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Amazon CEO Buys Washington Post $250M

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Amazon boss snaps up Washington Post for $250 million.

The news was announced overnight in the US at a meeting of Washington Post staffers.

Jeff Bezos, the multi-millionaire CEO and founder of Amazon, is buying the Post as an individual, as well as affiliated organisations. 
Bezos’ Internet brainchild Amazon, who has made millions from e-books, Kindles and online video streaming, has nothing to do with the sale. 
Bezos himself will buy the organization and become its sole owner, reports the Post. 
The move ends ownership of the respected US newspaper by the Graham family, who sung Bezos’ praise in a statement. 
In a letter to Post staff, the 49 year-old Internet entrepreneur moved to reassure employees in a statement, although did admit there will be some changes under his ownership. 
Image credit: Business Insider

“The values of The Post do not need changing. We will continue to follow the truth wherever it leads, and we’ll work hard not to make mistakes,” said Bezos. 
But, he added: “There will of course be change at The Post over the coming years. The Internet is transforming almost every element of the news business: shortening news cycles, eroding long-reliable revenue sources, and enabling new kinds of competition, some of which bear little or no news-gathering costs.
“We will need to invent, which means we will need to experiment. “
The Amazon founder also confirmed he “won’t be leading The Washington Post day-to-day. I am happily living in “the other Washington” where I have a day job that I love.”
 

Donald E. Graham, CEO of The Washington Post, said “Jeff Bezos’ proven technology and business genius, his long-term approach and his personal decency make him a uniquely good new owner for the Post.

“I, along with Katharine Weymouth and our board of directors, decided to sell only after years of familiar newspaper-industry challenges made us wonder if there might be another owner who would be better for the Post.

“Our revenues had declined seven years in a row,” he admitted. 

Fading BlackBerry To Sprout 7 ‘Next Gen’ OS Phones

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Seven new devices will help the ailing maker stay afloat as it struggles against Android and iPhone rivals, RIM believes.

The announcement, made yesterday at Research In Motion’s AGM, was partly to boost confidence among shareholders as the Canadian phone maker fortunes dive amid an overheating smartphone market, in what it termed yesterday as the “arms race,” according to The Guardian. 

Its share price has sky dived by more than 50 per cent in the last year and as a company is worth a fraction of what it was in its hey day (i.e pre iPhone domination). 
 
Although co-chief executive Jim Balsillie failed to get into specifics about the new releases, some believe it is likely to include the super fast BlackBerry Bold 9900 which packs a high punch with its 1.2 GHz single-core processor.
 
The next gen smartphones will run BlackBerry’s fledgling 7 OS, which it was forced to delay until next August due to market expectations, which forced revisions. 
 
Other models tipped include the BlackBerry Torch 9810, the full-touchscreen Torch 9850/9860 and two Curve models 9350/9360. 
 
BlackBerry phones running on the new ONX platform, which its PlayBook tab has already adopted are also in the pipeline for next year. 
 
And BlackBerry want to win the arms race, despite its slim picking in recent times. 
 
Its most recent phone release here in Australia has been the Bold 9780 in December. RIM released Playbook, its answer to the iPad 2 here in June. 
 
 

“It may have delayed us, but we are going to come out ahead,” said Mike Lazaridis, Co-CEO and Balsillie’s other half in the RIM driving seat, claiming the long wait for 7 would help shrug off rivals and help it win the arms race. 
 
The new batch of smartphones will also help struggling RIM to meet its financial guidance for the year, he added. 
 

They CANT Be Angry Now!

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Angry Birds Space hits 50 million downloads within 35 days – making it the fastest growing mobile game yet


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The new Angry Birds Space title has now broken all previous records with a jaw dropping 50 million downloads, creator Rovio said.

AG Space pulled in a phenomenal 10 million downloads in its first three days alone.

Rovio have also just launched the first free update for Angry Birds Space, but theres “even bigger is on its way” Rovio also hinted. (A movie perhaps?)

The $0.99 game in No. 3 in Google Play Australia and now has 10 new levels for iOS and Android.

