Facebook Launches Job-Listing App

Facebook has launched a job-hunting app in hopes that its network of more than 1 billion users will help people find their next career opportunity.

The Social Jobs app announced on Wednesday is a result of Facebook’s year-old partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, DirectEmployers Association, and the National Association of State Workforce Agencies. The app has job listings from other online job boards like BranchOut, DirectEmployers Association, Work4Labs, Jobvite and Monster.com. Right now, users can browse through more than 1.7 million openings. A ticker at the top of the app shows the exact number of available jobs.

So will a site typically considered a casual social network be useful for professional purposes? Facebook is a repository for users’ day-to-day activities, including updates that might be inappropriate if you’re using the site to look for a job. There have been cases where people have lost their jobsbecause of updates they posted on Facebook, and employers have gotten sued for asking for their employees’ Facebook passwords.

Sites like LinkedIn are built to cater to people’s professional identities, targeting very specific qualities — skills, past jobs, languages spoken, and more — that someone might want to highlight when searching for a job or presenting themselves to recruiters. Unlike LinkedIn, Facebook has a very hazy boundary between social and professional. But the Social Jobs partnership found in its research that Facebook is a useful site for both job hunters and recruiters. In a survey of 530 employers, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found that half of employers use Facebook in the hiring process, and more than half anticipate it becoming a more important tool for finding and recruiting talent. The vast majority said that Facebook helps decrease print advertising for job openings, and that the site can be used as a networking tool to get jobs.

That said, Facebook isn’t actually hosting the job listings. At launch, the app functions more as an aggregated search tool than anything else. Users can find jobs through the app, but once they try to learn more about a job, it points them to another app. The Work4Labs listings, for example, often links back to the hiring company’s Facebook page. If someone wanted to apply for the Head of Lighting position at Cirque Du Soleil, the new Social Jobs app would link to the Cirque Du Soleil hiring page on Facebook. The user would have to access the separate Work4Labs app if they wanted to see if anyone in their network could refer them. Should they want to apply, they would get pointed all the way back to Cirque Du Soleil’s official website.

It’s far from a seamless process, and there are several other glitches (Monster jobs showing up in the Work4Labs page, links going to a company’s Facebook Timeline, etc.). There is a lot of potential for Facebook to connect users to jobs — and create another source of revenue in the process. But in its current state, Facebook’s Social Jobs app is more of an extra side tool than an actual player in the job-hunting space.

source: internet

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T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 810 is a solid competitor to the HTC 8X

I have been using the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X for the last couple of weeks and even though my head tells me the 920 is best I keep going back to the 8X. T-Mobile customers will soon get to choose between the HTC 8X or Nokia Lumia 810 (the Lumia 920 is an AT&T exclusive) and after using the 810 for the past several days it is not as clear of a choice as I once thought it would be. The 8X is definitely positioned at the high end with a price of $199.99 on other carriers (T-Mobile hasn't announced pricing or availability yet) while the Nokia Lumia 810 is a mid-range device that should be priced around $100.

Out of the box impressions

The Nokia Lumia 810 did not come in one of those hefty, tank-like T-Mobile boxes, but it is attractive in gray and pink. Inside you will find the Lumia 810, USB A/C charger, USB cable, and some advertisements and basic instructions. There is no headset in the box and no other accessories. The black cover does not support wireless charging, but I understand there will be other covers with this support and I think the accessory lineup may help get folks in the door.
The Nokia Lumia 810 is a rather square device, but it still feels good thanks to the soft touch back cover and rounded corners. The display looks great and even though it has the same resolution as the previous Windows Phone devices you can't easily see pixels and I would have no problem using this device.

What's up with the Nokia Lumia 810, 820, and 822

Nokia announced the Lumia 820 and then we saw T-Mobile reveal the 810 and Verizon the 822. I spent a couple days with an 822 while I was using the 810 and they are both very similar devices. I like the feel of the 810 in my hand a bit more than the 822, but they are both solid mid-level smartphones. The 820 specs show a VGA front facing camera while the 810 and 822 come with 1.2 megapixel front facing cameras. The 810 and 822 also have 1800 mAh batteries while the 820 is limited to 1650 mAh.

Specifications and walk around the hardware

Specifications of the Nokia Lumia810 include:

• Windows Phone 8 OS
• 4.3 inch AMOLED ClearBlack display with 800x480 pixels
• Qualcomm S4 1.5 GHz dual-core processor
• Total integrated storage of 8GB with microSD card support
• 1GB RAM
• 8 megapixel camera with dual LED flash and F2.2 aperture, Carl Zeiss optics, and 1080p recording
• 1.2 megapixel front facing camera
• NFC, GPS, digital compass, proximity sensor, light sensor
• 802.11 a/b/g/n WiFi
• Bluetooth 3.0
• 3.5mm headphone jack
• Removable 1,800 mAh Li-Ion polymer battery
• Qi wireless charging capable (with optional back)
• Dimensions of 127.8 x 68.4 x 10.9 mm and weight of 145 grams

The Lumia 810 has very similar specs to the other Windows Phone 8 devices, with the display technology being one of the major differences. Enthusiasts may actually prefer the 810 due to the microSD card slot and removable battery.
The front is dominated by the 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED display and even though the resolution is the same as all last generation Windows Phone devices it still looks great. Nokia included the touch sensitivity found in the Lumia 920 on the Nokia Lumia 810. There is a toggle for the sensitivity too in case you don't need to use gloves or a fingernail with the display. The headset speaker is above the display with the front-facing camera to the left of the speaker. T-Mobile and Nokia logos are found on the upper left and right sides above the display. Below the display you will find the Back, Start, and Bing search buttons.
The 3.5mm audio jack is off to the right side on the top. The volume, power, and camera buttons are all on the right, nothing is on the left, and the microUSB port is on the bottom. The camera is centered on the upper back with the dual LED flash to the left of the camera lens (will be on top in landscape orientation).
The back cover is removable and it actually consists of the back and four sides. Under the back cover you will find the microSIM card slot with the microSD card slot positioned above it. The 1,800 mAh battery is removable.

Windows Phone 8 and Nokia software

I covered all the details of Windows Phone 8 in my other article so I won't go into all of those details here. Needless to say, it is better than Windows Phone 7 and I appreciate the differences, but it remains to be seen what the consumer will think.
This is an operator-branded device and T-Mobile includes several additional services and utilities. As I made clear in a recent article you can easily get rid of all the bloatware (you can later add it back in by visiting the T-Mobile section of the Windows Phone Store). The services that are loaded on the 810 include:

• 411 & More
• CallerTunes
• My Account
• Slacker Radio
• T-Mobile TV

One of the benefits of buying a Nokia Lumia is all of the value-added services they provide, along with many exclusives from other developers that end up first on Nokia Lumia devices. You will find the following on the Lumia 810:

• Nokia City Lens: Augmented reality application
• Nokia Drive: Voice guided GPS navigation only found on Lumia devices.
• Nokia Maps: Included on all Windows Phone 8 devices and includes ability to download maps for offline navigation for FREE.
• Nokia Music: Awesome free service that had me drop my Spotify subscription. It's a major benefit for the Lumia.

