Wikipedia Adds Video Support Today - HTML5

As of today, Wikipedia is open to HTML5 video uploads.
The video project is a collaboration with video start-up Kaltura and Google, and it’s actually been in the works since 2008, but was delayed by infrastructure upgrades, personnel changes and other problems over the past four years.
“Wikipedia has more than half a billion unique monthly visitors, so any new feature that is deployed needs to be really sustainable and fool-proof,” said Kaltura president Michal Tsur.
Today, there are only about 15,000 videos on Wikipedia, a mishmash of beta testing and uploads in an older and more limited format called Ogg Theora. You can see an example of a Kaltura video on the page about polar bears.

But don’t expect to see videos on every Wikipedia page anytime soon. For one thing, sharing videos with the new Kaltura player won’t be as simple as embedding a YouTube video on a relevant page; users will have to upload content directly to Wikimedia Commons. And there aren’t the same sort of reserves of accessible video content as there are for photos, though there is freely licensed content on YouTube in the now-compatible WebM format, as well as on the Internet Archive.
Once videos are uploaded, people will be able to add captions, translations, and more. But some planned features, like mobile format support and full video editing, aren’t available yet.

Via allthingsd.com

New Sony mid-range C3602 model spotted in benchmark

A new mid-range Sony handset for 2013 has just been outed by NenaMark2. The Sony C360X (C3602) is listed confirming a S4 Snapdragon chipset (MSM8260A or MSM8960) with 1.5GHz dual-core processor and Adreno 225 graphics. The listing also confirms a 720 x 1280 display with virtual buttons. The handset tested was running Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich and scored 60.1 FPS in NenaMark2.

Via xperiablog.net

Intel launches 8-core Itanium 9500

Intel's Itanium processor launches are few and far between given that only so many need its specialized grunt, but that just makes any refresh so much larger -- and its new Itanium 9500 certainly exemplifies that kind of jump. The chip centers around much more up-to-date, 32-nanometer Poulson architecture that doubles the cores to eight, hikes the interconnect speeds and supports as much as 2TB of RAM for very (very, very) large tasks. With the help of an error-resistant buffer, Intel sees the 9500 being as much as 2.4 times faster as the Tukwila-era design it's replacing. The new Itanium also ramps the clock speeds to a relatively brisk 1.73GHz to 2.53GHz, although there will be definite costs for server builders wanting to move up: the shipping roster starts at $1,350 per chip in bulk and climbs to an eye-watering $4,650 for the fastest example.
Anyone worried that Poulson might be the end of the road for Intel's EPIC-based platform will also be glad to get a brief reminder that Itanium will soldier on. The next iteration, nicknamed Kittson, will be framed around a modular design that shares traces of silicon and the processor socket with the more familiar Xeon E7. Intel casts it as a pragmatic step that narrows its server-oriented processors down to a common motherboard and should be cheaper to make. It's likely that we'll have to be very patient for more details on Kittson knowing the long intervals between Itanium revamps, but fence-sitting IT pros may just be glad that they won't have to consider jumping ship for awhile yet.

Via engadget.com

NVIDIA's revenue raises to $1.20 billion in Q3 thanks to Tegra 3 tablets and Kepler GPUs

Just as it predicted, NVIDIA's earnings show revenue rose again in Q3, to a new record high of $1.20 billion, 15.3 percent higher than in Q2 up 12.9 percent from the same period last year. Its profits also grew accordingly, to $209.1 million, which should be no surprise thanks to its Tegra 3 chip's place at the heart of tablets including Google's Nexus 7 and Microsoft's Surface for Windows RT, with more arriving daily. The Consumer Products division that includes the Tegra family and other hardware had a 27.6 percent rise in revenue for the quarter. Despite predictions of a slumping PC market, its consumer GPU unit had revenue up 10 percent from last quarter as Kepler based products reached into lower price points and notebook revenue rose. Riding high, the company has decided to issue dividends to shareholders as well as extend its current stock repurchasing program. Hit the source links for the full breakdown, but so far NVIDIA's bets on the future of its chips in PCs and post-PC devices seem to be paying off.

Via engadget.com

"Magic number" for space pioneers calculated

The "magic number" of people needed to create a viable population for multi-generational space travel has been calculated by researchers. It is about the size of a small village - 160. But with some social engineering it might even be possible to halve this to 80.

Anthropologist John Moore from University of Florida tackled the problem as part of a combined effort with space scientists to determine how in future humans might successfully undertake century-long journeys out into space.

In the past, attention has been focused on cryogenics, sperm banks and military-style modes of operation, says Moore, but "the 'right stuff' for a journey into space is the family - a million-year-old institution designed to assist reproduction."

Moore has previously studied small migrating populations of early humans and has developed simulation software - called Ethnopop - for analysing the viability of small groups.

Marriage partners

For a space trip of 200 years, perhaps eight to 10 generations, his calculations suggest a minimum number of 160 people are needed to maintain a stable population.

This would produce around 10 potential marriage partners per person, he says, and if this seems a small number, "think about how many people you dated before you got married".

Room would be at a premium on any spacecraft and reducing the number of people initially required might be desirable. Moore suggests two strategies. The first is to begin with young childless couples, echoing the practice of Polynesian seafaring colonists.

The second is to ask the space crew to postpone reproduction to later in woman's fertile period, perhaps age 35 to 40, creating longer time gaps between the generations. This measure results in a stable population of just 80 but the consequences of the increased medical risks of late childbirth have not yet been considered.

A potential concern is that small populations can suffer a damaging reduction in genetic diversity due to inbreeding, says Dennis O'Rourke from the University of Utah. He considered the same 10-generation, 200-year journey as Moore and looked at both genetic drift and inbreeding.

"The decrease in genetic variation is actually quite small and less than found in some successful small populations on Earth," he says. "It would not be a significant factor as long as the space travellers come home or interact with other humans at the end of the 200 year period."

Gene screening

O'Rourke believes that a more serious concern would be the presence of potentially damaging genotypes in the initial space pioneers. Genetic screening might well be needed, he says: "Any harmful recessive characteristics might lead to increased healthcare loads which would deplete scarce resources."

A final concern raised at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting in Boston was the possibility of infighting. Small communities isolated for long periods at research stations in Antarctic and even families travelling on long car journeys, provide examples of how small conflicts can quickly escalate.

But Moore points out: "Some small island communities on Earth have lived in peace and harmony for thousands of years because they have developed ways of solving conflicts. These are not taken to Antarctica."

Via  newscientist.com

Batteries not required, just plug into ear cells

For the first time, an electrical device has been powered by the ear alone.

The team behind the technology used a natural electrochemical gradient in cells within the inner ear of a guinea pig to power a wireless transmitter for up to five hours.

The technique could one day provide an autonomous power source for brain and cochlear implants, says Tina Stankovic, an auditory neuroscientist at Harvard University Medical School in Boston, Massachusetts.

Nerve cells use the movement of positively charged sodium ions and negatively charged potassium ions across a membrane to create an electrochemical gradient that drives neural signals. Some cells in the cochlear have the same kind of gradient, which is used to convert the mechanical force of the vibrating eardrum into electrical signals that the brain can understand.

