The Geekcast

    News: Nest 2.0: Slimmer, sleeker thermostat smarter than ever When the "Father of the iPod" Tony Fadell unveiled Nest, the "learning thermostat" last fall, it was likely the first time anyone had ever thought of a thermostat as sexy. ...

News: TiVo settles patent lawsuit with Verizon for at least $250 million, is 'exploring' Redbox Instant support While some patent lawsuits continue to drag on, the battle between TiVo and Verizon over DVR technology has come to a resolution. In exchange for cross licensing their patents and dismissing all pending litigation, the two parties have agreed Verizon will pay TiVo $100 million up front followed by recurring quarterly payments totaling $150.4 million through July 2018, as well as monthly license fees for each FiOS DVR user above certain levels. Now that they're no longer at war the two companies may find a few things to work together on, and there is a provision for "certain commercial initiatives" which, if pursued this year, could count as credits toward the amount Verizon has agreed to pay. Additionally, the press release indicates they are exploring support for the upcoming Redbox Instant service (which Verizon is a partner in) on TiVo's DVRs. This all follows TiVo's $215 million settlement with AT&T earlier this year and last year's $500 million agreement with Dish Network. Meanwhile, lawsuits are still pending against Cisco, Time Warner Cable and Motorola. http://www.engadget.com/2012/09/24/tivo-settles-patent-lawsuit-with-verizon-for-at-least-250-milli/ Myspace Plans a Reboot — Again Myspace, the long-beleaguered social network, announced plans Monday for a site-wide redesign that will include a complete visual refresh. Details of the new site were unveiled in a promotional video that previewed a drastically different, horizontally oriented user interface and a continued emphasis on music, one of the site’s strong points in its nearly 10-year existence. The brief unveiling comes more than a year after News Corp. (AllThingsD’s parent company) sold Myspace at a half-a-billion-dollar loss to Specific media for $35 million, after suffering through years of a flagging user base, in sharp contrast to the skyrocketing success of Facebook, the world’s largest social networking site. Redesigns are not new to Myspace’s efforts to kickstart its site’s activity. Last year, Specific media made the rounds to advertisers to make the case for Myspace, billing the site as the “#1 online community music destination,” relying heavily on the existing content rights agreements that it had with the four major record labels. Specific went so far as to call Myspace the “Hulu of music.” In 2010, there was another attempt to revive the site with then-CEO Mike Jones at the helm; back then, the aim was to create a “social entertainment site” aimed at Gen-Y, Web-savvy users. The redesign was largely ignored by the crowd the company was targeting; News Corp. sold less than a year after relaunch. We’ll see if the leadership of Justin Timberlake, one of the site’s major backers, can help with the renewed push into emphasizing music as the site’s platform. http://allthingsd.com/20120924/myspace-plans-a-reboot-again/?refcat=news RIM CEO Thorsten Heins: 'we have a clear shot at being number three' Speaking to the press today shortly after the unveiling of the latest beta version of BlackBerry 10 and a new developer device, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins discussed BlackBerry 10's chances on the market. He argues that BlackBerry 10 is going to have a chance to beat Windows Phone 8 out as the next platform after iPhone and Android. "We have a clear shot at being the number three platform on the market. We're not just another open platform on the market, we are BlackBerry." "It has all the table stakes we need to have for consumer [success]," Heins said. He pointed out that the unique features of BlackBerry 10, including the BlackBerry Hub and its new multitasking UI, add on to those stakes to represent a real contender. He was careful to note that the BlackBerry Hub, in particular, is more compelling than it seems at first blush, "BlackBerry Hub is not just a unified inbox.

News: Apple announces iPhone 5 preorders top 2 million in first 24 hours By AppleInsider Staff Preorders of the iPhone 5 surpassed 2 million in its first 24 hours of availability, more than doubling last year's record set by the iPhone 4S, Apple a...

