Technology News

Such activity is often paid for, or sanctioned by, government agencies

Apple historically has fought iPhone jailbreaking by warning customers that their device warranties will be voided if they muck around with the innards of their Apple products. Now Apple appears to be taking its disapproval of jailbreaking one step further by censoring at least some references to "jailbreak" in its U.S. iTunes store.

Comcast is trying out more flexible ways to implement its bandwidth caps by experimenting with tiered service options.

Doctors are being cautioned by hospitals they work with to avoid interacting with patients on social media, and that they reject any overtures by patients to interact on the likes of Facebook and Twitter.

AT&T Thursday launched its 4G LTE service in, New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Naples, Fla., today, which extends its high-speed network implementations to 38 markets.

If you get the feeling that the cost of replacing the ink cartridges on your inkjet printer is getting out of hand, your impression may be more accurate than you realize. Between 2009 and today, the rate of inflation has increased by 7 percent. During that same period, the cost per page of some vendors' inks has risen by anywhere from 4 percent to 30 percent. Yes, 30 percent.

Nvidia recently demoed its long-awaited Kepler graphics processor with no less than a simulation of two galaxies colliding. On a practical level, though, the technology could answer many questions about virtual desktop hosting and, in the process, fill glaring holes in BYOD policies.

Unless Microsoft allows other browser makers to call important APIs in Windows RT, it's "probably not worth it to even bother" building a version of Firefox for the new OS, a Mozilla product director said.

And then there were three. U.S. Cellular's picking up the pace where its next-gen offerings are concerned, adding yet another device to that lonely LTE product portfolio. Starting today, Samsung's SCH-LC11 mobile hotspot will be available on the regional carrier's site with some sweet, limited time promotional pricing in tow: a mere $50 for subscribers residing in one of the operator's designated 4G coverage areas. For everyone else hunkered down in plain 'ol 3G territory, it'll ring in at $200 -- that's after a $50 mail-in rebate and required two-year contract. So, if you're a fan of deals and like to keep your plethora of portable gadgetry always connected, hit up the source link below and get to ordering.Continue reading U.S. Cellular adds Samsung mobile hotspot to its 4G LTE lineup, because three's companyU.S. Cellular adds Samsung mobile hotspot to its 4G LTE lineup, because three's company originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 16:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  U.S. Cellular  | Email this | Comments

Othman Laraki / Twitter Blog:New tailored suggestions for you to follow on Twitter  —  Every day, hundreds of thousands of people sign up for Twitter to get closer to the things they care about — friends, businesses, celebrities, news and information from all over.  If you've used Twitter for awhile …

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry threatened on Thursday to take legal action against Google for dropping the name Persian Gulf from its Google Maps and leaving the waterway between Iran and Arab states nameless, state television reported.

New submitter PantherSE writes with an article at CNN about the geopolitical importance of labeling, excerpting thus: "Iran has threatened legal action against Google for not labeling the Persian Gulf on its maps 'Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has been treated as a plaything,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Thursday, according to state-run Press TV. He added that 'omitting the name Persian Gulf is (like) playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Dante_J writes "Up to 100,000 DSL modems may lose access to DNS come July the 9th, due to scripted web interface changes made to them by DNSChanger. This and other disturbing details were raised by respected Internet elder Paul Vixie during a presentation at the AusCERT 2012 conference." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's Foreign Ministry threatened on Thursday to take legal action against Google for dropping the name Persian Gulf from its Google Maps and leaving the waterway between Iran and Arab states nameless, state television reported.

The report on piracy is published one day before a Chinese court hands out the severest penalty ever for an intellectual property crime in the territory.

The Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer:Sevarin: I'll pay taxes on anything I earned as a U.S. citizen.  —  Edward Saverin is speaking out after Sens. Chuck Schumer and Bob Casey introduced legislation that would prevent the Facebook co-founder from ever returning to the United States.  —  Saverin, who will become astronomically wealthy …

Stacey Higginbotham / GigaOM:Comcast capitulates on cap, but dodges the net neutrality issue  —  Comcast plans to raise its broadband cap to 300 GB per month as it trials two new ways to deal with managing traffic on its network, the nation's largest cable operator said in a blog post today.

