Google+Facebook+iPhone: 08/02/11

Tuesday, 2 August 2011

How to Sync Your Google+ Posts with Facebook and Twitter

You've been on Google+ for a few weeks now. You're loving it. You're exchanging thoughtful posts, pictures with your friends, meeting new people and following lots of interesting, intelligent people. There's just one problem.

You're still stuck in Facebook and/or Twitter because not everyone has gotten the memo that Google+ is the future. You find yourself dreading having to log into Facebook and Twitter in addition to Google+, but you still want to keep up with all your friends and family.

Short of forcing everyone to move, you can have your cake and eat it, too. While the Google+ API is not available yet for developers to play around with, and create simple cross-posting tools, you can sync your social networking posts on Google+ with other places using a few different workarounds.

Install Google+ Chrome Extensions

There are some great Google+ Chrome extensions that will let you cross-post to Facebook, Twitter, and other social network streams.

The most useful one I found is Start G+. In addition to sharing your posts to Facebook and Twitter, you can also view your Facebook and Twitter streams inside your Google+ stream. This way, you never have to log back into Facebook or Twitter again, and you can keep up with all of your major social networks.

Other Google+ Chrome extensions let you cross-post by adding a small button to each of your posts, so when you compose a post, you can click on a Facebook or Twitter button. Share+ supports Identi.ca, Ping.fm, Reddit, FriendFeed, Tumblr, Posterous, MySpace, Delicious, Wordpress. ExtendedShare supports Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Tumblr, and Identi.ca. G+Tweet, Google+Tweet and ManageFlitter all let you share your posts directly to Twitter.

Post to Your Blog

If you’re the type to write long essays in your Google+ posts, you may be interested in cross-posting them to your blog. Fortunately, doing this is pretty simple. Just create an RSS feed of your public Google+ posts using PlusFeed.

All you have to do is grab your Google profile user ID number, which is the long string of numbers after https://plus.google.com, and add it to the PlusFeed URL: http://plusfeed.appspot.com. If you have a WordPress account, use the Lifestream plug-in, and add your feed to the Generic feed settings. Then your posts will now show up in WordPress.

Facebook Becoming Worldwide Yearbook Of Identification

According to a new study, one in three people can be identified on Facebook by using just a photograph.

Researchers took a picture of 93 volunteers to use this method to track them down on the social networking site by using publicly available software.

The researchers were able to predict the first five digits of their social security number 27 percent of the time by using the volunteers Facebook profile.

The study used the Pittsburgh Pattern Recognition (PittPatt) facial recognition software.

The Carnegie Mellon University researchers took pictures of the 93 students and compared them with 261,262 publicly available photos downloaded from Facebook profiles.

The system turned up 10 possible matches, and the correct photo was in the top three over 30 percent of the time.

Professor Alessandro Acquisti, the lead researcher, said in a press release that technology had now evolved so that there was a "democratization of surveillance."

The team said Facebook is becoming the world's default identification service.

The only available pictures in the past have been school photographs or mugshots of criminals.

Now, ID thieves could potentially find out everything they need to know by looking through the world's most popular social network.

Acquisti said the study "suggests that the identity of about one-third of subjects walking by the campus building may be inferred in a few seconds combining social-network data, cloud computing and an inexpensive web cam."

Acquisti was able to identify the first five digits of the test subjects' social security numbers with just four attempts, which could be a potential money-making opportunity for ID thieves.

"The chain of inferences comes from one single piece of anonymous information - somebody's face," he said in a statement.

Paul Ohm, a law professor at University of Colorado Law School, who has read the paper, said the research showed how easy it was to "re-identify" people.

"This paper really establishes that re-identification is much easier than experts think it's going to be," he told The Wall Street Journal.

According to the National Institutes of Standards and Technology the proportion of photographs wrongly identified by facial recognition programs has dropped from 79 percent in 1993 to just 0.29 percent last year.

State sets Facebook boundaries between teachers and students

JEFFERSON CITY, MO (WACH) -- In a measure designed to “protect children from sexual abuse,” by setting boundaries on the relationships between students and educators, lawmakers in Missouri have passed Bill 54, dubbed the “Amy Hister Student Protect Act,” a reference to a student who was abused by teachers several decades ago.

The new law states that teachers may not have any online private communication with their students, unless that communication is monitored by both parents and administrators. The law sets guidelines that “Teachers cannot establish, maintain, or use a work-related website unless it is available to school administrators and the child's legal custodian, physical custodian, or legal guardian. Teachers also cannot have a non-work-related website that allows exclusive access with a current or former student."

Tech blog Mashable.com says several questions will quickly arise from the new law, including if the state will now be allowed to have access to the personal computers owned by teachers.

