Internet keeps govts honest

Broader adoption of the Internet will keep governments on their toes as wired-up citizens exercise their newfound power to check rights abuses, Google chief Eric Schmidt said on Saturday, reports AFP.

“In nations and communities around the world, citizens are turning to online tools to keep their governments honest,” he told business leaders on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum, in Honolulu.

“Whistle-blowing has never been so easy,” he said. Schmidt cited demonstrations that toppled the leaders of Tunisia and Egypt in which activists used Facebook to schedule protests, Twitter to coordinate them, and YouTube to broadcast the events to the world.

A recent analysis from IHS iSuppli determined that Amazon's $79 Kindle e-reader, which is the online retailer's cheapest Kindle so far, costs $84.25 to make, writes the Associated Press.

In the report, iSuppli said the total cost of materials for the Kindle is $78.59, including $30.50 for the e-reader's six-inch E-ink display. The market researcher estimates manufacturing costs run $5.66 per device.

IHS iSuppli notes that these costs don't include any of Amazon.com's development costs for the Kindle, or costs related to things such as shipping and distribution of the device.

Apple may finally be ready to unveil iTunes Match, the subscription offering that will let users play ripped songs via Apple's iCloud service, says Cnet.

Apple has sent an e-mail to developers who are testing the beta version of Match, informing them their stored songs would be wiped from iCloud servers and reminding them to back up their libraries on their computers.

It's not the first time such a data reset has taken place, but the wording of the e-mail may suggest the service's debut is nigh.

The number of illegally downloaded video games has gone up nearly 20% in the last five years, according to Newsbeat.

Figures from research firm Envisional also suggest the top five games from 2010 were pirated online almost a million times.

Industry executives are worried these figures mean a generation of people will expect to get games for free.