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<title>Haaze.com / Theoder / Voted News</title>
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<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:11:22 +0000</pubDate>
<language>en</language>
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<title><![CDATA[Joi Ito dives into the MIT Media Lab (Q&A)]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=joi-ito-dives-into-the-mit-media-lab-qa</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=joi-ito-dives-into-the-mit-media-lab-qa</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Apr 2011 07:11:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kingservice0</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=joi-ito-dives-into-the-mit-media-lab-qa</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Joi Ito was named the director of the MIT Media Lab on Monday.(Credit:MIT Media Lab)Consider this list of institutions and companies that are at the center of the Internet and technology worlds: Creative Commons, Mozilla, Technorati, ICANN, Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet &amp; Society, Twitter, Six Apart, and Flickr. What do they all have in common If you answered Joi Ito, you're spot on. And now you can add the MIT Media Lab to that list. Ito is a Japanese venture capitalist and entrepreneur who has been running and investing in technology companies like those listed above and serving on the boards of important institutions for years. And on Monday, he was named the new director of MIT's Media Lab, the cutting-edge research center founded in 1980 by Nicholas Negroponte, who among other things, is known for the One Laptop Per Child initiative.Ito's appointment makes perfect sense to many, given the breadth of his experience, his impressive personal network, and his many interests. But as someone who doesn't hold a degree of any kind himself, he is an unexpected choice to head up such an important academic institution. Still, when news of his selection by the lab broke Monday, many of the digerati's best and brightest could barely contain their pleasure. Across the board, Ito was seen as a great fit.For Ito, who pioneered the idea that World of Warcraft is the new golf--building a now-famous guild populated with CEOs and other luminaries, and getting his teams to work together inside the virtual world of WoW--the lab may be the intellectual opportunity of a lifetime. But as anyone who follows him on Twitter knows, staying still is not Ito's thing, in any way. This is a man who travels the world at a rate unlike almost anyone else, and so a position at the helm of a place like the Media Lab would seem certain to curtail his accumulation of airline miles. Yesterday, while he was on a brief trip to Jordan, Ito sat down with CNET for a 45 Minutes on IM interview and talked about whether he'll have to give up looking out the windows of airplanes, about what the Media Lab opportunity means to him, and much more.Q: Thank you so much for doing this, especially on no sleep. So, the first thing I thought--after being very pleased about the news--was, How's Joi going to keep flying all over the world with this new job Is it going to be like George Clooney getting grounded in the film &quot;Up in the Air&quot;Joi Ito: Ha. I think there will be a few phases. I think I'm going to have to ground myself for a bit to get to know the lab well. But I think a lot of what the lab wants from me is to be a conduit to lots of external things, people, sponsors, institutions, cultures. So travel will be part of my job once I've synched with the lab. Also, a lot of my crazy lack of focus is because I quickly break out of molds or want to go do new stuff. My feeling is that the lab can almost do anything. It will allow me to almost &quot;focus on everything&quot; while being focused on the lab because of its diverse and interdisciplinary nature. So I don't know how that translates exactly into my travel schedule, but I think that at least I'll have more of a &quot;home base.&quot;So, you sort of already answered this, and it is kind of a duh question, but why did you want thisIto: The main thing is that there are so many smart, cool students and faculty there empowered to think creatively and big and I really connected with the energy of the place when I visited. That's the main reason. And it turns out that I have accumulated some skills that fit some of the needs and the role of the director position they were looking for. It lets me continue to be interested in just about everything I'm already interested in, but in a community with a platform that will enhance everything. Also, I really enjoy providing context to people who have lots of substance and depth. I learn through interacting with smart people and love to surround myself with mentors and friends who stimulate my thinking. My output is usually context and connections and overall trajectories and vision stuff. So it's also a perfect fit for that kind of activity. Also, there's the right balance of academics, theory, business, short-term, long-term, etc.Can you give a synopsis of the kinds of things that most interest youIto: Not exactly in order, but: Diving, human rights, innovation, copyright, Internet policy, media, art, the Middle East, the mind, video games. Sort of everything actually. I'm trying to think of things I'm NOT interested in.I liked how in your blog post about joining the lab you said that your initial conversation with Nicholas Negroponte was over a horrid cell phone connection. Did you worry that this great opportunity might get lost to the haze of a bad signalIto: Well, there are challenges. We're definitely in a honeymoon period. We're all very excited about each other, which is a good thing. But the devil is in the details in delivering impact. Raising money, etc. There's lots to do. I've never worked in an academic institution and the Media Lab and MIT have never worked with someone like me. We're going to have a challenge, but I think everyone's going to give it their best shot. I met many of the senior administration at MIT and they were all supportive--not just the Media Lab folks. It was very heartening, and also added a great deal of positive momentum for me.The Media Lab is obviously already a great and important institution. But do you have a sense of a couple of the initial things that you'll do to put your impact on the placeIto: I think that the Internet has changed the way that we communicate with the rest of the world, and I think the Media Lab--although it invented a lot of this stuff, hasn't yet embraced all of the tools out there. I think there is a lot of Creative Commons-like openness and sharing, as well as external community building that can happen. Having visited the Media Lab, it's very easy to see how you could spend your whole life immersed there. But I think that some of the things could be opened up more and connected to more outside things. It's not that they don't collaborate, but it could be augmented. Also, the connection to Silicon Valley could be strengthened, as well as with other regions in the world. Nonprofits could have more of a connection. There are some relationships like with the Knight Foundation, but there could be much, much more, especially with social entrepreneurship becoming such an important part of the nonprofit landscape. I think there is a good fit there. But really, I'll decide more once I know what's going on and have a better inventory of what's going on. I want to understand before I make too many recommendationsSo, be honest with me. You said &quot;the Internet has changed the way that we communicate with the rest of the world.&quot; Does that mean you'll be having all your faculty and students doing classes and interaction through World of Warcraft Ito: Ha ha. No, although I'd be happy to have students and faculty join the guild. There are several levels I guess and I'm being sort of intentionally vague because I don't yet know what will work exactly. But I think that the Media Lab could do more with online communities or the Web in general. Also, IP policy is an important part of universities, but I think it can also be friction when trying to connect online. But I'm sort of out on a limb here so I don't want to commit to anything specific since I haven't had long conversations about operational details yet.In your blog post, you talked about merging your existing network with the lab. That sounds like a scary powerful new network. What do you imagine that would be likeIto: Simple stuff initially. I'll have my friends come to the lab and meet the students and faculty, and also bring students and faculty to meet people in my network and join interesting meetings. It's really about connecting people in my network to people at the lab and vice versa. It's not like one big connection, but in a highly contextual way, like synapses in a brain. It's not about power or influence. It's about exactly the right connections that have exactly the right effect. It's all about nuance, which I think people don't really get sometimes when they talk about &quot;networking,&quot; since traditional structures are so monolithic. The key is to make sure that the biologist in Sharjah (United Arab Emirates) working on turning sand into bricks talks to the architect working on open architecture.You've been involved in so many amazing initiatives--Creative Commons, Mozilla, ICANN, Technorati, Neoteny, and on and on...That's more than most people do in a lifetime. How do you do it all Do you sleepIto: Well, I try not to get too &quot;operational&quot; and focus on my areas of strength, which is the high-risk periods, the connections. At Creative Commons I did more &quot;operations&quot; than I normally would because the organization needed it. And at the Media Lab, I have more operational responsibilities too. But in the past I sort of avoided operational stuff and tried to work in a project-oriented way, with exits and ends sort of built in. Like my three-year term at ICANN. Also, since I'm mostly a connector, doing stuff in parallel has a positive network effect even though it limits focus sometimes. But I wouldn't recommend this mode for everyone. It's hard to manage, and you don't get much sleep.I'm sure. Well, getting back to the lab, based on the time you've spent there, and conversations I'm sure you've had, can you tell me about any projects you've seen there that you're particularly excited aboutIto: All of them/lots of them. I'd rather not call out any one in particular right now until I've spent more time there. But I love that they connect all of the areas--biology, art, robots, artificial intelligence, etc.You said that being at the lab made you feel at home for the first time Can you say a little more about what that means to youIto: Well, the focus of the lab, and the fact that it's a good thing to be interdisciplinary. The energy just felt really familiar and made me happy.One of the things I saw pointed out was that you don't have a degree yourself. Did that pose any kind of problem with faculty or anyone Or is that not important in any wayIto: I think the faculty were OK with it, but it was probably tricky for them to think about how it might affect various things. I wasn't privy to all of the conversations, but you have to remember that part of my role is to convince students to finish their Ph.Ds. But I think they were very courageous to do this, frankly. I don't think a Japanese school could do it.Is there anything you can imagine about being in an academic institution that will present a particular challenge for you versus having been in private or nonprofit type organizationsIto: Yeah. The biggest thing is my lack of experience. I'm a quick learner, but there's lots to learn. Also, I need to support my faculty and I worry that my lack of experience and &quot;creds&quot; might hamper my ability to support tenure arguments, etc. Which is important in a university.Switching gears, you said earlier that one of your interests is scuba diving, and when we were setting up this interview you said you were about to take your instructor's exam. How did that goIto: I passed! I'm a PADI open water scuba instructor.I assume that means that the lab should worry that you're going to chuck it all and go teach scuba in Thailand someday soonIto: No, but I might start bugging people at the lab to go diving. Or play World of Warcraft.What is it that you love about divingIto: It requires a lot of focus, so it serves both as a focused thing to do, but also something where I'm not thinking of anything else. It's like a reset. I also learn so much--physics, physiology, ecology, etc. And, many, many of the divers I meet are really cool people. And I can do it everywhere, sort of.I remember your blog post about going and visiting a friend in Costa Rica. Why was that trip so important for you, especially the surfingIto: That trip was important because the town he lives in has no sense of time. You're never anticipating the future. You're living in the &quot;now.&quot; Surfing is kind of like that. And scuba diving, once you get the organization down to a ritual, it's like that too. It's important to live in the &quot;now&quot; to embrace serendipity. That sounds a bit hippie, but it's true.Last question, and it's my standard last question in this interview series. But I think it's particularly applicable for you. So, I love doing IM interviews for many reasons: I get a perfect transcript, and it gives my interviewees a chance to think a bit more and be a bit more articulate than they might otherwise be. But also, IM allows you to multitask. So, tell me what else you were doing while we were chattingIto: Ha ha. I was watching my Twitter stream. I triaged a bit of e-mail. I sent all of my IM info to everyone at the Media Lab and have been accepting connection requests. And I looked at my World of Warcraft guild forums, and wrote a note saying that I've invited my Media Lab community to join the guild.Well, thank you so much. And again, congratulations! I'll be putting in my application to the lab soon. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Dish Network completes acquisition of Blockbuster]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dish-network-completes-acquisition-of-blockbuster</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dish-network-completes-acquisition-of-blockbuster</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Apr 2011 07:10:30 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>emaburgier</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=dish-network-completes-acquisition-of-blockbuster</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge today approved Dish Network's $320 million acquisition of Blockbuster, once the largest movie rental chain.&quot;We are pleased to have purchased the assets of Blockbuster and look forward to building on the nationally recognized Blockbuster brand while improving the experience of delivering entertainment to consumers,&quot; Tom Cullen, executive vice president for Dish Network, said in a statement. The satellite provider announced its intention to purchase most of the rental chain's assets earlier this month at a bankruptcy court auction. Under the terms of the deal, the acquisition was expected to be completed Thursday but was delayed by Dish's inability to immediately decide which of the 1,500 leases it wanted to keep.Blockbuster filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September 2010 after losing significant market share over the years to Netflix's DVD-by-mail and streaming services. In its filing, Blockbuster said its debts totaled $1 billion, but the company hoped to reduce that to $100 million by offering noteholders equity in the company in exchange for relief on its outstanding debt.In 2008, while Netflix was reshaping the DVD rental landscape with its &quot;Watch Instantly&quot; movie streaming, Blockbuster instead opted for in-store kiosks from which consumers could download movies to personal devices. In 2009, while Netflix generated $115 million in profit thanks to increased adoption of its streaming service, Blockbuster recorded losses of $517 million on revenue of $4 billion.Blockbuster closed nearly 1,000 of its then 7,000 stores in an effort to return to profitability in 2009, but the efforts failed. Last year, Blockbuster was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange because of its low trading price. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Devil's Rope: Barbed wire snags Route 66 travelers]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=devils-rope-barbed-wire-snags-route-66-travelers</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=devils-rope-barbed-wire-snags-route-66-travelers</comments>
<pubDate>Sat, 23 Apr 2011 07:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>perewooni</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=devils-rope-barbed-wire-snags-route-66-travelers</guid>
<description><![CDATA[It&amp;39's like a huge ball of twine, only much more pointy.(Credit:Amanda Kooser/CNET)MCLEAN, Texas--Most people don't think twice about barbed wire, unless they happen to be cattle ranchers, farmers, or junkyard owners. You don't have to be any of those to step into the Devil's Rope Museum on Route 66 here in McLean, Texas, and immerse yourself in the history and lore of the pointy fencing material.I'll admit that at first, I thought the idea of a museum dedicated to barbed wire was pretty weird and possibly a little dull. How many types of barbed wire can there really be As it turns out, thousands. Some of them have some real personality to them, too. One looks like a series of miniature spurs. Another comes in a cheerful shade of red. Some look like wicked ribbons. Festive, but dangerous.A pointed look at barbed wire (photos)  One surprise is the level of ingenuity surrounding the cult of barbed wire. Do-it-yourselfers have adapted the material into sculptures, crows have woven it into nests, and inventors have dedicated countless hours to one-upping each other on barbed wire design and technology. Barbed wire should make it onto every serious maker's materials list. The idea for barbed wire first popped up in the mid-1800s. An endless stream of innovations and adaptions have radiated out ever since. It's not all strings of wire at the Devil's Rope. You can ogle post hole diggers, cattle brands, decorative fence toppers, salesman samples, barbed wire art, and fence-making machines that could double as medieval torture devices.Related links&amp;149' Geek's guide to Route 66, part 1&amp;149' Cadillac Ranch: Texas-size lawn ornaments&amp;149' Route 66: Build your own giant Blue Whale&amp;149' Route 66 Muffler Men: Collect them allI was seriously considering starting up my own barbed wire collection by the time I made it into the gift shop. Like many offbeat and obsessive hobbies, it can add up. Certain pieces of rare barbed wire fetch hundreds of dollars among collectors. One thing is certain: I will never look at barbed wire the same way again. Drop me a line if you happen to have a spare 18-inch strand of &quot;Spur Rowel&quot; wire laying around. I need a centerpiece for my collection.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[GE to build massive thin-film U.S. solar plant]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ge-to-build-massive-thin-film-u-s--solar-plant</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ge-to-build-massive-thin-film-u-s--solar-plant</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:11:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kennithpnt</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=ge-to-build-massive-thin-film-u-s--solar-plant</guid>
