Google Drive detailed: 5 GB for free, launching next week for Mac, Windows, Android and iOS

Sometimes we get lucky, and today is one of those days. I got a draft release from a partner of Google’s upcoming Google Drive service and it gives away a wealth of information about how Google plans to take on the incumbent Dropbox. The short story? 5 GB of storage, and it launches next week, likely on Tuesday at http://drive.google.com

Now let’s talk details. It’s no surprise that it will roll out for free. What’s interesting though is that Google is planning to start everyone with 5 GB of storage. Of course you can buy more, but that trumps Dropbox’s 2 GB that is included with every account. Dropbox does make it easy to get more space, including 23 GB of potential upgrades for HTC users.

What’s also interesting is the wording related to how the system will work. It’s been long-thought that Windows integration will come easy, but that getting the Google Drive icon into the Mac a la Dropbox would be a bit harder. From what we’re reading, Google Drive will work “in desktop folders” on both Mac and Windows machines, which still leaves the operation question unanswered.

But there is one very solid piece of news – Google Drive is expected to launch in the middle of next week. Given how big companies such as Apple, Google and the rest operate, I’m placing my bets on Tuesday, but Wednesday is also a popular day for Google updates. In fact, TechCrunch seems to have gotten their hands onto the app itself.

Now as for the reliability of the information? It’s not at all uncommon for big companies to launch with partners for new features. When that happens, the partners will often-times have a heads up to integration and specifics, and that’s exactly what appears to have happened here as it did with the Lucidchart leak from last week. We’ll have to wait and see exactly how it all works out, but let’s just say that our earlier prediction of in-app document editing is pretty solid as well, given the nature of the release that was sent to us today.

But the question remains – Can Google Drive hold a candle to Dropbox?

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Hackers target 15 Lebanese government websites, calling for better living standards

15 Lebanese governmental sites were taken down this morning by a group of hackers identifying themselves as, “Raise Your Voice,” Reuters reports.

The 15 websites, which Now Lebanon describes as “redundant”, all featured the same message, calling for an improvement in living standards, and for the Lebanese government to bring an end to electricity and water shortages.

While some of the sites have since been restored, others still bear the folllowing message sent to the Lebanese government by the hackers:

We are RYV, short for Raise Your Voice, and we are simply a group of people who could not bare [sic] sitting in silence, watching all the crimes and injustice going on in Lebanon. We will not be silenced and brainwashed by your media. We will not stop until the Lebanese people mobilize, demand their rights, and earn them. We will not stop until the standards of living are raised to where they should be in Lebanon. We will not stop until this government’s self-made problems are solved, like the power shortage, water shortage, rise in gas prices and rise in food product prices. We are RYV, expect us to break the silence, whether in the streets or on the Internet.

In some cases, the message was also accompanied by a political cartoon, which can be seen in the screenshot below:

The second message, while worded exactly the same way was displayed in a different manner, having metaphorically shut down the ‘electricity’ on the website itself:

The websites that were hacked include the justice, foreign affairs and public works and transport ministries, as well as the National News Agency, the official President’s website, and the state security website. The full list of sites is available here.

While an additional site, MTV Lebanon was also targeted at the same time, RYV clearly stated that they weren’t behind it, saying “Just to make things clear, we are not responsible for MTV website attack,” despite statements from MTV made to local Lebanese newspaper Daily Star claiming otherwise.

In January, Energy and Water Minister, Gebran Bassil, warned of additional electricity and water cuts in the country. According to Reuters,  after regaining access to the ministry website, Bassil replied to the hacking incident in a message posted on the site, in which he blamed his predecessor for the water and electricity shortage in the country.

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The Best iOS Apps To Watch On Apple TV

Developers don’t have to wait for a fully baked version of Apple TV to come out to get a feel for
how their apps will play on the big screen.

Although an eco-system for Apple TV apps does not yet exist, there are dozens of quality iOS applications that are best consumed on an HDTV via AirPlay Mirroring. Creating apps specific to the leaned-back setting of the living room requires more than just supersizing titles originally conceived for smartphones or tablets. Successful Apple TV apps need to source and showcase entertainment, news and social activity in ways not currently possible via cable, satellite or video streaming providers.

Below are the 10 best iOS apps available on Apple TV today. Note that no games are featured here as that topic requires its own standalone assessment. I am also not including obvious titles like the pre-installed YouTube, as well as mainstream subscription-based services like Netflix and Hulu Plus. The apps showcased here provide a glimpse into what to expect in an app-enabled Apple television, and serve as models for any developer gearing up for the new platform.

Video Curation And Search
The 500-channel universe seems so passé. In a world with seemingly unlimited video options, these apps help surface clips and programs most important to you.

Showyou (iPhone, iPad: Free)
In many ways a Flipboard for video, Showyou elegantly displays clips shared by your social networks and other reliable sources. The app is currently divided into four distinct channels. In addition to showcasing videos shared by Facebook and Twitter contacts, Showyou has channels for overall popularity as well as for individuals and publishers you follow within the app. Notable members of Showyou include tech commentators Robert Scoble and John Gruber.

As well, from Funny or Die to Charlie Rose to NASA TV, there is a nice variety of publishers whose videos you may not otherwise see. To date, Showyou has tracked more than one billion social signals for approximately 40 million videos. Its video search engine is informed by all of this social behavior and is noticeably improving over time.

Visually, Showyou has a playful yet structured interface. The app displays streams of videos by channel in reverse chronological order starting at the top of the screen. More than even YouTube, Showyou is the best app for discovering new videos that are contextually relevant. It is also unlike any broadcast or cable network you will ever find.

Squrl Video Discovery (iPhone, iPad: Free)
Squrl categorizes videos from publishers better than Showyou and any other app optimized for AirPlay Mirroring. The app’s taxonomy for showcasing publishers is intuitive (Comedy = College Humor and Team Coco TV and Sports = Deadspin and The Bleacher Report, for instance). The app also has a faceted search layout, where results are sorted by relevancy within Squrl, how they appear on YouTube and where they are found within related YouTube playlists.

Squrl’s social integration, however, is lacking. Compared to Showyou, the shared videos from Facebook and Twitter contacts seemed delayed upon multiple viewings. As well, Squrl’s layout is a bit too cookie-cutter, making it more difficult to discover clips you didn’t even know you were interested in viewing. The app is still an extremely worthy download.

From The Broadcasters
Of course, it’s not wise to live off of curated YouTube clips alone. Here are the best examples of
how broadcasters are approaching apps for TV.

Touchtv (iPad: Free)
If you cut the cord from your cable or satellite provider but still want a taste of broadcast entertainment and mainstream news and sports coverage, Touchtv is your go-to app. Developed by the team behind news aggregation app SkyGrid, Touchtv airs short (on average three of four minutes) video clips from most major broadcast and cable networks. As Touchtv works in some capacity with each network it distributes, the production value of every clip is quite high (even if they leave you wanting more).

Touchtv has the slickest interface of all the video aggregation apps. You can select feeds from approximately 40 networks, which then appear as miniature squares on the homescreen. Tap a station like ESPN or Nickelodeon, and you see the most recent video. Scroll to the right to see the next video in line, or press the “Done” icon on the upper left part of the screen to see a more comprehensive directory.

The biggest complaint with Touchtv is that the videos are not full-length, and are essentially appetizers of programming still most easily accessed via cable or satellite providers. This is more of a licensing rather than a technological restraint, however. SkyGrid CEO Kevin Pomplun explained to Robert Scoble earlier this year that he is confident that the networks will eventually make all of their programming available via apps.

PBS KIDS Video (iPhone, iPad: Free)
My two-year-old son has no idea how to use a remote control, but is able to find episodes of Curious George and Cat in the Hat easily within this app. You can’t get a better testimonial than that in my household. While PBS KIDS Video is not technically optimized for AirPlay Mirroring as of this writing, the app and its more than 1,000 children’s videos display beautifully on Apple TV. The official ABC Player app is AirPlay optimized, and shows full-length episodes of dozens of shows (with limited commercial interruption) that air on the network.

Music Appreciation
It is highly likely that Apple’s next television offering will be a full-fledged media hub, forever impacting how we consume music in the living room. While no app today rivals YouTube for video music discovery on Apple TV, these independent titles are worth a look.

