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Technology News
Facebook hit with $15 billion privacy suit on IPO day
May 18th
Facebook is officially a public company as of Friday morning shortly after 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and what better way to celebrate the milestone than with a fresh privacy lawsuit? Led by Stewarts Law and Bartimus, Frickleton, Robertson Gorny, a class action lawsuit has been filed in San Jose, California alleging that Facebook unlawfully continued to track users’ Web browsing after they logged out of the service. The suit seeks more than $15 billion in damages. “This is not just a damages action, but a groundbreaking digital privacy rights case that could have wide and significant legal and business implications,” said Stewarts Law partner David Straite. The firm’s press release follows below.
Stewarts Law acts for facebook users who have filed a Consolidated Digital Privacy Class Action
18 May 2012 (San Jose, Calif.)
Facebook users today filed an amended consolidated class action complaint in federal court in San Jose, California in the case In re: Facebook Internet Tracking Litigation, No. 5:12-md-02314-EJD. The class action asserts federal statutory and California State causes of action related to the revelation in September 2011 that Facebook was improperly tracking the internet use of its members even after they logged out of their accounts. The action consolidates 21 related cases filed in more than a dozen states in 2011 and early 2012.
The plaintiffs assert claims under the federal Wiretap Act, which provides statutory damages per user of US$100 per day per violation, up to a maximum per user of US$10,000. Even if Facebook’s alleged actions constitute a single violation of the Wiretap Act per class member, that implies more than US$15 billion in damages across the class. The complaint also asserts claims under the
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/18/facebook-privacy-lawsuit-15b-ipo/
Microsoft offers free Xbox 360 to PC buyers
May 18th
Microsoft is looking to bolster sales of Windows-powered computers this summer by offering students a free Xbox 360 video game console with a qualifying PC purchase. Beginning on May 18th in Canada and on May 20th in the United States, students who purchase a PC for at least $599 CAD in Canada or $699 in the U.S. will receive a free 4GB Xbox 360. Purchases must be made from participating retailers including Best Buy, Dell.com, Fry’s Electronics, HPDirect.com, Microsoft Stores and NewEgg.com in the U.S., and Best Buy, Dell.ca, Future Shop, Staples and The Source in Canada. Microsoft did not indicate when the promotion ends.
Zach Epstein
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/18/free-microsoft-xbox-promotion-students-pc-purchase/
Amazon’s 10-inch Kindle Fire tablet due in Q3, report claims
May 18th
Amazon’s second Kindle Fire tablet, an updated model with a 10-inch display, will launch in the third quarter this year according to a recent report. Backing away from its earlier reports placing the 10-inch Kindle Fire’s launch date in the second quarter, Digitimes on Friday cited market rumors in claiming that Amazon’s next tablet will launch in the third quarter. The site also reports that the launch of Amazon’s purported 8.9-inch tablet has been suspended. BGR exclusively reported more than a year ago that Amazon was developing two tablets, a 7-inch “Coyote” with a dual-core processor that launched as the Kindle Fire, and a 10-inch “Hollywood” tablet that is powered by a quad-core processor.
Zach Epstein
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/18/amazon-10-inch-kindle-fire-launch-q3/
Nokia sells New York headquarters
May 18th
Nokia has sold its New York headquarters, located north of Manhattan in the industrial town of White Plains. Purchased six years ago for $30 million, the struggling Finnish vendor sold the building to biotechnology firm Histogenetics for $12 million. ”It’s a great deal for 12 million bucks,” Michael Rao, president of the realtor representing Histogenetics, told LoHud.com. “The building is gorgeous. It’s so spectacular.” Nokia’s move comes as its struggles in the global mobile market continue; the company posted a huge $1.7 billion loss in the second quarter after losing $1.2 billion in the first quarter. Excluding the White Plains office, Nokia currently has 27 U.S. office locations listed on its website in addition to its North American headquarters in Sunnyvale, California.
Zach Epstein
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/18/nokia-new-york-headquarters-sold-white-plains/
Amazon shops Kindle Fire home screen to advertisers
May 18th
Amazon is reportedly meeting with advertisers to pitch the idea of welcome screen ads on its popular Kindle Fire tablet. The retail giant is asking $600,000 for prime placement on the slate, according to a report from AdAge. Amazon currently offers its entire range of Kindle eReaders with advertisements that appear on the devices’ screen savers. Customers who opt to purchase a Kindle with ads enjoy discounts of between $30 and $50 off the purchase price of the devices; if Amazon carries the same model over to its Kindle Fire, the end-user cost of the tablet could drop by as much as 25% to $149. Following an explosive launch quarter that saw Amazon’s Kindle Fire take an estimated 14% of the global tablet market after less then two months of availability, the tablet’s market share reportedly tumbled as Apple’s $399 iPad 2 extinguished Kindle Fire demand. With rumors surrounding a $200-$250 “iPad mini” heating up, an ad-supported Kindle Fire with a reduced price tag may help keep Amazon’s 7-inch tablet in the running.
