Tag: facebook

DigitalOutbox Episode 154

DigitalOutbox Episode 154
DigitalOutbox Episode 154 – Microsoft Fine, Evernote breach and EA dickery

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
3:20 – Microsoft fined 561m Euros for browser choice error
7:00 – Evernote Security Breach
9:38 – Twitter discontinuing iPhone, Android, and Air versions of TweetDeck
12:21 – Facebook updates News Feeds
16:13 – Amazon acts to halt sales of Keep Calm and Rape T-shirts
18:54 – Tu Go app lets O2 UK customers use their mobile number with any iOS or Android device
20:55 – Tesco launches Clubcard TV, a Blinkbox-powered video-streaming service supported by advertisers
23:47 – Simcity – more EA dickery

DigitalOutbox Episode 148

DigitalOutbox Episode 148
DigitalOutbox Episode 148 – Apple slides, HMV is saved and Kims Mega

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:58 – Quarterlies
5:33 – Atari files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
8:53 – Hilco takes control of HMV Brand
10:32 – Sony fined £250,000 after millions of UK gamers details compromised
13:10 – Kim Dotcoms Mega now open
16:28 – Surface Pro dated and Priced
20:53 – EE tweaks 4G pricing
25:15 – The Firefox Phone
26:46 – Twitter launches Vine
28:52 – Actual Facebook Graph Searches

Picks
Ian
Documents for iPad
Free file viewer for iPad
– Connect to lots of cloud services or load up docs from iTunes
– View lots of file types, audio files etc
– PDF support is great
– Replaced Goodreader for me – as fast if not faster PDF support and better front end

Hola
– Region unblocker chrome extension
– View hulu, pandora, fox, cbs content in the UK, or iPlayer around the world
– Free and it works – pretty slick

DigitalOutbox Episode 147

DigitalOutbox Episode 147
DigitalOutbox Episode 147 – Aaron Swartz, Facebook Graph Search and HMV

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
1:49 – Aaron Swartz internet activist and builder of Reddit dies at 26
3:31 – Jessops closed
4:06 – HMV in Administration
13:36 – Tweetdeck threatened with closure
15:35 – Facebook Graph Search
24:27 – New Myspace is open
27:08 – BT SmartTalk
29:22 – UK Mobile Operator 3UK Filtering Political Satire

DigitalOutbox Episode 138

DigitalOutbox Episode 138
DigitalOutbox Episode 138, Facebook, Trolls and Do Not Track

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
1:53 – Facebook has more than 1 billion users
– Facebook now has more than one billion people using it every month, the company has said. The passing of the milestone was announced by founder Mark Zuckerberg on US television on Thursday.
– The company said that those billion users were to date responsible for 1.13 trillion “likes”, 219 billion photos and 17 billion location check-ins.
– Funny – http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/joyarchives/1751.html
3:42 – Facebook could be used to prove identity for public services
– Personal login details for social networking sites, bank accounts and personal mobile phone accounts could be used be used as official proof of identity to access public services, the Cabinet Office has confirmed.
– Ministers are to announce in the next few weeks the first list of potential “certified providers” for its “identity assurance programme”, which will allow citizens to assert their identity safely and securely online to access public services.
– The scheme is intended to help people sign in securely to the gov.uk site that is being developed as a portal for all online government services, including looking for a job, applying for welfare benefits, paying car tax or applying for a passport or a student loan.
– The Cabinet Office says the scheme is specifically designed for citizens to retain control of their own data, avoiding the issues of privacy and security raised by a centralised database that was involved in Labour’s national identity card scheme.
– Under the scheme each individual is to be allowed to choose from a range of “trusted non-government organisations” to verify their identity without centrally storing or sharing their personal data or having knowledge of the government service that has asked for proof of identity.
7:27 – Troll jailed for three months
– A teenager who posted explicit comments and jokes about April Jones on his Facebook page has been jailed for 12 weeks. Matthew Woods, 19, from Chorley, Lancashire, made comments about April and Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old who went missing during a family holiday in Portugal in 2007.
– Woods was arrested for his own safety after about 50 people descended on his home. He pleaded guilty at Chorley magistrates court to sending by means of a public electronic communications network a message or other matter that is grossly offensive. The chairman of the bench, Bill Hudson, said Woods’s comments were so “abhorrent” he deserved the longest sentence the court could hand down.
– Hudson added: “The reason for the sentence is the seriousness of the offence, the public outrage that has been caused and we felt there was no other sentence this court could have passed which conveys to you the abhorrence that many in society feel this crime should receive.” The court was told Woods’s Facebook page was available to a large number of people.
– Martina Jay, prosecuting, said: “He started this idea when he was at a friend’s house , saw a joke on Sickipedia [an online database devoted to sick jokes] and changed it slightly.”
– In mitigation David Edwards, defending said: “In one moment of drunken stupidity he places himself as public enemy number two – behind only the person who carried out this crime.”
– Was it right to jail him? Is this any different to Frankie Boyle? Why not do this for other trolls?
11:33 – David Cameron joins twitter
– His first tweet
– I’m starting Conference with this new Twitter feed about my role as Conservative Leader. I promise there won’t be “too many tweets…”
— David Cameron
– The @ replies to him were…..amazing
– About time he was on twitter though
12:44 – Huawei and ZTE pose security threat, warns US panel
– Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE pose a security threat to the US, a congressional panel has warned after an investigation into the two companies.
– The two firms should be barred from any US mergers and acquisitions, according to a House Intelligence Committee report. The panel says the firms failed to allay fears about their association with China’s government and military.
– The firms – among the world’s biggest makers of networking equipment – denied the accusations in front of the panel.
– On Monday ZTE issued a statement insisting its equipment met all US standards and posed no threat. “ZTE has set an unprecedented standard for cooperation by any Chinese company with a congressional investigation,” China’s Xinhua news agency quoted the firm as saying.
– Huawei is expected to respond formally to the charges later on Monday but the firm’s vice-president, William Buckley, earlier denounced the allegations as “dangerous political distractions”.
– The panel’s report will cause transatlantic friction over the role of the Chinese companies. In the UK, Huawei is a major supplier to the telecoms provider BT, and has supplied infrastructure being used in the new 4G superfast mobile network built by Everything Everywhere – the merged Orange/T-Mobile. Huawei provides access to its source code for GCHQ specialists who have reportedly examined it for threats and passed it as safe for use.
– Huawei is a private company founded by a former Chinese military engineer, and has grown rapidly to become the world’s second largest supplier, behind Sweden’s Ericsson, of telecommunications network gear, with operations in more than 140 countries. ZTE is the world’s fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer, with 90,000 employees worldwide, and fifth-largest maker of telecoms equipment.
– While both companies’ sales of mobile devices such as smartphones have grown in the US, espionage fears have proscribed any move into network infrastructure sales.
– Huawei’s relationship with BT now under investigation – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/10/huawei-international-blacklisting
– The longstanding commercial relationship between BT and Huawei is being investigated by parliament’s intelligence and security committee, its chairman Sir Malcolm Rifkind has confirmed to the Guardian.
– In a move that could cause disruption to major broadband and mobile phone infrastructure projects in the UK should security fears be raised about Huawei’s equipment, the committee is “reviewing the whole presence of Huawei in regard to our critical national infrastructure and whether that should give rise for concern”.
– The committee has been taking evidence in private for some months from members of the security services, and is considering whether to make some of its findings and recommendations public. A report will be sent to David Cameron before Christmas.
– “In the background are allegations that Huawei has links to the People’s Liberation Army in China, and that any Chinese company is ultimately subject to the Chinese government,” said Rifkind.
17:02 – Do Not Track standard needs action says commissioner
– European commissioner Neelie Kroes has accused members of the online industry of watering down a standard designed to protect consumers’ privacy on the web.
– Websites are under pressure to allow consumers much greater control over how they are tracked online.
– But work undertaken by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) to create a Do Not Track (DNT) standard was “not going to plan”, said Ms Kroes.
– She is angry about delays and a proposal to exempt marketing.
– She is concerned by suggestions that DNT might not be set as a default.
– “The commission services were very clear on this point in their letter to the W3C – at installation or first use, users must be informed about the importance of their DNT choice,” she said.
– She is also angry about the “extremely broad” exceptions now being suggested to the W3C, exemptions that have been described by the Federal Trade Commission’s chairman Jon Leibowitz as “a loophole you could drive a virtual truck through”.
– Much of the anger is reserved for the Direct Marketing Association (DMA), which has asked the W3C that marketing be added to the list of those activities exempt from the standard.
19:54 – BBC Launch iPlayer Radio
– Pulled all radio content into one web and app – iPlayer Radio
– Website is clean and usable
– iOS app out today (Monday) – Android coming – where’s the pitchforks
– The radio web app is the BBC’s first comprehensive attempt to put significant investment into bringing its radio programs up to speed with the work that the broadcaster has done on its video assets: BBC iPlayer allows users to watch content on demand both over its web app as well as via native apps, adding download component to the video service this past September.
– The app, meanwhile, has a couple of nice extra features in it: a dial on the channel selector is reminiscent of a tuner on an old-fashioned radio (something pointed out by a BBC radio presenter on a promotional program). Once you are in a radio station’s home screen, you have a little bump that prompts you to explore other features, such as catch-up radio shows as well as related video clips. The app also has a build in alarm for the app to work like a clock radio. Users can also select different programs and set reminders to listen to them when they are on.
– The BBC says that an Android app will be coming soon, although it will have to iron out issues with Adobe Flash first in order for the app to work across the many flavors of Android devices that are currently on the market.
– Meanwhile the web apps are designed for all-screens and give a significantly more cohesive experience across the many channels that the BBC operates — these include regional stations as well as those dedicated to particular music and other genres. Before this, each interface was slightly different from others, meaning that it wasn’t as easy for users to navigate between them. As with the native app, here again it’s about integrating video alongside the audio experience. The BBC says that this is just the beginning of development with the web app, which will also feature more content direct from DJs (perhaps original content in that sense) and more “two-way conversation between audience and studio.”
24:04 – Kindle Lending Library comes to the UK
– Amazon continues to roll out its content offerings in Europe. Soon, Amazon Prime members will be able to borrow books from the Kindle owners’ lending library. 200,000 books are available at the time of this writing. Amazon will increase the KDP Select program fund to catch up with the increase of demand in book lending.
– According to Amazon, authors who choose to enroll in the Kindle Direct Publishing program and skip the publisher step earns 77 percent more royalties on average than other authors.
– Like in the U.S., Harry Potter e-books will be available to lend. In October, the KDP select fund has been increased by $100,000 to $700,000. Amazon hints at another increase coming in November. Every time a book is borrowed, the other earns on average $2.29.
– Over the past couple of months, Amazon has been trying to bring its ecosystem to Europe ahead of Kindle Fire HD‘s release. Amazon makes little or no money on hardware devices and hopes that customers will actually use the device and buy content.
– Other companies have been trying to move away from the traditional buying model for ebooks. For example, Oyster is trying to bring the unlimited subscription model to e-books, with community and curation features.
– Yet, the lending library launched last year without any of the big six publishers in the U.S. Most of the books available to lend are exclusive self-published books. Some restrictions apply as well. For example, you can only read one book at a time.
– The lending library will be available the U.K., Germany and France at the end of October.
28:59 – Webplatform.org
– Develop in HTML – this is for you
– WebPlatform.org will have accurate, up-to-date, comprehensive references and tutorials for every part of client-side development and design, with quirks and bugs revealed and explained. It will have in-depth indicators of browser support and inter-operability, with links to tests for specific features. It will feature discussions and script libraries for cutting-edge features at various states of implementation or standardisation, with the opportunity to give feedback into the process before the features are locked down. It will have features to let you experiment with and share code snippets, examples and solutions. It will have an API to access the structured information for easy reuse. It will have resources for teachers to help them train their students with critical skills. It will have information you just can’t get anywhere else, and it will have it all in one place.
– And then the note of caution:But it doesn’t. Not yet. Right now, it has a wiki, docs.webplatform.org, which anyone with an account can edit, and structured templates for ensuring consistency. It has a massive import of data from Microsoft, Opera, Google, Facebook, Mozilla, Nokia, Adobe, and W3C, still in a rough form, that needs a lot of polishing. It has a chat channel and Q&A forums, and a blog. And all this material will be available free, for anyone to use for any purpose.
– The site has the backing of some of the biggest players on the Web: Adobe, Apple, Facebook, Google, HP, Microsoft, Mozilla, Nokia, and Opera. These organizations are stewards for the project, enabling W3C to convene the community and grow the site.
– Tech harmony?

