NG Online News

Is OnLive the future of gaming?

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:30:00 +0000

As NetFlix pushes streaming video content for movie lovers to get rid of the need for expansive DVD and Blu Ray collections, so enters OnLive - a gaming service that is aiming to shake up the industry by streaming popular games over the Internet.

OnLive launched last year, but hopes to begin streaming games by June this year getting rid of the need to buy games from high street stores or even downloading them. Instead, OnLive would offer a 'games on demand' service.

Speaking to the BBC, OnLive's founder and chief operating officer saw that the company would deliver on-demand video games via cloud networks to the PC, Mac or TV and that it could provide high quality gaming on low-end machines.

"OnLive breaks the console cycle. We don't need new hardware devices," said company founder Steve Perlman. Mike McGarvey, OnLive's chief operating officer concurred saying, "We want to take your dollars from hardware and let you spend it on software. We are a new platform and we're building a network and infrastructure to last for the next 30 years of gaming, not the next five years."

Easy sell?

The appeal is clearly there; already millions of people streaming movies over the net as well as play games online all around the world, so surely this is the next logical step?

While there are doubts about how fast the service will be unless you're living near a remote data centre, the overall opinion seems to be positive unless, that is, you're a console producer and vendor.

A game streaming service would see the video-games industry take as massive hit, especially those sold in physical software formats. Despite massive sales for popular titles like Modern Warfare 2 and Mass Effect 2, US video-game sales have fallen 8 percent over the past year to $19.6 billion.

This has been attributed to the fact that more players are gaming online via popular networks such as X-Box Live and Sony's PSN; OnLive believe their service is simply the next natural evolution of gaming.

OnLive will be available for a monthly rental fee of $14.95 (GBP£9.99) for subscribers to then buy or rent games over the Internet. No date was given for when OnLive will be available in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world, but it has been confirmed that the service will include popular titles such as Assassin's Creed, Prince of Persia and Borderlands.

So what do you think? The next generation of gaming?

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Timon Singh

Timon Singh is a graduate of Liverpool University where he received a degree in Social and Economic History. He has previously worked for BBC Magazines on BBC Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, the publication for the popular genealogy show.

XXX Internet domain plan returns

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:31:00 +0000

Porn is a big business, especially online. The domain name, sex.com, is said to be one of the most valuable Internet domain names so if you've got some cash lying around you can bid for it on the 18 March. The starting price is $1m though...

However it shows the big business that online adult sites create and as such ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) has resurrected a plan to create an Internet domain specifically for adult websites, three years after it was rejected.

The .xxx scheme will be pondered upon on March 12 and if approved could see the selling of .xxx domain names by the end of the year. The decision to make adult-orientated domain names had previously been given the go ahead in 2005, but it was reversed after protests from conservative groups in the US.

However it has now been decided that the reversal was unfair and the scheme should be reconsidered.

New era of online content

The idea for adult only domain names has been around for a while, first being proposed in 2001 in order to create a 'digital silo' for online pornography. The .xxx domain would enable those that wished to, to completely filter out such sites.

The only problem is that the scheme is voluntary, so adult sites ending with .com would still exist.

"If the contract is signed, we could be selling names by the end of the year," said Stuart Lawley, chairman of ICM Registry, which put forward the plans for .xxx and would sell the domain names to the BBC.

When asked about the decision to revisit the scheme, Lawley said, "Our claim was that ICANN came up with a lot of different excuses."

The board concluded that ICANN's decision to reject the .xxx plan was "not consistent with the application of neutral, objective and fair documented policy" and should be revisited. Mr Lawley described it as a "landmark" ruling.

A decision will be made on the 12 March, but a spokesperson for ICANN said there was "no indication what action the ICANN board will take".

What is your view on the .xxx scheme?

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Timon Singh

Is Internet access a 'fundamental right'?

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:04:00 +0000

We all have fundamental rights - the right to vote, the right to have freedom of thought, the right to have freedom of speech, if you're an American - the right to bear arms and shoot things. But is the right to get online and browse for LOLcats also a fundamental right?

According to four out of five people it is, according to a BBC World Service poll. Perhaps it is because it is a place where you can buy or say anything you want, a place where you can see anything you want - a last bastion of free will if you want (unless you're in China), but according to more than 27,000 adults in 26 countries the right to surf the net is a legitimate 'fundamental right'.

Some countries agree also, with Finland and Estonia have already ruled that access is a human right for their citizens. Even the UN are pushing for universal access to the Internet.

