Microsoft slams OEM crapware
Who makes money when you buy a new PC? The hardware margin is far lower for PC makers than it is for Apple and the revenue Microsoft gets from a Windows license looks trivial in comparison to the £250 Google makes from search advertising in the UK for every PC sold (according to Gary Hearns of Dixons).
Microsoft suggests 'quarantine' for infected PCs
A security executive at Microsoft is suggesting a plan to limit internet access for malware-infected PCs. In a recent report, Microsoft corporate vice president of Trustworthy Computing Scott Charney suggested that authorities and administrators adopt a model similar to that used by health officials when controlling infectious diseases."In the physical world, there are also international, national and local health systems that identify, track, and control the spread of disease including, where necessary, quarantining people to avoid the infection of others," wrote Charney.
Browser wars: the rise of Chrome threatens Internet Explorer, and Mozilla's revenue
The emergence of Google Chome in mid-2008 has hit Internet Explorer hard. A fall below the psychologically important barrier of 50 percent market sharemakes the latest version, Internet Explorer 9, all the more important for the company. The rise of Chrome is also affecting Mozilla Firefox, the second most popular desktop web browser, which has stayed at 30 percent market share since May last year.
Microsoft and Adobe CEOs meet, purportedly plan world domination
Like any two technology behemoths, Adobe and Microsoft have certainly had their ups and downs. But now that Google and Apple are looming over them in a number of ways, it seems as if the two may be courting one another in order to help re-level the playing field.
What do I need to know about the new Facebook groups?
If you're sensible, you will have reserved Facebook for 'true' friends and family and added your work contacts to LinkedIn, which is a far better way (without the incriminating Glastonbury photos) to maintain some kind of professional online relationship with your colleagues. Unfortunately, most of us started using Facebook in a far more ad-hoc way that didn't really allow for that kind of organisation. The new Facebook Groups should help, a little, with that.
Jolitics: the political network that plans to empower voters
Michael Birch, the British technology entrepreneur most famous for co-founding Bebo, the once hugely popular social network for teens, has just rolled out Jolitics in Ireland. Having sold Bebo in 2008 to AOL for $850 million, Birch turned his attentions to making an online platform dedicated to hosting “constructive political debate”. Jolitics members can join debates about current political issues and nominate others, who they deem more knowledgeable on a particular subject, to cast their vote for them – either agreeing or disagreeing with the motion. This system, Birch hopes, will produce genuine opinions on politics and continue to fire debates long after the elections are over.
Twitter revamps search engine to boost speed
Twitter has overhauled the back-end infrastructure of its search engine, boosting its speed and capacity to index posts, process queries and deliver results, while making the system more stable and better suited for the addition of new features. Twitter transferred its search engine to the new platform in recent weeks, after working on the new back-end system for about six months, according to the company.
Spy Cameras and Solar Tuk-Tuks: Hunting Asia’s Madcap Gadgets
Asia: the spiritual home of the gadget. After a month of reporting on the gadgets we have brought with us on the Fiesta World Tour, I figured it was time to hit the streets and see what new Asian toys I could get my hands on.After Dubai, we leaped ahead to China for the next leg. India, sadly, was off limits. I flew into Hong Kong and snuck across the border to the Chinese gadget powerhouse of Shenzhen. This is where the iPod and iPad are made.
Everything Everywhere consummates merger
Orange and T-Mobile have have gone from "it's complicated" to "in a relationship" as their customers roam freely between the two networks.The roaming agreement went live on Wednesday, with customers who had preregistered switching automatically to the alternative when their home network was unavailable. Some customers were disappointed that the agreement only covers 2G, while others failed to understand what was being offered, but the majority were just happy to get voice coverage where there had previously been none.
CNN's research says 27% of us share 87% of news links
CNN has been researching how news articles are shared through social media, identifying different motivations for sharing and the increased benefit for advertisers who feature on recommended news pages.
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