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Oprah Winfrey chats on Facebook Live talk show (AP) : Technet |
- Oprah Winfrey chats on Facebook Live talk show (AP)
- Yahoo's board under fire after firing of CEO Bartz (AP)
- Twitter to show more ads, still biding time on IPO (AP)
- Massive portable battery pack means you’ll never run out of juice (Yahoo! News)
- Astroarcheaologists seek to revive 40-year-old inactive satellite (Yahoo! News)
- Facebook App 9/11 Memorial Lets You Dedicate Status Updates to Victims (Mashable)
- Popular China rights activist gets nine months' jail (Reuters)
- Bartz battles to retain Yahoo board seat (Reuters)
- Google Music beta now available for iOS via safari web browser (Digital Trends)
- LG Elec denies report of overseas mobile staff cuts (Reuters)
- 13 percent of Americans watch TV or movies while at work (Digital Trends)
- Droid Bionic Makes Intriguing Rival To iPhone 5 (NewsFactor)
- SportCaster leads Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious)
- Android app downloads to beat iOS this year (Digital Trends)
- ViewSonic kills the Boxee-powered HDTV (Digital Trends)
- The iPhone Wins Again (The Atlantic Wire)
- SAP reaches plea deal in Oracle criminal case (Reuters)
| Oprah Winfrey chats on Facebook Live talk show (AP) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 08:18 PM PDT NEW YORK – Oprah Winfrey got plenty of `likes' on Facebook Thursday from fans who tuned in to watch a live online chat with the social networking site. The TV personality gave a one-hour interview to Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg at the company's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters. The chat took place in front of an audience of Facebook employees who cheered and took photos on camera phones when she walked out. Winfrey covered a variety of topics including how Rosie O'Donnell has done some remodeling to Harpo Studios in Chicago. (O'Donnell will host The Rosie Show for Winfrey's OWN network beginning in October.) "One of the first things she wanted was...the walls taken down...everybody's out in the open and her offices are dogs and kids and music is playing and there's a candy bar and a cookie bar... ." Life has not slowed down since wrapping up "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in May. "I think everybody thought I was gonna sit at home and relax...every time I run into people they say "How is it? How's retirement?" First of all I was never intentionally retiring. It's a little more frantic. The days were a little more organized. I feel a little out of body some days." Winfrey is now focused on developing her OWN television network. She serves as its chairman, CEO and chief creative officer. "It's a lot harder than I ever imagined. If anybody asks you if you want a network think about that," she joked. She also said she never felt fear until she decided to launch OWN. "The fear is getting this right and the fear is whether or not I'm ahead of my time. I fundamentally believe people are yearning for something more but if I look at, if you look at what's on television right now it doesn't look that way. The fear is I hope I'm right." Viewers tuning in posted comments like, "Oprah, I love listening to you" and "I totally get it." One posted her phone number and asked for a call. Winfrey responded to a special lightning round of random questions where she shared she likes thin crust pizza over deep dish, Chai tea to coffee and the iPad to actual books or the Kindle. Winfrey toured the Facebook offices prior to her live chat and brought along employees from O magazine, OWN and Harpo because she believes they can learn from the social media site. "Facebook's goal is to connect everybody in the world, my goal is to connect with people so they see for themselves the greater possibilities of their lives." Facebook Live has hosted a number of big names for online chats including President Obama, Bill Gates and singer Katy Perry. ---- Online: http://www.facebook.com/facebooklive ---- |
| Yahoo's board under fire after firing of CEO Bartz (AP) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:27 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO – Carol Bartz's firing as Yahoo Inc.'s CEO isn't going to be enough to placate a loudening chorus of shareholders who believe Chairman Roy Bostock and his fellow board members also should be ousted after years of questionable choices that raised doubts about their competence. The deepening disdain for Yahoo's board gained a potentially influential voice Thursday with the disclosure that successful hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb had bought a 5.2 percent stake in the company with designs on getting rid of Bostock and at least two other longtime directors. Bartz, still technically a Yahoo board member, also fanned the flames in her first interview since Bostock fired her in a phone call late Tuesday. While defending her own decisions, Bartz called the board a bunch of "doofuses" in a profanity-laced interview with Fortune magazine. Bartz, 63, wasn't a shareholder favorite either, but her description summarized the