Teenagers more interested in Twitter than Facebook, study says

Facebook is starting to see a lot less face time.

About 23 percent of 8,650 teenagers surveyed in Piper Jaffray’s 26th Semi-Annual “Taking Stock with Teens” Market Research Project cited Facebook as the most important social media platform, down from 42 percent the year before.

Twitter was cited as the most important.

But Bruce Floyd, UF’s social media specialist, said he’s skeptical about the research provided in the study and needed to examine it before agreeing with the trend.

“What (teenagers) say they like is different from what they use,” he said.

Anna Cesarotti, a 19-year-old UF sociology and sustainability studies sophomore, said she hasn’t had a Facebook account for more than a year.

“I was overwhelmed by Facebook,” she said.

Cesarotti said she felt keeping up with Facebook was too much like maintenance, so she choose to delete her account before starting college.

Although the study shows teen Facebook users are down, some UF students still think there is a need for it to stay connected on campus.

Lizbeth Ramos, an 18-year-old UF exploratory freshman, said she recently reactivated her Facebook after not having one for almost three years because she felt it was necessary for college.

“Everything is done through Facebook,” she said.

Ramos said most of the organizations at UF use Facebook to advertise events, meetings and other information. Without it, she wouldn’t be able to stay up to date.

“I don’t want it to socialize. I want it for school purposes,” she said.

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Firefox Add-On Helps You Find Out Who's Watching You on the Internet

(NEW YORK) -- Most Internet users are aware of the services or sites one can visit or the browsers that can be used to track some browsing habits in one way or another.

Depending on the privacy settings that are enabled, sites and services might monitor clicks to show the user advertisements they might be interested in or collect other data for research.

But Mozilla, the open-source software company that makes the Firefox browser, wants to make it a bit easier for users to visualize what sites and third-party site services might be tracking or watching their Internet activity. Released on Thursday, an add-on for the Firefox browser called Lightbeam shines a light on the eyeballs watching users.

When installed, the user gets an interactive visualization of the sites they visit and around those are a cluster of other services that are tied into those sites. When a person clicks on pieces on the map that looks like a solar system, you more information becomes available about who might be gathering information about the user and their Web habits.

Mozilla officials said they hope the tool brings awareness to Web users about the different third-party plug-ins that are used across sites, but the company is also looking to get a bigger picture view of the Internet and how tracking works.

Of course, that's leads to another question: Is Lightbeam tracking me too? Mozilla offers a very clear toggle that allows you to turn on and off what you contribute to the service.

"You may contribute your data to our crowdsourced directory by simply turning on the share switch within the add-on," the company states on its information page. "To disable crowdsourcing, you can turn it off at any time."

You can download the add-on from here and while you're at it, it might also be a good time to make sure the "do not track" setting is turned on in your browser. In Firefox that can be found under Preferences, Privacy and then selecting the "I do not want to be tracked" setting.

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LG Electronics unveils curved smartphone in race against Samsung

SEOUL: South Korea's LG Electronics Inc unveiled a curved smartphone on Monday in a move to catch up bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co. 

Curved displays and flexible screens are the new battleground for phone makers as the screens open up possibilities that could eventually transform the high-end smartphone market. 

Curved smartphones provide a more comfortable grip than flat-screen models, but the lack of must-have features means they are unlikely to be big consumer hits anytime soon, analysts have said. Manufacturing costs also remain relatively high. 

Both Samsung and LG's curved phones are only available in the South Korean market as they seek to gauge consumer appetite. 

Samsung launched a variant of the popular Galaxy Note earlier this month as the world's first smartphone with a display slightly curved side to side. 

The model launched on Monday by LG Electronics has a vertically curved six-inch display. The company said the phone will be available from next month through South Korea's three mobile carriers. 

Its vertically curved display offers more immersive video watching experience and the phone uses a curved battery to support its form factor, LG said. 

Changing form factors of the battery as well as phone's chip board and other components remain a challenge in achieving flexible devices. 

LG is among a slew of smaller companies struggling to compete against Samsung and Apple Inc, the smartphone leaders that account for almost all the industry's profits. 

LG reported last week an 80 billion won ($75 million) operating loss from its handset division for the third-quarter due to marketing costs surrounding a smartphone launch in August. 

The company plans to increase marketing investment in the current quarter to raise brand awareness in the high-end market, which it hopes will help expand sales later in the mid to lower-end segments. 

Technology analysts and media reports say Apple is also working on a smartwatch, potentially with a curved screen, but there has been no word from the Cupertino California-based company about its plans. 

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Samsung Galaxy S5 Rumors

Device To Release With 64-Bit Exynos Processor? Samsung Announces Chipset Is Ready To Be Manufactured

The Samsung Galaxy S5 processor may be a 64-bit chipset. Samsung Exynos

As we ease into the Samsung Galaxy S5 rumor season, reports from South Korea indicate that the manufacturer has now completed development of its 64-bit system on a chip, which will soon go into production for implementation in the Galaxy S5.

Korean tech website IT Today reports that a director with Samsung’s System LSI division confirmed during a conference call on Friday that the 64-bit SoC is now ready to be manufactured. Samsung notably announced that it was in the final stages of developing a 64-bit chipset not long after Apple unveiled its iPhone 5S, which features a 64-bit processor. The A7 processor is the first 64-bit chip implemented in a smartphone; however, it may soon be a staple in future generations of mobile devices.

