IBLOG SPACE

Facebook’s recent privacy policy changes may have made it tougher for employers to demand users’ passwords and could indeed spark a federal investigation, but the site also took the opportunity to slip in a spurious trademark claim. Among the tweaks was the addition of “Book” to the copyrights and trademarks section, ZDNet spotted, suggesting that by using Facebook you concede that they hold the rights to the term. The previous iteration of the agreement suggested that “You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Wall and 32665), or any confusingly similar marks, without our written permission.” However, the new agreement has amended that slightly, dropping the reference to 32665 and adding in the mention of books: “You will not use our copyrights or trademarks (including Facebook, the Facebook and F Logos, FB, Face, Poke, Book and Wall), or any confusingly similar marks, except as expressly permitted by our

Back in January, it was discovered that Chrome’s PageRank was being boosted as part of a third party’s marketing campaign. Google claimed it had nothing to do with the effort, placing the blame solely on the marketing firm, Unruly Media. As a result, Google manually lowered the PageRank for a period of “at least 60 days.” That penalty has now come to an end, with Chrome’s normal PageRank restored. There’s no exact date for when the penalty was lifted, although SearchEngineLand first noted the restored PageRank on March 16th. The value of a PageRank number is determined by how many sites link back to the original. Google demoted “google.com/chrome” to 0, the lowest possible, with it having being restored to 7 as of writing. Unruly Media was reportedly authorized only to run online adverts to promote Google’s Chrome browser. The firm seems to have gone one step further, with evidence being uncovered of blogs being paid to link back to Chrome. Right now, searching for “brow

3-D printing is very cool and typically uses lasers to harden some sort of resin material one layer at a time until a finished three-dimensional product is produced. When you combine a 3-D printed device with printed electronics it’s even more interesting. Two companies called Stratasys and Optomec Inc have announced a very interesting device called Smart Wing created for UAV model. The wing is the first project to successfully merge 3-D printing and printed electronics, creating the world’s first fully printed hybrid structure. It’s very interesting that the wing has all the electronics it needs printed directly on the surface rather than resorting to heavier and more complex traditional wiring. The company says that 3-D printing electronics combined with printed electronics techniques have the potential to change product development in a number of industries including medical devices, consumer electronics, automotive, and aerospace development. Optomec uses Aerosol Je

Hillcrest Labs has announced that its new Freespace MotionEngine is now available to smartphone manufacturers around the world. The most control system is available to manufacturers and component suppliers for smartphones and tablets. The system is embedded software that’s able to manage and enhance sensors commonly found in smartphones and tablets today for motion based applications. When integrated into smartphones packing the appropriate sensors the Freespace MotionEngine can add contextual awareness to precisely track the motion of the phone and surroundings for context aware applications. One application of this tech is phones that can sense a car accident or fall. Then beep to see if the user responds, and send an emergency call for an ambulance if the user doesn’t respond in a timely manner. The system can also augment GPS in instances where GPS signals are not available or when GPS isn’t accurate by sensing if the user is wanting by landmarks such as a mall and

Nikon has admitted that its upcoming D4, D800 and D800E digital cameras will cost significantly more than previously promised in the UK and Ireland, blaming a systems error for suggested retail prices out by as much as £490 ($777). In a statement today, Nikon UK confirmed that, rather than £4,799.99, the D4 would in fact be £5,289.99, while there are increases for the cheaper models as well. However, it’s not all bad news for those who got in early on the pre-order list. Nikon UK has promised that those customers who pre-ordered any of the three cameras prior to March 24 will have the incorrect price honored. “We know that there has been strong consumer interest in these products and a high level of pre-orders placed with retailers” the company said in a statement today. “Nikon will be honouring the original prices to retailers on all customer pre-orders placed before March 24th 2012.” With immediate effect, however, the D800 will now be £2,599.99, an increase of £200

