Apple's iCloud logo revealed. Hint: it's shaped like one of those things in the sky (Digital Trends)

When a company called Apple uses an apple as its logo, it won’t come as too much of a surprise that the logo for its forthcoming iCloud music service is of – you guessed it – a cloud. The cloud in question has been spotted at San Francisco’s Moscone Center West, where the final preparations are being made for the Cupertino company’s annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). The gathering kicks off on Monday and runs for the whole week.

Apple Insider has had its face pressed up against the window of the building and in the process spotted a large banner in the lobby. On the banner are three logos – one for the forthcoming Lion operating system for Mac PCs, another for the latest version of its mobile operating system – iOS 5, and one for its cloud-based music offering – iCloud. As for the cloud, well, it looks a bit on the cumulus nimbus side, and consists of a simple black outline on a silver background. It’s nice to be able to finally put a face to a name.

After months of speculation, Apple finally confirmed the name of its new cloud-based service on Tuesday, together with news that Steve Jobs, who has been on medical leave since January, will be making an appearance at next week’s conference, possibly to deliver the keynote address.

Earlier today it was reported that Apple had signed a deal with the last of the four major music companies, Universal Music, giving the green light for the launch of iCloud next week. Deals have already been struck with Sony, EMI and Warner Music Group. Details of the forthcoming cloud-based music service, such as whether consumers will have to pay to use it, are currently scant, but all will no doubt be revealed next week.

Apple’s iCloud offering will line up alongside similar existing services from Google and Amazon. Those two companies, however, have not yet signed deals with the music companies, which has left them somewhat restricted in what their respective services can offer consumers. Users of their services, for example, have to spend time loading their music onto remote servers, whereas it’s thought that, thanks to the deals with the music companies, users of iCloud will simply have their hard drives scanned thereby allowing users to access digital copies of their music on Apple servers.

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Apple's MacDefender patch checks for new variants daily (Digital Trends)

Apple has released Security Update 2011-003 to deal with the MacDefender malware and known variants that have been attempting to bilk Macintosh users out of their credit card information and money to fix non-existent problems on their computer. The update is available for Mac OS X 10.6.7 and Mac OS X Server 10.6.7, and patches Snow Leopard’s built-in file quarantine system to detect MacDefender and known variants. And, in case new variants emerge, Macs with the security update will check for new malware definitions daily to make sure users’ machines stay safe.

Apple will not be offering a security update to protect earlier versions of Mac OS X against MacDefender. Users of earlier versions of Mac OS X can still follow Apple’s directions for manually removing the malware, although there’s no promise that Apple will continue to provide removal information if new variations appear, or new malware targets the platform.

Users concerned about the security software contacting Apple every day can disable the automatic update check in Mac OS X’s Security preferences.

Apple announced a week ago it would be issuing an update to Mac OS X to combat the MacDefender malware. The move marks one of the only times the company has issued a software update specifically to combat a real-world malware threat on the Macintosh platform.

The spread of MacDefender may indicate malware authors will no longer be overlooking the Mac platform as they attempt to take over personal computers and/or collect personal information—or, in the case of MacDefender, simply try to trick users into handing over their details. Although Apple has responded directly to the MacDefender threat, there’s not yet any indication the company will continue to do respond to malware threats should any appear—Apple could well leave malware and antivirus software to third parties. However, Mac OS X Snow Leopard does have a rudimentary file quarantine capability, and the daily update capability incorporated into Security Update 2011-003 could enable Apple to distribute signatures for malware other than MacDefender variants.

Apple is currently working to complete Mac OS X 10.7 Lion, which (along with many new features) incorporates under-the-hood changes intended to make the Mac OS X platform more secure.

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Twitter unveils 'Follow' button for third-party websites (Digital Trends)

Twitter has just made it a whole lot easier for users of its service to follow and be followed, by unveiling a new one-click “Follow” button for third-party websites.

Before now, if you wanted to follow someone, you’d click on a Twitter link on their website. That would take you to their Twitter page from which you could click on a “Follow” button to join their feed. OK, so two clicks instead of one.

The button, which can be easily incorporated into a website, was introduced via the Twitter blog on Tuesday. In the post, Brian Ellin writes that it’s now “easy for you to discover the Twitter accounts of your favorite reporters, athletes, celebrities, and other personalities.” He continues: “Using the Follow button is as simple as a single click. You can also see the profile and latest Tweets of the account you want to follow by clicking the username next to the button.”

Ellin also explains how the new button will benefit publishers and brands. “Adding the Follow button to your website and using Twitter to stay connected with your audience is a powerful combination. People who follow your account are much more likely to retweet and engage with your Tweets, and to repeatedly visit your website,” he writes.

The popular micro-blogging service was founded in 2006 and is thought to have somewhere in the region of 200 million users.

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Sony promises full global PSN restoration this week (Digital Trends)

The dark times are nearly over. Sony is still working to win back the trust of its customers following the April hacking that left PlayStation Network, Qriocity and Sony Online Entertainment services shut down for a month and more than 100 million users with exposed personal information. The switch was flipped back to “ON” roughly two weeks ago, with limited service being restored across the company’s online networks. Today brings the news that all will be back to normal sometime this week.

Yes, we’ve hummed along to a similar tune from Sony a couple of times now, and been disappointed each time, but things have remained relatively stable these past two weeks and there’s no reason to believe that the company won’t be able to keep its promise this time. The news comes from a press release posted on the PlayStation Blog, which states that full PSN service will be restored for all regions — excluding Japan, Hong Kong and South Korea — by the end of this week.

Some amount of Qriocity service will be returning as well, with Music Unlimited coming back to PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PCs. More importantly for gamers, the restoration of service will also bring back access to the PlayStation Store, in-game purchases and code redemption.

“We have been conducting additional testing and further security verification of our commerce functions in order to bring the PlayStation Network completely back online so that our fans can again enjoy the first class entertainment experience they have come to love,” Sony boss Kaz Hirai said in the press release. “We appreciate the patience and support shown during this time.”

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RIM claims shareholder suit without merit (Digital Trends)

Canada’s Research in Motion has been facing increasing pressure to come up with devices that can compete with the iPhone, iPad, and Google’s burgeoning Android ecosystem…and now there are rumblings of a shareholer revolt. An investor has launched a scaled back its revenue forecasts, revealing that the company expected more and more of BlackBerry smartphones it sells to be at the lower range of its product line.

The suit seeks unspecified damages on behalf of anyone who purchased RIM stock from December 10, 2010 through April 28, 2011, when RIM lowered its revenue forecast.

RIM claims the allegations are “without merit” and that the company intends to fully defend itself from the suit.

The suit comes as investors are increasingly anxious about RIM and its ability to respond to the success of Android and Apple’s iOS platform. RIM has seen its share price drop as its share of the smartphone market has eroded, and while the company still enjoys a significant customer base (particularly in enterprise and government) an increasing number of those customers are legacy users who have been with RIM for a while. Despite the high-profile launch of the BlackBerry PlayBook, the company doesn’t seem to have been able to mount a competitive response to iOS or Android.

The company’s unusual co-CEO and co-Chairman structure is also drawing scrutiny from investors: Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie are the company’s largest investors, and both occupy the CEO and chairman positions in the company. Some industry watchers feel this arrangement has made RIM’s executive leadership ineffective, and some shareholders are even calling for RIM to jettison one CEO: Northern Securities analyst Sameet Kanade has published an open letter asking RIM to drop Balsillie as co-CEO.

Some are looking to well-known activist investor Carl Icahn to take a significant share in RIM and force changes to the company—although what, exactly, those changes would be remains very unclear. However, despite RIM’s falling stock price, the company has no significant debt, and it would take someone with very deep pockets to buy enough of a stake in RIM to force change.

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Nvidia Kal-El promises quad-core mobile graphics (Digital Trends)

Nvidia’s Tegra graphics processor might be the current top-dog for graphics in the universe of Android devices, but Nvidia has already outlined its plans to dominate the mobile graphics arena for years to come. Last February, the company announced its forthcoming Kal-El quad-core mobile graphics chip, and now the company has provided an update on its progress, releasing a demo video of Kal-El’s real-time lighting and physics capabilities on a HoneyComb Android tablet—and all the lighting and physics are calculated in real time, rather than merely playing back canned video animations. The video is called “GlowBall,” and features a glowing ball lighting up and moving through a 3D “creepy funhouse” environment.

“This shows off the power of true dynamic lighting, rendered in real-time with physics (no canned animations here, folks),” Nvidia’s Matt Wuebbling wrote in the company blog. ” This marks the first time this type of lighting is feasible on a mobile device.”

