IT-Code-News: IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 17/04/2013

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

IT News Head Lines (TweakTown) 17/04/2013

TweakTown

Google Glass specs arrive, the screen is equivalent to a 25-inch monitor in front of your face
Google have finally unveiled the full specifications of their Glass tech, which is actually a bit better than what I thought we'd receive in the final consumer units.

We have the display first, which is a high-resolution display being the equivalent to a 25-inch high-definition screen eight feet away from your eyes. Camera-wise, we have a 5-megapixel camera for photos and 720p capture for video, there's some adjustable nosepads with a durable frame that fits any face. There's also two extra nosepads included.
We have a Bond Conduction Transducer for audio, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g and Bluetooth for connectivity, 12GB of usable memory synced with Google cloud storage, 16GB of flash memory total. Battery life should be good, with Google quoting "one full day of typical use", which includes Hangouts and video recording which are more battery intensive.

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There's an included microUSB cable and charger, and now onto the most important bit - compatibility. Glass is compatible with any Bluetooth-capable phone, with the MyGlass companion app requiring Android 4.0.3 or higher. MyGlass enables GPS and SMS messaging.

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 3 8.0 specs leak, both tablets should be available in the summer
Samsung's next-generation Galaxy Tab details have just leaked, where we should expect just a slight bump in specifications on the upcoming slates. The two tablets we should expect are the Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 and Galaxy Tab 3 8.0.

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The Galaxy Tab 3 10.1 will feature a 10.1-inch 1280x800-pixel display, a dual-core 1.5GHz processor, 1GB of RAM and a 3-megapixel rear-facing camera - this is backed up by a 7,000 mAh battery, optional 4G LTE support, and Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Then we have the Galaxy Tab 3 8.0, which will include an 8-inch 1280x800-pixel display and similar specs to its bigger brother.
We should expect these slates to arrive in June or July.

Google improve SMS delivery within their Google Voice app
Google have updated their Google Voice app with just a single change, where they've "improved the reliability of SMS delivery". Google Voice has, up until now at least, hasn't been perfect when sending and receiving text in low or slow signal areas.

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This new update should help push through that, so the future of Google Voice is now looking up. The latest Google Voice app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store.

3DMark ran on the Ouya console, bested by existing smartphones
Ouya developer James Coote ran the new 3DMark for Android benchmark on his Ouya game console, the video of which you can see embedded below. Interestingly enough, the Ouya is easily bested by current generation smartphones and even some previous generation smartphones.

In fact, the Ouya console is ranked 73 among all Android devices in Futuremark's database for the 3DMark Ice Storm benchmark. This doesn't exactly make me believe the Ouya will play host to graphically exciting games. The Samsung Galaxy S IV manages over double the score of the Ouya console.
This weak performance is likely the best the Ouya designers could manage while still staying within a $99 sticker price.

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Google study says mobile web is getting faster
According to a Google study, the mobile internet pipes are getting faster. Google used their Site Speed reports from Google Analytics and opted-in web publishers to get an idea of the speed of websites around the world. Google has again aggregated that data into the following graph:

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As you can see, on the desktop side of things, not much has improved from 2012 to 2013. Speeds are just slightly better, but not by enough to really have much significance. On the mobile side of things, however, the mean time to load has decreased by about two seconds. The median time has decreased by about one.
Google credits most of these speed increases to LTE/4G roll outs as well as increased processing power in mobile devices. Read the full Google report.

Dell XPS 18 put up for pre-order, starts at $900 and ships in May
Dell has put their 18-inch all-in-one portable tablet PC up for pre-order. Starting at $899.99, the XPS 18 comes with a wireless keyboard and mouse, though those won't be needed as the XPS 18 comes with a full HD touchscreen. Upgrades can be had for $999 or $1349, if you want solid-state storage.

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18-inch for a tablet is a bit big to be lugging around, but it is nice that the system can be moved and used around the house. The system will start to ship in May and will compete with Sony's VAIO Tap 20 and Lenovo's Horizon Table PC.
The base $900 model will come with an Intel Pentium processor and a 320GB HDD. The $1000 upgraded model will come with a Core i3 processor and the $1350 model comes with a Core i5 model and solid-state storage. You can place your pre-order and learn more on Dell's website.

