QR CODES SCANNED BY 6.2 PERCENT OF SMARTPHONE USERS

QR codes may be turning up in more places than ever these days, but are people actually using them? According to market research firm Comscore, at least some of them are -- 14 million in June in the US alone, to be specific, or about 6.2 percent of all smartphone users. As for who makes up that slice of the smartphone market, Comscore says that just over 60 percent are male, 53 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34, and 36 percent have a household income of $100k or more. Folks are also apparently more likely to scan QR codes at home than at a retail store, and magazines and newspapers edge out websites or product packaging when it comes to the top source of the QR code being scanned. So, not exactly an explosion in use, but still fairly impressive for a weird-looking barcode that was rarely seen outside of Japan until a few years ago.

LEAKED: AT&T LETTER DAMAGES AT&T CASE FOR T-MOBILE ACQUISITION

Yesterday a partially-redacted document briefly appeared on the FCC website --accidentally posted by a law firm working for AT&T on the $39 billion T-Mobile deal (somewhere there's a paralegal looking for work today). While AT&T engaged in damage control telling reporters that the document contained no new information a careful review of the doc shows that's simply not true. Data in the letter undermines AT&T's primary justification for the massive deal, while highlighting how AT&T is willing to pay a huge premium simply to reduce competition and keep T-Mobile out of Sprint's hands.

While AT&T is busy telling regulators the deal will increase network investment by $8 billion, out of the other side of their mouth AT&T has been telling investors the deal will reduce investment by $10 billion over 6 years. Based on historical averages T-Mobile would have invested $18 billion during that time frame, which means an overall reduction in investment.

For the first time the letter pegs the cost of bringing AT&T's LTE coverage from 80% to 97% at $3.8 billion -- quite a cost difference from the $39 billion price tag on the T-Mobile deal. The push for 97% coverage apparently came from AT&T marketing, who was well aware that leaving LTE investment at 80% would leave them at a competitive disadvantage to Verizon. Marketing likely didn't want a repeat of the Luke Wilson map fiasco of a few years back, when Verizon made AT&T look foolish for poor 3G coverage.

The letter also notes that AT&T's supposed decision to "not" build out LTE to 97% was cemented during the first week of January, yet public documents (pdf) indicate that at the same time AT&T was already considering buying T-Mobile, having proposed the deal to Deutsche Telekom on January 15. In the letter, AT&T tries to make it seem like the decision to hold off on that 17% LTE expansion was based on costs. Yet the fact the company was willing to shell out $39 billion one week later, combined with AT&T's track record with these kinds of tactics, suggests AT&T executives knew that 80-97% expansion promise would be a useful carrot on a stick for politicians.

The reality appears to be that AT&T is giving Deutsche Telekom $39 billion primarily to reduce market competition. That price tag eliminates T-Mobile entirely -- and makes Sprint (and by proxy new LTE partner LightSquared and current partner Clearwire) more susceptible to failure in the face of 80% AT&T/Verizon market domination.

Regardless of the motivation behind rejecting 97% LTE deployment, the letter proves AT&T's claim they need T-Mobile to improve LTE coverage from 80-97% simply isn't true. That's a huge problem for AT&T, since nearly every politician and non-profit that has voiced support for the merger did so based largely on this buildout promise. It's also a problem when it comes to the DOJ review, since proof that AT&T could complete their LTE build for far less than the cost of this deal means the deal doesn't meet the DOJ's standard for merger-specific benefits. [Broadband Reports]

8 GRAMS OF THORIUM COULD REPLACE GASOLINE IN VEHICLES FOR LIFE

1958 Ford Nucleon model

The price of oil is on an upward spiral due to increasing demand and diminishing supplies. Short of finding vast new untapped reserves buried somewhere under out feet, we need to find an alternative sooner rather than later.

Charles Stevens is an inventor and CEO of Laser Power Systems. His idea is to replace the gasoline engine with an electricity generator that doesn’t require a battery. He is proposing the use of the rare earth mineral thorium in conjunction with a laser and mini turbines that easily produce enough electricity to power a vehicle.

Thorium is abundant and radioactive, but much safer to use than an element such as uranium. When thorium is heated it becomes extremely hot and causes heat surges allowing it to be coupled with mini turbines producing steam that can then be used to generate electricity. It also helps that it has a very large liquid range between melting and boiling point.

Combining a laser, radioactive material, and mini-turbines might sound like a complicated alternative solution to filling your gas tank, but there’s one feature that sells it as a great alternative solution.

Stevens has worked out you’d require a 227kg, 250MW thorium engine in order to power a typical road car. Within that system 1 gram of thorium produces the equivalent of 7,500 gallons of gasoline. So if you fit the Thorium engine with 8 grams of Thorium, it will run the vehicle for its entire lifetime without needing to be refueled while all the time not producing any emissions. The engine lasts so long in fact, that it could be taken from one vehicle and used in another as and when they wear out.

The issues to overcome are the radioactivity and the mining of thorium to make this engine possible. Stevens says the radioactivity can easily be contained with aluminium foil. As for the mining, the reserves are there, with 440,000 tons alone in the U.S., we just need the mining facilities to extract it in large enough quantities. With the potential benefits that is sure to happen.

Stevens admits that his biggest hurdle isn’t the thorium and laser aspects of the system, but the mini turbines which have to be made small enough to fit inside a vehicle while generating enough electricity. Even so, Stevens believes he’ll have a working prototype by 2014 and the potential to not only replace, but improve upon the gasoline-powered engines we rely on today.

