Safari tracking is Google’s penalty day: $22.5 million fine
Word of advice to cloud service providers: Don't get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. The Wall Street Journal reports that Google and the US Federal Trade Commission will soon announce a $22.5 million settlement. Google bypassed privacy settings on Apple’s Safari web browser, a practice later stopped, after being contacted by the Journal nearly six months ago.
Independent researchers found that of the top 100 websites, 22 installed the tracking code on a desktop computer, while on 23 sites code was successfully installed on the iPhone. Safari blocks such cookie tracking by default. At the time, Google claimed that the user tracking did not have any negative side-effects on its users, but that's hard to measure. Surely, advertisers benefited from the practice.
Burnaware 5 gets a makeover
Burnaware Technologies has released the latest generation of its disc burning packages, in the shape of BurnAware 5.0 Free, Home and Professional.
The most apparent change is a simplification to the interface. There’s no longer any need to choose between “Data CD”, “Data DVD” or “Bridge Disc” when creating a data project: now you have “Data Disc” and “Custom Disc”, and on choosing the latter you’ll now get to decide the file system (ISO, UDF or Bridge).
Nation-state hackers attack small businesses, too
Small businesses have their hands full these days in light of a down economy, tightening budgets and the steepening pace of business, but with nation-state hacks front and center in the threatscape, should you worry about those, too, or are you (and your customers) safe?
Nation-state hacks bring to mind images of large defense contractors, big government offices, and/or high profile financial institutions. After all, if a bad actor overseas stole the cutting edge design of a new nuclear reactor, it would be quite a haul for that government and its cronies -- and worth their time, money and effort to go after. But you’re a small business, too small to garner that kind of attention, right?
Is it a browser or OS? Chrome 21 supports webcams and gamepads -- no plugins required
Google has announced the release of Chrome 21 to the beta channel for Windows, Mac, Linux and Chrome Frame. And while the new build won’t revolutionise your life overnight, it does include support for a couple of new APIs, which will make for richer web experiences in the future.
The first of these, the WebRTC getuserMedia API, allows users to give web access to their camera and microphone from within the browser, no plugin required. And a few web apps already show some of the creative possibilities: Paul Neave’s “Webcam Toy” uses WebGL fragment shaders to apply real-time special effects to the video, for instance.
Three things you REALLY need to know about iPad mini
The Apple iPad is the best-selling tablet by quite some margin, but with increasing competition from the likes of Google and Microsoft, its dominance could be under threat. Although the company could (and likely will) make some minor improvements to the iPad at some point -- making it thinner, boosting the camera, and finding a way to reduce its core temperature, for example -- it needs to come up with new variations if it wants to stay on top.
That means going large and producing a ‘MacPad’, which would essentially be a touchscreen, keyboard-less version of the Macbook Air (bringing it into direct competition with Microsoft Surface), or going small, and finally introducing the much rumored iPad mini.
Google open sources Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
Google has released the latest and greatest version of its Android mobile operating system, known as Jelly Bean, or Android 4.1 into the open source channel on Monday afternoon.
An announcement from Jean-Baptiste Queru, Google's head of the Android Open Source Project, officially opened availability of the Jelly Bean binaries Monday. Generally speaking, open sourcing is the very first step in broad availability for the newest build of Android, as this is the framework phonemakers use to build their respective versions of the operating system.
The 808 PureView accentuates Nokia's downfall
How would you like to spend $700 on the most amazing smartphone, one which truly replaces your digital camera and makes iPhone look like horse and buggy compared to your Porsche. The handset has style and finesse, and is teched-out to the nines. There is but one little problem: The software is outdated -- abandoned -- before the phone's release. The hardware is amazing but the operating system is dead on arrival.
Nokia 808 PureView is the latest smartphone to come to the United States from the Finnish manufacturer. Nokia's USA website lists the 808 PureView as "coming soon", but Amazon will sell you one right now, for $699.99. There the lone reviewer, Tor Slettnes, rates five stars, writing: "This phone is nothing short of a dream come true for any remaining Symbian fans -- all 3 of us!" There you have it. Everything that's right about the mobile shows what's wrong with Nokia.
Get organized -- EssentialPIM 5.0 comes to Android, iOS
Everyone needs to keep their life organized and any tool that can help with this is welcome. One such piece of software is EssentialPIM, which has just been updated to version 5.0. The headline new feature: synchronization with both iOS and Android devices; a companion Android app is available for download from Google Play, while an iOS app is expected in the App Store in the near future. But this is not the only new feature in this handy PIM which bears quite a resemblance to Microsoft Outlook.
The app can be used to manage your contacts, calendars, email accounts, notes, passwords and much more. Available in Free, Portable and Pro varieties, the program has been updated to include support for multiple SMTP servers as well as the ability to configure an unlimited number of identities in the mail component.
