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Friday, December 31, 2010

Contract talks extended, no cable TV interruption (AP) : Technet

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Contract talks extended, no cable TV interruption (AP) : Technet

Contract talks extended, no cable TV interruption (AP)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 08:35 PM PST

By DAVID KOENIG and ANDREW VANACORE, AP Business Writers David Koenig And Andrew Vanacore, Ap Business Writers – 43 mins ago

Sinclair Broadcast Group and two cable TV companies announced an agreement late Friday to extend a midnight deadline for a new contract until Jan. 14, averting for now an interruption of some programming to millions of cable customers.

Sinclair and the two companies — Time Warner Cable and Bright House Networks — issued news releases late Friday saying contract talks would continue.

"We have an extension" for two weeks, said Karen J. Morena, a Time Warner spokeswoman. "It will mean no interruption in programming for our customers."

Steve Miron, CEO of Bright House Networks, said in a statement: "We will continue to work toward a fair deal for our customers."

Hunt Valley, Md.-based Sinclair said the extension means Time Warner and Bright House will continue to carry programs from 33 of its television stations.

"We are pleased Time Warner and Bright House recognized the importance of providing their subscribers with access to the valuable and popular programming" provided on Sinclair stations, said Barry Faber, executive vice president and general counsel of Sinclair. "We intend to continue our good faith negotiations during this period with the intent of finalizing a longer-term agreement at pricing that reflects the higher cost of programming we are faced with today."

The parties have been bogged down in negotiations over how much the cable companies should pay to carry Sinclair TV stations in markets around the country. Local Sinclair stations — including affiliates of NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox — would have been dropped from channel lineups for roughly 4 million Time Warner customers and an unknown number of Bright House customers after midnight Friday without the extension.

Earlier Friday, Time Warner had vowed to provide its cable customers with network TV stations from other cities if it lost the rights to carry local stations owned by Sinclair.

Viewers likely would have gotten access to major network programming — including Saturday's Outback Bowl game on ABC between the Florida Gators and the Penn State Nittany Lions — had Sinclair pulled its signals once the deadline passed. Viewers would have lost local programs, such as the news. Syndicated shows such as "Seinfeld" could have been moved to a different time.

The tactic threatens to undercut local broadcast companies in these types of negotiations in the future.

Time Warner spokeswoman Maureen Huff said earlier Friday that even if the dispute with Sinclair were to drag on, Time Warner customers in Sinclair cities would still see all NFL playoff games and the Super Bowl and "most if not all" would see the full assortment of college football bowls. Time Warner had not said which stations it would borrow signals from.

Time Warner has been doing that in upstate New York because of a similar dispute with Smith Media. Viewers get the network evening shows but see out-of-market local newscasts and syndicated fare.

Bright House had said it, too, would carry feeds from other cities if the dispute with Sinclair remained unresolved.

The cable TV companies' threatened end-run around Sinclair represents the latest twist in a long-running struggle between TV broadcasters and the cable and satellite operators that carry their signals into customers' homes.

Bound by existing contract terms with Sinclair, Time Warner can only replace Sinclair stations with broadcast signals from other cities until late February. A separate deal with Fox owner News Corp. would allow Time Warner to carry that network for longer.

But it would be a major risk for Sinclair to pull its signals for that long. TV stations promise local advertisers that their commercials will reach a certain size audience, and that audience would be diminished without Time Warner and Bright House customers. In the meantime, Sinclair's only bargaining chip would be access to locally produced news and other programming.

Before the contract extension was announced, Sinclair's Faber said Time Warner's approach would "simply give their customers ample time" to find a different pay TV provider, such as satellite.

Disputes between broadcasters and the cable and satellite operators are cropping up more often.

Broadcast companies used to let cable providers carry their channels for free while making their money selling advertising time. But the recession caused some advertisers to cut spending, and the broadcasters are trying to charge cable operators higher fees to carry their programming.

In some cases, cable companies have resisted the broadcasters' demands, leaving TV viewers in the dark. One of the longest blackouts occurred in 2005, when about 75,000 cable customers in Texas, Missouri and Louisiana went without local NBC and ABC affiliate programming for nearly the entire year because of an impasse between the stations' owner, Nexstar Broadcasting Group Inc., and cable systems.