"The right to communicate cannot be ignored," Dr Hamadoun Toure, secretary-general of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), told BBC News.

"The Internet is the most powerful potential source of enlightenment ever created."

He said that governments must "regard the Internet as basic infrastructure - just like roads, waste and water".

"We have entered the knowledge society and everyone must have access to participate."

Roads, waste, water... Facebook?

In this 'information age', you can see why many would see the Internet as a right, but a fundamental right? Up there with freedom of speech, the right to vote etc? For this writer, that may be pushing it just a bit.

That means everyone has access to the web, criminals, sex offenders, anyone simply because 'it's a fundamental right'. The Internet has already become a haven for many criminals and online sex offences or cases of 'grooming' regularly make the news, so if Internet access is a right, should it be regulated to prevent such abuse?

According to the poll, web users questioned in South Korea and Nigeria felt strongly that governments should never be involved in regulation of the Internet however some disagree.

China (what a surprise!) and several European countries including the UK believe that there is a case for 'government regulation' of the Internet. In fact, 55 percent of those polls agreed that the Internet should be properly regulated.

This will be welcome news to many governments, especially the UK's, who have been trying to push a controversial, three-strikes policy, Digital Economy Bill designed to allow regulators to disconnect or slow down the net connections of persistent illegal file-sharers. Other countries, such as France, are also considering similar laws.

The EU in particular has focused a lot on Internet freedom, stating that any measures taken by member states that may affect citizen's access to or use of the Internet "must respect the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens".

In particular, it states that EU citizens are entitled to a "fair and impartial procedure" before any measures can be taken to limit their net access.

With more and more people conducting their lives online, it is unsurprising that people want a degree of privacy and at the same time regulation, but should it be a "fundamental right of all people".

87 percent of Internet users unsurprisingly think so... what do you think?

Read the full report here.

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Timon Singh

iPad: US release - April 3rd

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:30:00 +0000

Note the date, because from the 3rd April (a Satruday), you will be able to get your mitts on the highly anticipated Apple device - the iPad.

The model released on the 3rd will be the Wi-Fi model, while the Wi-Fi + 3G model will be available later in the month. The US will get it a few weeks before the rest of the world, but Apple have stated that it will be "available in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK in late April."

Revolutionary product

Pre-orders begin on the 12th March, with consumers reserving both Wi-Fi and Wi-Fi +3G models from Apple's online store or reserving a Wi-Fi model to pick up on Saturday, April 3, at an Apple retail store.

In a statement, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, "iPad is something completely new. We're excited for customers to get their hands on this magical and revolutionary product and connect with their apps and content in a more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

The 'revolutionary device' is said to be capable of browsing the web, reading and sending email, enjoying photos, watching videos, listening to music, playing games, reading e-books and much more.

According to the iPad's official press release, the device's responsive high-resolution Multi-Touch display lets users physically interact with applications and content. iPad is just 0.5 inches thick and weighs just 1.5 pounds- thinner and lighter than any laptop or netbook.

iPad includes 12 new innovative apps designed especially for the iPad, and will run almost all of the over 140,000 apps in the App Store.

It will retail for $499 for 16GB, $599 for 32GB, and $699 for 64GB. The Wi-Fi + 3G models will be available in late April for $629 for 16GB, $729 for 32GB and $829 for 64GB.

At the press conference where the device was unveiled, Jobs said, "iPad is our most advanced technology in a magical and revolutionary device at an unbelievable price."

"(It) creates and defines an entirely new category of devices that will connect users with their apps and content in a much more intimate, intuitive and fun way than ever before."

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Tag: Have Microsoft and Google joined forces?

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:39:00 +0000

Despite being fierce rivals in the online search arena, it would appear both Microsoft and Google have come together to form a tentative alliance in the smartphone market, with news that Microsoft has made an application that works with Google's Android phone.

The software called Tag, use a handset's camera to turn it into a mobile bar-code reader and tagger. But why the hell have Microsoft made the app in the first place? I mean, it's for the Android operating system, one of the main rivals to Windows Mobile. But it's not just Google that Microsoft appears to be helping; they've made the Tag application for the iPhone, Blackberry and Symbian handsets also.

So why are they doing this?

Well, firstly it's not the first time they've done it. In December 2008, Microsoft produced its first iPhone app, called Seadragon, and followed it up in early 2009 by releasing Tag for the Apple handset. The reason behind this is simple.

Money.

Apple has one of the largest and most established app stores in the market. At the beginning of the year, it was estimated that 3 billion apps had been downloaded from Apple. As such, it is another avenue of income for Microsoft.

