Author: Dan Graziano

Google expands its high-speed Fiber service to second Kansas location

Google (GOOG) on Tuesday announced plans to offer its high-speed Internet service in a suburb of Kansas City. The company has been granted approval to launch Google Fiber in Olathe, Kansas, a city 25 miles outside of Kansas City with a population of about 128,000. Olathe is the third city to receive Google’s critically acclaimed Internet service and second location in Kansas. The company launched Google Fiber last year in Kansas City, Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, granting residents access to gigabit Internet for only $70 per month. Google hopes its Fiber service will put pressure on cable and phone companies to innovate further and offer customers faster Internet speeds. Google did not announce a release timeframe for Olathe residents, noting that it still has “a lot of planning and engineering work to do.”

March 21, 2013
Amazon is reportedly preparing to launch a subscription music service

Amazon (AMZN) is the latest company rumored to be prepping a subscription music service, according to The Verge. Although the streaming music business has not yet proven to be all that profitable, a number of companies have expressed interest in joining a growing field of services. Amazon already offers a robust music store with features such as cloud music storage and a Cloud Player, however the company has reportedly reached out to various music companies about the idea of starting an “on-demand” subscription music service similar to Spotify. Earlier reports have indicated that Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) are also in talks with record labels to launch competing music streaming services.

March 20, 2013
Study finds iPhone owners to be more data hungry than Android users

Research from NPD Group’s latest study reveals that iPhone users in the U.S. consume more data on average than Android users, FierceWireless reported. The firm examined accounts belonging to 1,500 smartphone owners across Verizon Wireless (VZ), AT&T (T), Sprint (S) and T-Mobile from October 2012 to January 2013. The study found that Apple (AAPL) handset owners on the four major wireless providers in the U.S. downloaded an average of 1.12 gigabytes per month compared to Android users, who downloaded 0.92 gigabytes of data on average per month. Verizon experienced the most iPhone data usage at 1.55 gigabytes, followed by Sprint at 1.30 gigabytes, AT&T with 1.16 gigabytes and T-Mobile, which doesn’t officially carry the iPhone, at 0.49 gigabytes. T-Mobile and Sprint accounted for 1.28 gigabytes and 0.95 gigabytes of Android data usage, respectively, while AT&T subscribers with Android phones consumed 0.82 gigabytes compared to 0.65 gigabytes on Verizon.

March 20, 2013
Samsung drops second patent case against LG

Samsung (005930) has decided to drop a patent infringement suit against LG (066570) regarding LCD technologies, the Yonhap News Agency reported. The two companies have been embroiled in a patent battle over OLED and LCD technologies over the past year, however Samsung and LG have dropped recent claims and are moving closer to patent peace.

Continue reading…

March 20, 2013
Rumored next-gen Nexus 7 specs point to 4G LTE support

Google (GOOG) is rumored to be readying the second-generation version of its 7-inch Nexus tablet that will debut later this year. Earlier reports claimed the next-gen Nexus 7 will be equipped with a 1080p full HD display and a quad-core Qualcomm (QCOM) Snapdragon processor. According to Digitimes, Google and ASUS (2357) decided to ditch NVIDIA (NVDA), which supplied Tegra 3 processors for the original Nexus 7, because of Qualcomm’s tight integration with 4G LTE radios. NVIDIA recently announced the quad-core Tegra 4i processor with an integrated LTE chip, however the company may be unable to meet Google’s launch schedule for the second-generation Nexus 7, which is rumored to be set for a debut at the annual I/O Developers Conference in May. Losing Google as a customer will be hard on NVIDIA, which could now see 2013 processor shipments drop by as many as eight million units.

March 20, 2013
Google launches Google Keep note-taking service

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Google (GOOG) was working on a new note-taking application tied to its Drive cloud-storage suite. The company on Wednesday unveiled Google Keep, a tool that allows users to create notes and lists that are synced across all their devices. The service can transcribe voice memos automatically to create notes that are organized with multiple colors or even pictures. Google Keep is available now through the Web and for Android devices running Android 4.0 or higher. A video demonstration of Google Keep follows below.

