8 Things iPad mini Buyers Need to Consider

Apple?s iPad mini, released last November, remains one of the best options in the 7-inch range of tablets and thus, it?s likely a device that many shoppers are thinking about buying. Before buying the current iPad mini though, there are a number of things that buyers must consider.

In July of last year Google struck first, launching its Nexus 7 tablet, a device that ushered in the Jelly Bean era of Android and a device that went on to have a solid one year life span. What the Nexus 7 also did was start a battle between three big name companies in the 7-inch tablet realm. For several months, the Nexus 7 was on shelves, unopposed. However, later in the year, Apple and Amazon both joined the fray.

iPad mini buyers need to consider a host of things before buying Apple?s 7.9-inch slate.

In September, it was Amazon that released its Kindle Fire HD, a high-end yet inexpensive upgrade to its original Kindle Fire and a device that was clearly aimed at tackling the Nexus 7 and its success. That launch was followed a few months later by Apple?s November release of its iPad mini, a device that had been stuck in the rumor mill for years but finally made an official appearance.

Like rumors suggested, the iPad mini arrived with a 7.9-inch display and a design that took after the iPhone 5?s aluminum back. The device checked in with a more expensive price tag than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7, starting at $330 and going all the way up to $670 for the 64GB version of the iPad mini LTE.

The iPad mini, despite its age, remains a solid option for tablet buyers and one that those in the market for a new slate should consider. However, this is 2013, not 2012 and there are some important things that iPad mini buyers need to consider before buying Apple?s smaller iPad.

iPad mini 2

The iPad mini 2 is rumored for later this year.

The first thing that prospective iPad mini buyers must consider is the new iPad mini which is expected to make its debut sometime this fall. Apple?s iPads, over the years, have seen incremental improvements and the same should be expected from the new iPad mini. Rumors suggest that the device will come with a thinner design, improved camera, and a better processor that should help with battery life and gaming.

However, maybe the most important aspect of the iPad mini 2 that buyers need to think about before buying the iPad mini is that it will likely come with a Retina Display. This is huge.

Arguably the biggest flaw of the iPad mini was its lack of a Retina Display, something that came to the larger iPad several years ago. A Retina Display would mean better looking photos, video and more and it?s likely the most sought after feature of a new iPad mini.

Apple tends to cater to its buyers so while there are rumors that an iPad mini with Retina Display could be pushed to 2014, it?s more likely that we?ll see it launch this fall.

No release date is known but given that the iPad mini was released in November, that?s a good time frame to think about. A three month wait for a exponentially better display, and tablet, is probably worth it to many buyers at this point.

Google?s Nexus 7

Buyers also must consider Google?s new Nexus 7 tablet which emerged from hiding just a few short days ago and unlike the next iPad mini, is readily available on shelves.

The Nexus 7 is a vast improvement over the last version as it not only brings a 7-inch screen that is miles ahead of the iPad mini?s display but it also adds a sleek lightweight design, the latest version of Android, a good camera, 4G LTE data speeds that can be accessed on AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon and a price tag that undercuts the iPad mini in every way possible.

The new Nexus 7 is a device that potential iPad mini buyers must consider.

The iPad mini starts at $330, it hasn?t seen a price drop since its debut, while the Nexus 7 starts at $100 cheaper for its 16GB model Wi-Fi model. The 32GB model is only $50 more expensive while Apple charges $100 more. As for the LTE Nexus 7, which isn?t out yet, it will cost $350 which is $130 less than Apple?s 16GB iPad mini LTE. The Nexus 4 LTE only comes in 32GB form.

So the Nexus 7 has better specs, more wide-range LTE support and a price tag that undercuts the iPad mini. Plus, it?s available now. Indeed, this is something that iPad mini buyers need to consider.

Kindle Fire HD 2

On the heels of the Nexus 7 launch comes a huge Kindle Fire leak that includes news of a Amazon Kindle Fire HD 2, the rumored successor to the original Kindle Fire HD. Whether or not this was a controlled leak is unknown but it?s clear that Amazon?s Kindle Fire HD 2 is going to be a serious competitor to the Nexus 7 and the iPad mini.

While it only exists in rumor now, BGR?s information about the Kindle Fire HD 2 is likely credible given its track record. What this means is that consumers will more than likely be starring down a new Kindle Fire HD 2 that will come with a 1,920 x 1,200-pixel display, a Qualcomm 800 quad-core processor which is more powerful than the Nexus 7?s, 2GB of RAM, and both Wi-Fi and LTE models.

