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Monday, December 20, 2010

FCC poised to adopt network neutrality rules (AP) : Technet

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FCC poised to adopt network neutrality rules (AP) : Technet

FCC poised to adopt network neutrality rules (AP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:34 PM PST

By JOELLE TESSLER, AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Dec 20, 9:34 pm ET

WASHINGTON – New rules aimed at prohibiting broadband providers from becoming gatekeepers of Internet traffic now have just enough votes to pass the Federal Communications Commission on Tuesday.

The rules would prohibit phone and cable companies from abusing their control over broadband connections to discriminate against rival content or services, such as Internet phone calls or online video, or play favorites with Web traffic.

FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski now has the three votes needed for approval, despite firm opposition from the two Republicans on the five-member commission. Genachowski's two fellow Democrats said Monday they will vote for the rules, even though they consider them too weak.

The outcome caps a nearly-16-month push by Genachowski to pass "network neutrality" rules and marks a key turning point in a policy dispute that began more than five years ago.

"The open Internet is a crucial American marketplace, and I believe that it is appropriate for the FCC to safeguard it by adopting an order that will establish clear rules to protect consumers' access," Commissioner Mignon Clyburn, a Democrat, said in a statement.

Yet many supporters of network neutrality are disappointed. Clyburn and the other Democrat, Michael Copps, both said the rules are not as strong as they would like, even after Genachowski made some changes to address their concerns.

That sentiment was echoed by some public interest groups on Tuesday.

"The actions by the Federal Communications Commission fall far short of what they could have been," said Gigi Sohn, president of Public Knowledge. "Instead of strong, firm rules providing clear protections, the commission, created a vague and shifting landscape open to interpretation."

A number of big Internet companies, including Netflix Inc., Skype and Amazon.com Inc., have previously expressed reservations about the proposal as well.

Meanwhile, even the weakened rules are likely to face intense scrutiny as soon as the Republicans take over the House next year.

The chairman's proposal builds on an attempt at compromise crafted by outgoing House Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., as well as a set of broad net neutrality principles first established by the FCC under the previous administration in 2005.

The rules would require broadband providers to let subscribers access all legal online content, applications and services over their wired networks — including online calling services, Internet video and other Web applications that compete with their core businesses.

But the plan would give broadband providers flexibility to manage data on their systems to deal with problems such as network congestion and unwanted traffic like spam as long as they publicly disclose their network management practices.

Senior FCC officials stressed that unreasonable network discrimination would be prohibited.

They also noted that this category would most likely include services that favor traffic from the broadband providers themselves or traffic from business partners that can pay for priority. That language was added to help ease the concerns of Genachowski's two fellow Deomcrats.

The proposal would, however, leave the door open for broadband providers to experiment with routing traffic from specialized services such as smart grids and home security systems over dedicated networks as long as these services are separate from the public Internet.

Public interest groups fear that exception could lead to a two-tiered Internet with a fast lane for companies that can pay for priority and a slow lane for everyone else.

They are also worried that the proposal lacks strong protections for wireless networks as more Americans go online using mobile devices.

The plan would prohibit wireless carriers from blocking access to any websites or competing applications such as Internet calling services on mobile devices. It would require them to disclose their network management practices too.

But wireless companies would get more flexibility to manage data traffic as wireless systems have more bandwidth constraints than wired networks.

"Individuals who depend on wireless connections to the Internet can take no comfort in this half-measure," said Joel Kelsey, political advisor for the public interest group Free Press.

Republicans, meanwhile, warn that the new rules would impose unnecessary regulations on an industry that is one of the few bright spots in the current economy, with phone and cable companies spending billions to upgrade their networks for broadband.

Burdensome net neutrality rules, they warn, would discourage broadband providers from continuing those upgrades by making it difficult for them to earn a healthy return on their investments.

Still, Genachowski's proposal is likely to win the support of the big phone and cable companies because it leaves in place the FCC's current regulatory framework for broadband, which treats broadband as a lightly regulated "information service."