Nvidia claims Kal-El boats five times the graphics performance of the Tegra 2 processors currently powering graphics in devices like the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 and Motorola Xoom. Unlike the Tegra 2, however, Kal-El boasts a quad-core processor powering the Android device, supplemented by a 12-core graphics processor. Nvidia’s video shows that the GlowBall demo is leveraging all that computing power for its real-time effects: shutting down two of the device’s main processor cores has a dramatic impact on Glowball’s overall performance.

Graphics developers like Nvidia face a conundrum with mobile graphics capabilities; on one hand, they have technology from their PC businesses to put major computing and graphic processing capabilities into a wide range of devices; on the other hand, the power and heat-dissipation requirements for mobile devices impose some severe constraints: nobody is going to want to use a tablet device with fabulous graphics that’s too hot to hold and burns through is battery in half an hour. For now, graphics developers are focussing on spreading graphics duties across a number of lower-power processing cores, hoping to get more work done in each clock cycle while retaining lower power requirements.

Nvidia hasn’t announced when Kal-El chips will be available for device manufacturers—emphasizing the demo was produced using a pre-production device—although industry reports have Kal-El devices hitting the market in time for the end-of-year holiday buying season. Nvidia also promises production versions of Kal-El will be significantly faster than the current demo.

Kal-El is, of course, the Kryptonian name for Superman. Following on the superhero theme for its mobile processors, Nvidia has outlined mobile processors codenamed Wayne, Logan, and Stark for 2012, 2013, and 2014, respectively.

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Sony confirms development of Playstation 4, hardware may be lighter (Digital Trends)

Sony seems to be showing signs of life again. The PlayStation Network will be switched back on in Asia this weekend and now we’re getting hints about a PlayStation 4 in the works. This comes as no surprise with the constant stream of Nintendo’s Wii 2 rumors and the probability of a new Xbox — Sony has to compete.

According to Eurogamer, Sony VP and chief financial officer Masaru Kato had to explain to investors about a spike in the research and development budget.

“For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life,” Masaru Kato said during the conference call, “but this is a platform business, so for the future platform – when we’ll be introducing what product I cannot discuss that – but our development work is already under way, so the costs are incurred there.”

We already knew that Sony, along with Microsoft, was planning on milking as much out of the present consoles. We heard that we wouldn’t see any thing new for a couple years, but that was because the companies’ were supposedly developing magnificently advanced technology for the new consoles. Masaru Kato’s may have confirmed development but according to Industry Gamers, the new system won’t be packing anything big.

It might be the $170 million in lost revenue, or the rising costs in development but Sony wona€™t be investing as much in the new console as they did with the PS3. It took a long while to bring Playstation 3 costs down from $599 thanks to the Blu-ray and the Cell processor; only recently is the company raking in its investment. The CFO says a€?It is no longer thinkable to have a huge initial financial investment like that of the PS3.a€

We’re not sure if that means the PS4 won’t have the power to compete with the upcoming Xbox or even Project Cafe. Hopefully we’ll get a few more tidbits to go off of at E3.

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Comcast will take on Netflix, Hulu with its IP-TV service (Digital Trends)

Comcast, which has remained the traditional alternative against the growing Internet TV trend, is now jumping on board with online entertainment. The nation’s largest cable provider announced on its blog yesterday that it is involved in a new project called Xcalibur, “where the goal is to take everything we’ve learned from the web and tablets and bring it right back to your TV screen.”

From the sounds of it, Xcalibur is Comcast’s go at beating smart TVs at their own game. The platform will use the company’s own technology and cloud servers to stream TV via Comcast’s network using IP standards. Comcast says this will allow its subscribers’ television experience to become more personalized, and that it will also allow it to provide users with apps and social integration. It won’t stop there: “As a network-based entertainment experience, the rich TV navigation and services will eventually carry over to many other TV devices including connected TVs and game consoles.”

Comcast is currently testing the service in Georgia, but this technology has far bigger potential that the network plans to make a reality. Comcast is developing a system to provide its channels, including live television, via IP, as well as the ability to stream Internet content to the TV. If this sounds familiar, that’s because that’s what services like Hulu and Netflix do – with one huge difference: Live programming. A significant caveat to these types of Comcast-replacements is that you give up the convenience and novelty of live television (as well as, often, access to major broadcasters), but given the mild abandonment of traditional box tops and even TV sets, there are many people willing to make such sacrifices. Comcast currently delivers its programming using technology that is not compatible with the Internet, but that’s about to change.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Comcast will soon begin testing this service at MIT, with a long-term goal of enabling its customers to watch live television on anything that has an Internet connection – tablets, computers, gaming consoles. Comcast is undoubtedly aware of how many streaming services are currently dominating this platform, but as the largest cable provider in the country, it has a large pool of potential users to draw from. “We want to deliver video everywhere people want to watch it,” Comcast’s President of Converged Products, Sam Schwartz, told WSJ. “We have to do a better job getting people to realize what they are paying us for.” Comcast’s old school method won’t be abandoned, but if all goes according to plan the provider will add the IP-programming system to its cable services. This also means the provider can start reaching out to consumers outside of its coverage, so long as they have Internet access.