Not just that, but they're getting their products out to a market who might be wary of Microsoft's brand in the smartphone sector. If they can convince people that they can produce state-of-the-art apps, then there's every chance people will take a punt on their phones.

Furthermore, operators of phone software are trying to improve relations between them in order to co-operate and make the market easier for all to work in. Last month, the world's largest mobile network phone operators banded together to create the Wholesale Applications Community in order to make it easy for application developers to make and sell phone applications.

Up until then, power lay with software firms and phone makers who held most control of the lucrative application market.

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Timon Singh

Apple Vs HTC: Phone patents

Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:56:00 +0000

If you're Apple and you're the leader in next-gen technology, smartphones and shiny gizmos, you want to protect your position. As such, Steve Job's wonder-company has started legal action against phone maker HTC, alleging it has infringed patented technology.

The product said to be infringed is Apple's pride and joy - the iPhone and they believe that HTC has violated 20 patents for their own gain.

Apple have said these 20 patents are for the protection of technology that is utilised in the iPhone interface as well as its "underlying hardware and architecture." HTC have been the company behind several new smartphones include Google's Nexus One.

It is believed the 'pinch-to-zoom' function that is key to the iPhone is the main reason behind the lawsuit.

In a statement, Steve Jobs threw down the gauntlet saying, "We can sit by and watch competitors steal our patented inventions, or we can do something about it. We've decided to do something about it."

"We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."

Courtroom action

Apple has filed the suit in the US courts in Delaware, Maryland, but also with the US International Trade Commission (ITC), which has the power to halt imports of products. This could be detrimental to HTC and Google, whose free Android mobile operating system is built into a growing number of HTC phones, and has been making waves in the smartphone market in recent months.

HTC was, as you expect, noncommital about the accusations. "Until we have had this opportunity, we are unable to comment on the validity of the claims being made against HTC," it said in a statement.

If the lawsuit goes in Apple's favour, it could seriously damage HTC who have made multiple handsets using Google's Android operating system. HTC has in the past been the largest manufacturer of Windows Mobile handsets, but has recently shifted its allegiance to Google's Android, which is free and has captured significant market share since being launched in 2008.

It is not the only legal battle Apple is currently fighting; Nokia is suing them for, ironically, patent infringement saying Apple had stolen patented technology. The suit was filed in October 2009 and a month later, Apple counter-sued. The case is continuing.

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How secure is InZero?

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 14:40:00 +0000

Heralded as the ultimate safeguard in data protection and an unbreakable 'firewall', the InZero has sent the blogosphere alight with its claims that it is 'unhackable' - but this is merely smoke and mirrors? Surely ANYTHING can be hacked?

The InZone device was developed in 2002 by Oleksiy Shevchenko, a computer engineer in Ukraine who was trying to address the Internet security concerns of a friend. Instead of installing firewalls, anti-virus programs and the usual software which attempts to devise ways to contain and delete malware, Shevchenko instead set up hardware that acts like a second computer to sit between a vulnerable computer and the Internet.

What this does is it forms a barrier between the two systems preventing anything hostile from reaching your system. As the operating system and memory in InZero's sandbox are read-only, they can't be changed by a virus, and hackers can't commandeer the device.

Expert hackers

Of course, that has been said about many devices in the past, so how do you test your claims? In InZero's case, they gave it to the military's Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and several companies that specialize in finding gaps in computer security.

Their consensus? "It was very secure, but we were concerned about its user friendliness," says former DARPA director Anthony J. Tether, who tested 10 devices. "As best we can tell, there isn't a way to circumvent it," says Ronald J. Dorman, vice-president of Telos, a computer and network security company hired by InZero to evaluate the system.

The device so impressed industry insiders that Louis R. Hughes, former president of General Motors' international operations and of Lockheed Martin, approached Shevchenko and invested millions of his own money into bringing the device to the US, forming the InZero company. Hughes is CEO, while Shevchenko is chief technology officer.

Complicated device

All well and good, but what are the chances that it will be compromised? Hughes has described the gizmo as a "complicated little box" as the current version has four processors and 60 million lines of software code.

One security company in Ann Arbor that "drums up new business finding security weaknesses and devising fixes" according to CEO André Weimerskirch was frustrated and surprised when a team of four people attacked InZero's system for more than two weeks without discovering a flaw.

However, there is one major concern - its Russian origins. InZero's chief operating officer Alexander V. Pyntikov, the man who introduced Shevchenko to Hughes, thinks the US government will be wary that they may be a 'back door' that will allow Russian security services to access secure servers.

