Now..You need to pay $1 per message, if you want to contact someone non-friend on Facebook. Will it be good for Facebook? Will it help the Facebook stock to go even higher? It seems like Facebook is trying to restrict the people from interaction..which might help another start up to take advantage and promote their own social network.
Launched in 2011, the "other" folder is where Facebook routes messages it deems less relevant. Not quite spam, these include messages from people you most likely don't know, based on Facebook's reading of your social connections. Many users ignore this folder.
Now, users will be able to pay $1 to route their messages to non-friends. Facebook said on Thursday that it is testing the service with a small percentage of individuals - not businesses - in the US.
Facebook said it is testing the service with a small percentage of individuals in the US.
"For example, if you want to send a message to someone you heard speak at an event but are not friends with, or if you want to message someone about a job opportunity, you can use this feature to reach their Inbox," Facebook said in an online post. "For the receiver, this test allows them to hear from people who have an important message to send them."
The company says charging for messages could help discourage spammers.
In October, Facebook unveiled another feature that lets users pay if they want more people to read their updates. For $7, users can promote a post to their friends, just as advertisers do.
Imagine getting email and data over the radio. A 22-year-old has developed a software that lets one do just that. Radio reaches every corner of India. Small transistors are cheap and easily available. Vinny Lohan has found a way to send computer data over normal radio waves. He believes that the idea could get all India online in a jiffy.
"Computers are all about zeros and ones. Be it video or text or music, to a computer, it is all zeros and ones. Since that's so, we asked ourselves, can we take a book or a video and convert it into music. And then send it over the airwaves. Turns out the answer was yes," Vinny said.
All it needs is OneBeep, the special software that Vinny and his friends wrote together. To send a file, be it video or text, the broadcaster simply selects and drags it into the software. OneBeep converts that data into an audio file, which is then transmitted over the airwaves.
Listeners can plug in their radio to a laptop or a cheap tablet computer, using a normal headphone jack. OneBeep software installed on their machines, will automatically convert the audio files back into data. It's like getting email over the radio.
OneBeep CEO Vinny says, "It's a bit like bit-torrent. When you are downloading something, the software is intelligent enough to know when something is paused and when it is restarted. We break digital data into packets. The software is converting audio into packets of data on the computer. Say your signal is weak or your battery died. When it restarts, it starts from the place it left off."
OneBeep needs absolutely no changes to the existing radio stations. And so, it's got attention. In 2010, Vinny and his team bagged the third prize in Microsoft's Imagine Cup - a worldwide contest for tech innovators. But their idea does have a few drawbacks.
First off, it's slow. Sending just 2 MB of data can take upto 40 minutes. Second, the idea itself isn't new. HAM radio operators have used a somewhat similar software since the 1970's. Third, it could be misused by terrorists. But Vinny thinks he's got that base covered.
"Each radio frequency transmission needs a government licence. Most amateur transmitters have a range of 20-30 metres. Anything stronger than that can easily be traced. If any unauthorised frequency transmissions take place, the army will be privy to that," Vinny says.
But because it's so simple and easily adaptable, Vinny's idea still has potential. Rural school kids can use OneBeep to download assignments overnight. Community radio stations in villages can also use it to transfer panchayat related files.
India will soon adopt Digital Radio Mondiale, a new technology which besides great sound, offers file transfers on the radio. But that is still a few years away. OneBeep already works and Vinny wants to offer it for free on the web. He wants to kick off a tiny revolution and give rural India a taste of the internet over the radio.
( IBN Live )
"Computers are all about zeros and ones. Be it video or text or music, to a computer, it is all zeros and ones. Since that's so, we asked ourselves, can we take a book or a video and convert it into music. And then send it over the airwaves. Turns out the answer was yes," Vinny said.
All it needs is OneBeep, the special software that Vinny and his friends wrote together. To send a file, be it video or text, the broadcaster simply selects and drags it into the software. OneBeep converts that data into an audio file, which is then transmitted over the airwaves.
Listeners can plug in their radio to a laptop or a cheap tablet computer, using a normal headphone jack. OneBeep software installed on their machines, will automatically convert the audio files back into data. It's like getting email over the radio.
OneBeep CEO Vinny says, "It's a bit like bit-torrent. When you are downloading something, the software is intelligent enough to know when something is paused and when it is restarted. We break digital data into packets. The software is converting audio into packets of data on the computer. Say your signal is weak or your battery died. When it restarts, it starts from the place it left off."
OneBeep needs absolutely no changes to the existing radio stations. And so, it's got attention. In 2010, Vinny and his team bagged the third prize in Microsoft's Imagine Cup - a worldwide contest for tech innovators. But their idea does have a few drawbacks.
First off, it's slow. Sending just 2 MB of data can take upto 40 minutes. Second, the idea itself isn't new. HAM radio operators have used a somewhat similar software since the 1970's. Third, it could be misused by terrorists. But Vinny thinks he's got that base covered.
"Each radio frequency transmission needs a government licence. Most amateur transmitters have a range of 20-30 metres. Anything stronger than that can easily be traced. If any unauthorised frequency transmissions take place, the army will be privy to that," Vinny says.
But because it's so simple and easily adaptable, Vinny's idea still has potential. Rural school kids can use OneBeep to download assignments overnight. Community radio stations in villages can also use it to transfer panchayat related files.
India will soon adopt Digital Radio Mondiale, a new technology which besides great sound, offers file transfers on the radio. But that is still a few years away. OneBeep already works and Vinny wants to offer it for free on the web. He wants to kick off a tiny revolution and give rural India a taste of the internet over the radio.
( IBN Live )
A judge has denied US technology giant Apple an injunction that would have allowed it to continue selling iPhone-branded products in Mexico, ruling that the company iFone had the rights to that brand name earlier, an attorney for the Mexican firm told EFE.
The Mexico City-based court handed down the ruling last Thursday, Eduardo Gallastegui said. "It's the third time Apple has lost," Gallastegui said, adding that "iFone is fully entitled to the use of its brand name."
In 2009, Apple filed a complaint against iFone with the Mexican Industrial Property Institute, or IMPI, demanding that firm stop using its brand name because the phonetic similarities could confuse users.
iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003.
But the petition was denied after authorities found that iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003, four years before Apple did.
The Mexican firm later filed a countersuit for damages and to block Apple from selling its flagship smartphone product in Mexico. Major telecom companies in Mexico could also be affected by the court ruling.
Leading Mexican cellphone provider Telcel began marketing the iPhone in 2007, offering a plan that included unlimited Internet access. Telcel and No.2 wireless operator Movistar, a unit of Spain's Telefonica, announced that they would begin selling the much-awaited iPhone 5 Friday.
The Mexico City-based court handed down the ruling last Thursday, Eduardo Gallastegui said. "It's the third time Apple has lost," Gallastegui said, adding that "iFone is fully entitled to the use of its brand name."
In 2009, Apple filed a complaint against iFone with the Mexican Industrial Property Institute, or IMPI, demanding that firm stop using its brand name because the phonetic similarities could confuse users.
iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003.
But the petition was denied after authorities found that iFone - a provider of software for call centers - had registered its trade name in Mexico in 2003, four years before Apple did.
The Mexican firm later filed a countersuit for damages and to block Apple from selling its flagship smartphone product in Mexico. Major telecom companies in Mexico could also be affected by the court ruling.
Leading Mexican cellphone provider Telcel began marketing the iPhone in 2007, offering a plan that included unlimited Internet access. Telcel and No.2 wireless operator Movistar, a unit of Spain's Telefonica, announced that they would begin selling the much-awaited iPhone 5 Friday.
( IANS )
US military experts have demonstrated a new smartphone app that can turn your mobile's camera into a spying tool for cyber criminals, secretly beaming images of your house, chequebook and other private information back to them.
The software can even build up a 3D model of your house, from which the hackers can inspect your rooms, potentially gleaning information about valuables in your home, calendar entries as well as spying on you.
The app 'PlaiceRaider' was created by US military experts at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, to show how cybercriminals could operate in the future, the Daily Mail reported.
The creators even demonstrated how they could read the numbers of a cheque book when they tested the Android software on 20 volunteers.
As long as the app could be installed on the users phone, it can instantly begin beaming back images from the phone when it senses the right conditions, and software on the other end can then re-construct maps of the visited room.
The team gave their infected phone to 20 individuals, who did not know about the malicious app, and asked them to continue operating in their normal office environment.
The team said they could glean vital information from all 20 users, and that the 3D reconstruction made it much easier to steal information than by just using the images alone.
Researcher Robert Templeman said their app can run in the background of any smartphone using the Android 2.3 operating system.
Through completely opportunistic use of the phone's camera and other sensors, PlaceRaider constructs rich, three dimensional models of indoor environments.
"Remote burglars can thus "download" the physical space, study the environment carefully, and steal virtual objects from the environment (such as financial documents, information on computer monitors, and personally identifiable information)," researchers said.
PlaiceRaider will silently take photographs, recording the time, location and orientation due to the sensors within most modern smartphones.
It will then delete any blurred or dark shots, before sending the rest back to a central server, which can reconstruct the user's room, based on information such as phone orientation.
Then the hacker can explore the user's property at will - for instance, scanning the room for calendars, private details on computer screens, and cheque-books or card details.
"We implemented on Android for practical reasons, but we expect such malware to generalise to other platforms such as iOS and Windows Phone," Templeman said.
The software can even build up a 3D model of your house, from which the hackers can inspect your rooms, potentially gleaning information about valuables in your home, calendar entries as well as spying on you.
The app 'PlaiceRaider' was created by US military experts at Naval Surface Warfare Center in Crane, Indiana, to show how cybercriminals could operate in the future, the Daily Mail reported.
The creators even demonstrated how they could read the numbers of a cheque book when they tested the Android software on 20 volunteers.
