Category: Tech

For day 22 of the 28 Days of Diversity series, we have 13 year industry veteran Denise R. Jacobs. Her expertise includes everything from software localization project management and enterprise website implementation to web design/development and technical training. She authored The CSS Detective Guide and is a contributing author to Interact with Web Standards: A holistic approach to Web Design. Her passions include being an Author, Speaker & Educator, Web Designer, and Consultant.

Read more about Denise at SocialWayne.com, including her thoughts on using technology to close the digital divide.

“Many don’t even see the need, much less the value of bridging the digital divide, be it on a local scale or a global scale. Before we can think critically about how to use technology to close the digital divide, there needs to be a process of raising awareness about the importance of and issues around the digital divide…”

Once again, Apple is using what they’ve learned from working on iOS, iPhone/iPod, and iPad to improve Mac OS X. We first heard about the fancy features that Mac OS X Lion would bring back in October at the Back to the Mac event.

We’re taking our best thinking from iPad and bringing it all to the Mac with Mac OS X Lion, available in summer 2011. Here’s a preview of some of the top features.

Some of the features to look out for include:

• The Mac App Store – the App Store for your laptop/desktop
• Launchpad – app launcher that works just like you would on an iPad and other mobile devices
• Full Screen Apps – kill the distractions and focus on one thing at a time.
• Mission Control – a bird’s eye view of everything running on your Mac
• Gestures and animations – multi-touch gestures using your touchpad and responsive on-screen animations bring a lifelike feel to your desktop
• Autosave – no need to obsessively save your work as you go. Lion does it for you
• Versions – records the evolution of a document you’ve created, giving you the ability to go back in time to previous versions.
• Resume – return right where you left off with all your apps exactly as you left them through restarts and updates.

It’s interesting to see Mac OS X basically changing the paradigm of desktop and laptop computing. See all the details at Apple.

via Apple – Mac OS X Lion.

Today, Apple sent out invitations to the media for a special event being held on March 2nd in San Francisco, CA. The Loop reports that the event follows speculation that the iPad 2 and iPhone 5 could be delayed until June. Rumors which they later confirmed as false.

According to the invitation received by The Loop, the event will be held at the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts at 10:00 am. This is the same venue Apple has used to introduce a number of products in recent years.

The invite includes a corner of what appears to be an iPad in the background with the text “Come see what 2011 will be the year of.” The assumption here is that the focus will be on the iPad 2, which is rumored to be thinner, faster, and support Facetime with dual cameras.

Another event, occurring Wednesday, is the Apple shareholder’s meeting. Shareholders will finally get a chance to “grill executives about the health of CEO Steve Jobs.” Shareholders have been concerned about Jobs going out on medical leave with no timetable for his return.

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It is doubtful he will actually be present, but COO Tim Cook will lead the meeting.

via CBC News

Rumors are still circulating about the upcoming refresh of the Apple Macbook Pro 2011. The shipments are allegedly in and retailers and consumers are just waiting with bated breath for Apple to make the official announcement.

One of the primary new features many are looking for is the implementation of Intel’s Light Peak high-speed interconnect technology. According to a leaked spec sheet, Apple is calling their implementation “Thunderbolt,” which is already trademarked by Verizon for their upcoming HTC handset, so the entire situation seems weird.

Some of the specs for the new Macbook:

What is Light Peak?

Light Peak is a new high-speed data transfer technology that could replace all of those random ports running up and down the sides of your laptop. AppleInsider offers a good description:

Apple and Intel have been publicly working together to deploy Light Peak for years, with Intel first demonstrating the technology on a Mac desktop system. Apple reportedly asked Intel to develop a new cabling standard with the ability to handle “massive amounts of data,” and serve as a replacement for a variety of ports now in use, including USB, Ethernet, FireWire, and DisplayPort.