Another gray area could be the verbiage that teachers are cannot have communication with “former students,” which means that a student and teacher potentially may not have a friendship 20 years after the student graduates.From the case of Pamela Smart, who conspired with her 16 year old student/boyfriend to murder her husband, to the case of Mary Kay Letourneau, who had a child with her teenage student, and Steven Lindseth, who not only was charged with inappropriate conduct with a student, but bringing a gun into his school, relationships between teachers and students are not new with the introduction of social media. According to a 2007 AP study, between 2001-2005, 2570 educators are no longer in the role, surrounding inappropriate relationships.

Read more at http://www.midlandsconnect.com/news/story.aspx?id=646943

Is Google Plus the New Facebook?

If you haven't heard of it, in a new battle of Goliaths, Google launched Google Plus (or Google+) recently in a head-to-head against Facebook. Facebook of course, is the seemingly unstoppable social media giant with about 1/10th of the planet's population as part of their network.

I can hear the groans now. Yes, there's another social media platform to learn.

So should you dump Facebook and switch? In a word, no, at least not yet. Is Google+ compelling? Yes.

But as a friend of mine posted (on Google+), "Can't decide: Is Google+ like arriving early to party where it's just you and the nerds? Or like staying late with just the cool people?"

I'm sort of in the same camp. I managed to get an invitation to join Google Wave a year or so ago, and the silence was absolutely deafening. It definitely had some really cool features that I hope to see in Google+ someday. But there were so few people on the system, you just couldn't do anything. Google eventually dumped it.

Google+, on the other hand, reportedly has more than 10 million users (probably many more as of this writing), so it's fun to see people popping up on the system.

Ironically, the other day, Google+ even suggested Mark Zuckerberg (the founder of Facebook) to me as a possible connection. Was this a joke, or is Zuckerberg really a user of Google+, their arch rival?

Alas, yes, you still have to have an invitation to join, because Google says they're still working out the kinks of the system before opening it up to the entire world. I suspect this is probably a bit of supply and demand - limit the supply, and demand goes up, right?

Read more at http://livermore.patch.com/articles/is-google-plus-the-new-facebook

Wipeout: iPhone 5 to scoop up 42% of Android users, 67% of BlackBerry

The iPhone 5 won’t quite completely wipe out the competition when it arrives after a spot of tea, but it’s set to deliver an an armageddon-like blow to its two main adversaries if the latest statistics hold up. After a good month for the not-yet-existent iPhone 5 which showed a third or more of the general population saying they’re buying the fifth generation iPhone when it surfaces no matter what, the new month delivers even better news for Apple. And it’s bad news for rivals Android and BlackBerry.

The numbers show that less than half of Android users surveyed (47%) say they plan to buy another Android phone. That means user dissatisfaction with the platform is so high that the majority of people currently using an Android have already given up the on the platform. Aside from the kind of tech geeks who desire an overly complicated Linux-based phone, most current Android users are explainable either by the fact that the iPhone wasn’t on their preferred carrier at the time or an instance of a salesgeek promising them that Android would be “just like iPhone but better.” As the numbers show, the particular trick didn’t work. And now that the iPhone 5 is set to launch on Verizon and AT&T from day one, making it available to about three-quarters of all cellphone consumers (sorry, Sprint and T-Mobile users, you’re still in limbo until Apple says otherwise), those Android users have decided they’re moving to iPhone with their next phone purchase. Not only are 53% of Android users set to leave the platform, 42% of Android users say they’re moving to the iPhone, according to the survey conducted by highly respected tech analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray as reported by CNN and Fortune…

Read more at http://www.beatweek.com/news/8898-wipeout-iphone-5-to-scoop-42-of-android-users-67-of-blackberry/

Motorola Droid 3 review: iPhone snob likes keyboard, not Android flakiness

The original Motorola Droid put Android on the map in 2009 as thesmartphone's features and Verizon's marketing blitz gave the iPhone a run for its money.

Last year's Droid 2 made significant improvements to the slideout keyboard. Now the Droid 3 has arrived during a time when a new Android phone arrives on the market seemingly every week.

Hardware
While the first Droid felt big with a 3.7-inch screen, the Droid 3 offers a larger 4-inch screen. The slideout keyboard also adds some thickness to the phone. But as someone who carries a massive Droid X everyday, the Droid 3 doesn't feel huge compared to most Android offerings.

While I'm a fan of onscreen keyboards, the Droid 3's physical keyboard is a pleasure to use. A bonus with this year's model is dedicated row of keys for numbers. It is satisfying to be able to type a message or email address without having to hit the "Alt" button and hunting for an odd character. While usually I hesitate to use a smartphone to write a lengthy response to an email, the Droid 3 keyboard makes it doable.

