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Internet rules at center of 'e-G8' forum in Paris (AP) : Technet |
- Internet rules at center of 'e-G8' forum in Paris (AP)
- Sony says Greece music site security breached (AP)
- Yahoo ready to deliver on promise to upgrade email (AP)
- How to use your iPad as a digital photo frame (Yahoo! News)
- Tesla coils electrify epic music remix (Yahoo! News)
- Foursquare Is Facebook's Equal on Super-Social INQ Phones (Mashable)
- Sony reports another online security breach (AP)
- Amazon and Barnes & Noble battle for e-book lovers (AFP)
- Amazon selling cheaper Kindle 3G with ads (AP)
- Analysis: Sony Ericsson needs Sony firepower for Android war (Reuters)
- Signs That Facebook Is Acting Like a Sovereign Nation (The Atlantic Wire)
- Windows Phone Mango demo: Multitasking (Digital Trends)
- The role of mobile in LinkedIn, future social media IPOs (Appolicious)
- Google to unveil mobile payments Thursday: source (Reuters)
- TiVo results jump thanks to legal settlement (Reuters)
- Federal court demands Samsung give Apple access to upcoming products (Digital Trends)
- Mango Phone 7 Update Enhances User Experience (NewsFactor)
- Intel's 'Hybrid Cloud' Is a Cloud Server Inside Your Office (PC Magazine)
| Internet rules at center of 'e-G8' forum in Paris (AP) Posted: 24 May 2011 10:11 AM PDT PARIS – France wants better regulation of the Internet. Google's executive chairman says policymakers should tread lightly and avoid "stupid" rules. Bridging such differences about how the Internet could or should be more regulated took center stage Tuesday at an "e-G8" meeting aimed to parlay the digital world's growing economic clout into a cohesive message for world leaders at the Group of Eight summit later this week in Normandy. The two-day Paris gathering has brought together Internet and media world gurus such as Google Inc. executive chairman Eric Schmidt, News Corp. Chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch and Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. And the discussion includes issues such as protecting children from "evil stuff" on line, preventing illegal downloading of copyrighted materials and shielding Facebook users from unsolicited invitations. The e-G8 comes amid concerns in the industry that some countries — including several in Europe such as France — have taken measures or enacted laws that could curb Internet freedoms. French President Nicolas Sarkozy, kicking off the conference, said governments need to lay down and enforce rules in the digital world — even as they need to foster creativity and economic growth with the Internet. It's unclear whether he'll win over digital executives with this argument, or whether the G-8 summit — which doesn't include countries such as China, a major source of online activity and online regulation — will agree on a single policy going forward. Sarkozy said he faced mistrust over his push for the "e-G8" when Japan's earthquake, fiscal troubles in Europe, and the Arab world revolutions are likely to dominate the G-8 summit in Deauville on Thursday and Friday. Conflicting visions about the Internet — notably about how regulated it should be — has pitted companies such as Amazon.com and Google against governments about how to protect privacy and copyrights online. "We need to hear your aspirations, your needs," Sarkozy told hundreds of business executives, creative minds and journalists at Tuileries Gardens in Paris. "You need to hear our limits, our red lines." Policymakers such as Sarkozy say the blistering pace of growth has often left regulators behind. He said a "balance" needed to be struck to prevent misuse of the Internet — such as to protect children online — while boosting its potential as a driver for economic growth. While praising the executives, he said regulatory curbs are needed. "Don't let the revolution that you've begun threaten everyone's basic right to a private life and full autonomy," said Sarkozy. "Full transparency ... sooner or later runs into the very principle of individual freedom." Google's Schmidt said technological changes have led to a "shift in power" toward individuals — whether to illegally release secret documents or transfer copyrighted material, or rally against their repressive regimes. "My own opinion is that most governments are having trouble with that shift in power," he said. "So rather than sort of complaining about it, which is what everybody does, why don't we see if we can harness it?" During an e-G8 panel talk, Schmidt said: "You want to tread lightly on regulating brand new, innovative industries. ... Clearly you need some level of regulation for the evil stuff. But I would be careful about overregulating the Internet. "I cannot imagine any delegate in this conference (who) would want Internet growth to be significantly slowed by a government that slows it down because of some stupid rule that they put in place," he said. Last week, the U.N.'s independent expert on freedom of speech said governments that curtail users' access to the Internet are violating a basic human right — regardless of the justification. Britain last year joined France by announcing it would cut off Internet access to people who illegally download copyright-protected material. The French government has so far issued only warnings under the "three strikes" formula for possible penalties. Privacy