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Who says Google promotes piracy?

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 11:18pm CEST par Joe Wilcox

Perhaps the question should be: Who doesn't? Google search is a powerful tool for finding content of any kind, including copyrighted material posted without permission. Today Google sets the record straight, by releasing the URLs copyright holders request removed from search: 1,246,713 over the last month. These came from more than 1,000 copyright holders directed at about 24,000 domains.

Apparently more details about other copyright areas will come later. For now, search is priority, with Google planning to update requests daily. The report available on Wednesday offers data through yesterday.

"We’re starting with search because we remove more results in response to copyright removal notices than for any other reason", Fred von Lohmann, Google senior copyright counsel, says. "So we’re providing information about who sends us copyright removal notices, how often, on behalf of which copyright owners and for which websites".

The number of requests are increasing, with as many as 250,000 requests per week, or more than the total for all 2009. Does that mean there is more pirated content, or just more effort to take it down?

Top organization: Microsoft, with 543,378 URL requests. Top reporting organization: Marketly LLC, with 461,851 URL requests. Oh? You haven't heard of the company, either? I expected the MPAA or RIAA near the top. NBC Universal is third. But Marketly? The only company of that name I easily Googled is located in Seattle and lists Microsoft as a customer.

Google's von Lohman claims:

Fighting online piracy is very important, and we don’t want our search results to direct people to materials that violate copyright laws. So we’ve always responded to copyright removal requests that meet the standards set out in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). At the same time, we want to be transparent about the process so that users and researchers alike understand what kinds of materials have been removed from our search results and why. To promote that transparency, we have long shared copies of copyright removal requests with Chilling Effects, a nonprofit organization that collects these notices from Internet users and companies. We also include a notice in our search results when items have been removed in response to copyright removal requests.

Publishers have complained for years that Google holds copyright in low regard, since the company profits from searches of all kinds and its "open philosophy" in some ways contradicts long-standing intellectual property ownership tenets.

Given the number of requests, surely some, perhaps many, aren't legitimate:

We try to catch erroneous or abusive removal requests. For example, we recently rejected two requests from an organization representing a major entertainment company, asking us to remove a search result that linked to a major newspaper’s review of a TV show. The requests mistakenly claimed copyright violations of the show, even though there was no infringing content. We’ve also seen baseless copyright removal requests being used for anticompetitive purposes, or to remove content unfavorable to a particular person or company from our search results.

The revamped disclosure policy is rather brilliant, if you ask me (and no one is). Google can show that it honors copyright holders' requests, while also exposing what and whom they are. Now people fighting real and would-be copyright cartels have a weapon, too. Transparency is a two-way street.

Photo Credit: Yuganov Konstantin/Shutterstock
In-app subscriptions come to Google Play, includes 'bundling' capabilities

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 10:19pm CEST par Tim Conneally

Google announced on Thursday that Android developers can now use in-app Billing to sell monthly or annual subscriptions from inside of apps sold in Google Play. The feature brings Google Play up to speed with Apple's iTunes App Store, which rolled out this feature over one year ago.

With the new feature, developers set the price and billing interval and Google Play manages the purchase transactions for both the seller and the subscriber. Users can view their subscriptions in the "My Apps" screen in the Play Store app, the same place they view their updates, or they can view them in the app's product details page in the Play Store app. This is where users can cancel subscriptions if they choose.

App developers and analysts alike have determined that in-app billing and the "freemium" distribution model are far more profitable strategies for software monetization than upfront billing or ad-subsidization. Today, Ibrahim Elbouchikhi, a Product Manager on the Google Play team said 23 of the 24 top-grossing apps in Google Play use in-app billing, and the total revenue generated from in-app purchases now exceeds revenue from traditional app purchases.

Companies such as video gamemaker Glu Mobile have based their entire business around the freemium model, so Glu will become one of the first companies to unveil an application that uses the in-app subscription API with its title Frontline Commando.

The feature, however, does not have to be limited to a single app, or even to apps at all. Developers can share subscriptions across multiple apps so users can "subscribe to the developer" or they can apply it to multiple products in Google Play such as e-books/magazines, music, and movies for bundled services.
Google+ for Android catches up with iPhone

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 8:19pm CEST par Joe Wilcox
Well, perhaps I should qualify that with "almost", depending on what matters more to you as a user. On Wednesday, 15 days after releasing a major Google+ update for iPhone, the Android version arrived. Timing is interesting. According to NPD, considerably more Android users access Google+ from the browser than the app -- 16 percent to 10 percent overall reach, in March, respectively. My question for you quick downloaders, will that be true for you, or is the app now preferred? It's no idle question, because the web experience is now so vastly different from the app.

