Apple Strikes Back at Government E-Book Lawsuit

A few days ago, Apple filed a formal response to the antitrust lawsuit filedby the Department of Justice in April against it and several book publishers.

The gist of the 31-page filing is the same as Apple’s previous comments on the case: the company denies that it conspired with book publishers to raise e-book prices in a bid to give Apple’s new iPad a boost and to thwart the low e-book pricing of Amazon. But Apple put its objections to the case in somewhat sharper terms in the new filing, accusing the government of siding with “monopoly, rather than competition,” a reference to Amazon, the leader in e-book retailing.

“The government starts from the false premise that an e-books ‘market’ was characterized by ‘robust price competition’ prior to Apple’s entry,” Apple said in its filing. “This ignores a simple and incontrovertible fact: before 2010, there was no real competition, there was only Amazon.”

One noteworthy part of Apple’s response is a denial of one of the more juicy accusations in the government’s suit: namely, that in 2009 Apple “contemplated illegally dividing the digital content world with Amazon, allowing each to ‘own the category’ of its choice — audio/video to Apple and e-books to Amazon.” The government did not say in its filing exactly what evidence it had to prove that accusation.

Apple, for its part, said it never acted on or even contemplated any such plan to divide up the digital content market with Amazon.

Throughout its filing, Apple also seeks to undermine one of the government’s more curious claims about Apple’s business motivations. In the lawsuit against Apple and the publishers, the government refers several times to Apple’s “30 percent margins” on e-book sales, describing it as a “highly profitable model.”

In response, Apple clarified that the 30 percent is not a profit margin. That figure represents the portion of an e-book sale that goes to Apple, but it does not take into account the costs involved in running its online book retailing business. “Apple denies that it sought or earned a 30% profit margin, as it incurred substantial costs in running and marketing the iBookstore,” Apple said in the filing.

Apple does not say what its actual profit margin is on iBooks, or any other material that it sells through iTunes. Apple executives have long said that, after expenses for credit card processing, bandwidth and other costs are subtracted, there isn’t a lot of profit from the iTunes Store. Apple makes nearly all of its profits from the sale of devices like the iPad and iPhone.

Mark Zuckerberg Facebook’s Royal Wedding

POWER COUPLE Part of Priscilla Chan’s Facebook page, where she updated her marriage status.

THE wedding of Mark Zuckerberg to Priscilla Chan last weekend here in the backyard of their $7 million home had all the staging of a carefully orchestrated celebrity event. A publicist for Facebook eagerly offered photos afterward of the beaming couple, who met at Harvard and have dated for much of the last nine years. Well-placed anonymous sources leaked to reporters the dinner menu, which included sushi and Mexican food, and the fact that Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong performed.

Even the date, May 19, was significant: it was a mere day after Facebook’s initial public stock offering, the culmination of Mr. Zuckerberg’s life work since founding the social network in his Harvard dorm room in 2004. But the curiosity that lingered was not just about what designer’s dress the bride chose to wear (Claire Pettibone) or how long it would take shareholders to sue Facebook for bungling its IPO (six days). Instead, people wanted to know: who was that princess bride who married Silicon Valley’s crown prince?

Indeed, to anyone who still confuses Mr. Zuckerberg with the portrayal of him in “The Social Network,” particularly the scene where his former girlfriend brushes him off (and the prospects of any future romance for young Mark seem dim), the very fact that he even had a longtime girlfriend must have come as something of a shock.

Ms. Chan, 27, unlike some of her equals in social status here (among them Mr. Zuckerberg’s colorful sister Randi), eschews the Silicon Valley limelight. Recently graduated from the medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, she plans to become a pediatrician. (In that, she seems to be following in the path of other notable Silicon Valley spouses who have their own established careers, like Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Steve Jobs and an entrepreneur in her own right, and Anne Wojcicki, the wife of Google’s Sergey Brin and a founder of 23andMe, a genetic testing firm.)

