ZTE Mimosa X revealed with NVIDIA Tegra 2 and Icera modem

This week the folks at ZTE and NVIDIA have announced their first collaboration: a smartphone by the name of Mimosa X, complete with Tegra 2 and an Icera modem. For those of you that don’t remember, NVIDIA acquired Icera in mid-2011 and this combination is a first for several reasons. This device has a 4.3-inch display at qHD 960 x 540 pixel resolution screen, Dolby sound, and a launch date inside the second quarter of 2012. And it’s going to launch with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

This device comes with the ability to access the TegraZone, an application store in which the games for the most part only work with Tegra processors. The smartphone has advanced audio distribution profile (A2DP), Dolby sound, and digital living network alliance (DLNA) compatibility. Inside you’ve got 4GB of built-in storage, there’s a microSD card slot for 32GB more, and of course you’ve got HD video recording and playback. The back facing camera will be 5 megapixels, there’s two microphones for noise cancellation, and there’s a gyroscope for awesome gameplay abilities.

Michael Rayfield, General Manager of the Mobile business at NVIDIA notes the following:

“The ZTE Mimosa X is exciting for a few reasons. The Mimosa X marks the first time NVIDIA technology powers all the major processors in a single smartphone, and also the first time a premium mobile computing experience is coming to the mainstream smartphone market.” – Rayfield

We’ll be checking this device out as soon as possible, it and its lovely NVIDIA Icera 450 modem with the ability to support 21Mbps category 14 HSPA+ data. IceClear interference cancellation technology inside will allow faster throughput at the cell edge and advanced Release 7 features for supporting ultra-low latency network response. Know what all that means? It means you’ve got support for going ultra fast on whatever network you’re on. We’re looking very much forward to this device!

Firefox 11 brings Chrome imports and 3D DOM viewer

The eleventh version of Mozilla’s popular Firefox browser is upon us. Firefox 11 brings various improvements over version 10. The casual user can look forward to improved stability, fewer crashes, and security fixes, although there are two big stand out features. The first is the ability to import bookmarks and history from Google Chrome, and the second is a 3D rendering tool of webpages, designed to help visualize page elements as blocks.

In a move that should help users move over from Google’s rival browser, Chrome, Firefox 11 has an improved import system that can move over bookmarks, history, and cookies. Chrome has been able to import Firefox’s data for several years, so hopefully Mozilla’s move will help entice users looking to make the jump to Firefox, and make the transition as smooth as possible.

The other big feature is aimed at web developers: you’re now presented with an extra option when looking at a webpage’s underlying code, the ability to render the page in 3D. The resulting render will stack different elements of the page, making it easier to see the structure of the page and the overall hierarchy. Users can manipulate and rotate the render to different angles, as well as click on individual elements to see the code associated with it.

Other features of Firefox 11 include resigned media controls for HTML5 video, and the ability to sync add-ons across different computers, helpful if you’re installing Firefox on a fresh OS. Firefox 11 is available from Mozilla’s website right now, or if you’re already running Firefox, just hit Help, then About Firefox, and let it find the update for you.

AT&T Nokia Lumia 900: April 8th for $99.99

It’s official: the Nokia Lumia 900 will be released on AT&T on April 8th, and cost just $99.99 on a two-year contract. AT&T have confirmed the release to CNet, finally ending rumors of the phone’s intended release date and price. The $99.99 price will certainly go down well with those looking for the Windows Phone experience, but without sacrificing LTE connectivity.

The Nokia Lumia 900 will feature a 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with an 800×480 resolution, 1.4Ghz single-core processor, 512MB of RAM, an eight megapixel camera with 720p video recording, and 4G LTE connectivity. It’s all wrapped up in a unibody polycarbonate shell, similar to the Nokia Lumia 800. You’ll be able to pick up either a black or cyan version of the Lumia 900 at launch, with a white version being released on April 22nd. Battery capacity is rated at 1,830mAh.

The $100 price point was first hinted at by BGR back in January. It’s an aggressive price move, to be sure. Normally a flagship smartphone would cost $200, with recent LTE enabled handsets reaching as high as $300. The United States is a market that Nokia have found difficult to crack in the past, and Windows Phone has been struggling to gain any sort of momentum. Nokia and AT&T’s move, then, is a smart one: a lower price point without compromising on hardware or key features is make people sit up and take notice.

It was also reported last week that Nokia paid AT&T $25 million in order to make the Lumia 900 a “Company Use” phone, meaning sales employees would be able to take one home for free if they handed back any existing CU handsets, like the iPhone or various Android phones. Sales reps on the front line activity promoting the Lumia 900 over other AT&T handsets should also go a long way to helping get the sales that Nokia and Microsoft need.

Sony Vaio VCC111 Chromebook gets FCC support

Sony’s flagship Chrome OS-powered computer has just been given the green light by the Federal Communications Commission. This means as far as the regulatory paperwork goes, the device is ready to go on sale in the US, and obviously Sony wouldn’t have submitted it to the FCC unless it was essentially ready for production. So hopefully we’ll start seeing it on store shelves soon.

The Vaio VCC111 joins products from Samsung and Acer that have pledged support for Google’s ambitious cloud-based operating system. We haven’t heard a whole lot about Chrome OS since its introduction, but this is a good sign that we’re ready to move from a state of potential and prototypes to something that will actually be introduced to the retail community. There’s no question that Google managed to flip the world of mobile OSes on its head, but can it do the same with traditional computing operating systems?

That is no doubt a tall order, but it will be interesting to watch. The Vaio VCC111 appears to have headphone and microphone jacks, an HDMI connection, built-in SD card reader, and at least two USB inputs. The display measures in at 11.6 inches. Oh, and of course, the ultimate tell – there is no Windows button. Of course, Sony hasn’t made any official announcements about when this contraption will go on sale, but we can keep our fingers crossed that it will be soon.

Toshiba's Excite 10 now the thinnest tablet in the land

Trying to compete with Apple in the tablet arena must be a frustrating and disheartening experience.

Take Toshiba and its brand new Excite 10 LE. After Apple dazzled the world with its super thin and light iPad 2 last year, the Japanese consumer electronics giant gave its engineers the difficult task of creating a tablet of even slenderer proportions.

