Category: News

A detailed, hi-res photo of more “The Craft” operatives and what appears to be their mobile communications van has just surfaced. “The Craft” is a group of private military operatives who have been revealed through a fast-growing number of photos published by Natural…

If you want to know the depth of the mainstream media deceptions and cover-ups happening today, look no further than CNN’s announcement that Paul Joseph Watson’s highlighting of a “Family Guy” episode is somehow a “hoax.” As CNN reports: The online hoax spliced…

If it seems like you’re constantly being hit in your pocketbook by taxes and tax increases, you’re right. Tax revenues are at all-time highs, but it’s not enough: The president, joined by an increasing number in Congress, are seeking even more taxes, this time in the…

Natural News has now confirmed that at least five private military contractors were operating on scene at the Boston marathon, and that they all carried black backpacks which look very similar to the backpack carrying the pressure cooker bomb (see pictures below). The…

America has one of the highest rates of bipolar disease in the world with a staggering 5.7 million adults diagnosed. Characterized by periods of bone crushing depression swinging to cycles of mania, the disorder can destroy families and finances while shortening lifespan…

As vaccines pump the population full of mercury and thimerosal, as genetically modified crops alter human DNA, as bisphenol-A in plastics and can linings alter the hormonal structure of the human body, as pesticides pollute the land and water, more people are experiencing…

As details surrounding the Obama administration’s efforts to impose new gun control restrictions finally begin to emerge, it is becoming more clear that the White House, along with its allies in Congress, are reaching further into the Second Amendment their attempt to…

One of the reasons why our founding fathers were skeptical of big centralized government is because they believed that Americans, in essence, should be able to vote with their feet. That is, if they didn’t much care for the abundance of laws and regulations in one state…

Doctors have warned over the years that taking extra vitamin E could pose health risks. But is this based on facts? According to a new review of numerous studies of vitamin E just published in the Journal of Lipid Research, the human body has biological mechanisms that…

Just when you thought psychiatry had completely lost it, the Go for the Gold Diagnostic Champions’ Challenge arrives on the scene. Faster than a speeding prescription pad! More powerful than a round of electro-convulsive therapy! Able to inject tall syringes in…

Increasing your intake of omega-3 fatty acids may be one of the safest, easiest ways to battle depression, research suggests. Omega-3 fatty acids can be found in fish and canola oil, flax seeds, chia seeds, kiwifruit and purslane. Interest in a relationship between…

Abortion is an uncomfortable subject for most Americans but the time has come, thanks to details emerging from a murder trial in Philadelphia, for the country to have a national conversation that is not about a “woman’s right” or a “man’s mandate” but about life itself…

Pro-Second Amendment advocates think it is about time to end the “no-gun zones” that are public schools, so they are applauding efforts in Texas to provide concealed-carry training for hundreds of teachers in the Lone Star State. Since the tragic shootings at Sandy…

On January 17, 1995, an article written by Beatrice Dexter about the benefits of honey and cinnamon powder, appeared in The Weekly World News. Please allow me to preface this article with a bit of information unbeknown to the writer and virtually everyone else: cinnamon…

Piriform, Inc has released CCleaner for Mac 1.07.233, a minor refresh of its Mac freeware cleaning tool. Modelled closely on CCleaner 4.0 for Windows, version 1.07 sports the same refreshed program icons and interface tweaks as found in the latest Windows build, but also sports a number of new and improved features.

Notable improvements in this new release include better compatibility with OS X 10.5 (Leopard) and better cleaning speeds when running in the latest version of OS X 10.8 (Mountain Lion).

CCleaner for Mac 1.07.233 also promises improved cleaning of Safari items — currently the program supports cleaning the cache, history, cookies and download history. Cookie management has also been improved — users can individually select which cookies to delete and keep via the Options > Cookies section of the program.

The update is rounded off with minor GUI improvements and a number of unspecified bug fixes, and adds an in-app upgrade path for those wishing to purchase the Pro version — select CCleaner > About CCleaner to do so.

CCleaner 1.07 builds on improvements from the last release, which included faster cleaning of the Google Chrome cache, improved memory management in OS X 10.8 and the addition of a check for updates tool.

CCleaner for Mac 1.07.233 is available now as a freeware download for Macs running OS X 10.5 (Leopard) or later. Also available are CCleaner 4.0 and CCleaner Portable 4.0 for Windows, along with third-party tool CCEnhancer 3.7, which extends the Windows tool’s cleaning capabilities to over 900 programs.

Photo Credit: Goydenko Tatiana/Shutterstock

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!!

