Google has updated its Google News, adding more integration with Google+. The +1 icon now enables commenting by opening a small sharing box.
As is the case with all Google+ posts, the sharing box can be set for public view or only for the individuals or circles a user creates on the social network.
It also remains possible to not add any comment at all, but rather simply “+1” the news story as before.
In a related article, The Verge reports that Google has integrated Google Docs for all Google+ hangout conversations.
“The change is the latest example of Google’s evolving social strategy, as the company attempts to better integrate Google+ into its more established products,” reports SlashGear. “Earlier this month, senior VP of engineering Vic Gundotra described the social network as part of a greater strategy, dismissing claims that it had been a failure and instead arguing that it was a type of glue that could better draw together different elements of Google’s range.”
“Whether streamlining sharing directly from the Google News page increases adoption of the social network is enough to boost usage remains to be seen,” adds the post.
Walmart announced the planned April 16th launch of its in-store disc-to-digital conversion service that will be offered at more than 3,500 locations.
For $2, consumers can convert their DVDs or Blu-ray Discs to digital copies on Vudu. It will cost $5 to upgrade DVDs to HD.
The Walmart service also helps customers create their free Vudu accounts and purchase UltraViolet-enabled titles from Vudu.
“Now, with the launch of this pioneering service, Blu-ray and DVD buyers are afforded both the opportunity and the affordability to future proof their movie collections and assemble their own digital libraries that can be easily stored and accessed through their own UltraViolet cloud for viewing anywhere, anytime,” said Craig Kornblau of Universal Studios, a partner in the project.
Engadget suggests this is “easily the biggest news” for UltraViolet, but adds there is still a need for single sign-on and a standard downloadable common file format.
The initial wave of Panasonic’s Smart Viera HDTVs unveiled at January’s CES are about to become available.
“Panasonic said models in the ST50, UT50, and XT50 plasma series and the E50, ET5, E5 and X5 LED series will be available this month. Also announced were ship dates on LED LCD TV models, a 47-inch (available this month) and 55-inch (available in April and May),” reports TWICE. “The 2012 LED LCD model line features 16 models this year, up from seven a year ago.”
The line features the cloud-based Viera Connect service that offers access to popular applications including Netflix, YouTube and Pandora. It also includes a fitness app that works with a separate Bluetooth-enabled armband.
The ET5 series will feature Panasonic’s first 3D TVs to make use of passive polarized 3D glasses.
Shipments of some models will begin this month, with others to follow in April and May. The article includes a list of MSRPs.
Originally free, Google began monetizing its Google Maps service in October: “Lightweight usage was still free — subject to terms of service, of course. However, significant load volumes would begin to incur charges: basically, services and applications that generated more 25,000 map loads per day would be charged $40 to $10 for every additional 1,000 map loads. For folks using styled maps — the most intensive and customized option — the initial threshold is 2,500 maps per day,” reports Digital Trends.
For average users, this is of little effect. But for big companies like Foursquare and Apple that have incorporated the service on their various products, the pricing is too much.
Some companies have made the switch to UK-based OpenStreetMap, a free non-profit service reliant on users providing geographic data — similar to Wikipedia.
“OpenStreetMap data can differ from Google Maps in many significant ways. First, while it often has great coverage of cities and heavily populated areas, parts further afield can present some challenges. It also lacks niceties like satellite imagery and Google’s Street View,” the article explains.
Possibly more off-putting than the fees are Google’s ever-expanding advertising efforts on the Google Maps platform. Although providing its map service for free enabled Google to be fairly ubiquitous, the reliance on their service may subside. Apple might even look into developing its own map service.
As Netflix looks to compete with HBO by teaming up with a cable provider, it has already hit its first snag.
Comcast, the largest U.S. cable provider, said it has “no interest” in partnering with Netflix, reports The Verge. The company already has its own VOD service, Xfinity and recently launched Streampix, which enables access on the Web and mobile devices.
Netflix reportedly plans to seek competitive alternatives with Comcast’s rivals Time Warner, Cox or Bright House.
“Reuters first reported on Wednesday that Netflix had reached out to major cable companies to discuss joining forces. But without Comcast, the reach of those partnerships would be limited,” suggests The New York Times.
Additionally, streaming services are emerging from a number of companies. Comcast’s Streampix offers 75,000 television shows and movies to its its 22.3 million Xfinity subscribers. And according to The New York Times: “Dish Network and Blockbuster have a Web streaming service in the works. Verizon, the parent company of the Verizon FiOS fiberoptic network, has teamed up with Redbox on a Web streaming joint venture.”
