TEH GAY GEEK CLOSES

It with sadness that I announce Teh Gay Geek will be ceasing operations. For the past year and a half I have tried to bring my readers interesting and fun news and information from the tech world. TGG has always been a one man organization and has becoming increasingly more time consuming, time I just don't have anymore. I want to thank all the readers and Twitter & Feedburner subscribers. I have learned a lot about trying to start a tech blog and maybe one day TGG will live again.

KINDLE FIRE STOPS BLOCKING ANDROID MARKET

Some of you may have noticed, when perusing the interwebs on your Kindle Fire, that a certain Google-branded Market refused to load in the slate's Silk browser. In fact, it automatically redirected you to the Amazon App store in an unsettling bit of URL hijacking. Well, with the latest update to the tablet, that slightly befuddling restriction has been lifted and the questionable behavior rectified. Presumably this was originally intended to save customers confusion and support staff headaches when trying to install an app from the Android Market failed. But, actually intercepting and redirecting a user isn't becoming of a company that expects us to trust it with our data -- especially our browsing and financial info. Thankfully now, you can visit the Market in all its glory on your Fire, just don't expect to install apps from it any time soon

'THE HOBBIT' FINALLY GETS A TRAILER

Fans of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings films have reason to cheer today as there is finally a trailer of the upcoming movie, “The Hobbit.” The first of a two-movie production, “The Hobbit” tells J.R.R. Tolkien’s prequel tale of Bilbo Baggins journeying with Gandalf (for the first time) to help reclaim Erebor for its rightful dwarven owners. The first installment will focus on the earlier part of the group’s adventures, including the finding of the One Ring by Bilbo in Gollum’s cave.

The trailer shows that the film is being produced with the same look and feel as his first three LotR movies. Indeed if you didn’t know you were watching the trailer for the Hobbit you might think you were seeing clips from the trilogy. This is due in large part to Jackson being able to retain the original actors who played Gandalf and Galadriel, a welcome sight for fans who demand consistency across production.

MICROSOFT TO END ITS CES KEYNOTE ROLE

Microsoft's has announced that it will be ending its long-standing CES keynote role, and will no longer have a booth at the show as it's done for many years. Head of Microsoft's corporate communications, Frank X. Shaw, posted a rather direct note about it on the company's blog, and the CEA confirmed the move on its blog.

According to sources, Microsoft simply didn't feel it was getting a reasonable return on its investment with CES, and the reality is that the show hadn't aligned with its launches for a few years.

ITC SAYS MOTOROLA MOBILITY GUILTY OF MICROSOFT PATENT INFRINGEMENT

The United States International Trade Commission ruled late Tuesday that Motorola Mobility is guilty of infringing on one of Microsoft’s patents. The patent is related to calendar sync and how one might use a device to schedule a meeting, BBC News explained. Microsoft originally filed a suit against Motorola Mobility in August in an attempt to block sales of several Motorola Android smartphones, such as DROID 2, DROID X and several others, and accused Motorola Mobility of infringing on seven total patents. The ITC judge ruled that Motorola Mobility devices do not infringe on six of Microsoft’s patents, however. Microsoft recently filed a similar lawsuit against Barnes & Noble, and the company has already reached licensing agreements with HTC, Samsung, ViewSonic and several other firms.

GOOGLE AND MOZILLA KISS AND MAKE UP

Mozilla announced Tuesday that it has reached an agreement with Google in which Google Search will remain the default search engine in Firefox for the next three years. “Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come,” said Google’s senior vice president of search, Alan Eustace. While terms of the agreement remain confidential, Mozilla reported in October that its partnership with Google helped the company achieve a large portion of the $123 million in revenue in reported last year.

SUPER BOWL TO BE STREAMED LIVE ON VERIZON WIRELESS

The NFL and NBC will stream Superbowl XLVI live online and to mobile devices for the first time ever in February. Unfortunately, the broadcast won’t be available to all mobile users; Verizon Wireless will be the exclusive mobile partner and subscribers can watch the game live provided they have a supported phone with NFL Mobile installed. Viewers can also stream the Pro Bowl and Wild Card Saturday using NBC or the NFL’s website, or Verizon’s mobile application. The Associated Press said that streaming viewers will be treated to live stats, highlights from the game and additional camera angles. Superbowl XLVI kicks off on February 5th in Indianapolis.

VERIZON WIRELESS USERS REPORTING DATA OUTAGES

If you're having trouble getting a data connection on your Verizon-branded handset this morning, you're not alone. Based on Verizon's @vzwsupport Twitter feed and forums, it looks as if both 3G and 4G networks have been affected, although the 3G service appears to be working now. This is the third data outage for Verizon in a month, mostly affecting their 4G LTE deployment.

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER....AMAZON TRIED TO BUY RIM

Based on a new Reuters report, Amazon was hot-to-trot on the idea of buying RIM, but those desires seemingly cooled after the BlackBerry maker decided that it'd rather "fix its problems on its own." Wildly enough, the report states that an investment bank was hired earlier this summer "to review a potential merger with RIM," but no formal offer was ever extended.

