UNIVERSAL AND VIACOM HACKED LEAKING USERS PASSWORDS AND INFORMATION; ANTISEC CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY

A hacking group named LulzSec made headlines recently for attacking high visibility targets, including Sony and the U.S. government. LulzSec announced earlier this week that it was stopping its operations, and rumor has it many of the members joined up with Anonymous’ “AntiSec” hacking group. Now that group is making its own headlines. On Tuesday AntiSec claimed responsibility for attacks against Universal and Viacom.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the hackers released personal data, including passwords, from the Universal Music Website. It also obtained and leaked information about Viacom’s network. It’s unclear how many users were affected by the security breach, although we hope to hear an official word from both firms in the near future.

HP IN TALKS TO LICENSE WEBOS

During an interview with Bloomberg recently, HP’s CEO Leo Apokether said that his company is in talks to license its webOS software to other manufacturers. “We are talking to a number of companies,” he said.”I can share with you that a number of companies have expressed interest. We are continuing our conversations.” Apotheker said there’s no specific time frame for when another company may announce that it’s using webOS and noted that “there is no time pressure.”

However, Bloomberg said that Samsung has been named as one of the potential licensees, but that information is still being kept private. “Samsung will continue to strengthen its relationship with Google to provide ultimate values to customers,” Jason Kim, a Samsung spokesperson, said — hinting at the firm’s commitment to Android. HP’s first webOS tablet, the TouchPad, will make its debut later this week on July 1st for $499.99.

MACBOOKS IN SHORT SUPPLY, POSSIBLE REFRESH COMING

We've already seen the MacBook Pro sporting new specs, and heard rumblings of a MacBook Air refresh coming soon, and now reports of dwindling supplies of Apple's great white hope have the internets abuzz over a possible MacBook upgrade.AppleInsider did a little digging earlier today, and found that major online retailers, including Amazon, and at least one brick and mortar store were either running low or completely out of the last of the MacBooks. A similar fate has befallen stock of the Mac mini, inviting speculation that both machines will likely pop up post-Lion.

NEWS CORP SELLS STRUGGLING MYSPACE

News Corp. has sold their struggling social network MySpace for $35 million. The deal with online advertising network operator Specific Media is expected to close later Wednesday, a day before the end of News Corp.'s fiscal year. News Corp. will maintain less than a 5 percent stake in the company.

News Corp. bought the holding compay of MySpace in 2005 at the height of MySpace's popularity for $580 million. Since then MySpace has seen its users decline drastically due to the emergence of other more popular social networking sites, specifically Facebook.

Specific Media confirmed the acquisition but not the terms of the deal Wednesday.

"There are many synergies between our companies as we are both focused on enhancing digital media experiences by fueling connections with relevance and interest," said Specific Media CEO Tim Vanderhook, in a statement. "We look forward to combining our platforms to drive the next generation of digital innovation."

LULZSEC LEAVES BEHIND ONE LAST PARTING SHOT WITH MALWARE, TROJANS AND VIRII

The small group of hackers known as Lulz Security, or simply “LulzSec,” would never disband without one final round of fun. BGR reported on Monday that the group’s reign of terror was coming to an end after 50 lul-filled days. During that period of time, LulzSec released data stolen in a series of online breaches with targets ranging from Sony to the U.S. Government.

In its coup de grâce, LulzSec released a stash of stolen data from a variety of targets, including AT&T, Disney and the U.S. Navy. But data obtained through online breaches wasn’t the only thing LulzSec stuffed into the file; a directory named “BootableUSB” also contained a variety of malware including trojans and worms. While “LulzSec” is no more and its notorious Twitter account now sits dormant, members of the well-known hacktivism group “Anonymous Operations” have confirmed that LulzSec is gone in name only — the six LulzSec members have been absorbed by Anonymous, according to the group’s official Twitter feed.

GOOGLE + TO TAKE ON FACEBOOK

Google on Tuesday finally took the wraps off of its answer to the social steamroller that is Facebook, and it’s called Google+. While Google has launched numerous social products in the past, Google+ is the Internet giant’s most comprehensive offering to date. It is largely an effort to play catch-up, of course — since Google has a lot of catching up to do — but the service also offers some nifty innovative elements that could appeal to users who navigate away from Facebook long enough to check it out. Key features include Circles, which allow you to group contacts together in various social circles and share things only with the particular circles you chose; Sparks, which are topics similar to Twitter hashtags; and Hangouts, which are video chat rooms. There is also a mobile element to Google+, and for the time being it focuses on text updates, photo and video sharing, and… you guessed it… location. Google+ is currently in private beta. A handful of videos covering the key elements of Google’s new service can be viewed below.

RIM'S PLAYBOOK 2 CANCELLED FOR QNX SMARTPHONE

Sources have reported RIM was working on a 10-inch BlackBerry PlayBook 2 that the company hoped to launch in time for the holidays this year. Now, according to a report from BlackBerry enthusiast blog N4BB, those plans have been canceled. The blog claims that RIM decided to pull the large-form tablet and instead focus as much effort as possible on building and releasing its first QNX-powered BlackBerry smartphone. Specs of the purported next-generation BlackBerry smartphone include a single-core 1.2GHz processor — though it may be swapped for a dual-core if RIM can find a way to reduce the drain on the battery — along with a 4.3-inch high-resolution touchscreen display. Further details surrounding the device were not made available, nor was a codename, launch name or a time frame for the device’s release.

