BIG Messenger

Brisk Inventions Group, Inc.

2014-05-16T12:27:00.001-07:00

Facebook's Mobile ads cranking $1.1B a year!

2012-10-26T14:25:00.002-07:00

Facebook's efforts to make money from mobile are young -- but the payoff already looks big.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Facebook's stock is on a tear today, poised to post its biggest one day gain since it went public in May. This comes a day after the company's strong third-quarter earnings report and, perhaps more importantly, its upbeat call with analysts in which CEO Mark Zuckerberg said flat out, "I want to dispel this myth that Facebook can't make money on mobile."

While Zuckerberg and his top execs stressed that Facebook is in the early days on this front -- it only started trying to make money from mobile in March -- they did share some numbers to back up just how well things are going. What it adds up to is that Sponsored Stories alone, which are the ads that appear in news feeds the way a post from a friend would, are generating more than $1 billion in revenue a year from mobile, and the figure is growing fast.

Here's the crucial detail from CFO David Ebersman: "We ended the third quarter with more than $4 million a day coming from Feed and about three-quarters of that coming from mobile Feed."

So that means $3 million a day from mobile, equal to an annual run-rate of $1.1 billion. Compare that to a few months ago, however, and it's easy to see how that the $1 billion plus number could seen be small. In late June, Sponsored Stories were generating about $500,000 a day from mobile devices. That's a 500 percent jump. While those percentage gains won't continue as the business grows, no one can look at those numbers and say that Facebook isn't working hard to make money from its 604 million mobile users.

All told, mobile ads generated about $150 million for Facebook in the quarter, roughly 14 percent of its total ad revenue. But mobile is where the push is. Facebook didn't reveal details, but it's been testing a mobile ad network in which it sells targeted ads to mobile sites and apps outside of Facebook. And Zuckerberg spoke enthusiastically about its Mobile App-Install product that lets developers buy ads mobile News Feeds as a way to drive more people to their apps. Facebook gets a bounty for each download.

"I'm excited about this because it helps developers with one of the biggest problems they face," said Zuckerberg. It also helps Zuckerberg with one of the biggest problems he's faced as the world goes mobile.

Facebook reminds developers to keep spamming to a minimum

2012-10-26T14:11:00.000-07:00

The social network changes its developer guidelines to ensure apps don't overload your profile with notifications.

Credit: facebook

CNET: Facebook is reminding developers that a spammy app is an ignored app. The social network announced a change in its developer guidelines today to make sure the number of notifications app developers send to app users stay at a minimum.

The two new guidelines -- not sending notifications to inactive users and maintaining a 17 percent click-to-impression ratio -- go into effect on November 9.

This means apps can only send notifications to users who have visited their apps within 28 days and apps sending a lot of notifications need to make sure that users are clicking the notifications they see at least 17 percent of the time.

If apps don't pay mind to these guidelines, Facebook may block their developers from notifications.

It's part of Facebook's emphasis on quality control on the notifications tool. The company said apps that follow the guidelines have users who click through to the app 25 percent of the time:

FG of Nigeria unfolds strategy to support local computer makers

2012-08-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Minister of Communications Technology,
Mrs. Omobola Johnson

The Honourabe Minister of Communications Technology of Nigeria, Mrs. Omobola Johnson has recently announced plans to dirve locally manufactured Computers penetration through policy and student ownership programme that would encourage the use of only locally manufacured PC in Nigera.

The minister said it would not augur well for Nigerians not to be able to enjoy Internet access due to lack of computers.

She, in view of this, disclosed government's plan to develop captive markets for local computer makers to drive demand for locally-made computers.

This, according to her, will be in partnership with five banks and five local computer makers.
She said, "if we build broadband infrastructure and people don't have computers, tablets, and whatever to access it, it is going to be a waste of time. The next thing we are trying to drive is that as we build the infrastructure, we need to make sure we all have the devices. And in doing this, we could create genuine demand for locally-made PCs.

"What we are saying is that there is a huge market for PCs in Nigeria but the participation of Nigerians in meeting the demands of the market is very low. It will be good if we can open up the market for Nigerian companies. So, what we are trying to do is to create captive markets for our local computer makers and the first captive markets we are trying to create are students in tertiary institutions. The reason for this is because we believe that these are people who desperately want to have computers but they may not be able to afford them."

I must say this is a welcome development for the local OEMs and ICT solution market in Nigeria and I urge Nigerians and foreigners to start to patronize Made-in-Nigeria Goods as that would help create a niche market and be better positioned to compete in the global marketplace and achieve higher margins.

Eyejusters double-lens glasses offer DIY vision correction

2012-06-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

U.K.-based company wants you to help send pairs of its $40 self-adjusting glasses to developing nations.

(Credit: Eyejusters)

Fixed-lens glasses are so last year -- if U.K.-based company Eyejusters has anything to say about it, that is.

Eyejusters' "SlideLens" technology enables users to turn a dial on one of the glasses' temple arms to slide two lenses across one another and thereby adjust the focus. That just might help some of the world's estimated 670 million people who need glasses but don't have them manipulate their own prescriptions.

Eyejusters calculates that its two types of glasses -- positive power (to correct near-sightedness) and negative power (to correct far-sightedness) -- could help roughly 90 percent of people whose poor vision can be corrected using glasses.

