Technology News

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A year after Facebook Inc's fumbled IPO, Wall Street remains slow to recognize what Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg argues has been an across-the-board improvement in its business.

Eliza Kern / GigaOM:Rockmelt brings its social news app to Android  —  Rockmelt, which started out as a social web browser and has pivoted to produce apps for social news instead, is bringing its product to Android on Wednesday.  —  The company was known for its social browser that had tabs for chat and features …

itwbennett writes "Speaking at a cloud panel discussion hosted by Reuters on Wednesday, Terry Wise, head of global partner ecosystem for Amazon Web Services, explained how the company handles government requests for data stored on Amazon's cloud: 'If a U.S. entity is serving us with a legally binding subpoena, we contact our customer and work with that customer to fight the subpoena.' But Wise's best advice to customers is to encrypt their data: 'If the data is encrypted, all we'd be handing over would be the cypher text,' he said." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

LG and Qualcomm have enjoyed a close relationship for mobile phone chips, and it appears that will continue with the next Optimus G device, due some time in Q3. A press release tonight promises it will feature a SnapDragon 800 CPU for "the ultimate mobile experience."Developing...Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, LGComments

TOKYO (Reuters) - Sony Corp CEO Kazuo Hirai said on Thursday that the electronics firm's board will consider hedge fund Third Point's suggestion to spin-off the electronics company's profitable entertainment arm.

Sarah Perez / TechCrunch:Blackboard Co-Founder Michael Chasen Raises $12.75M Series A For SocialRadar, A New Take On Location-Based People Discovery Apps  —  If you thought the “ambient location” craze has passed, prepare to be surprised.  A company called SocialRadar is announcing today that it has raised $12.75 million …

(Reuters) - Lazada, the Southeast Asian online retail company founded by Germany's Rocket Internet Gmbh, has secured another $100 million from investors in its bid to lift the region from its status as an e-commerce backwater.

Yes, we've seen Samsung's Galaxy Mega 6.3 at the FCC before. With its second visit, however, there's something special. The extra-large phone is back as the SGH-i527, and it's carrying AT&T-native LTE that hints at a probable US carrier deal. There aren't any other visible changes in the filing, although we weren't expecting any. The real question is when this behemoth will ship to the States, assuming it ships at all -- for now, any possible AT&T launch remains shrouded in mystery.Filed under: Cellphones, Mobile, Samsung, AT&TCommentsSource: FCC

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc on Wednesday downplayed concerns that its plans to recycle inactive user IDs could leave users exposed to hackers, saying only 7 percent of those IDs are tied to actual Yahoo email accounts.

In my earliest school years, the Apple IIgs was cutting edge, because it could run Number Munchers like nobody's business. But just to remind me how very, very advanced in age I am, Apple said on Wednesday that the Los Angeles School Board of Education had given its approval to deploy iPads to students across the district, beginning this fall.

Avi Schneider / GeekTime:EMC acquires Israeli storage startup, Scale IO, for $200-300M  —  3:30PM Jerusalem, Israel - Israeli startup, ScaleIO, a leader in enterprise data and elastic converged storage, has been purchased by enterprise data giant, EMC, for a reported purchase price sitting somewhere between $200-300M.

Twitter isn't quite done refining TweetDeck's interface following recent web and desktop overhauls -- there's still a little tweaking left in store. The company has just updated the Chrome and web versions of its social app with grab handles that let users drag and drop columns at will. It's also easier to jump back to the top of a column when there are unread tweets, and a selected column now snaps to the sidebar when there are fewer than three total columns on the screen. While the fresh interface is web-only for now, those who prefer the native Mac and Windows apps should get matching upgrades in the near future.Filed under: InternetCommentsSource: Twitter

Despite the promise of portability from service providers, the reality of the cloud for big customers is a similar type of lock-in as they experience with on-premise apps vendors such as Oracle and SAP, two CIOs said Tuesday.

Vague policies, rogue apps, zombie phones can doom even the best 'Bring Your Own Device' intentions. But the good news is it's not too late to make game-changing adjustments.

With more than a billion monthly active users, it's easy to imagine that most of the data travelling over Facebook's networks is delivering photos, status updates and "likes" to its end users, but that's far from the case.

