VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Jan 2013 Issue

January 2nd, 2013 Published by: VR-Zone
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VR-Zone.com | Tech News for the Geeks!
VR-Zone | Stuff for the Geeks is a bi-weekly
publication covering the latest gadgets and stuff for the
geeks.
New Black Ops 2 Revolution
DLC details leaked
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/new-black-ops-2-revolution-dlc-
details-leaked/18572.html
January 2nd, 2013
New info on Black Ops 2's brand new "Revolution" DLC leak
out onto the internet, revealing details on the five new maps
included with the DLC pack.
Hydro", "Grind", "Downhill", and "Mirage" as well as
a singular zombie map entitled "Die Rise", for a total of
five new maps. Also included in the Revolution DLC is a
new Peacekeeper SMG--which can be clearly seen on the
promo poster--but no official details are revealed as to which
gametypes are compatible with the new weapon.
As of right now, there is no info as to when the DLC will
release on PC or PS3. The official price tag has yet to be
revealed, but SlashGear puts it at $15 based onthe price
points for Black Ops II's recent DLC's.
Toshiba smartphone camera
technology to end blurry
photos
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/toshiba-smartphone-camera-
technology-to-end-blurry-photos/18571.html
January 2nd, 2013
Blurry photos may be a thing of the past, thanks to new
technology being developed by Toshiba, which can put
photos taken on smartphones back in focus.
Blurry photos may be a thing of the past, thanks to new
technology being developed by Toshiba, which can put
photos taken on smartphones back in focus.
The Japanese electronics firm is working on a camera
module that contains a whopping half a million miniature
lenses, each of which captures an image with a different focal
length, allowing for the resulting image to be displayed with
different people or objects in or out of focus.
This means that an image where a person in the foreground
is blurred can be changed after the fact so that they are now
in focus, helping avoid the need to retake pictures, but also
saving potentially once-in-a-lifetime snapshots of people,
locations, or events.
The tiny module, just one cubic centimetre in size, is
similar to how an insect's eye works and follows on from
developments made by Lytro, which launched a camera with
similar features in 2011. Check out Lytro's gallery and click
various parts of the pictures to see how the technology works
in action.
Digital cameras are largely a thing of the past, however,
thanks to the boom in smartphones, which usually contain
a built-in camera that can produce high-quality pictures.

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Toshiba's shrinking of the technology into a size factor
suitable for smartphones is where this could really take off.
With handset makers looking for the next big thing to sell
their devices, this could prove a major attraction, potentially
enticing lucrative licensing deals with the likes of Apple or
Samsung.
The technology is expected to be available by the end of the
year.
Image Credit: Lytro/Ashley Schoenknecht
Samsung Galaxy
smartphones win top spots
for Christmas and all of 2012
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/samsung-galaxy-smartphones-win-
top-spots-for-christmas-and-all-of-2012/18570.html
January 2nd, 2013
Samsung has secured the top three slots for Christmas
smartphone sales and the top spot for the entire year of 2012
thanks to its popular Galaxy range, beating Apple's once
dominating iPhone, according to the latest Mobile Tracker
report by uSwitch.
Samsung has secured the top three slots for Christmas
smartphone sales and the top spot for the entire year of 2012
thanks to its popular Galaxy range, beating Apple's once
dominating iPhone, according to the latest Mobile Tracker
report by uSwitch.
The first spot for Christmas handsets was the Galaxy S III,
which also held the overall crown for last year. It has been
the most popular smartphone in the UK for eight consecutive
months, with the iPhone 5 failing to knock it out of place.
Samsung's older model, the Galaxy S II, held the number one
slot for the first quarter of 2012, while managing to stay in
the top five all year around. The Galaxy S II also managed
to take the number two slot for Christmas, followed by the
Galaxy Ace.
Apple's iPhone 4S was always in the top ten, but only
managed to become the number one smartphone for the
month of April. The company's newer model, the iPhone 5,
failed to reach number one at all, suggesting a major shift
in the brand's popularity. For December, the most lucrative
month of the year, the iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 were in
fifth and sixth place, both down three spots on the previous
month.
That leaves the LG Nexus 4, the latest Google device, in
fourth place, ensuring dominion of the Android platform.
Windows Phone 8 saw a rally in support, with the Nokia
Lumia 800 rising four spots to number seven.
Samsung is the overall victor, however, ruling not only the
top three slots, but taking six of the top ten positions overall.
The Galaxy Note II was in eight place, down one position,
the Galaxy S III Mini climbed seven spots to ninth place, and
the Galaxy Ace II was a new entry at number 10.
With figures like this it is not surprising to find Apple
in a continuing heated battle with the Korean electronics
giant. Another report from Experian suggested that Apple
devices were the most unwanted gifts for Christmas, thanks
to confusion among family and friends over exactly which
iDevice their loved ones wanted.
2013 may see further shifts in the smartphone arena,
however, as RIM gets ready to release a new wave of
BlackBerry devices.
TSMC begins trial production
of Apple A6X chip
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/tsmc-begins-trial-production-of-
apple-a6x-chip/18569.html
January 2nd, 2013
TSMC is reportedly beginning trial runs to produce Apple's
A6X using its 28nm process, so does this mean Apple is
almost completely done with Samsung?
TSMC has been on Apple’s radar for quite some time
now, and evidently it seems like the move to switch over
to the Taiwan-based foundry is pretty much set in stone.
The China Times is reporting that TSMC will begin trial

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production of Apple’s A6X chip using the 28nm process
(contrary to the existing 32nm A6X). Previously, Samsung
supplied the majority of the chips that power many Apple
mobile devices, but bickering between the two firms in
addition to a recent increase in manufacturing cost of the
chips may have caused Apple to want to take its business
elsewhere.
The ultimate beneficiary in this whole situation is TSMC as
it may obtain a long term deal to manufacture ARM chips
for Apple, and as we all know Apple’s iPad is dominating the
tablet market by a wide margin and the iPhone is in a heated
battle against Android-powered phones (particularly those
of Samsung’s).
There are no official words as to whether or not TSMC
will produce Apple’s A6X at a lower price, but certainly
price as well as the more efficient 28nm fabrication process
probably played key roles in Apple eyeing the Taiwan-based
semiconductor manufacturing company.
Recently, TSMC was reported to be experiencing issues with
its 28nm fabrication process, but around November 2012
the company assured potential clients that the issues were
resolved and it was ready to start making chips for big name
clients like Qualcomm and Apple.
If TSMC’s A6X trial run is successful it’s very likely that
future A7 chips will also be brewed by them. However,
it remains to be seen whether or not TSMC can meet the
demands of not only Apple’s but also other clients.
via slashgear
The Death of the Netbook
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-death-of-the-
netbook/18566.html
January 2nd, 2013
With 2012 behind us we will also see the end of the netbook
line of portable computers. Once considered the future, the
netbook was kicked out of the race by mobile touch screen
devices such as the iPad.
Stowed away between a bona fide laptop PC and perhaps
an Internet ready Smartphone was the netbook. Often only
equipped with the most basic functions and running on a
simple Intel Atom processor, the netbook was supposedly
the future of portable computing. Needless to say, that
wasn’t the case and 2013 will mark the end of the run of the
little laptop Jr.
In 2012, Acer and Asustek were the last manufacturers still
making the netbook style of computers. And while the
netbook has fallen out of favor in the west, Asus and Asutek
will still market the underpowered wonders to the Asian
market - how long is anyone’s guess.
Introduced in 2007, the netbook was supposedly the answer
to those who only used their computers for social media,
Internet surfing and Internet shopping. However, the
netbook still offered operating systems like Windows and
the standard programs that came with them. The netbook
was a lot smaller than a traditional laptop, much lighter
in weight, and you could stow it away in most handbags.
Its longer lasting power was due to its smaller processor
and smaller display, which usually was 10” or less. There
are many factors involved with the death of the short-lived
netbook, but nothing killed it more than the advent of mobile
touch screen devices like the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and
other tablet devices.
In late 2007 Apple released the iPod Touch and iPhone.
These devices were fun, extremely easy to use and are
often incorporated as useful tools in our daily lives. These
touch devices lead to the development of larger touch screen
tablets such as the iPad and tablets from Samsung and
others. The tablet industry opened up the world to literally
hundreds of thousands of apps for anything imaginable,
and this industry has given us things we never could have
imagined a mere 7 years ago. While the netbook may have
given us the smaller and lighter laptop, along with the ability
to run office programs, the facts is that it just couldn’t keep
pace with the unlimited usability and fun offered in a mobile
touchscreen device.
The slide towards higher tablet sales began in 2011 when
tablets outsold netbooks for the first time. In 2012 sales for
all netbooks fell by over a 25 percent as compared to 2011.
By May of 2012 both Dell and Toshiba would be out of the
netbook market, and in September of last year Acer, Asus
and MSI all announced they would cease production of all
10” models.
With Acer and Asustek left as the last manufacturers
producing the netbook, it was only a matter of time before
they would cease production aimed at the US market. The
netbook has fallen out of favor in the western markets, and
it is only a matter of time that Asian markets follow. Not
many years from now we may hear someone mention the
little netbook and perhaps smile, and think about how we
actually thought it was the future for mobile computing.
Apple has a functional
iPhone 6 with iOS 7 prototype
already?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-has-a-functional-iphone-6-
with-ios-7-prototype-already-/18565.html

