iOS-like notifications coming to iCloud web apps

With the release of the new iPhone 5 and the accompanying new operating system, iOS 6, Apple is working to make the overall user experience iOS-like. In the new iOS 6, we have seen a lot of iCloud integration. The new photo sharing service with “like” and “comments” like those on Facebook, the Cuperitno based tech giant is working hard on combining social network, mobile telephony, business, and personal lives together, giving one unified service to its customers.
In an attempt to make this happen, the company has now updated the web apps on its iCloud service to reflect the look and feel iOS, its mobile operating system found on all of its post PC devices.
If you have an iCloud account, which you certainly will if you have an iPad or an iPhone, you will now be able to see the changes when you access it from a browser. There is a new notifications bar just like the one in iOS which will alert you of new incoming notification, be it a new email, event reminder, or the like.

The little badges on app icons indicating the number of notifications on that particular app is nothing new to us. We have seen such badges from the very first version of the operating system. Now though, the company has taken it a step further and has brought the same notification system to the iCloud web apps as well.
Now, you will see those badges indicating the number of unread emails, or the number of meetings you have scheduled for today, etc., even in the web interface. Well, how do you get those? Simple, just keep a tab or a window of your browser open with the iCloud website loaded and signed in. Keeping the window open is necessary to get these real time notifications. If you call this a drawback of the service, most real time browser based web apps also require to be kept open for real time notifications to work. So you will just have to get used to it.
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More than 130 escape from Mexican prison on U.S. border

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - More than 130 inmates escaped through a tunnel from a Mexican prison on the border with the United States in one of the worst jailbreaks the country's beleaguered penal system has suffered in recent years.
Homero Ramos, attorney general of the northern state of Coahuila, said 132 inmates of the prison in the city of Piedras Negras had got out through the tunnel in an old carpentry workshop, then cut the wire surrounding the complex.
Corrupt prison officials may have helped the inmates escape, said Jorge Luis Moran, chief of public security in Coahuila, adding that U.S. authorities had been alerted to help capture the fugitives if they try to cross the border.
The jailbreak is a reminder of the challenges that await Enrique Pena Nieto, the incoming president, who has pledged to reduce crime in the country after six years of increased gang-related violence under President Felipe Calderon.
Many of Mexico's prisons are overcrowded and struggle to counter the influence of criminal gangs that can use their financial muscle to corrupt those in charge.
Ramos said that the state government of Coahuila was offering a reward of 200,000 pesos ($15,700) for information leading to the capture of each fugitive.
The Piedras Negras complex housed a total of 734 inmates, and the tunnel through which the prisoners escaped was about 1.2 meters (four feet) wide, 2.9 meters (9-1/2 feet) deep and seven meters (23 feet) long, Ramos said.
MASS BREAKOUTS
There have been numerous mass breakouts in the last few years from Mexico's penal system, and prison officials are frequently accused of complicity with drug cartels.
At the end of 2010, more than 140 inmates escaped a prison in the border city of Nuevo Laredo. This February, at least 44 people died in a fight between rival gangs at an overcrowded prison in northern Mexico.
Pena Nieto has pledged to reform the prisons, though experts say he will struggle to make an impact unless he combines this with root-and-branch reform of the justice system.
Pena Nieto, 46, of the centrist Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), will take office in December. The PRI was widely accused of corruption during its long rule between 1929-2000, and he has promised to break with that checkered past.
Northern Mexico has been hit particularly hard by violence stemming from brutal turf wars between drug gangs that have overshadowed Calderon's conservative administration.
Calderon has used the military to try and crack down on the gangs, and has captured or killed many of the top drug lords.
But his efforts have come at a price.
Gang-related violence has surged on Calderon's watch, and fighting between cartels and their clashes with security forces have claimed more than 55,000 lives over the past six years.
Last week the Mexican Navy captured one of the biggest kingpins active near the U.S.-Mexican border, the leader of the Gulf Cartel, Jorge Costilla, known as "El Coss.
Analysts forecast this would lead to an increase in criminal activity in northern Mexico as rival gangs fought for control of lucrative smuggling routes in the area. ($1 = 12.7486 Mexican pesos) (Reporting by Lizbeth Diaz and Armando Tovar; Writing by Dave Graham; Editing by Eric Walsh and Christopher Wilson)
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New dark energy telescope snaps first cosmic photos

