05/13, 12:20pm
May heighten tensions over tax avoidance in EU countries
French President Francoise Hollande is considering a new tax on tech products, the money from which would fund cultural projects. The move, which would be decided this summer and has been described as "minimal and widely distributed," may increase tensions between tech companies and the government of France -- along with other EU countries, many of which have complained that firms such as Apple and Google are gaming the system in order to avoid paying taxes that would normally be due.
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05/13, 11:37am
Kindle Fire, Kindle Fire HD owners receive 500-coin gift
Amazon has launched its virtual currency in the United States, and has provided Kindle Fire owners with an initial credit on their accounts. The 500 Amazon Coins, valued at $5, can be used to buy apps from the Amazon Appstore as well as in-app items, along with an incentive to continue buying packs of the virtual currency instead of usual cash transactions.
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05/13, 11:18am
Friends and rivals discussed family, history, future
An unaired portion of a 60 Minutes interview with Bill Gates saw the founder of Microsoft in an unusually reflective state when questioned by interviewer Charlie Rose on the topic of the late Apple co-founder and CEO Steve Jobs, his friend and rival. Jobs met with Gates for an extended period very near the end of his life, an unusual concession to a colleague he had had a tumultuous relationship with over the decades. Gates said the two men had "grown up together," each building the computer industry in their own image.
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05/13, 6:45am
Speed of 1GHz reached in 2-kilometer test, could rise by 2020
While carriers around the world are still working on their 4G LTE network deployment plans, the next generation of cellular networks is being worked on by Samsung. The manufacturer has announced it has developed an adaptive array transceiver technology, which will apparently form the core of 5G networks by 2020.
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05/11, 1:20am
BlackBerry likely to suffer due to loss of monopoly on secure devices
A spokesperson for the Pentagon has told Bloomberg that mobile devices using Apple's iOS 6 as well as Samsung devices supplemented with the company's Knox security lockdown as well as BlackBerry devices running BB10 are expected to be allowed onto the Defense Department's high-security data networks early next week, barring final approvals. The news comes on the heels of iOS's FIPS 140-2 certification for the CoreCrypto kernel module, which was added in the iOS 6 release.
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05/10, 5:31pm
Counter-offer allows shareholders to keep shares, pays significant dividend
Investor Carl Icahn and Southeastern Asset Management have proposed a new offer to Dell shareholders, who are considering a proposal by founder Michael Dell's group of investors, including Microsoft, to purchase existing shares at $13.65 each in order to take the company private. In a letter to Dell's board of directors, Icahn and Southeastern are counter-proposing a deal to give all Dell shareholders the option to retain shares in the company, plus take an additional $12 a share in cash or stock.
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05/10, 4:48pm
Could affect outcome of Apple v. Samsung battles
The US Patent and Trademark Office has issued a preliminary rejection of some claims in an Apple patent, Method and apparatus for providing translucent images on a computer display, says FOSS Patents. Claims 29-30 and 33-35 have been rejected. The USPTO says that aspects of the patent were obvious or anticipated in light of another patent, Method and apparatus for displaying simulated keyboards on touch-sensitive displays, as well as prior art.
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05/10, 2:34pm
Three-year plan will halve employee count at head office
Sharp will be drastically cutting its number of employees over the next three years, as part of a plan to financially rectify itself. Out of the 51,000 currently employed by the company worldwide, Sharp will be reportedly cull 5,000 jobs across the board, with its main office in Osaka, Japan losing approximately half of its workforce.
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05/10, 1:22pm
Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 to allow DRM circumvention
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) has come under attack by a newly-proposed legislation. The Unlocking Technology Act of 2013 seeks to legalize the unlocking of cellphones, as well as clarifying that the DMCA should only apply in cases where circumventing digital rights management or other copyright systems will aid in copyright infringement itself.
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05/10, 10:21am
Google Wallet Card could have acted as credit card proxy
Google is dropping its proposals to augment its Google Wallet payment system with a physical card, ahead of changes expected to be announced at Google I/O, according to reports. The news comes at the same time as the head of Google Wallet itself, Osama Bedier, will be leaving the company to pursue "other opportunities."
