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AT&T customers can expect to pay a little more every month. The carrier has decided to add a 61-cent charge to each of their customers’ bills. Beginning May 1, the “Mobility Administrative Fee” is considered a “below-the-line” fee, meaning it appears with taxes and other surcharges at the bottom of a customer’s phone bill, below the service charges.

A charge of less than a dollar might sound insignificant, but when multiplied by all of the number of customers they have, it could add more than a half-billion dollars of revenue for AT&T. AT&T is quick to say that below-the-line charges are ”consistent with similar fees charged by other carriers,” and that the revenue will “help cover certain expenses, such as interconnection and cell site rents and maintenance.”

Source: Wall Street Journal

 

Come comment on this article: AT&T adds new “mobility administrative” 61-cent fee to all monthly bills

Patent trolls’ days of effortlessly rolling into court and collecting licensing fees for products they don’t produce may be coming to an end. The Washington Post reports that courts have been increasingly citing the landmark 1978 Supreme Court case Parker v. Flook, which is the strongest ruling that the court has ever made against patents for abstract ideas such as algorithms. Given that courts are applying the Parker v. Flook precedent more often in software patent cases, it seems that courts are starting to reassert control over what can and cannot be patented. The Post acknowledges that “not every citation of Flook means that a patent was invalidated” but says that “it’s at least a sign that the courts are wrestling with the limits the high court articulated more than three decades ago.”

This week, the President continued his Jobs & Opportunity tour, this time highlighting bold new efforts in education and manufacturing in Baltimore, gave the commencement address at Morehouse College, invited the President of Myanmar, eight immigration reform advocates and DREAMers themselves, and Gershwin Prize winner Carol King and friends to the White House, and delivered a major counter-terrorism speech at the National Defense University. 

 

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A parking structure that was closed to the public collapsed today, killing one man and trapping another for hours.

The deck was outside a Macy’s store in Bethesda, Maryland; the victim was a construction worker. The injured man was reportedly conscious and alert when he was freed.

That area of the mall is said to be under major construction as work has begun to build a 16-screen movie theater in place of the garage. The portion that fell weighs about 50,000 pounds.

Mall representatives have so far had no comment, but parking structure accidents are more common than one might think. In 2005, a pregnant Kentucky woman was killed when a concrete slab fell from a two-story garage and onto the city sidewalk, and last year a 100-foot slab of concrete fell in New Jersey from a two-story parking deck. No one was injured in that incident, but several cars were damaged.

Image: WUSA9

The last time cicadas came above ground in the mid-atlantic region, gas was $1.15/gal, Ask Jeeves was released, Jerry Maguire & Independence day were the blockbuster movies of the summer. The insect oddity will be invading towns up and down the east coast as the summer wears on. With millions expected to come above ground to mate, die, then the send their off spring back below ground to eat.

The Science Channel is using this time to build awareness for the insect, and allow people to learn more about the interesting insect. They have a live cam of cicadas in a terrarium, allowing people to see how the insects breed, eat, and live towards the end of their life cycle. While the insects will be invading Washington D.C. with their unique mating sounds, they’re invading this D.C terrarium.

Live video by Animal Planet L!ve

Along with the live cam, The Science Channel will also release a special, teaching people about the cicada oddity. The special will air Sunday, May 26th.

[H/T: Mashable]

The heads of Abercrombie & Fitch issued an apology this week after several people traveled to the company’s headquarters in Ohio in protest.

The clothing brand, which is aimed at “young, cool kids” according to CEO Mike Jeffries, has been under fire recently after comments Jeffries made in a 2006 Salon interview were re-published in a new book about retail. At the time, Jeffries had this to say about the brand and why they didn’t want to sell above a size large to women:

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids,” he says. “Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely. Those companies that are in trouble are trying to target everybody: young, old, fat, skinny. But then you become totally vanilla. You don’t alienate anybody, but you don’t excite anybody, either.”

The comments brought a firestorm of backlash against A&F, and against Jeffries in particular. So much so, in fact, that a petition was started on Change.org to get the company to change their ways. Then, on Wednesday, a group of teens went to the company’s headquarters to make their voices heard. Reportedly, they spoke with the people in charge at length, and afterwards, Abercrombie released this statement:

“We look forward to continuing this dialogue and taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying in addition to our ongoing support of diversity and inclusion. We want to reiterate that we sincerely regret and apologize for any offense caused by comments we have made in the past which are contrary to these values.”

Of course, only time will tell if they will change the way they do business; it’s probably going to take more than a protest to get Jeffries to change his mind about his customers.

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!!