As long as the app could be installed on the users phone, it can instantly begin beaming back images from the phone when it senses the right conditions, and software on the other end can then re-construct maps of the visited room.
The team gave their infected phone to 20 individuals, who did not know about the malicious app, and asked them to continue operating in their normal office environment.
The team said they could glean vital information from all 20 users, and that the 3D reconstruction made it much easier to steal information than by just using the images alone.
Researcher Robert Templeman said their app can run in the background of any smartphone using the Android 2.3 operating system.
Through completely opportunistic use of the phone's camera and other sensors, PlaceRaider constructs rich, three dimensional models of indoor environments.
"Remote burglars can thus "download" the physical space, study the environment carefully, and steal virtual objects from the environment (such as financial documents, information on computer monitors, and personally identifiable information)," researchers said.
PlaiceRaider will silently take photographs, recording the time, location and orientation due to the sensors within most modern smartphones.
It will then delete any blurred or dark shots, before sending the rest back to a central server, which can reconstruct the user's room, based on information such as phone orientation.
Then the hacker can explore the user's property at will - for instance, scanning the room for calendars, private details on computer screens, and cheque-books or card details.
"We implemented on Android for practical reasons, but we expect such malware to generalise to other platforms such as iOS and Windows Phone," Templeman said.
( PTI )
Your smartphone may soon be able to tell you when you are most stressed, with the help of a new software that can identify stress from the patterns in your voice.
The app called 'StressSense' is first trained to recognise a person's unstressed voice. For that, users must relax and read a 3-minute passage from a book into their phones.
The system then compares this recording to its pre-programmed knowledge of the physiological changes that stress induces like speaking at a faster rate and a clipped frequency spectrum.
The application then takes note of any instances of stress it detects in the voice.
"Our stress model also adapts to different background noise environments," New Scientist quoted Hong Lu of Intel in Santa Clara, California, who developed the system, as saying.
In tests that included putting volunteers through mock job interviews, the researchers found their prototype's stress-recognition accuracy to be 81 per cent indoors and 76 per cent outdoors, where sound quality wasn't as good.
The team plans to make the system a plug-in to an Android application called BeWell, which uses a phone's accelerometers and Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors to record users' activity and sleep levels.
Smartphone users will be able to set StressSense to either listen to their voice throughout the day, or only to activate when they are having a phone conversation.
The app will be presented at the Ubicomp conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, next month.
The app called 'StressSense' is first trained to recognise a person's unstressed voice. For that, users must relax and read a 3-minute passage from a book into their phones.
The system then compares this recording to its pre-programmed knowledge of the physiological changes that stress induces like speaking at a faster rate and a clipped frequency spectrum.
The application then takes note of any instances of stress it detects in the voice.
"Our stress model also adapts to different background noise environments," New Scientist quoted Hong Lu of Intel in Santa Clara, California, who developed the system, as saying.
In tests that included putting volunteers through mock job interviews, the researchers found their prototype's stress-recognition accuracy to be 81 per cent indoors and 76 per cent outdoors, where sound quality wasn't as good.
The team plans to make the system a plug-in to an Android application called BeWell, which uses a phone's accelerometers and Global Positioning System (GPS) sensors to record users' activity and sleep levels.
Smartphone users will be able to set StressSense to either listen to their voice throughout the day, or only to activate when they are having a phone conversation.
The app will be presented at the Ubicomp conference in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, next month.
With rumours rife about the September launch of Apple's next-generation iPhone, here comes an iPhone 5 parody commercial, produced by Web video artist Adam Sacks. The spoof commercial is hilarious, and mocks sad and alone amateur food photographers.
The video features a gentleman as the Vice President, iPhone Product Design, who says, "Before designing the iPhone 5, we studied how customers use their iPhones and we discovered something pretty interesting. People only use iPhones to take photos of their food. They are sad and alone, so they take pictures of food to create the illusion of a fulfilling life."
The video further goes on saying: "With a maximum ISO of 6400, the iPhone 5 takes stunning photos in whatever dimly lit, exposed brick, no reservation, basement restaurant your friends care about more than each other."
The commercial mentions that the iPhone is good enough to turn your life into a "seemingly enjoyable lie."
Check out the iPhone 5 hilarious parody commercial below.
( IBNLive )
After successfully raising funds from the general public for the national award winning film 'I Am', producer duo Sanjay Suri and Onir are again taking the crowd-funding route for their new venture - a love story of a 14-year-old Dalit boy and an upper-caste girl.
"It's great to be acting in and co-producing 'Chauranga' with Onir. The story is about a 14-year-old Dalit boy who falls in love with a 16-year-old upper-caste girl from Jharkhand," Suri told PTI.
"I have an important role in the film, in which you will also see Radhika Apte (of 'I Am', 'Antaheen' fame)."
"It's great to be acting in and co-producing 'Chauranga' with Onir. The story is about a 14-year-old Dalit boy who falls in love with a 16-year-old upper-caste girl from Jharkhand," Suri told PTI.
"I have an important role in the film, in which you will also see Radhika Apte (of 'I Am', 'Antaheen' fame)."
The producers have taken the crowd funding route as they want the audience to be a part of the filmmaking process. A target of Rs 50 lakh from public audience has been set and people can contribute via the film's website.
"Apart from raising funds from general public, we have support of the National Films Development Corporation of India (NFDC). We've also received grant from Goteborg International Film Festival, Sweden and are in discussion with international co-producers," says director Bikas Ranjan Mishra.
Inspired by a true event, 'Chauranga' is a fictional account of six days in a dark corner of India. It's a story of the violence of class oppression that still exists in rural India.
The Dalit boy is growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His dream is to go to a town school like his elder brother and his reality is to look after the pig that his family owns.
His only escape is to sit atop a jamun tree and adore his beloved passing by on her scooter. His unspoken love is as true as his mother's helplessness who cleans the cowsheds of the local strongman's mansion, with whom she also has a secret liaison.
When the boy's elder brother comes on a vacation to the village, he soon finds out about his younger brother's infatuation. He tries to makes him realize the need to express his love. The film is at an advanced pre-production stage right now.
"Our cast is a fair mix of actors and non-actors. We've chosen to work with non-actors for our lead roles that happen to be kids. It's fun to work with children - you learn so much," says Mishra.
( IANS )
"Apart from raising funds from general public, we have support of the National Films Development Corporation of India (NFDC). We've also received grant from Goteborg International Film Festival, Sweden and are in discussion with international co-producers," says director Bikas Ranjan Mishra.
Inspired by a true event, 'Chauranga' is a fictional account of six days in a dark corner of India. It's a story of the violence of class oppression that still exists in rural India.
The Dalit boy is growing up in an unnamed corner of India. His dream is to go to a town school like his elder brother and his reality is to look after the pig that his family owns.
His only escape is to sit atop a jamun tree and adore his beloved passing by on her scooter. His unspoken love is as true as his mother's helplessness who cleans the cowsheds of the local strongman's mansion, with whom she also has a secret liaison.
When the boy's elder brother comes on a vacation to the village, he soon finds out about his younger brother's infatuation. He tries to makes him realize the need to express his love. The film is at an advanced pre-production stage right now.
"Our cast is a fair mix of actors and non-actors. We've chosen to work with non-actors for our lead roles that happen to be kids. It's fun to work with children - you learn so much," says Mishra.
( IANS )
Photobucket Revamps To Rival Social Sharing Photo And Video Sites
Photobucket has just revealed a vastly made-over user experience for its online photo service, which has usually functioned as a photo depository of sorts. The company says it's reacting to a recent survey it conducted which quizzed people about their digital habits--two thirds said they were disorganized in managing their digital pics and 83% said they'd like a solution. Thus the Photobucket revamp is intended to make it much easier to back up, share, and organize digitally stored photos and videos.
The company also revealed that it'll be launching a new Photobucket Stories feature in September, designed to be a way to curate the videos and photos you store in the service into a more narrative format. The idea is to combine text and imagery into a sort of 21st century photo album, so that you can share, for example, media from your recent vacation with friends in a more structured way than via a simple online album or via updates on Facebook.
Photobucket, which has previously been used for personal photo storage and for tricks like storing avatars for use on other online services, is reacting to the rise of services like Instagram and Viddy, which are, along with Facebook, changing how we share digital media online and which create de facto social networks as part of their sharing abilities. One key differentiator of Photobucket is that it's offering the ability to edit your media, but to preserve the original content in the database. This is similar to the way photo editing suites like Adobe Lightroom or Apple's Aperture work, and reinforces that Photobucket also works as a digital "locker" to securely store your images.
Photobucket has been in the news recently for a more controversial reason, where hackers used a relatively simple trick to access sexually charged images stored in some user's online lockers and then share them online. The company noted a very small number of users were affected and has reacted by protecting all new uploads with a scrambled URL to prevent snooping.
Gift Cards To Google Play Are On Their Way
Google is creating a plastic, pocketable links to the digital wares it sells in its Google Play store. Android Central has photo evidence of prototypes of Google's newest creations--cling-wrapped gift cards worth $10 and $25--which can be traded in for books, apps, movies and music.
With its Play gift cards, Google is following a path first cleared in a big way by Apple when it started selling iTunes gift cards for music and movies, and eventually, apps. This year, Apple replaced its traditional back-to-school iPod giveaway with iTunes gift card this season. If you are heading to school or college and bought a Mac, you got $100 in credit to spend at the iTunes store. This last quarter, the iTunes store generated $1.9 billion in revenue for Apple according to Bloomberg, and Apple is steadily growing access to iTunes and its media sharing features to countries outside the U.S.
The Play gift cards would give people a bit of nudge to spend at the Google Play store, sure. But the gift cards could make the Play store more visible, if the cards were made as readily available as those iconic neon iTunes cards, and seen at every grocery store and Best Buy. But that's not it for Google. Word is, a "Wish List" feature, as seen on Amazon, is on the way as well.
