Latest News - Page 3027

Microsoft is on the receiving end of a patent troll's lawsuit over its just launched Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. The patent troll in question is SurfCast and they appear to believe that Microsoft's Windows Live Tiles infringe upon a patent filed in 2000 and granted back in 2004.

The patent that SurfCast is using as the basis of their lawsuit is No. 6,724,403. SurfCast describes Tiles as follows:

Windows 8 users rejoice! For those of you who feel that little bit missing from the Windows 8 desktop, by which I mean the start button, you now have some choices to replace it with. Win8 StartButton is a free program which replaces the old start menu in the bottom left-hand corner of the Windows 8 desktop view.

Not only does it bring back a familiar interface, it allows for loads more customization. For instance, you can choose many different styles of start menu, such as the classic version, Windows XP version, or Windows 7 version. The application will also allow you to bypass the normal Windows 8 start screen and boot straight to desktop.

Furthermore, you can choose to disable Windows 8's hot corners and many other features. There are also a couple of other programs available that replicate start menu function, though none look quite like the official Microsoft implementation. Pokki for Windows 8, StartMenu7, ViStart, and ClassicShell are all options.

The Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) have approved a more flexible wireless power specification that will usher in a new way consumers can wirelessly charge their phones on a variety of compatible surfaces. President of the A4WP, Dr. Kamil A. Grajski, says:

The new standard is based on a concept of spatial freedom, which extends wireless power applications past the accessory, or add-on market to fully integrated solutions in the device, as well as surfaces such as tables, and cars. The new A4WP specification will bring forth numerous benefits to the wireless charging ecosystem.

Finally, Rockstar have announced the release windows for Grand Theft Auto V - spring 2013 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. GTA V is set in a "re-imagined, present-day Southern California in the largest and most thriving game-world we have ever created set in the sprawling city of Los Santos and for miles beyond - from the tops of the mountains and the depths of the ocean".

Pre-orders will open up on November 5, with the developer to tease even more details of the game in the following weeks. One very negative thing about this is that Rockstar didn't talk about the PC platform in their announcement.

I did see on their site that they posted about the PC version in the comments section stating that "we're currently focused on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game and don't have any details to share about a PC version at this time". It seems that a lot of people, myself included, are disappointed that the ageing consoles are getting their release, but our powerhouse PCs are left out, once again.

Google have just released the new Google Search app for both the iPhone and iPad, which sports enhanced voice search that answers just about any question you have, with Google's comprehensive search results.

Thanks to Google's fast and accurate voice recognition technology, the new app understands exactly what you're saying. All you have to do is not use Siri, load up this app and tap the microphone icon asking a question such as "is United Airlines flight 318 on time?" As you speak, the words appear on screen and you'll receive your answer immediately. If the answer is short, such as asking the time, Google will tell you the answer out loud.

Google's Knowledge Graph is also another great piece of this app, giving their search technology an understanding of people, places and things in the real world. Here are some examples of what questions Google can answer:

Samsung has finally added the iPhone 5 to their infringement lawsuit, with the South Korean company claiming that all LTE-capable devices that Apple sells are in violation of eight patents the company owns. The lawsuit is already considered weak, as some of Samsung's LTE patents would be considered "standards-essential" and subject to FRAND regulations.

Samsung did threaten to "immediately sue" Apple if the new iPhone was LTE-capable, but at the time were unaware that Apple had already launched LTE-capable iPads a few months earlier. How Samsung would not know this, perplexes me, completely. Apple has maintained their stance, stating that they buy their LTE radios from Qualcomm, who has a full license for the patents and therefore that license extends to its customers.

The biggest issue for Samsung is if their LTE patents will be considered standards-essential when tested in court. The company is now at risk of having some patents ruled FRAND-eligible, which would weaken their portfolio. Worse, is if some of their patents are considered invalid, but Samsung are said to own around 12.2% of all LTE patents. Qualcomm and Nokia both hold equal, or larger stakes in the technology.

According to Strategy Analytics' latest figures, loyalty for the iPhone has dropped in both the US and Europe. This marks the first time since the iPhone launched in 2007 that the number of iPhone users stating they'd either definitely, or will probably purchase their next phone from Apple has dropped, both in the US and Europe.

The latest figures from the Wireless Device Lab Report found that 88% of US-based iPhone owners planned on upgrading to another iPhone, which is down from 93% last year. Over in Europe, 75% would stay with the iPhone, down from 88% in 2011.

Strategy Analytics' director said that the new numbers show a continuing success for Apple, where they've been able to retain their existing user base, while attracting new customers. He did cite that negative press and accusations of a lack of innovation by Apple are pushing customers toward other products from different manufacturers like Samsung, for example.

