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New products: retro radio delivers modern sound

The Songbird from Crosley Radio starts at $50.(Photo: Crosley Radio)Story HighlightsNew Sony Cyber-shot has a 30x optical zoom, built-in WiFiDeflector Case for iPhone can be personalized with pictures, wordsEnhance what you hear with the Personal Audio EnhancerThe Songbird sings of springThe humble radio gets a spring makeover with a leatherette covering in your choice of Peacock Blue, Pink Flambe', Strong Blue, Tangerine Tango and Oasis Green. Sporting a retro-1950s look, the Songbird from Crosley Radio[1] features a matching leatherette handle strap, two silver control knobs and a white speaker grill. Equipped with a digital tuner, an audio jack, a headphone jack and an alarm clock, the AM/FM radio can be powered by five AA batteries or the included AC adapter. It costs about $50.www.crosleyradio.com[2] The Cyber-shot HX50V from Sony starts at $450.(Photo: Sony)Think small for the big pictureHow small and light can a camera be? Very, if you are talking about the Cyber-shot HX50V from Sony[3]. It weighs in at a mere 9.6 ounces and measures about 4.4-inches by 2.6-inches by 1.2 inches. Nonetheless, the 20.4-megapixel camera is designed to be a heavyweight when it comes to taking pictures. Loaded with a 30x optical zoom and an optical image stabilizer, the camera can capture quality pictures and video recordings from across the room, even when the lighting is dim. Its speedy autofocus can capture an impromptu shot while manual controls can help you set up a perfect shot. Like what you see? You can transfer the images to a tablet or phone via the camera's built-in Wi-Fi. The new model will go on sale next month for about $450.www.store.sony.com[4]RELATED: Read reviews of the best digital cameras on Reviewed.com[5] Uncommon's line of Deflector Cases for iPhones starts at $40.(Photo: Uncommon)Cool protection for your cool phoneYou've updated your wardrobe for spring. Now…
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Tablet shipments soar in first quarter

Tablet shipments soar in first quarter Global shipments more than double in first quarter. Post to FacebookPosted!A link has been posted to your Facebook feed. Sent!A link has been sent to your friend's email address. An iPad is on display during an Apple event in San Francisco.(Photo: Paul Sakuma, AP)Consumers cannot seem to get enough tablets. Global shipments of the popular computing devices more than doubled during the first quarter of this year, says IDC, yet another signal of the tablets' surge in popularity. More than 49.2 million tablets were shipped during the first quarter of 2013, up 142% from the same time last year. It's also more than the number of tablets shipped in the first half of 2012. Apple continues to dominate, shipping 19.2 million iPads worldwide, more than twice that of second place Samsung. However, Apple's lead in market share has closed from 58.2% during the first quarter of 2012 to 39.6%. Meanwhile, Samsung's share jumped to 17.9% from 11.3% at the same time last year. Nexus 7 manufacturer Asus, Kindle Fire makers Amazon and Microsoft with its line of Surface tablets rounded out the top five. The IDC report follows a survey from the Consumer Electronics Association that finds 40% of Americans say they own a tablet. And it appears the larger screens are more appealing to consumers. CEA finds tablets with screen sizes between 8.9 and 10.1 inches boasted ownership rates twice as high as smaller devices.Follow Brett Molina on Twitter @bam923[1]. USA NOW Plane crashes, explodes on tape | USA NOW videoMay 01, 2013 { "assetid": "2128161", "aws": "tech", "aws_id": "tech", "blogname": "", "byline":"Brett Molina, USA TODAY", "contenttype": "story pages ", "seotitle": "Tablet-shipments-first-quarter", "seotitletag": "Tablet shipments soar in first quarter", "ssts": "tech/personal", "taxonomykeywords":"Consumer Electronics Association", "templatename":…
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Faked celebrity gossip fuels Facebook scams

Offers to view lewd celbrity content on Facebook are often viral. Catalin Cosoi is Chief Security Strategist at Bitdefender(Photo: Bitdefender)Story HighlightsSame old tricks continue to spread malicious apps on world's most popular social networkFacebook scammers make good living off compulsive behavior of web socializersSEATTLE – Facebook scammers continue to use top celebrities in ruses to get users of the world's largest social site to click on links that infect their computing devices.The Top 10 Facebook scams revolve around come-ons to view lewd content relating to Kim Kardashian, Megan Fox, Justin Bieber, Selena Gomez and Chris Brown, according to analysis supplied exclusively to USA TODAY from Romanian anti-virus company BitDefender. Catalin Cosoi, Chief Security Strategist at Bitdefender, supplies context:Q: Facebook puts a lot of resources into security. So why are these scams still getting through to users?Cosoi: Facebook is doing a lot in terms of security. If you keep using the same target and constantly fine-tuning your attack vectors, though, at some point you will find ways to bypass security measures. However, once they start spreading, they will probably pop up in an outbreak detection mechanism and will be removed. Compared to a couple of years ago, Facebook is doing really well in eliminating threats.Q: How would you characterize the success level of the bad guys?Cosoi: They aren¹t starving . Thousands of unwary victims click daily on third-party applications that promise to let them see their stalkers or change their Facebook color. Educated but non-technical men are usually the first who hurry into clicking and spreading such messages, especially bogus sex tapes.Q: Can you briefly describe how a typical Facebook attack unfolds; what are the steps?Cosoi: A typical Facebook attack unfolds in waves, with a series of compromised URLs luring users with the same bait in a short period of time.…
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TECH NOW: Gadgets tackle big spring cleaning chores