Instagram Homes In On Mapping With Version 3.0
Instagram is releasing version 3.0 of its photo app today, and it improves on the browsing experience in several significant ways.
The boldest new feature is called "Photo Maps." All the photos you geotagged before posting them on Instagram? Photo Map collects those and pins them on an interactive world map. This is by no means a revolutionary interface--apps from Foursquare to Yelp offer something similar, and even iPhoto lets you sort images by location. But by automatically creating location-specific photo albums that can be seen by friends, Instagram has put a new twist on the feature. The maps are turned off by default, making it a privacy-friendly opt-in program. When you activate it, you can choose individual photos that do and don't appear on the map, and even edit your preferences later. Photo maps are accessed through a user's profile page, making it easy for friends to see one another's favorite stomping grounds.
You can see our trigger-happy social media editor Anjali Mullany's photographs from all over Manhattan in her Photo Map view below.
Compared to that, my Photo Map is sparser, because I tend to geotag only a few of the Instagram photos I take
I'm not alone, it turns out. According to the New York Times, not more than 25 percent of Instagram users geotag their photographs. This update looks like a bid to get Instagrammers to geotag more frequently in the future. A trove of mobile location data could prove quite valuable to the startup that was acquired by Facebook in April.
There are a few other new tricks in Instagram's update today. The photos can now be displayed in a 3-across grid rather than a vertical river for faster browsing. The upload screen has a larger text box, making it easier to write captions. No need to tap the "load more" button, the app now offers infinite scrolling that loads as you go. And to better combat spam and abuse, individual comments can be reported and deleted in one action.
When Fast Company put Instagram founder Kevin Systrom on the Most Creative People In Business list in 2011, he said, "We think about photos like, 'This is your tweet, this is your status update.'" And now it can be your image-based homing beacon too.
Dish Rumored To Soon Unveil A National Satellite Network For High-Speed Internet
According to sources speaking to Bloomberg, Dish Network Corp. is planning to launch a nationwide satellite-based broadband Net service, possibly as soon as the end of September. The system will use a satellite from the EchoStar Corp. which was launched in July--it can support download speeds of 15 megabits a second but will probably throttle the maximum rate in order to serve more users across the U.S. who may otherwise have difficulty accessing fast Net services from more traditional cable or wireless ISPs.
Rural broadband supply has been a hot-button issue across the U.S. in recent years, with several corporate and government-backed efforts to get more of the remoter American population online so that they can make the most of modern Net services and online government.
Photobucket has just revealed a vastly made-over user experience for its online photo service, which has usually functioned as a photo depository of sorts. The company says it's reacting to a recent survey it conducted which quizzed people about their digital habits--two thirds said they were disorganized in managing their digital pics and 83% said they'd like a solution. Thus the Photobucket revamp is intended to make it much easier to back up, share, and organize digitally stored photos and videos.
The company also revealed that it'll be launching a new Photobucket Stories feature in September, designed to be a way to curate the videos and photos you store in the service into a more narrative format. The idea is to combine text and imagery into a sort of 21st century photo album, so that you can share, for example, media from your recent vacation with friends in a more structured way than via a simple online album or via updates on Facebook.
Photobucket, which has previously been used for personal photo storage and for tricks like storing avatars for use on other online services, is reacting to the rise of services like Instagram and Viddy, which are, along with Facebook, changing how we share digital media online and which create de facto social networks as part of their sharing abilities. One key differentiator of Photobucket is that it's offering the ability to edit your media, but to preserve the original content in the database. This is similar to the way photo editing suites like Adobe Lightroom or Apple's Aperture work, and reinforces that Photobucket also works as a digital "locker" to securely store your images.
Photobucket has been in the news recently for a more controversial reason, where hackers used a relatively simple trick to access sexually charged images stored in some user's online lockers and then share them online. The company noted a very small number of users were affected and has reacted by protecting all new uploads with a scrambled URL to prevent snooping.
Gift Cards To Google Play Are On Their Way
Google is creating a plastic, pocketable links to the digital wares it sells in its Google Play store. Android Central has photo evidence of prototypes of Google's newest creations--cling-wrapped gift cards worth $10 and $25--which can be traded in for books, apps, movies and music.
With its Play gift cards, Google is following a path first cleared in a big way by Apple when it started selling iTunes gift cards for music and movies, and eventually, apps. This year, Apple replaced its traditional back-to-school iPod giveaway with iTunes gift card this season. If you are heading to school or college and bought a Mac, you got $100 in credit to spend at the iTunes store. This last quarter, the iTunes store generated $1.9 billion in revenue for Apple according to Bloomberg, and Apple is steadily growing access to iTunes and its media sharing features to countries outside the U.S.
The Play gift cards would give people a bit of nudge to spend at the Google Play store, sure. But the gift cards could make the Play store more visible, if the cards were made as readily available as those iconic neon iTunes cards, and seen at every grocery store and Best Buy. But that's not it for Google. Word is, a "Wish List" feature, as seen on Amazon, is on the way as well.
Instagram Homes In On Mapping With Version 3.0
Instagram is releasing version 3.0 of its photo app today, and it improves on the browsing experience in several significant ways.
The boldest new feature is called "Photo Maps." All the photos you geotagged before posting them on Instagram? Photo Map collects those and pins them on an interactive world map. This is by no means a revolutionary interface--apps from Foursquare to Yelp offer something similar, and even iPhoto lets you sort images by location. But by automatically creating location-specific photo albums that can be seen by friends, Instagram has put a new twist on the feature. The maps are turned off by default, making it a privacy-friendly opt-in program. When you activate it, you can choose individual photos that do and don't appear on the map, and even edit your preferences later. Photo maps are accessed through a user's profile page, making it easy for friends to see one another's favorite stomping grounds.
You can see our trigger-happy social media editor Anjali Mullany's photographs from all over Manhattan in her Photo Map view below.
Compared to that, my Photo Map is sparser, because I tend to geotag only a few of the Instagram photos I take
I'm not alone, it turns out. According to the New York Times, not more than 25 percent of Instagram users geotag their photographs. This update looks like a bid to get Instagrammers to geotag more frequently in the future. A trove of mobile location data could prove quite valuable to the startup that was acquired by Facebook in April.
There are a few other new tricks in Instagram's update today. The photos can now be displayed in a 3-across grid rather than a vertical river for faster browsing. The upload screen has a larger text box, making it easier to write captions. No need to tap the "load more" button, the app now offers infinite scrolling that loads as you go. And to better combat spam and abuse, individual comments can be reported and deleted in one action.
When Fast Company put Instagram founder Kevin Systrom on the Most Creative People In Business list in 2011, he said, "We think about photos like, 'This is your tweet, this is your status update.'" And now it can be your image-based homing beacon too.
Dish Rumored To Soon Unveil A National Satellite Network For High-Speed Internet
According to sources speaking to Bloomberg, Dish Network Corp. is planning to launch a nationwide satellite-based broadband Net service, possibly as soon as the end of September. The system will use a satellite from the EchoStar Corp. which was launched in July--it can support download speeds of 15 megabits a second but will probably throttle the maximum rate in order to serve more users across the U.S. who may otherwise have difficulty accessing fast Net services from more traditional cable or wireless ISPs.
Rural broadband supply has been a hot-button issue across the U.S. in recent years, with several corporate and government-backed efforts to get more of the remoter American population online so that they can make the most of modern Net services and online government.
Facebook Inc ( NASDAQ: FB ) stock touched a new all time low $19.72 and keep trading sub $20 levels. For those who have invested on the first day or there after, they have keep loosing their investment values. There was a lot of buzz that Facebook Inc stock might see a steep rise like a fall,but the reality is quite different as stock keep making new lows and toda it has touched an all time low and breaks below with a significant volume. We were recommending a Sell rating on Facebook since an announcement of an IPO and our reason behind this was quite reasonable if you see logically. Don't invest in Facebook stock because you have other value picks available.
The selling in Facebook stock is partly due to the end of lock up period for 270 million shares, that could hit the market over the period of nine months. Read More
The selling in Facebook stock is partly due to the end of lock up period for 270 million shares, that could hit the market over the period of nine months. Read More
In Wisconsin, Apple Scores An Early Victory Against Motorola
A recent summary judgement in the Wisconsin chapter of Apple vs. Motorola could set a precedent for patent disputes across the country. On Friday, before Google announced its decision to cut 4,000 jobs at the phone maker, the judge in Wisconsin ruled in a summary judgement that Motorola cannot sue to stop the sale of Apple's patent-flouting devices. Rather, the technology in question ought to be licensable to folks like Apple and Microsoft under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, otherwise known as FRAND, terms. Holding Motorola to FRAND terms would also cut down the price that Apple has to pay to license those patents. As Foss Patent explains, this could have an impact on FRAND-related disputes in other places, including the California chapter of Apple vs. Samsung.
Klout Gets An Algorithm And Interface Overhaul
Klout, that score-keeper of online activity, has announced changes to the way it calculates and displays scores and rankings. For one, it will take into account 4 times as many signals, AllThingsD explains, picking up 400 cues like list memberships and Facebook subscriptions before assigning a person a score. Klout's controvertial assigned scores and areas of "influence" have sometimes baffled users in the past, but Klout hopes to make their workings a little more transparent in this update. For one, Klout will indicate in a user's timeline when their influenc-o-meter spikes.
Google+ Joins The Vanity URL Game
Google's revealed that its social network system Google+ is going to allow users to adopt vanity URLs. The move will start with verified people and pages that are mainly celebrities or brands, and then eventually roll out to more users. Currently Google+ user pages are identified by a long string of numbers as an identifier, which is practical but hardly memorable.
Google is following a trail blazed by its more established rivals Twitter and Facebook, which have already adopted a more text-based identifier--Facebook more recently. The use of a simpler user ID allows both brands and named users to stand out a little and may also facilitate discovery of new users and content.