Tiny voltage

A major challenge in tapping such electrical potential is that the voltage created is tiny – a fraction of that generated by a standard AA battery.

"We have known about DC potential in the human ear for 60 years but no one has attempted to harness it," Stankovic says.

Now, Stankovic and her colleagues have developed an electronic chip containing several tiny, low resistance electrodes that can harness a small amount of this electrical activity without damaging hearing.

The implant was inserted into a guinea pig's inner ear and the electrodes attached to both sides of cochlear cell membranes. Attached to the chip was a low power radio transmitter.

Guinea pig

The device needed kick-starting with a short burst of radio waves, but was then able to use the electrical gradient running across the membrane to sustain the transmitter for up to five hours. Tests showed that the guinea pig's hearing was not affected.

The device works well for short durations but long-term use of the electrodes risks damaging the sensitive tissue inside the ear. The next step will be to make the electrodes even smaller, reducing their invasiveness.

Stankovic says that this is proof of concept that biological sources of energy exist that have not yet been fully considered. "A very futuristic view is that maybe we will be able to extract energy from individual cells using similar designs," she says.

Microsoft to retire Messenger, begins migration to Skype

After working diligently to bridge the gap between Messenger and its VoIP purchase, its aging IM platform will indeed be retired and users migrated to the more video-focused property. Redmond hopes to complete the move during the first quarter of 2013, after which Messenger will be retired everywhere except in mainland China. Users of both services will be able to merge their accounts and combine their contacts, while those with only a Microsoft account will have to transition to a Skype one. Though, rest assured, your Messenger buddy list will automatically be transferred. With the imminent death of this MSN descendant, it's clear that Microsoft is positioning Skype not just as a VoIP client, but as an all-in-one messaging solution meant to take on the likes of Google Talk, with its Voice and Hangouts features.


Via engadget.com

A Super-Earth in the Habitable Zone of a Six-Planet System

A new super-Earth planet that may have an Earth-like climate and be just right to support life has been discovered around a nearby star by an international team of astronomers, led by Mikko Tuomi, University of Hertfordshire, and Guillem Anglada-Escude, University of Goettingen.

The new super-Earth planet exists in the habitable zone of a nearby star and is part of a six-planet system. The system was previously thought to contain three planets in orbits too close to the star to support liquid water. By avoiding fake signals caused by stellar activity, the researchers have identified three new super-Earth planet candidates also in orbit.

Mikko Tuomi said: “We pioneered new data analysis techniques including the use of the wavelength as a filter to reduce the influence of activity on the signal from this star. This significantly increased our sensitivity and enabled us to reveal three new super-Earth planets around the star known as HD 40307, making it into a six-planet system.”


Of the new planets, the one of greatest interest is the one with the outermost orbit from the star -– with a mass at least seven times of the Earth. Its orbit around the host star is at a similar distance to Earth’s orbit around our Sun, so it receives a similar amount of energy from the star as the Earth receives from the Sun - increasing the probability of it being habitable. This is where the presence of liquid water and stable atmospheres to support life is possible and, more importantly, the planet is likely to be rotating on its own axis as it orbits around the star creating a daytime and night-time effect on the planet which would be better at creating an Earth-like environment.

Guillem Angla-Escude said: “The star HD 40307, is a perfectly quiet old dwarf star, so there is no reason why such a planet could not sustain an Earth-like climate.”

Hugh Jones, University of Hertfordshire, added: “The longer orbit of the new planet means that its climate and atmosphere may be just right to support life. Just as Goldilocks liked her porridge to be neither too hot nor too cold but just right, this planet or indeed any moons that is has lie in an orbit comparable to Earth, increasing the probability of it being habitable.”

Earlier this year, the Kepler spacecraft found a planet with a similar orbit. However, Kepler 22d is located 600 light years from Earth, whereas this new super-Earth planet known as HD 40307g is much closer being located at forty-four light years from Earth.

Mikko Tuomi carried out this work as a member of the European science network RoPACS (Rocky Planets Around Cool Stars) - an initiative with a research focus on the search for planets around cool stars. RoPACS has pan-European membership and is led from the University of Hertfordshire by David Pinfield, who commented: "Discoveries like this are really exciting, and such systems will be natural targets for the next generation of large telescopes, both on the ground and in space."

Via astrobio.net

Cray unleashes 100 petaflop XC30 supercomputer with up to a million Intel Xeon cores

Cray has just fired a nuclear salvo in the supercomputer wars with the launch of its XC30, a 100 petaflop-capable brute that can scale up to one million cores. Developed in conjunction with DARPA, the Cascade-codenamed system uses a new type of architecture called Aries interconnect and Intel Xeon E5-2600 processors to easily leapfrog its recent Titan sibling, the previous speed champ.
That puts Cray well ahead of rivals like China's Tianhe-2, and the company will aim to keep that edge by supercharging future versions with Intel Xeon Phi coprocessors and NVIDIA Tesla GPUs. High-end research centers have placed $100 million worth of orders so far (though oddly, DARPA isn't one of them yet), and units are already shipping in limited numbers -- likely by the eighteen-wheeler-full, from the looks of it.

Via engadget.com

Apple drops out of Top 5 in China, Galaxy S III tops iPhone 4S in Q3

The iPhone is the most common smartphone almost everywhere in the world... almost. According to analysts at Canalys, in the third quarter this year Apple dropped out of the Top 5 smartphone makers in the Chinese market.
And it's an important market - according to Canalys again, China became a bigger market than the US earlier this year.
Samsung maintains a tentative lead in China holding 14% of the market, with local maker Lenovo breathing down its neck with 13%.
To rub salt in the wound, Samsung's Galaxy S III took the title of "World's best-selling smartphone in Q3 2012," according to Strategy Analytics. There were 18 million Galaxy S III units sold and "only" 16.2 million iPhone 4S phones. Of course, iPhone 4S sales were down in Q3 because everyone was waiting for the iPhone 5 to launch.
Anyway, back to China. The third place there is surprising - it's held by Yulong, who are not known outside of China, but managed to score partnerships with the country's to major carriers - China Telecom and China Mobile.

Two better known brands round up the Top 5 - ZTE and Huawei. The last three companies have around 10% market share each. Apple is currently sixth with 8% (it had 9% in Q2).
In Q3 this year, there were around 50 million smartphones shipped in China, which is over a third of all smartphones shipped in the whole world for the three month period.
The growth in China comes primarily from cheap models ($70-$120) and the iPhone 4S can't compete with its price of $713 (the iPhone 5 is yet to launch in China, probably in December).

Via gsmarena.com

HTC unveils October revenues, Q4 not starting off well

HTC's performance in this year's third quarter was underwhelming and the final quarter for the year isn't starting off great either. The company announced its revenues for the month of October - $588 million, which is down from the $1,508 million it made in October last year.
That's 61% down year-on-year, while last year's results were up 36% compared to October 2010. This is the biggest year-on-year slide that the company has reported this year.




