Facebook update aims to beautify its Photos service

Facebook has once again redesigned the look of its Photos service. This time, the company is attempting to beautify the look of Photos on your Timeline, as well as the Timeline of anyone's profile you stumble upon. The new landing page is just an update of the old one: it has all of a Facebook user's photos on one page, which Facebook friends can easily Like and comment on.

You may not have the new feature yet, as the social-networking giant is pushing it out slowly to all of its 955 million monthly active users. "It'll be rolling out slowly over the course of a few weeks," a Facebook spokesperson told me in a statement. As a side note, I've also noticed that tagged names in photos now include the number of tagged photos in brackets. This is actually a link that will take you to the tagged person's photo page (facebook.com/name/photos).

If you don't see the new Photos design yet, here's what it will look like:

A picture is worth a thousand words, and all that jazz. There's not much to add beyond what you see above.

Facebook does note, however, that the new design lets you see "larger pictures that fill up the page" when you click Photos at the top of Timeline. As you'd expect, the menu allows you to find shots you're tagged in, pictures you've shared, and albums you've created.

Given that this feature is part of Timeline, it of course offers you a way to highlight photos for featuring on your Timeline. To do so, click the star button beside a given photo.

Facebook has been regularly tweaking the look of Photos on its site since the service first launched and this appears a big improvement. Given that there are more than 300 million photos uploaded to Facebook daily, it's about time.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57482319-93/facebook-update-aims-to-beautify-its-photos-service/

The Persistence of the Facebook Smartphone Myth

On Facebook's earnings call Thursday, Mark Zuckerberg seemed to deny that the company would be developing its own branded smartphone, presumably an effort to put to rest growing speculation -- mostly attributed to unnamed sources -- about a Facebook phone under development at HTC.

Building a smartphone, said Zuckerberg on the call, "wouldn't really make much sense for us to do."

As nitpickers will hasten to point out, that's not exactly a denial.

"Our mobile strategy is simple: We think every mobile device is better if it is deeply social," says an unnamed Facebook spokesperson in a statement provided to TechNewsWorld by Ana Brekalo of The Outcast Agency.

"We're working across the entire mobile industry, with operators, hardware manufacturers, OS providers, and application developers to bring powerful social experiences to more people around the world," adds the spokesperson.

While it's certainly not a confirmation, that statement also doesn't flat out deny that a Facebook phone is in the works. 

ace Value?

If Zuckerberg's comments can be taken at face value, then there's simply no phone. End of story.

"Mark Zuckerberg said that Facebook isn't making its own phone, choosing instead to focus on integrating with other OS platforms," Avi Greengart, research director for consumer devices with Current Analysis, told TechNewsWorld. "I'm inclined to take Zuckerberg's word over rumors from 'people with knowledge of the matter' -- but that's just me."

However, Zuckerberg would not be the first chief to play coy about a project under development that his company was not yet ready to announce.

"I think there are people out there working on a Facebook-branded phone," technology consultant Eric Brown told TechNewsWorld. "It may not be Facebook [itself] and may not be 'approved' by Facebook, but I believe a manufacturer -- HTC, Kyocera, LG, etc. -- might be working on something like this to try to sell the idea to Facebook."

A Good Idea

A Facebook phone could be a boon for a company that has emphasized the importance of the mobile sphere to its business model.

"I think it would be a good idea," said Brown. "Facebook already has brand recognition. Why not parlay that into a device that is Facebook-centric?"

Having its own smartphone, however, might require Facebook to do some fundamental rethinking, restructuring and reorganizing.

"Were Facebook to develop a phone, they would need to acknowledge it is a far different business model than their core and create organizational space to accommodate it," Kevin R. Bolen, a partner with the consulting firm Innosight, told TechNewsWorld.

"Dealing with manufacturing, suppliers, distributors, returns, inventory, seasonal sales cycles -- these are all concepts that are presently foreign to a social network management firm selling advertising," he explained. "Embracing these differences and building a dedicated environment and experienced leadership team to support the new business would be critical to their success."

What Facebook Would Have to Do

For a Facebook smartphone to succeed, according to Brown, it would have to be feature-rich and provide something truly new to the marketplace.

"To succeed long-term, any Facebook-branded phone would need to be a smartphone first and Facebook device second," he said. "To be successful, the device would need to invisibly integrate all the smartphone features with [the] Facebook system -- email, photo sharing, check-ins, etc."

In other words, it would have to go beyond other smartphones in its ability to leverage the strengths of Facebook's social platform.

"The standard features found in smartphones today are key, but I suspect Facebook would want to twist everything to tie into the Facebook ecosystem," said Brown. "The email/calendar/contact apps would most likely be tied into Facebook. A 'chat' and 'videochat' app would most likely be included as well -- both using the Facebook ecosystem."

There's plenty of competition in the smartphone marketplace, so a Facebook phone would have to stand out from the pack and be truly innovative in order to be able to capture any significant market share.

"Facebook's challenge will be to look beyond our current expectations and show us something unexpectedly valuable and exceed what we can get already with the Facebook app on an iPhone," said Bolen.

"Could they look at what else we carry every day and find a way to integrate it the way Apple has with cameras, music, [and] gaming?" he wondered. "Could a Facebook phone replace my wallet?"

