On Friday, Facebook’s privacy policy will change its name to “Data Use Policy.” And that’s not the only thing the social network is changing.
“The changes reflect the fact that Facebook is extending its data collecting tentacles in all directions: towards people who never even signed up for Facebook, activities that aren’t clearly defined as sharing, and mediums that aren’t clearly defined as advertising,” said Sarah Downey of Abine, an online privacy company.
According to ReadWriteWeb, changes include allowing friends to give apps access to your personal information, banning multiple accounts, and requiring users to keep their profile and contact information up to date.
There are also updates on the rules for developers, some of which Facebook doesn’t even adhere to. These include making it easier for users to remove the application and deleting user data if used in inappropriate ways or if requested by the user.
Concerned? Unfortunately, if you access Facebook on Friday or thereafter, you have agreed to the new terms and there’s no way to opt out. “This Statement is take it or leave it: users agree to it simply by using Facebook,” said Downey. “Most of them will never know when or if the Terms change, let alone what they mean.”
The new Nielsen Cross-Platform Campaign Ratings service will offer clients a way to measure cross-platform traffic over TV and the Internet to aid media planning and advertising campaigns.
“The goal is to overcome challenges posed by separate media planning, buying and analysis processes for TV and the Internet, and to answer a growing demand by advertisers for cross-platform measurement tools that help them streamline their marketing strategies,” said Nielsen and partner GroupM, a media agency.
“Cross-platform metrics are essential to both buyers and sellers of advertising,” said Steve Hasker, president of media products and advertiser solutions for Nielsen. “Every day, we’re hearing from advertisers, online publishers, TV networks and agencies that a better system of measurement is required.”
The service may also add more data from additional media platforms in the future, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Sources say that HP will be combining its printing and PC businesses into one unit. The core profit-earning Imaging and Printing Group (IMG) will be consolidated with the struggling Personal Systems Group (PSG), which HP had considered spinning off.
“HP sees the two business groups — IPG sells printers both to consumers and businesses and PSG sells PCs to consumers and businesses — as making more operational sense combined than apart the source said. The plan is to have their line of business more readily integrated so they can approach customers together and with unified product offerings,” reports AllThingsD.
The executive VP of IPG, Vyomesh Joshi, will leave the company in the reorganization and Todd Bradley, the executive VP of PSG will take over the joint venture.
The combination of the groups is an effort to cut costs. The PSG has been struggling in the PC market and IPG saw a drop in sales and earnings in the last quarter.
A study conducted by North Carolina State University found that more than half of the apps on Google Play market have “ad libraries” that put users’ security and privacy at risk.
The more aggressive ad libraries on some of the apps make users vulnerable to malware by downloading and running code from remote servers. These ad libraries also enable third parties and hackers to download harmful code.
They are also used to track users’ location using GPS for targeted advertising. Some ad libraries access personal information like phone numbers, call logs and lists of all the apps stored on the phone.
“The current model of directly embedding ad libraries in mobile apps does make it convenient for app developers, but also fundamentally introduces privacy and security risks. The best solution would be for Google, Apple and other mobile platform providers to take the lead in providing effective ad-isolation mechanisms,” said Dr. Xuxian Jiang, assistant professor of computer science at the university and co-author of the paper.
Analyst Chetan Sharma released a report that found 90 percent of tablets are using Wi-Fi, not cellular networks even if they are capable.
“One key reason is that U.S. carriers don’t allow users to share a data plan with other devices, something that Sharma said should change this year,” reports AllThingsD. “Those that offer such shared data plans will fare better than those that stick to a plan for each device, Sharma said.”
The report also found that smartphones are using more and more data, up 19 percent in the last quarter from a year ago. Today, data accounts for 39 percent of overall revenue in the U.S. cellphone market.
“However, monthly revenue per customer — a key industry metric — is tailing off. Data continues to grow, but is no longer offsetting the decline in voice revenue. The U.S. industry saw average monthly revenue per customer drop by 43 cents, as a 52-cent per customer gain in data was more than offset by a 96-cent per customer decline in voice,” the article states.
