Happy Canada Day! Apple, Microsoft and Sony raid Canada's national treasure
Bankrupt Canadian telecommunications company Nortel Networks Corp. has been slowly selling off its assets since 2009, and this year it put its most valuable intellectual property up for auction: essential patents for approximately 6,000 telecommunications and Internet technologies, including fundamental patents included in the LTE wireless standard.
In 2009, Research in Motion co-CEO Mike Lazardis called these patents a "national treasure that Canada must not lose."
Why tweet when you can chirp? Instantbird 1.0 multi-IM client is available
One of the biggest problems with instant messaging is that not everyone uses the same network. Typically you'll have friends who swear by Windows Live on the one hand, while others refuse to budge from Yahoo Messenger on the other. Throw in the growing popularity of alternative mediums like Facebook and Twitter, and keeping track of your online buddies' movements can be tricky.
Instantbird 1.0 aims to bring together many of these disparate networks and services under one roof, and while not as polished as more established multi-network clients like Trillian and Pidgin, its close links to Mozilla makes us confident the program will evolve into a powerful alternative to these programs in time.
LibreOffice 3.4.1 fixes bugs, still not ready for enterprises
The Document Foundation has released LibreOffice 3.4.1, a landmark update for its open-source, multi-platform office application. With its release, LibreOffice 3.4.1 is now the recommended build for all users except large enterprises, thanks to the bug fixes and improved stability that provide the focus of the release.
LibreOffice is an off-shoot of the OpenOffice project, development of which has stalled since many developers switched across to LibreOffice when it was launched in September, 2010.
Google cleans up Gmail, and it looks really good!
My whole Google experience is changing around me. Today I started using Google+, which brings a fresh -- and I'd say quite attractive -- look to the default search page. It's as functional as pleasing. Looks like the makeover just starts there. Google is freshening up other services, too, including Gmail. For the first time ever, I want to use this service in a browser.
"We're embarking on a series of interface updates to help strip out unnecessary clutter and make Gmail as beautiful as it is powerful", Jason Cornwell, Google user experience designer, writes in a blog posted late this evening Eastern Time. Changes will occur gradually over a few months.
RIM under fire: company reviewing future of co-CEOs as employee criticism circulates
Except for perhaps a complete collapse of its share value or meteor striking its headquarters, Research in Motion couldn't have had a more troubling day. An anonymous executive released a scathing letter, while the Waterloo, Ontario-based company made concessions to stave off an investor revolt.
NEI Investments had planned to make a proposal during RIM's annual General Meeting for shareholders that would have separated the company's leadership, if adopted. Right now, RIM has co-CEOs, who have come under fire as the BlackBerry platform burns beneath them. From NEI's perspective perhaps, two heads aren't better than one. Shareholders could have separated the roles of CEO and chairman and set up an independent chair. Today, RIM agreed to establish an independent committee for realigning top leadership, and NEI withdrew its proposal planned for the July 12 meeting.
Phishers have found a new use for Google Docs -- stealing your identity
The free cloud applications, particularly Google spreadsheets, are gaining popularity as a phishing platform. I knew the Google Docs spreadsheet was good for something.
One of the main jobs of a phishing site in selling itself is to come from a trustworthy domain, and that's why Google Apps is so popular. Nobody is going to block *.google.com or even spreadsheets.google.com. So not only will some people be more inclined to believe that a phishing page is genuine, but it's less likely to be blocked by reputation systems. You even get to use HTTPS on your attack page, courtesy of Google.
Have cybercriminals created the perfect botnet -- undetectable and indestructible?
Up until now, those fighting against botnets have had some measurable success in taking them down. However, the newest botnet on the block may be a hard nut to crack, and at least one security firm is calling it nearly indestructible.
Kaspersky Labs says the TDL botnet contains about 4.5 million computers, and uses a variety of measures to avoid detection by antivirus programs. Furthermore, communications between an infected PC and the host are encrypted, making it harder to decode what the botnet may be doing, and it disables other malware.
Wow, Twitter reaches 200 million tweets per day, and the service isn't all that popular
Today, Twitter revealed the 200 millon figure via its official blog. It's an amazing feat, up from 2 million in January 2009 and 65 million a year ago. But what if more people tweeted?
