Origin for Mac enters open Alpha, testers gifted with free copy of Bookworm

Is your MacBook Pro pulling double duty as a gaming machine? EA wants your attention -- it's launching the Mac Alpha of Origin, its digital distribution service. EA is hoping to have the service ready by March, when it will release SimCity for PC and Mac, successively. For now, though, the client is limited -- barring testers from visiting the Origin store, and instead inviting them to launch Bookworm from the client, a puzzle game that's free for users who install the Alpha. The company promises a more complete catalog of EA and partner games when the client officially launches, but didn't drop any specific titles. The service still has some catching up to do, compared to its closest competitor -- but better late than never, right?

Filed under: Gaming

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Via: MacRumors

Source: Origin

Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/01/25/origin-for-mac-enters-open-alpha/

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10 Things to Know for Friday

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about Friday:

1. HOW WOMEN CAN QUALIFY FOR COMBAT

Under the military's new rules, they'll have to meet the same physical requirements as men.

2. WHAT'S NEEDED TO PASS GUN CONTROL

The public must get behind the effort, says Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, because "this is really an uphill road."

3. ABBAS SEES AN OPENING

He invites newly elected Israeli lawmakers ? many of whom are moderates ? to meet with him to talk about a Palestinian state.

4. A REAL DRAG

Millions of smokers may find they can't afford health insurance when Obama's health care law takes effect.

5. THEY LIKE HIM. THEY REALLY LIKE HIM

Chavez' cult of personality grows in his absence: witness a woman at a demonstration holding a portrait of him ? next to an image of Jesus.

6. FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT

Here comes a fresh mutation of a fast-moving stomach bug that scientists are calling the "Ferrari of viruses."

7. MELTDOWN: HONDURAS

Doctors go without essential supplies while teachers and soldiers go without pay in a nation teetering on the edge of ruin.

8. WHY A 44-YEAR-OLD ROCKET MAY BE HELPFUL TO NASA TODAY

Engineers hope an Apollo 11 engine can be improved upon for new missions to the moon.

9. VIDEO IN DEMAND: NETFLIX STOCK SOARS

The company's shares climb by 42 percent as investors celebrate strong quarterly earnings.

10. 'IT SOUNDS LIKE A GIRL, DOESN'T IT?'

During a TV interview, Manti Te'o unveils voicemails from a person pretending to be his girlfriend. The person tells the Notre Dame linebacker: "I love you."

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/10-things-know-friday-103047600.html

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Apple Is Stronger Than Ever

Customers take photos while waiting on line to purchase the Apple iPhone 5 outside the Apple Fifth Avenue flagship store on the first morning it went on sale in September 2012

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

On Wednesday afternoon, Apple announced that during the last three months of 2012, it earned more money than any other non-oil company has ever earned in a single quarter. (Gazprom, Royal Dutch Shell, and ExxonMobil have each topped Apple?s earnings one time.) What?s more, during all of 2012, Apple?s profits topped $41.7 billion, which is also a record for any firm outside the oil industry. (ExxonMobil earned a few billion more in 2006, 2007, and 2008.)

The superlatives didn?t end there. Apple sold nearly 48 million iPhones over the holidays. It didn?t specify how many of them were iPhone 5s, but it?s likely that most were the latest model, which would also be a record for the smartphone business?the iPhone 5?s closest competitor, the Samsung Galaxy SIII, took seven months to sell just 40 million units. Then there?s the iPad: Apple sold 23 million in three months, which is about 50 percent more than it sold during the holidays last year, and also a record. No other company has ever come close to selling as many tablets in so short a time.

To sum up, the world?s most valuable company posted one of the most stunning quarterly earnings reports in corporate history. Sales of its most important products were through the roof. So investors were thrilled, right? Nope. Apple?s stock began to swoon in after-hours trading, and today it?s down 12 percent. Commentators are saying that Apple has ?hit a wall,? that it is ?slowing down,? that we are witnessing the beginning of the end of Apple?s ?magic.?