The agency had tried to come up with a new framework after a federal appeals court in April ruled that the FCC had overstepped its existing authority in sanctioning Comcast Corp. for discriminating against online file-sharing traffic on its network — violating the very net neutrality principles that underpin the new rules. Comcast argued that the service, which was used to trade movies and other big files over the Internet, was clogging its network.

To ensure that the commission would be on solid legal ground in adopting net neutrality rules and other broadband regulations following that decision, Genachowski had proposed redefining broadband as a telecommunications service subject to "common carrier" obligations to treat all traffic equally. But Genachowski backed down after strong opposition from the phone and cable companies, as well as many Republicans in Congress.

SEC investigating Hurd's ouster as HP's CEO (AP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:04 PM PST

By JORDAN ROBERTSON, AP Technology Writer Jordan Robertson, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Dec 20, 10:04 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – Mark Hurd is facing more fallout from his ouster five months ago as CEO of Hewlett-Packard Co., the world's biggest personal computer and printer maker.

The Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating the circumstances of Hurd's forced resignation in August, a surprising exit that triggered an immediate $9 billion drop in HP's market value and involved allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate sharing of inside information.

HP said Monday it is cooperating with the investigation, which was reported earlier by the Wall Street Journal. The SEC declined to comment.

"Mark acted properly in all respects," David Satterfield, a spokesman for Hurd, said in a statement. "It is understandable that the SEC is looking into the events surrounding Mark's departure, which was followed by a precipitous drop in the value of HP's stock."

Hurd's five-year reign at HP, which was hailed by Wall Street but reviled by many HP employees because of deep job and cost cuts, came to an abrupt end after a former HP marketing contractor, Jodie Fisher, accused him of sexual harassment.

HP's board said it didn't find evidence to support the harassment claim, but did find inaccuracies in Hurd's expense reports for his outings with Fisher, who helped organize and host HP networking events that Hurd attended.

The Journal, citing anonymous sources, reported that the SEC's investigation is looking at the expense reports, as well as another of Fisher's allegations — that Hurd told her in advance about HP's $13.9 billion acquisition of Electronic Data Systems in 2008 — and the possibility that Hurd destroyed computer evidence related to the case.

Hurd has argued that he didn't prepare his own expense reports, and that the omission of Fisher's name from some reports wasn't intentional.

Fisher later appeared to recant her claim that Hurd disclosed sensitive information, saying in a letter when she and Hurd settled their case that there were "many inaccuracies" in her original story. Fisher received an undisclosed amount as part of the settlement.

On Monday a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press that the computer issue involved information the SEC requested concerning an HP computer that Hurd kept at home and had digitally cleaned before returning it to the company. This person said the cleaning was done to protect the privacy of Hurd's family, which used the computer for things such as photos and music. The person requested anonymity because of not being authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

One aspect of Hurd's ouster that angered many critics was the size of his severance package.

Hurd got a $12.2 million cash payout and, soon after his exit, exercised options on some $30 million worth of HP stock, and filed papers to sell the stock.

His payday from HP would have been even higher had he not agreed to give back restricted stock worth about $14 million as part of a settlement with HP to allow him to work at Oracle Corp., an HP rival run by Hurd's friend Larry Ellison.

HP shareholders still haven't recovered.

HP's market value, which stood at around $108 billion before Hurd's exit, dropped about $9 billion in the stocks' first day of trading after the Aug. 6 resignation. The stock fell further as the wait for a replacement dragged on.

Hurd's replacement, Leo Apotheker, the former CEO of business software maker SAP AG, pleased many HP employees by rescinding pay cuts imposed under Hurd, and appears to have calmed investors' nerves by promising to focus on software and research to help close gaps with archrival IBM Corp.

HP's market value stood at $94 billion on Monday, before news of the SEC investigation was published.

The stock fell 7 cents, or 0.2 percent, to $41.68 in extended trading Monday. Shares of Oracle, where Hurd works as a co-president, fell 3 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $31.65 in extended trading.

