0x00000000 NEWS

FCC may force Internet providers to stop calling their slow, crappy speeds 'broadband' | VentureBeat | Business | by Harrison Weber In fact, average U.S. Internet speeds rank statistically lower than those of nine other countries, including Latvia, Switzerland, and Romaina. Are we proud to be lower than Latvia? Where is Andy Kauffman when you need him?

Apple's massive $3B bet on Beats a sure thing compared to all-in gamble on NeXT in 1996 Apple's recently-confirmed $3 billion purchase of headphone maker and streaming music provider Beats may be the largest cash outlay in its history, but it's far from the Cupertino company's biggest bet on an acquisition. " Based on how much cash Apple has in the warchest, there is nothing even remotely risky about this purchase.

Latest Weibo leak shows supposed 4.7-inch iPhone screen backlight part | 9to5Mac Weibo is continuing to be the source of unverified iPhone 6 leaks. This time, user “顾Gooey” has published some photos that he claims to represent display backlight components for the next-generation iPhone with a 4.7-inch screen." Leaky, leaky very sneaky!

Creator of Apple's Core Animation leaves for new role, likely at Facebook John Harper, the creator of of Apple's Core Animation tool for developers and the inventor credited with designing gesture and scrolling animations in iOS, has apparently taken a new position at social networking giant Facebook." Hopefully this is not the first signs of a brain drain like the exodus of Microsoft to Google.

China's Xiaomi unveils copycat 'Mi Pad' in bid to take on Apple's iPad Xiaomi on Thursday introduced the Mi Pad, sporting a 7.9-inch display that is the same size as Apple's iPad mini. The new Mi Pad will come in a total of six colors and capacities of 16 or 64 gigabytes, while carrying a starting price of 1,499 yuan, or $240 U.S., undercutting Apple. The product essentially looks like a plastic iPad mini with more color options, even packing in an identical screen resolution of 2,048 by 1,536. It also runs a heavily version of Google's Android operating system dubbed "MIUI" that looks strikingly like Apple's iOS 7." Brazenly doing what no other would dare to do!

Columbia University students create software allowing native iOS apps to run on Android devices | 9to5Mac Now, six Columbia University students have bridged the gap between the two platforms with something called Cider (via The Next Web). Not to be confused with the other Cider software (for OS X), the Android version of Cider essentially fools iOS applications into believing they’re running on an actual iPhone or iPad." Chortle, chortle.

Apple hires lead Lumia camera engineer Ari Partinen, who worked on Nokia’s PureView cameras | 9to5Mac On Twitter, Ari Partinen, a senior camera engineer at Nokia, has confirmed that he is leaving Nokia for Apple. The hire was first spotted by Engadget. Apple’s iPhone cameras are regarded as some of the best in the market, but Nokia’s PureView cameras have also been widely praised, which can produce pictures up to 38 megapixels in size." The best defense is a good offense. This is my first post under Apple vs. Nokia, because that is definitely brewing.

Apple acquires low-power, micro LED display maker LuxVue Technology | 9to5Mac LuxVue Technology, previously known as Papierlos Corporation, was founded in 2009 and has been in the news a few times throughout raising $43 million in funding from Kleiner Perkins and others, but has for the most part remained quiet while developing its next-generation micro-LED technology. The company hasn’t shared many details about what it’s working on, but it has a number of patents for its low-power micro-LED technology that could potentially offer better battery life while retaining screen brightness compared to traditional display technologies." Smaller, faster, better. We can rebuild him. We can create the world's first bionic phone.

Former iPhone camera engineers create 360-degree video camera | 9to5Mac CENTR, a startup created by a group of former iPhone camera engineers, has developed a video camera that creates 360-degree views, allowing viewers to pan around the image during playback." It's QuickTime VR all over again!