NEW PLAYLATER SERVICE IS A DVR FOR ONLINE VIDEOS

The firm behind PlayOn, the popular online video streaming service, announced its new PlayLater service. PlayLater allows users to record streaming video from nearly any website — including popular cable programs such shows from TBS, CBS, Adult Swim, and more — for watching at a later time. Its offline cachine features means you can store the video for watching even when a connection isn’t available, too. It’s exactly like a DVR, which means you can choose what you want the software to record, and simply forget about it until later. PlayLater is supported on PCs, and recorded content can also be watched on mobile devices such as the iPhone or iPad. Early beta users will receive a free one-month trial of PlayLater, after which it will cost $4.99 per month or $49.99 per year.

MICROFT'S OFFICE 365 LEAVES BETA

After making its beta debut last year, Office 365 is officially ready to spread its wings and offer its productivity web app wares to the business-minded masses. For $6 per-user, per-month small businesses get access to Microsoft Office Web Apps, Exchange, SharePoint and Lync video conferencing and can take advantage of the suite's integration with WP7 once Mango lands. Larger, enterprise plans start at $10 per user while adding support for desktop Office products and Lync VoIP solutions as you climb the pricing ladder.

LEAK: FACEBOOK UPDATE COMING

Ever since it debuted as TheFacebook in early 2004, the world's largest social network has undergone design changes both big and small. Just one year after Mark Zuckerberg launched the site from his Harvard dorm room, he dropped the The from its name and purchased facebook.com for a reported $200,000. That same year, the trademark blue color shifted slightly and the site's banner disappeared. I can't find any public response to the change (remember, Facebook was only open to select college students back then), but if the feedback from future design tweaks is representative of the reaction to the first, nobody was pleased.

Over the past seven years, Facebook's designers and developers have made a number of changes to the site. With each one, a vocal minority rises up and expresses -- loudly -- its opposition. But they eventually settle down or move on and we quickly acclimate to a new look and feel. It's like every two years when you upgrade your smartphone and have to get used to a new keyboard, a new interface, a new operating system. You hate it at first, but you grow used to it in time.

Well, it's time to get ready for the next wave of noise. It's been over a year since any major changes were made to Facebook's homepage, according to VentureBeat, and the site's developers are currently in the process of testing a new change that is sure to get users as heated as they've ever been -- perhaps more so. And that's because the new site design prominently features advertisements. Nobody likes advertisements, even if they keep Facebook free for its 750 million users.

The new homepage tweak, if made public (and it probably will be), would keep the placement of advertisements and the menu navigation window static. As the user scrolls down the page, scanning their News Feed and checking in on friends, these elements would follow them. The navigation bar at the top of the screen and even the site's footer would also remain static.

The only elements that scroll in the new design are the News Feed in the middle of the window and the Happening Now feed, which is a real-time feature that Facebook just started testing two weeks ago. The Happening Now feed, which has, in tests, appeared at the top of the right-hand sidebar where Upcoming Events are usually listed, shows users what their friends are sharing and commenting on and liking as it happens. Clicking on any of the feed's entries activates a pop-up window with more details.

What's interesting about this change is that it will only allow Facebook to display a certain number of advertisements on each page. Presumably they'll be able to charge more for this digital real estate given that all of the available ad spots will have a longer impression time on viewers -- and should, as a result, enjoy a higher click-through rate. But in the current layout, Facebook can stack as many advertisements in the right-hand section of the website as it's team can sell; the space is virtually limitless.

The new design would not just be welcomed by advertisers, but also Page managers. "By piling more stories into the same space rather than hiding them behind the Most Recent tab, Happening Now could boost impressions for Page update stories," according to Inside Facebook, a blog that tracks the social network closely. Current statistics show that even the most popular Pages, those with over one million fans, receive less than three unique impressions per day per 100 fans. This change should also improve user retention for apps, which will be prominently featured in the left-hand sidebar wherever any user is on the site.

But what are the benefits for users? Facebook could argue that it's easier to navigate to your messages and photos or to access your admin options since the navigation bar is static. But that's probably not going to be enough to make people happy when this starts getting rolled out across the network. In fact, it looks and functions a lot like Gawker's redesign, which relies heavily on a scrollable main content window with static elements. And the reaction there wasn't something to try and replicate.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 MANUFACTURING TO BEGIN MID TO LATE AUGUST

A new report suggests Apple’s manufacturing partners are preparing to begin assembling the next-generation iPhone some time between the middle and end of August. This time frame suggests that a launch might not occur until the second half of September at the earliest. Following a series of meetings in Taiwan, Morgan Stanley analyst Katy Huberty issued the new production timeline in a note to investors on Sunday. “Apple’s next iPhone will begin production in mid to late August and ramp aggressively,” the analyst wrote. Her meetings yielded no information about a new prepaid iPhone that might launch as a complimentary model in September, however.

US SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN CALIFORNIA VIOLENT VIDEO GAME LAW

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court rejected a law that would make it illegal for video game stores and publishers to sell or rent violent video games to minors. The law, which was adopted in 2005 and rejected in a 7-2 vote, was deemed unconstitutional and against freedom of speech rights. According to Reuters, a number of big players in the gaming industry opposed the law, including the Entertainment Software Association, whose ranks include Sony, Microsoft, EA, and Disney. “Our cases hold that minors are entitled to a significant degree of First Amendment protection,” Justice Antonin Scalia said. “Government has no free-floating power to restrict the ideas to which they may be exposed.”

GEORGE HOTZ, AKA GEOHOT, HIRED BY FACEBOOK

George Hotz, the hacker better known as “geohot” has joined the team at Facebook. Hotz made a name for himself in the enthusiast community as an iPhone and iPad jailbreaker with his blackra1n tool, and he’s was also sued for jailbreaking the Sony PlayStation 3. Reportedly, Hotz joined Facebook in May and recently wrote on Facebook that the social network is “really an amazing place to work.”

GOOGLE ACTIVATING 500,000 ANDROID DEVICES PER DAY

Google announced at its annual Google I/O conference last month that as of the beginning of May, the tech giant was activating 400,000 Android new devices each day. That amazing pace seemed almost impossible to keep up, but fast forward to Tuesday and Google’s Android boss shared a new stat. “There are now over 500,000 Android devices activated every day, and it’s growing at 4.4% w/w,” Andy Rubin posted from his Twitter account. Compared to the rest of the market, Android’s explosive global growth slowed recently. In the U.S., Android even lost share last quarter for the first time since 2009 according to IDC. Activations certainly aren’t slowing down though, and we expect Android to be the dominant mobile OS in terms of market share for years to come.

FCC WIRELESS REPORT DOESN'T SAY A WHOLE LOT WITH A BUNCH OF DATA

Sometimes it’s not what you say but what you don’t say that matters, and in today’s release of its annual wireless competition report (PDF link), the silence of the Federal Communications Commission speaks volumes. The problem is, no one knows what that silence is saying.

The agency has decided not to say that the U.S. mobile industry is competitive, releasing a report that could possibly cause problems for the $39 billion merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. Last year, when the FCC released its report, analysts paid considerable attention to the fact that the FCC hadn’t declared the industry competitive, but had instead issued an in-depth report looking at the various layers of the mobile ecosystem, and expressed concern about some elements and less about others.

This was seen as a victory for those worried about the influence that operators had on the agency, but this year the pro-consumer lobbying groups are clearly disappointed, having hoped the FCC would come out strongly on the issue. This is a particularly sensitive topic for the current FCC, which has tried to appear consumer friendly while not upsetting incumbents too much. One can still hope that mobile broadband might help rectify the uncompetitive state of wireline broadband in the U.S., but given the difficulties faced by LightSquared and the proposed combination of the nation’s No. 2 and No. 4 mobile operators the FCC could wind up building a wireless duopoly.

But while the FCC didn’t come to a conclusion on competitiveness, it did provide a lot of data. For example, spectrum holdings are a huge issue for the merger, and a chart from the report shows how much of the 700 MHz spectrum both AT&T and Verizon currently have. However, the same chart also shows how complex analyzing spectrum holdings can be, because it’s not an apples to apples comparison. The latest report is incredibly aware of those same problems in comparing different facets of the mobile ecosystem, which may be why the FCC ultimately provided a ton of data that says essentially nothing.

RUMOR: WINDOWS 8 RTM SLATED FOR APRIL 2012

Earlier rumors placed the release to manufacturers (RTM) of Microsoft's Windows 8 OS as Q2/Q3 2012, but new sources are saying that timeline has moved up and the release will include Windows 8 x86, ARM/SoC and Server all at the same time.

Sources are saying Microsoft will release the RTM in April 2012 with a beta (not pre-beta) coming around the time of Build in mid-September. If this turns out to be true, expect the release candidate in early January.

We do know from various leaks the Windows 8 team has finished milestone 3 and is well on their way to the next one. We also know from previous Office and Windows disclosure patterns that if/when the team does offer a target delivery date, there will likely be several months of padding built in to make sure there will be no publicly measurable slippage. As a result, I’m betting that summer 2012 RTM target we originally heard about might have included that padding, giving more credence to a real internal April 2012 RTM date.

US HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVE LETTER TO FCC WRONG ON FACTS OF AT&T/T-MOBILE MERGER

According to press reports, more than 70 Democrats have signed a letter to the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department touting the alleged benefits of AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile.

While it does not endorse the merger, the letter claims the deal would bring the benefits of broadband to rural communities that would otherwise not have access. This is untrue: On June 10, AT&T reported to the FCC that, even without the merger, it plans to deploy next generation "4G service to 97 percent of the population by the end of 2012."

The letter also suggests AT&T's takeover will result in billions of dollars in additional investment and the creation of thousands of jobs. But AT&T has told Wall Street the merger will result in less investment and more layoffs.

Free Press Action Fund Research Director S. Derek Turner made the following statement:

“Members of Congress should be more careful about signing any letter that AT&T puts in front of them. This letter is riddled with misleading and factually inaccurate statements that contradict what the company is telling investors and regulators. It is simply wrong on the facts.

