Sony loses $198 million dollars in Q2 2012 thanks to decreased restructuring costs

Sony announced its second-quarter financial results today, and things are beginning to turn around following last year’s $5.7 billion loss and a disappointing first quarter. While the company lost 198 million dollars on $20.5 billion in sales , it was a significant improvement over both last quarter's $312 million loss and a $350 million loss at the time last year.

Since CEO Kazuo Hirai took control of the company earlier this year, Sony has been focused on what it identified as its core businesses, including gaming, imaging, and mobile devices. And as part of a grander cost-cutting initiative, Hirai announced in April that he would be cutting 10,000 jobs across the company.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/1/3584446/sony-q2-2012-financial-results

Microsoft launches new Windows Phone 8-compatible syncing app for Mac

Hot on the heels of the new Windows Phone companion app for Windows 8 and RT, Microsoft has overhauled its syncing app for Mac users. Version 3.0 has been renamed simply to "Windows Phone" with a new icon that reflects the Windows Phone 8 Start screen; unsurprisingly the headline feature is compatibility with Microsoft's latest mobile OS.

The interface also now allows for drag-and-drop file transfer between your phone and the desktop, there's updated iPhoto and Aperture support, and the app has been enhanced for Macs with Retina displays. Windows Phone 8 users, meanwhile, will be able to see their battery charge state and have extra ringtone capabilities. The new Windows Phone app is available now in the Mac App Store.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/11/1/3584144/microsoft-windows-phone-8-mac-app-available

Apple spends an extra $1 billion on research in 2012, still way less than competitors

Apple just handed its annual report in to the SEC, revealing that the company laid out an extra billion dollars on Research and Development this year. But despite jumping from $2.4 to $3.4 billion dollars, R&D spending stayed flat as an overall percentage of revenue — a scant 2.2 percent — thanks to a 45 percent increase in sales, to $156 billion. In comparison, rivals like Google and Microsoft spend around 15 percent of revenues, and Samsung sits in between at around 6 percent.

Just a third of Microsoft's $10 billion

Apple says it racked up the billion-dollar increase by hiring more researchers. A year ago we reported that the company was expanding research efforts in Israel, which is likely responsible for a big share of the...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3583984/apple-financial-annual-report-2012-research

Post-hurricane, New York's internet industry runs on diesel

Diesel fuel drums outside the Peer1 data center in Lower Manhattan.

Just before 5 p.m. on Monday, the team behind New York's Fog Creek Software announced in a blog post that its services would be online during Hurricane Sandy, despite the fact that the company's main data center was located in an evacuation zone in the low-lying Financial District.

"Given the preparation work that's gone into this, we are confident that all of our services will remain available to our customers throughout the weather," systems administrator Bradford Ley wrote. "Consider this the 'Everything is Perfectly Fine Alarm.'"

The storm hit. The power went out. Fog Creek’s data center, Peer1, switched to an emergency diesel generator on the 17th floor, just...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3581916/new-york-hurricane-sandy-stackexchange-squarespace-gawker

On eve of launch, Wikipad gaming tablet is delayed

We thought that the Wikipad, a surprisingly comfortable $499 Android tablet with detachable gaming controls, might actually have a chance in the market. Perhaps not: Today was the day the Wikipad was supposed to go on sale at GameStop, but the company has just announced the tablet will be delayed until further notice.

According to Wikipad's statement, which you can read in its entirety below, the tablet apparently wasn't quite ready for launch. The company claims that it's planning to "enhance the Wikipad bundle" and make a "minor refinement," and will also throw in a "special bonus gift" of some sort for those who pre-ordered at GameStop. However, we weren't able to get Wikipad to tell us what those changes might be, or even a ballpark...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3583150/wikipad-halloween-delay

Space shuttle Endeavor exhibit at California Science Center now open

After making its long, complicated, and controversial journey to Los Angeles, space shuttle Endeavor's public exhibition is now open. The shuttle, which flew a total of 25 missions from 1992 to 2012, is in a temporary housing at the California Science Center, where it will remain for about five more years. At that time, the shuttle will be relocated into a new, permanent air and space wing at the museum, which will house the shuttle in takeoff position, with its twin solid rocket boosters and external tank, according to The Los Angeles Times . The exhibit's behind-closed-doors opening ceremonies were held yesterday, but tickets are now available for those wishing to see the shuttle at its temporary home, where it is placed horizontally m...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3582972/space-shuttle-endeavor-exhibit-at-california-science-center-now-open

In Hurricane Sandy's path: a glimpse of NYC after the storm

Frankenstorm. Superstorm. Sandy. Whatever you want to call it, this extremely unusual severe weather event has wrought havoc on the lives of millions of Americans along the East Coast.