Broadcasters had long been believed to hold the upper hand in negotiating fees with cable and satellite providers because blacked-out customers usually called the cable company to complain. The cable and satellite operators have appealed for help from federal regulators.

In October, Cablevision Systems Corp. asked the Federal Communications Commission to force Fox stations to keep providing programming while Cablevision sought arbitration to settle a dispute over fees. The FCC declined to get involved, and Cablevision wound up swallowing Fox's terms, after its customers lost Fox programs for two weeks, including two World Series games.

But Time Warner's most recent tactics could give cable providers more clout and even the upper hand.

For broadcasters such as Sinclair, the stakes are big. More advertising dollars are shifting to the Web and the growing number of cable networks means increasing competition for the money that is still going into TV. So local stations see fees from Time Warner and other pay TV providers as a crucial second source of income.

Sinclair owns 33 stations carried by Time Warner around the country, and others in the South — though not many network affiliates — carried on Bright House.

Bright House spokeswoman Kimberly Maki said before Friday night's announcement that the company had arranged to provide the feed from another ABC station to customers in the Florida Panhandle so they wouldn't miss Saturday's Outback Bowl.

"We've got it covered," she said at the time. Most of the Sinclair stations carried on Bright House systems are on minor networks. Maki said then she was holding out hope the company could get an extension from Sinclair for those stations while negotiations continued.

Before Time Warner and Bright House said they would turn to signals from other cities, some Florida football fans were making backup plans in case they couldn't watch their favorite team at home. In Cantonment, Fla., Jennifer Stokes adorned her SUV with a Florida Gators front license plate. The Bright House subscriber said she and her family and friends refused to miss the Outback Bowl.

"We will just go somewhere else and watch it," she said. "It's a big deal."

Time Warner shares fell 8 cents to close Friday at $66.03, while Sinclair shares added 5 cents to $8.18.

___

AP Writer Melissa Nelson in Cantonment, Fla., contributed to this report.

Tablets galore on tap at major CES gadget fest (AFP)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 06:10 PM PST

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – Fri Dec 31, 9:10 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Tablet computers will lead a host of "smart" gadgets in the Nevada desert this week at a Consumer Electronics Show (CES) spotlighting slick new devices on the horizon.

CES attendance in Las Vegas should top the 126,000 figure from the annual event last January and the roster of exhibitors has climbed 2,000 to 2,700.

Internet software will fuse with televisions, cars and even household appliances at CES, where an army of tablets will be unleashed to challenge Apple's winning iPads.

"Certainly the Number One trend will be tablets," said NPD Group analyst Stephen Baker.

"I think every smartphone and PC (personal computer) company will either have one on their show floor; be showing them behind closed doors, or announcing things."

CES organizers said that from 40 to 80 tablets could debut at the event that runs from Thursday through Sunday.

Apple sold more than eight million iPads since the California company introduced the tablets in April and year-end sales could surpass 10 million.

Tablets being unveiled at CES weren't expected to pose a threat to the iPad, a second-generation version of which is likely to be announced this year.

Android and Windows "won't be right" for tablets for at least a year, giving iPad time to secure its throne against tablets based on the operating software from Google and Microsoft, respectively.

"We are going to be up to our armpits in crappy tablets, and I do mean crappy," said independent Silicon Valley analyst Rob Enderle.

Among the more promising tablets are a Hewlett-Packard model that might not be introduced at the show and a Notion Ink Atom made by a small company out of Israel that crafted its own operating software.

Apple has become a defining force at CES despite the fact that it shuns the gathering.

"Right now, in the consumer electronics space, Apple is the shining star that everyone and their brother are chasing," Enderle said.

"CES is increasingly becoming an Apple show even though Apple is not there."

A sold-out "iLounge" spanning 50,000 square feet (4,645 square meters) will be crammed with accessories and software for iPads, iPhones, and iPods.

A kit for installing iPads in cars will be among myriad covers, cases, headsets, docks, and applications for Apple devices.

"There is a whole Apple empire," CES spokeswoman Tara Dunion said of the iLounge portion of an exposition floor spanning a total of 1.6 million square feet.

An "On the Go" section of the show floor will be a hotspot for tablets, smartphones and e-readers.

Internet connectivity will be an overriding theme at CES, with dumb gadgets from television sets to appliances being made "smart" with software that cuts energy consumption or shares information using the Web.

For the first time, home appliance colossus General Electric will be among CES exhibitors.

