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Saturday, February 4, 2012

Bankrupt Kodak to remove name from iconic LA theater

Bankrupt Kodak to remove name from iconic LA theater

Bankrupt Kodak to remove name from iconic LA theater

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:57 PM PST

For years, if you tuned in to watch the Academy Awards at some point you would hear the phrase “from the Kodak Theatre.” Now, the once dominant film behemoth says it’s no longer worth paying $75 million a year to put its name on the door. That’s probably a smart move considering the company has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

The Kodak Theatre has been the stage not just for the Oscars but for so many Hollywood spectacles. For the nerds out there, it has also been the setting for many of Nintendo’s E3 press conferences. The theater sits at the majestic Hollywood & Highland outdoor mall and is one of the biggest tourist attractions in the area. It has become a staple in the city, rivaling other staples like Staples Center (had to throw that in there). But clearly $75 million is a lot for a company that can’t even afford to pay its own employees.

The story of Kodak, which has itself won a multitude of Academy Awards for innovation in film and theatrical technology, is one that will go down in the annals of the changing tide in America. It will also be a lesson in business textbooks of the future, proving no company is too big, too iconic, too legendary to fail, and everyone needs to not only stay on top of the changing trends, but be the trendmakers themselves.

[via WSJ]


Bankrupt Kodak to remove name from iconic LA theater is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

KISS frontman Gene Simmons eyes Angry Birds deal

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:40 PM PST

When you think of colorful, odd-shaped birds flinging into a group of circular green pigs, does a man who dresses up in gaudy black-and-white makeup and gothic black outfits come to mind? Well, maybe. But then again, with the number of different promotions and partnerships Rovio has managed to milk out of Angry Birds, pretty much anything sounds like it makes sense at this point.

So yeah, apparently Gene Simmons, who you either know as the star of the reality show Gene Simmons Family Jewels, or as the lead man in the band KISS, or don’t know at all, depending on your generation, has a soft spot for ill-tempered avians. According to a recent interview, he has been talking with developer Rovio about some sort of KISS-Angry Birds partnership.

A bunch of different mental images certainly come to mind, and not all of them are incredibly pleasant. We can see an Angry Birds game with a very dark and gothic background, a version where the birds are decorated in KISS garb, or a setting in which the evil pigs have ridiculously huge tongues. Take your pick. Would you buy that game? Oh, who are we kidding? It’s Angry Birds; of course you would.

[via IndustryGamers]


KISS frontman Gene Simmons eyes Angry Birds deal is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft loses key Windows Phone employee to Amazon

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:23 PM PST

The man who was in charge of getting new apps and content on the Windows Phone Marketplace has left Microsoft to pursure a similar occupation at Amazon. Brandon Watson apparently feels that the online bookseller-turned-behemoth has a brighter future. Or they offered him more money. Or both. Either way, it’s definitely a setback for Microsoft.

For most people, landing an executive position at Microsoft would be the pinnacle of their career. Watson’s new position at Amazon is working on Kindle apps, so it is almost exactly the same line of work, though now for what was one of his biggest competitors. It leaves a question mark about Microsoft’s future in the mobile space, though not a black hole. The software giant has actually done a formidable job at building the Windows Phone brand.

It got a much-needed boost from Nokia, which recently launched its Lumia 710 smartphone in the US. At $50, the Lumia 710 is seen as a great entry-level smartphone. But alas, selling Windows Phone as the “cheap” option is only driving a bigger wedge when it comes to the smartphone aficianados who simply don’t believe there’s a need for a third player in an iOS and Android duel. For Watson, that battle won’t be an issue anymore.

[via SFGate]


Microsoft loses key Windows Phone employee to Amazon is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

LEGO-sponsored study: Kids think robots are cooler than parents, teachers

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:07 PM PST

If your parents were robots, you wouldn’t have to do chores. If your teachers were robots, learning would be fun. At least, that’s the response that kids provided in a study conducted by a research company called Latitude, in tandem with a group called the LEGO Learning Institude and Project Synthesis. The experiment looked at 350 elementary-grade students from the ages of 8 and 12, from the countries of Australia, France, Germany, South Africa, the UK, and the US.

The children – who are perhaps the best subjects in any study because society hasn’t taught them to lie and cheat – were asked to describe what life would be like if robots were part of their everyday routine. They were also asked to draw a corresponding picture. The results as tabulated by Latitude were interesting – 38% described robots that could help them learn, and the same amount, 38%, described robots that could play with them.

And those two 38% overlapped significantly in their descriptions. Many children talked about robots being able to teach new things in a fun and engaging way, assumedly something their current teachers aren’t doing such a good job of. And the children also described their home lives with robot interaction, many of which discussing a world where their robots could do their chores. We’d bet even the majority of adults would say the same thing. 66% of the children in the study envisioned a world where robots would have the same level of intelligence as humans. So, scientists, get cracking – you’ve got a lot of young kinds out there who are expecting hella cool robots when they grow up.

[via Forbes]


LEGO-sponsored study: Kids think robots are cooler than parents, teachers is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady admits he illegally streamed Super Bowl last year

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:00 PM PST

At Super Bowl XLVI, Tom Brady will pretty much have the best seat in the house. But last year was a bit different – he was in Costa Rica and couldn’t exactly tune in to watch the game on TV. So he did what any good football fan would have done. He watched it on an illegal Super Bowl website. For shame, Tom. For shame. And I’m not just saying that because I’m a Giants fan.

During one of the many media events leading up to Sunday’s big game, Brady was asked about where he was last year at this time and was quoted as saying, “I was rehabbing my foot in Costa Rica watching the game on an illegal Super Bowl website and now I’m actually playing in the game, so it’s pretty cool.” We have to wonder how many of his fellow Costa Rican posse will be watching him from the same illegitimate site this year.

Although, for the first time, if you don’t have access to a TV and you want to tune into the live action, you will have a legal way to do so. The game will be streamed on the official websites of NBC and the NFL. In addition, Verizon has nabbed exclusive rights to the live mobile stream. With these new viewing avenues, the number of people who tune into the Super Bowl may very well be larger than ever. But will those PC and smartphone streamers still watch the commercials?

[via Gizmodo]


Patriots quarterback Tom Brady admits he illegally streamed Super Bowl last year is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Marriott hacker gets 30 months in prison

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 05:43 PM PST

Attila Nemeth’s accommodations for the next 2.5 years won’t exactly be like a Marriott. The Hungarian man was convicted on charges that he hacked into the computer system of the giant hospitality chain and threatened company executives that he would leak sensitive data unless they met his demands. And you know what his demands were? All he wanted was a job at Marriott.

Now, we know the job market is tough right now, but let’s hold on for a minute. Here’s a guy with enough savvy to infiltrate a computer system of a company that brings in $11.7 billion every year, and he can’t get a decent job somewhere? It sounds to us like Nemeth has more than enough skill to land something pretty worthwhile. Instead, he’ll be behind bars until the second half of 2014, and will live under supervised release for the next three years.

Nemeth was accused of gaining access to the company’s internal systems by sending a computer virus to employees. Only one employee needed to open the file for the entire server to be infected. During the investigation, US officials, including a Secret Service agent, posed as Marriott employees and flew Nemeth in for what he thought was a job interview. That face-to-face meeting was enough to seal the deal. According to Marriott, the ordeal cost more than $400,000 in damages to its bottom line.

