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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge has ruled that Google Inc. must comply with the FBI's warrantless demands for customer data, rejecting the company's argument that the government's practice of issuing so-called national security letters to telecommunication companies, Internet service providers and banks and others was unconstitutional and unnecessary. FBI counter-terrorism agents began issuing the secret letters, which don't require a judge's approval, after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

I was told by many that it was the stuff of tin-foil hats to believe that Google was in the tank for Democrats. They’re just working with clients after all! Why, Romney and Republicans could’ve just as easily worked with them! This isn’t partisan! Well, now, this is just in from Bloomberg/Businessweek: Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, one of Obama’s biggest boosters, is bankrolling a new for-profit endeavor being run by former Obama tech staffers that will be working exclusively for Democrats, as well as some corporate clients, in future.

Search Engines Bing and Google on May 27,2013

While the left is frequently up in arms about the about the Koch brother’s money funding political and campaign projects, there is no shortage of big leftist corporate and foundation money floating around hot political issues. Both the Joyce Foundation and Google are established players in the anti-second amendment movement as well as other progressive political causes. The Joyce Foundation has injected large chucks of money into the anti-gun movement, including Mayor’s Against Gun Control and the Violence Prevention Center. (Aside: Who was on the Board of the Joyce Foundation? None other than President Barack Obama who keeps assuring us...

Only in Israel: a new app for android phones lets drivers know if they are about to drive into a mob of Arabs armed with firebombs and rocks. Such ambushes have killed and maimed many Israelis over the years, including a baby girl, Adelle Biton, who has been barely clinging to life in the Schneider Children's Hospital since last month. As reported exclusively on the Tamar Yonah Show, .....

Foxconn Signs License Agreement with Microsoft to Make Google Android- and Chrome-Based Devices.Microsoft and Foxconn Sign Patent Agreement For Android and Chrome DevicesMicrosoft Corp. and Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, the world’s largest contract maker of electronics, signed a worldwide patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for devices running the Android and Chrome OS, including smartphones, tablets and televisions.

I have an IPad2 but am looking for an android tablet. Which one is the best?

Microsoft is rumored to cut the price of Windows 8 for tablets by 35-40 percent, according to Topeka Capital analyst Brian White. White is on a "China-Taiwan Technology Tour" talking to people in the industry. Currently, according to White's source, the tablet price for Windows is the same as the desktop/laptop pricing. If Microsoft is going to compete with Android, which is taking over the world, it needs to lower its price. Google's software is free. And it's just as good, if not better than, Windows on a tablet. Since consumers aren't clamoring to buy Windows-based tablets, there's little reason...

If you like what you've seen so far from RIM BlackBerry's big launch event today, then you might want to know when you can get it? Those in the US might have hoped the rumors weren't true, but indeed, you will have to wait until March before you can get your hands on BlackBerry 10. Though when it does land, customers of AT&T, Verizon, Sprint (only Q10 confirmed) and T-Mobile (Z10 confirmed) will all be able to get onboard. BlackBerry's giving its home turf a little bit of a head start with a February 5th release date and Bell,...

Japan gets first dibs Samsung will launch its first Tizen-based smartphone next year and Japanese consumers will get a taste of the new OS first. According to a Japanese daily, the new device will be sold through NTT Docomo and other carriers, starting at some point in 2013. European carriers are also interested in Tizen, including Vodafone and France Telecom.Samsung apparently hopes to build a platform around Tizen, to rival the likes of Apple and Google. High hopes to say the least, but then again we are already hearing rumours of an X phone from Motorola’s skunk works, which is apparently...

Samsung has created a new Linux file system called F2FS. Jaegeuk Kim of Samsung writes on the Linux Kernel Mailing List: F2FS is a new file system carefully designed for the NAND flash memory-based storage devices. We chose a log structure file system approach, but we tried to adapt it to the new form of storage. Also we remedy some known issues of the very old log structured file system, such as snowball effect of wandering tree and high cleaning overhead. Greg KH, the lead Linux kernel developer applauded the file system on his Google+ page, "Sweet, a new...