Google's blog posting about the news notes that it will expand to include "many more" users, but doesn't conclusively say that all of the users of the service will be able to choose a short, memorable URL.
A recent summary judgement in the Wisconsin chapter of Apple vs. Motorola could set a precedent for patent disputes across the country. On Friday, before Google announced its decision to cut 4,000 jobs at the phone maker, the judge in Wisconsin ruled in a summary judgement that Motorola cannot sue to stop the sale of Apple's patent-flouting devices. Rather, the technology in question ought to be licensable to folks like Apple and Microsoft under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory, otherwise known as FRAND, terms. Holding Motorola to FRAND terms would also cut down the price that Apple has to pay to license those patents. As Foss Patent explains, this could have an impact on FRAND-related disputes in other places, including the California chapter of Apple vs. Samsung.
Klout Gets An Algorithm And Interface Overhaul
Klout, that score-keeper of online activity, has announced changes to the way it calculates and displays scores and rankings. For one, it will take into account 4 times as many signals, AllThingsD explains, picking up 400 cues like list memberships and Facebook subscriptions before assigning a person a score. Klout's controvertial assigned scores and areas of "influence" have sometimes baffled users in the past, but Klout hopes to make their workings a little more transparent in this update. For one, Klout will indicate in a user's timeline when their influenc-o-meter spikes.
Google+ Joins The Vanity URL Game
Google's revealed that its social network system Google+ is going to allow users to adopt vanity URLs. The move will start with verified people and pages that are mainly celebrities or brands, and then eventually roll out to more users. Currently Google+ user pages are identified by a long string of numbers as an identifier, which is practical but hardly memorable.
Google is following a trail blazed by its more established rivals Twitter and Facebook, which have already adopted a more text-based identifier--Facebook more recently. The use of a simpler user ID allows both brands and named users to stand out a little and may also facilitate discovery of new users and content.
Google's blog posting about the news notes that it will expand to include "many more" users, but doesn't conclusively say that all of the users of the service will be able to choose a short, memorable URL.
Computers and personal items worth more than $60,000 have been stolen from the Northern California home of the late Steve Jobs.
The San Jose Mercury News reports 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin, of Alameda, has been arrested and charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property. He remains jailed with bail set at $500,000 pending an Aug. 20 court hearing.
Santa Clara County prosecutor Tom Flattery won't say if the items taken from the Palo Alto home on July 17 belonged to Jobs or another family member. The house was surrounded by a temporary construction barrier in July.
Kariem McFarlin, of Alameda, has been arrested and charged with residential burglary.
The co-founder of Apple died last year at the age of 56.
Flattery refused to discuss details about the case.
The prosecutor says McFarlin was likely unaware of the home's significance. But does it really matter? Because if we see the History, it is not the first time for Steve Jobs to get cheated.
( AP )
The San Jose Mercury News reports 35-year-old Kariem McFarlin, of Alameda, has been arrested and charged with residential burglary and selling stolen property. He remains jailed with bail set at $500,000 pending an Aug. 20 court hearing.
Santa Clara County prosecutor Tom Flattery won't say if the items taken from the Palo Alto home on July 17 belonged to Jobs or another family member. The house was surrounded by a temporary construction barrier in July.
Kariem McFarlin, of Alameda, has been arrested and charged with residential burglary.
The co-founder of Apple died last year at the age of 56.
Flattery refused to discuss details about the case.
The prosecutor says McFarlin was likely unaware of the home's significance. But does it really matter? Because if we see the History, it is not the first time for Steve Jobs to get cheated.
( AP )
Huffpost Kicks Off Live Stream, Live Comment Effort
Today the Huffington Post launched a new video system that combines live broadcast programming alongside an interface that promotes discussion about the live content in real time. The company is going to stream 12 hours of content a day, five days a week and is an attempt at making the most social video experience possible, according to founding editor of the publication Roy Sekoff. Programs can be watched after they've been shown live.
Social media discussion of live video content is a hot topic, with the London Olympics serving as a giant example of how social media is being used in real time during the broadcast of events. An early awareness of the potential of driving up audience engagement using social media was demonstrated when Fox attempted a live tweet stream during a re-run of sci-fi show Fringe, which unfortunately flopped.
Google Acquires Frommer's
Google is acquiring print travel brand Frommer's for an undisclosed sum. Google Local might be in for some big changes.
Google is purchasing the venerable Frommer's travel guide brand from publishers John Wiley & Sons. Under the terms of the deal, which are undisclosed, Google will also get the travel database. It is not known whether Google will continue to publish Frommer's guidebooks in print.
The decision to acquire Frommer's brings Google their second print brand--regardless of whether they continue to publish. Zagat, also a travel property, was purchased by Google in 2011. “Our commitment is to keep things as they are today and once we combine operations, we'll know better what the future looks like,” Zagat's Bernardo Hernandez told The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Trachtenberg.
One of Google's major priorities has been the transformation of Google Maps and the Zagat-powered Google+ Local into a Yelp and Facebook killer. Frommer's databases are also used by Kayak to help fuel hotel searches. Although the last few years have been rough for print travel guides as the Internet ate away at their past dominance, Frommer's has extensive brand recognition and a large network of contacts throughout the travel and hospitality industries.
IBM Plans Research Lab In Kenya
Nairobi will play host to a new IBM research lab, one of 12 sprinkled worldwide. The lab will focus on tech innovations focused on solving local problems, while keeping costs low, IBM's senior VP of research, John Kelley, told the New York Times. IBM plans to have 50 members working at the facility in five years.
Google Faces U.K. Heat For Possible Tax Avoidance Issues
Google revealed, in its last financial release, that it paid just £6 million in tax to the U.K. authorities despite the fact the web giant's British operation turned over £395 million in 2011. Now the company is facing heat from the government, with a Labor MP of the Treasury Select Committee (an inner group in government responsible for some fiscal policy) condemning Google's low tax rate as "entirely immoral." Google's executives are likely be pulled before the Committee to explain their actions.
Google's British wing is run as a subsidiary of its Irish section, making the most of Ireland's low tax rates which are designed to spur high tech innovators to choose to base themselves in the nation (resulting in Dublin earning, to some, the status of Europe's silicon valley). Google has defended its tax payments as being within U.K. law.
Google rival Apple faced deep criticisms recently for pulling a so-called "double-Irish, with a Dutch sandwich" tax maneuver that also results in the company paying reduced tax in the U.S.
Olympic Athletes Win Big On Social Media
The results are in. The 2012 London Olympics were the most actively followed on social media so far. Twitter has swelled, and Facebook has grown to 900 million active compared to 400 million during the 2010 Winter Olympics and 100 million during the 2008 summer games in Beijing.
New figures from Wildfire, the social ad firm that Google recently acquired, found that star athletes--Usain Bolt from Jamaica, Roger Federer from Switzerland and Russia's Maria Sharapova--powered their home nations to the top three spots for countries with the most global reach. U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas picked up a record number of Facebook followers--more than 550,000 in the month since mid-July, Wildfire says, leaping from 14,000 followers to 582,912 by August 12. Marcel Nguyen and Camille Muffat came in second and third place, each crossing 194,000 and 124,000 Facebook followers by the time the games closed.
Twitter says that the Olympics fueled 150 million tweets in total, spiking at 80,000 tweets per minute during Usain Bolt's closely watched 200 meters race. Bolt, followed by Michael Phelps and Tom Daley took the top spots on the Most Tweeted About list. A report from Starcount says Phelps added 1 million Twitter followers putting his total fan count at 1.2 million. Douglas, at last count, has a little over 650,000 followers on Twitter.
Facebook and Twitter, social media organizers like Shazam, and news organizations like the BBC and NBC News have been bending over backwards to collaborate at this summers' games, to tap into this accelerated engagement.
Bluefin Labs, the TV social media analytics firm has jumped in with numbers on how they performed. Bluefin says it recorded 36 million tweets and comments related to NBCU coverage of the games. In total, anywhere, Bluefin counted 86 million Olympics-related tweets and Facebook comments fly between July 27 and August 12.
FTC Finds Facebook's "Verified Apps" Scheme Unverifiable
An FTC investigation into Facebook's security and privacy activities has thrown up some red flags. For six months in 2009 Facebook charged developers to enroll their apps in a verification program. An FTC report suggests that Facebook pocketed the cash but did not carry out the suggested extra checks. (Facebook ended the program after the six-month period.) The first details about the Verified Apps program came to light when the FTC first published its report in November 2011, which led Facebook and the FTC to a settlement. Among the terms of that settlement, Facebook agreed to be audited every 20 years. The settlement was finalized on Friday.
Developers paid an extra $375 (or $175 if the developer was a student or belonged to a nonprofit organization) and would receive a Verified App badge and green check mark at the end. Facebook earned $95,000 through the scheme, the Guardian reports.
"In many instances Facebook has permitted a Platform Application to display its Verified Apps badge when its review of the application’s security has not exceeded its review of other Platform Applications," the FTC explains in its report. In doing so, the FTC suggests that Facebook deceived developers as well as Facebook users.
Motorola Mobility To Cut Staff By A Fifth, Close One Third Of Offices
Motorola Mobility announced on Sunday that it is going to slash around 20% of its global workforce and will also shut down a third of its offices. This equates to about 4,000 staff, one third of which will be in the U.S., along with reduced focus on its Chicago and Sunnyvale R&D efforts. There's also a simultaneous restructuring of the company's executives.
The cost-cutting and restructuring are part of efforts to reshape Motorola Mobility, the part of Motorola that is essentially its handset business, in order to align with the needs of its new owner Google. Google bought the ailing business for $12.5 billion, possibly more for its patents than its other assets, and the company has continued to deliver losses in the weeks since the deal finally closed.