The Kindle Fire HD 2 is on tap for 2013 it seems.

What?s more is that the Kindle Fire HD 2 may stay in the same price range as the company?s previous models, while also coming in 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB form. That could mean that Amazon undercuts both the iPad mini and the Nexus 7 with a $199 starting price point.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Gottabemobile/~3/owkZ1Mum3GQ/

Cory Monteith autopsy mlb all star game mlb all star game Kyle Massey Rembrandt van Rijn Jordan Spieth WWE

Apple faces more allegations of worker abuse by different supplier... Pegatron

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ker-abuse.html

Quote:

Pegatron, which puts together products in mainland China for Apple, was forcing employees to work in poor conditions, depriving them of overtime pay and polluting the environment, China Labor Watch claimed in a report released on Monday. ?[Pegatron] benefitted from and relied upon labor violations to increase their competitive edge,? the rights group said. The group said its findings were based on a five-month undercover investigation at three Pegatron factories in China where more than 70,000 workers assemble Apple products.

This happening after they got some good press after deciding to try and have products manufactured in the states is interesting
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...8GU03920120530

I wonder if they decided that having some of their products made in the states was a good idea out of fear that they might get bad press from news of worker abuse by a supplier being reported again.

Would anyone here be willing to pay $10-$50 dollars more on electronics to reduce the instances of alleged worker abuse?

Source: http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2333871&goto=newpost

reese witherspoon joakim noah Of Monsters and Men boxing news mint julep silk Star Wars

Congress?s climate skeptics could snarl GOP?s strategy

Republican strategists have laid out an aggressive game plan for seizing the high ground on energy during the August recess: talk about gas prices and jobs, jobs, jobs.

But some Republicans are straying from the script, spouting off instead about the Book of Genesis, claims about scientific conspiracies and arguments that the Earth is cooling. And they show no signs of stifling their skepticism ? even at the risk of providing a stream of YouTube-worthy sound bites that play into Democrats? own strategy, which includes painting the GOP as the anti-science party.

Continue Reading

Climate skeptics in Congress

The Republicans? skeptic caucus includes Texas Rep. Joe Barton, a former House Energy and Commerce Committee chairman, who grabbed headlines in April when he called Noah?s flood ?an example of climate change,? and California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who told POLITICO that the idea of manmade global warming is a ?fraud? and a ?big lie.? Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), former chairman of the Environment and Public Works panel, has famously called climate change the ?greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,? a phrase he used for the title of his book on the topic.

(PHOTOS: Climate skeptics in Congress)

The skeptics don?t speak for all Republicans, but they complicate the task of GOP leaders who want voters to focus on their warnings that President Barack Obama?s climate proposals will wipe out jobs and raise energy prices. Meanwhile, Democrats ? some of them eager to downplay the economic implications of Obama?s plans ? are only too thrilled to swing the spotlight to a debate about science.

The pro-Obama group Organizing for Action has prepared for the August push by publishing an online database of dozens of Capitol Hill climate ?deniers,? including House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, the top Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee. Boehner made the list for a 2009 interview in which he blamed carbon dioxide emissions partly on ?every cow in the world, you know, when they do what they do.?

Keep those comments coming, Democrats and their allies say.

?Having Inhofe, Vitter, Boehner, et al., publicly denying the science in extreme terms can only help speed the long-term demographic and political changes that could make Republicans a minority party at the national level for a decade or more,? one well-known environmentalist said by email.

(Also on POLITICO: Dems' recess plan: Focus on climate)

On the other hand, scoffing at climate science is popular enough with the party base that many congressional Republicans hesitate to openly challenge the skeptics. One longtime Republican operative explained that even GOP lawmakers? most extreme statements about climate change ?play well? among conservatives.

Still, some Republicans are sounding the alarm.

?It?s dawning on us that we?re going to lose people who are focused on the future ? that would be young people ? if we continue in this disputing of the science,? said former Rep. Bob Inglis (R-S.C.), who wants his party to support a carbon tax as a more free-market alternative to Obama?s proposed regulations. ?We?re going to lose credibility. We?re going to lose the sense that we have anything to offer.?

(WATCH: POLITICO Pro's Future of Energy Briefing - What's Next for 2013)

Republicans who don?t take climate change seriously risk losing support from women and young people, said former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman, a Republican who headed the Environmental Protection Agency during George W. Bush?s first term. ?The American people are beginning to make connections to the things that are happening around them.?

