Sony No Longer Shipping PlayStation 2 in Japan

You may have grown up with it. Your children may have, too.Sony's PlayStation 2 home game console, released in 2000, was one of the most popular game consoles of all time, rivaled in sales only by the different kinds of Nintendo DS handheld console. It continued to be sold new on store shelves until just recently, even years after Sony launched its PlayStation 3 successor.Now, however, Sony's sent...

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Ubuntu se mete en los celulares con un sistema operativo propio

Al igual que otras plataformas que buscan una convergencia entre el mundo móvil y la PC, Canonical confirmó el arribo de su sistema operativo Ubuntu a los dispositivos móviles. Disponible en una primera instancia como una instalación no oficial para la línea de smartphones Nexus 3, la versión de Linux utilizada en más de 20 millones busca posicionarse como una alternativa ante un mercado dominado...

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Samsung’s New Smart TV Software Development Kit Supports Linux and Mac O/S

Samsung Electronics announced that it will be releasing the Smart TV SDK (Software Development Kit) 4.0 at the 2013 International Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from January 8th to 11th, 2013. The Smart TV SDK will allow Smart TV software development on Linux and Mac, in addition to Windows O/S. Up till now, Samsung's Smart TV software development only supported...

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U.S. State Department knocks Google chairman’s planned North Korea trip

The United States State Department is not amused by Google (GOOG) chairman Eric Schmidt’s plan to travel to North Korea. Even though Schmidt plans to go to North Korea with former New Mexico governor Bill Richardson as a private citizen and not a representative of the U.S. government, a State Department spokesperson on Thursday said that the timing of the trip wasn’t “helpful,” according to Reuters....

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India's Infosys to fire up to 5,000 workers: media

MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's Infosys is planning to lay off up to 5,000 employees as the software services provider looks to cut costs and boost sales, The Economic Times reported on Friday.The report came as Infosys Ltd executive co-chairman S. Gopalakrishnan was quoted by other media reports as saying 2013 will be better than last year for India's IT industry.Gopalakrishnan was quoted as saying brighter...

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Samsung to widen smartphone gap with Apple this year -Strategy Analytics

SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is expected to widen its lead over Apple Inc in global smartphone sales this year with 35 percent growth, helped by a broad product lineup, market researcher Strategy Analytics told Reuters on Friday.Apple, returning the offensive, could roll out a smaller, cheaper "iPhone Mini" next year to grab market share by targeting demand from users of lower-end...

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Huawei expects 2012 revenues to exceed $35 billion, up over 10 percent

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's Huawei Technologies Co Ltd, the world's No.2 telecom equipment maker, expects its 2012 revenues to exceed $35 billion, up 10 percent from a year earlier, its acting CEO Guo Ping said."Huawei's sales revenue for 2012 is expected to exceed $35 billion, with a net profit of about $2.4 billion, more than 10 percent increase year-on-year for both," Guo said in a 2013 New Year...

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Just got a new iPhone, iPad or Android device for Christmas? Gameloft cuts popular iOS and Android games to 99¢

Smartphones and tablets running Apple’s (AAPL) iOS platform and Google’s (GOOG) Android OS are big this year — so big that traditional toy makers are terrified they might soon be obsolete. If you’re one of the tens of thousands of people young and old who just unwrapped a brand new iPad, Android device, iPod touch or iPhone, Gameloft has made figuring out where to start fairly easy for you by putting...

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Purported photo of new BlackBerry phone with QWERTY keyboard leaks

Research In Motion (RIMM) CEO Thorsten Heins recently said during the company’s Q3 earnings call that BlackBerry 7 is still a “strong success” in the Asian-Pacific markets. Despite the company putting most of its weight behind BlackBerry 10 and the Z10 and X10, Heins said RIM will continue supporting BB7 and consumers “might expect us to even build one of the other new products” based on it. Heins...