As Hurricane Sandy approached New York, meteorologists and armchair weathermen alike struggled to explain how such a freakish weather event could occur in late October. Everyone agreed it was dangerous though. When the storm hit, the internet was inundated with photos, videos, tweets, and shenanigans. Now that the immediate danger has mostly passed, the focus here has shifted to recovery, repair, and rebuilding. Many Verge staffers live in New York. We collected photos we found striking and took a few ourselves. These images offer a glimpse of what life...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3582860/hurricane-sandy-new-york-photos

October Surprise: a roundup of the biggest stories from a crazy month

We knew October would be busy. We had the invitations, the embargoes, and a stockpile of coffee and seltzer. But this past month turned out to more insane and more exciting than almost any month in the past year.There was rarely a moment to rest, and it seems like the internet was always reacting to something, somewhere. Microsoft, Amazon, and Google responded with equal parts panic and determination to the onslaught of Apple’s hype machine. People around the world watched with reverence as Felix Baumgartner successfully completely a historic free-fall from the edge of space. Live, on the internet. Reddit’s insular community reacted when one of its most unsavory characters was outed by the media. Apple attempted to avoid a reaction...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3582134/october-surprise-big-stories

A MONTH OF MOUSTACHES

There aren’t many traditions in hockey more iconic than the playoff beard, which players and fans grow as a visual reminder of the length of a postseason run. Starting tomorrow, Grand Rapids Griffins players and staff will grow moustaches to serve as walking billboards for Movember, a month-long initiative to help raise vital awareness and funds for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and other cancers that affect men.



via griffinshockey.com - News Releases http://www.griffinshockey.com/news/releases/?article_id=2275

The Verge Mobile Show, live at 5:30PM ET / 9:30PM GMT

Hurricane or no hurricane, the Verge Mobile Show must go on — particularly in a week filled with blockbuster announcements from all your favorite mobile players like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

And if you're disappointed that the Nexus 4 doesn't have LTE, fret not: the Verge Mobile Show never disappoints. So sit down, listen up, tune in, and zone out.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3582506/the-verge-mobile-show-live-october-31

Reflecting upon a world shaped by architect Lebbeus Woods

Lebbeus Woods spoke to many through his drawings, sculptures, and words, creating a world in people's minds that meshed traditional architecture and art with a surreal interpretation of our environment. BLDGBLOG's Geoff Manaugh has taken an in-depth look at the true span of Woods' influence in the field of architecture and how his outlook on the world around us resonated with people in a special way. Head to the source to see a collection of Woods' work alongside the thoughts of an individual fortunate enough to have spent time with the visionary before his passing on October 30th, 2012.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3582028/lebbeus-woods-architect-bldg-blog

Korean artist deconstructs ads to create abstract installations

Equipped with the mentality that people have become numb to the overpowering presence of advertisements, Korean artist Shin il Kim has created a series of installations to promote a more active form of information consumption. As explained by The Creators Project , "Active Anesthesia-the Full of Square" displays commericals on one side of the installation, while showing distorted images and shapes of the sames ads on the other. "Duration to Intuition," on the other hand, utilizes sculpted letters and projected images to present an alternative and less passive way to experience advertisements. To see more images of both installations, head over to The Creators Project .

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3581400/shin-il-kim-advertisements-abstract-art-installations

‘Punch Quest’ is the iPhone’s hottest game, but it’s a financial flop

Rocketcat Games' Punch Quest was released last week and it's already the talk of the iPhone gaming world — not only has the title been downloaded more than 630,000 times, Metacritic also lists it as one of the highest rated games on the platform to date. It's also developer Rocketcat Games' first foray into the world of free-to-play gaming. Like many studios, Rocketcat wanted to be able to reach a much bigger audience by offering its game for free, and hopefully see an uptick in revenue as well through in-app purchases (IAP). And while on the surface it appears as though the game is a success, with plenty of downloads and near universal critical acclaim, there's just one problem: it's not making the studio any money.

