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<title>Haaze.com / Anna01 / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
<description>Test Web 2.0 Content Management System</description>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
<item>
<title><![CDATA[PC sales slump will likely bring Windows down too]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pc-sales-slump-will-likely-bring-windows-down-too</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pc-sales-slump-will-likely-bring-windows-down-too</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Apr 2011 07:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>junje</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=pc-sales-slump-will-likely-bring-windows-down-too</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When Microsoft announces its fiscal third quarter earnings after the market closes today, most analysts will zero in on one data point--how Windows is selling. Windows--one of the three engines that powers Microsoft sales and profits, along with Office, and server software--seems likely to have a sluggish quarter. Two weeks ago, research firm IDC surprised industry watchers with a report that global PC shipments declined 3.2 percent during the first quarter, compared with the year-ago period, citing &quot;cautious business mentality and waning consumer enthusiasm.&quot;(Credit:Microsoft)&quot;Clearly, the PC market is under pressure,&quot; said Adam Holt, a Morgan Stanley analyst. And since the vast majority of PCs run Windows, Microsoft earnings are under some pressure too. There's little doubt that Microsoft will report its best-ever fiscal third quarter revenue. But with slowing PC shipments, Windows, which should account for about 28 percent of Microsoft's overall sales this quarter, will be a drag on earnings. Slowing sales of Windows, long the fuel for Microsoft's economic engine, is cause for some concern. On Tuesday, Holt cut $200 million from his projections for Windows sales in the fiscal third quarter to $4.47 billion, a 4 percent decline from the year-ago period. And since Windows accounts for about 28 percent of Microsoft's overall revenue, Holt nudged his overall quarterly estimates downward, expecting the company to earn $4.47 billion on sales of $15.8 billion. Microsoft seemingly got a boost from Intel's solid earnings report last week. The chipmaker cited healthy PC demand as a driver. And Intel was particularly bullish on sales in emerging markets, where PC penetration is low. While Microsoft, too, could benefit from sales in those markets, Holt noted that Microsoft's results don't directly map to Intel's numbers. &quot;Intel is seeing strength in emerging markets where Microsoft has high levels of piracy,&quot; Holt said. Microsoft has had little success staunching the use of illegal copies of Windows in many of those markets. If that continues, the company is unlikely to reap the same sort of significant sales growth in emerging markets.Related links&amp;149' The 'post-PC era' might be closer than we think&amp;149' Microsoft opens up Office 365 as public beta&amp;149' Report: Microsoft sending Windows 8 to PC vendorsThe biggest challenge Microsoft faces with Windows is in the consumer market. The data from IDC suggest that consumers are holding onto their older laptops longer. &quot;PC lifetimes are extending,&quot; said IDC analyst Bob O'Donnell. And when consumers do decide to spend money on technology, they are increasingly opting fortablet computers such asApple's iPad. A February Morgan Stanley report estimated that 29 percent of the tablet sales this year will come at the expense of new PC purchases, reducing PC market growth by 3 percentage points. That cannibalization suggests to some, most notably Apple CEO Steve Jobs, that the industry is entering the &quot;post-PC&quot; era. Despite the enthusiasm for the iPad, O'Donnell says the PC still has plenty of life left. Apple has sold 4.7 million iPads in the quarter, compared with the 80 million PCs that computer makers sold. &quot;You know, 4.7 million iPads is great, but it's not killing the PC,&quot; O'Donnell said. Moreover, Apple seems to be the only tablet maker that's having any success. Sales of Motorola's Xoom have been anemic, and Samsung has acknowledged that its Galaxy tablet hasn't met revenue expectations. And the newly launched Research In Motion PlayBook hasn't won over reviewers. While questions linger over the consumer PC market, most analysts expect corporate PC sales to improve as businesses continue to upgrade toWindows 7, launched in October 2009. Last week, Microsoft announced it sold 350 million Windows 7 licenses. Corporate IT departments have created virtually immovable infrastructures around buying, fixing, and upgrading Windows PCs. &quot;PCs are definitely losing cool and buzz,&quot; said longtime analyst Roger Kay, president of Endpoint Technologies. &quot;But there's a tremendous amount of inertia holding them in place, particularly in the corporate space.&quot;That's one reason why IDC is forecasting PC shipments of 372.9 million units worldwide in 2011, a 7.4 percent increase from 2010. And the worldwide forecast for PCs from 2012 to 2015 is all double-digit growth, based largely on the corporate upgrade cycle and computer sales in emerging markets.Windows will no longer generate the sort of buzz that keeps investors excited. And the recent decline in PC sales is ominous. But the post-PC era hasn't arrived just yet. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Tools wipe location data from (some) iPhones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tools-wipe-location-data-from-some-iphones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tools-wipe-location-data-from-some-iphones</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 22 Apr 2011 07:10:12 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ArmiashkaCheburek</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tools-wipe-location-data-from-some-iphones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Untrackerd lets iPhone users wipe historical location data from their devices, but only on phones that have been jailbroken to run unapproved apps.(Credit:Redmond Pie)Want to wipe location-tracking data that's being stored on youriPhone without your permission There's an app for that, but you've got to jailbreak your iPhone first. Several tools have cropped up as a fix for people riled up about the fact that iPhones (and iPads) are surreptitiously logging unencrypted location-related data on the device, including cell tower coordinates, time stamps, cell operator and Wi-Fi networks used, and longitude and latitude from GPS signals--basically a when-and-where of your phone's location going back at least a year. Police have known about and been using this information, and cellular operators have access to it and can provide it when served with a court order. But anyone with physical access to the phone (and access to a desktop backup of the data) is now able to see an iPhone owner's whereabouts over time.  The fact that consumers don't realize that their phones are recording and storing this information in clear text has come as a big surprise to many people, including consumer advocates who say it's a big privacy violation. You can hide the data that may be on your desktop by encrypting your iTunes backups. And you can turn off GPS to stop the logging of at least that information, but that doesn't clean up any data stored on the device, and it will severely limit use of the device for location-based services like mapping. There is no way to disable the tracking, because it's baked into the operating system.  The only option at this point is to use one of the programs written specifically to delete the data. But, as unapproved iPhone apps that reach into the iOS functions, they're not available through Apple's official App Store. They're unsanctioned apps that run only on iPhones that have been jailbroken--devices in which the operating system has been unlocked so owners can run any application they want. Canadian programmer Ryan Petrich released a tool Wednesday called Untrackerd, which deletes the location-tracking information from the device. The app runs on iOS 4.0 and higher and installs a so-called &quot;daemon&quot; program that runs in the background, continuously cleaning up the data in the &quot;consolidated.db&quot; file where it is stored. &quot;No new icons are added to your homescreen,&quot; according to the description on TheBigBoss.org. &quot;There are no options to configure.&quot;  Untrackerd, which also is available from the Cydia third-party app store, deletes any data more than 30 minutes old from the consolidated.db file, checking every 5 minutes (except when the phone is in sleep mode) for changes to the file. The most recent data is left intact so the device can still pinpoint the phone's location for driving directions, for example, Petrich told CNET today.  The app does not zero out the deleted data multiple times, as is necessary to prevent bit-level analysis during forensics from unearthing data written to permanent storage. Meanwhile, whatever Untrackerd deletes on the device gets mirrored when the desktop sync is performed, he said. &quot;I did not make any attempt to make sure it is completely wiped from the disk or [to] wipe any other private data,&quot; said Petrich, an Edmonton-based software programmer for mobile ad company Medialets. &quot;I try to maintain the functionality of consolidated.db...[which is used] to improve the performance of location services.&quot;Asked why he wrote the tool, Petrich said: &quot;I created it because I wasn't 100 percent comfortable with the entire history of my location being stored on a device that is very easy to lose.&quot; Another tool, Location Blocker, goes further and wipes all historical data from the consolidated.db file and also blocks the device from storing any further cell and Wi-Fi location data. Step-by-step instructions for installing it are here.  Petrich said he didn't know of any other tools that would help iPhone users get rid of this data. He also said he didn't know why Apple was logging the data but said he doubts it is for malicious purposes because &quot;it's not being transported anywhere.&quot; Update 5:27 p.m. PT: After talking to CNET, Petrich updated Untrackerd this afternoon so that it will securely delete the data it wipes, writing over the disk space with zeros several times so deleted data cannot be forensically uncovered later. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Friday Poll: What would you do without the Net]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:10:43 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bugterreskitchen</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=friday-poll-what-would-you-do-without-the-net</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When I was younger (25), my mother would often take away the power cord to my computer monitor because I was on the Internet too much.  The eventual rule was that I could only use the computer for two hours every day. That eventually lessened my urge to get online and got me spending more time outside. This week, a 75-year-old woman hunting for scrap metal in Armenia destroyed a portion of the cable that feeds the Internet to her country and neighboring Georgia. Nearly 12 hours passed before the issue was resolved, and it left two countries (and millions of residents) without the Web for hours. One wonders what all those people did with their free time without the ability to check Facebook and Twitter every other minute. I can't even imagine the Internet completely going out in the U.S. The consequences could be devastating financially, and even the online trolls might have to emerge from the shadowy depths of their basements after a couple of hours. Anonymous wouldn't be so...anonymous anymore. Single-player games would get unprecedented play time. So how would you react if the Internet went down for nearly half a day<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Spider robot great for scaring arachnophobes]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spider-robot-great-for-scaring-arachnophobes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spider-robot-great-for-scaring-arachnophobes</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 08 Apr 2011 07:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>miketyson10</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=spider-robot-great-for-scaring-arachnophobes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Video screenshot by Leslie Katz/CNET)Japan's Kondo Kagaku has a new spider robot with six legs and a palpable creep factor, especially when it drums on a table like in this video.  The KMR-M6 is targeted at hobbyists, researchers, and people who want to scare others. Each of its legs has two Kondo KRS-2552HV ICS servo motors--one for the horizontal rotation and another for the vertical movement. The bot seems to have a maximum ground clearance of about 4 inches. The Kondo RCB-4HV control board directs the leg movements, and a 10.8V 800mAh Ni-MH battery supplies the power. Users can add additional leg assemblies to make even creepier spider-bots. Shipping in May for about $880, it will probably find lots of fans among Kondo's KHR humanoid kit robot users. Or aspiring Doctor Octopuses out there. (Via Robots Dreams) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Predator: A camera that learns as it goes along]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 06 Apr 2011 07:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hundigranna</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=predator-a-camera-that-learns-as-it-goes-along</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A U.K. Ph.D. student has developed a smart camera that can not only follow objects, but can learn from its tracking mistakes and then recalculate to track more accurately. Zdenek Kalal from the University of Surrey's Centre for Vision, Speech and Signal Processing, developed the Predator system to help the disabled use computers. For example, Predator can &quot;track a tip of a pen held in the mouth and act as a computer mouse for a paralyzed person.&quot; But a system enabling motion tracking setups to learn from mistakes and improve their function could mean upgrades to everything from consumer trackpads to weapons systems. The Predator system resembles already established motion-controlled technology such as Xbox 360's Kinect, appliance-friendly SoftKinetic gesture recognition systems, and emerging models of motion-capturing Web cameras like the CP Technologies Deluxe. What sets it apart is its ability to learn from its errors and adjust its behavior--just as a human would gain better dexterity with experience.For his work on Predator, Kalal recently took home the Technology Everywhere award--and more than $3,000. The award recognizes &quot;a contribution to developing computing technologies that impact modern society.&quot; It's sponsored by IBM and the EPSRC, or (deep breath) Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, the U.K.'s research funding council. For the big award reveal, representatives from industry and academia joined U.K. governmental ministers from the Department of Business Innovation and Skills at the Church House Conference Centre in London. &quot;I really like to work on problems that may have impact very soon and to provide simple solutions that can be applied in various areas,&quot; Kalal said during his acceptance speech in London. And Kalal's work is taking him to various areas, as he already presented his work at conferences in Japan, China, the U.S., and Europe.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[AT&T-T-Mobile USA deal may face regulatory hurdles]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-t-mobile-usa-deal-may-face-regulatory-hurdles</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-t-mobile-usa-deal-may-face-regulatory-hurdles</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Mar 2011 07:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>n6borahSerranos</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=att-t-mobile-usa-deal-may-face-regulatory-hurdles</guid>
