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FTC to issue subpoenas in Google antitrust probe (AP) : Technet

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• FTC to issue subpoenas in Google antitrust probe (AP)
• Review: 3-D silly, but EVO 3D smart overall (AP)
• Oracle's profit tops Street, but worries surface (AP)
• Introduction to email etiquette (Yahoo! News)
• Spy sunglasses shoot high-def video, look like your average pair of Ray-Bans (Yahoo! News)
• New Music Video Created Entirely With iPad Brushes App [VIDEO] (Mashable)
• Google at the center of antitrust probes - source (Reuters)
• Hackers break into Arizona police computers (Reuters)
• Phone gives clues to bin Laden's Pakistan links: report (Reuters)
• Zipcar zooms out of beta to top Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)
• Winklevoss twins push another suit against Facebook (Reuters)
• First look at Google TV 2.0 'Fishtank' (Digital Trends)
• BackStab leads iPhone Games of the Week (Appolicious)
• Philips Wireless HD Net Connect snips HDMI cables for $299.99 (Digital Trends)
• Shazam pushes further into TV with $32 million capital infusion (Appolicious)
• Hacker pleads guilty to stealing iPad user data (Digital Trends)
• Instant view: Oracle shares drop after earnings report (Reuters)
• Summary Box: Hardware decline hits Oracle stock (AP)

FTC to issue subpoenas in Google antitrust probe (AP) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 02:09 PM PDT By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Jun 23, 5:09 pm ET WASHINGTON – A published report says federal regulators are preparing to issue subpoenas to Google and other companies as authorities gather information for a broad antitrust probe into the Internet search leader's business practices. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that the Federal Trade Commission will issue subpoenas "within days," which would signal that it has opened a formal investigation. The FTC is looking into whether Google abuses its dominance of Internet search to extend its influence into other lucrative online markets, such as mapping, comparison shopping and travel. Rivals complain that Google Inc., which handles two out of every three Internet searches in the U.S., manipulates its results to steer users to its own sites and services and bury links to competitors. Google and the Federal Trade Commission refused to comment Thursday. The European Commission and the Texas attorney general have already opened investigations into whether Google uses its enormous clout as a major gateway to the Internet to stifle competition online. The EU launched its investigation after competitors — U.K.-based price comparison site Foundem, French legal search engine ejustice.fr and Microsoft-owned shopping site Ciao — complained that their services were being buried in Google search results. The Senate Judiciary Committee's antitrust subcommittee, too, is examining whether Google gives its own services favorable treatment in search results and is seeking to have either Google Chairman Eric Schmidt or Chief Executive Larry Page testify before the panel. Google's rivals welcomed the news of an FTC probe, for which the agency has been laying the groundwork for months. In a statement, FairSearch.org, a coalition of Internet travel companies including Expedia, Hotwire and Kayak, said, "Google's practices are deserving of full-scale investigations by U.S. antitrust authorities." "Google engages in anti-competitive behavior across many vertical categories of search that harms consumers by restricting the ability of other companies to compete to put the best products and services in front of Internet users, who should be allowed to pick winners and losers online, not Google," the group said. Gary Reback, a Silicon Valley lawyer who represents companies competing with Google in other online markets, stressed that any antitrust probe needs take a broad look not only at Google's so-called "organic" search results — which are ranked based on relevance — but also at the so-called "sponsored" results that advertisers pay for. He noted that these, too, tend to place Google's own services on the top. In addition, because Google powers search functionality on many other Web sites, antitrust officials need to look at organic and sponsored search results on those sites as well, Reback said. Although the FTC investigation would be the broadest federal inquiry into Google so far, the company is already in the crosshairs of U.S. regulators. In April, the FTC announced a landmark agreement with Google to settle charges that it deceived users and violated its own privacy policy when it launched a social networking service called Buzz last year. The settlement requires Google to adopt a comprehensive privacy program and submit to independent audits of that program every other year for the next 20 years. Also in April, Justice Department officials extracted significant concessions from Google _many backed by the FairSearch coalition — in exchange for government approval to purchase airfare tracker ITA Software. ITA was the latest in a series of big acquisitions by the search giant. Other big purchases include the 2007 acquisition of Internet advertising network DoubleClick and last year's purchase of mobile ad service AdMob, both of which were approved by the FTC without any conditions. But to proceed with the ITA purchase, Google had to agree to accept ongoing federal monitoring to ensure it does not engage in anticompetitive behavior, which could include manipulation of search results.