SAN FRANCISCO SUBWAY SHUTS DOWN CELL SERVICE DURING PROTESTS

The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today. "BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon.

Activists had planned to protest the fatal shooting of Charles Blair Hill, who BART police said went after them with a knife before an officer shot him on July 3. "Organizers planning to disrupt BART service...stated they would use mobile devices to coordinate their disruptive activities and communicate about the location and number of BART police," said the original BART statement. "A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees, and demonstrators."

The initial statement from BART said the subway system had asked the wireless carriers to suspend the service in the stations, but Allison later said BART itself pulled the plug and notified the providers after the fact.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 UNVEILING ON SEPTEMBER 7TH

Apple plans to hold this year’s “iPod media event” on September 7th, Japanese-language news site Kodawarisan reported on Friday. The company’s September event has historically been dedicated to the iPod line, with Apple having unveiled its latest iPod touch, iPod shuffle and iPod nano models at last year’s event. With a new iPhone model due to be released in September or October, however, it seems very likely that Apple will use its annual September media event to unveil the iPhone 5 rather than just refreshed iPods. The spotlight has moved off of Apple’s iPod lineup over the past few years — Apple even removed its “iPod” branding from the Music app in iOS 5 — so it seems highly unlikely that the company’s line of media players will continue to warrant a dedicated event.

LEAK: ANDROID ICE CREAM SANDWICH REVEALED

The first images and details surrounding Google’s next major Android release have seemingly been revealed. Mobile site RootzWiki claims to have received images and details from a source with an early build of Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich,” and it has published two images of the OS running on a Nexus S. The site says this Ice Cream Sandwich build is “still very early in the works and not 100% functional,” and it speculates that the OS will not be released in the near future as a result.

Among the features reportedly found in Android 4.0 are a new blue theme in place of Gingerbread’s green theme, a camera with an integrated panorama feature and various Honeycomb-like UI details. The site’s source says that Ice Cream Sandwich will be made available for the Nexus S following its release, but the Nexus Prime will be the first device to launch with the new OS

GOOGLE+ GETS GAMES

Google announced on Thursday that it is following in Facebook’s footsteps yet again by adding games to its Google+ social network. “We want to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to the web,” the company said in a blog post. “That means giving you control over when you see games, how you play them and with whom you share your experiences.”

Thankfully we won’t be bombarded with Farmville requests and updates on Mafia Wars: “games in Google+ are there when you want them and gone when you don’t,” the company said. A new ‘Games’ button will be added to the top of the Google+ stream that will bring users to the gaming page.

Launch titles include Angry Birds, Bejeweled Blitz, Bubble Island, City of Wonder, Collapse! Blast, Crime City, Diamond Dash, Dragon Age Legends, Dragons of Atlantis, Edge World, Flood-It!, Monster World, Sudoku, Wild Ones, Zombie Lane and Zynga Poker. Google will be rolling out the update to its users gradually and it will be available to all users “soon.”

APPLE WORKING ON PICO PROJECTORS FOR iPHONE

Apple may be working on pico-projector technology that could be used with its iPhone and Mac products according to a patent filing discovered by UnwiredView. The patent, titled “Projected display shared workspaces,” shows how one might be able to use an iPhone or Mac to project content onto a larger open space, such as a wall, by attaching a small pico-projector.

In addition, users could control the projection using multitouch gestures on their iPhone screen or Mac trackpad. The patent reminds us of AT&Ts LG eXpo, which had its own projector accessory but wasn’t much of a hit with consumers.

FTC INVESTIGATING GOOGLE'S ANDROID

Antitrust investigators with the Federal Trade Commission are focusing on Google’s Android operating system and web search services, The Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. Reportedly, there is some concern that Google prevents its Android partners from implementing services provided by Google’s competitors to their smartphones.

One example comes from backin May, when Google blocked Motorola from using Skyhook Wireless’ location services on its phones. The FTC is also investigating whether Google promotes its own services over its rivals, and whether it actually uses data that its competitors have collected, such as local reviews, to populate its own results.

The FTC announced that it was opening an investigation into Google’s business practices on June 24th and, at the time, Google said that it was not clear what the FTC’s concerns were. The search giant said that it will cooperate fully and will continue to follow its five pillars: “do what’s best for the user,” “provide the most relevant answers as quickly as possible,” “label advertisements clearly,” “be transparent,” and “loyalty, not lock-in.”

SETI COMES BACK; CONTINUES SEARCH FOR ET

Four months after going into financial "hibernation," SETI's Allen Telescope Array has been temporarily resuscitated thanks to an infusion of publicly raised funds from the SETIStars program, and Ms. Jodie Foster. The web campaign for those-who-believe raised over $200,000 in just 45 days, enough cash to get the Paul Allen-funded dishes scanning the skies for at least five more months. Tom Pierson, the institute's CEO, is hoping to secure long-term funding for the project from the U.S. Air Force, which could use the array during the daytime "to track orbital objects that otherwise might pose a threat to the International Space Station and other satellites."

UNLIMITED GAME DOWNLOAD COMING TO GAMEFLY THIS FALL

GameFly announced on Wednesday it will soon offer a new service called “Unlimited PC Play” that will allow gamers to download an unlimited amount of games to their Windows or Mac computer. Much like Netflix’s business model, GameFly will provide instant access to more than 8,000 rental discs or more than 1,500 instant downloads for a monthly fee.

