Samsung has secured a 45 percent share of the European smartphone market in the 12 weeks ending 8 July, with a help of recently-launched Galaxy S3. According to data from Kantar Worldpanel ComTech, five of the top ten smartphones sold in Great Britain were made by Samsung. Although S3 and S2 leed the pack, Samsung is selling smartphones across all tiers. In the five largest European markets (UK, Germany, France, Italy and Spain) the South Korean tech giant has contributed to Google’s Android OS market share increasing from 42.7 percent in July last year to 65.7 percent today.

Source: mobilworldlive

Verizon Wireless has agreed to pay a US$1.25 million fine to the US regulator to settle a probe into allegations that it had blocked rival tethering apps on its Android smartphones in breach of its 4G licence terms. The FCC’s Enforcement Bureau launched an investigation after reports suggested that the US number-one operator had disabled access to third-party tethering apps in Google’s Android store, effectively forcing users to pay for the service directly from the operator. The Bureau ruled the practice was in breach of the C-block (700MHz) spectrum licence awarded to Verizon in 2008, which the operator uses for its 4G service. The US regulator said in a statement that licensees offering service on C Block spectrum “shall not deny, limit, or restrict the ability of their customers to use the devices and applications of their choice. ”As well as paying the “voluntary” US$1.25 million fine, the FCC said that Verizon must also inform Google that it “no longer objects to the availability of the tethering applications to C-Block network customers.”

Security has always been important topic, but this time, it seems we are doomed. Highly specialized cracking server is now available to all interested parties. Attackers can now access company networks and steel data utilizing Cloud service.

 O2 launched free WiFi service in some of the busiest parts of London. This service will cost taxpayers no money, and it will be available in seven locations including Oxford Street, Regent Street, Exhibition Road, Leicester and Piccadilly Squares. O2 WiFi is free for everyone, regardless of network or broadband provider and once registered, customers will be automatically connected each time they enter a coverage area. With over a million visitors and commuters daily and a 13% increase expected during the summers' festivities the new network will enable Londoners and visitors to the city share their pictures and updates of the events, or check on transport links, for free.

Would you eat an iPhone? Alright, it’s hard to imagine anyone being able to digest a Lithium battery, silicon chips, PCBs, metals, etc… But how about slurping away at an iPhone ice cream on a hot day?  That sounds a lot more delectable than a real iPhone. An ice cream maker in the Lioaning Province of China has created an iPhone ice cream that is very popular among students in the area, according to a report from Sina.  Before being able to dig into the tasty treat, a person has to tear up a wrapper that has a picture of a product that looks exactly like the iPhone 4.  Once the wrapper is off; people can chomp away at an ice cream that looks like Apple’s logo. The owner admits that there’s nothing especially unique about the taste of the ice cream, so perhaps the popularity of his product actually reflects how desirable an Apple product is in China. Okay, onto a more serious matter.  How is this not some sort of copyright or trademark infringement?  According to a staff member of the Shenyang Industrial and Commercial Bureau, the popular iPhone ice cream does not infringe Apple’s copyright or trademark because food and tech are in two different sectors.  Hence, if Apple wants to own the logo or trademark in the food and tech sectors, it will have to register the logo and trademark in both sectors. The ice cream sells for 1 yuan (~$0.16) each.

Source: vr-zone

What is a justifiable punishment for a mobile phone theft?  How about a slap on the wrist, reparation, and a month or two in jail?  Apparently, a Chinese woman’s phone theft crime landed her a 10 year prison sentence.  The woman’s punishment has sparked a debate on whether or not the sentence is absurd or just. Forty-eight year old Zhang Yun stole a mobile phone from her employer—claiming, she did so because she was not compensated for her service.  The phone theft was traced back to Zhang through the use of security surveillance.  Yun tried to hide her tracks by burying the phone in a radish field, but ultimately her employer managed to cast a decade long prison term unto her former employee. According to ecsn.cn, the phone’s value is 60,000 (~$9,444), and if you think that’s an absurd number then you have every right to think so.  The average income per year for people in China is less than the value of the phone which Yun stole.  On top of her 10 year prison term, Yun has to also pay a fine of 20,000 yuan (~$3,148).

Source: vr-zone

NVIDIA today announced that NVIDIA® Tesla® GPUs are being used by a team of German scientists participating in a global competition to land a robotic rover on the moon by 2015. Developed to foster a new era of lunar exploration, the Google Lunar X PRIZE offers the largest international incentive prize in history. A total of $30 million will be awarded to the first privately funded teams that safely land a rover on the surface of the moon, drive the rover 500 meters over the lunar surface, and transmit detailed video, images and data back to Earth for further study. A team of 100 German scientists, engineers and developers has formed the Part-Time Scientists (PTS), one of 26 teams from around the world participating in the contest. To help ensure its success, the PTS team has deployed NVIDIA Tesla GPUs in several of the servers and workstations in its mission-control center where the Asimov rover will be operated. Tesla GPUs will accelerate the mission's computationally intensive applications, such as simulating vehicle navigation, monitoring positions of the rover in real time, and processing and transmitting high-resolution video and images.

"NVIDIA GPUs will be instrumental in helping us land the Asimov rover safely and allowing us to calculate a wealth of detailed information to enhance our understanding about the lunar surface," said Robert Böhme, team leader of the PTS team. "At the same time, we will demonstrate the amazing scientific accomplishments that are possible with modern, high-performance GPU technology." The PTS team will benefit from the Tesla GPUs at all stages of the mission. During preparation and planning, GPUs will be used to simulate millions of different mission scenarios. This will enable the team to improve launch and landing techniques by, for example, adjusting the timing and duration of thruster burns for course corrections, while minimizing the margin of error. Once Asimov has reached its destination, the PTS team will use the computational power of Tesla GPUs to navigate and monitor the rover's activities and generate highly detailed lunar maps from the transmitted stereoscopic 3D images. Quickly processing and analyzing the massive volume of video produced by the Asimov -- and sending back new navigational directions -- is critical to the success of the mission. Any delay could divert Asimov from its correct course or, in the worst case, increase the chances of it hitting an obstacle that could force PTS to abort the mission. With NVIDIA GPUs, PTS expects to achieve a 5-10X speed up in the processing of the massive video feeds produced by the rover. Only GPU-based computing systems have the computational power required to process and deliver this information cost-effectively in real time.

About The Google Lunar X PRIZE

The $30 million Google Lunar X Prize was created in 2007 by the X PRIZE Foundation with the goal of creating lunar exploration missions that are least 90 percent privately financed. There are currently 26 teams from 17 countries in the competition. A $20 million grand prize will be awarded to the team that fulfills all contest requirements on or before Dec. 31, 2015.

In total, Apple is being sued by 27,612 people in South Korea. They are suing Apple for privacy violations, related to the collection of location information on the iPhone handset. Each is seeking 1 million won in damages, or about $932. Attorney Kim Hyeong-seok filed a lawsuit against Apple earlier this was and was awarded 1 million won in damages. Apple's devices stored information on nearby cell towers and WiFi hotspots for up to a year, without users' consent and even if location tracking features had been switched off. It was heavily criticized by privacy groups, who said the information could be used to trace the movements of an iPhone user. Apple has not commented on the South Korean lawsuit.