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Crack in Google China firewall turns Obama page into freedom forum

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:07:00 +0000

Chinese Internet users taking advantage of temporary access to Google Inc's social networking site, Google+, have flooded U.S. President Barack Obama's page on the site with calls for greater freedom in the world's most populous country.

"Oppose censorship, oppose the Great Firewall of China!" one user posted, one of hundreds of comments in Chinese or by people with Chinese names that dominated the site over the weekend.

Beijing's blocking of websites and censoring of search results for politically sensitive terms is known colloquially as the "Great Firewall of China." With sites such as Facebook and Twitter blocked, self-censoring homegrown equivalents like Sina Corp's microblogging platform, Weibo, fill the void.

It was unclear why Google+ was accessible for some users in China for part of the past week. A Google spokesman said the company had not done anything differently that would have led to the access. One Google executive told Reuters that the company had noticed the opening early last week.

Some Internet users said they were accessing the site via mobile devices, suggesting censors may have overlooked certain mobile browsers.

Whatever the reason, the incident offered a glimpse into the pent-up demand for free speech in a country where the Internet is heavily censored and any criticism of the ruling Communist Party in other forms is stamped out. It also serves as a reminder of why Chinese authorities view such sites as a threat.

BUMPER STICKERS, GREEN CARDS

The posts in Chinese slowed to a trickle by Monday, suggesting the window of unfettered access to Google+ might have closed. Individuals in China normally need to use a virtual private network to access blocked sites, an added expense and trouble that limits the number of people who do so.

But that was not before hundreds of people who said they were Chinese citizens had an opportunity to ask their U.S. counterparts about hallmarks of U.S. elections such as campaign bumper stickers.

"I'd like to grab a bumper sticker in my left hand and a green card in my right hand," said user Zhou Zuoxin. A U.S. green card allows a foreign citizen to work in the United States.

American presidential elections attract a great deal of attention and interest overseas and Obama in particular is very popular abroad. But the Democrat has been careful to stress that foreign interests should not influence the November 6 election.

Despite the outpouring of admiration for Obama from some of those posting with Chinese names, others on the site expressed frustration over the avalanche of Chinese posts.

However, Ben LaBolt, a spokesman for the Obama campaign, said its policy was only to remove posts from the Google+ site when they are offensive or threatening.

Responding to those who criticized their use of the Obama page as a place to express their desire for democracy, many of the Chinese participants called for empathy.

"Many people don't understand the meaning why all Chinese are coming here. We envy American people their democracy and freedom!" wrote one user with the name Lihui Chen.

State Attorneys General criticizes Googles Privacy Policy

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 14:02:00 +0000

Google Inc.’s new privacy policy was criticized by the National Association of Attorneys General as failing to give consumers choices about pooling their data.

In a letter to Google Inc. Chief Executive Officer Larry Page, the group said the policy, scheduled to go into effect March 1, invades consumer privacy by automatically sharing personal information that users input for one Google service across all of the company’s products.

“The new policy forces consumers to allow information across all of Google’s products to be shared without giving them the proper ability to opt out,” the association said in the letter, which 36 attorneys general signed. The officials, who are both Republicans and Democrats, asked to meet with Page to address their privacy concerns.

Google, the world’s most-popular search engine, announced plans on Jan. 24 to unify privacy policies for products including YouTube videos and Android software for mobile phones, saying it will simplify conditions users agree to.

Chris Gaither, a spokesman for Google, said in an e-mail that the new policy will make privacy practices easier to understand and Google’s services easier to use.

Notification Effort

“We’ve undertaken the most extensive notification effort in Google’s history,” he said. “We’re continuing to offer choice and control over how people use our services.”

The change means Google will be able to pull together everything it knows about users from its disparate products. A consumer’s YouTube viewing history can be used to tailor results in Google Search while an individual’s search history will enable more relevant ads across Google products, Gaither said.

The letter from the Attorneys General follows a complaint filed with the FTC earlier today by Jeff Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, who said the plan to streamline privacy settings for about 60 different services and products is deceptive and primarily aimed at targeting users with advertising keyed to their interests, not to making Google easier to use.

“Google fails to tell users in its principal privacy- change communications how such data collection, profiling, and targeting practices impact -- and potentially harm -- their privacy,” Chester wrote in the complaint. “Google presents the information in a deceptive way that suggests consumers will benefit from the new policy.”

Privacy Issues

Chester’s group, which has also urged the FTC to address privacy issues at Facebook Inc. and other online marketers, asked the FTC to sue Google to stop the policy change and to fine the company. The FTC can levy fines of $16,000 per day, per violation, for breaches of consent decrees.

Claudia Bourne Farrell, a spokeswoman for the FTC, said the agency had received the complaint and declined to comment further.

Another privacy group, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, or EPIC, sued the FTC in federal court Feb. 8 seeking to force the agency to act against Google’s new privacy policy. A judge is weighing a U.S. motion to dismiss the case.

The agency’s settlement with Google last year, which barred sharing user data outside the company without clear permission, stemmed from a complaint EPIC filed in 2010.

Under the consent decree announced March 30, Mountain View, California-based Google agreed it used deceptive tactics and violated its own privacy policies when it introduced its Buzz social-networking service in 2010.

The 20-year settlement bars Google from misrepresenting how it handles information and obliges the company to follow policies that protect consumer data in new products.

Google’s new privacy policy is also under review by data- protection agencies in Europe, which have asked the company to delay introducing the new policy pending that review. Google has said it doesn’t intend to suspend the new policy.

--With assistance from Jeff Bliss in Washington. Editors: Fred Strasser, Peter Blumberg

Thinking Outside the Red box

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 17:53:00 +0000

To many people, the coffee dispensed by vending machines is a sour brew, forever associated with jury duty waiting rooms and bowling alleys.

But Coinstar , which has become a force in self-service retailing through the swift rise of Redbox, its movie rental subsidiary, hopes to change that. When a visitor to its headquarters here dips a credit card into a coffee machine in the company cafeteria, the machine grinds a batch of beans and dribbles out a $1 cup of fresh coffee that tastes pretty close to a cup from any upscale coffee bar.

The machine is the latest bet by Coinstar, which is best known for its Redbox kiosks that have become nearly inescapable in some parts of the country. More than 35,000 of the bright red machines are tucked into corners of Walmarts, McDonald’s outlets and drugstores. Its $1.20-a-night DVD rentals made it into the biggest renter of home videos in the United States and helped drive many Blockbuster stores out of business.

Those cheap rentals also turned Redbox into one of Hollywood’s boogeymen who, along with Netflix, were blamed for accelerating the decline of home video sales. Faced with the prospect that online movie watching will eventually replace physical discs, Redbox last week banded together with Verizon Communications to form a service that combines DVD and streaming movie options.

Redbox’s profile has largely overshadowed its parent company’s broader ambitions to reinvent vending machines by applying them to new categories of retailing, as well as old ones like coffee. In an interview at the company’s headquarters, Paul Davis, chief executive of Coinstar, said there was great convenience in self-service kiosks because of how widely they can be placed in grocery stores and other locations.

“Consumers love it because they don’t have a lot of time on their hands,” Mr. Davis, 54, said over coffee dispensed by the new vending machine in Coinstar’s cafeteria. “We try to be where the consumer goes everyday.”

Until Redbox took off, Coinstar was known for its namesake coin-counting kiosks, more than 20,000 of which are now installed inside grocery and other retail chains. The company was founded just over two decades ago by Jens Molbak, who as a Stanford University graduate student realized there wasn’t an easy way to spend the spare change piled up in a jar on top of his dresser. Coinstar converts change into cash or store vouchers, earning a transaction fee in the process.

The coffee kiosks are the first of what Coinstar expects to be a wave of new vending machines from the company. It is testing the machines in locations around the country and expects to have about 500 installed by the end of the year.

Mr. Davis envisions the 3-foot-by-3-foot kiosks going into supermarkets, gas stations and office buildings, though he does not see a need for them in retail locations that already have a small Starbucks or some other coffee chain. Coinstar joined with Starbucks on the kiosks, which are labeled with the company’s Seattle’s Best Coffee brand.

Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, said he believed the coffee kiosks represented a meaningful growth market for Coinstar. “The retailer relationship is their biggest competitive advantage,” Mr. Pachter said. “If every place has a coin box, they know how to get another 12 square feet.”

A kiosk concept Coinstar is experimenting with in about eight retail locations in Texas and California is called Gizmo, through which it sells used video game consoles, iPads and other electronics. Many of the items in the kiosks are refurbished by a manufacturer or another party with prices that are up to half off retail, Mr. Davis said.

Other concepts it is testing include ecoATM, a kiosk created by a start-up Coinstar invested in that allows consumers to trade in old cellphones and other electronics for cash. The machine uses a camera to evaluate the condition of the devices. Coinstar says the traded-in phones often end up being sold in developing countries, a more environmentally friendly outcome than going to landfills.

Mr. Davis said Coinstar had about eight or nine kiosk ideas in various stages of development, part of an effort it established about 18 months ago. It tests concepts in public locations, often in primitive form and with employees nearby to observe how customers are interacting with them; the early prototypes of Gizmo, for example, were made out of cardboard.

“What we try to do is plant a lot of seeds,” Mr. Davis said. “We know the math says only about half are going to work.”

The company will need new kiosk successes as physical movie rentals, its biggest business, face an uncertain future. About 85 percent of Coinstar’s $1.85 billion in revenue last year was from Redbox. The number of movies rented in DVD and Blu-ray formats last year in the United States fell by 11 percent from the year before, as chains like Blockbuster closed more bricks-and-mortar stores and viewers switched to online movie watching, according to NPD Group, a research firm in Port Washington, N.Y.

Despite the weakness in the overall rental market, Redbox thrived by gobbling up share from physical stores. Its number of rentals jumped 28 percent in 2011 from 2010. It accounted for 37 percent of physical movie rentals last year, up from 25 percent in 2010, NPD said. Earlier this month, Coinstar made a move to further consolidate its position in physical rental with the proposed acquisition for up to $100 million of the entertainment business of NCR, which operates DVD rental kiosks that use the Blockbuster brand.

Still, analysts say the long-term trend is irreversible: Consumers will increasingly stop renting discs in favor of the convenience of online movie watching. “Consumers’ interest in the DVD medium is going to fall far faster than we think,” said Richard Greenfield, an analyst at BTIG Research.

Mr. Davis said that the decline in physical rentals would take longer than most expected. He does, however, concede that the decline will come. That is one reason the company worked with Verizon on the venture to create a service combining physical and online movie rentals. Details about the service, which will begin during the second half of the year, are sparse, but it is expected to be a subscription service with a monthly fee, like Netflix.

The online movies licensed by Verizon for the service will most likely consist of older titles because Hollywood studios tend to delay the release of many new films online. Customers will be able to go to Redbox kiosks to get newer movies on disc. Redbox owns 35 percent of the venture, with Verizon owning the remainder.

Some Hollywood studios, though, are trying to make it difficult for Redbox to get fresh movies into its kiosks, out of concern that its dirt-cheap rentals are cutting into home video sales. Several years ago, Redbox sued several of the studios for threatening to withhold DVD supplies for rentals for almost a month after the discs went on sale. In later settlements, Redbox agreed to delay rentals for 28 days in exchange for getting better economic terms from the studios for DVDs.

An agreement with one of those studios, Warner Brothers, expired at the end of January, and Redbox refused to agree to a new deal to delay rentals by 56 days from the date of their DVD release. That, in turn, forced Redbox to get Warner movies from other sources, including the same retail stores where consumers buy DVDs. United States copyright law allows a company like Redbox to rent out movies they buy retail.

Warren Lieberfarb, the former president of Warner’s home video division and now a consultant in Los Angeles, said Redbox had largely become an adversary of the studios, which “completely missed Netflix and Redbox as threats to the business model of people buying” movies. In a recent research report, Mr. Greenfield, the analyst, called Redbox “Hollywood Enemy #1.”

Mr. Davis said Redbox had good relationships with most of the studios. “I think we can always get better,” he said.

Chrome for Android comes with Easter eggs

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Open more than 99 tabs in Chrome for Android, and a tab button that doesn't have room for a three-digit number just gives you a smile.
(Credit: screenshot by Stephen Shankland/CNET)

Shortly after Google released its Chrome browser for Android, enthusiasts are finding the Easter eggs tucked away into the software.

One draws attention to the fact that the browser doesn't have the eight-tab limit of Apple's Safari on iOS. The browser shows a button showing the number of tabs; tapping the button takes a person to a page with all the tabs showing. But there's only room for two numeric digits in the button.

Flipping up pages shown on the tab select page of Chrome for Android flip around if you slide them upward five times. If you look closely you can see an embossed version of the Chrome logo on the "back" of the browser.

Flipping up pages shown on the tab select page of Chrome for Android flip around if you slide them upward five times. If you look closely you can see an embossed version of the Chrome logo on the "back" of the browser.

So what happens when you open your hundredth tab? The 99 turns to a smiley emoticon. Yes, I tried it, and yes, it's a pain opening 100 tabs.

The other Easter egg, which I like better, concerns what happens when you're looking at the page that shows all your tabs. You can swipe up and down to flip through the stack of tab windows, but when you've flipped up to the top, the tabs poke out a bit to visually indicate they won't go any farther.

But if you swipe up five times in a row, the entire stack does an animated flip. Three cheers for hardware acceleration. If you look at the back of the stack as it flips around, you can see an embossed Chrome logo. Check below for a video.

Easter eggs are often intended to be a surprise--and in this case, there was even a surprise for Chrome Vice President Linus Upson.

"The team didn't tell me about this one," he said of the spinning-page trick with the Chrome logo in a Google+ comment. "I knew there was a 100-tab Easter egg, and dutifully spent five minutes finding it."

Chrome for Android is in beta, but Sundar Pichai, the senior vice president in charge of the project, told CNET News he expects to release the final version soon. "My expectation is two to three months, but we will be quality-driven," he said.

The browser includes PC synchronization, a lot of Web standards, and Google's V8 JavaScript engine, but it only works on Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest and still rare version of Google's mobile OS.

Google Changes Will Impact Your Online Privacy

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:41:00 +0000

The seemingly ubiquitous company is overhauling its privacy policies, so take the time to understand what it knows about you and how Google will use it

Google announced on its blog that as of March 1 you will need to agree with its new privacy policies to use its services (Gmail, Calendar, YouTube, Google+ and much more) with the exception of Google Books, Google Wallet and Google Chrome. Google says these changes will unify its more than 70 privacy policies across its product line and to streamline your experiences. You do not have the option to opt out of the changes.

In many ways, this allows you to learn more about what Google “knows” about you. Google can see the content of your emails if you use Gmail, where you like to visit if you use Google Maps and if you have enabled GPS information on your Android phone your precise location throughout the day.

Many of us use Google’s many services and the price we pay is to allow our information to be analyzed so that more targeted ads can reach us. We have to admit that Google is not providing all these free tools out of the goodness of its heart, but it is a for-profit, very large and successful company.

Where this is troubling is that many of us have no choice but to use Google products. Many universities and government institutions use Gmail as their email service provider.
This personally identifying data may not be shared with third parties, frankly our data is Google’s valued asset, but with a subpoena Google may provide information with local, state or federal agencies. You don’t have to be paranoid about this data collection, credit card issuers and insurance companies also track this type of data, but you should inform yourself on the policies.

I read the FAQs, the Transparency Report including U .S . data, their Policies and then I went to my Dashboard to see what Google has gleaned from my use of its products (they also have a Dashboard video on YouTube). Things I had forgotten about were there, things that I was surprised to see and things that I didn’t realize I hadn’t set stricter privacy settings. I also learned that Google was right about where I lived, that I liked books, music and technology but it had determined that I was most likely a male between the ages of 39 and 44. As a 45-year-old woman, that amused me but it showed that even Google’s massive algorithms were not always correct.

