Logitech announces layoffs as it shifts focus to mobile business

In January Logitech CEO Bracken Darrell announced plans to take "decisive action," including selling its Harmony remote division, to turn the company's fortunes around — and today we're seeing the first results of that. Logitech will lay off 140 people, or about 5 percent of its non-direct workforce, as part of an organizational shuffle aimed to help the company react to shifting markets.

Sluggish performance in the PC goods business has forced Logitech to turn to products such as the Ultrathin Keyboard Cover for iPad, and the company plans to further increase its focus on mobile in the future while increasing profitability on the PC side. It expects to save from $16 to $18 million in its 2014 fiscal year as a result of the...

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'Real Racing 3' is ruined by in-app purchases

Following an earlier launch in certain regions, EA's Real Racing 3 is now available to download for Android and iOS worldwide. The original Real Racing was one of the first titles to prove the iPhone's worth as a credible gaming platform, and the series has been a mobile mainstay ever since. Real Racing 3 continues that trend with improved graphics, a huge amount of content, and the same trademark control system, but there's one major difference this time around — it's free.

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Wings want more strong efforts from D

SAN JOSE, Calif. – Mike Babcock wasn’t thrilled that the Los Angeles Kings had more than six-minutes of power play time, including a pair of 5-on-3 man advantages in the Red Wings’ 2-1 loss at Staples Center Wednesday night. But he was beyond e...



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FCC will investigate cellphone unlocking ban, says chairman

Earlier this year it became illegal in the United States to unlock a carrier-subsidized phone or tablet without prior authorization — but it looks like the Federal Communications Commission may not be so fond of the idea. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski told TechCrunch that the FCC was in fact going to investigate the ban to see whether it has any harmful effects for consumers and competitors. Genachowski is quoted as saying that it "raises competition concerns; it raises innovation concerns." However, he reportedly wasn't entirely sure if the FCC would be able to intervene in any meaningful way in this instance — though it will be exploring its options. "It's something that we will look at at the FCC to see if we can and should...

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Vint Cerf envisions an interspecies internet for communicating with animals and aliens

In a TED talk this evening, internet pioneer Vint Cerf took the stage to describe how the internet will eventually allow us to communicate with other species — even ones from another planet. The comments came as part of a group presentation, featuring the likes of musician Peter Gabriel and physicist Neil Gershenfeld, that focused on how technology is being used to communicate with animals. Cerf said that when he was designing the framework for what eventually became the internet, he realized that it was not simply a way for machines to connect — it was a way for people to interact. However, that's essentially just a starting point.

"All kinds of possible sentient beings may be interconnected."

"Now what's important about what...

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Corning's curved Willow Glass won't appear in flexible displays until 2016

Corning announced its flexible Willow Glass last summer with the possibility of full production by the end of the year, but we shouldn't expect to see it in consumer electronics any time soon. That's the message from Corning Glass Technologies president James Clappin, who told Bloomberg that manufacturers are expected to take at least three more years to design products with flexible Willow Glass displays.

"The ability of people to take it and use it to make a product is limited," said Clappin, who was marking the opening of an $800 million LCD glass plant in China. Corning is making efforts to teach some "very big name" customers how to implement the glass in their products, but it's clear that the material poses new design challenges....

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Do Not Track bill reintroduced: 'They have dragged their feet long enough,' says senator

Do Not Track is back in the spotlight today as senators Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) and Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) reintroduced a bill that would let people opt out of having their online activity tracked by advertisers. Originally introduced in 2011, the Do Not Track Online Act was envisioned as an online equivalent to the nationwide Do Not Call list, but talks have broken down between privacy activists and the ad industry, and nearly two years since its initial proposal, there is still no consensus about how to move forward.

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90 Seconds on The Verge: Bradley Manning, Motorola's product pipeline, and @pontifex

"Well, hello," said the voice. It was an owl. A talking owl, but an owl nevertheless. "Who are you? Go on, speak up, young man! Don't be shy."

"I'm quite sorry, sir," the man said, tipping his hat. "I just don't know what to say to a creature of your sophistication, is all. You know. Being a talking owl and all that."

"Do owls not speak where you're from? Do birds not tweet? Do larks not lace the evening air with the sweet sound of song?"

