Facebook Reverts On Privacy Rules

InformationWeek Daily - Thursday, Feb. 19, 2009

Microsoft's Promising New Mobile Store-y Hoots of derision from some quarters aside, it looks like Microsoft has decided on a new course of action that doesn't rely on "but we're Microsoft" as the underlying basis for its strategy. Microsoft made big news twice in the space of a week. First, it announced that it will open physical retail stores; then, it simultaneously introduced an upgraded mobile operating system featuring a new user interface, Windows Mobile 6.5, and unveiled a major deal with LG. The technology blogosphere reacted to the store announcement with typical condescension, all too happy to remind Microsoft of its past failed attempt at retailing. Maybe we should all be a little more constructive. This is a critical juncture for Microsoft. It's in deep trouble on a number of fronts -- from its loosening stranglehold on desktop productivity applications to shriveling server and browser market share. It is also suffering from a bit of an identity crisis as it seeks to redefine itself from a software company to a cloud-friendly company, albeit with a lot of baggage. Retail is the best and surest way for Microsoft to literally put its mobile products front and center, ensuring that its products (not iPods and PlayStations) get preferential treatment. It's critical for Microsoft to reach consumers -- all you have to do is look at how consumers forced enterprises to allow the iPhone to see why. CEO Steve Ballmer is hip to this (Ballmer and hip in the same sentence?), telling the Financial Times that "the time has come for us to take the full Windows experience to mobile phones." I'm not ready to bet that Microsoft's stores will be a blow-out success, but I do think Microsoft can find new momentum in mobile. For my full analysis of the situation, click here. Michael Hickins [email protected] www.informationweek.com
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Facebook Reverts On Privacy Rules Social networking site's CEO reverses course on new polices that drew fire from users. Related Stories: Facebook's Terms Of Use Draw Protest 25 Things Facebook Couldn't Keep Secret In Court What Your Business Can Learn From SEO Experts Your business has a Web site. Think that's enough? Hardly. Potential customers need to be able to find you, and that requires you to flex some search engine optimization skills. Because the world of SEO -- and the Internet -- are constantly changing, it pays to learn how social networking is moving in on Google's territory. GOVERNMENT NEWS ALERTS Get alerts on government IT news as it happens. SIGN UP TODAY iPhone Features Everywhere In Rivals' Phones At Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Apple is everywhere and nowhere. HP's Quarterly Outlook Misses Forecast The technology bellwether said on Wednesday its net profit for its fiscal first quarter ended Jan. 31 fell to $1.85 billion, or 75 cents a share. billion, or 75 cents a share, Stimulus Package Makes It Harder To Hire H-1B Workers The provisions are expected to impact new hires, not existing H-1B visa holders in the U.S. looking to renew their visas. Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Vulnerability Being Exploited Cyber criminals are using a malicious Microsoft Word file distributed through spam to attack an exploit Microsoft patched last week. Windows 7 File Sharing Tool Released Microsoft ships trial version of software designed to let PC users securely share personal files. Verizon Lays Out LTE Plans In order to combat Sprint and WiMax, Verizon Wireless will deploy an LTE-based 4G network next year. Sun Delivers Open Source Protocol For Encrypted Devices The communications protocol aims to help Sun's users and business partners more flexibly handle encryption keys while sidestepping costly licensing fees. Nvidia's Licensing Dispute With Intel Heats Up The Intel license makes it possible for Nvidia to ship graphics technology in Intel-powered PCs from major computer makers. Nokia Rolls Out 8-Megapixel Smartphone The Nokia N86 packs an impressive camera, is powered by Symbian S60, and has Wi-Fi, 3G, and Bluetooth. Nintendo DSi Making U.S. Debut In April Among the unique features on the DSi is two 0.3 megapixel cameras, one on the external body and the other pointing at the user when the device is flipped open. Google Wins Street View Privacy Lawsuit A Pennsylvania judge said Google didn't violate the Boring family's privacy rights by taking pictures of their residence from a private road and publishing the images online. All Our Latest News InformationWeek Reports: The Industry's Advice To President Obama We asked more than two dozen industry leaders, from CEOs to private and public sector CIOs, what should be top of mind for President Obama’s chief technology officer. Their response: Think big and transformational. And get going now. Free Download (Registration Required) See InformationWeek's daily breaking news on your mobile device, visit mobile.informationweek.com and sign up for daily SMS notifications. ---------- It's Crunch Time, You Need InformationWeek Analytics InformationWeek Analytics is dedicated to providing you with comprehensive, real-world assessments of technology solutions. These in-depth research reports are written by IT professionals with real world experience, so you can make sound decisions. informationweekanalytics.com/ ---------- Evaluating a New technology? Need Real World Answers? Get them directly from your peers and industry leaders at InformationWeek Forums. These technology specific events will immerse you in real life issues and solutions and provide peer to peer networking to answer your specific questions. informationweekevents.com ---------- Want it all - in one place? Get it at InformationWeek Reports Technology reports - for IT Professionals by IT Professionals. With hundreds of reports in 15 plus technology areas, you will find the research you need, when you need it. Easy to search and download - bookmark it today! informationweekreports.com ---------- 2008 InformationWeek Strategic Security Survey This year, it's all about managing risk. That's the overall finding of our 2008 InformationWeek Strategic Security Study, which quizzed nearly 2,000 IT professionals about their