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Category: Sprint

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Top Startup and Tech News Today-7 Things You Missed Today

1. AT&T, Verizon, Sprint Are Paid Cash by NSA For Your Private Communications

The NSA (National Security Agency) pays AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint hundreds of millions of dollars per year for access to 81% of all international calls in the US, according to a leaked inspector general’s report. The secret report states that “NSA maintains relationships with over 100 U.S. companies”, emphasizing that the United States has the “home-field advantage as the primary hub for worldwide communications.”

According to the report, AT&T charges $325 for each activation fee and then a $10 a day additional fee to monitor the account. Verizon charges $775 for the first month and then $500 for the months that follow after. Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google refuse to say how much they charge the government to tap into their emails and information. The Washington Post states that in a separate report, the NSA has been said to pay the telephone companies roughly $300 million annually in order to access communication information.

2. Ailing BlackBerry Agrees To $4.7 Billion Buyout

Blackberry has agreed to a probable $4.7 billion buyout from Ontario-based Fairfax Financial Holdings. Fairfax, which is headed by billionaire Prem Wasta, is already BlackBerry’s largest shareholder with approximately 50% of BlackBerry’s shares. They plan on taking the smartphone maker private. Wasta says that the sale of BlackBerry “will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees… We can deliver immediate value to shareholders while we continue the execution of a long-term strategy in a private company.”

Under the proposed deal, $9 would be offered for each outstanding share, and Fairfax would contribute its own shares in this transaction. BlackBerry’s board supports this plan. A firm and solid deal is expected by November 4th.

 

3. Apple Polishes Forecast After Selling 9 Million New iPhones

 

Apple has sold 9 million new iPhones during their first three days in stores. This record breaking sale period has prompted the company to issue a new and, much rosier, financial forecast. Shares in the company closed up 5% at $490.65 on Monday after the company said that revenue during the fiscal fourth quarter would most likely be between $34 and $37 billion. Apple rarely adjusts its outlook mid-quarter, so this change in numbers comes as a surprise.

“The critics have told you Apple lost its magic,” said Daniel Ernst, a Hudson Square Research analyst.  “Customers are telling you something very different. Clearly, people like the product. That sentiment is almost more important than the number.” Sales of the iPhone 5S and 5C nearly doubled that of the iPhone 5’s 5 million numbers during the first weekend. The 9 million sale surpassed the rough number of 6 million that analysts projected.

4. Google Says Widespread Gmail Outages and Delays Should Be Resolved Soon

 

If you’re a user of Gmail, you may have noticed Gmail failing to load and having a very rocky performance. Google says that the delays should be resolved soon. Gmail has been dealing with disruption and outages for users over the past day, with slow load times and delayed receiving of emails as a result. More than 50% of users have been seeing performance issues. Google hopes to resolve the problem soon – until then, simply wait out the problem while they fix the email service.

5. Is the Race for Smartphone Camera Megapixels Over?

 

Smartphones like to brag about the number of megapixels their phone offers. However, things might be changing, as smartphone makes shift their focus on not the number of megapixels, but the size of each pixel. Apple and HTC both launched new smartphones this year with larger pixels, as opposed to more pixels. HTC actually halved its pixel count, saying that having fewer pixels allowed the now larger pixels to capture more light. CK Lu, a principal research analyst for Gartner, says that “It is not a race of the megapixels anymore… Some phone makers are deciding to make bigger pixels instead, which is a tradeoff, but results in better quality pictures in low light.”

However, analysts say that this isn’t the end of the megapixel competition. Dale Gai, an anlalyst for Barclays says that many companies will continue focusing on just megapixels. However, more established companies with higher-end smartphones will continue focusing on megapixel size, as they look for ways to differentiate their camera from the camera of other smartphones.

6. Tough Times Ahead For LG and Sony

Apple’s announcement of selling a record breaking 9 million iPhones during its debut weekend for the 5s and 5s is a nightmare for Asian vendors who are rolling out huge numbers of Android models. This is particularly harsh for the two vendors trying to stage comebacks in 2013 – namely, LG and Sony. The rapid sell-outs of the gold iPhone 5S might mean smaller early production volumes, as many industry sources are currently anticipating. Also, since Apple’s consumer demand is above Wall Street and industry projections, it can be assumed that Apple’s unaccounted for consumer base is one stolen from possible customers for LG and Sony.

Samsung is currently preparing an aggressive marketing campaign for the Galaxy Note, while smaller brands LG, Sony, and HTC are targeting the $600+ smartphone bracket. It will be likely that some of these brands, or all of these brands, will reconsider their marketing and product plan before the year ends.

7. Flipboard Raises $50 Million in New Funding

 

Flipboard, the app startup that lets users read digital copies of magazines, has raised $50 million new funding, putting them at a valuation of $800 million. This marks the company’s third funding round. Flipboard says that their user base has grown 60% to 80 million users, compared to six months ago. Also, there are now 3.5 million magazines on Flipboard.  “It’s definitely early days for us still but the traction this quarter will be 2x or 3x what last quarter was,” said Mike McCue, CEO of Flipboard. “The combination between the traction we’ve seen on the revenue side with these brand advertisements and brand magazines combined with what we did with 2.0 where anyone can build their own magazine—that really got us moving towards doing another round of fundraising.”

McCue says that most of the late financing will go towards hiring engineers and designers. He sees the staff, currently at a size of 90, growing to a size of 200.