concerns have also raised hackles in Europe. In January, Facebook and German officials reached a deal over unsolicited invitations sent to nonmembers of the social networking site through its "Friend Finder" feature — which allows Facebook to send email invitations to potential users through current members' address books. The feature came under fire in Germany for violating privacy laws by allowing unauthorized access to information of third parties. The agreement allows Facebook members more control over the email addresses they share. Johannes Caspar, a data protection official in Hamburg who negotiated the deal for the Germans, said American laws under which Facebook operates tend to be more laissez-faire than those of Europe about privacy issues. He said Facebook has cooperated with German investigations about possible privacy law violations, and the onus now is on Europe "to make things clearer" about the rules companies face on the continent. ___ Sylvie Corbet in Paris contributed to this report. |
| Sony says Greece music site security breached (AP) Posted: 24 May 2011 05:01 AM PDT TOKYO – Sony said it discovered a security breach affecting 8,500 user accounts in a music entertainment website in Greece that comes on the heels of a hacker attack which forced its flagship gaming site offline. Sony Corp. spokesman Shigenori Yoshida said Tuesday that personal data including names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses may have been stolen. Yoshida said no credit card numbers have been affected. Sony shut the Greece website on Sunday and is investigating the attack. Yoshida could not provide further details. Sony's "PlayStation Network" system was hacked last month, affecting more than 100 million online accounts worldwide and forcing the company to shut down the popular online gaming service. The Japanese maker of PlayStation 3 video game machines and Bravia flat-panel TVs has said it aims to fully restore the service by the end of May. The massive security breach is a knock to Sony's reputation as it struggles to overcome years of losses at its TV business and new challenges from shortages of components following Japan's March 11 earthquake. The company Monday said it spent 14 billion yen ($170 million) to cover costs that included identity theft insurance for customers, improvements to network security, free access to content, customer support and an investigation into the hacking. Sony is forecasting a loss of $3.2 billion for the fiscal year ended March 2011. |
| Yahoo ready to deliver on promise to upgrade email (AP) Posted: 24 May 2011 04:53 AM PDT SAN FRANCISCO – Yahoo Inc. is giving its popular email service a long-promised facelift in an attempt to make it more appealing to people who are increasingly using Facebook, Twitter, Google and other online alternatives to communicate. The changes announced Tuesday build upon a redesigned email format that Yahoo began testing seven months ago. The estimated 277 million users of Yahoo's free email service will be switched to the new version during the next few weeks. The overhaul will enable updates to Facebook and Twitter accounts to be posted from within Yahoo's email boxes. The revamped service is supposed to be two times faster and capable of sending attachments of up to 100 megabytes. Other tools include better junk-mail controls and the ability to chat with friends and family logged into Facebook. Yahoo is counting on the changes to help attract and retain email users at a time when more people are flocking to the rival Gmail service run by Internet search leader Google Inc. Although Yahoo's service remains larger than Gmail, it has been losing ground in the past year. Through April, Yahoo boasted 277 million email users worldwide, a drop of about 3 million, or 1 percent, from the same time last year, according to the research firm comScore Inc. Meanwhile, Gmail had grown to 220 million wordwide users, up 43 million, or 24 percent during the past year. Most of Gmail's gains appear to be coming at the expense of Microsoft Corp.'s Hotmail service, which remained the global leader with 327 million users, according to comScore. But that figure was down 27 million, or 8 percent, from last year. Cultivating loyal email users is important because they tend to be frequent visitors and they often remain logged in when using other online services run by the email providers. The return trips and logged-in activity creates more opportunities to show Internet ads, the main way that both Yahoo and Google make money. Yahoo, though, hasn't been luring as many advertisers as Google for years, a problem that has weighed on Yahoo's stock. The email upgrade is expected to be among the signs of progress that Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz emphasizes Wednesday when she and other top company executives are scheduled to update analysts on their turnaround plan. |
| How to use your iPad as a digital photo frame (Yahoo! News) Posted: 24 May 2011 06:27 PM PDT
Your latest vacation pictures or family photos can be easily shown off with just a couple of clicks on the iPad and iPad 2. If you already know all about using your iPad as a digital photo frame, why not pass this video on to the new iPad owner in your life? And as always, if you have any requests for something you'd like Just Show Me to cover, please be sure to let us know in the comments!