I use Facebook, I use Google, I will continue to do so even without the option of opting out. I tightened my privacy settings and I will find alternatives to the Google Calendar and Gmail. I highly recommend that you should take the time to think about these things for yourself as well.

AT&T: The Case

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 18:34:00 +0000

AT&T (T) has struggled: It famously failed to acquire T-mobile from Deutsche Telekom (DTEGY.PK) and lost its iPhone monopoly. Definitely not a good year for this Bell. Verizon (VZ) shares have outperformed AT&T: Over the last 2 years, Verizon is up 27% while AT&T is up only 5%. Is it time for AT&T to play catch-up?

Both AT&T and Verizon are big telco companies which have bet the ranch on wireless. In comparison to Verizon, AT&T appears undervalued by PE, Price/Book, and fP/E. It has an attractive yield of 5.8%. Recently, it bumped the dividend by a penny, its 28th consecutive yearly increase. Verizon doesn't have this strong record of raising the dividend. With AT&T, you can count on a raise every December. Over time, these additions mount up. The dividends look very attractive compared to AT&T bonds: Even if you buy callable AT&T bonds maturing in 2097, you're only going to get a 5.6% yield!

The company has been done well in the smart phone arena, something investors shouldn't discount. It's a story about improving margins from wireless customers.

AT&T like Verizon has gained wireless customers, leaving Sprint (S) behind.

AT&T announced it sold 6 million smart phones after completing just two-thirds of its quarter, driven in large part by Apple's (AAPL) 4s iPhone. The record for any AT&T quarter is 6.1 million. This quarter should be a strong one, factoring out the one-time loss from the T-mobile breakup fee.

Each year, AT&T is earning more from each wireless customer. Verizon has stalled here while Sprint is in decline.

AT&T has improved its wireless segment margins while Verizon's have plateaued.

So far, the market has favored Verizon over AT&T. It's a good bet investors will forgive AT&T its recent missteps and focus on its strong wireless business and steadily improving dividends. For investors looking for yield, AT&T is an excellent stock choice.

Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours.

HTC loses key patent battle

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:26:00 +0000

Apple scored a legal victory yesterday over HTC, albeit a limited one.

The International Trade Commission, a federal agency with the power to enforce bans on products shipping to the U.S., ruled that HTC infringed upon one of Apple's patents. While clearly a win for the company, it could have gone a lot better; Apple originally accused HTC of violating 10 patents.

In a statement to CNET, HTC general counsel Grace Lei said: "We are gratified that the commission affirmed the judge's initial determination on the '721 and '983 patents, and reversed its decision on the '263 patent and partially on the '647 patent. We are very pleased with the determination and we respect it."
An Apple representative, meanwhile, stuck to its party line: "We think competition is healthy, but competitors should create their own original technology, not steal ours."
It's a key milestone in a long-running patent battle between Apple and HTC, one that has spread to multiple courts in different countries. But what does this mean for you? Fortunately, CNET offers this handy FAQ.

What was the exact ruling?
The ITC ruled that HTC violated the 5,946,647 patent, which refers to a method of data detection that allows a mobile device to recognize things like e-mail addresses, phone numbers, and addresses in text and automatically move them to a calendar, dialer, or mapping application.

The ruling affects any HTC device that uses the feature, and potentially bans them from being shipped in the U.S. HTC says it is a "small UI experience" and that it would completely remove it from its phones soon.

But HTC lost, right? Should I stock up on its products now?
Don't worry, HTC's products aren't going anywhere. The ITC has given HTC until April 19 to settle the technology issues, so until then the company's products are safe.
If some of HTC's phones still use that patent, then they will be barred from coming into the country. But given the amount of time HTC has, removing the feature shouldn't be a problem.

How many phones are affected?
The Droid Eris and Nexus One were the phones listed in the original lawsuit, but it's unclear just how many phones violate the patent.
If you own an HTC phone, it's probably a safe bet to assume your device violates Apple's patents, and will need to be updated.

So how does my HTC phone change?
Your HTC phone may work differently after the changes take place, and not for the better.
Because of the nature of the patent, consumers can expect to lose some functionality with their device. For instance, you may not be able to tap on a phone number in an e-mail to automatically make a phone call, requiring you to manually enter the number yourself. Likewise, you wouldn't be able to tap on an address to bring up its location on a mapping or navigation application.

Despite HTC's attempts to minimize the damage, the loss of such a feature could hurt it competitively not just against Apple, but against other Android vendors. As a result, you may find yourself looking at other Android devices if this key feature is missing from HTC's products. It's up to you whether you really need it.

Is this the end of HTC?
Hardly. If HTC was going to lose this case, this is how the company would want to lose it. The ruling was basically as muted as it could possibly be without an outright victory. The extra few months that ITC granted also gives the company some added flexibility to make changes.
Analysts have noted that HTC could pursue its own technical workaround to get those features back using a different method. Companies have often used these workarounds to avoid infringing upon a patent and paying a licensing fee for the technology.

"If Google can implement this popular feature, which users of modern-day smartphones really expect, without infringing on the two patent claims found infringed, this import ban won't have any effect whatsoever," said Florian Mueller, a legal consultant who runs the FOSS Patents blog.

HTC could also appeal the ruling, according to Robert W. Baird analyst William Power. The company still has outstanding lawsuits against Apple in multiple courts.

How does this affect other Android users?
With a positive ruling on this one patent, Apple could take the precedent and use it against other Android partners. The company already has ongoing litigation with Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility, so what's another patent?

But until any more rulings are made, Samsung, Motorola, and other non-HTC Android devices are safe for now.

Google, meanwhile, could also work on its own technical workaround, which could come in an update of its Android operating system. A successful implementation of the workaround--which would ideally come out before the April 19 deadline--would mean no disruption to any Android users.

Does this mean an end to the patent litigation?
Sadly, no. The limited scope of this ruling means this was more of a jab than an uppercut for Apple. HTC will keep on making its case in other courtrooms, as will the other Android players. The various companies are all racing to get that one decisive ruling that will force both sides to the table. So far, that hasn't come yet.

Coby announces five new Android 4.0 tablets for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 14:09:00 +0000

Coby Electronics has revealed that five new Android 4.0 tablets will launch at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this coming January

The scramble to take the new flavor of Google's Android operating system for a test drive has been pretty intense since the source code was released in the middle of last month. The first commercial hardware products running on Ice Cream Sandwich, though, will not hit the shelves until early in the new year. One of the first to break cover was Acer's Iconia A200 tablet, which is now going to have some company. New York's Coby Electronics will be launching five new Android 4.0 tablets at the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas this coming January.

Unfortunately, Coby has revealed very little about its new batch of capacitive multi-touch tablets but here's what we can tell you. The five tablets will be available in 7-, 8-, 9-, 9.7-, and 10-inch form factors and will all be powered by an ARM Cortex A8 processor running at 1GHz, supported by 1GB of system memory. It's unclear how much onboard storage will be included (existing Coby tablets have settled on 4 GB) but there will be microSD expansion available.

Also up for speculation at this point is whether the new tablets will be additions to the range or replacements for older models, which currently run on Android 2.2 or 2.3. There will be built-in Wi-Fi and an HDMI out port supporting 1080p output but beyond those few details, Coby is remaining tight-lipped.

The company has hinted that the new Android 4.0 tablets will be easy on the wallet but hasn't revealed exactly how budget-friendly they'll be when they are made available during Q1 2012. We'll keep you posted.

Check out the Coby tablet lineup!

Google TV Gets Zynga Poker for Living Room

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 14:07:00 +0000

Google TV adds Zynga Poker to its application lineup, part of its plan to get users to spend more time using the Web TV service.

Zynga, which is preparing for a $900 million-plus initial public offering, has made its popular Zynga Poker gaming application available for Google TV.

Available on Sony TVs, Blu-ray players and the Logitech Revue companion box, Google TV is Google's fledgling platform for wedding Web and channel surfing. The search engine, trying to coax more consumers to purchase and use the Android-based platform, recently made Android Market apps accessible via Google TV.