<description><![CDATA[From a network and technology perspective, the $39 billion marriage between AT&amp;T and T-Mobile USA is a no-brainer, but the companies may have to do some smooth talking to get the deal approved by regulators.AT&amp;T and T-Mobile USA, which is owned by German phone company Deutsche Telekom, each use the GSM technology and each company plans to deploy the 4G technology known as LTE in the future. AT&amp;T plans to launch its LTE network this summer, and T-Mobile has said in the past that LTE is on its roadmap.Currently, each company has been upgrading its network to the latest version of 3G wireless technology called HSPA+. (T-Mobile stirred up controversy last summer when it began marketing the HSPA+ network as 4G. AT&amp;T, which initially criticized T-Mobile for this, began calling its own HSPA+ network 4G earlier this year.)The technology synergies between T-Mobile and AT&amp;T are stark contrast to how T-Mobile lined up with Sprint Nextel, which had been rumored to be eying T-Mobile for more than two years. Sprint uses a different network technology called CDMA, which is the same technology that Verizon Wireless uses. What's more Sprint is using WiMax for its next generation wireless network. While regulators would have been much more eager to see No. 3 Sprint Nextel merge with No. 4 T-Mobile so that they could take on No. 1 Verizon Wireless and No. 2 AT&amp;T, the reality is that such a scenario would have been an integration nightmare for Sprint. Sprint is still struggling to make sense of its 2005 acquisition of Nextel, which also used a completely different technology.&quot;There's no question that AT&amp;T and T-Mobile are a very good fit from a technology standpoint,&quot; said Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research. &quot;A Sprint-T-Mobile deal would have given these companies scale, but it made sense from an integration standpoint.&quot;But even though the deal makes sense from a technology standpoint, it won't necessarily be smooth sailing. For one, regulators are likely to scrutinize this deal closely. And secondly, even though AT&amp;T and T-Mobile use the same technology, they use different wireless spectrum bands to deliver their services. This means that AT&amp;T will have to move T-Mobile's customers to different spectrum bands in order to integrate the networks. Regulatory scrutinyFirst let's look at the regulatory picture. The biggest issue for the FCC and for the Department of Justice, which also needs to approve this merger, is whether a merger between these companies would concentrate too much power in the hands of a single company, which could affect pricing and services for consumers. T-Mobile has always been a price leader. It's safe to say that AT&amp;T will likely not adopt T-Mobile pricing, which means that consumers will be losing a more affordable player in the wireless market.And the reason is simple. It won't need to. AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless already control more than 40 percent of the existing wireless market. And T-Mobile, the smallest of the major wireless operators, would concentrate AT&amp;T's market power further. A combined AT&amp;T and T-Mobile would have nearly 130 million subscribers, which is a third more than Verizon Wireless, the No. 1 nationwide player in the country. The new AT&amp;T-T-Mobile would also have twice as many customers as No. 3. Sprint Nextel.The FCC has already expressed concern over the competitive landscape in wireless. In May the FCC warned that the industry is getting too concentrated. In its report, the agency said that since 2003, market concentration in wireless has increased 32 percent. The report indicates that 60 percent of the nation's subscribers and revenue come from the country's two largest wireless providers: AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless. The FCC noted that these companies are continuing to gain customers as other national operators, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA, have been losing subscribers.  related coverage AT&amp;T-T-Mobile: By the numbers   On the cusp of a historic mobile operator merger between AT&amp;T and T-Mobile, a look at some key stats. So far the FCC hasn't issued a statement regarding the proposed AT&amp;T-T-Mobile merger. But insiders at the agency have said previously that they would be more concerned with an acquisition between AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless and either Sprint Nextel or T-Mobile USA than a merger involving Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile.AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless have scoffed at the FCC's assertion that the wireless industry is not competitive. And the companies have repeatedly pointed to the fact that there are often four to five players in almost every major market in the U.S. Smaller players such as MetroPCS and Leap Wireless have aggressively moved into new markets. And U.S. Cellular, a regional wireless carrier, has gotten high marks in terms of customer satisfaction in many national surveys. But the fact remains that AT&amp;T and Verizon Wireless have far more customers than any of these smaller players. Indeed, Golvin estimates that a combined AT&amp;T and T-Mobile would mean that three out of four wireless subscribers in the U.S. would be a customer of either AT&amp;T or Verizon Wireless. What's more, combining AT&amp;T and T-Mobile, means that there would be only one national wireless carrier using the GSM technology. Verizon and Sprint Nextel use CDMA, as mentioned above. This would give consumers, who want to use their phones overseas in places such as Europe, only one choice in national U.S. carrier.At least one congressional leader is already pushing the FCC and Department of Justice to take a hard look at this deal. &quot;With every passing day, wireless services are becoming more and more important to the way we communicate,&quot; John D. Rockefeller IV (D-West Virginia), chairman of the Senate's Commerce Science and Transportation committee, said in a statement. &quot;So it is absolutely essential that both the Department of Justice and the FCC leave no stone unturned in determining what the impact of this combination is on the American people.&quot; While it is possible that the FCC and/or the Justice Department could simply stop the merger from happening, it's unlikely they'd do that, Golvin said. Instead, it's more likely that these agencies would put conditions on the merger and require AT&amp;T to divest some of its wireless spectrum assets, he added.&quot;I don't believe this will have a 'yes' or 'no' outcome,&quot; Golvin said. &quot;I think what the regulators do will be more about the extent of AT&amp;T's divestiture.&quot;In fact, the FCC took this approach when it approved Verizon's $28.1 billion merger of regional carrier Alltel Wireless, which closed in January 2009. Instead of analyzing this merger on a national basis, the FCC analyzed each individual market where Verizon and Alltel operated. And in markets where there was too much concentration, the FCC required that the Verizon sell those wireless assets. All told, Verizon agreed to sell operations in 105 markets where Alltel also operated. AT&amp;T CEO Randall Stephenson spoke to the Wall Street Journal on Sunday and said that he is confident that the company will get regulatory approval. He said that the merger will help &quot;conserve spectrum at a time when that resource is in tight supply.&quot;He also said that the wireless market is already very competitive.&quot;This is probably the most fiercely competitive wireless market in the world,&quot; he was quoted as saying. &quot;The majority of Americans have the option of five different wireless carriers.&quot;Spectrum issues Regulatory issues may be only one hurdle the companies face as they look at integrating the two wireless networks. While it's true that T-Mobile and AT&amp;T each use GSM technology, the carriers also use different bands of spectrum to deliver their services. Specifically, T-Mobile uses the spectrum it bought in the AWS spectrum auction in 2006 to build its 3G wireless network. AT&amp;T also acquired spectrum in that auction. And it is using this AWS spectrum to build its LTE network. AT&amp;T uses its 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum to deliver its 3G service. Part of the reason that AT&amp;T wanted T-Mobile in the first place was to get more of the AWS spectrum for its LTE network. Meanwhile, T-Mobile has no additional spectrum to deploy LTE, since it's been using the AWS spectrum for its 3G service. What this means is that once AT&amp;T and T-Mobile merge, AT&amp;T will have to move all of T-Mobile's existing 3G customers (which includes the supposed 4G HSPA+ customers) to AT&amp;T's 850MHz and 1900MHz spectrum. This means T-Mobile customers will need new handsets, since the existing T-Mobile 3G HSPA and 4G HSPA+ handsets will no longer work on the AWS spectrum. The migration of additional T-Mobile customers to AT&amp;T's already congested 3G network could also be painful for existing AT&amp;T customers. But Golvin believes that in the long run, AT&amp;T will actually benefit from the merger with T-Mobile because it will allow AT&amp;T to use the newly upgraded backhaul systems that T-Mobile has put in place to link its radio network to the hard-wired Internet and telephone backbone.&quot;For some period of time, customers from either network may find that the quality is not what they would like,&quot; Golvin said. &quot;But AT&amp;T won't be able to just turn off the T-Mobile network. It will take time and it will be done in stages. I think what might be more painful for some T-Mobile customers is that they were T-Mobile customers because they didn't want to be AT&amp;T customers.&quot;The deal comes just days before the wireless industry meets in Orlando, Fla., for the CTIA's spring trade show and conference. On Tuesday morning, CEOs from three of the four major U.S. wireless carriers--AT&amp;T, Verizon Wireless, and Sprint Nextel--will take the stage for a roundtable discussion. T-Mobile USA told All Things Digital that it has dropped out of the panel discussion atCTIA. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski is also expected to give a speech Tuesday morning from CTIA. It's unclear how much if anything the players involved in the merger will say at CTIA. But CNET will be there, so stay tuned. Update 7:38 p.m. PT:This story has been updated with information regarding the panel of CEOs at CTIA.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Panasonic axes Jungle handheld]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-panasonic-axes-jungle-handheld</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-panasonic-axes-jungle-handheld</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 01 Mar 2011 08:10:59 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>dextermowl</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-panasonic-axes-jungle-handheld</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Jungle reportedly has been slashed and burned.(Credit:Screenshot by Don Reisinger/CNET)If you were hoping to get your hands on the Panasonic Jungle, you'll need to settle for something else.Panasonic has chosen to discontinue its efforts on the portable-gaming device, Reuters reported today. The company apparently announced it had &quot;decided to suspend further development due to changes in the market and in our own strategic direction,&quot; Reuters reported.The Jungle handheld was first revealed late last year. The device was slated to compete with the Nintendo DS and Sony'sPlayStation Portable. However, Panasonic had a somewhat different idea with the Jungle. Rather than allow developers to create titles and have gamers buy them in-store, the Jungle was supposed to play only online games and massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPGs). Panasonic said at the time that it believed it was doing something unique in the portable-gaming market.&quot;We know other companies out there have traditional handheld gaming covered,&quot; Panasonic said in an e-mail in November. &quot;We're doing something very different.&quot;But Panasonic's device, which featured a clamshell design and included both a keyboard and touch pad, wasn't facing the same competition last year as it would have this year.The Nintendo 3DS, which launched (and subsequently sold out) in Japan over the weekend, includes two screens and the ability for gamers to play titles in 3D without special glasses. It will ship in the U.S. for $249 on March 27. And at year's end, Sony plans to update its portable-gaming lineup with the Next Generation Portable, which promises PlayStation 3-like graphics and dual thumbsticks.Simply put, those new products might deliver more than what the Jungle could. And Panasonic, with its acknowledgment of &quot;changes in the market,&quot; seemed to understand that quite clearly.Now that the Jungle has apparently been clear-cut, there's no telling what the future looks like for Panasonic Cloud Entertainment Co. That division was set up as a subsidiary of Panasonic when the Jungle project first kicked off. Panasonic did not immediately respond to CNET's request for comment.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[SoloPower lands loan guarantee for solar plant]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solopower-lands-loan-guarantee-for-solar-plant</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solopower-lands-loan-guarantee-for-solar-plant</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 18 Feb 2011 08:11:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Bakeruc</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solopower-lands-loan-guarantee-for-solar-plant</guid>
<description><![CDATA[SoloPower&amp;39's solar collectors are flexible and can be adhered onto a flat roof.(Credit:SoloPower)SoloPower said yesterday that it has conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a $197 million loan guarantee to build a factory in Oregon.The company plans to start construction of a plant in Wilsonville, Ore., in the second quarter of this year. Once operating, it will be able to turn out 400 megawatts worth of solar panels per year.The move gives San Jose, Calif.-based SoloPower the financial wherewithal to expand beyond a smaller demonstration plant in San Jose. The company has also gotten a loan and tax credits from the state of Oregon.The company makes flexible solar collectors using thin-film solar cells made from a combination of copper, indium, gallium, and selenium (CIGS). Rather than the traditional glass-covered rigid panel, it makes thin strips which are designed for quick installation on corporate rooftops.It's the third thin-film solar company to receive a DOE loan guarantee, a program designed to provide relatively low-cost financing to companies seeking to commercialize new technologies. Colorado-based Abound Solar, which makes cadmium telluride thin-film panels, received $400 million in a DOE loan as part of $510 million in financing last December.In an interview earlier this year, DOE Loan Guarantee executive director Jonathan Silver said that thin-film solar is one technology with which U.S. technology companies have an opportunity to edge out global competitors, particularly low-cost Chinese suppliers using traditional polycrystalline silicon solar cells. The loan guarantee program, which could be scaled back as part of budget cuts, has yet to deliver a clear winner in solar. The first recipient of a DOE loan was Solyndra, which also makes a specialized solar collector for corporate rooftops but, like all solar companies, faces ongoing cost competition globally.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Winter, snow, and solar panels: A mixed forecast]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=winter-snow-and-solar-panels-a-mixed-forecast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=winter-snow-and-solar-panels-a-mixed-forecast</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 08 Feb 2011 08:11:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>awtayk</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=winter-snow-and-solar-panels-a-mixed-forecast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A suboptimal situation: snow-covered solar panels. The edge of the roof rake (on right) is covered with soft material to avoid damaging the panels.(Credit:Martin LaMonica/CNET)With many people in the U.S. bemoaning the punishing winter weather this year, solar-panel owners have their own special gripe: sun-blocking snow and ice. But at the same time, very cold temperatures have given some owners a power boost. A thick blanket of snow can slow a solar photovoltaic (PV) array's production to a trickle. That's something I discovered two years ago when a snowy winter led me to buy a modified snow rake to remove snow from my solar panels. It's now on my list of regular winter chores.Even with my diligence, this year has been particularly tough because of the frequency of the storms and the type of snow. Last week, New England had yet another dump of wet and sticky snow followed by icy rain, which made snow removal tricky. Patiently letting the sun melt the snow is a perfectly reasonable thing to do, say solar industry professionals. But many people manually remove snow in winter to maximize power output. Solar panels, it turns out, really like cold weather. At the opposite end of the country in the U.S. Southwest, frigid temperatures last week resulted in fantastically good production. The parents of my colleague Stephen Shankland have three high-end solar panels on their roof which produced just over 14.5 kilowatt-hours one day last week. That's well above the daily average for this time of year and more than my roof-full of 14 panels often does.With the temperatures in the region not getting above zero all day, the panels generated 2 kilowatt-hours for two hours in the middle of the day, which is extremely rare. It's also a good bang for your buck when you consider many homes have limited roof space with good sun.Although it may sound counter-intuitive, solar PV panels perform better in cold weather and similarly, performance degrades in high heat. Amy Beaudet, who has a solar array in Massachusetts, calculates that the maximum wattage of her array in Massachusetts is up to 25 percent higher in the winter than in the warmer months.The technical reason for the power increase is that the voltage of solar panels increases as temperatures go down, said Beaudet who does technical sales at renewable-energy e-commerce outlet AltE Store. The higher voltage (you can think of it as pressure), combined with the same current from the panels as during warm weather, results in higher wattage, she explained. The tilt of panels also figures in winter versus summer production. People who use solar panels in an off-grid situation typically angle the panels to better take advantage of the winter sun because of the shorter days, she said.Still learningBack at my house, snow removal has become a bit of a preoccupation for me on sunny days after it snows. And I'm planning on modifying my roof rake again to better ensure I don't damage the surface.With my 20-foot snow rake, I can only reach the bottom one third of the panels. So my strategy is to pull away what I can and wait for the sun to do its thing. Once more dark-colored panel is exposed, more current starts flowing and the rest of the panels heat up. Clumps of snow tend to slide down from the higher panels and I scrape those chunks off as they come. It's not unusual to hear a large thump from sliding snow on sunny days after a snow storm, something I try to remember when I walk beneath them so I don't get clobbered. The snow rake I bought at my local hardware store is made of aluminum. So to ensure that the hard head does not strike or scratch the solar panels (and generally keep metal away from electricity generation), I screwed on a strip of door weatherstripping to the edge of the rake head, which means that a strip of nylon is gliding along the panels. Now, I'm planning to screw soft pipe wrapping, the kind you insulate hot water heat pipes with, along the edge.Often, solar-panel owners use some sort of squeegee-like contraption to take snow off, said AltE Store's Beaudet. A friend of mine with newly installed panels bought a snow rake with a plastic head which allows him to push the snow off from inside the house. Another product called the Sno Knife, which has a flat plastic head designed to work in different types of snow, shouldn't damage glass-covered solar panels, according to the company. The story for solar hot water panels or tubes is very different. The copper inside solar hot water panels gathers heat relatively quickly and the snow tends to melt quickly, Beaudet said. One technical advance which is helping make shading of solar PV panels less disruptive is microinverters. Traditionally, an array of panels is wired together and connected to a single inverter, a box about the size of a PC that converts the direct current to household alternating current. One downside of this approach is that if one panel is shaded by leaves or snow, production of the entire string is compromised. Microinverters do the DC-to-AC conversion on each panel so if one panel is blocked, it doesn't affect the others. Of course, removing snow assumes you can actually get access to a roof. Often, people simply just wait for the sun and wind to do the work for you. And if it's icy, trying to scrape it off is not a great idea, said Beaudet. In my case, I popped in and out a few times on Friday in an attempt to speed up the melting with an occasional raking. I wanted to avoid a chunk of snow sliding down and freezing in place when the cold weather set in for the night. It worked: by the afternoon, the panels were cleared. Just in time for night fall--and the next forecasted storm. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft tries undoing Chrome's H.264 omission]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-tries-undoing-chromes-h-264-omission</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-tries-undoing-chromes-h-264-omission</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>beminnusjdahsh</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-tries-undoing-chromes-h-264-omission</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Weeks after Google announced it would drop support for H.264-encoded video from Chrome, Microsoft announced it's adding support back in through a browser extension forWindows 7 users.&quot;Today, as part of the interoperability bridges work we do on this team, we are making available the Windows Media Player HTML5 Extension for Chrome, which is an extension for Google Chrome to enable Windows 7 customers who use Chrome to continue to play H.264 video,&quot; said Claudio Caldato, principal program manager on Microsoft's Interoperability Strategy Team, in a blog post. The software can be downloaded from MIcrosoft's Web site.The move matches what Microsoft already did withFirefox, which unlike Chrome never supported H.264 in the first place. Mozilla, Google, and Opera prefer the WebM video-streaming technology and its VP8 video codec in particular, which at least for now doesn't require the patent royalty payments that H.264 does for browser makers and those offering for-fee video over the Net.And the move also points a way through the video codec mess that currently prevails on the Web. Microsoft, and possibly Apple, could offer H.264 plug-ins for use by browsers that don't support it, and Google could offer WebM plug-ins for the opposite situation. Indeed, Microsoft said Google is working on such a plug-in for Internet Explorer on Windows.That solution doesn't make life much easier for Web site operators trying to decide whether they need to support both technologies or just one, though, unless a large fraction of people install such a plug-in or unless the Web developer is willing to fall back to Adobe Systems' Flash Player.A requirement to license patents--from a group called MPEG LA in the case of H.264 patents--is antithetical to the World Wide Web Consortium's ethos for open Web standards. &quot;In order to promote the widest adoption of Web standards, W3C seeks to issue recommendations that can be implemented on a royalty-free (RF) basis. Subject to the conditions of this policy, W3C will not approve a recommendation if it is aware that essential claims exist which are not available on royalty-free terms,&quot; the W3C's patent policy states.H.264, also called AVC (Advanced Video Coding) and MPEG-4 Part 10, definitely has patent issues. It's not yet clear how free WebM and VP8 are, though Mozilla expressed confidence and Google offered royalty-free use of VP8 technology it acquired when it bought On2 Technologies in 2010. MPEG LA, though, has a different view.&quot;We do not believe VP8 is patent free,&quot; the organization told CNET in a statement in late January. &quot;There continues to be interest in the facilitation of a pool license to address the apparent marketplace desire for convenience in accessing essential VP8 patent rights owned by many different patent holders under a single license as an alternative to negotiating individual licenses.&quot;The nascent HTML5 standard includes built-in video support in an attempt to make video as easy to use as, say, JPEG graphics on the Web today. But Google's move spotlighted a rift in the HTML5 standards world: because of differing views on the appropriate codec, neither H.264 nor VP8 nor any other codec is specified. And with Microsoft and Apple pushing one way and the other three browser makers pushing the other way, it doesn't look like there will be any resolution any time soon.In a blog post today IE General Manager Dean Hachamovitch expounded on Microsoft's earlier position, mostly reiterating the company's concerns about the possibility of VP8 patent infringement and Microsoft's willingness to accommodate a WebM plug-in.&quot;The only true arbiter of infringement, once it's asserted, is a court of law,&quot; Hachamovitch said, suggesting one way Google could protect WebM users would be through an indemnification pledge to protect them in the event they're sued for patent infringement. &quot;If Google were truly confident that the technology does not infringe and is not encumbered by patents whatsoever, wouldn't this indemnification be easy It's one way to move away from conversations about unknown and unbounded risk to a rational conversation about costs and liability.&quot;Microsoft is one of the many patent holders whose H.264 patents are licensed by MPEG LA, and Hachamovitch had an offer for Google if it does offer indemnification:Ultimately, Microsoft remains agnostic in terms of HTML5 video as long as there is clarity on the intellectual property issues. To make it clear that we are fully willing to participate in a resolution of these issues, Microsoft is willing to commit that we will never assert any patents on VP8 if Google will make a commitment to indemnify us and all other developers and customers who use VP8 in the future. We would only ask that we be able to use those patent rights if we are sued first by somebody else. If Google would prefer a patent pool approach, then we would also agree to join a patent pool for VP8 on reasonable licensing terms so long as Google joins the pool and is able to include all other major providers of playback software and devices. The entire industry benefits from a significant investment in an ecosystem around a format well insulated from legal issues. As JPEG taught the industry, profitable companies merely wishing IP issues away does not make those issues go away.Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Google is working on a plug-in to bring WebM to Windows, and Microsoft is helping with that work, Hachamovitch added.&quot;Our support for H.264 results from our views about a robust Web and video ecosystem that provides a rich level of functionality, is the product of an open standards process like the W3C's HTML5 specification, and has been free from legal attacks. Microsoft is agnostic and impartial about the actual underlying video format for HTML5 video as long as this freedom continues,&quot; Hachamovitch said. &quot;Our commitment to play WebM videos in IE9 for users who have installed WebM demonstrates our approach. We have worked closely with Google to help them deliver a WebM implementation on Windows and Google engineers are on the Microsoft campus this week' we appreciate their positive feedback to date around this work.&quot;VP8 appears to deliberately sidestep H.264 patents, Carlo Daffara said in a blog post in January:...It is clear that most design decisions in the original On2 encoder and decoder [which became VP8] were made to avoid preexisting patents...By going through the H.264 &quot;essential patent list,&quot; however, I found that in the US (that has the highest number of covered patents) there are 164 non-expired patents, of which 31 specific to H264 advanced deblocking (not used in WebM), 34 related to CABAC/CAVAC not used in WebM, 16 on the specific bytecode stream syntax (substituted with Matroska), 45 specific to AVC. The remaining ones are (to a cursory reading) not overlapping with WebM specific technologies, at least as they are implemented in the libvpx library as released by Google (there is no guarantee that patented technologies are not added to external, third party implementations).Further details are available in his earlier analysis.Updated 8:33 a.m. PTwith comment from MPEG LA and further details.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Penske delivers first electric Smart ForTwo]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=penske-delivers-first-electric-smart-fortwo</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=penske-delivers-first-electric-smart-fortwo</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 28 Jan 2011 08:10:44 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>juwanpno8w8</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=penske-delivers-first-electric-smart-fortwo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Ceremonial presentation by Penske Automotive Group Chairman Roger Penske, center, and Smart USA president Jill Lajdziak, right, to the first Smart ForTwo Electric Drive customer, Mindy Kimball, left, at her home in Silver Spring, MD.(Credit:Nick Wass )To kick off the latest phase in their electriccar program, Smart USA President Jill Lajdzia and Roger Penske, chairman of Smart USA parent company Penske Automotive Group, personally delivered the first Smart ForTwo Electric Drive to a customer in Maryland.Mindy Kimball, a 36-year-old Major in the United States Army, is the first customer to lease a ForTwo Electric Drive, the all-electric version of the tiny two-seater. It's powered by a 30 kW electric motor with 16.5 kWh lithium-ion battery, and has an electronically controlled top speed of 60 mph. Although testing has shown the electric Smart can travel up to 98 miles on a full charge, a more realistic highway and city driving pattern will yield about a 63 mile range.At the ceremonial presentation to the first Smart ForTwo Electric Drive, Penske Automotive Group Chairman Roger Penske shows some of the car's features. (Nick Wass/AP Images for smart USA)(Credit:Nick Wass )These vehicles are only available in the U.S. by lease. Interested parties can apply to lease a vehicle on Smart's Web site. Early adopters of electric vehicles will face a few challenges while the industry matures. But they'll also receive a few perks. By leasing a ForTwo Electric Drive, Kimball became a member of Team 250, which is the second phase of Smart's program to roll out electric vehicles in the U.S.The program will place 250 electric vehicles with companies, municipalities, organizations, and individuals around the country for testing. Members of Team 250 will receive other perks such as a concierge service, personal access to Smart USA's Electric Drive expert, 24/7 roadside assistance, and a chance provide feedback about their driving experience. The next phase will be full series production of the electric two-seaters, which is scheduled to begin in 2012, to make the electric ForTwo available to the public for purchase.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Another sharing service piggybacks on Kindle lending]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-sharing-service-piggybacks-on-kindle-lending</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-sharing-service-piggybacks-on-kindle-lending</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:10:50 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>arztmedizin</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=another-sharing-service-piggybacks-on-kindle-lending</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Here's another me-too service that intends to help consumers share their electronic books by piggybacking on the lending features available on Kindle and Nook books. (Credit:Greg Sandoval/CNET)BookSwim, which bills itself as a &quot;Netflix for Books,&quot; announced that it plans to launch eBookFling.com tomorrow, a site where users swap e-books. BookSwim's press release makes it obvious that company managers either anticipate the service won't be warmly received by Amazon, Barnes &amp; Noble, and book publishers or are trying to gin up the release with a little controversy. &quot;The initial reaction may be a negative,&quot; the company said in its statement. &quot;Publishers and authors will claim the lending feature is being abused and causing cannibalization of sales.&quot; The company breathlessly acknowledged that the service may force authors to worry about &quot;making only half the sales on the new books too!&quot; (The exclamation point is theirs).The service comes two weeks after a start-up called the Kindle Lending Club launched a similar digital-book sharing service. In the age of file sharing, it's hard to see how services like these would be seen as a serious threat, or for that matter, attract much of an audience. For people who don't want to pay, there is the legal means to acquire them (library) and the illegal means (peer-to-peer networks). Meanwhile, gadget makers are trying to streamline the arduous process of digitizing books and should they succeed, that will undoubtedly speed up digital-book sharing via P2P networks. Still, Amazon, which launched Kindle lending on December 30, may not want to take any chances. My colleague Stephen Shankland wrote earlier this month&quot; &quot;It's no Napster, but the Kindle Lending Club probably has facilitated the lending of more than 1,000 books among strangers. At scale, it holds the potential to automate free book lending on a global scale when Amazon would prefer to see an actual sale.&quot;An Amazon representative was not immediately available for comment. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft to open third retail store in California]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-open-third-retail-store-in-california</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-open-third-retail-store-in-california</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jan 2011 08:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Marry</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-to-open-third-retail-store-in-california</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft&amp;39's Costa Mesa, Calif. store is currently under construction, and due to open this spring.(Credit:Microsoft)Microsoft plans to open its third retail store in the state of California later this year. The South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa, Calif., will be the latest location to get a Microsoft retail store, and will join Microsoft's other Californian efforts in San Diego and Mission Viejo, the company announced on its Twitter account earlier today. As for the timing, Microsoft is saying only that the new store's doors will open in the spring.Outside of California, Microsoft has retail stores in Scottsdale, Ariz.' Lone Tree, Colo.' Bloomington, Minn.' Oak Brook, Ill.' and one that recently opened in Bellevue, Wash. As ZDnet's Mary Jo Foley notes, Microsoft has not yet ventured toward the East Coast, but may be heading to New York City sometime later this year as part of a six-store retail expansion. Microsoft opened up its first retail store in Scottsdale, Ariz., near the end of 2009. Since then the company has opened up six more, positioning the stores as places where users can come and get their hands on the latest Microsoft products and services--both on the company's own hardware, and from its partners. Microsoft also offers tech support, training, classes, and computers with a set of pre-installed software and settings as part of its Signature effort.Comparisons of Microsoft's efforts to Apple's have been made by many, though not in scale. Apple now has more than 300 stores open around the world, including one in South Coast Plaza.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Intel to pay Nvidia $1.5 billion in licensing fees]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-to-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-in-licensing-fees</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-to-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-in-licensing-fees</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>phitipkahh</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=intel-to-pay-nvidia-1-5-billion-in-licensing-fees</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Intel will gain access to Nvidia's patents while paying the graphics chip supplier $1.5 billion in licensing fees as part of a new six-year agreement. Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang reiterated today that ARM processors are the future.(Credit:Nvidia)&quot;For the future use of Nvidia's technology, Intel will pay Nvidia an aggregate of $1.5 billion in licensing fees payable in five annual installments, beginning Jan. 18, 2011,&quot; Nvidia announced today. Furthermore, Nvidia and Intel have agreed to drop all outstanding legal disputes between them. The crux of the agreement is that Intel gains access to all of Nvidia's GPU (graphics processing unit) patents but Nvidia gains access to only certain Intel patents. To compensate for the lop-sided patent access (which favors Intel), Intel pays Nvidia $1.5 billion. Intel and Nvidia had both sued each other in early 2009 in a dispute that originally centered on a chipset license agreement. Intel had contended the cross license does not extend to Intel's future-generation processors, and Nvidia countersued blocking access to its patent portfolio. In effect, Nvidia was barred from building Intel-compatible chipsets beyond the Core 2 Duo generation of processors. For example, the second generation of Apple's MacBook Air used an Nvidia chipset along with Intel's Core 2 Duo processor. However, Nvidia could not build chipsets for the newest generation of Intel Core i3, i5, and i7 processors. This, in effect, forced Apple to stay with Intel's older-generation Core 2 Duo processors in its newest MacBook Airs because it allowed Apple to legally continue to use Nvidia chipsets. The agreement announced Monday still bars Nvidia from using any of Intel's x86 technology and, as a result, Nvidia cannot build x86-compatible chipsets, according to Intel. But Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang made it clear he's not interested. &quot;We've already said many times that we have no intention to build chipsets for Intel processors,&quot; he said in the conference call Monday afternoon. And many PC makers (including Apple) still use discrete (standalone) Nvidia graphics processing units (GPUs) that attach to Intel chipsets. Huang expounded on its traditional strong suit, GPUs--which hold patents that Intel is paying for and which Nvidia incorporates into its ARM processors. GPUs excel at parallel processing, whereas CPUs (central processing units)--such as Intel's x86 chips--do sequential processing. Both types of processors have their merits, though GPUs have the potential to be much faster than CPUs at doing visual processing and scientific number-crunching, for example. &quot;I don't think you can build a modern computer today without a state-of-the-art GPU technology. Anytime you can do something in parallel, it's better than sequential,&quot; Huang said. &quot;Our cross license with Intel reflects the substantial value of our visual and parallel computing technologies. It also underscores the importance of our inventions to the future of personal computing, as well as the expanding markets for mobile and cloud computing,&quot; said Huang in an official statement today. Huang went on to say the company's focus is now on ARM processors--which compete with Intel's x86 chips in small devices like Netbooks andtablets. &quot;It's a foregone conclusion that ARM is the most important [chip] architecture. ARM will be the largest installed-based processor. It's pervasive and open. We will extend the ARM processor with our GPU,&quot; he said. Huang pointed to Microsoft's announcement atCES to port its next major release of Windows to ARM processors and Nvidia's CES announcement of Project Denver, in which it will design high-performance ARM chips for desktops and supercomputers. Those future Nvidia chips will be hybrids--much like Intel's just-announced Sandy Bridge processor. &quot;Project Denver...features an Nvidia CPU running the ARM instruction set, which will be fully integrated on the same chip as the Nvidia GPU,&quot; Bill Dally, Nvidia's chief scientist, said last week. Updated at 3:25 p.m. PST throughout.