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Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Spreading phone hacking scandal touches UK nerves (AP) : Technet

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Spreading phone hacking scandal touches UK nerves (AP) : Technet

Spreading phone hacking scandal touches UK nerves (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:43 PM PDT

By GREGORY KATZ, Associated Press Gregory Katz, Associated Press – Wed Jul 6, 6:43 pm ET

LONDON – Britain's phone hacking scandal intensified Wednesday as the scope of tabloid intrusion into private voice mails became clearer: Murder victims. Terror victims. Film stars. Sports figures. Politicians. The royal family's entourage.

Almost no one, it seems, was safe from a tabloid determined to beat its rivals, whatever it takes.

The focal point is the News of the World — now facing a spreading advertising boycott — and the top executives of its parent companies: Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, and her boss, media potentate Rupert Murdoch.

In his first comment since the latest details emerged, Murdoch said in a statement Wednesday that Brooks would continue to lead his British newspaper operation despite calls for her resignation.

The scandal, which has already touched the office of Prime Minister David Cameron, widened as the Metropolitan Police confirmed they were investigating evidence from News International that the tabloid made illegal payments to police officers in its quest for information.

The list of potential victims also grew. Revelations emerged Wednesday that the phones of relatives of people killed in the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks on London's transit system, as well as those tied to two more slain schoolgirls, may also have been targeted.

The true extent of the hacking is not yet clear — and may not be known for months as inquiries unfold.

Graham Foulkes, whose 22-year-old son David died in the 2005 terrorist attacks, was told by police that he was on a list of potential hacking victims.

"I just felt stunned and horrified," Foulkes told The Associated Press. "I find it hard to believe someone could be so wicked and so evil, and that someone could work for an organization that even today is trying to defend what they see as normal practices."

Foulkes, who plans to mourn his son on Thursday's sixth anniversary of the attack, said an independent investigation is needed because the police were compromised by accepting payoffs from the tabloid.

"The police are now implicated," he said. "The prime minister must have an independent inquiry and all concerned should be prosecuted."

Foulkes also demanded the resignation of Brooks, the former News of the World editor who is now chief executive of News International, the U.K. newspaper division of Murdoch's News Corp. media empire. News Corp. owns a swath of newspapers, including News of the World, the Sun, and the Wall Street Journal.

"She's gotta go," Foulkes said. "She cannot say, oops, sorry, we've been caught out. Of course she's responsible for the ethos and practices of her department. Her position is untenable."

Brooks, one of the most powerful women in British journalism, maintains she did not know about the phone hacking. She said she will continue to direct the company.

Foulkes also challenged Murdoch — a global media titan with newspaper, television, movie and book publishing interests in the United States, Britain, Australia and elsewhere — to meet with him to discuss the intrusion into his privacy.

"I doubt he's brave enough to face me," he said.

In Parliament, lawmakers held an emergency debate to call for the prosecution of those responsible for hacking into the phone of Milly Dowler, the 13-year-old murder victim whose case touched off the scandal, and others.

The Dowler case touched a raw national nerve because the paper is accused of hampering the police investigation by deleting some of Milly's phone messages, which gave her parents and police false hope that she was still alive after she disappeared in 2002.

Cameron called for inquiries into the News of the World's behavior as well as into the failure of the original police inquiry to uncover the extent of the hacking. Potential victims have cited the tabloid's payoffs to police as the reason the allegations did not surface earlier.

"We are no longer talking here about politicians and celebrities, we are talking about murder victims, potentially terrorist victims, having their phones hacked into," Cameron said.

"It is absolutely disgusting, what has taken place, and I think everyone in this House and indeed this country will be revolted by what they have heard."

British media reported that the parents of two other schoolgirls, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, who were murdered in a sensational 2002 case, had been informed by police that they were investigating whether the News of the World hacked their telephones.

Many Britons were horrified.

"It's heartless and inconsiderate that they'd do it to victims and family of murder victims," said Danny Wright, 25, of Liverpool.

He said it was wrong to hack into celebrities' phones but far worse to target victims' families "because of what they've been through."

Bob Satchwell, executive director of the Society of Editors, said the Dowler case was crucial.

"That's why the case has gotten so big," he said. "If celebrities or politicians have their phones intercepted, that's one thing, but the idea that they were doing this while a little girl was missing and a police inquiry was going on makes it a really gross intrusion."

Satchwell said it has become politically sensitive not only because Cameron's communications chief Andy Coulson was forced to resign because of his earlier stewardship of the tabloid, but because lawmakers opposed to Murdoch's growing media power in Britain want to slow his takeover of other properties.

He said the hacking of Milly's phone was revealed just as government regulators are preparing to decide whether Murdoch can take full control of British Sky Broadcasting.

"You have to ask yourself why that happened right now," he said, cautioning that the public has yet to see clear evidence of illegal phone hacking except for two News of the World employees — reporter Clive Goodman and investigator Glenn Mulcaire — who have already served time in jail.