    News: Apple officially announces iPhone 5 SAN FRANCISCO -- The iPhone 5 is finally here. After months of rampant rumors and hype, Apple debuted its latest smartphone Wednesday in front of a packed house at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, claiming it is the world’s thinnest. The iPhone 5 features a larger screen and weighs 112 grams, or about 4 ounces, which is 20% lighter than the iPhone 4S. It is also 18% thinner, Apple's marketing chief Phil Schiller said. It has an improved A6 processor that is twice as fast as its predecessor, high-speed 4G LTE connectivity and a widescreen aspect ratio. PHOTOS: Apple iPhone 5 Apple has also improved the device's battery life and updated both of its cameras, giving its front camera 720p HD video. The company also announced a smaller dock connector for the device and a new cable charger named Lightning that is 80% smaller than its predecessor. Siri got a makeover as well, and can now tell users the scores of sports games and post status updates to Facebook. The iPhone 5's dock connector has also been made smaller. QUIZ: Test your Apple knowledge The device will be available in black and white. It will be available for $199, $299 and $399 for 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models, respectively. Pre-orders begin Friday and the iPhone 5 will launch Sept. 21. The company said iOS 6 will arrive as an update for many of its iOS devices Sept. 19. The invitation-only Apple event, which began at 10 a.m. Pacific time, is still ongoing. Cook is expected to announce upgrades to other products, including the iPod, soon, so check back for updates. For live tweets from the event, click here. The launch of a new iPhone will mean huge sales for the Cupertino, Calif., tech giant. Since the original iPhone debuted in 2007, Apple has sold more than 244 million units and has been credited with upending the smartphone industry. Sales of iPhones and related products and services accounted for 46% of Apple’s revenue in the most recent quarter and 58% in the previous quarter. In its last fiscal year, the company reported revenue of $47.1 billion from sales of iPhones and related product and services, an 87% increase over the year before. Analysts estimate the iPhone has a gross margin of about 50%, making it an extremely profitable device for the world's most valuable company. Nearly two-thirds of Apple's profits come from the iPhone. With sales of Apple's iPhone 4S and earlier models dropping off in recent months, analysts believe there is huge pent-up demand for the iPhone 5. Many have predicted that Apple could sell up to 10 million iPhones in the first 10 days, and up to 50 million in the holiday quarter.   http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-apple-iphone-5-announced-20120911,0,5119774.story http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/12/3321568/apples-iphone-5-event-heres-everything-that-happened Nintendo's liveblog: the Wii U wait will be over Thursday, September 13 Nintendo has been slowly portioning out details and hands-on demos for the Wii U in occasional drips and drabs since the system's first unveiling at last year's E3. Yet even as the system's promised "holiday season" launch window approaches, there's still a lot we don't know about it—most importantly the hardware's price, specs, and specific release date. So when the company announced a special New York presentation from Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime, we figured the big N was finally getting ready to reveal the final details of the Wii U rollout. Nintendo wouldn't confirm what specific information will be discussed at Thursday's event, but we'll be on hand for a liveblog, and we'll check out any new game demos at an event afterward. We'd point out that the original Wii's pricing and release date were announced just a day shy of six years ago today. http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2012/09/nintendos-liveblog-the-wii-u-wait-is-over-on-thursday-september-13/

News: Apple vs. Samsung: the verdict After two and a half days of deliberations, the Apple vs. Samsung jury returned a decisive verdict in Apple's favor today — holding that Samsung owes Apple $1.049 billion for copying Apple's intellectual property. Specifically, the jury found that all three of Apple's software patents on the iOS user interface were valid and infringed by a long list of Samsung devices, that Apple design patents were valid and infringed by several Samsung phones, and that Apple's trade dress on the iPhone and iPhone 3G were diluted by several Samsung phones as well. On the other hand, Samsung lost every part of its case against Apple — the jury ruled that none of the Apple devices in the case infringe Samsung's patents, including patents that are part of the 3G networking standard. The only major decisions that went to Samsung were related to the iPad — the jury didn't think Samsung's tablets copied the iPad's design. http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/24/3266439/samsung-apple-verdict Google's Nexus 7 tablet pops up in rare home-page ad Google really wants people to take a look at its Nexus 7 tablet. The $199 tablet started popping up on Google's home page today, a rare instance in which Google is actively promoting one of its own products. It's similar to the way Amazon's front page is often dominated by Kindle advertising. That Google would go to such lengths underscores the company's desire to make a bigger dent in the burgeoning tablet market, one still dominated by Apple's iPad. Given the traffic that goes through Google, the home page would be one of the most coveted spots on the Web for advertisers. The company, however, has traditionally resisted attempts to run advertisements for paid products on its main page. http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57501546-94/googles-nexus-7-tablet-pops-up-in-rare-home-page-ad/ Flipboard passes the 20 million user mark, with one new user per second Flipboard is celebrating its second year anniversary this summer, and has just announced some impressive statistics to boot. Just last year the reading app announced that it had passed the 5 million user mark, and now it reports more than 20 million. Some other relevant numbers it has just posted to its blog include the fact that Flipboard, which is available for iOS and Android devices, adds 1 new user per second on average, and sees 14.5 million social actions per month. Speaking of the social aspect of Flipboard, the company reports that 75 percent of iPad users have connected their account to a social network such as Facebook or Twitter (which recently made it clear with new API terms that apps like Flipboard could have a rough road ahead). Possibly the most impressive figure Flipboard has revealed is the fact that its 1.5 million daily users spend an average of 86 minutes per month in the app. Be sure to check out Flipboard's official blog for more stats in an attractive infographic format. http://www.theverge.com/2012/8/28/3274612/flipboard-20-million-users-one-new-user-per-second Hipstamatic Out Of Film? Camera App Lays Off Engineers And Others Is Hipstamatic, the iPhone photo app that was an early hit on the App Store, on the rocks? TechCrunch understands that Synthetic, makers of the app, has recently had to let go of much of its engineering staff, among others, as part of a wider restructuring as it looks for cash. A number of public tweets (embedded below) also point to people leaving. The news comes as a surprise, given that Synthetic says that it has been profitable since the second week after it launched. It is projected to make $22 million this year (from $10 million in 2011). Contacted for a response to the news, a spokesperson confirmed that Hipstatmatic is restructuring but nothing more: ”Business is moving forward as usual, and we’re heads down focused on making beautiful, creative and fun products for our community and the world.

