Archive for the ‘IT’ Category

Angry Birds Movie Begins To Take Shape

July 8th, 2011

Development for an Angry Birds movie is being hatched with the help of a former Marvel Studios executive, but the movie won’t be hitting multiplexes until 2014 at the earliest.

Rovio, the creator of Angry Birds, hired former Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel as a special adviser last week. Maisel, who left Marvel in 2009 after Walt Disney Co. bought the studio for $4 billion, will be executive producer on the yet-untitled flick.

“There has been so much chatter about an Angry Birds movie, but now it’s real,” Maisel told. “The process is starting now.” Maisel was at Marvel from 2003 to 2009, and executive produced Iron Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger.

Bringing Maisel on is Rovio’s latest steps toward expanding its Angry Birds franchise into feature films. Last month, the company bought Finnish animation studio Kombo, which will start working on short films using the Angry Birds characters. The development of a full-length movie, however, will take three or four years, Peter Vesterbacka, Rovio’s chief marketing officer, told The Telegraph last month. Vesterbacka said Rovio is open to working with Hollywood studios, but added, “We don’t have to do what everyone else is

Rovio is also betting big on the continuing popularity of the franchise, which has only been around for two years. Will fans continue to be loyal to Angry Birds in three or four years, or will they have moved on to something else? Tell us what you think in the comments.

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Now, hide Facebook from your boss by converting it into an Excel sheet!

July 8th, 2011

Melbourne, July 06 (ANI): Now, you can easily check your Facebook account at your work place without the fear of being caught by your boss.

A website developed by a university student allows you to automatically convert your Facebook news feeds into an Excel spreadsheet, reports the Herald Sun.

Users can instantly see what their friends are up to on Facebook with updates appearing as new spreadsheet rows.

Uploaded pictures and videos can be viewed by hovering over the entries, and users can interact by “liking” the updates with a simple click on the spreadsheet.

The page, with its intentionally corporate look, is slyly titled “daily cash reconciliation” so wasting work time appears to nosy onlookers as diligent financial work.

The HardlyWork.in site was created by Yale computer science major Bay Gross, 20, after a friend doing a government internship told him she had to wait until after work to read his Facebook updates. (ANI)

 

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Blackberry to launch Playbook this month

June 13th, 2011

After mobile phones, the competition is hotting up for “tablets” in India with BlackBerry-maker Research in Motion (RIM) all set to launch its PlayBook in the country later this month to face the likes of Apple”s iPad and Samsung”s Galaxy Tab.

The Canadian firm will launch PlayBook in Indian markets and some other countries this month, sources said. According to the company”s website, the PlayBook is scheduled to be launched in 16 countries, including the UK, Netherlands, Hong Kong, Australia, UAE and India.

“The price is going to be competitive with the other products and in line with the global pricing as well,” they said.

The price in India could range between Rs 22,000 and Rs 32,000, depending upon its storage capacity, from 16 GB to 64 GB.

Globally, PlayBook is available at USD 499, USD 599 and USD 699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB versions, respectively.

Since the launch of Apple”s iPad, the tablet market is witnessing huge competition, with new contenders launching their devices. A tablet PC, though smaller in size, has PC-like functionalities.

Apple”s rival in the computing space, Dell had launched the ”Streak” last year in India, while homegrown telecom handset makers like Spice and Olive have also launched similar devices at much lower price points.

The BlackBerry tablet has received a mixed response from the markets where it has been launched. According to reports, unlike rival iPad, which sold like hot cakes on its launch in April last year, the PlayBook just sold 50,000 copies in the first week of its launch on April 19 in the US and Canada.

BlackBerry has over one million users in India and RIM would target them.

The PlayBook is a seven-inch tablet that runs on a new operating system built by QNX Software Systems — a RIM unit that makes software used to run everything from cars to nuclear reactors.

On a PlayBook, users can go online only using a Wi-Fi network or by synchronising the device to their BlackBerry smartphones.

