Four Things Google’s Nexus 4 Has in Common with the iPhone 4

Besides being each company’s flagship smartphone (and having the number 4 in their names), Google‘s new Nexus 4 and the 2010 iPhone 4 have a fair bit in common with each other.

This could be a good thing, if you remember just how popular the iPhone 4 was. Unfortunately, in this case it’s more of a bad thing, and hearkens back to “Antennagate” and the iPhone 4′s other problems. Do any of these features remind you of anything?

​A glass back

With the iPhone 5, Apple finally moved from a crack- and scratch-prone glass backplate to a solid, aluminum unibody construction. Google doesn’t seem to have gotten the memo that the former may have been a bad idea, however, and the Nexus 4 has a sparkly glass back surface.

While sparkly things obviously have their fans, the Nexus 4′s chassis also seems to lean towards the brittle side. Joshua Topolsky, who reviewed the Nexus 4 for The Verge, managed to crack the glass when he accidentally knocked his phone off the table. Meanwhile, Droid-Life’s Kellex found that setting the phone on a stone countertop caused its glass back to fracture in two.

​No 4G

Even Topolsky’s glowing review of the Nexus 4 said “It feels slow,” and “There’s simply no way to ignore this deficit.” That’s because, like the iPhone 4, the Nexus 4 lacks a 4G radio (even though it has the chip to support one if it had it).

The iPhone 4, however, was released in 2010, when 4G was still a new thing and the Android “superphones” which supported it had enormous screens and horrible battery life. Today, even the iPhone has 4G. Possibly because of bad blood between Google and the wireless carriers, which appear to resent Google’s selling phones unsubsidized and sans “customizations,” the Nexus 4 does not.

​Selling out fast

Every one of Apple’s iPhone models has sold out faster, and more dramatically, than the one before. Google’s Android devices, in contrast, haven’t tended to do so … although the new Nexus smartphones and tablets are starting to have this problem.

How bad is it? After Google finally got a new wave of Nexus 4s up for sale, they sold out in about a half-hour. Google claims that it hasn’t actually sold out, but even if you spotted the Nexus 4 on Google Play, chances are you ran into technical glitches which kept it out of your shopping cart. Tipster “Syko Pompos” told the Android Police blog how to get around this and place your order, but expect to wait months to receive it.

​Public relations nightmares

It hasn’t quite reached Antennagate levels yet, perhaps partly because the Nexus brand isn’t as well-known as the iPhone (the iPhone 4′s antenna problems were actually shared by many smartphones). But most of the press coverage of the Nexus 4 lately has been about how you can’t get one. Or else, how if you want one you’ll have to either buy it on contract or pay a lot more to get it unsubsidized from T-Mobile.

On the plus side (for the Nexus), this problem is only partly caused by the Google Play store’s technical errors. The biggest reason it’s taking so long to get out to people is, like with the iPhone 4, simply how popular it is.

Jared Spurbeck is an open-source software enthusiast, who uses an Android phone and an Ubuntu laptop PC. He has been writing about technology and electronics since 2008.

Linux/Open Source News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Is Pregnant Kate Middleton Having Twins

The royal couple has something extra to be thankful for this holiday season.

Related: Prince William & Kate Middleton Expecting a Baby

Prince William and his bride Kate, The Duchess of Cambridge, announced they're expecting a baby in the coming months. Tomorrow, ET breaks down all of the exciting details including rumors the mother-to-be is pregnant with twins.

Also Tuesday, Melissa McCarthy's Vanity Fair exclusive!

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Brooklyn yeshiva principal convicted of sex abuse

The principal of a Brooklyn yeshiva was convicted today of sexually abusing three young brothers, authorities said.

Emanuel Yegutkin, 33, abused the boys after he became close friends with their father and was invited regularly to Friday night shabbat dinners, the meal that marks the start of the weekly Jewish day of rest.

The abuse began when two of the boys were just 7 years old, according to the Brooklyn District attorney’s office.

“He would touch me under the table,” one of the brothers testified last month. “I wasn’t taught about sexuality so I wasn’t sure if it was right or wrong.”

When the jury returned the verdict, Yegutkin was immediately taken into custody and his wife began to cry.