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January 2nd, 2013
Apple is purported to have an iPhone 6 with iOS 7 already
in the making. There are no "physical" leaks, but a device
tagged with the "iPhone 6,1" identifier was spotted making a
request with an IP from within Apple's Cupertino campus.
Tech gadgets become out dated so quick that it’s almost
impossible to buy something and be able to brag about it for
more than a month after its initial launch. Apple fanatics are
not exception to that rule, because once the iPhone 5 broke
loose for public consumption everyone knew that an iPhone
6 was already on the table.
The Next Web has reported that a device dubbed the “iPhone
6,1” sporting “iOS 7” made a request from an IP that was
within Apple’s Cupertino campus. The latest iPhone made
its debut back in late September and Apple really knew
how to stir up hype for their flagship smartphone. Leaks
upon leaks churned out of many microblogging sites, and for
the most part the rumors and leaks were spot on and were
confirmed when Apple finally lifted the lid on the iPhone 5.
A leak from the supply chain is one thing, but leaks and
rumors from inside Apple itself are very sketchy. Let’s face
it, Apple knows marketing and as consumers you’re either
caught up in the hype or you’re a doubter—but either way
there’s no arguing that Apple’s marketing is top notched.
The “leak” from within Apple could just be a stunt drawn
up by the marketing department to up people’s anticipation
for the next Apple creation, but who really knows. What we
do know, however, is that sooner or later parts and spot on
concepts of the iPhone 6 will get blasted all over the internet.
Students being warned online
boasting could hurt them
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/students-being-warned-online-
boasting-could-hurt-them/18563.html
January 2nd, 2013
There was once a time when the old adage of kids will be kids
meant just that and that once they started into their adult
years they would smarten up and almost have a fresh start.
Not so anymore thanks to social networks and their natural
ability to do stupid things being forever available for all to
see on the Internet.
It seems that the undergraduates at Swansea University are
becoming the poster children of a new wave of kids boasting
about their binge drinking and sexual escapades on web
sites set up specifically for that reason. These new social
networking sites are encouraging students to tell the world
about their "most disgusting, hilarious and embarrassing"
moments.
The problem with this type of disclosure, however, says
the university chiefs and student union is that all this
information could potentially find its way into the hands
of potential employers. As well, students could face
disciplinary action from the university as well as being faced
with defamation suits from others.
In a joint statement the university registrar, Raymond
Ciborowski, and Student Union president Tom Upton where
they said that they were extremely concerned about the
nature and content of the site pages. Furthermore, they
feared that such irresponsibility could damage their future
employment prospects since companies are increasingly
searching the Internet for information on applicants.
These types of "student confession pages" have become
increasingly popular lately and even though many have been
shut down by universities undergraduates continue to post
their wild exploits having broken free of the confines of
home.
Is 2013 a new era for physics
discoveries?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/is-2013-a-new-era-for-physics-
discoveries-/18562.html
January 2nd, 2013
When it comes to science there is no getting around the
fact that it was a pretty spectacular year. From the fantastic
landing of the Mars Curiosity Rover to the announcement of
the discovery of the long-anticipated Higgs boson it seemed
that every day was bringing science geeks something new to
be excited about. Will that continue in 2013?
For scientists around the world, July 4, 2012, is a day that
will be remembered for a very long time. It was on that day
that a panel of scientists at the Large Haldron Collider in
Geneva, Switzerland, announced to the world that they had
discovered a new particle which they believed to be the much
anticipated Higgs boson.
It is this particle that scientists believe is the last piece of
the Standard Model of particle physics; which is the theory
behind everything we experience in our lives, and this single
discovery is thought to end one era of scientific discovery and
the beginning of a whole new one. The question is: What will
these new discoveries be?
Well for one group of scientists the big buzz word is - dark
matter.

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What is dark matter?
According to scientists studying the phenomena, dark
matter centers around all the matter that scientists can't
explain when they account for all the "ordinary" particles
that have been discovered on Earth. Astronomers have
suggested that the universe has about five time more matter
and that the difference between what we know and what we
don't yet understand is referred to as 'dark matter'.
In South Dakota scientists have installed the LUX detector
which should be the most sensitive detector yet in being
able to measure these dark matter particles which they
expect to begin collecting data at some point in 2013.
Another search for information has scientists looking into
space after discovering in 2012 that there was an unusual
excess of a particular energy coming from the center of our
galaxy. One of the possible explanations for this is that is
dark matter particles are colliding and converting into high
energy radiation.
Either way it looks like 2013 will continue to bring us exciting
new discoveries with the possibility that dark matter will
become the next physics discovery to catch the public’s
attention.
Ubuntu teases a touch future
is coming
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ubuntu-teases-a-touch-future-is-
coming/18561.html
January 2nd, 2013
In a move that is sure to irritate some of the more hardcore
Linux users Ubuntu has a teaser up on the site that would
suggest that the next release is going to be a lot more touch-
centric and geared to a mobile world.
In a world where our technology is increasingly becoming
mobile and touch-centric it should come as no surprise
that Ubuntu, the leading "consumer-friendly" Linux distro
with over 20 million users, is going to release a touch-
based version of its Linux variation. The countdown on
the main page of the Ubuntu site currently shows a
timer countdown that is set to reach the end at 8AM on
Wednesday, January 2nd, at which point it is expected that
Mark Shuttleworth will make the move official.
This move to touch and mobile is something that
Shuttleworth has previously hinted at as he plans to extend
the reach of Ubuntu beyond just that of the desktop and
laptop and bring one of the most popular Linux distro to
smartphones and tablets. It is not expected that this release
will be a full move to touch as that is not expected until
mid-2014 when Ubuntu releases 14.04 LTS.
It is suggested that this "interim" release with some
touch capabilities will be used as a guidepost as to what
Shuttleworth has up his sleeve when it comes to Ubuntu
and the future which he has made clear previously will be a
cross-device OS. This is similar to the big bet that Microsoft
has taken with Windows 8 but it remains to be seen if the
reaction of Linux fans will be as mixed as the wider tech
reaction to Windows 8 has been.
HP to possibly unload non-
performing divisions
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hp-to-possibly-unload-non-
performing-divisions/18564.html
January 2nd, 2013
After a whirlwind of chaos surround the company's executive
suite Hewlett-Packard (HP) brought eBay ex-CEO Meg
Whitman to try and turn the company around. While Wall
Street is still waiting there is some serious talk of the
company looking to unload assets and businesses that aren't
performing up to expectations.
There's no getting around the fact that Hewlett-Packard has
been experiencing more than its fair share of hard time,
whether brought on by its own executives or just the market
in general, but things aren't necessarily looking any better.
In a December 27 10-K filing with the U.S. Securities and
Exchange Commission the company reported that they are
in the process of evaluating possible disposition of company
assets and businesses that are not helping the company as a
whole meet objectives.
It was in September 2011 that the company hired eBay ex-
CEO Meg Whitman to try and turn the sinking ship around.
A ship that was badly wounded by five straight quarters
of declining sales as well as some huge botched deals and
complete confusion in the executive suite. The demand
from Wall Street for the company to start shedding certain
business came after the $8.8 billion write down regarding
the acquisition of the software company Autonomy Corp.
HP also stated in the filing to the SEC that the U.S.
Justice Department has opened an investigation regarding
the Autonomy mess and HP has accused Autonomy of
misrepresenting its performance before being bought in
2011.
The filing continued with stating that there is the possibility
that some of the businesses they might be disposing of might
be at a price or on terms that might be less desirable than
anticipated. Moreover, the impact of any divestiture on the
company's revenue growth might be larger than anticipated.
Any way you slice it things aren't looking up for HP any time
soon it would seem.
Coming soon - "Near Live" HD
video of Earth
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/coming-soon--near-live-hd-video-of-
earth/18557.html
January 2nd, 2013
A Canada-based technology company called UrtheCast will
soon be providing near-live HD video of Earth from space.

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The video will come from 2 cameras mounted on the Russian
side of the International Space Station.
Imagine if someone were able to give us the power to see
fresh images of the earth from outer space? Maybe they
could give us a 1 meter high-definition resolution with the
ability to record videos of different areas we are interested
in? Well, that wait is over - very soon a new website called
UrtheCast will be offering images such as this and best of all
it will be available to anyone.
UrtheCast will be providing super HD camera viewing of
earth 24/7 from the ISS for all Internet users, educators, and
app developers. The company says that even environmental
monitoring services will be using their services to monitor
what is happening to our planet in real time. Essentially,
UrtheCast is offering a spy satellite for the entire Internet to
use. Is this awesome or what?
UrtheCast is a subsidiary of Earth Video Camera
Incorporated, and they will be working with the Russian
space agency’s OAO RSC Energia that will be mounting
UrtheCast's cameras onto the Russian section of the ISS.
The HD cameras were made by a company out of the United
Kingdom called Rutherford Appleton Laboratory and then
shipped out to Russia to be launched and attached to the ISS
in 2013.
According to UrtheCast’s website, the cameras will provide
live and static images of earth down to a 1 meter resolution.
And while the images may be comparable to Google earth,
they won’t be years old and they will be seen, at time, with
far more clarity.
The company has also appointed William ‘Mac” Evans, who
once served as President of the Canadian Space Agency to its
board of directors. Evans will help the company grow and
guide them in the proper direction for the new startup as he
is veteran of the Canadian space program and was awarded
the prestigious John H. Chapman Award of Excellence
during the 16th
, 2012 CASI ASTRO Convention held in
Quebec City. Evans, who served 34 years in public service,
was instrumental in creating Canada’s Space Agency.
“I was pleased to have been considered for the UrtheCast
board, and can’t wait to see what impact we can have upon
Earth observation and the Canadian space industry,” said
Evans. “I’m looking forward to watching UrtheCast blossom
into a major force in the web world of the future.”
The company says the cameras will, logically, only be capable
of recording and seeing images as they pass overhead. The
ISS orbits the planet nearly 16 times a day so it may take as
long as 3 years before all of the images can be taken. The
company explains that the ISS follows an equatorial orbit
with an inclination of nearly 52 degrees. This states that the
cameras are only able to snap images that are 52 degrees
latitude, north and south. Therefore, most countries lying
in the far northern hemisphere along with the upper part of
Canada will not be available.
UrtheCast says that they will have all of their images kept
in a library much different than what Google Earth or Bing
Maps has. They will be keeping a catalog of the images
collected so an individual can go back and compare all the
changes seen on any given region. For example, you could
compare Singapore before and after a monsoon, or see the
same section of the U.S. in the winter or spring.
There are a few things the company does not explain, and
that is how they filter out sensitive regions that are not
allowed to be viewed by the public. For example, there are
many military installations and government facilities that
are off limits not only from the ground but any aerial images
as well. Area 51 in the Nevada desert is one example.
It will be very interesting to see how popular the site will
become in 2013. UrtheCast could very well become as
popular as YouTube, if only for a while. This will be a
wonderful educational tool for the classroom and anyone
that is curious about how our earth is changing. More
importantly it may open up the eyes of those who are
skeptical about the environmental impact we are making on
our fragile planet.
Apple decides it might love
the pen after all
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/apple-decides-it-might-love-the-pen-
after-all/18559.html
January 2nd, 2013
Apple has always maintained that using a pen as a digital
input device is old school thinking and not something that
Apple want to associate with its touch-centric philosophy
and that you will never see an iPad with a digital pen. Well
according to a new patent that may not exactly be the truth
anymore.
As much as Steve Jobs might have been against the very idea
of using a stylus with something like the iPad it seems that
the company's engineering team has been looking for ways
to re-invent the whole idea.
Given the popularity of Samsung's Galaxy Note and its S-Pen
it would appear that Apple has decided that quite possibly
this is something that they should reconsider hence a new
patent received for something called the "ActiveStylus"
which, unlike the passive input style of the S-Pen, would see
Apple's implementation and tweaking of a few things around
the whole idea.
The patent which Apple just received describes it as:
The Styluses can either act as a drive electrode to
create an electric field between the drive electrode
and the sense lines of a mutual capacitive touch
sensor panel, or as a sense electrode for sensing
capacitively coupled signals from one or more
stimulated drive rows and columns of the touch
sensor panel or both.
The stylus would appear to have its own touch sensor panel
which would allow for it to couple signals with the main
device making it "active" which is in contrast to the current
passive style.

