Monday, March 1, 2010
Microsoft is to ask millions of users across Europe if they want to use a web browser other than its own.Windows users will be offered the choice as part of a deal Microsoft struck with the European Commission.
The agreement resolves a long-running case in which the software giant was accused of abusing its market position.
A pop-up window will prompt people to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft's Internet Explorer........... read more>>
Thursday, February 25, 2010
As more people reveal their whereabouts on social networks, a new site has sprung up to remind you that letting everyone know where you are — and, by extension, where you’re not — could leave you vulnerable to those with less-than-friendly intentions. The site’s name says it all: Please Rob Me. Please Rob Me assembles its list by taking information that Twitter makes freely available so that many Web sites can show tweets.
People are comfortable sharing all kinds of personal details on social sites such as Facebook. And now people are flocking to location-based Web services, such as Foursquare, Gowalla or Loopt, that let them use their cell phones to alert friends to where they are............ read more>>
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's LG Display Co Ltd said on Wednesday it was considering building an additional production line to meet robust flat panel orders, adding to emerging concerns over rapid supply growth. The liquid crystal display (LCD) industry is enjoying brisk demand for flat-screen TVs helped by Chinese holidays and sports events such as the Winter Olympics.
But concerns have grown recently that the sector might return to being oversupplied as makers aggressively beef up output. LG is set to begin operation of a separate production line in the first half while Taiwanese rivals, including AU Optronics, are increasing factory utilization.
Controlling supply is key for makers to maintain profits in the cyclical LCD industry.......... read more>>
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Developers have expressed anger at Apple's decision to ban some adult-themed applications from its iPhone.Thousands of apps with adult-themed content have been removed from the store since Friday although some, such as one from Playboy, remain.
Apple has said that certain apps were removed following customer complaints.
Developer Jon Atherton is angry that previously-approved apps have been pulled, and accuses Apple of "experimenting with our livelihoods".
Apple said it had to respond to its customers......... read more>>
SAN FRANCISCO, California, United States—Microsoft on Monday took steps to help local languages avoid being lost on the ever-changing computer technology landscape.
The list of languages supported by the newest releases of Windows, Office, or Visual Studio software includes Yoruba in Nigeria, Oriya in India, Tatar in Russia, isiZulu in Africa, and Inuktitut in Canada.
A full list of languages was available online at microsoft.com/llp.
The US software giant also released 59 new Language Interface Packs for its latest-generation Windows 7 operating system and soon-to-be-released Office 2010 programs........... read more>>
Monday, February 22, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A study funded by Toyota Motor Co supports the automaker's assertion there is no evidence of problems in the electronics of Toyota and Lexus cars, the Wall Street Journal said on Sunday.
The newspaper said it had obtained a copy of the study being carried out by the Menlo Park, California-based engineering firm, Expondent.
"Exponent has so far been unable to induce, through electrical disturbances to the system, either unintended acceleration or behavior that might be a precursor to such an event, despite concerted efforts toward this goal," the Journal quoted the February 4 preliminary report as saying.
Toyota has been under fire for a series of safety lapses, including incidents of unwanted acceleration that could be caused by electronic failures........ read more>>
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. - Google Inc. said Friday that it finished its $124.6 million purchase of On2 Technologies Inc. after shareholders of On2 voted to approve the deal.
Google said that as per its agreement with the maker of video compression technology, outstanding On2 common shares will be converted to the right to 15 cents per share and 0.0010 of a share of Google common stock. Cash will be paid in lieu of any fractional shares, Google said.
Google also said it plans to buy back the same number of its shares that it issued through the purchase. The company will fund the buybacks with cash on hand........ read more>>
San Francisco, February 07: Google Earth mapping service is letting people use the internet to dive into the world's oceans or see the ruin that World War II bombings rained on European cities. The Internet powerhouse on Thursday added an Ocean Showcase and WW II era aerial photographs to its free, interactive online atlas.
"The historical imagery feature gives people a unique perspective on the events of the past using today's latest mapping technology," Laura Scott of Google Europe said in a blog post.
"We hope that this World War II imagery will enable all of us to understand our shared history in a new way and to learn more about the impact of the war on the development of our cities."
The feature includes images taken in 1943 of 35 European cities pictures and of war-battered Warsaw in 1935 and 1945. Google Earth users are able to do side-by-side comparisons of the cities then and now......... read more>>
Friday, February 19, 2010
Millions of European Internet Explorer (IE) users will have the option to choose an alternative browser from 1 March, Microsoft has announced.It follows a legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission in December 2009.
Microsoft committed to letting Windows PC users across Europe install the web browser of their choice, rather than having Microsoft IE as a default.
Figures suggest that over half the world's internet users have IE...... read more>>
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Google may have reached the limits of what it can learn from dog food. Ask almost any technology company what products and services they use within their own organizations, and most will enthusiastically admit to "dog-fooding" their own products. It's both a show of support for their own technology and an opportunity to test those products for flaws that won't make the light of day before they are fixed.
Google is no different. But something went wrong with the dog-fooding process for Google Buzz, forcing company engineers to scramble over a holiday weekend to calm the outcry over privacy violations with tweaks to the settings and set-up process.
Google now asks Buzz users to manually approve their followers instead of automatically including them on their Buzz lists, and improved the visibility of the privacy controls........ read more>>
Saturday, February 13, 2010
(Guardian) ----Bill Gateshas said in an interview with the news site Bnet that he doesn't think the iPad is a dramatic move compared to what Microsoft has done with tablet computers - but admitted that he is envious of the iPhone's features.
Interviewed by Brent Schlender, Gates - who said in 2001 that he thought tablet computers would be the predominant form of computers sold "within five years" (but saw that prediction fail), was lukewarm at best.
"You know, I'm a big believer in touch and digital reading, but I still think that some mixture of voice, the pen and a real keyboard - in other words a netbook - will be the mainstream on that," he told Schlender.
Gates has long been a proponent of voice recognition technology for computers: in 1998 he tried to demonstrate a voice-drive system at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Seattle, and forecast that by 2011 computers would be able to recognise their owners' faces and voices.
But the iPad, which is a completely touch-driven system, using fingers rather than an easily-misplaced stylus for its control - just like the iPhone - does not impress him in the same way.
"So, it's not like I sit there and feel the same way I did with iPhone where I say, 'Oh my God, Microsoft didn't aim high enough.' It's a nice reader, but there's nothing on the iPad I look at and say, 'Oh, I wish Microsoft had done it.'"
Gates's admission that he looked at the iPhone, unveiled three years ago in January 2007 and which went on sale in June that year, and thought that "Microsoft didn't aim high enough" is a startling revelation from the man who drove the company to focus on mobile.
The iPhone has leapfrogged Windows Mobile in share of the smartphone market since its launch; Microsoft has not released figures for the number of licences sold for the past financial year, but it has seen high-profile defections by companies such as HTC to Google's Android mobile operating system.
The iPad has garnered great excitement from publishers and TV companies which see the possibility of selling more content through online stores akin to the iTunes Music Store and App Store.
However Cambridge City Council has denied reports that it was planning to buy a number of iPads for its councillors in order to save paper. It called the reports in the local and national press incorrect, and implied that it is instead looking at Windows-based tablets.
