Google gets back into the phone sales business, offering Galaxy Nexus for $399

The rumors were true -- Google once again is selling unlocked smartphones on its own, with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus going for $399 in the Google Play Store.

The phone Google's offering is an unlocked pentaband GSM device, same as what many of us had imported previously. The "pentaband" part means that it'll work on AT&T and T-Mobile 3G/4G networks. And because it's unlocked, you can take it out of the country and pop in another carrier's SIM card without needing an unlock code.

Google's tried selling phones before, starting with the original Nexus One in early 2010. That ended poorly, with customer support issues dogging Google, HTC and T-Mobile (which at launch was the only carrier to officially support the N1). Google finally shut down the phone store in May 2010 and said the Nexus One would come to retail stores. That didn't happen. Later, the remaining Nexus One stock was offered as a developer device.

So what happened? Google's Mario Queiroz told us at Google IO in May 2010 that "The web store as a direct distribution model is really a very small part of the overall Android strategy. With the Nexus One we had the objective of bringing to market a very technologically sophisticated phone, which we did, which really set a new bar for quality. And I think you've seen a lot of the phones in the market today, that have come to market in the past few months, have been influencing, in many ways ... by what the Nexus One was able to do."

Sweetening the deal is that Google Wallet -- which for some time has been official only on the Sprint Nexus S, and now on the Sprint Galaxy Nexus -- is preloaded on this GSM device.

For our part, this is the way Google should sell Nexus devices. Unlocked GSM versions, able to work on networks worldwide. And, of course, it's what some are calling the one "true" Nexus because you're able to build for it directly from the Android Open Source Project, with no pesky CDMA licensing restrictions  keeping that from happening. (We don't quite subscribe to that "True Nexus" theory ourselves, though.)

Devices in Google Play right now is open only in the U.S. But Andy Rubin, in a blog post this morning, says it'll be coming to more countries. The obvious follow-up question is this, though: Google won't be stopping at selling phones at Google Play, will it?

Buy now: Galaxy Nexus at Google Play
More: Google Mobile Blog

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Cloud Insecurity: Not Enough Tools, Experience or Transparency

It may be that the hype around cloud computing has settled, but security concerns continue to make headlines and are often cited by CIOs as top priorities. CompTIA's latest trends study found that while many U.S. companies trust the cloud enough to use it, only 13 percent trust it enough for heavy lifting.

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Tori & Dean on tomorrow?s Best Ink

On Tuesday’s Best Ink, the artists must design tattoos for Dean McDermott and wife, Tori Spelling. ?They also ink matching tattoos for best friends who are tattoo virgins. ?Taryn Manning guest judges. Tune in on Tuesdays at 10pm/9c only on Oxygen!??For exclusive content, head to?Best Ink on Oxygen.com. Like:?http://on.fb.me/GSJYBX?/?Tweet:?@Best_Ink; #BestInk

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From the Editor's Desk: The alternative Android dictionary

?One of our greatest features at Android Central is the Android Dictionary, an ever-evolving list of frequently used terms. But did you know there's a second, secret blogging dictionary? He's a peek inside:

