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<title>Haaze.com / Naina / Voted News</title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com</link>
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<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Sony PS3 data breach highlights what a loser I am]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-data-breach-highlights-what-a-loser-i-am</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-data-breach-highlights-what-a-loser-i-am</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:10:49 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>gazrlz</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sony-ps3-data-breach-highlights-what-a-loser-i-am</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Sorry. No PixelJunk Monsters for now. (Credit:Screenshot by GameSpot)Every night it's the same forlorn ritual. I watch my TV, read my books, chase the cat into the bathroom and back--all in a vain effort to fill the gaping emptiness inside. Invariably at some point my hands reach for the beloved black controller, where I try--even though I know it won't work, but still you never know--to log on to the online network of mySony PS3 game console. It's been 7 days now (or is it 7,000) since the Sony PlayStation Network went down. We've since learned the company is taking the extreme step of rebuilding its network after a massive hacking attack. E-mail addresses, passwords, purchase history--and almost certainly credit card numbers--all sucked up by persons unknown. I wish I could get riled up over this latest security breach, but honestly it's the third time in three years I've received notification that my credit information may have been compromised. At this point in the Digital Age, I've become reconciled to the fact that lots of strangers are rummaging through the underwear drawer of my credit history. What's truly disheartening about Sony's security fumble is how much I miss posting my best scores on the Sony network. And more insidiously, the addictive nature of video games. My name is SunnyD11 and I am a PixelJunk Monsters addict. For those of you who don't know, PixelJunk Monsters is probably the best game ever created in the history of the universe. It incorporates all the great themes of mankind's history--players build fortresses with their gold and kill monsters before they kill our babies. Of course, like everything else in life, the devil is in the details. You only start out with a limited amount of gold. And there are different kinds of monsters that require different kinds of fortresses. A typical game goes like this: Buy two archer towers @100 gold each to kill the first wave of spiders' collect the gold that appears when the spiders die and buy one more cannon tower @120 gold to kill the giants' collect the gold (and blue gems to upgrade your fortresses) to buy beehive tower @450 gold to ward off mosquitoes, birds and bees' buy an electrical tower to electrocute the shielded monsters' etc.Related links&amp;149' Five questions for Sony about PSN breach&amp;149' Sony: We're 'rebuilding' PlayStation Network&amp;149' Sony: Personal info compromised on PSN&amp;149' Sony sued for PlayStation Network data breach If through error on your part, you fail to block the advancing waves of monsters, then one or more slip past your final defenses and start stomping around on the heads of your babies (or maybe they're villagers, but I think of them as my babies) until all 20 are dead. You lose. Or you win but with casualties.Like most video games, if you're truly invested, then your heart is pounding, your neck muscles and shoulders are clenched, and the flow of blood is constricted to your hand. You come out of your trance when the pins and needles start pricking in your hand, or your muscles cramp or bladder swells.It has occurred to me that my physical/mental experience on PixelJunk Monsters is quite similar to my job as home page editor at CBSNews.com. When breaking news happens, I tweet this, ticker that, send a breaking news e-mail, rank a story on the front door, receive instant messages from producers and graphic artists, etc. nlrText { float: right' width: 170px' padding: 5px' margin: 10px 10px 10px 0' font-family: verdana' font-size: 10px' border: 1px solid 999' background: FFFFEF' } nlrText h4{display: block' font-size: 1.4em' padding: 0' margin: 0' color: 900' }    Broader impact Additional services users can't access from a PS3 due to Sony taking PSN offline: Netflix Hulu Plus MLB.TV  PSN Plus  True confession: I think years of working in the news business have hardwired my brain to require this energy rush/adrenaline surge of multitasking. And when I get home my poor junkie brain turns to video games for another adrenaline fix. It's not good.After you've beaten all the levels, the next phase for those who are truly addicted is to start comparing your numbers to the gaming world at large. Which is where the Sony PlayStation Network comes in. We who are truly consumed eke out new satisfaction after we've beaten all the levels. We compare ourselves to Jonahbar, Blueskysarah, Fatima100, mandingo, and the others who labor alone.You're probably wondering why I can't continue playing the game, even if I can't log on to the network.SunnyD11 refuses to play PixelJunk Monsters while the network is down because he knows that he will achieve a stellar, once-in-a-lifetime result and there will be no way to record it for posterity.Helpful tipsOne of my co-workers notes that if you're wondering which credit card you might have registered on the Sony network, you can look through your old purchase e-mails from this sender: DoNotReply@ac.playstation.net, which will reference the credit card you used with Sony network. If like me, you're suffering a double whammy because you stream Netflix through your PS3, it's possible to connect a laptop to the TV and stream from your computer. I recently bought a laptop that had an HDMI port, and I simply disconnected the accursed PS3 and connected my laptop and streamed with quite good results to my TV.This story originally appeared on CBSNews.com. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Seized Web sites won't end up like drug dealers' cars]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seized-web-sites-wont-end-up-like-drug-dealers-cars</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seized-web-sites-wont-end-up-like-drug-dealers-cars</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>cobocumi</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=seized-web-sites-wont-end-up-like-drug-dealers-cars</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Screen shot of a public service announcement that visitors to seized Web sites will be redirected to. (Credit:Screen shot by Greg Sandoval/CNET)When the government seizes a dope dealer'scar, it can put the auto up for auction. But what happens when agents seize a Web domainThe U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) said today that those sites seized for trafficking in counterfeit and pirated goods will now serve to help spread the government's message that &quot;unfairly devalue America's contributions, compromise American jobs, and put consumers, families, and communities at risk.&quot;The Obama administration and the U.S. Congress have declared war on online piracy and law enforcement agencies have seized more than 100 sites in the past year. Of those, 65 domain names now direct visitors to a public service announcement. ICE Director John Morton(Credit:Greg Sandoval/CNET)For example, visitors to Dvdcollects.com, a domain seized in November 2009, will now be redirected to an announcement on ICE's YouTube page. According to ICE, plenty of people are seeing these messages. &quot;There have been over 45 million hits to the seizure banner that notifies visitors that a federal court order has been issued for the domain,&quot; ICE said in a press release. ICE is one of the agencies that has been tasked with taking down sites accused of illegally distributing intellectual property. The agency said, however, that before it can start using the seized Web sites for its own purposes, it must give interested parties time to contest the forfeiture. Interested parties can file a petition with a federal court, ICE said in its statement. More to come<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Sleeved iPad latest victim of fall-from-aircraft trend]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sleeved-ipad-latest-victim-of-fall-from-aircraft-trend</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sleeved-ipad-latest-victim-of-fall-from-aircraft-trend</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>smbetiketi</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=sleeved-ipad-latest-victim-of-fall-from-aircraft-trend</guid>
<description><![CDATA[This sleeve is rugged, but I&amp;39'm not trading in MY parachute for the human-size version just yet.(Credit:G-Form)These days, it seems, throwing Apple products out of flying machines is all the rage. The latest to jump onboard the train by falling from an ultralight is aniPad encased in a G-Form Extreme Sleeve. Just like the iPhone we told you about that survived a much higher (and accidental) fall from a small plane used for parachute training, the iPad appears to be unscathed after being dropped 500 feet to test G-Form's new soft, floppy sleeve for consumer electronics.Last time we called on NASA and our elementary physics education to try and deconstruct what happened to the fallingiPhone in the air, but this time we get to watch the whole episode from start to finish as we fall victim to stunt marketing yet again. Some shock absorbency credit is surely due the G-Form sleeve here, but credit also goes to the quality of the materials used to make the displays in touch-screen products like the iPad these days... oh yeah, and that soft, cushy-looking grass landing may have helped a bit too. Bottom line: I'll gladly give some kudos to G-Form here, but I'd be more impressed if they'd lent that iPad and case to the butterfingers of our much higher-flying iPhone-dropping friend--or really upped the ante by, say, making the chassis of the new Nissan Leaf out of the G-Form material and putting it through some highway safety crash tests...(Via ZDNet) <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Teen denies crime, but admits it on Facebook]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=teen-denies-crime-but-admits-it-on-facebook</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=teen-denies-crime-but-admits-it-on-facebook</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>abiagranite</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=teen-denies-crime-but-admits-it-on-facebook</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I am thinking of writing a book about all the faux pas people have committed on Facebook.Here's another to add to my already large collection of stories for the book, provisionally entitled: &quot;Face It, I'm a Half-wit.&quot;According to the U.K.'s Portsmouth News, a 16-year-old with a clearly refined sense of humor decided to block all the water passages in a restroom at a public library.Using all of the ingenuity at his disposal, he shoved toilet paper down the sinkholes and then turned on all the taps.Portsmouth is the home of Admiral Lord Nelson and others who enjoy doing things with water.(Credit:CC R Gallant Photography/Flickr)Being socially conscious, he did this late in the evening, so that water would happily pour away all night. Oddly, more than $200,000 worth of damage ensued from his amusement.Naturally, he pleaded not guilty. This was until the prosecutor, who, having done what so many prosecutors do these days, showed that he had trawled Facebook for the accused's inner musings.It seems that, though he had publicly protested his innocence, the accused had answered a question on Facebook as to whether he might be guilty. His reply: &quot;Kind of, yeah. I've kept it to myself. A few mates know.&quot;Clearly, these are good mates, the kind that don't rat out their buddies. Unfortunately, perhaps they might have to do a little work on their privacy settings.The library was shut for five months, and the judge reportedly made it clear that the teen might also be shut away--in jail.So, please, everyone. Let's keep on doing silly things on Facebook. Let's keep on admitting affairs, criticizing our bosses, mocking the passengers on our aircraft. A writer needs inspiration, you know. There's never enough. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Speed tests: iPad 2 vs. PlayBook vs. Xoom]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=speed-tests-ipad-2-vs--playbook-vs--xoom</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=speed-tests-ipad-2-vs--playbook-vs--xoom</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 13 Apr 2011 07:10:15 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Andre77hauser</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=speed-tests-ipad-2-vs--playbook-vs--xoom</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[This week in Crave: The buck naked edition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-buck-naked-edition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-buck-naked-edition</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 09 Apr 2011 07:10:13 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>isauduongi</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-buck-naked-edition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The thing actually works!(Credit:Cary Norton)Too busy stripping down for your new job as a naked Web coder this week to keep up with Crave Here's what happened while you were ditching those uncomfortable business suits.  &amp;149' We sang the CDMA blues.  &amp;149' Scott took on the Nintendo 3DS--three weeks in.  &amp;149' We're leaving, on a jetpack.  &amp;149' Try looking tough sitting on this Swarovski-encrusted Harley.  &amp;149' DIY large-format Lego cam = camera heaven. &amp;149' Does this mean a game version of &quot;The Colbert Report&quot;  &amp;149' A MacBook case for bibliophiles. Word up. &amp;149' Holy joysticks! Old Atari classics getting new life on iOS devices. &amp;149' For still more nostalgia, sit on this. &amp;149' New marketing tool: &quot;Minority Report&quot;-style pitches. &amp;149' Predator camera system teaches itself how to hunt better.  &amp;149' What would you do without the Internet for 12 hours  As for what you'd do without Crave for that long, well, we don't even want to think about it! Got a story idea for us Write to us at crave at cnet dot com. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[ALTe Powertrain Tech retrofits trucks as plug-ins]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=alte-powertrain-tech-retrofits-trucks-as-plug-ins</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=alte-powertrain-tech-retrofits-trucks-as-plug-ins</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:11:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>ingliresikh</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=alte-powertrain-tech-retrofits-trucks-as-plug-ins</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Even as the big automakers start making plug-in electric vehicles, ALTe PowertrainTechnologies is one of many companies seeking to carve out a business converting fleet vehicles to plug-in hybrids.Photos: Alt wheels for fleet drivers  View the full galleryThe Auburn Hills, Mich.