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.”
A study by app analytics group Distimo showed that 42 of the top 110 apps available on both the Android Market and Amazon Appstore made developers more money on Amazon.
“Okay, so that’s not even half,” TG Daily writes, “but look at what we’re saying — apps that are purchased through an external website, meaning users need to log onto a computer, register their Android phone, complete the purchase through Amazon, and follow the instructions on their Android phone to get the content, are doing better than the same apps that are available directly on the phone.”
The article attributes this trend to Amazon’s marketing abilities, the successful proliferation of the Kindle Fire — inherently linked to Amazon — and Google’s inability to make content easy to find on the Android Market.
“…this just goes to show that making an open platform allows third parties to make an even bigger impact,” comments TG Daily.
Mountain Lion, Apple’s latest OS for desktops and laptops, may challenge Android as it brings more of the iOS experience into OS X.
The new software creates a “grand unified user experience” (GUUX), enabling seamless interaction among all Apple devices. It brought many features over from iOS and its notifications are synched between devices.
“Reading an email on my iPhone, for example, removes the notification for that message on my desktop,” reports Kevin Tofel for GigaOM.
This “GUUX” could threaten Android’s share as people look to move easily from one device to another. “Simply put, Android doesn’t have native integration with a true desktop platform. Instead, it is cloud-focused from a data perspective while leaning heavily on third-party apps, browser extensions and its own Chrome browser to offer a ‘use anywhere’ experience. It works, but based on what I have seen from Mountain Lion so far, it is looking more disjointed,” writes Tofel.
Google may catch on to this trend later on with its Chrome OS. Its new Chrome browser for Android is an example of this synchronization, showing tabs open in Chrome on a desktop — something Safari doesn’t do yet.
“How much could this interaction between Mountain Lion and iOS hurt Android sales?” asks Tofel. “That is hard to say. Those who prefer a greater range of control over their mobile devices will still likely choose an Android device in the near term. But people looking for a ‘grand user interface unification’ may give up some control in order to gain a seamless experience across devices and choose iOS, especially if they are current or new Mac OS X users when Mountain Lion arrives this summer.”
London-based social TV company Zeebox is launching clickable TV ads that enable UK users to “purchase products advertised on TV through their tablet or smartphone in real time,” the press release explains.
“Zeebox seems to be one of the only major players in the UK giving them the opportunity to really build a great product in their market and then come to the U.S. with a fine-tuned model and case studies,” comments Lost Remote, noting that U.S. social TV start-ups are also working to make ads useful.
The clickable ads utilize a video fingerprinting technology to recognize ads. A few seconds into the ad, a click-to-buy button appears in Zeebox’s real-time tag stream, with icons to identify the type of product (such as a song or travel service).
The company doesn’t have any deals in place with advertisers yet but is already providing click-through for tagged ads.
According to Zeebox co-founder and CTO Anthony Rose: “For now we’re using click-to-buy zeetags, with our systems and operators selecting the destination — for example, we send music purchases to iTunes, DVDs to Amazon, food to Tesco, cosmetics to Boots.”
Consumers are watching streaming video content for longer periods of time, according to analysis by tech provider Ooyala.
The study found that video plays on Internet-enabled TVs and mobile devices nearly doubled in Q4, with nearly half of all connected-TV viewers watching through to completion.
This stat is significantly higher than the average for all devices.
“Another interesting tidbit from Ooyala: Though this may not be particularly surprising, Facebook remains a much more active source of online video sharing than Twitter: For every video shared via Twitter in Q4, more than 10 were shared on Facebook,” reports TechCrunch.
In a related MediaPost story, nearly 1 in 3 homes with broadband are regularly screening TV content online, according to Parks Associates. Almost 13 percent use Apple TV, a Roku device or other OTT equipment.
Sales for OTT devices are projected to hit 14 million in 2012, suggests Parks.
Google has disabled a computer code that it was previously using to bypass privacy settings on Apple’s Safari browser in order to track “the Web-browsing habits of people who intended for that kind of monitoring to be blocked,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
Google placed the code within ads displayed on popular sites and once activated, the code enables Google tracking across most websites. The sites, however, had no knowledge of the code.
“We were not aware of this behavior,” said Michael Balmoris, AT&T spokesman. “We would never condone it.”
In response, Google said in a statement: “The Journal mischaracterizes what happened and why. We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It’s important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information.”
Google faces criticism on a number of fronts, especially in response to the recent changes to its privacy policy across all its services. Its search results that promote Google+ have also been highly controversial.
Although there was no admission of wrongdoing, Netflix is paying $9 million to settle a class action lawsuit that claimed the streaming service violated the Video Privacy Protection Act by retaining information about viewers’ habits.
The lawsuit was filed in March 2011 by individuals claiming that the company maintained viewing information “long after they had canceled the service.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix will continue to “push for changes in legislation that would allow it to make more uses of customer data,” like enabling users to share their viewing habits on social media sites.
“The House has approved a bill to do so, but the proposed legislation has encountered resistance in the Senate after it heard from some critics who say the VPPA is one of the few strong consumer privacy protections out there,” explains the article. “There’s also concern that eliminating the VPPA would allow sites like Netflix to share personal information with advertisers.”