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| Tesla coils electrify epic music remix (Yahoo! News) Posted: 24 May 2011 06:14 PM PDT There's epic, and then there's epic. A 40 minute remix of popular songs, played on tesla coils? That's the latter. After all, everything's better with lightning! Thanks to the Open Spark Project (OSP), you can now watch this amazing piece of musical engineering, a recording of two giant tesla coils "performing" the melody of Girl Talk's "This is the Remix." The basic physics behind tesla coils involves building up an electric charge in the coils that then jumps from the terminal capacitor at the top to the nearest conductive material, usually a rod near the coils. This bolt of electricity is what produces the sound, and the sound can be tuned using MIDI data and a control unit. The band ArcAttack is one of the pioneers of tesla coil music, using custom-built tesla coils, a robotic drum set with LED lights, and human musicians to create an "electrifying" spectacle. If you were lucky enough to attend this year's Maker Faire in San Francisco, you might have seen Mythbuster Adam Savage dancing to an ArcAttack rendition of the Doctor Who theme song. Or, for something a bit more classic, there's always this version of the Super Mario Brothers theme song played by tesla coils at the 2007 Lightning on the Lawn Teslathon in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Open Spark Project via Huffington Post More from Tecca: |
| Foursquare Is Facebook's Equal on Super-Social INQ Phones (Mashable) Posted: 23 May 2011 07:40 PM PDT The "Facebook Phone" cometh! So the media lauded in a not-so-distant past that has since been rewritten in the truth: INQ Mobile, a device maker with a social penchant, worked with Facebook to release INQ Cloud Touch, an Android smartphone with rich Facebook integration. Monday, INQ Mobile and Foursquare announced that they were collaborating on a similar home screen experience for INQ's lineup of Android devices. The mobile marriage will help users better discover and explore nearby places via Foursquare. [More from Mashable: Native App vs. Web App: Which Is Better for Mobile Commerce?] The pending release will offer OS-level Foursquare integration -- just as is the case with Facebook integration on the INQ "Facebook Phone" -- for a deep Foursquare connection that gives users instant access to location-sharing and recommendation features. "Because it's built directly into the Android system, you can check in and explore without even firing up the application," Foursquare wrote on the company blog. [More from Mashable: Facebook Friends Help Plan Your Trip With Gtrot] According to INQ's press materials on the to-be-scheduled release, "Users will be able to swipe back and forth between Facebook and Foursquare home screens, depending on what they are doing, what they are looking for and who they want to connect with." What we have, then, is a lineup of super-socialized INQ handsets that will level the Facebook/Foursquare playing field. Both will compete for user attention on INQ devices' dual home screens. One company may be looking towards one billion users and the other ten million; but in the eyes of the handset maker, the social networks, which battle in the location arena, are equals. Equal except that INQ has chosen Foursquare, not Facebook, to power its phones' location services. Lest we read too much into INQ's decision, we should recall that the phone maker's devices have limited carrier support and are not yet available in the United States. As such, INQ will do little to bolster Foursquare's rung in the social networking hierarchy for the time being. This story originally published on Mashable here. |
| Sony reports another online security breach (AP) Posted: 24 May 2011 09:03 PM PDT TOKYO – Sony has suffered another online security breach, this time for 2,000 customers of its Sony Ericsson joint venture in Canada, the latest in a series of hacker attacks against the electronics and entertainment company. Sony Corp. spokesman Atsuo Omagari said Wednesday that names, e-mail and encrypted passwords may have been stolen from the Sony Ericsson Canada website, but no credit card information was taken. There have been no reports of damage from the security breach, discovered Tuesday, and the server has been shut down, he said. An investigation was under way, and other details were not immediately available. Sony Ericsson is a mobile phone maker that is a joint venture between L.M. Ericsson of Sweden and Sony. More than 100 million online accounts are affected in a suspected hacking of Sony's PlayStation Network gaming service and other online services that began last month, tarnishing the brand behind the Walkman portable music player and Vaio personal computer. On Tuesday, Sony said it found a security breach affecting 8,500 user accounts in a music entertainment website in Greece, involving names, phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Tokyo-based Sony has been battling production delays and sales losses after supplier factories were damaged by the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan. On Monday, it lowered its earnings projection for the fiscal year ended March to a 260 billion yen ($3.2 billion) loss, its third straight year of red ink, largely because of a charge it must take related to damages from the March disaster. It had initially expected to return to profit. Sony is expecting costs related to its online security woes of 14 billion yen ($173 million), covering customer support, freebie packages, legal costs, lower sales and measures to beef up security. Sony's TV business is likely to have stayed in the red for the seventh year straight for the fiscal year ended March. Sony reports earnings Thursday. Sony fell behind rivals in TVs when consumers began switching to flat-panel televisions. Sony stock lost nearly 2 percent in morning trading on the Tokyo stock market to 2,227 yen ($27). |
