Has Apple launched its own eBay store?

Officially refurbished Apple products are now available on eBay, a move that suggests the iPhone maker company has opened its own store on the auction site. The store carries no branding, but sources cited by 9to5Mac claimed the store is a trial run for an official Apple store to sell refurbished products online.

The Apple retailer appeared on eBay about a month ago and, according to 9to5Mac, “has been hiding in plain site ever since”. According to the Telegraph, it is branded as a “Refurbished Outlet”, and features no corporate or contact information.

Its reviews, however, are 99.7 percent positive, despite no information on where objects are from, the report said. According to the paper, the move, while uncharacteristic for the iPad-maker, would bring it into line with other PC manufacturers, including Dell and HP, as well as retailers such as Argos and Tesco. eBay has become a popular place for manufacturers to shift excess stock efficiently, as the site has pushed itself forward as a digital high street for bargain products. -ANI

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Hewlett Packard blames Autonomy for $8.8bn write-off over 'misleading' firm on finances

American multinational computer maker Hewlett Packard has blamed UK software firm Autonomy for an 8.8 billion dollar write-off over alleged ‘misrepresentations of finances’ before being taken over by HP last year. HP said Autonomy appeared to have "inflated" the value of the company prior to the takeover as part of a "wilful effort to mislead", which eventually led to a 5 billion dollar charge in its latest quarterly accounts.

The former management team of Autonomy "flatly rejected" the allegations, while three former senior members of staff, including former chief executive Mike Lynch, said they were "shocked" to see the statement, the BBC reports. “It took 10 years to build Autonomy''s industry-leading technology and it is sad to see how it has been mismanaged since its acquisition by HP,” the statement from the former management team said.

According to the report, during a conference call following the announcement, HP chief executive Meg Whitman said, “We did a whole host of due diligence but when you''re lied to, it''s hard to find.” "[Autonomy] was smaller and less profitable that we had thought," she said, adding that HP''s investigations suggested that the UK firm had misstated its revenues and growth rate. Taking into account recent falls in HP''s share value and lower-than-anticipated returns from the merger, the total one-off charge recorded in HP''s accounts for the three months to the end of October was 8.8 billion dollars, pushing the company to a 6.85 billion dollar net loss, the report said. -ANI

Photo: REUTERS/Thierry Roge

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Facebook outrage: Shaheen's account hacked, 10 held for vandalism

My Facebook account has been hacked, said Shaheen Dadha Tuesday two days after she and her friend were arrested for questioning on the networking site the Mumbai shutdown following Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's death, even as 10 people were held for vandalising her uncle's clinic. Also, as Shaheen and Renu's arrest Sunday night by Thane rural police was hotly discussed in colleges and schools, offices, networking sites and Twitter, a lawyer filed a complaint before the Maharashtra State Commission for Women alleging human rights violation.

Speaking to IANS, Shaheen said she did not deserve to be treated like this. "I have apologised because I want peace and harmony. But this has been a nightmare. The treatment meted out to us was unfair," she said. She also said that somebody from California had hacked her Facebook account. "I have registered a police complaint, mentioning that I will not be responsible for whatever is posted through the fake account," said Shaheen, who was released on bail after being booked for "hurting religious sentiments".

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena leaders remained evasive on the alleged attack on the Thane-based clinic of Shaheen's uncle. "Bala saheb is our God. If one hears anything against their God, a strong reaction is bound to come. We don't know if those who ransacked the girl's uncle's hospital were Shiv Sainiks, but please understand that there are thousands of Bala saheb supporters outside of Shiv Sena too," party official Anil Parab told IANS. Thane rural police also arrested 10 rioters who ransacked the hospital of Shaheen's uncle. However, they were released on a bail bond of Rs.7,500 each after being presented in the local court.

Superintendent of Police Ravindra Shengaonkar confirmed the developments. However, he refused to state whether the rioters were from the Shiv Sena. Lawyer Abha Singh, who approached the women's commission over the issue, said: "The manner in which the girls were arrested clearly indicates that there has been gross violation of human rights as well as Supreme Court directives for affecting arrests." The message posted by Shaheen and 'liked' by her friend Renu Sunday read as follows: "With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on... Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect."