The tech alone is inspired, but so is its philanthropic focus. The company will let you buy your own pair for just $40, become a distributor yourself by preordering a distribution kit replete with glasses and vision charts, and even help other distributors get these glasses to those who need them by joining Eyejusters' Give & Get Community.

Self-adjusting glasses aren't exactly breaking news, but given the coolest pair to hit the block in 2009, called TruFocals, retailed for $895, I'd say the $40 philanthropically bent Eyejusters represent a full rotation in the right direction.

Websites to be forced to identify trolls under new measures

2012-06-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

BBC News: Websites will soon be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online.

Sites such as Facebook have been used to abuse people under the mask of anonymity.

Websites will soon to be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online.

New government proposals say victims have a right to know who is behind malicious messages without the need for costly legal battles.

The powers will be balanced by measures to prevent false claims in order to get material removed.

Last week, a British woman won a court order forcing Facebook to identify users who had harassed her.

Nicola Brookes had been falsely branded a paedophile and drug dealer by users - known as trolls - on Facebook.

Facebook, which did not contest the order, will now reveal the IP addresses of people who had abused her so she can prosecute them.

The new powers, to be added to the Defamation Bill, will make this process far less time-consuming and costly, the government said.

Complying with requests would afford the website greater protection from being sued in the event of a defamation claim.

End to 'scurrilous rumour'
Currently, in legal terms, every website "hit" - visit - on a defamatory article can be counted as a separate offence.

This means many websites remove articles as soon as a defamation claim is made - either rightly or wrongly.

"Website operators are in principle liable as publishers for everything that appears on their sites, even though the content is often determined by users," said Justice Secretary Ken Clarke.

"But most operators are not in a position to know whether the material posted is defamatory or not and very often - faced with a complaint - they will immediately remove material.

Nicola Brookes said the abuse started after she posted a message about an X Factor star.

"Our proposed approach will mean that website operators have a defence against libel as long as they identify the authors of allegedly defamatory material when requested to do so by a complainant."

Mr Clarke said the measures would mean an end to "scurrilous rumour and allegation" being posted online without fear of adequate punishment.

"The government wants a libel regime for the internet that makes it possible for people to protect their reputations effectively but also ensures that information online can't be easily censored by casual threats of litigation against website operators.

"It will be very important to ensure that these measures do not inadvertently expose genuine whistleblowers, and we are committed to getting the detail right to minimise this risk" he said.

Apple draws up battle strategy against Google at WWDC

2012-06-12T05:25:00.000-07:00

The simmering rivalry between the two tech giants just got a lot fiercer as a result of changes to Apple's mobile software.

SAN FRANCISCO -- They are classic "frienemies," collaborating when the interest is mutual and going for the other's jugular when the opportunity presents itself. So it was that on Monday Apple made clear that it's willing to cut ties with Google if that's what it takes to move its own agenda forward.

Among the product and technology announcements made at its annual developer conference here, Apple said it is expanding its Siri voice assistant software, as well as offering a complete rewrite of its maps app. Apple also added deep integration to Facebook to its phones and tablets. If it all works out as Apple wants, the net effect will be to extend Apple's lead at Google's expense. [Read how - CNET]

Here comes the greatest Internet landgrab in history

2012-06-12T05:14:00.002-07:00

ICANN tomorrow will reveal who is going after what new domain extensions, paving the way for a very different looking Web.

Prepare for dot-madness. by Paul Sloan Frank Schilling is betting big on new domain extensions. Frank Schilling made his fortune...Read More

Facebook Camera app really, really wants to know your location

2012-05-26T07:56:00.003-07:00

(Credit: Screenshot by Eric Mack/CNET)

The new camera app goes on strike if you disable GPS tracking on the iPhone, as it refuses to access local photos unless location services are turned on. Yes, it's another bizarre privacy flub by the social network.
Since Facebook released its new “Camera” mobile app yesterday, there’s been speculation as to why the social network would buy Instagram and then release its own very similar app. The answer could be that Instagram as it already exists in the world just isn’t quite authoritarian enough for Facebook’s tastes.

At least that’s one possible explanation — one seemingly given credence by the fact that the Camera app requires iOS Location Services to be turned on so it can access your locally-stored photos.

At issue, according to BuzzFeed, is the fact that Facebook saves a little bit of location information with each photo taken, and it uses its own process to access the camera roll, rather than the standard iOS photo picker. Apparently this means Facebook won’t go near your photos without location services turned on, because it ruins the app’s mojo or something.

CNET’s Bridget Carey received confirmation from Apple, however, that you can avoid Facebook Camera from getting your photo’s location, just in case you’re creeped out by a massive social network and now publicly-traded company knowing where you’ve been. (As if they didn’t already.)

The work around: Just make sure that when you take photos with the iPhone camera, you have turned off location permissions. No GPS data is then attached to your photos. Then you can go into Facebook Camera and upload them location-free.

