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HTC Thunderbolt 4G smartphone unboxing
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Cell Phones, Features, Galleries, Handhelds,
We just got our hands on the HTC Thunderbolt, the very first 4G LTE smartphone, offered by Verizon Wireless, and we're currently testing the thing out. Our review and videos will be coming soon, but let's just say, 4G mobile hotspot on this thing is absolutely amazing. Anyhow, while we finish all that up, we figured we'd hit you with our HTC Thunderbolt unboxing gallery. We put a grip of images together to give you a look at this fantastic device.
Gallery:
Sure, Mac OS X Lion is getting all the hype, but Apple isn't resting on its Snow Leopard laurels, having just released 10.6.7. The update focuses on improving Back to My Mac, fixing some Mac App Store bugs, FaceTime improvements, and also takes care of that Thunderbolt Cinema Display issue as well. Grab the goods by launching Software Update now.
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MacBook Pro purchasers reporting problems with Thunderbolt and Cinema Displays
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop,
A series of rainclouds has descended over Apple. Purchasers of the company's latest Macbook Pros—featuring Intel's brand-new Thunderbolt ports—are reporting issues when they go to hook up their Apple Cinema Displays to their laptops via a Displayport-to-Thunderbolt connection.
"I have a new MBP with a thunderbolt port, which is connected to an Apple 24" cinema display, using the new thunderbolt port," writes user "Streitz" on Apple's support forums. "I am experiencing one second black outs every few minutes, and fairly regular jitters once the computer starts warming up and crunching some numbers. The shift never occurs on the 15" monitor, only the external. I also still have my old MBP with a mini-display port, and the external monitor works perfect with it."
The display flickering issue allegedly affects all editions of the latest Thunderbolt-laden MacBook Pros. And as the above comment illustrates, it seems to be a problem involving the combined Thunderbolt/DisplayPort connection. The only fix, so far, appears to be the time-honored tradition of waiting it out.
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AT&T Buys T-Mobile: Good for AT&T, Bad for Customers
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Editorial, Features, Wireless / WiFi,
AT&T just announced it will buy T-Mobile USA for $39 billion. If the transaction gets approved by the government and closes in a year as planned, it will create the nation's largest wireless carrier by far.
While this is great news for both companies, it's an awful idea for consumers - and I desperately hope the US antitrust authorities rake this merger over the coals.
An AT&T/T-Mobile merger at least makes more sense than the silly T-Mobile/Sprint idea which was being bandied about. Both carriers use the same technologies: GSM, HSPA+ and LTE. While they're on different frequency bands, radios which use all of the relevant bands are becoming easier to build.
The merger neatly solves T-Mobile's long-term problem of not having enough spectrum for LTE, the 4G technology which will soon be a global standard. It gives T-Mobile's struggling parent, Deutsche Telekom, a gigantic cash infusion. And it lets AT&T once again position itself as the number-one carrier against Verizon Wireless, which leapfrogged AT&T technologically this year with Verizon's 4G LTE launch.
AT&T is ahead of T-Mobile on building LTE. T-Mobile is far ahead of AT&T on building HSPA+, a intermediate 4G technology that fits right between the carriers' existing 3G networks and LTE. Together, they could have a smooth and powerful nationwide network.
AT&T's press release for the merger backs this up. The combined carrier will be able to build out much more LTE Than AT&T could alone, by combining AT&T's 700 Mhz spectrum with T-Mobile's AWS spectrum.
For stockholders, this all sounds great. With reduced competition and the efficiencies of a combined network, the new company will probably be quite profitable.
For phone owners, tech lovers, and American consumers, this is a total disaster.
Click to continue reading AT&T Buys T-Mobile: Good for AT&T, Bad for Customers
AT&T slashes price of first-gen iPad 3G by $200-$300
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds, Hot Deals,
It's the hardest decision an Apple fan can make: Pick up a discounted iPad or splurge for its slightly more expensive successor, the iPad 2. And it's not like Apple's made the dilemma any easier: The company discounted its original iPad models by a cool $100 upon the announcement of the iPad 2, adding an even greater incentive for those looking to score a tablet on the cheap.
And now, that decision just got a whole lot harder.
Not content to let Apple be the only tease on the block, AT&T has since followed up with a price discount of its very own. Customers looking to purchase a first-generation iPad can now do so via the mobile carrier, which will slap an extra $100 discount on top of Apple's.
The $200 reduction, in total, drops the final price of the original iPad (3G) to $429 and $529 for the 16GB and 32GB versions respectively. In addition, AT&T has slashed the price of the 64-gigabyte version of the iPad 3G to $529, a $300 savings beyond its original purchase price, which you can pick that up via AT&T's official website.
Click to continue reading AT&T slashes price of first-gen iPad 3G by $200-$300
Rumor has it, Apple is planning to launch a revamped version of its MobileMe service next month, iLounge has reported.
Citing a "trusted" source that "works for a major educational institution," iLounge said that "the current version of MobileMe is no longer available, and that Apple is suggesting new students sign up for the 60-day trial to cover the gap between the final MobileMe shipment and the launch of the new version."