Intel has aimed the technology at achieving 100Gbps throughput via light using fibre optic strands, reflected in the technology’s moniker. But Apple is rumored to be using an electrical variant using copper wire that can achieve 10Gbps, and has filed patents that describe lower powered mobile versions suitable for devices like iPad.

At any rate, there is also an image allegedly showing what this Thunderbolt port looks like. It looks just like the MiniDisplay Port with a shiny new lightning bolt symbol next to it. Very easy to fake, but is good for keeping the buzz going.

via Engadget

Many users are experiencing problems with Google calendar today. The worst thing that could happen is that your calendar, the place you keep track of all your important daily events, is randomly wiped clean. This is exactly what many users are experiencing.

According to early reports from Google, less than 0.125% of their user base is affected. This number dropped to 0.001% a few hours later. Still, it must be quite distressing when you’re trying to seize the day it #riseandgrind only to find you schedule is blank.

We’re experiencing an issue affecting less than 0.001% of the Google Calendar user base. The affected users are able to access Google Calendar, but are seeing error messages and/or other unexpected behavior. We will provide an update by February 23, 2011 6:52:00 AM UTC-5 detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change.

Affected users may be missing entries in their calendars.

Fortunately for those having the issue, your calendar events haven’t actually been deleted, there is just a problem with how they’re being displayed. This should be easier for Google to recover from if there is actually no data loss.

via TechCrunch, Google Apps Status Dashboard

Arguable the two most anticipated products from Motorola, the Atrix 4G and the Xoom tablet will both be available very soon. Actually, you can grab the AT&T Motorola Atrix 4G right now for $149.99 at Amazon or Radioshack. Of course, Walmart has them for a mere $129. You can also buy directly from AT&T:

As expected, the privilege of buying direct from the carrier will set you back $199.99 with a two-year contract in the range of $39.99 per month for the Nation 450 on up to $69.99 for the Nation Unlimited with another $15 per month for a 200MB DataPlus plan or $45 per month for a Data Pro 4GB + tethering plan. via Engadget

Be sure to grab the laptop dock now with the $499 bundle or you will be stuck paying $499 for the dock separately. The Xoom has been seen rolling into Best Buy in anticipation for its Thursday launch. While Best Buy is pricing the Xoom at $800, Verizon is offering the Xoom for $600 along with a 2-year data plan. If you didn’t plan on opting for the $20/month for 1GB of 3G data, it may not be much of a discount, though.

Speaking of Best Buy, it looks like they have some mysterious Apple laptop SKU numbers showing up in their laptop discovery tool. As we reported yesterday, the rumor mill is on fire regarding a refresh of the Macbook pro line of laptops. Some retail stores have already received shipments that Apple says they are not allowed to talk about until the official announcement.

This seems to corroborate recent rumors of a MacBook Pro refresh coming next week, as do the $1,199, $1,499, $1,799, and $2,199 price points, all of which are presently occupied by current-gen 13- and 15-inch MBP variants. There is an additional $2,499 sticker for a laptop identified only as “New SKU I,” which presumably points to an upgrade to Apple’s 17-incher. via Engadget

Founded by Nadia Jones (aka. Justice Jonesie), Nyasha Smith (aka. Justice Ny), and Stacey Ferguson (aka. Justice Fergie), MamaLaw Media Group’s (MMG) mission is to “raise the profile of women of color online, all while networking, building relationships, and promoting inspiration and success for the multicultural blogging community.”

Read more about MMG at SocialWayne.com and see their answer for using technology to close the digital divide:

Through our yearly Blogalicious Weekend conferences, as well as our series of monthly webinars called “Blogalicious Bytes: Lessons in Social Media,” we aim to educate, inform and inspire our community about the wealth of resources that social media presents and how the multicultural community can benefit.

Almost a week ago, Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 was made available for MSDN/Technet subscribers. Today, Neowin reports that this latest Windows update will be made available for everyone else.

There are two primary features to look out for in this release that, while they may not be important to your average user, will be very important for those running virtual machines and Windows Server 2008 R2.