The Samsung Galaxy S II Skyrocket HD debuted on AT&T early this year, and at the time it was rocking Android 2.3 as the operating system. Samsung has been slowly updating many of its smartphones to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. The Skyrocket is one of the devices getting the update along with the regular S II and several other smartphones that already have it. I’m sure there are more than a few users of the Skyrocket that worried they may not get ICS, but those fears are unwarranted. The official ICS built for the Skyrocket has been around apparently since March 14, even though it hasn’t officially launched yet. If you are tried waiting for the official launch, apparently RootzWiki has landed an early version of the official update. You can head over the website and get the full leaked update along with installation instructions and links to download mirrors. It won’t work with versions of the Skyrocket operating on the T-Mobile or Rogers networks. The update does

Microsoft’s “Smoked by Windows Phone” campaign has landed the company in hot water, with claims that the competitive promotion – which pits WP7 devices against rivals in speed tests – is being unfairly judged. The marketing scheme attempts to demonstrate how Windows Phone’s Live Tiles, among other things, make it a speedier platform than iOS or Android, challenging users of other devices to head-to-head tasks; unfortunately, as Skatter Tech found when pitting a Galaxy Nexus against Windows Phone in the Santa Clara Microsoft Store, it’s also subject to the whims of store staff. According to the site, the challenge set was to “bring up the weather of two different cities” as quickly as possible. Skatter Tech’s Sahas Katta had already turned off the Ice Cream Sandwich lockscreen and had a two city weather widget on his homescreen, so merely hit the power button to bring up the current forecasts. The Windows Store demonstrator “finished a split-second later” as she had to pre

Onkyo is a popular manufacturer of home theater receivers and other hardware with a range of products on the market. The company has low-end up to very high-end offerings and has slotted a couple new products into its mix aimed at mid-range buyers. Onkyo has unveiled TX-NR717 and the TX-NR818 sharing many of the same features. Both are 7.2 Channel network connected A/V receivers that are THX certified. The 818 has Audyssey MultiEQ XT32 audio calibration capability for tweaking the sound specifically to your room automatically. The receiver also has three sound processing modes including DTS Neo:X and uses Onkyo’s Dual Core Video Engine. The video engine allows the receiver to be calibrated to ISF standards. Both of receivers include InstaPrevue and Mobile Hi Definition Link technology. The InstaPrevue displays video thumbnails that represent content on devices connected via HDMI to make it easier to switch HDMI sources. Both receivers are THX Select 2 Plus certified and h

Some people out there may not know that each iPad and iPhone on the market has a special identification number known as a UDID. For a long time there’ve been a number of apps on the App Store that access that unique identification number. Presumably, by using that number a developer would be able to tell when a specific iPad the downloaded an app. With significantly increasing pressure from Congress in the United States over privacy, Apple has decided to step up its privacy game without prompting from Washington. Apple has started rejecting any app that accesses the UDID. Apple had reportedly already notified developers that they only have six months left ago before the UDID was depreciated. TechCrunch reports that some larger social media mobile app developers told it previously that Apple is reaching out and warning them to move away from the UDID earlier than expected. Apple is now simply rejecting apps that access that identification number. Apparently mobile ad n

Microsoft and Nokia have jointly committed up to €18m ($24m) to train and support app developers as part of the new AppCampus program, though the cash will go to Symbian and S40 coders as well as Windows Phone. The new fund will support the freshly established mobile application development program at Aalto University in Finland, “to create a new generation of self-sustaining mobile startups” as well as ensuring that Windows Phone and the other platforms hopefully don’t go without key titles in future. Set to begin in May 2012, the AppCampus program will consist of training in mobile technology, guidance around design and usability, along with funding to create new mobile apps and services. Aalto University will throw in a physical location along with coaching and an established network of academic and business contacts. The end result apps will turn up in the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Nokia Store. “Mentored by veterans in the mobile industry,” Microsoft and N