• Benchmarks: A great way to confuse folks over which phone is "better" while simultaneously generating page views. Winning!
• [Brackets]: Used to explain a headline that's not particularly good. Often used to point out that something is supposed to be [funny] or [humor] -- and chances are it's neither.
• BREAKING NEWS!!!: The kind of news that just happened!!! And is important!!! Really important!!! So important all capital letters and exclamation marks are probably warranted!!! Also a great way to sex up a story without having to write a good headline.
• Coming soon: We actually have no friggin' idea when it's coming. But if we say "coming soon," it makes it look like we know when it's coming. We're mysterious like that.
• Developing ...: Putting this at the end of a post makes it look like we're doing important investigative work when really we're finishing an Angry Birds level or two.
• Exclusive: Someone sent us something. We saved it, watermarked it and put it on a webpage, then spent the rest of the day crowing about it in IRC. (Alt. definition: Actual hard work put into an original story.)
• Fragmentation: A story to be written quarterly reminding people you really don't understand how Android works as a platform.
• Imminent: Really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really, really soon. Maybe. (See Coming soon.)
• Nexus: Better.
• Official: Used in headlines to point out that a story is different than the endless miles of published crap that has no chance of ever coming true.
• Patent stories: A great way to show that 99 percent of us are not and never should be a lawyer.
• Reached out: A flouncy way of saying you took 15 seconds out of your otherwise busy reblogging day to send a single e-mail. And, no, you didn't wait for a response before publishing.
• Rooted: Better.
• Stock: Better.
• Tip @techmeme: A great way to let the tech community know you successfully rewrote a press release. Good job!
• Unboxing: Wherein we pretend to be surprised to find a phone, earbuds, cable, charger and documentation inside a box from a carrier or manufacturer. Usually recorded on video and presented in grand fashion. May include schoolgirl-like giggling.
• Watermark: A site's logo placed on top of its images to remind folks that they're visiting the site that they're visiting. A watermark's size should in no way be used to determine a site's importance. (But if you were to do so, the formula is W [HxW] x [number of writers²] x [number of improperly labeled exclusives])

That's just a snippet of how things really work on the Internets. Hope you enjoyed this peek behind the curtain.

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Thai censors say out, damned spot, out to Macbeth film adaptation

The maker of 'Shakespeare Must Die' is appealing the decision, but Thai bureaucrats are nervous about the movie's political overtones.

The banning of a Thai cinema adaptation of William Shakespeare's 'Macbeth' is causing a stir in Thailand. The censors ruled that the movie ?has content that causes divisiveness among the people of the nation."

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In a country where the royal family is protected from criticism by possibly the world's strictest lese-majeste laws (designed to prevent public criticism or ridicule of royals), any drama featuring regicide might be deemed taboo. But?Shakespeare Must Die?seems also to have touched a raw nerve with its depiction of Shakespeare's ambitious but guilt-ridden usurper blended in with scenes of protest and violence redolent of Thailand's recent past.

The country has been beset by on again, off again street protests since 2005. To some, the Macbeth character in the movie is reminiscent of former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose apparent vaulting ambition prompted royalist suspicions that he had a real-life anti-monarchy agenda.

Thailand's Culture Ministry told director Samanrat Kanjanavanit that she could only proceed with a bowdlerized version of the government-funded movie, but the filmmakers held their ground.

A red-clad Grim Reaper in the movie was deemed too evocative of the red-shirt demonstrators who took to Bangkok's streets in 2010, in protests that turned violent with more than 90 killed. Another scene inspired by a gruesome massacre of student demonstrators in 1976 was also deemed unacceptable.

Director Samanrat, better known as Ing K., says the censorship makes little sense. "Why do they (the censors) find a 400-year-dead poet so threatening?,? she told the Monitor.? The original Macbeth was penned during a fractious period in English history, probably shortly after the 1605 "Gunpowder Plot," when Catholics aggrieved at religious discrimination sought to assassinate England's King James I, a Scot.

Now, four centuries later, Thailand's volatile politics could hold the key to the censors' anxiety over a now-archetypal tale about how power corrupts man. Mr. Thaksin was ousted from office in a 2006 coup backed by royalist street protestors and faces jail on corruption charges. But his sister Yingluck is the country's prime minister, after her Peua Thai party routed the royalist-leaning Democrats in a 2011 election.

Thailand's 84-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej is the world's longest-sitting monarch and remains popular, drawing vast crowds onto Bangkok's streets last December for his birthday celebrations. But the combination of color-coded antagonism ("red-shirts" for pro-Thaksin demonstrators, "yellow-shirts" for royalists)? and the King's age makes for nervy bureaucrats, and the censors' actions on the movie come after several recent high-profile jailings for lese-majeste.

