Techno-News Blog

BY JASON PONTIN, Technology Review

A bewildering number of services let computer and smart-phone users store and share files in the Internet’s cloud. But one file-hosting service in particular has evoked the kind of devotion ordinarily accorded social-networking services or beloved hardware manufacturers: Dropbox, the product of a startup founded in 2007 by MIT computer science students Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. The service lets people use almost any computing device to store files in folders in the cloud as thoughtlessly as they store files in folders in their device’s memory. Achieving that simplicity of use—something Houston calls “an illusion”—is very difficult, because it forces the company to wrestle with all the variants of the major operating systems, four Internet browsers, and any number of network file systems. No other service supports so many different systems. More than 50 million people around the world have been beguiled by Dropbox, which is free to many users. The company’s robust growth, together with revenue from the fraction who pay for extra storage and options, has been rewarded by a valuation that various reports place as high as $4 billion.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39653/?mod=chfeatured

BY DAVID TALBOT, Technology Review

Imagine Wi-Fi that spans two kilometers; or a car safety system that beams news of an accident, vehicle to vehicle, from far ahead on a lightly traveled road; or a mobile phone whose calls almost never drop. These and other new communications technologies could be helped along by a deal announced in Washington last week that permits the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to sell off unused TV spectrum in two years. The agreement covers lower frequencies—previously set aside for analog TV broadcasts—that allow for longer-range, higher-capacity communications. But making use of the frequencies will require technology capable of flitting rapidly between different frequencies at high speed. “This will absolutely open up new innovation,” says Dipankar Raychauduri, director of Rutgers University’s WinLab, a leading wireless research lab. “It’s really quite a breakthrough, because the U.S. would be the first country to allocate such spectrum.”

http://www.technologyreview.com/communications/39773/?p1=A4

by DAVID ZAX, Technology Review

Nick Bilton at the Times’s Bits Blog, hardly a site for speculation on vaporware, tells us to expect something remarkable from Google by the year’s end: heads-up display glasses “that will be able to stream information to the wearer’s eyeballs in real time.” That’s right. Google’s going to turn us all into the Terminator. Minus the wanton killing, of course. The Times post builds on the reporting of Seth Weintraub, who blogs at 9 to 5 Google. He had written about the glasses project in December, as well as this month. Weintraub had one tipster, who told him the glasses would look something like Oakley Thumps. Bilton cites “several Google employees familiar with the project,” who said the devices would cost between $250 and $600. The device is reportedly being built in Google’s “X offices,” a top-secret lab that is nonetheless not-top-secret-enough that you and I and other readers of the Times know about it. (X is favored letter for Google of late, when it comes to blue sky projects.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/helloworld/27600/

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft’s latest Bing feature lets users associate pages from around the Web with their name. Bing continues to trail Google in the search-engine wars. Microsoft has introduced a way to make people stand out more clearly on Bing, its search engine. A new “Linked Pages” feature lets users associate pages from around the Web with their name, allowing others to tell the difference between, say, five different John Does. “With Linked Pages, we’re letting you link websites related to you by search results,” read a Feb. 22 note on the Bing Community blog. “Now your friends looking for you online can find what you want them to find. You can also link pages to your friends helping them shine on Bing as well.” Users who want to take advantage of the feature will need to log in via their Facebook ID and give Bing permission to post to Facebook. Users can also remove posted links. “Once you remove a link, you are the only person that can go back and relink yourself to that page,” the posting added.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Microsofts-Bing-Introduces-Linked-Pages-for-Users-804725/?kc=rss