[via Baltimore Sun]


Marriott hacker gets 30 months in prison is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Taiwanese gamer lies dead in LAN cafe for 9 hours before anyone notices

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 05:12 PM PST

The unconscious body of a 23-year-old sat slumped over at a Taiwanese Internet cafe for several hours before anyone noticed or said anything. The man was playing the online game League of Legends. When he passed out, there were as many as 30 other players surrounding him in the crowded space. It is unclear how long he had been at the cafe before his untimely death.

According to local authorities, the man, Chen Rong, had a pre-existing heart condition. That, combined with the cold temperature of the Internet cafe and his lack of movement may have resulted in a blood clot. The police also described Rong’s body as being rigid and his hands stretched out across the keyboard and mouse. Granted, that may be the position of many living gamers, but still, how could any man be dead for nine hours before anyone says anything?

It is beyond sad that this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. There have been multiple reports over the years of gamers, mostly in Asian countries, suffering slipping away into death while at their computer screen because of online RPGs. Some nations have worked to enact laws that shut down online networks during overnight hours to prevent these kinds of unfortunate situations.

[via Escapist]


Taiwanese gamer lies dead in LAN cafe for 9 hours before anyone notices is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 demo includes Xbox Live Gold trial

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 04:48 PM PST

If you download the Mass Effect 3 demo for Xbox 360 on its Valentine’s Day launch day, you’ll get a free month of Xbox Live Gold. That isn’t because Microsoft and Bioware are feeling generous; it’s because of the somewhat ridiculous restriction that prevents non-Gold members from playing online games. And as anyone who knows Mass Effect knows, if you want to show the best content, you need to try the online multiplayer.

The Xbox Live bonus for the upcoming demo is perhaps a realization of just how crazy the two-tiered online system is. Just for players to access a demo requires a service that costs $60 per year. By comparison, the PS3, which will also have its own version of Mass Effect 3, has never once charged a single player for the ability to play a game online against others. The Xbox Live infrastructure was put in place in 2005, when online gaming was still a niche concept.

The PS3 does still monetize its online network, but only for users who want access to exclusive content and special features. Online gaming should be a standard feature in today’s world, and hopefully in the Xbox 720 this will be the case. For now, though, if publishers want to be able to demonstrate their games’ online features, they’ll have to hope Microsoft is willing to offer a free month of Gold to anyone who wants.

[via 1UP]


Bioware’s Mass Effect 3 demo includes Xbox Live Gold trial is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia reveals NFC-powered “Hello” communication platform

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 04:28 PM PST

You can say a lot of things about Nokia, but you can’t really say that it ever runs out of ceative ideas. Enter Nokia Hello, which strives to make it easier if you’re trying to talk to someone who speaks a different language than you. Powered by Near Field Communication (NFC), Nokia Hello lets one user type a message in one language, and then swipe it next to another phone to get an instant translation on the recipient’s end.

This of course isn’t the first attempt at using phones to break the language barrier. There are several other apps that allow text-based translations, or even allow users to speak something in one language and have the translation read aloud. However, this project from Nokia unique because it actually sends the message between phones. Although, according to Nokia, it isn’t just about sending messages between different languages.

“The team working on the project estimate that the need for speech interactions with work colleagues could be eliminated entirely by 2015,” Nokia boasted in an official blog post. Is that really something to brag about, though? There have been many proposals for how NFC technology will revolutionize the market, but this is the first time we’ve seen someone talk about using it to prevent manking from needing to exchange verbal communication.

[via GigaOM]


Nokia reveals NFC-powered “Hello” communication platform is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: February 3, 2012

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:59 PM PST

Another week has come to a close, but not before we had a chance to catch up on the big news of the day, like this one – the Android@Home prototype as an entertainment device for the home. In addition, the Windows Phone Marketplace has just launched in five new countries.

Featured: Check out our review of the ms01 Monitor Series to see what we thought of it. Also, our Chris Davies takes a hands-on look at RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge app. The sports app is available for iPad, iPhone, Android, and Facebook.

Apple: We’ve got some news regarding Apple’s newest digital books platform: Apple updates iBooks author EULA terms to address content ownership concerns. And on the Apple-branded TV front – Apple iTV pushed back as IGZO panels unready for shipment.

Miscellaneous: Hey, here’s a fun stat – Smartphones outpace PCs for the first time in Q4 2011. And for the “how could that happen?” files, we heard about refurbished Xoom tablets, sold on Woot.com, that contain previous owner data. Talk about a train wreck. And on that subject, some Yahoo news – the once formidable search giant has launched new search tools for iOS and Android, making it easier to find apps. Well, that’s all for tonight. Have a good weekend!


SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: February 3, 2012 is written by Mark Raby & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Android CDMA support changed slightly, Nexus may stopper updates

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:57 PM PST

Today there’s been a bit of a scare out there in the Android world as Google changed its official support pages to stop support for some CDMA features on devices. This seemed to include the Verizon Galaxy Nexus at first along with all CDMA devices in all ways. In fact the situation is simply this: CDMA devices have been removed from some developer support pages simply because not all features are fully supported. The Verizon Galaxy Nexus along with all other Galaxy Nexus devices in the future will continue to get official firmware updates unless Google deems them unworkable.

It was less than an hour ago that Google clarified what was turning into a heart-attack of a story in Android forums about how CDMA was dead and Android was going down the tubes. What Google notes instead is that recent CDMA Android devices have implemented core telephony functionality in APK files provided by carriers in binary form. Each of these APK files must have a platform key to function, and if a custom build is made by a group from the AOSP source code, they wont have this code and bad things will happen.

What Google is doing now is saying that they’ll “make available as many as possible of the closed-source binaries for these devices” and that all Nexus devices will continue to have unlockable bootloaders. What’s not entirely clear still is if the CDMA Galaxy Nexus will have any support from Google in the future for those who wish to go above and beyond the development call in the future. This also may mean that your CDMA Nexus devices in the future won’t get updates at the same time as the rest of the Nexus devices.

We’ll continue to follow this story and report on what Google plans to do with the Nexus line as they move forth into the future.

[via Google Android Support]


Android CDMA support changed slightly, Nexus may stopper updates is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

thinksound ms01 Monitor Series earbuds Review

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:21 PM PST

When you think of earbuds for listening to music and working with audio, you generally don’t expect the kind of quality that thinksound presents here. What we’ve got here is a wooden pair of earbuds by the name of ms01, an entry into thinksound’s monitor series. These in-ear earbuds each feature an acoustically enhanced 8mm high-definition driver, each with passive noise isolation to back them up – and that wood certainly warms up your world from the outside in.

This pair of earbuds is one of several created in collaboration between thinksound CEO and acclaimed Audio Engineer Aaron Fournier and a set of musicians all aiming to create a pair of earbuds with nothing less than a full range of sound and acoustics worthy of their end price. At $99.99 a pop, we’d expect nothing less than the best for our ears constantly bombarded by the evil of lesser sound-blasters. That’s just what thinksound delivers, thankfully, and in the video you’re about to see you’ll hear just that.

What you’re listening to in the back half of the video there is a new single from Jack White, a fellow you might recognize from the White Stripes, this music played from the audio jack of an iPhone 4S through the ms01 phones and the camera I’m using here: a Lumix GF1. So what you’re hearing isn’t exactly what you’ll hear in the end, but you’ll get an OK idea of how lovely the sound does hum. That said, you’ll only really know how excellent these buds sound once you’ve got them on yourself.