News: OnLive sold to new company, OnLive, amid layoffs: the full story OnLive, the popular streaming gaming company, has been sold to a "newly-formed" enterprise amid controversy and accusations of mismanagement. Although there is clear evidence of...

News: Mars rover's test drive set for next week The canyons and buttes of Mount Sharp beckon the $2.5 billion rover, some 5 miles away from the rover's Aug. 6 landing site. The rover is halfway through tests of its 10 science instruments, and...

  News: Mountain Lion is Apple's 'most successful' OS X release with three million downloads in four days Apple's recently released OS X 10.8, codenamed Mountain Lion, is officially the California company's most successful OS X release to date. Totalling more than three million downloads in its first four days of availability, it overshadows OS X 10.7 Lion — the prior version of the operating system, which was also the first to be made available via a direct download from the Mac App Store. Lion was already the fastest-spreading OS X upgrade in Apple's history, thanks to that direct distribution method, and the cheaper and universally better Mountain Lion seems to be keeping that momentum going. http://www.theverge.com/2012/7/30/3201520/apple-mountain-lion-launch-downloads Surface to arrive with Windows 8 on 10/26, says Microsoft Though it's not exactly an earth-shattering revelation, Microsoft has confirmed that Surface tablets will arrive October 26 along with Windows 8. "The next version of our operating system, Windows 8, will be generally available on October 26, 2012. At that time, we will begin selling the Surface, a series of Microsoft-designed and manufactured hardware devices," Microsoft said in its annual report filed this week with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Microsoft has said before that Surface products "would be available the same time that Windows 8" was launched, but it's reassuring to see the date in writing. And, remember, those are Windows RT tablets only. The Intel-based Surface Pro is expected about 90 days later, according to Microsoft. Microsoft has also peppered disclaimers throughout the annual report (these appear often in SEC filings) about the success, or lack thereof, of Windows 8. http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57481965-75/surface-to-arrive-with-windows-8-on-10-26-says-microsoft/?tag=mncol;topStories Digg's resurrection: can Betaworks revive the once-loved site? Digg.com, the beloved aggregator that rose to become one of the most influential sites on the web but then fell into disrepair, relaunched yesterday from a completely clean slate. None of the old Digg remains, and the 10-person team working on the project is calling the new site Digg version 1. The familiar list of links on the front page is gone, pushed aside in favor of a news-style layout curated by three editors who pick top stories and protect the site from spam. The new Digg team is all from the Betaworks business incubator in New York that bought the Digg name, branding, and codebase. Betaworks developed the social news reading application News.me, which sparked its interest in Digg, and I interviewed some of the new team about what went into redesigning the site in six short weeks. I arrived at Betaworks yesterdayshortly before the new Digg site and iPhone app went live, and tension was high. The team pulled up a Twitter search for "Digg" and projected it on a wall to watch as the early reviews came in. The last time Digg had a major redesign, the users revolted and basically abandoned the site, leading to its downfall. "I feel like there's a lot of pressure," said Jake Levine, the new general manager of Digg. "People want to see Digg restored to what it once stood for." Levine spent a recent Saturday reading through 3,500 responses to a user survey about the future of Digg. No less than 92 percent of respondents said they would not recommend the old Digg to a friend, but many were still rooting for the site. "People were surprisingly very positive and excited and optimistic," about the relaunch, said Levine, although "a handful of folks was just kind of trolling." One survey respondent wrote: "build something awesome, the internet is rooting for you," Levine recalled. Those responses gave the Betaworks team license to completely rethink the site — the current version 1 is just the first iteration of a new Digg,

News: Google's Marissa Mayer becomes Yahoo CEO Yahoo has named Marissa Mayer, one of Google's top execs, as its next CEO, ending a hunt that began after Scott Thompson was forced out in May for padding his resume. Ross Levinsohn, who has been the...