Continue reading…

March 20, 2013
Apple’s latest iOS update contains another big security vulnerability

Apple (AAPL) released iOS version 6.1.3 on Tuesday to update its Maps application and fix a security vulnerability. In early February, an iOS bug was discovered that allowed unauthorized users to bypass the lock screen on a passcode-protected iPhone, iPad or iPod touch. While this particular security concern was fixed in Apple’s latest iOS update, a second vulnerability has now been discovered: the passcode security on an iPhone can be bypassed by using the voice control feature to dial a number. If the SIM card is ejected while the phone is dialing, the device will end the call and give unauthorized access to the address book and photos stored on the device. The latest vulnerability was tested on an iPhone 4 running iOS 6.1.3 and a video demonstration follows below.

Continue reading…

March 20, 2013
The Android brand could suffer from Google’s decision to remove ad-blocking apps

Google’s (GOOG) mobile platform is all about freedom: the freedom to install any application on a device, the freedom to change the Android code and the freedom for companies to use the operating system at no cost. Google’s policy is much different from Apple’s (AAPL) closed approach, and it has helped Android gain significant market share. But a recent Google policy change could spell trouble for consumers, companies and app developers.

Continue reading…

March 20, 2013
Amazon rumored to be prepping $99 Kindle Fire HD tablet

Recent reports suggest that Amazon (AMZN) may be the first major vendor to offer a $99 tablet. According to a report from TechCrunch, the company is preparing to offer a Kindle Fire HD tablet equipped with a TI OMAP processor and a 7-inch display with a 1280 × 600 pixel resolution. The report follows Amazon’s announcement earlier this month that it was dropping the prices of its 8.9-inch model in the U.S. The Wi-Fi-only version of the Kindle Fire HD dropped from $299 to $269, while the LTE version was reduced by $100 and is now offered for $399. Amazon’s current 7-inch Kindle Fire costs $199, while an older version can be had for $159. An Amazon spokesperson denied the report, claiming the company is already hitting the “lowest price points possible for that hardware.”

March 20, 2013
Google Babble rumored to unify messaging services under one brand

Apple (AAPL) has iMessage, BlackBerry (BBRY) has BlackBerry Messenger and Google (GOOG) will reportedly soon have Babble. According to a report from Geek, Google is interested in unifying its messaging platforms into a single service. The company currently has a number of messaging services across different platforms such as Google Talk, Hangout, Google Voice, Messenger and more. Google is now said to be building Babble from the ground up to bring all of its services across Android, Chrome OS, Windows and Mac together. No timeframe has been revealed, but the company is expected to announce the service at its annual Google I/O conference in May.

March 20, 2013
Study finds illegal downloading doesn’t harm music industry

A new study published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has found that illegal downloading doesn’t hurt the music industry. After examining the browsing habits of more than 16,000 Europeans, the research showed that there is actually a positive link between online piracy and visits to legal music stores — so rather than negatively impacting digital revenues, researchers found that music sales can actually benefit from piracy.

Continue reading…

March 20, 2013
Private equity firm reportedly interested in last-minute bid to take Dell private

Private equity firm Blackstone (BX) may be considering a last-minute bid to buy Dell (DELL), according to Bloomberg. Michael Dell and Silver Lake Management have already proposed a $24.4 billion buyout to take the company private, however the deal has been met with backlash from shareholders. Blackstone is said to be considering an offer for Dell higher than the current $13.65 per share offer. Blackstone, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) and Lenovo (LNVGY) have all reportedly conducted due diligence on Dell, however Blackstone is said to be the only serious contender to counter Silver Lake’s bid. Dell’s board has until March 22nd to examine other options and is allowed to negotiate beyond that date if it receives a “serious” offer. Blackstone has not yet submitted a proposal to the board.

March 19, 2013
LTE data traffic expected to grow more than 200% in 2013

The United States has outstanding LTE coverage compared to other markets, however worldwide carriers are beginning to upgrade their networks to deliver the high-speed wireless technology to their customers. According to a new report from ABI Research, the total mobile data traffic for 2012 amounted to 13,412 petabytes, an increase of 69% from 2011 when 3G data usage accounted for 46% of all traffic. The accelerated adoption of 4G LTE is expected to increase in 2013, however. The research firm estimates that LTE data traffic will grow an astonishing 207% year-over-year in 2013, compared to 99% growth for 3G traffic. The increase for LTE traffic comes as a result of added 4G deployments in developed markets throughout the world. There are still a number of markets that have not yet upgraded to the technology, though.

