31 July 2012

90% Of Facebook Ad Clicks Are From Bots?

Why Do Some Advertisers Believe That 90% Of Facebook Ad Clicks Are From Bots?
Forbes
team passionately cares about their users' experience and the care and feeding of their advertising clients. at any given point, we have a lot of different tests, different algorithms running, and we measure engagement of everything downstream from ... 


Hulu Plus Pushes Apple TV to Higher Levels of Cord-Cutting
Wired News
By Roberto Baldwin Apple TV could be getting more app love from content providers. Photo: Ariel Zambelich/Wired Apple TV owners woke up to a surprise this morning: Hulu Plus is now built in. The streaming TV and movie service shows up as an additional ...

Apple-Samsung Patent Trial Begins
Wall Street Journal
SAN JOSE, Calif.—Lawyers for Apple Inc. began their opening statements in the company's patent trial with Samsung Electronics Co. by arguing the Korean company blatantly knocked-off the iPhone and portraying the smartphone as a revolutionary and risky ...

Journalist's Twitter Account Restored Amidst Olympics Controversy
PC Magazine
By Chloe Albanesius Twitter today restored the account of journalist Guy Adams, who had his feed suspended on Sunday for tweeting the email address of an NBC Sports executive. "Oh. My Twitter account appears to have been un-suspended.

Google Acquires Wildfire Interactive, a Social-Media Ad Firm
Wall Street Journal
By AMIR EFRATI Google Inc. on Tuesday said it acquired Wildfire Interactive Inc., which helps businesses place ads on social-media sites like Facebook Inc.'s Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, but a person with direct knowledge of the transaction ...

Amazon Expands Cloud Music After Deals With Top Four US Labels
Businessweek
By Danielle Kucera on July 31, 2012 Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) (AMZN) has reached licensing deals with the four major US record companies for a music service that lets users store songs remotely and play them online, competing with Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

Apple nearly scrapped iPhone "multiple times" says designer Sir Jonathan Ive
Apple Insider
By Daniel Eran Dilger Apple's head designer Sir Jonathan Ive has related the the company almost gave up on its design for iPhone "multiple times" after running into seemingly insurmountable technical challenges. Speaking at a British Business ...

Microsoft announces new email client, launches Outlook.com preview
Los Angeles Times
Microsoft introduced a new email client Tuesday called Outlook.com, a personal version of its already widely used brand. Outlook.com is Microsoft's latest stab at an email service and essentially replaces Hotmail as the company's primary email service.

Final Fantasy III Coming to Ouya Android Console
PC Magazine
By Stephanie Mlot Final Fantasy III will be a launch title for the Android-based Ouya game console, the company and game maker Square Enix confirmed today. Square Enix said that its popular game will be available on the Ouya at launch, scheduled for ...

Computer glitch may be to blame for Six Flags coaster mishap
Los Angeles Times
A roller coaster that stopped mid-ride over the weekend -- stranding passengers at the top -- remains grounded as state officials complete a safety inspection. Superman: Ultimate Flight at Six Flags Discovery Kingdom in Vallejo suddenly stopped on ...

Safari 6 crashing in Mountain Lion
CNET
A rare combination of proxy settings and the popular password manager 1Password may result in Safari crashing. by Topher Kessler Some Mac users who have upgraded to OS X 10.8 have found that Apple's Safari Web browser is crashing.

Pantech MARAUDER heads to Verizon with 4G LTE on the cheap
SlashGear
Making that jump from an old-fashioned feature phone to a smartphone can be pretty intimidating for a lot of consumers, and Verizon and Pantech are looking to do something about that with the new MARAUDER. Not only is the MARAUDER inexpensive, ...

SlashGear

Ubisoft Patches uPlay Browser Plug-In Backdoor Flaw
Tom's Guide
Bringing up Ubisoft's always-online DRM through uPlay is sure to elicit groans of annoyance and protest from any PC gamer. The latest issue with uPlay is only sure to aggravate them even further. Google information security engineer Tavis Ormandy ...

Gmail Chat Users Gain Improved Video Chat With Google+ Hangouts
eWeek
In the past, users of Gmail Chat could only have a video chat with one person at a time. Now Google has expanded Gmail Chat to allow video participation by up to nine people simultaneously if you participate through your free Google+ account.

Kirk and Crusher team up on Mars
TG Daily
NASA's Curiosity rover is scheduled to land on the surface of Mars at 1:31 AM EDT on August 6. The space agency has kicked off a massive campaign to generate public interest in the mission, tweeting updates and posting a number of video outlining ...

Spotify doubles number of paying users
Financial Times
By Tim Bradshaw in San Francisco Spotify, the digital music service, has more than doubled its subscriber base a year after launching in the US, the world's largest music market. Ken Parks, Spotify's chief content officer, said on Tuesday that it now ...

