Category Archives: Tech

Microsoft to acquire Nokia’s handset business for $7.2 bln

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HELSINKI: Microsoft Corp on Tuesday said it would buy Nokia’s mobile phone business for 5.44 billion euros ($7.2 billion), and the Finnish firm said its CEO, Stephen Elop, would join Microsoft when the transaction closed.

Finland’s Nokia, once the undisputed leader in mobile phones, has been struggling to respond to the challenge from smartphone makers such as Apple and Samsung .

Analysts say Elop’s bold bet in 2011 to adopt Microsoft’s untested Windows Phone software has yet to pay off.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014 and is subject to approval by Nokia’s shareholders and regulatory approvals. Nokia partnered in 2011 with Microsoft and uses Microsoft’s Windows software to run its mobile phones.

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Canon U.S.A. Announces New Cloud Connectivity App: PIXMA Printing Solutions

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New Canon PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520 Wireless Inkjet Photo All-In-One Printers Offer Robust Cloud Connectivity for Fast and Easy Access to Online Content

MELVILLE, N.Y., August 22, 2013 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, today announced two PIXMA Wireless1 Inkjet Photo All-In-One (AIO) printers, the PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520, featuring a new cloud-based PIXMA Printing Solutions (PPS) app2. With this innovative and user-friendly platform, users can access the cloud directly from their compatible printer, mobile device or tablet and easily print and scan images and documents directly from several of the most popular online services such as Facebook®, Twitter®, Flickr®, Dropbox™, Picasa Web Albums™, Evernote®, Photobucket®, Canon iMAGE GATEWAY3, Creative Park Premium and Creative Park.

The Canon PPS app offers a unique way to interact with the cloud to unlock important images and documents that otherwise have been trapped on mobile devices and popular online services. Free for users of compatible iOS and Android mobile phones and tablets, the app allows users to wirelessly print from a mobile device or tablet with wireless capability from almost anywhere. After registering with PIXMA Cloud Link, users can log into the cloud function of the app, and then can access their images and documents on the above-mentioned online services to print using intuitive menus determining paper type, size and whether to print bordered or borderless images. PPS enables users to print multiple document formats including Word, Excel, jpeg and pdf, without having the original software loaded on a device. For added functionality, users can access the PPS cloud platform through the menu selections on the PIXMA MG7120 and MG5520 printer’s interface as well.

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Wii U getting price cut September 20

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By Eddie Makuch,

32GB model dropping to $300 effective next month in US and Europe; Wii U Basic model will be phased out; Wind Waker HD bundle revealed.

The Wii U is getting a price cut on September 20.

Nintendo announced today that the struggling system will drop to $300 for the 32GB version in the United States and Europe. The $250 8GB Wii U Basic model will be phased out.

In addition to the price cut, there will be a new Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker HD Wii U bundle, which will debut on September 20.

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Steve Ballmer’s Mixed Legacy

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Gates’s Successor Helped Build Behemoth, but Missteps Leave Microsoft Vulnerable

By DON CLARK and SHIRA OVIDE

MSFT +7.29% Steve Ballmer tried new operating systems, new gadgets and new management structures. But the times caught up with a man who helped build one of the greatest companies of the 20th century.

Mr. Ballmer’s surprise retirement announcement Friday follows years of criticism about the waning growth and stagnant stock price of Microsoft, a force in the personal-computer era whose power was once so great that U.S. regulators sought to break up the company.

PC sales—the lifeblood of Microsoft’s business—are on a steady decline. Business and casual users alike are switching to devices and services offered by Apple Inc. AAPL -0.39% and Google Inc. GOOG -0.40%

Investors cheered the news, pushing Microsoft shares up 7%, or $2.36, to $34.75, in 4 p.m. trading Friday on the Nasdaq Stock Market.

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Read Steve Ballmer’s Retirement Announcement to Microsoft Staff

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By Tim Molloy

Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer announced his retirement Friday. Here is his email to employees:

I am writing to let you know that I will retire as CEO of Microsoft within the next 12 months, after a successor is chosen. There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction. You can read the press release on Microsoft News Center.

I am proud of what we have achieved. We have grown from $7.5 million to nearly $78 billion since I joined Microsoft, and we have grown from employing just over 30 people to almost 100,000. I feel good about playing a role in that success and having committed 100 percent emotionally all the way. We have more than 1 billion users and earn a great profit for our shareholders.

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Sorry, iPad Mini Fans–Once Again, Google Has The Better Tablet Than Apple

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Robert Hof

*Update: On reflection and the reasonable comment of a reader, I changed the headline to say Google has the “better” tablet, not the “hotter” tablet. In contrast to a year ago, when Google’s new Nexus 7 got attention for its smaller form factor and sold out (admittedly on an undisclosed level of sales), we can’t yet say the new Nexus 7 is “hotter.” But most reviewers seem to lean toward calling it the better one at this point in time.