Facebook is also sporting anti-Shaheen pages, one of which is titled "Don't Support Shaheen Dadha". The page vehemently appeals to everyone that Shaheen should not be supported and that what she did was wrong. But there was wide support for the two women too.

"Police officers who arrested the two girls in Mumbai shud be immediately dismissed. That's minimum that the govt ought to do," tweeted activist and politician Arvind Kejriwal. "Now you can't ask questions about why there should be a bandh? Did anyone notify the police that this is actually a democracy?" Mumbai-based author Jerry Pinto wrote on his Facebook wall. Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said: "Question isn't about amending Section 66A of the IT Act, it's about preventing misuse by the police, who clearly acted in haste and applied wrong sections of IPC and IT Act." The Communist Party of India-Marxist asked Maharashtra's Congress-Nationalist Congress Party government to "take immediate action and stop pandering to the whims and fancies of the Shiv Sena". -IANS

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India outraged: voices rise in crescendo against 'Facebook arrests'

Oppressive, deplorable, arbitrary… the adjectives flew freely Tuesday as Indians across all sectors verbalised their outrage at the arrest of two young women who questioned on Facebook the shutdown in Mumbai after Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray's death. A day after 21-year-old Shaheen Dabha was arrested with her friend, who had 'liked' the post on Facebook, and her uncle's clinic in Thane was vandalised, police arrested nine people believed to be from the Shiv Sena. Both the women were arrested Sunday - for "hurting religious sentiments" and under the Information Technology Act, 2000 - and released on bail Monday. Police also launched an inquiry against the arrests and the vandalism in Thane, near India's financial and entertainment hub Mumbai.

But that did little to curb the democracy vs dictatorship debate and the mounting fury over police high-handedness. The topic was hotly discussed in college and school classrooms, in offices, on social networking sites and was also the top trending topic on Twitter. From corporates and students to politicians and academics, the voices of protest, young and old, rose in unison. "I am so scared to write on facebook... My freedom of expression is killed by the arrest of two young ladies in Mumbai," wrote Guwahati-based wildlife activist Firoz Ahmed on his Facebook wall.

"Police officers who arrested the two girls in Mumbai shud be immediately dismissed. That's minimum that the govt ought to do," tweeted activist-turned-politician Arvind Kejriwal. "Now you can't ask questions about why there should be a bandh? Did anyone notify the police that this is actually a democracy?" Mumbai-based author Jerry Pinto wrote angrily on his Facebook wall. In Mumbai-based communications professional Kumar Manish's view, the arrests were an "oppressive way of muzzling voices". "It is unfortunate and deplorable that Maharashtra Police, a state functionary, acts and reacts within couple of hours for an action which is within the laws enshrined in the Constitution of India… We are living in a democracy, let us not make it 'demo-crazy'," he added.

Many others IANS spoke to in Mumbai preferred not to be identified though they condemned outright the arrests and the vandalism that followed. A telling comment perhaps on the forces at play in India's busy commercial capital and its neighbourhoods. "Dictatorship is what we witnessed over last weekend… Can one not even express their feelings now? Are we in democracy or dictatorship," asked a young man. Terming it the "the death of democracy", another woman professional said: "What irks me is how the alleged Shiv Sainiks reacted in the most intolerant and cowardly manner. We are living in mob culture and this is just not acceptable." 

The ire spilled over to every sector. Minister of State for Communications and IT Milind Deora said: "Question isn't about amending 66A of the IT Act, it's about preventing misuse by the police, who clearly acted in haste and applied wrong sections of IPC and IT Act." "Also, vandals of Dhada Hospital must be booked! Hope Maharashtra government takes immediate corrective action," he tweeted. The CPI-M asked for Maharashtra's Congress-NCP government to "take immediate action and stop pandering to the whims and fancies of the Shiv Sena".

In a statement against the "illegal and arbitrary arrests", the groups Communalism Combat and SAHMAT said the incident was "one more instance of the growing politics of intimidation threat and violence that are not firmly dealt with by the authorities". Signed by artists, academics, media professionals and legal experts, the statement said the arrests were the "most recent in a long list of actions undertaken by the police under the IT Act which are questionable". Most people felt the only way to reinforce faith in the establishment was to suspend the policemen who arrested the girls.