So here’s the good side: Comcast customers who want to cut the cord but can’t justify losing the privileges that come with this coverage will now have the option to rely on their Internet connection for live programming and Comcast channels. It could also be assumed that much of the TV content that major networks have pulled would be available (eventually – Comcast’s working on that), although this means Comcast’s option would likely cost more than Hulu or Netflix. But if you’re a Comcast customer who wanted to switch to Internet-only broadcasting, you’d have the choice and could stick with your current cable provider. Not to mention that Comcast customers who’ve exhausted OnDemand services would be thrilled to have the mass amount of extended content available on their television set – not only on a laptop, tablet, computer, phone – on the TV, which has been proven to be where (surprise!) most people want to watch the stuff.

And here’s why it’s bad: Comcast has enough power as is. Having the ability to glean formerly out-of-range customers from its competitors (who, it must be mentioned, are largely also massive companies) would give Comcast some serious advantages. It currently alludes that it has no plans to do this, but now that an Internet connection is all you need, it would be possible.

There’s also something to be said for competition. Comcast still has a stranglehold on television, despite the progress Internet streaming has made. Even with its growing popularity, plenty of consumers remain committed to the cord. By offering something like this, the likes of Netflix, Hulu, and YouTube (which has its own programming aspirations) are facing an uncertain future. These services would have serious trouble competing with Comcast’s resources, like distribution rights, data centers, and general infrastructure.

But conclusions can’t be drawn yet. Comcast is facing a slow implementation of any IP-TV services, largely because content providers still aren’t on board with licensing. Until this fully-featured connected option, we’ll have its Xcalibur service to tide us over. The Georgia trial of the service should wrap up in the near future, and then we’ll likely get a more thorough look at what’s to come: Features like basic web functions, customization, an updated programming guide with search abilities, some online streaming options, and social media integration with sites like Twitter and Facebook. This “Internet TV-lite” service should be available starting next year.

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LG Revolution 4G LTE phone hitting Verizon May 26 for $249.99 (with Netflix) (Digital Trends)

Joining the Samsung Droid Charge and HTC ThunderBolt, LG’s Revolution will be the third Verizon 4G LTE handset to hit the market. Launching tomorrow, May 26, the Android smartphone will come preloaded with Netflix and cost a cool $249.99 with a two-year contract – the same price as the ThunderBolt.

We haven’t yet taken the Revolution for a full spin, but we did get some hands-on impressions at CES and CTIA earlier this year. Overall, the Revolution appears to be a fine Android device, but like all first generation LTE phones, it runs a single core processor and may have some issues with short battery life. It is also launching with Android 2.2. Hopefully LG will provide an update to 2.3 in the near future.

4.3-inch 480?800 touchscreen1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor16GB storage via MicroUSBAndroid 2.2 operating system4G LTE connectivity over Verizon5MP rear camera with LED flash1.3MP front-facing camera720p video recording and playbackMobile hotspot, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth enabledDolby Mobile audio softwareHDMI port with DLNA capabilities

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Android version of Minecraft to be a timed exclusive for Xperia Play (Digital Trends)

Sony‘s fabled PlayStation Phone, the Xperia Play, will be in the retail wilds for anyone to fiddle with by the end of this week. It’s not exactly the PSP-turned-phone that some had hoped for, but it’s a powerful little mobile device with a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor and a top-shelf Adreno 205 GPU. It ships with an assortment of games already installed (including Tetris!) and it’s the first phone to support the PlayStation Suite. It’s a gaming device-as-phone, even if the PSP can still run circles around it in the hardware department. It’s also going to be the first phone that you can officially play Mojang’s popular PC game Minecraft on.

