The Malaysian Insider :: Technology

Sources: Apple readies iPhone with larger screen

Wed, 16 May 2012 13:07:19 GMT

TOKYO, May 16 — Apple Inc plans to use a larger screen on the next-generation iPhone and has begun to place orders for the new displays from suppliers in South Korea and Japan, people familiar with the situation said today. The new iPhone screens will measure four inches from corner to corner, one source said. That would represent a roughly 30 per ...

GM to drop Facebook ads due to low consumer impact

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:59:00 GMT

DETROIT, May 16 — General Motors Co said yesterday it will stop advertising on Facebook, even as the social networking website prepares to go public. While GM gave no specific reason for dropping Facebook ads, a source familiar with the automaker’s plans said the company’s marketing executives decided Facebook’s ads had little impact on ...

Opportunity wasted (to send a message)

Tue, 15 May 2012 23:54:21 GMT

KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — It is not often that you read about a RM4 billion investment into the country. But that was what German wafer fabrication company Infineon announced last Thursday, May 10. I was thrilled. It means jobs, lots of jobs, well-paying jobs and a massive multiplier effect on Kulim, Sg Patani and even Penang. It also means the ...

Could Apple unveil thinner, lighter MacBook Pro, updated iCloud at WWDC?

Tue, 15 May 2012 14:42:05 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 15 — Apple is working on a new line of thinner MacBook Pro laptops and a significant iCloud refresh according to multiple reports from sources including Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, 9to5Mac and The Verge. The new products and services are tipped to be made public at the start of the company’s Worldwide Developers ...

Nokia’s new cheap models bet on games, web access

Tue, 15 May 2012 12:21:55 GMT

HELSINKI, May 15 — Nokia patched up its ailing basic phones offering today with two models offering access to games, applications and the Internet, hoping to regain its footing in emerging markets. After precipitously losing its position in the smartphone market to Apple’s iPhone and models running Google’s Android software, Nokia has also been ...

Sony, Panasonic in talks to make OLED TVs, say sources

Tue, 15 May 2012 08:09:17 GMT

TOKYO, May 15 — Sony Corp and Panasonic Corp are in talks to develop the technology to mass produce next-generation OLED televisions, sources close to the matter said today, but may already be running to catch up with South Korean rivals in a technology widely seen replacing current LCD TVs. Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics plan to sell ...

Lenovo eyes China smart TV market — but sets sight on the world

Mon, 14 May 2012 23:13:48 GMT

HONG KONG, May 15 — First China, then the world. That’s the plan for China’s Lenovo Group as it has been travelling the country over the past week showing off its brand new 55-inch K91 smart TV, a product which is expected to hit shelves by the end of the month. Since first announcing plans to enter the smart TV market back in January, Lenovo’s ...

After complaints, Apple rebrands ‘4G’ iPad as ‘WiFi+Cellular’

Mon, 14 May 2012 09:18:25 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 14 — Apple is no longer claiming that its new iPad comes with “4G” connectivity in Australia amid consumer complaints that the device does not support Australia’s current 4G networks. The “WiFi + 4G” tablet, which went on sale in March, is now advertised as a “WiFi + Cellular” device on Apple Australia’s website and appears with ...

Apple rumoured to be debuting in-house maps on iOS 6

Sun, 13 May 2012 03:57:07 GMT

CUPERTINO, May 13 — Apple could drop the Google Maps program which has been running on iOS since 2007 in favour of an in-house mapping system which will debut on iOS 6 according to rumours which hit the net on May 11. According to 9to5mac.com, Apple's ability to produce an in-house mapping application is due to its acquisition of Placebase, C3 ...

Chrome tool helps you learn a language while you browse the web

Sat, 12 May 2012 13:51:23 GMT

NEW YORK, May 12 – A new experimental Language Immersion browser extension for Chrome wants to help you learn a second language by simulating the experience of being immersed within the language. The tool uses Google Translate to automatically translate words and phrases on the websites you browse from English into a foreign language. “Depending ...

Startup turns Instagram photos into canvas art

Sat, 12 May 2012 03:51:33 GMT

LONDON, May 12 — A startup by the name of Instacanv.as is turning Instagramer’s photos into works of art that can be hung on the wall. The online marketplace allows both professional and amateur photographers to set up their own shop on the web and to sell photographs — that once lived on their smartphone — to buyers all over the world. “Just a ...

Aussie first for pre-paid mobile users

Fri, 11 May 2012 23:24:38 GMT

SYDNEY, May 12 — Customers on Australian network carrier Telstra will be among the first in the world to control their pre-paid mobile service using a Facebook app. The newly launched app enables mobile users on the network to top up their remaining balance and manage their account via Facebook in the same time it takes to write a status ...

