Monday, 19 September 2011

New Google Chrome version fixes 32 bugs

Google has fixed 32 security vulnerabilities in its popular Chrome Web browser and in process released a shiny, updated version of Chrome.

Chrome version 14 was rolled out on Sept. 16, and updated to address security flaws in the previous version of the browser, which an attacker could use to perform several exploits against users, including spoofing URLs and injecting malicious code on infected systems, Google wrote on its Chrome blog.

Fifteen of the 32 bugs were labeled "high," which is Google's second most-serious ranking; none of the flaws were marked as "Critical," a ranking used to classify flaws that could potentially allow an attacker to bypass Chrome's sandbox security system.

For identifying and reporting the Chrome flaws, Google paid bug bounty hunters $14,337. Another giant in the online world, Facebook, runs a similar bug-hunting program that leverages the skills of independent researchers.

If you use Chrome, the browser should automatically update itself to version 14. To check, click on the wrench icon in the upper right corner of the Web page and then select "About Google Chrome."

No matter what Web browser you use, make sure to strengthen your defenses against nasty computer bugs and the attackers looking to exploit them by running up-to-date anti-virus and anti-malware software on your computer.

Google Wallet Makes its Debut

Google introduced to the public its long-awaited solution for eventually replacing credit cards with mobile phones.

The product, called Google Wallet, stores people’s credit card information, coupons and discount cards on Google Android smartphones and allows people to pay for products with a swipe of the phone. The merchants needs a technology called near-field communication, or N.F.C., which enables short-range wireless communications between a phone and an N.F.C reader.

But don’t throw away your credit cards and wallet just yet.

Google Wallet comes with several caveats. To use the new feature you will need a Sprint Nexus S 4G phone with built-in N.F.C. technology, a Citibank account and a MasterCard credit card. Google said it hoped to eventually add Visa, Discover and American Express to its wallet software. It is not clear when these credit cards can be used.

Google introduced Google Wallet in May, but until now, only employees of Google and other companies involved with the app have been able to use it. Google will focus at first on signing up merchants and users in New York and San Francisco, but Sprint Nexus S 4G users will be able to use it in other cities at 150,000 merchants that accept MasterCard’s PayPass, Google said.

Google is just one of dozens of companies competing to replace plastic credit cards with a digital alternative. Technology companies including Square, Venmo and PayPal are trying to offer similar products and larger banks are working with phone manufactures to ensure they are not pushed out of the mobile banking race.

One of the hold-ups to making cellphone payments mainstream has been that people can just as easily reach into their pockets for a credit card as they can for a phone. Google will overcome that by offering deals like Google Offers as part of Google Wallet, said Osama Bedier, Google’s vice president of payments.

The Guy Behind The Qwikster Twitter Account Realizes What He Has, Wants A Mountain Of Cash

Last night, Jason Castillo went to bed a normal man, with a normal Twitter account (albeit one with a weed-smoking Elmo as the avatar), and a few dozen followers.

This morning, Jason woke up to an inbox full of messages, thousands of new followers, and wants to sell his account for many thousands of dollars.

As we chronicled last night, Netflix made a rather fundamental mistake in launchingtheir new spin-off brand, Qwikster: they didn’t make sure they had the name locked down on all of the big social networks before making the announcement. As Jason’s luck had it, he had long owned the @Qwikster handle… but he’s willing to part with it — he just wants to make sure he’ll “be making bank” first.

After over a month of silence, Jason’s @Qwikster account sprang back to life just a few hours ago and, likely to Netflix’s horror, has been more active today than it ever was before. Jason keeps touching on the idea of selling the account between poetic bursts like “I’m about to go play soccer n I got stug by a fucken bee” and “I just got scared I went into the shower turned on the water n then stuff started falling I was lik omg wtf lol”:

Jason seems to have rallied the, erm, expert counsel of his friend Gabriel (@SoccerIsLifegc7) who says they’re “not talkin til the offers get in 6 figures”.

Someone should probably tell Jason that selling Twitter handles is strictly against Twitter’s Terms Of Service, and attempts to do so can quickly result in the banhammer being dropped. Then Qwikster gets their name, free of charge.

Twitter’s ever-changing infrastructure story

Earlier this year, rumors swirled about whether Twitter had actually moved into a new Utah data center, or if it was forced to move its operations to a different data center in Sacramento. That confusion still hasn’t been resolved, but now Rich Miller at Data Center Knowledge reports that Twitter is leasing more data center space, this time in Atlanta.

The move to Atlanta appears to be an effort to replace Twitter’s previous East Coast operation, in Ashburn, Va., when Twitter leased space from NTT America there. As Miller points out, though, Twitter might still be looking for more space in the Washington, D.C., area too.

Wherever they’re actually located, the tale of Twitter’s data centers underscores the importance of the infrastructure that powers our favorite web applications. A company’s infrastructure has to be big enough to store loads of data, fast enough to serve transactions at the rate users expect them, and scaled enough to help guarantee uptime should another site fall. The East-West approach, as Miller calls it, helps with all three goals and, as he notes, Facebook and Apple have undertaken similar strategies.

However, that East-West plan is just a first step toward globally distributed infrastructures like those built by web veterans such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft over the years. After that global build-out occurs, companies can start promising no unplanned downtime for applications, as Google did earlier this year for Google Apps. Fielding multiple global locations doesn’t guarantee continuous uptime — companies still have to work some magic around failover and workload migration — but it’s a great start.

It’s noteworthy, though, that Twitter is still very much in the leasing phase while web up-and-comers Facebook and Apple are busy building their own facilities from the ground up. That decision probably has a lot to do with money — something which Facebook and Apple have in spades, compared to Twitter.

