iOS 6 Passbook vs. Google Wallet
Apple’s Passbook will beat Google Wallet by killing the whole mobile-payment game. Sorry, Google Wallet fans, but Apple may have just pulled the mobile-payment rug from under Android’s feet. In signature Apple fashion, the new iOS 6 Passbook app takes a shockingly simple approach, which is just why it’ll prove a hit. Google Wallet’s dilemma […]
Here comes the greatest Internet landgrab in history
Frank Schilling made his fortune in the aftermath of the dot-com bust, buying up thousands of domain names others didn’t want. He kept at it, aggressively building a portfolio of more than 320,000 domains that, through a combination of ads and outright sales, have made Schilling a decamillionaire many times over. Now the 43-year-old domainer […]
Apple draws up battle strategy against Google at WWDC
They are classic “frienemies,” collaborating when the interest is mutual and going for the other’s jugular when the opportunity presents itself. So it was that on Monday Apple made clear that it’s willing to cut ties with Google if that’s what it takes to move its own agenda forward. Among the product and technology announcements […]
LinkedIn acknowledges security breach, asks users to change password
The professional social network LinkedIn said Wednesday some of its members’ passwords were stolen after reports said more than 6.4 million accounts were breached. “We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation,” LinkedIn director Vicente Silveira said in a blog post. […]
Internet switches to IPv6, Trillions of new net addresses now possible
A new Internet standard giving the global network more room to grow came into effect Wednesday, a move that users probably won’t notice. The switch occurred at 0001 GMT Wednesday, when Internet operators switched to a new standard called IPv6 that allows for trillions of “IP” numbers or addresses, up from the current 4.3 billion. […]
Intel open to putting Windows Phone on its chips
Intel has opened the door to potentially supporting Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system on its chips, according to a report by Computer World today. Intel is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Windows Phone platform, which has won some critical praise but limited commercial success. Instead, the company is largely betting on the continued success […]
Nano-SIM design gets green light — but did Apple win?
According to ETSI, it has finally come to an agreement on the Nano-SIM standard. The only issue is, it didn’t say which company won. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) announced today that its committee has come to an agreement on the Nano-SIM standard. There’s just one issue: the organization didn’t say which technology was […]
RIM promotes Playbook tablet in South Florida
Maybe you’ve heard that Research in Motion, the maker of Blackberry mobile devices, has updated its Playbook tablet to rival the iPad. Or maybe you haven’t, which is one of the company’s biggest challenges today: getting the word out. People think of RIM as limited to business Blackberry handsets, not consumer products. “That’s a problem,” […]
Judge says 37 Oracle APIs are not copyrightable
In a ruling in the Oracle vs. Google case, a San Francisco district court judge says 37 of Oracle’s APIs are not copyrightable. Oracle plans to appeal the ruling. The structure, sequence, and organization of the 37 Java APIs at question in the Oracle v. Google case are not copyrightable, Judge William Alsup of the […]
HP boffins create net-zero energy data center
Farmers make hay when the sun shines, and maybe data centers should crunch data and do the bulk of their work then, too. That’s what the techies at HP Labs, who have been marrying renewable energy and data centers together in a testbed, are beginning to think. The HP boffins have managed to talk at […]
Tim Cook: ‘I’ve never really felt the weight of trying to be Steve’
“Steve’s legacy will always be in the DNA of the company, of bringing in the best people,” Cook said. “I wouldn’t get overly focused on who does what piece.” In a live interview at the D10 conference tonight in Palos Verdes, Calif., Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked once again what it’s like to fill […]
Facebook smartphone to be ‘released next year’
Social networking giant Facebook is to launch its own smartphone by next year, reports have suggested. The New York Times cited unnamed sources, including Facebook employees, suggesting that the network had been hiring several smartphone engineers. Facebook recently admitted it was struggling to make money out of its growing mobile audience. The company, which recently […]
5 reasons for considering cloud-based anti-spam
No small business wants its employees to be burdened with spam, and will do whatever it can to keep it from spreading malware through the organisation, phishing account credentials and affecting general productivity. GFI Software’s Jeff Orloff explains how new anti-spamming solutions in the cloud can help tighten up small businesses, even when building at […]
Data wars: Unlocking the information goldmine
Data mining: Dr Mike Lynch says the next IT revolution is happening in the “I”, the information, not the “T” In his 1950 paper entitled Computing Machinery and Intelligence, computer scientist Alan Turing opens with the words: “I propose to consider the question, ‘Can machines think?’” Sixty years on, the idea of intelligent computers seems […]
Here comes Yahoo’s own Web browser — Axis
Yahoo is announcing tonight that it’s getting into the browser business with its new Axis browser. There are versions for iPad and iPhone, and plug-ins for the desktop browsers Chrome, Firefox, IE, and Safari. The design goal, according to Ethan Batraski, head of product for the Search Innovation Group at Yahoo, is to eliminate the […]
Ex-Apple CEO says healthcare could be biggest beneficiary of cloud
Cloud computing has the power to reinvent healthcare systems across the globe, according to former Apple CEO, John Sculley. In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, the 73 year-old Silicon Valley legend said he expected cloud to accelerate an overhaul of the current approach to healthcare within the next 15 years, and for big data […]
Pay-per-use bandwidth? Not without some ground rules
Molly Wood faces the hard reality that the days of unlimited bandwidth are over, but she’s not going to get taken to the cleaners by greedy providers. Here’s how to make pay-per-use a fair deal for everyone. Do I get results, or what? Less than a day after this column posted, Comcast announced it would […]
Amazon launches content support in CloudFront
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched support for dynamic content in CloudFront, the company’s content acceleration service. The technology giants are keen to increase the presence of the new capability, highlighting it as a cost-effective alternative to traditional CDNs for AWS customers looking to improve the performance, reliability and global reach of their websites. By […]
Adobe ships CS6 software; Creative Cloud imminent
The Creative Suite 6 versions of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Premiere Pro, and all their companion apps are now for sale. Adobe’s subscription for them arrives Friday. Adobe Systems today began selling Creative Suite 6, its mammoth but expensive collection of software for designers, artists, photographers, videographers, publishers, and others in the “content creation” business. The […]
Yahoo and its CEO: What’s the worst that could happen?
Chief Executive Officer Scott Thompson is accused of lying about his college education. Tempest in a teacup, or scandal in the making? Yahoo chief executive Scott Thompson has been accused outright of lying on his resume in an already brewing scandal dubbed “Resume-gate.” Carol Bartz: “LOL.” The whole debacle appears on the face of it […]