The developer tipped Gamasutra with the news, revealing that Minecraft will be available as a timed exclusive on the Play. There’s no words on how long the window will remain open for or when it will open to begin with, but the game will come to other Android platforms, as well as iOS, at some point after the Play release. Mojang also confirmed that the initial release is designed to take advantage of the Sony phone’s game controls, which are modeled after the company’s DUALSHOCK controller.

Obviously more device-specific customization will be required once the exclusivity ends since the Play’s gamepad-like interface is unique to the device. Most other smartphones and mobile platforms rely exclusively on touch-based input. As Mojang told Gamasutra, “When playing on smartphones you will have a different screen size compared to PC, different hardware, different attention spans and thus the game needs to be customised to fit the mobile specifications.” A Sony Ericsson event is planned for E3, so more details will presumably emerge then.

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Google's new Finland data center is cooled by Baltic Sea's water (Digital Trends)

Google is once again showing off its big environmental conscience with video of the new Hamina, Finland data center, due to open up towards the end of the year. The new center, much like Google’s Saint-Ghislain center, will not be using chillers in its cooling system. Instead, waters from the Baltic Sea will be harnessed to keep servers cool.

Google paid $52 million for the Summa paper mill that yielded the 410 acres of land where the new data center is being built. Stora Enso, the paper-making company that formerly owned the land, closed the paper mill down in 2008 because of the drop in newspaper and magazine-paper production.

According to the video, the center collects cool water through an inlet pipe and travels through granite tunnels built by the paper mill in the 1950s. The Register has found that the pipes are two meters in diameter and “the system uses 20-year-old water pumps installed by the mill.” The tunnels and pipe are kept clear of blockage by using a small submarine to explore regularly.

The water travels through four straining systems and meets a water-to-water heat exchanger. The heat exchanger cools a separate stream that carries on to the data center. Google senior director of data center construction Joe Kava says that once the watera€™s purpose is met, a€?we return the temperature that is much more similar to the inlet temperature, so we minimize any environmental impact in that area.a€

The total costs for the structure comes to roughly $260 million, including the purchase price but the money Google saves from cooling costs will be significant. The Register also reports that the Finland data center will use wind power from the wind park next to the facility.

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Sony's Japan music site hacked (Digital Trends)

Sony just can’t catch a break. Yesterday, SonyMusic.gr was infiltrated by hackers via an SQL injection tool. The unsophisticated attack compromised the site’s user database, leaking name, e-mails, and addresses of those registered.

Today, Sony’s Japan music site has suffered the same fate. Sophos, which discovered yesterday’s hack, found similar damage to SonyMusic.co.jp. According to Chester Wisniewski via the site’s Naked Security IT blog, Hacker News first found the affected web pages. As reported yesterday, an SQL injection was used to access the site’s contents, including its user database. Fortunately, this instance did not concede as much user information, and names, passwords, and other “personally identifiable information” are believed to be safe. But it’s still unknown what exactly hackers were able to access. Wisniewski says it is possible they could have inserted malicious code that would then affect the site’s visitors.

What’s most distressing about this latest chapter in Sony’s security saga is that it is once more proving the company’s complete negligence. These particular hacks are only utilizing Sony’s own security flaws and exposing them. One of the hackers wrote on the site “We just want to embarrass Sony some more. Can this be hack number 8? 7 and a half?”. The group’s lighthearted approach to the whole thing has made some speculate they are associated with Lulz Security. Lulz Security’s motivations are generally to prove a point rather than personal gain. The group’s Twitter posts are currently full of Sony bashings.

Even if Lulz Security is behind the attack and has no interest in stealing customer information, the scale of Sony’s mounting security failures is enough to keep subscribers anxious. Of course it’s also enough to see many of them drop Sony services altogether.

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Yahoo Mail taps into Facebook, Twitter, and more (Digital Trends)

Internet giant Yahoo is rolling out a new version of Yahoo Mail to its 284 million users in the next few weeks, hoping to make Yahoo Mail the central hub of their online and social lives by integrating a raft of new social features, improved security, and mobile access, along with cloud-based technology that Yahoo says makes the service up to two times faster. The changes include a major facelift for the familiar service, and the company hopes the new social and sharing capabilities will help Yahoo Mail keep its edge over Gmail in terms of overall number of users.

Chief among Yahoo Mail’s new features is the ability to tap into user’s existing social networks like Facebook and Twitter: users can immediately respond to Facebook messages as well as view and share notices from the likes of Twitter, and Zynga within a new Updates tab. Yahoo Mail also doesn’t limit conversations just to email: the system tries to prioritize contacts and messages that matter to users most, whether they’re via instant messaging, SMS, or email, messages from most-frequent contacts get pushed to the top. Users can also chat with Facebook contacts right alongside Windows Live and Yahoo Messenger contacts, and tap into archives IM conversations right within Yahoo Mail.