The Excite’s stylish, brushed magnesium alloy body is just 7.6 millimetres thick and weighs a feathery 535 grams. That makes it the most wafer-like 10-inch tablet on the planet. This is a fine accomplishment worthy of pride. Size and especially weight are important considerations for many tablet users.

But then, just days after the Excite’s North American launch, Apple unveiled the third-generation iPad – a device both thicker and heavier than its predecessor. And no one seemed to care.

Apple had changed the game. Suddenly it’s no longer a contest to see who can make the slimmest slate, but instead a competition of screen fidelity and horsepower. And next to the new iPad’s stunning retina display and mighty four-core processor, the Excite’s 1280-by-800 pixel Gorilla Glass screen and 1.2 GHz dual-core brain – decent enough hardware just weeks ago – seem like last year’s components.

Adding insult to injury, Apple found a way to keep the price of the entry level WiFi version of its high-tech hero at just $519 – $30 cheaper than the $550 16-gigabyte WiFi Excite (Toshiba also offers a 32-gigabyte edition for $600).

How does one compete with a company that so often and so dramatically alters the playing field?

Most tablet makers not based in Cupertino have been banking on Google’s mobile operating system Android to keep them in the game. As enamored as most of the world is with Apple’s brilliantly intuitive operating system for phones and slates, there are still millions of people looking for something more versatile, more customizable and more open.

The Excite comes with Android 3.2 (Honeycomb). This will likely disappoint Android enthusiasts now enthralled by the recently launched Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), but Toshiba says Excite owners will be prompted to upgrade to Google’s latest OS when an update is released later this spring.

And it’s a very clean Honeycomb deployment. Proprietary apps and interface overlays can be a boon – some Android device manufacturers see them as the only way to meaningfully distinguish their tablets from those of the competition – but I’ve found that, more often than not, they simply clutter things up without adding much in the way of truly useful features or innovations. They also tend to make it more difficult for manufacturers to release timely OS updates.

Aside from the addition of a few practical non-Google apps – including Amazon Kindle, TuneWiki and Evernote – to the home screen, Toshiba has given us a fairly stock version of Google’s OS. And Android’s capacity for user customization as well as data and file management remains enviable. It is an operating system meant for people who like to dig and tinker.

On the downside, the Excite’s processor has trouble delivering a smooth Honeycomb experience. Noticeable instances of lag can be detected while swiping through screens, loading apps and surfing the web. That said, most apps seemed to run well once loaded.

And the mildly stuttering interface doesn’t detract from many of the other perks for which Android devices are known, including the ability to easily expand storage, transfer data and connect peripherals. The Excite – which has microSD, mini-USB and MicroHDMI ports, as well as Bluetooth and WiFi – has an enviable suite of connectivity suite.

As Android tablets go, Toshiba’s latest is a nice specimen. Its slim profile ought to go a long way with folks who, say, are forced to bear the full weight of their slates in a single hand during standing-room-only commutes. However, seductively slim as it may be, it still doesn’t pose much of a threat to Apple’s latest game-changer.

You can find the Toshiba Excite 10 LE starting at $549.99 at Canadian big-box electronics stores.

Apple's new iPhone will use bigger 4.6-inch display

Apple Inc's new iPhone will have a sharper and bigger 4.6-inch "retina" display and is set to be launched around the second quarter, a South Korean media reported on Thursday.

Sales of the iPhone, first introduced in 2007 with the touch screen template now adopted by its rivals, account for around half Apple's total sales.

Apple has decided on the bigger 4.6-inch display for its next iPhone and started placing orders to its suppliers, the Maeil Business Newspaper said, quoting an unnamed industry source.

Its major display suppliers LG Display and Samsung Electronics Co declined to comment.

Samsung, which is also the biggest challenger to Apple in smartphones, uses 4.6-inch OLED display for its flagship Galaxy S II smartphone, introduced in April last year.

The high-definition "retina" display--containing several times as many pixels within the same area-- is used in the latest iPad released earlier this month.

The latest iPhone 4S was introduced in October last year.

Megaupload Users Receiving Fake Settlement Demands

Megaupload users and other file-sharers are receiving settlement demands from fake law firms.

TorrentFreak reports that former users of the file-sharing site Megaupload are now receiving email threats from a fake law firm asking for a monetary settlement. The lawsuit threat looks legitimate on the surface, donning a header naming the fake German firm as "Dr. Kroner & Kollegen of Munich" and listing the supposed physical address, telephone numbers and residing lawyers along the right side.

The fake law firm claims to be acting on behalf of copyright holders including Universal, Sony, EMI, Warner Bros and Dreamworks. It coughs up fake IP addresses and timestamps, and informs the supposed copyright infringer that they are now liable for fines of 10,000 euros. If they want to settle out of court, the firm will gladly take 147 euros off their hands and make the lawsuit disappear.

Those not clever enough to read between the lines may not notice that the actual downloaded files aren't listed in the complaint, nor are there any signs of the typical "cease and desist" legal jargon. Cash payments would also be wired to an address in Slovakia, not Germany.

A second email scam is also making the rounds to more than just former Megaupload users. This one is distributed under the name GVU, an anti-piracy group responsible for the takedown of many file-sharing sites. This one also tries to scam settlement money out of file-sharers, but it also packs nasty malware to give the receiver an even bigger scare.

According to GVU, those who open the "attachment" will see their web browser hijacked and re-directed to a fake GVU page. This page displays a warning and claims the computer has been detected of sharing copyright works. To avoid a lawsuit, the accused must send 50 euros immediately via PaySafeCard.

"The sender of this message is not GVU and we clearly distance ourselves from such criminal activities," the anti-piracy group said in a statement.

Toshiba's 13-inch Tablet Has a Built-In TV Tuner

Additional details have been provided about Toshiba's 13.3-inch prototype tablet.

A few weeks ago at the Toshiba 2012 conference in the UK, the company showcased a prototype 13.3-inch tablet packed with Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 SoC. It featured a USB port, HDMI output and an SD card slot. There was also a camera on the front for video calling and a camera mounted on its backside.

