Less than a year after launching Facebook Gifts, the social network is dropping physical items from the selection and focusing on gift cards, perhaps primarily its own. Several reports cite Facebook representatives saying the switch will take place next week, and was prompted because some 80 percent of Facebook Gift purchases were gift cards. Facebook expanded from inviting its members to send each other digital flowers and the like in September 2012 when it a few months later to offer a broader selection of physical gifts. In January, Facebook a physical card that could be used to purchase merchandise or gift cards through Facebook.
Keeping people from social media is like keeping people from breathing, according to Gartner research director, Rob McMillan. McMillan made the comparison at the Gartner Security Summit in Sydney, Australia recently, where he highlighted the importance of its use. "Social is the most popular form of Cloud service on the planet," he said. "Blocking access just encourages people to overcome security controls." By McMillan said it helps companies "learn new tricks."
You may think you're closing Android apps by swiping them away, but here's what that actually does and how Android's task switcher works.
Can the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) find a new future running a cloud-based authentication service for the government? The USPS intends to try and do just that under a three-year $15.12 million contract awarded to SecureKey Technologies last week for some foundation technology to build a cloud-based authentication exchange. While in the early stages, the USPS-managed Federal Cloud Credential Exchange (FCCX), as it's being called, is envisioned as a way that people can use their existing online credentials to gain access to U.S. government agency online services in the future. What third-party credentials would be used as part of FCCX is not yet decided, but ideas in play include credentials that users already have with the likes of Google and PayPal, for example, says Andre Boysen, executive vice president for marketing at SecureKey. It's anticipated these credentials would be of various strengths and types, from simple names and passwords to the government-designed . The request for proposals for the FCCX contract was originally put out for bid last January and the award to Toronto-based SecureKey means that the USPS will be proceeding with its plans to try and operate a cloud-based authentication exchange for the government.USPS spokesperson Darleen Reid-DeMeo said USPS is "implementing a pilot software solution to enable the public to use commercially issued digital credentials to access government services online with greater security, privacy and efficiency."
The much buzzed-about digital currency has aroused concern for its use in illicit activity, but George Mason University researchers urge a cautious regulatory approach.
With IT not requiring safer pass codes and device usability a factor, finding of 80 percent of users choosing convenience not surprising
Recent versions of Google's Chrome and Mozilla's Firefox are measurably less prone to crashes and errors than Microsoft's Internet Explorer 10, a new analysis by applications testing firm has found. If this looks like another stick to beat Microsoft's browser with, it is worth pointing out that the run using the Selenium platform found that all browsers showed extremely low levels of errors, in the order of 0.12 percent or lower for the "worst" performer, Apple's Safari 6. On the same scale, Opera 12 scored 0.08 percent, IE10 at 0.05 percent, Chrome 27 under 0.02 percent, with Firefox was so low it effectively achieved a remarkable zero, that is to say no errors at all. IE lagged its main rivals but at levels that were already extremely low. As interesting as the reliability figures was the level of some only months or even weeks old.
After Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg a coalition with several other major tech companies to bring the Internet to areas of the globe that remain disconnected, the tech world reacted with a mix of criticism, mockery, doubt, and praise. In Facebook is joined by Samsung, Qualcomm, Ericsson, Nokia, Opera, and MediaTek. Naturally, these companies' business interests have led many to approach their new collective altruistic effort skeptically. ValleyWag, the site that Gawker Media recently relaunched to report and comment on issues relating specifically to Silicon Valley, for a "faux humanitarian" effort to mask "a piece of cynical Facebook marketing." Calling it a "long con," Gawker's Sam Biddle doubted whether the plan would accomplish Facebook's business goals if it is successful. "But if Zuckerberg's efforts mean more of the developing world has access to the internet and the economic benefits that entails, then great Internet.org doesn't plan missionary squads threatening Facebook sign-ups or death by firing squad," Biddle wrote. "Eventually they'll become tired of Facebook and start using Snapchat, just like the rest of us."
