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- Google search promises to get fresh with you
- Amazon Flow strikes low blow to brick and mortar, converts barcode scans to online sales
- Galaxy Nexus gets rooted, forums burst into applause
- Motorola Xoom 2 hands-on (video)
- Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition hands-on (video)
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus now shipping from Amazon, confirmed to use Exynos SoC
- Samsung, RealD pact for ZScreen passive glasses 3D TVs falls apart
- ASUS Transformer Prime, disassembled: NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 sees daylight
- Sina Weibo comes to entice business, not to bury Twitter
- HTC Rezound shows off its Vigor with leaked press shots, Beats Audio demo, HD video samples (update)
- DirecTV adds more subscribers than ever, will push live streaming, HD UI, and multiroom DVRs
- Beijing's rolling out city wide 'free' public WiFi, just hand over your phone number
- Ultrathin LG U1 to be company's first Ice Cream Sandwich device?
- OpenBSD 5.0 offers more hardware compatibility, less bugs
- BlackBerry Curve Touch 9380 sighted again, this time en route to Telus
- webOS 3.0.5 clues point to integrated Twitter, better performance for your TouchPad
- Ford begins taking reservations for the Focus Electric, pricing starts at $39,200
- Google Offers app goes live in Android Market
- Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Meizu M9, MX, Jack Wong confirms
- Motorola Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition get official (video)
- Commodore USA goes Extreme, stuffs a 2.2GHz quad-core i7 into its C64x
- Asus outs 11.6-inch U24E in Japan, appeals to bargain i5 hunters everywhere
- Sony Ericsson brings Gesture input to Xperia line, gives new meaning to 'Swiper, no swiping!'
- LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker lets you channel your inner Charlie Chaplin for $80
- CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII
- New sensor can read your heart from afar, but knows not your feelings
- Republic Wireless to offer unlimited calls, SMS and data for $19 per month
- BRD RedShift electric motorcycle duo awaits your pre-order, offers real-life Excitebike next year
- Opera Mini 6.5 and Mobile 11.5 embark on data awareness mission, now available for download
- China launches unmanned, auto-docking spacecraft
- TBCP-II tank robot climbs walls with gecko-inspired feet (video)
- Energy Sistem's new tablets promise a taste of Honeycomb on Android 2.3
- Jawbone Up detailed: tracks activity, food intake and sleep cycles, available November 6 for $100 (video)
- Amazon Prime adds new reading option with Kindle Owners Lending Library
- Girl, Apple's gonna make you sweat with a treadmill patent
- HP's 3115m is the Pavilion dm1z rebadged for the business set, starts at $429
- Square updates Card Case, enables hands-free payment on the iPhone
- Plex hops on the Google TV train, finds it has plenty of room to stretch its legs
- The Canon Hollywood event is tomorrow -- get your liveblog here at 6PM ET!
- Stanford program cracks text-based CAPTCHAs, shelters the replicants among us
| Google search promises to get fresh with you Posted: 03 Nov 2011 11:49 AM PDT  |
| Amazon Flow strikes low blow to brick and mortar, converts barcode scans to online sales Posted: 03 Nov 2011 11:22 AM PDT  Flow Powered by Amazon App, Now Available for the iPhone New augmented reality app uses both barcode and image recognition to continuously recognize tens of millions of products in a live camera view PALO ALTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A9.com, Inc., a subsidiary of Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) today announced a new iPhone app: Flow Powered by Amazon. Flow is a new augmented reality app that makes it easy to explore and discover tens of millions of products in a real world setting – from books and DVDs to packaged electronics and toys – and offers shoppers interactive product information about the items around them. With Flow, customers simply point their iPhone toward a book, video game, CD, DVD or millions of other products with UPC barcodes. Upon visual recognition of the product, the app displays Amazon.com product information, including the option to play multimedia content and read customer reviews. "This is our first step towards integrating product search technology with augmented reality," said Bill Stasior, president of A9.com. "The integration of a live camera display, graphical overlays, and visual recognition technology creates a seamless experience for a customer looking to discover information about objects in their physical surroundings." Flow uses continuous scan technology developed by A9.com's visual search team to identify products and provide related information found on Amazon.com. The app displays Amazon's popular shopping features such as product details, customer reviews and ratings, as well as sharing options via Twitter, Facebook, or email. Flow Powered by Amazon is available as a free download from the Apple App Store at www.itunes.com/appstore. To learn more, visit flow.a9.com. |
| Galaxy Nexus gets rooted, forums burst into applause Posted: 03 Nov 2011 11:05 AM PDT  |
| Motorola Xoom 2 hands-on (video) Posted: 03 Nov 2011 11:00 AM PDT  This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Motorola Xoom 2 Media Edition hands-on (video) Posted: 03 Nov 2011 10:56 AM PDT |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus now shipping from Amazon, confirmed to use Exynos SoC Posted: 03 Nov 2011 10:51 AM PDT  We've known all along that the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus packs a dual-core 1.2GHz processor of some sort, but Samsung's only just now finally confirmed to AnandTech that the 7-inch tablet does indeed use an Exynos system on a chip. That's the very same SoC found in the company's Galaxy S II smartphone, so we should be looking at some similar performance from the tablet. In case you missed the news last month, it's officially set to hit the US on November 13th for $400. That memo doesn't seem to have reached Amazon, however, which is now listing the 16GB model as in stock and shipping immediately. Hit the source link below if you're ready to take the plunge. |
| Samsung, RealD pact for ZScreen passive glasses 3D TVs falls apart Posted: 03 Nov 2011 10:25 AM PDT  Back at CES, Samsung's business display unit and RealD announced a deal to build passive glasses compatible 3D TVs with sharper resolution than FPR, since the active shutters are built into the screen itself. Turns out, that promise won't be fulfilled. In its Q2 earnings report released yesterday, RealD confirmed that the agreement fell through since Samsung's "initiative to manufacture panels... is not being pursued." RealD did say it's decided to explore "other potential partners," for the ZScreen technology but it has yet to offer any specifics. Equally ambiguous are the factors that led to the Samsung schism, though RealD CEO Michael Lewis told reporters that the Korean manufacturer simply "had a recent management change, reviewed all their projects and decided not to go forward." He added, however, that his company remains "bullish on the technology." Samsung, for its part, has yet to comment on the story. RealD Inc. Reports Financial Results for Second Quarter of Fiscal 2012 LOS ANGELES, Nov 02, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- RealD Inc. RLD -13.85% , a leading global licensor of 3D technologies, today announced financial results for its second quarter of fiscal 2012 ended September 23, 2011. Second Quarter Financial Highlights Revenue -- Revenue was $88.0 million, an increase of 35% from $65.3 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- Net license revenue was $52.0 million, an increase of 119% from $23.8 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- Excluding the impact of $11.6 million in exhibitor stock option expense in the prior year quarter (a contra revenue item), licensing revenue increased 47% year-over-year. Since all exhibitor stock options vested in fiscal 2011, RealD does not expect to incur exhibitor stock option expense during the current fiscal year or in future years. -- Product and other revenue was $36.0 million, a decrease of 13% from $41.6 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. The decrease is partially attributable to an increasing number of international consumers returning to the cinema with RealD eyewear purchased at a previous RealD showing. -- License revenue increased to 59% of gross revenue during the quarter from 46% of gross revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2011, whereas product revenue decreased to 41% of gross revenue during the quarter from 54% of gross revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. GAAP Results -- Profitability Measures and Balance Sheet -- GAAP net income attributable to common stockholders was $18.9 million, or $0.33 per diluted share. In the second quarter of fiscal 2011, the Company recorded a GAAP net loss attributable to common stockholders of $5.1 million, or $0.12 per share. -- Gross margin increased to 48% from 21% in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- The Company's balance sheet at September 23, 2011 included total cash and cash equivalents of $32.5 million and total debt of $25.0 million. The Company had $25 million available on its line of credit as of September 23, 2011. Non-GAAPResults -- Profitability Measures -- Adjusted EBITDA was $44.4 million, an increase of 169% from $16.5 million in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- Adjusted EBITDA increased to 50% of net revenue from 25% of net revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- Adjusted EBITDA is defined within the section of this press release entitled "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures," which includes a reconciliation to its most comparable GAAP measure, net income. "A strong 3D film slate and our growing base of 3D cinema systems worldwide enabled RealD to deliver significant year-over-year growth in license revenue, a key driver of our growth in net income and Adjusted EBITDA during the quarter," said Michael V. Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RealD. Key Metrics and International Revenue Statistics -- International markets generated 56% of gross license revenue in the quarter compared to 52% of gross license revenue in the second quarter of fiscal 2011. -- As of September 23, 2011, the Company had deployed approximately 18,700 RealD-enabled screens, an increase of 101% from approximately 9,300 screens as of September 24, 2010, and an increase of 1,200 screens, or 7%, from approximately 17,500 screens as of June 24, 2011. -- As of September 23, 2011, the Company had approximately 11,100 domestic screens at approximately 2,500 domestic theater locations and approximately 7,600 international screens at approximately 2,400 international theater locations. Recent Business Highlights -- RealD entered into agreements with two Chinese cinema circuits: SHIMAO Cinema and Beijing SAGA Luxury Cinema. Each exhibitor committed to equip a minimum of 100 auditoriums with RealD technology. -- RealD today is announcing revised expectations for its license agreement with Samsung Electronics LCD Business. In May 2011, RealD and Samsung announced that panels featuring RealD 3D display technology were expected to be made available to consumer electronics manufacturers by early 2012. RealD has recently learned that Samsung's initiative to manufacture panels under the RealD license agreement is not being pursued at this time. As a result, RealD is now pursuing other potential partners for its 3D display technology among consumer electronics panel manufacturers. |
| ASUS Transformer Prime, disassembled: NVIDIA's quad-core Tegra 3 sees daylight Posted: 03 Nov 2011 09:59 AM PDT While the FCC already had its wicked way with ASUS' Transformer Prime, its intimate inner workings have now been spilled over at Wireless Goodness. Nestled between NAND memory from Hynix and some Elpida RAM is NVIDIA's great tablet hope, its new quad-core chip. The full gallery of shots has disappeared from the FCC site, but silicon fans can still check out the chipboards in full glory at the source link below.