The first feature is RemoteFX which runs on Windows Server 2008 R2. This will allow high-quality video and 3D applications to be viewed in a remote desktop session. A big change in virtual and remote computing.

The second feature updates HyperV in Windows Server 2008 R2 with “Dynamic Memory.” This allows a dynamic memory allocation to a virtual machine based on its actual resource needs.

Keep an eye on your Windows Update to get the download and check the Windows Server Division blog for all the techie details.

via Neowin.net

Day 19 of the 28 Days of Diversity series brings us another awesome technology guru. He has decided to strike out on his own and build the company he’s always wanted to work for. His company, Marveloper, straddles the worlds of Game Development and Social Media Marketing.

My passion of technology helped me at my job at Dell. This is a love my father has put into my heart when he brought home a Tandy TRS-80… yes I am that old.

Read more about Donald Harris and his thoughts on closing the digital divide at SocialWayne.com.

We also need to realize that the digital divide is a multi-faceted challenge and there isn’t necessarily a “one size fits all” solution. Economics and infrastructure are key barriers but social, cultural and political factors come into play as well. So the digital divide has different implications in each community.

Rumors are flying as many speculate the imminent refresh of the Macbook Pro lineup this week. AppleInsider reports that some stores to expect ‘sealed packages’ early this week.

More specifically, the Mac maker this weekend began informing some of its larger European resellers that they could expect delivery of sealed product pallets to their brick-and-mortar stores as early as Monday, which coincides with one of ten federal holidays (President’s Day) in the United States.

As usual, Apple is being super-secretive and has given strict warnings to retailers against basically opening, touching, or breathing on or near these shipments until an official announcement is made. A person familiar with the situation says that Apple is being vocal about yanking reseller licenses from any dealer who gets too nosy ahead of the official announcement.

Also of note is the 3-5 business day delay on shipments for Macbook Pros in the US, with Europeans waiting even longer.

Apple’s major European distributors ran out MacBook Pros near the top of the month, regional resellers have not been able to place new orders for the notebooks for over two weeks, and Apple has not shipped a single unit of its own to the channel during the same period of time.

via Apple Insider, GigaOM

We’ve talked about Near Field Communication (NFC) a number of times. Visa and Bank of America began experimenting with contactless payments last year. There was talk of an Apple mobile payment network tied to iTunes. More recently, RIM announced their support for NFC in future handsets.

“As we have seen, the adoption of different approaches to NFC will only serve to fragment the market,” continued Bernabè. “By uniting around a single standardised approach to mobile NFC and by collaborating across the entire ecosystem, our industry will continue to develop the compelling services that customers demand.”

This is about much more than paying for your latte with a tap of your phone or checking into a Foursquare venue without launching the app. NFC is gaining momentum fast. According to Frost & Sullivan, the total payment value for NFC globally will reach more than €110 billion in 2015. Starting with your SIM card as the secure element to provide authentication, security, and portability the GSMA will develop the necessary certification and testing standards for global interoperability of NFC services.

“As we have seen, the adoption of different approaches to NFC will only serve to fragment the market,” continued Bernabè. “By uniting around a single standardised approach to mobile NFC and by collaborating across the entire ecosystem, our industry will continue to develop the compelling services that customers demand.”

via TNW, GSMWorld

J.C. Penney Gets Google Slapped for Spammy SEO Tactics

J.C. Penney had the search game on lock. They dominated a massive amount of relevant keywords and even took over top positions from brands like Samsonite luggage. How did they do it? They cheated. Doug Pierce of Blue Fountain Media, an expert in online search, had this to say:

“Actually, it’s the most ambitious attempt I’ve ever heard of,” he said. “This whole thing just blew me away. Especially for such a major brand. You’d think they would have people around them that would know better.”

They definitely should have known better and their response once they got caught is nothing short of ridiculous. A spokeswoman for J. C. Penney, Darcie Brossart, says they didn’t do it and seem to put the blame entirely on the shoulders of their SEO firm SearchDex.

