Category: News

A good time was had by all recording this week’s new wrap up podcast! Erica Ogg called into the studio to break down Apple’s latest earnings. Then Eliza Kern popped in to chat about the recent hack of the AP Twitter account (and subsequent dip in the stock market), and we top things off with Janko Roettgers and a lively discussion about Amazon, Netflix and the future of TV.

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SHOW NOTES:
Hosts: Chris Albrecht, Tom Krazit
Guests: Erica Ogg, Eliza Kern, Janko Roettgers

Apple’s earnings and the popularity of older iPhones

The AP Twitter hack and what it means for Twitter and its users

Amazon’s set-top box and Netflix’s grand vision for TV

PREVIOUS WEEKLY WRAP UPS:
More media, more problems and more #Music on Twitter

Bitcoins bite the dust, uh-oh Aereo and Austin’s fiber

Facebook’s phone-y home, Tesla rides the lightning and Das Boot

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• How consumer media will change in 2013
• Connected consumer third-quarter 2012
• Who and what to watch in the new era of the living room

Greenbriar Equity Group said Thursday that an affiliate has extended its tender off for all outstanding shares of EDAC Technologies Co. to 5 p.m.on Monday, May 6. GB Aero Engine in March reportedly agreed to buy EDAC in a deal valued at $100 million. MidOcean Partners had pitched a rival $105 million bid for EDAC but pulled the offer, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

PRESS RELEASE

Greenbriar Equity Group LLC (“Greenbriar”) announced today that GB Aero Engine Merger Sub Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of GB Aero Engine LLC and an affiliate of Greenbriar, has extended the tender offer for all outstanding shares of common stock of EDAC Technologies Corporation (“EDAC”) to 5:00 pm, New York City time, on Monday, May 6, 2013, unless further extended.
The tender offer has been extended to allow investors to consider revised disclosures in an amendment to EDAC’s Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9.
The tender offer was previously scheduled to expire at 5:00 pm, New York City time, on April 30, 2013. All other terms and conditions of the tender offer remain unchanged. The depositary for the tender offer has advised Greenbriar that, as of 4:30 pm, New York City Time, on April 23, 2013, stockholders of EDAC validly tendered approximately 2,988,376 shares of EDAC common stock (not counting as validly tendered, shares that were tendered through notice of guaranteed delivery and not actually delivered) representing approximately 56% of the EDAC shares outstanding.
The tender offer is being made in accordance with the previously announced Agreement and Plan of Merger, dated March 17, 2013, by and among GB Aero Engine LLC, GB Aero Engine Merger Sub Inc. and EDAC (the “Merger Agreement”). As previously announced, pursuant to the Merger Agreement, the tender offer was commenced on March 26, 2013 to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of EDAC for $17.75 per share, net to the seller in cash without interest and less any required withholding taxes.
Stifel, Nicolaus & Company, Incorporated is serving as exclusive financial advisor and Robinson & Cole LLP is serving as legal counsel to EDAC Technologies Corporation. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Greenbriar Equity Group LLC.
This press release is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell shares of EDAC.
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995; including forward-looking statements regarding the anticipated acquisition of EDAC by an affiliate of Greenbriar. These forward-looking statements may be identified by words such as “plans,” “seeks,” “projects,” “expects,” “believes,” “may,” “anticipates,” “estimates,” “should,” and other similar expressions. Each of these forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results or developments may differ materially from those, express or implied, in these forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that may cause differences between current expectations and actual results or developments, including risks and uncertainties associated with the anticipated

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The UK is about to get a serious pilot of white space radio. Yes, there’s already been an industry-led pilot in Cambridge, but that was really about the technology itself – the pilot coming up this autumn is being led by the telecoms regulator Ofcom, and the idea here is to test out the processes around using white spaces across the country.

In other words, the UK is now gearing up for a proper rollout next year (if everything goes well in the trial), with potential uses including rural broadband and the internet of things. Here’s what Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards said in a statement on Friday:

“Ofcom is preparing for a future where consumers’ demand for data services will experience huge growth. This will be fuelled by smartphones, tablets and other new wireless applications.

“White space technology is one creative way that this demand can be met. We are aiming to facilitate this important innovation by working closely with industry.”

The term “white spaces” refers to the gaps between heavily-used radio frequency bands. These are buffer zones that were deliberately left empty in order to stop the services using these various bands – generally TV broadcast services — from interfering with one another.

However, a few years ago people started playing around with the idea of using white spaces for digital communications. They tend to be low-frequency, which makes them ideal for sending data over long distances, and their exploitation now seems quite viable, depending on which bands are already in use in a particular geographical area.