The service will require a desktop client that will include news, a feed of HD trailers and screen shots of the latest games. GameFly also said there will be a social component that will allow gamers to interact with one another in real-time. A closed beta will begin on September 8th for current GameFly subscribers and a public launch will occur during the holiday season.

T-MOBILE TO START CHARGING DATA OVERAGES ON AUGUST 14TH

T-Mobile, flooded by larger-than-expected demand on data, may be just a matter of days away from making a polarizing change to its 200MB internet plans. As the feature currently stands, going over your limit results in a throttling of broadband speeds, forcing your browser to surf and download at a ridiculously slow pace. The rumored adjustment to the plan, however, would take away the option completely and replace it with usage charges. Each additional MB used, according to the leaked docs, will tack an extra dime onto your monthly bill.

Fortunately, the overage is capped at $30 -- preventing several potential panic attacks at the mailbox -- and only affects the lower plan; additionally, anyone currently on the 200MB plan will be grandfathered, thus retaining their unlimited (albeit throttled) internet. Those on the 2GB plan can breathe easily for now, but there's no telling when the policy will spread like wildfire throughout the remainder of T-Mobile's data offerings. The change, slated to take place on August 14th, has yet to be officially confirmed.

NYPD CREATES SOCIAL NETWORKING UNIT TO SCOUR SITES FOR PERPS

The New York Police Department has many different specialized units from the Special Victims Unit to SWAT and the bomb squad. Now a new unit is being formed that will be tasked with scouring various social networks for evidence and possible crimes that are posted by perpetrators. New York's newly minted Assistant Commissioner, Kevin O'Connor, will enlist the department's juvenile justice unit to take on this task.

WALMART PULLS PLUG ON ONLINE MUSIC STORE

According to Digital Music News, Walmart's MP3 store will shut its digital doors forever on August 28th.

Walmart's music store was seen as an "iTunes killer" at one time. By deeply discounting MP3s to only $0.88 Walmart hoped to dethrone the Apple king. However, Walmart, even with the discounts, could not overcome the power of the idevice's tight integration with iTunes.

A representative of Wal-Mart noted that older, protected files will still be supported. "We’ve made a business decision to no longer offer MP3 digital tracks as of August 29, 2011," the executive confirmed. In late 2008, the company finally secured licenses to shift away from DRM-protected purchased and towards MP3s. "We'll continue to provide support to our customers who previously purchased digital music through Walmart Music Downloads so they may continue to enjoy and manage their existing WMA files."

RIM WORKING WITH LONDON AUTHORITIES OVER USE OF BBM DURING RIOTS

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has agreed to work with London authorities as they begin their investigation into recent riots. According to some Londoners, rioters were using RIM’s BlackBerry Messenger service, along with social networks such as Twitter, to organize the attacks. “It is clear that technology is being used, including in demonstrations, to direct people and undermine the police,”

London’s deputy assistant commissioner Stephen Kavanagh told Bloomberg. “It is not for us to to moan about this, but to adapt policing style and deal with it.” RIM typically prides itself on the security of its BBM service and has denied access to governments worried the chat platform could be used for planning terrorist attacks. “We feel for those impacted by the riots in London,” RIM wrote in a recent tweet. “We have engaged with the authorities to assist in any way we can.”

Despite RIM’s efforts, one Member of Parliament, David Lammy, has called on the Canadian company to suspend BlackBerry Messenger services while the riots continue, Reuters said. “This is one of the reasons why unsophisticated criminals are outfoxing an otherwise sophisticated police force,” Lamme tweeted. “BBM is different as it is encrypted and police can’t access it.” Twitter isn’t giving up information as quickly. A spokesperson for the social network told Bloomberg that it would require a “subpoena or court order” before giving the police access to private user information. Read on for more on how one group of hackers is reacting to RIM’s cooperation.

RUMOR: ICE CREAM SANDWICH DEVICES LAUNCHING IN OCTOBER

According to a source with knowledge of Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich plans the first Ice Cream Sandwich devices could start hitting the ground as early as October. The source further says Google is looking to push up the release of Ice Cream Sandwich devices as Apple’s iPhone 5 is expected in September or October, and the Mountain View-based company doesn’t want potential customers coming out of contracts (especially original DROID owners) and “drooling over the iPhone 5.”

Ice Cream Sandwich is the next version of the popular mobile OS from Google. It has been stated by Google that Ice Cream Sandwich will be the convergence of Honeycomb, the mobile OS designed for tablets, and Gingerbread, the mobile handset OS.

MICROSOFT GM OF WINDOWS PHONE QUITS TO START NEW COMPANY

Microsoft’s General Manager of the Windows Phone Developer Experience, Charlie Kindel, on Monday announced that he is leaving Microsoft to launch a start up. Kindel did not share the details of his new endeavor, and his public profile on networking site LinkedIn lists him as Founder and CTO of at A super secret stealth startup. “[The start up] has to do with sports, advertising, mobile, social-networking, and, of course, the cloud,” Kindel wrote in a post on his personal blog. “I’m insanely excited to get started.” The soon-to-be former executive was with Microsoft for 21 years, having joined the Redmond-based company’s developer support group in 1990.

APPLE OFFERS 25GB OF STORAGE IN iCLOUD FOR MOBILEME SUBSCRIBERS

If you’re currently an active MobileMe subscriber, Apple may soon offer you an incentive to move all of your data over to its new iCloud service. From the day the service goes public, expected with the launch of iOS 5 and the new iPhone in September or October, until June 30th of next year users who move their data to iCloud will receive 25GB of free iCloud storage for as long as their iCloud account is active, 9to5 Mac reported on Monday. Every iCloud user will receive 5GB free from the get-go and and an additional 10GB will cost $20 per year. An extra 20GB will cost $40 per year and 50GB of added storage will set you back $100 annually.

