Sony will make its long-awaited entry into the tablet PC market later this year with two models based on the latest version of Google's Android operating system.
The tablets, which carry the development names S1 and S2, will be launched worldwide from the fall, Sony said on Tuesday.
The company didn't announce pricing details or specific launch dates, but it did offer some basic specifications and demonstrate prototypes of the two machines at a Tokyo news conference. Read more...
Barnes & Noble today pushed out a major software update to the Nook Color e-reader, offering its own app store, an email client, the ability to play Flash video, and enhanced books. The upgrades push the Android-based device further into the tablet space, and Barnes & Noble clearly hopes customers will look at the $249 gadget as an inexpensive alternative to the iPad.
"Since we launched the Nook Color, we've called it the reader's tablet," said Jamie Iannone, Barnes & Noble's president of digital products, during an online press conference this morning. When asked whether Barnes & Noble wanted customers to think of it as an e-reader or a tablet, he said, "We think it combines the best of both worlds. It's an amazing experience. If you love reading, this is your tablet." Read more...
Yahoo Inc. has bought the maker of mobile software that makes it easier for people to let their friends know what TV shows they're watching.
The deal to buy IntoNow, announced Monday, is part of Yahoo's effort to provide more information-sharing services. The company, which is based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is trying to give people more reasons to stay on its website and services instead of increasingly popular online hangouts such as Facebook and Twitter. Read more...
Verizon Wireless on Monday said it is now offering enterprises BoxTone's mobile device management software, allowing some customers to pay for the software on their Verizon Wireless bills.
BoxTone offers mobile device management software as well as an automated service desk product and compliance tools.
BoxTone's software lets IT administrators remotely monitor the health of phones in the enterprise. They can look up the real-time status of a phone, see what applications are running on it, monitor the connection between the phone and the enterprise, check on the wireless connection and see other performance metrics, said Brian Reed, chief marketing officer for BoxTone. Read more...
As befits an evolving ecosystem, a new tablet from Sony will offer two screens instead of one. The dual-screen tablet, along with a single-screen model, will come with the Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet-optimized operating system and, to the delight of gaming fans, with PlayStation Suite software.
The single-screen version, code-named S1, will offer a 9.4-inch display and will be optimized for media entertainment. The two-screen model, dubbed the S2, is intended for mobile communication and entertainment, and both are expected to be released in the fall.
'Off-Center of Gravity Design' Read more...
Is Microsoft Behind Them?
Back when the Windows 7 beta was still "coming soon," Windows enthusiasts everywhere fell over themselves hurriedly trying to download leaked pre-beta builds that started appearing on BitTorrent indexes around the Internet. After having swallowed the bitter pill that was Vista, users were hopeful that Windows 7 would right all the wrongs. So when leaked .ISO files became available, a veritable feeding frenzy ensued.
Microsoft, understandably, warned users against downloading leaked Windows 7 builds. They weren't official releases, after all, and could have packed malicious code modifications. That didn't deter users, who continued torrenting as build numbers rose and new leaks replaced old ones. Read more...
Attackers are already using IPv6 networks to attack users on IPv4 networks. One security researcher outlines one possible attack scenario.
Organizations face several information security challenges as they transition from IPv4 to IPv6, according to security experts. The difficulties are compounded by the fact that some attackers are using the IPv6 address space to sneak attacks onto IPv4 networks.
Even though the transition to IPv6 has been notoriously slow amongst organizations, many cyber-criminals have already made the switch, James Lyne, director of technology strategy at Sophos told . Many scammers are pushing out spam over the IPv6 infrastructure and taking advantage of misconfigured firewalls. Read more...
iPhones and Android phones send back data about the locations of the users to the technology companies. Photograph: Brendan Mcdermid/Reuters
Apple and Google are using smartphones running their software to build gigantic databases for location-based services, according to new research following the Guardian's revelations that iPhones and devices running Android collect location data about owners' movements.
iPhones and Android smartphones swap data – which does not contain information directly identifying the user or the phone – back and forth with their respective companies if the user agrees to use "location services".
The news has led some European governments to announce investigations into whether Apple is breaking privacy laws.
Samy Kamkar, a hacker and researcher, has shown that Android phones, which run on software written by Google, collect the location data every few seconds and store it in a local file, but also transmit it to Google several times an hour. Read more...
The rumors of Nintendo releasing a sequel to the Wii console are now confirmed fact. And now the rumors about what the new console will be like can begin.
Although the device won’t be on sale until next year, the company is clearly a fair way into the development process as it says it will have a playable model ready for demonstration at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, which takes place in Los Angeles in June. The announcement coming today is likely no coincidence: it comes on the same day as Nintendo announced a sales drop has led to a second year of falling profits, so the news of the new product is at least there to offer some good news to investors. Read more...
Last year YouTube started offering movie rentals but unfortunately not for mainstream movies. But recently Google has been quietly adding mainstream movies to its YouTube service. The new mainstream rentals are now available from $1.99 to $3.99
The new service will be indirect competition with Apples iTunes rental and streaming service and major Hollywood studios including Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal have already licensed their movies to the new YouTube service. Read more...
Minnesota Senator Al Franken and the attorney general of Illinois have separately pressed Apple and Google to provide more information about the location data they collect about their end users.
The requests from Franken and Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan follow recent reports that Google and Apple have been collecting data about the location of Android and iPhone users without their permission.
While both companies ask permission before collecting the location data required for certain applications, the reports, starting with one in the Wall Street Journal, show the companies also collect location information when not required to do so by an application. Read more...