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BlackBerry to bring back the Bold smartphone first released in 2011

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Mar 2014 12:53

BlackBerry to bring back the Bold smartphone first released in 2011 Speaking after the company reported another quarterly loss and revenue that fell under $1 billion for the first time in 7 years, CEO John Chen also provided a roadmap for BlackBerry's hardware.

First, the 5-inch BlackBerry Z3, the company's first smartphone to emerge from their strategic partnership with Foxconn, will be made available globally following its launch in Indonesia next month. Additionally, the phone will also have an LTE variant for use in North America. The phone will be priced at $199 in Indonesia, so there is a chance it could be under $200 when it reaches Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Second, the BlackBerry Q20 Classic will be ready for launch in the Q1 2015. The device has a small touchscreen, a full QWERTY keypad, and a dedicated row of hardware buttons with a trackpad. The device runs on the most updated BlackBerry 10 OS.

Finally, the company is bringing back and increasing production of the BlackBerry Bold, which runs on the outdated BlackBerry 7 operating system and was released most recently in 2011.




AfterDawn: News

CD and DVD ripping for personal use will be legalized in UK starting June

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 29 Mar 2014 12:11

CD and DVD ripping for personal use will be legalized in UK starting June The UK government has confirmed that copyright law has been revised to allow for legalized CD and DVD ripping/copying for personal use.

In addition, the revision will update other fair use provisions, including parody and quotation rights, says TF.

The proposed changes have been in the works for years but will finally be implemented in June.

UK's Intellectual Property Office released a guide for consumers to inform them of the new changes. "Copyright law is being changed to allow you to make personal copies of media you have bought, for private purposes such as format shifting or backup," reads the guide. "The changes will mean that you will be able to copy a book or film you have purchased for one device onto another without infringing copyright."

In addition, the Office says the changes will generate extra revenue for the tech sector(as much as £31 million per year), while making copyright law more reasonable for consumers.

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AfterDawn: News

BlackBerry sees revenue fall to under $1 billion but it loses less money than usual

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Mar 2014 11:47

BlackBerry sees revenue fall to under $1 billion but it loses less money than usual BlackBerry has seen another setback in its ongoing efforts to rebound, as the company brought in less than $1 billion revenue for the first time since the financial crisis was in its early stages in late 2007.

Revenue fell to $976 million, down from $2.7 billion year-over-year.

The Canadian smartphone maker lost $423 million but excluding one-time items the loss was just $43 million, much smaller than expected. Regardless, the company's stock took a hit, dropping 7 percent for the day.

New CEO John Chen was lauded for cutting expenses so quickly, but with revenue falling so quickly it may not matter. Chen has moved away from the consumer hardware business, and instead is emphasizing the company's enterprise network, its embedded QNX operating system used in automobiles and industrial machines and the BlackBerry messenger software which has been expanded to iOS and Android. "I see this as a good turnaround plan," Chen said. "Knock on wood I'm hoping that it will also slow down the erosion."

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AfterDawn: News

Lumigon shows off its luxury T2 HD smartphone

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Mar 2014 11:09

Lumigon shows off its luxury T2 HD smartphone The Denmark-based smartphone maker Lumigon has been working on a luxury device for some time now, and the phone has now been revealed as the T2 HD.

Although the specs are not high-end, the company has put together a slim, water resistant, stainless steel design with innovative features.

For example, the T2 HD has flash for its 2.4MP front facing camera, allowing for selfies in the dark. The device comes with a charging and data transfer dock that works in tandem with the device's "Behavior Control Feature" which allows you to customize features such as having the phone go to silent mode when placed on the dock. There are plenty of features that can be customized.

On the audio side, the technology was built by Bang & Olufson's ICEpower, promising powerful and clear audio through the stereo speakers or through the included Hi-Fi headset.

The 4.3-inch 720p display with Gorilla Glass 3 is powered by stock Android 4.4, a dual-core 1.7GHz Snapdragon processor, Adreno 320 GPU, 2GB RAM and has 32GB internal storage (you can get 64 or 128 as well). On the back there is a 13MP camera and the device has Wi-Fi b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, LTE, NFC, FM radio, noise cancelling mics, an IR blaster and the touch display can be used even if wearing gloves.

