"China Considers Lifting Ban on Consoles"

Playstation China

Video game consoles have been banned in China for over a decade and reports claim that the country’s government is considering to lift the ban. The speculations arise after Sony’s PlayStation 3 obtained a quality certification from China’s safety standards body late last year.

"Google Experiments on Using Hardware for Passwords"

Password

With so many online services requiring passwords, it can be quite difficult to manage your secret codes especially if you prefer using a different password for each website.

"Study: Half of Americans Leaving Landlines"

Landline Phone

A recent study shows that almost half of Americans are living in households that use only or mostly mobile phones, while the remainder of the population is slow to convert.

"Queen Elizabeth II’s Christmas Message Reportedly in 3D"

Queen 3D Glasses

Reports from the British press claim that Queen Elizabeth has recorded the annual Christmas Message in 3D, the first of its kind. Of course, we would need 3D glasses (as well as 3D TV or a “3D box,” if this is not uploaded on YouTube) to fully enjoy the message unless getting nauseous is fine by you.

"Tech Companies Appeal to Reject Patents on Abstract Ideas"

Tech Patents

Eight high-profile tech companies, which included Google and Facebook, have filed an amicus brief on Friday, asking the courts to reject lawsuits based on patents for “vague concepts” instead of specific applications. According to them, such litigation racks up costs and slow down innovation.

"FCC to FAA: Let Airline Passengers Use Electronics During Flights, Please"

Pilot Tablet

Airlines have long been telling passengers to turn off their electronic devices during flights in an effort to prevent interference with airplane equipment during taxi, take-off, and landing. However, there have been experts and research that say these device could not harm the aircraft one bit.

"Google Ex-CEO: Why Apple Hasn’t Sued Us?"

Eric Schmidt

Eric Schmidt, former CEO and current executive chairman of Google, had a sit-down interview with Wall Street Journal on various topics within the Google’s realm. The conversation picked up when reporter Jessica E. Lessin asked about the ongoing legal battles between Apple and companies that manufacture Android-powered smartphones.

"LG to Reveal In-House Chips in 2013"

LG Factory

LG does a lot of things from electronics to appliances, even toothpastes, and they wants to add another title: chip maker. Last year, LG announced that they have licensed ARM’s processor designs and now have over 900 people working to design the company’s in-house chips for both smartphones and televisions.

"Samsung Adds More Apple Devices to Patent Lawsuit"

Apple Samsung Logo

Samsung may be obligated to pay Apple $1.05 billion in damages, but their legal battles are not over. After Apple added the latest Samsung devices to the patent infringement suit, Samsung has responded by adding the iPad mini, 4th-gen iPad, and 5th-gen iPod Touch to their lawsuit.

"Finland Police Seize Winnie The Pooh Laptop from 9-Year-Old Girl"

Winnie The Pooh Rate

How far will Finland fight against online piracy? To the point it would confiscate the laptop of a poor 9-year-old girl!

China Slams Western Media Over “Distorted” View of Copyright Piracy

Piracy Vendors China

China’s top government official tasked in fighting copyright piracy accused Western media of deliberately distorting his country’s global image regarding intellectual property rights, saying important facts had been ignored.

"Camera-Equipped Mannequins Placed in Stores"

EyeSee Mannequins

If you have this odd feeling that mannequins are watching you while shopping, you may not like this news.
Some retail stores have reported set up mannequins with cameras embedded into one eye. The mannequins, called EyeSee, uses facial-recognition software to log age, gender, and race of the customers they see. The technology was originally meant to identify shoplifters, but why the need to identify race with that rationale is beyond me.

"Serious Security Flaw Discovered in Skype"

Skype Logo

A member of a Russian tech forum posted that he spotted a serious security hole in Skype. In fact, he revealed that anyone can hack any Skype account just by using the e-mail address of the account owner. We’re unsure whether he found it by accident, but all Skype chatters (and even Microsoft) should be concerned about it.

"Oprah Tweets About Her Love for Microsoft Surface from an iPad"

Oprah Tweets

Oprah has not been shy about her love for her annual Favorite Things, which in this year includes the Microsoft Surface RT. Hours ago, she (or one of her staff members) tweeted that she bought 12 Surface units for Christmas gifts, but it was sent using Twitter for iPad.

"Willow Glass – Gorilla Glass gets a Thinner, more Flexible Sister"

Willow Glass

Do you ever try to imagine the future? Do you fantasize about what cellphones may be like years from now? Are you still waiting for holographic television and implanted electronics or flying cars? I love to wonder about the future, and some amazing high-tech stuff is coming sooner than you think!

"See Through Technology – Real X-Ray Vision!"

Prius See Through

In one of our cars we have that annoying little back-up beeper, you know the one, it senses if anything is behind your car and emits a faster and faster beep tone the closer you get to running whatever it is over. The other car has a backup camera, much less annoying, and it has in fact, prevented me from running over my father in the driveway more than once. This next item may make both of those totally obsolete…

"Superstorm Sandy Shuts Out Popular Websites"

Sandy Darkness

If you are wondering why The Huffington Post, Gawker, Buzzfeed, and other popular media websites have been down the last few hours, blame it on the storm.

"Google Puts Up Amber Alerts for Missing Children"

Google Amber Alerts

Google announced that it would include Amber alerts in its search engine and maps. The software giant hopes to increase awareness of missing children and helps them in their safe return.

"Wireless Carriers Tell Customers to Text, Not Call, as Sandy Nears"

Text Not Call

As the northeastern coast of the United States anticipates the arrival of Hurricane Sandy, wireless carriers are asking its subscribers to prepare for the inevitable impact of this monster storm. Apart from boarding the windows and sandbagging the doorways, you should also keep your mobile communications open while conserving precious battery power in anticipation of power interruptions. One way of doing that is to limit your voice calls, keeping them short, and send text messages instead to ease network congestion.

"Apple Sued Over Antitrust; Plaintiffs Want AT&T iPhones Unlocked"

Apple Gavel

Two iPhone owners filed a putative class action against Apple, accusing the tech giant of violating antitrust laws as iPhone is locked to AT&T in making calls and utilizing wireless data.