<description><![CDATA[GE plans to manufacture 400 megawatts worth annually of thin-film solar cells made with cadmium telluride.(Credit:GE)General Electric plans to build a thin-film solar factory in the U.S. that will produce solar cells that have an efficiency of 12.8 percent, the company announced today. In conjunction with this news, GE also announced that it has acquired PrimeStar Solar, a company GE has had a stake in since 2008.The thin-film solar cells to be manufactured using cadmium telluride were developed by PrimeStar through a cooperative research program with Department of Energy's National Center for Photovoltaics. The cells were given a 12.8 percent efficiency rating, through a verification process conducted by the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL).Even though others have achieved higher efficiencies in the lab, that 12.8 percent efficiency rating is significant in the world of thin-film solar technology manufacturing. Cells made from silicon can convert sunlight to electricity with a 15 percent to 20 percent efficiency, but are much more expensive to manufacture and considered a completely different class of solar cell. Thin-film solar cells made with copper, indium, gallium, and selenide (CIGS) have reached 15.7 percent efficiency in the lab. Related links &amp;149' GE re-enters solar business with thin-film 'system' &amp;149' Solar CIGS reach 15.7 percent efficiency &amp;149' Report: U.S. solar $6 billion industry in 2010A better comparison would be with First Solar, the company that will be GE's leading competitor. First Solar has been producing thin-film solar cells using cadmium telluride for years, and has said those manufactured cells have an 11.2 percent efficiency&quot;Milestones like these are pivotal as the United States looks to drive widespread adoption of solar technologies,&quot; Ryne Raffaelle, director of the National Center for Photovoltaics at NREL, said in a statement.GE said that its new plant, when complete, will be able to produce 400 megawatts worth of thin-film solar cells per year and employ 400 people. That would make it one of the largest thin-film solar manufacturing presences in the U.S.The company didn't give specifics on where the facility will be sited, or when it will go into operation. GE said it plans to announce the location shortly, from among a number of locations being considered.First Solar announced in March that it's building a 250-megawatt plant in Arizona to complement its existing Ohio plant, which will bring its total U.S. manufacturing capacity to 500 megawatts annually by 2012.A few companies, including GE and Abound Solar, have bet on cadmium telluride rather than CIGS. That could be because it is easier to source those two materials instead of the four that go into CIGS. Cadmium and tellurium are often byproducts of mining operations.The U.S. solar market grew 67 percent between 2009 and 2010 and is now a $6 billion market, according to a recent report from Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) and GTM Research. The report saw growth potential in the space as more and more utilities seek to build installations for themselves, or source solar electricity for their portfolio. Worldwide demand for solar is also expected to grow to a $113.6 billion industry by 2020, according to a recent report from Clean Edge.GE has long said that it wants to be a major player in the space, announcing in 2009 that it would have a thin-film manufacturing plant in the U.S. by 2011.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Time Warner, Viacom take iPad issue to court]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=time-warner-viacom-take-ipad-issue-to-court</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=time-warner-viacom-take-ipad-issue-to-court</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 07 Apr 2011 07:10:16 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mickifhfii</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=time-warner-viacom-take-ipad-issue-to-court</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Can your cable company do this Netflix can.(Credit:Apple advertisement for the iPad)Cable television provider Time Warner Cable and content company Viacom swapped lawsuits today about whether Time Warner has the right to make Viacom's programming available to subscribers onApple's iPad.The tussle reflects the growing importance of the Internet as a distribution channel for movies and TV, as streaming companies like Netflix rake in subscribers and subscription fees--and hand out sizable licensing payments to content providers. (It also reflects the iPad's runaway success.)Complexities aside, Time Warner and its ilk are looking to prevent services such as Netflix (not to mention iTunes and other outlets) from making their own offerings look at best outdated and at worst obsolete, while Viacom and its brethren want to protect the additional revenue stream.In a press release today, Time Warner said it had filed a &quot;request for declaratory judgment relating to Viacom cable networks. The request asks the court to rule that Time Warner Cable's rights under its carriage agreement allow it to deliver the programming of this company over its cable systems for viewing on devices of its video customers' choosing, including iPads, in their homes.&quot;Time Warner released an iPad app last month designed to let its subscribers watch specific programs on theirtablets in any room of their house. But reportedly, a flurry of cease-and-desist letters from content providers was behind Time Warner's decision to cut back on the already limited number of channels offered. The company has since tried to fill that gap by adding different channels.In its own suit, filed just after Time Warner's, Viacom seeks an injunction that would stop Time Warner from making Viacom programming available on the iPad or other such devices. It's also seeking damages and asking the court to declare that the Time Warner app violates the companies' agreement. (PDF posted by Engadget)Other cable companies offer programming via the iPad. On Saturday, Cablevision released an app that it says sidesteps the Internet issue and thus stays within the bounds of licensing agreements. Comcast, meanwhile, offers an app that it says was launched with full support from its content providers. And satellite provider Dish Network offers an app that takes yet another path, requiring use of the Sling Adapter to work.Related links &amp;149' Time Warner launches TV-viewing app for iPad &amp;149' Time Warner Cable scales back iPad app channels &amp;149' Cablevision unveils iPad app &amp;149' Netflix acquires rights to stream 'Mad Men'Netflix, as mentioned, has been experiencing staggering growth and reportedly forked over as much as $900,000 per episode recently for the right to stream reruns of &quot;Mad Men.&quot; It also recently inked a deal to stream two of Fox's top TV shows, &quot;Glee&quot; and &quot;Sons of Anarchy.&quot;And a recent study showed that a growing number of people are ready to drop cable for other options, including online streaming services.Apple's iPad 2, meanwhile, may have sold as many as a million units during its first weekend of availability.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The Governator trailer spins Schwarzenegger as a superhero]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-governator-trailer-spins-schwarzenegger-as-a-superhero</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-governator-trailer-spins-schwarzenegger-as-a-superhero</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:10:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Simi</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-governator-trailer-spins-schwarzenegger-as-a-superhero</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The Governator zooming around on his custom motorcycle. Hopefully it wasn&amp;39't paid for by the California government.(Credit:Screenshot by Christopher MacManus/CNET)Arnold Schwarzenegger: a man, myth, and a soon to be animated legendStan Lee, the brilliant mind behind many famous Marvel superheroes, has unveiled the first facepalming trailer for a new animated series called &quot;The Governator.&quot; The three-minute video shows off a souped up '90s throwback cartoon TV show that features ol' Arnie at the end of his eight-year term of governor of California. After resigning, he declares &quot;I won't be back&quot; and fades away from the public eye--until robots overrun the world. In true Stan Lee fashion, the main protagonist has a secret' Arnold isn't just standing by silently during the chaos. He has a secret command center within his California mansion that houses a hodgepodge team of young teen techies, super suits and vehicles to fight crime and stop the robot invasion. Or, in other words, a 63-year-old Austrian Batman that keeps young people locked in his basement.The Governator has some special powers too, including: an electronic &quot;Fly Spy&quot; with a mini-cam that tracks through his &quot;G Shades&quot;' &quot;Bubble Trouble&quot; (bubblegum), that splats to form a secret identity face mask' &quot;Speak Sprays&quot; (disguised as breath freshener) that let him speak a foreign language. Rosetta Stone in a spray bottle Sign me up!The trailer also reveals Arnold rolling on a heavily modified motorcycle that has some sort of purple lightning around the wheels while an overplayed Black Eyed Peas song blares in the background. Commence cringing. &quot;Governator&quot; is due for 2012, coincidentally the same time as the Mayan apocalypse.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Next iPod Nano to get camera]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 04 Apr 2011 07:10:33 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mickifhfii</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=next-ipod-nano-to-get-camera</guid>
<description><![CDATA[An alleged picture of what may be the casing for the next iPod Nano.(Credit:apple.pro)Some people were disappointed when Apple chose to shrink the iPod Nano, give it a smaller 1.5-inch multitouch display, and lose the built-in video camera. Well, if this photo from the TaiwaneseMac Blog Apple.pro--which has been fairly reliable with Apple &quot;spy&quot; pics in the past--is any indication, Apple may be bringing the camera back while retaining the current-generation Nano's tiny form factor.It would be interesting to speculate how you'd shoot with such a small camera, but one obvious method would be to clip it on lapel-style, turning the Nano into sort of a spycam with the proper camouflage. As I wrote before, I'm personally more interested in seeing the Nano get Bluetooth (so you can use wireless headphones with it), though combining a camera with Bluetooth would be intriguing, opening up the possibility to broadcast video wirelessly via a Bluetooth cell-phone connection.The next Nano would be the seventh-generation model. If the past is any indication, Apple will unveil its newiPod products in the September time frame.Source: Apple.pro via 9to5Mac<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Sony PSP, NGP to get Music Unlimited]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sony-psp-ngp-to-get-music-unlimited</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sony-psp-ngp-to-get-music-unlimited</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 01 Apr 2011 07:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>renadar</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-sony-psp-ngp-to-get-music-unlimited</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Music Unlimited is on its way to the Sony NGP, a new report claims.(Credit:Sony)Sony plans to expand its Music Unlimited streaming service to more of its gaming hardware, the company reportedly told Eurogamer in an interview published yesterday.Speaking to the gaming publication, Shawn Layden, executive vice president and CEO of Sony Network Entertainment, said that Music Unlimited would be made available on thePlayStation Portable &quot;in a matter of weeks.&quot; He then turned his attention to Sony's upcoming gaming device, codenamed the Next Generation Portable (NGP), which the company plans to release at the end of 2011.&quot;We will make it happen,&quot; Layden said to Eurogamer in reference to bringing Music Unlimited to the NGP. He went on to tell the publication that he believes his company's services need to be available on that device.Music Unlimited, which came to the U.S. earlier this year, allows users to stream millions of songs on a slew of the company's devices, including its Bravia TVs, Blu-ray players, and the PlayStation 3. The company's $3.99 per month basic plan includes access to the service on those devices, as well as the ability to sync existing music playlists with the user's computer. It also provides full access to the service's personalization offering.Music Unlimited's premium option, priced at $9.99 per month, comes with all the features available in its basic plan, plus the ability to access so-called &quot;premium channels.&quot; Most importantly, it allows for unlimited playback of the available tracks.Sony's long-term plans with Music Unlimited have been speculated about for quite some time, due mainly to the company's own comments about its future.Speaking earlier this year with Australia's The Age, Michael Ephraim, head of Sony Computer Entertainment in Australia, said that Music Unlimited might eventually cause his company to think twice about its partnership with Apple and iTunes.&quot;If we do [get mass take-up] then does Sony Music need to provide content to iTunes'' Ephraim asked during his interview with The Age. ''Currently we do. We have to provide it to iTunes as that's the format right now.&quot;But over the next several years, Sony doesn't seem so convinced of the importance of Apple's iTunes.&quot;Publishers are being held to ransom by Apple and they are looking for other delivery systems, and we are waiting to see what the next three to five years will hold,&quot; Ephraim said.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How to search using IE9's One Box]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-search-using-ie9s-one-box</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-search-using-ie9s-one-box</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:10:08 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>conveyancing</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-to-search-using-ie9s-one-box</guid>
<description><![CDATA[<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Jobs ordered to testify in FairPlay antitrust case]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-ordered-to-testify-in-fairplay-antitrust-case</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-ordered-to-testify-in-fairplay-antitrust-case</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Mar 2011 07:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>novijgodsergeigerasimov</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=jobs-ordered-to-testify-in-fairplay-antitrust-case</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Apple CEO Steve Jobs was ordered by a judge yesterday to answer questions in a deposition related to an antitrust suit filed against the company in 2005 over its FairPlay DRM software.Apple CEO Steve Jobs(Credit:Stephen Shankland/CNET)Attorneys for Apple had argued that Jobs' testimony in this case would be repetitive of what has already been offered as part of the ongoing lawsuit. But presiding over the case known as the Apple iPod iTunes Antitrust Litigation, U.S. Magistrate Judge Howard Lloyd ruled yesterday that this alone was not sufficient to preclude Jobs from testifying.The case, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Jose Division, revolves around Apple's past use of FairPlay to encode its digital music files. Such encoding ensured that songs bought through iTunes would play only on iPods and not other music players and that songs bought through other digital music stores would not play on aniPod.Claiming it was the music companies and not Apple that wanted the digital rights management, Jobs eventually got rid of FairPlay in early 2009, paving the way for DRM-free music through iTunes.But the use of the software found Apple the target of a lawsuit launched in 2005 from a group of iPod and music buyers who claimed that the company's use of FairPlay allowed it to maintain a monopoly over both digital audio players and music downloads.As one example, RealNetworks had challenged Apple in July 2004 by releasing software called Harmony, which was designed to crack through the DRM and allow its own digital music files to play on the iPod.In its strong response a few days later, Apple threatened to block access to RealNetworks' digital music files the next time the iPod software was updated. Apple eventually followed through on that threat by updating the iPod in October and rendering RealNetworks' content unplayable.Though Lloyd has ordered Jobs to testify in the deposition, he did find in favor of Apple on certain motions. The plaintiffs argued that Jobs should be required to answer questions about Apple's initial decision to implement FairPlay and its refusal to license FairPlay to other companies. But the judge rejected both of those arguments.As a result, Jobs' deposition will be limited to two hours during which he'll be asked questions only related to RealNetworks' launch of Harmony in 2004, Apple's response to Harmony, and Apple's iPod update later that year.An Apple spokeswoman told CNET that the company would decline any response to the lawsuit and Jobs' testimony because the litigation is pending.In another matter related to Jobs, the Los Angeles Times is reporting that an investment advisory firm has raised questions over whether the Apple CEO should continue to serve on the board of directors for Walt Disney.Citing his absences from board meetings the past few years, Institutional Shareholder Services acknowledged that Jobs' ongoing medical condition could certainly excuse him from frequent participation. But the group felt that shareholders are entitled to greater disclosure and a full explanation were he to be renominated to the board. Disclosure of Jobs' medical ailments has been a issue that has dogged Apple as well over the years.The AFL-CIO, which owns about 3.8 million shares of Disney, already voted against Jobs returning to Disney's board, the L.A. Times added.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Convofy brings Facebook-like features to business]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=convofy-brings-facebook-like-features-to-business</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=convofy-brings-facebook-like-features-to-business</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>fizblhome</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=convofy-brings-facebook-like-features-to-business</guid>