“This letter cites promises from AT&T to bring wireless broadband to 97 percent of the country, including areas where it claims Americans may not otherwise see the benefits of broadband. But the truth is that it won’t take a merger to get next-generation mobile broadband to rural and underserved communities. AT&T has already publicly committed to expanding its 4G coverage to the same 97 percent by 2012 without the merger, and Verizon has done the same.

“The letter is also dead wrong when it suggests that AT&T's takeover will result in billions of dollars in additional investment and the creation of thousands of jobs. AT&T has already told Wall Street that it expects to spend at least $10 billion less in capital investment over the coming years. This drop in investment will unquestionably lead to fewer jobs. And the only benefits tens of thousands of T-Mobile workers will see from this deal are unemployment benefits.

“If the members of Congress who signed this letter had taken the time to examine the public record, they would have seen right through AT&T's phony promises. We expect the Justice Department and FCC will be much more skeptical of AT&T's claims and conclude based on the evidence that this merger's only 'benefit' will be fattening AT&T’s bottom line at the expense of American workers and consumers.”

LULZSEC CALLS IT QUITS

After 50 days of wreaking cyber-caper havoc, Lulz Security says it's done and will sail into the horizon. The group has stolen mountains of personal data in a dozen different hacks, embarrassing law enforcement on both sides of the Atlantic while boasting about the stunts online.

The group's disbandment comes unexpectedly, and could be a sign of nerves in the face of law enforcement investigations. Rival hackers have also joined in the hunt, releasing information they say could point to the identities of the six-member group. One of the group's six members was interviewed by The Associated Press on Friday, and gave no indication that its work was ending.

LulzSec made its name by defacing the site of the U.S. Public Broadcasting Service, or PBS, with an article claiming that rapper Tupac Shakur was still alive. It has since claimed hacks on major entertainment companies, FBI partner organizations, a pornography website and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, whose documents were leaked to the Web late Thursday.

The hacking group stated "For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could," the LulzSec statement said. "All to selflessly entertain others — vanity, fame, recognition, all of these things are shadowed by our desire for that which we all love. The raw, uninterrupted, chaotic thrill of entertainment and anarchy. While we are responsible for everything that The Lulz Boat is, we are not tied to this identity permanently. The breeze is fresh and the sun is setting, so now we head for the horizon."

As a parting shot, LulzSec released a grab-bag of documents and login information apparently gleaned from gaming websites and corporate servers. The largest group of documents — 338 files — appears to be internal documents from AT&T Inc., detailing its buildout of a new wireless broadband network in the U.S. The network is set to go live this summer. An AT&T spokesman could not immediately confirm the authenticity of the documents.

APPLE'S FINAL CUT PRO X FACES HARSH CRITICISM, POOR REVIEWS FROM USERS

During our call to discuss Final Cut Pro X earlier this week, an Apple product manager boasted about the product's low price, media management, and ground-up redesign. Unfortunately, when starting from scratch, developers seem to have overlooked a few features that professional users have come to depend on, prompting widespread backlash -- both on internet forums and even on Apple's own App Store, where the $300 download-only app currently has a rating of just 2.5 stars (out of five), including nearly 500 one-star ratings. (Note: you must purchase the app before submitting a rating or review.) The New York Times spoke to product managers about these issues, which include an inability to import old FCP files, no multicamera editing, no support for RED cameras, and no ability to specify QuickTime export settings, among many others. Apple says there are (pricey) workarounds available, or fixes on the way for all but the first issue

FACEBOOK HITS 750 MILLION USERS

Facebook now has 750 million monthly active users worldwide, TechCrunch reported on Friday. That’s incredible growth since our earlier story, which suggested that the social network was closing in on 700,000,000 users worldwide. In that report, emerging markets showed the most growth — Brazil’s user base jumped 11.4% in May alone — and the United States was the top country; U.S. users were responsible for 149.4 million Facebook accounts. Last July, Facebook announced that it had hit the 500 million user mark, but it hasn’t publicly revealed any figures since then. Facebook only measures active users and only counts those who have logged into the social network during the past 30 days.

SONY SHUTTING DOWN MMO STAR WARS GALAXIES

After eight years of serving Star Wars fans, Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) and LucasArts have decided to shut down the Star Wars Galaxies MMO and associated Trading Card Game later this year.

No specific reasons have been given for why both parties have decided to do this. Sony has just stated it was a really tough decision, but now it’s set in stone. However, the game is set to go out in style, and Sony have a number of things in mind for existing players.

The game servers will be turned off on December 15. Before then, on September 15 you will no longer be able to purchase the trading card game or anything to do with the MMO. This will be followed by an end to all paid subscriptions on October 15, but SOE will allow those users to continue to play for free until the final hours on December 15.

If you do have an existing subscription then it’s worth hanging around until the end in December. SOE is planning a galaxy-ending event of which details will appear in the coming months. SOE is making it clear this will be an event to remember and one it wants all players to be present for.

PRESIDENT OBAMA PLEDGES $70 MILLION FOR ROBOTICS RESEARCH

Yesterday President Obama announced the government would pledge $70 million to a pool of $500 million donated by universities, research institutions, and private industry to develop new robotics technologies. The President made the announcement at the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University.

The project, called the National Robotics Initative, is part of a wider effort by the Advanced Manufacturing Partnership to research breakthrough technologies. The group consists of multiple government agencies, universities and colleges, corporations, and private industry groups. While the government has pledged $70 million to the initiative, other agencies have filled the pot with up to $500 million to fund the research project.