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| Sina Weibo comes to entice business, not to bury Twitter Posted: 03 Nov 2011 09:37 AM PDT  |
| HTC Rezound shows off its Vigor with leaked press shots, Beats Audio demo, HD video samples (update) Posted: 03 Nov 2011 09:12 AM PDT  HTC's set to unveil its newest mobile creation in a just a few hours, and you can bet that it's likely the 4G LTE-enabled Rezound seen above. In the past few weeks, we've seen a purported pre-release unit and even some colorful renders, but today Pocketnow has snagged what appears to be the first official press shots of this rumored 1.5GHz device. The leaks don't stop there, though, as videos of the Rezounds's Beats Audio capabilities and HD video-chops have recently popped up on YouTube -- this courtesy of user worldofjohnboy, who's had his hands an early-run unit for some time now. Questions still remain regarding any official specs and that supposed November 10th release date on Verizon, but we'll surely find out in just a few hours. In the meantime, you'll find the trio of aforesaid videos just past the break, and more info at the links below. [Thanks, Florian] Update: And just like that, the videos have been removed from the interwebs. |
| DirecTV adds more subscribers than ever, will push live streaming, HD UI, and multiroom DVRs Posted: 03 Nov 2011 09:09 AM PDT  DIRECTV Announces Third Quarter 2011 Results DIRECTV Adds All-Time Record 1.14 Million Net New Subscribers in Latin America and the U.S. in the Quarter. DIRECTV Latin America sets records with 957,000 gross and 574,000 net additions in the quarter while Sky Mexico adds 238,000 net new subscribers. DIRECTV U.S. gross additions of 1.28 million and lower churn of 1.62% fuel the highest third quarter net additions in 7 years to 327,000 Revenue Growth of 14% Accelerates to $6.84 Billion Increase driven by DIRECTV Latin America's record subscriber growth and 11% higher Average Revenue per Subscriber, as well as 8% revenue growth at DIRECTV U.S. DIRECTV Diluted Earnings per Share Increases 27% to $0.70 EPS growth driven by 37% increase in operating profit at DIRECTV Latin America as well as share repurchases of $5.9 billion over the last twelve months, including nearly $1.5 billion in the third quarter EL SEGUNDO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- DIRECTV (NASDAQ:DTV) today reported increases in third quarter 2011 revenues of nearly 14% to $6.84 billion, operating profit before depreciation and amortization1 (OPBDA) of 7% to $1.58 billion and operating profit of 19% to $1.03 billion compared to last year's third quarter. DIRECTV also reported that third quarter net income increased 8% to $516 million while diluted earnings per share grew 27% to $0.70 compared with the same period last year. "Third quarter net additions soared to an all-time record high of 1.14 million-or 901 thousand excluding Sky Mexico-as the strength of DIRECTV's brands and unparalleled video experience fueled the largest net subscriber gain in DIRECTV's history," said Mike White, president and CEO of DIRECTV. "This tremendous growth came throughout the Americas, as DIRECTV Latin America generated its best quarter ever with 574 thousand net additions while DIRECTV U.S. had its biggest third quarter in seven years with 327 thousand new subscribers. Combining this record performance with solid ARPU growth drove an acceleration of consolidated revenue growth to nearly 14% exceeding both last year and first half growth rates. Earnings per share in the quarter grew even faster to 27% fueled mostly by higher operating profit at DIRECTV Latin America and our share repurchase program, partially offset by higher programming costs and the short term impact from the additional acquisition costs related to the significant increase in gross additions at DIRECTV U.S." White finished, "Looking forward, we plan to build on this momentum by debuting several compelling new products and services including a greatly enhanced DIRECTV Anywhere offering that will enable consumers to stream live-TV programming and on-demand movies to their mobile devices, as well as a brand new HD user interface and the much anticipated launch of our home media center. We also have exciting growth plans in Latin America as we expect to continue to greatly expand our subscriber base by offering the best video experience to a rapidly growing pay-TV market throughout the region." DIRECTV'S OPERATIONAL REVIEW Third Quarter Review DIRECTV Consolidated Three Months Nine Months Dollars in Millions except Earnings Ended September 30, Ended September 30, per Class A Common Share 2011 2010 2011 2010 Revenues $6,844 $6,025 $19,763 $17,481 Operating Profit Before Depreciation and Amortization(1) 1,584 1,484 5,196 4,694 OPBDA Margin(1) 23.1% 24.6% 26.3% 26.9% Operating Profit 1,030 868 3,415 2,834 Operating Profit Margin 15.0% 14.4% 17.3% 16.2% Net Income Attributable to DIRECTV 516 479 1,891 1,580 Diluted Earnings Per Class A Common Share 0.70 0.55 2.47 1.57 Adjusted Diluted Earnings Per Share(2) 0.70 0.55 2.47 1.75 Capital Expenditures and Cash Flow Cash Paid for DIRECTV U.S. Subscriber Leased Equipment - Acquisitions, Upgrade and Retention 313 271 782 669 Cash Paid for Property, Equipment and Satellites 659 395 1,534 1,077 Cash Flow Before Interest and Taxes(3) 788 968 2,685 2,952 Free Cash Flow(4) 235 665 1,295 2,079 DIRECTV's third quarter revenues of $6.84 billion increased nearly 14% over the same period last year principally due to strong subscriber and average revenue per subscriber (ARPU) growth at DIRECTV Latin America (DTVLA) and DIRECTV U.S. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization increased 7% to $1.58 billion while OPBDA margin declined to 23.1%. The margin decline was primarily due to higher programming costs at DIRECTV U.S. mostly related to annual program supplier rate increases and the new NFL contract, as well as higher subscriber acquisition costs driven by the record gross additions at both DIRECTV U.S. and DTVLA. Operating profit grew 19% to $1.03 billion and operating profit margin increased to 15.0% as the decline in OPBDA margin was more than offset by lower depreciation expense at DIRECTV U.S. principally driven by an increase in the estimated depreciable life of High-Definition set-top boxes from three years to four years resulting in a decline in depreciation expense of approximately $76 million in the quarter. Net income attributable to DIRECTV increased 8% to $516 million compared with the third quarter of last year primarily due to the higher operating profit. This improvement was partially offset by higher interest expense principally resulting from an increase in long-term debt as well as $72 million in pre-tax non-cash losses associated with the revaluation of U.S. dollar denominated net-liabilities in Brazil compared with an $18 million gain for the same period in 2010. Diluted earnings per share increased 27% to $0.70 in the quarter due to the higher net income and a lower average share count resulting from stock repurchases made over the last twelve months. Cash flow before interest and taxes3 declined 19% to $788 million compared to the third quarter of 2010 as the higher OPBDA was more than offset by increased capital expenditures mostly driven by the record gross additions and greater demand for advanced equipment at both DIRECTV U.S. and DTVLA, as well as higher payments for satellites at DTVLA. Free cash flow declined 65% to $235 million due to the lower cash flow before interest and taxes along with greater cash interest payments associated with higher average debt levels and increased cash tax payments primarily due to higher pre-tax income. Also during the quarter but not included in free cash flow, was cash paid for share repurchases of $1.45 billion. Year-to-Date Review DIRECTV's revenues for the first nine months of 2011 increased 13% to $19.76 billion over the same period last year principally due to strong subscriber and ARPU growth at both DIRECTV Latin America and DIRECTV U.S. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization increased 11% to $5.20 billion while OPBDA margin declined to 26.3% during the period. The margin decline was primarily due to higher programming cost at DIRECTV U.S. mostly associated with annual program supplier rate increases and the new NFL contract, as well as higher subscriber acquisition costs driven by the record gross additions at both DIRECTV U.S. and DTVLA. Year to date operating profit increased 21% to $3.42 billion and operating profit margin increased to 17.3% as the lower OPBDA margin was more than offset by the decline in depreciation and amortization expenses at DIRECTV U.S. In the first nine months of 2011, net income attributable to DIRECTV increased 20% to $1.89 billion driven by the higher operating profit as well as a $29 million increase in other income, including a $60 million increase in pre-tax gains resulting from the sale of investments recorded in "Other, net" on the Consolidated Statements of Operations. These increases were partially offset by higher interest expense principally resulting from an increase in long-term debt as well as greater income tax expense resulting from the higher pre-tax income. Also impacting the comparison was a $67 million gain from the final settlement of the equity collars assumed in the Liberty transaction in the first quarter of 2010 as well as $45 million in pre-tax non-cash losses also recorded in "Other, net" associated with the revaluation of U.S. dollar denominated net-liabilities in Brazil during the first nine months of 2011 compared with a $7 million gain for the same period in 2010. Diluted earnings per share improved to $2.47, a 57% increase excluding the impact of the Malone transaction2 from the results during the first nine months of 2010, primarily due to higher net income as well as a lower average share count resulting from stock repurchases made over the last twelve months. Cash flow before interest and taxes declined 9% to $2.69 billion compared with the first nine months of 2010 mainly due to higher capital expenditures primarily associated with increased gross additions and demand for advanced set-top boxes at both DIRECTV U.S. and DTVLA, as well as higher expenditures on satellites at DTVLA. These increased expenditures were partially offset by the higher OPBDA and a $39 million increase