'Smurfs' Village' adds warning about Smurfberries (AP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 11:28 AM PST

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Dec 20, 2:28 pm ET

NEW YORK – The publisher of the popular "The Smurfs' Village" game for the iPhone and iPad has added a warning that virtual items such as "Smurfberries" cost real money — as much as $100 with just two taps on the screen.

An Associated Press story earlier this month revealed how easy it is for kids to buy such virtual items and have them billed to their parents without their knowledge. Like many other free games, "Smurfs' Village" makes money by selling the virtual goods to advance play.

Capcom Entertainment Inc. updated the game Sunday. When the game starts up for the first time, a pop-up now warns about the option to purchase Smurfberries and the fact that charges come out of owners' iTunes account, which gets billed to a credit card.

However, Capcom has also made it easier to make a large purchase of Smurfberries in one go. Previously, the highest two-tap Smurfberries purchase option was a "wheelbarrow" for $59.99. Now it's a "wagon" for $99.99.

"Smurf's Village" is the third-highest grossing game for the iPad. Other top-grossing "free" games for the iPhone and iPad, including "Tap Zoo" and "Bakery Story," have $99.99 in-game purchase options and lack up-front pop-up warnings.

Capcom has said that the big-ticket purchase options are useful to adult "power players" who want to cultivate their Smurf villages. But parents have complained about a loophole in the in-app purchase process that children inadvertently exploit.

Usually, the purchases require the owner of the device to enter his or her iTunes password. But there is no password challenge if the owner has entered the password in the last 15 minutes, for any reason. That means that if a user enters the password for a purchase or a free app upgrade, then hands the phone or iPad over to a kid, the child will not be stopped by a password prompt.

Capcom and other game publishers have no control over the 15-minute password-free period, which is set by Apple.

The big tease: Motorola, Verizon drop hints about 4G, Android and tablets (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 01:03 PM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Mon Dec 20, 4:03 pm ET

A "Honeycomb"-powered tablet from Motorola? 4G-ready Android smartphones on Verizon? Well, neither Motorola nor Verizon Wireless have anything official to say about what they've got in store for the Consumer Electronics Show next month, but that hasn't stopped the mobile giants from teasing us on Twitter and YouTube.

First up is Verizon, which took to its official Twitter feed to hint — oh so subtly — that Android fans hoping for a dose of 4G speed in their next smartphones won't be disappointed.

Verizon won't have anything official to announce until January 6, the day of its CES 2011 press conference, but the carrier was happy to stir the pot Monday with this tweet: "Jan. 6 at #CES: #Android and #LTE - could it be like peanut butter and chocolate? YUM!"

It doesn't take a genius to put two and two together and make a bold prediction: to wit, that we'll be seeing some 4G LTE (short for "Long Term Evolution") Android smartphones during Verizon's CES presser, which will focus primarily on the carrier's just-launched 4G data network.

Among the possible 4G Android phones we might see from Verizon next month: this mysterious LG smartphone, which may or may not be a version of the dual-core, Tegra 2-powered Optimus 2X. (The backs of the two phones look slightly different, but hey — you never know.)

Another possibility: the long-rumored HTC Mecha, a.k.a. the Droid Incredible HD — an enticing possibility, although HTC's Peter Chou recently told Mobile World Live that an LTE-ready handset from HTC might not arrive until the second half of next year.

Moving along, we've got another pretty obvious CES teaser, this time in the form of a YouTube video from Motorola.

Entitled "Tablet Evolution," the slick video takes place in what appears to be an exhibit of tablet technology throughout the ages, starting with a wall-sized tablet of Egyptian hieroglyphics ("good graphics, but weight makes difficult for portability," the wry captions read) before moving on to the Ten Commandments ("excellent durability, but zero flexibility — can't edit") and the Rosetta Stone ("multilingual support, but low-resolution screen").

The cheeky tablet exhibit also features a couple of slightly newer tablets, including the iPad ("it's like a giant iPhone, but … it's like a giant iPhone) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab ("Android OS, but Android OS … for a phone").