Apps

Fast and Furious 6 game hits the Play Store

Twitter introduces two-factor authentication for log-ins

Mediafire app update now allows music and video streaming to devices

Carriers

Viva Movil, a mobile service focused on Latino consumers by Jennifer Lopez

Google

Google quietly working on the inclusion of haptic feedback technology into Android devices… for more effective advertisements

Google adding richer notifications to Chrome on ChromeOS, Windows

Google Glass

Google Glass Explorer Edition shows up on Craigslist for $6,000

Phones

After much speculation, HTC may in fact release a “Sense-less” stock Android version of their HTC One

HTC One becomes the first enterprise-ready HTCpro certified smartphone in US

HTC finally explains lack of microSD slots in US/UK versions of HTC One, no love for Big Red

HTC One sales strong at 5 million despite supply issues and reshuffling execs

Facebook puts HTC First launch in UK on hold

HTC Desire 600 handset formally announced, will arrive in parts of Europe, the Middle East and Africa by mid-June

Huawei Ascend P6 leaked

Waterproof LG Optimus GJ E975W officially announced, will be priced at $600

Samsung sells over 10 million S 4s and announces four new colors for summer

Samsung Galaxy S4 Developer Edition slated for AT&T and Verizon

AT&T to offer Samsung Galaxy S 4 in new “Aurora Red” color starting June 14, pre-orders start tomorrow

Verizon & AT&T Galaxy S 4 gets bootloader unlock method

Tablets

Samsung tablet concept with flexible display leaks with specs

Amazon adds more than 170 countries as markets for Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9

Miscellaneous

LoJack launches phone recovery service with the Samsung Galaxy S4 as its first supported device

 

Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 23, 2013

There are some concerns about gaming on the next-generation Xbox One. The system doesn’t allow independent developers to self-publish games on Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft’s used game policy is still unclear. The company did confirm that it has big plans for its in-house gaming studio, however. Phil Harrison, a corporate vice president at Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment Business, revealed in an interview with VentureBeat that Microsoft is investing heavily in the gaming experience for the Xbox One. The executive noted that the company is planning to invest more than $1 billion for new content, including 15 internally developed titles in the coming year, eight of which will be brand new. The Xbox One is expected to help breath new life into the struggling gaming industry when it is released later this year.

There’s a lot to like about the HTC One. Now there’s more. HTC has announced that their HTC One is the first HTCpro certified smartphone in the United States.What exactly does this mean? It means the HTC One is enterprise-ready and meets the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 certification, offering 256-bit encryption, and level-one government-grade security. As part of the distinction, the One also offers built-in VPN functionality to offer data protection and security, and in the future will offer multiheaded Internet Protocol Security (IPSEC) VPN support from Mocana. Aimed obviously at business professionals, this is an important step for HTC.

Source: Laptop Mag

Come comment on this article: HTC One becomes the first enterprise-ready HTCpro certified smartphone in US

Earlier this week it was reported that Amanda Bynes was turned away from boarding a private flight from New York to Los Angeles for refusing to provide proper identification. The former child actor’s driver’s licence was revoked last year after several driving charges, including a hit-and-run accident involving a police cruiser.

Now, Bynes has once again taken to her Twitter account to rail against the tabloid press she fells is involved in a conspiracy to smear her good name. Since losing her representation, Bynes has been using her Twitter account to document her experiments with makeup, hair, and nudity.

This week, Bynes’ ire was focused on a new InTouch magazine feature which seemed to show pictures of marijuana her apartment. The actress claims that the pictures are faked, but doesn’t mention the drug use. From Bynes’ TwitPlus post:

That’s not my bed! Those aren’t my toes! My toes are pedicured! I just did an exclusive interview with intouch last week, now they bought fake altered photos by that ugly black man in the photo or someone who knows him! They used an old shot of me on the cover with a bad angle of my old nose before I had surgery to reshape my profile and to remove the webbing from my eyes. I have to sue because that’s not my apartment, those aren’t my clothes! They morphed photos of my face onto someone’s body to ruin my life! I have to make a big deal of this and sue because that’s not me! I care about my appearance so I have to defend myself! I look like a different person now that I had surgery! Why did they put an old shot of me on the cover? I don’t look like that anymore! I only want photos of my gorgeous new nose on the cover of tabloids and real magazines! The photos in this issue are fake and mocked up! I don’t care enough to keep talking about it. Just assume that I fucked the boyfriend of the editor of intouch because they fucking hate me!

Once again thanks to evleaks’ Twitter account, Huawei’s Ascend P6 has been leaked through various screen shots. With the thickness of just 6.2 mm’s, this should be the worlds thinnest smartphone upon release. The device will have a 4.7 inch 720p display. Not much else is known about the device, but it should be announced sometime next month during an event in London.

source: evleaks

Come comment on this article: Huawei Ascend P6 leaked

Looks like there’s news that Verizon and AT&T will both receive a developer edition of Samsung’s Galaxy S4. Both of these versions of the S4 have a locked down bootloader, so it makes sense for a developer edition to come out on both of these companies. While developers over at XDA have already dismantled and un-locked the bootloader in both of these respective devices, it is still nice to see Verizon and AT&T releasing an unlocked version for those who wish to purchase one.