Given that the monster tablet was merely a prototype, a Toshiba spokesperson said that it may never reach the market -- its future depends purely on consumer reaction. That said, availability dates or final cost is not on the board, and at this size, we have to wonder why consumers wouldn't just go the extra mile and purchase an ultrabook.

But for those who wouldn’t mind fondling a 13.3-inch tablet, German-language site Techfokus has provided a few additional specs. According to the hands-on report, the gadget actually has a built-in TV tuner. The antennae resides at the top right edge, and can be pushed into chassis when not in use.

The hands-on also reveals that the camera on the front is 1.3MP whereas the rear-facing camera is 5MP. The prototype even has 32 GB of internal storage and runs Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich." Additional details like RAM, screen resolution and network connectivity are still unknown at this point.

Acer V273HL LED monitor - Increased productivity and work efficiency

Acer announces the new V273HL, the energy – efficient and earth-friendly LED monitor equipped with sharpening contrast ratio (100M: 1), fiery response time (5 ms), HDMI and DVI ports with HDPC support.

The V273HL offers a powerful display solution (1920 x 1080 @ 60 Hz) which helps to enhance the productivity. The 27” large screen, with 16:9 aspect ratios, is ideal for office professionals, designers, researchers and display enthusiasts who want to view and process multiple applications, as word and graphic rendering, in parallel.

Thanks to its set of ports, the 27” V273HL ensures an easy connectivity to a wide range of devices: VGA; HDMI, DVI with HDCP protection, ensuring full enjoyment of DRM-protected content; HDMI, providing advanced digital connectivity enabling outstanding high-definition viewing and best quality uncompressed video currently available.

The V273HL integrates white LED technology which dismisses from any dangerous substances, such as mercury or halogen gases. The LED lamp ensures exceptional reliability, great savings and it delivers a much better performance. The color range will be larger and also with a better saturation: extraordinary realism, unobtainable with standard technologies, is simply the result.

V273HL has a classy, professional and solid look. The thin 27" monitor, with neat and tidy control buttons, is supported by a simple and poised front bezel in dark gray -silver, which rests on an elegant black base.

Acer AX1930-UR10P: Boring, but Fast

The Acer AX1930-UR10P is a bit of a bore: Its Sandy Bridge-based speed is the only element we truly enjoy on this $500 desktop, as the rest of what Acer brings to the table is unexciting--even when we factor in the typical constraints of budget desktops.

The AX1930’s Intel Core i3-2120 CPU delivers two cores of processing power (expanded to four with the chip’s built-in hyperthreading) at a clock speed of 3.3GHz. That, coupled with four gigabytes of memory, does much to help the AX1930 achieve great scores for the budget category on our WorldBench 6 suite of tests. In fact, its score of 136 is right up there with some of the best budget desktops we’ve tested with a comparable price.

The system’s included hard drive sits at 500 gigabytes, but some competing $500 systems touch a full terabyte. Only a standard DVD combo drive and multiformat card reader grace the front of the AX1930’s compact chassis. While it’s difficult to find Blu-ray support on a system at this price, it’s not impossible: the Micro Express MicroFlex 23B does it for only $100 more (with plenty of other extra features, to boot).

Internally, well, there’s not much to discuss. The system’s small case has no room to add any more hard drives or optical drives--you’d have to replace what is already there, and you better clear out your entire afternoon schedule before you start digging for the AX1930’s hard drive. On the plus side, the budget PC comes with a free PCI Express x16 and x1 port--but again, this small system won't accommodate a beefy discrete video card.

That’s unfortunate, too, as the AX1930’s integrated graphics aren’t geared for modern gaming in the slightest (go figure). We could achieve playable frame rates on our Unreal Tournament benchmark only when we dialed back the resolution to 1024 by 768 (on both medium and high-quality settings).

The front of the system comes with two USB ports; that’s it. The system’s rear bumps the total number of USB ports to eight, but you won't find any other connections for external devices--just good ol’ USB 2.0. A single VGA port, an HDMI port, and a gigabit ethernet port round out the list.

While we appreciate that Acer tosses next-generation geeks a bone with the HDMI support, we didn’t see a DVI converter included with our review unit. Those with slightly older monitors that support just DVI or VGA will have to go shopping for a converter or drop down to a lesser connection--an annoying extra step, if you ask us.

The keyboard and mouse that came with the AX1930 PC were both wired. While the two-button mouse (with scroll wheel) was generic and simple, the keyboard did contain a number of extra function buttons launching applications and controlling playing media. It’s a subtle, but enjoyable touch--we do love having all the power at our fingertips that we can get.

It’s hard to find the perfect combination of features on a system that hovers around the $500 price point. Competing desktops might not offer better load-outs across all areas, but they at least give potential purchasers something to work with for a few categories--and they generally don’t demand much more cash. Except for its speed and diminutive size, the AX1930 is unremarkable any way you want to slice it.

Acer's Quad-Core Tablet is Iconia Tab A510

Acer's upcoming 10.1-inch tablet will sport Nvidia's quad-core Tegra 3 SoC and 10-input touch support.

Acer America said on Thursday that its very first quad-core tablet in North America will be the Android-powered Iconia Tab A510. It will come packed with a 10.1-inch WXGA screen, Nvidia's 1.3 GHz Tegra 3 SoC, Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" and the full suite of Polaris Office 3.5. It will also feature Acer Print so that customers have a convenient and seamless way to print wirelessly from their tablet.

"The new Acer Iconia Tab A510 will exceed the expectations of customers who are ready to embrace using their tablets for more fun, entertainment and a first-rate mobile gaming experience," said Paul Tayar, director of product marketing for connected devices, Acer America. "Our second-generation Acer A510 builds on the success of its award-winning predecessor with notable improvements in performance, responsiveness and ease-of use, elevating it to the status of ultimate mobile companion."

Billed as a mobile workstation and an entertainment powerhouse, the A510's 10-point touch capacitive display -- with a resolution of 1280 x 800 -- will have a 16:10 aspect ratio and a wide 85-degree viewing angle. Other tablet features will include Dolby Mobile 3 audio, HDMI output, 1 GB of DDR2 SDRAM, 32 GB of internal storage, a microSD card slot for up to 32 GB of additional storage, 802.11 b/g/n connectivity and Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR.