He faces up to 25 years in prison on the top charge alone.

“This violent sexual predator faces the remainder of his life behind bars,” said DA Charles Hynes. “This should serve as a clear message that those who would sexually abuse children in this country will be punished severely.”

jsaul@nypost.com

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Two dead after bus crash at Miami International Airport

What began as a day of prayer and fellowship turned into a surreal scene of stunned, bloodied passengers and twisted metal.

There was the sickening sound of crunching metal early Saturday as a busload of Jehovah’s Witnesses was low-bridged by a concrete overpass at Miami International Airport, peeling back the top of the vehicle “like a can of sardines.”

Airport workers running to the scene found shocked passengers thrown into the aisle or trapped in their seats by the wreckage.

Riders in the front rows were crushed — two of them killed, others seriously injured.

The driver of the bus, 47-year-old Ramon Ferreiro, took a wrong turn off LeJeune Road, entering the airport by mistake, then rolled past multiple yellow signs warning tall vehicles. He drove on, approaching an overpass whose sign said “8ft-6in”. The driver either didn’t see it, couldn’t read it, or realized it too late.

The bus stood 11 feet tall.

“The last thing he should have done is to keep going,” said Greg Chin, airport spokesman. “That goes against all logic.”

Ferreiro, whose driver’s seat was lower than those of the passengers, was not injured.

One passenger, 86-year-old Miami resident Serfin Castillo, was killed on impact, and all 31 others were taken by ambulance to local hospitals. Thirteen ended up at Jackson Memorial’s Ryder Trauma Center, where one of them, 56-year-old Francisco Urana of Miami, died shortly after arriving.

Three remained in critical condition Saturday night, and three had been released.

Luis Jimenez, 72, got a few stitches on his lip and hurt his hand. He said the group left the Sweetwater Kingdom Hall about 7 a.m., bound for West Palm Beach.

“I was sitting in the back when it happened,” Jimenez said. “We were on our way to an assembly and lost a brother today. I’m very sad.”

Delvis Lazo, 15, a neighbor and member of the same congregation, described Castillo as a “nice, old man.” He often saw Castillo at religious gatherings, and their families have known each other for more than 15 years.

The last time Lazo saw him was about two months ago, as he prepped for a talk before his congregation.

“He gave me a thumbs up, told me that everything was going to be all right,” he said.

The bus, one of three traveling to the Spanish-language general assembly on Saturday, had been contracted by the congregation, which has fewer than 150 members.

According to public records, the bus belongs to Miami Bus Service Corporation, a Miami company owned by Mayling and Alberto Hernandez that offers regularly scheduled service between South Florida and Gainesville, often used by University of Florida students. At the home address listed for the company and the owners, Mayling Hernandez told The Miami Herald that passenger safety is her primary concern.

“At this time I’m worried about the driver and the families of the victims. I’m praying for them,” she said. “My job is to worry about the safety of the passengers who are our clients. What we do requires a lot of responsibility. I didn’t know the passengers but that doesn’t mean I’m not suffering.”

Neighbor Armando Bacigalupi described the owners as “caring people” and said he had seen buses park briefly in front of the house.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the company has two drivers for its three passenger motor coaches.

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Here’s How to Turn Nicki Minaj into Jay-Z

We realize there’s only so much time one can spend in a day watching new trailers, viral video clips, and shaky cell phone footage of people arguing on live television. This is why every day The Atlantic Wire highlights the videos that truly earn your five minutes (or less) of attention. Today:

RELATED: It’s Sort of Fun Watching Pippa Middleton Squirm

This is silly, but it’s Friday and a unicorn lair has been found in North Korea, rendering all other silliness moot. But the folks over at Reddit seem to dig the idea of slowing down Nicki Minaj’s songs so much that they sound like an over-enunciating Jay-Z. And well, it’s oddly relaxing: 

RELATED: ‘Roseanne’ Predicted Internet Addiction; A Weather Alert from Hell

RELATED: The Honey Boo Boo Nature Special; Everyone’s Favorite Sleepwalking Mom

Another week has passed by and we still haven’t figured out the Fiscal Cliff situation. Let’s fix it—and not just because we want to avoid getting downgraded (again). Because honestly, we just don’t think CNBC’s Rick Santelli can make it another two weeks: 