Samsung's 64-Bit Chipset

There is some indication that, in addition to a 64-bit architecture, Samsung’s upcoming SoC may implement a 14nm process based on ARM’s big.LITTLE platform, similar to what is currently seen on the Exynos 5410 and Exynos 5420 “5 Octa” chipsets. Using Cortex-A53 and Cortex-A57 cores, the octa-core chipset would allow for functionality of all cores at once, while maintaining its power-saving capability. Some reports have already referred to the chip as the 64-bit Exynos 5430 “true eight-core” processor; however, a name has not yet been confirmed by Samsung. (Some sources are also suggesting the name “Exynos 6.”)

Android's 64-Bit History

Though Apple may have spearheaded the commercialization of 64-bit computing on mobile devices, the architecture has actually long been developed on the Android platform. Android is notably based on the Linux operating system, which has had 64-bit functionality for even longer. Android based software simply needs the compatible hardware in order to adopt 64-bit support as the framework is already within its code.

More 64-Bit Chip Suppliers To Come

Meanwhile, Samsung isn’t the only manufacturer ready to capitalize on 64-bit mobile computing. Qualcomm has also announced that it may soon begin producing its own 64-bit processors. News of a new 2.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon (APQ8084) processor has recently begun to circulate. The SoC is believed to be apart of the Snapdragon 800 series, featuring an Adreno 420 GPU; it reportedly includes 64-bit DDR3 memory as opposed to 64-bit processing. However, details about the chipset may not be revealed until the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show, where Qualcomm typically unveils its latest products.

Samsung is well known for using its own processing components in its flagship devices as well as components from third party suppliers. Several generations of Samsung Galaxy smartphones have featured either Exynos or Qualcomm chipsets depending on their region of availability. That fact may be a hint that Qualcomm has a 64-bit processor in the works. Notably, the supplier has several tiers of chipsets, which could potentially be upgraded with 64-bit support.  

NVIDIA is another developer currently producing 64-bit computing. Its ARMv8 64-bit architecture is expected to be adopted by such chipset manufacturers as Huawei or Broadcom. Apple’s iOS 7 on the A7 SoC is also based on ARMv8-A application support.

When Will Samsung Release It's 64-Bit Powered Galaxy S5?

Current rumors suggest the Samsung Galaxy S5 could release as early as February; however, the Korean manufacturer’s usual Galaxy S series release timeline is between April and May. It may still be too early to determine a release date for the upcoming device. But the rumor mill will soon be churning at full speed with suggestions.

Do you think a 64-bit processor for the Galaxy S5 is a good move for Samsung? Let us know in the comments below.

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AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon offers Samsung Galaxy S3 for $0.01

The top three US network carriers are offering Samsung Galaxy S3 4G LTE variant with two year service contract just for a penny. Verizon Wireless and Sprint has priced Galaxy S3 at $0.01 whereas AT&T is selling it for $9.99.

Samsung’s current weapon to attack Google LG Nexus 4 is currently offered by AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile for less than a dollar with two year service contract. Without any doubt, Galaxy S3 is all round a nice phone with good features and specs which falls in budget of mid-level smartphone buyers.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 has been in the market for a while now. But with the recent Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean update, it has not just got a good boost to its speed, but also to its sale. Given to this, are the attractive deals offered by the leading U.S. carriers, viz. T Mobile, Verizon, Sprint and AT & T. And if you are looking for a place for the best deals, Amazon retains its most bankable position.

The 16GB variants of the Samsung Galaxy S3 from Sprint are available in white, purple and blue on Amazon. There’s good news for all the customers. Amazon is selling this dashing smartphone from Sprint for a mere $0.01. Yes, you got it right. Pay $0.01, and take home a brand new Samsung Galaxy S3, on a two-year contract. But if you are already a Sprint customer, then you will have to let loose $19.99 out of your pocket for the purchase. However, if you intend to buy it without a service plan, you can simply shell out $549.99 to get a brand new Sprint Samsung Galaxy S3 from the Amazon.

Well this sumptuous offer isn’t just on Sprint. The 16GB variant of the Samsung Galaxy S3 from AT&T is on offer for a meager $9.99 to new customers on a two-year contract. However, just like Sprint, if you are an old customer coming for an upgrade, you will have to pay $19.99. The colors in stock right now are white and blue, though I’m personally missing AT&T Samsung Galaxy S3’s red color. However, you get the device for $499.99 without a service agreement.

If you are more of a Verizon fan, then check out the interesting Verizon deals on Amazon. The device is available in white, black and blue. The 16GB models with expandable microSD slot up to 64GB could be yours for $549.99 without a service plan. However, you can also take home a new Samsung Galaxy S3 for just $0.01 on a two-year service contract. The amount may vary up to $39.99 depending on the service agreement.

T-Mobile, meanwhile, no new Samsung Galaxy S3 deals from T-Mobile are available on Amazon currently, except for the used-products sale. So, if you are looking for a striking deal on Amazon for this dashing smartphone with 4.8-inch Super AMOLED touch-screen display, 8-megapixel rear camera, 1080p full HD video-recording, 1.5 GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor, an upgraded Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Operating System, 16 GB internal storage with expandable MicroSD card slot, and giving nine hours of talk-time, you will have to skip considering T-Mobile as of now.

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