There’s no question that the Raspberry Pi is everyone’s favorite ARM development board right now: it’s cheap, silent, and exceptionally power efficient. The Raspberry Pi makes an excellent choice for low-energy applications like personal servers, routers, firewalls, environmental monitoring setups, etc, etc.But the Raspberry Pi has one big downside, it’s a fairly slow machine. With only 512 MB of RAM (if you have one of the newer builds) and a 700 MHz ARM, it certainly isn’t doing a lot of heavy lifting. Its dedicated GPU makes it possible to do things like playback HD video, but in terms of...

A Nokia job listing [since taken down] has been discovered seeking a Senior Engineer with Linux expertise, rather than Windows Phone experience, this leading the Android masses to have a freak-out-festival about the possibilities of a Google OS Nokia device. At the moment it’s a nearly all-Microsoft party at Nokia with the latter shaking hands heavily with the former for the launch of Windows Phone 8 with devices like the Nokia Lumia 920, a hero for the operating system. With a Linux expert on their team, (not that Nokia doesn’t already have engineers with such expertise), it would appear...

Microsoft is onto something. With Windows 8 it's better positioned than both Apple and Google to ride the coming laptop-tablet convergence wave.It might even eventually give Microsoft a shot at the all-important smartphone market. To understand why, let's count the ways in which Windows 8 is best.1. Tablet-laptop convergence Laptops and tablets are converging. And only Microsoft has an OS that's fit for that coming unification of devices.Apple has no convergence strategy at this time. That's because it fiercely guards product-specific profit streams and just doesn't go in for making things that cannibalise its own sales.So, Mac Mini is hobbled...

With so many fanboys spinning Silicon Valley history, it's sometimes easy to forget about the real chain of events that led to the ongoing Apple-Google thermonuclear war, how the romance turned to hate. This timeline presents an interesting case about why, despite patents and prior art, Steve Jobs had plenty of personal reasons to despise Schmidt, Page, and Brin.The simple answer is Google's leadership profoundly betrayed the longtime personal trust and friendship of Apple's leadership in stealing what Steve Jobs believed were Apple's most prized possessions. The fuller answer is below, in a telling timeline of the once exceptionally-close Apple-Google...

Digia has bought out Qt from Nokia. Uh oh? Nokia has announced today that Digia is acquiring the Qt software technologies and Qt business from Nokia. Digia is completely taking over Qt. Digia is the open-core company that previously took over Qt Commercial and releases their special version of Qt to customers. Digia claims they will take care of the commercial and open-source versions of the new Qt and they also want to bring the popular tool-kit to Android, Apple iOS, and Windows 8. With the Qt acquisition, a maximum of 125 people from Nokia will be joining Digia. Most...

Google massively underestimated demand This won’t come as a surprise to most of you, but according to our sources close to the matter, Google’s Nexus 7 tablets are selling beyond Google’s wildest dreams. This makes Google, Asus and even Nvidia happy as they are all part of the project and share the profits. Many investors in all three companies will like what they see. There is a big chance that Nexus 7 will outrun the Kindle Fire’s initial success with a big chance or being more than a one-quarter miracle. We can see many people wanting to buy Nexus...

It’s an amazing feat to behold when a company makes a device so popular that it sells out in one store, much less the entirety of the USA – but that’s what Google is doing with the Nexus 7. This ASUS-manufactured tablet appears very much to be capturing the imaginations – and pocketbooks – of users across the United States as well as the UK as retailers both offline and online are showing sold out signs galore. From what we understand it appears that 3rd party retailers are “frantically” attempting to get more units in stock as ASUS and Google...

SlashGearSamsung Galaxy S III blasts past 10m salesSlashGearSamsung has sold more than ten million Galaxy S III handsets, according to the company's president for mobile communications, passing the milestone less than two months after the smartphone hit shelves. Shin Jong-kyun, chief of Samsung's information ...Samsung Galaxy S3 hits 10 million sales mark earlyCNETSamsung Plans 64GB Galaxy S3 This YearPCWorldHow Does The Samsung Galaxy S III Fare In A Drop Test?TechCrunchPC Magazine -San Francisco Chronicle -AFPall 357 news articles »...

Google continues to negotiate with the European Union about its alleged anti-competitive behavior. A potential settlement directly involving Android, however, could make things "messier" for Google. - A settlement deal being negotiated between Google and the European Union to resolve antitrust issues could now be expanded to include Google's Android mobile technologies, in addition to Google search platforms. quot;The outcome is finely balanced and will partly depend on Google's willingness to ...... Published By: eWEEK - 2 days ago