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft looks into 'phantom' Windows Phone 7 data use]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-looks-into-phantom-windows-phone-7-data-use</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-looks-into-phantom-windows-phone-7-data-use</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gribuStierrrtg</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-looks-into-phantom-windows-phone-7-data-use</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:Microsoft)Microsoft said it's investigating aWindows Phone 7 software behavior that has the phone slurping up cellular data, even when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi.The cause of this data use is not yet known, but the BBC points to a handful of reports that say it's a built-in feedback tool that's essentially phoning home.If true, this type of behavior would not be out of place compared to other smartphone operating systems. In fact, Apple'siPhone came under similar scrutiny last year, with some users reporting large chunks of data getting sent in the wee hours of the night.A Microsoft spokesperson said simply that the company was &quot;investigating this issue to determine the root cause and will update with information and guidance as it becomes available.&quot;Several years ago background data use would not have been as much of an issue, however within the last year, carriers like AT&amp;T and Verizon have moved away from so-called &quot;unlimited' data plans, to packages of data that can be purchased in allotments. (Note: Verizon still offers an unlimited data plan, but added a limited 150MB plan in October.) For consumers these represent a more economical way to buy into a smartphone purchase over the course of a long-term contract, but can carry steep penalties for overages.With some entry-tier data plans hovering in the 150MB to 200MB range (depending on which carrier you're on), that amount can be reached quickly when normal use is mixed with this extra data polling, which is said to range from 30MB to 50MB of data per day. Microsoft's first big update to its Windows Phone 7 platform is set to roll out to users in the next month or so. It's not yet clear whether that update will address this issue, or whether new software will be necessary to make any changes.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Pretec announces tiny USB 3.0 flash drive]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pretec-announces-tiny-usb-3-0-flash-drive</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pretec-announces-tiny-usb-3-0-flash-drive</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 08 Jan 2011 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Nisha</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-pretec-announces-tiny-usb-3-0-flash-drive</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The new i-Disk Rex100 could be the tiniest USB 3.0 flash drive in the world that offers 128GB of storage.(Credit:Pretec)LAS VEGAS--It seems that portable hard drives get progressively smaller asCES 2011 continues.Yesterday, Verbatim introduced the USB 3.0 External SSD that beat the recently reviewed LaCie FastKey both in terms of storage space and portability. Now, as the show is nearing its end, Pretec, a company known more as a maker of system memory, unveiled an ultracompact USB 3.0 flash drive of its own, the i-Disk Rex100. Measuring 2.9 inches by 0.7 inch by 0.2 inch, the i-Disk Rex100 is arguably the tiniest flash drive in the world that offers 128GB of storage space. The drive supports USB 3.0, which translates into much better performance compared with USB 2.0 flash drives. It shares the same design as the LaCie FastKey, taking the shape of a thumbdrive, but about is 40 percent smaller.The i-Disk Rex100 is available later this month in 32GB, 64GB, and 128GB capacities. The price has not yet been announced, but like all SSD-based external hard drives, it won't be cheap.Other than the i-Disk100, Pretec also unveiled the i-Disk300, a superthin SSD-based USB 3.0 external drive that offers up to 128GB of storage, and the first USB 3.0 flash card reader, the Pretec P240. These two will also be available later this month.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[CES: Panasonic's mid-line plasmas get 3D, Internet]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-panasonics-mid-line-plasmas-get-3d-internet</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-panasonics-mid-line-plasmas-get-3d-internet</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>juwanparmic</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ces-panasonics-mid-line-plasmas-get-3d-internet</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Panasonic&amp;39's TC-PST30 series is the company&amp;39's mid-tier model, yet still offers 3D and Internet connectivity.(Credit:Panasonic) LAS VEGAS--Today at its press conference Panasonic announced what amounts to a modest number of TV series, and the one placed solidly in the middle is the TC-PST30. Given its excellent feature set, however, this it might hit the value sweet spot. According to Panasonic's press material the only thing the ST30 is missing compared to the step-up GT30 is THX certification. Otherwise, both get the &quot;short-throw phosphors&quot; and &quot;Infinite Black panel,&quot; which makes us believe that the two might share very similar picture quality.  The ST30 is also the least-expensive 2011 Panasonic plasma to display 3D sources, and the company is touting a new SD card slot that handles 3D still photos and videos. The press material doesn't mention 2D to 3D conversion, however, which was present on the GT25 models from last year. The ST30's other big step-up feature is Viera Connect, Panasonic's new Internet TV suite. The service, which received a name change from the VieraCast of yore, keeps all of the old services and adds a few new ones, including Hulu Plus, MLB.TV, MLS Matchday Live, NBA Game Time, NHL Game Center and Facebook.  Panasonic also touted a few other notable content partners, including fitness-related Withings, Body Media, and ICON Health &amp; Fitness, all of which can interact with optional fitness gear--scales, arm monitors and excercise equipment. The company is partnering with Gameloft to offer titles like racer Asphalt 5, as well as with other game developers.  And yes, like Samsung and LG's new Smart TV platforms, Viera Connect will have an App store with free and paid offerings, complete with developer's kits. There's even an on-line store &quot;featuring an ever-growing catalog of hardware products.&quot; On the other hand Viera Connect apparently lacks the web browsers found on some of those competitors' Smart TV offerings, and no Panasonic plasma has built-in wi-fi--you'll still need to buy the $80 USB dongle.Get ready for the Viera tablet.(Credit:Panasonic) The new system will also interact with Panasonic's upcoming Android tablet, although exactly how was not specified.  Pricing was not announced for the ST30 series, but it will be available sometime this spring.Panasonic TC-PST30 series features:Plasma TV3D compatibleInfinite Black panelShort throw phosphors3D-compatible SD card slotViera Connect Internet suitePanasonic TC-PST30 series models:Panasonic TC-P42ST30: 42-inchPanasonic TC-P46ST30: 46-inchPanasonic TC-P50ST30: 50-inchPanasonic TC-P55ST30: 55-inchPanasonic TC-P60ST30: 60-inchPanasonic TC-P65ST30: 65-inchEditor's Take: I'm really curious to see whether the ST30 and GT30 indeed offer basically identical black level performance. I am leery of the lack of THX, however, since color accuracy without it has long been a Panasonic Achilles heel. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[A flywheel generator for data centers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-flywheel-generator-for-data-centers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-flywheel-generator-for-data-centers</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 23 Dec 2010 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Peplyclere</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=a-flywheel-generator-for-data-centers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Active Power is offering an updated version of its flywheel generator specifically designed for backing up microprocessor-based equipment, the company announced today.Its CleanSource UPS (uninterruptible power supply) system is available in 480-volt (300 kVA and 600 kVA) and 400-volt (250 kVA and 500 kVA) configurations.&quot;Designed based on customer feedback, the G-Series is an enhancement to our current generation of UPS technology and is a cost and feature optimized solution for the 300 to 600 kVA power range,&quot; Active Power CTO Uwe Schrader-Hausmann said in a statement.Active Power&amp;39's CleanSource UPS uses flywheels to provide kinetic energy that can be converted to immediately usable electricity in the event of a brownout or blackout.(Credit:Active Power)A flywheel generator uses electricity from the electric grid to rotate its flywheel and remain spinning. When electricity is lost, the actively spinning flywheel's stored kinetic energy is then used to power its motor and produce electricity. The result is a generator that can supply an immediate burst of electricity until either the original electricity source comes back, or the switch to an alternate long-term power source can be made.The CleanSource UPS, which the company claims is 98 percent efficient, is intended for use in conjunction with large backup generators, and can be used to protect places like data centers from surges or brownouts, as well as used as a temporary energy source in the event of a blackout. It can be integrated to avoid any disruption in service, something obviously critical to microprocessor-based centers.Active Power went public as a company in 2000, when, in the face of rolling blackouts plaguing many communities that year, it began offering flywheel systems that store kinetic energy as an uninterruptible power source.The U.S. government is also interested in kinetic energy, not as a way to back up in the face of electrical failure, but as a way to store energy from the electrical grid.Beacon Power received $43 million in the form of a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to construct a 200-flywheel storage plant that could potentially buffer 20 megawatts of power for the electric grid in New York. When complete the plant will be a 20-megawatt storage facility.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Android 2.3 coming soon to Nexus One]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=android-2-3-coming-soon-to-nexus-one</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=android-2-3-coming-soon-to-nexus-one</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Crespinnecips</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=android-2-3-coming-soon-to-nexus-one</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Android 2.3 Gingerbread is coming to the Nexus One.(Credit:CNET)Owners of the GoogleNexus One won't have to wait much longer for Android 2.3 Gingerbread.The Google Nexus team posted on Twitter last night that Gingerbread would be making its way over the air to Nexus One devices &quot;in the coming weeks.&quot; The team didn't provide any more information on when it would land, but owners of the smartphone can at least be reassured that it is in fact coming to the device sooner rather than later.Those who don't want to wait that long (or would like a new smartphone) can get Gingerbread right now. Best Buy is currently selling the Gingerbread-equipped Google Nexus S smartphone to T-Mobile customers. In addition, the Nexus S features a 4-inch display, 5-megapixel camera, and a 1GHz Hummingbird processor.Gingerbread boasts several updates over its predecessor, Android 2.2 Froyo. The updated operating system features an improved user interface, Internet calling with the help of SIP, the ability to switch over to voice mode to fix text errors, and more.As important as it might be that Gingerbread is coming to the Nexus One, other Android phone owners will likely be forced to wait much longer. With each new Android version launch, it takes quite a while to get the latest version of the OS on devices. Samsung's Galaxy S smartphones, for example, are still running Android 2.1.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft launches 'Lab' for emerging HTML5 specs]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-launches-lab-for-emerging-html5-specs</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-launches-lab-for-emerging-html5-specs</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>zhouwei156</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-launches-lab-for-emerging-html5-specs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Microsoft wants to give Web developers a way to get their feet wet with emerging HTML5 technologies. Today the company is launching HTML5 Labs, a standalone site that will include demo code for two cutting-edge HTML5 technologies that aren't quite finished: Web Sockets and IndexedDB. Developers who want to try to build sites with either specification will be given code that Microsoft plans to keep updated as each one progresses on its way to becoming a stable part of the standard.In a phone interview with CNET last week, Jean Paoli, general manager of Microsoft's Interoperability Strategy Team said that the labs site was born out of the need for developers to experiment and use new types of code long before something is ready to market. But more than anything, people were just asking for it.&quot;We are receiving a lot of questions from people wondering when will HTML5 be ready,&quot; Paoli said. &quot;Our response is that HTML5 is ready to be used today using Internet Explorer 9. So you can use whatever is stable from HTML5 in IE9. And for anything experimental, you can play and try things using the prototype.&quot; Paoli said the prototypes should by no means be used on production sites. The reasoning behind this (besides the prototype moniker) is that these standards simply aren't yet finished, so a site you make with a prototype one week has a good chance of being completely broken as soon as there's an update.&quot;Sometimes it takes six months, one year, one year and a half, two years in order to have what's called a stable standard,&quot; Paoli explained. &quot;So today browser vendors have to make a choice of appearing to support emerging standards...and providing developers with a production-ready platform to support the stable standards.&quot; The problem this creates, Paoli said, is that trying to build those not-quite-yet-ready standards into browsers is that things can become unstable or suddenly insecure--as has recently become the case with Web Sockets, one of the two included draft technologies that make up HTML5 Labs' initial offerings.&quot;For the portions of HTML5 that are not stable, we believe we are going to produce prototypes, we're going to produce code, we're going to produce software that is not meant to be used to create your Web site,&quot; Paoli said. &quot;We're going to ship this prototype code on the HTML5 Labs site, and this code is going to be timed, or it's going to be in debug mode, or it's going to be in this stage where we're saying 'this code is going to change a lot, don't use it in your Web site!'&quot;This release technique isn't just for developers looking to make their sites work with Internet Explorer 9, Microsoft's HTML5-friendly browser that's currently in beta. Instead, it's efforts like HTML5 Labs, and individual testing pages from other browser makers that will push things forward. &quot;It's important to have this prototype out there because it helps people who are in the standards body--who are trying to design the best standard for this particular technology--to actually play and experiment with software that actually implements this piece of paper they're trying to design,&quot; Paoli said.In other words, you can spend all the time you want talking about how these specifications should work, but you still have to give it a test run every once and a while. And as an end result, the standards you're working to make stable might get there faster. &quot;This will take care of those unstable specifications such as Web Sockets that are extremely important for the Internet but are not finalized for wide consumption,&quot; Paoli explained. HTML5 Labs goes live today with these two standards in progress, with others to follow throughout next year. &quot;We are going to be updating this site with multiple prototypes during the year,&quot; Paoli said. &quot;We don't know which ones yet, but we're working on defining and understanding what are the other unstable standard specifications we need to work on to be able to advance the conversation.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony returning to e-reader market in Japan]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 25 Nov 2010 08:10:09 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>TheBestHawaiiSite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-returning-to-e-reader-market-in-japan</guid>
