On Friday, Apple officially launched the iPhone Reuse and Recycle Program,
giving iPhone owners the option to trade in their old handsets for a
discount of up to $280 on the upcoming iPhone 5S or other new iPhone
models. The announcement first came in the form of a tweet from CNBC,
which confirmed with Apple that trade-in program will roll out in
nationwide on Friday and will require customers to leave the Apple Store
with a new contract in order to take advantage of the offer. Any model
of the iPhone can be traded in for store credit, but it is worth keeping
in mind that the potential savings will likely be only a fraction of
what other third-party companies can offer. Apple has partnered with Brightstar for the trade-in program in the U.S., and the initiative is expected to expand next month.
Source: BGR
Monday, September 16, 2013
Thursday, September 12, 2013
Apple announces iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, iOS 7 release date.
Apple unveiled an update to its popular smartphone on Tuesday at a
press event at the company's headquarters in Cupertino, Calif. The tech
giant announced the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C -- two very different
phones.
Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook started off by saying, "In the past, when we've launched a new iPhone, we lowered the cost of the old iPhone, making it more accessible to new people. But this year, we're not going to do that."
Instead, Apple introduced a lower-cost iPhone 5C alongside the iPhone 5S -- the company's flagship smartphone.
Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller took the stage to announce the iPhone 5C. The new device is made of plastic and has a 4-inch display. It has a hard-coated polycarbonate design, is steel reinforced and has a multi-band antenna. It comes in five colors: green, white, blue, pink, and yellow.
The iPhone 5C will cost $99 for a 16GB model or $199 for a 32 GB model, with contracts. A colorful variety of cases will cost $29. The iPhone 5C will go on sale on Sept. 20, with pre-orders starting on Sept. 13.
The iPhone 5S has a 4-inch display and comes in silver, gold and a color called space gray. The hardware has been upgraded to an A7 chip, and is the first smartphone to be 64-bits.
"The PC world made the transition from 32 bit to 64 bit and it took years. Today you're going to see that Apple is going to do it on one day," Schiller said.
Schiller says the iPhone 5S's CPU performs 40 times faster than the original iPhone. The new iPhone will also include a brand new chip called the M7, which is said to continuously measure motion data. The chip supports the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
Schiller says the iPhone 5S's battery life has improved, and will have 10 hours of LTE and Wi-Fi browsing, 40 hours of music and 250 hours of standby time.
The iPhone's camera is getting a major upgrade. Apple is increasing the pixels to 1.5u to capture more light. The camera will also autodetect white balance as soon as the app is launched, and include burst mode and true tone flash. It also features a new image stabilizer and slow-motion video.
Just as the rumors suggested, the new iPhone will include Touch ID -- a fingerprint sensor built into the home button. The sensor scans sub-epidermal skin layers and will have 360-degree readability. It is about 170 microns thin, with 500 ppi resolution. The fingerprint sensor can be used to unlock the iPhone or make purchases.
"Your fingerprint is one of the best passes in the world. It's always with you, and no two are exactly alike," Apple senior vice president Jony Ive said in a promotional video.
The iPhone 5S will come in three models: 16 GB for $199, 32GB for $299 and 64GB for $399, with a contract. The phone will go on sale on Sept. 20.
Apple also announced details of its completely redesigned mobile operating system, iOS 7, that will be ready for download on Sept. 18.
Source: CBShttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57602236/apple-announces-iphone-5s-iphone-5c-ios-7-release-date/
Apple chief executive officer Tim Cook started off by saying, "In the past, when we've launched a new iPhone, we lowered the cost of the old iPhone, making it more accessible to new people. But this year, we're not going to do that."
Instead, Apple introduced a lower-cost iPhone 5C alongside the iPhone 5S -- the company's flagship smartphone.
Apple senior vice president Phil Schiller took the stage to announce the iPhone 5C. The new device is made of plastic and has a 4-inch display. It has a hard-coated polycarbonate design, is steel reinforced and has a multi-band antenna. It comes in five colors: green, white, blue, pink, and yellow.
The iPhone 5C will cost $99 for a 16GB model or $199 for a 32 GB model, with contracts. A colorful variety of cases will cost $29. The iPhone 5C will go on sale on Sept. 20, with pre-orders starting on Sept. 13.
The iPhone 5S has a 4-inch display and comes in silver, gold and a color called space gray. The hardware has been upgraded to an A7 chip, and is the first smartphone to be 64-bits.
"The PC world made the transition from 32 bit to 64 bit and it took years. Today you're going to see that Apple is going to do it on one day," Schiller said.