These 8mm drivers inside the phones are working at 18Hz to 20kHz frequency response, and when the buds are in your ears you’ve got passive noise isolation working for you so the sound you want to hear is basically all you’ll hear. The first time I tried the ms01 buds out, the music I’d been listening to for months before came through in a while new way, at a whole new level of warmth and depth. These buds are without a doubt the finest set of in-ear earphones I’ve experienced thus far. I’ve not had this quality sound since I first set up my own pair of gigantic speakers to a record player from the 1980′s – there’s just something there that you can’t get anywhere else.

As far as the actual hardware in the buds besides the buds themselves, the whole setup is lightweight, the cords are PVC-free and “tangle resistant,” and you get a pair of Active Lifestyle Ear Hooks to keep these phones in your ears if you’re the type to have your head jamming around on a regular basis. If you’re in the gym quite often, you’ll also be glad to know that these buds are sweat-resistant.

The plug is 3.5mm large and gold-plated, while the buds have four different sets of flexible silicon ear inserts for all your different kinds of holes. You get a cord clip and a cotton carrying pouch as well as a 1 year warranty to keep your brain at ease. As with all thinksound phones, these buds are made with a tiny eco-footprint and “green” in mind, the phones made of real wood taken from renewable sources, the packaging is made of recycled materials, and the packaging is completely bleach-free. There’s no plastic bubbles, PVC, or gigantic packaging here.

You can pick your own pair of these beasts up right now at the thinksound shop online at store.thinksound.com and check out the rest of their products while you’re at it. You’ll be dropping $99.99 for this set, then you’ve got the option to get extra buds and accessories along with them for a few extra bucks as well. Have at them!

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thinksound ms01 Monitor Series earbuds Review is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows Phone Marketplace launches in five new countries

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 03:12 PM PST

Microsoft announced today that its Windows Phone Marketplace is opening up in five new countries. Those countries include Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, and the Philippines. Users in these regions will have to make sure their devices are updated to Windows Phone 7.5 in order to access the Marketplace.

The Marketplace may take a few hours to be fully activated in all regions and not all apps may be available right away. Developers are encouraged to make their existing apps available in these new countries. To do so, log into the App Hub and select the “worldwide” option. This has to be done even if an app was previously set to be available globally.

However, apps submitted for Indonesia, Malaysia, and China are subject to additional requirements due to local regulations. With the addition of five new countries, the Windows Phone Marketplace now reaches 41 markets around the world. It also has more than 50,000 apps available since December.


Windows Phone Marketplace launches in five new countries is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple updates iBooks Author EULA terms to address content ownership concerns

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:31 PM PST

Apple today updated its new e-book publishing app, iBooks Author, to version 1.0.1, but the only change was in the End User License Agreement. The update clarifies a controversial portion of the EULA that suggested any content created by the app could only be sold and distributed through Apple’s iBookstore if it were to be sold at all.

“If you charge a fee for any book or other work you generate using this software (a ‘Work’), you may only sell or distribute such Work through Apple (e.g., through the iBookstore) and such distribution will be subject to a separate agreement with Apple,” read the original iBooks Author EULA terms.

Apple has changed those terms in today’s update, saying that only the iBooks Author files in the .ibooks format are restricted to distribution through Apple. The restriction does not apply when the content created with iBooks Author is distributed in other forms. This means that creators retain the rights to their content and can distribute it in other formats, such as PDF.

[via TNW]


Apple updates iBooks Author EULA terms to address content ownership concerns is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple iTV pushed back as IGZO panels unready for shipment

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 02:03 PM PST

It appears that both Samsung and LG are both keeping their panels to themselves this season as the Smart TV market fires up and Apple sets its sights on IGZO. Sources are speaking to the tune of Sharp being the next on the list for Apple to be looking to for Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide displays for their upcoming iTV production line. Meanwhile the competition in LG and Samsung, who’ve both provided parts to Apple in the past, are tipped to be holding back in this case to keep their HD Smart TVs strong in and of themselves.

When you plan on creating a revolution in the market, it essentially does not matter who you are, even Apple has to work with 3rd party companies to create their devices. LG and Samsung are set up quite nicely in this case to produce their own panels for the Smart TV revolution, both of them already well into the market with such things as HDTV and 3DTV. What Apple has been tipped to be waiting for then is Sharp’s IGZO panels specifically as the Japan-base group readies their production lines for a much greater production rate.

At the moment, Sharp’s 8G lines are able to produce all sorts of panels including 32-inch, 46-inch, and 55-inch sizes. On the other hand, IGZO panels are not ready to be produced at the rate Apple would need them. Apple’s iTV would build on the Apple TV market, but would become a whole new segment if analysts are correct. Will you be amongst the millions of already-ready television watchers to jump in o the next Apple market?

[via DigiTimes]


Apple iTV pushed back as IGZO panels unready for shipment is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Smartphones outpace PCs for the first time in Q4 2011

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:52 PM PST

According to detailed Q4 2011 shipment estimates released by research firm Canalys, global smartphone shipments have surpassed that of PCs for the very first time. Vendors shipped 488 million smartphones in 2011 compared to 415 million PCs.

During the fourth quarter last year, vendors shipped 158.5 million smartphones, which is a 57% boost from the 101.2 million units sold in Q4 2010. Vendors shipped 120.2 million PCs in Q4, but that number includes tablet PCs. If you take out tablets from the mix, only 93.7 million PCs were shipped.

Leading the pack in global smartphone shipments is Apple, which shipped a record 93.1 million iPhones in 2011, while Samsung came in second with 91.9 million. Nokia dropped to third place with 19.6 million followed by RIM, but the BlackBerry maker’s shipment numbers were not disclosed.

[via Business Insider]


Smartphones outpace PCs for the first time in Q4 2011 is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google Testing prototype Entertainment Device for the home

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:48 PM PST

Approximately 252 homes are in a trial run this month with a brand new Google Entertainment Device which very well may be the project thus far known as Android@Home. This project has been tipped by the FCC where a collection of pre-run devices have been OK’d for testing, each of them working with Wi-fi and/or Bluetooth to connect the home. This filing was made this December and is only popping up now, Google making no official word on it because it’s a big secret – but chances are, it’s the Android@Home Hub.

This filing contained 252 devices which each were going to be tested in various locations across the United States. Locations include Los Angeles, Cambridge Massachusetts, and Mountain View New York. The FCC filing itself has a tiny bit of information on what the project will contain, including the note on the Bluetooth and Wifi situation. It reads thusly, word for word:

Google is developing an entertainment device that requires testing outside the laboratory environment. The device is in the prototyping phase and will be modified prior to final compliance testing. … Users will connect their device to home WiFi networks and use Bluetooth to connect to other home electronics equipment. This line of testing will reveal real world engineering issues and reliability of networks. The device utilizes a standard WiFi/Bluetooth module, and the planned testing is not directed at evaluating the radio frequency characteristics of the module (which are known), but rather at the throughput and stability of the home WiFi networks that will support the device, as well as the basic functionality of the device. From this testing we hope to modify the design in order to maximize product robustness and user experience. Utilizing the requested number of units will allow testing of real world network performance and its impact on applications running on the device, so that any problems can be discovered and addressed promptly.

