YouTube kills millions of fake video views

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In an attempt to kill black-hat view count building techniques, YouTube has slashed more than 2 billion views of channels such as Sony BMG, RCA Records and Universal Records. View count manipulating techniques are being dealt with harshly by the video sharing site.  Daily Dot reported about YouTube going on a ‘winter cleaning’ after finding that channels were using 'view building' services to create ‘views’ that never really existed. As reported by the website, Universal’s channel took the biggest hit in this exercise. “According to figures compiled by the YouTube statistics analysts at SocialBlade, the record company's YouTube channel lost more than 1 billion views from its pre-existing tally of 7 billion views Tuesday,” it said. Sony BMG was the second-largest sufferer as it was stripped of more than a staggering 850 million views, bringing the total number of views on its channel to a mere 2.3 million. RCA too was stripped of 159 million views, bringing the channel views total to 120 million. Cracking the whip on fake views Videos too were affected by YouTube’s wield-whipping. UMG’s archive library now only consists of five videos, none of which are actual songs, all less than two minutes long. Sony too fell prey to this cutting and now has no videos, reports Daily Dot. Forums and YouTube channels were filled with complaints by users that their videos and views were taken down as a result of violations of YouTube’s Terms of Service. YouTube confirmed that these videos were indeed taken down. “This was not a bug or a security breach. This was an enforcement of our view count policy,” a Google representative wrote on a forum. Universal told Daily Dot that the incident had actually taken place, but also mentioned that the channel had been lying dormant for a while as they had shifted focus towards their VEVO channel. YouTube is very keen to change things on their website, right from enforcing its Terms of Service strictly to creating a new cleaner UI for better viewing. The most crucial elements are now placed front and centre while viewing a video. The video itself is placed right at the top of the page, whereas the subscribe button, social actions and video information are combined below the player.  YouTube has also made it easy for users to subscribe to channels. The site now has a Guide on the home page that suggests videos based on the ones that a users has liked or subscribed to. This Guide also suggests the latest and greatest channels that the user could like, while also showing them what their friends were sharing across the web.

ITC Judge recommends Samsung post 88 percent value bond, import bans in Apple patent case Mobile

If you're keeping track of the multiple, and let's face it, tiresome Samsung / Apple patent debacle, a document that just turned up at the ITC might spell more trouble for the Korean manufacturer. It's a publicly redacted version of Judge Pender's recommendations, and pertains to the October ruling that deemed Samsung borrowed four of Cupertino's designs. The most iconic being design patent D618,678 (that which you see above). The others include multi-touch patent 7,479,949 (which was tentatively invalidated) along with two other patents (RE41,922 and 7,912,501) relating to graphic display elements and audio hardware detection. If the recommendations are adopted -- and FOSS Patents suggests this is entirely possible -- Samsung could face a US import ban after a 60 day presidential review, an order prohibiting "significant" sales of infringing products in America along with a posting a bond for 88 percent of the entered value of mobile phones (plus 32.5 percent for media players and 37.6 percent for tablets) that include the breaching design features. Pender has, however, reportedly cleared several Samsung "designarounds" which, if implemented to satisfaction, would mean the tech giant could continue trading. For now though, the recommendations are awaiting the Commission's review.

LG Nexus 4 vs Samsung Galaxy Nexus: Camera shootout

We had a run-in with Google’s flagship smartphone today and we put it to work right away. The Nexus 4 is built by LG and follows the Galaxy Nexus very closely in terms of design and aesthetics. We’ll have an in-depth first impressions of the phone for you very soon, but first, how about a little camera showdown against the Galaxy Nexus. The camera in the previous phone was only good if all the conditions were ideal like a bright summer’s day. Anything else and you might as well not bother taking the phone out of your pocket. The Nexus 4 on the other hand has an 8MP BSI sensor from Sony, so we can expect great things from it, especially in low light.  We will be comparing it with other handsets like the iPhone 5, Lumia 920, etc in the future but for now, we just want to see how much of an improvement it is over its predecessor.  On Video   We’ve shot a quick hands-on video of the LG Nexus 4, highlighting its design and build as well as a quick comparison with the Galaxy Nexus itself. We also get to see the new powerful Qualcomm SoC in action through a quick lap of NFS: Most Wanted. Good detail on both but the Nexus 4 edges out the GNex with better depth of field In the first out door test, both cameras appear to capture very good amount of detail. However, the colours are a bit exaggerated in the Galaxy Nexus as compared the Nexus 4. Also, the depth of field is stronger in the Nexus 4 as the blue wall and shrubs in the background are more blurred out. No real competition here Our second test was indoors, under sufficient ambient lighting. Here, the BSI sensor come into play by offering a much better white balance as well as a lot more detail. The Galaxy Nexus is simply unable to capture enough detail and colours in this sort of lighting. Good detail and accurate colours from the Nexus 4 We finally come to our macro test. Once again, the Nexus 4 came out on top with better white balance and much better contrast. The detail is also a lot better.  There’s no word when the Nexus 4 will actually launch in India but latest rumours state a possibility of an early Jan launch. You can buy the handset right now from the gray market for approximately Rs 36,000 for the 16GB model. Stay tuned for our first impressions on the Nexus 4 coming up shortly.