The report could have some truth to it. A 60-day free trial with the option to sign up for the paid service at its conclusion is available on MobileMe page on Apple's site. However, the option to sign up for the year-long paid service without first test-driving it for 60 days is not advertised.
iLounge said that Apple will only support the existing service for another year, to cover those who might have recently subscribed to MobileMe. This means the retooled version of MobileMe could be very different.
Click to continue reading Apple unveiling revamped MobileMe soon
Former HP CEO Mark Hurd fighting to keep accuser letter sealed
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News,
If you're looking to get your hands on the juicy details that prompted the eventual resignation of ex-HP CEO Mark Hurd, keep waiting. A Delaware judge ordered late Thursday night for the key letter from Jodie Fisher to Hurd to be unsealed—which would give HP ten days to release a public version of the letter in which Fisher first accused Hurd of sexual harassment.
Although Delaware Chancery Court Judge Donald Parsons Jr. ruled that Hurd's lawyers had not shown good cause as to why the letter should remain sealed, Hurd's legal team is nevertheless appealing the decision to release the letter's contents to the public. And even if the letter is eventually released, don't expect to see the entire contents—parts of the message, sent on behalf of Fisher by her lawyer, Gloria Allred, in June of 2009—will remain sealed.
"In summary, I find that the Allred Letter and its contents have social value, the Letter would not cause an intrusion into Hurd's private affairs disproportionate to its social value, and Hurd's accession to public notoriety by the time he left HP, if he was not already in the public's eye, bears a direct relationship with the Letter's contents and the events that reportedly gave rise to his departure," writes Parsons in his decision, released Thursday.
Click to continue reading Former HP CEO Mark Hurd fighting to keep accuser letter sealed
Tumblr experiences server breach due to human error
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Blogging, Corporate News, News,
Tumblr is facing some security issues, according to a post on the staff blog.
"A human error caused some sensitive server configuration information to be exposed this morning," read the blog post. "Our technicians took immediate measures to protect from any issues that may come as a result."
Tumblr said that it's unlikely users' personal information was compromised, but that independent auditors will be consulted to confirm this.
"We're certain that none of your personal information (passwords, etc.) was exposed, and your blog is backed up and safe as always. This was an embarrassing error, but something we were prepared for," Tumblr continued.
The company didn't give many concrete details as to what the breach actually effected and said that even though sensitive information was not compromised, "the fact that [this problem] occurred at all is still unacceptable." Tumblr pledged that its team is "seriously evaluating and adjusting our processes to ensure an error like this can never happen again."
Comments on the blog post didn't suggest that users were particularly upset by the security issue. One user said "you guys need a better coding staff." Another user applauded Tumblr's speedy response: "Deal with these things. Good job Tumblr."
Reps from Tumblr did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the problem.
In December, Tumblr suffered from an outage that it blamed on a maintenance error. After the site was restored, Tumblr admitted that it has struggled to keep up with the site's growth. The site now averages more than 500 million monthly page views.
Click to continue reading Tumblr experiences server breach due to human error
Top 10 Things Overheard @ C2E2
Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Conventions, Editorials, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Wizard Entertainment,
The comic book convention season is in full swing, and that was never more apparent than this weekend in Chicago for C2E2.
Comic fans, cosplayers, celebrities, editors, artists and writers all gathered in a giant nerdpile of awesomeness.
And whenever all those things get together, a lot of chatter is going to take place. Here then are the Top Ten Things We Overheard at C2E2 2011:
10. "That new Wonder Woman costume is epic!"
9. "That new Wonder Woman costume sucks!"
8. "Wasn't C2E2 R2D2's wife?"
7. "This sure smells like San Diego!"
6. "This is really nice carpeting. What? I'm just sayin'!"
5. "At home I can follow Bendis on Twitter. Here I can actually follow Bendis!"
4. "I just saw Wizard World Chicago crying in the bathroom."
Click to continue reading Top 10 Things Overheard @ C2E2
Kevin Rose leaves Digg, has new startup in stealth mode
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Social Networks, Startups,
Kevin Rose has stepped down from Digg, he confirmed Friday evening via Twitter.
"Wow, tons of questions - I'll confine advising Digg/ on the board of directors, & taping Diggnation (as I have been since [CEO Matt Williams] joined)," Rose tweeted.
TechCrunch's Michael Arrington originally broke the story. According to Arrington, Rose is leaving Digg to focus on a new startup he's founded. In fact, Rose is closing out a $1 million funding round for the new company.
Rose founded Digg in 2004. However, the last year wasn't exactly smooth sailing for the company. Former CEO Jay Adelson left Digg in April after he and Rose had a falling out, Arrington said. Rose took over the post briefly, until former Amazon exec Matt Williams was hired as Digg's new chief.
But Digg's issues have been more than managerial.At its peak, the link-sharing site had more than 40 million unique monthly visitors. In August, Digg rolled out the somewhat controversial version 4 update. The redesign was intended to curb the overwhelming authority of the dominant power users, but it was immediately hit with bugs and delays, as well as the disdain of some long-time users.
Click to continue reading Kevin Rose leaves Digg, has new startup in stealth mode