Hasbro and Zynga, two rivals in the online videogame world, have announced a new partnership in the physical world of toys and board games.
The companies are teaming up to create games and toys based on Zynga’s online games such as “FarmVille” and “Mafia Wars.”
“Though both companies could use a boost, toy and gaming experts aren’t sure the tie up will help either all that much,” the Wall Street Journal reports. “That is because for the time being, at least, the partnership doesn’t extend to Zynga making new videogame versions of Hasbro’s board-game classics. Electronic Arts Inc. currently holds the digital rights to Hasbro board games. Still, a person familiar with the matter didn’t rule out the possibility of an expanded relationship in the future.”
Hasbro’s game and puzzle sales have been declining, due to “an inability to fully capitalize on the rise of the casual smartphone and social-media games that have made Zynga a burgeoning power,” indicates WSJ.
According to researcher Appdata.com, Zynga’s Scrabble knockoff “Words with Friends” currently has 13 million active monthly users on Facebook, as compared to Scrabble’s 1 million.
Google has requested permission from the FCC to test a new “entertainment device” in the homes of some of its employees in four cities over the next six months.
According to an FCC application Google submitted in December, the device would be Wi-Fi and Bluetooth-enabled.
Google asked to test 252 devices between mid-January and July in Mountain View, CA; Cambridge, MA; New York and Los Angeles.
“While details of what the actual device is aren’t included in the application, it almost certainly has something to do with Google TV,” reports VentureBeat. “Using the data transfer process described in the application, the device could be a way for people to grab video content from the Internet and distribute it to all the other mobile devices.”
The posts includes the full description from the FCC application.
The popular Square credit card readers are coming to select retail outlets, enabling mobile transactions at stores equipped with T-Mobile smartphones.
In an effort to help small businesses, the company hopes the readers will especially help cash-only businesses.
“This easy-to-use solution, paired with T-Mobile’s affordable small business plans, aggregated business applications, equipment financing and trade-in services, and in-store support, allows small businesses to maximize their wireless investment and transform their business,” the press release states.
The announcement makes T-Mobile the first wireless carrier to offer Square credit card readers in stores.
Google sent a 13-page letter to several members of Congress, standing firm behind its changes to Google privacy policies.
The company said the changes are intended to “make [the privacy policies] simpler and more understandable, and to improve the user experience across Google.”
According to the letter, Google is not collecting any additional data about individuals and users’ existing settings will not be affected.
“If a user is signed in, she can still edit or turn off her search history, switch Gmail chat to ‘off the record,’ control the way Google tailors ads to her interests using our Ads Preferences Manager, use Incognito mode on Chrome, or use any of the other privacy tools we offer,” explains the letter.
Google’s letter comes in response to representatives’ concerns about consumers inability to opt out of data collection.
A source from Microsoft revealed to The Daily some facts about the Kinect motion-sensing technology for Windows 8-equipped devices.
According to the inside source, Microsoft will license the technology to other manufacturers with the requirement that it is the only motion-control tech on the devices.
Asus will likely be a launch partner, but the company is not directly involved in testing the product.
Microsoft techs have been using prototypes “in the wild” at crowded locales to fine-tune the sensor.
Devices with the technology should be plugged in as much as possible because it quickly drains batteries.
Fragmentation, like that of Android when manufacturers created dissimilar versions, may happen because Microsoft enables makers to customize the look of Windows 8 on Kinect-enabled devices.
Perhaps most notable, the “log me in” feature enables the Kinect sensors to analyze the user’s voice and face to grant access.
A consortium of Vancouver-based production, tech and media companies recently launched a service called RenderCloud.
“Vancouver is revving up its computing horsepower to allow Hollywood studios to more speedily render data-intensive animation and special effects in the cloud,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“Vancouver is also hoping its ultrafast RenderCloud server will allow the west-coast city, already enjoying the advantages of close proximity to Los Angeles, [to] compete with emerging global production centers in the UK, Australia and New Zealand.”
The local server farm will allow studios to render in the cloud and enable work-sharing on projects. Clients will pay on an as-needed cost-per-day basis with an option of subleasing their resources to other studios.
The project is led by Vancouver Studio Group, Great Northern Way Campus, Scalar Decisions and BC Film and Media. RenderCloud includes more than 600 servers, with plans to grow to 1,500 by this summer.
The service is designed for large-scale production of 3D, animation and special effects for film, TV and games.
Wireless Direct from Hewlett Packard enables people to print from iOS devices with AirPrint, even without the name or password of the local wireless network.
Apple’s AirPrint standard lets iPhones and iPads print from any networked printer without setup, configuration or driver installation.
All of HP printers include AirPrint-supported ePrint, which enables wireless printing, printing documents from anywhere in the world using email, accessing documents in the cloud, and other features.
With Wireless Direct, printing is becoming entirely seamless: “Wireless Direct-enabled printers broadcast their own SSID, allowing iOS devices (or any Wi-Fi enabled computer) to connect directly without knowing any details of the local network. Users can choose ‘HP-Print-4f-LaserJet’ as their network, for instance, and as far as your iPhone is concerned, it is connected to a Wi-Fi network with an AirPrint-compatible printer,” explains ArsTechnica.
Wireless Direct should prove useful in situations where network passwords aren’t commonly shared.