When police arrested Mulcaire, they seized 11,000 pages of notes, including the phone numbers of many suspected hacking victims. But in most cases the police have not yet made clear who was actually hacked.

Actor Hugh Grant said Wednesday that he had been asked to testify at a police inquiry into the hacking allegations. The actor has often claimed he believes his phone was hacked by News of the World.

The scandal has its roots in the tabloid's efforts to scoop its competitors with news about the royal family. Representatives of the royals complained to police in late 2005 that some of their voice mails had been hacked into.

The police inquiry focused on Goodman and Mulcaire, who were jailed in 2007 for the hacking. Executives said at the time that they were the only employees involved, but that has been undermined by a series of arrests at the newspaper earlier this year and by the company's willingness to settle with other victims.

The tabloid's parent company, News International, has insisted it is working closely with police and has a zero-tolerance policy for any wrongdoing or sketchy tactics.

Virgin Holidays canceled several ads due to run in the Sunday newspaper this week. Car makers Ford UK and Vauxhall and Halifax bank also said they have suspended advertising.

Mumsnet — a popular online community for mothers — removed ads from Murdoch broadcaster Sky after its members complained about the tabloid hacking.

Tuna Amobi, an equities analyst with Standard & Poor's, said in a research note Wednesday that the advertising boycott by some companies was not significant for a company as large as News Corp. But he remained "wary of potential regulatory fallout (if not ultimate derailment)" of its pending deal to take over BSkyB.

Phone-hacking featured prominently on the home pages Wednesday of the Wall Street Journal, another Murdoch publication, and the paper mentioned its ties to the scandal-ridden tabloid in the fifth-to-last paragraph of a lengthy piece. The Journal's article made no mention of Murdoch himself.

Murdoch's other properties — tabloids among them — did not distance themselves from the story — phone-hacking revelations were front and center on the Sun's website and Sky news replaced its featured stories home page box with a "breaking news" banner and multiple hacking-related stories. The Sun noted, however, that rival tabloids "have also been accused of dodgy and illegal activities while pursuing stories."

____

Robert Barr, Danica Kirka, Meera Selva, David Stringer and Cassandra Vinograd contributed to this report.

End near for endless data use on smartphones (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:14 PM PDT

By RACHEL METZ, AP Technology Writer Rachel Metz, Ap Technology Writer – Wed Jul 6, 6:14 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – When Verizon Wireless kills off its unlimited data plan for new smartphone customers on Thursday, it will mark another blow for endless Web surfing and video streaming.

The move by the nation's largest wireless carrier has long been anticipated. More people are switching to smartphones and using an increasing amount of data for all manner of wireless activities. The shift could help wireless carriers ensure that they can handle the traffic flowing over the new higher-speed "4G," or fourth-generation, data networks they're rolling out.

AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, the second- and fourth-largest U.S. carriers, respectively, have already set limits on monthly data usage. AT&T uses tiered data plans like the one Verizon is rolling out, while T-Mobile slows data speeds for unlimited data plan customers who use up their monthly allotment. Sprint Nextel Corp., the country's third-largest carrier, still offers an unlimited plan.

The death of unlimited wireless data is happening as service providers see an explosion in data usage, due mainly to an ever-growing number of smartphone users. According to market researcher comScore Inc., 77 million people in the U.S. had smartphones in the first three months of the year — up 11 percent from a year earlier. And according to a Nielsen study, smartphone users' average data growth climbed 89 percent to 435 megabytes in the same time frame.

Simply put, there's more profit to be made with capped data plans. Steve Clement, a Pacific Crest Securities analyst, said this growth just won't work with a fixed-pricing model over time, so to make money from the surging traffic the carriers have to try something else.

By moving away from unlimited plans, the carriers can profit more from the heaviest data users. And, as RBC analyst Jonathan Atkin pointed out, by offering low-level data packages — such as the 200 megabyte plans that T-Mobile and AT&T offer — they can bring in more smartphone users.

Part of the move to capped data is to get consumers accustomed to the idea that data isn't a limitless resource. If carriers didn't move to usage-based data plans while rolling out newer speedy data networks, the networks would get abused, Zachary Investment Research analyst Patrick Comack said. And while the pricing of Verizon's network is higher than AT&T's, its service is speedier, so it can charge a premium for now.

Verizon Wireless' current unlimited plan costs existing users $30 per month. With the new plans, smartphone users will choose between paying $30 for 2 gigabytes, $50 for 5 gigabytes or $80 for 10 gigabytes of monthly data usage. Customers who use more than their allotment will be charged $10 more for each additional gigabyte.

AT&T, meanwhile, charges $25 per month for 2 gigabytes of data and $45 for 4 gigabytes. The over-allotment fee is the same.

Verizon and AT&T say much of the move away from unlimited data plans has to do with making users pay for the data they really use.

"If you drive a car, you drive 50 miles, you pay for gas for 50 miles," Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said.

AT&T Inc. spokesman Mark Siegel said customers told the company that they wanted a choice instead of just having one unlimited plan for $30.

