Windows 8 designer: Why Microsoft forced Metro on us all

A purported UX designer for Microsoft reveals why the "love it or hate it" Metro environment is the default in Windows 8.

(Credit: Screenshot by Lance Whitney/CNET)
Microsoft designed its Metro, aka Modern, interface for "your computer-illiterate little sister, for grandpas who don't know how to use that computer 'dofangle' thingy, and for mom who just wants to look up apple pie recipes."

At least that's the take from someone who claims to have worked on the design of Windows 8.
Chiming in on a Reddit conversation on Friday, Jacob Miller, a self-described UX designer for Microsoft, said that Metro was created for casual users first and foremost, but claimed that the interface ultimately will be a boon to power users as well. From Miller's viewpoint, Metro is geared for content consumers -- people who want to check Facebook, view a few photos, and post a selfie. In other words, the user can do "one thing (and only one) thing relatively easily."

On the flip side, Metro is not geared for content creators -- people who want to multitask, run virtual machines, and do more complex things, Miller said. But if that's the case, why ram Metro down the throats of all Windows users?

Essentially, Microsoft felt it was up against a wall, according to Miller's description. Try to add a powerful new feature to Windows, and casual users balk. One example Miller cited is multiple desktops, a feature in OS X and Linux, but still not built into Windows. Each time Microsoft conducted user tests on multiple desktops, casual users got confused, prompting the company to cut it.

Comparing Windows 8 to a "rented tuxedo coat," Miller said it was designed to fit a variety of people but not tailored to any one specific customer. Features added to Windows had to be simple enough for casual users but not so dumb that it would turn off power users. As a result, many features were cut on the first go-round, and that led to Windows 8's split personality, according to Miller:

Our hands were bound, and our users were annoyed with their rented jackets. So what did we do? We separated the users into two groups. Casual and Power. We made two separate playgrounds for them. All the casual users would have their own new and shiny place to look at pictures of cats -- Metro. The power users would then have free reign over their native domain -- the desktop.

So why was Metro initially made the default with no option to boot to the desktop in Windows 8? Miller explained the thinking here:

The short answer is because casual users don't go exploring. If we made desktop the default as it has always been, and included a nice little start menu that felt like home, the casual users would never have migrated to their land of milk and honey. They would still occupy the desktop just as they always had, and we would have been stuck in square one. So we forced it upon them. We drove them to it with goads in their sides. In 8.1, we softened the points on the goads by giving users an option to boot directly to desktop.

Now that we've gone through the Sturm und Drang of Windows 8, what lies ahead? Miller painted a future in which Microsoft smooths out the rough edges of both Metro and the desktop:

Now that the casual users are aware of their new pasture, we can start tailoring. It will be a while before the power users start seeing the benefits of this (that's why I said they'd benefit in the long run). Right now we still have a lot of work to do on making Metro seem tasty for those casual users, and that's going to divert our attention for a while. But once it's purring along smoothly, we'll start making the desktop more advanced. We'll add things that we couldn't before. Things will be faster, more advanced, and craftier than they have in the past -- and that's why Metro is good for power users.

In one respect, Miller is saying that Windows 8 was the price we had to pay to get to a smoother and friendlier Windows 9. If so, is that really the best way to treat your customers? Does Microsoft need to force-feed us a not-so-good version of Windows before we can get something better? Or was Windows 8 an unnecessary slip-up on the road to the future?
CNET contacted Microsoft to verify the identify of the self-dubbed Windows UX designer. A Microsoft spokeswoman confirmed that Miller does work for the company but declined to reveal any details about his specific role.

OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box: Which cloud storage service is right for you?

If you're ready to take the plunge into storing your files, photos, and more in the cloud, but need help deciding which service is right for your needs and wallet, we've got you covered.

Which cloud storage service is for you?

(Credit: Sarah Mitroff/CNET)
Microsoft gave its cloud storage service a makeover today, replacing the now-defunct SkyDrive with the shiny, new OneDrive. After a legal battle, Microsoft changed the name, and used the opportunity to add a few new features to its cloud option.

Though not much about SkyDrive changes in the switch to OneDrive, we're taking this opportunity outline the differences and give you a guide to the other popular cloud storage options out there. Whether you're unhappy with your current cloud service, or have never dabbled in keeping your files in the cloud, this primer will help you get acquainted with the major (and some of the minor) players out there.

	OneDrive	Dropbox	Google Drive	Box
File size restrictions?	2GB	None with Dropbox apps	10GB	250MB for free plan, 5GB for paid plan
Free storage?	7GB	2GB	15GB	10GB
Can I earn extra free storage?	Yes	Yes	No	No
Paid plans	$25/year for 50GB, up to 200GB	$10/month for each 100GB, up to 500GB	$5/month for each 100GB, up to 16TB	$10/month for 100GB; $45/month for 1TB
OSes supported	Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS	Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, iOS, Blackberry, Kindle Fire	Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS	Windows, Mac, Android, and iOS

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OneDrive on Windows 8. Click to enlarge.

(Credit: Microsoft)

OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive)

First up is OneDrive, Microsoft's storage option. Those who use Windows 8 and 8.1 have OneDrive built into their operating system, where it shows up in the file explorer next to all of the files on your computer's hard drive. However, anyone can use it on the web, by downloading a desktop app for Mac and earlier versions of Windows, or the OneDrive Android, iOS, Windows Phone, and Xbox apps.
You can store any kind of file in the service, including photos, video, and documents, and then access them from any of your Windows PCs or mobile devices. The service organizes your files by type for you, so it's easy to find what you need.

OneDrive's biggest strength is that it works closely with Microsoft Office apps, such as Word or PowerPoint, so when you launch one of those applications you'll see a list of recent documents, including those saved to OneDrive. If you have an Office 365 subscription, and open a document saved in OneDrive, you can collaborate on it in real-time with other people. You'll even be able to see the changes they make, as they make them.

With the launch of OneDrive, Microsoft updated its Android app to add automatic photo uploads, meaning that when you shoot a photo with your phone, it's automatically saved to OneDrive. That same feature has been available on iOS and Windows Phone for a while.
Microsoft is hoping that OneDrive will be the place where you store your photos, and the company is working on technology that will eventually sort all of the photos you take based on how important and meaningful they are. For instance, if you take a photo of your kids, a picture of a special meal, and a shot of your parking space so you can find your car later, OneDrive would be able to understand the importance of each picture, save the ones it thinks are the most useful, and trash the rest. That's still big-picture stuff for OneDrive, but it gives you an idea of the direction Microsoft is moving in.

Where it excels
OneDrive works seamlessly with Windows devices because it's baked into the Windows operating systems running on PCs, tablets, and Windows Phone. It's easy to open and edit files from OneDrive in Microsoft's other applications, such as Word or the Photos app. Since OneDrive is closely tied with Office, it's a good choice for anyone who uses Office frequently.

Where it falls flat
If you don't have all Windows devices, OneDrive doesn't have as much appeal. There are apps for other devices, but it's clear that OneDrive is really meant for the Windows set.
In order to use OneDrive, you must sign up for a Microsoft account, which gives you access to Outlook, Xbox Live, and other Microsoft services. Whether or not you want all those extras is up to you.
One last note; Microsoft has a stricter code of conduct for the files you upload to OneDrive than any other cloud service. You many not store any file that depicts any kind of nudity, or that incites, advocates, or expresses pornography or racism, to name a few. It's tough to say how forcefully Microsoft enforces these restrictions, but they are nonetheless part of the Terms of Service you agree to when you sign up to use OneDrive.
Best for: If you have a Windows PC, tablet, and phone, and need to get to your files from any device with little effort.

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Dropbox on the web. Click to enlarge.