A new telescope camera in Chile focused on mysterious dark energy has taken its first photos of extremely distant galaxies.
The images represent the first observations — called "first light" — of an instrument called the Dark Energy Camera that was eight years in the works.
"The achievement of first light through the Dark Energy Camera begins a significant new era in our exploration of the cosmic frontier," James Siegrist, associate director of science for high energy physics at the U.S. Department of Energy, said in a statement. "The results of this survey will bring us closer to understanding the mystery of dark energy, and what it means for the universe."
Scientists think dark energy makes up 74 percent of the universe, yet they have very little idea what it is. For now, it is the name given to the force that's counteracting gravity, causing the expansion of the universe to accelerate. [Photos: Dark Energy Camera]
The Dark Energy Camera is designed to study this puzzle by mapping out the distant universe to more accurate pin down its current and past expansion rates.
"The Dark Energy Survey will help us understand why the expansion of the universe is accelerating, rather than slowing due to gravity," said Brenna Flaugher, project manager and scientist at Fermilab. "It is extremely satisfying to see the efforts of all the people involved in this project finally come together."
The new instrument — a 570-megapixel camera — took its first photos on Sept. 12, taking aim at a portion of the southern sky from atop a mountain in the Chilean Andes. The Dark Energy Camera was built at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory (Fermilab) in Batavia, Ill., and was installed on the Victor M. Blanco telescope at the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory, the southern branch of the U.S. National Optical Astronomy Observatory (NOAO).
Each photo by the camera can capture up to 100,000 galaxies as far away as 8 billion light-years.
"We're very excited to bring the Dark Energy Camera online and make it available for the astronomical community through NOAO's open access telescope allocation," said Chris Smith, director of the Cerro-Tololo Inter-American Observatory. "With it, we provide astronomers from all over the world a powerful new tool to explore the outstanding questions of our time, perhaps the most pressing of which is the nature of dark energy."
In December, after the camera is tested, it will begin the Dark Energy Survey, the largest galaxy survey ever undertaken, by mapping one-eighth of the sky. Researchers estimate the survey should spot 300 million galaxies, 100,000 galaxy clusters and 4,000 exploding stars, called supernovas.
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French court backs UK royals on topless photos

NANTERRE, France (AP) — A French court ordered a magazine publisher to hand over all digital copies of topless photos of the Duchess of Cambridge within 24 hours and blocked further publication of what it called a "brutal display" of William and Kate's private moments.
Under the ruling Tuesday, the publisher of the French gossip magazine Closer faces a daily fine of €10,000 ($13,100) if it fails to hand over the photos featured in Friday's "world exclusive" issue of Prince William's wife Kate. The photos were taken without authorization during the royals' vacation at a private residence in southern France.
The court also handed out an injunction to stop Closer France from republishing the offending pictures — including on its website and its tablet app — as well as re-selling them.
A statement Tuesday from the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge said they "welcome the judge's ruling." Maud Sobel, a lawyer for the royal couple, described it as "a wonderful decision."
"We've been vindicated," Sobel said.
Although the decision was seen as a victory for the royals, it only affects the 14 partially clad snapshots of Kate that were in Friday's edition. It's unclear if Closer France possesses more pictures — but if they did they could technically go on and publish them, as the ruling has no power over that.
In any case, if the royal family had hoped to block international publication, it's already too late. An Italian publication "Chi," published dozens even more racy photos of the duchess in a 26-page spread. An Irish newspaper editor, meanwhile, was suspended after he chose to publish some of the topless photos in the "Independent Star."
Tuesday's ruling only affects the French magazine branch of Mondadori, Closer's publisher, which also faces a €2,000 ($2,600) fine.
"These snapshots which showed the intimacy of a couple, partially naked on the terrace of a private home, surrounded by a park several hundred meters from a public road, and being able to legitimately assume that they are protected from passers-by, are by nature particularly intrusive," the French ruling decreed. "(They) were thus subjected to this brutal display the moment the cover appeared."
The photos showed Kate relaxing at a private villa in Provence, in southern France, sometimes without her bikini top and, in one case, her suit bottom partially pulled down to apply sunscreen.
The case is the first of two parallel legal actions by the British royals. In a reflection of just how intent they are on protecting their privacy — and likely dissuading paparazzi from future ventures — St. James's Palace said family lawyers would be filing a criminal complaint against 'x' — the unnamed photographer who took the pictures.
The criminal lawsuit is thought to be aimed at flushing out the mystery photographer's name and — by targeting the source — allow the royal couple to stop the photos spreading further around the world. If the criminal case goes ahead, 'x' could face a large fine and up to one year in prison.
Christopher Mesnooh, an American lawyer who works in Paris, said French law strongly protects privacy rights but tabloids have their own reasons for publication, even when they might violate the law.
"It appears to give satisfaction entirely to the royal couple," Mesnooh said of Tuesday's ruling.
But he added the amount of damages is nowhere near enough to dissuade the publication of similar photos.
"Damages are no more than €50,000 ($65,270) under French law... If you sell 100,000 copies, you're ahead of the game," he noted.
The ruling listed the royal couple by their full names: William Arthur Philip Louis Mountbatten-Windsor and Catherine Elizabeth Middleton.
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Afghan militants say blast that killed 12 was revenge for film