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/The-Persistence-of-the-Facebook-Smartphone-Myth-75766.html

Apple Files Another Wearable Computing Patent

At first glance, the illustration that accompanies Apple’s latest patent looks like the company wants to own the rights to bowls people wear on their heads.

But this patent, which was discovered by the blog Patently Apple, is actually for a wearable computer.

The patent is specifically for a “display resolution increase with mechanical actuation.” In other words, the patent describes a technology that can be used for increasing the pixel density of a display placed over someone’s eye.

Apple has filed a number of patents that demonstrate wearable computers.

There are also a number of patents that show displays embedded in glasses. Earlier this month Apple was awarded a patent for a “peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays” that can be used to project an image into someone’s eye.

As Patently Apple found, the latest filing also notes that the technology can be used for “other types of display devices such as television sets, computer monitors, projection systems, and so forth.” Though it is unclear when Apple could release real products based on all of these technologies.

The patent was published on Thursday by the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Source: http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/07/27/apple-files-another-wearable-computing-patent/

Apple Changes Connectors. World Freaks Out

When Steve Jobs launched the iTunes Store more than nine years ago, he also unveiled the third-generation iPod, the first device with a plug design that has become nearly as significant to independent manufacturers as iTunes has to the music industry. The bottom-mounted connector capable of transferring songs and charging the music player is now a standard Apple (AAPL) component. Makers of mobile accessories use the plug’s specifications when designing chargers, cases, speakers, and stands for iPods, iPhones, and iPads.

That $1.3 billion-a-year market will soon be upended by the connector’s first overhaul since April 2003, according to several people familiar with the design of the new iPhone expected this fall. These people, who were not authorized to discuss the change, say the new plug will have only 19 connector pins, down from 30 in the port used by more than 600 million iPods, iPhones, and iPads, as well as millions of third-party accessories. An Apple representative declined to comment.


The long-rumored change is a huge opportunity for some mobile-accessory makers, says industry analyst Ross Rubin. “Customers will want to purchase new accessories that take advantage of the new dock,” he says, because he expects the new connector to enable faster data transfer. But manufacturers who took the design for granted aren’t thrilled. “I was talking with somebody in the car industry, and I mentioned the dock connector may change, and they got this panicked deer-in-headlights look,” says Kyle Wiens, the co-founder and chief executive officer of iFixit, which publishes consumer electronics repair manuals. “There’s an entire ecosystem built around a single connector that’s going to be obsolete.”


Apple executives are well aware of that. The company sells its own peripherals and enjoys a lucrative relationship with third-party accessory makers, who pay about $4 for each accessory in exchange for official endorsements on their products, according to a person familiar with the company’s licensing plan. Apple has long kept a close eye on the accessory market and in 2010 slapped patent-infringement lawsuits on companies that sold unlicensed iPod cables, chargers, and speakers.


Regardless of the disruption it will cause, the redesign is overdue. In recent years, Apple’s connector has been surpassed by sturdier, smaller, faster data-transfer jacks used in smartphones made by Samsung Electronics, Motorola Mobility (GOOG), and other competitors, Rubin says.


Wireless software is making plugs less critical, as new accessories can play music from an iPod, tablet, or smartphone without a physical link. And there’s some precedent for easy fixes to Apple design tweaks. In June, when the company announced that its new MacBook Pro would not be compatible with older power connectors, it also unveiled an adapter that costs about $10. Many third parties expect a similar move when the new iPhone launches, says Dominic Symons, the founder of accessory maker Bluelounge Design.


Even so, some companies have stopped making Apple accessories pending a formal announcement. “It’s a challenge,” Symons says, “because we have to wait and see what’s going to happen.”


The bottom line: A design upgrade for Apple’s connector, unchanged for nearly a decade, could mean new peripherals for much of its huge existing user base.

Satariano is a reporter for Bloomberg News in San Francisco.


Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-26/apple-changes-connectors-dot-world-freaks-out

OS X Mountain Lion Springs Into Action

There is the old proverb, "if the mountain won't come to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain," but in Apple's case it is the Lion that has gone to the Mountain. On Wednesday, Apple released its latest update, Mountain Lion, which picks up where last year's OS X Lion update leaves off.|

This is the 10th iteration of the Mac operating system since the first public beta appeared way back in September 2000 -- and a dozen years later, this one roars, if not as loudly. Still, the cat is out of the bag -- this year's upgrade is available as a digital download only for just US$19.99.

"The Apple OS upgrade is a minor release," said Josh Crandall, principal analyst for Netpop Research.

 

But for diehard Apple fans, is there really such a thing as a minor release?

"It is a gentler upgrade than Lion was a year ago, but it is broadly based," said Ezra Gottheil, senior analyst, computing practice, for Technology Business Research. "There isn't one killer feature, but it will be a lot easier to take. And Apple users will want this upgrade."

Apple did not respond to our request to comment for this story. 

Feature Filled

Mountain Lion has been developed to run on most Macs sold since 2007, so even those users who haven't updated their hardware will likely be able to take advantage of the new upgrade, which does promise a plethora of features.

How many of those new additions will actually be used is the question.

"Boasting over 200 new features reveals that quantity, more than quality, is the selling point," Crandall told MacNewsWorld. "But, when it comes to niche features, how many do consumers actually use? Some consumers may realize that 200 more features may cause additional confusion rather than improving the experience."

