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18 Feb 2011 21:20

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Tech: Twitter goes after UberTwitter, looks pretty lame in the process

  • We’ve had conversations with UberMedia, the developer of these applications, about policy violations since April 2010, when they first launched under the name TweetUp – a term commonly used by Twitter users and a trademark violation. We continue to be in contact with UberMedia and hope that they will bring the suspended applications into compliance with our policies soon.
  • A message from Twitter • Revealing that they had temporarily banned some of the most popular third-party apps on their system – Twidroid, UberTwitter and UberCurrent – for their unauthorized usage of Twitter copyright in their apps. UberMedia, which owns all three of these apps, has quickly become the most-powerful third-party developer in the Twitter ecosystem, and recently bought the also-offending Tweetdeck (which hasn’t been shut down). While UberMedia is working hard to fix the problems, the real question is why Twitter had to do this in the first place. These apps helped make Twitter popular. Now that Twitter is huge, all of a sudden they’re going to be the heavies? Not sure how we feel about this, honestly. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Feb 2011 12:27

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Tech, U.S.: Obama meets with everyone TechCrunch cares about all at once

  • Finally. Most of the people we write about were in a single room last night, having alcohol together. Obama. Mark Zuckerberg. The Twitter guy. Steve Jobs. And if you’re stretching it, that @$$hole Larry Ellison. If a nuclear bomb hit this restaurant last night, we would have nothing to write about and would probably have to shut down the blog. We’re glad it wasn’t. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

18 Feb 2011 12:02

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Biz, Tech: Regulators probe Apple’s new subscription service plans

  • tuesday Apple launches its subscription plan – in which it’ll take a 30 percent cut off of in-app subscriptions. OK for newspapers, awful for online music firms.
  • friday The Department of Justice launches an inquiry into the subscription plan, which suggests that something may be pretty rotten in Denmark. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 19:27

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Tech: Huffington Post uses word “Google” 103 times in single article

  • The article of the moment on HuffPo: Personally, we prefer to Bing Google on Bing. What an obvious grab for SEO! The article says Google 103 times (by our count)! But seriously, folks, we Lycos this article and think it’s pretty Cuil. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

17 Feb 2011 11:15

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Tech: Pixelfari: Surf the Web like Super VGA never happened

  • We were looking for a way to test our site on a Commodore 64, and we think we found it. Neven Mrgan has released onto the world the most useful Web browser in the history of the Interwebs, Pixelfari, an OSX variation on Safai that renders sites as if higher resolutions never made their way to computers. It appears we have some work to do to ensure that an Apple II can properly handle our rig. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

16 Feb 2011 16:08

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Tech: This week in tempting fate: computers can now win Jeopardy

  • Meet our now-dormant overlord: Have you heard about this? This “Watson” guy is tearing up these two Jeopardy champions. With no hands to press the buzzer, to boot! source
Posted by Chris Tognotti • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2011 21:18

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Tech, World: Apple, Foxconn worked really hard to stop worker suicides

  • Recognizing that we would need additional expertise to help prevent further tragedies, we launched an international search for the most knowledgeable suicide prevention specialists — particularly those with experience in China — and asked them to advise Apple and Foxconn.
  • A statement from Apple’s annual Supplier Responsibility report • Describing the process that Apple went through to help stop the spate of suicides at Foxconn’s Chinese factories last year. Apple personally sent Tim Cook, the company’s Chief Operating Officer and the guy covering for Steve Jobs while he’s on medical leave, to China to check out the factories. They brought in psychologists and Buddhist monks. They played calming music. They did a survey of employees, along with personal interviews of workers. They put up nets in the factory to prevent people from committing suicide on a lark. They made a room for releasing stress, complete with punching bags. Foxconn is even working on making more factories in China, so people can live closer to their homes. The result? Suicides are reportedly way down. Apple doesn’t mess around. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 

15 Feb 2011 11:08

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Tech: Facebook’s protest game plan: Don’t favor anyone, ban fake accounts

  • Don’t ask Facebook to take sides in the Middle East. The massive social network may have played a key role in the recent protests in Egypt and in other countries, but they’re downright ambivalent about the trend – a major difference from Twitter, which has associated itself with being a communication tool for political movements, and Tumblr, which has a news tag devoted to Egypt. Facebook, meanwhile, has been banning pseudonym-based accounts created specifically to hide people’s names from the government, based on fraud concerns – including Wael Ghonim’s account. This has led to criticism, including a letter to Mark Zuckerberg from Sen. Richard J. Durbin. Look, Facebook, making it easier to facilitate protest isn’t the same thing as supporting protests. What, is the free spread of communication outside of your game plan? source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

15 Feb 2011 10:50

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Tech: Steve Jobs on subscriber service: We won’t always take 30 percent

  • Our philosophy is simple – when Apple brings a new subscriber to the app, Apple earns a 30 percent share; when the publisher brings an existing or new subscriber to the app, the publisher keeps 100 percent and Apple earns nothing.
  • Steve Jobs (who’s still on medical leave) • In a statement announcing the new App Store subscription service, which reveals a pretty awesome financial path for publishers of all stripes. Apple will take their 30 percent revenue share if they lead to the subscription; if the publisher does it, they keep 100 percent. One interesting thing to note is the way that the service handles consumer information. Many magazine publishers make money by using consumer information from their subscriber base – a move somewhat at odds with Apple’s App Store model. In a compromise move, Apple will allow consumers to say how much information they want to give out. The overall model is similar to that of The Daily, which launched last month to general praise. source
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink

14 Feb 2011 10:53

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Tech: Why is everyone skeptical of Nokia’s Microsoft deal, anyway?

  • reason The company’s newest CEO, Stephen Elop, was an executive at Microsoft before becoming Nokia’s figurehead – and he just spearheaded the Microsoft deal.
  • evidence The new president of U.S.-focused Nokia, Inc. is Chris Weber, who spent 16 years at Microsoft. Gaining competitive advantage by trojan horse much? source
  • » Here comes the denial: While many are suspicious of Elop’s motives, he personally denies that’s what took place. “The obvious answer is no,” Elop said. “We made sure that the entire management team was involved in the process, and of course the board of directors of Nokia are the only ones that can make this significant of a decision about Nokia. They made that final decision on Thursday night.” For some reason, we’re guessing he had that response ready.
Posted by Ernie Smith • 0 Comments • Permalink
 
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