Yahoo says it has revamped its email search to more precisely locate what users want when they look through their email, and users can view photo slideshows, inline videos, and other enclosures right within their inboxes. Yahoo says its new Advanced SpamGuard and anti-phishing technologies have reduced spam by 60 percent, and even helps block unwanted IM conversations—Yahoo says it now blocks more than half a trillion spam messages a month. Yahoo also says new cloud technology makes the new Yahoo Mail up to two times faster than the existing version, despite the overhead of all the new capabilities.

Yahoo began testing the new mail technologies seven months ago, but has finally deemed them ready to be rolled out to their broad user base. Yahoo remains a huge player in the Web-based mail market, with some 284 million users worldwide compared to Gmail’s 220 million or so users—although Microsoft’s Hotmail remains the champion with over 320 million users. Email users are considered premium customers for Internet companies, because they tend to access services frequently and stay logged in to services for an extended period of time: this not only provides more opportunities to serve up advertisements to users, but also get more precious profile information about users likes, dislikes, and online activity.

The Yahoo Mail update should roll out gradually to users over the coming weeks, but users who want to jump on board now can upgrade their accounts at overview.mail.yahoo.com.

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Federal court demands Samsung give Apple access to upcoming products (Digital Trends)

Last month Apple filed a lawsuit accusing Samsung of copying its iPhone and iPad design, most specifically with its Galaxy lineup. Samsung responded with a countersuit, claiming it was Apple and its iPhone and iPad that infringed on various patents, and that the company must stop doing so as well as compensate Samsung.

Samsung lost, and now it appears that it will be required to pony up to Apple for future products. A court document filed May 18 reveals that federal judge Lucy Koh has given the company 30 days to hand over the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1 (all three of which are unreleased), Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge to Apple so that the Cupertino giant can decide if it wants an early injunction. Koh also said that since Samsung has begun advertising these products, it cannot argue that giving Apple access to them is unacceptable. She also quoted a Samsung executive who earlier this year said, “We will have to improve the parts [of the Galaxy Tab 10.1] that are inadequate. Apple made it [the iPad 2] very thin” as a reason that Apple may be justified in believing its competitor is imitating its own devices.

Koh did attempt to stay neutral however. “Although the Court expresses no opinion on the merits of Apple’s claims, the Court notes that Apple has produced images of Samsung products and other evidence that provide a reasonable basis for Apple’s belief that Samsung’s new products are designed to mimic Apple’s products.

The court document says that this access will give Apple time to “take early action to stop the allegedly infringing activity before Samsung’s new products become established in the marketplace.” It also says the court agrees that Apple deserves “limited expedited discovery” – something Apple had not requested, but authorities granted.

It isn’t only the devices themselves that Samsung is being accused of copycatting: The packaging is also being called into question and called “directly relevant to Apple’s trademark, trade dress, and design claims” which can create “consumer confusion.” But the court doesn’t want to appear one-sided, and goes on to acknowledge these actions will seriously aid Apple, and that it understands Samsung’s concerns about “the sensitive nature of the information sought.” Because of this, the court will not require a Samsung executive to testify, despite Apple’s request. It also will not ask Samsung to produce “documents relating to any copying of design elements, or attempts to design around Apple’s intellectual property relating to, the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPad 2,” calling this request “broad and somewhat vague” on Apple’s part.

While it’s keeping any concrete, insider company information out of Apple’s hands, granting the company access to arguably its most able competitor’s forthcoming devices is a huge coup for Apple. Suppose that Apple is unable to find any evidence that Samsung has been using its’ innovations as a blueprint – which is a big, big “suppose.” Given the accusations and evidence Apple has produced thus far, we’re certain it will. But if not, the company is being given even the slightest of slight edges over Samsung by getting the first look at its newest technology, although Apple’s legal team will be denied access to the devices.

It’s an interesting complication for the two companies, who have a business relationship: Apple could potentially spend $7.8 billion on components from the manufacturer.

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Bill Gates backed Microsoft's takeover of Skype (Digital Trends)

When it was announced last week that Microsoft had bought Internet phone company Skype for a whacking $8.5 billion, it caused many in the tech industry to carefully place their cup of coffee on their desk, furrow their brow slightly and say, “Eh?”

