Hasta La Gadget!

The former president of Microsoft’s Windows division, Steven Sinofsky, has struck a retirement deal with the company. We reported back in November that he was on the way out, with sources surfacing soon after claiming that his sudden departure was over refusal to name him CEO Ballmer’s successor. Reportedly, the retirement agreement has been in deliberation since late last year.

The information was given by Microsoft, which published a Securities and Exchange Commission filing. According to the agreement, Sinofsky will receive approximately $14.2 million in stocks that were previously issued while being required to certain obligations to Microsoft, with legal aid being specified as one of them.

Likewise, per the retirement deal, Sinofsky is not allowed to enter in competition with his former employer, nor can he encourage any current employees to leave the company for a different one. There are other provisions said to have been previously agreed to, as well, but Microsoft did not reveal what provisions are.

In a statement, a spokesperson for Microsoft stated: “This agreement provides a number of important considerations for Microsoft, including a commitment that Steven will continue assisting with intellectual property litigation until January 1, 2017.” In addition, according to the spokesperson, Sinofsky’s retirement deal is similar to what employees who worked for a minimum of 15 years and retire after 55 years of age receive.

Back in December, Sinofsky took on a teaching job with Harvard’s Business School, an announcement the former Windows boss made on Twitter with a hashtag referring to it as a sabbatical. His work there dealt with product development. In addition, he’s worked at penning journal pieces on the same topic. His non-compete agreement with Microsoft is over at the end of 2013.

SOURCE: The Wall Street Journal

Microsoft forms retirement deal with former Windows president Steven Sinofsky is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

YouTube is packed full of videos of all sorts, ranging from compilations of other videos to music videos and funny cat clips. On the far side of the spectrum are videos depicting illegal activity and advertisement for illegal substances, such as promotional videos for online pharmacies that sell regulated medication. Advertisements show up alongside these videos, earning Google revenue, and three states have taken issue with this.

Mississippi was the first state to take issue with the advertisements displayed alongside videos depicting illegal activity, and today both Oklahoma and Nebraska joined it, with the attorneys-general – Scott Pruitt and Jon Bruning, respectively – from both states sending Google a letter complaining about this practice, calling for it to be put to an end.

In the letter, the attorneys-general said: “Not only are the activities depicted or promoted in the above-described videos illegal in and of themselves, but in the case of document forgery, the how-to guide could be instrumental in the commission of other crimes ranging from under-age drinking to acts of terrorism.”

One example given was videos displaying instructions on how to forge passports and similar identification, next to which advertisements were displayed. Said Mississippi’s attorney general Jim Hood, if such advertisements are not stopped, Google could receive a subpoena as part of an investigation into whether it has facilitated illegal drug sales, as well as other illegal activities, via the content. The state is currently running a probe in the matter, and it seems Nebraska and Oklahoma could end up following suit.

Google responded to the letter today, saying that it is working “to prevent ads appearing against any video, channel or page once we determine that the content is not appropriate for our advertising partners.” This follows a statement last month that it has been working against rogue online pharmacies, as well as stopping advertisements for drugs that appear for legit users.

SOURCE: Yahoo! News

Google receives letter from state AGs demanding halt to ads on illegal activity videos is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Apple has hired former Yves St Laurent Group CEO Paul Deneve as vice president of “special projects”, though no indication of what those project might entail has been given. The fashion industry stalwart – who before YSL was chief exec at Lanvin and Nina Ricci – is in fact making his return to Apple, having worked for the company in Europe in the 1990s, Bloomberg reports. Unsurprisingly, the fashion house hire has prompted speculation that Deneve’s expertise in luxury goods will help shape future Apple wearables, like the much-rumored iWatch.

“We’re thrilled to welcome Paul Deneve to Apple” the company said in a statement. “He’ll be working on special projects as a vice president reporting directly to Tim Cook.”

Should the iWatch turn out to be real, which many signs indicate will be the case, Apple will not be the first company to the smartwatch market. However, there’s plenty of room for the firm to raise the game: existing examples of wrist-worn tech like Pebble and Sony’s SmartWatch 2 are functional, certainly, but hardly match up to the aesthetic of high-end traditional timepieces.

