Chrome for Android Ice Cream Sandwich

Many Android users have long wondered why Google Chrome doesn’t exist for mobile devices, but that is all about to change. Available immediately for Android Ice Cream Sandwich, Chrome for Android (Beta) brings the speed and simplicity you’re used to to the palm of your hand. Until now, users have had to stitch together a fabric of random apps, alternative browsers, and hacks to get a cohesive mobile browsing experience between desktop and mobile device. Chrome Beta is poised to solve all of these issues. Notable features include Incognito mode, easy tab switching with a stack interface, and bookmarks sync.

Amazon Deal with Viacom Looking Like Netflix Competitor

A recent deal with Viacom will add over 15,000 titles to the Amazon Prime Instant Video service. Netflix is still reeling from their price hike last year, with subscriptions just now picking up after a down third quarter. Netflix could face some stiff competition with the likes of Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, and an upcoming service from Redbox and Verizon. At the end of the day, this is a win for those of us looking to cut the cable. New titles from the Viacom deal include:

• Comedy Central: Chappelle’s Show, The Sarah Silverman Program
• MTV: Jersey Shore, The Hard Times of RJ Berger, The Hills
• Nickelodeon: iCarly, Dora the Explorer, SpongeBob SquarePants, Yo Gabba Gabba
• Spike: Deadliest Warrior: The Show and the Aftermath
• TV Land: Hot in Cleveland
• VH1: Love & Hip Hop, Mob Wives

via GigaOm

Path Jacks User Contacts

Path made a grave mistake with user data this past week and has since apologized. The question is whether this will be enough. The problem the social mobile app made was in its Add Friends feature. Without asking users to opt-in or requesting permission, the app uploaded all user contacts to Path servers in an effort to figure out which of your friends were already there. Since the incident, Path has released an update (2.0.6) that requires users to opt-in to sharing their contacts. They also say they have removed all uploaded user contacts from their servers. Partly because there is no way to verify this, it seems Path may have an uphill credibility battle ahead. I think Path is a really nice and useful app and I will continue to use it, but most others are not so forgiving.

Google Wallet Security “Flaws”

There are actually two “issues” being reported with the new Google Wallet service. Basically, the service allows you to buy stuff using your phone to facilitate the transaction, so it’s natural that any security issues with it could be dangerous. The first issue uncovered is the ability to “crack” the PIN on the Google Wallet service on rooted Android devices. The second perceived flaw allows a thief to simply reset the Google Wallet data but still use the available funds on the pre-paid card attached to your account.

While these two flaws have made headlines, they appear a bit trumped up to me. In the first case, you would have to root your device and then have it stolen. The person acquiring your rooted phone would need to realize it was rooted and then run a brute force algorithm to crack your PIN. In essence, you made your data vulnerable by rooting your device. The second “flaw” only points out that losing your wallet could result in someone spending your money. The fact that your phone is now doubling as your wallet doesn’t change this simple fact. At least with your phone, you can lock it with a security lock.

via The Verge

Foxconn Employee Says Next iPhone Coming

9to5 Mac reports that a source at Foxconn has information on the next iPhone. The device is not yet ready, but is likely to be launched this summer. There are a number of prototypes floating around and they all have slight differences, so it’s impossible to tell exactly what the specs for the next iPhone will be. Their source is the same one who foretold that the iPhone 5 was not coming last summer. Some of the common themes mentioned this time around:

4+ inch display (made by LG on at least one of them).
No teardrop-shaped devices, as rumored in the lead up to the iPhone 4S. Samples so far have been symmetrical in thickness (also longer/wider).
Neither of the sample devices have the iPhone 4/4S form factor.
Neither of the devices are the final versions.

Apple Made a LOT of Money

Apple set a new tech record by reaching $46 billion in sales last quarter. Apple doubled iPhone sales, moving 37 million units and doubling their numbers from a year ago. They also doubled iPad sales from last year with a record 15.4 million. Fiscal first quarter profit rose to $13 billion, leaving the Cupertino company sitting on $97.6 billion in cash. This was one of the most profitable quarters for any US company…ever.

via CNN Money

Google Now Tracks You Across Their Entire Ecosystem

Google announced Tuesday that they will now collect and compile data about you across all of their various and previously disconnected services. You may have already received and ignored an email about these privacy changes. This means that your actions on your Android device can be matched up with the videos your watch on YouTube or maybe the people you interact with on Google+. The aim is to bolster Google’s core ad business, making them more relevant to the individual. While this could definitely be a benefit for users, there is also the implication that users weren’t expecting such a collection of data.