Early reaction has been positive, "the early reaction is really a long reaction, as it has been in beta for a while," said Gottheil. Apple actually released the beta version back in February.

"There are reportedly fewer glitches than Lion had when it came out," he said, "... but this is really just about refinement and polishing."

A Mobile Mountain Lion?

The biggest question is whether Mountain Lion climbs higher toward the iCloud and whether it will see greater integration with iOS. Mountain Lion does make available some iOS features including push notifications, Messages, Reminders and Notification Center. Is this a move toward a single OS for all Apple offerings?

"I don't think so, and I don't think there is any need to do it," said Gottheil. "If it happens, it will be so deep into each manifestation of each that users won't care or possibly notice."

However, this could result in greater integration and compatibly with iOS and iCloud, Gottheil told MacNewsWorld. "We're seeing the direction it is going, and users live in a multi-device world. Your data can be where you happen to be at the time."

Apple is likely to make that integration possible, but given the different nature of the hardware, it is unlikely that OS X and iOS will result in a single OS in the foreseeable future.

"There will be a little more meshing between the desktop platform and iOS, and apps such as Messages, the texting application, [are] now available on Mountain Lion," said Craig Stice, senior principal analyst, compute platforms, at IHS iSuppli. "What we are seeing is greater connectivity with other devices."

iOS and OS X as One?

Even beyond the immediate release of Mountain Lion, or whatever cat Apple goes with next, it is unlikely that iOS and OS X will result in a "ONE OS."

"I don't think there will be one OS that will run across all the Apple devices," added Stice. "Apple manages their hardware so well, and it seems they need to separate systems as efficiently as they want to."

Instead it is likely that aforementioned connectivity will just allow more connection. But then again, never say never with Apple.

"I tend to believe no and that Apple won't merge the systems," said Stice. "But Apple is so secretive that it is hard to know what they will do next."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/OS-X-Mountain-Lion-Springs-Into-Action-75732.html

Skype's Server Upgrade Triggers Wiretapping Worries

Fears have surfaced that Skype may be eavesdropping on communications over its service.

The concern is that supernodes Microsoft is introducing to Skype could make it easier to monitor calls, because they route the voice data in addition to initiating communications between parties.

"As was true before the Microsoft acquisition, Skype cooperates with law enforcement agencies as is legally required and technically feasible," Skype spokesperson Chaim Haas told TechNewsWorld.

However, the supernodes were being developed prior to Skype's being acquired by Microsoft, Haas said.

Skype developed the supernodes, which "can be located on dedicated servers within secure datacenters, as part of our ongoing commitment to continually improve the Skype user experience," said He Mark Gillett, head of Skype's product engineering and operations, in an earlier statement. 

Just Another Eye in the Sky?

The fear is that Skype may be monitoring both voice and data communications.

Perhaps Microsoft's award of US patent 20110153809, which allows for legal interception, has fueled those fears.

The technology describes how data associated with a request to establish a communication is modified to cause it to be established via a path that includes a recording agent. Such modification could include adding, changing or deleting data.

However, "given how sensitive to latency voice -- and even more so video -- are, I find this to be implausible from an engineering standpoint," Vikram Phatak, CEO of NSS Labs, told TechNewsWorld.

Latency is behind the spotty voice conversations people experience when using a Voice over IP phone system. It's caused by delays in the transmission of packets of data over the network.

"Skype would lose users due to poor quality very quickly" if data were being intercepted at the supernodes," Phatak continued. "More likely, the handoff details are being shared with law enforcement, which is no different from what telephone carriers do today."

Further, communications can be -- "and in the case of international communications are already -- monitored by government servers," Jim McGregor, founder and principal analyst of Tirias Research, told TechNewsWorld. "This is already a reality and a result of the current state of the world."

The Mighty, Mighty Supernode

In Skype's supernode-based hierarchical peer-to-peer architecture, some ordinary nodes were previously selected to double as supernodes. The selection criteria appear to be reachability and spare bandwidth. The supernodes maintain an overlay network among themselves and take queries from ordinary nodes associated with them.

However, Microsoft appears to have taken over and installed its own supernodes instead, following its purchase of Skype earlier this year. Changes in Skype's supernode setup were reported in the Expertmiami blog in May.

Microsoft had trimmed the number of supernodes from about 48,000 to 10,000, the blog pointed out. Those 10,000 supernodes run on Linux boxes using GRSecurity.

Skype's introduction of its own supernodes hasn't changed the underlying nature of its P2P architecture, in which supernodes simply allow users to find one another, the company's Gillett said in response to the Expertmiami report. The move to supernodes improves scalability, performance and availability of the Skype service, and calls do not pass through supernodes.

Supernodes and Security

If Skype should move to a proxy model with all traffic flowing through supernodes, "it would make it easier for bad actors of all flavors," NSS Labs' Patak said. That's "not because the keys are easier to find [but] because all the targets would pass through a central choke point."

However, because this approach would probably cause "major performance problems," it's not likely the route Skype is taking, he added.

Further, "there's no reason to believe that some hackers can't already break in and intercept communications," Randy Abrams, director of research at NSS Labs, told TechNewsWorld. "If you're not acting with this assumption, then you aren't thinking about security properly."