sentiment of many investors who have been stewing since Bostock and fellow board member Jerry Yang balked at Microsoft Corp.'s May 2008 offer to buy the company for $33 per share, or $47.5 billion. They insisted they were pursuing a strategy that would make Yahoo worth much more than Microsoft's bid, an argument that now looks absurd. Yahoo shares haven't closed above $20 in nearly three years. The stock finished Thursday at $14.44, a gain of 83 cents, or 6 percent, that was propelled by Loeb's attack on the board. "This board has presided over some of the worst decisions made by any company in recent history," said Darren Chervitz, co-manager of the Jacob Internet Fund, a longtime Yahoo shareholder. Even so, Yahoo's 10-member board probably still isn't viewed as the worst in Silicon Valley, said BGP Financial Partners Colin Gillis. He thinks that lowly title belongs to Hewlett-Packard Co.'s board, which has snooped into people's phone records and 13 months ago switched CEOs in a move that has been followed by a nearly 50 percent drop in the company's market value that has wiped out about $45 billion in shareholder wealth. By comparison, Yahoo's market value is about $30 billion below Microsoft's last offer. Gillis worries, though, that Yahoo's board will do more damage as long as Bostock and the current members remain. Possible missteps include bidding too high for video website Hulu.com, which is up for sale, or picking poorly when they settle on a permanent leader to take over from interim CEO Tim Morse. "They could still do something really foolish," Gillis said. "The concern out there is that this is not a functional board." Loeb hopes to shake things up through his Third Point fund, which specializes on buying stakes in troubled companies. In a letter Thursday, Loeb demanded the resignation of Bostock and two other directors, Arthur Kern and Vyomesh Joshi. Kern, who has a background in radio broadcasting, has been on the board since 1996 while Joshi, a top HP executive, has been a director since 2005. Loeb also said he expects Susan James, a board member since last year, to step down because he considers her too close to Bartz. "It is time that certain members of this board were held accountable for its past failures and their individual roles," Loeb wrote. Loeb said he is drawing up an "all-star" list of potential replacements. A spokesman for Yahoo's board said it welcomes a dialogue with Third Point. "The Yahoo board recognizes the critical challenges facing the company and appreciates constructive input from all shareholders," the spokesman said. In her interview with Fortune, Bartz said the board should bring her back as CEO because she "knew what to do." Loeb, Chervitz and other shareholders have made it clear they believe Bartz had to go. One of their biggest grievances is that Yahoo's board signed Bartz to a four-year contract in January 2009, even though she had no previous experience running an Internet company or one that sells advertising to make money. She was most recently CEO and then executive chairman of design software maker Autodesk. The board's critics also think the board waited far too long to replace Bartz. But Bartz felt she was being turned into a scapegoat by a board that she says is still haunted by its rebuff of Microsoft's takeover offer. "The board was so spooked by being cast as the worst board in the country," Bartz said. "Now they're trying to show that they're not the doofuses that they are." During Bartz's tenure, five Yahoo directors left the board and four of the spots were filled with new appointees. Bartz remains on the board, a seat she told Fortune she intends to keep. But Yahoo doesn't want her in the boardroom. "Ms. Bartz is obligated to resign from the board, and we expect her to do so," the company spokesman said. Yahoo already has removed Bartz's picture and biography from the section of its website devoted to its board. Bostock, who is also vice chairman of Delta Air Lines Inc., has steadfastly refused to surrender his post at Yahoo even after nearly 40 percent of shareholders voted against his re-election in 2008 after the Microsoft talks collapsed. About 20 percent of Yahoo's shareholders opposed Bostock's re-election at the company's latest annual meeting. During that meeting, Bostock told shareholders that Yahoo's board was "very supportive" of Bartz. Yahoo leaves the evaluation of its directors' performances up to its nominating and corporate governance committee. That's chaired by Patti Hart, a Yahoo board member for the past 14 months and CEO of casino game maker International Game Technology. If the board truly values its shareholder opinion, Chervitz thinks a majority of the directors should pressure Bostock into resigning. "I do not delude myself into thinking that will necessarily change the company's direction or drive up the stock price, but it would have important symbolic value," he said. "(Bostock) picked the wrong person to be CEO last time and waited too long to get rid of her. Now, it's time for the accountability to move up the chain of command." |
