Hyundai has unveiled the all-new Sonata in its domestic market, Korea.
Sunday, 3 August 2014
Samsung Galaxy Note 4 Tipped to Launch on September 3 Ahead of iPhone 6
A Korea Times report citing executives of a top-tier local parts supplier for Samsung claims that the decision to launch the rumoured Galaxy Note 4 in September is to take on Apple's next generation iPhone devices - expected to be unveiled in two screen size variants 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch.
The report quotes an executive of a top-tier display supplier for Samsung, as saying, "Samsung will hold an event to announce the Note 4 on Sept. 3, just few days before this year's IFA trade fair in Berlin, Germany Europe's biggest technology exhibition."
Notably, Samsung launched the Galaxy Note 3 on September 5 at an event at the sidelines of IFA in Berlin last year.
Korea Times' sources have even suggested that the South Korean giant is planning to soon send official invites for the reported September 3 launch event for the launch of rumoured Samsung Galaxy Note 4. Further, the alleged Galaxy Note 4 is said to come with an ultraviolet sensor, which can measure UV radiation and offer the readings via the company's S Health app.
The report also quotes an executive from a Korea-based software partner of Samsung, as saying, "The Note 4 will be the first smartphone to incorporate an ultraviolet sensor. The sensor can measure UV radiation and offer index levels to Note 4 users inside the 'S Health' application." The addition of UV sensor coincides with an earlier report, which also referred to the addition of the said sensor to the Galaxy Note 4.
Some other purported Galaxy Note 4 specifications listed by the Korea Times report include Qualcomm processors with support for fourth-generation LTE mobile wireless technology. The company is also expected to include LTE-A connectivity for the Korea version of the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy Note 4.
A recent listing on an Indian import/export website, Zauba, tipped that the alleged Galaxy Note 4 (SM-N910A) will come with a 5.7-inch display. The spotted listing coincides with an earlier leak indicating the next Galaxy Note phablet flagship will include a QHD (1440x2560) AMOLED display of an unknown size.
Other rumoured specifications include the addition of a Snapdragon 805 chipset for the Chinese, Korean, Japanese and North American markets, while all other regions including Europe would receive a variant with an Exynos SoC.
New Qi Wireless Charging Technology Can Charge From a Distance
The Wireless Power Consortium (WPC), the group that defines the Qi wireless charging specification, on Thursday announced it is bringing the "integration of resonant charging into the already present inductive technology within the Qi specification."
The Qi v.1.2 specification is an upgrade to the existing Qi v1.1 specification by WPC. The company suggests that with the integration of resonant charging, the need of placing device on the charging pad will be eliminated and it will get charged from a distance too. It says that the using the prototype Qi v.1.2 specification, five partner companies are already demonstrating charging from 45mm (less than 5cm) away. Users will also be able to charge multiple devices using one source.
The list of members in WPC include more than 200 companies such as Foxconn, Haier, HTC, IKEA,LG, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Panasonic, Qualcomm, Royal Philips, Samsung, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Sony, Toshiba, Verizon Wireless, ZTE and others. OEMs are already selling Qi-specced products in Africa, Australia, Asia Pacific, Europe, India, North America, and South America.
WPC has also said that the new standard is backwards-compatible with the Qi v1.1 specification, and most older devices running the new Qi v1.2 specification will be able to transmit charge as far away as 30mm.
"The WPC is committed to advancing a specification that offers the best user experience without sacrifices in critically important areas to consumers and businesses alike," said Menno Treffers, chairman of the WPC. "This means backward compatibility with products already in the market and maintaining high-efficiency even over greater distances."
Apart from the new progress, WPC is also working on enabling Qi wireless power transfers of up to 2,000 watts for kitchen applications.
Canadian Police Unit Launches Anti-Sexting App
A Canadian police sex crimes unit offered a sneak peak Friday of an app to help kids rebuff requests for naked pics online, amid what authorities called a sexting "epidemic."
The "Send This Instead" free app, to be offered by the Ontario Provincial Police, provides 57 humorous and sarcastic retorts to sexting requests, as well as a link to police to report sexual harassment.
Replies include "Sorry, just in the middle of something... Can I reject you later," "That would violate both my data and dating plans" and "No, but keep taking the selfies. The cops will appreciate you making your own mugshot."
It is aimed at Canadian teens, but will be available worldwide when it is officially launched at the Crimes Against Children Conference in Dallas, Texas on August 11-14.
"When you are feeling pressured to send intimate images to someone online, Send This Instead," reads a description of the app on Apple's (Download) and Google's app stores (Download).
Inspector Scott Naylor, manager of the OPP sex crimes unit, told AFP police had been "bombarded with complaints about sexting" in the last two years.
Strictly speaking, sexting involving individuals under 18 years old is illegal in Canada, classified as distributing child pornography.
But police are hesitant to charge teens for this crime.
Naylor said strategies of "just saying no" have also stopped resonating with teens and there was a need for a new strategy.
The OPP hired a team of graphic artists, comedians and others to develop the app.
"We got back some really funny stuff," Naylor said. "It's not going to solve sexting," he warned. "We're just giving kids an alternative strategy to deal with it."
Microsoft Sues Samsung Over Android Royalty Payments Dispute
Microsoft on Friday fired a legal salvo at longtime partner Samsung, accusing the South Korean giant of breaching a contract over licensing of technology used in the competitive smartphone market.
"After becoming the leading player in the worldwide smartphone market, Samsung decided late last year to stop complying with its agreement with Microsoft," the US technology firm's deputy counsel said in an online post.
The complaint filed in federal court in New York alleges Samsung is balking at making payments for patented Microsoft technology used in smartphones and tablets.
