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Tag: report

  • Best Law Schools Where Students Enroll

    The U.S. News and World Report released a list of the top law schools where students are more likely to enroll in after being accepted. The top three law schools based on this metric are Yale University, Harvard University, and Brigham Young University (BYU). At each of these universities, over 60 percent of students accepted into the law programs enrolled in the program. Yale topped the list with 81 percent of its accepted students enrolling.

    The new metric is designed to see which universities have the highest percentage of students that actually enroll based on acceptance to the university’s law program. Like all U.S. News and World Report rankings, the list is primarily for students and parents who are looking to find the best schools to enroll in based on faculty, reputation, and cost, among other factors.

    The list can be contrasted with the U.S. News and World Report listing of the top law schools for 2015. Although Yale and Harvard are listed as the best and second-best law schools respectively, BYU is listed with a ranking of 36 and the University of New Mexico, which is fourth in the rankings of acceptance versus enrollment, is ranked 72 in the overall rankings for law schools. And the University of Missouri (seventh place) and the University of North Dakota (eighth place) were not even in the top 100 of overall rankings.

    That might be due to the fact that BYU has the lowest tuition and fees of any private school on the overall rankings at all with a cost of $22,560 per year for the 2013-2014 school year. The high enrollment rates at the other universities may be due to similar factors.

    Some highlights from the newest ranking report which analyzes acceptance-enrollment trends include:

    The University of California-Davis had the lowest enrollment total of any school within the rankings at 11 percent.

    North Carolina Central University dropped from the top ten this year as its enrollment percentage of accepted students from 48 percent to 41 percent.

    The University of Nevada (Las Vegas) rounded out the top ten with a 42 percent enrollment of accepted students.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom Report Theft

    Khloé Kardashian and Lamar Odom may not be an item anymore, but it looks like the two are still dealing with issues including burglary at the home they once shared.

    LAPD confirms that they are investigating a report of missing property at the Tarzana, CA., home.

    They cannot confirm the amount or that there were no signs of forced entry. Officers are following up and the investigation is still ongoing.

    However, a source told E! that $250,000 worth of jewelry and items was stolen and “maybe more.” They do not know who robbed them, added the source.

    The duo purchased the seven-bedroom, eight-bath mansion in December 2009 for $3.9 million. Kardashian and Odom later put their 8,400 square-foot home on the market in January for $5.4 million.

    Kardashian took to Twitter this morning to unload her aggravation.

    The couple was married for four years.

    Kardashian graces the cover of Cosmopolitan on newsstands today.

    Image Via YouTube

  • Big Surprise: iOS And Android Continue To Dominate

    Big Surprise: iOS And Android Continue To Dominate

    In the smartphone wars, there can be only two – iOS and Android. While alternatives like Windows Phone and Firefox OS are making some decent headway in emerging markets, Apple’s and Google’s mobile operating systems still rule the roost.

    In its latest report, IDC found that smartphone shipments passed the 1 billion mark for the first time in 2013. That feat was accomplished thanks to the combined might of Android and iOS as the former shipped 793.6 million units last year while the latter shipped 153.4 million units.

    As for the competition, Windows Phone saw a 90 percent increase in shipments compared to 2012. In 2013, Windows Phone shipments reached 33.4 million compared to last year’s 17.5 million. On the other hand, BlackBerry continued its slide into irrelevancy with 19.2 million units shipped in 2013 compared to 2012’s 32.5 million units – a 40.9 percent decrease.

    “Clearly, there was strong end-user demand for both Android and iOS products during the quarter and the year,” says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team. “What stands out are the different routes Android and Apple took to meet this demand. Android relied on its long list of OEM partners, a broad and deep collection of devices, and price points that appealed to nearly every market segment. Apple’s iOS, on the other hand, relied on nearly the opposite approach: a limited selection of Apple-only devices, whose prices trended higher than most. Despite these differences, both platforms found a warm reception to their respective user experiences and selection of mobile applications.”

    In its look at the fourth quarter, IDC found that Android device shipments had increased by 40 percent to 226.1 million units compared to Q4 2012’s 161.1 million units. iOS saw much less growth during Q4 with 51 million units shipped compared to last year’s 47.8 million units.

    In quarter four, Windows Phone saw some success with 8.8 million units shipped – a 46.7 percent increase over Q4 2012’s shipments of 6 million units. BlackBerry didn’t fare so well with only 1.7 million units shipped in Q4 – a 77 percent decrease compared to Q4 2012.

    So, what does the future hold for iOS, Android, Windows Phone and BlackBerry? According to IDC’s crystal ball, Android and iOS will still dominate. Windows Phone coupled with Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia will lead to more Windows Phones being shipped. As for BlackBerry, it’s cautiously optimistic if the company can better appeal to an enterprise market.