All that is just a preamble, of course, for the final stop on the tour: a tablet covered by a black shroud, sitting atop a pedestal stamped with Motorola's distinctive "M" logo — and then a bee appears in the frame, buzzing its way right up to the mystery product. "CES 2011," the final caption reads.

What are we talking about here? Well, it's a pretty safe guess that this is the same Motorola-built, Tegra 2-powered Android tablet that Google exec Andy Rubin was showing off just a few weeks ago. And what's the deal with the bee? Probably a coy reference to "Honeycomb," the upcoming update to Android that's said to focus primarily on tablet features.

All in all, very interesting, although there's also been speculation that the individual Verizon and Motorola rumors — which, of course, are being fed by the companies themselves — might meld into a single product: a 4G, Android-powered MotoPad. Now that would be worth writing home about.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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Should Nokia and Microsoft join forces? (Ben Patterson)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 11:32 AM PST

By Ben Patterson ben Patterson – Mon Dec 20, 2:32 pm ET

Buffeted by hardware delays, management shakeups and defecting executives, mobile giant Nokia is looking more and more like a company in serious need of a game-changer. Could Microsoft and its new Windows Phone 7 OS be Nokia's knight in shining armor?

That was the hot (if not entirely new) rumor Monday, with Nokia-obsessed blogger and rumor-monger Eldar Mutarzin claiming (in Russian, translation is here) that new Nokia CEO — and former Microsoft executive — Stephen Elop recently held talks with Microsoft "behind closed doors" about "expanded cooperation" between the the two companies that could include an "entire line of Windows Phone devices" that would be built by Nokia.

Nokia, of course, has its own new mobile OS, Symbian^3, which powers the new touchscreen N8, as well as MeeGo, its promised mobile OS for high-end smartphones and tablets.

But the delayed and underwhelming N8 met with a muted reception when it shipped back in September, while the first MeeGo devices aren't expected to ship until next year. Not helping matters is the fact that a key Nokia executive behind the MeeGo project recently fled the company in the wake of a major management shake-up.

And while Nokia still has a slew of promising Symbian^3-based handsets in the pipeline, its would-be flagship—the 4-inch E7 QWERTY slider — just saw its ship date slip back into next year to "ensure the best possible user experience."

Make no mistake: Nokia is still king of the world when it comes to overall handset sales, but with its global market share slipping from 44.6 percent in late 2009 to 36.6 percent in the third quarter of this year, Nokia is looking a little uneasy on its throne.

So, what's a quick way for Nokia to put the ball in the air? Well, how about partnerships, OS licensing deals, or even a full-on merger? Indeed, there's long been chatter that Nokia might look to put someone else's mobile platform on its high-end hardware, with reports coming out just a couple of months ago that Nokia was talking to Google about Android — just weeks after rumors surfaced that Microsoft and Nokia were eyeing each other.

Reactions to the latest Nokia-Microsoft rumors have run the gamut, with GigaOm calling the scenario a "desperation move" and Gizmodo giving the potential deal a "tentative thumb's up." WPCentral, which knows its way around Microsoft rumors, says they're "not holding our breath on this one," although "we'll leave the possibility open."

And if Nokia were to go the Microsoft way, it wouldn't necessarily be a "zero-sum affair," ZDNet reminds us, noting that Nokia could "hedge its mobile OS bets in a few places"— that is, forge ahead with Symbian^3 and MeeGo devices while also building its own Android and Windows Phone handsets.

Personally, I've long been curious what a Nokia-built Android phone — one, say, with Carl Zeiss-designed optics, full-on GPS, and other Nokia hardware touchstones — would look like, especially after the relative disappointment of the half-baked N8.

And in Microsoft, Nokia might find a software partner eager to do anything it could to boost the fledgling Windows Phone 7 OS, which is facing an uphill battle in the face of Apple's iOS and Google's surging Android platform.

Still, the latest Nokia-and-Microsoft, sitting-in-a-tree rumors are just that -- rumors, and yes, we've heard them before.

— Ben Patterson is a technology writer for Yahoo! News.