Ms. Chan guards her privacy and, so far, avoids speaking to the media unless it serves Mr. Zuckerberg’s career. Though she has an active Facebook page (where her “interests” include “No on Prop 8” and Fage yogurt), she is rarely tagged in online party shots. She declined to be interviewed for this article.

“Priscilla doesn’t need to be on the cover of a magazine,” said Heidi Roizen, a venture capitalist and longtime Valley resident. “We are in a reality-star ecosystem. But there is a spectrum to this stuff, and some people take a more thoughtful approach.”

One of the few people talking about the wedding, at least publicly, was Ms. Pettibone, thrust into the spotlight by Ms. Chan’s choice of wedding dress.

Ms. Pettibone said she realized Ms. Chan was wearing her design after the designer’s husband pointed it out in a photograph he saw of the new bride. “It’s not our top seller,” Ms. Pettibone said of the $4,700 dress, one of 40 in her bridal collection, in a phone interview. “But it’s respectable.”

All her dresses are made to order so, last week, Ms. Pettibone said she combed through her orders to see where the dress was sold. It was the Little White Dress boutique in Denver, and it was apparently bought by a third party.

Since the wedding, Ms. Pettibone said, traffic to her Web site has skyrocketed. And retailers are demanding samples to show prospective brides. “There is nothing like a celebrity bride to lift your profile,” Ms. Pettibone said.

People who know Ms. Chan and agreed to speak, albeit without using their names for fear of offending her or Mr. Zuckerberg, said she is a quiet yet forceful presence who is protective of her new husband, whom she met in line for the bathroom at a fraternity party in 2003. Of their first encounter, Ms. Chan told The New Yorker in 2010, “He was this nerdy guy who was just a little bit out there,” remembering his novelty beer glasses printed with a computer programming joke.

In Palo Alto, Ms. Chan is close to a handful of friends, including Jessica Vascellaro, a Wall Street Journal reporter, and her fiancé, Sam Lessin, a Facebook product manager; Jessica and Aaron Sittig, senior Facebook employees (Mr. Zuckerberg was best man at their Palm Springs, Calif., wedding); and Brittany Morin, who is married to Dave Morin, an early Facebook employee who left to become a founder of Path, a photo-sharing site.

The couple prefers dinner at home with friends to raucous parties, say people who know them. They dote on their Puli, a herding dog named Beast, which they frequently photograph and have created a page for on Facebook. Ms. Chan likes to cook (so says her Facebook page), and she is known among friends for her lemon ricotta pizza.

Instagram Socialmatic Camera

Instagram Socialmatic Camera Goes Real

Try to think to pick the Instagram App icon and try to make a real camera…

This is the main idea at the base of Instagram Socialmatic Project.

I want to pick some points
1) 50.000$ is for project startup and to allow "us" to have a real good partner to finalize the project;
2) Your contribution will be used to guarantee you a massive discount on final price of the Camera and to create the first crowd sourcing based photo camera!
3) Final price of the product need to be under $350;

----

Since Facebook has bought Instagram for nearly a billion dollars in cash and stock, many users, bloggers, economy experts have thought Instagram could build its first real photo camera.

So, that's is!

Socialmatic is the first Instagram photo camera, with a lot of amazing features:

- 16 GB mass storage;
- Wifi and Bluetooth;
- 4:3 touchscreen;
- 2 main lens, first for main capture, second for 3D filters, webcam applications and QR Code capturing;
- Optical zoom;
- Led Flash;
- Internal printer to make your Instagram photos real;
- Paper cartridge with Instagram Paper Sheets;
- Dedicated 4 colors ink tanks;
- InstaOs 1.0, which put together Facebook and Instagram App feature;
- Pairing with iPhone and Android App;

Take your shoot with Instagram Socialmatic, make your photo cool as you want and share it directly on Facebook trough the powerful InstaOs.

If you want, you can print it directly on Instagram Paper Sheets, thanks to the internal printer.
Every Instagram printed photo reports on front side your Instagram nickname and a QR code, to be followed by another Instagrammer, simply pointing his/her Socialmatic on your printed QR Code.

