News From Around The Web

Cabin tech in the 2012 Volkswagen Jetta GLI may not be cutting-edge, but the Fender audio system sounds excellent. The boring sedan body belies the superior handling and quick-shifting gearbox.(author unknown)

If you use Skype a lot for business or play, Skype has announced that it has updated the Windows version of the software to 5.8. The new version has some interesting features, including a new group screen sharing feature. That screen sharing feature may be perfect for businesses that have employees scattered around the country or for geeks need to show parents how to work something on the computer.

The group sharing feature allows you to share photos with a group of friends or share your screen to give a presentation to as many as 10 people. That group screen sharing feature is available Skype Premium, and the premium service includes group video calling along with live chat with customer support. The update also allows users of the Windows platform to check Facebook news feeds from within Skype and to send messages to or video call Facebook friends.

Story Timeline

• Logitech HD Pro Webcam C920 offers 1080p Skype chat on Jan 5th 2012
• Skype joins telyHD for HDTV video chat in your living room on Jan 5th 2012
• Is Skype the Windows Phone Wildcard? on Jan 16th 2012
• FBI spyware not Skype responsible for spilling MegaUpload secrets on Feb 2nd 2012
• Windows Phone 8: Win8 Kernel and deep-hook Skype confirmed on Feb 3rd 2012

Those last features are in Skype for Windows Beta. The new 5.8 version also supports full HD video calling, push to talk, Skype updater service, Bing toolbar integration, and the ability to hide offline Facebook contacts. The 1080p video calling requires the Logitech C920 Web Cam. The new 5.8 version of the software is available for download right now.

Skype for Windows hits version 5.8 with new features is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

At Microsoft's Build conference, Michael Angiulo, corporate vice president of Windows Planning, Hardware and PC Ecosystem, displays a prototype Windows 8 tablet. Photo: Microsoft

Windows 8 represents a huge departure for Microsoft.

First, the platform is slated to run on both x86 processors for PCs, and on ARM chips for tablets. Second, it’s a single OS platform with two distinctly different user interfaces. You’ll be able to divide your time between the touch-optimized Metro, which borrows its look, feel and navigation from the Windows Phone OS, and a traditional Windows 7-like desktop experience.

On desktop PCs, this dual-interface approach shouldn’t be a problem. Metro doesn’t demand many resources. It should run on PCs just fine.

But there’s still a nagging question: How will legacy desktop applications run on ARM-based tablets, if they run on ARM at all? Desktop apps can be resource hogs, and ARM-based tablets may not have the horsepower to run these programs quickly and elegantly. Not only could application performance suffer, but desktop apps could also suck battery capacities dry.

Well, a bit of clarity is maybe, possibly emerging. A Thursday report says Microsoft might allow a limited number of Windows 8 desktop apps to run on ARM-based tablets.

Microsoft is considering “a restricted desktop for Windows 8 ARM,” sources at The Verge say. Applications would have to earn special certification, and would likely be limited to Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. This jibes with reports that Microsoft has been working on a lighter-weight version of Office for tablets.

We asked Microsoft to clarify, and received a “no comment.” However, past statements from Windows lead Steven Sinofsky suggest ARM tablets won’t support the desktop component of Windows 8.

“We’ve been very clear since the very first CES demos and forward that the ARM product won’t run any X86 applications,” Sinofsky said to investors at a financial analyst meeting in September. “We’ve done a bunch of work to enable a great experience there.”

So how do developers feel? Alexandre Brisebois, a senior .Net developer at RunAtServer, thinks it would be best for Microsoft to offer the same Metro and desktop interfaces everywhere, on both x86 and ARM devices. Conversely, Darren Baker, the business development director at Sogetti Global (a company that makes custom Windows products for businesses), says offering a desktop interface of any kind could be problematic for new tablet users.

“People would buy an ARM tablet, and think they have this copy of MS office that’s going to run there, but it won’t,” Baker says. 

Nonetheless, the Windows 8 dual user interface scheme does offer Microsoft and hardware companies a chance to rethink the tablet space as it exists today. This could lead to a tablet that’s both interesting and well-integrated with other Windows products.

