When questioned, Google’s Taiwanese office announced that it wasn’t yet aware of such plans yet, although this wasn’t a direct denial of any plans that the company may have in the tablet space anytime soon. Though, the product timing isn’t quite Google-esque, as the company usually gives away new hardware to Google I/O attendees, which has been moved back to June this year.

It would be very interesting to see what happens with Google possibly designing and offering a self-built tablet in the upcoming months, to say the very least. SlashGear readers, what do you think? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Business Insider]

Apple’s virtually 33 percent market share of all-in-one desktops puts it squarely ahead of the second place company, Lenovo. In third place, with a not-to-shrug-at 21.4 percent was Hewlett-Packard. Together, these three companies account for more than three-fourths of the entire all-in-one PC consumer market.

Though 33 percent of the all-in-one market may feel like a surprisingly lower than expected estimate for Apple, it’s a much higher proportion than its market share of the computer industry in general, and leave us to believe that that Windows PC makers haven’t been successful with the desktop form factor as, well, Apple has.

Apple Insider

[via Apple Insider]

According to the Wall Street Journal, a spokeswoman for Barnes & Noble declined to comment. However, we know that Sterling publishes mainly nonfiction titles in areas such as puzzles and games, gardening, cooking, crafts, as well as children’s books, and that Barnes & Noble will probably try to look for a potential suitor in those particular categories of interest.

Though the bookseller doesn’t disclose Sterling Publishing’s sales in its public filings, in trading today on the New York Stock Exchange, Barnes & Noble shares were down approximately 4% to $13.55. SlashGear readers, how much do you think Barnes & Noble’s publishing division will fetch in a sale? Leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via The Wall Street Journal]

Although this is a clear step forward for user interface and thematic consistency across devices, those who aren’t in the mood to skin their Android devices shouldn’t quite brandish their smartphones in victory just yet. Google’s default ‘Holo’ theme is essentially a set of UI widgets and design elements that developers can utilize in developing apps. Though this may mean that Google has opened the option to 3rd-party developers to design widgets and apps with the native theme, it does not at all mean that Google is mandating the usage of the theme on anybody, especially not manufacturers.

The ‘Holo’ theme will come as the default theme for any app that doesn’t request specifically the device’s default skin, which basically means that the look and feel of 3rd-party Android skins, such as Samsung’s TouchWiz, HTC’s Sense UI, and others, won’t integrate as deep into 3rd-party apps unless developers design them to do so.

According to GigaOM, it seems like gradually over the years, TiVo has been “transforming itself from a CE player to a licensing entity”. The company has been losing end-user subscribers for years now, only recently being able to increase subscriptions through partnerships with Virgin and RCN. Moreover, the only way TiVo has really been able make bank in the most recent years was, well, via patent lawsuits, followed by generally lucrative settlements, like this particular one with AT&T. Just last year, Dish Network and Echostar consented to fork over a total of $500 million to TiVo to settle a lawsuit brought against their, well, you guessed it, DVRs.

It seems like that AT&T can’t get a legal break, whether it be from the court, or the FCC. SlashGear readers, what do you think? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Verizon Wireless spokesman Peter Thonis did not give out further information about the matter, but claimed that the company was indeed on an endeavor to send another executive in CEO MacAdam’s place at the technology conference, coming up next week. Well, what’s up with this? First, Microsoft announcing that they would no longer be participating after CES 2012, now Verizon’s head is backing out.

It’s surprising that Verizon is taking this course of action with their chief executive, especially considering the high-profile importance of the Consumer Electronics Show. SlashGear readers, do you have any input in this? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.

Any information on the exact specifications of the to-be-announced Ivy Bridge models haven’t been released yet, but the Sandy Bridge E5 chips have already known to run the gamut from a 1.8 GHz quad-core processor to 3.1 GHz in eight-core assortments. That’s some serious processor speed right there, no doubt. Competitors beware, here.

If this possibility moves into the realm of reality for Intel, the Xeon lineup could create potential problems for workstations like the upcoming Macbook Pro refreshed updates. It may force Apple and other competing companies into either choosing Sandy Bridge models and going for a slightly aged, but wider range of processors, picking from a limited Ivy Bridge range, or having to go through a divide in the computer lineup between the pair of Intel architectures.