Picks
Ian
Super Hexagon
– iOS – £1.99
– Minimal action game
– Fast, simple, addictive

DigitalOutbox Episode 136

DigitalOutbox Episode 136
DigitalOutbox Episode 136 – Nook HD, Samsung Security worries and Maps, Maps, Maps

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
3:15 – Apple had a year left on Google maps contract
– As rumors and leaks of Apple’s decision to announce the new iOS 6 maps at WWDC in June filtered out, Google decided to respond with a display of strength — the search giant hastily announced its own mapping event just days before Apple’s event. Dubbed “the next dimension of Google Maps,” the event was designed to showcase new technologies like low-level aerial 3D photography and Street View backpacks — a chest-thumping exercise meant to highlight Google’s significant head start in collecting mapping information, but which offered very little in the way of consumer-facing features.
– For its part, Apple apparently felt that the older Google Maps-powered Maps in iOS were falling behind Android — particularly since they didn’t have access to turn-by-turn navigation, which Google has shipped on Android phones for several years. The Wall Street Journal reported in June that Google also wanted more prominent branding and the ability to add features like Latitude, and executives at the search giant were unhappy with Apple’s renewal terms. But the existing deal between the two companies was still valid and didn’t have any additional requirements, according to our sources — Apple decided to simply end it and ship the new maps with turn-by-turn.
– The reports were validated earlier today by Google chairman Eric Schmidt, who was quoted by Reuters saying “what were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It’s their call.” Schmidt also said that Google had “not done anything yet” with an iOS Google Maps app, and that Apple would ultimately have to decide whether to approve any such app anyway. “It’s their choice,” he told Bloomberg. Google Maps VP Brian McClendon has also repeatedly said he’s committed to offering Google Maps on all platforms, indicating that an iOS app will eventually appear.
– Apple made just one public statement on Maps: “Customers around the world are upgrading to iOS 6 with over 200 new features including Apple Maps, our first map service,” said spokeswoman Trudy Miller. “We are excited to offer this service with innovative new features like Flyover, turn by turn navigation, and Siri integration. We launched this new map service knowing it is a major initiative and that we are just getting started with it. Maps is a cloud-based solution and the more people use it, the better it will get. We appreciate all of the customer feedback and are working hard to make the customer experience even better.”
8:23 – Meanwhile Google is mapping the Ocean
– Today we’re adding the very first underwater panoramic images to Google Maps, the next step in our quest to provide people with the most comprehensive, accurate and usable map of the world. With these vibrant and stunning photos you don’t have to be a scuba diver—or even know how to swim—to explore and experience six of the ocean’s most incredible living coral reefs. Now, anyone can become the next virtual Jacques Cousteau and dive with sea turtles, fish and manta rays in Australia, the Philippines and Hawaii.
– Starting today, you can use Google Maps to find a sea turtle swimming among a school of fish, follow a manta ray and experience the reef at sunset—just as I did on my first dive in the Great Barrier Reef last year. You can also find out much more about this reef via the World Wonders Project, a website that brings modern and ancient world heritage sites online.
– Thump that chest Google – you deserve it 🙂
12:05 – Facebook shutting down face detection in EU
– Earlier this year, Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner, a body whose decisions impact Facebook’s policies in Europe at large, made several recommendations to bring the website in line with regional privacy laws, calling for greater transparency on how users’ data is handled and more user control over settings, among other things. The DPC just officially announced that Zuckerberg et al. have for the most part adjusted its policies accordingly. The biggest change involves the facial recognition feature, which attempts to identify Facebook friends in photos and suggest their names for tagging. The social network turned off this functionality for new users in the EU — and it will be shutting it down entirely by October 15th.
15:20 – Twitter forces IFTTT to remove support
– The internet service glue product IFTTT has been forced to remove its Twitter triggers after recent changes to Twitter’s API policies. The change was confirmed in an email sent out to /IFTTT users today (Thanks to Federico Viticci for the contents of the email.)
– Apparently triggers that allow the syndication of tweets out to other services or locations will be removed, while actions that post new tweets to Twitter will remain. You won’t be able to suck down your tweets for archiving or cross-posting any more. So actions remain that post to Twitter, but triggers are gone.
– IFTTT CEO Linden Tibbets: In recent weeks, Twitter announced policy changes* that will affect how applications and users like yourself can interact with Twitter’s data. As a result of these changes, on September 27th we will be removing all Twitter Triggers, disabling your ability to push tweets to places like email, Evernote and Facebook. All Personal and Shared Recipes using a Twitter Trigger will also be removed. Recipes using Twitter Actions and your ability to post new tweets via IFTTT will continue to work just fine.
– The email mentions Section 4A (which isn’t new, but is newly enforced) of Twitter’s new API terms and the new Developer Display Requirements (previously recommendations) as reasons for the removal of the triggers, which will be gone as of September 27th.
– Tibbets continues, saying that the tool wants to “empower anyone to create connections between literally anything,” adding diplomatically, “we’ve still got a long way to go, and to get there we need to make sure that the types of connections that IFTTT enables are aligned with how the original creators want their tools and services to be used.”
20:19 – Barnes & Noble bring Nook HD tablets to the UK
– US book chain Barnes & Noble plans to launch new Nook tablets alongside its e-readers in the UK later this year. They will compete against products from Amazon, Kobo, Sony and others.
– B&N boasts that its smaller tablet – which features a 7in (17.8cm) screen – is the lightest such device to offer a “high definition” experience.
– While B&N and Amazon have decided to enter the UK’s tablet market at the same time, they are pursuing different strategies: the former has decided to offer its full line-up from the start, while the latter is selling a more limited range.
– So, while B&N will offer a 9in (22.9cm) tablet called the Nook HD+ in the UK from mid-November, Amazon has opted to limit sales of its 8.9in Kindle Fire HD to the US for the time being. – This may help B&N make inroads into the larger-screened tablet market – the Nook HD+ at £229 is £100 cheaper than Apple’s 9.7in iPad 2, and £70 below Samsung’s 10.1in Galaxy Tab2.
– The Nook tablets run on an adapted version of Android 4.0, giving them access to an existing wide range of third-party software. B&N is also offering its own curated magazine, newspaper, book and app stores – and plans to add a video service offering movies and television shows by early 2013.
– The decision to restrict which apps can be sold provides the firm with an opportunity to limit malware. However, some owners might be frustrated by the fact they are not offered an opportunity to install material from either the Google Play or Amazon Appstore marketplaces unless they hack the machines.
– The Nook tablets do not display adverts, unlike the Kindle Fire which shows “special offers” when put into lock mode.