“You’re actually going to see tablets that are focused on a specific kinds of tasks: video acceleration for media, or you have legacy app compatibility for desktop users,” Baker says. “It’s not really about the tablet itself. It’s about what you can enable with the tablet.”

Baker used a theoretical United Airlines app as an example scenario for different use cases:

“If they develop an app for end users, it’s going to be ‘I need to use this to get information quickly, then move on with my life.’ They will develop an app for the Metro UI. It’ll launch, get you flight details, and then you can go on to what you want to do next. If an app’s geared toward someone who’s sitting at a desk, they may not need the Metro UI at all, just the desktop interface. Then they could just have a Metro tile that gives you Metro information as needed.”

With the beta of Windows 8 coming out later this month, Microsoft’s tablet plans should soon be revealed. But for now, only one things’s for sure: Regardless of whether the desktop U.I. will appear on ARM tablets, Windows 8 tablets will offer a dramatically different alternative to Apple and Android tablets.

I know many people are competitive in everything they do from work to play. Some people are always looking forward to competing with others to see who’s better or just claim a win. If you’re this sort of person, and you like to exercise, Apple is researching some social fitness technology that would allow you to share your workouts in real-time, including performance data allowing you to compete with people you know. This is interesting, and there are some apps for Apple hardware that allow this sort of data sharing already.

The research is tipped via a patent filing called “Interfacing Portable Media Devices And Sports Equipment.” The patent surfaced this week in the trademark and patent office database, but was filed on October 12, 2011. Interestingly, one of the names on the filing is Apple engineer Donald Ginsberg. Ginsberg heads up that Apple Made for iPod program.

The patent outlines a way the workout data from your Apple device can be shared in real-time with your friends who may be working out with you or on similar equipment. Apparently, if you and a friend are in the gym, and you are both on the treadmill, you would immediately be able to share data on things like speed and time so you can compete to see who can go the furthest the quickest. The coolest part is the patent claims you can share this data with people next to you in your gym or friends around the world who are working out at the same time using Wi-Fi or cellular network connection.

[via 9to5Mac]

Apple eyes fitness tech with real-time sharing for competitive types is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

While it packs an impressive punch in terms of sound performance and feature set, the G-17 is more expensive than an iPad and doesn't seem worth its $550 price tag.(author unknown)

AMD held a financial analyst day this week, and it had a slick and sexy little notebook in a demo area for the geeks to check out while they were there. The thin, glossy little notebook packs in the new AMD Trinity APU the little beastie looks as thin as a MacBook Air in photos. According to Engadget, the reference design unit on display is one of the several proof of concepts that are being used to show off the powerful and thin machines packing the new Trinity APU.

The prototype we see here is running a lower voltage range of Trinity that should be either the 17-watt or the 25-watt version of the APU. The little display machine is only 18 mm thick and is clearly aiming at Intel ultrabook shoppers. Granted this is simply proof of concept, so shipping versions could change significantly. However, Engadget reports that the machine was very flimsy and has a significant amount of flex in its chassis.

Story Timeline

• AMD Trinity APU confirmed for 2012; Z-Series for tablets imminent on Jun 1st 2011
• AMD Trinity 2012 Chip Demoed On Notebook on Jun 14th 2011
• AMD Trinity ultrathins to undercut ultrabook by $200 on Jan 17th 2012

The good news with these designs from AMD is that its targeting a price point much lower than that of the ultrabook and are expected to sell in the $500 to $600 range. At roughly half of some of the ultrabook’s price tag, if the performance is on par, these machines should prove to be popular. The notebook is thin, but it still has all the connectivity we expect with dual USB 3.0 ports, HDMI out, and a mini-DisplayPort out, along with the expected audio jacks, Ethernet, and power ports.

[via Engadget]

Compal Trinity APU reference design surfaces looking thin and sexy is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Thanks to a leaked video — a video that Microsoft made for Nokia — we now have almost complete details of Windows Phone 8 (WP8). From deep Windows 8, Skype, and SkyDrive integration, through to the addition of NFC “wallet” payments and BitLocker encryption, it sounds like Windows Phone 8 will be a very exciting mobile OS indeed.