Qello (iPhone, iPad: Free, with $4.99 monthly subscription)
For professionally-produced, high-definition concert footage, Qello is currently without peer. The
company has licensing agreements with the rights holders, and the app’s ever-expanding library will please most rock, jazz and hip-hop fans. Concert films are categorized by artist, genre, and decade. The app also makes recommendations based on what is in your iTunes library. While a fair amount of concert and documentary footage can be viewed for free, an All-Access pass will run you $4.99 per month.

Other notable music apps that feature videos optimized for AirPlay Mirroring are Band of the Day and History of Jazz — an interactive timeline, both developed by 955 Dreams.

News and Current Events
If you’re looking to be informed without the bias of cable news outlets or the ambulance chasing absurdity of your local broadcast, these apps are your best bet.

Newsy for iPad — Video from Multiple Sources (iPhone, iPad: Free)
Newsy packs a lot of information and vantage points into its two-to-three minute video clips. The aim of each story, presented by in-house newscasters, is to provide multiple points of view around the biggest trending topics each day. Any given Newsy story can blend the biases of The New York Times or Fox News into one unique take. Newsy is a partner of the elite Missouri School of Journalism, and the app also serves as a vocational laboratory for those still willing to make a go of it in the news industry. Tap “Play All” on Newsy to watch its most recent coverage, and compare its performance and what you learned against the more established cable news networks.

Ustream (iPhone, iPad: Free)
This live video streaming service, originally conceived for the web, is a great preview guide for what individuals and organizations are broadcasting from all over the world. While Ustream is used by many to upload and transmit videos, its best application for AirPlay Mirroring is as a conduit to live or super-recent events, lectures and concerts that can be tapped into from the comfort of your own home.

Special Interests
As independent developers begin creating apps specific to Apple TV, a world of possibilities for longer tail interests awaits. These are the best apps optimized for AirPlay Mirroring to make you think, feel and breathe.

SnagFilms (iPad: Free)
More than 3,000 documentaries are contained within SnagFilms, which also exists online and via applications on multiple platforms. You can spend hours, if not days and weeks, watching award-winning documentaries on culture, politics, history and the arts. The biography library here is a nice antidote to the watered-down fare now found on A&E. SnagFilms is also a boon to individual filmmakers who have trouble finding distribution on traditional outlets.

TED (iPhone, iPad: Free)
While the now well-known global set of conferences technology, entertainment, and design conferences known as TED already have a prolific presence on Apple TV via podcasts within iTunes, accessing TED Talks to watch on the big screen is much more intuitive with its iPad app than the existing iTunes interface. The “Inspire Me” feature — where the app will create a playlist around a user’s given interest and amount of discretionary time — is not something that could be easily programmed with an Apple remote.

Authentic Yoga with Deepak Chopra for iPad (iPad: $1.99)
As a long-time practitioner of Bikram and Vinyasa Yoga, I’m not ready to ditch my studio membership to downward dog in front of the boob tube. But this app, which lets users create playlists of poses, is better and more economical than any DVD you can buy.

But what about Google TV?

While Google has operated its own television platform since 2010, like Apple TV, it has yet to draw a critical mass of mainstream users. My bet is that once Apple finally goes all-in on TV, Google will strike back strongly, very much like it did with its Android mobile operating system. In the meantime, here are some interesting Google TV apps worth getting to know.

Redux for Google TV: Curated content from the major broadcast and cable networks.

Qello for Google TV: See above, this music and concert app actually debuted on Android before iOS.

News Republic for Google TV: Popular smartphone and tablet app optimized for Google TV. More than 5,000 journalists curate thousands of stories each day.

Thuz Sports for Google TV: Sends push notifications when the game you’re interested in is in the balance.

TV & Movies for Google TV: This Google-developed app looks at all content sources (cable, satellite, Netflix, YouTube, etc.) and makes viewing recommendations.

Source

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Apple and environmental group to begin China pollution audit “within weeks”

The Financial Times is reporting that Apple is preparing to audit its Chinese supply chain for pollution and will begin joint investigations with a local environmental group ”in the next few weeks.”

The newspaper states that one of Apple’s partners, “a maker of printed circuit boards”, is set to be inspected by the firm and the China-based Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs (IPE) as it looks to bring environmental issues to the surface.

News of the planned audit first broke in February when Ma Jun, the founder of the IPE, told USA Today that the firm had commissioned independent environmental reviews of at least two of its partner’s factories in China. However, it seems that Apple will have a level of involvement in proceedings, while there are no details of any more than the one factory visit.

The Cupertino-based firm has previously kept details of its environmental issues in-house but, as Jun explains, the company has now realised the importance of being open with its findings.

“One Apple vice-president said that transparency was needed and I felt that was the moment they decided they wanted to change the way they were doing things,” he told the Financial Times. “But it’s now become about validation, we keep telling them that you can’t just say that everything’s fine – we need proof.”

The change in attitude began last year when a meeting was held between Apple and its suppliers in China, following a series of environmental issues at a number of plants. Notebook casing supplier Catcher Technology was forced to close one facility over environmental concerns, while iPhone supplier Pegatron was fined for pumping out harmful gases during the manufacturing of products.

Apple is seemingly aware of issues in China, having increased the number of audits of its partners there to 229 last year, that’s 80 percent more than it ran in 2009, and it is now making public efforts to bring its workings in China up to the required standard.

The investigation into environmental issues follows Fair Labor Association (FLA) reports into the welfare of workers in Apple’s partner firms in China. Initial comments were positive, however the FLA’s conclusion found extensive violations in areas like payroll, working schedules and health and safety risks.

Two recent New York Times articles, How the U.S. Lost Out on iPhone Work and In China, Human Costs Are Built Into an iPad, painted a grim picture of the lives of workers that build the company’s products and put company CEO Tim Cook under increased pressure.

Cook has since visited China — becoming the first serving Apple CEO to do so — and the country is very much a focus, both in terms of sales and now the social side of its business.

We’ve contacted Apple for confirmation of the investigation and will update the article with any response we are given.

Source

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Intel releases its wish list of Windows 8 tablet features

Everyone, including Intel is expecting Windows 8 to launch before 2012 is over. Intel also wants to ensure its chips are inside as many Windows 8 tablets too, especially considering ARM is now an option.

With that in mind, the chip giant has used the Intel Developer Forum being held this week in Beijing to unveil its wish list for Windows 8 tablet features. These aren’t set in stone, but would certainly provide an enjoyable tablet experience if one or two manufacturers managed to hit all these points.

First up, Intel predictably sees an Atom processor at the heart of each tablet. More specifically, a dual-core Clover Trail Atom Z2760 with Hyperthreading and burst mode. No details of RAM are given, but Intel expects battery life to be in excess of 9 hours and standby time to be 30 days or more.

The battery life claims are made all the more difficult by the fact Intel expects Windows 8 tablets to be no thicker than 9mm and weigh less than 1.5 pounds. Add to that the requirement for 3G and 4G connectivity as standard, as well as NFC and/or Wi-Fi Direct, and the battery is going to be pushed pretty hard. Displays won’t be small either, with 10-inches as standard, or 11-inches if the unit ships with a keyboard.

The key thing here is that this is a wish list not a minimum spec. It’s unlikely all tablets will hit all those points. In fact, until we get a release version of Windows 8 we won’t know if a 9 hour battery life in a tablet is even possible without larger batteries that make the 9mm thickness unworkable. However, if a tablet does manage to meet Intel’s requirements, then it will give the new iPad a decent challenge. Apple’s tablet is 9.4mm thick, weighs 1.44 pounds, and promises 10 hours of battery life.

Source : geek

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FCC Proposes $25,000 Fine on Google

WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission proposed a $25,000 fine on Google Inc., GOOG -4.06% accusing the search giant of deliberately obstructing an investigation into whether the company violated federal rules when its street-mapping service collected and stored data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks in 2010.

The agency proposed the fine late Friday night as it faced a deadline for taking action on the "Wi-Spy" case.

"We worked in good faith to answer the FCC's questions throughout the inquiry, and we are pleased that they have concluded that we complied with the law," a Google spokeswoman said in a statement.