Today the Huffington Post launched a new video system that combines live broadcast programming alongside an interface that promotes discussion about the live content in real time. The company is going to stream 12 hours of content a day, five days a week and is an attempt at making the most social video experience possible, according to founding editor of the publication Roy Sekoff. Programs can be watched after they've been shown live.
Social media discussion of live video content is a hot topic, with the London Olympics serving as a giant example of how social media is being used in real time during the broadcast of events. An early awareness of the potential of driving up audience engagement using social media was demonstrated when Fox attempted a live tweet stream during a re-run of sci-fi show Fringe, which unfortunately flopped.
Google Acquires Frommer's
Google is acquiring print travel brand Frommer's for an undisclosed sum. Google Local might be in for some big changes.
Google is purchasing the venerable Frommer's travel guide brand from publishers John Wiley & Sons. Under the terms of the deal, which are undisclosed, Google will also get the travel database. It is not known whether Google will continue to publish Frommer's guidebooks in print.
The decision to acquire Frommer's brings Google their second print brand--regardless of whether they continue to publish. Zagat, also a travel property, was purchased by Google in 2011. “Our commitment is to keep things as they are today and once we combine operations, we'll know better what the future looks like,” Zagat's Bernardo Hernandez told The Wall Street Journal's Jeffrey Trachtenberg.
One of Google's major priorities has been the transformation of Google Maps and the Zagat-powered Google+ Local into a Yelp and Facebook killer. Frommer's databases are also used by Kayak to help fuel hotel searches. Although the last few years have been rough for print travel guides as the Internet ate away at their past dominance, Frommer's has extensive brand recognition and a large network of contacts throughout the travel and hospitality industries.
IBM Plans Research Lab In Kenya
Nairobi will play host to a new IBM research lab, one of 12 sprinkled worldwide. The lab will focus on tech innovations focused on solving local problems, while keeping costs low, IBM's senior VP of research, John Kelley, told the New York Times. IBM plans to have 50 members working at the facility in five years.
Google Faces U.K. Heat For Possible Tax Avoidance Issues
Google revealed, in its last financial release, that it paid just £6 million in tax to the U.K. authorities despite the fact the web giant's British operation turned over £395 million in 2011. Now the company is facing heat from the government, with a Labor MP of the Treasury Select Committee (an inner group in government responsible for some fiscal policy) condemning Google's low tax rate as "entirely immoral." Google's executives are likely be pulled before the Committee to explain their actions.
Google's British wing is run as a subsidiary of its Irish section, making the most of Ireland's low tax rates which are designed to spur high tech innovators to choose to base themselves in the nation (resulting in Dublin earning, to some, the status of Europe's silicon valley). Google has defended its tax payments as being within U.K. law.
Google rival Apple faced deep criticisms recently for pulling a so-called "double-Irish, with a Dutch sandwich" tax maneuver that also results in the company paying reduced tax in the U.S.
Olympic Athletes Win Big On Social Media
The results are in. The 2012 London Olympics were the most actively followed on social media so far. Twitter has swelled, and Facebook has grown to 900 million active compared to 400 million during the 2010 Winter Olympics and 100 million during the 2008 summer games in Beijing.
New figures from Wildfire, the social ad firm that Google recently acquired, found that star athletes--Usain Bolt from Jamaica, Roger Federer from Switzerland and Russia's Maria Sharapova--powered their home nations to the top three spots for countries with the most global reach. U.S. gymnast Gabby Douglas picked up a record number of Facebook followers--more than 550,000 in the month since mid-July, Wildfire says, leaping from 14,000 followers to 582,912 by August 12. Marcel Nguyen and Camille Muffat came in second and third place, each crossing 194,000 and 124,000 Facebook followers by the time the games closed.
Twitter says that the Olympics fueled 150 million tweets in total, spiking at 80,000 tweets per minute during Usain Bolt's closely watched 200 meters race. Bolt, followed by Michael Phelps and Tom Daley took the top spots on the Most Tweeted About list. A report from Starcount says Phelps added 1 million Twitter followers putting his total fan count at 1.2 million. Douglas, at last count, has a little over 650,000 followers on Twitter.
Facebook and Twitter, social media organizers like Shazam, and news organizations like the BBC and NBC News have been bending over backwards to collaborate at this summers' games, to tap into this accelerated engagement.
Bluefin Labs, the TV social media analytics firm has jumped in with numbers on how they performed. Bluefin says it recorded 36 million tweets and comments related to NBCU coverage of the games. In total, anywhere, Bluefin counted 86 million Olympics-related tweets and Facebook comments fly between July 27 and August 12.
FTC Finds Facebook's "Verified Apps" Scheme Unverifiable
An FTC investigation into Facebook's security and privacy activities has thrown up some red flags. For six months in 2009 Facebook charged developers to enroll their apps in a verification program. An FTC report suggests that Facebook pocketed the cash but did not carry out the suggested extra checks. (Facebook ended the program after the six-month period.) The first details about the Verified Apps program came to light when the FTC first published its report in November 2011, which led Facebook and the FTC to a settlement. Among the terms of that settlement, Facebook agreed to be audited every 20 years. The settlement was finalized on Friday.
Developers paid an extra $375 (or $175 if the developer was a student or belonged to a nonprofit organization) and would receive a Verified App badge and green check mark at the end. Facebook earned $95,000 through the scheme, the Guardian reports.
"In many instances Facebook has permitted a Platform Application to display its Verified Apps badge when its review of the application’s security has not exceeded its review of other Platform Applications," the FTC explains in its report. In doing so, the FTC suggests that Facebook deceived developers as well as Facebook users.
Motorola Mobility To Cut Staff By A Fifth, Close One Third Of Offices
Motorola Mobility announced on Sunday that it is going to slash around 20% of its global workforce and will also shut down a third of its offices. This equates to about 4,000 staff, one third of which will be in the U.S., along with reduced focus on its Chicago and Sunnyvale R&D efforts. There's also a simultaneous restructuring of the company's executives.
The cost-cutting and restructuring are part of efforts to reshape Motorola Mobility, the part of Motorola that is essentially its handset business, in order to align with the needs of its new owner Google. Google bought the ailing business for $12.5 billion, possibly more for its patents than its other assets, and the company has continued to deliver losses in the weeks since the deal finally closed.
The sensational case of a teenager selling one of his kidneys to buy an iPhone and iPad came up for hearing at a court in central China where nine people, including a surgeon are on trial facing charges of intentional injury and illegal organ trade. The craze about the Apple products amongst the youngsters might caused such an illegal activity and compared the value of Apple products with organs and may be later as a Human Life? If we see the history of economy and trade, when we started up using gold in terms of coin and single currency to trade products. Now a days there is a vast variety of currencies that exist across the globe and everything is interrelated and converted to each other in a demand supply manner. Its valuation depends on country's economy and growth. There might be a day when we will see Apple products are traded as currency to own other products, because of lots of demand across the globe. Apple products may be a stable currency and a separate country can be established with this concept...!!
Judges at the People's Court in Beihu District of Chenzhou in Hunan province heard how 18-year-old Wang Shangkun, who sold his kidney to buy the new gadgets, became seriously ill after undergoing the illegal operation.
The nine people, including a surgeon, should be held criminally liable for intentional injury and illegal kidney trade, the prosecutors told the court yesterday, state media reported.
The main accused He Wei, who went bankrupt in gambling along with his associates started looking for donors in online chat rooms to make quick money.
He roped in Song Zhongyu, a surgeon from a provincial hospital in Yunnan province to remove a kidney from Wang, a high school student from Anhui province and transplanted it to a recipient in April last year.
Wang was paid 22000 Yuan (about USD 3525) after the operation, with which he bought iPhone and ipad.
He himself earned a profit of 56,360 yuan ( USD 8,800) in the deal and shared rest of the money with others.
After returning home and being questioned about where he got the money to buy the gadgets, Wang confessed to his mother that he sold one of his kidneys.
His case was highlighted by the local media and it hit the headlines around the world as it highlighted the lengths youngsters could go to buy electronic gadgets.
Wang later suffered from renal failure after the surgery and his family demanded 2.27 million Yuan compensation for the illegal removal of his kidney.
Police apprehended Wu and arrested the rest of the gang including two nurses, a surgical assistant and an anaesthesiologist.
The five are accused of intentional injury and illegal organ trading and could get three to 10 years in prison if convicted and four others, charged with playing a minor role in the incident may get away with fines, state media reported.
( Press Trust Of India )
OUYA Crosses Kickstarter Finish Line With $8.5 Million
OUYA closed its Kickstarter funding round with $8,596,475 from 63,416 backers around the world. OUYA announced plans to support four controllers with its $99 Android-based gaming console, which is scheduled to ship in March. OUYA's remarkably successful 30-day run on Kickstarter has also helped it lure content partners in game makers and entertainment content streamers, including Namco Bandai, XMBC, OnLive, ClearChannel Radio, iHeart Radio, and more. It's also lured developers with a "Developer Special Reward" funding category, which gives 600 developers access to an extra controller, a software development kit, and rooted access to Android.
Google Tests Gmail Emails In Search Results
Google, builder of cyborg glasses and driverless cars, is announcing a few tweaks to the thing it's best known for: search. For one, plain-old search results will now be powered by Knowledge Graph in all English-speaking countries. An addition to what Google promised us in May: when search results display, a panel of videos and images will now show up at the top of the search results queue.
Google is also thinking about mixing up Gmail emails in search results. When you enter a search term, you'll see Google results queue up per usual. Also, you'll see a pane on the right that includes any emails that contain the words you searched for. Google has a beta trial up for anyone who lives in an English-speaking country and wants to test the feature.
A bit of news for Google searchers with an iPhone or iPad: Google is linking Voice Search feature and Knowledge Graph and activating the bundle on the Google iOS app. This means that if you yell at your iPhone it will search the web for you.
