Google Endorses “The Day We Fight Back.” Calling for Government Surveillance Reform
A blog post went up this morning through the Google Public Policy page stating that they have joined “The Day We Fight Back” and are saying “It’s Time to Reform Government Surveillance Laws”. Google is joining the ranks of internet centric organization such as Reddit, Tumblr, Mozilla, EFF, Fight for the Future, Freedom of the Press Foundation, Free Press and thousands more.
David Segal, the executive director of Demand Progress that has helped to organize “The Day We Fight Back” issued the following statement about Google joining the ranks.
“We are thrilled that Google is joining activists around the world — more than 20,000 calls have been placed to Congress already this morning — in standing up against the NSA’s intrusion into our privacy. Winning this fight is going to require a broad coalition of individuals, organizations, and businesses, one that is coalescing around today’s activism and will persist until we win the fight against mass suspicion-less surveillance.”
Google’s VP of Public Policy, Susan Molinari, has put up an article on the Google Public Policy page going into detail about Google’s policy and action. Google recognizes that there is a real threat out there for U.S. and plenty of other countries, but they believe that the Governments need to operate “under a legal framework that is rule-bound, narrowly tailored, transparent, and subject to oversight.”
Back in December Google unveiled a set of reform principles that addressed many of the recent concerns that have arisen about the NSA and Government surveillance.
- Limit Governments Authority to Collect Users’ Information
- Oversight and Accountability
- Transparency About Government Demands
- Respecting the Free Flow of Information
- Avoid Conflicts Among Governments
We can’t get anywhere without taking the first steps to change things. In an open letter to Washington, signed by AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, LinkedIn, Microsoft, Twitter, Yahoo, one paragraph reads:
For our part, we are focused on keeping users’ data secure — deploying the latest encryption technology to prevent unauthorized surveillance on our networks and by pushing back on government requests to ensure that they are legal and reasonable in scope.
The scope doesn’t stop there though, there is also a push to get Congress to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) asking that the Government obtains a warrant before they can contact online companies for disclosure of and content of users communications. More than 100 online companies, including Google, Dropbox, Amazon, Adobe, Apple, AT&T and T-Mobile to name a few, along with over 100,000 signatures from supporting Americans. You can take a look at that list at Digital Due Process.
You can stick your name on the list through Google Take Action page.
Sources: Google Public Policy, Google Take Action, Reform Government Surveillance, Digital Due Process, Whitehouse.gov
Samsung to debut the Galaxy Mega Plus in China
Don’t you wish your Galaxy Mega 5.8 had a better processor? Well, you may be in luck.
Samsung is set to release an updated version of the Galaxy Mega 5.8 – the Galaxy Mega Plus. It’s the same phone as the Mega 5.8 but with a 1.2GHz quad-core processor. It’s a bit of a step up from the dual-core in the original, but is it enough to make people buy it?
It’s also getting a few software enhancements, including S Translator, Popup Play, Group Play, Story Album, Multi Window, and a few more. It’s being released exclusively in China for the time being. And there is no word yet as to whether it will make it to the US.
So far, there is no price tag and no availability information, but we will keep you updated when it surfaces.
Source: Sammy Hub
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What We Expect: Sony Sirius
A brief overview of what Sony has in store for us
With Samsung, HTC, and LG readying their next wave of flagship phones we would expect that Sony might do the same. Indeed, it appears they are working on their next big release and it may come as soon as Mobile World Congress.
Known by its codename of Sirius, the D6503 looks to help Sony keep pace with the competition. We’ve taken this opportunity to gather up some of the juiciest and most likely rumors around the device, putting them in one place. What you’ll find below is a growing list of things we expect or feel strongly about as it pertains to the Sony Sirius.
As always, if you see something that doesn’t look right or something we may have missed, let us know! We will update this post as we learn more about the Sony smartphone.
UPDATED: February 11, 2014
The Name
Given the specifications and details that follow we might be looking at more of a Xperia Z1 refresh than an Xperia Z2.
Specifications
Leaks, rumors, and benchmarks surfacing over the last few weeks suggest the Sirius will be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor. Additional hardware figures to include 3GB RAM, 16GB internal storage, and a 3300mAh battery.
In terms of display, we should look for a 5.2-inch screen but resolution is not clear yet. We’ve seen stuff that says it could be Sony’s first with a 1440×2560 “2K” pixel resolution but most of today’s devices are 1080p Full HD.
Leaked photos show the phone as having two speakers on the front face of the device. Similar to the HTC One, this one should have one fine slit at the top above the LED indicator and one at the very bottom.