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05/09, 11:30pm
Survey includes notebooks, tablets, phones, excludes actual sales
In its latest report, industry research firm Canalys is reporting on what it calls "worldwide smart mobile device shipments" for the first quarter of the year -- a term that includes smartphones, notebooks and tablets. Of the 308.7 million devices that fall under one of those categories that shipping in Q1, around 60 percent were said to be Android devices, reflecting the platform's strength in smartphones -- the fastest-growing area of mobile electronics. Apple's iOS placed second again, despite a dominant presence in tablets.
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05/09, 9:34pm
Bill also proposes total elimination of sporting broadcast blackout rules
Senator John McCain (R-AZ) today introduced the Television Consumer Freedom Act of 2013, aimed at migrating away from the cable industry practice of bundling, and moving the entire industry top to bottom towards "a la carte" offerings. The act as it stands is voluntary, offering incentives to companies operating in accordance with the directive, rather than severely penalizing recalcitrant companies for noncompliance.
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05/09, 8:29pm
Verizon and AT&T express interest in the general idea
According to recent reports, media companies with high-bandwidth apps are considering deals with wireless carriers to ensure users can consume the content without being slapped with data overage fines. Reportedly, sports network ESPN has had discussions with at least one carrier to subsidize users' wireless data usage, with the company paying to offset data used by subscribers.
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05/09, 7:04pm
Sony allegedly holding out for higher fee for streaming music
Apple may have hit another snag in its alleged plan to launch an "iRadio" service in the near future, according to an unconfirmed report from London's Financial Times. The forthcoming service, should negotiations get completed, would allegedly see iTunes offering a streaming music service that leveraged its enormous statistical and purchasing information from users to serve curated songs they would be likely to enjoy from artists they have bought before or would probably like. Sony, according to sources, is still holding out.
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05/09, 6:53pm
Chip manufacturer expects to return to growth by end of fiscal year
Graphic card producer Nvidia today reported revenue for the first quarter of the company's fiscal 2014, which ended April 28. The company report income of $954.7 million, down 13.7 percent from $1.11 billion in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. The company posted a $77.9 million profit, with earnings per share of $0.13, down 53.6 percent from $0.28 in the prior quarter. The results beat Wall Street expectations for the quarter, and the company expects to return to growth later in the year, on the strength of the margins on the Kepler GPU chipset and the release of the Tegra 4 system-on-a-chip.
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05/09, 5:40pm
53 channels launch program, more to come 'in the coming weeks'
YouTube has announced that is is opening a program for a "small group" of providers who will offer a subscription service of video content starting at $1 per month, but averaging overall just over $3 per channel. Starting today, partners such as Sesame Street, UFC, National Geographic, Jim Henson and the rest of the test channels will offer paid content with a 14-day free trial.
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05/09, 5:26pm
Google called itself a neutral third party, judge questions impartiality
Magistrage Judge Paul S. Grewal, the judge in charge of pre-trial discovery issues in the second Apple vs. Samsung patent trial, has ruled that Google must provide Apple search terms used in the unearthing of documents related to the case. Google is now compelled to "produce search terms and a list of custodians that Google used in response to requests for production Apple served on it." The seven-page ruling makes a point clear -- Apple wasn't seeking further discovery, it just expressed concern on the information Google pulled for discovery.
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05/09, 4:02pm
Samsung still overwhelmingly in control
Apple retook fifth place in the Chinese smartphone market during the first quarter of the year with an 8 percent share, according to Canalys data obtained by IDG News. Previously, during the third and fourth quarters of 2012, Apple had been relegated to sixth place. Samsung remained in control during Q1 2013, managing a 20 percent share. Local firms Yulong, Huawei, and Lenovo completed the top five.
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05/09, 11:35am
Q1 finally profitable after decade in business
Tesla Motors has posted its first profitable quarter since the company was founded a decade ago. The Palo Alto-based company reported first-quarter revenues of $562 million, marking an 83 percent jump over the previous quarter, while managing to turn a net profit of $15 million, according to a LeftLane report.
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05/09, 10:11am
Supplier reportedly boosting staff by 40 percent
Pegatron CEO Jason Cheng is denying making comments to Bloomberg linking the company's performance to weaker iPad mini demand, according to Fortune. Cheng says that after a Pegatron Institution Investors conference, a Bloomberg reporter came to him "trying to dig out detail numbers about some specific product." But, he claims, "I clearly refused to comment on specific products, nor customers, even though he continued with other questions. I did say those words that he quotes me in the article… but I did not say anything associated with any specific products."