in dividends received, primarily from Sky Mexico and Game Show Network. Year to date free cash flow declined 38% to $1.30 billion due to the lower cash flow before interest and taxes, higher cash interest payments related to an increase in long-term debt and greater cash tax payments primarily associated with higher pre-tax income. During the first nine months of 2011 but not included in free cash flow, were cash paid for share repurchases of $4.37 billion and proceeds from the sale of investments of $116 million. In addition, DIRECTV U.S. completed a $4.0 billion debt financing in March 2011 and DIRECTV redeemed $1.0 billion of 6.375% Senior Notes due 2015 during the first nine months of 2011. SEGMENT FINANCIAL REVIEW DIRECTV U.S. Segment Third Quarter Review In the quarter, DIRECTV U.S. revenues increased nearly 8% to $5.42 billion due to the larger subscriber base and ARPU growth of 3.6%. Net additions nearly doubled to 327,000 in the third quarter due to record gross additions driven in part by the NFL SUNDAY TICKETTM promotion, as well as a lower average monthly churn rate of 1.62%. The ARPU increase to $92.21 was mostly due to price increases on programming packages and leased set-top boxes, as well as higher advanced service fees partially offset by more promotional offers to new and existing customers. DIRECTV U.S. ended the quarter with 19.76 million subscribers, an increase of 4% over the 18.93 million subscribers reported for the quarter ended September 30, 2010. Three Months Nine Months DIRECTV U.S. Ended September 30, Ended September 30, Dollars in Millions except ARPU 2011 2010 2011 2010 Revenue $5,421 $5,031 $15,843 $14,737 Average Monthly Revenue per Subscriber (ARPU) ($) 92.21 88.98 90.48 87.43 Operating Profit Before Depreciation and Amortization(1) 1,153 1,192 3,962 3,892 OPBDA Margin(1) 21.3% 23.7% 25.0% 26.4% Operating Profit 800 720 2,737 2,427 Operating Profit Margin 14.8% 14.3% 17.3% 16.5% Cash Flow Before Interest and Taxes(3) 744 806 2,357 2,663 Free Cash Flow(4) 267 450 1,155 1,702 Subscriber Data (in 000's except Churn) Gross Subscriber Additions 1,280 1,137 3,286 3,008 Average Monthly Subscriber Churn 1.62% 1.70% 1.57% 1.56% Net Subscriber Additions 327 174 537 374 Cumulative Subscribers 19,760 18,934 19,760 18,934 Third quarter OPBDA declined 3% to $1.15 billion and OPBDA margin fell to 21.3% primarily due to higher programming costs mostly related to annual program supplier rate increases and the new NFL contract, as well as higher subscriber acquisition costs due to the significant increase in gross additions. Also in the quarter, operating profit grew 11% to $800 million and operating profit margin increased to 14.8% as the decline in OPBDA was more than offset by lower depreciation and amortization expense related to an increase in the estimated depreciable life of High-Definition set-top boxes from three years to four years, the completion of amortization for a subscriber-related intangible asset and lower depreciation expense associated with a reduction in set-top box capital expenditures over the last several years. DIRECTV Latin America Segment DIRECTV Latin America owns approximately 93% of Sky Brazil, 41% of Sky Mexico and 100% of PanAmericana, which covers most of the remaining countries in the region. Sky Mexico, whose results are accounted for as an equity method investment and therefore is not consolidated by DTVLA, had approximately 3.82 million subscribers as of September 30, 2011 bringing the total subscribers in the region to 11.10 million at the end of the third quarter of 2011. Third Quarter Review In the third quarter, DTVLA revenues increased 46% to $1.36 billion principally due to strong subscriber growth and an 11.0% increase in ARPU. Net additions more than doubled to 574,000 driven by an 82% increase in gross additions to an all-time record of 957,000 and a decline in monthly post paid churn in the quarter to 1.39%. Gross additions were higher principally due to greater demand in Brazil particularly from the middle market segment, as well as from increased new activations in Argentina, while the reduction in post-paid churn was mainly driven by lower churn in Venezuela and Brazil. The increase in ARPU to $64.63 was mostly due to price increases and greater penetration of advanced services, as well as favorable exchange rates in Brazil. Excluding the impact of exchange rates, DTVLA ARPU increased 7.7% in the third quarter. Three Months Nine Months DIRECTV Latin America Ended September 30, Ended September 30, Dollars in Millions except ARPU 2011 2010 2011 2010 Revenue $1,356 $930 $3,724 $2,566 Average Monthly Revenue per Subscriber (ARPU) ($) 64.63 58.20 63.58 56.88 Operating Profit Before Depreciation and Amortization(1) 434 313 1,241 822 OPBDA Margin(1) 32.0% 33.7% 33.3% 32.0% Operating Profit 236 172 696 438 Operating Profit Margin 17.4% 18.5% 18.7% 17.1% Cash Flow Before Interest and Taxes(3) 32 151 329 286 Free Cash Flow(4) (23) 111 124 159 Subscriber Data(5) (in 000's except Churn) Gross Subscriber Additions 957 525 2,545 1,679 Average Monthly Total Subscriber Churn 1.83% 2.00% 1.83% 1.86% Average Monthly Post-paid Subscriber Churn 1.39% 1.54% 1.42% 1.52% Net Subscriber Additions 574 206 1,473 842 Cumulative Subscribers 7,281 5,430 7,281 5,430 DIRECTV Latin America's third quarter 2011 OPBDA increased 39% to $434 million and operating profit rose 37% to $236 million. Also in the quarter, OPBDA margin declined to 32.0% and operating profit margin fell to 17.4% primarily due to higher subscriber acquisition costs associated with the record gross additions, as well as increased upgrade and retention spending mostly due to higher demand for advanced equipment. CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION A live webcast of DIRECTV's third quarter 2011 earnings call will be available on the company's website at www.directv.com/investor. The webcast will begin at 1:00 p.m. ET, today November 3, 2011. Access to the earnings call is also available in the United States by dialing (888) 778-9064 and internationally by dialing (913) 312-1517. The conference ID number is 2150014. A replay of the call can be accessed by dialing 888-203-1112 in the U.S. and 719-457-0820 internationally. The replay pass code is 2150014. The replay will be available from 5:30 p.m. ET Thursday, November 3 through 2:59 a.m. ET Friday, November 11 and will also be archived on our website at www.directv.com/investor. FOOTNOTES (1) Operating profit before depreciation and amortization, which is a financial measure that is not determined in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America, or GAAP, should be used in conjunction with other GAAP financial measures and is not presented as an alternative measure of operating results, as determined in accordance with GAAP. Please see each of DIRECTV and DIRECTV Holdings LLC's Annual Reports on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010 for further discussion of operating profit before depreciation and amortization. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization margin is calculated by dividing operating profit before depreciation and amortization by total revenues. (2) In the second quarter of 2010, DIRECTV resolved an FCC issue regarding our Puerto Rico operations by consummating a transaction with Dr. John C. Malone and members of his family. Under the terms of the agreement, the Malones exchanged 21.8 million shares of DIRECTV Class B common stock, which was all of the outstanding Class B shares, for 26.5 million shares of DIRECTV Class A common stock. The additional 4.7 million shares, valued at approximately $160 million reduced the diluted earnings per share attributable to Class A shareholders to $1.57 for the nine months ended September 2010. See reconciliation of adjusted diluted earnings per share to diluted earnings per share at the end of this release. (3) Cash flow before interest and taxes, which is a financial measure that is not determined in accordance with GAAP, is calculated by deducting amounts under the captions "Cash paid for property and equipment", "Cash paid for satellites", "Cash paid for subscriber leased equipment - subscriber acquisitions" and "Cash paid for subscriber leased equipment - upgrade and retention" from "Net cash provided by operating activities" from the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and adding back net interest paid and "Cash paid for income taxes". This financial measure should be used in conjunction with other GAAP financial measures and is not presented as an alternative measure of cash flows from operating activities, as determined in accordance with GAAP. DIRECTV and DIRECTV U.S. management use cash flow before interest and taxes to evaluate the cash generated by our current subscriber base, net of capital expenditures, and excluding the impact of interest and taxes, for the purpose of allocating resources to activities such as adding new subscribers, retaining and upgrading existing subscribers, for additional capital expenditures and as a measure of performance for incentive compensation purposes. DIRECTV and DIRECTV U.S. believe this measure is useful to investors, along with other GAAP measures (such as cash flows from operating and investing activities), to compare our operating performance to other communications, entertainment and media companies. We believe that investors also use current and projected cash flow before interest and taxes to determine the ability of our current and projected subscriber base to fund required and discretionary spending and to help determine the financial value of the company. (4) Free cash flow, which is a financial measure that is not determined in accordance with GAAP, is calculated by deducting amounts under the captions "Cash paid for property and equipment", "Cash paid for satellites", "Cash paid for subscriber leased equipment - subscriber acquisitions", and "Cash paid for subscriber leased equipment - upgrade and retention" from "Net cash provided by operating activities" from the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows. This financial measure should be used in conjunction with other GAAP financial measures and is not presented as an alternative measure of cash flows from operating activities, as determined in accordance with GAAP. DIRECTV and DIRECTV U.S. management use free cash flow to evaluate the cash generated by our current subscriber base, net of capital expenditures, for the purpose of allocating resources to activities such as adding new subscribers, retaining and upgrading existing subscribers, for additional capital expenditures and as a measure of performance for incentive compensation purposes. DIRECTV and DIRECTV U.S. believe this measure is useful to investors, along with other GAAP measures (such as cash flows from operating and investing activities), to compare our operating performance to other communications, entertainment and media companies. We believe that investors also use current and projected free cash flow to determine the ability of our current and projected subscriber base to fund required and discretionary spending and to help determine the financial value of the company. (5) DIRECTV Latin America subscriber data exclude subscribers of the Sky Mexico service. |
