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AP Technology NewsBrief at 9:54 a.m. EDT(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) AT&T, T-Mobile pledge to bring 5,000 jobs to USWASHINGTON (AP) _ AT&T Inc. is pledging to bring 5,000 wireless call center jobs, currently based abroad, back to the U.S. if it is allowed to proceed with its proposed $39 billion acquisition of T-Mobile USA. The company is also promising that the merger would not result in any job losses for AT&T and T-Mobile USA wireless call center employees who are on the payroll in the U.S. when the deal closes. Sony, Toshiba, Hitachi join forces in displaysTOKYO (AP) _ The display businesses of three major Japanese electronics makers are joining forces to become more competitive in small and medium-sized panels _ a sector that's expected to grow because of the popularity of smartphones and tablets. The display-business subsidiaries of Sony Corp., Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Ltd. agreed to sign a deal later this year and to complete the business combination by the first few months of next year, the companies said Wednesday. Sony shows wearable 3-D personal theaterTOKYO (AP) _ Sony says it will start selling a head mounted display that provides a 3-D theater of music videos, movies and games, targeting people who prefer solitary entertainment rather than sitting in front of a TV with family or friends. Sony Corp. said Wednesday that the 60,000 yen ($800) "HMZ personal 3-D viewer" is set to go on sale Nov. 11 in Japan, and is planned for the U.S. and Europe, perhaps in time for Christmas, although dates have not yet been set. Hack may have hit Google users in IranAMSTERDAM (AP) _ Experts say the Iranian government may have been behind a hacking attack, allowing it to read Google email from dissidents who thought they were using secure connections. Chicago-based Internet security firm Vasco said Wednesday its Dutch subsidiary, DigiNotar, detected the hack on July 19, compromising its security guarantees for "a number of domains, including Google.com." The company then quietly tried to fix the damage, but was alerted by the Dutch government Monday that it had missed Google, and perhaps others. WikiLeaks site comes under attackLONDON (AP) _ The WikiLeaks website crashed Tuesday in an apparent cyberattack after the accelerated publication of tens of thousands of once-secret State Department cables by the anti-secrecy organization raised new concerns about the exposure of confidential U.S. embassy sources. "WikiLeaks.org is presently under attack," the group said on Twitter late Tuesday. One hour later, the site and the cables posted there were inaccessible. Startup tries to put sociability back into moviesNEW YORK (AP) _ Streaming movies might not yet have the equivalent of a theater experience, with roaring crowds crunching on popcorn, but they are getting more social. Hollywood studios have increasingly looked to social media and Facebook, in particular, as a distribution platform. The early inroads have been experimental, but turning social media users into audiences is a bright new hope for a Hollywood looking to counter sagging DVD sales. CNN gets more personal, buys iPad magazine ZiteSAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ CNN has acquired Zite, an iPad service that learns about readers' tastes and customizes a digital magazine with stories from hundreds of different websites. CNN, a cable news channel owned by Time Warner Inc., has no plans to change Zite's format, said K.C. Estenson, general manager of CNN's digital division. Biden calls for new clean energy policy for USLAS VEGAS (AP) _ The United States can't lead the world in the 21st century with its current energy policy, Vice President Joe Biden told alternative technology supporters Tuesday at a clean energy summit in Las Vegas. The nation is already trailing China and Germany in green technology, Biden said. It will trade its dependence on foreign oil for a dependence on foreign clean energy technology if its leaders don't act to help fledging green researchers and businesses, he said. AP IMPACT: Automation in the air dulls pilot skillWASHINGTON (AP) _ Pilots' "automation addiction" has eroded their flying skills to the point that they sometimes don't know how to recover from stalls and other mid-flight problems, say pilots and safety officials. The weakened skills have contributed to hundreds of deaths in airline crashes in the last five years. Some 51 "loss of control" accidents occurred in which planes stalled in flight or got into unusual positions from which pilots were unable to recover, making it the most common type of airline accident, according to the International Air Transport Association. Battle for Lions Gate ends with Icahn sellingLOS ANGELES (AP) _ Activist investor Carl Icahn said Tuesday that he is shedding his entire stake in Lions Gate Entertainment Corp., ending a more than two-year battle for control and sending shares of the niche movie studio tumbling in after-hours trading. The sale, announced after the market closed, included an agreement for both sides to drop all pending lawsuits against each other. (c) 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |