Techno-News Blog

By Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Hewlett-Packard’s TouchPad loaded with webOS, Sprint’s HTC Evo 3D with its 3D-shooting capability, Toshiba’s upcoming Thrive tablet running Google Android 3.0, and a wide variety of other smartphones and tablets were on display at a recent New York City event, underlining how the popularity of mobility is fueling technological evolution at a breakneck pace. As these higher-end devices begin to hit the market over the next few months, users will have the ability to download faster, interact with the latest mobile operating systems (including the aforementioned Google Android 3.0 and webOS, as well as BlackBerry 7 OS), chat via video conference, and maybe shoot a 3D film clip or three. Laptop makers are increasingly taking their cues from this newfound interest in mobile, producing devices such as the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 and Asus UX21 Series Ultra-Slim that emphasize portability, light weight and long battery life. Hybrid devices such as the Eee Pad Transformer TF101, which marries an Android tablet to a physical QWERTY keyboard, are also making appearances. (In a bid to appeal to those road warriors who might want to use their tablet for typing a longer email or document, HP’s TouchPad offers a physical keyboard as an accessory.) In any case, the wares on display demonstrate that, for manufacturers, it’s become an ever-more-mobile world out there.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/HP-TouchPad-HTC-Evo-3D-Toshiba-Thrive-Offer-Glimpse-of-Mobile-Future-488026/

By: Don Reisinger, eWeek

When Apple didn’t announce the iPhone 5 at its Worldwide Developers Conference, some were surprised. The company has, in the past, used its keynote at the conference to discuss its future software ambitions in addition to a new iPhone. Since the iPhone 5 was a no show at this year’s WWDC, many have speculated on when Apple will finally unveil new hardware. Though some rumors have claimed it won’t happen until 2012, the most recent reports suggest Apple will unveil a new iPhone in September.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Apple-iPhone-5-Could-Break-New-Ground-with-10-Key-Features-898430/

By Don Reisinger, eWeek

Apple’s iPad 2 has become an unbridled success in the tablet market. No other mobile device in the space, including the Motorola Xoom, has been able to appeal to consumers and enterprise customers in the same way the iPad 2 has. Looking ahead, most analysts agree that Apple’s tablet will dominate that market and fend off Android’s growth. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t compelling alternatives currently available or launching soon for consumers and enterprise users who don’t necessarily want to get their hands on an iPad 2. Those alternatives, which range from other tablets to lightweight notebooks, offer something unique that might catch a customer’s eye. Flip through the following slides to find out which devices, both available now and launching soon, might just suit the fancy of those customers who have balked at the idea of buying an iPad 2 and want to use another mobile device while they’re on the road, at home or traveling on a plane.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apple-iPad-2-Rivals-10-Tablets-That-Can-Challenge-the-Market-Leader-476112/

by Dave Lee, the BBC

The internet is a tool which contributes to the “progress of humankind as a whole” and should be available to all.  That is the view of Frank La Rue, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. Mr La Rue was tasked with writing a report looking into global access to the internet as a medium for freedom of opinion and expression. In the final document [PDF] presented to the Human Rights Council this week, he concluded that the removal of an individual’s internet access should only take place in “few, exceptional and limited circumstances prescribed by human rights law”. He went as far as to say that removing somebody’s internet access is to deprive them of a key component for the basic human right of freedom of expression.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9509215.stm

by Rory Cellan-Jones, BBC

The social networking site has 687 million users around the world More from RoryNokia, Harry Potter and media manipulation. Two recent research reports reach very different conclusions – but on closer examination both may be telling the same story. The latest figures from Nielsen, which has been tracking Facebook for some years, show record numbers of UK visitors to the social network.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13925472

by the BBC

Older users account for most of the growth on both Facebook and Twitter in the UK. Facebook use among over-50s in the UK has risen faster than any other group, according to research firm Nielsen. Overall, membership of the social network grew 41% between 2009 and 2011. Among older users the figure was 84%. The trend was similar for Twitter, although unlike Facebook, younger users appear to have drifted away. Nielsen’s findings contradict research published earlier this month that suggested the site’s popularity was dwindling in the UK and USA. The latest study was commissioned by the UK Online Measurement Company (UCOM), which is funded by advertisers and media agencies.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13925893