Some polls back up the warnings. A recent one issued by the League of Conservation Voters found that 73 percent of young voters ? including 52 percent of young Republicans ? would be less likely to support candidates who don?t want to address climate change. Asked to describe climate skeptics, respondents used terms like ?ignorant,? ?out of touch? and ?crazy.?

Climate skepticism also threatens to hurt Republicans among Latinos, said Anthony Leiserowitz, director of the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication. He said Hispanics care more about climate change than any other group in the U.S.

Disputing climate science is ?a successful individual strategy? for some Republicans in conservative districts, but ?it?s a losing national strategy,? Leiserowitz said. ?I think chances are they will pay a political price, increasingly so in the future.?

Of course, not all skeptics? arguments sound alike. Some contend that the Earth isn?t warming, or at least not as fast as Obama would have voters believe ? and some even claim it?s getting cooler. Others argue that the rising temperatures may not have human causes, or at least not significantly enough that we can do anything about them. Or they say scientists just don?t know.

(Also on POLITICO: House panel approves deep EPA cuts)

And some contend the extra carbon dioxide is beneficial.

?CO₂ is not something that hurts people?s health,? Rohrabacher said. ?If anything, it helps people?s health by making plants grow and making more food available.?

Source: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/07/congresss-climate-skeptics-could-snarl-gops-strategy-94820.html?hp=f3

Microsoft Surface Candy Crowley binders of women presidential debates Felix Baumgartner Little Nemo gawker

Estimate of French diamond heist raised to $136M

PARIS (AP) ? Wearing a scarf to mask his face, the gunman held up at least three security guards and then fled the luxury Cannes hotel roughly a minute later with $136 million in diamond jewelry, more than twice the initial estimated worth of the loot.

The simple, speedy theft is the biggest jewelry heist in years. Police had previously said Sunday's theft at the Carlton Intercontinental Hotel had netted ?40 million ($53 million) worth of treasure ? even at that level a major haul. Reached by The Associated Press, Philippe Vique, an assistant prosecutor in the Riviera town of Grasse, said the Dubai-based organizer of the diamond show had since raised the value based on a more complete inventory.

Vieques described a canny, but quick and logistically simple, break-in. The suspect somehow got in through the hotel's locked French doors, which open onto Cannes' famed Croisette promenade, then held up the participants of the show with a handgun and fled on foot. The hold-up itself took about a minute, all with three private security guards, two vendors and a manager of the sale-exhibit on hand, he said.

No customers were present at the time.

"He took a bag containing a briefcase and a small box, and then fled by another French door on the inside," Vique said. "He left on foot ... it was very fast."

The bag contained rings, earrings and pendants, Vique said. As the suspect began his getaway, a few jewels spilled out of the bag of loot and were quickly recovered.

"I wouldn't say it was easily done ? opening a locked door..." Vique said. "He found a way to open it. Why was he able to open this door?"

The jewelry was part of a display centering on the prestigious Leviev diamond house, which is owned by Israeli billionaire Lev Leviev. It was to run until the end of August.

A Leviev spokesman declined to comment. A day earlier, the company issued a statement saying its officials were cooperating with authorities and were relieved that no one was injured in the robbery.

The hotel, in a statement, confirmed the robbery and said none of its employees or guests "were involved in or affected by the incident." The Carlton said it was cooperating with police and would not comment further on the criminal investigation.

Jonathan Sazonoff, U.S. editor for the Museum Security Network website and an authority on high-value crime, told the AP on Sunday that police were likely to probe whether the heist was linked to recent jail escapes by alleged members of the Pink Panther jewel thief gang.

Vique said authorities were pursuing all possible leads and reviewing surveillance video footage, notably from cameras put in place by Cannes municipal authorities. But he said there was no indication so far that the suspect had links to any organized crime group.