In its Q3 press release, HTC forecasts $2 billion in revenues for the fourth quarter of this year, though it remains to be seen if it will actually hit that mark or if it'll continue the slide down.
HTC does have the holiday shopping season to look forward to and (Microsoft is hoping for this too) Windows Phone 8 might pick up faster than its predecessor.

Via gsmarena.com

Smartphone and tablet sales to top 1.2 billion devices in 2013

Gartner, a leading IT research and advisory company, has compiled estimates on the growth of smart devices and the effect they will have on the consumer electronics market. According to the report some 70 percent of total devices sold this year were either tablets or smartphones.






Android is expected to continue to dominate the mobile market even in the business sector, with 56% of devices expected to run on Google's OS by 2016 (up from 34 percent this year).

Tablets are expected to achieve a three-fold growth for business within the next four years, with 53 million units predicted to be sold in 2016.
Finally, Gartner predicts that Windows 8 tablets and smartphones will move to third place behind Apple and Android by 2016, with many businesses choosing smart devices rather than upgrading Windows on desktop PCs like in the past.

Via gsmarena.com

Sony to outsource up to 40% of phone manufacturing

Sony is looking to ship more phones in 2013, according to DigiTimes, going from a projected 35 million to 50 million. To get the job done, the company plans to outsource some of the manufacturing to big ODMs.


Foxconn has been manufacturing low-end Sony phones since Q3 of this year. According to sources, Sony will add Arima and Compal to the list of makers early next year. Together, the three companies are expected to get orders for around 30-40% of the Xperia phones to be made in 2013.

As for what those ODMs might be making next year - the low-end Sony Xperia E and E Duos leaked recently. There's also the Xperia Odin and Xperia Yuga to look forward to, but it's unclear if Sony will outsource the manufacturing of its high-end models as well.

Via gsmarena.com

LG Nexus 4 specs and pricing confirmed

 

The Carphone Warehouse just could not wait until next week and decided to put the next pure-Google droid for pre-order now with full spec, price and delivery date.

Here are the specs. The LG Nexus 4 has a 4.7 "LCD screen with 768 x 1280 and a Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset with quad-core processor at 1.5GHz and 2GB of RAM. In other words, is based on Optimus G, exactly as expected.

The camera is referred to as "8 + MP", so it's really an 8MP 13MP camera and  Shoots 1080p @ 30fps video, although it has only 8GB of non-expandable memory. This does not mean that there will not be a 16GB version later.


On the connectivity side, the LG Nexus 4 is quad-band 2G and tri-band 3G (no LTE), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC.

There's the question of the OS - the page with the specs do not seem to finalize and lists both 4.1 and 4.2, but still calls it «Jelly Bean». This would mean that the 4.2 version does not have major differences and it is not the Key Lime Pie (as you may recall 2.0 and 2.1 both Eclair, while 3.0, 3.1 and 3.2 were all Honeycomb).

The phone measures 133,9 x 68,7 x 9,1 mm, but the weight is still to be confirmed. The only color available is black.

Via gsmarena.com

LG Nexus 4 preorder σε site ,Specs,τιμή

 
Το Carphone Warehouse απλά δεν μπορούσε να περιμένει μέχρι την επόμενη εβδομάδα και αποφάσισε να διαθέσει το επόμενο pure-Google  droid για προ-παραγγελία τώρα,με πλήρη spec, τιμή και την ημερομηνία παράδοσης.
 
Εδώ έρχονται τα specs. Tο LG Nexus 4 έχει μια 4,7 "οθόνη LCD με 768 x 1280 και ένα Snapdragon S4 Pro chipset με επεξεργαστή quad-core στο 1.5GHz και 2GB μνήμης RAM. Με άλλα λόγια, είναι με βάση το Optimus G, ακριβώς όπως αναμένεται.

Η κάμερα αναφέρεται ως "8 + MP", άρα είναι πραγματικά μια 8MP κάμερα 13MP και όχι. Τραβάει 1080p @ 30fps βίντεο, αν και έχει μόνο 8GB μη-επεκτάσιμη μνήμη. Αυτό δεν σημαίνει ότι δεν θα υπάρξει μια έκδοση 16GB αργότερα.


Από την πλευρά της συνδεσιμότητας, το LG Nexus 4 έχει quad-band 2G και tri-band 3G (χωρίς LTE ), Wi-Fi, Bluetooth και NFC.

Όσο αφορά το λειτουργικό - η σελίδα με τα specs δεν φαίνεται να οριστικοποιεί και παραθέτει τόσο ως 4,1 και 4,2, αλλά πάντοτε το αποκαλεί «Jelly Bean». Αυτό θα σήμαινε ότι η 4,2 έκδοση δεν έχει μεγάλες διαφορές και δεν είναι η Key Lime Pie (όπως ίσως θυμάστε 2,0 και 2,1 και οι δύο Eclair, ενώ 3,0, 3,1 και 3,2 ήταν όλα Honeycomb).

Το τηλέφωνο μέτρα 133,9 x 68,7 x 9,1 χιλιοστά, αλλά το βάρος του είναι ακόμη επιβεβαιωθεί. Το μόνο διαθέσιμο χρώμα είναι μαύρο.

Via gsmarena.com

Samsung Galaxy S III is official (video)

 
Samsung Galaxy S III

OS: Android 4.04 Ice Cream Sandwich
CPU: Quad-core 32nm ARM Cortex A9 1.4 GHz processor, Exynos 4212 Quad chipset
GPU: Mali-400MP
RAM: 1 GB
3G/ HSPA
Screen: 4,8", 4.8" 16M-color HD (720 x 1280 pixels) Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, Gorilla Glass
Camera: 8 Megapixel, Full HD video 1920×1080 pixels 30fps
Front Camera: 1.9 Megapixel, video HD
Memory: 16/32/64GB storage, microSD card slot
Wi-Fi n, GPS/ Glonass, Bluetooth 4.0, micro USB, 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, TV-out, USB-on-the-go, NFC,Wi-Fi hotspot
Batery: 2100 mAh
Dimensions: 136.6×70.6×8.6mm
Weight: 133


The Galaxy S III is Samsung's new flagship smartphone and it's finally broken cover at the company's stand-alone Mobile Unpacked event here in London. With a steady stream of fakes, outright leaks and even event rescheduling, Samsung's claimed almost crazy levels of interest for its new smartphone. Weighing in at 133g (4.7 ounces) and whittled to 8.6mm at its thickest, the rounded-off design has more than a little bit in common with its Galaxy Nexus cousin. Of course, it's Samsung's new 1.4GHz Exynos 4 Quad processor doing the legwork, and there's 1GB of RAM to help it out. The display has been bumped up in size to a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED affair, sporting a 1280 x 720 pixel count. Happy snappers will have an 8-megapixel rear shooter to play with, and a 1.9-megapixel eye on the front will take care of those video calls. If you were wondering about radios, it's launching with HSPA+, but there's an LTE version in the cards. As for the interface, it's TouchWiz on top of Android 4.0 again, and there's new gesture functions to help you get around.