Schiller says the iPhone 5S's CPU performs 40 times faster than the original iPhone. The new iPhone will also include a brand new chip called the M7, which is said to continuously measure motion data. The chip supports the accelerometer, gyroscope and compass.
Schiller says the iPhone 5S's battery life has improved, and will have 10 hours of LTE and Wi-Fi browsing, 40 hours of music and 250 hours of standby time.
The iPhone's camera is getting a major upgrade. Apple is increasing the pixels to 1.5u to capture more light. The camera will also autodetect white balance as soon as the app is launched, and include burst mode and true tone flash. It also features a new image stabilizer and slow-motion video.
Just as the rumors suggested, the new iPhone will include Touch ID -- a fingerprint sensor built into the home button. The sensor scans sub-epidermal skin layers and will have 360-degree readability. It is about 170 microns thin, with 500 ppi resolution. The fingerprint sensor can be used to unlock the iPhone or make purchases.
"Your fingerprint is one of the best passes in the world. It's always with you, and no two are exactly alike," Apple senior vice president Jony Ive said in a promotional video.
The iPhone 5S will come in three models: 16 GB for $199, 32GB for $299 and 64GB for $399, with a contract. The phone will go on sale on Sept. 20.
Apple also announced details of its completely redesigned mobile operating system, iOS 7, that will be ready for download on Sept. 18.
Source: CBShttp://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57602236/apple-announces-iphone-5s-iphone-5c-ios-7-release-date/
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
Twitter makes another big purchase.
The social media company announced late Monday it is buying MoPub, a
mobile-focused advertising exchange, in its fourth major purchase of
the year.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Published reports put the price at about $300 million or more, based an estimated values of Twitter's privately-held stock that is being used to make the purchase.
Twitter's statement said that MoPub's technology lets mobile application publishers manage their inventory of multiple sources of advertising.
Twitter, which is believed to be weighing an initial public offering some time in 2014, has been buying a number of tech startups as it tries to transform itself into more of a multimedia hub.
In February it agreed to buy Bluefin Labs, a Cambridge, MA, company that provides advertisers, ad agencies and TV networks with information about social media reaction to television shows.
In April Twitter announced the purchase of "We are Hunted," an Australian music streaming and recommendation service. That deal came a week before Twitter unveiled its own music app.
Last month it bought Trendrr, a New York based company that tracks social media activity around TV programming. The terms of those deal were also not disclosed.
Source: CNN
Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Published reports put the price at about $300 million or more, based an estimated values of Twitter's privately-held stock that is being used to make the purchase.
Twitter's statement said that MoPub's technology lets mobile application publishers manage their inventory of multiple sources of advertising.
Twitter, which is believed to be weighing an initial public offering some time in 2014, has been buying a number of tech startups as it tries to transform itself into more of a multimedia hub.
In February it agreed to buy Bluefin Labs, a Cambridge, MA, company that provides advertisers, ad agencies and TV networks with information about social media reaction to television shows.
In April Twitter announced the purchase of "We are Hunted," an Australian music streaming and recommendation service. That deal came a week before Twitter unveiled its own music app.
Last month it bought Trendrr, a New York based company that tracks social media activity around TV programming. The terms of those deal were also not disclosed.
Source: CNN
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Own an Apple device? Get ready for the iOS 7 release Tuesday.
Like it or not, your Apple mobile device is going to look and act differently within a few weeks.
On Tuesday, Apple will introduce the latest iPhone, and part of the tradition of the new device introduction is an operating system update that, at some point, most of us upgrade to. So even without springing for the new phone, your older iPhone gets a free new coat of paint — and potential pain — with tools in different places and different ways to access apps.
Unlike past upgrades, iOS 7 is a from-the-ground-up overhaul. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls it "the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone" in 2007.
Basic functions have been altered. For instance, to go from one e-mail to the next, instead of swiping to the left or right, you swipe upward and downward. For consumers, "It'll be a little shocking at first," says Evan Spiridellis, who runs the JibJab e-commerce company with brother Gregg. "It's a totally new feel."
Developer Joel Housman of Alexandria, Va., says consumers will also scream loudly, in the negative, upon the iOS 7 release, much as "every time Facebook makes an interface change, they complain about it."
It takes most consumers time to learn the intricacies of a new device, he says. The iOS overhaul will force folks "to learn how to do things differently" even on their current phones.
There are 600 million Apple mobile devices in use worldwide — including just over 60 million of last year's new model, the iPhone 5. So way more people will upgrade to the new operating system then pick up the new phone, which is expected to be in stores by the end of September. The last update was widely accepted: IOS 6 is installed on more than 93% of Apple devices, according to the company. The new update works on devices back to the iPhone 4, the iPad 2 and fifth-generation iPod Touch.,
Apple will begin reminding folks, when iOS 7 is available, that it's time to upgrade the software.