Scientist's cameras find 5 flags on moon
USA TODAY
For years, scientists and space buffs have wondered what happened to the six American flags planted on the moon during the historic Apollo missions. Now, thanks to high-resolution cameras orbiting the moon, the mystery is solved: All the flags but one ...

USA TODAY

Giant Human Statue Discovered in Turkey Dates Back to 1000 B.C.
Slate Magazine (blog)
By Slate V Staff MySlate is a new tool that let's you track your favorite parts Slate. You can follow authors and sections, track comment threads you're interested in, and more. Archeologists in the southeast region unearthed the colossal head and ...

Slate Magazine (blog)

Drought, Ethanol Big Part of July's Spike in Gas Prices
Wall Street Journal
US drivers saw prices at the pump rise 5.1% in July, the largest increase for the month in more than a dozen years. On top of oil speculators and geopolitical tensions, ethanol also played a role this time. According to AAA, national average gasoline ...

Google Now revisited: One month with Android's new secret weapon
Computerworld (blog)
By JR Raphael One of the most interesting features in Google's Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release is one you might not even notice right away. It's called Google Now, and it's poised to show off the power of what a Google-made platform can do.

Computerworld (blog)

iPad Mini: What We Know So Far
PCWorld (blog)
By Daniel Ionescu, PCWorld Jul 31, 2012 10:47 AM Mockups of the new iPhone and iPad Mini. (Courtesy of John Anastasiadis) Apple is set to unveil a new iPhone and possibly a new smaller iPad on Sept. 12, according to pundits.

Google Asked for Street View Data by French Privacy Agency
Businessweek
By Heather Smith on July 31, 2012 Google Inc. (GOOG) (GOOG) was asked to provide France's data-protection authority with information gathered through its Street View service, which it should have deleted after a 2011 fine. The request came four days ...

NYC subway alerts now on Google Maps
Newsday
Region/State Newsday > News Print Aa NYC subway alerts now on Google Maps Published: July 31, 2012 1:54 PM By The Associated Press (AP) -- Google Maps is now offering advisories for the New York City subway system. The goal is to help riders to plan ...

'Earliest' evidence of modern human culture found
BBC News
By Nick Crumpton BBC News The earliest unambiguous evidence for modern human behaviour has been discovered by an international team of researchers in a South African cave. The finds provide early evidence for the origin of modern human behaviour 44000 ...

BBC News

Mayday, mayday: Apple's latest ad campaign faces groans from all sides
Ars Technica
Apple's latest ads may not be the best, but they're probably not the worst. by Jacqui Cheng - Jul 31, 2012 4:50 pm UTC I like Ellen Feiss, but some would argue that her era yielded some of the most cringe-worthy Apple ads. Apple's advertising campaigns ...

Texting while walking at your own risk
The Daily Iberian
It's ignoring a bit of common sense your mom told you as a kid, “Watch where you're going!” An Associated Press story this week, however, said that people out there who are texting while walking, are putting themselves in dangerous situations, ...

Legend of Zelda prototype cartridge goes to auction: $150000 proves your ...
Engadget
By Jon Fingas posted Jul 31st 2012 2:03PM And you thought that Nintendo World Championships gold cartridge would make a nice start to the retirement fund. An eBay auction from tjcurtin1 is offering a prototype NES cartridge for the US release of The ...

Def Con and Black Hat: A tale of two security conferences (in pictures)
VentureBeat
Def Con and Black Hat, while both security conferences held together in Las Vegas, are two very different beasts. One attracts the corporate security type, another the hacker underbelly. Black Hat could almost be described as mellow in comparison to ...

VentureBeat

Apple MacBook Pro with Retina Display Review
TechSpot
By Shawn Knight on July 31, 2012 Apple's coveted Retina display has finally found its way to a full-size notebook courtesy of the latest MacBook Pro. But anyone familiar with this new system knows that Apple didn't simply add a higher resolution ..
.

Apple's Ive: 'Our goal isn't to make money'

Apple design chief: 'Our goal isn't to make money'
Telegraph.co.uk
Apple might be the world's most valuable company, with a market capitalisation of $556bn (£354bn), but its design chief insists it is not in business for the money. By Katherine Rushton, Media, telecoms and technology editor Sir Jonathan Ive, ...

Telegraph.co.uk

Is Twitter's Olympic knee jerk about money?
CNET
Twitter suspends a British journalist who happened to criticize NBC's Olympics coverage for doing something that seemed not to be against its rules. Might its commercial partnership with NBC have hooded its eyes? by Chris Matyszczyk An impression of ...

Curiosity's journey to Mars
Washington Post
NASA's sedan-size Mars rover is scheduled to land on the Red Planet's surface Aug. 5 to learn whether it was, or ever could be, home to extraterrestrial life. This photo taken by the NASA's Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet Mars.