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Microsoft Surface trampled at the bottom of the tablet pile this Christmas

While it does have drawbacks just like anything else, Microsoft’s (MSFT) Surface is a great slate for those looking for a fresh new take on the modern tablet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like very many people were looking for a fresh new take on the modern tablet this holiday season. In a recent note to investors, R.W. Baird analyst William Power recounted recent conversations had at retailers...

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iPad is a Christmas graveyard for ‘Grand Theft Auto’ and ‘Modern Combat’

At the beginning of December, the traditional video game industry attempted another iPad invasion. New versions of “Grand Theft Auto,” “Modern Combat” and “Baldur’s Gate” hit the iOS app market priced between $5 and $10. Over the past years, we have seen repeated attempts by major console and PC industry franchises to tailor their blockbuster games for iPhone and iPad platforms. None have succeeded....

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Apple still can’t build enough iPad minis

A common issue often presents itself when Apple (AAPL) launches new products: it can’t build them fast enough. We’ve seen it time and time again, most recently when Apple launched the iPhone 5 and 150,000 dedicated factory workers still couldn’t keep up with demand. Now, a report has surfaced claiming that Apple’s manufacturing partners in the Far East can’t build units fast enough to keep pace with...

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Selling flak jackets in the cyberwars

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - When the Israeli army and Hamas trade virtual blows in cyberspace, or when hacker groups like Anonymous rise from the digital ether, or when WikiLeaks dumps a trove of classified documents, some see a lawless Internet. But Matthew Prince, chief executive at CloudFlare, a little-known Internet start-up that serves some of the Web's most controversial characters, sees a business...

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Merry Christmas, America-Haters?

When TNT was preparing its annual special "Christmas in Washington" with the president of the United States, you'd think the last star musician they would consider to join the official caroling would be Psy, the South Korean rapper. What on Earth is Christmasy about this man's invisible-horse-riding dance to his dorky disco-rap hit "Gangnam Style"? It's not exactly the natural flip-side to "O Holy...

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Why does Google build apps for its rival Apple's iPhone?

Why help a key competitor? Two words: Advertising and data There isn't any other way to say it: Apple and Google really don't like each other. Apple CEO Steve Jobs vowed to destroy the Google geniuses behind the Android operating system for allegedly stealing the basic mechanics of the iPhone. Apple and Google-partner Samsung are constantly at one another's throats over patents. And most recently...

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Samsung Smart TVs: The next frontier for data theft and hacking [video]

Smart TVs, particularly Samsung’s (005930) last few generations of flat screens, can be hacked to give attackers remote access according to a security startup called ReVuln. The company says it discovered a “zero-day exploit” that hackers could potentially use to perform malicious activities that range from stealing accounts linked through apps to using built-in webcams and microphones to spy on...

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Huge Wave of Google App Updates Hits iOS, Android

Google just brought iPhone and Android phone users a holiday gift. Google Maps has returned to the iPhone, this time in the form of its own separate app, while Google Currents -- the company's Flipboard-style online magazine app for Android -- received a substantial update as well. Besides the two big updates, about a half-dozen other apps for Android and Google TV received bug fixes and new features,...

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Foreign hackers targeted former military chief Mullen: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Foreign hackers targeted the computers of Mike Mullen, ex-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, calling it the latest in a pattern of attacks on computers of former high-ranking U.S. officials.The FBI is pursuing the hackers, the Journal reported. The agency was not immediately available for comment.Mullen's office confirmed that...

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Sports fans can pursue U.S. antitrust case over programs

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge on Wednesday allowed sports fans to pursue a lawsuit accusing Major League Baseball, the National Hockey League and various networks of antitrust violations in how they package games for broadcast on television or the Internet.U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin in Manhattan said the subscribers could pursue claims that the packaging has reduced competition,...

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Instagram's Systrom coy on ad plans, user data

PARIS (Reuters) - Instagram's youthful Chief Executive Kevin Systrom  allowed himself a luxury at a Paris technology conference that he never feels comfortable doing in San Francisco: wearing a tie.The founder of the popular photo-sharing app, now owned by Facebook, looks less comfortable when asked whether he'll soon be adding advertising to his service."We don't have any specific plans to...

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