Samsung isn't cool enough to copy Apple
Today, UK Judge Colin Birss confirms what Apple fans have claimed for years: Samsung isn't "cool enough" to copy the trendy fruit-logo company. But the result is opposite their meaning about copying badly. Birss ruled that Samsung's Galaxy Tab family of tablets do not imitate iPad, meaning violate Apple's registered design -- they're not "cool enough" and "do not have the same understated and extreme simplicity which is possessed by the Apple design".
The court gave the win to Samsung by stating that Galaxy Tab 10.1 is different enough to the iPad, being thinner and with a detailed back cover. Apple spokesman Alan Hely doesn't agree, saying: "This kind of blatant copying is wrong and, as we’ve said many times before, we need to protect Apple’s intellectual property". This is what happens when you lose and can't do it with dignity.
Google TV will not fail again
It took just about six months for the first generation of Google TV to be declared a failure. Logitech launched its Revue set top box in October 2010, and by July 2011, they couldn't even give them away. The company subsequently took a $30 million writedown on the venture, and Intel, who provided chips for Google TV, quietly divorced itself from the product.
Google aligned with Marvell, switching the platform over to the ARM instruction set, which fundamentally shifted the architecture and splintered development.
Microsoft keeps the old Surface alive with Perceptive Pixel buy
While Microsoft has turned to the smaller touchscreen with its Surface tablet, the company hasn't forgotten about its roots in large-format touch screens and the original Surface (now PixelSense). Microsoft announced the acquisition of Perceptive Pixel on Monday, one of the leading large-scale, multi-touch display solution providers.
You are probably already familiar with Perceptive Pixel's technologies, although you may not realize it. CNN began using the company's touch displays during the 2008 presidential election and has used them ever since. Perceptive Pixel also has customers across other sectors, including government, defense, energy exploration, engineering, and higher education.
Keep your PC healthy with Uniblue Powersuite 2013
System optimization tools are ten-a-penny, but those that are worthy of note are few and far between. One tool that falls into the noteworthy camp is Uniblue Powersuite, which has just been updated to version 2013. This comprehensive suite of optimization tools has received a major facelift that makes its various components easier than ever to navigate and provides you with helpful information about the health of your system.
The redesigned interface finds the suite’s tools divided up into three main sections -- speed tools, system optimization and disk optimization -- but there is also a general Overview section that gives you a quick insight into the state of your computer. The Speed Tools section covers all of the basics such as CPU management to better balance CPU load as well as improveing the launch times of various programs by caching the resources they use. There’s also a proactive thumbnail generator that eliminates the need to Windows to create image thumbnails on the fly.
New Android malware threat: over 100,000 devices infected so far
Malware on Android devices is a real and growing threat, and one that is only likely to worsen. The latest Trojan to be found in the wild is a particularly nasty piece of coding named MMarketPay.A by TrustGo, the mobile security company that discovered it. Believed to have infected more than 100,000 smartphones in China, the Trojan downloads paid apps and videos from Mobile Market (M-Market), China Mobile’s official app store, without the user’s knowledge, resulting in some pretty hefty bills.
The malware is picked up by downloading infected apps from one of nine app stores (nDuoa, GFan, AppChina, LIQU, ANFONE, Soft.3g.cn, TalkPhone, 159.com and AZ4SD) and once installed on a device, it bypasses M-Market’s SMS security step, and begins placing orders and downloading content.
Will you buy Windows 8?
I told you so back in February that Windows 8 would debut in October -- not that it was rocket science to me. Nevertheless I wrote: "Windows 8 must RTM by end of August to make October launch, which is best timeframe assuring the channel is stocked for Black Friday". Today, Microsoft revealed that its next-generation operating system would release to manufacturing in early August and be available at retail in October.
Microsoft's timing is sheer brilliance. We already know that Surface tablets will ship simultaneously with Windows 8, and OEMs have shown off a boatload of new models coming for the holidays. Apple plans to release OS X Mountain Lion this month, perhaps in days. Anyone considering a shiny new Mac suddenly has reason to wait. Will Surface or Windows 8 slates be worth the wait? Mountain Lion's user interface is oh-so yesterday, while Windows 8 Metro is oh-so tomorrow -- well, for anyone who actually likes it. Now that we know when, it's time to ask if you will buy. That's a question you can answer in comments and the poll below the fold.
Microsoft announces Windows 8 for October retail release
At the 2012 Microsoft Worldwide Partner Conference in Toronto, Canada, Microsoft CFO and Chief Marking Officer Tami Reller finally revealed the time when we can expect Windows 8 to hit the market.
During her keynote presentation, Reller talked about the new features of the Windows platform and how it will work with its deployment partners. Of course, the bigest news was that the final build of Windows 8 will reach RTM (release to manufacturing) in the first week of August.
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