Expert: Huawei routers are riddled with vulnerabilities
CNET
German security researcher says the Chinese government doesn't need to demand back doors on Huawei routers because there are already major holes in their firmware. by Elinor Mills LAS VEGAS -- A German security researcher says he has uncovered several ...
Jury selected in Apple, Samsung US patent trial
Reuters
By Dan Levine and Poornima Gupta SAN JOSE, Calif., July 30 (Reuters) - An insurance agent, an unemployed video game enthusiast and a project manager for wireless carrier AT&T were among the 10 jurors selected to decide a high-stakes US patent battle ...

BMW shows 75 mph electric scooter
CNET
BMW says its C Evolution is the final development step towards a production electric two-wheeler. by Wayne Cunningham The C Evolution is the third generation of an electric scooter being developed by BMW. In the last decade, BMW's motorcycle division ...

Bots Raise Their Heads Again on Facebook
New York Times (blog)
By SOMINI SENGUPTA Any business that advertises on Facebook wants eyes looking at its ads and then fingers clicking on them. Facebook gets paid based on how many clicks that ad receives – effectively, on how many users it can send to a particular brand...

Google Glass hangout for pre-order customers causes confusion
ZDNet (blog)
Summary: Google Glass team members held a "hangout" on Monday dedicated to discussion about the futuristic spectacles, but hardly anything (if anything) new was learned. By Rachel King for Between the Lines | July 30, 2012 -- 21:35 GMT (14:35 PDT) In ...

Apple Preparing IPhone Redesign for Sept. 12 Introduction
Businessweek
By Adam Satariano on July 30, 2012 Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) is preparing to introduce the next version of the iPhone on Sept. 12 in what will be a design overhaul of its top-selling product, according to two people with knowledge of the company's plans ...

Modern Warfare 3 September DLC images leaked
SlashGear
We've got a slew of Modern Warfare 3 rumors to tell you about today, so sit down and strap in. We may have received our first glimpse at Activision's September DLC offerings for the immensely popular military shooter, which will apparently add three ...

SlashGear

The next generation of giant wind turbines may go vertical
DVICE
Traditional wind turbine designs are HAWT. You know, not hot hawt, but HAWT like a Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine." A HAWT design is what you probably think of when you picture a wind turbine (it's the thing that looks like a big propeller on a stick), ...

Modern culture emerged in Africa 20000 years earlier than thought
Los Angeles Times
Modern culture emerged in southern Africa at least 44000 years ago, more than 20000 years earlier than anthropologists had previously believed, researchers reported Monday. That blossoming of technology and art occurred at roughly the same time that ...

Microsoft unveils fondle-ready keyboards, mice
Register
Offering the latest evidence that Microsoft is moving toward an Apple-like integrated product strategy, on Monday Redmond announced a new collection of keyboards and mice that cater not just to Windows 8's spare aesthetic, but also to the design of ...

Two climate papers get hyped first, reviewed later. Isn't that a bad idea?
Washington Post (blog)
In September 2011, researchers at the CERN institute in Geneva convened a press conference to make a jaw-dropping announcement. The scientists had been firing a beam of neutrinos 450 miles from Switzerland to Italy, and, after taking tens of thousands ...

Samsung Product Chief: 'It's Unreasonable That We're Fighting Over Rectangles'
Wired News
By Nathan Olivarez-Giles The Apple v. Samsung trial that begins in a San Jose federal courtroom on Monday could emerge as the most important patent dispute of the decade. Apple and Samsung are accusing each other of infringing on a number technology ...

Wired News

Number of 'distracted walking' injuries quadruple in 7 years
Los Angeles Times
America, we have got a problem. It is called "distracted walking" and while it occasionally makes for hilarious online video bloopers, it is also posing a real danger to the people of our great nation. The number of people who have landed in US ...

Why you shouldn't fall for the upgrade trap phone makers set for you
Digitaltrends.com
Will the latest superphone save you time, organize your days and make you the life of the party any more than your last phone? Probably not. For the first couple of days after my new Samsung Galaxy S3 arrived we were inseparable.

Digitaltrends.com

Apple's iPhone Takes Smartphone Share from Android in U.S.
The Mac Observer
Apple's iPhone gained market share in the US smartphone industry during the June quarter, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. The company said that Apple's share rose from 23 percent in the second quarter of 2011 to 33 percent in Q2 of 2012.

The Mac Observer

AirPlay only the audio from your Mac using OS X Mountain Lion
CNET
AirPlay mirroring is a new feature in OS X Mountain Lion, but you can also stream your Mac's system sounds to any AirPlay device. Here's how. by Jason Cipriani One of the new features in OS X Mountain Lion is the new AirPlay Mirroring feature.