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Apple: Mac OS X Downloads site will no longer offer apps (Macworld)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 06:09 PM PST

Dan Frakes Dan Frakes – Mon Dec 20, 9:09 pm ET

Apple announced on Monday that the company's popular Mac OS X Downloads site will no longer feature apps.

In an e-mail message to registered developers, the company stated that as of January 6, 2011—the date the Mac App Store will debut—the Mac OS X Downloads site will "no longer offer apps." The company suggests that developers should instead submit their software to the Mac App Store, which Apple says will be "the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps."

The site has long been a popular destination for Mac users looking for third-party software, as it has provided a semi-curated library of software, browsable by category, date, popularity, or the ever-coveted-by-developers Staff Picks.

The announcement shouldn't come as a surprise, given Apple's recent focus on the Mac App Store. Indeed, it would be quite un-Apple-like for the company to offer both a software store and a software-listing Website. However, the move is sure to raise some hackles in the developer community, given that not every piece of software listed on the Downloads site will be available—or even could be available—on the Mac App Store. The Mac App Store already presented a marketing challenge for developers of such software; they'll now be even more reliant on the Mac media, word of mouth, and other Mac-software sites such as MacUpdate and i use this.

It's unclear if Apple will continue to use the Mac OS X Downloads site to promote its own Mac software, or if the company will just roll such promotion into the main Downloads site.

The full text of the e-mail message is below.

Thank you for making the Mac OS X Download site a great destination with apps that offer users new ways to work, play, learn, and create on their Mac.

We recently announced that on January 6, 2011, the Mac App Store will open to users around the world, presenting you with an exciting, new opportunity to reach millions of customers. Since the introduction of the App Store in 2008, we've been thrilled with the incredible support from developers and the enthusiastic response from users. Now we're bringing the revolutionary experience of the App Store to Mac OS X.

Because we believe the Mac App Store will be the best destination for users to discover, purchase, and download your apps, we will no longer offer apps on the Mac OS X Downloads site. Instead, beginning January 6, we will be directing users to explore the range of apps available on the Mac App Store.

We appreciate your support of the Mac platform and hope you'll take advantage of this new opportunity to showcase your apps to even more users. To learn how you can offer your apps on the Mac App Store, visit the Apple Developer website at http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/.

Best regards,

Ron Okamoto Vice President, Worldwide Developer Relations Apple Inc.

New Year's Eve at Times Square Gets Its Own Mobile Apps (Mashable)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:31 PM PST

Charlie White Charlie White – Mon Dec 20, 7:31 pm ET

Can't be in Times Square for New Year's Eve? The Times Square Ball App for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android could be the next best thing.

The free app features a live video feed of the New Year's Eve festivities from Times Square, offering six-and-a-half hours of bands, frolic and festivities without any commercials in between. There's also a customizable countdown clock to 2011, situated front and center on the main screen of the app and adjustable for the time zone of the user.

Users can check in to Foursquare, Facebook and Twitter through the app, which will show them precisely how far they are away from Times Square. The app also invites users to submit photos of their revelry and debauchery, and then vote on photos submitted by other users. The photos with the most votes will be shown on the huge video screen atop One Times Square, just underneath the Waterford Crystal ball that makes its annual descent at midnight.

Produced by Monday Sessions Media, developed by HAAS/créa, and streaming components developed by Livestream LLC., it's available now on the Android Market and App Store for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, and it requires iOS 3.0 or later.

Apple launches iAd Producer (Macworld)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 04:05 PM PST

Marco Tabini Marco Tabini – Mon Dec 20, 7:05 pm ET

Apple has announced the release of iAd Producer, a tool that can be used by publishers to simplify the creation of campaigns for the company's iAd mobile advertising platform.

The app, which runs on Mac OS X, provides a complete end-to-end workflow for creating ads. The user starts by selecting a target platform (the iPhone and iPad each require specifically-sized creative materials due to their different form factor) and then goes through a step-by-step selection process that allows them to create a splash screen, menu, and one or more content pages.

iAd Producer allows users to define which transitions are employed in moving from one screen to the next. It offers a selection of twelve different options that developers will recognize as the default ones supported by Safari's WebKit engine, which is also used to render iAd campaigns.