Though Ask Ziggy’s user interface shares the same rudimentary design as that of Siri, putting query results in chat bubbles, the app does not directly imitate the icons and name of Apple’s alternative. On the Google side of things, A “Siri for Android” app just appeared on the Android Market days ago, but turned out to be only a shortcut to an app.

“Ask Ziggy” is reported to use Nuance’s voice recognition engine, which is paired along with other algorithms that comb search results for relevant responses and answers (hopefully, not as weird as those that Siri sometimes pulls up). However, when a direct answer cannot be found, users are provided with a link to the search results for that particular question. But at the moment, Microsoft has yet to offer their own solution, despite the supply of third-party Siri clones for the Windows Phone platform.

[via The Next Web]

The teaser from HP is timed just in time before CES, and makes the Spectre a very viable candidate for the Las Vegas tech show. Although there isn’t much information at the moment, there could be a very good possibility that this move shows that HP will be competing more directly with Apple’s MacBook Air, as well as other ultrathin notebooks, rather than trying to avoid jostling around with those competitors in the ultrathin laptop ring, instead.

SlashGear readers, what do you think of this barely revealed glimpse of the Spectre ultrabook from HP? Do you think that the company’s potential move into ultrabook territory is a good thing, and will be successful? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Engadget]

From BGR:

We have also learned that Apple is planning to use a rubber or plastic material — similar to the material used in the company’s bumper cases — that will be built into the new iPhone case. In all likelihood, this material will be used as a bezel surrounding the front edge of the phone (like the iPhone 3GS bezel) and it will serve two purposes. First, it will join the glass iPhone face with a new aluminum back plate. It will also cover a redesigned antenna system that surrounds the device, allowing Apple to build the rear case out of aluminum without having to use a large plastic insert above the antennas as the company does on its iPad 2 Wi-Fi + 3G.

The revamped design is also rumored to see the the usage of a rubber or possibly plastic bezel covering akin to that on Apple’s iPhone bumper covers, with it serving as protection for the device’s antennas from direct skin contact.

Reports from earlier stated that Apple’s next-generation iPhone will utilize an aluminum case akin to the one found on the iPad 2, as well as a potentially larger display. SlashGear readers, what do you make of the whole situation? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Mac Rumors]

Allen’s explanation of his analysis:

Each week my team from elance runs hundreds of queries on various surnames which we have been tracking since July. We revised our model based on the actual user announcements made by Google on July 13th and Oct 13th.

Here is what the tracking shows so far:

July 13 – 10 million
August 1 – 20.5 million
September 1 – 24.7 million
October 1 – 38 million (Larry Page announced “more than 40m users” on Oct 13th)
November 1 – 43 million
December 1 – 50 million
December 27 – 62 million
January 1 – 65.8 million (forecast)
February 1 – 85.2 million (forecast)

If his statistics are accurate, then nearly a fourth of all current Google+ users will have joined the social network during the month of December alone. Allen predicts that if this user join rate continues, Google+ will be on track to reach 100 million users on February 25th and 200 million on August 3rd. By the end of 2012, it could reach a whopping 400 million users, not too far from Facebook’s current population at the moment.

Allen says that “based on the accelerated growth I’m seeing and all the dials and levers Google can still utilize, and the developer ecosystem that will be developed, I predict that 2012 is going to be a breakout year for Google+ and that it will end next year with more than 400 million users.” If that’s the case, then Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook better be prepared for a worthy rising competitor. SlashGear readers, what do you think?

[via Google+]

According to Wired’s Gadget Lab, Dropbox users have have already logged quite a few complaints over in the Dropbox forums. For example, some users may take so many pictures that they “don’t want them all clogging up their limited cloud storage”. This new feature also adds another level of complexity to the Dropbox app itself, when it’s already relatively simple to have a third-party app store chosen photos inside your Dropbox folder. On the flip side of things, anything that makes photo backup easier can only be a good thing, right? Consider it a belated Christmas present from the guys at Dropbox.

The test builds are now available directly from the company itself, although users have been notified that they should probably back up their cloud-stored content beforehand. Readers, tell us if you like the new feature, and feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Wired Gadget Lab]

The app is available for download on Macs running Snow Leopard or newer OSes, Windows XP or later, and Linux boxes running 32-bit Ubuntu 11.10 or later. The 1.5 release marks the final desktop version of Boxee, and will be pulled after late January rolls around, when the interface arrives on Boxee’s own hardware with the Live TV Tuner add-on.