– While B&N does not operate its own stores in the UK, it will sell its products through Sainsbury’s and the bookstore Blackwell’s. Kobo’s partners include WH Smith and Asda, while Amazon has teamed up with Waterstones, Comet, Ryman, Carphone Warehouse and Tesco.
– John Lewis, Currys, PC World and Argos will sell all three devices as well as other similar products made by Sony, Archos, Delium and others.
23:20 – Link found that will reset Samsung Android devices
– A security hole has been discovered that allows some Samsung Galaxy phones running TouchWiz to be automatically factory reset without warning. This includes the Samsung Galaxy S2.
– Found by ex-Gadget Geeks presenter Tom Scott, among others, all unsuspecting users have to do is go to a webpage via a specific link and their phone will be wiped back to how it came in the box.
– “The USSD code to factory data reset a Galaxy S3 is *2767*3855# and can be triggered from browser like this,” wrote Scott. Developer Tom Hutchinson, who has helped Pocket-lint work out the incredibly damaging bug, says that the security blunder affects the Samsung Galaxy S3 too. The Ace, the SGS2 and S Advance have also been found to be affected so far. “Most, if not all Gingerbread phones or newer running TouchWiz will be vulnerable,” he claims.
– The fear is that those looking to wipe out Samsung phones would be able to easily embed the code on a website without Galaxy owners even realising what is about to happen. It could easily be used in a QR code too, and unwittingly scanned by a user.
– In testing on the Pocket-lint SGS3, we’ve been unable to get the command to work. However, Arnoud Wokke, a journalist at Tweakers.net, claimed on Twitter to have the bug affecting the Samsung Galaxy S II and the Galaxy S Advance. He too was unable to get it working on the Galaxy Note or the Galaxy S III.
– Looks like it affects the S3 in the US but not the UK
– Samsung respond quickly urging customers to update their phones using the latest over the air updates – http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/26/3410484/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-reset-fix
– Looks like it also affects HTC Desire running Android 2.2 – linked to Android dialer – http://www.theverge.com/2012/9/26/3412432/samsung-touchwiz-remote-wipe-vulnerability-android-dialer
– Old version of Android but so many people are running old Android!
25:37 – The Guardian proposes a broadband levy to fund journalism
– Has David Leigh cracked it? We have been puzzling for years about how to subsidise journalism once it makes the final transition from print to net (see here and here and here). One obvious model is the funding of the BBC through its licence fee.
– Objectors to such an idea – including current commercial proprietors – have argued, unsurprisingly, on press freedom lines. Any connection to the state is to be avoided.
– But Leigh, The Guardian’s investigations executive editor, has come up with a very clever quasi alternative: charge a levy of, say, £2 a month on the bills of subscribers to UK broadband providers. Then distribute the money to news providers in proportion to their UK online readership.
– He concludes: “On the most recent figures, this system would provide transformative chunks of money to the most popular news websites.”
– It’s an ingenious thought and it should be given serious consideration. Could this be the magic bullet we’ve been seeking? I certainly think so (because paywalls are never going to work).
– Of course there are problems to overcome, such as persuading the various service providers – BT, Virgin, Sky, TalkTalk et al – to become “tax collectors” for news outfits. But a case can be made that they benefit from news production.
– The other concern is about big media getting benefits unavailable to start-ups. But I imagine there could be a mechanism to distribute a portion to them as well.
– And immediately I mention “big media”, I realise that there will be strong objections to handing out funds to failing media companies. How will they be made accountable for what they do with the money? For the moment, however, we should explore Leigh’s idea further. There is much to recommend it.
– CRAZY!
– So I’d be taxed to pay for the Daily Mail. The Sun.
– Levy is just a nice name for it. Journalism is also a nice name for it. Makes it sound like we are investing in the countries future in some shape or form
– Really it’s a once profitable industry struggling to cope in the new digital age
– Music industry wanted to do this and it was shot down, now this!
– CRAZY!
29:11 – News Corp. Backs Down On Anti-Google Stance
– Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. is planning once again to let stories from its paywalled UK newspaper The Times get indexed by the search giant Google. This reverses a two-year-old policy in which News Corp.’s UK newspaper division, News International, dramatically yanked stories from Google as it prepared a paywall to better monetize that content and do away with low-value single-story visitors from sites like Google. This effectively means that News Corp. (and Murdoch) have conceded partial defeat, accepting that it needs the search engine traffic to keep growth on the sites from stalling.
– A well-placed source tells TechCrunch that the first couple of sentences of articles from The Times will “soon be retrievable” on search engines like Google so that readers can find the stories more easily — effectively unblocking the robots.txt command on the site that disallowed Google from crawling and indexing its articles. Currently the only results one gets when searching for Times articles are section pages and a restricted selection of articles
– In line with articles appearing on searches, users will also be able to see “truncated” versions of those stories, to be marketed as “free limited previews”. Currently clicking through to an article, when it does appear in search results as above, takes a user straight to a subscription window — not the most warm of welcomes. Putting in an article preview puts The Times and Sunday Times more closely in line with what the WSJ, another News Corp.-owned news site with a paywall, does to draw in readers.
– But make no mistake: that paywall will remain intact. To get anything more beyond the preview, visitors will still need to purchase a subscription, TechCrunch understands. These are currently available in three tiers (£2 per week web-only; £4 per week including iPad; £6 per week including the print editions), and it’s not clear yet whether introducing the search features will also mean à la carte pricing as well.
31:32 – Nintendo confirm the Wii U is region locked
– Nintendo has now confirmed to CVG that its upcoming system will be region locked, meaning that Wii U games will only work on hardware sold in the same region.
– This isn’t exactly a new policy for Nintendo—every one of the company’s home consoles since the original Nintendo Entertainment System has featured a similar region lock, though various hardware and software workarounds exist for many of those systems. Nintendo’s portable systems have historically been able to play games from all regions, but the company implemented a region lock on the Nintendo 3DS when it launched last year.
– Both Microsoft and Sony allow publishers to decide whether to implement a region lock on specific game discs for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Almost every PS3 game is sold without such a lock, but international compatibility for Xbox 360 titles varies widely.
– Different world now – Apple dominates mobile gaming for example
– Nintendo need to do things differently or this will be their last console

Picks
Ian
Jasmine
Jasmine on iTunes
– Free Youtube client for iOS
– Clean interface, no ad’s, comments or clutter
– Can sign in and get you liked and favourited videos
– Easy to browse whats popular on youtube
– Excellent replacement for the now removed Youtube app from Apple and better than the official Youtube app from Google

DigitalOutbox Episode 123

DigitalOutbox Episode 123
DigitalOutbox Episode 123 – Microsoft Surface, Windows Phone 8 and NeverSeconds