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Patent info and drawing courtesy of Patently Apple.
PC CPUs in 2013 - Year of the
Haswell
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pc-cpus-in-2013--year-of-the-
haswell/18558.html
January 2nd, 2013
The ‘End of the World’ year came to an end, is the next
one going to be the end of PC CPUs? Not yet! Although, there
might not be many launches to speak of…
This past year, we heard enough about the demise of PCs
in favour of tablets, super-duper smartphones and such,
haven’t we? Well, surely the phones and tablets went up
on the performance – and productivity – ladder in 2012,
however PC CPU development is continuing to slog on.
We can’t deny, however, that among PC CPUs there is
somewhat less focus on the desktop front, and that more
accent is on the mobile-centric power consumption and
compact die + packaging size, rather than raw performance.
When we look back at the Sandy Bridge to Ivy Bridge
migration, there was zero gain on the CPU clock speed –
staying at 3.5 GHz, just a few % on the IPC, but substantial
~20% power consumption benefits, both in idle and full
performance modes.
Of course, Intel had no pressure to push the IVB
performance forward as their main CPU competition all
these years, AMD, seems to be on the way down and out
of the high end PC processor business altogether, unless
some sort of miracle happens to the company. Surely you’ve
noticed how, as AMD grew weaker, Intel’s product rollouts
slowed down, including the famed ‘tick tock’ now being some
18 months late compared to Intel’s statements five years ago.
And that is for desktops and mobiles, add another year for
workstation/server market.
So, what to expect in 2013 on the PC CPU front?
First, Haswell: yes, the much vaunted, power saving desktop
and notebook Haswell processors will finally appear, but
only middle of the year – expect to see them right at this
June’s Computex. This is a bit later than then first quarter of
the coming year as expected by certain other media.
Now the bad part: many key parameters – clock speeds,
sizes, features, will stay the same as they were since the first
mainstream desktop and mobile Nehalem CPUs appeared in
2009. Look, the quad core 3.5 GHz top speed of the LGA1150
Core i7-4770K will likely be the same 3.5 GHz as it was
for the Ivy Bridge 3770K, or the Sandy Bridge 2770K some
30 months before. The 8 MB L3 cache size stays the same,
as well as the default dual channel DDR3-1600 memory
support – even though DDR3-2800+ should run just fine on
the new ‘K’ chips, as it does on the K-series Ivy Bridge parts
anyway. The unlocked parts still don't get VT-x support.
Of course, you do get some 10% core performance
improvement, plus some more if your code gets recompiled
for FMA/AVX2 instruction extensions, but again this is not
earth-shattering news.
If you’re into integrated GPUs, then yes, do expect quite a bit
of performance boost with the Haswell, both in desktops and
in UltraBooks, where the promise of decent 3-D graphics and
4K display support in one device will finally be fulfilled. The
HD4600 integrated graphics – at least the GT2 version in the
desktop and mainstream mobile CPUs – should be at least
half faster than the best Ivy Bridge HD4000, with decent
‘turbo’ frequency management on offer, up to and beyond 1.3
GHz GPU clock.
The 57 W top end mainstream notebook – not Ultrabook –
parts are expected to be full quad core 3 GHz speed demons
with full GPU and memory systems akin to the desktop parts.
In fact, the top bin i7-4930MX mobile Haswell might have
same 3.9 GHz top Turbo frequency as the desktop i7-4770K!
Match if with a pair of nice mobile DDR3-2133 DIMMs and
a 16:10 4 Mpixel or better retina-quality LCD, and you got a
portable power machine good enough for anyone.
Right after the New Year, and well before Haswell, do expect
some of the power consumption refinements to trickle into
Ivy Bridge ultramobiles as well – the ten-watt TDP core
i7-3689Y will bring dual core multithreaded 4 MB L3 part
with full HD4000 graphics onto the border of the high-end
tablet space! The 1.5 GHz base CPU speed can go all the way

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up to 2.6 GHz in Turbo, so yes this would be faster than any
ARM on the market.
More about Haswell and ultralow power IVB in our other
stories to come – how about the competition?
If all went according to the last year’s plans, 2013 would have
seen the entry of AMD ‘Steamroller’ core in at least two parts
relevant to the PC – ‘Kaveri’ and ‘Kabini’, the successors to
the Piledriver based APU and PC CPU chips. The SOS signals
emanating from AMD right now, as well as the associated
media buzz, hint that there is high chance that these parts
might never see the light of the day. What is going on? As
we covered in detail two months ago, AMD fate will likely be
decided in the next few months. Whether it is some sort of
sale or ownership transformation to be managed by Morgan
Stanley, or an internally-driven, we hope, massive company
rehash to get it out of the doldrums, don’t expect much
activity from AMD, especially its CPU division, in the early
2013. This leaves the PC CPU field now completely open to
Intel.
If this didn’t happen to AMD, and they had competitive
entries with committed roadmap, I bet we’d have seen the
Haswell lineup already by now – it’s ready for quite a while,
it seems.
So, the PC CPU 2013 arena will only have one battle-
ready contender covering it all from ultramobile to high end
PC: Haswell. If you are a power-conscious user planning a
migration, then waiting for it makes good sense. If building
an enthusiast gamer machine right now, with a proper
discrete GPU, then the wait may not be necessary – the
current Ivy Bridge CPUs provide all the oomph you’ll need.
However, this same year will likely see the emergence of two
new CPU categories in specific – I accentuate this word –
desktop and mobile PC rollouts, especially in Asia Pacific.
One is, obviously, ARM, where there will be some attempts
at Windows RT based “more than tablet” machines, in both
mobile and mini-desktop sizes, not dissimilar to Intel’s cute
SFF system Lennard reviewed last month.
The other one is Loongson in China, whose MIPS-based
CPUs are even more power-efficient than ARM, and already
have 50W-class CPUs in 32 nm process, like the 8-core
vector-enhanced Loongson 3B-1500, that match FP power
higher than Core i7-3970X in one-third the TDP, while using
PC infrastructure like HyperTransport and, guess what,
AMD I/O chipset. What about the software? Well, it helps
to have a huge market with internal critical mass to gain
the important initial software stack, and millions of school
desktops with controlled software library, where the ISA lock
on prevents the user from installing un-approved software
easily at least, will help in large government sponsored
deployments.
Ah, worried about that software lock-on? Well, it’s not any
worse than those awful “Marketplace” or “Store” lock ons
seen in the tablets or, worse, Windows ‘lucky’ 8, isn’t it?
Either way, at least something new to look forward in this
new year…
HP says U.S. Department
of Justice to investigate
Autonomy for fraud
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/hp-says-u.s.-department-of-justice-
to-investigate-autonomy-for-fraud/18555.html
January 2nd, 2013
Hewlett-Packard just announced that the U.S. Department
of Justice is investigating its October 2011 acquisition of
Autonomy. HP is alleging that Autonomy’s accountants
inflated the company value through accounting tricks.
In October 2011, Hewlett-Packard acquired the U.K.-based
software company Autonomy, which was the U.K.'s largest
independent software maker that produced all manner of
management products. Shareholders of Autonomy voted
and accepted the 10.3 billion dollar offer from HP, which
came to about 42.11 dollars (U.S.) per share.
The deal for the acquisition was orchestrated by former CEO
Leo Apotheker, but even at the time of the acquisition many
experts felt the price was set too high. Soon after the
deal went into effect HP appointed former eBay chief Meg
Whitman as the New CEO. Whitman stood behind the deal
and felt the price was accurate.
Now HP is saying that Autonomy’s accountants pulled a fast
one on them and is asking the United States Department
of Justice to investigate the matter. HP has also provided
their findings to the United Kingdom’s Serious Fraud Office
along with filing a 10-K form with the U.S. based Securities
Exchange Commission.
“As a result of the findings of an ongoing investigation,
HP has provided information to the U.K. Serious Fraud
Office, the U.S. Department of Justice and the SEC related
to the accounting improprieties, disclosure failures and
misrepresentations at Autonomy that occurred prior to
and in connection with HP's acquisition of Autonomy,”
HP says in part on their 10-K form. “On November 21,
2012, representatives of the U.S. Department of Justice
advised HP that they had opened an investigation relating
to Autonomy. HP is cooperating with the three investigating
agencies.”
On November 20, 2012 HP disclosed an $8.8 billion write-
down. Of that 8.8 billion, HP says that 5 billion was
linked to what HP determined to be “serious accounting
improprieties, misrepresentation and disclosure failures
discovered by an internal investigation by HP and forensic
review into Autonomy’s accounting practices prior to its
acquisition by HP.”
HP made very clear in their press release how displeased
the company was with Autonomy. The public notice further
stated they were highly disappointed with the many
members of Autonomy’s former management team. HP
writes, “These efforts appear to have been a willful effort
to mislead investors and potential buyers, and severely
impacted HP management’s ability to fairly value Autonomy
at the time of the deal.”