The National Robotics Initiative will leverage resources at NASA, the National Science Foundation, and other government agencies to build robots that will be useful not just in military and defense applications, but civilian ones as well. For example, the National Science Foundation said they hope to use the initiative to build “co-robots” that can work alongside humans in day-to-day activities.

HULU STRIKES CONTENT DEAL WITH FOX AND DISNEY, NBC IN TALKS

Now that Hulu's owners have apparently decided the best thing to do is sell it to someone else, long arrangements for content are needed to bring the highest price. Bloomberg is reporting that after cutting a deal with Fox a few days ago Hulu has now tentatively reached a deal with another of its owners, Disney. While both arrangements could keep the TV shows flowing, they also reportedly include provisions to increase the number of ads shown on the service. That would also put it in position to reach a similar agreement with Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, because of the media giant's FCC promise to reach similar agreements as its competitors for online content.

NEW PHASE-ALLOY TURNS WASTE HEAT INTO ENERGY

A team of researchers at the University of Minnesota has found a way to harness energy from our hot castoffs. The group has apparently created a brand spanking new alloy that spontaneously creates energy when its temperature is raised by a small amount. Future uses for the material, known as Ni45Co5Mn40Sn10, include charging a hybrid car's battery with the help of waste heat from its exhaust. So what's the trick? Well, this wonder material is a phase changer, meaning it can go from non-magnetic to magnetic in moments, when the temperature rises. When that happens, the alloy absorbs heat, and bam! You've got electricity. The team is also collaborating with chemical engineers to create a thin film version of the material that could be used to convert waste heat from computers.

GOOGLE RETIRING HEALTH AND POWERMETER

Google is retiring two of its products, Google Health and Google Powermeter. Google Health will shut down on January 1, 2012. Its purpose was to give people access to their personal health and wellness information. According to the Google blog "Google Health is not having the broad impact that we hoped it would. There has been adoption among certain groups of users like tech-savvy patients and their caregivers, and more recently fitness and wellness enthusiasts. But we haven’t found a way to translate that limited usage into widespread adoption in the daily health routines of millions of people."

Google Powermeter will cease operations on September 16, 2011. Powermeter was created to " raise awareness about the importance of giving people access to data surrounding their energy usage." Google states Powermeter is ending because "efforts have not scaled as quickly as we would like."

Users will have until the deadline to gather their information. Instructions to get your information for each service can be found here.

US NAVY BLENDS JET A AND BIO-ALGAE FUEL, TESTS IN SEAHAWK HELICOPTER

The US Navy successfully completed a test flight with a 50 / 50 blend of algae-based biofuel and Jet A (traditionally the flavor of choice for turbine-based aircraft). The mixture used is known as Solajet HRJ-5 Jet fuel, which doesn't quite have the same ring to it as good ole Jet A, but it does happen to be based on a renewable resource and managed to keep the rotor spinning. There's no word on how much the new fuel costs to produce or when it might be ready for commercial use, but if all goes to plan, we may soon be using the green stuff for more than just sushi rolls and miso soup.

HACKER PLEADS GUILTY IN AT&T iPAD BREACH

Nearly six months after his arrest, one hacker pleaded guilty to charges that he exposed the email addresses of over 100,000 AT&T iPad 3G users. It's been a year since Daniel Spitler and his compatriot, Andrew Auernheimer, coaxed Ma-Bell servers into delivering the goods, with a brute force script they lovingly named the iPad 3G Account Slurper. The hacker's plea agreement suggests a 12 to 18-month sentence, which is a lot more lenient than the 10-year maximum we hear he could face. Spitler's collaborator is apparently still in plea negotiations with the prosecutor. Both men initially claimed they were just trying to draw attention to a security hole, but maybe next time they'll think twice before embarking on such altruistic endeavors.

APPLE'S iPAD ACCOUNTS FOR 97% OF US TABLET TRAFFIC ONLINE

It's no secret that the iPad commands a serious lead in the battle for tablet mindshare, but comScore's new Device Essentials traffic-tracking service shows just how much that translates into market dominance. According to the web monitoring company, the iPad and its successor account for 89 percent of tablet internet use globally, and 97 percent here in the US. Of course, the slate segment is still young and accounts for only a tiny percentage of total traffic. And, it's worth noting, the iPad has a significant advantage in being the first to hit shelves.

USPTO REJECTS SEVERAL OF ORACLE'S PATENT CLAIMS AGAINST GOOGLE

Much ink has been spilled about Oracle's lawsuit against Google for Android's allegedly unlawful use of Java, and rightfully so, considering Team Ellison's seeking to take more than a billion dollar chunk out of Google's bottom line. Just because Oracle's damage calculations add up to ten figures doesn't mean that the court will agree with them, however. And, there's a long legal road to be tread before the court can assign a dollar value to the case -- namely it must determine if the patent claims and copyrights are valid and whether Android actually infringes them.