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:47 – Microsoft Surface
– Steve Ballmer, Microsoft’s chief executive, unveiled two new tablet PCs at a closely guarded press event in Los Angeles.
– He said the new devices – called Surface – were part of a “whole new family of devices” the company is developing. The devices will run versions of Microsoft’s forthcoming Windows 8 operating system, a system the company hopes will allow it to make up ground in mobile computing lost to Apple and Google’s Android.
– “We want to give Windows 8 its own companion hardware innovations,” Ballmer said.
– The 9.3mm thick device has a magnesium case, features a 10.6-inch HD widescreen display, an integrated kickstand and weighs less than a kilo (1.5lbs). The device comes with a detachable keyboard and trackpad that attach magnetically to the tablet.
– At the presentation, Ballmer and Steven Sinofsky, the president of Microsoft’s Windows division, stressed Surface’s computing power.
– Sinofsky called the device a “tablet that’s a great PC – a PC that’s a great tablet”.
– Strange – called Surface a PC…but it’s clearly a tablet
– Count iPad as PC’s and Apple dominate 🙂
– Oop’s – crashes on demo
– No price, no release date, no battery life
– Business tablet? Certainly seems so. I’m quite taken with the design…but I was with the courier and it was vapour
– Confusing – arm and intel, Surface for Windows RT and Surface for Windows Pro
– Constantly talk about pc’s and tablets
– Enterprise empathised – TPM chip support. Does feel like a true pc in a tablet is the pitch
– If your a partner, how do you feel today? Microsoft believe only they can deliver a Windows device that truly matched their vision for Windows 8? Or that tablets up to know have been lacklustre? Partners seemingly didn’t really know about it.
– Is this a rush preview prior to Google I/O? Should Google have been doing it’s own hardware all along? Or is it Apple envy? Is it a fresh start – a new chapter as some has called it for Microsoft?
– Whole keynote was a bit odd – rushed, nervous presenters, hardware failing. But EVERYONE is talking about Microsoft
13:44 – Windows Phone 8
– NFC, dual- and quad-core support are all set, and Microsoft has shifted over to the NT kernel for Windows Phone 8 to make it even easier for developers to code for its mobile and desktop ecosystems. There’s a new Wallet hub, deeper integration of Skype, and an updated Start Screen interface with support for small tiles.
– Despite the improvements and hardware support, Microsoft will not release this particular update to existing devices. Instead, the company plans to rollout a Windows Phone 7.8 update separately that will bring some of Windows Phone 8’s user interface changes to existing devices, but many of the other improvements will require new hardware.
– Wow – so buy a Lumia right now and you won’t get Windows Phone 8. Rubbish.
– Launches this fall
– Shared core with Windows 8
– Manufacturers will be able to re-use the same hardware drivers they build for Windows 8 on Windows Phone 8.
– Multi core support, up to 720p screen size, micro SD support
– IE10
– Outperforming all other phones on SunSpider test
– NFC
– Mobile Wallet
– if the phone has NFC and a “secure SIM” from your carrier, you can make payments. Thats what carriers want, thats why they remove google wallet. allegedly
– Windows Phone 8 will include Nokia’s mapping technology – It will use NAVTEQ data, offline map support, map control for developers, and turn-by-turn directions.
– WP8 will support encryption (he mentions BitLocker), secure boot, LOB App deployment, Device Management, and Office.
– New start screen – Large “double-wide,” standard medium, and small. – a lot more content on the screen
– Lots of developer stuff – shared code etc.
– Deeply integrated VoIP.
– A Skype call feels just like a regular cell call — Skype can be fully integrated and feel like a phone call. The Caller ID even looks the same.
– Microsoft is hoping to do Siri one better by letting developers integrate speech response and recognition directly into apps for Windows Phone 8. APIs will be available for building in standard speech controls, which can then be run from the main search function. In a demo of Audible, which Microsoft partnered with for the voice features, the app was able to recognize a search for “Game of Thrones,” then pause it or skip to the next chapter based on voice prompts.
19:12 – Nokia to cut another 10000 jobs by end 2013
– Nokia will lay off 10,000 jobs globally and close plants by the end of 2013 in a further drive to cut costs, the company said on Thursday.
– The cuts mean that it will close some research and development projects, including in Ulm in Germany and Burnaby in Canada.
– The Finnish phone-maker said it would also close the manufacturing plant in Salo, but would keep its research and development operations there.
– Last year, Nokia announced more than 10,000 layoffs, aimed at cutting operating expenses by €1bn (£800m) by 2013.
20:06 – Amazon appstore launches in the UK
– the company has just announced that it is now taking submissions for apps to be distributed in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain, with more countries to be added “in the near future.” Amazon already had a retail presence in all these countries, but this marks the first time an Appstore has opened outside the United States.
– The obvious question this raises is whether this is the first step to international distribution of the Kindle Fire, which relies heavily on Appstore content. For now, the Appstore provides an alternative to the Play Store for any Android users abroad. In time with the launch, Amazon is also tweaking its distribution agreement, giving developers 70 percent of list price rather than either 70 percent of the app’s sales price or 20 percent of list price.
21:48 – Online snooping scheme to costs £1.8 billion
– The government’s “online snooping” scheme to track email, Facebook, Twitter and other web use comes with an official pricetag of at least £1.8bn and an official warning that the figure may well prove to be an underestimate, the Home Office has revealed.
– Ministers have already agreed to pay all the costs of the scheme, which will require phone and internet companies to collect and store for 12 months the records of internet and mobile phone use in Britain for access by police and intelligence services.
– The Bill extends the range of data telecoms firms will have to store for up to 12 months
It will include for the first time details of messages sent on social media, webmail, voice calls over the internet and gaming in addition to emails and phone calls
The data includes the time, duration, originator and recipient of a communication and the location of the device from which it is made
It does not include the content of messages – what is being said. Officers will need a warrant to see that
But they will not need the permission of a judge to see details of the time and place of messages provided they are investigating a crime or protecting national security
Four bodies will have access to data: Police, the Serious and Organised Crime Agency, the intelligence agencies and HM Revenue and Customs
Local authorities will face restrictions on the kinds of data they will be able to access
– Rachel Robinson, policy officer for Liberty, said: “It’s good that local councils won’t be able to watch the entire population but even law enforcement should be targeting suspects – not all citizens.
26:02 – Neverseconds is banned…then reprieved
– Martha Payne started a blog – a photo of each days school dinners
– Got lots of traction quickly – many were shocked at the quality of the food
– Support from Jamie Oliver, Nick Nairn etc
– Visits from local councillors and food seemed to improve – also told they could have unlimited fruit and veg
– Photo’s from around the world of other school dinners – Martha would post her lunch, rate it for health and taste and also a hair count
– Wednesday – photo in the papers of her and Nick Nairn – Time to fire the dinner ladies – a joke title as there was a pic of martha, nicj nairn and flames as she was cooking
– Thursday – headmistress calls Martha and says she can no longer take pics of her lunches – sad post on blog from Martha and her father. She’d raised £2000 for Marys Kitchen with the aim to raise £7000 and had just over 2 million hits
– Friday – picked up by media outlets, twitter and Facebook – outrage at banning a 9 year old.
– Lunchtime Friday – council leader overturns decision – Martha can blog again
– By Sunday, 5.5 million hits and over £75,000 raised for Marys kitchen
– Great blog – well done Martha
31:34 – Louise Mensch launches rival to Twitter
– Tory MP Louise Mensch has made her debut as an internetentrepreneur, with the launch of a new social network hoping to win over Twitter addicts “who find Twitter frustrating”.
Mensch launched the US-only social network, the almost eponymousMenshn.com, on Tuesday as a topic-based site allowing people to debate by subject rather than monitor a stream of often divergent tweets.
Mensch told the Guardian that the site was not named after her. “It’s a play on the word mention,” she said. “We like it and think it will work fine on a chat site”.
– Mensch added: “This is an idea that I’ve had since Christmas. I’ve been a passionate user of social media since the days of AOL chatrooms, and that was the inspiration really.” The parliamentarian launched the site in collaboration with Luke Bozier, a former Labour political adviser.
– Bozier told the Guardian: “We were both frustrated at the way Twitter doesn’t focus on topics. We both love Twitter, but if you want to focus on the election there’s no obvious place to do that online. Twitter is just too random. We wanted to encourage people to have conversations rather than broadcast their thoughts.”
– However, British fans of the high-profile MP for Corby must wait until later this summer to defect to Menshn, which is presently focused only on this year’s US election.
Mensch and Bozier have incorporated a private company, MenschBozier Ltd, for the fledgling website in which they are the only shareholders and own an equal stake.
– The Tory MP told TechCrunch that the site has attracted early interest from venture capitalists, although Bozier told the Guardian there are no plans to introduce advertising to the site or for it to be party political.
– Initially, Menshn will only host three strands for discussion: the US election, the Barack Obama campaign, and the Mitt Romney campaign. Users of the forum can join chats and subscribe or block others on the site.
– Popular posts will be displayed prominently on the site and new users automatically follow 100 people who Menshn defines as highly-rated. Not limited to 140 characters but 180
– This seems a dud already – surely it’s just forums? And forums where the topics are locked and limited
33:19 – BBC lets you rewind and restart live tv
– The BBC has unveiled a new feature for its iPlayer video on demand service that ensures you’ll never miss the beginning of a show again. Called Live Restart, the feature does just what its name implies — it lets you restart and rewind live TV shows. You don’t need to have been previously watching or recording the show in order to use the feature, and it goes back as far as two hours. “So, if you’re stuck in a traffic jam, or delayed on the tube and miss the critical start of your favourite BBC programme when you get in, with one click you can skip back to the beginning of that live programme,” explains Henry Webster, the BBC’s executive product manager in media services. The new feature is launching today on the PC, while the BBC says that the mobile, tablet, and smart TV versions of iPlayer will receive the functionality later on this year.
36:04 – Facebook buys Face.com
– After about a month of speculation, Facebook has finallyannounced its acquisition of Israeli facial recognition technologyFace.com.
– We’ve heard from multiple sources that the acquisition price was around $100m, with others reporting that the price was between $80m-$100m. This is absolutely not an acqui-hire, as Facebook will be taking full advantage of the company’s technology and the advancements it’s made on mobile — perhaps to finally include mobile tagging options for photos.
– As Face.com’s speciality is mobile facial recogition, it could potentially allow you to upload a photo to Facebook while on the go, instantly receive suggestions of whom to tag, and confirm the tags with one click.
37:07 – Worlds first tax on IE7
– The Australian online retailer Kogan.com has introduced the world’s first “tax” on Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 7 (IE7) browser.
– Customers who use IE7 will have to pay an extra surcharge on online purchases made through the firm’s site.
– Chief executive Ruslan Kogan told the BBC he wanted to recoup the time and costs involved in “rendering the website into a antique browser”.
– The charge is set to 6.8% – 0.1% for every month since the IE7 launch.
– Mr Kogan said it was unlikely that anyone would actually pay the charges. His goal is to encourage users to download a more up-to-date version of Internet Explorer or a different browser.
– Mr Kogan told the BBC his customers were very happy and he had received a lot of praise for his efforts.