See video below:

Marvel Creates Superhero To Encourage Hearing-Impaired Boy To Wear His Hearing Aid

2012-05-26T07:27:00.000-07:00

Four year-old Anthony Smith suffers from hearing loss and has to wear a blue hearing aid (Blue?! MAKE IT FLESH TONE). The only problem is he doesn't like wearing his hearing aid because none of the superheroes in comics do. Enter Anthony's concerned mother, stage left. No -- the OTHER stage left. "That's stage right." Theater's so confusing, I bet that's why movies are way more popular.

Desperate for help, Anthony's mother Christina D'Allesandro wrote to Marvel, hoping to discover a superhero that proved him wrong - and that's where the man with the bow, arrows and penchant for purple clothing comes in (Maya Lopez a.k.a. Echo is another hearing-impaired character in Marvel's stable of heroes, although unlike Hawkeye, she is completely deaf and wouldn't benefit from a hearing aid).

Marvel was even nice enough to create some original artwork of Anthony and Hawkeye, and, TA-DA, now Anthony doesn't mind wearing his hearing aid. Good lookin', Marvel, but where were you when, I dunno, I HAD TO WEAR HEADGEAR TO MIDDLE SCHOOL FOR A YEAR? Where was Headgear Boy, huh? You wanna know where Heargear Boy was? I'll tell you -- crying himself to sleep every night ON HIS BACK even though he HATES SLEEPING ON HIS BACK but had to because if he didn't his smile would end up crooked. *sobbing* Somebody hold me. FULL STORY...

Google tablet set to be unveiled at I/O conference?

2012-05-26T07:01:00.000-07:00

A new report by technology site TechnoBuffalo claims Google will unveil the tablet at its I/O conference on June 27.

(Credit: Nvidia)

Google is set to unveil its long-rumored tablet at its I/O conference next month, a new report claims.

According to technology site TechnoBuffalo, citing sources, the search giant will show off the device at its conference, and then give a unit to every developer in attendance.

As for the unit itself, TechnoBuffalo ’s sources claim it’ll come with Nvidia’s quad-core Tegra 3 chip, and has been developed, as reported previously, with help from Asus. TechnoBuffalo couldn’t confirm which operating system will be running on the device, but it did say that it could be Android 5.0 Jelly Bean.

Rumors have been swirling for months that Google is planning to launch a tablet. However, reports have been mixed over when it will launch and what sort of features it’ll offer. Earlier this week, DigiTimes reported, citing sources, that the 7-inch tablet will launch in July. That followed a claim made by NPD DisplaySearch analyst Richard Shim who told CNET that the tablet’s production kicked off in April.

For its part, Google has stayed tight-lipped. CNET has contacted the company for comment on the latest report, and will update this story when we have more information.

Get used to a life of layoffs

2012-05-26T06:50:00.000-07:00

Are technology companies sick?

Hewlett-Packard certainly is. The venerable behemoth announced it will implement a restructuring that includes eliminating 27,000 jobs. HP tried to bring itself around by replacing its CEO last year. That didn't quite do the trick, so now it's resorting to the good old-fashioned mass layoff.

One suspects that HP is a little too venerable. It was the first "Stanford spinoff," fittingly reflected in the presence of Hewlett Hall and Packard Hall in the engineering corner of the Stanford campus. Yet HP hasn't stayed ahead of the innovation curve, failing for instance to adapt well to the tablet craze. FULL STORY...

In 2012, campaigns target voters through their phones

2012-05-26T06:27:00.002-07:00

A spokeswoman for Obama's re-election campaign says the campaign doesn't discuss its mobile strategy. But Obama, who drew acclaim for his savvy use of digital media in 2008, is once again using mobile tools such as text messaging to communicate with supporters. People who download the Obama 2012 mobile app on their GPS-enabled devices if they opt in are essentially allowing the campaign to track their location, which could let strategists target messages to voters in certain areas.

But in 2012, voters don't even need to opt into campaigns to receive these kinds of political texts. Technology is so advanced that campaigns can target anyone who has enabled geolocation services on their smartphone , and pinpoint their location within a three-yard radius, said Harris, who also ran digital operations for Texas Gov. Rick Perry during the 2012 primary campaigns. FULL STORY..

Google seals $13 billion Motorola buy

2012-05-23T12:11:00.000-07:00

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Google, officially completed its $12.5 billion purchase of Motorola, Mobility on Tuesday. It's a watershed moment for the company, marking both its biggest acquisition ever and Google's transition from a search-and-software company to a consumer gadgets maker.

Google, named Dennis Woodside, who previously served as president of Google's Americas region and oversaw the integration planning, as CEO of Motorola, Mobility (MMI, Fortune 500). Sanjay Jha, the Motorola Mobility CEO who architected the Google, takeover, is stepping down.

"Our aim is simple," Woodside said in a prepared statement. "To focus Motorola, Mobility's remarkable talent on fewer, bigger bets, and create wonderful devices that are used by people around the world."
First announced in August 2011, the deal passed regulatory muster from both U.S. and European antitrust commissions despite concerns that the combined company might unfairly withhold patent licenses from its competitors.

Buying Motorola, gives Google (GOOG, Fortune 500) access to more than 17,000 patents, plus an extra 7,500 that are awaiting approval. The search giant said it plans to use those patents to ward off lawsuits from Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) and Microsoft (MSFT, Fortune 500) that threaten Google's popular Android mobile operating system.

