Surprise: Facebook Is Buying Instagram For A Billion Dollars

April 9, 2012 1:35 PM ⋅

Just coming out of the room and into the office to find this in my news feed was — unusually interesting.

Moving on, Facebook intends to purchase Instagram, the much-favored photo-sharing and vignette-filtering social networking app for iOS and Android, for a solid $1 billion. This comes not long after Instagram and Co. launched the new Android app, alongside several updates to keep both versions of the app up to speed.

The only real question now is — what is Facebook going to do to (or with, rather) Instagram? For one, it has to steer clear of Gowalla’s fate, which was one of death, but also to reach higher than it currently is. Check out Mark Zuckerberg’s full statement on the deal, after the cut.

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Posted in: News ⋅ Tagged: , , , ,

Oooh: The New Dodge SRT Viper Announced In New York

April 8, 2012 6:38 PM ⋅

This is the new Dodge Viper — now renamed the SRT Viper. It is luxurious, has audio provided by Harmon Kardon, TFT screens all around its modern interior, a massive V10 640 HP with that iconic long bonnet, and it looks fantastic. Video of it after the break. Via: Autoblog

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Posted in: Cars ⋅ Tagged: ,

In Photo, HTC One S Clearly Smokes Galaxy Nexus’ Benchmark Score

April 8, 2012 11:22 AM ⋅

This is a very premature thing to say, or rather speculative, but above you can clearly see that the HTC One S on T-Mobile reaches much higher computational benchmark scores in the app, Quadrant, which is used by both enthusiasts and tech reviewers alike to see some of the overall capability of an Android device, besides the anecdotal methods, like downloading many apps at once and multitasking between different apps in a short period of time. Needless to say, we’re (and by this, I mainly mean myself) excited to see both the One S on T-Mobile and One X on AT&T release this month.

Via: SlashGear

Posted in: Android, HTC, Mobile, T-Mobile ⋅ Tagged: , , , , , ,

Nvidia Tegra 4 specs purportedly leak, no 4G LTE support until Q3 2013

April 7, 2012 2:32 PM ⋅

This is both a purported leak and just downright interesting. Nvidia’s Tegra 4 specs are supposed to be a part of this spec sheet leak, with all versions of the SoC (system-on-a-chip) to contain four cores and a final fith core for lower-power computing (like messaging or social networking).

There is the flagship 1.8GHz T40, said to arrive in the first quarter of next year, followed by the 2GHz T43, in the third quarter of that same year. The AP40, listed as a mainstream model, is also set to appear in Q3 2013, and will feature clock speeds ranging from blazing 1.2GHz to 1.8GHz. All three, targeted for large, 10-inch tablets, are based upon ARM’s own Cortex-A15 processor. Also, the final and 4th model, the SP3X, will be aimed at 7-inch devices, with clock speeds ranging from 1.2GHz to 2GHz, along with —  wait for it — built-in LTE and 42Mbps HSPA+ support, something absent from all Tegra 3 chips, sadly. However, this change will launch in Q3 of 2013, which is quite a ways away, and competitors to Nvidia may have well captured the market share with smartphone manufacturers by then.

Via: Gadgets Tip, Verge

Posted in: Did You Know? ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

AT&T To Begin Unlocking Off-Contract iPhones Starting This Sunday

April 6, 2012 10:08 PM ⋅

If you fall under the list of requirements set forth by AT&T, you and your iPhone will have access to micro SIMs that are compatible with the devices radio bands, and thus allowing you to use it on different networks. According to the statement sent to MacRumors:

Beginning Sunday, April 8, we will offer qualifying customers the ability to unlock their AT&T iPhones. The only requirements are that a customer’s account must be in good standing, their device cannot be associated with a current and active term commitment on an AT&T customer account, and they need to have fulfilled their contract term, upgraded under one of our upgrade policies or paid an early termination fee.