<description><![CDATA[I thought the whole &quot;Twitter for the enterprise&quot; concept died out after Yammer launched at the TechCrunch conference in 2008. It's an interesting tool, as is competitor SocialCast, but while products like these are achieving some early successes, the real-time, social-networking-at-work thing has not taken the business world by storm. Remember Google Wave It's likely because businesses that already get the concept are using Notes or Sharepoint, and those that don't need to be convinced by their employees--who are dealing with their own social-network overload thanks to Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. The new Convofy, which will launch on April 1 from the makers of Scrybe, is worth a look, though. It's like a Facebook wall for business, with a few cool work-focused features thrown in. It's easy enough to get started and to build up a work network on Convofy, but it also has enough command-and-control functionality to keep the corporate admins happy once they get wind of it. Convofy gives workgroups a Facebook wall-like discussion page.The core of Convofy, an Air client to a cloud-based service, is a conversation screen much like other social workflow apps. Users post ideas, links, and files, and their followers can comment on them. Updates appear on followers' screens in real time. There are mobile apps foriPhone, Android, and modern BlackBerry smartphones.  The fast, real-time app would make Convofy good for keeping teams up to speed on the issues of the moment. Here in our newsroom, I could see using it to share story ideas and coordinate the creation and editing of news packages. It's more dynamic than e-mail, more structured than instant messaging, and better than both for certain communications. Convofy has a strong focus on image and video annotation. It's easy to drag files to the app and then mark them up on the built-in viewer, with little arrows that point from your markups to text you add in a comment window. You can even mark up videos, and the annotations get attached to them at particular time markers. For teams needing to do quick reviews of documents or graphics files, this could be a very useful tool.Mobile users get an HTML5-based app.(Credit:Convofy)The version I tested was still in development, and it shows a bit. While the application is attractive and has a good selection of work-focused features (like a to-do list manager that allows delegation of tasks), it has some design issues. First, the conversation flow can appear overwhelming. Even in a two-party conversation on a demo account, I found it easy to get lost and feel flooded by comments. Second, there are two interfaces for communicating, which is one more than necessary: one is the Twitter-like text comment screen, the other is the document review page, where comments pop up like IM windows over the image or file being discussed.  Convofy's revenue model should work to get the app out there without killing potential profits. The app is free to everyone in a version without much in the way of administrative controls. But that's just what a rogue group of users in a company needs to get up to speed on the app. Once the admins want to lock down on Convofy, they can sign up for administrative and additional security controls, but then they'll have to pay up: $5 per user per month, still reasonable. Robert Scoble has a lengthy video interview with Scrybe CEO Faizan Buzdar. If you're interested in experimenting with social network concepts in your workgroup, I'd recommend trying Convofy with a close group of co-workers when it comes out on April 1. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Facebook takes another swing at Web video]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-takes-another-swing-at-web-video</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-takes-another-swing-at-web-video</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 07:11:26 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>lawan</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=facebook-takes-another-swing-at-web-video</guid>
<description><![CDATA[ Last week, you could rent a movie on Facebook. Today, you can watch a live pro baseball game on the site. Still think Facebook can't be a big player in Web video You can watch the game--today it was a pre-season matchup between the Dodgers and the Rangers--for free, via Major League Baseball's page.  If you click on the image, you'll be directed off-site, where you can sign up for a (free) account and watch the game on a full screen. And maybe you'll end up liking it so much you'll end spending up to $120 for a season-long subscription to MLB.TV's digital video package. Which is really the point of this experiment, says Bob Bowman, CEO of MLB.com, pro baseball's digital operation. Bowman says the free games on Facebook, which began yesterday and will run until opening day at the end of month, are merely supposed to test Facebook's promotional power. (The folks behind Ultimate Fighting Championship have been trying the same thing, by showing some of their preliminary matches for free and trying to upsell viewers on a pay-per-view buy offsite.) It's possible that the league will keep running a single free game a day on Facebook during the regular season, too. MLB.com has tried that in the past on mobile phones, and will be doing it on its own Web site this year as well. But Bowman says there aren't plans to give MLB.TV subscribers full access to games via Facebook, and doesn't plan on selling individual games on the site, either. &quot;What we're trying to do is figure out who these fans are, whether they like it, and whether they share it,&quot; he says. So in case you were planning on panic-selling some shares tomorrow: This move doesn't threaten any established distribution business any more than Facebook's one-off movie rental threatens Netflix. For now. Still, just because Bowman and company are starting with a toe-touch doesn't mean they couldn't take a deeper plunge later on. And live sports seems like something that lends itself quite nicely to Facebook's platform--much more so, really, than watching movies like &quot;The Dark Knight.&quot; And unlike the &quot;The Dark Knight&quot; experiment, there's no e-commerce angle here for Facebook. Users don't need to use Facebook Credits to watch the game, and if MLB.com generates some subscriptions, Facebook won't get a lead-gen fee. But again, it's easy to imagine ways that Facebook could participate in this if they wanted to elbow their way in. For now, though, the site seems content to let developers like Warner Bros., and MLB.com experiment with interesting ways to deliver video--and potentially, all sorts of entertainment--via their platform. Smart. And worth watching. Story Copyright (c) 2010 AllThingsD. All rights reserved.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Balloons float real-life 'Up' house near LA]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=balloons-float-real-life-up-house-near-la</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=balloons-float-real-life-up-house-near-la</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 07 Mar 2011 08:10:58 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>barbarastone</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=balloons-float-real-life-up-house-near-la</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:National Geographic)Ever wished real life could be more like a Pixar movie It was for a little while on Saturday, as a team of awesomizers managed to successfully lift a house into the air, &quot;Up&quot; style, using a cluster of brightly colored balloons. The adorable 2,000-pound, 16x16-foot yellow house took to the skies with the aid of 300 weather balloons that grow to 8 feet tall when inflated. From top to bottom, the entire aircraft measured 10 stories high and reached an altitude of 10,000 feet. It flew for about an hour at dawn from a private airfield east of Los Angeles. Oh, and there were people (of the non-animated variety) aboard.  The floating feat sets a world record for the largest balloon cluster flight ever attempted, according to the National Geographic Channel. It filmed the flight as part of a new series called &quot;How Hard Can It Be&quot; that's set to debut in the fall.  And if you're wondering how hard it can be to set a balloon-supported house aloft, well, &quot;it was pretty hard,&quot; Paul Carson, the show's host, notes in the behind-the-scenes video below. &quot;It was very difficult actually.&quot; Volunteers in California&amp;39's High Desert prepare the house for liftoff Saturday. (Credit:National Geographic)A view of the 300 balloons from the inside of the little house. (Credit:National Geographic) Pixar's 10th animated feature focuses on the fate of 78-year-old Carl Fredricksen, his house, and a wayward 8-year-old who happens by one day. Launched into the sky together by a cluster of balloons tied to the roof of Fredricksen's house, the two set off on what could safely be called a high-flying adventure. It took the National Geographic team of scientists, engineers, and balloon pilots two weeks to pull off their version of the &quot;Up&quot; house--from the initial assignment through planning, building, and rigging the house and setting it aloft in the clear skies to cheers down below. Carson picks &quot;incredulity&quot; to describe the dominant feeling among the crew as the house made its way skyward. As for us, &quot;grinning like dopes&quot; would about cover it. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Reports: Google yanks infected Android apps]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=reports-google-yanks-infected-android-apps</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=reports-google-yanks-infected-android-apps</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 02 Mar 2011 08:10:17 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>resbimmarlk</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=reports-google-yanks-infected-android-apps</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google apparently has used a kill switch to remove 21 malware-infected apps from both its Android Market and from people's Android devices.Calling the Trojan the &quot;mother of all Android malware,&quot; enthusiast site Android Police said yesterday the infected apps were discovered by a Reddit user. That Reddit user found that pirated versions of legitimate apps were infected by a Trojan called DroidDream, which uses a root exploit dubbed &quot;rageagainstthecage&quot; to compromise a device.This piece of malware is especially virulent because it apparently cannot only capture user and product information from a device but also has the ability to download more code capable of further damage. The 21 apps in question, all now taken down but still listed by Android Police, came from a publisher named Myournet. However, mobile security vendor Lookout and other sources said yesterday that DroidDream has so far shown up in more than 50 Android apps, including ones from other publishers.Conversation threads on Reddit suggest that Google was slow to respond to the malware discovery after the company was first alerted via official channels. But after contacting someone at Google directly, Android Police said the company responded quickly to remove the infected apps.Like Apple, Google has a kill switch that gives it the ability to remotely remove apps from users' phones andtablets that it deems are in violation of its developer agreements. As in this case, such a feature can be used to wipe out apps infected by malware.At least 50,000 people had downloaded the apps in question, according to enthusiast site AndroidCentral. However, many of those potentially infected may have been protected by staying current with the latest Android updates. AndroidCentral notes that Google actually patched its source code to prevent this type of exploit for users running Android 2.2.2 or higher and that the vulnerability doesn't exist at all in Gingerbread, aka Android 2.3.CNET has contacted Google for further information and will update the story if and when more details are released.This new exploit follows a report of a bot called Android.Pjapps that also has turned up in phony versions of legitimate Android apps. The difference is that the bot infected only apps in unregulated Android app stores, whereas DroidDream found its way into Google's &quot;regulated&quot; Android Market.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[How online tools spoil reality show secrets]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-online-tools-spoil-reality-show-secrets</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-online-tools-spoil-reality-show-secrets</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 22 Feb 2011 08:10:45 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>rasrasbimuir</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=how-online-tools-spoil-reality-show-secrets</guid>
<description><![CDATA[For the producers of a reality show like &quot;The Amazing Race,&quot; the headaches probably don't get much bigger than those caused by the TAR Detectives.A global, loosely formed group of sleuths dedicated to uncovering and publicly revealing spoilers about TAR, or &quot;The Amazing Race,&quot; the detectives have proven what the producers of any number of reality shows have learned: It's nearly impossible to keep what happens during filming a secret from those determined to find out.And thanks to the growing number of online and social-media tools available, and the vast numbers of people who use them, ferreting out ahead of time what happens on reality shows appears to be getting easier and easier to do.'The Bachelor' is just one of many reality show whose fans can easily find accurate spoilers online any time they want.(Credit:ABC)For years, spoiler sites have been great at offering up informed guesses of what might happen--like who will be voted out, or who will perform, on the next episode of shows like &quot;Survivor,&quot; &quot;American Idol,&quot; &quot;The Bachelor,&quot; and the like. But bloodhounds who frequent popular fan sites and forums have shown how easy it is to exploit the fact that these days, widespread use of Twitter and Facebook can lead those who know where to look to all kinds of accurate conclusions about what will happen throughout a season of some of these shows.&quot;We can actually draw up our own map&quot; of where &quot;The Amazing Race&quot; contestants will go during a forthcoming season, said Boingo, a longtime member of the TAR Detectives. &quot;In fact, we actually have the entire course pretty well laid out.&quot;Boingo, a technology industry professional from Northern California who asked that his real name not be used, is a longtime member of the TAR Detectives and a habitue of the Reality Fan Forum, a site where spoilers about &quot;The Amazing Race&quot; and other reality shows are given prominent play.He explained that in the early days of &quot;The Amazing Race,&quot; those interested in figuring out and disseminating spoilers were limited to keeping an eagle eye on previews for upcoming episodes and using services like Flickr and Photobucket to try to make assumptions based on what little the producers of the show offered up. But over the years, Boingo explained, a succession of new online tools have made it possible to uncover more and more about what will happen on the show. First services like Google Earth and Google Street View allowed the detectives to figure out where certain buildings shown in previews might be--and therefore, where the show would be heading next. &quot;The way it worked was that, in previews, you'd [be able] to identify a building behind the contestants,&quot; Boingo said, and using Google Earth or Street View, &quot;that would give you a location, and then you could narrow it down to a city, or even a street, and you could glean a lot of information about where the contestants were&quot; going.More recently, however, it's become harder and harder for producers to keep information about even entire seasons under wraps. For one thing, given the fact that &quot;The Amazing Race&quot; is filmed in public places around the world, it's hard to keep people from tweeting or posting to Facebook that they just saw the show come through their town. &quot;People post, 'Oh, I happened to see a camera crew going by my house,'&quot; Boingo said, &quot;so we knew approximately where racers were...after [filming] but before airing.&quot;And because of Twitter, it's become easy, Boingo said, for TAR Detectives in the Los Angeles area--where the show's producers are based and where it usually starts from--to find tweets from random people about the show's producers and crews getting ready to depart from the airport there and quickly rush out to see where they're headed. &quot;With Twitter, you could just sit there and search for the phrase 'The Amazing Race,'&quot; Boingo said, &quot;and someone would invariably tweet, 'Oh, I just saw [a film] crew, and someone in LA would run to the airport to take pictures of the crew and cast, and track them in real time.&quot;The upshot, Boingo continued, is that by keeping a close eye on social media mentions about the show and about where its crews and cast are spotted, it has become a simple matter for those intent on doing so to track the show's developments almost in real time and piece together a complete map and outline of an upcoming season as much as five or six months before it airs.'American Idol'To be sure, &quot;The Amazing Race&quot; is hardly the only reality show whose producers must grapple with a steady flow of spoilers being posted online. Shows like &quot;Survivor,&quot; &quot;The Bachelor,&quot; and &quot;American Idol&quot; are also popular among spoiler sites, and in the case of each, it's easy for those who are interested to go online and find out what will happen on the show in the future. Thankfully, most spoiler sites place such information in sub-sections of forums that warn off unwary visitors with language like &quot;Spoiler Alert&quot; and red text, or all-capital letters. This usually makes it possible for people to visit fan sites to read about current episodes without discovering unwanted information about what will happen on as-yet unaired episodes.