"Well I guess they do, don't they?" The man smiled. "I never thought of it that way. You're pretty smart, aren't you?"

The bird blinked. Twice. "Well. I am a talking owl."

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Stuart is happy at home with Sharks

SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Red Wings hate that Brad Stuart is no longer part of their team. But they’re happy that the 13-year NHL veteran is where he belongs. “He’s all smiles and loving it,” said Red Wings coach Mike Babcock, who spoke with Stuar...



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Dropbox users claim email addresses leaked to spammers, company blames 2012 security breach

Dropbox users are reporting spam coming to unique email addresses used for the cloud storage service. In a forum thread from yesterday, a user complained that a Dropbox-specific address had been receiving spam since February 20th, suggesting that the address had been exposed. After a moderator dismissed the claim by saying that spammers might have guessed the address randomly, several other people raised the same issue, most with addresses that were used only for Dropbox. They generally reported spam starting around the 19th or 20th.

About an hour ago, after the issue gained traction on Hacker News , a Dropbox employee posted a response:

We’ve been looking into these spam reports and take them seriously. Back in July we reported...

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Don't shoot at a Yeti — it should only be caught alive

A Yeti "can be photographed or caught alive but it must not be killed or shot at," explains a 1959 US embassy dispatch on the laws that all hunters should know before searching Nepal for mythical beast. "There are, at present, three regulations applicable only to expeditions searching for the YETI in Nepal," reads the letter that the US State Department received from its embassy in the Nepalese capitol. Slate dug up the memo and is presenting it alongside a brief history of Yeti hunting, a sport that proved popular enough in the 1950s for the Department of State to be concerned with it. Now that you know, make sure to get your license before heading out on the hunt.

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Scientists link rat brains together over the internet to transfer sensory information

Scientists have pulled off a real world, rodent-scale version of Vulcan "mind meld" from Star Trek, linking the brains of pairs of rats together over the internet to allow them to share sensory information and solve problems together in realtime without being in the same room, or even on the same continent. "These experiments showed that we have established a sophisticated, direct communication linkage between brains," said the project's leader Miguel Nicolelis, a neurobiologist at Duke University, in a statement released Thursday.

He and his colleagues at Duke and ELS-IINN , a Brazilian neuroscience institute, constructed what they say is the first working "brain-to-brain" interface by surgically implanting electrodes in the brains of...

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Sony 4K movie service will work with PS4, require 100GB-plus downloads

Sony is still being secretive about its forthcoming "world's first" 4K movie download service, but it sounds like it will eventually work with the equally-mysterious PS4. That's the word according to Sony Electronics President and COO Phil Molyneux, who said "I promise you will not be disappointed" when asked if the service would support his company's new console. That certainly makes sense, and it lines up with previous reports that the PS4 would support 4K photos and video, but not games.

That said, it appears Sony still has some work to do in making the 4K download service a realistic option for regular consumers. Molyneux said that typical 4K movies would be "100 gigabytes and plus" depending on length, and added that file...

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Sony sells Tokyo office building for $1.2 billion as part of continued restructuring

Sony has agreed to sell its Sony City Osaki office building, located in Tokyo, for a sum of 111.1 billion yen ($1.2 billion USD). A press release issued today explains that the sale comes as part of Sony's reorganization effort as the troubled electronics maker looks to "strengthen its corporate structure." Although it will no longer own the premises, Sony will continue to inhabit the building for at least five years according to a separate lease agreement. All told, Sony expects to walk away with a gain of 41 billion yen on the sale. Documents reveal that CEO Kaz Hirai gave the final OK on the transaction earlier today and the deal is already finalized. Sony City Osaki is the second large office building Sony has offloaded in recent...

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The brief and wondrous life of @pontifex

On December 3rd, 2012, Pope Benedict XVI joined Twitter under the name @pontifex, posting inspirational messages on both it and eight non-English sub-accounts. But his social media presence ended with his unexpected resignation. After his final speech as Pope, the Vatican removed his tweets, archiving them and leaving a blank account for the next pope — whoever that may be.

