US Phone Subsidies Fading, Apple Vulnerable

As Phone Subsidies Fade, Apple Could Be Hurt: Wireless Carriers Shift Customers to Installment Plans, Where Sticker Shock Is Likely - U.S. wireless carriers are making unexpectedly fast progress moving their customers away from subsidized phones, a shift that could put further pressure on sales of expensive devices like the iPhone. (source: Wall Street Journal )

RIP Flash: Why HTML5 Will Finally Take Over Video and Web in 2014: "...HTML5 isn’t perfect; it’s still in its early years. Fortunately, talented companies are focusing on solving those problems for you – doing the work with a SaaS platform so you can just concentrate on the creative. However, that’s not stopping enterprise and game developers. In a recent report from Sencha, a provider of open-source Web application frameworks, more than 60 percent of business application developers have converted to HTML5 and hybrid development of their key projects, and more than 70 percent of HTML5/hybrid developers are using HTML5 more this year than last...."

AT&T announces 21 potential markets for ultra-fast Internet service - latimes.com: "....Already, AT&T has rolled out U-Verse GigaPower in Austin, Texas, and it plans on launching the service in Dallas this summer. The company previously announced that it is in discussions to bring the service to the Raleigh-Durham and Winston-Salem markets in North Carolina Among the candidate cities announced Monday were Los Angeles, Houston, Chicago, San Francisco, San Diego and Atlanta. AT&T said it will commit to the candidate cities that demonstrate they have the necessary facilities, friendly policies and high demand for the U-Verse GigaPower service. AT&T said it will share more information once agreements are in place...."

Netflix Calls Out AT&T for Subpar Streaming Performance - Bloomberg: "Netflix Inc. (NFLX), stepping up its criticism of Internet service providers, called out AT&T Inc. (T) for offering video-streaming speeds that trail even those of phone companies with inferior technology. AT&T, the biggest landline phone company in the U.S., provided an average speed in March of 1.73 megabits a second for Netflix’s service on fiber-based connections, trailing CenturyLink Inc. and Windstream Holdings Inc., which use older DSL lines, Netflix said. AT&T could improve its speeds by using a free interconnection with Netflix, the video company said...."

Time Warner Cable's Hotspot 2.0 Network Off and Running
Channel Partners
Time Warner Cable's nationwide Hotspot 2.0 network has made its debut, allowing customers to connect to its 33,000-node wireless network without entering passwords or using login screens. Hotspot 2.0 makes public Wi-Fi work like a cellular network by ...

Report: New Start menu and free cloud-based Windows to debut this fall
PCWorld (blog)
Microsoft will reportedly debut its revamped Start menu—along with a free, cloud-based version of Windows—this fall. According to information reportedly authored by Wzor, a Russian blogger notorious for his accurate leaks of Windows information, Microsoft ...

Apple offers free recycling of its products worldwide
PCWorld
Apple is offering to recycle its products for free worldwide, and has included even third-party products like mobile phones and PCs in the program in ...

Amazon Sales Take a Hit in States With Online Tax
MSN Money
Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is taking a hit in states that are collecting an online sales tax. In one of the first efforts to quantify the impact of states accruing ...

Facebook Plans Mobile-Ad Network
Wall Street Journal
Facebook's new ad network could increase the amount of targeted ads .... global mobile-advertising market last year, second only to Google's 53%.

Samsung expert: Apple should get only $38.4M for infringement, not $2.2B
CNET
Log In to CNET; Sign In with Facebook Google Yahoo; Join CNET ... Assuming Samsung infringed Apple's five patents, Apple should receive $1.75 per ... Apple and Samsung are battling in a San Jose, Calif., court. .... Android" and that Google had invented certain features before Apple patented them.

Google Glass eyeing nonprofits to discover new use cases
ZDNet
Highlighting the deployment of Glass and Glassware apps from the Arctic to the Amazonby the World Wildlife Fund as just one example, Google plans ...

Microsoft's new, new Windows cadence: Once a year is not enough
ZDNet
Just a year ago, Microsoft officials were crowing about Windows' much improved delivery cadence. Instead of rolling out a new version of Windows ...