"It's Internet everything," Dunion said.

"The Internet will be in all products from cameras to smart appliances and cars."

3D TVs that were stars at last year's CES will return, but this time with an emphasis on partnerships with film and television studios providing content intended to make such screens worth buying.

"In a connected world, hardware doesn't do much good without content," Baker said.

"More and more we'll see and hear about how the hardware and the content work together."

TV makers will play up flat-screens that let people access the Internet without set-top boxes, according to analysts.

"Pretty much everything in the next year or two will sell with a connectivity option," Baker said of TV hardware.

Microsoft is expected to provide the first look at Windows 7 media software for Internet televisions "better than what Apple and Google brought to market," according to Enderle.

A keynote presentation on Wednesday by Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer could include a glimpse at the successor to the Windows 7 operating system released in 2009.

"There is enough smoke around this particular fire that it is likely we will see our first glimpse of Windows 8 at the show," Enderle said.

Telecom titans such as Verizon and AT&T will announce speedier wireless Internet networks crafted as highways for tablets and smartphones displayed at the gathering, according to Forrester Research analyst Sarah Rotman Epps.

Cars infused with Internet technology for entertainment, driver safety and fuel efficiency will also be stars of the show, according to analysts.

"A lot of wild work has been going into automotive," Enderle said. "This will probably be the show for automotive technology going forward."

Google Takes Heat Over Android Tablet OS (PC World)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 02:30 PM PST

Dan Nystedt Dan Nystedt – Fri Dec 31, 5:30 pm ET

Android device makers around the world are anticipating great things from the next version of Google's mobile software, and they need the boost. Apple has a strong head start with sales of its popular iPad, while the App Store and iTunes give it apps and content, to boot.

But after a year of prodding Google, device makers think they've finally won with the upcoming "Honeycomb" upgrade to Android, which is expected by the end of the first quarter and is supposed to be the first version of the software designed for tablets instead of smartphones.

Earlier this year, for example, Samsung Electronics, had to fight to have the Android Market app, which connects users to the software's online treasure trove of over 150,000 apps, on its Galaxy Tab, according to one executive who asked not to be named due to his company's close relationship with Google.

At the time that Samsung was developing the Galaxy Tab to use Android, Google was struggling to decide if it wanted to put its upcoming Chrome OS in tablets and make Android exclusive to smartphones. The Chrome OS better fits Google's Cloud strategy, the executive said.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the issue.

Google's decision to make a tablet-friendly version of Android became a must after Apple launched its groundbreaking iPad, analysts say.

"Earlier in the year, Google probably thought that Chrome OS might be the right platform for tablets. However, the importance of the compatibility of apps across smartphones and tablets, evident from the iPad experience, has created the need for Google to ensure that the commercial success of apps can be preserved in the tablet proposition," said Martin Bradley, an analyst at Strategy Analytics.

Apple sold nearly 8 million iPads through the end of September, making it one of the hottest products of the year. (That tally is from official Apple figures from its quarterly earnings conference call and doesn't include holiday sales.)

By being first, Apple has set the tone for the entire market. Tablet makers need to put out the same OS for their smartphones and tablets so apps can be shared on either device. Even more important, apps specifically designed for tablets need to be made available, to take advantage of the larger screens, more powerful processors and expanded memory on board.

Of the 300,000 or so apps available to Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users, 40,000 are specifically designed for the iPad, and they are marketed that way on Apple's App Store.

By contrast, Google's Android Market does not offer any tablet-only apps to users, only smartphone apps. However, upstart Appslib is filling the void with its own tablet-only app store for Android lovers. Appslib is not affiliated with Google.

The importance of tweaking a version of Android specifically for tablets and putting tablet-only apps on the Android Market cannot be overstated.

Companies expect tablet sales to reach up to 60 million devices in 2011, with Android and Apple's iOS the leading software in the devices.

Market researcher Ovum expects Android and Apple's iOS to take about 71 percent of the total market for tablets and other mobile Internet devices by 2015, while the also-rans, BlackBerry tablet OS, Hewlett-Packard's WebOS, Intel's and Nokia's MeeGo, and Microsoft Windows making up the rest of the share.

"It's difficult to see past iOS and Android in tablets at the moment," said Tony Cripps, principal analyst of devices and platforms at Ovum.