How are customers likely to react to the new plans? It depends.

Current Verizon smartphone users will not be affected, regardless of whether or not they have a long-term contract with the company.

And given that 95 percent of the company's current smartphone users use less than 2 gigabytes per month, chances are that most of the newcomers — which includes new customers and existing ones trading up to a smartphone — won't be affected by the change.

At AT&T Inc. the picture is similar: Siegel said 98 percent of smartphone customers use less than 2 gigabytes in a month.

Neil Strother, an analyst at ABI Research, believes caps on data usage will make things more confusing for consumers. Carriers will have to be increasingly transparent about what data caps mean and help them keep tabs on how much data they use. The carriers do offer online data calculators and alerts that customers can use to learn about how they use data.

"I think the issue for most people is they just don't want to have that surprise bill," Strother said.

The most recent changes don't mean that data plans will always look this way, though. Some analysts suggest that carriers might eventually offer different speed tiers, perhaps charging more to always use a 4G network, or having customers start off using their 4G network and then switching to the slower 3G network after hitting a monthly data-usage allotment. T-Mobile's existing unlimited data plan flirts with this idea already.

Strother expects to see some experimentation, saying the carriers will likely try different pricing models in order to keep themselves and consumers happy.

"Frankly no carrier wants a block of their customers to say, `I don't like this, I'm moving to the other guy.' They want to keep you," Strother said.

Voicemail spying shows phone network weak spots (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 02:38 PM PDT

By JORDAN ROBERTSON and RAPHAEL G. SATTER, Associated Press Jordan Robertson And Raphael G. Satter, Associated Press – Wed Jul 6, 5:38 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO – The voicemail tampering scandal engulfing Rupert Murdoch's News of the World tabloid demonstrates not only the vulnerability of phone networks, but also the fallibility of the people who help maintain them.

The British tabloid is accused of breaking into voicemail accounts of various celebrities and dignitaries _and even crime victims and their families_ in a relentless hunt for scoops.

Those accused of hacking on behalf of Murdoch's publication were alleged to have employed a variety of ruses. Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator at the center of the phone hacking scandal, once targeted members of Britain's royal household by duping phone operators into handing over their personal codes. Those PIN codes in turn allowed him and tabloid journalist Clive Goodman to listen in on the royal family's voicemails.

Many of the methods that phone hackers use are surprisingly low-tech.

"Pretexting" is a common technique for fooling company representatives into giving up a customer's private account information. A pretexting scheme works like this: A hacker calls up the telephone company pretending to be his victim. An agent asks for personal information, such as mother's maiden name or a pass code, to determine the person's identity. The customer service rep then surrenders call logs or passwords if the information is convincing enough.

Perhaps the most famous example of pretexting emerged in 2006 when it was revealed that Hewlett-Packard Co. was spying on journalists and its own board members by hiring private investigators to retrieve their phone logs. The practice was already illegal in the U.S., but was common in the world of private investigations because prosecutions were rare. After the HP debacle, new federal legislation clarified the penalties. Anyone found guilty of pretexting in the U.S. could face up to 10 years in prison.

Knowing bits of key information _such as a Social Security number, names of family members on the accounts — can help a hacker establish credibility in pretexting attacks. Having access to the target's e-mail account can be valuable as well.

In other cases in Britain, all journalists had to do was dial directly into victims' phones and enter a default or easy-to-remember password, such as "1111," to gain access to their voicemails.

The News of the World fiasco has led to prison terms for an investigator and a former reporter for the tabloid, caused several major companies to pull advertising. It is complicating Murdoch's attempt at a multibillion-pound (dollar) takeover of British Sky Broadcasting, which some in government now insist should be blocked because of the hacking incident.

Authorities say tabloid staffers may have interfered with police investigations by hacking into the cellphone of a 13-year-old girl who was eventually found murdered. The staffers are also being investigated on allegations of tampering with phones of victims of the July 7, 2005, terrorist attacks in London, which killed 52 people.

Just as many people are surprised by how easy it is to hack into someone's Internet e-mail account — the "forgot my password" feature is reviled by many security professionals_ it may be surprising as well that phone accounts aren't much safer.

Unlike an ATM withdrawal that requires a bank card and a PIN code, voicemail typically only requires a PIN code.

Today, we simply store too much information and don't take enough advantage of technologies such as voice recognition, for instance, that could better secure voicemail, said Mark Rasch, director of cybersecurity and privacy consulting for Computer Sciences Corp.

"The four-digit PIN will someday die, but I can't tell you when," Rasch said. "Businesses still like it, and people like it because it's easy and easy to remember. But it's only easy and easy to remember if you use the same PIN for everything — and once you do that, if you've compromised it one place, you've compromised everywhere."

If all else fails, hackers can sometimes purchase phone information. Britain's Guardian newspaper has reported allegations that other investigators paid bribes to obtain information from Britain's police database, the drivers' licensing agency, and cell phone companies.

