Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts

Take-Two delays launch of Grand Theft Auto V video game






(Reuters) – Take-Two Interactive Software Inc said on Thursday it has pushed back the launch of the latest game from its hit “Grand Theft Auto” franchise to September 17 from its previously announced release window of spring 2013.


Shares of Take-Two were down six percent at $ 12.31 in early afternoon trading on the Nasdaq.






The delay was to allow Take-Two’s Rockstar Games studio, which develops “Grand Theft Auto” games, additional development time, the video game company said.


Grand Theft Auto V” will be released worldwide for Microsoft Corp‘s Xbox and Sony Corp‘s PlayStation3 game consoles on September 17, the company said.


The action-adventure game lets players complete criminal missions in urban settings. The franchise’s last title “Grand Theft Auto IV” has sold over 25 million units since its release in 2008.


Grand Theft Auto V is set in a fictional city inspired by present-day Southern California.


The delayed launch pushes earnings from Grand Theft Auto V sales from June to September, Sterne Agee analyst Arvind Bhatia said. The new title of the massively popular franchise has the potential to rake in close to $ 1 billion in retail sales and sell 15 to 20 million units, according to Bhatia.


“It adds to their development cost and it’s launching closer to what we think is going to be a period where new consoles will be coming out and there will be more competition from other titles,” Bhatia said.


The video game industry has been struggling to cope with flagging sales over the last year. Analysts say consumers are holding back from buying hardware and software as they wait for rumored next-generation versions of Sony Corp’s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp’s Xbox, expected later this year.


The delay could mean Take-Two is possibly creating a “cross-generation” title that could work on current and next-generation consoles, said analyst Mike Hickey of National Alliance Capital Markets.


“Remember, Xbox signed an exclusive deal with Rockstar at the beginning of the prior cycle for episodic content, and Sony provided exclusive resources for the completion of Grand Theft Auto IV,” Hickey said.


(Reporting by Malathi Nayak in San Francisco; Editing by Leslie Adler and Alden Bentley)


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FTC issues guidelines for mobile applications






WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Trade Commission has issued a wide-reaching set of new guidelines for makers of mobile platforms and developers of applications for mobile telephones and tablets to safeguard users’ privacy.


The non-binding guidelines, published in a report on Friday, include the recommendation that companies should obtain consumers’ consent before including location tracking in software and applications, consider developing icons to depict the transmission of user data, and consider offering a “Do Not Track” mechanism for smartphone users.






The report also recommended that application developers have an easily accessible privacy policy, obtain consent before collecting and sharing sensitive information and consider participating in self-regulatory programs.


The FTC has been heightening its scrutiny of mobile devices, which are now the primary source of communication and Internet access for many users.


Among the companies who could be affected by the report are firms like Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp.


(Reporting By Patricia Zengerle; Editing by Sandra Maler)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Hackers target Twitter, access about 250,000 user accounts






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Anonymous hackers have targeted Twitter this week and gained access to roughly 250,000 user accounts though only “limited information” such as email addresses was compromised, the microblog said on Friday.


Twitter has already reset passwords for affected users, and will notify them soon, it said in a blog post. The cyberattacks come days after the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal revealed they had been the target of a well-coordinated hacking effort.






“This attack was not the work of amateurs, and we do not believe it was an isolated incident,” Twitter said. “The attackers were extremely sophisticated, and we believe other companies and organizations have also been recently similarly attacked.”


(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Gary Hill)


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Online bingo shows its worth at Rank






LONDON (Reuters) – It may lack the noisy camaraderie of a trip to the bingo hall, but the online version of the numbers game has proved more profitable for Britain‘s Rank Group than the original.


The merits of the online business were further emphasized when Rank said a snowy January had cost it 3 million pounds ($ 4.7 million) in revenue as Britons opted not to venture out to its bingo halls and casinos.






Operating profit from online bingo was 11.4 million pounds, just beating the 11.1 million earned from the venues themselves.


The company, majority owned by Malaysia’s Guoco, reported a 4 percent decline in pretax profit to 31.3 million pounds in the six months to December, with its loss-making Blue Square betting business proving a drag.


Many parts of Britain have seen heavy snow over the last two weeks and there are fears that the bad weather will hit economic activity and push the country back into recession.