That's why Google requested the USPTO re-examine the patents asserted by Oracle, as the process gives Google a shot at invalidating them outside the courtroom. It looks like the strategy is paying off, as one of those re-exams recently resulted in a rejection of 17 of the patent's 21 claims -- which reduces the number of claims Oracle can assert in court accordingly. Of course, those four remaining claims plus the 118 contained in the other six asserted patents (should they survive the re-examination process) could still spell doom for the little green bots, but it is a victory, albeit a modest one, for the team in Mountain View. So, Oracle may have a few less IP bullets to fire Google's way, but it's still got plenty of other legal ammo left.

GOOGLE FACING FTC INVESTIGATION

Google's drawn the ire of the Federal Trade Commission before for failing to follow its own privacy policies. Now, however, the Mountain View crew is apparently facing a formal inquiry from the FTC as it seeks information about Google's search and advertising business. The civil investigative demands are set to be sent out within the next five days, according to the Wall Street Journal, and the commission will be looking into whether Google's search engine illegally routs all those internet eyeballs scanning its site to its own services instead of those offered by competitors. Sound familiar? It should, because Google's under investigation for similar anticompetitive accusations made in Europe.

VOLKSWAGEN BRINGING HANDS-FREE DRIVING TO HIGHWAYS

A new technology proposed by the German automaker won't take you from A to B automatically, but it will help out with more simple driving, so you can take your hands off the wheel while cruising down the highway at up to 130km/h (about 80 mph), for example.

The system pairs Lane Assist with cruise control, and can be overridden by the driver at any time. The Temporary Auto Pilot (TAP) system's Pilot Mode uses radar, laser, camera, and ultrasonic sensors to maintain a safe distance between vehicles, start and stop in traffic, and slow down before a bend. Speed is set by the driver, who you'll need to remain aware of your surroundings in case you need to take over control.

POPCAP TO BE ACQUIRED BY EA FOR $1 BILLION

Huge news in the gaming world: PopCap Games, the company behind such hits as Plants vs Zombies and Bejeweled, is in the process of being acquired — and we’re hearing from multiple sources that the price is over $1 billion. Popcap’s revenues are in the range of $100-150 million, we hear — and a price of over $1 billion would put the deal at a possible 10x multiple.

This is not EA's first purchase of a hot gaming startup, they acquired Playfish in 2009 for up to $400 million after earnouts. PopCap was previously rumored to be exploring a possible IPO later this year. The company raised $22.5 million in October 2009.

LEAK: NOKIA'S FIRST WINDOWS PHONE PHONE

A video just surfaced showing Nokia CEO, Stephen Elop, foolishly asking a crowd of people to "put away their cameras" for the unveiling of something "super confidential," codenamed "Sea Ray." Naturally, a few people ignored the plea for "no pictures please" and, indeed, leaked the new device out to the blogosphere.

What is it? Why, it's Nokia's first Windows Phone. While it looks nearly identical to the just announced N9, the different LED placement on the back (in line with the same 8 megapixel Carl Zeiss lens) confirms it's a new device as does the additional hardware button (for shutter release, we presume) along the side. And the fact that it's running Windows Phone 7 Mango seals the deal.

PCI EXPRESS CABLE TO HIT 32Gbps BY 2013

Thought Thunderbolt (the data cable, not the phone) was the only superfast interconnect in town? Well, it is and will be for a little while yet, but the PCI Special Interest Group has just held its annual meeting and developer conference in California, where plans for a 32Gbps PCIe cable were revealed. Details are still fluid on precisely what such a connector would look like and do, but the expectation is that it'll be built out of copper wire, will be flatter and thinner than Thunderbolt's rotund construction, and will be able to channel power as well as data through to devices up to 10 feet (3m) away.

Targeting consumer applications, and extra skinny tablets and laptops in particular, this cabled variety of PCI Express will start off based on the 3.0 spec in 2013, but will then move on from there to PCI Express 4.0 and, potentially, optical data conveyance. Oh yes, PCIe 4.0 also got announced by the PCI SIG, though that's at least four years away at this point

JUDGE DENIES SAMSUNG RIGHT TO SEE UNRELEASED iPHONE AND iPAD

According to FOSS Patents, a judge in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California has ruled that Samsung cannot view Apple’s next-generation iPad and iPhone products.

The whole debacle started when Apple began accusing Samsung of creating copycat products and demanded the Korean firm to produce its next-generation devices inside a court room. The court took Apple’s side and Samsung was forced to show Apple the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1, Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge.

In an effort to prepare for further legal battles with Apple, Samsung wanted the same access to Apple’s next generation products.

For now, that won’t happen. The reasoning behind the judge’s decision appears to be that Samsung had already showed off its products to members of the press and others. Apple, as usual, has kept its products close to the vest.

HULU CONFIRMS IT IS FOR SALE

Hulu has hired bankers Morgan Stanley and Guggenheim Partners to sell the online video site. Hulu is jointly owned by News Corp's Fox, Disney's ABC and Comcast's NBC (although NBC has no voting power or a seat on the board). Hulu has stated it is on track to generate over $500 million in revenue this year, making it a quite attractive property.

Earlier this week it was rumored Yahoo was interested in Hulu and had tendered an initial offer. No news on if that offer was considered, but the board has not met to discuss any offers, so it is doubtful Yahoo's offer was sufficient.

Last year, Hulu and Morgan Stanley floated the notion of an IPO, which went nowhere because the company couldn’t secure long-term exclusive content licenses from its owners.