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As stock tanks, Andrew Mason out as Groupon CEO, replaced by chairman Eric Lefkofsky

Daily deals giant Groupon saw its stock drop 24 percent today after the company reported disappointing earnings. The company has been on a slide practically since the moment it went public, but this miss was the final nail in the coffin for its young co-founder and CEO, Andrew Mason. In a press release the company announced that Mason was leaving in a "change of leadership", being replaced by Mason's co-founder and Groupon's chairman, Eric Lefkofsky.

In typical fashion, Mason had a much blunter and more humorous reading of the situation. His letter, posted on his personal blog, is below.

After four and a half intense and wonderful years as CEO of Groupon, I've decided that I'd like to spend more time with my family. Just kidding - I...

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Facebook buys Microsoft ad platform Atlas

Facebook has officially bought Microsoft's Atlas advertising platform. In a statement, the company said Atlas would give advertisers a better idea of how their campaigns were doing and would "help advertisers compare their Facebook campaigns to the rest of their ad spending across the web on desktop and mobile." Atlas, Facebook says, is already in use by many advertisers on the site, but the company is planning to build out both its measurement systems and its user interface, making it easier to use and offering a more complete picture of campaigns. As Facebook works to monetize its system, this will become particularly important — despite fast growth, it's been hard to find good metrics on how well its ads actually work.

Though...

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'The Witcher 2' finally comes to OnLive today, includes free PC copy if you pay for streaming

We haven't heard a peep out of OnLive since the company's near-collapse last year, but the cloud gaming service has never stopped. Today, the company's bringing its first new title to the platform since September, and it's a pretty good deal to boot. You can now purchase a streaming copy of The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition to play via OnLive for $19.99, and get a full downloadable PC copy of the game from Good Old Games, too. Even if you decide not to stream the game, you're still getting your money's worth.

The funny thing about this particular game — The Witcher 2 — is that it was actually slated to appear on OnLive nearly two years ago. OnLive said the game was "coming soon" back in June 2011, at the Electronic Entertainment Expo....

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Apple erasing iCloud emails containing phrase 'barely legal teen'

Rather than isolating them to a spam folder, Apple is deleting any trace of emails received by iCloud users that contain the phrase "barely legal teen." Reports of the odd situation have surfaced lately and The Verge is able to confirm firsthand that messages including the text (either in subject or the email's body) are disappearing. Apple is also erasing any emails sent from an iCloud email address that contain the three words in succession. Bizarrely, changing "teen" to "teens" is all it takes for a message to get through successfully.

Back in November, InfoWorld reported that users were observing similar behavior when email attachments included the trigger phrase. Apple now appears to be screening plain-text messages for the words....

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The Vergecast will be live Friday at 8AM PT / 11AM ET / 4PM GMT!

Do you ever think about time zones? Like, really think about them? If The Vergecast is playing in the afternoon on the East Coast, that's around lunch time for the West Coast — and very late in Europe. (In case you're wondering, the appropriate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy quote here is care of Ford Prefect: "One of the things Ford Prefect had always found hardest to understand about humans was their habit of continually stating and repeating the very very obvious.")

The reason we're more cognizant today is Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. And if we want to have some awesome special guests, we're going to have to be more mindful of their adopted time zone. So The Vergecast will not be Thursday, as per usual, but instead Friday...

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YouTube for iOS update lets users automatically pair with smart TVs

The AirPlay-style "send to TV" function that Android YouTube users got in November is now coming to iOS. In an update pushed out today, Google updated YouTube for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch, allowing users to automatically pair with Google TVs by tapping an on-screen button. After that, the video plays on the TV, and the device can be used as a remote control. Users can also now manually pair with the Xbox or PS3. From what we can tell, this is distinct from YouTube's DIAL initiative, which requires an app on both the device and smart TV. Google TV hasn't gotten much of a hold on the market, but YouTube has also announced partnerships for other smart TVs later this year.

Besides "send to TV," the latest update integrates support...

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Reuters: Microsoft likely to be fined in Europe over antitrust concerns

European regulators are likely to hit Microsoft with a fine by the end of March, according to a Reuters report published today. Citing two individuals familiar with the case, Reuters says the financial punishment will come a result of antitrust violations. The specific charges are unclear, but in October of last year the European Commission accused Microsoft of failing to provide users with a choice of browsers following the release of Windows 7 Service Pack 1. At the time, Microsoft insisted that the oversight was due to a technical error, though the company took on full responsibility for the problem. European Commissioner Joaquin Almunia would later say "there are no grounds to pursue an investigation," but if the Reuters report is...

