Category Archives: News

Google sends Microsoft a Demanding Letter

Microsoft v. Google

Just yesterday, Microsoft was sent a demanding letter from Google insisting that they remove the YouTube app from Windows Phone platforms.  The letter states:

“We request that you immediately withdraw this application from the Windows Phone Store and disable existing downloads of the application by Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  We were surprised and disappointed that Microsoft chose to launch an application that deliberately deprives content creators of their rightful earnings, especially given that Windows Phone 8 users already have access to a fully-functional YouTube application based upon industry-standard HTML5 through the Web browser.”

The letter stated violations of  YouTube and the YouTube App terms of service, including the blocking of advertisements – which is the way YouTube reaps revenue – allowing video downloads and playing videos that partners have blocked on certain mobile devices.

After Google’s demands became public, earlier today, Microsoft issued a statement:

“YouTube is consistently one of the top apps downloaded by smartphone users on all platforms, but Google has refused to work with us to develop an app on par with other platforms,” Microsoft said via a spokeswoman. “Since we updated the YouTube app to ensure our mutual customers a similar YouTube experience, ratings and feedback have been overwhelmingly positive. We’d be more than happy to include advertising but need Google to provide us access to the necessary APIs.”

The back-and-forth between these two large corporations has not ceased as of now.  Google’s current CEO, Larry Page, spoke out at his company’s I/O developers conference yesterday, threatening Microsoft for all of the “people milking off one company for their own benefit”,as he referred to Microsoft integrating Google Chat into its Outlook.com email service, while at the same time blocking efforts by others to tie into Skype. “We certainly struggle with people like Microsoft,” Page added.

Microsoft yesterday after Page’s bickering said that they looked forward to solving this matter together for Google and Microsoft’s mutual customers.

In fact, the two companies rely on each other more than the public dust-ups indicate. “There’s a lot of contested territory, but for Google to run their fundamental business model, they have to provide support for multiple platforms. So it’s not a zero-sum game. Windows benefits from YouTube on it, and Google benefits from YouTube on Windows,”  said Ezra Gottheil, analyst with Technology Business Research.

More info to come.  Keep posted!

~Michael~

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Nokia Releases Thinner, Lighter Lumia 925

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Image credit: Engadget

Today, Finnish phone company Nokia launched their brand-new flagship phone, the Lumia 925. It is an upgraded version of the Nokia Lumia 920, sporting a new aluminum body. Its internals are basically unchanged from the 900 – it has a 1.5 gigahertz dual-core Snapdragon processor, an 8.7 MP camera, and a 1280 x 768 screen resolution. The Lumia 925 will be available internationally, launching first in Europe and China in June and in the US shortly after that, with the carrier T-Mobile.

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Harvard Sells Apple Stock; Should You?

The University of Harvard has sold its stock in Apple Inc. The reasoning behind this was that the iPhone’s sales have dropped and share values have decreased since the record high was met in September. The University sold all its shares, each of which was valued at around $304,000. If you were the head of the richest University in the world has sold they’re stock in Apple, should you?

My advice would be to keep it. And that’s not just because I’m a total Apple freak, I have some valid points to back it up. First, Apple’s WWDC is coming up, and it is rumored that Apple will be releasing things like the iPhone 6S and the iPad Mini with Retina Display. These new products will definitely cause an increase in the share price.

Another reason you should not sell your stock in Apple is because even though the stocks are decreasing, Apple is still a very profitable company. They make a tremendous amount of money every year. This is why I believe you should not sell your stock in Apple.

One last thing, and this is heavily opinion. I am wondering, why would Harvard sell their stock so close to when Apple is releasing new products? Shouldn’t they have waited and sold after the new products were out to gain more money? Post in the comments why you think the University did what they did.

RUMOR: AMD to Release 5.0GHz (Really Fast) CPU

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The AMD FX-8350, AMD’s fastest CPU on the market today

There is a rumor in the news today, that AMD is developing a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that will be clocked at 5.0GHz

Now, if you don’t know much about the tech industry, and you don’t have a clue what 5.0GHz means, GHz relating to a CPU means the number of times a pin connecting the CPU to the rest of the computer turns off and on.  Giga is the Latin Prefix meaning billion, so 5.0GHz means for each pin in the chip (usually around 970 for AMD chips), each will be able to complete 5 billion on/off cycles a second.  That’s a lot.  Usually, most CPU’s will only complete 3 billion on off cycles.  Going to 5 billion though?  That’s a big step up.

The CPU is code-named “Centurion”, and starts out at a whopping $795.

It uses the same design process as its current top-of-the-line CPU, AMD FX-8350, “Vishera”, that CPU was launched last October.  That CPU has a base clock of 4.0GHz, and 4.2GHz when in “Turbo mode”.

The Centurion will be capable of speeds of 5.0GHz, air-cooled, but it is unknown if that’s the clock out of the box, or in its “Turbo” mode.

It is still unknown if this CPU will use the AM3+ socket, or a newer one specifically designed to fit this chip (AM4?).

What this could mean for the CPU market

The fastest Intel CPU on the market today comes out of the box with a base frequency a little under 4.0GHz.  If AMD released a 5.0GHz chip, that could move Intel to design and release a 5.0GHz CPU of their own.  Although, it is important to keep in mind that a chips frequency is not the only thing that matters, as its cache and number of cores also are very important.

