Logitech video conferencing arm LifeSize packs triple punch
LifeSize, the enterprise video conferencing company Logitech acquired in 2009, has made three major announcements today: a big acquisition, a new service, and a new piece of hardware.
The Acquisition
Roku debuts sexier, more gamer-friendly Apple TV killer
Roku, the company who sold more than a million of its tiny eponymous streaming set top boxes without any physical retail presence has announced three new models of Roku 2, even smaller and more feature-packed devices at the same $59-$99 price points.
Three models of the Roku 2 are broken up in the same way last year's batch was. This time, it's the Roku 2 HD, which costs $59, has Bluetooth, and plays back resolutions up to 720p; The Roku 2 XD, which costs $79, also features Bluetooth connectivity, but supports up to 1080p. And the flagship device, Roku 2 XS which costs $99, has Ethernet and USB inputs, and comes standard with the new Roku motion remote, which is no doubt the killer feature of this upgrade.
10 things you need to know about Apple
Apple's record-breaking fiscal 2011 third quarter is chock full of surprises -- in the results and from the earnings conference call. I learned 10 things, many of which surprised me, that you might want to know, too.
1. Mac OS X 10.7 "Lion" ships tomorrow. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer announced the release in passing, with surprisingly little fanfare. The software will be available for direct download to Mac users running Snow Leopard with Mac App Store installed. Cost is $29.99.
Credit card companies join mobile networks in pay-by-phone NFC venture
AT&T, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA announced late last year that they would be partnering in a joint venture called Isis, which would build a unified network for NFC mobile payments. On Tuesday, the joint venture announced that it has secured its payment partners, Visa, MasterCard, Discover, and American Express.
Each of the payment companies participating in Isis has been very active in the contactless and NFC-based payment fields for more than five years, so their participation in Isis seems only natural.
Apple Q3 2011 by the numbers: $28.57B revenue and $7.31B profit
Wall Street analysts were bullish almost to the point of insanity about Apple's fiscal 2011 third quarter results, with consensus estimates putting revenue growth at nearly 60 percent and income up by more than 65 percent, year over year. Apple did even better.
For the quarter ending June 25, Apple reported $28.57 billion revenue and net profits of $7.31 billion, or $7.79 a share. A year earlier, the company reported revenue of $15.7 billion and $3.25 billion net quarterly profit, or $3.51 per share. Apple announced fiscal Q3 results after the market closed today.
Another video of Nokia's 'Sea Ray' device leaks
Although CEO Stephen Elop has done his best to attempt to keep Nokia's 'Sea Ray' Windows Phone 7 device under wraps, it's not working too well. Yet another video is making the rounds on the Internet Tuesday apparently of the device at some factory in either China or Taiwan -- it's hard to tell.
There's not too much new here to see that wasn't shown in that original video. The device is apparently removed from a case that looks to be intended to disguise the phone inside, and booted up into Windows Phone 7. We get to see the fact that the device has a dedicated camera button unlike its similar N9 cousin, and that it appears to be running Build 7710, which has recently been released to manufacturing.
FBI raids homes, makes arrests in connection with Anonymous hacks
At least a dozen individuals were arrested early Tuesday as the FBI expanded its investigation into the hacking group Anonymous. In conjunction with these arrests, raids were carried out in three homes -- two in Long Island, N.Y. and the other in Brooklyn, N.Y. -- as well as locations in California.
The FBI was not commenting on the raids directly but sources told Fox News that the raids were related to the federal government's widening probe of the activities of Anonymous. Arrests were made in California, Florida, and New Jersey. Charges against the detained individuals were not specified.
Windows Phone 7 users sure are satisfied
As I reported yesterday, but want to call out more prominently today, a recent ChangeWave survey found that more Windows Phone 7 users are "very satisfied" than those with Androids.
Apple iPhone users are most satisfied, 70 percent in the "very" category. Fifty-percent of Android users are "very satisfied". For Windows Phone 7 users, it's 57 percent. But there's more. The number is a huge improvement over Microsoft's past. Only 14 percent of Windows Mobile users are "very satisfied".
Now you can Google+ on iPhone
Well, so much for that Android exclusivity. But, hey, the iOS app appears to be for iPhone only. That's no iPad or iPod touch for you, bud.
FDA to regulate medical smartphone, tablet apps
The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Tuesday announced it is looking to the public for input about the regulation of mobile health and medicine apps for smartphones, tablets, and mobile computers.
By 2015, the organization expects 500 million smartphone users will count on some kind of health care application on their device, be it to measure and regulate caloric intake, to monitor heart conditions, or to do any number of things.
Mozilla re-establishes Enterprise Working Group
Perhaps stung by the reaction to recent statements and actions, Mozilla has announced that they are taking the old Mozilla Enterprise Working Group out of virtual mothballs.
The MEWG is a forum where Mozilla developers can interact with Enterprise IT and developers to discuss their needs and experiences with Mozilla software. It is supposed to include a monthly conference call in addition to online forums, but there hasn't been a meeting in almost 4 years.
Augmented reality navigation app Wikitude Drive comes to US
Austrian software developers Wikitude were pioneers of Augmented Reality on the Android platform. The company's Wikitude World Browser was the first AR app for Android in 2008, and it has been downloaded onto a million devices.
Tuesday, Wikitude launched its augmented reality satellite navigation app Wikitude Drive for U.S. Android devices. The app has been available for approximately 8 months already in Austria, Germany, Switzerland, the UK, Spain, France, and Italy.
Dissatisfied with Facebook? You're not alone
The American Customer Satisfaction Index e-business report is out, and, whoa, do people not really like Facebook.
"Facebook continues to register as one of the lowest-scoring companies measured by the ACSI", from the report. "To put this in perspective, only 14 other sites of the 226 private-sector companies measured by the ACSI have scores that tie or fall below Facebook's, meaning Facebook is in the bottom 6 percent of the whole ACSI".
AVG launches powerful social media organization and sharing tool MultiMi
Security software company AVG and Israeli startup Zbang on Tuesday launched the beta of MultiMi, a free Windows desktop app for organizing and sharing content between multiple inboxes, social networks, calendars, and media albums.
MultiMi could be compared to social media aggregators Inbox2, Threadsy or even Tweetdeck because it offers the user a look into multiple social media accounts at once. But it doesn't just organize multiple social media, it also handles Google Docs, Box.net, Google and Facebook Calendar, Picasa, Flickr, YouTube, and many more. In addition to being able to link up with Hotmail, Yahoo, Gmail, and any POP, IMAP or Exchange email inboxes, MultiMi has the capacity to support any Web-based service with an available API, so that means there's no support for Google+ just yet, but there will be as soon as the API is released.
The irony and infamy of LulzSec's Rupert Murdoch attacks
There's an irony to today's LulzSec attacks on News Corp. websites. It's bad for newspapers to wiretap, but OK to hack them. That's the message from the hacktivists -- they're justified to break the law but no one else.
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