March 19, 2013
BlackBerry executive contradicts CEO Heins, says Playbook sequel already in the works

A day after BlackBerry (BBRY) CEO Thorsten Heins said that the company wasn’t going to produce another tablet until it had figured out how to make it more than “just another tablet,” a senior executive said that a sequel to BlackBerry’s Playbook tablet is already in the works. Mike Al Mefleh, a BlackBerry director of product management, claimed in an interview with Emirates 24|7 at the Dubai BlackBerry User’s Forum that the company will release six new BlackBerry devices in 2013, in addition to a new Playbook. The executive didn’t reveal a release timeframe, however sources speaking to Emirates 24|7 suggest the device, which may sport a 10-inch display, could launch by the end of the second quarter. BlackBerry is also expected to update the original Playbook to the BlackBerry 10 operating system later this year.

March 19, 2013
LG claims Galaxy S 4 may infringe its eye-tracking technology

There is no doubt that LG (06657011) is nervous about the upcoming release of the Galaxy S 4. Samsung (005930) was able to create Apple-like buzz for its latest flagship smartphone and debuted a device last week with a number of new and unique features. One of those features, however, may infringe upon LG’s technology. According to the Yonhap News Agency, the two companies are said to be in a row over similar features in their flagship smartphones.

Continue reading…

March 19, 2013
Apple releases iOS 6.1.3 with maps updates, lock screen vulnerability fix

Apple (AAPL) on Tuesday released iOS 6.1.3 for the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. The update fixes a recent vulnerability that allowed unauthorized users to bypass a device’s lockscreen. The update also includes several improvements for Apple’s Maps application in Japan. iOS 6.1.3 is available immediately as an over-the-air (OTA) update, and it will be available for download shortly in iTunes.

March 19, 2013
Verizon’s plan to shake up the TV industry: Only offer channels customers want to watch

Cable service providers in the United States are obligated to offer lesser watched channels if they want to carry some of the more popular names. Companies such as Viacom (VIAB), Comcast (CMCSA) and others have bundled these smaller, more niche channels to service providers for years, however cable companies are starting to fight back. Cablevision (CVC) recently filed suit against Viacom over this practice and other providers such as Verizon (VZ) are looking into new and “disruptive” payment models.

Continue reading…

March 18, 2013
T-Mobile 4G LTE to launch later this month, early tests show impressive speeds

T-Mobile announced on Monday that it will be issuing an update for Samsung’s (005930) Galaxy Note II smartphone in anticipation of the launch of its upcoming LTE network, which is scheduled to go live at the end of the month. The arrival of the company’s high-speed network will come at the same time it launches the 4G LTE-enabled BlackBerry Z10 smartphone, its second LTE smartphone. T-Mobile also confirmed that it plans to launch additional LTE devices in the coming months such as the Galaxy S 4 and an LTE version of the Galaxy S III.

Continue reading…

March 18, 2013
Microsoft to drop Windows Phone 8 support in July 2014

Microsoft (MSFT) has revealed support timelines for the current versions of its Windows Phone mobile operating system. The company will issue security updates to Windows Phone 7.8 and Windows Phone 8 for 18 months following each of the platforms’ launches. Windows Phone 8 support will therefore end on July 8th, 2014, while support for Windows 7.8 will run until September 9th, 2014. Microsoft notes that while it will issue fixes, “distribution of the updates may be controlled by the mobile operator or the phone manufacturer from which you purchased your phone.” It also revealed that updates will vary based upon “country, region, and hardware capabilities.”

March 18, 2013
Galaxy S 4 called a minor update that won’t help Samsung gain ground against Apple in U.S.

Samsung (005930) announced its latest flagship smartphone at a press conference in New York City last week. Some have argued that the Galaxy S 4 will rival Apple’s latest iPhone for smartphone dominance in 2013, while others have suggested that Samsung hasn’t done enough to retain its customers. The Galaxy S 4 features updated hardware and new features such as facial recognition and floating display technology, however its design has remained largely unchanged from the Galaxy S III. In fact, the design is so similar to earlier models that research firm Yankee Group’s vice president of research, Carl Howe, believes the smartphone should be regarded as “the Galaxy S IIIS.”

Continue reading…

March 18, 2013