&quot;Survivor&quot; and &quot;The Amazing Race&quot; are broadcast by CNET parent company CBS. An &quot;Amazing Race&quot; publicist at CBS did not return a call and e-mail from CNET. For those particularly adept at collecting spoiler information, the news often comes from a mix of sources, and being savvy at both social media and other online tools and old-fashioned good source development may be crucial to being king of the spoilers hill.According to M.J. Santilli, who runs the &quot;American Idol&quot; fan site MJ's Big Blog, a key to uncovering the identities of contestants on an upcoming season is mixing some well-informed tips about who has tried out for the show with clever detective work on Twitter and Facebook.Santilli explained that by following known would-be &quot;Idol&quot; contestants on Twitter or friending them on Facebook, it's often possible to find out which have made it on to the show through those people's less than stealthy posts, or by putting two and two together from things they might say on one social media site or another, or by following their friends and seeing what they have to say.According to Michael Slezak, a senior editor at TVLine.com, it can be nearly impossible to keep a lid on what will happen on reality shows, in large part given how many people are involved. &quot;I think when you're putting together a show the size of any of these franchises,&quot; Slezak said, &quot;it requires a lot of staffing of people, and some freelance types. I think it's just hard to contain that much information when you're dealing with that&quot; many people.Of course, while most reality show fans want to maintain the mystery of what will happen on their favorite programs, there are clearly enough who savor spoilers to make sites that cater to that desire profitable. &quot;Spoiler sites are dealing with a hard core group of fans [who go] on the Internet and seek out information about the shows,&quot; Slezak said. &quot;Some people just like to know what's going to happen.&quot;That's a notion to which Reality Steve, one of the leading purveyors of spoiler information about ABC's &quot;The Bachelor,&quot; clearly subscribes. And even though Reality Steve, whose real name is Steve Carbone, said he gets most of his &quot;Bachelor&quot; spoiler information from inside sources who are right 98 percent of the time, he doesn't really know why the people who give him his information do so.SurvivorSucks.com is just one of many sites devoted to revealing advance information about the hit CBS show.(Credit:SurvivorSucks.com)Indeed, Carbone said that he doesn't enjoy spoilers, particularly for shows that like &quot;Survivor,&quot; depend more on drama than does &quot;The Bachelor.&quot; But he knows that his readers often want to hear what's coming. &quot;I've had so many people email me and tell me, 'I love reading the end of a book first,'&quot; Carbone said. &quot;'I like to see it play out leading up to that...It would seem confusing, you don't know who any of these people are. I guess they just want to be out in front of it. They just want to tell their friends, 'I know something you don't know.'&quot;To Slezak, one of the most impressive examples of spoilers was the advance spilling of the list, in the proper order, of &quot;Survivor: Nicaragua&quot; contestants being voted off. That feat of spoiler accuracy came courtesy of a famous &quot;Survivor&quot; spoiler perpetrator known as MissyAE. Sued by &quot;Survivor&quot; production company Mark Burnett Productions for his efforts, MissyAE, whose real name is Jim Early, revealed that he had gotten his information directly from one of the show's most notorious contestants, Russell Hantz. In a widelypublished statement, CBS addressed the Hantz scandal, and &quot;Survivor&quot; spoilers by saying that, From the beginning, &quot;Survivor&quot; has been blessed with a rabid fan base, including a fanatical group online which, from the show's early days, initiated one of television's first organized campaigns to predict and speculate results in advance of a reality show broadcast. As the show has progressed in years and the Internet has grown in scope, the number of these sites has increased with periodic claims of unauthorized leaks from people connected to the show.We've investigated some of these claims. Each time, we've peeled back the curtain to find a subculture of the show with fans/bloggers simultaneously networking and competing with each other for spoiler information while hurling accusations of unfair practices against each other.The fervent activity of these sites often generates a confusing web of backstabbing, claims of misinformation and Internet alliances. It's almost like an underground game-within-a-game of &quot;Survivor&quot; that plays out with the melodrama of a daytime soap and the complexity of Dungeons and Dragons.Outwit, outplay, outlast. It happens more than just on the air.Oddly, given how much online tools help with developing good spoiler information, Early told CNET that he used to compile his spoilers by dutifully tracking Google Alerts for anyone associated with the show--since many contestants or people who know them inadvertently give away information in interviews, often in their hometown newspapers--he now relies on a much more old-school method for getting his information: the phone.It used to be &quot;fun because it was like detective [work],&quot; Early said, &quot;but the new...way is 100 percent accurate.&quot;And how does it work Early said that he gets phone calls all the time from &quot;Survivor&quot; insiders who want to fill him in on what will happen on the show. Indeed, he said that Hantz--who was a contestant on the season of the show currently being aired--was his most reliable source. And other players reach out to him as well, often because they want to set the record straight about how something was presented to the viewing public.&quot;It sounds like a joke, but it's not,&quot; Early said of how he gets his information these days. &quot;I just pick up the phone and say hello. Sources call me up and tell me everything.&quot;        Daniel Terdiman     Full Profile E-mail Daniel Terdiman   E-mail Daniel Terdiman If you have a question or comment for Daniel Terdiman, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Daniel Terdiman is a staff writer at CNET News covering games, Net culture, and everything in between.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Samsung goes big and small in Barcelona]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-goes-big-and-small-in-barcelona</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-goes-big-and-small-in-barcelona</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 16 Feb 2011 08:10:36 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Shahpolymers</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=samsung-goes-big-and-small-in-barcelona</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Samsung Galaxy S 4G hands-on (photos) Samsung's little Android family (photos) BARCELONA, Spain--Samsung usually arrives at a trade show with all guns blazing and Mobile World Congress was no exception. Not only did the company show off its new Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Galaxy S II, but also it displayed some handsets it had announced previously. And these devices came in all sizes.On the larger side is the Samsung Galaxy S 4G, which T-Mobile and Sammy revealed last month. With a 4-inch Super AMOLED touch screen and a slim rectangular shape, it looks very much like the earlier Samsung Vibrant. It certainly was pretty, but it felt rather fragile. Features on the Galaxy S 4G include a 5-megapixel camera, a second front-facing camera, a 1GHz Cortex A8 Hummingbird processor, and support for T-Mobile's 4G network.We also got our first peek at the Samsung Ace, Gio, Fit, and Mini, which were also announced last month. These Android devices represent the small camp. With displays ranging from 3.1 to 3.5 inches, they don't offer a lot of real estate' they're actually a little too small for me. They also aren't big on features, but they bring the basics of an Android smartphone at what should be bargain prices.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Stuxnet expert: other sites were hit but Natanz was true target]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=stuxnet-expert-other-sites-were-hit-but-natanz-was-true-target</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=stuxnet-expert-other-sites-were-hit-but-natanz-was-true-target</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 14 Feb 2011 08:10:31 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>megamix1tech</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=stuxnet-expert-other-sites-were-hit-but-natanz-was-true-target</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Symantec&amp;39's report includes a graphical representation of Stuxnet infections linked to organizations in Iran.(Credit:Symantec)Stuxnet may have hit different organizations, but its main target was still the Natanz nuclear enrichment plant in Iran, an expert who has analyzed the code said today. Ralph Langner, who has been analyzing the code used in the complicated Stuxnet worm that used a Windows hole to target industrial control systems used in gas pipelines and power plants last year and possibly earlier, said the initial distribution of Stuxnet was limited to a few key installations. &quot;My bet is that one of the infected sites is Kalaye Electric,&quot; he wrote in an e-mail to CNET. &quot;Again, we don't have evidence for this, but this is how we would launch the attack - infecting a handful of key contractors with access to Natanz.&quot; Langner was responding to a report (PDF)released late last week by Symantec that said five different organizations in Iran were targeted by a variant of Stuxnet, several of them more than once, dating back to June 2009.  &quot;We have a total of 3,280 unique samples representing approximately 12,000 infections,&quot; the Symantec researchers write in a blog post about the report. &quot;While this is only a percentage of all known infections, we were able to learn some interesting aspects of how Stuxnet spread and where it was targeted.&quot; The Symantec researchers, who have made other important discoveries in the quest to de-code Stuxnet, don't name the organizations they suspect as targets. As of September 2010, they had estimated there were more than 100,000 infected hosts, nearly 60 percent of them in Iran. &quot;Unfortunately Symantec doesn't tell the geographic location of the targeted organizations,&quot; Langner said. &quot;My theory is that not all may be in Iran since chances are that at least one significant contractor is a foreign organization (this is something we are researching presently).&quot; Langner said he and partners have been able to match data structures from one of the parts of the multi-pronged Stuxnet attack code with the centrifuge cascade structures in Natanz.  &quot;The significance of this is that it is now 100 percent clear that Stuxnet is about Natanz, and Natanz only,&quot; he said. &quot;Further evidence (that matches with the recent discoveries of Symantec) suggests that Stuxnet was designed as a long-term attack with the intention not only to destroy centrifuges but also to lower the output of enriched uranium.&quot; Langner, based in Germany, offers more technical details of Stuxnet on his blog. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Report: Study finds iAds twice as effective as TV ads]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-study-finds-iads-twice-as-effective-as-tv-ads</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-study-finds-iads-twice-as-effective-as-tv-ads</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 03 Feb 2011 08:10:27 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>healthmedicine</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=report-study-finds-iads-twice-as-effective-as-tv-ads</guid>
<description><![CDATA[(Credit:James Martin/CNET)The first study results on the effectiveness of Apple's iAds are reportedly in and they appear favorable for Apple and its advertisers.The study, obtained by Advertising Age but not publicly released, was reportedly funded by Apple and one of iAds early advertisers, Campbell's, but conducted by research firm Nielsen. The results of the study are noteworthy, especially when comparing iAds to television ads, according to AdAge. (We asked Nielsen for our look at the results but Nielsen says it's proprietary information for Apple and Campbell's.)According to AdAge, Nielsen claims that people exposed to iAds in the study were twice as likely to remember the ad than people who watched a television ad. In addition, five times as many people reportedly remembered the Campbell's brand from the iAd.In what is surely an important factor for advertisers, the rate that iAd viewers reported intent to purchase the advertised products was four times that of television viewers.Nielsen didn't say how many people were involved in the survey, only that the TV and mobile surveys were conducted separately and it was a five-week analysis.It's also important to note that Campbell's iAds were &quot;weighted to reflect theiPhone andiPod Touch universe in terms of age, gender, and income, while TV survey results were weighted for a general TV audience,&quot; reported AdAge.Apple launched iAds in April 2010 to provide a more interactive look and feel to mobile advertising.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Internet disruptions hit Egypt]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=internet-disruptions-hit-egypt</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=internet-disruptions-hit-egypt</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jan 2011 08:11:25 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Kareena</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=internet-disruptions-hit-egypt</guid>
<description><![CDATA[CNN Cairo Correspondent Ben Wedeman reports of the outage first-hand on Twitter.(Credit:http://twitter.com/!/bencnn)Amid a third day of anti-government protests, Internet outages and disruptions occurred today in Egypt. Facebook and Twitter confirmed the disruptions for their sites. &quot;We are aware of reports of disruption to service and have seen a drop in traffic from Egypt this morning,&quot; a Facebook spokesman said in a statement. &quot;You may want to visit Herdict.org, a project of the Berkman Center for Internet &amp; Society at Harvard University that offers insight into what users around the world are experiencing in terms of web accessibility.&quot; According to Herdict.org, there were 459 inaccessible sites in Egypt and 621 accessible sites. Twitter's Global PR account reported on the site that: &quot;Egypt continues to block Twitter &amp; has greatly diminished traffic. However, some users are using apps/proxies to successfully tweet.&quot;  Meanwhile, there were numerous outages around the Web.  Danny O'Brien, San Francisco-based Internet Advocacy Coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists, said to the North American Network Operators' Group (NANOG) e-mail list that the organization had lost all Internet connectivity with its contacts in Egypt and was hearing reports of loss of Internet connectivity on major broadband ISPs, SMS outage and loss of mobile service in major cities there.  &quot;The working assumption here is that the Egyptian government has made the decision to shut down all external, and perhaps internal electronic communication as a reaction to the ongoing protests in that country,&quot; he wrote. His post included a link to a Pastebin.com page where someone at a European-based Internet activist group has started an effort to provide alternative methods--such as shortwave and pirate radio--for protesters in Egypt to communicate with each other and the outside world. &quot;A major service provider for Egypt, Italy-based Seabone, reported early Friday that there was no Internet traffic going into or out of the country after 12:30 a.m. local time,&quot; the Associated Press noted. &quot;Associated Press reporters in Cairo were also experiencing outages.&quot;  The Los Angeles Times said BlackBerry users were not able to reach the Internet on their devices. RIM provided this statement when asked for comment: &quot;We can confirm that RIM has not implemented any changes that would impact service in Egypt and that RIM's BlackBerry Infrastructure has continued to be fully operational throughout the day. For questions regarding a specific network in Egypt, please contact the carrier who operates the network.  A Twitter post by Ben Wedeman, CNN senior correspondent in Cairo, around 3 p.m PDT says: &quot;No internet, no SMS, what is next Mobile phones and land lines So much for stability.&quot; The Arabist blog had mixed reports, with someone in Cairo saying Internet service was down while a foreign journalist was able to get onto the Internet Semiramis Intercontinental hotel.  Twitter representatives did not respond immediately to an e-mail request for more information. The Internet disruptions spurred activist action. Anonymous, the group that launched distributed denial-of-service attacks on Web sites of financial institutions and others opposing WikiLeaks last year, released a video online in which it threatened to launch DOS attacks on Egyptian government Web sites if the authorities did not curtail censorship efforts. Earlier today, five people were arrested in the U.K. in connection with those attacks.  Because Twitter has been found to be an effective communications tool during social unrest and protests--in Iran and Moldova, along with Tunisia and Egypt, more recently--it is an attractive target for governments to try to block, along with Facebook.  (via The Huffington Post.)Updated 6:05 p.m. PDTwith NANOG report of outages.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Hollywood's 'UltraViolet' aims to replace the DVD]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hollywoods-ultraviolet-aims-to-replace-the-dvd</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hollywoods-ultraviolet-aims-to-replace-the-dvd</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 05 Jan 2011 08:10:39 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>pnosufterjik</dc:creator>