NEW BILL WOULD FORCE CARRIERS TO REVEAL TRUTH ABOUT 4G

Though 4G’s definition is now anything but clear -- first it was fake, and then some solid lobbying on carriers’ parts convinced the International Telecommunication Union to sing a new tune that would allow telcos to call LTE, WiMAX and even certain 3G technologies “4G” without blatantly lying -- carrier marketing soon could be.

A new bill currently in hands of the U.S. House of Representatives could potentially require U.S. wireless service providers to define guaranteed minimum data speeds that customers can expect of their networks. Since two tin cans and a piece of string can basically be called a 4G network according to the ITU’s loose guidelines, this bill, dubbed the Next Generation Wireless Disclosure Act, would be a big step toward weaving through marketing tomfoolery and letting customers know just how 4G their 4G network really is.

While the benefits to subscribers are fairly obvious, whether or not the proposition might become law depends largely on how much lobbying carriers are prepared to do.

WINKLEVOSS TWINS GIVE UP APPEAL OF FACEBOOK RULING

Olympic rowing twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss have decided not to appeal to the Supreme Court a ruling upholding their $65 million settlement with Facebook Inc and its founder Mark Zuckerberg, signaling the possible end of the long-running dispute.

The 2008 accord was intended to resolve a feud over whether Zuckerberg stole the idea for what became the world's most popular social networking website from the Winklevosses, who like him had attended Harvard University. Their battle was dramatized in the 2010 film "The Social Network."

After agreeing to the cash-and-stock accord, the Winklevosses sought to undo it, saying it was fraudulent because Facebook hid information from them, and that they deserved more money.

The 6-foot 5-inch (1.96-meter) twins, who competed in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, had been planning to appeal an April 11 ruling by a federal appeals court in San Francisco upholding the settlement, which that court called "quite favorable."

But in a filing on Wednesday with that court, the Winklevosses said that after "careful consideration," they decided not to seek Supreme Court review. The filing did not give a reason for the decision.

NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATE COMMITTEE SENDS OUT FAKE TWEETS TO SMEAR DEMOCRATS

For those not on the Twitter, it's a little complicated to follow this story, but bear with me. These are the tweets from the National Senate Republican Committee account. Now in Twitter parlance, "RT" refers to "retweet" and is customarily used at the head of someone else's tweet that you wish to amplify to your followers. It does not necessarily connote approval or agreement with the original tweet, but simply a desire to share it with your followers.

Well, here's the thing with all those RTs on behalf of the Sen. John Cornyn-headed NRSC: they're all fakes. They wrote them themselves and crafted them to look like they were merely re-tweeting something written by prominent Democrats and Democratic groups. And this goes out to the more than 14,000 followers of the NRSC twitter account.

Calls to both Cornyn's office and the NRSC to defend this have as yet not been returned. Allen at ABLC imagines if this kind of behavior is considered fair play what fun could be had retweeting faked tweets from Cornyn's account.

BEST BUY PUTS MUSIC IN THE CLOUD; PLAYS CATCH UP TO EVERYONE ELSE

Best Buy has rolled out its aptly (if uncreatively) named Music Cloud service that lets you upload your audio to its servers and stream it wherever you go. You can also save songs locally, plus there are apps for Androids, Blackberrys, and iPhones to manage and play your music. There are two flavors of Music Cloud, Lite and Premium. The former is free, while the latter costs $3.99 a month, though Best Buy hasn't said what the difference is (other than price) between the two. The catch? It's currently only capable of grabbing songs from iTunes, so no uploading from file folders.

GOOGLE WORKING ON VIDEO CHAT FOR CHROME; GOING HEAD TO HEAD WITH SKYPE

Not long after releasing WebRTC audio and video chat software as open-source, Google has started to integrate these capabilities into its prized browser. Looking to move past the played out features of Gmail and Google Voice, the company is planning for WebRTC to be a frontrunner for video conferencing and online chatting. The software was introduced as royalty-free, too, even promising to work with other browsers devs (namely Mozilla and Opera) to flesh out the project. This means that anyone building a site can make use of the new tech, and in theory, construct their own personal Skype battering ram. With the company being pro-web apps on all fronts, this is another step forward in its quest to bring the aforementioned technology up to par with native apps.

LULZSEC DENIES LEADER ARRESTED

There are numerous reports claiming that the leader of the now infamous hacking group LulzSec has been arrested in the United Kingdom. According to London’s Metropolitan Police, the shadowy leader was a 19-year old responsible for hacking “a number of international businesses and intelligence agencies.” The group took responsibility for Sony’s recent massive security breach and has also targeted a number of high-visibility websites, including that of the Central Intelligence Agency, and has waged war on the U.S. government with another group dubbed Anonymous.

Despite the reports, however, LulzSec has denied that any of its members have been arrested. Early Tuesday morning the group tweeted: “Seems the glorious leader of LulzSec got arrested, it’s all over now… wait… we’re all still here! Which poor bastard did they take down?”