(Credit: Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNET)

Dropbox

Dropbox is a favorite in the cloud storage world because it's reliable, easy to use, and a breeze to set up. Your files live in the cloud and you can get to them at any time from Dropbox's website, desktop applications for Mac, Windows, and Linux (Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora, or compile your own), or the iOS, Android, BlackBerry, and Kindle Fire mobile apps.

You can store any kind of file in Dropbox, by either uploading to the Web site or adding it with the desktop apps. Those apps live in your file system so that you can easily move files from your computer to the cloud and vice versa by dragging and dropping them into your Dropbox folder. The service automatically and quickly syncs your files across all of your devices, so you can access everything, everywhere. There is no size limit on files you upload to Dropbox with the desktop or mobile apps, but larger files can take several hours to upload, depending on your connection speed.
Dropbox gets a lot of praise for its clean design, and rightfully so. Though I am not a fan of Dropbox's Web site because the design is very basic and it doesn't give you many options to view and organize your files, its mobile apps and desktop apps are beautiful and easy to navigate.
Dropbox gives its users plenty of opportunities to get extra storage to beef up the paltry 2GB you get when you sign up. If you participate in the quick Getting Started tutorial, you get 250MB. Turn on the automatic photo upload feature on any of the mobile apps to get 3GB of extra space (you can only get 3GB total, not per device). You can earn 500MB for each friend you refer to Dropbox who actually signs up for the service, up to 16 GB total, or 32 referrals. If you have a brand-new HTC or Samsung phone on select mobile carriers (T-Mobile and Sprint, to name a few) with the Dropbox app pre-installed, you can earn up to 48GB of additional storage for up to two years, depending on the device.

Where it excels
Dropbox's greatest strength is that it works equally well on PCs and Macs, Android and iOS. The service is so simple and elegantly designed, that it's easy for anyone to master. Its desktop applications seamlessly blend with your computer's file system.

Where it falls flat
In my experience, Dropbox's Web site design is one of the weakest of the cloud storage services. It's simple and clean, but you can't control the way your files are displayed. However, you do get many more sharing options on the Dropbox Web site, which almost makes up for the bare bones design.
Best for: Simple sharing when you use tons of different kinds of devices.

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Google Drive's desktop app for Windows. Click to enlarge.

(Credit: Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNET)

Google Drive

What started as just a handful of helpful online office tools called Google Docs, has transformed into Google Drive, a complete office suite with cloud storage. You get a little bit of everything with this service, including a word processor, spreadsheet application, and presentation builder, plus 5GB of storage space.

If you already have a Google account, you can already access Google Drive. You just have to head to drive.google.com and enable the service. You get 15GB of storage for anything you upload to Drive, including photos, videos, documents, Photoshop files and more. However, you have to share that 15GB with your Gmail account, photos you upload to Google+, and any documents you create in Google Drive.

While you can access any of your files from the Drive website, you can also download the Drive desktop app for Mac and PC to manage your files from your computer. You can organize all of your files in the desktop app, and they'll sync with the cloud so you can get to them anywhere.
Drive is built into Google's Web-based operating system Chromium, so if you have a Chromebook, Google Drive is your best cloud storage option. Like other cloud storage services, Drive has apps for iOS and Android, so you can manage your files from your phone.
Google Drive has the benefit of a built-in office suite, where you can edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations, even if you created the document in another program. The service also a large collection of extras, such as third-party apps that can send faxes or sign documents.
What I like most about Google Drive is that you can drag and drop files into the Drive website and they'll be uploaded automatically. You can also preview attachments from Gmail in Google Drive, and save those files to your cloud.

Where it excels
Google Drive requires very little setup if you already have a Google account. What's more, if you use Gmail, it's easy to save attachments from your e-mail directly to Drive with just a few clicks.

Where it falls flat
While you can organize your files and photos in Google Drive, there's no way to automatically upload photos from your phone directly to the service. Instead, Google has an Auto Backup feature in the Google+ mobile apps, which sends your photos to your Google+ profile. I'd like for Google to create a central space where I can store and upload all of my files that combines the best of Google+'s photo editing features and Google Drive's document editing tools.
Best for: Google diehards, or anyone who wants a few office tools with their cloud storage.

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Box's Web interface. Click to enlarge

(Credit: Screenshot by Sarah Mitroff/CNET)

Box

Anyone can sign up for a free individual account on Box, but the service's endless list of sharing and privacy features were built specifically for business and IT users. Beyond the basic cloud storage setup, where you can store just about any kind of file, Box lets you share files with colleagues, assign tasks, leave comments on someone's work, and get notifications when a file changes.
You can preview files from Box's website and even create basic text documents in Box. Like other cloud storage services, you can download a desktop app and sync your files between your hard drive and the cloud.

Box also gives you a lot of control over the privacy of your files. For example, you can decide who in your business can view and open specific folders and files, as well as who can edit and upload documents. You can even password-protect individual files and set expiration dates for shared folders.
Business users can also connect other apps, such as Salesforce and NetSuite, so that you can easily save documents to Box. There are also plug-ins for Microsoft Office and Adobe Lightroom that let you open and edit files saved to Box from those applications.

Where it excels
For business customers, Box is a great choice because it comes with so many tools for collaboration and file privacy control.

Where it falls flat
While anyone can sign up for a free individual account on Box, the service's endless list of sharing and privacy features can be lost on someone who's just using the service for personal storage. Because of all those features, it can feel overwhelming to navigate the Box Web site if you're only trying to manage a few files and folders.
Best for: Teams of employees working together on projects, and large companies that need a place to securely share documents with everyone.

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Lesser-known cloud options

Of course, OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive, and Box aren't your only options for cloud storage. First, there's Amazon Cloud Drive, which can store videos and photos you take with your phone to the cloud with its iOS and Android apps. There's also a desktop app where you can manage your files as well.

Next is SugarSync, a Dropbox-like alternative with apps for every mobile platform. The catch is that after your 90-day free trial, where you can play around with 5GB of storage, you need to pay at $7.50 per month for 60GB to keep using the service (you can upgrade to more storage for extra money).
Copy, from corporate IT company Barracuda Networks, gives you 15GB to start with, and lets you share the cost and gigabytes of more storage with up to four other people.

Lastly, there's Space Monkey, which has an entirely different take on cloud storage. For $200, you buy a 2 terabyte (TB) hard drive from the company. You get to use 1TB of the drive's space to store any and all of your files as a local backup. Your files also get encrypted and broken into bits that are sent to other Space Monkey users' hard drives, so that you can access your files from another computer or mobile device. That's where that extra 1TB of space on your drive comes in -- it's used to store bits of other people's files. The service is free for the first year, than costs $49 per year to keep up the service. At that price, Space Monkey is on par with Google Drive's 1TB option, but far cheaper than Dropbox, which charges $50 per month for just 500GB of storage.

Firefox OS sinks its teeth into low-end smartphones

Sure, the high-end smartphone market is stuffed with iOS and Android, but demand for low-cost phones gives Mozilla and its browser-based OS a chance to chow down.

Firefox OS is a smartphone operating system so far aimed at lower-end phones in cost-sensitive markets.

(Credit: Telefonica Brazil screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET) In an impressive first-year achievement, Firefox OS has found a toehold in a fiercely competitive smartphone market. The next challenge for Mozilla's browser-based mobile operating system will be to convert that toehold into a foothold.
As the struggles of BlackBerry OS, Microsoft Windows Phone, and Samsung Tizen have shown, it's extraordinarily hard to find any room in a mobile operating system market where Apple's iOS and Google's Android dominate. Yet Mozilla has managed to do just that by focusing on super-low-cost smartphones and on partnerships with carriers who want something to offer in markets where even a bottom-of-the-barrel Android phone looks pricey.
"They've shown their strategy of going after the low end has been the right one," said Ovum analyst Nick Dillon. "The emerging markets, bringing the Web and data to first-time smartphone buyers and feature-phone buyers for the first time -- that's where their strength lies. If they tried going up against mature smartphone platforms at a higher price point, they just would have got squashed."
At last year's Mobile World Congress show in Barcelona, Mozilla lined up a sizable collection of Firefox OS endorsements from carriers and phone makers. Only a few of them have anything for sale so far, though, so at the show this year Mozilla will have to show progress with new handsets and new markets.