Trader who made unauthorized $1bn purchase of Apple stock pleads guilty to fraud charges
You might not remember when a former Rochdale Securities trader was arrested last December or why he was arrested, but today he plead guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy after making an unauthorized purchase of $1 billion in Apple stock that led to the demise of Rochdale Securities.

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David Miller's lawyer:

What happened here was out of character for a kind and generous family man who has lived an otherwise law-abiding and good life. He deeply regrets what he has done and the harm it has caused to other people, including the former principals and employees at Rochdale.

David Miller ordered 1.625 million shares of Apple stock, telling Rochdale that the trade was for a customer. That customer had, in fact, only ordered just 1,625 shares of Apple stock. After the stock fell in price, Rochdale lost about $5.3 million.
The SEC has filed a civil fraud lawsuit against Miller. It's not clear what the SEC hopes to gain from the civil lawsuit.

Spotify launching in new markets, now available in Hong Kong, Mexico, Malaysia, and more
Spotify continues to expand its availability to other countries. Although an official announcement has yet to be made, Spotify is either doing a soft launch or slipped up as the list of countries now includes previously unavailable countries, including Mexico, Malaysia, and Singapore.

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Other newly added countries include Iceland, Hong Kong, Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. Reports have said that users are already able to access Spotify in Malaysia and Singapore. Spotify's service is pretty awesome. Unlimited free streaming with ads, or $5 per month to remove ads.

LeakedTT: Say hello to the Corsair Obsidian 350D mATX case
Pictures of a purported new Corsair case have shown up ahead of the Obsidian 900D launch taking place this week. Reported to be the Obsidian 350D, this small case goes against Corsair's push for larger and larger cases. The 350D is designed for micro-ATX motherboards and smaller.

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The case measures 450mm x 210mm x 440mm, which is 17.7in x 8.3in x 17.3in for those who use Imperial measurements, which is still a bit on the large side. The case does look good. However, there has been no word on when the 350D would launch or for what price. In the meantime, let us know what you think of the design!

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Amazon opens store designed for customers aged 50+
Amazon has opened a specialty store for consumers over the age of 50. Amazon is calling the new store the "50+ Active and Healthy Living Store." The new store features hundreds of thousands of items that are important for older consumers, some of which are too embarrassing to purchase in stores.

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The new store, browsable here, looks to capitalize on the growing market of older consumers. The AARP expects that 45 percent of the US population will be aged 50 and older by 2015. Amazon wants to make sure they have a specialized place to shop.
After all, a large portion of the 50+ category have Amazon accounts and enjoy shopping online.

Psy's Gentleman video hits 67 million views in two days
Psy's new single, Gentleman, has seen its YouTube video watched a record 67 million times in just two days, beating out the records of Justin Bieber and Gangnam Style. Bieber previously held the record for most YouTube views in a day, which was bested by Gentleman with 22 million views in 16 hours.

Those are impressive figures. Gangnam Style took 60 days to hit 350 million views. An interesting note pointed out by VentureBeat is that, proportionally, Gentleman isn't nearly as well received as Gangnam Style. Gangnam Style has around 10 likes for every one dislike. Gentleman, on the other hand, has only six likes for every dislike.
What do you think of Psy's new single Gentleman?

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Sony launches 2Gbps Internet service in Tokyo, laughs in Google's face
Sony has launched the world's fastest home Internet service in Tokyo, Japan. The new fiber-based service is capable of 2Gbps download and 1Gbps upload, besting that of Google Fiber. Not only is Sony's new Internet faster, it's also cheaper, coming in at just $51 per month.

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The new service is called "Nuro" and is available to homes, apartments, and small businesses in Tokyo and six surrounding prefectures for $51 per month, with a two-year contract, and a $535.49 installation fee, which is currently being waved for people who apply online. The price includes the rental of an optical network unit.