I've had my Twitter account since sometime in mid 2006. Most techies I know tweet. But we're a minority, at least in the United States. According to Pew Internet, fifty-nine percent of US Internet users, or 47 percent of all adults, have used a social networking service, like Facebook, MySpace or Twitter. Among that number only 13 percent use Twitter compared to 92 percent for Facebook.
Simpler than Google Checkout, Boku debuts Android in-app payment SDK
First launched in alpha under the name "Paymo" more than one year ago, Mobile payment startup Boku launched the SDK for its 1-Tap Billing solution for Android in 56 countries on Thursday, giving Android app developers another alternative for in-app transactions.
Instead of billing in-app purchases to the user's credit card or debiting from their bank account, Boku adds in-app purchases to the user's monthly mobile phone bill. To do this, users just click on "buy" in an app, confirm their phone number for the purchase, and that's it; no credit card info is collected, no additional registration or work is necessary.
Skype brings video calling to select Android phones
Skype on Thursday updated its Android app to allow users of select devices to make video calls, putting Android users on the same level of functionality as their iOS counterparts. Users of the Skype for iOS app have been able to make video calls since late December.
The first phase of the launch will allow for video calling on the HTC Desire S, Sony Ericsson Xperia neo, Sony Ericsson Xperia pro and the Google Nexus S. The calls will be possible over both 3G and Wi-Fi connections.
Android is unstoppable
I'm sometimes amazed how the Apple fanclub of bloggers and journalists use so-called facts to make iPhone a much bigger success than it really is. Perhaps they're living in denial about the Android reality. I don't really care why. For a week, and even today, I've put up with their prognostications that Android is suddenly in decline before Apple's Jesus phone. That's simply, and undeniably, not reality. It's pure fantasy.
Analyst firms sometimes complicate things by what they state about data they present and how statements don't reconcile with it. Today, Nielsen claims that "Apple is now driving smartphone growth", which has the fanclub in a tizzy fit of blog posts and news stories. Small problem: Nielsen's statement isn't supported by its own data.
Chrome Air: Virgin America puts Google Chromebooks in hands of flyers
Virgin America is maintaining its reputation as the darling airline of the tech sector, and today it announced a new partnership with Google that will give travelers the option to test Google's Chromebooks in their flight beginning tomorrow.
The promotion will last until September 30, and passengers will be able to check out a Chromebook at their departure gate and use it freely with Gogo in-flight Internet on their whole flight. In addition to the currently available Chrome apps, Virgin America has co-developed a special Chrome app with Google that includes discussion boards about Virgin America's trip destinations, city guides based upon data from UrbanDaddy, and information about packing and travel planning. The app will be available in the Chrome Web Store later this month.
'Life or Death' GPS interference issue only affects 200k devices, says LightSquared
LightSquared, the Virginia-based company building a wholesale LTE/Satellite mobile broadband network, submitted to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) its three-part solution for resolving GPS interference issues revealed in recent tests by the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Systems Engineering Forum (NPEF). The company hopes to settle these issues with GPS companies and the FCC so it may move on with the construction of its $7 Billion wireless network.
The problem is that LightSquared's proposed 40,000 base station cellular network will utilize the same radio frequency to communicate with end user devices that satellites use. Naturally, a satellite orbiting thousands of miles above the earth is going to emit a weaker signal to receivers on the ground than a base station just a couple of miles away. According to the Coalition to Save Our GPS, LightSquared's signal could be more than a billion times more powerful than a satellite's.
Is CyberLink PhotoDirector 2011 a worthy Lightroom competitor?
CyberLink has many years experience with video, but none at all with photo editing, and so you might have expected the company's first digital imaging product to be a little on the basic side.
But you'd be wrong. PhotoDirector 2011 isn't another standard editor. Rather, it's a high-end photo management and workflow app that bears a strong resemblance to Adobe's Photoshop Lightroom 3.x, and is similarly packed with professional features.
Amazon terminates Associates Program in California over tax law
Whoa, look what I pulled out of my Junk Mail folder -- a "notice of termination" email from Amazon. Last year I signed up to be an Amazon Associate and collected not one cent, never having participated. For active participants, this must be a troubling day -- make that Friday.
California is broke and looking to raise cash any way it can. Earlier today, Gov. Jerry Brown signed a new tax law that would compel online retailers like Amazon to collect sales tax. The new provisions go into effect Friday. Well, hell, what can I still order online during the next 40 hours?
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