RELATED: Cookie Monster Takes a Bite Out of ‘Call Me Maybe’

RELATED: Paul Ryan Was In a Band Called Steak Baby

James Lipton, let’s hang out: 

Finally, it’s Friday. What are you still doing here?  Go enjoy the weekend or something or … watch this video of a husky which sort of sounds like Dame Edna at time imitating a baby until 6 p.m. rolls around: 

Wireless News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 2 Tops Box Office Again

In its third week of release, Breaking Dawn: Part 2 continues to dominate the box office.

Related: The Ultimate 'Twilight' Guide to 'Breaking Dawn' Actors & Their Characters

The final film in the Twilight Saga series raked in $17.4 million in ticket sales over the weekend, putting the vampire drama ahead of Skyfall, which earned $17 million for second place.

The spy thriller beat out Steven Spielberg's biopic Lincoln ($13.5 million) and the family friendly flick Rise of the Guardians, which took in $13.5 million.

Ang Lee's Life of Pi rounds out the top five with $12 million.

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Chiefs linebacker Belcher struggled with head injuries, alcohol and painkillers before he snapped and killed girlfriend: report

Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and former Long Island high-school star Jovan Belcher was allegedly battling football-related head injuries and booze, painkiller and domestic problems when he snapped and murdered his girlfriend before killing himself in front of two coaches Saturday.

A pal of Belcher’s told the Web site Deadspin.com that Kasandra Perkins, the mother of Belcher’s 3-month-old daughter, had threatened to leave him for good amid fighting between the pair.

The couple had only recently reconciled after Perkins left their rented house in Kansas City with the baby at one point to stay with friends. Perkins had returned, but friends said the relationship was still volatile.

Kansas City Chiefs running back Jovan Belcher (right) battled head injuries, drugs and alcohol before he snapped and killed his girlfriend Michele Perkins (left), friends said.

It didn’t help that he was drinking every day and taking painkillers while dealing with the effects of debilitating head injuries, the friend said.

Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said today that Belcher was "a player who had not had a long concussion history.’’

Belcher, 25, and Perkins, 22, had argued for the last time when she returned home late from a concert Saturday morning. But the Belcher friend said the concert was only a “tipping point.”

“This was the result of a long-term conflict,” the pal said. “She made it clear that she was leaving and would contact a lawyer’’ to fight for custody and child support.

Cops today revealed that Belcher shot Perkins nine times before committing suicide with a different gun. His mother witnessed the slaying; she had been in town to help Perkins with the new baby, sources have said.

Belcher’s mother, Cheryl Shepherd, will now take custody of the couple’s infant daughter and plans to return with the child to the family’s West Babylon home, where her troubled son grew up, his relatives said.

The kin said the baby was in another room when Belcher snapped and unloaded on Perkins.

“[Shepherd’s] taking it as anyone else would've taken it,” said Belcher’s cousin, Eric Oakes, 20, who lives in the mom’s renovated house where Belcher grew up. “She just lost a son. We're all coming together.”

Oakes, wearing a game-warn Chief’s jersey with Belcher’s number 59 on it, said his cousin was his role model.

"[He's] always trying to steer me right. That's the only person I wanted to be like. A role model, basically my father. He's the person who made me play football,” said Oakes, who played running back for West Babylon HS.

In Kansas City, relatives trickled in an out of the home that had become a murder scene.

“I think she was home alone a lot,” said Kristen Van Meter, 31, a neighbor who went to community college with the victim. “He was kind of quiet. he would come and go.”

When he was there, she said, there were lots of parties.

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Knight Foundation announces $23 million for arts in South Florida

After five years of supporting artistic ventures dreamed up by everyone from indie filmmakers to museum directors and musicians, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation is ready for more.

The Miami-based foundation is devoting a total of $23 million in new gifts for the arts in South Florida, including $14 million for seven institutions and $9 million to continue the popular Knight Arts Challenge for another three years.