One thing that could make this CPU popular among enthusiast PC users (people who want the BEST performance out of their machines) is that you could install a very beefy cooler (maybe liquid nitrogen?) and possibly overclock this CPU in excess of 6, or even 7GHz.

It is still unknown if this processor will be unlocked, but with a supposed price of $795, I would be surprised if it wasn’t.

Should you buy?

No.  At least not yet.  Unless you’re willing to drop nearly $800 for a CPU.  Besides, as with anything new in the tech market, 5.0GHz will eventually become the standard.  It might take a year, it might take three, but eventually the 5.0GHz mark will be very common when looking for CPUs.

Intel’s next line of CPU’s, code-named ”Haswell” are going to hit shelves this summer, and while it is unlikely that some of these will have clock speeds around 5.0GHz, they will be much closer to that threshold than “Ivy Bridge” (their current line of processors) was.

I can hardly wait to see how fast this chip is myself.  What do you think about it? Leave your reply in a comment below.

Boston Bombings: A Week of Terror

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This article was written by Allen and Stephen.

Last week, on Monday, April 15, two explosions shook participants in the Boston Marathon. It was a race commemorating the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shootings. But by the end of the day, more people became victims. The Boston Marathon had always been a symbol of the arrival of spring in the city. On that day, 23,000 runners ran the marathon.

Almost three quarters of them crossed the finish line when a bomb placed in a trash can exploded around 2:50pm on Boylston Street. Thirteen seconds later, another bomb went off. Pandemonium ran wild. Spectators fled one direction, while the rescuers rushed to help the injured. The runners stood on the street dazed, tired, and confused.

By the end of the day, 3 people were killed, and more than 170 people were injured. The FBI quickly arrived at the scene, and it was said that two other explosives that didn’t go of were found and safely disposed of. A fire started in the JFK library, but it was not directly associated with the bombings. The two bombs that did go off were IEDs, Improvised Explosive Devices. These bombs were made from pressure cookers packed with nail, pieces of metal and ball bearings.

President Obama quickly got on the news and made a speech, stating that ‘We will get to the bottom of this’. The president also said ‘Not to quickly jump to conclusions’, though it is something that American always tends to do. Major news outlets such as MSNBC and CNN were quick to express their opinions and hoped that the suspects were white, NRA members, and tea party activists. Other people who held press conferences were Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

The names of the victims were released on Tuesday: Martin Richard, an 8-year-old; Krystle Campbell, who was going to turn 30 in a few weeks; and Lingzi Lu, a Boston University student. On Wednesday, the news media jumped on reports that a suspect of the bombing had been arrested and was being taken to court. This turned out to be false. Thanks to surveillance videos from a local store and many pictures taken from the runners’ phones, the FBI was able to release pictures of the two suspects Thursday afternoon.

Thursday night, MIT police officer Sean Collier was found in his car, suffering from a gunshot wound, and later died of his wounds. The Boston police believed that it he was killed by the Boston bombers. Around midnight, a man who owned a black Mercedes SUV phoned 911 and reported his car was hijacked by two armed men. Thankfully, he had been released unharmed after about 30 minutes. The police chased the car through the streets of Watertown, a subdivision of Boston. Around 1 am on Friday, police and the two suspects engaged in a fierce firefight, and people in Watertown reported gunshots and explosions going on. Reinforcement police officers are called in, and a police helicopter came onto the scene.

Police spokesmen later said that the suspects were throwing bombs and grenades at them from the car, and Richard Donohue, a transit police officer, was seriously injured. Amid the gunfire, the older suspect was shot and killed, and what we now know was his brother got back into the car and fled the scene.

At 4:30 am, a press conference was held by Massachusetts State and Boston Police, who ordered people living in east Watertown to stay in their homes. This lockdown extended to the entire city of Boston an hour later, and all mass transit was stopped. Public schools were closed, and residents were urged to stay in their homes. At 8:30 am, as a result of more inspection of pictures and videos taken during the bombings and new facial recognition software, the FBI was able to confirm that the Boston bombers were brothers: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19 years old, and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, 26 years old.

Thus began a painstakingly long and difficult door-to-door search for Dzhokhar Tsarnaev by police, as he was still at large. After a long day of searching, the police got no further information as to where the younger suspect was. So, at 6:15 pm, Deval Patrick announced that the lockdown was being lifted and that residents may be allowed to leave their homes.

About an hour later, a resident of Watertown called 911 after finding a man in his boat in his backyard who appeared to have lost a lot of blood. Police converged on the area, and a firefight ensued. Gunshots were heard in Watertown and law enforcement officials asked citizens to return to their homes. At 8:40 pm, Dzhokhar Tsarneav, the surviving suspect, was taken into custody by the Boston police. Onlookers celebrated as police cars rolled down the streets of Watertown, and Tsarneav was transported to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with apparent wounds to his legs, neck, and hand. Shortly afterwards, the Boston Police Department tweeted:

CAPTURED!!! The hunt is over. The search is done. The terror is over. And justice has won. Suspect in custody.