Lets not get confused with the Google Edition of the S4 that’s due out to be released next month, these two developer phones are still running TouchWiz and not stock Android. The only difference is that the bootloader is unlocked compared to the regular versions of it that Verizon and AT&T currently sell.

Anyone on AT&T or Verizon nabbing this?

source: Samsung

Come comment on this article: Samsung Galaxy S4 Developer Edition slated for AT&T and Verizon

Remember during Google IO when an HTC employee hinted at a “stock Google experience” HTC One in response to Samsung’s Galaxy S4 Google Edition? Well, that seems to be inching closer and closer towards the truth as even more “tipsters” have confirmed such a device is indeed coming. Now before you write this out as just another rumor, keep in mind where this rumor comes from. Russel Holly from Geek.com first outed the Google Edition of the S4 the night before it was announced, and now he claims the same sources that gave him that information are now providing the same in regards to a “Sense-less” HTC One.

No actual date has been given, but he did say that one of the sources said the device should be announced in the next two weeks or so with a summer release. Of course, this is still a non-factual rumor so take it for what it is. The Sense software helps make the HTC One as great as it is in my opinion, thus I’m not sure if having a stock Android HTC One device would make it any better. Either way, having it out there as a choice is certainly a great thing and something plenty of people will be excited for.

What do you guys think of a Google Edition HTC One?

source: Geek

Come comment on this article: After much speculation, HTC may in fact release a “Sense-less” stock Android version of their HTC One

Clothing retailer Abercrombie & Fitch are continuing the apology tour, once again telling those angered by comments from CEO Mike Jeffries that they’re sorry for any offense they caused.

Earlier this month, comments made by Jeffries during a a 2006 interview with Salon surfaced, and they hit with a thud. Jeffries said that yes, his store is exclusionary, and implied that their clothes aren’t for unattractive people.

“In every school there are the cool and popular kids, and then there are the not-so-cool kids. Candidly, we go after the cool kids. We go after the attractive all-American kid with a great attitude and a lot of friends. A lot of people don’t belong [in our clothes], and they can’t belong. Are we exclusionary? Absolutely….”That’s why we hire good-looking people in our stores. Because good-looking people attract other good-looking people, and we want to market to cool, good-looking people. We don’t market to anyone other than that,” he said.

That sparked a massive backlash, and the company was forced to apologize.

Last week, Jeffries posted a note to Abercombie’s Facebook page:

I want to address some of my comments that have been circulating from a 2006 interview. While I believe this 7 year old, resurrected quote has been taken out of context, I sincerely regret that my choice of words was interpreted in a manner that has caused offense. A&F is an aspirational brand that, like most specialty apparel brands, targets its marketing at a particular segment of customers. However, we care about the broader communities in which we operate and are strongly committed to diversity and inclusion. We hire good people who share these values. We are completely opposed to any discrimination, bullying, derogatory characterizations or other anti-social behavior based on race, gender, body type or other individual characteristics.

And now, the company has apologized again.

“We look forward to continuing this dialogue and taking concrete steps to demonstrate our commitment to anti-bullying in addition to our ongoing support of diversity and inclusion. We want to reiterate that we sincerely regret and apologize for any offense caused by comments we have made in the past which are contrary to these values,” said the company after a meeting with protesters at their Columbus, Ohio headquarters.

When controversy like this strikes a major company, apologies don’t hurt. But can they repair their image and make thing right with those who feel that message hurts people? That remains to be seen. What do you think?

Amazon on Thursday announced expanded availability of its Kindle Fire HD tablet lineup. Both the 7-inch and 8.9-inch models are now available for preorder in more than 170 countries worldwide. The Kindle Fire HD is equipped with 1280 x 800 pixel resolution display and a 1.2GHz dual-core OMAP4460 processor, while the 8.9-inch model features a 1920 x 1200 pixel resolution display and a 1.5GHz dual-core OMAP4470 processor. The Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HD 8.9 are available for $199 and $269, respectively, and will ship to new countries beginning June 13th. Amazon also announced that it has expanded access to its Android Appstore, which can now be used by customers in nearly 200 countries worldwide.

Even the president of the United States can’t keep his prom photos a secret.

Not that he’d want to – a white jacket and a blue tie is a good look for President Obama. But still, come on, right?

The photos come from a former classmate, Kelli Allman, who attended Punahou School in Hawaii with the President back in 1979. TIME Magazine originally obtained the photos.