In addition to announcing its newest flagship, the Galaxy S III, along with some nifty photo-sharing features, Samsung has just revealed two more human-friendly features that aim to further differentiate the phone on the software side. These include SmartStay, which cleverly keeps the display from timing out by using the front-facing camera to detect when you're looking at the screen. Meanwhile, S Voice ushers in voice commands, and is the closest thing we've seen to a Siri competitor since Apple introduced that feature on the iPhone 4S. And we have to say, though Android users have long been reveling in voice-activated dialing and Google searches, the list of possible use cases here is quite impressive. In addition to initiating calls, you can wake the phone, request songs, capture photos and inquire about the weather. For now, Samsung says this feature will support eight languages, including, among others, Spanish, German, Korean and American / British English. Still, we wouldn't put it past Samsung to teach the GS III a few more languages once it gets that whole "launching in 145 countries" thing out of the way.




Camera
Samsung's Galaxy S III doesn't boast 41-megapixel captures or top-of-the-line optics. Instead, its camera's strengths are in its intelligent organization and social features, increasing the handset's appeal as a point-and-shoot alternative for casual photographers. Samsung's latest round of compacts and mirrorless dedicated snappers reaffirm suspicions that the company is taking a different approach to photography, focusing on connectivity and social enhancements, rather than updated sensor and low-light shooting technologies. While such decisions may prompt advanced shooters to bring their business to competitors, it highlights Samsung's strengths on a broader level, as a connectivity enabler, rather than a camera maker.

The company is clearly committed to growing its ecosystem and uniting product divisions in an effort to increase penetration throughout different categories, developing sharing tools that simplify workflows and increase appeal. Samsung's latest flagship smartphone packs standard specs, like 8-megapixel stills and 1080p video, but it offers a handful of software features that combine to make the device a compelling upgrade, especially from an imaging perspective. Join us past the break as we detail the Galaxy S III's photography enhancements, from Best Photo to Face Zoom.

Shooting enhancements

We don't blame you for not being impressed with the Galaxy's camera itself, but that's not the point -- software enhancements improve the shooting experience without boosting specifications. Both cameras can shoot HD video (the 8-megapixel rear-facing module captures 1080p, while the 1.9-megapixel cam up front records at 720p), and a new feature enables still snaps as you capture clips, with an on-screen shutter button popping up in the top right corner. The S III also offers a burst shooting mode at 6 frames-per-second for up to 20 continuous shots and a new Best Photo mode, which snaps eight consecutive images (also at 6 fps) of the same scene, highlighting the most appealing frame, based on parameters that include sharpness, contrast and the subject's expression. Best Photo allows you to save the pre-selected image, or any of the other frames before discarding.

TSMC ramps 28nm ARM Cortex-A9 chip to 3.1GHz, gives your desktop jitters

We know TSMC's energy-miser 28-nanometer manufacturing process has a lot of headroom, but the company just ratcheted expectations up by a few notches. Lab workers at Taiwan's semiconductor giant have successfully run a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 processor at 3.1GHz under normal conditions. That's a 55 percent higher clock speed than the 2GHz maximum that TSMC normally offers, folks, and about twice as fast as a 40nm chip under the same workload. Don't expect that kind of clock speed from your next smartphone or tablet, though: expect processors of this caliber to find "high-performance uses," which takes us that much closer to NVIDIA's Project Denver as well as other ARM-based desktops, notebooks and servers that should give x86 chips a run for their money.


Via engadget.com

Amazon Cloud Drive : Desktop εφαρμογές για Windows και Mac

Ο καταιγισμός δωρεάν cloud υπηρεσιών για αποθήκευση των αρχείων σας συνεχίζεται και έτσι μετά τη Microsoft με το Skydrive και τη Google με το Drive, σειρά έχει η Amazon με το Cloud Drive.

Η Amazon παρουσίασε το Cloud Drive τον Μάρτιο του 2011 προσφέροντας 5gb δωρεάν αποθηκευτικό χώρο σε κάθε χρήστη ο οποίος μπορεί να ανεβάσει τα αγαπημένα του αρχεία και κυρίως τα αρχεία μουσικής που διέθετε στη συλλογή του. Το ανέβασμα των αρχείων γινόταν μέχρι πρότινος μόνο μέσω της ιστοσελίδας της υπηρεσίας κάτι που όμως πλέον δεν είναι απαραίτητο αφού η Amazon κυκλοφόρησε σήμερα desktop εκδόσεις του Cloud Drive για Windows Vista/Windows 7 καθώς και OS X 10.6/10.7.


Το Cloud Drive απευθύνεται κυρίως σε όσους θέλουν να ανεβάσουν στο cloud τα αγαπημένα τους μουσικά κομμάτια τα οποία θα είναι στη διάθεση του κάθε χρήστη από οπουδήποτε έχει πρόσβαση στο Internet. Η μεγαλύτερη διαφορά με τις υπηρεσίες SkyDrive και Google Drive είναι η απουσία δυνατότητας συγχρονισμού των αρχείων στα συστήματα που βρίσκεται εγκατεστημένo.


Via insomnia.gr

Mozilla to standardize Firefox UI across all platforms

Firefox is a great browser on both traditional desktops and mobile devices, however the experience isn’t exactly consistent between devices. In an effort to achieve continuity in the user experience, Mozilla has announced that it is working on a standard that will give Firefox a similar look and feel no matter where you are using it, whether it is a computer, a tablet, or a smartphone.

Mozilla says it is looking to take a “soft, friendly, and human” design approach. The design standard is called Australis and features a clean, minimalistic design with a lot of curved edges. The new UI will still sport platform specific features such as the ability to swipe in a certain direction to open a panel on touch-enabled devices.

The upcoming Firefox 13 is purported to feature some of the styling we will see when Australis is complete. Mozilla did not release an estimated date of when it expects to completely rollout the new UI standard, but we know it has been working on a Windows 8 Metro version, so it would make sense if this standard release coincided with the Windows 8 release.

Via phonearena.com

Mozilla Firefox: Νέα ενοποιημένη εμφάνιση για όλες τις πλατφόρμες

Ένας από τους δημοφιλέστερους browsers για υπολογιστές και mobile συσκευές είναι o Firefox, αν και η εμπειρία πλοήγησης διαφέρει αρκετά από πλατφόρμα σε πλατφόρμα.

Κάτι τέτοιο πρόκειται να αλλάξει στο μέλλον, αφού η Mozilla ανακοίνωσε ότι δουλεύει αυτή τη στιγμή πάνω σε μια νέα έκδοση που θα παρέχει την ίδια αίσθηση είτε ο χρήστης βρίσκεται στον υπολογιστή, το smartphone ή το tablet του.

Η νέα εμφάνιση θα ονομάζεται Australis και θα ακολουθεί μια πιο καθαρή, μινιμαλιστική και ανθρώπινη προσέγγιση. Φυσικά θα υπάρχουν και ορισμένες διαφορές από συσκευή σε συσκευή, όπως οι δυνατότητες για συγκεκριμένα gestures σε touch-screen συσκευές.