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05/09, 10:06am
Founder Ren Zhengfei claims Huawei not connected to US security issues
The founder and president of Huawei has made a rare appearance in front of reporters to defend his company. Ren Zhengfei spoke out against claims made by the US government that it is a national security risk, due to apparent close ties with the Chinese government, and allegations that Huawei equipment could have allowed sensitive details to be passed to Chinese agencies.
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05/09, 6:53am
Sony on the slow road to recovery, expects improved sales in 2013
Sony has returned its first profit since 2008, netting $458 million (pdf) for its 2012 financial year. Although it is a positive sign for the company, the result came on the back of lower revenue for its key divisions including cameras, gaming and home entertainment. Restructuring efforts, the sell off of corporate assets and a weaker yen all contributed to a positive outcome for the Japanese tech giant. The announcement confirms its revised estimates for the financial year posted last month.
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05/08, 10:43pm
Microsoft offer lower than current company value
Reports have surfaced that Microsoft is allegedly offering $1 billion to buy the digital assets of Nook Media, Barnes & Noble's venture into e-book publishing. Under the terms of the deal, Microsoft would redeem preferred units in Nook Media, which would give control of the operation to Microsoft.
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05/08, 9:43pm
Court examining merits of suit proceeding as class action or individual
A US federal appeals court has begun the discussion of whether plaintiffs in the Google e-book digitization project lawsuit should proceed as a class, or as individuals. The Authors Guild is claiming that the Google Books project is, in essence, copyright infringement on a massive scale -- and believes that a class of plaintiffs would squeeze more money out of the search engine giant more efficiently than separate suits, judged on individual merits.
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05/08, 7:49pm
Most of the components inside the phone are Samsung-produced
A teardown of the 32GB US Samsung Galaxy S4 by research firm IHS iSuppli shows the device costs the Korean manufacturer just above $237 to build per unit. Many of the components are sourced within Samsung itself and is not far below the Bill of Materials (BOM) cost of the Galaxy Note tablet, which runs the company $270 per unit.
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05/08, 3:20pm
Biggest quarterly drop for supplier since 2011
Asian supplier Pegatron is blaming an anticipated second-quarter revenue drop on falling iPad mini demand, Bloomberg reports. The company is predicting a 25 to 30 percent sequential dip in revenue, the worst the company has seen since a 37 percent slide in the fourth quarter of 2011. CEO Jason Cheng elaborates that the Mini represents over half of Pegatron's consumer electronics revenue, although devices like e-book readers, game consoles, and other tablets have seen declines as well.
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05/08, 11:50am
Files statement opposing Google amicus curiae in first case
As a part of one of its lawsuits against Samsung, Apple is asking US Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal for access to Google's Android source code records, Bloomberg reports. The documents are being demanded as part of pretrial information sharing; Apple argues in a court filing that Android is used in all of the Samsung devices accused of infringing Apple patents, and "provides much of the accused functionality."
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05/08, 10:49am
Company shells out to retain key executives
Apple's Peter Oppenheimer was the highest-paid chief financial officer during 2012, according to Bloomberg. The executive received compensation worth a theoretical $68.6 million, roughly 16 times what Apple CEO Tim Cook received for the year. By comparison, Oppenheimer's closest competition -- Oracle CFO Safra Catz -- was given $51.7 million, while Google CFO Patrick Pichette was granted $38.7 million.
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05/07, 4:21pm
Facebook, Square, Dwolla, AirBnb, Mt Gox, hundreds of others named
Frequent litigant Aaron Greenspan, one-time claimant to Facebook co-foundership has filed a lawsuit against the vast majority of Silicon Valley's largest investors, and many Internet companies offering "money services businesses" with cash transfers as a primary product. The list of corporate defendants include frequent Greenspan target Facebook, Airbnb, Dwolla, and Square, troubled BitCoin exchange Mt. Gox, and many others. Individuals named in the suit inlude Paypal founder Max Levchin, Airbnb creator Brian Chesky, billionaire Yuri Milner, and Reddit CEO Yishan Wong.
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05/07, 4:10pm
Analyst increases Yahoo gross revenue estimate by $60M
Microsoft has extended its revenue guarantee with Yahoo, according to an SEC filing. The revenue-per-search guarantee, part of the ten-year deal the two companies struck in 2009, will be extended by one additional year, allowing Yahoo to earn more revenue than it otherwise would have if the guarantee fully elapsed.
