05/10/2012
Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June
Someone at Google's advertising department has probably received the hairdryer treatment this morning after a Gmail advert prematurely revealed that Sony's Xperia Ion would arrive in June. The banner ad popped up atop Droidmatters' inbox and revealed that the Stateside version of the Xperia S will turn up just in time for Summer.
Continue reading Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June
Gmail advert ruins AT&T's big surprise, Sony's Xperia Ion arrives stateside in June originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 09 May 2012 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink
Talk Android | 
Droidmatters | Email this | Commentsmike leach mike leach billy graham scion fr s elf on a shelf elf on a shelf carrier iq
05/07/2012
Sunday Evening Dog Blogging: Reader Dogs (Theagitator)
Video: Thanks for the memories, 2012 primary (cbsnews)
05/06/2012
Sprint CEO takes pay cut as investors voice concern about cost of iPhone deal
Sprint Nextel's $15.5 billion gamble on Apple's iPhone will apparently lighten CEO Dan Hesse's proverbial wallet by $3.25 million this year. That's how much compensation Hesse agreed to give back to help placate investors unhappy about the high cost of the company's iPhone deal. Securing the iPhone has already paid dividends for Sprint in terms of sales. The company sold 1.5 million iPhones in the first quarter while posting a net subscriber growth of 263,000. That didn't stop Sprint from posting an $863 million net loss during the same period, however, causing some investors to grumble about the cost of subsidizing Apple's phone. The subsidy Sprint pays for each iPhone is 40 percent higher -- about $200 -- than what the company pays for other competing devices. Don't feel too bad for Hesse, though. Apparently, the financial gesture basically brings back his "compensation target opportunities" to 2010 levels.
Sprint CEO takes pay cut as investors voice concern about cost of iPhone deal originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 May 2012 16:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Reuters | Email this | Commentswalking dead finale nascar bristol narwhal st louis university mario manningham mario manningham williams syndrome
China dissidents fear things will get worse
Carlos Barria / Reuters
Men guarding building G of Chaoyang Hospital, where blind rights activist Chen Guangcheng was reported to be staying, eat ice-cream at the entrance of the hospital in Beijing Saturday.
By msnbc.com news services
No matter whether China makes a rare concession to allow legal activist Chen Guangcheng to leave the country with his family, other dissidents say they don't expect a broader easing of controls.
Authorities may choose to tighten the screws on prominent critics to prevent them from taking encouragement from Chen's case to challenge the leadership.?
On Saturday, Chen, who fled house arrest and took refuge in the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, was believed to be still in the hospital, where he was taken to get medical care joined by his wife and two children.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton -- in Beijing this past week for annual talks -- left China Saturday, leaving Chen behind despite his reported comments that he wanted to leave the country on her plane. She apparently did not meet him in person.
A symbol in China's civil rights movement, Chen may be able to leave to study in the United States in the coming days or weeks under still-evolving arrangements announced Friday by Washington and Beijing to end a weeklong diplomatic standoff over his case.?
If negotiations are successful, Chen Guangcheng's family will come to the U.S. on a student visa where he would study at NYU. NBC's Andrea Mitchell reports.
It was unclear if the Chens submitted passport applications, as the Chinese Foreign Ministry said they could Friday, to enable them to travel. His cell phone constantly rang unanswered.?
The blind activist's flight to safety in the embassy has provided a much-needed morale boost for a dissident community that over the last year has been debilitated by the government's massive security crackdown aimed at preventing Arab-style democratic uprisings. Dozens of activists, rights lawyers, intellectuals and others have been detained, questioned and even in some cases, tortured.?
Blind activist: What did he do to rile Beijing??
The turn of events for Chen, while welcomed by most activists and dissidents, is seen only as an individual victory and not likely to pave the way for improvements in China's attitude toward its critics.?
"I think that after the Chen Guangcheng incident, the situation for us will just become worse and worse, because in today's society government power has no limits," said Liu Yi, an artist and Chen supporter who was assaulted Thursday by men he thinks were plainclothes police while he attempted to visit Chen in hospital.?
Carlos Barria / Reuters
A woman argues with a police officer outside Chaoyang Hospital Saturday.
Liu Feiyue, a veteran activist who runs a rights monitoring network in the central province of Hubei, noted the importance of U.S. involvement in Chen's case. "This is only an individual case. Because it turned into a China-U.S. incident, the U.S. put a lot of pressure on China, which is why the authorities made a concession to allow Chen Guangcheng to study overseas," he said.?
"Not all dissident cases can become international issues," Liu Feiyue said.?
Chen, a self-taught legal activist, is best known for exposing forced abortions and sterilizations in his community in a scandal that prompted the central government to punish some local officials. His activism earned him the wrath of local authorities who punished him with nearly seven years of prison and house arrest.?