"We will review the complaint in detail and determine appropriate measures in response," Samsung told AFP.
Microsoft contends the South Korean consumer electronics colossus is not adhering to a contract from 2011, and said it filed the court action after months of "painstaking negotiation."
The legal pact involved Samsung paying to use Microsoft intellectual property, according to the post by deputy counsel David Howard.
Samsung's smartphone sales have quadrupled since the contract was signed as the company grew from shipping 82 million Android-powered handsets in 2011 to shipping 314 million three years later, Microsoft maintained.
Samsung a smartphone star
Samsung has become a smartphone Goliath, and the biggest maker of handsets powered byGoogle's free Android software.
Samsung has become a smartphone Goliath, and the biggest maker of handsets powered byGoogle's free Android software.
"Samsung predicted it would be successful, but no one imagined their Android smartphone sales would increase this much," Howard said.
After Microsoft made a deal last year to buy Nokia's smartphone business, Samsung stopped abiding by the cross-licensing contract, the US company says.
Microsoft said in the filing that Samsung used the Nokia business acquisition as grounds to step away from the licensing deal.
Microsoft closed the deal for Nokia's smartphone business in April with some adjustments from the announced price of $7.52 billion (5.44 billion euros).
Nokia was the world leader in mobile phones before the introduction of Apple's iPhone in 2007 and the onslaught of Android phones, mainly from Samsung.
Microsoft in June opted for the Android operating system from arch-rival Google for its new Nokia smartphone, in a move aimed at regaining momentum in the competitive mobile sector.
Microsoft said the Nokia X2 was "designed to introduce the 'next billion' people to the mobile Internet and cloud services."
The device is an updated version of a phone unveiled by Nokia before Microsoft acquired the handset division of the Finnish giant.
Samsung baffles
Microsoft said that Android software incorporates some of its patented technology and the company's practice is to license the intellectual property to handset makers.
Microsoft said that Android software incorporates some of its patented technology and the company's practice is to license the intellectual property to handset makers.
Samsung has been a longtime Microsoft partner, making an array of computing devices powered by the US company's software, including a version of Windows for mobile devices.
"Microsoft values and respects our partnership with Samsung and expects it to continue," Howard said.
"We are simply asking the court to settle our disagreement, and we are confident the contract will be enforced."
Microsoft said this was the first time it has sued Samsung and that its intent is to keep getting royalty money due under terms of the contract, along with interest charges for late payments.
"Unless one side or the other screwed up in writing the contract, I don't know what Samsung is thinking," said Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group.
"I am at a loss to understand why Samsung stopped paying the money."
Microsoft's track record leaves little doubt it would fight to enforce a legal contract, according to the analyst.
If anything, buying Nokia's smartphone business would strengthen Microsoft's intellectual property portfolio not weaken its position, Enderle reasoned.
Apple $450 Million Ebook Settlement Wins Court Approval
Apple Inc on Friday won preliminary court approval for its $450 million settlement of claims it harmed consumers by conspiring with five publishers to raise ebook prices.
In approving the accord, U.S. District Judge Denise Cote in Manhattan overcame concerns she had expressed over a settlement provision allowing Apple to pay just $70 million if related litigation were to drag out.
Apple has been appealing Cote's July 2013 finding, in a case brought by the U.S. Department of Justice, that it violated antitrust laws for colluding with the publishers to drive up ebook prices and impede rivals such as Amazon.com Inc.
In June, Apple agreed to settle related class-action litigation brought on behalf of consumers and 33 U.S. states.
That accord calls for Apple to pay $400 million to consumers and $50 million to lawyers if the federal appeals court in New York upholds Cote's findings, and nothing if the Cupertino, California-based company wins its appeal.
But if the appeals court overturns Cote and returns the case to her, perhaps for a new trial, Apple will owe $50 million to consumers and $20 million to lawyers.
During a July 24 teleconference, Cote called that last scenario "most troubling."
But in Friday's decision, she noted that the states and consumers "strongly believe" such a scenario is unlikely, and that the settlement has provisions to reduce its likelihood.
She also said the plaintiffs agreed to provide more details about the settlement to consumers, to help them decide whether to accept its terms or sue Apple separately.
"The proposed settlement agreement is within the range of those that may be approved as fair and reasonable, such that notice to the class is appropriate," Cote said. "Preliminary approval is granted."
Cote set a final fairness hearing for Nov. 21.
The publishers are Lagardere SCA's Hachette Book Group Inc, News Corp's HarperCollins Publishers LLC, Penguin Group (USA) Inc, CBS Corp's Simon & Schuster Inc and Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck GmbH's Macmillan. They previously agreed to pay $166 million to consumers.
The case is In Re: Electronic Books Antitrust Litigation, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 11-md-02293.
When Someone Called the Cops Over Facebook Outage
Will you call 911 if Facebook goes off the radar? This is exactly some users in Los Angeles did when the popular social networking site Friday suffered its second brief outage in two months.
According to LA County Sheriff sergeant Burton Brink, they received "several" calls from dissatisfied Facebook users seeking a solution to the error message they faced while logging into Facebook.
Frustrated, Brink wrote a message on Twitter: "Facebook is not a Law Enforcement issue, please do not call us about it being down, we do not know when FB will be back up!"
Brink explained it was done to prevent more people from calling about the problem.
"We get phone calls all the time, whether it be Facebook going down," Brink was quoted as saying in a Fortune report.
But with Facebook in particular, we get calls probably because it's such a widely-used thing, he added.
Facebook responded to the 35-minute outage, saying, "Facebook is currently experiencing an issue that is affecting all API and web surfaces. Our engineers detected the issue quickly and are working to resolve it ASAP. We will update shortly."
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