A survey from Appcelerator found that developers’ interest in the Android platform has declined, with those “very interested” now under 80 percent compared to the 89 percent who are supportive of Apple’s iOS.
On the Android platform, developers have to take into account the various formats of different manufacturers.
“Our thought is a lot of developers are unhappy with the fragmentation of the platform as well as the fragmentation of the monetization platform,” said Mike King, Appcelerator’s principal mobile strategist. “Those things make it very difficult if you’re a developer to make money on Android.”
This negative trend by developers could spell trouble for Google’s Android.
“If programmers continue to lose interest in OS, major apps could start to disappear from the Android Market and show up in competitors’ mobile stores, making other platforms more attractive to handset and tablet users,” suggests Mobiledia.
The deal has not been finalized and the details are uncertain, but sources close to the matter suggest headphone maker Beats Electronics is acquiring the subscription music service MOG.
Phone manufacturer HTC is the majority owner of Beats. The company is interested in MOG’s deals with the major music labels and its music service, which could be offered on HTC handsets.
“MOG raised a reported $25 million over the course of its corporate history, and $15 million in the last few years, as it bolted a music service onto an ad network, its original business,” reports AllThingsD. “Last spring, it went looking for another $25 million to $30 million, and apparently ended up with this deal instead.”
MOG doesn’t have a strong following with only 500,000 active users, but its collaboration with Facebook and its “frictionless sharing” program has resulted in 130,000 people using the service at least once a month. However, insiders say the subscriber base isn’t the focus but rather the deals with the labels.
The Motion Picture Association of America has accused the digital locker service Hotfile for promoting piracy, attributing it’s rapid success to the sponsoring of digital theft.
Google has stepped in, supporting Hotfile and Internet freedom. The company said that no Internet company, Hotfile included, is required “to affirmatively monitor their services for possible infringement,” and it is not their job to report users for potential copyright violation.
“Google bases its defense of Hotfile on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which provides a ‘safe harbor’ for sites like YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia when they’re accused of directly supporting copyright infringement,” Mobiledia reports.
Hollywood will continue to search for ways to protect their content, even after the failure of SOPA. Mobiledia suggests that studios work on their own practices — reducing problematic “windowing” schemes and building support for their digital storage locker UltraViolet — rather than target Internet companies.
Smithsonian provides an interesting overview of the “transhumanist” movement that suggests we are becoming the engineers of our own evolution through tools such as gene manipulation, nanomedicine and the replacement of body parts with manmade devices.
“Enhanced humans might inject themselves with artificial, oxygen-carrying blood cells, enabling them to sprint for 15 minutes straight,” reports the article. “They could live long enough to taste a slice of their own 250th birthday cake. Or they might abandon their bodies entirely, translating the neurons of their brains into a digital consciousness.”
The article cites a bionic eye and magnetic sensors to augment the sense of touch as examples of technologies that fuel the movement.
Transhumanism is described as largely secular for those who believe technological change will gradually become a part of everyday life.
Others, however, suggest there are religious undertones, especially for those who believe there will come a time when only the humans that can merge their minds with intelligent machines will survive.
“Transhumanists say we are morally obligated to help the human race transcend its biological limits; those who disagree are sometimes called Bio-Luddites,” notes the article.
Nintendo announced it has sold 4.5 million 3DS handhelds in the U.S during its first year of availability, numbers that exceed the launch of the Nintendo DS.
According to Digital Trends, the figure marks “a very impressive turnaround” for the handheld gaming system, which had a “very rocky start.”
“How has Nintendo managed to turn the 3DS around?” asks the article. “Two ways: pricing and content.”
Since early criticism focused on unit cost and lack of compelling games, Nintendo reduced the retail price from $250 to $170 in the U.S. This was followed by the long-promised availability of new 3D content, including versions of Nintendo’s own Zelda and Mario franchises.