Competition between Apple and Android's backers is so intense that lawsuits are already flying back and forth between them.

But infighting in the Android camp could be the worst problem at the moment. Companies gripe about a number of issues in working with Google.

"Android is not yet ready for pads and the user experience on currently available products is suffering," said Tim Coulling, analyst at Canalys. He also predicted it will become a leading OS in the pad/tablet space once Honeycomb is out.

There is also some controversy about how Honeycomb is to be launched.

Google worked with device maker Motorola and chip maker Nvidia on a tablet device designed for Honeycomb, which was shown off at the D: Dive Into Mobile Conference in San Francisco early this month.

The Internet giant's penchant for working with a specific device maker and chip maker on each major design change for Android has gone on for at least the past three upgrades to Android.

With version 2.2 of Android, dubbed Froyo, Google worked with smartphone maker HTC and chip designer Qualcomm to create the Nexus One. In Android 2.3, Gingerbread, Google worked with Samsung Electronics on both the phone design and chips, Samsung's Hummingbird processor, for the Nexus S.

But the strategy is unfair to other Android device makers because it gives the chosen ones about a four- to five-month head start over others, said Glen Burchers, head of marketing at Freescale Semiconductor's consumer chip division.

"This puts processor guys at a big disadvantage and the system guys at such a big disadvantage," he said. "The industry is not thrilled with this game Google is playing."

Don't mistake this frustration for mutiny. Nobody is talking about dumping Android.

Overall, companies using Android in smartphones and tablets are tickled with Google's development efforts. What they wanted earlier this year was a speedier decision to use Android in tablets so they could put out iPad-rivals ahead of the holiday season.

What device makers are really saying is: Come on Google. Help us compete against Apple. Unleash the dogs of war with a tablet version of the Android OS and tablet apps on the Android Market.

Google appears to have had a troubling time with Android device developers over the past year. Part of the issue is diverging strategies. Device makers want to win market share in product categories, from netbooks and smartbooks to tablets, while Google remains cloud-centric.

One thing holding device makers back from using Android as they please, since it is open source software, is Google's certification effort.

Any company that fails to follow Google's rules will not be certified, meaning they can't use Google's name or logo on the product or in advertising, nor do they have access to apps in the Android Market, or gain other performance extras and software upgrades offered via certification. The Google name alone means immediate brand recognition.

The lack of camaraderie in the Android camp has hurt Google and device makers alike. While Google mulled a decision on Android versus Chrome OS in netbooks, Windows ran away with that popular device category. In tablets, Apple has run off to a huge head start, while the Android camp nearly failed to put out strong rival devices before the holidays until Samsung pushed for app support in the Galaxy Tab.

"Android represents a way to safeguard Google's position given that the tablet market has now arrived," said Bradley.

Android may also ultimately pave the way for the Chrome OS in mobile devices.

Ovum's Cripps believes Chrome OS and Android will converge over time, "especially in terms of bringing the Chrome Web browser to Android. The Chrome browser is really the heart of Chrome OS from a developer perspective and it would make sense to bring it to Android," he said.

Now if the Android camp can find a way to work together better, they may give Apple a run for its money in the tablet market.

Trial involving tech giants delayed (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 02:40 PM PST

– Fri Dec 31, 5:40 pm ET

Canadian wireless broadband licenser Wi-Lan won a last-minute delay in the trial in a patent suit as it seeks a settlement with tech leaders. The complaint alleges Apple (NMS:AAPL), Best Buy (NYSE:BBY - News), Dell (NMS:DELL), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE:HPQ - News), Intel (NMS:INTC), Sony (NYSE:SNE - News) and Texas Instruments (NYSE:TXN - News) infringed on its rights. Wi-Lan has more than 970 patents tied to Wi-Fi and DSL.

10 Media Predictions for 2011, from Facebook to Katie Couric (The Daily Beast)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 03:32 PM PST

The YouTube Videos That Made Our Year In Viral Views 15 (PC World)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 03:15 PM PST

Armando Rodriguez Armando Rodriguez – Fri Dec 31, 6:15 pm ET

Hello and welcome to the final Viral Views of 2010 (woo)! I know we weren't with you the entire year, but I feel like we've developed a sort of internet bond. It's either that or we have indigestion from all the holiday food we've been having. Regardless we hope you had a great year and are looking forward to seeing you again in 2011. Pull up a chair, get out that popcorn, and enjoy the YouTube videos that made our year.