The phone numbers and passwords were obtained in industrial quantities. Last year Scotland Yard said that some 4,000 names, 3,000 cell phone numbers and nearly 100 passwords had been found in Mulcaire's notes when he was arrested.

___

Raphael G. Satter reported from London.

How to use Facebook’s new group chat feature (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:11 PM PDT

How to use Facebook video chat (Yahoo! News)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:01 PM PDT

HOW TO: Get Your Own Google+ Vanity URL (Mashable)

Posted: 05 Jul 2011 07:12 PM PDT

Ben Parr Ben Parr – Tue Jul 5, 10:12 pm ET

Already using Google+? Follow Mashable News for the latest about the platform's new features, tips and tricks as well as our top social media and technology updates.

[More from Mashable: BlackBerry's Blues Continue as Platform Falls to Third Place]

Unlike Facebook and Twitter, Google+ doesn't offer vanity URLs for user profiles, making it more difficult to share your Google+ Profile with your friends. Instead, Google uses a long string of numbers to denote users (e.g. 117691391504351341685).

[More from Mashable: EXCLUSIVE: Google To Retire Blogger & Picasa Brands in Google+ Push]

The reason Google+ doesn't use vanity URLs is because those could lead to spammers figuring out the email addresses of millions of Google+ users (since many Google Accounts are linked to Gmail accounts).

Of course, this leads to a problem: you don't want to be telling people to type in a long string of numbers to find your Google+ Profile. That's where Gplus.to comes in. This simple little app lets you create a short URL for your Google+ page, making it easy to share with your friends. Mine, for example, is Gplus.to/benparr, which is much easier to remember than a random strong of numbers.

Gplus.to fills a gap that Google+ doesn't currently address. Should Google give users the ability to create vanity URLs, or is it too much of a privacy concern because of its connection to Gmail? Feel free to let us know in the comments.

This story originally published on Mashable here.

Facebook launches video chat with Skype (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:08 PM PDT

By Alexei Oreskovic Alexei Oreskovic – Wed Jul 6, 9:08 pm ET

PALO ALTO, California (Reuters) – Facebook will add Skype video chat to its pages, aiming to spice up the appeal of the world's No. 1 Internet social networking service while fending off increased competition from Google.

The agreement, announced by Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg at the company's Palo Alto, California, headquarters on Wednesday, deepens the company's cooperation with Microsoft Corp, which is in the process of buying Skype to build up its web presence.

Zuckerberg said Facebook has hit a record 750 million users. The new service, rolling out from Wednesday, could be a huge boost for Skype, which currently has about 145 million regular users.

The partnership comes as competition heats up in the Internet market, with Facebook and Google, as well as fast-growing companies such as Groupon and Twitter, vying for billions of dollars in online advertising revenue.

By incorporating free video chat directly into its service, Facebook will give its members another reason to use the site more often and for longer periods of time, said Gartner analyst Ray Valdes.

"They need to continue to keep their users engaged and coming back everyday," he said of Facebook.

Facebook's Skype service, initially limited to one-to-one video chat, will be free. Financial details of the deal, if any, were not disclosed.

Tony Bates, Skype's chief executive, said Wednesday's deal with Facebook is only the start of a potentially lucrative partnership.

"For us, this makes a lot of business sense," said Bates at the Palo Alto event. "We get huge reach. In the future we're talking about potentially also having Skype paid products available within the web format we saw here today."

In a phone interview later on Wednesday, Neil Stevens, the general manager of Skype's consumer business, said the company was planning on introducing a for-pay service that would allow users on Facebook to place calls to landline and mobile phones.

Stevens said he could not provide a timeframe for when such a service might be available, and said details about whether the service would work with Facebook's so-called Credits currency had yet to be worked out.

HITTING BACK AT GOOGLE

Facebook, which also unveiled a group messaging function, adding to its existing one-to-one text chat, is returning fire from Google, which last week turned up the competitive heat by introducing a social networking service dubbed Google+.

While many of Google+'s social networking features are similar to those already available on Facebook, Google is generating interest with its videoconferencing function, which allows up to 10 people on the service to participate in a video call.

Zuckerberg hinted that video chat for multiple people could eventually be available on Facebook. But he said that most video chats today occur between two people.

"We think this is awesome because we're using the best technology that's out there for doing video chat with the best social infrastructure that's out there to create some really cool new scenarios," said Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg said Wednesday's announcements were the first of several to come in what he described as "launching season 2011."

Facebook's new video offering could benefit Microsoft, which owns 1.6 percent of Facebook and announced its $8.5 billion purchase of Skype in May.

The world's largest software company is investing heavily to muscle in on Google's turf with its Bing search engine, and is hoping Skype -- which it is buying for about 10 times its annual sales -- will help it broaden its portfolio of Web-based properties.

"Clearly you will see more usage (of Skype)," said Sid Parakh, analyst, at McAdams Wright Ragen. "It makes Skype stickier in the consumer mind. That will help Microsoft as it starts to integrate Skype into its products."