“This has been simply amazing, and the whole Rovio team is thrilled to see such a fantastic reception for the game,” the gamer said yesterday.

“We extend our deepest gratitude to all fans of Angry Birds everywhere.

“Keep popping those pigs”. 

REVEALED: Telstra New Porn King

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Its official. You can now get off on Telstra.

The telco are now offering new soft porn videos like ‘Dirty Housewife’ – straight to mobile devices. 
The new video porn services are available to its 12 million mobile users and include salacious titles like’ Hot Asian Gets Wet, which the telco are flogging for $3.50 and up, reports The Australian.
 
However, it appears the soft porn content is not a “new” service, a Telstra spokesperson told SmartHouse and has actually  been available to its customers, which recently hit 13.2 million mark, for around six or seven years.
The soft porn is M rated (15+) by the Office of Film and Literature Classification and also requires age verification to access, the spokesperson added. 
Most other telcos have similar or more explicit content available. 
However, despite the former government owned telecom now turned porn provider, the savvy telco denies its services are Australia’s answer to Playboy, insisting the mild content is ‘mild’ and that it was merely offering a wide spectrum of content to suit consumer demand to its 13m plus mobile users. 
In other words, it is feeding demand for adult entertainment in Oz.
It also offers other mobile content in its ‘Mobile Fun’ titles like Dirty Jokes which is an + 15 service, ‘Just For Laugh’ videos including “Big Boobs”, “Babe Magnets” and Victoria Secret content is also available. 
 

“We have stringent guidelines pertaining to all content across our sites and in particular, the ‘glamour’ pages, which are among the mildest in the category among industry providers,” a spokesperson told The Australian. 

“We have a range of web pages offering different content for the many niche interest groups that make up our customer base.”

Who Has Cheapest Samsung S III?

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Aussie telco are usually bagged out for being rip off kings but in fact S III pricing is among the cheapest globally.


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In fact Virgin Mobile is flogging the cheapest Samsung S III plan among all telcos in OZ, and is even cheaper than plans flogged in US , New Zealand and UK, according to comparison site WhistleOut

The best value Galaxy S3 plan is Virgin Mobile Big Plan 29 (400 minutes of calls and 250MB data) coming in as the best value plan (costing $49 pm) , with Virgin’s $39 and $49 plan also getting a mention as top deals.

Over the life of the contract, taking into account the bonus free months, the total contract cost of Virgin 29 plan is $1,034, says WhistleOut who analysed 50 Galaxy S3 mobile plans offered by Australian telcos.

The UK also compared well with Virgin’s mega value deal with its equivalent plan costing $1,202, while New Zealand ($1,881) and USA (A$1,875) all came out as far pricier.

The Samsung S III released last month hailed as one of the best Android smartphones ever released and is set to sell 10 million by next month, Samsung execs said last week.

All main telco are giving deals on S III including Telstra, Optus, Virgin Mobile and Vodafone.

Optus also has a cheap S III plan starting at $30 but you wouldn’t want to be using the Internet very much with just 200MB data and $200 worth of calls although its $89 Optus Timeless Plan was also cited as good deal.

Cameron Craig, Director of WhistleOut, said that Australian pricing for this flagship Android highlighted how competitive Australian telcos now are on an international stage.

“Technology prices are known to be far cheaper in the USA, however the Galaxy S3 shows that to be false for mobile phones on service plans. The UK remains one of the most competitive mobile phone markets in terms of pricing on the leading handsets, but Australia is not far behind,” says Cameron.

Recent promos by Virgin Mobile and Vodafone have demonstrated how competitive Aussie deals can be – both telcos are currently offering bonus data for customers who purchase a Galaxy S3 plan, pushing their offering right up there with the best value UK plans.

Virgin Mobile online promotion with three months free access and a bonus 2GB of free data per month, reduces their total plan price by 12% and adds the equivalent of $240 in data value.

 

WhistleOut’s international price comparison was based evaluating two plan types: One – cheapest Galaxy S3 plan with a minimum of 400 call minutes and 250MB of data; and Two – cheapest Galaxy S3 plan with unlimited calls and a minimum 500MB of data.

