Samsung announces quad-core chip for Galaxy S phone
Electronics heavyweight Samsung will put quad-core silicon in its next Galaxy smartphone, upping the ante for mobile performance. The Exynos 4 Quad integrates four processor cores and is built on the company’s cutting-edge 32-nanometer manufacturing process. The chip will run at speeds above 1.4GHz, the company said in a statement today. As a yardstick, the […]
Apple’s Tim Cook rejects idea of laptop-tablet hybrids
Apple’s boss has dismissed the idea of mixing laptops and tablets into a hybrid product. Chief executive Tim Cook said the idea of combining the iPad and MacBook Air would “wind up compromising” both. Rival Asus already markets such products in its Transformer series. Intel has also been a vocal advocate of the idea. Mr […]
Did Facebook pay just $83M for that giant pile of IBM patents?
Social-networking giant’s amended S-1 sheds light on how much it plunked down for patents in first quarter. News today that Facebook is spending $550 million to buy 650 patents held by Microsoft came just weeks after it made what seemed to be an even bigger purchase from IBM in which it spent an undisclosed sum […]
Android chief: We didn’t believe we needed a license from Sun
Android chief Andy Rubin wrapped up his testimony this morning in the copyright portion of the Oracle-Google trial at the U.S. District Court here. Google counsel Robert Van Nest picked up from where he left off on Tuesday afternoon, asking Rubin what happened after initial negotiations with Sun Microsystems ended in 2006. Rubin said that […]
Nokia Lumia 710 and 800 getting Wi-Fi hot spot update
An update that brings with it Internet tethering is reportedly about to roll out to the two Lumia handsets in certain countries. Nokia’s Lumia 710 and 800 phones may be one step closer to gaining the ability to act as Wi-Fi hot spots, though the company itself isn’t confirming or revealing any details on the […]
Cyber-spying on the rise
When Linda Trottman’s husband landed a promotion at his company, a co-worker congratulated her on it a few days later. Trottman says she hadn’t even realized her colleague monitored her husband’s profile on LinkedIn, a professional-networking site, where he had posted his new title. “It hit me that he was targeting my husband’s previous position,” […]
Apple ratchets up App Store security
iOS and iTunes users have been bumping into new and stricter security measures as they use their accounts. The new security demands, apparently implemented yesterday, have been asking users to choose three security questions and answers that are then required to download a new app from the App Store. A backup e-mail address is also […]
Google’s Project Glass: How much will glasses cost?
Google on Wednesday unveiled its “Project Glass,” augmented reality glasses that will be able to display chats, maps and more. The Verge says that it seems like the glasses are “past the concept phase.” Speaking to [Nick] Bilton, someone who has used the glasses said, “They let technology get out of your way. If I […]
Instagram and the Zuckerbergian plan for global conquest
If we needed another reminder that Hollywood and history often have an arm’s length association, consider the Mark Zuckerberg who Aaron Sorkin created in “The Social Network.” That celluloid Zuckerberg was a callow nebbish who didn’t really know what Facebook ought to be and needed Sean Parker to get him to think seriously about the […]
More than 600,000 Macs infected with Flashback botnet
Russian antivirus company says half the computers infected with malware designed to steal personal information are in the U.S. — with 274 located in Cupertino. More than half a million Macs are infected with the Flashback Trojan, a malware package designed to steal personal information, according to a Russian antivirus company. The company — Dr. […]
New Yahoo CEO sweeps out 2,000 employees in purge
Yahoo’s turnaround attempt is going to be messy. In his first three months on the job, CEO Scott Thompson has imposed the largest layoffs in the company’s 17-year history, reshaped the board of directors, picked a potentially disruptive fight with a major shareholder and sued Facebook for patent infringement. He says there’s even more upheaval […]
110,000 PC-strong Kelihos botnet sidelined
Researchers use specially crafted code to direct infected computers to their servers instead of servers run by the criminals who have been using the botnet to distribute spam. A new version of the Kelihos spamming botnet has been sidelined by using the peer-to-peer distribution mechanism to basically hijack it, researchers announced today. The botnet, which […]
Facebook users beware: Don’t use the word ‘Book’
The social-networking site is updating its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities — if approved, account holders must agree not to use the words “Face,” “Poke,” or “Book.” Individual privacy is a hot topic in the social-networking world right now. But have people thought about privacy of the companies, such as protection of their brand, logo, […]
Anti-SOPA Internet Society under fire for hiring MPAA executive
The Internet Society is hardly a fan of the Stop Online Piracy Act or the Protect IP Act. The venerable non-profit, which acts as the umbrella organization for the Internet’s key standards bodies, bluntly warns that the pair of copyright laws would end the “viability of the Internet.” Which is why ISOC’s decision this month […]
Bringing broadband to the boonies: The odyssey begins
Although my author bio hints at it, you might not guess that I file CNET stories from the edge of the vast wilderness. I’ve lived here five years now, and it’s taken me that long to cross the Digital Divide that still exists in this country between those who take decent broadband for granted and […]
VoIP Service for Business
Next to email, the telephone is one of the most important tools for business communications. The transition to digital computer technology has revolutionized nearly all aspects of business. Now the digital age has come to telephone communications as well. Businesses of all sizes can benefit from switching to an Internet Telephone service, known as VoIP […]
Better Business Broadband
Two common mistakes that businesses make when selecting a broadband Internet provider are; not planning for their future communication needs, and not shopping around to find the best technology, service and price to meet their needs. As a result, they sometimes choose the wrong provider. It is important to consider what your technology needs will […]
Mozilla loses Web technology guru Chris Blizzard
Chris Blizzard, a high-profile figure in the Firefox world, has left his job as Mozilla’s director of Web platform to join a startup. “I’m trying something new and starting in the next week or so I’m going to be joining a very small startup that’s based in Palo Alto,” Blizzard said in his announcement last […]
RIAA chief: ISPs to start policing copyright by July 1
The country’s largest Internet service providers haven’t given up on the idea of becoming copyright cops. Last July, Comcast, Cablevision, Verizon, Time Warner Cable and other bandwidth providers announced that they had agreed to adopt policies designed to discourage customers from illegally downloading music, movies and software. Since then, the ISPs have been very quiet […]
Google’s Oracle court battle over Android set for April 16
After nearly two years of saber rattling, Google and Oracle will finally have their chance to battle it out in a federal court. U.S. District Court judge William Alsup ruled yesterday that both Oracle and Google would need to be ready to argue their cases in a San Francisco federal court on April 16. The […]