Sounds exciting! Now for how this ties back to what we found at Google I/O 2011 about Android@Home: it’s the same thing! Google Home Control is its alternate name, it including your ability to control various things in your home such as light switches and appliances. There’s a home theater system called Project Tungsten included in this, it able to have you swipe an NFC-enabled CD case in front of it to play the music instantly. This project has Google partnering with LightingScience to create all softs of compatible devices that could be debuting by the end of 2012.

Check this video at around 43:08 to see the Android@Home presentation. Sound like it matches up to you? We’re sure to find out what this is all about soon, with some implementation perhaps by the end of the year! Get connected with Android!

fdfads grewwe awegawer agew

[via 9to5Google]


Google Testing prototype Entertainment Device for the home is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Yahoo launches search engine for iOS, Android apps

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:22 PM PST

Yahoo launched a new category for its search engine this week that makes it easy to browse and find either iOS or Android apps. You’ll notice the addition of an “Apps” filter option above Yahoo’s search bar and a new portal that makes it easy to sift through apps by various categories and ratings lists.

The new Apps feature lets you type any search terms into the main Yahoo search bar and then gives you results for just those pertaining to apps. You can filter by price and category and view only iOS or Android apps. You can also go directly to the Yahoo Apps portal, where you’ll get to browse by categories.

When you find an app of interest, you can go straight from the search results to the Android Market or iTunes App Store to download the app, send a link for the app to your phone, or scan a QR code for the app. Yahoo also offers a “trending now” interface along with Yahoo user reviews for the apps.

[via Engadget]


Yahoo launches search engine for iOS, Android apps is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Anonymous hits Police websites in Boston and SLC

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 01:15 PM PST

Attacks this week by hacker collective Anonymous appear to have taken the Boston and Salt Lake City police by surprise once more as they retaliate for police brutality at Occupy Wall Street weeks ago. Though it’s not been immediately apparent why this second attack has come when it has, Anonymous does appear to have left a message on Boston Police news website BPDNews.com currently being redirected to their Facebook blast page instead. On that page they currently have a statement which speaks on how irritated they are that the site would be brought down when all it aims to do is bring safety information to fair citizens.

Anonymous also had a news tip pop up this morning on how they’d intercepted a phone call between Scottland Yard and the FBI, this racking them up another notch in their belt for impressive cuts in the hacking world against major targets. What we’ve got here is what Anonymous billed as “Anonymous hacks Boston Police website in retaliation for police brutality at OWS.” The hack project in this case appears to also have resulted in personal information of confidential informants and tipsters was accessed, as as sensitive data surrounding citizen complaints about drug crimes.

“Statement from BPD regarding BPDNews.com hacking incident: The Boston Police Department is working diligently to restore the function of BPDNews.com, the department's public safety blog. It is unfortunate that someone would go to this extent to compromise BPDNews.com, a helpful and informative public safety resource utilized daily by community members seeking up-to-date news and information about important safety matters. Our skillful technical staff is focused on rectifying this issue. Detectives continue their investigation into individuals engaging in this type of disruptive and criminal activity.” – Boston Police Department

What Anonymous is noting instead is that this attack comes in part because of what they called brutality against Occupy Boston, and part because of an anti-graffiti paraphernalia bill nearly passed in Boston state senate. This bill would have made it illegal not just to perform vandalism in the state, but to possess any instrument, tool, or device with intent of vandalizing – broadness will get you hit!


Anonymous hits Police websites in Boston and SLC is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Micron CEO dies in experimental airplane crash

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 12:45 PM PST


Micron Chairman and CEO Steve Appleton died from a small airplane crash this morning. Appleton has long been a stunt plane pilot and was flying a single-engine experimental aircraft solo before it crashed at the Boise airport. This wasn’t the first time Appleton had crashed but it is his last. He was 51 years old.

Appleton is attributed with building semiconductor company Micron into one of the world’s largest makers of DRAM memory chips. He has a long history with the company, starting out as a production worker and eventually working his way up. He became an advocate for fair trade against Japanese rivals, which dominated the memory chip market back in the 80s by selling chips below cost, a practice known as dumping.

"We are deeply saddened to announce that Steve Appleton, Micron Chairman and CEO, passed away this morning in a small plane accident in Boise. He was 51. Our hearts go out to his wife, Dalynn, his children and his family during this tragic time. Steve's passion and energy left an indelible mark on Micron, the Idaho community and the technology industry at large," read a statement issued by Micron’s board.

Appleton had survived a plane crash back in 2004, where he sustained head injuries, a punctured lung, ruptured disk, and broken bones. However, he had not revealed the severity of his crash until 2006.

[via VentureBeat]


Micron CEO dies in experimental airplane crash is written by Rue Liu & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HVAC stalwart Honeywell could’ve bested Nest decades ago

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 12:41 PM PST

It seems that one of the world’s largest thermostat makers, Honeywell, had a learning unit quite a few years before the now-popular “Nest” did, and nixed it soon after its conception. Speaking with Honeywell’s President of Environmental and Combustion Controls division miss Beth Wozniak, GigaOM’s Katie Fehrenbacher found that Honeywell decided to drop the program because people wanted to control their temperature themselves. We must wonder if the folks at Nest will run into the same problem with everyday citizens when they release their product this year.

For those of you unfamiliar with Nest, head back to the post where it was first introduced some weeks ago. What Honeywell is concentrating on now instead of the automatic system that works inside their older now-dead systems is instead a much simpler user interface, mobile applications, and partnerships like the one they have now with Opower. This Opower is a group that provides analytics and data to Honeywell that they can then use for demand response programs that will ask users if they want to adjust rather than adjusting in a completely automatic manner.

“We found that consumers prefer to control the thermostat, rather than being controlled by the thermostat." – Wozniak

On the other hand, Honeywell’s Wozniak did note that Nest is bringing some much-needed attention to the consumer thermostat market in a general way. She noted that “cell phones and tablets have set a whole new bar for how things can be connected,” and continued to tout control over automation for the future. What do you think, citizens, will you want the automation of the Nest or the custom controls of Honeywell?

[via GigaOM]


HVAC stalwart Honeywell could’ve bested Nest decades ago is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Corning Day Made of Glass 2 video released with making-of add-on

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:59 AM PST

Technology is advancing slightly slower than the minds at Corning would have it, it seems, as the creators of Gorilla Glass present a second video in a series that brings the future to us now, glass based. The video moves from one technology to the next, starting with Handheld Display Glass, this essentially stemming off what Gorilla Glass already presents, it being thin and lightweight, damage resistant and what Corning plans for the future: 3D-projection ready! The loveliness then continues through an impressive display of lights and magic through a future we can only dream of.

Corning continues by showing off Electrochomic Glass, this being a type that in the future will be used for windows to insulate houses, shade or become transparent on command, and is of course, durable. Along these same lines is Architectural Display Glass which allows you to move through your hallways with touch-sensitive boxes galore. Automotive Design Glass will be photosensitive like the Elecrochromic Glass, lightweight, and touch sensitive if need be. Wall-Format Display Glass has the gigantic wall ready to move with a professor, touch-sensitive of course, and Specialty Tablet Glass has your future hand-held book-sized displays ready to roll with anti-microbial, scratch, and chemical resistant formulas to bring you the best overall experience.

The video above is just the short format presentation. Corning has also provided a long-format vision for the future in an explanatory segment that’s twice the length. Enjoy with us the vision Corning has for the glass-filled world of tomorrow in A Day Made of Glass 2: Same Day. Expanded Corning Vision. Head to our timeline below as well to check out extended coverage once again with Gorilla Glass and beyond!


