Hasta La Gadget!

Foursquare has announced changes to its privacy policy, displaying users whole names and giving businesses more customer data by default, though the check-in service is keen to point out that extra privacy can be restored with a few settings tweaks. Announced in an email to registered users over the weekend, the tweaks come alongside an amended Privacy 101 document that attempts to reduce confusion of the sort that gave Instagram such headaches earlier this month.

According to Foursquare, the key changes – which will come into effect on January 28 2013 – are to how accessible your data is, both publicly visible and to businesses you check into. Whereas currently a mixture of full names and first names and last initials are used, the new default will be to show first and last names consistently; that, the company says, is to address complaints that the existing approach is “confusing” and makes finding the right person in search results tricky.

As for businesses, the amount of data they see on each customer will not change, but they will get data for a longer period. Currently, Foursquare shows check-in activity for the most recent three hour period; that’s being increased to cater to those businesses who might sift through the results less frequently than that:

“Currently, a business using Foursquare (like your corner coffee shop) can see the customers who have checked in in the last three hours (in addition to the most recent and their most loyal visitors). This is great for helping store owners identify their customers and give them more personal service or offers. But a lot of businesses only have time to log in at the end of the day to look at it. So, with this change, we’re going to be showing them more of those recent check-ins, instead of just three hours worth” Foursquare

Wary of a sharing backlash, Foursquare is eager to highlight what privacy settings and options users have to play with. Although the company will soon show full names by default, it only requires a first name for registration; you can change what your “full name” is in the settings.

Meanwhile, there’s an option in the “Location Information” section which allows users to turn off the ability of businesses to see when they check into their locations. There are also Private Check-Ins, which hide the data from everyone, including both friends and businesses on an ad-hoc basis.

Foursquare’s more straightforward Privacy 101 page sits alongside the official Privacy Policy, which can be a little tougher going if you’re not legally minded. Still, the company has done a solid job of trying to dress its changes in clarity, though as ever it makes sense to take some time to sift through the available settings to make sure Foursquare’s defaults match your own expectations of the service.

[Thanks Colin!]

Foursquare makes Privacy tweaks, wary of Instagram-style backlash is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If the main reason you jailbreak your iOS device is because you want to downloaded pirated apps as opposed to tweaking the operating system to your liking, then you might be interested to learn that Hackulous has announced that they will be shutting down. What this means is that jailbreakers who jailbreak their iOS device for Installous will need to source alternative places for their crack IPAs. According to the folks at Hackulous, they claim that they are shutting down as less and less people frequent their forums, making it difficult for them to moderate and keep online. Considering that we’re pretty sure many people pirate their iOS apps, perhaps there might be another reason to them shutting down. Of course there are other means of downloading and installing pirated iOS apps on your iDevice, but Installous was known as being one of the more “professional” and user-friendly options out there.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: iPhone 6 Tested By Apple?, US ITC Judge Recommends Import And Sales Ban Of Samsung Products,

Coco Austin was prepping a benefit to raise money for pet owners affected by Hurricane Sandy on “Ice Loves Coco,” and she wanted to make sure every detail was properly attended to.

“So these are the biscuits and stuff that’s gonna be?” she asked. The plan was for these dog treats to be handed out by waiters to their canine guests.

“Okay, mom needs to try it first,” she declared. And that’s exactly what she did. She even decided that she liked the flavor of it, or at least she sounded like she did.

Read More…
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Zynga has instituted its cost-reduction plan that the company talked about back in November. The cost-reduction plan involved shutting down some of the company’s video games, or at least accepting no new players in others ahead of shutdown in the coming weeks. The game developer plans to allocate its resources to its more popular games.

Closing video games altogether or eliminating new player registrations also goes along with layoffs for Zynga as the company seeks to squeeze more profit out of its operation. When the company made its IPO, its stock was trading for $10 per share and more recently, it’s trading at only $2.33 per share. So far, Zynga has laid off over 100 employees and closed some of its development offices.

The game PetVille shut down on December 30 along with Mafia Wars 2. FishVille shutdown on December 5 along with Vampire Wars and Treasure Isle. The game Indiana Jones Adventure World is closed to new players but will shut down fully until January 14.

Zynga pulled the videogame Mafia Wars Shakedown from app stores along with Forestville, Mojitomo, and Word Scramble Challenge. The game title Montopia shutdown on December 21. Some players aren’t taking the shutdowns of their favorite videogames well. It’s understandable if you spent years fixing up your virtual aquarium in FishVille and spending your real-world money on upgrades only to have the game unceremoniously canceled, you wouldn’t be happy. Zynga offered players of that title and some others a bonus package of virtual goods for one of the more popular games such as Mafia Wars, Farmville 2 or others.

[via TechCrunch]

Zynga shutters 11 of its social video games is written by Shane McGlaun & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With CES 2013 just days away, TechCrunch has posted a juicy rumor that chipmaker Intel will announce a major plunge into TV, choosing to go it alone after several failed partnerships in an effort to “do it right” this time. Claiming an unnamed source in the video distribution industry, the rumor suggests a plan to deliver a set-top box with DVR, rolled out on a city-by-city basis as it negotiates channel agreements. Despite a number of demos through the years, the Intel-powered TV boxes that have landed in our living rooms so far have been the first gen Google TV and Boxee Box units. Both struggled to make a significant impact and switched to ARM CPUs for the second generation of their products.

Based on some of the tech demos we’ve seen and earlier rumors, Intel’s plans could include using facial recognition to personalize the experience for (and target advertising towards) different viewers, and offering smaller, cheaper bundles of channels than traditional providers. Another element from the TechCrunch post indicates a plan to provide a Catch Up TV-style service that lets users view anything that has aired in the last month on the channels they’re subscribed to, although there’s no word on what will power this technology.

Intel’s participation in Comcast’s Reference Design Kit program is also referenced, although given Big Cable’s traditional reluctance regarding alternative delivery models, any sort of tie-in here seems like a long shot to us. A combo package of pay-TV channels and internet VOD has been tried before, although Sezmi’s antenna-connected solution failed to catch on and fizzled late last year. Like recently rekindled Apple HDTV rumors, the potential of Intel’s service may rely just as much on its success negotiating with content providers as any technology it’s cooked up. Check out the rest of the rumor at the source link and a video from Intel’s 2009 IDF demo after the break, we’ll have any official announcements as they happen from the press conference January 7th.

Continue reading Intel rumored to launch set-top box, ‘virtual cable TV service’ at CES

Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD, Intel

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Source: TechCrunch