Pub groups Enterprise Inns and Mitchell & Butlers both said the recent cold snap had hit sales.


“Allowing for the slow start to the second half we remain confident in our prospects for the remainder of the year and in our longer-term growth strategy,” Rank Chief Executive Ian Burke said.


Rank’s main activities are in Britain where it runs 35 Grosvenor Casinos and more than 100 Mecca bingo clubs.


Profits growth in its online bingo business mirrors that in the gambling industry as a whole where online betting is the fastest growing part of the market, helped by the popularity of smart phones and tablets.


However, Rank has said it is reviewing the future of its own struggling online betting business Blue Square, a relative minnow in a crowded sector.


“We felt the losses were not losses we could continue to sustain,” said Burke.


Blue Square reported an operating loss of 4.8 million pounds in the six months and Rank has now cut its spending on marketing the business.


“There were 11 or 12 competitors advertising and that spending just wasn’t cutting through,” said Burke.


He declined to comment further on the future of the business pending completion of the review.


Rank is awaiting regulatory clearance for a planned 205 million pound deal to buy the casino business of Gala Coral.


A preliminary report by the Competition Commission said Rank could have to sell six casinos to get the deal approved.


($ 1 = 0.6332 British pounds)


(Editing by Louise Ireland and Brenda Goh)


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Rape trial of teenaged football players to be open to public: Ohio judge






(Reuters) – The controversial trial of two high school football players accused of raping a classmate will remain open to the public and will not be relocated to another town, an Ohio judge ruled on Wednesday.


Prosecutors and an attorney representing the accuser had sought a closed trial, arguing that public access to the juvenile trial would subject the accuser to unwanted publicity and make potential witnesses reluctant to testify.






Visiting Hamilton County Judge Tom Lipps said the presence of the media would prevent inaccurate reporting and enhance public confidence in the juvenile justice system, according to his written ruling, a copy of which was seen by Reuters.


“An open hearing is especially valuable where rumors, mischaracterizations and opinions unsupported by facts have reportedly been repeated in social media postings and other published outlets,” Lipps wrote. “An open hearing will diminish the influence of such postings and publications.”


Prosecutors have accused Ma’Lik Richmond and Trent Mays, both 16, of raping a classmate at a party attended by many teammates last August in Steubenville, a close-knit city of 19,000 near the Pennsylvania border.


The case attracted national attention after the hacker activist group Anonymous publicized a picture of two young men carrying a girl by her wrists and ankles and released a video showing other young men joking about the alleged assault.


Richmond’s lawyer, Walter Madison, said previously on CNN that his client was one of the young men in the photograph – which he said was taken out of context – but does not appear in the video. A lawyer for Mays has not publicly commented on the postings.


Community leaders have accused authorities of protecting the school’s popular football program by not charging more players who could have prevented the alleged attack.


Lipps also ruled on Wednesday that the trial will remain in Steubenville. He set a trial date for March 13.


Reuters generally does not identify people who say they have been victims of sex crimes.


(Editing by Paul Thomasch, Bernard Orr)


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BlackBerry 10 said to be inadequate for helping RIM overcome its ‘demons’






After hitting a seven-year low of $ 6.22 this past summer, shares of Research in Motion (RIMM) have rebounded and climbed more than 100% in the past six months. The company that was previously written off by Wall Street investors has seen a significant boost in recent months as anticipation grows for its BlackBerry 10 operating system. But while a number of analysts have voiced their support for RIM, not everyone is convinced.


[More from BGR: Apple’s 128GB iPad shows the world exactly what Apple does best]






Jan Dawson of Ovum explained, per Benzinga, that RIM continues to “face the twin demons of consumer-driven buying power and a chronic inability to appeal to mature market consumers,” and he believes BlackBerry 10 won’t change this. The analyst said that due to a strong user base of 79 million subscribers and profitability still in the black, the company will remain for years to come. He was quick to note, however, that its glory days are in the past and “it is only a matter of time before it reaches a natural end.”


[More from BGR: Apple unveils new 128GB iPad]


Dawson previously wrote that RIM’s strategy seems to be focused on building the best devices for current BlackBerry users “rather than something that will necessarily win converts from other platforms.”


“The points of differentiation RIM has focused on in teasers for the new platform confirm this – better multitasking, productivity, email, contacts and calendar applications and so on, rather than a better gaming, content consumption or social networking experience,” he said.