Boxee explained that the decision to put the desktop app to rest was an expectation that TV was increasingly more likely to be driven by dedicated TV hardware, as opposed to makeshift rigs composed of computers hooked up to television sets. SlashGear readers, what’re you thoughts on this topic? Feel free to leave thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Engadget]

In its fourth year running, the 12 day promotion extends from the day after Christmas, December 26th, to January 6th and gifts its app users with a free digital download from iTunes each and every day. This year’s giveaway starts with a free digital copy of Coldplay’s live EP from the not so long ago Apple-sponsored iTunes Festival in London.

Apple says that each day’s free daily “gift” will only be available to download from iTunes for up to 24 hours. Moreover, iTunes users who don’t own an iOS device themselves can sign up for email alerts and download the content via iTunes on a computer. Our European and Canadian readers, how many of you are going to download the app?

[via MacRumors]

A report from Digitimes stated that the cost of the Thunderbolt technology is expected to experience a decrease in the second half of 2012, allowing for more widespread adoption in the consumer market. Though, at the moment, Apple does offer Thunderbolt across most of the Mac line, the very first Thunderbolt products have been primarily limited to relatively high end electronics. More widespread adoption should facilitate the drive in adoption by accessory makers that will be advantageous to both Mac and PC users that utilize Thunderbolt as a future medium.

Intel has affirmed that they envision both USB 3.0 and Thunderbolt as complementary I/O technologies, planning to support both in their 2012 products. SlashGear readers, what do you make of the whole thing? Feel free to leave your thought in the comment section below.

[via MacRumors]

How does a single mere technology company pass some of world’s largest online retailer in internet traffic? The answer is simple, and comes down to a single word; iTunes. The digital media store consists of roughly 30 percent of Apple’s almost 80 million U.S. unique visitors last month. Ad Age reports that Apple receives almost as many online hits as the largest newspaper site, that of the venerable New York Times.

Together, Apple’s website and iTunes had over 79.2 million unique visitors in November, enough to push it past eBay (72.1 million) and even retail behemoth Walmart (58.5 million). Other major shopping sites it edged out were Best Buy (36.5 million) and Sears (31 million). Apple was ranked 13th overall in terms of U.S. unique visitors in November, behind only major online sites like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo.

[via AdAge]

Mainland Europe, specifically France, Germany, Italy, and Spain all saw declines, with the most significant coming from France, a 29 percent drop to 20 percent, while Germany fell from 27 percent to 22 percent. Germany is also where Android has seen one of its largest leads, where 61 percent were getting Android phones, lead by Samsung’s Galaxy S II. Kantar ascribed the French decline to “price sensitivity,” but much of mainland Europe was likely being hit by a potential reversal in economic growth since 2008.

Moreover, the decline can also be attributed to the ever-growing Android platform, the smartphone industry being more and more dominated by Google, the company holding market shares of between 46 and 61 percent in all markets. Reuters reports that “European consumers are keeping a lid on their expenses as government spending cuts and job losses deprive companies of demand for goods and crush exports.”

Who can blame them? Google keeping their prices competitive to Apple may just have been the trick this time around.

[via Reuters]

The top ten most searched terms of 2011:

1. Facebook
2. YouTube
3. Facebook Login
4. Craigslist
5. Facebook.com
6. Yahoo
7. eBay
8. www.facebook.com
9. Mapquest
10. Yahoo.com

The Experian Hitwise report stated that among the top 10 terms, “Facebook login” was the third most-searched term in 2011, followed by “craigslist” and “facebook.com.” Facebook.com jumped up one spot in 2011 to be among the top five search terms. When combined, general search terms for Facebook, i.e., facebook and facebook.com, accounted for 3.48 percent of all searches in the United States among the top 50 terms, which represents a full 33 percent increase from last year. These are some impressive stats, no doubt, for any website, much less the largest social networking website in the world.

