Hasta La Gadget!

Welcome to Tuesday evening everyone! Today we found out that shipping times for the iPhone 5 have gone down to two weeks, which should be good news for those who have been waiting to get their hands on one. HP announced that Autonomy’s “serious accounting improprieties” have left it with a whopping $8.8 billion bill, while afterward insiders were saying that HP never wanted to close on the Autonomy deal in the first place.

We had a lot of talk about Black Friday deals and sales today, with Apple kicking off its Black Friday festivities at midnight on November 23. Xbox Live has plenty of deals for you to take advantage of as well, while we heard that Steam will be kicking off its autumn sale tomorrow. T-Mobile strengthened its 4G network in a number of markets today, while the 2013 Nissan Leaf was revealed in Japan. A new survey is saying that kids want Apple products most for Christmas, with new rumors tipping the Galaxy S IV for a February 2013 launch.

A snazzy looking white Nexus 4 has popped up on TalkTalk, while Lenovo unveiled the new ThinkPad Carbon Touch today. The FTC may not have enough evidence to hit Google with an antitrust lawsuit, and Razer has released its new Death Adder 2013 gaming mouse. Reggie Fils-Aime is saying that the Wii U has a long way to go, while Nintendo says that more Wii U stock is on the way, with the US as a priority. Skype 3.0 has landed on Android, and today was the 27th birthday of Windows 1.0 (they grow up so fast).

RIM’s stock took a jump after an analyst predicted that BlackBerry 10 has a 20 to 30 percent chance of success, and Nokia released HERE Maps for iOS. Sony pushed update 2.0 for the PlayStation Vita out the door today, while Gearbox released Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage for Borderlands 2. Finally tonight, we’ll end with a couple of interesting stories from NASA: it turns out that the Mars Curiosity Rover has discovered something big that NASA isn’t telling us, while scientists have snapped a picture of the Super-Jupiter planet Kappa Andromedae b. That does it for tonight’s Evening Wrap-Up, enjoy the rest of your night everyone!

SlashGear Evening Wrap-Up: November 20, 2012 is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A couple weeks back, we heard the FTC may be close to making a decision on whether or not it wants to take Google to court over claims of anti-competitive behavior. If a new report from Bloomberg is to be believed, however, the FTC may have a problem actually hitting Google with antitrust charges due to a lack of evidence. If that’s true, then Google may just be able to get out of this whole thing without ending up in court.

The FTC investigation stems from anti-competitive claims from Google’s competitors. According to them, Google pushes its own results higher up in search rankings, while pushing those of its competitors down. The problem there is that consumers may not get the best information in regards to low prices if Google is weighing the search results in its favor. With that potentially being the case, it’s easy to see why the FTC would want to investigate such claims.

There are other complaints against Google the FTC is currently looking into, but the search complaint is definitely the big one. According to Bloomberg’s sources, Google has been told to “propose a resolution to a host of antitrust concerns in the coming days or face a lawsuit,” though without enough evidence for a solid antitrust suit, that may not go anywhere. The FTC is expected to decide on whether or not to take Google to court by the end of the month, which is coming up pretty quickly.

Considering that recent rumors were telling us that the FTC would deliver a decision by the end of the year, it may not be long before we know if Google is being taken to court. If Google is found guilty of anti-competitive behavior, then it could mean bad news for the way the big G displays search results, so don’t expect the company to just take these claims lying down. Keep it tuned to SlashGear for more information.

FTC may not have enough evidence to hit Google with antitrust charges is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A judge has given the go-ahead on a $22.5 million fine against Google over privacy issues regarding Safari browser users. It is alleged that Google made contradictory statements, tracking users’ web browsing with cookies while assuring them that no such thing was taking place. The settlement was reached by Google and the FTC three months ago and finalized today.

According to the FTC, Google violated a previous agreement it had with the agency by telling users that they weren’t being tracked while secretly monitoring browsing habits. Google had a post on its website encouraging users not to change their security settings, assuring them that by leaving them as they were, Google would not be able to track their Internet activities. In reality, the altered settings enabled the tracking.

Google retorted, saying that the settings change was performed to let users recommend products on Google+, its social network. The company did not admit to any wrongdoing over the issue, but did agree to disable the tracking cookies. Now the FTC has slammed the company with the biggest fine that has been issued over a case like this.

Not everyone is satisfied, however. According to Consumer Watchdog, Google generates $22.5 million in revenue every four hours, making this fine a mere slap on the wrist. The agency’s attorney, Gary Reback, says that Google should be fined at least $3 billion due to the number of possible users affected. The agency estimates that Google made about $4 million from tracking Safari users.

[via Washington Post]

Google fined $22.5 million over Safari privacy issue is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

It may not be long before Google finds itself being taken to court by the FTC, as new reports are claiming that the FTC is nearing a decision about whether or not it wants to hit Google with a lawsuit. Mercury News claims that a decision could come before the end of the year, and if the FTC decides that it want to take Google to trial, it could mean bad things for the search giant. Specifically, Google could be forced to part with some of its services, either being forced by the FTC to shut them down or sell them off.

For those not in the know, the FTC has been looking at claims that peg Google with anti-competitive behavior. According to some of Google’s competitors, the big G has been giving its own services precedence over their services in search results. That, obviously, has Google’s competitors upset, which is why the FTC launched an investigation that has now lasted 18 months. Google has also had to deal with claims that it isn’t being fair in licensing out Motorola‘s standard-essential patents.

Google’s fate may not be as grim as the one suggested above, however, as the FTC could simply force Google to change its search results so that the listings more clearly show what’s being offered by Google and what isn’t. Google continues to claim that it has done nothing wrong, but ultimately, that will be up to the FTC. Shutting down services certainly isn’t something Google wants to do, so it’s pretty easy to understand why Google has been fighting these claims.

Whatever’s actually going on behind the scenes, we should have the FTC’s decision at least relatively soon. If the commission’s decision on whether or not to take Google to court is really coming up before the end of the year, then things should be ramping up (or alternatively dying down) pretty quick. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information.

FTC may be close to decision in Google antitrust review is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The FTC has been nosing around Google for a while now, having formally launched a probe back in June to look into whether the company is guilty of blocking competitors’ access to essential technology patents. Earlier this month, we reported that Google was looking into settling the issue. Now it seems the FTC has formally recommended that the company be sued.

According to the sources, most of the FTC’s five commissioners are in favor of a lawsuit. The final decision on the matter isn’t expected to be made until after the elections on the 6th. Google’s issues revolve around the patents it acquired after taking over Motorola. The company is trying to block Apple and Microsoft products that it says infringe on its patents.

The patents concern 3G, wifi, and video streaming technologies, which are standard-essential. Motorola was originally slinging around lawsuits, which Google received after acquiring the company, and it has elected to carry on those suits. If allowed, the blockage would affect such devices as Apple’s iPad and Microsoft’s Xbox.

The FTC has declined comment. Google’s spokeswoman, Niki Fenwick, however, stated, “We take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms very seriously and are happy to answer any questions.” Google is also being probed into whether its advertisement, search, and mobile are harming competitors, with sources saying that the FTC has also recommended a lawsuit over that issue.

[via Business Week]

FTC reportedly recommends lawsuit against Google over patents is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.