The luxury hotel featured prominently in Alfred Hitchcock's "To Catch a Thief," starring Cary Grant as a reformed burglar chasing a jewel thief. Beyond the fiction, the Carlton has already been hit by a jewelry theft: In 1994, machine-gun-toting thieves stole $45 million in gems from the hotel ? an ornate, opulent fixture of the city's most-renowned boulevard. Stars throng the hotel each year for the Cannes Film Festival, and tourists rich and middle-class alike are common.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/estimate-french-diamond-heist-raised-136m-144323947.html

chipotle Shakira Farrah Abraham Sex Tape Met gala lauryn hill teacher appreciation week Jodi Arias trial

Google Babel Project Aims for Real-Time Phone Translations

Google Babel Project Aims for Real-Time Phone Translations

Google is still working on an offshoot of Google Babel, called Project Babel. Once completed it will translate directly from one phone to another into a language the other party comprehends. Anyone who has studied foreign languages knows how difficult translations can be, so it?s understandable that the work is still in the early stages with several more years of research and testing to complete before release.

However, the biggest issue is actually background noise that interferes with dialogue, which affects the results of the translation. However, when used in controlled environments where there?s no background interference, Barra says that the accuracy of the real-time translations have been "close to 100%".

Comments

Posted by Al 12:01 PM (DST)??

Source: http://www.hardocp.com/news/2013/07/28/google_babel_project_aims_for_realtime_phone_translations/

Super moon Super Moon June 2013 world war z discovery channel Monsters University First day of summer 2013 Calgary

Family Home and Life: Say It Saturday & Meeting My Sister

Hello friends! This last week I had several of the kids at my house and during lunch one of the cousins started asking my oldest grand daughter about Itty Bitty (who is adopted) and why we have her instead of her birth mom. My grand daughter told the story so well and I thought it was so sweet, that I later asked her to tell the story again while I recorded it. On the video, she didn't really explain why we have her like she did during lunch, but rather the first meeting of her new baby sister. The story she is telling actually takes?place?over two or three days.





Itty Bitty, who is now 2 yrs old, decided she wanted to have some fun and be the little clown that she is while big sister tells the story.?Itty Bitty is causing such a?commotion?I am amazed her big sister could carry on with her story. Personally, I think she has a good chance to make it in Hollywood!?

We have laughed at this video because it is so exactly the personally of both girls and the story that's now recorded is so?precious?to us. We all decided we would like to share this video with everyone. By the way, you will hear Itty Bitty crying a little towards the end. I?assure?you she was just fine. It is her grabbing my arm and causing the camera to shake that closes the video.?Enjoy!
I'm so glad you stopped by today!

• This is a?link up for older bloggers; but you don't need to be a grandparent to link up.?
• Link up to three post, not to your home page, and link that back to Family Home and Life.?
• While you are here I hope you will visit the other linkers and come back to see who links up later. We all love comments!?
• No Etsy shops or giveaways please. This link closes on Monday night.?

Be sure to visit Lisa at?Grandma's Briefs?to join her linky, GRAND Social, on Mondays. Thank you for linking up with me!

If you are reading this post anywhere else but at www.FamilyHomeandLife.com then it was used without permission! Please report it! Copyright ? Family Home and Life 2010-2013 All Rights Reserved

Source: http://www.familyhomeandlife.com/2013/07/say-it-saturday-meeting-my-sister.html

Oblivion Hemlock Grove Boston Bomber Death Photo Fox Boston Bomber cnn news foxnews

~ The Schodack SCENE ~: FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

?STRIDE, Inc. ?476 N. Greenbush Road, Suite 9 Rensselaer NY 12144
? ? ?
Contact: Mary Ellen Whitney
Tel: (518) 598-1279 ?
E-mail: ? ? ? ? mwhitney@stride.org
Wounded Warriors learn Archery at STRIDE?s new range
Expanding local programming for integrated disabled youth and Veterans of the Armed Forces

For Immediate Release
(Chatham, NY) ? Local and regional veterans with disabilities will come together from the region to discover a new therapeutic sport, archery on Tuesday July 2 from 10 am til 2 pm. . The newly built range in the deep woods of STRIDE Adaptive Sports Camp facility, is offering a discovery day to veterans form Stratton VA and around the region. ?Although archery is often perceived as a non-aerobic sport, competitive archers actually use a great deal of strength and endurance and require a sort of zen-like focus to perform well. There are many therapeutic health benefits to participating in archery. U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC), provided STRIDE Adaptive Sports with a 2012 Olympic Opportunity Fund grant to build the range. Funding was used to build and develop a shooting and archery program at the new SCORE Center in Columbia county. SCORE (STRIDE Center for Outdoor Recreation & Education) is an 85 acre camping facility used as an integrated facility for youth and veterans teaching adaptive sports, outdoor education and camping programs year-round.
If you build it, they will come! Tuesday July 2, veterans from Stratton VA and Warriors who have participated In other STRIDE programs are invited to learn and discover the sport. ?STRIDE is committed to increasing the number and quality of opportunities for physically and visually impaired individuals to participate in physical activity within their home communities.
?We are extremely proud of the development of this newly built range. It is accessible by hardpack trail or vehicle, thanks to Eagle Scout project creating a wheelchair accessible trail to the location. ?We?ve been teaching archery with a portable target and school bows since 1995. To have a range facility, and good equipment available to develop a seasonal program integrating our Warrior and youth population, is a dream come true,.? said Mary Ellen Whitney, CEO and Founder of the local organization.
The $11,000 grant funding was utilized for archery and grounds & range maintenance equipment for SCORE; as well as development, partnership and education for the programs has been instituted into STRIDE?s year round programming.