News: OUYA: a hacker-friendly Android console seeking Kickstarter funds A new Kickstarter project is making waves, by proposing an open-source, hacker-friendly platform using Android as its backbone. "OUYA" merges the "satisfying" experience of a c...

  News: Vizio's Co-Star: $99 Google TV box with OnLive gaming support Vizio, a company best known for its inexpensive HDTVs, is looking to expand into another new market: it has just announced the Co-Star, a Google TV set-top box that will begin selling in July for $99.99. In addition to the standard complement of video streaming services and Google TV features, this new box will differentiate itself by including support for OnLive's streaming gaming service. The Co-Star includes support for 1080p video over HDMI, 802.11n wireless, a USB port for storage and peripherals, and a Bluetooth remote has a QWERTY keyboard on its reverse side. In addition to OnLive, it features support for the standard complement of streaming video services including Netflix, Amazon Instant Video, and YouTube. Being a Google TV product, it also features a full Flash-enabled Google Chrome browser, and Vizio has also included support for DLNA streaming media servers. The presence of OnLive on this new box is an interesting choice for the gaming company, since at $99 it matches the price of the company's own OnLive MicroConsole, which doesn't include the browsing and streaming video capabilities offered by Google TV. The MicroConsole does ship with its own gamepad, but this is available separately for $49.99, and it should be compatible with the Co-Star. This news comes hot on the heels of Sony's next-generation Google TV boxes—the streaming-only NSZ-GS7 and Blu-ray-toting NGZ-GP9—but at $199 and $299 respectively, the Co-Star undercuts them both on price. All of these newer Google TV devices are cheaper than the first-generation devices like the Logitech Revue thanks in part to their new ARM processors, but some of Google TV's innate problems (including lack of buy-in from the cable companies) remain. http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2012/06/vizios-co-star-99-google-tv-box-with-onlive-gaming-support/ YouTube for PS Vita now ready, will help you watch more kitties than Killzone Sony promised us a YouTube app for the PlayStation Vita this month, and although it's just sliding under the wire, that app is here. The viewer as it hits the console will play videos over 3G and WiFi as well as in HD quality, if you've got the bandwidth to burn. Most of the basics for favorites and searches are covered, including a small player that will let you hop between clips. There's no mention of subscriptions for those perpetually addicted to Maru or Ray William Johnson, however. That quirk aside, the free app is due to swing by the PlayStation Store any moment now, so fire up your Vita and get ready to watch game strategy videos distracting pet clips on that OLED-packing handheld. http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/26/youtube-for-ps-vita-ready/ ************ Geek This Week: Aaron: Uber cab service. Gozer:  Lego Batman 2 DC Superheroes for PSVita. Skyrim “Dawnguard” expansion. Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. ************* The Geek’s Choice: Apple Podcast App ************** Featured Segment:  Fitbit Fitbit.com ************** Feedback & Items of Note: ************** Sponsors: Hover.com: Domain names made simple! Experience minimal cross-sell, ‘no wait’ phone support where your call is answered on the first ring, and a simple interface. See how easy and hassle-free registering your next domain can be. Just visit http://www.hover.com/geekcast and see for yourself. Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast

  News: Microsoft unveils Surface tablets, powered by Windows 8 One tablet with NVIDIA chips, another with Intel, and a really smart cover. Microsoft The Earth-shattering Microsoft announcement we've been waiting for is finally here. As seve...