This because Instagram Paper Sheets has a retro side with a glue strip, just like a post-it.
You can share in the real world your photo, printing your emotions and sensations.

And if you want, on the bottom of front side of your printed photo, you've a dedicated space to write something, just like to comment a photo on Facebook, but in the real world...Do you remember the old Polaroid photos?

Instagram Socialmatic is only a concept...
But, maybe, it could became real...

Canon details 4K video-capable EOS 1D C DSLR

Canon has just brought 4K video recording to the world of digital SLR cameras in the shape of the EOS 1D C. Developed to support the broadcast quality TV, motion picture high-resolution production industries, the new EOS family member is based on the core specs of the EOS 1D X (which has just been confirmed for a June 2012 release), with some features from last year's C300 cinema camera thrown in for good measure.
The new EOS 1D C is capable of recording Motion JPEG 4K (4096 x 2160 pixel resolution) video at 24 frames per second (fps) with 8-bit 4:2:2 color sampling or 8-bit 4:2:0 Full HD 1920 x 1080 (H.264 format) at frame rates of 24, 25, 30, 50 and 60p. Users can opt to save the 4K or Full HD recordings to the camera's CF memory card or output HD movies to an external recorder via the built-in HDMI terminal using an uncompressed YCbCr 4:2:2 signal.

Videographers choosing the 4K format can expect to capture the action on roughly an APS-H sized portion of the sensor (1.3 crop factor) while those opting for HD can choose between the full 36 mm width of the sensor or a Super 35 crop setting that enables users to match the industry-standard imaging format and angle of view achieved by traditional motion picture cameras.

The EOS 1D C is also said to retain highlight and shadow detail while providing a high level of color grading freedom thanks to the inclusion of Canon's Log Gamma (as seen on the C300). There's a built-in mono microphone or external mic connection via a stereo audio jack for Linear PCM recording quality, and a built-in headphone jack for audio monitoring.

Although optimized for high quality video capture, the EOS 1D C is by no means a slouch in the photography department. It features an 18.1 megapixel full-frame (24 x 36 mm) Canon CMOS sensor and high-performance Canon Dual DIGIC 5+ image processors delivering continuous shooting of up to 12 fps and an ISO sensitivity range that can be notched right up to ISO25600 for low noise low light video capture and up to ISO51200 for photography. Sensitivity can be further expanded from the LO setting of ISO50 to an H2 max of ISO204800.

The DSLR captures stills in RAW or JPEG image format, with simultaneous recording of both formats also possible, benefits from a 61 point AF system and can be powered by an optional AC adapter for long haul sessions or via the same LP-E4N battery pack used with the EOS-1D X. There's a pentaprism viewfinder with 100% frame coverage and 0.76% magnification and users are able to view the camera's 3.2-inch, 1,040,000 dot resolution Clear View II LCD display even while the camera is connected to an external monitor. The new camera is also compatible with over 60 Canon EF and EF Cinema lenses.

The EOS-1D C digital SLR has very portable body-only dimensions of 6.22 x 6.44 x 3.25-inches (158 x 163.6 x 82.7 mm) and will be available later this year for a suggested retail price of US$15,000.

Canon has also announced the development of four new Cinema lenses, two wide-angle cinema zoom lenses - the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L S (EF mount) and the CN-E15.5-47mm T2.8 L SP (PL mount) - and two telephoto cinema zoom lenses- the CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L S (EF) and CN-E30-105mm T2.8 L SP (PL).

When all's said and done, it's not a bad answer to RED's Scarlet X, but will it be enough to draw industry professionals back over to the Canon camp?

Striking a balance: Honda unveils UNI-CUB mobility device

Honda has released details of a new personal mobility device dubbed the UNI-CUB. An evolution of the U3-X unicycle EV that has been shown globally since the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, the UNI-CUB employs the same impressive balance control technology and omni-directional wheel as its predecessor, with the biggest differences appearing to be the addition of an extra wheel, a comfier perch and optional user control via a mobile phone or tablet.