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Play this: 'Bombermine' is a chaotic, massively-multiplayer mash-up

Bombermine is an addictive amalgam of Bomberman, Minecraft, and pop culture that lets 1,000 people play together, all in your browser. You won't be crafting diamond pickaxes, but you will be blasting through ore, gold, and your opponents to score points — all while occasionally morphing into a Nyan Cat or Kenny from South Park. The site launched in beta earlier this week and can be little rough around the edges, but the throwback style and classic Bomberman feel are easy to get lost in. Just don't get too comfortable; with a thousand players alongside you, you aren't going to survive for long.

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Nokia's Windows Phone range is complete, now it's up to Microsoft

Nokia launched its latest Lumia devices at Mobile World Congress this week. While many were hoping the company would unveil a 41-megapixel PureView device, or a Windows tablet, Nokia opted to flesh out its range of Lumias and give us an early look at where it's heading for 2013. With 12 Lumia products launched, excluding variants, Nokia's strategy is clear: offer colorful Lumia devices at various price points by pushing high-end features down the range. Nokia's range is broad and complete (for now), but Microsoft has to help Espoo catch the competition.

Nokia's high-end flagship is the Lumia 920. Launched in early November, the 920 has helped boost Lumia sales to their highest point, 4.4 million, in the most recent quarter, but supply...

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HTC says Sense 5 coming to some current phones 'in the next few months'

When the new HTC One was announced, one element that got particular attention was the latest version of the company's Android skin, now dubbed Sense 5. The company isn't leaving legacy owners behind, however, stating on Facebook that several existing models will get an update to the new Sense. According to the post, some devices — including the global variants of the One X, One X+, and One S — will be updated "in the next few months." The company does specify that not all features will be available given that some are hardware-specific to the HTC One, no doubt a reference to that device's new camera features. We've reached out to HTC and will update you with any further details.

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Google CFO hopes Chrome OS will become the Android of PCs

At today's Morgan Stanley media conference, Google Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Patrick Pichette expressed hopes that Chrome OS would become for the PC market what Android is for mobile. In response to a question asking the above, Pichette responded: "The short answer is yes. There is a better mousetrap, it's been invented and it's called Chrome OS." He went on to extoll the security of Chrome OS for enterprise and the convenience of Google Docs.

Initially, Chrome OS offered something that's comparable to the mass of cheap Gingerbread phones that boost Android's numbers: an operating system for a computer that cost only a few hundred dollars. The recently announced Chromebook Pixel, however, shoots for the high-end...

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The Postal Service is bad, but Outbox is worse

Outbox, which bills itself as "recreating the US Postal Service," launched yesterday in San Francisco after being announced last year. Recreating the troubled US Postal Service certainly sounds like a good idea. So how does Outbox work?

For $4.99 a month, you sign up online for an Outbox account (they also have apps), and then an Outbox employee comes to your house, picks up your mail, takes it back to Outbox HQ, opens it, scans it, and gives you access to it via your account. From there, you can "unsubscribe" from junk mail, and request to have your mail "delivered" to your house (even though it was definitely already delivered once, the other day). That's it: a new, "disruptive" service that PandoDaily wrote about at length last year.

...

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Google's CFO says Motorola's upcoming products aren't 'wow by Google standards'

If you were hoping to see a revelatory smartphone from Motorola in the near future, you might want to tone down those expectations. Google's Chief Financial Officer and Senior Vice President Patrick Pichette today said that products in Motorola's pipeline "aren't 'wow' by Google standards." The surprisingly honest admission came during Pichette's session at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference. When questioned on where things stand with Motorola at the moment, Pichette didn't mince words. "The case with Motorola is that we've inherited a pipeline," he said, which Google executives have made clear in the past. Unfortunately, it sounds as if there's plenty of runway left. "Motorola has a great set of products, but they're not really...