European Pressphoto Agency
The FCC's action is based on what it said was Google's reluctance to cooperate with the investigation.

The FCC's action is based on what it said was Google's reluctance to cooperate with the investigation. In a notice released Saturday, the agency said that for several months, "Google deliberately impeded and delayed" the agency's investigation into the data collection. A Google engineer who developed the Street View code used to collect the data declined to provide testimony to the agency and invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.

The agency did not fine Google for actually violating the federal communications law designed to prevent electronic eavesdropping. There is no precedent for applying the FCC law to unprotected Wi-Fi networks, and the agency concluded there was not enough evidence to conclude Google had violated those rules.

Google has a chance to appeal the proposed fine before it becomes final. The company has said that the data collection was inadvertent and that it stopped the practice when it discovered what was happening.

The FCC opened an investigation into the Google case in 2010 and was one of several agencies in the U.S. and abroad to investigate how the search giant gathered private user data from unsecured wireless networks.

Source : online.wsj

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HTC One S vs Apple iPhone 4S

Here we go, folks, the battle of the “S”-es – the new HTC One S in the blue or black corner, and the iPhone 4S in the black or white corner. This may leave us with two black corners, though, and it's exactly the dark metal ceramic version of the One S we have now, so the fight will be based entirely on merits, rather than color preference.

We kid, since one thing is missing from HTC's phone to go head-to-head with the iPhone 4S in terms of specs, and it is pixel density, while it exceeds in other geeky stuff like processor clock and operating memory. The iPhone's iOS and Android have different resource needs, though, so we'll judge mainly on design, interface performance and camera quality, leaving the application stores aside.

With the new trend of higher-end Android devices coming with sealed batteries and non-expandable memory, just like the iPhone has been from day one, another Android differentiation is lost compared to it, so who will take over the ARM wrestling match? Read on our comparison to find out...


Design:

Apple's iPhone 4S has a unique steel-and-glass casing, which is yet unmatched by other manufacturers, even though this chassis is the same as the previous iPhone edition from 2010. It leaves a very premium feeling in the hand, with the downsides being that it makes the phone comparatively heavy, with sharp edges, and more prone to shatters and scratches than run-of-the-mill materials.

The HTC One S, on the other hand, sports two very distinct chassis materials – a blue-grey version with the more ordinary anodized aluminum, and the black version we have. Blacky is coated in a metal ceramic fusion obtained by zapping the aluminum frame with 10,000 volts, which results in oxidized metal that is three times stronger than stainless steel. This is making the phone very rigid and durable, but have no doubts that if you key it with a vengeance, marks will be left, this is no adamantium.

In terms of comfort, both phones lie well in the hand, with the iPhone leaving a more “edgy” feeling than the rounded corners and tapered back on the One S. HTC's handset is one of the most compact 4.3” phones we've handled, and is thinner than the iPhone 4S, but for smaller palms one-handed operation with the iPhone will come much easier since its screen size is 3.5”, and the whole phone is shorter and a tad narrower than the One S, so your thumb can reach everywhere.

Displays:

The displays on both phones are pretty different in both size and tech. We have the 3.5” Retina Display on the iPhone 4S, with its IPS-LCD technology and 640x960 resolution, meaning 326ppi pixel density, good colors, wide viewing angles, and high brightness.


The 4.3” AMOLED display on the HTC One S sports 540x960 pixels of resolution, which not only results in lower pixel density than the 4S, but since it is done with the PenTile matrix arrangement, the honeycomb structure of the dots makes some elements appear pixelated. Nothing you'd notice unless deliberately looking for it, though.

What they will notice are the oversatured colors on the display, which go way above the standard gamut, and the cold images, making white appear blueish compared to the iPhone 4S. AMOLED has other advantages, like wider viewing angles and deep blacks, hence extremely high contrast ratio. This comes in handy when watching movies, and the AMOLED screens draw much less energy then, compared to displaying white backgrounds during browsing, while for LCD ones this doesn't matter.

Source : phonearena

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Google unlikely to sell Motorola in short-term, say sources

Despite persistent speculation indicating that Google might eventually release control over Motorola Mobility, it is unlikely Google will sell the handset vendor any time soon, since the Internet service company has shown more interest in the hardware business, according to sources in Taiwan's handset industry.

A recent Wall Street Journal report suggested that Google is preparing to sell Motorola's hardware division to China-based Huawei Device at a high price, citing rumors from Asia.

However, the sources pointed out there is no reason for Google to sell off Motorola in a hurry since Motorola has a complete product lineup covering smartphones, tablet PCs and STBs and also has long-term cooperation relationships with telecom carriers and cable TV operators that will be instrumental for Google in developing and marketing Android-based smartphones, tablet PCs and even Google TVs.

Google should also not worry too much of concerns of some Android smartphone vendors thinking that Google will be giving Motorola preferential treatment when it comes to the Android platform, given that the platform has already been the mainstream in the market and none of the smartphone vendors will give up from the segment easily.

The recently revealed Google Project Glass also demonstrates the broad ambition of Google in the hardware business, commented the sources.

Source : digitimes

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Intel offers 7-inch tablet PC for learning

Intel has recently offered a 7-inch tablet PC specifically for learning purposes mainly in emerging markets.

The tablet PC is equipped with an Oak Trail Atom Z650 processor, a 7-inch 16:9 1,024 by 600 capacitive touch screen, Windows and Android dual-operating systems, a 300,000-pixel front camera and a 2-megapixel rear camera, 1GB DDR2 memory with option of 4GB, 8GB, 16GB and 32GB storage, and has a plastic casing and weight of 525g. Depending on specification and customs tariffs, the tablet PC will be sold at US$200-300, industry sources noted.

Taiwan-based Elitegroup Computer Systems and China-based Wanlida have begun ODM production of the tablet PC, with shipments expected to significantly increase in the second half of 2012, the sources pointed out.

According to Intel's planning, its Medfield processors will match Android in the market segment of tablet PCs in 2012 and 2013 and the company will launch the Clover Trail-W platform specifically for Windows 8 in September-October 2012, the sources indicated.

Source : digitimes

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Facebook PS Vita app updated with photo uploads, more languages

The young (and fairly barebones) Facebook app for the PS Vita has just received its first update, bringing it to — you guessed it — version 1.01. GBAtemp user masterchan777 posted screenshots showing the app's changelog, and it looks like there are a couple of key additions. First up, you can now upload and tag pictures from the Vita to the News Feed or a friend's Wall; previously you could only add photos to already-created galleries. The app also has support for Facebook Pages as well as "all system languages" now. While they still lag behind the features offered on the iPhone and Android apps, the added photo upload options should help make what we found was one of the worst parts of the app a bit more tolerable.

Source : theverge

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Fire from ipod nano to cost apple

While the first version of Apple's iPod Nano media player came out in 2005, a number of the units have since been discovered to be faulty. Indeed, Apple issued a recall of the first generation iPod Nano just six months ago, in November 2011, due to a problem with its battery. Now it looks like Apple is going to have to pay a bigger price for the device's hardware issues.

The Japanese media outlet Nikkei (via The Verge) reports that a judge in that country has ordered Apple's Japan division to pay 600,000 yen (about $7,425) to an unidentified married couple in Tokyo. It seems the couple bought their iPod Nano in September 2005. However, in July of 2010, the couple claimed that when they were recharging the device, the iPod Nano started overheating.

The product then caught on fire and unfortunately the iPod Nano was in the hands of the wife at the time. She suffered burns on her hands that the report claims took a month to heal. The judge in the case said that Apple should pay the fine for the couple's medical fees along with general pain and suffering damages. So far, there's no word on if Apple will appeal the ruling.

Source : neowin

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New Ultrabooks and Atom Tablets Offering by Intel in 2012

Intel chips have not yet been able to emulate the performance and efficiency of Apple processors, and in small mobile gadgets, Intel is nowhere in the game. In the race against the big players in the mobile device, chips and gearing up to meet the market threat posed by Macbook Air and iPad, Intel brings about 75 new Ultrabooks and 10 new tablets will be released by other Original Equipment Manufacturers based on Atom tablets.
Ultrabook Threat to Macbook.

