Amazon misread book sector on speech feature
Amazon chose to keep secret from much of the publishing sector the text-to-speech feature built into the Kindle 2.
Instead, Amazon sprung the feature on publishers and the retailer is now taking public-relations hits that it might have avoided if it hadn’t been so tight lipped.
Following the debut of the Kindle 2, the 9,000-member Authors Guild claimed text-to-speech created a derivative work and violated copyright. Paul Aiken, the guild’s president said many publishers were also angered over the speech function, adding that Amazon never consulted beforehand with either of those groups. Amazon responded Friday by handing publishers the ability to disable the text-to-speech feature on any title they choose.
Mobiles to have same charging socket by 2012
Key mobile phone industry players have agreed to fit phones with the same power socket by 2012, industry group GSMA said on Tuesday.
It said handsets would have a micro USB interface, already used to transfer pictures from digital cameras to a computer.
The initial group of companies that have signed for the change include Nokia, LG, Motorola, Samsung and Sony Ericsson.
With Four More Months to Make the Switch, Over 400 TV Stations Are All Digital
More than 400 television stations have stopped broadcasting in old-fashioned analog form, according to the Federal Communications Commission, months before the rescheduled transition to digital TV.
Turning off the analog signal allows stations that are short of cash to save money, but it also means a loss of service for viewers who have not yet upgraded their older television sets.
The long-awaited move to digital TV, which promises clearer pictures and more channel choices for over-the-air television viewers, had been scheduled to happen Tuesday, more than three years after the federal government set the day as the deadline for stations to cease analog broadcasting.
Hackers Target Patched Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Vulnerability
According to security firm Trend Micro, cyber-criminals are targeting a patched flaw in IE 7 to steal data. A fix for the flaw was included in the recent round of Patch Tuesday security bulletins.
Hackers have begun actively targeting a vulnerability in Internet Explorer 7 that was patched earlier this month by Microsoft.
The bug cyber-criminals are looking to exploit is a remote code execution vulnerability that lies in the way Internet Explorer 7 handles errors when attempting to access deleted objects. According to Trend Micro, attackers are spamming a malicious .DOC file detected as X M L_DLOADR.A in a bid to infect unprotected users.
The Android Market Now Accepts Paid Applications
As Mentioned from Android Developers Blog: Android Market is now accepting priced applications from US and UK developers. Developers from these countries can go to the publisher website at http://market.android.com/publish to upload their application(s) along with end user pricing for the apps. Initially, priced applications will be available to end users in the US starting mid next week. We will add end user support for additional countries in the coming months.
Nvidia’s Tegra ready to power $99 mobile Internet devices
Nvidia said it’s ready to show how its Tegra computer on a chip will power a new family of HD mobile Internet devices that could sell for $99 to $200, or nothing at all with a subsidy from a mobile carrier.
The graphics chip maker said this new class of devices will provide users with a full high-definition experience that boasts a cheap price and a battery life 10 times that of current Intel Atom-based netbooks. Nvidia will be speaking more on its latest moves in mobile at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week.
Solar-powered mobile phone
BARCELONA – SOUTH Korean electronics group Samsung showcased its first solar-powered mobile phone on Monday at an industry event in Barcelona, promising a commercial launch later this year.
The sleek-looking, touch-controlled ‘Blue Earth,’ the centerpiece of Samsung’s drive to be more environmentally friendly, has solar panels on its back which the company claims are able to charge the battery in 10-14 hours.
This would offer approximately four hours of talk time, a company representative said at industry event Mobile World Congress where the phone is on display for the first time.
HTC debuts Touch Diamond2 and Touch Pro2
It’s pretty safe to say that GSMA Mobile World Congress 2009 isn’t lacking in action or excitement. Already, a number of handset manufacturers have revealed details of upcoming product launches, including Sony Ericsson and Garmin-Asus, and now you can add HTC to the mix.
With the show officially under way, HTC added two new models to its Touch series of smartphones: the HTC Touch Diamond2 and the HTC Touch Pro2. While the names lack imagination, the handsets get some spiffy makeovers and incorporate new features that bring a “people-centric approach to mobile communication.”
Nokia 6710 Navigator launched
BARCELONA, Spain – The new Nokia 6710 Navigator has just been announced, and this svelte new pocket satnav caller is very clear about its role from the minute it’s plucked from its box. The Nokia 6710 Navigator is a device that is as dedicated to in-car navigation as it is pedestrian guidance – when it launches later this year it will come with the Nokia CR-111 car holder accessory inside the box, which cradles the handset so it can sit smartly in view on your dashboard.
Read on for the full lowdown on Nokia’s newest Navigator.
One of the major goals for the Nokia 6710 Navigator was to make it an effortless satnav companion, for driving and walking, offering quick access to real-time navigation via a dedicated navigator key and an instinctive service via Nokia Maps 3.0. Something Markku Suomi, vice president at Nokia, emphasized today.
Samsung Hits Back With Omnia HD
Samsung might be pretty quiet with the slew of cell phone releases from rival companies today, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t doing anything about the situation. In fact, Samsung has just announced the 8 megapixel Omnia HD which will boast the following seemingly amazing specifications (for a cell phone, at least – these were all unthought of a five years ago) :-