Amazon Fire Phone Update: Too Little Too Late?

 Amazon Fire Phone Update: Too Little Too Late?

Amazon has already admitted that its first iteration of the Fire Phone was a flop, but the e-commerce company is not giving up on its smartphone. The Fire Phone has gotten a software update that packs a host of new features. Is it enough to spark interest in a device that has failed to catch on with consumers in the nearly five months it’s been on the market?

Amazon released major new updates for both models of the Fire Phone Sunday; the AT&T version will receive Fire OS 3.6.5 and the unlocked GSM version gets Fire OS 3.6.8. Both models receive the same new features and enhancements, such as over 2,000 famous pieces of art added to the Fire Phone’s optical recognition system and its text translation engine now supports English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

Despite the update, Amazon may still struggle to capture consumer interest, primarily because the Android-based Fire OS differs so significantly from Google’s stock Android, said Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney.

“Consumers like to play it safe in terms of knowing that the applications that they want are going to be on the platform,” Dulaney said. Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS rule the smartphone market. With these two on top, other software ecosystems, like Windows and BlackBerry, in addition to Amazon, have failed to capture any significant share at all. Moreover, Amazon’s App Store struggles to keep up with Google Play and the Apple App store with fewer developers creating Amazon versions of popular applications.

Things went downhill quickly for the Amazon Fire Phone ever since its July, 2014 launch. The device was expected to be an affordable option for customers, but it debuted with a premium price of $649 unlocked and $199.99 with a two-year contract. After several price cuts, Amazon executives were forced to concede that the company made missteps with the Fire Phone, first being its price and second being its carrier exclusivity on AT&T. The device simply didn’t have the cross-carrier availability it needed for a successful launch.

The Fire Phone has reportedly sold only about 35,000 units since launch. Not only has Amazon taken a $170 million loss on the device, finance chief Thomas Szkutak said at the end of the third quarter there was about $83 million worth of unsold Fire phone inventory.

Amazon insists it's not giving up. The company’s vice president of devices, Jorrit Van der Meulen, noted to the Guardian in November that the first model of its Kindle e-reader was also not well received. The company plans to continue with a second iteration of the Fire Phone, which may release sometime in 2016, according to Venture Beat.

Moving forward, Amazon will have to remember that it is not inventing a new market as it did with its Kindle e-readers but rather is competing in a highly saturated space. Its primary aim should be hawking future Fire Phones at unsubsidized prices of under $200, according to Gartner’s Dulaney. Another option would be getting rid of gimmicky features like its Dynamic Perspective" 3D Technology, which is the mainstay of the Fire Phone, but has not done much to entice consumers.
“A lot of buyers today, when they buy high-end phones a lot of the stuff is just eye-candy, they can’t do anything with it after a while and it goes into disuse,” Dulaney said. “Does it take good pictures? Is it a good value for the money? Are the apps I’m going to want going to be there?  That’s basically what people want.”

Fionna Agomuoh

 International Business Times

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Sony threatens Twitter with legal action if it doesn't ban users linking to leaks

 Sony threatens Twitter with legal action if it doesn't ban users linking to leaks

Sony Pictures Entertainment has already tried threatening members of the media with legal action in a bid to stem the spread of information stolen from its servers by hacker group Guardians of Peace last month. Now it's also decided to try targeting the means of disseminating that information — Motherboard reports the company has promised to sue Twitter unless it bans accounts that are linking to the leaks.

The threat was made in a letter sent by Sony lawyer David Boies to VIjaya Gadde, Twitter's general counsel, and conveyed that the company would "hold Twitter responsible for any damage or loss arising" from the use or continued dissemination of the stolen information. In the letter — which was similar to one sent to publications including The Verge last week — Boies said that his client "does not consent to Twitter's or any Twitter account holder's possession, review, copying, dissemination, publication, uploading, downloading, or making any use of the Stolen Information," and that Sony requests Twitter's cooperation in suspending any accounts found to be sharing the leaked data.
Sony asked that Twitter share the threat with one user who had been linking to the leaks

The letter reportedly requests that Twitter share details of the threat with a specific user: musician Val Broeksmit. Broeksmit, who tweets as @bikinirobotarmy, previously received a direct message from Sony copyright expert Ellliot Ingram after he linked to emails obtained in the cyberattack. "Rather than complaining to Twitter and risk them taking action against your account," the mail read, "we thought we'd get in touch first and ask if you would remove the tweets that we've identified." Broeksmit told Motherboard he didn't take the letter seriously, but that his Twitter account was temporarily suspended.

Social networking site Reddit has taken to banning users who post links to Sony's stolen information, but Twitter has yet to adopt a formal stance to the issue. Under the service's rules, users are not allowed to post personal and private data in tweets themselves, but Twitter says it can't apply that rule to other sites and stop users linking to such information. Sony's legal threat might mean the social network has to revisit the policy.