-based company said today it has signed a partnership with Manheim, which sells autos through online auctions, to market retrofit trucks and vans to be extended-range electric vehicles.ALTe Powertrain Technologies plans to convert trucks, such as a Ford F-150, into a hybrid and increase fuel efficiency by as much as 200 percent. The major components of its powertrain are a 20 kilowatt-hour lithium ion battery pack, generator, and hybrid controller. The company projects that a truck can go 30 miles in all-electric mode and another 275 miles on charge-sustaining mode without loss of performance and increased torque compared to a V8 engine. It can be charged in 8 hours in a normal 110-volt outlet and 4 hours in a 220-volt outlet.The partnership with Manheim will allow it to market the conversion service to fleet operators, ALTe Powertrain said in a statement. Electric-vehicle conversions are considered a more costly way to make an electric vehicle. But fleet operators can save a substantial amount of money on fuel by going with alternative powertrains. Another company called XL Hybrids has developed a hybrid conversion kit for fleet operators with sedans. Plug-in conversions are also important because sales of consumer electric vehicles will likely only be a small percentage of overall auto sales this decade. With 250 million vehicles on the road in the U.S. and 900 million globally, it will take 15 to 20 years for production plug-ins to replace the existing stock in significant numbers, said plug-in advocate Felix Kramer from CalCars.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google denies working on facial-recognition app (update)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-denies-working-on-facial-recognition-app-update</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-denies-working-on-facial-recognition-app-update</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 31 Mar 2011 07:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Elina</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-denies-working-on-facial-recognition-app-update</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google&amp;39's Goggles app can identify objects.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)Update at 12:30 p.m. PT: Google claims CNN's story to be speculative. A company representative said &quot;we are in fact not working on developing an app with these capabilities.&quot; Update at 4:30 p.m. PT: CNN is now countering Google's claims, saying it stands by the original piece. An updated version of our story follows.Google says it's not working on an application that would allow users to identify others by snapping a picture of their face with a cell phone camera, despite a high-profile report that one is on the way.A report posted by CNN earlier today claimed the company is at work on such an application, but faces privacy hurdles in readying it for market. The story contained an interview with Google's engineering director for image recognition development, Harmut Neven. In a statement earlier this afternoon a representative for Google said, &quot;we are in fact not working on developing an app with these capabilities,&quot; and referred to the piece as speculative. Now CNN is fighting Google on the issue, claiming that the company's claims &quot;do not fit the facts of the situation.&quot;&quot;This interview was prearranged--on the record--and staffed by a Google PR rep, who raised no objections at the time and did not deny what the engineer said,&quot; a CNN representative told CNET. &quot;Additionally, we have an audio recording of the interview, as does Google. We stand firmly behind Mark's reporting.&quot;A Google representative declined to comment on CNN's statement.Privacy remains a touchy subject for Google. Earlier this week Google entered a settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission over last year's launch of its Buzz service, which has led to the company agreeing to establish a &quot;comprehensive privacy program.&quot; In terms of imaging, Google had also gotten in hot water with privacy groups when it rolled out its Street View technology, which provided raw photos with faces and license plates, two details that were later removed. As for the validity of this idea, Google already provides an image-recognition tool called Goggles, which is available both on the company's Android mobile OS, as well as on Apple's iOS. It can grab text, and identify products, landmarks, works of art, book covers, bar codes, all of which can be searched for on Google. The company has also tied the feature to its translation service to let users read captured text that's in a foreign language.Google has also long been involved with facial-recognition efforts, building the technology into both the software and Web-based versions of its Picasa photo platform. When toggled by users, it can go through a library of photos and identify people who show up in multiple photos. On the Web version of the software, this is handled entirely through Google's servers.Whether it's coming soon or not at all, who wants an app like this<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Day 2 at CTIA 2011]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=day-2-at-ctia-2011</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=day-2-at-ctia-2011</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:10:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>chobmovie</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=day-2-at-ctia-2011</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Huawei Ascend 2 (left) receives some noticeable upgrades.(Credit:Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)ORLANDO, Fla.--While the first day of CTIA was full of news about 3Dphones, newtablets, a certain merger, and more, the second day proved to be relatively humdrum in comparison. Still, some news did trickle in on the second day.Huawei made an appearance at aCTIA Mobile Focus event last night with the Huawei Ascend 2 for Cricket Wireless. It's much sleeker and skinnier than its predecessor, with four touch sensor buttons at the bottom taking place of physical keys. It also has an upgraded 5-megapixel camera. Also at the event was the Samsung Galaxy Indulge for Cricket Wireless. It appears to be the same phone that we reviewed for MetroPCS, except it doesn't have the benefit of 4G. It does have a very attractive interface, with a full slide-out keyboard and a 3.2-megapixel camera. HTC HD7S is a Windows Phone 7 handset offered by AT&amp;T(Credit:Bonnie Cha/CNET)And if you thought CTIA was all about Android, think again, as Windows Phone 7 makes an appearance in the form of the HTC HD7S. However, it's not exactly that new. The HD7S is essentially AT&amp;T's version of the HTC HD7 phone that debuted with T-Mobile. However, the HD7S has a slightly better Super LCD display instead of regular TFT. Aside from that, it has the same 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and that lovable kickstand in the back. Speaking of HTC, we also took a look at the HTC Merge, which is a dual-mode phone that will work in both CDMA and GSM markets. It's great to see more of these global phones, especially since this one is available for Sprint. It has a 3.8-inch display, a slide-out keyboard, and runs Android 2.2 with HTC Sense. Surprisingly, Alltel is snagging up the phone too, and is taking pre-orders starting March 28 for $124.99 each with a two-year contract. The Xperia Play is going to Verizon Wireless this May.(Credit:Kent German/CNET)We also took another look at the LG Optimus C from Cricket Wireless, and had another hands-on with the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play that's headed to Verizon Wireless this May. Jabra released news of its new in-car speakerphone, the Jabra Freeway, as well. It's the first of its kind to have not one, not two, but three speakers inside its tiny body. Rounding things out is news that Lightsquared has signed a deal with Best Buy to offer nationwide 4G wireless service. That should be it for day two. We still have a number of slideshows and videos to post, so check all of that out on our CTIA page. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How quake is disrupting supply of batteries, LCD displays]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-quake-is-disrupting-supply-of-batteries-lcd-displays</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-quake-is-disrupting-supply-of-batteries-lcd-displays</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 07:12:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>joknooonnk</dc:creator>
<category>Business &amp; Finance</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-quake-is-disrupting-supply-of-batteries-lcd-displays</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It's now becoming increasingly clear that the global supply chain for electronics is going to be far more affected by the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear crisis still unfolding in Japan than previously thought. Take for example the attention today on lithium ion batteries used in notebook PCs. Demand right now is not terribly high--it's a time of the year when consumers are buying fewer PCs--but consider what happens if the crisis persists. As Taiwan's Digitimes observes, a good bit of the world's production ecosystem for lithium ion batteries used in notebooks are not only located in Japan, but many are in areas affected by the quake or within the evacuation radius of the troubled nuclear power plant there.Sony, which makes notebook batteries, and Hitachi, which makes a key battery part called an anode, both operate plants in the disaster area, and both have been shut down for the time being, according to a research report from Pranab Kumar Sarmah at Daiwa Securities in Hong Kong. Numerous other companies that make battery parts also operate in the disaster area, and most of them are affected.What about theiPad I just heard from Wayne Lam, an analyst at iSuppli, the research firm that tore down the iPad 2 the other day. He tells me markings on the iPad 2s three-cell battery pack include a label that reads &quot;assembled in China.&quot; However, he says that applies only to the finished battery pack. A closer look at the markings reveal a reference to &quot;Apple Japan.&quot; He thinks that's sufficient proof the battery cells came from Japan. &quot;Typically, battery cells are made at the site of assembly, but since this li-ion polymer battery is unusually thin, it may be the case that it requires battery cell manufacturing technologies that Japan has.&quot;Then there's the LCD display market. LCD manufacturing is an extremely precise process, one that doesn't take kindly to the power shortages and rolling blackouts caused by the loss of generating capacity at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Typically, Japan derives about a third of its power capacity from nuclear power, and this plant constituted a big portion of that. Again, it's Sony and Hitachi plants located in areas affected by the disaster. Between them, the two companies produce 90 percent of the world's supply of Anisotropic Conductive Film, an interconnect material that's widely used in LCD panels.Another key part in LCD displays--a color polarizer--is made by Fuji Film. Dale Ford, another iSuppli analyst, said earlier this week there have been indications that supplies of these have been impacted, which will drive prices up, which will in turn be reflected in the final price consumers pay for their TVs and monitors. Something tells me the lingering effects of this disaster are going to trouble the tech economy for some time to come, especially if the state of Japan's power grid remains uncertain.Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Crave 36: Pinball wizards (podcast)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=crave-36-pinball-wizards-podcast</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=crave-36-pinball-wizards-podcast</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:11:01 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>svetalaqm</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=crave-36-pinball-wizards-podcast</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[New sports channels signal shift in Apple TV]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-sports-channels-signal-shift-in-apple-tv</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-sports-channels-signal-shift-in-apple-tv</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 09 Mar 2011 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>marabmin7y87</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=new-sports-channels-signal-shift-in-apple-tv</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple is beefing up its Apple TV offering with live streaming sports.(Credit:Donald Bell/CNET)It's becoming obvious that Apple TV is not a hobby anymore.The company had famously referred to its set-top device that way when it premiered four years ago as a way of keeping expectations low. But with today's software update, Apple is being more aggressive about making Apple TV competitive with its set-top rivals. As part of the iOS 4.3 update released today, Apple TV owners will now have access to MLB.TV and NBA League Pass. Both are subscription services for streaming live games over the Web, and like Netflix, which is already on Apple TV, customers have to enter their existing account to gain access via Apple TV. It's the first time Apple has featured live sports on Apple TV, and with the addition of these channels, Apple is also signaling that something else may be in the works: a more app-like approach to the device.Until now, Apple's set-top basically did three things: allow you to rent or buy iTunes content (that stayed on Apple TV only), stream Netflix (if you're a subscriber), and stream iTunes content from other devices. Those are great, but it still placed Apple TV behind the offerings of set-top devices like Roku,Xbox, andPlayStation 3. Besides Netflix, Roku, PS3, and Xbox have integrated Amazon Video on Demand, Hulu Plus, and scores of other sources of Hollywood content. Apple wants customers to buy iTunes content, so it's not likely we'll see it add many more ways to watch non-iTunes content beyond big name players like Netflix. But the sports angle is a big deal for cord-cutters--those of us who are trying to consume all of our entertainment content on TV without a cable TV subscription. Up until today Apple TV had no sports offering. In terms of major sports, Roku has long had MLB.TV and NHL GameCenter Live, Xbox 360 has ESPN live streaming and MLB, and the PlayStation 3 has MLB.TV and NHL.Today's update makes Apple TV a lot more competitive in comparison to what those other set-top devices offer. So while Apple TV might be late getting into the sports streaming game, this is a solid start, and probably (hopefully) means we'll see more.App-le TVIt's something we've wondered about since the new-and-improved $99 device arrived last fall: would Apple TV eventually be able to run iOS apps, thus expanding the platform's reach and giving new opportunities to game developers and app makers Games on Apple TV would make a lot of sense, as would many other apps.But when Steve Jobs introduced the reimagined Apple TV last fall--a smaller, sleeker device with a lower price tag and Netflix access--he specifically noted that it was running a version of iOS, but not the full-fledged system that appears on iPhones, iPads, and theiPod Touch. While Netflix, MLB.TV, and NBA League Pass are being positioned as channels on Apple TV--you can't download them from any sort of app store, they're only available via this software update--they're really not any different in how they work than the Netflix app on the iPhone or iPad, or the MLB Game Day app on the same devices. MLB's Game Day app has always been very popular in the App Store, so if these sports channels do well on Apple TV, it's hard to see why Apple wouldn't someday want to give customers more variety of channels or apps to choose to add to their Apple TV. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Toyota to sell home electric-car chargers in 2012]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-sell-home-electric-car-chargers-in-2012</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-sell-home-electric-car-chargers-in-2012</comments>