VERIZON WORKERS CONTINUE STRIKE

45,000 Verizon employees, or about 25% of the company’s workforce, continued their strike on Monday after the company failed to reach an agreement with labor unions, Bloomberg reported. It is the first strike in 11 years at Verizon and it could end up affecting customers waiting for new phone and web installations or phone support, though Verizon has 40,000 other employees on hand.

The Communications Workers of America and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers don’t want to pay monthly premiums on health benefits, but Verizon isn’t quite willing to spend more money on the unions as customers continue to opt for wireless service and internet entertainment in place of phone lines and cable TV. “It is clear that some of the existing contract provisions, negotiated initially when Verizon was under far less competitive pressure, are not in line with the economic realities of business today,” Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam said Sunday. “In fact, under these contracts, benefit costs have risen consistently even as the wireline business has shrunk.” “We’re looking to bring our union more in line with what the rest of the workers pay,” Verizon spokesperson Rich Young said, noting that a majority of Verizon’s employees pay part of their health insurance premiums. International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers manager Bill Huber sees it differently. “These aren’t negotiations, they’re an insult,” he said. “This is a clear attack on our unions.”

It should be noted that Verizon reported revenues of over $27.5 billion last quarter, with a majority of that revenue coming from the wireless division.

RIM ANNOUNCES QNX BASED COLT 'SUPERPHONE'

RIM has announced the first phone based on the QNX OS. The Blackberry Colt is seen as the tarnished phone companies hail mary back to a position of influence. The Colt is part of RIM's line of Blackberry 7 devices and will launch in the first quarter of 2012, but in order to make that date, some compromises will have to be made.

RIM has announced that the Colt will launch without Blackberry Enterprise Server (BES) support, which effectively means this is not an enterprise level phone, but is squarely targeted at the consumer market. One of the reasons for not support BES is that RIM is still writing the QNX code for integration into BES and some believe RIM will eventually release a QNX-specific BES to work alongside the regular BES.

MAJOR RETAILERS MOVING TO DIGITAL RECEIPTS

Major retailers, including Whole Foods Market, Nordstrom, Gap Inc. (which owns Old Navy and Banana Republic), Anthropologie, Patagonia, Sears and Kmart, have begun offering electronic versions of receipts, either e-mailed or uploaded to password-protected Web sites. And more and more customers, the retailers report, are opting for paperless.

Many people like keeping searchable records on a computer — e-receipts come in handy during tax season, make some returns a snap and are a tidy addition to the e-purchases already stored on countless hard drives. Others see the paper versions as an anachronism, wasteful of resources and as irrelevant as printed bank statements and mutual fund reports.

“As consumers, we’re changing the way we shop,” said Jennifer Miles, who oversees retail systems at VeriFone, which makes checkout technology. “Customers are starting to want electronic receipts.”

Beyond the cost savings and environmental benefit (an estimated 9.6 million trees are cut each year for receipts in the United States, according to allEtronic, a digital receipt company), the e-receipts present marketing opportunities for retailers. Gap, Nordstrom and many other stores, for example, add the customer’s e-mail address to a mailing list for follow-up offers.

That marketing potential is a drawback to some customers, said Robert Cohen, vice president of retail at Patagonia, which began offering e-receipts nine months ago. “People are very protective of their e-mail in-box,” he said, so only about one-third of Patagonia’s customers choose an electronic receipt.

FBI RELEASES iPHONE APP TO HELP LOCATE MISSING CHILDREN

The FBI has just released its very first mobile app, aimed at helping parents deal with their worst nightmare -- a missing child. Known as Child ID, the application allows users to store their kid's photos and identifying information directly on their handsets, making it easier to provide authorities with vital data whenever the little one disappears. Parents can also use the tool to dial 911 or the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children with the tap of a button, and can instantly e-mail their child's details to law enforcement officials, thanks to a dedicated tab.

Of course, some may feel uncomfortable with keeping such personal information stored on a smartphone, but the Bureau insists that none of the data will be collected or shared without authorization -- and they're pretty good at keeping secrets. For now, Child ID is available only for iPhone, though the FBI plans to expand it to other mobile devices in the near future.

COMCAST ANNOUNCES $10 INTERNET ACCESS FOR LOW INCOME FAMILIES

Cable and Internet provider Comcast is launching a new initiative aimed at bridging the digital divide, offering discounted web access and home computers to families that meet income requirements. The plan, called Internet Essentials, will be available wherever Comcast offers Internet services, which it currently does in 39 states. When the Comcast-NBC/Universal merger was approved, regulators also required the company to help low-income households get online.

The requirements the household must meet are:

• Is located where Comcast offers Internet service;
• Has at least one child eligible to receive a free school lunch under the NSLP;
• Has not subscribed to Comcast Internet service within the last 90 days;
• Does not have an overdue Comcast bill or unreturned equipment.

WORLD WIDE WEB TURNS 20

Happy birthday, World Wide Web! Hard to believe you're turning 20 already. It seems like just yesterday we were hearing the pitter patter of little dial-up, delighting at the words "you got mail," and getting frustrated when calling our friends and receiving that dreaded busy signal. You're all grown up now, helping people learn how to farm and become overnight pop sensations. What, we wonder, will the next 20 years bring?