~STRIDE is a not-for-profit volunteer organization dedicated to enriching the lives of children and individuals with disabilities through sports and recreation programs. ~

?If you would like more information about this event, or to schedule an interview, please call Mary Ellen Whitney at (518) 598-1279 or e-mail mwhitney@stride.org ? ? ? ?

Source: http://thescene-thescene.blogspot.com/2013/07/for-immediate-release.html

fat tuesday ash wednesday kate middleton marco rubio marco rubio Zero Hour Funny Valentines

Putin: Snowden must stop leaking secrets to stay

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a news conference after the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. Russia's President Vladimir Putin says that National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, something he says Snowden doesn't want to do. Putin, speaking at a news conference Monday, insisted that Snowden isn't a Russian agent and that Russian security agencies haven't contacted him. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian President Vladimir Putin speaks at a news conference after the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. Russia's President Vladimir Putin says that National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, something he says Snowden doesn't want to do. Putin, speaking at a news conference Monday, insisted that Snowden isn't a Russian agent and that Russian security agencies haven't contacted him. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev)

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Ivan Sekretarev, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, front, Bolivian President Evo Morales, second right, and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, left, attend the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Maxim Shemetov, Pool)

Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, centre, and Bolivian President Evo Morales, right, arrive to pose for a photo at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) in the Kremlin in Moscow, Monday, July 1, 2013. (AP Photo/Alexander Nemenov, Pool)

A demonstrator protests with a poster against espionage programs in Hanover, Germany, 29 June 2013. A coalition for action consisting of representatives from politcs, unions and Blockupy and Anonymous activists protests against NSA espionage PRISM as well as the surveillance practices of British Secret Service GCHQ. Photo by: Peter Steffen/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images

MOSCOW (AP) ? Russia's President Vladimir Putin said Monday that former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden will have to stop leaking U.S. secrets if he wants to get asylum in Russia, but he believes that Snowden has no intention of doing so.

Putin's statement came hours after Snowden asked for political asylum, according to the Interfax news agency, citing a consular official at the Moscow airport where the leaker has been caught in legal limbo for more than a week.

President Barack Obama said there have been high-level discussions between the U.S. and Russia about Snowden's expulsion, though Putin repeated that Russia will not send Snowden back to the United States.

Putin's stance could reflect a reluctance to shelter Snowden, which would hurt already strained U.S.-Russian ties. At the same time, the Russian leader seemed to keep the door open to allowing him to stay, a move that would follow years of anti-American rhetoric popular with Putin's core support base of industrial workers and state employees.

"If he wants to go somewhere and there are those who would take him, he is welcome to do so," Putin said at a news conference. "If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He must stop his activities aimed at inflicting damage on our American partners, no matter how strange it may sound coming from my lips."

Snowden has been stuck in the transit zone of Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport since his arrival from Hong Kong on June 23. The U.S. has annulled his passport, and Ecuador, where he has hoped to get asylum, has been coy about whether it would take him.

The Interfax news agency quoted Kim Shevchenko, the duty officer at the Russian Foreign Ministry's consular office in the airport, as saying that Snowden's representative, Sarah Harrison, handed over his request for asylum late Sunday.

Putin didn't mention his move to seek asylum in Russia, and his spokesman Dmitry Peskov refused to say what the response could be.

Putin insisted that Snowden isn't a Russian agent and that Russian security agencies haven't contacted him.

"He's not our agent and hasn't cooperated with us," Putin said at a news conference. "I'm saying with all responsibility that he's not cooperating with us even now, and we aren't working with him."

