Continue reading AT&T continues 4G LTE expansion, plans to light up eleven markets by early summer
AT&T continues 4G LTE expansion, plans to light up eleven markets by early summer originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 11:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://gizmodo.com/5892401/online-retailers-are-cutting-spam-and-heres-why
A report in the Wall Street Journal suggests that the change of heart—which might currently be difficult for consumers to notice—could change our inboxes for good. According to the report, the amount of e-commerce spam sent out by the top 100 online retailers has shot up by 87 per cent since 2007, and some companies now manage to send out over 500 emails a year to each of their customers. But that's changing, reports the Wall Street Journal:
...there are signs of customer burnout. A study of its retail clients by email marketing firm Harte-Hanks found that since 2007, the rates at which recipients open retail emails and click on links have declined. In the first six months of 2007, consumers opened 19% of the retail emails they received and clicked through to the website 3.9% of the time. By the first half of 2011, those numbers shrank to 12.5% and 2.8%, respectively.
Some retailers are finding that sending fewer emails can pay off. Since cutting back its volume, Nicole Miller has seen the rate at which customers "unsubscribe"-or request to stop receiving emails-drop, and the percentage of recipients who open the emails has grown from 15% to 40%, according to Andrea Marron, director of digital strategy at the company. Meanwhile, the percentage of online sales that began with an email has grown to 17% from 10%.
Interestingly, unsubscribe rates have hardly changed since 2007, which means that on some level—even if we bitch and moan about them—we don't seem to mind being flooded with promos enough to actually do anything about them. [Wall Street Journal]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5892405/steve-jobs-was-smacked-down-by-cbs-ceo-over-apple-tv
While many rumors point to the idea of Apple launching a subscription TV service before the end of this year, the journey hasn't been an easy one. During a meeting around a year ago, Moonves recalls:
"I told Steve, 'You know more than me about 99 percent of things but I know more about the television business.' "
Moonves went on to turn down Jobs' pitch, according to The Hollywood Reporter, arguing that the deal could disrupt CBS's existing revenue streams. The Reporter goes on to explains how Jobs, in characteristic fashion, "strongly disagreed with [the] assessment."
At the same conference, however, Moonves also mentioned that he was happy about the benefits that content deals with Netflix and Amazon bought the company. Bad luck, Apple. [The Hollywood Reporter]
Source: http://gizmodo.com/5892408/how-secure-are-nasas-servers
A report by Motherboard explains that of NASA's annual $1.5 billion IT spend, about $58 million goes on security. But that doesn't stop it getting hacked.
In 2011, NASA was the victim of 47 individual advanced persistent threat (APT) attacks, 13 of which successfully compromised its computers. APT attacks are particularity sophisticated and as a result are usually carried out by well-funded organizations, and one of the hacks was successful enough to capture credentials for over 150 employees, including access codes to sensitive information.
Compared to some organizations, that's minor. But this is NASA; a paragon of technological advancement. So what gives?
Firstly, incomplete security. This is an organization with a lot of computers, and it's hard to keep track of what's going on. Motherboard claims that NASA reported 5,408 computer security incidents including the installation of malicious software and unauthorized access to its systems in 2010 and 2011. It also struggles to keep track of computers that are being thrown out, and managed to lose ten computers that hadn't been properly wiped from one center in 2010.
But the single biggest problem? Mobility. It's the rise of laptops and tablets among NASA employees that is making the task so difficult for their IT department. In recent years, NASA has seen plenty of lost portable devices. In March 2011, Motherboard reports, "an unencrypted NASA notebook computer was stolen and with it was lost the algorithms used to command and control the International Space Station." Whoops. Added to that, only 1 per cent of all of NASA's laptops are encrypted.
The problem is, NASA is a unique amalgam of researchers, academics and governmental employees. It's an odd melting pot, where people from different backgrounds aren't necessarily on the same page when it comes to security. Maybe it's time that changed. [Motherboard; Image: cogdogblog]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/11/switched-on-the-ipads-landscape-orientation/
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.