The fuss over the supernodes possibly making it easier to monitor communications over Skype could be a tempest in a teapot.

"The real question is, should you really be concerned about this level of security?" Tirias Research's McGregor asked. "Are you and your company doing anything that would warrant this level of security? With the amount of proprietary or secure information that's being passed through open email channels today, voice communications over Skype should be the least concern of individuals or companies."

Source:  http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Skypes-Server-Upgrade-Triggers-Wiretapping-Worries-75721.html

Silicon Valley Says Step Away From the Device

Stuart Crabb, a director in the executive offices of Facebook, naturally likes to extol the extraordinary benefits of computers and smartphones. But like a growing number of technology leaders, he offers a warning: log off once in a while, and put them down. 

In a place where technology is seen as an all-powerful answer, it is increasingly being seen as too powerful, even addictive.

The concern, voiced in conferences and in recent interviews with many top executives of technology companies, is that the lure of constant stimulation — the pervasive demand of pings, rings and updates — is creating a profound physical craving that can hurt productivity and personal interactions.

“If you put a frog in cold water and slowly turn up the heat, it’ll boil to death — it’s a nice analogy,” said Mr. Crabb, who oversees learning and development at Facebook. People “need to notice the effect that time online has on your performance and relationships.”

The insight may not sound revelatory to anyone who has joked about the “crackberry” lifestyle or followed the work of researchers who are exploring whether interactive technology has addictive properties.

But hearing it from leaders at many of Silicon Valley’s most influential companies, who profit from people spending more time online, can sound like auto executives selling muscle cars while warning about the dangers of fast acceleration.

“We’re done with this honeymoon phase and now we’re in this phase that says, ‘Wow, what have we done?’ ” said Soren Gordhamer, who organizes Wisdom 2.0, an annual conference he started in 2010 about the pursuit of balance in the digital age. “It doesn’t mean what we’ve done is bad. There’s no blame. But there is a turning of the page.”

At the Wisdom 2.0 conference in February, founders from Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Zynga and PayPal, and executives and managers from companies like Google, Microsoft, Cisco and others listened to or participated in conversations with experts in yoga and mindfulness. In at least one session, they debated whether technology firms had a responsibility to consider their collective power to lure consumers to games or activities that waste time or distract them.

The actual science of whether such games and apps are addictive is embryonic. But the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, widely viewed as the authority on mental illnesses, plans next year to include “Internet use disorder” in its appendix, an indication researchers believe something is going on but that requires further study to be deemed an official condition.

Some people disagree there is a problem, even if they agree that the online activities tap into deep neurological mechanisms. Eric Schiermeyer, a co-founder of Zynga, an online game company and maker of huge hits like FarmVille, has said he has helped addict millions of people to dopamine, a neurochemical that has been shown to be released by pleasurable activities, including video game playing, but also is understood to play a major role in the cycle of addiction.

But what he said he believed was that people already craved dopamine and that Silicon Valley was no more responsible for creating irresistible technologies than, say, fast-food restaurants were responsible for making food with such wide appeal.

“They’d say: ‘Do we have any responsibility for the fact people are getting fat?’ Most people would say ‘no,’ ” said Mr. Schiermeyer. He added: “Given that we’re human, we already want dopamine.”

Along those lines, Scott Kriens, chairman of Juniper Networks, one of the biggest Internet infrastructure companies, said the powerful lure of devices mostly reflected primitive human longings to connect and interact, but that those desires needed to be managed so they did not overwhelm people’s lives.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/24/technology/silicon-valley-worries-about-addiction-to-devices.html

Marissa Explains It All

Given its lousy financial performance, periodic bouts of layoffs, questionable patent litigation strategy and security lapses, Yahoo appears to be adrift, listing, off course, capsizing. Name any unfavorable nautical condition, and it probably applies to Yahoo.

A large part of the blame for that lies with the people in charge of hiring the captain. Yahoo's board of directors has discarded three CEOs over the last four years. It squeezed a company cofounder out of the position, fired his replacement via a phone call, and then sent the next guy packing after just a matter of months when it was revealed he'd fed them a puffed-up resume.

With its latest hire, though, it's trying something different. Instead of taking up with another itinerant executive with experience leading a couple of low- to medium-profile tech companies, Yahoo has hired a Silicon Valley celebrity: Marissa Mayer.

By many accounts, Yahoo is lucky to have landed her. Mayer has been with Google since before Google was a verb. She was its 20th employee, and during her career she's played key roles in some of the company's most successful products: Maps, News, Books, Images, Gmail, not to mention good old Search. She is not in the habit of working quietly behind the scenes. Between the public appearances, magazine covers and interviews, hers is probably Google's third-most recognizable face behind cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin.

Now she's the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company, freshly scooped up from a top spot at arguably the world's most powerful Internet outfit. And she has her work cut out for her. Just after she took the job, Yahoo announced its second-quarter numbers, and they were a typical shade of glum: declining overall revenue, stagnant display ad revenue, and continuing feeble results from its Microsoft partnership.

Soon we'll get to see if Mayer is the one who can finally rekindle Yahoo's spirit. The company hasn't stood tall as an innovator in years, and at this point fresh ideas for new products and services sound a lot more exciting than fresh ideas about how to cut back costs, eliminate more people and shrink down to a smaller yet profitable company -- though the latter still might have to be part of the plan as well. At Google, Mayer was at the forefront of several projects that locked in the company's identity as an innovation leader over the last decade.

