Hasta La Gadget!

Samsung and a number of global carriers will launch the first Tizen smartphone in 2013, with NTT DoCoMo, Vodafone, and France Telecom all expected to jump on board with the open-source alternative OS. While HTC, Panasonic, ASUS, Acer, Huawei and others have all voiced interest in developing Tizen devices, according to The Yomiuri Shimbun‘s sources it will be Samsung that pushes the first handset running the MeeGo-reborn platform out of the door.

Samsung has been working with NTT DoCoMo on developing the software, the insider claims, with the Japanese carrier particularly stinging from the absence of the iPhone in its line-up. Another alternative to Apple’s smartphone, beyond Android, and which it had a greater hand in shaping, would help retain existing subscribers and add new users, so DoCoMo’s thinking apparently goes.

It’s not the first we’ve heard of a Samsung Galaxy running Tizen; rumors of such a device broke back in September as well. Samsung is also believed to be considering merging its own, homegrown bada OS with Tizen, though no final decision has been made.

Among the lingering questions at this stage is what sort of processor the Samsung Tizen handset will run. The Tizen Technical Steering Group (TSG) is made up of Samsung and Intel, the latter having a vested interest in coaxing cellphone companies away from ARM processors and over to its Atom chips, as in the Android-based RAZR i. However, Samsung also makes its own ARM chips, the Exynos series, and it might be easier for the company to stick with an architecture it knows well for the first-generation Tizen range.

That certainly seemed to be the approach with the Tizen developer handset Samsung pieced together for a code-focused conference back in May. Inside lurks a 1.2GHz dualcore ARM chipset, along with a 720p HD display, though all involved were clear that it was a far cry from what we can expect to see released commercially.

[via TNW]

Samsung Tizen phone tipped for 2013 with DoCoMo & Vodafone is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Huawei is a Chinese maker of smartphones and other equipment. When the company’s major Iranian partners has reportedly offered to sell embargoed HP computer equipment worth €1.3 million to Iran’s largest mobile phone operator. The attempted sale was allegedly made in late 2010. Huawei says that ultimately its partner did not provide the HP products to the Iranian company.

However, Reuters reports that the attempted sale offers new evidence that Chinese companies are willing to help Iran get around trade embargoes and sanctions. Huawei was also recently criticized by the U.S. House intelligence committee after not being able to “provide evidence to support its claims that it complies with all international sanctions for US export laws.” The Iranian telecommunications provider that was offered the equipment is called MCI.

Thirteen pages of a proposal offered to the Iranian telecommunications company have surfaced that detail a plan to expand its subscriber billing system and carried a mark stating “Huawei confidential.” Huawei says that its “major local partner” Skycom Tech Co Ltd submitted the proposal to MCI.

Reuters reports that this isn’t the first time a Chinese company has tried to sell sanctioned technology the Iranian mobile providers. In October, reports surfaced that another Iranian partner of Huawei attempted to sell American antenna equipment to another Iranian telecommunications company called MTN Irancell. The only thing that stopped the deal from happening was that the Iranian telecommunications company rejected the bid.

[via Reuters]

Huawei partner tries to sell embargoed computer equipment to Iran is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Megaupload’s Kim Dotcom is still facing significant legal trouble from the United States over alleged copyright infringement. That case won’t move forward until sometime next year. Dotcom has been hard at work on his next service simply called Mega. Back in November, the on-again, off-again Mega service came back with a New Zealand web address.

Dotcom has announced that he is set to host the Mega launch event next month at his personal New Zealand mansion, which was the site of the police raid that landed Dotcom in jail originally. The launch event will be held on January 20, 2013, which is one year to the day after police raided the mansion taking Dotcom into custody.

At this point, there is no clear indication of what will differentiate Mega from the Megaupload site that was closed down due to alleged copyright infringement. Dotcom has announced that the new service will be “powered by legality and protected by the law.” Take that with a bit of salt though because Dotcom apparently believed Megaupload to be protected by law as well.

We’re not sure what will happen at the launch event, but it’s sure to be big. Dotcom tweeted, “Expect a press conference like no other. You know me. I can’t do small.” Dotcom has been inviting members of the media from New Zealand to register to attend the launch at his mansion. There should be lots of details on both the service and the launch event shortly after it starts.

[via TechCrunch]

Mega launch event to be held at Kim Dotcom’s massive New Zealand mansion is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Earlier this year you might recall that there was an incident where a teacher’s aide had been fired because she refused to hand over her Facebook login credentials to her employers. This lead to the state of Maryland banning employers from asking employees access to their social network accounts, and it looks like other states such as Delaware, Illinois and California have since followed suit. Now it looks like hopping aboard the bandwagon would be the state of Michigan where Governor Rick Snyder signed the House Bill 5523, stating that “potential employees and students should be judged on their skills and abilities, not private online activity.” The bill also states that those who breach this new law can be fined $1,000 and even face up to 93 days in jail.

There has been some debate in the past as to what sort of photos and information should go up on a social network. Some companies like to maintain a certain image and are pretty strict at the sort of content their employees post on their social network accounts, even requesting access to a potential employee’s Facebook account to “check them out”, but it’s good to see that the government is taking action in the protection of the rights and privacy of employees and students on social networks.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Microsoft Alerts Internet Explorer Users Of ‘Zero Day’ Security Hole, Instagram Launches New Year’s Eve Site Showcasing Users’ Celebration Photos,

After the third season finale of “Sister Wives,” the Brown family reconvened for “Sister Wives: Secrets Revealed.” They took a look back at the season, and answered some of the unanswered questions that cropped up as their lives unfolded on television.

One topic discussed was why the Browns have separate houses for each of Kody’s four wives. As Kody explained, “I want them to have their autonomy,” So that one wife isn’t being stifled by the relationship inside a home with another wife.”

Janelle agreed, saying, “I actually don’t think that sharing a kitchen means that we’re together. I think that together, for us, means we cooperate in raising the children.”

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