27080628
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Andy Lees, head of Microsoft's Windows Phone division for more than three years, has been moved by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer into a new "time-critical" role that somehow combines Windows Phone and Windows 8. Leaked Windows 8 builds hint that it might also run on the Xbox; Windows 8's ARM and system-on-chip support would enable it to run on smartphone-class hardware; and Windows Phone's restrictive development model that denies developers the ability to access the operating system directly hints that Microsoft might want to replace that operating system.
27035800
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Market research firm The NPD Group on Tuesday issued a report on the smartphone market through October 2011, stating that Android and iOS extended their lead while companies like RIM and Microsoft scrambled to reform their respective strategies.
Google’s Android platform represented 53% of the U.S. smartphone market while Apple’s share grew to 29%. BlackBerry dropped to 11% and Microsoft’s Windows Phone continued to struggle out of the gate with less than 2% of the market.
26764582
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
The Library of Congress and Twitter have signed agreement that will see an archive of every public Tweet ever sent handed over to the library's repository of historical documents.
"We have an agreement with Twitter where they have a bunch of servers with their historic archive of tweets, everything that was sent out and declared to be public," said Bill Lefurgy, the digital initiatives program manager at the library's national digital information infrastructure and preservation program. "The archives don't contain tweets that users have protected, but everything else — billions and billions of tweets — are there."
26554904
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
The days of watching movies on the cheap via the Web may soon be over. Time Warner Cable and U.S. pay-TV companies are on the verge of instituting new fees on Web-access customers who use the most data. Cable's best option is to find ways to profit from the online shift, said Moffett. If the companies were to lose all of their video customers, the revenue decline would be more than offset by a lower programming fees and set-top box spending.
"In the end, it will be the best thing that ever happened to the cable industry," Moffett said.
26553066
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Carrier iQ is a piece of software that is embedded as a rootkit into most mobile devices, not just Android but Nokia, Blackberry, and likely more. Carrier IQ as a platform is designed to collect "metrics" at any scale. Carrier IQ sits in the middle of, and "checks" the data of, SMS and MMS messages. It listens for and receives every battery change notifications. It hooks into every web page you view, and every XML file your device reads. It receives every press of the touch screen. It 'sees' what you type on the physical keyboard. It reads every number you press in the dialer. It can track which applications you use, what 'type' they are, how often, and for how long. Samsung and Sprint, why do you want this information?
25877066
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Nigam Arora of Forbes speculates that the new Kindle Fire could be a blessing in disguise for Apple. "Fragmentation is the biggest enemy of any operating system. Kindle is a big fork in Android. In due course, the two platforms will be less and less alike. The look and feel is quite different. Amazon is not using Android Market... In addition to the development issues that will weaken it, the Android ecosystem also faces a simple business problem. Why would anyone spend $600 for an Android tablet when Kindle Fire can be bought for $199?"
25695466
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Adobe announced Wednesday that it's abandoning the Flash Player in future mobile browsers to focus on HTML5. The changes will take place following the upcoming release of Flash Player 11.1 for Android and the Blackberry Playbook. The changes will allow Adobe to increase its investment in HTLML 5, a Flash alternative, and to innovate with Flash in areas where it can "have the most impact," such as advanced gaming and premium video. If you remember it was back in April 2010 when Apple's Steve Jobs wrote his memo on Flash pointing out its security and poor performance among other issues.
24666630
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Apple Inc rolled out its new iCloud service and latest mobile software to a chorus of user complaints this week, after glitches led to email access problems and long delays in installation.
Some users reported losing their email access as Apple formally launched iCloud, an online communications, media storage and backup service, on Wednesday.
"It failed in a very nasty way in that mail sometimes vanished, sometimes appeared then vanished, and often there was a user and/or password-incorrect message plus some rather obscure additional error messages," said David Farber, a professor of engineering and public policy with Carnegie Mellon University.
24272818
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Amazon.com Inc. on Wednesday unveiled the Kindle Fire tablet, which at half the price, could be the biggest challenger to Apple Inc.'s dominant iPad tablet.
Among the features expected: mult-itouch screen technology; a customized version of Google Inc.'s Android operating system; and access to Amazon's app store, streaming movies and TV shows.
The 7" tablet is available for pre-order at $199.
23983328
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Netflix cut its domestic subscriber forecast Thursday by 1 million users, indicating it no longer expects its U.S. customer base to grow during the current quarter after a pricing change angered many members.
"The Netflix model is a delicate balance between keeping the price right for the consumer and providing them enough content," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said. "Suddenly, the value proposition isn't that great. The consumer gets less for a higher price."
23476744
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
New from über-prestigious CERN claims to have done what global warming doomsayers said could never be done — demonstrate that cosmic rays promote the formation of molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, and thus the sun’s magnetic field determines the temperature on Earth.
23204462
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
AT&T confirmed that it will throttle the data speeds of mobile customers who use an "extraordinary" amount of data, even if they are on an unlimited plan. The network slowdowns will begin October 1, but AT&T insisted that it will only affect the top 5 percent of its heaviest data users and that "this change will never impact the vast majority of our customers." Service will not be cut off, but heavy users will experience reduced speeds until their next billing cycle begins.
22976148
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
The HP TouchPad 4G (if you can call AT&T's HSPA+ that...) has been listed on Amazon for $699.99. This 1.5GHz, 32GB configuration does not yet have a release date.
22628536
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Updating last week's story on fake Apple stores springing up all over China, it appears the China does not want its lucrative relationship with Apple jeopardized after all. Some of the stores have come under investigation by authorities in the city of Kunming, and two of the stores have been ordered to close for lack of the proper business licenses.
22627074
submission
tripleevenfall writes:
Research in Motion is slashing about 2,000 jobs — 11% of its workforce — in a move the BlackBerry maker says is necessary for the long-term success of the struggling company. While the BlackBerry remains a popular product in the business world, on the consumer side RIM has struggled to keep pace with the wildly popular offerings of Apple.
The job cuts are a "prudent and necessary step" in the company's long-term growth, RIM said. Cuts will occur at all functions across all regions.