As soon as Google GOOG -0.26% announced its new Nexus 7 small tablet on July 24, the natural question emerged: How does it stack up against the Apple AAPL +0.55%‘s industry-leading iPad mini?

The answer, according to a number of reviewers: Pretty darn well. In fact, several reviewers place the Nexus 7 ahead of the iPad mini, and at least one recommends it over the iPad mini thanks to a combination of features that beat its rivals’:

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Mozilla Readies Major Firefox Redesign As It Ponders What The Browser Of The Future Should Look Like

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Frederic Lardinois

“Maybe we shouldn’t even call it a browser anymore,” Mozilla’s VP of Firefox engineering Jonathan Nightingale told me a few days ago. “‘Browser’ is really an antiquated word. People don’t really browse all that much anymore.” Instead, he argues, we now mostly use our browsers to access sophisticated web apps, web-based productivity tools and social networks.

For browser developers, this means they have to start to rethink what their browsers should look like now that usage patterns have changed and that the majority of users have become pretty experienced Internet (and browser) users.

Australis: Simplicity Through Curvy Tabs

The project that has been guiding Mozilla’s exploration of what a modern browser should look like is Australis (because Mozilla apparently likes to name projects after star systems) and the fruits of this project will soon find their way into the Firefox release channels, starting with Nightly once it hits version 25 soon. After that, it will make its way through the usual release channels, though Nightingale told me that the team may hold it back from the stable channel a bit longer to ensure that everything works smoothly.

If you feel really adventurous, you can already install a version of Firefox from Mozilla’s relatively obscure UX branch and test it in its current state (but don’t blame us if it crashes a lot or shreds your hard drive).


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Galaxy S4 Mini gives Samsung’s flagship a smaller sibling

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The new Android phone has a smaller 4.3-inch screen and lower-end hardware, but it gets some of the higher-end model’s software.

by Stephen Shankland

Samsung announced its Galaxy S4 Mini on Thursday, delivering a smaller, lower-end cousin of its hot-selling high-end Android phone with a 4.3-inch screen.

The Korean electronics giant has been steadily pushing smartphone sizes larger, but not everyone is ready for a the 5-inch screen of a Galaxy S4. And the new model will ensure Samsung a place in the market for more cost-conscious buyers, though the company hasn’t yet said how much the device will cost or when it will go on sale.

Although the new phone has many of the S4’s software features — tools to take and organize photos, share content, translate text, and get travel assistance — the hardware is a step down.

The Mini model is lighter, at 3.8 ounces compared to 4.6 ounces for the S4 and packs a 1.7GHz dual-core processor instead of a 1.9GHz quad-core model. Its battery is rated at 1,900mAh instead of 2,600.

In addition, the S4 Mini has an 8-megapixel camera versus the S4’s 13 megapixels, although there’s a lot more to image quality than just pixel count.

“This new handset is the ideal smartphone companion for anyone who wants a compact device packed with innovation,” said Simon Stanford, vice president of the IT and mobile division for Samsung Electronics UK & Ireland.

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How Nintendo Can Win E3

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By Steve Peterson

Is there really such a thing as ‘winning’ E3? There is the external victory of being the thing most talked about in the mass media, in the game media, and on social media. Those are really three different audiences: The broadest possible audience of anyone who sees, hears or reads news; the audience of gamers who are always interested in game news, and hardcore Nintendo fans. Then there’s victory internally for Nintendo, by whatever standards it chooses to set. Ultimately, it’s the votes cast by consumers in the form of spending that counts.

Nintendo is heading into this E3 in a difficult position. Sales of hardware and software have not been meeting the company’s projections. CEO Satoru Iwata has gone on record that he intends to deliver a billion yen in profits for Nintendo this fiscal year, and implied that he may step down if that’s not achieved. This puts Nintendo in a difficult position for marketing strategy, since any marketing spending has to return a profit within the fiscal year. No long-term brand-building here; Nintendo will be looking for marketing efforts that can produce solid short-term results.


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Is Apple’s Patent Rejection Good News for Samsung?

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By Nathanael Arnold

Did the United States Patent and Trademark Office just hand Samsung (SSNLF.PK) more ammunition in the company’s patent-infringement battle against Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL)? The USPTO has issued a preliminary rejection of an Apple patent that covers a method for displaying translucent images over a base image.

This decision could negatively affect Apple’s ongoing legal battle with the South Korea-based smartphone maker. In April, the United States International Trade Commission ruled that Samsung had violated this particular patent by incorporating translucent buttons and a text selection feature into its Android-powered devices. Samsung has already forwarded the news of the USPTO’s decision to the ITC, reports FOSS Patents.

Apple’s patent, which is titled “Method and apparatus for providing translucent images on a computer display,” was rejected by the USPTO based on certain claims which it found to be anticipated or obvious. The USPTO based part of its rejection argument on the existence of a patent from 1996 which covered a similar method for displaying a translucent keyboard on touchscreen displays.


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