In a sea of bad quarterly earnings reports from competitors, ASUS are standing strong with some positive third quarter results this week. The Taiwanese maker of just about everything these days reported a revenue of $3.8 billion with a net income of $230 million.

Revenue saw a rise of 9% year-over-year, with net income boosting up by around 43% in the same period. Revenue is up 18%, with net income up 39%, sequentially. Expectations were lower than this, with over 12 analysts expecting net income to reach just $185 million, meaning ASUS beat analysts' expectations by over 10%. Where is this surge coming from, you aks? Tablets.

ASUS have been able to successfully glide over from the sinking netbook market to the ever-expanding and super-popular tablet market. If we look back to Q2, ASUS shipped 800,000 tablets - fast forward to Q3 and we're looking at tablet shipments hitting 2.3 million, a meteoric rise. Shipment increases can be credited to the great Nexus 7 tablet which ASUS co-developed with Google. ASUS didn't give the goss on just how many Nexus 7's shipped, but it would have to be a chunk of that 2.3 million.

I know I used the whole "can it play Crysis" thing yesterday when we reported about the new Titan supercomputer - but how can I pass up the chance again? Intel have announced plans to use their 48-core processor in future mobile devices, such as tablets and smartphones.

Intel CTO, Justin Rattner, has said that baking the powerful chips into mobile devices could arrive "much sooner" than the 10-year window predicted by researchers. The chip is currently used for linear algebra and fluid dynamics, but being the heart and soul of a mobile device could speed up just about everything.

Having 48 cores on top would lead to immensely powerful multitasking that dual- or quad-core parts just can't even dream of doing. Future mobile devices could be running a Full HD (or 4K) game in the background, a 4K movie, while streaming YouTube, and sending e-mails, all while it feels like it has just loaded up and isn't even running a single task. The problem is now software developers having to develop the goods to take advantage of 48 cores. Let's just hope it's capable of running Crysis.

In 2006, mega giant media company Disney acquired Pixar, the makers of huge hits like Toy Story and Up, and have just now announced that they've acquired Lucasfilm. You might know Lucasfilm, they're quite well known for, well, Star Wars among others.

Lucasfilm are also responsible for the Indiana Jones series, and the deal includes other Lucasfilm properties such as Industrial Light & Magic and Skywalker Sound. This news isn't the finish yet, as the press release for the announcement also includes news that there will be yet another Star Wars movie.

Disney is aiming for a 2015 release for Star Wars: Episode 7 and that its "long term plan is to release a new Star Wars feature film every two to three years". I guess I should get around to watching the Star Wars movies then, huh?

I'm an avid user of the Gmail platform. I love it for many features that other services don't offer, such as the ability to download e-mail from other POP3 accounts. Google is constantly trying to make the service better, and they are now pushing out an update for how users compose and respond to e-mail.

Instead of going to an entire new window, Gmail will begin to pop-up a compose window in which you can type your e-mail as you normally would. It looks like an oversized chat window, if you've ever used the built-in Gmail chat feature. Google says that the new window is faster and better for multitasking as you can now easily go to other e-mails without closing the draft you're working on.

Google also says the new window is easier to use:

I imagine these new lights are going to be popular with teens across the world, with Philips announcing a new iOS-controlled LED lighting system that can display almost any color, personalizing the lighting experience with a wide array of dimmer and scheduling options.

Philips believe at the new "hue" light bulbs would reinvent "the way we think about and experience light in our homes". Philips elaborates:

Intel have begun shipping their latest SSD, which the chipmaker describes as the most efficient multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash currently available. Intel's 335 Series SSD are also the first to use 20nm NAND flash which was built in a joint effort between Intel, Micron and IM Flash Technologies.

Intel's 335 Series SSD use the now-standard SATA 6Gbps interface, sports a SandForce SF-2281 controller running custom Intel firmware. The only drive available at the moment is a 240GB model, which comes with 500MB/sec read, 450MB/sec writes and ramps up to 42,000 read / 52,000 write IOPS using 4KB data.

The 20nm IMFT NAND uses a new cell structure that is said to enable more aggressive cell scaling than conventional architectures. Hi-K/metal gate planar cell technology is used to get around problems that come with this advanced process tech, enabling performance and reliability that we enjoyed with the 25nm process.

Android 4.2 was just announced, but you'll need to have the skinny on those features, right? Well, I'm an avid Android user and there's a bunch of new features that look great, so let's go through a few of them.

Android 4.2 is going to arrive on the freshly announced Nexus 4 smartphone and Nexus 10 tablet, and should be quite the OS from Google. Android 4.1 really ramped it up with Project Butter, but there are some features in Android 4.2 to be quite excited over, so here we go.

5.) Daydream - This is something that will have its specific users, who want to use this feature, but it is something nice to see as a tiny feature on an otherwise huge release from Google. Daydream will allow your tablet to display photos, news and more while the device is idle, or docked.