    Among all of these platforms, it sees Android, and more specifically Samsung, as the big winner in 2014 though.

    “In 2013 we saw the sub-$200 smartphone market grow to 42.6% of global volume, or 430 million units,” said Ryan Reith, Program Director with IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker. “While the market moves downstream to cheaper products it makes sense for Samsung and others to continue their marketing investments geared toward high-end products. These efforts build crucial brand perception while having less expensive alternatives that closely relate to these top products helps to close the deal. Samsung has done exactly this with the ‘Galaxy’ line. The family name is associated with Samsung’s high-end products, yet there are ‘Galaxy’ variants offered by Samsung at much lower price points than the Note 3 and S4. This has been an important factor in how Samsung has sustained its market lead.”

    So it would seem that Samsung and Apple have the right idea. They should continue to release premium smartphones alongside entry-level phones that look like those premium smartphones so even the poor masses can look like they’re carrying around the latest tech in their pocket.

    Image via Samsung

  • Free Credit Report Offered To Target Customers

    Free Credit Report Offered To Target Customers

    After the breach of Target’s security system, that left many of their customers who used debit and credit cards vulnerable to hackers, Target has decided to offer a free credit report and credit monitoring service to those who were affected.

    Approximately 70 million customers, who made credit and debit card purchases in their U.S. Target stores between November 27 and December 15, 2013, had their information accessed. Not only did the hackers get the credit/debit card information, they also acquired other personal information including names, mailing addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses.

    To try to compensate their customers, Target has chosen to partner with Experian to offer one year of free credit monitoring, which includes a free credit report. By signing up for the Experian’s ProtectMyID service, customers will have access to a copy of their credit report, daily credit monitoring, identity-theft insurance, and assistance from fraud agents.

    Target has created a specific website where customers can go to find out more information about the program, and sign up. For more information, visit creditmonitoring.target.com

    “We truly value our relationship with you, our guests, and know this incident had a significant impact on you. We are sorry. We remain focused on addressing your questions and concerns,” Target said in a message to their valued customers. The message went on to address some of the concerns that they have seen from many of their customers:
    • You have zero liability for any charges that you didn’t make.
    • No action is required by you unless you see charges you didn’t make.
    • Because we value you as our guest and your trust is important to us, Target is offering one year of free credit monitoring to all guests who shopped U.S. stores. Visit creditmonitoring.target.com to request an activation code. View our FAQ on credit monitoring here.
    • Your social security number was not compromised.
    • Be wary of call or email scams that may appear to offer protection but are really trying to get personal information from you.

    Image via Creditmonitoring.target.com

  • Twitter Looks to Make It Easier to Report Abusive Behavior in Wake of Controversy

    Last month, we all got to see just how brutal online abuse can be when a feminist activist was subjected to some pretty serious threats due to her outspoken position on women on English currency (or the lack thereof). Of course, we know that people on the internet can be pretty nasty to one another – but this was something different. This abuse was deeply rooted in anti-women views and included a multitude of rape threats. There was even an arrest made in connection to it. Basically, this went much further than your average “people being mean online” scenario.

    The story of Caroline Criado-Perez and her Twitter abuse went viral, and the response from much of the Twitter community was to ask the company to improve their abuse reporting mechanisms – at least make it easier to do so on the site. An online petition garnered over 125,000 signatures and Twitter execs mentioned that they would look into making some changes.

    Well, they have.

    The first major success for the petitioners is the commitment to a new report abuse button that will launch on Android and Twitter.com next month. Until now, reporting abuse on those platforms has been a bit muddled – with users having to fill out a form on another part of the site. Now, there will be a report button inside every tweet. Twitter just enabled that functionality on Twitter mobile and iOS last month – so this is just an expansion of that which has been hastened along by all of this controversy.

    “Over the past week, we’ve been listening to your feedback on how we can improve our service. You told us that we need to make our rules clearer, simplify our abuse reporting process, and promote the responsible use of Twitter…We are committed to making Twitter a safe place for our users. We are adding additional staff to the teams that handle abuse reports and are exploring new ways of using technology to improve everyone’s experience on Twitter. We’re here, and we’re listening to you,” said Twitter in a blog post.

    Twitter has also committed to expanding resources for victims of abuse and to amend the Twitter Rules to be more clear about the service’s no-tolerance policy on abusive behavior.

    Right out of the gate, Twitter UK GM Tony Wang found himself in the middle of this controversy. Along with posting the update on the Twitter UK blog, Wang took to the service to publicly apologize to those who felt abused in the past:

    For the next day or so, Wang spent hours responding to dozens and dozens of Twitter users personally. Many accused him of singling out women as the only group victimized by Twitter abuse.