Perhaps more significant, and an even larger blow to Google (and all their forays into social networking), is that the social network was again the most-visited website of the year. From January to November 2011, Facebook drew 10.29 percent of all internet visits in the United States, according to data from Experian Hitwise. That’s more than 10 percent of the entire US. Impressive, much?

[via Experian Hitwise]

Microsoft’s Bing search engine was Google’s primary rival in this deal, and the the company’s long-living Internet Explorer is still the top Internet browser on the web, by user count, although Google Chrome is ever so climbing nearer and nearer to take the spot away, potentially in the near future. Yahoo was apparently in the bidding competition as well, but prices were too high for the company, who has its own internal troubles to deal with at the very moment.

Last year, Google paid over $100 million to Mozilla for a deal in providing the default search engine for Firefox, which expired at the end of November. Though even with the new deal with Google, Mozilla still retains current partnerships with other search providers, including Bing, Yahoo, Yandex, Amazon and eBay. We can say one thing for certain; Google’s hoping for their own sake that Mozilla’s extravagant sum is worth it.

[via AllThingsD]

The Recording Academy stated that “As former CEO and co-founder of Apple, Steve Jobs helped create products and technology that transformed the way we consume music, TV, movies, and books. A creative visionary, Jobs’ innovations such as the iPod and its counterpart, the online iTunes store, revolutionized the industry and how music was distributed and purchased. In 2002 Apple Computer Inc. was a recipient of a Technical GRAMMY Award for contributions of outstanding technical significance to the recording field. The company continues to lead the way with new technology and in-demand products such as the iPhone and iPad.”

Jobs is one of several awardees, including Brazilian composer and arranger Antonio Carlos Jobim, soul performer Gil Scott-Heron, and audio engineer Roger Nichols, who will all be honored posthumously. The Grammy awards ceremony will be held on Saturday, February 11th, and the awardees will be acknowledged at this year’s “54th Annual Grammy Awards” telecast the day after.

[via MacRumors]

Mozilla says on their official blog that “Firefox for Android leverages large tablet screen sizes and optimizes popular features for tablets. The Awesome Screen integrates Firefox Sync and makes it easy to access your browsing history, open tabs, bookmarks and saved passwords across desktop and mobile devices so you can type less and browse more.” Along with the newly revamped UI, you’ll also notice small bug fixes, and also a faster boot-time for the app itself.

Check out the video demonstrating Firefox 9 provided by Mozilla, and if it’s what you’re looking for, check out the download link on the Android Market here. Let us know what you like and don’t like on the newest version of Firefox for Android tablets, and feel free to leave your thoughts below in the comment section.

[via Engadget]

The former leading search engine’s company board is expected to meet tomorrow to discuss the sales of its stakes in Chinese internet company Alibaba Group and Yahoo Japan, claimed sources close to the New York Times. If the company decides to go along with the deal, it could possibly choose to reject investment proposals by Silver Lake and TPG Capital, stated the same sources.

However if the board can’t reach a consensus, the situation could very well incite Yahoo’s Asian partners into going hostile. As we reported earlier last month, both Alibaba and Softbank are quite keen to regain their stakes from Yahoo. Should the board reject the Asian assets deal, the two companies are prepared to bid for all of Yahoo in conjunction with both veteran private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital.

[via New York Times DealBook]

Furthermore, beyond just the Super Bowl, NBC and the NFL is also gearing up to stream “NBC’s broadcasts of wild card Saturday, the Pro Bowl and the Super Bowl would be available on the league’s and network’s websites and through Verizon’s NFL Mobile app.” This will reportedly also allow viewers access to exclusive camera angles, game highlights, as well as live-updated sports statistics. The announcement doesn’t cover which Verizon devices will be streamed to, though it’s very possible that if you’re able to watch NBC’s current football coverage on your smartphone, you’re probably set to stream Super Bowl XLVI.

NBC already provides Sunday Night Football access both on the web (which the author has watched quite a few times during this season), as well as on NFL Mobile, but until now, it and previous broadcasters couldn’t show the most important games, outside of being televised or turning to a bootleg stream as a last resort. Kudos to NBC, the NFL, and Verizon for making this happen. And after the playoffs, may the best team win.