plans and priorities for securing their companies' assets. strategicsecurity.techweb.com/ ----------	iPhone Features Everywhere In Rivals' Phones HP's Quarterly Outlook Misses Forecast Stimulus Package Makes It Harder To Hire H-1B Workers Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 Vulnerability Being Exploited Windows 7 File Sharing Tool Released Virtualization At The Desktop? Examine how more than 250 companies plan to adopt server virtualization technology in this recent InformationWeek Research report, Server Virtualization. The BI Explosion Examine the business intelligence strategies of 500 companies, including deployment drivers and challenges, spending plans, and vendor selection, in this recent InformationWeek Research report. No Major Problems Reported From Early DTV Switch The transition to digital television appears to be going smoothly for most viewers in areas that went ahead with the switch instead of taking advantage of the postponed deadline. ROI Is Not A Good Justification For Security It's no secret that the business office uses financial models to approve and disapprove purchases. Getting proposals approved on business merit is often mis-understood by many IT and security practitioners who see the need for a technology, but can't convince business folks. Return on Investment, ROI, is often used to justify, in part, an IT purchase which results in the percentage return. Risk reduction is the primary goal. UC: All About Predictability I had a chance to chat recently with Henry Dewing of Forrester Research about Forrester's latest UC report, and the conversation quickly turned to ROI. Amazon To Offer Kindle eBooks On Other Mobile Devices. Will Tiny Lexcycle Survive? For tech titans, it's a time-honored ritual in the hi-tech business; Use your market "influence" to drive acceptance of your proprietary technology for as long as possible, until you have no other choice but to lift the proprietary veil (if only just a bit). By then, momentum is driving your success anyway. Such has been the path of Goliaths Microsoft and Apple. But it remains to be seen if Amazon-the-book-Goliath can repeat industry tradition with its strategy for Kindle, or, if a tiny 3-person self-funded "David" known as Lexcycle could spoil the party (podcast included). Another Line Of Haiku (The OS, That Is) Once upon a time, there was BeOS. The brainchild of former Apple alum Jean-Louis Gass'e, it looked for a time like a genuine alternative to both Windows and Mac, but its star fizzled. An attempt to create an open-source clone of BeOS, Haiku, is underway -- but to what end, you might ask? Don't we have enough platforms? Amazon's Cloud Is Too Cloudy Amazon senior VP Andy Jassy talks about Amazon Web Services in a recent interview with TechFlash.com. It's an interesting chat with the guy who oversees Amazon's cloud computing business. Unfortunately, Jassy, once again, refuses to answer key questions about AWS. One Charger To Rule Them All The GSM Association announced at Mobile World Congress yesterday that most phone manufacturers will use an energy efficient charger with a universal Micro-USB connector. There are a number of benefits, including less money out of consumer's pockets when they get a new phone as they won't have to buy extra chargers for travel or replacement car chargers to fit their new phone. MWC 2009: First Impressions Of The New Android Phone I had the opportunity to spend about 30 minutes with the new HTC Magic phone, which runs Google's Android platform. Instant verdict: Much better than the G1. MWC 2009: HTC's New Android Phone Can Shoot Video InformationWeek will have a full hands-on report about the new HTC Magic soon, but I wanted to share with you right away that there's one really interesting new feature. Android can now record video. How Uncle Sam Is Already Saving Money With IT The sweeping $787 billion economic stimulus bill signed yesterday by President Obama contains billions of dollars in tech-related spending. With this bill, and plans by the Obama administration to soon name "the first" federal CTO, one has to wonder how the federal government has been doing in its own use of IT till now. The Upwardly Mobile CIO Sears offers the latest evidence of a CIO moving into a business-unit role outside technology, tapping CIO Karen Austin to lead one of the company's business line leadership roles that are central to its turnaround strategy. Top Windows Must-Have Apps: Dragon Naturally Speaking I'm writing (actually, speaking) this post using Dragon NaturallySpeaking. It's the first speech-recognition tool for the PC that's really ready for prime time. Indeed, since I started using it about six months ago, it's become one of my top 10 Windows must-have applications. Read on to see a video chat I had with Peter Mahoney of Nuance Communications, the maker of NaturallySpeaking. Real-World SOA: Definition, Implementation and Use of SOA with CentraSite Web services are having a dramatic impact on improving enterprise architecture and application development practices. This paper highlights three sample case studies illustrating how Fujitsu's CentraSite delivers SOA solutions. Forrester Consulting: Unified Communications Delivers Global Benefits This Forrester Consulting study shows how Unified Communications (UC) makes it simpler to contact others over any device in any location, enhancing business agility, cutting costs, and boosting employee productivity. Forrester finds that UC is already delivering major savings for organizations around the world in retail banking, manufacturing and education. Download the full report for free. Software as a Service Research Report No longer a niche software delivery model, software as a service (SaaS) can help small and midsize companies get access to enteprise-class software functionality without having to commit enterprise-level capital resources. Download the full report for free. The Internet & The Developing World The evolution of the Internet has been full of surprises - surprises that have sometimes resulted in radical changes in the commercial landscape, such as the arrival of Amazon, eBay, Google, YouTube, and Skype. Could one of the next big surprises turn out to be linked to developing countries? 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