Amazon executive gets a taste of his own medicine in heated trademark dispute
Whoever said that revenge was sweet probably wasn’t thinking about the smell, but that can be sweet too. UK soap and cosmetics company Lush has decided to get its own back on Christopher North, the head of Amazon’s UK division, after some fisticuffs concerning the latter’s search practices. Currently, Lush doesn’t sell its wares via Amazon, but search for the name and you’ll be directed to misleadingly similar products — a move that even the UK’s High Court has frowned upon. Despite the ruling, however, Amazon has refused to change, prompting Lush co-founder Mark Constantine to trademark “Christopher North” for a new line of cosmetics. It’s not available on shelves just yet, giving Amazon a chance to back down, but it’s possible that we could soon be showering in a product that’s wittily described as “rich, thick and full of it.”
Via: The Guardian
Source: IPO
Verizon’s More Everything plan takes on T-Mobile with increased data, unlimited international messaging from the US
Yesterday Verizon hinted that something “More” was coming, and that’s just what the carrier detailed this morning. Its new More Everything plans will replace current Share Everything plans, offering some users reduced monthly fees and throwing in some extras to lure customers attracted by T-Mobile’s Uncarrier policies.
As reported yesterday, the new plans offer reduced monthly fees for those who participate in Verizon’s Edge early-upgrade program. If your data plan has 8 gigs or less, you’ll get $10 off, while those with 10GB or more will get a $20 break. For customers with multiple lines, each smartphone will get this discount. Admittedly, this is the new More Everything plan’s real value proposition, so if you aren’t part of Edge, you won’t benefit from these discounts. (Head past the break for a chart that breaks down the price differences.) Additionally, as promised, some plans will also see doubled data caps for no additional charge, though this will only apply to the lowest-tier options including 500MB and 1GB.
Apart from reducing plan costs for Edge customers, some other new features seem like direct responses to T-Mobile’s Uncarrier strategy. While John Legere introduced a Simple Choice international texting plan, for instance, Verizon is now offering More Everything customers unlimited texting to anywhere in the world — from the US, that is. Verizon is throwing in a few extras, too; each More Everything line will get 25GB of Verizon Cloud storage. And, finally, one tidbit we didn’t know about: for an extra $5 a month, you can add a security feature called Family Base. The same goes for a new International Long Distance Value Plan, with rates from $0.01 per minute. The carrier will be walking through the news on a call this morning — we’ll be back with any additional info as we hear it.
Filed under: Cellphones, Networking, Mobile, Verizon
Source: Verizon Wireless
StreamNation copies all your cloud media into a central hub
Joining multiple cloud services is great for maxing out your storage, but keeping on top of all them can be a chore. StreamNation‘s latest update may help you untangle all that by allowing you to copy your media from Dropbox, Flickr, Instagram, Google Drive and others into its own app. Content can be directly uploaded from those programs straight through their APIs without tying up your connection. Once copied over, you can stream or share those files with anyone who’s also signed up to the service or even lend them out. To fit all of those files in, StreamNation will give you 5GB of storage for free, or more if you’re willing to invite your contacts to join and jump through other hoops. Otherwise, you plans start at $4 a month for 100GB, and go up to $19 month for unlimited storage.
We tried the iOS and web versions of StreamNation ourselves, and found it a breeze to add local files or media from services like Google+ or Dropbox. However, since it creates a second copy of your cloud files, you may need as much space on StreamNation as all your other services combined. That likely fits well with the company’s plans to sign you up to a paid service, but may be a non-starter if you’re looking for free storage. Still, if the convenience of being able to share any file from a central location outweighs those drawbacks, you can now sign up at the source.
Filed under: Internet, Software
Source: StreamNation
Canon’s burly PowerShot G1 X Mark II is a pleasure to use (hands-on)
This week, we met Canon’s G1 X Mark II. Judging by its nomenclature, we expected a straightforward update to 2012′s PowerShot flagship. Instead, this year’s model is only like its predecessor when it comes to size — the camera’s specifications and design have been refined significantly. There’s no longer an optical viewfinder and the 3-inch touchscreen tilts up and down instead of out to the side, but otherwise, the camera’s been modified for the better, with a more powerful 24-120mm f/2-3.9 zoom lens, a new 1.5-inch sensor and a faster DIGIC 6 processor. That powerful combo yields a much more capable point-and-shoot — with the Mark II, the G1 X can finally justify its $800 price.
