Sony releases updated PS3 3.41 firmware, fixes issues |
- Sony releases updated PS3 3.41 firmware, fixes issues
- Amazon, Apple accused of fixing e-book prices
- Android shipments grow almost 900 percent
- Facebook to hold off on IPO until 2012?
- Official iPhone 4 jailbreak released
- RIAA sends questionable DMCA takedown for Radiohead album
| Sony releases updated PS3 3.41 firmware, fixes issues Posted: 02 Aug 2010 09:21 PM PDT  Last week, we reported that Sony's latest PlayStation 3 firmware update, version 3.41 was crashing some consoles and some users simply couldn't install the new update. Sony denied the software was causing the problems, instead saying it was user's individual hard drives, if they were using manually installed drives. At the time, the company said: "We apologize for any inconvenience you are experiencing with upgrading Internal Hard Disc Drive (for PlayStation3) on your PlayStation(R)3 computer entertainment system. The information available to our Consumer Services Department does not suggest that this is a problem PlayStation(R) owners are likely to experience when upgrading the HDD with 3.41update. Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA) strongly supports the quality of its products and backs them with full confidence." We ask that you update the previous HDD first to see if the update will go through. Then update from the thumb drive that is formatted in FAT 32 and has the 3.41 update downloaded." Today, the console maker has released an updated 3.41, which should fix all HDD problems users have been experiencing. The MD5 hash checks show the following: [CJ@localhost Download]$ md5sum PS3UPDAT-341* 00c835be718fc3d5f793e130a2b74217 PS3UPDAT-341-NEW.PUP e07d2b84c9e9691c261b73e5f1aada20 PS3UPDAT-341-ORIGINAL.PUP
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| Amazon, Apple accused of fixing e-book prices Posted: 02 Aug 2010 08:55 PM PDT  Connecticut's Attorney General Richard Blumenthal seems to think that Apple and Amazon may be enjoying an unfair advantage in the e-book market and has accused the two companies of price fixing. Blumenthal has requested meetings with the tech giants in an effort to discuss the deals they have with massive e-book publishers Macmillan, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, HarperCollins and Penguin. The AG says both companies have deals with the publishers that promise them the best e-book prices over any competition. Such "most favored nation" clauses blocks the publishers from offering discounts deeper than what Apple or Amazon receives. While the deals are not illegal under current antitrust laws, they certainly fall into a gray area. "The concerns are compounded, and hence potentially more troublesome, since this arrangement appears to be something that will be agreed to by the largest e-book publishers in the United States and two competitors who combined will likely command the greatest retail e-book share," Blumenthal added, via CNNMoney.
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| Android shipments grow almost 900 percent Posted: 02 Aug 2010 08:41 PM PDT  According to Canalys Smart Phone Analysis services, the smartphone market grew 64 percent globally year-on-year (YoY) for the Q2 2010, with Nokia remaining the worldwide leader. Nokia, long the world's biggest phone seller, shipped 23.8 million phones during the quarter, good for 38 percent share of the global market. The vendor saw 41 percent growth YoY. While 41 percent growth is strong by any standard, it is important to note that that number fell well below the overall market growth of 64 percent, and well below the growth of Android and Apple. For the quarter, Android saw a ridiculous 886 percent growth, with Apple seeing 61 percent growth. U.S. market leader RIM saw 41 percent growth for their BlackBerry devices. HTC, Motorola, Samsung, Sony Ericsson and LG all offer Android devices. Says Canalys VP and Principal Analyst, Chris Jones: "The latest release of our detailed and complete country-level smart phone shipment data for Q2 2010 clearly reveals the impressive momentum Android is gaining in markets around the world." 
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| Facebook to hold off on IPO until 2012? Posted: 02 Aug 2010 08:22 PM PDT  Bloomberg has reported today that social networking giant Facebook may delay its IPO (initial public offering) until 2012, giving founder Mark Zuckerberg extra time to gain users and boost revenue. The news comes from three anonymous sources within Facebook who do note that Zuckerberg has board control and could push for the stock offering at any time, but would prefer to have another year of growth before all finances go public. Facebook is currently valued at about $25 billion, although revenue was only around $800 million last year. "The burden of being public has never been greater," says Kevin Landis of Firsthand Funds. "Zuckerberg doesn't have to put his name at the bottom of four 10-Q statements every year and attest that everything in there is true or else he's responsible. The minute it's public, he does." Zuckerberg has said simply that the company will go public "when it makes sense" to.
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| Official iPhone 4 jailbreak released Posted: 02 Aug 2010 07:51 PM PDT  The iPhone Dev Team has released the first official iPhone 4 jailbreak this week, using a browser-based exploit. However, some of the users that have jailbroken their device has reported broken MMS and broken FaceTime. Hacker "comex" released the option via jailbreakme.com, and visitors to the site on their iPhone 4 devices can start the jailbreaking process right from their phone browser. The iPhone Dev Team's hack is the first for the device, despite hacker Geohot's claims to an iPhone 4 jailbreak last month. As a note, iPads running iOS 3.2.1 will not be able to jailbreak their devices. Making this jailbreak different than pretty much every other one before it, is the fact that it is completely browser-based, using the Apple Safari browser. The hack comes a week after the U.S. Library of Congress officially made jailbreaking legal.
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| RIAA sends questionable DMCA takedown for Radiohead album Posted: 02 Aug 2010 01:29 PM PDT  Record label representatives have been caught issuing DMCA takedown notices for Radiohead's In Rainbows album despite apparently not having any legal standing to do so. Radiohead released In Rainbows online in 2007 after severing their relationship with EMI. It was initially offered online, with downloaders allowed to choose their own price - even if they chose to pay nothing. The DMCA's takedown provision allows rights holders or their agents to have infringing content taken down by service providers. But the rights in question would have to be for digital distribution. A few months after it's initial online release, the band made a distribution deal with a RIAA member, ATO Records, which doesn't seem to include any digital distribution (ie download) rights. In fact it appears that Warner/Chappell Music, a publishing company owned by Warner Music Group, is contracted to be Radiohead's representative in digital licensing. Although public details of the arrangement are somewhat vague, Last.fm lists the company as the label for In Rainbows. A guick search of the Chilling Effects database shows that the RIAA has included the album in at least one DMCA takedown request. Another takedown notice which includes the album comes from the RIAA's international equivalent, IFPI, which ATO Records isn't even affiliated with. Even stranger is the frequent listing of In Rainbows in takedown notices by a Brazilian anti piracy organization called Anti-Pirataria Cinema E Música (APCM). As a publishing company, rather than a normal label, Warner/Chappell Music isn't a RIAA member. It's unclear at this time whether they have any affiliation with APCM. How does something like this happen? It's possible there is malicious intent involved, but more likely it's a case of sloppy work by RIAA and IFPI employees. Since both organizations represent Radiohead's former label, EMI, unless they were actually checking the files to make sure they were covered by the band's earlier contract they wouldn't be able to tell the difference. Ultimately this points to a basic failure of the DMCA. The only penalties for misrepesentations in a takedown notice is liability, "for any damages, including costs and attorneys' fees, incurred by the alleged infringer, by any copyright owner or copyright owner's authorized licensee, or by a service provider." This is an extremely backward position as it results in no incentive for organizations like the RIAA or IFPI to actually fact check their claims for legitimacy before threatening service providers. In this case there isn't even any real recourse for Radiohead themselves since it would be impossible to show any financial damages. Were it an RIAA member whose rights were being falsely claimed by someone else, you can be sure they would characterize this as a crime against society.
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