FACEBOOK RELEASES ACTUAL CONTRACT IN CEGLIA LAWSUIT

On Friday, Facebook’s lawyers made news when they told a court hearing a lawsuit brought by the alleged initial investor in Facebook, Paul Ceglia, that they’d found the “smoking gun” proving the alleged investment contract was a fraud.

Facebook says they’ve found the “authentic contract” between Ceglia and Zuckerberg. Facebook is also charging that Ceglia, who they say is now living in Ireland, is holding back electronic storage devices he intentionally tried to hide from them.

Both parties agree that in 2003 Ceglia hired Zuckerberg, then a Harvard undergrad, to do work for his StreetFax company. But Ceglia filed suit in 2010, saying the contract also included $1,000 initial funding for Facebook, and that he’s entitled to more than half of the social networking giant.

Facebook argues the contract Ceglia produced electronically is a forgery and that Ceglia is a known con artist.

And now Facebook says that in the course of discovery — where Ceglia’s lawyers turned over to Facebook a number of computers and hard drives — that it has found the original “authentic contract” and proof that there are other “storage devices” that Ceglia is intentionally hiding from them in violation of a court order.

But the problem is Ceglia is claiming the “authentic contract” is shielded from use in the suit by designating them as “confidential” under the rules of an agreement between the two parties. Facebook is asking the federal judge overseeing the case in New York State to overrule that designation, in a detailed Friday filing where many of the documents were completely redacted due to the claims of confidentiality.

If indeed Facebook has a copy of the “authentic contract” and it does not include any investment in Facebook, the social networking giant could be close to finally putting aside the legal dramas over the site’s founding in 2004. Earlier this year, the Winkelvoss twins, who was made famous by the movie “The Social Network,” declined to ask the Supreme Court to let them re-litigate their settlement with Facebook over Zuckerberg’s alleged theft of their idea.

LEAKED COPY OF "SUPER 8" TURNS UP ON P2P NETWORKS, POINTS TO HOWARD STERN AS OWNER

Poor-quality cammed copies of Super 8 started turning up online as soon as the movie premiered, but during the last 24 hours the game has gotten a whole lot more interesting. Several P2P release groups have uploaded the movie in high-quality, each one apparently sourced from the same studio-issued DVD Screener.

As can be seen from the screenshot below, the copy has the usual watermarks across the bottom of the screen stating that the movie is the property of Paramount Pictures. However, in the top right hand corner is another watermark which appears to indicate who the copy was given to – H STERN.

The watermark runs throughout the entire copy and although it’s possible that someone is trying to have some fun at Mr Stern’s expense by putting it there, it seems unlikely that a release group would do such a thing.

Furthermore, if that was the case and a clean ‘unpranked’ copy was available, it would turn up very quickly indeed. At the moment it seems that all release groups are using the same source.

The other possibility of course is that there is another H STERN on the DVD Screener list. Likely? We’ll probably find out on Monday.

FEDERAL JUDGE REFUSES TO RETURN SEIZED DOMAINS; CLAIMS SHUTTING DOWN SPEECH NOT A HARDSHIP

In a cursory opinion issued today that left us scratching our heads, a federal judge has ruled that the government does not have to return a domain name seized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), because its seizure did not create a substantial hardship. Really?

Puerto 80, the Spanish company behind popular sports streaming sites Rojadirecta.com and Rojadirecta.org, which were both seized by U.S. ICE earlier this year -- even though a Spanish court found they did not violate copyright law -- had filed a petition to have the sites released pending a trial on the merits of the case. The petition explained that government's seizure and continued control of the site was seriously damaging Puerto 80's business and also infringed on its readers First Amendment right to access its content. EFF, with co-amici Public Knowledge and Center for Democracy and Technology, submitted an amicus brief the elaborated on the First Amendment issues.

Puerto 80's petition explained that while the company can host content elsewhere, its usual visitors might not know how to find it. Too bad, said the court. "Rojadirecta has a large internet presence and can simply distribute information about the seizure and its new domain to its customers,"

SAMSUNG GALAXY TAB 10.1 TOUCHWIZ UPDATE IS OUT

For the tens of people with a Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, the long promised Touchwiz update has finally arrived. The update provides a number of visual enhancements to the user interface including a live panel view, a new mini mode tray for quick access to open applications, a clipboard, an indicator quick panel and a photo editor. Samsung also added Amazon Music Player, Words with Friends, Samsung Media Hub, Social Hub, the Swype keyboard and Kindle software. To update simply go to Settings > About Tablet > Update.

Users who decide to update to the new interface should be warned that you cannot go back and as always back up your device.

STUDY SHOWS ANDROID MORE LIKELY TO DOMINATE MORE STATES THAN iOS AND BLACKBERRY

Jumptap recently released a report that separated the 50 states by mobile operating system. It mapped out which states are prominently iOS users, which use Android the most, and which states use BlackBerry smartphones based on 83 million users on its ad network.

New England and the Midwest represented the largest pockets of iOS users while Texas, California and much of the West were Android users. New York is primarily a BlackBerry state, perhaps due to the number of corporate users in New York City. Alaska was neutral and Hawaii had more iOS users than Android or BlackBerry.

Jumptap collected its data from its mobile advertising network, so the data doesn’t represent sales or market share of course.