Review: 3-D silly, but EVO 3D smart overall (AP) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 01:53 PM PDT By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Jun 23, 4:53 pm ET SAN FRANCISCO – There has been a big push for 3-D at movie theaters and on TV sets, so it was only a matter of time before digitally enhanced fisticuffs started popping out of smartphone screens, too. The 3-D technology is the most boasted-about feature on HTC's new EVO 3D smartphone, which goes on sale Friday. You can watch 3-D movies and play 3-D games without putting on annoying glasses. You can shoot 3-D photos and videos, too. The inclusion of 3-D is gimmicky and might make you feel nauseous, but it is creative at times and the EVO 3D is a fine smartphone overall. The phone costs $200 with a two-year service plan with Sprint Nextel Corp. I wear glasses, so I was excited that I didn't need to put on another pair to try out the EVO 3D. The phone creates the appearance of depth using a technique called autostereoscopy. The screen has a layer that guides light so that the light from one pixel goes to the left eye and from the next to the right. I got right to work watching a 3-D version of "The Green Hornet," which came with the phone. I was wowed by a fight scene where glass seemed to be flying out of the screen. A friend I handed the phone to even flinched when the shards blew past. I also checked out some animated 3-D clips on YouTube. The scenes that looked best were, not surprisingly, those with people and objects in the foreground and background and with things moving right toward the camera. Whether I was watching 3-D or 2-D videos, the phone's 4.3-inch touch screen was crisp and colors looked vivid. That said, my brain wasn't thrilled about processing the 3-D images, so I couldn't stare at the display for long without feeling queasy. It was also evident that I wouldn't really be able to share the dizzying experience with friends unless I handed them the phone. You need to tilt the EVO 3D in your hands until you find the viewing angle that is optimal for your eyes. That may not be an optimal angle for the person next to or behind you. You can, however, involve buddies by letting them star in a 3-D movie or in photos that you shoot with the EVO 3D. The phone takes pictures or videos by recording overlapping images when its two 5-megapixel cameras are side by side. The camera lenses are positioned next to each other only when the phone is on its side, so you can only capture things in 3-D in "landscape" mode. I couldn't manage to take any great shots, however. The images always seemed fuzzily misaligned, even with the inclusion of a feature for adjusting the alignment of the images. I was more successful with the 3-D video camera, though I couldn't test whether objects really fly off the screen because my colleagues wouldn't hold the camera for me so I could throw things at them (even when I promised to lob only wads of paper at the lens). I could see how the 3-D mode might come in handy for recording sporting events, especially if you're crazy enough to jump into the fray and fast enough to stay ahead of the action. If you're not into flowers or people popping out of the screen, you can switch to 2-D mode by pressing a button on the side of the phone. I also liked that the phone had a button dedicated to the camera, which I always find easier to take photos and videos with than a virtual touch-screen button. The phone has a front-facing camera, too, for taking self-portraits or video chatting. Not wanting to lose my lunch all over the phone, I took a break from the 3-D features and checked out the rest of the phone. The mostly black EVO 3D runs on Gingerbread, which is the latest version of Google's Android meant for smartphones. As I've seen on other Gingerbread-running phones, the software is easy to use and speedy. The phone uses HTC's Sense software as well, the best part of which is a customizable smarty-pants screen that is visible when the phone is locked. You can set it to show stock quotes, weather, social network updates or other content without unlocking the device. The phone swiftly opened applications and Web pages and streamed content with ease over Sprint's next-generation, high-speed 4G network. It was also easy to type on, as it includes the uber-useful Swype keyboard software, which lets you slide your fingers on the virtual keyboard to type. I also liked the inclusion of an FM radio, as it offers a way to listen to tunes without requiring Internet access or the storage of songs on the phone itself. Aside from the stomach-churning aspect of the 3-D feature, I had only a few complaints: • I still make plenty of calls on cellphones, so I was disappointed that the EVO 3D's sound quality wasn't very good, with voices sounding muffled. • The phone's battery life wasn't fabulous. In a day of heavy usage, which included making phone calls, recording and watching 3-D videos and surfing the Web, I got 5.5 hours before needing a recharge. • I missed having a built-in kickstand, a feature available on the EVO 3D's predecessor, the EVO 4G. Nonetheless, the EVO 3D has strong software and plenty of other useful features. Although 3-D is touted as this smartphone's coolest feature, it's merely a silly extra that's occasionally useful than a necessity. And beyond that, the phone has a lot more to offer that won't make you feel queasy. ___ Follow Rachel Metz at http://www.twitter.com/RachelMetz