<category>Marketing and advertising</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=hollywoods-ultraviolet-aims-to-replace-the-dvd</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A group of stakeholders in the entertainment industry are poised to make a important sales pitch to consumers concerning the way they buy and watch movies and TV shows. Warner Bros. Entertainment, Netflix, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard, and Best Buy are among the members of a consortium called the Digital Entertainment Content Ecosystem, or DECE, which has come up with a set of standards and specifications designed to make approved digital content playable on certified devices. DECE calls the technology UltraViolet. &quot;The DVD was the most successful consumer product launch ever in history...it was an open platform, meaning their was one standard, every manufacturer made it, all the content on the planet was available for it. We don't see that model currently.--Barry McCarthy, former Netflix CFODECE announced this evening at the 2011 CES in Las Vegas that it expects companies that have licensed UltraViolet to begin rolling out products and services beginning this summer. DECE said it expects UltraViolet will appear in the United Kingdom and Canada later in the year. If you believe that the DVD and physical media are in their twilight years, then UltraViolet's backers appear to be laying the groundwork for the next home-video format. The pitch from UltraViolet's supporters goes something like this: users could acquire what are essentially lifetime rights to movies and shows. The rights to certain content could be easily transferred from one service provider to another if the owner chooses to switch or if one the services closes down. Owners wouldn't fear to lose or break their video fare because all the material would live in the cloud and be accessible via Web-connected TVs, handhelds, computers, and set-top boxes. DECE said families who use UltraViolet &quot;will be able to create an account for up to six members who can access the household's UltraViolet movies, TV and other entertainment...consumers will also be able to register up to 12 devices&quot; so UltraViolet content can be easily downloaded to those devices or shared between them.&quot; But here's the rub: the content will be swaddled in digital rights management software, designed to prevent unauthorized copying. While DECE played up the number of accounts and devices UltraViolet users will have access to, critics will likely scoff. Expect many from the tech sector to accuse UltraViolet's makers of trying to lock up consumers' content--again. Naysayers have argued that the Internet helped consumers seize away control of media by enabling them to share digital films, music, books, and other media as many times as they want and play it on whatever devices they want. Michael Robertson, the longtime technology entrepreneur who founded pioneering music service MP3.com and has worked with digital lockers for nearly a decade, is among UltraViolet's doubters. &quot;I think the era of trying to cram formats and standards down the throats of consumers is over,&quot; Robertson said. &quot;When we live in a world where users are one click way from BitTorrent and from obtaining a high-quality film copy that can be played on any device, I don't see UltraViolet, with its restrictions and limitations, winning consumers back. Consumers just have too much power.&quot; Mitch Singer, Sony Pictures&amp;39' chief technology officer(Credit:Sony Pictures Entertainment)Mitch Singer, chief technology officer at Sony Pictures, a DECE member, says there is no conspiracy to snatch away control from consumers. He said UltraViolet is a way to make digital movies and TV shows more appealing by making them as simple to view, store, and transfer as the DVD. He notes that history has shown the lack of open standards only hurts consumers.  &quot;If every brick-and-mortar retailer would have had their own [DVD] format that wouldn't have made any sense at all,&quot; Singer said. &quot;But digital rolled out exactly that way. It rolled out in a series of fragmented silos.&quot; That was far from being unprecedented. Singer said plenty of innovative products debuted this way, but that quickly changed. &quot;Xerox fax machines in the early days could only fax documents if the machine on the other side was Xerox,&quot; Singer said. &quot;ATM machines would only give money to cardholders who belonged to the same network...but over time if you want to see any substantial growth you have to open it up.&quot; Barry McCarthy, Netflix's CFO the past decade until leaving the company last month, predicted two years ago there would be a need to create standards for the Web distribution of movies and he suggested the plan would be modeled after the DVD. &quot;The DVD was the most successful consumer product launch ever in history measured in terms of growth in the number of units in U.S. homes,&quot; McCarthy told the Unofficial Stanford Blog in 2008. &quot;It was five years to 50 percent household penetration and it was an open platform, meaning their was one standard, every manufacturer made it...all the content on the planet was available for it. We don't see that model currently [in Web distribution of movies]. Apple has a device...but it only talks to the Apple Web site. It doesn't talk to Amazon. It doesn't talk to the Netflix site...And if there's a Netflix device that we make or someone makes for us that runs the Netflix application that gets you to a Netflix Web site, it's only going to talk to our Website. In a perfect world, there would be open platforms.&quot; Robertson said UltraViolet looks very much like PlaysForSure, the DRM certification program that Microsoft tried to establish for devices and content services in 2004. It failed to take off. Josh Martin was one of those who were critical of PlaysForSure but the mobile and video analyst for research group Strategy Analytics argues UltraViolet is a superior strategy.&quot;I think the era of trying to cram formats and standards down the throats of consumers is over.&quot; --Michael Robertson, entrepreneurMartin said UltraViolet could work because the key players appear to have learned from past mistakes.Martin wrote in October that under UltraViolet's plan, content &quot;is not locked to a specific device but to a user (or a family of users).&quot; He said that this means users can transfer content to a wide array of devices and that makes UltraViolet content more flexible than the DVD. The most important difference between Ultraviolet and PlaysForSure, according to Martin, is that UltraViolet supports various DRM schemes and either &quot;changes the DRM 'wrapper' when a file is transferred between devices,&quot; Martin wrote, &quot;or allows a user to download a new file that is suitable for that specific device (i.e. you wouldn't want to transfer a 1080p file to your phone). This increases utility while reducing end user complexity.&quot;The other big knock on UltraViolet is that Apple and Disney haven't signed on. How can a standards agreement be any good if consumers aren't able to watch movies from one of the most important film studios or play content obtained from iTunesSinger, said UltraViolet movies and TV shows will be available on theiPad andiPhone because those devices are compatible with an app created by Netflix, an UltraViolet partner. But Singer concedes video purchased from iTunes currently won't play on UltraViolet devices. About the absence of Disney, Martin said &quot;In order for consumers to believe in this technology, all major content owners must be on board and as of today they are not.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[HTC opening R&D office to focus on wireless tech]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=htc-opening-rd-office-to-focus-on-wireless-tech</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=htc-opening-rd-office-to-focus-on-wireless-tech</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 21 Dec 2010 08:10:32 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>yuminaee</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=htc-opening-rd-office-to-focus-on-wireless-tech</guid>
<description><![CDATA[HTC is looking to expand its R&amp;D efforts on wireless research through a new office opening in North Carolina next year.(Credit:HTC)The smartphone maker said today it plans to lease a new R&amp;D office in Durham, N.C., during the first quarter of 2011.The site will kick off with a staff of around 45 people who'll conduct research into multiple areas of wireless technology, according to HTC, which plans to expand the facility further during the new year and beyond.The Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina is known for its Research Triangle Park, home to a large number of technology companies.&quot;HTC has been successful bringing its unique brand of people-centric innovation to consumers, and with the establishment of this new R&amp;D office, we are taking an important step to extend our leadership position in the wireless industry,&quot; Ron Louks, HTC's chief strategy officer, said in a statement. &quot;Durham is a perfect place to open our new R&amp;D office because we are able to tap into this deep pool of technical talent that complements HTC's leading-edge R&amp;D efforts going on around the world.&quot;The new Durham office will become HTC's third dedicated R&amp;D location in the U.S., joining sites in Seattle and another in San Francisco that houses the company's One &amp; Co subsidiary. HTC currently employs around 250 people in the U.S. and more than 10,000 around the world.Although it's faced a highly competitive market that includes the likes of Motorola, Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson, HTC has done well lately with its Android smartphone lineup, reporting a strong jump in earnings and sales for its most recent quarter. The company has also dived into theWindows Phone 7 arena with the launch of the HTC Surround for AT&amp;T and the HTC HD7 for T-Mobile.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[The 411: Quick tips for cell phone gifting]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-quick-tips-for-cell-phone-gifting</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-quick-tips-for-cell-phone-gifting</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 20 Dec 2010 08:10:22 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>buildmix5</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=the-411-quick-tips-for-cell-phone-gifting</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Welcome to The 411, my column answering all your questions about cell phones and cell phone accessories. I receive plenty of questions about these subjects via e-mail, so I figured many of you might have similar queries, too. Occasionally I solicit answers from readers if I'm stumped. Send your questions and comments to me at nicole.lee@cnet.com. If you prefer to remain anonymous, let me know in the e-mail.In lieu of the usual Q&amp;A format this week, we're offering a few quick tips on cell phone gifting. I realize it's probably too late for some of you to go out there and buy holiday gifts, but for the last-minute shopper who plans to give a mobile-related gift, here are a few quick tips.Don't forget the carrier -- It's easy to get enticed by shiny phones and forget that not all phones are supported by all carriers. If coverage is important to you, make sure the carrier of your choice has good signal in the recipient's home or office. Also realize that if you're getting a new phone, there are often two-year contracts that need to be signed, and if you're getting a smartphone, data plans are often required as well.  Of course, you can get past these issues if you're willing to fork out extra for a non-contract device. Sometimes this means getting an unlocked phone if you're on a GSM carrier, or you can also choose to get a prepaid plan if you want something a little cheaper. Definitely check out our cell phone buying tips for more detailed information on how to choose a carrier.Do a little research -- Aside from the carrier decision above, do a little fact-finding on what your gift recipient wants in a phone. Is he a texting fanatic Does she want e-mail everywhere Does he hate touch-screen keys Is she addicted to iTunes These facts will help a lot in narrowing down the kind of phone he or she needs.Add a personal touch -- This tip is especially for those of you who are gifting smartphones: Consider prepackaging the device with apps or media the person might like. For example, if the person is a big Beatles fan, why not pack the phone with all of his or her favorite Beatles songs The same goes for the person who's a fan of video games or likes a particular movie or TV show. Cooking-related apps would be great for the culinary enthusiast' you get my drift.  I know this isn't always possible since most smartphones require you to sign into your own account to get at these apps or media. If that's the case, maybe throw a gift certificate in with the phone along with a few app recommendations in a nicely presented card.Keep your receipt -- Most companies have a grace period of at least a month for you to test out a phone. Definitely keep your receipt in case he or she isn't satisfied with the purchase.Accessories for the friend who has everything -- If your friend or family member already has the phone of his or her choice, consider getting a thoughtful accessory instead. A pretty case, an extended battery, acar dock, or a Bluetooth headset would make great gifts.To help you make your choice, CNET has compiled a best cell phones list in a variety of categories, as well as a holiday gift guide for cell phones and smartphones. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Oodle goes after Craigslist with social classifieds]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oodle-goes-after-craigslist-with-social-classifieds</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oodle-goes-after-craigslist-with-social-classifieds</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 14 Dec 2010 08:10:02 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mariedelexz</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=oodle-goes-after-craigslist-with-social-classifieds</guid>
<description><![CDATA[The online marketplace Oodle started as a classifieds aggregator, then dabbled in online dating (also through aggregation). In late 2008, it was given a big gift from Facebook: the social site gave Oodle its marketplace app to run. As Oodle CEO Craig Donato says, &quot;It was a moment in time. Facebook was transitioning from building all these apps to working with partners.&quot; Since then, Oodle has been figuring out how to best run with the new Facebook classifieds system.Finally, two years on, Oodle is merging the refresh it did of the Facebook Marketplace with its own Oodle.com Web site and making a run at Craigslist, a site whose data it at one point tried to incorporate into its own service.Thanks to the Facebook code, Oodle has very solid marketplace, one based not on giving items for sale the widest possible exposure (for that, there's eBay and Craigslist) but rather on putting people who are already socially connected in touch over the sale of goods and services. The thinking is that people are more inclined to sell (or even give away) items to people in their circle and that buyers are far less likely to flake out or be creepy when they arrive to do a deal or close a transaction. That's what the Facebook Marketplace proved out, at any rate. This announcement is a bit of a the minor one, as Oodle's social classified service already exists and is doing well on Facebook, and updating the standalone Web site to match that functionality is an obvious move. But in light of the argument over the value of customer aggregators like OpenTable and Groupon, it's interesting to think about how businesses can deepen relationships with their customers. Bringing a bunch of expensive traffic to your business that's there for a half-off bargain, or the bonus points to an aggregation service, is not how you build loyalty. Oodle&amp;39's new social marketplace, based on its Facebook app, lets you view classifieds from just people in your network.Donato also thinks that, paradoxically, a socially connected classifieds service might end up with more products on it than an anonymous market. He's eyeing his mobile app for that. He says that with it, you can just walk through your basement, snapping quick pictures of old things you might want to get rid of, and posting these items on Oodle to share with friends. You don't have to open these up to the world. (Another start-up, Needly, had a similar model, but it recently changed direction--I'll have a story on that later.) Donato believes that the social aspects of the Oodle-powered marketplace, which he calls, &quot;the photo-negative of Craigslist,&quot; can be leveraged by businesses as well as by individuals. Unlike Craigslist, &quot;which is about anonymity and search,&quot; Donato says, Oodle is about &quot;the value of understanding who the person is.&quot; It's a potentially attractive proposition: if I'm selling a dining room table, I'd rather that the person who comes to pick it up is a friend or somehow traceable to one. Such a transaction can also pay me in social capital (in exchange for the lower price I'll charge to a friend). If businesses can somehow leverage this, without getting all creepy about it, it could help make commerce more enjoyable, business people more accountable, and possibly make goods more affordable over the long run--not just episodically or when a business decides to get on the Groupon bandwagon for a day. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[On your iPhone and Verizon, and selecting a service provider]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</comments>
