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The Next Web Today, developers will flock to downtown San Francisco for Google’s yearly event, I/O. The two big areas of interest this year are mobile and social, and the underlying story is how Google goes about fostering relationships with developers for all of its APIs, of which there are many. The New York Times At the conference, Electronic Arts will demonstrate Strike Force, a sophisticated multiplayer video game, complete with three-dimensional graphics and rich illustration, written in an Internet standard called HTML5 that enables the game to be played entirely through a Web browser. Reuters Google will soon unveil a tablet co-branded with Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc and priced to compete with Amazon’s Kindle Fire device, an Asustek executive said on Wednesday. Bloomberg Though Android has grabbed more than half of the smartphone market, tablets with the software have won less than half the iPad’s share, and will face new pressure from Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), which unveiled its own tablet last week. The Next Web A recent scan of a JavaScript file hosted on the Google Play marketplace by Reddit user ‘derpodactyl’ reveals that users will be able to download magazines and TV shows (and seasons) via the store, bringing more content to mobile device owners but more importantly, Google TV owners. Mobile Syrup Google is almost certainly going to show off its newest version of Android, Jellybean, tomorrow during the keynote address. Gizmodo Pictured left is the new Android Jelly Bean mascot just installed at Google’s headquarters.
Judge Halts U.S. Sales of Samsung Galaxy Tab (Reuters)
A U.S. judge on Tuesday backed Apple Inc’s request to stop Samsung Electronics from selling its Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet in the United States, giving the iPhone maker a significant win in the global smartphone and tablet patent wars. All Things D “Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly by flooding the market with infringing products,” Judge Lucy Koh wrote in her order, adding that the strength of Apple’s case on the merits left her no choice but to grant the injunction. Digital Trends The Cupertino company first filed patent-related lawsuits against Samsung in April last year, claiming Samsung had “slavishly” copied various aspects of the iPhone and iPad in its design of the Galaxy 10.1 tablet. GigaOm We’ve embedded the full order from Judge Koh.
Zynga Moves Into Mobile Publishing with Phosphor Games, Clay Jam, Atari and Others (Inside Mobile Apps)
Zynga is moving into mobile publishing, announcing it will be working with Atari, Crash Lab, Fat Pebble, Sava Transmedia, and Phosphor Games to release five mobile games within the coming months. Zynga’s chief mobile officer David Ko revealed the news during Tuesday’s Zynga Unleashed media event. Developers who choose to partner with Zynga will have access to the company’s upcoming Zynga With Friends social network after it launches this summer. Inside Mobile Apps The game challenges players to match three or more colored tiles over the course of 11 asynchronous turns. Venturebeat These games aren’t likely to do much for the company’s reputation for cloning the games of other companies. Among the obvious titles that could draw flack is The Ville, which is a lot like Electronic Arts’ The Sims Social, a people simulator. Inside Social Games In Zynga’s defense, The Ville is an example of what the company does best: taking a game concept proven by another company, adding a layer of polish and social features, and then feeding it to a massive network of dedicated users on Facebook and mobile that trust the Zynga brand. Wall Street Journal Zynga’s new gaming lineup didn’t impress many investors. The stock dropped 5 percent to $5.76, continuing its recent descent. Analysts questioned whether Zynga’s new offerings were diversified enough. BBC “We actually had some little slogans around saying ‘keep calm and carry on,’” said Cadir Lee, Zynga’s chief technology officer, “which was to remind people you can work to make the business better and you’re not going to change anything about the share price until we do that,” AP “The overall tectonic shifts that are going on in games and more broadly in media are that everything is moving to becoming free, social and accessible. But we’re just at the beginning of that,” said founder Mark Pincus.
FBI Hauls in 24 Credit Card Hackers in Online Sting (Ars Technica)
The FBI unveiled an online sting resulting in the arrest of 24 suspects accused of online credit card fraud. As part of the two-year online operation, FBI agents set up a “carder forum” — a Web forum where hackers and credit card fraudsters were able to buy, sell, and exchange credit card data stolen from hacked e-commerce websites and other sources, as well as other goods and services related to credit card fraud. BBC Twelve of the arrests were in the United States, with six in the UK. All of the detained are men ranging in age from 18 to 25. Some face 40 years in prison if convicted on fraud-related charges. Reuters One of the men, Mir Islam, known online as “JoshTheGod,” was charged with trafficking in 50,000 stolen credit card numbers. FBI.gov FBI assistant director in charge Janice K. Fedarcyk said, “Tuesday’s arrests cause significant disruption to the underground economy and are a stark reminder that masked IP addresses and private forums are no sanctuary for criminals and are not beyond the reach of the FBI.” Mashable Operation Card Shop is the latest in a long string of cybercrime initiatives carried out by the FBI.
Yahoo Sings Along With Spotify — And May Profit, Too (All Things D)
Spotify now has a distribution deal with Yahoo, which the portal says will eventually get the music service in front of 700 million users worldwide. Venturebeat Spotify will initially roll out to Yahoo! Music and will be eventually integrated across the rest of Yahoo properties. In return, Yahoo will create an app for Spotify’s platform. Techcrunch The move is a big blow for Rhapsody, as Spotify will now be taking its place as Yahoo’s music streaming partner, a spokesperson has confirmed.
Kred Launches Rewards Program for Social Media Influencers (SocialTimes)
If you haven’t checked your Kred score yet, today might be the day to do it, as Kred just launched a rewards system to complement its social influence score. For your efforts, you could get an assortment of freebies and discounts ranging from snack food to computer software. AllTwitter Kred is the first social scoring system to provide a comprehensive score for influence and outreach by valuing engagement and interaction over follower count. And it’s the only influence measurement based on 1,000 days of social data and to offer completely transparent score calculation. SocialTimes Poking around Pinterest well ahead of competing sites like Klout and Kred has paid off for the entrepreneur in India who came up with PinPuff, an influence measuring system just for Pinterest.
TIL: The Pentagon Is Building a Reddit Knockoff (Wired)
For years, the military has struggled over what to do about social media. One response has been to create dull, Pentagon-controlled versions of popular websites Facebook and YouTube. Now the Pentagon is preparing to launch its own version of Reddit, in another small step in the military’s quest to strip the fun out of everything on the Internet.
This Robot Never Loses at Rock, Paper, Scissors Because It’s a Damn Cheater (Gizmodo)
This rudimentary robot hand, developed by the Ishikawa Oku Laboratory in Japan, never loses at Rock, Paper, Scissors. It has a perfect record against everyone who’s ever challenged it, but that’s only because it can see and react faster than any human being can.
Win a Million Followers with Twitterich (The Daily Dot)
A new “social media experiment” called @1MillionRicher will turn over its Twitter account once it hits one million followers to a lucky follower via a random drawing. As of right now, it has around 1,800 followers, although it started tweeting Friday.
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