When Microsoft shipped Windows 2000 and Active Directory, Apple didn’t really have a solution for identity management or for linking Macs to an enterprise network. The company was just beginning the transition from its classic Mac OS—the first version of which had shipped on the first Mac in 1984—to OS X. Although Apple did ship a public beta of OS X in second half of the year, . The classic Mac OS was not for multi-user systems. It offered limited user account creation and management for file sharing between Macs, but there was no built-in mechanism for logging into an individual Mac—it booted right to the desktop, where you had full access to the entire file system and all installed software. Apple did make a couple of attempts to create a multi-user system, however. In the early 1990s, the company shipped At Ease, which provided some multi-user support, first on a single Mac and later for multiple Macs on a network. But At Ease never gained much traction beyond some pockets of the education market for it which it seemed to be designed. In planning the transition to the true multi-user environment of OS X, Apple added a modicum of multi-user functions in Mac OS 9 that allowed each Mac to support multiple users with basic file permissions, individual user settings and preferences, and limited account-based restrictions. Apple also , which redirected Mac OS 9’s multi-user functions to a server-based data store and copied certain settings and configuration files from that data store to an individual Mac. It wasn’t really an enterprise-grade solution, even when incorporated into the first few releases of OS X Server, but it was a functional pre-OS X stop-gap.
In the future, your phones, tablets and wearable computing gadgets won't come with chargers—they'll use inductive chargers built into desks, kitchen counters, bedside tables, cars, and other surfaces. Just placing a device on any convenient surface will charge it. This future will be great for us lazy people, and there are environmental benefits as well. More than one-third of the "stuff" that comes with your smartphone—plastic, wiring, and electronics—is in the charger. Each phone has its own personal charger destined inevitably for the landfill or an environmentally unfriendly recycling center.
Microsoft's Security Essentials (MSE) remains a hugely popular consumer antivirus product but new figures suggest that its successor, Defender, is losing out to third-party alternatives. Security tools firm OPSWAT has carried out market share analysis of antivirus clients using numbers from its AppRemover tool in the past, but the latest stats are derived from its new security assessment application, , released in June. This time the into three categories; the most popular vendors overall, the most encountered individual products and the most encountered individual products that had real-time protection enabled (or not), coming up with some interesting numbers. Not surprisingly, the frequency of Microsoft's Security Essentials (the standard Windows antivirus client) and (which was upgraded to succeed it on Windows 8) topped the list at a combined 25.8 percent, just ahead of Avast Software's 23.6 percent. A clutch of other familair vendors scored under 10 percent, including AVG, Symantec, Eset, Avira, and Kaspersky.
Nearly one in four browsers are armed with an ad-blocking tool, reducing revenue at free-content websites, an Irish company said last week. The popularity of ad blocking—driven by users' frustrations with intrusive, distracting or just-plain-ugly-and-noisy ads—threatens the free-for-all model of the Internet, said PageFair, a company that's helping content publishers audit the problem and try to stem some of the bloodletting. "It's a vicious cycle," said Neil O'Connor, CEO of Dublin-based PageFair. "Ads are becoming more aggressive to capture eyeballs, but that forces more people to install ad-blocking software. It's a lose-lose situation." But without they generate, most content publishers cannot sustain operations. Sans ad revenue, the only options are to charge for access—the path taken by publishers like the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times—or fold the tent. [Note: Computerworld and most IDG news sites rely on advertising for revenue.]
and how Amazon had carried the day. The post mentions that Barnes & Noble has given up on the idea of building Nook hardware and will either partner with a third party manufacture or just focus on apps from here on out. Nook is back! earlier this week, Barnes & Noble President Michael P. Huseby stated:
A wave of cyberattacks against Israeli and Middle Eastern targets this summer was the work of a highly active but shadowy hacktivist group that has started using Remote Access Trojans (RATs) previously favored by Chinese cyber-actors, security firm FireEye has warned. Dubbed by the firm that studied its extensive use over many years by Chinese groups. The campaign was originally believed to have focused on Israeli and Palestinian organizations but now appears to have had a including other Arabic countries and the U.S. Significantly, the latest wave of attacks were almost certainly including one on the Israeli Police, FireEye said.
