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HTC lawsuit came after warning by Apple to handset makers

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Apple COO Tim Cook's warning from early 2009 wasn't the only one that handset makers received before Apple sicced the lawyers on HTC last week. According to a research note from Oppenheimer analyst Yal Reiner, Apple began warning top executives at companies such as HTC and Motorola in January that it wasn't too happy about seeing allegedly iPhone-related IP showing up in proposed new products.

According to "industry checks," Cook's comments last January during the quarterly analyst call—that Apple "will not stand for having our IP ripped off, and we'll use whatever weapons that we have at our disposal"—were taken seriously by the likes of LG, Samsung, and even Nokia. Though the Palm Pre openly flaunted multitouch capabilities (what most handset makers believed were at the heart of Cook's warning), its sales numbers haven't proven to be much of a concern for Apple so far.


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Facebook's location feature expected to launch next month

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Facebook is allegedly planning to roll out location sharing capabilities next month, once again playing catch-up to other services that have gained popularity thanks to location data. The rumor comes courtesy of anonymous sources who have been "briefed on the project" speaking to the New York Times, who said that Facebook will announce the feature at Facebook's annual f8 conference in late April.

The company's plans for such a feature have not been entirely secret—Facebook hinted at location features when it updated its privacy policy in November. Like other postings made to Facebook, location information will only be made available to the people you decide to broadcast it to.

"When you share your location with others or add a location to something you post, we treat that like any other content you post," reads the policy. "If we offer a service that supports this type of location sharing we will present you with an opt-in choice of whether you want to participate."

The location features will come in the form of an API for third-party developers and from Facebook, according to the Times' sources.

The feature will undoubtedly be popular among many of Facebook's 400 million users, as it has already proven itself with other services. For example, Twitter added geolocation to its API last year, not to mention that Foursquare, Brightkite, Google Latitude, and Loopt have all built their success solely upon the use of user location data. Needless to say, it's not something that will be new to the Web, though it probably will be new to a sizable chunk of Facebook's audience. Let's just hope the company rolls it out the right way, as implied by its privacy policy, and doesn't end up broadcasting everyone's locations to the world by default.

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Microsoft browser ballot gives Opera, Firefox a boost

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The Microsoft browser ballot released this month to Windows users in the EU is already doing Microsoft's rivals a favor. Two of the major competitors to Internet Explorer have seen an increase in downloads, while the other two are not willing to share data. We contacted the makers of Firefox, Chrome, Safari, and Opera; here's what they had to say.

Opera, the Norwegian browser maker that first filed a complaint with the European Union in December 2007, accusing Microsoft of violating EU antitrust law by bundling IE with Windows, is pleased with the progress its browser is making. "Since the browser choice screen rollout, Opera downloads have more than tripled in major European countries, such as Belgium, France, Spain, Poland, and the UK," an Opera spokesperson told Ars. The company said it currently did not have more detailed numbers but plans on sharing more as they become available.

Mozilla, which has a particularly solid foothold in Europe, was slightly more specific in the progress it was seeing with its browser downloads. "Early data suggests 50,000 to 100,000 new users chose Firefox as a direct result of seeing the Ballot Choice screen," a Mozilla spokesperson told Ars. "We expect these numbers will increase as the Ballot Choice rolls out in additional countries and will share updated metrics as they become available."

Apple did not respond at all, and while Google was happy to respond, the company wouldn't get specific: "We generally don't share download stats on that granular of a level," a Google spokesperson told Ars. The company did not respond to a follow-up question if Chrome saw an increase in number of downloads period. While Apple and Google haven't said much, we think it's likely that both have also seen a bump in the number of downloads of their browsers. Hundreds of thousands of users who may not have known of a world outside of Internet Explorer are being confronted with the alternatives.

The browser ballot will be presented on Windows computers across the EU for at least the next five years. Microsoft's rivals are, however, already pushing to have it appear outside of Europe as well.

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FileMaker Pro goes to 11, admits people like spreadsheets

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Apple subsidiary has released of its flagship FileMaker Pro database. The updated software purports to make building and maintaining databases even easier, while acknowledging that many users are accustomed to using spreadsheets for database purposes by including pivot table-like reporting and Excel-like charting features. FileMaker Pro Server has also been updated, dropping the simultaneous client access limit for the Advanced version.

FileMaker Pro already laid claim to being one of the easiest cross-platform database tools available, but the company added additional features designed to enhance that ease of use. The Quick Start screen has been improved, offering clear ways to begin a new database. You can start from scratch; import existing data in tab or comma-separated files, Excel spreadsheets, or Bento databases; or choose from a number of Starter Solution templates. A new invoicing template has been added in version 11 to make that common business task practically a plug-and-chug operation; customer data can later be linked for other purposes.

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Microsoft begins rolling out redesigned MSN homepage

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Microsoft today began rolling out its new MSN homepage, but not everyone will be getting it at once: the update will trickle out over the next few weeks to the site's 100 million US customers. The software giant is touting the new version as "its most significant homepage redesign in over a decade." It comes with a new MSN butterfly logo (which complements the Bing logo), a larger Bing search box and tighter integration with the search engine, local information from a new feature dubbed MSN Local Edition, as well as the addition of three social network streams: the Windows Live "What's New" feed of course, Facebook, and Twitter.