| Amazon and Barnes & Noble battle for e-book lovers (AFP) Posted: 24 May 2011 07:42 PM PDT NEW YORK (AFP) – Online retail titan Amazon.com and bookselling giant Barnes & Noble dueled Tuesday for the devotion of digital book lovers with bargain-priced versions of their popular electronic readers. Barnes & Noble unveiled a lean new Simple Touch Reader boasting a touch screen, months-long battery life and a price of $139. The Simple Touch Reader featuring a six-inch, black-and-white touch screen was available for order online at nook.com and was to begin shipping on June 10. Within hours of the Nook announcement, Amazon released a version of its Kindle 3G e-reader discounted to $164 with the price subsidized by on-screen ads. Kindle 3G with Special Offers was intended to build on the success of a Wi-Fi only model that has become the hottest-selling Amazon e-reader in the five weeks since it was made available with a $114 price tag. "In response to customer requests, we're now making these money-saving special offers available for Kindle 3G," said Amazon Kindle director Jay Marine. "Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world." Electronic readers with 3G capabilities can download digital content from anywhere a signal is available, the same way smartphones connect to online data, instead of relying on Internet connections at Wi-Fi hot spots. The new Nook and the original Kindle with Special Offers feature Wi-Fi connections to get digital material. "Touch makes it simple to use, and the beautifully compact design makes it the most portable eReader in its class," Barnes & Noble chief executive William Lynch said in a release. "Add to that an unmatched battery life, the most advanced paper-like touch display on the market and wireless access to the world's largest digital bookstore." The Nook and Kindle were tailored for readers and not touted as challenges to tablet computers such as iPads, which are platforms for Web browsing, games, videos and more as well as electronic books. Barnes & Noble claimed to have captured 25 percent of the digital book market since launching the first Nook model about 18 months ago. Simple Touch Reader weighed in at 7.48 ounces (212 grams), lighter than a typical paperback novel, and was described as easy to fit in a jacket pocket or handbag while being able to hold as many as 1,000 digital books. The new Nook's debut came five days after the struggling US bookseller said Liberty Media had presented a cash offer to buy the company for $17 a share, valuing the retailer at around $1 billion. The bid would give the media conglomerate controlled by tycoon John Malone a new business to go with its Starz film channel, QVC shopping network and stakes in the Expedia travel website and other media assets. Barnes & Noble calls itself the world's largest bookseller, with 705 bookstores in 50 states. But the book business has been hammered by a shift to electronic books as well as Internet sales. Borders, the second-largest US bookstore chain, filed for bankruptcy in February, and is still undergoing restructuring. The Seattle, Washington-based Amazon said it was selling 105 Kindle e-books for every 100 print books, hardcover and paperback combined since April 1. The company said it had sold more than three times as many Kindle books so far in 2011 as it did during the same period last year. Amazon began selling print books in July 1995 and introduced the Kindle in November 2007. The US Kindle store offers more than 950,000 books, including 109 of the 111 New York Times best sellers. Amazon does not release sales figures for the Kindle e-reader. |
| Amazon selling cheaper Kindle 3G with ads (AP) Posted: 24 May 2011 04:48 PM PDT SEATTLE – Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. is selling an ad-laden version of its Kindle 3G e-reader, which has wireless service for downloading books. Amazon said late Tuesday that the new Kindle 3G with Special Offers costs $164. It includes on-screen ads and is $25 cheaper than the standard Kindle 3G. Last month, Amazon started selling a Wi-Fi-equipped Kindle with ads for $114 — $25 less than the standard Kindle with Wi-Fi. The announcement came the same day that Barnes & Noble Inc. introduced a cheaper version of its Nook e-reader with a black-and-white touch screen. At $139, the new Nook shows the book seller is trying to compete with Amazon and Borders Group Inc. on e-reader prices. Amazon has consistently lowered the Kindle's price since first releasing it at $399 in 2007. |
| Analysis: Sony Ericsson needs Sony firepower for Android war (Reuters) Posted: 24 May 2011 04:09 PM PDT STOCKHOLM/HELSINKI (Reuters) – Japan's Sony needs to assert control over Sony Ericsson if the handset joint venture is to recoup market share and relevance in the cut-throat world of mobile devices. Last year the 10-year-old venture set itself the ambitious target of capturing the market for Google's Android platform, the world's most popular smartphone software, in order to rake in returns from the fast-growing and profitable market. But to reach its goal, Sony Ericsson needs a dynamic owner with deep pockets and multimedia assets. Its brand is languishing by comparison with Apple Inc, whose iPhones and iPads have wowed gadget-hungry consumers. A full takeover of the venture with Sweden's Ericsson would boost Sony's overall offering, which includes content, gaming devices, consumer electronics and even tablet computers, but is still missing its own smartphones. "Sony has not seemed interested so far in making such a move, but now the full offering story is very, very 'in', and Sony might be looking at Apple and thinking they could come up with a similar offering," Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said. Sony and Ericsson's 50:50 venture -- formed in 2001 -- thrived after its breakthrough with Walkman music phones and Cybershot cameraphones, both of which leveraged Sony's brands. But it lost out to leaner rivals at the cheaper end, and its share of total handset sales dropped to just 3 percent from more than 9 percent at its height. Now, Sony Ericsson is pinning its hopes on a switch in focus to smartphones, the fastest-growing part of the mobile market, and particularly phones powered by Android. It is making some progress and turned a net profit of 90 million euros ($127 million) last year, after a booking a loss of 836 million euros in 2009. JAPANESE COMPLICATIONS In order to snare new customers, Sony Ericsson needs access to Sony's popular content. This includes PlayStation, a music catalog including artists Justin Timberlake and Bob Dylan, and movies and TV shows like popular U.S. comedy "Seinfeld." It has taken steps in that direction already. It recently rolled out the Xperia Play smartphone which gives users access to PlayStation games. But its product was late and expensive and is being undermined by parent Sony, which is rolling out other products in direct competition. Sony recently launched a tablet computer that runs on Android software, as well as an own-brand portable gaming device. It also plans to franchise PlayStation to other phone makers. Nobuo Kurahashi of Mizuo Investors' Securities said it made far more sense for Sony to roll Sony Ericsson into its strategy rather than competing with it. "Having Sony Ericsson phones involved (separately) could make it harder for Sony to achieve its goals," Kurahashi said. "Having ... the whole thing under their control could well make