[via Silicon Filter]

According to Bloomberg, Gina Talamona, a spokeswoman from the Justice Department, stated that the antitrust division is examining the transactions, and declined to comment any further than that. Verizon Wireless, the biggest mobile-phone carrier in the United States, introduced a $3.6 billion alliance earlier this month with cable companies (led by Comcast) that will try to change how customers purchase Internet, mobile and television services.

The desire for a larger piece of the overall wireless spectrum has driven the recent deluge of merger and acquisition deals in the wireless industry. AT&T only yesterday backed off on its bid to acquire T-Mobile from Deutsche Telekom since the Justice Department believed the elimination of a a country-wide wireless carrier would significantly hurt the competitive environment.

[via Bloomberg]

The problem may possibly be related to a recent update to Android 4.0. Galaxy Nexus owners have mentioned throughout Google’s online forums that they’ve seen battery drain issues akin to that of the Nexus S. However, in their cases, it may be that the kernel behind the low-level software on the device is artificially keeping the device awake even when the screen itself is off, depleting battery far faster than it typically would.

Google hasn’t issued an official acknowledgment of the Galaxy Nexus battery issue, although it hasn’t pushed Ice Cream Sandwich versin 4.0.3 update to those devices yet. We’ll keep you updated what happens next, whether from Google, or others. Hopefully the issue gets resolved in the time being, though. Let’s keep our fingers crossed.

[via Electronista]

MacRumors reports that when a user’s logged in and is viewing an iTunes Store page listing for a particuar season of a TV show, the Season Pass purchase price will be reduced by the number of previous single-episode purchases, allowing users to have access to the full season, without having to basically repurchase the episodes they had previously acquired singularly. If you’ve used the Complete My Album feature for music in iTunes, then this is essentially that, well, for TV show episodes/seasons.

Season passes for TV shows will usually be priced at a steep discount, compared to purchasing each season episode separately. It’s about time that Apple finally released this feature for the iTunes Store, just in time for the holiday season. So curl up with your loved ones and some hot spiced cider, and enjoy an entire season of your favorite show, instead of only a couple episodes.

[via MacRumors]

According to IDC, Android now holds 49% of the entire smartphone market share in Australia, with Apple’s iOS following close trailing behind at 36% market share. IDC market analyst Yee-Kuan Lau offers the following explanation that “While Apple’s iPhone shipments slowed down in preparation for its new iPhone 4S launch in New Zealand, Samsung led the smartphone market for the first time with some of its flagship models such as Galaxy S II and Galaxy 5 performing very well”.

She also stated that there was a gradual shift in demand by consumers to low-cost Android smartphones from feature phones across Australia and New Zealand, as more low-cost smartphones are becoming steadily more available in the market. Lastly, IDC expects nearly 9.5 million smartphones to be shipped to Australian and New Zealand by the end of the year. Well, here’s to Samsung, and in general, Android, for winning the battle, at least down under.

[via IDC]

On the press invitation, Nokia says to “Join our press conference and get the latest news from Nokia, hear from some of the leading minds in the industry about the future of smart devices and applications and witness stunning demos of Nokia technology in action.” Really, Nokia? Can you be any more generic than that? Although we’re guessing that it’s going to be somehow Lumia-related, just saying.

Nokia hasn’t done a huge amount lately, having been overshone by the likes of the plethora of Android devices (and I’m looking especially at you, long-awaited Galaxy Nexus) as well as the ever surging popularity of the iPhone 4/iPhone 4S variants from Apple. We’ll be looking forward to what they’re going to have store this year at CES.

Apple has noted that it will be gradually expanding the capabilities of its Siri voice assistance service of Apple’s iPhone 4S, but enhancements from the sources Siri calls upon, in this particular instance, the Wolfram Alpha knowledge base, can also add to Siri’s vast ability bank. Furthermore, Wolfram Alpha reports that it is has been leveraging data from Best Buy’s public API platforms to query the retailer’s vast database of 35,000 products.

According to Apple Insider, users can “search for a general product category or a specific product model and obtain a comprehensive report detailing product features, prices and availability, users ratings, price comparisons with similar models.” It sounds rather convenient, especially since we’re squarely in the middle of the holiday season of this year. Good timing for both companies, I’d have to say.