On the camera front, the Droid 3 has an 8 megapixel camera with a flash and can record 1080p video. But the camera is nothing to get excited about compared to other smartphones. The performance in low light is lacking. More on the camera later.

The Droid 3 has a microSD slot and a 16 GB internal storage as well as a HDMI port. Like most Motorola phones, the speaker volume is above average.

There is no 4G LTE service for the Droid 3, which leaves Verizon still without a 4G phone with a real keyboard. For world travelers, the Droid 3 also has a SIM slot to be used with GSM carriers overseas.

Like most Android phones, a mobile hotspot feature creating a WiFi signal for other devices is available. The feature costs an extra $20 a month for 2 GB of data and also takes a significant chunk of battery life.

Software and performance
The Droid 3 features Android's latest Gingerbread 2.3 operating system. And unlike past efforts, Motorola hasn't cluttered the operating system with a bunch of garbage. With most phones, I dump the included widgets as fast as possible. But I actually liked the contact widget, which smartly placed my favorites into an easy to reach space.

'Final Fantasy Tactics' iPhone Coming This Week For $16

"Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions" is coming out very soon – is what we said in June of 2010. Well, that time has clearly come and gone, but if you've been anxiously waiting to play an iPhone port of the "Final Fantasy" turn-based strategy title, you'll finally have an opportunity on Thursday. Unfortunately, while it seems like a potentially fun concept to move around the grids, tapping away on the iPhone, the price may have some consumers fleeing.

According to an entry on the Square Enix Facebook page, "War of the Lions" will be available this Thursday for the iPhone 4 and 3GS. The 3G isn't supported, as it was apparently too slow to handle the game. An iPad version is in the works, but will be "at least one month behind."

Now the big news: "Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions" is a whopping 16 bucks. Now, that's not to say that a fully fledged "Tactics" game isn't "worth" $16, but frankly, a "Tactics" game ported to the iPhone is probably not worth $16. The App Store has made its way into mainstream gaming by offering up smaller, cheap (99-cent) games. The idea of paying $16 dollars for a 14-year old ported game, not to mention on the iPhone platform, seems a bit ludicrous.

IPhone 5 Takes Shape—in the Media

The iPhone 5 is still but a beast of legend, but the story takes on greater detail every day. Here’s a brief summary of what we can expect from the next Apple (AAPL) smartphone, based on current scuttlebutt—including a new release window that was reported early on Monday.

Design: Early case prototypes, anonymous sources, and even some spy photographs seem to be reaching some kind of consensus about the physical design of the upcoming iPhone 5. The latest information seems to indicate that we’ll see a thinner device with a slight teardrop taper toward the back of the phone, along with a larger, edge-to-edge display (with either the same or slightly increased resolution) and the mute button shifted to the opposite side. Another intriguing possibility is a larger home button that could double as a touch-sensitive surface for gesture input.

A contradictory crop of rumors suggests the next iPhone willclosely resemble its predecessor when it comes to physical design. Indeed, both descriptions could be accurate, should Apple be planning to launch multiple iPhone lines—including a less-expensive version. Recent photos have claimed to depict a device that resembles an iPhone 4, but with a plastic protective layer instead of the Gorilla Glass currently used.

Internals: What sort of performance benefits will the iPhone 5 offer? According to reports, we should see the A5 processor that powers the iPad 2 make the jump to the smartphone, as well as a dual-mode Qualcomm (QCOM) GSM/CDMA cellular network chip (which will make it possible to use the iPhone as a world phone). Another pretty safe bet is an 8-megapixel rear camera sensor, which could make the iPhone an even better choice for mobile photo buffs.

Some early rumors claimed Apple would introduce NFC in the new iPhone, while a report last month suggested the new device would pack a 3D rear camera, but neither report now seems accurate.

The possibility remains that Apple will once again introduce a new, smaller variant of SIM cardwith the iPhone 5. A report from May said European carrier Orange (FTE:FP) was working with Apple on developing a new SIM card standard that would be even smaller than the micro SIM currently used in iPads and the iPhone 4. A smaller SIM would allow Apple to devote more room inside the iPhone to other components such as batteries and still reduce the size of the physical case.

Android, iPhone Biggest Winners in Global Smartphone Battle

The latest global market-share estimates for smartphones are out. And as we've come to expect from these regular exercises in mobile OS number-crunching, the news is bright for Apple and Google, but a bit bleak for Nokia, Research In Motion (RIM), and Microsoft.