For a start, Windows Phone 8 is the Apollo update that has been bandied around for a few months. Windows Phone 7.5 will receive the Tango update in the coming months, which brings support for smaller screens, hardware keyboards, slower SoCs, and more languages — and then, alongside Windows 8 in the fall, Apollo (WP8) will launch.

Windows 8 and WP8 won’t just share a launch window, though: Windows Phone 8 is being reworked to use the same kernel as Windows 8, as opposed to the Windows CE kernel currently in use. This won’t affect application compatibility — all existing WP7 apps will work on WP8 — but it will usher in support for native code, possibly using the same Metro-style developer tools as Windows 8, and support for multi-core processors. While Microsoft says that Windows 8 apps won’t be directly compatible with Windows Phone 8, developers will be able to “reuse — by far — most of their code.”

Along with the kernel, Windows Phone manager Joe Belfiore says that security, network stacks, and multimedia support will all have a strong overlap between the two OSes. Many of the core features in Windows 8, such as app-to-app communication contracts, Metro app sandboxing, and sensor fusion will all be carried over to Windows Phone 8. Hardware-wise, WP8 will support four different resolutions (though we don’t know which ones), expandable MicroSD card storage, and presumably hardware keyboards.

Moving beyond low-level details and into user space: WP8 will bond with Windows use a standard ActiveSync-type program rather than the full Zune client; SkyDrive integration will be complete, bringing iCloud-like functionality to all of your Microsoft devices (this will work for music, too, so you won’t need to PC sync); a Skype app will enable seamless VoIP calling; and there’ll be an Xbox Companion app for Windows 8 that links up with Windows Phone.

As far as new features go, there’s DataSmart — which is very like Android 4.0′s Data Usage controls; basically, it shows you a graph of your data usage and tries to use WiFi wherever possible — and native hardware-accelerated 128-bit BitLocker full device encryption (good news for business users, and security-minded smartphone users). Browser-wise, WP8 will have a mobile version of Internet Explorer 10, along with support for Opera Mini-like proxy page compression. finally, Windows Phone 8 will support secure, contactless payments through NFC (it will have some app that’s comparable to Google Wallet).

All in all, it sounds like Windows Phone 8 will become the ideal companion for Windows 8, which is exactly what Microsoft needs if it wants to succeed in both the phone and tablet PC market. Feature-wise, WP8 looks like it will be comparable to Android 4.0 or iOS 5 — but of course, by the time it launches Google and Apple will again be one step ahead with Android 5.0 and iOS 6.

Read more at Pocketnow.com

Apple has yanked the majority of its 3G-enabled devices from its German online store, including the iPhone 4 and the iPad 2 WiFi + 3G, after Motorola Mobility secured a sales injunction over 3G/UMTS patents. The move, Deutsche Presse-Agentur reports, is a response to a court win back in December 2011, rather than Motorola’s permanent injunction success earlier today over a different patent, with the company apparently posting a €100m ($131m) bond to enact the late-2011 ruling.

The iPhone 4S is excluded from the sales block, presumably because it uses a different baseband chip to earlier Apple 3G-enabled devices. The iPad 2 WiFi + 3G, along with the iPhone 3G and iPhone 4, use Infineon wireless hardware, but Apple switched to Qualcomm GSM/CDMA hybrids for the iPhone 4S.

Motorola’s win in December was around a FRAND (fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory) licensed patent, deemed essential to 3G/UMTS standards. The ruling this week is not believed to refer to a FRAND patent, however. Samsung is currently under investigation by the European Commission for potential antitrust behaviors around FRAND patent licensing, and it’s unclear if Motorola’s decision to enact the injunction this week will see it also placed under the EC microscope.

Interestingly, the sales ban only applies to Apple’s online store; physical German stores, including Apple’s own retail locations, are apparently free to continue selling the devices. “Even if some iPad and iPhone models are currently unavailable in our online store in Germany,” an Apple statement (machine-translated) said, “customers will likely have no problem finding these devices in our stores or [at] authorized dealers.”