Apple has raised the stakes in the battle over next-gen SIM cards, promising royalty-free licenses to any patents involved in its nano-SIM design if it is accepted, and challenging Nokia and others to commit to the same. The Cupertino company has offered “an unequivocal commitment to grant royalty-free licenses to any Apple patents essential to nano-SIM” according to a letter from Apple to the European Telecommunication Standards Institute (ETSI) shared with FOSS Patents, as long as its design is the winning one. However, the commitment doesn’t take into account complaints other firms have around technical superiority. According to a report earlier this month, Apple had prompted outcry amid members of the ETSI over its attempts to push its preferred nano-SIM standard. The card design was described as technically inferior to alternative options, by Nokia among others, though said to have the backing of “most” European carriers. Nokia, however, doesn’t agree, arguing tha

Titanic director and deep-sea diving enthusiast James Cameron has tweeted from the bottom of the ocean’s deepest point, down 36,070 feet in the Marianas Trench’s Challenger Deep, and promising unseen footage of the inhospitable region. Cameron’s dive is the first single-person attempt ever, with the director squeezing himself into a bullet-shaped submersible capable of withstanding the 15,969 PSI pressures. “Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt. Hitting bottom never felt so good” Cameron tweeted from the submarine. “Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.” The dive takes Cameron – a self-confessed undersea addict – roughly three times as deep as the resting place of the Titanic. There, he will use 3D cameras and other equipment to comprehensively capture as much of the environment as possible; in fact, Cameron’s own space inside the submersible is significantly constrained by accommodating the technical hardware he specified. It’s not only space which is an issue:

Microsoft launched a surprise raid on botnet operators late last week, it’s been revealed, though experts suggest the strike against Zeus may deliver only very short-term gains. The company seized servers, domain names and other evidence from two offices in Pennsylvania and Illinois on Friday, March 23, the NYTimes reports, challenging those who harvest credit card and other personal data from unwitting internet users – as well as potentially turning their PCs into DDOS weapons – rather than waiting for federal agencies to get into gear. The decision to use civil action rather than simply report cases of suspected malware and botnets was made by Richard Boscovich, federal prosecutor turned senior lawyer in the digital crimes unit at Microsoft. By arguing that botnet operators violate Microsoft trademarks in their phishing emails, damage the company’s reputation, and commit fraud that can affect its products, the team can secure warrants from federal judges to remove s

Apple’s new iPad launch in China could take place as early as April, with the country’s safety regulators finally approving the WiFi model, though grey-market third-gen iPads have been available immediately after the tablet first went on sale. The China Quality Certification Center, the country’s official safety standards agency, granted the new iPad WiFi its China Compulsory Certification on Thursday last week, paving the way for sales to begin as early as April. However, the 4G model has not been approved yet, and Apple’s offering in China is expected to be WiFi-only for the time being. Although as with previous iPad launches Apple has seen a thriving unofficial grey-market for the tablet, the company’s simultaneous launch in first ten countries and then a further 24 – together with a crack-down in import taxation and customs checks – has made life hard for individual merchants hoping to capitalize on Chinese demand. Chinese customs officials have apparently told some

If you want freedom of speech on your instant messaging platform, you better turn away from Microsoft. The software giant’s Windows Live Messenger service has apparently begun blocking all links to online piracy haven The Pirate Bay. If such a link is sent through an IM, this message is received: “The link you tried to send was blocked because it was reported as unsafe.” The Pirate Bay has become a one-stop shop for users who want to download illegal copies of TV shows, movies, music files, digital books, and more. Those with a 3D printer can even pirate actual physical objects through the site’s collection of 3D printable files. Of course, because of its reputation, references to The Pirate Bay are blocked on all kinds of online forums, discussion boards, and the like. But to ban people from linking to it in private instant message conversations is quite a new step. In addition, classifying The Pirate Bay as “unsafe” isn’t really even accurate, as going to the site doe