Pulse Launches A Newsy Web App With A Hand From Microsoft
Pulse and Microsoft have built an HTML5-powered web page that fills up with news stories from your channel feeds. This allows mobile platforms (Windows, wink) that aren't Android or iOS powered to access the reader. Of course, it also comes alive on your desktop as well. According to AllThingsD, Pulse has about 15 million users (that is, readers who use the app more than once). That's roughly double the size of Flipboard's following (it last reported 8 million users). Flipboard, like Pulse, started life as an iPad app. When Flipboard partnered with the New York Times for access to paid content via the reader, Pulse returned with a deal with the Wall Street Journal. Neither Flipboard nor Zite have web apps yet, though both can found on Android and iOS.
OUYA closed its Kickstarter funding round with $8,596,475 from 63,416 backers around the world. OUYA announced plans to support four controllers with its $99 Android-based gaming console, which is scheduled to ship in March. OUYA's remarkably successful 30-day run on Kickstarter has also helped it lure content partners in game makers and entertainment content streamers, including Namco Bandai, XMBC, OnLive, ClearChannel Radio, iHeart Radio, and more. It's also lured developers with a "Developer Special Reward" funding category, which gives 600 developers access to an extra controller, a software development kit, and rooted access to Android.
Google Tests Gmail Emails In Search Results
Google, builder of cyborg glasses and driverless cars, is announcing a few tweaks to the thing it's best known for: search. For one, plain-old search results will now be powered by Knowledge Graph in all English-speaking countries. An addition to what Google promised us in May: when search results display, a panel of videos and images will now show up at the top of the search results queue.
Google is also thinking about mixing up Gmail emails in search results. When you enter a search term, you'll see Google results queue up per usual. Also, you'll see a pane on the right that includes any emails that contain the words you searched for. Google has a beta trial up for anyone who lives in an English-speaking country and wants to test the feature.
A bit of news for Google searchers with an iPhone or iPad: Google is linking Voice Search feature and Knowledge Graph and activating the bundle on the Google iOS app. This means that if you yell at your iPhone it will search the web for you.
Pulse Launches A Newsy Web App With A Hand From Microsoft
Pulse and Microsoft have built an HTML5-powered web page that fills up with news stories from your channel feeds. This allows mobile platforms (Windows, wink) that aren't Android or iOS powered to access the reader. Of course, it also comes alive on your desktop as well. According to AllThingsD, Pulse has about 15 million users (that is, readers who use the app more than once). That's roughly double the size of Flipboard's following (it last reported 8 million users). Flipboard, like Pulse, started life as an iPad app. When Flipboard partnered with the New York Times for access to paid content via the reader, Pulse returned with a deal with the Wall Street Journal. Neither Flipboard nor Zite have web apps yet, though both can found on Android and iOS.
Gamesys Launches Facebook's First Gambling App
Facebook just got its first set of gambling games that will give out and take real money. The Bingo And Slots Friendzy app was launched today by Gamesys, an online gambling operator based in the U.K. Gamesys and Facebook will limit viewership of the game and its news feeds to U.K. Facebook users over 18.
The Bingo Frendzy app is a first for Facebook, but gambling games on Facebook are about to get more common. For one, social online gambling platforms like Betable are gathering interest and investments. Mark Pincus has also said that Zynga will be launching its own Facebook gambling games outside the U.S. in 2013
Microsoft Revamps Windows Phone Developer System
In the short window of opportunity before Microsoft's all-new Windows 8 software hits its smartphone offerings (somewhat controversially), MS has taken the time to revamp its Windows Phone Developer Center. This the quite of software that app developers use to craft software for the phone, and MS has said it's tried to make the process swifter and thus more profitable for developers. There's a whole new UI, and infrastructure changes that make it easy to sort out tax issues for paid apps, support for PayPal, and so on.
Microsoft knows the ecosystem surrounding Windows 8 is probably more important than its sleek, alternative UI in a smartphone world dominated by Apple and Android. The move to improve the developer center is all about getting coders excited about Windows Phone 8--but the move is going to be troublesome for MS because the new OS is incompatible with the old, meaning users who've bought current Windows Phone 7 devices will see themselves left behind the cutting edge. It's already emerged, for example, that only Windows Phone 8 devices will get support for in-app purchases.
Facebook just got its first set of gambling games that will give out and take real money. The Bingo And Slots Friendzy app was launched today by Gamesys, an online gambling operator based in the U.K. Gamesys and Facebook will limit viewership of the game and its news feeds to U.K. Facebook users over 18.
The Bingo Frendzy app is a first for Facebook, but gambling games on Facebook are about to get more common. For one, social online gambling platforms like Betable are gathering interest and investments. Mark Pincus has also said that Zynga will be launching its own Facebook gambling games outside the U.S. in 2013
Microsoft Revamps Windows Phone Developer System
In the short window of opportunity before Microsoft's all-new Windows 8 software hits its smartphone offerings (somewhat controversially), MS has taken the time to revamp its Windows Phone Developer Center. This the quite of software that app developers use to craft software for the phone, and MS has said it's tried to make the process swifter and thus more profitable for developers. There's a whole new UI, and infrastructure changes that make it easy to sort out tax issues for paid apps, support for PayPal, and so on.
Microsoft knows the ecosystem surrounding Windows 8 is probably more important than its sleek, alternative UI in a smartphone world dominated by Apple and Android. The move to improve the developer center is all about getting coders excited about Windows Phone 8--but the move is going to be troublesome for MS because the new OS is incompatible with the old, meaning users who've bought current Windows Phone 7 devices will see themselves left behind the cutting edge. It's already emerged, for example, that only Windows Phone 8 devices will get support for in-app purchases.
Freedom Sleeve
FreedomPop is the nation's first wireless Internet provider committed to eliminating the digital divide, delivering 100% free 4G mobile broadband Internet access, connecting consumer devices virtually anywhere at anytime. FreedomPop has joined with leading mobile broadband networks to deliver the speed and flexibility of fast high speed internet for free.
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Specifications:
Name: iPod Touch Sleeve
Model: IMW-C870W
Color: Black
Finish: Matte
Dimensions: 61mm x 114mm x 15mm
Weight: 70g
Key design features
Feels like holding an iPhone
Volume and power control from device
Access to iPod power even while using Freedom Sleeve
6 Hours+ battery life
Mini USB for powering device
Read More
Volume and power control from device
Access to iPod power even while using Freedom Sleeve
6 Hours+ battery life
Mini USB for powering device
Read More
YouSnub: Apple's Next IOS Will Be Google-Free
When iPhone and iPad users fire up iOS 6 this fall, one of the biggest changes they'll notice is an absence of Apple's competitor Google.
Not only has Apple created its own version of maps to replace the Google Maps app in iOS 6, but it's nixed the native YouTube app--a feature that has been included in iOS since its beginning.
Apple had this to say about the omission: “Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store."
It's not clear which side (or both) prevented a renewal of the agreement, though The Verge interprets the situation as "more evidence that the two companies want to kill one another." In other words, The Great Tech War Of 2012 continues.
You'll still be able to download Google apps to your iOS devices, of course, but YouTube and Maps will no longer come pre-installed. The good news, if you like watching YouTube on your Apple device, is that the YouTube mobile website is more robust than its abandoned native app counterpart anyhow.
September Launch Date For New Nokia Windows Phone?
Word is, Nokia may be coming out with a phone in early September, just in time to meet Microsoft's new Windows 8 OS.
Tipsters have told Bloomberg that Nokia will be showing the phones off for the first time at the Nokia World event in Helsinki that takes place over September 5 and 6. If that's true, Nokia could have its phone out before Apple unveils its new iPhone, itself rumored to be out in mid-September.
But that's not all. An independent rumor bubbling up at the website Know Your Mobile via Concept Phones suggests that a future "Nokia Lumia X" device may have an optical zoom feature built into a rotating top. If that's true--that could separate this mythical Nokia's Lumia X model from other high-end smartphones which largely rely on lower quality digital zoom.
Shark Week, Thunderclap Form Voltron Of Awesomeness
Pledge a tweet, save a shark.
Discovery Channel's Shark Week is teaming up with Thunderclap to give its social campaign some extra bite. Shark Week is supporting three shark conservation groups--the Pew Environment Group, Oceana and Shark Savers. Regular shark lovers can rally behind the the trio this season and back a shark extinction awareness campaign on Twitter or Facebook. "The more that join, the louder Shark Week conservation efforts will be heard worldwide," the groups explain on their Thunderclap campaign page, which TheNextWeb noticed had gone up today.
This partnership with Shark Week comes at a good time for Thunderclap, which just got out of rough water with Twitter. When Thunderclap first launched, Twitter shut it down, perceiving a threat to its own Promoted Tweets. But Thunderclap bounced back, taking its business to Facebook and convinced Twitter to changed its mind too. Discovery Channel's Shark Week is a perennial hit, and likely to serve the new service well. Thunderclap allows fans of a brand to pledge tweets or Facebook posts towards to support it. If the campaign hits the target number of pledges, Thunderclap sends out a mass message turning the event or cause into a trending topic.
Look Who's Talking Now: Nuance Announces Voice-IDing Speech-To-Text Software
Nuance, makers of Siri, just introduced the world to their latest muse, "Nina." Though the two apparently sound the same, Nuance has added "voice biometrics" to Nina's list of talents as a voice-activated personal assistant. Like Siri, Nina identifies spoken phrases, but the difference is, Nina can tell who is speaking. Nuance explains that this means that Nina could work as an authentication tool, using voice ID instead of typed passwords. For example, when AllThingsD tested the app, Nina would only allow the one registered speaker to sign into its demo banking app. Nuance is letting Nina loose with a software development kit--a first for the company--giving developers the ability to integrate the software into mobile apps that use voice-activated customer service. This expands beyond Siri's coverage area, which falls primarily within Apple's own selection of apps. Nuance will pilot test Nina in August with the USAA, which provides banking facilities for the U.S. military. The plan is to give all USAA members access to Nina on their Android and iOS USAA apps early next year.