MacBook Pro review (13-inch, mid-2012)
Engadget
By Sarah Silbert posted Jul 30th 2012 4:00PM When the MacBook Pro with Retina display is in the game, Apple's "regular" Pros may seem a bit like also-rans. After all, why would you choose them when you could get a brilliant 15-inch 2880 x 1800 IPS ...

Capcom posts strong financial report for Q1 2012
SlashGear
Capcom is looking pretty good at the end of its first quarter for the year, thanks in no small part to the success of Dragon's Dogma. We've known for a while that Dragon's Dogma has passed 1 million units shipped, but today Capcom reiterated that ...

SlashGear

NASA: American flags have survived the moon's harsh ultraviolet light
The Capitol Column
New images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) show that five out of the six flags placed on the moon by astronauts from the Apollo moon landing missions during the 1960s and 1970s still stand upright on the moon.

The Capitol Column

Saturn moon's landslides attract study
UPI.com
The prehistoric Blackhawk landslide fell from California's San Bernadino mountains and extends five miles into the Lucerne Valley. Credit: Kerry Sieh/USGS ST. LOUIS, July 30 (UPI) -- Long, icy landslides on a moon of Saturn resemble ones on Earth known ...

UPI.com

Ubisoft Patches Browser Plugin that Left Game-Players Open to Cyber-Attack
eWeek
Ubisoft Entertainment says it has patched a security vulnerability in a browser plugin that, if exploited, could have left users open to cyber-attack. Videogame maker Ubisoft Entertainment says it has patched a security vulnerability uncovered in a ...

Apple Officials Said to Consider Stake in Twitter
New York Times
Apple, which has stumbled in its efforts to get into social media, has talked with Twitter in recent months about making a strategic investment in it, according to people briefed on the matter. While Apple has been hugely successful in selling phones ...

Century of Drought May Be Ahead
LiveScience.com
A drought that gripped western North America from 2000 to 2004 was the worst since the Middle Ages, but such extreme conditions may become normal during the next 100 years, finds a new study. During the drought that started at the turn of the century, ...

Why The Open Cloud Wins And Oracle Loses When IT Gets Virtualized
Centralia Chronicle
Oracle said today they have bought a company called Xsigo that leverages the growing popularity of a new form of technology called software defined networking (SDN) that is shaking up the way we view IT and the cloud. An online service is needed to ...

Olympics: Swiss soccer player sent home for racist tweet
Christian Science Monitor
Michel Morganella joined the growing list of athletes at the London Olympics who have gotten into hot water for using Twitter. By Mark Sappenfield, Staff writer / July 30, 2012 Switzerland's Michel Morganella (l.) battles against a South Korean player ...

Christian Science Monito
Floating city for high-tech start-ups?
CBS News
Once you get 12 nautical miles off the coast, you are no longer in U.S. territorial waters, but you're still an easy commute from Silicon Valley, the tech capital of the world. That's why Mutabdzija and his partner Max Marty think it's the perfect place to set up an ...

CBS News


30 July 2012

Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief

Former NSA Official Disputes Claims by NSA Chief
Wired News (blog)
By Kim Zetter LAS VEGAS — A former NSA official has accused the NSA's director of deception during a speech he gave at the DefCon hacker conference on Friday when he asserted that the agency does not collect files on Americans. William Binney, a former...


How all your iPhone apps could be hacked at once
CNNMoney
By David Goldman @CNNMoneyTech July 27, 2012: 12:08 PM ET LAS VEGAS (CNNMoney) -- The iPhone's baked-in security has improved dramatically over the past few years, which is great for Apple fans. In a weird way, it's good for hackers too.

Apple Jury to Learn of Samsung Document Destruction
Businessweek
By Joel Rosenblatt on July 26, 2012 Apple Inc. (AAPL) (AAPL) won court permission to tell a jury that Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) destroyed e-mail that the iPhone maker wanted to use as evidence in a patent trial set to begin July 30.

Why Apple users are happy to be more inept than Microsoft's
CNET
Critics of Apple's new Genius Bar ads declare that they make Apple users look "inept and foolish." But isn't that a good thing? by Chris Matyszczyk It's four in the morning, and still he's helpful. These are such nice people. The other day, I received ...

Apple Continues to Fight Amazon Over 'App Store' Name
PC Magazine
By Stephanie Mlot In the ongoing battle between Apple and Amazon over the "app store" title, Cupertino is now demanding that Amazon produce an executive who will testify about why Amazon dropped the "for Android" tag from its full store name.

Koch-funded climate change skeptic reverses course
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON – The verdict is in: Global warming is occurring and emissions of greenhouse gases caused by human activity are the main cause. This, according to Richard A. Muller, professor of physics at UC Berkeley, MacArthur Fellow and co-founder of the ...

