Amazon increases free shipping minimum order to $35, pushes Prime membership as an alternative

The minimum order amount needed to qualify for free Super Saver Shipping from Amazon has remained set at $25 for US customers for quite some time — over a decade, actually. Now, the outfit is pushing the requisite cart total to $35 . As part of the announcement, the online retailer was quick to point out that Prime members receive unlimited free two-day shipping on any order as part of their annual $79 dues in addition to unlimited streaming of TV and movies through Prime Instant Video and access to the Kindle Lending Library. Of course, you can try it out for 30 days before committing as the outfit makes the push for Prime. Comments Via: Lifehacker Source: Amazon

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Amazon increases free shipping minimum order to $35, pushes Prime membership as an alternative

Apple App Store hits 60 billion cumulative downloads

Over 64% of compatible devices are already running iOS 7, according to Apple, making it by far the company’s most successful mobile operating system. In all, iOS 7 was downloaded over 200 million times in the first five days after it was released. Apple also reported paying developers over $13 billion to date, thanks to the over 1 million apps available in the App Store, which have hit over 60 billion cumulative downloads. (Apple still has the edge over Android; there are about 900, 000 apps available in the Google Play store.) Some other notable milestones: More than 20 million people have checked out iTunes Radio, listening to over a billion songs — in the U.S. alone. Over 9 million iPhones were sold in one weekend after the 5c and 5s launched, making it the biggest iPhone launch in history. Developing… Comments

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Apple App Store hits 60 billion cumulative downloads

Apple releases iOS 7.0.3 update with iCloud Keychain support, bug fixes aplenty

Turns out it’s not just Macs getting an OS update today. Apple has now also released version 7.0.3 of iOS — a decidedly less major upgrade, but one that will no doubt be welcome to anyone having some technical issues since updating to iOS 7. It’s not all bug fixes, though. The update also brings with it support for iCloud Keychain to let you share passwords and credit card info across your various devices, along with a new password generator for Safari that will help you choose more secure passwords. Filed under: Cellphones , Mobile , Apple Comments Via: 9 to 5 Mac

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Apple releases iOS 7.0.3 update with iCloud Keychain support, bug fixes aplenty

Apple pulls HMV music app after realizing it approved a competing music store

We were so pleased for legacy UK music store HMV, when it turned up with a new iOS app last week . It seems Apple was a little bit over-excited too, having apparently mashed the approve button without really realizing what it was doing. HMV was selling music downloads via the new app, a massive conflict of interest for Apple, and a big no-no in relation to its Ts & Cs. According to HMV Chairman Paul McGowan, Cupertino gave HMV Music the nod on September 15th, but once it noticed the gaffe, only gave the UK retailer until 6pm yesterday to remove the offending feature. Of course, this was too short notice, and as such the app has been pulled. The Guardian reports that the official word from Apple is that the app violated a clause that prevents selling of goods or services outside of the app — an experience the official press release described as “native” despite sending you off to an external site. Back to the developing board for HMV, we guess. Filed under: Cellphones , Software , Mobile Comments Via: The Guardian Source: Paul McGowan (Twitter)

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Apple pulls HMV music app after realizing it approved a competing music store

Netflix tops 40 million customers total, more paid US subscribers than HBO

Netflix’s results for the third quarter have arrived and one of its most important numbers, the total amount of US subscribers (not including trial accounts), has reached 29.93 million, more than HBO’s last count of 28.7 million. Last year at this time it had notched 25.1 million US customers, and including trial subscribers it passed HBO’s customer base back in April . Internationally it’s up to 9.19 million subscribers and is anticipating that it will add more than three million customers total in the next quarter. New original series Orange is the New Black has been a hit and while Netflix still isn’t releasing viewing numbers, it says the show will end the year “as our most watched original series ever.” Regarding its original content push, Netflix has already rolled out some of the stand-up comedy specials it promised (Aziz Ansari’s is next up on November 1st) and says it will expand soon into original documentaries, largely based on the popularity of that kind of content among its customers. Developing… Filed under: Home Entertainment , HD Comments Source: Netflix (PDF)

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Netflix tops 40 million customers total, more paid US subscribers than HBO

Amazon’s Elastic Transcoder converts audio files now, too

Amazon set out to makes our lives a tiny bit easier when it launched its cloud-based video transcoder back in January, and now, it’s expanding the service to audio as well. In addition to converting media files into mobile-friendly formats, the platform will also allow users to turn their videos into audio-only streams, which might just come in handy if you plan on turning a video into a podcast. The Elastic Transcoder lets you create output using AAC, MP3 or Vorbis audio codecs, and can attach relevant metadata like track names and album art to your files. In an effort to reel new users in, Amazon is offering a free usage tier capped at 20 hours of converted audio content each month. After that point, you pay for what you use, so each minute of audio will cost the princely sum of $0.0045 to transcode. To see how it all works, check out the video after the break. Filed under: Internet , Amazon Comments Via: Computerworld Source: Amazon

