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AP Technology NewsBrief at 10:37 a.m. EST
[February 27, 2013]

AP Technology NewsBrief at 10:37 a.m. EST


(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Wireless connections creep into everyday thingsBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ A car that tells your insurance company how you're driving. A bathroom scale that lets you chart your weight on the Web. And a meter that warns your air conditioner when electricity gets more expensive. Welcome to the next phase of the wireless revolution.



Momentum grows for alternative phone system TizenBARCELONA, Spain (AP) _ The junior league of smartphone operating systems is getting more competitive. Phones from yet another contender _ Tizen _ will go on sale this year with a view to eventually competing with the industry leaders, Apple's iOS and Google's Android. For now, Tizen will compete with another newcomer, Firefox OS, as well as Microsoft's Windows Phone and a revamped BlackBerry operating system.

Clearwire to tap into $80M financing from SprintWireless network operator Clearwire said Wednesday that it will tap into $80 million in financing from Sprint, putting a hurdle in the way of a possible sale to Dish. Clearwire has received buyout offers from both Sprint and Dish, a satellite TV provider. In December, it agreed to a deal with Sprint Nextel Corp. that offered $2.2 billion for the 49 percent of Clearwire that Sprint doesn't already own. Then Dish Network Corp. bid about $5.15 billion for Clearwire in January.


Report: Stuxnet cyberweapon older than believedLONDON (AP) _ The sophisticated cyberweapon which targeted an Iranian nuclear plant is older than previously believed, an anti-virus firm said Tuesday, peeling back another layer of mystery on a series of attacks attributed by The New York Times to U.S. and Israeli intelligence. The Stuxnet worm, aimed at the centrifuges in Iran's Natanz plant, transformed the cybersecurity field because it was the first known computer attack specifically designed to cause physical damage. The precise origins of the worm remain unclear, but until now the earliest samples of Stuxnet had been dated to 2009, and the Times _ in the fullest account of the attack so far published _ traced the origins of the top-secret program back to 2006.

World's postal services struggle with lower demandOTAKI, New Zealand (AP) _ Sandra Vidulich is so excited about the leather boots she ordered through Amazon that she rips open the box in front of the postman and tries them on. "I looove them," she declares, as the driveway at her tree-lined home in rural New Zealand briefly becomes a catwalk. "They're cool." Apple to hand out iTunes credits in settlementSAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Apple has agreed to give more than $100 million in iTunes store credits to settle a lawsuit alleging that the iPhone and iPad maker improperly charged kids for playing games on their mobile devices. The 2-year-old case centers on allegations that Apple didn't create adequate parental controls to prevent children from buying extra features while playing free games on iPhones and iPads in 2010 and 2011. Parents who filed the lawsuit in 2011 said they didn't realize their children were racking up the charges until they received bills or other notifications after the purchases were made. The games that had been downloaded were designed for kids as young as 4 years old, according to the lawsuit.

Video: Gates, Zuckerberg urge kids to codeNEW YORK (AP) _ Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Twitter creator Jack Dorsey are among the tech luminaries appearing in a new video promoting the teaching and learning of computer coding in schools. Titled "What most schools don't teach," the video released online Tuesday begins with Zuckerberg, Gates and other tech icons recalling the time they got their start in coding. For some, that was in sixth grade. For others, such as Ruchi Sanghvi, Facebook's first female engineer, that happened in college. Freshman year, first semester, intro to computer science, to be exact.

NY Times, others back AP lawsuit against MeltwaterNEW YORK (AP) _ The Newspaper Association of America, the New York Times Co. and several other newspaper companies have filed papers in support of a lawsuit filed by The Associated Press against Meltwater, a company that monitors the media for corporate customers. The AP sued Meltwater U.S. Holdings Inc. and its Meltwater News Service in U.S. District Court for the Southern District in Manhattan last February, alleging that the company copies AP content and sells it to clients without paying AP licensing fees.

Microsoft's IE 10 browser coming to Windows 7 PCsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Microsoft is escalating its efforts to bring the latest version of Internet Explorer to more than 700 million personal computers in an attempt to re-establish the software maker's browser as the best way to surf the Web. Tuesday's release of Internet Explorer 10 is aimed at PCs running on Windows 7, the most used version of Microsoft Corp.'s flagship operating system for PCs. A preview version of Internet Explorer 10 has been available for Windows 7 machines since mid-November. The final version of Internet Explorer 10 will be automatically sent to all Windows 7 computers set up to get updates.

Pirate Bay moves from Sweden to Norway, SpainSTOCKHOLM (AP) _ Embattled file-sharing site The Pirate Bay is looking for safe havens in Norway and Spain after its Swedish host came under legal pressure to shut it down. The Swedish Pirate Party, a small political party advocating transparency and freedom online, has provided Internet access to the site for the past three years.

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