Accessories

Samsung announces official accessories for Samsung Galaxy S 4

Apps

Falcon Pro gets major update and brings plenty of new goodies along for the ride

Google

Google Fiber officially coming to Provo, UT

Google Glass

eBay listing currently shows a developer edition of Google Glass up for sale, for the person who has lots of money to spend that is

Google Glass Explorer Edition unboxing videos hit YouTube

Phones

Verizon getting the LG Optimus L3 as part of its prepaid lineup

Motorola X Phone might come in 20 colors

Samsung Galaxy S 4 officially confirmed by Sprint and T-Mobile

U.S. Cellular opens Samsung Galaxy S 4 pre-orders, offers S View flip cover deal

Tablets

HP Slate 7 tablet confirmed for arrival in the UK on May 1st

Miscellaneous

Various reports indicating that Samsung’s flexible display will be delayed

Amazon Appstore expanding to 200 new countries

New “power felt” fabric could power your phone and more

 

 

 

 

Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for April 17, 2013

Chinese smartphone game publisher Yodo1 reported Wednesday that it has raised $5 million in a Series A round led by SingTel Innov8, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based SingTel Group. Additional funding came from existing investor Chang You Fund. Beijing-based Yodo1 raised $2 million in seed funding last June from Chang You Fund and an undisclosed amount from RTM Asia in February 2012.

PRESS RELEASE

April 17, 2013 22:26 ET

Chinese Smartphone Game Publisher Yodo1 Gets $5 Million in Series A Funding

Funding to Meet High Demand From Western Game Studios to Target China’s 300 Million+ iOS/Android Market

BEIJING and SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – Apr 17, 2013) – Yodo1 (www.yodo1.com), a leading publisher of Western smartphone games for China’s 300 million+ iOS/Android market, has successfully raised $5 million in Series A funding. The funding will be used to meet incessant and continued demand from non-Chinese indie developers avid to enter the world’s largest mobile game market.

This round was led by SingTel Innov8, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Singapore-based SingTel Group, with additional funding from original investor Chang You Fund. This announcement comes as Yodo1 reported 25 million active Chinese players of its many popular iOS and Android games, including Defiant Development’s Ski Safari, XMG’s Powder Monkeys, HandyGames’ Clouds & Sheep, and Robot Entertainment’s Hero Academy.

Yodo1 CEO Henry Fong notes that the company is experiencing exponential user growth andincessant demand from Western developers eager to join its roster of partners. “So the challenge,” as Fong puts it, “is keeping up with the demand from high quality studios.” (See growth stats below.) This funding will expand Yodo1′s production capacity to be able to work with more Western game companies, and build the company’s platform and production team.

“Emerging markets such as China and Southeast Asia represent the most exciting prospects for mobile games developers,” Fong explains, “with close to 1 billion mobile subscribers migrating from feature phones to smartphone handsets over the next 2 years.” For that reason, he added, “the SingTel Group is a perfect partner for Yodo1, with over 450 million mobile subscribers across Southeast Asia and other high growth emerging markets, and growing.”
Since publishing its first game in June 2012, Yodo1 has experienced strong user growth and engagement in China. Here’s a sampling of relevant stats:

• 25 million active Chinese players across all Yodo1′s games as of April 2013
• 5-6 million new players of Yodo1 games per month
• Daily active users and revenue for Yodo1 now doubling on a monthly basis
• 250+ Western game studios contacting Yodo1 since 2012

“Gaming is one of the fastest growing segments in the smartphone ecosystem, and Yodo1 has cracked the code on how to publish international smartphone games in China, one of the most difficult markets in the world,” says William Bao Bean, Managing Director, SingTel Innov8 explaining the firm’s reason for leading the Series A investment.

Some experts forecast China will have 500 million Android and iOS owners by the end of 2013 — most of whom play games on their phones on a regular basis.

To learn more about Yodo1 and how to mobilize your games in China, please visit www.yodo1.com.

About Yodo1
Yodo1 is a market entry specialist and full service publishing platform which helps Western game developers successfully gain traction and monetize in the China mobile game market. Staffed by a team of experienced mobile developers, creative artists, game designers and China market experts, Yodo1 helps game developers quickly adapt, publish and monetize their games in China with its API platform. Yodo1 has partnered with leading Western game developers to successfully enter and grow in China, including Robot Entertainment (Texas), XMG Studio (Toronto), Defiant Development (Australia), and HandyGames (Germany). Founded in 2011, Yodo1 is based in Beijing with a presence in San Francisco. For more information, please visit www.yodo1.com and follow Yodo1 on Twitter at https://twitter.com/yodo1

About SingTel Innov8
SingTel Innov8 (Innov8), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the SingTel Group, is a corporate venture capital fund, with its own set of decision making, approval and funding processes. It has an initial fund size of S$200 million. Innov8 focuses its investments on technologies and solutions that lead to quantum changes in network capabilities, next generation devices, digital content services and enablers to enhance customer experience. It works closely with the ecosystem of leading innovators, developers, government agencies, R&D and capital providers to bring cutting-edge technologies and solutions to the various markets the SingTel Group operates in.