Shares of RIM are down more than 6% on Monday, a day before the company is set to unveil its BlackBerry 10 operating system.


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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Yahoo revenue rises on search advertising






(Reuters) – Yahoo Inc posted a 4 percent gain in net revenue to $ 1.22 billion in the fourth quarter, when an increase in search advertising sales offset weakness in the Web portal’s display ad business.


The company forecast net revenue — which excludes fees shared with partner websites — of $ 1.07 billion to $ 1.1 billion in the current quarter, trailing the $ 1.1 billion that Wall Street analysts expect on average.






Shares in Yahoo, which is trying to stave off declines across much of its business and revive growth, were up 1.5 percent in after hours trade. They had risen 4.5 percent before the revenue projections were disclosed on an analysts’ conference call.


“We got the revenue acceleration we were hoping for. Display was down, but search is doing better” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst at B. Riley Caris.


“As long as in the near-term things are not bad, I think the stock will generally act positively while we wait for Marissa Mayer to deliver,” said Sinha.


The company said on Monday its fourth-quarter net income was $ 272.3 million, or 23 cents per share, versus $ 295.6 million, or 24 cents per share in the year-ago period.


Excluding certain items, Yahoo said it had earnings per share of 32 cents, versus the average analyst expectation of 28 cents according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.


Chief Executive Marissa Mayer is moving to revive the company’s fortunes after several years of declining revenue. Yahoo’s stock has risen roughly 30 percent since she became CEO, reaching its highest levels since 2008.


Yahoo said it repurchased $ 1.5 billion worth of shares during the fourth quarter. Shares in the company were up 1.5 percent at $ 20.61 in extended trading from a close of $ 20.31 on the Nasdaq.


(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)


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Apple will reportedly launch its fifth-generation iPad in October






Although previous reports indicated that Apple (AAPL) would release its fifth-generation iPad alongside a new iPad mini with Retina display in March, a new report from Jeremy Horwitz of iLounge, claims the newest iPad will be announced in October instead. Horwitz said that he “had the opportunity to inspect a supposedly accurate — and seriously intriguing — physical model of the completely redesigned fifth-generation iPad.” He noticed that the design of the new tablet takes many cues from the iPad mini, which others have reported as well, and includes “virtually no left or right bezels.”


[More from BGR: Unlocking your smartphone will be illegal starting next week]






Horwitz added that it will have “the same chamfered edges and curves” as the iPad mini, only stretched, and will likely include Sharp’s IGZO display technology and smaller chip components.


[More from BGR: The Boy Genius Report: Apple’s iMac takes desktop crown]


He also reported details about the iPhone 5S, which he claims will look similar to the iPhone 5, although it will include a larger rear flash. Horwitz said the smartphone will launch this year, as will a “low-cost” plastic-bodied iPhone, which is being developed with China Mobile in mind.


Lastly, Horwitz reported that another early prototype with a 4.7-inch display has been floating around, however it is not expected to be released in 2013.


“It might never make it to market, and plenty could change before it does,” he said, “Consider it Apple’s ‘just in case / Plan B’ hedge against ever-growing Android phone screen sizes.”


This article was originally published on BGR.com


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Vine Is Teaching Everyone This Terrible Habit






“No more vertical videos.” – Joan Crawford’s message for the digital generation.


Twitter’s new snap-and-share video service, Vine, has forced users to break the first rule of iFilm making: never shoot vertical videos.






[More from Mashable: 10 Awesome Pranks to Play On Your Facebook Friends]


SEE ALSO: Vine Mania! 10 Creative Vines on Twitter

Of course, Vine’s videos appear as a square, so you could argue it doesn’t really matter. But after years of comment shaming and PSAs to break novice video shooters of this deplorable habit, will Vine reverse all the progress made?


[More from Mashable: Vinepeek Opens a Window on the World, Six Seconds at a Time]


BONUS: How to Use Vine


Click here to view the gallery: How To Use Vine


Mashable image


This story originally published on Mashable here.


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BlackRock to buy $80 million Twitter stake: source






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – BlackRock, the world’s largest asset management company, has taken an $ 80 million stake in Twitter Inc, a person with knowledge of the deal said Friday.