That app store is where online poker players can download for free Zynga Poker, Zynga's first game title before the immensely popular Farmville and Mafia Wars. Zynga Poker has roughly 30 million active players.

Players may play others from around the world or join friends for a game of Texas Hold 'Em. There are casual tournaments or VIP tables. For those who haven't played Zynga Poker before, the players chat online and send each other poker chips and other gifts.

Players win across multiple platforms, including Google+ and Android devices And now Google TV strives to make the experience even more social from the big screen.

"Especially optimized for playing poker from the comfort of your own couch, Zynga Poker for Google TV features custom graphics and a new way to control the game with the Google TV remote," the Zynga team said in a blog post published by Google. "Up the ante and play Zynga Poker from just about anywhere, whether you're commuting to work or taking a break to connect with friends."

Google, which invested more than $100 million in Zynga, added Zynga Poker to its Google+ Games tab this past August as one of its 16 initial launch titles.

The addition of Games was a calculated move to boost the amount of time users spend on the social network as Google seeks to pry users from Facebook, which with Zynga and others sets the stage for the popularity of online games.

Facebook and Zynga spiced up the action by letting users purchase virtual goods to boost their game status or add additional levels.

Thanks in large part to its success on Facebook selling virtual products, Zynga has rocketed to stardom and is planning to go public next week. Zynga CEO Mark Pincus said his company can double the number of its paying players, according to Reuters.

Facebook acquires location startup Gowalla

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:02:00 +0000

Facebook has added a brand new online startup to its continuously growing library of nascent tech companies.

It's called Gowalla, based in Austin, Texas, and started off as a location-sharing service very similar to Foursquare. The idea was to compete against the leader in that space, but it became very evident that Foursquare was not going to be very welcoming to any competition and as such Gowalla has had to rebrand itself.

It now focuses on travel and offers tips and tricks for those people flying to various corners of the world, in a social and shareable way.

In addition to finding out about local hotspots and tourist attractions, users are encouraged to share their own travel stories and post photos whenever they go on vacation.

The acquisition by Facebook has not been officially announced. The initial report of the deal came from CNNMoney.com, and Facebook has declined to comment on the report.

The CNN article, though, quotes an unnamed source as saying, "It's a perfect match. As far as the big picture, Gowalla's vision is about people telling stories, and Facebook's vision for Timeline is about stories about important moments in life."

Gowalla has received about $10 million in venture capital. CNN reports most of its employees will move to Facebook's headquarters in Palo Alto, California.

Will Android Ever Succeed in the Tablet Market?

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:54:00 +0000

It rules the smartphone market, but several factors prevent Android from going mainstream in the tablet market.

It is pretty clear that Android is the market leader in mobile operating systems when it comes to smartphones. A recent report from Gartner suggests that Android owns as much as 52.5 percent of the growing worldwide smartphone market, followed by Symbian at 16.9 percent and Apple’s iOS at 15.0 percent.

On top of that, its momentum seems unstoppable. Even with Apple’s law suits and the entry of Nokia’s Windows Phones, there is no stopping Android’s march to the peak of the smartphone mountain.

The same, however, cannot be said for Android in the tablet market. In fact, Android tablets have been met with only minimal market acceptance to date and signs suggest that it may never become a powerhouse for tablets like it is for smartphones. For one thing, Google has various versions of its OS for tablets on the market and no consistency of releases. It often releases a new tablet OS with only one "hero" vendor so that other licensees don’t get that version for as long as six months.

There are at least two other key reasons that the mainstream version of Android for tablets may never reach its full potential. First, Amazon's Kindle Fire uses Android, as does Barnes & Noble's Nook Tablet. In both cases, the companies have taken the base version of Android and completely customized it. In a sense, they have hijacked Android for their own purposes. The process has caused a serious splintering, or forking, of Android for tablets. Especially true in Amazon’s case, software developers have to adapt their Android apps for tablet use and to be sold through Amazon's Appstore for Android. Amazon does not include Amazon’s marketplace for apps since it wants to curate the apps that go into its stores to make sure they work as designed and assure that they are free of malware.

The second key reason is that many of the vendors who have backed Android for tablets are discouraged by Google’s handling of Android for tablets via the "hero" vendor model and the lack of consistency of tablet OS releases. Also, they are quite leery of Google’s acquisition of Motorola as they believe that Motorola will always get preferential treatment, even though Google denies such. They are no longer certain that Android, outside of Amazon and Barnes & Noble’s versions, may ever become widely accepted in consumer tablets in the future.

I am also seeing a major move by the likes of HP, Dell, Lenovo, and some other past Android supporters in tablets to switch to Windows 8 for tablets for a couple of reasons. These big companies mostly sell to businesses and enterprises. They had already seen the handwriting on the wall when it came to Android’s acceptance in enterprises. IT managers, who at first were enamored with Android in tablets for use in their businesses but were concerned that they would have to re-write their apps for Android, are now shifting their attention to Windows 8. The main reason is that it will support existing apps, with some touch UI tinkering, when Microsoft and its partners release Windows 8 tablets in quarter three of next year. Though that seems like a long time away, they are willing to wait since they no longer believe they can convince IT buyers to use Android if Microsoft’s has a solution that would work more seamlessly within the current IT programs.

Another issue also poses concern when it comes to tablets in business and enterprise. At the moment, Apple is the only game in town and by its own admission, it has either pilot programs or sell-ins of iPads in 475 of the Fortune 500 businesses. In fact, it has sold 10,000 to American Airlines and United Airlines each and another 10,000 are being deployed by SAP in the coming year. I am also aware of at least ten other enterprise accounts that are considering buying more than 5,000 iPads each for their programs. Every day I hear of new business uses for the iPad and Apple is certain to enhance its push to business for the iPad in the New Year.
That suggests to me that Android in enterprise is dead in the water. While Apple has a major lead in this area now, the big vendors who sell to IT understand that Android's only hope at eating into Apple’s business tablet market will be to support Windows 8 on tablets.

Samsung seems to be the only vendor at the moment making any real progress with mainstream Android in the consumer space; Motorola and HTC are following behind. If they see it has a chance in the consumer market, Samsung and HTC may both adopt Windows 8 at some point, as well. This could dilute their focus on making Android successful in the consumer space.

So, while it is easy to predict that Android will continue to rule the smartphone space, the tablet market has a lot of other dynamics behind it that could keep the mainstream version of Android from ever achieving a similar domination. With Apple’s iPad lead and Microsoft’s soon-to-be entrance in tablets with Windows 8, Android for tablets may never realize its full potential.

As Promised: Black Friday Deals Include Discounts on iPad, Mac

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:45:00 +0000

As promised, Apple joined in the Black Friday festivities today with discounts on the iPad, iPods, Macs, and more.
"The day you're waited 364 days for," Apple said on its Web site.

On the iPad, buyers can save $41 on the 16GB version of the iPad 2, $51 on the 32GB tablet, and $61 on the 64GB device. The savings apply to the Wi-Fi-only iPad 2 and the Wi-Fi plus 3G tablet.

Apple's Web site says all versions of the iPad 2 from all carriers are currently in stock.

The company is offering similar savings on the iPod touch. The 8GB music player gets a $21 discount to $178, the 32GB version is $31 off at $268, and the 64GB device is selling for $358, a $41 price drop.

The iPad 2 and iPod touch can both be purchased in black or white.

The iPod nano, meanwhile, is getting an $11 price cut—the 8GB is $118 and the 16GB is $138, both of which are available in seven different colors.

On the computer front, Apple is offering a $101 discount on the MacBook Air, the MacBook Pro, and the iMac.

An 11-inch, 64GB MacBook Air with a 1.6-GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor and 2GB of memory can be had for $898, while the 128GB version with 4GB of memory is selling for $1,098. The 13-inch MacBook Airs are available for $1,198 (128GB) and $1,498 (256GB).