    “Thanks for the understanding as I was referring to events this past week, of course rules apply to all,” said Wang.

    It looks like Twitter’s doing what they can here in the face of a substantial amount of outrage. It’s not just hard, it’s downright impossible to prevent all sorts of bullying, threatening, and general abuse on the internet. But social media sites can do more to protect users from much of the abuse with better tools for reporting said abuse – and that’s exactly what Twitter is doing.

  • Activist’s Twitter Rape Threats Lead to Arrest, May Result in New Abuse Reporting Mechanism

    Late last week, The Bank of England announced that the face of author Jane Austen would adorn the country’s new 10-pound notes – some time in 2017. Austen will replace Charles Darwin, who has been the face of the bill.

    The move came in response to criticisms that women were being ignored and excluded from appearing on England’s currency. And one of the leading voices of that criticism came from journalist and feminist activist Caroline Criado-Perez, who has faced a series of abusive tweets from disgruntled Twitter users and trolls. According to Criado-Perez, shortly after the announcement of the new currency, she was receiving upwards of 50 rape threats an hour.

    And now, one man has been arrested in connection with one of these rape threats. Sky News reports that a 21-year-old man has been booked on charges of harassment.

    “It was really really disturbing to find that something as small as asking for one woman on a banknote could result in such a barrage of threats of sexual violence. It’s just not acceptable and more than that it’s actually a crime and Twitter needs to take it seriously and the police need to take it seriously,” said Criado-Perez.

    She’s definitely not alone in feeling that Twitter needs to step up and make it easier to report abusive tweets. Shortly after she began receiving the threats, a petition went up on change.org and quickly gained steam.

    You can report accounts for violation via Twitter’s support forms, but the petitioners want Twitter to implement a “report abuse” button that will be available on every single tweet.

    “We need Twitter to recognise that it’s current reporting system is below required standards. It currently requires users to search for details on how to report someone for abuse; A feature that should be available on each user’s page,” says the petition, which is up to nearly 60,000 signatures. “The report abuse button needs to be accompanied by Twitter reviewing the T&C on abusive behaviour to reflect an awareness of the complexity of violence against women, and the multiple oppressions women face…it’s time Twitter started protecting its users.”

    And it appears that Twitter is listening. Twitter UK General Manager Tony Wang said that the company is testing new simple reporting features:

    Adding a new report button to all tweets would undoubtedly make it easier for Twitter to remove offending accounts at a faster clip – and that’s really all you can hope for. There’s no way that Twitter will be able to eliminate trolling or legitimate threats on the site – there is simply too many users and too much information being exchanged at any given moment. But when speech turns into threats, there’s really no downside in having clearer tools to report them.

    All over this. Get a grip, people:

  • Average Global Internet Speeds Are Still Increasing

    Average Global Internet Speeds Are Still Increasing

    Most of us in the U.S. love to rag on our ISPs and blame them for what we perceive as painfully slow Internet speeds. Our ISPs certainly do deserve their fair share of criticism, but we should also celebrate when things are headed in a positive direction. The latest report from Akamai is cause for celebration as it shows things are looking up in the ol’ U.S. of A.

    Akamai released its quarterly State of the Internet report today. The report covers Q1 2013, or the three month period beginning in April and ending in June. The big takeaway from the report is that average global Internet speeds are increasing with the worldwide average now at 3.1Mbps, or a 17 percent increase over last year.

    Breaking the global Internet speeds down, we see that South Korea is still the global king of broadband with average connection speeds of 14.2Mbps. What’s interesting about this, however, is that South Korea’s average speed is down 10 percent from last year. It’s the only country in the top 10 to see a decline. In fact, it’s two closest Asian competitors – Japan and Hong Kong – came in second and third place respectively with average speeds of 11.7Mbps and 10.9Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 6.8 and 16 percent respectively.

    So, where is the United States in all of this? We’re in ninth place with average speeds of 8.6Mbps, or a whopping 27 percent year-over-year increase. It’s also a 7.4 percent increase over last quarter’s average speeds of 7.4Mbps.

    Average speeds are important, but an increasingly important metric is the percentage of Internet users who have access to Internet speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The report found that South Korea is once again in first place with a whopping 50 percent of its population having access to speeds of 10Mbps or higher. The U.S. is showing positive signs in this area as well with 25 percent of its population having access to what Akamai calls “high broadband.” Amazingly, that’s a year-over-year increase of 69 percent.