Picks

DigitalOutbox Episode 119

DigitalOutbox Episode 119
DigitalOutbox Episode 119 – Twitter privacy issues, Facebook IPO and the Google Knowledge Graph

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
1:08 – Twitter Updates
– Will support Do Not Track
– Twitter says it will honour requests from users who do not want their online behaviour tracked, the company said on Thursday, in contrast with web companies such Google and Facebook whose business models rely heavily on collecting user data.
– Twitter announced that it will officially support “Do Not Track,” a standardised privacy initiative that has been heavily promoted by the US Federal Trade Commission, online privacy advocates and Mozilla, the non-profit developer of the Firefox web browser.
– Thats GOOD however
– Micro-blogging site Twitter is to start recommending users for you to follow, based on your recent web browsing history. The site calls these ” tailored suggestions,” and it will track your footsteps across the web by using integrated Twitter buttons and widgets as surveillance outposts. So, every website with a “Tweet this” button will log your visit.
– Then, the social network can recognise which accounts are frequently followed by people who visit popular websites, and recommend those accounts to others who have visited those sites within the last ten days. It’s specifically targeted at new Twitter hatchlings, as it hopes to provide them with a relevant list of accounts to follow as soon as they’ve made an account. Right now, Twitter has a default handful of popular users — including Justin Bieber and Kim Kardashian — that it shows to all new sign-ups.
– There’s an obvious privacy worry, but Twitter’s Othman Laraki writes, “we are committed to providing you with simple and meaningful choices about the information we collect to improve your Twitter experience.”
– Thats NOT SO GOOD however
– Twitter now sends weekly e-mail digest
– Twitter just added a new feature that sends you a weekly email with the most popular tweets and links from people you follow.
– Sadly, Twitter signs you up without asking you, so you’ll have to take some action to get rid of them. You could wait until it comes and unsubscribe directly from the email, but if you want to stop them before they start, just head to Twitter’s Settings > Notifications > and uncheck the “Weekly digest of Stories & Tweets from my network” box at the bottom. Save your changes and you should never have to see one of those buggers make its way into your email.
– Thats POOR
5:12 – Facebook IPO
– Finally hits the stock market for $38
– Banks keep the price at just over $38 on day one but shares in Zynga drop 13% and they are suspended
– Monday sees Facebook drop
– It’ s a bubble!
– Facebook gets suited because some information only given to institutional investors…http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/23/us-facebook-lawsuit-idUSBRE84M0RK20120523
12:21 – Facebook Camera
– Facebook on Thursday announced a new application for the iPhone and iPod Touch called Facebook Camera, which is intended to make it easier to take pictures and share them on Facebook.
– Dirk Stoop, a Facebook product manager for photos, said that the application was much faster than the current Facebook app for Apple’s iOS, and that it puts photos at the center of the experience.
– “We can basically show you more photos on the app, so we can make a more immersive experience around your photos,” Mr. Stoop said. “On the side of publishing these photos, Facebook Camera lets you upload much higher resolution photos at up to 2,048 by 2,048 pixels wide.” The standard Facebook application uploads lower-resolution pictures.
The application will also finally bring photo filters to Facebook.
– Facebook Camera will offer 15 filters, and will also include tools for cropping and straightening photos, much like the photo editing tools within Apple’s photo app. The filters will include cool, light, bright, golden, cream and neon. “They are stylistic in nature, they are not just enhancements,” Mr. Stoop said.
– It might seem strange for Facebook to release a camera application with built-in filters just weeks after announcing plans to buy Instagram, the social photo app. But Facebook Camera is aimed at a different audience. Instagram has 40 million users, while Facebook has 900 million. This leaves a large swath of people who are not on Instagram but are actively taking photos and uploading them to Facebook. The filters in Facebook Camera were developed by Facebook and are not borrowed from Instagram.
14:20 – HP to lose 27000 employees
– Restructuring
– 27,000 employees to go worldwide
– The company said the cuts – about 8% of its workforce – will reduce costs by up to $3.5bn (£2.2bn) a year.
– HP employs about 350,000 people worldwide and about 20,000 in the UK.
18:22 – Yahoo Axis
– Yahoo introduced its new Axis browser tonight, with versions for the Apple iPad and iPhone, as well as plugins for the top desktop browsers.
– The company briefed a media army on the product and the consensus is that it’s very good. My favorite headline from Gizmodo: “Yahoo Came Out With Its Own Web Browser and It Actually Doesn’t Suck.”
– It’s a slick offering, which essentially eliminates the texty link-filled search page for one of pretty visual tiles and pull-downs and more. Think Pinterest of search and you have the general idea.
– iPad app is nice but US only for the moment – won’t replace my browser but something different. It’s more than handsome enough, it runs very smoothly (thanks mostly to its WebKit underpinnings), and your bookmarks sync between devices quickly once you make sure you’re logged in.
– Not sure if it’s a browser as such
21:43 – Google finally gets Motorola
– Google has today announced that it has closed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, buying the Illinois-based device maker for $40 per share in cash for a total of $12.5 billion.
– As widely expected, Sanjay Jha is stepping down as CEO and Dennis Woodside, Google’s former Americas head, will take the helm at Motorola Mobility, which will be operated as a standalone company. The company says the acquisition will help Google “supercharge” the Android ecosystem: while Motorola will be making devices using the platform, it will also remain open.
– “It’s a great time to be in the mobile business…I’m confident Dennis [Woodhouse] and the team at Motorola will be creating the next generation of mobile devices that will improve lives for years to come,” Page writes.
26:06 – Google launches the Knowledge Graph
– The Knowledge Graph enables you to search for things, people or places that Google knows about—landmarks, celebrities, cities, sports teams, buildings, geographical features, movies, celestial objects, works of art and more—and instantly get information that’s relevant to your query. This is a critical first step towards building the next generation of search, which taps into the collective intelligence of the web and understands the world a bit more like people do.
– Google’s Knowledge Graph isn’t just rooted in public sources such as Freebase, Wikipedia and the CIA World Factbook. It’s also augmented at a much larger scale—because we’re focused on comprehensive breadth and depth. It currently contains more than 500 million objects, as well as more than 3.5 billion facts about and relationships between these different objects. And it’s tuned based on what people search for, and what we find out on the web.
– Helps you get a good summary of the search topic and go deeper if you wish to
28:26 – Waterstones teams up with…Amazon
– Waterstones will sell Kindles in their own stores and also the best Kindle experience
– The thinking seems to be that since we all like browsing in bookshops, and we all like reading on digital devices, combining the “singular pleasures of browsing a curated bookshop” with the “best digital readers” will make for the best of both worlds. But that seems to fundamentally misunderstand the appeal of the digital reading experience. Full disclosure: I don’t use a Kindle, but price aside, the attraction of the Kindle experience seems to be that you can have lots of books, straight away – neither of which is usually much of a problem when you’re standing in a bookshop. And the risk that Waterstones runs is that by welcoming its greatest rival onto the high street it puts Amazon’s device into the hands of its most committed customers.
– The terms of the deal won’t be announced until the autumn, but the success or failure of this deal will be determined by what people think digital reading is
– Basically says Kindle is the device/platform for reading books. Amazon wins.
30:36 – O2 rolling out 42Mbps 3G to major UK cities
– UK mobile network operator O2 has confirmed it is currently rolling out a variant of DC-HSPA which will support connections of up to 42Mbps. Although the dual-cell HSPA technology can support impressive speeds, the technology will still operate as 3G ahead of the 4G spectrum that is being planned for the UK. British owners of the latest iPad or Nokia Lumia 900 (devices that support DC-HSPA) will be able to take advantage of the speeds providing their local mast has been upgraded. O2 says it’s rolling out to “major UK cities,” but there’s no word on exact locations.
– Three is also planning to rollout a 42Mbps version of DC-HSPA over the summer and T-Mobile / Orange are planning to support the technology later this year. Vodafone, the fourth major UK network operator, started to rollout a variant of DC-HSPA last year, but with support for up to 28.8Mbps — the company says it has no plans to support the 42Mbps variant.