The six-year old social media company will not raise new capital as part of the private deal that values the firm at more than $ 9 billion. BlackRock will buy shares directly from early Twitter employees seeking to liquidate their stock holdings and options.






Twitter’s new valuation represents a slight rise from late 2011, when the company facilitated a similar tender offer with Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia that valued the company at a reported $ 8.4 billion.


Twitter sought investors for another tender offer last summer in the wake of Facebook Inc‘s botched initial public offering in May, but did not complete the deal until recently, according to people with knowledge of the situation.


In recent years other tech companies including Facebook, Groupon Inc and SurveyMonkey have used similar transactions to cash out existing employees and delay an initial public offering. Twitter itself is rumored to be a potential IPO prospect within two years.


Several hundred Twitter employees, including many who joined the company before 2009, will be eligible to sell their shares as part of the transaction.


(Reporting By Gerry Shih; editing by Andrew Hay)


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Beyond Google Fiber: Google looks to create its own experimental wireless network







Look out, wireless carriers: Google (GOOG) may have its eye on shaking up your business as well. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google “is trying to create an experimental wireless network covering its Mountain View, Calif., headquarters” that “could portend the creation of dense and superfast Google wireless networks in other locations that would allow people to connect to the Web using their mobile devices.” But before anyone gets too excited about “Google Wireless” coming to their neighborhoods, the Journal notes that documents Google filed with the Federal Communications Commission show that the network will “use frequencies that wouldn’t be compatible with nearly any of the consumer mobile devices that exist today, such as Apple’s (AAPL) iPad or iPhone or most devices powered by Google’s Android operating system.” So for now it looks as though Google’s wireless network is still squarely in the experimental phase and won’t be rolling out across the country anytime soon.


[More from BGR: Unlocking your smartphone will be illegal starting next week]






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Google dominates the mobile app market, has 5 of the top 6 apps in the U.S.







Wondering why Apple (AAPL) is sinking so much effort into building its own Maps application? Because it doesn’t want Google (GOOG) to gobble up all the revenue from big-name mobile applications. ComScore has published its most recent monthly review of the top iOS and Android apps in the United States ranked by unique visitors and has found that Google captured 5 of the top 6 spots with Google Maps, Google Play, Google Search, Gmail and YouTube. In fact, Facebook (FB) was the only non-Google app to crack the top 6, although it also had the benefit of being the most-visited app in the entire country by a margin of more than 10 million unique visitors. iTunes was the only Apple app to crack the top 10, meanwhile, as it ranked eighth with roughly 46 million unique visitors last month.


[More from BGR: As data gets cheaper for Verizon to transmit, customers are paying more]






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Google’s fourth quarter results shine after ad rate decline slows






SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – Revenue from Google Inc’s core Internet business outpaced many analysts’ expectations during the crucial holiday quarter and advertising rates fell less than in previous periods, pushing its shares up more than 4 percent.


The world’s largest Internet search company introduced new product listings during the fourth quarter – typically its strongest – and also benefited from business growth in international markets, analysts said.






Excluding traffic-acquisition costs, the business generated net revenue of $ 9.83 billion, up from $ 8.13 billion a year earlier, Google reported on Tuesday. That surpassed a $ 9.6 billion average forecast from six analysts polled by Reuters.


“Business looked really strong, especially from a profitability perspective. They really grew their margins in the core business,” said Sameet Sinha, an analyst with B. Riley Caris. “Most of that strength seems to be coming from international markets which grew revenues quite substantially: up 23 percent year over year, versus the 15 percent growth in the third quarter.”


Average cost-per-click, a critical metric that denotes the price advertisers pay Google, declined 6 percent from a year ago, the fifth consecutive quarter of decline.


Google executives told analysts on a conference call that the company had focused on improving the metric – shoring up margins – while lowering the overall growth rate of paid clicks in the holiday quarter.


“Click prices are still declining, but it’s better than expected,” said BGC Partners analyst Colin Gillis.


MOTOROLA MOBILITY “STILL LOSING MONEY”


Consolidated net income in the fourth quarter was $ 2.89 billion or $ 8.62 per share, compared with $ 2.71 billion, or $ 8.22 per share, in the year-ago period when Google had not yet acquired Motorola.


Excluding certain items, Google said it earned $ 10.65 per share in the fourth quarter.