| Twitter to show more ads, still biding time on IPO (AP) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 06:12 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO – Expect to see more ads flowing through Twitter's stream of tweets in the coming weeks, but don't expect to read anything soon about an IPO from the online messaging service. Twitter CEO Dick Costolo delivered that message in a Thursday meeting with a group of reporters at the company's San Francisco headquarters. After bringing in more management talent and upgrading its service so it can handle big spikes in messaging, Twitter is ready to get more serious about building a successful business. But Costolo said that goal shouldn't be interpreted as a sign that 5-year-old Twitter is poised to pursue an initial public offering of stock — a move that would require the company to reveal how much money it's making for the first time. Twitter doesn't need the money because it just raised $400 million from venture capitalists and other investors. With such a large financial cushion, Costolo indicated Twitter is unlikely to pursue an IPO next year. "We now have what can only be referred to as a truckload of money in the bank," Costolo said. "We did that because we want to be in control of our destiny and grow the company the way we want to." The best way to do that, Costolo said, is to show more ads to Twitter's worldwide audience of 100 million active users. About half of those users log into Twitter each day, a sign that the service is becoming addictive. Twitter is becoming such rich source of information and entertainment, Costolo said, that roughly 40 million active users log into the service without ever posting a tweet. This group of so-called "lurkers" just log in to read what's going among the people they are following or to search for something. Even with so many users staying silent, Twitter says it processes about 230 million tweets per day, more than doubling its volume since the beginning of the year. With so many people immersing themselves on Twitter, the company thinks the timing is right for more advertisements. Twitter began showing ads last year, but limited them to promotions from companies that users had chosen to track. Now Twitters users will gradually start seeing ads from companies they aren't following. In an effort to avoid alienating its audience, Twitter will strive to show ads likely to appeal to each user's interests. The company thinks it can do this by analyzing whom users follow. For instance, a person who follows 30 different professional athletes might be more likely to see ads about sports equipment or apparel. All ads, known as "promoted tweets," must comply with Twitter's online messaging service's 140-character limit. Twitter is expected to generate about $150 million in ad revenue this year, up from $45 million last year, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc. |
| Massive portable battery pack means you’ll never run out of juice (Yahoo! News) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:47 PM PDT |
| Astroarcheaologists seek to revive 40-year-old inactive satellite (Yahoo! News) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:39 PM PDT |
| Facebook App 9/11 Memorial Lets You Dedicate Status Updates to Victims (Mashable) Posted: 07 Sep 2011 05:08 PM PDT Facebook, in collaboration with The National September 11 Memorial & Museum, will ask members to update their profile photos or dedicate their statuses in remembrance of the victims who lost their lives on Sept. 11, 2001. The 9/11 Memorial application, built by Facebook app maker Involver, was released Wednesday, just days ahead of the tenth anniversary of the tragic attacks. [More from Mashable: Happy Birthday, Television: 26 Essential Connected TV Resources] "The goal of the application is to honor and remember victims of this devastating attack on America, 10 years later," explains Involver's Senior Vice President of Marketing Jascha Kaykas-Wolff. Facebook users can choose to dedicate their status or update their profile photo, and tell their family and friends how they're remembering and honoring victims. [More from Mashable: Facebook Doubles Revenues in the First Half of 2011 to $1.6 Billion [REPORT]]
When a user selects to donate his or her status, the application selects from the 3,000 victims -- which include victims of the World Trade Center bombing, the attack on the Pentagon, the passengers of Flight 93 and the six people killed in the February 1993 World Trade Center bombing -- and dedicates each status to a single victim. App users also have the option to choose to dedicate an update to a specific individual. Coordinated with its launch, the application will be featured on a number of prominent Facebook Pages including the Pages of members of Congress, presidential candidates, federal agencies, non-profits and celebrities. Facebook and Involver will also feature the application on their own Pages. The social media memorial and tribute is bound to reverberate throughout the social network, especially considering Facebook's more than 750 million members and the smattering of partners featuring the 9/11 Memorial application on their Pages.