Skype, which was founded in 2003, allows people to make Internet phone calls and video calls at no charge and has also developed premium services. (For details on the service, click on [ID:nN1E7650VG])

Microsoft shares rose 0.9 percent to $26.26 on Nasdaq, while Google's rose 0.87 percent to $536.64.

(Reporting by Alexei Oreskovic, writing by Bill Rigby, editing by Gerald E. McCormick and Lisa Shumaker)

Judge rejects Apple bid for injunction against Amazon (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 05:30 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 6, 8:30 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – A U.S. judge denied Apple Inc's attempt to quickly stop online retailer Amazon.com Inc from using the "App Store" name, according to a court document.

Apple, the maker of best-selling iPhones and iPad tablets, filed a trademark lawsuit saying that Amazon has improperly used Apple's App Store name to solicit software developers throughout the United States.

Apple also asked a federal judge in Oakland, Calif. for a preliminary injunction to stop Amazon from using the name, which Apple says is trademark protected. However, Amazon argued that the term is generic and therefore not protectable.

U.S. District Judge Phyllis Hamilton did not agree that the term is purely generic, according to an order released on Wednesday. However Apple has not established "a likelihood of confusion" with Amazon's services to get an injunction, Hamilton wrote.

On Wednesday Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet referred to the company's prior statements, which said Apple asked Amazon not to copy the App Store name because it will "confuse and mislead customers."

An Amazon representative could not immediately be reached for comment.

In an earlier ruling on Wednesday, Hamilton set a trial date for October 2012.

The case in U.S. District Court, Northern District of California is Apple Inc v. Amazon.com Inc, 11-1327.

(Reporting by Dan Levine; editing by Carol Bishopric)

Facebook introduces Skype video chat (AFP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 07:49 PM PDT

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – 1 hr 40 mins ago

PALO ALTO, California (AFP) – Facebook added Skype video calling in the face of a direct challenge from powerhouse rival Google in the social networking arena.

"We think this is awesome because we're using the best technology that's out there for doing video chat with the best social infrastructure that's out there," said Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg.

The new Skype feature comes with improved group text chat which allows for multi-person conversations and a camera icon that can be clicked on for instant one-on-one video calls with friends.

Speaking to reporters at Facebook headquarters in Palo Alto, Zuckerberg said he "wouldn't rule out" group video calls at Facebook in the future but that the "vast majority" of video conversations are one-on-one.

Google+, which the Internet search giant launched last week, includes a group video calling feature called "Hangouts" which has proved popular among early users.

Zuckerberg said plans to add Skype to Facebook began before Microsoft announced in May that it was buying the Internet voice and video leader for $8.5 billion dollars.

He portrayed online social networking as being at a point where its momentum is unstoppable and said Facebook's focus is now on fun or functional software applications that can be built on its platform.

"There is this clear arc where the world generally believes (social networking) is going to be everywhere," Zuckerberg said. "In a matter of time it will be billions, whether it is us or somebody else doing it."

As ranks of social network users grow, the number of updates, pictures, videos and other content shared is rocketing, according to Zuckerberg.

"We have 750 million users now and it is still growing quickly," he said. "But the thing growing faster is the amount of sharing per user."

The amount of content shared at Facebook has soared to four billion things daily.

Along with building its own programs to enhance the social network, Facebook will work with entrepreneurs and partners such as Skype.

"It is really gratifying to see this product on the leading social network out there," said Skype chief executive Tony Bates. "There is no greater place to get to the Web than inside Facebook.

"This makes a lot of business sense as well," Bates continued. "We want to be as ubiquitous as possible and great things will happen from there."

Forrester Research analyst Sean Corcoran said the partnership with Skype "is another step for Facebook to solidify its position as a central platform for people to connect and communicate.

"It will also accelerate the use of a next generation form of communication in video chat by introducing it to hundreds of millions of people," Corcoran said.

Skype is added to Facebook with easily installed Web browser "plug-in" software and no financial deal was struck between the companies, Zuckerberg said.

Bates said that he and Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer visited Zuckerberg after announcing the acquisition plans at a press event in San Francisco.

"We have a really good relationship with Microsoft," Zuckerberg said.

The Skype-Facebook alliance, and deepening Facebook ties with Microsoft, came as Google mounts its own social networking challenge.

Google dominates Internet search but the Mountain View, California, company has failed to make inroads on the social networking front.

Google+ is being seen as its most serious effort yet.

Besides group video calling, Google+ lets users separate online friends and family into different "Circles," or networks, and to share information only with members of a particular circle.

One of the criticisms of Facebook is that updates are shared with all of one's friends unless a user has gone through a relatively complicated process to create separate Facebook Groups.

Google and Facebook wage a fierce battle over online advertising dollars and both companies are seeking to become the chief gateway to the Internet.

"I'm not going to say a lot about Google+" Zuckerberg said while fielding questions. "All of us have spent a little time on the service."

He viewed the emphasis that Google and other firms are putting on expanding social components as validation that Facebook is on the right track.