We caught up with the Mark II at the annual CP+ trade show in Yokohama, Japan, and while we weren’t entirely convinced of the camera’s practicality based on press photos and a spec sheet, a few minutes of shooting helped seal the deal. This G1 X refresh was comfortable to use and very responsive, from the speedy zoom toggle to the super-fast focusing. The LCD was quite sharp and bright, and while we missed having an optical viewfinder to play with, the boosted functionality in other departments made the tradeoff worthwhile. (Canon’s also planning to offer an external electronic viewfinder — pictured above — which seems like a reasonable compromise.) We did struggle with focusing in macro mode, just as we did with the original X, but the lens performed quite nicely with subjects a bit more in the distance, so if you’re not planning to shoot close-ups of flowers, you should be fine. Video shooters beware: while there is support for 1080/30p captures, there’s no microphone input or headphone jack.
In this price range, we’re still inclined to recommend Sony’s RX100 Mark II, despite its slightly smaller 1-inch sensor. We haven’t had a chance to review full-res images from the Canon, but based on the Sony camera’s superior focusing and compact size, it’s likely the better choice for many photographers. That model’s available now for $700, while the $800 G1 X is expected in stores this April. Check out our hands-on video for a closer look.
Mat Smith contributed to this report.
Images of Apple’s First Brazilian Retail Store Surface Ahead of Opening [Mac Blog]
Photos of Apple’s first Brazilian retail store in Rio de Janeiro have surfaced by way of website MacMagazine [Google Translate]. The store, which is located at the VillageMall luxury shopping center, is notable for taking on a unique “pavilion” look with a single floor and a curved glass exterior. Unlike most Apple Stores, the location is based on the concept of having two large separate spaces, with one side dedicated entirely to product testing and the other focusing on accessory sales and services.
The store’s opening was first announced by Apple on its website last week, as Brazilian news site The Globe [Google Translate] also interviewed Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer about the location. Oppenheimer stated during the interview that Brazil is an “increasingly important market” for the company and that Apple was aiming to open its first Brazilian store ahead of the FIFA World Cup being held in Rio during the months of June and July.
Oppenheimer also confirmed plans for more stores in the country eventually, stating that Apple sees “great opportunity” in the region. Brazil has been a tough market for the company as prices on iOS devices in the country have been steep due to high import taxes on electronics. Apple cut the price of the iPhone 4 and 4s in Brazil back in early 2013, and just recently announced plans to continue selling the low-cost iPhone 4.
The first Brazilian Apple Store will open on Saturday, February 15 at 11 A.M.
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Verizon Launches New ‘More Everything’ Plans with Doubled Monthly Data, 25GB of Cloud Storage [iOS Blog]
Verizon today introduced its new “MORE Everything” plans, which offers up to double the monthly data for customers while also implementing doubled bandwidth, a complimentary 25GB of cloud storage, and unlimited international messaging.
The carrier is also offering discounts for customers enrolled in its Verizon Edge early upgrade program, as those with monthly data plans of 8GB of data or less receiving a line discount of $10, while others will receive a $20 line discount if their plans include 10GB of data or more.
The move comes in the midst of a marketing war between U.S. cellular carriers. Recently, AT&T launched lower-cost Mobile Share Value Plans for families and announced a new promotion to offer up to $450 in credits to customers that switch to it from T-Mobile. Meanwhile, T-Mobile launched its own program offering up to $350 in credits to customers that switch to its network.
Verizon also posted its results for Q4 2013 last month, stating that it had activated 8.8 million smartphones, down from 9.8 million smartphones in the year ago quarter. Notably, Verizon failed to announce sales numbers for the iPhone on its network, marking the first time that the carrier has done so since it began selling Apple’s device in February 2011.
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Fact or Fiction: Common Misperceptions of Database Encryption
In a recent blog on facts and fiction in database encryption, the author attempts to debunk some common misperceptions that occur. Here we round them up for your consideration.
Fiction:
Encryption is rendered null and void, if an authorized user account itself is compromised.
Rationale:
Just because someone has compromised data (e.g., lost a USB drive containing PII), that doesn’t mean that they or anyone who finds the device has the credentials or know how to decrypt the data. Both the database and the encryption key/application user credentials for this must be compromised, in order to make such a pat statement accurate.
Scenario One:
An individual user creates a key in MS SQL Server, they then protect it with a password or encrypt it with another. Even if someone compromises the database account with the password “Password1”, they still have not obtained the decryption keys. Potential hackers would have to gain access to the key or guess the password. And given that there are likely to be many users’ keys within the context of the query operations, it would take several keys before the correct one is found.
Scenario Two:
In the case of IBM DB2, the database requires one set of credentials, while encryption key access uses another set. Database access requires both. This is particularly the case with Transparent Encryption. Once a user is validated to access the database, their session is supplied with the encryption key and then encryption operations are mapped to relevant/issued queries.
Fiction: encrypting data in any layer (except the application layer) renders your data insecure.