Oracle's profit tops Street, but worries surface (AP) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:49 PM PDT By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Thu Jun 23, 6:49 pm ET SAN FRANCISCO – Oracle Corp.'s latest quarterly results Thursday underscore the critical role its software business plays, despite the company's push to become a more well-rounded technology vendor by selling computer servers. Oracle's net income increased 36 percent as new sales of business software were at the high end of its expectations. Revenue rose 13 percent. But the company's stock fell as its hardware division stumbled. The stock rebounded somewhat after Oracle issued guidance that was in-line with analysts' predictions. Oracle bought fallen Silicon Valley star Sun Microsystems last year for $7.3 billion. That thrust Oracle into the computer server business. The transformation has made CEO Larry Ellison one of the world's richest men. It also made an enemy of longtime partner Hewlett-Packard Co. Ellison has repeatedly said that he wants to focus Sun's business only on higher-profit deals. As a result, he has warned, some lower-margin deals may fall off. Now that Oracle has had Sun for a full year, the effect of Ellison's strategy is coming into focus. Oracle said its net income was $3.21 billion, or 62 cents per share, in its fiscal fourth quarter, which ended May 31. That compares with $2.36 billion, or 46 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding stock-based compensation and one-time expenses, Oracle earned 75 cents per share, higher than the 71 cents per share that analysts polled by FactSet expected. Revenue of $10.78 billion was slightly higher than the $10.76 billion that analysts expected. Oracle's software revenue rose 17 percent to $7.70 billion. Revenue from new software licenses — a key metric for predicting future revenue — came in at the high end of Oracle's previous forecast. Safra Catz, Oracle's co-president, said revenue growth from new software licenses came without a boost from new acquisitions. But revenue in its hardware division was flat at $1.83 billion. Stronger sales of hardware support contracts masked a 6 percent decline in revenue from computers sold. Investors appeared unsettled by what they saw. Oracle's stock fell $2.36, or 7.3 percent, to $30.40 in extended trading, after the results were reported. It recovered a few percentage points after the guidance was issued during a conference call with financial analysts. The server market has generally been strong coming out of the Great Recession as companies invest in Internet infrastructure. What was unclear from Oracle's results was whether its weakness in hardware resulted from a downturn in the market or from competition. HP and IBM Corp. have relentlessly pursued the customers that Oracle got through the Sun purchase. Sun's share of the server market has declined over the past year. Many analysts had expressed skepticism about Oracle's ability to make money on a company that had been losing billions of dollars for years. Despite the downturn in hardware, Sun said its profit margin rose as the company improved operational efficiency. Catz said the results "clearly exceeded even our own high expectations for Sun's business." For the current quarter, Oracle said it expects net income of 45 cents to 48 cents per share, excluding items, which is in line with expectations for 46 cents per share. Revenue should grow 10 percent to 13 percent, the company said. That translates to $8.25 billion to $8.48 billion and is in line with the $8.30 billion analysts are expecting. Oracle said it expects revenue from new software licenses to grow 10 percent to 20 percent to $1.43 billion to $1.56 billion. The company expects revenue from hardware to fall up to 5 percent or increase up to 5 percent.