That growth is an essential foundation for Mozilla's Firefox OS goal: lower the barriers that confine people to one ecosystem or another -- Apple's combination of iPhone, iOS, App Store, and iTunes, for example, or Google's combination of Android, Google Play, and online services.
Firefox OS is mostly brand-new to the mobile market. Analyst firms such as Gartner still lack estimates of phone shipments, so it's hard to say with any certainty how well it's done. But Mozilla's top partner, the carrier Telefonica, is happy: last year, Firefox OS accounted for 12 percent of smartphone sales in Venezuela and more than 8 percent in Colombia.

The Web is key to Mozilla's strategy. Firefox OS phones run Web apps written with Web technologies. And though Mozilla offers a Firefox Marketplace, apps can be discovered on the broader Web itself, too. In Mozilla's aspirations, a person who pays for a Web-based app should be able to use it on any Web-enabled device and not have to pay for it again just because the other device is running a different operating system.

The wisdom of the browser-based approach is evident in how well it's worked on PCs, where people access free and for-fee online services like Google Apps or Facebook without worrying overmuch about whether they're using Safari on a Mac or Chrome on a Windows machine. But the strategy is hard on mobile devices. Smartphones are saddled with sluggish browser performance, missing or immature Web standards, and strong competition with rich, well-developed native programming foundations. Those challenges are amplified at the low end of the market, where performance is tough.

Firefox OS gets a head start on app support by being able to tap into the Web.

(Credit: Telefonica Brazil screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

But Mozilla Chief Technology Officer Brendan Eich sees an opening for Firefox OS. Although the new KitKat version of Android halves its memory requirement to 512MB, Firefox OS is taking the same memory-compression approach to halve its minimum to 128MB, he said.
"The only competition is running Gingerbread," Eich said, referring to Google's increasingly elderly version 2.3 of Android, which doesn't require as much phone horsepower as the more recent Jelly Bean and KitKat releases. And Mozilla has heard Google's Gingerbread support for its apps and Google Play Services software foundation "is going away" for all versions before Jelly Bean, he added, which would actually give Firefox even more breathing room.
 
Where things stand for Firefox OS
Today, Firefox OS is chiefly available on the ZTE Open, LG Electronics Fireweb and Alcatel One Touch Fire phones, which went on sale in July 2013. The first carriers to sell Firefox OS phones were Telefonica in Spain, Venezuela, Colombia, and Brazil; Deutsche Telekom in Poland, Greece, and Hungary; Telecom Italia in Italy, and Telenor in Serbia, Montenegro, and Hungary.
At Mobile World Congress, we'll certainly see new phones -- but it's not yet clear which ones beyond the new dual-core ZTE Open C. An updates from Alcatel is likely, too, though LG's Fireweb is still a relatively new arrival. As interesting will be whether better-known brands will follow up 2013's fond words for Firefox OS with actual product.

Huawei signed up early, and Sony announced its ambition for a Firefox OS phone in 2014, too.
Plenty of network operators signed up to be Firefox OS allies, too, but most of them haven't gone beyond endorsements so far. That includes America Movil, China Unicom, Etisalat, Hutchison Three Group, KDDI, KT, MegaFon, Qtel, SingTel, Smart, Sprint, Telstra, TMN, and VimpelCom.

The newest Firefox OS phone, the LG Fireweb, is available through Telefonica in Brazil.

(Credit: Telefonica)

Why so many carriers? First, because there are lots of them across the world -- hundreds -- and many of them want a way to get customers to pay not only for voice services and text messaging but also for the data plans needed to use Internet services.
"They can upsell feature-phone users and get subscribers to start spending money on data at a low cost -- about as cheap as it gets," Dillon said.
And in the longer run, it gives carriers a bit more leverage against Apple and Google, the companies that wield increasing amounts of power over the mobile market even as carriers' influence wanes. Firefox OS gives mobile network operators a way to sell a smartphones that doesn't transfer even more power to the mobile OS giants.
 
Longer-term challenges
Selling low-end phones was a great opener for Firefox OS since there is an ocean of people who want smartphones but who don't have lots of money. Compare that to Microsoft, which has struggled despite having a credible operating system, strong developer-relations program, and broad suite of online services.
But with the high-end smartphone market saturating, the low-end market isn't a safe place. With Android 4.4 KitKat, Google has begun pushing a modern version of Android to phones with as little memory as 512MB. That's double what first-gen Firefox OS phones came with, but it means modern Android will expand to more cost-sensitive markets.

Another challenge is avoiding problems of fragmentation that accumulate over time as more phone models arrive with different hardware capabilities and different OS versions. Mozilla already has run into troubles keeping Firefox OS phones up to date; Firefox OS has a three-month update cadence.
Firefox OS also is limited to smartphones today while iOS and Android expand to tablets. Given the low-cost entry of Firefox OS, it's reasonable to start with smartphones -- everybody needs a smartphone, but tablets are optional. But without tablets, it's harder to attract developers and customers. Firefox OS is expanding to tablets, TVs, and more, but so far those efforts are nascent and clearly not the top priority.

Last, Firefox OS ultimately will have to go up-market if it's to succeed broadly. That means taking on Android and other mobile operating system more directly. To do that, Mozilla needs a strong partnerships, a big customer base, and an active developer community.
"We're not rushing into it," Eich said of Mozilla's higher-end push. "That's where a lot of OSes that haven't even launched yet are running into trouble. It's hard to compete at the high end with a mature OS that's been out there for seven years."
But at the low end, Mozilla has relatively little competition. It can't stay there forever, but so far, it looks like a good place to get started.

Woman jailed for not returning VHS of JLo movie 9 years ago

Your old technology sins can still catch up with you, if you live in South Carolina, that is. One woman, attempting to report a crime to police, finds out the hard way, as she is jailed for not returning a rented movie.

How JLo can you go?

(Credit: Fox Carolina screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
Look around your living room. Go up to your bedroom. Scour your attic.
There might be old movies there that aren't technically yours.
You might once have rented them from your local Blockbuster or equivalent and, as you and your Blockbuster aged, both of you forgot about it.

I mention this only because of the experience of Kayla Michelle Finley. As Fox Carolina reports, she went along to her local police station to report a crime.
Suddenly, JLo and behold, she was locked up for not having returned a VHS of the seminal work "Monster-In-Law," starring Jennifer Lopez and Jane Fonda.
You might have missed this great movie, just as Finley says she missed returning it. Well, she did rent it in 2005.

This didn't matter to the hardy souls in the Pickens County Sheriff's Office in South Carolina. 

When they looked to see who she was, they discovered there was a warrant out for her arrest, for failing to return "Monster-In-Law" to Dalton Video.
The authorities say that reminders were sent to her. Yes, in 2005. Finley told Fox Carolina she never received them.

So while you might think it reasonable to jail someone for renting "Monster-In-Law," the sheriff's office thought it equally reasonable to throw Finley behind bars. There she stayed for 24 hours.
The 27-year-old Finley has now been charged for having been 18 some nine years ago. I'm sorry, she's actually been charged with failure to return a video cassette.
She told Fox Carolina that she will fight. She said: "It's obvious that Pickens County has nothing better to do."