Update: Apple has given us a fuller statement (non-translated):

“While some iPad and iPhone models are not available through Apple’s online store in Germany right now, customers should have no problem finding them at one of our retail stores or an authorized reseller. Apple is appealing this ruling because Motorola repeatedly refuses to license this patent to Apple on reasonable terms, despite having declared it an industry standard patent seven years ago.”

Story Timeline

• Motorola Anti-iCloud patent suit success tipped for 2012 on Nov 18th 2011
• Motorola scores Apple iPhone/iPad injunction in Germany [Updated] on Dec 9th 2011
• Apple loses Motorola patent strike in preliminary ruling on Jan 14th 2012
• Motorola wins German iCloud ban: Must post €100m bond to enforce on Feb 3rd 2012

[via FOSS Patents]

Apple pulls 3G iPads, iPhone 4, more from German online store is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It’s clear that Apple CEO Tim Cook, who replaced the late Steve Jobs, is a different kind of leader than Jobs was. While Jobs was not known for philanthropic efforts during his life and his time with Apple, Cook is focusing heavily on talking up Apple’s charitable contributions. In fact, Cook recently told employees at a Apple Town Hall meeting that the company is donating to charity in a big way.

Cook told workers that Apple has so far donated $50 million to Stanford’s hospitals. The donation will split into two parts with $25 million for a new Main building an additional $25 million going to a new Children’s Hospital. Cook also mentioned that Apple is the leading contributor to Product RED and since the project kicked off Cook says Apple has donated $50 million.

Story Timeline

• Apple is Safe with Tim Cook on Aug 24th 2011
• Tim Cook's email to Apple employees on Aug 25th 2011
• Tim Cook takes the lead at iPhone event on Oct 4th 2011
• Tim Cook turns the heat down at Apple on Nov 1st 2011
• Apple playing for keeps with Tim Cook salary splurge on Jan 11th 2012

According to The Verge, Cook instituted a charitable matching program within weeks of taking over the CEO role. The program sees Apple matching any charitable contributions made by employees. $100 million in charitable contributions is a huge chunk of money, but it’s pocket change when you have $97.6 billion in cash sitting around.

[via TheVerge]

Apple’s Tim Cook talks charitable contributions at internal meeting is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you didn't think mannequins were creepy enough already, maybe this will change your mind. In an attempt to lure shoppers, Japanese department store Takashimiya installed an eerily lifelike interactive robot for its Valentine's window display. The retailer called on robotics guru Hiroshi Ishiguro to provide the humanoid dummy, which can not only wink and yawn as people approach, but also display a range of emotions -- beyond boredom, indifference and oblivious content, we assume. While this was just part of the store's seasonal promotion, it might be a hint at where visual merchandise is going. Whether Ishiguro's model "model" will crossover into more professional roles like her sister, however, is unclear. Want to see that cheeky wink for yourself? Then hit up the video after the break.

Continue reading Hiroshi Ishiguro's android mannequin creeps out Japanese shoppers (video)

Hiroshi Ishiguro's android mannequin creeps out Japanese shoppers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 06:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink UberGizmo  |  CScoutJapan (YouTube)  | Email this | CommentsJames Trew

Spilled details on Windows Phone 8 “Apollo” have opened the floodgates on Microsoft’s next significant update to its smartphone software, with more tidbits on the Windows 8 kernel based platform slipping out. Paul Thurrott confirms the shared kernel, along with the  multi-core processor support, sensor fusion, security model, network, and video and graphics technologies from Windows 8, though says Skype will remain a separate app rather than baked in at the OS level.

The Microsoft-owned VoIP service is “a separate but better app and not integrated into OS” Thurrott claims, and will remain “optional.” There appears to be some confusion around this; from what’s been said, it looks like Windows Phone 8 will offer deep-level hooks for Skype, allowing the app to integrate seamlessly alongside traditional voice calls as far as the user sees, though it won’t be bundled as part of the OS itself.