Continue reading Switched On: The iPad's landscape orientation
Switched On: The iPad's landscape orientation originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 11 Mar 2012 22:22:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/12/ibms-holey-optochip-transmits-1tbps-of-data-is-named-awesomely/
Be honest: was there any doubt whatsoever that something called a "Holey Optochip" would be anything short of mind-blowing? No. None. The whiz-kids over at IBM have somehow managed to transmit a staggering 1Tbps of data over a new optical chip, with the fresh prototype showing promise for ultra-high interconnect bandwidth to power future supercomputer and data center applications. For those who'd rather not deal with esoteric descriptions, that's around 500 HD movies being transferred each second, and it's enough to transfer the entire U.S. Library of Congress web archive in just 60 minutes. Needless to say, it's light pulses taking charge here, and researchers are currently hunting for ways to make use of optical signals within standard low-cost, high-volume chip manufacturing techniques. Getting the feeling that your own personal supercomputer is just a year or two away? Hate to burst your bubble, but IBM's been touting similar achievements since at least 2008. Actually, scratch that -- where there's hope, there's Holey.IBM's Holey Optochip transmits 1Tbps of data, is named awesomely originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/12/super-high-aperture-new-ipad-retina-display/
Super High Aperture. Heard of it? Probably not, but thanks to Apple, you'll probably long for days when you didn't in just a few months. According to an in-depth look from the folks at DisplaySearch, the aforesaid technique is the primary reason that Apple was able to shove 2,048 x 1,536 pixels into the 9.7-inch panel on the new iPad. Not surprisingly, it wasn't Apple that conjured up the magic; instead, it was crafted by engineers at Sharp and JSR (a display materials maker from Japan), but it'll be the iPad that makes an otherwise geeky achievement something that the mainstream covets. According to the science behind it, SHA is "a method of increasing aperture ratio by applying approximately a 3 [micrometer] thick photo-definable acrylic resin layer to planarize the device and increase the vertical gap between the [indium tin oxide] pixel electrodes and signal lines." Reportedly, there are also "at least twice as many" LEDs in the panel compared to that on the iPad 2, further suggesting that there's way more battery within the new guy than the last. Technophiles need only dig into the links below to find plenty more where this came from.Super High Aperture: it's why the new iPad's Retina display is so dense originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://gizmodo.com/5892166/telescoping-task-lamp-disappears-into-your-desk
When you first pull on the cap it automatically raises four-and-a-half inches, illuminating a set of built-in power outlets for your charging convenience. But the lamp can be further extended to a full height of 21-inches, and angled to wherever you need it. Now the Levity unfortunately isn't as portable as the BE Light we brought you a few days ago, but at $517 it's oddly just as expensive. Did the price of LEDs recently skyrocket? [Byrne via Freshome]
Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/new-ipad-has-power-sipping-bluetooth-4-0/
There are already 2,048 x 1,536 reasons to covet the latest iPad, but here's one more: it's the first tablet to incorporate the latest Bluetooth 4.0 "Smart" standard. Like the iPhone 4S, Apple's new slate is ready to pair with other Smart devices that drain far less power than previous modules. Want to complement your purchase with a wireless keyboard whose batteries will last for years? Or to plaster your body with tiny low-power sensors so you can, erm, monitor yourself on your iPad? Oh yes, Bluetooth 4.0 can make that happen.Continue reading New iPad has power-sipping Bluetooth 4.0
New iPad has power-sipping Bluetooth 4.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 11:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/panasonic-details-us-availability-for-25-of-its-2012-hdtvs/
Continue reading Panasonic details US availability for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs
Panasonic details US availability for 25 of its 2012 HDTVs originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/vocre-2-live-video-translation-for-ios/
Continue reading Vocre 2.0 for iOS brings live translation to video calls
Vocre 2.0 for iOS brings live translation to video calls originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 13:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/mythtv-turns-0-25-is-actually-ten-in-human-years/
MythTV turns 0.25, is actually ten in human years originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/tether-for-iphone-html5-webapp/
Tether for iPhone returns as an HTML5-powered subscription service (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:58:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/forth-dimensions-second-replicating-reality-concept-stuffs-half/
Forth Dimension's second Replicating Reality concept stuffs Half-Life 2 into a virtual reality headset (video) originally appeared on Engadget o! n Fri, 0 9 Mar 2012 20:09:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink | | Email this | CommentsSource: http://www.engadget.com/2012/03/09/thunderbolt-could-get-faster-with-pci-express-3/
Thunderbolt is everywhere, now let's make it faster with PCI-Express 3.0 originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 09 Mar 2012 06:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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