A report that Amazon has tested a wireless network actually sheds new light on plans by satellite communications company Globalstar to extend the Wi-Fi spectrum. The extension, if approved by the FCC, would create a new, uncluttered, high-performance Wi-Fi channel in upper reaches of the 2.4-GHz band, a channel Globalstar apparently intends as the basis of a managed service with cellular-like quality and roaming. Amazon's wireless testing was revealed last week in a Bloomberg news story, "" by Olga Kharif and Danielle Kucera. The tests were run near Amazon's Lab126 research facilities in Cupertino, California, according to Bloomberg's sources. The lab designs Amazon's Kindle devices. "The trial underlines how Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce company, is moving beyond being a Web destination and hardware maker and digging deeper into the underlying technology for how people connect to the Internet," according to the Bloomberg story. "That would let Amazon create a more comprehensive user experience, encompassing how consumers get online, what device they use to connect to the Web and what they do on the Internet."
Technology companies may be hiding behind legal jargon to avoid being more forthcoming in their responses to new documents on government surveillance that were disclosed Friday, some experts say. Internet and software companies including Microsoft, Yahoo, Google and Facebook “are legally compelled to lie,” said security expert Bruce Schneier, citing national security letters that companies are prohibited from disclosing. Some similar statements were made in interviews with the IDG News Service following a report published Friday in alleging that the National Security Agency paid millions of dollars to companies such as Google and Facebook to cover costs involved in surveillance. The tech companies incurred these costs in fulfilling tighter certification requirements after a 2011 court ruling said the government’s data collection was unconstitutional, according to documents obtained by .
While the Reddit community usually eschews complaining and mocking things they find on the Internet, they decided to throw their usual constraints aside to . Reddit made the correct decision. All the actors in the slickly produced ad speak in a close approximation of what you might expect a typical consumer to sound like—if you’ve never met an actual human before. So, what’s the deal here, Samsung? Apparently this ad, which, despite its inclusion of English speaking, American-born actors, was never meant to actually be seen by US consumers. That's likely because the ad will strike US consumers as absolutely insane (not to mention patronizing, as the only actress in the spot describes how she enjoys using her computer in-between chores and becomes anxious at the thought of installing a new drive). The ad was purportedly meant only for use as an in-house marketing tool to be shown at expos throughout Asia. At least, that’s the take according to a Redditor by the name ).
Apple has made iWork for iCloud available to the masses. It’s technically still in beta, but now anyone can use the cloud-based versions of , Numbers, or Keynote from an iCloud account. The question is whether or not iWork is the right suite of tools for you to use. Apple trumpeted iWork for iCloud at its WWDC event a few months ago. The tools provide Web-based equivalents to Apple’s iWork apps, and join Mail, Contacts, Calendar, Notes, Reminders, and Find My iPhone on Apple’s iCloud. Apple provides iCloud accounts with 5GB of storage for free. This is slightly less than the 7GB Microsoft provides by default for SkyDrive accounts, and only a third of the 15GB Google supplies for Google Drive customers. The tools themselves are capable. They to the experience provided by the desktop and mobile versions of the iWork tools. In general, the iWork tools are not as comprehensive or capable as their Microsoft Office counterparts, but they are more than adequate for most users’ needs.
Motorola's Moto X devices will become widely available within days.
Qualcomm has agreed to sell its Omnitracs fleet management subsidiary, one of its first businesses and one of the earliest vehicle information networks, to a private equity company for $800 million in cash. The buyer, Vista Equity Partners, said it plans to keep running Omnitracs and expand its product offerings. Vista will acquire all Omnitracs operations in the U.S., Canada and Latin America. The deal is expected to close during the final quarter of this year. Vista is a long-term investor in software and other technology-related businesses, with offices in San Francisco, Chicago and Austin, Texas, according to a press release. Last year it . Qualcomm started Omnitracs in the late 1980s, supplying devices for installation in fleet vehicles that collected information and sent it to management via satellite. The system is designed to help transportation and logistics providers with mobile asset management, safety, compliance and efficiency. Omnitracs has more than 10,000 customers across the Americas and Europe, according to the company's website.