Also on the spec list will be a 1MP fixed-focused front-facing camera, a 5MP rear-facing camera with auto-focusing, DLNA support and more. The chassis itself will have a soft-touch finish for comfortable handling measuring 10.2 (w) x 6.9 (d) x 0.43 (h) inches. Overall the tablet will weigh just over 24 ounces.

"When the tablet takes on everyday tasks, the [Tegra 3's] fifth Battery Saver Core becomes engaged in place of the other four cores, ultimately using less power and improving battery life," the company said. "The 9800mAh battery, one of the highest capacity models in the industry, further improves battery life, so customers can enjoy their tablet for up to 12 hours of video playback."

The new Acer Iconia Tab A510 is available for pre-sale starting today at national electronics retailers in the United States and Canada for $449.99. Acer didn't say when the tablet will actually be available on store shelves, so stay tuned.

Google Now Has 'Why is This Spam?' Feature for Gmail

The reason Google marks your spam as spam.

Sometimes you'll miss out on an important email because it was filtered to your spam account. Other times you'll be browsing through your spam folder only to come across an interesting email that you yourself wouldn't class as spam. Often this leads you to wonder, "Why is this spam?" But really, there's no one to answer that question for you. Until today, that is.

Google this week announced the launch of a new feature called "Why is This Spam?" This means Google will now be explaining why each message is spam (via a header at the top of the message), so should you go looking at your spam, you'll know the reason each message ended up in that dark, dark corner of your inbox.

"Starting today, we’ll be showing a brief explanation at the top of each of your spam messages," said Google software engineer Ela Czajka. "Simply look at any message in your spam folder and now you can find out why it was put there and learn about any potentially harmful content within the message. We hope that this is not only interesting, but also helps you learn about scams and other harmful messages that Gmail filters out. Whether you prefer to leave your spam folder untouched or do some educational digging, the information will be there for you."

Examples from the "Why is This Spam?" box range from, "It's similar to messages detected by our spam filters," to "You previously marked messages from [Sender] as spam."

SD Cards with Wi-Fi File Sharing Coming Soon

Toshiba's FlashAir SDHC card may go on sale around May or June, the company reports.

Toshiba first introduced its FlashAir SDHC card back in January at CES 2012. The card was based on the SD Association's Wireless LAN standard and dished out its own 802.11 b/g/n hotspot. It also came with a built-in web server, meaning that users merely needed a web browser to access its contents (http://flashair/) from any additional device nearby.

As an example, the card could be inserted into a professional camera. In turn, the SD card would transform the host device into a network hotspot. Thus, someone with a smartphone could go into their Wi-Fi settings, choose the Flashair hotspot broadcast, connect, and then view and download the camera's Flashair contents with the phone's web browser -- no additional app is needed.

At the time, Toshiba said it would start shipping FlashAir in February for around $70 for the 8 GB version, but so far we haven't seen anything here in the States. Now the company reports that FlashAir will actually invade our shores within the next few months. Hiroto Nakai, a senior manager in Toshiba’s flash strategy division, said the cards will likely head our way in May or June, though the final date has yet to be set.

FlashAir actually went on sale in Japan earlier this month. Toshiba is still offering only the 8 GB version which costs about ¥>6000 (US$72) at Japanese retailers. Nakai also added that an API (application programming interface) was made available to device manufacturers to make sure the new SD card works on their devices.

The FlashAir product page reports that the card, Speed Class 6, has a wireless data transfer function as previously described (download only), but also a peer-to-peer function that requires a second FlashAir device. This indicates that two devices with FlashAir cards can upload and download from each other. A single card is also capable of transferring data to SNS services like Twitter or Facebook, and online storage services like Picasa, and blogs (although technically users can do that anyway with normal SD cards).

For more information on its three transfer modes, Toshiba provides examples of all three transfers here.

The market for a Wi-Fi enabled SD card may not be quite so limited. Installed in a tablet or smartphone, users with additional Wi-Fi capable devices -- whether it's a smartphone, tablet, notebook or desktop) may be able to simply connect directly to the card and retrieve its contents without an installed app like AirDroid or WiFi File Explorer Pro. The same holds true with digital cameras although manufacturers are increasingly building Wi-Fi features directly into their hardware.

Where Do Most People Lose Their Phones

How often do you lose your smartphone?

Zoom

According to a resources website provided by mobile security software firm LookOut, we lose our smartphones about once a year. However, if you live in Philadelphia, you are likely to lose your phone twice a year, while Chicagoans lose their phone only every three years, on average. The total cost of stolen or misplaced phones in the U.S. could be about $30 billion this year, LookOut estimates.

Other data suggests that we are most likely to lose a phone in coffee shops, offices, bars and restaurants. Two thirds of lost phones disappear between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. and more phones get lost during festivals and celebrations than on other days. On Christmas alone, $11 million dollars in smartphone value was lost.

Overall, it appears that smartphone owners in Atlanta have the highest value in misplaced phones that were located through a software tool offered by LookOut. At the time of this writing, Atlanta was in the lead with $50.6 milllion, ahead of Fort Worth with $48.5 million and Philadelphia with $48 million. Of course all these numbers are theoretical values and not all "losses" may actually be losses as users are simply using a tool to find their phones that may only be a few feet away.

Other findings from LookOut:

• In the U.S. people lose a smartphone about once a year.
• People in Manchester, England have the highest likelihood of losing their phone out of any other population in the world.
• Phones are more often lost at night. Two-thirds of phone loss happens between the hours of 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time. And one of the top places to lose your phone at is a bar or pub – we’ll let you draw your own conclusion as to why!
• Coffee shops, offices, bars and restaurants top the list as the most common venues to lose your phone in the U.S.
• Unsurprisingly, more phones are lost during festivals and celebrations. During Christmas, more than $11 million dollars worth of phones were lost.
• During the week of Carnival (aka Mardi Gras), more phones were lost around the world than during your average parade-less, bead-less week. Party-goers in Cologne lost 30% more phones and in Paris, 72% more phones were lost.
• The top U.S. cities for phone loss include (Interestingly, many of the cities with highest rates of lost phones also were in the top ranks for the FBI’s most recent crime stats):
Philadelphia
Seattle
Oakland
Long Beach
Newark
Detroit
Cleveland
Baltimore
New York
Boston

Malware for Android devices steadily increasing

Lurking amid the flood of games, tax guides and other mobile applications being downloaded onto mobile devices using Google's popular Android software is a fast-growing array of apps that can slap the gadget's owner with unanticipated fees, rifle their bank accounts and cause untold other grief.