Mayer has her doubters too, though. She proved to be a razor-sharp top executive at Google, but serving as the head of an entire company is a different matter. Her talents with engineering and design might not be exactly what Yahoo needs to pull off a revival. And there's the fact that Yahoo just isn't in nearly as good shape as Google.

Yahoo is saddled with activist shareholders, a board that just underwent an awkward reshuffle, and overall low morale. Google has its problems too, but its issues are minor compared to Yahoo's. On balance, Google's a winner. It doesn't leak top executives like a sieve -- Mayer herself notwithstanding, of course -- and you never hear much about boardroom drama. Mayer will now have to show how she handles a somewhat gloomier place.


Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Marissa-Explains-It-All-75692.html

Viacom and DirecTV in deal to restore programming

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Viacom and DirecTV announced Friday that they have reached a deal, putting aside their dispute and allowing Viacom's programming to immediately return to the airwaves.

The agreement ends a fee dispute that had interrupted programming since July 10. 

Viacom blacked out channels for 20 million customers of DirecTV (DTV, Fortune 500). Among the channels affected were Nickelodeon, Comedy Central, MTV, Spike and VH1. The blackout came as the companies hit the end of a seven-year deal without agreeing on terms for a new contract.

The companies did not provide a dollar figure on Friday for their new deal, but Nomura analyst Michael Nathanson published a note saying he believes that Viacom got a sizeable fee increase from DirecTV.

"We estimate Viacom implied domestic affiliate payment per household is in the area of $2.80 and DTV's old deal was in the area of $2.25 per sub per month," Nathanson wrote.

He thinks that Viacom (VIA) got at least 55 cents per month, per subscriber more from DirecTV, putting DirecTV's rates closer to the $3 per month that Viacom distributors pay on average.

Viacom said Friday that it was "extremely pleased to bring its programming back to DirecTV subscribers."

Throughout the impasse, the companies took acrimonious shots at one another, but on Friday they buried the hatchet. Their fee-fight websites, once filled crying cartoon characters and scathing attacks, were replaced with little more than the text of the press release announcing the deal.

Nomura analyst Nathanson said the deal "reinforces the power of Viacom's networks and brands, especially in the face of weak short-term ratings."

But tech analyst Jeff Kagan thinks there will be lasting fallout from the fight, one of the biggest of the industry's endless skirmishes. DirecTV is the second-largest television service provider in the country, behind Comcast (CMCSA), and Viacom owns eight of the top 30 cable networks.

The blackouts and disputes are a "longer term problem that will continue to jump up and bite us all, year after year until it is fixed," he wrote in a research note.

"The problem is customers want and expect a decrease in price and are continually disappointed," Kagan said. "The industry may be preparing to go through a big transformation over the next few years just like the wireless industry did with Apple and Google."

Source: http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/20/technology/viacom-directv/index.htm

Zen Mobile unveils Android 4.0.3 ICS-based Ultra Tab A100 at Rs. 6,199

Zen Mobile has announced the launch of an Android 4.0.3 Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablet called Ultra Tab A100. The tablet has been priced at Rs. 6,199, though it's available via online stores such as HomeShop for Rs. 5,999.

The new Zen tablet features a 7-inch touch display with 800x480 pixels resolution. The Zen Ultra Tab A100 is powered by a 1.2GHz processor. Other features of the device includes 512MB of RAM, 4GB of built-in storage, microSD card slot that supports up to another 32GB, 1.3 MP front camera (digital zoom) and 2,800 mAh battery.

The Zen Ultra Tab comes with the power key and ports on the top for convenience. Also, the device comes pre-loaded with apps like iBrowser, mBollywood, India newspaper, mig33, Paytm and others. Users can also download more apps from Google Play store. For connectivity the device supports Wi-Fi and 3G.

Zen Mobile has also entered into a partnership with data value added service provider DigiVive to provide mobile TV services – nexGTv - on the UltraTab A100. The nexGTv service, available for free, features over 100 live channels, Video-on-Demand and Live TV.

With the launch of Ultra Tab, Zen Mobile has followed in the footsteps of the likes of Karbonn Mobiles and Micromax – the Indian mobile manufacturers to foray into the country's tablet market. Micromax has launched its Funbook budget tablet featuring the latest Android version, ICS. Karbonn has launched its ICS-based  Smart Tab 1 tablet. Karbonn is reportedly planning to launch an Android 4.1 Jelly Bean-based tablet this year.

The Indian market is currently flooded with the budget tablets. Zync, WickedLeak and WishTel are some of the popular names in the budget tablet market today. To know more, check out our Top 10 Budget Tablets list.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Tablets/Zen-Mobile-unveils-Android-403-ICS-based-Ultra_10196.html

Microsoft's Office 15 intro comes without iPad flavor

For months, the Web teemed with rumors that Microsoft would launch Office for the iPad, making it the first touch-focused platform for the cash cow productivity suite.

But when Microsoft unveiled the next version of Office this week, it was clear the iPad would have to wait.

In an interview with CNET, Office division President Kurt DelBene said Microsoft's own Windows is the priority for the newest version of Office. The new touch-friendly productivity suite will debut on Windows 8, which launches in October, in large part because the operating system is the best showcase for Microsoft's application suite.