But some industry experts believe that Google, is after much more than a patent mine. It's now playing in Apple territory. Buying Motorola gives Google the ability to control both hardware and software, by making its own integrated smartphones and other devices.

"With this acquisition Google can also come up with equivalent of Apple TV, Roku, and tablets," says Sandeep Aggarwal, an analyst at Digital Route.

Hardware has become an important arrow in tech companies' quivers -- it helps keep people within a software company's ecosystem. Amazon (AMZN, Fortune 500), for instance, bundles its e-books and media with its Kindle e-readers and Fire tablet.

Google, has already inched in that direction by building a prototype in-home entertainment device, working with Intel (INTC, Fortune 500) and TV manufacturers to make Google TV, and partnering with HTC and Samsung to design its annual Nexus smartphone. Google receives bids and proposals from various handset manufacturers to make the Nexus device, which comes out every year during the winter holiday season.

Many Google, analysts assume Motorola will be used to create "showcase" smartphones and tablets like the Nexus. The company could try to spark innovation among its other partners by challenging them to match Motorola's flagship devices.

"Google, will be a boutique manufacturer with things like the Nexus to say to its partners, 'Look at this awesome stuff we've made; you should do something like this,'" says Whit Andrews, analyst at Gartner.

But Google will have to walk a tightrope. Its Motorola, unit -- which Google says it will operate as an independent subsidiary -- has the potential to anger licensees like Samsung, HTC, and LG, which rely on the Android operating system.

That's why some analysts believe Google won't aim to be the next Apple. They think Google will keep Motorola at arm's length, relying on it to drive innovation in the Android platform but not letting it become a primary company focus.

"Google, could become a hardware manufacturer, but I don't think it will," says Andrews. "Google, will continue to vigorously pursue its core business, which is selling advertising."

There's a clear advantage in that approach: Google,'s profit margins are much higher than Motorola,'s. Staying focused on what already works is the safe way to go.

But in the year since he took over as CEO, Larry Page has illustrated that he's got grand ambitions for Google, and the willingness to make radical changes in pursuit of them. Hardware is a big new field of opportunity for Google, -- and Page and Co. now have a $13 billion new weapon for attacking it.

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Investors sue Facebook, Morgan Stanley

2012-05-23T11:51:00.001-07:00

A group of investors has filed suit against Facebook, and several investment banks over what they consider to be misleading information about the social network,'s IPO.

As reported by Bloomberg, the investors say they have lost more than $2.5 billion since Facebook went public on Friday.

The suit names Facebook, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as well as Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and JPMorgan Chase. Investors like Marc L. Andreessen and Peter A. Thiel were also named.

A copy of the complaint had not yet been posted online, but according to Bloomberg, the investors accuse Facebook of failing to reveal "a severe and pronounced reduction in revenue growth."

In a statement, a Facebook, spokesman said "we believe the lawsuit is without merit and will defend ourselves vigorously."

Morgan Stanley also denied any wrongdoing. "Morgan Stanley followed the same procedures for the Facebook offering that it follows for all IPOs. These procedures are in compliance with all applicable regulations," the firm said.

A revised S-1 filing released by Facebook, on May 9 "was forwarded to all of MS's institutional and retail investors and the amendment was widely publicized in the press at the time," Morgan Stanley continued. "In response to the information about business trends, a significant number of research analysts in the syndicate who were participating in investor education reduced their earnings views to reflect their estimate of the impact of the new information. These revised views were taken into account in the pricing of the IPO."

That May 9 filing highlighted the growth of Facebook,'s mobile users, from which the social network has yet to generate any real revenue.

Spokesmen for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley declined to comment.

The news comes amidst reports that Massachusetts regulators subpoenaed Morgan Stanley regarding reports that some investors were informed of earnings revisions ahead of time but not others.

Facebook went public on Friday at $38 per share, but has yet to see any real traction. For more, see Facebook, Is Getting Killed – By Itself.

Facebook prices IPO at $38 US

2012-05-17T15:13:00.000-07:00

Social networking giant Facebook has priced its initial public offering at $38 US a share, generating $18.4 billion for its shareholders.

That makes it the largest internet IPO, the third-largest in the U.S. and the world’s seventh biggest.

At that price, Facebook, which had revenue of $3.7 billion last year, will have a market value of $104 billion, considered a sky-high valuation.

"There seems to be somewhat of a hype around the stock offering," says Gartner analyst Brian Blau.

The shares will begin trading Friday on the Nasdaq exchange under the ticker symbol “FB.”

The company started eight years ago in a Harvard dorm, growing to revolutionize how people communicate online.

The proceeds means more money both to operate the data centers that hold the trove of status updates, photos and videos shared by its 900 million users and to hire the best engineers to work at its sprawling Menlo Park, Ca., headquarters, or in New York City, where it opened an engineering office last year.

It also means a huge return for early investors.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg will have the final say on how nearly 56 per cent of Facebook's stock votes. (Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg, who turned 28 on Monday, will get $1.14 billion. Investment bank Goldman Sachs will reap $1.25 billion.

And Peter Thiel, the venture capitalist who sits on Facebook's board of directors, invested $500,000 in the company back in 2004. He's selling nearly 17 million of his shares in the IPO, which means he'll get some $640 million.