The news media was filled with stories trying to work out precisely why Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was so excited about the takeover of a company that lost $7 million last year and charges nothing for most of its services.

At the announcement of the purchase, Ballmer spoke enthusiastically about how the companies promised “universal, next-generation communications…..[that will] empower [consumers] to communicate in new and interesting ways.” And now, just as people are pondering over exactly what the “new and interesting ways” might be, Microsoft founder Bill Gates has popped up to lend some support to Ballmer.

According to an interview with the BBC to be aired on Wednesday, Gates said that he himself advocated the Skype purchase. Talking to the BBC’s Stephen Sackur on his Hardtalk one-on-one interview show, Gates said, “I was a strong proponent at the board level for the deal being done. I think it’s a great, great deal for Skype. I think it’s a great deal for Microsoft.”

Looking ahead, Gates explained that the takeover was a strategic decision, not focussed on Skype’s immediate financial situation. He said, “The idea of video conferencing is going to get so much better than it is today.” He added: “It’ll be fascinating to see how the brilliant ideas out of Microsoft research, coming together with Skype, what they can make of that.”

Skype was founded in 2003 and enables its 663 million users to make video and voice calls online. Microsoft’s purchase of the company was its biggest ever acquisition.

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Sony Online Entertainment reactivates MMO servers, forums (Digital Trends)

Sony ended weeks of downtime for its PlayStation Network and Qriocity online services last night with the release of a security-enhancing patch following last month’s hacker intrusion that exposed the personal data of 77 million users. Service was also restored for Sony Online Entertainment subscribers, who have been without access since the beginning of May after it was learned that the April intrusion extended to SOE.

As with PSN, the update requires those with SOE accounts for games like DC Universe Online to change their passwords. The restoration of services includes “the return of nearly all of SOE’s portfolio of online games, the reinstatement of SOE’s game forums and websites,” according to an official press release.

The release then restates the same explanations we’ve been seeing, that “several outside respected security firms” were engaged to investigate the intrusion and work out a new set of security measures, enhancements were made to existing technologies, testing processes have been refined and so on. The real takeaway here for most: you are once again free to run around and fight crime in virtual re-creations of Metropolis and Gotham City.

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Hackers may have used Amazon server for Sony PSN breach (Digital Trends)

Hackers responsible for the massive security breach of Sony’s PlayStation Network that left as much as 100 million users at risk of identity theft used an Amazon-run server to launch the attack, according to “a person with knowledge of the matter,” reports Bloomberg.

Rather than hijack Amazon’s server, the hackers allegedly used an alias to sign up for an account through Amazon’s EC2 service, and waged their cyber attack from there, says the unnamed source. The account is said to have been since shut down but the revelation that Amazon’s cloud network was used for one of the largest data breaches in US history could shed light on the perpetrators’ identities.

Neither Sony nor Amazon have yet been willing to confirm the allegation that an Amazon server was used for the breach.

Security expert E.J. Hilbert, president of Online Intelligence and a former cyber-crime agent for the FBI, tells Bloomberg that the FBI will likely subpoena Amazon as part of its investigation into the PSN hack.

“The subpoena will give law enforcement a history of the transactions,” said Hilbert. “The search warrant will get them more detailed information, including payment information and which credit card was used.”

Now a month after the attack, the PlayStation Network remains down. With the outage beginning to take a tangible financial toll on the gaming industry, Sony released a letter to game publishers this week in an attempt to explain the situation as best it can.

For PSN customers, Sony has offered a year’s worth of free identity protection through the AllClear ID Plus service, which gives users a $1 million insurance policy if their personal data is compromised.

As for the hackers, their identities remain unknown. But so far, evidence points to members of the “hacktivist” group Anonymous, though the group as a whole firmly denies any involvement, and has criticized Sony for its lack of a proper security infrastructure to keep its users’ financial information safe.

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PSN update now live across the U.S., go change your password now (Digital Trends)

In case you missed it — and you very well might have considering what time this ball got rolling — Sony has officially flipped the switch on the PlayStation Network, restoring service in a limited capacity as a gradually filling map of the United States. charted the progress of the rollout through the night. The map is now fully green, which means firmware update version 3.61 is now available for download to all U.S. users. In addition to online gameplay, the update brings back video rental playback, Music Unlimited on Qriocity, Netflix/Hulu access, Friends Lists, chat, Trophy comparison and PlayStation Home.