Russian cargo spacecraft docks with space station on 2nd try
msnbc.com
An unmanned Russian cargo ship parked itself at the International Space Station tonight (July 28), in a second attempt to test an updated space docking system, NASA says. The robotic Russian Progress 47 spacecraft re-docked to the space station to test ...

msnbc.com

Photo supposedly shows iPhone 5 assembled from leaked parts
CNET
As rumors of the imminent arrival of an iPhone 5 continue, a photo appears of a device allegedly pieced together with escaped components. by Edward Moyer Has someone assembled a more or less complete example of the next iPhone -- or at least the ...

Can't 'find your friends' on Instagram? Go cry to Twitter
msnbc.com
Tracking down your Twitter buddies among Instagram's 80 million users is now tougher than ever — because the photo-sharing service's "Find Your Friends" feature is kaput. And Twitter appears to be at fault. As TechCrunch's Alexia Tsotsis reports, ...

Facebook shares spook investors now. But long term?
Christian Science Monitor
Facebook shares reach lowest level ever as revenue growth slows and investors cash out. Analysts are more upbeat about the potential for Facebook shares. By Barbara Ortutay, AP Technology Writer / July 28, 2012 In this May file photo, the Facebook logo ...

Christian Science Monitor

Sight: An 8-Minute Augmented Reality Journey That Makes Google Glass Look Tame
Forbes
Sight, a short, science fiction film by Israeli student filmmakers Eran May-raz and Daniel Lazo is a brilliant take on the emerging world of augmented reality (AR)—the technology behind Google's goofy glasses. The film, a graduation project in the ...

AT&T slashes HTC One X price in half
BetaNews
By Mihaita Bamburic Have you considered the HTC One X but found the price to be too high? The phone now is a whole lot cheaper. AT&T slashed the price in half -- by $100 from $199.99 to $99.99 on a two-year contract. The One X comes with Android 4.0.3 ...

BetaNews

Tech titans face off in court over iPhone, iPad
Businessweek
By Paul Elias on July 29, 2012 SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Two tech titans will square off in federal court Monday in a closely watched trial over control of the US smart phone and computer tablet markets. Apple Inc. filed a lawsuit against Samsung ...

Google Fiber: Pros and Cons
PCWorld
By Christina DesMarais, PCWorld Jul 29, 2012 9:39 AM Its service, with 1000 Mbps download and upload speeds, is 100 times faster than the Internet connection that most people have today. That means no more buffering videos, cloud gaming that doesn't ...

Apple Q3 Earnings Miss: iPhone 5 or Consumer Slowdown?
ValueWalk
By Nicholas Maithya Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) sales declined during the company's Q3 results, owing to increased speculation over the release date of the latest iPhone, alias iPhone 5. According to a report on ABC News, Apple Chiefs, the CEO Tim Cook ...

ValueWalk

Hayden and Rossi hoping for better on Sunday after poor qualifying at Laguna
Sport Rider Magazine
By Henny Ray Abrams MONTEREY, CA, JULY 28- The Ducati Marlboro team had one of their best weekends of the past two seasons in their home grand prix at Mugello. The team left Italy on a high, and with new parts to bring to Nicky Hayden's home race, ...

Sport Rider Magazine

A Death Valley drive with the click of a mouse
ksl.com
By Traci Cone, AP AP FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - Imagine being the only driver on a two-lane asphalt highway as the stark desolation of Death Valley National park passes on each side and the crystal blue sky stretches up from the horizon.

ksl.com

NASA X-Ray Mirror Idea Inspired by Scotch Tape (No, Really!)
LiveScience.com
by SPACE.com Staff Scotch tape, that transparent, sticky hero of offices everywhere, could be a NASA superstar as well. The rolled-up adhesive tape is the inspiration behind a novel idea for a completely new kind of X-ray mirror for big telescopes in ...

John Kelly: Super rocket review positive, but let's not celebrate early
Florida Today
NASA engineers test fired a new J-2X rocket engine at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi this month. / NASA NASA's new super rocket is moving forward, passing two important review milestones this week and progressing into preliminary design.

Violent Stars Live With Vampires
Latinos Post
Artist's impression of a vampire star and its victim. New research using data from ESO's Very Large Telescope has revealed that the hottest and brightest stars, which are known as O stars, are often found in close pairs. Many of such binaries transfer ...

Latinos Post

Rumor: Apple Was Mulling Big Stake in Twitter
PC Magazine
By Damon Poeter Apple, reportedly in talks with Twitter over the past few months about taking a big stake in the microblogging service to help shore up its social networking deficiencies, hasn't reached a deal with the San Francisco startup, ...

No deal for Apple's $10bn Twitter takeover
SlashGear
Apple's negotiations with Twitter for a possible takeover of the microblogging social site ended with no deal agreed, according to rumors, with both firms arguably getting all they needed from Mountain Lion. Reports of the discussions – along with a ...

