Techno-News Blog

by ROBERT D. HOF,Technology Review

Facebook has revamped its popular chat feature by adding free video calling that can be launched inside the social network’s website. What was most striking about the launch event, held in Palo Alto, was how much CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to distance his company from those seeking to slow its momentum, Google in particular. The video-calling service is provided in partnership with Skype, which recently agreed to be sold to Microsoft, a Facebook partner and investor. Skype already provides Internet phone and video services, but users need to install a sizable program, and can only make video calls to other Skype members. With the new service, Facebook members can click on a “call” button on a friend’s profile page or in a chat window and connect, after installing a small software plug-in.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/37991/?p1=A3&a=f

by Technology Review

The way patterns of behaviour emerge and spread through society is the subject of intense research at the moment. That’s partly because of the huge advances made in modelling the interactions between individuals in computer models and partly because of the sudden availability of huge datasets that capture certain aspects of human behaviour, such as mobile phone, email and trade datasets. However, none of these techniques fully capture the way behaviours spread in society. That’s because behaviours spread from one network to another, for example, an angry phone conversation can affect the next email you write. That’s an important limitation since it’s reasonable to imagine that when networks are superimposed on the same set of nodes (ie people), behaviours can easily transfer from one network to another.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/26967/?p1=blogs

by MICHAEL NAGLE, Technology Review

Much of the previous coverage in “The Measured Life” has focused on devices to track physical factors, such as sleep, activity and blood pressure. In today’s guest post, Michael Nagle, founder of Sprout, a community education organization, and the head of the Boston branch of the Quantified Self, talks about tools for tracking other facets of our lives and our interactions with the world. Many of the new instruments of the Quantified Self increase our personal capacity to measure our bodies. A $200 Zeo can do much of the analysis that formerly could only be done in a $2,000 a night sleep lab. The $99 Fitbit can tell you not just how much you exercised, but how many steps you took and how many calories you burned. Tools to measure our bodies are becoming cheap and commonplace.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/themeasuredlife/26966/?p1=blogs

by the BBC

US President Barack Obama has held his first Twitter “town hall” meeting, where he answered questions posed by users of the micro-blogging website. Mr Obama used a live webcast to answer questions, submitted via tweets containing the hashtag #AskObama, on issues from jobs to the economy. It was held at the White House, streamed live on Twitter and moderated by Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey. A panel of users re-tweeted questions to choose those to be asked.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14040368

by the BBC

In 2010, the Government said that cybercrime and terrorism were among the key dangers to UK security. The International Cyber Security Protection Alliance (ICSPA) has been set up to fight cybercrime on a global scale. Launched in London on Tuesday, the new body unites governments, international businesses and law enforcement agencies, including Europol. Major security companies such as McAfee and Trend Micro have also signed up.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14032989

by the BBC

Mark Zuckerberg: “This type of thing is only possible because of the social infrastructure that already exists.” Facebook has announced a partnership with Skype to add video chat to the social networking site. The move is likely to be seen as a shot across the bow of Google, which recently launched a Facebook rival, Google+, also featuring video calling. This is not the first time Facebook and Skype have teamed up – they already share some instant messaging tools. Skype is in the process of being bought by Microsoft, which is a major shareholder in Facebook.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-14054860

by Erica Naone, Technology Review

SPDY, a protocol Google revealed in late 2009, dramatically speeds up Web page loading by changing the way that browsers communicate with servers. Until now, Google has only tested the research project internally and deployed it on a few of its own sites. But today, the protocol launches as a commercial product. Website optimization company Strangeloop has built SPDY into its flagship product Site Optimizer, software that sits in between a website and its users, and adjusts the site’s code to make pages load more quickly. Strangeloop’s customers will have the ability to turn the protocol on easily; in tests, the protocol has sped up websites by 10 to 20 percent.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/37772/?mod=chthumb

by Technology Review

Voice-driven search is a futuristic idea, and may take some getting used to. The notion of asking a computer for information out loud is familiar to most of us only from science fiction. Google is trying to change that by adding speech recognition to its search engine, and releasing technology that would allow any browser, website, or app to use the feature. But are you ready to give up your keyboards and talk to Google instead?