<pubDate>Sun, 20 Feb 2011 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>beingriacici12</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=toyota-to-sell-home-electric-car-chargers-in-2012</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Toyota Motor will launch home battery chargers for electric and plug-in hybridcars next year as it starts selling new models of environmentally friendly cars, the Nikkei business daily reported today. The chargers, which will also be compatible with non-Toyota cars, will come in two types, the Nikkei reported, citing company sources. One would extend from the exterior wall of a home and the other would be for setting up in a garage.2012 Toyota Prius PHEV (photos) View the full gallery The company expects to sell 20,000 to 30,000 units in the first year, with each costing about several tens of thousands of yen to 200,000 yen ($2,405) including installation costs, the Nikkei added. Toyota, the world's biggest automaker, has said it would begin selling a Prius-based plug-in hybrid by early 2012 mainly in Japan, the United States, and Europe, targeting sales of more than 50,000 units a year. The car, which--unlike a conventional hybrid--can be plugged in to enable longer-distance driving using only electricity, is expected to cost as little as 3 million yen in Japan, the company has said. In the field of battery electric vehicles, Toyota plans to begin selling in 2012 a model based on the tiny iQ in the United States, Japan, and Europe. Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Motorola's new 15 seconds of anti-Apple 1984 ad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolas-new-15-seconds-of-anti-apple-1984-ad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolas-new-15-seconds-of-anti-apple-1984-ad</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 05 Feb 2011 08:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>jaqueline401</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=motorolas-new-15-seconds-of-anti-apple-1984-ad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[If you had thought, or even hoped, that a Motorola ad released earlier this week, railing at Apple's alleged controlling of the world, was the real thing, then you will be disappointed.However, if you live your life believing that Apple's bells, whistles, balls, and chains prevent you from walking and thinking, you may rejoice a little more.For Motorola has released 15 seconds of the ad the company will actually run to launch its Xoomtablet during tomorrow's big game.What an extraordinary, moving, revolutionary ad it promises to be. Perhaps. The company wants you, who have been so silly as to buy aniPad, to understand that you are merely one big woolly sheep. You have been duped into conformity, uniformity, perhaps even psychological deformity, by Apple's wicked Big Brother brainwashing.Motorola understands you. It knows you are desperately reading &quot;1984&quot; on your iPad. It knows you like wearing your tie down like Johnny Depp (or Rupert Everett in &quot;Another Country&quot;). It knows you like a tight gray sweater to encircle your lean, fit frame. It knows you like flowers.One can only hope that, when this ad finally airs, the whole of America will utter a relieved roar, leap from its sofa, and applaud a new beginning, a new magic, a new revolution. Personally, I am hoping for a little humor in the midst of all this Xoom-peddling doom-mongering.But then I always thought &quot;1984&quot; was a comedy.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Study finds Apple tops in call center tech support]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-finds-apple-tops-in-call-center-tech-support</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-finds-apple-tops-in-call-center-tech-support</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:10:14 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>octavio4ga</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=study-finds-apple-tops-in-call-center-tech-support</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple outscored both Dell and Hewlett-Packard in overall satisfaction with tech support by phone, though its problem-resolution rates took a bit of a hit in a study released today by consumer feedback firm Vocal Laboratories.Based on interviews with customers from July 2009 to December 2010, Apple's lead in phone support over Dell and HP dipped a bit in the second half of last year compared with the first half, according to the study from Vocal Laboratories (Vocalabs).But Apple customers seeking tech support still proved the happiest, with 66 percent saying they were &quot;very satisfied&quot; with the call itself, compared to 51 percent for HP's customers and 49 percent for Dell's. Further, 76 percent of Apple users said they were very satisfied with the representative who helped them on the call, though that too was down a bit from 82 percent in the first half of the year.(Credit:Vocal Laboratories)Satisfaction over actually fixing the problem also dipped slightly for Apple, with 60 percent of those polled saying the problem was resolved during the call, compared with 67 percent in the first half of the year. Looking at satisfaction with the company overall, Apple fell in the second half to 59 percent from 66 percent in the first half, though that was still higher than the rates for Dell and HP.Satisfaction with the automated part of the call, which Vocalabs dubbed the &quot;nuisance factor,&quot; also saw a drop among Apple's customers from 2009 to 2010, at the same time that it improved for Dell users.Thirty-five percent of Apple users questioned during the second half of 2010 ran into difficulty reaching a live person, irrelevant or repetitive steps, and trouble with the IVR (interactive voice response) system, which tries to route calls based on the responses of the caller. That proved to be an increase from the 21 percent who reported similar problems in the second half of 2009.In comparison, Dell's nuisance factor over the same period dropped to 46 percent in 2010's second half from 55 percent in 2009, though even with the drop, Dell's rate was still higher than Apple's.(Credit:Vocal Laboratories)Despite the declines for Apple in certain areas of customer satisfaction, the company continued to outpace Dell and HP overall and still commands the most loyal customers.Asked whether they'd buy the same brand again, 84 percent of Apple users said yes, compared with 60 percent for Dell and 66 percent for HP. And asked if they'd recommend the brand to others, the results were similar--85 percent of Apple customers said they would, compared with 61 percent for Dell and 66 percent for HP.The study was based on 2,166 telephone interviews conducted between July 2009 and December 2010. Customers were interviewed immediately after tech support calls to Apple, Dell, and HP, allowing Vocalabs to directly compare the quality of phone support among the three.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Huawei sues Motorola over sale to Nokia]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=huawei-sues-motorola-over-sale-to-nokia</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=huawei-sues-motorola-over-sale-to-nokia</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jan 2011 08:11:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>paulklilla</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=huawei-sues-motorola-over-sale-to-nokia</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Chinese telecom equipment maker Huawei is suing Motorola, claiming the American company will illegally transfer its trade secrets in the proposed sale of its wireless business unit to Nokia Siemens. Huawei filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Illinois. The company seeks to stop Motorola employees and information associated with Motorola's UMTS and GSM equipment businesses from being transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks. Motorola announced in July 2010 that it plans to sell its entire wireless infrastructure business, which includes products it sells for 3G wireless networks, in a deal that is worth about $1.2 billion.Huawei argues in its complaint that the transfer of Motorola assets to Nokia Siemens would cause &quot;the massive disclosure of Huawei's confidential information to NSN, with irreparable harm to Huawei.&quot; Specifically, the company argues that a large number of Motorola employees, who will be transferred as part of the deal to Nokia Siemens, have direct knowledge of Huawei's confidential information. Neither Motorola nor Nokia Siemens have responded to the lawsuit yet. Motorola has been reselling Huawei radio access gear for GSM and UMTS wireless networks since 2000. As part of this relationship, Motorola employees have been trained to sell and troubleshoot Huawei's wireless products. Nokia Siemens also makes and sells GSM and UMTS gear that competes directly with Huawei's equipment.&quot;The entire intent of filing the injunction is to prevent our intellectual property from being handed over to one of our competitors on a silver platter,&quot; said Bill Plummer, a vice president of external affairs for Huawei. Plummer said that Huawei has tried to negotiate with Motorola since the deal was announced, but so far Motorola has not provided assurances to Huawei that its intellectual property will be protected once the deal is complete.This is the first time that Chinese-based Huawei has initiated legal proceedings against a U.S. company. However, Huawei has been the target of lawsuits by others. Several years ago, Cisco Systems sued the company for infringing on its patents for IP network equipment. The suit was eventually settled. In June, Motorola sued Huawei for supposedly stealing its trade secrets as part of a corporate espionage case. The legal action follows a suit from 2008 in which Motorola sued five former employees for sharing information with IP networking firm Lemko, headquartered in Schaumberg, Ill., where Motorola is also located. Lemko has a reseller agreement with Huawei.Congressional leaders have also tried to block the sale of Huawei's telecommunications products to U.S. wireless operators over security concerns. But Huawei representatives say the company respects intellectual property and is simply defending its own trade secrets with this lawsuit.&quot;As a global technology leader with a rich IP and patent portfolio, Huawei respects the rights of intellectual property holders and is equally committed to the protection of its own innovations and intellectual property,&quot; the company said in an e-mail statement. Nearly half of Huawei's 100,000 plus employees are engaged in research and development and Huawei allocates an average of 10 percent of all revenues to research and development annually. By the end of 2010, Huawei had applied for 49,040 essential patents on a global basis.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Roundup: Which AV receiver is right for you]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=roundup-which-av-receiver-is-right-for-you</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=roundup-which-av-receiver-is-right-for-you</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 21 Jan 2011 08:10:37 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Leeta</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=roundup-which-av-receiver-is-right-for-you</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Pioneer VSX-1020-K(Credit:CNET/Sarah Tew)When people ask &quot;Which AV receiver should I buy&quot; the answer depends on what you're looking for. For some, the Pioneer VSX-1020-K's excellent out-of-the-boxiPod connectivity is a must-have feature, but audiophiles couldn't care less about listening to an iPod on their home stereo system' they're better off with the Denon AVR-1911. Our list of best AV receivers is still the easiest way to see how rank different models, but here we've tried to narrow down the choices based on what kind of buyer you are.Best overall value: Pioneer VSX-1020-KThe Pioneer VSX-1020-K isn't the highest-rated receiver we've tested, but it's the one we'd most frequently recommend for the average buyer. That's because it offers unparalalled value, with its street price running as low as $360 these days. That low price is even more impressive when you consider it has excellent sound quality, six HDMI inputs and the ability to connect your iPod directly to its front panel USB port--and Pioneer even includes a cable.Best overall midrange receiver: Yamaha RX-V667If you don't mind paying a little extra, the Yamaha RX-V667 is the flat-out best overall midrange receiver we tested. Great sound quality, six HDMI inputs, 7.1 analog inputs and a best-in-class graphical user interface add up to the top-rated AV receiver for 2010. It's not quite as good of a value as the Pioneer because of its $500 street price, but it may be worth paying for if you want any of its niche features.Best-sounding AV receiver: Denon AVR-1911For the audiophile, the choice is easy: buy the receiver that sounds the best. That's the Denon AVR-1911, which outclasses both the Pioneer VSX-1020-K and Yamaha RX-V667 in audio performance. Its overall rating was held back a litte by its lack of a graphical user interface and less overall connectivity, but if you can get past those shortcomings, the AVR-1911 will wow you with its sound.Best looking AV receiver: Marantz NR1601 or Harman Kardon AVR 2600Honestly, looks aren't a high priority when I'm choosing an AV receiver, but for some buyers decor matters. The Marantz NR1601 is truly unique with its slimline design, and its sleek metal front panel is attractive, too. The Harman Kardon AVR 2600 is another excellent design pick, with its handsome two-tone style giving it a more refined look than other &quot;black box&quot; AV receivers.Most HDMI connectivity for the money: Onkyo HT-RC260The Onkyo fared worse in our review than some of the company's previous AV receivers, but its ace in the hole is that the HT-RC260 offers six HDMI inputs and sells online for a little over $300. On the other hand, with the VSX-1020-K available for only $360, we think most buyers would be wise to spend a little more.Want more details Be sure to check out all the full reviews, plus our full AV receivers comparison chart.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon fires legal shot against Net neutrality rules]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-fires-legal-shot-against-net-neutrality-rules</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-fires-legal-shot-against-net-neutrality-rules</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>hotake4</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizon-fires-legal-shot-against-net-neutrality-rules</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Verizon Communications has fired the first shot in the legal war to dismantle the Federal Communications Commission's new Net neutrality rules.The phone company today filed an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit challenging the FCC's Report and Order on rules dealing with the issue of Net neutrality.Michael E. Glover, Verizon's senior vice president and deputy counsel, said in a press release that the company has been committed to the process of preserving the open Internet but that after careful review of the FCC's order, it believes that the FCC has overstepped its bounds.