Like its counterpart, Google+ for Android offers bleeding-edge photos. Pretty much everything about Google+ bleeds the edge of the screen. The effect is immersive. You just want to scroll and scroll -- and you will since so much less content fills the screen now. But the Android version has better visual flow than its iOS counterpart. Stated differently: It's snappier, more alive. "We're building for a mobile future", Google senior veep Vic Gundotra says. That's apparent from just how different the app is from the web experience -- and how immersive.

Immersion is Everything

Immersion is critical in an app of this kind:

1. Engagement. Social networking is all about relationships, meaningfully making connections with others. Google+ distinguishes from Facebook in several key areas, with common interest being one of the most important. The Circle concept allows people to engage with others they might not know based on something important they share, while Facebook is more about extending relationships with people whom they know -- even if just casually. The app's immersive quality pulls you into Google+ and there engaging others. New capabilities, such as inline editing and integrated Hangouts, improve and extend engagement.

2. Discovery. Because Google+ is so much about interests shared in common, discovering them is crucial. Also, there's a Twitter-like quality to the Google+ newsfeed that makes finding things all the more important, and difficult. The immersive, bleed-to-edge UI and tabs like "What's Hot" improve discovery of people, interests, happenings and news -- as well as the "Nearby" tab and easy "check-in" option.

3. Time spent online. Immersive web services/apps hold peoples' attention. This time is crucial for a cloud provider like Google that deals with lots of transitory traffic, mainly from search. Catching and keeping people is:
- Good for the brand
- Connecting users to ancillary products or services
- Providing the eyeballs for selling and capitalizing ads or other promotional gimmicks
For time spent on mobile, there is dramatic change underway. In March, according to comScore, the average American Facebook user spent more time on the site from smartphone than personal computer -- 441.3 minutes to 339 minutes, respectively. What neither Facebook or Google has done well: Wrap meaningful ads around the content, and that's an area the search giant has much to prove because 1) It's core to revenue; and 2) The bleed-to-edge design doesn't make room for ads the way one with lots more white space would.

What's Google+ 2.6 Like?

I downloaded Google+ for Android v2.6 late morning EDT on Galaxy Nexus HSPA+ and Asus Transformer Pad 300, running Android 4.04 and 4.03, respectively. I can't attest for how the user experience might differ on devices running older operating systems.

My reaction is mixed compared to the iOS version, which in some ways I find superior. Responding to Gundotra, Eric Leslie writes: "I was excited when I saw the iPhone version, but this looks like a rough port. There isn't much polish. If you're looking at a post and start scrolling down, there is a weird gradient that moves over the top that looks odd until you reach the white where the comments are. I don't see any sexy animations like the iPhone has. Come on guys!"

Beyond the visuals and improved discovery, two features stand out: Inline editing and integrated Hangouts. The latter, for video chatting, was one of Ice Cream Sandwich's stand-out features when launched last year. But as the cloud computing giant improved the feature as part of Google+, Hangouts grew clumsy, since users had to initiate them outside the social network. No longer.

"To get started, tap 'Hangout' in the (new) navigation ribbon, add some friends and tap 'Start'", Gundotra explains. "We'll ring their phones (if you want), and if someone misses the hangout, they can ring you back with a single tap".

Inline editing is a "Doh?" feature that Google should have included from day one. Who wants to post while mobile if making a typing mistake he or she can't fix later on?

Search is improved, and I find it to be better than in the browser. Google+ for Android presents options for "Posts" and "People". However, my initial reaction, which might change with further use, is that Google+ for iPhone discovery is better.

In the bullet points in the section above, I noted the value of connecting additional services. Some Google+ users aren't satisfied with how far the service has come. In response to Gundotra, Phil Lott calls the new app a "huge improvement", but then requests: "Please unify Google Talk, Google+ Hangouts and Google Messenger. These services don't interoperate the way the should, although they have very much in common. I' don't understand why I can't text someone on Google Talk via Google+ Messenger etc."

The tablet experience is superior in some ways, lacking in others compared to new iPad. Clearly neither Google+ app is optimized for tablets. On new iPad, the user taps 2X, which expands the size to fill the screen with iPhone border around the app. On the Android tablet, Google+ fills the screen, offering the more visually-appealing edge-to-edge experience. However, text and photos are much sharper on new iPad, which is in part because of the higher resolution display.