This story originally published on Mashable here. |
| Popular China rights activist gets nine months' jail (Reuters) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 08:05 PM PDT BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese rights activist Wang Lihong was sentenced to nine months in jail on Friday in a case that has drawn condemnation from critics who see her as a victim of the Communist Party's crackdown on Internet-spread dissent. Wang was found guilty of "stirring up trouble" based on a protest in 2010, when she demonstrated outside a court in eastern China's Fujian province where three people stood trial for maligning an official. That initial hearing drew protesters who said Wang was a victim of injustice by officials seeking to stifle dissent, but heavy security outside the verdict hearing at a local court in northwest Beijing on Friday kept the number of supporters down. Wang was detained March this year, when the Chinese government was pursuing a drive to detain and silence dissidents, persistent protesters and human rights lawyers who wary security officials feared could fan the kind of popular challenge to party rule that toppled governments across the Arab world. Wang's lawyer, Liu Xiaoyuan, said the sentence was "relatively light" compared the maximum of five years' jail that the court could have meted out. Liu said that if Wang loses her appeal, she is due to be released in December, taking into account her time already spent in detention. "I think this is a heavy sentence," Wang's son, Qi Jianxiang, told reporters. "She should never have been sentenced at all." Wang, 55, a retired businesswoman and city government worker, told the judges they should know she is innocent, said Qi. "My mother wasn't campaigning for rights for her own interest but for the sake of others, and now she's been sentenced for it," he said. Supporters of Wang outside the court denounced the sentence, a couple of them weeping. European diplomats said they were not allowed in and one EU attache said they were "disappointed." But the diplomats did not directly comment on the verdict. 'UNWILLING TO COMPROMISE' Wang's supporters have included the prominent Chinese activist-artist, Ai Weiwei, whose own 81-day secretive detention prompted an international outcry. Last month, Ai used his Twitter account to urge people to pay attention to her case. Though China's crackdown on dissidents has eased since March, and many detainees have been allowed to return home, Beijing is likely to stay wary of any signs of unrest before a change in the Communist Party leadership late next year. "I think her case shows the straits that China's human rights cause faces," said Ai Xiaoming, a documentary maker and teacher from south China who came to Beijing to show support for Wang. She is not a relative of Ai Weiwei, the artist. Wang also illustrates the variety of people drawn into China's small but hardy circle of rights campaigners. "She's very free-spirited and unwilling to compromise on her values," said her son, Qi. "She's always been like that. She's never been someone to hide her opinions." After retiring in 2008, Wang "put her idealism and humanism into practice through various online activities," according to a website set up to campaign for her release (http:/freewanglihong.blogspot.com) That advocacy also brought the charges that landed Wang in jail. In 2010, she took up the cause of a petitioner, Lin Xiuying, who believed that her daughter had been killed after being raped at a brothel that she said ran under police protection. Lin and two supporters who helped publicise her accusations on the Internet were jailed for libel. When the three were tried last year, Wang was among the demonstrators who gathered outside a court in Fujian province to demand their release. "She took particular concern for the rights of women," said Ai the documentary maker. "But she's also really a product of the Internet age, when it's become possible to find out about issues and speak out about them online." (Writing by Ben Blanchard; Editing by Nick Macfie) |