“There is no way anyone expected this,” said Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy, a privacy advocacy group. “There is no way a user can comprehend the implication of Google collecting across platforms for information about your health, political opinions and financial concerns.”

There is definitely no way that a user would expect data to be collected across a bunch of platforms that were all created by the same company (a company that gives you free stuff by making you look at relevant ads), pretty much look the same, and all use the same account information to access them. Who would have expected that?

via Washington Post

“Don’t Be Evil” Tool to Combat Google Search Plus Your World

If you think Google’s Search Plus Your World puts too much focus on Google+, you’re not alone. A few engineers have actually launched a site called Focus on the User which aims to modify Google search results and make them more relevant to the user. The interesting part is that they improve the search results using Google’s own search results. Once you click the bookmarklet, the following areas of your results will be modified:

• People & Pages results
• Google+ Sitelinks
• Google+ Suggestions In Autocomplete

The bookmarklet does not use any third-party API’s or services to change or expand your search results. It only uses what is already available to Google. It does make you wonder why Google has chosen to only focus on the Google+ social network when it’s this easy to with other more established networks. Then again, maybe it’s obvious why they would focus on their own properties. Check out full details, including search results comparisons, at Search Engine Land.

 The Tweets Still Must Flow

As with the Spice on planet Arrakis, the Tweets must flow. This was Twitter’s stance around this time last year in regards to freedom of expression. They indicated that they do legally have to remove some Tweets but also work for the protection of the user. Now, a year later, the Tweets still must flow and Twitter has new tools to ensure this. Previously, they would have to remove a tweet globally even if the legal issue was only within a specific country. Now, they have the ability to do so on a regional basis. This means that users outside of that country will still be able to see the banned tweets.

Until now, the only way we could take account of those countries’ limits was to remove content globally. Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why.

While some have said this means Twitter is caving to global censorship, it actually seems to mean that what was before completely removed will now still be visible to some. Twitter is being completely transparent about removing tweets and plans to always indicate whether a tweet has been affected. They will also continue to work closely with Chilling Effects to alert users to changes.

MegaUpload Shut Down

MegaUpload has been shut down by the US Government. Early reports suggested that this was because of SOPA/PIPA legislation, but these have not yet been passed. Swizz Beatz was also implicated early on as CEO of MegaUpload, but he is not mentioned at all in the 72-page indictment against the company. While not officially an owner, even in part, Swizzy must have some stake in the company given his move to rally support for the site by creating the MegaUpload Song, featuring a bunch of name brand artists. Swizz and Mega are now being sued by Universal Music Group, home to many of these artists.

It seems that MegaUpload lost the ability to claim safe harbor because of their perceived inaction against copyright infringers. The indictment includes communications between members of the company who knowingly shared and acknowledged such content existed and did nothing to stop it. Basically, MegaUpload is being taken down as some type of pirate mafia organization. The attack against them seems odd mostly because I don’t hear any artists complaining and that is who companies like the MPAA and RIAA would have you believe are being hurt.

via Ars

Anonymous Goes Nuclear

In response to the pretty vicious take-down of MegaUpload, Anonymous has jumped back into the spotlight in the site’s defense. One thing to bear in mind is that the site was used worldwide for things other than sharing some illegal content. There very well may be millions of people across the globe who have been burned by the site’s disappearance. They just want their personal files back and this is the type of thing that we might see on a larger scale if things like SOPA become reality. Even the Obama Administration agrees with this in their response to petitions against SOPA:

Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small.

Anonymous decided to take matters into their own hands and launch a large-scale attack against a number of organizations using their patented Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) technology. Time reports 10 sites, including FBI, DOJ, U.S. Copyright Office, and Universal Music (who are still down, at the time of this writing) were affected by the attack. Anonymous also employed a new and evil tactic to increase the severity of the attack by enlisting the help of unknowing individuals. All you had to do was click a link and you were suddenly part of the attack, whether you meant to be or not.

via CNet

Apple Unveils New iTunes U App for All iOS Devices

Apple moves to shake up education with their new iTunes U offering. It allows educators to manage everything from lectures, assignments, and books to quizzes and syllabuses. On the other side, it gives users access to “the world’s largest catalog of free educational content from top universities including Cambridge, Duke, Harvard, Oxford and Stanford.” There are even Push notifications to keep students updated on what’s going on with their classes.