There’s been a lot of hype lately surrounding the recently announced Epic Mickey sequel for the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. But that’s not the only new title Disney is bringing to the franchise. It has also been confirmed that a completely new and exclusive adventure in Mickey Mouse’s epic saga will be heading to the Nintendo 3DS. This entry will be titled Epic Mickey: The Power of Illusion, and will obviously be the first in the series to go to a handheld platform. The original Epic Mickey title was exclusive to the Nintendo Wii, a decision that developers said almost from day one was a limitation, and they hoped the franchise would be able to expand its horizons. It looks like those hopes are absolutely being realized. Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will be hitting all three home consoles, with a brand new cooperative multiplayer option that is sure to bring a completely new level of depth to the experience. And now, thanks to a brief tease in the latest edition of Ninte

Facebook‘s recent changes to its privacy policy was meant to be a vote of support for furious job applicants reluctant to hand over their passwords to potential employers; in actual fact they’ve reignited a firestorm. The social network amended its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities in the aftermath of reports that some companies and schools were demanding Facebook access as an extended background check, threatening legal action for sharing or soliciting a password. However, the tweaks drew focus to just what, exactly, the privacy policy spells out, and neither users nor privacy regulators are liking what they read. The privacy policy is now known as the “Data Use Policy” and includes sections on “non-users who interact with Facebook” having data stored and processed in the US. The site is indulging in “comprehensive tracking of registered and un-registered users” a German data protection watchdog ULD has accused, among multiple other concerns, and says Facebook’s

The day the camera geeks have been waiting for is upon us: the Canon EOS 5D Mark III is finally shipping, and while supplies are tight one of the new DSLR flagships is already on the SlashGear test bench. Packing a new 22.3-megapixel full-frame CMOS sensor and DIGIC 5+ Imaging Processor, along with up to 6fps continuous shooting and up to 1080/24p, 25p and 30p video capture, it’s little surprise that 5D Mark II owners are looking enviously on at the new model and wondering what sort of trade-in prices they might get. We’ve already seen what Canon can do with the Mark III, and what pre-reviews think; head on after the cut for some preview footage and shots ahead of the full SlashGear review. The new gapless microlens design offers an 8-channel readout that doubles the transfer speed between sensor and imaging processor. Meanwhile, there’s 61-point AF and up to a crazy 102,400 ISO. The shutter release is certainly faster – you can hear the difference in speed between the ne

With the necessary skills to fend off the zombie menace still absent from most school curricula, it’s time to take matters into your own hands and make sure your loved ones know how best to handle the undead. Taking place at an abandoned, soon to be demolished shopping center near London in the UK, the Zombie Shopping Mall Experience is a £119 ($189) masterclass in being chased by brain-hungry hoards and keeping them at bay, albeit with airsoft guns and movie-grade special effects. “We’ve prepared a bespoke, abandoned shopping centre in Reading, sprinkled to the gills with maniacal ZOMBIES lusting for your tender brains” the experience promises. “You and your team will be depleting the zombie population with full Bronson-style perspicacity. Using state of the art special effects and large, blood-inducing props you’ll tackle a series of computer game like missions in a full-on ‘run and gun’ gore fest.” Up to fifteen people can take part at any one time, with sessions a

My name is Philip Berne, and I cheat at Foursquare. I’m unrepentant and I have no remorse for my behavior. I will not stop, even now that my secret is out. What are you going to do about it? I check into places I have not been. Sometimes, those places are far away from where I’m sitting. Before I ever visited Good 2 Go Taco, I checked in there on Foursquare. I was more than 10 miles away at the time. I did it to needle my boss, who was mayor of the joint at the time. I was threatening to steal all of his mayorships from him, and I knew that Good 2 Go was his most prized mayoral possession. [Image credit: Nan Palmero] A few days earlier, I had created a Foursquare location specifically for his office. Then I checked in. He checked in second. The way Foursquare works, if I checked in every day at that point, before he had the chance, I would quickly become mayor and hold that position indefinitely. I usually arrive at work before he does. I was mayor on day two, and held