"We have to show that nothing will be reported to Putin," says Pyntikov.

If the technology is as good as they say, then expect the hardware to come as standard in computers and laptops within the next few years, but until then expect it to be careful studied, tested and hacked to pieces to make sure it is as secure as InZero claims.

Online news more popular than newspapers

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 15:56:00 +0000

It was going to be inevitable and is a sign of things to come, but according to the Pew Research Centre, online news is now more popular than reading newspapers in the United States.

According to the survey, it is "the third most popular form of news, behind local and national TV stations".

"News awareness is becoming an anytime, anywhere, any device activity for those who want to stay informed," the reported stated.

For owners of newspapers, such as Rupert Murdoch, it will only reinforce the belief that they should charge for online content, especially on popular aggregators such as Google News and AOL.

Murdoch and other media institutions have accused aggregators of 'leeching' their news and have attributed their financial woes to the popularity of online news.

According to the report, Google News, AOL as well as the BBC and CNN websites were the most popular resources for online news.

Real-time news

With more and more people demanding up-to-the-minute news thanks to smartphones and wireless connections, a newspaper that is up to 12 hours old in terms of news is looking more and more antiquated. As such, it is no surprise to learn that in the report 66 percent of those surveyed said they got their news online on a typical day, compared with 78 percent from local news channels and 71 percent from a national TV network such as NBC, CNN or Fox News.

And how about those that listen to news on the radio to and from work - 54 percent.

Interestingly, 90 percent of people use multiple resources for their news, with 57 percent 'gathering' news from two to five websites.

Amy Mitchell, deputy director for the Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism said to the BBC, "Americans have become news grazers both on and offline - but within limits."

"They generally don't have one favourite website but also don't search aimlessly. Most online news consumers regularly draw on just a handful of different sites."

It wasn't good news (pun intended) for forms of print media however...

Regular readers of newspapers are reported to have dropped by almost half recently, with many publications facing uncertain futures as advertising slows in the post-recession business world. That coupled with many sourcing their news online means that several papers have been forced to close.

So for now it appears that online news has won a significant battle, but don't expect Murdoch and other media corporations to take this lying down. The war is far from over.

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Timon Singh

Microsoft shuts down global spammers

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:07:00 +0000

Fed up of the endless spam and junk mail that fills your inbox every morning? Well, it's Microsoft to the rescue as the software giant wins a court approval to shut down a global network of computers which it says is responsible for more than 1.5 billion spam messages every day. That is a lot of emails telling me I need to enlarge my manhood...

A US judge approved the firm's request and has granted Microsoft shut down 277 internet domains, which were part of the Waledec botnet network that were able to allow hackers to control infected computers. By shutting down these domains, Microsoft said that up to 90,000 PCs would now stop receiving orders that would make them send out spam.

Down but not out

Microsoft recently released a report saying that 3-21 December 2009, "approximately 651 million spam e-mails attributable to Waledac were directed to Hotmail accounts alone". This has made it one of the 10 largest botnet systems in the US.

Despite shutting down the network, Microsoft have stressed that thousands of computers are still infected with malware and as shut advised the use of anti-virus software.

Operation b49

Working in unison with intelligence organisation Shadowserver, the University of Washington and security firm Symantec, Microsoft's 'Operation b49' was the name of the court order that the software giant took to the Virginian court in order to get Verisign, the company that manages the .com domain, to switch off the offending domains.

The operation, which took months of investigation has been described as a legal first. In a statement, Microsoft said, "This action has quickly and effectively cut off traffic to Waledac at the .com or domain registry level, severing the connection between the command and control centres of the botnet and most of its thousands of zombie computers around the world."

So rejoice online users! The attempts of evil Zombie computers to fill your in-boxes with letters from Nigerian diplomats and Cheaper Meds has been severely curtained! Huzzah!

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Latvia's online Robin Hood

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 16:07:00 +0000

Every now and then, technology allows someone to make a statement about the state of the world today, or to fight back using means they might now otherwise have. In this case, a Latvian hacker has used the internet to leak data and expose bankers and establishments who cashed in during the recession.

The hacker, known as Neo (an obvious nod to The Matrix) has become a hero in Latvia where he has audiences hooked as he leaks details of the finances of leading Latvian firms via Twitter. The data included pay details of managers from a Latvian bank that received a bail-out, but didn't take the salary cuts they promised to. Other leaks have shown state-owned companies awarding bonuses to staff while asking the government for financial aid.