&quot;We are deeply concerned by the FCC's assertion of broad authority for sweeping new regulation of broadband networks and the Internet itself,&quot; he said in a statement. &quot;We believe this assertion of authority goes well beyond any authority provided by Congress, and creates uncertainty for the communications industry, innovators, investors and consumers.&quot; After years of debate on the topic, the FCC adopted rules codifying specific Net neutrality principles in late December. The new regulation creates two classes of service subject to different rules: one that applies to fixed broadband networks and one for wireless networks.The first rule requires both wireless and wireline providers to be transparent in how they manage and operate their networks. The second Net neutrality rule prohibits the blocking of traffic on the Internet. The rule applies to both fixed wireline broadband network operators as well as to wireless providers. But the stipulations for each type of network are slightly different. And finally, the last rule applies only to fixed broadband providers. It prohibits fixed wireline broadband providers from unreasonably discriminating against traffic on their network. Net neutrality opponents have been voicing their opposition to the rules since they were adopted a few weeks ago. And some Republican Congressional leaders have already pledged to dismantle the new Open Internet rules. Lawyers in D.C. have also been preparing complaints for weeks.Larry Downes, a consultant, author, and contributor to CNET, said that he finds it odd that Verizon would file its complaint before the official regulations have been published in the Federal Register. But he said he isn't surprised that Verizon has fired the first legal shot.&quot;There was little doubt from the Consumer Electronics Show (earlier this month) that this was going to happen,&quot; he said in an e-mail. &quot;By being first, Verizon gets the best possible court. The D.C. Circuit, in addition to being the court that decided the Comcast case, is historically skeptical of FCC efforts to stretch its authority.&quot;In April, the D.C. Circuit court tossed out the FCC's August 2008 cease-and-desist order against Comcast, which had taken measures to slow BitTorrent transfers before voluntarily ending them earlier that year.Since then, the FCC's authority has been called into question. Some people believe that the agency has no authority to enact these rules. But the FCC asserted in its Open Internet ruling that it does have the authority to impose rules and regulations governing Net neutrality. This lawsuit is clearly the next challenge to that authority.Verizon's legal strategy Downes said that Verizon is taking an interesting legal strategy by filing its complaint in the D.C. Circuit Federal Appeals court, which has special jurisdiction to hear certain FCC cases. Filing in that court is likely a safer bet for Verizon rather than a regular federal district court, which may not have much experience hearing telecommunications cases. What's more, the D.C. Circuit Appeals court has historically been more favorable toward complaints against the FCC.But to get it into the D.C. Circuit Federal Appeals court, Verizon has had to do some legal maneuvering. Instead of taking direct aim at the FCC's new Net neutrality rules, Verizon asserts in its &quot;appeal&quot; that the FCC order changes the terms of existing licenses that Verizon holds to wireless spectrum. So in that regard the company is &quot;appealing&quot; the change to the order rather than initiating a new case that challenges the rules directly, Downes points out. If Verizon initiated a new case, it would have to be filed in a regular federal district court. But because it's an appeal to existing FCC licenses, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals may take some time to decide on the motion, which will require detailed briefing and possibly oral arguments, Downes said. In the meantime, Verizon could ask the court to stay implementation of the new rules, which will go into effect 60 days after the FCC posts the new rules in the Federal Register. That is expected to happen any day. Verizon could also ask the court to stay any other proceedings brought by others in different courts against the FCC. Even if the D.C. appeals court eventually decides the case isn't in its jurisdiction, it could grant these stays while it is deciding, which could delay action.The FCC declined to comment on the court filing, but Downes said he suspects that the FCC will move to vacate the appeal on the grounds that the FCC order was a new rulemaking and not a modification to Verizon's existing licenses. And they will likely argue that challenges to the FCC order should start in federal district court rather than in an appeals court. Verizon also filed a separate motion today asking the D.C. appeals court to assign the same panel of judges who heard the Comcast vs. FCC case to the Verizon appeals case. The Media Access project, a nonprofit public interest law firm, says that Verizon is blatantly shopping for a favorable court to hear its &quot;appeal&quot; on the Net neutrality issue.&quot;Under this bizarre legal theory, virtually every FCC decision would wind up in one court,&quot; said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, senior vice president and policy director of the Media Access Project. &quot;Verizon has made a blatant attempt to locate its challenge in a favorable appeals court forum. The company's theory assumes that all agency actions changing rules are 'modifications' to hundreds of thousands of licenses. This would insure the case remains in the District of Columbia Circuit, and keeps others from seeking review in different courts.&quot; So far, Verizon's efforts appear to be about starting a long and time-consuming legal process, which will keep Net neutrality uncertain for some time. So far actual details of the company's arguments against Net neutrality are thin.&quot;There's not much substance yet to their appeal,&quot; Downes said in an e-mail. &quot;Nor does there need to be. They claim that the Net neutrality order exceeded the FCC's authority, was arbitrary and capricious, violates Verizon's constitutional rights, and is otherwise illegal. For now, that's all they have to say. The real legal arguments will come when they brief the case.&quot;Updated 3:30 p.m. PT: This story was updated with additional analysis.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[News Corp. mulls sale, spinoff of MySpace]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=news-corp--mulls-sale-spinoff-of-myspace</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=news-corp--mulls-sale-spinoff-of-myspace</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 12 Jan 2011 08:10:34 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Han007</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=news-corp--mulls-sale-spinoff-of-myspace</guid>
<description><![CDATA[News Corp. revealed today that it's exploring the possibility of selling or spinning off MySpace, just a day after the troubled social-networking site announced heavy layoffs.During an announcement that confirmed many rumors, MySpace CEO Mike Jones briefed employees today on company options during a companywide meeting, spokeswoman Rosabel Tao told Bloomberg. &quot;News Corp. is assessing a number of possibilities including a sale, a merger, and a spinout [spinoff],&quot; Tao said. &quot;The process has just started.&quot; On Tuesday, Jones announced a &quot;significant organizational restructuring that will result in a 47 percent staff reduction across all divisions globally and impact about 500 employees.&quot; News Corp. bought MySpace in 2005 for $580 million as part of its purchase of Intermix. But the former social-networking sensation has fallen on hard times lately, losing more and more ground to Facebook until it finally underwent a massive redesign that left it focusing on pop culture media-sharing for young users rather than attempting to be a universally appealing social network. However, in the face of News Corp.'s public frustration with MySpace, those efforts were not expected to result in a major turnaround capable of saving the site. News Corp. revealed in November that quarterly revenue at MySpace was down $70 million compared with the same period the year before. During the earnings call at the time, Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey called out MySpace's poor performance and said &quot;current losses are not acceptable or sustainable.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Rumor: Verizon iPhone to be released February 3]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rumor-verizon-iphone-to-be-released-february-3</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rumor-verizon-iphone-to-be-released-february-3</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 07 Jan 2011 08:10:29 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthcentral</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=rumor-verizon-iphone-to-be-released-february-3</guid>
<description><![CDATA[You may be able to get your sweetie a Verizon iPhone this Valentine&amp;39's Day.(Credit:Kent German/CNET)On the heels of Verizon's announcement of a special press conference on January 11, Boy Genius Report says a source has confirmed that Apple has blacked out retail employee vacation time for February 3 to February 6, covering a possible VerizoniPhone launch weekend.When I was a manager at an Apple Store here in Portland, this was a fairly common occurrence for big launch days. Generally these employee vacation blackout days would come months in advance, allowing our staff to make plans around those dates.This of course is only a theory, but in my experience we never had a blacked-out weekend that was not a launch (generally the iPhone orMac OS X).The regions of the United States that BGR has knowledge of have all confirmed these dates as blacked out. Verizon is expected to make the big announcement on January 11 (at 11 a.m. no less), most likely confirming they will finally be bringing Apple's iPhone to the vast Verizon network.The timing all makes sense with Verizon easing contracts to allow for upgrades, the continuous flow of parts photographs and speculation, and with Valentine's Day just two weeks later. The last remaining mystery seems to only be that of specs. Many are hoping for Apple to jump aboard the LTE 4G bandwagon and compete with 4G smartphones running Android, announced at CES. As I, and others, have noted, this is not likely, as Apple's business move to join Verizon would be to gain market share in the rapidly expanding smartphone sector.Were Apple to limit the Verizon iPhone to LTE customers, it would minimize market penetration and lose out on most of Verizon's subscriber base. Until 4G is more prevalent, Apple will most likely stick to CDMA-based versions of the iPhone. I wouldn't expect an LTE version until 2012 at the earliest.Are you making plans to line up for Verizon's iPhone Are you switching from AT&amp;T Let me know your plans in the comments!<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Solar panel maker Stion to create 1,000 Miss. jobs]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solar-panel-maker-stion-to-create-1000-miss--jobs</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solar-panel-maker-stion-to-create-1000-miss--jobs</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:10:46 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>pnosufterjik</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=solar-panel-maker-stion-to-create-1000-miss--jobs</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Stion makes CIGS solar panels at its San Jose, Calif.-based facility with plans to expand to a factory in Mississippi.(Credit:Stion)Thin-film solar manufacturer Stion announced today that it plans to build a factory in Hattiesburg, Miss., as part of a long-term $500 million investment in the state.As part of the deal, in addition to tax incentives, the San Jose, Calif.-based start-up received a $75 million loan.The first phase of the project, a 100-megawatt solar panel production line for making copper, indium, gallium, and sulfur-selenide (CIGSS) solar cells, will create 200 direct jobs and include $100 million in investment in the state, according to Stion.&quot;Today's announcement that Stion is locating a thin-film solar panel manufacturing facility in Hattiesburg is further proof that Mississippi is an ideal location for clean energy companies to locate and expand,&quot; Gov. Haley Barbour said in a statement. &quot;I am pleased to welcome Stion to Mississippi, and I thank the company for creating so many high-quality jobs for Mississippi's workers.&quot;Stion said it believes that this is the first thin-film solar panel factory to be built in the state. But it is certainly not Mississippi's first solar panel factory.Barbour has already been credited with garnering green-collar jobs for his state from at least one other solar technology company: in May 2010, Twin Creeks Technologies broke ground on a solar panel factory in Senatobia, Miss., making its crystalline silicon photovoltaics, that is expected to bring 500 jobs to the area over five years. As part of the deal, Twin Creeks Technologies will invest $175 million, according to the Mississippi Development Authority. Twin Creeks Technologies says its factory is expected to be completed by the end of first quarter 2011.Stion, which was started in 2006, counts Khosla Ventures, Braemar Energy Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and General Catalyst Partners among its venture capital investors. In addition to its CIGGS solar cells, the company has also been working on a double-layer solar module that it says could improve solar efficiency by as much as 35 percent.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[This week in Crave: The nerd heaven edition]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-nerd-heaven-edition</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-nerd-heaven-edition</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 11 Dec 2010 08:15:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Harveymayngeary</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=this-week-in-crave-the-nerd-heaven-edition</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Too busy trying to score one of those limited-supply Google Cr-48 laptops this week to keep up with all matters Crave Here's what you missed while you getting ready to tell Google what the Chrome machine needs to have to be a laptop you want to have. This Star Trek keyboard takes us to nerd heaven at maximum warp. (Credit:Keyscaper) &amp;149' iPad Mini rumors chased iPad 2 rumors.  &amp;149' Why smartphones can't kill point-and-shoots.&amp;149' TheWii's still alive (in Scott Stein's family at least). &amp;149' Peel: a new spin on the universal remote.  &amp;149' Eric Franklin's done with WoW (yeah, right). &amp;149' Want to prank a techie Here's how.&amp;149' Head-to-head with the Skitterbot Army. &amp;149' Count 'em: 18,000 Nook Colors per day. &amp;149' The Nexus S looks promising, but not perfect.  &amp;149' Nerd heaven: Star Trek keyboard and working Star Trek doors!Got a story idea for us Guarantee your spot in nerd heaven by writing to us at crave at cnet dot com. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Google's Chrome Web Store open for business]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-chrome-web-store-open-for-business</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-chrome-web-store-open-for-business</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 07 Dec 2010 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rossie</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=googles-chrome-web-store-open-for-business</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google&amp;39's Chrome Web Store offers a variety of apps for download.Google's Chrome Web Store opened for business today, providing a centralized online marketplace for downloading Web apps for the Chrome operating system and the Chrome browser.  The marketplace, similar to Google's Android Market and Apple'siPhone App Store, is designed for Chrome 8, which was released last week. It offers apps, as well as extensions and themes, for customizing the browser.  Amazon said it is offering its Windowshop app, a stripped-down version of Amazon.com, on the marketplace. There also is an NPR news app, Facebook Photo Zoom, a New York Times app, and lots of games. The check-out process is integrated with Google Checkout.The Chrome Web Store, which was expected to launch in October, was demonstrated at a Google event in San Francisco earlier today. The marketplace is only available in the U.S., but will expand to other countries early next year. &quot;The Chrome Web Store itself can be accessed using any browser. Currently only users of Google Chrome are able to install an app from the Chrome Web Store, which adds a shortcut on the Chrome browser's new tab page,&quot; a Google spokesperson said in a statement. &quot;The protocols for describing and installing apps are all open-sourced and are free to be implemented by other browsers.&quot; Updated 2:26 p.m. PTto correct that you do not need the Google Chrome operating system to use the store, 2:07 p.m. PTwith Google comment, and 1:10 p.m. PTwith more details.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Tripping tackles travel safety with video interviews]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tripping-tackles-travel-safety-with-video-interviews</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tripping-tackles-travel-safety-with-video-interviews</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 22 Nov 2010 08:10:06 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>grydarmon89</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tripping-tackles-travel-safety-with-video-interviews</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Would you bring your entire family to a stranger's house, in a strange country, on a Web site's promise of a cultural exchange Or invite a backpacker to your homePerhaps when you were 22, on your Wanderjahr, the appeal of connecting with strangers in strange lands overrode concerns for your own safety. And, it's true, most people, in most places, are actually nice. But if the thought of connecting with people from other parts of the planet via the Web, either to stay in their house (AirBnB' CouchSurfing) or just to meet them strikes you as foolish, you might be interested in what the cultural exchange Web site Tripping.com is cooking up. Tripping.com helps travelers set up &quot;play dates&quot; with locals at their destinations, to get a more genuine experience of the culture they're heading into. Likewise, it helps hosts meet people from around the world so they can show off their city or community.  If you're connecting with a stranger, though, you do want to know you're dealing with someone who is who they say they are' and who can be checked up on, read up on, and so on before a connection happens.Tripping lets hosts around the world invite travelers to hang out with them. The new hospitality network sites (that's what they're called) like AirBnB and CouchSurfing have various methods to check into their customers' identities and weed out the creepiest. All the sites rely on community feedback and a system where respected users vouch for each other. CouchSurfing asks for a small financial donation. Tonight, Tripping.com is launching an experiment where it will actually interview users who want to earn their &quot;validated&quot; badge. The new video interviews will occur over a Webcam. Applicants will need to hold up a passport or other verifiable ID, which the Tripping.com operator will examine, over the Webcam, to verify that the user is who they say they are, as well as to record information to find this user in the future, if necessary. There will be a $10 fee for this service.Leveraging the trendTripping.com is a smart take on the business of circumventing usual travel sites. While it doesn't collect direct revenue as a peer-to-peer lodging site AirBnB does, it's also unlikely to get taxed or regulated out of business. Under the hood, it's more like a dating site, except it can benefit from the large travel advertising business and from affiliate click-through programs. There's also a good business-to-business angle on this person-to-person service: Tripping.com can run branded exchange networks, in particular for colleges and universities, to help people within already-trusted networks connect with each other. Tripping.com may charge a fee to institutions for this service. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Verizon's Fios to run Google TV Ads]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 18 Nov 2010 08:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Lynda</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=verizons-fios-to-run-google-tv-ads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google has found another partner for its television advertising project in a familiar place. Verizon Communications' Fios TV service has signed a deal with Google TV Ads to feature video ads uploaded to Google by advertisers wanting to use the search giant's self-service ad tools, the companies announced today. Advertisers will be able to reach an additional 3.3 million homes with the deal, which will see Verizon and Google collaborating on yet another project, in line with their strong Android partnership and joint efforts on Net neutrality. Google TV Ads doesn't get as much buzz as other parts of the company's advertising network, but Google has been plugging away at the effort for several years after shutting down similar services for print and radio advertising. Businesses that already have accounts with Google for search or display advertising can also get into television through Google TV Ads, but it's not clear how much of Google's huge search-advertising base has flirted with the small screen. Google also signed up DirecTV earlier this year as a partner. This is a separate project from Google TV, which currently doesn't feature any advertising, but it's likely only a matter of time before Google starts experimenting with ads there. It will have to get a little more traction in the market, however' early reviews of Google TV, including CNET's, were not overwhelming.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Expert: Next Congress may slow green job growth]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=expert-next-congress-may-slow-green-job-growth</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=expert-next-congress-may-slow-green-job-growth</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:10:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>footballtshirts1</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=expert-next-congress-may-slow-green-job-growth</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Republican gains in the next Congress will likely curtail spending on green construction projects, but the sector promises to be a source of job growth for an economy that sorely needs it, advocates said on Tuesday.&quot;America needs 30 million jobs. Our mission ought to be to make those green jobs,&quot; David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of nine labor unions and four environmental groups, told the Greenbuild Expo in Chicago.Foster predicted that Republican gains in the November 2 election mean there will be little government investment in green projects next year. But the year after that, Americans will still be clamoring for jobs, and government will have to act, he said.A study done for the U.S. Green Building Council, organizer of the trade show, estimated that green construction projects had created 2.4 million American jobs between 2000 and 2008.The Booz Allen Hamilton study projected green building projects will support or create 7.9 million jobs between 2009 and 2013 and will contribute $554 billion to the U.S. gross domestic product.Weatherization of existing buildings, rehabilitation of older buildings to save energy, renewable energy projects, and a host of other green construction efforts would all be a source of jobs, Foster and other advocates said.The nearly exhausted federal stimulus program included $80 billion in funding to promote a &quot;green energy economy&quot; and had been effective, Foster said.&quot;There's a great record of job creation (with green projects). The problem is you can't do it just once in a little package. These are big, long-term investments,&quot; Foster said.China has generated a million green jobs in the past five years, and Foster said it had overtaken the United States in solar and wind energy.&quot;China's going to steamroll us if we don't get into the game,&quot; he said.Foster expressed regret that the newly elected Republican governor of Wisconsin had promised to halt funding for a high-speed rail project. And New Jersey's governor halted a project to build another train tunnel between his state and New York City.Locating the trade show in Chicago seemed appropriate. Chicago has more building projects--40--certified under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and more space devoted to green roofs than any other U.S. city, a spokesman said.Story Copyright (c) 2010 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft mocks Apple in new 'PC and Mac' ad]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-mocks-apple-in-new-pc-and-mac-ad</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-mocks-apple-in-new-pc-and-mac-ad</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Nov 2010 08:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Catherine</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-mocks-apple-in-new-pc-and-mac-ad</guid>
<description><![CDATA[So you remember how Apple used to laugh at Microsoft for years and yearsYou know, there was that portly chap in the glasses who couldn't quite get anything right and secretly marveled at Apple's ability to both be very clever and, well, attract a very high class of sleeping partnerWell, Microsoft has decided to try its hand at handing it to Apple.For look what has appeared on the Windows YouTube site. Yes, it's aWindows 7 &quot;I'm a PC&quot; ad. (Oh, you might call it a video. But to me, everything is an ad, regardless of where it happens to appear.)Here we haveMac and PC flying on a rocket-plane made out of Andy Warhol's castoff props. Scarcely has the rocket-plane reached its cruising altitude before the Windows 7 PC shows off its buff new exterior. And, indeed, interior.For it has something that Mac does not. No, not the adulation of Megan Fox, but the next best thing. Yes, built-in Blu-Ray.Perhaps you are as completely mesmerized by this information as is the rather worn-out Mac in this ad. Perhaps the presence of built-in Blu-Ray will tip the balance for you, so that your enjoyment of &quot;Avatar&quot; will feel four-dimensional the next time you go on a rocket-plane to visit your relatives. For myself, I am reminded of reality shows. They are always better when there is a certain amount of conflict. One loud woman decides to tug at another loud woman's hair extensions on &quot;The Bachelor.&quot; One large man steals another large man's pea puree on &quot;Top Chef.&quot; These are the things that keep us excited, begging for more.So it is quite delightful that Microsoft's former chubby, downtrodden self is standing up to the handsome, eligible Mac that began to show a little smugness beneath its dazzling beauty. (Oh, even George Clooney succumbs just once in awhile.) Welcome, then, to the &quot;I'm a PC and you're an Annoyingly Popular Former High School Quarterback and Rhodes Scholar with Bulges in All the Right Places and a House on Lake Como&quot; campaign.May the fight be unfair, amusing, and draw just a little blood.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[U.S. Cellular to launch LTE network by 2012]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--cellular-to-launch-lte-network-by-2012</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--cellular-to-launch-lte-network-by-2012</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Nov 2010 08:10:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Samgeogry</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=u-s--cellular-to-launch-lte-network-by-2012</guid>
<description><![CDATA[U.S. Cellular offered additional details on its next-generation LTE network yesterday when a company exec said it would begin testing early next year. According to Steven Campbell, CFO and executive vice president, the regional carrier will select its first trial market in late 2011 with full commercial deployment following in 2012. Campbell made the remarks while speaking the Wells Fargo Technology, Media &amp; Telecom Conference in New York City.U.S. Cellular has yet to select an LTE equipment vendor, but Fierce Wireless reported that the carrier is open to securing deals with companies like Clearwire and Ligtsquad, particularly if they can provide additional spectrum. Campbell did not offer additional details and said only that the carrier was not feeling &quot;a sense of crisis or urgency.&quot;If the 2012 date holds, however, U.S. Cellular will be far behind its rivals in rolling out a next generation network (though carriers bill them as such, LTE and its the competing WiMax standard aren't officially 4G technologies). Sprint has steadily expanded its WiMax network since it debuted in Baltimore in 2008 and Verizon Wireless has promised to launch 38 LTE cities by the end of the year. Also, regional carrier MetroPCS now operates LTE service in Detroit, Dallas, and Las Vegas.As the the nation's sixth largest country after the &quot;big four&quot; (Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&amp;T) and MetroPCS, U.S. Cellular serves 6.1 million customers in 26 states scattered around the center of the country, New England, the Pacific Northwest, and the Southeast.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft lets Hotmail users set encryption by default]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-lets-hotmail-users-set-encryption-by-default</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-lets-hotmail-users-set-encryption-by-default</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:35 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sophia01</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-lets-hotmail-users-set-encryption-by-default</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Hotmail users can set the e-mail service to automatically use https for their sessions.(Credit:Microsoft)Microsoft announced today that it is offering Hotmail users the ability to take advantage of encryption when using the free e-mail service.  To enable full-session HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) for Hotmail you can type in &quot;https://hotmail.com&quot; or set it as the default for e-mail, calendar, and contacts at https://account.live.com/ManageSSL. Previously SSL was only used at the time of sign-in, but now it's available from the start until a user logs off, a Microsoft spokeswoman said.  Also starting today, SkyDrive, Photos, Docs, and Devices pages will all automatically use SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) encryption.  Enabling HTTPS means Outlook Hotmail Connector, Windows Live Mail, and the Windows Live application for Windows Mobile (version 6.5 and earlier) and Symbian won't be available, Dick Craddock, group program manager for Windows Live Hotmail, wrote in a blog post.  Google has always offered Gmail users the ability to use HTTPS and made it the default setting in January, and offers it as an option for Google Docs as well.  The Microsoft encryption announcement follows new security features Microsoft added in September that make it harder for e-mail accounts to get hijacked and easier for victims to recover them if that happens. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Browser underdog Opera fights for survival]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=browser-underdog-opera-fights-for-survival</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=browser-underdog-opera-fights-for-survival</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 08 Nov 2010 08:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>jacelynwyl</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=browser-underdog-opera-fights-for-survival</guid>