OmniVision (Investor's Business Daily)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:06 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 6, 6:06 pm ET

OmniVision (NASDAQ:OVTI - News) , a maker of image sensors for camera phones, may have missed a deadline to supply Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL - News) iPhone, FBR Capital Markets said. OmniVision was once seen capturing as much as 90% of production for certain iPhone camera components, but it could now lose market share to Sony, FBR said. OmniVision fell 3.6% to 33.41.

Facebook launches video calls, group chat features (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 07:02 PM PDT

By BARBARA ORTUTAY, AP Technology Writer Barbara Ortutay, Ap Technology Writer – 2 hrs 27 mins ago

NEW YORK – Quick on the heels of Google's launch of its latest social-networking venture, Facebook said Wednesday that its 750 million users will now be able to make video calls on the site.

The feature will be powered by the Internet phone service Skype. Facebook also redesigned its chat feature, so that the people a user messages the most often show up first.

To make video calls, Facebook users with webcam-equipped computers have to select the friends they want to chat with. In the chat window that pops up, clicking on a small blue video icon brings up the video chat feature. Currently there is no option to video chat more than one person. That feature is available on Google Plus, a social service that Google began testing last week with a small number of invited users.

Facebook is also adding a group chat option. This works much the same way as the group chat on Google Plus. Once you are chatting with one friend, you can click an icon to add more people to the conversation.

Facebook's new products come after a relatively quiet period for the world's largest online social network. Zuckerberg, 27, said the company is embarking on "launching season 2011." Users can expect "a lot of stuff coming out" from Facebook in the next couple of weeks and months, he said at an event at the company's Palo Alto, Calif., headquarters.

Facebook updated its user count — to 750 million users worldwide — for the first time since last summer, when it reached half a billion people. Zuckerberg said that's because "we don't think it's a metric to watch anymore."

Rather, Facebook is paying more attention to how much its users are sharing with one another. That number is growing at a much faster rate than its monthly user base. Currently, people share 4 billion items, such as photos, status updates and links, every day using Facebook.

Without mentioning Google by name, Zuckerberg said that "independent entrepreneurs and companies focused on one particular thing will always do better than companies that try to do everything."

For Facebook, that one thing has been creating an online social infrastructure that other companies, such as Skype, can then add their own products to.

Skype has agreed to be bought by Microsoft Corp. for $8.5 billion in a deal expected to close by the end of the year. Microsoft owns a small stake in Facebook.

Facebook with Skype vs. Google+ Hangout: Hands-on comparison (Digital Trends)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 06:49 PM PDT

Andrew Couts Andrew Couts – 2 hrs 40 mins ago

facebook-video-chat-google-plus-hangout

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced today the launch of built-in, Skype-powered video chat for the social network, which is currently being rolled out to Facebook's 750 million users. Not surprisingly, it took roughly 0.4 milliseconds before people began comparing Facebook's fresh new feature to Google's Hangout group video chat, which is a big part of the newly unveiled Google+ social network. We recently put all of the various functions shared between the two social networks in a head-to-head comparison. Here, we take a more detailed look at the new Facebook Skype video chat, and how it stacks up against Hangouts in Plus.

Facebook Skype video calling

The Facebook Skype feature is integrated directly into Facebook's chat functionality. Users can launch video calling by visiting facebook.com/videocalling. It is also accessible by opening a chat window with a friend, and clicking the camera icon at the top of the window, or by visiting a friend's profile page, and clicking the new "call" button, which is located in the top right, between the "message" and "poke" buttons. (This addition was not yet available on all profiles at the time of this writing.)

Once launched, you will have to download an application to run video chat. From our tests, the app downloaded quickly, and we were able to launch our first chat in a little less than one minute. Our test subject, who admitted to being less than savvy with technology, said she found the download and start-up process easy and straightforward.

Facebook-Skype-launch-page

We did experience a few glitches in the initial tests, however; specifically the person we called not being able to see us on webcam, with an error message saying that our camera wasn't installed (it most certainly was). After another couple of tries, the problem apparently fixed itself, and we were off and chatting.

The chat opens in a pop-up window, and has a similar design to Apple's FaceTime, with no border, and controls that appear when you mouse-over the screen. Functionality-wise, the Facebook video call worked just like any other video call. And anyone who uses Skype or video calls with GTalk will find no surprises in how the system operates.

Facebook-Skype-call

The quality of the video call was fairly standard, though with lower quality than the video call feature in GTalk. We did experience a few lags in the video, but it didn't last.

So basically, Facebook Skype is more or less identical to stand-alone Skype, except it's in Facebook — which is actually a vast improvement, since it means not having to manage a separate contact list in Skype.

Facebook Skype also includes a number of other key features aside from the standard video calling: If the friend you try to call isn't available, you can leave a video message for them when they return — an impressive feature. A notification window will also tell you when you've missed a call.

Google+ Hangout

It should first be noted that, unlike Facebook's one-on-one video calling feature, Hangout in Google+ allows for group video chats. So the two features are actually entirely different creatures. Another necessary fact that must be pointed out is that Google+ has only been live for one week, and is still in invite-only testing mode.

