By beccacaddy on October 26, 2011

A new social network, which calls itself the 'anti-Facebook', is open to beta testers today and many are wondering whether the claims that it's a much more honest and open platform than anything we've seen before are actually true. 

The social network called Unthink is all about unthinking the idea of social media and gaining more control over our personal data and online lives. Unthink's about page reads: "UNTHINK is an all-in-one social media platform that enables you to connect with the world around you and collaborate with others to bring the change you want to see in the world. "Our mission is to emancipate social media and unleash people's extraordinary potential. Our -not so covert- mission is to spark a revolution that will change the world." It all sounds inspiring, but a bit cheesy and too good to be true, right? Although we're not sure whether it'll really make a large number of Facebook's 800 million users immediately ditch the most popular social network and opt for one which is much more about freedom, determination and rainbows, it's good that a platform exists which seems to be about using online networks to create things, learn things and share things rather than see so many be made into pawns by businesses and advertisers. However, just because Unthink is all about freedom and control it doesn't mean the social network won't open up a lot of new opportunities for brands. According to Techcrunch, users will own all of their data all of the time but can choose a brand to sponsor their page, which means they then become an advocate of that brand. Brands can also engage with users too, but the users have the control to decide which they want to hear from, what kinds of updates they want to hear and how often, which will be a welcome change for many.

Read more here -> shinyshiny.tv

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Nvidia may pull in future Tegra server chips into Tesla line
By Agam Shah October 25, 2011

Looking beyond graphics processors, Nvidia wants to push future Tegra chips into servers as the chip maker tries to break Intel's dominance in that market.
Nvidia is developing its first CPU for PCs and servers, code-named Project Denver, which is based on the ARM architecture and also aimed at mobile devices. The Denver core will go into future Tegra chips, and special improvements will be made to server chips, said Steve Scott, chief technology officer of Nvidia's Tesla product line of enterprise graphics chips. "There are some things we are doing that are particularly nice for our purposes. It will likely go into the Tesla line at some point," Scott said. Nvidia's current presence in servers is mostly related to its Tesla graphics processors, which are being used in the world's fastest supercomputers to perform complex scientific and math calculations. The Oak Ridge National Laboratory is building a supercomputer called Titan that will include Nvidia's Tesla processors and Advanced Micro Devices' 16-core Opteron CPUs to deliver a peak performance of up to 20 petaflops. The fastest supercomputer is Japan's K, which delivers a performance of 8 petaflops. Scott did not share specific details on how Nvidia would tweak future Tegra chips for servers. However, the company has said that Project Denver chips will harness the parallel processing capabilities of Nvidia GPUs with ARM CPUs, which could boost server performance.

Read more here –>computerworld.com

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Little green robot continues its ascent
By Dean Wilson Oct 25 2011

THE LINUX BASED Android operating system (OS) is continuing its relentless assault, with a report by ABI Research showing that Google's mobile OS overtook Apple's IOS in app downloads in the second quarter of this year. The little green robot now has an app download market share of 44 per cent, while IOS is at 31 per cent, giving Android a significant lead that is likely to continue to widen. "Android's open source strategy is the main factor for its success," said Lim Shiyang, research associate at ABI Research. "Being a free platform has expanded the Android device install base, which in turn has driven growth in the number of third party multi-platform and mobile operator app stores. These conditions alone explain why Android is the new leader in the mobile application market." Another factor in the growth in Android's app downloads is the increase in Android smartphone shipments, which jumped 36 per cent in the second quarter compared to an increase of 20 per cent in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, Apple's device shipment growth slowed from 15 per cent in the first quarter to just nine per cent in the second quarter. Android is installed on significantly more devices than IOS, leading by a ratio of 2.4 to one. ABI Research predicts that this will grow to a three to one lead by 2016.

Read more here –>theinquirer.net

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by Todd Bishop October 25, 2011

Ten years ago today, on Oct. 25, 2001, Microsoft released Windows XP to the world. A decade later, much of the technology world is completely different, but you wouldn’t know it from looking at many PCs today. 