“The core business is a great business and the fourth-quarter is always a time for Google to shine. However, Motorola is still losing money and click rates still declined. They only declined 6 percent, but go back four or five quarters and click prices were improving. So mobile is still pressuring click prices,” Gillis said.


The company posted consolidated revenue – which includes its Motorola Mobility mobile phone business but not the television set-top box business it recently agreed to sell – of $ 14.42 billion on Tuesday.


Motorola Mobility had an operating loss of $ 353 million during the quarter.


Shares of Google were up roughly 4.5 percent at $ 734.46 in after-hours trading on Tuesday.


(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Bernard Orr)


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Sony to sell new Xperia tablet in Japan: Nikkei






(Reuters) – Sony Corp’s Sony Mobile Communications Inc said it will sell the new version of its Xperia tablet in Japan this spring, the Nikkei reported, citing Kyodo News.


The Xperia Tablet Z, whose price has not been announced, has a 10.1-inch display, is 6.9 mm thin and weighs 495 grams, according to the company’s website.






Rival Google Inc’s Nexus 10 tablet is 8.9 mm thick, while Apple Inc’s iPad mini measures 7.9 mm.


Sony halted sales of Xperia in October, a month after launch, after discovering gaps between the screen and the case that made some of the machines susceptible to water damage.


The Nikkei reported on Sunday that Japanese smartphone makers seem to be regaining some market share they lost to companies like Apple and Samsung Electronics Co.


(Reporting by Krithika Krishnamurthy in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)


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BlackBerry Z10 confirmed for Verizon in new leak







Another day, another handful of BlackBerry 10 leaks to enjoy as the tech world waits for the new platform’s January 30th unveiling. Twitter user “evleaks,” who has a solid track record of leaking accurate details and images of unreleased smartphones, published a purported screenshot from Verizon Wireless (VZ) on Friday. The document confirms some details we already know — RIM’s (RIMM) first full-touch BlackBerry 10 phone will be called the BlackBerry Z10 and will feature 4G LTE, among other specs — and it also confirms Verizon will support the handset. An image of Verizon’s BlackBerry Z10 screenshot follows below.


[More from BGR: Samsung’s latest monster smartphone will reportedly have a 5.8-inch screen]






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America’s national parks weigh solitude against cellular access






SALMON, Idaho (Reuters) – As cell phones, iPods and laptops creep steadily into every corner of modern life, America’s national parks have stayed largely off the digital grid, among the last remaining outposts of ringtone-free human solitude.


For better or worse, that may soon change.






Under pressure from telecommunications companies and a growing number of park visitors who feel adrift without mobile-phone reception, the airwaves in such grand getaway destinations as Yellowstone National Park may soon be abuzz with new wireless signals.


That prospect has given pause to a more traditional cohort of park visitors who cherish the unplugged tranquility of the great outdoors, fearing an intrusion of mobile phones – and the sound of idle chatter – will diminish their experience.


Some have mixed emotions. Stephanie Smith, a 50-something Montana native who visits Yellowstone as many as six times a year, said she prefers the cry of an eagle to ring tones.


But she also worries that future generations may lose their appreciation for the value of nature and the need to preserve America’s outdoor heritage if a lack of technology discourages them from visiting.


“You have to get there to appreciate it,” Smith said. “It’s a new world – and technology is a part of it.”


Balancing the two aesthetics has emerged as the latest challenge facing the National Park Service as managers in at least two premier parks, Yellowstone and Glacier national parks, consider recent requests to install new telecommunications towers or upgrade existing ones.


There is no system-wide rule governing cellular facilities in the 300 national parks, national monuments and other units the agency administers nationwide. Wireless infrastructure decisions are left up to the managers of individual park units.


The agency’s mission statement requires it to protect park resources and the visitor experience, but each individual experience is unique, said Lee Dickinson, a special-uses program manager for the Park Service.


“I’ve had two visitors calling me literally within hours of each other who wanted exactly the opposite experience: One saying he didn’t vacation anywhere without electronic access and the other complaining he was disturbed by another park visitor ordering pizza on his cell phone,” Dickinson said.


CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?


Wireless supporters say more is at stake than the convenience of casual phone conversations. Cellular providers say new wireless infrastructure will boost public safety by improving communications among park rangers and emergency responders.