The new software update for Apple TV enables users to subscribe to Netflix and MLB.tv directly from the device, using their iTunes account for payments.
This upgrade resembles Apple’s in-app subscription model on iOS that earns Apple a 30 percent revenue cut on magazine and digital service subscriptions.
For Netflix, this model could be used for their potential cable partnerships. “Most modern cable boxes would be capable of working with Netflix with an appropriate firmware and software update (or, cable companies could rent new Netflix-enabled boxes to those users who don’t already have Netflix built into all of their home theater devices), with the added advantage of offering TV content from one box,” Mashable suggests.
For Apple, this could be the first step toward its own subscription television service. “If Netflix sees success with the offering, perhaps other subscription services — either over-the-air (OTA) or cable-back — could come to Apple TV as well,” the post predicts. “An a la carte offering of premium content that is billed through one party and viewable on an array of connected devices could be a good start at disrupting the current cable business model.”
Apple introduced the third generation of its iPad yesterday.
The new 9.7-inch Retina display boasts 3.1 million pixels and improved color saturation. The tablet is outfitted with an A5X processor and quad-core graphics chip.
Similar to the new camera in the iPhone 4S, the new iPad has a 5-megapixel iSight camera capable of shooting 1080p video.
Available for LTE, the new software also enables the iPad to be used as a portable Wi-Fi hotspot.
Although Siri isn’t fully integrated, a new voice-dictation feature is included, allowing consumers to speak instead of type.
“The new iPad will be available March 16th, starting at $499 for the 16GB WiFi model and scaling up to $829 for the 64GB version with 4G,” reports Engadget.
Just as content owners have been pulling more material from Netflix, Amazon and Hulu Plus, media companies aren’t jumping into agreements for Apple’s rumored streaming TV service.
“Citing unnamed sources, The New York Post says that media companies are unwilling to agree to Apple’s terms over content packages and pricing,” reports Mashable. “‘We decide the price, we decide what content’ is Apple’s negotiating stance on the matter, says a source.”
The service will directly compete with other streaming services like Netflix as well as cable TV providers.
“It’s possible Apple is designing a service that would enable owners of iOS and Apple TV devices to purchase subscriptions to individual channels, similar to the way users can purchase subscriptions to newspapers and magazines via the Newsstand. Or Apple could bundle those channels together to create its own cable TV-like group subscription offering,” according to Mashable.
The new Secure Content Storage Association (SCSA) already has its first project underway.
Fox, Warner Bros., SanDisk and Western Digital are coming together for “Project Phenix,” that “will enable consumers to buy, store and playback HD Versions of movies and TV shows at home or on-the-go, easily and seamlessly,” the press release states.
The project is compatible with UltraViolet and the alliance will approve various TVs, tablets and display devices, “so that users will be able to download cloud-based media to compliant WD and SanDisk storage,” reports Engadget.
The project aligns with the SCSA’s goal to secure high-definition content, which comes into competition with popular Internet options like Netflix.
“We’ll see the technology available to license later in the year, which promises to render content ten times faster than streaming media on “over the top Internet” (translation: streaming services),” the article states.
With the anticipated tens of billions of devices connected to the Internet by 2020, some security firms at the Mobile World Congress are concerned the new Internet of Things will face data security issues with the current network security designs for humans, not machines.
“Put another way, could a not-so-smart client on a machine-to-machine (M2M) network become a future target of malicious Internet activity?”
“The nature of malicious attacks will not be made harder or easier by the infusion of M2M,” ReadWriteWeb reports based on an interview with Adaptive Mobile’s Cathal McDaid.”While consumers may drive newer and more sophisticated communications protocols for their mobile devices, M2M communications may not require an upgrade of format for the foreseeable future — certainly not, by McDaid’s estimate, within the next 20 years. So during that time frame, the same protocol will need to be supported as the foundation for secure communications between machines.”
“The fact is, as you make more ‘doorways’ into the Internet, the challenges of controlling access will become ever more acute,” Alex Brisbourne of KORE Wireless tells ReadWriteWeb. “Machine devices will add significantly to the ‘access doorways’ — just as increasing delivery of smartphones, etc., will do.”