Sticking it to The Man

Neo claims to be part of a group called the Fourth Awakening People's Army, that downloaded more than seven million confidential tax documents from the State Revenue Service.

Although he is being investigated by Latvian authorities, it is believed he is based in Britain. Speaking to the BBC, Ilze Nagla, a TV presenter on the state-owned Latvian TV said that Neo had become a cult hero for many.

"A lot of people perceive him as a modern, virtual Robin Hood," she said.

"On the one hand of course he has stolen confidential data... and he actually has committed a crime. But at the same time there is value for the public in the sense that now a lot of information gets disclosed and the whole system maybe becomes a little more transparent," she said.

Although many European countries are struggling in the wake of the recession, Latvia is among the hardest hit suffering the worst economic crisis since it broke free from the Soviet Union in 1991. With unemployment at 23 percent, the Latvian population are not best pleased at those lining their own pockets in times of such strife.

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Timon Singh

China's new online rules

Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:16:00 +0000

If it's not hiring freelance programs to attack Google (allegedly) or blocking over 500,000 websites that do not agree with government policy, then China is try to find new ways of controlling what their citizens view online.

Their latest 'safeguard' will require anyone who wishes to set up a website to meet regulators and produce ID documents. Online activists have already condemned the move as another step in the Chinese government censoring what their population can view, but the technology minster has said the measures were designed to tackle "online pornography".

With the world's biggest online population, of over 380 million, the move has been heavily condemned as many feel it is another restriction on their online activities. A quarter of China's population regularly use the internet, but with such a large online population, the government has regularly blocked certain privileges, sites as well as censoring what is posted.

40,000 'online' police constantly monitor the web removing any 'inappropriate comments' while on the 20th anniversary of Tienanmen Square in June 2008, all internet portals were shut down for 'maintenance'.

New rules

With the inclusion of the new rule comes the lifting on a freeze put in place in December that forbade the registration of new individual websites. It is now expected that a number of sites will now be registered overseas in an attempt to avoid China's controls.

For those wishing to follow the new rules, new webmasters will have to submit identity cards and photos of themselves, as well as meeting regulators before their sites could be registered.

While China says the new rules are to combat pornography, a vibrant debate has started regarding the new rules in the country. Famously the internet has been used to highlight cases of injustice or to embarrass corrupt officials in the country, but the Chinese authorities have at the same time been trying to crack down on pornography after state media said that not enough was being done to screen websites.

A number of campaigns have been launched against online pornography, and last year alone thousands of people were arrested on pornography charges.

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How many tweets are sent a day?

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 16:43:00 +0000

Twitter is one of the newest forms of communication, but over the past year it has made incredible leaps with everyone from film stars to the Dalai Lama signing up to the service.

It was therefore interesting to learn that new stats released by the social media network revealed that Tweeters now send out more than 50 million tweets per day. That's 600 tweets per second.

While that may not match the amount of texts and emails that are sent each day, it does show how far Twitter has come.

In 2007, around 5,000 tweets were sent per day but that went up to 300,000 tweets per day in 2008. However, it was last year that the service really took off with around 2.5 million tweets being sent through Twitter every single day, a growth of 1,400 percent finishing the year with 35 million tweets per day.

Last July, Twitter passed another milestone with 50 million unique visitors worldwide. Twitter added 7.1 unique visitors from June to July 2009 but growth dipped slightly, with visits increasing by only 16 percent from June.

Twitter’s visits grew 19 percent from May to June, and saw 16 percent growth from April to May. But Twitter’s highest rate of worldwide growth may have been in the month of March, when the site grew by 95 percent, from 9.8 million to 19.1 million visits. It is thought that June’s number may have been buoyed by the Iran election protests, which received a lot of media attention.

With such a dramatic increase in users and tweets, it certainly does silent those who said that the Twitter bubble had burst and its growth had stalled.

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How will 2010 make our smartphones smarter?

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 16:43:00 +0000

2009 saw an influx of smartphones - the Palm Pre, the N900 and of course, saw the iPhone standing tall among all of them. However, despite the smartphone boom, change is coming and 2010 is going to see a lot of developments for next generation phones.

Well, like 2009, social media is going to play a big part - Twitter, Facebook will rule the roost but if you're not able to access any of the other popular network sites by the end of the year on your smartphone something is wrong.

However, as more and more people browse the net on their phone, on of the biggest game changers will be however the choice of interfaces and what proves to be popular.