it easier to build their network strategy." But it won't be easy, with Sony distracted by headaches elsewhere. This week, Sony said it would make a $3.2 billion net loss for the fiscal year that ended March 31 due to the effects of March's earthquake in Japan. The company had already been struggling, outmaneuvered by Apple in portable music and Samsung in flat-screen TVs and challenged by Nintendo and Microsoft in the battle for dominance of video game consoles. It also faces a massive undertaking to recover customer trust after hackers accessed client data from its online gaming platform in April. "Given the enormity of Sony's current challenges, a move for Sony Ericsson in the short term seems unlikely," said CCS Insight analyst Geoff Blaber. SILENT SWEDISH PARTNER The impetus may come instead from partner Ericsson, which could push Sony to buy it out if their joint venture continues to fade in relevance. Sony Ericsson finally turned a profit last year, but that may not last, given the odds currently stacked against it. "I think it (Sony Ericsson) is already fairly irrelevant in the market in terms of volumes and even value market share," said WestLB's Thomas Langer. However, Ericsson has no urgent need for the 1 billion to 2.5 billion euros some analysts reckon half of Sony Ericsson's equity is worth, based on its revenues of 6.3 billion euros. Debt would not be an issue, since the venture had net debt of only 5 million euros at the end of March. Meanwhile, Ericsson's own core business is soaring as telecom operators raise spending to boost capacity in networks choked by smartphone customers. It has also made joint ventures part of its targets for the 2010-2013 period, possibly signaling no sale is on the cards. Even if Sony Ericsson does sort out its ownership issues, the going will be tough. The smartphone market is growing fast, with shipments nearly doubling year on year in the first quarter to 100 million handsets, according to IDC's mobile phone tracker report. But competition for a larger slice of the pie is fierce, and Sony Ericsson will not only have to battle deep-pocketed, larger rivals like Samsung Electronics, but also nimbler Asian players such as HTC, China's ZTE and Huawei. Sony Ericsson has 9 percent of the market for smartphones running on Android software, compared with 26 percent for Samsung, according to researcher Strategy Analytics. Eight analysts polled by Reuters all thought Sony Ericsson would likely miss its target of becoming the biggest seller of Android. Some say that makes it all the more important for Sony to take stronger ownership. "Sony needs a mobile presence, and Sony Ericsson needs Sony content and services. This can arguably only be achieved if Sony takes control of the joint venture," said CCS Insight's Blaber. (Additional reporting by Isabel Reynolds in Tokyo; Editing by Sophie Walker and Alexander Smith) |
| Signs That Facebook Is Acting Like a Sovereign Nation (The Atlantic Wire) Posted: 24 May 2011 03:37 PM PDT In Paris, today, French president Nicolas Sarkozy rubbed shoulders with tech industry superstars, including Eric Schmidt and Mark Zuckerberg, for the inaugural eG-8 meeting. The two-day event intends to prime the conversation at the Group of Eight summit set to take place later this week in Normandy. Sarkozy took a hard line in urging governments to better regulate the internet. "Don't let the revolution that you've begun threaten everyone's basic right to a private life and full autonomy," he told the conferences attendees. "Full transparency… sooner or later runs into the very principle of individual freedom." Facebook saw this coming a mile away. Over the past few months, the Palo Alto company has been hiring out a global policy team to act as ambassadors for Facebook's interests abroad. "This is the right investment for us to make because we want to have better relationships with regulators and policymakers across Europe and around the world," Debbie Frost told Silicon Valley's Mercury News. "It's important that we have a presence, so people can have a direct line into Facebook." That presence will span the globe, but the recruiting of directors is assertively focused on Europe and the Middle East. The company wants privacy experts with sterling credentials. "Facebook wants a person comfortable with politicians at the most senior levels of government, who has experience as a media spokesperson, preferably on both radio and TV; and of course, has 'a passionate belief' in Facebook," reports the Mercury News, who are calling the new global team members "diplomats." The strategy makes sense--over 70 percent of Facebook's 600 million users live outside the United States. Part spokesperson, part diplomat, the new role for Facebook highlights how the company is deeply interested in building a rapport with the world's most influential governments. Similarly, some recent hires in the communications department hint at Facebook's intentions to cozy up to media outlets with a new journalist outreach program. Facebook is fast becoming the leading source of traffic for news sites, and it's possible that the social network could require for news organizations to depend on Facebook credits, the social networks burgeoning currency, to purchase content. This model is already in place for Facebook games. Though Facebook denies any intentions of charging for driving traffic, their new journalism program's point person told Fortune that the credit system was "an interesting idea." If this all sounds aggressive, that's because it is. As Facebook continues to deal with Senate investigations into its privacy practices and attempts to undermine competitors with planted stories, it's clear that governments and media around the world could stifle the company's growth with regulations. Any new rules imposed by governments around the world will inevitably hinder Mark Zuckerberg's quest for world domination, but similarly, a media dependent on Facebook cements the social networks relevancy in shaping the public dialogue. Facebook will conform to China's censorship laws and has purportedly censored some communications in the Middle East this spring. So far Facebook has cooperated with government investigations; a privacy suit in Germany is the most recent example. Meanwhile, the company's ethical barometer seems to receive a new challenge weekly. With its own currency, its own cadre of diplomats and a user base larger than all but two of the world's nations, Facebook could be its own country. In fact, evidence points to a stark realization that Facebook is already a virtual nation, riddled with challenges and crowded with citizens. All it needs now is a spaceship to fly them to Earth Number Two.