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Top Startup and Tech News Today-7 Things You Missed Today

1. LinkedIn Sued by Users Who Say It Hacked Email Accounts, Stole Contact Lists

LinkedIn users claim that LinkedIn accessed their email so the company could mine out a list of contacts and then send spam-like emails. The suit claims that “Linkedln is able to download these addresses without requesting the password for the external email accounts or obtaining users’ consent.” The complaint argues accessing “the users’ email accounts and downloading of all email addresses associated with that users’ account is done without clearly notifying the user or obtaining his or her consent” and is essentially hacking.

 

The suit doesn’t make clear how LinkedIn is hacking these email accounts – there are no specifics, except for the accusation that LinkedIn is hacking the email accounts. LinkedIn is denying the accusations, and put out a statement, saying that. “LinkedIn is committed to putting out members first, which includes being transparent about how we protect and utilize our members’ data… We believe that the legal claims in this lawsuit are without merit, and we intend to fight it vigorously.”

2. BlackBerry Returns to Corporate Roots to Save It From Oblivion

BlackBerry is cutting its workforce and product line in order to refocus on the demographic that first brought them success: corporate customers. BlackBerry announced last week that they were cutting 4,500 jobs and taking a writedown of up to $960 million for unsold phones. BlackBerry’s Z10 phone, which was supposed to make BlackBerry relevant and a smartphone leader again, was released to mediocre reviews. BlackBerry’s attempts to find an acquirer have been fruitless so far.

 

BlackBerry’s shares have fallen 17% to $8.73 since September 20th. The stock has fallen 94% since its 2008 high. BlackBerry, which was credited with inventing the first smartphone more than a decade ago, has not managed to keep pace with Apple and Samsung. The company continues to produce news models and products of smartphones, however, none have managed to become a hit with the consumer audience so far.

3. New Surface expected from Microsoft at NYC event

Microsoft is expected to announce new Surface tablet computers in New York on Monday. One version of the Surface tablet is expected to have a smaller screen to compete with Apple’s iPad Mini. The new Surface tablets are expected to be lighter and thinner, thanks to a new processing chip that uses less energy and doesn’t require a fan.

 

Microsoft released Surface tablets last October but sales have generally been slow. During the April-June period, they accounted a $900 million charge in expected losses for the Surface RT after they slashes prices. Microsoft is trying hard to join the personal tablet trend, although they are still not the leaders of the industry.

4. German group claims to have hacked Apple iPhone fingerprint scanner

A group of German hackers have claimed to have hacked the iPhone fingerprint scanner, just two days after Apple launched the new technology. Two prominent iPhone security experts validated the claim made by the German hacker group, the Chaos Computing Club. Apple representatives did not comment.

 

The Chaos Computing Club, one of the larger and more respected hacker groups, posted a video on their website showing somebody accessing an iPhone 5S with a fake fingerprint. The website then continued to describe hoe members of their biometric teams had been able to crack the fingerprint scanner. “Fingerprints should not be used to secure anything. You leave them everywhere, and it is far too easy to make fake fingers out of lifted prints,” Starburg, another hacker, said on CCC’s site.

5. Tests: New iPhones Less Durable Than iPhone 5

SquareTrade, which provides protection plan for gadgets, tested Apple’s iPhones to see if they could withstand drops, dunks, and other common smartphone injuries. It found that the latest models of iPhones were not as durable as last year’s iPhone 5.  However, the biggest disappointment was Samsung’s Galaxy S4, says SquareTrade, which stopped working after being submerged in water and being dropped a height of five feet. The phone that withstood these challenges the best was Googles Moto X.

 

“We were expecting that at least one of the new iPhone models would up its game, but surprisingly, it was the Moto X that proved most forgiving of accidents,” said chief marketing officer of SquareTrade, Ty Shay. Generally, with every iPhone the upgrade, the phone becomes more durable and stronger; it seems as though this time, it is not the case.

SquareTrade reviewed each device based on eight factors, including the material, the phone’s size, it’s weight, the phone’s ability to withstand drops of five feet, and the phone’s ability to stand being dunked in water for 10 seconds.

 

Officials from Samsung, Google, and Apple have not responded.

6. Nokia racks up the retweets by poking fun at Apple’s iPhone 5C

A tweet posted to Nokia’s Twitter account said “thanks, Apple” and was juxtaposed with images of the rainbow-hued Nokia Lumia product line, along with the text “imitation is the best form of flattery.” The photo has received over 38,000 retweets and is one of the most successful branded tweets ever. Business Insider reports that Twitter has confirmed that this tweet is in the “top echelon” of marketing tweets throughout all the site’s history.

 

Although Nokia didn’t invent multi-colored electronics, and Apple’s been pushing colored iPods for year, the Lumia did bring back color to the cell market in a noticeable way. And besides, it’s a war between brands on Twitter – generally, anything goes in these situations.

7. Sprint confirms ‘One Up’ early phone upgrade program

On Friday, Sprint confirmed their early-upgrade program, “One Up,” that will let customers pay in monthly installments and change their phones annually. Spring is the last of the four major carriers to offer such a program. Under the plan, subscribers could get an unlimited talk, text, and data plan for as low as $65 a month. New or existing customers who have owned their phone for at least a year are eligible. Customers who are eligible don’t have to trade in their phone during the sign up process if they don’t want to.

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