Firefox, rapidly becoming Internet Explorer's biggest rival on home computers, have finally bought their browser to the mobile and, as you expect, features tabbed browsing, session syncing between mobile and desktops. Its ability to enable the user to include 40 additional add-ons also makes it the most customisable browser on a handset. One popular add-on is the one from Twitter that allows the user to tweet from the address bar.

Expect this to be one of the most popular downloads through the year, however it won't be alone.

Making a big splash at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Opera showcased their ultra-fast mobile browser Mini for the iPhone which is yet to be submitted for App Store approval. However, when it is, it is expected to be a big hit with claims that it will load pages up to six times faster than the iPhone's current Safari browser.

Earlier this month, Samsung announced its first bada powered phone, the S8500 Wave. The operating system has been developed by Samsung in an effort to take on Apple, Google and Windows in the mobile phone market.

The Flash issue

Of course, if more and more people want to browse online via their phones, then something is going to have to be done about making handsets play Flash videos. It has been estimated that between 35-40 percent of pages contain flashfiles, but as of yet no system can support Adobe be it legal reasons of otherwise. However, that could soon change.

Speaking to the BBC, David Wadhani, vice president of Adobe, said: "We'll see over the next 12 months Flash player 10.1, which is the same version of Flash on desktops, running on a variety of smartphones."

The mobile download of Flash 10.1 will be available from this summer on Android and Palm Pre handsets - and with other manufacturers to follow. Currently 19 out of the top 20 manufacturers have signed up to support the video and animation platform.

Who isn't on board? Apple, due to their ongoing dispute with Adobe, they have decided not to support the software which is sure to be a big blow to iPhone users.

Platform games

While Windows 7 was a big hit for Microsoft, their decision to release the platform for their Windows Phone 7 could go either way. No doubt bringing the personalised PC experience to the phone, as well as services such as Windows Media Player and the Zune music service as well as Xbox 360 content, it still remains to be seen whether Microsoft can secure a large portion of the smartphone market.

On top of that, Samsung are releasing their own OS system and Nokia's Symbian is going open-source enabling the creation of apps on a scale of iPhone's.

So smartphone users, what would you like to be able to do on your smartphone by the end of the year? What are you excited/worried about?

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Timon Singh

Judge blocks Google's library

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:34:00 +0000

It has not been a good year for e-readers thus far; first Apple strike a blow against the likes of Kindle by unleashing their iPad and then they work a provision into their agreement with publishers, requiring them to occasionally sell bestselling books at a discount, possibly as low as $10 per book essentially undercutting everyone else.

However, the digital book market has now taken another hit as Google's efforts to create the world's largest digital library were stalled after a US judge declined to rule on the case immediately.

The case has drawn controversy over critics saying that any deal Google did with US publishers and authors would give them a monopoly over online book sales. Google however have said that it would make "millions of books searchable via the web".

Google's plan would see a $125m settlement that would set up a book rights registry to pay authors and publishers compensation in return for their work being scanned and digitised.

However, after reading over 500 submissions from both sides, Judge Denny Chin said at the start of the proceedings in New York that "to end the suspense, I'm not going to rule today. There is just too much to digest. I have an open mind."

Showdown

The hearing has been a long time in the making, ever since Google's scanning of books in 2004 brought it into conflict with the Authors Guild of America and the Association of American Publishers, and they sued over "massive copyright infringement".

After a 2005 deal was amended last year, those who were against the settlement outnumbered those who were for it three to one, pitting tech-giants such as Sony and Microsoft against each other.

According to the BBC, Sony, who makes electronic book readers, supported the deal because it was good for competition. Microsoft's Tom Rubin disagreed and said it "was structured to solidify Google's dominance"

Amazon have also weighted in with their lawyer saying the agreement allowed "full scale commercial exploitation with essentially no restraint whatsoever. It turns copyright law on its head".

Whatever the judge decides could change how books are read in the future, and as such many, including the tech companies are watching with avid interest.

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PleaseRobMe.com reveals perils of real-time social media

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:57:00 +0000

I'm sure you've all done it. Posted on your Twitter feed or Facebook profile that "You're off out" or "Going away for the weekend", but posting the fact that your home is now unoccupied has led a Dutch developer to create a website highlighting the dangers of sharing such precise information.

The site, PleaseRobMe.com reveals the location of empty homes based solely on what people post online via social media sites or online games such as Foursquare, that is based on a person's location in the real world.

Boy Van Amstel, the developer behind the site, has denied he's a criminal mastermind or that he has grand burglary plans, saying that he created the site simply to prove a point.