9
On Friday, December 28, 2012 Autonomy's founder,
Mike Lynch, denounced the claims made by HP and
published an on-line rebuke of HP’s accusations at
www.autonomyaccounts.org, a website apparently made
specifically to counter HP’s claims.
“It is extremely disappointing that HP has again failed to
provide a detailed calculation of its $5 billion write down
of Autonomy, or publish any explanation of the serious
allegations,” Lynch writes. “Furthermore, it is now less clear
how much of the $5 billion write down is in fact being
attributed to the alleged accounting issues…Simply put,
these allegations are false, and in the absence of further
detail we cannot understand what HP believes to be the basis
for them.”
This latest crisis with HP is just part of a long string of
financial problems beginning in 2012 when the Chinese
based Lenovo Corporation beat out HP to become the
world's leader in PC manufacturing. Since HP's initial
downfall, the company has been aggressively trying to
reshape itself and remain competitive.
In August 2011 HP announced they would be exiting
the smartphone and tablet computer business HP mainly
markets their products to everyday consumers and
households, small- to medium-sized businesses. While the
company made numerous changes, sales still waned and in
May 2012, HP announced they would be laying off some
27 thousand employees but that figured then jumped to 29
thousand in July of 2012.
Whether the Justice Department discovers anything
irregular with Autonomy remains to be seen. One thing
for certain is that this latest scandal involving HP will only
hinder the company's efforts in reclaiming a top spot in a
highly competitive electronic world.
Michigan says no to
employers asking for social
media login info
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/michigan-says-no-to-employers-
asking-for-social-media-login-info/18556.html
January 2nd, 2013
Over the past year we have seen more than a few companies
start asking employees, and those applying for jobs, to
start coughing up their various social media accounts login
details causing an uproar every time. Slowly states have
begun to come to the defense of these employees and
future employees with legislation outlawing this type of
employment requirement.
I remember writing at another blog the first time news broke
that a state agency was requiring new job applicants to
provide their Facebook and Twitter login information. The
uproar that followed was immense; and well deserved, so it
was no surprise that the agency ended up backing down on
the request.
So it's rewarding to see a state government that is willing
to come to their citizen's rescue and stop companies trying
to do this; which is exactly what Michigan Governor Rick
Snyder has done by signing new legislation which bars
companies and schools from asking employees and students
for their social media usernames and passwords.
In the press release announcing the signing Gov. Synder said
that protecting the private internet accounts of the state's
residents was of prime importance, and that employees and
students should be judged by their skills and abilities not
their private online activity. So under this new law employers
cannot discipline, or decide not to hire job applicants,
if they refuse to hand over their access information;
including names, passwords, login information or any other
information that protects access to a personal internet
account.
The same rules apply to universities and schools when it
comes to the students or those applying for admission. The
only exception to this law is when it relates to any internet
accounts owned by a company or educational institution,
such as e-mail.
The American Civil Liberties Union and the National
Federation of Independent Business have both endorsed the
Michigan bill.
Pinterest early investor being
sued by former partner
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/pinterest-early-investor-being-sued-
by-former-partner/18553.html
January 2nd, 2013
It's almost a rite of passage for any new startup looking to
make its bones in the real world—being sued for stealing the
idea you are looking to get rich on from someone else that
says that they should be the one's getting rich. In the case of
Pinterest it’s all a matter of welcome to the club buddy.
You had to know this was coming.
After all if Zuckerberg can be sued continuously for
supposedly stealing Facebook for any number of people then
it shouldn't come as any surprise as Pinterest, the next
hottest service next to Facebook, is suddenly in the news for
one of its early investors being sued by an ex-partner for
stealing the "idea" of Pinterest and giving it to the young
founders.
This is what is being alleged by Theodore F. Schroeder of
Ocean City, N.J., in a lawsuit that was filed yesterday in
New York where he accuses Pinterest early investor Brian
Cohen; and the founders, of basically stealing ideas that
Schroeder had had when he and Cohen worked together in
2007 and 2008 on a project called Rendezvoo, and a later
pivot Skoopwire, and gave those ideas to the young founders
of Pinterest.
Parts of Schroeder’s argument are two key elements: the
idea of "Boards" for posting content and the idea of
"infinite scrolling". He also mentions that fact that the color
scheme used by Pinterest is similar to the one they had for

10
Rendezvoo because it was attractive to women. Schroeder
also maintains that Cohen who was serving as CEO and
chairman of the company pushed the team away from the
Pinterest like ideas they had for Rendezvoo.
It was after Cohen and Schroeder had a falling out over
equity and roles that Cohen made his "Faustian deal" (as
Schroeder phrases it) with the founders of Pinterest and
provided them with Schroeder's ideas and applications.
Another start-up, another lawsuit. Welcome to the tech
world guys.

January 3rd, 2013 Published by: VR-Zone
1
geeks.
Ubuntu enters the
smartphone market
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/ubuntu-enters-the-smartphone-
market/18578.html
January 3rd, 2013
The Linux-based operating system Ubuntu is heading to
smartphones, adding yet another rival to an already tightly-
packed arena.
The open source software, traditionally offered as a free
alternative to Windows on laptops and desktop computers,
has been adapted into a form suitable for mobile devices,
offering a PC-like experience on a smaller screen.
Ubuntu will let users run apps designed for PCs on their
smartphone, bringing the mobile experience almost full
circle and opening the way for Microsoft to potentially
provide a standard Windows experience in a mobile
environment.
The people behind Ubuntu hope to address the issue of
working with complex software on tiny screens by using
voice recognition to access interface features, but this
may prove difficult, if not altogether impossible, for some
software.
The founder of Ubuntu, Mark Shuttleworth, admitted that
the platform will likely only attract a small fan base at first,
but he suggested that people may want a full PC experience
on a phone in the future, even going as far as to say that
within the next three to five years Apple will be forced to
make such a transition.
Shuttleworth also highlighted Microsoft's currents attempts
to unify its desktop Windows experience with its mobile
one, partially achieved through a shared core in Windows 8
and Windows Phone 8. He suggested that Windows 9 or 10
would complete this union.
Ubuntu for smartphones will initially be available as a
download for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, replacing the pre-
installed Android operating system, but Shuttleworth said
he is in talks with device manufacturers to sell Ubuntu
smartphones and even tablet computers later this year.
Remote island pleads for
internet access
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/remote-island-pleads-for-internet-
access/18577.html
January 3rd, 2013
A remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean has pleaded with
the UK government to provide funding for it to connect to
the internet via a submarine cable.
A remote island in the South Atlantic Ocean has pleaded with
the UK government to provide funding for it to connect to
the internet via a submarine cable.
The island of St. Helena, a British Overseas Territory, lies in
the Atlantic Ocean between Africa and South America, many
miles away from the coast, leaving it effectively isolated from
the rest of the world.
There are 4,200 people living on the island, and they are
hoping to finally get access to the internet, blaming the
blackout for hindering the island's growth. Some of the
population can access the internet via satellite, but the costs
are extremely high at over £100 per month.
The solution would involve rerouting the already planned
South Atlantic Express, an underwater fibre-optic cable that
will connect Brazil to Angola and South Africa.

2
Some of St. Helena's hopes rested on the proposed revised
UN treaty that was rejected by the US, UK and many other
Western nations. Under the proposals the UK would have
been forced to connect remote territories like St. Helena to
the internet, but Russia's suggestions for changes in internet
governance and internet taxes did not go down well.
The UK Foreign Office said it needed to conduct a full
economic assessment before it could fund a project to bring
St. Helena online. The cost is expected to be £10 million,
according to campaigners, which is not all that much in the
grand scheme of times, but the UK government may have a
difficult time justifying the expense for the relatively small
population involved.
St. Helena is not being entirely forgotten, however. The UK
government is investing £250 million to build a new airport
there, which should encourage tourists to visit the hard-to-
reach locale. However, it could be argued that if more St.
Helenians could go online, they could advertise the island
and make that airport investment more worthwhile.
Image Credit: A Human Right
The problem with metricating
the US
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/the-problem-with-metricating-the-
us/18575.html
January 3rd, 2013
Most of the world uses the Metric system (or SI), with one
of the few exceptions being the United States. The SI system
of units is logical, simple to understand and international,
making it quite confusing why the US hasn't adopted it.
Many critics of the US system however, fail to see some very
fundamental problems with a switch.
The US Standard system of units is unfortunately both
archaic and convoluted. I'm certain that by saying this I'm
already angering quite a few Americans (and to be honest
I can understand a certain brand loyalty to something as
widespread as a system of units), but it is true nonetheless.
12 inches make a foot. Three feet make a yard, and 1760
yards make a mile. There's no consistency or logic behind
the scaling and it's utterly unscientific, relying instead on
arbitrary standard measurements for, say, how big a human
foot should be. An outsider who attempts to learn this system
from scratch is going to have a difficult time adjusting. The
sheer number of different units (Gizmodo's recent article
on this listed 30 different units of volumes, a staggering
amount) only adds to the difficulty.
The consistency of the metric system is one of it's appeals
The Metric system however, uses one unit and factors it
by ten for scale: The standard unit of length is the meter.
A decimeter is a tenth of a meter. A centimeter is one
hundredth of a meter. A millimeter is one thousandth of
a meter. On the other end of things, a kilometer is one
thousand meters. It's simple to understand and consistent:
If you know what a meter is, you will very easily realize what
a kilometer is. The prefixes permeate the entire system as
well - from volumes, such as the milliliter (one thousandth
of a liter) to mass, like the kilogram (one thousand grams).
Only a few countries still don't use the metric system
Then there's always the fact that most of the world
uses the Metric system (and in the scientific world, the
almost identical SI system). This causes practical issues in
commerce and trade between the US and the rest of the
world. Machined parts for example, do not naturally fit each
other, and tool sizes are different. So why is the United States
still using this system? Well, if it was as easy as just selecting
"metric" in a drop-down menu on some computer in the
bowels of the pentagon, they probably would have changed
by now. In reality, it's not that simple and there are massive
practical issues with switching. To understand this, we need