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AfterDawn: News

Facebook Messenger for iOS adds ability to forward messages, create groups

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 28 Mar 2014 10:31

Facebook Messenger for iOS adds ability to forward messages, create groups Facebook has updated its Messenger app, adding some popular features from the old Beluga messenger startup it acquired in 2011 but then shut down.

The update for iOS will let you group contacts together and then send texts or stickers or pictures to them as a group, rather than individually.

Additionally, you can now forward messages and photos to users that are not in the conversation, a welcome feature.

Finally, the app will see typical speed, performance and stability improvements and fixes.




AfterDawn: News

Amazon denies report that it will offer free TV, music video streaming service

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 11:11

Amazon denies report that it will offer free TV, music video streaming service Amazon has denied the WSJ's report that the e-commerce giant was planning to offer a free TV and music video service that would have been supported by ads.

"We're often experimenting with new things, but we have no plans to offer a free streaming-media service," Amazon spokeswoman Sally Fouts noted. This is the second time in recent memory that the company has had to deny a WSJ report. In January, the outlet reported that the company was looking to start an Internet-based TV service. That story was quickly denied, as well.

The service would have featured original content, said the report, similar to what is available for Prime subscribers. Prime users pay $99 a year for free two-day shipping on millions of items and access to the free streaming library of movies and TV shows.

Additionally, the service would have possibly included licensed TV programming, added the report. Regardless of the validity of the report, investors were spooked out of Netflix, with the company's stock falling nearly 3 percent on the news.




AfterDawn: News

Google Chromecast getting Slingbox support in near future

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 4:08

Google Chromecast getting Slingbox support in near future According to a Slingbox employee, the TV streaming service should be headed to the Google Chromecast "soon."

The company is working on supporting the HDMI dongle, which would be a huge upgrade for the $35 device.

Slingbox devices streams the video signals to PCs, mobile devices and more, usually TV streams from cable boxes. In the past, it was tougher to 'sling' to other HDTVs, but this would make it much easier for those that have multiple TVs in the home but only one cable box or if you are on the road and need live content.

It is important to note that the Slingbox itself sells for $180, so the upfront cost is more than just the $35 for the Chromecast, but it could be worth it to have live TV content at all times on a device that can fit in your pocket.





AfterDawn: News

Google Play Music now allows for uploads through the browser

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 3:22

Google Play Music now allows for uploads through the browser Google Play Music will now allow users to upload their music via the browser and not just exclusively through the desktop Music Manager.

The drag and drop process should be easier than using the Music Manager, which required you to put the songs you wanted uploaded in a specific folder on your computer and then Google did the rest. If it matches tracks in Google's catalog, it will be added automatically but if not it will upload the full track.

Another great addition is the ability to download your entire music library through the web interface, rather than through the Music Manager app.

In addition, the Chrome Apps launcher has added a Play Music mini-player app allowing for pause, skip forward or back with a thumbnail cover art.




AfterDawn: News

'Dead Space' available for free on Origin

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 2:59

'Dead Space' available for free on Origin Even though the game is incredibly old and has likely been played by anyone who would want to play it, Origin has made "Dead Space" available for free.

Until May 8th, the game is free to download as long as you have an EA Origin account.

The game was released in 2008 and reinvigorated the sci-fi thriller category, leading to popular sequels.

If interested, get the game here.

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AfterDawn: News

Turkey now moving to block YouTube following its earlier ban on Twitter

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 2:31

Turkey now moving to block YouTube following its earlier ban on Twitter Turkish authorities have now moved to try to block access to video sharing giant YouTube, just days after government officials banned Twitter.

The government has been widely criticized for the move against Twitter, which came just days before a key election and is seen as a censorship of freedom of speech. At the time, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan threatened to eradicate the site, which was being used to share information about a growing corruption scandal.

A short release from the government's telecommunications authority says "After technical analysis and legal consideration based on the law, an administrative measure has been taken for this website [YouTube.com]."

On YouTube, there was recently a video uploaded allegedly of a meeting by Turkey's foreign minister, intelligence chief and top military and Foreign Ministry discussing a military intervention in Syria. one official says blocking YouTube will prevent the "posting of other recordings that may threaten national security."




