Technology News

Jordan Robertson / Bloomberg:Juniper Acquires Web-Security Company Mykonos for $80 Million  —  Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) — Juniper Networks Inc., the second- largest maker of networking equipment, said it purchased closely held Mykonos Software Inc. for $80 million in cash, adding products that bolster the security of Internet applications.

It's been barely a month since Google Docs on Android got offline support, but here comes Mountain View with another equally impressive update. Those upgrading today are treated to collaborative editing, much in the vein of their desktop counterparts. That means you can now watch edits happen in real time from your Android tablet or smartphone. In addition, there's a bevy of interface tweaks too, including a new pinch-to-zoom gesture and rich text formatting. Feel good video demoing all awaits after the break.Continue reading Google Docs for Android update brings collaborative editing for allGoogle Docs for Android update brings collaborative editing for all originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Google, Google Docs (Android Market)  | Email this | Comments

Frederic Lardinois / SiliconFilter:Google Docs for Android Now Lets you Collaborate On the Go  —  Google Docs may not be as fully featured as a full-blown productivity suite like Microsoft Office, but its collaboration features are something many of its users can't live without anymore.  Until now, though …

With the assimilation of Ericsson's wireless stake now neatly a footnote in its corporate history, Sony's moving on and making its newfound freedom known -- albeit quietly. According to a rep for the company, its first rebranding baby steps began just last night, with the former SonyEricsson portal now redirecting to SonyMobile.com. Other related properties, like its social networking extensions and various related digital properties, are also slated to make the transition throughout March, with further announcements planned for Mobile World Congress next week. We'll be there live in just a few days, so stay tuned. In the meanwhile, hit up the source below to see synergy at its finest.[Thanks, Kevin]Sony Mobile rebranding quietly begins, changes to roll out over the next month originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:39:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Sony Mobile  | Email this | Comments

The Center for Digital Democracy says Google's real reason for changing its privacy policy is to grow its business, not make life easier for users. It wants the Federal Trade Commission to enforce...

Stuart Dredge / Apps blog:Facebook builds European social games team following startups' success  —  The rise of Wooga, King.com and Angry Birds is helping drive ‘the third generation’ of the social network's platform  —  Facebook is creating a dedicated gaming team in Europe, matching the one it has in the US …

First time accepted submitter RenderSeven writes "Manufacturing .NET reports that U.S. Food and Drug Administration officials plan to investigate whether inhalable caffeine sold in lipstick-sized canisters is safe for consumers and if its manufacturer was right to brand it as a dietary supplement. AeroShot went on the market late last month in Massachusetts and New York, and it's also available in France. Consumers put one end of the canister in their mouths and breathe in, releasing a fine powder that dissolves almost instantly." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Been keeping up with Mozilla Labs' Apps project? Today the company's focused on developers, with pleasing news if you've been looking to get your app's feet wet in it. In the coming weeks at Mobile World Congress, the Firefox maker will finally open its self-titled Marketplace's doors for app submissions. If you're unfamiliar, Mozilla's been working to create an "operating system- and device-independent market," based on its own APIs, HTML5 and other open source materials. The end result will be the ability to use said apps without being locked down by your devices and their respective app stores. The store is set to open up for consumer consumption later in the year, so now's your chance to reserve your software's spot and name on the list. More details await in press release after the break and at source link below, while you get your code ready.Continue reading Mozilla Labs Apps set to allow developer submissions for Mozilla Marketplace at MWCMozilla Labs Apps set to allow developer submissions for Mozilla Marketplace at MWC originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Mobile Burn  |  The Mozilla Blog  | Email this | Comments

Horace Dediu / asymco:How much does it cost to manufacture an iPhone?  —  An iPhone generates approximately $650 in revenue for Apple.  This figure has remained fairly steady over time.  Using deduction from overall margins, it's possible to estimate the gross margin on the product to be around 55%.

