Samsung has reportedly made a major investment in rival South Korea-based smartphone maker Pantech. Yonhap News was first to report the news and it says Samsung spent roughly $50 million for 10% of the company. Samsung's motives are unclear, though the deal will reportedly "help further solidify bilateral cooperation in smartphone and other business areas." Pantech is currently the No.3 phone maker in South Korea behind Samsung and LG, and the … [Read more...]
Wireless carriers raise alarms by selling private customer data to marketers
Mai 22, 2013 By
Wireless carriers' data collection and selling practices are increasingly setting off alarm bells among privacy advocates, The Wall Street Journal reports. In particular, the Journal notes that there's heightened anxiety about Verizon's Precision Market Insights product that collects, stores and sells information about users' web browsing habits, their locations and their demographic backgrounds. Verizon insists that it's anonymizing the data it … [Read more...]
A world without wires: LTE will cover the majority of the world by 2018
Mai 22, 2013 By
As people continue to look for ways to "cut the cord" and move away from traditional cable services, right now they largely have no choice but to continue subscribing to ISPs' Internet services even if they cancel pay-TV. Over the next few years, however, that need might fade in many regions. According to new research from ABI, LTE-FDD (frequency-division duplex) will expand to cover 57% of the global population by 2018 while LTE-TDD … [Read more...]
Xbox One supports Ultra HD 4K gaming
Mai 22, 2013 By
New details continue to trickle out following Microsoft's Xbox One unveiling. Some new tidbits answer burning questions and some simply raise new questions, but there are also a few key features being discovered that Microsoft was oddly quiet about during its presentation but happily confirmed after the show. For one example, Forbes' Matt Hickey was able to learn after the presentation that the new Xbox One will indeed support "Ultra HD" gaming … [Read more...]
Lazaridis: iPhone, Android users will abandon iMessage and WhatsApp for BBM
Mai 22, 2013 By
BlackBerry announced earlier this month that its BlackBerry Messenger service will be coming to Android smartphones and the iPhone in the coming months. The company was initially criticized for once again being late to the game, with services like iMessage, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp having taken over the mobile messaging market. BlackBerry cofounder and former co-CEO Mike Lazaridis is optimistic about BBM's future, however. The former … [Read more...]
The Xbox One likely won’t be a cable killer
Mai 22, 2013 By
Microsoft is trying to differentiate the Xbox One from rival consoles by giving it several key set-top box features for television sets but that doesn't mean it's going to take away your need to subscribe to cable services anytime soon. As AllThingsD's Peter Kafka notes, Microsoft is limiting the amount of live television content Xbox One users can access without a cable subscription, thus ensuring that cable providers don't feel … [Read more...]