All of that is totally bogus. It?s wrong in the specifics?if you dive into the details of Apple?s quarter, it?s hard to find a single sign that consumers are sick of its products?and it?s wrong with regard to the larger storyline. Rather than paint a picture of a company in decline, Apple?s earnings in 2012 show just the opposite. In a year of stiff competition, Apple managed to do something that none of its rivals could: make tons and tons of money by selling lots and lots of products at premium prices.

If I headed up any of Apple?s competitors, I would look at its quarterly earnings with a mix of dejection and awe. In 2012, Samsung, Apple?s most worthy rival, released dozens of phones across a range of prices and screen sizes, and it spent an order of magnitude more on marketing those devices. Even so, its flagship phone couldn?t even come close to outselling the iPhone, and its overall corporate profits didn?t match what Apple made from the iPhone alone. Apple?s dominance of the tablet business is even starker. This year several of Apple?s rivals put out great iPad competitors like the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire HD that are selling at cost. And yet not only did iPad sales grow, they grew faster than the industry average. In other words, Apple?s rivals threw everything they could at the firm and still couldn?t dent its sales records. If that?s hitting a wall, every one of Apple?s rivals wishes it were lucky enough to hit that wall, too.

If Apple did so well, why is Wall Street shellacking it? There are a few small problems and one big worry. First, Apple didn?t sell as many products as Wall Street analysts had predicted. Analysts expected 50 million iPhone sales and 5 million Mac sales?about 2 million phones and 1 million Macs more than Apple reported selling. Second, its growth rate is slowing, especially its growth in profits. In the holiday quarter between 2010 and 2011, Apple?s profits almost doubled, and between 2011 and 2012 profits more than doubled. In the last year, though, profits were basically flat?yes, they were flat at near-record levels, but flat is flat. And that gets us to problem No. 3: Apple?s profitability is declining?for every dollar in sales during the holidays in 2012, Apple made less than it did during the holidays in 2011.

None of those problems, though, justifies the stock slide we?ve seen today. Let?s look at the small shortfall in sales: As CEO Tim Cook explained in a conference call with investors on Wednesday, one of the main reasons that Apple didn?t sell more iPhones, iPads, and Macs during the holidays is that it couldn?t make them fast enough. Throughout the holidays, supplies of the iPhone 5, iPhone 4, iPad Mini, and the company?s latest iMac were extremely tight. You couldn?t just go into a store and buy Apple?s newest products (as you could for any other phone, tablet, or PC on the market)?instead, the only way to get one was to order it days or weeks in advance of delivery.

Source: http://feeds.slate.com/click.phdo?i=95d99615ed40249ffcd33227cd282f80

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Huawei MediaPad 10 Link hits the FCC looking worse for wear

Huawei's MediaPad 10 Link clearly didn't know what it was getting itself into when it traveled to the FCC. The Android tablet, which made a brief appearance at CES a few weeks back, took quite a few hits to its 10.1-inch display, now that Wolverine is apparently handling electronics for the commission. According to notes from CES, the tablet's running Ice Cream Sandwich on a 1.2GHz quad-core processor and 1GB of RAM. No word yet on how soon the newest member of the MediaPad family will be riding FCC approval onto our shores -- or if the name signals some new Hyrulian tie-in for the company.

Filed under: Tablets

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Source: FCC

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/S3bqb-kudP0/

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Facebook responds to recent app blocking criticism with policy 'clarification'

After the whole Vine kerfuffle and Yandex situation, Facebook clearly feels it has some explaining to do. Over at the site's Developer Blog, director, platform partnerships and operations Justin Osofsky would like to clear up a few things about the social network's platform policies. He begins by assuring developers that most can just keep on keeping on.

Osofky adds, however,

For a much smaller number of apps that are using Facebook to either replicate our functionality or bootstrap their growth in a way that creates little value for people on Facebook, such as not providing users an easy way to share back to Facebook, we've had policies against this that we are further clarifying today

Those developers (and interested civilians) who'd like to drill down a bit further into those newly clarified policies can check the fine print in the source link below.

