Intel continue to feel pain, quarterly profits drop 25% for Q1 2013

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 17, 2013 3:31 AM CDT

We know the PC industry is in a state of pain, but it looks like the largest chipmaker is hurting, too. Intel have just posted their latest earnings report, revealing that their quarterly profits for Q1 2013 are down 25% year-over-year.

Intel continue to feel pain, quarterly profits drop 25% for Q1 2013 | TweakTown.com

For Q1 2013, Intel made $2.045 billion in profits, down from $2.738 billion last year. Intel CEO, Paul Otellini, said in a statement:

Amidst market softness, Intel performed well in the first quarter and I'm excited about what lies ahead for the company. We shipped our next-generation PC microprocessors, introduced a new family of products for micro-servers, and will ship our new tablet and smartphone microprocessors this quarter.

Continue reading: Intel continue to feel pain, quarterly profits drop 25% for Q1 2013 (full post)

Facebook could soon roll out video-based ad service, could charge advertisers $1 million per day

Anthony Garreffa | Internet & Websites | Apr 17, 2013 2:32 AM CDT

Facebook may have over one billion users, but how could they make more money from these users? The social network is reportedly set to roll out their own video-based advertising service, reports Ad Age.

Facebook could soon roll out video-based ad service, could charge advertisers $1 million per day | TweakTown.com

A video ad on Facebook won't be cheap, where it might cost one million dollars for a 15-second spot. Quite an astronomical amount, but considering the amount of people you'd reach, it could just be worth it. Facebook are currently experimenting with four advertising slots, which could see the social network make around four million dollars in revenue, per day.

Facebook will do it well though, where they won't make you see the same video ads more than once per day, while simultaneously limiting the total delivery of ads to three per user, per day. How would these ads display to you? They could pop up as the 15-second ads, playing automatically and taking up a portion of your screen.

Continue reading: Facebook could soon roll out video-based ad service, could charge advertisers $1 million per day (full post)

Beijing-based firm open position for a 'chief porn identification officer', offering $32k a year for the position

Anthony Garreffa | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 17, 2013 1:31 AM CDT

A Beijing-based third-party Internet security company called Anquan, are looking for a "chief porn identification officer", a position they posted on their Weibo account.

Beijing-based firm open position for a 'chief porn identification officer', offering $32k a year for the position | TweakTown.com

The company was started in 2010, with the goal to "combat bad information on the internet" and promote greater control of porn on the web. Anquan have big partners in Baidu and Tencent, as well as government agencies that regulate the Internet in China. Here's a translated version of the job post:

Job Location: Beijing

Continue reading: Beijing-based firm open position for a 'chief porn identification officer', offering $32k a year for the position (full post)

Android devices with malware infections tripled last year

Anthony Garreffa | Hacking, Security & Privacy | Apr 16, 2013 5:34 AM CDT

Android looks like its the OS of choice for malware developers, with mobile security vendor NQ finding that Android devices infected with malware grew exponentially last year alone.

Android devices with malware infections tripled last year | TweakTown.com

NQ found that Android devices with malware infections grew from 10.8 million in 2011 to 32.8 million, meaning a triple of infections year-over-year. They also found that nearly 95% of malware detected in 2012 was designed specifically for Google's mobile OS, which means that Android is the main target for cybercriminals.

Most Android malware infections happen in China, India and Russia - so while this might seem like some frightening numbers at first, InfoWorld's Brian Katz does make us feel all a little better. Katz also writes that most mobile malware can be avoided if Android users "download apps only from known sources", such as the Google Play Store. My advice? Don't click ads, don't open suspicious links, don't join random or weird Facebook groups that want all of your info.

Continue reading: Android devices with malware infections tripled last year (full post)

Google Glass specs arrive, the screen is equivalent to a 25-inch monitor in front of your face

Anthony Garreffa | Wearable Computing & Fashion | Apr 15, 2013 10:51 PM CDT

Google have finally unveiled the full specifications of their Glass tech, which is actually a bit better than what I thought we'd receive in the final consumer units.

Google Glass specs arrive, the screen is equivalent to a 25-inch monitor in front of your face | TweakTown.com

We have the display first, which is a high-resolution display being the equivalent to a 25-inch high-definition screen eight feet away from your eyes. Camera-wise, we have a 5-megapixel camera for photos and 720p capture for video, there's some adjustable nosepads with a durable frame that fits any face. There's also two extra nosepads included.

We have a Bond Conduction Transducer for audio, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth for connectivity, 12GB of usable memory synced with Google cloud storage, 16GB of flash memory total. Battery life should be good, with Google quoting "one full day of typical use", which includes Hangouts and video recording which are more battery intensive.