They argue that the ability to download smartphone applications that can deliver instant information on plants and animals will also enrich park visitors’ experiences.


“Our customers are telling us that having access to technology will enhance their visit to wild areas,” said Bob Kelley, spokesman for Verizon Wireless, which is seeking to install a new 100-foot cell tower at Yellowstone.


Rural communities that border the national parks also stand to benefit from enlarged cellular coverage areas.


On the other side of the debate, outdoor enthusiasts worry that bastions of quiet reflection could be transformed into noisy hubs where visitors yak on cell phones and fidget with electronic tablets, detracting from the ambience of such natural wonders as Yellowstone’s celebrated geyser Old Faithful.


Expanding cellular reception may even compromise safety by giving some tourists a false sense of security in the back country, where extremes in weather and terrain test even the most skilled outdoorsman, according to the National Parks Conservation Association.


Tim Stevens, the association’s Northern Rockies director, said distractions like meandering moose already challenge the attention of motorists clogging park roads at the height of the summer tourist season.


“People brake in the middle of the road to watch animals. The added distraction of a wireless signal – allowing a driver to text Aunt Madge to say how great the trip is – could have disastrous consequences,” he said.


Yellowstone already offers some limited mobile-phone service, afforded by four cellular towers previously erected in developed sections of the park.


But vast swathes of America’s oldest national park, which spans nearly 3,500 square miles across the states of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho, still lack wireless reception in an age dominated by Wi-Fi and iPad users who expect access even in the most remote locations.


Park officials see definite signs that a portion of the roughly 3 million annual visitors to Yellowstone, which crafted a wireless plan in 2008, are finding the lack of cell phone coverage disconcerting.


Park spokesman Al Nash said he routinely fields calls from anxious relatives of Yellowstone visitors unable to contact their loved ones.


“They say, ‘My gosh, my niece, daughter or parents went to Yellowstone, and we haven’t heard from them for three days,’” he said.


(Reporting and writing by Laura Zuckerman; Editing by Steve Gorman and David Gregorio)


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Exclusive: Japan’s Sharp cuts iPad screen output






TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) – Sharp Corp has nearly halted production of 9.7-inch screens for Apple Inc’s iPad, two sources said, possibly as demand shifts to its smaller iPad mini.


Sharp’s iPad screen production line at its Kameyama plant in central Japan has fallen to the minimal level to keep the line running this month after a gradual slowdown began at the end of 2012 as Apple manages its inventory, the industry sources with knowledge of Sharp’s production plans told Reuters.






Sharp has stopped shipping iPad panels, the people with knowledge of the near total production shutdown said. The exact level of remaining screen output at Sharp was not immediately clear but it was extremely limited, they said.


Company spokeswoman Miyuki Nakayama said: “We don’t disclose production levels.”


Apple officials, contacted late in the evening after normal business hours in California, did not have an immediate comment.


The sources didn’t say exactly why production had nearly halted. Among the possibilities are a seasonal drop in demand, a switch to another supplier, a shift in the balance of sales to the mini iPad, or an update in the design of the product.


Macquarie Research has estimated that iPad shipments will tumble nearly 40 percent in the current quarter to about 8 million from about 13 million in the fourth quarter, although Apple’s total tablet shipments will show a much smaller decrease due to strong iPad mini sales.


APPLE SHARES


Any indication that iPad sales are struggling could add to concern that the appeal of Apple products is waning after earlier media reports said it is slashing orders for iPhone 5 screens and other components from its Asian suppliers.


Those reports helped knock Apple’s shares temporarily below $ 500 this week, the first time its stock had been below the threshold mark in almost one year.


Apple, the reports said, has asked state-managed Japan Display, Sharp and LG Display to halve supplies of iPhone panels from an initial plan for about 65 million screens in January-March. Apple is losing ground to Samsung, as well as emerging rivals including China’s Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and ZTE Corp.


NO BIG CHANGE AT OTHER MAKERS


In addition to Sharp, Apple also buys iPad screens from LG Display Co Ltd, its biggest supplier, and Samsung Display, a flat-panel unit of Samsung Electronics.


Both LG Display and Samsung Display declined to comment.


A source at Samsung Display, however, said there had not been any significant change in its panel business with Apple, which has been steadily reducing panel purchases from the South Korean firm.


