Google Play gets video purchasing, TV shows, magazines

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Google Play gets video purchasing, TV shows, magazines

Google's store for Android apps and entertainment content gets a big upgrade at the Google I/O show. Also: faster app updates coming, and 20 billion downloads so far.
by Stephen Shankland June 27, 2012

SAN FRANCISCO -- Google Play, Google's online market for Android apps, movies, music, and books, now lets people purchase movies instead of just rent them.
"We're also adding TV," announced Chris Yerga, an engineering director for Android, at the Google I/O show today here. "You'll be able to purchase episodes or entire seasons."
Google has partnerships for the service with a range of producers, including NBC Universal, Sony Pictures, Disney, Bravo, Paramount, Virgil Films, and Sundance, he said.

FDA approves new weight loss drug

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FDA clears first new weight-loss pill in 13 years

By MATTHEW PERRONE, AP Health Writer
June27,2012
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Food and Drug Administration has approved Arena Pharmaceutical's anti-obesity pill Belviq, the first new prescription drug for long-term weight loss to enter the U.S. market in over a decade.
Despite only achieving modest weight loss in clinical studies, the drug appeared safe enough to win the FDA's endorsement, amid calls from doctors for new weight-loss treatments.
The agency cleared the pill Wednesday for adults who are obese or are overweight with at least one medical complication, such as diabetes or high cholesterol. The drug should be used in combination with a healthy diet and exercise.
Obesity Society President Patrick O'Neil said he's encouraged by the drug's approval because it underscores the notion that lifestyle changes alone are not enough to treat obesity.
"This is good news because it tells us that the FDA is indeed treating obesity seriously," said O'Neil,

How Apple won a ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1

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How Apple won a ban on Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1

By Philip Elmer-DeWitt June 27, 2012
A zig-zag path to victory in a landmark patent infringement case
FORTUNE -- On Tuesday, a U.S. district court in San Jose, Calif., granted Apple's (AAPL) request for a preliminary injunction against Samsung's Galaxy Tab 10.1 -- the tablet computer that most closely resembles Apple's iPad.
"Although Samsung has a right to compete, it does not have a right to compete unfairly, by flooding the market with infringing products," Judge Lucy Koh wrote. "As a patent holder, Apple has a valid right to exclude others from practicing Apple's invention."
The order won't do immediate harm to Samsung, which filed an appeal five hours later. Stores that

Meteorite Hunter Discovers New Mineral

Meteorite Hunter Discovers New Mineral

By Adam MannEmail Author June 27, 2012
Hidden within a rock from space is a mineral previously unknown to science: panguite.

Justin Bieber nabs top selling debut in 2012 with 'Believe'

Justin Bieber nabs top selling debut in 2012 with 'Believe'

Raneisha Wilkinson
by thecelebritycafe.com
6/27/2012
You can call Justin a lot of things, but broke isn’t one of them. The teen heartthrob just made history again, selling 374,000 copies within new album Believe's first week of release. Nielsen SoundScan reports that this is the third studio album Bieber has put out.

The Biebs was able to beat out Madonna’s MDNA, which formerly held the number one spot with 359,000 sold this past March.

Keith Caulfield, who is Billboard’s associate director of charts, told USAToday, “That Bieber can have the biggest opening week of the year says that he's doing a good job. It's always tough making that transition from tweeny-teeny pop star to young adult. It's a challenge, and he seems to be doing quite well so far."

Microsoft loses appeal against EU antitrust smackdown

Microsoft loses appeal against EU antitrust smackdown

Court upholds fine, but knocks it down to €860m
By Brid-Aine Parnell • Get more from this author

Posted in Law, 27th June 2012
Free whitepaper – Enabling Datacenter and Cloud Service Management for Mid-Tier Enterprises
The EU's second-highest court has rejected Microsoft's appeal on the antitrust fine levied by the European Commission four years about, although it did knock a cool €39m (£31.2m) off the total.

The General Court was unmoved by Microsoft's arguments against the fine, which was imposed by the European Commission after Microsoft failed to comply with an original antitrust ruling – which had found that Redmond was charging competitors too much for interoperability info for its servers.
"The General Court essentially upholds the commission’s decision imposing a periodic penalty payment on Microsoft for failing to allow its competitors access to interoperability information on reasonable terms," the court said in a canned statement.