I use my phones for navigation, and having a client I can rely upon is important. I use Google Maps and Apple Maps and find them both to work well for me. Nokia Maps has always been a favorite and their voice-guided navigation is a real benefit for consumers.
Windows Phone provides a new "Lens" feature in the camera utility and Nokia provides a couple of these in the Lumia 810. The Cinemagraph utility lets you animate still photos and is lots of fun, while the Smart Shoot utility shoots five frames for each photo and then picks the best faces to create the "perfect" shot. Panorama allows you to capture wide shots with the Lumia 810. Nokia told me there will be even more camera utilities coming to Lumia, including the existing Lumia 900.

Experiences

Before I received the Lumia 810 to test out I would have told you that the obvious choice on T-Mobile for Windows Phone was the HTC 8X. The 8X is an excellent device and I personally would still select it since it feels so good in your hand and has a great display. The Nokia Lumia 810 is a solid competitor and if you look in my image gallery you can see that the camera captures still images even better than the 8X in some cases. When you look at ALL of the added Nokia software and services (Drive, Music, City Lens), combined with the removable battery and microSD expansion capability you may find the Lumia 810 is actually a better choice for you. The Lumia 810 should also launch at half the price of the HTC 8X, which may be enough for some people to consider the device.

source: internet

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Android 4.2 SDK Is Now Available

We’ve all seen the great new features coming to Android 4.2 by now. The Photo Sphere camera is pretty amazing, and multiple accounts on tablets has been a long time coming. Those features, however, are just the beginning. The new Jelly Bean also has a number of new features that developers will be able to make great use of.

Starting today, developers will be able to download the Android 4.2 SDK platform. It features a number of improvements and new features that developers are sure to do some amazing things with. Here’s the major improvements and features:

Performance
We’ve worked with our partners to run Renderscript computation directly in the GPU on the Nexus 10, a first for any mobile computation platform.

New ways to engage users
Users can now place interactive lock screen widgets directly on their device lock screens, for instant access to favorite apps and content. With just a small update, you can adapt any app widget to run on the lock screen. Daydream is an interactive screensaver mode that users can encounter when their devices are charging or docked in a desk dock. You can create interactive daydreams that users display in this mode, and they can include any type of content.

New interaction and entertainment experiences
Android 4.2 introduces platform support for external displays that goes beyond mirroring. Your apps can now target unique content to any number of displays attached to an Android device.

Enhancements for international users
To help you create better apps for users in languages such as Arabic, Hebrew, and Persian, Android 4.2 includes native RTL support, including layout mirroring. With native RTL support, you can deliver the same great app experience to all of your users with minimal extra work. Android 4.2 also includes a variety of font and character optimizations for Korean, Japanese, Indic, Thai, Arabic and Hebrew writing systems.

At the moment, Google’s own Nexus line are the only devices that are equipped with Android 4.2. Most manufacturers and carriers are still trying to catch up to the first iteration of Jelly Bean – Android 4.1. With that being said, developers will most definitely want to start thinking up apps that can take advantage of the advanced GPU in the Nexus 10. That screen is just begging for some amazing audio-visual experiences.

Veteran and novice developers alike can download the Android 4.2 SDK from the Android SDK Manager now. Before you get to that, however, you’ll want to check out the full list of Android 4.2 features and the API level 17 overview

source: internet

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Internet Explorer 10 Is Now Available On Windows 7

Internet Explorer 10 is an interesting beast. It was built with Windows 8, and touch, in mind. It launched with Microsoft’s new operating system last month, but now it’s available on the decidedly less-touch friendly Windows 7.

Microsoft announced today that the release preview of Internet Explorer 10 is now available on Windows 7. It features a number of HTML5 and CSS enhancements that any IE stalwarts will want to upgrade for. It also should make it easier for developers to make apps work across all the different browsers now that IE10 is catching up to the strides made by Mozilla and Google with Firefox and Chrome respectively.

Those interested in trying out Internet Explorer 10 for Windows 7 will also be happy to know that Microsoft will turn the controversial “Do Not Track” signal on by default when you first install it. It might not do you any good, however, as advertisers have already made it a point to ignore any DNT signals sent by IE10.

A study from last week found that Internet Explorer is actually the fastest browser on Windows. Microsoft is dead set on keeping that distinction with Internet Explorer 10 and performed a number of benchmark tests to prove it.

Microsoft attributes IE10′s performance enhancements to its “powerful HTML5 engine.” Users and developers can now take advantage of the following enhancements:

Rich Visual Effects: CSS Text Shadow, CSS 3D Transforms, CSS3 Transitions and Animations, CSS3 Gradient, SVG Filter Effects

Sophisticated Page Layouts: CSS3 for publication quality page layouts and application UI (CSS3 grid, flexbox, multi-column, positioned floats, regions, and hyphenation), HTML5 Forms, input controls, and validation

Enhanced Web Programming Model: Better offline applications through local storage with IndexedDB and the HTML5 Application Cache; Web Sockets, HTML5 History, Async scripts, HTML5 File APIs, HTML5 Drag-drop, HTML5 Sandboxing, Web workers, ES5 Strict mode support.

Windows 7 users can download the IE10 release preview today. IE9 was already pretty good, so users of that particular browser may want to upgrade to IE10 when they get the chance. The performance and security improvements are probably worth the few minutes it takes to install.

source:internet

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Angry Birds Creator Has First Original Idea

Until last Thursday, I had no faith in Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish developer behind Angry Birds.