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan militants claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a suicide bomb attack on a minivan carrying foreign workers that killed 12 people saying it was retaliation for a film mocking the Prophet Mohammad.
A short film made with private funds in the United States and posted on the Internet has ignited days of demonstrations in the Arab world, Africa, Asia and in some Western countries.
In a torrent of violence blamed on the film last week, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans were killed in an attack in Benghazi and U.S. and other foreign embassies were stormed in cities in Asia, Africa and the Middle East by furious Muslims. At least nine other people were killed.
On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew up a minivan near the airport in the Afghan capital and a spokesman for the Hezb-e-Islami insurgent group claimed responsibility.
"A woman wearing a suicide vest blew herself up in response to the anti-Islam video," said militant spokesman Zubair Sediqqi. Police said the woman may have been driving a Toyota Corolla car rigged with explosives, which she triggered.
But the claim will raise fears that anger over the film will feed into deteriorating security as the United States and other Western countries try to protect their forces from a rash of so-called insider attacks by Afghan colleagues.
Thousands of protesters clashed with police in Kabul the previous day, burning cars and hurling rocks at security forces in the worst outbreak of violence since February rioting over the inadvertent burning of Korans by U.S. soldiers.
The protesters in Kabul and several other Asian cities have vented their fury over the film at the United States, blaming it for what they see as an attack on Islam.
The outcry saddles U.S. President Barack Obama with an unexpected foreign policy headache as he campaigns for re-election in November, even though his administration has condemned the film as reprehensible and disgusting.
In response to the violence in Benghazi and elsewhere last week, the United States has sent ships, extra troops and special forces to protect U.S. interests and citizens in the Middle East, while a number of its embassies have evacuated staff and are on high alert for trouble.
Despite Obama's efforts early in his tenure to improve relations with the Arab and Muslim world, the violence adds to a host of problems including the continued U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear program, the Syrian civil war and the fall-out from the Arab Spring revolts.
PROTESTS, BANS
The renewed protests on Monday dashed any hopes that the furor over the film might fade despite an appeal over the weekend from the senior cleric in Saudi Arabia, home to Islam's holiest shrines, for calm.
Afghan police said among the 12 dead in the Kabul bomb attack were eight Russians and South Africans, mostly working for a foreign air charter company named ACS Ltd.
It followed a bloody weekend during which six members of Afghanistan's NATO-led alliance, including four Americans, were killed in suspected insider attacks carried out by Afghans turning on their allies.
Protesters also took to the streets in Pakistan and Indonesia on Monday and thousands also marched in Beirut, where a Hezbollah leader accused U.S. spy agencies of being behind events that have unleashed a wave of anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim and Arab world.
Authorities in Bangladesh have blocked the YouTube website indefinitely to stop people seeing the video. Pakistan and Afghanistan have also blocked the site.
Iran has condemned the film as offensive and vowed to pursue those responsible for making it. Iranian officials have demanded the United States apologize to Muslims, saying the film is only the latest in a series of Western insults aimed at Islam's holy figures.
The identity of those directly responsible for the film remains unclear. Clips posted online since July have been attributed to a man named Sam Bacile, which two people connected with the film have said was probably an alias.
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, 55, a Coptic Christian widely linked to the film in media reports, was questioned in California on Saturday by U.S. authorities investigating possible violations of his probation for a bank fraud conviction.
(Reporting by various bureaus; Writing by Robert Birsel)
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iPhone Thefts: ‘Apple Picking’ on the Rise

Cities across the country are on alert as officials warn of an uptick in stolen Apple products, dubbed “Apple picking.”

According to the Federal Communications Commission, 30-40 percent of robberies in several major cities involve cell phones, including 38 percent in Washington, D.C. and 40 percent in New York City.

Las Vegas police broke up two rings of cell phone thieves on September 6.

“What this started with, we had a normal report of a theft. Somebody stole someone’s cell phone,” said Bill Cassell of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Dept. “Our officers started investigating and realized there were a lot of other similar instances.”

The LVMPD connected these robberies because they all seemed to target similar victims.

“They were all targeting people in fast food restaurants, coffee shops, people walking on street,” Cassell said. “The victims all had a similar profile too. They were all focused on their cells phones, inattentive of their surroundings and looked like they wouldn’t put up a fight.”