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/37913/?mod=chfeatured

by Technology Review

The “most technologically sophisticated” malware uses clever communications tricks and encryption to avoid disruption. A new kind of botnet—a network of malware-infected PCs—behaves less like an army and more like a decentralized terrorist network, experts say. It can survive decapitation strikes, evade conventional defenses, and even wipe out competing criminal networks.

http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/37945/?p1=A5&a=f

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Apple could be prepping for a fall release of a new iPad on top of the iPhone 5, according to a new report by Taiwanese publication DigiTimes. “Sources pointed out that Apple only plans to launch one model of the new iPhone, while iPad 3 has just recently been added to the production schedule,” read the July 1 report, “with both set to be produced in small volumes in August and volume will start picking up in September and October.” While a fall release of the iPhone 5 has been the focus of many a recent Apple-related rumor, a release of the iPad 3 in the same timeframe has generally been dismissed by pundits and media. Certainly an iPad 3 launch would represent a radical speeding-up of Apple’s tablet schedule, which so far has timed iPad releases roughly a year apart.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Apple-iPhone-5-iPad-3-Will-See-Fall-Release-Report-274655/

By Clint Boulton, eWeek

Perhaps one of the worst-kept secrets in the high-tech world today is that Amazon.com, the lord of e-commerce, is building a tablet. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos even told Consumer Reports to “stay tuned” when asked if there was an Amazon device other than a Kindle coming down the pike. Of course, there have been no official confirmations, and gadget blogs are surprisingly in the dark and confined to guesswork on this front. The current rumors have Samsung building the device(s) for Amazon, powering it with Nvidia Kal-el quad-core processors. We don’t claim to know better, but considering that Amazon reportedly will launch the tablet(s) later this year, we need to start figuring these things out. Bezos told Amazon’s shareholders June 7: “Most of our customers shop with us from desktop or laptop computers, but people have a different posture with tablets. They “lean back on their sofa. People leaning back on their sofa, buying things from Amazon is another tailwind for our business, so I’m very excited about that.” That’s kind of how we feel about Amazon’s tablet. Bezos’ comment quickly turns the conversation to one not of “if” there will be an Amazon tablet, but “when.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/An-Amazon-Android-Tablet-as-iPad-Rival-10-Burning-Questions-297081/

By: Don Reisinger, eWeek

On July 1, Hewlett-Packard finally launched its long-awaited TouchPad tablet. The device, like the iPad 2, comes with a 9.7-inch display. However, it has HP’s own webOS operating system running on it, making it one of the unique options in a market dominated by Apple’s iOS platform and a glut of Android-based tablets. Aside from that, HP is offering models with storage options of 16GB and 32GB, which retail for $499 and $599, respectively. With the TouchPad now on store shelves, consumers and enterprise customers have the chance to decide if that tablet or Apple’s iPad 2 is a better purchase. For its part, HP has tried to distance its tablet from those comparisons, saying that it doesn’t view the iPad 2 as a real competitor. But as a tablet maker, it should, since consumers and enterprise customers will undoubtedly compare the two platforms.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Apple-iPad-2-vs-HP-TouchPad-10-Reasons-to-Buy-iPad-2-700912/

By Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Many surveys have highlighted the fact that end users are not security-conscious and do not think about the implications of their online activities, making them vulnerable to attack by cyber-criminals. A recent survey of nearly 16,000 users in 11 countries by G Data Software uncovered a startling fact: Users are thinking about security, but what they know is light years out-of-date or completely wrong. “The majority of Internet users, regardless of age, sex or nationality, are aware that there are threats on the Internet,” G Data’s researchers wrote in the report. However, a lot of what they think they know may have been true in the nineties and in the first decade of the new millennium but has not been true for the past several years, the researchers said. As a result, end users are relying on “very out-of-date facts” to protect themselves, the researchers noted. Only a small percentage understand the nature of current online threats or how to effectively protect themselves from computer malware, the report found.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/11-Internet-Security-Myths-That-Delude-Computer-Users-114208/

by the BBC

The team used a similar approach to printing photos with an inkjet printer. Solar energy may soon become easier to capture, say researchers who have developed a novel method to produce solar cells using inkjet printing. Oregon State University researchers have come up with a technology similar to that commonly used to print documents and photos. They say their method is quicker and less expensive than traditional solar cell manufacturing techniques.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13977038

by Daily News and Analysis

Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have developed a software that facilitates an innovative approach to active reading — an interactive process that helps readers achieve better comprehension and recall of their reading materials. Taking advantage of touch-screen tablet computers, the LiquidText software — developed by Georgia Tech graduate student Craig Tashman and Keith Edwards, an associate professor in the Georgia Tech School of Interactive Computing— enables active readers to interact with documents using finger motions. LiquidText can significantly enhance the experiences of active readers, a group that includes students, lawyers, managers, corporate strategists and researchers.