The MacBook Pros start at $1,098 for a 13-inch laptop with a 2.4-GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of memory, and a 500GB hard drive. The 15-inch devices starts at $1,698, while the 17-inch MacBook Pro with a 750GB hard drive is $2,398.

Finally, a 21.5-inch iMac is selling for $1,098 and $1,398, while the 27-inch version is available for $1,598 and $1,898.

For more, see PCMag's Ultimate Guide to Black Friday 2011 and the hottest tech gifts for the holidays slideshow below.

Netflix’s Sub Drain Equals $160M Redbox Gain

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 18:53:00 +0000

With Netflix expected to lose 2.6 million to 3.6 million subscribers in the current fourth quarter, Redbox could realize incremental revenue of about $160 million as a result, an analyst said.

When Netflix implemented a 60% rate hike in September to its combined disc and streaming rental program, subscribers reacted negatively — with 300,000 more abandoning the service than Netflix’s projected third-quarter (ended Sept. 30) loss of 800,000 subs.

Eric Wold, analyst with B. Riley & Co. in Santa Monica, Calif., believes Netflix’s defections could reach 4.7 million, which he said represent upwards of $445 million in disc rental revenue up for grabs.
In a Nov. 16 note, Wold surmised that the majority of the aforementioned defectors would downsize their monthly rental activity since a-la-carte rentals carry a higher perceived cost than a monthly subscription.

Indeed, the Netflix exodus occurred in large part due to the perception among subscribers that the value of its $9.99 combined disc and unlimited streaming rental program could not be replicated by Netflix’s separate $7.99 monthly disc and streaming program.

“Once that subscription plan was eliminated (or essentially priced up 60% to $15.98), we believe the attractiveness of a $7.99/month DVD-only plan for the casual renter was dramatically diminished given the growing availability of Redbox rentals for $1 a day,” Wold wrote.

With Redbox parent Coinstar acknowledging that 20% of Netflix subscribers also use Redbox, Wold said a large percentage of the remaining disenchanted Netflix subscribers would likely downsize their rental activity to about one to two discs per month at Redbox kiosks generating $50 million to $80 million in incremental annual pre-tax earnings.

“In our opinion, this potential upside is not fully reflected in either our or consensus 2012 expectations at this point,” Wold wrote.

Steve Jobs Wanted iPhone on Its Own Network

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:28:00 +0000

Steve Jobs at the first iPhone event in 2007. Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired

When Steve Jobs first dreamed up the iPhone with his team at Apple, he didn’t want it to run on AT&T’s network. He wanted to create his own network.

So says Silicon Valley venture capitalist John Stanton, who spent a good deal of time with the late Apple CEO during the phone’s development period. Jobs wanted to replace carriers completely, Stanton says, instead using the unlicensed spectrum that Wi-Fi operates on for his phone.

“He and I spent a lot of time talking about whether synthetically you could create a carrier using Wi-Fi spectrum,” Stanton said on Monday at the Law Seminar International Event in Seattle. “That was part of his vision.”

Both Wi-Fi and cellular frequencies belong on the ultra high frequency level of the radio frequency spectrum. Wi-Fi takes up five channels of the 2.4 GHz band. Other frequency bands are allotted to various purposes and cellular providers by the FCC.

Jobs gave up his plans to create his own network in 2007, ultimately settling on a deal with AT&T.
When Jobs debuted the iPhone, it marked a huge change in the way phone makers and carriers developed a device. Jobs sold AT&T Apple’s iPhone sight unseen. Previously, carriers were an integral part of device development, adding tweaks, features and software throughout the process. Not so with the iPhone. Apple orchestrated the entire phone experience, while AT&T was simply afforded the opportunity to sell it. Android and other major mobile phone platforms followed this model with their smartphones later on, though to a lesser degree.

It’s not outrageous to think Jobs and Stanton spoke candidly about network matters, given Stanton’s long history with wireless carriers. He was the first employee at McCaw Cellular, the national wireless provider that later became AT&T Wireless. He started another firm called Western Wireless, which birthed an operator called Voicestream that was bought out by Deutsche Telekom and became T-Mobile.

I’d be interested to find out what sort of challenges Apple encountered trying to develop and get a phone to work properly just on the Wi-Fi spectrum. The company certainly could have just bought out an existing carrier with its billions in the bank. Either option must have been too costly or provided too little pay-off to make it worthwhile.

The Safe Alternative To Facebook & Google+

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 01:13:00 +0000

Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Linkedin dominate the web as the main sources for digital communication and information for billions of people at work, at school, at home, and now on the go(mobile). These sources of information and communication are creating a new digital world, that offers everyone an opportunity for a better life, freedoms, and democracy.

Some users of the web and social networking service's today can be compared with the early immigrants of the 1900s that came to America in hopes of finding the American Dream, often times only to be misled by: opportunist, gangs, and tyrants hoping to capitalize on the ignorance of those poor people. "I'm very concerned people just don't understand the serious issues surrounding the industry today, it's like the cattle being led out to slaughter" says Carlson Yamamoto, the Founder and C.O.B. of OnlyMeWorld.com.

When asked the questions below, Carlson responded:

Facebook and many so called alternative sites today claim their privacy settings protect their users information, why do you disagree?

Privacy settings only protect your information from what you want other users to see on that site, but doesn't stop your information from being data mined and sold to companies. Privacy settings don't prevent hackers from stealing your information.

Facebook controls your information, some so called alternative sites today are claiming that their users control their own information, what is the difference?

On the surface it would seem that having control over your information is ideal, but today with the advancements in data mining technology, all a site needs to know is your IP address. Regardless of whether you own your information, or a site controls your information, any site or computer can be hacked.

How does tracking(cookie), facial recognition, and data mining affect people using the web and social networking service's now and in the future?

Tracking, may be used to track internet users' web browsing habits. This can also be done in part by using the IP address of the computer requesting the page. Facial recognition, is a computer application for automatically identifying or verifying a person from a digital image. Data mining, is a process of analyzing data from different sources and summarizing it into useful information. If used in a positive way, it could help law enforcement agencies throughout the world combat crime, and perhaps even help to promote socioeconomic equality. If used in a negative way, there will only be the haves and have nots, the rich and the poor, all automatically profiled according to individual demographics.

"Today there isn't a site around that can't be hacked. Because of this we believe if we don't have a persons real name, email address, and other information cyber criminals need to further their criminal activities, our users are able to social network again with peace of mind, confidently and effectively," concludes Carlson Yamamoto.

About OnlyMeWorld is a Limited Liability Corporation situated in the State of Hawaii, on the island of Oahu. It was formed on February 2011. OnlyMeWorld is a social networking service that provides its users a platform similar in function to Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Linkedin yet differs in it's approach to users: privacy, anonymity, information, and cyber crime by not asking for the following:

No Real Names Required (Pseudonyms Allowed)
No Email Address Required
No Tracking
No Data Mining
No Facial Recognition
No Spam/Cyber Bullying Allowed (Notification Button On Each Profile)

YouTube(Privacy): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QT5p0N45bM
Twitter(Follow): http://twitter.com/#!/OnlyMeWorld1
Website: http://onlymeworld.com

Is OnlyMeWorld the only safe alternative to Facebook, Google, Twitter, and Linkedin?

It is time to FALL back!

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 04 Nov 2011 13:08:00 +0000

On Sunday, November 6 at 2 a.m., Daylight Saving Time ends in the United States.

How Daylight Saving Time Works

During late Winter we move our clocks one hour ahead and "lose" an hour during the night and each Fall we move our clocks back one hour and "gain" an extra hour. But Daylight Saving Time (and not Daylight Savings Time with an "s") wasn't just created to confuse our schedules.
The phrase "Spring forward, Fall back" helps people remember how Daylight Saving Time affects their clocks. At 2 a.m. on the second Sunday in March, we set our clocks forward one hour ahead of Standard Time ("Spring forward," even though Spring doesn't begin until late March, over a week after the start of Daylight Saving Time). We "Fall back" at 2 a.m. on the first Sunday in November by setting our clock back one hour and thus returning to Standard Time.