The thieves, many of them juveniles, would either ask to borrow the victim’s cell phone and run off with it or simply grab it from their unsuspecting victims.

“We tracked down some of the individuals involved and in doing this, realized there were two groups of people doing the same crime the same way. But they weren’t associated,” said Cassell.

One of the groups was charged with 14 cell phone thefts. The other has been charged with seven thefts, but according to Officer Cassell, the investigation of 20-30 thefts is still on-going.

The recent increase in cell phone thefts has prompted action from both the government and major wireless carriers.

In April, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski, along with Washington, D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced new initiatives to combat the thefts.

Genachowski announced the creation and implementation of a database to prevent the use of stolen smartphones. With this new system, which is expected to launch in the coming months, a cell phone user can report their device stolen and their carrier will block the device from being used.

Officials believe that the registry will cut cell phone thefts. Even more dangerous is the threat of stolen personal information stored on smartphones.

“That’s what we’re most worried about, the tremendous amount of information these people are stealing,” Cassell said.

Beyond monetary consequences, many people are injured or even killed during robberies.

Hwangbum Yang, 26, a chef at a restaurant in Manhattan’s Museum of Modern Art, was shot and killed during a cell phone robbery on his way home from work in April.

In 2011, 17-year-old Prince Watson was charged with the murder of Sally Katona-King, 68, when he shoved her down the stairs in an attempt to steal her iPhone, according to ABC Chicago affiliate WLS.

And device thefts are not limited to the street or coffee shops.

Last week, a California man was accused of driving his SUV through an Apple store in Temecula and stealing thousands of dollars worth of display items. The investigation is still on-going

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App of the Week: YouTube for iOS Runs on iPhone, iPod

App Name: YouTube

Price: Free

Available Platforms: iOS (new iPhone App), iPod Touch, and Android

What does this app do? With this week’s announcement of Apple’s iPhone 5 and iOS 6, it’s fitting that Google should follow suit with something new too. It released YouTube in app form for the iPhone and iPod touch. (If you hadn’t heard, Apple will stop pre-loading Google Maps and YouTube in iOS 6.)

Developed by YouTube engineers, the latest app comes with thousands of more videos, according to a blog post by Andrey Doronichev, head of YouTube mobile.

Log in with your email account, and use a tab at in the upper left hand corner to toggle between the YouTube home feed and your own collection of channels. With one swipe to the left, you can view channels you subscribe to, or, if you are a newcomer, peruse the home feed, which you can adjust to show highlights or uploads only.

Tapping on a video will reveal a few familiar icons on the screen allowing you to like or dislike a video, and view it in full screen mode. You can also comment on or share your selection using Google+, Twitter, Facebook, or email.

Some additional functions allow you to add all of those “cute-cat-doing-funny-things” videos to playlists or favorites, and flag it to watch later.

Is it easy to set up? Yes. Although the app will not come built into iOS 6 as it did with previous versions of Apple’s operating software, the standalone version downloads in seconds. Log in with your email account and go!

Should I try it? When you think of online video sharing sites, likely you think of YouTube before anything else. The app’s channel guides, sharing capability and full screen mode make viewing videos on your mobile device effortless.

One drawback? Google now allows ads to appear on the screen. That aside, this is a very clean and easy-to-navigate app.

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You Can Now Pre-Order the iPhone 5

If it is 3:01 a.m. ET or past that time, you can now pre-order the iPhone 5 from Apple, Verizon, AT&T, or Sprint’s websites. No matter where you shop, the 16GB model will start at $199 with a two-year contract. Apple will offer an unlocked version of the phone — one that isn’t tied to a carrier — for more money but it isn’t expected to go on sale today.

While it will be late at night for many, lots of people are expected to get up in the wee hours of the morning, fork over their credit card numbers and order the phones. The iPhone will actually ship to those who order in one week, on Friday, Sept. 21st.

The new phone, which was announced earlier this week, has a number of new features, including a larger 4-inch display, LTE, a faster processor, improved camera and a new design. You can check out our guide to the top new features here.

Even before the phone was announced, iPhone owners began to sell their phones on sites like Gazelle and Glyde. According to those sites, iPhone sales have been at an all-time high over the last few weeks as people prepared to buy the new phone. Analysts predict that Apple could sell as many as six to 10 million iPhone 5s before the end of September.

Apple and the cellular carriers will begin selling the phone in stores on Sept. 21st at 8 a.m. ET. And in typical Apple product launch fashion, lines are expected.

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Google buys cybersecurity startup VirusTotal

(Reuters) - Google Inc has bought startup VirusTotal, picking up a fledgling but widely used cybersecurity industry player in a move that could beef up protection for its Internet services.

