January, 2013

• 24 January

  AT&T’s look outside the U.S. may include more than M&A

  

  AT&T is considering ways to expand abroad besides just making acquisitions, the wireless carrier’s chief executive said today. Randall Stephenson, speaking during a conference call with analysts following AT&T’s quarterly earnings report, said the shift to mobile in the U.S. over the past five years has been “impressive,” and said those changes are likely to …

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• 24 January

  Apple promises again to fix Apple Maps app

  

  Apple has promised to fix Apple Maps, the app that’s so bad at its job it’s had police warning against it. Top Apple chap Tim Cook promises, “We will continue making improvements until it lives up to our incredibly high expectations.” “We’ve made a number of improvements to Maps”, said Cook in answer to a question from an analyst while …

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• 24 January

  Lenovo considers possible bid for RIM in smartphone boost

  

  PC manufacturing giant Lenovo may be mulling a bid for Research In Motion as part of efforts to bolster its own smartphone unit.  At a CES press event this month, Lenovo had some of its smartphones on display. The K800, which the company announced last year at CES, has a 32nm “Medfield” Atom processor. Kent German/CNET According to a report by …

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• 24 January

  AT&T CEO says he likes concept of handset financing

  

  AT&T has looked at the idea of making consumers pay for their own smartphones in monthly installments, according to CEO Randall Stephenson. The idea of handset financing runs counter to the current model of subsidizing phones at a lower initial price in exchange for a higher monthly bill. Under handset financing, consumers would pay an upfront fee for the phone, …

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• 24 January

  Microsoft Surface under fire from consumer watchdog

  

  Choice has referred Microsoft to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) for “misleading claims” around its Surface tablet. Choice is accusing Microsoft of “misleading claims” over the Surface. (Credit: Microsoft) According to Choice, the issue is with Microsoft claiming it has 32GB and 64GB hard disc space on two models of the Microsoft Surface tablet. Because of the preloaded …

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• 24 January

  Kindle Paperwhite shipping to Australia

  

  Customers buying the Kindle Paperwhite through Amazon International are now getting their devices shipped directly to Aussie shores. (Credit: Amazon) We knew the Paperwhite would be coming sometime early this year — but we did not expect that Amazon would try to sneak the release in unnoticed. Following up on a report on Gizmodo that claimed some Australian customers were …

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• 24 January

  Siri was meant for Android phones until Apple stepped in

  

  Siri was born in the military and was supposed to be built into Android phones. Yes, things could have been very different for the voice-activated question-answering app built into the iPhone had Apple not bought the company. Siri’s secret military background is revealed in a fascinating Huffington Post article. Like Johnny 5, the SRI project became Siri, escaping into the …

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• 24 January

  Samsung quarterly profit jumps 76 percent on Galaxy sales

  

  Samsung Electronics, the world’s largest consumer electronics maker, said its fourth-quarter profit rose 76 percent to another record high on strong sales of Galaxy smartphones and tablets. The South Korean electronics giant today reported a net profit of 7.04 trillion won ($6.6 billion), up from 4.01 trillion won in the same period a year earlier. It was the fifth consecutive …

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• 24 January

  Samsung Galaxy Note 8 spied in the wild in new leaked shots

  

  The upcoming Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 has been snapped in a series of new leaked photos, which appear to show Samsung’s iPad mini rival being used in the wild. The pictures came to light on Italian site dday.it, and show a tablet with a rounded, silver-tipped design that calls to mind the Galaxy Note 2. The camera on the back …

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• 24 January

  Doctor Who returns 30 March ahead of 50th birthday special

  

  The Doctor is back in the house this Easter. Doctor Who returns to our screens on Saturday 30 March, in the lead-up to the programme’s historic 50th anniversary this year. The TARDIS returns on the bank holiday weekend, so we can watch the Doctor’s latest adventure while stuffing our faces with Easter eggs and not worrying about work. There are …

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