A person who is familiar with the situation at LG Display said iPad screen production in the current quarter had fallen from the previous quarter ending in December, mainly due to weak seasonal demand that is typical after the busy year-end holiday sales period.


Sterne Agee analyst Shaw Wu said some of the product cutbacks at Sharp are probably seasonal.


“The March quarter is almost always weaker than the December quarter,” he said, adding that Apple also consolidates suppliers of certain components during quarters with weaker demand. “The Korean manufacturers are more efficient and typically have lower costs.”


Apple’s iPad sales may have also suffered amid a weak Christmas shopping period that hurt other consumer gadget makers as well.


CROWD OF RIVAL PRODUCTS


Apple also faces stiffening competition in tablets from a growing crowd of rival products from makers including Samsung with its Galaxy and Microsoft Corp’s Surface. A consumer shift to smaller 7-inch screen devices, which Apple responded to late last year by launching its iPad mini for $ 329, are adding pressure.


BNP Paribas expects the iPad mini will eat into sales of the full-sized iPad, with the mini rise to 60 percent of total iPad shipments in the January-March quarter.


Looking to cut into Apple’s market share in the smaller segment are Amazon.com Inc with its Kindle and Google Inc with its Nexus 7.


CEO Tim Cook, who is credited with building Apple’s Asian supply chain, has overseen several gadget launches, including the iPhone 5, the latest iPad models and the iPad mini during his first year, is under pressure to deliver the kind of product innovations that wowed consumers during Steve Jobs’ tenure to keep his company’s profit growth stellar.


Sharp, which also supplies screens for the iPhone, has been working with its main banks on a restructuring plan after posting a $ 5.6 billion loss for the past fiscal year. To secure emergency financing from lenders including Mizuho Financial Group and Mitsubishi Financial Group it had mortgaged its domestic factories and offices including the one building screens for Apple.


In December, Qualcomm Inc agreed to invest as much as $ 120 million in Sharp and the two companies said they would work to develop new power-saving screens.


(Additional reporting by Poornima Gupta in San Francisco; Writing by Tim Kelly; Editing by Ken Wills and Richard Chang)


Tech News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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Video game puts players in shoes of Syrian rebels






BEIRUT (AP) — A new video game based on Syria‘s civil war challenges players to make the hard choices facing the country’s rebels. Is it better to negotiate peace with the regime of President Bashar Assad, for example, or dispatch jihadist fighters to kill pro-government thugs?


The British designer of “Endgame: Syria” says he hopes the game will inform people who might otherwise remain ignorant about the conflict.






Views differ, however, on the appropriateness of using a video game to discuss a complex crisis that has killed more than 60,000 people since March 2011. Computer giant Apple has refused to distribute the game and some consider the mere idea insulting. Others love it, and one fan from inside Syria has suggested changes to make the game better mirror the actual war.


The dispute comes amid wider arguments about violent video games since last month’s shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, that left 20 children and six adults dead. This week, the National Rifle Association revised the recommended age for a new shooting game after criticisms by liberal groups.


Tomas Rawlings, who designed the Syria game, said he got the idea while watching TV pundits debate the possible consequences of directly arming Syria’s rebels, which Western nations have declined to do. He said he thought a game could explore such questions by allowing players to make choices and see their consequences.


“For those who don’t want to read a newspaper but still care about the world, this is a way for them to find out about things,” said Rawlings, the design and production director of U.K.-based Auroch Digital.


In the simple game, which took about two weeks to build, the player assumes the role of the rebels seeking to topple Assad’s regime. The play alternates between political and military stages. In each stage, the player sees cards representing regime actions and must choose the rebel response.


The choices seek to mirror the real conflict. The regime may get declarations of support from Russia, China or Iran to boost its popularity while the rebels receive support from the United States, Turkey or Saudi Arabia – reflecting the foreign powers backing the two sides.


In battle, the regime may deploy conventional military forces like infantry, tanks and artillery as well as pro-government thugs known as shabiha. The rebels’ choices include sympathetic Palestinian or Kurdish militias, assassins or jihadist fighters known as muhajideen.


Some of the rebels’ strongest attacks also kill civilians, reducing rebel popularity and seeking to reflect the war’s complexity.


All along, the player is given basic information about the conflict, learning that Islamists once persecuted by the regime now consider the fight a holy war and that the shabiha are accused of massacring civilians.