Filed under: Facebook

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Source: Facebook Blog, Facebook Platform Policy

Source: http://feeds.engadget.com/~r/weblogsinc/engadget/~3/Ebz-GA6PhNE/

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Duncan gets 14th NBA All-Star nod; 2 Bulls chosen

San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) reacts after making a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 95-88. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

San Antonio Spurs forward Tim Duncan (21) reacts after making a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 95-88. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah (13) shoots over Detroit Pistons center Greg Monroe (10) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2013, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

San Antoni Spus forward Tim Duncan follows through on a dunk in front of Golden State Warriors forward David Lee during the second half of an NBA basketball game on Friday, Jan. 18, 2013, in San Antonio. The Spurs won 95-88. (AP Photo/Bahram Mark Sobhani)

NEW YORK (AP) ? Tim Duncan was selected to his 14th All-Star game, Spurs teammate Tony Parker is joining him, and the Chicago Bulls also had two reserves chosen Thursday for next month's game in Houston.

Joakim Noah and Luol Deng were picked from the Bulls, who have stayed in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race despite the season-long absence of point guard Derrick Rose. Noah is one of five first-time All-Stars for the East, along with New York's Tyson Chandler, Indiana's Paul George, Cleveland's Kyrie Irving, and Philadelphia's Jrue Holiday.

Miami's Chris Bosh, picked for his eighth All-Star team, rounded out the East squad.

West forwards David Lee (Golden State), LaMarcus Aldridge (Portland) and Zach Randolph (Memphis) all were picked for the second time. Houston's James Harden was chosen for the first time and joins former Oklahoma City teammate Russell Westbrook, headed to his third straight All-Star game.

Duncan wasn't chosen last year for the first time in his career but has bounced back with a terrific season at age 36, averaging 17.5 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.7 blocked shots, his best statistics since 2009-10.

The co-MVP of the 2000 All-Star game joined a group that includes Michael Jordan for fifth-most selections. Kobe Bryant and Kevin Garnett, both voted to start, and Shaquille O'Neal all were picked 15 times. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the career leader as a 19-time All-Star.

The reserves were voted by the head coaches from each conference, who had to select two guards, three frontcourt players and two players regardless of position. They were not allowed to vote for players from their own teams.

With centers Chandler and Noah, East coaches passed on Brooklyn's Brook Lopez, the leading scorer for a resurgent team that is right behind the Knicks for the Atlantic Division lead. Perennial All-Stars Deron Williams and Joe Johnson of the Nets also missed out, as did Boston's Paul Pierce.

Lee gave the Warriors their first All-Star since Latrell Sprewell in 1997, but coach Mark Jackson and his team hoped for more. However, Stephen Curry wasn't selected despite averaging 20.9 points. He's the league's eighth-leading scorer and the highest one who won't be in Houston for the Feb. 17 showcase.

Lee called his selection "bittersweet" because Curry ? the first person to send him a congratulatory text ? wasn't picked.

"In our practice facility, there's that All-Star chart and it stops at '97 and there hasn't been any since. So the whole team was really excited with the improved record this year and to get one or both of our guys on there," Lee said. "I'm really excited to be the one that goes and represents our team. I wish Steph could be a part of it and maybe he'll still be able to. I'm just very, very excited. It's been a long time for the Bay Area fans. Not only to have an All-Star, but to be winning games."

Voted as East starters by fan voting along with Garnett were Miami's LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, New York's Carmelo Anthony and Boston's Rajon Rondo.

The West starting five is Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard of the Lakers, Oklahoma City's Kevin Durant, and Clippers teammates Chris Paul and Blake Griffin.

The Clippers were hoping for a third All-Star, but sixth-man Jamal Crawford wasn't picked.

Commissioner David Stern would choose the replacement if any players are injured.

Randolph leads the NBA with 27 double-doubles and becomes the first Grizzlies player with multiple selections.

"It is truly an honor to be named by the NBA's coaches to the 2013 Western Conference All-Star team," he said in a statement. "I am grateful for this opportunity and look forward to playing with the best players in the world."