Long a key feature in Sony smartphones, the Sirius’s camera looks to be no exception. We should anticipate a 20-megapixel rear camera with LED flash, 4K video recording, and various shooting modes.
Other tidbits we’ve picked up along the way include microUSB, microSD expansion, and three microphones. Like the other Sony models of late, we ought to count on waterproof coating as well.
Android and UI
We should expect Android 4.4 KitKat at the minimum, likely the 4.4.2 version. Sony will, of course, sprinkle in its own touches and UI elements but it’s one of our favorite custom builds.
Launch
Pretty much everything we’ve heard so far tells us that Sony will bring this guy to Mobile World Congress, introducing it in late February. As for release, March seems to be the most likely.
Carrier support
Although Sony has been pretty tight with T-Mobile in the U.S. leaks say Verizon will score this one. We’re not sure if this is exclusive or whether other carriers will be in line, too. If anything, Sony will likely sell this one unlocked through its website or Amazon.
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iPhone 6 Said to Adopt ‘Bezel-Free’ Display
Apple’s iPhone 6 will reportedly gain a “bezel-free” display when it launches later this year, according to a report from The Korea Herald focusing on both the next-generation iPhone and Samsung’s upcoming Galaxy S5 smartphone.
Mockup of iPhone 5s compared to larger bezel-free 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 sizes
No significant details about Apple’s plans for the iPhone 6 are shared in the report, with the majority of it focused on the Galaxy S5 and only a few sentences noting that Apple is working on a “similar” prototype with bezel-free display and fingerprint sensor. Samsung will reportedly be using a more standard fingerprint sensor than the display-wide fingerprint scanner or iris scanner that had previously been rumored for the device.
“Scanning fingerprints on the entire screen, which was much talked about recently, will be available in the latter half of this year as there are still technological hurdles to overcome,” [the source] added, hinting that the production yield for the full-screen fingerprint scanner is still far from satisfactory.
The source said that Samsung’s top rival Apple is also testing a similar prototype sporting a bezel-less screen that features a fingerprint scanner.
Last November, Bloomberg reported that the iPhone 6 was planned to feature a larger display with “glass that curves downward at the edges”, perhaps alluding to a bezel-less design in which the edge of the device is formed by the display glass itself rather than a separate bezel. A report last month from The Wall Street Journal claimed that the iPhone 6 “won’t include a curved display”, but it is possible that both reports could be correct if the design were to include a flat display panel fused to glass (or sapphire) cover that curved at the edges.
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Apple’s iTunes Division Now Nearly Half the Size of Google’s Search Business [Mac Blog]
Apple’s quarterly earnings may be stagnant, but at least one division within the company is showing extraordinary growth. As noted by Asymco analyst Horace Dediu, Apple’s iTunes/Software/Services division grew by 34 percent year-over-year after taking into account the 70% Apple pays to developers for App Store purchases.
Dediu estimates that Apple’s gross revenues from the iTunes/Software/Services group are almost $7 billion per quarter, with a total of $23.5 billion for 2013. This includes growth categories such as third-party content (+46.6 percent), Services (+37 percent) and apps, which grew 105 percent year-over-year. This division is remarkable when compared to rival Google and other Fortune 500 companies.
Click for larger
Although iTunes/Software/Services are not usually included in a “sum-of-the-parts” total contributing to Apple’s overall enterprise value, the scale of volume and value of transactions is becoming harder to ignore.
To illustrate this, I plotted the history of gross iTunes revenues vs. Google’s search business.
On a yearly basis iTunes/Software/Services is nearly half of Google’s core business and growing slightly faster.
The iTunes “empire” of content and services would be ranked as number 130 in the Fortune 500 ranking of companies (slightly below Alcoa and above Eli Lilly).
Despite reporting its highest revenue ever and its best quarterly sales for the iPhone, iPad and Mac, Apple is still under fire for not being a growth company. In a recent interview with The Wall Street Journal, Tim Cook argued that Apple is still growing, just at a slower rate, and said the company has significant opportunities in both existing and new product categories. 
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Engadget giveaway: win an iPad Air courtesy of YesVideo!
