New Year Re-Launch

New year Re-launch

You might have noticed that Leats Tech Corner has not been posting many articles. This is due to a number of reasons. I have had a very busy social life as I have been going out with friends more and spending time with my girlfriend. Also I have taken up a new sport; I am part of my school’s rugby academy and with training and games not finishing till the evening.

But come New Year I will be re-launching the site, new articles, new features and more reviews. I will also be posting a weekly roundup of the week’s technology news. If you have any suggestions for the site or you would like to become a guest writer or reviewer contact us on twitter, facebook or drop us an email leatstechcorner@gmail.com

Robert Leat

Editor in Chief

Yahoo CEO is fired amid 'dull' growth

“I am very sad to tell you that I’ve just been fired over the phone by Yahoo’s Chairman of the Board”. These were the last words from Carol Bartz, the 62-year-old former CEO of Yahoo. The email, sent on Tuesday, saw her sacked after a “lack of a turnaround for the business”.

1 Billion US dollars. Enough to buy infinite Yahoo memberships, as free as they are. It seems that is all Yahoo is renowned for now; many email accounts and abnormal bulletins on the homepage. Yahoo had a revenue of $1 Billion last year, and was still described as being “largely flat in recent years” by The Wall Street Journal. Carol Bartz was therefore sacked on Tuesday (6/09/11) after two and a half years as CEO of the once market-leading company of the dot-com generation. So, why?

Stock increase

Bartz had one year left on her contract so the decision to dismiss her now seems to suggest change was needed immediately. In fact, the day after her departure saw Yahoo’s stock close with an increase of 5.4% the next day. Optimism is on the rise again it seems, almost rather embarrassingly, as soon as Bartz was deemed unfit for her duties. Does it come has a surprise? If you look on Yahoo, or have followed its existence, you’d know that it hasn’t changed too much. From being the no.1 search engine at the beginning of the last decade it has, in recent years, lost ground to Google and been slightly damaged by the surge of Facebook. In fact, the number of visits onto the site from U.S viewers has dropped by 33% since Carol Bartz arrived.

However, Ms. Bartz must have some credit. She overhauled the organisational structure to make it more decentralised and challenged the efficiency of the business. Unfortunately, her response to a reporter back in 2010 seems rather ironic nowadays.

Reporter: Why isn’t Yahoo as hot as Facebook?

Bartz: Remind me, what’s their revenue?

Where now?

Yahoo is to now focus on organic growth. Organic growth is growth which is achieved ‘naturally’, usually from sales, and not from external sources such as mergers or acquisitions. It needs to think of innovative ways to regain its market position, with the stand-in interim CEO Tim Morse given the go-ahead to steer the turn-around. Expect in the very near future features from Yahoo to engage the late teens/young adult demographic which Facebook has done so well to draw in. Hotmail might be an example of such developments with its unlimited storage capacity and connections with MSN messenger. Or maybe this really is the beginning of the end of Yahoo, with competition becoming increasingly competitive. It’s safe to say, Yahoo’s dominance is now over and the expulsion of their CEO seems to indicate they feel the same way. This is a new beginning for Yahoo and new possibilities for the market. Watch this space.

Glen Gostlow

Contributor

More stuff coming soon. Any suggestions please leave a comment below or email me.

AKG Acoustic D44S Microphone Un-boxing

This is my un-boxing of the AKG D-44S microphone. I intend to use this for interviews at the Euro Gamer expo which I managed to get a press pass for.

Olympus VN-8700 unboxing

Samsung's Newest Camera Features Flip out Screen

Samsung’s Latest camera the MV800 will feature a flip out LCD touch screen. The screen flips up vertically above the lens, which allows for greater self portraits. The camera will be 16MP with a 1/2.3 inch CCD sensor, it also features a 5x optical zoom.  As is standard in most cameras these days it has 720p HD video. There is a panorama feature which allows the shooter to preview a whole shot by holding the shutter button halfway down and moving the camera in the intended direction.  

By Robert Leat
Site Founder and Editor
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Apple iPhone 5 Prototype Left in a bar

It has been reported that an iPhone 5 prototype has been left in a bar in San Francisco. This is not the first time this has happened to an Apple employee; a year ago an unreleased iPhone 4 was misplaced in a bar and sold to a gadget website.  However no spy shots have been found online. Apple has reported the incident to the police.  Apple are desperate to recover the phone so that they can avoid a similar situation to what happened last year in the run up to the iPhone4 release.

By Robert Leat

Editor and Site Founder

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Razer Launch Top Spec Gaming PC

Razer, a manufacturer of pc gaming accessories, have revealed that they will be releasing a top spec gaming pc called the Blade. The device will be 17.3 inches and comes with a 2.8 GHz Intel core i7 processor and will have 8GB of DDR3 ram.  The laptop also boasts an NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M with 2GB video memory. The laptop will also have a built in HD webcam. The Blade will launch before the end of the year in the US and retail at the expensive price of $2,799; the UK price has yet to be confirmed.   

