Mobile

Aussie Police Nab Possible Lulzsec Ringleader
April 24, 2013

Police in Australia have arrested a 24-year-old who claims to be a high-level member of the international hacking collective Lulzsec. The IT worker was charged with two counts of unauthorized modification of data and one count of unauthorized access to/modification of restricted data. In other words, he attacked and defaced a government website.

More A-List Brands Will Join the Tweet Chorus
April 23, 2013

Twitter will soon significantly expand its advertising reach after the social network agreed to a deal with Publicis' Starcom MediaVest Group, one of the world's largest advertising agencies. Starcom's top clients, which include Coca-Cola and Microsoft, will now win some of the premier advertising slots on Twitter. The two companies will also gain access to each other's demographic research and user data.

Germany Levies Max Fine Against Google; Max Fine Is Piddly
April 23, 2013

Dramatic rhetoric, tiny fine. German data regulators fined Google less than $190,000 for collecting information from unsecured WiFi networks while it compiled data for Google Street View. The data scoop was, according to Germany's data chief, "one of the biggest known data protection violations in history." The fine? Hardly the biggest in history.

Social Sharing May Be Eroding Office Security
April 22, 2013

It's no secret that security experts don't have a lot of love for social media. Information freely available at social media sites makes it easier for net marauders to fashion targeted attacks on organizations. However, social media may be undermining data security in a more profound way. Much has been made of the growing willingness of people to cough up personal information about themselves.

Will Your Shopping Cart Roll to Where Your Customers Are?
April 20, 2013

Can I be everywhere my customers want to shop? The good news is that this rhetorical question is not all that far-fetched any longer. In its day, the Sears catalog revolutionized the consumer shopping experience and ruled the market. Decades later, it has been rendered obsolete by the ultimate, innovative consumer shopping medium -- the Internet -- and its current lead innovator, Amazon.

Mobile Ads Show Life in Google Q1 Earnings
April 19, 2013

Google released a quarterly earnings report Thursday that beat estimates and also showed the company may be coming to grips with the problem of monetizing its mobile platform. The tech giant reported net income of $3.35 billion, or $9.94 per share during the first three months of the year, a 16 percent jump from the same time a year ago. Google's first-quarter revenue was $13.97 billion, a 31 percent increase from a year earlier.

Verizon May Have Finagled a Less Taxing Way to Buy Out Vodafone
April 19, 2013

Verizon Communications, which posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on the performance of its wireless business, has increased the pressure on Vodafone Group to sell its 45 percent stake in Verizon Wireless. The sale would give Verizon Communications full control of the largest mobile carrier in the United States. "There has been a lot of speculation about the tax consequences of a purchase of this 45 percent," noted Verizon CFO Francis Shammo.

Mighty Microbattery Delivers Lightning-Fast Charge
April 19, 2013

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have developed a super-dense battery that measures only a few millimeters, but can both store and release a lot of power, resolving a problem that has long plagued consumers and electronics manufacturers. Capacitors can release power very quickly but can't store much. Fuel cells and batteries can store power but release it slowly.

Preparing for a Disaster: Keeping Communications Alive
April 19, 2013

Disaster communications tech has become a hot topic, spurred in part by last fall's Hurricane Sandy, where major swaths of New York City were rendered without some business-level communications such as those provided by cell networks. Just how does a business approach mid- to long-term communications continuity in the event of a natural disaster?

Google Grooms Chrome for the Office
April 19, 2013

Google this week introduced two new features for its Chrome browser in a move to bolster demand in the corporate sector. "There is a massive concern surrounding Google and privacy that generally has corporations avoiding this browser officially in favor of Firefox or Internet Explorer," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

The Hidden Risks of Mobile CRM, Part 2
April 19, 2013

Mobile marketing may just be in its infancy, but it already has ushered in a world of new risks -- or rather, existing risks that have been repackaged. They range from running afoul of still-developing regulations to security concerns, to consumers misinterpreting content. As people connect with the Internet through multiple access points, keeping a marketing message consistent is becoming more essential.

eBay Likely to Be Forgiven for Q1 Misses
April 18, 2013

eBay posted solid first-quarter earnings on Wednesday, but the company underperformed based on projections by Wall Street. eBay then delivered guidance that did not meet the mark, doubling investors' disappointment. As a result, they are casting worried eyes toward eBay's future. "eBay, though economically resilient, is not immune to the slowdown in Europe," said Charles Lewis Sizemore, a Covestor model manager.

Feds Sue to Pry Crammed Charges From Cellphones
April 18, 2013

The Federal Trade Commission filed a suit against Wise Media this week, accusing the company of slipping unauthorized charges into consumer cellphone bills. Wise Media allegedly charged cellphone users fees for services to which they'd never subscribed, a practice referred to as "cramming." The company used short codes, which have legitimate purposes within the mobile landscape.

Mobile Ad Spend Is Starting to Look Like Serious Money
April 18, 2013

Internet advertising experienced double-digit growth in 2012 for a record $37 billion in revenue, according to a report from the Internet Advertising Bureau and Pricewaterhouse Coopers. The largest increase was in the second half of the year, where both the third and fourth quarters topped previous records.Interactive ad revenues for the third quarter totaled $9.24 billion.

Wireless: Fertile Ground for Wheeling and Dealing
April 18, 2013

Thanks to countless conversations with reporters, I have developed a crystal clear idea of why Dish Network and SoftBank want to acquire Sprint Nextel. It has less to do with wireless carrier ambitions, and much more to do with the future -- being leaders in a new space that's still largely under the radar. When wireless took off, it is was all about voice calls. Then the industry realized if it wanted to continue strong growth, it had to be about more.

PC Slump Chips Away at Intel's Q1
April 17, 2013

Intel released a quarterly earnings report Tuesday that fell slightly short of already low expectations, thanks to weak worldwide PC sales. The world's largest computer chip manufacturer reported first quarter revenue of $12.6 billion, a 2 percent drop from the same time a year ago. Net income was $2 billion, or about 40 cents per share, compared with $2.7 billion, or 53 cents per share a year earlier.

Safety, Privacy Issues Temper Google Glass Coolness
April 16, 2013

Google on Tuesday released the tech specifications for Google Glass, which will sport 720p resolution for the eyeware's video camera and 16 GB of onboard flash storage. The forthcoming availability of the Web-connected glasses, however, is also raising questions about health/safety and privacy. The glasses will include the ability to take 5 MP still camera images and have WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity.

EA Spurns Social Game Wallflowers
April 16, 2013

Electronic Arts will shut down three of its less popular games on Facebook, citing waning interest in some of the company's social network offerings. Starting June 14, The Sims Social, SimCity Social and Pet Society will not be available to Facebook users. It was a difficult decision to kill the games, EA said, but user interest had plunged despite an initial positive response after the games launched.

Dish Stirs the Pot With $25B Sprint Bid
April 16, 2013

Dish Network set up a battle with SoftBank for ownership of Sprint after it bid $25.5 billion for the company on Monday. The bid consists of $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock. That works out to a combined premium of 13 percent over what SoftBank is offering. The merger will create an industry-leading spectrum portfolio, Dish Network said.

Google Takes Another Step Toward Omniscience
April 16, 2013

Google has engaged the Behavio team in a "hiring exercise." The startup uses mobile sensors to collect data and predict behavior. Its technology recognizes data such as location, contacts, nearby destinations, recent phone activity, daily movement, and surrounding physical information. Data can be analyzed to let consumers know anything from whether their morning coffee stop is unusually crowded to which traffic routes are clear.