Dalton Video is now defunct. But the charges you incurred from using old technology live on.
At least they do in South Carolina.

LG to unveil third-generation L Series smartphones at MWC

Trio of mid-range handsets will sport Android 4.4 KitKat and 1.2GHz dual-core processors.

 

LG's L series smartphones.

(Credit: LG)
Consumer electronics giant LG plans to debut its third generation of L Series Android smartphones at the Mobile World Conference later this month.

The trio of mid-range smartphones will come with Android 4.4 KitKat pre-installed and sport 1.2GHz dual-core processors, the company announced Saturday. All three handsets come in a metallic frame with colorful Quick Window cases, which allow users to see the date and time on the screen without opening the case.

The top-end L90 sports a 4.7-inch display with a 960x540-pixel resolution, 1GB of RAM, 8GB of storage, an 8MP rear-mounted camera, a 1.3MP front-facing camera, and a removable 2,540mAh battery. The L70 features a 4.5-inch 800x400-pixel display, a 5MP or 8MP camera (depending on the market), 1GB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and a removable 2,100mAh battery. The low-end L40 comes with a 3.5-inch 480x320-pixel display, a 3MP camera, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, and a removable 1,540 or 1,700mAh battery (also depending on the market).
LG didn't reveal pricing or partners for the new handsets or when consumers could expect them to hit the market, but expect to hear more about them at the Mobile World Congress, which begins February 24 in Barcelona.

Candy Crush Saga maker King files for IPO

The company will trade under the "KING" ticker when it goes public on the New York Stock Exchange.

A look at Candy Crush Saga.

King Digital Entertainment, a digital-gaming provider perhaps best known for its Candy Crush Saga title, has filed papers with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to go public.
King's statement with the SEC is exceedingly short on details, due mainly to the company still needing to decide how many shares will be offered, who will be offering those shares, and when it will go public. However, the filing statement does indicate that nearly 120 million shares were outstanding as of 2013. It's not clear how many of those will be offered to the public. If King follows through with the IPO, its shares will trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KING."

Still, the filing peels back the curtain on just how big a casual-gaming company can be. According to its filing, King Digital generated $1.9 billion in revenue last year, up from $164 million in the prior year and $63.9 million in 2011. Its profits jumped to $567.6 million. The massive growth is due in large part to a significant uptick in gamers playing its titles. The average monthly unique users for all its games in 2013's fourth quarter was 304 million. In the fourth quarter of 2012, that figure stood at 43 million.

Although King has more than 180 games to its name, the crown jewel in its lineup is Candy Crush Saga. That title, according to the company, has 93 million daily users and more than 1 billion daily game plays. Its second-most-popular game, Pet Rescue Saga, comes in at 15 million daily users and 129 million daily game plays.

Despite these figures that may sound promising to King's future investors, it might be hard for the company to shake the Zynga comparisons. After that company went public on the back of its popular FarmVille and CityVille franchises, investors that initially seemed ready to support the company found significant issues in the firm's business. Before long, investors decided that relying on a few franchises and not having enough of a business outside of game development wasn't enough. Zynga has since tried to change its focus and become more well-rounded as a casual-gaming destination. Investors, however, still seem unsure.

Unlike Zynga, King makes most of its money in the mobile space. King has also created a gaming network online that has proven popular among casual gamers. Still, the company will need to prove as time goes on that it can continue to deliver such impressive financial results if its top franchises lose steam. The issue with casual gaming is that while massive user bases can grow quickly, history has shown that they can also fall quickly as gamers find other games.

HTC's next flagship will launch on March 25

The successor to the well-regarded HTC One will make its debut in events in New York and London.

The HTC One will see its successor in March.

(Credit: CNET)
HTC will unveil its next flagship smartphone, the successor to its HTC One, on March 25.
Invitations are being sent out, and a company representative confirmed the event to CNET. As with last year's event, it will be held in New York and London, with New York designated as the main site.

There's a lot riding on the successor to the HTC One, codenamed M8, with the company's profits and sales continuing to fall. While the HTC One was well regarded and won critical praise for its all-metal design, it got overshadowed by the marketing blitz of Samsung's Galaxy S4.
HTC will have to work hard to avoid repeating history. While HTC debuted the HTC One ahead of Mobile World Congress last year, it is now opting to unveil its successor flagship phone after the event, which will see the unveiling of Samsung's Galaxy S5.

The early leaks of the next HTC One shows a phone with only minor tweaks and refinement to the previous design, as well as changes to the software.
HTC will be at Mobile World Congress next week, and CNET will be on hand to get a sense of how the company will handle its launch differently from last year, as well as delve more deeply into its plans to expand into lower-end products.

$100K? Used Flappy Bird phones not really flying so high on eBay

One auction with a high bid of $100,000 for an iPhone with Flappy Bird installed has been pulled from eBay, but phones with the recently disappeared game do appear to be fetching real bids.

 

This auction appears to have fallen victim to serious shill bidding.

(Credit: Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)

The Flappy Bird flap may have peaked over the weekend when the developer of the super-addictive smartphone game yanked the top free app from both Google Play and Apple's App Store. But it seems some people may be willing to pay to keep that silly little bird soaring -- although not nearly as much as you may have read elsewhere.

Just hours after it disappeared from the major online stores, used phones with Flappy Bird installed on them hit eBay, and you may have read that some of them appear to be fetching serious cash, as high as $100,000 in one auction.

I took a look at this particular unbelievable auction when it was still live and noticed that the price seemed to be driven up by numerous bids from bots or shill bidders. The majority of the bids appeared to come from just a handful of usernames, with users appearing to be outbidding themselves just to drive the price up.
The auction and the user account that created it have since disappeared from eBay. I've reached out to the auction site for comment and will update this post when I hear back.

For an example of what I'm talking about, there's another eBay auction for a Flappy Bird iPhone here, where the same pattern of shill bidding seems to be happening (for the moment).
While people might not really be so addicted to Flappy Bird that they're willing to plunk down six figures just to keep soaring through those Mario Bros. pipes, there do appear to be real bids on Flappy-enabled smartphones that reach at least into the very low four-figures.

Oh, and by the way, it is still possible to download Flappy Bird from other sources. If you've downloaded the game for iOS, it may still be possible to download it again from the "Purchased" section of your App Store account. When that option goes away, it's also possible to download the game file from other sources and install it on a jailbroken device (at your own risk, of course).
The process is a little easier for Android users, who should be able to find the APK file for the game and side-load it by simply changing their settings to allow their device to install apps from outside the Google Play store.

Notice I'm not providing any specific sources for downloading the game file. That's because malware lurks around all corners of the Internet, so proceed carefully. For the more paranoid, it might be worth forking over several hundred for a used phone with Flappy Bird still installed

Samsung opens the throttle on its retail expansion

Along with its 1,400 "store in store" kiosks at Best Buy venues across the US, Samsung is expanding its retail beachhead in Canada and across Europe.

 

Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly at a Best Buy-Samsung event last year.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)
Samsung might not have the same sort of brick-and-mortar storefronts as Apple and Microsoft, but it is hard at work beefing up its presence in the retail sector.
Last spring, the South Korean electronics giant revealed its intention to launch Samsung mini stores in Best Buy stores and Best Buy Mobile locations across the United States. The company said that it would operate those Samsung Experience shops for three years, and then evaluate with Best Buy whether to continue the arrangement.
On top of its 1,400 US locations, Samsung is now pushing ahead with plans for a greater presence in Canada and in Europe.

In Europe, the company will open an additional 75 or more of its own Samsung-branded retail setups in the coming months, up from the 31 currently open on the continent, and in Canada it plans to open 90 of the "store in store" kiosks at Best Buy and Future Shops sites by the spring, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing conversations with the company's executives.