 By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft’s week included a peek at a Nokia Windows Phone, a cloud-services outage and the beginnings of Skype’s absorption into Microsoft. Microsoft’s week started off and ended with a promise of big future things to come. The U.S. Department of Justice approved Microsoft’s $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype. That means Redmond now faces the singular challenge of digesting Skype’s assets into its various products, including the Lync unified communications platform and Outlook, while preserving Skype’s enormous brand equity. Moreover, Microsoft has to monetize Skype in such a way that its sizable built-in audience, so used to paying little-or-nothing for VOIP (voice over IP) and video calling, doesn’t flee to a competing platform.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Nokia-Windows-Phone-Peek-BPOS-Outage-Marked-Microsoft-Week-863407/?kc=rss

By: Wayne Rash, eWeek

The U.S House Appropriations Committee votes to block the FCC from approving LightSquared’s plan for wireless broadband Internet services after multiple federal agencies voice fierce opposition because of interference with GPS navigation systems. The powerful U.S. House of Representatives Appropriations Committee voted June 23 to insert language into a spending bill that would block the Federal Communications Commission from spending any money approving LightSquared’s plan to launch a controversial Long-Term Evolution broadband system until concerns about interference with GPS signals are resolved.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/US-House-Committee-Blocks-FCC-Approval-of-LightSquared-Wireless-Broadband-165541/?kc=rss

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google and PayPal are confident mobile payments will take off this year and beyond as more mobile phones become equipped with NFC capabilities. Executives from both Google and PayPal are extremely bullish on mobile payments enabled with near-field communication technology. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt said he expects that a third of checkout terminals in retail stores and restaurants will be upgraded to allow NFC mobile payments from mobile phones within the next year.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-PayPal-See-NFC-Mobile-Payment-Boom-574060/?kc=rss

by the BBC

Arizona’s police force has become the latest victim of hacker group LulzSec. About 700 confidential documents belonging to the Arizona Department of Public Safety (AZDPS) were stolen and published online. The cache includes e-mails, memos and training manuals as well as intelligence bulletins detailing work with informants. The group said it had targeted AZDPS because of a controversial state law designed to stop illegal immigration. “We are aware of computer issues,” Steve Harrison, a spokesman for the force told Reuters. “We’re looking into it. And of course we’re taking additional security safeguards.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13901478

By Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, BBC News

Scientists have shown off a “cloaking device” that makes objects invisible – to sound waves. Such acoustic cloaking was proposed theoretically in 2008 but has only this year been put into practice. Described in Physical Review Letters, the approach borrows many ideas from attempts to “cloak” objects from light. It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls. Much research has been undertaken toward creating Harry Potter-style “invisibility cloaks” since the feasibility of the idea was first put forward in 2006.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13905573

 By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek News

Apple’s next big product? If you believe one analyst, it’ll be a television set. “We continue to believe that Apple is developing a television that will succeed its current Apple TV set-top-box, likely in late [calendar year] 2012,” Gene Munster, an analyst with Piper Jaffray, wrote in a June 23 research note. “As recently as May 11 the US Patent & Trademark Office has published Apple patents relating to television-specific technology,” including one for “advanced TV broadcast menus.” Moreover, he sees an Apple television as a radical game-changer for many of the company’s core products, including iCloud and the App Store. “Apple may add movies and TV shows purchased or rented in iTunes to the iCloud service, which could be viewed on a TV,” he wrote. “Apple’s strong iOS developer community would likely jump at the chance to build apps for an Apple Television, and Apple’s iOS users would likely jump at the chance to buy one.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Apple-Planning-Television-Set-for-2012-Analyst-327144/?kc=rss

by the BBC

The National Broadband Network Company is leading the new infrastructure project Australia’s two biggest telecoms companies have joined the government’s A$36bn (£24bn) plan to roll-out high-speed internet across the country. Telstra and Optus will close down their infrastructure and transfer customers to the state-owned National Broadband Network Company (NBNC). About 60% of households have broadband, but speeds are slow compared with many industrialised countries. The plan is to connect more than 90% of households to a super-fast network.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13884441