Zynga announces features and expands gaming portfolio

Zynga announces features and expands gaming portfolio

Connecting players from Facebook to Zynga.com on IOS and Android
By Lee Bell
Wed Jun 27 2012

GAMING UPSTART Zynga aims to satisfy its army of social networkers by extending across more genres with its own network, more features and an expanded games portfolio.
Zynga's announcement on Tuesday unveiled a fresh "Zynga With Friends" network and introduced an API layer dubbed Zynga API that will offer an easier way for the firm to offer gaming services and eventually open up to third party developers, though Zynga said the latter will come at a later date.
The Zynga With Friends network is a reference to the company's Scrabble inspired Words With Friends game. The company claimed in a press release that it's a "unified experience" that will "connect all players on any platform from Facebook to IOS and Android to Zynga.com".
It allows Zynga players to access the same tools across its network, rolling out a "social lobby" that will include features and social services such as Zfriends, live Social Stream and chat, as well as a

New Egyptian President’s Biggest Worry?

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Why the New Egyptian President’s Biggest Worry Could Be the Economy

Rising debt and lower growth threaten to detail Egypt’s revolution as much as grasping generals
By MICHAEL SCHUMAN | @MichaelSchuman | June 27, 2012
The newly elected President of Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed Morsy, has taken on one of the most daunting jobs in the world. He’ll have to restore stability to a country ravaged by political upheaval, wrest control of Egypt’s fading revolution from the country’s old guard and convince doubters at home and abroad that an Islamist can manage the Arab world’s most populous nation with tolerance and pragmatism. Yet in the end, Morsy’s political fate may depend on whether or not he can turn around a staggering Egyptian economy.

Though there have been many causes of the uprisings in Egypt and elsewhere in the Arab world – most of all decades of political repression – economic woes also played a key role in sparking the Arab Spring. While other developing regions of the world, especially East Asia, have witnessed

Stockton, California, To File For Bankruptcy Protection

Stockton, California, To File For Bankruptcy Protection

By Steven Church and Alison Vekshin - Jun 27, 2012
Stockton, California, said it will file for bankruptcy after talks with bondholders and labor unions failed, making the agricultural center the biggest U.S. city to seek court protection from creditors.
“The city is fiscally insolvent and must seek chapter 9 bankruptcy protection,” Stockton said in a statement released yesterday after its council voted 6-1 to adopt a spending plan for operating under bankruptcy protection. “In addition to the bankruptcy petition, the city will file a motion with the courts to share information from the confidential mediation.”
The budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1 calls for defaulting on $10.2 million in debt payments and cutting $11.2 million in employee pay and benefits under union contracts that could be voided by

Queen Elizabeth II, ex-IRA chief Martin McGuinness shake hands in reconciliation landmark

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Queen Elizabeth II, ex-IRA chief Martin McGuinness shake hands in reconciliation landmark

by cbs news

June 27, 2012.


(AP) BELFAST, Northern Ireland - Queen Elizabeth II and a former Irish Republican Army commander have offered each other the hand of peace in a long-awaited encounter symbolizing Northern Ireland's progress in achieving reconciliation after decades of violence.

Northern Ireland Office officials say the monarch and Martin McGuinness met privately Wednesday inside a Belfast theater during a cross-community arts event. Media were barred from the event, but the two are expected to have a public handshake later.

Obama Tops Romney In Poll Of Three Swing-State Voters

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Obama Tops Romney In Poll Of Three Swing-State Voters

By Kristin Jensen - Jun 27, 2012
President Barack Obama holds an edge over presumed Republican nominee Mitt Romney in the election battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio and Florida, a Quinnipiac University poll shows.
Obama leads Romney by 9 percentage points in Ohio, 6 points in Pennsylvania and 4 points in Florida, according to the June 19-25 “swing-state” survey released today. Obama has gained ground in Ohio and Florida while his lead in Pennsylvania diminished slightly, compared with a comparable Quinnipiac poll released on May 3.

Colorado Waldo Canyon Fire forces 32K to flee homes, partially closes Air Force Academy

June 27, 2012

Colorado Waldo Canyon Fire forces 32K to flee homes, partially closes Air Force Academy

(AP) WOODLAND PARK, Colo. - A stubborn and towering wildfire jumped firefighters' perimeter lines in the hills overlooking Colorado Springs, forcing frantic mandatory evacuation notices for more than 9,000 residents, destroying an unknown number of homes and partially closing the grounds of the sprawling U.S. Air Force Academy.