Cost Plus World Market Invites Facebook Fans to Enter Its "Getaway Moments" Photo Contest for Chance to Win a $100 Gift Card

OAKLAND, Calif., Sep 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Rarely does something evoke a sense of delight and nostalgia like a photo from one's travels. Cost Plus World Market, the specialty retailer known for traveling the world for unique, authentic and affordable items, is inviting its customers to submit their favorite travel photo of a person, place, and/or wildlife that has made traveling memorable in the "Getaway Moments" Sweepstakes. From September 19 through September 30, customers can enter at facebook.com/worldmarket by submitting their photo and sharing why they think their photo is a great "Getaway Moment" for them.

Once the photo has been submitted, the Facebook fan can share their entry on their own Facebook page and invite their friends to vote for their entry. The top 10 photos with the most votes at the end of each day will be reviewed and a daily winner will win a $100 World Market gift card.

With the season of entertaining soon upon us, it's a great time to shop World Market. The specialty retailer's Fall Harvest is in full swing with seasonal offerings throughout the entire store, including Halloween decor, candies and gourmet offerings, holiday baking kits and seasonal wines like Poizin, a Zinfandel from Sonoma County, Spanish Demon, a Tempranillo from Spain, and The Velvet Devil, a Merlot from Washington state. And there's still time to shop the last days of the store's Dining Event to save up to 50% on dining furniture, including extra seating at the dinner table for your guests.

For information about Cost Plus World Market's current promotions and events, please go to www.worldmarket.com . Keep up with Cost Plus World Market by following us on www.facebook.com/worldmarket and www.twitter.com/worldmarket .

Read more at OAKLAND, Calif., Sep 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Rarely does something evoke a sense of delight and nostalgia like a photo from one's travels. Cost Plus World Market, the specialty retailer known for traveling the world for unique, authentic and affordable items, is inviting its customers to submit their favorite travel photo of a person, place, and/or wildlife that has made traveling memorable in the "Getaway Moments" Sweepstakes. From September 19 through September 30, customers can enter at facebook.com/worldmarket by submitting their photo and sharing why they think their photo is a great "Getaway Moment" for them.
Once the photo has been submitted, the Facebook fan can share their entry on their own Facebook page and invite their friends to vote for their entry. The top 10 photos with the most votes at the end of each day will be reviewed and a daily winner will win a $100 World Market gift card.
With the season of entertaining soon upon us, it's a great time to shop World Market. The specialty retailer's Fall Harvest is in full swing with seasonal offerings throughout the entire store, including Halloween decor, candies and gourmet offerings, holiday baking kits and seasonal wines like Poizin, a Zinfandel from Sonoma County, Spanish Demon, a Tempranillo from Spain, and The Velvet Devil, a Merlot from Washington state. And there's still time to shop the last days of the store's Dining Event to save up to 50% on dining furniture, including extra seating at the dinner table for your guests.
For information about Cost Plus World Market's current promotions and events, please go to www.worldmarket.com . Keep up with Cost Plus World Market by following us on www.facebook.com/worldmarket and www.twitter.com/worldmarket .

Facebook to stream three remaining UFC 135 preliminary bouts

Once again, the UFC will offer preliminary card matchups for free viewing via Facebook.

MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) has confirmed that in addition to the previously announced pay-per-view and Spike TV broadcast plans, the promotion also streams three fights from this weekend's "UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage" event will stream live on the social-networking site.

UFC brass hasn't made an official announcement, but UFC 135 now serves as the 11th consecutive event in which the organization has made an entire lineup available for live viewing.

The streak began with April's historic "UFC 129: St-Pierre vs. Shields" event.

Featuring a light-heavyweight title fight between current champion Jon Jones and former champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, "UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage" takes place Sept. 24 at Denver's Pepsi Center.

The evening's five-bout main card airs live on pay-per-view, and a two bout "UFC Prelims" special airs on Spike TV.

Ricardo Romero vs. James Te Huna, Cole Escovedo vs. Takeya Mizugaki and Junior Assuncao vs. Eddie Yagin will be featured on the Facebook stream.

To access the preliminary card stream, viewers must visit the UFC's official Facebook profile(www.facebook.com/ufc) and push the "Like" button for the page.

The UFC first began to stream select fights live on Facebook at this past January's "UFC Fight Night 23: UFC Fight for the Troops 2" event.

Facebook plans huge makeover, music and video upgrades

The social-networking giant is undergoing a massive site makeover that brings music services and mobile advances along with some big steps in next-generation video sharing. The features are expected to be unveiled by Facebook on Thursday at its F8 developers conference, USA TODAY has learned.

Along with the site overhaul and redesign, the company will likely do a major update to its iPhone app and launch an iPad app soon, according to sources close to the company who were briefed on the plans but not authorized to speak on the record.

Facebook's experiments in video sharing are expected to emerge in the coming weeks and could likely shake up the battle over new features that is being waged between Facebook and Google+. "Facebook is reclaiming its status as an innovator, a pace setter," says Greg Sterling, an independent analyst who closely follows social media. "These are big, sexy, splashy features."

Facebook and the music services all declined to comment.

The avalanche of new services underscores a sense of urgency at Facebook after months of relative silence since Google+ launched in late June.

Since then, Facebook has seemingly played catch-up with new features that mirror what was already available on Google+, such as smart lists and online video chat.

Google+ has drawn more than 10 million users with dazzling photos and videos. And it has ambitious goals: Dozens of new features are expected over the next year.

The new features are intended to leverage 7-year-old Facebook's history with millions of consumers by bringing media services to them without requiring them to leave their Facebook profile.

Facebook’s Spartans Ready For Battle, But War Won’t Come At f8


Facebook’s f8 is quickly approaching — by all accounts, it’s going to be massive. Ten days ago, I laid out some of what we were hearing would be coming. Now it’s time for one important update — for something not coming: Project Spartan.

Facebook’s HTML5 app project (which will not be called Spartan at launch) is ready to go. But the latest word is that Facebook is worried that the project is so ambitious and the ramifications of it will be so large that there’s some concern that it may overwhelm some of their other big announcements at their event. The fact is that they have so much coming that they don’t need to announce it just yet.