There are only...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3577838/punch-quest-iphone-game-struggle

Microsoft sued for infringing patent on Live Tiles

Microsoft's been touting its Live Tiles concept ever since Windows Phone 7 launched two years ago, but the launch of Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and particularly the Surface tablets appear to have given a company called SurfCast an opening to file a patent lawsuit over the concept. Microsoft's held high-profile launches of all three products lately, so news of the case is being reported widely — but a basic examination of SurfCast's patent reveals Microsoft's move into selling its own PCs is the key to the complaint.

SurfCast owns US Patent #6,724,403, which was filed in October 2000 and issued in April 2004. Broadly, the patent covers selecting a variety of information sources, assigning each of those sources to a tile, and updating...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580728/microsoft-sued-for-infringing-patent-on-live-tiles

Realmac announces Clear for Mac to-do app with iCloud sync

Realmac today announced Clear for Mac, the desktop counterpart to Clear for iPhone, which launched last February and has since become one of the most popular to-do list apps in the App Store. Clear for Mac launches on November 8th in the Mac App Store for $14.99, and will sync your to-do's via iCloud with a new version of Clear for iPhone that hits the same day.

"With Clear for Mac, we wanted to spearhead a new design direction for Mac UI that focuses on simplicity," Realmac's Rob Jarman told The Verge. The new app is essentially chrome-less, like its iPhone counterpart, featuring just your to-do's inside a petite window. Clear for Mac includes all the innovative gestures we're used to in Clear for iPhone, like left swipe for delete,...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580602/clear-for-mac-icloud-sync

Popular news reader Pulse hits four billion stories served

The powerful, easy-to-use news reader Pulse has been popular since it debuted on the iPad in the spring of 2010 and rapidly became one of the top 40 paid apps. Today, the company announces a huge milestone: it has served four billion stories total, with more than 10 million stories read every day. "Took 100 days to reach 10 million stories read," co-founder Akshay Kothari said in a concise email. "Now do over 10 million every day. Tripled in the last year."

Pulse is a visual, intuitive news reader that has been aggressive about expanding to new platforms and giving users new features. The app is available on iPad, iPhone, Android, Kindle Fire, Nook, and the web. Users select their preferred news sources, and Pulse pulls in images and...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580520/news-reader-pulse-insights

MetroPCS announces Joyn, a standards-based iMessage and FaceTime competitor

While MetroPCS may not exist for much longer as a standalone company thanks to the proposed merger with T-Mobile, that isn't stopping the country's fifth-largest carrier from pushing out new services. Today, the company announced Joyn, a message, video chat, and syncing service based on the Rich Communications Services standard. MetroPCS says it's using RCS to power four categories of services, many of which will sound familiar to most smartphone users: contacts presence, enriched chat, content sharing, and Wi-Fi / video calling. Probably the most useful will be "enriched chat" — this is essentially a competitor to iMessage that will include delivery confirmation and message composition alerts. The big plus here is that these messages...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580392/metropcs-joyn-rcs-messaging-communications

Chasing ghosts: the weird science of tracking the dead

On a warm night in the winemaking town of Sonoma, California, the slightly moldy smell of eucalyptus trees hangs heavy in the air. Amidst the rustic stone buildings and tidy gravel pathways of the historic Buena Vista Winery, five middle-aged paranormal investigators from the San Francisco Bay Area gather in matching black t-shirts. There have been reports of hauntings here. One of the tasting room employees saw a “guy in a white t-shirt” climb the stairs then vanish. Could it be the ghost of the original owner, an exiled Hungarian Count who was supposedly eaten by alligators? The group, whose name is The Amateur Ghost Hunters: R.I.P., is on the scene to find out.

On the top floor of the wine cellars, they turn the lights off, and...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3573206/ghost-hunters-paranormal-science-tracking-the-dead

Paper for iPad gets innovative color picker, support for Pogo Connect Bluetooth stylus

FiftyThree today launched version 1.2.1 of its popular drawing app Paper, the culmination of more than a year of studying color and how best to manipulate it, according to the company. Most importantly, Paper now includes a circular color mixer that lets you tap to pick a color (using RGB sliders, if you'd like), then swipe in a circle clockwise to mix colors and counter-clockwise to unmix. A long press lets you save the color you've made to one of the many black color slots the app now provides. Color is a $1.99 in-app purchase, like many of the app's add-on brushes. If you don't choose to buy it, you still have access to the palette of colors that shipped with the free app.