Though Zuckerberg is selling about 30 million shares, he will remain Facebook's largest shareholder. He set up two classes of Facebook stock, building on the model Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin created as part of the online search leader's 2004 IPO.

The dual class structure helps to ensure that he and other executives keep control as the sometimes conflicting demands of Wall Street exert new pressures on the company.

As a result, with the help of early investors who've promised to vote their stock his way, Zuckerberg will have the final say on how nearly 56 per cent of Facebook's stock votes.

True to form, Zuckerberg and Facebook's engineers are ringing in the IPO on their own terms.

The company is holding an overnight "hackathon" Thursday, where engineers stay up writing programming code to come up with new features for the site.

On Friday morning, Zuckerberg will ring the Nasdaq opening bell from Facebook's headquarters.

Trading begins Friday morning.

FBI plans to wiretap the internet with a new app

2012-05-06T18:23:00.000-07:00

Shawn Henry, the FBI's executive assistant director
credit:earthwave

FBI enacts legislation that would force surveillance backdoors on social networks, VoIP, and Web e-mail providers, and the bureau is asking Internet companies not to oppose the law which would make it mandatory for firms, including Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, and Google, to build in backdoors for government surveillance.

The law requires social-networking Web sites and providers of VoIP, instant messaging, and Web e-mail to alter their code to ensure their products are wiretap-friendly allowing FBI's strategic information centre (SOIC) the power to collect "open source" information.

"If you create a service, product, or app that allows a user to communicate, you get the privilege of adding that extra coding," an industry representative who has reviewed the FBI's draft legislation told CNET. Read Full text of the report.

Google unveils Zipper Doodle: Celebrates founder of modern zipper

2012-04-24T04:59:00.000-07:00

Have you tried to unzip Google zipper doodle?

Google celebrates Gideon Sundbäck a Swedish-American electrical engineer; a great inventor for what he pulled off -- and up -- once he hiked up his knickers and set about altering not only a garment, but also the course of the clothing industry.

Visit the Google homepage today and you'll be greeted with a giant horizontal zip slashing through the Google name. And click on it and you'll delve into the innards of a Google search on Gideon Sundback.

Sundback was born in Småland, Sweden, on 24 April 1880, and grew up on a farm. He died on 21 June 1954 at the age of 74 following a heart condition, and is buried in Meadville, Pennsylvania but his zipper still has a firm hold on us — and vice versa.

Google invites you to zip it — might as well seize the opening while it lasts.

Five technologies to look for in your next smartphone

2012-04-21T12:12:00.002-07:00

Which features do you really need in a smartphone and which ones can you do without?

Thinking of upgrading your phone this year? A lot has changed since you last went looking. Besides the obvious of having a new set of handsets to choose from, many of the technologies in the smartphones themselves have undergone radical transformations.

These aren't just your run-of-the-mill, incremental updates that you can count on with every device refresh (although there's plenty of that there too) - these are next-gen technologies that can potentially change the way you use your smartphone.

The question is, which features do you really need and which ones can you do without? Here's a primer on the top five technologies that you can expect in the latest high-end handsets.

1. Quad-core processors

This just in from the "blow your mind" file: your next smartphone could have more processor cores than your existing desktop PC or notebook. Quad-core processors have finally landed on smartphones, and the recently-released HTC One X is leading the charge with its muscly 1.5GHz Tegra 3 quad-core chip.

Can you do without the four cores on your next mobile? Almost definitely. While the move from single- to dual-core translated to significantly faster performance all-round, the benefits of quad-core can only be seen on a handful of games that have been specifically designed for it, and while you're playing Full HD videos.

2. 720p resolution

Performance isn't the only area where smartphones are leap-frogging ahead. The display on your next smartphone could also pack more pixels than the screen on your desktop or notebook LCD monitor, resulting in print-like text and photos that are dripping in detail.

The Apple iPhone 4 got the ball rolling with its Retina Display two years ago, and the rest of the smartphone manufacturers have finally caught up, with Samsung, Sony and HTC all offering smartphones with 1280 x 720-pixel or higher displays.

Screens with 720p resolution aren't a must-have, but given you're staring at the smartphone display for nearly the entire time you're using it, it's one of the few upgrades that you'll really notice on a day-to-day basis.

3. 4.5" and larger displays

There's only so much you can cram onto a smartphone screen before you go cross-eyed trying to process it all. So why not bump it up to something larger? A bigger screen size makes typing, web browsing, reading, and almost everything else easier, although you'll also have to deal with a bigger form factor as a result.

Samsung broke the mold earlier this year with the 5.3" Galaxy Note, and there'll be a lot more smartphones coming out this year with 4.3", 4.5" and 4.7" displays, typically with qHD or 720p resolutions to fill out all the extra screen space.

4. 4G

Want faster-than-broadband speeds on your next smartphone? 4G can give it to you. While you can expect speeds of anywhere between 50kbps to 3Mbps with 3G, depending on your carrier and other network variables, 4G can go as fast as 40Mbps in real-world conditions.

But there's a catch. If you want 4G right now, you can pick from any carrier you want, as long as it's Telstra, and you'll only get the benefit of 4G speeds if you happen to live near capital city CBD or in certain regional areas. Optus is expected to launch its 4G network in Newcastle sometime in April, with rollouts in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth mid-year, while Vodafone has yet to commit to a timeline.