Continue reading: Google Glass specs arrive, the screen is equivalent to a 25-inch monitor in front of your face (full post)

3DMark ran on the Ouya console, bested by existing smartphones

Trace Hagan | Gaming | Apr 15, 2013 7:57 PM CDT

Ouya developer James Coote ran the new 3DMark for Android benchmark on his Ouya game console, the video of which you can see embedded below. Interestingly enough, the Ouya is easily bested by current generation smartphones and even some previous generation smartphones.

3DMark ran on the Ouya console, bested by existing smartphones | TweakTown.com

In fact, the Ouya console is ranked 73 among all Android devices in Futuremark's database for the 3DMark Ice Storm benchmark. This doesn't exactly make me believe the Ouya will play host to graphically exciting games. The Samsung Galaxy S4 manages over double the score of the Ouya console.

This weak performance is likely the best the Ouya designers could manage while still staying within a $99 sticker price.

Continue reading: 3DMark ran on the Ouya console, bested by existing smartphones (full post)

Google study says mobile web is getting faster

According to a Google study, the mobile internet pipes are getting faster. Google used their Site Speed reports from Google Analytics and opted-in web publishers to get an idea of the speed of websites around the world. Google has again aggregated that data into the following graph:

Google study says mobile web is getting faster | TweakTown.com

As you can see, on the desktop side of things, not much has improved from 2012 to 2013. Speeds are just slightly better, but not by enough to really have much significance. On the mobile side of things, however, the mean time to load has decreased by about two seconds. The median time has decreased by about one.

Google credits most of these speed increases to LTE/4G roll outs as well as increased processing power in mobile devices. Read the full Google report.

Continue reading: Google study says mobile web is getting faster (full post)

Trader who made unauthorized $1bn purchase of Apple stock pleads guilty to fraud charges

Trace Hagan | Business, Financial & Legal | Apr 15, 2013 6:03 PM CDT

You might not remember when a former Rochdale Securities trader was arrested last December or why he was arrested, but today he plead guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy after making an unauthorized purchase of $1 billion in Apple stock that led to the demise of Rochdale Securities.

Trader who made unauthorized $1bn purchase of Apple stock pleads guilty to fraud charges | TweakTown.com

David Miller's lawyer:

What happened here was out of character for a kind and generous family man who has lived an otherwise law-abiding and good life. He deeply regrets what he has done and the harm it has caused to other people, including the former principals and employees at Rochdale.

Continue reading: Trader who made unauthorized $1bn purchase of Apple stock pleads guilty to fraud charges (full post)

Future batteries could be made from liquid metal, no T-1000's in sight thankfully

One thing that annoys most, especially me, is that I want an all-day (all-week preferably) battery life on my devices. Running a quad-core smartphone with all the trimmings is great, but charging it every night is not the ideal thing for me.

Future batteries could be made from liquid metal, no T-1000's in sight thankfully | TweakTown.com

New technology is required, and this is where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology steps in, with Professor Donald Sadoway's new research - liquid metal batteries. Professor Sadoway told BBC News:

At least 18 months from now, we'll have something we can put in the hands of an independent assessor. We want to make sure we've got something that's durable and will perform to specification. This is a very tough market to get into. We can't afford to have a failure because something wasn't quite right. That could tarnish the image of the technology to the point where it would be set back irreparably.

Continue reading: Future batteries could be made from liquid metal, no T-1000's in sight thankfully (full post)

Raspberry Pi numbers are in - 40k units being made per week, Sony have made their 500,000th Pi

Anthony Garreffa | Computer Systems | Apr 15, 2013 1:33 AM CDT

Raspberry Pi production did start off in China, but it has slowly started crawling into the UK since September. One of the Raspberry Pi Foundation's distributors, Premier Farnell/Element14, makes 100% of their Pis in the Welsh Sony factory in Pencoed, where the Pis are built under license.

Raspberry Pi numbers are in - 40k units being made per week, Sony have made their 500,000th Pi | TweakTown.com

Sony have been making Pis since September, but have now had their 500,000th Pi roll off their production lines. Another great stat, is that nearly 40,000 Pis are being made in Pencoed every week, with this number set to expand even more. Even at these 'small' numbers, the Foundation are having a hard time keeping up with demand across the world. Gerald Kelly, the GM of Sony's Pencoed plant, said:

In June we scheduled 204 units per week. By July that had climbed to 10,000 units per week - this month we will achieve 38,000 output per week, and this is just the beginning! The future is about higher volumes, a second generation Pi [Liz interjects: don't get your hopes up, folks; Gerald's talking about rev3 of the original Pi, which we're preparing at the moment] and accessories such as a camera board. Current total forecast for Pi products indicate that 1,000,000 output will be achieved sometime in July this year.

Continue reading: Raspberry Pi numbers are in - 40k units being made per week, Sony have made their 500,000th Pi (full post)

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