The iOS 7 launch comes in a year when Apple's once-strong lead over competitors has begun to fade. Google's Android — and the hot-selling Samsung Galaxy series of smartphones — now dominate worldwide, although the iPhone has the edge here in the United States.
Beyond a new coat of paint and stylistic upgrade that will see buttons and icons in new places, look for:
And Gregg Spiridellis says despite the pain some consumers might feel initially, it will be worth the upgrade. "It feels like you have a new phone," he says. "It's that freshness of getting something new, even though you didn't have to pay for it."
Source: USA Today
On Tuesday, Apple will introduce the latest iPhone, and part of the tradition of the new device introduction is an operating system update that, at some point, most of us upgrade to. So even without springing for the new phone, your older iPhone gets a free new coat of paint — and potential pain — with tools in different places and different ways to access apps.
Unlike past upgrades, iOS 7 is a from-the-ground-up overhaul. Apple CEO Tim Cook calls it "the biggest change to iOS since the introduction of iPhone" in 2007.
Basic functions have been altered. For instance, to go from one e-mail to the next, instead of swiping to the left or right, you swipe upward and downward. For consumers, "It'll be a little shocking at first," says Evan Spiridellis, who runs the JibJab e-commerce company with brother Gregg. "It's a totally new feel."
Developer Joel Housman of Alexandria, Va., says consumers will also scream loudly, in the negative, upon the iOS 7 release, much as "every time Facebook makes an interface change, they complain about it."
It takes most consumers time to learn the intricacies of a new device, he says. The iOS overhaul will force folks "to learn how to do things differently" even on their current phones.
There are 600 million Apple mobile devices in use worldwide — including just over 60 million of last year's new model, the iPhone 5. So way more people will upgrade to the new operating system then pick up the new phone, which is expected to be in stores by the end of September. The last update was widely accepted: IOS 6 is installed on more than 93% of Apple devices, according to the company. The new update works on devices back to the iPhone 4, the iPad 2 and fifth-generation iPod Touch.,
Apple will begin reminding folks, when iOS 7 is available, that it's time to upgrade the software.
The iOS 7 launch comes in a year when Apple's once-strong lead over competitors has begun to fade. Google's Android — and the hot-selling Samsung Galaxy series of smartphones — now dominate worldwide, although the iPhone has the edge here in the United States.
Beyond a new coat of paint and stylistic upgrade that will see buttons and icons in new places, look for:
- Instant app updates. In the past, you had to manually update each app when changes were offered. Now they'll be done automatically in the background.
- Control Center. The eight most commonly used features will reside on the Control Center screen, which can be accessed by one quick swipe. So instead of going to the Settings icon, opening it up and turning on Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, you'll find those options in Control Center, along with Flashlight, Camera, clock and calculator.
- Instagram-like features in the camera app. Filters to pretty-up photos are added, along with the ability to shoot photos in a square format. That means you won't have to crop your pictures anymore for inclusion in Instagram.
And Gregg Spiridellis says despite the pain some consumers might feel initially, it will be worth the upgrade. "It feels like you have a new phone," he says. "It's that freshness of getting something new, even though you didn't have to pay for it."
Source: USA Today
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
The end of driving as we know it...welcome Google's robo car.
Google's self-driving car initiative is moving into a new phase: reality.
Three years after first showing the world what it was up to - rolling out a Toyota Prius with laser scanning hardware awkwardly perched on the roof - Google is moving its big idea out of the lab and into the real world.
Consider recent developments: A spokesman confirmed to CNET that the company was in what were described as productive talks with automakers involving Google's self-driving technology.
Separately, Google is reported to be crafting a partnership with auto supplier Continental. And there's even the possibility of Google-powered robo-taxis sometime in the future.
Where is this all leading? The answer, naturally, is complicated. After all, we're talking about an effort to force the biggest change in the auto industry since the first Model A drove out of Henry Ford's factory a century ago. And the automakers aren't about to let Google plow through their turf unless it helps their businesses. They have their own plans with self-driving cars, and some execs scoff at Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wide-eyed remarks about making self-driving cars commercially available by 2017.
"We do not think someone will have a fully autonomous production vehicle that soon," said Daniel Flores from General Motors' advanced technology group. "Vehicles that can drive themselves are years - maybe decades - away. The technology will develop in steps to allow the vehicle to do more and act incrementally as sensors get more robust and costs come down."