Picks
Henry
Swordigo
– £1.49
– Nice platform/adventure.
– Quite easy but nicely done.

Ian
Habit List
– £1.49
– Helps create good habits and break bad ones
– Add a habit, pick frequency, track how often you keep or break habits
– Looks great – finding it very handy

DigitalOutbox Episode 118

DigitalOutbox Episode 118
DigitalOutbox Episode 118 – Yahoo, Internet Porn and the Samsung Galaxy SIII

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
1:05 – Yahoo CEO Steps Down
– Scott Thompson hired from PayPal to reinvigorate the business, has been forced out over an error in his CV – which wrongly claimed he has a computer science degree.
– Lied about computing degree on his CV
– Apologised to staff, not for lying, but that this was a distraction
– He has seemingly been diagnosed with thyroid cancer which contributed to his decision to step down
– Thompson, who started in January, was initially praised by Wall Street for his first round of cuts – removing 2,000 jobs (from a headcount of around 14,000) in order to save $375m per year, saying that it was “an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo – smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate.”
– He will be succeeded — at least for now — by Ross B. Levinsohn, the company’s head of global media.
– Mr. Levinsohn, who is most likely auditioning to keep the role on a permanent basis, has been with Yahoo since late 2010, when the chief executive at that time, Carol Bartz, brought him in to lead its Americas operations. He is now the company’s global head of media, overseeing Yahoo’s core multibillion dollar advertising business.
– I don’t really know what Yahoo is or does anymore!
6:36 – Internet Porn – Government to consult on tough new measures
– The government is to consult on tough measures to protect children from internet pornography. Under plans being draw up by Downing Street, it would be up to customers to “opt in” to receive adult content online when they take out a broadband contract.
– Campaigners have argued it is too easy for children to access explicit adult content on their phones and computers. Parents who want to ensure their children currently do not have access to internet pornography must opt out of services.
– But under the proposals, internet service providers (ISPs) will be forced to ask customers if they wish to access sites when they sign up for broadband. David Cameron is due to meet large ISPs to discuss the measures but he is understood to be against tougher controls on internet porn.
– Tory backbencher Claire Perry has accused internet companies of being “complicit” in exposing children to pornography. She said ISPs had been “dragging their feet” on reforming the way explicit material is accessed online.
– A report by MPs found 77% of women would sign up to having a default filter barring pornographic content.
– Nick Pickles, director of the privacy and civil liberties campaign group Big Brother Watch, welcomed the consultation as a “positive step”, but said ministers needed to focus on giving parents the ability to restrict their children’s access rather than trying to censor the internet.
– is it not better to educate children and parents
10:46 – Apple rejecting apps that use Dropbox SDK
– Last year Apple caused a bit of a stir by forcing developers to remove links in iOS apps that allowed for external subscriptions or purchases to be made — unless the same transaction was also available as one of Apple’s in-app purchases. A new wrinkle in the policy has developed, with Dropbox confirming that third-party developers incorporating its service are now being rejected under the same rule “because we allow users to create accounts.” PandoDaily first reported on a support thread in Dropbox’s user support forums, with developers complaining that their apps are being kicked back by the App Store review team. The issue is the way Dropbox’s new SDK handles the authorization of third-party apps: it sends users to a page in Safari where they can grant access. However, that same page also allows new users to create accounts, after which they could drill down through Dropbox’s site and upgrade to a paid account.
– Dropbox initially tried removing a link to the desktop version of the site as a possible workaround, but the review team continued to reject apps. Earlier this evening, the company posted a version of its SDK that removed the ability to create a new account altogether. While Dropbox believes this should resolve the issue, it’s hardly a convenient solution for iOS users looking to add functionality, and should only further stoke the flames of controversy over some of Apple’s review guidelines.
– Protecting iCloud, punishing DropBox or staying true to it’s word that you can’t offer paid options from links in the app without offering in app purchase as well?
– Dropbox have now worked around problem – still pretty stinky
13:18 – Apple barred from using 4G when advertising iPad in the UK
– Apple has been selling the device billed “4G”, even though the 4G chip inside will work only on 700MHz and 2100MHz spectra in the U.S. and Canada.
– In the UK, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which regulates advertising, will on Wednesday publish an informal adjudication after receiving complaints from disgruntled customers, who said Apple’s claims wrongly suggested lightning-speed browsing.
– But the authority could open a new investigation in to whether Apple is mis-leading customers.
– Apple no longer using 4G in the UK store
14:29 – Facebook launches App Centre
– Instead of selling apps that integrate with Facebook, the new App Center will refer users to other app stores where they can buy them.
– What Facebook has announced is more of an app showcase. In addition to apps built on Facebook, it includes apps that use Facebook Login, regardless of whether they’re iOS, Android or web apps.
– Though you will find iOS and Android apps in the App Center, you will be directed to Apple’s App Store orGoogle Play to actually download the apps. Facebook announced on Wednesday that it will allow developers to charge for “apps built on Facebook” for the first time, but is not clear whether users will purchase apps directly from the App Center.
– Facebook’s App Center will launch on the web as well as within the iOS and Android Facebook apps.
16:58 – Facebook testing pay to promote
– Facebook is testing a new feature called Highlight that allows users to pay a nominal fee to promote their posts, making them more prominent in others’ news feeds. Last year Facebook raked in $1.14 billion in revenue, about 85 percent of which is from ads, but this would be the first time the site attempts to monetize ordinary posts.
– In a converation with Stuff, Facebook spokeswoman Mia Garlick confirmed the tests: “We’re constantly testing new features across the site. This particular test is simply to gauge people’s interest in this method of sharing with their friends.” She also added that the company is testing the service at a number of price points, including free. The feature is similar to a new addition from Tumblr that lets users pay to promote their blog posts.
20:16 – Rdio launches in UK
– Similar to Spotify, listen to music on the web or devices
– No fanfare, just available with 7 day free trial
– Looks ot be more US centric with some new additions for UK market
22:14 – Samsung Galaxy SIII
– Major specs include a 4.8-inch PenTile Super AMOLED display at 720p resolution, 8-megapixel primary and 1.9-megapixel front-facing cameras with 990ms start-up time, 3.3fps burst mode, and best-shot selection (similar to the HTC One series), 16 or 32GB of storage (a 64GB version is coming later) with microSD expansion, Bluetooth 4.0 support, GPS with GLONASS reception, high-throughput 40MHz 802.11n Wi-Fi, NFC, and a relatively large 2,100mAh battery.
– The global version of the device will be using the recently-announced Exynos 4 Quad quad-core system-on-chip — regional variants could be using alternatives, just as the Galaxy S II did. The phone measures 8.6mm thick (136.6 x 70.6 x 8.6mm, to be exact) which is actually a bit thicker than the S II’s 8.5mm. The global version will support 21Mbps HSPA+, though Samsung is quick to point out that certain local models will have 4G.
– Flipboard is exclusive to Samsung SIII owners on Android for a limted time
– 50GB of Dropbox space – double HTC
– Samsung says that Europeans can look for the Galaxy S III to launch on May 29th with the 32GB model as a Vodafone exclusive for the first month
28:13 – Games Update
– Diablo III launches at midnight tonight
– Max Payne 3 – some great early reviews, out friday
– Ghost Recon Future Soldier next week
– Trials Evolution and Fez – great arcade games, not forgetting Minecraft too

Picks
Ian
Bartender
– Free while in beta,
– Tidies menu bar icons
– Hide icons in bartenders own bar
– Can display an app if it updates for 5 seconds
– Really cleans up my messy menu bar

DigitalOutbox Episode 117

DigitalOutbox Episode 117
DigitalOutbox Episode 117 – Pirate Bay, John Lewis Broadband and Google Drive