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05/07, 3:05pm
Extra DivX features provide multi-language subtitles, audio, chapters
Rovi has revealed that Toshiba will be the first television manufacturer to launch a range of DivX Plus Streaming-certified HDTVs. The addition of DivX Plus Streaming to the televisions will allow users to watch streaming content with typical features found in DVD and Blu-ray Disc usage, such as support for multi-language subtitles and audio tracks.
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05/07, 12:07pm
Apple can't ask for 'global consent' for data use, court finds
A Berlin court has struck down eight provisions in Apple's terms of use for data because they violate German law, Bloomberg reports, citing local consumer group Verbraucherzentrale Bundesverband (VZBV). The ruling states that Apple can't ask for "global consent" to use personal data, including location information. Previous to the decision, Apple had already signed a binding agreement that it wouldn't use seven of the 15 provisions VZBV objected to prior to the lawsuit. Today's judgment invalidates the remaining eight, although Apple can appeal if it chooses.
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05/07, 10:48am
Apple pulls share from Android, smaller platforms
iOS made significant gains in US mobile web traffic during April, according to Investing Analytics data obtained by Piper Jaffray. The platform reached a 69 percent share, up from 66.4 percent in March. The growth primarily at the expense of Android, which declined from 28.7 percent in March to 26.5.
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05/07, 7:14am
Knowledge of TD-LTE spectrum to help Sprint in rollout
SoftBank's CEO is continuing to talk-up his company's $20.1 billion offer to buy out Sprint, by claiming SoftBank's experience with 4G will help the US carrier. Network enhancements, such as SoftBank's single frequency network technology for reducing interference, will help Sprint in the long run alongside other benefits, according to CEO Masayoshi Son.
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05/07, 2:00am
Samsung fighting back with staggering advertising budget
A parts supplier with a good track record of providing advance information on smartphones is now saying that it has heard that Apple is planning more than just a single model of the so-called "low-cost" iPhone. The rumored phone, which has been speculated on for over a year, is said to be aimed at developing markets where pre-paid phones and plans dominate and is thought to be largely plastic-based, but have most of the same functionality as current iPhone models -- but cost around $330-$400, as much as 50 percent less than the off-contract price of a current iPhone.
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05/06, 8:41pm
Basic portfolio service to promote sharing, showcasing work
Adobe's move into a subscription model with its rebranded "CC" suite doesn't mean it is entirely leaving behind users who haven't yet or opted not to join Creative Cloud, the company reports. In its press release heralding the improvements and features of its now fully-integrated Creative Cloud programs, Adobe added that it would continue to offer a non-CC version of Creative Suite 6 for the foreseeable future, and is obligated to support existing software for years to come. In addition, the Behance portfolio feature is available to non-Cloud users as well.
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05/06, 7:43pm
Fate of existing titles uncertain, Disney retains limited social gaming rights
The Walt Disney Company and developer Electronic Arts on Monday announced a new multi-year exclusive licensing agreement to develop and publish globally new games based on Star Wars characters and storylines for the "core gamer audience." Under the agreement, EA will develop and publish new Star Wars titles, spanning all platforms and the most popular game genres, while Disney will retain certain rights to develop new titles within the mobile, social, tablet and online game categories.
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05/06, 6:30pm
Giants take 100 percent of all smartphone profits between them
Samsung is steadily improving its profitability in the smartphone area, but Apple continues to be the dominant player when it comes to making money on smartphones sales according to the latest report from Canaccord Genuity. Apple's lower profit margin on smartphones in the first calendar quarter of the year led to a significant drop in its share of smartphone profits but was enough to allow the iPhone maker to claim 57 percent of the entire industry's profits, with Samsung taking the remaining 43 percent.
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05/06, 12:52pm
Moves past AppGratis
Apple is becoming more strict about enforcing an App Store guideline against titles with app recommendation functions, says PocketGamer. One developer in particular comments that his app was rejected despite being tailored to conform to the guideline. "We thought that basing our recommendations on sharing was suitable for Apple, as it had previously stated that if you bake in social or local into your app discovery, you would be fine," the person says. "I think they aim to be the only provider of recommendations for apps, along with being the distributor."
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05/06, 11:34am
Facebook makes first appearance on list
Business magazine Fortune has released the 2013 edition of its list of the 500 biggest corporations in the US. One of the most significant shifts in the list is the ascendancy of Apple, which has jumped from 17th place to sixth, breaking into the top 10 for the first time. Fortune comments that while the company has "maintained more than disrupted" its product line, and even had to apologize for iOS 6 Maps and its Chinese warranty services, it "remains an innovation icon."