“Miami is continuing to develop this cultural identity,” said Dennis Scholl, the foundation’s vice president of arts. “So much of that is coming from the grassroots organizations. And the community continues to get a sense of itself through culture — that felt like it was still going on and definitely something that was still vibrant, so we wanted to support that vibrancy.”

The news will be officially announced Monday night as the foundation names the most recent round of arts challenge winners, drawing from money pledged in 2008. The new $23 million gift brings the total gifts in Miami to $86 million in six years.

“The point of all of this, as I never tire of saying, is we want to make art general in Miami,” said Alberto Ibargüen, president and CEO of the foundation. “To do that, you want to support arts institutions that day in and day out offer opportunities for people in Miami to see and feel and participate and engage art... and then at the same time engaging anybody in Miami who has an idea.”

The new grant series will continue to solicit ideas that benefit the arts in South Florida and require winners to raise a matching amount.

Michael Spring, director of Miami-Dade’s Department of Cultural Affairs, said the initial challenge came at just the right time to sustain the growth of the arts when the economy took a nosedive in 2008. The Knight support, Spring said, was key for organizations and donors.

“What the Knight Arts Challenge does, in addition to investing a lot of important dollars, is it puts a spotlight on the arts as an important area for civic investment,” said Spring, whose department has been a challenge winner.

The challenge requirement for matching dollars is key, said Michael Kaiser, president of the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., who taught a two-year arts management training program in Miami funded in part by the Knight Foundation.

“When you just give a grant, it’s too easy for the organization to be thrilled and grateful and spend the money and then when the grant period is over, say ‘What do we do now?,’ ” he said. “When you make a matching requirement...you’re requiring them to build the fundraising skills that they will need to replace the grant when the grant period is over.”

Scholl said the major gifts are going to institutions that are maturing but still fragile.

“Our premiere institutions are not institutions with great endowments,” he said. “We were really looking at institutions that have provided us artistic excellence and made special efforts to do audience engagement.”

Major grants that will be announced include $5 million for the Miami City Ballet to increase outreach and add new works, including commissions; $5 million to the Wolfsonian-FIU to develop programs to engage the community and make the collection more accessible online; $2 million for the Cleveland Orchestra, in part to expand educational outreach programs; $1 million shared by the Design and Architecture High School and New World School of the Arts to send students on cultural trips to New York City and Europe; $500,000 for the Borscht Film Festival to expand and $500,000 for the Miami International Film Festival to add to its prize money to attract entries.

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Boat Show may block Miami’s 2016 Super Bowl bid

This winter, the biggest NFL match-up in South Florida might be Super Bowl versus Boat Show.

As South Florida readies a bid for the 2016 Super Bowl, it must contend with a major potential conflict on the tourism calendar. The National Football League may move the Super Bowl to Presidents’ Day weekend, already home to the five-day Miami International Boat Show since the 1940s.

It’s a significant enough conflict that, in the past, local tourism officials have declined to pursue a Super Bowl if it fell on boat show weekend. But this time around they may have no choice. For the first time, the NFL is requiring that potential host cities agree to a Presidents’ Day weekend Super Bowl if they want to pursue the big game at all, said two people who have seen the NFL request for Super Bowl bids.

The NFL “invited South Florida [to bid] knowing there was going to be an issue with Presidents’ Day weekend and the boat show,” said Nicki Grossman, Broward’s tourism director. “In the past, South Florida has not responded to a Super Bowl date that included Presidents’ Day weekend. This package is different.”

South Florida vies with New Orleans as the top Super Bowl host, with government and tourism leaders touting the game as both a boon to the economy and a publicity bonanza. But the notion of accommodating both Super Bowl and boat show — not to mention a major arts festival in Coconut Grove — strikes some top tourism officials as a bad idea.

“There is not sufficient hotel inventory available in Miami that weekend to host a Super Bowl,” said William Talbert, president of the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau. “We have taken a close look at that weekend, and it’s not physically possible in Miami to host Super Bowl during the Presidents’ Day weekend because of the boat show and the Coconut Grove Arts Festival. The hotel inventory is all being used for these two great events.”