The University of Michigan has found that if you want someone to tell you the truth, you should text them. Dispensing with the lie detector for job interviewees, academics found that people gave more honest and detailed answers via SMS than over the phone. The team believes it's due to the lack of time pressure and not having to produce a pleasing answer for your interrogator. If the findings continue to provide similar results, it looks like Steve Wilkos could be replaced with a smartphone.Texting: the truth serum of the 21st century originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 15:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink PhoneArena, PhysOrg  |  University of Michigan  | Email this | Comments

We're at Samsung's NX-series launch event at Citi Field in Queens, NY, taking a closer look at the NX20, NX210 and NX1000 mirrorless ILCs that began hitting stores earlier today (the NX1000 will arrive in June). All three cameras are virtually identical when it comes to core components like the 20.3-megapixel Samsung-designed APS-C image sensor, so performance on that front should be consistent to what we saw with our flagship NX20 sample. From a spec perspective, these are fine shooters, but the systems' high pricing and (relatively) limited lens selection aren't likely to contribute to Samsung's mirrorless success. Join us past the break for some New York Mets action through the lens of Samsung's NX20.Gallery: Samsung NX20 sample imagesContinue reading Samsung NX20, NX210 and NX1000 sample images and videoSamsung NX20, NX210 and NX1000 sample images and video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 15:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

New submitter PantherSE writes with an article at CNN about the geopolitical importance of labeling, excerpting thus: "Iran has threatened legal action against Google for not labeling the Persian Gulf on its maps 'Toying with modern technologies in political issues is among the new measures by the enemies against Iran, (and) in this regard, Google has been treated as a plaything,' Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said Thursday, according to state-run Press TV. He added that 'omitting the name Persian Gulf is (like) playing with the feelings and realities of the Iranian nation.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

What better place to announce Twitter's embrace of do not track policies than during a privacy panel at New York Internet Week? Federal Trade Commission CTO Ed Felten let the news slip today -- a fact later confirmed by Twitter and Mozilla. The service has been added to Firefox's Do Not Track feature, letting users opt-out of data-tracking cookies in the browser. More information on the feature can be found in the Mozilla source link below.Twitter teams up with Mozilla to help you opt-out of tracking originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 15:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink The New York Times  |  Twitter, Mozilla  | Email this | Comments

It looks like HP could be in store for another wave of big changes. According to a pair of reports out today (backing up a report from Business Insider yesterday), HP CEO Meg Whitman will announce a new restructuring plan on the company's earnings call next Wednesday -- a plan that will entail some significant job cuts. Bloomberg pegs those cuts in the neighborhood of 25,000, while All Things D says they could include as many as 30,000 jobs, noting also that the number is still a "moving target." To put that in perspective, the company currently employs some 320,000 people worldwide. Of those cuts, 10 to 15,000 are said to come from HP's enterprise services group, and the company is also said to be offering early retirement packages to some 5,000 employees. That restructuring plan will apparently include more than just job cuts, though, with Whitman said to be pushing a "cut and reinvest" approach that will apply across the company, according to ATD.HP will reportedly announce restructuring plan next week, up to 30,000 job cuts originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 15:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  All Things D, Bloomberg  | Email this | Comments

Concerned about cyber security and possible spying, U.S. officials are considering denying China Mobile's license for providing international information service in the United States.Officials...

The "cone of shame", once uploaded to Facebook, has placed a teacher's job in jeopardy.

"Enterprise-class" or "cloud class?" Enterprises are now looking to public cloud providers to figure out how to build the best hybrid cloud. At InterOp recently, execs from Rackspace, Terremark...

Kayla Tausche / CNBC:Kayak Eyeing $150 Million IPO in Coming Weeks  —  Kayak Software is aiming to go public in the coming weeks, as the market for technology deals in particular could see a lift from Facebook's offering, according to people familiar with the deal.  —  Kayak first filed its IPO documents in November 2010 …

With Facebook's initial public offering creating such a frenzy of interest, there's an important question to be considered: What happens if tomorrow or next week or five months from now, this investment goes south?

Social media -- Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+ and so forth -- has become a way of life for companies and their employees to interact with the public, but beating back the fraudsters that try to prey on customers, not to mention keeping employees from spilling sensitive data, is becoming a full-time job for many.

An anonymous reader writes "After being the victim of a massive Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack by an unknown party, The Pirate Bay has returned. An Anonymous traitor who goes by the name AnonNyre has claimed responsibility for the DDoS attack that kept the site offline for days." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard Co is considering cutting its workforce by 8 to 10 percent, or a minimum of 25,000 jobs, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as newly installed CEO Meg Whitman strives to return the storied Silicon Valley institution to growth.