<pubDate>Fri, 10 Dec 2010 08:17:38 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Rosa</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=on-your-iphone-and-verizon-and-selecting-a-service-provider</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Many AT&amp;TiPhone subscribers are waiting with bated breath for Verizon Wireless to get the iPhone. But can these subscribers take their old iPhones with them to Verizon In this week's Ask Maggie, I break the bad news to one AT&amp;T subscriber that his wife will not be able to use his old iPhone 3GS on the Verizon network once the iPhone comes to that network. I also offer advice about selecting the best wireless carrier for you, as well as advice for selecting a new 4G wireless broadband operator.Ask Maggie is a weekly advice column that answers readers' wireless and broadband questions. If you've got a question, please send me an e-mail at maggie dot reardon at cbs dot com. And please put &quot;Ask Maggie&quot; in the subject header.Can take my old iPhone to Verizon Dear Maggie,I am an AT&amp;T customer with an iPhone 3GS. But I'm planning to ditch AT&amp;T as soon as I can. I've heard that Verizon Wireless will be getting the iPhone in early 2011. I figure I'll get whatever new iPhone Verizon offers with the new service, but I want to give my old iPhone 3GS to my wife so she can use it on Verizo, too. Can I do this Also right now I have an unlimited data plan for my iPhone. Would I have to give that up if I switch to VerizonThanks,Isaac Dear Isaac,As you've pointed out, Verizon Wireless is expected to get the iPhone early next year. Neither Apple nor Verizon has confirmed this, but several reputable news sources have cited sources that say a Verizon iPhone will be announced in early 2011.Unfortunately, for you and millions of other existing iPhone customers, the current version of the iPhone will not be compatible with Verizon Wireless's network. AT&amp;T and all the other wireless operators now offering the iPhone are GSM carriers. GSM phones have SIM cards that, in unlocked phones, can be swapped out so that people can use the same phone on different carrier networks that also support GSM. But Verizon's network uses a technology called CDMA, and it does not have a SIM card that allows unlocked phones to be used on other carrier networks.So in your case, your existing iPhone 3GS can only be used on AT&amp;T's network. You could unlock the phone and use it on another GSM carrier's network. T-Mobile USA is also a GSM carrier. And several carriers in Europe are also GSM. But there is another caveat to consider. T-Mobile and AT&amp;T use different radio frequencies for 3G service here in the U.S., so even if you swap the SIM cards, your AT&amp;T iPhone won't get 3G service on T-Mobile's network. Instead, it will only operate on T-Mobile's slower 2G/2.5G network.As for your unlimited data plan, it's difficult to say what kind of plan Verizon Wireless will introduce when it announces its version of the iPhone. Currently, Verizon offers a $30 a month unlimited data plan for all smartphones. It also introduced a $15 a month plan that offers 150MB of data per month. Verizon executives have indicated that data plans might change so that customers are offered more options. But executives have also said they acknowledge that consumers like unlimited plans. So Verizon may decide to keep the unlimited plan, but they might ask new customers to pay more than $30 for it. Meanwhile, AT&amp;T has eliminated its $30 unlimited plan for all new smartphone subscribers. It offers a $25 a month plan that offers 2GB of data for the month. And a plan that costs $15 a month for 200MB of data for the month. If you had an unlimited data plan from AT&amp;T that started before June 2010, then you can keep that plan as long as you like. But if you cancel your AT&amp;T service or change your service to one of the tiered offerings, you cannot go back to the unlimited plan.I hope this helps clarify the situation for you. There is still a lot we don't know about the upcoming Verizon iPhone, so stay tuned.Decisions, decisions: Choosing the right wireless service provider Dear Maggie,My current AT&amp;T cell phone contract is up and I'm looking for a new provider. I recently saw that AT&amp;T ranked at the bottom of Consumer Reports' annual customer satisfaction survey. U.S. Telecom ranked No. 1. But I don't live anywhere where that service is available. What's the best way to find out who the best carrier is in my areaThanks,Marie Dear Marie,Choosing a cell phone carrier is a big decision. If you are getting a subsidized phone with your new service, you're likely signing a two-year contract, so you better make sure it works for you, since you'll have to live with it for at least the next couple of years. You are correct, AT&amp;T did not do well in this year's Consumer Reports' customer satisfaction poll. The group surveyed nearly 59,000 cell phone users in September 2010 and asked them various questions about their overall satisfaction with various cell phone services. AT&amp;T was the only large carrier to do worse this year in the survey than the previous year. Consumer Reports said the company struggled in almost every category. And it ranked last among major wireless carriers in terms of overall customer satisfaction. Consumers Reports offers a good overview of what you can expect from a service provider. But it doesn't tell the whole story.Service quality varies greatly depending on several variables, including where you live and where you plan to use your phone. For example, AT&amp;T may have gotten low marks among consumers nationwide, but the service works great in Delaware where my family lives. In fact, my father reports that he is able to make phone calls from his boat in the Delaware Bay, while my uncle who has a Verizon Wireless cell phone cannot.Even within cities, cellular performance can vary. For example, I own an AT&amp;T iPhone. It works great for me in my apartment, but my friend who lives just a few blocks east of me says that she can't make a phone call on her iPhone in her apartment without it dropping the call at least once. The first thing I tell people when they are considering switching service providers is to ask their friends, coworkers, neighbors and family members about their own experiences. If you ask people who use phones and services in the same places you plan to use your new phone and service, you're more likely to get an accurate view of what your experience might be. To get a basic idea of which carriers offer better coverage and service quality in particular areas, check out CNET's online cell phone service mapping system, enabled by Root Wireless. This tool compares voice and data service among major carriers in various cities around the country. Data for most cities is available in the tool, and Root is still populating its database with information for smaller communities and cities. Users can share information about coverage, which can help improve the accuracy of the database and mapping tool. The graphical interface of the map lets consumers see where gaps in service may be. But remember that coverage and signal strength aren't everything. Network congestion can degrade quality. So it's very important to talk to other cell phone users about their own experiences. And finally, most major cell phone operators offer a 30 day guarantee. If you are not satisfied with the phone or the service you've just purchased, you can cancel that service with no penalty within 30 days of the purchase. So take advantage of those grace periods to put your phone and the service to the test. Can Sprint 4G compete with Verizon 4G Dear Maggie,Is Sprint going to upgrade its 4G speeds to compete with Verizon's 4G network I've been using the Sprint/Clearwire service, and I've sometimes gotten speeds faster than 14Mbps, but I am not able to get those speeds inside my house. I'll stick with Sprint/Clearwire if they plan to upgrade the network to meet Verizon's speeds, but otherwise I'll switch to Verizon. I really want some fast speeds in my home. Please help me. I want to know who to choose. Thanks for all the help!GregDear Greg,Today, Clearwire customers can expect average download speeds of between 3Mbps and 6Mbps with bursts over 10Mbps. Verizon Wireless's new 4G service offers average download speeds between 6Mbps and 12Mbps. Edward Baig of USA Today wrote in his review of the new Verizon 4G service that he was able to get bursts of download speeds up to 23Mbps. So based on speed alone, there's no question that Verizon's service is much faster than the one offered by Sprint and Clearwire. That said, the Sprint/Clearwire 4G service offers unlimited downloads and uploads. Clearwire offers a 4G-only service for $45 a month. Sprint offers a 3G/4G service with unlimited 4G service for $60 a month. (Sprint also offers an unlimited 4G only service for $50 a month.) Verizon charges $50 a month for 5GB of data and $80 a month for a 10GB service. For every 1GB over those limits the company charges $10.  Depending on how much you use the service and how much data you expect to consume each month, the Sprint/Clearwire service may offer a better value even though the speed might not be as fast. It is much faster than most 3G networks, which offer average downloads 600Kbps and 1.9Mbps.For more information about high-speed wireless data services offered by all four major U.S. wireless carriers check out this FAQ published last week. It gives a full description of services by each wireless carrier. And whether the service is considered 4G or 3G is offers a chart that compares the pricing and speed of each service.         Marguerite Reardon     Full Profile E-mail Marguerite Reardon   E-mail Marguerite Reardon If you have a question or comment for Marguerite Reardon, you can submit it here. However, because our editors and writers receive hundreds of requests, we cannot tell you when you may receive a response.   Submit your question or comment here: 0 of 1500 characters       Marguerite Reardon has been a CNET News reporter since 2004, covering cell phone services, broadband, citywide Wi-Fi, the Net neutrality debate, as well as the ongoing consolidation of the phone companies.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[No Kinect sex yet, but the potential is there]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-kinect-sex-yet-but-the-potential-is-there</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-kinect-sex-yet-but-the-potential-is-there</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 29 Nov 2010 08:10:41 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>98dollarseo</dc:creator>
<category>Gaming</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=no-kinect-sex-yet-but-the-potential-is-there</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Kinect, from Microsoft, has a wide range of uses. But Microsoft may not have imagined the motion-controller as a sex toy. Others have.(Credit:Josh Lowensohn/CNET)You knew it was coming. It was inevitable. And, yes, I'm talking about Kinect sex.With almost any hot new tech toy, especially one with a heavy degree of interactivity--which Microsoft's motion-sensitive controller has in spades--someone is going to try to hack it and try to make it X-rated. The Kinect is no exception. To date, there are no overtly sexual Kinect games on the market, though the folks who put together Kinect MotionSwinger (pretty NSFW) would like you to believe--for a moment at least--otherwise. But that's nothing more than a joke concept for a Kinect sex game put together with some imagery from Second Life.Still, when it comes to finding ways to utilize new technology for, shall we say, lewd purposes, there are few people more qualified thank Kyle (qDot) Machulis, the dean of the underground sex-tech genre known as teledildonics.In a Sunday blog post titled &quot;Kinect Sex--Because you knew I'd make this post sooner or later,&quot; Machulis finally brings his trained eye to the project that countless millions were surely waiting for him to get around to and evaluates the kink potential of the device Microsoft is hoping may breathe new life into itsXbox 360 video game console.The question, as Machulis delicately puts it, is &quot;How can I [have sex]&quot; using KinectAs he quickly points out, Kinect most likely wasn't designed for such a purpose, and though the device was made to recognize even minute movements by a person's body, it's geared to look for our larger limbs, like arms and legs.&quot;Microsoft put a ton of work into making the Kinect track the human body as a whole, so you can play games by jumping and running and generally acting the...fool and feel like you're in the game instead of just sad,&quot; Machulis wrote. &quot;Genitalia, for the most part, are not a major geometric feature of the human body when taken in perspective of physical size....Neither are they normally used in the control of video games, be they rated [for all] or [for adults only].&quot;Machulis said he experimented by waving a sex toy in front of a Kinect, and then by wagging his tongue around in front of it, and concluded that the graphics quality isn't very good, though the device was capable of picking up both the toy and his tongue. &quot;In short, porn is about sex, but for many customers, it's also about being able to see the sex in a way that doesn't make you think, 'Wait, why does her arm detach completely when her [breast] is in front of it,'&quot; Machulis wrote. &quot;The pattern the Kinect uses to get depth data is made for picking up full bodies to control video games, and therefore isn't quite so good at picking up minutiae about those bodies.&quot;Yet, Machulis also points out that because the Kinect is both very good at picking up hand-based gestures and capable of identifying discrete body parts like &quot;manbreasts&quot; (see video below), there is the distinct possibility that the device could be used to digitize--albeit with less than ideal graphics quality--simulated sexual motions. Kinect Titty Tracker from Dan Wilcox on Vimeo.&quot;The Kinect alleviates the need for having hardware, because now as long as we have a shot of the 'action,' as it were, we can use that 'gesture' as a control,&quot; Machulis wrote. &quot;Not only that, the gesture itself is the toy. Or you could employ a toy under the gesture.&quot;There are limits, of course. Without being too graphic, it seems that though presenting good quality imagery based on some hand-gesture-oriented sexual activity may currently be &quot;out of the Kinect's normal operating procedure,&quot; Machulis suggested that &quot;I'm sure we'll figure something out.&quot;More to the point, it appears Machulis is hoping that others who are into mashing up technology and sexuality will &quot;prove me a sexual Luddite once again. At least I hope they will.&quot;<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft touts strong October for Xbox 360]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-touts-strong-october-for-xbox-360</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-touts-strong-october-for-xbox-360</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 17 Nov 2010 08:10:10 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>pornohasusasuha</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-touts-strong-october-for-xbox-360</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Although October video game sales slid 4 percent, according to market research firm NPD, at least one company is happy with its performance on the month.Microsoft announced late yesterday that for the fifth-consecutive month, itsXbox 360 led thePlayStation 3 andNintendo Wii in overall sales. The company said it sold 325,000 Xbox 360 units in October, representing a 30 percent year-over-year gain. So far this year, Microsoft has enjoyed 34 percent year-to-date growth. It is worth noting, however, that Nintendo's DS had the highest hardware unit sales on the month, though neither NPD nor Nintendo revealed to reporters how many units were sold. Microsoft also performed quite well in software. Although 2K Sports' NBA 2K11 led in overall game sales, Microsoft-published Fable III tallied 580,000 unit sales on the month, grabbing the second spot in October. Microsoft also said it sold 315,000 Halo: Reach units on the month. Microsoft's sales figures were made available by the company itself. Last month, NPD announced that it would no longer share hardware or game unit sales each month, as it once did. The onus is now on hardware and software makers to reveal unit sales if they wish to do so. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[YouTube to test smart 'topics' on videos]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=youtube-to-test-smart-topics-on-videos</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=youtube-to-test-smart-topics-on-videos</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 09 Nov 2010 08:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Sanya01</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=youtube-to-test-smart-topics-on-videos</guid>
<description><![CDATA[YouTube plans to start testing user reaction to what they are calling &amp;34'topics,&amp;34' shown here to the right of the &amp;34'Explore&amp;34' link.(Credit:YouTube)SAN BRUNO, Calif.--YouTube thinks it has found a better way to help its users find exactly which videos they're looking for on its site: smart tags. At some point tomorrow evening, YouTube will turn on an experiment in TestTube, its lab, in which users will be able to see what the company is calling &quot;topics&quot; above videos they find through search results or that are shared among friends. These topics are sort of like tags, but are the product of sophisticated analysis of comments, viewing patterns, and other signals that will automatically appear above videos, said Palash Nandy, a staff engineer at YouTube, in a briefing for the media here at the company's headquarters. &quot;People don't know what to search for because they don't know what's there,&quot; Nandy said, referring to how Internet search and video search are two different problems. When you search on Google, you're generally looking for a defined result, you just don't know where it's located. But when you're looking to be entertained, and you search for something like &quot;funny videos,&quot; how is YouTube supposed to know what is actually funny, and what is merely stupid yet was labeled &quot;funny lol!&quot; by some user Or whether you find slapstick humor in the video you were sent funny but pranks and practical jokes in related videos also entitled &quot;funny&quot; actually boring To try and solve that problem, YouTube has decided to put these &quot;topics&quot; front and center on videos--at least for its experimental users--as to evaluate how they are used. For example, a video about fighter jets might have more specific topics automatically generated that relate to that video, such as &quot;air force fighter jets,&quot; &quot;blue angel bay area,&quot; or &quot;air show footage,&quot; which a user could click on to see more videos of that type. &quot;We're really creating a language of discovery,&quot; Nandy said. It's not clear when YouTube might be ready to bring this into wider distribution, but those interested in checking it out should be able to opt into the program tomorrow night at TestTube. Likewise, it's not clear when YouTube might be ready to speak the language of advertising just yet when it comes to these topics, as certain advertisers could find them valuable in the same manner that AdWords continues to rake in advertising dollars at YouTube parent Google. YouTube also demonstrated a mobile application called YouTube Remote that allows Android users to control the YouTube application on their Google TV systems with their phones, as well as pause a video on their phones and start watching it on their Google TV. That application should be available in the Android Market this afternoon.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Man bites dog Google sues the government]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 01 Nov 2010 07:10:04 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Collinsmith</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=man-bites-dog-google-sues-the-government</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google and the U.S. government are headed for a legal showdown, but on different sides of the courtroom than one might expect. Eric Goldman, a law professor with Santa Clara University who closely follows the tech industry, spotted a lawsuit filed by Google against the federal government claiming that the U.S. Department of the Interior did not properly evaluate Google Apps when choosing a new Web-based document system. Google alleges that because the Interior Department specified that the system needed to be part of Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite, Google Apps never had a chance despite repeated attempts by Google to explain the product. &quot;Significantly, the SOW (statement of work) and even certain terminology were closely aligned with Microsoft's product literature for its Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and Office Communications Online applications. This was because the DOI had defined its needs and requirements around the Microsoft products,&quot; Google wrote in its complaint. Government agencies generally have to follow a complicated process to purchase products or services from technology companies, and Google has increasingly sought to position itself as an alternative to Microsoft's office software in companies and governments. And, of course, the federal government and Google are no strangers when it comes to legal maneuverings. The most current dispute involves Google's proposed acquisition of ITA Software, but the list stretches back several years.Updated 4:25 p.m. PDT: Google issued the following statement on its lawsuit: &quot;Google is a proponent of open competition on the Internet and in the technology sector in general. Here, a fair and open process could save US taxpayers tens of millions of dollars and result in better services. We're asking the Department of Interior to allow for a true competition when selecting its technology providers.&quot; A copy of the complaint follows below:Google v US Complaint        Tom Krazit   Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.  <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Microsoft says business demand picking up]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-says-business-demand-picking-up</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-says-business-demand-picking-up</comments>