There’ll also be better use of sandboxing, with a way for Windows Phone 8 apps to communicate with each other but not cause each other to crash or leak data, and the DataSmart system is also confirmed. That, as Microsoft wrote about the same system on Windows 8 machines recently, will prevent mobile data causing “bill shock” headaches, with current real-time use shown on a homescreen live tile.

Windows Phone 8 will also be a more serious platform, as Microsoft sets its sights on enterprise customers. That means “full-device, hardware accelerated encryption with BitLocker and always-on Secure Boot capabilities” Thurrott claims, along with “Exchange ActiveSync policies and System Center configuration settings and inventory capabilities.”

Backward compatibility with Windows Phone 7.5 apps is a given, but developers will be able to make better use of a single code base for Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 apps, as well as increase collaboration between apps on each platform.

Microsoft hasn’t commented on the leak, though ZDNet claims the company will be talking – albeit in private, closed-door meetings – about Apollo at MWC 2012 later this month. That’s likely a safety play to avoid overshadowing existing high-profile Windows Phones, as well as the Tango update which is expected to arrive prior to WP8.

Story Timeline

• Windows Phone Tango update tipped before WP8 Apollo in late 2012 on Jun 29th 2011
• Nokia Windows Phone sales top 1.3m in 2011 tip analysts on Jan 23rd 2012
• Windows Tango getting C++ support, 120 languages on Jan 30th 2012
• Nokia hints at Windows Phones with NFC sans ports on Jan 31st 2012
• Windows Phone 8 Apollo detailed by SVP on Feb 2nd 2012

Windows Phone 8: Win8 Kernel and deep-hook Skype confirmed is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The big story this week has been the Facebook IPO filing that is set to make a bunch of early employees at the social network millionaires. The Facebook IPO filing also showed how important game developer Zynga was to the money Facebook earns. The filing showed that Zynga accounted for 12% of Facebook’s 2011 revenue. That means that to some extent profits for Facebook and profits at Zynga are intertwined.

With big expectations for Facebook IPO filing, Zynga’s own stock has soared since the IPO paperwork was filed. In fact, since the Facebook IPO filing Zynga’s market cap has climbed over $1 billion thanks to the increase in stock prices for Zynga. Apparently, Zynga stock was trading at the close of market early this week for $10.96 per share, which is a bit higher than the $10 per share price in December when the company made its IPO. Yesterday, Zynga stock opened at $11.05 and the price went up to $12.81 per share at its peak.

Story Timeline

• Facebook IPO launched officially on Feb 1st 2012
• Facebook depends on Zynga for 12% of revenue on Feb 1st 2012
• Facebook's IPO, webOS and the Perfect Social Phone on Feb 2nd 2012
• Facebook IPO's biggest winner may be artist David Choe on Feb 2nd 2012

That meant by the close of market on Thursday Zynga’s market cap was up 12% to $8.66 million compared to the $7.4 billion market cap the day before. The Facebook traffic to Zynga is also growing with 1.9 million daily active users and 6.4 million monthly active users. Facebook’s IPO is certainly helping Zynga.

[via Insidesocialgames]

Facebook’s IPO filing sends Zynga stock soaring is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

OnStar is pushing major utility companies, energy companies, and technology firms to develop Smart Grid solutions that will allow the Chevy Volt to interface with utility grid for various tasks. The goal is to allow the driver of the Volt to have granular control over how and when their vehicles charge, and the sort of electricity that is used.

The new Smart Grid API that OnStar is pushing will do several things for drivers of the EVs and plug-in hybrids that will make charging smarter, cheaper, and easier on the environment. The APIs will offer things like demand response, time of use rates, charging data, and aggregated services. The aggregated services solutions interesting and is intended to allow companies such as Google that operate large fleets of electric vehicles to control the charging simultaneously.

The charging data offers details that the utility companies can use to determine potential load scenarios for a given area where multiple electric vehicles might be charging at once. The time of use rates will allow the owner of the electric vehicle to see exactly how much the electricity would cost them at a specific time. The demand response feature would also allow the utility companies to manage energy use for Volt drivers allowing the driver to save money on energy costs and allowing for more efficient use of the electric grid. I don’t see a lot of companies hopping on the development bandwagon for the Smart Grid APIs at this point since only the Volt is compatible right now.