As the addictive mobile game continued to dominate the world’s mobile devices (it has been downloaded one billion times as of May) and Rovio prepared for a possible multi-billion-dollar valuation, I sat back with a smug look on my face and predicted disaster, assuming that the studio was a one-hit wonder.
In the three years since Rovio’s rise to mobile dominance began, it hasn’t developed a single game without the Angry Birds branding. Given that Angry Birds was directly inspired by the browser game Crush the Castle, it seemed Rovio was far more adept at marketing than game design.
Then, on Sept. 27, it released Bad Piggies, a vehicle-themed spinoff of Angry Birds for mobile devices and PC. It’s a cute, funny, wonderfully designed game. Bad Piggies lets players create their own flimsy vehicles piece by piece, then guide that vehicle through treacherous levels using goofy contraptions like fans, balloons and TNT.
Most importantly, it’s completely original. It stands out among the glut of physics-based puzzle games that have flooded the App Store in Angry Birds‘ wake.
With adept marketing, attractive characters and original content, Rovio is poised to become the Nintendo of the mobile world: the foremost maker of appealing, fun games designed around the strengths of the new platforms.
Copying isn’t uncommon in the videogame business. It’s hard to find a single game publisher that hasn’t been guilty of it at some point, especially when it’s just starting out.
Nintendo’s first arcade games were total rip-offs. In 1978 it released Block Fever, a bland, imaginationless clone of Atari’s Breakout. The next year it followed up with Space Fever, a shameless knock-off of Space Invaders.
But within a few short years, Nintendo was known as the industry’s innovation leader, creating revolutionary games like The Legend of Zelda.
Although it copied the concept of Crush the Castle, Rovio improved everything about it: the user interface, the art, the music, the level designs. But it was still based on someone else’s gameplay insight. Another recent Rovio game, Amazing Alex, is a previously existing iPhone game called Casey’s Contraptions that the company bought and rebranded. Good marketing, no innovation.
Just cloning, and not innovating, can be dangerous. Take Zynga (please). The Facebook gamemaker hit it big in 2009 with FarmVille (copied wholesale from Chinese farm games), bought the maker of Words With Friends (a copy of Scrabble), and is mostly in the news today for a lawsuit about an alleged game copy, mass executive evacuations and a stock price that looks like a double black diamond ski slope.
Bad Piggies makes it appear as if Rovio wants to be on a different trajectory. Sure, the characters themselves are spun off from the Angry Birds brand. But gameplay is king, and creating something that doesn’t feel like anything else on the market is the only way that the industry can sustain itself in the long term.
If Rovio continues to produce games like Bad Piggies, it can become something much greater than “the Finnish guys who made Angry Birds.” It might be the first truly powerful force in the games industry born on mobile devices.

source: wired

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Facebook to Advertisers: Users Don’t Have to Click for It to Pay Off

“It is the delivery of the marketing message to the right consumer, not the click, that creates real value for brand advertisers.”
And with that, Facebook has a new strategy when it comes to convincing marketers that their ad dollars are well spent on the network. As long as the user sees your ad, they’ll want to buy your product or service. It doesn’t matter if they click, so you should really stop worrying about that metric at all.
Facebook isn’t just telling marketers all of this out of the blue – this comes straight out of a study conducted with new partners Datalogix. The study looked at over 50 digital campaigns and attempted to connect exposure to an ad on Facebook with in-store purchases of said products.
The name Datalogix may ring a bell, and that’s because their partnership with Facebook has raised some eyebrows over the last week. Datalogix is the owner of a massive database of consumer purchasing data. That data, when matched with Facebook data on ad impressions, can give marketers a general picture on whether or not their ad dollars are being spent on ads the directly lead to in-store purchases.
And that partnership with Datalogix has turned into a way for Facebook to tout their advertising clout with marketers.
Here’s what Facebook’s Measurement and Insights head Brad Smallwood had to say about the study in a studio blog post:

Impressions create value. 99 percent of sales generated from online branding ad campaigns were from people that saw, but did not interact with, ads— proof that it is the delivery of the marketing message to the right consumer, not the click, that creates real value for brand advertisers.
Reach drives revenue for online brand marketers. This is a concept very familiar to TV marketers, who often start with a reach objective—but until now hadn’t been proven for online. When applied to digital brand campaigns, the study demonstrated that campaigns that maximized reach had on average a 70 percent higher return-on-investment.
Finding the right message frequency is key. The study revealed that for online brand campaigns, if you reallocated high frequency impressions to people seeing too few impressions, you would see a 40 percent increase in ROI with the same budget. What this means is that for every online campaign there is a “sweetspot” of effective frequency that maximizes return on investment, and that the DataLogix tool can help marketers empirically isolate that sweetspot for each brand and campaign.

Facebook says that digital marketing is shifting its focus from the click to this more typical metric of measuring ad success. According to them, the Datalogix/Facebook tool is a huge step forward in measuring real return on investment for online advertisers.
Of course, this sort of data mining isn’t without its detractors. Two online privacy groups have already asked the FTC to investigate whether or not the partnership with Datalogix violates a previous order from the commission, where Facebook pledged to make “clear and prominent” disclosure of any sharing of nonpublic user information.
Facebook felt compelled to explain their purchase tracking initiative in a post to their privacy page. In it, they emphasize that all dat remains anonymous on their end and on Datalogix’s end:
“Importantly, we have designed this process with privacy at the forefront. We compare hashes of some Facebook data with hashes provided to us by Datalogix. Once we compare, we are able to send corresponding data on the reach of large-scale ad campaigns, which Datalogix uses to create aggregate reports comparing product purchases by large groups of people who did or did not see an ad.
Because of our commitment to privacy, we had an industry-leading auditing firm evaluate the privacy implications of this process. The auditor confirmed that, throughout this process, Datalogix is not allowed to learn more about you from Facebook profile information. Similarly, Datalogix does not send us any of their purchase data, meaning we cannot specifically tell whether or not you purchased a marketer’s product. Finally, with this partnership, Datalogix only sends the marketer aggregate information about large groups of people. None of this data is attributable to an individual Facebook user,” said the company.
Going forward, Facebook will continue to use this tool to show marketers that their money has legs on the Facebook platform. It’ll be up to marketers to decide whether or not digital strategies must move beyond the click.

source: webpronews

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Why Facebook Just Opened an Online Store

Citing its unique ability to recommend products, Facebook opened an online gift store. The move edges the social network onto the turf of e-commerce king Amazon, but at an opportune time: Amazon is busy making movies, computer hardware, cloud computing services, and entering other markets far afield from its core business of selling physical goods.
Not that Facebook is trying to usurp Amazon just yet. The launch of Facebook Gifts is modest: Facebook is emphasizing sub-$50 products like socks, cupcakes, teddy bears, and Starbucks gift cards. The idea is that Facebook will see words like “happy birthday” or “congratulations” on someone’s wall and prompt friends to buy the person something through the new store.
It’s an obvious and proven idea, one Facebook acquired when it bought year-old mobile gifting startup Karma in May. In the ensuing months, Facebook has rebranded the service and created a desktop version of the app, which is what is being launched today as Facebook Gifts. (From 2007 to 2010, Facebook operated a store by the same name, but it only sold virtual goods.)
In an interview with Wired Business in July, Facebook’s director of advertising product Gokul Rajaram explained Facebook’s thinking about gifts:

The reason it all germinated was because we saw that people wishing each other happy birthday is a really common social norm on Facebook. Because Facebook will basically tell you which of your friends have birthdays today. So we said, this could be a really interesting way to enhance that experience. In addition to saying ‘happy birthday’ you could actually give a small gift. We think that could be a really interesting thing that works on mobile, on the desktop, and is something that fits in with the norms.