More BlackBerry N-Series images surface, appeases QWERTY lovers with sharper focus

Remember this little guy? It was Christmas Eve when Mr. Blurrycam gave us a look at this keyboard-equipped BB10 prototype. Skip to the present, and N4BB has apparently come across news images of it, minus the fuzz. Aside from being clearer, the phone's screen is notably powered on in this round images -- essentially proving it's more than a dummy. While we've known the unit is likely part of RIM's N-Series, the site notes that its actual model number may officially be presented as the X10 (not to be confused with Sony Ericsson, Klipsch and Fujifilm offerings of the same moniker). Things will certainly become even clearer on January 30th, that's for sure -- for now, hit the source link for a couple of more images.

Lenovo ThinkPad Helix swings through the FCC with AT&T-native LTE

There have been doubts that Lenovo's ThinkPad Helix would ever arrive in the US, with even the past FCC appearance of a WiFi-only version offering no guarantees. An American launch now seems considerably more likely in the wake of a follow-up FCC approval. The dockable, 11.6-inch Windows 8 tablet has popped up carrying LTE both on an AT&T-specific 700MHz band and AT&T-friendly AWS (1,700MHz and 2,100MHz) bands -- with such explicit network support, we'll be surprised if it doesn't reach US shores. Little else is available in the filing that we don't already know, although it's clear that there's no real cellular access for Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon. We'd just like to know if and when Lenovo is ready to make the ThinkPad Helix official for this side of the world and give the upcoming IdeaTab Lynx some company.

Pearson buys a small stake in Nook Media, wants a fast track for digital education

Publishers often want to work closely with e-book outlets -- possibly a little too closely -- but it's rare that they involve themselves directly. Pearson is taking that uncommon step by making a 5 percent, $89.5 million investment in Nook Media, the joint venture between Barnes & Noble and Microsoft. Some of the reasoning won't be made public until Barnes & Noble provides holiday sales results on January 3rd, but Pearson is clear that it's furthering its online education plans: it wants Nook Media's distribution skills to make a "seamless and effective experience for students." Just when we'll see this harmony is still up in the air, though. Nook Media has yet to outline what Microsoft's partnership means for e-books and e-readers, let alone how Pearson factors in. We're not expecting a sea change until companies start speaking up.

New Toshiba camera module lets you refocus snapped pics

Toshiba Corp has developed a camera module that lets you refocus any part of a photograph you have already shot. According to a report by The Asahi Shimbun, the module is really tiny and can be fitted in smartphones and tablets. Currently, cameras require users to focus on images before releasing the shutter. Although you can make significant changes to photographs post shooting with imaging software, this technology promises to take photography and imaging to an entirely different level. This tiny, cube-shaped camera module measures only about 1 cm square and contains 500,000 lenses. Each of these 500,000 lenses is 0.03 millimeter in diameter. What's interesting here is that the module puts to use the same mechanism as that of the compound eye structure found in insects.  Toshiba's camera module lets you click first, then worry about focusing. Each lens in the module captures an image that is slightly different and the camera produces a"large, complete picture by using original software to combine the 500,000 tiny images." The report elaborates that the camera measures the distance to an object, depending on the differences between the small images—just how cameras do in case of two lenses used to create 3D images.  The module can focus on objects by magnifying and superimposing only those portions of the images that have come out well. "Unlike traditional cameras, the new camera can create pictures that are focused on every single part of the image," the report adds. It is even possible to record videos using this module. The report reveals that it can be used to "retain the image of a figure in the foreground while replacing the background." Toshiba plans to commercialise the module by the end of FY 2013. It will enable smartphone manufacturers and other companies to take up the idea soon after that. Considering how important it is for any smartphone to have decent camera capabilities, a technology like this going mainstream is sure to work wonders. A similar camera was unveiled in June last year: Lytro allows you focus or refocus an image after it has been clicked. Lytro captures light data from various possible angles, for which it comes packed with microlens array—a special sensor which basically puts together many lenses in a tiny space. When the image is viewed on a computer screen, high-end software steps in to allow users to set the point of focus. Those who tested the prototype of this camera touted it as a revolutionary moment in photography.  The Lytro camera is the brainchild of Ren Ng, who’s also the Chief Executive at Lytro. He's had this concept with him since 2006 as a part of his Ph.D. thesis at Stanford University. It has won him the Best Doctoral Dissertation in Computer Science award from the Association of Computing Machinery.