<description><![CDATA[OSLO, Norway--Opera Software, the scrappy Norwegian browser maker, today faces arguably the biggest competitive threats of its 15-year history.CEO Lars Boilesen must lead Opera amid serious competitive challenges.(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET)The first challenges are on personal computers. Right after Google's Chrome burst onto the scene two years ago, Opera slipped from fourth to fifth place in browser usage worldwide. And longtime archrival Microsoft is no longer the punching bag of the browser market' its forthcoming IE9 is a serious attempt to match rivals in performance and support for new Web standards.Second, in Opera's other domain, Apple'siPhone and now Google's Android are rewriting the mobile browsing rules. Their browsers are adapted for phones more like miniature desktop computers than the small-screened, candy bar-shape models that prevailed when Opera's mobile browsing business began.And yet the Oslo underdog has adapted to crises before and appears to be adapting to the present changes as well.In a series of interviews at its headquarters here, Opera executives showed they suffer no illusions about the competition. They also made a credible case that Opera, while not about to dethrone its bigger rivals, will continue to defend its turf with a profitable business.A new mobile strategyOne cornerstone of its confidence comes from a major shift in its mobile strategy in response to a dark, unprofitable patch in the second half of 2009. Opera shifted its alliance efforts from phone companies to the powerful network operators who see their future threatened by the new generation of smartphones and services.Revenue from mobile network operators is growing--and a growing fraction of Opera&amp;39's business. Here it's shown in Norwegian Kroner.(Credit:Opera)&quot;We're taking bigger bets on operators because they need us more than bigger handset operators,&quot; said CEO Lars Boilesen. Phone makers' expansion into operating systems, applications, and app stores threaten to demote carriers to mere &quot;dumb pipes,&quot; but Opera's software can help maintain those carriers' customer relationships.And so far, the shift is paying off for the browser company. For one thing, Opera has more engineers to devote to the core products--Opera Mini and Opera Mobile--because the company is delivering the same branded browser to carrier partners rather than variations of an unbranded browser to phone makers. For another, the carriers pay recurring fees based on active users, not the one-time, up-front payment of phone makers.The result: revenue from operators has increased to $9 million in the second quarter of 2010, up from about $7.1 million two quarters earlier.Revenue from Opera's desktop browser, which runs on Windows,Mac OS X, and Linux and comes with a money-making search box leading to Google or other search engines, helped prop up the finances during the mobile transition. And a newer business--browsers on Net-connected TVs and set-top boxes--also is increasing. Overall, the company's second-quarter net income was a $3.3 million--less than a rounding error at its competitors but enough profit to keep the company in its niche.Opera co-founder Jon S. von Tetzchner(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET)A 15-year OperaOpera was founded June 22, 1995, though its roots extend to a research project begun in 1994 at Telenor, Norway's largest telecommunications company. It remains in the same Oslo building that's housed it for years, even as its neighbors--search company Fast Search and Transfer, developer toolmaker Troll Tech, and videoconfercing specialist Tandberg--sold to Microsoft, Nokia, and Cisco Systems, respectively.It's very far from the U.S. software industry--geographically and culturally. Even with fierce competition from overseas rivals, several Opera employees took pride in a work-life balance at odds with the Silicon Valley ethos.And yet it's not only eked out a living, persisting as browser efforts from IBM, Symantec, Sun Microsystems, and Netscape fell by the wayside, it's actually won a measure of influence.Opera helped keep the fires of Web development burning during the dark years when Microsoft's Internet Explorer grew dormant after winning the browser wars of the 1990s and when standards groups were fruitlessly focused on dead-end XHTML technology. It won a band of loyal users who help to promote the browser, eagerly pointing out that innovations such as tabbed browsing, a built-in search box, Web page thumbnails on the new-tab page originated at Opera. It's secured some helpful geographic strongholds such as Russia. And itsmobile browser products top the market even as the headlines go to Apple. Partly through its standards-group work, Opera punches above its weight in the industry. Its independent support can help new technology such as Google's WebM for video streaming or Mozilla's Web Open Font Format get off the ground, for example. And its chief technology officer, H&amp;229'kon Wium Lie, worked with Web founder Tim Berners-Lee and founded the Web formatting technology called Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) that's now one of the hottest areas of Web design. Opera CTO H&amp;229'kon Wium Lie(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET) Perhaps surprisingly, the company now employs 700 people, and 80 percent of them are engineers. The vast majority of people don't use Opera's products, but those who do now number more than 140 million.Those engineers are working on cramming features into Opera. Its new version 11 for desktop machines, though still in alpha testing, will be an important test as Opera adds extensions to customize the browser and match rivals' hardware acceleration, according to Lars Erik Bolstad, vice president of core technology. Those programmers also are building hardware acceleration into Opera Mini and Mobile so, for example, pinch-to-zoom and scrolling work smoothly on capable phones Real threatsThe competitive threats are real, though. Even as Opera hangs on to its slice of browser market, three of its competitors--Apple, Google, and Microsoft--are tech giants with powerful global brands and tremendous financial resources. The fourth, Mozilla, rose from the ashes of Netscape with Firefox. It, not Opera, is the independent browser that grew to the top alternative to the browser built into Windows.All these competitors are pouring development funds into their browsers as the market takes on new importance. The increasing power of Web applications such as Google Docs and Facebook means customers spend ever more time working and living within the frame of a browser window. Chrome continued its growth October 2010, but Opera has languished with largely unchanged share of worldwide browser usage.(Credit:data from Net Applications' chart by Stephen Shankland/CNET) And Opera isn't at the top of Web developers' priority lists. Web standards mean compatibility isn't as hard as it once was, but it's still a huge problem. The deluge of new technologies, some essentially trial versions of what might become standards, make it worse.&quot;I always feel Opera is the Rodney Dangerfield of browsers. They get no respect,&quot; said Brad Neuberg, who's worked on many Web projects at Google including Google Docs and Gears before striking off to begin a start-up trying to capitalize on HTML5 and related Web technologies.&quot;There's a clunkiness to it,&quot; Neuberg added. &quot;The technical underpinnings are amazing,&quot; but Opera needs a user experience experts to &quot;make it feel like a joy to use.&quot;On the mobile side, development is on fire with the new generation of smartphones. Even though native applications are a dominant means of tapping into network services on iOS and Android devices, mobile browsing use also is growing at a healthy rate.  Opera desktop revenue, fueled by revenue-sharing deals with companies such as Google, has been increasing.(Credit:Opera) Notably, iOS's Safari and Android's built-in browser are both based on the same open-source engine, WebKit. As notably, so is the browser in Hewlett-Packard's WebOS for Palm phones, Samsung's Bada mobile operating system, and the browser coming to new BlackBerry devices. WebKit has proven a unifying, empowering force in mobile browsing.Indeed, it was WebKit that whacked Opera's unbranded browser business. Mobile choices Opera sees room for others--hardly a surprise given that about 70 percent of its revenue comes from mobile compared with about 30 percent for its desktop browser. It's adapting its two browsers--Mini and Mobile--to keep its business humming despite the smartphone market upheaval. First, a primer on what separates the two. Opera Mini, the company's first mobile browser, is geared for wimpier hardware. To handle pages on a Web steadily growing more complicated, Mini uses Opera servers to read the Web pages, boil them down into a compressed state, then send them to the display vessel that is Mini. It makes money for Opera when the company customizes it to put carrier-preferred shortcuts on the &quot;speed dial&quot; quick-launch page--for example a Vodafone offer for two free weeks of Internet access in Egypt--and can share in resulting revenue.Opera Mobile, in contrast, is a full-fledged browser based on the same engine that runs on the desktop version of Opera. That means it works on interactive Web applications where Opera Mini often struggles or fails. It's available on Nokia's Symbian operating system, among other areas, and tomorrow is set to arrive in beta form on Android.  Opera Chief Development Officer Christen Krogh(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET) The Android product will bring the revenue-sharing business model of the desktop browser to new mobile users, said Christen Krogh, Opera's chief development officer. &quot;We want because we think the consumer monetization model we're helping bring about on mobile is going to be really lucrative,&quot; Krogh said. Opera came out ahead when in 2005 it moved from charging for the Opera desktop browser itself to getting a fraction of online transactions such as clicking on search ads that its browser helped facilitate.&quot;We think that model is going to be really lucrative in mobile,&quot; Krogh said.Like Opera for the desktop, Opera Mobile got a turbo mode that can use the Opera servers for a speed boost when networks are strained.&quot;We are living in a bubble,&quot; in first-world countries with disposable income and fast networks, said Jon S. von Tetzchner, Opera's co-founder and until the end of last year chief executive. Opera's browsers are designed to reach the rest of the world as well, and that is where a huge amount of growth for Internet services is taking place.And while the smartphone revolution is real, he said, so is the growth of lesser models. Moore's Law, broadly speaking, has enabled powerful hardware in high-end smartphones, but that's not the only change it's brought to the mobile market.&quot;Instead of something twice as powerful, you're actually seeing a more reasonable price,&quot; von Tetzchner said. &quot;They cut the cost instead.&quot; Such lower-cost handsets are often the staples in areas such as India where mobile phones, not PCs, are the dominant way people tap into the Net.  Opera is working on Opera Mobile, its full-fledged mobile browser, for Android devices, with public beta release set for Tuesday.(Credit:Opera) Turbo time&quot;When CPUs get faster, we want to do hardware acceleration as much as the next guy, but we also want to do the harder optimization--what do you do when the device is almost crawling&quot; von Tetzchner said. &quot;From a programmer challenge point of view, that's a much harder problem.&quot;And it's still relevant in the rich part of the world, where network connections often are overtaxed even where high-speed networks have arrived. Opera Mini and Opera Mobile can also cut data usage for the large number of people without unlimited data plans.The service is widely used' Opera just opened a new data center in Iceland to support 20 million Opera Mini users in Europe, Africa, and Asia. It's not easy to run at scale, as browser maker Skyfire showed when its new browser application for streaming Flash to the iPhone overwhelmed its servers.Carriers like it the turbo service because it gives them precise visibility into statistics such as how people use the Net, for example letting them gauge how likely people are to need more lucrative higher-end data subscription plans.&quot;We give them precise analytics of Opera users on the network,&quot; Boilesen said. Opera opened new operations at the Thor Data Center in Iceland to service Opera Mini users.(Credit:Opera) Also, through a 2010 acquisition of Californian mobile ad network AdMarvel, Opera has the ability to feed ads efficiently into the billions of Web pages it delivers through its servers. It's not a lot of revenue today, but Opera expects growth.But Opera still needs to work on its turbo mode, Boilesen said--starting with visibility.&quot;We have not really successfully launched turbo,&quot; he said. &quot;We don't need to relaunch it, but we need to get people to try turbo on phones.&quot;In the big picture, being a gateway to tens of millions of people's usage of the Web is indeed a powerful position. The company just needs to figure the best way to accommodate Web applications, avoid abuses of its privileged role, and extract money from the role most effectively.&quot;I think it's interesting times for Opera,&quot; Boilesen said. &quot;We have something nobody else has.&quot; <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Is cloud gaming service OnLive really worth $1.8B (poll)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-cloud-gaming-service-onlive-really-worth-1-8b-poll</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-cloud-gaming-service-onlive-really-worth-1-8b-poll</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>cinematime</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-cloud-gaming-service-onlive-really-worth-1-8b-poll</guid>