In other words, Facebook is trying to monetize common, naturally occurring behavior on its network in a way that feels more natural than other Facebook ads, like “sponsored stories” that pop up when one of your friends mentions a business. Facebook is launching that business across mobile and desktop, and doing so only about four months after the acquisition of Karma.
It’s a smart approach. If anyone is better positioned than Amazon to recommend products to people, it’s Facebook, and the company is off to an auspicious start. It’s a small start, but then so was Facebook itself.

source: wired

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Adobe code signing infrastructure hacked by 'sophisticated threat actors'

Adobe today warned that an internal server with access to its digital certificate code signing infrastructure was hacked by "sophisticated threat actors" engaged in "highly targeted attacks."
The compromise, which dates back to early July, led to the creation of at least two malicious files that were digitally signed using a valid Adobe certificate, according to Adobe security chief Brad Arkin.
Although only two files were signed, the hack effectively gave the attackers the ability to create malware masquerading as legitimate Adobe software and signals a raising of the stakes in the world of Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs).
According to Arkin, one of the two digitally signed malware files is a utility that extracts password hashes from the Windows operating system.  This hints at the "lateral movement" that is common once a targeted attacker gains access to a network and attempts to elevate privileges to gain a higher level of access.
"The first malicious utility we received is pwdump7 v7.1.  This utility extracts password hashes from the Windows OS and is sometimes used as a single file that statically links the OpenSSL library libeay32.dll.  The sample we received included two separate and individually signed files. We believe the second malicious utility, myGeeksmail.dll, is a malicious ISAPI filter. Unlike the first utility, we are not aware of any publicly available versions of this ISAPI filter," Arkin explained.
"Within minutes of the initial triage of the first sample, we decommissioned our signing infrastructure and began a clean-room implementation of an interim signing service for re-signing components that were signed with the impacted key after July 10, 2012 and to continue code signing for regularly scheduled releases. The interim signing solution includes an offline human verification to ensure that all files scheduled for signature are valid Adobe software. We are in the process of designing and deploying a new, permanent signing solution," Arkin added.
Adobe did not provide details on the nature of the breach except to say that it affected a "build server" with access to the code signing infrastructure.  Arkin said the compromised machine's configuration was "not to Adobe corporate standards for a build server" and lamented the fact that this was not caught during the normal provisioning process.
"We are investigating why our code signing access provisioning process in this case failed to identify these deficiencies. The compromised build server did not have rights to any public key infrastructure (PKI) functions other than the ability to make code signing requests to the code signing service," he added.
Arkin said a forensics investigation identified malware on the build server and the likely mechanism used to first gain access to the build server.
"We also have forensic evidence linking the build server to the signing of the malicious utilities. We can confirm that the private key required for generating valid digital signatures was not extracted from the HSM. We believe the threat actors established a foothold on a different Adobe machine and then leveraged standard advanced persistent threat (APT) tactics to gain access to the build server and request signatures for the malicious utilities from the code signing service via the standard protocol used for valid Adobe software," he added.
Arkin says there is no evidence that source code was stolen during the compromise.
Adobe plans to revoke the impacted certificates on October 4, 2012.
The revocation will affect all code signed after July 10, 2012, which indicates the attackers had access to Adobe's infrastructure for more than two months.

source: zdnet

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Obama Defends Free Speech After Asking YouTube to ‘Review’ Anti-Islam Movie

As riots across the Mideast targeted U.S. embassies and consulates, the White House quietly asked YouTube to “review” whether an anti-Islam film allegedly fueling the chaos violated any terms of use. Now, in front of the United Nations, President Obama insisted that the only answer to offensive speech is “more speech.”
It’s not that Obama thinks that the Prophet Mohammed ought to be maligned by a filmmaker who uses tons of aliases and was once busted for PCP. There’s a principle at stake, he told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday morning: “Our Founders understood that without such protections, the capacity of each individual to express their own views, and practice their own faith, may be threatened.” The calls for censoring the video emanating through the Muslim world are ultimately futile, as well: “When anyone with a cellphone can spread offensive views around the world with the click of a button, the notion that we can control the flow of information is obsolete.”
True enough. But his administration’s response to the video and the anti-American protests continues to whipsaw. The U.S. Embassy in Cairo tweeted condemnations of the film on September 11 and stuck by them as mobs outside stormed the embassy gates. Obama basically deleted those tweets in his speech. He challenged offended Muslims to “also condemn the hate we see when the image of Jesus Christ is desecrated, churches are destroyed, or the Holocaust is denied.” And Obama dismissed the idea that the anti-Islam film was the true cause of this month’s assaults on U.S. embassies, locating it in “intolerance” instead. Even Obama critics like Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol conceded that the president’s speech was “conventionally unobjectionable.”

But it was also, at the least, unmoored from the way Obama previously handled the crisis. “If we are serious about upholding these ideals, it will not be enough to put more guards in front of an embassy; or to put out statements of regret, and wait for the outrage to pass,” Obama said. “If we are serious about those ideals, we must speak honestly about the deeper causes of this crisis.”
At the same time if we are serious about those ideals, we also have to acknowledge that the White House asked Google to “review” the 14-minute trailer for the anti-Mohammed video to see if it violated YouTube’s terms of use. (It didn’t.) And if we are serious about those ideals, we also have to acknowledge that Gen. Martin Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, placed a call to the anti-Islam pastor Terry Jones to see if Jones would rescind support for the movie. (He wouldn’t.) Let’s be clear — there’s a world of difference between those requests and government demands for censorship. But they’re still a far cry from combating hateful speech with more speech.
Obama’s United Nations speech was another indicator that his administration’s approach to this month’s anti-American violence is under revision. First the administration attributed the deadly assault on the Benghazi consulate to mob violence; then to a terrorist attack; and Obama declined to attribute blame for it at Turtle Bay. That might be fairly chalked up to the fog of war. But information doesn’t just want to be free, it wants to be accurate. And it should lead to a consistent response.

source: wired

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YouTube Makes Caption Translation Easier

Google announced that it has made it easier to translate YouTube video captions into over 300 languages.

“You’ll first need a caption track for your video, so if you don’t yet have one you can learn how to make one here,” the company explains in a blog post. “Select ‘Request translation’ in the YouTube Video Manager, choose the languages you’d like to translate into, and click “Next.” We’ll create caption translation documents that you can now invite anyone to help translate, or you can translate yourself. To translate the captions yourself, select the language, and it’ll open up the caption translation document in the Google Translator Toolkit editor to help your translate faster.”