Paper's new color mixer and picker works like a dream,...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3578672/paper-1-3-color-pogo-connect

Charity trades rats for cellphones in South African township

Southern-African charity LifeLine has started a new initiative to try and rid a Johannesburg township of rats. Alexandra has been overrun by rodents for years now, making its residents' daily struggle for sanitary living conditions that much harder. In an attempt to spark a community movement, LifeLine is offering a free cellphone to any resident that manages to capture 60 rats. One resident told the Mail & Guardian that he had already "won" two phones through the scheme, which has been running for several months, and planned to get one for all of his family members.

Alexandra is one of the most impoverished areas in South Africa. Poor infrastructure, leaking sewers, and chronic over-crowding make it a perfect breeding ground for rats....

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580010/alexandra-township-rat-infestation-lifeline-charity-free-cellphone-initiative

Kickstarter launches in the UK as it looks globally

Just as promised, Kickstarter has today officially launched in the UK. Eager creators and entrepreneurs are now able to submit their ideas to the crowdfunding site, with around 190 UK specific projects so far happily sitting alongside American alternatives. Projects can be filtered out by city too — anyone looking for potential products can switch from London to Manchester, for example — while UK-based projects will display the pound sterling symbol instead of the dollar.

"In the past launching a Kickstarter project for a UK based company meant you had quite a few hoops to jump through."

Brendan Dawes, British designer behind the Kickstarter-backed Red Pop, welcomes the arrival of Kickstarter in the UK. "Anything that makes it...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3580052/kickstarter-uk-launch-official

Boxee TV coming exclusively to Walmart tomorrow

Walmart will start exclusively selling the $99 Boxee TV in more than 3,000 stores from tomorrow, according to Bloomberg . The Boxee TV is a DVR that offers access to basic cable or terrestrial TV services as well as web services like Netflix, Vudu, and Pandora. Perhaps its main selling point, however, is a subscription service Boxee is calling "No Limits DVR." For $14.99 a month, Boxee will let you record an unlimited amount of content directly to the cloud, ready for playback on your Boxee TV, computer, smartphone, or tablet.

Ironically, the No Limits DVR feature is not without its limitations — at launch, the service will only be available in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Philadelphia and Washington, DC....

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3579958/boxee-tv-walmart-exclusive-retail-release-date

Samsung announces the Galaxy Premier, a downgraded Galaxy S III for Eastern markets

Samsung’s strategy of releasing a smartphone for every nook and cranny of the market may be irksome to most onlookers, but if nothing else it makes good business sense. The latest entry from the Korean manufacturer, the Galaxy Premier, employs the famous visage of the Galaxy S III, but pairs it with mid-range specifications for the European and Asian markets. The handset employs a 4.65-inch screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, a dual-core OMAP 4470 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 1GB of RAM, and an 8-megapixel camera. Just like Samsung’s other recent devices, the Premier features TouchWiz 4.0 on top of Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, with 3G and LTE variants of the phone both promised.

It’s no coincidence that some specifications...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3579968/samsung-galaxy-premier-official-launch

Asus selling nearly one million Nexus 7 tablets per month, CFO says

Asus Chief Financial Officer David Chang told the Wall Street Journal this week that his company is selling nearly one million Nexus 7 tablets every month. On Tuesday, the manufacturer announced a dramatic increase in Q3 tablet shipments, which jumped by nearly 200 percent over the second quarter, though both Asus and Google have been reluctant to disclose precise sales figures for the Nexus 7.

"At the beginning, it was, for instance, 500K units a month, then maybe 600, 700K. This latest month, it was close to one million," Chang said. These figures signal an encouraging trend for Asus and Google, though they're still far below iPad sales, which reached 14 million last quarter.

Chang's comments come just a day after Google...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/31/3579564/asus-google-nexus-7-sales-one-million-david-chang

90 Seconds on The Verge: Disney buys Lucasfilm, Scott Forstall's exodus, and Windows 8 upgrades

News today swirled like hurricane Sandy, starting with announcements from Microsoft's Build developers conference, new details surrounding Apple's executive shakeup, and arguably today's biggest bombshell: Disney's acquisition of Lucasfilm. But fret not, while you may have to wait until 2015 for Star Wars: Episode 7, 90 Seconds on The Verge starring Billy Disney is here for you today.

Stories of the day:

• Microsoft sells four million Windows 8 upgrades in first few days


• Apple's Scott Forstall's fatal mistake was not signing iOS 6 Maps apology letter: sources


• Disney buys Lucasfilm, plans to release 'Star Wars: Episode 7' in 2015

Missed yesterday's news? Watch more 90 Seconds on The Verge at 90so.tv — and now on iTunes, too!