Research firm Canalys released its final smart phone market estimates for the second quarter of 2011, which show that Google's Android mobile operating system now has nearly half of the worldwide smartphone market--48 percent, to be exact. Of the 56 countries Canalys tracks, Android leads in 35 of them.

Nearly 52 million Android-based smartphones shipped in Q2, a staggering 379-percent increase over a year ago. Android has been the top platform by shipments since the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Canalys.

Apple's iOS platform had a stellar second quarter as well. Apple shipped 20.3 million iPhones in the second quarter and grabbed 19 percent of the global market, as iOS passed Nokia’s Symbian platform to take second place.

Perhaps more impressive is the fact that Apple is now the world’s leading individual smart phone vendor, passing longtime leader Nokia.

"With the next-generation iPhone anticipated in Q3, it’s likely that Apple’s position will grow even stronger in the second half of the year,’ said Canalys analyst Chris Jones in a statement.

A million robots to staff unhappy iPhone factories

Electronics manufacturer Foxconn has been accused of treating its workers like machines as they toil on assembly lines, particularly after a spate of suicides among its Chinese employees in recent years.

Now the company, best known for producing iPhones and other hi-tech gadgets, has found a solution: use robots instead.

The Taiwanese company wants to expand automation in its factories, with Chinese state media reporting plans to use a million robots in the next three years.

The news highlights questions about the future of southern China's Pearl river delta, "the factory of the world".

Its low-cost, high-employment model has transformed the international economy, sucking in manufacturing from around the globe, and keeping down inflation in other countries through the flow of cheap exports.

Read more at http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/a-million-robots--to-staff-unhappy-iphone-factories-20110802-1i8yg.html#ixzz1TtMbmVvM

On the Internet While In Flight? You're Probably an iPhone User

Android devices may be topping overall smartphone sales, but when it comes to staying connected at 30,000 feet in the air, the iPhone rules the sky.

Apple iPhone users account for 65 percent of those accessing Gogo’s mobile Wi-Fi service during airline flights, while Android users account for just 12 percent, according to in-flight Wi-Fi service company Gogo.

When including travelers that are connected to the service using an iPod Touch, Apple’s iOS system accounts for a whopping 80 percent of mobile travelers connecting to Gogo’s Wi-Fi service.

Blackberry users account for only 6 percent, while Windows and all other devices make up the remaining 2 percent of users.

"Many smartphone users aren’t aware that you can turn your phone service off on a Gogo-equipped plane, yet still access the Internet through a Wi-Fi enabled mobile device and surf the Web,” said Ash ElDifrawi, Gogo’s chief marketing officer. "It's clear that iPhone users are ahead of the curve in understanding those capabilities, but more and more people are starting to discover how to connect using their smartphone on a plane."

Retailers dropping prices on iPhone ahead of impending update

Some retailers have begun marking down the price of the iPhone 4, suggesting stock clearing measures have begun in anticipation of an expected hardware update. While most recent rumors have suggested a September launch, however, some recent buzz indicates that the next iPhone might not emerge until October. Still, in light of the markdowns, September seems a more likely candidate.

According to reports from Engadget and Phone Arena, both Radio Shack and Target planned to offer between $30 and $50 off of the price of an iPhone 4 with a two-year contract. We verified Monday morning that Radio Shack has a current promotion running through Saturday, offering the iPhone 4 for $169.99 and $269.99 for the 16GB and 32GB models, respectively. Radio Shack is also offering up to $100 credit for the trade-in of a previous iPhone model, dropping the price to as low as $69 with contract.

We also spoke to contract phone sales representatives from Chicago-area Target stores, who confirmed that the iPhone 4 can be had for $149.99 or $249.99 for 16GB or 32GB models with a two-year contract. Leaks over the weekend suggested Target may have different pricing depending on whether the iPhone was activated with AT&T or Verizon, but we were told that the price applies to both carriers. Target also offers trade-in credit for used iPhone models as well as other mobile electronics and even used games; one representative encouraged bringing in any unused electronics and games for potential trade-in credit.

Checks with AT&T and Verizon showed both carriers are still offering the typical $199/$299 pricing for new iPhone models on contract, and we haven't heard about price drops from other retailers. However, the price drops from both Radio Shack and Target suggest that those retailers are hoping to move remaining stock in advance of an expected fall launch for an updated iPhone.

Is AT&T Punishing Active iPhone Users?

In what universe does a business penalize its best customers?

Well, perhaps all-you-can-eat restaurants too often patronized as practice facilities by Joey Chestnut, Takeru Kobayashi and other competitive eaters.

Oh, and cell phone carriers.

Starting October 1, AT&T will reduce the data connection speed – Web surfing, texting, email, video/audio/app downloading, photo sending – of its smart phone subscribers who enter the top 5 percent of the carrier's heaviest users.