| Beijing's rolling out city wide 'free' public WiFi, just hand over your phone number Posted: 03 Nov 2011 08:42 AM PDT  Heads-up, locals: China's Mobile, Unicom and Telecom carriers are building a city-wide public WiFi network across Beijing. Residents will enjoy free 2Mbps internet for up to three years, if they sign up to the "My Beijing" service. Like most things that are gratis, there's a catch: you have to submit your phone number in exchange for access. Privacy enthusiasts aren't thrilled at the idea, (you know, since it's backed by the Government), though a representative said that the numbers would only be used for "identity authentication" -- insinuating that they would only be tracing individuals whose online activity might "endanger social security." High-minded privacy concerns aside, there's the very real danger of phones being bombarded with spam, not to mention what happens when the three year trial period expires -- users of the service could get stung with exorbitant costs to feed a public WiFi addiction. |
| Ultrathin LG U1 to be company's first Ice Cream Sandwich device? Posted: 03 Nov 2011 08:20 AM PDT Skinny? Check. Thin bezel? Present. Black and rectangular? Roger. This as-yet unconfirmed sliver of a phone is purportedly LG's first Android 4.0 device. Specifications remain even foggier than these pictures, but we can glean an eight-megapixel shooter with flash and a profile that looks like a possible second-generation Optimus Black, with design litigiously close to Samsung's Galaxy S II. As GSM Arena noted, the LG-owned phone network in Korea was renamed LG U+ last year, suggesting that U1 codename may translate to "domestic-only." Here's hoping otherwise, of course. |
| OpenBSD 5.0 offers more hardware compatibility, less bugs Posted: 03 Nov 2011 07:57 AM PDT Fans of the Unix-based OpenBSD can crack open a bottle of their favorite open-sourced champers because the operating system has launched version five-point-oh. More evolutionary than revolutionary, this version has been given plenty of nudges in the right direction, with broader hardware support, OpenSSH 5.8 and improved network capabilities. The full change log also includes a plethora of stability improvements and bug fixes too. The volunteer-run OS can now be grabbed from OpenBSD's FTP servers or as a paid-for CD set if you're feeling a little noughties. |
| BlackBerry Curve Touch 9380 sighted again, this time en route to Telus Posted: 03 Nov 2011 07:25 AM PDT  You've probably seen the BlackBerry Curve Touch 9380 before. Research in Motion hasn't officially announced it yet, but it made an appearance on the company's official dev site as well as plenty of spy shots and videos. This time, we know that at least one carrier's paying attention to it. MobileSyrup obtained an image of the new all-touch BlackBerry being splayed all over a Telus holiday gift guide, which doesn't give us any details besides having a tiny 3.2-inch display, so we'll need to hold on for just a bit longer to hear what else it's got under the hood. [Thanks, Dale] |
| webOS 3.0.5 clues point to integrated Twitter, better performance for your TouchPad Posted: 03 Nov 2011 07:01 AM PDT  |
| Ford begins taking reservations for the Focus Electric, pricing starts at $39,200 Posted: 03 Nov 2011 06:35 AM PDT  We caught our first glimpse of the Ford Focus Electric way back at CES and now, about 11 months later, it's finally hit the market. The manufacturer's long-awaited EV popped up for pre-order on its website yesterday, bearing a base price tag of $39,200. Add in an extra $795 in destination charges and subtract a hefty federal tax credit, and you're looking at a final sticker of about $32,495. As our friends over at Autoblog Green point out, that's about $3,945 higher than what the Nissan Leaf will cost you (pre-incentives), though your final bill could also hinge upon whether you opt for the Blue Candy or White Platinum paint jobs ($395 and $495, respectively), or those leather-trimmed seats, which would set you back an extra $995. According to Ford, a "limited number" of Focus Electrics will be made available in select California and New York markets, though the car should make its way to an extra 15 markets by next year, once production gets ramped up. You can reserve one for yourself at the source link below, or just purr past the break for the full PR treatment. Ford Opens Reservations for 2012 Focus Electric 2012 Focus electric is Ford's first all-electric, 100% gas-free, passenger car and the first of five planned electrified vehicles Detailed product specifications and virtually build and price available at online website: http://www.ford.com/electric/focuselectric/2012/ Ford Certified EV dealers in California and New York/New Jersey markets will begin taking first orders for the 2012 Focus Electric SEATTLE, WA., Nov. 2, 2011 – Starting today, drivers that want to go completely gasoline-free will be able to configure the all-new 2012 Ford Focus Electric online at Ford.com and place their orders with a Certified Electric Vehicle (EV) dealer. "Today is an historic day, as Ford opens up the order banks for the company's first full production, all-electric passenger vehicle – the Focus Electric," said Chad D'Arcy, Focus Electric Marketing Manager, Ford Motor Company. "The all-new Focus Electric is an important part of Ford's overall strategy, bringing still another option to customers who want a car that is fun-to-drive, easy to own and fully electric." Drivers interested in learning more about the 2012 Focus Electric will be able to see detailed product specs and virtually build and price one at a dedicated online website: http://www.ford.com/electric/focuselectric/2012/ starting Wednesday. Focus Electric comes standard with: MyFord Touch with 8-inch touchscreen; two driver-configurable 4.2-inch color LCD displays in cluster for unique EV driving screens; MyFord™ Mobile App (for remotely monitoring and scheduling battery charging with owners' smartphone as well as remote start); HID Headlamps; 17-inch aluminum wheels, ambient lighting, seats made from 100-percent recycled material; Rear Camera with Rear Parking Sensor; Intelligent Access with Push-Button Start; MyKey®; voice-activated Navigation System; Particulate Air Filter; hands-free SYNC® Bluetooth telephone connectivity with Traffic, Direction and Information Services; electronic traction control; Sony®-Branded audio with nine speakers; SIRIUS® Satellite Radio and HD Radio™. The only options on well-equipped Focus Electrics are leather seats and two paint colors. "Ford believes driving electric doesn't mean consumers should have to sacrifice on driving experience or vehicle quality," said D'Arcy. "The Focus Electric comes with more standard features than any other comparable all-electric vehicle." In addition to silently cruising past gas stations, Focus Electric drivers will never need oil changes or any of the other service required on gasoline engines. Focus Electric exclusively stores energy in an advanced lithium-ion battery pack. The battery pack uses liquid-cooling to help ensure a long-life and optimal performance under all weather and driving conditions. The Focus Electric's battery can be recharged in just over three hours using a 240-volt charging station, about half the charging time of the 2012 Nissan Leaf. Drivers also can top off the battery any standard 120-volt outlet using the included charging cord. The online site also provides potential customers the ability to find the location of their nearest Ford Certified EV dealer so they can place their order. A limited number of Focus Electrics will first be available in California and the New York/New Jersey regions. Availability of the Focus Electric will expand next year to the remaining 15 launch markets as production ramps up. The 19 launch markets include: Atlanta, Austin and Houston, Texas; Boston, Chicago, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, New York, Orlando, Fla., Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Raleigh Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va., Seattle, and Washington, D.C. Markets were chosen based on several criteria, including commuting patterns, existing hybrid purchase trends, utility company collaboration and local government commitment to electrification. Power of choice Electrification is an important piece of Ford's overall product sustainability strategy, which includes the launch of five electrified vehicles in North America by 2012 and in Europe by 2013. Ford launched the Transit Connect Electric small commercial van in 2010 and will launch the all-new Focus Electric later this year. In 2012, these models will be joined in North America by the new C-MAX Hybrid, a second next-generation lithium-ion battery hybrid and C-MAX Energi plug-in hybrid. This diverse range of electrified vehicles allows Ford to meet a variety of consumer driving needs. |
| Google Offers app goes live in Android Market Posted: 03 Nov 2011 06:32 AM PDT  |
| Ice Cream Sandwich coming to Meizu M9, MX, Jack Wong confirms Posted: 03 Nov 2011 06:09 AM PDT  |
| Motorola Xoom 2 and Xoom 2 Media Edition get official (video) Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:43 AM PDT   Update: For those wondering, Motorola has now confirmed to Pocket-lint that both tablets will indeed be getting an Ice Cream Sandwich update, which should come six weeks after Motorola receives the goods from Google (although it's not clear when that will happen).