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'Wow' all the way down: Donald Trump sparks Twitter's latest weird meme

An absurdist joke is spreading across Twitter in a viral pattern. No one has control, no one is safe, and after two days, the contagion is still growing. The virus will likely hit your stream soon if it hasn't already, but it's not so easy to spot — it looks like any other normal tweet. "Wow," it reads, with a link. But click that link, and it will lead to another person's tweet. "Wow," this one says, with a link. That link leads to another tweet, from someone else. "Wow," this person says, appending a link.

It's wows all the way down.

The beauty of this game is that everyone joined in without knowing the rules. "I have no idea. I just saw it and played along," Alex Godin, a 19-year-old startup founder based in New York, said in a...

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New markets announced for Surface Pro and Surface RT

Microsoft announced today that it plans to expand its Surface RT availability to additional markets. Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, and Taiwan will all receive Surface RT units in late March. Microsoft is also promising that the UK, Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, and New Zealand will be able to buy Surface Pro "in the coming months."

The lack of clarity on Surface Pro availability outside the US and Canada is less than ideal, but Microsoft's continued expansion of Surface is notable. The software maker recently expanded its Surface RT availability to 13 European countries earlier this month, an important step if Microsoft is serious about its Surface future. With the additional markets announced today,...

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Ouya shipping to Kickstarter backers March 28th

$99.99 gaming console Ouya will be shipping to its Kickstarter backers on March 28th, the company has just announced. A full retail launch is still planned for June, but the console will be shipping soon to more than developers, who started receiving kits late last year. We're also hearing about some potentially exciting new Ouya projects. While we already knew a bit about what was coming to the platform, the company has announced that designer Kim Swift (of Portal and Left 4 Dead fame) and her team at Airtight Games will develop a new title exclusive to Ouya. An announcement with some real details should be "coming soon," but the game is supposed to have a "completely unexpected, imaginative slant."

Minority Media, which developed Papa...

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DARPA awards Carnegie Mellon professor $6 million to prevent unmanned vehicle hacks

Not only do military officials need to worry about the security of computers belonging to personnel, but unmanned vehicles are also a potential target for hackers. To that end, DARPA has awarded Franz Franchetti, an associate professor at Carnegie Mellon, a 4.5-year $6 million grant to develop defenses capable of recognizing and warding off infiltration attempts. According to the university, the objective of Franchetti and a team of six other experts is to "help computers figure out that they are under attack and to help them survive and continue operating." Tackling cyber threats — which cost the military billions of dollars per year — is a tall task, but Franchetti's colleagues seem confident he can deliver. "We have the innovative...

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Bradley Manning pleads guilty to being Wikileaks source, denies 'aiding the enemy'

US Army Private First Class Bradley Manning has pleaded guilty on 10 counts involving disclosing information to an unauthorized person, but has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including "aiding the enemy." The guilty pleas cover less serious offenses and carry a combined maximum sentence of 20 years. If convicted of aiding the enemy, Manning could be imprisoned for life.

According to The Guardian and corroborated by other news sources, Manning's guilty pleas confirm that he was Wikileaks' principal source for the following:

the so-called "collateral murder" video of an Apache helicopter attack in Iraq; some US diplomatic cables including one of the early WikiLeaks publications the Reykjavik cable; portions of the Iraq and...

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Monster to get first start with Wings

SAN JOSE, Calif. – It’s expected that backup goalie Jonas Gustavsson will start his first game with his new team when the Red Wings play the Sharks tonight at HP Pavilion. “That's something I've been looking forward to,” said Gustavsson, who ha...



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Koozoo turns every old iPhone into a 24/7 spycam

Rick’s American Cafe is the most popular bar where I went to school in Ann Arbor, MI. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights, rain or shine, the line to get into Rick’s wraps around the block. One entrepreneurial student with a great view of the bar jerry-rigged his webcam to broadcast live from his bedroom window to a website, and the site went viral. RicksLine.com was meant "to create a method for people to have this view of the line and get in faster without the hassle of waiting in the cold," co-creator Will O’Leary told The Michigan Daily . The site went on to make money flanking its video feed with ads, but eventually shut down once its creators moved away. A new RicksLine hasn’t yet emerged, despite the fact that doubtlessly...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039572/koozoo-app-livestream-your-yard

Pope thanks supporters in final tweet, but account won't disappear

As Pope Benedict XVI officially steps down, he's issued one last tweet on the @pontifex account. Despite previous reports, however, the account itself will simply remain dormant while the seat is empty. After an initial statement seemed to imply that the account would be deactivated, Vatican Radio later clarified the matter, stating that "@pontifex will be inactive during the interim period between the renouncement of Pope Benedict XVI and the election of his successor (sede vacante). @pontifex will be available for use by the next Pope as he may wish." Forbes also received a statement that the account would "not shut down." Presumably, the Vatican will be working hard to make sure hackers don't take the reins during its search for a new...

