Technology News and Gadgets Updates: 02/15/11

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

HTC unveils 5 smartphone models, tablet

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC unveiled on Tuesday two social networking phone models, with a focus on Facebook access, and introduced its first tablet computer to a crowded marketplace.

The world's fifth-largest smartphone maker also introduced new versions of its hit models Desire, Wildfire and Incredible.

All six new devices will run Google's Android software, which ended the 10-year reign of Nokia's Symbian as the pre-eminent smartphone platform last quarter.

"We believe customers want choice; one size does not fit all," said Philip Blair , product director at HTC Europe .

HTC's strong push into smartphones using Google's Android operating system has helped the company to grow market share against bigger rivals like Nokia and Samsung Electronics .

It held 9 per cent of the global smartphone market in the December quarter, according to research firm IDC .

HTC joined the throng of tablet makers with its Flyer model, which comes with a 7-inch screen and a separate stylus.

Twitter CEO dismisses report of Google-Facebook takeover

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo has dismissed as rumour reports that Google and Facebook were in talks of acquiring the micro-blogging site for USD 10 billion.

"People write that stuff all the time. I don't know where these things come from, it's just a rumour," Costolo, who took over as CEO from Twitter co-founder Evan Williams last October, said.

Costolo said Twitter was "making money" and now regularly carried 130 million tweets a day, up from 100 million at the end of 2010.

Speaking at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, he said Twitter is focussing on a mission statement, which is to "instantly connect people everywhere to what's most meaningful to them".

Costolo said Twitter, which started operations in February 2006, will introduce this year a new method of making money, to add to its existing roster of promoted tweets, accounts and trends.

He did not give further details. "Every time I have an interview I am asked when we're going to make money. The short answer is we're already making money," he said.

The Wall Street Journal had reported that executives at Facebook and Google have held low-level talks with officials in Twitter in recent months to explore the prospect of an acquisition of the messaging service.

It said the talks have gone nowhere so far, but the prices being discussed value the US-based micro-blogging service provider between USD 8 billion and USD 10 billion.

Costolo asked whether Google could afford a USD 10 billion acquisition.

Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

Facebook as doctor's casebook!

A British surgeon has saved his long-lost friend's life by diagnosing his burst appendix online, thanks to popular social networking site 'Facebook', a media report said.

Rahul Velineni, 30, logged on mid-shift and saw posts from his former schoolmate telling friends that his stomach was in agony. The medic did not have his phone number because they had lost touch, so he messaged him from Swansea Hospital: "Sounds bad, Call me asap. You may have appendicitis," 'The Sun' reported.

Peter Ball, 30, read the alert next day in Cheshire. His appendix was removed in an emergency op in Macclesfield before it could kill him.

"We hadn't seen each other for ages. I owe him a drink. The doctors said it was bad, and shouldn't have been left for much longer," Ball was quoted as saying. Rahul added: "It's a funny way to get back in touch, that's for sure.

We're making money: Twitter

Twitter has said it had become profitable, disclosing that its live messaging service is carrying 130 million daily tweets, or short messages, from its members.

The US-based company, which has been one of the fastest-growing social-networking services, said 40 per cent of tweets are transmitted by mobile devices, typically smartphones.

"We're making money," chief executive Dick Costolo said in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress expo, but gave no figures.

Twitter sets a size limit of just 140 characters on each communication. Each tweet goes to a user's mixed collection of followers.

Founded in 2006, Twitter has been slow to develop a sustainable business model, with its originators opposed from the start to heavy advertising for fear this would put users off.

Costolo has ushered in a more advertising-centred approach, partly focussed on charging companies to tweet. He said further products to earn revenue would be coming up this year.

Capture, watch 3D visuals on LG phone - minus the glasses

The LG Optimus is the world's first mobile phone capable of capturing and showing 3D images and footage - that too without bulky glasses.

There are two camera lenses on the back of the handset which capture two views of a favourite scene, friends and family.

These are then played back simultaneously on the Optimus 3D screen with one eye seeing the images captured by one lens and the other the images from the second lens.

The technology is commercially confidential. However, it is understood that the screen is covered with a polarising see-through material similar to that used in 3D cinema glasses, the Daily Mail reports.