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| Commodore USA goes Extreme, stuffs a 2.2GHz quad-core i7 into its C64x Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:32 AM PDT  Commodore USA Announces New C64x EXTREME with i7 Quad Core CPU FORT LAUDERDALE, FL. November 1st, 2011 – Commodore USA, LLC announced today that Commodore USA is now shipping production orders for the new Commodore 64 Extreme model (C64x-EX). The C64x Extreme is the most powerful Commodore computer ever produced, running at a whopping 3.3Ghz with Intel's Turbo Boost Technology. Featuring a 2nd generation Sandy Bridge 2.2Ghz 64-bit Intel core i7 (Quad Core/Eight Threads CPU [i7-2720QM]) the C64x Extreme runs fast and cool while providing a massive amount of storage, RAM and I/O options. This includes a 2 TB Hard Drive, 8 Gigabytes of RAM, 2 USB 3.0 ports, 5 USB 2.0 ports, 1 e-SATA port, SPDIF, HDMI, DVI and VGA display connections, a slot loaded R/W DVD drive, built in Ethernet and Wireless n WiFi. Can you imagine all this built into the Commodore 64's diminutive dimensions? The new C64x Extreme is priced competitively with keyboard-less Nettops like the Apple Mac Mini. The C64x-EX has a high end mechanical keyboard, incorporating genuine Cherry brand "Blue" switches and is built and assembled entirely in the USA. Available in a single configuration priced at $1499, the new C64x Extreme is guaranteed to ship by Dec 15th if ordered before Nov 25th. Recently produced C64x-EX units are in stock and ship within one business day while supplies last. The C64x-EXTREME comes pre-imaged with Mint 11 and will dual boot with the retro inspired Commodore OS Vision when released. Commodore USA's mission is to return the passion and user exploration to computing. Mr. Barry Altman, President and CEO of Commodore USA, LLC states, "The Extreme is fast, fun and well suited for computational intensive applications from CAD, video editing, software compilation and sound processing. Our customers don't just use OTS software while consuming media, but rather create and tinker with software while composing their own music, videos and animations; tasks the C64x Extreme is well suited for. Like the C64x Ultimate and VIC-Slim, the C64x Extreme is also fantastic for web surfing, social media and office automation. The Intel HD Graphics 3000 GPU resides on the same die as the 32 NM CPU, making the C64x Extreme super fast for family and retro gaming, and is suitable for all but the most demanding 3D games." Mr. Altman continues, "A home computer used to be a portal to the future and a pathway of exploration and discovery. Commodore seeks to return that passion and enhance the ability to learn and develop skills in programming, computational media, mathematics, the arts and many other fields, to the mainstream and to the main streets across the globe. Freedom means the ability see all source code and to learn from others. Freedom means to share your learning, your passion and to personalize your environment. A hot house flower grown in a walled garden may look pretty now, but it will eventually fade and lose its passion, yet wild flowers grown in the open sunshine never fail to inspire." Pre-production units of the C64x Extreme initially shipped with a Blu-ray drive and a 3 TB Hard Drive.; pre-production Commodores always offer greater value for money for those customers and fans willing to wait. |
| Asus outs 11.6-inch U24E in Japan, appeals to bargain i5 hunters everywhere Posted: 03 Nov 2011 05:02 AM PDT 
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| Sony Ericsson brings Gesture input to Xperia line, gives new meaning to 'Swiper, no swiping!' Posted: 03 Nov 2011 04:32 AM PDT  |
| LomoKino Super 35 Movie Maker lets you channel your inner Charlie Chaplin for $80 Posted: 03 Nov 2011 04:00 AM PDT  The Lomographic Society Proudly Presents: The LomoKino - Super 35 Movie Maker Lomography in Motion: Take the next step in Lomography with the first consumer movie camera that makes your Lomographs move on any kind of 35mm film Unique Art: Become the director of your very own LomoMovies and produce unique and precious pieces of movie art by simply winding a crank True Gadget: Irresistible design and unlimited creative possibilities will make gadget lovers' hearts pound faster LomoMovies Online: Upload, watch and share your very own LomoMovies on www.lomography.com Lomography in Motion How great must it have been to witness the first pictures as they started to move or to see the Lumiere brothers amazing the crowds of thousands with their very first short films? After 200+ years of movie making, million-dollar-special-effects (thanks Michael Bay), big scale film studios and endless Hollywood dramas, Lomography gives consumers the chance to return back to the roots of movie making and witness the very first steps with the Lomokino. The LomoKino allows you to become a director yourself and capture Lomographic movies on 35 mm film of any kind: no sound, no special effects, and no post production – just simple Lomography in motion. Unique Art To become a true LomoMovie director, simply load the film of your choice and wind the crank of the magic box to capture 144 shots on one roll of 35 mm film, or approximately 50 – 60 seconds of LomoMovie. You can use any kind of 35 mm film for different effects: Slide film, color negative, redscale or B/W. After developing the film, spool it into the specially developed LomoKinoScope, point it to a light source and watch your Lomographs moving over and over again. What sounds very simple produces a unique piece of art which can either stay in your hands only or can be given as a special present to somebody who really deserves it. Show your sweetheart how much you love her with a film, capture your sons first birthday or deliver a Charlie Chaplin like short that will take your grandmother back to a simpler time. True Gadget A wise man once said "form follows function" – naaaah – we like to say "form follows motion" and that's why we designed this camera as a true compact gadget. Its irresistible design takes you straight back into the time when people left the audience screaming because a locomotive was speeding towards them on a movie screen and the movies were still a true business without special effects. It comes in a package either alone or with the LomoKinoScope, one film canister and a marvelous book. Its creative possibilities are so diverse that not even we can tell the limits. It's up to you, gadget lovers, to take this baby in your hands and explore what movies used to be like the Lomographic way! LomoMovies Online Unlike the very first filmmakers we can call a powerful tool our own: the internet! Linking the simple technology of the LomoKino with our website, we enable you to upload, watch and share your own LomoMovies online. To give you a taste of the special LomoKino aesthetics and the sheer endless creative possibilities, we asked filmmakers from around the globe to create their own LomoMovies. Visit our website (www.lomography.com) to get some inspiration and start shooting your first LomoMovie today! Technical Details Retail Price: $79 for the Lomokino, $99 for the Lomokino + lomokinoscope Film type: all kind of 135 roll film Lens: 25mm Exposure area: 24mm x 8.5mm: 144 images/film Continuous Aperture: f/5.6 - f/11 Shutter: 1/100 Hand cranked: approx. 3-4 fps, 36-48 sec. movie per roll Film counting: volume display Focusing: (normal) 1m~infinity,(press button for) 0.6m close up Tripod mount: yes |
| CSR sharpens indoor and in-car navigation with SiRFstarV, SiRFusion and SiRFprimaII Posted: 03 Nov 2011 03:29 AM PDT  The SiRFprimaII platform, displayed above, is strictly geared toward in-car navigation and infotainment systems. This system combines a SiRFprimaII SoC and TriG RF multi-GNSS radio with CSR's Bluetooth and WiFi technologies to create a multimedia rich, touchscreen-based in-car environment. Geared toward both ODMs and OEMs, this hardware-software combo enables drivers to get more reliable navigation data, while allowing passengers to stream video, surf the web and manipulate everything via remote control. As for that SoC, it's powered by a 1GHz ARM Cortex A9 app processor, features an LCD controller for displays of up to 1280 x 720 resolution, and boasts a pair of 3D graphics and video accelerators. For more details, check out the pair of press releases, after the break. CSR Takes Location to the Next Level with SiRFstarV(TM), SiRFusion(TM) and SiRFprimaII(TM) Seamless Indoor and Outdoor Navigation for Mobile Devices; Premium In-Vehicle Infotainment Features for Mainstream Auto Markets SAN FRANCISCO, Nov 01, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Locations & Beyond Summit -- CSR plc today strengthened its leadership in the mobile and automotive location markets, announcing the launch of its next-generation SiRFstarV architecture, the SiRFprimaII SoC auto infotainment platform and the SiRFusion end-to-end location platform. Introduced to top industry executives at the annual Locations & Beyond Summit, the new CSR offerings take location to the next level, with SiRFstarV and SiRFusion enabling exciting new products that significantly improve the user experience for a broad range of location applications used indoors and outdoors on mobile devices and SiRFprimaII significantly improving the auto navigation experience for mainstream consumers. "Whether it's localised search, social networking, mobile promotions or an intelligent mobile assistant, location is rapidly becoming a fundamental contextual element for delivering relevant information from the cloud to people on the go. Regardless of where people are, indoors or outdoors, in their cars or walking about, more accurate and reliable location is essential to enhance the consumer experience with a broad range of applications," said Kanwar Chadha, Chief Marketing Officer for CSR and founder of SiRF. "Since 1995, our vision has been to deliver innovations that bring the benefits of location to mainstream consumers. With our SiRFstarV architecture and SiRFusion platform, we are breaking the barrier to providing a seamless location and navigation experience to consumers, both indoors and outdoors. Our SiRFprimaII auto infotainment platform is designed to enable a premium automotive navigation, entertainment and augmented reality experience that is affordable for everyone." SiRFstarV Architecture The SiRFstarV architecture introduces a new approach to location and navigation. Instead of relying solely on GPS to determine position, the SiRFstarV architecture gathers real-time information from GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Compass (when operational) satellites, multiple radio systems, such as cellular and Wi-Fi(R), and multiple MEMS sensors, like accelerometers, gyros and compasses. It then combines this real-time information with ephemeris data, mapping, cellular base station and Wi-Fi access point database information, and other cloud-based aiding information using the SiRFusion platform. By fusing all this data, the SiRFstarV architecture is able to take location and navigation to the next level, providing precise location and navigation indoors as well as outdoors. CSR is demonstrating the SiRFusion platform on an early implementation of the SiRFstarV architecture at the Summit. SiRFusion A breakthrough innovation to enhance the consumer experience with indoor and outdoor location- and navigation-enabled applications, the SiRFusion self-learning, end-to-end location platform "fuses" multiple radio signals and sensor inputs to constantly provide extremely reliable and accurate location. Mobile products using SiRFstarV and SiRFusion will be able to make a seamless transition between outdoor and indoor navigation as people make their way through countries, cities, neighbourhoods, parks, shopping malls, convention centres, airports, train stations or other large structures while continuing to utilise a variety of location-enabled services and applications. Unlike other systems that require costly manual surveys to build and maintain a database of indoor Wi-Fi radio locations, the SiRFusion platform constantly updates its database automatically using crowdsourcing techniques. "Our research clearly indicates that location has quickly gained traction with consumers as an essential contextual component for many of the applications they use and depend upon with their mobile devices," said Tim Bajarin President of Creative Strategies, Inc. "The SiRFusion platform will shine a bright light into what until now has been a location dead zone, and should attract a lot of attention from mobile device makers as a way to extend the usefulness of location into any indoor setting for the first time." SiRFprimaII The SiRFPrimaII auto infotainment platform brings the features of premium, location-aware in-vehicle