Kitten Riding Turtle

I don't think I've ever seen anything more adorable than this kitten cruising on a turtle. Either this cat has enslaved a poor reptile to do his bidding, or they are playing hide and seek and the cat found the one place the turtle would never find him.

Yoshida Brothers

I want these guys to write the soundtrack to my life. Then everything I did would just feel that much more awesome. I could be buying milk at the grocery store and still feel like I was in an action movie.

Zuckerberg's Facebook Apology

I'm glad Mark Zuckerberg finally apologized for all those Facebook privacy issues. I mean just because someone uploads a video of them being drunk and bad mouthing their boss to the internet, doesn't mean they want everyone to see it. It's also definitely not their fault that the video went viral and they were fired.....right?

Stair Walk

After Michael Jackson passed away, I searched relentlessly for the one who would be crowned the new "King Of Pop". After many months of searching, I believe I have found him. Who needs to know how to moon walk when you can do this:

Mini MJ

Well, I guess that last guy has some pretty stiff competition. I mean this guy is already drawing in the crowds. Maybe the two of them could team up and become an unstoppable dancing force!

Party Like These Guys

If you need help learning how to behave at a party, just take a gander at these festive fellows. They definitely know how to get down, just don't end up like this guy:

MushMouth

I think I have discovered the worst board game to play with a group of strangers. Especially if you end up being partners with that one guy who never washes his hands. Better have some hand sanitizer ready before playing this one.

How Tough Are NES Games?

Always wondered how tough your NES games were, but didn't have the heart to torture them to find out? Lucky for you these folks wondered the same thing and put a handful of cartridges through a gauntlet of stress tests. Now you can sleep much more peacefully knowing your copy of Earthbound could probably survive going through the wash.

Concealed Weapons

This kid is the TSA's worst nightmare. After watching this video I now understand why airport security is so tight these days. I mean if all of that was just in his pants, who knows what his shoes might be hiding.

Snakes In Math Class

Turns out all those doodles you were doing in math class were almost as complex as your calculus homework. I think I learned more drawing random squiggles on my notes than I ever did in my 13+ years of math. (Note: Apologies to my math teachers who may see this. Doodling was just more entertaining than solving differential equations).

I hope you enjoyed this week's Viral Views. It's been a fun last couple of months together and I can't wait to see what great things we'll find next year. Have a classy New Year's Eve and we will see you in 2011.

Like this? Visit GeekTech every Friday afternoon for more Viral Views; for best results, follow @viral_views on Twitter (that's with an underscore).

The Top 8 Web Development Highlights of 2010 (Mashable)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 11:34 AM PST

Jolie O'Dell Jolie O'dell – Fri Dec 31, 2:34 pm ET

The Web Development Series is supported by Rackspace, the better way to do hosting. Learn more about Rackspace's hosting solutions here.

This year brought quite a few headlines of note to the developer world. While we each have our favorites, from new releases of classic tools to astounding announcements from tech companies, here in no particular order are a few stories that stood out to us this year.

In the comments, we'd love to know what stories stood out most to you this year, partly to indulge our sense of gratuitous end-of-year nostalgia and partly to help us hone our coverage for 2011, when we hope to bring you more fascinating web dev news than ever before.

What were your favorite dev-related headlines of 2010?

1. The Release of Rails 3.0

Early in February, the Ruby on Rails core team took the wraps off Rails 3.0, a long-awaited release of the popular Ruby framework.

Rails creator David Heinemeier Hansson wrote on the Rails blog, "We've had more than 250 people help with the release and we've been through almost 4,000 commits since 2.3 to get here. Yet still the new version feels lighter, more agile, and easier to understand.

"It's a great day to be a Rails developer."

2. Salesforce's Acquisition of Heroku

Earlier this month, Salesforce bought Heroku for a staggering $212 million, giving another token of legitimacy to the growing Ruby community as well as to cloud-based programming tools.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said at the time, “The next era of cloud computing is social, mobile and real-time... Ruby is the language of Cloud 2, and Heroku is the leading Ruby application platform-as-a-service for Cloud 2 that is fueling this growing community. We think this acquisition will uniquely position Salesforce.com as the cornerstone for the next generation of app developers.â€

3. Facebook's Release of HipHop for PHP

In February, Facebook rolled out HipHop, an internal open-source project intended to speed up PHP for large-scale applications.