The acquisition of VirusTotal, which aggregates warnings on submitted files and websites from most antivirus solutions, including Intel Corp's McAfee and Symantec Corp, could significantly shore up the search giant's ability to weed out infectious content from Gmail, social network Google+ and even the pages it shows search users.

VirusTotal operates by accepting requests for virus checks, running every available protection software on the questioned document or pages, then distributing the results to security vendors.

Because those results include the documents and websites submitted, the service is considered a valuable source of information by the security industry about emergent threats and potential targets.

"VirusTotal will continue to operate independently, maintaining our partnerships with other antivirus companies and security experts," the startup said in a blogpost announcing the acquisition.

"We've worked hard to ensure that the services we offer continually improve. But as a small, resource-constrained company, that can sometimes be challenging."

Google did not disclose the amount it paid, and did not respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Joseph Menn and Edwin Chan; Editing by Gary Hill)


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China's Alibaba to pass Amazon, eBay in transaction value: executive

(Reuters) - China's largest e-commerce firm, Alibaba Group, expects to sell merchandise this year worth more than that sold by Amazon Inc and eBay combined, Alibaba's chief strategy officer said on Saturday.

The company is aiming for 3 trillion yuan ($473 billion) in annual transaction value from its Taobao e-commerce units in the next 5 to 7 years, Zeng Ming told reporters.

Alibaba's founder, Jack Ma, said last year that Taobao's transaction value for 2012 would reach 1 trillion yuan. The company has not said what percentage of online sales come from Taobao, but it is the crown jewel of the Alibaba Group and its profit engine.

"From their annual reports we did a rough calculation and we were similar last year but we are growing faster than them this year, so this year we are probably larger than them," Zeng said of Amazon and eBay, America's top online retailer and auction site.

"The gap is just going to get bigger and bigger when we grow faster," he said.

In May, Alibaba ended more than two years of often fractious negotiations with Yahoo Inc to buy back much of a stake held by the U.S. web giant and, crucially, reduce the voting power of foreign stakeholders including Yahoo and Japan's Softbank Corp.

As part of the deal with Yahoo, there are incentives for Alibaba to list its shares by December 2015. The company has said there is no timetable for a listing. This year, Alibaba took its Alibaba.com unit private.

(Reporting by Melanie Lee; Writing by John Ruwitch; Editing by Robert Birsel)

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Apple sets September 12 event, latest iPhone expected

(Reuters) - Apple Inc distributed invitations to an event in San Francisco on September 12, setting the stage for what is widely expected to be the release of the iPhone 5.

The typically cryptic invitation said "It's almost here", sported a number 12 - corresponding to the date of the event - and cast a large shadow of the number 5, a clue that the fifth version of the popular smartphone could be in the pipeline.

Apple's iPhone launches are among the most-watched events on the tech industry calendar. The latest version of the company's main product -- generating more than half its revenue -- may sport a larger, higher-end screen, sources have said.

The new screen could measure 4 inches from corner to corner, one source has said, an increase from the 3.5-inch display that has been held constant since the smartphone began selling in 2007 and revolutionized the mobile industry.

Some analysts say the larger screen may be a response to rival Samsung Electronics, whose larger, Google Android phones have helped it become the world's biggest smartphone maker.

Speculation had also arisen in past months that the company might offer details about a smaller version of its iPad, but the emailed invitation offered no hint of that on Tuesday.

The event will take place at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, the preferred venue for the unveiling of past products such as the iPad.

The new iPhone will hit store shelves in time for the crucial holiday season. Shares in the company edged 0.6 percent higher to $669.44.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Tim Dobbyn)

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Dead Space 3 Release Date Announced

EA has announced that Dead Space 3 will come out for PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in Europe on February 8th and in the US on February 5th.Visceral also took to the stage at EA's press conference to reveal that weapons crafting, one of the most requested features, will appear in the franchise's third installment. Isaac will scavenge for materials and be able to make new instruments of death at workbenches. Imagine a rivet chain-gun combined with a grenade launcher or a plasma gun combined with a scope. All the better to kill necromorphs with.