5. NFC

NFC, short for near field communication, is finding its way into more smartphones this year. While you can't make payments from NFC-equipped smartphones in Australia just yet (the relevant players are still getting their ducks in a row), there are other fun things you can do with NFC that involves wirelessly exchanging information between two devices.

The Nokia N9 lets you divert music playback to compatible speakers simply by touching the two together, while the Sony Xperia S lets you change a bunch of settings and perform tasks (like send a text message or load a particular music playlist) when you tap it on a bundled 'SmartTag'. Google has also built an 'Android Beam' feature into the latest version of its operating system that lets NFC-equipped Android smartphones share web pages, contacts and other information when you hold them close to each other.

Man extradited to New York to face computer charges

2012-04-21T12:00:00.002-07:00

NEW YORK -- A man has been extradicted to New York from Estonia to face charges he steered millions of computers worldwide toward certain websites and advertisements.

Anton Ivanov was extradited Thursday to face an indictment returned in November. It accuses him of conspiring with at least six others to digitally hijack Internet searches and re-route computers to specific websites.

Prosecutors say Ivanov and others infected more than four million computers in over 100 countries. The government says they received millions of dollars when websites and their advertisements were visited by users of infected computers. Prosecutors say the malware prevented the installation of anti-virus software and operating system updates on infected computers.

He was held after pleading not guilty in federal court in Manhattan. His lawyer did not immediately respond to a message.

Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/04/19/2758420/man-extradited-to-ny-to-face-computer.html#storylink=cpy

How to delete yourself from the Internet

2012-04-21T11:34:00.001-07:00

The Internet companies that power your online life know that data equals money, and they're becoming bolder about using that data to track you. If they get their way, your every online step would be not only irrevocable, but traceable back to you. Fortunately, there are some positive steps you can take to reclaim your online history for yourself.

(Credit:Shutterstock.com)

The online privacy software company Abine, which makes Do Not Track Plus, also offers a service called DeleteMe, which removes your data from numerous tracking sites and keeps it from coming back. In an unusual gesture, though, they've made public how to do for yourselfeverything that DeleteMe does. Here's my take on their advice.

Be warned, though. The following are not easy instructions, and it's not because they're technically complex. They require a tenacity and wherewithal that is likely to either exhaust you, drive you borderline bonkers, or both.

Step 1: Prepare yourself: You're going to have to be polite.
These instructions require patience for the antics of others and determination to get the job done. It's not a bad idea to get something inanimate to take your frustrations out on, because often getting your data successfully removed or changed will require the good faith of the person you're dealing with. Things are not likely to go your way the first time around.

Step 2: Aggressively track sites that aggressively track you.
This is where the DeleteMe service comes in. They currently charge you $99 to un-track you from the tracking data clearinghouses, which in turn sell your data to others entities. You can follow Abine's list of services and do the deed yourself, and that means writing many e-mails, sending numerous faxes, and placing enough phone calls to make you wish for a time machine so you can go back to the 19th century to do violence unto Alexander Graham Bell.

One thing that isn't clear from Abine's list is that most of these data aggregators will re-add you within a few months, so I recommend at least bi-annual checks to see if they've sucked up your data again. Be tenacious, be polite, and if this is important to you, stick with it until you get what you want.

If you're concerned about privacy and people making connections between your birthday, your address, and your Social Security number, you owe it to yourself to perform at least one Web search for your name and see what comes up. You might be unpleasantly surprised.

Step 3: To protect your reputation, removal must be done from the source.
To get Google, Bing, and other search engines to notice a change in information as it is presented on the Web, the original site hosting that information must change. It doesn't matter which site is the source. It could be Facebook, or a local blog, or a gaming forum. If it's showing up in search results, it has little to do with the search engine and everything to do with the site of origin. Once that site has changed, then you'll see a change in the search results.

Getting something removed from a site is not a scientific process, even though you must be methodical about it. Ask politely, and as I noted above, you're likely to have to ask more than once and using more than one way to communicate. You likely will have to be a rake at the gates of Hell, but one that uses words like "please" and "thank you".

Look for the name of a writer, or Web site manager, and if no contact information is listed, do a WhoIs search by typing "whois www.site-name.com". Be sure to include the quotes. That will tell you who registered the site, which is a good place to start on smaller Web sites. Look for phone numbers, e-mail, and fax numbers, and follow up your initial communication.

Once you have a name, even if you can't find a phone number or e-mail, you can probably take an educated stab at one. Use a site like E-mail Format to help you out. And in your e-mail, be sure to explain clearly, concisely, and logically why your request ought to be honored.

A willingness to compromise can get you better results, too. If, for example, your initial request to fully remove your name gets refused, see if asking to have your identity anonymized will work. And if one person at the site you've contacted keeps stalling you, see if there's another you can contact instead.

Step 4: Get Google to hustle on search engine changes.
If you've been successful in changing a site, but Google is still showing the older version, you can use Google's URL Removal Tool to accelerate the process. Note that this will require a Google account, and that if you get Google to change, you're going to have to submit requests to other major search engines like Bing separately.