HipHop isn't quite a compiler. "Rather," wrote Facebook engineer Haiping Zhao, "it is a source code transformer. HipHop programmatically transforms your PHP source code into highly optimized C++ and then uses g++ to compile it."

The project was the culmination of two years of work by a small team of engineers; in the end, it got a thumbs-up from PHP creator Rasmus Lerdorf, who said, ""I think it is a cool project and it will certainly be a good option for some sites."

4. The Rise of Node.js

Node.js has been around for a couple years, but 2010 was the year awareness and use of the JavaScript framework really blew up.

Commits have grown, as has the number of committers. Traffic to the project website has steadily climbed through the year, and downloads for Node.js from GitHub have predictably grown, as well.

As the organizers of the annual Node Knockout wrote, "It’s at the bleeding edge of a technology stack that allows developers to blur the lines between software, the web and the new like never before."

5. Microsoft's Release of Visual Studio 2010

The latest version of Microsoft's Visual Studio, a big release by any standards, launched this year to impressive reviews from all corners of the web. InfoWorld said the release "marks a major advance in functionality and ease," and The Register wrote, "It is hard not to be impressed by Microsoft's tool suite."

The IDE was overhauled, completely rewritten from the ground up. Support for Silverlight was added, and Microsoft also took this opportunity to release F#, a new programming language developed by Microsoft Research.

6. Facebook's Release of the Open Graph API

Facebook and social app developers have long wrestled with Facebook integration for third parties. In the spring at its Open Graph, Facebook's changes brought instant gratification and familiarity for Facebook users as they surfed the web -- and they brought a fast and easy way for devs to integrate with the social network, as easy as a single line of HTML in many cases.

7. The Android/Java/Oracle Saga

What a year it's been for Java! Not only is the language a key part in the programming stack of the fastest-growing mobile OS out there; it's also the star of a big, potentially spendy lawsuit between two of the giants of the tech industry.

Sun, which developed the language in-house back in the dark ages, was acquired by Oracle. That deal became official in January, and Oracle wasted no time in getting litigious with Google over that company's use of Java in the Android platform and the Dalvik virtual machine that stands in for the JVM on mobile OSes.

The lawsuit began in August with Oracle claiming that Google "knowingly, directly and repeatedly infringed Oracle's Java-related intellectual property."

Google quickly countered that it was shocked -- shocked! -- that Oracle would make such claims over an open-source technology. It followed with the assertions that Oracle's patents are unenforceable and that if there had been "any use in the Android platform of any protected elements" of Java, Google itself "is not liable" due to the face that such violations would have been committed by third parties and without Google's knowledge.

We'll continue to keep an eye on the lawsuit and on Java's role in the Android platform throughout 2011.

8. Apple Declares War on Flash

Tensions between Apple and Adobe ran high this year, beginning in January when the iPad launched without support for Flash. Then in February, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told employees why: "No one will be using Flash. The world is moving to HTML5."

These were the words that launched a thousand blog posts. Throughout the spring, the two companies waged a war of words -- and one sweet antitrust inquiry with the Department of Justice over Apple's banning of Flash for iPhone app devs.

Steve Jobs dropped the bomb of the year in a passive-aggressive missive on Flash in which the Apple co-founder stated that Adobe's programming technology "no longer necessary" and waxed hypocritical about open technologies.

But while he may have been passive-aggressive and hypocritical, he also may have been right. With HTML5 making a strong showing early in its lifetime, it was only a matter of time before a public figure of Jobs's stature would make a statement or two about the death of Flash.

Of course, this tension has made for a convenient cozying-up between Google and Adobe along the way.

What Are Your Picks?

Again, let us know in the comments what your favorite stories of 2010 were -- and Happy New Year from the geeks at Mashable!

With special thanks to our Twitter friends who made suggestions for this list: Jordan Runnin, Leon Gersing and Jeremy Bray.

Remote Conductor app makes iPad a Mac input device (Macworld)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 01:17 PM PST

Jeff Porten Jeff Porten – Fri Dec 31, 4:17 pm ET

Mobile software developer m3me has released the $10 Remote Conductor app for iPad, which makes your iPad a new input device for your Mac.