| Bartz battles to retain Yahoo board seat (Reuters) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 04:54 PM PDT SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Former Yahoo Inc Chief Executive Carol Bartz and her erstwhile employer are dueling over Bartz's board seat, which she says she wants to keep, despite being fired from running the company. Bartz, who was abruptly fired from her job as CEO by chairman Roy Bostock on Tuesday, said in an interview that she intended to remain on Yahoo's board. But hours after the interview was published, a Yahoo board spokesman said she couldn't keep her seat on the board. "Ms. Bartz is obligated to resign from the Board and we expect her to do so," said Charles Sipkins, a spokesman for Yahoo's board of directors. Bartz may have some wiggle room despite the provision in her employment contract, said corporate governance expert Nell Minow. The January 2009 contract states that "upon any termination of employment, you shall promptly resign from the Board and all officerships, directorships or fiduciary positions with the Company and its affiliates." But Bartz could still make the argument that she's been elected by the shareholders, said Minow, who was the editor of Corporate Library, a predecessor to corporate-governance consultancy GMI. Bartz was appointed to the board upon becoming Yahoo's chief executive in 2009 and has been re-elected by shareholders at subsequent annual meetings. She could maintain that the elections would supersede the clause in the contract. Bartz characterized Yahoo's board as "doofuses" who "fucked me over" in an interview with Fortune magazine that was published on Thursday. Detractors say Bartz didn't do enough to turn around Yahoo, which has been losing market share in search and advertising. Generally, language requiring CEOs to step down from board positions if they leave their posts is a standard part of any CEO contract, said Paul Hodgson, a senior research associate at GMI. If the board chooses to, it can ask the former CEO to remain, as Apple's board did when Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive last month. But such language wasn't always standard. HealthSouth former CEO Richard Scrushy was fired in 2004 amid a federal fraud investigation but held onto his board seat, resigning only in late 2005 after he was not renominated. In situations where there is an unwanted board member, "it's awkward," said Charles Elson, a University of Delaware finance professor specializing in corporate governance. He said boards typically form special committees that exclude the ostracized director, and conduct the bulk of board business through those committees. Minow -- once a movie reviewer for Yahoo -- believes Bartz's comments about remaining on the board are a negotiating tactic connected to her severance arrangements, and that she doesn't really want to remain on the board. "We would all enjoy that very much" from an entertainment perspective, she told Reuters. "But we don't want the board to be any more dysfunctional than it already is." (Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic and Sarah McBride; Editing by Peter Henderson, Bernard Orr, Gary Hill) |
| Google Music beta now available for iOS via safari web browser (Digital Trends) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 05:21 PM PDT
The interface through the browser apps just like an app in that you can swipe between songs and music will continue to play even when you close the browser. You can browse your songs and search through your library of music straight through the browser. There has not been much news about Google Music since it was first announced at Google I/0 in May. The service allows you to upload your music collection to the cloud and stream it to other computers, or portable devices. As of right now Google has not been able to make any deals with record labels so the service will only work with music you currently own. With Apple's iCloud service coming out soon, and Spofity taking America by storm streaming music services are becoming a dime a dozen. With several streaming services already on the market Google needs to make some moves in order to generate some interest in its service. If you are already part of Google's Music beta program and own an iOS device you can open up safari and load up music.google.com. If you aren't in the beta program we have a small number of invites we can offer up. Try out the iOS experience and let us know how you like it.