Sometimes memory lane is paved in VHS and Beta bricks, other times it’s wound around a film reel. Either way, you should really flip those classic video moments up to the cloud already — it’s 2014. With Valentine’s Day rolling through, YesVideo — purveyors of digitized nostalgia — have taken it upon themselves to offer one Engadget reader the tools to do it. It’s ponied up a new iPad Air so you can watch those classic wedding, honeymoon or prom vids in Retina clarity on a slate that weighs little more than a pile of sweet nothings. YesVideo is also giving the winner a $100 gift certificate for its video digitizing and cloud storage services to help them expunge those old formats and make room for that ridiculous darling pink Valentine’s bear. You’ve got to be in it to win it, so head down to the Rafflecopter widget and take a chance. It might just be your lucky day.
The Rules:
- Entries are handled through the Rafflecopter widget above. Comments are no longer accepted as valid methods of entry. You may enter without any obligation to social media accounts, though we may offer them as opportunities for extra entries. Your email address is required so we can get in touch with you if you win, but it will not be given to third parties.
- Contest is open to all residents of the 50 States, the District of Columbia, and Canada (excluding Quebec), 18 or older! Sorry, we don’t make this rule (we hate excluding anyone), so direct your anger at our lawyers and contest laws if you have to be mad.
- Winners will be chosen randomly. One (1) winner will receive one (1) Apple iPad Air – 16GB, WiFi, Silver (MD788LL/A).
- If you are chosen, you will be notified by email. Winners must respond within three days of being contacted. If you do not respond within that period, another winner will be chosen. Make sure that the account you use to enter the contest includes your real name and a contact email or Facebook login. We do not track any of this information for marketing or third-party purposes.
- This unit is purely for promotional giveaway. YesVideo, Apple and Engadget / AOL are not held liable to honor warranties, exchanges or customer service.
- The full list of rules, in all its legalese glory, can be found here.
- Entries can be submitted until February 12th at 11:59PM ET. Good luck!
Filed under: Announcements, HD, Mobile, Alt
LG’s heart rate-tracking earbuds could arrive in the US soon
Back at CES, LG was talking up the Lifeband fitness wearable and a pair of heart rate-sensing earphones, but neglected to mention when we’d actually see them in stores. Thanks to the FCC, however, we can get a reasonable idea that the latter device will arrive shortly. Now that the Bluetooth earphones, packed with Valencell’s optical heart rate-monitoring technology, have been deemed fit for human consumption, it shouldn’t be too long before this gear is available to buy — and we can get back to wondering when the Nike-troubling Lifeband will make an appearance.
Filed under: Portable Audio/Video, Wearables, Mobile, LG
Source: FCC
HP will make some server operators pay extra to get firmware updates
Many PC users are used to getting free firmware updates, even after the warranty runs out. HP won’t be quite so generous with its server customers in the near future, though. Starting February 19th, the company will only dish out system-level firmware updates to ProLiant server owners if they’re either under warranty or have bought extra support. Those who don’t qualify will still get some peripheral updates and urgent patches, but nothing else. HP contends that the move helps it invest in future upgrades, and that it isn’t pushing companies into support contracts. However, customers aren’t buying the claims. They note that other server makers (including Dell and IBM) aren’t cutting off firmware updates, and they’ll still have to go through administrative hassles just to get bug fixes for older machines. The policy won’t affect those with regular PCs, but there’s concern that it sets a bad precedent — few want to pay extra just to get a computer that works as promised.
Via: Wall Street Journal, GigaOM
MediaTek sets sights on U.S. market with new octa-core chip
Taiwanese chipmaker MediaTek announced a new processor on Monday which could have big implications in the U.S. and European markets. Making its debut later this year and into 2015, the MediaTek MT6595 chip features eight cores, four of which employ ARM’s A17 design. More notably, however, these are the company’s first to offer LTE support. The goal is to bring about lower cost LTE smartphones; hopefully as low as $99-$199 with contracts.
The mobile processor space is a crowded one with Qualcomm, NVIDIA, and Intel already battling for market share. MediaTek has done a decent job as of late in other areas of the world and we invite more competition locally.
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Samsung teases new Touchwiz UI with Unpacked 2014 image
It’s no secret that Samsung has been in dire need of a new user interface on their smartphones. It’s big, it’s bulky, and it’s time for a change. Recently, they announced their Unpacked event for the first night of MWC, which will most likely be the official announcement of the Galaxy S5.
In a recent image regarding the new event, Samsung reveals some new icons, possibly hinting at a new UI on their upcoming flagship. Nine icons are listed, including Speed, Outdoor, Curiosity, Fun, Social, Style, Privacy, Fitness, and Life.
Also, if you look really closely, you may be able to find a few “5′s” in the image. Check back for more info on the Unpacked event and MWC!
Source: Samsung Tomorrow
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