The app has three modes. In Trackpad mode, the entire iPad surface becomes a large trackpad, with support for multitouch actions. In Launch mode, a master list of all of your applications, organized by folder, is displayed onscreen to provide you with rapid access to these icons. (An added nice touch: your Dock is replicated on the iPad for even faster access.)

But in my opinion, the pièce de résistance is Switch mode, which displays all of your Mac's windows in a horizontal tree inspired by Exposé. Scroll left and right to see application windows organized by application; scroll up and down if a single application has more windows than can be displayed onscreen. Switch covers windows you've minimized, as well as windows in any additional Spaces you're running, so it's easy to find windows you've temporarily misplaced. Tap on a window to bring it to the front on your Mac; tap on the application icon to do the same for all of the application's windows.

Remote Conductor requires an iPad running iOS 3.2 or higher and a Mac running Snow Leopard. (It works via Conductor Server for Mac, which is a free download, but requires Mac OS X 10.6.) The Mac and the iPad must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

New virus threatens phones using Android (AFP)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 06:03 AM PST

– Fri Dec 31, 9:03 am ET

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A virus infecting mobile phones using Google's Android operating system has emerged in China that can allow a hacker to gain access to personal data, US security experts said.

A report this week from Lookout Mobile Security said the new Trojan affecting Android devices has been dubbed "Geinimi" and "can compromise a significant amount of personal data on a user?s phone and send it to remote servers."

The firm called the virus "the most sophisticated Android malware we've seen to date."

"Once the malware is installed on a user's phone, it has the potential to receive commands from a remote server that allow the owner of that server to control the phone," Lookout said.

"Geinimi's author(s) have raised the sophistication bar significantly over and above previously observed Android malware by employing techniques to obfuscate its activities."

The motive for the virus was not clear, accoring the Lookout, which added that this could be used for anything from "a malicious ad-network to an attempt to create an Android botnet."

But the company said the only users likely to be affected are those downloading Android apps from China.

The infected apps included repackaged versions sold in China of Monkey Jump 2, Sex Positions, President vs. Aliens, City Defense and Baseball Superstars 2010.

"It is important to remember that even though there are instances of the games repackaged with the Trojan, the original versions available in the official Google Android Market have not been affected," the security firm said.

5 Reasons to Try Zorin OS Linux (PC World)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 06:30 AM PST

Katherine Noyes Katherine Noyes – Fri Dec 31, 9:30 am ET

One of the best features of the open source Linux operating system is that there are so many distributions to choose from.

Ubuntu gets by far the lion's share of the media's attention, it's true--largely by virtue of its top ranking at the top of DistroWatch's popularity list--but there are hundreds of other options out there as well, many tailored to particular kinds of users and situations.

I've already looked briefly at several of the Ubuntu derivatives that are available and more specifically at Linux Mint, which is currently third in popularity. Today, however, I'd like to make a pitch for Zorin OS, an Ubuntu-based distribution that offers a number of advantages with particular appeal for Windows users.

Zorin OS 4 was just released earlier this month. Why should you consider it? Here are just a few reasons.

1. A Seamless Transition

Much like the Ubuntu base that underlies it, Zorin OS is designed especially for newcomers to Linux. It has a Windows-like graphical user interface and many programs similar to those found in Windows.

Zorin OS also comes with software including Wine and PlayOnLinux that let users run many Windows programs. The distribution's ultimate goal is "to provide a Linux alternative to Windows and let Windows users enjoy all the features of Linux without complications," in the project's own words.

What this means, of course, is that Zorin OS is a great distribution for those who are comfortable with the look and feel of Windows, but still want to see what Linux is all about. Alternatively, it can be perfect for employees or coworkers who don't like change.

2. It Can Mimic Windows

Zorin OS comes with the ever-popular GNOME interface familiar to countless Ubuntu users, but it also offers a number of alternatives direct from the proprietary world. Specifically, the operating system features a unique "Look Changer" program that lets users change the software's interface at the touch of a button.

All users need do is click on the Windows 7 or Windows XP option, for example, and their desktop looks and behaves accordingly. Premium versions of Zorin OS--targeting gaming and multimedia uses, for example--also include interfaces mimicking those of Mac OS X, Windows Vista and Windows 2000.

3. The Comfort of GNOME

Those of us who have gotten used to Ubuntu have become accustomed to its default GNOME desktop. For those anxious about the distribution's upcoming switch to the touch-enabled Unity interface, Zorin OS offers an option for sticking with what's familiar.