Originally, developers were told to have Spartan projects ready to go by July. But the scope of the project expanded to include not only mobile Safari, but Android and desktop browsers as well. Then the plan was to launch at f8, and Spartans (that is, Project Spartan developers) were going to be a part of the lower-key f8 hack event the following day.

Facebook to launch music and film 'ticker'

Facebook will on Thursday unveil a real-time stream of what its users are watching and listening to online, turning the social network into a key entertainment destination on the web.

The social network will introduce the new "ticker" stream alongside partnerships with major media companies at its f8 conference in San Francisco.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg will unveil the changes as part of a "read, watch and listen" theme at the conference on 22 September.

Zuckerberg is also expected to introduce changes to the "Like" button, allowing developers to create their own verbs such as "Want", "Desire" or "Need".

Early suggestions indicate that music will be central to Facebook's announcements, with Spotify and the video site Vevo believed to be introducing apps that will allow listeners to stream songs without leaving the site.

Film and TV streaming sites, as well as some newspapers, are also expected to unveil new Facebook products at the conference.

The announcements form part of Zuckerberg's vision of building a "social web" where users interact around all websites, online films and music. It builds on the introduction of the several tools for sites at last year's f8, which Facebook claims has driven a fourfold increase in traffic from the social network to media sites.

Facebook's 750 million users will be able to automatically share activity such as viewing, listening and reading in the live "ticker" stream, once they have opted in to the feature. The new stream will be separate from the existing Facebook news feed, although popular items – such as the most frequently played songs among friends – will appear in the column.

Despite legal battle, Apple keeps Samsung inside iPhone


Despite a globe-spanning, bruising legal battle with Samsung, Apple has little choice but to keep getting key parts for its iPhone from the electronics maker, according to sources and a news report.Apple's A5 processor, expected to be in the next iPhone, is still made by Samsung.
Apple's A5 processor, expected to be in the next iPhone, is made by Samsung.
(Credit: Apple)


Those key parts include the iPhone 5's expected main processor, the A5, as well as system memory and flash memory--components that together make up the electronic core.

Sources who track the chip industry say that Apple must stick with Samsung for the time being. Some rumors had claimed that Apple would switch to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) for a so-called "shrink" (smaller version) of the A5 for the iPhone 5.

That's simply not doable, sources tell CNET. TSMC has not perfected the advanced manufacturing processes needed to make an A5 for the iPhone and, maybe more importantly, it's prohibitively difficult to jump to a different manufacturer for the same chip design.

"They don't have a choice. They can't switch [from Samsung] at this stage," said one source, familiar with the dynamics of the cell phone chip industry supply chain, referring to the A5.

A report yesterday in the Korea Times also said that Samsung will supply the A5 and memory components. (And another report claims to show a photo of the iPhone 5's internals.)

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20108479-64/despite-legal-battle-apple-keeps-samsung-inside-iphone/#ixzz1YTNJKkGj

Samsung Telecommunications America Hires Former Sprint Exec To Lead Product

Kevin Packingham, the former head of product at Sprint Nextel and current CEO of Amerilink Telecom, has joined Samsung Telecommunications America as the company’s senior vice president of product innovation.

The move comes as Samsung has become a leading player in the global market for smartphones and tablet computers, and is increasingly butting heads with Apple and other top device makers.

“Clearly Samsung is an industry leader in technology,” said Packingham, 40, who is in the process of moving to Dallas for the job. “It seems like a great opportunity to get involved with a company that will take us to the next generation of mobile technology.”

The hire represents a return to the cellular handset device industry for Packingham, a well-regarded executive who has spent the last year heading up Amerilink Telecom, a telecommunications services firm that teamed up with Chinese equipment-maker Huawei Technologies in its unsuccessful bid to win part of a multi-billion telecom equipment contract at Sprint.

Packingham replaces Omar Khan, who left in July to lead mobile initiatives at Citigroup. At Sprint, where Packingham worked from 2001 to 2010 and was a senior vice president of product and technology before leaving the company, he led the planning and development of the company’s flagship HTC Evo 4G phone and other handsets.

Rumored 7-inch Motorola tablet pictures tip up

A couple of leaked photos of a purportedly new Motorola tablet have tipped up for all you mobile voyeurs.

The images were run on Engadget spin-off site ThisIsMyNext.com, quickly sparking rumors of a thinner, sleeker, 7-inch model with 4G.

Rumored 7-inch Motorola tablet pictures tip up

The site claimed to have obtained exclusive footage of the tablet which is said to run Android, though it remains unclear whether the OS version would be HoneyComb or the next generation Ice Cream Sandwich.

Back in February when Motorola was busy showing off its first 10-inch Xoom tablet at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha clearly alluded to a more “portable” model due to follow within the year, and this tab could be the second coming buyers have been waiting for.

Though slightly blurry the photo appears to show a Motorola logo on the upper left corner, as well as both micro-USB and micro-HDMI ports.

No doubt we’ll be seeing clearer pictures within the coming weeks.

Samsung Epic 4G Touch Gets Rooted

The Samsung Epic 4G Touch, Sprint’s Galaxy S II, has onlybeen out since September 16th but already it has been rooted by both Zedomax as well as the Android Creative Syndicate otherwise known as ACS. That means that there are two options to choose from for rooting one of Sprint’s finest smartphones just mere days after release. We only wish every smartphone got that treatment this soon after release.

Now, looking at both options, they are fairly similar so you’re just going to want to take a look for yourself to decide which one is right for you.

Samsung Nexus S 4G update to bring Google Wallet support

Just in time for Google Wallet's official launch, Samsung has prepped an update for the Nexus S 4G so you will soon be able to use the smartphone to pay for items at participating stores.