    Next, Akamai’s report moves to the United States to look at which states have the highest average Internet speeds. Like always, New England has the fastest Internet with Vermont coming in first place with average speeds of 12.7Mbps, or a year-over-year increase of 40 percent. New Hampshire and Delaware come in second and third place with 12Mbps and 11.9Mbps respectively. The only state not on the East Coast/New England to make the top 10 is Utah coming in at fifth place with average speeds of 11Mbps.

    As for states with the most high broadband, the top 10 list is dominated by New England/East Coast states. New Hampshire comes in first with 48 percent of its population having access to Internet speeds equal to or higher than 10Mbps. That’s a year-over-year increase of 65 percent. New Jersey came in second with 45 percent, or an astounding 100 percent year-over-year increase.

    One could argue that the average Internet speeds in the U.S. are going up thanks to an increasing number of cities that are rolling out gigabit Internet services. Akamai points out that gigabit Internet is now available in or coming to 13 cities across the U.S., including Kansas City, Chattanooga, Lafayette, Bristol, Seattle, Cedar Falls and others. It’s unlikely that these cities had any real impact on this quarter’s numbers, but it’s a positive sign to see the number of gigabit cities increasing.

    It’s encouraging to see that the Internet is picking up pace around the world. There’s still much work to be done, however, as Akamai notes many countries are still underserved by slow national ISPs that prevent the people in these countries from taking advantage of the numerous innovations brought about faster broadband.

    If you want to see more from Akamai’s report, you can check out the executive summary here. If you want to read the full report, you’ll have to register here.

  • Mozilla, Foxconn Team Up On Firefox OS Tablet [Report]

    Foxconn is best known as the manufacturer of the iPhone, iPad and other Apple devices that begin with a lowercase “i.” The massive manufacturer may be diversifying its portfolio this year, however, with mobile devices that run Mozilla’s new Firefox OS.

    Reuters is reporting that Foxconn and Mozilla are planning to unveil a Firefox OS-based mobile device On June 3. The interesting bit about this new report is that Foxconn isn’t working on a phone, but rather a tablet. This would be the first time that Mozilla has shown how its Firefox OS would adapt to tablet computing as the non-profit has only shown Firefox OS running on smartphones thus far.

    The question now is – why go with Foxconn? It seems that Foxconn and Mozilla are hoping the relationship is mutually beneficial as Mozilla can sell more cheap devices in emerging markets while Foxconn can diversify its lineup. In regards to the latter, it seems that Foxconn is trying out new avenues of income after finding that unit orders from Apple for iPhone and iPad devices have been slowing down in recent months.

    The current report makes it seem like the Firefox OS tablets will be marketed and sold by Mozilla. So far, Mozilla has opted to partner with carriers and third-party manufacturers for its Firefox OS smartphones. It will be interesting to see if it decides to go the Google route and sell its own Firefox-branded devices in the future.

    It remains to be seen if Firefox OS will really take off, but the hardware is projected to appeal to emerging markets thanks to its inexpensiveness. Unfortunately for Mozilla, Google’s Android has also been encroaching on that turf for quite some time, and Apple may be offering a cheap iPhone alternative in the future as well.

    Mozilla’s advantage in low price may not much of advantage when Firefox OS finally launches to consumers later this year so it had better have a rock-solid OS that people will want to use over Android and iOS.

  • Global Internet Speeds Have Increased Yet Again

    Global Internet Speeds Have Increased Yet Again

    Every quarter, Akamai releases a report called “The State of the Internet.” In the previous report, Akamai found that broadband speeds had fallen on a global level. Thankfully, the latest report indicates that speeds are rising yet again.

    Akamai reports that average global connection speeds rose 5 percent to 2.9 Mbps in Q4 2012. That may not seem like much, but many countries in Africa and Southeast Asia are still seeing average speeds of 500-800 Kbps. Those countries are only seeing less than one percent increase in speeds each quarter, but recent initiatives may help bring them up to speed sooner rather than later.

    On a country-by-country basis, South Korea is still king with an average speed of 14 Mbps. Japan is second with 10.8 Mbps and Hong Kong is in third with 10.8 Mbps. The United States was ranked in eighth place with an average speed of 7.4 Mbps.

    Every country in the top 10, except for South Korea, saw average broadband speeds increase. Japan saw a year-over-year increase of 19 percent, Hong Kong saw a year-over-year increase of 5.4 percent, and the U.S. saw a year-over-year increase of 28 percent.

    The top 10 positions are largely the same when it comes to countries with high broadband (speeds over 10Mbps) connections. South Korea is in first place with 49 percent of the country with high broadband internet followed by Japan and Hong Kong with 39 percent and 28 percent respectively. The United States is in eighth place again with only 19 percent of the country having high broadband.

