford in "Three Days of the Condor," only probably not as handsome. In other words, these spooks are also geeks.

Per Dozier:

From Arabic to Mandarin Chinese, from an angry tweet to a thoughtful blog, the analysts gather the information, often in native tongue. They cross-reference it with the local newspaper or a clandestinely intercepted phone conversation. From there, they build a picture sought by the highest levels at the White House, giving a real-time peek, for example, at the mood of a region after the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden or perhaps a prediction of which Mideast nation seems ripe for revolt.

The upshot: Folks in the Arab world didn't much care for that whole Osama thing -- what a surprise -- and the CIA knew Egypt was about to hit the boiling point, it just couldn't pinpoint when that might happen.

Why watch Twitter or Facebook? Because unlike traditional media, which is often controlled by the government (or is just lazy and/or brain dead, as in this country), they are open source -- anyone can contribute, and it's much harder to clamp down on them. Even when authorities try to turn off the social media spigot, as the Mubarak regime tried to do in Egypt last January, information invariably finds a way to trickle out.

Apple iPhone takes 52% of third quarter industry profits

Apple commanded 52% of the smartphone market profits with the iPhone in 2011's third quarter.

In Smartphone news, the iPhone is making a lot of money for Apple—more than half the industry’s overall profits belong to the Cupertino-based company. Though Samsung has pushed way ahead of Apple for sales in the September quarter, Apple managed to command 52% of the profits with the iPhone.

This is according to Canaccord Genuity Analyst T. Michael Walkley, who points out that Apple’s profit command comes from only 4.2 percent of the global market share; smaller still when you realize that its market share has dipped from 5.4 percent.

It’s also worthy to note that in the third quarter of 2011, Samsung and Apple combined make up 81% of the money made for the smartphone market. The rest of the 8 largest manufacturers: Nokia, RIM, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, LG, HTC, all came in with under 10% of the profits.

Motorola Atrix 2 lapdock extends smartphone expectations on AT&T Network

When the Motorola Atrix 4G Android handset was announced earlier this year at CES 2011, Motorola promised that the versatile functionality of the handset was going to be a hallmark of smartphones in the future. Motorola designed a Lapdock feature which turns the Atrix into an 11.6 inch notebook, an HD Station which offers multimedia and basic desktop PC functionality, and a Vehicle Dock that allows for hands-free GPS directions and hands-free Google voice search in your vehicle. While Motorola’s prediction of this type of multi-functionality in smartphones did not come true, the second iteration of the Atrix, the Motorola Atrix 2, also adopts this versatile outlook.

New customers as well as individual and family account customers who are eligible for an upgrade can buy the Motorola Atrix 2 for only $49 with new two year contract.

Just as the original Atrix could port into the Lapdock accessory, the Atrix 2 can also become a bare-bones notebook or laptop. And the processor on the Atrix 2 is more powerful and quicker than that of the Atrix, and translates into a quicker performance on the Lapdock laptop. Weighing about half as much as a comparable laptop or notebook, the Lapdock is actually a keyboard and 11.6 inch screen that adds 8 hours of battery life to the Atrix 2.

Motorola MotoKey: Facebook Lover’s Delight

If one would visit Motorola website, he would get a sneak peak to its yet-to-be launched fully QWERTY keypad phone, MotoKey Social.

The last word of the phone, ‘Social’, gives an indication of some special feature in it, as this phone has been specially made for those, who are quite active on face book, a social media website. One could not access its details as it clearly states ‘coming soon’.

It seems the phone has been inspired by its competitors, Chacha and Vodafone 555 Blue, which are face book centric phone. One of the economic phones, ever launched by Motorola has one button on it keypad, which is dedicated to Facebook.

By using this button, one could access his Facebook account, comment on others wall and could even share picture. There are loads of other features in the phone, which makes it a must buy.

Some of those exciting features are 3MP camera with focus facility that comes in digital camera, captivating touch screen of 2.4-inch and inbuilt internet and Bluetooth is also there with recording facility at 30fps.

One of the cashing points of this phone is its batter back up. This 910mAh integrated battery backup could be put on standby for more than 672 hours and has 480 minutes of usage. Though price has not been mentioned in the website or has been revealed by the company officials, it is suspected that it could give competition to other giants present in the market.

They have catch the central nerve of youth by making a phone specially dedicated to Facebook users. Now, it has to be seen that whether it would be able to impress youth populace, which its predecessors, Chacha and Salsa could not do. For now, every Facebook centric phone has flopped in the market, therefore putting the pressure on Motorola’s MotoKey Social phone.

Motorola Droid Razr Release Date: Verizon to Launch World's Thinnest Smartphone Next Week

The Motorola Droid Razr will be launched next week on Nov. 11 on the Verizon network, the carrier has confirmed.

The Droid Razr has been labeled the “world’s thinnest smartphone,” and Verizon customers can get their hands on the eagerly anticipated device on 11/11/11. The Droid Razr will be launched exclusively to Verizon.

The smartphone has been available to pre-order since the end of October, and is expected to be one of the most popular phones on sale in the pre-Christmasperiod.

Rumors suggest that although the smartphone will be launched with the Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread OS, it will be available for an upgrade to the Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich after the new OS is launched on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus.

The Droid Razr will likely retail at $299.99 with a two-year contract on Verizon; in-line with the network’s general price structure.

The smartphone will be launched with the following specs: a dual-core 1.2-GHz processor, 4.3-inch Super AMOLED advanced qHD display, 8-megapixel rear camera with 1080p video recording, HD front-facing camera, and a mobile hotspot support for up to eight Wi-Fi.

Survey: Android phones increasing share in US, Samsung top phone maker

The results of a survey published by comScore on Friday show that Android is increasing its market share in the US, while Samsung remains the top phone maker.

Google’s mobile OS, Android, is continuing to increase its share of the market among smartphone users in the US.

The latest results of a survey released by digital research firm comScore show that for the three-month period ending in September the OS was being used by almost half (44.8 percent) of all Americans that own a smartphone, up from 40.2 percent for the period ending in June.

In contrast, the iPhone’s iOS platform was being used by 27.4 percent of Americans, up a fraction from June’s 26.6 percent figure.

Research In Motion, which has suffered a series of setbacks recently, most notably a three-day outage of its BlackBerry service last month, saw a drop in users from June to September of 4.6 percent (from 23.5 percent to 18.9 percent).