“To give you context on the captions, we’ve also embedded the YouTube video in the editor so you can watch as you translate,” the company notes. “For several languages we’ll provide first draft of the translation using Google’s machine translation technology. We’ll also provide preview of what the translated caption looks like on the video so you can make sure the translated captions fit.”
After all of that, just click “Publish to YouTube”. 

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No iOS 6 for my original iPad? Now, I'm an Angry Bird.

Sorry, iPad 1, you're too old for iOS 6!

To say that I'm unhappy with Apple about the fact that I can't install iOS 6 on my iPad 1, is an understatement. It's not like the thing is seven or eight years old. I bought it just before the iPad 2 came out. And, now I'm angry. I'm very angry. I'm an Angry Bird who wants to have myself flung at the fortified pigs who made this very, very bad decision. You can install iOS 6 on the iPhone 3GS and on the iPhone 4, so why not the iPad 1?
So, now what?
Either I'm stuck with iOS 5.1.1 forever or I jailbreak the damn thing and possibly ruin it.
That's what.
When will Apple stop allowing my iPad 1 access to the App Store or iTunes?
Come on, Apple, how long do I have on this very expensive device that is less than two years old (for me)? How long does anyone have for a device launched in April 2010?
Bad move, Apple. Bad move.
I don't see any compelling features in iOS 6 that would preclude me from using it on my iPad 1. Sure, I don't have a camera or cellular connectivity (My choice) but what I do have is an official iPad and I want it supported. To drop support for it so soon after launch is just short of device homicide. And, it could prevent me from ever buying another Apple anything again.
I had finally convinced myself to like Apple after drooling over the original Macintosh and never getting one. I had come over to the "Dark Side" and even decided that the next computer that I purchase would be a Macbook Air.
But, not anymore.
You want to know why?
Because I don't know how long Apple would continue to support it.
And, guess what else? When my damn contract on my iPhone 4 is up, I'm not renewing it nor am I going to buy a new iPhone. $600 might not be a lot of money for Apple's decision makers but it is for me and I don't have it to waste. $600 would clothe my daughter for an entire school year plus extra left over for activities.
In my opinion, dropping iOS support for the iPad 1 means that Apple no longer cares about its customers and frankly, I'm shocked. It makes me want to take back all of the good things I ever said about Apple, my iPad and my iPhone. Sure, Apple probably doesn't give two hoots in hell about me, my opinion or my unsupported iPad 1, because Apple is going to be the world's first trillion dollar company. My $600 wasted investment means squat to them.
Apple, I have some sage advice for you: Stay focused on the customer or you won't have any. I don't think I'm alone in that feeling now that you've abandoned us.
I wonder if the other 15 million+ buyers of the original iPad would agree?
Do you really want to alienate 15 million customers?
There was a time in your past, Apple, when you were about 90 days from bankruptcy and now you're worth more than $600 billion. But, remember when the US had a $3 trillion surplus when Bill Clinton left office and now we have a $10 trillion deficit? You do the math and take a hint.
15 million is a lot of customers.
It's a lot of unsupported iPads.
It's a lot of pissed off individuals.
At $100 profit per customer, that's $1.5 billion. Small change to you?
It could be opportunity for another company who wants to offer something you don't: Support for your two year old unsupported devices. Sort of an opportunity for someone who wants to make a business out of supporting jailbroken devices with an App Store, new OS releases and updates that will continue the life of this computing platform.
By the way, for all of you who have anything but an iPhone 5, get ready for this: Your devices won't be supported very soon because Apple has changed the interface on the iPhone 5. So, the next generation of iPod and iPad will have the news ones too. And, my friends, that leaves your old devices in an incompatible format.
Awesome.
Think Different.
Planned obsolescence doesn't mean two years. Get a clue, Apple.
Consider me, "Unconverted."
What do you think of Apple's decision to not offer iOS 6 for a two-year-old device? Talk back and let (and Apple) know how you feel.

source: zdnet

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Toyota Talks Plans for New EV, Hybrids

Toyota eQ

Toyota plans to sell about 100 of its new eQ electric vehicle

Toyota is intent on bringing its eQ EV – the electric version of the Scion iQ -- to the market despite the fact that electric vehicles aren't selling well overall. Toyota competitor Nissan has had a very difficult time selling its electric Leaf EV in the United States and has so far failed to come close to sales goals. By contrast, General Motors has found some success with its extended range electric vehicle the Volt.

Toyota says that it only wants to sell about 100 of its electric eQ hybrids in the United States and Japan in what it calls an extremely limited release. Toyota had previously expected to sell several thousand eQ vehicles per year when the electric version of the company's iQ mini car was announced in 2010.

"Two years later, there are many difficulties," Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's vice chairman and the engineer who oversees vehicle development, told reporters on Monday.

Those difficulties undoubtedly involve the fact that consumers are staying away from electric vehicles. Toyota has also dropped plans for a second electric vehicle from its lineup reports Reuters.

"The current capabilities of electric vehicles do not meet society's needs, whether it may be the distance the cars can run, or the costs, or how it takes a long time to charge," said, Uchiyamada, who spearheaded Toyota's development of the Prius hybrid in the 1990s.

Toyota eQ interior

While Toyota is setting its sights very low for the eQ electric vehicle, the company is more bullish on hybrid vehicles. Toyota reports that it plans to launch 21 new hybrid vehicles over the next three years. Toyota also says that it also wants to have a fuel cell vehicle available by 2015. The fuel cell vehicle will be powered by hydrogen. The biggest challenge that vehicle is likely to face is the availability of hydrogen as a fuel source, which is virtually non-existent.

Toyota says that 14 of the new hybrids will be completely new. We can expect that the others will be hybrid versions of existing gasoline-powered vehicles.

source: dailytech

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Nokia Explains Why You Should Get a Lumia 920 Instead of an iPhone 5

Nokia uses an infographic to tout the Lumia 920's advantages

Samsung has definitely had its time to poke fun at Apple's recently announced (and soon to be released) iPhone 5. Last weekend, Samsung released a print ad that proclaimed "It doesn't take a genius" to select a Galaxy S III over the iPhone 5. Yesterday, Samsung got even bolder by releasing a new TV commercial that not only poked fun at the iPhone 5, but also the rabid fans that camp out for hours (if not days) to be the first to have the latest Apple smartphone.

Now, Nokia is having its fun in the sun with an infographic that touts the advantages of its Windows Phone 8 device -- the Lumia 920 -- over the iPhone 5. Naturally, Nokia points to a number of Lumia 920 highlights including wireless charging and the ability to use the touch screen with gloved hands.