PCWorld is hosting a giveaway for your back to school technology needs. That's right, you'll have a chance to win one of three sets of prizes. To enter, please read onwards for more details. These are the three sets of prize we're giving away: Entering is pretty simple. Please follow the below screen for entry and rules:
When from his role as CEO of Microsoft in 12 short months, the world will lose a little bit of luster. It’s not that the longtime leader is irreplaceable—Ballmer’s achievements were indeed momentous, but there are already to take the reins. But without Steve at the top, the constant flow of hilarious Ballmerisms we’ve come to enjoy over the years will no doubt dry up, leaving the technology world a decidedly unfunnier place. From ridiculous to ridonkulous to utterly insane, here are the best Ballmerisms to come out of Steve’s mouth throughout the years. One thing’s for sure: While laughter may die on our lips with Ballmer’s retirement, PR handlers in Redmond will surely sleep easier at night. On with the show!
Watching a YouTube video typically requires an Internet connection, but with a little preparation the videos can be saved for later offline viewing. Before downloading any videos on YouTube, be aware that downloading some content may infringe on copyrights. Once you are on a page with a YouTube video, copy the link in the address bar of the browser. Then open and paste the YouTube URL into the box at the top of the page. Click the download button to the right side of the link you just pasted. Since the page runs Java script, the browser will prompt you if you want to run the application and click “yes” or “run.”
Toshiba kicked off a project Friday that is the first step toward a new type of memory chip that could provide vastly greater capacity at a lower cost for digital gadgets such as cameras, smartphones and tablets. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony to begin expansion of its number-five chip fabrication building (fab 5) in Yokkaichi, a state-of-the-art chip production facility in central Japan operated by Toshiba and SanDisk under a joint venture. The construction, which is scheduled to last a year, will see the production line expanded to accommodate additional chip fabrication capacity for NAND flash memory, including more advanced conventional manufacturing processes and early generation 3D production techniques. 3D chips are tipped to be the next big thing in the memory market and provide greater data storage capacity by stacking memory cells in layers. Using this method, greatly higher storage capacity can be realized while keeping the chips small enough to fit inside flash memory cards and the cramped insides of modern gadgets.
This messenger is a solid bag with plenty of pockets, but it disappoints in a few areas.
Stay clear of The Bureau: XCOM Declassified, it’s nothing but a cash-in on its turn-based predecessor’s name.
An accumulation of perceived missteps under Steve Ballmer’s leadership may have hit a tipping point this year, leading to Friday’s groundshaking announcement that Bill Gates’ former right hand and heir, as well as Microsoft’s fiercest cheerleader, will . In recent years, Ballmer has been the target of critics over a variety of issues, including their dissatisfaction with the company’s stock performance, Google’s dominance in search advertising, the perception that Microsoft reacted late to cloud computing and its weak position in the tablet and smartphone OS markets.
Dropbox is a great place for storing your digital music collection, but its music playback features are limited, to say the least. Sure, you can use Dropbox to access your music stored on the service, but if you want to actually listen to these tunes, you’ll need to download them
Study finds that kids who can't read a clock yet have mobile phones now.
Who will replace Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer? Microsoft’s executive committee has up to a year to decide and a pantheon of candidates from which to choose. In many ways, identifying the next chief executive of Microsoft is a commentary on Microsoft’s current track record. Does Microsoft’s executive committee and board continue down the path that Ballmer began? Has the company failed to execute in some way? Or , perhaps with an emphasis on a particular business segment? All of these questions could guide Microsoft’s CEO search. Ballmer’s announcement that as a devices and services provider. The problem? The “flat” structure of the reorganization left no obvious successor. While Microsoft has not been averse to hiring from outside the company—chief operating officer Kevin Turner most recently served as chief executive of Wal-Mart division Sam’s Club—some of the company’s most senior staff have been long-time Microsoft employees. The executive committee that will find a replacement for Ballmer includes John Thompson, the board’s lead independent director, plus chairman Bill Gates, chairman of the audit committee Chuck Noski and chairman of the compensation committee Steve Luczo.