3
to go back in time, and learn about how this system came to
be.
iPhone 5S may come in
different colors and sizes
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/iphone-5s-may-come-in-different-
colors-and-sizes/18576.html
January 3rd, 2013
People who aren’t content with the silver, white, and black
coloring scheme of the current iPhone 5 will be happy to
know that Apple may launch the iPhone 5S in a variety of
colors.
According to an analyst from Topeka Capital Markets, Apple
may launch the iPhone 5S with 6-8 color options. The hype
surrounding Apple’s minimalistic approach to designing its
product have been more than enough to keep consumers
interested, but perhaps it’s about time Apple mixes things
up a bit.
Additionally, the analyst believes that Apple may also offer
the iPhone 5S in different screen sizes. Fans of phones with
larger displays may be in for a treat come Q2 or Q3 2013. The
current gen iPhone 5 has a 4-inch Retina display, but there
is a growing market for phablets (phone + tablets) that sport
5+ inch displays. No matter how stubborn Apple might be
about adopting the trends instead of being the trend-setter,
it’s clear that many smartphone users prefer devices with
larger displays.
Samsung’s second iteration of the Galaxy Note II phablet
has been a success, and unless Apple jumps in now it might
be too late to play catch up later. Apple’s recent patent
regarding an ‘active stylus’ only adds more confirmation to
speculation of an iPhone with a larger display. No one knows
how big the display on the next iPhone might be, but if it’s
a stylus-enhanced device we can guess that the screen real
estate will probably be around 5 or so inches.
Many handset makers have been trying to catch up to Apple
in the smartphone race for years and years, but in the
newly formed phablet league Apple is the one that’s lagging
behind.
Huawei may one day
overtake Samsung in the
smartphone market
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/huawei-may-one-day-overtake-
samsung-in-the-smartphone-market/18574.html
January 3rd, 2013
The Chinese electronics maker, Huawei, shipped out 85
percent of their goods under their own brand name in 2012
as compared to 20 percent in 2011. Huawei will also unveil
their new ‘Ascend Mate’ model smartphone at the upcoming
CES 2013 - it is rumored to be the most powerful smartphone
ever.
Huawei only recently began diving into the smartphone
market and were a bit uneasy with using their own brand
name, preferring to sell as a white-label for other name
brand carriers. Now Huawei feels their products are
saturated enough that they can come out of their shell, and
last years numbers show this. With Chinese smartphones
quickly making their way into western consumer’s hands,
they could very well overtake brands like the South Korean
based Samsung in the coming years.
While Huawei Technologies is not a name many in the west
are familiar with, this is no small startup by a long shot.
Founded in 1988, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., which
is a Chinese networking and telecommunications company,
is the largest telecommunications equipment maker in the
world, after having overtaken Ericsson in 2012. Huawei
employs nearly 150,000 with about half of those involved in
research and development.
Currently Samsung is the leading brand in China, followed
by brands like Coolpad, ZTE and Apple. Nevertheless,
Huawei is so confident in their brand name that their Chief
Marketing Officer, Shao Yang, says that the company will be
in the top 5 of all smartphone markers in 2014 and in the top
3 by 2016.
As China’s economy grows and millions more customers
switch over to smartphones, Huawei wants to cash in on that
mass transition. Compared to other larger name brands,
Huawei has an advantage over their competition with their
ability to manufacture their own products. Brands such
as Apple or Motorola must rely on other manufacturers to
create their devices. Furthermore, Huawei being a Chinese
company, more Chinese would logically want to invest in a
product made in their own country.
In other news, rumors state that Huawei will soon be
unveiling the world’s most powerful smartphone. Images
of a new smartphone were recently leaked ahead of
the upcoming International Consumer Electronics Show
(CES) that will take place on January 8-13, 2013 in Las

4
Vegas, Nevada. The new smartphone is called the Huawei
‘Ascend Mate’ and it is said to have a 6.1-inch screen in
full 1080p HD, a 1.8GHz quad-core processor, and 2GB of
RAM along with a 4000mAh battery. Cost of the phone is
projected to be around $480.00 (U.S.).
How long before man can
inhabit Mars?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/how-long-before-man-can-inhabit-
mars-/18541.html
January 3rd, 2013
Mars, being the one other planet that is potentially
conducive to sustaining life, has occupied our imaginations
for years. The rover Curiosity is adding real-life data to our
imaginations, fueling our dreams all the more.
One day in our future we may be visiting Mars. If so,
know that a day on Mars is 40 minutes longer than here
on Earth, so imagine how much more we could get done,
or how much sleep we could catch up on. In addition, a
year on Mars is twice as long as that on Earth, so we could
theoretically achieve twice as much in a year. Perhaps our
New Year’s Resolutions would actually be achieved giving
the newly found surplus of time.
The landscape of Mars is desert, desert and more desert.
Of course, there are mountains, valleys and sand dunes,
to break up the desert monotony. Though water was
historically present on Mars, there is no water to speak of
these days.
You’d need to pack some extra-heavy coats as Mars is pretty
cold most of the time. And, because of the thinness of the
atmosphere, Mars does not contain heat the way Earth does.
Hence, the temperatures would drop down about 100°C
each night. Worse yet, the cold weather would not protect
you from the sun’s radiation. All the more so, the lack of a
magnetic field would offer no protection from the sun.
If you were to indeed visit Mars, know that it will take you
several months to get there, so you’d have to accumulate a
lot of vacation time to afford the trip. And then, you might
as well stay for a few years to make the couple of month
travel time worthwhile. Once you arrive on Mars, you will
need to stay on your spaceship and/or in your spacesuits
to get the oxygen you need. You’ll need to make a power
plant pretty quickly for your heating and electricity needs (is
there internet on Mars?). This power plant would also fuel
the process of extracting oxygen out of carbon dioxide, and
water out of hydrated minerals.
At the present moment, if you were to bring a year’s
supply of Evian water with you, it would do no good on
the surface of Mars. It would either freeze because of
the freezing temperatures, or boil away because of the low
pressure, or do both. Therefore, to further make the planet
livable, you would need to add additional carbon dioxide
to the atmosphere, to increase air pressure and to trap
heat, simulating the greenhouse effect. These extra carbon
dioxide stores are most likely frozen at Mars’ poles.
Dr. Richard Zurek, Chief Scientist in the Mars Program
Office at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), estimates
that humans will land on Mars in 30 years. That gives us
enough time to pack up a lot of warm coats, a lot of water,
oxygen, carbon dioxide and uranium (for the nuclear power
plants) for the trip.
Sony PlayStation 2 ends its
13-year run in Japan
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/sony-playstation-2-ends-its-13-year-
run-in-japan/18560.html
January 3rd, 2013
Sony is ending its historical 13-year production run of the
PlayStation 2 in Japan. No word on production for other
countries.
Sony Corporation has ended their Japanese production of its
best-selling gaming system, the PlayStation 2. First going
on sale in March of 2000 in Japan, more than 150 million of
the gaming consoles were sold. The PS2 became so popular
that it outsold the PS3 for the first 3 years it came out.
When the PS2 was introduced, it was quite the innovation
with its ability to run DVDs back when they were just
being seen as a new video viewing medium. This machine
predated cell phone use by the masses, and the Internet was
just beginning to catch on.
Not only did the PS2 become a popular gaming system, it
broke all kinds of sales and production records worldwide.
According to Sony they have sold over 150 million units,
and seen over 11 thousand game titles come about for it. Of
those game titles, over 1.5 billion games have been sold.
And while the system is ending its record breaking 13-year
run in Japan, Sony said that games would continue to be
produced and marketed for the PS2 console. There has not
been any word if other countries will see a PS2 production
end, but the odds are they will soon follow suit.
Sony has not released any upcoming reports on any release
dates for a PS4. However, many gaming techs are saying
Sony may soon begin marketing the PlayStation 4 system in
March of 2013.
Study finds Internet capable
HDTVs basically serve only
as monitors
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/study-finds-internet-capable-hdtvs-
basically-serve-only-as-monitors/18545.html
January 3rd, 2013