<pubDate>Thu, 28 Oct 2010 07:10:20 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>orenavava</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=microsoft-says-business-demand-picking-up</guid>
<description><![CDATA[REDMOND, Wash.--Citing a pickup in business spending, Microsoft today reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped what many had been expecting.For the three months ended Sept. 30, Microsoft said it earned $5.41 billion in net income, or 62 cents per share, on revenue of $16.2 billion. Sales were up 25 percent from a year earlier, although the prior year results included the effects of a deferral of revenue ahead of the release ofWindows 7. Without that, sales were up 13 percent and net income rose 16 percent.&quot;This was an exceptional quarter combining solid enterprise growth and continue strong consumer demand for Office 2010, Windows 7 andXbox 360,&quot; CFO Peter Klein said in a statement.The company also said it is seeing strong sales of long-term enterprise agreements with business customers. &quot;We are seeing improved business demand and adoption,&quot; Chief Operating Officer Kevin Turner said in a statement.Shares of Microsoft, which rose less than 1 percent in regular trading today ahead of the earnings report, were trading after hours at $26.56, up 1 percent from the $26.28 closing price.The company earned $4.3 billion from its Windows and Windows Live division, on revenue of $4.79 billion, as PC sales grew by an estimated 9 percent to 11 percent from a year ago. Buoyed by the release of Office 2010, the Microsoft Business division posted $3.39 billion in earnings on sales of $5.13 billion. Overall revenue was up 14 percent, although consumer sales grew at more twice the rate of business spending.The Server and Tools unit posted a $1.63 billion operating profit on revenue of $3.96 billion as the company saw double digit growth in both multi-year agreement and one-time sales as well as a pick-up in the mix of premium versions of Windows Server. Additionally, the company said subscriptions of its still new Windows Azure grew 40 percent quarter-over-quarter.However, despite an increase in online advertising revenue, Microsoft continued to lose money in its online services unit, which lost $560 million in the quarter, on revenue of $527 million.The Entertainment and Devices unit posted a $382 million operating profit on sales of $1.79 billion. Xbox console sales grew 38 percent as the company introduced a new, slimmer version of the game hardware.Update 2:40 p.m. PT: On its conference call with analysts, Microsoft said that it has seen a shift from low-end PCs to higher-end models, but has not seen a significant impact from tablets such as Apple's iPads. &quot;We have not seen a material shift,&quot; Klein said.As for PC growth, Microsoft did say that growth in emerging markets was three times as strong as that of mature markets.In addition to record sales, Klein said that the company generated $8 billion in cash flow for the first time amid a significant jump in both revenue and a strong pipeline of future bookings.As for Office 2010, early sales have been strong, Klein said, with unit sales up 20 percent from Office 2007 in its early days.3:00 p.m. PT: Microsoft said it expects sales of PCs and servers to businesses to continue to be strong for the rest of the fiscal year, which goes through June, but declined to predict how long the buying cycle would last beyond that.The company also predicted revenue in the entertainment unit would grow around 30 percent in the current quarter, as compared to a year earlier, amid strong sales of Xbox and Kinect. However, Microsoft makes less of a profit on those products, so margins could take a hit. <br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Tesla opens doors to Model S factory]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tesla-opens-doors-to-model-s-factory</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tesla-opens-doors-to-model-s-factory</comments>
<pubDate>Wed, 27 Oct 2010 07:10:24 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>restaurantlancpa</dc:creator>
<category>Eco</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=tesla-opens-doors-to-model-s-factory</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Tesla Model S all-electric sedan.(Credit:Tesla Motors)Tesla Motors will officially open the doors today on what may be the only automotive factory left in California.The Fremont, Calif., plant was formerly a New United Motor Manufacturing (NUMMI) facility that had been opened in 1984, but closed in 2010. Tesla bought the plant and has plans to renovate it to accommodate assembling its Model S electriccars. The Model S is the Tesla Roadster luxury sports car's practical sibling. The all-electric sedan will have a range of 160, 230, or 300 miles on a single charge depending on which Model S Tesla battery pack option is chosen. It can go zero to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds and has a top speed of 120 mph. But at $56,400, that &quot;practical&quot; car is still very pricey compared to other hybrid and electric options available in the U.S. While the all-electric car does qualify for a $7,500 federal tax credit, it's clearly targeting the upmarket car consumer. Tesla claims that, once fully operational, this Tesla factory will be the first automotive assembly plant in California dedicated solely to mass-producing all-electric vehicles, and the only automotive assembly plant in the state in operation.Tesla has posted several full-time and temp job opportunities for engineers, supervisors, technicians, and maintenance staff for the Fremont, Calif., location. Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Senator Dianne Feinstein, as well as several other officials, are scheduled to take part in today's official opening ceremony.Editor's note: CNET News will have full coverage of the plant opening and tour this afternoon, so check back later for more details.<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[Adobe works up new ad format for smartphones]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=adobe-works-up-new-ad-format-for-smartphones</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=adobe-works-up-new-ad-format-for-smartphones</comments>
<pubDate>Tue, 26 Oct 2010 07:10:07 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Neha</dc:creator>
<category>Mobile &amp; Electronics</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=adobe-works-up-new-ad-format-for-smartphones</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Adobe Systems is working with several digital ad companies to create a new format for mobile ads that can tap into Flash or HTML5.EyeWonder ad(Credit:Adobe)Announced today at the Adobe Max developers conference, the collaboration will define two full-screen ad formats in a bid to create a new industry standard for mobile device ads. Though geared toward devices running Flash Player 10.1, the ads can display in the Flash format or be converted to HTML5 for devices that don't support Flash. Currently targeted at smartphones, the new ad format will eventually expand to tablets and other devices, Adobe said.By supporting Flash, Adobe is offering ad agencies and publishers an alternative to Apple's iAd format, which doesn't allow for Flash due to Apple's snub of it on the iPhone. But by offering the ability to convert ads to HTML5, Adobe is looking to build a standard that can run on all mobile devices.Adobe said it will also give ad agencies the power to control the design and development of their own ads but will provide technical requirements to make sure those ads are both interactive and consistent. That capability may be Adobe's way of further distinguishing its new ad format from that of iAd. Apple has been criticized by some advertisers over its tight control of the creative design of the mobile ads.The first Adobe ad format, dubbed FS-microsite, will include interactive product details and lead capture in the ad itself, so users don't need to view the ad in their mobile Web browsers to get the full experience. The second format, named FS-video, will send redesigned broadcast ads and high-quality video ads to the user, letting agencies reuse their broadcast ads for the mobile market.&quot;Our work with the advertising industry will define a new model for ads units and ad measurement in a marketing world being transformed by mobile communications,&quot; John Loiacono, senior vice president and general manager of Adobe's Digital Media Solutions, said in a statement. &quot;These new ad formats are a first step in establishing an industry example that is cross-platform and expected to become the volume standard on smartphones, reaching across the broadest number of platforms and devices worldwide.&quot; Teaming up with Adobe are six digital ad companies: EyeWonder, Greystripe, Medialets, MediaMind, PointRoll, and Sprout. Beyond working with Adobe, the six will also promote the new ad format to ad agencies as well as to trade associations, such as the Interactive Advertising Bureau and the Mobile Marketing Association.See also:Adobe modernizes with tablet tool, mobile AIR<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[With A Nice Website Update, Foursquare Did Just Get More Fun With&nbsp'Friends]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-a-nice-website-update-foursquare-did-just-get-more-fun-withnbspfriends</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-a-nice-website-update-foursquare-did-just-get-more-fun-withnbspfriends</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>sufminlanice</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=with-a-nice-website-update-foursquare-did-just-get-more-fun-withnbspfriends</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Foursquare has always been one of those apps that was mobile-first, with the website existing as an after-thought. Sure, they&amp;'ve made their website significantly nicer over the past year, but the mobile apps are still the key. But a few updates today make the website a significantly better place to find your friends both in terms of location and on the services itself.With a post entitled &amp;''A little nip and tuck&amp;'', Foursquare outlines some of the changes they&amp;'ve made to the site. The most noticeable difference is on the main page when you&amp;'re logged in. This page has always been fairly useless, but now you can see a stream of your friends&amp;' most recent check-ins. But it&amp;'s the area along the top that is even more powerful.The Foursquare girl logo has a speech bubble that reads, &amp;''It&amp;'s more fun with friends!&amp;'' Below that you&amp;'ll see some of your Facebook friends who also use Foursquare. And if you click on the big green &amp;''Find Friends&amp;'' button you&amp;'ll go to a page that lets you find your friends on Foursquare via Gmail, Twitter, Facebook, or email invite. These tools are now significantly better for both adding and managing your friends.The Manage Friends area now shows you your Friends in common (along with their avatar) so you can see if you actually know a person that has requested to follow you. I&amp;'ve just added about 20 people I didn&amp;'t even realize were on the service and/or had requested to be my friend thanks to this. It took maybe 5 minutes.All of a sudden, Foursquare&amp;'s website has utility: as a social connections manager. Now if they would just enable check-ins via the website&amp;8230'CrunchBase InformationFoursquareInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[China&'s alternative Android Markets: lots of app choices, piracy, and security risks]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chinarsquos-alternative-android-markets-lots-of-app-choices-piracy-and-security-risks</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chinarsquos-alternative-android-markets-lots-of-app-choices-piracy-and-security-risks</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>oversoftijs</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=chinarsquos-alternative-android-markets-lots-of-app-choices-piracy-and-security-risks</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Google hasn&amp;'t opened an Android Market in China, so a number of Chinese carriers, phone makers, and independent companies have opened their own versions of the Android Market there. The result is a lot of app choices for Chinese users, but there are also more security risks.Android has a lot of potential in the Chinese market. If the marketplace for apps can come together, then China could become a land of huge opportunities for app developers. But there are a lot of problems to fix still. That&amp;'s one of the conclusions I draw from the latest data from the App Genome Project, a massive study of apps undertaken by Lookout Mobile Security.Lookout studied two alternative Android markets for Chinese users. While these markets serve a legitimate need for localized Chinese language apps, they also hosted pirated and repackaged apps.Some 61 percent of the apps in these stores were unique, most likely because they were converted into the Chinese language. About 11 percent of the apps available on the markets were repackaged and likely submitted by someone other than the original developer.Kevin Mahaffey, co-founder of Lookout, said in an interview that repackaging happens when someone downloads an app from Google&amp;'s Android Market. They can then inject their own code into the app and then upload it to an alternative Android Market. Sometimes they inject malware. Sometimes they inject their own ad code so that advertising dollars flow not to the original app maker but to the person repackaged the app.Of the repackaged apps, a quarter request more permissions than the original app. (On Google Android phones, users are often prompted to give their permission for an app to access certain functions within the phone, such as accessing their contact lists). That&amp;'s ominous, considering malware often triggers permission requests.Alternative app stores for Apple&amp;'s iOS (iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch) also exist. Lookout found that one of the markets existed mainly for pirates, as 85 percent of its apps were pirated. Users who &amp;''jail break&amp;'' their phones, or circumvent Apple&amp;'s security software, can download pirated apps from these alternative stores. Roughly 8 percent of the paid apps in the Apple App Store, or nearly 20,000 apps, were found in pirated form on one alternative iOS market. That&amp;'s got to be depressing for app developers.Lookout also found that about a third of the free apps in both the Apple App Store (34 percent) and the Android Market (28 percent) have the ability to access a user&amp;'s location. About 7.5 percent of free apps in the Android Market and 11 percent of free apps in the Apple App Store can access contact information.That&amp;'s not alarming by itself, but it&amp;'s a potential red flag for privacy violations. Lookout found that there was some good news here, as the number of apps having access to location or contacts has fallen in the past six months. That may be due to more developer sophistication and a heightened awareness of privacy concerns after a big scare on the Android phones last summer.Speaking of scares, Lookout identified a new trojan, HongTouTou, or the ADRD trojan, in popular repackaged apps targeted at Chinese-speaking users. The malware has 14 different versions so far repackaged in game and wallpaper apps.[image credit: HTC Wildfire Android Heaven]Calling all developers: We want to write up your app for VentureBeata4a4s Mobile App Spotlight! If you have an innovative mobile app that hasna4a4t been featured on VentureBeat yet, submit it for consideration right away. The Mobile App Spotlight is sponsored by The Intel AppUp developer program.Next Story: Paid apps are on the rise in the maturing Android Market Previous Story: Deals &amp;038' More: Catch grabs $7M for mobile note takingPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: ADRD trojan, Android Market, App Store, China, HongTouTouCompanies: Apple, GooglePeople: Kevin MaHaffey          Tags: ADRD trojan, Android Market, App Store, China, HongTouTouCompanies: Apple, GooglePeople: Kevin MaHaffeyDean 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[Mark Zuckerberg meets The Social Network&'s Jesse Eisenberg on Saturday Night Live]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-meets-the-social-networkrsquos-jesse-eisenberg-on-saturday-night-live</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-meets-the-social-networkrsquos-jesse-eisenberg-on-saturday-night-live</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>mharpsterr</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=mark-zuckerberg-meets-the-social-networkrsquos-jesse-eisenberg-on-saturday-night-live</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Can someone please explain the metaphysics of this scene Tonight, on Saturday Night Live, Jesse Eisenberg did the opening monologue. As the star of Best-Picture-nominated The Social Network movie, he plays Mark Zuckerberg in the fictionalized account of the founding of Facebook. He was interrupted by comedian Andy Samberg, who trotted out in a Zuckerberg-style sweat shirt. Samberg said that he felt bad because Eisenberg got nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actor and added, &amp;''What did I get&amp;'' Eisenberg said, &amp;''Well, wasn&amp;'t Facebook just valued at $50 billion&amp;'' Samberg booms, &amp;''All hail the Zuck.&amp;''And then the scene cuts to Zuckerberg himself saying that he wants to go out there because &amp;''those guys are nerds&amp;'' and that he&amp;'s fun because he invented &amp;''poking.&amp;'' The pair talk about how they play Zuckerberg. Then Zuckerberg joins the duo on stage.Samberg said it was &amp;''Awkberg,&amp;'' (suggesting it was awkward that Eisenberg and Zuckerberg had never met before). Eisenberg said he liked Zuckerberg&amp;'s interview on 60 Minutes. Eisenberg asked him if he had seen the movie and Zuckerberg said yes. He said it was &amp;''interesting,&amp;'' and Eisenberg said, &amp;''I&amp;'ll take that.&amp;'' They then introduced the next gig and high-fived each other. It wasn&amp;'t much of a comedy routine. In fact, Zuckerberg has been funnier on 60 Minutes, when he said that the filmmakers got the T-shirts right that Eisenberg&amp;'s character wears. &amp;''I think I own every one of those T-shirts,&amp;'' he said. Zuckerberg was actually far more poised than Eisenberg, who seemed, or at least was acting, like a nervous wreck.Zuckeberg, Sean Parker, and others have laughed off the movie for making their lives far sexier and more dramatic than it really was. But his current attitude toward the film, which has won a lot of accolades, is probably a good one. Zuckerberg fares best in the press when he shows a sense of humor about his nerdy self and tries to be charming in a self-deprecating way.Previous Story: The iPadification of the WebPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Saturday Night Live, the social networkCompanies: FacebookPeople: Andy Samberg, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Zuckerberg          Tags: Saturday Night Live, the social networkCompanies: FacebookPeople: Andy Samberg, Jesse Eisenberg, Mark ZuckerbergDean 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[DEMO: Guardly alerts your &''safety network&'' in emergencies]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-guardly-alerts-your-8220safety-network8221-in-emergencies</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-guardly-alerts-your-8220safety-network8221-in-emergencies</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>kluttspropertymanagement32</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-guardly-alerts-your-8220safety-network8221-in-emergencies</guid>
