Chavez notches up three million Twitter followers

Firebrand Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez now has more than three million followers on Twitter, making him the most popular Latin American politician on the site -- a milestone he celebrated on Monday.

"To the three million followers, I sent a special thank you! We will use this platform to pursue our battle of ideas!" Chavez wrote early Monday, shortly after the number of followers topped the three million mark.

At midday, the @chavezcandanga account had 3,001,091 followers.

Early in the day, state television VTV aired an ad announcing the milestone.

Chavez, who is battling cancer, opened the account in April 2010 to counter the opposition's use of social media. He quickly attracted hundreds of thousands of followers, some of whom asked him for jobs or housing.

The flood of messages prompted the leftist leader to open a special service tasked with reading and answering all of the tweets.

Chavez, 57, has been in power in 1999. He is running for reelection as a "revolutionary socialist" in October against Henrique Capriles, the youthful Miranda state governor and center-left candidate for the united opposition.

Chavez has been especially active on Twitter since his first cancer surgery in Cuba to remove a tumor from his pelvic area in June 2011.

He underwent a second operation on the same area in February after it recurred, and since then has made several trips to Cuba -- Venezuela's closest ally -- for radiation treatment.

Chavez is the most prominent face of the left in Latin America and has rallied a group of like-minded leaders as a counterweight to the United States.

He said last week that he would officially throw his hat into the ring for the October 7 presidential election.
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DVDs and Blu-rays to carry two unskippable government warnings

The FBI Anti-Piracy Warning that is found on all modern DVD and Blu-ray discs is getting an upgrade. The United States government earlier this week announced that it will require two copyright notices on DVD and Blu-ray discs, Ars Technica reported. The first notice will warn potential piracy thieves, while the second one is meant to educate viewers. All six major movie studios have agreed to include the notices, which we will begin seeing on new discs this week. The screens will “come up after the previews, once you hit the main movie/play button on the DVD.” The warnings will each last 10 seconds and users will not have the ability to skip or fast forward through them. “Law enforcement must continue to expand how it combats criminal activity; public awareness and education are a critical part of that effort,” ICE Director John Morton said in a statement.
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Apple reportedly places orders for next-generation iPhone, new 10-inch iPad

The latest rumors out of the Far East indicate that Apple’s next-generation iPhone will launch in the fall, as will a new 10-inch iPad. Apple supplier Pegatron Technology has reportedly landed orders for the Cupertino-based company’s latest handset and according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers, the device is slated for a September launch, Digitimes reported. The publication also claims Pegatron has received orders for a new 10-inch iPad to be released in the fourth quarter of 2012. John Gruber of Daring Fireball has previously called the fourth quarter iPad report “completely made-up nonsense,” however. Pegatron currently manufacturers both the iPhone 4S and the new iPad, but Digitimes claims the long rumored 7-inch iPad, which will supposedly be released in August, will be manufactured by Foxconn.

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Mobile usage doubles, now accounts for 10% of worldwide Internet usage

The number of people accessing the Web through mobile devices has doubled since 2010 and now accounts for 10% of worldwide Internet usage. According to numbers compiled by Pingdom, Asia’s mobile usage amounted for 17.84% of the country’s total Internet usage, a 192.5% increase over the past 18 months. Africa’s mobile usage placed the region in second with 14.85%, usage in North America sat at 7.96%, followed by Australia, Europe and South America at 7.55%, 5.13% and 2.86% respectively. Pingdom notes that while worldwide mobile usage may only account for 10% of Web access, the number is growing at an extremely fast rate, and some countries’ Internet usage, such as India, is already nearing 50% from mobile devices.

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Google issued first license to test driverless cars

Nevada is the first state to grant Google a U.S. license to test driverless cars. The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles confirmed on Monday that it had approved the company’s application to test autonomous vehicles on public streets. Google will be required to have at least two people in the vehicle while testing it, however, including one in the driver’s seat. Prior to being approved, the Mountain View-based company had been testing the car on freeways in neighborhoods around Carson City and Las Vegas, according to Fox News. The tests showed the car was just as safe, if not safer, than cars operated by human drivers. “It gets honked at more often because it’s being safe,” said Nevada DMV Director Bruce Breslow. The driverless vehicles will be required to wear red license plates that contain an infinity symbol, which the DMV says represents their status as “the car of the future.” If testing goes as planned and the vehicles are ever used by the general public, the license plates will be green. “They’re designed to avoid distracted driving,” Breslow said. “When you’re on the Strip and there’s a huge truck with a three scantily clad women on the side, the car only sees a box.”

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iPhone 4S on sale at Target stores

For savvy shoppers who want an iPhone 4S but want to save some cash, Target has a deal for you.
The retailer is advertising a limited time offer to slash iPhone prices by $50.
That drops the 16GB iPhone 4S to $149.99 while the 8GB iPhone 4 is reduced to $49.99.
Both deals are available with the purchase of an iPhone and two-year contract from AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint.
The sale is only available at brick and mortar Target stores, with the Target Mobile website still listing the 16GB iPhone 4S at the standard $199. As such, supplies may be limited by store.
Shoppers will want to act fast though - the sale only runs through this Saturday, May 12.
Hold out ... if you canOf course, with rumors of the iPhone 5 possibly coming as soon as June, it would be understandable to want to wait.
Each new version has historically been accompanied by deeper price cuts than Target's deal.
But with the sale ending right before Mother's Day, savvy shoppers should take note that smartphones and tablets are one of mom's most requested gifts this year.
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