By Cynthia Herbert :: 2:16 AM
Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the largest investor in Citigroup, has reportedly invested $300 million to buy a strategic stake in Twitter.
The prince’s investments include General Motors, News Corp. and Apple. He is the nephew of Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, and has been ranked as the richest Arab businessman in 2011 by Arabian Business magazine. His assets are valued at over $21 billion.
His holding company released the following statement regarding the transaction: “Our investment in Twitter reaffirms our ability in identifying suitable opportunities to invest in promising, high-growth businesses with a global impact.”
By Gilbert Falso :: 11:55 PM
The official Twitter account of North Korea, media outlet Uriminzokkiri (@uriminzok), is silent about the death of the country’s long-time reclusive leader, Kim Jong -il.
Jong-il, who had been in ill health following a stroke in 2008, died on Saturday, according to the country’s official news media reports. The New York Times writes that Korea’s Central television station reported, “Our great leader Comrade Kim Jong-il passed away at 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 17.â€
A check of the communist nation’s Twitter account as of 11:00 PM Eastern US time on December 18 shows no acknowledgement or announcement of the death. The last message, translated, reads: “As far as the public wants peace and stability on the outer surface of the demands and threatened to do . . . hooked up to the war and backstabbing as you run riot strained situation of the puppet authorities and the conservative south Korea strongly denounced inside and outside of all . . .” Earlier messages from the same day show no mention of Jong-Il’s passing either.
North Korea opened up its Twitter account in August 2010. The usually insular nation also has a YouTube presence as well as a Flickr account.
By Gilbert Falso :: 7:02 PM
The website Geek.com is reporting that Sprint is ordering all of their hardware manufacturing partners to remove the Carrier IQ software from Sprint devices
“We have weighed customer concerns and have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic data is no longer being collected,” said Sprint in an e-mailed release to press outlets.
Sprint again stated that the company is not using Carrier IQ to review the content of text messages, emails, photos or other information stored on handsets. Sprint has also told customers that the software has not been used for any targeted advertising or profiling of customer use patterns. The software’s sole purpose, according to Sprint, was to report on network issues and allow the company to improve network performance for customers.
Sprint’s actions come in the wake of U.S. Senator Al Franken’s inquiry into the tracking software found on all major phone carrier devices.
In a statement released on Friday, Franken says, “I’m still very troubled by what’s going on. People have a fundamental right to control their private information. After reading the companies’ responses, I’m still concerned that this right is not being respected. The average user of any device equipped with Carrier IQ software has no way of knowing that this software is running, what information it is getting, and who it is giving it to-and that’s a problem.â€
Franken is joined by his colleague, Delaware Senator Chris Coons, who also is concerned over reports that Carrier IQ has access to users information without their authorization.
By Cynthia Herbert :: 6:34 AM
Gamers in Japan flocked to the stores this weekend to pick up Sony’s new portable PlayStation Vita gaming system.
In the Ikebukuro shopping district of Tokyo, over 300 people lined up at a tech retailer early on Saturday morning so they could purchase the new system.
The Vita offers a touch screen interface with motion sensor technology, and is considered to be a successor to the PlayStation Portable (PSP). Users can connect over cellular networks and wi-fi, and take advantage of GPS-based location technology.
Sony is hoping that this will be the shot in the arm it needs to offset what is going on with the rest of its beleaguered business right now – the Tokyo-based company is looking at a $1-billion loss this fiscal year, it’s fourth in a row. Vita provides Sony with the largest product launch possibility since the PlayStation 3 console debuted five years ago.
Unfortunately, those of us in America won’t be able to help out Sony’s bottom line this holiday season – the Vita is not scheduled to go on sale here until late February.
By Gilbert Falso :: 3:09 AM
Have a kid in your life who would love to pick up the telephone and hear Santa Claus on the other end? Well thanks to the folks at Google and Gmail, you can arrange such a surprise this Christmas.
The search giant is allowing people to spread some holiday cheer to friends and loved ones with a personalized phone call or video from the big guy at the North Pole.
Point your browser to SendACallFromSanta.com and step through a series of questions to personalize your call. You’ll be able to select the gender, name, nickname, hobbies, favorite foods and toy requests for your recipient, as well as a few other parameters. You can also set the number that appears on the Caller ID. Here’s a tip – (726) 822-5287 – spells out “Santa Claus.” Just let the kids know that the 726 area code covers the North Pole!
After you’ve filled out all the information, you’ll have a chance to review the message and listen to it. As soon as you submit it, the phone will ring for your lucky little one. One word of warning – Google does add a short line about the call being sponsored by Gmail. Younger children might not notice, but if you have an older one, you might want to have a back story ready about Google’s involvement with Santa!