According to analysts, sales in the tablet PC segment in India are expected to touch one million units over the next 12 months.

With 3G (high-speed internet services) being rolled out aggressively, the opportunity has only expanded, they said.

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How to protect our personal data from hackers

June 13th, 2011

Computer hackers have an ability to cause chaos by using personal data that they have stolen. But the theft can be prevented if people are careful with their information.

Personal finance expert Carmen Wong Ulrich shared advice during a talk on ‘The Early Show on Saturday Morning’ on how to protect personal information and what to do when hackers get their hands on it.

“The first line of defense is always your passwords, and the information on your computer,” CBS News quoted Ulrich as telling co-anchor Betty Nguyen.

“Make sure you go right to your computer, change your log-in information and password information on everything from your credit card accounts to where you shop through retailers and your email, as well because, as we saw-Google and Yahoo – the hackers are coming in from everywhere,” she said.

Ulrich, author of ‘The Real Cost of Living’, said almost three-quarters of us use the same password on several accounts.

“Please stop doing that! Protect the banking part as much as you can, because the hackers will come in from the company side. But they’re coming in on your side, too,” she implored.

“Also, use one computer, if you can, to do your banking. I know it’s hard (with everyone using so many different devices). Try to do it all on one computer. That limits exposure.

“And, never, ever do banking or do transactions online on an open Wi-Fi. It’s very tempting because it’s so easy. You could be sitting in a coffee shop or the airport or wherever you are. Squatters will sit there and scour that Wi-Fi. So definitely don’t do that.

“And don’t use your debit card online. This runs counter (to conventional wisdom), because credit cards, people say, are bad. But a credit card protects you and your cash.

“Of course, there’s (a) liability (limit) with your debit card. But who wants their accounts emptied of cash? Instead, use your credit card online, so at least you don’t expose yourself, cash-wise,” she stated.

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Mobile Web or Mobile Apps?

June 13th, 2011

With the continued advancement of HTML5 technology, marketers and publishers are beginning to debate the necessity of investing in mobile applications, as mobile websites become increasingly sophisticated. Why develop for numerous platforms – such as Android, iPhone and BlackBerry, for example – when you can develop just once in HTML5?

Speaking at the OMMA Mobile conference in New York City this morning, however, Louis Gump, VP of mobile for CNN, suggested attempting to choose between the two strategies is “like asking which wheel you’d rather have on a bicycle.”

Acknowledging that it would be “great” to develop just once for a range of devices, Gump stressed that consumers continue to consume media and content through both channels. “Start with the consumer in mind… If you’re trying to decide between mobile web and apps the answer is both, and both are going to continue to grow, we believe,” he said.

Despite that outlook, Gump did suggest a tipping point would eventually be reached, and implied mobile web could eventually replace the native application. “If history is any guide, mobile web will have some major event that helps it come around, he said.

For a publisher such as CNN that approach makes complete sense, as it attempts to cultivate the largest audience it can, regardless of platform. According to Ken Harlan, co-founder and President of mobile ad network MobileFuse, however, the mobile web holds greater ad promise than apps.

“We definitely feel that’s going to be where a large portion of the traffic is over time. We just don’t know when that’s going to be,” Harlan told ClickZ, adding “We’re servicing both channels, and I’m not going to make that bet, but we’re not focusing on apps.”

One important distinction between the two channels remains the issue of tracking and targeting, however. In-app measurement remains far more effective than that on the mobile web, thanks largely to the fragmented way in which mobile devices handle cookies. Despite that fact, Harlan believes his network’s strength in mobile web sets it apart from its rivals. “Mobile web is probably 65 percent of our traffic. We’ve concentrated more on mobile web than anyone else,” he said.

For agencies and advertisers, however, those metrics are essential to justify continued investment in the channel, and many focus their media buys on the app space as a result. “In-app is easier than mobile web to measure. We can get pretty accurate and similar metrics to those we would get online,” explained Paul Gelb, VP and mobile practice lead for Publicis-owned Razorfish.