(P...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3578802/windows-8-forstall-disney-star-wars-90sotv

iPad mini review

The iPad mini has arrived — and so has our review. Just last week, Apple introduced the world to the newest member of its wildly successful tablet line, an adorable, diminutive slate with a 7.9-inch display. It even had an adorable ad to show along with it: an iPad mini joining in with a full-sized iPad to play "Heart and Soul" on the piano.

But to think of the iPad mini as a companion to the 3rd or 4th generation iPad — some kind of secondary player to the bigger version — would probably be a mistake. With a price tag starting at $329 and heading all the way up to $659 (with LTE and 64GB of storage), this isn't really a step down from the existing iPad (well, the iPad 2 at least) as much as it is a step to the side. At least,...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576178/apple-ipad-mini-review

iPad review (4th generation, late 2012)

Last week at an event in San Jose, Apple CEO Tim Cook introduced two new iPads. One, the iPad mini, is a legitimately new product.

The other was a small upgrade to the 9.7-inch iPad, bringing a new processor and new Lightning port to the device. But Tim Cook didn't just call the latest iPad a minor, iterative upgrade, or a poorly-disguised excuse to get a Lightning port on the tablet. He called it the "fourth generation" of iPad. Cook touted faster performance thanks to a new A6X processor, with no hit to the iPad's battery life. (And yes, there's a Lightning port.)

The refresh comes at a very odd time — only a few months after Apple unveiled the "new iPad," it's now the old iPad. But is the new new iPad worth envying, or upgrading...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3572974/apple-ipad-review-4th-generation

The curious case of Microsoft's Metro, a design language that cannot be spoken

Microsoft's Metro design language has gone through a name change of late. Used to describe the company's design principles around typography and minimal graphics, Metro is now referred to as the "Microsoft design language." At Build today, Microsoft's Will Tschumy took developers through the heart of the company's approach to design. From its inception in 2003 as a "enormous strategic approach to design," MIcrosoft has used the Metro concepts throughout a number of its products over the years. Zune, Media Center, Windows Phone, and Windows 8 all contain the principles, with Live Tiles marking an instant visual connection to a simplified interface. For Microsoft, the bet on design is "$20 billion per year," according to Tschumy — a bet...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577924/microsoft-design-language-metro

Three feet of muck: how the floor of the New York Stock Exchange became a troll jackpot

On Monday evening, on live TV, CNN reported that the New York Stock Exchange trading floor was literally underwater — three feet deep. It wasn't the only media outlet with the news: The Weather Channel and others reported the same story. Allegedly, Hurricane Sandy hit Wall Street so hard that it deposited three feet of water at that level of the building.

As local news anchor Pat Kiernan and others quickly realized, however, the report was false: a live camera feed from the trading floor showed no evidence of flooding at all. NYSE officials also quickly contacted the news channels to refute the story, and within an hour, CNN retracted the report. It wasn't the only fact-checking failure in the excitement of the storm.

How did it...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3578142/nyse-flood-cnn-rumor-false-shashank-tripathi

Apple iMessage down on iOS and OS X for the second time in a week

Apple's having some issues with iMessage, again — for the second time in the last week, users are experiencing difficulties sending and receiving messages on both iOS devices and Macs running OS X. Symptoms appear very similar to the last outage, with messages hanging and failing (or being pushed through as text messages, on iOS). A number of staff members in Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and other locations have all experienced this problem, and a quick Twitter search shows that many other users are having similar problems. Furthermore, Apple's own iCloud status site indicates that iMessage is not functioning for "some" users. We're reaching out to Apple to see if it has any information on the issue — in the meantime, let us...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3578062/apple-imessage-outage-late-october

During Hurricane Sandy, misinformation and fact-checking clash on Twitter

When Hurricane Sandy drew near the East Coast, Twitter and Instagram came alive with pictures of the storm. One showed ominous clouds gathering over Midtown Manhattan. In another, soldiers guarded Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier under a haze of rain. A third showed a massive wave crashing around the Statue of Liberty. They were stunning images, capturing the scale of the disaster as well as its human impact. There was just one problem: none of them were actually pictures of Sandy.

"I was absolutely sure that everybody knew that was a fake. It was on the poster of the film, for goodness’ sake."

