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Another key executive has left the struggling Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC.

Scott Croyle, the company's head of design for the One smartphone line, will be leaving to build his own projects. HTC says the move will be a "long-term transition" where the exec will still stay involved with product design over the coming months.

"HTC remains at the forefront of smartphone innovation. Scott Croyle will be focusing on special projects and dedicated on next generation developments," adds the company.

The day to day responsibilities will likely fall to lieutenant Jonah Becker and the company also promoted Drew Bamford to head of HTC software and services. The executive was previously head of the Sense user experience.

"Drew Bamford is an experienced and talented leader at HTC with solid track records in leading and building our user experience team. Effective immediately, in addition to his current duties in product development and user experience, Drew will lead HTC Creative Labs and focus on innovative new products and user experience strategies," read an emailed statement from HTC.

Tech giants Apple, Google, Intel and Adobe have settled and will pay $324 million over accusations that the companies conspired to keep wages/salaries down in Silicon Valley.

Had the companies not settled, a trial would have begun next month and damages could have potentially been higher.

The class action lawsuit was filed in 2011 by tech employees who accused the companies of conspiring to "refrain from soliciting one another's employees" in order to keep salaries down and avoid bidding wars that would have raised wages.

In the suit, the plaintiffs were seeking $3 billion in damages, and that figure could have ballooned to $9 billion if it was determined that the group violated antitrust law.

The case was based mainly on emails from Steve Jobs, Eric Schmidt and others that revealed the companies would not court employees from rivals. One such example showed that a Google recruiter tried to solicit an Apple employee and former Google CEO Schmidt told Jobs the recruiter would then be fired. Many of the emails were even worse.

In 2008, WREAL LLC created a porn streaming set-top box called the FyreTV, along with a dedicated website at FyreTV.com.

This week, the company has sued Amazon for five counts of alleged trademark infringement, following the release of the new Fire TV set-top media streamer. The company claims the trademarks were registered six years before Amazon unveiled their new hardware.

Almost comically, the company's court documents claim that "Amazon's continued use of the "Fire TV" moniker has caused, and will continue to cause, serious irreparable harm to Wreal's established business, necessitating this action."

In their complaint, WREAL claims both products are identical (for the most part) and that the "FireTV is nothing more than a proprietary STB that performs a substantially similar, if not identical, function to the proprietary STB marketed under the FyreTV trademark."

Currently, FireTV.com redirects to FyreTV.com, so there are likely some consumers who have been unwittingly led to a porn-based site when looking for more information about Amazon's set-top. The market for the original FyreTV is likely non-existent, and the hype from Amazon may have possibly even helped bring awareness to the porn box.

Unlucky owners of Samsung's shiny new Galaxy S5 have reported a major problem with the device, which renders the 16 megapixel camera disabled.

As usual, the first reports of the flaw emerged on Internet forums and social media and all seem to be the same story, including a message being displayed on the device reading: "Warning: Camera Failed." After receiving the error, the Galaxy S5 camera is disabled permanently. DIY solutions, such as flashing new software, have failed to fix the problem.

Owners have been taking their phones back to stores and have, in cases, received replacement devices to rectify the problem.

"Samsung is committed to providing the best experience for customers. We have learned that a limited number of Galaxy S 5 devices may have an issue that causes 'Camera Failure' pop-up error message. We ask that customers affected call 1-888-987-4357 or visit their carrier for service under Samsung's standard limited warranty," Samsung said in a statement obtained by Droid-Life.

Verizon Wireless has acknowledged the issue and urged affected customers to get in touch.

Facebook has acquired the popular Moves fitness app for iOS and Android, according to developer ProtoGeo Oy.

Moves tracks your physical activity throughout the day, telling you how many steps you have taken, how many minutes you cycled for and how far you ran, and so forth. It is intended to offer a clean activity diary, and has been downloaded over four million time.

"We're joining Facebook's talented team to work on building and improving their products and services with a shared mission of supporting simple, efficient tools for more than a billion people," a blog post on the Moves app website reads.

It promises users that the Moves experience will not be changed and will continue to operate as a stand-along app.