"We have a unique opportunity with Windows 8 style applications to push that even further," DelBene said.

DelBene didn't specifically address when, or even if, Microsoft would release a version of Office for the iPad, the dominant platform for touch-based tablet computing. But he made it clear that Microsoft would give Windows tablets the first crack at what for many companies remains a must-have application.

Of course, tablets running Windows 8 will need all the help they can get to compete against the iPad. The new Windows will be the first version of the dominant operating system to focus on touch computing and run on ARM chips, which should result in smaller designs. But it arrives more than two years after the iPad first hit store shelves. And Apple has vanquished every tablet rival that's tried to elbow its way into the market.

Months ahead of the new Office unveiling, rumors persisted that the productivity suite would arrive on the iPad later this year, initially fueled by an article in The Daily. A follow-up piece a few months later included a purported screenshot of the software in action, which Microsoft quickly claimed was fabricated. Last month, a report from Business Insider said the software would be ready to go for the iPad by November.

Microsoft is an active developer on Apple's iPad, as well as the iPhone, though has focused most of its efforts on its Bing search tool. Of the 23 applications the company has developed for iOS, it only charges for one of them -- the mobile tie-in to its XBOX game Kinectimals.

Despite those contributions, Microsoft has shown little interest in making pieces of Office available to users of Apple's iOS. So far, its efforts include a mobile version of OneNote and a version of its Lync communications software, two pieces of the Office puzzle, but arguably not the heavy hitters.

"They already have a toe in the water, but it's not a really healthy toe," says Michael Silver, a vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "If Microsoft is really serious about continued competition in Office, and maintaining things, they will have to have an iPad version."

Of course, Office itself is among the most sought after applications not available for the iPad. Businesses use Excel for back office operations and Word to create marketing plans. As much as employees might want to bring their iPads into work, they are often hamstrung when it comes to completing tasks that require Office.

Several companies, including Apple, have tried to work around Office's absence from the iOS ecosystem. Microsoft Office documents that have been attached to e-mails can be read with Apple's built-in Mail application. Users can also open and edit several types of Microsoft Office files in their corresponding iWork apps, Apple's own suite of paid productivity applications.

For users who want more, companies like CloudOn and Onlive have solutions for both the iPad, and Android tablets that let you work with documents using virtualized versions of Microsoft's Office software. But Silver says these solutions can end up being a headache for businesses given Microsoft's complicated licensing agreements, and can leave power users who want more features yearning for more.

If Microsoft eventually offers an iOS version of Office, it would obviate the need for any of those work-around solutions. But for now, it's in Microsoft's best interest to make the best touch experience for Office on new Windows 8 devices.

"At least for the holiday season, the only tablet device you'll be able to get it on will be Windows RT," Silver said.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-57474351-75/microsofts-office-15-intro-comes-without-ipad-flavor

HTC One, Desire smartphones to support Hindi and other Indian languages

HTC has announced it will be adding support for Indian languages – Hindi, Tamil and Marathi – to its One and Desire series smartphones. The company is rolling out a software upgrade that will enable users to read and write in the Indian languages while using the phone's messaging application, browsing the Internet or even exploring the applications on Google Play store.

HTC in a release says users will be able to read Bengali on select apps on Play store from next month. The company, however, does not clarify these select apps refer to its own distributed apps or ones distributed by the third party developers.

The company says the language support will be released over the air. Initially, the update will be available for Desire C and Desire V smartphone users. HTC will be releasing update for One X, One S and One V from August 2012.

“HTC is committed to helping Indian consumers communicate easily through a more intuitive mobile experience, which can only be offered with full Indian language capability on their smartphones,” says Faisal Siddiqui, Country Manager, HTC India. “HTC continues to be the smartphone brand of choice for the India market due to our focus on what the consumer needs, and delivering that in an encompassing, holistic manner.”

It is not the first time when HTC has added support for local languages in its smartphone. Last year, the company had added Hindi and Tamil language support for its low-cost Explorer smartphone.

It's notable that Google's latest OS, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, comes with support for 18 other languages including Hindi and Arabic.

Source: http://www.thinkdigit.com/Mobiles-PDAs/HTC-One-Desire-smartphones-to-support-Hindi_10172.html

Yahoo Stuck Without SQL Injection Antidote

The term "SQL injection" sounds pretty scary -- kind of medical, painful, maybe even lethal. And it can be, for websites that fall victim to it. It involves tricking a site into forming a rogue SQL command that prompts a database to deliver its contents right into the hands of the attacker. If it's successful, a hacker can gain access to a ton of sensitive information.

The bright side of SQL injection is that it's not exactly cutting edge. It's something security pros have seen time and time again, and they've developed a whole set of precautions and best practices websites can follow in order to protect themselves.

Unfortunately, Yahoo apparently wasn't in the habit of following those guidelines.

The company recently confirmed that nearly half a million unencrypted email addresses, complete with passwords, had been leaked into the hands of hackers by way of Yahoo's Voice website. The hackers then posted the information publicly as a sort of shame-on-you directed at Yahoo.

Security gurus were quick to jump down the company's throat for its poor hygiene. SQL injection is not some mystical, esoteric act of cybersorcery that nobody fully understands. It may not be literally the oldest trick in the book, but it's old and well-known enough that Yahoo is getting pummeled for falling for it.