Chris Velazco / TechCrunch:Mozilla Launching Cross-Platform App Store Later This Year, Submissions Open Next Week  —  Calling all developers: if you know your way around HTML5 and JavaSrcipt and have a great idea for an app, Mozilla wants to hear from you.  The web-friendly nonprofit has just announced their intention …

Microsoft is adding new features to the next versions (Wave 15) of its SharePoint Server and SharePoint Online offerings. Here are early looks at some of those.

Citrix recently announced availability of CloudStack 3 beta with a redesigned user interface, integrated XenServer 6, support for CloudStack Swift, and integration with the company's product...

U.S. Internet service providers should take new steps to protect subscribers against cyberattacks, including notifying customers when their computers are compromised, the chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said Wednesday.

Prices of DDR3 DRAM memory used in laptops and desktops have dipped to an all-time low of around US$1, and will continue to fall, which could help PC makers pack more memory into computers, analysts said.

Verizon's 4G LTE network has been knocked offline again just two months after its last serious outage.

Microsoft is pointing fingers at Google and Facebook for circumventing the privacy mechanism baked into Internet Explorer, but the real problem lies in its own failure to implement the P3P privacy standard well, an expert says.

The U.S. Air Force has abruptly cancelled a plan to buy nearly 3,000 iPad 2 tablets, just days after a news site raised questions about including a Russian-developed app for encrypting and reading documents.

SAP on Wednesday released details for its road map for HCM (human capital management) software following the US$3.4 billion acquisition of SuccessFactors, which focuses on cloud-based applications.

Microsoft has filed a formal complaint with the European Commission against Motorola Mobility for alleged abuse of essential patents.

Pro tip: when suing the pants off another company for patent infringement, it's a good idea to make sure you're not violating any of that same company's intellectual property. That's the lesson we imagine Sprint is learning at this very moment. Just two months after it filed a lawsuit against Comcast for getting all up in its VoIP business, the digital services company is now ready to go Comcastic on the Now Network's derriere, as it has filed a lawsuit of its own in a Pennsylvania court. While it's not directly tied into December's case, it seems oddly coincidental that this new suit came into existence so soon after Sprint fired the first shot.Comcast and subsidiary TVWorks, LLC allege that Sprint is guilty of violating four wireless patents: its wireless broadband cards, Vision Pack and other SMS services, MMS transfers and voice and data using IP / MPLS backhaul. That's a pretty hefty portion of the carrier's basic operations, it seems, and we're assuming that a settlement or licensing agreement will be the end result here. Regardless, as the adage says, what goes around comes around.Comcast sues Sprint with patent infringement, says two can play that game originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:59:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink AndroidPolice  |  LightReading  | Email this | Comments

Adobe has announced its future plans for Flash and AIR and Linux isn't part of them. Flash will still, however, be available to Linux desktop users who use Google's Chrome Web browser.

Can Twitter co-exist with a live performance?

Robert Scoble / Scobleizer:Why I am tired of Silicon Valley's focus on virality, Glassmap is far worse than Path ever was  —  You might have seen all the people beating up on Path about two weeks ago.  But that really is pretty benign behavior, in my experience, when compared to companies, like Glassmap, who really are hurting the entire app economy.

