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Google's wearable Glass gadget: cool or creepy?

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:16:28 -0400

By Alexei Oreskovic SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google staged four discussions expounding on the finer points of its "Glass" wearable computer during this week's developer conference. Missing from the agenda, however, was a session on etiquette when using the recording-capable gadget, which some attendees faithfully wore everywhere - including to the crowded bathrooms. Google Glass, a cross between a mobile computer and eyeglasses that can both record video and surf the Internet, is now available to a select few but is already among the year's most buzz-worthy new gadgets. ...

New Xbox more than a game console for Microsoft

Sat, 18 May 2013 11:17:07 -0400

By Malathi Nayak and Bill Rigby SAN FRANCISCO/SEATTLE (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp is set to make a splash this week with the eagerly awaited unveiling of its new Xbox game console, eight years after the last version, as it seeks a larger share of the $65 billion a year global computer gaming industry. But the small device faces some big competition from the PlayStation 4 by Sony Corp and the Wii U by Nintendo Co Ltd in a shifting market. ...

Exclusive: EU cites Chinese telecoms Huawei and ZTE for trade violations

Sat, 18 May 2013 03:25:41 -0400

By Daniel Bases NEW YORK (Reuters) - Europe's top trade official for the first time late on Friday officially cited Chinese mobile telecommunications equipment makers Huawei and ZTE Corp for violating anti-dumping and anti-subsidy guidelines. European Union Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht said he was prepared to launch a formal investigation into anti-competitive behavior by these Chinese companies in order to protect a "strategic" sector of Europe's economy. ...

New Trick to Get the Best Seat in Coach

Wed, 15 May 2013 10:51:16 -0400

How to make the cheap seats feel like First Class.

Google's Schmidt to meet Britain's Cameron as tax row rages

Fri, 17 May 2013 07:58:10 -0400

LONDON (Reuters) - Google Inc's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt is due to meet British Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday as a participant of an advisory group just days after UK lawmakers lambasted the Internet company's tax affairs. The meeting is a routine one and has been long-planned, will include other high-profile business people, and tax evasion is not on the agenda, a government source told Reuters. ...

Yahoo to vote on $1.1 billion Tumblr buy: AllThingsD

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:09:04 -0400

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc's board will meet on Sunday to vote on whether to offer $1.1 billion in cash for New York-based blogging service Tumblr, tech blog AllThingsD cited sources close to the situation as saying on Friday. Such an acquisition would be CEO Marissa Mayer's largest deal since taking the helm of the once-iconic Internet company in July 2012. Yahoo is keen on Tumblr because its younger user base would enhance the older website's "cool factor," the technology blog cited the sources as saying. The news could be announced as soon as Monday, it said. ...

DirecTV interested in buying video website Hulu: source

Fri, 17 May 2013 17:08:34 -0400

By Liana B. Baker (Reuters) - The largest U.S. satellite video provider, DirecTV, is one of the companies considering a bid for online video website Hulu, according to a source familiar with the situation. The person acknowledged that other parties were involved, adding that DirecTV was "one of many" suitors. Media reports have previously identified Time Warner Cable Inc as another company weighing a potential stake in the company. Representatives of DirecTV and Time Warner Cable declined to comment on Friday. ...

New Android apps worth downloading: Hangouts, Diapers.com update, Fixie Joe

Fri, 17 May 2013 08:20:29 -0400

Connect with people face-to-face with Hangouts, Google's newly released update to its Talk service. The app lets you have video chats with as many as 10 people – just like its web-based counterpart. We've also got an update to the Diapers.com Android app, which makes it easy for parents to order baby supplies from their mobile devices. Today's game pick is Fixie Joe, which sends players on a classic run-and-jump platforming romp through a haywire robotics factory.

How the mighty have fallen: Nokia’s struggles, put in perspective

Fri, 17 May 2013 22:15:20 -0400

In one point in time, Nokia was the top-selling smartphone vendor in the world by a wide margin. It wasn’t even that long ago, in fact. But when Nokia failed to respond quickly enough to the industry’s shift toward touch, the Finnish giant lost its footing and toppled spectacularly. Just how bad have things gotten for Nokia? Market share numbers paint a pretty frightening picture, but a single tweet from Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis might do an even better job of putting things in perspective. In the past two years since Nokia announced that it was switching to Windows Phone as its mobile platform of choice, the vendor has sold just over 20 million Lumia phones. During the same period

Verizon cuts prepaid plan prices, piles on more data

Fri, 17 May 2013 21:00:17 -0400

Consumers have begun to move away from two-year contracts and embrace the prepaid smartphone market. In response to this growing user base, Verizon Wireless this week announced that it is increasing its data allowance for prepaid customers. The carrier’s new plans offer unlimited talk and text with 2GB of data, up from 500MB, for $60 a month. There is also a plan with 4GB of data, up from 2GB, for $70 per month. The increased data allowance is available now to current customers, and will be available to new customers beginning June 6th. AT&T also recently announced a new prepaid service in select markets, known as Aio Wireless, which offers unlimited talk and text with 2GB of data for $55

'Sonic' video games coming to Nintendo

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:26:09 -0400

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sonic the Hedgehog is rolling with Nintendo.