This material separates the two sets of images on the screen and diverts them to the correct eye. A sweet spot is created about 20 inches from the screen to get the full 3D effect.

The system uses similar technology to the latest Nintendo 3DS games console, which is about to go on sale and also offers 3D images without the need for glasses.

While the technology has a wow factor, there are currently very few 3D films and TV programmes available on a commercial basis to be watched on the Optimus.

To off-set this problem, LG has announced a partnership with YouTube to allow the Optimus 3D footage to be swiftly uploaded to the web and shared.

Similarly, owners of the phone will be able to download 3D footage created by other amateurs to be viewed and enjoyed on the landmark handsets.

Said LG chief executive, Jong-seok Park: "The Optimus 3D is LG's newest flagship smartphone. It is our answer to two major pain points of the current 3D experience - limited mobility and specialised glasses."

The phone is to be available on the Orange network in Britain, however no prices have yet been announced.

Court to hear challenge in Twitter-WikiLeaks case

A federal judge hears arguments here on Tuesday on a court order directing Twitter to hand over information on the accounts of people connected to WikiLeaks in a case pitting privacy advocates against federal prosecutors.

The court order was handed down in December, but unsealed on February 9 to allow Twitter to notify the users -- three supporters of the whistleblowers' website -- and give them an opportunity to appeal the decisions.

"This is an outrageous attack by the Obama administration on the privacy and free speech rights of Twitter's customers -- many of them American citizens," WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said in a statement on Monday.

He said the order was "more shocking, at this time, (as) it amounts to an attack on the right to freedom of association, a freedom that the people of Tunisia and Egypt, for example, spurred on by the information released by WikiLeaks, have found so valuable."

The court order directed Twitter, a microblogging site, to turn over information about three three users -- Icelandic parliamentarian Birgitta Jonsdottir; Jacob Appelbaum, a US computer researcher; and Rop Gonggrijp, a Dutch volunteer for WikiLeaks.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and others have challenged the order's validity, prompting Tuesday's hearing in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia.

WikiLeaks described the hearing as "the first round in the US government's legal battle against Julian Assange. "But it said neither it nor Assange would take part in the hearing because they believed the United States lacked jurisdiction "over expressive activities beyond its borders."

However, Assange's lead council in London, Geoffrey Robertson had brought in Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz as part of the legal team battling the US government's request.

Assange, meanwhile, was in London awaiting a court decision on whether he should be extradited to Sweden to face allegations of rape and sexual molestation.

The US Justice Department has been pursuing a criminal investigation of WikiLeaks, which has obtained and published hundreds of thousands of secret US military reports and diplomatic cables.

Iceland's foreign ministry last month summoned the US ambassador in Reykjavik to express "serious concern" about the court order on behalf of Jonsdottir, who distanced herself from WikiLeaks a few months ago.

WikiLeaks said Twitter was being ordered to "disclose the names, dates and locations of all persons who have used its services to receive messages from WikiLeaks or Mr Assange."

While it welcomed Twitter's response in resisting the subpoena, WikiLeaks said other service providers like Google, Facebook and Yahoo may also have received a similar demand and "may already have provided information to the government."

"We are all asking all service providers to explain whether they, too, have been served with a similar order, and whether, they have caved into it," Assange said.

The US government's bid "to obtain vast amounts of private information (could) jeopardize and chill First Amendment rights of association, of expression, of political assembly, of speech," WikiLeaks said.
Disclaimer: All information on this news has been compiled from their respective official websites or through public domain sites and leading newspapers. Although, we have taken reasonable efforts to provide you with accurate information, but we assumes no responsibility for the accuracy (or inaccuracy) of the Information and would advise you to verify it from the official product provider. We cannot guarantee that the information on this page is 100% correct. If you would like to advertise on our site please contact us

China issues warning on V-Day computer viruses

Technology experts in China have warned internet users to be alert against computer viruses based on the Valentine's Day theme.

The China National Computer Virus Emergency Response Centre issued a circular Monday warning computer users not to open spam mail with Valentine's Day messages in the subject line.

Such mails may contain worms like "Worm_ Blebla.B", "VBS_ILoveyou" and "Vbs_Valentin.A", according to Chinese daily.