This is why databases of frequencies and coverage are absolutely crucial to white space usage – unlike with Wi-Fi, which can be used anywhere without a license, Ofcom wants to make sure that devices using white space frequencies only do so when they can avoid interfering with surrounding bands. The devices, which will generally use cognitive radio technology in order to hop between frequencies as needed, will therefore need to get clearance from an Ofcom-approved database before they can start transmitting.

Those of you who have been following white space technology will know that Google is compiling its own database of frequency usage, and this is the sort of database that Ofcom might theoretically approve for official use in the UK.

Google’s database is currently being tested in the U.S. by the FCC, the American counterpart to Ofcom, and is also being deployed in a white space trial in Cape Town, South Africa. Meanwhile, Microsoft has already conducted tests in the UK (the Cambridge pilot) and Singapore, and is now active in Kenya. Other, similar initiatives are underway in Finland, Ireland and France.

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Marcella Butler has joined Think Finance as Chief Human Resources Officer. Butler joins Think Finance from Google where she worked in a variety of directorate-level roles across corporate development, finance and people operations.

PRESS RELEASE

Think Finance, a company that develops online financial products that bridge the gap between payday loans and credit cards, today announced it has named Marcella Butler as its Chief Human Resources Officer.

Ms. Butler joins Think Finance from Google, where she spent five years in a variety of directorate-level roles across corporate development, finance and people operations. Prior to that, Ms. Butler was the Chief Operating Officer and Chief Compliance Officer for Pershing Square Capital Management and Chief Administration Officer for Sanford Bernstein, LLC. She has also held positions with Egon Zehner International, McKinsey & Company and Morgan Stanley & Co, Inc.
“We’re delighted to welcome Marcella to Think Finance,” said Think Finance Global Chief Executive Officer Ken Rees. “Her impressive background and expertise will help us navigate the challenges of rapid growth and create a truly great place to work for all our employees.”
“I’m excited to work with the talented individuals at Think Finance,” said Ms. Butler. “The Think Finance team is vibrant and growing with the business, and together, we will continue to lever the unique aspects of Think Finance’s culture as we build a great place to work and grow.”
Ms. Butler graduated with highest distinction from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill where she was a Morehead scholar and holds a Master of Public Policy from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government.
About Think Finance
Think Finance develops online financial products that bridge the gap between payday loans and credit cards. Using our technology and analytics platform, Think Finance and the lenders we work with have provided over $3.5 billion in credit to 1.5 million consumers in the U.S. and abroad and have saved customers over $1 billion compared to payday loans. Think Finance is privately held and is backed by some of Silicon Valley’s most respected venture capital firms including Sequoia Capital and Technology Crossover Ventures. The company was recently named No. 2 on Forbes’ America’s Most Promising Companies list. Learn more at www.ThinkFinance.com.

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Horizon Technology Finance Corp. has closed a $2 million venture loan to New Haven Pharmaceuticals. Guilford, Conn.-based New Haven is a specialty pharmaceutical company.

PRESS RELEASE

Horizon Technology Finance Corporation (Nasdaq: HRZN) (“Horizon”), a leading specialty finance company that provides secured loans to venture capital and private equity backed development-stage companies in the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries, today announced it has closed a $2 million venture loan facility with New Haven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (“NHP”), a developer of prescription pharmaceuticals that utilize currently marketed drugs or active pharmaceutical ingredients generally recognized as safe for use in therapeutic applications. The proceeds of the venture loan facility will be used for working capital purposes.
“We are pleased to provide NHP with a venture loan facility which will support its development of proprietary prescription pharmaceuticals,” stated Gerald A. Michaud , President of Horizon. “NHP continues to achieve important strides in developing products for patients with a higher risk for secondary strokes or acute cardiac events. Based on the company’s impressive product pipeline and experienced, well-respected management team, NHP represents a strong addition to Horizon’s high-quality investment portfolio.”
“Horizon’s $2 million venture loan facility provides NHP with the right capital structure and the timely liquidity to continue to execute our product development and FDA registration plans,” stated Patrick P. Fourteau, NHP’s President & CEO. Harry H. Penner, Jr. , NHP’s Executive Chairman, added, “The responsiveness and flexibility of the Horizon team resulted in a seamless process from initial contact to funding and a very positive business experience. It’s gratifying to have Horizon, a Connecticut-based company like our own, as a financial partner.”
About Horizon Technology Finance
Horizon Technology Finance Corporation is a business development company that provides secured loans to development-stage companies backed by established venture capital and private equity firms within the technology, life science, healthcare information and services, and clean-tech industries. The investment objective of Horizon Technology Finance is to maximize total risk-adjusted returns by generating current income from a portfolio of directly originated secured loans as well as capital appreciation from warrants to purchase the equity of portfolio companies. Headquartered in Farmington, Connecticut, with regional offices in Walnut Creek, California and Reston, Virginia, the Company is externally managed by its investment advisor, Horizon Technology Finance Management LLC. Horizon’s common stock trades on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the ticker symbol, “HRZN.” In addition, the Company’s 7.375% Senior Notes due 2019 trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “HTF.” To learn more, please visit www.horizontechnologyfinancecorp.com.
About New Haven Pharmaceuticals
New Haven Pharmaceuticals Inc. (NHP) is a specialty pharmaceutical company developing proprietary prescription drug products based on proprietary controlled-release technologies, as well as intellectual property licensed from Yale University, which will enable optimal dosing, safety, efficacy and patient convenience. For more information on NHP, please visit www.newhavenpharma.com, or contact Harry H. Penner, Jr. , Executive Chairman at (203) 676-3676, or email at [email protected].
Forward-Looking Statements
Statements included herein may constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Statements other than statements of historical facts included in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements and are not guarantees of future performance, condition or results and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described from time to time in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement made herein. All forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this press release.