Προς το παρόν δε γνωρίζουμε πότε θα κυκλοφορήσει η νέα έκδοση, αλλά δεδομένης της πρόσφατης ανακοίνωσης της Mozilla ότι ετοιμάζει μια ειδικά διαμορφωμένη έκδοση του browser της με εμφάνιση Metro για το Windows 8, η κυκλοφορία της δεν αποκλείεται να συμπέσει με τον ερχομό του νέου λειτουργικού συστήματος.

Via techgear.gr

Nokia files patent claims against HTC, RIM and Viewsonic

 

With Lumia sales still unable to fill the coffers, Nokia has turned to its rich patent portfolio as an extra source of income.
Nokia is suing HTC, RIM and Viewsonic for patent infringement in the USA and Germany. To be more specific, Nokia filed a complaint against HTC with the US International Trade Commission and another one against HTC and Viewsonic with the Federal District Court of Delaware. In Germany Nokia is suing HTC and RIM in Dusseldorf and all three companies in Munich and Mannheim.
According to Nokia the total number of infringed patents is 45. Here is the official statement about what patents are actually in question.
"Nokia proprietary innovations protected by these patents are being used by the companies to enable hardware capabilities such as dual function antennas, power management and multimode radios, as well as to enhance software features including application stores, multitasking, navigation, conversational message display, dynamic menus, data encryption and retrieval of email attachments on a mobile device."


As you can see Nokia is preparing for a fight, and probably so must HTC, RIM and Viewsonic.

Via gsmarena.com

Tizen OS hits version 1.0, SDK gets updated

Tizen, the open source mobile operating system on which Samsung and Intel are working on, is finally out of beta and into version 1.0. In addition, the team behind Tizen has added a bug tracker and a wiki page for the community.
Developers will be happy to know that the SDK has seen lots of updates such as a new browser-based simulator, which supports the Tizen APIs and an improved emulator for Windows and Linux.



The OS itself got more features as well. Wi-Fi Direct has been added, as well as further support of the W3C/HTML5 specification and support for Points of Interest and Route search.
Developers are more than welcome to download the freshly updated SDK as well as, to take a peek at the source code. It's yet unclear when a device running the Tizen OS will be released.

 Via engadget.com

BlackBerry 10 developer alpha unit goes official

RIM is hosting its annual BlackBerry World event between May 1-3. Today, on the first day of the event, RIM presented the official developer alpha device for the QNX-based BlackBerry 10 platform.
It looks much like a smaller PlayBook and features a 4.2-inch 1280x768px display, 1GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, a microSD expansion slot and a mini-HDMI port. There is still no info on the screen type or the processor, but we guess the latter should be a dual-core ARM Cortex-A9 or better.
We expect the first BlackBerry 10 smartphone to look much like the developer's unit.


An official and a live photo of the dev unit
Engadget managed to snap some hands-on pictures of the device. Unfortunately there are no actual pictures of the new BlackBerry 10 platform, since the thingy ran on PlayBook OS 2.0.

More pictures of the dev unit
Here is a promo video of the new BB10 platform, showing the new keyboard interface in action:
The new camera app will have the so-called timeline feature – when you take a picture and you’ve missed the moment you would be able to access the camera cache where you can extract the right shot (this means the camera will take some shots even before you hit the shutter).

Via engadget.com

Sony VAIO T11 και T13, ανακοινώθηκαν τα πρώτα Ultrabooks της εταιρίας

Έφτασε η ώρα και για τη Sony να αποκαλύψει τα πρώτα της Ultrabooks, Sony VAIO T11 (11.6”) και T13 (13.3”), με εντυπωσιακό και πανάλαφρο σχεδιασμό που εγγυώνται τα υλικά του περιβλήματος (μαγνήσιο, αλουμίνιο), και αυτονομία 90 ημερών σε sleep mode!

Sony VAIO T11 – T13

• Οθόνη 11.6” (Τ11) – 13.3” (Τ13 – 1366 x 768)
• Επεξεργαστής 2nd Gen Intel Sandy Bridge
• Κάρτα γραφικών Intel HD 3000
• Μνήμη RAM 4GB
• Αποθηκευτικός χώρος HDD, υβριδικό HDD/SSD (320GB + 32GB), full SSD
• WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Ethernet, Bluetooth 4.0+HS
• USB 3.0, USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, Memory card reader
• Trackpad χωρίς κουμπιά
• Μπαταρία με αυτονομία 9 ώρες (έκδοση με full SSD)
• Διαστάσεις 323 x 226 x 17.8 mm (T13)
• Βάρος 1.6kg (T13)

Η Sony δεν έχει ανακοινώσει τιμές για τη νέα σειρά Sony VAIO T Series και θα έχει ενδιαφέρον να δούμε αν θα τηρήσει την πολιτική της Intel για τα Ultrabooks (χαμηλή τιμολόγηση). Θα το μάθουμε μέσα στον Ιούνιο, όταν και ξεκινά η διάθεση τους.

Tizen 1.0 Larkspur SDK, διαθέσιμο το open-source mobile λειτουργικό σύστημα

Οι δημιουργοί του Tizen OS (μεταξύ των οποίων Intel, Samsung, Huawei κλπ.) είναι στην ευχάριστη θέση να ανακοινώσουν την κυκλοφορία της έκδοσης 1.0 για developers (κωδική ονομασία Larkspur), έτσι ώστε να δημιουργήσουν εφαρμογές βελτιστοποιημένες για το open-source mobile λειτουργικό σύστημα, προμηνύοντας ότι θα το δούμε σύντομα σε smartphones, tablets και netbooks.

Το project Tizen προέρχεται από τις στάχτες του MeeGo, η ανάπτυξη του οποίου ξεκίνησε με τις καλύτερες προϋποθέσεις, αλλά η αποχώρηση της Nokia οδήγησε στο τέλος του, με ελάχιστες συσκευές να φτάνουν μέχρι την αγορά.
Επομένως, ο πρώτος στόχος για το Tizen OS είναι να αντέξει στο χρόνο και στη συνέχεια να φανεί αν ένα πραγματικά open-source mobile λειτουργικό σύστημα (στηρίζεται από τη Linux Foundation) μπορεί να ανταγωνιστεί με αξιώσεις τα Android, iOS και Windows Phone.
Σε ό,τι αφορά το Tizen 1.0 Larkspur SDK, περιλαμβάνει εργαλεία για την ανάπτυξη εφαρμογών, ενώ μεγάλο βάρος έχει δοθεί στις τεχνολογίες web (για τη δημιουργία web εφαρμογών), όπερ σημαίνει ότι πολλές εφαρμογές σχεδιασμένες για το Tizen OS θα μπορούν να τρέχουν και σε άλλες πλατφόρμες.

Όσοι ενδιαφέρεστε, μπορείτε να κατεβάσετε το SDK από εδώ.