Obviously, Yahoo users should change their passwords ASAP. As with any email and password leak, it's not just your email that's at risk -- if you use the same combo for any other site, that account's security has been compromised too.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Yahoo-Stuck-Without-SQL-Injection-Antidote-75632.html

Why We Need a Standard for the Internet of Things

The Internet of things is supposed to connect every aspect of our lives from our homes and cars to the objects we wear and the goods we consume. It’s even connecting ice machines. But one thing the Internet of things lacks is a unifying standard.

Devices will be connected by different radio technologies: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, ZigBee, and a host of 2G and mobile broadband cellular technologies. There’s really no way of assuring your “thing” will connect to the network or networks available at any given time.

The mobile industry is trying to rectify the problem, at least as it pertains to cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) technologies. The bigger issue of fragmentation among bands and technologies isn’t going to get worked out anytime soon: You’re not going to connect a GSM wristwatch to a CDMA or Wi-Fi network. But often you can’t connect that GSM wristwatch to a GSM network either. Roaming among networks that use the same technology requires not only a business arrangement with each carrier but also a common protocol.

A group of global wireless-standards bodies are trying to tackle that problem. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI), the Telecommunications Industry Assn. (TIA), and the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions (ATIS) in the U.S. are working with their counterparts in Japan, Korea, and China to develop a common “service layer” that can be embedded in every M2M device, making them compatible with M2M application servers hosted by any global operator.

At the end of the day, that means many of the devices in our Internet of things suddenly become untethered from specific networks. That wristwatch could work on AT&T (T) as well as T-Mobile’s GSM network and then connect to Rogers Communications’ (RCI) GSM towers when you fly into Toronto. Shipping containers embedded with M2M modules connect to whatever network is available at any port of call. The same wireless smart meter could be deployed in Kansas City or in Marrakesh without having to completely reconfigure its software.

Roaming among networks is possible today. The problem is those arrangements tend to be ad hoc deals put together by M2M service aggregators like Kore Telematics, which sort out all the underlying carrier deals and manage each network’s various protocols. Some operators have started taking matters into their own hands.

On Tuesday seven major operators—KPN, NTT DoCoMo (DCM), Rogers, SingTel, Telefónica (TEF), Telstra, and Vimpelcom (VIP)—formed an alliance to create a common M2M management platform allowing for the “delivery of a global product with a single SIM, eliminating roaming costs in the countries of participating operators.”

It sounds like a standard, but it’s not quite the same thing. All seven providers use the same M2M management platform supplied by Jasper Wireless, so they are able to bridge their difference through a common vendor. Still, the effort is admirable and could lead to the creation of ad hoc interoperability among a large section of the world’s carriers. Jasper has many other customers besides those seven, including AT&T and América Móvil (AMX).

A good example of a problem such cooperation could solve is the Kindle’s international predicament. Even though Amazon (AMZN) sells the Kindle all over the world it has one “home” network, AT&T. That means any Kindle user either living in or traveling to another country has to pay international download (read: roaming) fees to buy a new book or access a periodical subscription.

It’s fairly ridiculous that a multinational retailer like Amazon can’t support its flagship device internationally without resorting to such single-carrier arrangements. But if Amazon were to broker a deal with this new alliance, the Kindle would find itself at home on whichever of these seven networks it wandered onto.

There’s a possibility the industry will coalesce around a single proprietary technology such as Jasper’s, creating an ad hoc standard much like we see developing in the public-cloud space around Amazon Web Services. But an ad hoc standard isn’t a standard.

What we need is for the industry to get together and sort out a way to make every M2M device carrier- and network-agnostic. A gadget maker should be able to build a device that connects to the Internet of things without a specific carrier, a specific management platform, or a specific application server in mind. The business deals with individual carriers would still need to be sorted out, but first we need to remove the technology barriers. Otherwise we won’t wind up with a single Internet of things but instead many internets, each with its own separate sets of things.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-07-13/why-we-need-a-standard-for-the-internet-of-things

Yahoo Voice Crack Spills 400K+ Usernames, Passwords

The passwords and usernames of more than 400,000 contributors to the Yahoo Voices website have been stolen and posted on the Internet.

The hack was carried out by an organization calling itself "D33Ds Company," which posted the data on the Web.

The D33Ds Web page containing the data was down when checked at press time. However, the text file is reportedly available through torrents.

The passwords were stored in clear text and not encrypted, according to TrustedSec, which disclosed news of the hack The hackers apparently used an SQL injection attack.

"We confirm that an older file from Yahoo Contributor Network, previously Associated Content, containing approximately 400,000 Yahoo and other company users' names and passwords was stolen July 11," Yahoo spokesperson Dana Lengkeek told TechNewsWorld. "Of these, less than 5 percent of the Yahoo accounts had valid passwords." [*Editor's note - July 12, 2012]

Safety Last

SQL injection has been used by hackers for years. This fact, and the lack of encryption of the data stolen, have led security experts to criticize Yahoo's security practices.

"The fact that they have unencrypted storage of usernames and passwords shows a lack of security practices embedded into the software lifecycle of the company," Dave Kennedy, TrustedSec's president and CEO, told TechNewsWorld.