As of now, there are no plans to change that stance of commingle data with Facebook.

Satya Nadella welcomes the Nokia Devices and Services business to the Microsoft family as the multi-billion deal announced in September 2013 is completed.

Nokia shareholders had previously given the nod of approval to the deal, and regulatory bodies around the world also signed off on it. Stephen Elop, who served as President and CEO of Nokia, is the executive vice president of Microsoft Devices Group, overseeing an expanded devices business that includes Lumia smartphones and tablets, Nokia mobile phones, Xbox hardware, Surface, Perceptive Pixel (PPI) products, and accessories.

"Today we welcome the Nokia Devices and Services business to our family. The mobile capabilities and assets they bring will advance our transformation," said Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella.

"Together with our partners, we remain focused on delivering innovation more rapidly in our mobile-first, cloud-first world."

As announced previously, Microsoft will not acquire the factory in Masan, South Korea, and the factory in Chennai, India, will stay with Nokia due to the tax liens on Nokia's assets in India that prevent transfer.

Microsoft will continue to provide support for feature phones, the Asha family, and the Nokia X family of devices, announced at the Mobile World Congress in February.

According to a report, Amazon will pay $300 million over three years to stream several of HBO's older, successful shows.

Amazon and HBO announced a deal that will bring some of HBO's catalog of shows to Amazon's Prime service from May 21 this year, marking the first time the premium cable channel has licensed its programming to a third party.

Included in the deal are past hits like "The Sopranos," "The Wire" and the first seasons of current hits like "True Blood." For Game of Thrones however, that will still be limited to HBO Go.

According to a report from Re/code, the deal will cost Amazon $300 million over a three year period, which is well within Amazon's reach having generated sales of $75 billion last year.

Amazon is reportedly spending at least $1 billion per year to build up its streaming choices for customers, as it battles for a larger share of the space.


Sources and Recommended Reading:
HBO's Amazon Haul Is Big -- But Not as Big as You Might Think: www.recode.net

Google has given a refund to Android users after a paid Anti-Virus app in the Google Play store was shown to do nothing.

Virus Shield claimed to offer one-click virus protection for Android users, promising to prevent the installation of malicious or risky apps on a device. It climbed up the downloads chart with over 10,000 downloads.

However, when Android Police decompiled the app and had a look at what it does, it turned out to be completely useless. For $3.99, the app only switched to a new icon when it was activated, and did nothing else.

"We're reaching out to you because you recently purchased the 'Virus Shield' app on Google Play," Google wrote to buyers of the dud app, via e-mail.

"This app made the false claim that it provided one-click virus protection; in reality, it did not. Google Play's policies strictly prohibit false claims like these, and in light of this, we're refunding you for your 'Virus Shield' purchase. You should see funds returned to your account within the next 14 days."

In addition, Google will give affected customers $5 credit to be used in the Google Play store.


Sources and Recommended Reading:
Google refunding buyers of fake anti-virus app: www.bbc.com/news/
Virus shield is 'a total scam': www.androidpolice.com

Earlier today, consumers got a rush when it appeared that Google Glass headsets were available to the public, without need for an invite.

The page remained up allowing for would-be owners to purchase the glasses without signing up for the Explorer program, at the standard Explorer price of $1500.

Unfortunately, later in the day Google apologized for the mistake, saying they just neglected to pull down the URL from the April 15th one-day sale. The site should be down soon, they added, and anyone who ordered will most likely not get a device as the search giant noted that any customer not already "in the pipeline" will not receive a unit.

Google has not set a release date for the device, which has received rave reviews from techies but criticism from the media.

If you want to get notice of when the devices will really be available to all, check here.

Source:
Engadget

Earlier this week, Google made their smart thermostat Nest available for sale via the hardware Play Store.

The learning thermostat is selling for $250 and will ship within 2 business days, according to the page.

Nest's Learning Thermostat "programs itself and automatically helps save energy when you're away. And you can control it from anywhere using your smartphone." It does so by creating a personalized schedule based on the temperature adjustments you make and continually adapts to your changing life. The whole process takes just a week.

