Last.fm is investigating a leak of their user passwords, and is warning members to change their passwords just in case. "This follows recent password leaks on other sites, as well as information posted online," the Last.fm team wrote on their blog, possibly hinting that the yesterday's LinkedIn password breach may be linked to their security snag. As added advice, the Last.fm team wrote: "We strongly recommend that your new Last.fm password is different to the password you use on other services." The company is using their Twitter account as a key channel for updates, along with forums.
Google's Verification Service "Trusted Stores" Now Open To Online Shopping Sites
Google has opened up Trusted Stores, a verification system, for all online shopping sites and their patrons. When online merchants apply, Google places them under a month of observation. Stores that pass muster get a badge from Google--a report card of sorts, to say that Google considers the store is one that's "trustworthy, ship quickly and reliably, and offer exceptional customer service." The Trusted Store badges appear on the store's website and Google ads. Customers who make a purchase at the store are offered a free $1,000 purchase protection package from Google. The service is free for stores who apply.
Virgin Mobile Announces Pre-Paid Plans For iPhones In The U.S.
Virgin Mobile confirmed its pre-paid plans for the iPhone today, giving iPhone buyers in the U.S. a second pre-paid carrier to choose from after Leap's Cricket Wireless. Phones will go on sale starting June 29. If you can stomach the full price of the iPhone, Virgin Mobile's prepaid plans start as low $30 a month. Virgin is offering 2.5 GB of data, unlimited texting, and, at the lower end of the scale, 300 minutes of talktime.
Spunky iOS Drives 2 Percent Of Google's, 76 Percent Of Apple's Revenue
Apple's iOS is behind a whole 2 percent of competitor Google's total revenue, an analyst has told AppleInsider. He bases it on an estimate that 40 percent of Google's $1.6 billion, in mobile profits, i.e. about $640 million, comes from iOS. iOS isn't doing too badly for Apple--at the iPad event in March, Tim Cook revealed that the 172 million mobile Apple devices that ran iOS made up 76 percent of Apple's total revenue ($39.2 billion in the second quarter of 2012). Google's Android plays decently for other teams too--Microsoft is estimated to earn $444 million every year from patent licenses on Android software, because of a deal the company struck with HTC. Of course, earnings like these could get skewed in the coming months as relationships between companies get more complicated. After all, isn't everyone in tech is suing everyone else?
Discovery, Recommendations At The Heart Of Foursquare's New App
The "Check in" button that sat front and center of foursquare's app now reads: "Explore." This just about sums up the company's new take on location and data. The new app, redesigned from the scratch, is helping the company reposition itself as a recommendations service like Yelp or Google Places--a shift its users were already making in how they used the app. This new position also fits well with Dennis Crowley's plans to join the coupons game. Over three years, foursquare has gathered 2 billion data points about people's location behavior and habits. The patterns in that data, along with your friends' tips and checkins, is the basis for their new recommendations feature, the New York Times explains. You won't just be able to search locations on foursquare--in the new version, foursquare will offer up a list of recommendations based on past checkins. In addition to this, and a slicker UI, foursquare has added a "Friends" tab, letting you follow, like and comment on your buddies' activity and tips in a news stream.
HTC Revenues Falter--And It May Be Shut Out Of Windows 8
HTC is said, by inside sources speaking to Bloomberg, to be "shut out" of the introduction of Microsoft's hotly-anticipated Windows 8 operating system for tablets. MS is concerned that HTC doesn't sell enough devices or have enough experience making tablets compared to better-known names like HP or Asus. HTC is one of the better-known Android handset makers, however--although it is facing difficulties importing some products into the U.S. after Apple successfully blocked them on patent violation concerns. HTC is now saying its devices are compliant with an ITC ruling on the matter, and that U.S. Customs has now reviewed the matter and cleared importation. HTC separately reported weak quarterly revenue that fell short of analyst estimates by around 10% and has downgraded its second-quarter predictions.
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