Daily News Courier

Opinion: U.S gets it wrong on Egypt, again

Protests planned around Egypt — particularly in Cairo’s Tahrir Square — on the second anniversary of the January 25 revolution are expected to be an explosion of dissent, revealing the deep divisions in the country between President Mohamed Morsy and the Egyptian people.

Activist gets 10 years for king insult

A Thai court on Wednesday sentenced a political activist to 10 years in prison for insulting the country’s revered king, a decision that drew criticism from human rights groups and the European Union.

International Galaxy S2 gets Jelly Bean update and new Nature UX

As rumored, the official Jelly Bean update for the international Samsung Galaxy S2 (GT-i9100) has started to roll out, starting with unlocked handsets in Spain. The update is based on Android 4.1.2, and features all the benefits you'd expect from that version of the OS, including "Project Butter" performance enhancements and the new Google Search with Google Now.

What's also new is the "TouchWiz Nature UX" from Samsung's 2012 line-up, which has been back-ported to the Galaxy S2 along with Jelly Bean. This means S2 owners will be in for some pretty sweeping visual changes when they apply this latest firmware update. (The ICS update for 2011 Samsung phones was of course based upon the older TouchWiz 4 UI.) Galaxy S2 owners are also set to inherit a bunch of Galaxy S3 features in their Jelly Bean update, including Direct Call, Smart Stay and Pop-up Play (picture-in-picture video).

Right now the update is only available for Spanish Galaxy S2 phones, so other territories may have to wait a few days or weeks for localized firmware to be released. In particular, we wouldn't hold our breath for an immediate release on any of the U.S. Galaxy S2 models. Regardless, it's great to see the latest updates rolling out for an almost two-year-old handset.

Source: SamMobile, via XDA

Thin Film Solar Gets a Boost from a New Record Efficiency

Swiss researchers show that lightweight, flexible CIGS solar cells can compete with heavier, more-expensive-to-install solar cells.

Lightweight, flexible solar cells are great for some niche applications—such as powering drones—where heavier, conventional solar panels won’t work. They could also help reduce the cost of installation, which is one of the biggest parts of the cost of solar power, by making solar panels easier to install. But to take on power from fossil fuels, such cells need to be both far more efficient and cheaper to make.

Google Gets A Pass in U.S. Antitrust Investigation

The Federal Trade Commission says the search giant does not illegally stifle competition after a nearly two-year inquiry.

Google, the company synonymous with search, came to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission today in a high-profile antitrust case that involved 9 million pages of testimony. The decision is an important victory for Google, even though it agreed to some concessions that would give competitors access to key mobile patents and make it easier for advertisers to use rival search engines. 

Tumblr app finally gets optimized for the iPad

Sony Xperia ‘Yuga’ prototype gets unofficial preview

After it leaked photos of a prototype device yesterday, Russian site Mobile-Reviews has published a detailed preview of Sony's upcoming 2013 high-ender, currently known by its codename "Yuga." According to today's preview, the 5-inch, 1080p device packs a 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU, 2GB of RAM and a glass-clad chassis. There's also expandable storage via microSD card, world LTE connectivity and a 12MP camera, so if specs alone are any indication, the "Yuga" should measure up favorably against other high-end phones in early 2013.

On the software side, the prototype is running Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and Sony's own proprietary software. Highlights here include new live wallpapers, a re-vamped camera app with filters (because that's what everyone's doing these days), and a redesigned clock app. Visually, Sony's Xperia UI as seen on the prototype looks much the same as it did on earlier phones like the Xperia T and Xperia S.

You'll find a complete run-down of the prototype hardware and software at the source link below. Sony tends to announce its new high-end stuff at CES each year, so we expect we'll see the finalized design in Las Vegas in just a few weeks.

Source: Mobile-Review (Translated)

Elf on the Shelf gets its own Android game

The Elf on the Shelf is everywhere. That's kind of the point, right? It bounces around various spots in your home until Christmas, keeping an watch on who's naughty and who's nice, reporting back to Santa each night before staking out a new hiding place. You can't hop on Facebook or Instagram or walk through a store without seeing one of these things.

And, yes, the Elf has an app. A game, actually, with the slightly double-entendred title of "Slide n' Glide." (Remember, even Santa has a naughty side, too.) The premise is you move the Elf to determine how far a package will fly off a chute and onto a platform. Get all the presets loaded, and you move onto the next leve.

It's a simple (and free!) game, and adults won't get much out of it. But your kids? Chances are we just found another reason they'll be fighting you for the phone. We've got some demo video on a Galaxy S3 (the game apparently is having issues on some phones) after the break.

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The iPhone Gets an Answer to Google Now

Siri gets some competition from an app that offers answers to search queries you haven

Monday Brief: T-Mobile gets the iPhone, BlackBerry 10′s Hub, the Nokia Lumia 620, and more!