Of course, it's not atypical to hear of Amazon buying unusual assets -- it's snapped up everything from a touchscreen startup to a UK-based movie streaming and rental service -- and sources have affirmed that "other kinds of commercial partnerships" could still be in the cards. In fact, the two are rumored to be actively discussing ways to "expand their commercial ties, which currently include a service launched last year to make Amazon's music catalog available to some BlackBerry users."

RUMOR: GROUPON SHORT ON CASH

In the run up to its recent IPO, a number of outlets reported that the daily deal giant Groupon was running short on cash. Over at the Motley Fool, Evan Niu noted that the company had $243.9 million in cash and equivalents at the end of September, compared with $465.6 million in accrued merchant payables, that is, the money they owed people who ran Groupon deals.

The company ended up raising $700 million, but according to a source familiar with its business, there still isn’t enough cash on hand to make critical structural improvements the company needs to grow. Groupon is shelling out millions every month on hosting costs, and paying a premium to third parties. The company is very eager to construct it own data center, but simply can’t afford it.

Groupon noted in it's IPO prospectus "We have spent and expect to continue to spend substantial amounts on data centers and equipment and related network infrastructure to handle the traffic on our websites and applications. The operation of these systems is expensive and complex and could result in operational failures. In the event that our subscriber base or the amount of traffic on our websites and applications grows more quickly than anticipated, we may be required to incur significant additional costs.”

ITC SIDES WITH APPLE, BANS US IMPORT OF SOME HTC DEVICES

A judge with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) ruled Monday that HTC is guilty of infringing Apple’s patents in several devices. The ITC also ordered a ban on the import of several of HTC’s smartphones although it is unclear which models are affected. The ban will take effect on April 19th. “Notice is hereby given that the U.S. International Trade Commission has found a violation of section 337 in this investigation and has issued a limited exclusion order prohibiting importation of infringing personal data and mobile communications devices and related software,” the ITC said in its determination. “The Commission has determined that exclusion of articles subject to this order shall commence on April 19, 2012.”

The injunction applies to two patents related to “data tapping,” and “if Google can implement this popular feature, which users of modern-day smartphones really expect, without infringing on the two patent claims found infringed, this import ban won’t have any effect whatsoever,” patent expert Florian Muller of FOSS Patents said in a post.

Apple accused HTC of infringing on 10 total patents and the ITC ruled in July that HTC was in violation of two of those patents. HTC later filed for an appeal of the case, in which Apple sought to ban the Taiwan-based vendor from selling its devices in the United States. “We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We’ve decided to do something about it,” Apple’s late CEO Steve Jobs said in March, 2010, when the complaint was initially filed.

HTC released a statement after the ruling saying it will appeal the decision. Additionally HTC stated they have a solution ready to address the violations noted in the judgement.

INSTITUTE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY SAYS CELL PHONE BANS DO NOT REDUCE ACCIDENTS

According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has issued a report saying cell phones are not causing accidents, but is "the full spectrum of things that distract." The IIHS (funded by a group of car insurers) compared crash data between states that had instituted cell phone bans and those that hadn't. According to its research, while the ban had reduced phone use, it hadn't helped reduce crash rates.

The National Transportation Safety Board has presented several studies linking cell phone use to an increased chance of crashing and their latest proposals would ban not only cell phone usage, but most hands-free systems found in major car makers' vehicles today.

AT&T DROPS BID TO ACQUIRE T-MOBILE

AT&T says it is ending its $39 billion bid to buy T-Mobile USA after facing fierce government objections. AT&T's purchase of T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom of Germany would have made it the largest cellphone company in the U.S. AT&T is currently the country's second-largest wireless carrier, while T-Mobile is the fourth-largest.
The Justice Department sued to block the merger on Aug. 31, saying it would reduce competition and lead to higher prices. Last month, the companies withdrew their application to the Federal Communications Commission after its chairman also opposed the deal.

It is unclear if AT&T will still have to pay T-Mobile the exhorbitant break up fee or not. Also in question is the rumor about AT&T and T-Mobile creating a joint venture.

WORST COMPANIES IN AMERICA

24/7 Wallstreet has compiled a list of the worst run companies in America. It used a number of factors to evaluate the companies including stock price, dividends paid, product launch success, financial results, success of new management and the performance of each company within its industry. Not surprisingly a number of technology oriented companies made the list.

Research in Motion (RIM) came in at #2 on the list. It's delay in releasing competitive products and poorly designed products with the inability to compete against Apple and Android were sited as two of the main reasons.

At #4 on the list is Eastman Kodak. With the inability to transition from an operating company to a patent holder with intellectual property to license investors are very skittish on the company. It's stock price is down 79% YTD and many investors are suing the company for misleading them about how much capital it had on hand.