The game ends when one side loses its support or the sides agree to a peace deal. The player is then told what follows. The longer the fighting lasts, the worse the aftermath, as chaos, sectarian conflict and Islamic militancy spread.


The lasting impression is that no matter which side wins, Syria loses.


Rawlings said that’s the game’s point.


“You can win the battle militarily but still lose the peace because the cost of winning militarily has fractured the country so much that the war keeps going,” he said. “You can also end the war so that there is less of that.”


The game was released on the company’s website and as a free download from Google for Android devices on December 12. Rawlings submitted the game to Apple to distribute via its App Store but the company rejected it.


Apple declined to comment, but Rawlings’s rejection referred to a company guideline for mobile apps: ” ‘Enemies’ within the context of a game cannot solely target a specific race, culture, a real government or corporation, or any other real entity.”


Rawlings is modifying the game, though he worries it will weaken it.


“It will still be the same overall experience, but it will reduce the value of the game to inform people,” he said.


News of the game was greeted with a mix of interest and outrage online. Some complained that players can’t take the regime side, while others found it wrong to make a game about a brutal war.


“Rawlings has mistakenly understood the Syrian war as a nonchalant ‘experience’ that people can play while waiting for the train to work,” said Samar Aburahma, a university student of Palestinian descent in San Francisco who refused to try the game. “It is beyond insulting to Syrians, especially given the fact that war is ongoing.”


Others find it a valuable, if limited, approach to the conflict.


Andrea Stanton, a religious studies professor at the University of Denver who studies Syria, said she responded emotionally to the game.


“It isn’t really a fun game to play,” she said, noting that she was angry when she lost and felt dread when the frequency of deadly regime airstrikes went up as the game progressed – as it has in the real conflict.


“This a very sobering game in that you sense how quickly the military stakes escalate and how little the political phase has to do with actual Syrians,” she said.


She is organizing a campus activity for students to play and discuss the game.


“I think it is very valuable for teaching and getting people to experience a sense of the limited options the rebels face,” she said.


It is unclear how many people have played the game. Google says it has been downloaded as many as 5,000 times from its site, and Rawlings says more have played online. He guesses more than 10,000 people have tried it.


Few in Syria are likely to have played it, since fighting has made the Internet and even electricity rare in some parts of the country.


One 18-year-old Syrian gamer liked the game so much, however, that he sent Rawlings a list of suggestions for improvement.


Reached via Skype, he said the jihadist fighters should be called Jabhat al-Nusra, after an extremist rebel group that the U.S. has designated as a terrorist organization.


He also pointed out that few rebel groups have tanks, as they do in the game, and suggested new rebel tactics.


“Car bombs are used lots in Syria, so that would make the game more realistic,” he said.


He said he hoped the game would help people understand the situation.


“I wish there were a 3D strategy game about Syria so you could feel the destruction on the ground,” he said.


The player, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, said his feelings playing the game often mirror his feelings about the war. He wants peace but can’t imagine the rebels accepting a negotiated solution given how many people have died.


“Right this second, I want the war in Syria to stop, but when you see what is happening on the ground there is no way to make peace,” he said. “When I play the game like a rebel, I have to reject the peace.”


___


Associated Press writer Michael Liedtke contributed reporting.


Online: http://gamethenews.net/index.php/endgame-syria/


Gaming News Headlines – Yahoo! News





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BlackBerry maker plans local skate, publicity in Waterloo to celebrate new phone






WATERLOO, Ont. – Call it BlackBerry Town, even if the name isn’t official.


In the lead up to the BlackBerry smartphone unveiling later this month, creator Research In Motion is turning its Waterloo, Ont., home base into a celebration of the device.






The company plans to decorate light poles in areas of Waterloo and neighbouring Kitchener with banners that promote its latest smartphone and thank the community for its support.


City councillors in Kitchener voted earlier this week to make an exception to rules that prevent corporations from using public property to advertise.


RIM says it is making plans for other events as well.


The company will hold skating rink parties at Kitchener City Hall and in Waterloo Town Square on Jan. 30 to coincide with the unveiling of its new BlackBerry devices.


Gadgets News Headlines – Yahoo! News




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Tablet shipments in 2013 could be lower than previously expected









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