By Cynthia Herbert :: 6:22 AM
A photo leaked late this week online, apparently in a Facebook group, may hold the key to what the long-awaited next generation Samsung smartphone
Some things to note – the handset appears to have a 5-inch screen, and the home button is missing.
A few lucky people may be able to get their eyes, and perhaps their hands on this device in the coming week at CES in Las Vegas. Although Samsung is not officially unveiling or announcing the phone at this convention, an early prototype may be available to top industry executives and analysts. It is doubtful that it will be on public display in Samsung’s CES booth.
Some accounts claim that Samsung Electronics vice chairman Jay Lee will be at CES, and plans to personally show off the Samsung Galaxy S4 to partners and wireless carrier executives. In addition, the same report assumes that under the hood, the handset will sport a Samsung Exynos 5440 quad core processor.
A few more specifications that have been swirling around in the rumor mill include, 2GB of RAM, a full HD resolution (1080×1920) display, a 13 megapixel rear facing camera, a 2 megapixel front camera, and the unit will run Android 4.2.1 out of the box.
CES is coming up soon, we’ll have more details then.
By Gilbert Falso :: 4:54 am
Arizona state representative Michelle Ugenti (R) has proposed Arizona House Bill 2004, calling for the outlawing of online impersonation without permission and with malicious intent.
Critics of the bill are worried that it violates First Amendment Rights, and does not leave room for parodies.
The bill’s language makes it a felony offense to create a website or social networking profile in someone else’s name with the intention to “harm, defraud, intimidate or threaten” that person or others. It would be a misdemeanor for anyone to send an electronic message or text that appears to come from another person with an intention to harm or defraud.
Ugenti says she authored the bill after receiving a plea for help from a constituent who had been impersonated on Facebook and had both her reputation placed in jeopardy.
“The Internet has gone from a novelty to having a position of credibility, and it’s appropriate to have statutes that address it specifically,” Ugenti said to The Arizona Republic newspaper.
In 2012, Arizona passed a bill that outlawed online threats and harassment.
Ugenti has represented the 8th district of Arizona since January 10, 2011. She is a graduate of Arizona State University with a degree in Business Administration. Before entering politics, she worked as a real estate agent.
By Paul Thomson :: 11:49 PM
Leap Motion, a 3-D motion sensor manufacturer that produces an interface allowing users to interact with computers and other devices by gesturing in the air in front of them announced on Thursday that it has arranged for an additional $30 million in funding. In addition to the funding, the company also discussed the upcoming availability of Asus
Leap’s CEO, Michael Buckwald, made the following announcement:
Leap Motion is poised to fundamentally change human/computer interaction, and this new funding will help us bring our technology to the mass global market. With this influx of capital, coupled with the major OEM partnership we also announced today, we’re ready to make 2013 the year of the new interface.
Leap has seen growing demand for its technology since it was announced in May of 2012, and more than 40,000 developers have asked the company for developer units and support so they can create applications that take advantage of Leap’s features. The company has sent 12,000 developer kits to developers worldwide, and the Leap Motion controller is slated to ship with an application store where developers can put their work up for sale, and consumers can try out new uses for Leap Motion technology.
The funding for this recent round came from initial company investors. Leap Motion was founded in 2010 by Michael Buckwald and David Holz.
By Katherine McClosky :: 10:16 PM
Amazon’s new product aimed at parents of young children, Kindle FreeTime Unlimited
Many of the top names in child entertainment are included in Amazon’s offerings, including Sesame Street, Disney, PBS Kids, Nickelodeon, Marvel, and more. In total FreeTime Unlimited boasts over 1,500 offerings, including full seasons of many of the most popular children’s televisions shows currently on the air.
Shows and movies can be streamed over Wi-Fi, and can also be downloaded to the Kindle for offline use. In addition, FreeTime Unlimited subscribers are not limited on the number of free books they can read in a month, unlike other participants in Kindle’s Lending Library
As a special offer this month, if Kindle users activate FreeTime Unlimited before January 15, they will be eligible to receive a one-month free trial. After the free trial expires, Amazon Prime members can subscribe for $2.99 per month per child or $6.99 per month for up to six children on the plan. Non-Prime
By Gilbert Falso :: 9:52 PM
Users of new Windows OS phones recently discovered that using the Internet Explorer browser that came pre-installed on their devices prevented them from accessing Google’s maps site. When Windows Phone users tried to navigate to maps.google.com, they were instead abruptly redirected to the Google homepage, and Google Maps did not load.
Google has released a statement (below) that explains why it redirected Windows Phone users, and pledges to rectify the issue shortly:
We periodically test Google Maps compatibility with mobile browsers to make sure we deliver the best experience for those users.
In our last test, IE mobile still did not offer a good maps experience with no ability to pan or zoom and perform basic map functionality. As a result, we chose to continue to redirect IE mobile users to Google.com where they could at least make local searches. The Firefox mobile browser did offer a somewhat better user experience and that’s why there is no redirect for those users.
Recent improvements to IE mobile and Google Maps now deliver a better experience and we are currently working to remove the redirect. We will continue to test Google Maps compatibility with other mobile browsers to ensure the best possible experience for users.
Many Windows Phone users took to Twitter to voice their displeasure with Google’s move, immediately assuming that it was done by Google in retaliation against Microsoft for some unknown reason. Google’s statement offers some closure and evidence that this was not the primary reason behind their inability to access Google Maps.