"It started with me and a friend looking at our Twitter feeds and seeing more and more Foursquare posts," said Boy Van Amstel to the BBC.

"People were checking in at their house, or their girlfriend's or friend's house, and sharing the address - I don't think they were aware of how much they were sharing."

Van Amstell and fellow developers Frank Groeneveld and Barry Borsboom soon realised that the amount of people posting such information was staggering and as such, their openness online was leaving their homes exposed.

Hence the purpose of PleaseRobMe.com...

"Laughable how easy it is"

Designed in four hours, the website extracts information from players who have chosen to post their whereabouts automatically onto Twitter.

"It's basically a Twitter search - nothing new," said Mr Van Amstel. "Anyone who can do HTML and javascript can do this. You could almost laugh at how easy it is.

"The website is not a tool for burglary," he said. "The point we're getting at is that not long ago it was questionable to share your full name on the internet. We've gone past that point by 1000 miles."

As such, the site is remaining live, hopefully to act as warning to those who are so open with their lives.

Did you just post on your Twitter feed that you're off on holiday from tomorrow for two weeks? If so, I'd suggest you delete that...

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Facebook Zero to launch

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 11:35:00 +0000

With almost as many people checking their Facebook profiles via their phones as well as their computer (the social network recently said that more than 100 million people now access Facebook from their phone), it is no surprise that Facebook has unveiled a stripped-down, text-only version of its mobile site so everyone can get to the site, not just those with 3G phones.

The new site, called Facebook Zero, is aimed at people viewing Facebook on their mobile and will launch "in the coming weeks". It is also believed to be a response to operators who have complained about bandwidth being used up on their networks by people constantly checking the social site.

A recent survey from GSM Association recently revealed that Facebook accounts for nearly half of all the time people in the UK spend going online using their phones - during December that was a total of 2.2 billion minutes.

Stripped down

In order to reduce the amount of bandwidth dedicated to Facebook, the site "omits data intensive applications like photos".

A spokesman for the company was quoted as saying, "We are discussing it... as an option to make Facebook on the mobile web available to everyone, anywhere and allow operators to encourage more mobile internet usage."

The mobile site is very much like Facebook Lite, the website designed for people with slow or poor internet connections, such as those in the developing world.

Either way, it is clear the new site will no doubt increase the amount of people using their phones to access their accounts, which could see Facebook reap even larger financial benefits.

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Google to become network provider

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 14:48:00 +0000

Not content with being the world's No.1 online search engine and one of the biggest presences on the Internet, Google is planning on also providing online connectivity by becoming a network provider.

By offering super-fast, fibre-optic broadband connections to thousands of US homes, with speeds of up to 1Gbps, Google has the potential to become a major player in the provider arena.

On the company's official blog, Google said they would focus on competing with other providers on price and that they would offer speeds much faster than those on offer. They also said they'd be offering applications that would be able to take advantage of the speeds.

"We are planning to build and test ultra high-speed broadband networks in a small number of trial locations across the United States," the online statement said.

"We plan to offer service at a competitive price to at least 50,000 and potentially up to 500,000 people. We'll deliver internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today," it continued.

Fibre-optic connections

Currently Google uses fibre-optic cables to connect its data centres, speeding up searches and lowering costs. The fact that it plans to implement this system to consumer homes could prove to be a huge draw to those fed up with inconsistent and slow connects.

Google have stated that the network will be available for any service provider to use and the internet giant is asking interested parties, from local government as well as members of the public, to sign up to the plan.

Of course while the plan has its benefits for users, it is simply the next step in Google's seemingly unstoppable aim to control all areas of web users experiences.

This week saw them try to get on the social media bandwagon with Google Buzz, and their attempts to control networks and connections is just the latest step.

Google's network impact in the US could be massive; while President Obama promised to spend $7.2 billion on new broadband infrastructure, that money was for smaller broadband providers and municipalities.

Google's success could all come down to how many hands their network would be able to service, but the last time anyone checked, Google wasn't exactly short on finances and resources.

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Google Buzz arrives

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 15:06:00 +0000

It was inevitable; with the amount of traffic that the likes of Facebook and Twitter have been stealing away from Google over the past few months, and the seemingly increasing desperation of the search-giant (they had a Super Bowl ad... since when has Google needed to advertise?!), it was only a matter of time before they tried to get on the social networking bandwagon.

So how does Google Buzz fare? Will it be giving Facebook and Twitter sleepless nights? Doubtful.

