Facebook CEO Zuckerberg Gets Restraining Order on Stalker

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Palo Alto, Calif. – Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg
has obtained a restraining order against a man alleged to be stalking him, harassing
both in person and on Facebook, TMZ reported. Zuckerberg alleges 31-year-old
Pradeep Manukonda has contacted him seeking financial support for his family,
and sent messages to Zuckerberg such as, "Please help me, then I am ready
to die for you. Please understand my pain." A judge has ordered Manukonda
to stay at least 300 yards away from Zuckerberg, his sister Randi and
girlfriend Priscilla Chan.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4lgell7
(TMZ)

Sprint's Kyocera Echo Smartphone Features Dual Touch-Screens

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
1

New York – Sprint (NYSE: S) has introduced the Kyocera Echo, which it
says is the first touchscreen mobile smartphone to feature dual screens. Slated
for release in the spring for $199 with a two-year service contract, the
Android-based Echo lets users combine the screens to view video on a display
that measures 4.7 inches. The dual screens are also utilized in a variety of
ways, for multitasking and enhanced interactivity with applications.

 

Related Links:
http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20030895-251.html

http://www.echobykyocera.com

EBay Paying $200 for Used iPhone 3GS, Other Smartphones

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

San Francisco – Online auction service eBay (NASD: EBAY) has launched a
limited offer at its electronics buyback service, which will provide a
guaranteed $200 to users wanting to unload their iPhone 3GS, Droid X, Evo 4G or
Galaxy S Vibrant, the Associated Press reports. The "Instant Sale"
promotion will also offer $200 to $450 for an AT&T iPhone 4.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4cux7mt
(AP)

Over $10 Million in Counterfeit iPods, iPhones Seized in L.A.

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Authorities in Los Angeles have seized over $10
million in counterfeit iPods, iPhones, Sony PSPs and other gadgets, the Los
Angeles Times reports. The authentic-looking goods were manufactured overseas,
in parts, and imported into the U.S. for assembly at a warehouse in downtown
L.A. The warehouse was uncovered as part of an investigation into stolen cargo.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4j7wcuw
(Los Angeles Times)

Virtual Dress-Up Site Stardoll Inks Product Deal With Mattel

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Nuremberg, Germany – Stardoll, an online dress-up game and
community site for teen and tween girls, on Tuesday announced a multi-year
licensing agreement with toymaker Mattel (NYSE: MAT), to develop a Stardoll product line
set to debut in the fall. Launched in 2006, Stardoll counts 92 million
registered users and 15 million unique monthly users. Mattel has previously
advertised its brands such as Barbie and Fashionistas on Stardoll.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/6je6pr7

http://www.stardoll.com/en

RealNetworks Lays Off 10% of Staff; Restructuring Completed

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Seattle – Media software and services provider RealNetworks (NASD: RNWK)
on Tuesday announced a third round of layoffs as part of an now-completed
restructuring, which will see 130 employees or about 10% of its total workforce
lose their jobs.

The company previously laid off 60 employees in March 2010,
and 85 more last June.

"Our plan to simplify, restructure and grow is on
track," said Bob Kimball, CEO of RealNetworks since the departure of
founding CEO Rob Glaser last year.

"While the process of restructuring is
always difficult, we made substantial progress in 2010 in simplifying our
organization and restructuring to reduce costs. With an efficient foundation in
place we are now focused intensely on growing RealNetworks."

The company
will take a restructuring charge of $3 million in the first quarter, and
expects the changes to save it $11 million annually.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4qk4ho9

Creative Mobile Labs Gets Funding to Link Writers, App Developers

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Creative Mobile Labs has received an
undisclosed amount of funding from Qualcomm and Creative Artists Agency (CAA),
and launched its venture aimed at connecting creative content producers with
mobile application developers, TechCrunch reported.

Qualcomm is investing via
its Qualcomm Services Labs unit.

The Los Angeles-based company will be led by
Matt Kozlov, formerly Sony Music’s vice president of new products and services.

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4snny9g
(TechCrunch)

http://tinyurl.com/4uhczmy
(Billboard)

http://creativemobilelabs.com

U.K. Court Refuses to Dismiss Suits Against File-Swappers

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

London – A British court has refused to allow anti-piracy
law firm ACS:Law and partner MediaCAT to drop copyright infringement claims
filed against 27 alleged file-swappers, despite the fact that both firms have
in recent weeks shut down operations and stopped doing business, TorrentFreak
reported.

The judge criticized the tactics of ACS:Law, finding fault in its
efforts to seek settlements with the alleged file-swappers in lieu of legal
proceedings.

Judge Birss QC also cited procedural errors, most notably the law
firm’s failure to include the actual copyright holders as parties to its claims.

That error has led to the court’s refusal of ACS:Law’s request to drop the
cases; copyright holders now have 14 days to join the lawsuits, or else they
will be dismissed.

"Whether it was intended to or not, I cannot imagine a
system better designed to create disincentives to test the issues in
court," Judge Birss QC wrote.

"Why take cases to court and test the
assertions when one can just write more letters and collect payments from a
proportion of the recipients?"

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4636b82
(TorrentFreak)

Report: E-reader Sales Revenues to Hit $8.2 Billion by 2014

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Boston – Global sales of e-reader devices, like Amazon’s (NASD: AMZN)
Kindle and Barnes & Noble’s (NYSE: BKS) Nook, are expected to grow from $1.9 billion
and 11 million unit sales in 2010, to $8.2 billion and nearly 72 million units
in 2014, according to a report from market research firm Yankee Group.

The
total worldwide installed base of e-readers is projected to double each year,
from 12 million in 2010 to 127 million in 2014.

Device sales are expected to
begin generating greater revenue in Asia-Pacific than in North America by 2014;
North America accounted for 57% of all e-reader sales revenue in 2010.

The
average price for e-readers is also expected to drop to $114 by 2014, down from
an average of $182 in 2010.

"Falling prices, growing content libraries and
color e-paper displays will persuade consumers around the world to snap up e-readers
like Amazon’s Kindle," said Yankee Group analyst Dmitriy Molchanov.

"Consumers
in China and India will be responsible for a growing proportion of worldwide
sales as Asia-Pacific’s middle class continues to grow."

 

Related Links:
http://tinyurl.com/4885qe7

http://www.yankeegroup.com

Sony Seeks YouTube, Twitter IDs in PS3 Jailbreak Lawsuit

By
Mark Hefflinger
-
0

Los Angeles – Sony (NYSE: SNE) has asked a federal judge to compel Google and Twitter
to turn over the identities of users believed to be involved with sharing code
that can be used to "jailbreak" its PlayStation 3 video game console,
so it can play pirated software, Wired.com reports.

According to court
documents, Sony is seeking the personal details of YouTube and Twitter users
"to determine the identities of third parties hosting and distributing"
the code, so it can serve them with legal papers.

The requests from Sony come
as part of its case against 21-year-old hacker George Hotz, who the company
sued for violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), after he
published a video on YouTube detailing how to jailbreak the PlayStation 3 last
month.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston has already ordered Hotz to take down
the YouTube video and related jailbreak code from his personal website.

Sony
further believes Twitter users including @KaKaRoToKS, @gnihsub, @pytey,
@bl4sty, @marcan42 and @fail0verflow were responsible for distributing PS3
jailbreak code.

A hearing on Sony’s expansion of its lawsuit to seek the identities of YouTube and Twitter users is tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, according to Wired.

 

Related Links:
http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/02/sony-lawsuit-factory/

http://tinyurl.com/4um6q4c
(DMW previous coverage)

1...1,0311,0321,033...1,458Page 1,032 of 1,458