Visceral is even asking fans of the series to get creative, and enter their own combinations in its 'Tools of Terror' competition at www.deadspace.com. The winner will not only see their weapon in the final game but also their likeness as a non-playable character. EA has also announced that the Dead Space 3: Limited Edition will give players access to two bundles. Each contains an "advanced suit" and a "devastating new weapon". The "First Contact" Bundle contains EVA (Extra-Vehicular Activity), which was built by SCAF as they began to make contact with 'foreign entities'. According to the press release, "it sports a flamboyant golden finish to provide protection from long-term space exposure and thick armour for… unspecified reasons." The bundle will also contain the Negotiator weapon; originally a scientific the Negotiator boats a Tesla Beam "capable of bursting a man-sized organism into several pieces with a single shot." The "Witness the Truth" Bundle includes the eponymous Witness suit, designed for the SCAF deep dig team stationed on the ice planet. It will also include the Evangeliser weapon, which "sports a souped-up AL-2g assault rifle on the top with an Emerson 2100 "Big Boy" tactical shotgun on the bottom". Both the suit and weapon are covered in same strange markings which adorned the SCAF deep dig when they emerged from the icy depths of Tau Volantis. Both of these weapons will serve as "initial blueprints for the millions of permutations" possible in Dead Space 3.

Game Details

Dead Space 3

Published by: Electronic Arts

Developed by: Visceral Games

Genre: Third-Person Action

Release Date:

United States: February 5, 2013

Australia: February 15, 2013

UK: February 8, 2013

RP-M+ for Rating Pending, Targeting a Rating of Mature or Above

Also Available On: PS3, Xbox 360

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Facebook rules out share sale to cover tax bill

(Reuters) - Facebook Inc promised not to sell stock to cover a nearly $2 billion tax bill and said it will allow employees to cash in their stock weeks ahead of schedule, moving to soothe nervous investors and its own staff as its share price spirals downward.

The world's largest online social network company, which has lost more than 50 percent of its market value since going public in May, said on Tuesday its total shares outstanding will be reduced by roughly 101 million shares as a result of the move.

Shares of Facebook rose 1.8 percent in after hours trading to $18.05.

Facebook will cover the stock compensation tax bill with existing cash and with borrowing from its credit facilities, the company said in a regulatory filing.

"The fact that they are using cash is a good thing. It feels like a mini buyback in a way because you're in essence reducing your share count by 101 million shares," said Susquehanna Financial Group analyst Herman Leung.

Facebook has suffered a painful debut on the public markets, as investors have fretted about its slowing revenue growth and a large pool of additional shares set to hit the market as "lock-up" restrictions on employees selling shares expire.

"Coming out and showing that they're being a little more active in supporting the stock is good for investors," said Baird & Co analyst Colin Sebastian.

"These are the kinds of things they can do until the figure out how to better monetize the sites, to help alleviate some of the pressure on the stock," he said.

While Facebook, with 955 million users, is challenging entrenched Web companies such as Google Inc for consumers' online time, Wall Street has become increasingly skeptical about its long-term money-making potential.

Earlier on Tuesday, analyst Scott Devitt of Morgan Stanley, which acted as the lead underwriter for Facebook's IPO, cut his price target for Facebook to $32 a share from the IPO price of $38. JP Morgan, which also underwrote the IPO, cut its price target to $30 from $45 on Tuesday.

Shares of Facebook set a new low of $17.55 Tuesday, before closing at $17.73 on Nasdaq.

Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg will not sell any shares in Facebook for at least 12 months, while directors Marc Andreessen and Donald Graham will sell some shares to cover their tax obligations, according to the filing. Other than the tax-related sales, Facebook said Andreessen and Graham have no plans to sell any shares held by them personally.

Facebook said it has waived a "market stand-off provision" that prohibited employees from selling shares until November 14. As a result, employees will now be able to sell their vested shares on October 29 - four trading days after it reports third-quarter financial results on October 23.

About 234 million shares held by employees will be eligible for sale in the public market on October 29, it added.

Allowing employees to sell sooner could win Facebook some points from staff who have been unable to cash out any equity as the stock has steadily declined even as other insiders and early investors have sold, said Pivotal Research Group analyst Brian Wieser.

And the move could help make the massive share lock-up expirations less disruptive to the stock, by breaking up some of the big portions of shares set to become available for trading, he said.

"That helps with the digestion of these shares," said Wieser.

More than 1 billion Facebook shares held by employees, insiders and early investors are set to become available for trading by year's end.

Facebook estimated in the filing that it will owe roughly $1.9 billion in tax obligations as a result of the vested restricted stock units that its employees have been compensated with, assuming a 45 percent tax rate and based on Thursday's closing price of $19.09.

"We currently do not expect to conduct any offering of our equity securities near the initial RSU settlement date to fund this obligation," Facebook wrote in the 8-K filing on Tuesday. Facebook also said it did not expect to conduct any offering in connection with the expiration of the lock-up restrictions in the fourth quarter.