Have you used either or both apps? I'm particularly interested in how you think they compare. Important: Please state what device and OS version you use.
Yahoo launches the first Pinterest-integrated mobile Web browser, Yahoo Axis

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 6:33pm CEST par Tim Conneally

After a consistent stream of bad news from Yahoo's executive offices, the fading giant search company has finally launched a big new development that takes on its core business challenge: staying relevant. The company on Thursday launched its own Web browser called Yahoo Axis.

Axis is centered around searching, bookmarking, and content syncing across multiple devices. While Yahoo says Axis is both a desktop and mobile browser, it is really just a mobile browser for the iPad and iPhone, and a plug-in for Safari/Chrome/IE/Firefox which amounts to a little more than a "next-gen Yahoo Toolbar."

With that being said, Yahoo in 2012 has moved toward adopting a "mobile first" strategy, and third-party browser share in the mobile realm is still up for grabs, so concentrating on its mobile application is a solid maneuver.

The mobile browser changes a few things about the standard browsing experience by shifting the locations of tools away from their usual habitats. For example, browser tabs are now located in the lower left hand corner of the screen, where nearly every other browser puts them as a button in the upper right. Like other browsers, the top bar includes the URL/search field, back and forward arrows, a "share" button, a bookmark button, and the bookmarks tab. By touching the bottom of this bar and pulling down, the user can expand the search field to perform thumbnail searches or check out trending search topics and scroll through a series of suggested links.

It's worth noting that the "share" button lets users by default send links to their Yahoo email or Pinterest. There's no messing about with Twitter and Facebook straight out of the gate with this browser. Yahoo Axis is clearly the first browser to have chosen default integration with Pinterest, the one-and-a-half billion dollar social network.

When users are logged into their Yahoo ID, they are presented with a customized start page similar to Chrome's which can be loaded with favorite sites, articles to "read later," and links that are open on other devices. The idea is to tie search into the browsing experience across all devices, sort of like Google has done with Android and Chrome, but Yahoo has applied it to iOS and ostensibly all of the popular desktop browsers including Chrome.

"Starting today, search and browsing will never be the same and we’re excited to offer you a better way. Think of this as a sneak peek of what’s to come; we’re planning for Yahoo! Axis in more markets, on mobile devices, and with more killer features in the coming future," the Yahoo Search Team blog said on Thursday.

Download Yahoo Axis at axis.yahoo.com
Box cozies up to large scale users, debuts new admin tools

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 5:13pm CEST par Ed Oswald

Enterprise cloud-based file sharing service Box strengthened its offering on Thursday, announcing new features that will simplify management for IT administrators. The new functionality allows for greater control over security, and the ability to enable enterprise-wide search.

The company also debuted new pricing structures that enable larger companies to adopt its services with more predictable pricing. This is a move away from the traditional per-seat model of the past, and makes cloud storage more cost-effective for large enterprises.

Box counts 11 million users including 120,000 businesses -- 82 percent of the Fortune 500. Box's most recent changes are in direct response to requests by users, and take into account the more widespread use of the cloud in the enterprise versus the isolated deployments of the past.

The changes to search within Box are evidence of this. Searching was previously limited to individual accounts. With the new admin console, administrators now have the capability to search across the entire enterprise, making it much easier to view files and folders and understand how they are being shared both within and outside an organization.

"Enterprises are realizing transformative gains by adopting the cloud, but there is a need for technology that provides deeper visibility, control and data security", Box co-founder and CEO Aaron Levie says.

Box has improved mobile security, enabling passcode locks for file access on mobile devices and more control over offline file access, and the ability to support more than one domain in a Box enterprise deployment. It is also introducing new logging capabilities to track items comments, tasks and sharing files.

The company says this will be especially useful in industries such as finance and healthcare, where such data must be kept to ensure regulatory compliance.

On the subject of pricing, Box's new Enterprise License Agreement will make large-scale cloud users happy. Instead of a per-seat cost, larger users will be able to enter into multi-year licenses with Box at a fixed rate. This will allow them to plan better for IT costs and will simplify the administration of large contracts.

Photo Credit: Tom Wang/Shutterstock
Total Commander 8 goes 64-bit, but old plugins won't work

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 4:03pm CEST par Mike Williams

In beta since September 2011, Ghisler Software has finally announced the release of the plainly very thoroughly tested Total Commander 8.0, the company’s flagship file manager.

The big news in this release is the availability of a native 64-bit version of the program, which has a very real impact on functionality. Total Commander has been able to compare files by their content for a very long time, for instance, but version 8.0 x64 is the first release to support this for files greater than 2GB in size.