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Why Apple’s 11 Inch MacBook Air is TSA approved?

June 13th, 2011

Have you heard? Apple’s new 11-inch MacBook Air is preapproved for airport security. That’s right: Carry one of those bad boys through a TSA checkpoint, and you don’t even have to take it out of your bag.

So what sets the MacBook Air apart from other noncheckpoint-friendly notebooks? It isn’t that the TSA is full of certified Apple fanboys. The truth is that it all comes down to size.

Though Apple doesn’t consider the 11-inch MacBook Air a netbook, the computer’s small profile puts it in the same category as netbook-designated devices — at least, in the eyes of Homeland Security. We tech folks may look at things like specs and price tags when categorizing a computer, but the TSA is more concerned with how much space the system takes up.

In the case of Apple’s 11-inch MacBook Air, the fact that the computer is “smaller than a standard-size laptop” is the sole reason the TSA green-lighted it to stay inside your carry-on at airport security. As first reported by CNN, the MacBook Air is seen by the government as the same type of gadget as an iPad, an e-reader, or — yep, you guessed it — a netbook.

“Small and portable electronic items … should not need to be removed from their carrying cases,” a TSA spokesperson tells me.

The big question, then, is where we draw the “small item” line.

Would Apple’s new 13-inch MacBook Air, for example, be OK to go through an airport checkpoint while inside a bag? What about ultraportable but high-performing notebooks on the PC side of the equation — will they get the same security love as Apple’s 11-inch Air? What is the “standard size” of a laptop nowadays, anyway?

It turns out there’s no easy answer.

In the case of the 13-inch MacBook Air, the TSA has yet to reach a final verdict, according to CNN. A TSA representative did tell me that anything “similar in size to an iPad” should generally be safe to stay in your bag. She was unable, however, to provide any firm guidelines as to what separates a “small and portable electronic item” from a full-fledged laptop. Long story short, there is no magic number.

Rather than obsess over the size of your gizmo, then, the smartest option may be to go with a checkpoint-friendly laptop bag. Throw your notebook, netbook, or whatever you want to call it in one of those suckers and — unless you’re flagged for extra screening — you should be able to breeze right through airport security.

And yes, by “breeze right through,” I mean “waddle through shoeless while hanging onto your unbelted pants and the little dignity you have remaining.”

But hey, at least you won’t have to unpack your laptop.

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The Story Behind Google’s Interactive Les Paul Guitar Logo

June 13th, 2011

On 9th June’s morning, millions of people logged onto the Google homepage and saw a newly designed Google logo in the shape of a guitar to honor Les Paul on what would have been his 96th birthday. They’ve been creating these Google doodles for a decade – usually honoring holidays and special anniversaries – but this one was different. Users could drag their cursor over the guitar strings and actually play songs, and even record their work for posterity. Within hours of the posting, users had posted videos of themselves playing “Stairway To Heaven,” “Hey Jude” and many other songs. “We were just overwhelmed with the positive response,” Ryan Germick, the Google Team Lead behind the project, tells Rolling Stone. “People just took it and ran with it.”

The guitar chords you hear actually began with Google’s Creative Lab Designer Alexander Chen’s own Les Paul guitar. “I basically just played 20 or 30 notes and then chose the ones that made sense for the doodle,” says Chen. “I specifically chose G because that was the first set of chords that I learned on the guitar and that was the one most people learn. I thought that would be a fun way to have a sort of beginner-style guitar entry point.”

Chen was well equipped to help create the Doodle: he’s released a series of albums with the projects Boy in Static and Consulate General. “It’s indie pop with some sort of experimental shoegaze-y noise layers,” he says. “I’ve opened for bands at some pretty big venues, like Irving Plaza. But I’ve sort of switched gears and now do more of this music and art intersection instead of the normal recording of albums.”