The post New Haven Pharma Gets $2 Mln Loan From Horizon Tech Finance appeared first on peHUB.

Samsung has announced it will be expanding its ATIV brand name to cover all of its Windows PCs, not just its convertible PC devices. The aim is to create a single cohesive brand for all its Windows 8 products, in a similar way to how the Galaxy brand unifies all of its Android smartphones.

In addition to the rebranding, Samsung has rolled out two new ATIV Book models — the ATIV Book 5 and ATIV Book 6.

Described as the “next generation of Samsung Ultrabook”, the Book 5 comes with a 14-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1366 by 768, Intel Core i5-3337U processor, Intel HD Graphics 4000 GPU, 4GB of RAM, 500GB of storage and 24GB of ExpressCache. It’s available for pre-order now, priced from $899.99. The Book 6 has a 15.6-inch touchscreen with a resolution of 1920 by 1080, Intel Core i7-3635QM processor, AMD Radeon HD 8770M GPU,  8GB of RAM and 1TB of storage. It will set you back from $1199.99.

As if that wasn’t enough, Samsung is also adding a new feature to bring the ATIV and Galaxy lines closer together. Called SideSync, it is designed to make it easier for customers to switch from working on a PC to their smartphone by connecting the two devices via a USB cable. According to the South Korean firm, when connected, users can “respond to a text on a mobile phone from their PC keyboard; view maps, photos and multimedia from their phone on their PC screen; make edits to files on their phone via their ATIV PC; and even drag and drop files from one unit to another”.

SideSync will come pre-loaded as a desktop app on Windows 8 ATIV PCs and be compatible with all of Samsung’s Android-based devices.

“Samsung has been the fastest growing PC brand for the past three years, in part because of our commitment to developing solutions that meet and exceed the ever-evolving needs of our customers,” Mike Abary, senior vice president of consumer IT product marketing at Samsung Electronics America explains. “Our expanded ATIV brand and the introduction of solutions like SideSync create the necessary synergy between our mobile and PC lines to create real ease of use for consumers. These synergies enable us to maintain our momentum and continue to offer our customers innovations that enhance the way they live and work”.

Today is THE day that the first customers will start to get their hands on the new BlackBerry Q10 in the UK and next week, in Canada, on May 1. Throughout the week we’ve let you know where and when it will be available first, what went into the design and what our favorite features are. Now it’s time to hear from the tech media.

Like me, they’ve had their hands on the beautiful BlackBerry Q10 with full QWERTY keyboard. Turns out I’m not the only one who was impressed by the device and how well it performs as a daily driver. Physical keyboard lovers, meet your new match! Here’s what the press had to say:

BlackBerry Q10 Reviews:

• “The Q10′s superb keyboard and message-handling capabilities make it a perfect match. Its long battery life and comfortable keyboard may be what you’ve been holding out for, and the inclusion of BlackBerry 10.1 is extra icing on the cake.” –

  CNET

• “The BlackBerry Q10 is clearly the top smartphone for people who want QWERTY physical keyboards. It is no question the most refined device in the class. This is the BlackBerry 10 device physical keyboard lovers have been waiting for.” –

  BerryReview.com

• “BlackBerry has done well by QWERTY fans by bringing a handset to market with a killer keyboard and modern operating system.” –

  LAPTOP Magazine

• “I’ll come right out and say it: no phone on the market offers a better combination of speed and accuracy for entering text.” –