The change to Daylight Saving Time ostensibly allows us to use less energy in lighting our homes by taking advantage of the longer and later daylight hours. During the eight-month period of Daylight Saving Time, the names of time in each of the time zones in the U.S. (map) change as well. Eastern Standard Time (EST) becomes Eastern Daylight Time, Central Standard Time (CST) becomes Central Daylight Time (CDT), Mountain Standard Time (MST) becomes Mountain Daylight Time (MDT), Pacific Standard Time becomes Pacific Daylight Time (PDT), and so forth.

History of Daylight Saving Time

Daylight Saving Time was instituted in the United States during World War I in order to save energy for war production by taking advantage of the later hours of daylight between April and October. During World War II the federal government again required the states to observe the time change. Between the wars and after World War II, states and communities chose whether or not to observe Daylight Saving Time. In 1966, Congress passed the Uniform Time Act, which standardized the length of Daylight Saving Time.

Daylight Saving Time is four weeks longer since 2007 due to the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005. The Act extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks from the second Sunday of March to the first Sunday of November, with the hope that it would save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. Unfortunately, it is exceedingly difficult to determine energy savings from Daylight Saving Time and based on a variety of factors, it is possible that little or no energy is saved by Daylight Saving Time.

Arizona (except some Indian Reservations), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have chosen not to observe Daylight Saving Time. This choice does make sense for the areas closer to the equator because the days are more consistent in length throughout the year.

Daylight Saving Time Around the World

Other parts of the world observe Daylight Saving Time as well. While European nations have been taking advantage of the time change for decades, in 1996 the European Union (EU) standardized a EU-wide European Summer Time. This EU version of Daylight Saving Time runs from the last Sunday in March through the last Sunday in October.

In the southern hemisphere, where Summer comes in December, Daylight Saving Time is observed from October to March. Equatorial and tropical countries (lower latitudes) don't observe Daylight Saving Time since the daylight hours are similar during every season; so there's no advantage to moving clocks forward during the Summer.

Kyrgyzstan and Iceland are the only countries that observe year-round Daylight Saving Time.

U.S. Daylight Saving Time

Year	Spring Forward	Fall Back
2004	2 a.m. April 4	2 a.m. Oct. 31
2005	2 a.m. April 3	2 a.m. Oct. 30
2006	2 a.m. April 2	2 a.m. Oct. 29
2007	2.a.m. March 11	2 a.m. Nov. 4
2008	2 a.m. March 9	2 a.m. Nov. 2
2009	2 a.m. March 8	2 a.m. Nov. 1
2010	2 a.m. March 14	2 a.m. Nov 7
2011	2 a.m. March 13	2 a.m. Nov. 6
2012	2 a.m. March 11	2 a.m. Nov. 4
2013	2 a.m. March 10	2 a.m. Nov. 3
2014	2 a.m. March 9	2 a.m. Nov. 2
2015	2 a.m. March 8	2 a.m. Nov. 1
2016	2 a.m. March 13	2 a.m. Nov. 6

Attackers Trick Facebook Users Into Exposing Secret Security Codes

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 13:09:00 +0000

New social engineering attacks are tricking Facebook users into exposing anti-CSRF tokens associated with their sessions. These security codes allow attackers to make unauthorized requests through the victim's browser.

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) is an attack technique that abuses the trust relationship between websites and authenticated users. Because of the way the Web works, a page can theoretically force a visitor's browser to issue a request to a third-party site where the user is authenticated, thus piggybacking on their active session.

In order to prevent this from happening, websites embed unique authorization codes known as anti-CSRF tokens into forms. Since these are not available to attackers, rogue requests can no longer be triggered successfully.

However, security researchers from Symantec have detected a new type of Facebook attack in which victims are tricked into handing over such tokens manually by going through a fake verification process.
The scams start with spam messages that promote interesting videos being posted on the Facebook walls of already compromised users by already compromised users. These messages contain links to third-party pages that spoof YouTube.

When they arrive at these attack websites, victims are prompted with rogue dialogs that instruct them to paste randomly generated code allegedly generated by an anti-spam mechanism.

In reality, this piece of code is obtained by making a request to a Facebook script in the background and contains the anti-CSRF token assigned by the social networking website to the user.

Therefore, pasting it into the dialog box gives the attackers everything they need to make authorized requests on the victim's behalf. In the example presented by Symantec, the token was used to propagate the scam by posting the original spam message on the user's wall.

This social engineering trick is similar to that used in so-called self-XSS attacks, which involve users pasting JavaScript code into their browser's address bar. It's not clear why attackers adopted the CSRF method, as both attacks are similarly hard to pull off; however, it might have something to do with the fact that Facebook implemented security mechanisms earlier this year to detect and block self-XSS.

According to Symantec, the social networking giant said that it's working with browser vendors on solutions to these attacks and is constantly monitoring accounts for suspicious behavior.

"Attackers are using some really innovative social engineering techniques to trick their victims. We advise users to keep their security software up-to-date and not click on any links that seem suspicious," the Symantec security researchers advised.

Yahoo problems

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 13:18:00 +0000

Yet more corporate chess pieces have been moved at Yahoo!, which yesterday replaced its CTO Raymie Stata with Ash Munshi.

According to All Things Digital, Stata hasn't turned his back on the flailing firm, instead preferring to take on the role of "entrepreneur in residence".

Yahoo said Stata was simply returning to his "entrepreneurial roots", having resigned the CTO job he took on at the Purple Palace in June 2010.

Prior to that position, Stata had played an instrumental role in the company's move to a common distributed infrastructure as its chief architect.

Munshi was described by Yahoo! as having a "well-established career managing successful global technology organisations at the most senior levels with a laser focus on meeting and exceeding customer needs".
The rejig is the latest in a series of high-profile comings-and-goings at Yahoo!

Carol Bartz was unceremoniously sacked by the company's chairman Roy Bostock over the dog and bone last month. Since then, speculation around Yahoo!'s future has centred on a number of would-be suitors including Microsoft sniffing around the firm.

Yahoo!'s co-founder and former CEO Jerry Yang has also reportedly considered taking the struggling web company out of the stock market in a deal with private equity firms

Microsoft Zune 2006-2011

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 03:07:00 +0000

Microsoft's mp3 player the Zune passed away Tuesday morning, according to the company. Zune would have turned five years old in November.

"We recently announced that, going forward, Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy, and that we will no longer be producing Zune players," Microsoft said in a statement.

Current Zune users will be able to access the same customer support and services they always have, and Microsoft will honor all warranties for those devices currently owned, and those who buy the very last devices.

Microsoft picked an interesting day to discontinue its music player: Apple chose this day several weeks ago to announce what many expect to be a brand-new iPhone. Throughout its entire life, Zune suffered the consequences of being in constant competition with Apple devices.

The Zune originally debuted on Nov. 14, 2006, and featured Wi-Fi, 30GB of storage, built-in FM, and a 3-inch screen. It could play music, pictures, and video. The Zune was stylish, colorful, and easy to use, but it paled in comparison to Apple's primetime line-up of iPods at the time, including the fifth generationiPod, and the newly-introduced iPod Shuffle and iPod Nano.

Apple's iPod Touch, unveiled in September 2007, was the first nail in Zune's coffin. For the next couple of years, consumers were infatuated with touch screens and wanted no part of a music player that didn't have one. Zune may have rivaled the iPod in performance, but not marketing, and certainly not in popularity.

There were certainly warning signs that Zune might fail. Fans gave up on the product far too quickly. Even Steve Smith, the man who infamously tattooed three Zune logos onto his skin (including the Zune's slogan, "Welcome to the social"), decided to have his tattoos covered up in frustration of Microsoft's music player.

"I am done," wrote Smith in an online forum over at Zune Scene. "I have had the Zune since day one and have noticed little improvement. I have tried my best to support them in every step of the way but the recent Xbox Live announcement at E3 made me lose it. To not include Zune Marketplace or the ability to load videos from Xbox Live to your Zune made me finally give up. I am in the works of figuring the best way to get a new tattoo to cover the logo on my arm. Thanks for all the harsh comments and you will see very little of me anymore."