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| LG Elec denies report of overseas mobile staff cuts (Reuters) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 07:17 PM PDT SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea's LG Electronics Inc denied on Friday a media report that it had slashed overseas staff in its struggling mobile phone division by about 30 percent as a part of broad-based reforms to turn the money-losing business around. The Korea Economic Daily reported in its early Friday edition that the layoffs mainly involved mobile marketing and purchasing resources and the closure of some unprofitable outlets. The report also said the company had similar plans for its domestic mobile business. LG said the report was groundless. "We are always looking at opportunities to improve the performance of our mobile business but no decision has been made as to any job reductions," a LG spokesman said. LG, the world's No.3 handset maker, has recorded five consecutive quarterly losses from mobile phone sales, with cutthroat competition pressuring the firm to overhaul its business. Shares in LG fell 2.9 percent as of 0210 GMT, compared to the wider market's 0.4 percent drop. (Reporting by Miyoung Kim; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner) |
| 13 percent of Americans watch TV or movies while at work (Digital Trends) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 07:43 PM PDT
Adapted into an infographic and published this week by Wistia, data from a study of over 2,500 people by a company called Qumu showed that 64 percent of Americans used the workplace to watch online video. Over half of men have admitted to this constant practice while only about 1 in 3 women spend work hours perusing Web video. News clips comprised the largest majority of web video watched at 25 percent with workplace videos coming in at 17 percent. Viral video on YouTube and other popular video hosting sites clocked in at 15 percent and social media video comprised 12 percent of videos watched. Sports was popular at 11 percent and television shows made up 9 percent. Feature-length films were watched by four percent, slightly beating out pornography at three percent. The 63 percent of people that attempted to hide online video from an employer most commonly hide a mobile device playing the video underneath a table or desk. Forty-two percent of the survey takers take a bathroom break to watch video and 35 percent of employees attempt to hide the smartphone or tablet in folders. The most desperate pretend to tie their shoes to continue watching video while 8 percent of the respondents actually attempt to cause a distraction. While 90 seconds of online video is approximately 700 times larger than a typical email, only 9 percent of employees understand that online video is taxing on the speed and bandwidth of a wireless network. Beyond online video, nearly 75 percent of Americans utilize smartphones at work for tasks that aren't work related. The most common task is searching for a more attractive primary job. Other popular tasks include visiting online dating websites, seeking part time work, researching a medical problem, shopping for private items like lingerie or underwear and looking into popular plastic surgery options. In addition, 63 percent of Americans use a smartphone to participate in these tasks during work-related meetings. Check out the infographic below for more information: |
| Droid Bionic Makes Intriguing Rival To iPhone 5 (NewsFactor) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 02:48 PM PDT Motorola's Droid Bionic, perhaps the most eagerly awaited Android phone yet, has launched with a good head start against Apple's coming iPhone refresh, likely due early next month. The Bionic was introduced at January's Consumer Electronics Association trade show, but its release was delayed from spring, prompting endless discussion on blogs about the device's ultimate specifications, which have been revised by Motorola since the unveiling. Without knowing much about the specs of the iPhone 5, it's hard to predict how the two will match up, but the Bionic is drawing predictions of being a serious David against Apple's Goliath. More Screen, Fast Data The second Droid device to use Verizon Wireless's 4G LTE data network (the first was Samsung's Droid Charge), the Bionic packs a dual-core, one-gigahertz processor for fast multitasking and a larger screen size than the current iPhone, 4.3 inches. (The new iPhone is expected to have a slightly larger display than its current 3.5-inch touchscreen, perhaps 3.7 or 4 inches.) "I have only been playing with it for a short while, but it appears that the Droid Bionic is the best LTE phone on the market today," said Avi Greengart of Current Analysis, though he added: "I will not speculate about how it stacks up against a product that has not been announced." LTE speed will allow Bionic users to download at 5 to 12 Mbps and upload at 2 to 5 Mbps in 4G LTE mobile broadband coverage