Amazon, MS and Nokia sniff around RIM
Buyers including Amazon, Microsoft and Nokia have expressed some interest in hoovering up the remains of Research in Motion, as it reeled from one disaster to another this year.
But the Canadian firm is determined to sort itself out, people with knowledge of the situation told Reuters.
Etail giant Amazon hired an investment bank over the summer to look into a potential marriage with RIM, but it didn't make any formal proposals.
Meanwhile, RIM's board are still keen on letting co-chief execs and chairmen Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie do their best to turn the business around and recoup some of its massive share losses. Read more...
Scammers use browser extensions to hijack Facebook accounts
Facebook spammers have started using rogue browser extensions to prolong the life of their scams, researchers from Web security vendor Websense warned.
Attacks using social engineering techniques have plagued Facebook for years and despite the company's best efforts to block them, scammers have always found alternative methods of tricking users.
In a new type of scam detected by Websense researchers, attackers are encouraging users to install rogue browser extensions in order to view certain videos or receive free vouchers.
The add-ons, which are advertised as DivX plug-ins or coupon generator, use the Facebook API (Application Programming Interface) to post unauthorized messages on behalf of Facebook users who log in from the affected browsers. Read more...
Nokia ditches Symbian name, next version just called Nokia Belle
The next version of Nokia's Symbian OS will be called Nokia Belle, the company said in a blog post on Wednesday.
Since Nokia made the decision to go with Microsoft's Windows Phone, the company has made a number of Symbian-related announcements. Symbian is important to Nokia because the company is dependent on the sales of Symbian-based smartphones until it ships larger volumes of Windows Phones, which won't be until next year.
"The announcement underlines the difficulties Nokia is having when trying to convince consumers to buy Symbian-based phones, and that the company thinks Nokia is a stronger brand" said Ben Wood, director of research at CCS Insight. Read more...
Why Google needs Firefox now more than ever
If you thought that Google was going to stick a lump of coal in Firefox's stocking this holiday season, you weren't alone.
Although rumors of Firefox's imminent demise were premature at best -- and self-serving for more than a few -- the Mozilla Blog now brings happy news that "we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google. This new agreement extends our long term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years."
Mozilla will continue to feature Google as the default search engine in Firefox, and Google will pay Mozilla an undisclosed amount in exchange for that placement. Definition of the term "significant" remains nebulous, but in 2008 Google provided 88 percent of Mozilla's revenue; in 2009 it was 86 percent; and in 2010 Google kicked in 84 percent, or about $103 million (PDF). Read more...
Hard drive prices slide as Thai flood aftermath subsides
The price of the most popular hard disk drives are beginning to drop as inventories climb out of a deep hole that began in October after massive flooding shut down major production sites in Thailand.
Drive maker Western Digital was hardest hit by the flooding, with research firm IDC predicting that up to 75% of the company's production lines were temporarily shut down.
According to new information from ecommerce tracking site Dynamite Data, the top 50 hard drives on sites such as Newegg.com and Tigerdirect.com, leaped in price by 50% to 150% after the flooding. The price jump was kicked off in October when drive inventory levels plummeted 90% in less than a week, according to Kristopher Kubicki, data architect at Dynamite Data.
"The first flooding was Oct. 8 and within a week, two weeks at the most, almost all that inventory at distribution had dried up," Kubicki said. "I'm not sure if that was distributors getting the inventory recalled from them or if it was getting purchased that fast. I think consciously people moved it out of distribution and into system manufacturers."
Over the past few weeks, hard drive prices have leveled off and have begun to drop slowly, according to Dynamite's data. Read more...
Mozilla, Google seal new Firefox search deal
Mozilla and Google today said that they had struck a new search deal that will provide "significant revenue" to the maker of Firefox.
"We're pleased to announce that we have negotiated a significant and mutually beneficial revenue agreement with Google," Mozilla said today in a statement. "This new agreement extends our long-term search relationship with Google for at least three additional years."
Under the deal, Mozilla will continue to offer Google as the default search engine in Firefox, which now controls about a quarter of the browser market.
"Mozilla has been a valuable partner to Google over the years and we look forward to continuing this great partnership in the years to come," said Alan Eustace, Google's head of search. Read more...
Ticketing 3.0: Facebook Becomes A Box Office
Once upon a time, we bought our concert tickets from a good old-fashioned cashier at the local box office. As time went on, we took some of the work out of the hands of the cashier and started buying our tickets at home — on the Web. (For a fee, mind you.) And if what we’re seeing today is any indication, the next step in the evolution of the box office? Facebook.
Ticketfly’s Facebook ticketing app, which launched last week, aims to boost sales by letting people know when their friends buy a ticket. The big idea is to complete the ticket-buying circle — from finding out about a show to buying a ticket — without ever sending the Facebook faithful outside the confines of their favorite social network. Read more...
Oracle misfires in fiscal 2Q, raising tech worries
Oracle stumbled in its latest quarter as the business software maker struggled to close deals, a signal of possible trouble ahead for the technology sector.
The performance announced Tuesday covered a period of economic turbulence which has raised concerns that major companies and government agencies may curtail technology spending.
Oracle's results for the three months ending in November suggested the cutbacks have already started. Management reinforced that perception with a forecast calling for meager growth in the current quarter, which ends in February. The developments alarmed investors, causing Oracle Corp. shares to slide 10 percent. Read more...
Google’s Schmidt Promises Serious iPad Rival
A battle between Google and Apple over the mobile communications market will get brutal next year as the search and operating-system giant launches its own branded device to take on the iPad.
That's what Google CEO Eric Schmidt promises, telling an Italian newspaper that "in the next six months we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality." The comments in Corriere della Serra are widely believed to signal that a tablet based on the pure-Google Nexus phone model is in the works.
'Leading Edge of Google Technology'
There are already dozens of tablets made by other manufacturers that run Google's Android operating system, including Samsung's Galaxy Tab and Motorola's Xoom. Given the increasingly cozy relationship between the Mountain View, Calif.-based company and South Korean electronics giant Samsung, it might be a safe bet that's who is building it. Read more...
LG’s Magic Remote is no Siri, but it does have voice control
We know that Apple is working on a dedicated TV set. Like any of Apple’s upcoming projects we have no proof, but the hints and leaks are too numerous to ignore. But until Tim Cook takes the stage to tell us about the Siri-controlled iTV, we’re left with other manufacturers’ smart TVs. A new remote for one of those TVs, specifically LG’s Magic Remote, gives us a sneak preview of voice-controlled TV.
The Magic Remote, compatible with LG’s Cinema 3D Smart TVs, adds voice transcription to an existing set of unconventional remote control features. It includes an iPod-like track wheel and a Wii-like function for pointing at the screen to manipulate a cursor. Also in tow is a 3D button that can toggle between 2D and 3D with one click. Read more...