By Robert Leat
Editor and Founder
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A BBC Survey into 3G reveals Shocking Results

A BBC survey designed to look at the state of Mobile Networks in Britain has revealed shocking results. Mobile operators claim that we can get 90% or more 3G coverage. The survey has revealed that there are still many “not spots” these not spots include even towns and cities.  as a result of the survey the BBC was able to find out that the people who took part were only able to get a 3G signal  75% of the time , the rest of the time smart phone users had to rely on the older 2G technology which is much slower than 3G

Areas where data was collected (C) BBC

With an increase in the use of smart phones mobile coverage is becoming more of an issue as people rely more on their smart phones. The BBC created an app which allowed users to test their coverage. 44,000 people participated in the experiment which aimed to create a map of coverage.

To check your coverage you can view an interactive map here.  I have an xperia x10 mini phone which is on the O2 network, I have found recently that I have rarely been able to get 3G and I live in a fairly big town. According to the map there are only a few 3G hotspots in my town, the only place in my town I have ever got a 3G signal is at the station. Clearly a lot needs to be done to improve 3G signal.  

source

By Robert Leat
Site Founder and Editor
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Steve Jobs Resigns as Apple CEO

Apple’s co-founder and CEO has resigned, Tim Cook will replace him as CEO. Steve Jobs recently underwent a liver transplant due to his pancreatic cancer, Jobs has said he can no longer meet his duties and 

expectations as chief executive.                       

Steve Jobs, 56 has been on medical leave since January 17^th. In a statement he said "I have always said if there ever came a day when I could no longer meet my duties and expectations as Apple's chief executive, I would be the first to let you know.

"Unfortunately, that day has come. I hereby resign as chief executive of Apple. Although Jobs has resigned he will still be on the board of directors and be a part of Apple. 

   By Robert Leat
Editor and Founder
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Skull candy Lowrider Headphones Review

I recently purchased The Skull candy Lowrider over Ear headphones from HMV for £35. The main reason I bought these was because Dr Dre Beats are a rip off and I wanted to find a cheap alternative. They come in a variety of colours but I went for the black and blue pair.  The ear pads are fairly comfortable and there is padding under the arch that goes over your head.  The head phones are adjustable to allow the headphones to be place in a more comfortable position.

The Black and Blue Lowriders (C) Robert Leat

A feature I like is that the head phones can be folded; this makes it easier to store the headphones as they become more compact and allows for greater portability.  The ear buds can be turned which allows the headphones to effectively be used as speakers.     

The Folded headphones (C) Robert Leat

The headphones have the standard 3.5mm headphone jack, the sound quality is pretty good the lyrics of songs are very clear but unfortunately they’re not noise cancelling so you can still hear background noise such as cars.  Another thing I do not like about the headphones is the plastic is very flimsy and feels cheap. The headphones do not stay on your head that well so it would not be a good idea to wear them while running.   

(C) Robert Leat

Overall the head phones are good , and they’re not too expensive. They are good for the price I paid for them however I would recommend spending a little bit more money and getting some higher end headphones. I would rate these headphones 7/10 (mediocre)

By Robert Leat Site Founder and Editor
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Write for us

Are you a budding journalist looking? Do you have an interest in Technology and Gaming? Then we need you we’re looking for people to write for our blog, all you need to do is write a few words stating why you would like to write for the blog, it should include any previous blogs and websites you have written for. You will also need to provide a sample article that will allow us to see how good you are at writing articles. Add any other information you feel is relevant.  Send applications to leatstechcorner@gmail.com applicants may also have to go through a skype interview.

(C) Robert Leat  

By Robert Leat

Site editor and founder

Apple Faces Lawsuit

Apple is facing a lawsuit brought by 27,000 South Koreans who are angry over the collection of location data on iPhones and iPads.

Each is seeking 1m won (£533) in compensation for privacy violations.

Apple has faced criticism since in emerged in April that its iPhones and iPads stored locations which could be used to create a map of the user's movements.

The lawsuit could pave the way for others around the world.

Earlier this month the South Korean communications regulator Korea Communications Commission ordered Apple's local operation to pay 3m won (£1,600) fine for violating the country's location information laws.

Kim Hyeong-seok, the lawyer representing the group, himself took Apple to court earlier this year and was awarded 1m won.

The issue came to light when security researchers found a hidden file on the devices containing a record of everywhere they had been.

Used with certain software, the file could generate a map of all a person's movements with the phone.

Apple denied that it has used the information to track user location, saying that the handsets were simply recording information about mobile phone towers and wi-fi hotspots with a view to using it at a later date to "improve services".

Following criticisms, it quickly issued an update which cut the amount of time stored data was kept to just a week and no longer transferred it to the owner's computer.

It also allows users to disable the location services setting on their iPhone or iPad.

Permission for the tracking was given by users among the many pages of terms and conditions for the iTunes store.