Corning Day Made of Glass 2 video released with making-of add-on is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Jawbone Jambox BIG details leaked

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:29 AM PST

A brand new Jambox may be on the horizon, this time twice the size of its predecessor and just as bright for mobile devices. This device is a massively impressive speaker for smartphones in its first iteration, last seen here on SlashGear in a demonstration of Qualcomm technology at CES 2012, of all places. This new Jambox Big is being detailed as a 10.1 x 3.2 x 3.7-inch monster weighing in at 2.7lbs and another 2 hour boost of battery power over the original beattastic tiny speaker.

This new slightly larger version of the speaker has a model number J2011-03-US and has a 60 inch USB cable and a lovely 3.5mm audio jack included. This device has the same 33 foot range as the original and will “fill up any room with unbelievable sound” just as well as the original. We must assume that this version of the speaker will have more power than the original in one way or another aside from battery life, but you never know!

You can check out our several workings with the Jambox in the past including its updates that’ve come down the pipe since its first release. You’ll want to take a look at the future of this product as well: Jambox is a bigtime awesome speaker system from Jawbone and wont be going away any time soon. Big Jambox or Jambox BIG will be made for the home, where the original Jambox is for mobile – let’s get stationary!

[via Android Police]


Jawbone Jambox BIG details leaked is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Woot-sold XOOM refurb-tablets contain previous owners data

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 11:02 AM PST

Motorola has announced this week that XOOM units sold through Woot.com’s refurbish and sell program in the past few months may have previous users data aboard. This mishap stems from improperly reformatted devices being brought in to various dealers in the last year, the groups leading up to Woot’s resale having not taken measures necessary to assure a clean wipe of the memory these devices held. Motorola is offering up a free two-year membership to an Experian credit monitoring system to make sure their bank account information specifically is not taken advantage of.

Those of you who turned their XOOM in for cash back between March and October of 2011 should be the ones worrying, as this is the period inside which Motorola has tagged most likely to have had their data stuck on the devices. If you knew what you were doing and did wipe your device properly before turning it in to the store, you’ll be just fine. Those of you who were at the time new to Android and did not know how to properly reset your device before exchanging it for cash, know this: Best Buy, BJ’s Wholesale, eBay, Office Max, Radio Shack, Sam’s Club, and Staples all had the program in-tact at the time and you might want to check out Motorola’s new program to fix up your situation.

Personal data as well as photos and video may still be at risk, and Motorola is attempting to sew up the situation at their customer support line at 1-800-734-5870 or back at their Motorola Xoom Return website. Wouldn’t want those XOOMs to be the end of your future in Android! Those of you still looking to pick up a XOOM, they’re pretty inexpensive if you know where to look. Have a peek at our history with the world’s first tablet-specific Android in the timeline below!


Woot-sold XOOM refurb-tablets contain previous owners data is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Artist David Choe celebrates massive Facebook cash windfall

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:43 AM PST

One of the biggest cash winners in the IPO for Facebook here early in 2012 is an artist by the name of David Choe, and without a doubt he’ll be the one enjoying it the most. As he writes in his humble blogspot blog today “I get up and see my picture of the New York Times and I find out that I’m the most highest paid decorator alive.” That’s got to feel nice, or perhaps bittersweet in a way, for a fellow who’s already been around the world selling his priceless artworks under the title Graffiti Artist.

Yesterday we reported that David Choe was certainly the fellow who would be living it up the most when it came to people who now had the most cash as a result of the Facebook group going public. Today it seems that Choe himself might not have found out until the blogs and media networks got ahold of the story. That said, there’s no greater irony than the fact that this fellow didn’t make his cash from anything technological in the rise of this otherwise fully internet-based company’s rise to dominance: he simply painted the interiors of their offices.

As you’ll see in the gallery below, Choe painted two Facebook offices and was paid not in cash, but in stock options. He painted the interior of the first Facebook campus in 2005, then another one in 2007, and though he could have been paid several thousand dollars back then, he chose stocks instead. Facebook’s stock prices and the amount of stock Choe currently has at the moment put him in the $200 million USD range, this making him gain the title Highest Paid Decorator Alive despite himself. He’s a fun-loving guy though, and has played off the slight insult with nothing but a snap and a $188k bottle of alcohol. Why not? Have a peek at the gallery of paintings that lead up to this cash, and enjoy!

16 22 123 6 57 102 89 107 66 68 77 113 114 14 47 130 55 97 30 100 27 75 21 1 128 DavidChoe-facebook-offices

BONUS: Time to get busy with some fun and lovely beats with Choe as he prepares for his Facebook tag-fest back in 2007. Get ready to jam!


Artist David Choe celebrates massive Facebook cash windfall is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

LTE DASH standard promises perfect mobile streaming video soon

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 10:10 AM PST

Researchers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Telecommunications, Heinrich-Hertz-Institut HHI in Berlin are working on optimizing data managers with DASH, this soon allowing LTE to bring citizens across the earth perfect streaming video. Streaming video will no longer judder or stop entirely, but will instead rise or lower in picture quality as the device’s signal gains or loses strength. Until now, RRMs or Radio Resource Managers worked well to provide the amount of data a user needed at any single moment, but because videos are “beyond the grasp” of the current standard, there’s no telling how high quality a stream might be.

What these HHI researchers are doing is working with DASH, or Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP. This standard works with the LTE standard as it’s quickly replacing UMTS for mobile use around the Earth and will have videos and images made available in various qualities at the same time. Different file sizes will then be available depending on how far away from a strong signal the user is, transmitting stations and the mobile device automatically checking for reception and volume of traffic on the network to choose the best version of the media in question.

Poor reception or a massively overloaded network will result in a diminished quality image or video but judders will be taken out entirely. As connection quality improves, so too does the quality of the media in real-time. Thomas Wirth, Group Manager at HHI noted the following:

“With our mechanism, resources can be optimally distributed, and hence saved. The saved resources can then be allocated to others. This means we can increase the number of users that can be serviced.” – Wirth

In other words, this is great for everybody, including the carriers that distribute the data in the first place. These HHI researchers have already completed a prototype of the brand new Radio Resource Manager and will hopefully be delivering to groups worldwide soon. How would you like a perfect stream of your cat doing a dance in a video you’d usually not be able to view in the Grand Canyon? This is a reality soon!

[via Frauenhoffer]


LTE DASH standard promises perfect mobile streaming video soon is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Android updates in 2 weeks says U.S. Government

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 09:43 AM PST

The United States government has agreed to use Google’s mobile operating system Android this week for future secure phones and has promised updates inside 2 weeks. Each time Google updates the most basic build of Android, it can take upwards of a half a year before legacy devices will be brought up to speed – with the shortest time this author has ever seen being several weeks at least. What Information-security director at George Mason University Angelos Stavrou, a contractor on the project, has said is that they can get it done in just 14 days!

This would be an absolute miracle to see an update flash out so quick it’d made users heads spin, but given that the US Government would certainly accept nothing less than to work right up elbow to elbow with the software developers they plan on running with, we must assume that they’d have a bit of a leg-up on manufacturers and carriers. These manufacturers and carriers we speak of are the ones that push out the devices, needing to form the software back down to their own units one by one once the newest version of Android is out, then work with the carriers to blanket the software again with their own apps. It’s this process that takes the weeks and weeks we’re used to.