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Radiohead's Thom Yorke says Google, Apple have made music 'worthless'

Thom Yorke, the ethereal-voiced lead singer of the music group Radiohead, isn't a fan of what Apple, Google, and other technology companies are doing to media. In an interview with UK-publication The Guardian , Yorke lamented what he said were attempts by tech companies to turn songs into commodities.

"They have to keep commodifying things to keep the share price up," Yorke said. "But in doing so they have made all content, including music and newspapers, worthless in order to make their billions. And this is what we want? I still think it will be undermined in some way."

Five years ago, Yorke and Radiohead became Internet heroes when they self released the album In Rainbows over the Web and told fans to pay what they wanted for the...

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NSA's 'Ragtime' domestic spying program detailed in new book

There are four — maybe five — members of the NSA who make sure that its secret domestic spying program isn't overstepping its reach according to a new book, Deep State: Inside the Government Secrecy Industry. Written by D.B. Grady and former White House correspondent Marc Ambinder, the book for the first time reveals the code name of the NSA's surveillance program, "Ragtime." Shane Harris, The Washingtonian's national security reporter, offers an analysis of the new information on the NSA's controversial practices and what he calls a "21st-century data assembly line". Given the nature of the programs it's hard to know what's accurate, but the reporting in Deep State paints a picture much like we might fear: a practiced system of...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/policy/2013/2/28/4039448/nsa-ragtime-domestic-spying-program-unveiled-deep-state-book

The Verge Mobile Show 038 - February 28th, 2013

Five men. Two couches. One city. Half an internet connection.

Podcasting from the gorgeous metropolis of Barcelona during Mobile World Congress — our Super Bowl — is both a technical and social challenge every year, and 2013 is no exception. Doubly so when the inimitable Tom Warren is guest starring.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4037630/the-verge-mobile-show-038-february-28th-2013

Amazon Prime now streaming shows from Travel Channel, Food Network, HGTV, others

Amazon today announced it's signed a deal with Scripps Networks Interactive that will bring TV content from a slew of channels including the Travel Channel, Food Network, HGTV, DIY Network, and Cooking Channel to Prime Instant Video. It's the first such online-only subscription distribution agreement anyone has reached with Scripps, representing the latest salvo fired in an escalating licensing battle with Netflix.

Scripps content will be available starting today, with popular shows including Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations, Iron Chef America, Man vs. Food, Cupcake Wars, House Hunters and more. Aside from streaming episodes, Amazon says you'll also be able to purchase "many" programs for permanent storage in the cloud via Instant...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039680/amazon-prime-now-streaming-travel-channel-food-network-hgtv

Certified 'Powered by Firefox OS' devices require Firefox Marketplace, minimum hardware specs

Mozilla says that in order for Firefox OS phones to bear the Firefox logo, they'll need to meet a variety of software and hardware requirements, including mandatory installations of the Firefox mobile browser and the official Firefox Marketplace app store.

Though the existence of a "blessed hardware" program is similar to Google's model for Android — which only permits compliant devices to ship with the Google Play store, the Gmail app, and other elements — there's a key difference: Mozilla is actively encouraging carriers and developers to embrace alternative app stores and payment methods. A carrier launching a "Powered by Firefox OS" device would very likely have its own branded app store on deck alongside the Firefox...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039320/certified-powered-by-firefox-os-devices-require-firefox-marketplace

Vimeo introduces 'Looks,' gives users access to over 500 'Hollywood-style' effects