 It is being said that over 178 million shipments of Ultrabooks are expected by 2016. The third generation Ultrabooks- with the Ivy Bridge processors- will hit the stores this spring, and it will include touch gesture systems too- 32nm Clovertrail Atom processors will come this year while 22nm will be launched in 2013.
Improvements to Intel Chips.

The key to success of Intel is the power consumption of the processors- heavy power drain has been the reason Intel chips until recently have not been preferred by OEMs for the manufacture of smartphones and tablets. The new Ivy Bridge chips are coming with improved graphics capabilities supporting the onboard HD Graphics 2500/4000 GPU and OpenGL 3.1. The Intel Medfield brings the system-on-a-chip architecture to mobile gadgets. Power consumption will be brought down by the Shark Bay Intel platform and connectivity will improve using Thunderbolt.

Source :

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You can now take a 3D tour of the Titanic using Google Earth

It has been nearly 100 years since the Titanic crashed into an iceberg and sunk to the bottom of the North Atlantic. Our interest has never decreased in that fateful night, and numerous National Geographic specials and even movies have been created trying to tell the story. In fact, we’re only two days away from its 100th anniversary.

Google has come up with an interactive 3D model of the Titanic, allowing you to take a tour of the ship that now sits in the murky depths of the sea.

Here’s what the Google Lat / Long team had to say about its efforts today:

The story of the Titanic has remained with us through the decades. It has inspired books and movies and is memorialized around the world in museums and monuments. Now, despite its depth on the sea floor, you can explore this ill-fated ship from the comfort of your home using Google Earth.

Using imagery from National Geographic, we’ve created an updated 3D model of the Titanic. Explore different parts of the ship, from prow to stern by simply searching for “Titanic” in the Google Earth search box.

Source : thenextweb

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Lumia 900 data connectivity fix now available for download

Earlier this week Nokia admitted that AT&T's Lumia 900 was suffering from data dropouts apparently brought out by memory management issues, promising a firmware update by next Monday — but they've beat their goal, it seems, pushing the update out to Zune (for Windows) and Windows Phone Connector (for Mac) today. After the update, you should theoretically be able to connect consistently on HSPA, LTE, and Wi-FI, but don't worry: you'll still be getting your $100 bill credit for your trouble as long as you buy (or have bought) your phone prior to April 21st.

Here's Nokia's full statement:

Earlier this week, Nokia communicated about a memory management issue with the recently launched Nokia Lumia 900 at AT&T that, in some cases, was leading to a loss of data connectivity.

When this news was issued on Tuesday, Nokia had identified that a software update would be available for consumer download on or around April 16th. Today, we'd like to share with you that the update is now available. Consumers now have the opportunity to update their AT&T version Nokia Lumia 900 software through Zune and Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac earlier than anticipated.

Consumers are still able to swap out their Lumia 900 for an updated Lumia 900 in an AT&T store if they'd prefer. And, of course, the $100 credit offer will remain in effect through Midnight PST on April 21st.

Source : theverge

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Try Windows 8 Metro UI on your iPad using Splashtop

Trying out Windows 8 before it launches is quite a simple affair if you have a PC capable of running it. Simply download the Windows 8 Consumer Preview build and run it through a virtual machine or dual-boot your existing PC.

Taking the above route does give you Windows 8 to play with, but unless your PC has a touchscreen interface you aren’t going to get the full Metro UI experience. To achieve that, you may be surprised to find an iPad is probably your best option.

Splashtop has released a $25 remote desktop client that allows you to load up the Metro UI on your iPad. You’ll be able to use it as if Microsoft’s OS is actually installed on Apple’s hardware, and could class as the best pre-release Windows 8 touchscreen experience there is.

While consumers may be put off by the $25 price tag, a developer wanting to test out a Windows 8 app may view it as a bargain. Having an app ready for the launch of Windows 8 is sure to be worth quite a few sales as new users rush to try out the features, play some games, and get to grips with Metro.


To get this working you will need to download and install the Windows 8 Metro Testbed on your iPad from the App Store. Then download and install the Slpashtop Streamer on your PC. After that, it’s just a case of establishing a connection between the two, which requires a solid Internet connection.

Anyone considering doing this should act quickly. Although the $25 price may seem high, that’s an introductory offer and it will increase to $50 in the near future.

Source : geek

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New Chromebooks boot in 5 seconds thanks to open source BIOS

So-called “instant on” options have yet to become truly instant, but we’re getting closer. An updated Samsung Chromebook that was just shown off at IDF in Beijing, for example, can perform a cold boot in just five seconds. You’ve still got to log in after that to get at your Chrome OS desktop, of course, but it’s still a pretty impressive feat.

Current generation Chromebooks like the Samsung Series 5 and Acer AC700 take around eight or nine seconds to boot. Thanks to this new model’s updated processor (thought to be a Sandy Bridge chip) and a lot of time spent tweaking Coreboot, a Linux-based replacement for the proprietary BIOS options from companies like Award and AMI, there’s almost no need to bother with sleep states on Chromebooks any more.

The prototype here closely resembles a unit that Samsung had on display at CES 2012, which was running a dual-core Celeron chip — a healthy upgrade over the original Series 5, which sported a slightly underwhelming Atom N570 chip clocked at 1.66GHz.

Google recently introduced an impressive software renderer in Chrome that helped to alleviate some of the performance issues, but with that new Aura interface turning Chrome OS into a more full-featured operating system, new Chromebooks stand to benefit greatly from an upgrade in horsepower.

Google’s not the only company focused on imperceptible boot times, of course. About a year ago, Microsoft showed off an HP laptop that reached the Metro desktop in just eight seconds from a powered-down state. Nobody likes to wait, and fortunately everyone developing operating systems seems determined to make sure we don’t have to when it comes to using our computers.

Source : geek

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Apple Denies U.S. Accusation of Collusion on E-books

WASHINGTON (AP) — Apple Inc. said Friday the government’s accusation that it conspired with major book publishers to raise the price of e-books is untrue.

Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr said that instead, Apple fostered innovation and competition by introducing its iBookstore in 2010. He said customers have benefited from e-books that are more interactive and engaging.

Apple’s entry into the e-book marketplace has broken “Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry,” said Neumayr.

Lawsuits filed this week by the Justice Department and 15 states said Apple and the publishers cost consumers more than $100 million in the past two years by adding $2 or $3, sometimes as much as $5, to the price of each e-book.

On Wednesday, Attorney General Eric Holder said executives at the highest levels of the companies conspired to eliminate competition among e-book sellers. Justice’s antitrust chief, Sharis Pozen, said the executives were desperate to get Amazon.com – the marketer of Kindle e-book readers – to raise the $9.99 price point it had set for the most popular e-book titles, because that was substantially below their hardcover prices.

The federal government reached a settlement with three of the publishers, Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Shuster. But it will proceed with its lawsuit in federal court in New York City against Apple and Holtzbrinck Publishers, doing business as Macmillan, and The Penguin Publishing Co. Ltd., doing business as Penguin Group.

Connecticut and Texas, two of the 15 states filing a separate lawsuit, reached agreements with Hachette and HarperCollins to provide $52 million in restitution to consumers, using a formula based on the number of states participating and the number of e-books sold in each state. Other states in the case may sign onto the agreement, and other companies might be persuaded to join.



Source : techland

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Now everyone can make money from their videos, as YouTube opens its Partner Program to all

You may or may not already know this, but YouTube’s Partner Program is an initiative by the Google-owned video-streaming platform to help creators develop skills, build audiences and – crucially – earn some bucks.

YouTube has now announced that its expanding the eligibility to the program across the twenty countries that it’s available in, meaning it’s not just those with the popular videos who are invited to join the scheme.

The YouTube Partner Program is currently available in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States.

“We’re excited to provide more creators with the opportunity to become partners and have access to programs and resources to help them be successful on YouTube,” said YouTube in the announcement. “These programs will be tailored to partners based on their specific needs. We also recognize that custom thumbnails and banners are sought-after features by many creators. We are working on making these and other features available to more newly-made partners over time, like we have done with long uploads and monetization.”

So, it hasn’t entirely opened its doors yet…certain customizations are still being reserved for those with one foot firmly in the ‘popular creator’ camp for the time-being.