Amazon has started the tablet wars. On their homepage, you will see the ad, pictured below, which compares the Kindle Fire HD to the newly released iPad min. Sure, they pick on a few features where the iPad mini is weak, but what is even more interesting is the quote they picked up from Gizmodo. Take a look for yourself:

Pretty funny, right? Everything about that ad is factual. The Kindle Fire HD does feature a higher resolution screen and pixel-per-inch count. It also picks on the iPad mini for not featuring stereo speakers, though I imagine most people use headphones when watching a move or listening to music as the built-in speakers of most mobile devices are pitiful.

I had to laugh at the quote Amazon pulled from Gizmodo: "...Your 7.9-inch tablet has far fewer pixels than the competing 7-inch tablets! You're cramming a worse screen in there, charging more and accusing others of compromise? Ballsy." However, what Amazon is forgetting to compare is the "cool factor" of the iPad mini, something that famous UK judge noted about the original iPad.

Google has unleashed a new wave of Nexus devices upon the world, even after canceling their press event due to Hurricane Sandy. Get ready for some great new devices because that is what Google has on offer. Out is the old Nexus 7 8GB, in is a 16GB at the same price. Also new to the Nexus 7 is cellular network capability.

The new Nexus 4 is not quite for sale, at least not yet. However, a sign-up page has been put online for users to be notified when the device is actually available. It comes in two models, an 8GB version for $299 and a 16GB version for $349. Noticeably lacking from the devices is LTE capability. Instead, they both feature unlocked HSPA+ radios.

The nexus 7 has seen a price cut along with some new features. The 16GB version will set you back $199, the 32GB version, $249, and a new 32GB model with mobile data will set you back $299, though this model isn't available yet. It has the same sign-up form that the Nexus 4 has. Google is no longer offering an 8GB model.

Bulgarian blogger and digital rights activist, Bogomil Shopova, recently purchased 1.1 million Facebook users' data, including names, IDs and e-mail accounts. Shopova has said that he has no intentions of spamming or hacking those on the list, but is using the acquisition of data to highlight just how easy it was to gather personal information from Facebook.

Where would you buy the data to 1.1 million Facebook accounts in the first place? Well, I thought that too, but Shopova reportedly found the data for sale on the social market website Gigbucks. The seller went by the username "mertem", claimed that the data had been collected through third-party Facebook applications, consisting mostly of active accounts in the US, Canada, Europe and the UK.

The advertisement for the data stated it had "great potential" if you were offering a Facebook, Twitter of other social media-related product or service. Forbes has been told by a Facebook spokesperson that they were looking into the security breach. The representative said that the social network had dedicated security engineers that take aggressive action on reports such as this.

Microsoft have been kind to Android users, providing SmartGlass integration on the Google Play store. The companion app is a bit of a change from the My Xbox Live app for Android, which let you control some of the Xbox 360's features from Android-based devices.

Windows Phone-based users get the best integration of all the OS', but it's good to see Microsoft not letting Android users cry in the dark alone. The Android app lets you look through the Dashboard, input text, browse the web (with zooming), search for local content, and control media playback.

The app requires an Android device sporting a resolution of at least 800x480, and a full list of features can be found below:

Two years ago, a prototype iPhone 4 was left at a San Francisco bar, which lead to huge waves going through the Internet and technology industry - Apple was pissed, Gizmodo were flooded with hits for one of the most exclusive stories ever.

Well, it looks like it has happened again, with the Nexus 4 coming from LG. Wired reports that Jamin Barton, a bartender at the 500 Club in San Francisco, ended up with an unclaimed smartphone at the bar sometime last month. The smartphone didn't have a SIM card installed, sported the Google logo on the back as well as a sticker saying that the phone was "not for sale".

Barton says that a friend who is only referenced as "Dave", saw the phone and thought it was Google's next Nexus handset, and agreed to contact the Mountain View-based company. The next day, Dave was upset, saying that Google had gotten in contact with him regarding the prototype Nexus 4, threatening him as being an accessory to what is considered a crime.

Google took the world by storm by releasing the Nexus 7, which has been incredibly popular but the larger screen size end of the market doesn't really have anything in the same league without talking about the iPad.

Well, the Nexus 10 is set to change that with a 10-inch 2560x1600-pixel display, a dual-core 1.7GHz Samsung Exynos 5250, Mali-T604 GPU, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage (no word on expandable storage via microSD), a 5-megapixel rear-facing snapper, NFC, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.0.

We're talking "Retina"-like screen res here, at 298.9 pixels per inch, baby. The tablet will be used to usher in Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, meaning that this is just a slight jump in the OS and not a leap like some were hoping. Android 4.1 is still the best Android OS out to date, so Android 4.2 will be a nice evolution of that.