By: Matthew Slack
Guest Writer

HP drop Web OS Hardware

HP has decided to drop their web OS hardware, which includes the HP TouchPad. This has come as a shock to many people and retailers. The main reason for this is due to poor sales of their tablet due to competition from the iPad which is the most popular tablet on the market at the moment. This move has come just two months after the UK release date of the HP Touch pad and just two days after the Pre 3 launched.  This move has caused many online retailers to sell out of the HP Touch pad.

   

HP's TouchPad

By Robert Leat
Editor and Site Creator
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Apple Makes record Profit

(C) Apple

Apple’s profits have soared above expectations as sales of the iPhone and iPad double. Apples Net income was $7.31 billion (£4.6 billion), 125% higher than last year. Apple have sold 20million iPhones and 9.25 million iPads, however iPod sales are down 20% with Apple only shifting 7.54 million units. 

By Robert Leat
Site Founder
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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 breaks pre-order record

(C) Activision

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders have already surpassed Black ops pre-order figures, despite the release date being 3 months away the highly anticipated game is already lining up to become a record breaker. It is available for pre-order now and is released on 8^th November. Tom Devine  Managing Director Of GAME group Uk  has said “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 pre-orders are already tracking significantly ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops at the same time last year,”  COD Modern warfare 3 is set to be one of the Biggest Releases of the year.  

By Robert Leat
Site Founder
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Google + vs Facebook

Google has unveiled a new project called Google + which they hope will compete with facebook.  Google + allows users to share Photos, messages and comments; maps and are also integrated into the service. Google claim it will allow users to organise their contacts more easily. Some people have said Google have just copied features from facebook c hat feature. Currently the feature has only been made available to a small number of users but will soon be available to everyone else.

 

LulzSec Disbanded

LulzSec's logo

Hackers group LulzSec has announced via a press release that they’re disbanding. The news comes after LulzSec’s pre planned 50 day attack on various companies including, Sony, Nintendo, Fox and PBS. The group said “Our planned 50 day cruise has expired” 

They also went on to say “For the past 50 days we've been disrupting and exposing corporations, governments, often the general population itself, and quite possibly everything in between, just because we could." LulzSec made the headlines with its attacks, the attacks highlighted holes in the security of companies.     

By Robert Leat
Site Founder and Editor 

CIA and FBI websites Hacked

LulzSec's logo

The CIA and FBI websites were hacked by a hackers group called LulzSec. Yesterday the hackers managed to DDoS (distributed denial of service) the CIA’s homepage; this also affected the FBI’s phone network in Detroit. LulzSec posted details of the hack on their twitter “Tango down – CIA.Gov- for the lulz.". Was one of their tweets.

The US senate’s website has also been attacked according to reports but the group failed to breech the site. LulzSec has mainly targeted gaming websites, they hacked into eve online, minecraft , league of legends and 

FinFisher.

 About author 

Written by Robert Leat

site founder

WWDC Keynote 2011 Summary

Yesterday Apple held their annual developers conference. Apple unveiled their new iCloud service which is basically a media streaming service; it syncs media and iTunes music to all iOS devices. The best part is that this service will be free of charge, it will replace Apple’s current Mobile Me service. iCloud allows you to wirelessly sync  photos, documents, apps and games to all of you iOS devices , Macs and PC’s. An interesting feature of the iCloud service is iTunes Match , which scans you music library , it will then log what songs you have and it will make these songs available for download on all your iOS devices ,  if the AAC files Apples’  iTunes store uses are higher quality than the files you have in iTunes it will automatically replace them with a 
higher quality version free of charge

Apple's iCloud service

Apple also unveiled iOS 5 which is the latest mobile operating system for all iOS devices. The beta is available   currently available to developers only, regular consumers will have access to the download later this autumn. The Changes include: Notification centre, a lot of  iOS users  complained about how push notifications interrupted whatever they were doing , forcing you to deal with the notification, the update removes this and instead replaces it with an android style pull down notification centre,    The camera launch time will be much faster, a lot of iOs device users complained about slow camera launch times ; Apple promised  much faster launch times. The volume up button will now double as a camera shutter; imaging focus has also improved with aperture lock and on photo editing. Apple has now Added iMessage an instant messaging service similar to the Blackberry service BBM.

Apple's iMessage service

The next Mac OSX called Lion was announced. The new features include:  Multi-touch gestures this  allows you to swipe between windows, view mission control , pinch to zoom; Full screen apps is another  feature added to Lion; Mission control which “brings together full screen apps , Dashboard, Exposé” and a new feature which allows you to get a “birds-eye view “  of everything on your system. For the full list of OSX features go here.

The Birds-eye view feature of Lion

By Robert Leat

(C) Robert Leat 2011

 Site Founder

 

iPhone 5 release date leaked

It has been revealed that the iPhone 5 will be available for purchase on the 21^st November; this information was leaked by an anonymous Phones4U representative who was speaking to the technology website t3.  The Phones4U representative said “iPhone 5 has been delayed until November following an issue with the handset's software” he also said that “November 21st release, would "be pretty much the same as the iPhone 4 with new software” typical Apple.

By Robert Leat

(C) Robert Leat 2011

 Site Founder and Editor and Chief