Apple, Microsoft are not the keys to this week's news
MarketWatch
With Apple and Microsoft reporting quarterly earnings this week, we're getting the standard jeremiads about how the direction of the stock market rests ...

Facebook, Apple Q1 lobbying hit new records Netflix goes on record against Comcast deal
Politico
For Facebook, the filing — which eclipses their first-quarter spend from a ... Other figures:Microsoft was down to $2.1 million from $2.7 million in the ...

Microsoft Bing Enters Prediction Business
InformationWeek
From Google's Flu Trends project to Nate Silver's election forecasts, ... queries and social media data from sources such as Facebook and Twitter.

Google Glass dips its toe into iOS pool
Computerworld
Computerworld - As Google added a taste of iOS functionality to Glass, one analyst said the move is just the beginning of efforts to draw in Apple users ...

Mobile-Payments Startup Square Discusses Possible Sale - WSJ.com: "...The five-year-old company paid out roughly $110 million more in cash last year than it took in, according to two people familiar with the matter. Over the past three years, the startup has consumed more than half of the roughly $340 million it has raised from at least four rounds of equity financing since 2009, two people familiar with the company's performance said. A spokesman for Square said, "We are not, nor have we ever been in acquisition talks with Google."..."

Fred Wilson Leads $23M Funding In CrowdRise, A ‘Charity Water’ For Everyone | TechCrunch: "...Along with the financing, CrowdRise is also announcing partnerships with the New York City Marathon, the Boston Marathon, the Chicago Marathon, the Iron Man events, Red Cross, UNICEF, the wedding site The Knot, and the Today Show and a new “social good” functionality, which allows people to raise for good causes beyond non-profits, like for health care treatments a la Watsi. Wilson thinks that the company is a huge opportunity, not just from a business standpoint, but because it will eventually compel people to further donate to charity, “People are going to do a lot more donating because it’s going to be fast and easy. ” And that’s a good thing...."

Apple Takes Jab at Samsung in Full Page Earth Day Newspaper Ad - Mac Rumors
By Richard Padilla
Apple is honoring Earth Day in a new ad found on newspapers across the UK that appears to also include a jab at rival Samsung, reports CNET.
MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors...

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Facebook Fraud? (video)

Facebook Fraud
"Evidence Facebook's revenue is based on fake likes.
My first vid on the problem with Facebook: http://bit.ly/1dXudqY
I know first-hand that Facebook's advertising model is deeply flawed. When I paid to promote my page I gained 80,000 followers in developing countries who didn't care about Veritasium (but I wasn't aware of this at the time). They drove my reach and engagement numbers down, basically rendering the page useless. I am not the only one who has experienced this...." (go to link above for more)

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Facebook Fraud - How Much of Facebook's Ad Revenue is Legitimate?: " . . . . From my experience, Google is very meticulous about weeding out fraud. If you pay money to generate clicks or impressions on your site, Google will drop you from its ad program. If the above video is even in the ballpark, there are serious issues at Facebook. In general there are serious problems if you pay someone to "like" you or drive traffic to you. Addendum: Just moments after I made the above post,  I received an email from Lenny Teytelman regarding his company's experiences with fake "likes": What do Facebook “likes” of companies mean? The moral of this story is don't pay for "likes", don't pay to have someone drive traffic to your site either."

Silk Road 2.0 'Hack' Blamed On Bitcoin Bug, All Funds Stolen - Forbes: " . . . On Thursday, one of the recently-reincarnated drug-selling black market site’s administrators posted a long announcement to the Silk Road 2.0 forums admitting that the site had been hacked by one of its sellers, and its reserve of Bitcoins belonging to both the users and the site itself stolen. The admin, who goes by the name “Defcon,” blamed the same “transaction malleability” bug in the Bitcoin protocol that led to several of the cryptocurrency’s exchanges halting withdrawals in the previous week . . .."

Developer survey: HTML5 gaining, Windows slipping | HTML5 - InfoWorld: "HTML5 developers queried recently by tools vendor Sencha remain dedicated to building apps via Web technologies, even as doubts have been cast on how effective HTML5 is vis à vis native development. Many of those same developers, however, have dropped support for the classic Microsoft Windows platform...."