YokimaSun writes "Sony have today released the PSVita in the USA and Europe, the console comes with features such as dual touch pads at the front and rear, dual cameras at the front and rear, dual analog sticks, a 5-inch OLED screen, GPS, six-axis motion sensors and a three-axis electronic compass. The PSVita is Sony's attempt at stealing the thunder away from the 3DS but also bringing back the gamers lost to the likes of Android and IOS Devices. The PSVita in japan sold massively on its first release week but since has struggled and sold less than the PSP. With this in mind sites like Amazon have been offering many different deals to entice people to buy the console. Can Sony stop homebrewers from taking over this console?" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Back in the fall, Apple gave developers an ultimatum: sandbox your apps, or see yourself out of the Mac App Store. Originally, devs had until March 1st to make the change, which limits the resources apps can access, thereby making a malware infection less likely. Still, sandboxing inherently means less control for developers: the fewer resources an app can use, the less it can actually do. Well, code monkeys, you've now got a few more months to decide which camp you'd rather be in: Apple has extended that deadline to June 1st. As MacRumors notes, the move comes amid mounting concerns from developers, who have been complaining of bugs and other issues associated with the sandboxing process. In a statement on its developer site, Apple gave a pithier explanation, saying it wants to give devs more time to make use of new sandboxing entitlements available in OX X 10.7.3, along with new APIs in Xcode 4.3.Apple: developers now have until June 1 to sandbox apps for the Mac App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink Techmeme  |  MacRumors, Apple  | Email this | Comments

Ian Lin / Bing:Make a Good Search Impression with Bing's Linked Pages  —  Whether it's an old friend, a former classmate or (ahem) yourself, searching for people is one of the most common things we do on the web.  Last year, we took the first step to bring expanded search results of your Facebook friends into Bing …

New submitter rescrv writes "Key-value stores (like Cassandra, Redis and DynamoDB) have been replacing traditional databases in many demanding web applications (e.g. Twitter, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and others). But for the most part, the differences between existing NoSQL systems come down to the choice of well-studied implementation techniques; in particular, they all provide a similar API that achieves high performance and scalability by limiting applications to simple operations like GET and PUT.HyperDex, a new key-value store developed at Cornell, stands out in the NoSQL spectrum with its unique design. HyperDex employs a unique multi-dimensional hash function to enable efficient search operations — that is, objects may be retrieved without using the key (PDF) under which they are stored. Other systems employ indexing techniques to enable search, or enumerate all objects in the system. In contrast, HyperDex's design enables applications to retrieve search results directly from servers in the system. The results are impressive. Preliminary benchmark results on the project website show that HyperDex provides significant performance improvements over Cassandra and MongoDB. With its unique design, and impressive performance, it seems fittng to ask: Is HyperDex the start of NoSQL 2.0?" Read more[..]

A new study has found that your Facebook profile can be used to predict your academic success if you're a college student and your job performance if you're in the workforce.

The controversial Acta bill is to be taken to Europe's highest court.

Microsoft is adding another Facebook-linked feature to Bing known as Linked Pages.

Rahul Vohra / The Rapportive Blog:Rapportive Acquired By LinkedIn!  —  Hey there!  This is Rahul from Rapportive.  —  Our vision is to make you brilliant with people.  Not just good, not just effective, but actually brilliant.  That's our dream.  —  Since we accidentally launched, we have relentlessly pursued this vision …

Laura Hazard Owen / paidContent:Amazon Yanks 5,000 Kindle IPG Titles In Fight Over Terms  —  Amazon (NSDQ: AMZN) has turned off the buy button on nearly 5,000 Kindle titles from distributor Independent Publishers Group after IPG refused to capitulate to Amazon's demand for better terms.  —  The story was first reported …

Two years ago, key IBM channel executives abruptly initiated a sea change in the company's go-to-market blueprint to sell predictive analytics and cloud computing (and other newer technologies) to midmarket businesses.

As many as 200,000 systems connected to the Internet could be hijacked by hackers exploiting bugs in Symantec's pcAnywhere, including up to 5,000 point-of-sale programs that collect credit card data, a researcher said today.

The New York Times reported Wednesday that Google's new Android-based goggles will be priced between $250 and $600, and include a 3G or 4G data connection along with motion and GPS sensors.

The United States is the fourth friendliest country in the world for global cloud interoperability, according to a new study from the Business Software Alliance. But, the organization said a "patchwork" of laws and regulations around the world is holding back cloud adoption internationally.

Juniper said this week it has acquired Mykonos Software, a provider of website and web application security software, for $80 million.