[via Apple Insider]

HBO GO, which offers more than 1400 online titles, allows instant viewing of each episode of every season of HBO shows such as current series like Game of Thrones (highly recommended by the author), True Blood, and Boardwalk Empire, as well as classics like The Sopranos, Sex and the City and Deadwood. Also, included are HBO original films, miniseries, sports, documentaries, and specials as well as a large variety of blockbuster theatricals.

With the online services, Cablevision customers will be able to view most new titles at the same time during their premiere on the networks and Cablevision states that customers will have “the ability to create a “Watchlist” that keeps track of bookmarked content for later viewing; bonus content including interviews, recaps, and behind-the-scenes extras; and customizable views showing titles in slideshow, grid or list format.” Cablevision customers, what do you think? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

[via PR Newswire]

In a release today, Digitimes reports that Apple is likely to launch a 7.85-inch iPad prior to the fourth quarter of 2012 in addition to a new iPad scheduled to be released at the end of the first quarter, according to sources in the supply chain.” Readers, how likely do you think this would be? Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Although there are multiple sources that have claimed the coming launch of this never-before-seen model, the “mini-iPad” still hasn’t been confirmed by Apple, because of the very nature of the device. Apple would have to “re-resolution” its user interface once again for a screen size in between the 4-inch iPhone models and the 9.7-inch iPad models. This move would require Apple to have three device resolutions for app developers to focus on, something it has been long attempting to avoid, given the deep-seated fragmentation issues Android has seen with its own plethora of resolutions.

[via 9 to 5 Mac]

MuscleNerd, a figurehead in the iOS jailbreaking and hacking community, tweeted today that the iOS 5.0.1 update from today made iOS 5 on the iPhone 4 “(to clarify: wide open for inspection from a Mac/PC…not wide open security wise :) Can get Siri files and such without piracy)”. Previously, to legally run Siri, one would have to have access to an iPhone 4S unique identifier, and the key would need to be rotated every 24 hours to avoid being detected. If a large enough number of these devices start calling on Siri from one 4S identifier, Apple will be able to see the activity and kill the port permanently.

No one really knows why Apple has left such a wide opening for hackers to exploit when the notion of a Siri port has been such a hotly discussed item as of recent. We’ll keep you updated when whether there’re further updates from Apple about Siri, or development fron third-party groups and developers.

[via Cult of Mac]

However, Gates stated that he’ll continue to to act as an advisor to Microsoft, since he has left the software giant to be involved in full-time philanthropy with his foundation (named after him and his wife) in 2008. “I’m part-time involved with Microsoft, including even being in touch this week to give some of my advice but that’s not going to change – the foundation requires all of my energy and we feel we’re having a great impact.”, he said.

We wonder how much input into Microsoft’s new operating system, Windows 8, Gates himself has personally put in. The public beta of Windows 8 is reportedly coming out in February of next year, and the official operating system, sometime around the third or fourth quarter of 2012.

[via Sydney Morning Herald]

Facebook describes Timeline as a “Mobile timeline (that) starts with your unique cover photo. As you scroll down, you’ll see your posts, photos and life events as they happened, back to the day you were born. Photo albums and other posts are horizontally swipeable, so you can quickly view multiple photos or posts inline without leaving timeline. You can also swipe through the views at the top of your timeline to navigate to your map, photos, subscribers and more.”

Also, user posts now appear in several different ways on your mobile timeline. Photos shared are depicted in a more scaled way, and a new map is introduced, that shows which friends you’re with and geographical places that you visit. To learn more about timeline, visit Facebook’s About Timeline page linked here.

[via The Facebook Blog]

“Apps that are released under an Open Source Initiative-recognised open source licence can, at least in the pre-release version of the Windows Store, be distributed according to terms that contradict Microsoft’s Standard Application License Terms if this is required by the open source licence. Among other things, the Standard Application License Terms prohibit the sharing of applications.”

Microsoft released more details about the upcoming Windows Store earlier this week. Also, ZDNet reports that “Metro-style applications will be licensable, marketable and downloadable from the Windows 8 Store. Non-Metro-style Desktop Apps will only be marketable from inside the store, with links provided to developers’ sites for sales/downloads.”

This legal loophole may potentially benefit open-source developers in avoiding the impediments encountered by some who were frustrated and hindered by Apple’s much more restrictive App Store ‘terms and conditions’. What’s strange about this whole action taken by Microsoft? That it was accomplished almost completely under the radar, almost as if Microsoft doesn’t want to promote the fact that they’re allowing open source apps in the upcoming Windows 8 Store. Readers, any thoughts as to why? Feel free to leave your comments below.