Microsoft also saw a drop in the number using its mobile Windows platform, from 5.8 percent in June to 5.6 percent in September.

Among smartphone manufacturers, Samsung still leads the field in the US, with 25.3 percent of Americans now using a Samsung-made device. This figure is the same as in June. Second behind Samsung is LG, with 20.6 percent of the market (down from June’s 21.3 percent). Only Apple saw an increase in market share, albeit a modest one (up 1.3 percent). The survey found that its iPhone is used by 10.2 percent of Americans, hitting double figures for the first time.

Google will be pleased to see its Android OS continuing to play strongly, while Apple can take some comfort with its iOS platform holding second place and pushing well ahead of RIM’s platform. Samsung should also be happy that it’s continuing to perform well in an increasingly competitive market.

TDS 3Q results rise on more smartphone usage

Telephone Data and Systems Inc.'s third-quarter earnings surged 72 percent as the popularity of smartphones helped the owner of US Cellular and TDS Telecom bring in more revenue from wireless data plans.

The company said Friday that it made $71.3 million, or 68 cents per share, during the three months ending September. That compared with net income of $41.4 million, or 39 cents per share, at the same time last year.

Revenue totaled $1.33 billion, a 5 percent increase from $1.27 billion at the same time last year.

The results exceeded the average estimates among analysts, who were expecting TDS to earn 45 cents per share on revenue of $1.3 billion.

The company, which is based in Chicago, kept its full-year revenue outlook at the same level from three months ago. That may have disappointed investors, because TDS's shares fell 65 cents, or 2.7 percent, to $23.16 in Friday's afternoon trading.

Column: Choosing a smartphone

I'd just given the iPhone 4S a rave review, and I was going to buy one for myself. It was about to be my first iPhone and only my second smartphone.

I was a little freaked out.

REVIEW: The iPhone 4S

I hadn't bought a cellphone since October 2008, when I got the first phone running Google's Android software, the G1, on its first day on sale. Since then, I've reviewed scores of phones for The Associated Press, and I've given personal recommendations to friends and family.

When it came to opening my own wallet, though, it got a lot harder: There were so many great phones out there, but none that had it all. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's had trouble deciding.

I really liked the G1 at first and because it never died, I kept using it. But over the years, smartphones have moved light years ahead. I granted it a new lease on life in January by replacing its battery, but with sluggish performance, tired features and an inability to run many newer apps, I knew time was running out.

It wasn't just the phone. It was also the phone's service plan with T-Mobile.

I've been a loyal T-Mobile customer for years. I've stuck with it when my first apartment inNew York lacked coverage and again when I moved to a San Francisco apartment where I have to practically stick my head out the window to get a signal. But that was getting tiring.

I wanted a hot, new phone and reliable service to go with it.

As a gadget reviewer, you'd think it would be easy for me to pick out a new cellphone. I know what's out there, and I have access to the top devices. At any given time, I have a disturbing number of "loaner" smartphones crowding my desk, waiting to be reviewed or sent back to a handset maker or wireless carrier.

As it turns out, this made it even harder to make a decision. Part of me felt paralyzed by choice, while another part of me felt no existing phone had everything on my wish list of features. I also hesitated knowing that anything I bought would soon be replaced by a newer model.

On top of all that, I felt anxious about signing a new two-year service contract. I'd been going month to month with the G1 for almost a year. I was fearful that if I committed now, I'd miss out on a better phone over the next two years — one packed with more goodies from my wish list.

I wanted it all. I wanted design and ease of use like the iPhone, but with an operating system that's more flexible, like Android. I didn't want a physical keyboard, but I longed for a good on-screen keyboard. I wanted the ability to use third-party keyboard software like Swype for fast typing, something I couldn't do with an iPhone. I also desired an awesome touch screen and a built-in camera that could take the place of my trusty, yet older-model digital camera.

What Facebook’s New Features Mean for Journalists

Most of the changes that Facebook announced at its f8 conference have gone into effect (even though we’re still waiting for Timeline). In general, new Facebook tools create opportunities for journalists to evolve their personal brands and beats.

At Friday’s Mashable Media Summit, Facebook’s journalist program manager, Vadim Lavrusik, explains how the social network’s new features can help journalists.

“Profiles and subscribe are going to be the most useful for journalists that are posting as themselves,” says Lavrusik. He suggests these users review their profile settings if they plan to start using Facebook publicly. Oftentimes, their privacy settings may be so restricted that their profiles won’t appear in public search. Conversely, users should check settings to make sure they don’t publicly share more than they’re comfortable with.

Apart from individual journalists, larger-scale media organizations are reaping the benefits of the new Facebook. Lavrusik acknowledges that online media will always have concerns that page views affect advertising. Why, then, would they export their media to an outside host like Facebook? According to Lavrusik, Facebook has monetized the advertising available in its applications. “You can put advertising on there and monetize the audience. … You can control what’s in that environment,” he explains. “[Media] is thinking about it as a mobile application; you’re able to consume content in Facebook instead of kicking back to a news site.”

In response to Mashable deputy editor Chris Taylor’s assertion that “Facebook Is Too Damn Complicated,” Lavrusik says that most users don’t engage with every tool on Facebook anyway. “Your average user isn’t going to use all these features,” he says. “You don’t have to do everything on Facebook. It becomes complicated when you think about it that way.”

Jennifer Christine Harris Arrested: Facebook Unfriending Motive In Alleged Home Arson

Authorities in Iowa say a 30-year-old woman attempted to burn down a couple's house last week in retaliation for being unfriended Facebook.

Jennifer Christine Harris, of Des Moines, is being held in Polk County Prison on $100,000 bond after she allegedly set fire to Jim and Nikki Rasmussen's garage, forcing the couple to flee their home in the middle of the night, the Des Moines Register reports.

The siding on the house melted and the garage roof collapsed, according to reports. The Rasmussens only managed to escape the blaze after a loud booming sound woke them up.

"It was ablaze at 1 a.m. It was just totally engulfed," neighbor Dominic Formaro told ABC News.

Police say that investigations show Harris' motive was connected to an argument she and Nikki had over Facebook.

"The two are no longer friends due to a dispute over Facebook," Jim Rasmussen told officials with the Des Moines Police Department. "According to Nikki, Jen is angry with her because she ended their friendship on Facebook."

