Internet » The gTLD Metamorphosis

How fast will this cocoon hatch? How soon will gTLD spread its wings and show off its real colors? It all depends on the fast-track orientation that's now in the spotlight and, most importantly, on when gTLD-based models are able to demonstrate real global cyberbranding and image-expansion opportunities. The cocooned gTLD has started to spread its wings, and soon it will show its colors and become a butterfly. Its well-guarded fuzzy and slow progress...

Internet » The Best Protector of Privacy Online: Market Competition

For at least the past two years, Facebook has been hammered from nearly every direction -- by consumer advocacy groups, the media and Congress -- about its seemingly cavalier attitude toward protecting user privacy. That was before Google+ debuted. After watching Google+ attract 20 million members in its first two months of operation, Facebook is now addressing many longstanding complaints regarding the lack of privacy on its network. Online privacy...

Internet » SAS Social Media Analytics Keeps an Album of Performance Snapshots

"Consider how many people are generating tweets. The notion of compiling people who tweet about your brand in an A to Z directory has been difficult to develop," said SAS product marketing manager John Bastone. However, the SAS Social Media Analytics application does that, and also lets users rank the authors in terms of how influential they are, on what topic they tend to post, and so on. SAS is beefing up its SAS Social Media Analytics application...

Internet » Investors Dance to Pandora's Q2, but How Long Will the Music Last?

Pandora has reported on its first quarter as a public company, showing big year-over-year gains in revenue and listener hours. Wall Street responded possitively, but doubts remain about the Internet radio providers long-term viability. Meanwhile, other sites wait in the wings with IPO plans of their own. Internet radio service Pandora announced its first results as a publicly traded company on Thursday. Quarterly revenues totaled US$67 million,...

Internet » Slide CEO Slips Away as Google Pulls the Plug

A year after it purchased social media app and game maker Slide for a reported $200 million, Google has shut the company down. Meanwhile, Slide's CEO Max Levchin is walking out the door. Whatever the reasons, the developments suggest Google feels it has its social media sea legs and is now willing to bet on a single product: Google+. After two months of basking in the accolades Google+ has received, Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) social media strategy...

Internet » iTunes TV Show Rentals Canceled for Low Ratings

Ninety-nine-cent TV show rentals from iTunes are no more. Apple has pulled the offering from its online entertainment store, reportedly due to a lack of user interest. TV shows are still available for purchase on iTunes, and movies can still be rented through the service. This and the emergence of iCloud will likely further reshape Apple's approach to entertainment. Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) has stopped offering 99-cent TV show rentals from iTunes....

Computing » On Slashdot's Lost Taco and Apple's Big Turnover

"One valid criticism [of FOSS] is that too many projects are 'me-too,'" suggested Slashdot blogger Barbara Hudson. "'Me-too' means you're playing in their home field, and conceding that they are the reference by which you will be measured. FOSS should not be competing by being 'just as good.' 'Think different' worked for Jobs and Apple; maybe it can work for FOSS." There may not be enough tequila in this world to see the tech community all the...

Computing » Steve Jobs' Exit: The Day the Magic Died

Sun Tzu has been dead for thousands of years, and he is still required reading in military and business courses. People, products, companies and countries pass, but knowledge is often sustained. Steve Jobs' unique approach to product strategy -- and it really is product strategy -- could outlast the country, let alone Apple. And I think it should, because it is that brilliant. It is amazing to me the number of people I know who are basically saying...

Computing » IBM to Build Super-Storage Phenom

In order to keep working when disks fail, the system reportedly not only stores multiple copies of data on different disks, but also pulls data from other drives when one goes down, and writes that data to a replacement drive slowly so the computer the array serves has enough capacity to continue working. If more disks nearby fail, the rebuilding process speeds up. IBM (NYSE: IBM) is working on a 120-petabyte storage array that will consist of...

Computing » VMware Floats a Global Cloud

As VMware kicks off its 2011 VMworld confab, the company has announced several new offerings. Among them is a global cloud offering that links clouds from multiple service providers in varios countries around the world. The idea behind Global Connect is to provide multinational enterprises highly available cloud computing services locally in the various countries where they operate. VMware (NYSE: VMW) made a number of announcements at VMworld...

Mobile Tech » Sony Looks Into the Mirror to Boost Its DSLR Cred

Sony's new line of SLT digital cameras pack on the megapixels. But it might be the mirrors that set the DSLRs apart from the pack. The cameras use translucent mirror technology and electronic viewfinders. "We do not expect Canon or Nikon to adopt these any time soon, as they're more conservative in this aspect of product design," said IDC's Chris Chute. Sony (NYSE: SNE) has announced two new additions to its SLT-A family of cameras: the A77 and...

Mobile Tech » iPhone Could Bring Agony and Ecstasy to Sprint

A report this week that Sprint will soon offer the Apple iPhone on its network has excited the carrier's investors -- Sprint's stock rose about 10 percent on the news. Offering the phone would allow the carrier to better compete with its rivals' device portfolios; however, questions have arisen regarding network strain and how Sprint will handle factors like the phone's high subsidy cost. It looks like Sprint (NYSE: S) is about to join Club iPhone. The...

IT Management » Federal CIO Prods Agencies to Revamp Websites

The website reform plan is part of a larger federal program to improve customer relations with the public through various means, including the use of innovative technologies. "The federal government has a responsibility to streamline and make more efficient its service delivery to better serve the public," President Barack Obama said in kicking off the customer service initiative earlier this year. The U.S. government's new chief information officer...

Internet » New Facebook Privacy Tweaks Have a Googley Aftertaste

Facebook has given its users a new set of privacy controls, allowing them greater powers to select who sees what and approve tagged posts. The new features appear somewhat similar to those found in Google+, the social network that could prove to become a major Facebook rival. Facebook's changes have received a nod of approval from some privacy advocates. In a nod to users who have complained about Facebook's privacy settings for years, the social...

Computing » It's a Roll of the Dice for Linux Game Makers

The big problem with Linux users is their aversion to paying for anything, said tech analyst Rob Enderle -- so for Humble Bumble's developers to get customers to voluntarily pay for Linux games is in itself pretty amazing. ... The Linux derivative OS, Android, might well be the platform for change when it comes to Linux gamers parting with their cash. If you had the option to pick your own price for a computer game that only runs on your Linux...

Computing » New Phones, New Carriers, New Lines: Apple's Future Is Wild

As Apple fanatics wait with bated breath for an iPhone 5 announcement, vague reports of a completely new Apple product line bubbled to the surface. Elsewhere, Apple asked iOS developers to give users a little more privacy, and the iPhone may take on yet another U.S. wireless carrier soon. As the summer draws to a close, Cupertino-watchers grow increasingly anxious for the big announcement proclaiming the iPhone 5's release date. New hardware is...

Computing » Fighting the Good Global Cybercrime Fight: Q&A With Security Guru Mikko Hypponen, Part 2

"First, back up! It should be off-site, whether in the cloud or in a removable disk that you take to your grandmother's house. It doesn't have to be daily, either -- for most home users, a backup from last month is good enough. Failing that, though, if something happens, you'll lose a part of your life." Mikko Hypponen has spent the past 20-plus years studying malicious software, including everything from "Brain" -- the first PC virus, dating...