The device features a 320x320 LCD display.

Google acquired Nest Labs in January for over $3 billion.

Check the device here: Nest Learning Thermostat at Google Play Store

Microsoft has never officially confirmed it but more and more evidence is mounting for a Surface "Mini," an 8-inch version of the company's flagship Windows tablet.

The tablets would be compliments to the company's Surface 2 and Surface Pro 2 tablets, which have 10.6-inch screens. Apple and Google have been very successful with their smaller tablets, the Nexus 7 and iPad Mini, and Microsoft will need to eventually launch one if it wishes to remain relevant at that form factor.

Amazon is the source of the latest piece of evidence, where accessories maker VSTN has listed multiple cases and attachments for a Surface Mini.

Among the listings are a Bluetooth keyboard case and a smart cover, which promise to "only fit Microsoft Surface Mini 8-inch tablet." The accessories go on sale on May 18th, which could imply an upcoming release for the tablet.

Hector Xavier Monsegur, aka Sabu, reportedly led cyber attacks against Syria, Iran, Pakistan and possibly other nations.

Sabu, best known for turning on LulzSec and Anonymous as an FBI informant, also directed attacks against the Polish Embassy in England and Iraq's Ministry of Electricity, read the newly released court documents. At the time, Sabu was already an FBI informant, following his arrest for multiple high profile cases.

Intelligence firm Stratfor was among the most notable attacks, and Sabu's testimony was key in convicting hacker and activist Jeremy Hammond.

It remains unclear whether the attacks were part of a broad plan to entrap Anonymous hackers, as Sabu recruited plenty, or if the FBI (or other agencies) were directing attacks on other nations using the talented hacker.

Source:
New York Times
Pic via Ars

Apple CEO Tim Cook has stated that the company is "closer than it's ever been" to launching a new product line, following years of the executive claiming that a new product is finally coming.

Of course, Cook reiterated that "you want to take the time to get it right," when asked why the process has taken so long for a new product. "To do things really well, it takes time," Cook said in his interview. "You can see a lot of products that have been brought to market where the thinking isn't really deep and, as a consequence, these things don't do very well."

Among the most rumored products are an Apple-powered HDTV, a smartwatch with fitness focus, or a full fitness band. Cook did not mention any specific products or leave any hints as to a time frame.

Additionally, mobile payments have been oft-rumored as an industry that Apple could take over, due to having hundreds of millions of customers signed into iTunes with a credit card attached. Cook said the Touch ID fingerprint scanner could be integrated into a mobile payments platform but that the whole industry is "an area where nobody has figured it out yet. I realize that there are some companies playing in it, but you still have a wallet in your back pocket and I do too which probably means it hasn't been figured out just yet."

Longtime Google executive and Google+ boss Vic Gundotra has confirmed he is leaving the company.

"Now is the time for a new journey," said Gundotra, via his Google+ page. "A continuation."

Reportedly, the search giant's social network will now be headed by Google VP of engineering David Besbris. Gundotra joined the company eight years ago after leaving Microsoft and was recently responsible for many of Google+'s features including "circles."

While the social network never caught on like Facebook, it does have over 540 million active users, and Google says 300 million regularly visit the Plus homepage.

Reads the rest of his post:

Samsung has announced that their low and mid-range Galaxy Tab4 line of tablets will be headed to the U.S. on May 1st.

Three devices are in the lineup, the Galaxy Tab4 7.0, Galaxy Tab4 8.0 and Galaxy Tab 4 10.1, each differentiated in name by the size of the display.

The design of the tablets is certainly improved from previous models, and has thinner bezels and a lighter form factor. The design is reminiscent of the company's high-end Galaxy TabPRO and NotePRO series.

Under the hood is a different story, as the devices are not packed with high-end specs. The devices have 1200x800 resolution displays, a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, Android 4.4 with Samsung TouchWiz, 1.5GB RAM, 16GB internal storage as a base, a microSD slot for expanded storage, LTE support, and dual cameras: 1.3MP/3MP.