The comparo site also gave Vodafone $79 Infinite Plan a mention as one of Australia’s as one of the best deals with unlimited calls and at least 500MB data

“If the past month is anything to go by, we can expect the Galaxy S3 to end up as Samsung’s most successful phone launch to date as carriers have upped the ante with their value focused incentives,” said Cameron.

Samsung Galaxy S2 is also going cheap at all telcos priced from  $29 per month.

Check Out WhistleOuts comparo listof  Samsung Galaxy S3 pricing here

iPhone 5 V Samsung S III V Nokia: Who Wins?

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What’s the most reliable smartphone?

A new study shows Apple’s iPhone is by far the most reliable smartphone.

A recent study by FixYa found the iPhone, especially its latest ‘5’, was the most reliable phone compared to Samsung, Motorola and Nokia phones.

“Sleekness,” “dead simple users interface” (a phone granny and kids can use), reliability and Apple’s ecosystem were all hailed as iPhone pros.

Among the iPhone’s reported woes were poor battery life, lack of new features and no connection to Wi-Fi networks.

Rival Samsung, the biggest phone maker in the world, was found to have more issues in its devices, according to the study which looked at over 720, 000 problem reports on four phone brands.

“Great screen quality”, “enjoyable user interface”, “significant” battery life on the S III were all Samsung pros.

However, battery life on the Galaxy Nexus, “persistent” microphone and speaker issues were the woes cited by the FixYa report.

Samsung had treble the number of reported complaints of rival Apple at 187,520 versus just over 74,000 for the iPhone.

Apple rated the best on the reliability scale (3.47), Samsung followed on 1.41, while Motorola (0.13) was found to be the least reliable and had over 136,000 reported issues even though it accounts for under 2% of the phone market.

Nokia too proved an annoyingly problematic smartphone for users and scored 0.68 – the second lowest- on the reliability scale.

 

Nokia smartphones were faulted by a ‘laggy response’ on apps and programs compared to other devices, lack of apps compared to Android and Apple iOS, and battery life and overheating, even on its new Lumia devices. 

Nokia had a massive 324,439 complaints in all.

However, the hardy touchscreen on its new Lumia 900 was found to even “withstand a nail being hammered into it”. The “novel” Windows Phone 8 homescreen with its live tiles and good customization were all listed as pros.

Hello 4G: Vodafone Make LTE Call

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Telco reveals it is testing 4G services in Bronte, Randwick.

The telco says it has been conducting the first round of ‘calls’ for testing data speeds and MMS services, over the past few months.

“To run these tests, we’ve powered up Vodafone’s 4G technology in Alexandria, Bronte and Randwick with 10MHz bandwidth – we’ll be operating our 4G network in Sydney on 20MHz of bandwidth when we launch,” says Allen Didovich, vodafone 4G Program Manager, on a blog.

Vodafone expects its LTE service to be up and running in the first half of this year, and says it will run on 20Mhz bandwidth, compared to a mix of 10Mhz/15Mhz for Telstra and 15Mhz used by Optus.

The fact Vodafone has more bandwidth on 1800 Mhz spectrum than its rivals could mean faster speeds, potentially.

The telco’s 4G boss said the tests “for voice, mms and sms went off without a hitch.”

At launch, in 4G areas with a category 3 device (like iPhone 5, Nokia Lumia 820) Vodafone are promising typical download speeds of 2Mbps-40Mbps. Vodafone expect category 4 devices to be available soon after.

“For our speed tests, we used speedtest.net app, where we recorded super fast download test speeds ranging between 60Mbps to 67Mbps and upload test in the 25-30Mbps range,” says Didovich.

On these speeds, a user could potentially download a 10-song album of music in 10 seconds – around 10-15 times quicker than on our 3G network.

 

But its early days, admits Didovich, as Voda trails behind rival Telstra who today announced a slew of new 4G technologies including LTE-Advanced, while Optus is also busy expanding its LTE services, in the race for the mobile user.

Telstra has had its 4G LTE network in place for over 18 months.