Contact Information
Media Contact: Vanessa Camones, theMIX agency for Yodo1
Email Contact

The post Yodo1 Dials Up $5M to Target China’s Smartphone Game Market appeared first on peHUB.

(Reuters) – Private equity owners of Numericable have asked about 10 banks to pitch on a possible stock exchange listing this year that could value the French cable company at around 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion), three people with knowledge of the plan said. Numericable is owned by Cinven, Carlyle Group and Altice Group.

By Sophie Sassard, Reuters

(Reuters) – Private equity owners of Numericable have asked banks to pitch on a possible stock exchange listing this year that could value the French cable company at around 4 billion euros ($5.3 billion), three people with knowledge of the plan said.

The funds — Cinven, Carlyle Group and Altice Group — have invited about 10 banks to submit proposals in May and they will likely pick three of them to work on a share sale, the sources said.

If the sale goes ahead this would be a further sign of investor interest in European cable operators as they take broadband market share from traditional telecom companies.

Dutch cable group Ziggo (ZIGGO.AS) drew strong demand for its listing last year and Europe’s biggest cable operator Liberty Global (LBTYA.O) in February agreed a deal to buy Britain’s Virgin Media (VMED.O) for $15.8 billion.

Also, a rise in global stock markets has already encouraged a string of companies to go public this year. The amount raised by volume of new listings in Europe is up 49 percent on the same period last year.

The share sale would provide an exit for Numericable’s private equity owner Cinven, while another fund Carlyle and Altice’s owner cable entrepreneur Patrick Drahi might decide to keep their stakes, the people said.

Private equity firms raise money from investors to buy businesses hoping to sell them later at a profit.

Numericable and Altice were not available for comment. Carlyle and Cinven, which each own about 35 percent of the company, declined to comment.

“This is one the options currently on the table,” said one of the sources who asked not to be named because the talks are private.

Another option would be a long-touted merger with French fixed and mobile player SFR, which Numericable’s owners believe would create significant cost savings, the sources said.

“For Carlyle, the best option remains a merger with SFR so they’ll stay on board only if the listing is compatible with an SFR deal,” said one person familiar with the matter.

Last year, Numericable held talks with Vivendi over a tie-up, but they foundered over valuation issues and deal structure.

Vivendi decided at a December board meeting that the timing was wrong to exit SFR because of turmoil in the French telecom market created by a new low-cost mobile player. Vivendi’s largest shareholder Vincent Bollore, who took 5 percent of the company last year and a seat on the board in December, drove that decision, the people said.

Numericable is the only cable operator in France, and it covers roughly one-third of households, offering packages of pay-TV, Internet and fixed calls starting at 24.90 euros a month.

It also has a unit called Completel, which sells high-speed broadband to corporate clients.

Including Completel, Numericable could be worth 4-5 billion euros based on 8 times 2011 core profit of 602 millions euros.

Excluding Completel, Numericable’s sales grew 1.1 percent last year to 874 million euros, while earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization rose 4.6 percent to 456 million euros.

(Additional reporting by Leila Abboud in Paris and Kylie MacLellan in London; Editing by Alexander Smith, Louise Heavens and Jane Merriman)

The post Reuters Exclusive: Numericable’s PE Owners Weigh IPO appeared first on peHUB.

Anytime I read a story that talks of nanotechnology I get all warm and fuzzy inside, and my inner geek jumps out and screams. Business Insider is reporting on work being done by nanotechnology researcher, David Carroll of Wake Forest University. Carroll is working on something he calls “power felt”, this thin piece of material can convert heat and movement into electricity. I know everyone reading this is thinking they can now charge their phones on the go. However there is more to this wonderful material that could change everything as we know it.

It can be sewn into clothing or wrapped around an object. It is light weight which gives it an advantage over other thermoelectric materials currently available, and it feel like wool felt. His felt also has a medical application to it too. Wearing the fabric could help determine a lot of information about the wearer based on heat readings.

The best part of all this is manufacturing Carroll’s new wonder felt is 25 -cents for a couple of square feet. Making it really cheap to produce. Check out the source for all the information.

Source: Business Insider

Come comment on this article: New “power felt” fabric could power your phone and more

Things haven’t been going well for PC vendors as of late with sales recently experiencing their steepest decline ever in a single quarter. HP is just one of the many companies that is looking for unique ways to boost its deteriorating computer sales. The company announced this week that it has partnered with Leap Motion to bundle its 3D motion control sensor and Airspace App Store with specific HP desktop and laptop products. In the future, HP plans to embed Leap’s technology directly into some of its computers. BGR was left impressed after we tested Leap’s motion control sensor last July, calling the technology “a total game-changer” and “one of the coolest pieces of technology we’ve seen in a while.” The Leap Motion standalone sensor is slated to arrive at Best Buy stores on May 19th for $80. HP’s press release follows below.

Continue reading…