Introduction to email etiquette (Yahoo! News) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:57 PM PDT By Tecca tecca – Thu Jun 23, 7:57 pm ET Just like traditional mail, there are a few rules to sending email messages to others that help separate the "real" mail from the junk. Adhering to these basics can ensure people always click the open button when a message from you comes through the pipes, rather than sending your messages immediately to their trash bin. Signed, Sealed, and Delivered People like attention — they enjoy receiving something that's been personalized just for them, and appreciate being passed important information. Therefore, proper addressing of a message can have a dramatic effect on how that email is interpreted. But how exactly do you know where they fall on the sending scale? To: reserved for the main recipient of the message, and who the email is directed to. Everyone listed in the To field can see who else the email was sent to. CC: stands for carbon copy. Put email addresses here of people you want the person in the To field to know received the message, but who the email is not necessarily directed to. For instance, if I was in charge of booking a coworker's flight I might CC my boss when I email the coworker her flight information, just so my boss knows the flight has been booked and information passed along. The email address of everyone in the CC field also shows up in a message. BCC: stands for blind carbon copy. Think of this sort of like an invisible person you've given access to see a message. This section is for people you want to send a message to, but whose email addresses you want to hide from everyone else. A person who is in the BCC field can see all of the email addresses in the To and CC fields, but those people will not know that person was copied on the message. For instance, if the flight I was booking was for my best friend (who also happens to be my coworker), I might BCC another friend of ours who lives in our destination city to share our plans. Mass effect Just like a traditional mailing address, many people like to keep their email addresses private and control who is able to visit their inbox. The BCC field can come especially in handy when you're sending a message to several people at once — particularly people who don't know each other. BCC allows you to send the masses your email, but also hides who you sent that information to and their email address from all the other recipients. You also save each recipient from having to scroll through a lengthy list of your recipients addresses to get to your message if you're sending to a lot of people. Double win. Forward thinking In general, no one wants to get a forwarded message. Forwarded messages have taken the place of chain letters and pyramid schemes on the web. Messages that encourage you in the message to send it to all of your friends are almost always either scams, or something that will on a basic level be annoying to the majority of the people you send it to. Never forward a message to everyone you know. If you do forward a message, make sure it is something that your recipient would be interested in. Sending forwards frequently that people aren't interested in may make them choose to skip reading your emails entirely in the future. Background check Email is often read on computers, but it is also readily available on mobile devices like phones and tablets. Though it may be tempting to add fancy backgrounds and color schemes to your email, those often make reading your messages a chore on computers and even worse on mobile devices. Stick to a white background and basic text whenever possible to make sure your message comes through loud and clear. Have any of your own email etiquette tips? Tell us about them in the comments! Post by Emily Price [Photo credit: blary54] More from Tecca: USB stick-sized computer runs web, email, costs $25 New stats explore the email generation gap Facebook adds Send button, reroutes your urge share via email

Spy sunglasses shoot high-def video, look like your average pair of Ray-Bans (Yahoo! News) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:39 PM PDT By Taylor Hatmaker, Tecca taylor Hatmaker, Tecca – Thu Jun 23, 7:39 pm ET Move over Lady Gaga — a new set of video-recording sunglasses might not have the flash of Gaga's Polarez GL20, but we suspect they'd lead to way more successful spying. The spy-glasses, called "Eyez," are in the works by Zion Eyez, yet another innovative company to drum up grassroots funding on Kickstarter. The Eyez are embedded with a 720p HD video camera and 8GB of on-board memory for stashing all of your incriminating evidence, not to mention they look like completely normal glasses and only weigh a fraction more. The glasses will be able to transfer the fruits of your spying wirelessly to iPhones and Android devices, presumably through an app, and the company also has plans make livestreaming video a reality. The spy eyes can record for up to 3 hours, though we're not exactly sure how they stay powered or charge up. Surprisingly, the glasses are marketed as a replacement for recording video with a handheld camera or smartphone rather than as straight-up spyware. According to Zion Eyez, this method of recording video allows you to take part in the action first-hand, rather than watching it unfold before you. And if you've got indoor spying to do — er, memories to record — Eyez will offer interchangeable clear lenses, so you can turn them into a pair of eyeglasses when you need to go undercover inside. Zion Eyez via PopSci More from Tecca: Absurd iPad 2 lens helps you spy like an amateur High-tech spy tech for under $100 7 spytastic images of the new Wikileaks website data storage facility