Since iAd content is meant to be interactive in nature, Producer supports a number of stock UI controls, such as buttons, grid views, Cover Flow displays, and so on. Of course, the entire system is built around HTML5 and JavaScript; therefore, the app also allows developers to create their own controls and manipulate them through customized client-side code, as well as test and debug them directly from within the app.

Once an ad campaign is ready for submission, iAd Producer can optimize it in several ways, such as ensuring that all images are cropped and compressed appropriately, that the size of the code is minimized, and so on. It can also make certain that all the pieces fit together well by performing several tests for completeness and functionality.

It's likely that Apple's decision to develop and release iAd Producer is linked, at least in part, to a desire to make the company's advertising program more attractive to a wider audience of publishers—that is, of course, in addition to streamlining the process of vetting iAd campaigns' technical viability. Prior to its introduction, developers were required to build ads by hand using a specialized API; while that's still available, the app should at least simplify the basic aspects of ad creation, allowing publishers to focus on providing better interaction and more engaging content.

iAd Producer requires OS X 10.5 or higher and is available for registered developers only as a 30MB download directly from Apple's Developer Connection website.

Startup Envolve is Facebook Chat for Online Communities [DEMO] (Mashable)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:32 PM PST

AP to switch tech provider for Web video network (AP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 12:21 PM PST

– Mon Dec 20, 3:21 pm ET

NEW YORK – The Associated Press said Monday that it is partnering with a new technology vendor for its online video network in a move that will help websites broaden their video news offerings.

The vendor, News Distribution Network Inc., already delivers video online for a variety of media companies, including ABC, CBS, BBC and Reuters. Participants of AP's Online Video Network will be getting access to those videos under the new partnership.

NDN hosts content on its servers. Participants can use NDN's media-player software and other tools to integrate the videos into their sites. That way, websites do not have to build the video capability on their own.

NDN, which is based in Atlanta, sells and runs advertising with the video and shares revenue with both the websites that run the clips and the media companies that produce them.

Nick Ascheim, general manager for AP Digital, said that the bundling of AP's offerings with those from other media will make AP's Online Video Network more attractive for websites looking for a one-stop shopping source for video.

The 1,500 newspaper, broadcast and other websites that are part of the OVN will have a choice of whether to add other news providers and which ones.

The AP, a not-for-profit cooperative, launched OVN in late 2006, using Microsoft Corp. technology. The AP switched to Comcast Corp.'s thePlatform in 2008, although Microsoft continued to sell ads to run with the videos.

Ascheim said the transition to NDN will be completed in the first quarter of 2011, and NDN will take over ad-selling duties from Microsoft.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Fandango Goes Big Screen on the iPad (Mashable)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 12:59 PM PST

Christina Warren Christina Warren – Mon Dec 20, 3:59 pm ET

Movie ticketing service Fandango has updated its popular iOS app to support the iPad. Fandango for iPad [iTunes link] is a free app that lets users not only browse movie showtimes and purchase tickets but also watch trailers and movie clips, see critic and users reviews, and get a glimpse at what films are especially hot at the box office.

Fandango is the nation's leading ticketing service, and it covers a wide variety of movie houses and chains throughout the United States. The company has official apps for the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, Palm Pre and Windows Phone 7. We had a chance to speak with Fandango about the new app and some of its iPad-centric features.

The Fandango app is a universal application -- which means the same app can be installed on both an iPhone or iPod touch and on the iPad. When launched on the iPad, however, the experience and feature set are very much formatted for the device.

Fandango uses the extra space on the iPad, both in landscape and in portrait orientation. Jessica Yi, VP of Product for Fandango, told us, "We considered the screen size and form features in every aspect of this iPad app. Our trailers look great on the iPad screen. We launched a new product called 'the Pulse,' which is a visual representation of our ticket sales. You really need the larger screen size to get a good snapshot of the volume and breadth of the movies people are seeing."