CAMBRIDGE RESEARCHS COME UP WITH NEW WAY TO PREDICT FRIENDS ON SOCIAL NETWORKS

Friend suggestions on social networks may already be a little too eerily accurate for some, but a team of researchers from Cambridge University now say they can do one better. They've devised a method that doesn't simply rely the usual friends-of-friends approach, but on where those people tend to hang out.

According to researcher Salvatore Scellato, "it turns out that the properties of the places we interact can determine how likely we are to develop social ties," and that places like offices and gyms are better indications of potential friends than football stadiums or airports. That notion was borne out in their research (conducted over a period of four months using Gowalla), which found that "about 30 percent of all new social links appear among users that check-in to the same places."

With the two prediction methods combined, the researchers say they're able to account for 66 percent of all new social ties.

RESEARCHERS WORRIED ABOUT HACKERS ATTACKING WIRELESS INSULIN PUMPS

If the recent news of hackers hitting Apple's new line of Macbook batteries with the potential to make them explode, or the Subaru unlock and start hack with a text message wasn't enough to scare you, now researchers are worrying about medical devices.

At the recent Blackhat security conference researcher and diabetic Jay Radcliffe pondered about the ability of hackers to gain access to wireless glucose meters attached to insulin pumps and deliver a lethal dose.

Radcliffe hasn't figured out how to this...yet, but in theory a hacker with a big enough antenna could be up to half a mile away when the hack occurs.

MICROSOFT OFFERING "MAD LOOT" TO ENCOURAGE SECURITY DEVELOPERS

Microsoft has announced they will pay developers for the next big idea in security. It's just not any amount of money though. According to the video, it is "mad loot and lots of it." Microsoft is betting the large first prize of $200,000 will entice developers to create the next big security offering. To win first prize the developers will have to create a "novel runtime mitigation technology designed to prevent the exploitation of memory safety vulnerabilities".

The second place finisher will receive $50,000 while third place finishers will get MSDN Universal subscriptions. Winners will be announced at the Blackhat security conference in 2012 and all participants have until April 2012 to submit their prototype and descriptions.

Click here to watch the video.

PLAYSTATION VITA MISSING CHRISTMAS HOLIDAY IN US AND UK

Sony's next-generation portable video game console will not launch in the U.S. until early 2012, Sony Executive Vice President Kazuo Hirai told The Associated Press on Thursday. Sony’s PlayStation Vita will become available later this year in Japan, but it will miss the all-important holiday shopping season here in the U.S. and in Europe as well. Some, such as Daiwa Securities Capital Markets analyst Koki Shiraishi, believe Sony’s sales will take a huge hit as a result. “That’s when you do half your year’s sales,” Shiraishi told the AP. “This is going to prove painful for Sony.” When it finally does launch next year, the PlayStation Vita will start at $249 for a Wi-Fi-only model and a 3G-equipped version will be available for $299.

NEW YORK STARBUCKS COVERS UP OUTLETS TO DISCOURAGE LAPTOP LOUNGERS

In New York it appears some Starbucks baristas have had enough of the laptop brigade and have taken to covering up electrical outlets forcing laptop users to rely on their batteries. According to poster Mike Pollock over at the Starbucks Gossip site at least two Starbucks locations are covering their outlets, one at 14 West 23 Street and the other at West 39 Street and 8th Avenue.

Another poster, Can't please everyone, stated ""Covering outlets is not a company wide or even regionally accepted practice. In certain extreme circumstances, where management have exhausted other avenues of resolution, stores have covered their outlets because people do abuse the 'welcoming' nature of Starbucks."

Starbucks Corporate offices have not responded to repeated requests for a statement.

GOGO AND AMERICAN AIRLINES TO OFFER IN-FLIGHT STREAMING MOVIES

Gogo Wireless announced its first foray into wireless movie streaming on Wednesday, signing up American Airlines as its first partner. AA said it plans to roll out the technology across its fifteen Boeing 767-200 aircraft, and what AA is calling its "Entertainment on Demand" service is now available on flights between San Francisco and New York/JFK, as well as the Los Angeles-New York/JFK service.

American will charge an "introductory" price of 99 cents per TV show and $3.99 per movie, the company said. Users will need to own a "select personal Wi-Fi-enabled laptop" that is compatible with the service; support for Apple iPhones and iPads is coming soon, according to the American Entertainment on Demand page.

Once streamed, however, the movies will remain on a user's laptop, and available for 24 hours; TV shows will remain viewable for 72 hours. American will stock more than 100 movies and TV shows from major Hollywood studios, with the option to stream a trailer before making a selection.

ANGRY BIRDS COMING TO NINTENDO DS, PSP AND PS3

In an interview with The Sun, Chillingo's Joe Wee announced the company's intentions to bring the feathery dive-bombers to the Nintendo DS, as well as Sony's PSP and PS3. Wee was otherwise tight-lipped about the development, leaving us to wonder when we can expect the winged swine slaughterers to make their dedicated gaming debut. And here we thought it was just a passing fad.

CLEARWIRE ANNOUNCES PLANS TO ADOPT 4G LTE

Clearwire on Wednesday announced its intent to adopt LTE across its network. The 4G wholesaler says it may add LTE Advanced-ready technology to its network that will provide up to 120Mbps download speeds according to network technology trials. ”Clearwire plans to raise the bar again for mobile broadband service in the United States,” said John Stanton, Clearwire’s Chairman and interim CEO, in a statement. “Our leadership in launching 4G services forced a major change in the competitive mobile data landscape. Now, we plan to bring our considerable spectrum portfolio to bear to deliver an LTE network capable of meeting the future demands of the market.”