http://www.dnaindia.com/scitech/report_coming-soon-interactive-touch-screen-software-to-support-active-reading_1560376

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google is redesigning Gmail, Google Calendar and even Google Apps to streamline the applications. The user experience tweaks are joined with those made on Google Search and Google Maps. Google is adding Gmail to its short list of software products it is redesigning in the wake of launching its long-awaited Google+ social network. One day after revealing tweaks to Google Search and Google Maps, the company said it is trying its hand at several interface updates to help strip out clutter. Google’s first experiment for users is with two new themes — a “dense” preview and regular preview — in the Themes tab in Gmail settings.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Gmail-Google-Calendar-Join-Google-Redesign-Party-164483/

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google Chrome has hit 20 percent market share, according to StatCounter. Net Applications has Chrome cracking 13 percent. Either way, Chrome is growing fast versus IE and Firefox. Most Internet researchers agree that Google’s Chrome Web browser is steadily gaining market share at the expense of established rivals Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox. Two top browser researcher disagree on just how much market share Chrome has worldwide. StatCounter said Google claimed 20.7 percent browser share for June, up from 2.8 percent a year ago. Net Applications claimed Chrome actually corralled 13.1 percent, up from 12.5 percent through May.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Desktops-and-Notebooks/Google-Chrome-Tops-20-Or-13-For-June-483512/

By Clint Boulton, eWeek

After more than a year of denials that any major social network initiative was in the works, Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) June 28 unveiled Google+, the company’s take on social networking. Not to be confused with the existing Google+1 search result and ad-sharing services, Google+ is intended to alleviate certain pain points that plagued Facebook as its network grew to 700 million-plus users. For example, while Facebook users added friends, family and colleagues to one big connection pool, Google+ is designed to let users create smaller buckets of contacts that share common interests. Users may create these Circles by dragging and dropping Google Profile pictures of users into separate Circles and sharing information only within those Circles. Users may also strike up conversations around topics, called Sparks; gather in video chat rooms, called Hangouts; and instantly upload photos and videos from their mobile phones to Google+.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Gmail-Google-Calendar-Join-Google-Redesign-Party-164483/

by the BBC

New users can now get a free taste of the fantasy world beloved by hardcore fans. Popular online role-playing game World of Warcraft (WoW) is to be offered free up to level 20. Previously fans of the game, which has 11.4 million subscribers, had to pay a monthly fee of £8.99. Under the new system, players will be able to build an unlimited number of characters but they will not be able to join guilds or accumulate more than ten gold coins. The move is seen as a way of attracting new players to the game.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13973145

By Katia Moskvitch, BBC News

More than 33% of enterprises now support multiple mobile operating systems With only hours left before his flight home to the US from Germany, businessman John Mueller suddenly realised something was wrong – very wrong. He couldn’t find his phone. And for a global sales manager of a big biotechnology company, Life-Tech, losing his Blackberry was more than just getting disconnected from a few friends. “I use the same phone for both business and for personal calls,” says Mr Mueller, remembering that day. “It stores my most valuable contact information, ranging from my wife and children to my boss and top customers, to keep up-to-date and in touch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13962653

by the BBC

Scientists in the US have created a roller ball pen that can be used to draw functioning circuit boards. The research team at the University of Illinois used conductive silver ink to sketch electrical circuits on paper, wood and other flexible surfaces. Although similar pens have been available for a number of years, their ink tends not to be bendable when dry. Most of the work in this area is focused on developing inkjet printers capable of creating circuits. “We use 3D printing in our work, which is an increasingly popular way of manufacturing material, but it’s also quite expensive,” said Dr Jennifer Lewis, Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the University of Illinois.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13989376