The user-uploaded videos you find at Vimeo are typically a hair more polished than your average YouTube clip, but that doesn't mean the company is averse to embracing the filters trend. In fact, that's exactly what it's doing today with the rollout of Looks, a new addition to the site's Enhancer toolset that offers over 500 visual effects users can add to their projects. Everything is done directly within the web browser, and you're able to preview each effect in realtime before deciding if it's the right match. With the overwhelming number of options, Vimeo has helpfully categorized Looks by genre and mood to help filmmakers quickly excise effects that aren't likely to fit. Perhaps most intriguing, the video site can also choose a Look...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039548/vimeo-introduces-looks-adds-over-500-hollywood-style-effects

Dish accuses CBS of ordering 'Big Bang Theory' star to delete sponsored Hopper tweet

It seems the war between CBS and Dish Network is moving to Twitter. The satellite provider is today accusing CBS of ordering Kaley Cuoco, who stars in The Big Bang Theory (among the network's most popular shows), to remove a sponsored tweet endorsing the Hopper DVR. The tweet was posted yesterday and "earned several thousand clicks" before it was suddenly deleted, according to Dish. Continuing the war of words between both companies, Dish CEO Joe Clayon said, "it’s disappointing that CBS — once the exemplar of editorial independence and innovation — continues to use its heavy hand to hold back progress from consumers." The feud between Dish and CBS came into the public eye last month when the network ordered technology news site...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039470/dish-accuses-cbs-ordering-kaley-kuoco-to-delete-hopper-tweet

iTunes U sees one billion content downloads, 60 percent from outside US

After launching in 2007 and getting a dedicated app in early 2012, iTunes U has seen one billion content downloads. In a release, Apple said that the online education tool supports over 2,500 public courses and an unspecified "thousands" of smaller private ones, with over 1,200 universities and colleges offering courses through it. While the company touts massive enrollment in classes from American universities like Ohio State (which it says enrolled 100,000 students its first year), most iTunes U downloads come from other countries: over 60 percent of the billion downloads (which are of course material, not the app itself) come from outside the US.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039456/itunes-u-sees-one-billion-content-downloads-60-percent-international

How viral videos devalue traditional media

Recent years have seen viral videos receive increasing coverage from traditional media outlets, but as Mathew Ingram writes in a piece for paidContent , they're not always thoroughly vetted. Last year, for instance, several major TV outlets reported on a YouTube video of a pig rescuing a drowning goat, without first investigating to determine its authenticity. (It was later proven to be part of a clever marketing campaign.)

As Ingram argues, this enthusiasm for viral content threatens to blur the lines between reality and hoax, potentially undermining the credibility of our most trusted news sources. "In some cases, these videos come right after a news report about something serious," he writes. "How are audiences to know when something...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039262/what-happens-when-old-media-cover-viral-videos

China blames US for majority of cyberattacks on military websites

China's Defense Ministry today revealed new details about alleged cyberattacks on its websites, claiming that the US was responsible for nearly two-thirds of the 144,000 security breaches the ministry saw each month last year. The Chinese government accused the US of frequently hacking into state websites last week, but today's announcement marks the first time that China has disclosed details on the breadth of the alleged attacks.

"The Defense Ministry and China Military Online websites have faced a serious threat from hacking attacks since they were established, and the number of hacks has risen steadily in recent years," said Geng Yansheng, a Defense Ministry spokesman. "According to the IP addresses, the Defense Ministry and China...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039300/china-says-us-is-responsible-for-hacks-on-defense-websites

Why isn't there a creep-free dating app for women?

When Blendr launched in 2011, it was branded as a heterosexual alternative to Grindr — the wildly popular location-based dating app for the gay community. More than a year later, however, it appears that Grindr's founders have been unable to replicate their success among straight singles, underscoring what the New Yorker's Ann Friedman sees as a fundamental problem with dating apps geared toward women. "If an app for 'straight' people is to get anywhere close to Grindr’s level of success, women have to not just join out of curiosity," Friedman writes. "They have to actually use it."

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039226/blendr-and-the-pursuit-for-a-not-creepy-dating-app-women

Astonishingly real Audrey Hepburn shills chocolate in new commercial

If the success of a commercial is measured by the number of heads it turns, then Galaxy chocolate's latest ad is nothing short of triumphant. Set against the idyllic Mediterranean coastline of the 1960s, the company's one-minute spot features ostensibly authentic footage of Audrey Hepburn — the late film and fashion icon whose slender, elfin visage evokes a Golden Age beauty that, for most, is beyond the realm of imitation. Yet that's exactly what production company Framestore pulled off for Galaxy, thanks to advanced VFX techniques and a meticulous attention to detail.

