Apple spotted browsing around for TV parts, shall we call it iBrowsing?
Apple don't have a TV on the market, where their biggest competitor in the smartphone market, Samsung, sure do have that market with their fist around it, tightly. The latest coming from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster, has said that the Cupertino-based company has been checking out the TV component supply chain, in preparations of entering the TV market.
Munster wrote in a note to clients today:
In January we spoke with a major TV component supplier who has been contacted by Apple regarding various capabilities of their television display components. We see this as continued evidence that Apple is exploring production of a television. This latest data point follows January 2011 meetings in Asia that led us to believe Apple was investing in manufacturing facilities for LCD displays ranging from 3.5" mobile displays to 50" television displays.
Battlefield 3 DLC to be revealed next week
In a conference call with EA's Vice President of Investor Relations, it was said to analysts:
You're going to hear some announcements from us on Battlefield actually as early as next week in an event we've got in New York. We've got plans for all of our major franchises to turn them into more of as we're seeing with FIFA and with Battlefield more as games for service that have constant flow of downloadable content.
The rumor of an 'all-American DLC' has come from some YouTube comments where they've stated:
Continue reading: Battlefield 3 DLC to be revealed next week (full post)
Crackle has launched an Xbox Live app, gives US, UK, Canadian and Australians access to TV shows, movies, for free
I've never heard of Crackle until now, so I've just pushed that rock up off my back and thrown it to the side for now. Crackle is part of Sony Picture Entertainment's video entertainment network, and now gives UK, US, Canadian, and Australians access to a bunch of TV shows and Hollywood movies, all for free.
For free! Free, as in, nothing? Well, Crackle is ad-supported, but it's not a direct competitor of paid-for video-on-demand services such as Netflix, which is also available on the Xbox Live hub, but instead Crackle offers a range of old movies, TV shows and animated series.
Phil Lynch, VP Digital Networks and Games at Sony Pictures Television says:
Lake Vostok, Antartica: Russian scientists have been radio silent for 5 days
First off, some back story. This will end up as a mini-editorial, but some of you will find this very interesting. Lake Vostok is a large (10,000km2), presumably fresh water body located under some 4km of ice in East Antarctica. The lake is not some little pool of water, its a gigantic, 250km long and 50km wide.
Because the lake is under kilometres of frozen ice, it has been untouched by todays technology and hence, the hands of man. The contents of this secret under-the-ice lake, have not seen the light of day for more than 20 million years. Because of this long period of pure isolation, it is believed that the water inside Lake Vostok could contain new, never-before-seen lifeforms, and unique geochemical processes.
For the past five-plus years, Russia and the United States have been seeking to probe Vostok in order to discover its underlying secrets from this pure, pristine body of water. The problem associated with such an untouched body of water is that as soon as it is discovered, tested and exposed, we would have contaminated it in multiple ways. Because of its long period of isolation, it cannot be explored without the introduction of the outside world, i.e. us.
RumorTT: Apple iPad 3 to sport quad-core A6 chip, available in LTE
We started the day off with a RumorTT about the iPod Nano, and toward the end of the news posting day, another RumorTT is here, about the iPad 3. I did originally say that it was weird posting a RumorTT piece about an Apple product that wasn't an iPhone or iPad... but mere hours later, here we are.
A "source claiming to be in possession of an iPad 3 prototype" provided BGR with images that contained juicy details on Apple's next-generation iPad. From the above photo, which contains the output from an iPad 3 using a development and debug tool called iBoot, we can see tonnes of information on the iPad 3.
First, J1 and J2 (iPad3,1 and iPad3,2) are two different models, not different devices. A single iPad 3, available in Wi-Fi-only and another that sports GSM/CDMA/LTE for all carriers. Also spotted in the photo is the first news of the chip being slapped into the iPad 3: an A6 processor with the model number S5L8945X. To compare this to previous Apple chips, the Apple A4 model was S5L8930X and the Apple A5 is the S5L8940X.