Leak suggests Nokia ‘EOS’ will feature 4.5-inch 720p display, 41-megapixel camera

Fri, 17 May 2013 20:05:55 -0400

Nokia is rumored to be preparing a 41-megapixel Lumia smartphone, codenamed EOS, that will be released later this year. According to WMPowerUser, the handset will look similar to Nokia’s Lumia 920 smartphone and will feature a polycarbonate case with a 4.5-inch 720p display. The device will reportedly come with a new application called “Nokia Pro Camera” to compliment the 41-megapixel PureView camera, which is also said to include a protective lens cover that automatically opens when the camera application is launched. Unlike the handful of Lumias that came before it, however, the EOS will reportedly not come in different colors and will not natively support wireless charging. Earlier reports suggested that Nokia would launch its EOS smartphone in the United States

Morrison seals $306 million Ocado deal in online catch-up

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:21:02 -0400

By James Davey LONDON (Reuters) - British supermarket chain Wm Morrison is investing more than 200 million pounds in a 25-year deal with online grocer Ocado, seeking to catch up with rivals in home delivery and sending Ocado shares to a record high. Morrison, which trails Tesco, Wal-Mart's Asda and J Sainsbury in annual sales, has suffered falling profits and market share, partly due to its late entry into online grocery which is growing about 16 percent a year. Morrison and Ocado said their deal would not affect Ocado's arrangement with upmarket grocer Waitrose, due to run to 2020. ...

HTC says One production will double to meet ‘strong demand’

Fri, 17 May 2013 19:00:24 -0400

Of all the problems to have when launching a new flagship smartphone, trouble keeping up with demand is hardly the worst. Of course, things change a bit when a company has to pump units into channels as quickly as possible before the top-selling smartphone vendor in the world launches the Galaxy S4. HTC undoubtedly lost some sales thanks to its production woes with the One, but a new report suggests its manufacturing issues are behind it. According to Focus Taiwan, HTC North Asia president Jack Tong said that production capacity for the HTC One will double in May and increase further in June. ”Our capacity is expected to rise significantly starting from mid-May,” Tong reportedly said Friday at a press conference. “We

A year after IPO, Facebook aims to be ad colossus

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:30:48 -0400

NEW YORK (AP) — It was supposed to be our IPO, the people's public offering.

Xbox 360 dominates console sales for 28th consecutive month

Fri, 17 May 2013 18:05:41 -0400

The Xbox 360 topped the charts again in April, marking the 28th consecutive month Microsoft’s gaming console has outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo’s Wii consoles. According to research from NPD Group, the Xbox 360 accounted for 42% of current-generation sales with 130,000 units sold last month. It wasn’t all good news, however, as sales plummeted 50% from 261,000 units in March. As a whole, the industry continued to struggle in April with total gaming sales down 25% year-over-year from $657.5 million to $495.2 million. Microsoft and Sony’s next-generation consoles are expected to help sales pick up when they launch ahead of the holidays this year.

Syria government supporters hack Financial Times

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:59:27 -0400

By Jim Finkle and Jennifer Saba (Reuters) - The Financial Times' website and Twitter feeds were hacked on Friday, renewing questions about whether the popular social media service has done enough to tighten security as cyber-attacks on the news media intensify. The Syrian Electronic Army, an online group that supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, was behind the incident which followed a phishing attack on the company's email accounts, FT reported on its website. The attack is the latest in which hackers commandeered the Twitter account of a prominent news organization to push their ...