HTML5 trumping iOS among app developers in emerging mobile markets | ZDNet: "Mobile app developers in many regions outside the US and Europe are choosing to develop apps in HTML5 rather than iOS but it's iOS that's earning devs the biggest bucks."

Now running on a Chromebook near you: Windows | Business Tech - CNET News: " . . . Up until now, Chrome OS has been unable to run anything besides Web sites and the HTML5-based Chrome Web Apps. That's left many businesses in the lurch, perhaps attracted to Chromebook's affordability, centralized management console, and lower security risks but unwilling to lose access to core business applications. Combine those positives with Microsoft's Windows 8 stumbles and the impending end-of-life of the decade-old Windows XP, and Google hopes that it has an opening to attract businesses looking for a new approach to workplace computers. Businesses can purchase access to VMWare's Horizon Desktop-as-a-Service to run on Chrome OS. At first, it'll be available only as an on-site service, although a Chrome Web Store app is in the works...."

Microsoft Plunges Into Handset Battle as Google Withdraws
New York Times
And the second-biggest is Apple. Then, way behind, is Microsoft. What's in this game for Microsoft?” From Microsoft's perspective, the answer may be that it is in a different war — one that isn't over handsets or even the operating systems embedded in ...

Google publishes commitments it made to settle EU antitrust case
PCWorld
Google has done what the European Commission declined to do: publish the details of the latest commitments Google made in a bid to settle a long-running antitrust case involving its treatment of rival specialist search services, among other matters ...

Google gets more guarded about acquisition numbers
Washington Post
The circumspection makes Google more like one of its fiercest rivals, Apple Inc., which has never disclosed how many deals it closed in its regulatory filings. Apple just lists the total amount of money and stock that it paid for acquisitions, just as ...

What Google really means when it calls Android 'open'
CNET
Every once in a while, Android terminology discussions flare up like a stomach ulcer forGoogle. They center on Android's nature as a development platform, which in turn affects the variety and breadth of Android apps -- from Minecraft to Pandora to ...

Microsoft Tweaking Xbox One Controller For 'Titanfall'
Forbes
Microsoft Microsoft, it would seem, is all in on Titanfall. Respawn entertainment's upcoming mech-shooter is, arguably, the centerpiece of the Xbox One's first few months, and the company is making sure that the console is good and ready for it when it ...

Apple Says War Zones Don't Ship Its Supplies
New York Times
SAN FRANCISCO — Apple released on Thursday its supplier responsibility report, and the company said its hardware factories did not use any tantalum, a metal commonly used in electronics, from areas engaged in warfare. Some warlords, particularly in ...

Apple to Sell IPhone at Costliest $1174 in Brazilian Debut
Bloomberg
Apple's 16-gigabyte, contract-free iPhone 5s will sell for 2,799 reais ($1,174) in Brazil. That compares with $649 in the U.S. and 5,288 renminbi ($872) in China. The price of the iPhone 5s in Brazil, offered by authorized resellers, has jumped 17 ...

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HTML5-Based Mobile Apps on Amazon (video)

Amazon: "Amazon's web app resources provide the tools you need to optimize your web apps for Kindle Fire to sell them on Amazon. Our web app resources includes a cookbook of sample code, resources for testing web apps, and documentation for our JavaScript implementation of Amazon's In-App Purchasing API."

Amazon Now Accepting HTML5-Based Mobile Apps
PC Magazine
The Amazon Appstore is now open for HTML5 business. Amazon today launched Web app support, allowing developers to submit URLs for applications and mobile sites that will be distributed to customers. This move cuts out the third-party middle man and ...

Google bets customization will be Moto's X-factor
Christian Science Monitor
"We would have expected magic from somebody like Google, and this is not ... Shut out of the Apple-Samsung battle, Motorola competes with other smaller ...

Christian Science Monitor

Google Glass to see fill of policy questions
Politico
Wide-eyed fascination induced by Google Glass is about to smack into a real wall of ... So far, Google has dazzled lawmakers with demonstrations at the Capitol ...

