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Business
April 4, 2012
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Yahoo announces plans to lay off 2,000 workers

By on April 4, 2012 at 9:35 AM.

Yahoo announces plans to lay off 2,000 workers

Yahoo on Wednesday confirmed plans to lay off more than 2,000 employees as part of new cost-cutting efforts. The Internet giant currently employs approximately 14,000 full-time workers and several thousand more contractors. The workforce reductions will be spread across a number of units within Yahoo including its product division, local business unit, marketing division and research and development division. “Today’s actions are an important next step toward a bold, new Yahoo! — smaller, nimbler, more profitable and better equipped to innovate as fast as our customers and our industry require. We are intensifying our efforts on our core businesses and redeploying resources to our most urgent priorities. Our goal is to get back to our core purpose — putting our users and advertisers first — and we are moving aggressively to achieve that goal,” said Scott Thompson, CEO of Yahoo!. “Unfortunately, reaching that goal requires the tough decision to eliminate positions. We deeply value our people and all they’ve contributed to Yahoo!.” Yahoo plans further cuts in the coming months, and the company’s full statement on the layoffs follows below. More →

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Internet
March 30, 2012
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Google Drive leak suggests 5GB of free cloud storage

By on March 30, 2012 at 7:35 PM.

Google Drive leak suggests 5GB of free cloud storage

Rumors surrounding Google’s cloud storage service are ramping up as we move closer toward the product’s rumored release date. The service will apparently be called Google Drive and is similar to Dropbox, which allows users to store files on cloud servers and access them from computers and mobile devices. According to a leaked screenshot obtained by TalkAndroid, Google Drive will offer 5GB of free storage instead of the previously rumored 1GB. The image also reaffirms that files can be accessed through computers, mobile phones, tablets and via a web browser, and it will allow users to edit a document in one place that will automatically be updated in all locations. Google Drive is rumored to launch the week of April 16th. More →

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Internet
March 16, 2012
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More than half of Internet traffic is ‘non-human’

By on March 16, 2012 at 3:05 PM.

More than half of Internet traffic is ‘non-human’

A new study suggests that more than half of all Internet traffic is generated by non-human sources such as hacking software, scrapers and automated spam mechanisms. The majority of this non-human traffic, according to cloud service provider Incapsula, is potentially malicious. The study is based on data collected from 1,000 websites that utilize Incapsula’s services, and it determined that just 49% of Web traffic is human browsing. 20% is benign non-human search engine traffic, but 31% of all Internet traffic is tied to malicious activities. 19% is from ” ‘spies’ collecting competitive intelligence,” 5% is from automated hacking tools seeking out vulnerabilities, 5% is from scrapers and 2% is from content spammers. ”Few people realize how much of their traffic is non-human, and that much of it is potentially harmful,” Incapsula co-founder Marc Gaffan told ZDNet. Incapsula, coincidentally, offers services aimed at securing small and medium businesses. More →

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Internet
March 12, 2012
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Watchdog group reveals ‘Enemies of the Internet’ list for 2012

By on March 12, 2012 at 10:45 AM.

Watchdog group reveals ‘Enemies of the Internet’ list for 2012

Global media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders on Monday released its “Enemies of the Internet” list for 2012. The list is comprised of nations it feels inhibit its citizens’ freedom to express themselves on, or even denies access to, the Internet. Reporters Without Borders’s report focuses a great deal on countries that have reportedly blocked access to social networks and microblogging services in an effort to impede the efforts of activists as they tried to organize fellow citizens. It also updated its “under surveillance” list, which covers countries that may soon be added to the enemies list. Read on for more. More →

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General
February 17, 2012
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Google and other advertisers used ‘a special code’ to bypass Safari privacy restrictions

By on February 17, 2012 at 9:05 PM.

Google and other advertisers used ‘a special code’ to bypass Safari privacy restrictions

Google and other leading advertising companies have been bypassing the privacy settings of millions of unknowing Safari users, reports the Wall Street Journal. Using “a special code,” the companies were able to bypass the browser’s privacy restrictions and install cookies on a user’s computer, even when such actions were supposed to be blocked. Companies such as Google use cookies to track browsing habits across websites that it places advertisements on. Apple’s Safari Web browser blocks these third-party cookies by default, only allowing them on a website that a user directly interacts with. Read on for more. More →

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General
February 3, 2012
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Mozilla developing push notification system for Firefox

By on February 3, 2012 at 5:01 PM.

Mozilla developing push notification system for Firefox

Mozilla is developing a push notification system for the company’s Firefox Web browser. The system will allow users to receive notifications from any website, even if the site is not open in a tab or window. The system will also be able to relay push notifications to mobile devices. Mozilla is seemingly looking to close the gap between desktop Web apps and native mobile apps, which utilize push notification systems on a number of mobile platforms. “Push notifications are a way for websites to send small messages to users when the user is not on the site,” said Mozilla developer Jeff Balogh on the company’s blog. “iOS and Android devices already support their own push notification services, but we want to make notifications available to the whole web.” The system is currently in early planning stages and there is no available time table for release. More →

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Internet
January 20, 2012
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SOPA put on hold as father of the Web calls for Americans to protest

By on January 20, 2012 at 12:00 PM.

SOPA put on hold as father of the Web calls for Americans to protest

Tim Berners-Lee, father of the World Wide Web as long as you’re not asking Al Gore, has come out against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) currently causing an Internet uprising. ”If you’re in America then you should go and call somebody or send an email to protest against these bills because they have not been put together to respect human rights as is appropriate in a democratic country,” Berners-Lee told the Sydney Morning Herald. SOPA, which is currently being revised before it is again considered by Congress, would give the U.S. government the ability to block access to foreign websites accused of unlawfully hosting or distributing copyrighted content. Big names such as Google, Wikipedia and Reddit recently protested the bill by temporarily blocking access to their websites or urging users to sign a petition. “It affects all the stuff on the Internet working and something which would affect what you want to connect to, where you want to connect to,” Berners-Lee said. Representative Lamar Smith on Friday said that the House Judiciary Committee would “postpone consideration of the legislation until there is wider agreement on a solution.” More →

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Business
January 13, 2012
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Amazon’s web-based Kindle Store for iPad skirts Apple’s 30% fee

By on January 13, 2012 at 1:05 PM.