by the BBC

A gang that made more than $72m (£45m) peddling fake security software has been shut down in a series of raids. Co-ordinated by the FBI, the raids were carried out in the US, UK and six other countries. The money was made by selling software that claimed to find security risks on PCs and then asked for cash to fix the non-existent problems. The raids seized 40 computers used to do fake scans and host webpages that tricked people into using the software.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13887152

by the BBC

The Dutch may become the first in Europe to use Skype and other web-based services on smartphones for no extra charge. On 22 June, the Dutch Parliament passed a law stopping mobile operators from blocking or charging extra for voice calling done via the net. The bill must now pass through the Dutch senate, but its passage is expected to be a formality. The move may prove crucial in Europe’s on-going debate over net neutrality. Net neutrality is controversial around the world, with heated discussions on the subject taking place in the United States, Europe and many other regions.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13886440

By: Don Reisinger

Mozilla has launched Firefox 5, the first in its rapid-release development cycle, and it delivers several things that users should know about as they decide whether to download it and try it out. Mozilla has launched Firefox 5, the first release in its new plan to launch new versions of its browser several weeks apart. Firefox 5 comes off the major success of Firefox 4 that delivered a host of important updates to the Firefox ecosystem and helped cement Mozilla’s browser as a go-to platform for many people around the globe. However, the browser is facing stiff competition from Google’s Chrome, Apple’s Safari, and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Furthermore Firefox 5 is arriving at a time when its chances of great success are slimmer than ever before.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Mozilla-Launches-Firefox-5-Browser-10-Things-You-Should-Know-About-It-226610/?kc=rss

By: Nicholas Kolakowski

Apple is developing an iPhone 5 with a faster processor, in addition to a cheaper iPhone that resembles the iPhone 4, according to Bloomberg. Apple’s next iPhone will debut in September and include the company’s faster A5 processor, according to a new Bloomberg report citing unnamed “people familiar with the plans.” Other features will apparently include an 8-megapixel camera and the company’s recently introduced iOS 5 mobile operating system. In addition, the June 21 article claims, Apple is developing a smaller, cheaper iPhone that utilizes “chips and displays of similar quality to today’s iPhone 4.” That device will apparently embrace the iPhone 4’s design aesthetic.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Midmarket/Apple-iPhone-5-Will-Feature-Faster-Processor-Cheaper-Cousin-Bloomberg-854481/?kc=rss

by the BBC

An internet expert has published research saying we are all living in “filter bubbles”, whereby corporations decide what each individual sees on the internet. Eli Pariser says that companies monitor our behaviour and interests and give us corresponding search results even when we do not realise it. Rory Cellan-Jones has tested the theory for Newsnight.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13874209

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Despite repeated reminders to select strong passwords and not to reuse them across Websites and services, online users continue to be frighteningly lax in their password security, according to a recent analysis of leaked passwords. Security experts recommend taking a multilayered approach to security. Instead of relying on a single point of failure, organizations should be implementing several mechanisms to make it harder for cyber-attackers to steal sensitive, confidential data, Mike Yaffe, government security strategist at Core Security, told eWEEK.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Password-Security-Remains-the-Weakest-Link-Even-After-Big-Data-Breaches-734570/?kc=rss

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft’s Windows 8 supposedly includes SMS support and feature licensing, according to enthusiast breakdowns of an early build that leaked online.More features of Windows 8 have apparently seeped out, courtesy of an early build that leaked onto the Web. “A new build of Windows 8, build 7989, has surfaced,” the blog Redmond Pie reported June 18. “Slowly but surely, it’s finding its way onto file-sharing sites, and some Windows enthusiasts have already dug deep into it.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Windows-8-Features-Spied-Include-SMS-Support-Feature-Licensing-765864/?kc=rss

by the BBC

A global internet body has voted to allow the creation of new website domain suffixes, the biggest change for the online world in years. The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) plans to dramatically increase the number of domain endings from the current 22. Internet address names will end with almost any word and be in any language. Icann will begin taking applications next year, with corporations and cities expected to be among the first.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13835997