Explanation:
From the standpoint of protecting data in a compromised database, this can be true. However, within the application layer, encryption credentials are safe. Application users can expect the same type of opacity as Transparent Encryption provides database users, so if an application account is breached, it will bypass encryption credentials and access a portion of the data stored in the database.
Sources:
http://blog.formstack.com/2013/3-facts-about-database-encryption/
Comcast and Time Warner Cable’s $45 billion merger puts 30 million customers under one roof
It’s official: Confirming the leaks from last night, Comcast has announced it will acquire Time Warner Cable. This combination of the country’s #1 and #2 cable companies will stretch from coast to coast, as TWC controls markets like New York City, LA and Texas, while Comcast strongholds include Philadelphia and Washington DC. TV isn’t the only medium in play either, since as Gigaom points out, the two companies together cover not only 30 million+ cable TV subscribers, but also around the same number of internet connections, and about 15 million phone lines. So, what’s the likely impact for customers as a result of the deal? For several reasons the answer right away is “not much.”
It will take time for the combo to gain regulatory approval from the FCC and Justice Department, like the lengthy acquisition process we saw when Comcast snatched up NBCUniversal a few years ago. Despite that, both parties expect the deal to close by the end of this year. As part of the announcement, Comcast says it’s “prepared to divest systems serving approximately 3 million managed subscribers,” and expects to gain about 8 million net subscribers with the move. Comcast is still trying to roll out its new X1 TV platform including cloud DVR access, while Time Warner Cable brings its own setup, complete with StartOver and LookBack VOD features that let viewers go back in time without a DVR.
Just like Charter with its failed bid for TWC, Comcast thinks it can negotiate better rates with the studios and channels that provide it content with a larger customer base. Another benefit is the ability to efficiently deliver highly profitable high-speed internet and phone service, although we’d be shocked to see our bills go down at all as a result. Bloomberg reports Charter and Comcast had been working on a combined offer for TWC, but that’s rumored to have fallen apart last week. Surprisingly, TWC has an even lower reputation with customers than the much-maligned home of Xfinity, so in that respect, perhaps things can’t get much worse?
The other issue comes back to the control of internet access, with network neutrality and metered service hanging in the balance — while Comcast has experimented with various levels of data caps, Time Warner Cable has not, and the two also differ in their treatment of HBO Go on Roku and Samsung devices. Several conference calls are scheduled today so the companies can make their case — public interest groups like Free Press are already opposing the move — we’ll be listening intently for explanations on why moving from “cartel partners” to a single offering is a good thing for anyone.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet, HD
Source: Comcast, Time Warner Cable
Netflix’s first taste of ‘Star Wars’ coming with exclusive ‘Clone Wars’ series in March
Sure, Netflix has a multi-billion dollar deal with Disney, but Star Wars content has been noticeably missing from its sizeable catalog. That’s about to change, however, after the streaming giant announced it has signed an exclusive agreement to bring the final series of The Clone Wars, dubbed “The Lost Missions,” to all 44 million of its subscribers on March 7th. Netflix says the 13-episode season will be accompanied by all five director’s cuts of the previous five Clone Wars seasons and the feature film, making it the only subscription service to offer such content. Netflix has slowly added more Disney content in recent months, but it’ll ramp up significantly when first-run live-action and animated films come to the service in 2016. There’s no word on whether we’ll see the Star Wars feature films later down the line — we’ll make sure to enjoy the multiple new Marvel mini-series while we wait.
Filed under: Home Entertainment, Internet
Source: Star Wars
Meizu MWatch concept may be the most impressive smartwatch concept Yet
Smartwatches and wearables in general are definitely in the technology area to be keeping an eye on this year, but while there are plenty of impressive devices showing their faces now and then, few have truly captured our imagination of what a smartwatch can truly be or look like. A Senior Manager at Meizu has other ideas, today unveiling a so-called Meizu MWatch concept, something which I think certainly looks close to where smartwatches may end up in the future, or at least, where we want them to end up.
Meizu says the MWatch would have a fully flexible 2.4-inch resolution screen, a metal bracelet, 5MP camera, NFC, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and significant app support. While I’ve never been a fan of watches with cameras on them, this Meizu MWatch concept is definitely an impressive one, though Meizu has made no comment on whether they’ll ever put this into actual development.
Meizu, one of China’s most successful Android phone manufacturers, has been on top of their game lately, particularly with their smartphone releases like the Meizu MX3 which we got to take a look at CES 2014. It’s almost painful to see all these smartwatch concepts come out and tease us with what could be possible, but perhaps one of these days, someone will listen and make the smartwatch that we’ve all be dreaming of.
What do you think about this Meizu MWatch concept? Let us know your opinion on the comments below.
Source: GizChina via Phones Review
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