What I really want out of the Samsung Galaxy S5

Fingerprint scanners and amazing feats of iris-tracking aside, it's the finer details that Samsung still needs to nail.

 

The update to Samsung's Galaxy S4 is just weeks away.

(Credit: Jessica Dolcourt/CNET)
In just a few weeks, we'll know everything there is to know about the hotly anticipated Samsung Galaxy S5, which the company is all set to unveil at Mobile World Congress.
In the meantime, we've collected quite a list of rumored features and specs, including an ultra-HD 2,560x1,440-pixel-resolution display, a fingerprint scanner, and an optional metal finish. There's no doubt in my mind that Samsung will hoist up cutting-edge specs to give us strong mobile photography, a dazzling display, and oodles of Samsung-only software. I've said it before: Samsung excels at checking off the major boxes required to make a smartphone a hit.
Yet when I think about what I truly want out of the next marquee Samsung stunner, it isn't the bells and whistles I crave most (of course, I'd like those, too) -- it's a commitment to fix some of the finer details of craftsmanship that really make a high-end device stand out.

Design
There is absolutely nothing wrong -- and there's even lots to like -- about Samsung's Galaxy S-line designs.
As a whole, they're typically light and thin, with plenty of screen real estate and bright, saturated colors. The corners curve for comfort, and the plastic makes devices fairly durable against falls. Moreover, the designs are universal enough to be liked by almost everyone (or at least not to polarize the masses) and the plastic construction keeps phones affordable to make.
While there is nothing offensive about the Samsung Galaxy S handsets, there is equally nothing exciting in their construction, and no one feature that suggests the phones are designed with real passion. Shivers don't cascade down my spine when I look at a Samsung Galaxy S4. My eyes don't take over every detail or pause to appreciate the build the way that they do when I see the elegant HTC One and iPhone 5S, the edgy Motorola Droid Maxx, and even a color-saturated Nokia phone like the trapped-in-ice Asha 503.

I would love to see Samsung embrace a statement design, or elements that have been constructed with care. A slightly pricier option with aluminum accents and plates would be one way to go, or bright colors options sold right at the outset, rather than limited shades dribbled out to various markets or carriers months after the phone's initial release.
Even if Samsung doesn't achieve a novel design like the Oppo N1's ingenious camera-swivel or the Yota Phone's, er, unique E Ink display, the Galaxy S5 could still use contours and unusual materials strategically, say, or perhaps offer backplates with etched designs.

Even more practical are some things that Samsung could learn from its rivals. I'd love to see it apply a filter to the display like Nokia does to reduce glare outside. In fact, I'd love to see the Galaxy S5 depart from the ultraglossy, high-shine S3 and S4 with antireflective coatings everywhere, and let's make the backing smudge-resistant while they're at it. A matte finish or soft-touch coating could easily take care of the problem.

Another small, but important change I'd like to see is a relocated power button. It typically sits on the northern end of the phone's right spine and has such a hair trigger, that even in a dedicated purse pocket, the phone sometimes turns on of its own accord, draining the battery before I know it. If Samsung can't stiffen the button enough (as Nokia can and does,) let's move it to the top.
While I'm on the topic of buttons, I'm all for a dedicated camera button that will open the shooter even when the phone is locked. Yes, you can put a shortcut button on the lock screen or implement a complex gesture, but in my mind, nothing beats the push of a button to get the camera up and running for a shot. If you want people to use their phones for a camera, give them to tools to really use it that way.

On the topic of fingerprint scanning and biometrics, here's where I stand. I do like the idea of optional biometric security, but it has to work. Fingerprint scanning needs to be easy to find with a finger and absolutely has to read accurately the first time. The same goes with any iris scanning that the company might implement. If it doesn't work correctly the majority of the time, I'd rather Samsung just leave it out.

Components
There's little doubt we're going to see a blazing processor at the top of its game as well as plenty of RAM, so a given like that doesn't make my wish list. What I am hopeful for, however, is extended battery life to help support the large, bright screen and users' power-hungry activity, such as streaming content, navigation, and constantly using the Web.

The HTC One has some of the best built-in speakers we've heard on a mobile phone.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)

Samsung always does a good job cramming in a big ticker, which is something that's more easily done when the phone is larger. The company does differentiate itself as one of the few that consistently lets the user remove the battery, but that sometimes comes at a cost to capacity. In other words, the capacity could probably have been a little higher still if Samsung decided to embed the battery.

The sweet spot? Subtle improvements in battery tech and a highly precise relationship between the software and processor. If my Galaxy S5 is going to turn itself on in my purse against my wishes, I'd like that battery impact to be as low as possible.
Audio quality is another fringe area that can really improve the way you use your phone in ways you don't think about. I often watch video, play music, and Skype on my smartphones, without using headphones. I sometimes use the speakerphone as well. While there's nothing wrong with the Samsung Galaxy S4's speakers, they don't have the same loud, rich audio impact as the HTC One's excellent speakers.

Software
Samsung's TouchWiz layer on top of Android is a major topic for me, and one I'd love to see overhauled in the Galaxy S5. There are already rumors that something along these lines is happening, but let me be specific.
There are some excellent implementations in TouchWiz that I find useful every day; for instance, the extra quick-access buttons in the notifications shade, the high level of customization, and the ability to opt into gestures.

These could be mock-ups of the next mobile interface that Samsung is working on behind closed doors. Click to enlarge.

(Credit: evleaks)

On the flipside, there are organizational and visual issues that I stumble over every time I pick up the phone. First, there's TouchWiz's look and feel, which I find tired and outdated, possibly because I've reviewed Samsung phones for years. Then there are more practical impediments, like Samsung requiring a few extra steps to make home screen folders, rather than just dragging and dropping as you can do with stock Android.

Samsung can also do better within the app tray. If you have a large collection of apps, it's hard to quickly zero in on what you want. Yes, you can dig into the settings to organize alphabetically, manually create folders, and hide unused apps. What I'd prefer is something more along the lines of what HTC and others do: give you tabs and onscreen controls you can use to quickly see your most-used or starred apps. Again, it would also help if you could create folders by simply dragging and dropping icons.

One software feature that would be a real win for the Galaxy S5 is touchless voice controls, similar to what Motorola has with its latest phones, including the Moto X. You're supposed to be able to do something like this with Samsung's own S Voice app, but the voice commands don't work for me when the phone is locked or when I haven't initiated the app.

At the very least, I'd love to see a glance screen that reveals stats like the time and message status when you double-tap the screen. Samsung already has a version of this on the Galaxy Round, as do rivals like LG and Nokia. It's immensely useful and not too hard to do.

Samsung loves packing in creative features, like extra camera presets and modes. Unfortunately, they don't all live up to their promise.

(Credit: Josh Miller/CNET)

My final hope for the Galaxy S5's software is that all of Samsung's inevitable software extras work as promised. Too many times, I've seen Samsung roll out a differentiating "feature" that doesn't work as advertised, or that is so specific in its demands, nobody will really use it.

This bucket includes gestures like waving your hand over the screen to advance tracks or photos (you've got to do it just the right way) and camera modes like the one that will erase unwanted people in the background. A funny little anecdote from the Samsung Galaxy S4 launch was that even a Samsung representative tried it several times and couldn't get it to work. I know how important it is to Samsung's mission to create unique software experiences, but if they don't behave as advertised, they're just as good as useless.

Camera
More than fancy filters and lighting presets, the Galaxy S5's camera module needs, needs, needs to improve low-light performance.
Right now, some high-end Samsung phones automatically detect darkness and throw you into night mode. That's intelligent, but it doesn't always result in pleasing images. Flash is one option, but it often blows out the subject and backgrounds. Food photographers and people hoping to capture some ambiance have little recourse, especially for taking fast snaps.
The time is right for Samsung to learn from Nokia and Apple, especially, and do some tuning that overcomes frankly terrible low-light shots.