SlashGear

Storms Threaten Ozone Layer Over US, Study Says
New York Times
Strong summer thunderstorms that pump water high into the upper atmosphere pose a threat to the protective ozone layer over the United States, researchers said on Thursday, drawing one of the first links between climate change and ozone loss over ...

Google Updates Select Locales With High-Res Imagery
Hot Hardware
Google is making its Maps and Earth products even better. While the company clearly has to match Apple now that the company is cranking out its own Maps app for iOS 6, it seems that 3D offline maps with flyover data isn't enough.

Hot Hardware

Hyundai recalls more than 220000 vehicles for potential air bags flaws
KETK
CNN — Hyundai is recalling more than 220000 Santa Fe SUVs and Sonata sedans because of potential problems with their air bags. The recall affects almost 200000 SUVs from the 2007-2009 model years, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety ...

28nm Chip Shortage May Lead to iPhone 5 Delay
Hot Hardware
If you're one of the many people stuck in a smartphone holding pattern as you wait for Apple to announce (and launch) its upcoming iPhone 5 model, go ahead and get cozy. Reports out of China suggest Apple may delay the iPhone 5 as a result of a ...

Hot Hardware

Tony Hawk's HD sells 120K in first week on XBLA
Gamasutra
by Mike Rose [Console/PC, Business/Marketing, Exclusive] Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, the latest installment and the first downloadable title in the arcade skateboarding series, sold approximately 120000 copies in its first week on sale, ...

Analysis: Evidence for climate extremes, costs, gets more local
Reuters
By Environment Correspondent Alister Doyle | OSLO (Reuters) - Scientists are finding evidence that man-made climate change has raised the risks of individual weather events, such as floods or heatwaves, marking a big step towards pinpointing local ...

How Facebook has grown: Number of active users at Facebook over the years
Washington Post
Facebook added about 50 million users worldwide during the April-June quarter. Facebook now has more than 950 million people using the service in a given month, 29 percent more than a year ago. The company said 543 million of them accessed the service ..
.

27 July 2012

Apple to buy fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec for $356 million

Apple to buy fingerprint sensor maker AuthenTec for $356 million
Reuters
(Reuters) - Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has agreed to buy fingerprint sensor technology developer AuthenTec Inc (AUTH.O) for about $356 million, in a deal that could put its iPhone at the center of the emerging mobile payments market.

Facebook stock drops 11% in midday trading
USA TODAY
NEW YORK – Facebook stock plunged Friday after the company reported slowing revenue growth. In midday trading, the stock had rebounded a bit from being down nearly 15%. It was trading down 11% to $23.84. It closed Thursday at $26.85.

USA TODAY

Tech City CEO to Join Canary Wharf Group
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Eric Van Der Kleij, the outgoing chief executive of the U.K.'s Tech City Investment Organization, will join the Canary Wharf Group as a special adviser charged with attracting technology companies to the area, dominated by the financial services industry.

Wall Street Journal (blog)

Tech Buzz gets Google-y eyed
CNET
It's not available in our part of the world yet, but we managed to get our hands on the developer's version of the Nexus 7 tablet that was given out at the Google I/O event last month. Find out what are some of the sweet Jelly Bean features lying in the ...

CNET

Far from Silicon Valley, tech industry finds an oracle
msnbc.com
At age 30, Shimpi is courted by technology executives and followed by Wall Street analysts keen to hear his well-informed product views. He briefs Intel executives, dines with Asian PC executives and commands a loyal following of techenthusiasts, with ...

msnbc.com

Biz Break: Tech's depressing earnings week continues with Facebook's stock ...
San Jose Mercury News
Facebook also seemed to anger investors and analysts by refusing to provide forecasts for future revenues, a common offering from companies but a tactic not employed by Google (GOOG) and some other big Silicon Valley tech companies. "Growth is clearly ...

The 10 coolest tech stories of the 2012 London Olympics
CNN
As the Australian Broadcast Corporation notes in a video package about the technology, the cyclists watch a screen that looks like a video game but actually is a "mile for mile, hill for hill recreation of the London Olympic road cycling course." NASA treadmill: ...

A look at tech companies with recent IPOs
Boston.com
Here's a look at earnings reports from some tech companies that had IPOs since last year. The companies are all loosely Internet-related, though their businesses vary widely. — Wednesday: Zynga ... Your article has been sent. More articles in Technology ...

Raytheon's Space Fence technology ready to track space debris
MarketWatch (press release)
During this PDR program, the Air Force evaluated cost, schedule, the maturity of technology and design in support of transitioning the Space Fence system into production. Space Fence is a multiphase acquisition program, leading to the delivery of up to two, ...