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05/06, 6:10am
Subscriptions to cost from $1.99 per month for single channel
Google will launch a paid subscription service for YouTube channels in order to increase per-video revenues, according to a report. The search giant will allegedly allow a number of channels to charge as little as $1.99 per month for access to video content, and could be officially announced at some point this week.
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05/04, 5:15pm
Google chair says that YouTube is the future
Google chairman Eric Schmidt is big on YouTube, saying that the Google-owned video sharing service is the way of the future. Speaking at an event for advertisers and brands this week, Schmidt said that YouTube enables an interactivity that's not possible on regular television. The service recently passed one billion unique users, and Schmidt believes it will determine the way that video content is consumed from here forward.
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05/03, 11:00pm
JP Morgan analysts think Apple will hit 'sweet spot' in prepaid market
Two analysts from Wall Street investment bankers JP Morgan have produced an analysis of possible scenarios for the rumored (but not announced) "low cost" iPhone model expected to debut later this year, aimed at the large worldwide "prepaid" market. Based both on research of existing entries in that market space as well as Apple traditions, Gokul Hariharan and Mark Moskowitz believe that when Apple does bring out the device, it will not be a cheap "bargain" iPhone but instead a "mid-range" entry that should cost between $350 and $400.
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05/03, 9:00pm
Motorola blocked from having appeal dismissed outright
In the ever-more-complicated legal wrangles between Apple and Google (through its subsidiary Motorola), Apple has won the right to proceed with an attempt to appeal a case between Apple and Motorola in which the iPhone maker was suing Motorola for failing to adhere to FRAND guidelines, while Motorola was suing Apple for alleged infringement of standards-essential patents (SEPs) it holds. Rather than rule on the merits of each company's argument, US District Court Judge Barbara Crabb surprisingly dismissed both complaints outright.
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05/03, 7:00pm
Android, BlackBerry losing share months after iPhone 5 debut
Though the combined sales of Android smartphones continues to best Apple as a platform, Google's mobile OS continued to lose marketshare in the US in the latest quarterly comScore survey, as Apple solidified its position as market leader despite the lack of any new iPhone model in since before the holidays. Apple's share of the US smartphone market is now 39 percent, up 2.7 percent since December. Though Samsung was able to increase its US share slightly, the other three major Android vendors all lost ground in the most recent quarter.
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05/03, 1:15pm
Publisher misses December goal
Subscribers to the tablet editions of Hearst Magazines publications have finally broken past the 1 million mark, says company head David Carey. The executive at one point said the company would have 1 million subscribers by the end of 2012, but ended up with a figure closer to 900,000. "I’m glad we got there," Carey remarks. "We were just 90 days late."
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05/03, 10:22am
Shawnee joins Olathe, Kansas City for Fiber rollout in state
Google is expanding the coverage of its existing gigabit Internet offering from Kansas City into another area of Kansas. The city of Shawnee, just outside of Kansas City, will gain Google Fiber in the future, and joins the high-speed connection construction waiting list alongside Olathe in the same state, Austin in Texas and Provo, Utah.
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05/03, 8:49am
Mozilla updates Firefox OS simulator to 3.0, adds rotation, geolocation
Mozilla has rolled out a new version of its Firefox OS simulator, in order to help with application development. The emulator update to version 3.0, surfacing just after the first developer devices started shipping, adds a number of features, including rotation simulation, basic simulation of a geolocation API, newer versions of the Firefox rendering engine and Gaia UI, Push to Device, and a number of other bug fixes. The simulator is available to download as a Firefox desktop browser extension.
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05/03, 5:54am
Hiring hints at gaming future for Android
Google may be branching out into making games, after hiring a games industry veteran. Noah Falstein, designer of a number of games over his 23-year career, has been picked up by the search giant and given the title "Chief Game Designer," suggesting that the company could be producing its own games, introducing gaming concepts to its products, or even building its own gaming platform on Android.
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05/02, 8:33pm
No purchase plan announced, devices now on eligible purchase lists
BlackBerry today announced the US Department of Defense (DoD) has approved BlackBerry 10 smartphones and PlayBook tablets with BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 to be used on unsecured networks out of the box and unmodified. The new devices have been tested by the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA), and are now listed on the Unified Communications Approved Product List.
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