The Samsung Nexus S 4G for Sprint is currently the only handset to support Google Wallet and features an embedded NFC chip that allows you to pay simply by tapping or swiping your phone. Samsung has provided a few details about the update on its FAQ site, but it didn't provide any details as to when the software would be pushed out to devices.

Sprint's community site is scant on specifics as well but said eligible customers will receive a notice when the software update is ready for download.

(Source: Engadget Mobile)

Read more: http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19736_7-20108462-251/samsung-nexus-s-4g-update-to-bring-google-wallet-support/#ixzz1YTM2QwHl

Angry AT&T customers want their Samsung Galaxy S II

Like lots of people, I was ready to buy Samsung Galaxy S II from AT&T yesterday. Based on information released during the launch announcement late last month, the hot smartphone was scheduled to release on September 18. The day has passed with no sale, and AT&T customers are livid. So now, the wireless carrier has given people yet anotherreason to complain. Can you say screw up?

Somebody wants this phone. As I write, 2,763 people have responded to our poll: "Will you buy Galaxy S II?" Hot damn, 75.43 percent plan to do so within 3 months. Only 8.72 percent responded: "No, I'm getting iPhone". In the interests of communicating when the phone will be available and to let AT&T know just how angry people are, I'm posting this followup to yesterday's "Say, AT&T, where's Samsung Galaxy S II?". I don't have the when yet, but I expect an answer from AT&T, which I asked before starting to write.

"What a huge disappointment", Betanews reader Luis comments. "I stopped by an AT&T store last night, right before closing time to ask about the phone. The guy had no clue what I was talking about, but did say 'but we do have the new Sony Ericsson you can look at' Really? Come on, AT&T, step your game up!"

Samsung Telecommunications America Names Senior Vice President of Product Innovation

DALLAS, Sep 19, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung Mobile), the number one provider of mobile phones in the U.S(1)., today announced the appointment of Kevin Packingham as Senior Vice President of Product Innovation. Packingham will report directly to president Dale Sohn and will be responsible for overseeing Samsung's carrier product management, product planning and concept creation departments.

"Samsung has enjoyed a strong relationship with Kevin for many years as a trusted colleague within the telecom industry and we're excited to add Kevin's experience and knowledge to our senior leadership team," said Dale Sohn, president of Samsung Mobile. "Kevin's extensive background in bringing innovative and game-changing products and services to the U.S. market will be a major factor in the future success of Samsung Mobile."

Packingham joins Samsung with more than 14 years of experience within the telecom sector. Most recently, he held the role of chief executive officer at Amerilink Telecom Corporation. Prior to this role, Packingham worked for more than 11 years at Sprint Nextel. During his tenure at Sprint, he focused on project management, culminating with the position of senior vice president of product and technology.

Packingham holds a Bachelor's degree in Psychology with an emphasis in Business Management from Evangel University and a Master's degree in Human Factors with an emphasis in software design, development, and testing.

Samsung considers legal action over Apple's new iPhone: source

The source declined to elaborate further on where Samsung plans to take legal actions and the Maeil Business Newspaper reported that the South Korean firm may seek injunction request on Apple's new iPhone in Europe.

Samsung had no immediate comment.

The two technology firms have been locked in intensifying legal battles in nine countries over their flagship smartphone and tablet products.

LG Confirms Upcoming HD Android Smartphone

Last week, we learned that LG was planning on releasing a new flagship smartphone sometime in the coming months and now LG itself has confirmed that yes, it will be releasing a smartphone with an HD display. Although the press release was light on the details, it did mention that the phone will have an exclusive on Street Fighter IV for three months. It will show up on LG’s global apps site in Q4 of this year.

No word on a release date for the device just yet though.

The phone in question is likely going to be the LG LU6200 that we saw leak out last week. It’ll apparently feature a 4.5-inch screen with 1280 x 720 pixels and will also feature AH-IPS display technology, a dual-core 1.5GHz Scorpion processor, an Adreno 220 GPU, and 1GB of RAM. The LU6200 might also have a 4G LTE radio on board as well.

Smartphones Help Fix Potholes In Baltimore

Potholes pose a problem in nearly every community across the U.S. Though often simply annoying, potholes can lead to accidents and property damage. The City of Baltimore is arming its citizens with a way to help combat the pothole problem, via the new Baltimore Spot Reporters application.

Spot Reporters is an application developed by Connected Bits. Members of the community use the software to report to their local government on issues such as potholes, graffiti, power outages, downed trees, trash, property damage, broken equipment, and other non-emergency problems. Citizens file the reports directly from their handsets--complete with images-- that municipalities such as Baltimore hope to use to reduce certain costs.

"This initiative allows us to expand our existing 311 service by creating new and effective communication channels with our citizens," said Lisa Allen, 311 Director for Baltimore City in a statement. Allen goes on to say that in the first 14 days of use, Baltimore has received over 1,000 mobile reports. The application goes beyond simply reporting potholes. It also allows community members to monitor if the problems are resolved in real-time.

Baltimore isn't the first to use Spot Reports; Boston uses it in its Citizens Connect service, too. The company claims to have tens of thousands of resident users across a handful of cities.

"Baltimore selected Spot Reporters for its mobile 311 service because Connected Bits understands government IT and knows how to integrate with existing CRM and other core technology systems," said Rico Singleton, CIO for Baltimore City. "We saw what they had done in Boston and other cities and knew they were the right partner for us."

Google opening smartphone wallets

SAN FRANCISCO — Google has opened its smartphone wallet to the public.

Shops taking part in the program began letting people pay for purchases with taps of Nexus S 4G smartphones from US telecom carrier Sprint.

"With Google Wallet, you can tap, pay and save using your phone and near field communication (NFC)," said Osama Bedier, vice president of payments at the Internet giant.

Google Wallet uses an NFC chip embedded in a smartphone to allow a user to "tap-and-pay" for purchases at a checkout register equipped with the PayPass system from CitiMasterCard.