    When looking specifically at the United States, the Northeast largely remains the place to be if you want consistently high Internet speeds. Vermont takes the number one spot with average speeds of 10.8 Mbps followed by Delaware and the District of Columbia with 10.6 Mbps and 10.2 Mbps respectively.

    It’s largely the same when looking at the states with the highest amount of the population with access to high broadband. In this case, New Hampshire comes in at the top spot with 34 percent of its residents having access to speeds higher than 10 Mbps followed by the District of Columbia and New Jersey with both at 33 percent.

    As for Internet penetration, Akamai says that nearly 700 million unique IPv4 addresses connected to its platform in the last quarter. That’s a 4.2 percent jump from Q3 2012 and a 13 percent jump from Q4 2011. With a single IP address potentially representing numerous users, Akamai estimates that there are over one billion unique Web users on the Internet today.

    It should be noted that not every Internet user connects to Akamai, but a great deal of them do. Akamai’s numbers are about the closest we’ll get to the actual number of people who are now connected to the Internet.

    On a final note, Akamai says that global attack traffic (i.e. DDoS attacks) increased by 200 percent in 2012. Unsurprisingly, 41 percent of that attack traffic originated from China in Q4 with the United States coming in second with 10 percent of all attack traffic.

    Despite the worrying increases in attack traffic over the last year, Akamai’s report is incredibly encouraging. We like to complain about our ISPs, and for good reason, but these reports always help to put things into perspective. Our Internet speeds are slowly rising, and they’re rising faster than in other parts of the world. With the spread of Google Fiber and Gigabit Squared, we might start to see the U.S. rise up the ranks in forthcoming quarterly reports.

    You can get a copy of Akamai’s State of the Internet Report here. If you don’t want to read 45 pages of analysis and charts, you can read the two-page executive summary here.

  • The iPhone 5S May Come In Multiple Sizes [Report]

    One of the most prevalent rumors surrounding the next iPhone is that Apple is working on a larger phone. Some suggest that the larger display won’t come into play until next year’s iPhone 6, but others are now suggesting that we’ll get a larger iPhone with this year’s iPhone 5S.

    Brian White, analyst for Topeka Capital Markets, said that Apple will release the iPhone 5S with three separate screen sizes. He reportedly got his information from a company in Apple’s supply chain.

    “We believe Apple is coming around to the fact that one size per iPhone release does not work for everyone and offering consumers an option has the potential to expand the company’s market share,” White said.

    This isn’t the first time that White has predicted the iPhone 5S will come in multiple screen sizes. He said the same thing back in January, while adding that Apple would be using Sharp’s new IGZO display panels for the larger screens. He also said that the iPhone 5S would be offered in more colors than just the traditional black and white.

    White also addressed the persistent rumor that Apple will be releasing a cheaper iPhone this year for the Chinese market. Some rumors suggested that Apple would go as low as $99 for the cheaper device, but White says that Apple can’t possibly go below $300 without a subsidy. The reason being that Apple never sells at a loss or at cost. Even if it’s cheaper, Apple has to make a tidy profit on every iPhone sold to keep investors happy.

    All of this is speculation for now, but we may find out more about the mythical iPhone 5S sooner rather than later. The latest rumors peg the iPhone 5S release date for June. If that’s the case, we could see a reveal in late May/early June.

    [h/t: Apple Insider]

  • Xbox Special Event Planned For May 21 [Report]

    After Sony revealed the PlayStation 4 in February, everybody turned to Microsoft expecting a reveal of the next Xbox. Previous rumors suggested an April showing, but a new report says that we won’t be seeing anything about the new console until May.

    Paul Thurrot revealed during the latest “What the Tech?!” podcast that Microsoft would be unveiling its next Xbox on May 21. The Verge was able to confirm the date with sources close to Microsoft saying that the event was originally schedule for April, but was pushed back to May for an unknown reason.

    There wasn’t much more information revealed about the console, but Thurrot did throw out one interesting tidbit – the price. He claims that the next Xbox will retail for $500, but will only cost $300 if the consumer chooses to go with a subscription service. A subscription model would be nothing new for the company as it already offers the Xbox 360 for $99 with a two-year contract that has the consumer paying a monthly fee for Xbox Live.

    Interestingly enough, Thurrot also says that the internal Microsoft documentation he has mentions the always online requirement that stirred up quite a bit of controversy last week.

    As for the event itself, The Verge’s report says that Microsoft will be holding a small event in May to officially unveil the console and a few of its core features. The company will be saving most of its big announcements, however, for E3 in June.

    [h/t: NBC News]

  • Nexus 7 Successor With Qualcomm CPU To Launch In July [Report]

    It’s pretty much assumed at this point that Google will be showing off the new Nexus 7 at Google I/O next month. Now we just need to know its specs, and its launch date. Lucky enough, a new report out today tells us just that.

    Sources told Reuters that the Asustek-made Nexus 7 successor will be launching in July. If true, the next Nexus 7 will be launching a year after its predecessor hit the scene. It would also give Google plenty of time to build up excitement for the tablet after a reveal at Google I/O.

    As for specs, Reuters’ sources say the tablet will indeed be ditching Nvidia’s Tegra CPU in favor of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon. The previous rumor said Google chose Snapdragon because Qualcomm gave the company a better deal, but this latest report chalks it up “power reasons.”

    Beyond a change in CPU manufacturer, the report also says that the new tablet will feature a higher resolution and a thinner bezel design, both of which suggest that we may see a larger screen in the Nexus 7 as well.

    Apple lambasted the Nexus 7 last year during its iPad Mini reveal event for having a smaller display, while conveniently failing to mention that Google’s tablet still had a higher resolution. The new Nexus 7 could give Google a chance to create a tablet with a higher resolution while matching the 7.9-inch display of the iPad Mini.

    We’re sure to hear more details on the new Nexus 7, including its assumed use of a new Android operating system, at Google I/O or soon after.

  • FCC Report Shows ISPs Are Mostly Delivering What You Pay For

    FCC Report Shows ISPs Are Mostly Delivering What You Pay For

    Once a year, with no specific schedule in mind, the FCC offers up a report on broadband quality in America. It’s part of the Commission’s National Broadband Plan that seeks to study broadband growth in the U.S. and ways to expand cheap, fast Internet across the country. This month’s report shows that ISPs haven’t really improved much since the last report in July.

    Let’s get the most important part of this report out of the way. Are ISPs not delivering advertised speeds? Some aren’t, but the majority of them are, at least during peak periods. The study found that in September of last year, ISPs delivered 97 percent of advertised speeds with some even going above and beyond the call of duty by offering over 100 percent of their advertised speeds.

    Of course, there are some ISPs that are still not delivered anywhere near their advertised speeds. Some of these ISPs include AT&T, Qwest, Windstream and Lexington’s own Insight. All of which are offering anywhere between 80 and 90 percent of the advertised speeds.

    Which ISPs are going above and beyond what they promise? Cablevision, Verizon Fiber and ViaSat are all offering more than 100 percent of their advertised speeds. Amazingly, ViaSat is offering almost 140 percent more than what they currently advertise in download streams.

    ISPs Delivering What You pay For

    Moving on, the FCC report reveals that consumers are continuing to migrate to faster Internet speeds. This is only a good thing as it’s once again proving wrong the concept that most Internet consumers don’t want faster speeds. In even further good news, 46 percent of consumers on 0 to 1 Mbps speed Internet moved up to a faster speed tier between April and September of last year. Unfortunately, the study doesn’t say to which tier these folks moved to, but it was enough to raise the average speed of the Internet in the U.S. to 15.6 Mbps. The FCC notes that this is an annualized increase of 20 percent.

    U.S. ISPs Delivering what you pay for

    Finally, the report found that satellite Internet is making huge leaps and bounds in terms of advertised speeds versus actual speeds. You already saw before that ViaSat was offering 140 percent of its advertised speeds, and that carries over to the actual charts which shows that satellite Internet providers on average offer 137 percent of their advertised speeds. Coming in second place is Fiber, which offers 115 percent of its advertised speeds. Cable is second with 98.5 percent, and DSL is last with 85.3 percent.

    The FCC points out, however, that satellite Internet, which is largely offered as an alternative to rural homes that can’t access to terrestrial lines, still has issues with latency. That is the time it takes to connect and transfer information is still very slow compared to land lines. That being said, satellite Internet companies are improving their technology every year which has led to this year’s massive jump over its traditionally advertised speeds.

    US ISPs still delivering what you pay for

    So, what can we take away from this report? It’s good that ISPs are still mostly delivering what they advertise, and that people are still upgrading to higher speeds. What the FCC report doesn’t take into account, however, is the prohibitive prices and refusal to expand that keep most consumers away from high speed Internet. Those issues need to be addressed before we start seeing truly remarkable results from these reports.

    It seems that the FCC will be focusing on this more in the future. In a statement to The Hill, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski said that “we most continue to see increases in broadband speed and capacity” to “unleash innovation and realize broadband’s full potential.” Let’s hope the Commission will actually do something about that this year.

  • iPad 5 To See Complete Redesign, Will Launch In October [Report]

    The iPhone 5 was the first major change to Apple’s iconic mobile device since the iPhone 4. The move to a 4-inch display was the most noticeable change, but there was a number of small adjustments that made it another hit for the Cupertino-based company. The same, however, could not be said for the iPad as its fourth iteration featured no discernable aesthetic difference. That all may change this year.