The Pulse is a cool feature because it shows you, using movie posters as a cue, what films people are buying tickets to see. You can see the movie posters appear in a stream of sorts, or you can see them appear on the map where people are buying tickets.

This data is fascinating and has the potential to actually act as an early "pulse" of ticket buyer activity. As an example, The King's Speech, which led the Golden Globe nominations, opens in wide release on December 25. Already, lots of ticketing activity is appearing around that film.

You can't drill further down by area or city now, but the ability to further segment out what films are most popular in what parts of the country seems to be something that could be surfaced, if Fandango choose to do so.

Another neat feature of the Fandango app -- and this is true of the iPhone and iPad versions -- is that you can get feedback about a movie from critics, Fandango reviewers and Twitter. On the iPad, this information is displayed in three columns alongside one another in a manner that is very easy to navigate and read.

The critical data is gathered from MetaCritic.com, and the users reviews are from Fandango.com and the Fandango apps. For Twitter, Fandango has partnered with FlickTweets to provide relevant tweets for each film. The Twitter implementation is slick and it adds some interesting additional context to a film.

Yi explained the Twitter integration to us this way, "Twitter is a great bite-sized indicator of movie buzz. For someone who doesn't want to write a full-length review, Twitter is a great mechanism as it's easily accessible via your mobile device. It's where you'd write immediately, 'Just saw it -- loved it.'"

Of course, you can buy movie tickets with the app, too. We appreciated the ability to easily change your location and the easy access to other movie dates. I know I often find myself looking for showtimes a few days in advance -- or perhaps even earlier if it is for a big release. Like rival MovieTickets.com, Fandango can display showtimes for a theater even if it isn't the ticket vendor. Still, the app is obviously most useful at theaters that use the Fandango ticketing system.

You can sign in with an existing account or use a guest account and the payment and checkout process is simple.

Future Plans

We asked Fandango about plans for Facebook integreation in the app, and that is planned for the next iteration. For the Android fans, we also asked if that app would be getting some larger screen updates and the response was "definitely."

All in all, we're impressed with Fandango's take on the iPad. The ability to watch more movie clips and view photos is great, as is the app's The Pulse feature. We also like how Twitter is integrated into the app.

Do you purchase movie tickets on your phone or tablet? Let us know.

Big iOS titles receive updates, but we shouldn’t need them (Appolicious)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 11:58 AM PST

Adobe 4Q earnings beat Street, as does outlook (AP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 03:34 PM PST

By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer Peter Svensson, Ap Technology Writer – Mon Dec 20, 6:34 pm ET

NEW YORK – Software maker Adobe Systems Inc. on Monday posted earnings for its latest quarter that exceeded analyst expectations, and it provided a rosy outlook.

Investors pumped the stock up by $1.57, or 5.4 percent, to $30.75 in extended trading, after the release of the results.

The maker of Photoshop, Acrobat and Flash software earned $269 million, or 53 cents per share, in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 3. In the same period last year, it posted a loss of $32 million, or 6 cents per share, weighed down by tax effects and restructuring costs.

Adjusted earnings were 56 cents per share in the latest quarter, surpassing the average forecast of 52 cents per share among analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters.

Adobe says revenue jumped 33 percent to $1.01 billion from $757 million last year. It was Adobe's first billion-dollar quarter.

Adobe, which is based in San Jose, Calif., says it expects to earn 54 cents to 59 cents per share in the current quarter, excluding items, on revenue of $1 billion to $1.05 billion. Analysts were expecting 51 cents, on $992 billion of revenue.

Overall, Adobe expects revenue to grow 10 percent next year, reflecting slower growth than the just-ended year, when sales rebounded from the recession.

CEO Shantanu Narayen said the company expects to benefit from the continuing e-book revolution, as publishers adopt its software tools. It also plans to help developers who want to make software for tablet computers.

Sales of Creative Suite 5, a version of Adobe's flagship software launched earlier this year, are 21 percent higher than they were for Creative Suite 4 at the same time after its launch, Narayen said.