"I was absolutely sure that everybody knew that was a fake," says Tom Phillips, an MSN editor and author of the "Is...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577778/hurricane-sandy-twitter-instagram-misinformation

Apple delaying iTunes 11 until the 'end of November'

Apple has reportedly delayed the release of iTunes 11, according to a statement released to AllThingsD . Originally slated for this month, an Apple spokesperson says that the latest version of Apple's music, apps, and media client is being pushed until the "end of November." The release is being delayed in an effort to add additional polish to the software, Apple representative Tom Neumayr said.

The new iTunes is taking longer than expected and we wanted to take a little extra time to get it right. We look forward to releasing this new version of iTunes with its dramatically simpler and cleaner interface, and seamless integration with iCloud before the end of November.

Developing...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577816/apple-itunes-11-delay-november

Disney buys Lucasfilm, plans to release 'Star Wars: Episode 7' in 2015

Star Wars fans, you might want to sit down for this one — The Walt Disney Company just announced its plans to purchase Lucasfilm Ltd from George Lucas, with plans to release Star Wars: Episode 7 sometime during 2015. The deal is a stock and cash transaction, with Lucas receiving about half of the $4.05 billion value of the deal in cash plus some 40 million stock shares. ""It's now time for me to pass Star Wars on to a new generation of filmmakers," Lucas said in a statement. "I've always believed that Star Wars could live beyond me, and I thought it was important to set up the transition during my lifetime."

The deal will see Disney take control of all of Lucafilm's assets, including the "evergreen" Star Wars franchise and operating...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577656/disney-buys-lucasfilm-plans-to-release-star-wars-episode-7-in-2015

Microsoft rips a page from Spotify's playbook to take on iTunes

Apple has been the king of the digital music world for most of the last decade, and its iTunes Store continues to dominate the online music industry despite recent challenges from Amazon and Google. The combination of a tightly-integrated storefront and killer hardware gave Apple a combination that other competitors were unable to match — but just as consumers started shifting from physical to digital media a decade ago, we're at the beginning of another sea change in music. Companies like Spotify, MOG, and Rdio have emerged over the last few years, offering the promise of all the music you can handle anywhere you go, for the same price each month that you'd pay iTunes for a mere ten songs.

While Apple hasn't yet mustered a response...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577204/microsoft-xbox-music-itunes-spotify-digital-music-showdown

The Verge Mobile Show broadcasts live tomorrow, one way or another

Excitable editors? Check. Thousands of Google and Microsoft announcements plus a huge Apple departure? Check. Power?

Uh oh.

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy, our Manhattan studio — the bustling nexus of Verge Mobile Show operations — is without electricity or staff. That doesn't mean we're not planning on putting together a program for you this week, though: we're discussing our options right now and we'll have more information for you tomorrow.

So hang tight. And if you're looking for someone to blame for the fact that you're not enjoying a live broadcast as you read this, you have our blessing: give Sandy hell.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3577390/the-verge-mobile-show-broadcasts-live-tomorrow-one-way-or-another

Google treads on Siri's ground with new iOS Search app

While it certainly been longer than a "couple of days," Google's updated Search app for iOS is finally available in the App Store. Just as we saw back in August at Google's search-focused event, the new app uses Google's frankly excellent voice-recognition software and location-based awareness to provide iOS users with a search experience similar to what you'd see on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean.

Upon trying the app out, we were rather shocked at how well it performs — over both Wi-Fi and cellular data, the app captures your speech extremely quickly and with a high degree of accuracy. For the most part, the app doesn't try and answer your questions through natural speech like Siri does, it can bring up search results related to your query...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576844/google-search-ios-app-update-voice

Polygon: 'Assassin's Creed 3' review

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.polygon.com/game/assassin-s-creed-3/2370

Microsoft build attendees get a Surface RT and 100GB of SkyDrive storage

Microsoft has just announced that developers at its build 2012 conference will receive 100GB of SkyDrive storage, and a free 32GB Surface RT. Speaking enthusiastically about the developer opportunity ahead, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer guaranteed developers in the crowd that "this will be the best opportunity software developers will see."

"Hundreds of millions of people are just aching to use your applications," said Ballmer, before announcing the giveaway for build attendees. The crowd was understandably excited, and Ballmer promised developers that Microsoft would do more marketing and "better marketing" for Windows 8.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576746/microsoft-build-surface-100gb-skydrive

ARM announces next-gen Cortex-A57 and Cortex-A53: 64-bit processors for 2014

We're just barely seeing the first powerful ARM Cortex-A15 processors in bleeding edge devices like the new Samsung Chromebook and Google's upcoming Nexus 10 tablet, but the race for higher power and higher efficiency goes on. Today, ARM's announcing the Cortex-A50 series of processor cores, which will likely feature prominently in the smartphones, tablets, and possibly even the server rooms of the future.