    In a report from iLounge, Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Horwitz claims to have seen a “supposedly accurate” physical model of the iPad 5. In his report, he claims that the iPad 5 will be noticeably smaller than its predecessors. In fact, the next-generation iPad will be taking a cue from the iPad Mini by removing the left and right bezels and reducing the size of the top and bottom bezels to only include enough room for the home button and camera.

    So, when we will see this supposedly redesigned next-generation iPad? Horwitz says that Apple is targeting an October release after its previously planned March launch slipped through its fingers. The delay is welcome, however, as it gives Apple ample time to perfect the newest iPad into something that may just wow critics after the disappointing fourth-generation iPad.

    The iPad 5 may be the star of this report, but Horwitz adds more credence to the rumors of two iPhones launching this year. He says that the iPhone 5S will look much like the iPhone 5, but feature a larger flash. The other iPhone model coming this year is the same rumored cheaper iPhone that features a plastic body. It will be sold to emerging markets like China where most of the population can’t afford the regular iPhone.

    As for that rumored bigger iPhone, Horwitz says that it’s in the planning stages. He says that it will feature a 4.7-inch display. You shouldn’t get too excited though as he says it may never come to market. It’s only experimental for now, and it may just remain that way.

  • There Will Be 12 iPad Mini Models At Launch [Report]

    The iPad Mini is the worst kept secret in tech this year. Leaks and reports have pretty much confirmed the device will be launching sometime this month. Now the question is how many models will be available at launch. A recent report just might have the answer.

    AppleInsider got their hands on a list of iPad Mini SKUs and the results are very surprising. It seems that Apple will be selling 24 different iPad Mini varieties at launch. The models will be a mix and match of various storage capacities, connectivity options and colors.

    The SKUs have four different models listed that seem to indicate storage capacities. It’s suggested that first SKU will be an 8GB model with 16GB, 32GB and 64GB models presumably following afterward.

    Strangely enough, the SKUs are being described as “good,” “better,” and “best.” AppleInsider seems to think that this could relate to the wireless connectivity of the devices with “good’ being Wi-Fi only and “best” being 4G LTE.

    With storage and wireless connectivity, there will be 12 iPad Mini models available at launch. Add in the two different colors available – black and white – and you have 24 flavors to choose from. That’s a pretty impressive number products for an untested device.

    Interestingly enough, the report says that Apple will be shipping more of the entry-level 8GB devices to retailers than any of the other models. This particular model is expected to only cost $249. It would be a little more expensive than the 8GB Nexus 7, but it could still be a huge hit thanks to the iPad name.

    Everything we’ve learned about the iPad Mini indicate that Apple is getting this right. They’re coming out right before the holiday season with a device that will have even broader appeal among those who may be looking to buy their first tablet. The iPad Mini also has the potential to be a big hit among children due to its attractive price and large catalog of games.

    We’re bound to find out more next week as Apple’s event is expected to take place on October 23. The iPad Mini may be the worst kept secret in tech, but there’s still a lot we don’t know. This latest SKU listing only answers a few of the many questions we still have regarding Apple’s 7.85-inch tablet.

  • Google Edges Out Facebook For Best Global Website 2012

    Facebook’s good, but not that good according to ByteLevel.com’s recent findings. Google passed the social networking giant this year to take the top spot as best global website of 2012. The “Web Globalization Report Card” as the report refers to it, is a report done annually to point out the top global websites of the year.

    According to ByteLevel, the “report card” analyzes each website based on the following criteria: Global reach, global navigation, global/mobile architecture and localization/sociality. Apparently Google fit those criteria just a little bit better than Facebook.

    When asked “what is the value of comparing companies across different industries”, they say:

    By keeping a broad focus on all major industries, we are able to point executives to those companies and industries that are doing the best job of presenting themselves to the world. Every company included does have peers by which it can be evaluated. In the end, our goal is to provide a truly global perspective on which companies and industries are the most active and successful in web globalization. Only through casting a wide net do we achieve this goal. 

    Some other companies involved in the report include: Adidas, Amazon, Disney, BMW, Sony, Starbucks, Pepsi, Visa and several more as well.

    Some notable rankings include: Nikon in 13th place, Microsoft takes 19th place and Yahoo! comes in 24th.

  • Report: LinkedIn Members Ready for CES 2012 Innovations

    With CES shaking up the tech world in Las Vegas this week, a new report from LinkedIn reveals that business professionals are more than willing to get their hands on all the new products and services. The network released its 2012 Consumer Electronics Report, in which it surveyed 1,602 U.S. adults, half of which are active LinkedIn members, and the other half who represent the general U.S. population.