The ripples were felt globally as well. Linking the Mumbai arrests to the shooting of Pakistani teen Malala Yousafazai, contactmusic.com reported that the prohibition of what's allowed on the internet and the decreasing amount of free speech available on social networks such as Twitter and Facebook is becoming more and more apparent.And this was the message posted by Shaheen: "With all respect, every day, thousands of people die, but still the world moves on... Today, Mumbai shuts down due to fear, not due to respect."-IANS

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Windows Phone 8 users now report poor battery life and random reboots

Windows Phone 8 based device are yet to launch in the Indian market, although HTC has announced the pricing and also said that they will arrive sometime this month. We have still not got an official word as to when they will arrive in the market. On the other hand Nokia recently announced that its Windows phone 8 devices will not be coming to India this month.

If you are interested in purchasing these devices then this might be helpful as various users from around the globe are reporting battery issues and random reboots with the flagpship Windows Phone 8 devices.

At the WPCentral forums a huge number of HTC 8X users have reported random reboots and there is a similar thread on Microsoft’s support forums which has gained 60 replies by now regarding the same issue. I have used the HTC 8X which is a not a resale unit and has some testing tools, I have faced the similar issue along with others.

Nokia Lumia 920 users have also reported random reboots and freezes, along with poor battery life problems. There is a thread on the same on Nokia’s support forums regarding the reboots and freezes. In hopes of fixing the battery life issue users tried wiping their devices which has left some units stuck at the Nokia splash screen as reported by users on a thread over at WPCentral.

All the three companies are yet to respond to these issues and once the official word is out we will update you on the same. One should note that these are early Windows Phone 8 issues and a fix for these may soon be available as a small update.

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iFixit takes apart the Nexus 4, points out it is not quite repairable

Carrying on with the amazing task of tearing down the new gadgets, the team at iFixit recently took apart the new LG Nexus 4 to take a close look at the internals of the latest Google Nexus smartphone.

This device has an all-glass chassis and the rear cover of the phone conceals a number of pressure contacts that power the NFC antenna and connect the induction coil to the motherboard of the device which helps with its wireless charging feature. The battery pack is secured to the case with adhesive hence physically replacing the battery will be a problem. This is a 3.8V 2,100 mAh battery just like the one on the iPhone 5. Beneath this there is a speaker enclosure which is placed over a plastic frame that covers the motherboard, earpiece speaker and a vibrator motor.

On the motherboard, the Nexus 4 has five Avago chips – one for GSM and EDGE networks, three for power amplifications and one for its GPS capabilities. Additionally there is a WTR1605L OVV PKK486R1 Qualcomm chip which features LTE capabilities. It is unclear as to why this chip is present on the device as it the device does not support LTE connectivity.

iFixit points out that it is easy to take apart the device but it is not entirely repairable and gave the Nexus 4 a score of 7 out of 10 on repairability.  However it does use the fused display technology which might make it much stronger and less prone to damaging the display. If it does get damaged then it may cost more than a few bucks to replace the display.

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App of the Week: vjay for iOS

From the makers of 2011's Apple design award winning DJ app, vjay is an iOS app for the purpose of quickly editing audio/video clips. The editor ships with a modest library of 15 video tracks from artists such as Far East Movement, Eclectic Method, Parov Stelar, and J-Live. In addition, the application can read media content from a storage device, built-in camera, and iTunes Store. vjay has a handful of audio processing filters, and a few video effects such as transitions, and loops. Algoriddm is selling vjay for iPhone and iPod for $0.99; whereas the iPad version is priced at $4.99.

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Texas Instruments shutters tablet chip business

According to a report by Reuters, Texas Instruments has laid-off 1,700 as part of an ongoing operation to move out of the tablet chip business. The company has declared in September that the competitive mobile and tablet market has forced it to think about making further investments. These numbers account for five percent of Texas Instrument’s global workforce.

Texas Instruments will shift their focus to wooing car and home appliance manufacturers. The company will continue to support OMAP processor for vendors such as Amazon, who are expected to ship Kindle with OMAP 5.

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