The government, on the other hand, will be choosing certain devices with which to work with, then will be handing out the software aside from the carriers. It should come as no surprise that they’d be able to update MUCH quicker than the double-down of red ribbon the other process must take each time. That said, I’m sure Angelos Stavrou will be given some job offers after working on this project for a few weeks if indeed the time can be shaved down, one way or another.

[via GigaOM]


Android updates in 2 weeks says U.S. Government is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

ACTA signee Slovenia ambassador now calls for mass protest

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 09:16 AM PST

One of the most recent leaders to sign the secretive and wide-spread internet censorship-minded Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement has now apologized and called for mass demonstrations to protest what she’s done. It’s Slovenia’s ambassador to Japan, miss Helena Drnovsek Zorko, who signed the ACTA and was immediately drown in emails and calls from Slovenians criticizing her for doing so. This bill was then read in full by the ambassador, she then deciding that the agrees fully with the critics who’ve mailed her, apologizing to her children and her country before calling for what’s effectively a revolt against the agreement on the whole.

This agreement is one that’s being signed by leaders around the world as we speak, having been in the works for over a year now without any mass media coverage and largely unread by those who sign it. The ACTA is an agreement that will bring into play another worldwide organization which will have laws that supersede any and all individual countries laws and will ultimately make it so internet providers will find it more cost-effective just to give over your personal information to the organization than to keep your activities private. The Internet will be censored, the internet will no longer be a free and open form of communication, and nothing will be the same.

You’ll be glad you read these select parts of the apology written up by the ambassador after she signed the agreement in question:

On Thursday, 26th January, 2012, I signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia, following the directive and authorisation of the Slovenian government. A somewhat longer clarification of the signature can be found on the Media section of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs website, which explains the role of the Ministry and my role as the Slovenian Ambassador to Japan. This explanation states that I signed the agreement because I was instructed to do so by the government, and because it is a part of my job. …

I signed ACTA out of civic carelessness, because I did not pay enough attention. Quite simply, I did not clearly connect the agreement I had been instructed to sign with the agreement that, according to my own civic conviction, limits and withholds the freedom of engagement on the largest and most significant network in human history, and thus limits particularly the future of our children. I allowed myself a period of civic complacency, for a short time I unplugged myself from media reports from Slovenia, I took a break from Avaaz and its inflation of petitions, quite simply I allowed myself a rest. In my defence, I want to add that I very much needed this rest and that I am still having trouble gaining enough energy for the upcoming dragon year. At the same time, I am tackling a workload that increased, not lessened, with the advent of the current year. All in line with a motto that has become familiar to us all, likely not only diplomats: less for more. Less money and fewer people for more work. And then you overlook the significance of what you are signing. And you wake up the following morning with the weight of the unbearable lightness of some signature.

On Saturday, 4th February, a protest is planned in Ljubljana for those who object to the ratification of ACTA. The true concern and determination of those Slovenian citizens who feel that the agreement must be stopped will be reflected in the number of people who attend this protest. I would like to ask for somebody to please attend in my name. One of my concerned correspondents asked me what my brother, the late Dr. Janez Drnovšek , would have thought of my signature. The struggle to protect civic freedoms is most certainly in the spirit of his heritage, much more so than the removal or non-removal of some statue. Let my example be a cautionary tale of how swiftly we can make mistakes if we allow ourselves to slip. And if nothing else, we then sleep very badly.

Helena Drnovšek Zorko

You can read the entirety of the letter written by Zorko on Metinalista and find yourself a reason why not to rally with protesters of the ACTA to bring this agreement down before it reaches final ratification. There’s still time to stop it – we must!

[via TechDirt]


ACTA signee Slovenia ambassador now calls for mass protest is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge app pairs sports and social: Hands-on

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 09:07 AM PST

Rugby-loving couch potatoes beware: RBS expects you to flex your brain, if not your muscles, during the Six Nations tournament this year. The sports-sponsoring bank has created an interactive quiz, fixtures and social app for 2012, with game-related questions, score tables and Facebook integration for those particularly competitive. Available in versions for iPad, iPhone, Android and Facebook, we grabbed some hands-on time with the free Live Challenge app before its full release.

Although RBS had a fixtures app for the 2011 tournament, this year's update aims to monopolize your lap while you're actually watching the game. RBS will push out questions matching the live gameplay, with multiple choice responses and – immediately after – the chance to see how your answer compared with all the other gamers. There's also a penalty game, where you can predict whether the ball will make it through the posts, go left or right, or fall short. Your results can be automatically posted to your Facebook wall, and if you – optionally – create a free account you can switch between the various platforms and Facebook version of the game without losing your scores along the way.

Although there’s a person – or, more accurately, two rugby-obsessed people – pushing out the questions and stats, the app developers faced some unforeseen challenges in timing updates. The Six Nations app is intended to be used not only by TV viewers – watching either satellite, cable, digital terrestrial or analog broadcasts – but radio listeners too, and each introduces a different lag period. In the end, the team settled on a roughly six second delay, so as not to spoil any fast-upcoming surprises during the game by previewing them beforehand on the iPad.

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Development on the app began in late November, and the team told us there’s a lot they would’ve liked to have included but simply didn’t have time to. Audio recognition was one ambition, tracking common phrases used by rugby commentators and activating features on the iPad or smartphone accordingly, as well as building in a mini-game where you could have your own attempt at flicking a penalty in the same wind/position conditions.

All of those features could be in the pipeline in future versions, however. RBS is already considering using the same underlying technology for other sports events it sponsors, and the developers are open to alternative implementations such as music events, quiz shows and more. Even as someone who isn't much of a rugby fan, there's undeniably something impressive about the app keeping up with the live gameplay, and there's definitely room for features like these to be paired with other types of entertainment.

You can download the iPad/iPhone app and Android app from today, just in time for the first game – France versus Italy – on Saturday, February 4.

rbs_six_nations_app_20 rbs_six_nations_app_19 rbs_six_nations_app_18 rbs_six_nations_app_17 rbs_six_nations_app_16 rbs_six_nations_app_15 rbs_six_nations_app_14 rbs_six_nations_app_13 rbs_six_nations_app_12 rbs_six_nations_app_11 rbs_six_nations_app_10 rbs_six_nations_app_9 rbs_six_nations_app_8 rbs_six_nations_app_7 rbs_six_nations_app_6 rbs_six_nations_app_5 rbs_six_nations_app_4 rbs_six_nations_app_3 rbs_six_nations_app_2 rbs_six_nations_app_1 rbs_six_nations_app_0
RBS 6 Nations Live Challenge app pairs sports and social: Hands-on is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook mobile ads incoming: Video and coupons tipped

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:57 AM PST

Facebook‘s mobile advertising push is incoming, marketing agencies suggest, as the social network attempts to close off one of its weak spots ahead of the much-anticipated IPO. The dramatic rise in mobile users who, currently, don’t see any adverts whatsoever was cited in Facebook’s IPO documentation as one of the company’s key weaknesses, meaning paradoxically that even as membership increased, revenues could dip. Not for much longer, though, with agency Razorfish confirming to Digiday that it was involved in Facebook ad pilots for mobile.

The pilots are for “mobile and cross-platform rich-media ads” and, although details are in short supply, appear to be far more complex than mere banners and links. Razorfish mobile ad chief Paul Gelb likened the functionality Facebook is working on to rich media alternatives including combinations of interactivity and animation, streaming video and location-based features, in addition to tap-to-call and tap-to-coupon.