    The report found many interesting trends about both groups and how they embrace technology. For instance, according to the survey, 41 percent of LinkedIn members are planning to spend at least $1,000 on consumer electronics this year. The general public, however, is a little more hesitant, since 29 percent said they were planning to spend that much on consumer electronics during the year.

    How much (if any) do you plan to spend on new innovations and gadgets this year? Let us know.

    As far as trends go, LinkedIn members are much more tech savvy in both travel and mobile than the general U.S. public. The survey found that LinkedIn members are 53 percent more likely than the average U.S. adult to have Bluetooth in their car, and 31 percent more apt to have some form of GPS device. In addition, 51 percent of LinkedIn members are more likely to own or use a smartphone as opposed to the average adult in the U.S.

    Tablet devices are consistent with this trend as well with 85 percent more prone to own or use one. Despite all the tablet devices that are available, most of the users said they were iPad users.

    What’s interesting is that LinkedIn members are not just interested in gadgets for fun and games. On the contrary, 93 percent of them rely on technology for managing various aspects of their lives, compared to 89 percent of the general online population. LinkedIn members also said productivity and efficiency are the most important qualities of consumer electronics for them.

    While television and newspapers influence the general online U.S. population, they are less likely to impact the shopping decisions of LinkedIn members. Instead, they seek recommendations through social networks. However, both the general public and LinkedIn members believe that companies should have a social media presence, weighing in with 75 percent and 82 percent respectively.

    Even though the LinkedIn members surveyed are seemingly wealthier than the general population, with 49 percent having households of $100K or more, this report still offers insights into user trends. What’s more is it could especially help companies market their new innovations through the right channel to meet their target audience.

  • The Most Followers Assembled On Twitter

    Sysomos released a new social media report today which looks deeper into followers on Twitter and they try to explain how influence is not always measured by the number of people who follow you. Here is a summary of the study:
    • They found that while celebrities have a large number of followers, most of them are low authority users.
    • Social media heavyweights, like @chrisbrogan, @jowyang and @jasonfalls seem to attract fewer but very engaged Twitter users with high authority rankings.
    • They also looked at the countries where these users have their followers.
    Celebrities

    Social Media Veterans

     

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  • Fifty Percent Of The US Population Have A Social Media Profile(s)

    A new study released today shows that consumer use of social networking web sites is not a youth phenomenon. Apparently now at least half of those living in the United States have social media profiles. While nearly eight in ten teens (78 percent) and 18 to 24s (77 percent) have personal profile pages, almost two-thirds of 25 to 34s (65 percent) and half of 35 to 44s (51 percent) also now have personal profile pages. This new national survey from Arbitron Inc. (NYSE:ARB) and Edison Research is called “The Infinite Dial 2010: Digital Platforms and the Future of Radio“.

    The Infinite Dial 2010: Digital Platforms and the Future of Radio from Tom Webster on Vimeo.

    The percentage of Americans age 12 and older who have a profile on one or more social networking Web sites has reached almost half (48 percent) of the population in 2010 – double the level from two years ago (24 percent in 2008).

    Nearly one in four Americans has listened to audio from an iPod or other MP3 player connected to a car stereo: Although consumers often have to deal with myriad adapters and other barriers to in-car listening, 54 percent of iPod/MP3 player owners have listened to their device in their car; this equates to 24 percent of all persons age 12 and older having listened to an iPod(TM), iPhone(TM) or other MP3 player while connected to a car stereo.

    Three in ten 12 to 24s are “very interested” in online radio in the car and on mobile devices: Among those age 12 to 24, 30 percent are “very interested” in listening to online radio in-car, while 28 percent are “very interested” in listening to online radio on mobile devices.

    Consumers say radio station Web sites are improved but TV and print sites are leading the local battle: Nearly half of people age 12 and older give credit to radio for improvements in their Web sites.

    Forty-eight percent say that radio station Web sites have gotten more interesting compared to 17 percent believing them to be worse or less interesting. However, monthly visitation to radio station Web sites (16 percent) among persons 12+ lags visitation to local TV and local newspaper Web sites.

    A total of 1,753 persons were interviewed to investigate Americans’ use of digital platforms and new media. From January 25 to February 22, 2010, telephone interviews were conducted with respondents age 12 and older chosen at random from a national sample of Arbitron’s Fall 2009 survey diarykeepers and through random digit dialing (RDD) sampling in certain geographic areas where Arbitron diarykeepers were not available for the survey. Diarykeepers represent 51% of the completed interviews and RDD sampled respondents represent 49% of the completed interviews. The study includes a total of 371 cell phone interviews.

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