areas, Verizon promises. One obstacle for the Bionic, however, may be its price: At $300, it's a bit steeper than the average subsidized smartphone cost of $199. However, that price is the same as the current iPhone model with 32 gigabytes of internal storage, and Motorola and Verizon Wireless seemed to want it to be on par with that iPhone model by adding a 16 gigabyte SD card to the internal 16 gigs of memory. No iPhone has included a memory card slot. "[The Bionic] has received good reviews but the real question mark -- will anyone buy it based on the high price point of $300?" asked wireless analyst Kirk Parsons of J.D. Power and Associates. "The [Samsung] Galaxy II series has also received good reviews but its at a lower price point." Better All the Time "The bottom line is [smartphones] are getting better with every new generation, especially those devices on 4G -- which is still a weak spot for the iPhone," Parsons said. Another selling point of the Droid Bionic is the range of new applications Motorola is adding to it, including Zumocast, which lets customers import videos, music, pictures and documents from their computers, and Webtop, which allows the phone to stream content to a TV, monitor or docking station. Apple, on the other hand, has 425,000 applications in its iTunes App Store (more than Android's 300,000-plus) and innovations are expected with the launch of iOS 5. Google also has an update of Android due this fall, internally known as Ice Cream Sandwich. Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said this week that Ice Cream Sandwich, or Android 4.0, would be released in "October/November." The Bionic ships with Android 2.3.4 but will be updated. So customers with $300 to spend on a phone are faced with a serious choice. . "The difference to me is, folks are willing to spend that much for an iPhone. Are they willing to buy a Motorola at that price point?" Parsons said. "It will all depend on how much marketing and advertising the [respective] carriers put behind it." In addition to its widespread ingrained pop-culture status, another advantage for the iPhone is its multicarrier availability, on AT&T and Verizon Wireless and, with the iPhone 5, reportedly soon to emerge on Sprint Nextel shelves. The Bionic is exclusively available via Verizon Wireless. |
| SportCaster leads Android Apps of the Week (Appolicious) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 02:30 PM PDT |
| Android app downloads to beat iOS this year (Digital Trends) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 10:41 AM PDT
For a couple of years, mobile app marketplaces have largely been compared in terms of the number of apps they offer—and, historically, Apple's iTunes App Store has been way out in front, with the Android Market ringing up a somewhat-distant second place and the likes of RIM, Windows Phone, Symbian, and the now-defunct webOS lost in the back of the pack. However, research firm Ovum may be opening up a new metric in the mobile app marketplace wars: the firm is forecasting that not only will mobile app downloads be up 144 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, but for the first time app downloads for Android devices will exceed those for Apple iOS devices. "Consumers' seemingly insatiable demand for mobile applications is set to continue this year, with downloads from app stores increasing around the world," said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon, in a statement. "The outlook for the longer term is also positive, with consumers set to continue to use apps to add new features to their phones and to access their favorite services on the go." Ovum expects Android to garner some 8.1 billion app downloads this year, compared to about 6 billion for Apple iOS devices. Both figures mark substantial growth for both platforms: in 2010, Apple chalked up 2.7 billion app downloads while Android racked up 1.4 billion. Many factors have contributed to the boom in Android app downloads, including the diverse range of smartphone and tablet devices offered by a broad range of manufacturers, along with third-party app stores from the likes of Amazon and GetJar. The same fragmentation that seems to be hurting Android when it comes to dethroning Apple's iPhone and iPad devices actually works in the platform's favor in terms of app downloads—plus, the platform has a large number of carriers and manufacturers pouring their marketing dollars into Android. Ovum forecasts that by 2016 Android will lead iOS devices in app downloads by a two-to-one margin—21.8 billion apps compared to 11.6 billion apps. However, Ovum also predicts the iTunes App Store will continue to dominate the market for paid applications. Ovum believes the iTunes Store app-based revenue will read some $2.86 billion by 2016, compared to $1.6 billion for Android. By 2015, Ovum anticipates WIndows Phone will be the third-place contender for app downloads, overtaking RIM's BlackBerry platform in both revenue and total downloads. |