A look at a gutter-cleaning robot and other household gadgets. The Winbot automated window washer.(Photo: Ecovacs)Story HighlightsClean your gutters with iRobot's Looj 330Tackle garage cleanup with tips on PinterestTry shopping site Quirky for accessories to organize cords and plugsIf the idea of scouring, scrubbing, and squeegee-ing your home into tip-top shape in time for summer makes you cringe, there are a few high tech tools that can help.The first job you can tackle with tech is cleaning out your gutters with the iRobot Looj 330[1] gutter cleaning robot. It's really easy to use and keeps you from having to stand on your tippy-toes on the top of your ladder for too long. All you do is charge it up, put it in one end of your gutter, and use the wireless controller to send it on its way. The auger spins at 500 RPM, kicking out debris, leaves, and muck, while still being sensitive enough to stop and backup if it hits an overhang or other major impediment. It was even recently redesigned to ensure that it fits in smaller spaces. The Looj stays charged for three hours and can clean 30 feet of gutter in just five minutes.This kind of set it and forget it slacking isn't cheap, the Looj runs about $300. But according to homeadvisor.com[2], if you pay someone else to do it for you just once, it costs an average of $200 or more. (That's the argument I used with myself to get one of my own recently.)There are also robots that wash your windows[3], scrub your floors[4] and even vacuum[5] your entire house. But not all "smart" cleaning gadgets need an on-switch to win big in the battle against the dust-bunnies.Shopping site Quirky[6] has a dozen or so devices to better tackle and help you…
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Nintendo returns to profit on weak yen boost

Shoppers take escalators under the logo of Nintendo and Super Mario characters at an electronics store in Tokyo, Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013.(Photo: Shizuo Kambayashi AP)Story HighlightsAnnual sales dipped 1.9 percentWii U sales at 3.45 million units fell short of Nintendo%u2019s targetVideo game consoles face tough competition from mobile gamesTOKYO (AP) — Nintendo returned to profit for the fiscal year ended March 31 as a lift from the weakening yen offset sales struggles caused by software delays for its latest home console Wii U.The Kyoto-based maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games reported Wednesday an annual profit of 7.1 billion yen ($72 million), a reversal from a 43 billion yen loss the previous year.Annual sales dipped 1.9 percent to 635.4 billion yen ($6.4 billion).Both profit and sales results were slightly worse than the projections of analysts surveyed by FactSet.The dollar has been trading at 95 yen levels in recent months, and is now above 99 yen, up dramatically from 80 yen a year earlier — a boon for Japanese exporters like Nintendo.Nintendo gained 39.5 billion yen ($399 million) from a favorable exchange rate for the year.Nintendo expects profit to balloon to 55 billion yen ($555 million) this fiscal year ending March 2014. It did not break down quarterly results.Still, Wii U sales at 3.45 million units fell short of Nintendo's target for the fiscal year of 4 million units.That had been lowered from an earlier more optimistic projection of 5.5 million units.The Wii U, which went on sale late last year, was the first major new game console to arrive in stores in years.Game machines have lost some of their appeal with the arrival of smartphones that also offer gaming, and other pastimes such as social networking that are vying for people's leisure time.Nintendo has repeatedly boasted it appeals to so-called…
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New Tech Economy: Apple CEO faces challenge winning back skeptics

Investor David Einhorn is pushing Apple to share more of its wealth with investors.(Photo: KIMIHIRO HOSHINO AFP/Getty Images)Story HighlightsApple's financial results Tuesday is a big day for money managers, analystsWill there be signs that a recent steep drop in stock price is over?Any bad news is excuse to sell shares first and ask questions laterSAN FRANCISCO — When Apple reports quarterly results on Tuesday, big money managers and Wall Street analysts who are still bullish on the company will be sifting through the numbers, looking for signs of hope that the long and painful drop in its share price may be over.When the once most valuable company in the world suffers a 40% haircut, such divination can take on the scope of a cottage industry.But retail investors considering whether to buy, sell or hold the stock might do better to screen out that noise and focus on a factor that's just as important to Apple's stock price as the company's revenue and profit trajectories — namely, investor psychology.That's because nothing that CEO Tim Cook or other Apple executives say about iPhones, iPads or a possible smart watch can change one important fact: The type of investors who pushed Apple shares to $700 last year have grown more than skeptical of the company's growth prospects.The evidence for that goes beyond the obvious defection of growth investors from the stock, which we wrote about in a January column, one that also explained why Apple's foray into China wasn't going to live up to investor hopes[1].Since then, the stock has fallen further, and the company's problems in China have broadened beyond profit-margin concerns to include attacks on Apple's reputation by that country's state-run media.Last week, a disappointing revenue forecast from Apple chip supplier Cirrus Logic pushed the shares down more than 5%. The…
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