YouTube celebrates VHS turning 57 by adding 'Tape Mode' to select videos
YouTube is celebrating VHS' birthday right. The social video sharing website has added a "Tape Mode" to select videos that causes the video to look like it is being played from a VHS. While watching a 1080p video as if it were from a VHS might not be the most pleasant thing to do, it certainly is a great way to celebrate the VHS turning 57.

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Tape Mode is only available on select videos and is somewhat hard to find. You can experience Kmart's "Ship My Pants" video in full VHS quality here.

Not too long ago, the video tape was the media of choice for living rooms around the world. In celebration of the 57th birthday of the first commercial video cassette recorder, check out a fun VHS mode for the YouTube player to relive the magic feel of vintage video tapes.

Check out tape mode and let us know what you think. Should this be a permanent YouTube feature?

OCZ in hot water with NASDAQ, receives letter threatening delisting
OCZ has received a letter from the NASDAQ stock exchange explaining that they will be delisted from the stock exchange if they do not disclose financial earnings. OCZ is able to request a stay of delisting which will then have to be approved by the NASDAQ Listing Qualifications Panel.

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We all know OCZ has been in a bit of financial trouble and has laid off a large portion of its staff. It also delayed reporting its financial earnings and has still not reported earnings for the quarters ending August 31, 2012, November 30, 2012.
OCZ says that they have made substantial progress towards completing the required financial documentation.

HTC One has a launch video posted and removed, video claims it's 'everything your phone isn't'
Interested in taking a look at the HTC One launch video? Well, it had been posted up on Funny or Die but appears to have been removed. Of course, it was only removed after people managed to get copies uploaded to YouTube. We've embedded the video below for your viewing pleasure:

The video is said to start appearing on websites today and movie theaters on April 26. The video makes fun of The Bachelorette with numerous people dressed as phones pretending to be the bachelors. HTC makes the claim that the HTC One is "everything your phone isn't."
Take a watch of the video and let us know what you think of HTC's new marketing.

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ReportTT: Foxconn hiring for Zhengzhou factory, indicative of iPhone production ramping up
Bloomberg is reporting that Foxconn has once again started hiring for their plant in Zhengzhou, the plant where Apple's iPhone is produced. Workers have apparently been recruited for the last month after Apple requested an increase in capacity at the plant. The workers will be constructing both existing models and new ones.

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The Wall Street Journal said that Foxconn has been hiring about 10,000 people per week since the end of March. Foxconn noted that Zhengzhou currently employs around 250,000-300,000 people, though they wouldn't say how many have been added during this most recent hiring binge.
If Apple has asked for increased capacity, you can imagine that Apple is working on ramping up production for the latest iPhone. Apple needs to get the iPhone released fairly soon to compete with the next-gen HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S4.

Dish Network wants to merge with Sprint for $25.5 billion
Dish Network has submitted a proposal to Sprint's Board of Directors that aims to see the two companies merge. Dish has offered up $25.5 billion for Sprint, which is higher than the offer on the table by SoftBank. "DISH is offering Sprint shareholders a total consideration of $25.5 billion, consisting of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock."

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Charlie Ergen, Chairman of DISH Network:

The DISH proposal clearly presents Sprint shareholders with a superior alternative to the pending SoftBank proposal. Sprint shareholders will benefit from a higher price with more cash while also creating the opportunity to participate more meaningfully in a combined DISH/Sprint with a significantly-enhanced strategic position and substantial synergies that are not attainable through the pending SoftBank proposal.

Dish expects growth opportunities of around $37 billion and $11 billion in cost savings. Now Sprint will have to decide whether to take SoftBank's deal or Dish Network's deal. Both have their own benefits: SoftBank has lots of cash and Dish has lots of spectrum reserve. We'll let you know when Sprint comes to a decision.

Tweakipedia: Give your desktop some breathing room by making some changes to your taskbar
Our Tweakipedia section has a new post.

TweakTown's Tweakipedia

We've written up a tip on how you can save some of those precious pixels on your monitor by doing a couple of tweaks to your taskbar. You can read more on the Tweakipedia article right here!

Top 10 TweakTown News Stories from the past week [15 April 2013]
Here are our top 10 news posts from the past week!