OnStar invites tech, utility, and energy companies to use Smart Grid APIs is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Panasonic's released its 2012 quarterly report (its financial year runs from summer to summer) and concedes it's been as bad for them as it was for Sony and Sharp. It's blaming the Japanese Earthquake for damaging its supply chain, a strong yen for keeping prices high, plus having to write-down the costs for its acquisition of Sanyo. The company's promising to restructure (in the face of stern competition from Samsung and LG) to become a "green innovation" business as well as to streamline its operating costs. It's predicting a quarterly loss of $9.2 billion as it takes the hit for this turmoil, and it doesn't look like things will improve with an anticipated further loss of another $2 billion at the end of the (financial) year.

Continue reading Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring

Panasonic 2012 Q3: $9 billion loss, Sanyo writedowns, restructuring originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:54:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | CommentsDaniel Cooper

Its legal fortunes may be souring in Germany today, but that hasn't stopped Apple from launching an all-out assault in Australia, where the company has just ramped up its ongoing patent battle against Samsung. As the Australian reports, Cupertino has expanded its complaint to 278 claims, covering 72 patents and a full ten products -- including some smartphones and tablets that have yet to launch in Australia. (Apple's original suit, by comparison, involved only three patents, concerning the Galaxy Tab 10.1.) Apple won an injunction against Samsung's tablet last year, but that was overturned in November. With its subsequent appeal shot down, Apple now appears to be ramping up its forces, though it's unlikely that we'll see a conclusion anytime soon. Samsung's lead lawyer Neil Young said the Korean manufacturer received short notice of its rival's latest suit, which means it won't be able to file a defense until mid-May.

Apple broadens Australian patent lawsuit with 278 claims against Samsung originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink The Next Web  |  The Australian  | Email this | CommentsAmar Toor

“Won’t somebody think of the children” US lawmakers have pleaded, after an unsatisfactory two hour face-to-face with Google‘s execs over privacy changes left them unconvinced that the search giant is doing enough to offer data tracking opt-outs. “At the end of the day, I don’t think their answers to us were very forthcoming necessarily in what this really means for the safety of our families and our children” California Republican Mary Bono Mack said after the meeting, The Hill reports, despite two of Google’s top execs giving her and the other members of the Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade subcommittee a “thorough walkthrough” of the privacy options available today.

In fact, that demo only convinced Mack that Google’s system had become more of a potential threat to privacy. “By being more simple, [the privacy policy] is actually more complicated” she claims. Google had been asked to meet with the subcommittee this week to answer questions on how its streamlined privacy policy would work, sending director of public policy Pablo Chavez and senior counsel Michael Yang to field Congress’ concerns.

Fellow subcommittee member G.K. Butterfield wants Google to offer a “one-stop” site where opt-outs can be managed, something the company has at least partially offered with its Dashboard. That, and other tools, was highlighted earlier this week when Google slapped down Microsoft’s allegations that the new privacy policy was not in the public interest.

Google privacy policy changes:

“The concern of Congress is how much active participation does a user have to do to protect their own privacy” Mack concluded. Google has insisted that the new policy has no significant impact on users’ privacy across its services, pointing out that several – including search and YouTube – demand no login information before they can be accessed. The search company argues that the harmonized policy merely collates all-but identical conditions previously spread across more than 60 separate documents, rather than introducing new terms.