But a major limitation of the Zune was that it was only compatible with Windows PCs. Even Apple knew that it couldn't achieve its goals with such a limited audience, which is why the company eventually created the iTunes music player for Windows. Microsoft strategists never considered this decision, and subsequently missed out on a big chunk of potential users.

Zune sales plummeted nearly $100 million from 2007 to 2008, and rough sales forced many retailers and distributors to stop selling. One of those retailers was the popular electronics outlet GameStop.

"We have decided to exit the Zune category because it just did not have the appeal we had anticipated," said a GameStop spokesperson. "It did not fit with our product mix."

In the summer of 2009, it seemed that Microsoft finally got it right. The company launched the Zune HD, a thin, beautiful multi-touch device. With a slick Web browser and a powerful NVIDIA Tegra chip, the Zune HD looked like a winner. But by this time, Apple was selling apps, and the Zune didn't have any.

The Zune is succeeded by its younger, smarter, more stylish cousin, the Windows Phone 7.

The Zune is dead. Long live the Zune.

Amazon customers to pay sales tax

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 00:09:00 +0000

Amazon will begin collecting sales tax from California residents by 2013, which will generate in increase of $200 million in revenue for the state.

After months of disagreements, Amazon negotiated a deal with California’s legislators last month. The Legislators agreed to delay the law one year if Amazon would agree to stop pursuing a ballot measure that would seek to repel the law.

Fresno State economics professor Sean Alley said, “when shoppers make out-of-state purchases online, it is very difficult for the state of California to tell where that transaction was made.” This results in lost tax revenue for the state because many individuals do not report their purchases and pay the obligatory sales tax as required by law.

“When you file your taxes at the end of the year, there is a box at the bottom for purchases made online which many people are not aware of or simply do not fill out,” Alley said. “Individuals who make purchases online are legally required to keep track of their purchases and pay the sales tax accordingly at the end of the year.

“Most people don’t even know that’s there, and with a retailer the size of Amazon you are talking about an extremely large amount of money,” Alley added.

Alley said the state of California is making an attempt to get companies such as Amazon to keep track of whom they are selling to and send the sales tax directly to the state. He pointed out that it is easier for the state to collect taxes at the point of transaction rather than audit millions of people.

Until January, online retailers will not be required to collect the appropriate state sales tax if they do not have a physical presence in close proximity of where the purchase was made.
Amazon announced on Wednesday that it will open distribution centers in California which would create 10,000 full-time jobs, 25,000 part-time jobs and a half billion in investments in California. This comes as a result of the negotiation between legislators and Amazon.

Opponents of the law see it as a job-killing legislation. Sen. George Runner told the North County Times, “Given all the competing interests, we’ll be right back in the same mess in a year; the stat of California will again be killing California jobs, driving away investment and inviting costly litigation.”

Major corporations like Walmart, Home Depot and other conglomerates that have stores in California agree with the new legislation since the lack of taxes allows out-of-state Internet retailers to have an advantage over them, the Los Angeles Times reported.

The Los Angeles Times reported that California consumers make 20 percent of Amazon’s market.

“I have purchased many items from Amazon including books, movies, toys, and gifts.
They have a great selection of things to choose from,” Fresno State student Andrew Stearns said. “As far as charging tax goes, I thought it was part of the sale along with shipping cost unless noted by the seller.”

“I order truck parts and video games from Amazon all the time. I had no idea that I had to report it on my tax return,” Fresno State student Jarred Allred said.

“I was under the impression that as long as it was coming from outside California, I didn’t have to report it at all. They should make sure this is clearly stated on the sites,” Allred added.

My Facebook Page and Me

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 13:08:00 +0000

Facebook recently rolled out a variety of tweaks and updates to its social networking site, including adding a Subscribe option. I wrote about embracing Facebook Subscriptions and abandoning my Facebook Page, but after further consideration I think there is a case to be made for maintaining both Facebook entities.

While ditching the Facebook Page and just using Subscriptions on my personal Facebook profile to share information with the general public makes sense from my perspective, and those who currently "Like" or follow my Facebook Page won't notice any difference, those who are in my personal social network end up flooded with information they may have no interest in.

For Me
The Facebook Subscriptions make sense as a Facebook Page replacement from my end.

I like being able to choose on a post by post basis on Google+ whether to share the update with specific groups in my social network, or with the general public. I like the increased interaction and more lively discussions that result from including a wider audience.

The only reason I set up the Facebook Page in the first place is that I wanted to be able to use Facebook to share information with PCWorld readers without having to "Friend" them all. Don't get me wrong--I appreciate your support, but that doesn't mean we're "friends". I don't want to share details of my personal life with you.

But, having a Facebook Page separate from my personal Facebook profile means maintaining two separate Facebook personas. At times, there are posts that I think are of interest to both my personal social network and the followers of my Facebook Page, but sharing with both audiences means posting twice. And, posting twice means that the comments are separate as well, which means both groups potentially lose out on insights and points of view from the other.

Using Subscriptions, I can just choose whether to share a given post with my personal social network, or I can share it with "Public", in which case all of those who are subscribed to me will see it as well. It lets me accomplish the same goal with one Facebook persona, and it lets both my personal social network and my public subscribers interact together on posts they can both see.

For Subscriber / Followers
For those who currently "Like" my Facebook Page, there is really no significant difference using Facebook Subscribe. Assuming I post the same links and content to "Public" on my personal Facebook Profile as I do on my Facebook Page, the end result is the same either way.

It may also mean getting more diverse content from me, though. On my Facebook Page, I am more likely to keep it purely professional and only share my own posts, or at least technology-related posts. On my personal Facebook profile I might also share posts that are not tech related, but also aren't really personal--like posts about sports, or politics, and other topics.

While some readers may want to stick with the tech news and stay away from sports and politics, it is my personal social network that really gets the raw deal in this exchange. Granted, I'd like to think that those in my personal social network like to stay informed and read my articles as well, but I am conscious of the fact that Facebook can be noisy enough.

While I can choose whether to share an update with just my social network, or with the whole world, there is no option to share with the whole world minus my social network. So, even though I can censor my personal posts so the general public doesn't see them, I can't filter my public posts so that my personal social network isn't flooded with them.

Turns out my friends and family may not want to read all of my tech news.

If I start inundating my family and friends with everything I write, and filling their Facebook flow with a bunch of tech news, it makes it that much harder for anyone to use it as a social network--you know, for being social. The extra noise may force them to miss updates they would be interested in, and ultimately the volume of my posts could get me filtered or blocked.

Then, when I do post something like news about the kids, holiday plans, etc. those who are in my social network won't even see it because they won't be paying attention to my posts any more. It's a little like the boy who cried wolf syndrome.

So, Is Facebook Subscribe Useless?
No. There is a place for Facebook Subscribers. It's just not quite the streamlined communication silver bullet I imagined it to be.

For those outside of my social network who only want to follow my writing and see tech related news from me, the Facebook Page is the way to go.

If you also would like to follow me in general, a' la Twitter, you can Subscribe to my personal Facebook profile as well. There you will see sports, politics, and general interest type posts.

For those actually in my social network, I still think you should "Like" my Facebook Page and read my articles and such, but fear not--I won't overwhelm you with tech news on the personal Facebook side of the fence.

So, for now, I will continue to maintain both my personal Facebook social network, and my public Facebook Page. I will also leave the Subscribe option enabled for those who wish to use it. I reserve the right to revisit this issue, though, if Facebook adds a new filter that somehow enables me to share a post just to "everyone in the world except those in my social network" or something to that effect.

Netflix lowers U.S. subscriber forecast

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 15:28:00 +0000

Netflix Inc cut its third-quarter forecast by 1 million U.S. subscribers, sending its shares down nearly 19 percent, as the company known for rapid growth expects more fallout from a price increase on its DVD service.