<description><![CDATA[One might have thought Sony was selling e-readers on its home turf. But it actually abandoned Japan's e-reader market in 2007 and is only now returning with its new touch-screen models, which go on sale there on December 10th.The Sony PRS-350 is going Japanese on December 10th.(Credit:Sony)The price for the 5-inch Pocket Edition PRS-350 will be 20,000 yen ($240) and the Touch Edition PRS-650 will cost 25,000 yen ($299). Reuters reports Sony will launch with 20,000 Japanese-language titles in its e-book store and hopes to sell &quot;300,000 Readers in the first year and win half the domestic market by 2012.&quot;Currently, Sony's biggest Reader competitor in Japan isApple's iPad. But Sharp will soon release a couple of tablets under its new Galapagos brand and Amazon looms on the horizon. Sony Electronics Senior Vice President Fujio Noguchi said he believes, &quot;Japan has the potential to become the world's second- or third-largest market for e-readers, but there are some complex aspects to the market.&quot; Some of these involve a rather &quot;cautious attitude by publishers,&quot; which continue to limit the number of digital books sold in Japan.Via Reuters<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Security researcher: I keep getting detained by feds]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:10:21 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joeysyjeoy</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=security-researcher-i-keep-getting-detained-by-feds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Moxie Marlinspike at the Black Hat conference in Las Vegas last year after presenting research on security flaws with browser implementations of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). (Credit:Elinor Mills/CNET)A security researcher who specializes in online privacy had his laptop and cell phones temporarily seized after returning to the U.S. on an international flight last night. Moxie Marlinspike told CNET in an interview today that he had been detained and questioned after an international flight last week and appears to be on a federal &quot;watch list&quot; for domestic flights too but doesn't know why.  Asked if he is a volunteer with WikiLeaks, a whistleblower Web site that the U.S. government is seeking to shut down for publishing classified Afghan war files, Marlinspike said: &quot;Definitely not. If anything, I'm slightly critical of WikiLeaks. I question the efficacy of that project.&quot; A WikiLeaks volunteer and security researcher, Jacob Appelbaum, was detained by U.S. agents after arriving in the U.S. on an international flight in July, as first reported by CNET. His laptop was searched and his cell phones were confiscated permanently.  &quot;I'm friends with Jake, and his equipment was seized,&quot; said Marlinspike, who uses that name as an alias and does not divulge his legal name. &quot;My name was in his contacts on his phone.&quot; Other people who appeared in the address book of Appelbaum's seized cell phones also have encountered trouble at borders or in airports, Appelbaum told CNET today, declining to elaborate. (An MIT researcher friend of an Army Intelligence analyst arrested and charged with leaking classified files to WikiLeaks was detained and had equipment searched by border officials at Chicago's airport two weeks ago.)  &quot;I'm very sorry he was in my phone book,&quot; Appelbaum said, referring to Marlinspike. Another connection between the two that might have sparked official interest: Appelbaum mentioned Marlinspike during a speech about WikiLeaks at the Hackers on Planet Earth conference in New York in July. &quot;I quoted him because I admire him, not because he's done something wrong,&quot; Appelbaum said. Marlinspike said his troubles started a few months ago. Before taking domestic flights, he found he was unable to print out his boarding pass and was locked out of the self check-in kiosks until an airline representative made a phone call to get approval to override the lock, he said. He also said he is subject to secondary screenings.  Last week, while he had fallen asleep waiting at an airport gate in Frankfurt airport on a layover, a man who said he was from the U.S. consulate and who had a photo of Marlinspike on his cell phone approached him and asked him where he had been, Marlinspike said. Marlinspike told him that he had given a presentation at the Black Hat security show in Abu Dhabi and the man said he had to make a phone call to Washington, D.C. and then let him go a few minutes later, according to Marlinspike.  On Monday, Marlinspike had gone through the security check point and secondary screening and was seated on a plane at John F. Kennedy International Airport for the flight to the Dominican Republic, he said. As airline workers were preparing to shut the plane door, a TSA agent ran onto the plane and escorted Marlinspike off, he said. In the walkway that leads to the plane, two agents patted him down before allowing him to get back on the plane, he said.  Returning from that trip yesterday, Marlinspike said he was met by two Customs and Border Patrol agents at JFK. With a photo of him in hand, they escorted him into a detention area and took his computer and phones away for inspection before returning them and letting him go nearly five hours later, he said.  His laptop is encrypted and the text messages and call history on his phones are encrypted. He declined to provide his password when agents asked him for it.  The agents did not say what they were looking for or why he was being detained, according to Marlinspike, who writes encryption apps for mobile devices at his San Francisco-based company Whisper Systems.  &quot;I have no idea what's going on, why this is happening to me,&quot; Marlinspike said. &quot;From the questions I've had to field it seems like this is part of some larger fishing expedition. There is someone somewhere who wants access to something on my laptop or my phone and they can't just come and ask me for it. And they can't get a warrant without suspicion. So, they wait for me to travel internationally because at the border they can do anything they want.&quot; He said he has talked to a TSA supervisor who gave him a phone number to call to inquire about his case and find out how to appeal it, but the number led to a voice mail box that was full. A TSA spokesman said he could not access records in the computer system late today in order to comment on the matter. Customs and Border Patrol spokesman Jaime Ruiz told CNET that he could not comment on any specific case, citing the Privacy Act that protects federal government records related to individuals. &quot;We have the authority to search on a case-by-case basis,&quot; he said, before referring the reporter to the policy information on the agency Web site.  Such border seizures of electronic equipment have been going on for years. Famed hacker Kevin Mitnick, who served five years in prison for wire and computer fraud charges, was subjected to it after a trip to Colombia two years ago. &quot;At this point, the DHS (Department of Homeland Security) has almost destroyed my ability to run a business with international customers,&quot; Marlinspike said. &quot;It's impossible to travel internationally frequently when this is going to be your experience because every time you may miss your connection because you're detained, and you might lose your laptop.&quot; Marlinspike also can't trust his equipment now that it has been in the hands of the agents, because it might have keyloggers on it or be otherwise compromised, he said. He has already replaced the working cell phone he had (the other was a test device for his application development), and he said he plans to get rid of the netbook that was inspected. The severity of the situation was acknowledged by one of the Customs and Border Patrol agents who detained him for about an hour and a half in San Francisco after a flight last week. Marlinspike asked the agent if he knew why he was being targeted. Marlinspike said the agent said no and added: &quot;We're the equivalent of postal agents with guns...When my boss' boss tells me to pick someone up then I know something big is going on.&quot; CNET's Declan McCullagh contributed to this report.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The verdict on Sony's PRS-650 Touch Edition e-reader]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-verdict-on-sonys-prs-650-touch-edition-e-reader</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-verdict-on-sonys-prs-650-touch-edition-e-reader</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:23 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kabuuto95</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-verdict-on-sonys-prs-650-touch-edition-e-reader</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Sony PRS-650 Touch Edition ($230), which comes in red or black, has an impressive touch-screen interface.(Credit:Sony)In 2009, Sony put out the Reader Touch Edition (model PRS-600), an E Ink reader with a 6-inch touch screen that looked sleek but had a few design flaws. For 2010, Sony has delivered an upgraded Reader Touch Edition, the PRS-650. While it looks a lot like its predecessor, the new Reader Touch Edition slightly trimmed down and has two major upgrades: the new higher-contrast E Ink Pearl display found in the latest Amazon Kindle and Kindle DX and a touch-screen interface that finally works well and is glare-free. The product is available in red or black for $230.Alas, the Reader Touch Edition, which weighs in at 7.58 ounces and measures a compact 6.61 inches tall by 4.68 inches wide by 0.38 inch thick, doesn't have any sort of wireless capabilities--but we'll get to that in a minute. For now, let's start with the good stuff, namely that Sony's engineers managed to remove a layer of screen protection that previously hurt the contrast (the letters weren't as dark as on the Kindle or Nook) and caused glare issues due to increased reflectivity. Those matters are now resolved, and it's great to see the concept of a touch-screen E Ink e-reader finally hit its stride. (Sony is using infrared technology licensed from Neonode for the touch mechanics, so you barely have to touch the screen to get a response).The 6-inch screen is, so far as we know, identical to the Pearl E Ink display found on the latest version of the Kindle--600x800 resolution, 16-level grayscale, and improved contrast (compared to older E Ink screens, like that of the Barnes &amp; Noble Nook). Six adjustable font sizes let you customize the view to your liking, so there's never a need to squint.While the touch screen may not be quite as responsive as that of theiPhone (due to the slightly laggy nature of E Ink), it's more responsive than it was, and, as we've said before, this type of interface is ideal for e-readers because it allows the designers to cut down on buttons and whittle the device down to just slightly bigger than the screen itself.Read the full review of Sony's PRS-650 Touch Edition.More: The company behind Sony's e-reader touch-screen technology<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Will the IT guy learn to love Apple]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-the-it-guy-learn-to-love-apple</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-the-it-guy-learn-to-love-apple</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kethy</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-the-it-guy-learn-to-love-apple</guid>
<description><![CDATA[When you're listening to music, it's likely your earbuds are plugged into an Apple device. Making a phone call One out of every five people buying a smartphone are choosing aniPhone. And Apple's share of consumer laptop sales jumped to 10.6 percent in the last quarter.Now here's the big question: Does your IT department, the guys who think it's just fine that you're still using a Windows XP laptop (and P.S., stop whining about it), give a hoot about all this Apple stuffApple executives hope so. The pitch the company has been making in recent months is simple: Employees are already using plenty of Apple products on their own time and like them, and theiPad is a great, lightweight tool for Web-based corporate software. If you thought this was just lip service, Apple is even now working with the decidedly old-school consultants at Unisys to approach big corporate and government customers. If Apple can make these sorts of corporate inroads, it could be Steve Jobs' greatest trick yet, because he's got a lot going against him in the corporate market. As of the third quarter of 2010, Apple sold 1.4 million of the 40.8 million computers sold to commercial customers, according to data gathered by IDC. That's 3.6 percent of all corporate computer sales.Apple is pitching the iPad and iPhone as corporate productivity tools, and more and more companies are beginning to try them out.(Credit:Joshua Goldman/CNET)Blame history...and inertia. Large companies usually have a contract with a Windows-based PC seller, often a third party. Switching contractors could result in higher costs and a lot of hassle, and can also be stymied by an old-school perception among the often conservative IT outfits at large companies that Macs are &quot;toys,&quot; and can't integrate easily with Windows-based systems. On the mobile side, corporate IT shops long ago became comfortable working with Research In Motion's Blackberry' supporting the iPhone could add new complexity and potentially more cost to their work. Many people don't even know Apple sells servers. (It does.) And the iPad Well, you could argue the touch-screen tablet computing market didn't exist a year ago.Andrew Kaiser, a former Apple business sales manager who hawked enterprise systems to companies of all sizes until recently, said often the biggest barriers in selling were opinions formed sometimes decades ago, before Office forMac, before virtualization, and before Apple switched to Intel chips. &quot;Some had no idea Apple could integrate into a Windows platform,&quot; he recalled. Employees like Thomas Caleshu, an interactive producer for educational software maker WestEd, have seen that firsthand. Caleshu is an iPhone and Mac user outside of work, and though he said there were no technical issues in getting his company's IT guys to add his iPhone and MacBook to the network, they were definitely skeptical.  &quot;Some of the established IT people didn't trust or believe that I could sync my calendar on my phone, and on iCal on my Mac, and in a (corporate) Web interface,&quot; he said. &quot;I had to prove it to them.&quot;That skepticism is almost always rooted in something real--bad past experiences with Macs before the technology improved, or in times before Apple products were properly compatible with Windows-based hardware. And even though much of that has changed, the features that now are selling points for consumers with the iPhone or the Mac--the focus on design, the cachet of the Apple brand, the idea of a unique experience--doesn't go over as well with the guy who's managing that stuff at work.&quot;IT managers in the past have said, 'I don't want unique experiences,'&quot; pointed out Richard Shim, analyst for IDC. For IT department managers, people on different systems often just translates to a huge headache.Plus, there's the reality of enterprise applications not being written with the Mac in mind, which is a huge hindrance for companies who've invested in software for their employees, Shim added. &quot;Especially because some custom, propriety applications are expensive to create and maintain, as is having to come up with an alternative when people are used to using the old version.&quot; And many people are simply averse to change.Apple's recent announcement that it is unlikely to support Java in future versions of the Mac is also sure to irritate plenty of IT folks. Though others might say not that much has changed anyway.Apple is pushing the Mac Pro Server for business customers, now with the help of contractor Unisys.(Credit:CNET)&quot;As far as I'm concerned, they don't support it today,&quot; said Robert Pickering, vice president of Information Services for the auto club AAA. He expects it will mean his employees will have to patch and update their software on their own, which he says they were already doing because Apple doesn't support the most up-to-date version of Java anyway. And of course, there's a rich tradition of labeling Apple products as unnecessarily expensive.All of those things amount to big hurdles, but Apple has one very important thing going for it: The end users are often very familiar with their stuff. And with its momentum in mobile devices and the overall &quot;consumerization&quot; of technology, now is the time to make this kind of move.Apple has sold more than 12 million iPads worldwide in the first six months--for comparison's sake 170 million PCs shipped worldwide during the same time period. And the iPhone, already a success, has even beaten the workhorse of corporate smartphones, the BlackBerry, in unit sales for the first time ever. IDC counted 12.4 million BlackBerrys sold during the third quarter, compared to 14.1 million iPhones. The people buying those for personal use have jobs, and like Thomas Caleshu, are increasingly asking their corporate IT folks to connect their new Apple device to their network. And more recently, large companies appear to be complying: Apple COO Tim Cook said recently that two-thirds of Fortune 100 companies are testing or deploying the iPad on their networks, and 85 percent are testing or deploying the iPhone. Those companies reportedly include Citigroup and Bank of America. More employees asking for Macs Now it looks like the Mac is starting to make inroads too. The Enterprise Desktop Alliance, a group of enterprise software companies that integrate Mac and Windows systems for businesses, said that during its recent survey of more than 460 IT administrators that more and more employees are asking their IT departments for Macs.Pickering, who manages all employee computers at AAA, said there's been a noticeable change in the nature of employee requests just this year. &quot;This is the first year, based on four years of supporting Macs, that we've received requests for Macs from what I would consider 'non-standard' Mac users,&quot; he said. The Mac's stronghold in commercial sales has traditionally been to graphics and marketing departments, and that's long been the case at AAA. &quot;But also now my membership department, which doesn't have a traditional reason for having a Mac other than they like the hardware&quot; wants them, said Pickering. The travel department is now asking too.&quot;Our executive vice president for travel wants it mainly for the form factor,&quot; added Pickering. &quot;He wants a MacBook Air.&quot;That's not a unique story: Executives are frequently the reason Macs become an option at all for some companies.  &quot;High-level people will have a Mac at home and they say I need to connect it here, and they have a wake that pulls other people (like the IT department) into providing the option.