Prior to this, the program was only open to producers of the most popular video content, who could gain additional privileges and choose to run advertising on their videos in return for a share of the spoils. But now it’s open to anyone who’s up for making some dollars from their finely crafted videos. If nothing else, this should encourage the casual creator to put a bit more effort into their home-made kitten flicks.

Source : thenextweb

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7digital brings its MP3 download service to Windows Phone

London-based music download platform 7digital has finally launched its Windows Phone app, bringing its arsenal of MP3 tracks to the slowly-growing user-base on Microsoft’s mobile operating system.

Launched in the UK in 2004, 7digital’s download store and mobile applications give consumers access to over 18 million tracks across Europe and North America. The service finally launched in the US back in 2009, and just before Christmas we reported that 7digital was set to power T-Mobile’s Mobile Mall Stateside, giving US music fans access to tracks from the 4 major labels (Sony, Universal, Warner and EMI), as well as dozens of independent labels.

2011 was a busy year for 7digital. It released an Android smartphone app last May – adding to its existing iOS and BlackBerry apps – followed later by a dedicated version for Android tablets. This was after it had announced it was expanding its service into Australia and New Zealand.

We’re told that 7digital now has over 2 million active users on mobile devices. We first reported that a Windows Phone app was en-route back in December, and with this latest addition to its app repertoire, Windows Phone users can now browse, preview, purchase and download music to direct to their handset. As with all 7digital’s apps, previously purchased music can be synced from a user’s personal 7digital cloud storage space to their Windows Phone and any other devices with a 7digital app installed.

The app takes advantage of the native OS, with recommendations and featured content appearing on a panorama style interface. Live Tiles have also been integrated to allow users to pin their favourite artists, tracks and albums to the start screen.

“The 7digital mobile applications allow our customers to access their music however, whenever and through whichever device platform they choose,” says Ben Drury, CEO 7digital. “The new 7digital Windows Phone application adds to our philosophy of being a truly platform agnostic digital music service. With the addition of the Windows Phone app, we enable music fans to purchase music and access their entire music collection on all their devices, anytime, anywhere.”

The 7digital Windows Phone application is available from the Windows Marketplace in a number of territories including UK, US, Canada, Germany, France, Spain Italy and Ireland.

Source : thenextweb

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Google Can Still Find Time for Self-Driving Cars, and It Doesn’t Expect You to Understand Why

Larry Page has made a point of “cleaning up” Google during his first year as CEO by killing off some side projects that weren’t going anywhere.
But Google is still taking fliers on oddities like self-driving cars and computerized eyewear, and that’s not going to stop.

The challenge, Page said today during the company’s earnings call, is figuring out which of those fliers to take. Google has plenty of money to throw at this stuff, but a limited amount of time.
Here’s his answer to an analyst question about crazy projects the company might have up its sleeve, and whether it is still committed to its 70/20/10 plan, where employees are supposed to spend a tenth of their time on far-out stuff.

We’ve got a limited number of things we can do. As I’ve been saying, we’ve been trying to focus. So [we're] trying to make sure that we have the right speculative bets, as well as the right bets we’re making on our core products, and so on. I’m pretty excited about our ability to do that.
I think it’s hard coming from the outside. Because as I mentioned in the letter I published today, Android took three years plus three years, kind of, to get to really where it is today. That’s six years. And you all haven’t seen Android for those six years. We’ve seen it for the six years, and we really invested in it.
It’s not so much money in the earlier stages but attention. And that’s an important discipline for the company to have.

Shorter answer: We know what we’re doing, and that includes the stuff that looks nutty to people who don’t work at the Googleplex. Hence the not-exactly-a-stock-split, which is supposed to let Page use Google stock to pay employees and to pay for acquisitions, without losing control of the company.

Source : allthingsd

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Apple Fires Back at the Feds, Amazon

Nearly two days after the Department of Justice filed antitrust charges against Apple and major book publishers, Apple is responding. Here’s comment from Apple spokesman Tom Neumayr:

The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.

Apple’s response is similar to ones made by Penguin Group and MacMillan, two of the five publishers named in the suit. The three other publishers — HarperCollins, Hachette and Simon & Schuster — signed settlements with the DOJ immediately after the suit was filed Wednesday morning. (News Corp., which owns HarperCollins, also owns this Web site.)

It’s worth noting that Apple’s pricing policy with books and apps differs from the setup it has with the music industry. In that relationship, Apple pays the music labels a wholesale price for their digital assets, and then sets the retail price itself.

Source : allthingsd

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China-based white-box tablet PC makers ramping up shipments, say sources

China-based white-box tablet PC makers have ramped up their combined shipments to three million units a month recently, and total shipments of tablet PCs by all makers are expected to top 50 million units in 2012, market research firm eMedia Asia has estimated.

In Guangdong province alone, hundreds of small- and medium-size businesses have entered the development and production of tablet PCs on an OEM, ODM or OBM basis, according to industry sources.

With the availability of Android 4.0 platform, white-box makers have rolled out tablets in 7-, 8-, 9.7- and 10.1-inch sizes with specifications catered to customer's demand, said the sources, adding that the models target markets in the Middle East, Southeast Asia and Latin America.

The white-box makers are able to deliver a 10.1-inch model, which runs on Android 4.0 and has a display resolution of 1024 by 600 and 4GB built-in storage, at FOB prices of about US$100-110, indicated the sources.

Shipments of tablet PCs by China-based makers totaled 14 million units in 2011, eMedia Asia said.

Source : digitimes

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Apple to DOJ: Amazon had a monopoly on ebooks and the iBookstore broke it

Only a few days after the US Department of Justice filed suit against Apple as well as many other publishers over the pricing of ebooks, Apple has finally decided to break its silence on the matter.

According to All Things Digital, Apple spokesperson Tom Neumayr had the following to say:

“The DOJ’s accusation of collusion against Apple is simply not true. The launch of the iBookstore in 2010 fostered innovation and competition, breaking Amazon’s monopolistic grip on the publishing industry. Since then customers have benefited from eBooks that are more interactive and engaging. Just as we’ve allowed developers to set prices on the App Store, publishers set prices on the iBookstore.”

The suit, which came after 2 years of investigation against the publishers, alleges price fixing in the ebooks market, as well as collusion between the publishing houses. Apple took on what it calls an “agency model” wherein the publisher (in this case Apple) would set the pricing rather than the retailer.

What’s probably most interesting here is Apple’s argument that it is using the App Store pricing scheme with ebooks. It would be hard to argue that developers and advertisers alike have profited greatly in Apple’s walled garden of the App Store, so it’s just as easy to argue that it’s the ideal model to take for iBooks as well.

In what seems to be a response to the controversy, Amazon today slashed prices on a number of its ebooks, in some cases by as much as $5. As the New York Times points out, the move is a strong one, which could end up setting the pricing precedent for ebooks across the market.

Source : thenextweb

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Apple will finally be allowed to intervene on behalf of developers in Lodsys patent case

Apple will be given limited rights to intervene on behalf of developers sued by patent troll Lodsys, a source has informed Florian Mueller of Foss Patents.

Today, finally, Apple’s motion was granted in part: “Apple is permitted to intervene in this suit, but such intervention is limited to the issues of patent exhaustion and licensing.”

Judge Rodney Gilstrap concluded that Apple was entitled to intervene, and in any event, a permissive intervention (one that the court can allow in its discretion) was also an option.

Back in August, Apple insisted on intervention rights in the case, even after a rebuff attempt from Lodsys should be a welcome one for many small developers that are waiting with bated breath the outcome of this proceeding.

In the meantime, the original Judge on the case resigned and another one was appointed. Smaller defendants in the case, like The Iconfactory, settled the dispute with Lodsys privately. Google also filed a request to intervene back in August of 2011, so hopefully that will go through as well and Lodsys will have its hands full.

This whole saga began when Lodsys, now thought to be a shell company for huge patent firm Intellectual Ventures, began sending out letters to developers informing them that their use of in-app purchasing infringed on Lodsys’ patents. Lodsys then explained its stance and proceeded to go on to sue most of the developers that had received letters, along with many more. Apple then made a public statement saying that its developers already were licensed for in-app purchasing because Apple themselves were licensed. Lodsys responded negatively, saying that developers were not Apple’s customers after all and that they would need to negotiate licensing deals separately.

