Apple had a bad week in its multi-front patent war, capped by the real possibility of an iPhone and iPad import ban in Germany.
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Xbox moves closer to set-top box with upgrade
Tech news from around the web:
Microsoft’s Xbox games console has taken a step towards coming a set-top box with its latest software upgrade, according to TechCrunch. The update makes it easier for the user to find pieces of content – from Microsoft’s own store or directly from the internet through YouTube – and control the Xbox remotely from a Windows mobile phone.
Israel’s army of tech start-ups
When Aharon Zeevi Farkash enters the offices of his company south of Tel Aviv, he needs neither key nor code. As soon as he leaves the elevator, a camera captures his face and body shape, and feeds the information to a computer that recognises his features. The door unlocks.
Should the face recognition software fail, Mr Farkash will be prompted to speak a few words into a receiver. The computer will switch to voice recognition – and unlock the door.
Tactics for conflict avoidance
There are not many chief executives who would volunteer the results of their personal psychological tests. But Scott McGregor, the boss of chipmaker Broadcom, is clearly into brutal honesty. “My personality tests show my conflict-avoidance score is zero,” he confesses. “I have to be careful about it; I will upset people and I will cause unneeded friction.”
The comments say a lot about the 55-year-old as well as the company he heads. He relishes directness. While his manner comes across as amiable – perhaps partly a result of the effort he says he has made to pay more attention to “the human aspect of things” – there is a precise and carefully controlled edge to his delivery.
China smartphone market overtakes US
Tech news from around the web:
China has overtaken the US as the world’s biggest smartphone market by volume in the third quarter, Reuters reports. According to research company Strategy Analytics, smartphone shipments grew 58% to reach 23.9m units in China during the quarter, while US shipments fell 7% from the second quarter to reach 23.3m devices.
Wi-Fi adding privacy, gigabit speeds
Want to make your Wi-Fi more private, much faster and better at sending media from device to device? Well, a trio of announcements on Tuesday should add up to such improvements.
First, Google has introduced a simple solution to prevent your personal Wi-Fi hotspot being included in the database it compiles for location services.
Intel and Toyota steer in-car research
Intel and Toyota are getting behind the wheel together to carry out research on next-generation “in-vehicle infotainment systems”.
It all sounds very vague at this stage and executives at a media briefing on Thursday could not provide any date for when an Intel Atom microprocessor might power such systems in Toyota cars. But the deal represents a big-name partnership for Intel in an industry it still views as a new market for Atom and where it needs such breakthroughs.
Amazon boosts Kindle Fire numbers
Tech news from around the web:
Amazon has increased the order numbers for its Kindle Fire tablet computer from manufacturers to 5m units by the end of the year, according to TechCrunch. The tablet is available in the US from next Tuesday.
Barnes and Noble to launch Nook Tablet
Tech news from the web:
Barnes & Noble is to introduce the Nook Tablet, a lighter, faster, 7-inch color touchscreen e-reader, Engadget reports. The Nook Tablet is set to be released on November 16th for $249.
According to a study by Ernst & Young LLP, US venture capital investment in clean technology rose 73 percent from last year in the third quarter, Bloomberg reports.
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