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| Windows Phone Mango demo: Multitasking (Digital Trends) Posted: 24 May 2011 03:55 PM PDT
In New York earlier today, Microsoft held a VIP preview for its upcoming Windows Phone "Mango" update, which will hit devices this fall. Journalists weren't allowed to touch the phones, but we were given hands-on demos from representatives. This video shows new features like the updated version of Office and multitasking. Another cool feature is that, like Android, if you open a file or Web page that requires a separate app like Flash or Adobe Reader, Windows Phone will make it easy to download that app from the Marketplace. While we must withhold most judgement until we're able to test these features out for ourselves, many of the new WP7 features, like these, seem very natural upgrades to the smartphone operating system and all appear to have a common goal: Simplifying and speeding up common tasks like switching between apps and opening documents. If you'd like to learn more about WP7 Mango, please check out the full recap of today's announcements. We also posted a quick picture gallery of the event and a video demo of more features like contact groups, Bing VisionQuick Cards, indoor maps, and Local Scout–Microsoft's version of Google Places.
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| The role of mobile in LinkedIn, future social media IPOs (Appolicious) Posted: 24 May 2011 03:00 PM PDT |
| Google to unveil mobile payments Thursday: source (Reuters) Posted: 24 May 2011 04:03 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) – Google Inc will take the wraps off a mobile payment system on Thursday that lets consumers pay at checkout with phones instead of cards, a source said, hoping to beat Visa and others to the punch. The Internet search and advertising leader will work with MasterCard Inc, the world's second-largest credit and debit card processing network, to launch the system, the source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Google has teamed with MasterCard and Citigroup Inc to develop the system, the Wall Street Journal reported in March. It has now signed up retail partners Macy's Inc, American Eagle Outfitters Inc and Subway, though it is unclear if the project will be launched nationwide or just in New York initially, the Journal cited sources as saying Tuesday. Google invited reporters to attend a "partner event" on Thursday in New York to demonstrate what it called its "latest innovations." It plans to unveil a mobile payments system that will run on the Android operating system and be available on phones from Sprint Nextel Corp, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday. A source familiar with the matter confirmed Google would launch the program. Citigroup did not respond to requests for comment. Google, Sprint and MasterCard declined comment. About a decade after they were dreamed up by engineers and marketers, mobile wallets are still far from commonplace in the United States, stymied by industry infighting, consumer tastes and regulatory hurdles. That has not stopped banks, phone makers and technology companies -- fearful of being left behind -- from trumpeting the concept. Shoppers abroad, especially in Asia, can already wave cellphones at the check-out counter to pay for everything from groceries to gasoline. ELBOWING TO THE FRONT Now, a growing number of mobile operators, banks, technology companies and card processing networks like Visa Inc and MasterCard are vying to gain a foothold in the still-small but high-potential U.S. mobile payments market. Three of the top U.S. mobile carriers -- AT&T Inc, Verizon Wireless and T-Mobile USA -- are also looking for bank and network partners to launch their Isis mobile payments venture. The companies recently scaled back initial plans to build a new payment processing network that would have competed with dominant industry players Visa and MasterCard. Since last year, Visa has tested pay-by-phone technology with several large U.S. banks, including Bank of America Corp and Wells Fargo & Co. "There's room for more than one competitor," said Google Ventures Managing Partner Bill Maris, speaking about the industry in general. Such services would appeal to consumers if they can help them save money or shorten their time in line at the supermarket check-out, he added. "The experience of buying things will be better, faster, cheaper," he said. Details are sketchy, but the Journal reported Google was unlikely to get a cut of transactions, focusing instead on benefiting by helping retailers target ads and discount offers to Android users close to stores. Currently, credit card companies charge merchants transaction fees. Other players, such as wireless operators AT&T and phone makers from Research In Motion to Apple Inc, are likely to demand a cut of sales. This puts U.S. retailers in the uncomfortable position of possibly surrendering more margins. (Additional reporting by Sinead Carew in New York and Alexei Oreskovic in San Francisco; Writing by Edwin Chan; Editing by Gary Hill and Richard Chang) |
