Technology Round-Up (12/17/12)

Thanks to Chad for putting this together.

Technology Round-UpPoll

Google Apps is back with a vengeance for iOS. It now features voice navigation among many other features. The phone has already topped the apps chart.

Considering that Apple is the one who originally removed Google Maps from the app store, is this Apple's way of admitting defeat? Is Apple Maps doomed? [Poll]

Apple

Police tasered a 44-year-old woman for refusing to leave an Apple store.

A police office was busted in a sting operation after trying to buy a "stolen" iPhone 5 for $15.

Wal-Mart is selling the iPhone 5 for $127 and the iPhone 4S for $47 (with a two-year contract of course).

Over 2 million iPhone 5s were sold in China in one weekend.

Apple's iPhone has been found guilty of violating a MobileMedia patent.

People waiting on an iOS 6.x untethered jailbreak will have to continue waiting.

Analysts predict that Apple may purchase TomTom.

Working conditions in Apple's Foxconn factories in China are still pretty bleak.

Rumor has it that Apple is working quickly to develop an iPad Mini with a retina display. Meanwhile, the current iPad Mini looks like its sales will eclipse the Retina iPad sooner rather than later.

Apple's stock continues to plummet (much to your round-up author's chagrin), down to nearly $500 from its high of $702.

A Japanese toy company has shown off a detailed Steve Jobs action figure that holds an iPad.

Apple has announced free 2-day or 3-day shipping for all products.

As promised in the last round-up, iTunes 11 has received its first update which restores the "duplicate finder" feature.

Internet

The man behind PornHub and YouPorn has been arrested for tax evasion.

Justin Bieber may get banned from The Philippines for mocking Manny Pacquiao for being knocked out by Juan Manuel Lopez.

Dropbox has acquired a streaming music company.

Facebook has been added to the Nasdaq 100 stock index, and EA, Netflix, and RIM have been dropped from it. Facebook has also been rated the best place to work.

Verizon-Redbox will offer streaming video service at $6/mo, $2/mo cheaper than Netflix.

Every IE version 6+ is vulnerable to having the mouse movements tracked.

The latest Firefox nightlies support "private browsing" without having to switch from normal browsing first.

President Obama and Justin Bieber were the most retweeted of 2012.

Twitter now allows people to download archives of their tweets.

A new ISP is offering 1GB of free monthly data.

Cisco may be selling off Linksys, it's home router/modem division

Google

Google is killing Calendar sync for Exchange ActiveSync among other sync services. iOS users can switch to the newly-offered CardDAV protocol to keep their calendars up to date.

Google is not planning to release Windows 8 Google Apps anytime soon.

Google will change the way it uses web snippets to comply with FTC demands.

Electronics

SkyTender gives airplane passengers immediate access to cool beverages.

A 60-inch ultra-HD television has been announced. It costs a mere $31k.

An online petition recommending that the U.S. Government develop a Death Star-like weapon the size of the moon has picked up enough votes to force the Obama administration to actually respond to it.

Although no one will argue that motorcycles are safe, this helmet that helps prevent concussions is at least a step in the right direction.

A speed camera in Baltimore issued a ticket to a car that was stopped at a red light for driving 38 mph in a 25 mph zone.

Valve's creator, Gabe Newell, has confirmed that a Steam box will be released to compete with next-gen gaming consoles.

Point-of-sales systems across America and the UK have been infected with "Dexter" malware (no relation to the show) that steals credit card information.

Mobile

Google claims to have found three girls under 16 working at a Samsung phone factory in China. Samsung has denied the allegations and stated that the girls are of age.

T-Mobile has launched 4G in 23 metropolitan cities.

Verizon may remove unlimited data for all subscribers--even legacy ones.

Blackberry 10 may keep the Blackberries in the White House.

Dell has said it will not consider returning to the phone market.

Sprint's EVO 4G LTE has received Android 4.1 Jellybean.

The Verizon variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 has also been updated to Android 4.1.

The Motorola Atrix has been updated to Android 4.1 Jellybean.

The HTC 8X has received its first update for Windows 8.

Apps

Running out of gift ideas? Gift someone an app from the Apple App store.

Apple has named the top apps of 2012.

Microsoft may be releasing an office suite for the iPad.

Amazon Instant Video is now available for iOS.

Facebook has launched a new iOS app and a new Android app.

Dropbox for iOS has been updated with new photo features.

Listen to Grand Theft Audio radio stations on your smartphone with GTA Radio.

A&E has a new iPad app that offers free access to full TV episodes.

Computer/Tablet

The new Windows Chief has explained the reasoning behind Microsoft redesigned Windows 8. She does not, however, explain why they fired the person who pushed for the start menu replacement.

Anyone syncing files with Windows Live Mesh should go ahead and upgrade to Skydrive before Live Mesh is discontinued in February.

The Microsoft Surface is now available at Best Buy.

You can now pick up the Barnes & Noble Nook and Nook+ at your local Wal-Mart. Speaking of the Nook, Barnes & Noble have reached agreements with HBO and NBC for streaming content.

Microsoft Security Essentials has become the most popular antivirus software in the world.

Check out the top 5 drives of 2012.

Microsoft has released an updated version of Bing Desktop Search that now supports Windows XP.

Tips/Tricks

Keep yourself organized by creating your own master planner. In addition, check out these tips about a to-do list.

Learn how your brain works against you and what to do about it.

Check out the 10 best iOS tweaks that don't require a jailbreak.

Ask Siri for Google Maps navigation directions.

Get a month of free calls worldwide with Skype Premium.

Use Google App Engine to still get Google Apps for free.

Learn how to pinch-to-zoom on Android Gmail.

Miscellaneous

A movie about Angry Birds will be produced.

John McAfee says he faked his illness after fleeing Belize where he left all his money and his two girlfriends. He has also sold the rights to a movie about his life.

Best Buy may soon be bought out for $5-$6 billion.

Although the Games Round-up has gone by the wayside, check out a list of the top 25 most-anticipated games of 2013. Also, check out the top 11 games of 2012 (not sure why they couldn't pick one more game to make it the "top 12 of 2012").

Check out technology's winners and losers of 2012.

NASA has tried to jinx the world by releasing a video explaining why the world didn't end…10 days before the scheduled end of the world.

Contributor

CyberInferno