Wallet software is being sent to Sprint Nexus S 4G phones in the form of an automatic over-the-air update.

"Simply install the app and the next time you spot one of the more than 300,000 PayPass locations around the globe, you'll be ready to go," gdgt.com co-founder Ryan Block said in a blog post at the MasterCard website.

"I'm really excited about taking another step closer to a future where using your portable device to instantly pay is as easy, convenient, and commonplace as making a call from anywhere in the world," Block said.

Google and Sprint along with financial partners Citibank and MasterCard began testing Wallet in May.

Wallet initially works with the Nexus S 4G smartphone from Sprint and will eventually be expanded to more Android phones.

iPhone 5 Jailbreak Expected Days After Release

We still don’t have an iPhone 5 release date, but we do have news about the possibility of an iPhone 5 jailbreak within days of the iPhone 5′s launch.

The news comes after iPhone hackers discovered 5, yes 5, exploits in the Apple A5 processor used in the Apple iPad 2 and expected inside the iPhone 5.

Unlike software based exploits, which Apple can fix with an OTA update, these exploits are in the hardware, which makes it much harder to fix, and possibly impossible after the phones leave the production line.

The iPhone 5 jailbreak would reportedly provide an untethered jailbreak, which means you can jailbreak your phone once and not need to plug it in every time you restart it.

DealExtreme offers up 'iPhone 5G' cases

If last week's mystery-laden posting and pull-down of iPhone 5 cases from accessory maker Case-Mate (which some are now claiming was a publicity stunt) wasn't enough to whet your appetite for details about what Apple's next iPhone will look like, this week brings more.

Razorianfly points to a peculiar product listing on DealExtreme for a $3.70 case for the "iPhone 5G," a product that does not currently exist. This isn't the first time a case for an unannounced, unreleased Apple product iteration has reared its head. But in this case the product description says the accessory maker has been given the inside scoop on the device to be able to make a case for it.

"Did you know that iPhone 5 will be released anytime and DX has an inside source allowing for the sales of the cases before you can even buy the phone?" the description reads. "Inside sources have provided you with the early release of iPhone 5 cases allowing you to be protected before your phone even arrives. This is a truly great offer that no-one else can provide."

The retailer is also offering protective plastic and silicon cases for the iPhone "5" and "5G" in various colors, minus the description of how they came to be.

Here's a close-up:

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-27076_3-20108381-248/dealextreme-offers-up-iphone-5g-cases/#ixzz1YRYunGo5

Apple's Find My iPhone App Helped Reclaim A Stolen iPhone

You’ve heard the story about the lost iPhone before—twice perhaps. But not everyone has the San Francisco Police Department at their service. If disaster strikes, knocking your iPhone from its barstool, it may be you who dons the detective cap. Equipped with the right balance of finger foods, ambition, and tech, reader Ken Stewart shares how he reclaimed his lost—his stolen—iPhone and brought a little justice to Fontana, California.

Like any spicy tale of intrigue, our tale begins with a dash of mild salsa. Ken stops at his favorite Mexican haunt,Taco Factory and enjoys some snacks and—perhaps—a margarita. Somewhere along the line, his iPhone slips loose from Ken’s Dockers pocket. By the time he realizes the absence it’s too late: When he returns to the Taco Factory, his iPhone is nowhere to be found.

For most people, this could be the unhappy ending. Not only had Ken lost his smartphone, he had lost everything on his smartphone: his music and photos, his documents and contacts, and all of the personal information nested in his apps for this and that. Enter, the Security Nightmare.

Yet, Ken has help—his wife, Anne. When he tells her of his i-loss, she reminds him of a clever feature they’ve used before. As MobileMe subscribers, Ken and Anne have had access to Find My iPhone since its release last summer. In fact, Ken’s used the service to find his misplaced phone around his home. (Apparently this isn’t the first time those Dockers have gotten Ken into trouble).

Google Goes Native for Chrome 14

Google is updating its Chrome web browser to version 14, providing security fixes and new features.

Google Chrome 14.0.835.163 is now available for Windows, Mac and Linux and fixes 32 flaws. Of those flaws, Google has rated 15 of them as being high-risk, 10 as medium and seven as low risk. In total, Google is paying out $14,337 to security researchers as part of the Chromium Security Award program for reporting flaws to Google that were fixed in Chrome 14.

The fixed high risk flaws in Chrome include use-after free memory vulnerabilities with plug-in handling, Ruby, the focus controller, document loader and tables style handling. Use-after-free errors occur when a function continues to hold onto a memory location even after an operation has been completed. An attacker can potentially make use of the same memory location then to launch arbitrary code.

The Chrome 14 update also fixes high-impact issues with the v8 JavaScript engine including type confusion in v8 object sealing, a cross-origin bypass issue and off-by-one flaw in v8.

Google has also fixed multiple URL bar spoofing issues in Chrome 14 of varying severity.

Google preps developers for one-size-fits-all Android update

Google is preparing Android developers for the latest edition of its Android mobile operating platform that will work the same on both tablets and smartphones.

Scott Main, the lead tech writer for Google's Android Developers Blog, Monday reminded developers that the newest edition of Android -- dubbed "Ice Cream Sandwich" -- will "support big screens, small screens and everything in between." Main also emphasized that Android would maintain "the same version ... on all screen sizes" going forward.

The majority of Main's post detailed steps developers could take to ensure that their tablet-based applications remained tablet-only once Ice Cream Sandwich comes to the market, and also ways to ensure that tablet applications work on smartphones once the Ice Cream Sandwich update hits. Overall, Main said that developers should update their tablet-based apps to work on smaller screens on the Ice Cream Sandwich platform instead of releasing two separate Android application package files for each form factor. Main said that this would be easier for developers in the long run since it would simplify "the updating and publishing process" and would make it "easier for users to identify your app."

Google Begins Rolling Out Google+ APIs

Google has released its first set of APIs for developers creating games and apps on its Google+ platform.

