breaks

Does my TV have a break-in period? (Morrison's Mailbag)

CNET reader Joe writes:

I recently purchased a Samsung PN59D8000. My question is what is the best procedure for the break-in period? I've read different things online talking about leaving contrast and brightness levels down. I looked through the PDF manuals for this model and didn't see anything mentioning a break-in period. Is this something that was only required on older plasmas? Thanks for any help.

Thanks, Joe

… Read more

Deutsche Telekom: We are entitled to a breakup fee

Deutsche Telekom said today it would be entitled to a breakup fee if AT&T's planned purchase of T-Mobile USA falls apart, refuting an earlier report that it could potentially end up with nothing.

Reuters, citing anonymous sources, reported yesterday that AT&T may be off the hook for paying a $6 billion breakup fee to Deutsche Telekom under certain conditions. But Deutsche Telekom said today that isn't the case.

"The story from Reuters misstated the facts," Deutsche Telekom representative Andreas Fuchs told CNET today. "The breakup fee was agreed to precisely to … Read more

T-Mobile may miss out on AT&T break-up fee, report says

AT&T may not have to pay T-Mobile USA's parent, Deutsche Telekom, the $6 billion break-up fee even if the mega-merger between wireless carriers falls apart, according to Reuters.

AT&T may not be on the hook for the fee under certain conditions, a source told Reuters in a story that ran today.

Spokesmen for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Deutsche Telekom didn't immediately respond to CNET's requests for a comment.

AT&T and T-Mobile were thrown for a loop last week when the Department of Justice sued to block AT&T's planned acquisition … Read more

Facebook set to launch something 'awesome'

Links from Wednesday's episode of Loaded:

Facebook set to launch "something awesome"later today

Google to drop Blogger and Picasa brands

Adobe and Avid offer deals to switchers

Steve Jobs biography gets title

iPad 2 jailbreak is live

CNET infringement case dropped

Pulse News, an elegant mobile reader

Pulse News gives you all the news from your favorite Web sites laid out in an intuitive interface. News sites are laid out vertically so you can swipe up and down to the latest news from all sites quickly, or you can swipe horizontally to read more stories from the same site. Each story heading has the headline and an included graphic, making for a more elegant approach than other news readers that show only text links. Touching a story heading gives you either a text-based summary, a mobile-optimized version for easy reading, or a way to view the story … Read more

iOS 5 beta jailbroken in less than 24 hours

The next major version of Apple's iOS has been exploited less than a day after its beta release to developers.

A member of the iPhone Dev Team--a group of hackers that targets Apple devices and is not to be confused with Apple's group that designs the iOS software--announced through a tweet last night that the developer beta release of iOS 5 was susceptible to limera1n, an exploit that targets a vulnerability in the iOS boot software.

As a result, iPhone Dev Team member "MuscleNerd" said that it was possible to install third-party application installer Cydia, which lets users download applications not offered through Apple's App Store. The device used was a fourth-generation iPod Touch running the beta of iOS 5, software Apple offered up to developers following yesterday's WWDC keynote address and iOS 5 unveiling.

For proof, MuscleNerd has posted two photos of the jailbreak, one of which includes the iPod's home screen, which prominently feature the Cydia logo. Another is a screenshot from the third-party SSH iOS application, iSSH, which shows that root level access to the iPod's file system has been obtained. … Read more

Headphone 'burn-in': Fact or fantasy?

Most of my audiophile friends believe that headphones (and speakers and electronics) sound better after the first 100 hours of use than they do when they're brand-new. When I'm doing high-end product reviews I leave the "burn-in, break-in" question up to the manufacturer. If the company's reps claim their product won't sound its best until it has a solid month of use, I'll request a unit with enough hours on it that I can start working on the review right away. If the manufacturer scoffs at the very idea of burn-in, I start … Read more

Bin Laden, Twitter, and the frenzy of noise

It's difficult for the columns on a Twitter client app to resonate with emotion, but late Sunday evening, as the news unfolded that U.S. special forces had killed al-Qaeda leader and 9/11 mastermind Osama bin Laden in Pakistan, they certainly did.

There were, at the beginning and end of President Obama's speech announcing the victory, 4,000 "tweets" per second, an estimate that the company increased to over 5,000 on Monday morning. Twitter also elaborated further and said that it experienced its highest sustained rate of tweets ever, with an average of 3,… Read more

Take the pulse of the Internet

Pulse News for iPad gives you all the news from your favorite Web sites laid out in an intuitive interface. News sites are laid out vertically so you can swipe up and down to the latest news from all sites quickly, or you can swipe horizontally to read more stories from the same site. Each story heading has the headline and an included graphic, making for a more elegant approach than other news readers that show only text links. Touching a story heading gives you either a text-based summary, a mobile-optimized version for easy reading, or a way to view … Read more