Clearwire confirmed that it does not intend to discontinue support for its 4G WiMAX network in the near term, and it will continue to build out its WiMAX network. The company did not put a timeline on the plans, however, saying that its entire LTE deployment strategy is “subject to additional funding.”

APPLE & MICROSOFT TRYING TO STRANGLE ANDROID WITH PATENTS SAYS GOOGLE

Apple and Microsoft are playing dirty, according to a new blog post by Google’s Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer David Drummond. Instead of attempting to build innovative products and features, Drummond says Apple and Microsoft are content with filing repeated patent complaints in an attempt to impede Android’s rapid growth. Apple, Microsoft and others are carrying out “a hostile, organized campaign against Android by Microsoft, Oracle, Apple and other companies, waged through bogus patents,” Drummond wrote in his post. “They’re doing this by banding together to acquire Novell’s old patents (the “CPTN” group including Microsoft and Apple) and Nortel’s old patents (the ‘Rockstar’ group including Microsoft and Apple), to make sure Google didn’t get them; seeking $15 licensing fees for every Android device; attempting to make it more expensive for phone manufacturers to license Android (which we provide free of charge) than Windows Mobile; and even suingBarnes & Noble, HTC, Motorola, and Samsung. Patents were meant to encourage innovation, but lately they are being used as a weapon to stop it.” Drummond goes on to write that Google intends to support its partners who are being targeted by these patent complaints. ”In this instance we thought it was important to speak out and make it clear that we’re determined to preserve Android as a competitive choice for consumers, by stopping those who are trying to strangle it,” Drummond stated.

EA FOUNDER SAYS APPLE'S REIGN WILL COME TO AN END SOON

It seems like Apple can do no wrong these days, but according to Electronic Arts founder Trip Hawkins, Apple is headed toward a decline. It goes without saying that Apple will not be able to maintain its dominance forever — every company that rises will eventually fall, but Hawkins sees Apple’s decline as beginning relatively soon. “The thing is, it may take another year or two before it starts to decline, but it has to – everything does,” Hawkins told IndustryGamersin an interview. “Everything revolves so much around Steve, and no matter how good his lieutenants are, they’re not Steve. None of us is going to live forever, though I hope he lives for a really long time.”

Hawkins went on to note that games made by Digital Chocolate, the mobile game lab he left EA to launch, will “always be in the App Store,” though he says it would be great if Apple were more open. “I think it would be an incredibly positive thing for the industry if Apple decided to support all of the web standards, because then Apple could be the best about everything. Right now they make a conscious choice. They want you to be in the App Store rather than the browser, so they cripple the browser,” Hawkins griped, though he noted that the closed model hasn’t had a negative impact on Apple’s iOS business at this point.

BLACKBERRY PLAYBOOK TO FINALLY RUN ANDROID APPS BY LATE FALL

RIM previously announced that its Playbook tablet would be able to run Android apps by the summer, but a reliable source states this highly anticipated feature of the Blackberry slate now won't arrive until "late fall." With RIM struggling against ever-stronger competition, delays like this are bad news.

CD AND DVD COPYING FOR PERSONAL USE GETTING OK IN UK

Reuters is reporting that the British government will announce tomorrow that it plans to legalize the copying of CDs and DVDs onto computers or portable media players for personal use -- a move that will bring it up to speed with most other European countries (and the US and Canada). Of course, the key words there are "personal use." You still won't be legally allowed to share that music over the internet after you copy it without permission, and it's not yet clear how the new rules will apply to DVDs (or Blu-rays) with copy protection measures

ONLY 92% OF NEWT GINGRICH'S TWITTER FOLLOWERS ARE FAKE

Yesterday there were reports based on a former Newt Gingrich staffer that Gingrich assembled his 1.3 million Twitter followers—a number that he's taken to bragging about—in part by buying fake Twitter followers. A lot of people did not think that was true! Today social networking search firm PeekYou announced that it had crunched the data and come to the conclusion that roughly 106,055 of Gingrich's million-plus followers are real people. The rest are fakes.

There has not been any direct evidence of Gingrich or his campaign buying followers, until PeekYou's report was released. PeekYou scoured through all 1.3 million followers on Gingrich's account and found that only 8% are real. "We just started running the 2012 candidates' numbers three weeks ago," said Josh Mackey, PeekYou's general manager of business and product development, "and when we saw [the] story, we went back to pull the Gingrich numbers. The huge majority of his followers are either completely anonymous people who have no other web presence, or they are spambots."

Mackey said PeekYou actually scrubbed each and every one of Gingrich's 1.3 million followers, using 23 criteria—including name, location, and inbound and outbound links in their feed—to determine whether they were real people. "We usually find out that real people have real web identities," he says. For the vast majority of Gingrich's followers, that wasn't true. They were either business accounts, private accounts, anonymous accounts that had only a user ID and no other discernible connection to the internet, or spambots. The average Twitter user, Mackey says, has a follower count that consists of anywhere from 35% to 60% real people. At 8%, Gingrich's is the lowest PeekYou has ever seen. "When was saw it, we actually had our quality assurance people go over the numbers for two days to doublecheck," he says.

PATRIOT ACT STIFLING EUROPEAN CLOUD ADOPTION?

In Europe more and more organisations are abstaining from the cloud, according to a report by a leading newspaper, due to the reach of the Patriot Act in Europe and further afield.

According to the Financial Times (available via Google without registering), the discussions were brought up during private FT meetings last month, and data privacy and cloud services topped the concerns of IT bosses.

