The High Tech Society’s Tech News Recap

 November 11-18th 2012 

By Trish Rounsaville

Welcome to the first weekly recap of the HTS tech news. Join me each Sunday as I update you on what’s happened during the past week in case you missed it.

During this past week we have seen a lot of exciting news related to technology. We have seen games released for purchase, lawsuits, and even a Twitter war. This article is going to give you a brief summary of all of the interesting news this week from November 11-18th, 2012.

Google Games on G2 LG TV’s

Earlier this week, Google announced that it has signed a contract with OnLive and LG, which has paved the way for new features built into many LG TV’s. These features will include Googles Games on the LG G2 model. If you already stream Google TV on your LG TV, you will get instant updates that will allow you to take advantage of the new features.

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Skype Security Problems

The largest video chat and messaging program Skype announced that they have been experiencing both security and privacy issues on their website. These issues included an easy way for someone to hack into user accounts, allowing them to have access to any content typed into the skype program. If you use Skype, check out this article for more information and tips to keep your account protected.

Microsoft Vs. Google

The trial related to Motorola Mobility Patents between Microsoft and Google began on November 13th. This case will determine royalty rates for Motorola’s video and wireless patents, and the royalties paid out by companies using the software. This case is officially between Microsoft and Google, but is attracting attention from many other companies that may have a future stake in the patents.

Black Ops 2 Availability 

On November 13th, Black Ops 2 was released, but many customers claim that they already had a copy of the popular game. It is claimed that Black Ops 2 was shipped to stores earlier in the week, and many stores began selling early at a higher price. However, customers who managed to find a copy prior to the official release were not able to access any online content, and could face being banned from the network for having a pirated copy of the game. See also our Call of Duty Black Ops 2 Review

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Urine Powered Generators

Four teenage girls in Africa have created a generator that could become the future of hydro-technology. The generator is powered by urine, and uses an electrolysis process to turn the urine into a useable, green fuel that has more running power than regular gasoline.

“Twitter” War

Israel and Hamas are fighting a war over the Gaza conflict using the popular social networking website ‘Twitter’. On Wednesday, the Israel Defense Forces began tweeting and blogging about the current military operation in the Gaza strip against Hamas. The IDF even uploaded a video of the attack and a propaganda type of poster.

The New Wii U

We announced that the new Wii U game was due for release on Sunday November 18th, and that if you didn’t have one pre ordered, you may not be able to purchase one. Sources state that the game is pre-sold out almost everywhere, and the only way to guarantee that you get a system is to purchase it through auction websites like eBay, however, purchasing from auction sites means that you will probably have to pay much more than the system is worth.

Apple’s Virtual Page Turn Patent

E books have become extremely popular, but in order to make them more realistic, an animated graphical user interface showing a turning page was created. Earlier this week, the United States Patent Office awarded Apple the design patent for this page turn graphic. This was one of the 38 patents granted to Apple over the course of this week.

Lytro Camera add Filters and a 3-D Effect

Lytro cameras, a style of camera that allows you to take a photo and then refocus after the photograph is taken, announced that they are adding two new features to their design. The new features will give the user the ability to bring the whole picture, rather than one small section into focus, and filters similar to those offered by Instagram. These features have been requested by many Lytro camera users, and along with the wide variety of available accessories should help the camera gain in popularity.

Texas Instruments Plan to Lay Off 1,700 Employees

On Wednesday, Texas Instruments stated that it plans to lay off 1,700 employees in an attempt to move focus away from its failing mobile business. This means that about 5% of TI’s staff will lose their jobs. The job cuts are part of a previously announced restructuring initiative that is aimed at increasing TI’s presence in the device market, and cut costs.

Facebook Launches Job Search App

Social media giant Facebook launched a new job search app on Wednesday that includes almost 2 million job listings, and includes listings from services such as BranchOut and Monster. This app is part of Facebook’s social jobs partnership initiative which was formed in October 2011. If you would like to use this great new app, it is called the Social Jobs Partnership.

Every Sunday, The High Tech Society’s Trish Rounsaville, will be recapping the past week of tech news.

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