Google acquiring Waze almost seems redundant. Google is already a recognized leader in mapping services, so why does it need to buy a mapping company? The answer is that maps aren't just maps anymore, and Waze will help Google move from mapping to social mapping.

Java continues to be Public Enemy No. 1 when it comes to computer and network security. Oracle released a huge update for the virtually ubiquitous software, but attackers aren't done exploiting Java as the weakest link in the security chain, and Oracle isn't securing it fast enough.

gurps_npc writes "Two radical pro-Israel terrorists were caught in upstate NY when they tried to solicit money from various honorable Jewish organizations to build a truck based x-ray weapon. They intended to drive the truck around and then turn on the x-ray machine, focusing on enemies of Israel. But the Jewish organizations they tried to solicit money from refused to participate. Instead they called the FBI, who promptly set up a sting. The men were arrested before the machine was in working order." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

BOSTON (Reuters) - Eccentric former software pioneer John McAfee is back in the spotlight - lashing out at the anti-virus software that bears his name in a profanity-laced video.

Twitter has bought Spindle, a search technology company that informs users about what's happening with local businesses and organizations around them.

Technology has changed everything we know about the office. Now it is threatening to get rid of the office as we know it.

Intel said Wednesday that is has joined the board of directors of the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), a consortium developing technology for wirelessly charging electronic devices. However, Intel said last year that Ultrabooks capable of wireless charging would arrive in 2013--a promise the company has yet to make good on.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

A previously misunderstood magnetic phenomenon has been apparently explained by a paper published on Sunday in Nature Materials – and the explanation could lead to wholesale transformation in magnetic storage.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

Microsoft and cellphone maker Nokia were in advanced talks about an acquisition of the Finnish company's device business, but the discussions have broken down, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

Researchers from Harvard and the University of Illinois have printed precisely interlaced stacks of tiny battery electrodes, each less than the width of a human hair.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

Intel has joined the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP), a consortium founded by Qualcomm and Samsung, as the chip maker looks to bring wireless charging to tablets and laptops.

House Republican leaders are shooting to get astronauts on the moon and Mars, but they're trying to nix the president's asteroid plans.

A story published to the wire on June 12, Is Microsoft's Office 365 Bet Starting to Pay Off in Enterprise Adoption?, mischaracterized the relationship of Veyance Technologies to Goodyear. Veyance is a manufacturer for Goodyear.

Intellectual Ventures, a large patent-licensing firm, has filed a second patent-infringement lawsuit against Motorola Mobility while its first patent lawsuit is still pending in a Delaware count.

AT&T and NEC have teamed up to launch the NEC Terrain, a ruggedized Android push-to-talk smartphone that goes on sale Friday online for $99.99 and a two-year contract.

Emil Protalinski / The Next Web:Microsoft gives a sneak peek of Office Web Apps real-time co-authoring across Windows, Android, and iOS devices  —  Microsoft today released a sneak peek of how Office Web Apps real-time co-authoring will work across Windows, Android, and iOS devices.  Unfortunately, the company still …

sfcrazy writes "A top Monsanto executive has won the prestigious World Food Prize. Secretary of State John Kerry announced the award where Robert T. Fraley, the executive vice president and CTO of Monsanto, won the prize along with two other scientists from Belgium and the US. The award was given for devising a method to insert genes from another organism into plant sell, which could produce new genetic lines with highly favorable traits." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

While Viacom hasn't always understood how this whole internet video thing works, it's showing some tech savviness today with confirmation of rumors that it's joining Twitter's Amplify program. Beginning with the MTV Video Music Awards on August 25th, Viacom will deliver ad-backed video highlights on Twitter for shows and events across its channel range, including MTV, Comedy Central and Nickelodeon. In theory, the agreement is a win for everyone: Viacom and Twitter get more revenue, while we get a legal way to revisit those inevitable celebrity slip-ups. The two sides haven't said how long their partnership will last, although we wouldn't be surprised if results from the VMA broadcast help shape the deal's future.Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HDCommentsVia: Viacom (Twitter), The VergeSource: Viacom

Ashley Feinberg / Gizmodo:Best Buy Is Recalling Thousands of MacBook Pro Batteries Over Fire Risk  —  Best Buy is recalling 5,100 third-party replacement MacBook Pro batteries after the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 13 separate cases in which the batteries caught fire, at least one causing serious injury.