Sony’s flagship Chrome OS-powered computer has just been given the green light by the Federal Communications Commission. This means as far as the regulatory paperwork goes, the device is ready to go on sale in the US, and obviously Sony wouldn’t have submitted it to the FCC unless it was essentially ready for production. So hopefully we’ll start seeing it on store shelves soon. The Vaio VCC111 joins products from Samsung and Acer that have pledged support for Google’s ambitious cloud-based operating system. We haven’t heard a whole lot about Chrome OS since its introduction, but this is a good sign that we’re ready to move from a state of potential and prototypes to something that will actually be introduced to the retail community. There’s no question that Google managed to flip the world of mobile OSes on its head, but can it do the same with traditional computing operating systems? That is no doubt a tall order, but it will be interesting to watch. The Vaio VCC111 a

The man at the top of the #1 video game retailer in the US does not believe all the hype about rumors Microsoft’s next home console will be able to block consumers from playing pre-owned games. Rumors surrounding this mechanic have said that Microsoft will implement technology that essentially creates a one-to-one relationship between a game disc and the console. That means that if you played a game, then tried to sell it to Gamestop, and someone bought that pre-owned game, they would be unable to play it since it would still be registered to your system. Of course, that also means that if you want to take your game to a friend’s house, you’d need to take your Xbox with you, or if your Xbox was broken and you bought a replacement, none of your legitimately purchased games would work. In his quarterly earnings call this week, GameStop CEO Paul Raines said, “We think it’s unlikely that there would be that next-gen console because the model simply hasn’t been proven to wo

The super powerful Canon EOS 5D Mark III is starting to make waves among photography buffs around the world. The new 22-megapixel juggernaut is sure to excite anyone interested in digital photography, and several sites have already posted test pictures of the device, ahead of publishing their full reviews. Here’s a look at the kind of buzz that the 5D Mark III is already making. Fair warning – the pictures are pretty eye-popping. LetsGoDigital writes, “Faster, sharper and more precise. Actually, the new Canon EOS 5D Mark III has been improved on all points compared to its predecessor, the popular Canon EOS 5D Mark II. The higher resolution of 22 megapixels and the renewed DIGIC 5 processor ensure maximum sharpness and speed. The new Full frame CMOS sensor makes it possible for the Canon EOS 5D Mark III to capture sharp and noise-free pictures even in extreme low light conditions.” Over at dpreview.com, there are all sorts of test shots. The site hasn’t written anythi

Apple is looking for people who are good at telephony software. Maybe too good. In fact, some are suggesting that perhaps Apple is planning on launching its own mobile voice and data infrastructure, thus eliminating the need to sell iPhones through Verizon, Sprint, or AT&T and potentially flip the mobile carrier market completely on its head. All this from a couple job postings. But when it comes to Apple, we expect grand speculation based on small evidence. Then again, there are some level-headed analyses of what these job listings could mean as well. For example, it’s no secret that Apple probably has a very tight relationship with AT&T, and now Verizon and Sprint as well, and in all likelihood they work very closely together when developing new products or services. So having people on the Apple team who are well versed in the systems and services that mobile carriers use is certainly an asset. On the periphery of all of this is that Apple wants to strengthen

Google is yet to follow Facebook‘s lead and commit to a password privacy policy that would prevent intrusive employers snooping through Google+ profiles, though pressure is likely to mount as lawmakers wade into the debate. Facebook made headlines last week by altering its “Rights and Responsibilities” policy to make sharing or soliciting an account password a violation of its terms & conditions, threatening legal action to anyone found doing so. The move followed reports that some job applicants had been forced to hand over access to their Facebook accounts for scrutiny by would-be employers. Facebook’s argument for the policy change is one that’s likely to apply to Google as well, particularly with regards to the Google+ social network. As well as violating privacy rights for the individual user themselves, Facebook’s chief privacy officer Erin Egan pointed out, third-party access also violates the privacy of that user’s friends, who will have set their own conte