5
A leading consumer behavior research group’s recent study
shows that the Internet connected HDTV is rarely used for
Internet surfing.
The report comes from the NPD’s Connected Intelligence
Application & Convergence report.
And while the HDTV remains to be the main device for
viewing programs in the home, its use usually goes no
further than just that. And as the HDTV fails to break beyond
the bounds of its basic use, more individuals are using its
connection to gain access to alternative sources of video
content.
The study results from NPD present a dual picture for
HDTV manufacturers. The negative side of the data says
that manufacturers are not connecting with their audience
in regards to the extra features these high-end televisions
provide. The data further demonstrates that customers are
using more attached devices that focus on video-centric
apps, such as television apps available for the Xbox Live
subscription service from Microsoft.
The good news for HDTV makers is that the TVs remain the
main video screen in the home. There is also an expansion
of programming by consumers with about 6 out of 10 users
choosing over-the-top (OTT) services that fill in for Internet
TV. So while the HDTV is used for lots of video viewing and
Internet subscriptions through services like Netflix, people
are not using their HDTVs for much anything else.
The problem that NPD found was that there were just too
many choices for consumers in regards to connecting their
HDTV to the Internet. 15% of HDTV displays are currently
connected to the Internet, but that number will just to 29%
when you factor in the connected devices that provide that
access. It often times brings about confusion when you can
connect to the same app but through more than one device
projecting the same picture.
There are currently more than six different types of devices
that can provide Internet for televisions on the market
right now such as BluRay Disc players, TiVo boxes, video
game consoles and so forth. Because of this dilemma
many consumers just aren't interested in exploring the extra
features on their HDTV because they see it as nothing more
than that, which is a really big TV with a really nice picture.
The suggestions coming from NPD says that HDTV
manufacturers and retailers need to get away from any new
'bells and whistle' innovations, and stay focused more on
simplifying the television. Or in other words, just keep it a
really nice TV.
NPD is a private company that serves as a global provider
of consumer and retail market research solutions for all
manner of markets. Their focus is in researching and
providing consumer behavior with detailed point-of-sale
(POS) information along with consumer and retail tracking.
China tightens down on
Internet restrictions
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/china-tightens-down-on-internet-
restrictions/18544.html
January 3rd, 2013
The People’s Republic of China has issued new regulations
for its citizens in regards to Internet use. The biggest
change is that the government now requires Internet users
to properly identify themselves to their current ISP.
With the number of Internet users in China estimated to
be around 500 million people, the government is taking
steps to tighten down what its citizens may view on-line.
According to the decision by the National People’s Congress
(NPC), the change was made to "ensure Internet information
security, safeguard the lawful rights and interests of citizens,
legal entities or other organizations, and safeguard national
security and public interests,"
The changes came soon after the government implemented
harsher restrictions on viewing websites outside of the
country. Among the changes, the restrictions make it near
impossible for businesses to hide any commercial secrets
and put a damper on what the common citizen may view on-
line.
China is renowned for its heavy censorship of western-based
news sites along with blocking of what is known as ‘virtual
private networks’ (VPN). VPNs allow for a user to bypass
government censors by using encrypted computer surfing
and communication. VPNs and proxy servers are quite
popular in China and help a user to visit foreign websites
without fear of any government monitoring.
The Internet changes came by way of the ‘Standing
Committee of the National People’s Congress’, and were
then adopted by China’s lawmakers. Many of the new
rules were mandated in order to tackle the recent rise in
anonymous postings on-line that are often critical of the
nation’s government. With the growing popularity of the
number of Weibo (microblog) users, it is particularly hard
for the government to catch anyone making anonymous
posts online.
While the new rules still allow for anonymous postings, the
committee stated that all Internet providers, which include
land lines and mobile phone providers, must force users to
disclose their personal information.
In regards to the vote, 145 members of the Standing
Committee voted in favor of the ISP regulation rules, 5
abstained and 1 voted against the measure

6
The changes to Internet policy came after the majority of
the nation’s private ISPs have been slow to adopt similar
mandates that were passed earlier in 2012. Many of the
providers feared that forcing users to disclose their private
information would results in protests or the customer going
with another ISP.
These latest mandates now force more legal pressure on
all ISPs in the country. And while many are voicing their
concern over the changes, the government also stepped in
to say they were enforcing the rules to protect users private
data.
Evergreen accessory turns
any pen into a touch pen
instantly
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/evergreen-accessory-turns-any-pen-
into-a-touch-pen-instantly/18568.html
January 3rd, 2013
Evergreen's DN-84303 accessory can fit snugly into any pen,
ball pen or pencil, effectively turning any cylindrical object
of such size into an instant touch pen that can be used for
capacitive screen mobile devices.
Convertible touch pens (ones that can work both as touch
pens and ordinary pens) may have an additional function to
what would otherwise be a technology-specific tool, but the
concept could actually be simplified further. Just take a look
at Evergreen's new accessory.
The DN-84303 may look like some sort of a miniaturized and
stylized version of your average highlighting markers, but it
is actually a plug-in instant touch "tip" device. To use it, you
need to attach it over any kind of pen or writing tool as shown
in the image. This means that any pencil, ball pen, or any
kind of cylindrical object with the same form factor for that
matter, can be instantly turned into a capacitive touch pen
using the accessory.
There are two sizes that are currently available for the
DN-84303. The first is the thicker one that is used for light
markers and stouter pens, with dimensions at 19 x 19 x
55mm. The second is the thinner one used for standard pens
and pencils, with its dimensions at 15 x 15 x 40mm. The
thick versions are available in red and light blue, while the
thinner ones are available in pink and light green. They come
in paired sets however, so you can't have two of the same
thickness in one set.
The DN-84303 is now available in Japan as of December 28,
2012. The price of one paired set is 799 yen (9 USD).
Source: MyNavi (JP)
U.S. Senate passes
warrantless wiretap bill
extending FISA Amendments
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/u.s.-senate-passes-warrantless-
wiretap-bill-extending-fisa-amendments/18546.html
January 3rd, 2013
The U.S. Senate voted to approve a 5-year extension on
the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, which will allows
warrantless surveillance of anyone in regards to counter-
terrorism.
This bill extends what is known as the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008, which
allowed intelligence agencies the power to monitor E-mail
or monitor your Internet traffic.
The bill came about in 2007 when then-Director of National
Intelligence Admiral Mike McConnell told Congress that

7
the original FISA passage in 1978 was a hindrance. He
stated that it took a considerable amount of time to obtain
warrants for monitoring terrorists. The Admiral further
iterated that some two-thirds of the information they needed
wasn’t available because of the slow process of getting a
warrant for surveillance.
In July of 2008, then-U.S. President George Bush signed
the FISA Amendments Act in support of the intelligence
community’s so-called need for easier electronic monitoring
of communication. The act was supposedly set in place
to protect American’s civil liberties while getting the upper
hand on terrorists.
When the bill extension passed in September 2012, with
a 301 to 118 vote in the U.S. House of Representatives, it
stirred up a new whirlwind of controversy. The far-reaching
enhancements FISA provided to the U.S. government in
2008 angered many privacy groups, many members of
Congress and at least one former NSA intelligence agent who
became a whistleblower against the agency.
The 1978 passage of FISA was made in an effort to actually
protect American Citizens from being spied on, but with
these new amendments those protections are pretty much
gone for good. New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler who
spoke out against the extension said that citizens of the
United States have nothing to do with foreign intelligence
gathering. “The American people deserve better,” Nadler
said. “And Congress has an obligation to exert more control
over spy agencies than simply to give them a blank check for
another five years.
Just a few weeks ago a William Binney, who served as a
former NSA cryptographer and code breaker exposed the
NSA for what he claims to be constant E-mail monitoring
by the NSA on all Americans. Binney left the NSA in 2001
over what he described as illegal acts of domestic spying by
the agency. He also claims that the systems he built for the
agency were turned against the American people and not for
what they were intended. In an interview with Russia Today,
Binney said that the NSA was violating the very foundation
the U.S. was built upon.
Originally the extension would have expired on December
31, 2012, but on Friday, December 28, 2012 the
Senate voted 73-23, in favor of extending FISA’s
Amendments Act of 2008 until December 31, 2017. The bill
will now move to President Obama’s desk to be signed into
law. And for those of you who felt the President may veto
the bill, his administration has already stated that he and his
administration are strongly in favor of it.
Many privacy groups and lawmakers have tried to fight
the extension on the FISA amendments in the past. Some
lawmakers have even asked for details on just how many
Americans the NSA may be monitoring only to have their
request denied stating that it would “impede the NSA’s
mission.” It's quite evident these types of bills are here to
stay.
Canonical unveils Ubuntu for
smartphones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/canonical-unveils-ubuntu-for-
smartphones/18573.html
January 3rd, 2013
Believe it or not, Ubuntu for smartphones has come to
fruition, and it’s only a matter of time before we see full-
fledged smartphones that have desktop-like functionalities
in the hands of consumers. Although there are no official
words as how much support Canonical will be getting
from manufacturers and/or carriers, the people behind the
platform seem confident that Ubuntu for smartphones will
take off.
Samsung Galaxy Nexus owners will be pleased to know
that they will be among the first to drive Ubuntu for
smartphones. Canonical will release the installation package
which will replace Google’s Android OS.
“We are confident that Ubuntu will ship on phones from
large manufacturers in 2013,” says Mark Shuttleworth,
founder of Canonical.
In all fairness, the processing power of a smartphone is
still far from desktop-level computing, but daily tasks that
requires minimal horsepower (i.e. word processing) can
get by if powered by a decent dual-core ARM-based chip.
Many companies have already caught onto the idea of
combining mobility with desktop/notebook functionalities;
this is evident with the ‘docking’ stations that essentially turn
tablets and smartphones into somewhat of a laptop.
Android, Windows Phone, and Mozilla’s upcoming Firefox
OS are all engaging in essentially the same niche that
Canonical is going for. Cross-device OS is nothing new,
and for the most part these OS’s are touch screen optimized
and doesn’t focus too much on the functionalities that
desktop users are accustomed to. So perhaps this will
be where Ubuntu for smartphones will shine, because
supposedly the Ubuntu-driven smartphone will have full
desktop capabilities when paired with a monitor, keyboard
and mouse.

8
Canonical’s announcement of Ubuntu for smartphones
seems more like a spinoff of Ubuntu for Android—something
that has been peaking the interests of Android owners for
quite some time. A fully dedicated smartphone OS instead
of an Android add-on is definitely a plus if vanilla is your
flavor, but at the end of the day it remains to seen whether
or not manufacturers would be willing to hop aboard the
Ubuntu smartphone wagon. Not to mention the fact that
app developers for this particular platform is still lacking—
or rather, it’s very sparse at the moment.