AfterDawn: News

Philips unveils 4K TV with Android as operating system

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 2:01

Philips unveils 4K TV with Android as operating system Philips has decided to downgrade the size of some of its 4K TVs for 2014, but its added numerous interesting features.

First, the company has shown off its 55-inch 8809 series 4K TV with Android as the operating system, giving you full access to 1 billion apps and games through the Google Play Store.

Philip's own Smart TV apps are also included for your standard Hulu Plus, Netflix, Pandora, Spotify and more. Additionally, the TV gives you access to your cloud storage through Dropbox and Google Drive.

On the hardware side, the set promises a 1GHz refresh rate, hexcore processing power and Ambilight illumination.

The company says the first Philips TVs featuring Android will be available from the second quarter 2014 in Europe and Russia. There was no word on price or American availability.




AfterDawn: News

Microsoft's Office for iPad is finally here: Get the apps free now

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 1:41

Microsoft's Office for iPad is finally here: Get the apps free now After years of rumors, Microsoft has finally and officially made its Office suite of applications available for the iPad.

Office for iPad is available now in the App Store and includes native versions of Word, Excel and PowerPoint. Each app was built from scratch and will not be ports.

The suite is free to download and will allow for free read-only of all Office documents as well as presentations. If you want to create and edit documents, you will need to pony up for an Office 365 subscription, which can be as cheap as $5 per month depending on your needs.

Releasing the apps for the most popular tablet on the planet (even amongst professional users) should give the tech giant a boost to their subscription sales. Office had been available previously on Windows and Windows Phone devices including the Surface tablet.

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AfterDawn: News

MEGA's Kim Dotcom starts his own political party

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 1:32

MEGA's Kim Dotcom starts his own political party Kim Dotcom has announced the formal launch of his own political party in New Zealand: The Internet Party.

The new party is a "movement for the freedom of the internet and technology, for privacy and political reform."

Dotcom, the larger-than-life mogul behind the original Megaupload and the new MEGA cloud lockers, is still facing possible extradition to the U.S. for charges of copyright infringement for Megaupload, which at one point controlled over 10 percent of the entire Internet's traffic.

The Internet Party wants to "give you faster, cheaper internet, create high-tech jobs, protect your privacy and safeguard our independence," says the site. In addition, the Party will into "a New Zealand-sponsored digital currency that is safe, secure and encrypted."

Dotcom made news earlier this week when he announced plans to have MEGA go public on the New Zealand stock exchange.




AfterDawn: News

Social media influence company Klout sells for reported $200 million

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 1:04

Social media influence company Klout sells for reported $200 million Klout, the service that hooks up to your social media and measures your influence on followers with an extremely controversial score, has been acquired by Lithium Technologies for a reported $200 million.

Lithium works with enterprise customers by managing their customer service through social media.

"With Klout, Lithium fully delivers on its vision of building a trusted online connection between consumers and the brands they care about," said Rob Tarkoff, Lithium President and CEO. "Trust is the currency online. For consumers, a trusted expert provides greater confidence in making purchases and getting advice. For brands, building a trusted reputation allows them to better find and keep customers."

The company says that combined, the companies now reach more than 500 million consumers across 10,000 specific interest areas, and 300+ branded communities.

Klout CEO Jose Fernandez sent emails to all current users: "We started Klout in 2008 with the crazy idea of measuring the world's influence. We wanted to help people understand and be recognized for the impact of their voice. It has been amazing to watch this happen. The Klout Score has grown into the standard of influence and our platform has evolved significantly to help users share their passions online.

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AfterDawn: News

Amazon sends out invites for press event on April 2nd with the promise of an update for their video business

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 27 Mar 2014 12:49

Amazon sends out invites for press event on April 2nd with the promise of an update for their video business Amazon's long-anticipated set-top box could be on the way.

The company has sent out press invites for an event in New York on April 2nd, in which the company has promised an "update for our video business."

An Amazon set-top box would offer streaming access to a plethora of apps, just like rivals Apple TV, Roku and WD Live. In addition, the box is expected to run on Amazon's own version of Android, Fire, which should mean access to the Amazon App Store of curated Android apps.

Finally, the company's set-top is rumored to come with a discounted or trial subscription to Prime, the company's $99 per year service that gives access to the free Netflix rival Amazon Prime Video and potentially an upcoming rumored unlimited streaming music service.





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