  New York Times

• “an email, messaging, and productivity beast.”… “It’s a delight to type on. I haven’t used a physical keyboard in ages, but the keys are designed so well that I was flying.” –

  Business Insider

• “BlackBerry has a lot of experience making keyboard phones, and it shows in the Q10.” –

  Mashable

• “In terms of smartphones with a physical keyboard, the Q10 is in a class of its own.” –

  ITBusiness

• “Perhaps the most interesting surprise about the Q10 is how insanely fast it is.” –

  The Globe And Mail

• “This is a modern day smartphone with a keyboard that people will be PROUD to carry, use and show off.” –

  CrackBerry.com

The press have had their say — now it’s time to have yours, #TeamBlackBerry. Be sure to leave your comments about the new BlackBerry Q10 below.

Wikidata, a centralized structured data repository for facts and Wikimedia’s first big new project in the last 7 years, is now feeding the foundation’s main project, Wikipedia.

The Wikidata project was kicked off around a year ago by the German chapter of Wikimedia, which is still steering its gradual development. For Wikipedia, the advantage is simple and powerful — if there’s a central, machine-readable source for facts, such as the population of a city, then any update to that data can be instantly reflected across all the articles in which the facts are included.

To posit a morbid example: a singer may have dozens or even hundreds of language versions of her Wikipedia entry and, if she were to die, the addition of a date of death to the Wikidata database would immediately propagate across all those versions, with no need to manually update each one (yes, I can also see how this might go horribly wrong).

Indeed, Wikidata is now being used as a common data source for all 286 Wikipedia language versions. Here’s the under-development “item” page for Russia, if you want to see what Wikidata looks like in practise.

But the really interesting thing with Wikidata is that it’s not just for Wikipedia – although it’s worth remembering that its API is still under development, the database can be used by anyone as it is published under a Creative Commons 0 public domain dedication. Here’s how Wikidata project director Denny Vrandečić put it in a statement:

“It is the goal of Wikidata to collect the world’s complex knowledge in a structured manner so that anybody can benefit from it, whether that’s readers of Wikipedia who are able to be up to date about certain facts or engineers who can use this data to create new products that improve the way we access knowledge.”

There are already some pretty cool (if bare-bones) examples of what people can do with Wikidata. One is GeniaWiki, which is trying to map the family relationships between famous people (the first and so far only example is that of the Bach family), while a Tree of Life project is trying to put together a viable, Wikidata-based “taxonomy of all life”.

It’s worth noting that the initial funding for Wikidata’s development has come from Google, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence. Ultimately, Wikidata is precisely the sort of venture that is needed to feed the nascent semantic web and AI movement.

It’s far from the only venture in this space – I’d also recommend keeping a close eye on Google’s Knowledge Graph, which powers Google Now, and Wolfram|Alpha, which partly powers Siri – but all these (often intertwined) projects are essentially trying to do the same thing: to turn facts into something that machines can understand.

And that, in conjunction with advances in natural language processing and machine learning, will ultimately help us converse with machines. These are the building blocks of artificial intelligence and the future of search, and Wikidata’s very permissive license should act as an open invitation to anyone dabbling in this space.

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We first tipped our hat that Skype was coming to BlackBerry 10 back at the global launch event on January 30th. Now I’m happy to announce that Skype is available for the newly launched BlackBerry Q10. BlackBerry Q10 and Skype are the perfect pair allowing you to chat with other Skype users from the palm of your hand.

While you’re on the go with your BlackBerry Q10 and the Skype app, you’ll enjoy the ability to have:

• Free face to face video and voice calls
• Instant messages
• low cost voice calls and text messages to landlines and mobiles over WiFi® or wireless network connections.

Skype System Requirements:

Skype runs on the 10.1 Operating System on the BlackBerry Q10. As this new version of the BlackBerry 10 operating system launches on the BlackBerry Z10 in the coming weeks, BlackBerry Z10 owners will have the ability to download Skype for BlackBerry from BlackBerry World. We will be talking more about BlackBerry 10.1 on BlackBerry Z10 at BlackBerry Live, so stay tuned and keep it locked to Inside BlackBerry for more information.

Did you just pick up your brand new BlackBerry Q10 and want to give Skype a try? Download it from BlackBerry World and Let us know what you think about the app in the comments below.

For road warriors looking catch up on the latest events, reply to important business emails, or perform some crucial tasks while traveling, a cellular data connection is a must-have feature for a tablet. The best case scenario — if Wi-Fi is not available or a safe option — is to rely on a smartphone in order to tether, which drains its battery in a couple of hours (at best). Definitely not an option for a lot of people.