&quot; --T. Reid Lewis of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance &quot;High-level people will have a Mac at home and they say I need to connect it here, and they have a wake that pulls other people (like the IT department) into providing the option,&quot; said T. Reid Lewis, president of enterprise software company GroupLogic, and of the Enterprise Desktop Alliance.When people in the executive suite make a request they usually get it, no matter the cost. But now even regular employees are getting the choice of something besides a PC, as the idea of Macs being more expensive may also be fading. AAA's Pickering, who reports to his company's chief financial officer, says he and his boss are increasingly taking a longer view of the money they're putting down on computers for their workers. They don't mind paying a little more money up front for a Mac, a computer that, he says, doesn't require as many support resources dedicated to it over the years.Ben Hanes, a senior systems analyst for Children's Hospital Oakland Research Institute, echoed that attitude. He says his department doesn't focus on the initial cost. Rather, &quot;it's on over time how much it's going to cost us on support. We spend a lot more time supporting Windows OS than Mac OS,&quot; he said, pegging it to about three times as many man hours used supporting a PC as a Mac. So Hanes finds the initial investment worth the extra cash they spend at the beginning. As these attitudes have begun to change, the Enterprise Desktop Alliance is predicting that Macs will climb from 3.3 percent of all systems at companies last year to 5.2 percent in 2011. That's still small, but it represents sizable growth: between 2009 and 2011 one of every four new systems added at companies will be Macs, though much of that will come from companies already deploying Apple machines, according to the IT administrators they surveyed. But to make some real headway, Apple is going to have to convert non-believers too. That's likely where Unisys comes in. Unisys' contract to sell and support Macs and other &quot;iDevices&quot; to large enterprises and governments could be an experiment for Apple, a testing of the waters. But the timing is good as the commercial market for computers is finally starting to rebound after a couple years of spending cutbacks driven by a weak economy.But how much heft Apple will put behind this over the next few years is still a big question. This is, after all, a traditionally consumer-focused company, and the projects that Jobs himself is interested in--like the iPad--get the most attention internally. It's not clear how energized Jobs might be about the comparatively stale subject of commercial sales. But there are some signs that will indicate in the next months and years how Apple is viewing this business, said IDC's Shim. &quot;What will ultimately determine how dedicated they are to this space is what sort of applications they commit to it. That's what we learned in the consumer space: What differentiates you is a unique experience, and they nailed it on the consumer side,&quot; he said. &quot;They've done better than anyone else. The question is, how do you do that on the commercial side or on the large enterprise side&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Amazon to boost publishers' Kindle Store revenue]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-to-boost-publishers-kindle-store-revenue</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-to-boost-publishers-kindle-store-revenue</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:10:54 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Fely</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=amazon-to-boost-publishers-kindle-store-revenue</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Amazon plans to increase the amount of sales revenue it shares with the publishers of newspapers and magazines. (Credit:Amazon)Amazon announced today it plans to give newspaper and magazine publishers a greater share of the revenue it collects for periodicals sold through its Kindle Store.Beginning December 1, publishers will be able to earn 70 percent of the retail price for each newspaper or magazine sold, Amazon said, a substantial increase over the 30 percent publishers reportedly previously received. To qualify for the greater piece of the pie, publishers must make their periodicals available for reading on all Kindle devices and applications in all geographies for which the publisher has rights.The move is likely to persuade publishers to increase the amount of content available on Amazon's Kindle Store, perhaps at a price more attractive to consumers, and along the way help to make the store a more popular destination for content than its competitors' offerings.&quot;We are constantly working at improving the Kindle magazine and newspaper experience for both customers and publishers,&quot; Peter Larsen, director of Kindle Periodicals said in the statement. &quot;Building on the recent introduction of Wi-Fi-enabled Kindles and the upcoming availability of newspapers and magazines on Kindle Apps, we're pleased to add an increased revenue share and a great new tool for making Kindle better and easier than ever for publishers.&quot; Amazon hinted at the move last month when it announced in a forum post that it was &quot;making Kindle newspapers and magazines readable on our free Kindle apps, so you can always read Kindle periodicals even if you don't have your Kindle with you or don't yet own a Kindle. In the coming weeks, many newspapers and magazines will be available on our Kindle apps foriPad,iPhone andiPod touch, and then we'll be adding this functionality to Kindle for Android and our other apps down the road.&quot; Amazon also announced the beta release of a tool designed to help publishers add their newspaper or magazine to the Kindle Store. The Kindle Publishing for Periodicals tool allows publishers to create an account, add content, and preview its formatting before publishing it to Kindle customers. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA['Tron: Legacy' treatments geek up the walls]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tron-legacy-treatments-geek-up-the-walls</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tron-legacy-treatments-geek-up-the-walls</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Manisha</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tron-legacy-treatments-geek-up-the-walls</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Wait, am I in &amp;quot'The Matrix&amp;quot'(Credit:Gadgets and Gear)My friend has tickets to a sneak preview of &quot;Tron: Legacy&quot; on IMAX 3D tonight. I have rarely been so jealous. There's not a single movie I've been this excited about since &quot;Crank 2: High Voltage&quot; hit last year. I'm just insane about &quot;Tron.&quot;A giant wall decal of Sam Flynn from Disney&amp;39's &amp;34'Tron: Legacy.&amp;34'(Credit:Gadgets and Gear)And I guess I'm almost insane enough (but not quite) to love this 6x10-foot Tron-themed stick-on wall mural. It's not the kind of thing that would look good at my place (Sam Flynn wouldn't work next to Miss June), but maybe it would at yours.  If it's too big, there are also glow-in-the-dark light cycle decals you can add as decoration. And, not to be left out, the young lead character Sam has his own set, too.The wall decals use static electricity to adhere to the walls, so they're not permanent and you can move them around anywhere. Or take them with you on vacation so you can impress the hotel maid. I'm sure she's a &quot;Tron&quot; fan, rightThe giant mural is $150 and uses a more traditional adhesive, so it's not as portable. The decal sets go for $30 each. I'm not saying these decorations are right for everyone, but there's a pretty good chance you've got one geek on your holiday list that these would work nicely for. That said, if you want to get me some of the new Tron toys that will be coming out this holiday season, I'll gladly send you my address.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Travel companies band together against Google]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=travel-companies-band-together-against-google</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=travel-companies-band-together-against-google</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Simontufell</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=travel-companies-band-together-against-google</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Travelocity, TripAdvisor, Expedia, Sabre Holdings, and several other online travel companies have created the FairSearch.org coalition to try to block Google's acquisition of ITA Software.In a blog post announcing its launch, FairSearch said that Google &quot;presents a threat to competition and transparency in online travel search, and could lead to higher travel prices and less choice for consumers.&quot;Back in July, Google announced that it intended to acquire ITA for $700 million. The search giant said at the time that ITA, which collects flight, seating, and pricing data from airlines and provides them to online travel search companies, would be used to help people shop for airfare via Google.Google&amp;39's representation of the online travel industry.(Credit:Google)On a site detailing its intentions for ITA, Google states that it wants to &quot;create a new, easier way for users to find better flight information online, which should encourage more users to make their flight purchases online.&quot;Google asserts that its ITA acquisition &quot;will benefit passengers, airlines, and online travel agencies.&quot;But the FairSearch coalition members disagree and specifically cite &quot;The Google Problem.&quot; &quot;If the transaction is approved, consumers should expect to face higher prices and less choice when searching for travel online,&quot; FairSearch states on its site. &quot;This anticompetitive deal represents a broader pattern in Google's acquisition strategy--a strategy that threatens online competition, innovation, and economic growth.&quot;In addition to establishing a coalition, the companies are rallying together in a lobbying effort to urge Congress members to block Google's bid for ITA, The Wall Street Journal reported.But those companies aren't the only stakeholders concerned about Google's intentions for ITA.Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice broadened its review of Google's ITA acquisition. The Justice Department is concerned that Google would keep travel companies from using ITA's services. The federal government also wants to ensure that Google won't use ITA to push people toward its own travel offering, rather than direct them to search sites.For its part, Google has said that the &quot;deal will not change existing market shares.&quot; It also plans to &quot;honor all existing agreements&quot; ITA Software has with travel search companies.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Will Apple&'s subscription plan spark a developer exodus]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-applersquos-subscription-plan-spark-a-developer-exodus</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-applersquos-subscription-plan-spark-a-developer-exodus</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>thestar7thai</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=will-applersquos-subscription-plan-spark-a-developer-exodus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For developers, it was Apple&amp;'s way or the highway.It seems like that highway seems more appealing every day.The team behind iPhone app Readability issued a biting public response to Apple after its application was rejected because it did not use Apple&amp;'s in-house in-app purchase service. Readability is one of a number of mobile applications on the iPhone operating system that used an external subscription for the app a4&quot; which lets web surfers strip away ads and other content and view just the text.There was a lot of unrest when Apple first announced its new subscription plan, which hit applications ranging from Readability to theincrediblypopular Amazon Kindle app, which includes a link to buy books for Kindle. The uproar since died down, but Readability might be the first company that works this close with Apple (Readability appears in Safari) to publicly trash the new service.Subscriptions represent a &amp;''sliver of a sliver&amp;'' of revenue for Apple, said Richard Ziade, Readability&amp;'s creator. It&amp;'s true a4&quot; most of Apple&amp;'s revenue comes from iPhone, iPod and iPad sales. Apple brought in $26.7 billion in revenue in the fourth quarter last year, and only $1.1 billion of that came from the iTunes store a4&quot; which includes app sales and in-app purchases.Meanwhile, Google continues to welcome developers with open arms. While the iPhone has the largest app store, Google recently overtook Nokia and other phone manufacturers with the largest mobile operating system market share. And despite a few hiccups with the application approval process, most apps make it onto the Android Marketplace without having to pass through anything like Apple&amp;'s black-box approval procedure. Google also launched a more publisher-friendly Google One Pass that will allow publishers to sell subscriptions with better terms than they can get with Apple. And Google is only taking a 10 pecent share of the revenues.The new Apple policy feels like a greedy move by Apple to gobble up some additional revenue, Ziade said. He suggests that Apple still hand out 70 percent of the revenue it receives from its stake in the subscription share to publishers, as Readability does. But Apple rarely budges, even when developers or consumers throw up their hands in frustration and outrage over changes in the terms of service. When the company does make a change, it takes a long time and a needs a lot of convincing.iPhone and iPad developers have put up with a lot from Apple, and it&amp;'s unclear if the new subscription plan will be the final straw for developers across the board. But for Ziade, and for Readability, it looks like enough is enough.Previous Story: Philo: Star power is the key to social TVPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, iPad, iPhone, reading, subscriptionsCompanies: Apple, Google, Readability          Tags: Android, iPad, iPhone, reading, subscriptionsCompanies: Apple, Google, ReadabilityMatthew Lynley is VentureBeat's enterprise writer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, where he studied math and physics, in May 2010. He has reported for Reuters. He currently lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at mattl@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @logicalmoron. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Subscriptions put Apple in antitrust spotlight again]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=subscriptions-put-apple-in-antitrust-spotlight-again</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=subscriptions-put-apple-in-antitrust-spotlight-again</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>humidist</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=subscriptions-put-apple-in-antitrust-spotlight-again</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Federal regulators are looking once more into Apple&amp;'s control over the applications available on the iPhone and iPad, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. This time it&amp;'s Applea4a4s subscription feature for apps (which the company unveiled yesterday) that&amp;'s attracting antitrust scrutiny.The problem isna4a4t the subscription plan per se, in which Apple takes the same 30 percent cut that it does on App Store purchases, but rather the restrictions that Apple put around it. The company said that any app offering a subscription plan elsewhere has to offer it within Apple&amp;'s iOS app too, and at the same price. In addition, publishers cannot include links inside their app to purchase content or subscriptions elsewhere.The Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission are both in the preliminary stage of their investigations, according to the Journal&amp;'s sources (who are a4Apeople familiar with the mattera4), so they may not take any action against Apple or even launch a formal investigation. Eric Goldman, director of Santa Clara University&amp;'s High Tech Law Institute, told the Journal that Apple&amp;'s prohibition of links sounds like a4Aa pretty aggressive position.a4 And the restriction on offering a better price elsewhere could be considered anti-competitive too if it distorts pricing.Ita4a4s widely believed that the FTC was investigating Apple last year for its ban on tools that converted non-native apps into iPhone apps, and that the investigation pressured Apple into backing off. So if this investigation gets real momentum, we may see another about-face.Ita4a4s also interesting to see that much of the opposition to Applea4a4s plan seems to be coming from music startups. Rhapsody said yesterday that its subscription model wona4a4t work if Apple takes 30 percent, and today Last.fma4a4s co-founder said Apple a4Afucked over music subs for the iPhone.a4 The Journal article also includes complaints from music startups, including Axel Dauchez, president of French startup Deezer, who says giving Apple 30 percent of a subscription is a4Aso obviously anticompetitive that it will never survive in Europe.a4Ita4a4s not surprising that Apple is facing some of its loudest opposition from these companies, since the royalty costs for music make it notoriously difficult for startups in the music field to make money. Not even popular Internet radio app Pandora expects to make a profit this year.Next Story: Zyngaa4a4s new funding values CityVille maker at $10B Previous Story: Calling all gamers! U.S. video games sales dip 5 percent in JanuaryPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: FTC, iPad, music, subscriptionsCompanies: ApplePeople: Eric Goldman          Tags: FTC, iPad, music, subscriptionsCompanies: ApplePeople: Eric GoldmanAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[If Amazon Wona4a4t Cross The Line,&nbsp'SomeoneElseWill]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia002</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=if-amazon-wonrsquot-cross-the-linenbspsomeone else will</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This morning&amp;'s discovery of a mind-bogglingly offensive title in Amazon&amp;'s self-publishing e-book platform has drawn a variety of responses. There are a number of issues in play here, from first-amendment rights to a &amp;''curated&amp;'' web. And although Amazon has issued a statement apparently taking a hard-line stance against censorship, the book is almost certainly in violation of their Digital Text Platform guidelines, which makes their defense of this title seem a bit arbitrary.The guidelines state that offensive material (which they define as &amp;''about what you would expect&amp;'') will be rejected or removed, yet they stated today that &amp;''it is censorship not to sell certain books simply because we or others believe their message is objectionable.