News reports out of Charlotte, N.C., indicate a "known suspect" swiped 25 iPhones from an Apple Store at Northlake Mall between Dec. 1 and Jan. 11.

The Yahoo-owned photo sharing site Flickr is about to get a makeover, with new interfaces for viewing and uploading photos.

The European Court of Justice is to rule on the legality of the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), but Commissioners remain bullish about its validity.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission must block Verizon Wireless from buying wireless spectrum from cable providers because two proposed deals would concentrate too much spectrum in the hands of one company, a coalition of advocacy groups said.

judgecorp writes "Microsoft has filed a complaint with the European Commission complaining that Motorola Mobility is charging too much for use of its patented technology in phones and tablets. The complaint follows a similar one by Apple last week, and will need to be resolved by Google as it takes charge of Motorola Mobility." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

There's a new adventure video capture company in town, and both Zeyez and GoPro would have good reason to be afraid. You may not have heard of Pivothead -- the company has had a remarkably quiet push to market over the last few months -- but the video recording eyewear startup could very well become a household name after its first products hit the market this April for $349. Aurora, Durango, Moab and Recon may offer distinct exterior designs, but they're virtually identical under the hood. Each model includes an eight-megapixel Sony sensor (that reportedly captures higher quality images than the iPhone 4S cam), a four-element glass lens, 8GB of built-in storage, a 440mAh battery (with about an hour of shooting time) and three video modes: 1080/30p, 720/60p and 720/30p. We had a chance to go hands-on with Pivothead earlier today, and took the glasses for a spin on the streets of New York City. You'll find that sample video, along with our impressions, just past the break.Gallery: Pivothead video glasses hands-onContinue reading Pivothead video glasses offer impressive quality, we go hands-on (sample video)Pivothead video glasses offer impressive quality, we go hands-on (sample video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 13:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Pivothead  | Email this | Comments

Samsung's R&D department has been working overtime as it strives to break the idea it copies wholesale ideas from its competition. Yesterday we heard word about its planned new cloud service and today it's announced that it'll be unveiling a unique education-focused app for Galaxy Tabs 8.9 and 10.1. Learning Hub will provide free materials from 30 major educational establishments from elementary schools through to universities, although there's no word on what certificates you'll be able to earn at the end of your course. The program will expand to other devices in the Galaxy family later on, once the company's done showing off the software at MWC.Samsung's Learning Hub demonstrates a commitment to education, profits originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Samsung Tomorrow (Translated)  | Email this | Comments

Jack Purcher / Patently Apple:Google Patent Clearly Eying the Desktop Market for Android  —  A recent patent filing by Google surprisingly indicates that they're seriously eying the desktop and notebook markets for Android.  Interestingly, the patent seems to focus on similar capabilities now found in Apple's Multi-Touch Trackpad and Magic Trackpad.

The conflicts and behind-the-scenes drama surrounding India's Aakash project once again threaten its existence. Despite a record-breaking 1.4 million pre-orders gained in under a fortnight, maker DataWind has only shipped 10,000 units to nearly universal derision. Early adopters have found the processor too slow, battery life too short and the resistive touchscreen difficult to use. Kapil Sibal's Human Resource Development ministry now plans to re-open tendering for a replacement contractor and withdraw DataWind's deal for a further 90,000 units. An anonymous ministry official has said that they've seen "sufficient interest [...] to get better specifications at the same or lower price."In response, DataWind has claimed that its development-partner, the Indian Institute of Technology, pulled a bait-and-switch, demanding at the eleventh hour that the tablet meet US military criteria for durability -- including being able to withstand four inches per hour of "sustained rain." Work has been on hold since then but neither party can afford another delay. DataWind promised it would sell the commercial version of the slate this month, while Kapil Sibal has promised that a second edition of the Aakash would be announced in April.Aakash lurches toward another crisis as India loses patience with DataWind originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 22 Feb 2012 12:37:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink   |  Reuters  | Email[..]