His comments are at odds with the region’s top Super Bowl organizer and reflect the burden that the boat show may be to South Florida’s Super Bowl hopes for 2016 and 2017. The NFL invited Miami and San Francisco to bid for the 2016 Super Bowl by April 1, with the loser vying with Houston for the 2017 game. Talbert said the bid package states both decisions will be made in May.

For now, South Florida’s Super Bowl organizers face a largely hypothetical challenge, because the current NFL schedule has the Super Bowl occurring two weeks before Presidents’ Day weekend. The bid requirements for the ’16 and ’17 Super Bowls include three consecutive weekends as possibilities for the game, with the latest falling on the Presidents’ Day holiday.

Still, possible logistical hurdles may combine with political obstacles if the Miami Dolphins resume their push for a tax-funded renovation of Sun Life Stadium, the Super Bowl’s South Florida home.

Last year, the Dolphins proposed that Broward and Miami-Dade counties subsidize a $225 million renovation at Sun Life as a way to keep the region competitive for Super Bowls and other large events. The renovation includes a partial roof that would prevent the kind of drenching Super Bowl spectators suffered in 2007 when a rare February downpour hit Miami Gardens.

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Facebook Cover Photos Are Disappearing

In the scope of a couple of days, several people — including Mashable staffers — have seen their Facebook cover photos disappear without explanation. The issue appears to be a move by Facebook to aggressively crack down on images that are considered promotional.

[More from Mashable: 500,000 Facebook Users Chase Fake $ 1 Million From Powerball ‘Winner’]

I first encountered the issue yesterday when Facebook ostensibly removed a promotional still from the TV series Doctor Who that I used as a cover photo. When I attempted to upload another image, I saw this message:

Pick a unique photo from your life to feature at the top of your timeline. Note: This space is not meant for banner ads or other promotions. Please don’t use content that is commercial, promotional, copyright-infringing or already in use on other people’s covers.

[More from Mashable: This Facebook App Gives Annoying Friends a ‘Time Out’]

Since we published the original article about the incident, several readers have come forward, reporting the same thing happened to them in the comments. In addition, three other Mashable staffers reported Facebook removing their cover photos in the last 24 hours.

When asked if there was some kind of crackdown going on, a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable via email that Facebook’s policies regarding photos and cover photos haven’t changed. Facebook’s terms of service specifies that a cover photo should be a “unique image that represents your Page.”

The exact reason why Facebook removed each cover is a mystery, since the user is not informed, except by the glaring empty space where the photo used to be. It could be due to a copyright violation or that the photo was deemed to “promotional.” Although Facebook removes the photo from the cover position, it doesn’t actually delete the photo itself.

“Facebook is in business to make money,” says Lou Kerner, a former social media analyst and founder of the Social Internet Fund. “The great thing about that is most ways they’re going to make money is by letting people do what they want — as long as it doesn’t break the law. For the most part, if they act in the user’s best interest, they act in their own best interests.”

While I speculated Facebook was removing cover photos to prevent the site from becoming too tacky, one of Mashable‘s commenters suggested Facebook was looking to preserve its business model. After all, if brands recruit “ambassadors” by encouraging — or paying — them upload promotional cover photos, that would detract from Facebook’s own tools that are meant to help brands engage with their fans on the service.

Disney, for example, offers fans of its franchises images to download that are specifically formatted for Facebook Timeline. If this is indeed a crackdown, that practice could cease.

“That seems more heavy-handed than Facebook generally acts,” says Kerner. “That sounds very egregious to me in terms of how they want brands and people to interact. I don’t see how Facebook benefits by not allowing a brand’s fans to engage with the brand like that.”

How widespread is the practice? It’s hard to say from the evidence so far, but based on Twitter reactions over the last day, it’s definitely been happening regularly. Although some users say the removed photos were their own, the pattern that seems to be emerging is that the photos are either promotional or violate copyright:

Why do you think Facebook is removing users’ cover photos and should it be doing so? Share your reactions in the comments.

1. Red Bull

Not only has Red Bull taken advantage of Timeline, it has also created a scavenger hunt with prizes to get fans interacting with the company’s history.

Click here to view this gallery.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Social Media News Headlines – Yahoo! News

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