U.S. Files to Block AT&T, T-Mobile Merger

The U.S. Justice Department sued to block AT&T Inc.’s proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile USA Inc., saying the deal would “substantially lessen competition” in the wireless market.

The government is seeking a declaration that AT&T’s takeover of T-Mobile, a unit of Deutsche Telekom AG (DTE), would violate U.S. antitrust law, according to a complaint filed today in federal court in Washington. The U.S. also asked for a court order blocking implementation of the deal, the largest announced acquisition of the year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Read more over @ Bloomberg...


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Give us a call today: 281-554-5500 or visit Friendly Computers to schedule an appointment.

Human-like robot comes alive aboard space station

A 330-pound humanoid robot was electronically awakened aboard the International Space Station this week, beginning its life as an astronaut's assistant.

The robot named Robonaut 2, or R2, will help with routine tasks such as holding tools and vacuuming air filters. The robot was sent up on space shuttle Discovery in February, but it wasn't powered up until now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wsldznpxc-E

Check out the video above as R2 gets unpacked.

Clad in a gold helmet with a shiny metallic visor, R2 has a torso, two arms and two five-fingered hands. For now, it sits on a fixed pedestal inside the space station.

"Next steps include a leg for climbing through the corridors of the space station," NASA said.

Once fully built, NASA envisions R2 assisting astronauts during space walks as they make mechanical fixes to the outside of the space station.

Read over @ LA Times.


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

6 Reasons The Guy Who's Fixing Your Computer Hates You

By my calculations, about 96 percent of all computer repairs are done, not by the local computer guy or the Geek Squad, but by The Friend Who is Good With Computers. Often that friend is nothing more than an average computer user who knows how to look up error messages on Google, but it doesn't matter -- once they become known as TFWIGWC, they will get the call every time something goes wrong. And they will fix it, probably for free, because TFWIGWC pities you.

Read more over @ Cracked...


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Microsoft: Windows 8 pre-release to arrive in the "coming months"

It has been rumored that Microsoft would be releasing a beta of Windows 8 in the fall. Specifically, it is rumored that a beta release will happen at this year’s BUILD event that will take place in September. While there has been previous talk that a pre-release of Windows 8 arriving in the fall, this new information helps to confirm that Microsoft is still on track for a fall release.

Read more about Microsoft's exciting new version of Windows over @ NeoWin!

Give us a call today: 281-554-5500 or visit Friendly Computers to schedule an appointment.


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Facebook Now Wants to Put Ads In Your Personal Feed

Forget about the top ten reasons you should quit Facebook. Heck, forget about all the other reasons too because this is the new definitive reason why you will quit Facebook: Zuckerberg now wants to put ads directly in your feed.

Read more over @ Gizmodo...



By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Give us a call today: 281-554-5500 or visit Friendly Computers to schedule an appointment.


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Windows Phone "Mango" Released to manufacturer!

I wanted to drop into the Windows Phone Blog briefly to update you on an important milestone. Earlier this morning, the Windows Phone development team officially signed off on the release to manufacturing (RTM) build of “Mango” – the latest version of the Windows Phone operating system. This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations. Here on the Windows Phone team, we now turn to preparing for the update process. The Mango update for current Windows Phone handsets will be ready this fall, and of course will come pre-installed on new Windows Phones.

To learn more about this exciting new Windows Phone release read more over at the Windows Phone Blog!



By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Give us a call today: 281-554-5500 or visit Friendly Computers to schedule an appointment.

How to download and back up your Gmail, Google+, Calendar, and Docs data!

Google has a tremendous number of free services they offer which many of your probably take advantage of. But have you ever considered what you might lose if all of a sudden you lost access to your account? Just like all important data on your hard drive, your critical data in “the cloud” should also have backup consideration.

So if your Google account contains data you can’t afford to lose or you simply would like to have a local copy of it for yourself, you can easily download just about everything.

Check out how over @ HowToGeek.


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28

Got that new iPhone or iPod and don't know how to set it up? Let us help!

So you've finally splurged on a new iOS device for yourself, or gotten it as a gift from the Apple lovers in your life. Sadly, you can't just open the box and start using it—it requires a bit of set up. Here's what you need to do.

If you don't already have iTunes, you'll want to head to apple.com/itunes, download it, and maybe even rip a few CDs while you're at it.

Read more over @ LifeHacker.

Give us a call today: 281-554-5500 or visit Friendly Computers to schedule an appointment.


By Friendly Computers Copyright: 2010-01-28