Zach Epstein
Microsoft leading Apple and Google in TV race
May 17th
According to a new report from Forrester Research, Microsoft is leading both Apple and Google in the TV and home entertainment sector, The New York Times reported on Wednesday. While Apple and Google may control mobile, Microsoft’s Xbox entertainment system tops both Apple TV and Google TV according to the report. With the Xbox, Forrester analyst James McQuivey believes Microsoft is the farthest along when it comes to delivering users content through their television sets. “Using those metrics, Microsoft is in the lead, offering everything that matters: a growing content library, a convenient engagement path for millions of existing Xbox 360 owners, and a growing ecosystem of partners and developers eager to exploit the platform for their own purposes,” McQuivey wrote in the report. Microsoft has continued to add more content apps — such as Comcast Xfinity, Verizon FiOS and HBO Go — to the Xbox, alongside thousands of games. The software giant has shipped more than 66 million Xboxes worldwide, and Forrester estimates that half of all Xboxes in the United States are connected to the Internet.
Dan Graziano
Article source: A match made in heaven: BlackBerry PlayBook and… Windows Phone? [video]
May 17th
What do you get when you cross a struggling vendor’s debut tablet with a mobile operating system that has spent the past 18 months running into the brick wall that is Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iOS? One Dutch developer seemingly needed to find out, so he ported Microsoft’s perpetually-emerging Windows Phone OS onto RIM’s BlackBerry PlayBook. The result is a somewhat responsive slate that gives us a look at what will never be; Microsoft is on record in stating that it has no interest in bringing Windows Phone — emphasis on “Phone” — to tablets. Of course, with the software giant’s next-generation Windows 8 platform on the horizon there is no reason to put Windows Phone on a tablet. But for those curious to know what a Windows Phone tablet might look like, a video of the developer’s PlayBook running Microsoft’s mobile OS follows below. “Gamer109X,” the developer behind this curious chimera, said he plans to release a Windows Phone build for the PlayBook to the public in the coming months.
[Via N4BB]
Zach Epstein
LG announces Optimus UI for Ice Cream Sandwich devices
May 17th
LG on Wednesday announced a new user-interface skin for its Android-powered devices running Ice Cream Sandwich. The South Korean company’s Optimus UI 3.0 is said to be designed with convenience and speed in mind, and is being labeled as both unobtrusive and simple. “With smartphone hardware becoming more and more similar, it’s important for manufacturers to differentiate their products from the competition through the user interface,” said Dr. Jong-seok Park, President and CEO of LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company. “Both carriers and customers tell us that they want LG phones to look and feel unique and the UI plays a big part in that. LG is really going to push the boundaries of what is possible in user interfaces starting with Optimus UI 3.0.” The new UI will allows users to drag anywhere to unlock the screen, and will feature an an Icon Customizer, revamped Pattern Lock and a Voice Shutter feature to allow photos to be taken with voice commands. The Optimus UI 3.0 will debut next week with the launch of LG’s Optimus LTE II in Korea. LG’s press release follows below.
LG’S NEW OPTIMUS UI 3.0 ADDS NEW FEATURES AND FUNCTIONS WHILE BEING UNOBTRUSIVE AND SIMPLE
New User Interface Makes the LG Smartphone Experience Faster, Simpler, More Convenient
SEOUL, May 16, 2012 – LG Electronics (LG) is introducing a new User Interface (UI) for its newest Android Ice Cream Sandwich devices, aptly named Optimus UI 3.0. Optimus UI 3.0 brings with it an array of enhanced key features, including Quick Memo™ and unique unlock functions, among other new features and functions aimed at improving LG smartphone experience.“With smartphone hardware becoming
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/16/lg-optimus-ui-android-4-ice-cream-sandwich/
‘iPad mini’ coming this fall, report claims
May 16th
Analysts for Barclays said in a note to investors that a new 7-inch iPad will be released this fall, Business Insider reported on Wednesday. “Following up on comments made last week, recent research still leads us to believe that Apple may be planning to add another form factor to its iPad line in the 7″ range for the fall,” the note read. The banking firm states that a smaller iPad would be useful in promoting Apple’s education agenda and could also help the company’s gaming efforts. Rather than sullying the iPad brand and iOS ecosystem, Barclays states that a “lower priced iPad [is] a necessary entry point to make the tablet market the size of the PC market by 2015 in terms of units (over 350 million units) – a figure CEO Tim Cook repeatedly mentions.” Apple has long been rumored to be readying a 7.85-inch iPad mini to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes Noble’s Nook Tablet. The slate is expected to be priced between $249 and $299, and could launch as soon as the third quarter of 2012.
Dan Graziano
Sprint won’t turn a profit on the iPhone until 2015
May 16th
Sprint’s costly $15.5 billion gamble on Apple’s iPhone won’t pay off until 2015, according to CEO Dan Hesse. At that time, however, the iPhone will be “quite profitable,” and the company is “very happy” with the deal despite conflicting reports, AllThingsD said. Hesse sees the iPhone as a long-term investment that will slow subscriber defections and attract new customers. “We believe in the long term,” the CEO said. “And over time we will make more money on iPhone customers than we will on other customers.” Sprint sold 1.5 million iPhones in the first quarter of 2012, and while the number doesn’t approach ATT or Verizon’s sales, 44% of Sprint’s iPhone sales were made to new customers.
Dan Graziano
Article source: http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/16/sprint-iphone-profits-2015-dan-hesse/