Mozilla, Το πρώτο ηχηρό «όχι» στο CISPA

Οι άλλοι μεγάλοι του Internet και όχι μόνο (όπως οι Facebook, Microsoft, Oracle) δέχτηκαν την υιοθέτηση του νομοσχεδίου CISPA στις ΗΠΑ, το οποίο και έχει κατηγορηθεί για την προσβολή των ελευθεριών στο Ίντερνετ, ενώ η Mozilla είναι η πρώτη μεγάλη εταιρεία που έδειξε τη σαφή αντίθεσή της στην εν λόγω νομοθεσία.
Η δήλωση της εταιρείας είναι ξεκάθαρη, αφού λέει ότι ναι μεν υποστηρίζει τη δημιουργία ενός περισσότερο ασφαλούς Διαδικτύου, αλλά το CISPA ξεπερνά τα όρια και πηγαίνει σε άλλα χωράφια. Η εν λόγω νομοθεσία για τη Mozilla χτυπά την ιδιωτικότητα και βοηθά τις κυβερνήσεις και τις υπηρεσίες να κάνουν εσφαλμένη χρήση προσωπικών πληροφοριών, μένοντας ατιμώρητες. Η Mozilla συμβουλεύει ακόμα τον νομοθέτη να επανεξετάσει τις αρχές του νομοθετήματος.
Άλλες τεχνολογικές εταιρείες που έχουν δώσει το «οκ» για την εφαρμογή της νομοθεσίας είναι οι Facebook, Oracle, Symantec, Verizon, AT&T, Intel, ο εμπορικός σύνδεσμος CTIA, ο οποίος απαρτίζεται από μέλη των T-Mobile, Sybase, Nokia και Qualcomm. Για την ιστορία η νομοθεσία πέρασε στη Βουλή των Αντιπροσώπων με ψήφους 248 υπέρ και 168 κατά.

Via techblog.gr

BlackBerry 10 Alpha device, Η BlackBerry πάει full touch και life style

 

Όταν ακούμε τη λέξη BlackBerry στο μυαλό μας έρχονται κινητά με φυσικό QWERTY πληκτρολόγιο όμως στην εποχή των smartphones με οθόνη αφής αυτό φαίνεται να αλλάζει. Η επόμενη έκδοση του λειτουργικού συστήματος BlackBerry 10 θα φέρει πολύ life-style και κινητά με μεγάλες οθόνες αφής.
Κινητά με μεγάλες οθόνηες αφής όπως η δοκιμαστική συσκευή που έδωσε η BlackBerry στους developers και έχει οθόνη 4.2 ίντσες ανάλυσης 1280×768 pixels, 1GB μνήμη RAM, 16GB ενσωματωμένη μνήμη, υποδοχή για κάρτες μνήμης micro SD και έξοδο micro-HDMI.
Διαβάζω ότι θα συνεχιστεί η παρουσίαση μοντέλων με το κλασσικό πλήρες φυσικό πληκτρολόγιο, οπότε οι fans να μην ανυσηχείτε!







Via techblog.gr

Περισσότερες πληροφορίες για το NUC, τον ανταγωνιστή του Raspberry Pi από την Intel

Όπως έγινε γνωστό στις αρχές του μήνα η Intel ετοιμάζει ένα νέο μοντέλο υπολογιστή με εντυπωσιακά μικρές διαστάσεις, το οποίο συναγωνίζεται το “υπερσυμπαγές” Raspberry Pi. Πρόκειται για το Next Unit of Computing (NUC) και ύστερα από την πρώτη εμφάνισή του στις αρχές του μήνα στο φεστιβάλ gaming PAX East, η εταιρεία αποκάλυψε σήμερα περισσότερες λεπτομέρειες σχετικά με αυτό.

Πρόκειται για ένα ολοκληρωμένο υπολογιστή ο οποίος έχει διαστάσεις 10x10 εκατοστά και βασίζεται στον chip Sandy Bridge i3/i5 της Intel. Στο πίσω μέρος του NUC υπάρχει υποδοχή θύρας Thunderbolt, σύνδεση με HDMI συσκευές και θύρες USB 3.0. Όπως φαίνεται και από την εικόνα της μητρικής του πλακέτας, υπάρχουν δύο υποδοχές για μνήμες RAM τύπου λάπτοπ (SO-DIMM) και υποδοχές για PCIe συσκευές. H υποδοχή (socket) για επεξεργαστή υποστηρίζει όλες τις CPU Core i3 και i5, οι οποίες απευθύνονται σε φορητές συσκευές.

Σύμφωνα με τον Fred Birang μηχανικό μάρκετινγκ στην Intel, το NUC θα μπορούσε να αξιοποιηθεί σε λύσεις ψηφιακής σήμανσης (digital signage), αλλά σίγουρα θα μπορούσαν να στελεχώσει επίσης ένα σύστημα αναπαραγωγής πολυμέσων για το σπίτι, ή να βοηθήσει στα πρώτα βήματα των παιδιών με τους ηλεκτρονικούς υπολογιστές. Το μειονέκτημα του NUC συστήματος είναι η κάρτα γραφικών του. Καθώς αναφερόμαστε στην τεχνολογία Sandy Bridge, η κάρτα γραφικών θα είναι από τη σειρά της Intel HD 3000. Πολύ πιθανό βέβαια να κυκλοφορήσει κάποια Ivy Bridge εκδοχή του NUC, η οποία θα διαθέτει GPU της σειράς HD 4000.




Με διαστάσεις μόλις 10x10 εκατοστά, το NUC αποτελεί ένα από τα πιο μικρά ολοκληρωμένα υπολογιστικά συστήματα της αγοράς. Ανταγωνίζεται φυσικά από το Raspberry Pi, αλλά και απο τη VIA η οποία έχει κατασκευάσει παραπλήσιες μητρικές πλακέτες αρχιτεκτονικής x86. Πρόκειται για τις Nano-ITX (12εκ), Pico-ITX (10εκ), και Mobile-ITX (6εκ) οι οποίες όμως υποστηρίζουν επεξεργαστές παλαιότερης τεχνολογίας.

Σε σύγκριση με το NUC, το Raspberry Pi είναι λίγο πιο μικρό σε διαστάσεις (8.5x5.5 εκ) και έχει περισσότερες θύρες για εισόδους και εξόδους. Σίγουρα βέβαια ο επεξεργαστής του Rasp Pi (700Mhz ARM) δε μπορεί να συγκριθεί με την υπολογιστική ισχύ της τεχνολογίας i3 και i5 του NUC. Λέγεται μάλιστα ότι το Next Unit of Computing θα υποστηρίζει το οικοσύστημα των Windows, κάτι που σημαίνει ότι θα δέχεται της εφαρμογές που είναι συμβατές με όλες τις εκδόσεις των Windows αρχιτεκτονικής x86.



Το NUC σίγουρα δε θα μπορεί να ανταγωνιστεί τη χαμηλή τιμολόγηση του Raspberry Pi το οποίο κοστίζει $25 δολάρια, και είναι πολύ πιθανό να έχει τιμή πώλησης κοντά στα $100 δολάρια. Πρόκειται να είναι διαθέσιμο στην αγορά από το δεύτερο μισό του έτους.