Known instances of Android-related malware -- "virtually all" involving apps -- have jumped steadily month by month from 400 in June to 15,507 in February, according to Sunnyvale, Calif., security firm Juniper Networks. So far, hundreds of thousands of phones and other devices have been infected. And although Google says it is working to block the malevolent downloads, experts fear what may be coming.

"I see the problem getting significantly worse before it gets better," said Dan Hoffman, who heads Juniper's mobile research center. "We're very much in the infancy of this right now."

Proliferating at a remarkable rate and offering everything from puzzles, music and videos to cooking tips, weather information to fantasy baseball, apps have fueled the global adoption of smartphones and other mobile devices in recent years. But security specialists say these programs also have spawned a dark cottage industry that is poisoning the Android market and posing an increasing threat to the public.

Apps for Apple devices can also be targeted, but security experts say that in general, they are more secure.

In August, San Francisco-based Lookout Mobile Security reported that "an estimated half-million to one million people were affected by Android malware in the first half of 2011," all from apps.

Some experts say the biggest problem is in other countries, where apps frequently are downloaded from unofficial Android websites. Some of those sites have been cleverly designed to look just like Google's official site, formerly called Android Market and recently renamed Google Play.

But U.S. consumers also have been victimized, and Lookout has recently determined the likelihood of downloading an infected app in this country has doubled since the report came out.

Another security company -- Trend Micro of Japan, which has U.S. headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. -- identified "more than 1,000 malicious Android apps" last year, 90 percent of them on Google's site, which boasts more than 400,000 apps. Noting that the number of bad apps grew last year at 60 percent a month, Trend Micro has estimated the total this year "will grow to more than 120,000," though it's unclear how many of those might wind up on the Google site.

"There's definitely a worry out there," said Jon Clay, a Trend Micro security technology expert. "The bad guys have found a new environment to gain revenue, so they are going to start exploiting it more and more."

In a blog last month, Google disclosed that "for a while now" it has been using a feature called Bouncer to screen out malicious apps. As a result, the blog said, "we saw a 40 percent decrease in the number of potentially malicious downloads" from Google's site.

However, the company declined to answer a number of questions the San Jose Mercury News submitted to it about the bad apps it has detected.

Sapphire, PowerColor Show Off New AMD Radeon HD 7000 Cards

Another day, another pair of new AMD Radeon HD graphics cards, this time from Sapphire and PowerColor. The two offerings are from opposite ends of AMD's assault on the entire price point spectrum -- the PowerColor being a 7770 card, and the Sapphire a high-end 7970 -- but they're both capable of hitting 1GHz speeds out of the box.

The PowerColor PCS+ HD7770 GHz Edition rocks core and memory speeds of 1.15GHz and 1.25GHz, respectively, with 1GB of GDDR5. CrossFire, Eyefinity and DirectX 11 support are all on board -- as one would expect -- and the card fights off thermal issues with a heat pipe sitting directly on and over the GPU and a center-mounted fan.

Meanwhile, the Sapphire HD 7970 OC Edition "only" clocks in with 950MHz/1425MHz core/memory speeds out of the box, but a dual BIOS switch lets users up that to 1GHz and 1450MHz. The card uses Sapphire's Dual-X technology to keep things cool, which the company describes as "a highly efficient multi-heatpipe cooler with dual fans" capable of "superb cooling performance even under extreme load." And if you wanted to put that claim to the test, a new version of Sapphire's TriXX overclocking tool is also available. Read up on all the fine details -- like the ridiculous number of cables, connectors and adapters Sapphire throws in the box -- over at the Sapphire HD 7970 OC Edition web page.

As far as prices go, the Sapphire HD 7970 OC is up at Newegg for $580, while PowerColor remained mum about PCS+ HD7770 details. We'd expect the PCS+ HD7770 GHz Edition to probably fall somewhere between $160 and $200 when it drops, though.

And for you fretting Nvidia fans: hub-bub around the web says the first Kepler cards should be launching sometime very, very soon. (But we all know the old saying about hub-bub in one hand and wishing in the other, so take that with a grain of salt.)

Apple Continues to Make a Huge Margin on the New iPad

The new iPad can’t play Crysis, its also practically useless for productivity tasks, but ohhh did we mention it’s really shinny? Regardless of what you think of the iPad, or tablets in general, there is no denying Apple is doing a great job of exploiting the trend. Annual refreshes have added more horsepower and features while holding the line on price, but are the same margin’s possible with a display that rivals most 24-inch desktop panels?

In short no, but they are still making a killing. Hit the jump for all the gory details.

The bill of material estimates from IHS iSuppli peg the build cost of a 16GB Wi-Fi iPad 2 at $245.10, while the new iPad that replaces it tallies up to $316.05. The biggest cost differences is the display which costs about $30 more per device, along with battery that doubled in size adding $9.30 to the build cost. A $316.05 build cost sounds plenty reasonable with a $499 end user price considering iOS development isn’t included in the estimate, and at the end of the day a profit must be made, however 64GB iPad’s are a totally different story. A 64GB iPad with 4G costs $408.70 to build, and they rake in $829 per device sold.

The best value for your dollar appears to be the 16GB versions, so if you’d rather put as little as possible into Apple’s $100 billion war chest that’s the way to go. The chart below gives you a full breakdown.

Rumor: Asus Built Google Nexus Tablet Coming Soon – Under $200

We’ve been hearing reports of a Google Nexus Tablet for months now, however the reports are suggesting it may be coming sooner, rather than later. Android and Me claims to have solid sources within Asus that report a $149 quad-core Nexus tablet is a “done deal”, however The Verge is suggesting it might be closer to $199. Either way this is a great price for a 7-inch pure Google tablet, and will be an important step if they are going to protect the Google marketplace from the Amazon onslaught.