Bill Richardson, former New Mexico governor and former United Nations ambassador, talks with Rachel Maddow about the diplomatic challenge the Obama administration faces with dissident Chen Guangcheng, and why Mitt Romney should cease politicizing the situation.
If Chen leaves, the officials who mistreated him and his family will likely not be held accountable ? something Chen asked for in a video statement he made while in hiding in Beijing before entering the U.S. Embassy.?
"Chen's story is not a triumph for China's human rights, unfortunately," said Wang Songlian, a Hong Kong-based researcher with the Chinese Human Rights Defenders. "Although Chen and his immediate family might gain freedom, his extended family is likely to be retaliated against. ... None of those whose violence Chen exposed, or those who beat and detained Chen and his family, have been punished."?
There are concerns China would exact retribution on Chen's supporters who aided his escape, as well as friends who later tried to get the message out about his fears for his safety or publicly urged him to flee to the United States. Two supporters who helped him escape were detained, then released, but placed under gag orders and close monitoring.?
Others, like Chen's friend Zeng Jinyan, who ? at great risk to herself ? publicized Chen's worries about leaving the embassy Wednesday, have since been barred from speaking to the media and placed under house arrest. Under similar restrictions is Teng Biao, a rights lawyer who repeatedly called Chen imploring him to flee the country, then published a transcript of their phone conversations online.?
"They (the authorities) will certainly settle scores with them later," Teng told Chen, referring to the two supporters who aided Chen's escape.?
Activist: I want to leave China 'on Clinton?s plane'
Some activists say local officials who have been watching dissidents in their own jurisdictions might beef up monitoring and restrictions on them to prevent them from attempting copycat escapes into diplomatic compounds.?
"One guess is that they will learn a lesson from this experience and be stricter in guarding and monitoring similar key figures and take even harder measures against them," said Mo Zhixu, a liberal-minded author and Chen supporter.?
Meanwhile, Clinton?faced a fresh test on Saturday as she moved on to Bangladesh where the disappearance of an opposition leader has fueled growing tensions.?
Clinton will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her opposition rival, Begum Khaleda Zia, and will also pay a call on Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus, whose removal from the pioneering micro-lender Grameen Bank has been criticized by Washington.?
A senior State Department official said Clinton's visit would highlight growing cooperation between Washington and Dhaka on everything from counter-terrorism and U.N. peacekeeping to global health and food security.?
"Her visit is an opportunity to show Bangladesh's government and 160 million citizens that America is truly Bangladesh's partner," the official said.?
But the trip will also likely put fresh focus on the Obama administration's commitment to human rights after the standoff in Beijing over Chen.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
nfl 2012 draft miami dolphins buffalo bills minnesota vikings st louis rams baltimore ravens atlanta falcons
Blue Origin dishes more details on its Bezos-backed spacecraft
Blue Origin typically keeps pretty tight-lipped about its projects. The private space-travel firm claims it prefers to talk about what is has done, rather than what it hopes to do. As such, We recently heard about its "Space Vehicle" (that's its actual name,) having completed wind-tunnel testing, and now the firm (partly funded by Amazon's Jeff Bezos) has revealed a little more. The craft in question is a seven-seater, and it took 180 rigorous tests to get to the final design. Blue Origin has been working with NASA under the agency's CCDev program, which awarded the firm $22 million to develop the project. Under the same initiative, Blue Origin is about to start testing on its BE-3 engine thrust chamber, which will help give the BE-3 rocket motor its 100,000 pounds of thrust. Once complete, this engine will be used in the company's multi-launch vehicle, and is currently on the test stand at NASA's Stennis Space Center, Mississippi. We'll spare you the puns about it not being "rocket science".
Blue Origin dishes more details on its Bezos-backed spacecraft originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 May 2012 02:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Space | Email this | Commentsroger craig cadillac xts rambus rambus pabst blue ribbon pabst blue ribbon mac miller
05/05/2012
Facebook Messenger update makes it even harder to blow people off
Your friends just don't get it. While they're still bumming around in Nikes, dorms and doomed relationships, your life has recently become more serious. That's why you sometimes need to hide from their constant, mindless barrage of messages, and also why you probably won't install the newly updated Facebook Messenger app v1.7. In line with FB's "mobile first" strategy, it debuts key new functions on iOS and Android, including instant and compulsory "seen by" read receipts as well as optional "sent from" notifications. So, in addition to knowing how aloof you've become, they'll be able to track you down and slap your face.
Facebook Messenger update makes it even harder to blow people off originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 05 May 2012 18:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Permalink |Google Play, iTunes | Email this | Commentsvanessa bryant vanessa bryant adam lambert incendiary floyd mayweather winter solstice x factor finale
Recent Comments