The initial release is focused only on retrieving public information from the Google+ community. The APIs, released last week, let developers access and load public profile information and public posts, as well as request permission from users to share their information with the developer.

The release may be seen as minimal, but according to Google, it's just the first step in a program the company plans to build on together with its developers.

"Nothing great is ever built in a vacuum so I’m excited to start the conversation about what the Google+ platform should look like," Google+'s Chris Chabot wrote in a public post.

The company also revealed the standards and languages supported by its APIs. According to a blog post, libraries are provided for Java, GWT, Python, Ruby, PHP, Objective-C and .NET.

Additionally, the company's API methods are RESTful HTTP requests that return JSON responses, and the platform uses OAuth 2 for secure user data access.

Google+ launched its first crop of games last month consisting of sixteen titles.

Unlike Facebook, Google+'s games and apps will be curated by Google itself, with the company describing its editorial mantra as quality before quantity.

Google Gets Ready For Antitrust Grilling

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt is due to testify at a Senate subcommittee hearing on Wednesday to address concerns that the company is threatening competition as its interests expand beyond the boundaries by which Google once defined itself: search, ads, and apps.

Regulators in the U.S. and abroad have been looking into various aspects of Google's business practices since the company's 2007 purchase of ad firm DoubleClick. And Googe's competitors have been encouraging antitrust investigations since then: Microsoft opposed the DoubleClick deal on antitrust grounds and its lobbying has gained support from travel search companies, which opposed Google's acquisition of ITA Software.

Microsoft itself faced antitrust litigation in 1998, which it settled in late 2001. The impact of that case, what it accomplished and what it failed to accomplish, is surely on the minds of Google's executives.

At the moment, European regulators are conducting an antitrust inquiry into Google's search business while the Federal Trade Commission is doing likewise. The Texas Attorney General has also opened an inquiry, and other state-level investigations remain a possibility.

For all the fretting about Google's online dominance, the company's ambitions have been relatively unhindered in terms of the deals it has tried to make. The two exceptions are Google's proposed ad deal with Yahoo in 2008, which was dropped for fear of an antitrust lawsuit from the Justice Department, and Google's attempt to reach a settlement with authors and publishers opposed to its book scanning efforts, which may finally happen if reports of progress prove true.

Google has been lobbying hard against regulatory restraint since 2009, when it actually mounted a roadshow for the media and regulators to argue that "Competition is only one click away."

Cash Advanced: Google Wallet Is Tomorrow’s Billfold

It’s becoming clear that in Google’s vision of the future, every human tool since the wheel is destined to be folded into the smartphone, that digital Swiss Army Knife around which our lives are increasingly centered.

Google’s newest offering replaces an accessory we’ve carried since man first stripped hide from beasts: Our wallet. Google Wallet is a service that eliminates the traditional notion of the leather carrying case, allowing you to store digital versions of your credit cards on your smartphone.

Basically, Wallet lets you use your phone to pay for purchases at physical point-of-sale machines. For example, when you’re standing at the grocery store checkout counter, instead of swiping a card or handing over cash, you open the Wallet app, enter a PIN, and wave your phone next to the reader in front of you. The amount you owe is instantly transferred from your bank account.

The app rests entirely on a special chip inside the phone called a Near-Field Communication chip. Essentially, any device with an embedded NFC chip can exchange data with a receiving terminal once they come within a few inches of each other. NFC technology is Google’s big hardware bet for the future, and it’s arguably the company’s most ambitious mobile project since Android was first launched.

True to the company’s form, Wallet upsets many vying for the leadin the mobile payments space. PayPal, Intuit, and ISIS (a wireless carrier-backed venture which initially aimed to take on the credit industry) are all companies with toes in the water, toting their own visions of phone-based payment systems. Even Apple is rumored to be working on its own version of NFC-based mobile payments for the iPhone.

Wallet is simple, stripped-down and straightforward, providing a low barrier of entry for those who may be intimidated at the thought of ditching their physical credit cards. Opening the app brings you to a four-digit PIN entry screen, which is required every time you want to access the card menu (though this can be adjusted). Making digital copies of your plastic is as simple as typing your card info into the prompts.

London fashion week: Burberry launches 2012 collection on Twitter

If you follow Burberry on Twitter you will have seen yesterday's London fashion week collection before Anna Wintour, Kanye West, Philip Green or Sienna Miller did.

For the first time, the label "live tweeted" the show on Monday from backstage, posting photographs of each look on Twitter moments before the model stepped on to the catwalk. At 4.15pm Burberry was the third most popular topic globally on the social media, as fashion-watchers compared notes.

When you consider that it was not long ago that high street stores smuggled spies into catwalk shows in order to glean clues as to what might be in stores in six months' time, this is quite a turnaround.

But still – live stream or no live stream – you had to be there. Kensington Gore, where the show was staged under the shadow of the Albert Memorial, was a scene. The seating arrangements alone at a major catwalk show are a piece of theatre, complete with A-list improv: Anna Wintour directly opposite Andy Murray; Paul Weller and Kanye West bookending a phalanx of blondes. Ben Kingsley was there for cultural gravitas, and the MP Ed Vaizey to defend the sartorial honour of London's mayor after recent sniping in this paper. (Vaizey also weighed in on the hot debate currently gripping the front row. He suggests: watch Downton Abbey, record Spooks.)

Christopher Bailey now considers himself a provider of multiple media content rather than simply a fashion designer but this collection proved he is still a dab hand at the day job.

In recent seasons there have been whispers of dissent about the mega brand that Burberry has become: that in finding the megabucks it had lost the humanity, humour and warmth with which Bailey initially imbued it. But this collection, inspired by Henry Moore's textiles, had colour and energy, an instantly desirable silhouette – and, of course, those trench coats, which are as much a status symbol as a Rolex these days. It was a fashion-crowd pleaser but also, as Green said – and this, presumably, is as high as praise gets from Green – "very wearable, very commercial".

