5:35 PM
NASA estimates that a round-trip to Mars for humans will take more than 4 years and be extremely expensive ($12 bil just for the launch) with rocket fuel...but a technique using nuclear fusion could make the trip to Mars take as little as 30 days and be MUCH cheaper:
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20130405-nuclear-fusion-could-power-a-rocket-to-take-humans-to-mars
Google Fiber is apparently coming to Austin, with a big announcement being made by Google and Austin's city government next week. Google Fiber offers speeds that are 100x faster than the normal consumer broadband connection at a much cheaper price than regular networks...in other words, I wish I had access to Google Fiber!
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/05/google-fiber-coming-to-austin-city-government-google-holding-a-meeting-next-week-to-announce-something/
Dish Network's Chairman is connected to a hedge fund that may be positioning itself to take over LightSquared. The hedge fund owns more than $600 mil of LightSquared's $1.7 bil bank loan and LightSquared has to file their reorg plan next month since they have been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for almost a year. Just this week Dish priced a $2.3 bil debt offering for an unspecified "spectrum-related" deal...we might now know why:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-falcone-could-lose-lightsquared-hedge-fund-affiliated-dishs-ergen/2013-04-05
Even with the Galaxy S3 nearly a year old and some consumers waiting for the Galaxy S4, Samsung's 1Q profit jumped from $5.02 bil last year to $7.7 bil this year. Samsung still had strong smartphone sales in the quarter...but the next quarter, with the Galaxy S4, should be even better:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/samsung-posts-53-jump-expected-q1-profit-ahead-galaxy-s4-launch/2013-04-05
Classic headline to a very anti-Facebook Home column: "Facebook Home: An app you don't want to connect to friends you don't have". For those worrying about privacy, giving Facebook access to the GPS location of the phone 24/7 means that Facebook will know where you live, work, shop, and play...and the Facebook ads on the home screen will be quite valuable with all of that information available. The smartphone will even know if you are walking, running, or in a vehicle whenver you are moving:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/facebook-home-app-you-dont-want-connect-friends-you-dont-have-215911
Facebook addressed the outcry over privacy concerns and it sounds concerning but reasonable. It isn't like they have been caught breaking their promises and violating users' privacy in the past...oh wait...
http://www.androidcentral.com/facebook-addresses-privacy-concerns-over-facebook-home
T-Mobile announced a data plan for Audi cars--$15/month on a 30-month contract or $30/month on a month-to-month contract. This will enable Audi Connect service to provide real-time news, weather, fuel prices, use Google Earth and Google Voice, and provide WiFi to 8 devices in the car:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-debuts-data-plan-specifically-audi-connected-cars/2013-04-04
http://www.homelandsecuritynewswire.com/dr20130405-nuclear-fusion-could-power-a-rocket-to-take-humans-to-mars
Google Fiber is apparently coming to Austin, with a big announcement being made by Google and Austin's city government next week. Google Fiber offers speeds that are 100x faster than the normal consumer broadband connection at a much cheaper price than regular networks...in other words, I wish I had access to Google Fiber!
http://venturebeat.com/2013/04/05/google-fiber-coming-to-austin-city-government-google-holding-a-meeting-next-week-to-announce-something/
Dish Network's Chairman is connected to a hedge fund that may be positioning itself to take over LightSquared. The hedge fund owns more than $600 mil of LightSquared's $1.7 bil bank loan and LightSquared has to file their reorg plan next month since they have been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy for almost a year. Just this week Dish priced a $2.3 bil debt offering for an unspecified "spectrum-related" deal...we might now know why:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/report-falcone-could-lose-lightsquared-hedge-fund-affiliated-dishs-ergen/2013-04-05
Even with the Galaxy S3 nearly a year old and some consumers waiting for the Galaxy S4, Samsung's 1Q profit jumped from $5.02 bil last year to $7.7 bil this year. Samsung still had strong smartphone sales in the quarter...but the next quarter, with the Galaxy S4, should be even better:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/samsung-posts-53-jump-expected-q1-profit-ahead-galaxy-s4-launch/2013-04-05
Classic headline to a very anti-Facebook Home column: "Facebook Home: An app you don't want to connect to friends you don't have". For those worrying about privacy, giving Facebook access to the GPS location of the phone 24/7 means that Facebook will know where you live, work, shop, and play...and the Facebook ads on the home screen will be quite valuable with all of that information available. The smartphone will even know if you are walking, running, or in a vehicle whenver you are moving:
http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/facebook-home-app-you-dont-want-connect-friends-you-dont-have-215911
Facebook addressed the outcry over privacy concerns and it sounds concerning but reasonable. It isn't like they have been caught breaking their promises and violating users' privacy in the past...oh wait...
http://www.androidcentral.com/facebook-addresses-privacy-concerns-over-facebook-home
T-Mobile announced a data plan for Audi cars--$15/month on a 30-month contract or $30/month on a month-to-month contract. This will enable Audi Connect service to provide real-time news, weather, fuel prices, use Google Earth and Google Voice, and provide WiFi to 8 devices in the car:
http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/t-mobile-debuts-data-plan-specifically-audi-connected-cars/2013-04-04