Almost half of personal computers around the world are still running Windows XP — like a threadbare winter coat so comfortable that it’s difficult to take to the Goodwill. Microsoft is marking the anniversary by acknowledging the significance of Windows XP in the evolution of its flagship product line. But for business customers, in particular, the company is also using the occasion to make the case that it’s finally time to move on. The company has come up with a fun infographic to support its argument, pointing out everything that has changed in the world since 2001. “If you think back to XP, obviously it introduced a bunch of different things,” said Rich Reynolds, Windows Commercial general manager. “The user interface made it easier, faster and fun. It mainstreamed photography. It mainstreamed wireless, it mainstreamed plug-and-play. There was a bunch of great things that it did in its time … but the nature of work has changed.” To illustrate how much things have changed, Reynolds told the story of recently connecting over WiFi on an Alaska Airlines flight somewhere over the Rockies and using the DirectAccess feature of Windows 7 Enterprise to access the corporate network and collaborate on a document in real time with someone in India using the Lync collaboration tools — not doable on a Windows XP machine. One reason that so many business are still using Windows XP is that so many of them were reluctant to shift to its successor, Windows Vista, which was plagued by glitches and compatibility problems with drivers and software. Microsoft has seen much faster adoption of Windows 7, which already accounts for more than 30 percent of the market. Apart from touting the virtues of Windows 7 and Office 2010, Microsoft points to the upcoming April 8, 2014, end of support for Windows XP.

Read more here –> geekwire.com

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By Matt Lynley Oct. 23, 2011

Jonathan "Jony" Ive, Apple's design maestro, was regularly frustrated with his good friend, and boss, Steve Jobs taking all the credit for Apple product's design. "I pay maniacal attention to where an idea comes from, and I even keep notebooks filled with my ideas," he said. "So it hurts when he takes credit for one of my designs." Still, Ive said the company owed everything to his former CEO. Despite his frustrations, the two were very close. Ive had an abundantly privileged relationship with the company's former CEO Steve Jobs, Jobs new biography released today revealed. "The ideas that come from me and my team would have been completely irrelevant, nowhere, if Steve hadn't been here to push us, work with us, and drive through all the resistance to turn our ideas into products." The biography's author Walter Isaacson called Ive and Jobs "soul mates" in the search for "true" simplicity rather than surface simplicity. The two would regularly assess the value of each individual part in a product like a Mac. "Jony had a special status," Jobs wife Laurene Powell Jobs said. "Most people in Steve's life are replaceable. But not Jony." Those privileges weren't limited to lunches and regular visits at the end of the day. Ive holds a private design studio on the ground floor of Apple's campus shielded by tinted windows and a heavy locked door. Not even high-level Apple employees are allowed into Ive's office. Ive was untouchable.

Read more here –> businessinsider.com

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By Kristin Bent, October 24, 2011

AMD announced last week its investment in BlueStacks, a global software firm which recently introduced BlueStacks App Player for Windows solution, allowing Android apps to run on any x86-based Windows PC, laptop, or tablet. 

The solution will be powered by AMD APUs and leverage AMD VISION Technology. The AMD-BlueStacks collaboration is generating excitement among Android enthusiasts, as BlueStacks App Player for Windows solution enables access to the 200,000 plus apps available in the Android Market from any AMD-fueled Windows-based device. The use of BlueStacks App Player for Windows allows Android applications to run on Windows-based machines without requiring additional development efforts or modification. AMD’s investment in BlueStacks is part of the chip-maker’s AMD Fusion Fund, a program that invests in organizations deploying innovative digital solutions based on AMD APU technology. "Bluestacks is a visionary software company that is, seamlessly, making the emerging Android mobile apps market part of the broader computing ecosystem and enhancing such experiences on our award-winning APU platforms," said Manju Hegde, corporate vice president, AMD Fusion Experience Program, in a statement. "AMD is committed to support such game changing innovators through investment and other activity as we work together to usher in new experiences that allow consumers to enjoy the full capabilities of the brilliant graphics and computing performance enabled by AMD."

Read more here –>crn.com

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Windows 8 may see a commercial release in August 2012 followed by Windows 9 in November 2014.
by Kevin Parrish – October 24, 2011

Monday brought reports of a leaked Microsoft road map revealing an August 2012 commercial launch schedule for Windows 8. Prior to that, the beta will reportedly arrive during CES 2012 this coming January along with the WinStore Beta, an online market community technology preview (CTP), and the first "Tango" update for Windows Phone. Windows 9 is even slated for a late 2014 reveal. According to the roadmap, the Release Candidate for Windows 8 (RC) will roll out at MIX 2012 along with the online market beta and the Kinect commercial SDK — "Apollo" for Windows Phone is also expected to be revealed. By the time E3 2012 rolls around, Microsoft will reportedly unveil the Xbox 360 SDK for creating apps, the Apollo SDK for Windows Phone and third-generation Kinect games. The Windows 8 RTM build is also expected to be released in June 2012. Once August 2012 arrives, Windows 8, the online market, Windows Phone 8 and the Xbox (App) Store will launch if all goes according to plan. Then in September during BUILD 2012 Microsoft will offer a Windows 8 product upgrade developer preview and announce something called along with the XAML+XDE platform.