New Music Video Created Entirely With iPad Brushes App [VIDEO] (Mashable) Posted: 22 Jun 2011 05:43 PM PDT Charlie White Charlie White – Wed Jun 22, 8:43 pm ET [More from Mashable: Internet Archive Now Supports HTML5 for a Half Million Videos] Animator Shawn Harris picked up an iPad with the Brushes app on board and created a lively and colorful music video for the group Blush featuring Snoop Dogg. Who knew this was even possible? It's the first music video created entirely using the Brushes app for iPad. [More from Mashable: Interactive Video Shows 360-Degree View of Vancouver Riots] As you can see in the "making of" video for the group's debut single "Undivided," Shawn drew the individual frames on the iPad Brushes [iTunes link] app, it recorded each of the frames, and when he emailed the resulting file to himself, he had the makings of a stylized and highly creative animation. Great stuff. The group Blush is impressive, too. Take a look at the finished product: This story originally published on Mashable here.

Google at the center of antitrust probes - source (Reuters) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:20 PM PDT – 1 hr 11 mins ago NEW YORK (Reuters) – Google Inc found itself at the center of multiple government investigations on Thursday into whether it is using its dominance in search advertising to scotch competition. At least three state attorneys general have started antitrust investigations into Google, a source familiar with the matter said. The source declined to elaborate on the details of the investigations by the attorneys general of California, Ohio and New York as they were still in the early stages. The attorneys general investigation into Google was first reported by the Financial Times, citing people familiar with the investigations. The news of the attorneys general investigation emerged on the same day the Wall Street Journal reported that the internet search giant is about to receive the civil equivalent of a subpoena from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission as part of a probe into the company's Internet search business. The company, which dominates U.S. and global markets for search advertising, has been accused by competitors of favoring its own services over rivals in its search results. Google, the world's No. 1 search engine, and the FTC declined to comment on the Journal report. Google was not immediately available to comment on the attorneys general investigation. The attorneys general of California and New York declined comment while the attorney general of Ohio was not immediately available for comment. The FTC plans to send the civil investigative demand with a request for more information, the civil equivalent of a subpoena, within five days, according to the Journal report. U.S. antitrust regulators have been concerned about Google's dominance of the Web search industry, and it has been under investigation by the European Commission since last November. Complaints has been filed with regulators on both sides of the Atlantic, many from Google rivals who specialize in vertical searches like price comparison websites, which are widely seen as a threat to Google's position as a key gateway to online information. "The distraction that comes from a federal investigation should not be underestimated," Colin Gillis of BGC Partners said, noting that one of Google's best options to grow -- by moving into adjacent markets -- was being hampered by antitrust probes. Gillis noted that the real cost of the FTC investigation was not financial. "The issue comes down to management distraction, that's a real cost," he said. Google has been in a stock slump. The company's shares began the year a touch above $600, but are now below $500. Google shares closed at $480.2 on Thursday on the Nasdaq. Google has weathered other antitrust setbacks. The company walked away from a search deal with Yahoo! Inc in 2008 when the Justice Department signaled it was prepared to challenge it. A New York judge has said that a deal Google had made with publishers and authors to create a massive digital library was illegal, partially because it effectively gave Google the rights to books that are in copyright but whose authors cannot be found. (Reporting by Abhishek Takle, Bill Rigby and Diane Bartz; Editing by John Wallace, Maureen Bavdek and Bernard Orr)