Continue reading: RumorTT: Apple iPad 3 to sport quad-core A6 chip, available in LTE (full post)
The Pirate Bay founders' get sentences finaled, face jail time
This has been going on for quite a while now, but just a few moments ago, Sweden's Supreme Court handed down its decision to not grant leave to appeal in the long-running Pirate Bay criminal trial. What this means is that their previously determined jail sentences and fines handed out to Peter Sunde, Fredrik Neij, Gottfrid Svartholm and Carl Lundström will stand.
During the original 2009 trial, Fredrik Neij, Peter Sunde and Carl Lundström all had their sentences decreased, but ordered to pay increased damages that added up to millions of dollars to be handed over to the entertainment company plaintiffs.
The three men filed for a hearing of their case at the Supreme Court, which happened today, and their request was denied. This means that the previously-given sentences now stand, and are final. Peter Sunde aka Brokep, will face 8 months in prison. Fredrik Neij aka TiAMO, is looking at 10 months. Businessman Carl Lundström has just 4 months behind bars. They are all still required to pay a combined $6.8 million in damages.
Continue reading: The Pirate Bay founders' get sentences finaled, face jail time (full post)
Facebook files $5 billion IPO, 'likes' it
Facebook has finally, after all this time, speculation and rumors, finally reached their status of hitting an initial public offering (IPO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). It raised $5 billion, less than the previously speculated $10 billion.
In their S-1 filing, Facebook also mentioned they would begin selling public stock as soon as possible. On top of the IPO news, they released some statistics on Facebook, which are very mind-blowing: Facebook now receives 845 million active users per month, 100 billion friendships, 2.7 billion likes and comments per day, as well as 250 million photos being uploaded every day.
We also found out that Facebook has been profitable for three years now, with revenue of $777 million on profit of $229 million in 2009 alone. Revenue grew 154-percent to $1.974 billion in 2010, and another 88-percent in 2011 to $3.711 billion. Facebook earned $1 billion last year, and are sitting on cash reserves of $3.908 billion.
Continue reading: Facebook files $5 billion IPO, 'likes' it (full post)
Samsung Galaxy S III will receive its own special launch event 'in first half of 2012'
Samsung has confirmed with TechRadar, that the successor to the super-awesome Galaxy S II, the Galaxy S III won't be seen at Mobile World Congress this year. The Galaxy S II was announced at last year's MWC, but the successor will miss the show. Boo.
It was revealed that the Galaxy S III will receive its own separate event to show off the new phone:
Samsung is looking forward to introducing and demonstrating exciting new mobile products at Mobile World Congress 2012. The successor to the Galaxy S2 smartphone will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year, closer to commercial availability of the product. Samsung stays committed to providing the best possible mobile experiences for customers around the world.
A single tweet stops a couple from being allowed to enter the U.S.
Twitter recently gave itself itself the power to censor particular tweets in particular countries, but this latest move tops them all. Two friends had planned a trip the the United States, as most people would dream of doing, with Leigh Van Bryan posting a tweet just weeks before his trip that he was going to "destroy America."
Now, a level-headed person would take that as someone who is excited about going to the U.S. with a friend, and is looking to have a great time. The U.S. didn't see it that way, and did not think it was said in a positive tone, where things escalated, quite a bit. Bryan and his friend, Emily Bunting, arrived at the Los Angeles International Airport, where they were questioned by U.S. special agents who had spotted their tweet.
They were questioned for over five hours, after which they were placed into an illegal immigrants van and were put behind bars, separately, for 12 hours. Bryan was questioned in regards to his tweet, where he jokingly said he would be "digging up Marilyn Monroe." The tweet where the U.S. believed Bryan was a "terrorist" was:
Continue reading: A single tweet stops a couple from being allowed to enter the U.S. (full post)
Where's Half-Life 3? 30,000+ gamers intend to find out
I'm one of these people. Where in the hell is Half-Life 3. My latest editorial even covers it, where the last words are "Where are you, Gordon Freeman?" We need him, and we need him now. There seems to be a push from the community, too, which is great.
A quote from the group:
The entire trilogy of episodes was supposed to be completed and released by 2007, and if Valve have decided to do other things for the time being, that is fine; all that we ask for is a basic response on the matter, and to let fans know whether or not the current story arc is scheduled to conclude at another point in time.
Continue reading: Where's Half-Life 3? 30,000+ gamers intend to find out (full post)