<description><![CDATA[OnLive&amp;'s $40 million in funding from HTC yesterday has everyone in the game business wondering what the company&amp;'s overall valuation might be.One expert we asked came up with an estimate of $1.8 billion for the cloud gaming service startup. That would make OnLive one of the most valuable game industry startups around. Although few people grasp the company&amp;'s strategic importance, the valuation is plausible, given the potential for disruption that OnLive can cause to the entire video game industry.So how plausible is that $1.8 billion figure Justin Byers at VCExperts specializes in examining private company filings. Based on a recent filing that could be related to the HTC deal, Byers said that OnLive authorized the issuance of 8 million shares of Series E preferred stock at $7.50 a share (that price is the same as what HTC said it paid). The total authorized shares are now 358.4 million, while the total number of common shares authorized are 240 million. If all of the authorized common shares were issued, then the value comes out to $1. 8 billion.&amp;''We are not saying that is the valuation,&amp;'' Byers said. &amp;''We are saying it could be that high.&amp;''The open question is whether the Jan. 31 OnLive filing relates directly to HTC. In HTC&amp;'s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange, HTC said that it paid $7.50 a share to buy 5.33 million shares of privately held OnLive. HTC said the value of the deal was $40 million, but it didn&amp;'t say what percentage of OnLive it owns. If it had, the calculation would be easy.But we have some evidence to suggest that $1.8 billion is correct. Last year, both Belgacom and British Telecommunications each paid $7.50 a share for 2.6 percent stakes each in OnLive. At the time, Onlive issued 8 million new preferred shares of its private stock and said that its total shares outstanding were 342 million. At that time, Byers calculated that OnLive&amp;'s valuation was either $1.1 billion or $2.2 billion.If OnLive&amp;'s value went from $1.1 billion to $1.8 billion, that&amp;'s a huge swing. But it&amp;'s not so great if it went from $2.2 billion to $1.8 billion. In any case, OnLive&amp;'s valuation could very well be pretty big, even though, as a company, it&amp;'s not on everybody&amp;'s radar.The HTC announcement is a huge boost for server-based gaming, which  promises to disrupt traditional game retailers and game consoles. It  also shows that it will be possible to play the highest-quality games on  mobile devices.OnLive is engaged in a huge expansion onto many different platforms  for its games on demand service. The company launched on the PC in June,  spread to the TV screen via a MicroConsole adapter in December, and  announced it would be built into Vizio TVs in January. Now the company  says its games on demand will be available on HTC phones, specifically the HTC EVO.Palo Alto, Calif.-based OnLive was founded by serial entrepreneur  Steve Perlman. He invested in the technology for nine years before  launching the service last year using internet cloud technology.OnLive  offers instant gratification with its games-on-demand service. Users  log into OnLive and immediately play games  that are computed and stored  on OnLivea4a4s data centers. Users dona4a4t have  to download anything and  dona4a4t need a high-end computer to play high-end  games. So far, OnLive  has been offering a la carte game sales and game  rentals. Since OnLive  focuses on digital distribution of games, it can  disrupt retailers such  as GameStop and put more profits in the hands of  game publishers.OnLive&amp;'s other investors include Warner Bros., Autodesk, Maverick  Capital,  AT&amp;amp'T, British Telecommunications and The Belgacom Group.  The company  was founded nine years ago and has more than 200 employees. (Note: we&amp;'re still looking for direct links for the filings and will update this post as we get them).Online Surveys &amp;8211' Zoomerang.comNext Story: The future of biofuels is in soap Previous Story: Now Andreessen Horowitz owns a piece of Twitter, tooPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: cloud gaming, games on demandCompanies: HTC, OnLivePeople: Steve Perlman          Tags: cloud gaming, games on demandCompanies: HTC, OnLivePeople: Steve PerlmanDean 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. 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[Now You Can Follow Other Commenters On&nbsp'Disqus]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=now-you-can-follow-other-commenters-onnbspdisqus</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=now-you-can-follow-other-commenters-onnbspdisqus</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>eimadep</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=now-you-can-follow-other-commenters-onnbspdisqus</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Popular commenting platform Disqus is adding a big upgrade to its central dashboard today that makes the service feel much more like a social network a4&quot; sort of like a Twitter for comments.For those who haven&amp;'t used Disqus, the service lets you create one profile for all of your comments across any of the hundreds of thousands of sites that support it (we use it on TechCrunch).  The Disqus Dashboard gives you a central hub to view all the discussions you&amp;'ve participated in, but until now it hasn&amp;'t done such a great job helping you find your friends&amp;' comments, or letting you discover users that you may enjoy following. That&amp;'s changing with today&amp;'s update.The biggest new feature is the ability to follow other users. It works as you&amp;'d expect a4&quot; once you&amp;'ve followed someone, you&amp;'ll see their comments show up in your main activity stream. The Dashboard also includes a &amp;8216'Find friends to follow&amp;' widget to help you find interesting content.Of course, you don&amp;'t really have to use the Dashboard if you don&amp;'t want to (and my hunch is that many Disqus users only visit it verya4ssporadically, if at all). That may start to change with these new features, though.Other improvements include the ability to remove or edit comments you&amp;'ve left directly from your Dashboard, instead of having to visit the publisher&amp;'s sites.CrunchBase InformationDISQUSInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[As game business changes, Disney&'s longtime game studios chief resigns (exclusive memo)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=as-game-business-changes-disneyrsquos-longtime-game-studios-chief-resigns-exclusive-memo</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=as-game-business-changes-disneyrsquos-longtime-game-studios-chief-resigns-exclusive-memo</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Celina01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=as-game-business-changes-disneyrsquos-longtime-game-studios-chief-resigns-exclusive-memo</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Disney&amp;'s top video game chief Graham Hopper just announced to the company&amp;'s employees that he is resigning from the division that he ran for more than eight years.Disney did not give a reason for the departure. But it&amp;'s clear that the video game industry is going through a lot of disruptions as social and mobile games join console and PC games as the drivers of growth. Executive departures in this context aren&amp;'t that surprising.Hopper is leaving his job as general manager of Disney Interactive Studios, which has seen huge investments and big title launches in recent years. Its upcoming holiday title, Tron Evolution, is a companion video game for Disney&amp;'s big holiday movie, Tron Legacy. Hopper was able to spearhead the development of such titles. Back when Hopper took over, Disney didn&amp;'t have much credibility in video games.Over the years, Hopper&amp;'s goal was to triple Disney&amp;'s revenues and its investment in video games, building a large collection of internal game studios to make a wide variety of games. But Disney&amp;'s game business went through a lot of changes recently. Disney bought Tapulous, the maker of iPhone music games, for an estimated $33 million. It also bought social game company Playdom for as much as $760 million to break into the market for social games on Facebook and MySpace. In a surprise move, Playdom chief executive John Pleasants became the co-president of Disney Interactive Media Group, overseeing the properties Disney acquired.Pleasants thus became Hopper&amp;'s boss while Hopper&amp;'s previous boss, Steven Wadsworth, resigned in September. Now Pleasants will take charge of Hopper&amp;'s responsibilities as head of the game studios. It seems evident that Disney is unifying its game and internet properties under one executive. It probably didn&amp;'t help that Disney&amp;'s game business was losing money, despite its heavy investment in games.Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger discussed the change that placed Pleasants in charge of the Interactive Media Group and its game division in a recent call with analysts.&amp;''By putting John Pleasants in to run games, not only will he focus on  turning those businesses into profitability but [he'll focus on] diversifying our  presence in the business, so wea4a4re not reliant on one platform thata4a4s  obviously facing challenges,&amp;'' he said. &amp;''Ita4a4s our goal not only to be  profitable, but obviously to get there by shifting our investment.&amp;''Here&amp;'s the complete resignation memo from Hopper below:Dear friends and colleagues,It seems like yesterday I was given the wonderful opportunity to lead the Disney Interactive Studios team and build a 21st century games business worthy of the Disney brand. Since taking on the challenge, I discovered we all enjoy a shared passion for great games, a vigorous creative environment and working together as a collective team which has made every day here worthwhile.After more than eight years at DIS and 19 years at Disney, the time has come for me to move on from the company and set my sights on new horizons. During December I will transition my responsibilities to DIMGa4a4s co-president, John Pleasants, who will continue to manage and oversee DIMGa4a4s collective gaming strategy.As I look back, I am so proud of what wea4a4ve accomplished. Our global games business has grown dramatically, we continue to attract and develop some of the best creative talent in the industry, we create award-winning products, and wea4a4ve reached our target to become a top-five publisher on Nintendo platforms. This was all accomplished by the hard work of every DIS employee and a strong collective belief in the vision we set out to execute on many years ago. We have put Disney on the map in video games, and for that, we should all be extremely proud. As we ship our upcoming titles Disney Epic Mickey and TRON: Evolution, we can be confident that we continue to create, market and deliver high-quality, best-in-class games that both entertain and delight players. My heartfelt thanks go out to all of you and I wish you much success.GrahamNext Story: The latest in the hunt for HP&amp;'s CEO: Pssst. Hey Larry, Leo is hiding out in Palo Alto Previous Story: Viacom blocks Google TV, the madness continuesPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Tron Evolution, Tron LegacyCompanies: Disney, Disney Interactive Studios, PlaydomPeople: Graham Hopper, John Pleasants          Tags: Tron Evolution, Tron LegacyCompanies: Disney, Disney Interactive Studios, PlaydomPeople: Graham Hopper, John PleasantsDean 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[Angry Birds Day, Dec 11 &8211' Something big is going down in London&8230']]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=angry-birds-day-dec-11-8211-something-big-is-going-down-in-london8230</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=angry-birds-day-dec-11-8211-something-big-is-going-down-in-london8230</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>johnma5k</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=angry-birds-day-dec-11-8211-something-big-is-going-down-in-london8230</guid>
<description><![CDATA[By now you will have heard about the first official Angry Birds Day when lovers of that crazy iPhone/Android game come together to celebrate the ongoing war between the birds and the pigs. However, well placed sources told us yesterday that something big was going down on that day, specifically in London&amp;'s Trafalgar Square. Now, this is becoming a big venue to launch big games, especialy console games. Here&amp;'s the spectacular Halo Reach launch with guys in JetPacks earlier this year.There is speculation that Angry Birds for Windows Phone 7 will be anounced on the day. There is also speculation that the game&amp;'s developer, Rovio Mobile, will launch a games console version or that it will spin out a movie.Actually personally I think that maybe, just maybe, something different is going on. Here&amp;'s why. The Finland-based company, headed up by Mikael Hed (CEO) and Niklas Hed (COO), has brought on Peter Vesterbacka as head of business development for North America. Now, Peter is a fascinating guy. He was the founder of HP Bazaar &amp;8211' HP&amp;'s skunk works attempt a few years ago to dominate mobile. He also co-founder Mobile Monday, Mobile 2.0 and several other web and mobility related busines ventures. He&amp;'s a big believer in open source platforms and, from my conversations with him, is very much of the view that games consoles will be disrupted by the Internet and open source. Because, in the end, what you really want to do as a games developer is to get your platform out there. Couple that with the rise of virtual goods and in-app payments and, quite frankly, who needs console platforms any more All you really want to do is own the customer/gamer relationship and billing channel.Now, I am not saying that a movie, Windows 7 version or a console version of Angry Birds won&amp;'t launch on December 11th. But I am saying that is it plausible to expect something far more disruptive from Rovio, given it&amp;'s history and team to date. And right now, the Trafalgar Square meetup is the biggest on the whole day. Just saying&amp;8230'CrunchBase InformationRovio MobileInformation provided by CrunchBaseCrunchBase InformationAngry BirdsInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Samsung edges close to 10M Galaxy S sales]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-edges-close-to-10m-galaxy-s-sales</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-edges-close-to-10m-galaxy-s-sales</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>timberwindow</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-edges-close-to-10m-galaxy-s-sales</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Samsung said two months ago that it expects to sell 10 million Galaxy S Android phones in 2010, and now it looks like the company is set to reach that goal. The Korean phone manufacturer announced earlier this week that it has sold 9.3 million Galaxy S phones worldwide, and that it will likely hit 10 million by the end of the month.Hitting that key sales number would make the Galaxy S the first Android phone to reach 10 million sales worldwide. Of course, Samsung is cheating a bit &amp;8212' the Galaxy S is actually a family