Whether Facebook’s platform will support all of those is unknown, though the social network already has a rich LBS provision including Check-Ins and support for local deals. That could open the door to mobile coupons where businesses compete to offer deals based on user interests, served up through the handset.

Although Facebook saw around 425m active users through its mobile interface in December 2011, the site does not “generate any meaningful revenue from users accessing Facebook through our mobile products” according to the IPO. There’s also talk of premium accounts in the pipeline as another way for Facebook to boost its profits.

[via mocoNews]


Facebook mobile ads incoming: Video and coupons tipped is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 3, 2012

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:31 AM PST

The Super Bowl is drawing nearer and nearer by the day, just one week left until the biggest American Football game of the year, and the apps are pouring in: the Official NFL Guide, Verizon’s own official stream, and PlayUp with real NFL stars chatting amongst them. There’s a bit of a tip on the iPhone 5 in that it’ll be revealed at WWDC in June. And perhaps of some slightly larger importance, an Earth twin has been discovered a mere 22 light-years away.

There’s been some talk by Tim Cook on Apple charitable givings. Apple is discussing fitness tech behind the scenes. Motorola’s newest war is against Apple and they’ve won an iCloud ban in Germany. Meanwhile their sales injunction on iPad and iPhone in Germany has been suspended.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 has been confirmed with details including deep-hook Skype and Win8 Kernel for all. Google’s been speaking with congress about privacy and has failed to convince them that they’re no longer evil. Meanwhile Megaupload’s Dotcom remains in jail with no bail and alleging police brutality.


SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 3, 2012 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

PlayUp Super Bowl XLVI real-time chat to host real NFL stars

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 08:13 AM PST

In the race to grab the greatest application to work with fans hoping to get the closest to the Super Bowl XLVI action here in 2012, PlayUp has come correct with two real NFL stars aiming to chat with fans. Through the PlayUp live group-chat platform working in all web browsers and on the iPhone in its own unique app, St Louis Rams Running Back Steven Jackson and Buffalo Bills wide receiver Stevie Johnson will high five fans the whole game long. The app and the web-based platform are both free to use and these football stars will be kicking it along with normal citizens like you and I the whole game long.

Of course you may have noticed that these football stars aren’t in the game, nor are they on either of the teams competing in this game. Super Bowl XLVI is a rematch between the New York Giants and the New England Patriots, they having last met at the fabulously epic Super Bowl XLII. The players speaking on the airwaves here will therefor be able to bring you turn by turn action the whole game long, right from the sidelines!

You can find Jackson and Johnson in their own PlayUp rooms on the day of the Super Bowl as well as in several other more general rooms as they make an awesome effort to bring you as much action as they can from their own unique perspectives. Jackson will be using the username “sj39″ while Johnson will be using the name “StevieJohnson13.” Have a superb time hanging out with the fellas here and head to the timeline below to see a selection of other Super Bowl apps and actions leading up to the big game!


PlayUp Super Bowl XLVI real-time chat to host real NFL stars is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple sales injunction suspended: German iPad/iPhone sales resume

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:39 AM PST

Apple has been granted a suspension of the German injunction against 3G-enabled iOS devices, with the iPad WiFi + 3G, iPhone 4 and other gadgets back on sale through the company’s online store. ”All iPad and iPhone models will be back on sale through Apple’s online store in Germany shortly” the company told us in a statement. “Apple appealed this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.”

Motorola had succeeded in having most of Apple’s 3G-enabled range blocked from sale in Germany after a ruling last December, with the injunction going into effect earlier today. However, Apple managed to have the injunction suspended amid claims that Motorola refused to license the 3G/UMTS patent in question under FRAND terms.

Those terms – “fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory” – mean that Motorola must agree to license the patent, deemed necessary to 3G/UMTS standards, to anyone who requests it. Motorola runs the risk of encouraging unwanted attention from the European Commission if the company is believed to be not playing by FRAND rules; Samsung is under antitrust investigation over similar behaviors.

The injunction enacted today comes at the same time as Motorola was granted a second injunction, this time over iCloud rather than FRAND patents. It’s unclear if Motorola will stump up the €100m bond required to actually follow through on that injunction, however.


Apple sales injunction suspended: German iPad/iPhone sales resume is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Anonymous intercepts FBI call, claims insider access

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 07:16 AM PST

Anonymous has intercepted a conference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard investigators, it’s been confirmed, authenticating a 15 minute audio clip released by the hacker collective. The group reportedly accessed the call using a dial-in code and password from an email sent by an FBI member, allowing Anonymous to listen in and record the security discussion; that information ”was intended for law enforcement officers only and was illegally obtained” the FBI said in a statement today, the AP reports.

“The FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now” Anonymous said via Twitter earlier, referring to the incident as “OpInfiltration” and encouraging followers to share copies of the call online.

Ironically, the telephone meeting between the FBI and the UK’s Scotland Yard was intended as an opportunity to “discuss the on-going investigations related to Anonymous … and other associated splinter groups.” Counterparts in Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and France were also invited to participate, though cannot be heard on the recording.

The FBI says it is investigating the leak, and searching for those responsible. However, the leaks may not be over yet; Anonymous warns that further disclosures are incoming today, as part of an ongoing protest against lawmakers.


Anonymous intercepts FBI call, claims insider access is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

RIM to abandon multi-platform BBM and BB10 licensing says analyst

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:55 AM PST

RIM is likely to abandon any ambitions of licensing BlackBerry 10 to rivals and ditch the possibility of a BlackBerry Messenger client for iOS and Android, it’s suggested, as the company attempts to leverage its “integrated solution” instead. Jefferies analyst Peter Misek says his company’s checks found RIM “will delay and possibly abandon its OS licensing plans,” Forbes reports, and that despite having met – and liked – new CEO Thorsten Heins, he believes his near-term strategy is significantly flawed.

“We recently met with Heins and found him engaging, articulate, and thoughtful” Misek wrote in a note to investors this week, suggesting that “we see no evidence that he is under the influence of the former management in any way.” Unfortunately, that’s where the good news ends: “we respectfully disagree with him” Misek says.

“We believe that an ~1 year delay in licensing BB10 (what we believe to be an excellent OS) is a mistake. We believe decelerating efforts to offer enterprises the ability to get their fast secure Blackberry email on an iPhone or an Android device is a mistake. We want to believe in RIM, but see the near-term risks as too high” Peter Misek, analyst, Jefferies

Instead of looking to spread RIM’s strengths – its instant messaging system and enterprise-level email – across multiple platforms, thus allowing it to still profit even as its market share in business is squeezed, the company wants to be “direct competition” for Google and Apple, the analyst suggests. That fits in with Heins’ own comments shortly after his new role was announced; asked about licensing BlackBerry 10, he said while the company would consider it, RIM would rather leverage its existing ecosystem.

“We're strong because we have an integrated solution: network, services, enterprise service and fantastic devices and a fantastic ecosystem” Heins insisted, going on to later dismiss Android devices as “all the same.” The irony of that observation became clear earlier this week, when new images believed to show the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone leaked and the handset proved to be markedly similar to what we’ve already seen on multiple occasions from Android vendors.


RIM to abandon multi-platform BBM and BB10 licensing says analyst is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows Phone Skype app tipped for late-Feb launch

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:45 AM PST

Microsoft is dogfooding its Windows Phone Skype app, it’s suggested, with employees supposedly able to download a test version of the VoIP software to their smartphones ahead of a potential MWC 2012 debut. The much-anticipated app has been brought up to speed with Windows Phone’s Metro UI, insiders tell The Verge, with a dual-column contacts grid, though no integration with the platform’s People hub.