That is of course, assuming the rumors are true.

You could make the argument a Nexus tablet’s primary competitor is the iPad, but lets face it, that war is over for now. The battle in the short term will be fought for second place, and right now Amazon’s highly customized version of Android complete with a replacement content ecosystem is running away with the show. Google’s Android chief Andy Rubin claimed 2012 would be the year they doubled down on consumer tablets, and the Nexus tablet may be the first serious competitor for the Kindle Fire.

Reports are suggesting that Asus will be the OEM manufacturer for the first wave of Nexus tablets, and that NVidia’s Tegra 3 got the boot in favor of Qualcomm in order to keep costs as low as possible. Samsung may be the current king of the hill when it comes to Android tablets, however it’s still a pretty small market that is aimed at the high end. If Google puts its marketing muscle behind a less expensive tablet it could help drive prices down, regardless of Asus’s commercial success with this first attempt. An advantage Android needs now, more than ever.

Satechi Turns a Single USB Port into a Dozen with Power

Satechi's 12-port USB hub with power adapter isn't an item you can't live without, but it sure does have the potential to make life a little easier if you own a bunch of USB powered gadgets. The device looks like a power strip but is lined with a dozen LED USB 2.0 ports to connect your digital camera, flash drive, external hard drive, tablet, smartphone, or whatever else you might need to pull files from and/or charge.

Credit goes to Tom's Guide for the heads up on the Satechi UH-12P USB 2.0 Hub with Power's availability. Its regular price is $40 though it's currently going for $30, which isn't offensive if you can use something like this.

The USB hub is uniquely designed with two switches that control the first and second set of six USB ports with blue LED indicators. It comes with a power supply so it can charge your devices without sucking juice from your notebook. In addition, the USB power strip supports Plug-n-Play (duh), is hot swappable and hot pluggable, and chains up to 127 USB devices.

Linux 3.3 Kernel Released, Gives Android A Hearty Welcome Back

After a small delay, Linus Torvalds announced the release of Linux 3.3 on the Linux kernel mailing list last night. Most of the update is fairly small fry, if nonetheless important -- Btrfs tweaks, Open vSwitch integration, a NVMe driver, changes Nvidia/AMD DRM/KMS drivers -- but the big news is a big homecoming for a big name. After Android's long, lonely wanderings as an unsupported fork, Linux 3.3 began integrating Android code into the core Linux kernel.

KernalNewbies.org sums things up: For a long time, code from the Android project has not been merged back to the Linux repositories due to disagreement between developers from both projects. Fortunately, after several years the differences are being ironed out. Various Android subsystems and features have already been merged, and more will follow in the future. This will make things easier for everybody, including the Android mod community, or Linux distributions that want to support Android programs.

Cue the acoustic guitar and "Kumbaya" singing. In all seriousness, being able to run an Android system off the core Linux kernel will make things much less of a headache for developers. Check out KernelNewbies.org's notes on Linux 3.3 for a full list of changes, complete with quick and technical explanations.

Lian Li's Super Skinny 'PC-Q05' Mini ITX Chassis Gets a Product Page

It's been several months since Lian Li's PC-Q05 was tipped online, reportedly the first chassis to support the new Thin ITX or Thin Mini-ITX format developed by Intel. The super slim chassis then made an appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last January, and it's been relatively quiet ever since. Lian Li's lips are still sealed, though there's now an official product page for the PC-Q05 filled with glamor shots.

The PC-Q05 is an all-aluminum chassis that weighs a mere 1.76 pounds. It measures 11.18 inches (W) x 1.85 inches (H) x 12.08 inches (D), plenty small enough to accommodate boards built around Intel's Thin Mini-ITX form factor, which must limit the I/O shield to 25mm (0.98 inches) high rather than 44mm (1.73 inches) as found on regular Mini-ITX boards.

Lian Li equipped the PC-Q05 with a pair of 2.5-inch drive bays, so it's possible to install a speedy solid state drive (SSD) for OS chores and a larger capacity mechanical hard drive for storage duties. The case will be available in silver and black, though when and for how much are details Lian Li has yet to reveal.

Mark Your Calendars, Diablo III Comes Out on May 15

Hell hasn't frozen, though Blizzard did finally commit to a shipping date for Diablo III, the highly anticipated third installment in the popular hack-and-slash Diablo franchise. The game comes out two months from today on May 15, and if you're chomping at the bit, you can put your preorder in right this very second (Battle.net account is required). It's $60 for the digital version, or free if you sign up for a World of Warcraft Annual Pass.

"After many years of hard work by our development team and months of beta testing by hundreds of thousands of dedicated players around the world, we’re now in the homestretch," said Mike Morhaime, CEO and cofounder of Blizzard Entertainment. "We look forward to putting the final polish on Diablo III over the next two months and delivering the ultimate action-RPG experience to gamers worldwide starting on May 15."

Diablo III will launch in the U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea, Southeast Asia, Australia, New Zealand, and the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau; gamers living in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, and Brazil will be able to buy Diablo III digitally on Blizzard's Battle.net website, while gamers in Latin American countries and in Russia will be able to get their hack-and-slash on starting June 7.

Blizzard also plans to sell a Collector's Edition bundle in retail stores. It will consist of the game on DVD, a two-disc DVD/Blu-ray set with behind-the-scenes coverage, Diablo III soundtrack CD, 208-page art book, a 4GB USB soulstone with full versions of Diablo II and Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, and other extras.

NetZero Returns with Semi-Free Mobile Broadband Service

NetZero, now there's a name we haven't heard in awhile. If you've been riding the Internet wave long enough, you'll recall NetZero used to offer free dial-up service in the late 1990s to anyone willing to put up with a persistent banner ad. It didn't work out so well and NetZero eventually switched to a paid model like everyone else, but kept its name. Well, NetZero is at it again, this time teaming up with ClearWire to offer free 4G mobile broadband. Sort of.

NetZero 4G Mobile Broadband data plans actually start at $10/month, and each plan delivers download speeds of up to 10Mbps and uploads speeds of up to 1.5Mbps. There are no contracts to sign and you can upgrade your service at any time. And to get you hooked, NetZero says you're welcome to the try the service for free for a full year.