Needless to say, this has been quite the ordeal, especially for many developers who created iPhone apps solo or with small teams, and have been feeling that their only recourse was to bow to Lodsys’ demands and license the patent separately.

Source : thenextweb

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An iPhone User Tries Nokia’s Lumia 800 For Two Weeks

There’s a lot of talk right now about Nokia and its Windows Phone 7 handsets. Specifically, it is the newly released and much hyped Lumia 900 which is seeing most of the headlines and clicks right now.

The handset itself is expected, or at least hoped, to signal a return to form for Nokia and to offer Microsoft a way back into the minds of US smartphone buyers who have been happy to lean towards iOS, Android or even BlackBerry over the last few years.

While the Lumia 900 is the subject of many a review right now – not all of them good, just ask The Verge’s Joshua Topolsky about that – that isn’t the model I’m here to tell you about. I’m here to tell you about the handset that brought Windows Phone 7 to the world of Nokia, and is currently the top-of-the-line Lumia that is available outside the United States.

Those paying attention will have realized I am talking about the Lumia 800, Nokia’s first Windows Phone 7 device. Arguably the Lumia 900′s older brother, the handset has one big thing in common with the Lumia 900 – it was seen as nothing short of the second coming of Nokia, and just the same as the 900, it disappointed while still being a very good smartphone.

But let me back up a second before I qualify that statement.

First off, and to put everything into context, there is something you should know about me. If you’ve been reading closely over the last year or so, then you’re probably already aware that I own an iPhone. I’ve had every iPhone bar the 3GS, and I’m very happy with my current 4S. I like iPhones.

I’ve had Android phones in the past, too. The most recent was a Nexus S from Samsung, and it was OK. Not great, just OK.

I’ve even had Windows Phone 7 handsets before, with the HTC HD7 the pick of the bunch. Again, it was OK.

So, I waiting for the Lumia 800 to arrive with great intrigue. The HD7 had whetted my appetite for Windows Phone 7, because in all honesty, I enjoyed the OS. It was a breath of fresh air, especially on the back of my Nexus S experience. The hardware, however, left a lot to be desired.

When the Lumia 800 arrived I decided to go full bore with my little experiment. My SIM card came out of my iPhone and went into the Lumia, with the aim of it not returning to its home for a full two weeks. Off I set on my mini adventure, Nokia wunderphone in hand.

Now this is not going to be a full, 5,000 word review of the Lumia 800 because, frankly, everyone’s read enough of them since the handset’s original release. It got good reviews for good hardware, but the software was lacking. This sounded like the opposite of my HTC HD7 experience, so I was looking forward to spending some time with the Nokia.

The first few days were pretty good. The novelty factor was certainly in full effect, and I can honestly say this is the best Windows Phone 7 handset I have ever used. I would possibly go so far as to say it is better than any Android handset I have ever used, but seeing as I’ve not had my hands on any of the latest Ice Cream Sandwich smartphones yet, then I’m not going to imply that stands for much.

My real problem, and I feared this would happen, is that it’s not my iPhone.

I’ll explain that a little further. Having used iPhones for years, I have built up an almost symbiotic relationship with it. I know all my apps, I know how they work, and they work how I want them to. I have an app that will allow me to do just about anything that I could do with my MacBook, should the need arise, including managing a home server over SSH, FTP or VNC. There may be apps that do such things for Windows Phone 7, but I didn’t find any good ones, if any at all.

That may sound like a very narrow example, but it is an example nonetheless. My main issue, working my way through those two weeks without an iPhone, was that I just didn’t feel as if I was connected to everything. I missed Instagram. The Facebook and Twitter apps felt alien to the point of not wanting to use them. These Live Tiles I hear so much about didn’t do what I had hoped and the Metro interface grew old once the novelty of all those transitions wore off. In short, the whole experience felt gimmicky, but with little substance.

All this is a real shame. Nokia’s hardware is undoubtedly gorgeous, and the Lumia 900 is no different by all accounts. The issue is that despite throwing itself into Windows Phone 7, Nokia is still lacking a real mobile OS that will claw people away from iOS and Android. Apps speak volumes for a platform these days, and Windows Phone 7 just doesn’t have them in large enough quantities and of enough quality to really compete.

The end result was a disappointing one. I didn’t get through my two weeks with the Lumia without having to admit defeat and return to my iPhone. As much as I wanted to love the Lumia 800, I just couldn’t live with it, and that was the end of that.

One thing that is worth nothing though, is that I am what people would call a power user. Most smartphone owners won’t be doing the things I do on a daily basis, and with that in mind I do wonder whether Windows Phone 7 may have a home in the market yet, just not in my home. Less nerdy types may enjoy all those transitions, and Nokia’s own apps add value to be sure, just not for me.

To be clear here, the problem I have with the Nokia Lumia 800 is not so much with the handset itself, but with the software. Windows Phone 7 has improved greatly since the early days, but has it improved enough to really compete? I fear not.

If you are a Windows Phone 7 fan though, the Lumia 800, and I suspect the 900 too, are well worth a look. If you’re an iOS or Android owner though, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.

And that’s the real shame.

Source : redmondpie

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Google+ gets the biggest minor update ever

The Google+ app for Android got what appeared to be a pretty minor update today, but it is actually one of the best updates, and one that fixes an annoyance that we've had with the app since it was first launched. If you have been following our articles about the various Google+ app updates, we have frequently commented on one continuous problem: sharing links on mobile.

The option to share links has always been there, but the problem was that when you shared a link, it would post as a plain link and would not be expanded to the much more visually pretty posts that you would get if you shared the link on a desktop. That has finally been fixed, and is listed in the changelog as "improved sharing support for 3rd party apps". Now, links shared will be expanded properly for the most part. Videos, even those from YouTube, still don't get posted as embedded videos, but it's still a big improvement. The only downside is that it can take a few seconds for the link to display, which will delay you in actually posting the link, but we're sure that'll get sped up in future updates.

The update also adds support for hashtags in the stream, and the ever popular "bug fixes and performance improvements."

If you want Google+ now that sharing links from your mobile phone looks much better (and the entire product looks better thanks to the new layout), the Google+ app is available for free in the Google Play Store.

Source : phonearena

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AppMosaic For iPhone Displays The Top 200 Free / Paid Apps In A Beautiful Mosaic Pattern

If you’re a fan of tweaks a little out of the ordinary, then AppMosaic by ctrled may be just the sort of thing you look for. Probably classifiable as an app as opposed to a tweak, it portrays the top 200 apps (free and paid) in one elongated mosaic. It only depicts the icons, but by tapping on them, a box appears at the bottom of the screen denoting the title and its publisher/developer.

Since the App Store app only seems to load 25 entries at a time (the rigmarole of scrolling down and tapping "see more" can get tiresome if you’re interested in the broader scale), AppMosaic is certainly useful because it allows you to view all of the top free and paid apps with very little scrolling.

Having said that, it’s WinterBoard dependent, and I, for one, like to avoid the very outdated, bloated visual modification jailbreak app wherever possible. If you don’t have an issue with WinterBoard, and think the mosaic looks good, or will be helpful in your quest to find new apps – or all of the above – then fire up Cydia and get downloading.

Additionally, it clashes quite heavily with Springtomize 2 (at least, in my experience), and would not install until I completely disabled it, so you may want to take this into consideration before you do download it.

It’s available over at the ModMyi repository – a default entry to your Cydia source list – and is absolutely free of charge. There are no modifiable settings – the icon simply sits on your home screen, so if you no longer wish to use AppMosaic, then simply open Cydia and remove it.

Of course, you will need to jailbreak your device to install this tweak. For jailbreaking the latest iOS 5.1 (tethered), follow the instructions posted here to jailbreak using Redsn0w, or here for Sn0wbreeze. For jailbreaking iPhone 4S and iPad 2, you can simply follow our step by step tutorial posted here to jailbreak iOS 5.0.1 using Absinthe on Windows or Mac. Those of you with an iPhone 4, 3GS, iPad 1, and iPod touches can use Redsn0w or Sn0wbreeze to untether jailbreak on iOS 5.0.1.