These heavy, unlimited plan, users – iPhone users alone account for 2.9 percent of ALL U.S. Web traffic, and smart phones in total account for 8.2 percent – can continue to upload, download, sideload, whatever, it'll just be a slower process until the start of the billing period.

AT&T stresses "you have to use an extraordinary amount of data in a single billing period" to reach that 5 percent of heaviest users. AT&T says it will notify you if you're about to cross that 5 percent threshold.

Should you watch your data usage? Honestly, you probably won't have to. AT&T says "these customers on average use 12 times more data than the average of all other smart phone data customers." In other words, if you don't live on your smart phone, you're probably cool.

Infographic: Apple Captures Two-Thirds of World's Mobile Phone Profits

Apple may sell 20 percent of the world's cell phones, but it pockets 66.3 percent of the world's cell phones profits.

Market intelligence group Asymco has created three graphs showing the incredible transformation of Apple from a niche phone manufacturer in 2007, when the first iPhone launched, to the most profitable phone manufacturer in the world today. The titans of 2007, Nokia, Sony-Ericsson, and LG, are now operating at a loss, while BlackBerry's Research in Motion and Samsung have grown only marginally.

Enterprise Mobility: Apple iPhone 5 Fever Is Spreading Rapidly: 10 Reasons Why

Apple has done it again. Even though it has yet to announce an update to its iPhone line, people around the globe are already clamoring to buy the company’s next handset. In fact, a recent survey of shoppers found that one out of three are already planning to buy the iPhone 5, even though they have no idea what kind of features it will offer and how much it will cost. Apple’s ability to attract customers before a device is even out is nothing short of astounding. Just about every other company needs to spend heavily in advertising marketing to get people to pay attention to their products. But Apple can allow the rumor mill to do its heavy lifting and attract customers without even trying. It’s an impressive feat. But if you dig a bit further you would find there are solid reasons so many people are ready to line up to buy the iPhone 5. Whether or not Apple’s next smartphone will be an impressive device doesn’t matter. Even with the little information customers know now, they can make an informed decision on why they should get their hands on the next iPhone. Read on to find out how those folks came to that conclusion:

Zynga’s Words With Friends to Launch on Facebook

Words With Friends, the popular Zynga mobile game, is heading toFacebook, Zynga has confirmed.

The new version of the word game will offer continuous play. That means if you start a game on your iPhone or Android device, you can continue it on Facebook, and vice-versa. The Facebook version will also notify players when it’s their turn, or they’ve been invited to a game. A recent update to Words With Friends allowed you to challenge your Facebook contacts to a game, but this is the first time the game will be available on Facebook itself.

It is also the first time Zynga has brought a mobile game to Facebook. The company’s best-known games, including FarmVille and Mob Wars, began on Facebook. There’s no official launch date for the Facebook version of Words With Friends, but it could come as early as this week.

Words With Friends was introduced in 2009 by startup Newtoy, which was snapped up by Zynga when the game became wildly popular. It’s a variation on Scrabble, with added chat functionality and a very relaxed two-week time limit for moves. Users can play up to 20 games at once. There’s a free version for iPhone, iPad and Android with ads; the iPhone and iPad have ad-free versions for $1.99 and $2.99 respectively.

iPhone Maker Foxconn Employs 1M Robots to Do Grunt Work

Foxconn has a reputation as maker of our much-beloved iDevices. It also has a reputation for inhumane living and working conditions for employees in its Shenzhen-based plants.

One way to potentially fix that tarnished image: replace some of those workers with robots.

One million robots, in fact, hopefully all in place within the next three years. The robots will be tasked with mundane tasks such as welding, spraying and assembling, which humans currently do. Foxconn currently uses 10,000 robots to supplement its 1.2 million human workers in its production process.

Foxconn CEO Terry Gou said in a statement Friday that he wanted to shift the company’s employees “higher up the value chain, beyond basic manufacturing work.” This would enable the Shenzhen factory to improve its overall working conditions, and create increasingly sophisticated products, he said. IDG News was first to report the news.

The worker conditions in China’s Foxconn industrial compound have come under scrutiny in the past few years, since the suicide deaths of 17 workers, and other suicide attempts. Workers have described conditions to be much like working in a “prison” or a “cage.”

Foxconn’s horror stories are symptomatic of a larger problem in China’s components industry, where factory employees reportedly endure harsh working conditions comparable to a sweatshop. Hourly wages of less than a dollar, illegal overtime hours and firings without notice are common among most gadget factories, according to a six-month investigation by GlobalPost.