There are hardware costs involved. All data plans (and yes, that includes the free one), requires the purchase of either the NetZero 4G HotSpot ($100) and or NetZero 4G Stick ($50), so your upfront investment is $150 total, either of which is "much less than the cost of most comparable contract-free devices available today," NetZero points out.

The free service is capped at 200MB, and once your free year is up, you have to subscribe to one of the data plans. $10/month gets you 500MB, $20/month for 1GB, $35/month for 2GB, and $50/month for 4GB. There are no overage fees; if you hit your limit, you can buy extra data, upgrade to a higher capacity plan, or simply hang tight until next month.

Seagate Announces Terabit Areal Density Milestone, Promises 60TB Hard Drives

Seagate has become the first hard drive maker to achieve a storage density of 1 terabit (1 trillion bits) per square inch, the company said Monday. It managed this feat using a next-generation recording technology called heat-assisted magnetic recording (HAMR). The company foresees 3.5-inch hard drives based on this technology reaching “extraordinary” storage capacities over the next decade. Hit the jump for more.

Seagate expects the first HAMR drives to boast double the storage capacity of current perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) hard drives when they hit the market later this decade, eventually leading to 3.5-inch hard drives with a capacity of up to 60 terabytes over the following 10 years. To help you better appreciate its latest achievement, Seagate pointed out that “bits within a square inch of disk space, at the new milestone, far outnumber stars in the Milky Way, which astronomers put between 200 billion and 400 billion.”

From the press release: “The maximum capacity of today's 3.5-inch hard drives is 3 terabytes (TB), at about 620 gigabits per square inch, while 2.5-inch drives top out at 750 gigabytes (GB), or roughly 500 gigabits per square inch. The first generation of HAMR drives, at just over 1 terabit per square inch, will likely more than double these capacities – to 6TB for 3.5-inch drives and 2TB for 2.5-inch models. The technology offers a scale of capacity growth never before possible, with a theoretical areal density limit ranging from 5 to 10 terabits per square inch – 30TB to 60TB for 3.5-inch drives and 10TB to 20TB for 2.5-inch drives.”

Windows 8 Will Boost PC Shipments in Second Half of 2012, IDC Says

Apple CEO Tim Cook can talk all he wants about the post-PC era, we're not buying it. Neither is International Data Corporation (IDC), which today said it expects worldwide PC shipments to pick up steam as the year goes on and have a strong second half of 2012. The first half of the year will only see "modest growth," but between the launch of Windows 8 and excitement generated by Ultrabooks and other ultra-thin notebooks, IDC expects second half sales to be much stronger.

This will be in stark contrast to 2011, in which PC vendors faced a "tenuous economic recovery" and went toe-to-toe with "emerging computing devices," which we take to mean tablets. PC shipments in mature markets like the U.S. and Europe declined 9 percent in 2011 compared to 2010, IDC says.

In 2012, IDC expects PC growth to be 5 percent for the year, most of which will take place in the second half of the year.

"Many consumers are holding off making PC purchases at the moment because tablet devices like Apple's iPad are proving to be a powerful distraction," according to Bob O'Donnell, vice president of Clients and Displays at IDC. "However, end user surveys tell us that few people consider media tablets as replacements for their PCs, so later this year when there is a new Microsoft operating system, available in sleek new PC form factors, we believe consumer interest in PCs will begin to rebound."

Bolded by us for emphasis because it's refreshing to hear someone else say what we've been preaching from the beginning.

Acer's Iconia Tab A510 Touches Down in the U.S. with Tegra 3 in Tow

Acer today did something it's never done before. The company launched its first quad-core tablet in North America, the Acer Iconia Tab A510 with an Nvidia Tegra 3 processor. It's also one of just a handful of Android devices running the latest build of Google's open source operating system, version 4.0, or more deliciously known as Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS).

The Iconia Tab A510 is a 10.1-inch tablet with 32GB of built-in storage. It doesn't have a so-called Retina-class display like the new iPad, though it does wield a 1280x800 screen resolution (16:10) and 85-degree viewing angle. The A510 also boasts a built-in micro HDMI port, micro USB 2.0 port, 1GB of RAM, microSD card reader, 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, 1MP front-facing camera, 5MP rear-facing camera with autofocus, and a 9800mAh battery good for up to 11 hours of video playback via Wi-Fi and up to 13 hours of video playback via local storage.

For those of you who plan to be productive in between sessions of Angry Birds and Facebooking, the A510 comes with the full suite of Polaris Office 3.5, which is compatible with Microsoft Office and allows reading and editing of various document formats. Acer's Air Print technology is also part of the deal and allows users to print wirelessly from their tablet.

You can preorder the Iconia Tab A510 now for $450, though Acer didn't say exactly when it will ship.

BBC iPlayer now available on Xbox

People can now view the BBC's iPlayer via Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, making the popular on-demand TV service available on all the UK's major gaming platforms.

The deal has taken three years to be agreed after Microsoft initially wanted to charge for all content.

The iPlayer, launched in 2007, is credited with kickstarting catch-up TV.

Xbox 360 users with Kinect will be able to control the iPlayer using hand gestures and voice recognition.
TV move
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“Start Quote

I can tell you the fight is already happening in my home for control of the Xbox”

Dave Price Head of BBC iPlayer

Dave Price, head of BBC iPlayer, said the move represented another stage in the platform's move from PC to TV.

"In 2011 we saw huge growth for BBC iPlayer on connected TVs - either through smart TVs, operator platforms or hooking up games consoles," he said in his blog.

According to the BBC, the iPlayer was viewed 433 million times on TV devices in 2011, which represents one in four requests. Mr Price estimates that by 2015, more than 50% of requests will be via TV devices, with gaming consoles an important part of that.

"We know the majority of games consoles are in the living room and connected to the TV... with the launch of BBC iPlayer on Xbox, we're excited to be unlocking a new audience... I can tell you the fight is already happening in my home for control of the Xbox! And my wife has never been interested in Call of Duty," he wrote.

