GLENN’S SHOWNOTES
RIM gets 15,000 new BB10 apps in three days
Research In Motion said this week it received 15,000 new apps for its upcoming BlackBerry 10 platform in only three days
The rush of new apps resulted from RIM’s “Port-a-Thon” events, which encouraged developers to take any applications not already compatible with BlackBerry 10 and “port” them over to the new platform.
The events, which started January 11, and lasted just over 37 hours, were open to developers porting either legacy BlackBerry apps or apps built for Android
RIM said it will offer developers at least $US100 for each ported app that is ultimately approved by RIM’s team and submitted to the BlackBerry App World storefront. The number of approved apps has not yet been determined by RIM.
The company said it will hold one final “Port-a-Thon” event on January 18.
BlackBerry 10 launch on January 30
Apple Cuts Orders for iPhone Parts
submitted by erick someone??
Wall St Journal has written Apple’s orders for iPhone 5 screens for the January-March quarter, for example, have dropped to roughly half of what the company had previously planned to order, two of the people said.
also cut orders for components other than screens, according to one of the people.
In the 2012 third quarter, Apple held 14.6% of world-wide smartphone shipments, down from a peak of 23% in the fourth quarter of 2011 and the first quarter of 2012, according to IDC.
Samsung’s share, meanwhile, rose to 31.3% in the third quarter of 2012, compared with 8.8% in the third quarter of 2010.
Are your employees really working?
A US programmer was allegedly caught offloading his data-sensitive job to a freelancer in China so he could spend the day surfing the web, a Verizon case study has told.
The US company had discovered an anomaly in its VPN logs, which showed a live, unauthorised VPN connection from Shenyang, China. Meanwhile, the developer whose credentials were being used remained in his office in the US.
The Shenyang connections were occurring almost daily and occasionally spanned the entire working day
Evidence suggested he had the same scam going across multiple companies in the area,” the Verizon case study claims. “All told, it looked like he earned several hundred thousand dollars a year, and only had to pay the Chinese consulting firm about $50,000 a year.”
“Quarter after quarter, his performance review noted him as the best developer in the building,” Verizon noted.
Microsoft on hunt for ‘killer’ Windows Phone app
the global competition will see 64 apps from around the world battle it out in a series of elimination rounds via public voting.
The last app standing will then feature in a primetime TV advertisement in the US
The competition is open to developers worldwide and will accept new and pre-existing apps. All runners-up will receive a Nokia Lumia 920 smartphone and a one-year Dev Centre subscription.
App submissions will be judged based on an equal weighting of user ratings and “app quality”; with a focus on how new Windows Phone 8 features are implemented.
New developers will need to have their app published and live at the Windows Phone Store by March 5th to participate. Public voting will take place between 19th March and 8th April 8, 2013.
Vodafone dumps Crazy John’s
Vodafone has announced it will close and re-brand Crazy John’s stores across Australia by the end of February.
the second recent move by an Australian telco to operate under a single-brand banner, after Optus late last year revealed it wouldend its agreement with TeleChoice.
Crazy John’s was born in 1991 and was purchased by Vodafone in 2008. The telco did not confirm how many of its approximately 400 staff would be affected
revenue for the second half of 2012, ended September 30, down 14.8 percent on the previous half, despite investing in networks and branding.
Its customers numbers fell from 3.25 million in July 2012 to 3.17 million in September 2012. Overall, Vodafone has lost in excess of half a million customers over the past 18 months.
Telstra customers hit with bill scam
The scam, which appeared to have been first reported by Whirlpool users yesterday morning, prompted an official notification from Telstra.
Customers reported that the email promised a PDF file of the bill, but instead attached a zip file that contained an executable.
It also had a fake account number, but carried significant Telstra branding and links that appeared to go to legitimate Telstra URLs.
The timing of the scam mailout coincided with a legitimate marketing email from Telstra urging customers to switch to electronic billing.
Telstra urged users that received suspicious billing emails to go directly to theirMy Account page through the Telstra website, and not click on any links in emails they believed may be fake.
China’s Massively Illegal World of Warcraft Theme Park
The park features absolutely gigantic Warcraft statues, themed rides, and a cafe in a castle perched at the top of a massive stone staircase. It’s in Changzhou, China, it’s called Joyland, and Forbes reports that it cost $48 million to build. And it is entirely, audaciously illegal, as a copyright violation.
Robots to feature at Sydney’s Big Day Out
The Rebound Rumble will take place at the Sydney Showground and comprise five teams of high school students from NSW, Victoria and Tasmania.
Four robots will take part in a “crazy” basketball game – two against two. The basketball court, roughly the size of a standard court, has been modified to include ‘tipping’ bridges, which the robots have to navigate.
Each team was initially given a standard box of parts, such as motors and gears, and a list of competition requirements. For example, teams were only allowed to use certain batteries and given maximum dimensions and weights for how big the robot could be.
Teams also had a $4000 limit on extra parts for their robots
the robots in tomorrow’s competition are around 1.5 metres high and weigh around 55 kilograms. On an open road they would be capable of moving at up to 70 kilometres per hour,
Matches will run every 20 minutes from 10:30am and last 2.5 minutes each – any longer and Heimlich said the batteries in the robots would run out.
Microsoft teases Surface Pro as 90-day deadline nears
“On my way to the factory to check out #Surface Pro coming off the line…arriving in the coming weeks,” tweeted Panos Panay, the general manager of Microsoft’s Surface line.
Microsoft said it would release the tablet approximately 90 days after the Oct. 26 debut of its Surface RT sibling. That timetable would peg the Surface Pro’s launch as next week
Microsoft has not refreshed its Surface Pro page with any new information on the model. That page continues to simply state, “Coming in early 2013.”
the Surface Pro will be powered by an Intel processor and rely on Windows 8 Pro. The combination will let the device run legacy Windows applications in a fully-functional traditional desktop, leading some Microsoft bulls to hope it will sell better than its predecessor.
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