Tech 21 Special Ops Submariner
CNET
The good: The Tech21 Submariner case has an extremely durable and completely waterproof design that will protect your iPhone from the elements while letting you use the touch screen at the same time. The bad: The Submariner case won't let you access ...

What Congress' cybersecurity bills mean for you
msnbc.com
The Strengthening and Enhancing Cybersecurity by Using Research, Education, Information andTechnology (SECURE IT) Act: Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and others have introduced a measure that encourages voluntary sharing of cyberthreat information ...

Tech high-fliers make a crash landing
New York Post
While they run the technology gamut from gaming to gadgets, the companies all fell short after reporting slowing growth instead of skyrocketing trajectories. Facebook met already lowered expectations yesterday, but Wall Street still punished the stock, ...

Google Move Buoys Chicago Tech Hub
Wall Street Journal
Google Inc. is shifting 3,000 jobs from its newly acquired Motorola Mobility unit to downtown Chicago in a move Mayor Rahm Emanuel hopes will anchor a burgeoning tech sector in the nation’s third largest city.  . . Mr. Emanuel said he hoped Google's presence would attract start-up technology companies and stem the Midwestern brain drain. “I think this offers Chicago an opportunity to be a game changer, to be a digital Mecca for the Midwest,” Mr. Emanuel said.

UK: Google appears to have broken Street View deal
Businessweek
By By Cassandra Vinogradraphael Satter on July 27, 2012 LONDON (AP) — Britain's information watchdog said Friday that Google appears to have broken an agreement to delete data collected by its Street View vehicles. Google angered regulators in several ...

IDC: Samsung extends lead in smartphones
Businessweek
By Anick Jesdanun on July 27, 2012 NEW YORK (AP) — Samsung has extended its lead over Apple in smartphones, in part because its new Galaxy phones came out before Apple updated its iPhone, research group IDC said Friday. Samsung's Galaxy S3 phones got ...

AT&T Dropping Price of HTC One X to $99.99
PC Magazine
By Angela Moscaritolo Looking to get a top of the line Android smartphone at AT&T on the cheap? You're in luck! AT&T is gearing up to slash the price of HTC's One X on Sunday. The flasgship HTC handset will be dropping from $199.99 on a two-year ...

ISPs Poised to Battle Google's 'Fiberhoods'
PC Magazine
By Chloe Albanesius Google on Thursday unveiled plans for its Google Fiber service, which is scheduled to hit the Kansas City region by mid-2013. But how do existing ISPs and cable providers in the region feel about Google moving in on their turf?

Do we need a new National Broadband Plan?
Ars Technica
by Matthew Lasar - Jul 27, 2012 4:04 pm UTC Google may be rolling out 1Gbps Internet access to Kansas City, but there are about 19 million American households and businesses that still lack any access to broadband, according to the Federal ...

Samsung, Nokia Devices Hacked Through NFC Security Flaw
eWeek
Samsung and Nokia smartphones were hacked through an NFC vulnerability at the BlackHat security conference. Google is a big backer of NFC, which analysts expect to be behind $180 billion of consumer purchases in 2017. Just as Near-Field Communications ...

Top secret iPad, iPhone prototypes revealed in court documents
Fox News
Early concepts of Apple's market-leading iProducts revealed as a result of a sprawling legal battle with arch-rival Samsung show wacky ideas -- including octagonal shapes, handles and kickstands. Images revealed by tech news site The Verge, ...

Why we keep going back to Mars
Christian Science Monitor
The Mars Curiosity Rover scheduled to touch down on Aug. 5 represents mankind's 40th attempt to explore the Red Planet over the past 50 years. What is it about the Mars that keeps calling us back? By Mike Wall, Space.com / July 27, 2012 This artist ...

Christian Science Monitor

Japanese cargo spacecraft docks at space station
msnbc.com
The third in a series of robotic Japanese spaceships safely arrived at the International Space Station on Friday, bearing a delivery of food, equipment and student science experiments for the orbital outpost. The unmanned, school bus-size H-2 Transfer ...

msnbc.com

Google Mobile Search Adds Handwriting for Easy Text Input
PCWorld (blog)
By Christina DesMarais, PCWorld Jul 27, 2012 9:25 AM Google now lets you input a Google search query on your smartphone or tablet by writing it out with your finger, instead of making you tap it out on a keyboard or via voice command.

Twitter Confirms Removing Follow Graph From Instagram's 'Find Friends'
Mashable
Twitter has confirmed the removal of its follow graph data from Instagram, disabling the “Find Twitter Friends” feature in the photo app. Users can still find people from their phone's contact list and Facebook friends list. “We understand that there's ...

Facebook hammered as earnings fuel doubts
AFP
By Charlotte Raab (AFP) – 1 hour ago NEW YORK — Facebook shares took a beating Friday after uninspiring earnings in the first results since the much-hyped public offering of the world's biggest social network. In morning trade, Facebook shares plunged ...