January 5th, 2013 Published by: VR-Zone
1
geeks.
Guy retrieves stolen iPhone
with a hammer & OKCupid
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/guy-retrieves-stolen-iphone-with-a-
hammer--okcupid/18591.html
January 5th, 2013
There's nothing new about someone losing their
smartphone, it happens all the time, and we've all heard
the stories of how some of them managed to get their
smartphones back. But I wonder how many involved the use
of a hammer and the OKCupid dating site?
It's a common refrain these days, you know, the one where
someone has either forgotten their smartphone somewhere
stupid or had it stolen; and in most cases that's the end of it
as the poor sap who lost their smartphone heads to the store
to buy another one.
In rare cases however we hear different stories of people
who have managed to get their phone back, either because
someone found it and decided to be a good human being and
return it to the owner; or we hear about the phone being
found because some idiot uses it to post to some social media
site bragging about their "new" phone.
The second option is the one that Nadav Nirenberg found
himself relying on recently after some joker stole his iPhone
4. At first Nirenberg thought he'd have to get in line
somewhere to buy a new phone but then he started getting
email alerts from the OKCupid dating site. It seems that the
person who had stolen his phone decided that it would be a
great way to talk with the ladies on the dating site, and to add
insult to injury he used Nirenberg's image as his own.
So Nirenberrg, with some help from some friends, put
together a plan to get his phone back. They first got a
photo from Google image search showing a smiling woman
with her cleavage showing and used it as the image for
a fake "Jennifer Gonzalez" OKCupid profile. At that point
Nirenberg started sending messages to the person that had
stolen his phone and was pretending to be him on the dating
site.
Needless to say the crook replied and they set up a date for
later that day. Nirenberg gave the crook the address to his
apartment and sent the message containing lots of winks and
smiley faces so that it would seem real.
It goes without saying that the thief showed up carrying a
bottle of wine and when he knock on the door of Nirenberg's
apartment, Nirenberg came up from behind and tapped the
thief on the shoulder. The thief turned around to find himself
facing the real owner of the phone holding a hammer and
asking for his iPhone back.
Of course the thief complied and left. Nirenberg decided not
to press any charges - he just wanted his phone back.
Is Google blocking Windows
Phone users from Maps?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/is-google-blocking-windows-phone-
users-from-maps-/18590.html
January 5th, 2013
You would almost think that there is a war brewing between
two of tech's giants as news comes today that Google appears
to be blocking Windows Phone users from accessing Google
Maps.
There has been no word from Google or Microsoft about the
news that a growing number of Windows Phone users are
reporting that they can't access Google Maps via the phone's
browser. When they try to go to maps.google.com they are
being redirected to google.com/m regardless of any settings
in the phone's browser (IE10).
I can verify that this is indeed the case as I tried on my Nokia
Lumia 900 and instead of going to Google Maps I found
myself looking at the standard Google search page.
Other folks are reporting that Android users are not
experiencing any problems accessing the maps.google.com
address. iPhone users are first prompted to download the
Google Map app, but can click through to maps.google.com
without any problems.
There has been no word from Google if this is just a
momentary glitch that they will be fixing or if it is a part of
a continued targeting of Windows Phone users to provide
them with a reduced, or non-existing, user experience when
it comes to using Google products on Windows Phones. This
latest Google "glitch" follows the accusation by Microsoft
that Google has told YouTube to provide a less than
enjoyable viewing experience to Windows Phone users.
Google has already made it clear that they have no intention
to develop any Google-related apps for Windows Phone. So
it isn't really that hard following this latest news to jump to
the conclusion that Google is doing whatever it can to make
Windows Phone a less than desirable smartphone. For WP

2
users who use Google-related products, this type of antics
between competing companies can be extremely annoying.
Impecca bamboo keyboard
seeks to make computing
greener
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/impecca-bamboo-keyboard-seeks-to-
make-computing-greener/18589.html
January 5th, 2013
If there is one thing about our electronics that really needs
to change is how unfriendly they are to our environment,
and are the largest contributors to global pollution. I am sure
we’ll see more of a move to make our devices "green" but I'm
not sure that a wooden keyboard is the right answer.
We are all pretty familiar with the images of piles upon
piles of discarded electronic, and people crawling over them
trying to ink out a living by trying to recover what valuable
heavy metals and salvageable electronic they can. We live
in a world where we are drowning in old and discarded
electronic, so it should be no surprise that some companies
that are looking to capitalize on this by coming out with
"green" products.
Impecca is one of those companies and their newest product,
"a bamboo keyboard with a solid metal construction", will
give you some bragging rights about being environmentally
responsible with your electronic gadgets. In addition, the
keyboard supports Bluetooth so you can use it with any of
your Bluetooth enabled devices that are a part of your gadget
world.
The company says that the keyboard will also come with
a fixed bamboo panel on the bottom of the keyboard
for ergonomic comfort. As well, the keyboard will have a
wireless range of 33 feet.
There is no date for shipping of the keyboard but Impecca
will be selling them for $99 when they show off the keyboard
off at this year's CES event.
No Apple HDTV for 2013 &
Google Fiber to expand in
2013
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/no-apple-hdtv-for-2013--google-
fiber-to-expand-in-2013/18585.html
January 5th, 2013
Rumors about Apple introducing a new line of HDTVs have
been squashed. Experts say the TV is being delayed by digital
rights management concerns. Other predictions say Google
will expand their Google Fiber Internet into more cities.
For well over a year now there have been rumors of this
elusive Apple HDTV coming out, aptly named the iTV. The
suspicions were mixed, but many marketing experts saw the
rumors about the TVs as being completely unfounded.
In August of 2012 Forbes magazine quoted research done
by Jefferies analyst, Peter Misek and his reasons behind the
TV's production. Misek writes, “Recent data out of Sharp,
Hon Hai and other specialty chemical and TV component
suppliers support this." Forbes went on to say that Misek
based his predictions on supply chain analysis and a boost
in revenue for the contract manufacturer for Apple. Apple
iTVs were supposed to appear around Christmas 2012 – that
of course never materialized.
Now that 2013 is well on its way, many research and
marketing agencies are again making their predictions for
the year. Some of the biggest predictions in particular come
from BTIG research group with their top 13 predictions
for 2013, one of which includes the anti-rumor that Apple
will not be producing an HDTV this year. “The so-called
‘next big thing’ remains hampered by concerns over the
legality of the managed/specialized service exception to
net neutrality rules, TV Everywhere usage restrictions and
solidifying nationwide coverage/accessibility,” BTIG wrote.
BTIG did have some positive notes on Apple and predicted
that the company will be launching the iRadio. “We expect
iRadio to be incorporated into the iTunes iOS app with
personalized radio functionality akin to Pandora, integrated
with iTunes to purchase music and other music related
content such as concert information/tickets/merchandise
via Live Nation and Ticketmaster,” writes BTIG. “… iRadio
will not only be a global solution, but will include increased
skips per hour and extended caching for offline playback.”
With all the predictions coming from BTIG, one that is
particularly enlightening is an expansion of Google Fiber
into more U.S. cities in 2013. BTIG believes Google will
move their Fiber into the top 15 or top 20 market cities.
Currently ranked as #31, Kansas City is the only U.S. city
with Google Fiber.
Google sells low number of
LG Nexus 4 smartphones
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/google-sells-low-number-of-lg-
nexus-4-smartphones/18588.html
January 5th, 2013
Google's flagship Android smartphone, the LG Nexus 4, has
sold fewer than 400,000 units, according to analysis at the
XDA Developers forum, putting it well behind the market
leaders.
Google's flagship Android smartphone, the LG Nexus 4, has
sold fewer than 400,000 units, according to analysis at the
XDA Developers forum, putting it well behind the market
leaders.
Users at the forum found that the IMEI numbers of the
devices, which helps uniquely identify each phone, used
a simple rising sequence of numbers, allowing them to
estimate the number of total Nexus 4 phones produced

3
and sold since its announcement in October and release in
November.
The developers and Android enthusiasts found that an
estimated 70,000 devices were made in October, 90,000 in
November, and 210,000 in December, leaving an estimated
total of 370,000 devices in circulation. This explains why
many customers found it difficult to buy the device, which
ended up being sold out in most territories.
When compared to total smartphone shipments in the
fourth quarter of 2012, expected to be in the 200 million
mark, it makes for a disappointing sales figure. The low
production, however, suggests that both Google and LG
expected sales to be lower than they were, so the issue is not
necessarily lack of demand.
The Nexus 4 gained popularity thanks to similar specs to top-
end devices like the Samsung Galaxy S III, but with a lower
price tag. LG is expected to up production of the smartphone
this month, but it will also be upping the price, which could
make it a lot less desirable compared to the more attractive
Galaxy brand.
LG is not necessarily performing badly compared to
previous Nexus models, however. The Nexus Galaxy, made
by Samsung, shipped just 512,000 models in 2011, and
Samsung dismissed the sales as “miniscule” in a court case
brought against it by Apple.
Given the relatively low sales, one might wonder why Google
continues with the Nexus brand, but it seems that becoming
the ruler of the smartphone market is not the aim. In many
ways it is all about showing off Android and its supporters,
giving each one a chance at making the new flagship model,
without eating into the sales of each manufacturer's own
leading devices.
Xbox 720 or Xbox Infinity
announcement expected at
E3
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/xbox-720-or-xbox-infinity-
announcement-expected-at-e3/18587.html
January 5th, 2013
Microsoft is expected to announce its next-generation
gaming console, long speculated to be called Xbox 720, at
this year's E3 trade fair, after an official Xbox spokesperson
put a countdown on his website.
Microsoft is expected to announce its next-generation
gaming console, long speculated to be called Xbox 720, at
this year's E3 trade fair, after an official Xbox spokesperson
put a countdown on his website.
Larry Hryb, better known by his Xbox Live gamertag Major
Nelson, added the countdown to the event to be held
from 11-13 June in Lost Angeles, but did not specify what
Microsoft's presence there would involve.
However, there has been mounting speculation that
Microsoft's answer to the Wii U will arrive this Christmas,
likely with a similarly-timed launch of Sony's next
PlayStation console. That said, the Wii U was unveiled at E3
2011, but did not launch until Christmas 2012, so the Xbox
720 may not launch until some time in 2014.
Leaked information suggests the new Xbox will feature an
Intel quad-core processor, 4GB or 8GB of RAM, and an
Nvidia graphics card, giving it a significant edge over the Wii
U in terms of pure computing power. It is also expected to
release a new version of the Kinect, likely with support for
up to four players simultaneously.
The console, codenamed Durango, may feature a name
entirely different to expectations, such as Xbox Infinity, a
name that carries some weight thanks to Microsoft buying a
series of related domain names, including some for Xbox8,