The all-new iTunes U app enables students anywhere to tap into entire courses from the world’s most prestigious universities,” said Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior vice president of Internet Software and Services. “Never before have educators been able to offer their full courses in such an innovative way, allowing anyone who’s interested in a particular topic to learn from anywhere in the world, not just the classroom.

via Apple

Google Announces 4th Quarter Results and Fiscal 2011 Results

The numbers are in and, while it appears GOOG has missed projected targets, Google+ is still surging ahead. Analysts expected earnings of $10.51 per share on net revenue of $8.43 billion, but GOOG came in at $9.50 per share and net revenue of $8.13 billion. Google+ comes in ahead of the game at 90 million users worldwide. This shatters most third-party estimates. Larry Page also issued the following statement to TechCrunch: “I have some amazing data to share there for the first time: +users are very engaged with our products — over 60% of them engage daily, and over 80% weekly.” While vague, this could indicate much higher engagement than Facebook.

“Google had a really strong quarter ending a great year. Full year revenue was up 29%, and our quarterly revenue blew past the $10 billion mark for the first time,” said Larry Page, CEO of Google. “I am super excited about the growth of Android, Gmail, and Google+, which now has 90 million users globally – well over double what I announced just three months ago. By building a meaningful relationship with our users through Google+ we will create amazing experiences across our services. I’m very excited about what we can do in 2012 – there are tremendous opportunities to help users and grow our business.”

Facebook Opposes SOPA and PIPA

In case you were wondering, Facebook opposes both SOPA and PIPA. This means that Facebook and Google actually agree on something despite their fierce social networking competition. In a statement posted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he states that “Facebook opposes SOPA and PIPA” and “will continue to oppose any laws that will hurt the internet.” He goes to say that “the world today needs political leaders who are pro-internet” and “encourage you to learn more about these issues and tell your congressmen that you want them to be pro-internet.” Zuck points users to a Facebook Page with more details about their stance on SOPA and was even moved to post to his Twitter account, which has been dormant since 2009.

via TC

New Apps for Your Facebook Timeline

Facebook is launching new apps which will allow you to “enhance” your timeline and better tell your story by integrating a number of services. There are now apps from Foodspotting, Foodily, Ticketmaster, Pinterest, Rotten Tomatoes, Pose, Kobo, Gogobot, TripAdvisor, and others. If your friends and followers want to see things like your movie reviews and pins on Pinterest, these new apps will definitely make their day.

via Facebook

Google Launches Search Plus Your World

Google has basically thrown down the gauntlet by (finally?) integrating their Google+ social networking site more closely with their popular search engine. Your general web search results will now be augmented by your social interactions on Google+, making it easier to find content more personal to you. The three features that make up the Search, plus Your World initiative are:

1. Personal Results, which enable you to find information just for you, such as Google+ photos and posts—both your own and those shared specifically with you, that only you will be able to see on your results page;
2. Profiles in Search, both in autocomplete and results, which enable you to immediately find people you’re close to or might be interested in following; and,
3. People and Pages, which help you find people profiles and Google+ pages related to a specific topic or area of interest, and enable you to follow them with just a few clicks. Because behind most every query is a community.

Of course, this latest move by Google has caused quite a stir. Many say that Google is manipulating their monopoly on search as if Bing isn’t gaining market share. It seems like only yesterday that Google was teased for being all over the place with its various products. Now, when they try to put the pieces together, the vision seems to scare a lot of people. This move is just like others Google has made, though. They get out there and they grab as many eyeballs as they can because eyeballs are really their core market.

While many are talking about potential anti-trust violations, I have to agree with Eric Eldon of TechCrunch. Google is probably well aware of their position and maybe even interested in seeing where such an investigation would lead. More specifically, it could force Facebook to give them access to that walled garden.

via Google

Facebook Lets You Listen with Friends

If you are one of those people who see your friends sharing what they’re listening to and have an urge to listen right along with them, you’re in luck. With their integration of Spotify, Facebook now allows you to listen along with your friends.

