Android growth may give Apple, RIM some pause
In the three month period ending in May, Google's Android was the only platform to measure market share growth according to data from research firm comScore. While Research in Motion and Apple still lead the way, both lost share during the period.
RIM had 41.7 percent of the platform market, down about a half a point from February. Apple's iOS came in second with 24.4 percent, down a full percentage point. Third was Microsoft's Windows Mobile, who fell nearly two percent to 13.2 percent for the period.
Patent-holding company NTP sues smartphone makers
Six companies were sued by patent holding company NTP on Friday, claiming infringement on the same patents that successfully earned the company a $612.5 million settlement from BlackBerry maker RIM in 2006. The lawsuits were filed in U.S. District Court in Richmond, Va. Thursday afternoon.
NTP said it filed the suit against Apple, Google, HTC, LG, Microsoft, and Motorola to force the companies to pay licensing fees for their technology. The patents include methods to deliver e-mail over wireless connections.
Class action suit in Canada only the latest of Facebook's woes
Facebook's privacy issues have come to a head as it has been sued over its handling of users' private information. The class action suit was filed on July 2 in the Queen's Bench Court in Winnepeg, Manitoba. Merchant Law Group LLP filed the action on behalf of Donald Woligroski, a Winnepeg Facebook user.
The suit accuses the social networking site of misappropriating Woligroski and others' personal information and intentionally using it for commercial purposes. It also says Facebook was careless and dishonest in alerting users to how the information would be used.
Feds look to detect cyberattacks through new early warning system
The National Security Agency is launching a new effort to detect cyberattacks on infrastructure and private companies, sources told the Wall Street Journal Thursday. Raytheon has been awarded the contract for the first phase valued at some $100 million.
"Perfect Citizen" is an application that would be installed on a computer network and look for suspicious activity, although it apparently would not monitor the network continuously. When it detects a possible cyberattack, it would alert the proper authorities.
Alcatel-Lucent admits software glitch is slowing 3G speeds on AT&T
An issue with how the software on wireless equipment provided by Alcatel-Lucent handles advanced 3G data connections is responsible for slower upload speeds on AT&T's network, the two companies admitted on Wednesday.
Speed issues have been reported in several cities including Philadelphia, New York, Seattle and Washington, D.C. It's not everywhere though: earlier this week, BetaNews' Joe Wilcox reported he was unaffected in the area surrounding his residence in southern California.
Borders launches e-book store, expects 17 percent share by 2011
Borders said Wednesday that it had launched its own branded e-book store, offering about 1.5 million titles in a variety of formats. The move follows the successful launch of the Kobo and Aluratek e-readers, which have surpassed sales expectations.
The e-book store will be powered by Kobo, which also has created Border's iPhone and iPad apps. Versions for the BlackBerry and Android platforms were also made available Wednesday. All three platforms are free downloads from their respective application stores.
Google's Chrome OS getting orientation-aware capabilities
As Google moves toward a release of its web-based Chrome OS later this year, developers are building applications with the ability to detect which way their host device is orientated.
The functionality mimics the screen-swapping action that is becoming a regular feature in today's mobile devices; where motion sensors provide added levels of interactivity. The potential uses are many: such as the obvious switching the interface from portrait to landscape mode, or in gaming where on-screen actions are controlled by the device's position.
US Government gets into the mobile application business
In an effort to appease the changing information consumption habits of its citizens, the Obama Administration this past holiday weekend launched an "app store" of its own, featuring 16 apps on a variety of subjects. While some are mobile websites available for any mobile phone, others are actual apps intended for a specific platform such as BlackBerry, Android, or iPhone.
It should be noted that many of these applications are not new: most have been available on an agency or department's website for some time now. The Administration decided that building a centralized location for them would increase visibility.
Apple still silent as more scams are found on App Store
The App Store may have an increasing scam problem thanks to shady developers, but so far Apple has yet to provide any official response on the issue. First reported on by The Next Web Sunday, several developers appear to be using methods to hack into user accounts and make more purchases of a particular developer's apps.
Developer Thuat Nguyen appears to be one of the first widespread examples of this. His apps in the books category at one point made up 40 of the top 50 applications, and users have reported in his comments that purchases of as much as $600 were made on their iTunes accounts without authorization, typically to his other apps.
E-books take longer to read than print, study says
While e-book reader manufacturers have done everything they can to mimic the experience of paper and ink, a study says it will take the reader longer to finish an e-book than its print counterpart.
Jacob Nielsen of the Nielsen Norman Group tested three different e-book methods -- the PC, the Kindle 2, and the iPad -- and then compared them to reading a regular book. A short story by Ernest Hemigway was read by 24 different test subjects.
Dell: We did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards
Dell on Thursday attempted to minimize the damage done by the release of documents related to a 2007 court case involving faulty PCs, saying it did not knowingly ship faulty motherboards to its customers.
The continuing fallout may be enough to force CEO Michael Dell to go public in defense of his company. The statement, published to the Direct2Dell blog by chief blogger Lionel Menchaca, seems to contradict what appears to be in internal Dell documents unsealed by the court. They included internal e-mails, studies done by the company themselves, and even instructions from superiors to play dumb when customers called.
Facebook begins pushing updates to photos application, tagging first
Facebook realizes that its photo application is sometimes cumbersome to use, and promised late Thursday that it is working to make things better.
The impetus behind making one of the most commonly-used features of Facebook better seems to be Facebook's acquisition of photo sharing site Divvyshot in April. In fact, the social networking site turned to Divvyshot co-founder Sam Odio -- now a product manager at Facebook -- to introduce the first enhancement: facial recognition.
Microsoft debuts bipolar battery technology, Duracell endorses
The age old problem of putting batteries into electronics the wrong way is about to end if Microsoft has its way. The Redmond company on Thursday introduced InstaLoad, a technology aimed at making electronics work whichever way the battery is inserted.
Battery-maker Duracell has already endorsed the system, although the technology would not affect the way a battery is made -- more how the electronics are manufactured. It would work with CR123, AA, AAA, C, and D batteries, the company says.
Mozilla submits Firefox iPhone app, but it's not exactly a browser
Firefox may be coming to your iPhone soon, however not in the form you might expect. Mozilla on Wednesday said that it submitted an app called "Firefox Home" to Apple for iTunes App Store approval, an application which would sync browser activity between the user's iPhone and desktop.
It is not a separate browser, as Mozilla knows that Apple would likely reject it if it was. Instead, Firefox uses the WebKit API provided by Apple and intended for use in web browsing applications.
Deal of the Day: Amazon scoops up Woot for $110 million
Woot said Wednesday that it had been acquired by Amazon, although it provided few details on what exactly will become of the online deal site other than it would become an independent subsidiary much like the online retailer's other acquisitions, Zappos and Audible.
Sources told technology blog TechCrunch that the sale price was in the neighborhood of $110 million in cash. In an e-mail to his employees, CEO Matt Rutledge seemed to suggest that not much would change as a result of the new owners.
Ed's Bio
Ed Oswald is a freelance journalist from the Reading, PA area. Although he has written across a variety of subjects, Ed’s passion and focus has been on technology and gadgets. His work regularly appears on tech news sites BetaNews, PCWorld, and Technologizer, and has been syndicated to eWeek, Time’s Techland blog, VentureBeat and the New York Times.
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