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
0:49 – Pirate Bay blocked in the UK
– File-sharing site The Pirate Bay must be blocked by UK internet service providers, the High Court has ruled.
– The Swedish website hosts links to download mostly-pirated free music and video.
– Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk, O2 and Virgin Media must all prevent their users from accessing the site. A sixth ISP, BT, has asked for more time to consider its position.
– “Sites like The Pirate Bay destroy jobs in the UK and undermine investment in new British artists,” the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said.
– The BPI’s chief executive Geoff Taylor said: “The High Court has confirmed that The Pirate Bay infringes copyright on a massive scale. “Its operators line their pockets by commercially exploiting music and other creative works without paying a penny to the people who created them. “This is wrong – musicians, sound engineers and video editors deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else.”
– In November 2011, the BPI asked the group of ISPs to voluntarily block access to the site. The request followed a court order to block Newzbin 2, a site also offering links to download pirated material.
– The ISPs said they would not block the site unless a court order was made, as is now the case.
– Virgin Media told the BBC they will now comply with the request, but warned such measures are, in the long term, only part of the solution.
“As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders addressed to the company but strongly believes that changing consumer behaviour to tackle copyright infringement also needs compelling legal alternatives, such as our agreement with Spotify, to give consumers access to great content at the right price.”
– http://torrentfreak.com/how-to-unblock-the-pirate-bay-111004/
– The UK Pirate Party is also prepared for the block and is offering a reverse proxy which allows blocked Internet users to access The Pirate Bay. – http://tpb.pirateparty.org.uk/
– With censorship and plans to monitor traffic, is it time to configure a VPN?
3:25 – John Lewis Broadband
– John Lewis Broadband offers no activation fees, freephone support and a free wireless router. There are three packages, all on 12-month “no hidden catches” contracts.
Standard – up to 16Mbps, 20GB cap, £24.50 a month
Unlimited – up to 16Mbps, No limit, £31.50
Fibre – up to 38Mbps, 100GB cap, £38.50
– In the any questions section of its website John Lewis Broadband says it uses traffic management. Also the service will “let you know if you’re approaching your package’s limit. Once you’ve reached it you can buy more gigabytes for £5 per 5GB”.
– This is not the budget end of the market, where Tesco Broadband plays, for instance.
– Never knowingly…?
4:46 – Facebook buys Patents from Microsoft
– Facebook announced today that it will pay $550 million to Microsoft for the right to 650 patents and patent applications. Microsoft acquired those patents and hundreds of others in a deal with AOL earlier this month.
– The move comes as Facebook wades deeper into the waters of patent litigation while it readies for an IPO expected in May. The social network is in a major patent lawsuit with Yahoo and is also wrestling with dozens of smaller patent suits.
– The Facebook purchase is especially intriguing, however, as it suggests a deepening strategic alliance between Facebook and Microsoft . The latter was an early investor in the social network and both companies have common rivals in Google and Apple.
– Microsoft acquired 925 AOL patents and patent applications in an auction for $1 billion. Shortly after, reports stated that Facebook had been an unsuccessful bidder in the auction.
6:16 – Skydrive Improves
– Today, we’re excited to take another big step towards our vision by making SkyDrive far more powerful. There are new storage options, apps that connect your devices to SkyDrive, and a more powerful device cloud that lets you “fetch” any file from a Windows PC. Taken together with access from popular mobile phones and a browser, you can now take your SkyDrive with you anywhere, connect it to any app that works with files and folders, and get all the storage you need—making SkyDrive the most powerful personal cloud storage service available.
– Here’s what’s available for use, starting now:
SkyDrive for the Windows desktop (preview available now). View and manage your personal SkyDrive directly from Windows Explorer on Windows 8, Windows 7, and Windows Vista with this new preview app available in 106 languages worldwide.
Fetching files through SkyDrive.com. Easily access, browse, and stream files from a remote PC running the preview app to just about anywhere by simply fetching them via SkyDrive.com.
SkyDrive storage updates. A new, more flexible approach to personal cloud storage that allows power users to get additional paid storage as their needs grow.
SkyDrive for other devices. We’ve updated the SkyDrive apps on Windows Phone and iOS devices, bringing better management features and sharing options to those devices. We’re also releasing a new preview client for Mac OS X Lion, letting you manage your SkyDrive right from the Finder.
– So to claim your free 25gb, you need to upgrade to that option on the skydrive site
9:17 – Dropbox Improves
– We’re super excited to announce a whole new way to share: now you can send a link to the files or folders in your Dropbox!
– Sharing with friends and family is easy! Once you’ve saved that video of your niece’s birthday party to Dropbox, just make a link to send to grandma and she can simply watch online — no download required! This saves you the hassle of having to re-upload or attach it to an email.
– Dropbox for Windows and Mac Updated with Auto Photo Uploading and Up to 3 GB of Additional Free Space
– Windows/Mac: The desktop Dropbox client has been updated with the ability to automatically upload photos from SD cards and smartphones directly to Dropbox. When you do so, you’ll get a free 500 MB of space and if you continue to upload pictures you can get up to 3GB of additional space.
11:51 – Google Drive
– Just like the Loch Ness Monster, you may have heard the rumors about Google Drive. It turns out, one of the two actually does exist.
– Today, we’re introducing Google Drive
Create and collaborate. Google Docs is built right into Google Drive, so you can work with others in real time on documents, spreadsheets and presentations. Once you choose to share content with others, you can add and reply to comments on anything (PDF, image, video file, etc.) and receive notifications when other people comment on shared items.
Store everything safely and access it anywhere (especially while on the go). All your stuff is just… there. You can access your stuff from anywhere—on the web, in your home, at the office, while running errands and from all of your devices. You can install Drive on your Mac or PC and can download the Drive app to your Android phone or tablet. We’re also working hard on a Drive app for your iOS devices. And regardless of platform, blind users can access Drive with a screen reader.
Search everything. Search by keyword and filter by file type, owner and more. Drive can even recognize text in scanned documents using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology. Let’s say you upload a scanned image of an old newspaper clipping. You can search for a word from the text of the actual article. We also use image recognition so that if you drag and drop photos from your Grand Canyon trip into Drive, you can later search for [grand canyon] and photos of its gorges should pop up. This technology is still in its early stages, and we expect it to get better over time.
– You can get started with 5GB of storage for free—that’s enough to store the high-res photos of your trip to the Mt. Everest, scanned copies of your grandparents’ love letters or a career’s worth of business proposals, and still have space for the novel you’re working on. You can choose to upgrade to 25GB for $2.49/month, 100GB for $4.99/month or even 1TB for $49.99/month. When you upgrade to a paid account, your Gmail account storage will also expand to 25GB.
– So more free than dropbox but less user friendly?
Privacy issues? PC Mag
17:54 – Apple
– they’ve got loads of cash ($110 billion). Nothing more to say, is there? Well,
– Looks like Tim Cook doesn’t quite want to go as “thermonuclear” on rival phone makers as Apple founder Steve Jobs did. Cook didn’t sound so eager to pursue patent infringement suits against Samsung, Motorola and HTC on today’s quarterly earnings call.
“I’d highly prefer to settle versus battle,” Cook said on Apple’s earnings call today. “But you know the key thing that’s very important is that Apple doesn’t become the developer to the world.” He added very pointedly, “I’ve always hated litigation. We need people to invent their own stuff.”
– WWDC – June 11th – 15th – nothing more to say. iOS 6? Mountain Lion?
– could buy Amazon and Nokia and RIM http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/04/24/apple-could-theoretically-buy-amazon-nokia-and-rim-with-its-pile-of-cash/
22:19 – O2 Mobile Wallet
– Mobile network O2 has launched a smartphone app that allows users to transfer up to £500 via text message.
– It also allows customers to “digitise” their debit and credit cards to speed up purchases from online stores.
– The firm also intends to allow users of phones with near-field communication (NFC) chips to make contactless payments in high street shops.
It is the latest of several firms to charge retailers a transaction fee for making it easier to shop.
– The service will be free to consumers at first, but O2 said that it would charge 15p for each money message sent by text at a later date.
– The network provider said that more than 100 retailers had agreed to accept payments from the service. They include Debenhams, Comet, Sainsbury’s Direct and Tesco Direct.
– Users can also benefit from a search facility that compares how much goods cost, the ability to load money onto the app from their debit cards and a “transaction history” that keeps track of what they have spent.
– The firm said it had held off introducing contactless payments as only a handful of retailers had installed the necessary systems.
– O2 and its rivals Vodafone and EverythingEverywhere are working on a national mobile payments service – dubbed Project Oscar. They had hoped to have it up and running in time for the London Olympics. But the project is held up in Brussels, subject to an anti-competitive investigation.
24:45 – Visa launches v.me
– European digital wallet
– Launching this Autumn
– Combine bank accounts, credit cards into a payment service accessed via username and password
– It’s PayPal!
– Web only – mobile app’s and NFC…soon
25:32 – Spectrum is 30
– Released on April 23rd in 1982, the machine typified the British approach to industrial design – utilitarian but also idiosyncratic and characterful. It should have been buried by its more powerful contemporary, the Commodore 64, but somehow this strange little slab of plastic and rubber earned itself a considerable slice of the nascent home computingmarket, especially in Britain.
– Partly its success was about price. Since the launch of the ZX80 computer two years earlier, restless British inventor Clive Sinclair had been interested in computing for the masses.
Using cheap components and a minimalistic approach to design, he was able to manufacture machines at a lower cost than rivals such as Acorn, Apple and Tandy. The computer’s rubber keys, for example, were created from a single sheet, with a metal overlay to separate them – much less expensive than producing a conventional keyboard.
– So while the BBC Micro started at £235 for the Model A option and the C64 hit the shelves at around £350, the Spectrum launched at just £125 for the 16k version or £175 for the mighty 48k.
– Fond memories anyone?