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 image, specs leak

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:50:50 -0400

A purported image of Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 tablet was published on Friday along with supposed specs. SamMobile obtained the image of the unannounced tablet from an unnamed source, and the device shown in the image looks very similar to Samsung’s Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, pictured above, with slight variations such as the sensor layout above the display. Not much can be gleaned from the render, though the blog also claims to have knowledge of the tablet’s specs, which include an 8-inch TFT display with 1,280 x 800-pixel resolution, a 1.5GHz dual-core processor, 1.5GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera, a 4,450 mAh battery and Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean. The leaked image

Tableau Software shares close up 64 percent in market debut

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:15:59 -0400

By Neha Dimri (Reuters) - Shares of Tableau Software Inc rose as much as 68 percent in their trading debut as investors expect the rising interest in big data to power the data analysis software maker's growth. Tableau Software shares closed up nearly 64 percent at $50.75 on the New York Exchange on Friday. Tableau's revenue has jumped more than 800 percent to $127.7 million since 2008 as more companies use data analysis tools to manage efficiency and gauge customer preference. ...

FCC nominee Wheeler will divest holdings if confirmed

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:11:29 -0400

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Tom Wheeler, nominated to become the new chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, pledged to divest stakes in AT&T Inc, Dish Network Corp, Google Inc and dozens of other tech and telecoms companies if he is confirmed. Divestments are common for nominees to avoid conflicts of interest. Wheeler's plan was disclosed in an agreement posted online by the Office of Government Ethics. Wheeler is now a venture capital investor at Core Capital Partners and chairs the FCC's Technology Advisory Council. ...

Are the new messaging apps from Facebook and Google a sign of fear?

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:05:44 -0400

It’s pretty fascinating that Facebook and Google debuted new messaging paradigms within six weeks of each other. Facebook Home’s one key feature is the prominent placement of its “chat heads” messaging alerts on the home screen. Google is launching a new messaging app particularly focused on group messaging. The debuts of these two initiatives fit within the same timeline: a sudden realization in 2012 that smartphone messaging had started evolving, followed by the feverish development of a new product that would finally launch in the spring of 2013. Facebook and Google are very much on the defense here. So what happened in 2012 that suddenly awakened these slumbering giants? Of course, there was the sheer volume explosion of WhatsApp, which

What We Don't Know About Fracking

Fri, 17 May 2013 16:00:53 -0400

See full coverage

Members of Congress Ask Google to Respond to a List of Glass Privacy Concerns

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:33:09 -0400

Eight Members of Congress Wants Google to Answer Questions about Google Glass Privacy Issues

Sanyo may cease to exist under Panasonic reorganization: Nikkei

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:21:42 -0400

(Reuters) - Sanyo Electric Co may cease to exist under a reorganization by Panasonic Corp that includes global jobs cuts, Nikkei reported on Friday. Panasonic will cut 90 percent of Sanyo's global workforce of about 2,500 in around three years, the daily reported. About 1,000 workers at Sanyo's headquarters will be reduced to around 100 this fiscal year, leaving just a skeleton crew for handling legal matters, managing intellectual property and other tasks. Panasonic may decide to absorb the unit entirely, the Nikkei said. ...

Apple’s ‘iRadio’ hits another roadblock, WWDC launch might be delayed

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:20:59 -0400

It has been widely reported that Apple will debut a new streaming radio service at its Worldwide Developers Conference next month. The company was said to be close to striking a deal with Warner Music and Sony Music to launch its iRadio service, however recent reports suggest negotiations may have hit a roadblock that could prevent Apple from debuting the service at next month’s event. The Verge reports that BMG Rights Management, the fourth largest music publisher, is not satisfied with the company’s deal and is holding out, therefore leaving Apple with only one major label onboard at this point. Apple’s streaming music service is said to be a hybrid Web and radio service with features similar to both Pandora and Spotify,

'Smart Rifle' Begins Shipping to Gun Owners This Week

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:11:31 -0400

A Texas startup has developed a “smart rifle”that barely needs to be aimed. The maker of the gun, being shipped to stores this week, brags that “even a novice shooter can become an elite long-range marksman in minutes.” The company, TrackingPoint, has said its “world’s...

Sony to name Chugai Pharma's CEO as chairman: Nikkei

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:00:22 -0400

(Reuters) - Sony Corp plans to appoint Chugai Pharmaceutical Co Chief Executive Osamu Nagayama as chairman, the Nikkei reported. Nagayama's appointment will be finalized on June 20 at a board meeting to be held immediately after a shareholders' meeting, the business daily said. Outgoing chairman Howard Stringer, who served as Sony's CEO between 2005 and 2012, will retire in June, the Japanese paper said. (Reporting by Aditi Shrivastava in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

Syrian hackers compromise FT blog, Twitter feeds

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:47:00 -0400

LONDON (AP) — A clutch of Twitter accounts and a blog maintained by the Financial Times were hacked Friday, the latest in a series of cyberattacks claimed by the Syrian Electronic Army, a pro-government group which has regularly targeted media organizations it sees as sympathetic to the country's rebels.

