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Sehnaoui Announces Reduction of Blackberry Service Tariffs, Faster Internet Speeds

Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui revealed on Thursday that Blackberry service tariffs in Lebanon will be reduced.

He told LBC television that the price of the service will be reduced from $40 to $27.

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Jackson Doctor Trial App Tops App Store Chart

An iPad application that offers a live stream of the trial of Michael Jackson's doctor hit the top of the charts in Apple's App Store on Thursday.

The Michael Jackson Doctor Trial App from News Corp.'s Fox Television Stations costs 99 cents and is also available for the iPhone and Android devices.

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Morning is World's Happy Time, Says Twitter

People around the world are happiest in the morning, according to a U.S. study on Thursday that analyzed hundreds of millions of messages on the microblogging site Twitter.

Cornell University sociologists used language software to detect the presence of positive words in 509 million tweets from 2.4 million users in 84 different countries over a two-year period.

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Warner Bros. Launches Show on Facebook

Warner Bros. is launching a Web series on Facebook that will personalize the show for viewers.

The show is called "Aim High." It's an action comedy series about a student who doubles as a government operative by night.

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Google Plans Data Centers in HK, Taiwan, Singapore

Google Inc. plans to invest at least $200 million to build its first three data centers in Asia as it expands its infrastructure to keep pace with the region's burgeoning Internet use.

The Internet search giant has bought land in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore for the data centers, which typically are secure facilities packed with thousands of computers that store and serve vast amounts of data.

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Sony to Stop Paying Theaters for 3-D Glasses

Sony Corp.'s movie studio has put theater owners on notice that it will stop paying millions of dollars per film for disposable 3-D glasses starting next May, just before it is to release a couple of summer blockbusters — "The Amazing Spider-Man" and "Men in Black III" — in 3-D.

The move was announced in a letter sent to theater owners, according to a person with the studio. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity.

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Microsoft, Samsung Expand Smartphone Partnership

Microsoft and Samsung Electronics are agreeing to cross-license each other's patent portfolios, with Microsoft getting royalties for mobile phones and tablets Samsung sells that run the Android operating system.

Microsoft Corp. and Samsung Electronics Co. said Wednesday that they have also agreed to work together in developing and marketing Microsoft's Windows Phone software.

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Amazon Launches iPad Rival, The Kindle Fire

Amazon unveiled a tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, on Wednesday in a challenge to Apple's market-leading iPad.

The Kindle Fire has a seven-inch (17.78-centimeter) screen, smaller than the iPad's 9.7 inches (24.6 cms), and Wi-Fi connectivity, the Seattle-based online retail giant announced at a launch event in Manhattan.

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Taiwan Makes Electricity Saving with Traffic Lights

Authorities in Taiwan said Wednesday they had changed more than 690,000 traffic lights through the island in a project that will save enough electricity to power more than 60,000 homes.

Under the Tw$550-million ($18-million) project launched in 2009, the traffic lights have had their traditional bulbs replaced with technology using light emitting diodes (LEDs), the Bureau of Energy said.

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Google+ Mobbed After Doors Opened: Experian Hitwise

Google+ was mobbed with visitors after the social network opened its doors to the public last week, industry tracker Experian Hitwise reported on Monday.

Online traffic to Google's nascent social network rocketed 1,269 percent on Wednesday, a day after the Internet titan removed the need to be invited in order to join, according to Hitwise research director Heather Dougherty.

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