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Amazon’s Elastic Transcoder converts audio files now, too

NVIDIA reveals Gamestream, a game streaming initiative powered by NVIDIA GPUs

NVIDIA announced Gamestream this morning, an initiative aimed at pairing the company’s GPUs with streaming gaming via its Shield handheld game console. Company head Jen-Hsun Huang says the service takes NVIDIA’s GeForce Experience software and pairs it with NVIDIA GPUs and the Shield to push streaming gaming to the living room. Huang said Gamestream’s first stop is a re-branding of the Shield’s streaming tech — sounds like that PC streaming tech on Shield is coming out of beta. But Huang’s not stopping there: he pulled NVIDIA’s Ujesh Desai on-stage, and he showed Shield powering PC game streaming on a nearby LG 4K television. “What makes Gamestream special is the low-latency of it, ” Huang said. Desai used a Nyko wireless controller that he paired via Bluetooth with the Shield, and the Shield’s Android OS ran on the television. Apparently the computer that powered the demo of Batman: Arkham Origins — an unreleased WB game demoed via Steam’s Big Picture Mode on Shield — runs NVIDIA’s $1, 000 Titan GPU. The game sure looked snazzy running on a big 4K television, though we couldn’t help but notice the same hitching issues with streaming that we encounter at home with our review Shield . Of course, the streaming will work on any old TV that has an HDMI-in. The Shield connected to the TV via its HDMI-out port — something that previously made little sense. Huang said the game console mode of Shield will arrive in the coming months, as well as the update to GeForce Experience that enables streaming to televisions via Shield.%Gallery-slideshow101410% Filed under: Gaming , HD , NVIDIA Comments

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NVIDIA reveals Gamestream, a game streaming initiative powered by NVIDIA GPUs

NVIDIA reveals the GTX 780 Ti, a new ‘high-end enthusiast’ GPU

NVIDIA’s news day apparently isn’t over just yet, as the company just revealed a new graphics card: the NVIDIA GTX 780 Ti. It’s apparently hitting retail shelves this November, and it’s just one step below the company’s super high-end GPU, the Titan. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang didn’t offer many specifics on the new graphics card, instead choosing to leave it to reviewers who are apparently receiving units any day now. We’re gonna go ahead and call it safe to assume that this is a pretty powerful little card, but we’ll get some hands-on time in the coming hours with any luck! Filed under: Gaming , HD , NVIDIA Comments

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NVIDIA reveals the GTX 780 Ti, a new ‘high-end enthusiast’ GPU

AMD rides semi-custom business back to profitability, cites net income of $48 million in Q3 earnings

We had our doubts when AMD promised to bounce back from its second quarter slump , but the company has held its word, reporting a net income $48 million in its Q3 financial reports. Why the jump? AMD cites growth in its Graphics and Visual Solutions (GVS) division, which is responsible for semi-custom products like the chips bound for the upcoming PlayStation 4 , Xbox One and the floundering Wii U . “We achieved 26 percent sequential revenue growth driven by our semi-custom business and remain committed to generating approximately 50 percent of revenue from high-growth markets over the next two years, ” AMD President and CEO Rory Read stated in the earnings announcement. Not every portion of AMD’s business is flourishing, however — both its Computing Solutions and GPU segments saw a drop in revenue over the past year, and the company admits that it’s shipping fewer notebook chipsets these days. Even so, the numbers bode well for the company, which posted a total revenue of $1.46 billion for the quarter, alongside an optimistic outlook. After all, the company’s Mantle graphics cards are just around the corner. Filed under: AMD Comments Via: Market Watch Source: AMD

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AMD rides semi-custom business back to profitability, cites net income of $48 million in Q3 earnings

Lenovo’s convertible Yoga 2 Pro Ultrabook now available in the US, starts at $1,049

Many Ultrabook fans have pined for Lenovo’s Yoga 2 Pro given its blend of a 3, 200 x 1, 800 display, long battery life and a slim profile. Those people can finally act on their impulses, as Lenovo has quietly started selling the 13-inch folding convertible. For the $1, 049 base price, buyers get a silver gray variant with a Haswell -based 1.7GHz Core i3 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 128GB solid-state drive. An orange model normally costs $1, 399 (currently $1, 149), although that also includes a 1.6GHz Core i5, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Be sure to shop around before you pick up the new system, however. Best Buy is currently selling an entry-level Yoga 2 Pro for $1, 000, and there’s a chance you’ll find similar bargains elsewhere. Filed under: Laptops , Lenovo Comments Via: Liliputing Source: Lenovo , Best Buy

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Lenovo’s convertible Yoga 2 Pro Ultrabook now available in the US, starts at $1,049