By Darryl K. Taft, eWeek

It seems one of the best ways to draw attention to a post or commentary on Java and programming is to use the words “Java” and some variation of “dead” in the headline. For instance, Mark Little, senior director of engineering at Red Hat, recently wrote a blog post entitled: “JBoss polyglot — death of Java?” And although the headline suggests that Red Hat’s JBoss unit is pushing a polyglot programming strategy of using several languages for different projects, the gist of the post is that the company is not trying to move away from Java. In fact, Little makes it plain: “We’re as committed to Java today as we’ve ever been.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Application-Development/Java-Death-Debunked-10-Reasons-Its-Still-Hot-629361/

by KFC, Technology Review

A stochastic computer, designed to help an autonomous vehicle navigate, outperforms a conventional computer by three orders of magnitude, say computer scientists. Stochastic computing is one of logic’s little gems. Its advantage is essentially that it makes multiplication as easy as addition. That’s significant. Imagine adding 0.4397625 and 0.8723489. It’s a calculation you could do in your head in a few seconds. But imagine multiplying those two numbers instead. That’s still something you could do in your head but I bet you’d feel happier reaching for a calculator. Conventional computers have a similar problem. Adding numbers is straightforward but multiplying them is much more intensive. Stochastic computers change all this. That’s because they represent numbers using probability: as a stream of bits with a certain probability of being a number.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27598/?p1=blogs

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Nokia is reportedly prepping a line of low-price, entry-level Windows Phones for unveiling at Mobile World Congress, according to reports. Nokia is apparently gearing up to present some lower-price smartphones at this year’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona, according to a new Bloomberg report. While Nokia decided last year to use Microsoft’s Windows Phone as its primary smartphone operating system, the Finnish phone maker apparently isn’t ready to wholly abandon its old software platform, Symbian. According to a pair of unnamed sources speaking to Bloomberg, a “camera-focused phone” will make its debut at MWC (indeed, a video posted by Nokia on YouTube hints at some development along those lines). In addition, Nokia will roll out a set of “lower-price, entry-level” smartphones at the conference. Unnamed sources speaking to Reuters also suggested that a set of cheaper smartphones loaded with Windows Phone would appear at MWC.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Nokia-Prepping-LowPrice-Windows-Phones-Report-107671/?kc=rss

By Chris Preimesberger, eWeek

This topic is on everybody’s mind right now, and the idea was simply to spark a conversation about the topic. With that background, eWEEK offers the other side of the argument in the following slide show: why enterprises should indeed consider using a private cloud system. If the CEO doesn’t understand why a company should be leveraging cloud computing, it’s important to articulate the benefits of delivering cloud-based services, in addition to creating awareness about the investment and payback. Here are 10 steps that will help get a CEO on par with the rest of the company when it comes to the cloud. An expert resource for this slide show is Jason Cowie, vice president of product management for Embotics, which provides plug-and-play cloud management hardware and software. We’re keeping the slide show free of product information.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Cloud-Computing-Is-the-Future-of-IT-How-to-Convince-Your-Boss-831828/?kc=rss

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google has boosted Docs for Android with native editing and real-time collaboration functionality. The company also improved presentations in Google Apps. Google Docs for Android received some much longed after features Feb. 22, including native editing and real-time collaboration capabilities. Prior to this upgrade, available now in the Android Market for Android 2.1 devices and up, the native Docs for Android app was a read-only program. Users who wanted to edit their document had to do so in their Android handset or tablet’s browser. Naturally, the lack of editing capability in the native app, which is faster than the Web app, was a glaring hole. As for real-time collaboration, Google leveraged the edit-as-you-type functionality that existed in the now defunct Google Wave platform.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Google-Docs-For-Android-Gets-Native-Editing-218399/?kc=rss

by Tom Chatfield, BBC

There is an old joke amongst computer programmers: “There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don’t.” Not funny to everyone, but it makes a neat point. We now live in a world divided between those who understand the inner workings of our computer-centric society and those who don’t. This is not something that happened overnight, but it is something that has profound consequences for our future. In professional terms, it’s easy to see why knowing how to put together a program is a valuable skill: more and more jobs require some technical know-how, and the most skilled students have glittering prospects ahead of them. But with only a fraction of those signing up for free lessons ever likely to reach even a semi-professional level of skill, are movements like Code Academy able to offer more than good intentions?

http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20120206-why-we-should-all-learn-to-hack