Google-Hangout-launch

Because Hangouts are meant for groups of up to 10 people, launching a video chatroom — which is what a Hangout is — is much more casual and passive than Facebook video chat, which is more like a regular telephone call between two people who have a particular reason for communicating.

To start a Hangout, you simply click the green "Start a hangout" button that appears on the right side of the Google+ homescreen. Like Facebook Skype, Hangouts launches in a separate window from the rest of the browser. It also requires a plug-in download, which is the same as the plug-in needed for GTalk video calls, so if you've already done that, you don't need any other additional software.

Google-Hangout chat

Once in a Hangout, users appear in a row at the bottom of the window. Whoever is talking at a particular moment is automatically placed in the large center display. In addition to standard video chatting (with multiple people), Hangout members can also play YouTube videos in-screen and watch them together — a massively cool feature. Text chatting is also an option, and those in the chat can invite more users directly from the Hangout window.

Conclusion

Both Facebook Skype video calling and Google+ Hangouts are high-quality features — but they are entirely different creatures. In fact, it's almost unfair to compare the two at all. Facebook's service is great for one-on-one chats — as good or better than using a dedicated Skype app. Meanwhile, Hangouts make for exceptionally fun group chats.

A better comparison, in terms of functionality, would be Facebook video calls and GTalk video calls, both of which do more or less do the same thing. (GTalk is also a feature in Google+.) But since each of these features are now primary components of what appears to be the top two contenders in the world of social networks — features that will play a role in how each services survives in the lion pit of public opinion — reviewing the ins and outs of each feature is a necessary evil. Besides, Facebook is likely already hard at work on a group video chat feature. And that's when the competition will really heat up.

Find what you’re looking for with these great Android search apps (Appolicious)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 01:30 PM PDT

Summary Box: End near for endless smartphone data (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 05:17 PM PDT

The Associated Press The Associated Press – Wed Jul 6, 8:17 pm ET

UNLIMITED ELIMINATED: On Thursday, Verizon Wireless will become the latest wireless carrier to eliminate its unlimited data plan for new smartphone users, switching to plans that give customers 2 gigabytes to 10 gigabytes of data usage per month.

THE REASONS: More people are switching to smartphones and using more data. Moving away from unlimited plans could help the wireless carriers ensure they handle the traffic on their new 4G networks and get customers to pay for what they use.

FOR CUSTOMERS: The new plans will apply to new smartphone customers and current customers who trade up to a smartphone. They won't affect current smartphone customers.

US music sales rise for first time since 2004 (AP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 04:45 PM PDT

– Wed Jul 6, 7:45 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – U.S. music album sales grew in the first six months of the year from a year ago, the first gain since 2004, thanks to rising sales of digital tracks and albums.

Tracking firm Nielsen SoundScan said Wednesday that overall album sales rose nearly 4 percent to 221.5 million units, from 213.6 million a year ago.

The figure includes compact discs and digital albums. Nielsen also counts 10 tracks sold individually as one album.

The top-selling album was Adele's "21," with 2.5 million albums sold, while Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" came second with 1.5 million albums, thanks largely to a promotion on Amazon.com that sold her album for a heavily discounted 99 cents.

Apple fires back in patent war with Samsung (AFP)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 05:34 PM PDT

by Glenn Chapman Glenn Chapman – Wed Jul 6, 8:34 pm ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) – Apple escalated its legal fight with Samsung by asking the US International Trade Commission (USITC) to block imports of some of the South Korean firm's smartphones and tablet computers.

In a filing Tuesday, Apple asked the USITC to look into its complaint that Samsung is infringing on the California-based company's patents in "electronic digital media devices" including its Galaxy lines of smartphones and tablets.

"Samsung has followed each of Apple's groundbreaking products with imitation products that incorporate Apple's technology and distinctive design," Apple counsel Alexander Hadjis said in the USITC complaint.

Apple contended that the South Korean electronics giant was using its patented technology in components such as touchpads, software and audio interfaces.

Hadjis branded Samsung "one of the principal infringers" of Apple intellectual property.

Apple patents at issue ranged from headphone technology to "ornamental design features."

Apple asked the independent, quasi-judicial federal agency to stop offending Samsung devices from being imported into the United States for sale.

Samsung could not be reached immediately for a response Wednesday.

Last week, Samsung asked the US ITC to ban the import of Apple products into the United States, expanding a patent war with the US mobile gadgets star.

The ITC has been urged to stop Apple shipping its popular iPods, iPhones and iPads into the US market from where they are manufactured, a Samsung spokesman said.

It accuses Apple of breaching patents related to wireless communications standards and mobile device user interface.

"The complaint requests relief in the form of a permanent exclusion order prohibiting entry to the United States of all Apple products in violation of these patents," Samsung said in a statement.

"Samsung will continue to actively defend our intellectual property."

The latest action ramped-up the wrangling between the world's two fastest growing smartphone makers.