The update is a zippy download and installation as of 9:30 a.m. eastern time today, taking no more than 10 minutes to load into your console and do its thing. We’ll see if that changes as more of the country wakes up and tries to bring PS3s back online. In order to complete the update installation, you’ll need to change your password. Not that you wouldn’t want to, since… you know… your private information was compromised and stuff. That said, the real safeguards built into 3.61 are presumably under the hood, since even the most complex password won’t do you a lick of good if all of your info is stolen from the network servers again.

Sony no doubt wants to put this whole unfortunate affair behind it, but there will very likely need to be an extended healing period before consumer confidence can be restored. “Welcome Back” promotions and the like are all well and good, but only time is going to make this mess go away. Look at Microsoft and the whole “Red Ring of Death” circus; slightly different situation but with a similar reach. Both companies made mistakes before stepping up and doing what needed to be done; like Microsoft, Sony’s got a large enough user base that a return to business as usual is a certainty, even if it does take some time.

After all, that new Call of Duty: Black Ops map pack is going to come to PSN at SOME point.

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57 New Digital Media Resources You May Have Missed (Mashable)

Hello and how are you from Disney World! With most of the Mashable staff in Orlando for Mashable Connect, we've had our hands full. However, that hasn't stopped us from turning out another week of digital media tools and resources. Have a look through this megalist for stories on YouTube alternatives, crowdsourcing and global communities, connected TVs and how social media has changed marketing campaigns.

[More from Mashable: Gaining Authority in the Age of Digital Overload]

Looking for even more social media resources? This guide appears every weekend, and you can check out all the lists-gone-by here any time.

For more social media news and resources, you can follow Mashable's social media channel on Twitter and become a fan on Facebook.

[More from Mashable: How Brands Can Work With Startups]

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New York Times adds 100,000 digital subscribers

The New York Times says it sold 100,000 digital subscriptions last month at a time when its business has been struggling. STORY HIGHLIGHTS The New York Times added 100,000 digital-only subscribers in the past month
Web-only plans for the Times start at $15 per month
The Times says it will share some subscription revenue with Apple by June 30RELATED TOPICSThe New York Times CompanyApple Inc.Media (CNN) -- Internet activists, perhaps today's new generation of hippies, often chant the mantra that "information wants to be free."

The New York Times may have silenced some of them on Thursday. The venerable news outlet announced that 100,000 people had signed up for digital subscriptions in the first month since they were offered.

The Times erected a pay wall on its site March 28, forcing readers to subscribe if they wanted to click on more than 20 articles per month. The digital plans range from $15 to $35 for four weeks of access, depending on which device you want to read the articles on. An early promotion let subscribers pay 99 cents per week.

So, 100,000 new digital subscriptions in four weeks for the nation's third-largest newspaper -- is that an impressive figure?

"If you're The New York Times, no," said Alex Daley, an analyst for Casey Research. "The New York Times is the Apple of the journalism world," he added.

Daley believes that Web-only subscription rate could be hard for the Times to sustain and grow.

"There's no virtuous cycle in a subscription business like this," he said. "Over time, the sales are actually going to get harder than easier."

By June 30, the Times will start giving Apple 30% of revenue from users who sign up for a subscription via its app on the iPhone or iPad, said Eileen Murphy, a spokeswoman for the news organization.

As of last month, the Times' app for Apple devices had been downloaded 7.8 million times, she said.

"Apple creates innovative products that our readers love, and it is important for us to make the Times available on those platforms where our readers want us to be," she wrote in an e-mail.

Let's crunch a few numbers: Apple sold 4.69 million iPads in the last three months -- "every iPad 2 we were able to make," Peter Oppenheimer, the financial chief said -- versus the Times's 100,000 digital plans.

The Times' Web-only subscription base "should be in the millions, but it's going to take them time to get there," Daley said. "It's an adjustment for their customers. It's an adjustment for their business."

The Times' financial health, like that of many print-centric media companies, is less than stellar. The company's profits fell sharply over the last few months due to a struggling advertising market.

"You have a business still whose core revenue model is changing dramatically," Daley said. "You're talking about a company that is half advertising-based, half subscription-based."

The newspaper's circulation and its subscription revenue have fallen while newsprint costs have risen. That's despite online postings from a few outspoken cost crunchers who discovered that it's cheaper in some cases to subscribe to the paper's Sunday print edition, which comes with free digital access, than to buy a digital-only plan.

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