RAY J ASSAULTS FABOLOUS OVER TWITTER COMMENTS

Ray J and Fabolous apparently came to blows this weekend while both were in Las Vegas to witness a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Victor Ortiz.

The 'One Wish' singer reportedly punched the Brooklyn rapper in the face as a result of insulting comments the latter made on Twitter, which were directed at Ray J.

On Sat., Sept. 17, Fabolous took to Twitter to express his opinion about a scene from HBO's '24/7' documentary on Floyd Mayweather and Victor Ortiz. Ray J appeared in the visuals, playing his song 'One Wish' on a piano inside Mayweather's home. "Nah but Floyd saying we havin a concert in my living room & the camera cuts to Ray J singing 'One Wish' on the piano had me in tears!!" Fab tweeted. ""Get it..? Ray J concert in the living room!! *Lil Wayne voice* N---- Ray J doin a concert in his living room... Lmaoooooo."

Ray J found no amusement in the 'Loso's Way' creator's jokes. In Vegas, before Fabolous was set to take the stage at the Palms Casino, Ray J approached him about the rude remarks and allegedly proceeded to punch him in the face. The singer, who was arrested following the incident, explained that Fab did not retaliate.

In an interview with Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club on Monday (Sept. 19), the West Coast native described the details of the event and why he took offense to the tweets.

"Don't disrespect me and Floyd like that," Ray J explained in a heated tone. "I play piano on that motherf---in' piano every day. That's my big brother, n---a we grew up together. So if you think that I just came over there and sang a song, n---a you got me twisted. N---a I'm over there everyday."

Tribalfish Opens Twitter Discussion Lounge

Salt Lake City, Utah (PRWEB) September 19, 2011

Twitter® users now have a powerful extension for engaging in longer, meaningful discussions sparked from a Tweet. TribalfishTM, the discussion network, today released Tribalfish App for Twitter--a free browser extension for Chrome, Firefox and Safari that lets Twitter users turn tweets into interactive, persistent discussions with multiple people in private and public groups. Tribalfish-fueled posts on Twitter can be longer than Twitter's standard 140-character limit, and users can invite both Twitter users and non-Twitter users to join a discussion.

"When tweeting, there is a point when you want to move beyond the standard Twitter system and engage in a deeper discussion--usually taking one or more people to an email thread, forum or even a phone call," said Lyle Ball, CEO, Tribalfish. "To solve this problem, we created a lounge where, in a single click, Twitter users can expand Tweets into discussions with people on and off of Twitter. Tribalfish is more than just longer Tweets."

Tribalfish App for Twitter gives Twitter users the ability to:
1. easily evolve existing tweets into longer, meaningful discussions, debates, support or answers
2. set up public and private groups to either promote, control or hide the content of discussions initiated on Twitter
3. post responses to their Facebook wall
4. track the responses, interests and group behaviors of people with similar interests

Single-Click Registration at http://tribalfish.com/twitterapp
Twitter users complete a simple form to request both their Tribalfish user account and the Tribalfish App for Twitter. Once the Tribalfish browser extension is installed, a Tribalfish button appears beneath each tweet, next to their Favorite, Retweet and Reply buttons.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2011/09/19/prweb8807951.DTL#ixzz1YRLWeCby

Sinéad O'Connor explains Twitter suicide claims

Sinéad O'Connor has reassured her fans she will not commit suicide, despite tweeting such claims last week. The singer, who suffers from bipolar disorder, explained she was upset about being criticised for making sexually explicit jokes. "People who express suicidal feelings are least likely to act on them," she wrote. "Anyone who gives u the remotest bit of shit for expressing suicidal feelings is a wanker."

The saga began when O'Connor began soliciting for a boyfriend using her Twitter account. "My sh*t-uation sexually/affectionately speaking is so dire that inanimate objects are starting to look good," she wrote in August, specifying that any boyfriend should be "wham-bam", "snuggly" and "no younger than 44". "I must end now," she wrote, "as I have a hot date with a banana."

But about two weeks later, O'Connor's mood shifted to a much darker place. "All this shit we're not supposed to say, including suicidal feelings, sex, etc," she wrote on 14 September. "U just get treated like a crazy person. I want to go to heaven SO bad. Have for [years] … Can't manage any more. Badly wish cud die without it ruining my kids lives." Fans responded with great concern, imploring O'Connor to seek help.

The 44-year-old responded this weekend, posting two open letters on her official website. O'Connor explained the pleasures – and challenges – of her recent return to the public eye. "Up until the last five or so weeks, I had been a person full of grief," she wrote. "[I] managed to pile on more grief year after year because of not having processed the original grief and consequently getting into more grief-making situations

Sorry, Netflix! @Qwikster Twitter Account Owned by 'Pot-Smoking Elmo'

Qwikster is the new Netflix ... just not on Twitter.

Netflix changed the name of its DVD mailing service to “Qwikster” over the weekend, only to find out after the fact that the correlating Twitter handle is already registered to a foul-mouthed pothead.

The individual using the account is listed as Jason Castillo, and the account sports a doctored icon of Elmo from Sesame Street smoking what appears to be marijuana.

And even more worryingly for the PR department at Netflix, the majority of the tweets (which have gone on for months) are laced with sexual innuendo and references to drug use. In one recent gem too foul to reprint here, Castillo ponders whether or not to "blaze."

It’s probable that further tweets of hot girls, sports, and showing up late for school don’t fall in line with Qwikster’s brand campaign.

The oversight may prove a misstep for Netflix, which is highly active on the social media front -- maintaining a relatively robust Facebook page and an active Twitter account -- as it tries to build a new brand from the ground up.

Acquiring the name will also be a challenge -- if it’s even possible, Business Insider reports.

