Mar 07
If you’ve ever been amazed by just how fast and responsive Amazon’s drop-down menus are, you’re not alone. But Ben Kamens, lead developer at the Kahn Academy, decided to work out how Bezos and co do it—and it’s real sneaky. More »
Mar 06
Microsoft exec teases that Office 365 will get new apps, rapid-fire updates
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Microsoft would really, really like us to drop our stand-alone copies of Office in favor of Office 365 subscriptions. Really. Division president Kurt DelBene prefers to lure us in with the carrot rather than the stick, however, and just hinted at the company’s TechForum that there will likely be a “rapid cadence” of upgrades to keep productivity fans happy. There’s even the prospect of new apps coming out for subscribers. While that’s tempting, DelBene also wants to allay fears that we’ll be dragged kicking and screaming into the company’s recurring revenue model. Microsoft will keep making a buy-once-use-forever edition of Office “as long as that demand exists,” the exec says. He hasn’t elaborated on where that threshold rests, but it’s safe to presume that we’ll be voting with our wallets for a good while.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Microsoft
Source: The Verge
Mar 06
Everyone googles themselves at some point — even the people who say they don’t. But if you don’t like what you see when that search box offers possible queries linked to your name, don’t go suing Google. The search giant is officially not to blame. That’s the official ruling handed down by the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago today which found Google not at fault for a search result linking Wisconsin resident Beverly Stayart’s name to ads for Levitra (a male erectile dysfunction drug). According to Reuters, presiding Judge Ann Claire Williams deemed the search result an exception to the state’s misappropriation laws due to its incidental nature (Stayart is a poet and animal rights advocate). The case marks the second courtroom loss for Stayart who had originally leveled the same charges against Yahoo. Unfortunately for Stayart, the buzz from news like this will only help promote the “scandalous” search results she so badly wants erased.
Source: Reuters
Mar 06
After earning top marks from the FCC for its broadband performance, ViaSat has added yet another feather to its cap in the form of a Guinness World Record. According to the august organization, the ViaSat-1 satellite, which powers the 12 Mbps Exede Internet service, is the highest-capacity communications satellite in the world. The reason for the accolade? The orbiting spacecraft apparently provides around 100 times the throughput capacity of a Ku-band satellite and ten times that of a Ka-band, which adds up to more capacity than all North American communication satellites combined at the time of its 2011 launch. While its broadband service still has latency issues, the folks over at ViaSat must feel pretty confident of its recent accomplishments; the company is currently looking beyond its rural customer base and venturing forth into other enterprises, such as in-flight WiFi. Better watch your back, Gogo.
Filed under: Internet
Source: ViaSat
Mar 06
Twitter update improves search on mobile and web, enhances autocomplete and web browsing for iOS
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Twitter’s just announced an update for its Android and iOS apps and mobile site aimed to help users locate desired tweets with ease. Now, search queries for specific keywords will turn up a “Top Tweet” — a result the company claims is more closely “based on relevance and engagement” — and an option to “View more from this time” period. But that’s not the only tweak Twitter’s ushering in. iOS users will now be privy to a better autocomplete experience, in addition to a new web browser view that tacks linked tweets to the bottom of the page. The update’s live now, so you can go ahead and grab it from the source or just sit back and wait for it to hit your device.
Filed under: Internet, Software, Mobile
Source: Twitter
Mar 06
The European Union has decided to impose a 561 million euro (a little over $731 million) fine on Microsoft for violating one of its rulings. The announcement was made today by Joaquin Alumnia, the EU’s Competition Commissioner. The EU asked Microsoft back in 2009 to allow users to choose which web browsers they wanted to install on their machine. The choices would appear in a “Browser Choice Screen pop-up” when they first start up their PC.
The EU decided to impose regulations on Microsoft because the web browser company, Opera, voiced its concerns about Microsoft including only Internet Explorer with its operating system. Opera stated that the move was hurting competition from other web browsers. Microsoft had complied with the EU and beginning in March 2010, it instated the “Browser Choice Screen pop-up” in its PCs. Everything was going well until a technical error caused the pop-up to not appear on around 28 million machines. The issue was linked to the Windows 7 Service Pack 1 update released in February 2011.
Microsoft released a statement last year saying that they were taking the matter seriously and will work quickly to fix the issue. This isn’t the first time Microsoft has been fined by the EU. Microsoft is actually one of the companies that violates the EU’s rulings the most. Including the fine today, Microsoft will have paid a total of 2.2 billion euros in fines.
This Microsoft violation will set example for all of the other companies currently entangled with the EU, like Google. The EU isn’t scared to impose strict fines to make sure companies comply with them. However, the EU was a bit lenient this time around. It could have imposed a fine of up to 10% of Microsoft’s annual revenue, but instead it imposed a fine that equaled only 1% of Microsoft’s revenue.
[via BBC]
Microsoft fined $731m for EU violation is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
Mar 06
KFC gets free UK WiFi through The Cloud: get some data with your drumsticks
Posted in: Today's Chili 
Hey, it worked for McDonald’s, didn’t it? KFC would certainly prefer that its British customers hang around for long enough to justify a bucket of chicken rather than a Snack Box, so it’s teaming up with The Cloud to offer free WiFi in all of its UK restaurants. The gradual rollout will just ask that visitors face a KFC landing page before they wander over to cat videos and ex-partners’ status updates. We’re glad to have one more avenue for internet access when we’re feeling peckish, although we may question our path in life when we’re Instagramming a Boneless Banquet For One.
Filed under: Networking, Internet
Via: Pocket-lint
Source: KFC
Mar 06
Google+ updates profile pages with larger photos, ‘card’ layout and Local review tab
Posted in: Today's Chili 
The social masses have spoken and Google’s listened. Starting today, the search giant’s beefing up Google+ profile pages with additional features based on overwhelming feedback to give users more editing control, a flashier presentation and a clearer social outpost. Now, individual profile “cover photos” will display at up to 2,120px by 1,192px and rollout into full widescreen (16:9) view when selected. The ‘About’ section is also seeing a minor revamp, getting a Now-like makeover that breaks down categorical user info into cards for easier modification. And to service the critic deep within us all, Google’s adding in a ‘Local review’ tab alongside those for photos, videos and +1’s so your network of friends can make trusted dinner reservations. These changes are set to take effect “gradually,” so don’t waste your time mashing that refresh button. Or do, if you’re the impatient type.
Via: The Next Web
Source: Sara McKinley (Google+)
Mar 06
As important as having a reliable home Internet connection is, we know there are people out there who simply can’t afford an additional $50 a month so they could constantly watch cat videos on their Facebook wall. There aren’t many cheap alternatives available in the U.S., but one company is introducing such a service today.
FreemPop offers a broadband plan for its customers to use up to 1GB a month for free as well as an additional tier of 10GB a month for $10. This kind of service would be extremely useful for Internet subscribers who are still stuck on dial-up and would like to be able to have a dedicated connection from their home. (more…)
By Ubergizmo. Related articles: KFC Offering Free Wi-Fi At All U.K. Restaurants, Internet Proxy Weddings On The Rise,
Mar 06
Back in December, we told you about the new Hub Burst wireless router from FreedomPop, which costs $89 up front, but it gives you 1GB of data per month for free, with $10/month getting you 10GB. The router is available now, and it’s meant to support a household of usage, but as long as you’re not streaming movies if you want to keep the free plan.
Sadly, though, FreedomPop only uses WiMAX and the service is limited to just a handful of regions in the US. While the company plans to switch to LTE at some point in the future, availability still may be scarce, but we wouldn’t be surprised if FreedomPop eventually spread the service to most users in the country.
While $10 per month for 10GB of data seems like a steal, some users may just not want to pony up any money at all, but the 1GB of data per month is a rather low amount, especially if you’re using it in a house full of kids. However, as always, FreedomPop offers the opportunity to earn more data by completing different tasks, like adding friends and completing partner promotions.
FreedomPop claims that their $10/month plan is 80% cheaper than your typical DSL or cable offering, but at this point, nothing can really beat the reliability of a solid home wired network can’t quite beat wireless service at this point. However, once LTE rolls around in more areas, FreedomPop may actually become a viable option, but we’ll have to wait and see.
FreedomPop Hub Burst now available for $89, offers 1GB/month for free is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.
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