So what do you guys think? Does Samsung or Nokia make a better case in countering the iPhone 5 juggernaut?

source: dailytech

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Apple adopts lottery system for iPhone 5 sales in Hong Kong

Apple has suspended direct sales of the new iPhone 5 in Hong Kong, choosing again to adopt a lottery reserving system which requires consumers to send applications online a day prior the purchase date.
Only those who have received a confirmation e-mail will be able to purchase up to two sets of iPhone 5 at  Apple stores in Hong Kong.
A similar approach was adopted by Apple for the sales of Apple's new iPad in the first half this year, which is believed to combat a large number of scalpers looking to resell these machines to mainland China for profits.
Due to the lottery system, local report said the number of fans queuing outside the Apple retail store in Hong Kong was limited on Friday when iPhone 5 was officially launched in the city.
However, the scarce supply pulled up the selling prices of iPhone 5 in the underground market in Hong Kong. Reports said scalpers purchased the new iPhone 16G--which is priced HK$5,588 (US$721) in the Apple retail store--for HK$8,000 (US$1,032) from those who succeeded in buying one through the lottery system. The scalpers will then resell the handset between HK$8,500 (US$1,096) and HK$12,000 (US$1,548).
The Chinese market was not on the list of the first-batch of iPhone 5 sales. However, Chinese smugglers indicated in the reports that by the night of Friday, people in Beijing will also be able to purchase iPhone in the underground market, but at an even higher cost.

source: zdnet

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Facebook Now Lets You Delete Your Search History

Since the dawn of search engines, internet users have utilized the ability to delete their search history. It’s a simple, quick, and painless way to prevent prying eyes from getting up in your business, for lack of a better phrase.
Now, Facebook is giving their users the ability to monitor their search activity and yes, delete it if that’s what they wish to do.
“Starting today, in addition to your other activity, you’ll be able to see the searches you’re making on Facebook. Just as you can choose to delete any of your posts, you can use the same inline control on Activity Log to remove any of your searches at any time. It’s important to remember that no one else can see your Activity Log, including your search activity,” says Facebook.
All you have to do is go to your Timeline and click on “Activity Log” right under your cover photo. From there, simply click the “all” button at the top right corner and find “search” among the options. You’ll see a list that says “John Q. User searched for _______” and you can delete each search at your own discretion. Of course, your activity log (including your searches) is private anyways, but sometimes it’s good to have ultimate control.
Speaking of Facebook and search…Facebook is doing search. Well, at least some time in the future. Mark Zuckerberg said so himself earlier this month. “We’re basically doing 1 billion queries a day and we’re not even trying. Facebook is pretty uniquely positioned to answer the questions people have. At some point we’ll do it. We have a team working on it.”
Adding search to the activity log isn’t the only thing Facebook’s done this week to enhance user privacy. Yesterday, they unveiled a new social plugin called Shared Activity, which will allow developers to give users a way to control which activities they share with friends across web apps.
Users should start seeing the “Search” option within the activity log within the next few weeks.

source: webpronews

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Facebook Pushes iOS App Update In Time For iPhone 5

Earlier, we told you about the new Facebook For Android update, and the Facebook Messenger for Android update (both of which come with some improvements to the messaging experience). Facebook has also pushed out an update to its iOS app. Facebook for iOS 5.0.1 includes iOS 6 and iPhone 5 support, the company notes (as if there were any question).
Here’s what’s new, as highlighted by Facebook:

• Scrolling through news feed is faster than ever
• New banner lets you tap to quickly see more stories – no need to refresh
• Photos open fast and close with one downward swipe
• Instant access to your notifications
• (5.0.1) Support for iOS 6 and iPhone 5; bug fixes

Of course, iOS 6 itself comes with a great deal of new Facebook integration (as does Mac OS X Mountain Lion).
While iOS didn’t get the Messenger update Android received today, Facebook says it’s on its way to iOS soon.
In related news, the company announced a new timed release schedule for its mobile apps.

source: webpronews

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Judge Refuses to Order YouTube to Remove Anti-Islam Film

Click Her to watch video
A California judge refused Thursday to order YouTube to remove controversial footage from “Innocence of Muslims,” the inflammatory film that sparked a U.S. backlash in the Middle East.
A woman who starred in the film, Cindy Lee Garcia, asked a Los Angeles County judge to take down the film because she said she was fired from her job, received death threats and was tricked into starring in the “hateful anti-Islamic production.” The film has possibly led to the killing of J. Chrisopher Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya and about two dozen others the past week.
Garcia, of California, believed she would be starring in an Arabian desert adventure film, according to her suit. But the 14-minute YouTube trailer produced by Nakoula Basseley Nakoula of Southern California portrays a different story — one of which the prophet Muhammad seemingly engages in oral sex with Garcia’s character.
The woman’s lawyer, Chris Armenta, according to the Los Angeles Times, told Superior Court Judge Luis Lanvin that the dispute is “Not a First Amendment issue. This is an invasion of privacy issue.” She said she would continue to press for the footage’s removal.
It was an unusual request. The primary reason YouTube is asked to remove footage in the United States is because of copyright violations.
The judge, siding with Google, which owns YouTube, said Garcia is not likely to “prevail” on the merits of her lawsuit against Nakoula. Garcia claims he “intentionally concealed the purpose and content of the film.”
The White House had asked YouTube to review the footage to ensure that it comported with the media giant’s terms of service. YouTube did not remove it from U.S.-based viewers. However, YouTube has blocked the film in Egypt, Libya, Indonesia, Malaysia and Saudi Arabia.
Google, in response to the White House’s bid, said the film was “clearly within our guidelines and so will stay on YouTube.”

source: wired

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Facebook Introduces New Shortcut For Mobile Payments

After a few disappointing weeks without much in the way of major updates, Facebook explodes onto the scene with a huge Operation Developer Love update. There are four major updates coming to the Facebook platform today that developers will want to take advantage of.
Facebook has been pushing the mobile platform a lot recently and today’s update just further cements their dedication to the platform. They’re introducing a new shortcut for mobile payments that will help developers monetize their content on mobile devices. In essence, the new feature allows developers to match their price points with those of mobile transactions imposed by carriers. It also redirects buyers directly to the mobile payment dialog instead of showing the usual Credit Card and PayPal options. Check out the documentation here.
Another change is coming to how Facebook handles platform dialogs across both the desktop and mobile Web versions of the site. All dialogs, including Feed, Pay and Auth, will now open inline by default for Canvas and Page Tab apps. They feel that this provides a better user experience, and it gets past those pesky pop-up blockers. Check out the documentation here.
Access tokens can sometimes be difficult to work with, especially when it comes to checking information that’s associated with them. That’s why Facebook is introducing a new API endpoint that eliminates the need to debug said tokens. Developers will now just have to issue an HTTP GET request to see all the information on any particular access token. Check out the documentation here.
Finally, Facebook wants to remind developers to start using the Payer Promotion Unit in their apps. It’s the special deal where Facebook subsidizes the cost of credits so developers can offer free bonuses to first-time payers. They found that getting somebody to pay for in-game content just once can usually lead to a lifetime of virtual purchases in your game and others. Developers who have already started using the PPU can now advertise their special promotions via a banner on their app’s canvas page. Check out the documentation here.
Like always, Facebook has done a bang-up job of fixing bugs across the site. They report that 187 bugs were submitted this week with 69 being accepted and 27 being fixed. You can check out the full changelog over at the blog post.