Hackers break into Arizona police computers (Reuters) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:59 PM PDT – 2 hrs 32 mins ago WASHINGTON/BOSTON (Reuters) – Computer hackers who previously broke into a U.S. Senate server and brought down the CIA web site struck an Arizona police web site on Thursday, releasing dozens of internal documents over the Internet. Lulz Security, saying it opposed a tough anti-immigration law in Arizona, said it was releasing documents that related to border control and other law enforcement activities. Its headline was "Chinga La Migra," Spanish for a more profane way of saying "Screw the Immigration Service." It released about a half a gigabyte of data, including account names, passwords and contact information for several people. Reuters was able to reach two of them to establish that they were accurate. A scan of the dozens of files released revealed what appeared to be security bulletins from other law enforcement agencies, internal planning documents and even routine reports on traffic incidents. "We are aware of computer issues," said Steve Harrison, a spokesman for the Arizona Department of Public Safety, "We're looking into it. And of course we're taking additional security safeguards." The Mexico border state passed a law last year ordering police to check the immigration status of anyone suspected to be in the United States illegally, in a bid to curb illegal immigration and border-related crime. A majority of Americans supported the measure, but outraged opponents charged it was unconstitutional and would lead to the harassment of Hispanic-Americans, and called for an economic boycott of the desert state. The most controversial parts of the law were blocked by a federal judge shortly before it came into effect last July, although Arizona is pursuing an appeal. FEW ARRESTS Lulz, a group of rogue hackers who have not been identified, posts the results of its hacks on Twitter, the microblogging site where the group has cultivated more than 240,000 followers. So far LulzSec's publicized assaults on Sony Corp., the CIA, News Corp's Fox TV and other targets have mostly resulted in temporary disruptions of some websites and the release of user credentials. There have been few arrests in the hacks. British police said on Tuesday that they had arrested a 19-year-old man on suspicion that he was connected to attacks on Sony, the CIA and a British police unit that fights organized crime. Spanish police earlier this month apprehended three men on suspicion they helped Anonymous, a second rogue hacking group that has teamed up with LulzSec. Hacker attacks forced Brazil to shut down its presidential website and other government sites temporarily on Thursday, a day after cyber attacks briefly disabled other government sites. LulzSec, whose hacks started to hit headlines last month, has published the email addresses and passwords of thousands of alleged subscribers to porn sites, it temporarily took down the public website of the CIA, and it published data from internal servers of the U.S. Senate. Security experts who have researched LulzSec's origins say it emerged from Anonymous, which became famous for attacking the companies and institutions that oppose WikiLeaks and its founder, Julian Assange. Anonymous also attacked Sony and governments around the globe that it considered oppressive. LulzSec's members are believed to be scattered around the world, collaborating via secret Internet chat rooms. Suspected leaders include hackers with the handles Kayla, Sabu and Topiary, security experts say. The group's name is a combination of lulz, which is slang for laughs, and sec, which stands for security. (Additional reporting by Tim Gaynor in Phoenix and Roberto Samora in Sao Paulo) (Reporting by Diane Bartz and Jim Finkle; Editing by Paul Simao)

Phone gives clues to bin Laden's Pakistan links: report (Reuters) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 08:51 PM PDT – 36 mins ago WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A cell phone found in the raid that killed Osama bin Laden in Pakistan contained contacts to a militant group with ties to Pakistan's intelligence agency, The New York Times reported on Thursday, citing senior U.S. officials briefed on the findings. The discovery indicated that bin Laden used the group, Harakat-ul-Mujahedeen, as part of his support network inside Pakistan, the newspaper said, citing the officials and others sources it did not identify. The cell phone belonged to bin Laden's courier, who was killed along with the al Qaeda leader in the May 2 raid by U.S. special forces on bin Laden's compound in the garrison town of Abbottabad, the Times said. "We cannot confirm this account," a U.S. official in Washington said when asked about the report. The United States kept Islamabad in the dark about the raid by Navy SEALs until after it was completed, humiliating Pakistan's armed forces and putting U.S. military and intelligence ties under serious strain. In tracing calls on the cell phone, U.S. analysts determined that Harakat commanders had called Pakistani intelligence officials, the Times reported, citing the senior American officials. The officials added the contacts were not necessarily about bin Laden and his protection and that there was no "smoking gun" showing that Pakistan's spy agency had protected bin Laden, the newspaper said. The newspaper quoted one of the officials as saying the cell phone analysis was a "serious lead" in the hunt for answers about how bin Laden managed to evade notice by Pakistan's spy agency or military for years in the town, only 30 miles from the capital. The newspaper quoted analysts familiar with Harakat as saying it had deep roots in the area around Abbottabad. Its leaders have strong ties with both al Qaeda and Pakistani intelligence, the Times said. (Writing by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Peter Cooney)