I'd love to see the Samsung Galaxy S5 take after Nokia's low-light proficiency and physical camera button, like on this Lumia 1020.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

The heart and soul of the matter
As I said before, many of the points that I mentioned are more minor when compared with a phone's core components, and some of them are simple fix-its that Samsung has, in my opinion, needed to address for years.

But here's why these are important: Samsung will always satisfy on the list of specs that consumers and enthusiasts look to when determining when a phone is premium and drool-worthy. We can count on Samsung to compete or even outcompete on screen resolution, daytime photography, processing speed, strong battery life, and unique software tricks. What Samsung has yet to nail down is less tangible: a sense of soul.

I look at a lot of phones, and the ones that stand out to me -- the ones I want to pick up and use time and time again -- are the handsets that offer some resonating design element or thoughtful everyday feature that goes beyond that features checklist.

There is no doubt in my mind that the Samsung Galaxy S5 will be a killer handset, even if it does turn out to be a cookie-cutter Galaxy S stuffed with impressive 2014 specs. Yet what I really truly want out of the Galaxy S5 is a smartphone that will also inspire and delight, not just sell.

Teen charged with child porn for allegedly tweeting nude selfies

A 16-year-old Virginia girl takes to Twitter to allegedly send naked pictures of herself. She is charged with distributing child pornography.

Justice?

(Credit: WAVY screenshot by Chris Matyszczyk/CNET) Can the law offer education?
This might be the question that follows the tale of a 16-year-old Virginia girl who has found herself in more trouble than she ever might have imagined.
It all started when the teen allegedly decided to take some nude selfies and post them on Twitter.
She's certainly not the first to sext. But, as far as the police see it, her case warranted a charge of distribution of child pornography.

As WAVY-TV reports, police say that because she left nothing to the imagination, this constitutes child pornography.
Some local parents wonder how it can be that someone who is legally a child herself can be subject to such a charge.

But the police, who reportedly acted on a tip, insist that this is justice.
Indeed, Stephanie Williams-Ortery of the James City County Police Department told WAVY-TV that anyone who received such a picture and then sent it to someone else could also be charged with distribution of child pornography, regardless of their age.

In the teen's case, the one relief is that she won't be treated as a sex offender because of her age.
However, some might really wonder who has suffered here. It is surely the teen herself. Though they have been removed from Twitter, the pictures will always have an online life.
It is she who must live with the consequences more than anyone. Yet here she is being charged with, essentially, causing herself embarrassment.
This is not the first time that a sexting teen has been charged with child pornography. Last month, a teenage girl in Canada was convicted of the offense.

The difference here, though, is that the girl sexted naked pictures of her boyfriend's ex-girlfriend.
In the Virginia case, there is currently no suggestion that there was anyone else involved, nor that there was any coercion. She is alleged to simply have sent images of herself.
Naturally, police are encouraging parents to be more vigilant about what their children are doing online and with their phones.

But can any good really come from charging a 16-year-old with a crime such as this?
It may well be that self-display is one of the essential components of the sharing world. Technology makes it easy. Teens don't always think straight.
This girl, more than anyone, surely now knows the mistake she allegedly made.
Can being brought before a judge offer anything that resembles justice? Or is education and counseling a far more sensible path?

Experts told WAVY-TV that it's possible that the girl will get jail time. However, she (and her parents) may simply be told to complete a Sexting Education Program.
The mere concept that a teen can be guilty of child pornography when real, adult child pornographers are the true menace seems far-fetched.
It suggests that this is another area where the law is still trying to catch up with the ramifications of technological development and its many traps and pitfalls.

LG slashes curved OLED TV price in half

LG has announced it's halved the price on the 55-inch 55EA9800 OLED screen it released in July 2013, which will now sell for under $7000.

 

 (Credit: LG)
LG has announced it's halved the price on the 55-inch 55EA9800 OLED screen it released in July 2013, which will now sell for under $7000.

The curved 55EA9800 originally retailed for $14,999.95, and after an earlier price cut in August, LG is now offering the screen for $7999 with an immediate $1000 rebate as of today.
In January 2014 it appeared the company was clearing stock to prepare for new models when three UK retailers offered deep discounts to £3,000 ($4,910) on the screen.

However, the UK price has since aligned with the new US pricing and LG has confirmed the 55EA9800 will remain in the company's lineup until mid-year.
At CES 2014, LG announced several new models will come in 2014 including a 77-inch 4K screen
and a Gallery model designed to look like a picture frame.

"Our goal is to grow the U.S. OLED TV market by making OLED TVs more affordable. And this is another step in that direction," said William Cho, LG Electronics USA's CEO in a press release.
Meanwhile, Samsung's own curved KN55S9C OLED -- which CNET's David Katzmaier called the "best picture we've ever seen"-- is still on sale for $8999.

Apple's Arizona plant could make 'unprecedented' amounts of sapphire

The plant to make strong iPhone screens will open this month with 700 full-time jobs and 1,200 temporary construction jobs, Bloomberg reports.

Apple's iPhone 5S.

(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNE)

Apple's new Arizona factory could manufacture "unprecedented" amounts of synthetic sapphire used to make stronger iPhone screens, according to a report.
The factory will make as much as double the current global capacity of sapphire, according to Yole Developpement analyst Eric Virey, via Bloomberg. That's enough for 80 million to 100 million iPhones a year, the report said.

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer in November announced that Apple was building a factory in Mesa, Arizona, to manufacture sapphire materials. And Apple late last year signed a contract with GT Advanced to produce sapphire-based materials at Apple's new facility in Arizona. The plant should open later this month with 700 full-time workers and 1,200 temporary construction jobs, Bloomberg said.

Apple has already used sapphire for the surface of the rear camera lens for the iPhone 5 and the ID fingerprint sensor in the iPhone 5S. The company is now believed to be planning massive production of synthetic sapphire displays for use in its various gadgets. A future iPhone with a display made out of the material could render it scratch-resistant and nearly unbreakable.

Synthetic sapphire is made using furnaces that cause cylinders of sapphire to grow in about a month. The cylinders are then sliced to less than a millimeter thick, Bloomberg said. Because the process is so complex, it requires a small and well-trained workforce, unlike the factories run by Foxconn to assemble Apple's gadgets by hand.

The sapphire plant is Apple's latest effort to control every part of the process for making its gadgets. Along with now building sapphire for strong screens, the company also designs the processors powering its iPhones and iPads. Controlling more of the process allows the devices to work exactly as Apple wants, and it also allows the company to keep its plans more secret.

Nokia's low-end Android phone expected later this month

The long-rumored smartphone for developing markets is expected to make its debut at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

 

Design mockups of Nokia's rumored Normandy phone.

(Credit: @evleaks)
Nokia will introduce a new low-end handset that uses Google's Android mobile operating system later this month in Barcelona at the Mobile World Congress trade show, according to a report on Monday from The Wall Street Journal.

Nokia has been rumored for months to be working on a device that uses the open source Android operating system. The phone, which is aimed at developing markets, will be a low-end, inexpensive device. According to various news reports, the device will not be able to access the Google Play application store. Instead, it will run services created by Nokia and Microsoft, including Here maps and Mix Radio. Nokia will offer its own application store for the phone that will offer access to popular Android apps, such as Skype, Facebook, Twitter, and many others.

