News Archive for 12/05/21
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Verizon has announced that four of their phones will receive a patch to enable global roaming on the GSM network. The Droid 4 upgrade was previously announced, and today's announcement adds the Droid RAZR, Droid RAZR Maxx, and HTC Rezound. No specific patch release date has been made public. Following the patch, owners of the four phones will be able to take their smartphones overseas and (for a fee) use voice service in more than 220 countries and receive data in more than 205 countries.
Microsoft has updated the software development kit for its Kinect sensor, adding facial expression recognition and other capabilities to its 3D camera system. The update comes ahead of Microsoft's release of the Kinect for Windows SDK, which will bring the Kinect's feature set from the Xbox 360 to Windows desktops and notebooks. The update is largely in keeping with what Microsoft previously revealed as forthcoming features for Kinect.
California Senate Bill 1298 unanimously passed the California State Senate today outlining performance and safety requirements for autonomous, or driverless, vehicles on the California roads system. California Highway Patrol would have the responsibility to evaluate the operation of unmanned vehicles. Google, a sponsor of the bill, has tested driverless cars in California in the past.
Spotify has expanded its music service to reach customers in Australia and New Zealand. As of today, both Southern Hemisphere countries will be able to use the streaming service, and will have country-specific apps offering curated music playlists. The launch takes place three months after Spotify first arrived in Germany.
Following a delay of nearly a week after repeated denial of service attacks, low-cost Sprint reseller Voyager Mobile has launched in 22 states. Voyager provides Sprint's 3G and WiMAX network for $39 a month, contract free. Alternatively, a $19/month unlimited-talk plan is available.
Video conversion hardware maker Elgato has announced the Game Capture HD, a new device that captures game footage from video game consoles and records it to a computer. Some gamers record their games as they play them for later sharing with other gamers. The Game Capture HD is about the size of a deck of cards, requiring no additional power supply for operation, and connects a video game console directly to a computer through USB2.
Some HTC handsets, potentially including the One X and Evo 4G LTE, are slowly making their way through US Customs, the company reports. A recent update on the HTC corporate website notes that some handsets are passing Customs inspections, despite an International Trade Commission (ITC) ban on the devices entering the US.
The US International Trade Commission has ruled that a patent involved in Kodak's lawsuit against Apple and Research in Motion is invalid, according to AppleInsider. In particular an administrative law judge has quashed the 6,292,218 patent, Method for Live View Display and Digital Camera Using Same, on the basis of claim 15 in the document. Kodak will reportedly appeal the decision to the full commission, a necessary step if it intends to continue suing Apple and RIM for infringing the patent.
Symantec has discovered a novel implementation of the Android.Opfake malware, one that takes users through a fraudulent app-download process before charging them for what was initially billed as a free app. The malware is notable because it actually directs users through the Google Play app store in the process of defrauding them of money.
The Supreme Court has declined to hear an appeal against a $675,000 damages award to the RIAA and Sony in a file-sharing trial, reports Wired. Attorneys for Joel Tenenbaum, formerly a Boston college student, argued the defendant should be protected against "unrestrained discretionary jury damage awards against individual citizens for copyright infringement," but was denied by the court without further comment.
After a shaky first day on the NASDAQ index on Friday, Facebook stock on Monday took a dive into the red as most tech stocks showed modest gains. FB shares closed at $34.03, an 11-percent drop from the $38 starting price for the record-setting IPO. The stock closed a few cents over the starting price on Friday, however the valuation was said to have been artificially inflated by underwriters reacting to an immediate falloff.
Smartphone users on at least 48 cellular carriers may be vulnerable to traffic hijacking and phishing attacks, according to researchers from the University of Michigan. A paper to be presented this week at the IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy alleges that researchers were able exploit a carrier security feature to hijack connections to Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live Messenger, and the AdMob advertising network, and to spoof traffic for banks and financial institutions.
Apple CEO Tim Cook was the highest-paid CEO of 2011, according to a study released by the Hay Group and the Wall Street Journal. Cook's package for the year was valued at $378 million, although most of it is locked up in the form of stock grants issued after he took control from Steve Jobs in August. The first half of the shares will vest in 2016; the remainder will follow in 2021, contingent on Cook staying with Apple.
European Union antitrust regulators have threatened Google with fines and a formal antitrust lawsuit if the search giant does not move to resolve lingering concerns. European Commission vice president JoaquAn Alumnia has found evidence of anticompetitive wrongdoing, however regulators are enabling the company to make a "commitment decision" as an alternative to litigation and a potential fine.
Tizen, the operating system developed as a partnership between Intel and Samsung, may finally debut on smartphones in the second half of this year. The scalable OS, sources tell Digitimes, will be appearing on smartphones, tablets, and notebooks from a number of different manufacturers.
Samsung has accused experts on Apple's side of patent litigation as being strong fans of the Cupertino-based company, pointing towards an engineered “cult-like following to all things Apple.” The claims that the experts had “cast aside established scientific methods... in favor of slavish adoration of their client” appear in Samsung motions filed on Thursday, as noted by Florian Mueller.
Sony has released its promised Music Unlimited client for iOS devices. Although the app is not yet in the US App Store, it should already be available in countries like Canada and New Zealand. The Music Unlimited service itself is accessible in 14 countries so far; other examples include Australia, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the UK. Other supported platforms include Android, Sony Blu-ray players, and the PlayStation 3.
Apple is reaching out to its neighbors in Cupertino, having mailed a packet to residents of the city of Cupertino containing images and information about its planned Campus 2. The mailing requests feedback from Cupertino residents and attempts to allay resident fears over the impact the new campus will have on their community.
Microsoft has launched its previously detailed social-networking site So.cl. The software giant bills the site as an experiment, and has no immediate plans to release it as a commercial product.
Microsoft has blogged about the history of Windows user interface changes in preparation for the expected Windows 8 release later this year. The post explains how Windows has morphed from the original release in 1985 through to present day, and the jump from "Aero" UI elements in Windows Vista and 7 to "Metro" in Windows 8.
Samsung is still hoping to settle in its global legal disputes with Apple, Reuters reports. The head of the company's mobile division, J.K. Shin, spoke to journalists at a Seoul airport yesterday shortly before flying to the US. "There is still a big gap in the patent war with Apple but we still have several negotiation options including cross-licensing," he said. Shin is joining Samsung CEO Choi Gee-sung to meet Apple CEO Tim Cook today for court-ordered settlement talks.
Asian manufacturer Foxconn is preparing to spend $210 million on a new Huai'an production line for Apple, according to China Daily. The plant has been announced by local officials, and is expected to consume 40,000 square meters (over 430,556 square feet), and employ 35,800 people. Predicted output is valued at 6 to 7 billion yuan, or somewhere between $949 million and $1.1 billion, with an import/export value of $55.8 million.
Leap Motion has taken the covers off its new motion-tracking device for computer interaction. As the video (embedded below) demonstrates, the device maker shows off how the device could potentially replace a mouse and keyboard in a number of computing and gaming contexts. The size of a small flash drive, the Leap is said to be able to allow users to control a computer in three dimensions, tracking natural hand and finger movements down to 1/100th of a millimeter.
Following its publication of an updated list of devices that will get an Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) update, Motorola has moved to explain its decision to omit certain devices. Many users were disappointed to learn that popular devices including the Droid X2 and Droid will not be getting an update the latest version of the Android OS. Instead, they will be left running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread), which was released in December, 2010.
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