Watch out, Raspberry Pi: Intel unveils ultra-small Next Unit of Computing PC

Details of a new, ultra-compact computer form factor from Intel, called the Next Unit of Computing (NUC) are starting to emerge.
First demonstrated at PAX East at the beginning of April, and Intel’s Platinum Summit in London last week, NUC is a complete 10x10cm (4x4in) Sandy Bridge Core i3/i5 computer. On the back, there are Thunderbolt, HDMI, and USB 3.0 ports. On the motherboard itself (pictured below) there are two SO-DIMM (laptop) memory slots and two mini PCIe headers. On the flip side of the motherboard (pictured below-below), is a CPU socket that takes most mobile Core i3 and i5 processors, and a heatsink and fan assembly.


According to Fred Birang, a senior product marketing engineer at Intel, the NUC is primarily targeted at digital signage and kiosks — but I’m sure we can all agree that it would make an awesome set-top home theater PC (HTPC), or an introductory system for kids. The only real problem is the GPU: This is Sandy Bridge we’re talking about, so you only get Intel’s HD 3000. Presumably, though, an Ivy Bridge version of the NUC, with the HD 4000 GPU, is on its way.
At 10x10cm, the NUC is actually one of the smallest complete PCs on the market. The only x86 competition comes from VIA, which has produced Nano-ITX (12cm), Pico-ITX (10cm), and Mobile-ITX (6cm) motherboards for a few years — but these motherboards only support slow, weak VIA CPUs, and are generally targeted at embedded, low-power installations. That Intel has managed to cram a mobile Core i5 processor into such a form factor is rather impressive.


Where does this leave Raspberry Pi? At 8.5×5.5cm, the Raspberry Pi is still a fair bit smaller than Intel’s NUC (and at 2cm deep, it’s probably thinner as well). The Raspberry Pi has more inputs and outputs, too, though the NUC’s mini PCIe connectors mean that almost any functionality could be added. Processing power-wise, though, the NUC’s Core i3 and i5 processors will utterly obliterate the Rasp Pi’s 700MHz ARM SoC — but of course it will consume a lot more power, too. There’s also the fact that NUC users will be able to use the vast x86 Windows software ecosystem — and likewise, developing for the NUC will be as easy as developing for a standard, Windows-based x86 PC; two perks the Raspberry Pi will not enjoy.
Price-wise, Birang, speaking to Just Press Start, says the NUC will “not be in the hundreds and thousands range,” and that Intel is still looking at “different kinds of SKUs.” It almost certainly won’t be as cheap as the $25 Raspberry Pi, but a price point around $100 would be realistic. Judging by the heatsink and fan assembly, the NUC will probably come with a CPU pre-installed — and hopefully some RAM, too. Intel certainly could produce a computer that competes with the Raspberry Pi on price, but it’s unlikely to do so (damn those profit margins). Availability-wise, Birang says we can expect the NUC to arrive in the second half of the year.
With a name like Next Unit of Computing, it would seem like Intel has grand designs for this mini form factor.

Scientists develop composite material to enhance device response time

Ever feel like your phone is taking an awfully long time to register that swipe to unlock? Well, scientists from Imperial College London and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology are developing a solution that could mean faster response times. By combining polymer semiconductors and small molecules into a composite material to make organic thin-film transistors -- a process known as composite collaboration -- they found a way to increase the speed of the electrical charge moving through a device's components. The end result could someday be a smartphone that reacts to your touch much more quickly than your current handset. If you're so inclined, jump below the break to the presser for a more in-depth explanation.


Via engadget.com

The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK ISPs, court rules

File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.

The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly pirated free music and video.
Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site.
"Sites like The Pirate Bay destroy jobs in the UK and undermine investment in new British artists," the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said.
A sixth ISP, BT, requested "a few more weeks" to consider their position on blocking the site.
BPI's chief executive Geoff Taylor said: "The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale.
"Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them.
"This is wrong - musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else."
'Compelling alternatives' In November 2011, the BPI asked the group of ISPs to voluntarily block access to the site.
The request followed a court order to block Newzbin 2, a site also offering links to download pirated material.
The ISPs said they would not block the site unless a court order was made, as is now the case.
Virgin Media told the BBC it will now comply with the request, but warned such measures are, in the long term, only part of the solution.

"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price."

The Pirate Bay was launched in 2003 by a group of friends from Sweden and rapidly became one of the most famous file-sharing sites on the web.
It allows users to search for and access copyrighted content including movies, games and TV shows.

Via bbc.co.uk

Microsoft Makes $300M Investment In New Barnes & Noble Subsidiary To Battle With Amazon And Apple In E-books

Barnes & Noble has found a new, major partner in its fight to get an edge over Amazon and Apple in the market for e-books and the devices being used to consume them: it is teaming up with Microsoft in what the two are calling a strategic partnership, name yet to be determined.
It will come in the form of a new subsidiary of B&N that will include all of its Nook business as well as its educational College business. Microsoft is making a $300 million investment in the subsidiary, valuing the company at $1.7 billion in exchange for around 17.6 percent equity in the subsidiary.
The news leaves the door open for B&N to eventually spin these off into a separate business altogether — or even sell them to Microsoft. And it leaves a load of questions about what B&N will do next with the Nook, which is currently built on a forked version of Google’s Android platform.
The new company, referred to for the moment as Newco, will contain B&N’s digital business, as well as its College division. While Microsoft will take 17.6 percent, B&N will own 82.4 percent of the venture.

This is a key way of getting more content on to the Microsoft platform — specifically e-books content to ensure that its Windows 8 tablets will be able to compete not only against the best-selling iPad but also the Kindle Fire from Amazon, along with the rest of the company’s e-readers. The Kindle Fire has stolen a march among Android tablet makers and part of the compelling offer is not only the low price ($199) but also the fact that it contains so much content, including seamless access to all of Amazon’s e-book offerings.
This is also a progression — a very big one — of the funding etudes that Microsoft has been making to developers to make sure they are making apps for the Windows Phone platform, a way of getting more content on its platforms, which, it can be argued, may have come too late to the market. The first product to come out of the door? A Nook application for Windows 8, the companies say.
And given that education has been one of Apple’s bigger pushes this year, and the obvious and close links between education and e-reading, it’s not too surprising to see that B&N has also put its College division into this subsidiary. Microsoft, too, has been courting the education market — making its biggest-ever cloud-services deal in the education sector. Nevertheless they have a long road ahead of them. In January, Apple noted that there were already 20,000 educational apps for iOS and that there were already 1.5 million devices deployed in schools, numbers that will inevitably have grown in the last 4-5 months with the launch of the new iPad and numerous initiatives to spread the tablet in the educational sector.
And there is a legal twist to the deal, too: the two companies say they have definitely sorted out their patent litigation now: “Moving forward, Barnes & Noble and Newco will have a royalty-bearing license under Microsoft’s patents for its NOOK eReader and Tablet products,” the two write in the release below. If Microsoft doesn’t use this as an opportunity of possibly persuading B&N to swap over to Windows 8 for a version of the Nook, it will also give it a very interesting inroad into developing more for Android.
As for B&N and the future of these products… this deal looks like it could potentially pave the way for B&N to spin off this business into its own standalone operation, if not into the waiting arms of Microsoft itself — long speculated to be looking at ways of gaining a stronger foothold in the area of mobile devices to better implement its bigger strategy. The idea of a subsidiary was something that B&N had first floated back in January, when it noted that it was weighing up how best to separate its digital business to “maximize shareholder value.”
There are many more questions — such as what this could mean for the company’s broader strategy for growing the market for the Nook (international being a key push that the company has yet to make, apart from some baby steps); and how well, exactly, those products are doing for the company: IDC puts the Nook’s share of the tablet market at just 3.5 percent.