Read more here –>tomshardware.com

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The iPad's share of the global tablet market—previously a domineering 96 percent—has fallen to 67 percent.
By John P. Mello Jr. Oct.22, 2011

Despite a 20 percent increase in shipped units during the past three months, the iPad's share of the global tablet market slipped mightily in the face of growing competition from Android slates. 

On an earnings call earlier this week, Apple revealed that iPad shipments for the most recent calendar quarter rose to 11.12 million units, compared to 9.2 million in the previous quarter. That news, though, was offset Friday by a report from Strategy Analytics that the iPad's share of the global tablet market—previously a domineering 96 percent—had fallen to 67 percent. Meanwhile, Android tabs had grown their market share to 27 percent. While iPad shipments have increased 164 percent during the first three months of this year, the numbers inside those numbers are revealing. From quarter one to quarter two, shipments climbed 96.4 percent. That contrasts starkly with the 20 percent increase from Q2 to Q3. "It is clear that the iPad is experiencing slowing growth," observed IDC analyst Tom Mainelli in a research note today. One reason for slowing shipments is that Apple has picked all the low hanging fruit in the tablet market, he asserted. "Many of the affluent consumers most likely to spend $500 or more on an iPad in markets such as the United States have already done so, and these buyers have now moved into a replacement buying cycle," he noted. What's more, he continued, the iPad may be entering a period when seasonality will begin to affect its sales, with much of the growth in a year being jammed into the fourth quarter. He reasoned that if Apple wants maintain past shipment levels, it's going to have to appeal to mainstream consumers. For them, he continued, $500 for a tablet is a hard sell, even harder in the face of the competition like Amazon's upcoming $199 Kindle Fire.

Read more here –> pcworld.com

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By Gene J. Koprowski October 21, 2011

Eight hundred million users are not enough. Facebook, the world's biggest social network, is now building profiles of non-users who haven't even signed up, an international privacy watchdog charges.
The sensational claim is made in a complaint filed in August by Ireland’s Data Protection Commissioner. It alleges that users are encouraged to hand over the personal data of other people — including names, phone numbers, email addresses and more — which Facebook is using to create "extensive profiles" of non-users. Facebook categorically denies the allegation, but experts tell FoxNews.com that it could well be true. “There can be little doubt that Facebook collects from its current users information about individuals who are not currently Facebook users, and collects from its current users information about other Facebook users,” said Kelly Kubasta, who heads the Dallas law firm Klemchuk Kubasta’s social media division. Ciara O'Sullivan, a spokeswoman for Ireland's Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, told FoxNews.com that its audit of Facebook Ireland's privacy policies was part of a "statutory investigation" that the office anticipates will lead to immediate changes. "The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner will be commencing a comprehensive audit of Facebook Ireland before the end of the month," O’Sullivan said.

Read more here –>foxnews.com

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By Sara Yin October 21, 2011

Reports of security flaws in Apple's new iOS 5 continue to surface. There's a super easy way to bypass a password-protected locksreen on an iPad 2 that's equipped with iOS 5, which we've successfully completed with steps provided by German blog Apfeltalk. Here's how to re-create the flaw. First, enable password protection on the iPad 2 and lock it. Second, hold down the power button for a couple seconds until you see the red "slide to power off" slider at the top of the screen. Third, close the smart cover and open the smart cover again. And fourth, tap "cancel" at the bottom of the screen. What you should see next is the last screen accessed before you locked your tablet. Don't have a smart cover? You can skip step three by simply grazing a magnet across the right side of the tablet. Note that this doesn't completely unlock the device. It only opens the screen you were last looking at, but nothing more; you can't open apps or perform tasks. But it's a big deal if you were, say, doing some incriminating Web surfing and left your iPad 2 lying around a house with a curious (and tech-savvy) partner.

Read more here –>pcmag.com

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