According to Detective Jack Kamerick, the dispute had much to do with a Facebook event the former-

Facebook? Fox News? Who Will Anonymous Target Come Nov. 5?

Will Anonymous celebrate Guy Fawkes Day with a bang or a whimper? Will the global hacktivist collective attempt to bring down Facebook and Fox News on Saturday—the deadline for those and other audacious "operations" some Anonymous factions have warned the world to expect on Nov. 5?

"Remember, remember the Fifth of November," goes the popular verse that tells the tale of Guy Fawkes and the failed Gunpowder Plot. Fawkes, who attempted to blow up England's House of Lords in 1605 and was hanged for it a year later, has become a sort of patron saint to Anonymous members, who often wear Guy Fawkes masks at public protests like Occupy Wall Street. Though Guy Fawkes Day has historically been celebrated in England for the unraveling of that plot, Alan Moore's graphic novel V for Vendetta and a later film of the same name helped make Fawkes an anarchist anti-hero in popular culture.

Anonymous being what it is, not all of the hacking operations supposedly being planned for Nov. 5 should be taken seriously. It may be that there's an Anonymous operation or two in the works for Saturday that hasn't been announced, and that seemingly impossible tasks like Operation Facebook are just distractions.

We'll know soon enough, but for now, let's examine the plans for Guy Fawkes Day mayhem that some Anons have publicized with an eye towards gauging how likely each of these digital gunpowder plots are to happen.

OPERATION FACEBOOK
Several months ago, Anonymous vowed to "destroy" Facebook on Nov. 5, stirring up a storm of headlines and speculation about the audacity of that plan. The only problem with the story was that several reliable mouthpieces for the collective quickly announced that there wasn't a lot of there there with regards to Operation Facebook, something they've reiterated as Nov. 5 grows closer.

Samsung To Introduce Smartphones With Flexible Displays Next Year [REPORT]

According to a new report published today, Samsung is looking to introduce flexible OLED screens to their smartphones starting as early as 2012.

The news comes from MacWorld – an online magazine dedicated to covering all things Apple – in the form of a report in which they discuss Samsung’s flexible display technology and how they intend to introduce them next year.

These flexible displays which are fitted inside rigid cases, when introduced next year, will be based on Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) technology, so expect great picture quality and amazing brightness levels.
Read more http://www.redmondpie.com/samsung-to-introduce-smartphones-with-flexible-displays-next-year-report/

Samsung to depose Jony Ive and other Apple designers by December 1, 2011

Apple and Samsung’s US-based litigation on track for trial in July 2012. That being the case, depositions of some of Apple’s key iPhone inventors will be taking place relatively soon.

The inventors on Samsung’s radar include Jonathan Ive, Douglas Satzger, Shin Nishibori, and Christopher Stringer. Originally, these depositions were supposed to be completed by November 1. Samsung in mid-October, however, filed a motion seeking an extension due to the fact that the witnesses would be unavailable before then.

Samsung’s motion explained:

iPhone terms were unacceptable: US Cellular

NEW YORK: US Cellular Corp, the country's sixth-largest cellphone company, said it had the opportunity to carry the iPhone but turned it down because the phone is too expensive.

It's the first US carrier to acknowledge turning down the phone.

Consumers pay $200 for the base model of theiPhone 4S, but Apple charges carriers about $600 for it. Carriers count on making their money back in service fees over the life of the contract.

US Cellular CEO Mary Dillon told analysts on an earnings conference call that "the terms were unacceptable from a risk and profitability standpoint." She didn't provide any details, but said the added load the iPhone could have placed on its data network was not a big consideration.

Chicago-based US Cellular has 5.9 million subscribers, a number that has been shrinking slowly over the past two and a half years. Only a quarter of its subscribers on contract-based plans have smartphones, compared with half at AT&T Inc.

Google TV 2.0 is all bling and no kerching

It is easy to be rude about Google TV, but at the back of the mind is the feeling that one day, after successful tinkering, Google may get it right. Yet after initial hype and excitement around the launch, Google has struggled to recover from the dead weight of unfulfilled expectations that followed, and it will take something more than the recent revamping including an improved user interface to regain any sort of momentum.

It is little surprise that Google's actual announcement was overshadowed by the vapourware of speculation around Apple's impending TV launch expected sometime next year. That has been pitched as Steve Jobs' final legacy since he is said to have claimed to have solved the riddle of the connected TV shortly before he died. This is exactly what Google has also been trying and, so far, has failed to do.

Indeed part of the re-launch dubbed Google TV 2.0 is a plan, as yet undated, to launch around 100 new video channels on YouTube designed more for the big screen. These will be fed with supposedly original content from media outlets, and celebrities such as Madonna and Jay-Z.

But while YouTube can provide in effect a ring-fenced section containing content of high technical quality, the announced plans highlight the continuing dilemma for Google TV. That is how to attract truly premium content, and to persuade all the players of the ecosystem – notably smart TV makers – that it is worth participating in the venture.

Google puts 'freshness' in search algorithm

As if its search were not "fresh" enough, search giant Google has tweaked its search algorithms further to bring users more recent and relevant results.

Google fellow Amit Singhal said the algorithms will automatically look for the most recent results even if the user does not specify it in his or her search.

"We completed our Caffeine web indexing system last year, which allows us to crawl and index the web for fresh content quickly on an enormous scale. Building upon the momentum from Caffeine, today we’re making a significant improvement to our ranking algorithm that impacts roughly 35 percent of searches and better determines when to give you more up-to-date relevant results for these varying degrees of freshness," Singhal said in a blog post.

Singhal said Google Search uses a freshness algorithm, designed to give the most up-to-date results.

With this update in the algorithm, searching for current events like [occupy oakland protest], or for the latest news about the [nba lockout] will yield "more high-quality pages that might only be minutes old."

"Given the incredibly fast pace at which information moves in today’s world, the most recent information can be from the last week, day or even minute, and depending on the search terms, the algorithm needs to be able to figure out if a result from a week ago about a TV show is recent, or if a result from a week ago about breaking news is too old," Singhal said.

On the other hand, searches for regularly recurring events such as annual conferences will also bring up the most recent event.

Searches for information that changes often, but is not really a hot topic or a recurring event will also bring up the most recent results.

On the other hand, Singhal said there are cases where results that are a few years old might still be useful, like recipes.