infotainment systems to the mainstream market. It integrates a multi-GNSS location engine supporting GPS, Galileo, Glonass and Compass satellites to improve the navigation system performance in obstructed environments, Combined with SiRFDRive(R) dead reckoning software, the SiRFprimaII delivers seamless navigation experience whether driving in dense urban canyons or through tunnels or multistory parking lots. Its powerful new 3D graphics and video accelerators, ARM Cortex(TM) -A9 application processor and other key components bring the ultimate in navigation and entertainment experiences to mainstream consumers. Its graphics and multimedia capabilities are also designed to make new concepts like augmented reality practical for the mainstream automotive market. In-dash or on-dash, the rich multimedia, touch user interface and powerful computing capabilities of the SiRFprimaII SoC combined with CSR connectivity and audio technologies enable OEMs and ODMs to focus their limited resources on creating highly differentiated, feature-rich navigation and entertainment systems at competitive price points. CSR SiRFprimaII™ Platform Brings Premium Navigation and Infotainment System Features to the Mainstream Auto Market Innovative Platform Supports Worldwide Satellite Systems, Robust Connectivity and Rich Visualisation Locations & Beyond Summit, San Francisco, CA – 1 November 2011 – CSR plc (LSE: CSR; NASDAQ; CSRE) today introduced the SiRFprimaII auto infotainment platform, a comprehensive solution that raises the bar for the next generation of connected, location-aware in-vehicle infotainment (IVI) systems. The SiRFprimaII platform helps IVI makers reduce their product development, manufacturing and BOM costs and quickly bring the features of premium navigation- infotainment systems to the mainstream automotive market. "Our vision is to enrich the mainstream consumer auto navigation experience, in-dash or on-dash. With its support for all global navigation satellite systems, robust connectivity capabilities and next-generation applications like augmented reality, the SiRFprimaII platform is a great step forward in that direction," said Kanwar Chadha, Chief Marketing Officer for CSR and founder of SiRF. "With today's simultaneous launch of the SiRFprimaII platform for the automotive market and the SiRFstarV™ and SiRFusion™ platforms for mobile devices, we are taking the mainstream consumer location experience to the next level." The SiRFprimaII platform launch includes the SiRFprimaII SoC and TriG RF multi-GNSS (global navigation satellite system) radio, which together can support all global navigation satellite systems. As part of its system platform strategy, CSR is offering a comprehensive solution of pre-integrated and validated hardware and software that provides all the infrastructure necessary to bring navigation and a modern family room infotainment experience into the car. This comprehensive platform solution combines the CSR SiRFprimaII SoC and the TriG RF radio with the CSR8311™ Bluetooth® and CSR6031™ Wi-Fi® solutions and CSR Synergy™ integrating software to form the heart of a robust, touchscreen-based system that lets drivers navigate reliably and passengers entertain themselves with DVDs or streaming video, enjoy hi-fi stereo audio through speakers or wireless headsets, use a remote to control everything, connect their laptops via Wi-Fi and much more. "The second-generation SiRFprimaII SoC and the new TriG RF front end form the nucleus of a pre-integrated hardware and software platform solution that embodies all our core competencies in location, connectivity and multimedia technologies and is designed to support the features and quality needs of our automotive customers," said Charlie Lesko, General Manager of the Automotive Business Area at CSR. "Our comprehensive platform reference design helps our customers reduce their product development time and cost and enables them to quickly bring innovative auto navigation and infotainment systems to market that are affordable for mainstream consumers everywhere." The complete CSR platform solution is also supported by all the CSR location, connectivity and audio enhancement software, including aptX® high-fidelity wireless audio technology, CVC™ noise reduction and echo cancellation, SiRFInstantFix® and SiRFDRive® location advances and more. SiRFprimaII SoC Utilising 40nm CMOS process technology, the CSR SiRFprimaII SoC combines a powerful application processor, multi-GNSS baseband location processor, DDR3 and NAND flash memory controllers, analog power management functions, superior audio codec, hardware accelerated full 1080p HD multimedia decoding, hardware 3D graphics acceleration, LCD touchscreen controller for displays up to 1280 by 720, PHY/UART/GPIO interfaces and more in a single package. The powerful ARM Cortex™-A9 application processor, running at speeds up to 1GHz, delivers more than twice the throughput of the original SiRFprima device, providing plenty of muscle to run the latest navigation, entertainment, communication and information apps. And with three to four times more powerful graphics and multimedia acceleration compared to the first generation, the SiRFprimaII SoC delivers crisper, smoother operation for a more pleasing user experience and enables emerging technologies like augmented reality. TriG RF Multi-GNSS Radio Utilising 40nm CMOS process technology, the TriG RF front-end global navigation satellite system (GNSS) radio is an advanced multi-GNSS solution that improves the location and navigation performance of SiRFprimaII and other CSR auto navigation SoCs. Supporting all currently planned global navigation satellite systems, including GPS, Glonass, Galileo and Compass (when operational), the TriG RF radio's multiple GNSS positioning technology is designed to take advantage of these satellite systems to improve position availability and accuracy at low cost. Availability and Pricing The industrial-grade SiRFprimaII SoC and TriG RF radio devices are available now for products slated for manufacturing starting in 2012, and auto-qualified parts are planned for 2013. An evaluation board and form-factor reference design are available, including board-support packages, for the Android™, Microsoft® Windows® CE and Linux GENIVI operating systems. Please contact CSR for pricing information. |
| New sensor can read your heart from afar, but knows not your feelings Posted: 03 Nov 2011 02:38 AM PDT  Are you fed up with your current ECG sensor? Tired of all the mess of electroconductive gels, sticky electrodes and tangled wires? How about this: Britain's Plessey Semiconductors offers an ECG sensor that promises heart-monitoring without the hassle. We've seen similar technology before, but according to the company, the Electric Potential Integrated Circuit -- or EPIC, as it's humbly called -- can read heartbeats even through a sweater; future versions might be embedded in hospital gurneys for constant, unobtrusive monitoring. Like an extremely sensitive voltmeter, it detects tiny changes in electric fields, which means it could also be used for Kinect-style motion interfaces. The company even imagines a future system where firefighters can use the EPIC to find humans in a smoke-filled room. If you're thinking, "My, that sounds just like my Deus Ex dreams" -- hey, we're right there with you. |
| Republic Wireless to offer unlimited calls, SMS and data for $19 per month Posted: 03 Nov 2011 01:56 AM PDT  Prepaid world, you're getting called out. Offering what appears to be the lowest unlimited everything plan we've seen thus far, Republic Wireless -- a division of Bandwidth.com -- is ready to roll out its game-changing service next Tuesday. The carrier will be doling out all-you-can-eat talk, text and data for $19 per month. We're still slim on the nitty gritty details, but we know the new network is so inexpensive because it plans to utilize hybrid Android devices that rely mainly on UMA (the same WiFi-calling tech employed by T-Mobile) and will drop back to cellular roaming on Sprint when you're not in range of a hotspot. The company's main site offers nothing more than a teaser for now, but promises that we'll know all of its secrets no later than November 8th. If you're pulling your hair out wanting to find out more, we guess the teaser was a success. |
| BRD RedShift electric motorcycle duo awaits your pre-order, offers real-life Excitebike next year Posted: 03 Nov 2011 01:21 AM PDT  Sure, you can take your pick of electric streetbikes, but sometimes you just need an eco-friendly motorcycle for blazin' the trail. BRD Motorcyles is now taking pre-orders for their RedShift SM supermoto (pictured above) and RedShift MX motorcrosser electric motorbikes. Touting performance comparable to race-ready 250cc four-stroke gas guzzlers, the pair sports both an off-road ready demeanor and a street-legal tame side. The bikes themselves will set you back $15,495 and $14,995 before you can start your motocross dominance. Should you so choose, a PD upgrade is available for an extra $2500 that includes a stronger subframe, uprated electrical system and integrated hard luggage. Still interested? Pre-orders start November 3rd, although the RedShift of your choice won't hit your garage until late 2012. Once you get your funds in order, hit that PR button after the break to find out how to grab one. BRD RedShift now available for pre-order BRD Motorcycles of San Francisco, CA is very excited to announce that we will finally begin taking deposits on the 2013 RedShift electric motorcycle. Though we announced the bikes in August, we did not want to begin taking pre-orders until we were confident that the RedShift was going to meet or exceed our performance benchmark of top-end 250cc four-stroke race motorcycles. We have now completed sufficient testing to be sure that these bikes have the performance to support their looks and our claims. As previously announced, the RedShift SM supermoto and the RedShift MX motocrosser have projected retail prices of $15,495 and $14,995, respectively. The PD package is available as an upgrade to either model with a planned retail price of +$2500. It is expected to include a stronger tubular rear subframe, uprated low-voltage electrical system, and integrated hard luggage. All RedShifts will ship as street legal units to ensure they are eligible for available state and federal eV incentives. Race plastics will be available as a low-cost aftermarket option to remove lighting and switchgear for off-road applications. Pre-orders will be accepted via our website at https://www.faster-faster.com/bikes beginning Thursday, November 3 at 12:00pm PDT. Fully refundable deposits are required and will be $100 for the first hundred pre-orders, $200 for subsequent pre-orders. Orders will be finalized and delivered through retail motorcycle dealers, so customers are asked to provide the name of their preferred local store with their deposit. Deliveries are expected in late 2012. |
| Opera Mini 6.5 and Mobile 11.5 embark on data awareness mission, now available for download Posted: 03 Nov 2011 12:52 AM PDT  Nearly three weeks after Opera Mini 6.5 graced the Android Market, it's now ready for iOS, BlackBerry, J2ME and S60 (the latter's in the form of Opera Mobile 11.5). The download, which is no different than what we saw on Google's mobile OS, brings with it an option to keep track of the amount of data you've used. This type of feature seems to be catching on all over the mobile world as more and more companies continue to switch to capped internet plans. If you're looking for this option, it appears as a dedicated page within the browser's help menu. Now is the time, Opera fans, to go forth and save data. |
| China launches unmanned, auto-docking spacecraft Posted: 03 Nov 2011 12:04 AM PDT  |