While Ms. Yingluck's government has sparked renewed royalist ire by hinting that Thaksin could return to Thailand without having to do jail time, her administration simultaneously pledged not to amend Thailand's lese-majeste laws and to tighten censorship of websites containing allegedly offensive content.

Now it seems even The Bard of Avon is caught up in Thailand's censorship dragnet. Southeast Asia-based documentary filmmaker Bradley Cox saw his?Who Killed Chea Vichea? ? about a Cambodian trade unionist who was murdered in 2004 ? banned in Cambodia. Discussing?Shakespeare Must Die, Mr. Cox told the Monitor that ?it makes one think that the censors must not think that highly of the Thai people, if they feel that they cannot handle the imagery and messages contained in this movie.?

For Ing K., the censors' reaction to the movie says a lot about Thailand, where the government and the opposition are at odds over a reconciliation proposal that, to some, could mean impunity for those involved in recent political violence. ?We don't want to look at ourselves," she lamented, ?we want to forget about painful events in our history."

The trailer for "Shakespeare Must Die:"

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Which Web Hosting Service Suits You Best | Blog Success Articles ...

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Business owners do not exactly know where they are going to be in the nearest future. Although they may have their own visions and projections, no one has an inkling of what will really happen later on. Small to Medium Enterprises may rise but the possibility that they might be sink down under the current of competition is also possible. Top guns can soar higher but there are also chances that a sudden fiasco will take effect. The fate of every business, just like the destiny of humans, is something we cannot control. The best thing firms can do is to prepare for things that are still to occur in order to succeed when good conditions come and to remain standing when the worst nightmares are present.

One way to ensure victory or to be immune from mishaps is to be active online. The Internet has produced a lot of avenues where business entities can earn money, attract ripe business opportunities, expand market share and improve brand awareness. The worldwide presence, easy access and high-speed of this technological application have allowed them to escalate performance. Also, the World Wide Web has been one of the primary sources of information for clients seeking goods and/or services in the local or international areas. Online marketing tools such as SEO, cost-per-action, advertising, social media and email marketing have been bringing customers to any company that excels on these activities. It would be a tremendous disadvantage to be absent where all the buyers and sellers meet in one place- the Internet.

The best partner in online business is a reliable web hosting service. Why? For one, your website will not be viewed in the Internet without this service. Second, the speed and life of your website depends on the performance of the chosen web hosting solution. Although there are free services, you must expect poor output. And when you want to increase your online resources, the success of upgrading relies on the efficiency of the web hosting plan. Of course, every firm wants its site visitors to experience fast downloads, zero downtime, or no crashes. You need to protect your and your customers? data secured from any threat. Even in the online world, there is a necessity to be ahead of the competition. At the present time, there are a considerable number of services where you can sign up for. Hosting providers are offering virtual private server hosting, dedicated server hosting, cloud computing, reseller hosting and data centre outsourcing or colocation services. Each has a different price tag from the other plans, from those affordable by SMEs to the most expensive services. Before you jump in conclusion on what package you are going to pay for, you ought to know the specifications of the right solution your company needs.

And such plan must be within your current budgets. So, how are you going to decide? Here are some useful tips:

-What do you need? Enumerate the things that you need. Do you desire an unlimited bandwidth, 100% uptime, various email accounts, huge disk space?

-Do you have the IT know-how? There are some solutions that allow absolute control of the server. Others rely on the technical ability of the service provider. So, which is which?

-What are you trying to achieve? I don?t mean to say general objectives such as ?to be no. 1?. Follow the S.M.A.R.T. format to know exactly your heart?s desires.

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Take time to think it through. There are plenty of web hosting plans available, make sure that you sign up with the perfect plan for your needs.

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Philadelphia Union draw Vancouver WhiteCaps FC, 0-0, to Earn First Point of 2012...

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