of Android phones built around the same basic specifications. For the most part, there are only minor differences between the Galaxy S family members &amp;8212' although the Epic 4G on Sprint is an exception with its slide-out keyboard and front-facing camera.Samsung also announced that it has sold 2 million Galaxy S phones in Korea since it was released in late June &amp;8212' making it the first smartphone in Korea to reach that benchmark. The Galaxy S even surpassed Apple&amp;'s iPhone, which has sold 1.8 million units since it debuted in Korea in November 2009.Samsung&amp;'s success is to be expected &amp;8212' the Galaxy S phones are among the best Android options right now. They&amp;'re so good that Google ended up using the phones as the basis for the Nexus S, which features the same 4-inch Super AMOLED display and 1-gigahertz Samsung Hummingbird processor.Via Information WeekPrevious Story: Rovi aims for consumer digital video with $720M Sonic Solutions buyPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, Galaxy S, smartphonesCompanies: Samsung          Tags: Android, Galaxy S, smartphonesCompanies: SamsungDevindra 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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<title><![CDATA[Is Yahoo Shutting Down Del.icio.us [Update:&nbsp'Yes]]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-yahoo-shutting-down-del-icio-us-updatenbspyes</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-yahoo-shutting-down-del-icio-us-updatenbspyes</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Emma01</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-yahoo-shutting-down-del-icio-us-updatenbspyes</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For a couple of days now, we&amp;'ve been hearing rumors that the Yahoo layoffs included the entire Delicious team. a4sNow Former Yahoo employee and Upcoming founder Andy Baio hasa4stweeted out the above Yahoo! product team meeting slide that seems to show that Yahoo! is either closing or merging the social bookmarking service as well as Upcoming, Fire Eagle, MyBlogLog and others.In some kind of weird founder solidarity, the slide was originally posted on Twitter by MyBlogLog founder Eric Marcoullier.Listed under the ominous &amp;''Sunset&amp;'' are: Delicious, Altavista, MyBlogLog, Yahoo! Bookmarks, Yahoo! PicksUnder &amp;''Merge&amp;'' are: Upcoming, FoxyTunes, Sideline, FireEagle, Yahoo Events and Yahoo People Search.It also looks like sundry Yahoo properties like Yahoo Deals and Yahoo Calendar will be made into features.Delicious, MyBlogLog and Upcoming have been somewhat neglected since being acquired by Yahoo and founders Joshua Schachter, Marcoullier and Baio have all moved on to do other (more successful) things. Perhaps one tell tale sign of Delicious&amp;' demise The support forums are now riddled with spam and team sign-off missives like the one below.I have emailed Yahoo for more information and verification and will update this post when I hear back.Update: AllThingsD&amp;'s Liz Gannes is reporting that the products will be in fact shut down and that the slide does in fact originate from an all hands meeting at Yahoo, following yesterday&amp;'s layoffs. As if we needed more proof, Yahoo Product Manager Blake Irving has threatened to fire whomever leaked the slide.The official response from Yahoo:&amp;''Part of our organizational streamlining involves cutting our investment in underperforming or off-strategy products to put better focus on our core strengths and fund new innovation in the next year and beyond. We continuously evaluate and prioritize our portfolio of products and services, and do plan to shut down some products in the coming months such as Yahoo! Buzz, our Traffic APIs, and others. We will communicate specific plans when appropriate.&amp;''For the few of you unaware this is PR speak for, &amp;''We confirm.&amp;''CrunchBase InformationYahoo!Information provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Andreessen-Horowitz brings enterprise pro Peter Levine on board]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-brings-enterprise-pro-peter-levine-on-board</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-brings-enterprise-pro-peter-levine-on-board</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Thadaartida</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=andreessen-horowitz-brings-enterprise-pro-peter-levine-on-board</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Enterprise pro Peter Levine, a former manager at Mayfield Fund that was a part of Citrixa4a4s $500 million acquisition of XenSource, is joining the storied venture capital firm Andreessen-Horowitz to man its coverage of the enterprise sector.Andreessen-Horowitz is well-established in the enterprise space a4&quot;it has invested in cloud storage provider Box.net and Asana, a collaboration company started by Facebook co-founder Dustin Mokovitz and Justin Rosenstein. But managing a super-fund thata4a4s worth nearly $1 billion can take a lot of work. Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz might both be enterprise pros themselves after orchestrating Opswarea4a4s $1.6 billion sale to Hewlett-Packard, but they were short-handed enough to bring Levine on board.Levine will focus on early-stage and mid-stage companies that are looking for investors in their first and second rounds of funding, he said. To kick that off, hea4a4s invested in Bromium as his debut investment at Andreessen-Horowitz a4&quot;a company that focuses on virtualization and security. Ita4a4s part of Levinea4a4s investing ethos that he brings to the firm: the intersection of enterprise and mobile technology.a4AI think the big trend this year is the enablement of mobile consumer devices into an enterprise environment,a4 Levine said. a4AHow, when somebody has an iPhone or an android device, how do they securely incorporate that into an enterprise environment.a4Ita4a4s a complicated enough trend, too a4&quot; most large companies fret about bringing in external devices that might not be secure and are easy to hijack for information. But ita4a4s a trend that is on its way regardless of what larger companies want, he said. Therea4a4s a huge opportunity for companies working on securing that data on Android devices and other mobile devices, which is what he said he wants to focus on specifically.Levine will operate as a a4Aventure partner,a4 a role the firm crafted just for him. It amounts to being a part-time general partner, he said. That means that he will be coordinating investments and also serve on the boards of companies he invests in. But he will also split his time with his current company Citrix, he said.Previous Story: Firefox 4 available now, a day before official releasePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: a16z, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Peter LevineCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, citrix, Opsware, xensource          Tags: a16z, Ben Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, Peter LevineCompanies: Andreessen Horowitz, citrix, Opsware, xensourceMatthew 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[Google Earth Adds A Panoramic Photo Layer For A 360-Degree&nbsp'View]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-earth-adds-a-panoramic-photo-layer-for-a-360-degreenbspview</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-earth-adds-a-panoramic-photo-layer-for-a-360-degreenbspview</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>insoxsomqxaaycshrq</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-earth-adds-a-panoramic-photo-layer-for-a-360-degreenbspview</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google Earth&amp;'s ability to provide a visually compelling view of the world&amp;'s terrain, cities, oceans, weather data, treks, and more never ceases to amaze me. It looks like Google has added another way for users to view the world in Google Earth: panoramic photos. Google Earth now includes a Photo layer which will allow users to find 2D photos taken from Panoramio (a photo community Google acquired in 2007), as well as panoramic photos sourced from 360cities.net, which collects panoramic photography on the web. Google had previously integrated 360 Cities into Google Earth under the Gallery layer, but this appears to be a deeper integration of the photos into the viewing experience. In Google Earth, the panoramic photos from 360 Cities are marked with red square icons and the photos from Panoramio are marked with a blue icon. If you click the icon, you&amp;'ll be shown a bubble with a panoramic image. You can click again to see a larger version of the panoramic image in photo viewing mode. 360 Cities has a pretty vast database of panoramic photos thanks to its vibrant community of photographers and travelers. The new photo layer not only allows you to get an immersive view of a city or landmark, but it could save you from buying a plane ticket as well. CrunchBase InformationGoogle EarthInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Square PR on Jack Dorsey rumors: &''Nothing has changed&'']]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=square-pr-on-jack-dorsey-rumors-8220nothing-has-changed8221</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=square-pr-on-jack-dorsey-rumors-8220nothing-has-changed8221</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>xxygfilmes87</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=square-pr-on-jack-dorsey-rumors-8220nothing-has-changed8221</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has returned to active duty at the company and is evolved in &amp;''fixing&amp;'' the product, according to a report in Business Insider that cites &amp;''three industry sources.&amp;''I emailed both Twitter and Dorsey, and I got the following response (I&amp;'ve cleaned up the punctuation and capitalization because that&amp;'s how I roll) from Kay Luo, formerly of LinkedIn&amp;'s public relations team who&amp;'s now the PR person for Dorsey&amp;'s new startup Square:Jack forwarded me your email. Nothing has changed. He&amp;'s CEO of Square and it&amp;'s his top priority (frankly, I wouldn&amp;'t have joined if this were not the case). He&amp;'s also chairman at Twitter.Note that this isn&amp;'t a complete refutation of Business Insider&amp;'s story. As Luo points out herself, Dorsey is Twitter&amp;'s chairman, so in that role it&amp;'s possible that he would consult on product decisions. Clearly he&amp;'s not getting too involved in Twitter if he&amp;'s still running his own startup, and there&amp;'s no reason to believe he&amp;'d be scale back his involvement in Square.The more interesting question is whether this reflects tension at Twitter. After all, co-founder Ev Williams took over the CEO spot from Dorsey in 2008 , then Dick Costolo took over from Williams in last month. Business Insider reports that Dorsey&amp;'s involvement is at Costolo&amp;'s request, and that Williams isn&amp;'t happy about it.Twitter did not respond to my request for comment.Next Story: Privacy on social networks a concern for old, not young Previous Story: SoGeo unveils location-recommendation app WhatserPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: rumorsCompanies: Square, TwitterPeople: Dick Costolo, Ev Williams, Jack Dorsey          Tags: rumorsCompanies: Square, TwitterPeople: Dick Costolo, Ev Williams, Jack DorseyAnthony is VentureBeat's assistant editor, as well as its reporter on media, advertising, and social networks. Before joining VentureBeat 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[Foursquare fights fake friends]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=foursquare-fights-fake-friends</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=foursquare-fights-fake-friends</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>JozhssonDate</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=foursquare-fights-fake-friends</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Popular check-in application Foursquare is facing a problem that has long bedeviled social networks &amp;8212' spurious friend requests. And it&amp;'s dealing with violators by putting a cap on them.Users now have a limit on the total number of friends they can have as well as the number of friend requests they can send, a change  first noticed by AboutFoursquare.com.For the average user, this may not be an issue: Most users don&amp;'t want thousands of people knowing where they are at any given time. So the policy is likely targeted at businesses looking to take advantage of creating a profile on Foursquare. Like Twitter, the microblogging network for posting short status updates, Foursquare allows businesses to create profiles in the same way that people do. That liberal policy is unlike Facebook, the dominant social network, which only allows real human beings to create profiles and requires businesses to use a different format called Pages.Some companies have been randomly sending friend requests to thousands of Foursquare users, like Bastardjeans.com, which currently has 61, 923 friends. Why would they do this Well, the benefit comes when one of those users checks in to a venue where Bastardjeans.com has left a tip. Since friends&amp;' tips are displayed first, Bastardjeans.com gets more visibility.Other advantages include being able to know where these users are fromtheir check-ins,as well as being able to send them messages, since many Foursquare users share contact information with friends. All of these could be advantageous to a business looking to promote itself &amp;8212' though it&amp;'s probably not how Foursquare or most of its users envisioned the service operating.Foursquare CEO Dennis Crowley told VentureBeat that the startup is constantly working to adjust the balance between letting businesses engage with users, while at the same time trying to keep a positive user experience. Asked what the limits on friends and friend requests would be, Crowley said, &amp;''I think they&amp;'re still in flux right now.&amp;''As of right now,Foursquare&amp;'s major competitors, Gowallaand Scvngr, do not have plans to restricttotal friends or friend requests. While Foursquare is still young and most users have few friends compared to the bigger social networks, one wonders if the restrictions may push some avid users to eventually go with another location-based applications with fewer restrictions. That happened with Friendster, an early social network which cracked down on fake profiles and lost ground to the less-restrictive MySpace.Foursquare, based in New York City and founded in 2009, has raised more than $21 million in funding. It currently has more than40 employees in its hometown and a new engineering office ita4a4s opening in San Francisco.Previous Story: Salesforce picks up real-time collaboration provider Dimdim to bring Chatter up to speedPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: check-in, friend requests, friends, LBS, location, location based services, location-based, policies, restrictionsCompanies: Foursquare, Gowalla, ScvngrPeople: Dennis Crowley          Tags: check-in, friend requests, friends, LBS, location, location based services, location-based, policies, restrictionsCompanies: Foursquare, Gowalla, ScvngrPeople: Dennis CrowleyCody Barbierri is a social and digital media consultant. He works for Piehead and blogs about social media at Social Tab. (None of his posts are about clients or their competitors.) Reach him at Cody@venturebeat.com. You can also follow Cody 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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