(Reporting By Alexei Oreskovic; Editing by Tim Dobbyn and Richard Chang)


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Counter-Strike Global Offensive review (PSN): Striking the right chord

Release Date: August 22
Platforms available on: 360, PS3, PC
Developer: Hidden Path
Publisher: Valve
Genre: First-person shooter

Valve's Counter-Strike has ruled the roost in the tactical shooter field since the concept was derived from Half-Life more than a decade ago, but it's never translated particularly well to home consoles. Much has changed since the days of the original Xbox, and the studio has applied what it has learned in that time to make the Counter-Strike title console gamers always dreamed of.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive marks the biggest leap forward for the series since Counter-Strike: Source overhauled the formula in 2004. It will feel like a change of pace to many PlayStation 3 owners, particularly those who popped their first-person shooter cherry with the likes of Call of Duty.

There are no kill streaks, respawns, or regenerative health bars to be found here. In some ways, the game feels heavily streamlined, but true depth lies in the rich, strategic gameplay and delicate balance at its core.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive peddles the same basic concept as the original, pitting a team of terrorists against counter-terrorists in hostage or bomb disposal situations. Teams secure victory by either eliminating the opposition, or satisfying mission objectives, such as detonating a bomb for the terrorists, or liberating the hostages if you are one of the good guys.

Matches take place over a series of rounds, and once a player perishes, they must wait until the next round before they can play again. Completing objectives and racking up kills earns you money, which can be spent on weapons and armour ahead of each round. All players start out on an equal footing, packing only a handgun and knife at the start of a game.

Having said that, first timers certainly won't feel like things are equal. The Counter-Strike series is backed by one of the most dedicated communities around, so newbies are in for a rough ride. A handy weapons tutorial is available to bring players up to speed on the basics, but plenty of practise in the offline bots mode is recommended before jumping into a game.

Counter-Strike Global Offensive has been built from the ground up, but the underlying principles haven't changed since day one, handing series veterans a greater advantage than usual. Two new modes of play - Arms Race and Demolition - bend the rules slightly by rewarding players with new weapons for meeting certain conditions. These come loaded with some new maps, but players are limited the same ones as before in the core modes. Perhaps Valve is withholding them for future DLC? It's a game built with the fanbase firmly in mind. Anyone familiar with Counter-Strike will know that it's all about strategy. Every bullet you fire must be carefully measured, as landing that headshot could be the difference between felling your opponent and being nailed to the wall by a volley of return fire.

Teamwork is equally imperative, whether covering one of your advancing squadmates as they diffuse a bomb or deriving strength from numbers. It's a game that rewards time invested in a more meaningful way than dishing out bigger weapons and stat enhancements. The more you play, the more you'll become accustomed to the kind of tactical manoeuvres that are effective, making for a more gratifying experience. Naturally, Valve and developer Hidden Path have given the game a facelift befitting of the current generation. It's Counter-Strike at its most polished, but the new aesthetics don't impact on the mechanics at its heart. This is still the game players fell in love with all those years ago, even if the layout of some of the classic maps has been tweaked somewhat. The developers haven't attempted to reinvent the wheel here, but some of the subtle refinements improve the experience dramatically. The matchmaking system has been finetuned in a way that's mutually beneficial to veterans and and newcomers alike, and the way the game has been optimised for home consoles without dilution will surely please the diehards.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive plays perfectly well with the PlayStation controller. PS Move is supported, and while it works well, its adoption only makes an already unforgiving game all the more challenging. For those raised on the PC iterations, the thought of playing with anything other than keyboard and mouse is nothing short of blasphemy, so it's a good job these inputs are available to PS3 players. It's a swings and roundabouts situation in the sense that the definitive control method very much depends on how you are used to tackling first-person shooters. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive neither deviates from or significantly alters the principles the series is built upon, making it a fan-pleasing edition to the fold. Valve and Hidden Path have optimised the formula for the console generation without alienating its core fanbase, and that is an achievement for which they should be applauded.

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Cruxskunk Keyboard Case Turns Your iPad Into a Laptop

Cruxcase has debuted a new keyboard case that turns your iPad into a laptop.
For $155, the Cruxskunk has a full-sized QWERTY keyboard with raised keys, Bluetooth connectivity to hook up to your iPad and a patent-pending hinge that allows for 360 degrees of rotation, according to the company’s Kickstarter page. It is compatible with the newest iPad and the iPad 2.
Put together, the keyboard case and iPad combination is 19 mm tall — slightly more than a Macbook Air at 17 mm. The Cruxskunk alone is 6 mm tall.
The three main parts of the case are made from “a single piece of aircraft grade aluminum in the exact same process that Apple machines its Macbooks and iPads,” the creators say. They claim that those who have seen the Cruxskunk have mistaken it for a Macbook Pro.
Cruxcase, which creates products that integrate with Apple devices, has made similar cases over the last two years. Last year, it launched Crux Loaded for the iPad 2.
As of Monday, the company has raised more than $135,000 with 30 days remaining in its Kickstarter campaign. It surpassed its original goal of $90,000 last week. Those who pledge will receive a leather sleeve for carrying the Cruxskunk and a USB cord for charging its battery.
Cruxskunk says it plans to produce its first samples in mid-October, and begin full production in late October. The parts will be manufactured and assembled in China. The company adds that it hopes to start shipping in December.