source: webpronews

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Microsoft's Surface challenge: Proving it's a premium product worth a premium price

I think those who are predicting Microsoft's coming Surface PC/tablet hybrids will fail if they don't beat the iPad on price are wrong. I think the Microsoft Surface will fail if Microsoft fails to prove the devices are premium products worth premium prices.

We still don't know exactly how Microsoft intends to price the Surface, though CEO Steve Ballmer telling The Seattle Times he considered the "sweet spot" for the PC market to be between $300 and $800. We know Microsoft execs are continuing to insist tablets are PCs. So I guess that means Ballmer believes PC/tablet hybrids like the Surface -- or "pablets," as no one but me calls these things -- also should come in between $300 and $800. Keyboards like the Touch and Type keyboard covers for the Surface are probably extra, I'd think.
Ballmer also made it clear to The Seattle Times he isn't trying to be the price leader with Surface devices. I have to say I'm relieved to hear it. There will likely be more than enough look-alike, same-old Windows RT and Windows 8 tablets competing to be the low-cost leader/loser, I'd bet.
There also seem to be some PC and tablet makers who aren't thinking about competing on cost --  but also don't seem to have anything much to warrant premium pricing. Microsoft's original guidance was that it would be pricing Surfaces in line with competitive ARM-based tablets and Intel-based ultrabooks.
ZDNet's Larry Dignan got his hands on a slide showing Asus' holiday line-up with its RT tablet coming in at $599 (plus another $199 for keyboard/dock), and its hybrid tab -- similar to the Intel-based Surface Pro -- coming in at $799 (plus another $199 for keyboard/dock).
Paul Spain, host of the NZ Tech Podcast, got Acer to share its planned pricing for its Iconia W510 Windows 8 tablet -- its Surface Pro alternative. It will start at NZ$999 incl tax (NZ$868+tax). "A direct conversion would make this US$712 excluding tax (as the norm for US pricing)," Spain noted. (Spain has more pricing straight from Acer for other Windows 8 hardware, as well.)
I'm not sure if any of the other PC/tablet makers will talk pricing at the upcoming September 27 Intel Clover Trail showcase, but both Acer and Asus -- along with  Dell, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and ZTE -- are all expected to show off their new devices at the San Francisco event.
We're just about a month away from the day the Surface RT -- the version that runs on an ARM chip but that won't run existing third-party Windows software -- will debut. None of us in the tech press have had any real hands-on time with production versions of the device so far. So we don't really know if the hinges, the touch pads, the keyboards, the casing and all the other components Microsoft execs touted back in June are really as amazing as they looked in the orchestrated demo. None of us has had any real hands-on time with the operating system powering these machines, Windows RT, either.
If the Surface RT works, looks and feels great, I'd be willing to pay more than an iPad for one. I know there are others like me who are tired of having lots of Windows hardware from which to choose -- but almost nothing worth splurging on.
Here's hoping the Surface team -- which seems to have as its charter "focusing on building devices and peripherals that fully express the Windows vision" -- comes out of the quality gates with a boom.

source: zdnet

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LinkedIn Gives Career Pages An Overhaul

LinkedIn announced today that it has updated its Career Pages to make it easier to “show off your unique employer brand”.
“As with many LinkedIn products, our goal is to make both our members and talent acquisition customers more successful,” writes LinkedIn’s Thomas Sexton in a blog post. “When candidates are more engaged, more connected with companies, and better able to find their dream jobs, everybody wins. This means designing a page that’s simple and laser-focused on capturing candidates’ attention as soon as they hit the page.”
The new pages feature a large banner image (which seems to be the trend these days).
“We’ve found that candidates care most about personalized jobs, people they know at your company and what you stand for as an employer,” says Sexton. “The new, cleaner page design puts these elements front and center.”
There are also content modules that let you share videos, testimonials, text, etc.
Here’s what they look like:

source: webpronews

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Watch This iPhone 5 Unboxing Video- Exclusive & First

In case you haven’t seen what it looks like to take an iPhone 5 out of its box yet, but this is something you’re looking forward to,

click here to watch video

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Windows Phone 8X by HTC: Full specs

Steve Ballmer of Microsoft and Peter Chou of HTC shared the stage to unveil two new phones for Windows Phone 8. The joint presentation had the feel of a partnership, with Ballmer frequently referring to the two new phones as a product of "us" and "we". He also made a statement that when people want a Windows Phone they will think of the HTC product.
The top of the line Windows Phone 8X has a 4.3-inch screen protected by Gorilla Glass 2. The full specs indicate a good effort by HTC:

• Display: 4.3-inch super LCD 2, Gorilla Glass, 1280x720
• CPU: Qualcomm S4 1.5 GHz dual-core
• Memory: 16 GB, RAM 1 GB
• Network: GSM/ GPRS/ EDGE/ CDMA/ HSPA/ WCDMA/ LTE
• Wireless: Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, 2.4 & 5 GHz
• Ports: 3.5mm audio, microUSB
• Cameras: Front- 2.1 MP, f/2.0 aperture, ultra-wide angle, 1080p recording; Rear- 8 MP, f/2.0 aperture, 28mm lens
• Audio: Beats Audio
• Battery: 1,800 Ah
• Dimensions: 132.35 x 66.2 x 10.12mm, 130 grams; 5.21 x 2.6 x 0.39 inches, 4.58 ounces
• NFC capable, depending on operator

ZDNet UK has a full hands-on photo gallery for your viewing pleasure. It seems Windows Phone is shaping up to be a colorful line of phones.
The Windows Phone 8X will be available in November from 150 carriers including AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile in the US.
Also unveiled was the lower-end Windows Phone 8S with a 4-inch display and lesser cameras. It will also be available in November.

source: zdnet

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iPhone 5 Reviews Point to an Apple Home Run