AFP

Facebook announces new social plug-in Recommendations Bar
Inquirer
By Lee Bell SOCIAL NETWORK Facebook has launched a plug-in called the Recommendations Bar, which shows you articles from around the web based on what your friends are reading. On Facebook's developer blog, engineer Jeffrey Spehar explained how the ...

Microsoft Admits Surface Tablet Might Alienate Partners
PC Magazine
By Chloe Albanesius Microsoft this week admitted that its upcoming Surface tablet might hurt its relationships with PC maker partners. As first noted by the New York Times, Redmond said in a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission...

Forget the conspiracy theories: Skype's supernodes belong in the cloud
ZDNet
Forget the conspiracy rumours about wiretapping: putting Skype's supernodes in the Microsoft datacentres is about improving performance and not appropriating bandwidth. There's been a lot of speculation about whether Skype made changes to its ...

Does Windows 8 succeed as a true tablet operating system?
Ars Technica
by Peter Bright - Jul 27, 2012 12:00 pm UTC Among desktop users, Windows 8's user interface has been met with a lukewarm reception, inspiring a recurring refrain: "Why have they put a tablet interface on my desktop system?" That Windows 8 is actually ...

New Survey Analyzes Twitter Accounts Of World Leaders
iDigitalTimes.com
By iDigitalTimes Staff Reporter on July 27, 2012 12:42 PM EDT A recent survey analyzed the heads of state and their Twitter accounts said that only 30 of the 264 political leaders on Twitter do their own tweeting. The 264 countries whose leaders are on ...

iDigitalTimes.com

Apple Mistakenly Releases Replacement Codes for OS X Server
AMOG
By Maricris After it was reported that Mac users were having a problem updating their notebook's operating system to OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, it turns out that Apple have made yet another mistake. Yesterday, it was reported that customers who bought ...

Apple offers s rare glimpse of its IOS security
Inquirer
By Shaun Nichols in Las Vegas GADGET DESIGNER Apple gave atendees at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas a peek at its security practices, just hours before it acquired security firm Authentec. Speaking to a near-capacity crowd, Apple platform ...

Exploding Blue Termites Spew Poison When Grabbed, Scientists Say
Huffington Post
The picture shows a soldier, two white workers and two blue workers of the termite species Neocapritermes taracua. The two bluish spots high on the back of the abdomen of the two blue workers contain crystals. By Wynne Parry, LiveScience Senior Writer: ...

Blizzard Exec Echoes Valve's Concerns about Windows 8
Game Politics
Valve Software's Gabe Newell isn't the only one that thinks Windows 8 is a "cotastrophe" for game makers, apparently. Responding to Newell's speech made earlier this week at the Casual Connect game conference where he made some disparaging remarks ...

Storms Threaten Ozone Layer Over US, Study Says
New York Times
Strong summer thunderstorms that pump water high into the upper atmosphere pose a threat to the protective ozone layer over the United States, researchers said on Thursday, drawing one of the first links between climate change and ozone loss over ...

Pictures and Details of Verizon's Pantech Star Q 4G LTE Slider Phone Leaked
The Droid Guy
The summer break is almost over and Verizon is eyeing the new school year with a momentous launch of a new slider phone – the Pantech Star Q. Leaked pictures and details show that the main attraction that Verizon looks to capitalize on in this Android...

Big horned rhinoceros beetles are healthiest
BBC News
By Ella Davies Reporter, BBC Nature The size of a male rhinoceros beetle's horn is a genuine indicator of its health, according to researchers. The horns vary in size from small bumps to two-thirds of the insect's body length and are used in fights.

BBC News

Twitter Apologizes for Outage Ahead of Olympics
Datamation
Computer Weekly: On Thursday, Twitter went down for about two hours. According to company officials, the outage was caused by infrastructure failures at its main data center and its backup site at the same time. "I wish I could say that today's outage ...

NASA Mars mission menu seeks healthy food options
Examiner.com
Related topics NASA Mars menu Food NASA is working on a menu for astronauts to take on a mission to Mars in the 2030's. After a six month trip to get there, the first humans on the red planet will stay for a year and a half, then return home.

Examiner.com

Google Talk, Twitter, Azure Outages: Bad Cloud Day
InformationWeek
Google's video chat service had plenty of company on the disabled list on tough day for cloud computing. By Paul McDougall InformationWeek When it comes to the cloud, it never rains. It pours. Google reported Thursday that its Google Talk IM and video ...


technology news - Google News

Amazon News

Apple News

Facebook News

Google News

Microsoft News

Yahoo News

BBC News - Technology

CNET News - Business Tech

Engadget

NYT > Technology

PCWorld Latest Technology News

SAI: Silicon Alley Insider

TechCrunch

Digits

Alive in the Cloud