"Different searches have different freshness needs. This algorithmic improvement is designed to better understand how to differentiate between these kinds of searches and the level of freshness you need, and make sure you get the most up to the minute answers," he said. — TJD, GMA News

Google Chrome Beta 16 Syncs Browser Across Multiple Accounts

No sooner did Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) Chrome wrap a great month of market share gain than the company rolled out its next version of the increasingly popular Web browser.

Chrome, which Google CEO Larry Page said last month has more than 200 million users, has moved onto version 16 with syncing software tools that allow more than one user to sign into Chrome and port all of their bookmarks, extensions and applications to any computer.

This will save users of a shared computer from having to download and install software and type in passwords repeatedly. It will also bring over the suggested search capabilities housed in the omnibox Chrome address bar.

Google has incrementally bolstered its synchronization capabilities since launching Chrome in 2008, adding sync for bookmarks in December 2009 and sync for autofills and extensions in July 2010.

However, adding sync on a single computer for multiple users is a new, welcome addition at a time when parents are buying new machines for the family, or even visiting relatives or friends.

"You may not want your bookmarks and settings mixing with your brother's or your roommate's bookmarks and settings, and you wouldn't want their Chrome stuff syncing to your other devices," explained Google Chrome engineer Miranda Callahan.

Users can try this multi-user sync by going to options on their Windows PC (or preferences on the Mac), clicking "personal stuff," and then clicking "add new users. This will trigger a new instance of Chrome that can be tailored with apps, bookmarks, settings and other Chrome tools.

Chrome drops a badge in the upper corner to let users know whose version of Chrome is open on the screen.

A badge in the upper corner lets you know at a glance that this new Chrome browser belongs to you, and users can click on the badge to see a menu of all the users on that computer, and switch between instantiations.

Google Ponders Pay-TV Business

Internet giant Google Inc. is considering a plan to offer paid cable-TV services to consumers, a move that could unleash a new wave of competition within the traditional TV business.

Google has looked at ways to expand a previously announced project to build a high-speed Internet service in Kansas City, Mo., and Kansas City, Kan., adding video and phone service in a mirror of offerings from cable and telecom companies, according to people briefed on its plans. As a result, Google has discussed distributing major TV channels from companies like Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc. as part of the video service, though the discussions were exploratory and no final decisions have been made.

In September Google hired a former cable-TV executive, Jeremy Stern, who is spearheading talks with media companies, some of the people briefed on the plans said.

A Google spokesman said the company doesn't comment on rumor or speculation. Spokespeople for Disney, Time Warner and Discovery declined to comment.

The discussions underscore the intensifying battle for control of the TV set. In recent years phone companies have jumped into a market previously dominated by cable-TV operators and satellite-TV providers. Now companies such as Amazon.com Inc. are bulking up their content offerings, while Apple Inc. and others are trying to reinvent the viewing experience with iPads and other devices, and potentially a new type of television set.

Meanwhile, Comcast Corp. and other incumbent cable and satellite operators are fighting back, creating their own apps and lining up Internet-rights to programs that tie into their existing offline TV subscriptions.

Much is at stake. Television reaps more than $150 billion per year in the U.S. from advertisers and consumers paying monthly fees. Google, the biggest seller of ads on the Web, wants to snare a share of the TV ad dollars. And with its latest plan, Google threatens to undercut cable and satellite companies in subscription fees it may charge consumers.

Report: Google's Fiber Deployment Could Add Paid TV Services

Google is reportedly considering a deal to offer pay TV services as part of the Google Fiber bundle it is rolling out to Kansas City, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Google, for its part, did not confirm or deny the report. "We're still exploring what product offerings will be available when we launch Google Fiber," Jena Wandres, a spokeswoman for Google, said in an emailed statement.

In March, Google selected Kansas City, Kansas as the first destination for Google Fiber, selecting the city from more than 1,100 other communities that vied for the privilege. Topeka, Kansas even renamed itself Google for a short period to try and attract attention. After obtaining approval from the city's board of commissioners, Google said in March that it plans to offer service in the area sometime next year. It later said that it would expand Google Fiber across the river to Kansas City, Missouri, as well.

On Wednesday, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation launched a Web site dedicated to exploring "Gig Ideas" for the region. Kevin Lo, general manager of Google Access, said in an interview posted on the site that Google picked Kansas City because it "represented America" on a number of different metrics, and that its location in the middle of the country appealed to Google.

So far, Google hasn't said if it plans to expand Google Fiber to other communities. "We'll be looking closely at ways to bring ultra high-speeds to other communities across the country," Wandres said, when asked to comment.

Google representatives confirmed Friday that Google Fiber is still in the buildout phase, and that it will provide symmetric gigabit services (1-Gbit/s both to and from the home) to each of an undisclosed number of homes. That's plenty of bandwidth to which HD video services can be added, as rival fiber-based offerings from Verizon and AT&T have shown. (AT&T's U-verse has used both fiber-to-the-premises and fiber-to-the-node deployments, where VDSL-based copper traverses the last few feet).

Google has discussed distributing major TV channels from companies like Walt Disney Co., Time Warner Inc. and Discovery Communications Inc. as part of the video service, the Journal reported, in addition to providing phone service.

Say what? Google now indexing Facebook comments

Your name might be a little more searchable these days, as Google now indexes comments you publish on Web sites using the Facebook Comments platform.

The change came to light Monday, when Digital Inspiration noticed that Googlebots, the technology that scans Web pages, now recognizes comments encased in JavaScript platforms like Facebook Comments, Disqus, and Echo.

Matt Cutts, a Google team member, later confirmed this discovery, tweeting: "Googlebot keeps getting smarter. Now has the ability to execute AJAX/JS to index some dynamic comments."

Web sites like DailyBeast, Patch, and Examiner, which use the Facebook Social Plugin, let readers leave comments using their Facebook profile instead of forcing them to create a new account.

Comments published using the platform are accompanied by the user's name, profile picture, and a link to his or her Facebook profile.

To many users, Facebook Comments is a convenience, eliminating the need to create a unique account, username, and password each time they comment on a different Web site or blog.

The Social Plugin also makes Web site managers happy, as the convenience to leave comments without creating a new account encourages user engagement. But until today, the benefit of Facebook Comments came at the expense of SEO (search engine optimization), as comments left via Facebook were not indexed by Google.