“J. C. Penney did not authorize, and we were not involved with or aware of, the posting of the links that you sent to us, as it is against our natural search policies,” Ms. Brossart wrote in an e-mail. She added, “We are working to have the links taken down.”

via NY Times

Block Sites from Google Search Results

Google is serious about cleaning up their search results and getting rid of all these content farms. Their most recent move involved an extension for the Chrome web browser that lets you remove any site from your search results.

We’ve been exploring different algorithms to detect content farms, which are sites with shallow or low-quality content. One of the signals we’re exploring is explicit feedback from users. To that end, today we’re launching an early, experimental Chrome extension so people can block sites from their web search results. If installed, the extension also sends blocked site information to Google, and we will study the resulting feedback and explore using it as a potential ranking signal for our search results.

I won’t name names, but I’m sure there are a few sites that keep popping up at the top of your search results that have no value whatsoever. Now, with a single click of your mouse, you can get rid of those spammy domains forever and help Google zero in on the most troublesome. Download the extension and start blocking sites now.

via Official Google Blog

Apple Subscription Service Doesn’t Sit Well with Rhapsody

Apple’s new digital subscription service may be great for magazines and newspapers who really have no other method for distribution or gaining customers, but the 30% cut that Apple wants to take isn’t going to work out so well for other types of subscription services. Namely stuff like Hulu, Netflix, and Rhapsody. Netflix saw a dip in their stock after the announcement while Rhapsody has issued a powerful statement against this move by Apple.

Our philosophy is simple too – an Apple-imposed arrangement that requires us to pay 30 percent of our revenue to Apple, in addition to content fees that we pay to the music labels, publishers and artists, is economically untenable. The bottom line is we would not be able to offer our service through the iTunes store if subjected to Apple’s 30 percent monthly fee vs. a typical 2.5 percent credit card fee.

On the heels of Apple’s announcement, Google launched it’s own payment system, One Pass, that enables publishers to set the terms for access to their digital content. Users can sign up for a subscription and view the content on any of their devices. It lets you set up just about any type of subscription and even offers payments within mobile apps. For those railing against Apple’s policies, Google One Pass could be the solution.

via Engadget, Official Google Blog

Obama Has Dinner With Steven Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Eric Schmidt

We reported on this dinner yesterday, but now there are photos. You can see Obama flanked by Apple CEO Steve Jobs on one side and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg on the other. It looks like Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer wasn’t invited, but that could be because he already met with Obama earlier this year. Of course, The Oatmeal has a hilarious take on why Ballmer wasn’t present. Steve Jobs, on medical leave and rumored to be in treatment for cancer relapse appears in one photo. It’s only the back of his head and his hand, so it’s hard to tell if he’s looking well or not.

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You can keep an eye on The Whitehouse photo stream on Flickr for more pics. Search Engine Land has an extremely detailed breakdown of who attended, where they sat, and why they may have been there.

via The Next Web

It seems that Zynga is now valued at a whopping $10 billion while in the process of securing $500 million in funding. AllThingsD reports that the maker of Cityville is involved in securing funding and recourse factoring from Morgan Stanley, Fidelity Investments, T. Rowe Price, and previous investor Kleiner Perkins.

According to Business Insider, this valuation means Zynga is worth more than twice what Twitter is and, more importantly, worth $4 billion more than gaming giant Electronic Arts. Zynga did not respond to requests for comment, but “unnamed sources” have also been cited by NYT confirming the $500 million and $10 billion valuation. These same sources also say that Zynga will be preparing for an IPO next year.

Zynga has been wildly successful in the social gaming sphere. They boast over 215 million active users playing their games each month. Last month, CityVille reached over 100 million active users, beating FarmVille which hovered around 57 million users at the time. Zynga has also joined forces with Google, helped launch the $250 Million sFund with Kleiner Perkins, collaborated on beats with Dr. Dre, and acquired the Flock social web browser.

via CNet