As of today, the new family includes two designs: the Cortex-A57, which ARM says will provide performance "up to three times that of today’s superphones in the same power budget," and the Cortex-A53, which should bring "today's superphone experience while using a quarter of the power." The new family of processors is more than just...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576560/arm-cortex-a57-cortex-a53-cpu-core

Microsoft announces PayPal, Dropbox, and ESPN Windows 8 apps

Microsoft's build developer conference has kicked off in Seattle today, and the company is using it to showcase some new Windows 8 apps. PayPal will supply an API for Windows 8 developers that allows them to use the PayPal payment system within any Windows Store app. Microsoft also announced a new Dropbox app for Windows 8 that is simply "coming soon."

A new ESPN app will aggregate scores and video alongside photo galleries and podcasts with pin support for Windows 8's new Start screen. Microsoft is also demonstrating new apps from Disney and Lego which are due in the Windows Store soon.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576538/windows-8-paypal-dropbox-espn-apps

Twitter to release official Windows 8 app in the coming months

Twitter has just revealed that it plans to release an official app for Windows 8 in the near future. The social network has never had an official app for Microsoft's PC platform, though it does have apps for Mac OS X, Android, iOS, Windows Phone, BlackBerry, and other platforms. An official app for WIndows 8 may come as a god send to the four million new Windows 8 users that have been clamoring for one ever since the platform's official release this past weekend. Unfortunately, Twitter hasn't provided many details about the app or when it will actually be available, so users may be waiting some time for the official goods.

#Windows8 needs a great Twitter app. So we’re building it. Looking forward to sharing it with you in the months...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576604/twitter-official-windows-8-app-coming-months

Windows Phone 8 software development kit now available for download

Microsoft had been keeping the software development kit for Windows Phone 8 under wraps — but today it's now available for download. The lack of an SDK had caused some consternation for developers — particularly since app selection has been such a foregrounded concern about Windows Phone as a platform. With the developer-oriented Build conference kicking off this morning, however, it appears it's time for Microsoft to let the cat out of the bag — and get developers to work.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576492/windows-phone-8-software-development-kit-available

Gmail redesigned with new Chat window-style Compose tool

Gmail has reinvented itself over the years to integrate new Google services, but the basic task of composing a message has stayed much the same. As of today, that will be changing: in a blog post, Google announced that instead of a dedicated screen, the Gmail Compose tool will now pop over the inbox like a Chat window. That means referencing other emails will no longer require opening a separate window or saving the email as a draft and re-entering it — something that we imagine most web users will find quite useful. It also means you can write multiple messages at a time, although we're not sure how many of those windows can be comfortably fit on a screen.

Some other new features are coming as well: attached images can be quickly...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576488/gmail-redesigned-new-compose-tool

Microsoft sells four million Windows 8 upgrades in first few days

Microsoft's Windows 8 operating system went on sale on October 26th, and the company has just announced it has already sold four million upgrade copies. At a keynote address in Seattle today, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer revealed the first Windows 8 statistics — four million upgrade copies over the first weekend of sales. Ballmer mentioned the launch of Surface, but did not reveal any specific sales figures for that particular device.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576512/windows-8-upgrade-sales-four-million

Google Play Store hits 700,000 apps

Back in September Apple announced that the App Store had hit 700,000 apps — and little more than a month later, Google can claim the same. As first reported by Bloomberg Businessweek, Google recently hit the number, a significant uptick since it reached 600,000 apps and games back in June. Android's growth in app selection has been constant and swift — though the platform does still suffer from a dearth of tablet-specific applications. That's something the company hopes the new Nexus 10 will rectify. Whether that will come to pass remains to be seen, but one thing is for certain — developer interest in Android won't be slowing anytime soon.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3575880/google-play-store-hits-700000-apps

Wireless service down on several carriers in parts of New York City, northern New Jersey

Verge employees in and around New York City are reporting that some carriers' networks are spotty today — in particular, T-Mobile and AT&T have confirmed outages in certain areas, and it's likely that the severe weather, flooding, and extended power outages brought about by Hurricane Sandy have knocked out others as well. "Verizon isn't holding up well," reads an email we just received from our own Lorien Olsen who's currently in lower Manhattan. The outages appear to be tower-by-tower; service may work in one neighborhood and not in the next.

"Verizon isn't holding up well."