Allman’s yearbook also contains a note from Obama (then Barry Obama), which reads:

Kelli,

It has been so nice getting to know you this year. You are extremely sweet and foxy. I don’t know why Greg would want to spend any time with me at all! You really deserve better than clowns like us; you even laugh at my jokes! I hope we can keep in touch this summer, even though Greg will be gone. Call me up, and I’ll buy you lunch sometimes. Anyway, good luck in everything you do and stay happy.

Your Friend,
Barry Obama

“Greg” refers to Greg Orme, a basketball player and Obama’s close friend at the time.

As to what happened at the prom:

“It was a really fun, happy time. We were all cracking up, and everyone was smiling,” said Allman. “It was pretty typical from there out as far as what happens at prom: the dinner and the dancing and the photos.”

With the popularity of Android on smartphones and tablets, Google has a big platform to help push their other products and services. One of those is the Chrome browser for Android. As users surf the net with Chrome, they are able to enjoy the benefits of having their sessions sync with installations of Chrome, say on their desktop and laptop computers. To help capitalize on this and make the use of Chrome and Google services even more attractive, Google announced today the introduction of richer notifications for the Beta channel version of the Chrome browser.

The user interface for notifications and the underlying framework have both been reworked and expanded to be available for developers of Chrome apps and extensions to capitalize on. From an interface perspective, the new notifications adopt a Google Now card-like look. Mimicking capabilities of the notifications available on Jelly Bean Android devices, the new notifications can include the ability to interact directly within the pop-up.

The notification center will display several notifications at once if a user is away from their computer for a while. Along with the usability improvements, notifications can now include formatted text and assets like images. Google provides a panel for users to select which notifications which display.

Google has new versions available for both Windows and ChromeOS. They indicate an OSX version for Macs is on the way. If you want to try out the Chrome Beta, hit the source link for more information.

source: Google Chrome Blog

Come comment on this article: Google adding richer notifications to Chrome on ChromeOS, Windows

On Thursday, the head of the European golf tour, George O’Grady, used the word “colored” to refer to minorities during a live television interview. O’Grady was commenting on a recent remark golfer Sergio Garcia made in reference to fellow golfer Tiger Woods. When asked if he would have Woods over for dinner, Garcia said, “We’ll have him ’round every night. We will serve fried chicken.”

In a live Sky Sports interview, O’Grady stated that the European tour had accepted Garcia’s apology and that the “fried chicken” remark was a poor attempt at humor.

“We were convinced that he was trying to be funny,” said O’Grady. “We know the connotation in the United States. We accept all races on the European tour. We take it very strongly. Most of Sergio’s friends happen to be very, uh, colored athletes in the United States.”

Today, O’Grady has issued a formal apology to Tiger Woods and anyone else offended by the word he used.

“I deeply regret using an inappropriate word in a live interview for Sky Sports for which I unreservedly apologize,” said O’Grady.

Garcia has also apologized for his “fried chicken” remark.

“Most importantly, I want to apologise to Tiger and anybody that I could have offended by the comment I made and, you know, just say that I feel sick about it,” said Garcia. “I am truly, truly sorry and, you know, I hope that, you know, we can kinda settle down and hopefully move on.”

Earlier this week, YouTube turned 8 years old. Feel old, don’t you? Me too. In one way, it’s hard to imagine a world without it, but on the other hand I can still remember when it was just starting to grow in popularity. Ah, to be young again…

In that time, there have been a lot of viral hits. So many that you probably forgot about some of the early ones. Thankfully, there’s now a song based of Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to help you remember the past 8 years in viral madness.

Check out “We Didn’t Start the Viral” below:

[Dane Boe]

Earlier this week, the Queens County District Attorney announced that three men have been charged with kidnapping and unlawful imprisonment in connection with the bold kidnapping of an Ecuadorian businessman. The men are alleged to have kidnapped Pedro Portugal from a Queens street in broad daylight and kept him in a Long Island City warehouse for over a month in a plot to ransom him for $3 million.

Now, new details on how New York City Police detectives saved Portugal are coming to light.

According to a Reuters report, NYPD detectives traced Portugal’s possible location by cross-referencing addresses associated with criminals who recently traveled to Ecuador. On May 20, detectives from the NYPD’s Major Case Squad posed as building inspectors and entered the warehouse. Portugal was found with his hands bound with cloth and duct tape and with a cap covering his eyes.

An NYPD deputy inspector told Reuters that Portugal addressed the detectives by shouting “I’ve been kidnapped!” Meanwhile, one of the suspects in the kidnapping attempted to flee through a warehouse window. The kidnapper, later identified as Christian Acuna of Queens, was caught and arrested by one of the detectives.

Portugal was reportedly beaten and had one of his hands burned with acid during his month-long ordeal. The kidnappers forced him to call his mother in Ecuador and demand $3 million in ransom money. The men now each face 25 years in prison.