The tussle began when Apple filed suit against Samsung in April in San Francisco, accusing the Korean firm of copying its smartphones and tablet computers.

Samsung responded later that month with a lawsuit in Seoul alleging five patent infringements by Apple. It filed separate actions in Tokyo, citing two patent infringements, and in the German city of Mannheim citing three.

Last month Apple lodged a second lawsuit against Samsung with a district court in Seoul, asking for a sales ban on Samsung's latest products. It accused them of copying the iPhone and iPad.

Samsung's Galaxy Tab has been a huge-selling rival to the iPad, which has dominated the growing market for the touchscreen devices.

Despite their prickly competition in finished products, the two firms have a close business relationship.

Apple was Samsung's second-largest client in 2010 after Japan's Sony, accounting for four percent of the South Korean firm's 155 trillion won ($142 billion) annual revenue.

Hackers expose flaw in Apple iPad, iPhone software (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 03:28 PM PDT

By Jim Finkle Jim Finkle – Wed Jul 6, 6:28 pm ET

BOSTON (Reuters) – Hackers have disclosed a bug in software from Apple Inc that security experts said could be exploited by criminals looking to gain remote control over iPhones, iPads and iPod Touch devices.

The security flaw in Apple's iOS operating system came to light on Wednesday as the website www.jailbreakme.com released code that Apple customers can use to modify the iOS operating system through a process known as "jail breaking."

Some Apple customers choose to jail break their devices so they can download and run applications that are not approved by Apple or use iPhone phones on networks of carriers that are not approved by Apple.

Security experts warned that criminal hackers could download that code, reverse engineer it to identify a hole in iOS security and build a piece of malicious software within a few days.

"If you are a malicious attacker, it is fairly doable," said Patrik Runald, a senior researcher with the Internet security firm Websense.

Apple has yet to release an update to iOS that protects customers against malicious software that exploits the flaw.

Apple spokeswoman Trudy Muller said the company was aware of the problem.

"We are developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update," Muller said.

Apple has long been vocal against jail breaking, which if done voids the warranty on its devices.

Any security flaw in iOS software -- which runs Apple's iPhone, iPad tablet and iPod Touch -- has the potential to affect millions of devices that are at the core of Apple's business.

Apple has sold 25 million iPads since it launched last year. The company sold over 18 million of its popular iPhones in just the first three months of the year.

Hackers can exploit the iOS vulnerability by creating a malicious PDF document file. It would infect Apple devices when users attempt to open that document, according to Runald.

Once the device is infected, hackers could "do anything they want," Runald said. That includes stealing passwords, documents and emails.

Comex, a 19-year-old hacker from New York State who developed the jail-breaking tool, said that Apple might be able to patch the software before criminal hackers develop software that exploits the bug.

Last time he put out a version of his jailbreaking software, Apple was able to issue a patch before anybody exploited the bug for malicious purposes.

He said that Apple might not be able to move quickly enough this time.

"It's not that hard to reverse engineer," he said via telephone.

(Reporting by Jim Finkle, additional reporting by Poornima Gupta; Editing by Bernard Orr)

Accused hacker indicted over AT&T-iPad breach (Reuters)

Posted: 06 Jul 2011 12:39 PM PDT

By Jonathan Stempel Jonathan Stempel – Wed Jul 6, 3:39 pm ET

NEW YORK (Reuters) – A man accused of hacking into AT&T Inc servers and stealing personal data belonging to 120,000 Apple Inc iPad users was indicted on Wednesday, two weeks after a co-defendant pleaded guilty.

Andrew Auernheimer was charged by a Newark, New Jersey grand jury with one count of conspiracy to gain unauthorized access to computers and one count of identity theft, the office of U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman in New Jersey said.

The indictment follows co-defendant Daniel Spitler's guilty plea on June 23 to the same charges. Spitler could face a 12- to 18-month prison term at his sentencing, which is scheduled for September 28.

Auernheimer is a resident of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and has been free on bail. The federal public defender's office in Newark, which represents him, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Prosecutors in January accused Auernheimer and Spitler of using an "account slurper" to conduct a "brute force" attack over five days last June to extract data about iPad users who used the Internet through AT&T's network.

Both were affiliated with Goatse Security, a group of "self-professed Internet 'trolls'" who try to disrupt online content and services, prosecutors said.

The indictment details conversations in which Auernheimer is said to be discussing the hacking.

"If we get 1 reporters address with this somehow we instantly have a story," it said he wrote to Spitler on June 6, 2010. "HI I STOLE YOUR EMAIL FROM AT&&T WANT TO KNOW HOW?"

The next day, upon learning from Spitler that data on more than 100,000 accounts had been accessed, Auernheimer said "the more email addresses we get ... the more of a freakout we can cause," according to the indictment.

AT&T is a partner of Apple in the United States to provide wireless service on the iPad. After the hacking, it shut off the feature that allowed email addresses to be obtained.

The case is U.S. v. Spitler, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, No. 11-mj-04022.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)
at 9:54 PM

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