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Someone told Samsung we needed another tablet

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

At what point do you stage an intervention: gently prise the set-square and soldering iron from Samsung‘s hands, and lead them from the tablet labs and into a quiet room where all the iPad adverts have been snipped from the coffee table magazines? This morning Samsung outed its latest model, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2, a 7-inch successor to the original Galaxy Tab of late 2010. In the intervening period, we’ve seen a cavalcade of Samsung slates – the Tab 10.1 and 8.9, the 7.7 with its Super AMOLED Plus display, the 7.0 Plus which, for a while, looked like the original Tab replacement, and they’ve not been the only ones. Has Samsung got a tablet obsession or is it simply reading the market right?

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Mattel Hover Board prepped for 2012 holiday release

Chris Burns, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Before you have a heart attack over the undeniable excellence that would be a real live hovering Hover Board from Back to the Future: Part II, note that this one doesn't QUITE float yet. Instead we get an assurance that this Hover Board does not work on water and that the price for this 1:1 replica will indeed be produced by Mattel and will be released in a "minimum orders required" fashion. This means that because the creation of this item is so costly to Mattel, they're requiring that a minimum number of pre-orders be placed before they go into production. Read The Full Story

Must Read Bits & Bytes

Google Motorola buy approved by EU

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 13, 2012

Chris Burns, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

This weekend seems to have been all about one video, the one that you really need to watch if you've not seen it already: the one with the guy shooting a laptop full of exploding-tipped bullets with his pistol. Next there's been another form of aggression in the digital streets, that being Paul McCartney's pulling of every one of his tracks from streaming services across the earth. See Don Reisinger display his true addiction to the world of DVR, see the all-powerful Nokia N9 with Ice Cream Sandwich, and check out the posthumous Grammy given to none other than Steve Jobs - accepted by Apple's software exec. Read The Full Story

RIM feared “morons from outside” in CEO hunt says director

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

RIM's choice for its new CEO was either look internally to save the BlackBerry business or "hand it over to children, or morons from the outside who will destroy the company" according to one outspoken board member. Roger Martin, who has been on the RIM board for around five years, dismisses suggestions that the company should have junked co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis several years back, telling The Globe and Mail that the best strategy was that RIM "try to build our way to having succession." Read The Full Story

Google Experience Center hub of search firm’s hardware ambitions

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Google is preparing a huge push in hardware under the "@home" brand, it's suggested, as well as a "Google Experience Center" for promoting, showcasing and marketing Google products and services to VIPs and potential customers. The plans, part of $120m construction project at Google's Mountain View base, will see one or more new hardware testing labs perfecting the "home entertainment device" and "next-gen personal communication device" revealed in recent weeks, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Read The Full Story

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Mozilla takes on Apple, Android with Open Web apps

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Firefox creator Mozilla has revealed its plans to take on the closed ecosystems of Apple, Google and others, challenging developers to consider the entire web as their potential marketplace, not just the App Store or Android Market. Outlined in the non-profit foundation's 2012 roadmap, Mozilla aims to "enable web apps that rival native [code]"; "The Web must be made easier to develop for than proprietary platforms" the organization insists, as well as revealing plans to broaden the existing Mozilla Marketplace to a range of devices. Read The Full Story

Apple stock passes $500 a share

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Listen carefully and you'll hear the faint sound of whooping and screaming, as Apple's share price breaks the $500-apiece barrier and - we're guessing - rapturous glee breaks out among the ordinarily sensible Cupertino coin counters. The NASDAQ woke to an individual Apple share at $502.55, having hovered around the $498-499 point earlier in the week: that means it's now more expensive to buy a single share in Apple than it is to buy an iPad 2. Read The Full Story

NASA assessing viability of deep space outpost near the moon

Shane McGlaun, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

NASA has announced that is investigating the possibility of placing a deep-space outpost near the far side of the moon. This location is being looked at because it is a location of the liberation point, which is a point in space at which the gravitational pull between the moon and the earth is roughly equal. The tip came from a memo issued on February 3 by William Gerstenmaier, the associate administrator for human exploration and operations at NASA. Read The Full Story

Apple brings in Fair Labor Association to audit suppliers

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Apple has requested an “ethical manufacturing” check of all its final-assembly suppliers, with the Fair Labor Association (FLA) investigating Foxconn, Quanta, Pegatron and others for signs of worker mistreatment or unsafe conditions. The FLA will look at working and living environments, health and safety provisions, compensation, working hours and communication with management, Apple has said; “We believe that workers everywhere have the right to a safe and fair work environment” CEO Tim Cook said of the independent assessments, which come after the company was singled out for criticism over poor treatment of supply chain employees.

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Official photos of 2013 BMW M6 convertible and coupe unveiled

Shane McGlaun, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

If you're a fan of BMW and its line of M-series high-performance cars, some new official photos of the 2013 BMW M6 have surfaced. BMW is offering up multiple shots of both coupe and convertible versions of the car, and I think for me this is one of those cars that I need to see in person. I'm hoping the car is one of those designs that just doesn't translate well in photos. I don't care for the way it looks in these pictures. The convertible reminds me a bit of a Toyota Solara, which isn't a good thing in my eyes. Read The Full Story

Vuzix and NEC scoop Google on cloud-connected Smart Glasses

Chris Davies, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Vuzix and NEC BIGLOBE have partnered on cloud-connected Augmented Reality glasses, a wearable display that can identify people and match them with their Facebook and Twitter profiles, in an apparent attempt to get in ahead of Google's HUD Smart Glasses. Based on Vuzix's STAR series of AR video eyewear, which we made fools of ourselves wearing last September, the concept demo uses the headset's integrated camera and a persistent wireless web connection to NEC BIGLOBE's servers, though the potential applications go much further than simply showing you your neighbors latest tweets. Read The Full Story

Google kills use of prepaid credit cards via Google Wallet

Shane McGlaun, Feb 13th 2012 Discuss [0]

Last week we learned that if you're using an Android smart phone there was a way the PIN for your Google Wallet can be accessed using an app called Wallet Cracker. Since that hack surfaced, Google has maintained that its wallet service is secure. However, Google is taking steps to protect the prepaid credit cards that are linked to your Wallet account. Read The Full Story