That might be, but such talk isn't about to diminish Google's ambitions. Google is leading the charge on this one. It's prodding the auto industry - not to mention regulators and the insurance business - to push the whole effort at a Silicon Valley pace.
Already Nevada, Florida, and California have legalized driverless car testing on public roads, with a lobbying nudge from Google. And although plenty of other efforts are under way - from GM to Nissan and Audi - Google has the highest profile, something that surely rankles the old guard.
"Google's embarrassed the car industry by getting out ahead on this and getting all the attention," said Roger Lanctot, an automotive analyst with Strategy Analytics.
"They're trying to free people's time so they can dedicate themselves to the Internet and Googling around," said Alberto Broggi, an autonomous vehicle researcher and professor of computer engineering at the University of Parma in Italy. "They're motivated by great innovation, but the bottom line...is business."
Source: CNET
Three years after first showing the world what it was up to - rolling out a Toyota Prius with laser scanning hardware awkwardly perched on the roof - Google is moving its big idea out of the lab and into the real world.
Consider recent developments: A spokesman confirmed to CNET that the company was in what were described as productive talks with automakers involving Google's self-driving technology.
Separately, Google is reported to be crafting a partnership with auto supplier Continental. And there's even the possibility of Google-powered robo-taxis sometime in the future.
Where is this all leading? The answer, naturally, is complicated. After all, we're talking about an effort to force the biggest change in the auto industry since the first Model A drove out of Henry Ford's factory a century ago. And the automakers aren't about to let Google plow through their turf unless it helps their businesses. They have their own plans with self-driving cars, and some execs scoff at Google co-founder Sergey Brin's wide-eyed remarks about making self-driving cars commercially available by 2017.
"We do not think someone will have a fully autonomous production vehicle that soon," said Daniel Flores from General Motors' advanced technology group. "Vehicles that can drive themselves are years - maybe decades - away. The technology will develop in steps to allow the vehicle to do more and act incrementally as sensors get more robust and costs come down."
That might be, but such talk isn't about to diminish Google's ambitions. Google is leading the charge on this one. It's prodding the auto industry - not to mention regulators and the insurance business - to push the whole effort at a Silicon Valley pace.
Already Nevada, Florida, and California have legalized driverless car testing on public roads, with a lobbying nudge from Google. And although plenty of other efforts are under way - from GM to Nissan and Audi - Google has the highest profile, something that surely rankles the old guard.
"Google's embarrassed the car industry by getting out ahead on this and getting all the attention," said Roger Lanctot, an automotive analyst with Strategy Analytics.
Let's not lose sight of something else: Anyone who's watched Google's swift rise in its 15 year history knows there's also a big potential side benefit. Google talks about making the roads safer, but the company's core business has plenty to gain from freeing up drivers from that task of, well, driving. How much? Americans on average spend 18.5 hours a week in a car, which adds up to a lot of time they could be checking Gmail, editing Google Docs, watching YouTube videos, and clicking ads.
Source: CNET
Friday, August 30, 2013
New York Times hit with malicious attack.
A tweet from the official Times Twitter account was directing readers to an alternative website, news.nytco.com, if they were having difficulties accessing the main site at nytimes.com. Readers in Europe and Asia were reporting problems Wednesday.
Marc Frons, chief information officer at the Times, told employees Tuesday that the outage was the result of an attack on Melbourne IT, the company's domain name registrar, according to the New York Times.
Frons told the Times that the hacktivist group Syrian Electronic Army was responsible for the attack, "or someone trying very hard to be them." The Syrian Electronic Army is a group of hackers aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The group sent a tweet claiming responsibility for the Times attack, and SEA also claimed that it took over Twitter's own domain on Tuesday afternoon.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into the website disruption, a law enforcement official told CNN. The "preliminary inquiry" is still in its early stages, the official said.
The Times did not reply to a request for comment.
Two weeks ago, Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for hacking Outbrain, a news recommendation engine that appears on websites including The Washington Post, CNN and Time. The hacked news links were redirecting to a site controlled by the hacking group, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has taken credit for several recent cyberattacks.
The New York Times' own website had suffered an outage the day before the Outbrain hack, prompting speculation that hackers were responsible, but a spokeswoman for the paper said that outage was the result of complications associated with a scheduled maintenance update.
Source: New York Time
Marc Frons, chief information officer at the Times, told employees Tuesday that the outage was the result of an attack on Melbourne IT, the company's domain name registrar, according to the New York Times.
