AT&T has proposed to acquire T-Mobile for $39 billion, taking in a network competitor that’s also well-prepped for purchase. The potential buy has already raised questions about AT&T’s regulatory affects, and how the telecom giant intends to push through a doomed deal. Merging any two companies of this size and stature would be a …
breaking
Security Firm RSA Suffers Computer Attack, Leaving Corporations Vulnerable
Thursday, the RSA Security division of EMC Corporation reported a security breach, potentially leaving many corporations and governments vulnerable who rely on its products.
In an open letter, the company revealed that the “advanced persistent threat” had managed to pull information from the company. According to CNET, these …
TechFast: Angry Birds Ads, Molyneux on Minecraft, Faster Flickr
Angry Angry Birds Players
The plot of Angry Birds has taken a new twist. Those naughty pigs started with simple egg-theft, but now it seems they’re trying to go straight, and enter the world of advertising. But not all Angry Birds HD players are happy about that. Erica Ho has the story.
Link: Right here at Techland
Faster Flickr …
TechFast: IE9 Launch Success, Asus Rumors, Iran in Space
Good morning, here’s a quick round-up of some of the interesting stuff that’s been going on overnight.
IE9: 27 downloads per second
Microsoft proudly declared the new browser, IE9, a success with the initial figures for downloads from its website. In the first 24 hours, there were 2.3 million of them, or 27 every second. More on
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Apple Postpones Japanese Launch of iPad 2
As Japan struggles to cope with the ongoing tragedies engendered by earthquakes, tsunamis and faltering nuclear power plants, Apple has announced that it will postpone the launch of the iPad 2 in the tech-savvy country.
The tablet, which launched on Friday in the U.S., was scheduled to debut in Japan on March 25. But Apple spokeswoman …
Twitter Boosts Security with Permanent HTTPS Support
First Google did it, then Facebook, and now Twitter’s following suit, adding an option to permanently shore up your account’s defenses courtesy the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, commonly abbreviated HTTPS.
Normally you type ‘http’ into your URL bar to conjure a website, but if you’ve ever used a service like online banking, you …
NASA, Russian Astronauts Touch Down Safely in Kazakhstan
From the International Space Station to the snowy stretches of central Kazakhstan, NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and two Russian cosmonauts have safely returned to earth.
The Russian Soyuz capsule carrying Kelly and Russians Oleg Skripochka and Alexander Kaleri touched down today (March 16), a few minutes before 0800 GMT, bringing to …
Use Your Phone to Pay for That Dress, Courtesy Google
You’re wrapping up dinner at your favorite restaurant, but how do you reply to the maître d’ who hands you the bill and asks “paper, plastic, or semiconductor”?
With your phone, of course, and that’s just what Google’s hoping you’ll do when its new mobile payment service goes live sometime during the next four months, according to …
TechFast: Peak Animation, HP in the Cloud, Costly Chips
Good morning! Want some tech headlines to chew on while you sip your coffee? You got it.
Have we reached peak animation?
Disney’s latest computer animated spectacular Mars Needs Moms has been spectacular in only one respect: the way it has flopped at the box office. Now, according to the New York Times, questions are being asked. …
Quake Knocks Japanese Games Offline, Delays Release of Others
The ongoing earthquakes and tsunamis in Japan’s eastern regions have video games companies temporarily shuttering online game servers and delaying imminent releases.
Final Fantasy publisher Square Enix said it would shut down online roleplaying games Final Fantasy XIV and Final Fantasy XI, as well as its PlayOnline service, to help …
TechFast: Pi Day, Quake Updates, Twitter Scam
Good morning! Here’s the tech stuff that’s breaking this morning, more on the big tech news stories of the day coming up later.
Happy Pi Day!
Yay, today is Pi day! Happy 3.1415926535 to you and all your loved ones!
Link: Pi Day
News travels faster than quakes
Everyone knows news goes fast, but the Japanese disaster shows
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Twitter Settles With FTC Over Privacy Complaint
The charge was serious: that Twitter on more than one occasion told consumers that the company was protecting their privacy when they, in fact, were not. Which is where the hackers come in.
Specifically, the FTC alleged that due to “serious lapses” in security, hackers obtained “unauthorized administrative control of Twitter, …