There’s a temporary disadvantage to the 64-bit option, though: Total Commander has built up lots of useful 32-bit plugins over the years, and these won’t work with the x64 build until they’re converted. If you make major use of plugins then Ghisler Software recommends you continue to use the 32-bit version, just for the moment (although they also point out that you can install both in parallel, even to the same directory, if you’d just like to try out the 64-bit release).

The changes elsewhere in this release are generally small, though still welcome. There’s faster file deletion, for instance; the multi-rename tool has some useful new options; the Lister can automatically rotate JPG images to the angle stored in their metadata, and of course there are plenty of bug fixes. If you’re interested in the full list then the latest History file will tell you more.

Total Commander 8.0 probably won’t win over many new converts, then, but if you’re already a fan and already using 64-bit Windows then it’s going to be an essential upgrade. Downloads are available now.

Photo Credit: S.john/Shutterstock
Panic offers high-calorie Coda 2 for Mac, and low-cal Diet Coda for iPad

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 2:29pm CEST par Nick Peers

Oregon developer Panic has released a brand new version of its Mac web-coding tool, Coda 2, plus launched a streamlined iPad version, appropriately titled Diet Coda. Diet Coda is designed as a companion tool to Coda for use on the move.

Coda 2 launches with over 100 new features -- many of which are based on user requests, adds 64-bit compatibility and provides a completely refreshed user interface. It’s billed as a one-stop shop for web developers, incorporating editor, terminal, CSS and files management within a single application.

Coda 2 brings a revamped editor, introducing code folding, autocomplete support for variables and functions, improved workflow including automatic indentation and smarter closing tags, plus a streamlined find and replace tool.

The user interface introduces new smart, scrolling tabs that can be large or small, images or text. A Super Sidebar allows users to place all their most frequently accessed tools on a customizable dock, while users can now go full-screen with Code Focus, which hides the sidebar and allows them to concentrate fully on looking at the code.

File support is improved with the ability to manage source code with Git as well as SVN. Coda 2 also introduces a full file browser that supports FTP, SFTP, WebDAV and S3, and boasts a “Transit Twin-Turbo Engine”, designed to speed up file uploads.

Coda’s clips function has also been improved, with support for multiple placeholders, allowing coders to mark out areas where coding or other elements aren’t yet in place. Users can move between placeholders via the Tab key or customised key shortcut. Placeholders can now also be dynamic, with fill-in dates, selections and URLs among other elements supported.

Sites can now be grouped simply by dragging one on to another, while List View is designed for those who have many sites to work through. Support has also been added for iCloud Sync of sites and clips, but only if the software is purchased directly through the App Store.

A built-in Web Inspector tool is just one of the improvements to Coda’s CSS editor, while version 2 adds support for MySQL with a new built-in MySQL editor. The Code Navigator has also been revamped to make it easier to find blocks of code, with code hints appearing as the user types and simplified syntax colouring designed to aid navigation. Finally, the validation process has been improved.

It’s now possible to view iPhone and iPad Frames in the Preview app, while Coda 2 is also declared Retina-ready.

Diet Coda introduces a subset of features from Coda 2, allowing developers to edit their sites on the go if required. Diet Coda also links in with Coda 2, providing a live preview option on the iPad from that application.

Coda 2 is available as a 7-day trial download for Macs running OS X. The full version retails for $99.99, although for one day only all users can purchase it for the upgrade price of $49.99. Diet Coda is available for iPad only, and retails for $19.99, although again there’s a discount of 50 per cent for those who purchase the app today.
Symantec releases free iAntivirus for the Mac

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 1:10pm CEST par Mark Wilson

While there are still Mac users who will proclaim that their systems are immune to viruses and malware, recent high-profile virus infections show that this is simply not the case. Even for anyone still convinced that their computer is immune to viruses, if a Mac is on the same network as a PC, it can easily be used to pass a virus to a Windows-based machine. This is just one of the reasons that Mac virus protection is much more important than many people believe, and Symantec’s newly released iAntivirus is a free tool that could help to bolster security.

If you have used any of Symantec’s security software for Windows, taking a look at the antivirus tool that has been released for OS X is going to come as a little bit of a shock. Minimal is a word that best describes not only the app’s interface, but also its feature set. Rather than on-going background protection against viruses and other forms of malware, all that is on offer here is on-demand scanning -- although you do have the choice of performing a scan of your entire system, your Home folder or other locations.

