Daily Archives: 5 October, 2010
HTC Desire HD UK release date officially announced
Desire HD to hit UK shelves next week
The upcoming HTC Desire HD handset has been given its official UK launch date as mobile network provider Vodafone makes the device available for pre-order ahead of an October 14th release, less than one month since its initial unveiling.
Available for free on a two year, £35 per month contract consumers eager to get their mitts on the latest HTC device will snag themselves 900 minutes, unlimited text messages and 750MB of monthly inclusive data when pre-ordered online.
Those users looking to do things the more traditional, highstreet way will be shorted with just 600 minutes and 500MB of inclusive data per month for the same contract length and pricing.
Panasonic Lumix Phone spied in the wild
New blower seen at CEATEC show in Japan?
The Panasonic Lumix Phone was teased by the Japanese giant last week. And while certain specs were handed over, no shots of the device itself were available for us to gawp at. Until now.
Engadget has managed to get some snaps of the new, camera-focused cell. It certainly looks old-school from the front, coming as it does with a slider mechanism and numeric keypad. If anything it looks like a sturdy but unspectacular Walkman phone.
Round the back is where it’s all kicking off though, with a 13.2 megapixel camera and what appears to be an epic, optical zoom. Sadly, Panny is keeping the Lumix phone under lock and key, so no one’s been able to give it a going over and check just what’s what.
Skype releases mobile application for Android users
Android joins iPhone with Skype addition
Android handset owners are to be offered the same VOIP features as their iPhone sporting counterparts as Skype finally releases its mobile application on Google’s Android Marketplace.
Available for Android devices running version 2.1 or above the Skype app will allow for free Skype-to-Skype calls over Wi-Fi and 3G connections as well as access to its IM chat service that allows multiple friends to communicate simultaneously.
As well as offering a host of calling and IM features, the now available and free to download app hosts the ability to sync Skype friends with the contact profiles of your phone’s address book.
Twitter founder Evan Williams steps down as CEO
The co-founder of social networking site Twitter is standing down as its chief executive.
Evan Williams, who has headed the company since 2008, is being replaced to allow him to focus on ways of making Twitter more profitable.
Announcing the decision on Twitter’s blog, Mr Williams said Twitter needed to “meet its potential as a profitable company”.
He will be replaced by the current chief operating officer, Dick Costolo.
Twitter has grown dramatically in recent years, with user numbers now topping 160 million, compared with three million two years ago.
But Mr Williams said that in order to continue to be successful, the company now needed to start converting that growth into profit.
“Growing big is not success in itself,” he said.
‘Important transition’
“Success to us means meeting our potential as a profitable company that can retain its culture and user focus while having a positive impact on the world. This is no small task.
“This is why I have decided to ask our COO, Dick Costolo, to become Twitter’s CEO. Starting today, I’ll be completely focused on product strategy.”
Mr Williams is the second of Twitter’s founders to have served as chief executive, having taken over from Jack Dorsey in 2007 when he moved to become the company’s chairman.
3D Technology: six of the best
From TVs to camcorders, 3D technology is coming down in price and growing in prominence
Asus 3D Laptop
As if to demonstrate how ubiquitous 3D technology is becoming, Asus’s laptop will soon be followed by a 3D Sony Vaio, too. So if you really can’t bear to be without video gaming on the train, you better put your glasses on. Best Buy; £1,699
Samsung TV and Blu-ray combination package
It makes sense to think about buying a TV and a new Blu-ray player together, both financially and technologically. This superb set-up is a £899.98 and includes a pair of glasses for viewing, too. With integrated Freeview HD, it is also able to make the most of the majority of TV programmes and films you’ll actually be watching, which are likely to continue to be in 2D for several years to come. In that sense, it’s the best of both worlds at a cracking price. Comet; £899.98
Sony PlayStation 3
The PlayStation is best known for being a video games console, but it’s increasingly becoming all the home entertainment system you need. There’s access to the BBC iPlayer, 3D Blu-ray playing and of course the minor matter of some top video games. It’s not the best Blu-ray player on the market, but it might just be the best value for money. Various; £249.99 (buy from Amazon.co.uk)
Philips PFL8605 TV
Philips’ 40” TV is stylish but also an impressive set to watch. The company’s ‘Ambilight’ projects a glow around the frame’s edge that produces an experience that is initially distracting but becomes a genuinely enhancing part of viewing. It needs a 3D upgrade kit, but for now that is true of a number of other sets as well. Once the technology is more comprehensively built in, 3D will take off even faster. At the moment, this set is a good all-rounder – it’s well worth shopping around online for the best price, too. Various; £1299 (buy from Amazon.co.uk)
Cyber-thieves stole $70 million, says FBI
WASHINGTON: The FBI and law enforcement agencies in Ukraine, the Netherlands and Britain are tracking down international cyber criminals who stole $70 million by using malicious software that captured passwords and account numbers to log onto online bank accounts.
At a press briefing Friday, the FBI said Operation Trident Breach began in May 2009 when agents in Omaha, Nebraska, were alerted to some of the stolen money, which was flowing in bulk payments to 46 bank accounts around the United States.
Ukrainian authorities have detained five people thought to have participated in some of the thefts and Ukraine has executed eight search warrants in the ongoing investigation.
Gordon Snow, the FBI’s assistant director in charge of the cyber division, said police agencies overseas were instrumental in finding criminals who designed the malicious software, others who used it and still others called “money mules,” who transferred the stolen funds to havens as distant as Hong Kong, Singapore and Cyprus.
Many of the victims were small- and medium-sized businesses that do not have the money to invest in high-level computer security.
On Thursday, 37 people were charged in papers unsealed in federal court in Manhattan with conspiracy to commit bank fraud, money laundering, false identification use and passport fraud for their roles in the invasion of dozens of victims’ accounts. Fifty-five have been charged in state court in Manhattan.