Zipcar zooms out of beta to top Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 01:30 PM PDT

Winklevoss twins push another suit against Facebook (Reuters) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 06:01 PM PDT – Thu Jun 23, 9:01 pm ET (Reuters) – Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss are pushing ahead with another suit against Facebook, a day after they decided not to appeal a U.S. Supreme Court ruling upholding their $65 million settlement with Facebook and its founder Mark Zuckerberg. In a status report filed on Thursday with the U.S. District Court of Massachusetts, the twins and their business partner, Divya Narendra, said they would move the court for discovery on whether Facebook "intentionally or inadvertently suppressed evidence" during settlement proceedings over claims that Zuckerberg stole their idea for a college social networking website. The claim in the Massachusetts Court relates to documents and communications that would have thrown light on the exact relationship between the twins and Zuckerberg at the time of Facebook's founding and says that Facebook should have disclosed those documents during the original settlement discussions. The original settlement was intended to resolve a feud over whether Zuckerberg stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from the Winklevosses, who like him had attended Harvard University. Their battle was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network. After agreeing to the cash-and-stock accord, the Winklevosses sought to undo it, saying it was fraudulent because Facebook hid information from them, and that they deserved more money. Tyler Meade, counsel for the Winklevoss twins and Narendra, declined to comment. In a statement, Facebook's outside counsel Neel Chatterjee said, "These are old and baseless allegations that have been considered and rejected previously by the courts." (Reporting by Jochelle Mendonca in Bangalore; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

First look at Google TV 2.0 'Fishtank' (Digital Trends) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 05:30 PM PDT Molly McHugh Molly Mchugh – Thu Jun 23, 8:30 pm ET We heard in April that Google was preparing to improve its connected TV, "revamping" the product with a faster chipset and upgraded UI, as well as Android app availability. Now we're getting a look at that product, via Geek, which got an early look at a developer release. Software Right away you can see that the new interface looks a lot like Honeycomb. In actuality, it's Google TV 2.0 beta, or a simplified take on Android 3.1 Ice Cream Sandwich. Keep in mind, this is a very early release and there are likely to be more preinstalled apps, but for the time being there is a clock app, a live TV app, and Chrome browser. Apparently, how exactly the live TV function will work is still up in the air, and something Google's keeping close to its chest. For the moment, live TV can only be accessed via the HDMI port. Live TV can work behind the home screen, allowing users to run multiple applications. But developers (who allegedly came up with the idea to run data over live broadcasts) aren't getting access to this feature's API, creating some friction between Google and its developers. All arguments aside, the color scheme is reminiscent of the PSN and Ice Cream Sandwich â€" all blacks and blues. There will be the ability for split-screen viewing as well. Hardware Developers are working with an Intel CE4100 reference platform running Google TV 2.0 beta. The CE4100 is designed for set-top sets, meaning it's equipped for streaming, broadcast, and other Internet use. It's also supposed to have no problems running Flash or 3D gaming. It also includes the remote control keyboard, which apparently is the same as the one paired with the Logitech Revue. Logitech was unimpressed with Google TV sales and said it would be scaling back production, but at least now we know the manufacturing isn't entirely disillusioned with Google TV. The device also features more ports than the first-gen model. Again, this is an incredibly early look, so take it for what you will.

BackStab leads iPhone Games of the Week (Appolicious) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:00 PM PDT

Philips Wireless HD Net Connect snips HDMI cables for $299.99 (Digital Trends) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 04:02 PM PDT Nick Mokey Nick Mokey – Thu Jun 23, 7:02 pm ET Everybody's got a foot in the wireless HDMI game these days, and as of New York's CE Week 2011, Philips is no different. The company used the event yesterday to unveil the Philips Wireless HD Net Connect, a $300 transmitter and receiver that you can connect to any notebook (or desktop, for that matter) with an HDMI port and instantly stream hi-def video to any TV an HDMI port. At $300, it's certainly not the cheapest option out there to pull the same trick, but zero latency and the promise of no Wi-Fi interference may place it a step above some competing solutions. Check out a hands-on demo of the the Philips Wireless HD Net Connect in action below.