Step 5: Paint over the bad with good.
In cases where you can't get the site to remove the content that's negatively affecting your reputation, you can create new, fresh, positive content to counteract it. The idea is that the Positive You will bury the Negative You. Rick Santorum is a great example of how this can work in reverse, and no, I'm not going to link to it for you.

You can also use social-networking sites to bury bad news. From About.Me to Flickr to Twitter, social networks tend to rank highly in search results. By creating and maintaining accounts that use your real name, you can elevate the social networking results for your name and, ideally, drop the results you want to bury onto the second page of results. Since studies show that second-page results are viewed significantly less often than first-page, this could be a successful burying strategy.

However, a key component of this is linking the networks, so be prepared to do far more social networking than you had been.

Step 6: Go (politely) nuclear. Get a lawyer.
If you suspect something is actually defamatory, seek out legal advice. Gather your evidence, be polite and firm, and seek out someone who can guide you through the thorny legal thicket. This will also depend on your country -- England has much broader defamation and libel laws than the United States does -- and your budget.

The bottom line:

There is no foolproof method for changing how you're presented on the Internet, whether looking at purely personally-identifiable data or the much more subjective presentation of your personal reputation. However, if these are concerns of yours, you're not alone out there, and these six steps will give you concrete actions you can take to reclaim your identity and repair how others see you.

Italy to launch Ferrari-style high-speed train

2012-04-21T11:11:00.000-07:00

Making its debut next week, the Italo has a top speed of 186 mph and will connect Milan, Rome,and Naples in high style.

(Credit: NTV)

Next time you’re stuck in traffic on the highway, consider those lucky Italians. Some will get to ride in style next week when services on the slick Italo high-speed train kick off.

Operated by Nuovo Trasporto Viaggiatori (NTV), the Italo debuts April 28 and will connect Milan, Rome, and Naples. It’s being billed as the most advanced train in Europe.

It has a top speed of 186 mph — not the fastest in the world but still respectable. The record for fastest commercial service depends on several factors, but Shanghai’s Maglev Train can run at 268 mph.

Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemoto is a major shareholder in (and chairman of) NTV, as is French National Railways (SNCF). The cars are painted Ferrari-style red and feature a stylized hare on the side.

The 25 trains in the fleet are being manufactured by France’s Alstom based on its AGV model (Automotrice Grande Vitesse). They’ll use the same traction system as the AGV-TGV train that set a speed record of 574.8 kph (357 mph) in 2007, as seen in this video.

Italo trains will have 11 cars with a capacity of 460 passengers. The first, business, and economy classes — called Club, Prima, and Smart — will feature leather seats, free Wi-Fi, and ceiling-mounted screens in some cars. The cheapest ticket from Milan to Rome (about 300 miles) will cost about $60.

Services will compete with Trenitalia, which has held a monopoly on high-speed rail in Italy until now, as well as airlines. NTV hopes to attract 9 million annual passengers by the end of 2014.

Facebook opens North Carolina data center, touts efficiency

2012-04-21T10:39:00.002-07:00

(Credit: James Martin/CNET)

Social-networking giant opens its second green facility for storing online data for its 845 million users.

Last year, Facebook executives discussed their green data center plans with reporters. One executive showed this shot inside a Facebook data center.

Facebook has completed its second data center, a facility in North Carolina the company says is one of the most energy-efficient centers housing data in the world.BIG Sale - BIG-Screen HDTV Closeout

The Forest City center will have a projected power usage effectiveness (PuE) measurement of 1.06 to 1.08, Facebook said in a post on its Web site. Research from The Uptime Institute shows that the typical data center has an average PuE of 1.8, which means that for every 1.8 watts in at the utility meter, only one watt is delivered out.

The company’s first data center, in Prineville, Ore., also ranks high on power efficiency.

The new center goes online as the popular social network’s 845 million users are storing and accessing billions of photos, videos, and status messages daily.

A second building at the Forest City site is expected to be completed later this year.

The Forest City facility is unique in several ways. It’s the first major deployment of the v2 Open Compute Project Web servers, which are some of the first to use Intel’s Sandy Bridge processor.

It also is the first live test of the project’s outdoor-air cooling designs “in an environment where temperature and humidity conditions are considered to be outside the range of typical data center operations,” Facebook said.

The Forest City data center took 16 months to build, with nearly 2,000 people working on it for more than 1.2 million hours, the company said.

BREAKING NEWS: Flying car is finally here

2012-04-06T10:35:00.002-07:00

Flying cars aren't just science fiction anymore.

Woburn, Massachusetts-based Terrafugia Inc. said Monday that its prototype flying car has completed its first flight, bringing the company closer to its goal of selling the flying car within the next year. The vehicle - dubbed the Transition - has two seats, four wheels and wings that fold up so it can be driven like a car. Last month, it flew at 1,400 feet (426 metres) for eight minutes. Commercial jets fly at 35,000 feet (10.668 metres).

Credit: Terrafugia.com

Arround 100 people have already put down a $10,000 deposit to get a Transition when they go on sale, and those numbers will likely rise after Terrafugia introduces the Transition to the public later this week at the New York Auto Show. But don't expect it to show up in too many driveways. It's expected to cost $279,000.
And it won't help if you're stuck in traffic. The car needs a runway.