"The only place we should be seeing SQL injection attacks today is in the classroom, as IT professionals are being trained to prevent such attacks," said Randy Abrams, research director at NSS Labs, said.

SQL injection attacks are preventable through proper filtering and sanitizing, and are "required for security," Abrams told TechNewsWorld. "The more than 300,000 results on Google for the search string 'prevent SQL injection attack' would have been useful to Yahoo."

Yahoo "did not follow the concept of least privilege, which let the hackers gain admin access to the database," Jason Rhykerd, a consult at SystemExperts, stated. This concept means giving an application the minimum of privileges it requires to conduct its business when talking to a database.

"I find it hard to believe that, if as much database information was pulled via the SQL injection as was reported, someone or better yet something, such as an intrusion detection system, did not notice it," Rhykerd continued.

Defense, Defense, Defense!

Web application security is an art rather than a science, so it's conceivable that not every type of application error or fault will be discovered, but there are mitigation techniques, SystemExperts' Rhykerd told TechNewsWorld.

For example, generic error messages that watch for SQL and other errors could warn users of such an error without leaking back application information, Rhykerd pointed out. Using a service account with least privilege and by encrypting the data would have reduced the impact of the hack.

Yahoo could have placed multiple layers of controls in place, "but this can only be done by understanding your business objectives, inventorying assets and assessing risk to recognize gaps," Rhykerd said.

Fallout From the Hack

It's not just Yahoo Voices users who are at risk. TrustedSec said the data stolen contained email addresses from other domains, including Gmail.com and AOL.com.

"This was one of many sites the hackers had access to," TrustedSec's Kennedy said.

"It sounds like there are systemic issues at Yahoo," he added.

"We are fixing the vulnerability that led to the disclosure of this data, changing the passwords of the affected Yahoo users, and notifying the companies whose users' accounts may have been compromised," Yahoo's Lengkeek said. "We apologize to affected users."

While this kind of hack, where the data stolen is publicly posted, is usually conducted for bragging rights, "others without such neutral intent now have access to these folks' emails and passwords to use for phishing or on other sites where users may have reused their passwords," Chet Wisniewski, a senior security advisor at Sophos, told TechNewsWorld.

 

"The thing about SQL injection attacks is that, sometimes, the attacker gets the system root," NSS Labs' Abrams pointed out. "We don't know how deep the breach really is, or whether there is a back door lingering in the system now."

Yahoo "needs to enhance their network access controls, database security model, and to start sanitizing data input," Abrams continued. "This was preventable."

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Yahoo-Voice-Crack-Spills-400K-Usernames-Passwords-75619.html

Twitter Tweaks Search to Trim Tweet Mountains

Twitter has given its site an overhaul designed to simplify its search functions and provide users with suggestions when they're unsure of an exact handle or hashtag.

The site's upgraded search results will now more closely resemble those of a Google search. Now when users begin typing a search term, they will see an autocomplete dropdown box of suggested terms, or results with corrected spelling.

Users will also receive related suggestions for topics that might use multiple terms. When a user is searching for someone but doesn't know their exact Twitter handle, the site will now show results for both real names and user names.

In addition, Twitter users will be able to search only within the People You Follow category, providing the ability to weed out potentially irrelevant results.

The social network also enabled updates on Twitter for iOS and Android. On the mobile operating systems, users will receive related search suggestions, autocomplete and spelling corrections.

Step in the Right Direction

The upgrades to Twitter's search system are major improvements to a part of the site that has frustrated users since the social network's inception, said Nipa Shah, president of Krave Ten.

"These changes, although late in coming, are good changes and will help companies and individuals who are using Twitter for business development or information search," she told TechNewsWorld.

As the site grows in size and influence, any change that makes it easier to sift through information are a step in the right direction, said Renay San Miguel, chief content officer for Splash Media.

"They move Twitter incrementally closer to being a social network with heft and power rivaling that of Facebook," he told TechNewsWorld. "Anything that improves the user experience and keeps people within Twitter longer will help in that respect."

The site still has room for improvement, though, said Brian Carter, an Internet marketing expert. Twitter users still can't search within their own Tweets dating back to their first, a common frustration amongst longtime Twitter users. It's especially frustrating, said Carter, because the site has the potential to incorporate that function.

"When I first used Twitter, I thought search was a huge deal," he told TechNewsWorld. "But after they bought and integrated Summify and we found that you couldn't search all your Tweets all the way back, I was disappointed."

Twitter's Growing Up

Still, Carter acknowledged that the improvements are an important step for Twitter, and a much-needed one.

While it might not a game-changer for the site, it could be a sign that Twitter is ready to make some moves on its own and become one of the major players in the social networking scene, said San Miguel. With simplified search, the site most likely hopes that more users utilize the search functions, potentially adding revenue through the network's sponsored tweets that pop up with many searches.

In other moves to boost autonomy, Twitter recently ended its tweet syndication agreement with LinkedIn and has teased about improvements to the site's involvement with mobile and third-party development.

"This is a hint of more big changes coming down the pike for Twitter, and it may indeed be helping to set the stage for an IPO soon," said San Miguel. "Twitter's executives must be feeling very confident about things."

Twitter didn't respond to our request for further details.

Source: http://www.technewsworld.com/story/Twitter-Tweaks-Search-to-Trim-Tweet-Mountains-75581.html