Facebook takes small step into cloud storage

Fri, 11 May 2012 23:17:20 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 12 — Facebook is slowly moving into the cloud. The social networking giant confirmed yesterday it was rolling out a storage service for users, creeping into the territory of Dropbox, Google and others, which offer free or paid storage of files that can be accessed from a variety of devices. The move could give Facebook, which is ...

Google, Twitter quizzed on Facebook-Instagram, says source

Fri, 11 May 2012 02:22:18 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 11 — The US Federal Trade Commission has reached out to Google Inc and Twitter in an investigation into Facebook Inc’s US$1 billion (RM3 billion) acquisition of photo-sharing service Instagram, a source familiar with the probe told Reuters. It was not immediately clear what specific information the FTC was looking for, the ...

Microsoft redesigns Bing, plays up Facebook link

Fri, 11 May 2012 00:39:07 GMT

SEATTLE, May 11 — Microsoft unveiled a new design yesterday for its second-ranked Bing search engine, introducing elements from Facebook and other social networks, as it tries to claw market share from leader Google. Slow off the mark in Internet search, Microsoft has racked up losses of more than US$6 billion (RM18 billion) in its online unit ...

Top new tech products

Thu, 10 May 2012 07:51:19 GMT

TOKYO, May 10 — High-tech product releases announced the week ending May 9 include the Samsung Galaxy S III, the HP Envy Spectre XT, the world’s first smartphone for seniors, a waterproof Android smartphone, and a tough camera from Olympus. A powerful and sleek ultrabook with Beats Audio Computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP) showed off a barrage of ...

Japan’s Sharp to sell talking robot vacuum cleaner

Thu, 10 May 2012 07:47:15 GMT

TOKYO, May 10 — Japanese electronics giant Sharp said Tuesday it had created a robot vacuum cleaner capable of recognising and responding to simple voice commands in several languages. The Cocorobo understands dozens of phrases such as “good morning”, “clean the room” and responds differently “depending on the cleaning situation”, Sharp said in a ...

Facebook to sell apps through new online hub

Thu, 10 May 2012 02:26:33 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 — Facebook Inc unveiled a new hub for consumers to find games and other apps on the social network, including its first storefront for selling paid apps, in the company’s latest effort to expand the ways it makes money from its massive audience. The new App Center, which Facebook said will launch in the next few weeks, comes ...

Activision stems Warcraft bleeding, eyes holiday

Thu, 10 May 2012 00:05:41 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10 — Activision Blizzard Inc raised its earnings outlook yesterday and showed investors it was able to bring an end to the exodus of subscribers from its largest Internet game, “World of Warcraft,” that had hurt the company in recent quarters. Investors closely watch subscriber numbers for “World of Warcraft” because the ...

Online sharing: How much is too much?

Wed, 09 May 2012 23:58:17 GMT

NEW YORK, May 10 — Whether it is photos, personal status or unwanted comments, most Americans think people “overshare” personal information online and a third admit not everything they post is true. A survey for Intel Corporation on mobile etiquette and digital sharing showed that 90 per cent of Americans think too much is being divulged, and ...

How Internet detectives, and others, find out where you live

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:41:08 GMT

BRUSSELS, May 9 — An explosion of people checking into social networks is being exploited by mobile application makers and private detectives, who say they can use people’s online chatter and photos to track them and find out where they live. In March, Apple stopped downloads of a “stalker” mobile application that told men where women around them ...

Stressed out? Log off email, new study says

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:34:18 GMT

SAN DIEGO, May 9 — If you’re stressed out at work, a new study suggests logging off email to not only calm your nerves but help you feel more productive and focused. A new study released Thursday by the University of California, Irvine, which was co-written with United States Army researchers, found that people who do not read their e-mail or ...

Microsoft vows to go carbon neutral

Wed, 09 May 2012 11:20:09 GMT

SEATTLE, May 9 — Microsoft yesterday vowed it would be carbon neutral in the fiscal year starting July. The plan to zero-out the overall amount of climate-changing gas spewed while running data centres, software labs, and offices and even during work-related travel included charging departments a fee for carbon produced. “The goal is to make our ...

Twitter passwords bared online

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:19:31 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 — Twitter yesterday said that it was trying to figure out how user names and passwords from thousands of accounts apparently wound up posted at an online file sharing website. Information posted on Pastebin.com pages appeared to be from about 35,000 Twitter accounts, not counting about 20,000 that seemed to be redundancies, ...

Twitter fights request for Occupy protester’s data

Wed, 09 May 2012 02:25:50 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 — Twitter Inc filed a motion in a New York criminal court yesterday seeking to quash a subpoena for tweets and account records associated with Malcolm Harris, a Twitter user who was arrested last fall on the Brooklyn Bridge during an Occupy protest. Prosecutors in Manhattan have sought to build a case around Harris’ tweets by ...