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Okay everyone, Path is really sorry that they did something really creepy and didn’t think tot ell anyone first. The mobile start up is attempting to talk its way out of the outrage stepping from a discovery recently that user address books were being uploaded to the Path servers without any notification. CEO Dave Morin has posted a lengthy apology on the Path blog explaining what the company has done to smooth things over.

According to Morin, Path was using the address books to help improve the functionality of the “Add Friends” feature. Path would also use the stored data … [Read More...]

On April 3rd of this very year, we know exactly where you can find the droids you’re looking for. Microsoft is releasing a special edition Xbox 360 console done up to look like the iconic droids from the Star Wars movies. The system was first teased at last year’s Comic Con. The bundle comes with the system and a few Kinect-related extras for $449.

Buyers will get a 320GB console painted to resemble R2-D2, and a controller with a C-3PO gold finish. The box also includes a Kinect sensor and two games; Star Wars Kinect and Kinect Adventures. The latter … [Read More...]

The long anticipated D800 from Nikon has arrived, and while it’s not quite a D4 in a D700 body like many were hoping for, it does sport a humongous 36.3-megapixel full-frame (FX) sensor (15.4 megapixels in DX format). Nikon says it’s the world’s highest effective pixel count among interchangeable lens DSLR cameras equipped with image sensors conforming to the 35-mm film size, and we won’t argue the claim.

Low-light photographers will want to temper their enthusiasm. Nikon limited the standard ISO range from 100-6,400 with additional support for equivalents of ISO 50-25,600 in Hi2 extended mode, enough to the job … [Read More...]

Last month, there were rumors that Samsung was going to unveil the successor to the hugely successful Galaxy S2 smartphone at this month’s Mobile World Congress event. But last week the South Korean electronics giant nipped all such rumors in the bud when it confirmed to our sister site TechRadar that the Galaxy S3 “will be unveiled at a separate Samsung-hosted event in the first half of the year” and not during MWC 2012 in Barcelona. The company may have put that particular rumor to rest with its timely statement, but it’s very difficult, if not entirely impossible, to keep … [Read More...]

Will this new class of slim, trim, relatively affordable portables be the Next Big Thing?

You’d have to actively be avoiding the tech media over the past several months not to have heard about Ultrabooks. Their coming has garnered a boatload of buzz, fueled in no small part by Intel’s $300 million fund to get hardware and software makers behind the cause.

Ultrabooks are Intel’s answer to the spread of ARM-based tablets—a way to capture the hearts and minds of the masses with an x86-based portable device (of the Intel persuasion, natch). To that end, Ultrabooks are required to meet … [Read More...]

Mozilla’s rapid release schedule for its Firefox browser means there’s always a new version just around the corner. To wit, almost immediately after rolling out Firefox 10 to the masses, Mozilla has made available the first build of Firefox 11 on its Beta channel. Firefox 11 makes it easier than ever to switch from Chrome, and if that’s what you want to do, Mozilla’s latest build will happily migrate your bookmarks, history, and cookies over from Google’s browser.

The other comparatively major feature addition to Firefox 11 is a new Sync option that will synchronize your add-ons across computers. Most … [Read More...]

Windows Phone has struggled to differentiate itself in the market against established rivals such as Android and iOS, but through it all Brandon Watson was the developer evangelist making sure a lack of apps was never the reason people opted for the competition. His commitment to platform has helped to inspire app development beyond Redmond’s wildest expectations, however ZDnet blogger Mary Jo Foley has just confirmed that Brandon is moving on, and being tasked with leading Amazon’s cross-platform Kindle efforts. 

So far Microsoft hasn’t named any successor for Watson, and did little more than confirm his departure. According to a … [Read More...]

This isn’t the best time to be in charge of a file-sharing site, with authorities around the world  — everywhere from the United States to Middle-earth (or New Zealand as it’s known more popularly) to Sweden — currently on a rampage against online file repositories brimming with unauthorized content. Ukrainian authorities are the latest to crackdown on online file sharing, having taken down popular file-sharing site Ex.ua a couple of days back. But that’s not where the story ends. You know the drill: hit the jump for more.

Usually, such takedowns quickly become a cause célèbre among hacktivists, who flock … [Read More...]

While the uproar over Google’s updated privacy policy has lessened in the U.S., European officials are taking things a step further today. The European Commission has asked Google to delay implementing its new privacy policy so the matter can be fully investigated. The search giant has apparently been taken aback by the proposal.