By Chris Vallance, BBC News

The project was the work of a consortium which included Acpo and the National Physical Laboratories. The illegal use of Global Positioning System (GPS) jammers in the UK has been revealed in a groundbreaking study. GPS jammers are believed to be mostly used by people driving vehicles fitted with tracking devices in order to mask their whereabouts. In one location the Sentinel study recorded more than 60 GPS jamming incidents in six months. The research follows concern that jammers could interfere with critical systems which rely on GPS. The team behind the research believes it is the first study of its kind in the UK.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-17119768

by the BBC

In 2012 expect to hear a lot more about 4G as many big operators begin the process of upgrading their service to us. Forget 3G, 4G is so fast it could make your mobile quicker than your home PC while reaching the parts other networks have left behind. From rural outposts to high-speed cities, Dan Simmons reports on 4G and the promise of super-fast broadband everywhere.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/9672822.stm

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google has filed a patent application to test new ways of unlocking Android smartphones and tablets, according to the “Patently Apple” blog. These methods include icon and voice input. Google is working on new methods for allowing users to unlock Android smartphones and tablets built by Android OEMs, a move that could help Samsung and other OEM partners work around the “slide to unlock” method Apple has patented. Patently Apple—which, as the title of the blog suggests, usually sniffs out Apple patent filings from the labyrinthine U.S. Patent and Trademark Office Website—said Google is working on ways to let users unlock their phones with their voice and through using two icons. Most computers, mobile phones and tablets require some form of light authentication an owner must provide to access the device in the event that it is lost or stolen. While computers require passwords, phones and tablets tend to ask for four-digit passcodes or some sort of gesture-based pattern to unlock the device.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Google-Android-Patent-Filing-Includes-Voice-Pattern-Unlock-386531/?kc=rss

By: Clint Boulton, eWeek

Google has acquired seven pending search user interface patents from defunct, erstwhile challenger Cuil. Google declined to say how it would appropriate the technology. Google confirmed it has purchased seven search patent applications of Cuil, the failed search startup that set out to defeat the search engine giant when it was launched more than three years ago. Financial terms of the patent purchase were not disclosed. A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s plans for the seven patents, which are pending approval by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The patent documents, uncovered by SEO By The Sea patent watcher Bill Slawski in the USPTO assignment database, cover user interface technology and formats for search.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Search-Engines/Google-Buys-Cuil-Search-Patent-Applications-207537/?kc=rss

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Microsoft claims that Google has bypassed Internet Explorer’s privacy preferences. But whether this adds to Google’s current privacy woes remains to be seen.  Microsoft is claiming that Google has bypassed the privacy preferences of Internet Explorer users. “We’ve found that Google bypasses the P3P Privacy Protection feature in IE,” Dean Hachamovitch, corporate vice president of Internet Explorer, wrote in a Feb. 20 posting on the corporate Internet Explorer Blog. “The result is similar to the recent reports of Google’s circumvention of privacy protections in Apple’s Safari Web browser, even though the actual bypass mechanism Google uses is different.” Hachamovitch then used the incident as a way to pump Internet Explorer 9, claiming its Tracking Protection feature is immune to the type of bypass allegedly attempted by Google. “Given this real-world behavior, we are investigating what additional changes to make to our products,” he added.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Enterprise-Applications/Microsoft-Claims-Google-IE-Privacy-Invasion-507485/?kc=rss

By Chris Preimesberger, eWeek

Increasingly, large organizations are discovering and using enterprise information with the objective of growing or transforming their business as they seek more holistic approaches to their data integration and data management practices. This is all in an effort to address the challenges associated with the growing volume, variety, velocity and complexity of information. In 2012, more companies will continue moving their business processes to the cloud, intensifying expectations for cloud data integration and data management as a part of a company’s information infrastructure. The desired end result: to enable a more agile, quicker and more cost-effective response to business needs. To get a better handle on the way this approach to data is developing, eWEEK spoke to Robert Fox, director of B2B/EAI software development for Liaison Technologies, a global provider of secure cloud-based integration and data management services and solutions.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Cloud-Computing/Cloud-Computing-and-Data-Integration-10-Trends-to-Watch-312306/