Today, with music services on Facebook, there’s a new way to listen with friends. This feature lets you listen along with any of your friends who are currently listening to music. You can also listen together in a group while one of your friends plays DJ.

You can basically through an entire listening party with multiple participants, much like Turntable.fm. Speaking of turntable.fm, they’re “down for maintenance” at the time of this writing to “fix some load issues.” I’m wondering if Facebook will eventually put the site out of business or if Turntable.fm will gain popularity because of the Facebook publicity, which is exactly what happened for Foursquare when Facebook launched check-ins.

via Facebook

MySpace Still Alive and Beasting the Upstarts

Most people believe MySpace is dead and have turned their attention to Facebook, Google+, Tumblr, and others. According to recent numbers from ComScore, it’s probably not wise to sleep on MySpace. If we compare MySpace to Google+, we find it getting about 10k more unique visitors who hang around for twice the time they do on Google+. What are these MySpace visitors doing? Probably listening to music, polishing up their fading glitter graphics, who knows?

via GigaOm  

AT&T Announces HTML5 API for Web Apps and Mobile

AT&T has announced a set of API’s that would allow developers to create carrier agnostic HTML5 web apps for smartphones and tablets. Native apps are where it’s at right now, but I’ve always thought advanced web apps could be where it’s going to be and AT&T seems to think the same. HTML5 could allow developers to code once and have their app work on any device that supports HTML5. There will also be an app store of sorts:

A storefront for web apps called the “App Center” will be available later this year (developers can sign up for a beta here). In short, this new platform is conceived from the ground up with HTML5 developers in mind and targets most cellular networks, not just AT&T’s…

via 9to5mac

Techmeme’s Biggest Stories of 2011

Rather than focusing on some technical specifications or using some fancy algorithm to figure out the biggest stories from the past year, Techmeme decided to keep it real. They’ve compiled a list of the biggest stories, literally, as measured by height. I thought that was pretty clever, but even more interesting is that it’s actually a good list and tells an interesting story. In case you forgot, Techmeme provides the hottest must-read tech stories using a combination of computer algorithms and human editors. Threads are compiled of related posts from across the blogosphere with the “best” at the top. You can usually tell how popular a topic is (or how linkbait-worthy it is) by how long that thread gets. Check out the list on the Techmeme blog.

Murdoch Joins Twitter. Wendi Deng a Fake.

Over the holiday weekend, we saw two interesting accounts pop up on Twitter. The first was founder, Chairman, and CEO of News Corporation Rupert Murdoch. He’s made a few missteps so far and even mentioned his Twitter activities might be agitating those close to him, but nothing all that serious happened overall. The interesting twist comes with the Wendi Deng account, which many initially believed to be fake anyway. While Murdoch’s account sported Twitter’s verified badge, Wendi Deng did not. There was some interaction between the two accounts and the Deng account was eventually verified, but this badge was quickly removed after the account was revealed to be a fake.

This is pretty bad for Twitter. There is currently no way to verify if a Twitter account is real unless it has a Verified badge or you actually know the person. In this case, the Wendi Deng account was verified but actually run by some random British dude as a joke. He says Twitter never even contacted him to verify the account, they just did. To make matters worse, Twitter is dead silent on the issue and has never shared their method for verifying accounts. So this begs the question: Can we really trust the Verified badge?

more at GigaOm

Google Puts the Slap Down on…Chrome?

In an interesting twist of events, Google was forced to take action against their own web browser’s search engine rankings. In a statement to Search Engine Land, Google states:

We’ve investigated and are taking manual action to demote www.google.com/chrome and lower the site’s PageRank for a period of at least 60 days.

We strive to enforce Google’s webmaster guidelines consistently in order to provide better search results for users.

While Google did not authorize this campaign, and we can find no remaining violations of our webmaster guidelines, we believe Google should be held to a higher standard, so we have taken stricter action than we would against a typical site.

Searching for “browser” no longer returns the Google Chrome landing page on the first page of results. Apparently, Google hired someone to promote Chrome. This company hired yet another company to do some marketing, which led to a controversial paid post promotion for Chrome. While controversial, this paid posts promotion didn’t cause issue until one of the participants actually linked directly to the Chrome download page within text accompanying the video ad.

via Geeks Are Sexy

BitTorrent Goes at Dropbox

BitTorrent Inc. has launched a file sharing solution that is eventually going to attract negative attention simply because it’s so useful for users. Launched on Thursday, Share will allow you to transfer files of any size to other users. Both people do not need to be online at the same time as the files are cached in the cloud. Even with the plethora of cloud storage solutions out there, it’s still hard sometimes to share a large file. This is especially true if you create music and other media as these files are usually too large to “fit” on any of these cloud solutions. BitTorrent aims to pivot share into a “P2P-powered personal cloud storage system,” where users receive free storage for sharing a bit of hard drive space.

via GigaOm

Apps Year in Review

GigaOM lays out what has happen so far this year in the world of mobile apps and predicts what we will see in 2012. We started using apps more than web browsers, iOS still the hot spot for devs who want to get paid (even though Android continues to dominate in unit sales), and Google still hasn’t fixed the Android update problem. As we roll into 2012, HyLoMo (a cutesy way of referring to the “hyper-local mobile trend) will continue to spread and gain popularity.

Voice control will improve across the board as competition heats up in this space. Nuance, the company behind Apple’s Siri, bought Vlingo earlier this month. Google also allegedly has some major updates on the horizon for Voice Search on Android. While NFC will likely gain popularity, it may not be only for payments, but for checking in and unlocking deals.

iOS & Android a Hit for Christmas

According to the numbers from Flurry Analytics, iOS and Android device activations jumped 353% on Christmas Day as compared to December of last year.

Over this period, daily activations had little variance, ranging between 1.3 to 1.8 million, with an average of 1.5 million. On Christmas Day, activations jumped to more than 6.8 million, a 353% increase over the baseline. Compared to Christmas Day 2010, the previous single-day record, with 2.8 million device activations, Christmas 2011 grew by more than 140%.

With this huge jump in smart phone activations came a jump in overall app downloads, which jumped 125% on Christmas Day as compared to the average downloads in the first 20 days of last December. Flurry expects this appetite for apps (pun intended) to continue through New Years, estimating 1 billion total downloads.

GoDaddy Boycott Didn’t Hurt Business

TechDirt reports that the widespread GoDaddy boycott incited by their support of SOPA hasn’t seemed to hurt business any. It’s not as if GoDaddy was the darling of the web and domain hosting world, but it does seem odd that Daily Changes shows GoDaddy “actually had a strongly positive day, netting 20,748 more domains at the end of the day than the beginning.” Namecheap, which seems to be the main company capitalizing on GoDaddy’s SOPA misstep, was quick to point out that they have received 80,000 transfers in. This seems to indicate that results from Daily Changes may not be accurate and we may have to wait for the dust to settle before calling this one.

Insync Gets a Face-Lift and Goes Free

When I first heard about Insync, it didn’t make any sense to me. Why would I need to sync my Google Docs to my computer? I can already access them via the web. Now that Insync has gone free, I decided to actually try it out and it actually a good competitor to Dropbox (of which I am a huge fan). Insync basically lets you upload your MP3, exe, dmg, MS Office documents, etc. to the cloud and keeps everything in sync with your Google account. Now that the service is free to use, they will open up their user base and become more of a problem for Dropbox, who charges about 8x more for additional storage than Google does. It may be ok to break up with Dropbox, but I’ll be hanging on to both.

via TechCrunch

Google+ Launches Major Improvements Before the New Year

Google+ launched a number of improvements and goodies this week for your enjoyment over the holidays. One of the most important updates IMHO are better notifications. I’ve enjoyed using Google+ since their launch, but browser notifications were messy and often just didn’t work at all. Notifications now provide easy-to-read “sneak previews” that focus on what you care about and are no longer dominated by random people adding you to circles.

In keeping with the theme of focusing on what you care about, Google+ has also introduced fine-grained controls for controlling how much you see from each of your circles. As you traverse your circles, you will see controls that enable you to “graphic-equalize” and fine-tune your streams. Google+ Pages, among other updates, now allow up to 50 named managers as administrators for a page and a new notification flow. For the photogs out there, Google+ now boasts an enhanced photos experience.

via Google

AT&T and T-Mobile Merger Shot Down

As their merger is slapped down by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, AT&T says that “customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.” This sounds like a serious threat, but AT&T in this case is referring to the “mounting need for more spectrum.” The merger with T-Mobile would have been an interim solution to this problem. As I mentioned back in March when this merger was announced, T-Mobile could come out ahead if the deal fell through. Looks like AT&T is going to be paying a serious early termination fee for this wireless agreement:

To reflect the break-up considerations due Deutsche Telekom, AT&T will recognize a pretax accounting charge of $4 billion in the 4th quarter of 2011. Additionally, AT&T will enter a mutually beneficial roaming agreement with Deutsche Telekom.

via AT&T

Wolverine Pirate to Do 1 Year in Prison

Gilberto Sanchez, 49 year old Bronx resident, has been sentenced to one year in federal prison for “uploading a copyrighted work being prepared for commercial distribution.” Apparently, Sanchez obtained a workprint release of “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (wonder where he got that from) and subsequently uploaded it to MegaUpload. Even though the movie was taken down within a day or so, it had already spread like wildfire. Judge Morrow also imposed one year of supervised release and numerous computer restrictions.

“The federal prison sentence handed down in this case sends a strong message of deterrence to would-be Internet pirates,” said United States Attorney André Birotte Jr. “The Justice Department will pursue and prosecute persons who seek to steal the intellectual property of this nation.”

While I understand the importance of protecting copyrighted works, this seems an inefficient way to go about it and a bit extreme. Digital piracy and copyright infringement have been going on for decades now with no end in sight. Prosecuting the individuals doing the downloading and minor distribution seems about as efficient as locking up drug addicts and corner hustlers has been in the war on drugs.

via Deadline

Samsung Says No ICS For You

For those of you who snatched up the Galaxy S smart phone (which sold 10 million units last year) or the 7-inch Galaxy Tab tablet, Samsung says you won’t be upgraded to Android 4.0. Samsung says this is because the hardware cannot support Android 4.0 in addition to TouchWiz and other “experience-enhancing” software. What’s odd here is that the Galaxy S has the same basic hardware specs as the Nexus S, which is already in the process of receiving an OTA update of Ice Cream Sandwich. With sweeping moves like this, we may see “rooting” become a matter of course as users take control of their smartphones and run the latest software.

via The Verge

Facebook Timeline Available Everywhere

Facebook launched Timeline in limited form a while back, but now it is available to all worldwide. In addition to Facebook.com,  Timeline is also now active on Android and m.facebook.com. It’s a new spin on your Facebook profile that allows you and your friends to easily see posts all the way back to the birth of your account. As Facebook puts it, Timeline lets you “tell your life store with a new kind of profile” and it’s definitely not the type of profile layout we might be used to.

While it seems that Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ seem to have come to an agreement on how profiles should be handled (based on early designs from FriendFeed, who now work at Facebook), Facebook is definitely taking a step in a whole different direction here. Check out Facebook’s introduction to Timeline and click “Get Timeline” to get started immediately.

Gowalla Checks in at Facebook. Permanently

Gowalla, considered a competitor to location-based check-in service Foursquare by most, has officially announced they will be acquired by Facebook. After attending the F8 conference, the Gowalla team was “blown away” by Facebook’s developments. Facebook contacted them and the rest will soon be history as they agreed that joining forces would work for both sides. Gowalla as a service will be shutting down towards the end of January and will provide an easy way to export Passport data, Stamp and Pin data, and photos. While Facebook will be acquiring the Gowalla talent, it doesn’t appear they will be getting the data. Of course, this hasn’t stopped people from rushing to shut down their Gowalla accounts ASAP.

via Gowalla

Why Android is “Laggy”

There was much discussion this week on why, as compared to iOS, Android seems laggy or slow to respond in some cases. We first saw a post from Andrew Munn who said that iOS prioritizes user interactions over anything else while Android takes a more standard approach to multitasking. He concluded that the entire Android framework would need to be re-written to provide similar functionality. Days later, +Dianne Hackborn (an actual Android framework engineer), refuted most of the original post and provided some insight into what actually is going on here. Ultimately, she concludes that the secure sandbox architecture of Android is the cause of performance overhead and that faster hardware will be the solution. Definitely worth the read if you’re into mobile development.

Google Launches Sexy Social Reading App: Currents

Google is not well-known for creating beautiful interfaces, but has done very well creating useful apps and services. Their new mobile app Currents (available for Android and iOS) is a bit of both, though. Not only does it provide you with most of your favorite online publications at your fingertips, but they are presented in a beautiful and clean user interface.