Instagram has opened a pre-registration page for Android users wanting to be first in line for the upcoming Instagram for Android app. The much-anticipated Android version of the app still hasn’t had its release exactly dated, but the Instagram team has said that it is coming “very soon” and may, in fact, be considered even better than the widely popular iOS version. That iOS version has over 27m registered users, Instagram said earlier this month, taking advantage of the app’s various retro-style photo filters and straightforward sharing. Exactly how the Android app will differ wasn’t detailed, though company co-founder Mike Kreiger revealed that the Google Android team was supposedly impressed by how Instagram “leverages” the OS. Instagram first confirmed the work-in-progress Android port back in December 2011, saying at the time that it had two engineers on the job but giving no real timescale for its completion. However, the company did hint that advertising would p

RIM may be giving up to 2,000 developers a BlackBerry 10 device at the BlackBerry Jam event in early May, but the company is keen to point out that we shouldn’t extrapolate too much from either hardware or software about the next-gen smartphones. In fact, the OS running on the device – dubbed the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha – won’t even be true BlackBerry 10, instead “a prototype running a modified version of the PlayBook OS which will help developers design their apps for the BlackBerry 10 smartphone form factor.” “This is not a BlackBerry 10 smartphone – it is a prototype running a modified version of the PlayBook OS which will help developers design their apps for the BlackBerry 10 smartphone form factor. Just to be 100% clear – it’s not the final hardware or OS for BlackBerry 10 – it’s a device to help developers get started with designing for what’s coming. BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha is only for developers – not end users – and is only available to developer attendees a

There have been some warranted complaints about the new Apple TV, not the least of which is its user interface, which doesn’t exactly exude the sleek and sexy look that Apple has embodied for so many years. Well, according to someone who used to work on the Apple TV project, that’s because this interface was originally rejected by none other than Steve Jobs. And it’s leading to questions about where Apple may be heading without its visionary leader at the helm. Former Apple engineer Michael Margolis has been spreading this message on Twitter, and apparently if anyone knew the inside story it would be him. According to his latest microblogging messages, he “implemented much of the AppleTV 2.0 UI years ago.” He said, “The new home page UI makes me cry.” He then goes on to say that “those new designs were tossed out 5 years ago because SJ [Steve Jobs] didn’t like them.” This is a cautionary sign of perhaps where Apple may be headed without its visionary leader. Margolis i

Controversy over the third-gen Apple TV today, as a former Apple designer responsible for the last-gen set-top box’s interface criticized the new UI as old ideas recycled now Steve Jobs is no longer around to veto them. Michael Margolis took to Twitter to comment on the recently announced 1080p Apple TV, suggesting that “those new designs were tossed out 5 years ago because SJ [Steve Jobs]didn’t like them” and that “now there is nobody to say “no” to bad design.” The comments unsurprisingly kick-started a cycle of speculation that Apple’s design team for the set-top box has been waiting for a less stringent, controlling hand on the aesthetic tiller to push. Jobs was known for his hyper-obsessive interest in hardware and software design, believed to be incredibly frustrating at times to designers, but resulting in products that often surprised in how simplicity of interface hid underlying complexity. However, Margolis quickly countered that speculation with further co

I’ll be the first person here to admit it: I’m obsessed with technology. Whether it’s a smartphone, gaming console, or digital camera, if it has a chip in it and can do something special, I’m there. There was a time not long ago when having that obsession wasn’t so common. We had conventions and shows in our towns where we could go, marvel at the latest and greatest computers, and talk with those of us who shared that love. It was a small but proud group. Nowadays, though, it appears nearly everyone is as tech-obsessed as we once were. Everywhere I turn, someone is typing away on a laptop while sipping a coffee, chatting with a friend on their iPhone, or hoping auto-correct is working well as they type out an e-mail on their tablet. Those old computer shows are long gone now; today’s tech industry has hit the mainstream. But now I’m starting to wonder if that’s really a good thing. Nearly every month, we’re inundated with studies claiming our use of mobile phones could