| TiVo results jump thanks to legal settlement (Reuters) Posted: 24 May 2011 01:51 PM PDT NEW YORK (Reuters) – TiVo Inc (TIVO.O), which makes digital video recorders, reported a quarterly profit, reversing a year ago loss, thanks to the blockbuster patent settlement it reached with Dish Network Corp (DISH.O) and EchoStar Corp (SATS.O). TiVo posted a profit of $139 million, or $1.04 a share, compared with a loss of $14.2 million, or 13 cents a share, in the same period a year ago, it said on Tuesday. The stronger results came as revenue fell 25 percent to $45.8 million in its fiscal first quarter and are largely a reflection of a $175.7 million gain from the settlement. The agreement with Dish and EchoStar, both controlled by Charlie Ergen, called for an initial payment to TiVo of $300 million, with another $200 million to be paid in six equal annual installments between 2012 and 2017. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch; editing by Andre Grenon) |
| Federal court demands Samsung give Apple access to upcoming products (Digital Trends) Posted: 24 May 2011 02:20 PM PDT
Samsung lost, and now it appears that it will be required to pony up to Apple for future products. A court document filed May 18 reveals that federal judge Lucy Koh has given the company 30 days to hand over the Galaxy S II, Galaxy Tab 8.9, Galaxy Tab 10.1 (all three of which are unreleased), Infuse 4G, and DROID Charge to Apple so that the Cupertino giant can decide if it wants an early injunction. Koh also said that since Samsung has begun advertising these products, it cannot argue that giving Apple access to them is unacceptable. She also quoted a Samsung executive who earlier this year said, "We will have to improve the parts [of the Galaxy Tab 10.1] that are inadequate. Apple made it [the iPad 2] very thin" as a reason that Apple may be justified in believing its competitor is imitating its own devices. Koh did attempt to stay neutral however. "Although the Court expresses no opinion on the merits of Apple's claims, the Court notes that Apple has produced images of Samsung products and other evidence that provide a reasonable basis for Apple's belief that Samsung's new products are designed to mimic Apple's products. The court document says that this access will give Apple time to "take early action to stop the allegedly infringing activity before Samsung's new products become established in the marketplace." It also says the court agrees that Apple deserves "limited expedited discovery" – something Apple had not requested, but authorities granted. It isn't only the devices themselves that Samsung is being accused of copycatting: The packaging is also being called into question and called "directly relevant to Apple's trademark, trade dress, and design claims" which can create "consumer confusion." But the court doesn't want to appear one-sided, and goes on to acknowledge these actions will seriously aid Apple, and that it understands Samsung's concerns about "the sensitive nature of the information sought." Because of this, the court will not require a Samsung executive to testify, despite Apple's request. It also will not ask Samsung to produce "documents relating to any copying of design elements, or attempts to design around Apple's intellectual property relating to, the iPhone 4, iPad, and iPad 2," calling this request "broad and somewhat vague" on Apple's part. While it's keeping any concrete, insider company information out of Apple's hands, granting the company access to arguably its most able competitor's forthcoming devices is a huge coup for Apple. Suppose that Apple is unable to find any evidence that Samsung has been using its' innovations as a blueprint – which is a big, big "suppose." Given the accusations and evidence Apple has produced thus far, we're certain it will. But if not, the company is being given even the slightest of slight edges over Samsung by getting the first look at its newest technology, although Apple's legal team will be denied access to the devices. It's an interesting complication for the two companies, who have a business relationship: Apple could potentially spend $7.8 billion on components from the manufacturer. This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now |
| Mango Phone 7 Update Enhances User Experience (NewsFactor) Posted: 24 May 2011 02:31 PM PDT Ramping up its effort to break into a smartphone market that seems to be passing it by, Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled the first major update to Windows Phone 7, seven months after the software giant introduced the revamped mobile operating system. Nicknamed Mango, the update will enhance the social-media connectivity of Windows phones, an effort in which Microsoft failed terribly last year when it briefly featured a series of Kin phones centered on quick-share options. In a series of media events around the world Tuesday, Microsoft officials demonstrated enhancements to its live-tiles system allowing dedicated space for updates from groups or individuals as well as localized search for Bing; smart camera operation through Bing Vision that allows scanning of bar codes or searching based on pictures or text; and Music Search, which allows users to hold up their phone to listen to, identify and download songs, as users of Verizon's VCAST can do. Pushing Boundaries In the biggest nod to the social-media addicted, Mango will allow threads to incorporate texts, Windows Live Messenger messages, and Facebook chats into a single conversation. In all, Mango has 500 new features the company says will "push the boundaries of the smartphone experience around communications, apps and the Internet." The timing for updates of existing phones