Brisbourne goes on to explain that smartphones are in general open in terms of Internet access, enabling virus, malware and security attacks. Oppositely, machine to machine or M2M will likely be very closed.
Nokia plans to incorporate a 41-megapixel sensor into its smartphone to enable digital zooming.
The sensor allows 3-4X digital zooming of both still photos and video while maintaining image sharpness.
Nokia’s research team worked with a number of optical zooms and experimented with different sensors, which led to a revelation. “If a big enough sensor could be fitted into the phone, the camera could just zoom digitally and throw away the unneeded pixels,” reports AllThingsD, regarding the team’s approach.
“Nokia has done it with the 808 PureView — or Hyperion, as it was code-named during development.”
At full resolution, the smartphone’s camera reportedly rivals professional cameras. Unfortunately, the technology will first appear on Nokia’s Symbian phone which is not sold in the U.S.
RIM is working with developers to boost its third-party applications to rival those of Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android. However, Netflix is not signing on, explaining on Twitter: “We don’t have any current plans to support BlackBerry devices, including PlayBook.”
“Netflix has long been available for Apple’s iPhone and iPad and devices running Google’s Android software,” reports Reuters.
According to the post, it is not clear at this time whether Netflix would “port its existing Android app across rather than create a specific app for PlayBook.”
RIM recently upgraded software for the PlayBook to allow developers to easily translate their Android apps over to the PlayBook. “The upgrade also enables a BlackBerry smartphone to remotely control the tablet, which connects to a television via a standard cable,” adds Reuters.
The Obama Administration has released its Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights — an initiative to protect online privacy for Americans.
Working with the Federal Trade Commission, the plan is intended to enforce privacy standards to provide better personal control for consumers, encourage innovation from Internet companies and uphold global standards.
The proposal focuses on seven protections against data aggregation: “Consumers should have control over the kind of data companies collect, companies must be transparent about data usage plans and respect the context in which it is provided and disclosed. Companies would have to ensure secure and responsible handling of the data and be accountable for strong privacy measures. The bill of rights also calls for reasonable limits on the personal data that online companies can try to collect and retain, and the ability for consumers to correct their information,” Reuters reports.
The Department of Commerce and the FTC will collaborate with privacy advocates and Internet companies to come up with enforceable privacy policies. The industry has made attempts to self-regulate but some consumer groups and members of Congress believe the situation requires government involvement.
One main privacy concern addressed in the proposal is Internet tracking for targeted advertising. The top Internet browsers have opt-out “do not track” buttons (Google Chrome is still in the process of updating) and many online advertisers agreed to uphold “do not track” requests.
Research in Motion released a software update for its PlayBook tablet that includes new features, “some of which frankly should have been built into the device from day one,” reports TG Daily.
“Building on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet’s proven Web browsing, multimedia and multitasking strengths, the new BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 introduces a range of new communications and productivity enhancements as well as expanded app and content support,” indicates RIM in a statement.
The update enables messaging and a calendar, previously only available to users with BlackBerry phones. Also included is a digital streaming Video Store and professional tools for email and Microsoft Office.
The article says the OS update could have an interesting effect on the new BlackBerry phones to be released by the end of the year.
“But now, with at least six or seven months to wait until this becomes a reality, it may very well be too little too late. By then, Nokia’s partnership with Windows Phone will be in its maturity and the dominance of Android and iOS will only continue to grow on a global scale,” the post states.
Connecting to a Wi-Fi hotspot is hopefully about to get easier by eliminating the need for pop-up log-in screens.
“The Wi-Fi Alliance will begin to certify wireless devices for its industry-wide Passpoint initiative this July,” reports GigaOM. “With devices using the Passpoint standard, users will be able to connect to Wi-Fi hotspots without having to enter logon credentials with each connection instance and will be able to seamlessly roam from one Passpoint-enabled Wi-Fi network to another.”
“WPA-2 Enterprise security for Passpoint-certified hotspots is important, but the seamless roaming to other Passpoint networks and simple connections will surely appeal to consumers and corporate types alike; especially as we all start to carry more wireless devices,” comments the post.
In a statement, the Wi-Fi Alliance explained how it will use SIM cards for authentication: “Devices can be automatically granted access to the network based on multiple credential types. Passpoint supports Subscriber Identity Module (SIM)-based authentication, widely used in cellular networks today, as well as username/password combinations and certificate credentials. No end-user intervention is required in order to establish a connection to a trusted network.”