When iPhone and iPad users fire up iOS 6 this fall, one of the biggest changes they'll notice is an absence of Apple's competitor Google.
Not only has Apple created its own version of maps to replace the Google Maps app in iOS 6, but it's nixed the native YouTube app--a feature that has been included in iOS since its beginning.
Apple had this to say about the omission: “Our license to include the YouTube app in iOS has ended, customers can use YouTube in the Safari browser and Google is working on a new YouTube app to be on the App Store."
It's not clear which side (or both) prevented a renewal of the agreement, though The Verge interprets the situation as "more evidence that the two companies want to kill one another." In other words, The Great Tech War Of 2012 continues.
You'll still be able to download Google apps to your iOS devices, of course, but YouTube and Maps will no longer come pre-installed. The good news, if you like watching YouTube on your Apple device, is that the YouTube mobile website is more robust than its abandoned native app counterpart anyhow.
September Launch Date For New Nokia Windows Phone?
Word is, Nokia may be coming out with a phone in early September, just in time to meet Microsoft's new Windows 8 OS.
Tipsters have told Bloomberg that Nokia will be showing the phones off for the first time at the Nokia World event in Helsinki that takes place over September 5 and 6. If that's true, Nokia could have its phone out before Apple unveils its new iPhone, itself rumored to be out in mid-September.
But that's not all. An independent rumor bubbling up at the website Know Your Mobile via Concept Phones suggests that a future "Nokia Lumia X" device may have an optical zoom feature built into a rotating top. If that's true--that could separate this mythical Nokia's Lumia X model from other high-end smartphones which largely rely on lower quality digital zoom.
Shark Week, Thunderclap Form Voltron Of Awesomeness
Pledge a tweet, save a shark.
Discovery Channel's Shark Week is teaming up with Thunderclap to give its social campaign some extra bite. Shark Week is supporting three shark conservation groups--the Pew Environment Group, Oceana and Shark Savers. Regular shark lovers can rally behind the the trio this season and back a shark extinction awareness campaign on Twitter or Facebook. "The more that join, the louder Shark Week conservation efforts will be heard worldwide," the groups explain on their Thunderclap campaign page, which TheNextWeb noticed had gone up today.
This partnership with Shark Week comes at a good time for Thunderclap, which just got out of rough water with Twitter. When Thunderclap first launched, Twitter shut it down, perceiving a threat to its own Promoted Tweets. But Thunderclap bounced back, taking its business to Facebook and convinced Twitter to changed its mind too. Discovery Channel's Shark Week is a perennial hit, and likely to serve the new service well. Thunderclap allows fans of a brand to pledge tweets or Facebook posts towards to support it. If the campaign hits the target number of pledges, Thunderclap sends out a mass message turning the event or cause into a trending topic.
Look Who's Talking Now: Nuance Announces Voice-IDing Speech-To-Text Software
Nuance, makers of Siri, just introduced the world to their latest muse, "Nina." Though the two apparently sound the same, Nuance has added "voice biometrics" to Nina's list of talents as a voice-activated personal assistant. Like Siri, Nina identifies spoken phrases, but the difference is, Nina can tell who is speaking. Nuance explains that this means that Nina could work as an authentication tool, using voice ID instead of typed passwords. For example, when AllThingsD tested the app, Nina would only allow the one registered speaker to sign into its demo banking app. Nuance is letting Nina loose with a software development kit--a first for the company--giving developers the ability to integrate the software into mobile apps that use voice-activated customer service. This expands beyond Siri's coverage area, which falls primarily within Apple's own selection of apps. Nuance will pilot test Nina in August with the USAA, which provides banking facilities for the U.S. military. The plan is to give all USAA members access to Nina on their Android and iOS USAA apps early next year.
There are a lot of rumours about a smaller iPad, commonly referred to as the iPad mini. As of now, there is no official word about this tablet by Apple but there are various reports surrounding its launch in the near future, and there have even been case manufacturers designing cases for this yet unannounced product. A new report by CNET states that Apple will start the panel production of the tablet by as early as this month.
According to the report by CNET, the tech website has contacted NPD DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza and he states, "We expect panel production to start in August, with production ramping up to high volumes (more than a million units per month) in the fourth quarter."
The report goes on to state, "Semenza said this is DisplaySearch's "understanding of the activity for the 7.85 [inch] panel expected to be used in the iPad Mini. If this production schedule plays out, it could indicate a late 2012 launch", he said."
If this report is true then we could see the tablet launched before the year ends. This report falls in line with another report that surfaced a few days ago, which indicated that Apple would host a special event for the iPad mini.
A few days ago, news started doing the rounds claiming that the iPad mini will launch at the same time as the next iPhone. However, Apple would likely intend to keep the spotlight fixed on the next iPhone aka the iPhone 5 as it will be nearly a year since they launched the iPhone 4S and are now facing increased competition from the likes of Samsung.
Samsung have successfully launched the Galaxy S III and have recorded over 10 million units sold. The brand also intends to unveil the Galaxy Note 2, a successor to the Galaxy Note by the end of August.
This would certainly put pressure on Apple as they usually launch just a single smartphone in a calendar year. Samsung has a whole line up of devices that aim to compete with the iPhone and if Apple does launch the iPad mini at the same time, it will take some of the shine off the iPhone 5, which it definitely does need.
The iPad mini is expected to feature a display of 7.85-inches and will compete directly against the Google Nexus 7, the 7-inch flagship Google tablet which is doing really well in the market.
This smaller iPad is also expected to feature a smaller dock connector and a microphone at the back. The microphone on the rear will assist the device in noise cancellation during video calls that can be done using Apple’s FaceTime or through Skype.
According to the report by CNET, the tech website has contacted NPD DisplaySearch analyst Paul Semenza and he states, "We expect panel production to start in August, with production ramping up to high volumes (more than a million units per month) in the fourth quarter."
The report goes on to state, "Semenza said this is DisplaySearch's "understanding of the activity for the 7.85 [inch] panel expected to be used in the iPad Mini. If this production schedule plays out, it could indicate a late 2012 launch", he said."
If this report is true then we could see the tablet launched before the year ends. This report falls in line with another report that surfaced a few days ago, which indicated that Apple would host a special event for the iPad mini.
A few days ago, news started doing the rounds claiming that the iPad mini will launch at the same time as the next iPhone. However, Apple would likely intend to keep the spotlight fixed on the next iPhone aka the iPhone 5 as it will be nearly a year since they launched the iPhone 4S and are now facing increased competition from the likes of Samsung.
Samsung have successfully launched the Galaxy S III and have recorded over 10 million units sold. The brand also intends to unveil the Galaxy Note 2, a successor to the Galaxy Note by the end of August.
This would certainly put pressure on Apple as they usually launch just a single smartphone in a calendar year. Samsung has a whole line up of devices that aim to compete with the iPhone and if Apple does launch the iPad mini at the same time, it will take some of the shine off the iPhone 5, which it definitely does need.
The iPad mini is expected to feature a display of 7.85-inches and will compete directly against the Google Nexus 7, the 7-inch flagship Google tablet which is doing really well in the market.
This smaller iPad is also expected to feature a smaller dock connector and a microphone at the back. The microphone on the rear will assist the device in noise cancellation during video calls that can be done using Apple’s FaceTime or through Skype.
Hulu Plus Hits Apple TV, With iTunes Pay Option
In a simple blog posting today Hulu reveals that its premium Hulu Plus service has finally arrived on the Apple TV. If you're existing Hulu Plus subscriber it's simply a matter of tapping your details into the app on the Apple TV homescreen. But Hulu points out that as well as signing up via their website, you can now also create a Hulu Plus account directly through Apple's TV interface and paying via your existing iTunes account details (and an email will then tell you how to access the streaming service via other channels). A regular $7.99 fee is then charged via your iTunes account every month.
While the addition of Hulu Plus is a coup for Apple and a boon for fans of the service, at least in the regions where it's available, the iTunes pay channel is a very important part of this equation and represents an expansion of its existing Netflix pay service.
European mobile phone card payment platform iZettle has been cut off by Visa. IZettle must stop processing Visa card payments in Norway, Denmark and Finland, "based on a policy decision" by Visa Europe, iZettle said in a blog post. Visa Inc. is an investor in rival mobile card-swipe giant Square, but Visa Europe is run as an independent entity, so there is little reason to think this is a competitive move (and Square remains U.S.-centric for now). Other cards--MasterCard and American Express in Finland and Diner's Club in Denmark and Norway will continue to work with the reader. In addition to these three countries, iZettle's service is also available in Sweden (where the company is based) and the U.K.--the Swedish service is still live, which has prompted discussion over Visa's motives in quashing some of the value of the mobile card reader.
IZettle started out with an iOS app and reader, but recently started beta tests of an Android app and reader in partnership with Samsung. iZettle closed a $31.6 million funding round in mid-June from funding backers like Greylock Partners, Index Ventures and MasterCard.
Google Links Blogger With Google+, Gives Gmail Hangouts
Blogger, Google's fairly popular blogging tool just got the Google+ treatment. Now that Google's content creation and content sharing streams are hooked up, bloggers on the service can link their blogs with Google+ brand pages (blogs have been linkable to personal profiles for some time now). When new posts are ready, the Google+ integration presents the option of sharing the post as a notification to selected circles of Google+ followers. Upgrading to the Google+ feature also lets existing Google+ users add a blogger's Google+ profile to their website.
Yesterday, Google announced that Gmail and its scores of loyal users would see their video chat powered by Hangouts, a previously Google+ only group chat feature. Gmail users can video chat with contacts logged into Google+, driving a cross-talk between two of Google's services that are believed to have markedly different levels of engagement. Gmail users can play around with Hangouts feature like virtual moose ears, and group chat with up to 9 other Google users. For the full experience, however, they still need to hop over to Google+.