The leaders of the teams with the best winning percentage in their conference through games of Feb. 3 will be the coaches. Miami's Erik Spoelstra has the inside track on the East spot, while San Antonio's Gregg Popovich and the Clippers' Vinny Del Negro are battling for the West honor since Scott Brooks, whose Thunder have the league's best record, is ineligible after coaching last year.

Irving, the reigning Rookie of the Year, and Holiday were rewarded for outstanding individual seasons even though their teams are well below .500. Irving is the Cavaliers' first All-Star since James, the only other East player averaging at least 20 points and five assists.

"It's one of the best days of my life," Irving said Thursday night, shortly after also being honored as Cleveland's professional athlete of the year award at the Greater Cleveland Sports Awards. "It's a big deal for me and it's a big deal for the city of Cleveland to be picked as an All-Star for the first time. I'm turning 21 on March 23 and to be with those guys, to see those names on TV, that was truly a blessing."

The 22-year-old Holiday, the youngest All-Star in franchise history, is averaging 19.0 points and 9.0 assists but feared the 76ers' 17-25 mark would work against him.

"I thought so. I definitely thought so. I think anybody else probably would, too," he said while watching a Philadelphia Flyers game. "We're not getting on a winning streak or anything like that. I just tried to stay positive and not talk about it."

___

AP Sports Writers Dan Gelston in Philadelphia, Antonio Gonzalez in Oakland, Calif., and Tom Withers in Cleveland contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/347875155d53465d95cec892aeb06419/Article_2013-01-24-BKN-All-Star-Reserves/id-97990d326ebf46d8bfd98e8d649361fd

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Facebook's Plan To Kill The Tracking Cookie - Business Insider

Facebook product manager David Baser gave a nice, detailed interview to AdExchanger in which he revealed that Facebook has a plan that, if successful, will make the infamous tracking cookie look like a second class relic of history.

Cookies are the little bits of code that advertisers drop onto web users' browsers in order to follow them around the web and target them with relevant ads. They don't identify users specifically, but they do identify your interests based on the sites you look at.

Facebook, however, is working on something much more targeted. Baser calls it "Optimized CPM." (Cost per thousand, or "mille," is a standard ad-pricing measurement.)

OCPM is so simple (in principle), it's brilliant. Facebook knows that users who log in mostly forget to log out, and thus they can be tracked around the web all day, especially if they interact with those "like" buttons that many non-Facebook web pages have installed (like the one on top of this page).

The difference between cookies and Facebook user IDs, Baser says, is that cookies are anonymous and don't really know who you are, whereas your Facebook user ID is actually you. Also, your Facebook ID follows you easily from your phone to your laptop and back. Cookies can't do that.

In plain English, it means that private, untracked web browsing will become a thing of the past for anyone who forgets to log out of Facebook.

By targeting ads at the user IDs, Facebook can find out which users are more likely to buy things than others. Those users can then be grouped together and targeted with ads. Those audiences have much greater conversion rates -- ie sales generated -- than with cookie targeting, Baser believes. This is called "Conversion Measurement," and when it's linked to OCPM, advertisers will come regard the cookie as the poor cousin of web advertising, Baser hints.

It's important to note that advertisers won't know that they're targeting "you" specifically with ads. Just that facebook's algorithms have grouped your account into a pool with similar behavior that can be targeted. The system will be anonymous, in other words, even though it's based on your actual Facebook identity.

Here are the highlights from the Baser Q&A:

"The key difference is that other conversion measurement systems rely on dropping cookies on the users when they see or click on the ad. We understand who the user is regardless of whether they?re logged into Facebook on the app or on the mobile phone."

"Once we have this system based on user IDs and not based on cookies, we can use it to have consistent attribution across web, mobile and even multi-browser on the desktop."

"Right now our primary focus is on two things. One is getting the measurement system adopted as widely as possible, and two is providing high quality optimization based on measurement."

Source: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-plan-to-kill-the-tracking-cookie-2013-1

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