RUMOR: APPLE PLANNING iOS POWERED TV COMING IN FALL

Apple may have an iOS powered TV in the works. According to Daily Tech, one former Apple executive recently said that customers will soon be able to “go into an Apple retail store and be able to walk out with a TV. It’s perfect.” Apple won’t build the televisions itself, though. Instead a manufacturer like Samsung may be behind the product. The former exec also said that the Cupertino-based firm will “blow Netflix and all those other guys away,” so we presume there’s a connected aspect that will allow users to access iTunes content in a manner similar to the current Apple TV product. Apple has been rumored to be working on a connected television numerous times in the past, though obviously nothing has materialized to date.

RUMOR: YAHOO LOOKING TO ACQUIRE HULU

According to the LA Times, Yahoo Inc. recently approached Hulu to discuss a possible acquisition of the popular online video service, citing a source with knowledge of the matter. Hulu, whose owners include media giants News Corp., Walt Disney Co. and Comcast Corp., has been struggling to find a balance between the desires of consumers to watch shows free online and its owners' interest in protecting the value of their programming. Late last year, it launched a paid subscription service to complement its free offerings.

Although there has been interest in the company, it remains unclear whether its owners have any desire to sell. Hulu has not taken any traditional steps associated with a sale such as retaining an investment bank to field offers. However, it is currently undergoing a restructuring that would give Chief Executive Jason Kilar and his executive team greater autonomy while imposing new rules on the availability of television content.

On Tuesday afternoon, word of the unsolicited offer spread and was subsequently confirmed by people close to the company. It is not known whether the offer came from Yahoo or another entity. Spokespersons for Yahoo, Hulu, News Corp. and Comcast declined to comment. A spokeswoman for Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

APPLE'S FINAL CUT PRO X LAUNCHED

Just as promised, Apple's long-awaited Final Cut Pro X is now available on the Mac App Store for just $299.99, meaning keen editors can immediately grab hold of this suite to crack on with some real-time 4K video editing. Of course, this is assuming that you have a 64-bit Mac rig with beastly specs in the first place.

Accompanying this major software release are Motion 5 and Compressor 4 kits, both of which will cost you an extra $49.99 each, so make that roughly around $400 for the full monty.

Apple has confirmed there will not be a boxed version, upgrade pricing, or "Express" version available. Individual users can purchase a single license to use on multiple machines that they own, while business users will need to purchase one license per machine. Volume education pricing is available for purchase by institutions only.

APPLE SUPPLIERS CUT iPHONE 4 PRODUCTION; iPHONE 5 COMING SOON

Printed circuit board (PCB) suppliers in Taiwan have noticed “disappointing orders” for iPhone and iPad hardware, according to DigiTimes. As a result, the suppliers have cut quotes by 10% on average for the second quarter, noting that there’s no sign of a rebound. The drop in iPhone hardware orders suggests that Apple’s highly anticipated next-generation iPhone is imminent; it’s largely expected that the company will take the wraps off of the device in September. The PCB suppliers that are cutting hardware sales expectations include Compeq Manufacturing, Nan Ya PCB, Tripod Technology and Unimicron Technology.

RUMOR: VERIZON WIRELESS TIERED DATA PLANS COMING JULY 7TH

Verizon Wireless will finally be shifting to the usage-based data plan structure we all knew was coming. Android enthusiast blog Droid Life on Monday reports that future Verizon subscribers will no longer have an unlimited smartphone data option starting July 7th. Instead, they will be forced to choose one of three tiered data options: 2GB for $30 per month, 5GB for $50 per month or 10GB for $80 per month. Those looking for tethering will have to add $20 to each of those plans, which works out to 4GB for $50 per month, 7GB for $70 per month or 12GB for $100 per month. Overages on any plan will run $10 per gigabyte.

According to the report, Verizon will charge the same rates for 3G and 4G LTE data plans, so subscribers interested in newer 4G smartphones will not have to worry about paying a premium for data, as they might elsewhere — which is a good thing, considering these plans are already a bit pricey. Current Verizon customers will not be forced to switch to a new plan.

While Verizon has not confirmed the new plans or exact timing, a Verizon Wireless spokesperson did have this to say: “As we have stated previously, Verizon Wireless is making some minor changes to data plans including those for new smartphone customers. We will move to a more usage based model in July.”

RUMOR: SKYPE FIRING EXECS TO REDUCE PAYOUTS

Skype has started to fire several of its executives in an effort to reduce payouts from its Microsoft purchase, Bloomberg reported on Monday. Among the execs being let go are vice presidents Christopher Dean, David Gurle, don Albert, and Russ Shaw, as well as chief marketing officer Doug Bewsher, and the head of human resources, Anne Gillespi. Two other execs from Skype’s Qik acquisition earlier this year — Ramu Sunkara and Allyson Campa — were also fired according to the report. This could possibly mean that the executives will lose any stock options that were not yet vested. Microsoft announced on May 10th that it was acquiring Skype for $8.5 billion, and the deal is still pending FCC approval.

APPLE TIME CAPSULE UPDATE UNVEILED; STORAGE INCREASED TO 3TB

It's been a good long while since Apple unveiled a new Time Capsule, almost two years since the 2TB model rolled out. At the time that was a volume of storage that you couldn't possibly fill up -- even if you ripped your entire Peter Gabriel collection in lossless. Now, nearly 24 months later, you're out of room for the latest Greatest Hits compilations, never mind Scratch My Back and the subsequent buddy album. Now Apple has your back, releasing an updated Time Capsule offering up to 3TB of storage