&amp;'' They can&amp;'t have it both ways, and it&amp;'s dangerous for such a sensitive question to remain unanswered when the company shapes digital publishing to so significant an extent. So what&amp;'s it going to beBoth sides have a legitimate defense. Amazon is not the government, they are a corporation, and it is their prerogative whether or not to publish something. They are not in a position to censor, they are in a position to choose whether or not to provide a service. That&amp;'s a different thing altogether. And it&amp;'s actually, if you look at their content guidelines, their present policy. That&amp;'s why the decision not to remove this book is so surprising.On the other hand, while it isn&amp;'t easy to defend pedophilia, it isn&amp;'t really necessary. Free speech is protected in this country, with very few exceptions, and even those are difficult to prove. Usually they have to do with a clear and present danger, something which this book, awful as it is, does not present. If it is Amazon&amp;'s position that they will make available anything that is not demonstrably illegal, then they are only assailable on grounds of what constitutes good taste.That&amp;'s a hell of a position to take, but the fact is someone is going to take it whether Amazon does or not. While the comparison is in some ways a poor one, it is a natural one, so I may as well say that the &amp;''curated&amp;'' App Store versus the &amp;''open&amp;'' Android Market constitutes a similar fundamental antagonism. That kind of divide is only going to grow, and because both sides get to claim the high ground, there&amp;'s good reason for both to exist. The same will happen with the book market, and (to some extent) the rest of the internet. This is just an advance skirmish brought about by a particularly repulsive book on a particularly influential platform. What Amazon does with a hot potato like this will draw a line in the sand. And like most lines in the sand, people tend to get on one side or the other of them.Let&amp;'s say Amazon recants and pulls the book. While many will congratulate them for a showing of prudence and good taste, the other booksellers, which are hovering above this debacle like buzzards, will settle in and feast. &amp;''Can you trust Amazon&amp;'' &amp;''Every book in our store is hand-approved.&amp;'' The taglines write themselves.They also leave themselves vulnerable to criticism from some ambitious e-book market, who says &amp;''So first they pull 1984 from your Kindle. Next they make some rules, then let in a book against those rules. Then they say those rules don&amp;'t apply. Then they apply them, but only after public outcry. Is that integrity We may not agree with what you write, but we will defend to bankruptcy your right to publish it.&amp;'' Or something to that effect. It may not be pretty, but the fact is it is a stand some people are very passionate about taking. Even if their store ended up being nothing but rape manuals and racist screeds, all they need to do is point to the first amendment and say that theirs is a legal and needful operation. And it&amp;'s not a long walk from there to Wikileaks.If they choose not to pull the book, they must clarify their position in all this, and that is not going to be easy after this opening act. Is Amazon bold enough to be the bookseller I describe above I somehow doubt that&amp;'s a position that will please shareholders.Wherever Amazon chooses to stand after this incident, someone will define themselves by its shadow. The only appropriate action they could have taken would have been to immediately pull the book on being notified of its existence, and take the position that it slipped through the cracks and they&amp;'ll be hiring more people to oversee content control. These things do happen, though I&amp;'d be suspicious of any content control process with cracks big enough to let such a blatant red flag such as &amp;''The Pedophilea4a4s Guide to Love and Pleasure&amp;'' through them.We expect to hear from Amazon soon on whether they truly have subscribed to either free speech and good taste, two principles which in this case appear to be incompossible. Who knows but this might have been a watershed moment for the e-book market I doubt this one will just get swept under the rug.On a related note, while we certainly encourage you to make your opinion (positive or negative) known to Amazon, as they must square themselves with the repercussions of their actions either way, please try to remember that if you buy the book as a means of protest against censorship, you are giving money to the author of this monstrosity.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Lockify locks up information in a secure link]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lockify-locks-up-information-in-a-secure-link</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lockify-locks-up-information-in-a-secure-link</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bebebugstreaming</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=lockify-locks-up-information-in-a-secure-link</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Lockify, a service that encrypts text and creates a link to send the information safely across the Internet, launched today at the Launch Conference in San Francisco.The service is like a secure version of link shortener Bit.ly. Lockify users can enter some information into a text box and then create a link to access that information. The URL to the information is a bunch of nonsense, so it&amp;'s tough to guess. But if there are still security concerns, users can add an extra layer of protection by requiring recipients to log into Gmail or type in a code they receive in a text message.The Lockify link expires either a day after it&amp;'s sent or after the recipient views it three times. Recipients can also choose to terminate the link early after they get the information. The sender can see whether the recipient opened the link and how many times other users have accessed the link. Lockify is also releasing an application programming interface (API) that will let other sites include the service.The information is encrypted on the sender&amp;'s computer and is then sent to Lockify&amp;'s servers, where the service adds another layer of encryption. Because it&amp;'s encrypted locally, Lockify isn&amp;'t able to decrypt the information a4&quot; even if it wanted to. That encrypted batch of information is then sent to the recipient through the link and is then deleted from Lockify&amp;'s servers.It seems like the service would be easy to crack given enough time, said Digg founder and Launch conference judge Kevin Rose. But that&amp;'s because the site&amp;'s simple interface a4&quot; which involves entering information and clicking a button a4&quot; doesn&amp;'t show how technical the actual service gets, Lockify&amp;'s founders said. They said the service is primarily geared toward businesses, even though the basic service is free. That&amp;'s a popular model among enterprise 2.0 companies, which seem to be thriving at the moment as evidenced in enterprise storage company Box.net&amp;'s big funding deal announced this morning.Previous Story: LinkedIn blocked in China, a happy day for Chinese clonesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: links, securityCompanies: Bit.ly, Lockify, Twilio          Tags: links, securityCompanies: Bit.ly, Lockify, TwilioMatthew Lynley is VentureBeat's enterprise writer. He graduated from the University of North Carolina, where he studied math and physics, in May 2010. He has reported for Reuters. He currently lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at mattl@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @logicalmoron. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Nlyte picks up $12 million for greener data centers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nlyte-picks-up-12-million-for-greener-data-centers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nlyte-picks-up-12-million-for-greener-data-centers</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>stonkse</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nlyte-picks-up-12-million-for-greener-data-centers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Nlyte Software has closed a $12 million third round of funding.The Menlo Park, Calif. company makes data center management tools that can lower power consumption by 20 percent, the company said, citing analysis by Gartner Research. It can also extend data center life by up to 75 percent. Nlyte&amp;'s software and web-based tools are aimed at helping companies better manage data center assets, find under-used assets and automate processes that get the best energy savings.Greening data centers has become an increasingly large focus area for big companies trying to green their operations &amp;8212' the centers are huge energy-suckers thanks to space, cooling and power requirements. Facebook recently came under fire for a data center in Oregon that will be powered by coal, and subsequently launched a green campaign and announced plans for a greener data center in North Carolina. Yahoo also debuted a chicken coop-inspired data center that it said would use 45 percent less energy and 95 percent less water than most data centers.Nlyte has added partnerships with companies like HP and VMware over the last year. The financing round was led by NGEN Partners. Participating investors include Balderton Capital, Ruffer LLP and Montalcino Holdings.[Image via Flickr/The Planet]Next Story: Enterprise software provider Novell bought by Attachmate for $2.2B Previous Story: VentureBeat&amp;'s picks for the 10 best video games of the holiday seasonPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: data centers, green data centersCompanies: balderton capital, Facebook, HP, Montalcino Holdings, NGEN Partners, nlyte Software, Ruffer LLP, VMWare, Yahoo          Tags: data centers, green data centersCompanies: balderton capital, Facebook, HP, Montalcino Holdings, NGEN Partners, nlyte Software, Ruffer LLP, VMWare, YahooIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name).VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Curated.by Aims To Be The &''Smithsonian Of The Web&'', But They Need Your&nbsp'Help]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=curated-by-aims-to-be-the-8220smithsonian-of-the-web8221-but-they-need-yournbsphelp</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=curated-by-aims-to-be-the-8220smithsonian-of-the-web8221-but-they-need-yournbsphelp</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>edtech</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=curated-by-aims-to-be-the-8220smithsonian-of-the-web8221-but-they-need-yournbsphelp</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Last night was interesting. I was sitting down to do some last-minute research for a post I was working on (this one) when news began to break that North Korea had just attacked South Korea. As usual, news was flowing through Twitter faster than any one source, but I needed a way to filter the noise. Oddly enough, the product I was writing about is perfect for that: Curated.by.Using Curated.by&amp;'s extension, I began flagging tweets that I found to be most useful for the Korea situation. Then I checked the Curated.by site to see that someone else was already way ahead of me (in this case, co-founder Bastian Lehmann), so I started following his curation of the events. It was fascinating to watch a tool go from interesting to useful in seconds.As its name and all of the above implies, Curated.by is a service that lets you quickly pick certain elements of the web to showcase in your own stream. Right now, this is largely based around Twitter, but the plan is that any type of content should be able to live inside a Curated.by stream. That&amp;'s the strategy Lehmann wants to employ to make his service the &amp;''Smithsonian of the web,&amp;'' as he puts it.Using an extension built for Google Chrome, Curated.by is able to augment twitter.com to add a new &amp;''Curate&amp;'' button below each tweet. Clicking on this button allows you to add a tweet to any Curated.by bundle you&amp;'re in control of. (The button can also add a tweet to your Twitter Favorites.) These bundles are found on Curated.by&amp;'s site. They&amp;'re&amp;nbsp'essentially&amp;nbsp'human-filtered streams of information from Twitter and links from around the web (the links can be added by pasting a story URL on the bundle page). There&amp;'s also a bookmarklet for those not using Chrome.These bundles can then be easily embedded elsewhere on the web, such as in a blog post, to give people an easy-to-follow overview of a topic. In this regard, Curated.by is similar to a company that launched at TechCrunch Disrupt in September, Storify.But a big part of Curated.by&amp;'s idea is also using algorithms to surface topics that you&amp;'re interested in. Or, to stick with the Smithsonian analogy, &amp;''an algorithm that shows you which painting people are going to stand in front of the longest at a museum,&amp;'' Lehmann says. And the idea is to let multiple people collaborate on the same bundle to make it the most complete on any given topic.Today marks the beta launch of Curated.by, which Lehmann says already contains over 1,600 topics and over 25,000 curated links and tweets. The service was one of the initial eight chosen to launch out of AngelPad, a new startup incubator in San Francisco. They formally unveiled their plan at the AngelPad demo day a couple weeks ago.And the company is already thinking about the business model as they&amp;'re preparing a private domain-wide enterprise version of the software to facilitate sharing without a company network. Companies are encouraged to sign up early here.The company currently has just two people right now (Lehmann and co-founder Sam Street), and have taken just a small seed round of funding from AngelPad.CrunchBase Informationcurated.byInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[TV app Tunerfish checks in to Android]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tv-app-tunerfish-checks-in-to-android</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tv-app-tunerfish-checks-in-to-android</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sandrabui</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tv-app-tunerfish-checks-in-to-android</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The team behind Tunerfish, the social TV application launched by cable TV giant Comcast earlier this year, just announced that it&amp;'s releasing an application for Android smartphones.Like a number of other applications, Tunerfish takes the &amp;''check in&amp;'' idea (popularized by location services like Foursquare) into the TV world. Users can tell their friends what they&amp;'re watching, see what&amp;'s trending among other users, and earn rewards. Tunerfish has already launched an iPhone application and a website. In today&amp;'s blog post the company says the biggest demand from users was a downloadable Android app &amp;8212' until now, Android users had to check-in through the website.This idea has attracted a lot of interest from companies big and small, with Time Warner investing in GetGlue&amp;'s media check-in platform and Google Ventures backing social TV app Miso.  I asked Tunerfish general manager John McCrea (who, like other members of the Tunerfish team, came to Comcast through the acquisition of contacts startup Plaxo) about how he sees the competitive landscape, and he responded:It wasna4a4t too surprising that a lot of startups would enter this space, but just how many has been a surprise. Wea4a4re pretty excited about our prospects in the best-of-both-worlds scenario. We remain a small and independent team, making great product in a very agile way, but wea4a4re also part of Comcast, which should allow us to do some really exciting things in 2011 and beyond.You can go here to download Tunerfish&amp;'s Android app.Next Story: Missed out on Crunchies tickets Here&amp;'s your second chance Previous Story: Cognito Comics launches its first graphic novel for the iPadPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, social TV, Tunerfish, TV check-insCompanies: Comcast, TunerfishPeople: John McCrea          Tags: Android, social TV, Tunerfish, TV check-insCompanies: Comcast, TunerfishPeople: John McCreaAnthony is a senior editor at VentureBeat, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining the site in 2008, Anthony worked at the Hollister Free Lance, where he won awards from the California Newspaper Publishers Association for breaking news coverage and writing. He attended Stanford University and now lives in San Francisco. Reach him at anthony@venturebeat.com. (All story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com) You can also follow Anthony on Twitter.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Making people happy about the smart grid: There&'s (probably) an app for that]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=making-people-happy-about-the-smart-grid-therersquos-probably-an-app-for-that</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=making-people-happy-about-the-smart-grid-therersquos-probably-an-app-for-that</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sanysan</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=making-people-happy-about-the-smart-grid-therersquos-probably-an-app-for-that</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Smart grid and smart meters are an inevitable part of America&amp;'s energy future, but at least when it comes to consumers, it has gotten off to a bumpy start.Consumers have sued PG&amp;amp'E and Oncor over smart meters that they felt overcharged them (both suits were found to be without merit). Consumers in Illinois have claimed smart meters cause headaches and impotency. Recently, protestersin California&amp;'s West Marin County tried to block smart meter installers in an incident that resulted in two arrests. While there are plenty of industry watchers and executives who will say media reports of these snafus have blown the issue out of proportion, the incidents show there&amp;'s sometimes tension between consumers and utilities when it comes to the smart grid.With all that in mind, it&amp;'s interesting to see that one pilot happening in the U.S. is coming at the game with a new approach: Focus on the making the consumer happy about the smart grid. In particular, it wants to demonstrate that the smart grid can improve the quality of consumers&amp;' lives, much in the same way apps add value to the lives of iPhone and smart phone users.Brewster McCracken, director of the Pecan Street Project in Austin, Tex., says its smart grid demonstration project is unlike any others in that is most concerned with the value to the customer, and not the utility. Part of the project&amp;'s goal will be to study how &amp;8212' and whether &amp;8212' the smart grid can provide value to the customer.a4AThe customer will have final say about whether the smart grid is a smart idea,a4 said McCracken in a recent statement. a4AThe truth is that we a4&quot; those working on and advocating for the smart grid a4&quot; need to learn a lot more from customers than they need to learn from us. Before anyone starts prescribing solutions, we must develop a much better understanding of what customers value and how theya4a4re using energy now.a4In smart grid rollouts so far, there&amp;'s &amp;''not much of case made for what the value to customers will be,&amp;'' McCracken told me when we met at the project&amp;'s offices in Austin recently. Of course, a smart grid-enabled home could save you money on your energy bill, but he doesn&amp;'t think there&amp;'s been enough of a value proposition made yet. A smart grid-enabled home isn&amp;'t as buzzy or hotly in demand as the latest iPad.So Pecan Street wants to focus on &amp;''the great applications that people want,&amp;'' McCracken said. What&amp;'s more, the applications aren&amp;'t likely to come from the utility, but third-party providers, he argues. (&amp;''Do you get your apps from Apple or Verizon&amp;'' he asks.) McCracken sees the energy industry as comparable to the telecom industry, noting that it has transformed from a highly regulated, conservative industry into a competitive market filled with innovative, cutting-edge approaches. And in the same way that cell phone service providers offer free or discounted phones for subscribers, McCracken thinks utilities could one day offer free or discounted smart grid devices to ratepayers.Point is, there is no killer application yet for the smart grid, a refrain I heard over and over again at the Smart Energy Summit in January in Austin. It&amp;'s true. There is no energy efficiency equivalent of Evernote or Instagram, Angry Birds or Twitter, though developers and entrepreneurs are trying to create them. And comparing the smart grid to the smartphone market makes sense for what smart grid hopefuls are trying to do.Control4, for example, last year offered a developer&amp;'s kit so that third parties could design Flash-based apps for its home energy display. Intel&amp;'s recently debuted home energy management dashboard (pictured, above) that is sleek and colorful, with iPad-like touchscreen traits. In addition to thermostat and energy efficiency offerings, the dashboard has non-energy applications like video memos, package tracking, home security, weather and traffic monitoring tracking packages, home security, and yellow page searches.Pecan Street&amp;'s first 100-home phase of the project went live last month, with an installed cost per home of $341. It&amp;'ll be interesting to see whether Pecan Street&amp;'s app-store approach yields creative apps for smart grid users.Theproject takes place in Austin&amp;'s Mueller community, is a recipient of the Department of Energy&amp;'s stimulus funding and has attracted partnerships and collaboration from local utility Austin Energy, GE Energy, Oracle, GridPoint, Cisco, Dell and IBM. It will eventually expand to include 1,000 homes.Smart grid investment will total $200 billion worldwide by 2015, according to a forecast by Pike Research. This represents billion-dollar opportunities for startups and major companies in everything from home energy management to building controls to lighting systems to demand response. Companies like Siemens, GE, Schneider Electric, LG and Intel are expanding their business to include offerings in home energy management and electric car charging. As the smart, tech-savvy home becomes an increasingly important part of energy and technology companies&amp;' products, Pecan Street is right on one thing: Getting homeowners to like the smart grid will be key.