Fake iPhone 5 Supposedly Leaks The Real iPhone 5′s Design

I’ll say it now, before anyone gets their hopes up: this is most definitely not an iPhone 5. Those blurry, Big-Foot-esque shots from last week still may very well be the real deal, but this is not. This is yet another fake iPhone out of Shenzhen, China — but here’s the twist: its design is supposedly stolen straight from that of the actual iPhone 5.

Skeptical? That’s completely reasonable. Fake iPhones are a dime-a-billion in Shenzhen — but one ripping off a top-secret handset that hasn’t even properly photographed, much less announced? That’d be a new trick.

Weighing in on this one too much seems a bit silly; disputing the accuracy of a Chinese fake supposedly based on something few have ever seen would just about reach the limits of futility. Instead, I’ll just leave a few observations as food for thought, and let you take it as you will. Drop a comment with your thoughts.

Report: Apple to debut next-gen iPhone in October

Ok Apple fans, you know those rumors about the iPhone 5 coming out in late September? It looks like you will have to wait a bit longer before lining up to throw cash in Apple’s coffers.

Actually, according to Digital Trends, you will have to wait until October before fighting the other fanboys for the next-gen iPhone.

Sources with insider knowledge say the recent Gizmodo report claiming AT&T cancelled employee vacations in the last two weeks of September due to the market debut of the next-gen iPhone are wrong.

"I don’t know why AT&T’s calling for all hands on deck those weeks, but it’s not for an iPhone launch," a source familiar with Apple’s plans said.

So when does the iPhone 5 get released to the drooling masses?

Well, the source claims it will be in "October" but did not give an exact date. Other mysterious tech insiders said it could arrive later in the month, instead of earlier.

Again, there weren’t many details about the iPhone 5’s design, but the rumors from supply-chain insiders indicate the iPhone 5 will boast a faster A5 processor like the iPad 2. It is also believed that it will be equipped with Qualcomm dual mode GSM/CDMA baseband, along with a more powerful eight-megapixel rear camera.

Sink Your Teeth into Shark Week Live for iPhone

It's that time of year when the Discovery Channel unleashes its insanely popular Shark Week programming where we can get up close and personal with the animal we love to hate. If tuning into content via your 40+ inch High-Definition TV isn't enough, the Discovery Channel has released the Shark Week Live app that offers real-time entertainment on your iOS device that corresponds with the live programming.

From July 31st, to August 5th, viewers using the app using the during the live broadcasts will be treated to exclusive behind-the-scenes content synchronized to the show. If just getting extra knowledge about the sea monsters isn't enough, you can compete against other users by answering shark week Live trivia and receiving points for every correct answer. Finally, the app has built-in social networking features that let you chat with other people who are also watching the live broadcast and using the app. If there are other fans outside of the app who are chatting about the show and using the #sharkweek hashtag, those comments will be pulled into the app's stream as well.

iPhone Owners Twice As Loyal As Android Fans

The results of a survey conducted recently by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster lead him to believe that nearly all owners of an Apple iPhone plan to buy another iPhone. Though the sample size is relatively small (216 mobile phone users in Minneapolis), the results still let us speculate on what's going to happen this fall when the next iPhone from Apple arrives.

Munster concludes that 94% of iPhone owners plan to buy another one, probably the iPhone 5. The iPhone 5 (or whatever Apple ends up calling it) is reportedly on track for a September or October release, depending on whose "informed sources" you care to believe.

Verizon Wireless' executives have already hinted that it will sell the new iPhone at the same time it becomes available for AT&T. When it goes on sale, the iPhone 5 will be available to about 200 million customers, between AT&T and Verizon Wireless. That's a huge potential market.

Munster sees a lot of pent-up demand at Verizon Wireless, in particular, for the next version of the iPhone. Though Verizon began selling the iPhone 4 in February, Munster believes that many Verizon customers decided to wait for the newest iPhone to become available before switching. The iPhone 4 was six months old at the time of its launch on Verizon.

Taiwan iPhone manufacturer replaces Chinese workers with robots

The electronics manufacturer Foxconn has been accused of treating its workers like machines as they toil on assembly lines, particularly after a spate of suicides among its Chinese employees in recent years. Now the company, best known for producing iPhones and other hi-tech gadgets, has found a solution: use robots instead.

The Taiwanese company has vowed to expand automation in its plants, with Chinese state media reporting plans to use a million robots in the next three years.

The news highlights questions about the future of China's Pearl river delta, "the factory of the world". Its low-cost, high-employment model has transformed the international economy, sucking in manufacturing from around the globe, and keeping down inflation in other countries through the flow of cheap exports.

