China demands ID from all buyers of mobile phone numbers
China began requiring identification from anyone buying a new mobile phone number today in what it says is a bid to stamp out junk messages. But critics say the move gives the government a new tool for monitoring its citizens. The rules apply to everyone, including foreigners visiting the country for a short stay, the China Daily newspaper reported. The paper said the regulation was "the latest campaign by the government to curb the global scourge of spam, pornographic messages and fraud on cellular phones".Low-cost mobile phone sim cards are readily available in China, at convenience stores, newspaper stands and airport kiosks.
To boost security, Facebook adds remote logout
Facebook users will soon have a new way of knocking spammers out of legitimate accounts. The social-networking company is rolling out a new security feature that lets users see which computers and devices are logged into their Facebook accounts, and then removing the ones that they don't want to have access. The move addresses a growing problem on Facebook. Spammers use fake phishing sites to trick Facebook users into entering their usernames and passwords, and then they use those credentials to send spam messages to as many Facebook friends as possible.
Something old, something new
The range of messaging options available to the end user is growing fast, especially as messaging functionality has become integrated into applications like social networks. But rather than try to compete with the latest online service providers, perhaps operators should return to their roots and rediscover the potential of age-old technologies like SMS. The problems facing developed market mobile operators in 2010 have been well documented. A powerful new wave of smart devices has stimulated uptake of capacity-hungry non-voice services among subscribers. Operators are running to keep up with the demands on their networks, working to deploy greater headroom and greater throughput while over the top service providers are building relationships with mobile users and generating even more data traffic for the operators to carry.
Quantum refrigerator could cool your quantum computer, allow for quantum overclocking
The quantum computer is still ranking pretty high up there on the vaporware charts, somewhere between Duke Nukem Forever and a Steorn in-home power generator. Eventually we'll get there, and theoretical physicists at the University of Bristol are helping with a quantum cooling system. It is effectively a means for two qubits to cool a third, with the outer two cooled by lasers and absorbing energy from the third, which is heated to its excited state. Unsurprisingly this is all rather theoretical at this point, but the team does plan to actually such a quantum refrigerator in the not too distant future. Then, we figure, they'll host the first quantum kegger.
Murdoch Reporters’ Phone-Hacking Was Endemic, Victimized Hundreds
A phone-hacking scheme involving British royals and reporters working for one of Rupert Murdoch’s tabloid newspapers went far beyond what was previously disclosed and prosecuted, according toThe New York Times. Andy Coulson, currently media advisor to British Prime Minister David Cameron, is accused of having encouraged the hacking during his tenure as editor of Murdoch’s News of the World paper. According to the N.Y. Times, reporters working under Coulson targeted hundreds of victims — from Princes Harry and William to government and police officials and numerous celebrities, including soccer star David Beckham and his wife.
Sony Qriocity service takes on Apple iTunes with streaming music and video
Sony has embarked on an ambitious challenge to Apple's iTunes, promising to launch a music and video streaming service in the UK by the end of this year. The subscription-based service is to be based around the PlayStation 3 console. Sony said that customers would be able to download high-definition movies and songs over the internet and watch them on other web-enabled Sony devices, including its TVs, laptops and digital music players. With Amazon also thought to be aggressively planning a web-based subscription service, which would stream old films and TV shows, theonline TV-on-demand market is about to expand dramatically.
Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/sep/01/sony-qriocity-streaming-music-video
Broadband advertising 'misleading consumers'
Nine out of 10 people find broadband advertising misleading and confusing, according to a survey carried out by ICM. Consumers are left baffled by internet service providers' use of "up to" speed claims when defining the kinds of broadband internet connection speeds people can expect to receive in their local area. The survey found that 90 per cent of those questioned were unsure of exactly what broadband speed they received from their internet service providers. Consumer groups have repeatedly called for changes to the way ISPs are allowed to advertise network speeds in order to give customers a better idea of the sort of service they are signing up to.
MMA repositions to focus on brand education
Enough evangelism already, let's get spending. The new direction will see the MMA concentrate its efforts on what it believes to be the five building blocks of the industry: * Promoting the channel, abd demonstrating that membership creates a competitive advantage for companies. * Educating brands, agencies and consumers about the mobile marketing channel * Creating and developing authoritative measurement, metrics and insight * Continuing to create and develop guidelines, best practices and standards for planning, purchase and implementation of mobile marketing. * Managing industry self-regulatory programmes
Windows Phone 7 ready for manufacturers
Microsoft has declared Windows Phone 7 "ready", and started to ship the software to handset makers and networks. This process, known as release to manufacturing (RTM), means that Microsoft's partners will be able to apply their own tweaks and settings to the Windows Phone 7 operating system in preparation for its launch later this year. Terry Myerson, corporate vice president of Windows Phone engineering at Microsoft, published a post on the Windows Phone blog yesterday announcing that the work of the internal engineering team was "largely complete".
Mobile Devices Need Custom Maps
GPS maps for smartphones generally require a fairly high-speed wireless internet connection, consume significant processor resources, and are optimized for driving. But what if your 3G connection is unreliable or unavailable, and you still need to get from point A to point B — perhaps on foot?
Subscribe