Politico

Google Seeks Court Reversal of Mobile Phone Import Ban
Bloomberg
Google Inc. (GOOG)'s Motorola Mobility told a U.S. appeals court today a ... by Apple Inc. (AAPL)'s failed Newton personal digital assistant of the 1990s, ... In its filing, Google said it didn't use the Microsoft technology covered by those patents.

Google leaves your Chrome passwords unprotected to promote ...
The Verge
Justin Schuh, Google's head of Chrome Security, took to Y Combinator to clarify ... by default) and both Apple's Safari and Microsoft's Internet Explorer browsers ...

Google revamps search to feature in-depth articles
CNET
In-depth articles that pop up when searching for "censorship" in Google Search. ... Google is addressing this need by reconfiguring its search results to help ...

Apple, Samsung's next big showdown could reshape patent law
San Jose Mercury News
Apple (AAPL) and Samsung will take their global patent feud to a federal appeals ... including cases between Apple and Motorola and Motorola and Microsoft. ... Nokia has backed Apple in the Federal Circuit, while Google, HTC and SAP are ...

Microsoft lost its cool, says former company star Robert Scoble
The Age
Tech giant Microsoft has a leadership and cultural problem that is preventing it from being as innovative as Apple and Google, according to former Microsoft ...

Google, IBM, Mellanox, NVIDIA, Tyan Announce Development ...
MarketWatch
6, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Google, IBM (NYSE:IBM) , Mellanox, NVIDIA and Tyan today announced plans to form the OpenPOWER Consortium - an ...

MarketWatch

Amazon now offering games and other software for download in the ...
Engadget
You can also buy extra in-game content or currency straight from Amazon. ... including MicrosoftOffice, Adobe Photoshop, anti-virus and security products from ...

Google's Moto X: What the reviewers are saying
Fortune
FORTUNE -- The Moto X is Motorola's first phone since Google (GOOG) bought the company last year for $12.5 billion. It's due out in late ... Comparisons with Apple's(AAPL) iPhone, Samsung's Galaxies and the HTC One were inevitable. Walt Mossberg, Wall ...

Apple's iOS loses marketshare to Android, Windows Phone
Washington Post
The lull between iPhones has been Google and Microsoft's gain, research firm IDC said Wednesday, reporting that Apple's iOS mobile operating system has lost share to Android and Windows Phone. According to the IDC report, Apple's market share slipped ...

Google Glass to see fill of policy questions
Politico
The chosen few — handpicked from a national contest and willing to pay $1,500 — have showcased the new technology at parties, on the subway, during the NBA draft and at the zoo. A couple hundred Google employees also have modeled the device.

Apple, Samsung's next big showdown could reshape patent law
San Jose Mercury News
The appeals court has a number of cases headed its way that present similar conflicts, including cases between Apple and Motorola and Motorola and Microsoft. And how the courts resolve the issue takes on new importance in the wake of how the U.S. ...

Apple trickles out more iWork for iCloud invites
Computerworld
As the emails noted, the beta supports just three browsers: Apple's own Safari,Google's Chrome and Microsoft's Internet Explorer (IE). Apple has promised to expand the list, presumably to Mozilla's Firefox and Opera Software's Opera, both of which run...

Apple loses lead in tablet market
USA TODAY
Microsoft's own tablet business enterprise has been a disaster; the company recently announced a $900 million hit related to Surface RT "inventory adjustments." That news was followed by price cuts on Surface and Surface Pro tablets. ... With the ...

Can Amazon CEO Ship Online Savvy to Wash. Post?
ABC News
"The marriage between the newspaper industry and technology has never been consummated, but it could happen at The Washington Post now," said media analyst Ken Doctor of Outsell Inc. Although Bezos bought The Post with his own money, most ...

Amazon Enters Art World; Galleries Say They Aren't Worried
NPR
Local record and book shops have been disappearing as the market for music and literature moves online. In the past few years, there's been a growth in sites that sell fine art on the Internet. On Tuesday, Amazon joined that market. But in this case ...

Google Search Is Poised to Surface 'In-Depth' Stories, but How Will It Pick?
TIME
But I've also seen Google News label plenty of questionable material “in-depth,” and even that term has problems: A voluminous screed by an ideologue or baggy extrapolative speculation about the latest wild Apple rumor might technically qualify as “in ...

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