Now that Google Search indexes Facebook comments on third-party sites, we'll likely see an increase in Web sites implementing the platform in an attempt to boost their searchability. But what does this mean for users?

Groupon's IPO biggest by U.S. Web company since Google

The global leader in "daily deals" is now valued at almost $13 billion after saying it increased the offering by 5 million shares to 35 million in total and pricing them at $20 each, above an initial range of $16 to $18.

The debut of the three-year-old company, which sells Internet coupons for everything from spa treatments to nose jobs, is one of this year's most closely watched. Its tiny float represents just above 5 percent of the company and helped drive up demand and price.

That constraint -- one of the smallest floats of the past decade -- should support Groupon's share price when it begins trading on the Nasdaq on Friday under the ticker GRPN, analysts say.

But in the longer run, they cited concerns about competition from the deep-pocketed likes of Google and Amazon.com Inc; the need to spend continuously to drive user growth; and questions about accounting after the company altered its IPO filings twice to change the way it accounted for revenue.

"Groupon is expensive. The $12.8 billion valuation is only achievable because of the low float," said Rob Romero, head of technology-focused hedge fund firm Connective Capital Management.

"Today's reaction to LinkedIn floating additional share supply is an indication of how tight supply-demand of shares can distort valuation for a new IPO."

LinkedIn, which remains well above its $45 IPO price, plummeted 9 percent after-hours after unveiling a proposal to sell up to $500 million in stock. It had floated 8.3 percent of its shares during the IPO.

Pandora Media, a music streaming service and another recent dotcom debutante, sold 9.2 percent of the company.

At $12.8 billion, Groupon commands a price tag more than twice what Google offered to buy the company last year.

WIDESPREAD CRITICISM

Beyond Friday, Groupon shares may prove volatile on concern about the company's ability to generate long-term profit and revenue growth, plus the likelihood that existing investors will sell some of their holdings at some point.

Quirky music major and CEO Andrew Mason and his executive team spent almost two weeks on the road pitching to investors and addressing widespread criticism about Groupon's replicable business model, slowing growth and accounting concerns.

"The post-IPO investor will be taking a risk on this deal," said Josef Schuster, founder of IPO research and investment house IPOX Schuster. "It's maybe a good trade for a day trader, in and out in a single day, but I don't want to be in it for the long run."

Developer of Twitter for iPhone departs company

Loren Brichter, the founder of Atebits, the creator of the iPhone app Tweetie and the mastermind behind Twitter for iPhone, has completed his last day at Twitter.

“Today was my last day at Twitter. Taking some time to figure out what’s next. Really proud of the way the team has grown,” Brichter wrote in a tweet posted to Twitter Friday afternoon.

Brichter has been developing Mac applications since 2007. As the founder of Atebits, Brichter developed Tweetie, a popular Twitter client for the iPhone. Twitter acquired Atebits in April 2010. Brichter then went on to spearhead development on Twitter’s iPhone, iPad and Mac applications.

iPhone 5 rumor rollup for the week ending Nov. 4

You didn't realize that Apple is changing its design philosophy, overhauling its entire product line and doing a massive redesign for the iPhone 5, which may actually already exist and is only waiting for decent LTE chips.

But you do now, thanks to the seeding of the iOSsphere with rehashed iPhone 5 rumors.

Also this week: the birth of a new rumor, sort of like the birth of a new star, out of the mystery of technology.

You read it here second.

"Sure, people are always anxious to learn about the newest Apple products, but the iPhone 5 will probably have an unprecedented amount of buzz surrounding it up until release - for the simple fact that many people felt tricked when Apple announced the 4S as opposed to the 5."

Josh Wolford, WebProNews

iPhone 5 is part of complete, total, Apple product overhaul

It's amazing how much you can learn from "sources in the upstream supply chain." A five-sentence, 142-word story in DigiTimes, filled with little more than speculative generalities, launched a mini tidal wave of "reporting" across the Internet.

Usually DigiTimes cites just "supply chain sources" so the extra adjective lends an air of specificity and therefore, incredibly, credibility to its latest posting.

Apple's security chief leaves: Source

Apple's chief of security operations has left the company just months after the world's largest technology company faced criticism over the tracking down of what has been widely reported as a missing iPhone prototype.

The consumer device giant's vice president of global security, John Theriault has retired, a person close to Apple said. Apple declined to comment.

Theriault joined Apple after a stint as chief of security at Pfizer Inc, according to his LinkedIn profile. Prior to that, he was a special agent in the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Apple's security team was criticized after two of its members entered the house of a San Francisco resident in the summer to search for a "lost item", thought to to be a prototype of what eventually became the iPhone 4S.

Siri Failure Leaves iPhones Mute

No wonder Apple says Siri — its voice-activated “virtual assistant” for the new iPhone — is in beta.

For the second day in a row, Siri suffered intermittent failures that prevented people from using it. Siri is a much talked-about feature in the iPhone 4S, designed to let users schedule appointments, dictate texts and do Web searches with voice commands. While Siri service appeared to be restored for many people during parts of Thursday and Friday, it often quickly became unavailable again.

An Apple spokeswoman didn’t respond to a request for comment about the Siri problems, which is often how Apple responds as it investigates the causes of technical problems with one of its new devices (see its handling of the iPhone battery-draining bugs earlier this week).

As a number of bloggers and pundits have pointed out, including Jon Gruberat Daring Fireball, Apple labeled Siri a “beta” technology — technospeak for “not quite cooked yet.” It was an unusual move for Apple, which usually seeks to release more fully polished products. Even though it says Siri is in beta, Apple has clearly made the feature one of the main selling points of the device, featuring it prominently in its advertising.

It’s unclear whether users will cut Apple more slack over the Siri problems than they did over MobileMe, an online service whose troubled introduction in 2008 turned into a rare debacle for Apple. Since then, Apple has made big investments in its online efforts, including a major data center in North Carolina.

Facebook's Eduardo Saverin Invests in ShopSavvy

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverinled a $7 million round in funding for the mobile shopping application ShopSavvy,

Saverin, who sued the social network to get his name back on the masthead, has made a name for himself as an investor, notably in Qwiki andJumio. The Brazilian-born Saverin was portrayed as a frozen out partner by Mark Zuckerberg and Sean Parker in the award-winning film, "The Social Network." He later sued the company and settled for an undisclosed amount -- but reports estimate the settlement ranging from $1 billion to $2.5 billion, based mostly on fluctuating Facebook valuation.