Ingrid Lunden / TechCrunch:Schumer And Casey's Ex-PATRIOT Act: Details Of How They Plan To Get Saverin's $67M And More  —  Charles Schumer and Bob Casey, the two U.S. Senators behind the Ex-PATRIOT act — a proposal to go after early Facebook backer Eduardo Saverin and others like him that have renounced U.S. citizenship …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is expected to price its initial public offering to raise more than $16 billion on Thursday, as strong demand, particularly from retail investors, fuels anticipation for a big pop in the stock when it begins trading on the Nasdaq.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The telecommunications regulator on Thursday announced plans to set aside a chunk of spectrum for connecting wireless medical devices to allow for more convenient and cost-effective health monitoring.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is expected to price its initial public offering to raise more than $16 billion on Thursday, as strong demand, particularly from retail investors, fuels anticipation for a big pop in the stock when it begins trading on the Nasdaq.

(Reuters) - Silicon Valley startup Pinterest raised $100 million from a group led by Japanese online retailer Rakuten Inc, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion and underscoring the huge investor appetite for social-networking companies.

(Reuters) - Microsoft's long-awaited launch of the Windows 8 OS may not change the fortunes of PC makers, BMO analysts said, lowering their price targets on the stocks of Hewlett-Packard Co and Dell Inc.

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google is revamping the way it handles searches in the United States to give users quick access to answers without leaving the page, the company said.

PARIS (Reuters) - Google will meet with France's data protection watchdog next week to answer questions about its new user privacy policy as part of a Europe-wide investigation being led by the French regulator.

It's been more than a year and a half since Pentax first put out the K-r as its entry DSLR, so it's about time that a sequel roll along to keep the company in the game. If we believe a French catalog, the K-30 should soon one-up its 2010-era brother with a new 16-megapixel sensor and an upgrade to "full HD" (read: likely 1080p) video from the 720p of today. Most of the real change, though, appears to be on the outside: the body would be "tropicalized," which we're sure means weather resistance and not a trip to Tahiti. We'll be a bit disappointed if there aren't subtler under-the-hood changes, though, as the ISO 25,600 sensitivity wouldn't be any different than with the K-r, and the four frames per second continuous shooting would be a decided step back from the six of the K-30's ancestor. The €799 ($1,014) with-tax price for an 18-55mm kit version likewise seems a bit steep for an entry DSLR, although we'll bite given that this is the "maximum." Let's just hope there's some wild color options in the pipeline whenever the K-30 arrives.Pentax K-30 leaks out in French catalog, teases us with weather resistance and 1080p video originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 17 May 2012 14:52:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Pentax Forums  |  PentaxOne forums  | Email this | Comments

Reuven Cohen / The Digital Provocator:Iran to Sue Google Over Dropping Persian Gulf Name From Map  —  In a move that shows just how powerful online mapping has become, the AP is reporting that Iran will sue Google over dropping the name of the Persian Gulf on GoogleMaps.  The action comes after Google intentionally left the body …

Gary Bloom returns to his database roots...

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is expected to price its initial public offering to raise more than $16 billion on Thursday, as strong demand, particularly from retail investors, fuels anticipation for a big pop in the stock when it begins trading on the Nasdaq.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Facebook Inc is expected to price its initial public offering to raise more than $16 billion on Thursday, as strong demand, particularly from retail investors, fuels anticipation for a big pop in the stock when it begins trading on the Nasdaq.

Breaking news from The Wall Street Journal right now: Facebook is looking like it will price its shares at about $38 a share, though discussions are still fluid.The deal is going to sell the...

HP will need to lay off workers to boost its profitability, but then reinvest the savings in more lucrative markets.

Wall Street Journal:Facebook Close to $38 IPO Price  —  Facebook Inc. is close to pricing its initial public offering at $38 a share, said a person familiar with the matter, a move that would value the Internet company at more than $100 billion.  —  Facebook executives and senior bankers on the deal were holed …

Arik Hesseldahl / AllThingsD:HP's Whitman to Announce Restructuring Plan Wednesday; 30,000 Jobs Targeted  —  The daunting task of restructuring Hewlett-Packard will begin in earnest next Wednesday when the company reports its quarterly earnings.  Sources familiar with the company's plans say that CEO Meg Whitman …

An anonymous reader writes "Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has a status update for Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin: Stop attempting to dodge your taxes by renouncing your U.S. citizenship or never come to back to the U.S. again." See this earlier story on Saverin's plan to make the leap out of the U.S. tax system. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

(Reuters) - Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, who has renounced his U.S. citizenship, was accused on Thursday by two U.S. senators of dodging taxes on Facebook stock-market profits.

(Reuters) - Silicon Valley startup Pinterest raised $100 million from a group led by Japanese online retailer Rakuten Inc, valuing the company at about $1.5 billion and underscoring the huge investor appetite for social-networking companies.