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Apple pushes first ever automated security update to Mac users

 Apple pushes first ever automated security update to Mac users

Apple Inc (AAPL.O) has pushed out its first-ever automated security update to Macintosh computers to help defend against newly identified bugs that security researchers have warned could enable hackers to gain remote control of machines.
The company pushed out the software on Monday to fix critical security vulnerabilities in a component of its OS X operating system called the network time protocol, or NTP, according to Apple spokesman Bill Evans. NTP is used for synchronizing clocks on computer systems.
The bugs were made public in security bulletins on Friday by the Department of Homeland Security and the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute. Carnegie Mellon identified dozens of technology companies, including Apple, whose products might be vulnerable.
When Apple has released previous security patches, it has done so through its regular software update system, which typically requires user intervention.
The company decided to deliver the NTP bug fixes with its technology for automatically pushing out security updates, which Apple introduced two years ago but had never previously used, because it wanted to protect customers as quickly as possible due to the severity of the vulnerabilities, Evans said.
"The update is seamless," he said. "It doesn’t even require a restart."
Apple does not know of any cases where vulnerable Mac computers were targeted by hackers looking to exploit the bugs, he added.
(Reporting by Jim Finkle; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Reuters

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Samsung's super-wide curved monitor makes your PC extra trendy

Samsung's super-wide curved monitor makes your PC extra trendy

If both ultra-widescreen and curved computer monitors are all the rage these days, then Samsung's new SE790C display is supremely fashionable. The 34-inch, 3,440 x 1,440 LCD has both a super-wide 21:9 aspect ratio and a gentle arc, combining two trends (fads?) in one. Supposedly, this all-encompassing design produces a "3D-like" effect that brings you into the action -- that's a little difficult to believe, but the screen will at least look futuristic sitting on your desk. Just don't expect it to make your photos pop.
Although the SE790C covers all of the sRGB color range, it's using a middle-of-the-road VA (vertical alignment) panel rather than something particularly vivid, like IPS (in-plane switching). There's also no mention of US availability or pricing, so it's hard to know if this represents a good deal. So long as the price isn't too outlandish, though, it could be a good way to immerse yourself in games and movies.
Samsung Tomorrow

Jon Fingas

 Engadget

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Michael Clifford Share His Tour Rider List Which Includes Taylor Swift As Must-Haves For Backstage

Michael Clifford Share His Tour Rider List Which Includes Taylor Swift As Must-Haves For Backstage

5 Seconds of Summer's Michael Clifford recently shared his concert rider — and he listed Taylor Swift as one of his requests! Since they  just started chatting on Twitter, we wonder if he's admitting that he has a crush on the "Blank Space" singer.

Besides the 1989 star, the 5SOS guy also listed grapes, Luke Hemmings, a dictionary, and "more wishes" as his backstage must-haves.

While he might be a little tongue-in-cheek with his responses, he was at her birthday party last weekend — and they took some of the cutest group pics together also.

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Instagram Deletes Tons of Fake Accounts, Celebs Lose Tons of Followers

Instagram Deletes Tons of Fake Accounts, Celebs Lose Tons of Followers

It’s a bad week for people who are obsessed with their follow counts on Instagram. The social media site decided to clean how and delete all kinds of fake and inactive accounts that were floating around. This means that normal people might have lost a few followers and that celebrities lost lots of them. Justin Bieber took the biggest hit during the Instagram purge, losing a whopping 3,538,228 followers! Yikes! Here’s what Instagram had to say about their decision:

“We’re in the process of fixing an issue that incorrectly includes inactive or fake accounts in follower/following lists. We want to maintain the best possible experience on Instagram, so we do our best to remove spam, fake accounts and other people and posts that don’t follow our Community Guidelines. As we remove these accounts, some people may notice a decrease in their follower/following counts.”

Justin wasn’t the only star we love to lose lots of followers in the Instagram purge. Ariana Grande lost 1,529,206, Selena Gomez lost 1,116,032 and Kendall Jenner lost 906,897. YIKES!

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Taylor Swift Lunches with Tavi Gevinson, Gets More Amazing '1989' News

Taylor Swift Lunches with Tavi Gevinson, Gets More Amazing '1989' News

Taylor Swift is joined by her palTavi Gevinson while leaving Lafayette restaurant after lunch on Friday afternoon (December 19) in New York City.

In case you aren’t familiar with Tavi, she is a fashion blogger-turned-actress who is currently starring on Broadway in the play This Is Our Youth.

It was just announced by Billboardthat Taylor is on track to have her sixth week at the top of the Billboard 200 chart.

It is expected that 1989 will sell 340,000 copies in the week ending December 21.

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Justin Bieber & Kyle Massey Rock Matching Colored Kicks

Justin Bieber and his best bud Kyle Massey have taken their friendship to a new level: they're wearing matching shoes! Justin posted a pic of him and Kyle showing off their super cool sneakers and we are totally loving their bold choice in colors.

Kyle went with an electric red shoe, which compliments his black, white and red Coca-Cola hoodie. Justin decided to wear his light blue sneakers with his all white outfit. His purple shades add a nice touch to his laid back look and it's been a while since we've seen him rock his signature color! 