Alyson Shontell / Business Insider:Groupon Founder Andrew Mason's Music Album Will Drop On iTunes And Spotify Later This Month  —  When Andrew Mason left his role as CEO of Groupon, he was uncharacteristically serious about his next move.  —  He said he'd be moving to California, joining Y Combinator, and working on a music album.

You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours -- all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.Filed under: Cellphones, Misc, InternetComments

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Sprint Nextel Corp should consider raising its offer price for Clearwire Corp or risk being saddled with a contentious relationship with Dish Network Corp, controlled by feisty billionaire Charlie Ergen.

Trailrunner7 writes "After years of saying that the company didn't need a bug bounty program, Microsoft is starting one. The company today will announce the start of a new program that will pay security researchers up to $100,000 for serious vulnerabilities and as much as $50,000 for new defensive techniques that help protect against those flaws. Microsoft security officials say that the program has been a long time in development, and the factor that made this the right time to launch is the recent rise of vulnerability brokers. Up until quite recently, most of the researchers who found bugs in Microsoft products reported them directly to the company. That's no longer the case. The system that Microsoft is kicking off on June 26 will pay researchers $100,000 for a new exploit technique that is capable of bypassing the latest existing mitigations in the newest version of Windows." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A study by Reuters suggests more people are becoming willing to buy online news, but warns that social media may be eroding brand recognition.

Greg Kumparak / TechCrunch:Lytro Enables Its Camera's Hidden WiFi Chip, Launches A Companion iOS App (With Animated GIFs!)  —  It sure doesn't seem like many people have bought Lytro's crazy light-field camera (the one that lets you focus your photos after you take them) — but if you're one of those who did: go plug that thing in.

Jordan Devore / destructoid:Microsoft to drop Xbox One DRM, region locking  —  [Update: It's true.  Microsoft has reversed its policies.  There's only a one-time system setup that requires an Internet connection — no daily check-ins.  Discs work like they have in the past — they'll need to be in your console's tray — so trade-ins aren't going to change.

In the aftermath of Microsoft's stunning reversal of its Xbox One game licensing plans, we talked to Xbox chief product officer Marc Whitten to find out exactly what will change about Redmond's next game box this November. Whitten thankfully assuaged our primary concern right off the bat: the company's (new) used game policy extends to third-party publishers as well as Microsoft first-party games.Though gamers won't have to put up with requirements for an internet check-in every 24 hours, some lauded features we'd heard about will not be available as a result -- at least at launch. That includes the sharing between up to ten family members, and playing disc-based games without having the disc in the One. It also means new consoles will need a patch at launch to enable this future / past scenario of disc-based console gaming."There are some things -- the family sharing stuff is an example -- where as we move to this system, that functionality goes away," Whitten told us. There are some bizarre added benefits of the new system, as well. One disc can act as a copy for several people, at least on the install. "If I had a physical version of my game and I went to your house, we played, and then I left with my game, you could actually buy the game instantly with no download," he told us. Since the Xbox One automatically rips disc-based games to its HDD, it essentially installs games on any box you play them on.Filed under: Gaming, Software, HD, MicrosoftComments

Companies that prevail in patent lawsuits can't relax until the inevitable appeal is over -- just ask Motorola. Nintendo, however, can take a momentary break. A US Court of Appeals just upheld the company's win over IA Labs, declaring that the Wii Balance Board doesn't infringe on an IA Labs patent. While the ruling isn't all that vital when the accessory is now a rarity at best, it puts IA Labs on the hook for Nintendo's $236,000 attorney bill. It also sends a warning to other companies plotting similar legal assaults, although we'd still expect lawsuits when other patent holders are hitting paydirt.Filed under: Gaming, Peripherals, NintendoCommentsSource: Nintendo

malachiorion writes "Does George Lucas hate metal people? I know, sounds like standard click-bait, but I think I present a relatively troll-free argument in the piece I wrote for Slate. We stuck to the Star Wars canon, pointing out the relatively grim state of affairs for droid rights, and the lack of any real sympathy for their plight from the heroes, or, it would seem, George Lucas. C-3PO is more correct than he might realize, when the says that droids 'seem to be made to suffer.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Reacting to "feedback from the Xbox community," it appears Microsoft is reversing course and changing two key components to policies for its new Xbox One video game console.