[via ZDNet]

The design of AMD’s upcoming ultrathin line is most likely to utilize AMD’s Fusion APU concept, which puts integrated Radeon HD graphics into the processing unit itself, not unlike Intel’s recent Sandy Bridge and upcoming Ivy Bridge processors, which allows a fairly decent level of graphically-intensive work without the need for a power-hungry, dedicated video processing unit. Sandy Bridge has done very well for itself, shipping in some of the most recent Macbook lineups, like the newest Macbook Air, which features an Intel HD 3000 chipset for graphics. Can AMD up their game?

AMD hasn’t had a huge amount of success in the ultraportables market, having faced impediments so far as the processors themselves are more on par with netbooks than to the competing Core i5 and i7 chips Intel-based ultrabooks use. But the move to 28 nm CPU wafer technology may allow AMD to design and push out much more competitive processors, and give currently Intel-only companies another option to choose from.

[via The Verge]

This “Private Messages for Pages” feature would be a welcomed advantage for Facebook Pages who aren’t particularly inclined to interact with customer service matters directly on their public Walls. However, sending a private message doesn’t then trigger a News Feed update, so pages might miss out on the potentially positive effects that would come from a person’s Facebook friends noticing the posting. From the screenshots from WeAreSocial.sg depicted here, we can see that Page owners can choose whether or not to accept private messages, and people can utilize the messages feature whether they’ve liked a Page, or if they haven’t.

WeAreSocial.sg states that this new private messaging feature is currently only available in Asia, which may suggest that, like Facebook Timeline, this may be roll out to the West, soon enough. So those who may find this feature useful just have to sit and wait it out. Like Timeline, it may take awhile, we’ll see.

[via ReadWriteWeb]

Telecom rival Verizon Wireless has already launched its LTE network to not only cover major cities, like San Francisco, but also provides lightning-fast LTE coverage to adjacent cities in major metropolitan areas, such as eastwards to Oakland, and southward to San Jose and Silicon Valley. So AT&T’s LTE network isn’t the first in the area, although its speeds are up to par to what I’ve seen with LTE. What do other Verizon LTE bay area users think? What download and upload bandwidth speeds are you getting?

San Francisco denizens with 4G LTE devices on AT&T, are you seeing any speed improvements on AT&T’s newly launched network? Readers in the bay area, help us out by reporting your findings and results on this LTE network debut (whether formal, or not). Feel free to post your speeds and thoughts in the comment section below.

[via Engadget]

Australian court judges stated that Apple won the original ban by a hair. Furthermore. Apple has being requested to cover all of Samsung’s legal costs for overturning the the nearly two-month ban. This return to the market doesn’t exactly absolve Samsung’s faults, though, it does change the perspective to one where Samsung’s very manifestation onto market wasn’t so detrimental that it would fatally inflict damage on Apple’s tablet business.

With the final lift of this regional market ban, Australian shoppers can expect to fork out $579 AUD for the Wi-Fi model of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, and $729 AUD for the 3G model. To all Aussies down under, this is Samsung’s early Christmas present to you guys. So do the South Korean company proud, and whip out your credit card and go buy a Samsung Galaxy Tab for your closest and dearest.

[via Reuters]

“Your data usage is among the top 5 percent of users. Data speeds for the rest of your current bill cycle may be reduced.”

Unfortunately for AT&T carrier subscribers, it’s pretty unclear just precisely how much data a user must use up to be a part of the top 5% (make your #Occupy jokes here, please). However, AT&T claims that usually these typical users will consume roughly a dozen times more data than the average data user. That’s quite a bit of data, actually, although users tend to take advantage of the 4G speeds, nonetheless. It’s just hard to resist the ease of accessing data on such a fast network.

While we don’t know whether other carriers will make the same move as AT&T, this could potentially be advantageous to carriers like Sprint, which currently boasts unlimited data usage. Has any SlashGear readers been assaulted by a warning message from AT&T yet? Let us know by leaving your answer in the comment section below. Who belongs in the 5%?

[via Cult of Mac]