For the full year, Adobe earned $775 million, or $1.47 per share, on $3.8 billion of revenue. In the previous year, it earned $387 million, or 73 cents per share, on $2.95 billion of revenue.

In the regular trading session, shares increased 39 cents, or 1.4 percent, to close Monday at $29.18.

Microsoft's Dryad Technology to Take on Google's MapReduce (PC World)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 11:20 AM PST

Joab Jackson Joab Jackson – Mon Dec 20, 2:20 pm ET

Addressing the growing market for tools that handle very large data sets, Microsoft has released a beta set of technologies, called Dryad, to manage and analyze large amounts of information across a cluster of Windows Servers.

The company has released Community Technology Preview editions of three packages -- called Dryad, DSC, and DryadLINQ -- that will install Dryad on Windows HPC Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1.

"These technologies allow you to process large volumes of data in many types of applications, including data-mining applications, image and stream processing, and some scientific computations," the Microsoft Windows HPC Team Blog post stated.

First developed by Microsoft research, Dryad is a platform for running programs across multiple servers. Dryad-based programs can be broken up across multiple nodes. The pieces are connected using a process similar to Unix pipes.

Dryad can be used to analyze log data and other forms of massive collections of non-relational data, much like Google MapReduce technology does, explained Bob Muglia, Microsoft's president of server and tools, in an interview with IDG reporters.

Because Microsoft is still testing the software, the beta release can only work with up to 2,048 partitions and does not support all queries. Microsoft itself is using parts of Dryad for its own online advertising network.

Joab Jackson covers enterprise software and general technology breaking news for The IDG News Service. Follow Joab on Twitter at @Joab_Jackson. Joab's e-mail address is Joab_Jackson@idg.com

Venezuela passes media, Internet-muzzling law (AFP)

Posted: 20 Dec 2010 07:24 PM PST

– 2 hrs 42 mins ago

CARACAS (AFP) – The Venezuelan parliament passed a law banning for the first time Internet content that promotes social unrest, challenges authority or condones crime, fueling outrage by the opposition.

The law was pushed through the unicameral National Assembly in less than a week by President Hugo Chavez's ruling party. The vote came just 10 days before a new assembly in which the opposition has swelled its ranks takes seat on January 5, following September legislative elections.

The new law expands 2004 restrictions on content in radio, television and print media. In an unprecedented move, it now also includes content from the Internet and electronic subscription services, making webpage managers "responsible for the information and content" published on their websites."

It is meant to crack down on media content that "makes an apology of crime," "promotes unrest in the population" or "challenges legally established authorities."

Webpage managers must now "establish mechanisms to restrict, without delay, the diffusion of messages... that are included in the ban."

The measure increases fines imposed on media violations to "10 percent of the previous year's gross income," in addition to "72 hours of continuous suspension of services."

Groups can also lose their media license if they commit repeat offenses.

The law says it aims "to establish social responsibility in the diffusion and reception of messages, to promote democratic balance between the duties, rights and interests" of media companies, commentators and clients.

Opposition lawmakers quickly decried what they called an unconstitutional move.

"It completely violates the constitution, freedom of speech and freedom of broadcasting in the country," said deputy Ismael Garcia.

Fellow lawmaker Pastora Medina agreed the new measure promotes "censure and self-censorship... (and) will not improve the education process that comes as the result of good communication."

Opposition lawmakers practically shut themselves out of the present National Assembly after the boycotted the 2004 elections, but they made landmark gains in September when they took 40 percent -- 67 out of 165 seats -- in the new assembly.

Ruling party deputy Earle Herrera said "the new law fully guarantees the right to information, communication and media access granted by the constitution."

The leftist Chavez administration has been steadily hemming in opposition media outlets. It is currently trying to shut down Globovision TV for its strong anti-Chavez stance.

Globovision boss Guillermo Zuloaga has faced criminal charges, fled arrest and asked for political asylum in the United States.
at 10:20 PM

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