In the 7-9 spots are Hewlett-Packard, Groupon and Netflix respectively. HP has lost up to 22% of it's stock price with the main concern around the ability to find a successful successor to Mark Hurd. Groupon has never made a profit and there are concerns about it's accounting practices. Rounding out the list is Netflix. It makes the list mainly due to the debacle this summer where the company raised rates on customers 60%. It lost over 800,000 customers according to it's most recent filing.

To read the rest of the list and see who was in the best companies catagory, hit the link above.

GOOGLE + GETS UPDATES

Google + (G+) has announced a number of improvements on it's blog this morning. Some of the improvements include the finer control over postings. The control allows the user to “graphic-equalize” the stream of a particular circle. A slider will allow the user to adjust how posts are blended into the stream.

The G+ team has also updated the photo viewing utility, Lightbox. The improvements to Lightbox include improved navigation, enhanced comment legibility and better overall utility. Other improvements include better photo-tagging utility that is "both fun and fluid." These improvements are designed to make the photo the hero, letting the content itself shine through.

Notifications have been updated as well. G+ has enhanced the notifications with easier to read "sneak previews" that immediately present what’s new and why you might care.

Lastly, Pages have been updated. Administration has been improved with the ability to have up to 50 managers as administrators for the page. Notficiations for Pages has been improved to help those managers stay in the loop and be more involved with page conversation.

RUMOR: APPLE TESTING WEARABLE iPOD WITH SIRI INTEGRATION

Apple may be secretly developing wearable iPods that offer full support for voice commands using the company’s Siri software. Details surrounding the supposed project were revealed by The New York Times on Monday. Apple is reportedly working on a “curved-glass iPod that would wrap around the wrist,” which sounds similar to a watch-like device that could replace the iPod nano and shuffle in gyms around the world. Presuming Siri support would be the same as it is on the iPhone 4S, users could command the device to play a specific song, check the weather or more. We’re even imagining deeper Siri integration where a user might be able to ask their iPod how far they have run or what their current heart rate is.

SPRINT DISABLES CARRIER IQ ON ALL PHONES, STOPS COLLECTING DATA

Sprint on Friday confirmed that it has disabled Carrier IQ on its servers and it is no longer actively using the software to collect diagnostic data. ”We have weighed customer concerns and we have disabled use of the tool so that diagnostic information and data is no longer being collected,” a Sprint spokesperson told Mobile Burn. “We are further evaluating options regarding this diagnostic software as well as Sprint’s diagnostic needs.” Sprint revealed in a letter to Senator Al Franken earlier this week that Carrier IQ is currently installed on approximately 26 million Sprint smartphones. Reports from earlier on Friday suggested that Sprint has already begun notifying its vendor partners to remove Carrier IQ software from their handsets, but Sprint did not directly address those claims.

SIRI PORTING TO iPHONE 4 NOW LEGAL WITH iOS 5.0.1 UPDATE

IPhone 4 owners looking to take advantage of Apple’s Siri software from the iPhone 4S now have one less barrier standing in their way. Sure, plenty of tricks have been available in the past that allow users to hack Siri onto an iPhone 4, but until now they were illegal. Apple’s recent iOS 5.0.1 update, however, has a decrypted ramdisk, which means users can legally port files to the iPhone 4 that were previously encrypted and protected by Apple’s public distribution policies. Apple may re-encrypt the files in iOS 5.1, which is expected to launch in the near future, so move quick if you want to take advantage of this loophole.

APPLE'S A5 CHIP BEING MADE IN TEXAS BY SAMSUNG

Apple and other consumer electronics companies typically look to the Far East for components, but a new report suggests that the production of Apple’s current mobile processors has now moved to the United States. Reuters on Friday reported that the chip powering Apple’s current iPhone, iPad and iPod touch models is now manufactured in a new 1.6 million square foot Samsung factory located in Austin, Texas. The report cites unnamed people familiar with Samsung’s operations. Samsung’s new Austin facility — which is the size of nine football fields — reportedly reached full production earlier this month, and it was built to manufacture non-memory chips. The South Korea-based company confirmed that its Texas plant was recently expanded to manufacture logic chips, though it would not comment specifically on Apple or its A5 processor. Reuters reported earlier this year that Samsung lost the contract to build Apple’s next-generation A6 processor, which will instead be manufactured by Taiwan-based chip maker TSMC.

DELL LEAVES NETBOOKS BEHIND

Dell confirmed that it is no longer making consumer netbooks. Not only are the Inspiron Minis being put in the grave, but the company confirmed for us that it will not be releasing new netbooks based on Intel's forthcoming Cedar Trail platform. In other words, it is done with the category.

That said, it did clarify that its netbook / tablet hybrid — the Inspiron Duo — continues to sell well, and although it isn't in stock on Dell.com right now, it would available again before the holidays are over. Of course, Dell is still planning on being a lead player in the mobile laptop space and stressed that it has been spending time developing higher-end, premium laptops like the XPS 14z. Dell's Marketing Director Alison Gardner was very clear about the strategy: "Thin and powerful is where it is at for us." Seems like ultrabooks are indeed the new netbooks