Framestore began by searching for a suitable Hepburn double — someone, ideally, who would "share as many of her features and characteristics as possible." Once...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039144/audrey-hepburn-resurrected-for-galaxy-chocolate-commercial

Bitcoin value reaches new all-time high against the dollar, continuing upward trend

The Bitcoin digital currency hit an all-time high Wednesday, as its US dollar exchange rate climbed past $32 for the first time ever. According to Bitcoin Magazine , that eclipses the currency's previous high of $31.9099, reached in June 2011.

This week's milestone, while notable, doesn't come as a major surprise. After bottoming out at under $2 in 2011, Bitcon's value has steadily risen over the past several months, as the anonymous currency has entered new markets. Last year, a French bank received clearance to operate as a Bitcoin exchange, shortly after total circulation of the currency hit 10.5 million. Sites like Reddit, Wordpress.com, and Kim Doctcom's forthcoming Mega service have all adopted Bitcoin payments, as well.

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039042/bitcoin-value-reaches-new-high-against-us-dollar

Post-apocalyptic robot artist Mark Pauline attends White House ball

Mark Pauline, the legendary founder of Survival Research Labs known for his pyrotechnic robot performance art, isn't the first man you'd expect to see in the same photo as Barack and Michelle Obama. But that's exactly what happened recently when Pauline and his wife Amy Critchett attended a ball at the White House.

We asked Pauline how he managed to get an invite, and he gave us the following response:

"Easy, my mother in law was in Congress for 20 years and I passed the background check due to my spotless record!"

Critchett's mother, Lynn Woolsey, was indeed a US Representative of California between 1993 and 2013. As for Pauline's record, we're not sure he's being entirely serious — after all, last year he told The Verge...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039014/survival-research-labs-mark-pauline-with-president-obama

T-Mobile USA continues to struggle ahead of Metro PCS merger

Another quarter, another half a million fewer postpaid customers for T-Mobile. Today the company reported its fourth quarter financial results, and while revenues are showing signs of growth, they’re still five percent lower than they were last year. Despite 19 percent growth in both its own branded and MVNO prepaid customers, it couldn’t offset the 13.9 percent drop in contract revenues, which make up more than two thirds of T-Mobile’s total revenue stream. The resulting billion-dollar drop in revenues for the year contributed to a year-end operating loss of $6.4 billion — 50 percent higher than 2011’s $4.3 billion loss. The news comes on the eve of a shareholder vote to approve T-Mobile’s merger with MetroPCS, scheduled for...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4039096/t-mobile-usa-struggles-ahead-of-metro-pcs-merger

Leap Wireless struggles to meet iPhone sales commitment as customers head elsewhere

Leap Wireless is having a tough time selling through the stock of iPhones it committed to purchasing from Apple, reports The Wall Street Journal . Just last week, the company’s COO Jerry Elliott told analysts that Leap (which offers prepaid cellular service through its Cricket Wireless subsidiary) was "not concerned about… meeting the Apple commitment," but it sounds like maybe it should be, since it’s only on track to sell through half of the volume it committed to this year. Under its three-year agreement with Apple, Leap is required to purchase an approximate $800 million worth of iPhones, weighted toward the second and third years. In its 2012 annual report, Leap noted that the size of the commitment only represented "10% or...

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/28/4038944/leap-wireless-struggles-to-meet-iphone-sales-commitment

Elon Musk at TED: 'Solar will be the plurality of power within at least 20 years'

In an on-stage interview with TED organizer Chris Anderson, Elon Musk went into detail on his Tesla, SpaceX and SolarCity businesses, but his highest praise was reserved for the future of solar power. "I'm confident that solar will beat everything hands-down, including natural gas," Musk said, to applause. He added, "It must, actually. If it doesn't, we're in deep trouble."

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via The Verge - All Posts http://www.theverge.com/2013/2/27/4036952/elon-musk-at-ted-solar-will-beat-natural-gas