Picks
Henry
TunnelBear
– easy to use VPN
– free for 500mb per month
– $4.99 pm for (unlimited) or $49.99 for a year

Ian
ScoTutor for Mac
– for Mac or iOs
– Free for a limited time
– Great tutorial app for those new to Mac’s
– 150 minutes all about the Mac – great if you’ve just picked up a Mac, or you parents for example have just started on a Mac.
– ScoTutor for iPad also now free, on Mac and iPad

DigitalOutbox Episode 115

DigitalOutbox Episode 115
In this episode – Facebook buys Instagram. Microsoft buys some patents and BT doubles speeds.

Playback
Listen via iTunes
Listen via M4A
Listen via MP3

Shownotes
2:09 – Facebook buys Instagram
Facebook has just finished a deal to acquire mobile photo sharing app Instagram for approximately $1 billion in cash and stock. Instagram will remain an independently branded standalone app that’s separate from Facebook, but the services will increase their ties to each other. The transaction should go through this quarter pending some standard closing procedures
– Both Google and Facebook had approached Instagram several times over the past 18 months, but the talks clearly didn’t result in a deal. So Facebook was going to have to offer a huge premium over the last valuation
– Will still allow sharing to other platforms and services, not just Facebook
– Have they bought access to all old photos and their geo information?
– Gowalla? Beluga? Friendfeed?
– 27 milllion iOS users, 1 million on Androids debut – hit 50 million soon
– Competing with Facebooks mobile photo sharing service – it’s only true competitor?
– Facebook’s mobile offering still poor in comparison
– Tech communitys reaction pretty funny – instantly people deleting accounts, bemoaning the loss of Instagram especially in the snobby Apple community
– Guides popped up on how to back up your photo’s and then delete your account – http://mashable.com/2012/04/09/deleting-instagram-account-save-pics/
7:26 – Microsoft buys AOL Patents
– AOL is selling 800 patents to Microsoft for just north of $1 billion: $1.056 billion in cash to be exact.
– Tim Armstrong, the CEO of AOL (which owns TechCrunch), says that the company will continue to hold on to about 300 patents and patent applications after the sale. These span “core and strategic technologies” around advertising, search and content generation, he noted in a memo to employees. [Full memo below the break.]
– The sale to Microsoft came after a “competitive auction process” the company noted in a statement.
– The sale is expected to be completed by the end of 2012.
– The patent sale marks the end to a lot of speculation around what AOL would do with its patent trove. There had been pressure from shareholders, led by Starboard Value, to realize some of the value from those patents, starting last year, when investors began to grumble that the company was not focused enough on what it could be doing to make more money, and not monetizing fast enough on its growing media portfolio
– AOL stock soars by 43% on this news – thats not right is it?
9:00 – Jack Tramiel dies
– Jack Tramiel, the founder of Commodore International, has passed away at the age of 83.
– In 1981, they released the VIC-20, which at the time became the biggest-selling computer of all time. Its success was based on its versatility: it could play games, yes, but it could also be used for more practical purposes like family budgets. At USD$300, it was also “affordable”, at least by the standards of the day for such equipment
– In 1982, though, they went one better, and released the Commodore 64. It was, for the time, the perfect machine, striking a balance between performance and affordability that would see it sell over 20 million units. To this day it remains the single biggest-selling personal computer system of all time.
– What made the C64 so impressive was the way it blew away the competition in terms of both graphics and, more importantly, sound (indeed, the C64’s unique architecture means its still a favourite of chiptune artists today). This led to some of the most memorable games of the 1980s appearing on the platform, from Last Ninja to GI Joe, Elite to Little Computer People, Summer Games to Way of the Exploding Fist.
– Left in 84 and bought up remains of Atari – Tramiel’s son Sam oversaw the development of the Atari Jaguar, the company’s last important contribution to the home video game market.
11:02 – Apple respond as the Mac trojan is verified
– Apple has said it is developing a tool to “detect and remove” a Trojan that is said to have infected more than half a million Mac computers.
– It said it is working with internet service providers (ISPs) to disrupt the command network being used by hackers to exploit the malware.
– Trojans are infections that can expose computers to control by hackers.
– It is Apple’s first statement on the threat. It issued patches to prevent the malware’s installation last week.
– The two security updates were released eight weeks after Java’s developer Oracle issued a fix for other computer systems.
– What doe sthe trojan do – Although the Trojan is now only conducting click fraud scam by hijacking people’s search engine results inside their web browsers, it has the potential to do greater damage, such as stealing banking or login credential. If the botnet remains connected to computers, cybercriminals could send new malware to their systems that cause bigger problems.
– To understand the power of the Flashback, it’s important to note that it’s actually a family of Mac OS X malware that was first created in September 2011. It was designed to disguise itself as an Adobe Flash Player installer, using Flash player logos. After installing Flashback, the malware originally sought user names and passwords that are stored on Macs.
13:36 – DOJ sues Apple and book publishers over price fixing
– The US has filed an antitrust suit against Apple, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Penguin
– The DOJ’s actions come after a year-long investigation into Apple and publishers, after Apple switched to an “agency” model that is said to have resulted in an industry-wide price increase — with only a few sellers in the market setting prices. Last month it seemed that publishers were ready to settle with the DOJ, and it appears that some are still prepared to do so: Bloomberg reports that Simon & Schuster, Hachette Book Group, and HarperCollins want to avoid a legal battle and could settle with the government today. Others, like Penguin Group, are reportedly ready to fight in court.
– Three of the publishers settled with the Justice Department, agreeing to let Amazon and other retailers resume discounting of e-books. Settlement of a separate suit filed by 16 states and U.S. territories could lead to tens of millions of dollars in restitution to consumers who bought e-books at the higher prices.
– Amazon called the settlement a victory for consumers and users of its Kindle e-reading device. It promised to renew discounting, which could put pressure on such rivals as Barnes & Noble Inc. BKS -1.59% “We look forward to being allowed to lower prices on more Kindle books,” Amazon said.
– Apple and two publishers didn’t settle and are on track to face the government in court. Apple declined to comment but earlier denied acting in concert with the publishers.
18:04 – Google+ Refresh
– Now more beautiful?
– The new interface drops the static icons at the top and moves all the navigation off to the side, allowing users to reorder the icons as they wish. The list includes access to all of Google+’s features, including Hangouts, Photos, Circles, Games, your Profile page, an Explore option for browsing the site, and an icon called “More” which will hold all the icons you don’t care to see.
– Applications mentioned in nav bar – is this the start of app’s coming to Google+?
– Photos and Videos now bigger – much better display
– Facebook esque profile/timeline layout
– Hangouts – easier to manage/join with others
– Whats Hot is now called Explore
– Anyone still using it?
22:13 – BBC Launch Sport App for connected TVs
– True on-demand video from your TV via red buttin and this app
– Built around F1 initially but will be extended to support Wimbledon, Euro 2012 and the Olympics
– Launched on Tivo now – others to come soon
24:51 – BT doubling Infinity speeds
– BT broadband customers who subscribe to the company’s Infinity 2 package will see their fibre download speeds nearly double from tomorrow, the national telco has promised from 38Mbit/s to “up to” 76Mbps on 12 April – upstream speeds of “up to” 19Mbit/s
– This will not lead to cost hikes for its customers.
– Those subscribers on BT’s Infinity 1 package will also see their broadband download speeds swell to “up to” 38Mbps and with upload speeds that could reach 9.5Mbit/s, it said.
– Here’s the rub, though: Existing customers already signed up to Infinity will be required to agree a new contract – at no extra cost – with BT before being able to access the new speeds.
– A BT spokesman confirmed that such a customer would first need to order a “regrade” from the company before “extending” their contract to another 12 or another 18 months.

Picks
Ian
Pebble
– E-Paper Watch for iPhone and Android

Caines Arcade
– If you’ve got 11 minutes, watch this