Saverin will join ShopSavvy's board of directors and advise the startup, according to a prepared statement. The Dallas-based ShopSavvy will use the financing to open a new office in San Francisco.

"Much like the nascent days of social media, I believe the mobile shopping services market is in the very early stages of change," said Eduardo Saverin. "In my opinion, ShopSavvy has the right connections, the right partners and the right technology to be a game-changer."

Saverin continued his effusive accolades on his Facebook page.

ShopSavvy claims more than 20 million downloads and over 10 million current unique users since its launch in 2008. The app partners with more than 40,000 retailers, including Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Sears, Nordstrom and Barnes & Noble.

Saverin has to stay relevant, and investing in ShopSavvy, Qwiki and Jumio shows that he likes to invest in diverse startups. We'll see if his strategy pays off.

Anonymous to attack Fox, Facebook, banks and drug cartel on November 5

If you haven’t made it a point to remember the fifth of November before, hacktivists belonging to the group Anonymous are looking to change all of that this weekend.

According to various tweets, blog posts and message across the Web, November 5 will host a series of attacks on various institutions waged by members of the online collective Anonymous. Among the rumored targets this weekend include Fox News, Facebook and a notorious Mexican drug cartel.

Additionally, November 5 is scheduled to be the day that customers of big banks across America have vowed to close down their accounts and transfer their money to smaller institutions in alignment with the growing Occupy movement. Across the Internet and in Occupy encampments across the country, November 5 is being dubbed as Bank Transfer Day, Move Your Money Day and other monikers as part of the Operation Cashback movement.

Internationally, November 5 is recognized as Guy Fawkes Day, named in remembrance of the radical Englishman who attempted to overthrow parliament in 1605. His plight was idolized in the major motion picture V For Vendetta, and the Guy Fawkes mask from the film has since become the calling card for members of Anonymous.

On Saturday, those members are expected to open up battlefronts across the Web and in banks across the country.

Aside from the Operation Cashback initiative, Anonymous has previously vowed that it will take on the website for Fox News on November 5, swearing to shut down their servers under the umbrella of an agenda called Operation Fox Hunt. According to a YouTube video posted on October 22, the assault on Fox will come as a response to the cable news network’s lack of serious coverage aimed at the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Now in its second month, Fox was late to devote any coverage to the movement and, once it did, took a light-hearted and laughable approach at what polls show that many Americans feel is a serious issue.

“Since they will not stop ridiculing the occupiers, we will simply shut them down,” says a digitzed voice in the recent YouTube clip. “Fox News, your time has come . . . Operation Fox Hunt. November 5th. May the hunt begin,” the narrator adds.

In the past Anonymous has been mostly successfully with planned attacks of similar scales, running infiltrations on the computers of SONY, Bank of America, Mastercard and other major corporations and institutions. As RT reported yesterday, last week Anonymous successfully hacked into the computers of nearly 200 patrons of child pornography websites, exposing their IP addresses and computer histories and passing them along to international authorities.

Anonymous has also vowed that unless an affiliated hacker is received from the custody of the Zetas, a violent Mexican drug cartel, they will information relating to persons affiliated with the gang on November 5. Anonymous claims they have illegally obtained around 25,000 emails relating to the Zetas by infiltrating the computer network of the Mexican government and can out dozens of officials and authorities with ties to the Zetas. Should they follow through with their threat, this maneuver will surely open Anonymous up to not just legal ramifications this time, but as a security expert with the company Stratfor warns them, “abduction, injury and death.”

Facebook threat puts ETX authorities on alert

CHEROKEE COUNTY, TX (KLTV)- A facebook post made by a teenage boy put three East Texas agencies on alert for hours.

The student who posted it said he was going to go to school and shoot everyone in sight.

But officials said their investigation not only lead them to the boy who made the post, but his high school thousands of miles away.

On one of the boy's phoney facebook accounts he posted about being bullied, burning inside with violence, cutting himself and said "I shell go to school and shoot everyone in sight".

A stranger in North Carolina saw the post first-- saw the boy's current location was listed as Mt. Heaven, Texas and contacted the nearest law enforcement agencies to Mt. Haven, Texas --just west of Jacksonville.

"All of our investigators continued following up on what leads we had just to verify and try to make sure that the student was not here in East Texas," said Cherokee County Captain John Raffield.

"The minute they contacted our Jacksonville ISD Police Department our police chief went right to Facebook. He went through that aspect looking for any kind of connections with our students," JISD Superintendent Dr. Joe Wardell said.

They found nothing. But, investigators weren't convinced so they called Facebook for help.

"It only took about eight minutes and that facebook address, I traced it back to New Zealand," Raffield said.

Then officials got in touch with the boy's school in New Zealand.
The principal told them the boy admitted to writing the comments and was not a threat to their students.

"They don't realize sometimes the things that can be caused by things that are posted. If they post something about going to a school to shoot individuals the law enforcement and the school administrators can't take that lightly," Raffield said.

Officials in New Zealand said the boy will be monitored and receive counseling.

JISD authorities said even though there was never a threat to East Texas students, it can teach them a valuable lesson-- that they need to watch what they put in the Internet and realize their community is not secluded from the rest of the world.

Anonymous says Facebook attack was never real

Don't worry Facebook users, the sky is not falling--you'll be able to update your status and post those Occupy Wall Street photos tomorrow.

Members of Anonymous fed up with reports that the online activist group is going to take down the social network said today that the threat is not real and was the work of one lone member without any support from others in the group. They said it doesn't make sense to shut down a site they use to get their message out.

"Anonymous is a movement we don't take kindly to when people try to (expletive) it up. Our movement relies on communicating with people around the world so we can help one another," a statement posted to Pastebin today said.

"One skiddy queer chap named Anthony [last name redacted] from the US in Ohio decided to take it upon himself to have some lulz with creating an imaginary opfacebook and pawning it off as a legit anon op," the statement said. "Despite us telling this mate several times we did not support his op, he continued to push his agenda for lulz. This op is phony but he continues to say it's an anon op."

The statement then provides an address, phone number, and other information ostensibly belonging to the individual named. (We've chosen not to include his last name in this post.)