[Top image via Flickr/Kevin Saff]Next Story: iPad 2: Applea4a4s missed business opportunity Previous Story: Don&amp;'t expect a real Microsoft iPad competitor until late 2012PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: apps, energy, Smart Grid, utilitiesCompanies: Pecan Street ProjectPeople: Brewster McCracken          Tags: apps, energy, Smart Grid, utilitiesCompanies: Pecan Street ProjectPeople: Brewster McCrackenIris Kuo is the VentureBeat's lead GreenBeat writer. She has reported for The Wall Street Journal in Hong Kong, Houston Chronicle, the McClatchy Washington Bureau and Dallas public radio. Iris attended the University of Texas at Dallas and lives in Houston. Follow Iris on Twitter @thestatuskuo (and yes, that's how you  pronounce her last name). Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Myspace Accused Of Ripping Off Stealth Startup&nbsp'Pinterest]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=myspace-accused-of-ripping-off-stealth-startupnbsppinterest</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=myspace-accused-of-ripping-off-stealth-startupnbsppinterest</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Anna01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=myspace-accused-of-ripping-off-stealth-startupnbsppinterest</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This morning Pinterest co-founders Ben Silberman, Paul Sciarra and Yashwanth Nelapati woke up to a barrage of tweets,a4s&amp;''So @myspace has completely ripped off @pinterest. It really pisses me off when an old, tired hack tries to undermine hardworking inovators. [sic]&amp;'' Myspace revealed its new redesign last night and Pinterest users quickly picked up on the similarities between the two site aesthetics, leading to an intense Twitter debate.The offsite grid layout used by both Myspace and Pinterest is nothing new' Lazyfeed, http://enjoysthin.gs and countless other sites have aa4ssimilar design (there&amp;'s even a Tumblr theme). But the fact that former Myspacea4sDirector of Technology Dave Peck emailed Pinterest back in March asking for an advance invite is interesting, especially when you read the email.Founder Silberman told TechCrunch, &amp;''The Myspace product team joined our site really early and so I&amp;'m sure they took inspiration from it. Our impression was that they took some information and we were touched that our users were vocal about it.&amp;'' However, Silberman who retweeted the accusations from the official Pinterest account this morning, emphasized, &amp;''I wouldn&amp;'t go as far as saying they ripped it off.  They&amp;'re probably in tune with organizing friends around interests after they missed the boat on friends,&amp;'' referring to how you can now use Myspace to follow Topics pages.Pinterest is still invite only and is currently seeking funding. Despite being in stealth mode, the social cataloguing startup has 17,000 users and is about to experience its one millionth &amp;''pin.&amp;'' Silberman plans on launching in a couple of months, encouraged by all the user support today, &amp;''It&amp;'s cool when you&amp;'re a small company and your users stick up for you.&amp;'' Myspace had 90 million users this September according to comScore,a4smarking aa4s18% drop from last year. This recent design and concept overhaul was an attempt to win back some of the traffic lost to competitors like Facebook.Myspace screencap via The GuardianCrunchBase InformationPinterestMySpaceInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google plans to fix broken Android Market with upcoming update]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-plans-to-fix-broken-android-market-with-upcoming-update</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-plans-to-fix-broken-android-market-with-upcoming-update</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>bernydavia</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-plans-to-fix-broken-android-market-with-upcoming-update</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Android Market on Google&amp;'s Android operating system has been broken for some time. Today, Google said it will fix some of the longstanding problems with an update coming in the next couple of weeks.In a blog post, Google executive Eric Chu said the update will apply to all Android phones running version 1.6 of the software or higher. That means it will go out to a majority of the devices on the market today. The changes will go a long way toward establishing the Android Market as a legitimate distribution vehicle. With that, developers should be able to build real businesses on Android.|Developers have been asking for a lot of these changes for months. The Android Market is Google&amp;'s equivalent of the Apple iTunes App Store. While commerce remains stalled on the Android Market, the App Store has sold billions of apps in the past couple of years.One of the problems was that Google allowed users to return apps a full 24 hours after purchasing them. That often meant that users would pay 99 cents for a game, play it, and then return it within the allotted time to get all of their money back. Now, Google will cut the return window down to 15 minutes. With that change, developers can be confident that when they make a sale on the Android Market, they can be reasonably certain that it will count as a sale.Google has also done what every good platform owner should do: make it easier for users to discover cool titles and purchase them. In the past, promoted apps would appear at the top of a screen in the market and change every few seconds. Now they will be featured in a way that highlights them in a more attractive way. A single window pane will show the details about the app, and there will be a content-rating system where users can review apps. The highest-rated apps will presumably be visible on a ratings chart.Apps can also be more easily targeted at phones with varying screen sizes. An app can be targeted for a 4-inch screen, for instance, or for phones with better graphics processing capabilities or larger memory sizes. Overall, the maximum size of an app will now be 50 megabytes instead of 25 megabytes. That will allow for richer applications.The Android Market is also going to have separate categories for widgets and live wallpaper apps. there is still no web version of the Android Market. But the improvements go a long way toward improving e-commerce on Android. In China, for instance, some 20 carriers have created their own markets on their phones because the Android Market was so weak.No exact date has been set for the rollout of the new market. If Google truly fixes the Android Market, Apple had better beware. The weakness of the Android Market was one of the major problems that was holding developers back from making money on Android. If Android becomes more attractive to developers, Apple runs the risk of losing some of its advantage with users because of its better content.Next Story: Spike TV&amp;'s Video Game Awards become the forum for debuting the big games of 2011 (trailers) Previous Story: Week in review: Why Google needs DRMPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, App Store, iPhone, iTunesCompanies: Apple, GooglePeople: Eric Chu          Tags: Android, App Store, iPhone, iTunesCompanies: Apple, GooglePeople: Eric ChuDean is lead writer for GamesBeat at VentureBeat. He covers video games, security, chips and a variety of other subjects. Dean previously worked at the San Jose Mercury News, the Wall Street Journal, the Red Herring, the Los Angeles Times, the Orange County Register and the Dallas Times Herald. He is the author of two books, Opening the Xbox and the Xbox 360 Uncloaked. Follow him on Twitter at @deantak, and follow VentureBeat on Twitter at @venturebeat.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon iPhone preorders live for existing customers, reviews tout call quality]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-iphone-preorders-live-for-existing-customers-reviews-tout-call-quality</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-iphone-preorders-live-for-existing-customers-reviews-tout-call-quality</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>lonelego</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-iphone-preorders-live-for-existing-customers-reviews-tout-call-quality</guid>
<description><![CDATA[After  being rumored for years, Verizona4a4s iPhone is now one step closer to  consumers. And early reviews signal that the device is worth the  wait.Verizon last night opened the floodgates to pre-orders from existing customers. Customers can claim their iPhone 4 via Verizona4a4s online store or through Applea4a4s web store.  Verizon is giving its loyal users a head start before it starts taking orders from the masses, and in  particular users who desperately want to leave AT&amp;amp'T, by offering  them pre-orders for a full week before new users get their shot on  February 10.Reviews are also beginning to roll in for the device, with the likes of the New York Timea4a4s David Pogue and the Wall Street Journala4a4s Walt Mossberg praising its call quality and the fact that it doesn&amp;'t drop calls on a  dime. Otherwise, the Verizon iPhone is pretty much the same as its  AT&amp;amp'T counterpart. Reviewers point out that data speeds on the  Verizon device are indeed slower than AT&amp;amp'Ta4a4s, but speeds are also on  the whole more consistent, and reception more readily available.The Verizon iPhone also sports mobile hotspot capabilities out of the box, which will let users share the devicea4a4s internet  connection with up to 5 other wireless devices for $20 a month. AT&amp;amp'T  users wona4a4t have to wait too much longer for the feature though.  According to Mossberga4a4s review, its hotspot capabilities will be enabled  on February 13, following the release of version 4.3 of the iPhone OS.In anticipation of heavy data usage from iPhone users, Verizon today will also begin throttling the speeds of its heaviest data users.Next Story: AT&amp;038'T fights off Verizon iPhone with mobile hotspot, sweetened tethering data plan Previous Story: Peter Thiel: &amp;''Something seems to have gone quite wrong with cleantech&amp;''PrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: CDMA, iOS, iPhone, smartphones, Verizon iPhoneCompanies: Apple, AT&amp;amp'T, VerizonPeople: David Pogue, Walt Mossberg          Tags: CDMA, iOS, iPhone, smartphones, Verizon iPhoneCompanies: Apple, AT&amp;amp'T, VerizonPeople: David Pogue, Walt MossbergDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Last.fm Radio goes premium on mobile and home entertainment devices]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=last-fm-radio-goes-premium-on-mobile-and-home-entertainment-devices</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=last-fm-radio-goes-premium-on-mobile-and-home-entertainment-devices</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joefijfeee</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=last-fm-radio-goes-premium-on-mobile-and-home-entertainment-devices</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Bad  news for fans of Last.FMa4a4s free mobile apps: the Internet radio company  announced today that ita4a4s cutting off the free tunes and making its Radio feature on mobile and home entertainment apps subscriber-only.The  news gives Last.fma4a4s main competitor, the uber-popular Pandora, a leg  up, since it still offers free, ad-supported, music streaming apps.Even  though it relies on ads for its website, Last.fm has found it  impractical to pursue that strategy for mobile and home entertainment  devices, according to vice president of product Matthew Hawn. So now  users will have to cough up $3 a month if they want Last.fm music on  those devices, including the iPhone, iPad, and Android phones.The  company will continue to offer free music streaming on its website in  the US, UK and Germany, as well as to Xbox Live and Windows Phone 7  users in the US and UK. Hawn points out that other aspects of its apps,  including scrobbling (the term it uses for liking or disliking music),  music and event recommendations, and more, will still be available for  free.I  dona4a4t think the pricing will be much of a problem for hardcore users of  Last.fm &amp;8212' especially since they can pay $3 monthly, instead of one  lump annual sum. (Pandora offers its own premium service, Pandora One, for $36 a  year.) But it could be difficult for the company to entice new users  when they can get Pandora streaming music for free on their phones.Previous Story: My Hummer isna4a4t electric IRS details false tax credit claimsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, apps, iOS, streaming music, Windows Phone 7, xboxCompanies: last.fm, PandoraPeople: Matthew Hawn          Tags: Android, apps, iOS, streaming music, Windows Phone 7, xboxCompanies: last.fm, PandoraPeople: Matthew HawnDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra. Have news to share Launching a startup Email: tips@venturebeat.comVentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google working on search results without searching &8212' &''contextual discovery&'']]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-working-on-search-results-without-searching-8212-8220contextual-discovery8221</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-working-on-search-results-without-searching-8212-8220contextual-discovery8221</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>parsirlim254</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-working-on-search-results-without-searching-8212-8220contextual-discovery8221</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you thought Googlea4a4s instant search was fast, but it&amp;'s about to get even faster. Soon, with the company&amp;'s push into &amp;''contextual discovery&amp;'', you wona4a4t even have to type in a search query to get useful data.Googlea4a4s Marissa Mayer, now the head of consumer products, spelled out the companya4a4s plans at the LeWeb a410 conference in Paris, France today, speaking with TechCrunch&amp;'s Michael Arrington. With contextual discovery, Google will be able to look at a usera4a4s browsing and location profiles to deliver relevant data without the need to search.According to Mayer, a4AThe idea is to push information to people.a4 On a mobile device, for example, you could potentially see the menu of a restaurant when youa4a4re actually there. There may even be added social elements, like seeing which items on the menu your friends like. Google is still in the early stages with this concept. Mayer says that on a computer, it could potentially take the form of some sort of panel in your web browser.The push towards delivering data before we even ask for it is to be expected &amp;8212' after all, where else can Google go after unleashing its lightning-fast Instant Search Ita4a4s also a natural move given that location data on mobile devices is now more readily available thanks to the proliferation of GPS-equipped smartphones. The real question is how contextual discovery will play out on actual computers &amp;8212' I suspect it will rely more on the rich amount of browsing history we build up on desktops and laptops, rather than on location data.Google has to play it safe when it comes to automatically recommending search results, though, lest it evoke memories of Microsofta4a4s annoying (and now dead) Office helper, Clippy.Find a transcript of Mayer&amp;'s talk over at TechCrunch, and a video embedded below:Next Story: Bebo co-founder Michael Birch buys back a piece of his baby Previous Story: Andreessen Horowitz writes big check for Factuala4a4s data platformPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: contextual discovery, instant search, location, searchCompanies: GooglePeople: Marissa Mayer, Michael Arrington          Tags: contextual discovery, instant search, location, searchCompanies: GooglePeople: Marissa Mayer, Michael ArringtonDevindra Hardawar is VentureBeat's lead mobile writer and East Coast correspondent. He studied philosophy at Amherst College, worked in IT support for several years, and has been writing about technology since 2004. He now lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can reach him at devindra@venturebeat.com (all story pitches should also be sent to tips@venturebeat.com), and on Twitter at @Devindra.VentureBeat has new weekly email newsletters.  Stay on top of the news, and don't miss a beat.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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