As the year rolls on, Google is integrating more of its existing products with its testy social network which has always had something of a engagement problem. According to a recent ComScore count Google+ user numbers had grown 66 percent since November last year to 110.7 million in June, but a previous study by RJMetrics, 30 percent of Google+ users don't post after their first time.
Google Acquires Social Ad Manager Wildfire
Companies may now manage their advertising campaigns on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter using a service owned by Google.
The search giant announced it had agreed to acquire social media marketing startup Wildfire in a blog post on Tuesday. Details of the acquisition weren't disclosed, though sources tell All Things D that the purchase price is around $250 million.
Wildfire helps its 16,000 customers, including Sony, Verizon and Amazon, manage social media campaigns, content and advertising across social platforms.
Companies that fit a similar social media genre have been a hot commodity lately. Oracle has agreed to acquire two such startups, Vitrue and Collective Intellect, this summer, and Salesforce agreed to buy Wildfire competitor Buddy Media for $745 million in June.
Facebook Adding Time-Shift "Save" For Later Facility To Updates
Facebook has very quietly added a new feature to its mobile apps that lets users click and hold anywhere on a status update to activate a "save" function that specially tags a long article in order that it can be accessed easily at a later moment. The function seems to act a little like the well-known Instapaper app that is handy for marking long-form web pages in order that they can be quickly accessed later in the day when a user has more time to read them, and it's also been confirmed by TheVerge.com that the new system will be coming to Facebook's main web service too. The system seems aimed squarely at user convenience, keeping a Facebook client engaged in an article found within the social network where previously it may have been left unread due to time constraints and the inconvenience of relocating the same piece of writing later in the day in someone's cluttered Timeline.
Spotify Adds Free Streaming Radio For Android Users
Spotify has given U.S. users of its Android app the ability to stream radio for free, in Pandora-like auto-curated streams based on selected tracks or playlists. The radio feature was late coming to the iOS app itself, only showing up in June, but is now accessible to a larger pool of Android users. The radio feature syncs across devices and comes with a voting feature to respond to songs that worked and those that didn't. (The desktop app made its entry in December.) Before that, mobile access to Spotify was limited to its top tier Premium members who pay $9.99 a month.
Twitter's New Clickable Stock Ticker Tags Track Tweets About Cos.
Twitter is a great streaming service for following updates from followers and lists as they happen, but has been working on its search relevance: The latest move is the addition of a clickable stock tag for companies. Clicking on "$FB" for example, will pull up a search result list for all mentions of the Facebook stock tag as well as tweets mentioning Facebook in plain English, possibly cutting through some of the noise that comes with searching via a hashtag and making it easier to keep track of the price of stock you're interested in.
The search, sort, and old tweets departments have been a bit of a weak spot for the service. In recent months Twitter has taken small steps to improve searching on its site in terms of features and effectiveness. Earlier this year, it added an autocomplete feature to throw up commn hashtags and people you follow, and started suggesting related queries and spelling corrections in listed search results.
In a simple blog posting today Hulu reveals that its premium Hulu Plus service has finally arrived on the Apple TV. If you're existing Hulu Plus subscriber it's simply a matter of tapping your details into the app on the Apple TV homescreen. But Hulu points out that as well as signing up via their website, you can now also create a Hulu Plus account directly through Apple's TV interface and paying via your existing iTunes account details (and an email will then tell you how to access the streaming service via other channels). A regular $7.99 fee is then charged via your iTunes account every month.
While the addition of Hulu Plus is a coup for Apple and a boon for fans of the service, at least in the regions where it's available, the iTunes pay channel is a very important part of this equation and represents an expansion of its existing Netflix pay service.
Visa Europe's 'Policy Decision' Cuts Off Mobile Phone Pay Startup iZettle
European mobile phone card payment platform iZettle has been cut off by Visa. IZettle must stop processing Visa card payments in Norway, Denmark and Finland, "based on a policy decision" by Visa Europe, iZettle said in a blog post. Visa Inc. is an investor in rival mobile card-swipe giant Square, but Visa Europe is run as an independent entity, so there is little reason to think this is a competitive move (and Square remains U.S.-centric for now). Other cards--MasterCard and American Express in Finland and Diner's Club in Denmark and Norway will continue to work with the reader. In addition to these three countries, iZettle's service is also available in Sweden (where the company is based) and the U.K.--the Swedish service is still live, which has prompted discussion over Visa's motives in quashing some of the value of the mobile card reader.
IZettle started out with an iOS app and reader, but recently started beta tests of an Android app and reader in partnership with Samsung. iZettle closed a $31.6 million funding round in mid-June from funding backers like Greylock Partners, Index Ventures and MasterCard.
Google Links Blogger With Google+, Gives Gmail Hangouts
Blogger, Google's fairly popular blogging tool just got the Google+ treatment. Now that Google's content creation and content sharing streams are hooked up, bloggers on the service can link their blogs with Google+ brand pages (blogs have been linkable to personal profiles for some time now). When new posts are ready, the Google+ integration presents the option of sharing the post as a notification to selected circles of Google+ followers. Upgrading to the Google+ feature also lets existing Google+ users add a blogger's Google+ profile to their website.
Yesterday, Google announced that Gmail and its scores of loyal users would see their video chat powered by Hangouts, a previously Google+ only group chat feature. Gmail users can video chat with contacts logged into Google+, driving a cross-talk between two of Google's services that are believed to have markedly different levels of engagement. Gmail users can play around with Hangouts feature like virtual moose ears, and group chat with up to 9 other Google users. For the full experience, however, they still need to hop over to Google+.
As the year rolls on, Google is integrating more of its existing products with its testy social network which has always had something of a engagement problem. According to a recent ComScore count Google+ user numbers had grown 66 percent since November last year to 110.7 million in June, but a previous study by RJMetrics, 30 percent of Google+ users don't post after their first time.
Google Acquires Social Ad Manager Wildfire
Companies may now manage their advertising campaigns on Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter using a service owned by Google.
The search giant announced it had agreed to acquire social media marketing startup Wildfire in a blog post on Tuesday. Details of the acquisition weren't disclosed, though sources tell All Things D that the purchase price is around $250 million.
Wildfire helps its 16,000 customers, including Sony, Verizon and Amazon, manage social media campaigns, content and advertising across social platforms.
Companies that fit a similar social media genre have been a hot commodity lately. Oracle has agreed to acquire two such startups, Vitrue and Collective Intellect, this summer, and Salesforce agreed to buy Wildfire competitor Buddy Media for $745 million in June.
Facebook Adding Time-Shift "Save" For Later Facility To Updates
Facebook has very quietly added a new feature to its mobile apps that lets users click and hold anywhere on a status update to activate a "save" function that specially tags a long article in order that it can be accessed easily at a later moment. The function seems to act a little like the well-known Instapaper app that is handy for marking long-form web pages in order that they can be quickly accessed later in the day when a user has more time to read them, and it's also been confirmed by TheVerge.com that the new system will be coming to Facebook's main web service too. The system seems aimed squarely at user convenience, keeping a Facebook client engaged in an article found within the social network where previously it may have been left unread due to time constraints and the inconvenience of relocating the same piece of writing later in the day in someone's cluttered Timeline.
Spotify Adds Free Streaming Radio For Android Users
Spotify has given U.S. users of its Android app the ability to stream radio for free, in Pandora-like auto-curated streams based on selected tracks or playlists. The radio feature was late coming to the iOS app itself, only showing up in June, but is now accessible to a larger pool of Android users. The radio feature syncs across devices and comes with a voting feature to respond to songs that worked and those that didn't. (The desktop app made its entry in December.) Before that, mobile access to Spotify was limited to its top tier Premium members who pay $9.99 a month.
Twitter's New Clickable Stock Ticker Tags Track Tweets About Cos.
Twitter is a great streaming service for following updates from followers and lists as they happen, but has been working on its search relevance: The latest move is the addition of a clickable stock tag for companies. Clicking on "$FB" for example, will pull up a search result list for all mentions of the Facebook stock tag as well as tweets mentioning Facebook in plain English, possibly cutting through some of the noise that comes with searching via a hashtag and making it easier to keep track of the price of stock you're interested in.
The search, sort, and old tweets departments have been a bit of a weak spot for the service. In recent months Twitter has taken small steps to improve searching on its site in terms of features and effectiveness. Earlier this year, it added an autocomplete feature to throw up commn hashtags and people you follow, and started suggesting related queries and spelling corrections in listed search results.
Dedicated parking spaces are always useful for city dwellers with cars; there’s nothing worse than coming home after a long day at work only to find that the nearest spot is 10 blocks away. But parking spaces take up, well, space. And for much of the day, they’re left unused. There’s one startup, Parkatmyhouse, that lets people rent out their empty spots. Designer Aaron Cheng has a more creative solution: a structure that looks like a normal parking garage during the day, but turns into a living space at night.
The Parking + Housing project, submitted to this year’s James Dyson Award, asks us to imagine a place where people don’t have many possessions and don’t mind losing access to their homes during the day.
Once evening hits (and presumably all the cars have exited), the parking garage inflates into small studio living spaces that are each divided into two parts: a fixed unit with storage, a bathroom, and a kitchen, and a separate bedroom that inflates and deflates using a pneumatic system. All furniture--and other furnishings--would have to be stuffed into the fixed area during the day.
Sure, there are holes in the design: Where do people park when they get home? And what happens if someone wants to stay home from work? This would only work for someone who needs a place to rest their head at night, and nothing more.
But consider this: Cities around the world are growing rapidly, and will only continue to balloon as the population grows. Already, urban centers are considering creative space-saving ideas. In New York City, Mayor Bloomberg recently launched a contest for developers who want to build a series of 275- to 300-square-foot apartments. Developers in San Francisco are working on similar ideas.
A part-time parking lot, part-time home may not be the logical next step. But it’s something to consider.