The centre has warned online shoppers to be careful when ordering Valentine's Day items as some pop-up advertisements may be bogus and cause computer problems.

Worms were also spreading through internet forums and online chatting tools, it said.

Twitter dismisses reports of Google interest

Reports that Google has held takeover talks with Twitter that value the microblogging site at as much as $10 billion are "just a rumour", Chief Executive Dick Costolo said on Monday.

Asked at the Mobile World Congress fair in Barcelona whether Google could afford a $10 billion acquisition, Costolo replied: "I don't know where these things come from. It's just a rumour."

He declined comment on a follow-up question on Facebook, which has also been reported to have held low-level takeover talks with Twitter.

Twitter, which had 175 million users as of September, raised $200 million in a December financing round that valued it at $3.7 billion.

Tie-up with Microsoft to act as swing factor: Nokia CEO

Nokia expects its recent tie-up with Microsoft to be the ‘swing factor’ that will help the world’s largest handset maker catch up with Apple and Google in the smart phone market , particularly in emerging economies such as India. “We are creating a swing factor,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop said about the Finnish firm’s decision to use Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system on its mobile phones, talking to reporters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona on Sunday.

Nokia on Friday announced it will use Windows Phone as the main platform for its smart phones to compete better with Apple iPhone and Google Android. The deal upset many Nokia investors who thought it benefited the US software giant much more than the handset maker. Elop, who left Microsoft to take the helm of Nokia in September, defended the deal, saying it will bring monetary benefits to the tune of billions of dollars to Nokia.

“For all of the unique elements Nokia is contributing, including the swing factor...to make Windows Phone a challenger, Microsoft is contributing to Nokia substantial monetary value,” he said. Elop confirmed market buzz that Google was also in the race to partner it, but rubbished allegations that he was a ‘Trojan Horse’ Microsoft sent to Nokia and other conspiracy theories. The entire Nokia management was involved in the negotiations, said the first non-Finn CEO of the mobile phone maker who is under pressure to reverse its recent losses in market share.

Elop also said that Nokia will make significant savings in software development costs. But the company has not given up the MeeGo platform it is developing jointly with chipmaker Intel and will release its first device on this system this year.

Spending seven days with an iPad: Bare 'essentials' or just a gadget

Ever since Steve Jobs took the wraps off the iPad last year, a question has been echoing in portable technology halls — does the rise of the tablet herald the decline, or even the end of the trusty laptop as the ultimate mobile computing option? Analysts have been serving up figures that seem to indicate that the increase in sale of tablets like the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab is having an adverse effect on the sales of netbooks. However, many users believe that the tablet is actually just an additional gadget to lug around rather than a necessity, leave alone a notebook replacement.

The notebook, they point out, is an entirely different device packing in far more processing muscle, bigger displays (in most cases), and with more connectivity options and ports to boot. To this, the tablet lobby responds by saying that tablets are lighter, always on, more portable and while not having the same kind of processing speed as notebooks, are often able to perform all your routine computing tasks at a much faster speed.

So heated did the notebook vs tablet argument get that we decided to retire our notebook for a week and use a tablet instead. The newly-launched Apple iPad was our tablet of choice for the task — we went with the 16 GB Wi-Fi only version as that was the one that compared favourably in terms of price with most netbooks and low-end notebooks. We also packed in some accessories and apps (see below) to help us in our week-long survival task.

Day 1 :
Massive Clutter: Too many accessories to carry

Our first day with just an iPad as our main computing device was, to put it mildly, awkward. First off, carrying all the accessories (keyboard, docks, wi-fi router) was a bit of a pain as things kept crashing into each other and we often did not quite know where to keep things. For instance, sitting and typing out a blog entry at a cafe became a bit of a task as we had to take out the iPad, set it in landscape mode using the case as a stand, take out the wireless keyboard, pair them, and then start typing. When that was done, we had to connect to the Internet to upload the entry and that involved searching for the Tata Photon Plus modem and then attaching it to the Olive Nexus router. By this time, everyone in the cafe was staring at our table, which had one iPad and no fewer than four accessories cluttered on it. Although in the end we were able to do what we started out on, it is clear that this will take some getting used to.

Pages

Tuesday, February 15, 2011