Shazam pushes further into TV with $32 million capital infusion (Appolicious) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 03:30 PM PDT

Hacker pleads guilty to stealing iPad user data (Digital Trends) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 05:43 PM PDT Aemon Malone Aemon Malone – Thu Jun 23, 8:43 pm ET A hacker today admitted to stealing personal information and email addresses from about 114,000 users of Apple's iPad. According to a press release issued by U.S. prosecutors in New Jersey, Daniel Spitler plead guilty today to identity theft and conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers. The 26-year old San Francisco-born hacker faces up to five years in prison for each count and a $250,000 fine. He's scheduled to be sentenced on September 28. Andrew Auernheimer, Spitler's alleged cohort, is still facing charges. "Computer hackers are exacting an increasing toll on our society, damaging individuals and organizations to gain notoriety for themselves," U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a statment. "Hacks have serious implications – from the personal devastation of a stolen identity to danger to our national security," Fishman continued. "In the wake of other recent hacking attacks by loose-knit organizations like Anonymous and LulzSec, Daniel Spitler's guilty plea is a timely reminder of the consequences of treating criminal activity as a competitive sport." According to authorities, Spitler and Auernheimer wrote a program that targeted a security weakness in AT&T's servers and allowed the pair to mine personal data from users of Apple's 3G-ready iPad. Included in the purloined data were the email addresses of heads of major corporations, government officials and celebrities. Spitler and Auernheimer delivered the data to the blog Gawker, which published it in a redacted form, causing no shortage of embarrassment for AT&T. According to prosecutors, Spitler and Auernheimer were members of a loose confederation of hackers that operated under the name Goatse. Spitler reportedly confessed to being a member of the group as part of his guilty plea. Auernheimer left police custody in March after posting $50,000 bail.

Instant view: Oracle shares drop after earnings report (Reuters) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 01:46 PM PDT – Thu Jun 23, 4:46 pm ET NEW YORK (Reuters) – Oracle Corp reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday, but that failed to calm investor fears that spending on technology software and hardware could be in jeopardy. Shares of the world's No. 1 database software maker fell 5 percent after the earnings report. Commentary: TRIP CHOWDHRY, ANALYST, GLOBAL EQUITIES RESEARCH "Traditionally, in the fourth quarter they usually beat by a huge margin. This time they just managed just to beat. The other issue, because of these higher gasoline prices, this is impacting IT spend. Investors won't believe Oracle's guidance... IT spend has slowed down. Any company that is in the technology is going to get impacted." Given expensive oil prices and "a very terrible geopolitical backdrop... they have done an exceptional job." KIM CAUGHEY FORREST, ANALYST, FORT PITT CAPITAL GROUP "The revenues were very strong. It looks like, in same constant currency, hardware may have been a little soft." "I guess what we are interested in is their commentary going forward. The revenue shows the strength of their sales organization. Investors are really trying to find out now what's the temperature from the tech world. We will find out on the call." (Reporting by Jennifer Saba and Liana B. Baker in New York and Bill Rigby in Seattle; Compiled by Paul Thomasch)

Summary Box: Hardware decline hits Oracle stock (AP) Posted: 23 Jun 2011 05:07 PM PDT – Thu Jun 23, 8:07 pm ET SAN FRANCISCO – A HARDWARE HEADACHE: Oracle Corp.'s stock slid Thursday after reporting a 6 percent revenue decline in the sale of computer servers and other hardware. The company has been facing intense competition from IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co. since entering the server business with last year's $7.3 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems. DEAD WEIGHT: Oracle executives say they are shedding the least-profitable server deals. Strength in Oracle's software business masked the hardware decline, and the overall results topped Wall Street expectations. A BETTER FORECAST: Oracle's forecast for the current quarter was in line with analyst estimates. The stock recovered some of its lost ground.

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