Be sure to check out our iPhone Apps Gallery and iPad Apps Gallery to explore more apps for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

You can follow us on Twitter, add us to your circle on Google+ or like our Facebook page to keep yourself updated on all the latest from Microsoft, Google, Apple and the web.

Source : redmondpie

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The new Sony: Kaz Hirai presents his strategy for recovery

In the past months Sony has been confronted with everything from a foundering TV business to a massive tax charge that together have pushed its expected loss for financial year 2011 to a record $6.4 billion. Today, Sony has gathered the press at its head office in Minato ward, Tokyo, so that recently-appointed CEO Kazuo Hirai can explain how he plans to turn the newly reorganized "One Sony" around.

Hirai wants everyone to know he takes the recently-announced loss very seriously. The key to recovery, he believes, revolves around strengthening the company's core businesses — digital imaging, gaming, and mobile — and turning around its TV business. Digital imaging is a core strength of the company, believes Hirai, and even though the point and shoot segment isn't expected to grow in the future given the growth of smartphones, he believes the company's strengths in interchangeable lens cameras can allow it to grow faster than the market and create a stable profit center.

On the subject of mobile, Sony's reorganization brings its cellphone, tablet, and Vaio computer lines all under the same umbrella with respect to R&D and design, to be headed up by the recently-announced future CEO of Sony Mobile, Kunimasa Suzuki. In order to compete in these challenging markets Sony plans to cut lead time on product development— the time between inception and release — by half. The company doesn't plan to stand still on gaming either; Hirai is planning to expand both the number of downloadable titles for its consoles and the number of PlayStation Suite compatible devices, although the CEO was light on details.

Returning the TV business to profitability is a major objective for the company, and in order to achieve it Hirai plans to reduce fixed costs by 60 percent and flexible costs by 30 percent through further restructuring — including the previously-rumored 10,000 job cuts, as well as reducing the model count by 40 percent in fiscal 2012. The CEO believes that LCD is still king and Sony needs to maintain its focus on this segment, but it is also exploring new technologies like OLED and Crystal LED, although unfortunately he's staying tight-lipped about timing details for the latter. Executing properly will bring the division back to profitability by 2013, he believes.

If Sony has been losing money for eight years making TVs, is there really a need for Sony to keep making them? Hirai answered that the company is committed to returning the business to profitability, although thinking about contingency plans is "natural for any business unit." In response to a later question about the possibility of Japan's TV makers collaborating in a way similar to Japan Display — with the Japanese government chipping in to help restore the business to health — Hirai had no comment to offer.

If Sony can't get its TV business back to profitability by 2013 it will be looking at ten years of losses for the division, at which point it will almost certainly have to re-evaluate whether it ought to be making TVs in the first place. Time is of the essence for the company, but its new CEO believes his One Sony can succeed where previous CEO Howard Stringer's Sony United has been deficient.

Source : theverge

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Now with 170 million users, Google+ gets a complete redesign

Google has today announced it will launch a new revamped version of Google+, providing users with the ability to customize the way the social network looks, display the content that is relevant to them and come together in a new Hangouts interface.

The search giant details the update in an official blog post, stating that the social network is now 170 million members strong. With that in mind, the company says it wants to accelerate its efforts “to create a simpler, more beautiful Google.”

What does this mean exactly?

Instead of the icons at the top, Google has provided Google+ users with a dynamic ribbon of applications on the left that can be dragged up or down to create the order that you want, hover over some of the to reveal a set of quick actions or remove them altogether.

Google hopes that by providing you with these options, it will make it easier for you to adjust your preferences as you come to use it. This allows the company to roll out new features and give you to the option to choose which ones are best for you.

New Conversations

The new conversations view will now allow “full bleed” of photos and videos that will make your media pop out when you post it to Google+. The company has also introduced a stream of what it calls conversation “cards”, which makes it easier for people to find and join discussions.

If that’s not enough, a new activity drawer alerts you to notifications and highlights the community that interacts with your content.

As you can see from the image below, it’s a drastic redesign, and dare we says it — it looks nice.

New Hangout Page

Google has also updated the design of its Hangouts on Google+, launching a dedicated Hangouts page that makes it easier for you to connect with people face-to-face.

This means you will have an always-updated list of invitations from the people in your circles, quick access to every public and On Air hangout, for those times when you want to meet someone new, or watch a live broadcast and there’s also a rotating billboard of popular hangouts, pro tips and other items you don’t want to miss.

Google is quick to point out that it has also added a new Explore page that shows what it interesting or what is ‘Hot’ across the social network. It has also updated profiles, providing users with the opportunity to display much bigger photos and also offers an updated Chat list that makes it easier to connect with friends in real-time.

It will start with Google+ but the new features will also migrate to Search, Maps, Gmail and YouTube.

The company’s focus? To become “a simpler, more beautiful Google.”

Source : thenextweb

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Now at 45m members, LinkedIn rival Viadeo lands $32m to spur growth in Europe, emerging countries

For most people, online social networking in a purely professional context is almost synonymous to ‘using LinkedIn‘, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only business social network in town. Many countries have local networking sites for professionals, and a handful of companies are trying to compete with LinkedIn on a global level, including XING and Viadeo.

The latter was started in France back in 2004, but has expanded to other countries – mostly by acquisition – over the past few years, and has managed to attract over 45 million registered users to date.

For the record, that’s still a far cry from the more than 150 million members (in over 200 countries and territories) claimed by LinkedIn.

But Viadeo says 1 million new members join the online business network every month, so it’s not that it’s not seeing growth. The company claims over 3 million profiles are viewed, and 150,000 new connections made, on Viadeo every day.

Today, Viadeo is announcing a $32 million round of funding to boost growth in more regions across the globe, particularly in Europe and emerging markets like China (with Tianji.com as its local brand), Latin America, India, Africa and, from last December, Russia.

Viadeo has confirmed that one third of the funds (more than $10 million) will be given to Tianji itself. Viadeo’s arm in China is performing well, with 10 million members to date, and the revenue will help it develop towards the 100 million member target it is aiming to reach by 2013.

Source : thenextweb

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Check if your Mac has the Flashback trojan

If you’ve been following the tech news over the past few days, you’ve probably seen a few mentions of the Flashback trojan. It’s been said that over 550,000 Macs have been infected, which is a staggering amount considering the relative safety (or at least the perceived safety) of OS X. The malicious software has been known of for a few months now — it disguised itself as a Flash installer, making it seem like an innocuous addition to your computer, when it was anything but.

But how to do you find out if your Mac is infected with Flashback? It’s surprisingly easy — a tool that will diagnose your computer is available here. You just need to download it, unzip the package, and then run the two applications within.

If you were affect, the removal process is outlined here. F-Secure’s instructions look pretty complex, they mostly involve finding the terminal and then copying and pasting.

And, don’t worry, the good folks at Apple are on top of the issue. An update made available today, known as Java for OS X 2012-002, will address the problem. It might seems like a nondescript OS update but it includes two important components. The eponymous one is a Java update that brings Java SE 6 to version 1.6.0_31. The other, HT1222, is the security component, though no explanation is offered as to what was specifically changed aside from it dealing with Java.

This is the second update Apple has issued in response to Flashback. And, this time, only OS X 10.7 (Lion) systems received the patch. Java for OS X 2012-002 is available now and does not require a restart. OS X Lion users simply need to go to the Apple icon (on the top left) and then choose “Software Update” to get it.

While Macs are affected, the malware exploits a flaw in Java not OS X specifically (though Apple maintains its own version of Java, so you can look at the situation either way). Even so, this can be seen as a sign of things to come for Mac users — as the operating system get more popular the computers using it will increasingly be a target for attacks like this one. The install base is still relatively small compared to that of Windows, but it’s large enough that OS X is a worthwhile target. The days of OS X users gallivanting around the internet with impunity are over, so get some security software and think twice about what you install.