On Thursday, Netflix said it would have 24 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, down from a prior forecast of about 25 million given soon after the July announcement of the price increase.

The decision by Chief Executive Officer Reed Hastings to raise rates for customers who still want DVDs by mail took effect earlier this month.

Fewer customers than expected are opting to take Netflix's DVD-only subscription package. Netflix now expects to have 2.2 million such subscribers, down from the previous forecast of 3 million. The company also cut its forecast for streaming-only subscribers, to 21.8 million from 22 million.

Lazard Capital analyst Barton Crockett expressed concern that the changes might also hurt Netflix's fourth quarter.

"Clearly, if the third quarter is slipping, there's risk to the fourth quarter, as the year-ago period was a time when everything went right for Netflix," he said in a research note.

Crockett called the price increase a "rare, large and surprising misstep" by Hastings.

The decision to increase the monthly subscription for a joint streaming and DVD rental service by as much as 60 percent caused an uproar among customers and bloggers. For U.S. customers, the price for renting one DVD at a time plus unlimited streaming increased from about $10 a month to about $16 per month.

Netflix shares have fallen nearly 40 percent since the price hike was announced.

The Los Gatos, California, company, which is under pressure from Hollywood studios and pay-TV rivals because of its aggressive pricing, has argued that it sees the future in lower-cost streaming services.

Netflix's chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, said the pricing decision gave customers a chance to choose whether to keep DVD services or move to a cheaper streaming-only option. Previously only a combined service was offered.

"Being able to precisely forecast and predict the behavior of that many people on fairly radical change is something we'll get better at all the time," Sarandos said at the Paley Center for Media's International Council meeting on Thursday.

In a statement, Netflix said "we know our decision to split our services has upset many of our subscribers, which we don't take lightly, but we believe this split will help us make our services better for subscribers and shareholders for years to come."

UNDERMINING THE ECOSYSTEM

Hastings, who is also on the boards of Microsoft Corp and Facebook, is often seen as a visionary for building Netflix into a successful competitor first to Blockbuster and then, with the introduction of streaming, to traditional cable and satellite TV distributors.

But the cable and satellite TV companies have been pressuring Hollywood studios not to allow Netflix to undermine the $100 billion pay-TV ecosystem.

Netflix also faces growing competition in the streaming market from Amazon.com Inc, Hulu and others.

For DVDs, Coinstar Inc's Redbox kiosks offer an alternative, and Dish Network Corp's Blockbuster Inc is trying to lure disgruntled Netflix customers with a free trial offer. Coinstar shares rallied 7.2 percent to $48.49 on the Nasdaq on Thursday.

"There are other options popping up that may be attractive" to consumers, said Merriman Capital analyst Eric Wold, who has a "neutral" rating on Netflix and a "buy" on Coinstar.

Hastings now has to prepare himself for the possibility of another subscriber backlash as soon as February if Netflix loses some of its popular programing and movies.

Earlier this month, Starz ended talks to renew a deal that expires on February 28. After that, the pay-TV channel controlled by Liberty Media will stop providing its content, which includes exclusive streaming rights to first-run Sony Corp and Walt Disney Co movies such as "Toy Story 3" and "The Social Network."

Netflix "can't grow as fast as the Street thinks," said Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, who rates the company's stock at "underperform." "They can't have the perfect world where content stays cheap and people sign up at low prices."

However, Netflix maintained its third-quarter financial outlook as well as its international subscriber forecast.

The company's stock fell 19 percent to close at $169.25 on Nasdaq

Netflix for Android

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Sun, 11 Sep 2011 15:38:00 +0000

Congratulations, Netflix fan! If you've been waiting for this service to come to your Android device, you're in luck: A new update to the Netflix app now means that the streaming movie service runs on all Android 2.2 and Android 2.3 devices!

Sorry, Honeycomb users.

The new Netflix update brings the app to version 1.4, which also brings Netflix to the roughly 80 percent of all Android smartphones that run either Android 2.2 (Froyo) or Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). It's been a long time coming for frustrated users of both Netflix and Android, as the service has been device-specific on the Android platform up until this point.

"The hurdle has been the lack of a generic and complete platform security and content protection mechanism available for Android," wrote Greg Peters, vice president of partner product development, in a Netflix blog post last November. "The same security issues that have led to piracy concerns on the Android platform have made it difficult for us to secure a common Digital Rights Management (DRM) system on these devices. "

As a result, Netflix launched on the Android Market in May supporting only five devices. The number jumped up to nine a few months later, and then ballooned up to 24 with the release of Netflix version 1.3 in July – including one Android 3.0 (Honeycomb) tablet, the Lenovo IdeaPad.

Which brings us to the bad news about Netflix 1.4: Smartphones are the big winners this time around, as the update does not bring universal Netflix support to Android tablets running the latest version of Google's OS. Only two Honeycomb tablets remain Netflix-friendly at the time of this article's writing: the aforementioned IdeaPad and Lenovo's ThinkPad tablet.

As well, there's still a decent subset of Android smartphone users who won't be able to tap into Netflix streaming on their devices: According to Google's statistics, roughly 15 percent of smartphone users are still stuck on Android 2.1 (or lower). Admittedly, the gap has been shrinking over the past six months.

Interested Netflix fans will have to pony up a minimum of $7.99 monthly in order to tap into mobile device streaming.

Adobe Gives Up On Apple, Works Around iOS’ Flash Video Limitations

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:52:00 +0000

Ardent iOS supporters have been clamoring for true Flash support for years, and with the announcement of their new version of Flash Media Server, Adobe completely fails to deliver. Instead, they’ve managed to update their media server with a way to get streaming Flash video running on Apple’s myriad iOS devices.

Alas, while you can’t start working through your backlog of artsy Flash games, Flash Media Server 4.5 allows content producers to easily to get their Flash content onto iOS devices without any additional headache.

While older versions of the media server served up video streams in the F4F format, the update has added support for the HTTP Live Streaming format, which iPads and the like can handle just fine.

The media server system, according toZDNet, detects the device’s level of Flash-capability and will switch over to using the HLS format when it sees an iOS device. It’s actually pretty ironic: in order to make Flash video streaming work, the new version of Media Server actually has to un-Flash the content and wrap it in another, more iOS-friendly container.

While it isn’t the Holy Grail of iOS Flash support, it’s a solution that works, and will make life easier for those in the unenviable position of managing live video streams. Hopefully Adobe has a team sequestered in a bunker working getting actual Flash support working now that they’ve managed to cross “streaming video” off the list.

Android Drive To Dominance Unstoppable.

noreply@blogger.com (Evanino.com) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:17:00 +0000

Android is on the warpath and it looks they’re getting a bit unstoppable. Last Monday revealed that Google managed to corner 47.1 percent of the UK smartphone market in August.

This is more than double of 22.9 percent this time last year. This joins the US stats released last month that placed Android at 52 percent in the second quarter of 2011. This definitely shows that Google’s operating system has got the chops to hold its own.

Android’s rapid growth can be contrasted with the weak performance of the iOS, which is down 20.8 percent from 28 percent in 2010. This can be blamed on the fact that no iPhone has been released recently. Apple’s annual cycle of booming when an iPhone is released gives it no staying power compared to Android.

Another factor to this growth is the breadth and quality of Android software and hardware that has been released this year. The Galaxy S2 and HTC Sensation can be favorably compared to the iPhone and both have stunning implementations of the OS and hardware which give Apple’s offering a run for its money.

The other factor is that Android can be found in more than just one product. A fantastic array of Android phones are available for cheap via packages from carriers and they have the latest software and can handle some of the things that the more expensive smartphones can do, like the lower-end Galaxy handsets and HTC’s Wildfire S.

Android dominance may take a hit though when the iPhone 5 is released. Another threat is the iPhone 4S, the budget version of the current iPhone, which can steal quite a bit of market share because of its knockdown prices.
However, Android’s open and cheap nature lets it find niches in the mobile market that other operating systems can’t get to. This means Android can be a pretty hard OS to beat when it comes to dominating the market.