By Rachel Metz, Technology Review

The largest of a growing number of so-called social curation sites, Pinterest lets users corral images and videos of everything from tasty food to wedding dresses on virtual bulletin boards, and also discover those created by friends and strangers. Some people use the site simply to collect pretty pictures; others employ it to help plan weddings, keep track of good recipes or items they want to buy. Most people, I suspect, are using it for many different things at once. Pinterest isn’t the first or only site of its kind, but it’s far and away the hottest, due, in part, to its clever design and relative ease of use. Its popularity may also be due to the fact that Pinterest isn’t even publicly available. Anyone can search for pins and people, but to add your own pins to the site, you need to either request an invite from the Pinterest folks, or beg a friend who’s already using the site to let you in.

http://www.technologyreview.com/web/39725/?p1=A4

by kfc, Technology Review

There’s growing evidence that if you are part of a social network, the structure of the network itself can reveal important information about you, regardless of what you have published yourself. For example, in December we looked at a study of a computer gaming network, which showed that if you have friends who cheat at computer games, you are much more likely to be a cheat yourself or to become a cheat in the near future. In a way, that makes sense. We are much more likely to copy the behaviours of friends than of other people. Today, Kazem Jahanbakhsh and pals at the University of Victoria in Canada add an interesting corollary to this work. These guys have studied the geographical clusters of photos that users upload to Flickr, the popular picture sharing website. The task they set themselves is to determine an individual’s home town looking only at the geotags of photographs they have uploaded.

http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/arxiv/27590/?p1=blogs

By Jonathan Amos, BBC

Facebook, YouTube and even texting will be the salvation of many of the world’s endangered languages, scientists believe. Of the 7,000 or so languages spoken on Earth today, about half are expected to be extinct by the century’s end. Globalisation is usually blamed, but some elements of the “modern world”, especially digital technology, are pushing back against the tide. North American tribes use social media to re-engage their young, for example. Tuvan, an indigenous tongue spoken by nomadic peoples in Siberia and Mongolia, even has an iPhone app to teach the pronunciation of words to new students.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17081573

By: Nicholas Kolakowski, eWeek

Despite its impressive share of the mobile OS market, Google Android faces significant challenges from its rivals. Claiming that Android violates its patents, Microsoft has managed to conscript a growing number of manufacturers into paying it royalties for every Android device sold. Meanwhile, Apple continues its expensive quest to sue the purveyors of the operating system (which the late Steve Jobs claimed was a “stolen” product) into oblivion. That could pay off in a big way for Microsoft. “In the wake of the new low bar for pricing set by the Fire and the Nook and the looming Google acquisition of Motorola Mobility,” IHS added in its note, “manufacturers and branded vendors are looking to Windows 8 tablets as a more profitable alternative.”

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Mobile-and-Wireless/Windows-8-Tablets-Need-Low-Cost-Lots-of-Apps-Android-Weakness-153437/?kc=rss

By: Fahmida Y. Rashid, eWeek

Gatekeeper is “designed to drive up costs and effort” for developing malware on OS X, said Roel Schouwenberg, a senior researcher with Kaspersky Lab. However, he didn’t think Gatekeeper would “bring a stop to OS X malware.” With Gatekeeper, Apple is tacitly admitting that Mac malware does exist and that it’s increasing. Apple is trying to counter the threat by make it more expensive and difficult for cyber-criminals to develop malicious applications. Developers can either go through the Apple’s vetting process to get listed in the Mac App Store or sign up for a developer account and receive a valid digital certificate to sign the software. If Apple finds out a developer is releasing malicious programs, it can revoke the certificate, forcing the developer to try to obtain a new certificate.

http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Security/Mac-OS-X-Mountain-Lions-Gatekeeper-Not-Enough-to-Fight-Malware-453860/?kc=rss