As the world's biggest contract electronics maker, whose other clients include Sony, Nokia, Dell and Hewlett Packard, Foxconn has become an emblem of global manufacturing's ups and downs in China. It expanded at apparently unstoppable pace – with its mainland workforce growing from 600,000 just after the financial crisis to a million – but has faced increasing costs and growing criticism of working conditions. Ten workers killed themselves in the space of a few months at the company's main plant in southern China last year. Another fell to his death there last month.

Now Terry Gou, founder and chairman, has said he wants to cut rising labour costs and improve efficiency by using the machines for simple and routine tasks such as spraying, welding and assembling, state news agency Xinhua has reported.

Speaking at a company event, Gou said Foxconn already had 10,000 robots and would increase the number to 300,000 next year and a million within three.

"I don't think this is a one-off. Foxconn is often seen as a bellwether of global manufacturing in China," said Alistair Thornton of IHS Global Insight, suggesting other companies would follow suit. "Workers can command higher wages and are less willing to settle for lower ones. You can no longer just double your workforce to double your output."

Wages in the region have risen by around a third over the past year, experts estimate, as the proportion of young workers shrinks and their expectations rise.

Could This Be the Design of the iPhone 5?

This is not the iPhone 5. It's claimed to be an iPhone 5 clone made by a factory in Shenzhen, China, right where the actual iPhone 5 is being produced. Could this really be what the iPhone 5 looks like?

Check out the pictures, because something tells me it could be very close to the real thing.

It certainly matches the plastic cases and the rumors about Apple using rounded glass for the screen and the back. It also matches the alleged spy shot published last week.

From above, it reminds me a bit of the first iPhone. Overall, it feels like a polished merge between the first generation iPhone and the iPhone 4, with the iPhone 3G's smoothed curves factored in as well. Its simplicity is very Apple, and to me it feels like it could be a real Apple design.

The alleged clone is only 7mm thick. That's only 0.275 inches! Obviously, it doesn't have the same guts as the real thing will have, but I certainly expect a thinner iPhone 5.

Sprint’s Motorola Photon 4G Can be Stiff Competitor for iPhone 5

Motorola Photon 4G on Sprint was launched on July 31, offering a phone packed with powerful balance of features to complement a consumer’s personal and professional life.

The smartphone is priced at $199 with a two-year contract from Sprint, but Amazon Wireless offers the phone for $179.99.

Apart from being powered by a dual core processor and 4G, the smartphone from Sprint is a world phone which means the consumers have international GSM roaming so that they can access their email, calendar and contacts from anywhere. As the phone includes enterprise-tailored security, it will also attract corporate users.

The Photon 4G is Sprint’s seventh Sprint ID-capable device. Sprint ID delivers a variety of apps, widgets, shortcuts, ringtones and wallpapers – designed to meet users’ specific mobile needs and interests – in a few simple clicks. Sprint ID packs are free to download with an Everything Data plan, and users can download five at once, including Professional (features tools to help busy professionals with travel plans, organization, communication), Green (tips to live a greener lifestyle), MTV Music ID (mobile music experience), HSN (shopping on the go) and NASCAR Sprint Cup Series ID Pack. To see all Sprint ID packs, visit www.sprint.com/sprintid.

MYHABIT Shopping App for iPhone Now Available

MYHABIT.com, a new membership-only fashion destination from Amazon, today announced the MYHABIT App for iPhone. The new app offers easy, on-the-go access to the curated selection of designer sales beginning at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM ET daily on MYHABIT.com. Customers can use the app to shop limited-time sales from wherever they are and stay informed with start of sale reminders on upcoming sale events from their favorite designer brands.

"With MYHABIT for iPhone, customers can get their daily fashion fix no matter where they are, and they can browse and buy immediately, before an event sells out," said Maria Renz, president of MYHABIT. "Our mobile customers will discover the same elegant and easy-to-use fashion destination that MYHABIT.com customers experience, including 360-degree video footage of clothing on models, lavish photography, and free shipping and free returns on U.S. orders for a compelling, on-the-go private sale experience."

The MYHABIT App features daily sales up to 60 percent off top brands such as Doo.Ri, Elizabeth and James, Halston and Vera Wang, running simultaneously across women's, men's, and children's departments. Customers can easily browse by department and sale event, and view detailed product pages, videos and images. In addition, customers can preview the week's calendar of events and receive start of sale reminders to help ensure they get their favorite styles from top brands before they sell out.

MYHABIT offers fast, free shipping and free return shipping on U.S. orders and flat rate $15 priority international shipping. Orders eligible for return will receive gift card credit redeemable at MYHABIT, Amazon.com and Endless.com.

The MYHABIT App for iPhone is available for free from Apple at http://www.itunes.com/appstore . For more information please visit: www.myhabit.com/getmobile .