News: WWDC 2012 Breakdown iOS 6: http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/11/3078570/ios-6-everything-you-need-to-know -Apple’s maps - Turn-by-turn -Enhanced Siri -Passbook -FaceTime over cellular -More: Phone reply enhancements, Facebook integration, Mail VIP, coming to iPad (w/ Siri). Fall release (likely w/ next iPhone) OS X Mountain Lion: http://www.apple.com/osx/whats-new/ -Full iCloud Integration -Notification Center -Twitter / Facebook built in -AirPlay -Messages / unification of Apple ID & cell phone number -Power Nap Releases in July for only $20! Again only available via Mac App Store. Price is for upgrade from Snow Leopard & higher Updated Macbook Air / Macbook Pro -Normal spec bumps for MBA and MBP New flagship MBP: http://www.apple.com/macbook-pro/ -Retina display -SSD -Dual microphones -Less glare as the display is built into the unibody -Ultra thin -4.45 lbs Hope you’re sitting down: STARTS AT $2,199. Available now. ************ Geek This Week: Aaron: Gozer: ************* The Geek’s Choice: ************** Featured Segment: ************** Feedback & Items of Note: ************** Sponsors: Hover.com: Domain names made simple! Experience minimal cross-sell, ‘no wait’ phone support where your call is answered on the first ring, and a simple interface. See how easy and hassle-free registering your next domain can be. Just visit http://www.hover.com/geekcast and see for yourself. Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 85,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 1 audio book credit a month for only $14.95 per month!  Just visit AudiblePodcast.com/TheGeekcast

Question of the week: Facebook, G+ or Twitter? Or all of the above? Gozer: Twitter & G+ ( kind of ) Aaron: All News: WWDC 2012 schedule posted, keynote confirmed, app released WWDC 2012 is on. Apple confirmed the keynote, released this year's app, and posted the talkschedule for attendees first thing Tuesday morning, officially sending the lucky 5,000 attendees (and a smattering of media folks) into full WWDC-planning mode. As usual, the keynote will take place the first day of WWDC: Monday, June 11 at 10:00am Pacific Time. Apple did not explicitly confirm who would be speaking, but it's a safe bet that CEO Tim Cook will take the lead. Apple made tickets available for this year's WWDC a month ago but sold out in the blink of an eye—about two hours. The company had not posted much in the way of further information, however, until now. But don't go thinking you'll find out anything juicy by looking at the latest materials. Only registered developers have access to the online version of the schedule, and the WWDC app for iOS is largely geared toward attendees with things like maps, news items, and descriptions for each talk. Still, if you are attending, we have heard from many developers that the app can be a lifesaver, so it's worth a download so you can begin favoriting the sessions you want to attend, among other things. (And as usual, not all sessions have been announced yet—Apple usually waits until after the keynote to release the names of certain NDA'd sessions.) http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/05/wwdc-2012-schedule-posted-keynote-confirmed-app-released/ Slick new Chromebook, first "Chromebox" desktop out from Samsung today A year after unveiling Chromebooks to the world, Google and Samsung today are announcing two new devices, including the first "Chromebox" desktop PC. Google is also rolling out several major software improvements, including a new window manager for Chrome OS, better trackpad support, upgrades to a remote desktop access tool, and offline editing for Google Docs. The new Chromebook has a slicker, more attractive design than previous models, and both the new laptop and desktop take a big step forward in memory and CPU. Instead of Intel Atom processors, Samsung's latest Chrome computers use Sandy Bridge-based Intel Celeron CPUs, and double the RAM to 4GB. Both devices will be on sale online today and in Best Buy stores soon. The Samsung Chromebook Series 5 550 has a 12.1" display with resolution of 1280x800, starts up in about 7 seconds, weighs 3.3 pounds, is rated for six hours of battery life, and costs $449 for a WiFi-only edition and $549 for one with WiFi and 3G cellular access. Google says it's about 2.5 times faster than last year's models, while the Samsung Chromebox Series 3 will be 3.5 times faster. The Chromebox, which costs $329 and has roughly the same size and shape as an Apple Mac Mini, runs faster because with battery life not being a concern, it can use a higher-wattage version of the Intel Celeron processors. The new Samsung Chromebook runs a dual-core Intel Celeron Processor 867 at 1.3GHz, compared to last year's Chromebook which ran a dual-core Intel Atom N570 at 1.66GHz. The Celeron architecture is more advanced, and the laptop certainly seems zippy in our limited testing so far. We'll have more to say on performance in an upcoming article, which will include some benchmarking. The Chromebox has an Intel Celeron B840 running at 1.9GHz. The Chromebox has a good number of ports, including six USB 2.0 ports and two DisplayPort++ slots that are compatible with HDMI, DVI, and VGA. Chrome OS is optimized for screens up to 30 inches and can support multiple monitors, Sengupta said. Chromebox, with mouse and keyboard Oddly, the Chromebox has no SD card reader, but USB devices that can read SD cards are common anyway. The new Chromebook has two USB 2.0 ports, DisplayPort++ output, and an SD card reader.

Question of the week:What super power would you want and why? Gozer: Invisibility, telekinesis Aaron: Invisibilty News: Report: New MacBook Pro to feature retina display     The new 15-inch MacBook Pro will be a significant departure fro...