<description><![CDATA[A middle-aged man walking down the stairs in his apartment has a heart-attack. Alone and gasping for air, he pulls out his mobile phone and with one button is able to notify friends and family in a predefined &amp;''safety network&amp;'' to receive help. This is the vision of Guardly, a startup launching at DEMO that wants to decrease the amount of time it takes for responders to arrive at an emergency.Guardlya4a4s application allows smartphone users who find themselves in an emergency situation to alert, connect, and then collaborate with their personal safety network and authorities with one tap. Guardly also provides instant messaging, photo sharing and real-time location tracking capabilities. Users build up their personal safety networks by adding contacts from their phone address books. Guardly also recommends people to add.When recipients are notified of an emergency by email and text, they are brought to a webpage to communicate with one another in real-time and to coordinate response plans. Founder Josh Sookman used an example of how a mother, with knowledge of a medical condition that her college daughter has, would be able to communicate with her daughtera4a4s friend in an emergency.Other companies in the mobile safety space includeLife360, a service used to track young children, which is backed by the Founders Fund, and Rave Mobile, a mobile safety company founded in 2004 that, like Guardly, lets users alert the authorities with one touch. RaveMobile, whose investors include Bain Capital Ventures, Sigma Partners, and RRE  Ventures, has focused specifically on the university market to date.Guardly is launching its beta test at DEMO and its next milestone is a formal product launch on Apple iOS devices followed by releases on BlackBerry and Android.Guardly has a freemium business model, providing a location-based alert system for free and charging a monthly subscription for its premium real-time collaboration service.Headquartered in Toronto, Guardly was founded in 2010 and has 4 employees. The company was started by Josh Sookman, who prior to Guardly worked at the BlackBerry Partners Fund and RBC Venture Partners.Next Story: DEMO: Send an SMS slideshow with Highnote Previous Story: VentureBeat Mobile Summit: The top 180 players in mobile debatePrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: DEMO, DEMO Spring 2011, Guardly, Mobile SafetyCompanies: GuardlyPeople: Josh Sookman          Tags: DEMO, DEMO Spring 2011, Guardly, Mobile SafetyCompanies: GuardlyPeople: Josh Sookman 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[Is Twitter no longer a San Francisco startup]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-twitter-no-longer-a-san-francisco-startup</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-twitter-no-longer-a-san-francisco-startup</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>djfunky</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=is-twitter-no-longer-a-san-francisco-startup</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Twitter, the popular messaging site, may be growing out of its startup phase with a possible headquarters move to Brisbane, California, according to brokerage sources in the San Francisco Business Times.The company appears to have more than 175 million users, has sent over 25 billion tweets, and 100 million accounts added in 2010, according to statistics from Royal Pingdom. What do these numbers have to do with moving headquarters Twitter is growing and with more than 300 employees it may be looking for more room.Twitter moved to its current location at 795 Folsom St., Suite 600 in San Francisco a little over a year ago and, according to the New York Times, it expanded from the sixth floor to the third floor in May. The article goes on to quote Twittera4a4s chief executive, Dick Costolo, as he predicted that Twitter will probably outgrow its 62,000 square feet around the spring of 2011 and need to take over new space in the building or move  elsewhere.The rumor is that the company may take over a 200,000 square feet Walmart.com complex on Sierra Point (pictured above) in Brisbane (just south of San Francisco).&amp;nbsp' While Walmart.com&amp;'s online operations are still on premise, it plans to move later this year, which may match up to Costolo&amp;'s prediction of a move in the spring.Twitter, founded in 2006, has recently raised $200 million  at a $3.7 billion valuation. The latest round was led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield &amp;038' Byers.Previous Story: Will Facebook ever be rid of the Winklevoss twinsPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Brisbane, California, headquarters, moving, San Francisco, tweetsCompanies: TwitterPeople: Dick Costolo          Tags: Brisbane, California, headquarters, moving, San Francisco, tweetsCompanies: TwitterPeople: Dick CostoloCody 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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<title><![CDATA[Nvidia CEO: Oh, the places those magical Android tablets will go]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-oh-the-places-those-magical-android-tablets-will-go</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-oh-the-places-those-magical-android-tablets-will-go</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>Mary-Cherry8</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=nvidia-ceo-oh-the-places-those-magical-android-tablets-will-go</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Graphics chip maker Nvidia&amp;'s CEO Jen-Hsun Huang thinks Google&amp;'s Android team is pretty much the best thing since sliced bread.Huang praised Google for its work on the Android mobile operating system on Nvidia&amp;'s earnings conference call yesterday and said Nvidia has very high expectations for the next generation of Android tablets.Nvidia, which traditionally caters to gamers and designers with its beefy video cards, said stated in its quarterly earnings report yesterday that it plans tojam its Tegra graphics processing unit (GPU) into as many mobile devices as possible, specifically smartphones and other mobile devices running Android.&amp;''Although theya4a4re a little bit behind, the work that Google and Andy Rubina4a4s team is doing at Google is just really amazing,&amp;'' Huang said on Nvidia&amp;'s earnings conference call. &amp;''I think (the next generation of Android tablets is) going to really, really surprise people and delight consumers everywhere.&amp;''Apple has taken over the tablet personal computer market with its 9.7-inch tablet computer, the iPad. The iPhone and iPad manufacturer currently has a 95 percent market share stranglehold on the tablet space. Meanwhile, Google&amp;'s Android operating system only accounts for about 2 percent of all tablets sold.Pretty much everyone else is now working on a tablet. Research in Motion is making a 7-inchtablet powered by the BlackBerry 6 operating system a4&quot; and it&amp;'s undercutting the iPad with pricing below $500. Samsung&amp;'s 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet, which runs on Android, is priced at an unfortunate $600 a4&quot; $30 more than Apple&amp;'s cheapest 3G-enabled iPad. Hewlett-Packard is also working on an 8.9-inch tablet packing Windows 7.It wasn&amp;'t all smiles and compliments from Huang. He said Google and tablet manufacturers weren&amp;'t picking up their game to compete with the iPad. He said that the current generation of tablets was well behind the iPad and that competitors had been slow to realize the potential of tablet computers in the face of the iPad&amp;'s success. &amp;''You cana4a4t just put an operating system on a tablet and hope that . . . youa4a4re going to compete against the iPad,&amp;'' he said.But the wait would be well worth it, he said.&amp;''I think that the extra time that was necessary to build these devices, and build the operating system and all the applications and the system software necessary to do it a4&quot; and obviously, wea4a4re not going to talk about what they are right now, but theya4a4re going to be absolutely magical,&amp;'' Huang said.Next Story: Gmail creator Paul Buchheit leaves Facebook for Y Combinator Previous Story: On the GreenBeat: GE to buy 25,000 electric cars, Ascent Solar raises $20M in public offeringPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab, Google Android, iPad, PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy Tab, tabletsCompanies: Apple, Google, Hewlett Packard, Nvidia, Research In Motion, SamsungPeople: Jen Hsun Huang          Tags: Android, Apple iPad, Galaxy Tab, Google Android, iPad, PlayBook, Samsung Galaxy Tab, tabletsCompanies: Apple, Google, Hewlett Packard, Nvidia, Research In Motion, SamsungPeople: Jen Hsun HuangVentureBeat 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 Docs editing finally comes to mobile browsers a4a4a4sbut how useful is it]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-docs-editing-finally-comes-to-mobile-browsers-âÂ€Ââ but-how-useful-is-it</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-docs-editing-finally-comes-to-mobile-browsers-âÂ€Ââ but-how-useful-is-it</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>jurasminnite</dc:creator>
<category>Technology</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-docs-editing-finally-comes-to-mobile-browsers-âÂ€Ââ but-how-useful-is-it</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Dear Google: If you keep this up, I won&amp;'t have any more excuses to be unproductive on my phone in transit.Google announced today that Google Docs users can now edit their files in mobile browsers on iPhones and devices running Google&amp;'s Android operating system.Google Docs users could already access their files and view them. They can now select a new edit function and add or remove information as they see fit. The functionality extends to Google&amp;'s Spreadsheets, a cloud-based version of Microsoft&amp;'s Excel, as well as its word document editor.The mobile document editor is certainly useful. It allows people to edit their Google-hosted documents from anywhere. In theory. In practice, editing documents on a mobile device can be a real challenge. There&amp;'s the small screen to begin with, and the keyboard takes up most of the screen on most phones. Editing spreadsheets is particularly unwieldy, as the user interface changes to show very large text boxes.Google Docs is already a strong player that offers a free collaboration service for businesses that have multiple employees strewn across the country. While one member of a team edits a document, other members can see the changes in real-time. Yammer and Salesforce&amp;'s Chatter, two other huge players in the business collaboration space, already have mobile applications. With Google Docs already behaving as a collaboration service, the next logical step was to take it mobile.Google doesna4a4t provide details about how Docs is doing, but itsays the app has a4Atens of millions of users.a4 And Google Apps, the bundle of business tools that includes Docs, has signed up 2 million companies with more than 25 million users total.Microsoft also recently brought all of itsOffice applications online in response to Googlea4a4s increasingly popular web document applications.The alternative Microsoft offered before release of its Office 365 suite was paying for its Sharepoint program, a file-sharing and collaboration tool that integrates with its Office suite. But with collaboration providers like Yammer and Google becoming increasingly popular, Microsoft has been forced to move its services into the cloud to compete.Next Story: Lessons for innovators from building a Rube Goldberg machine Previous Story: Anobit raises $32M for flash memory that&amp;'s harder, better, faster, strongerPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Chatter, collaboration, enterprise, Google Docs, Office 365Companies: Google, Microsoft, salesforce, Yammer          Tags: Chatter, collaboration, enterprise, Google Docs, Office 365Companies: Google, Microsoft, salesforce, YammerVentureBeat 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 Mobile Searches Grew 130 Percent In&nbsp'Q3]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mobile-searches-grew-130-percent-innbspq3</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mobile-searches-grew-130-percent-innbspq3</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>cash21</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=google-mobile-searches-grew-130-percent-innbspq3</guid>
<description><![CDATA[As more and more consumers use their phones for both business and product search and purchasing, mobile ad formats for retailers are becoming a more compelling way to connect with these users. Today, Google is bringing its seller ratings ad format to the mobile platform, allowing searchers using Google on the mobile web to see ratings of merchants within a search ad. Another interesting tidbit from the posta4&quot;Google Mobile searches were up 130 percent year-over-year in Q3 of 2010.Similar to seller ratings for web-based search ads, the mobile format allows advertisers to include a rating for a business. Seller Ratings are aggregated from merchant review sites and Google says the the extension will only show when a merchant&amp;'s online store has a rating of four or more stars and includes at least 30 reviews.The ad itself shows the merchants star rating and posts a link to the seller&amp;'s reviews. Google says that the mobile ad formats with seller ratings are only available  on Google.com, Google.co.uk and Google.de domains. And Google cautions that these types of ads are only appropriate for &amp;''advertisers who provide users with paid goods or services or those that enable the buying or selling of products or services via a marketplace.&amp;''It&amp;'s not surprising that Google is continuing to ramp up its efforts in mobile search offerings. Google already does pretty well in terms of mobile revenue (in the company&amp;'s last earnings call, the search giant said that mobile search is on track to be a  $1 billion business in 2010). In the call, Google SVP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg said that mobile search queries have grown five times over the past couple of years.CrunchBase InformationGoogleInformation provided by CrunchBase<br/><br/>0 Vote(s) ]]></description>
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<title><![CDATA[DEMO 2011: Start chatting with customers with Workface]]></title>
<link>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-2011-start-chatting-with-customers-with-workface</link>
<comments>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-2011-start-chatting-with-customers-with-workface</comments>
<pubDate>Mon, 30 Nov -001 00:00:00 +0000</pubDate>
<dc:creator>jacelynwyl</dc:creator>
<category>Latest News</category>
<guid>http://www.haaze.com/story.php?title=demo-2011-start-chatting-with-customers-with-workface</guid>
<description><![CDATA[Workface is one of 53 companies chosen by VentureBeat to launch at the DEMO Spring 2011 event taking place this week in Palm Desert, Calif. After our selection, the companies pay a fee to present. Our coverage of them remains objective.Workface, which provides an online service that helps companies interact with their customers with text- and video-chat services, is launching today at the DEMO Spring 2011 conference.Workface gives employees at a company additional ways to interact with their customers. The software adds a toolbar to websites that shows how many sales associates are available and lets customers interact with them directly by chatting with them or viewing profiles. The software also gives companies some analytical tools to figure out which strategies for interacting with customers are working.The company also has mobile-chat applications that lets employees chat with potential customers through a mobile device. The application is available for Apple devices and phones running on BlackBerry and Android mobile operating systems. Sales associates can also start video chats from their mobile devices if they have a front-facing camera, similar to Apple&amp;'s consumer-oriented FaceTime application.Customer support for the service is hands-off as well, since the service is run on remote servers a4&quot; or cloud-based servers. The software costs $25 per user per month, and any technical woes are handled by Workface. So companies interested in the software don&amp;'t have to hire additional IT professionals to handle any software woes that crop up.Workface has raised $1.9 million to date from the founders, angel investors and Arthur Ventures. The Minneapolis, Minn.-based company was founded in 2007 and has 5 full-time employees, as well as some contract workers. The company is led by Leif Larson, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin&amp;'s business school. He was formerly the CEO of Kiosk.Next Story: DEMO: Zugara engages online shoppers with dress-up visualization Previous Story: DEMO: Embria delivers &amp;8216'big brother&amp;' view for corporate ITPrintEmailTwitterFacebookGoogle BuzzLinkedIn      DiggStumbleUponRedditDeliciousGoogleMore&amp;8230'          Tags: Android, Blackberry, chat, cloud computing, customer acquisition, customer interaction, DEMO, DEMO Spring 2011, iPad, iPhone, video chatCompanies: Workface          Tags: Android, Blackberry, chat, cloud computing, customer acquisition, customer interaction, DEMO, DEMO Spring 2011, iPad, iPhone, video chatCompanies: WorkfaceMatthew 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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