Frons told the Times that the hacktivist group Syrian Electronic Army was responsible for the attack, "or someone trying very hard to be them." The Syrian Electronic Army is a group of hackers aligned with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
The group sent a tweet claiming responsibility for the Times attack, and SEA also claimed that it took over Twitter's own domain on Tuesday afternoon.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has begun looking into the website disruption, a law enforcement official told CNN. The "preliminary inquiry" is still in its early stages, the official said.
The Times did not reply to a request for comment.
Two weeks ago, Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for hacking Outbrain, a news recommendation engine that appears on websites including The Washington Post, CNN and Time. The hacked news links were redirecting to a site controlled by the hacking group, which supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has taken credit for several recent cyberattacks.
The New York Times' own website had suffered an outage the day before the Outbrain hack, prompting speculation that hackers were responsible, but a spokeswoman for the paper said that outage was the result of complications associated with a scheduled maintenance update.
Source: New York Time
Thursday, August 29, 2013
The "Tech Tax" has hit Massachusetts, and will surely impact your business. Help us take action now!
Massachusetts now has the
highest and most aggressive technology tax in the nation at 6.25%. This
is one
time that being ranked #1 is not a good thing for anyone. This tax
impacts many
areas of information technology, including website development, software
use and
development, just to mention a few. It also applies to installing and
configuring personal and business computers, servers, network devices,
virus scanning
software, Microsoft office software and much more where you will be
taxed for
both the software and now labor necessary to install and configure it.
Effective July 31st, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue has applied sales and use tax (6.25%) to previously untaxed computer/software services. Known colloquially as the "tech tax," these new taxable services include: the installation of computer systems (including servers, PCs, switches, firewalls, routers, etc), the planning, consulting, or designing of computer systems, and the installation, modification, or adaptation of most software. This new tax on technological services was written into the legislature, sections 48 and 49. An Act Relative to Transportation Finance.
Unfairly targeting the Information Technology industry, and completely unrelated to Transportation Finance, this new "tech tax" legislature is poorly written, poorly timed, and, as many argue, too reminiscent of previously failed attempts in this state to impose sales tax on services. Not to mention it has a potentially crippling effect on small businesses in Massachusetts.
We are working with our state representative and local groups to petition the State to repeal/revise this tax. The Mass High Tech Council has teamed up with The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation to further push for a repeal. There are also several blogs devoted to cataloging the repeal progress, including No Tech Tax and Repeal The IT Service Tax.
How the New "Tech Tax" Affects You
The DOR has issued guidelines and a FAQ explaining the new taxable services vs. nontaxable services. Please look at this to determine how you will be impacted. This means that any computer/software services performed after July 31, 2013 and falling under the new taxable definitions set forth by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue will be subject to an additional 6.25% sales tax.
What You Can Do
We understand the impact that this service tax will have on your business and personal computer services. If you wish to join us in a repeal effort, we recommend adding your signature to this online petition to help repeal this new law.
Please join me, John, and our IES family in the campaign to repeal this discriminatory sales tax: http://chn.ge/15jZmMV
Effective July 31st, the Massachusetts Department of Revenue has applied sales and use tax (6.25%) to previously untaxed computer/software services. Known colloquially as the "tech tax," these new taxable services include: the installation of computer systems (including servers, PCs, switches, firewalls, routers, etc), the planning, consulting, or designing of computer systems, and the installation, modification, or adaptation of most software. This new tax on technological services was written into the legislature, sections 48 and 49. An Act Relative to Transportation Finance.
Unfairly targeting the Information Technology industry, and completely unrelated to Transportation Finance, this new "tech tax" legislature is poorly written, poorly timed, and, as many argue, too reminiscent of previously failed attempts in this state to impose sales tax on services. Not to mention it has a potentially crippling effect on small businesses in Massachusetts.
We are working with our state representative and local groups to petition the State to repeal/revise this tax. The Mass High Tech Council has teamed up with The Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation to further push for a repeal. There are also several blogs devoted to cataloging the repeal progress, including No Tech Tax and Repeal The IT Service Tax.
How the New "Tech Tax" Affects You
The DOR has issued guidelines and a FAQ explaining the new taxable services vs. nontaxable services. Please look at this to determine how you will be impacted. This means that any computer/software services performed after July 31, 2013 and falling under the new taxable definitions set forth by the Massachusetts Department of Revenue will be subject to an additional 6.25% sales tax.
What You Can Do
We understand the impact that this service tax will have on your business and personal computer services. If you wish to join us in a repeal effort, we recommend adding your signature to this online petition to help repeal this new law.
Please join me, John, and our IES family in the campaign to repeal this discriminatory sales tax: http://chn.ge/15jZmMV
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