The service doesn't offer anything new and there is no reason why people would want to join when they can already do everything the service offers on Facebook and Twitter and a whole host of other available services.

An add-on to Gmail, Buzz allows Google users to share photos, videos, links, and status updates with their friends as well as discuss news and other shared content - essentially everything the Facebook live newsfeed does.

Lukewarm response

As one would expect, the online reaction has been tepid to say the least.

Kevin Rose of Digg said,"Not sure where Buzz fits in my arsenal of social media tools, how often I'll use it, or if it will eventually feel too much like unread email — but I'm happy to see Google taking social media seriously. It's early days, let the attention/follower wars begin."

Mitch Wagner of ComputerWorld was more harsh saying, "It's similar to too many services already on the market. Google Buzz looks like a "me-too" product. I don't think Google Buzz will get much buzz."

Even Google's official statement was uninspiring - “With more and more communication happening online, the social web has exploded as the primary way to share interesting stuff, tell the world what you're up to in real-time and stay more connected to more people.”

It's almost as if they're admitting that Buzz is the same as Twitter and Facebook and in no way different. Whether the online community will feel the same and embrace it remains to be seen, but initial reaction seems to make it unlikely.

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Facebook threatening Google News?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:55:00 +0000

Poor Google News - if it's not Rupert Murdoch trying to remove stories from his News Corps affiliates from their search index to prevent people viewing them for free, it's the news that Facebook has now tripled their proportion of traffic to US news sites, whilst Google News' has stayed the same.

It would appear that social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook are increasing becoming the primary portal for people to come to US news sites, overthrowing Google News which had been the main source for years.

The data compiled by Hitwise shows that over the past year, the the proportion of traffic that Facebook sends to US media sites has tripled from around 1.2 percent to 3.52 percent, while that sent by Google News has remained roughly static, at around 1.4 percent.

Will Murdoch now target Facebook?

This raises an interesting question over the debate on charged content. Rupert Murdoch has frequently cited Google News as a site that "leeches" on his publications' content and is one of the most vocal, as well as powerful, forces driving the idea that online news websites should charge for the content provided.

Typically, news sites and blogs rely on advertising money to stay up and running. but Facebook with its 400 million users is now a major threat to both Google and Murdoch's News Corps.

Heather Hopkins, North America analyst for Hitwise said in a blog post, "Facebook could be a major disruptor to the News and Media category. And with the Wall Street Journal already publishing content to Facebook, perhaps the social network can avoid the run-ins that Google has suffered recently with Rupert Murdoch. We will continue to watch this space."

As shall we, especially considering how Murdoch appears to be on the warpath.

In the UK, the Murdoch-owned titles, such as The New York Post and The Wall Street Journal have gone as far as blocking access to their sites from Newsnow, who is a much smaller news aggregator. Google has stood firm, with Eric Schmidt, chief executive of Google, even saying that publishers should be grateful as the likes of Google News sends them that it sends them about 4 billion links per year (in Murdoch's own Wall Street Journal no less).

However Murdoch seems determined to make people pay for his content... the only question, is will they do so when they can get the news for free from other sources.

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VodafoneUK's obscene tweet

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:51:00 +0000

The problem of have disgruntled service staff controlling your company's Twitter account was painfully realised by Vodafone as a (now former) employee sent a message on the company's official account saying "VodafoneUK is fed up of dirty homo's and is going after beaver".

Somewhat different to the usual helpful technical tips that most of VodafoneUK's 8,824 followers usually get, the phone company was unsurprisingly contacted to see if they were aware there account had been hacked.

After taking the message off its Twitterfeed, Vodafone issued a grovelling apology to its customers explaining the situation. Replying to each customer individually, Vodafone stated that, "we weren't hacked. A severe breach of rules by staff in our building, dealing with that internally. We're very sorry."

Of course, many users had saved the Tweet and posted it online forcing the company to release a press statement.

"An individual posted an obscene remark on the Vodafone UK Twitter account," said a spokesman for the company. "The individual has been suspended pending further notice."

When Twitter goes bad

Vodafone's Twitter faux pas is just the latest in a line of company/social media gaffs. As more people sign up to Facebook groups and company Twitter feeds, organisations are forced to police official messages much more stringently, however the odd 'rogue' mistake still makes it through now and then.

A year ago Virgin Atlantic sacked 13 cabin crew after they used Facebook to call passengers "chavs" and claimed that the airline's planes were full of cockroaches.

It's enough to make you wonder whether social media feeds are worth the hassle sometimes and whether newsletters/emails were just much easier.

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