The device code-named Normandy, may go by the name Nokia X, when it's released. According to reports, the phone will offer a dual-core 1GHz Snapdragon processor, a 4-inch WVGA screen, 512MB of memory, 4GB of storage, and a microSD card slot. It's expected to be available in a choice of six colors, and it will reportedly include a 5MP camera, a 1,500mAh battery, and a dual-SIM setup.

Nokia is scheduled to hold a press conference in Barcelona at the MWC trade show on Monday, February 24. It's believed the phone will be shown off at this event, according to the Journal.

Addressing the low-end smartphone market
The strategy to use the Android operating system is similar to how Amazon has used the OS for its Kindle tablet, the Kindle Fire. Amazon also used the open source software as a basis for its device, but it does not provide access to the Google Play store or many of the made for Google Android apps that are available.

According to several reports, this is the same way that Nokia will use Android for its new low-end phones.
Three years ago Nokia abandoned its home-grown smartphone OS, called Symbian, in favor of using Microsoft's Windows Phone operating system. The company uses this software in its Lumia product line, which has a mix of high-end, mid-range, and even some low-end devices. Nokia has seen modest success with Windows Phone and the Lumia brand.
Last year, Microsoft agreed to buy Nokia's devices and services business for $7.4 billion. The deal is expected to close within the first half of this year.

Even though Nokia has used Windows Phone exclusively for its high-end smartphones, the company has used a different OS to address many developing markets, such as India. The company has developed a separate product line called Asha, which replaces its old Series 40 devices. The devices use a homegrown OS that looks similar to the now retired Symbian operating system.

But Nokia has struggled to compete at the low-end of the market against competitors using the open source Android operating system. Even though Nokia has developed some lower-cost Lumia handsets that use the Windows Phone operating system, it's not the most cost-effective solution for this market. The reason why is that the Windows Phone software has more technical requirements that adds cost to hardware.

Meanwhile, Google's Android can operate on less expensive hardware. This has helped make Android the dominant OS on smartphones shipped to developing markets. Now, Nokia appears to be turning to the lower-cost Android operating system to help it compete more effectively in these markets.

In these low-end markets, scale is key. Chipmakers, such as Qualcomm and MediaTek, already offer easier and cheaper reference designs for Android smartphones. These reference programs provide a one-stop shop for device manufacturers that includes tools and resources for quickly getting inexpensive devices to market.

Nokia was supposedly already working on its Android smartphone before it inked its deal with Microsoft in September. But the fact that the program has gotten as far as it has, may speak to Microsoft's willingness to be pragmatic in the handset market. Google is Microsoft's chief competitor in almost every facet of its business.

Microsoft adds Bitcoin to Bing's currency converter

Crypto-currency's value against more than 50 other currencies can now be found with a simple search query.

Bing's currency index now converts Bitcoin.

(Credit: Microsoft)
Microsoft is making it easier to track the Bitcoin's real-time value by adding the crypto-currency to its Bing search results.
Bing users can now compare Bitcoin's value to more than 50 currencies by typing a simple query into the search bar, such as "7 bitcoin to USD" or "Bitcoin to 100 euros," Microsoft announced Monday. Currency conversion is provided through a partnership with Coinbase, a digital wallet that supports Bitcoin trading.

The feature is currently available only to Bing users in the US, Australia, India, and the UK, but Microsoft promises expansion to additional markets in the coming weeks.
The feature should go a long way toward helping Bitcoin users stay on top of the market for the historically volatile currency. Bitcoin has been around since 2009 but didn't begin to attract serious investor interest until last year.

After languishing in the midteens in January 2013, Bitcoin's value against the US dollar experienced a price appreciation of 1,500 percent during the first quarter of 2013. Along with that meteoric rise, the currency also has experienced dramatic plunges, sometimes whipping away 60 percent of its value in a matter of hours. After trading around $1,000 last December, Bitcoin is currently worth about $580 on the Mt. Gox exchange.

Military starts testing smart rifles for battlefield use

The US Army buys a handful of computer systems that can turn lesser-trained soldiers into premier snipers.

(Credit: Tracking Point)

The US military spends a lot of time and money training world-class snipers, which could be why it's started to look into the use of computerized rifles that can make anybody a sharpshooter.
The Army has announced that it made its first purchase of six high-tech rifle kits from smart rifle-maker Tracking Point. The goal is to "begin exploring purported key target acquisition and aiming technologies," said Alton Stewart, the Army's Program Executive Office spokesman.
For Tracking Point, which typically markets its guns to hunters, the Army's use of its weapons is both a welcome and natural fit.

"We're really excited about the opportunity to provide this technology to increase our country's effectiveness in times of war," Tracking Point Vice President of marketing and sales Oren Schauble told CNET. "We're very interested in how we can increase the average soldier's effectiveness."
Tracking Point's tech-heavy rifles, which debuted last year, come with built-in computers that help shooters hit targets at distances up to 1,200 yards away -- which is equivalent to 12 football fields. This ease of shooting is possible through technology like a guided trigger and "Networked Tracking Scope" that can lock onto and track moving targets.

When users shoot the smart rifle, they first tag their target and then pull the trigger -- the gun then decides when to fire the round based on ballistics data like distance to the target, barometric pressure, wind, and more. This means lesser-trained troops could hit targets at distances never before imagined.
These guns aren't cheap, however. They start at $22,500 and go up to $27,500. Tracking Point isn't selling the full rifles to the Army, but rather just the computerized portion of the weapons, like the guided trigger and high-tech scope. The company will then help soldiers integrate the kits onto government XM2010 sniper rifles.

Apparently, the military will test and evaluate these systems and see whether they could work for soldiers in the field. It's not likely these guns will be seen on the battlefield anytime soon, however -- testing new weapons is usually a lengthy and extensive process.
Tracking Point also just came out with a semiautomatic version of its smart rifles; it's unclear if the Army is interested in testing these weapons too.

Facebook CEO and wife most generous Americans of 2013

Silicon Valley's young power couple tops the 2013 list of most philanthropic Americans.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan, both 29 years of age, made history as the youngest couple ever to top the list of the most philanthropic Americans.
Silicon Valley's junior power couple catapulted themselves atop the 2013 list, compiled by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, following a December gift of 18 million shares to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation. The gift was valued at just shy of $1 billion at the time of the transaction when Facebook's stock was trading at $55.12.

The 18-million-share gift to the foundation is becoming an annual tradition for the philanthropic duo, who were also the second-most generous donors of 2012. In December of that year, the couple also gave 18 million shares to the foundation, though that gift was valued at around $500 million as the company's stock was trading at $27.71.

How the new funds will be put to use remains unknown, but both Zuckerberg and Chan have shown a predilection for sponsoring education- and healthcare-related programs. In January of this year, the couple earmarked $5 million from their previous gift to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation to help the Ravenswood Family Health Center build a new health center in East Palo Alto, Calif.
"Providing high quality healthcare for everyone is important for building a strong community," Zuckerberg said at the time.

The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, which metes out million-dollar prizes to scientists working to extend human life, is also partially financed by Zuckerberg's contributions to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

BBM chief to leave BlackBerry

Yet another executive will depart the company as it struggles to find relevancy in the smartphone business.

BBM has been a rare bright spot at BlackBerry.

(Credit: CNET)
BlackBerry said on Monday that the head of its BBM business is leaving the company.
Andrew Bocking, executive vice president of BlackBerry and head of the messenger service, marks the latest in a long line of departures by high-profile executives, including much of the C-level members. Bocking, however, was seen as an executive who could fit in with the new guard led by CEO John Chen. The news was first reported by Boy Genius Report. BlackBerry confirmed the pending departure to CNET.

BlackBerry's BBM messenger service has been a rare bright spot at a company that hasn't had much good news to cheer about. The service saw an explosion of interest when it launched on iOS and Android, when it tallied 10 million downloads within the first 24 hours. Still, the cross-platform BBM launch wasn't without its hiccups, and Bocking served as the public face with regular updates on the company blog.

