Think eBay is the top retail or auction site? You'd be wrong
I would have picked eBay. But according to ComScore, Amazon is leader, with 20.4 percent global Internet population reach in June -- 16.2 percent for eBay. The analyst group lumps together auctions and retail, so looked at that way it's not surprising. What perhaps is unexpected -- Apple ranks fourth -- 9.7 percent share, with 135 million unique visitors.
Auction sites had 1.39 billion unique visitors, 282 million of them to Amazon and 223.5 million from eBay.
Verizon Wireless hosts major LTE expansion tomorrow in 11 states
After AT&T unveiled its first HSPA+/LTE modems on Tuesday, Verizon Wireless, who began rolling out its LTE service in late 2010, announced it will have another major LTE rollout tomorrow. The wireless operator will turn on its 4G LTE networks in 11 states tomorrow, August 18.
Verizon Wireless has laid out a handful of smaller metropolitan areas and their outlying suburbs to begin LTE service this time around.
Avidemux helps get video files into the right format
It's a sad fact of life than not all video formats are created equal. You can't even be sure a video will play on your computer or portable device by checking its file type, because video files consist of two parts: container (which determines the file type) and codec. Both need to be supported by your media player in order for the video to play.
How can you fix problems with video so it will play on a specific device? The answer lies with Avidemux. It's a simple, yet very powerful, video processing program that you can use to fix problems with movies that need to be resized, re-encoded or have sound-related issues.
You should be playing Ages of Empire Online right now
You waited a year for it. Now you can play. Microsoft has finally revealed the first full version of its Age of Empires Online game. And if you're a fan of empire-building Civilization-type games, or real-time strategy in general, then there's good news: Age of Empires Online will be free to play indefinitely, with no subscription fees to worry about.
The core plot is a familiar one. The game launches with your small village (Greek or Egyptian, your choice) all alone in a huge online world. But by collecting resources, managing buildings and units, and improving your technology you'll soon be able to expand, and so begin the process of transforming your civilization into a powerful empire.
Samsung SSD's speed up with new 830 series
Today, Samsung Electronics unveiled its next-generation solid-state drives, the 830 series, which goes on sale in October. Pricing isn't immediately available.
The new SSDs incorporate Serial ATA Revision 3.0, which Samsung claims doubles the bandwidth of the 470 series. SSDs use flash memory and aren't susceptible to the same kind of failures as magnetic drives.
LinkedIn for iOS gets a much needed makeover
For some time, LinkedIn has been the social network that everyone loves to hate, but it still has a huge number of users. Like other social networks, there has long been an iOS app available that provides access to the service -- this in itself is nothing spectacular, but what was notable about the LinkedIn app was just how unimpressive it was. The release of LinkedIn 4.0 for iOS looks set to change the app's reputation, though.
The most noticeable aspect of the updated app is that the interface has undergone a complete overhaul. Gone are the stark, bland, dated looking icons, replaced with a UI that has a distinct, well, Mac feel to it. The previously cluttered opening screen has been redesigned so that it now comprises a mere four icons, which provide access to your update stream, your profile, your inbox and groups you may be a member of.
iPhones are for the rich, Androids for the rest of us [Infographic]
It's Tuesday in mid August. You're not really working are you? So how about another juicy Hunch infographic comparing Android and iOS users. Let's be honest -- Hunch's findings, culled from more than 15,000 people -- are about one thing: class warfare. The wealthy use iPhones, and the rest of us Androids.
I love Hunch, but don't go there enough because the social rating service is such a time suck. Hell, it has been so long, I forgot -- and so had to reset -- my password today. Hunch cranks out these infographics every so often that I just can't resist.
Sony cheapens PS3...or boosts its HDD size, depending on your perspective
Sony Computer Entertainment lowered the worldwide price of its PlayStation 3 by another $50 on Tuesday, knocking its 160GB model to $249, and its 320GB model to $299.
The five-year old video game console has already gone through a handful of iterations and price reductions, as well as one major structural redesign. The first PS3 price reduction took place in July 2007 and knocked the 60GB model from $599 to $499. Subsequent models introduced higher storage limits and lower prices.
Finally, Firefox for Android is stable and primed for tablets
Along with Firefox 6 for PCs, today, Mozilla also released the mobile version, which I must say looks damn good. But it feels even better. There's a solidness about the browser that makes it ready, finally, for prime time. Firefox fans, this is the one you've been waiting for.
I tested Firefox 6 for Android, quite unexpectedly, on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1. I had planned to use the Nexus S but let the battery run down. Good thing, too, because I might have waited days to try the tablet experience -- and, whoa, is it good. So let me preface that the screenshots here are stock ones from the Android Market and they show the browser on a smartphone. The browser looks much better on the Tab. That's right, Mozilla optimized this release for tablets.
Ahead of the new network, AT&T's first 4G LTE devices arrive on Sunday
With Labor Day and the unofficial end of Summer rapidly approaching, Network operator AT&T is still expected to launch its 4G LTE network this summer in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio. A sign that the network's nationwide launch may not be far off, AT&T on Tuesday unveiled its first two LTE/HSPA+ data modems which will be available on August 21.
The devices are the Momentum 4G USB stick and Elevate 4G 5-device mobile hotspot which sell for $50 and $70 respectively with two-year service contracts.
Google skips Web shopping, ports paper catalogs directly to the iPad
There is simply no way to avoid mobile tablets in the publishing world.
Magazines like Glamour, GQ, Gourmet Traveller, The New Yorker, People, Popular Science, Vanity Fair, and Wired have all debuted subscription apps for iPad, Newspapers are toying with the subsidized tablet model, new college textbooks are being written specifically for tablets…and good old fashioned "dead tree" books…well, we may still love them, but they're being outsold by e-books.
Anti-malware vendors unite to fight cybercriminals
I travel a lot. One day I might be in Australia, next day Japan and then off to the United States. Why such a hectic schedule? It's all about how the antivirus industry cooperates. I've been in meetings. Specifically, I've been in meetings with our competitors.
I've now been working with computer viruses for more than 20 years. During this time I've come to realize that the antivirus industry is quite unique in the way direct competitors help each other. It's not publicly known, but antivirus companies like F-Secure, Symantec, McAfee, Trend Micro and others help each other out all the time.
First Look: Adobe Muse Beta 1
Adobe has revealed the first public beta of a new WYSIWYG web design tool, code-named Muse, which allows you to build entire sites without worrying about HTML, scripting or other low-level complexities.
The AIR-based application is a little short on features right now, no surprise for a first release. But as we discovered when we took a closer look at Muse, there's more than enough functionality to get a feel for how the program is going to work.
Wombat updates service that lets you defensively phish your own employees
Rather than provide security alerts when suspicious messages arrive in employee inboxes, Pennsylvania-based Wombat Security Technologies trains employees by actively trying to phish them.
Tuesday, Wombat announced the second version of its PhishGuru anti-phishing training service now extends to mobile devices including iOS and Android-based devices.
Thunderbird 6 arrives, but was it too fast?
Mozilla has placed the final release of Thunderbird 6 on its download servers to coincide with the earlier release of Firefox 6. Changes are few and far between in this latest build, with the only noteworthy feature being support for Jump Lists in Windows 7.
Thunderbird 6's release reflects the email program's switch to the same rapid development cycle as its sister product, Firefox. With so few changes being implemented, it's tempting to think the move doesn't make much sense except from the point of view of keeping the version numbers of both products the same.
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