Credit: Terrafugia.com

The flying car has always had a special place in the American imagination. Inventors have been trying to make them since the 1930s, according to Robert Mann, an airline industry analyst who owns R.W. Mann & Co. in Port Washington, New York.

But Mann thinks Terrafugia has come closer than anyone to making the flying car a reality. The government has already granted the company's request to use special tires and glass that are lighter than normal automotive ones, to make it easier for the vehicle to fly. The government has also temporarily exempted the Transition from the requirement to equip vehicles with electronic stability control, which would add about six pounds (2.72 kilograms) to the vehicle. The Transition is currently going through a battery of automotive crash tests to make sure it meets federal safety standards.

Mann said Terrafugia was helped by the Federal Aviation Administration's decision five years ago to create a separate set of standards for light sport aircraft. The standards govern the size and speed of the plane and licensing requirements for pilots, which are less restrictive than requirements for pilots of larger planes.

Terrafugia says an owner would need to pass a test and complete 20 hours of flying time to be able to fly the Transition, a relatively low hurdle for pilots.

The Transition can reach around 70 miles per hour (112 kph) on the road and 115 mph (185 kph) in the air, spokesman Steven Moscaritolo said. On the ground, it gets 35 miles per gallon (15 kilometres per litre).
Mann questions the size of the market for the Transition. The general aviation market has been in decline for two decades, he said, largely because of fuel costs and the high cost of liability for manufacturers. Also, fewer people are learning how to fly.

“This is not going to be an inexpensive aircraft to produce or market,” he said. “It has some uniqueness, and will get some sales, but the question is, could it ever be a profitable enterprise?”
Mann sees the western U.S. as the most likely market, where people could fly instead of driving long distances.

Terrafugia has been working on flying cars since 2006, and has already pushed back the launch once. Last summer the company said it would have to delay expected 2011 deliveries due to design challenges and problems with parts suppliers.

With the appearance in New York, the company hopes to attract the eye of customers as well as investors.
“We are introducing ourselves as a viable company to the automotive world,” Moscaritolo said.

The following video says it all, ENJOY!

Smartphone apps keep health at your fingertips, from fitness to first aid.

2012-03-31T09:57:00.001-07:00

The days of using cellphones simply to make telephone calls are long gone. Today, consumers are using phones to help them track various aspects of their health and to pursue healthful hobbies.
Apple iPhone 4S 16GB - AT&T - Black

Thanks to an abundance of apps — short for applications or application programs — it's possible to track blood pressure, count calories, get fitness coaching and find a safe biking route just by tapping your phone.

Despite the added convenience, apps don't replace personal responsibility.

An app can show you a healthier alternative to the cookies you just picked up but can't make you buy a piece of fruit instead, nor can it run five miles for you or make you do so."They will not change things for us, unless we are willing to have it changed," said Ananda Mitra, a professor of communication at Wake Forest University.

Useful apps can, however, "provide a level of efficiency to our lives, which increases our quality of life," said Mitra, author of "Alien Technology: Coping With Modern Mysteries" (Sage Publications, $29.95).

Here are some health-related apps that are on the market. Most of these are iPhone apps. But if your phone runs other types of apps, you can probably find others you'd like with similar features .

Also, some of these apps are available for other types of devices, such as the iPad.

1. AsthmaMD
This gives asthmatics a way to log their asthma attacks, track medications, note their triggers and share information with their physicians.

- Cost: Free for iPhone.

2. Pocket First Aid & CPR
This app from the American Heart Association can get you up to speed on how to respond to medical emergencies. Topics include cardiopulmonary resuscitation, choking, burns and diabetic emergencies. It can also store family medical information, emergency contacts and other information you might need in an emergency.

- Cost: $3.99 for iPhone; a $2.99 Android version has fewer functions.

3. Fooducate
Provides information to help you choose healthier groceries. Foods are given a health grade, and alternative choices are suggested.

- Cost: Free for iPhone.

4. HeartWise Blood Pressure Tracker
Lets you record and track your blood pressure.

- Cost: 99 cents for iPhone.

5. Calorie Counter by MyNetDiary
Dieting? You can track your meals, weight and calories burned. You can also tap into a large food database to look up the calorie counts of various foods.

- Cost: Free, basic version for iPhone; costs vary for Android and BlackBerry

6. Ride the City
This app will help you to find safe bike routes in 10 U.S. cities, three in Canada and a half dozen others worldwide.

- Cost: $2.99 for iPhone.

7. WebMD Mobile
Allows users to look up drug facts, conditions and symptoms, and to get first-aid advice. It also includes health listings, such as doctors' offices.

- Cost: Free for iPhone.

8. iHeadacheAllows you to record your symptoms, track your medication use and note headache triggers.
- Cost: Free to $9.99, depending on the version for iPhone and BlackBerry

9. Nike+ GPS
This app can record runners' pace, distance and route and offer voice feedback.

- Cost: $1.99 for iPhone.

10. KidsDoc Symptom Checker App
This app helps parents figure out what to do when their kids get sick. Includes decision charts and home-care advice.

- Cost: $1.99 for iPhone.

11. An Office Fitness
Feel like stretching? This app offers exercises for desk jockeys and others, such as people who've been driving.

- Cost: $2.99 for BlackBerry.