Source : geek

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Google+ receives massive UI overhaul

If it wasn’t clear before this week, it should now be apparent that the battle between Google and Facebook is about the future of the web as we know it. Both of these companies are vying for the attention span of users across the globe. Facebook and Google both want one thing above all else, and that is for you to be using their services all day, every day. The more you are tied into their tools, the more data they can collect, and the more ads they can deliver. At the end of the day, that means being able to provide users with the best social experience. While Google+ is certainly making headway, this is still and are in which Facebook is king. However, in an attempt to shift the scales once more, Google has released a massive user interface update to Google+, which is rolling out to users worldwide right now.

Google’s push into the social space has been fairly successful so far. By integrating Google+ into all of their existing products, the search giant was able to announce today that there are over 170 million accounts on G+. (There’s no accurate metrics as to how many of those users are active.) Unlike Facebook, Google+ relies on a user’s ability to find other people with common interests and socialize with them. Facebook, on the other hand, relies on the information you provide them to find other users with which you share a past connection, typically through school or work.

Typically, huge user interface overhauls are met with mixed emotions. Users who don’t like change versus users who embrace anything new muddy the general opinion of major changes, but like it or not change has come to Google+. And it’s a different tact for Google+, which has been continually evolving from day one, improving the experience with new or modified features nearly every week.


Google has taken their social network and stretched it out a bit, moving a few things around to create a more streamlined look and feel. The chat tool has been moved to the far right, allowing the list of active instant messenger users go all the way down this side of the page. This is a huge improvement for anyone who has more that fifteen users on their list, which was a previous limitation of the chat implementation.

The information in your stream still occupies the majority of the interface, only now every post has been placed in its own little container. Each post feels much cleaner, right down to the compact view of the comments for each post. A single comment is shown, unless you expand the comment field to see more of them. Above your stream are tabs for quick access to posts that are only in specific circles, allowing you to break up your stream and quickly access the information being displayed inside those circles. Finally, the navigation panel on the left hand side is adjustable based on your preference.

If you play a lot of Google+ games, or if you prefer Hangouts and Photos at the top of your navigation bar, it is quick and easy to change it to suit your experience.

Source : geek

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iPhone 5 to have a Larger 4 inch Screen

If you think, the iPhone 4S is sizzling, iPhone 5 will be much better if rumors are to be believed. The new generation of the iPhone, gadgets yet to be released will have a larger 4-inch screen coming with a brand new and sleeker design.

What is New?
The sleek and new design will be the main attraction of the iPhone 5 and the 4G connectivity support will be an added advantage. Customers are expected to ‘dwarf’ iPhone 4 and iPhone 4S when the new iPhone is launched- that in itself is and achievement in itself considering that present iPhones have been hugely successful. The built-up to the iPhone 5 launch is the same if one looks at what happened before iPhone 4 debuted
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Unlocked Old iPhones
Finally, AT&T allowed unlocking iPhones- and that is terrific news for Apple users since the wireless network has a vast network. T-Mobile has long been an ardent supporter of old iPhone users. The T-Mobile network has about one million unlocked and or jailbroken iPhone gadgets.
T-Mobile, however, has a less attractive connectivity solution compared to other networks like AT&T or Sprint- the 3G network is still not the best, and the 4G HSPA+ network will only be introduced this year.

Source : newgadget

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Teardown Shows Nokia’s Lumia 900 Costs $209 to Build

As smartphones go, the Lumia 900 has a lot of hopes tied up into it. It represents the collaboration of Microsoft, the software behemoth on the PC that has struggled in recent years to make a go of the smartphone business, and Nokia, once the king of wireless phones, period, now struggling to get back in the game versus Apple and Google.

So far, the launch hasn’t gone quite so well. First there was a lackluster review. Then, days after going on sale on Easter Sunday, the company has admitted to a software glitch and is offering people who bought one a $100 credit in addition to a software patch. The credit makes the phone free to buyers willing to take a two-year service contract.

Now the market research firm IHS iSuppli has taken a Lumia 900 apart and, in a report shared with AllThingsD that will be released later today, has determined that it costs Nokia about $209 to build. And, judging from the parts being used, it’s not exactly built like the most cutting-edge phone on the market.
In fact, it seems like Microsoft and wireless chipmaker Qualcomm are both making an effort to showcase how efficient Windows Phone 7 for mobile can be; at the same time, they seem to be aiming to entice other hardware manufacturers by demonstrating that a full-featured smartphone can be built using components that are about a generation behind the current high end, and therefore cheaper, says Andrew Rassweiler, the iSuppli analyst who supervised the teardown.

For example, the teardown found that the Lumia 900 uses a single-core Qualcomm chip that costs $17 as its main applications processor; a phone with similar features running Google’s Android OS, such as Samsung’s Galaxy SII Skyrocket, uses a higher-end dual-core processor that costs $22.

“It appears what Microsoft and Qualcomm and Nokia are trying to do here — and this is being driven by Microsoft more than anyone else — is streamline the OS so it can run on a lighter processing platform,” Rassweiler told me. “The point being is to undercut the higher end phones.”

The choices don’t end with the processor. The phone contains only 512 megabytes of DRAM memory, where most phones would use one gigabyte. And the trend is expected to continue, as the next generation of Microsoft’s mobile OS will require even less memory.

Another example: The Bluetooth chip. Nokia is using a slightly older chip from Broadcom, and not the latest, greatest Bluetooth part. The difference between them is only $2.50, but it serves as another example showing that Nokia is aiming to compete on price.

For Nokia, the strategy seems to be one of aiming to compete against other phones on price, while offering similar features. The Lumia is thought to sell for $450 at retail without a subsidy, or about $200 lower than Apple’s iPhone 4S, which starts at $649 without a contract, depending on model, and costs between $188 and $245 to build.

Microsoft is also thought to be helping Nokia out, says iSuppli’s Wayne Lam, who also participated in the teardown analysis. While software costs are not considered in a teardown analysis, he says Microsoft is thought to be making less than $5 per phone in licensing fees on the Windows Phone 7 operating system, far lower than the $15 per device it is said to want. That would be line with the $3 per phone price that Nokia is thought to have paid in licensing fees for the Symbian OS it used previously, and of which it was a partial owner. “Nokia is getting a fantastic discount,” Lam told me.

One place where Nokia didn’t skimp? The gyroscope chip, which determines how the phone is being moved. It contains the same gyroscope chip from STMicroelectronics that goes into the iPhone 4S. There are, apparently, some things on which you simply can’t compromise.

Source : allthingsd

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Alternatives to the iPhone

Q:
I’ve been using the iPhone since it came out in 2007. And while I’m satisfied with the way it works, I’m considering changing phones just to have something different—in particular a larger screen. What, in your opinion, are the best alternatives to the iPhone? I use mine primarily for email, along with checking stocks and weather.
A:
I would go with an Android phone, which has plenty of apps that are similar to what you are used to, and which typically these days come with larger screens, some exceeding 4.5 inches. There are always new models coming out, and there are so many that it can be hard to recommend one. But, in my tests, I’ve been especially impressed with the Samsung Galaxy models.
Q:
I’m a Verizon user currently on 3G and we’ve been promised 4G in our area by end of 2013. Do you have any indication Verizon is actually going to continue with LTE service or is this just a smoke screen? Are they really going to roll out new 4G (LTE) service or is this just chosen markets?
A:
I don’t know where you live, or when or whether Verizon Wireless plans to offer LTE, the fastest cellular data network, in your particular area. But I can say that, for Verizon, LTE is anything but a “smoke screen,” and I’d be stunned if the carrier didn’t continue rolling it out. Verizon has deployed it in over 200 markets and says it plans to cover 400 markets by the end of 2012. It’s a key part of the company’s competitive strategy.
Every carrier that deploys a new network starts with a few “chosen markets,” and there are always some areas left out, even years later, for various reasons. But from everything I know, Verizon is planning a broad national LTE network.
Q:
I run Windows 7 on a Mac using Parallels Desktop. Can I use the normal Windows update process to keep Windows 7 up to date or will it compromise the Windows setup through Parallels?
A:
Your virtual copy of Windows inside the Parallels software is designed to work just like Windows on a physical PC. That includes the Windows update process, which I have used many times on Windows via Parallels. This is separate from any updates made by Apple to the Mac operating system, or updates to the Parallels program itself.

Source : allthingsd

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