This will be the very first oppurtunity for the iPhone to see official unlocks, rather than through hacks. About time! Via: MacRumors

Posted in: Apple, AT&T ⋅ Tagged: , , ,

Notch’s 0x10c Game Will Allow For 16-bit Computers Inside Of Its Spaceships

April 6, 2012 1:01 PM ⋅

While its announcement was exciting, the creator of Minecraft, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson has even more interesting details on his upcoming game, 0x10c. In it, players will wake up in the very distant future where the galaxy is dying. Having been in a frozen state since 1988, the player’s computer systems inside of their spaceship will be 16-bit, and will allow for minigames programs to be run inside of the game, besides simply controlling the ship. But let’s add to that: Notch states that programmers could develop viruses, too. “I won’t stop viruses, the players will have to do that themselves,” Notch says on Twitter. Yikes. This will be made possible by the Python and Javascript languages for the DCPU-16, an emulator will will allow for development of applications long before the game launches — fantastic.

As mentioned in the past, the game is in an open world, like Minecraft, and includes space trading, space battles, planet landings, mining, looting, a “multiverse” that will let players fly about in the same universe for the price of a subscription fee, and the singleplayer mode. See more at the official website and forums.

Via: ox10c, 0x10c Forum

Posted in: Gaming ⋅ Tagged: ,

HTC First Quarter In The Doldrums: Profits Down 70%, Revenue Down 35%

April 6, 2012 9:26 AM ⋅

Compared to last year’s statistics, HTC’s first quarter report (PDF) isn’t looking so well, which can probably be attributed to rivals like Apple and Samsung. In Q1 of this year, they only brought in NT$4.4 billion ($149 million), compared to the NT$14.8 billion ($501 million) in profits earned exactly this time, last year. It’s not a great position to be in, however the announcement of the HTC One series in Europe, Asia, and now the AT&T, Sprint, and T-Mobile networks in the United States may make for a promising comeback for HTC’s coffers. However, to do that, HTC will need to standardize their excellence and not drop the ball, so to speak, when designing and releasing devices at such a frequent rate that it does. Via: TNW

Posted in: Did You Know?, HTC, Mobile ⋅ Tagged:

What Google’s Project Glasses Look Like On Sergey Brin

April 6, 2012 9:10 AM ⋅

What better model to have for the Project Glasses prototype wearable computer built by the top-secret Google X office than Sergey Brin, one of Google’s co-founders? Needless to say, for a very early prototype, it looks pretty good, but needs much more work to look fashionable. Now, if only we could know how it works? Via: Flickr

Posted in: Gadgets, Google ⋅ Tagged: ,

An HTC EVO 4G LTE prototype seen with 3D cameras in making-of video?

April 5, 2012 4:49 PM ⋅

Perhaps this was CGI, a prototype, or a sign of things to come, but if you skip to the 25 second mark in the video seen in the source link, you’ll see alongside older HTC EVO devices and the just-announced HTC EVO 4G LTE is one version of said phone with an additional camera on the back. As per the design seen on the older EVO 3D, then that could only mean a 3D version of the EVO 4G LTE. Yes, it may sound all very complicated and not very exciting, but it would be interesting if proven true. If there is anything to see, to begin with.

Via: HTC (YouTube), Verge

Posted in: Android, HTC, Mobile, Sprint ⋅ Tagged: , , , , ,

LG Nitro HD Receives Small OTA Update, Mostly Bug Fixes And Mobile Hotspot

April 5, 2012 6:40 AM ⋅

This is just a quick news bite. The LG Nitro HD (which I reviewed and liked) just received an OTA upgrade that is mostly bug fixes and improvements to the mobile hotspot feature that works on AT&T’s 4G LTE network. Check out LG’s changelog below and their forum post at the source link.

Highlights:

  • Google Patch
  • Improved performance on Mobile Hotspot
  • Fixed Wi-Fi Hotspot issue where it would disconnect after short periods of time.
  • Various Email Account Sync Improvements
  • Resolved lockup during music playback.
  • Resolved issue where new contact info is lost if home key is pressed before saving.
  • Fixed issue where Calendar shows previous month with grayed out date highlighted.
  • Preload application updates (see Application Version Summary for version info)
  • Fixed application issue with playback of .amr audio files.
  • Improved UI flow when adding image to contact
  • Zoom feature improved when taking pictures
  • Fixed issue where video capture ends abruptly when trying to send a video MMS using Capture video option.
  • Various bug fixes

Via: LG Forum, Instagram

Posted in: Android, AT&T, Did You Know?, LG, Mobile ⋅ Tagged: , ,