Luckily, Dell finally gets it. The American company introduces a new cellular data option for the XPS 10 which gives the Windows RT-based tablet the ability to connect to 4G LTE networks. Considering that the device was launched around the same time as Windows 8 and Windows RT, it took Dell quite some time to make cellular data a priority, at least for the XPS 10.

The XPS 10 with 4G LTE starts at $599.99 for the 64 GB version and runs for $749.99 when buying the tablet with the Dell keyboard dock. You’re looking at pretty much the same hardware specifications as with the base device.

That means prospective buyers can get a 10.1-inch multitouch display with a resolution of 1366 by 768; 1.5 GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor; one-year warranty; Windows RT; 1.4 lbs and 2.89 lbs for the XPS 10 without the keyboard and with the keyboard attached, respectively.

Sadly, the device is available with 4G LTE only in the US and only with AT&T. Tough luck for everyone else. And that is a very long list which includes about seven billion people.

Plair wants to bring AirPlay-like functionality to any TV, and allow you to beam videos from any Mac, PC or mobile device. Check out our review below:

Previously on Cord Cutters:
Our Roku 3 review
A first look at the WD TV Play
A first look at Netflix’s House Of Cards
Testing the Android-based Cloud TV Box
The 2012 Cord Cutters gift guide for cable-free holidays
Browse the show archive for a complete list of episodes, and subscribe to the Cord Cutters podcast RSS feed so you don’t miss any future episode.

Show notes for this episode:

• Plair is available for $99 online. More information about the device can be found on Plair’s website.
• Plair isn’t the only one looking to bring AirPlay-like features to other devices. Netflix and YouTube are working on an open standard for this kind of feature as well. Check out our report.
• Don’t forget our e-book Cut the Cord: All You Need to Know to Drop Cable to learn more about various devices that help you to get rid of cable. The book is available for $5 on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and iTunes.

Are you interested in a device like Plair? Or are you using any of the other methods to beam content to your TV? Let us know in the comments below, get in touch with us on Twitter (@cordcutters) or email us at cordcutters @ gigaom.com. Also, please check out our new Google+ Cord Cutters community!

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In February, I predicted that smartphone sales would surpass feature phones within a couple quarters. Looks like I am likely wrong, as shipments already have, according to IDC. Last month the analyst firm predicted such circumstance this year, which by Q1 is sooner than anyone anticipated.

Meanwhile, something more shocking occurred turn first quarter — my, God, when will the milestones stop? Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE pushed BlackBerry and Nokia out of the top five. Right Nokia — the company that invented the smartphone and had,until last year, a 14 year-run as global handset leader. The worldwide phone market undergoes dramatic changes, and they’re far from over.

“Phone users want computers in their pockets”, Kevin Restivo, IDC senior research analyst, says. “The days where phones are used primarily to make phone calls and send text messages are quickly fading away. As a result, the balance of smartphone power has shifted to phone makers that are most dependent on smartphones”. Nokia is too attached to feature phones, by the way.

Manufacturers shipped 418.6 million handsets in Q1, up 4 percent year over from 402.4 million. Smartphones captured 51.6 percent share — that’s 216.2 million, up 41.6 percent annually from 152.7 million.

Samsung widened its lead over Apple — 70.7 million smartphones to 34.7 million, respectively. A year earlier, the South Korean company’s lead was more modest over its American rival — 44 million to 35.1 million. Samsung shipments rose a stunning 60.7 percent, compared to just 6.6 percent for Apple. Their respective market shares: 32.7 percent and 17.3 percent. The fruit-logo company lost nearly 7 points of share.

LG posted strongest growth (110.2 percent), but Huawei’s gains weren’t far behind (94.1 percent). The two vied for third place share, 4.8 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. ZTE rounded out the top 5 with 4.2 percent share. Among handsets driving LG shipments: Google Nexus 4.

“A year ago, it was common to see previous market leaders Nokia, BlackBerry (then Research In Motion), and HTC among the top five”, Ramon Llamas, IDC research manager, says. “While those companies have been in various stages of transformation since, Chinese vendors, including Huawei and ZTE as well as Coolpad and Lenovo, have made significant strides to capture new users with their respective Android smartphones”.

Success of the homegrowns poses problems for Apple, which counts China as its second most important region, next to North America. China generated $8.2 billion revenue for Apple during calendar first quarter, largely from iPhone.

But Chinese manufacturers move West, and with success. Huawei shipments outside of Asia-Pacific nearly doubled, for example.

We’ll know more when Gartner releases figures. The analyst firm measures actual sales rather than shipments.

Photo Credit: Massimo Cavallo/Shutterstock

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