| ViewSonic kills the Boxee-powered HDTV (Digital Trends) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 07:47 PM PDT
ViewSonic has ended plans to release a Boxee-powered, high definition television as of this month due to a lack of consumer interest in the concept and expensive development costs. A 46-inch version of the ViewSonic display was previously featured at CES 2011 and was powered by the Intel Atom CE4100 capable of delivering 1080p HD content, HTML5, Adobe Flash and a vast variety of Web applications. While the television was previously scheduled to arrive on the market before the end of June 2011, pricing was never discussed and the final product clearly never made it through the final design stages. While connected televisions are going to become the norm over the next few years, set-top boxes have suffered as content creators have been stingy with allowing access to video on the Web. The Logitech Revue is an obvious case of a device that instantly became irrelevant after content providers pulled access from Google TV. Even a price drop from $299 to $99 hasn't done much to stimulate sales of the set-top box. Analysts are currently watching Apple for any sign of the rumored Apple TV, a smart television that may bridge the gap between users and premium content with built-in support for iTunes. Beyond renting or purchasing video content, Apple TV users may be able to take advantage of a blossoming app store, assuming the smart TV is running a version of iOS. |
| The iPhone Wins Again (The Atlantic Wire) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 03:18 PM PDT People continue to love their iPhones. The results of J.D. Power and Associates' latest customer satisfaction survey are out and they are unsurprising: For a sixth consecutive time, Apple ranks highest among manufacturers of smartphones in customer satisfaction. Apple achieves a score of 838 and performs well in all factors, particularly in ease of operation and features. HTC (801) follows Apple in the smartphone rankings. |
| SAP reaches plea deal in Oracle criminal case (Reuters) Posted: 08 Sep 2011 06:20 PM PDT OAKLAND, California (Reuters) – SAP AG agreed to plead guilty to unspecified charges in a criminal case involving unauthorized access to computers maintained by software rival Oracle Corp, according to a court filing. U.S. Department of Justice prosecutors on Thursday charged SAP's defunct TomorrowNow Inc unit with 11 counts of unauthorized access to an Oracle computer, and one count of criminal copyright infringement, according to a separate filing. The filing lists TomorrowNow as the sole defendant in the criminal case. No individuals were charged. Sentencing in the case is scheduled for September 14, court documents show. "We have been working with the DOJ and we have reached an agreement to resolve the matter. With the agreement we now look forward to what we think is a fair and final resolution of the matter," SAP spokesman Jim Dever said by phone. He declined to give details of the plea agreement. Eric Goldman, a professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said it is difficult to understand what will be accomplished by bringing criminal charges against one defunct company. "What can they do to TomorrowNow that the marketplace hasn't already done?" Goldman said. "DOJ may have felt they had to do something, because this was such a high profile example of putatively criminal behavior that they couldn't ignore it." A Justice Department representative declined to comment on the case. The charges are the latest in a long-running legal controversy involving SAP and Oracle. Last year a civil jury awarded Oracle $1.3 billion over accusations that SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow wrongfully downloaded millions of Oracle files. A judge has since reduced that award to $272 million. SAP acquired TomorrowNow in 2005 after Oracle took over PeopleSoft. TomorrowNow provided third party maintenance and support services to companies that used software licensed from Oracle. According to the criminal charges, TomorrowNow employees repeatedly gained access to Oracle's computers in 2006 and 2007 using log-in credentials from other companies. For instance, on December 13, 2006, TomorrowNow employees obtained updates for Oracle real estate management software by using credentials from Merck & Co. "We are very pleased that the Department of Justice brought criminal charges against SAP for their widespread and systematic theft of Oracle's intellectual property to which SAP has repeatedly confessed," Oracle spokeswoman Deborah Hellinger said. An Oracle representative may wish to address the court at sentencing next week in an Oakland federal courtroom, prosecutors and TomorrowNow said in a joint court filing. The criminal case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is United States of America v. TomorrowNow Inc., 11-cr-0642. (Additional reporting by Peter Henderson; Editing by Gary Hill) |
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