| Google Play replaces Android Market, new source for apps, books, movies and music (video) Mar 6th 2012, 17:00 The Android Market has morphed significantly since its inception, which now allows users to purchase books, music and rent movies, all from within a hub that was originally designed for just apps. To recognize this fundamental shift -- and emphasize the availability of content for sale -- Google is launching a new platform known as Google Play. The move hints at a strategy shift from just Android to the cloud as a whole, and establishes an umbrella brand for the diverse content sold by Google. For example, its Books, Music and Videos apps will now become Play Books, Play Music and Play Movies, while the Android Market itself will take on the moniker of Play Store. Users of Android 2.2 (and above) should notice the software update within the next few days, although other than the new name, initial changes should be minimal. We're also to be on the lookout for a new "Play" tab within the top toolbar of Google's website. To mark the occasion, the company has announced a promotional "Seven Days to Play" sale, which will tease would-be shoppers with discounted apps, books, movies and music throughout the week. For an additional peek at what's in store, you'll find the gallery below and a video after the break. Continue reading Google Play replaces Android Market, new source for apps, books, movies and music (video) Google Play replaces Android Market, new source for apps, books, movies and music (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink |  Google (1), (2) | Email this | Comments | | T-Mobile, Sprint and DirecTV file with FCC to halt Verizon's AWS acquisition Mar 6th 2012, 16:36  Ready for round two of the great spectrum wars? In what is undeniably an uncanny bit of wireless industry déjà vu, T-Mobile, Sprint, DirecTV, in addition to the Rural Telecommunications Group and six others, have filed a request with the FCC to halt its 180-day review of Verizon's AWS acquisition. According to the consortium's claims, documents submitted by Big Red and its cabler partners (Cox, Time Warner, Bright House and Comcast) in favor of the transaction are heavily redacted and therefore not in the public interest. The group is petitioning the Commission to place an absolute freeze on all of the operator's pending license transfers until full legal disclosure has been achieved. This latest Capitol Hill impasse comes right on the heels of VZW's own filing, in which it outlines an allegedly impending spectrum drought that would see specific pockets of its network hitting capacity by 2015. Neither the FCC nor DOJ have yet to weigh in on either of these proceedings, but, rest assured, this certainly won't be the last we hear of this mobile saga.
T-Mobile, Sprint and DirecTV file with FCC to halt Verizon's AWS acquisition originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink  SlashGear | Rural Telecom Group | Email this | Comments | | Apple's next-gen iPad launch event is tomorrow, get your liveblog right here! Mar 6th 2012, 16:15 Got plans for tomorrow? Of course not -- you canned 'em a week ago. For those still unaware, Apple will be unveiling its next iPad at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater in San Francisco tomorrow, and as always, we'll be there live to bring you the news as it happens. Feel free to get caught up on the latest from the rumormill right here, and bookmark this page for our liveblog. We'll be on the scene early, with Tim and myself livestreaming (just like we did for WWDC and the iPhone 4S launch last year) a pre-event rumor wrap-up as well as a post-event round-up of what all goes down. As for the liveblog? It'll get going at 10:00AM PT tomorrow, and you can find how that translates to your neck of the woods below. See you then, rations in tow! March 7, 2012 10:00 AM PSTApple's next-gen iPad launch event is tomorrow, get your liveblog right here! originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 12:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Engadget's iPad 3 liveblog! | Email this | Comments | | Top LulzSec members arrested, group leader reportedly acted as informant Mar 6th 2012, 15:57  The LulzSec hacking group may have officially called it quits last June, but that doesn't mean it was able to escape the eye of law enforcement. As Fox News reports, today saw three group members arrested and two more charged with conspiracy -- a move that one FBI official described as "chopping off the head of LulzSec." What's more, it's reported that group leader "Sabu," now identified as 28-year-old Hector Xavier Monsegur, was acting as an informant for the FBI since he was first caught and secretly arrested in June of last year (around the time the group disbanded). Court documents unsealed today also show that Monsegur has pleaded guilty to carrying out attacks on companies like MasterCard and PayPal, and that he's been charged with 12 criminal counts of conspiracy. The full indictments against the group's members can be found at the Gizmodo link below, and the FBI's press release can be found after the break.
Continue reading Top LulzSec members arrested, group leader reportedly acted as informant Top LulzSec members arrested, group leader reportedly acted as informant originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Fox News, The Globe and Mail | Email this | Comments | | FTC: Western Digital and Hitachi must give assets and IP rights to Toshiba Mar 6th 2012, 15:38  Thought everything was looking rosy for the hard drive hitch of the year? Well, it looks like Federal Trade Commission reckons the union of Hitachi and Western Digital isn't quite there just yet, ordering that the new company would have to shed some of its assets to Toshiba. The FTC wants to ensure a competitive climate in the 3.5-inch hard drive market and avoid Western Digital and Seagate -- the two largest HDD manufacturers -- carving up the whole sector between them. According to the FTC's proposals, Toshiba has to receive the production assets needed to equal Hitachi's current HDD market share, alongside access to Western Digital's research and development resources and licenses to its intellectual property. Regulators had previously stated that WD could expect to sell on some of its production assets in order to get the tie-up okayed. Western Digital now has 15 days to hand over these assets to Toshiba -- who, presumably, aren't complaining -- once the deal with Hitachi is finally inked. FTC: Western Digital and Hitachi must give assets and IP rights to Toshiba originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 06 Mar 2012 11:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | The Inquirer | Email this | Comments | |