The above was previewed in November, but Microsoft says the redesign includes more than 30 updates that are based on 70,000 pieces of customer feedback. These new features include TrendWatch, which highlights the day's top trends and movers on Twitter, Hyper-local Tweets, which uses Bing to highlight tweets from your location (available on the new Local Edition), and My Cities, which allows you save up to three cities to keep up with your friends or family across the entire country in your MSN Local Edition.

Microsoft says it has seen double-digit increases in Bing search queries coming from the new homepage thanks to changes that make the decision engine more prominent. As for the MSN Local module on the homepage, the software giant says it is driving over 50 percent more traffic to the MSN Local Edition and that the main module on the new homepage also received over 50 percent more clicks than the original homepage. Microsoft made improvements to these sections based on the data it was seeing. For example, the company says the social networking additions were welcomed with open arms, so it has made sure the default social network tab is the one that the user frequents the most.

The real test, not only for the servers but for the designers, will come in the next few weeks as the majority of users start to see the new version. As we've said before, we think the new look is much cleaner than the old version, but—as Facebook knows all too well—users aren't always happy with huge revamps of major websites.

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Plans for .xxx top-level domain pop up again

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The .xxx domain is back on the table. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will reconsider the top-level domain during a meeting in Kenya this week, nearly three years after it was shot down and nine years after it was first introduced as a way to identify pornography sites and hopefully confine them to their own Internet red-light district.

The .xxx domain was first proposed in 2001 and approved in 2005 for exclusive (but voluntary) use by the adult entertainment industry. The idea was to provide a place for porn sites online that would be explicitly obvious from the domain, which would not only help consenting adults find the sites, it would also help parents and corporations better block access to them.


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Deals & Coupons


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As part of their Five Fruit Frenzy promotion, Jamba Juice has this printable coupon [Exp 4/10] for $1 off all fruit smoothies. Find a location near ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Through March 21st, NB Web Express is having its Spring Fitness Sale with up to 20% off select men's and women's styles. Shipping is free on orders ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Price drop. REI has the Ride Control Snowboard (158cm) for $155 with free in-store pickup. Shipping option is $28. Features steel edges and aluminum ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Office Max has the Bush Corsa 60" Credenza (mocha cherry) for $150 with free shipping. Features scratch and stain resistant melamine work surface, ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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eWiz.com has the Super Talent 64GB MasterDrive GF PATA ZIF SSD for $190 - $30 off with coupon code LION1530 [Exp 3/14] = $160 with free shipping. ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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REI has the Garmin Geko 201 Handheld GPS for $75 - 20% in-cart discount = $60 with free in-store pickup. Shipping option is $9. Features 100 x 64 ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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The Cartoon Bank has the Complete New Yorker DVD-ROM and book set for $18 + $6 shipping = $24 shipped. Features every page of every issue from ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Eforcity has the Apple iPhone 3G / iPod Car Charger + Travel Charger + USB Hotsync & Charging [2-IN-1] Cable for $11 - $2 off with coupon code ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Surplus Computers has the refurbished IBM ThinkPad T40 1.3GHz 14.1" Notebook for $190 with free shipping. [Compare]Intel Mobile Pentium 4 M 1.3GHz, ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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eWiz.com has the Argosy HV372T Mobile Media Player for $70 - $15 off with coupon code LION2605 [Exp 3/11] = $55 with free shipping. Supports hard ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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JR.com has the refurbished HP Pavilion Elite e9290f Core i7 Desktop for $800 with free shipping. Sports an Intel Core i7 920 2.66GHz processor, 9GB ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Lenovo has the Lenovo L215P 21.5" Full HD 16:9 Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ Webcam, Microphone + USB Hub for $180 - 10% off with coupon code USPRETHINK ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Fathead is having a college "Pick-A-Pack" sale with savings up to $95. Use coupon code HOOPSPACK [Exp 3/17] during checkout to save $35, $65, or $95. ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Dell has the Dell Studio Hybrid desktop for $299 + $13 shipping = $312 shipped. [Review : Compare]Pentium Dual Core T4300 2.1GHz, 2GB RAM, 160GB HDD, ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Adorama has the refurbished Canon PowerShot SD990 IS 14.7-Megapixel Digital Camera for $270 with free shipping. [Compare]14.7 megapixels, 3.7x ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Newegg has the Garmin Nuvi 265T 3.5" GPS Navigator for $110 - $10 off with coupon code GPS10 + $2 shipping = $102 shipped. Features free lifetime ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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eWiz.com has the Sennheiser HD555 Stereo Headphones for $102 - $20 off with coupon code APPLE0220 [Exp 3/14] = $82 with free shipping. Features 15 ~ ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Newegg has the Rosewill RMS-HDA5000 Amplified HD TV Antenna for $25 with free shipping. Specially designed for reception of HD digital signal and can ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00
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Ends today. REI Outlet is offering an extra 20% off one item (no coupon required). Not valid at REI.com or REI stores. Standard shipping starts at $6 ... Read more
Thursday, 11 March 2010 18:00