Google Currents is a new application for Android devices, iPads and iPhones that lets you explore online magazines and other content with the swipe of a finger. It brings together this content in a beautiful and simple way so you can easily navigate between words, pictures and video on your smartphone or tablet. — Google Mobile Blog

Currents is likely geared toward tablet users, but still works and looks awesome on my Android smartphone. It appears Google thinks they can take a bite out of Flipboard’s pie. Initially launched exclusively on iPad, Flipboard just recently launched for iPhone, but still doesn’t cover Android at all. Currents still has a way to go, though. One major party foul is that it doesn’t save your place when you switch apps.

via 9to5Google

Facebook Subscribe Button for Websites

The Facebook Subscribe feature lets users subscribe to your updates without actually being your friend on Facebook. Now, Facebook is launching the Subscribe Button for Websites. This handy-dandy button lets users subscribe to your Facebook updates in one click from your own website. This subscribe action is also shared to the user’s feed for all their “friends” to see, which allows others to subscribe to you directly from the news feed and creates opportunity for your page to go viral.

via Facebook

WordPress 3.3 “Sonny” Released

The latest version of WordPress software was released earlier this week. WordPress 3.3, named “Sonny”in honor of the great jazz saxophonist Sonny Stitt, brings significant changes and polish to the wordpress interface in addition to a few bells and whistles. Most interesting are the Tumblr importer and drag-and-drop uploader, but they’ve also focused on new WordPress users. There is now help info integrated across the user interface. The dashboard exprience on tablets has also been enhanced and there are is “a ton of candy” for developers.

via WordPress.org

Want Windows Phone 7? Complain About Android Malware.

According to Naked Security, Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 campaign focuses on Android users. More specifically, those Android users who have been victims of Android malware. I’m not a fan of brands attacking their competition to succeed, but Microsoft’s Windows Phone “evangelist” Ben Rudolph seems to think this is the way to go. He’s adopted the hashtag #droidrage, which links to articles about Android malware. Rudolph says he will give an “upgrade” to a Windows Phone to the “5 best (worst?)” stories. There is even a #droidrage Christmas song.

Siri for iPhone 4?

CultOfMac reports that changes in iOS 5.0.1 make a Siri port legally possible and more practical to implement by opening up access to previously encrypted system files. Existing hacks of Siri on the iPhone 4 are not only illegal due to using copyrighted binaries from the iPhone 4S, but also require using a third-party servers in China to transfer data.

MuscleNerd, a prominent figure in the jailbreaking and hacking community, recently tweeted that the iOS 5.0.1 update from today features decrypted ramdisks, making it possible to extract the necessary files for a Siri port without infringing on Apple’s copyright. MuscleNerd said, “it’s the first public 4S ipsw where the main filesystem keys are obtainable (due to non-encrypted ramdisks).”

The Carrier IQ Privacy Debacle

Carrier IQ is at the center of the latest privacy debacle in tech. There is a lot of outrage, misinformation, and pageview chasing surrounding the event. It started when a security researcher published a YouTube video of the Carrier IQ software accessing all types of personal information. This seems to include everything from messages and call info to actual keystrokes. This would lead one to believe that your wireless carrier has all types of personal information about you and that is what everyone is in an uproar about.

In reality, it appears that Carrier IQ doesn’t share most of this data. According to Carrier IQ, your personal data is ignored. They are not reading your texts and emails or trying to figure out where you are. The huge amount of data being collected is used by carriers to provide better service. Contrary to popular belief, this is not just an Android issue. Carrier IQ exists on over 150 million devices worldwide. In addition to most Android devices, this includes Blackberry, iPhone, and some Nokia devices. Apple stopped supporting Carrier IQ as of iOS 5 and will completely remove it in a future update. Samsung and HTC have already been hit by a wiretapping lawsuit. If you’re worried, there are options for getting rid of Carrier IQ now.

RIM to Secure Android and iOS Devices

Since the smartphone market has become all about Android and iOS, RIM has taken a serious hit. Even in the business sector, where they have previously dominated, users are tending to stick with their personal devices and these are rarely ever Blackberrys. This is not only alarming for RIM’s bottom line, but also a concern for corporate security. This opens the door for RIM to stay in the game by providing the same secure services for Android, iPhone, and others that corporations have depended on via their Blackberry devices.