In addition to this, you can drag and drop files you are unsure about onto the app window to perform a quick scan of just these files, but there are very few options to work with. This could be viewed as a good or a bad thing as it helps to keep the software simple to use, but it also means that important security features are lacking. Anyone that is more used to antivirus tools sitting quietly in the background taking care of business will need to change their ways of thinking if they install this app as the lack of background checking means that the onus is on the user to start any scans.

Should anything untoward be detected, potentially dangerous files are quarantined so they are unable to cause any damage. You have the option of attempting to repair the files, deleting it, or just restoring it to its original location. There is one intriguing feature to be found in iAntivirus -- the option of scanning your Facebook wall for malicious links that could be harmful to you and your online friends. This is a nice touch, but hardly a deal breaker.

You can find out more and download a free copy of the application by paying a visit to the iAntivirus review page.

Photo Credits: maraga/Shutterstock
Rogue Applications Remover finds malware your security software misses

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 12:21pm CEST par Mike Williams

ESET has released Rogue Applications Remover, a stand-alone console tool that tries to remove rogue antivirus and similar unwanted malware which regular security tools might miss.

The program is very basic, with minimal options. There’s no real-time protection here, no options beyond a few command line switches, it’s really just about running on-demand scans and watching as your system is checked for threats.

Still, this simplicity does have its plus points. Rogue Applications Remover is very compact, for instance, a single executable under 3MB in size. And it’s most unlikely to conflict with any other security tool: whatever else you’re running, you should be able to use this as well to get a quick second opinion.

Is it worth it, though? We’re not entirely sure yet, but one issue we immediately noticed on our test PC is that Rogue Applications Remover asked if it could delete a file we’re entirely sure is innocent. This came from a trusted developer, and got a clean bill of health at VirusTotal: the only issue is that it’s very new, a brand new version of a small and obscure utility.

This suggests to us that as well as looking for files it knows are malware, Rogue Applications Remover is also scoring applications on their potential risk. And so an unsigned EXE file which it’s never seen before may be incorrectly flagged as a problem.

You shouldn’t take Rogue Applications Remover‘s verdict for granted, then, but don’t let that put you off entirely. Its small size, ease of use and compatibility with other security tools means the program may still be useful in a malware emergency.

Photo Credit: njaj/Shutterstock
HP reports better-than-expected quarter, but cuts 27,000 jobs amid restructuring

Publié: mai 24, 2012, 12:11am CEST par Ed Oswald

HP released better than expected results after the close of the markets Wednesday, and the company overall shows signs of a long-awaited turnaround. But the big story tonight surrounds the 27,000 workers who will lose their jobs as part of a "multi-year" restructuring plan announced by CEO Meg Whitman.

The cuts amount to about eight percent of the workforce and are expected to save HP between $3 and $3.5 billion annually by 2015. It will be phased in gradually though 2014, and involves an early retirement package to be offered by the company. In a conference call with analysts, Whitman described the quarter's results as positive, but added "we have a lot of work to do".

HP employees have been through this before: in June 2010, the computing giant announced cuts over a "multi-year period", which amounted to the loss of 9,000 jobs. In 2008, another restructuring program eliminated about 25,000 jobs, and in 2005, 15,000 workers lost jobs over an 18-month period.

These cuts did little to improve the fortunes of HP, analysts argue. The latest move was already criticized before being announced: a Deutsche Bank analyst questioned the company's efforts in a research note, quipping that HP "has been restructuring for the past decade".

Most of the savings will be reinvested back into the business, the company says. HP plans to invest in its core printing and personal systems business -- a welcome sign considering these two business segments seemed dead just a year ago -- and into emerging businesses including the cloud. That said, a $1.7 billion pre-tax charge will be taken during fiscal 2012 to cover costs associated with the cuts.

"While some of these actions are difficult because they involve the loss of jobs, they are necessary to improve execution and to fund the long term health of the company", Whitman said in a statement. In the call, Whitman said she was "cautiously optimistic" on the company's fortunes coming out of a successful quarter.

That cautious optimism may be smart, evidenced by the troubles of Dell. That company reported as part of its quarterly results after the close of the markets Tuesday that it saw a slowdown in the overall PC industry. That news coupled with disappointing earnings sent Dell's stock tumbling over 17 percent Wednesday, its worst performance in 11 years.

HP reported second-quarter GAAP earnings of $1.6 billion on revenues of $30.7 billion, down three percent from a year ago -- about 80 cents per share. That was above the company's own estimates of 68 to 71 cents per share, and revenues came in above an average of $29.92 billion forecast by analysts polled by Thompson Reuters.

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