| TBCP-II tank robot climbs walls with gecko-inspired feet (video) Posted: 02 Nov 2011 11:21 PM PDT  Scientists reach the heights with gecko-inspired tank robot Researchers have developed a tank-like robot that has the ability to scale smooth walls, opening up a series of applications ranging from inspecting pipes, buildings, aircraft and nuclear power plants to deployment in search and rescue operations. Their study, published today, 1 November, in IOP Publishing's journal Smart Materials and Structures, is the first to apply this unique, bioinspired material to a robot that operates in a tank-like manner. This method offers an alternative to the magnets, suction cups, spines and claws that have all been presented as possible mechanisms, but seem to fall at the same hurdle – the ability to climb smooth surfaces such as glass or plastic. Drawing inspiration from the gecko, researchers have been able to create adhesives that carefully mimic the toe pads of the lizard that give it the amazing ability to climb smooth vertical surfaces and shuffle across ceilings. A video of the robot in action can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tont-BzM1II. Tank-like robots, driven by belts rather than a set of legs, are advantageous in that they have a simplified mechanical design and control architecture, have an increased mobility and can be easily expanded, just like a train, if you need to increase the load the robot is carrying. The new, 240g robot, also known as the Timeless Belt Climbing Platform (TBCP-II) and developed by researchers at Simon Fraser University Burnaby, is capable of reliably transferring from a flat surface to a wall over both inside and outside corners at speeds of up to 3.4cm/s. TBCP-II is also fitted with a multitude of sensors that are able to detect the surroundings of the robot and change its course of action accordingly. Lead author, researcher Jeff Krahn, said: "With an adequate power supply, our robot is capable of functioning fairly independently when it encounters larger-scale objects such as boxes or walls. However, we are still developing a control strategy to ensure the robot is capable of fully autonomous functionality." The toes of geckos have amazing characteristics that allow them to adhere to most surfaces and research suggests that they work as result of van der Waals forces – very weak, attractive forces that occur between molecules. These dry, but sticky toe pads, also known as dry fibrillar adhesives, were recreated in the lab using the material polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and were manufactured to contain very small mushroom cap shapes that were 17 micrometres wide and 10 micrometres high. "While van der Waals forces are considered to be relatively weak, the thin, flexible overhang provided by the mushroom cap ensures that the area of contact between the robot and the surface is maximized. "The adhesive pads on geckos follow this same principle by utilizing a large number of fibres, each with a very small tip. The more fibres a gecko has in contact, the greater attachment force it has on a surface," Krahn continued. |
| Energy Sistem's new tablets promise a taste of Honeycomb on Android 2.3 Posted: 02 Nov 2011 10:08 PM PDT  The Android invasion of Energy Sistem The company presents its new range of tablets, three new exclusive devices based on Android OS 2.3 +, including Honeycomb style launcher interface and is optimized for performance up to 20% higher. Betting requires precision, skill, ability ... a well-played wager is a bet earned and Energy Sistem is holding the best cards to carry out the most ambitious bet on the tablet segment. The company is launching in November three new devices of 7 and 8 inches that will strengthen the brand in the market for these devices. Connectivity, versatility, performance and compatibility are the keys features of the Energy Sistems' tablets. The new models of the line are: the Energy Tablet i724 Dark Iron, the Energy Tablet i824 Dark Iron and the Energy Tablet i828 Black HD. These devices are currently the only models on the market that feature the Android OS 2.3 +, a system that has the experience Honeycomb graphic but performed on Android 2.3, one of the most successful and extended versions of the market and that therefore offers more possibilities by downloading applications, widgets and games. Android 2.3 + allows you to run multiple applications simultaneously in a stable manner and is also optimized for performance up to 20% higher. Amongst the characteristics of these tablets it can be highlighted that the three model have an A8 ARM architecture, 512 MB DDR3 RAM increasing their speed and their full HD HDMI output that can be used as media center. They also have USB-OTG function for easy access to the memory of the tablet from the computer, Wi-Fi, expandable memory via microSD cards (up to 32 GB) and front camera. If we talk about them individually, portability is the key of Energy Tablet i724 Dark Iron, a compact, lightweight device with capacitive multi-touch screen 7 "and only 360 gr. weight and 16:9 widescreen format that makes it the suitable model for movies and video playback. It has 4 GB of internal memory that can store up to 12 hours of video or 2,000 songs. The Energy Tablet i824 Dark Iron has a 5-point multi-touch capacitive screen 8 "cutting edge technology in 4:3 format, ideal for reading. The common characteristics with the model i724 is its internal memory capacity, which is also 4 GB for storing hours and hours of video and thousands of songs. Finally, the Energy Tablet i828 Black HD excels in its category thanks to its multi-touch capacitive screen high-definition 5 points. It has a screen resolution of 1024x768 to enjoy videos, pictures and all kinds of documents. The i828 model has a dual camera and 8GB of internal memory. All three devices have a battery of 4,000 mAh 3.7 V, 14.8 Wh offering up to 5 / 6 hours of video playback, 6 / 7 hours of WiFi browsing, and 30 hours of music playback. With an unbeatable price and user experience, the new tablets of Energy Sistem are one of the safest bets among the devices of this class. Three models designed to meet the needs of the streamed, hyperconnected and social generation, that defines today's society. |
| Posted: 02 Nov 2011 09:01 PM PDT  Back in July, Jawbone did something puzzling. The company, best known for its Bluetooth headsets, teased a photo of a colorful wristband called the Up -- a deceptively simple thing that could purportedly track your eating, sleeping and exercise habits. The outfit left out a few teensy details: the price, shipping date and, the biggest riddle of all, how it works. At last, the company's ready to talk specifics. We just got word the Up will be available in the US November 6th for $100, and will continue its world tour on the 17th. With that price, it's well-matched against the clip-on Fitbit Ultra tracker, and indeed, they have some key features in common -- namely, a step counter and a few requisite social networking features. But with a sensor that knows when you're in deep sleep and a mobile app that can identify photos of food, it has a few unexpected tricks that could give devices like Fitbit a run for their money. We'll be getting one to test very soon, but in the meantime, join us past the break to learn more. Like Fitbit, Up sports a step tracker that keeps tabs on distance, pace, calories burned and active time versus But its killer feature could well be a sensor that detects what stage of sleep you're in, and uses a vibration motor to wake you up when you're in a light sleep state. So, if you set your alarm for 7:30, it might rouse you slightly earlier if it knows your brain isn't availing itself of some sweet REM. Like Fitbit, it also knows how many hours you slept and how long it took you to nod off. Once you're ready to upload this treasure trove of data, just pull off the end of the wristband to reveal a 3.5mm plug. It charges via USB, and you should be able to squeeze out Tying it all together is an iOS app that lets you snap photos of the food you're about to eat and parse the calories based on the image. (What? Ignoring weird looks while you're photographing your fries builds character.) Of course, it also has a requisite social networking component, in which you can challenge friends to contests -- say, "Who can do the most walking today?" -- and view stats on a leader board. (Fitbit's web app offers a good deal of community features too, for what it's worth.) The bad news: it's only available on iOS, and no, you can't access this data via a website. What's more, it's unclear when an Android version will follow, except that it'll arrive eventually. Fitbit, while lacking in apps, at least has a mobile website that will load on any device. Again, we'll be testing this quite soon and publishing a full review, but in the meantime, have a gander at the walk-through video up there, along with a (pithy) gallery of glossy press shots. UP™ by Jawbone® with MotionX® Technology Empowers You to Live a Healthier Life An innovative first step in a mission to help people live better SAN FRANCISCO – Nov. 3, 2011 – Jawbone®, a leading innovator of products and services for the mobile lifestyle, today unveiled UP™, a revolutionary system that consists of a small wristband and an engaging App for iPhone and iPod touch that work together to track your daily activity, sleep patterns, and eating habits helping you live a healthier life. UP, originally previewed at TED Global, also integrates a social experience and open content platform to motivate you with personal and team challenges tailored to help you achieve your goals. Global health is on a disturbing and rapid decline: chronic lifestyle induced conditions such as heart disease, certain forms of cancer, and diabetes are now the leading cause of death in the US and many other parts of the world. The World Economic Forum predicts the global costs of these non-communicable diseases will reach a staggering $47 trillion over the next 20 years. Research shows that simply moving more, improving sleep quality and eating healthier can help prevent most of these lifestyle diseases, yet lasting behavior change is often difficult to achieve. Further studies have however shown that when people are aware of and engaged in their health and can stay consistently involved, they are indeed able to become healthier. "As the global health crisis mounted, we felt a strong sense of responsibility to see if we could leverage our resources, talents, and ecosystem to try and help make a difference," said Hosain Rahman, Jawbone CEO and Founder. "UP is Jawbone's first step in giving people tools to become engaged as consumers of their own health. It's a complete system designed to integrate seamlessly into one's total lifestyle, 24 hours a day, not just the few times a week people may work out. We integrated MotionX® with our expertise in building sophisticated technology into small packages, which enabled us to craft a wearable and power- efficient band that beautifully disappears onto your body. And thanks to the success and adoption of the iPhone, millions of users already have beautiful displays and robust computing platforms in their pocket. We harness that amazing display with a fun, engaging iPhone app to bring the band to life. The result is a product experience that you will actually wear and love to keep using." UP by Jawbone empowers people to live a healthier life in three key ways: Measure, Engage, and Act. MEASURE YOUR DAILY PROGRESS One of the most basic problems in accurately tracking activity is that the sensing device must be on you 24/7 in a form factor that you won't forget, lose, or dislike wearing. The UP wristband features a sophisticated motion-tracking engine in an attractive, durable, and water-resistant design that seamlessly and unobtrusively integrates into all your daily activities and errands - in the gym, on the trail, with a cocktail dress or business suit, and even in the shower. "The MotionX® engine inside the UP band is the result of years of technology development and innovation. MotionX is both extremely accurate and power-efficient, which is critical in delivering a 24/7 product experience small enough to wear," said Philippe Kahn, CEO and founder of Fullpower, developer of the MotionX technology. The UP App for iPhone ties the experience together by presenting a complete, holistic view of your health.With the "Me" screen, you can get a quick snapshot of your daily activity, how you are sleeping, and what you are eating, while the "Lifeline" feature reveals all of your prior activities (eat, sleep, move) on a continuous timeline. This unique and powerful interface allows you to see your health activity as it relates to each other over time with a simple swipe of your finger. UP by Jawbone (wristband + App) helps you measure: • Activity – The band automatically measures and stores all aspects of your activity: steps, calories burned, distance, pace, and active versus inactive time throughout the day; • Sleep – The UP band's sophisticated motion engine automatically tracks all aspects of your sleep including hours slept, time to fall asleep, phases of sleep (deep versus light) and overall sleep quality. • Eat – Capturing your meals in a photo journal is as easy as taking a photo with your iPhone or iPod touch. UP tracks where you're eating, when you've eaten, and even asks how you feel after you've had time to digest your meal making it an easy way to identify how different foods affect your body. ENGAGE WITH YOUR FRIENDS UP helps you stay engaged in reaching your health goals through a collection of friends and people you choose known as your "Team". Based on the concept of reciprocal motivation, the Team structure creates an environment where individual achievements can be shared with all members so they can cheer on, motivate or compete