During the Office 365 launch in London in June, Microsoft admitted to ZDNet that any data stored, processed or owned in Europe and further afield — including email, file storage and web applications — are liable for U.S. government inspection under the Patriot Act.

The FT’s report is crucial to understand the feeling in the wider room amongst IT chiefs. As many are data controllers as well as processors of the data, it could lead to civil or criminal action against cloud users for mismanagement of data.

Due to the disparity between European and U.S. law, wholly-owned subsidiaries cannot comply with the European Data Protection Directive — which requires companies to inform their users that data will leave the European zone — because U.S. law can ‘gag’ them with existing legislation.

SKYPE RELEASES iPAD APP....SKYPE PULLS iPAD APP

Yesterday Skype unexpectedly released an official app for the iPad. Just as quickly it was pulled from the Apple App Store. Skype says the app was released prematurely. “To ensure your best Skype experience, we’ve temporarily removed Skype for iPad which went live prematurely today,” the company said in a posting on its Twitter account. “We know you’ve been eagerly awaiting Skype for iPad and apologize for the inconvenience.”

According to a Skype spokesperson the app will be re-released in "short order", but declined further comment.

VERIZON TO INTEGRATE AMERICAN EXPRESS MOBILE PAYMENT SYSTEM INTO DEVICES

Verizon Wireless and American Express announced on Monday that Verizon Wireless will begin to integrate American Express’ “Serve” mobile payment solution into its phones and tablets. The agreement will allow Verizon Wireless customers to make mobile payments from their phones, provided that they have an existing Serve account. “Our collaboration with Verizon highlights the speed at which Serve is evolving to reach a wide audience,” said Dan Schulman, group president, Enterprise Growth, American Express. “Verizon Wireless customers will soon be able to complement their busy lifestyle with a trusted payment platform that delivers a fast, flexible and secure way to manage their day-to-day mobile purchases, and together we’re taking the necessary steps to make mobile commerce a reality.”

Serve is similar to PayPal and allows users to send or receive money for goods and services. American Express announced the service in March in tandem with Serve apps for Android and iOS.

LULZSEC HACKER JACK DAVIS, AKA TOPIARY, RELEASED ON BAIL

District Judge Howard Riddle released 18-year old alleged LulzSec hacker Jack Davis on bail Monday morning. Davis hacked under the name “Topiary” online and served as the public face of LulzSec, often publishing press releases and status updates on the group’s Twitter account, before he was arrested on July 27th. The news debunks earlier reports thatauthorities had been duped into arresting an the wrong man.

Authorities in the U.K. said they discovered personal information for more than 750,000 people on Davis’ computers. Davis has been charged with hacking the Sun, Times, Sony and the Serious Organized Crime agency. Davis’ lawyers are highlighting his role as a press secretary for LulzSec and have argued that Davis did not participate in the attacks directly. Davis was released on bail but cannot access the Internet from any device, including from smartphones, The Financial Times said.

HERSCHEL TELESCOPE FINDS EVIDENCE OF OXYGEN MOLECULES IN SPACE

Astronomers working with the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory announced they've made the first confirmed finding of oxygen molecules in space (found hiding in the Orion nebula), and suggest that the oxygen is likely released when the water ice surrounding dust grains is melted by the heat from nearby stars forming. Of course, one discovery only leads to more questions, and the scientists note that they still haven't found large amounts of oxygen, and "still don't understand what is so special about the spots where we find it."

LEAK: PLAYSTATION VITA RELEASING OCTOBER 28TH IN UK

An “upcoming releases” flyer for the UK arm of retailer Blockbuster has seemingly confirmed the release date of the PlayStation Vita, Sony’s upcoming replacement to the PSP. The document, forwarded to IGN by an anonymous UK gamer, suggests that the Vita will drop on October 28 2011, in the UK at least, in both WiFi-only and 3G + WiFi forms.

All Sony will say is that the Vita is on course for a “phased global release” this holiday season, though has declined to be any more specific than that. It’s also unclear whether that means all regions will see the PS Vita on shelves in time for Christmas 2011, or if some will have to wait until early in the new year.

GOOGLE CHROME OVERTAKES FIREFOX AS UK'S #2 BROWSER

Google's Chrome is Britain's second most popular browser, a sign of the internet giant's increasing grip on the UK search market.

Three years after launch, Chrome last month captured 22% of UK users and marginally overtook Mozilla's Firefox browser, according to the web metrics firm Statcounter. Microsoft's Internet Explorer is losing market share to Chrome but remains the most popular browser for UK users with 45% – although it has a head start by being pre-installed on almost all computers sold in Britain. Apple's Safari is UK number four, with a 9% share.

RUMOR: iPHONE 5 LAUNCHING IN OCTOBER, NOT SEPTEMBER

Despite multiple reports suggesting Apple and AT&T are each blocking employee vacations and making preparations for increased foot traffic in September, a new rumor suggests the iPhone won’t actually launch until October. The Wall Street Journal blog AllThingsD cites multiple anonymous sources in claiming Apple’s next-generation iPhone will launch in October, possibly even late in the month. “I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch,” one of the blog’s sources said, responding to questions about why AT&T might have blacked out employee vacations in late September. Other sources the blog spoke with said the handset would launch late in the month.

Early reports suggested Apple’s fifth-generation iPhone would be a modest update featuring the same case design as the iPhone 4, but more recent reports say the device could feature a redesigned exterior that is slimmer, wider and longer than the current-generation iPhone.