4
which is likely an extension of the “infinity” motif, with an
infinity loop looking like an 8 on its side. This symbol would
likely become the logo of choice, and it would help tie the
Xbox brand in with Microsoft's recently-released Windows
8 and Windows Phone 8 platforms.
Pricing is expected to start at $299.
NASA finds large amount of
water on Mars meteorite
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/nasa-finds-large-amount-of-water-
on-mars-meteorite/18586.html
January 5th, 2013
NASA researchers analysing a small meteorite believed to
have come from the surface of Mars have found a substantial
amount of water, providing yet another inkling into the
geology of the nearby planet.
NASA researchers analysing a small meteorite believed to
have come from the surface of Mars have found a substantial
amount of water, providing yet another inkling into the
geology of the nearby planet.
The NWA 7034 “Black Beauty” meteorite, which now
becomes a class of its own, weighs roughly 11 ounces and
contains 10 times more water than other Martian meteorites.
It was found in the Sahara Desert in 2011 and the rock
is a whopping 2.1 billion years old, from the so-called
Amazonian geologic period on Mars.
“The age of NWA 7034 is important because it is significantly
older than most other Martian meteorites,” said Mitch
Schulte, program scientist for the Mars Exploration Program
at NASA Headquarters in Washington. “We now have
insight into a piece of Mars' history at a critical time in its
evolution.”
The meteorite, which is unlike any previously discovered
one from the Red Planet, but matches surface rock
identified by the Mars rovers, is expected to challenge the
current understanding of Martian geology, according to
John Grunsfeld, associate administrator of NASA's Science
Mission Directorate.
The current theory is that the large amount of water
contained in the meteorite is from an interaction between
the rocks and water present in Mars' crust, and the
different mixture of oxygen isotopes may be the result of
an interaction with the Martian atmosphere. The meteorite
is made up of cemented fragments of basalt, a rock formed
when lava cools.
“This Martian meteorite has everything in its composition
that you'd want in order to further our understanding of
the Red Planet,” said Carl Agee, leader of the analysis
team and director and curator at the University of New
Mexico's Institute of Meteoritics in Albuquerque. “This
unique meteorite tells us what volcanism was like on Mars
2 billion years ago. It also gives us a glimpse of ancient
surface and environmental conditions on Mars that no other
meteorite has ever offered.”
Image Credit: NASA
Facebook adds voice to
Messenger & VoIP for
Canadian users
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/facebook-adds-voice-to-messenger--
voip-for-canadian-users/18584.html

5
January 5th, 2013
Facebook has added voice to its independent messenger app,
and experimenting with VoIP in Canada. They are also
offering a new advanced developer feature called ‘flexible
sentences’ that will help modify sentence structure.
Facebook just recently adopted a new update to their
independent messenger service. Whether you are using
iOS or Android this new feature will allow users to send
actual voice messages for the first time. The new update
is present in the updated messenger with a visible record
button located in the chat dialogue box. One simply clicks
and holds the button, and then they can record their message
up to one minute in length.
Facebook is also in the testing stages of a adding a VoIP
inside messenger much like what Google offers in their
Gmail service. For the time being the VoIP is only available
for Canadian iOS users. For now Canadian iOS users will
not be able to communicate with other users on Android, nor
any user, no matter the OS, outside of Canada.
The VoIP service is free but Facebook reminds users that by
using the service it will reflect on a user’s data plan. If in fact
the VoIP test run in Canada shows a positive feedback the
company says that an expansion of the service would ensue.
Facebook seems to be on a roll with offering all types of
new changes. It was in December 2012 that Facebook
began offering users a Messenger first available for Android
users. All a person needs is a phone number without any
need of an active Facebook account.
Soon after messenger was released they began offering the
‘Poke app’ via their new Snapchat-like service. This app
allows mobile users to send a traditional Facebook 'poke’,
a message, photograph or a video to their friends. Each
message can be set to expire at a predetermined time, up
to 10 seconds maximum, after which the message will self-
destruct. The Poke app is currently available for free at
iTunes.
The latest change offered is for developers, and
it is an advanced feature they are calling ‘flexible
sentences’ with Open Graph. This feature offers greater
control with sentence structure in stories along with the
ability to edit tenses for custom verbs and add additional text
for the reader.
Facebook says that by offering this new feature it gives the
developer an ability to create “more compelling stories for
their apps.” The configuration tool will also allow a developer
to see which stories are shared and viewed more often along
with an ability to remove objects from a sentence. You can
read the basic how-to guide here at Facebook’s developer’s
page.
Which big name sites
are sharing your user
information?
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/which-big-name-sites-are-sharing-
your-user-information-/18583.html
January 5th, 2013
We all would like to think that the sites we visit the most
respect our privacy and wouldn't share that information with
other people. Unfortunately that is pretty much a pipe dream
as even the most popular web sites on the Internet have been
found to share just about everything you do with anyone who
wants to know.
In a recent investigation of web site privacy policies, the Wall
Street Journal tested 50 of the most popular web sites in
the United States (including their own site and 20 additional
sites in sensitive categories) to see how they treated the data
of registered users. To pick the sites used in the investigation
WSJ used data from a list of a 1,000 sites as compiled by
ComScore in their June 2012 most popular listing.
The WSJ's methodology for their investigation was based
on techniques used by researchers at AT&T Labs and
Worchester Polytechnic Institute. For each of the sites in the
list WSJ created a new account, entering name, username,
email address, birth date, location, password, and any
other "required" information that was a part of the site's
registration process.
After completing registration the Journal would log out, then
log back in and browse all the known pages for the site in
question, and then after logging out again they would totally
clear the browser cache of all cookies before continuing on
to the next.
The following is a list of the top 20 and the type of data that
they shared with others.
First this is the color coding of the type of data shared:
Here is the listing with the information explanation of about
what Yahoo sends - you can see more on the Wall Street
Journal page and drill down for the names on the list to see
what they share as well.

6
E Fun wants to give touch to
all Windows 8 computers
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/e-fun-wants-to-give-touch-to-all-
windows-8-computers/18582.html
January 5th, 2013
Windows 8 is all about touch but the problem is that not all
computers, especially the desktop, are touch enabled. This
is the problem that E Fun is trying to answer with its new
Touch8 hardware and software combination.
With Windows 8, Microsoft showed the world that it was all
in when it came to a unified Windows platform that could
run on any device whether it is a smartphone, a tablet, a
laptop, or even the desktop. However this idea faces one
huge problem in at least two of those areas: the laptop and
desktop because many of these computers don’t have touch
capabilities.
The laptop world is changing as an increasing number of new
laptops are coming to market sporting touch screens, which
will make it much easier to live in the new Windows 8 world.
The desktop world however is another story, because many
people simply don’t want to upgrade their hardware just to
have touch functionalities.
This is the problem that a company by the name of E Fun
is looking to solve with their new product called the APEN
Touch8. This product seeks to give touchscreen functionality
to the older hardware running Windows 8 - well sort of
anyway.
The APEN Touch8 is a USB-powered device that includes a
receiver and stylus. The receiver connects to the laptop or
desktop, and is used to convert the actions of the stylus into
inputs that Windows 8 can understand.
This is why I said "sort of" about the touchscreen
capabilities, because it isn't true touch. Rather, it’s touch by
proxy as you need to use a stylus to trick Windows 8 on
the laptop or desktop into thinking you are providing the
input. It's an interesting idea and I am sure that there are
times when something like this might work. However, on the
whole the idea that you have to pick up a stylus every time
you want to "imitate" touch gestures to get something done
seems to me to be a little pointless.
The company will be showing off the APEN Touch8 at this
year's CES and selling it for $79.99.
A $150 kid-focused tablet is
Polaroid's attempt at new life
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/a-150-kid-focused-tablet-is-polaroid-
s-attempt-at-new-life/18581.html
January 5th, 2013
After being saved from oblivion, Polaroid has been searching
for some way to become relevant in a new world where
instant photograms mean uploading images from camera
phones to Instagram. The company's latest attempt is an
interesting offering - a 7-inch tablet aimed for kids.
I have never understood the reasoning for giving any kid,
regardless of age, an expensive electronic device like a
smartphone—especially kids under the age of 12 or 13.
Besides making sure that they aren't the object of ridicule for
not being one of the "cool" kids, children and smartphones
are nothing more than a marketing ploy for tech companies
and telcoms.
However, when it comes to something like tablets the idea of
them being a part of a child's world makes a lot more sense.
The only thing about that idea is that I cringe the thought of
a toddler or young child getting their grimy mitts on a device
that can cost multiple hundreds of dollars. Moreover, often
times these expensive tech toys aren’t design for slobbery
and ill-tempered kids.
So as much as I might disagree with children and
smartphone or cringe at the idea of miniature humans
throwing around a tablet, I find this offering from a re-
launched Polaroid (remember them - the instant picture
company that almost went bankrupt and then bought up)
something that I can actually get behind.
The 7-inch tablet comes in a rugged shell with bright colors
and big buttons, which that alone makes it perfect for small
kids. The yet-to-be-named tablet ships with Android Ice
Cream Sandwich installed - even though it's hidden by a
more kid friendly shell - and pre-loaded with 35 "premium
apps", but more available in a kid-friendly app store.
As far as price, Polaroid says it is available for $149.99 and
that it is available now directly from Polaroid or in stores
later this month.
Parent's drugged so teens
could stay online
Source: http://vr-zone.com/articles/parent-s-drugged-so-teens-could-
stay-online/18580.html

VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Jan 2013 Issue

VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Jan 2013 Issue

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VR-Zone Tech News for the Geeks Jan 2013 Issue