Stephen McGill, director of Xbox and entertainment for Microsoft, said gaining iPlayer took its Xbox Live platform "to the next level".

It already carries content from Channel 4, Channel 5, Netflix, Love Film and Sky.
Sky next

The next announced platform for iPlayer is Sky's Anytime+ service. Sky has said that it will add the catch-up facility before the end of the year, but has not given a specific date.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has confirmed that it will not unveil details of the successor to the Xbox 360 in June.

Some gaming rumour sites had suggested that the firm would provide details of the upgrade at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles. Its rival Nintendo has already said it will show off its forthcoming Wii U at the gaming conference.

But Microsoft said it would not be discussing new hardware, and would instead focus on games, music and other entertainment for its current console.

Microsoft to launch Windows 8 in October

Microsoft will wrap up Windows 8 this summer, according to a report by Bloomberg on Monday.

Computer and tablet makers, known as OEMs for "original equipment manufacturers," will have Windows 8-powered PCs and tablets ready to sell in October, Bloomberg said.

The Windows 8 operating system will come in two flavors: Windows 8 for traditional PCs and business-grade slates and tablets, and Windows on ARM (WOA) for consumer tablets.

Microsoft declined to comment on the Bloomberg report, which cited what the news organization called "people with knowledge of the schedule," who asked for anonymity.

Neither a summer wrap-up or an October sales launch would be a surprise: Microsoft finished Windows 7 three years ago this July and launched that OS on Oct. 22, 2009. New PCs went on sale at the same time, just as the holiday shopping season was getting into gear.

Analysts have expected that Microsoft is shooting for a similar fall release of Windows 8, possibly in October, to follow in Windows 7's successful footsteps and avoid a repeat of the timing of Windows Vista, which missed 2006's holiday season when it fell behind schedule and didn't ship until January 2007.

Microsoft has not disclosed a release date for Windows 8 but recently hinted that it would be this year.

The release of Windows 8 Consumer Preview at the end of last month was a clue that a fall 2012 debut was in the cards.

Microsoft released the first Windows 7 developer-oriented build at the end of October 2008, offered a public beta in January 2009, and pushed the final version onto shelves the third week of October 2009.

Although Windows 8's Consumer Preview appeared about seven weeks later in the calendar than the Windows 7 beta -- at the end of February compared to the latter's early January -- Windows 8's Developer Preview launched a month earlier, in mid-September 2011, rather than Windows 7's October developer preview launch in 2008, perhaps making the two schedules a wash.

But at least one analyst wasn't buying the idea that October was a done deal.

"No, I don't think it's realistic," said Michael Cherry, an analyst with Kirkland, Wash.-based Directions on Microsoft, a research firm that tracks only Microsoft's moves, in an email reply to questions Monday. "While the Consumer Preview shows progress from the Developer Preview, it is still extremely rough, and many things are broken."

Cherry ticked off several problems he has encountered with the Consumer Preview, including an inability to link a Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard with a Windows 8 PC and the Metro-style Mail app not connecting to an Exchange server.

Although Steven Sinofsky, Microsoft's top Windows executive, made his reputation by keeping Office releases on schedule, Cherry said a stubbornness to ship Windows 8 on time, come hell or high water, may be the wrong move.

"I think it would be a mistake if they allowed themselves to be date driven," Cherry said. "One of the worst things that could happen, in my opinion, would be to ship a product for the holidays that disappoints in any way."

Microsoft, other analysts have said, is gambling big on Windows 8 -- "betting the farm," in the words of one -- because the upgrade's emphasis on touch and tablets risks alienating enterprise customers.

Although Microsoft needs to address its tablet problem -- it has nothing to compete with Apple's popular iPad, which entered its third generation last week amid record-setting sales -- analysts have argued that the touch-centric operating system will offer few reasons for businesses to upgrade their desktops and notebooks.

Apple Makes the Right Choice with its Cash Reserves

Investors eagerly awaited Apple CEO Tim Cook's announcement about how Apple would spend its gigantic cash stockpile. When Cook announced that he planned a stock buyback and a dividend, it confirmed that Apple remained on the right track. Apple had another possible choice to make -- spending the money to acquire other companies -- and I think Cook's decision not to spend the cash on buyouts right now was the correct one.

Apple's decision to hold a large cash stockpile was reasonable, and its competitor Microsoft is also well known for its large cash stockpile. Another software company could make Microsoft's office software and operating system dominance obsolete by capitalizing on the opportunities that the Web offers, so Microsoft needs a large enough cash reserve to keep the company running if it has to develop a new product line. Although Apple's March iPad launch shows that other tablet manufacturers currently pose little threat to the company, it needs to maintain some cash reserves in case another tablet or smartphone manufacturer has an unexpected success.

Apple doesn't need to make any acquisitions at the moment. An acquisition should offer a significant business advantage to the buyer, such as a new product line or lower materials costs. Spending $775 million to buy Kiva was the correct decision for Amazon, as the robots can help the online retailer reduce its warehouse bills, and Amazon was not known for manufacturing warehouse robots. Apple could potentially purchase a chip maker to reduce its materials costs, but it buys so many chips that it already has a great deal of leverage over many of its chip suppliers.

Apple's decision to avoid an acquisition also suggests that Tim Cook has not altered Apple's long-term marketing strategy. Apple succeeded in the tablet and smartphone markets by designing stylish products, which helped the company capture market share from established manufacturers. Apple maintained its design philosophy by using its cash reserves to design a better product, instead of purchasing another company and redesigning its products to fit Apple.

The decision to offer a dividend seemed somewhat inevitable. Apple's size may limit its growth potential somewhat, even though it reported extremely high growth in its last quarter. A dividend declaration offers another way to boost Apple's stock price and satisfy its investors, and the stock buyback should also make Apple investors happy.

Apple's plan to spend $45 billion over the next three years may not even reduce its cash reserves if its strong sales continue. Apple can easily afford to return $15 billion a year to its shareholders if it earns $33 billion a year in net income. Apple's press release does mention the possibility that Apple may cut its payout in future years if its sales weaken, although the iPad 3 sales figures show that Apple's customers currently remain loyal. Tim Cook's decision should help Apple maintain its performance in the future.