That leaves the door open for Apple to potentially match tech features with design appeal, something the company did before with the original iPhone. If the Cupertino firm can wrap its technology in styling that can encourage both those who have given up on watches, and those who lean toward premium timepieces, to give the iWatch a chance, it will potentially have a slice of a far bigger market than just those open to cutting-edge wearables.

Google has previously tried to gather up a little fashion industry mystique to ease the acceptance of wearables, by sending prototypes of its Glass headset down the runway at a September Diane von Furstenberg show. However, Glass has still met with mixed reactions around its styling, though Google says the planned consumer version will be more discrete than the current Explorer Edition.

Interestingly, despite his background in high-end retail, Deneve will not be picking up the reins as Apple’s retail chief, despite working for seven years in the 90s as Sales Manager & Marketing Manager for the firm. That position, empty since John Browett left the company in October last year, is still unfilled.

Most recently, Apple was spotted undertaking a spate of “iWatch” trademark applications. According to insider rumors, the company has a team of around 100 working on the wearable, which is tipped to have a 1.5- to 2.0-inch OLED display.

Apple grabs YSL exec for “special projects”: Making iWatch fashionable? is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Google began sending out invitations for its #ifihadglass round of the Google Glass Explorer program, and though it has been a few weeks, some participants are still awaiting their invitations. Google posted a small update on its Google+ page today, saying that the program is coming to a close as the company begins looking at other ways to expand it. In light of some of the questions that have been raised as a result, Google has published some rather extensive Glass FAQ.

The FAQ illuminate on a handful of categories of questions that have been raised over Glass, including general inquiries, specifications, software, and security/privacy. The general questions address what we already know about the device: what it does, whether it covers the eye, and what the Glass explorer edition is. Beyond this, however, is a look at our technology culture and how Glass fits in it.

In particular, Google says that Glass will not make people more dependent on technology as some say, with the company pointing out that device is not augmented reality and that the screen is, by default, inactive. According to the company, feedback from users who have been wearing Glass find that “after several weeks” their overall technology use decreases due to the reported efficiency of how the device provides access to information.

Beyond that is an addressing of privacy and security concerns, with Google stating that it has been “thinking very carefully” about both areas throughout the device’s creation. Information, says the company, is kept safe and secure, and that worries over whether Glass is constantly taking images or recording videos is unfounded, pointing out that the battery life only facilitates 45 minutes of recording.

The FAQ go on to address the privacy concerns of non-users, face recognition, third-party data sharing, and the instances in which it has been banned by some locations. You can read the entire write up for yourself, but the gist of it is that users should not fear the new technology. This comes shortly after Google failed to reassure a Congressional committee that raised concerns on these topics.

SOURCE: Google+

Google publishes Glass FAQ as latest round of invites wrap up is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.

On May 19, Samsung confirmed that it is working on a smartwatch, something it has been doing for quite some time, according to Executive Vice President Lee Young Hee. We’ve seen various mockups and artists renderings of what the smartwatch might look like, but thus far its design is unknown. The name, however, may have just surfaced in a trademark filing: the Samsung GEAR.

The trademark filing was found by the folks at Phandroid, and we’ve had a look through both of them. There’s a large description of the device that talks of software and many terms vague enough to leave the device in question open to interpretation. One of the couple filings, however, go on to specify things like “wrist watch” and “bracelet,” strongly indicating that GEAR is a smartwatch.

Under “Identification”, amidst such keywords as Clocks, Watchbands, and Wristwatches, we see a description talking about “watches that communicate data to personal digital assistants, smart phones, table PCs, PDA, and personal computers through internet websites and other computer and electronic communications networks; watchbands that communicate data to [the same aforementioned devices].”

Back when Mr. Lee confirmed the rumors that Samsung is working on a smartwatch, he said, “We are working very hard to get ready for it. We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” Whether the GEAR will be a companion type of wearable device to complement one’s smartphone, or as a more robust offering, isn’t indicated by the documents.

This comes a day after a patent filing surfaced hinting at a future smartwatch in the work from Qualcomm called TOQ. It is anticipated that the watch will be a vendor-only deal to showcase the company’s hardware rather than a consumer offering, but that is yet to be seen. In following in line with these bits of speculation is a leak that surfaced indicating the the Pebble smartwatch will be sold at Best Buy stores this month.

SOURCE: Phandroid

Samsung GEAR hinted as upcoming smartwatch name in trademark filings is written by Brittany Hillen & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2013, SlashGear. All right reserved.