Amazon’s web-based Kindle Store for iPad skirts Apple’s 30% fee

Amazon’s new web-based Kindle Store for the iPad reportedly helps the online retailer dodge Apple’s fee that it would otherwise pay through a native Amazon Kindle Store iOS application. Amazon’s subscription program typically charges retailers 30% of all generated revenues, which has caused retailers like Amazon to create new ways for customers to purchase goods without having to pay a fee. The Financial Times also recently pulled its application to avoid the same subscription charges, and we would not be surprised if other magazines, newspapers or retail app developers follow suit. It’s unclear if Apple will tweak its terms in an effort to hold on to subscription providers. More →

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mobile
December 8, 2011
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Twitter revamps mobile, web apps

By on December 8, 2011 at 7:00 PM.

Twitter revamps mobile, web apps

Twitter on Thursday announced a complete redesign of its twitter.com homepage and its iOS and Android applications. “It’s now easier and faster to see the information that matters most to you,” Twitter explained. “Immediately access your favorite features from the left-hand side. Photos, videos and conversations are embedded directly in Tweets so you can see the whole story at a glance. And now everything in Home will appear consistently across computers, iPhones, and Android mobile phones.” We found that Twitter’s homepage has been tweaked ever so slightly: information about your profile, trending topics and “who to follow” has been moved to the left side of the page and the timeline is now on the right. It’s clean, though, and easy to use as always. The iOS application seems more limited than before, and it takes more digging to get to what we want. We’re sticking with Tweetbot on iOS for now since it offers a much more robust feature set. More →

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mobile
October 10, 2011
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BlackBerry bug knocks millions of users offline in Europe, Middle East and Africa

By on October 10, 2011 at 12:01 PM.

BlackBerry bug knocks millions of users offline in Europe, Middle East and Africa

BlackBerry users in Africa, the Middle East and Europe have been without service since 11:00 a.m. Monday, The Telegraph reports. A bug on Research In Motion’s server in Slough, England is to blame and it appears to have impaired all users, independent of carrier or device. RIM has not issued a statement on the matter. “There is an issue with BlackBerry services at present,” a T-Mobile UK representative said on Twitter. “RIM [is] investigating this at present.” Additionally, Batelco, a wireless carrier in Bahrain, issued a statement that confirmed the service was out in the entire country and explained the issue is being “dealt with by BlackBerry providers in Canada.” More →

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mobile
September 30, 2011
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Facebook’s ‘Project Spartan’ HTML5-based client revealed

By on September 30, 2011 at 1:30 AM.

Facebook’s ‘Project Spartan’ HTML5-based client revealed

When Facebook announced a revamped mobile page in April, its lead mobile exec Eric Tseng said the social network would focus on using the HTML5 standard for future updates instead of updating individual applications for each mobile operating system. “Project Spartan” is the fruit of those labors, reports claim, and it will be the social network’s attempt to the spill its games and applications into the mobile space. Images and information on Project Spartan were recently posted on a Facebook developer page before being pulled. Thankfully TechCrunch grabbed several of the images and information from the site before it was taken down. The leaked photos clearly display a panel loaded with Facebook Pages, mobile apps and events being accessed from an iPhone’s Safari browser. There also appears to be a notifications component. Facebook will officially announce the platform sometime next week, TechCrunch said. Read on a few additional photos of Project Spartan. More →

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mobile
September 23, 2011
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SIMPLE Mobile intros all-you-can-eat talk, text and web plans starting at $40

By on September 23, 2011 at 10:00 PM.

SIMPLE Mobile intros all-you-can-eat talk, text and web plans starting at $40

SIMPLE Mobile announced on Friday that its customers can now sign up for several new plans, including a $40 unlimited nationwide talk, text and web option that is available for smartphone users. SIMPLE Mobile also introduced two new BYOB (Bring Your Own BlackBerry) prepaid plans including a $50 option with unlimited talk and text, and a $60 plan that supports “4G” speeds. SIMPLE Mobile is an MVNO that uses T-Mobile’s nationwide network to support its services, so customers interested in the BYOB plan should note that a T-Mobile BlackBerry will be required to take advantage of the carrier’s 4G HSPA+ network. SIMPLE Mobile also introduced a $25 4G nationwide wireless broadband data plan that provides 750MB of data per month, as well as a $45 2GB option. Read on for the full press release. More →

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mobile
September 13, 2011
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Verizon to ‘Unleash’ $50 unlimited prepaid plan this week

By on September 13, 2011 at 4:40 PM.

Verizon to ‘Unleash’ $50 unlimited prepaid plan this week

In an effort to edge in on MetroPCS and Sprint-owned Boost and Virgin Mobile, Verizon Wireless will introduce a brand new $50 monthly prepaid this week that includes unlimited text, talk and web, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday. The new plan, which first launched back in April as “Unleashed” in limited markets, will be available to customers in Verizon stores, Walmart, Target and Best Buy. The new plan is much cheaper than Verizon’s current unlimited talk and text prepaid option, which currently costs $94.99 per month. “This is a very competitive market, and we want to make sure we have a price portfolio to fit a greater number of customers,” Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Brenda Raney said. “In these times there are some people who would prefer living on a prepaid plan.” Read on for more. More →

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