Germany is notoriously privacy-minded, and services like Facebook's Friend Finder and Google's Street View have come under scrutiny in the country's courts. The latest offender to raise Germany's ire is Bing Streetside, a Street View-style photo service. Microsoft took the feature offline in the country following complaints about how Streetside displays private homes. By default, houses are visible, though Microsoft conceals the images if users submit a complaint. Still, citizens were apparently unhappy with this process, which prompted the company's decision to axe the service while it addresses those privacy concerns. There's always Street View if you need your fix of blurred-out Berlin buildings in the meantime.
While Japanese Xperia fans might have to wait a little while longer to get their hands on the Xperia GX and Xperia SX, how about some sample videos to make said extremities clammy in the meantime? So, they're not going to win any Oscars (unless there's a new category for "Best shaky in-store footage") any time soon, but the videos over the break give a taste of what we can expect from those 13- and 8-megapixel sensors. In time-honored Hollywood tradition, we're still wondering if the US remake will be just as good.
The British clearly didn't waste any time once pre-orders opened up for the Galaxy S III, which just broke through pre-order records for at least one carrier and one retailer in the country. Carphone Warehouse's chief commercial officer Graham Stapleton says that the quad-core, 4.8-inch flagship is the quickest-moving pre-order of the year "so far," while Vodafone UK adds that the new Galaxy is its most pre-ordered Android device to date. Without hard numbers, though, it's difficult not to couch the successes in relative terms: both are using conditional language that makes clear neither record is absolute and that they might be eclipsed by companies with a knack for building early demand. Even so, that pride in early results suggests the third time is indeed the charm and that Samsung won't have much trouble filling its own pop-up stores with customers at the end of the month.