BlackBerry declined to comment on the reason behind Bocking's departure, only noting that it was his decision.

John Sims, head of global enterprise solutions, will oversee the BBM group, which will remain intact as a unit, the company said.

BlackBerry is in the midst of turning itself around under Chen, who has promised to focus more on higher-end business and government customers. Chen previously said during a press roundtable that he had big plans for BBM and its role in broader mobile communication.

Shuttle bus protest hits Microsoft in Seattle

Following similar protests in San Francisco and Oakland, demonstrators blocked tech shuttle buses in the Great Northwest.

(Credit: Microsoft) 

  Tech bus protests: They're not just for the Bay Area anymore.

Demonstrations against corporate commuter shuttles, which ferry tech workers to and from Silicon Valley, have become more commonplace in recent months in San Francisco and Oakland. The buses have become a potent symbol of the culture clash between the technology industry and non-tech community, as rents go up and old neighborhoods become gentrified.

Looks like some of that animosity has traveled up to the Great Northwest, though the protest in Seattle was significantly smaller than those in the Bay Area. On Monday, two masked protestors held up a banner that read, "Gentrification Stops Here," blocking Microsoft corporate shuttles in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog, via GeekWire.

Tensions have been heightened recently in high-tech hubs. Later this week, Seattle is holding a housing forum in City Hall, according to the Capitol Hill Seattle Blog. In San Francisco, the average rental price has risen to three times the national average. To help curb some of the tensions in San Francisco, the city last month approved a pilot program that would require the shuttle buses to pay a $1 fee stop at certain areas designated for the city's official public transit.
Microsoft declined to comment on the protest.

Coolest paper airplane ever and the plane nut who built it (Q&A)

Don't call Luca Iaconi-Stewart crazy. He'll do that himself. He built a gorgeous scale model of a Boeing 777-300ER, entirely out of manila folders. Now he tells CNET why he did it.

This is Luca Iaconi-Stewart's scale model of a Boeing 777-300ER. Made entirely out of manila folders.

(Credit: Luca Iaconi-Stewart)
There are airplane nuts, and then there is Luca Iaconi-Stewart. Since 2008, the now 22-year-old has been crafting a scale-model of a Boeing 777-300ER. Out of manila folders.
Though he took off two years from the project while he was in school, Iaconi-Stewart has pretty much devoted his time to the plane, and it shows. Looking at photos of the model, even most aviation buffs would be impressed at the level of detail he achieved. There's tiny seat-back video screens, overhead compartments, galleys, landing gears, tail cones, and meticulously made engines. Again, all out of manila folders.

Some might say that Iaconi-Stewart is a bit crazy to have put so much time and energy into what amounts to a fancy airplane model, and he'd be the first to agree with them. Yet, there's no denying that what he's built is an astounding work of craftsmanship.

CNET spoke with Iaconi-Stewart on Tuesday to find out what inspired the project and whether his next plane will be an Airbus A380. Once he makes some wings and finishes the whole thing, that is. And Boeing? If you're hiring meticulous builders with an eye for incredible detail? Iaconi-Stewart would listen to your pitch.

  Q: Why the 777?
Luca Iaconi-Stewart: I love the proportions and the way it looks, and it's been a tremendously successful airplane (for Boeing). Not that that was a primary driver for me. I chose the 777-300-ER in particular because I prefer the proportions to the shorter -200 version.
 
Are you an aviation nut? Or is this a more casual affair with an airplane?
Iaconi-Stewart: I do love aviation, but I don't go spotting all the time or anything. I follow the aviation world online. I frequent airliners.net many times a day. So, perhaps "nut" is the right word, but I know people who are far crazier than I am.
 
What's your favorite experience on/with an airplane?
Iaconi-Stewart: I love takeoff and landing (takeoff in particular). I still can't quite wrap my head around how airplanes actually manage to fly, especially with ones like the A380 taking off at well above a million pounds, so it's a pretty thrilling feeling. But, I know that for many, it's a pretty terrifying experience, which I can completely understand.
 
I agree. Not being an engineer, I have trouble with it too. But somehow, I keep getting on planes. I went to the A380 factory in Toulouse, France, in 2011 for a story. That was fun.
Iaconi-Stewart: I am incredibly jealous.
Why? Tell me more.
Iaconi-Stewart: I haven't ever been to either the Boeing or Airbus factories, but from everything I've seen, they're really breathtaking operations that push the limits of what's possible. I'd love to see the assembly line(s) in person. I have a lot of respect for people who build the jets.

Luca Iaconi-Stewart

(Credit: Luca Iaconi-Stewart)

 
You talked about the proportions of the 777-300ER as having the right proportions. What is it about those proportions that spoke to you?
Iaconi-Stewart: It's just something that looks "right" to me. I's long enough to look sleek, and yet beefy enough in other parts (like the engines) to give it a balanced look. The fanblades on the engines are pretty amazing too. Plus, I just find the shape of things like the tail and tail cone and the raked wingtips visually appealing, though it's hard to say exactly why.
 
So, why manila folders?
Iaconi-Stewart: I took an architecture class in high school and we used manila folder to make Massing Models, which are rough 3D sketches of sorts that you make when you're testing a building idea. I loved the versatility of the material. It's strong enough if engineered properly, but also malleable enough to shape into a variety of parts. I suppose the same could be said for the aluminum that they use in real life. It really comes down to the versatility and the fact that they have a good "feel." They're easy to work with, and, I suppose, somewhat unconventional for model making.
 
This is a pretty serious project for you. Why are you so committed to this??
Iaconi-Stewart: There's something really satisfying about looking at a bunch of pictures, planning a component out, designing it, and then assembling it accurately. I know most people probably wouldn't relate, but there's a certain thrill to seeing something come together exactly as you intended. At this point, there's no way I'm leaving the model unfinished. The end is in sight.

What do you think it will feel like to finish?
Iaconi-Stewart: I have no idea, but it will probably be a pretty surreal feeling because this has been such a constant over the past several years.
 
When you began, did you have any idea what you were getting yourself into?
Iaconi-Stewart: Absolutely not. At one point, I actually got pretty close to finishing, but it was a much simpler model back then.
 
If you could go back and talk to the pre-model you, what would you say to yourself?
Iaconi-Stewart: I'd probably tell myself to be more precise and design everything on the computer, which would have saved me a lot of time. Either that or don't start at all.
 
When you're done, I would have to assume there will be a bit of a letdown. What will you do next with all the available time?
Iaconi-Stewart: I'm not sure, but I'm looking at the next venture in life, and as much as I love to make models, I'm not sure I'd be able to make them day in and day out. I'm excited to see where this leads but I don't have my heart set on anything right now.
 
What will you do with the model when it's done?
Iaconi-Stewart: I have no idea, though many people have suggested having it in some kind of museum. The Museum of Flight (in Seattle), perhaps? I'd love to have it somewhere where people can see it.
 
You must have had people say you're a bit nuts to put so much time/energy into something like this. What's your response to that?
Iaconi-Stewart: I'd agree. It's not something that I'd expect most people to do or even to understand. But hey, when it's not driving me crazy, it's making me happy, so I'm fine with that.
 
So, an A380 next?
Iaconi-Stewart: It's a pretty ugly plane, as much as I love how big it is. Not to mention the whole starting another model aspect. So, probably not.
 
Most importantly, how many manila folders have you used?
Iaconi-Stewart: It's really hard to say, but easily hundreds. Probably not a thousand though. Lately, I've managed to pack more parts onto a single page. It's a pretty heavy model, not that that says much about the number of folders, but there's a lot of paper involved.