YouTube clicks the rewind button, lets you experience the look of VHS, but in HD
If you're like me, you love watching all YouTube videos in 720p or 1080p - but what about technology from yesteryear - VHS? YouTube are now marking the 57th anniversary of VHS with a tape-shaped button on select videos.

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Clicking this button will put a filter over the content, giving you horrific flashbacks to the quality of video from years ago. There's no official list of compatible content, but there looks to be a nice amount of videos on YouTube's native channel ready for some VHS lovin'.

Foursquare borrows $41 million, continues to ponder how to monetize the check-in app
Foursquare have just announced a new injection of funding from loans from new and current investors to the tune of $41 million. This has put the company in the position of now quickly trying to generate actual revenue and move away from the simple social check-in app they are now.

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The money hasn't come from investors handing cash over to Foursquare for shares, but instead new investor Silver Lake Waterman led the financing with something that is being called a multi-year loan. Existing Foursquare investors offered loans that will convert to equity if the company's valuation rises, these investors are Andreessen Horowitz, O'Reilly AlphaTech Ventures, Spark Capital and Union Square Ventures.
This means, in reality, that Foursquare have checked themselves into a very hard place. They will now indirectly be forced to create revenue, to continue their interest and principal payments on their Silver Lake loan or risk default. Creating a steady income is going to be hard for Foursquare, as right now they're without such a cash flow.
I still maintain that they'll get acquired soon enough, and I'm surprised it hasn't happened sooner.

Future batteries could be made from liquid metal, no T-1000's in sight thankfully
One thing that annoys most, especially me, is that I want an all-day (all-week preferably) battery life on my devices. Running a quad-core smartphone with all the trimmings is great, but charging it every night is not the ideal thing for me.

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New technology is required, and this is where the Massachusetts Institute of Technology steps in, with Professor Donald Sadoway's new research - liquid metal batteries. Professor Sadoway told BBC News:

At least 18 months from now, we'll have something we can put in the hands of an independent assessor. We want to make sure we've got something that's durable and will perform to specification. This is a very tough market to get into. We can't afford to have a failure because something wasn't quite right. That could tarnish the image of the technology to the point where it would be set back irreparably.

Professor Sadoway's concept uses liquid as a key component, where a molten-salt electrolyte is sandwiched between two liquid metal electrodes. From here, a dense positive electrode lies at the bottom of the battery, while a low-density negative electrode floats atop the electrolyte. The difference in composition between the two liquid metals gives rise to a voltage.
Professor Sadoway's concept has seen $15 million of investment from some big figures in the world - Bill Gates, Total and Khosla Ventures, run by Sun Microsystems' co-founder Vinod Khosla.

Xbox Live outage reminds us why always-online consoles can be disastrous
Xbox Live suffered an outage over the weekend, with thousands of users reporting various issues when trying to sign onto the service. The problem is, the outage came and ruined gamers' weekends, yet again.

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The outage took out most of the Xbox 360's functions, including Netflix, HBO Go, Hulu and YouTube - not to mention the thousands of games that Xbox Live Gold subscribers love to, and pay to, play. The service is now working, but it should serve everyone - I'm looking at you, Microsoft - as a stark reminder of the dark path that is always-online consoles.
Sure, we (see: most of the first world) have Internet access, but it does go out from time to time. So do the services themselves, in this case: Xbox Live - and when it does, those thousand-dollar (console + games + Xbox Live Gold access) devices are rendered next to useless. Expensive, Internet-less paperweights. Microsoft, see the light please, before it is too late.

Windows 8.1 sees new leaked version, full release in September
Windows 8 has been here for half a year now, and I still haven't bothered even considering to change over - with millions of others in the same position. There's now new rumors on Windows 8.1, which is set to fuse the desktop and mobile Windows worlds.