• Like the U3-X, the UNI-CUB allows the user to move in any direction, control speed and stop by simply shifting their weight, while the second wheel moves laterally to accommodate turning. The device can also climb gradients, has a range of 6 km (3.7 miles) and, while it's not going to keep pace with power-walkers, can reach a top speed of 6 km/h (3.7 mph).
  The compact form factor and the orientation of the rider also seems to give the UNI-CUB an advantage in the emerging field of "transport appliances." A Segway, for example, tends to clear the decks fairly quickly in a pedestrian space, but the UNI-CUB is designed as an unobtrusive addition to foot traffic that maintains eye-level height and works in harmony with other pedestrians.
  Honda says it will begin demonstration testing of UNI-CUB with Japan's National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation from June with a view to exploring applications for the device.
  UNI-CUB key specifications
  • Size (L x W x H): 520 x 345 x 745 mm (20.5 x 13.6 x 29.3 inches)
  • Seat height: 745 - 825 mm (29.3 - 32.5 inches)
  • Battery type: Lithium-ion battery
  • Maximum speed: 6 km/h (3.7 mph)
  • Range: 6 km (3.7 miles)

Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin quits US

Eduardo Saverin, the billionaire Facebook co-founder, has renounced his US citizenship in a bid to avoid millions of dollars in taxes.

Facebook is set to go public this week and Brazilian-born Saverin is likely to avoid a tax bill of $600million. He has lived in Singapore since 2009.

Although the move will put new pressure on President Obama to extend tax breaks for the wealthy, rather than allow them to expire as is currently planned, Saverin’s actions were widely condemned online. The Huffington Post claimed he owed America “nearly everything”.

Mr Saverin’s name appeared in a list published by on Friday by America’s Internal Revenue Service of people who had renounced their citizenship. A spoeksman for Saverin said that he made the change last September.

Mr Saverin was Facebook’s first chief financial officer but left the company after arguing with colleague Mark Zuckerberg.

The wealthy industrialist Saverin family fled their native Brazil for Miami in 1993 after Eduardo’s name appeared on a list of targets for gangs specialising in kidnap for ransom. Eduardo was granted US citizenship at the age of 18.

Twitter has 10 million UK users

Twitter has 10 million active users in Britain and 80 per cent of them access the service on mobile devices.

Twitter has 140 million users worldwide, with Britain the fourth biggest country for users after the US, Japan and Brazil. Globally, 55 per cent of users access Twitter from a mobile device, compared with 80 per cent in Britain.

The figures were released by Twitter to mark 12 months since the company opened its London office, which now has 30 staff.

Tony Wang, Twitter's UK general manager, said that the company wants to work more closely with politicians and policymakers.

He told the BBC that Twitter plans to hire a public policy manager to work with "the government, various ministries, members of Parliament as well as law enforcement".

Last summer, a series of events made Twitter the focus of attention among police, politicians and the media. More than 75,000 people identified footballer Ryan Giggs as the man involved in a legal case which was covered by a court injunction. Eventually, Mr Giggs was named in Parliament, but not before judges had complained about the threat services like Twitter pose to court cases.

Amazon 'to launch new Kindle in July'

Amazon plans to launch new versions of its Kindle ereader this summer with front lighting, it has been claimed.

Amazon hopes to have the new Kindle ereader on sale in July, Reuters reports, citing a source with "direct knowledge of the matter".

The new Kindle will have a monochrome E Ink display, like existing models, but will add a front light for reading in the dark. Kindle users who want to read in poor light or in the dark currently have to buy an external light.

The new Kindle will have a touchscreen and will come in 3G and WiFi versions, the report says. The addition of a light will reduce the battery life of the Kindle, which currently lasts for up to two months.

Reuters said its source also claims that Amazon will update its Kindle Fire tablet in the autumn, increasing the size of the display to 8.9 inches.

The Kindle Fire, which is not currently available in Britain, launched late last year. Initial sales were high, with reports suggesting close to five million sold in the final quarter of 2011, but demand seems to have dropped off significantly.