Mobile Fusion, due in late March, will allow corporate information technology staff to set and monitor rules for passwords, apps and software on a range of devices, including Apple’s iPad and iPhone, and smartphones using the Android operating system.

via Reuters

Facebook Settles with FTC

Facebook was forced to settle with the FTC this week against charges that they “deceived consumers by telling them they could keep their information on Facebook private, and then repeatedly allowing it to be shared and made public.” The settlement is the result of a long history of opt-out privacy features and changes from Facebook. Even the most tech savvy users out there are sometimes confused and/or overwhelmed by Facebook’s privacy policies and features. The settlement will force Facebook to “take several steps to make sure it lives up to its promises in the future.” This includes giving users clear alerts and confirmation before sharing their data beyond the user’s established privacy settings.

via The FTC

Sprint Finally Swoops in to Save Clearwire

Not that they really had a choice, but Sprint has decided on a deal to spend $1.6 billion over the next four years to help Clearwire stay in business. Sprint, who already owns half of the company, depends heavily on Clearwire for its 4G WiMAX service. They will pay $926 million between 2012 and 2013 for unlimited 4G WiMAX services. Not the ideal situation for either company, but they are forced to work together given their position.

Basically both companies were like Arctic explorers stuck out in the freezing cold. They can’t go it alone, but if they huddle together for warmth they might just have a chance.

via GigaOm

No Flash for Ice Cream Sandwich

Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich,  is launching on the new Galaxy Nexus phone minus one standout feature of most Android devices: Adobe Flash. This has been one of the primary differences between Apple’s iPhone and Android devices. Following Adobe’s announcement that they will no longer support mobile Flash and are moving in the direction of HTML 5, this is actually not that surprising. Even though the Galaxy Nexus has no Flash at this time, all is not lost. Google made the following statement on the matter:

“Flash hasn’t been released for ICS yet so as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS.” – Google

via SlashGear

The Facebook Phone is Real, But They Aren’t Building It

Facebook's "Buffy" Phone

The Facebook Phone has been rumored to be in the works for a couple of years now. Of course, no one at Facebook is owning up to it. AllthingsD recently uncovered a few new tidbits about the rumored device, including a partnership with HTC to actually manufacture it.

Code-named “Buffy,” after the television vampire slayer, the phone is planned to run on a modified version of Android that Facebook has tweaked heavily to deeply integrate its services, as well as to support HTML5 as a platform for applications, according to sources familiar with the project.

MG Siegler, who wrote about this upcoming device over a year ago, points out that Facebook is playing a game of semantics. Of course they’re not physically building a device. “No Facebook employee is actually on an assembly line building phone hardware,” so they can always deny it when asked if they’re making a Facebook phone. Siegler goes on to point out that they must “build” a phone to stay in the game since mobile is the future.

So no, there’s no Facebook Phone. Until a year from now when there is one. Consider it fait accompli. — MG Siegler

Google Shutting Down Wave, Google Friend Connect, and Others

Google is set to shut down a number of services as they continue their spring cleaning out of season. Some of the more well-known names include: Google Friend Connect, Google Gears, Google Wave, and Knol. Google is known for launching products, sometimes that compete with each other, and later shutting them down. They pretty much throw things at the wall to see what sticks and try to learn from the experience. I would call this failing fast and it seems to have worked for them so far. With the rise of HTML5 and Google+, it’s easy to see why some of these services are no longer needed.

Barack Obama Joins Google+

While the White House has yet to show up on the latest and greatest social network, Barack Obama now has a Google+ Page setup. The page was outed by Steve Grove, head of community partnerships for Google+. Initially, this was the only indication that the account was legit, but it has since been officially verified and sports the Verified Name check mark. The account appears to be in use for the 2012 campaign. The About page currently states: “This is the official Google+ page of Obama for America, President Barack Obama’s 2012 campaign. Follow to say you’re in for 2012.” We also find one of the earlier posts, which says:

Welcome to the Obama 2012 Google+ page. We’re still kicking the tires and figuring this out, so let us know what you’d like to see here and your ideas for how we can use this space to help you stay connected to the campaign.

Obama and his team have made good use of social media in the past, so it’s expected that they would try to get ahead of the curve. Go add Obama to your circles and check out the photos and videos currently available.