About MYHABIT.com

MYHABIT, developed and launched by Amazon.com in 2011, is a membership-only fashion destination offering up to 60 percent off list prices of designer and boutique brands in women's, men's and children's departments. The private-sale site features daily, limited-time sales beginning at 9:00 AM PT/12:00 PM EST. MYHABIT is a luxurious fashion destination for shopping hand-picked items, which also sets a new standard in convenience and service with free, instant membership; fast, free shipping and free return shipping in the U.S. on eligible items; and fast, $15 international shipping.

About Amazon.com

Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions hits iPhone this Thursday

While it may have missed the "July...twen..blah..blah.." release window that was promised before, Square Enix will finally bring menus and moogles to mobiles this Thursday. That's when the strategic wizards-on-a-grid simulator, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions, lands on Apple's iPhone.

It's important to note that the game will only be compatible with iPhone 4s and 3GSeses, and that iPad players will need to wait for the iPad-specific version, which should be launching around a month from Thursday. Historically, though, it's never been a good idea to count your chocobos before they've hatched.

Read more at http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/01/final-fantasy-tactics-the-war-of-the-lions-hits-iphone-this-thu/

Meet Comex, The 19-Year-Old iPhone Uber-Hacker Who Keeps Outsmarting Apple

Nicholas Allegra lives with his parents in Chappaqua, New York. The tall, shaggy-haired and bespectacled 19-year old has been on leave from Brown University since last winter, looking for an internship. And in the meantime, he’s been spending his days on a hobby that periodically sends shockwaves through the computer security world: seeking out cracks in the source code of Apple’s iPhone, a device with more software restrictions than practically any computer on the market, and exploiting them to utterly obliterate its defenses against hackers.

“It feels like editing an English paper,” Allegra says simply, his voice croaking as if he just woke up, though we’re speaking at 9:30 pm. “You just go through and look for errors. I don’t know why I seem to be so effective at it.”

To the public, Allegra has been known only by the hacker handle Comex, and keeps a low profile. (He agreed to speak after Forbes‘ poking around Twitter, Facebook and the Brown Directory revealed his name.) But in what’s becoming almost an annual summer tradition, the pseudonymous hacker has twice released a piece of code called JailBreakMe that allows millions of users to strip away in seconds the ultra-strict security measures Apple has placed on its iPhones and iPads, devices that account for more than half the company’s $100 billion in revenues.

The tool isn’t intended for theft or vandalism: It merely lets users install any application they want on their devices. But jailbreaking, as the practice is called, violates Apple’s obsessive control of its gadgets and demonstrates software holes that could be exploited later by less benevolent hackers.

Apple didn’t respond to requests for comment, but it’s not thrilled about Allegra’s work. When he released JailbreakMe 3 in July, the company rushed to patch the security opening in just nine days. Nonetheless, 1.4 million people used the tool to jailbreak their gadgets in that time, and more than 600,000 more since then. Allegra has become such a thorn in Apple’s side that its stores now block JailbreakMe.com on in-store wifi networks.

“I didn’t think anyone would be able to do what he’s done for years,” says Charlie Miller, a former network exploitation analyst for the National Security Agency who first hacked the iPhone in 2007. “Now it’s been done by some kid we had never even heard of. He’s totally blown me away.”

Android Owners Ready To Ditch Their Phones As Soon As iPhone 5 Comes Out

Android owners have little loyalty to Android as compared to the iPhone, according to a note from Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster this morning.

Munster surveyed 216 mobile phone users in Minneapolis about smartphones. Not exactly rocket science, but a good way to get the pulse of consumers and gauge interest in Android and iOS going forward.

According to his research, 94% of iPhone owners plan on buying another iPhone, while just 47% of Android owners plan on buying another Android phone. 42% of Android owners think they're going to switch to an iPhone.

As for BlackBerry owners, just 26% expect to buy another one. 67% plan on buying an iPhone.

Munster also sees great "pent-up demand" for the newest iPhone from Verizon customers since Verizon owners have only been able to buy the iPhone 4, which was a six-month old phone when it hit the carrier's shelves. People held off on buying one since they thought a new phone was coming in a few months.

For these reasons, Munster thinks Apple's share of the U.S. smartphone market will explode when the iPhone 5 hits Verizon's shelves, which might not happen until October.

Read more at http://www.businessinsider.com/verizon-iphone-5-demand-2011-8#ixzz1TtGc0t8U

Latest iPhone 5 rumor-go-round, now it's October...

Apple [AAPL] is playing with our minds. At various times this year, iPhone 5 has been expected in July, August, September, and now October. Spare a thought for Apple's competitors, who are watching their potential Holiday season sales slip slidin' away.

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