The Commission is in the process of updating its rules on data protection, and that might account for the new-found interest in Google’s policy. According to Google’s Brussels spokesperson, Google briefed the Commission on the proposed change before it was even announced to the public. He went … [Read More...]

Google’s Android OS often takes a beating from security companies for it’s occasional malware scares. Google has not been silent on the matter in the past, but the OS maker revealed today that it is taking action to combat Android malware. In fact, it has been taking action for the last few months without telling us. Google’s Bouncer project is an automated security scanner that will apparently filter malware from the Market.

Google allows anyone to pay the $25 to become a developer, and start uploading apps to the Android Market. Unlike Apple, Google does not review apps by hand. … [Read More...]

One of these things is not like the other

Media streamers like the Western Digital WD TV Live and Netgear NeoTV make just a little less sense than they did a couple of years ago. In those days, they were the perfect alternative to stuffing a home theater PC into your entertainment center. These days, you can get nearly all the same functionality from a new Blu-ray player or a Smart TV.

On the other hand, the latest incarnations of these two products cost less than a new Blu-ray player, and they’re several orders of magnitude cheaper than a new … [Read More...]

Antec today rolled out three new power supply models as part of its new High Current M series, a mid-range wattage class of hybrid modular PSUs with quiet cooling at affordable prices. The new series is an extension of the High Current Gamer PSU line released in late 2010, but feature modular cables and don’t scale as high in wattage options.

The original HGC line was available in 400W, 520W, 620W, 750W, and 900W models. Antec’s hybrid model refresh is available in 400W, 520W, and 620W models, each of which is 80 Plus Bronze certified and equipped with a 135mm … [Read More...]

Tablets are nifty, but for the most part, they’re built to be walled gardens; Apple is notorious for its heavy-handed curation, Microsoft plans on keeping Windows 8′s Metro-style apps close to the chest, and the hot-selling Kindle Fire is a deeply tweaked and thoroughly managed variant of Android. One Linux developer hopes to make things more customizable with Spark, a Mer/KDE Plasma Active-powered tablet that’s fully unlocked and open for tinkering.

Ars Technica pointed us towards the blog of Aaron Seigo, the brains behind the Spark. Seigo claims the €200 tablet (that’s around $260 USD) packs ” 1GHz AMLogic ARM … [Read More...]

It’s more a work of art than a PC

You can’t truly appreciate the paint job on Falcon Northwest’s Mach V unless you can fondle it. We mean it—you just can’t comprehend how damn smooth the paint is without lovingly stroking your hand on the side of this beauty as if you were a presidential candidate.

Inside the Mach V, you’ll find a pedigree of hardware to match its stunning exterior. Intel’s top gun—the 3.3GHz Core i7-3960X—gets top billing, of course. This hexa-core chip simply makes all other chips before it—quad- or hexa-core—seem downright weak. Falcon mates the chip with … [Read More...]

The Obama presidential campaign is again pushing the bounds of technology in politics by using Square mobile payments in its fundraising efforts. Square’s mobile payment device is a secure magnetic stripe credit card reader that can be attached to the headphone jack of iPhones, iPads, and Android devices to accept payments.

The company is obviously thrilled to have the publicity, and has sanctioned a special app for the campaign to use for donations. Currently, only staff have access to the Obama Square app, but it will be released to the general public soon. This is similar to the way Square … [Read More...]

Google’s filed its 10-K with the SEC yesterday, and the numbers have revealed a staggering increase in the number of acquisitions the search giant made in 2011. Google closed the year by spending close to $2 billion on 79 separate acquisitions in 2011, a number that has grown significantly from the $1 billion it spent in 2010. This number of course doesn’t factor in the Motorola deal which is expected to clear in early 2012 to the tune of $12.5 billion, but includes dozens of other high profile startups. 

Many of the companies on its list you’ve probably never heard … [Read More...]

Former Palm CEO Jon Rubinstein has officially left HP, effective today. Rubinstein became CEO of Palm in 2009 and led the company’s push with webOS, eventually selling the company to HP in 2010. When asked if he had any immediate plans, Rubinstein said he was going to take a well-deserved rest after working on webOS for the last few years. And what a last few years they have been.

Rubinstein’s first big hit came when he worked at Apple where he created the iPod. In 2009, he wowed CES with the Palm Pre. However, a series of bad business decisions left … [Read More...]