Google’s entire design team was thrilled by the creative ways in which people used the Doodle. “Some of the most unexpected uses are the ones that delight us the most,” says Chen. “We saw a YouTube video where people brought three computers and were playing as a trio. We didn’t totally anticipate that. It’s just kind of neat to see people giving each other music lessons all over the Internet.”

The Doodle is going to come down this weekend, but it probably isn’t going away forever. “Our interactive Pacman Doodle from last year was so popular we kept it alive at google.com/pacman,” says Germick. “Our engineers are working on a way to keep the guitar Doodle alive. I think it will continue to see life.”

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Smartphones Preferred Over Computers for Web Access

June 2nd, 2011

More than one-half of smartphone owners (55.9%) say they prefer using a smartphone to a computer when accessing the Internet, according to a new survey from Prosper Mobile Insights. Moreover, some 52.9% of smartphone owners say they use all of the functions of their smartphone, so much so that “it’s their life.”

Another 30.4% of surveyed smartphone owners say they use the basic functions of their device plus a few apps, whereas 16.7% use their smartphone just for calling, text messaging, and email.

Below, additional findings from a report by Prosper Mobile Insights, based on a survey of 102 smartphone users who completed the survey via smartphone.

Asked which device function they can’t live without, most smartphone owners cite texting (21.6%), accessing the Internet (16.7%), or sending/receiving email (15.7%). Fewer users can’t live without calling features (7.8%), GPS (6.9%), access to Facebook (5.9%), or apps (4.9%).

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IPv6 is here. How does this affect email?

June 2nd, 2011

IPv6 will change how we use the internet, again. To the typical user, there is no difference; web sites work the same. But email is a different story.

When using IPv6, addresses are allocated in a different manner. Most end-users today get one IP address, which is shared between multiple machines using a Network Address Translation (NAT) router. In IPv6, each user gets an address block – a /64 – of address space. This is great news, because end-to-end application on the Internet will work much better, and there will be no NAT in the way.

A /64 is a huge amount of space – 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 IP addresses, to be precise. Looking at it another way, each end-user will get more than all of the address space available on the existing IPv4 internet. 4 billion times more!

That means that each of the devices in your home – your computers, phones, tablet computers, game centers, etc – all have their own address. There is no configuration required for this – it just works.

Unfortunately, this is also going to make it easy for spammers. Today, we can block spam by refusing mail from the IP address it is coming from. With more than 150M computers sending spam, this is hard – but we can do it.

With IPv6, the spammers can change. Because they get a block of addresses, they can send 1,000,000,000 spam messages each second, each using a different IPv6 address, for 500 years before they have to re-use an address! And, when they run out, they can just disconnect their modem, re-connect it, and get a new address block to do it all over again.

We’ve come up with the technology to deal with this, and will be making it available as IPv6 use increases over the coming months.

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YouSendIt Hits 30 Million Users, Bests Dropbox

May 30th, 2011

File-sharing service YouSendIt.com recently shared some impressive numbers with us: The Campbell, California-based company surpassed 30 million unique users in the past 12 months. The news prompted its PR team to send out a self-congratulatory note to journalists featuring the provocative subject line, “Dropbox who?”

The goosed growth comes on the heels of YouSendIt’s partnership with Yahoo Mail, which helped add a million users in roughly two months. But the uptick also comes at a difficult time for file-sharing services, which have been joined by more and more competitors eager to enter the lucrative cloud space.

From hot startups like Box.net and Dropbox to industry giants like Amazon and IBM, the cloud is increasingly becoming a large part of the lives of consumers and integral to enterprise clients.

With 60% revenue growth in 2010, however, it appears YouSendIt is defending its market position well in the wild, wild west of the cloud industry.

Still, while YouSendIt has chosen to highlight total unique users, the real proof of a company’s success is its registered and premium usership. Currently, YouSendIt has 400,000 paid subscribers and 18 million registered users–by comparison, Dropbox boasted of reaching 25 million registered users in April.

In other words, it’s cloudy in Silicon Valley.

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