Via techcrunch.com

LG Cloud launches, guns after iCloud on mobile, PC, TV

LG has formally launched into the cloud space on Monday with a beta of LG Cloud. The service is intended as a non-exclusive way to quickly shuttle music, photos, and videos between the various devices in LG"s ecosystem, including PCs, smartphones, and TVs. By including the TV, it carries the uncommon advantage of exporting 3D content: a 3D video recorded on an Optimus 3D Max can be remotely shared to a TV that can play it back.

Its signature will be a real-time transcoding approach that can make content playable in an ideal format, particularly for bandwidth-sensitive mobile devices.

Anyone will have access to a free account with 2GB of space, although LG is providing a heavy incentive to buy into LG devices. These users will get 5GB for free, and the first six months will give them 50GB of space. LG is planning paid storage as an option, but has yet to settle on pricing. Most of its peers multiple yearly subscription rates.

The service is available as a free beta in South Korea and the US starting from May 1, with a wider launch mostly likely in the first half of 2013. Native clients are for now limited to Android 2.2 or newer phones, Windows XP, and Windows 7, although a web interface should let users manage storage on any device.

LG's introduction follows a trend of computer designers starting their own cloud services, started in earnest by Apple with 2011's iCloud. Samsung is rumored to be making its own S-Cloud service as a parallel to what Apple and LG have been developing. In all cases, the aim is to have various divisions' technology working in sync and give customers more reason to buy across the line rather than cherry pick from individual vendors.

Via electronista.com

Η Microsoft επενδύει $300 εκατομμύρια στην Barnes & Noble για να ανταγωνιστεί Apple και Amazon

Οι Microsoft και Barnes & Noble ανακοίνωσαν σήμερα τη δημιουργία μιας νέας θυγατρικής εταιρείας που θα επικεντρωθεί στην υπάρχουσα ψηφιακή αγορά των Nook e-readers και e-books. Η Microsoft θα επενδύσει 300 εκατομμύρια δολάρια στη θυγατρική που μέχρι στιγμής της έχει δοθεί το προσωρινό όνομα Newco ενώ θα κατέχει και το 17.6 τοις εκατό της εταιρείας.
Ένα από τα πλεονεκτήματα για τους χρήστες θα είναι η εφαρμογή Nook για το Windows 8 που θα παρέχει μία από τις μεγαλύτερες συλλογές ψηφιακών βιβλίων, περιοδικών και εφημερίδων στους εκατοντάδες εκατομμύρια χρήστες του επερχόμενου λειτουργικού της Microsoft.
Ως μέρος της συμφωνίας οι δύο εταιρείες έλυσαν τις δικαστικές τους διαμάχες με κοινό συμβιβασμό. H Microsoft είχε ασκήσει αγωγή κατά της εταιρείας για παραβίαση πνευματικής ιδιοκτησίας από το Nook reader ως μέρος μιας γενικότερης επίθεσης κατά του Android. Στη νέα συμφωνία η Barnes & Noble και η Newco θα έχουν από κοινού αδειοδότηση των εν λόγω πατεντών χωρίς να έχει γίνει γνωστό το ποσό.

Με την συνεργασία αυτή οι δύο εταιρείες επιθυμούν να αυξήσουν την ανταγωνιστικότητα στο χώρο των e-books ενάντια στην Amazon με το Kindle Store αλλά και στην Apple με το iBookstore. Το μέλλον, ωστόσο, δείχνει αβέβαιο για την Apple και την Microsoft αφού πρόσφατη αγωγή του Υπουργείου Δικαιοσύνης για συμφωνημένη ρύθμιση τιμών εντείνει τις ανησυχίες για επιστροφή στο μοντέλο του μονοπωλίου της Amazon.

Via techgear.gr

Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom Gets $750,000 Back

 

Kim Dotcom booked a valuable victory this week when a court ruled that $750,000 in funds and cars should be returned to the Megaupload founder. Among other things, Dotcom regained possession of a $301,000 bank account and his Mercedes-Benz G55AMG. Other property that was seized based on an order from the US District Court remains in the hands of the New Zealand authorities for the time being.
 The New Zealand High Court has decided to return several items of property belonging to Kim Dotcom.
The Megaupload founder is allowed to keep his $20,000 a month spending budget and regains use of his Mercedes-Benz G55AMG, a luxury car worth $250,000 that sports “Police” on its license plate. A bank account containing $301,000 was also returned.
Dotcom’s wife Mona will have her expenses covered and can have use of a Toyota Vellfire.
Despite the partial success, Stuff reports that the High Court chose to uphold the majority of the US District Court seizure order. This means that most of Dotcom’s cars and other goods will remain with the authorities until further notice.

Dotcom’s attorney Willie Akel had asked the court to return all properties because the New Zealand authorities didn’t investigate the US request, but Judge Potter said that the Attorney General is not required to evaluate the legitimacy of the US order.
A significant portion of the new funds will be used to pay for legal expenses, both in New Zealand and the United States.
Among other things, the legal team will try to prevent Dotcom’s extradition. A court will review whether the Megaupload founder has committed an extraditable offense that violates New Zealand law. Earlier this week Dotcom’s US lawyer Ira Rothken said they are confident that this is not the case.
“According to our New Zealand counsel we don’t think that would be the case so we’re optimistic that Kim Dotcom will have a good result in New Zealand,” Rothken said.
The extradition hearing is scheduled for September. In the meantime Megaupload’s defense team is preparing a response to the US indictment, which is expected to be filed in the coming weeks.
Dotcom believes that they have a strong case against an indictment he describes as “nonsense.” The Megaupload founder previously shared several issues that the defense team will bring up in their reply, and he characterized the whole case as a political move.
“This Mega takedown was possible because of corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood,” he said.
Whether Megaupload will have to defend itself is still uncertain though. Last week Judge O’Grady informed the FBI that a trial in the United States may never happen because it is impossible to serve a foreign company with criminal charges.

Via torrentfreak.com

Galaxy S III picture points towards a 4.8-inch display

They reached upon this conclusion after they received the picture above with the phone set against a ruler. The length of the phone seems to be somewhere around 130mm, which makes it about as long as the Galaxy Nexus. The display itself seems to be a bit above 100mm. If you do the math it turns out to be around 4.8-inch diagonally, which is slightly greater than the 4.65-inch figure that was being floated around.
There is not much else to see except the presence of what looks like a physical Home button below the display. The constant appearance of this button keeps confusing us as we have already seen the phone having software keys within the display, as on the Galaxy Nexus. Then again, this is just a prototype device and the final device might not have this button at all.

Samsung is due to launch its Next Galaxy device at an event on May 3. We'll be at the event, reporting live, so make sure you come back then.