The five ways Google is ‘assaulting’ Apple

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:35:03 -0400

Google CEO Larry Page spoke about peace in the industry during the Google I/O 2013 keynote, but that doesn’t mean Google has plans to slow its various attacks on rivals’ turf. Forbes contributor Peter Cohan laid out the five areas where Google is launching its “assault” on chief competitor Apple, and he discussed exactly how Google is hurting the world’s most valuable company in each area. Among Cohan’s five fronts are smartphones, where Google’s Android platform has overtaken the iPhone as the most popular handset operating system in the world; tablets, where strength in numbers will soon help Google top Apple’s market share once again; and innovation, the “most important front where Google is trouncing Apple.” Because the company is assaulting Apple

Yahoo Japan suspects 22 million user IDs leaked: Kyodo

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:23:33 -0400

(Reuters) - Yahoo Japan Corp said on Friday night it suspected that up to 22 million of its user IDs may have been "leaked" and it detected an unauthorized attempt to access the administrative system of its web portal Yahoo Japan, the Kyodo news agency reported. The leaked information does not include passwords and data necessary for identity verification to reset passwords, the agency said. The company detected the access attempt at around 9 pm on Thursday, Kyodo reported. Yahoo Japan checked its system after severing access and found traces of an attempt to steal user IDs, according to ...

Canada trying to lure Silicon Valley tech workers

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:20:16 -0400

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — The Canadian government has launched an aggressive campaign to lure Silicon Valley tech workers frustrated by U.S. visa policies northward, just as Congress wrestles with a long-sought overhaul of America's immigration system.

Adorable Animals Sneezing, Polaroids Taken By Chimps And The Weirdest Kickstarter Projects

Fri, 17 May 2013 14:19:55 -0400

All this and more in Rob Walker's Weekend Linkdown!

BBM will reportedly not support iPad or Android tablets at launch

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:50:40 -0400

Earlier this week, BlackBerry announced the arrival of BlackBerry Messenger for Android and iOS. A new report suggests that the messaging service will have some limitations, however. According to TrustedReviews, BBM will not be available for the iPad or for Android tablets at launch. Vivek Bhardwaj, head of the BlackBerry software portfolio, reportedly told the website that BBM will be limited to iPhones running iOS 6 or higher and Android smartphones. “Smartphone is our real focus and again it comes back to what BBM is,” he explained. “If you look BBM and the engagement and the activity, it’s because it is mobile, because people are on the go.” While the executive didn’t rule out tablet support in the future, he

Nokia Lumia 928 review: Third time’s the charm?

Fri, 17 May 2013 13:05:12 -0400

After a handful of dismal quarters during which Nokia lost billions, the vendor has recently shown signs of life. But not in the United States. Nokia’s first big attempt at a comeback in the U.S. was the Lumia 900, and the company returned later in 2012 with the Lumia 920. Neither phone was received with much enthusiasm from consumers. In the Lumia 900′s debut quarter, Nokia shipped 600,000 total Lumia phones in the U.S. When the Lumia 920 launched in the holiday quarter last year, Nokia’s U.S. Lumia phone shipments totaled 700,000 units and then slid to just 400,000 units in the following quarter. Nokia now returns with its third flagship phone for the U.S. market — the Lumia 928 — and it’s changing

The next major battlefield for Apple and Samsung

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:40:03 -0400

Samsung and Apple have fought over market share and patents, and they may soon start fighting over supply chains. Samsung traditionally built its products using internal supply lines, but as its devices became increasingly popular the company has been forced to seek outside help. Reuters reports that Samsung has reached out to some of Apple’s key supply chain partners about helping the company manufacture its products. With the two companies fighting for supply lines, Samsung’s presence could increase Apple’s cost and lead to component shortages that might disrupt Apple’s future products. “The next round of the post-patent battle for them will be over component supplies,” said Lee Sun-tae, an analyst at NH Investment & Securities. “Who wins access to the best

U.S. authorities seize accounts of major Bitcoin operator

Fri, 17 May 2013 12:34:08 -0400

By Brett Wolf ST. LOUIS, May 17 (Thomson Reuters Accelus) - U.S. authorities have seized two accounts linked to a major operator in the booming Bitcoin digital currency market, Tokyo-based exchange Mt. Gox. The move may prevent the firm from facilitating the purchase and sale of Bitcoins in U.S. dollars at a time when use of the currency and its value has mushroomed. Bitcoin, which unlike conventional money is bought and sold on a peer-to-peer network independent of any central authority, has grown popular among users who lack faith in the established banking system. ...