Snowden doesn't want to stop his efforts to reveal information about the U.S. surveillance program likely because he considers himself a rights activist and a "new dissident," Putin said.

"Just because he feels that he is a human rights defender, a rights activist, he doesn't seem to have any intention to stop such work," Putin said.

The newspaper Izvestia, a Kremlin mouthpiece, speculated Monday that Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, who is attending a summit of gas exporting nations in Moscow, would take Snowden with him when he leaves. The newspaper, citing a Kremlin source, said Putin would discuss Snowden with Maduro during their one-on-one meeting Tuesday, but Putin said he didn't know if any of the summit participants would help Snowden.

The U.S. has appeared to back off tough public words as it tries to broker Snowden's return, in part to avoid increasing tensions as Obama looks for Russia's cooperation in finding a path to peace in Syria.

Nikolai Patrushev, the head of Russia's presidential Security Council, said in televised remarks Monday that Putin and Obama had ordered their security agencies to search for a way out of the situation: "It's not an easy task, because they need to find a solution in the framework of international law. There is no such norm, there is no a ready recipe." Obama would not confirm that Russian and U.S. law enforcement agencies were working together.

Three U.S. officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to publicly discuss the Snowden case, said Washington's efforts are focused primarily on getting Russia to deport Snowden either directly to the United States or to a third country, possibly in eastern Europe, that would then hand him over to U.S. authorities.

At the same time, the officials said they are trying to discourage Maduro from getting involved, warning that it would severely impair a nascent rapprochement between the U.S. and Venezuela.

Putin's comments come as Obama's administration is facing a breakdown in confidence from key allies over secret programs that reportedly installed covert listening devices in EU offices. Europe's outage was triggered by a Sunday report by German news weekly Der Spiegel that the NSA bugged diplomats from friendly nations ? such as the EU offices in Washington, New York and Brussels.

The report was partly based on the ongoing series of revelations of U.S. eavesdropping leaked by Snowden.

Many European countries had so far been muted about revelations of the wide net cast by U.S. surveillance programs aimed at preventing terrorist attacks, but their reaction to the latest reports indicate Washington's allies are unlikely to let the matter drop without at least a strong show of outrage.

Obama maintained that all nations in the world with intelligence services try to understand what other nations are thinking. He added the U.S. is still evaluating the Spiegel report, adding that the U.S. will provide all the information European allies are requesting.

French President Francois Hollande demanded that the U.S. immediately stop the alleged eavesdropping and suggested that the widening surveillance scandal could derail negotiations for a free-trade deal potentially worth billions.

"We cannot accept this kind of behavior from partners and allies," Hollande said on French television on Monday.

In a sign of the distrust the report had sowed, the German government launched a review of its secure government communications network and the EU's executive, the European Commission, ordered "a comprehensive ad hoc security sweep."

"Eavesdropping on friends is unacceptable," German government spokesman Steffen Seibert told reporters in Berlin. "We're not in the Cold War anymore."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday he didn't know the details of the allegations, but tried to downplay them, maintaining that many nations undertake various activities to protect their national interests. He failed to quell the outrage from allies, including France, Germany and Italy.

It's unclear how widespread similar practices actually are. But some in Europe have raised concerns that U.S. efforts include economic espionage. When asked whether Germany spies on its allies, Seibert responded: "It's not the policy of the German government to eavesdrop on friendly states in their embassies. That should be obvious."

According to Der Spiegel's report, the NSA planted bugs in the EU's diplomatic offices in Washington and infiltrated the building's computer network. Similar measures were taken at the EU's mission to the United Nations in New York, the magazine said.

It also reported that the NSA used secure facilities at NATO headquarters in Brussels to dial into telephone maintenance systems that would have allowed it to intercept senior officials' calls and Internet traffic at a key EU office nearby.

___

AP correspondents Sarah DiLorenzo in Paris, Frank Jordans and Geir Moulson in Berlin, Elena Becatoros in Athens, Raf Casert in Brussels, Deb Riechmann in Brunei, Nicole Winfield in Rome, Julie Pace in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Matthew Lee and Lara Jakes in Washington contributed to this report.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/cae69a7523db45408eeb2b3a98c0c9c5/Article_2013-07-01-NSA%20Surveillance/id-9aeb6b2294c04341919e31bc8afd2b5c

new apple tv sun flare love hewitt new ipad solar flare joseph kony 2012 arian foster