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Microsoft mainly wants to do this to target Android, but I can't see how this will happen in the short term. The other news is that Microsoft is planning a September launch for Windows 8.1, but we should see a more public appearance sometime in August if everything goes to plan. New screenshots have surfaced confirming the new version is called Windows 8.1 Pro Preview, which is an interesting shift in names for Microsoft.
Should we expect no Service Pack for Windows 8, and just a shift to Windows 8.1? There are a few things to look forward to in Windows 8.1, such as 50/50 split-screen Metro app support, multi-monitor Metro app support, Internet Explorer will receive WelGL and SPDY support as well as Tab syncing, and much more. This is on top of the slew of performance increases and bug fixes we should expect from Windows 8.1.

Samsung is selling so many smartphones their chip division can't keep up
Samsung is reportedly buying more memory products from outside of their own influence, from places like Elpida Memory and NAND flash and eMMC devices from Toshiba. Why? Because they're selling so many smartphones that they can't produce enough memory from their own factories, they're having to buy it from others.

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DigiTimes is behind the report, where industry sources have claimed "Samsung's own supply of memory products is already falling short of demand, including that for its Galaxy-series smartphones and tablets". This problem is also set to expand past Samsung, because any shortage in either DRAM or NAND flash will affect the global balance of both products.
But remember this, Samsung are the ones that make the most DRAM and NAND flash - so if they're running short on supply, what happens next?

Top 10 TweakTown Content from the past week [15 April 2013]
Here are our top 10 articles, reviews and guides from the past week!

Case Smithing: Personalized Acrylic Etching and Engraving

Introduction

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For as long as anyone can remember, humans have been carving and engraving wood, stone and other materials to express a range of different life or historical events.
In primitive times caves were carved to keep track of seasons or to tell tales of successful hunts. In World War II the infamous "Kilroy was here" started appearing in occupied territories etched and scrawled into fences and houses, and more recently your name on your high school desk out of boredom in those never ending classes.
Anyone who has watched the Flintstones will immediately think of prehistoric birds chiselling letters into stone tablets, but no matter what the application is, it is undeniable that engraving and carving is one of those mediums that truly has lasted the stretch of time.
With all this in mind let's take a look into how we can apply this timeless "art form" into our own modern day use, that being etching/engraving acrylic sheets and panels for PC modding.
... Read the rest in your browser!

ORIGIN PC Announces The Ultimate Desktop Chassis Supporting Up To 4-WAY SLI Liquid-Cooled TITANs
Miami, FL - April 15th, 2013, 9:00 a.m. Eastern - ORIGIN PC announced today the availability of the highly anticipated Corsair 900D full tower chassis to their award-winning line of GENESIS desktops. The Corsair 900D is the perfect solution for hardware enthusiasts looking for a desktop chassis that offers an incredible amount of expansion options with plenty of room for future upgrades. With enough space for up to nine hard drive bays, dual power supplies and support for up to 4-WAY SLI liquid-cooled NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN graphics cards, the Corsair 900D Chassis is a welcomed addition to the ORIGIN GENESIS family.

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ORIGIN GENESIS Corsair 900D Features:

Supports Up To Five Radiator Mounting Points, Dual Power Supplies and Nine Hard Drive Bays
ORIGIN CRYOGENIC Liquid-Cooling Solution for both CPU and GPU
Supports Up To 4-WAY SLI Liquid-Cooled NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITANs
ORIGIN PC Custom Automotive Paint Finish Available

The ORIGIN GENESIS starts at $1430.00

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Quote from ORIGIN PC:
"The Corsair 900D is a perfect addition to our GENESIS line of high-performance desktops." said Kevin Wasielewski ORIGIN PC CEO and co-founder. "With plenty of room for upgrades and support for up to 4-WAY SLI Liquid-Cooled TITANs, the GENESIS 900D is the ideal solution for any hardware enthusiast."

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Quote from Corsair:
"The Obsidian 900D cases are designed to be the ultimate platform for seriously expandable, high-performance PCs," said Thi La, Senior VP and GM of Memory and Enthusiast Component Products at Corsair. "With the ORIGIN team's system design expertise and flair for style, I knew they would build an incredible machine around the case. They did in a big way. The ORIGIN GENESIS 900D PC is simply amazing."

Top 10 TweakTown Press Releases from the past week [15 April 2013]
Here are our top 10 posted press releases from the past week!

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