Under normal circumstances, backup generators at cell sites are expected to keep the towers (and the network) alive in the event of a power disruption. Clearly,...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3576266/wireless-service-down-on-several-carriers-in-parts-of-new-york-city

This is my next: the HTC Windows Phone 8X

This is my next is a special feature where writers of The Verge sound off on their latest deep, dark desires from the world of technology.

I am a fan of stock software. So much so that when the rumors of a Nexus 4 built out of the LG Optimus G's parts reached the level of near-certainty, I forewarned my colleagues that I would be the one to write a TIMN ode to the latest and greatest Nexus.

As it turns out, I am indeed composing a love letter to stock software today, only to my eternal surprise I am doing so in Microsoft's OneNote. My review time with the HTC Windows Phone 8X extinguished the built-up anticipation for the incrementally improved Nexus and replaced it with a burning curiosity to explore the new Windows Phone OS. The more...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3575574/this-is-my-next-windows-phone-8x

PLAYERS, PIZZA AND PASTA!

Help the Griffins Youth Foundation, have a great meal and enjoy wait service from Griffins players and coaches when Tip-A-Griffin returns to Uccello's Ristorante on Nov. 13.



via griffinshockey.com - News Releases http://www.griffinshockey.com/news/releases/?article_id=2273

Verizon's HTC 8X will include wireless charging support

Verizon may have missed out on Nokia's Lumia 920 handset to AT&T, but the carrier will offer wireless charging in HTC's Windows Phone 8X this fall. Sources with knowledge of Verizon's Windows Phone plans have revealed that the carrier will offer the support as a variant that will likely be exclusive in the US. We're told that the Verizon 8X will not be any thicker due to the wireless charging addition, and that it will be built straight into the handset.

We understand that Verizon will announce the 8X wireless charging support in the very near future with two year contract plans. Verizon has previously committed to carrying the 8X and Nokia's Lumia 822. The carrier will also stock a Samsung Ativ Odyssey in December.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3575934/verizon-htc-8x-wireless-charging-support

LG Spectrum 2 available from Verizon Wireless today for $99.99

Verizon Wireless has just announced that the LG Spectrum 2 smartphone is now available for purchase from its online store for $99.99 with a new two-year agreement. The Spectrum 2 follows the Spectrum from last year and features a 4.7-inch, True HD IPS 720p display, dual-core Qualcomm S4 processor clocked at 1.5GHz, 8-megapixel camera, and 16GB of internal storage. It runs Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich with LG's custom user interface, including the company's QuckMemo app for easy screenshot capture and notation. Essentially, the Spectrum 2 is Verizon's version of the Optimus LTE 2, and it has been rumored for some time that Verizon would eventually carry this phone. Unfortunately, there is no timeline given for an upgrade to Android 4.1...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3575900/lg-spectrum-2-available-from-verizon-wireless-today-for-99-99

Joe Belfiore on Windows Phone: 'we're not done until we've checked all the boxes'

Microsoft's grand unveiling of Windows Phone 8 this week marks the completion of this particular phase of its mobile operating system, but the company is far from done. In an interview with The Verge, Microsoft's manager of Windows Phone, Joe Belfiore, sat down with us to talk about Microsoft's approach to apps, developers, and hardware.

One key part that Microsoft has focused on recently is bridging the app gap with rival platforms. Belfiore explained on stage at the company's Windows Phone 8 event that it now has 46 out of the top 50 apps from rival platforms. "The four I would say that are missing that count as the top 50 are Instagram, Viber, Pinterest, and Wells Fargo," says Belfiore. "If you look broadly at download numbers and...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3573760/joe-belfiore-windows-phone-interview

Asus reports $230 million profit, buoyed by strong notebook and tablet sales

Taiwanese computer and tablet maker Asus has reported positive third quarter results, with 6.71 billion New Taiwan dollars ($230 million US) in net income on 111.43 billion NT ($3.8 billion) in revenue. That's a 9 percent increase in revenue from the third quarter of 2011, and a 43 percent jump in net income over the same period. Compared to last quarter, Asus saw 18 percent more revenue and a 39 percent greater net income.

It's a sharp contrast to PC makers like HP and Dell, which have struggled to sell PCs and transition into the tablet market. While sales of Asus' once-popular netbooks are steadily dwindling, notebooks and components are growing, and tablet shipments have jumped dramatically, from 800,000 in the Q2 to 2.3 million in...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2012/10/30/3575454/asus-q3-2012-earnings