TMCnet News

AP Technology NewsBrief at 12:20 p.m. EST
[December 04, 2012]

AP Technology NewsBrief at 12:20 p.m. EST


(Associated Press Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) US seeks to drop Internet from UN telecoms talksDUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) _ American envoys say they are working with other nations on a proposal to drop all discussions on possible Internet regulations from a U.N. telecommunications conference in Dubai. The U.S. is leading calls to reject possible new codes on the Net by the International Telecommunications Union, a 193-nation body making its first major oversight revisions in nearly 25 years. U.S. representatives held meetings Tuesday on the proposal to take all Internet-related discussions off the table.



Qualcomm to invest $120M in Japan's SharpTOKYO (AP) _ Sharp Corp. says Qualcomm Inc. will become a shareholder with an investment of up to 9.9 billion yen ($120 million) that will fund joint development of new LCD screens for mobile devices. The Japanese electronics manufacturer has been struggling with record losses and had its credit rating downgraded to junk by Fitch Ratings and Standard & Poor's. There has been regular speculation Intel or another technology company would become a shareholder but no major deal has materialized yet.

New search engine connects literary dotsNEW YORK (AP) _ Author Jennifer Gilmore is reading a biography of the late David Foster Wallace. She's curious about his most famous book, the novel "Infinite Jest," and wants to poke around on the Internet to learn more. Her destination is Small Demons, www.smalldemons.com, an encyclopedia and "Storyverse" that catalogues names, places, songs, products and other categories for thousands of books.


Cameron urges quick creation of press regulatorLONDON (AP) _ Britain's prime minister has warned newspaper editors they must act quickly to set up an independent press regulator in the wake of a media ethics scandal. David Cameron spoke days after a report he commissioned on press wrongdoing proposed that the press should be regulated by an independent body enshrined in law.

Struggling Nokia sells headquarters buildingHELSINKI (AP) _ Nokia Corp. plans to sell its head office near the Finnish capital to real estate investors for (EURO)170 million ($220 million) as the struggling cellphone maker continues to cut costs. CFO Timo Ihamuotila says the deal, to be concluded later this month, is in line with aims to shed non-core activities, adding that Nokia will continue to operate from the Espoo headquarters "on a long-term basis." Court upholds $319M verdict in 'Millionaire' caseLOS ANGELES (AP) _ A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $319 million verdict over profits from the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and rejected Walt Disney Co.'s request for a new trial. A jury decided in 2010 that Disney hid the show's profits from its creators, London-based Celador International. The ruling Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no issues with the verdict or with a judge's rulings in the case.

Digital rights groups blast Dutch computer planAMSTERDAM (AP) _ Digital rights groups have called on the Dutch justice minister to retract a proposal that would give the country's police the right to break into computers, including foreign citizens' computers, to combat cybercrime. Minister Ivo Opstelten says investigators have the right to install Internet taps with court permission, citing the need to fight online pedophiles. That sometimes requires breaking into computers.

'The Daily' doomed by dull content and isolationLOS ANGELES (AP) _ It was too expensive. It lacked editorial focus. And for a digital publication, it was strangely cut off from the Internet. That's the obituary being written in real time through posts, tweets and online chats about The Daily, the first-of-its-kind iPad newspaper that is being shut down this month. Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said Monday that The Daily will publish its final issue on Dec. 15, less than two years after its January 2011 launch. The app has already been removed from Apple's iTunes, where it once received lukewarm ratings.

Pope joins tweeting masses with Pontifex handleVATICAN CITY (AP) _ Benedict XVI, the pope known for his hefty volumes of theology and lengthy encyclicals, is now trying brevity _ spreading the faith through his own Twitter account. The pontiff will tweet in eight languages starting Dec. 12 using his personal handle (at)Pontifex, responding live to questions about faith during his weekly general audience, the Vatican said Monday.

Syria says 30 killed in mortar attack on schoolBEIRUT (AP) _ A mortar slammed into a ninth-grade classroom in the Damascus suburbs on Tuesday, killing 29 students and a teacher, according to state media, as the civil war closed in on President Bashar Assad's seat of power. The state-run news agency SANA blamed the attack on terrorists, the term the regime uses for rebels who are fighting to topple the government.

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