"If you are against how we communicate on facebook, twitter, and anonops for example then you are against anonymous and become our enemy since you are trying to disrupt our movement," the statement says. "Because of this we decided to social the Opfacebook skiddy and hack him. Give this wanker a call and tell him what a piece of rubbish he is."

WWE: 15 Best Wrestler Twitter Accounts

Social media is the new way of communication in the 21st century, with the advent of Facebook and Twitter changing the way we talk with our friends and neighbors. This technology has become extremely popular as of late and has been embraced by the entertainment sector, including the WWE. Several past and present performers have Twitter accounts to interact with fans, while other wrestlers comment on their day or whatever is happening in their world.

A new way Twitter has been used recently in the WWE is to escalate feuds, with several of the divas posting inflammatory remarks about each other. This is meant to capture the public's attention and draw even more interest in the rivalries.

Twitter is a technology which is growing in popularity and will continue to be embraced because of its ease of use for people wanting to broadcast themselves.

Here are the 15 Best wrestler Twitter accounts:

Twitter Fans Want 'Justice for Michael Jackson,' Seek Guilty Verdict in Dr. Conrad Murray Trial

As the jury deliberates the fate of Dr. Conrad Murray, the cardiologist facing involuntary manslaughter in the death of pop superstar Michael Jackson, fans of the late singer are taking to Twitter to express their hopes for a guilty verdict.

"Justice for Michael Jackson" was one of the top trending topics on the site today.

"This is not just justice for Michael Jackson," tweeted jayenere. "This is justice for anyone who loved him. Including the fans... we are without b/c of Conrad!"

User omgakeem wrote, "Parents lost their son, children lost their father, siblings lost their brother, & millions lost their hero. ♥ JUSTICE FOR MICHAEL JACKSON."

After six weeks of testimony from police, crime scene investigators, medical experts, former employees of Jackson and former patients and girlfriends of Murray, the trial culminated in closing arguments yesterday from Prosecutor David Walgren and Defense Attorney Ed Chernoff.

Murray was hired as Jackson's personal physician to oversee his care during what was to be his last world tour. The doctor allegedly injected Jackson with 100mg of Propofol, four times the amount that a person may ingest safely, in order to help the pop star sleep. The prosecution contends that not only was Conrad wrong to administer the anesthetic drug, which is only meant to be used in a hospital setting, but also that he is responsible for Jackson's death because he was not properly monitoring the star's condition and delayed making a 911 call for 20 minutes after realizing Jackson was not breathing

Mollett to face trial in Twitter threats case

BEAVER -- A former Penn State-Beaver student accused by police of making threats of violence against the campus on Twitter will go to court on the charges.

Michael D. Mollett, 21, of Pittsburgh, was held for court on charges of disorderly conduct and making terroristic threats after a preliminary hearing Friday before District Judge Tim Finn.

Penn State-Beaver student Sara Stillwell testified that she learned about comments Mollett made on Twitter on Oct. 20 through other students in a philosophy class who were talking about the comments. Stillwell said another student became concerned, and they went to the campus police.

Stillwell said the tweets -- messages posted on Twitter -- referenced a "Virginia Tech day" and mentioned shooting somebody and that people would be scared.

Under cross-examination by Mollett's defense attorney, Frank Walker, Stillwell said none of the tweets referenced Penn State-Beaver or any particular location, nor did they name any specific person.

Ron Schwartz, supervisor of Penn State-Beaver police, and state police Trooper Daniel Mosura also testified.

'Top' News and People Make Twitter Search More Useful

Just as Twitter reached 50 million daily users, it's testing new "Top News" and "Top People" features. When you perform a search on Twitter, it shows those items related to your search appearing above your results. Twitter hasn't rolled this out on all accounts yet (including my own), but it's something to watch for; both features will increase the relevance of Twitter searches.

Top People Makes it Easier to Find Real Accounts

Have you tried to find a certain celebrity on Twitter who either isn't quite famous enough to warrant the blue "verified" tag or is so famous that the real account gets buried in mentions of their name? If so, you've probably wasted some time hunting up real Twitteraccounts. Now, Twitter puts the verified account at the top of searches in a "Top People" box.

'Top News' Makes Relevant Stories Easier to Find

"Top News" returns news articles relevant to your search. If it isn't limited to certain media organizations when it rolls out, this feature could really level the playing field for bloggers. It's all speculation until it gets out of the test phase, but niche bloggers could see a real traffic boost if this feature is implemented without restrictions.

What The New 'Tops' Mean for Business
If your company is in a niche industry and you have the resources devoted to starting a blog, watch "Top News" closely to see if it is implemented only for mainstream media. If it isn't, a niche blog now has even more potential to drive traffic to your site.

Loren Brichter, Creator Of Official Twitter Apps For Mac And iPhone, Leaves Twitter

Loren Brichter, the extremely talented creator of Tweetie — which begat the official Twitter applications for iOS — has just announced that he’s leaving the company. Brichter wrote in atweet that today is his last day at Twitter, and that he’ll be “taking some time to figure out what’s next”.

Brichter’s path to Twitter was an unusual one, and also the source of much developer angst.

In November 2008 Brichter’s one-man company atebitslaunched Tweetie, a highly polished Twitter client for iPhone that quickly became a favorite among Twitter users. He followed that up with the subsequent release of Tweetie 2 in 2009, which was also a massive hit.

Then, in April 2010 Twitter announced that it had acquired atebits and its iOS app — which later turned into Twitter for iPhone and Twitter for iPad. Tweetie for Mac, which was in development at the time of the acquisition, has also gone on to become Twitter for Mac.

The notion of having an ‘official’ app was a huge blow to Twitter’s developer ecosystem, whose third-party apps had largely paved the way for Twitter’s success in the first place. But Twitter argued that the lack of official apps was causing confusion among new users, and so it stepped in with its own. Aside from the iOS and Mac apps,it’s also launched official apps for Android, Windows Phone, and Blackberry

Microsoft's share of smartphone market continues slow decline

Microsoft's share of U.S. mobile smartphone platforms dipped again for the three-month period ending in September, according to research company comScore.

For that period, Microsoft's smartphone platforms -- primarily Windows Phone but also older Windows Mobile -- had 5.6 percent of smartphone subscribers, down from 5.8 percent for the three months ended in June. (It held 5.7 percent for the three months ended in August).

Google's share went up from 40.2 percent for the three months ended in June to 44.8 percent for the three months ended in September, while Apple saw a small increase from 26.6 to 27.4 percent. RIM took another big fall, going from 23.5 percent to 18.9 percent.

The number of people in the U.S. who owned smartphones grew 12 percent during the three months ending in September (to 87.4 million), compared to the preceding three-month period.

Here's comScore's chart:

Intel, MIPS scramble to support Android 4.0 on tablets

IDG News Service - Intel and MIPS Technologies expect the next version of Google's mobile operating system, Android 4.0, to soon run on tablets and smartphones based on their processors.

Android 4.0, also called Ice Cream Sandwich, has already been shown to work on a smartphone with an ARM processor, which is used in most smartphones and tablets today. Google showed Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS) last month running on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus, which will go on sale this month in the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Google chose Samsung and Texas Instruments, whose dual-core OMAP4460 chip is being used in the Nexus Prime, as the lead hardware makers for ICS. But Intel and MIPS, which compete with ARM but have virtually no market presence, are scrambling to get their processors ready to work with Android 4.0.

The OS is ready to work with tablets and smartphones based on Intel's x86 mobile processors for tablets and smartphones, Intel said this week. The first smartphone based on an Intel chip will reach the market in the first half of next year, Intel has said. Intel moved away from its own MeeGo OS in favor of Android, and the chip maker has been working closely with Google on developing a version of Android for Intel-based smartphones and tablets.

"Ice Cream Sandwich includes OS optimization for x86, so Intel architecture-based devices can support it," said Suzy Greenberg, an Intel spokeswoman.

Tablets with Intel processors include Hewlett-Packard's Slate 2, which was announced earlier this week, and Cisco's Cius, which runs an old version of Android.

MIPS is the third processor architecture challenging ARM in the tablet and smartphone space. Tablets with MIPS processors already support Android 3.0, which is code-named Honeycomb, and the company is porting Android 4.0 for tablets.

"Android 4.0 for MIPS will be available shortly," said Jen Bernier-Santarini, an MIPS spokeswoman, in an email.

Samsung Galaxy S2 Skyrocket vs HTC Rezound

Two new Android devices with LTE will arrive this month, what phone should you get?

Let’s just say you’re not into the latest and greatest Android operating system yet, the Android ICS or Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 that will hit the market courtesy of Verizon’s Galaxy Nexus.

Well, two new Android devices will compete against the Galaxy Nexus this month, offering Android Gingerbread operating system — the HTC Rezound with Beats Audio, and AT&T’s new LTE Android smartphone, the Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket with new CPU and larger screen.

For the non-techie consumers out there, the Android Gingerbread operating was released last year, but still a very powerful Android version which supports battery management, faster web browsing, better application support including Google Talk with Video (for 2.3.4) and enhanced gaming, internet calling, improved virtual keyboard, Near Field Communication support and downloads application (management).

The new HTC Rezound with Beats Audio will join the Verizon Wireless LTE lineup on November 14th and priced at $299.99 on contract. To lure the customers, HTC is giving away a free Beats by Dre earbuds (yup, inside the box) — and the buds is compatible with the phone’s built-in software that will “enhance” music playback quality.

The Rezound smartphone manufactured by HTC is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon S3 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, the similar processor used by the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S II or S2. The phone is also capable of faster multitasking courtesy of the 1GB of RAM.

The phone’s screen is 4.3-inch Super LCD screen with 1280 x 720 resolution, or the 720p resolution similar to the Galaxy Nexus, but has better pixel density due to the Rezound’s smaller screen. For a comparison, the Rezound (342 ppi) sports more ppi or pixels per inch than the iPhone 4S (326ppi), take note Apple, thanks!

Smartphone Suitors Aim To Dethrone Apple's iPhone 4S

When telecom service giant AT&T (T) launched the Apple iPhone 4S on Oct. 6, it activated more than one million new phones in the first week of sales — the most successful new product in the company's history.

AT&T had been the exclusive carrier of the iPhone since its 2007 launch. Verizon (VZ) struck a deal with Apple (AAPL) and begin offering the phones — the most popular smartphones in the U.S. — in January. SprintNextel (S) joined the iPhone race in October.

The 4S is faster, has twice the storage capacity and a better camera than the iPhone 4. And all the world wants to own one.

Motorola Motokey Social Finally Official

Budget handsets are always a huge hit in the market. While most major brands like Samsung, LG, Motorola, and Nokiahave more or less cemented their position in the entry-level smartphone segment, there's always room for more additions to the list. Now, since Facebook is an integral part of the youth culture, companies are more inclined towards rolling out FB phones. We saw HTC announce the fairly decent ChaCha and Salsa, which somehow didn't manage to impress or attract that many customers. As a matter of fact, retailers have pulled out the HTC Salsa off their listing. That doesn't tell a good story about how FB phones have fared so far. Then there was iNQ's FB phone (Cloud Touch) which we haven't heard a lot about. Nevertheless, Motorola has decided to step into the scene with a FB phone of its own called the Motokey Social. The handset in fact is the one we saw in September when it was listed on Bluetooth SIGunder the serial EX-225.

Microsoft Pumps Up Rhetoric Against Google

Microsoft and Google have never been BFF's, but the crew in Redmond really dialed up the trash talk against the search giant this week.

First, there was Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Horacio Gutiérrez, who heads up the company's intellectual property group. He declared in an interview in the San Francisco Chronicle that Google, with its Android operating system, "stood on the shoulder of companies like Microsoft" that have invested billions in making operating systems more efficient.

Then there was Tom Rizzo, director of Microsoft Office 365, who came out with guns blazing in a company blog. He accused Google of a "spaghetti" approach to application development. "Its products are like spaghetti," he wrote. "Google throws them up against the wall to see if they stick."

Rizzo's rant seemed to be targeted at Google's policy of dropping support for older versions of browsers once a new version comes out. Here's what Google's support page says: "We support the current and previous major releases of Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Safari on a rolling basis. Each time a new version is released, we begin supporting that version and stop supporting the third-oldest version."

Rizzo argued that the policy hurt business users who don't have the same flexibility that consumers do to switch to a new version of a browser. "If I were running a business using web-based productivity tools from Google, learning about their discontinuation of support for older browsers would make my hair stand on end," Rizzo wrote.

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Saturday, 5 November 2011