That integration isn’t expected to arrive until Windows Phone 8, according to leaks earlier this week. The updated smartphone OS will apparently offer deep hooks for Skype integration, though the VoIP service won’t be specifically baked into the platform, allowing internet-base calls to be handled just as easily as traditional voice calls.

This first iteration, therefore, will be a standalone app, though that’s likely enough to keep Windows Phone users satisfied for the time being. It’s been a point of frustration for adopters of the platform that, while Microsoft now owns Skype, so far most rival mobile platforms have access to a version whereas Windows Phone does not.

The practicalities of a Mobile World Congress launch depend on how well internal testing goes, it’s claimed, though the Skype app itself is said to be “near complete.” We’ve already suggested that Skype – and some clever investment by Microsoft – could be the wildcard Windows Phone needs, and it seems that time may well be close at hand.


Windows Phone Skype app tipped for late-Feb launch is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Facebook founder’s iron-grip IPO could sink or save site

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 06:24 AM PST

Weighting of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s shares in the social network to ensure he keeps majority control after the IPO could present accountability issues, experts warn, and could prove a turnoff to investors. Zuckerberg will hold over 28-percent of Facebook once it floats, but thanks to a double tiered stock structure his shares will be worth 10x more in voting power than common stock. That will give him 56.9-percent of overall voting power, or in effect the power to veto any decision he doesn’t think is right for Facebook.

It’s that tight grip on the social network’s future that has some experts concerned. “The public has no say in the control of the board, which in my view is terribly harmful to any notion of accountability” University of Delaware corporate-governance professor Charles Elson told Bloomberg, suggesting that the decision will be ”very troubling to investors, and it's a bad bet for them.”

The way the IPO has been organized, other stockholders will be able to own more of Facebook in financial terms, but still be subject to the whims of Zuckerberg in voting terms. The founder will also be able to designate his successor, assuming he is still in control of Facebook at the time of his death, and avoids the requirement of forming a compensation committee and a board of predominantly independent directors as it classed a “controlled company.”

However, being under the thumb of the young billionaire may not be as bad as Elson makes out. Studies into firms where the founder is CEO and dominates the direction the company takes indicates they may in fact perform better than average, according to data dug up by the CSMonitor. “Founder-CEO firms invest more in R&D, have higher capital expenditures, and make more focused mergers and acquisitions” Rüdiger Fahlenbrach, of the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne and the Swiss Finance Institute, found in a study back in 2007.

Any lingering concerns could well be to do with Facebook’s perhaps unique position at the moment, poised between traditional social network and all-encompassing platform. The site has taken several steps to broaden its footprint in recent months, including the Open Graph apps and signs that Facebook might make a greater play toward its ever-increasing mobile userbase.


Facebook founder’s iron-grip IPO could sink or save site is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Olympus OM-D interchangeable lens camera leaks again

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 05:49 AM PST

More details and a clearer image of the Olympus OM-D interchangeable lens camera have leaked, with the retro-styled mirrorless compact promising to revolutionize the DSLR world. Following on from the first leaks last month, the new image shows a clearer view of the top panel of the OM-D, 43 Rumors, reports, with plenty of knurled dials and what looks to be the beginning of a flash hot-shoe.

While the press blurb on the image itself has plenty of hyperbole, we do know some rumored specs about the camera too. It’s tipped to have a magnesium, weather-sealed body weighing in at around 373g without a lens, while inside is believed to be a 16-megapixel sensor. That’s said to be  optimized for High Dynamic Range photography, with speedy AF, 3D tracking and a five-axis image stabilizer.

ISO 200 to 25,600 is expected, along with an integrated 1.44m dot digital viewfinder paired with a 3-inch 610k dot OLED screen that can tilt. Pricing is said to be in the region of $1,300, though that’s based on a roughly 100,000 yen figure in Japan, where the yen is notoriously strong.

We won’t have to wait long to find out, though. The Olympus OM-D is rumored to launch on February 8.


Olympus OM-D interchangeable lens camera leaks again is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Russian Soyuz space capsule fails during testing ahead of ISS mission

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 05:37 AM PST

Lately, it doesn’t seem like such a good idea that American astronauts are hitching a ride to the ISS aboard Russian Soyuz vehicles. Russia has lost a resupply vehicle in the past, not to mention the recent failure of the Phobos-grunt probe. Astronauts were set to go to the ISS on March 29 as part of a crew rotation aboard a Soyuz space capsule. Russian space officials were testing the Soyuz capsule that was to take astronauts on a mission by over pressuring it on the ground.

The Washington Post reports that the Soyuz spacecraft expected the ferry astronauts to the ISS in March and has ruptured at the welded seams during pressure testing. After the failure of the Soyuz capsule, the mission has been rescheduled to May 15th. The delay will prolong the mission of American astronaut Daniel Burbank and two Russian cosmonauts by 45 days.

The capsule split at the welded seams of the descent module. This is the second delay in six months in swapping out ISS crewmembers. I can’t be the only one that fears the next loss of life in space exploration will be due to faulty Russian equipment. At least, this problem was discovered before the mission started.

[via Washington Post]


Russian Soyuz space capsule fails during testing ahead of ISS mission is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google faces European privacy policy revolt

Posted: 03 Feb 2012 05:36 AM PST

A European privacy watchdog has demanded Google halt its privacy policy changes, while it looks into “the possible consequences for the protection of the personal data” of users in Europe. The Article 29 Data Protection Working Party requested the delay in a letter to Google [pdf link] this week, claiming that a French data protection authority had agreed to investigate Google’s changes. The controversy follows similar concerns in the US, which saw Google execs meet with members of Congress earlier this week for a less-than-satisfactory show and tell session.

According to the Article 29 group, the French National Commission for Computing and Liberties (CNIL) has been drafted in to look at whether the privacy policy represents a threat to the personal data of those users in Europe.

Google’s changes have been the cause of much controversy and confusion over the past week. The search giant billed the amended privacy policy as a boon to users, condensing more than sixty separate documents for different Google products into one single document.

However, privacy advocates took issue with some of the data sharing provisions in the policy, though Google says the vast majority were already permitted under older versions. These allow Google to share information about an individual user account across the various services that account is registered to use, so that – for instance – calendar entries can be synchronized with current location and local traffic data filtered in as well.

Lawmakers in the US are now demanding a single opt-out page, where privacy-concerned users can deactivate any tracking. Google believes it already offers this with its existing Dashboard.

The search company has no plans to delay any of its privacy policy changes, spokesperson Anthony House says, based on there being no “substantial concerns” raised when European privacy regulators were initially informed of the changes.

“Given the wide range of services you offer, and popularity of these services, changes in your privacy policy may affect many citizens in most or all of the EU member states.

We wish to check the possible consequences for the protection of the personal data of these citizens in a coordinated procedure. We have therefore asked the French data protection authority, the CNIL, to take the lead. The CNIL has kindly accepted this task and will be your point of contact for the data protection authorities in the EU.

In light of the above, we call for a pause in the interests of ensuring that there can be no misunderstanding about Google’s commitments to information rights of their users and EU citizens, until we have completed our analysis.” Article 29 Working Party

[via Bloomberg]


Google faces European privacy policy revolt is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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