“While Netflix secured the Qwikster domain, there is no record of a trademark filing for "Qwikster,” writes Alyson Shontell. “Unfortunately for Netflix, unless you own a trademark, you can't force a current tweeter to give up his or her handle. Twitter also doesn't let users buy handles from others.”

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011/09/19/sorry-netflix-qwikster-twitter-account-owned-by-pot-smoking-elmo/#ixzz1YRKwPOJS

Talk Like a Pirate Day: How to have Google, Facebook join in

Ahoy! Careful navigating the Web today, maties. There be pirates about.

Yes, it's International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a holidayinvented by two buddies in Oregon, popularized by humorist Dave Barry, and fervidly celebrated each year online.

So why not go overboard this year? Sure, your boss may frown on you dressing up, the police may stop you from carrying a cutlass, and your friends may hang up on you after a few "shiver me timbers!" But here's a more subtle way to enjoy the festivities without annoying anyone else: For the next 24 hours, have your computer talk like a pirate so that you don't have to.


IN PICTURES: Arrrrr you ready for some pirates?

Google and Facebook make it easy for you to set sail for the silly side of things. Yes, the two most popular websites in the world are just a few clicks away from yarrrring like pirate. Here's how:

Chart a course to Facebook.com! At the bottom of almost every Facebook page lies the company's copyright and a link that reads "English (US)." Readers in other countries will likely see a different language listed here. Regardless of what listing you see, changing the settling is just two clicks away.

First, fire at the link, which will open a window with more 75 language options. You'll find all the usual suspects: Espanol, Filipino – and "English (Pirate)." Pick your poison and wait a moment for the page to reload in the new language.

Choosing "Pirate" will relabel your wall as "Captain's Log." Correspondences now sit in your "Bottle o' messages." And friends are now your "scallywags." You'll need to turn on the setting yourself to enjoy all the countless tweaks. Someone at Facebook clearly had a hoot renaming everything.

Once you're done with all this swashbuckling, just toggle it back to "English (US)."

One word of warning, through: Scrolling to the bottom of your Facebook feed often triggers the site to automatically load more of your friend's posts, perpetually pushing the language settings further and further down the page. If you're having trouble clicking on the link before Facebook shoves it out of the way, try navigating to Subscriptions or another page with few entries on it. The language settings will be at the bottom of those pages, too.

Facebook looks to expand small business advertising

While Facebook has fast become the dominant player in the social media space, to date that success hasn't translated into small businesses using their ad platforms. Facebook is aiming to change that with the announcement that next week they will unveil a plan to get small business owners to start using it on a more regular basis.


The company plans to offer free $50 advertising credits for up to 200,000 small businesses. When a person clicks on an ad, there's a set rate predetermined for that click through the advertiser has to pay. Facebook will pick up the tab for the first $50 of such ads delivered.

And while the company realizes that many small businesses are too busy to purchase their ads, they still want some to at least give the platform a try and see what it's like. During arecent interview with USA Today discussing the offer, COO Sheryl Sandberg talked about the strategy and the thinking behind it. In the interview she says, “I think every small business should … be using Facebook. We're not going to stop until all of them are using it to grow their business.”

You can see the entire video interview with Sandberg here. Do you think that you’ll try and gain access to the free offer, or are you planning on trying out Facebook ads in the future?

'Facebook law' revisions clear Missouri House panel

JEFFERSON CITY • A House committee today unanimously passed revisions to a law limiting electronic communications between teachers and students.

The law — which was blocked by a Cole County judge from going into effect last month because of concerns that it infringes on free-speech rights — was designed to prohibit teachers from having private online conversations with students. Its supporters said the goal was to prevent inappropriate contact between school staff and students that could not be monitored by parents or school administrators.

But its critics said it went too far and feared it could actually ban teachers from even the most innocent online exchanges with their students.

By prohibiting teachers from communicating with students on websites that allow “exclusive access,” the law could be interpreted as meaning teachers couldn’t be on sites such as Facebook at all, said state Rep. Chris Kelly, D-Columbia, who presented the bill to the House Elementary and Secondary Education Committee.

“We screwed this up,” Kelly said of the law, which won unanimous legislative approval earlier this year as part of a larger education bill.

The revisions to the law remove the state mandates on electronic communication policy and instead require local school districts to develop their own policy by March 1, 2012. Those policies must include “the use of electronic media and other mechanisms to prevent improper communications between staff members and students.”

Local school districts will now be in control of their policies, Kelly said, although many of them will likely rely on policy proposals drafted by the Missouri School Boards Association.

That is the situation many teachers are afraid of, according to Randy Turner, a communications arts teacher at Joplin Middle School and a vocal critic of the original Facebook measure and the legislative revisions.

Read more: http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/political-fix/article_d76de6f4-e300-11e0-8604-0019bb30f31a.html#ixzz1YRBs5RPC

Facebook Traffic to Retail Up 92%, Twitter Shoppers Spend More Than Google

The recently released Online Consumer Report from RichRelevance offers several valuable insights for online retailers in the lead up to the 2011 holiday shopping season. Data gleaned from over 200 million shopping sessions on major U.S. retail sites shows trends in browsing and online shopping behaviors and how consumers make purchasing decisions.

The study examined consumers navigating to a retail site via bookmarks, search engines, or social networks. In the reporting period, the month of August 2011, more than 4 million orders totaling $500 million were placed and included in the study.


How Search Engine Traffic Shops Online
search-social-channel-conversion-value
Organic search engine results are still a top traffic source for online merchants, providing 18 percent of all traffic. Google takes the lion’s share of the credit for organic search engine traffic, with 81 percent of those visitors coming from Google search properties. AOL fared the worst, sending just 1.7 percent of organic traffic to studied retail sites. Bing and Yahoo drove 7.5 and 9.7 percent, respectively.

AOL traffic does, however, convert highest and places the highest orders, at $105.27 on average per order.



Read more at http://www.boston.com/business/specials/small_business_blog/2011/09/facebook_looks.html