Story Timeline

• Google Privacy Policy changes outrage activists on Jan 25th 2012
• Google+ speaks on teens, privacy additions, digs on Facebook on Jan 26th 2012
• Google fires back at Privacy critics as Congress demands answers on Jan 27th 2012
• Google responds to US Congress privacy concerns on Jan 31st 2012
• Microsoft "Putting People First" adverts targets Google fears on Feb 1st 2012
• Google buys online ads to defend new privacy policy on Feb 1st 2012
• Google slaps Microsoft over "Gmail Man" privacy snark on Feb 2nd 2012

Google privacy protests fail to convince US Congress is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Sync by 50 wireless headphones made the right move using Kleer technology for lossless sound, but SMS Audio needs to fix severe design flaws and lower the price before they're ready for battle.(author unknown)

As far back as September, security researchers discovered a "critical" bug in many HTC Android handsets that exposed users' WiFi credentials to any hacker who cared to look. The flaw affected recent devices like the Thunderbolt and EVO 4G all the way back to the Desire HD. The researchers promptly notified HTC, but the manufacturer waited a full five months before acknowledging the flaw publicly a few days ago. Sounds shady, perhaps, but HTC sent us a statement clarifying that this is standard policy to protect customers. It says it waited to develop a fix before it alerted the big bad world to the vulnerability. Most newer devices have already received their fix OTA, but owners of some older phones -- we'll update this post when we know exactly which ones -- will need to check the HTC Support site for a manual update next week. Meanwhile, in manufacturer's defense, the guys at the Open1X group who discovered the bug say that HTC was "very responsive and good to work with." Here's HTC's statement to us:

"HTC takes customer data security very seriously. If there is a known breach of sensitive customer data, our priority is customer notification along with corrective actions. It is our policy, and industry standard procedure, to protect customers, which sometimes necessitates not increasing data security risks by disclosing minor breach issues where no malicious applications are detected. In those cases, premature disclosure of vulnerabilities could spur creation of malicious apps to take advantage of any vulnerability before it is fixed. For this specific WiFi bug issue, we worked closely with Google and the security researchers from the date of notification and throughout this process to ensure that the majority of affected HTC phones had already received the fix prior to the vulnerability being made public."

HTC acknowledges long-running WiFi security flaw, says it deliberately kept it quiet originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Feb 2012 05:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink TheNextWeb  |  My War with Entropy, HTC Support  | Email this | CommentsSharif Sakr

Motorola has won a permanent injunction against Apple’s iCloud service and the devices that access it in Germany, though the company must risk a €100m bond and the threat of huge damages if Apple’s likely appeals if it actually wants to enact it today. Motorola Mobility’s case against Ireland-based Apple Sales International – Apple’s European sales branch – was brought in April 2011 and swiftly pushed through a full proceeding, FOSS Patents reports; it potentially encompasses sales in Germany of the iPhone, iPad and other devices.

Although the injunction is a permanent one – as it was the result of a full proceeding with trial, rather than a fast-tracked hearing which would result in a preliminary injunction – it’s what’s known as “preliminary enforceable” at this stage. Motorola can choose to enforce the sales ban, but to do so it must put down the €100m ($133m) bond: if Apple successfully appeals the injunction, which they are almost certainly likely to attempt, then Motorola will not only lose that bond but face whatever damages the appeals court decides are fair.

That sum could stretch well into the multi-millions, and indeed Apple attempted to persuade the court to set the bond amount at €2bn instead. It’s worth noting that the initial bond is only a starter figure, with the potential for the appeals court to settle upon a considerably higher amount should it be decided that Motorola prematurely enforced the injunction.

Whether Motorola – and Google, which still plans to acquire the smartphone company – will decide that risk is worth it remains to be seen. The case revolves around a European patent covering “multiple pager status synchronization system and method” which, Motorola alleges, the iCloud sync and backup system infringes upon; there’s also a US patent equivalent, the importance of will be highlighted depending on Motorola’s decision around enforcement and the decision of the German appeals court.

If Motorola seeks a ban, Apple will face the arduous task of modifying iOS to strip iCloud functionality for devices in Germany, as well as blocking access to German hardware at the server level. The practicalities of this are uncertain.

Story Timeline

• Motorola Anti-iCloud patent suit success tipped for 2012 on Nov 18th 2011

Motorola wins German iCloud ban: Must post €100m bond to enforce is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Here are some recent posts on TechCrunch Gadgets:

The Peek Bites The Dust

Steve Jobs Impersonator With Angel Wings And Halo Used To Hawk A Worthless Android Tab

The $199 PlayBook Returns For A Limited Time