The result was a sharp increase in sales, placing the 3DS neck-and-neck with the Nintendo Wii console during the same year.
Video has most likely been an additional factor in the 3DS turnaround, since the device also features access to Nintendo Video and Netflix streaming.
What do you get when you hack a circa-1919 camera to a Canon 5D? You get some remarkable images that look like they are from another era.
Does this mean these old cameras and their lenses have another life?
“I’ve had this Piccolette Contessa-Nettel (1919) folding camera for ages. Its been a great piece of photo history sitting on my shelf. Was curious if it could make pictures again, so I hacked it onto my 5D. Here are the results,” writes photographer and filmmaker Jason Bognacki before his posting of images.
“I am a self confessed glass-a-holic,” says Bognacki. “I have been collecting and seeking out vintage, obscure, and trash lenses for a while now. I guess I’ve treated it as an optical education of sorts.”
Bognacki is expected to offer more details on his blog regarding how he connected the cameras, but offered Digital Trends a preview: ““M42-EOS mount + M42 Extension Tube + Hot Glue = The 5D View Camera. No lenses or cameras were injured in the process. The process is reversible.”
Update: No how-to details yet, but Bognacki’s blog now features some video shot using the older lens.
Since September, users have been able to conduct searches with the Google Flight Search app for flights to/from any U.S. destination and the search engine would show flight results, competing with travel sites like Priceline and Expedia.
The search giant recently took Google Flight Search one step further, adding comparisons for some global destinations like Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Venice.
“Since we launched Flight Search, we’ve heard from many globetrotters eager to use the feature to search for destinations outside the U.S.,” Google wrote on the company’s blog. “Starting today, you can find flights, including international destinations, from the U.S. quickly and conveniently.”
“Flight and travel search competitors such as Expedia, Priceline, and Kayak have expressed frustration with Google Flight Search,” notes VentureBeat. “Since travel sites rely on Google for some of their traffic, any time Google places its results at the top, it’s likely taking traffic and sales away from those sites.”
Switchcam is a beta website that automates the creation of event videos. It aggregates smartphone videos of the same event that appear on Facebook, YouTube and other sites. Then, it synchronizes them so you can watch the event from multiple POVs.
The concept is especially interesting for live concerts where fans record the musicians playing and post the songs online.
You can watch the event from start to finish or jump to specific songs in a concert. Voting is used to select the best angles. You can also share individual songs.
This may prove to be a useful tool for fans, and also for musicians and bands looking to YouTube to promote their concerts.
Currently in beta, Switchcam is working with artists, CAA and LiveNation. The company plans to incorporate ads.
Check out the concerts currently posted at switchcam.com.
Hulu announced an update to its user interface with a video player that is 55 percent larger than the previous version.
This won’t necessarily impact those users who regularly view movies or TV shows in the full screen mode, but should prove to be a useful upgrade for others.
The interface design also features “a new frame and a drop-shadow, and it sits over a large, dark gray video matte,” reports The Next Web.
“In addition to the larger size player, the site also implemented a number of design changes to emphasize the content,” notes VentureBeat in a related post. “All the details — like the name of the show, episode title, running time, etc. — have been moved underneath the video player. It seems odd at first but I’m guessing the majority of people won’t even notice once their show starts playing. Also, the background surrounding the video player is much darker.”
The number of job opportunities for cloud-computing professionals is increasing at a rapid rate, and the current talent pool may not be large enough to meet the demand.
According to Wanted Analytics, there has been a 92 percent rise in cloud-related job postings compared with a year ago and more than four times the level in 2010.
Job listings with the highest demand include software engineers, systems engineers and network administrators. Companies advertising the highest number of postings include VMware, Microsoft, Amazon.com, URS Corp. and Google.
Leading locations for cloud-based jobs: San Jose, Seattle, Washington DC, San Francisco and New York City.
“With the demand for cloud skills growing so quickly, the gap between hiring demand and talent supply across the United States is getting larger and causing more difficulties in sourcing candidates,” the report states.