Apple’s new iPhone, despite claims of “boring” and “uninspired” from some detractors on launch day, is receiving some strongly positive reviews across the interwebs.
The iPhone 5 will hit stores this Friday, September 21st, but that doesn’t mean you can just stroll down to your local Apple Store and snatch one up whenever you feel like it. If release day purchasing is the way you want to play it, I’d suggest arriving early and bringing a tent. Demand is high, as Apple.com’s shipping estimates have slipped to 3-4 weeks for pre-orders, and the major U.S. carriers are all reporting ship times in the 2-3 week range.
The iPhone 5 sold 2 million units in the first 24 hours of pre-orders, shattering the previous record held by the iPhone 4S. Will all of these eager Apple fans be disappointed, or will it live up to what Apple has called it – the best device they’ve ever made?
Let’s check some of the early reviews:
Engadget
The iPhone 5 is here — or will be soon, anyway — and it’s every bit the device that people were asking for when the iPhone 4S came out. Its new design has less mass yet leaves room for a larger display and LTE wireless, all while increasing battery life. In nearly every respect, this is an upgrade over the 4S that came before, though it arrives almost a year later than many had hoped.
Pick your benchmark and you’ll find Apple’s thin new weapon sitting at or near the top. Will it convince you to give up your Android or Windows Phone ways and join the iOS side? Maybe, maybe not. Will it wow you? Hold it in your hand — you might be surprised. For the iOS faithful this is a no-brainer upgrade. This is without a doubt the best iPhone yet. This is a hallmark of design. This is the one you’ve been waiting for.
CNET
The good: The iPhone 5 adds everything we wanted in the iPhone 4S: 4G LTE, a longer, larger screen, and a faster A6 processor. Plus, its top-to-bottom redesign is sharp, slim, and feather-light.
The bad: Sprint and Verizon models can’t use voice and data simultaneously. The smaller connector renders current accessories unusable without an adapter. There’s no NFC, and the screen size pales in comparison to jumbo Android models.
The bottom line: The iPhone 5 completely rebuilds the iPhone on a framework of new features and design, addressing its major previous shortcomings. It’s absolutely the best iPhone to date, and it easily secures its place in the top tier of the smartphone universe.
The New York Times
Let’s start with design. The new phone, in all black or white, is beautiful. Especially the black one, whose gleaming, black-on-black, glass-and-aluminum body carries the design cues of a Stealth bomber…
At 0.3 inch, the phone is thinner than before, startlingly so — the thinnest in the world, Apple says. It’s also lighter, just under four ounces; it disappears completely in your pocket. This iPhone is so light, tall and flat, it’s well on its way to becoming a bookmark…
There’s no breakthrough feature this time, no Retina screen or Siri. (Thought recognition will have to wait for the iPhone 13.) Even so, nearly every feature has been upgraded, with a focus on what counts: screen, sound, camera, speed.
The phone itself runs faster, too. Its new processor runs twice as fast, says Apple. Few people complained about the old phone’s speed, but this one certainly zips.
Should you get the new iPhone, when the best Windows Phone and Android phones offer similarly impressive speed, beauty and features? The iPhone 5 does nothing to change the pros and cons in that discussion. Windows Phones offer brilliant design, but lag badly in apps and accessories.
TechCrunch
[The] iPhone 5 shines in just about every conceivable way. In fact, I’ll go a step farther: I really do believe this is the best iPhone upgrade that Apple has done yet (besting the iPhone-to-iPhone 3G jump and the iPhone 3GS-to-iPhone 4 jump). As such, it’s the best version of the iPhone yet. By far.
Those worried about the talk of “disappointment” surrounding the iPhone 5, I suggest you simply go to an Apple Store starting on Friday and try it for yourself. My guess is you’ll immediately recognize just how ridiculous all that bluster actually is. The iPhone 5 is the culmination of Apple doing what Apple does best. This is the smartphone nearly perfected.
The Loop
My experience with the iPhone 5, iOS and the EarPods has been great. The iPhone is everything Apple said it would be and with iOS 6 built-in, it’s clear to me that Apple has another winner on its hands. I can’t think of any good reason why anyone wouldn’t upgrade or purchase the iPhone 5.
TIME
The bottom line, in case it isn’t clear already: The iPhone 5 is one terrific smartphone. Ignore the naysayers — even without any awesome technological breakthroughs, it’s a sizable improvement on the iPhone 4S. For many upgraders, LTE alone will be worth the price of admission.
Bloomberg
The launch of a new iPhone long ago passed from mere product introduction into the realm of cultural phenomena. Still, underneath all the hype, the iPhone 5 really is just a new smartphone. A terrific new smartphone…
In the end, the debates over the iPhone 5 will be as endless as the lines waiting to buy it starting Friday. Apple- bashers will say the screen is too small, compared to giants like Samsung (005930)’s Galaxy S III. And they’ll bemoan the absence of a Near-Field Communications chip, which among other things can be used for mobile payments. (Apple says there isn’t yet enough consumer demand to warrant including it.)
And they’ll have some valid points. The iPhone 5 is by no means perfect, and we’re lucky there are a lot of really good smartphones on the market.
But only one great one.
All Things D
The world’s most popular smartphone becomes significantly faster, thinner and lighter this week, while gaining a larger, 4-inch screen—all without giving up battery life, comfort in the hand and high-quality construction…
If you own an iPhone 4S and especially if your carrier won’t let you upgrade yet at the $199 price, you may be content with just upgrading to the new software, which gives you a lot. But you’ll be stuck with the smaller screen, bulkier size and pokier cellular speed. If you own an older model iPhone, or are switching from another phone, however, the iPhone 5 is an excellent choice.
SlashGear

The iPhone 5 probably won’t take any more marketshare from Android than the iPhone 4S did before it. Neither of the major platforms is going anywhere, and each has its loyal user-base. But, it’s the best iPhone so far, and breaking 2m sales in the first 24hrs of preorders suggests the public at large is confident of the same thing.
What the iPhone 5 really convinces me, though, is that throwing bells and whistles into a device doesn’t necessarily make it a better phone in the end. I’d drifted from the iPhone 4S because I had core needs it was no longer satisfying: a larger screen, for instance. Where the iPhone 5 edges back into the picture is in how well it integrates into my daily life. So many things I can make work on Android – video calling, for instance, but iPhone simply makes them more straightforward. If they’re straightforward, that means I use them more.
Telegraph

The iPhone 5 is a marvellous piece of design, arguably the most beautiful object Apple has ever produced. It certainly stands comparison with the first iPod, the iMac and the original iPhone. Yes, it’s thinner and lighter and more powerful than the iPhone 4S but to really understand it, you need to hold it in your hand…The iPhone 5 is a great smartphone made even better. It’s fast, lightweight and backed by the largest application store for any device. It’s also probably the most beautiful smartphone anyone has ever made.

source: webpronews

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