wasn't announced, but a new Phone 7 devices are due this fall from Fujitsu, Acer and ZTE that will ship with Mango, as will upcoming Nokia devices. Finland-based Nokia recently signed a deal estimated to be worth $1 billion to replace its Symbian operating system with Phone 7 on many devices. Currently, Phone 7 is available on a handful of smartphones made by HTC, Samsung, LG and Dell. Microsoft also announced added support for additional languages, and expanded access to Windows Phone Marketplace in 19 new countries. The beta software developer kit for creating Mango apps is also available now. "Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more," said Andy Lees, president of the mobile communications business at Microsoft. "With Mango, Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the Internet, giving you better results with less effort." Still Trailing According to Gartner Research, sales of Phone 7 devices made up 6.8 percent of the global market in the first quarter, almost unchanged from the previous quarter and still trailing Symbian (44.2 percent), Research In Motion's BlackBerry (19.7 percent), Apple's iOS (15.3 percent), and Google's Android (9.6 percent.) Can Mango give Phone 7 a boost? "It's always hard to judge when you have not actually played with the device, but certainly it looks like on paper they are improving the experience in social, Internet and apps -- three core aspects of what users do with smartphones," said Gartner Vice President Carolina Milanesi. "It's good to see that [the] Nokia [deal] has not put off vendors and new licensees were announced today. Not sure this is much about hardware, to be honest. This is about delivering a stronger experience on whatever hardware you have, and having had hardware at the launch might have taken away from what matters, which is the software." But she said what devices use Windows is secondary to making the user experience more sexy as an interface, an area where Android and iOS have excelled. "This is what Mango is trying to address," she said. "Having had this at launch would have made (Phone 7) a stronger proposition from the get-go." |
| Intel's 'Hybrid Cloud' Is a Cloud Server Inside Your Office (PC Magazine) Posted: 24 May 2011 07:31 AM PDT On Tuesday, Intel announced a cloud-based hosted applications service that actually runs on a local, on-premises server to protect data. Formally, Intel's initiative is known as the AppUp Small Business Service, running on the Intel Hybrid Cloud. It's a fancy name for a small server that a small business can keep in its office, with applications that would otherwise be hosted in the cloud as a service, or else running locally on an individual PC. The key, however, is that it allows customers to store their data locally, while taking advantage of some of the pricing cloud-based services offer. "Having their data on premise is absolutely the advantage," for SMBs, said Bridget Karlin, general manager of the Intel Hybrid Cloud. How does it work? Small businesses can't buy the service directly from Intel. Instead, managed service providers will need to register at IntelHybridCloud and then start offering the solutions to their customers. SMBs wll then sign up for a three-year lease with the MSP. The hardware will be installed on site. Users will be able to access the apps as they would from a true off-site cloud, with the pay-per-use pricing. But data will be stored locally, providing additional security for healthcare providers and others concerned about their data being exposed in an offsite cloud. The requests and software transactions will be handled by Intel, via its cloud server manager middleware. Lenovo and white-box OEMs will be manufacturing the first servers, based on a one-socket Xeon design that Intel developed. This summer, Acer and NEC will take part, with two-socket servers added to the mix. The hardware runs the Intel hybrid cloud server manager, on top of which will sit the AppUp small business service catalog, a collection of apps from Microsoft, Intuit, Symantec, Vembu, and others, optimized and priced for small business on a pay-per-use basis. "This is something new, with options that we haven't seen in the marketplace yet," said Boyd Davis, general manager of the Intel Server Group. For a small business, there are two benefits: the security of on-premise data, and the lower cost that pay-per-use software can entail, which will be spread over months of use, rather than a one-time up-front fee. Davis said that Intel encourages customers to buy their own infrastructure and install packaged apps, but that it might not be cheaper over the long haul. He described what Intel is doing - taking packaged apps, and distributing them on a pay-per-use model, "as kind of a unique offering". Users could pay as little as a "few dollars per month," Karlin said, although the total cost will depend on the number of applications and users. Software providers will be able to offer solutions like ERP, security, and backup as a service, Intel executives said. The Intel AppUp Small Business Service features a mix of local and cloud software with an Intel Xeon-based server that comes pre-loaded with tools for remote management, firewall, VoIP/PBX and backup, app vendors added. Applications vendors can apply for approval and appear on the site in about a week's time, Karlin said. |
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