Vodafone, who will be hoping its 4G service will lure users back to the network, after 64,000 customers left its network during October- December 31 last.

Fake Tech Sellers Exposed

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Beware of fake websites flogging electronics, Minister warns

Scammers are setting up fake online sites mimicking genuine retailers, designed to rip off consumers.

A number of Victorian consumers have fallen victim to the bogus sites, Victoria’s minister Consumer Affairs  said today. 
Consumers complained to Consumer Affairs Victoria after buying electronics from what they believed was a genuine online seller. But after ordering and paying for the products, they never arrived.
Scammers use ‘real’ sellers contact details on the fake websites. However, the real company has no record of the order made. 
Consumer Affairs Victoria recently shut down a fake site directdiscountwarehouse.com.au, but there are concerns similar scams could still be operating.
“This is a sophisticated scam, where the scammers use the details of a legitimate business including its name, address, contact details and ABN to convince shoppers they’re dealing with a legitimate business,” Minister for Consumer Affairs Heidi Victoria said. 
“This warning is as much for businesses as consumers, to be wary when buying from online shopping sites and to report it immediately if phantom orders are reported to your business.”
A tell-tale sign that you are dealing with fake websites is they ‘ll often request a direct money transfer, or have no refund policy or dispute resolution information on their website.
Last year, Consumer Affairs Victoria recorded around 220 cases of shopping and trading scams, including cases where a scammer advertises fake goods to trick consumers into sending money or use fake cheques to buy from genuine sellers. 
There are some helpful tips to identify fake websites:
 

. Be suspicious if the only payment method offered is direct money transfers. If you pay this way, it is almost impossible to get your money back.

. Check if the business is registered with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC)
. Research the business – read the ‘about us’ or ‘contact us’ information on the website. See if the contact details and descriptions match details you find through an independent online search or through organisations such as ASIC.
. Check that website links work. While it is common for an occasional link to fail, be suspicious if a high proportion of links on the website do not work. 
. Click on any social media links to see if these accounts exist and, if so, that they have recent posts. Be wary if the accounts were recently established.
. Check if the business has a refund policy and find out how they resolve disputes. . Search the website name with the word ‘scam’ to see if anyone has posted reviews or alerts about the business or website.
. Be wary of websites that sell popular high-end products such as smart phones, tablets and luxury goods at heavily discounted prices. 
. Check that the website has a Secure Socket Layer (SSL), which helps to ensure that any data you submit through the website is encrypted and secure. Look for ‘https’ in the prefix of the webpage address and click on the ‘lock icon’ in the status bar of your browser to see details of the site’s security. 
. Check if there are a lot of spelling or grammatical mistakes or if the images presented are blurry. Professional websites generally provide accurate content with high-quality images.

Is This A Logitiff? Logitech Unleash Wire Free Mouse/Webcam But No Harveys

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Logitech go on a accessories blitz, but without Harvey Norman by its side.


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The accessories maker announced today the “imminent” release of its new M325 Wireless Mouse, which doesn’t need a laptop trackpad, thanks to its ‘Advanced Optical Tracking.’ 


It also boasts comfortable handling and a specially moulded contour shape. 

The $59 mouse also features a precision scroll wheel and 1.5 year battery life. 

However, forget traipsing the aisles of Harvey Norman for the device, as it will be available Australia Post, Big W, Bing Lee, Dick Smith, Myer, Officeworks, The Good Guys and WOW” only, a Logitech release confirmed today. 

Yesterday, Smarthouse reported how Harvey Norman was dumping Logitech products in favour of other vendors due to a falling out over the latter’s decsion to sell direct. And now the proof is in the pudding. 


And it looks like Gerry Harvey and Co. are not taking the online move lying down – Belkin CEO Ian Mclean has admitted that Harvey Norman had ordered additional “mouse” products from  to replace a “current” in store range. So, it looks like mouse wars lie ahead. 

 

Last week, Logitech launched Webcam C170 for $29 which promises  a “better overall experience with improved low light performance, sharper images, smoother video and richer colours.”