against their Team. The Team view gives you a snapshot of how each member is progressing towards their personal goals. The UP App also features a unique Feed screen which gives you an up to date stream of information about all the things you and your friends are doing with respect to your health. With respect to sharing information and privacy, UP gives you easy-to-use and complete control over the data you want to share with your Team and others. You choose whether or not you want to share at all, if you want to share some things and not others or if you want to share everything – it is totally up to you. NUDGED INTO ACTION Throughout your day, UP subtly nudges you into action. It starts with the silent vibration alarm built into the UP band, that wakes you at the best moment in your natural sleep cycle so that you get up feeling as refreshed as possible. Similarly, you can set Get Up and Move reminders that subtly vibrates the UP band to alert you when you've been inactive after a time period you specify – it's an easy way to remember to keep moving. Another unique feature of the UP system is the notion of health challenges. Challenges are a simple way to discover and learn about health activities. They help you create a personalized plan of action to start living healthier by giving you a number of options to stay engaged and motivated to action. Challenges can be individual, competitive, or collaborative across any combination of the three categories: eat, sleep, and move. Built on an open platform, any member in the UP community can create a challenge for their team. Additionally, UP members can join challenges from an ever-growing list of health professionals and organizations through the UP community. "We think the magnitude of this health epidemic requires an entire community to affect real change and we are delighted to partner with leading innovators. There are so many great folks working on so many great ideas that we created our system as an open platform enabling health experts to connect with individuals in fun, engaging ways that have never been possible before," continued Rahman. "We want users to find programs and challenges created by experts that are just right for them." Jawbone has teamed up with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, DailyFeats, GE Healthymagination, and 24 Hour Fitness, to create a variety of challenges UP users can sign up for at launch. AVAILABLE ON NOVEMBER 6 The UP band comes in three sizes (small, medium, large) and seven colors (Dark Black, Dark Brown, Dark Red, Bright White, Bright Silver, Bright Red, Bright Blue) and will be available for $99.99 at Jawbone.com, Apple, AT&T, Best Buy and Target nationwide beginning November 6. Additionally, UP will be available at 24 Hour Fitness and other major global retailers and carriers later this year. The UP by Jawbone App is available today for free from the App Store on your iPhone or at www.itunes.com/appstore/. The UP wristband is required for the app. For more information, images and product demos, please visit: http://www.jawbone.com/PR or follow @Jawbone on Twitter. About Jawbone® For more than a decade, Jawbone has developed products and services for the mobile lifestyle unparalleled in their innovation, ease-of-use and sophistication of design. The company is the creator of several wireless products including the award-winning and best-selling premium Jawbone ERA and ICON Bluetooth® headsets; the inventor of NoiseAssassin® technology, the world's first and only military-grade noise-eliminating technology; and JAMBOX, the first intelligent wireless speaker and speakerphone. A 2010 IDSA Design of the Decade winner, Jawbone is committed to delivering innovative products that improve the mobile lifestyle through ever-changing software and wearability. Jawbone is privately- held and headquartered in San Francisco. About Fullpower-MotionX Fullpower-MotionX leads the mobile sensing revolution with a broad IP portfolio. The MotionX sensing platform powers leading solutions such as Nike+ GPS, the Jawbone UP wristband, and the Pioneer AppRadio. With continual innovation, MotionX is the leader for Health & Fitness and Navigation on the iPhone and the iPad. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Amazon Prime adds new reading option with Kindle Owners Lending Library Posted: 02 Nov 2011 08:50 PM PDT  [Thanks, Straton & Abbas] Introducing The Kindle Owners' Lending Library With an Amazon Prime membership, Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free -- including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers -- as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates SEATTLE, Nov 02, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- --Books can be borrowed and read on all Kindle E Ink devices and Kindle Fire Today, Amazon.com, Inc. announced the launch of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library. With an Amazon Prime membership, Kindle owners can now choose from thousands of books to borrow for free -- including over 100 current and former New York Times Bestsellers -- as frequently as a book a month, with no due dates. No other e-reader or ebookstore offers such a service. With an annual Prime membership, the Kindle Owners' Lending Library is included at no additional cost. Millions of Prime members enjoy free two-day shipping, unlimited streaming of nearly 13,000 movies and TV shows, and now thousands of books to borrow for free with a Kindle. "Owning a Kindle just got even better. Today, we're introducing a new Prime benefit built for Kindle: The Kindle Owners' Lending Library," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Founder and CEO. "Prime Members now have exclusive access to a huge library of books to read on any Kindle device at no additional cost and with no due dates." The Kindle Owners' Lending Library offers access to a wide array of categories and genres in fiction and non-fiction, and includes popular titles such as Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game, The Big Short and Liars' Poker by Michael Lewis, The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen --plus award-winning books such as The Finkler Question and Guns, Germs, and Steel, memoirs such as Anthony Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential , and motivational books like The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. Just as with any other Kindle book, your notes, highlights and bookmarks in borrowed books will be saved, so you'll have them later if you purchase or re-borrow the book. Books are borrowed from a Kindle device, and customers can have one book out at a time. When customers want to borrow a new book, any borrowed book can easily be returned right from their device. Titles in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library come from a range of publishers under a variety of terms. For the vast majority of titles, Amazon has reached agreement with publishers to include titles for a fixed fee. In some cases, Amazon is purchasing a title each time it is borrowed by a reader under standard wholesale terms as a no-risk trial to demonstrate to publishers the incremental growth and revenue opportunity that this new service presents. "The Kindle Owners' Lending Library is a great new benefit for Kindle owners and an entirely new growth opportunity for authors and publishers," said Russ Grandinetti, Vice President, Kindle Content. "With the growth in Prime membership and the recent addition of Prime Instant Video, we've been able to broaden our relationships with movie and TV studios such as CBS, Fox, and NBCUniversal and significantly increase their revenue. We're excited to expand that investment to books -- with this launch, we expect three immediate results: Kindle owners will read even more, publisher revenues will grow, and authors will see larger royalty checks." "We're excited to offer titles from our ebook 'Chapters' series, which covers some of the world's most popular destinations, to members of Kindle Owners' Lending Library," says John Boris, EVP Lonely Planet. "Our ebooks have done incredibly well on Kindle and this is a great way to showcase our travel expertise to an even broader audience." "We're excited about any program that helps readers discover our authors and their books," said David Nussbaum, Chief Executive and Chairman of F+W Media Inc. "We think this will lead to more people reading F+W's books, and more profit for our authors." To learn more about the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, visit www.amazon.com/kindleownerslendinglibrary . To learn about all of the additional benefits included with Amazon Prime, or to start an Amazon Prime free trial visit www.amazon.com/prime . SOURCE: Amazon.com, Inc. |
| Girl, Apple's gonna make you sweat with a treadmill patent Posted: 02 Nov 2011 08:17 PM PDT  Wednesday means we're about to delve into Cupertino's newest patents. Remember: just because there's a patent, doesn't mean it'll be in your next iPad. Got it? Good. This week's haul starts with a rather dry patent to correct bad motion sensing. Accelerometer-based devices are only as good as the data it collects, using a flat horizontal plane as a reference point -- any incline and the whole show is ruined. Apple's 3D patent can mathematically correct for gravitational movement along the "plane of motion." The second's about getting sweaty on sports equipment. Shove your iPod into a treadmill and it'll record your vital statistics for uploading to a third party website for "mutual encouragement." It wouldn't be hard to imagine this working its way into something similar to Nike+, but it would be hard to imagine Nike insisting that Apple just do it. |
| HP's 3115m is the Pavilion dm1z rebadged for the business set, starts at $429 Posted: 02 Nov 2011 07:32 PM PDT  You've seen that laptop before. You know you have. Stumped? Okay, here it is. HP just announced the 11.6-inch 3115m for the business market and it is, for all intents and purposes, a rebadged Pavilion dm1z being marketed to a more buttoned-up kind of customer. For starters, it looks just like the newly redesigned dm1, flush trackpad and all. A dual-core AMD E-450 APU, 1366 x 768 display, Beats Audio and battery rated for 11.5 hours come standard. At the entry level, you'll also get a modest 2GB of RAM and 320GB 5,400RPM HDD. Oddly, 5,400RPM drives are as good as it gets here, whereas with the dm1 7,200RPM disks are the gold standard and you can even upgrade to an SSD. IT guys might prefer the this one, though, because it comes with HP's Keyed Cable lock and a Computrace Pro module for tracking and remotely wiping lost or stolen laptops (you'll need to activate this feature yourself). It'll go on sale in the Americas on November 11th with a starting price of $430 -- a thirty-dollar premium over the dm1z. Glossy press shots below -- you know, in case you need a refresher on what this thing looks like. HP Introduces Multitouch Slate Tablet PC for Business |
| Square updates Card Case, enables hands-free payment on the iPhone Posted: 02 Nov 2011 07:19 PM PDT  |
| Plex hops on the Google TV train, finds it has plenty of room to stretch its legs Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:43 PM PDT  |
| The Canon Hollywood event is tomorrow -- get your liveblog here at 6PM ET! Posted: 02 Nov 2011 06:00 PM PDT  Psst... and toss your own time zone / day in comments below! 12:00PM - Hawaii (November 3rd) 03:00PM - Pacific (November 3rd) 04:00PM - Mountain (November 3rd) 05:00PM - Central (November 3rd) 06:00PM - Eastern (November 3rd) 10:00PM - London (November 3rd) 11:00PM - Paris (November 3rd) 02:00AM - Moscow (November 4th) 07:00AM - Tokyo (November 4th) |
| Stanford program cracks text-based CAPTCHAs, shelters the replicants among us Posted: 02 Nov 2011 05:40 PM PDT  CAPTCHAs. In the absence of a Voigt-Kampff apparatus, they're what separate the humans from the only-posing-to-be-human. And now three Stanford researchers have further blurred that line with Decaptcha, a program that uses image processing, segmentation and a spell-checker to defeat text-based CAPTCHAs. Elie Bursztien, Matthieu Martin and John Mitchell pitted Decaptcha against a number of sites: it passed 66% of the challenges on Visa's Authorize.net and 70% at Blizzard Entertainment. At the high end, the program beat 93% of MegaUpload's tests; at other end, it only bested 2% of those from Skyrock. Of the 15 sites tried, only two completely repelled Decaptcha's onslaught -- Google and reCaptcha. So what did the researchers learn from this? Randomization makes for better security; random lengths and character sizes tended to thwart Decaptcha, as did waving text. How long that will remain true is anyone's guess, as presumably SkyNet is working on a CAPTCHA-killer of its own. |
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