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Is Liam Payne Working on Tracks Without One Direction?

Rumors have been swirling that Liam Payne is working on songs without One Direction, collaborating with a '90s Britpop band called Longspigs on some solo tracks — but those reports are totally false.

The source is a publication that focuses on satirical celebrity gossip, so we don't think they're actually serious.

Besides, we'd never believe Liam would leave the band for his own personal projects. Even though he initially wanted to go solo on X Factor, he's been very vocal about the fact that he loves being in the band. If he was working on some stuff, it would either be for 1D or for his DJ alter-ego, Big Payno.

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Amazon adds Disney and Dora to FreeTime Unlimited kids service

Amazon adds Disney and Dora to FreeTime Unlimited kids service

There's a new way to amuse, educate or just distract your offspring while Mommy has a little sippy-poo for the holidays -- Amazon has just dumped a bunch of new content into FreeTime Unlimited. The kid-centric service runs $2.99 a month for Prime subscribers, and includes around 4,000 educational books, 400 "age-appropriate" apps and several thousand TV shows and movies. Amazon's added "thousands of new titles," including games Frozen Free Fall from Disney and Dora's Great Big World, along with e-books from Dr. Seuss and Sesame Street. If you're on FreeTime Unlimited and have an Amazon Kindle reader, Fire TV or Fire tablet (like the Kids Edition shown above) you can access the content now, or sign up for a free trial.

Steve Dent

Engadget

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Instagram is now worth 49 times what Facebook paid for it

Instagram is now worth 49 times what Facebook paid for it

Many baulked when Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg agreed to drop $1 billion on Instagram in April 2012. "That's $33 per user," said some; "there's no business model!" screamed others. Less than three years later and Citigroup now says Instagram is worth $35 billion. That's almost 49 times higher than the $715 million Facebook ended up paying after its stock price fell, and considerably higher than rivals Twitter and LinkedIn. How did things go so right?

The short answer is "ads," as would be clear to anyone using Instagram. The long answer? First, the valuation hinges on Instagram's user count rising 40 percent over the next year, according to Citi analyst Mark May. That's likely -- it rose by 50 percent between March and December of this year alone -- but it's the second part of May's calculations that's up for debate. The analyst believes Instagram will be able to monetize its users further and rake in much more cash from advertisers. But what does that mean for you?

It's been just over a year since Instagram first introduced advertising into its apps, but May's expectations of higher advertising revenues don't necessarily mean you'll see loads more of them. You're worth more to Instagram than ever before -- more than $80 just for being you, according to May's calculations -- and it's unlikely Facebook will suddenly flood your feed with irrelevant ads. Citi thinks Instagram can get $1.48 from ads per 1000 views by the end of next year. That's less than Twitter makes (another service slowly working out how to make money), and May argues that Instagram has a larger, faster-growing, and more engaged audience. Simply put: Instagram is a better fit for prospective advertisers.

Instead of filling every page with ads, Facebook leverages its vast user data to argue it can target sponsored posts more effectively than others. The company uses your Instagram favorites to work out what kind of ads you'll respond well to, and also takes advantage of the many linked Facebook accounts to target ads based on your profile, likes and interests. It's a tough ask: balancing the demands of advertisers with ahistorically touchy audience. So far, Instagram has done a decent job of it; you're unlikely to see a jetskiing ad if you're a a 65-year-old man, for instance. You're still helping drive the company's profits by seeing ads, of course, but you're unlikely to be as annoyed by them since they're (mostly) aimed at stuff you like.

Instead of filling every page with ads, Facebook leverages its vast user data to argue it can target sponsored posts more effectively than others. The company uses your Instagram favorites to work out what kind of ads you'll respond well to, and also takes advantage of the many linked Facebook accounts to target ads based on your profile, likes and interests. It's a tough ask: balancing the demands of advertisers with ahistorically touchy audience. So far, Instagram has done a decent job of it; you're unlikely to see a jetskiing ad if you're a a 65-year-old man, for instance. You're still helping drive the company's profits by seeing ads, of course, but you're unlikely to be as annoyed by them since they're (mostly) aimed at stuff you like.

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Google needs partners to actually build its self-driving car

Google needs partners to actually build its self-driving car

Apparently Google's sufficiently kickstarted pursuits into autonomous driving, and is ready for some help with its own driverless cars. As the leader of the project told The Wall Street Journal, the folks in Mountain View aren't looking to replicate what Detroit-based and international automakers do best (build vehicles from the ground up). It's looking for an established player to help shoulder the load and bring the Google rides to market in the next five years. Until that happens, Chris Urmson says his team is partnering with automotive suppliers to move three generations beyond the cartoony-looking prototypes (pictured above) it has now. What's more, the search giant plans to on-road test this "beta one" fleet early next year. For California's sake, let's hope they're just as adept at sensing cyclists as their predecessors.
The Wall Street Journal

Timothy J. Seppala
Engadget

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