Also like Ubuntu, Zorin OS comes pre-installed with OpenOffice, Firefox, the Evolution e-mail client, the Rhythmbox music player, the Totem video player, the GIMP image editor, lots of multimedia codecs, and more.

4. It's Fast

When speed is of the essence, Zorin OS really shines. Not only is its latest version faster than Ubuntu, its makers say, but it clocks in at a full four times faster than Windows 7. That's pretty impressive.

With the help of Wine and PlayOnLinux, meanwhile, Zorin OS even runs many Windows apps faster than Windows does, the project says. It's also available in more than 55 languages.

5. There's No Commitment

As always in the Linux world, you can take the free Zorin OS for a test drive without committing to it until you're ready. The Zorin OS 4 Core release is available for free download from the project's site. Alternatively, Zorin OS 4 Gaming and Multimedia releases each cost 10 euros, while Zorin OS 4 Ultimate is 15 euros from the project's store.

So many users come to Linux from the Windows world, it makes a great deal of sense to offer them a little familiarity to help ease the transition. If that sounds like something your business could benefit from, why not give Zorin OS a try?

Follow Katherine Noyes on Twitter: @Noyesk.

Skype could be designated illegal in China (Reuters)

Posted: 31 Dec 2010 02:16 PM PST

By Terril Yue Jones and Jennifer Saba Terril Yue Jones And Jennifer Saba – Fri Dec 31, 5:16 pm ET

BEIJING/NEW YORK (Reuters) – The popular Internet telephone service Skype could be dealt a major setback in one of the world's largest markets as the Chinese government cracks down on what it called illegal Internet telephone providers.

A Chinese government circular from the powerful Ministry of Information and Industry Technology called for a crackdown "on illegal VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) telephone services" and said it was collecting evidence for legal cases against them. It did not name any phone companies.

Skype was still available in China on Friday evening through its joint venture partner TOM Online.

Skype had not yet been contacted by Chinese government officials, a Skype spokesman said on Friday in the United States.

The timing of a ban in one of the world's fastest growing markets could dampen investor enthusiasm for Skype as it prepares a 2011 initial public offering. The Luxembourg-based company, which has about 124 million users worldwide, is expected to be valued at about $1 billion in the IPO.

The Chinese move appeared to be aimed at protecting three government-controlled phone carriers -- China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile -- that provide the bulk of China's telephone services.

The South China Morning Post quoted an unidentified ministry official on Thursday as saying VoIP services could only be provided by the big three Chinese operators.

China has been known to play hardball with foreign businesses. After a months-long stand-off over censorship, China finally gave Google approval in July to keep operating its Chinese search page.

Skype has 20 million users in Asia Pacific, or 16 percent of the company's total users as of the end of June, according to a U.S. regulatory filing. The filing did not break out China's user numbers and a Skype spokesman in the United States said he did not know how many Chinese users it had.

No single country other than the United States represented more than 7 percent of Skype's average monthly user, according to the filing.

The latest news is another setback after Skype's global service outage last week, which cast doubts on the reliability of the service.

In 2005, Skype was blocked in parts of China as the government sought to ban phone calls made over the Internet.

Skype, partly owned by Web retailer eBay Inc, has been growing in popularity among Chinese users and businesses to make cheap or free international phone calls over the Internet.

"Nearly 1 in 6 people in the world live in China, and a great many of them rely on Skype to connect with families and friends, run businesses, and call people around the world," wrote Skype's Josh Silverman in an October blog post about Chinese privacy.

The Chinese circular, dated December 10, did not say what amounted to illegal services and did not name any VoIP providers it considered to be breaking the law.

Representatives of the ministry and the ministry's office gathering information for the campaign did not answer telephone calls on Friday.

Representatives of China Telecom and China Unicom did not answer phone calls on Friday. A spokeswoman for China Mobile, reached in Beijing, referred calls to the firm's Hong Kong office. Attempts to reach the Hong Kong office were not successful.

VoIP calls allow users to make international calls for much less than commercial providers, or even for free if both parties are using VoIP. Many businesses that use VoIP services to cut down on their international telephone costs could lose access to the cheaper alternative.

(Additional reporting by Sui-lee Wee; Editing by Alex Richardson, Derek Caney, Gary Hill)
at 9:33 PM

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