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Saturn: Colorful Colossus Changes Colors

NASA's Cassini orbiter watches as winter comes to southern hemisphere.

more pictures here -abcnews

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Sony Xperia Tablet S Touts Remote-Control Functionality, Trim Dimensions

While Sony experimented with its dual-screen Tablet P last year, it seems to be playing things a bit more conservatively this year. At the IFA technology trade show in Berlin today, Sony announced its new Xperia Tablet S, a 9.4-inch Android 4.0 tablet.
The new version of the tablet has been improved in a few key ways: It is now thinner than the previous version (0.35 inches at its thinnest point), faster with a quad-core Tegra 3 processor from Nvidia, and has some new functionality, including an improved remote app.
And it’s the latter piece – the remote functionality – on which Sony’s  really focusing. The tablet has an IR blaster so it can control your TV. But while you can use the tablet as a universal remote, you can also load up the Watch Now app that provides a visual program guide alongside social media feeds.
Additionally, Sony has made some adjustments to Android 4.0, including a new Guest Mode that lets you set up different accounts with parental controls, if you choose.
The 1.26-pound tablet has a 9.4-inch 1280 x 800-resolution display, 1GB of RAM, an 8-megapixel rear camera and a 1-megapixel front-facing camera for video chatting.
Sony is also releasing some unique accessories to enhance the tablet experience, including a cover with a keyboard similar to the one Microsoft has shown for its Surface tablet. The $99.99 keyboard uses touch sensors rather than physical keys. Sony says that this keyboard was in production before Microsoft’s Surface announcement in June. It also will release a $99.99 docking stand that lets you rotate the screen; one with a built in speaker will be out in November for $ 129.99.
The tablet itself starts at $399 for the 16GB version and will be available Sept. 7 online and at stores.
Sony Mobile Communications announced last week that it planned to lay off 15 percent of its workforce, about 1,000 employees, by 2014.

source-abcnews

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Facebook Weeds Out Fake 'Likes'

Facebook has stepped up its security on brand pages, working to remove fraudulent Likes caused by spambots, malware or fake account users.

Most likely only less than 1% of any given Page's Likes will be removed,Facebook's blog announced.

Facebook had previous safeguards against automated Likes. But some companies did seek to violate Facebook's terms of service to increase their reach on the social network by purchasing Likes in bulk.

SEE ALSO: Is This the Worst Brand Page on Facebook?

Tightening Facebook's security measures are designed to enhance brands' connections with their customers, ensuring that the social network remains a genuine advertising platform. Brands will also be able to gage a more accurate measurement of demographics and fans, Facebook says.

"This improvement will allow Pages to produce ever more relevant and interesting content, and brands will see an increase in the true engagement around their content," says Facebook.

The clean-up also means users won't be bothered as much by viral spam that deceives users into liking brand content through fake videos or photos.

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Samsung Galaxy Camera 21x Long Zoom Camera running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean

Not a smartphone, not a tablet, Samsung’s latest addition to its Galaxy line is the Galaxy Camera, a point-and-shoot digicam running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean operating system. You may consider the Galaxy Camera as a combination of a digital camera and a smartphone. Not just WiFi, the smart camera also includes support for quad-band HSPA+ 3G or 4G mobile datas network, allowing for easy image sharing.


The Galaxy Camera 16.3 Megapixel BSI CMOS image sensor and a 21x super long zoom lens with 23mm wide angle. It features Optical Image Stabilization and offers up to 3200 ISO sensitivity. It features Smart Pro modes for taking professional-looking photos easy in just a few simple step, and 35 photo editing features through the ‘Photo Wizard’, allowing users to make professional quality edits on the go. There is also Smart Content Manager in-camera photo organizer.

To run Android 4.1 Jelly Bean smoothly for multitasking and web browsing and enable high-speed image processing, the camera packs a 1.4GHz quad-core processor. It can do Full HD 1080/30fps video recording and has HDMI 1.4 output for showing your work on HDTV. Other features include Bluetooth 4.0, GPS/GLONASS for geotagging photos and microSD/SDHC/SDXC card slot.
Samsung’s Galaxy Camera measures 128.7 x 70.8 x 19.1 mm and weighs 305g. It gets a 1650mAh battery.




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