iPhone Apps Put User Privacy at Risk
Using a custom software program called Taintdroid, researchers at Duke, Penn State, and Intel Labs found Android apps sharing private user data without explicit authorization. According to research from Bucknell University, it seems that iPhone owners have the same problem. A majority of iOS apps transmit user data back to their own servers. While most of this information isn’t useful by itself, it’s simple for a hacker to put the pieces together.
“For example, Amazon’s application communicates the logged-in user’s real name in plain text, along with the UDID, permitting both Amazon.com and network eavesdroppers to easily match a phone’s UDID with the name of the phone’s owner. The CBS News application transmits both the UDID and the iPhone device’s user-assigned name, which frequently contains the owner’s real name.”
Verizon Makes it Rain to The Tune of 90 Million
For some reason, Verizon charged about 15 million of its cellular customers for data plans when they hadn’t even signed up for Internet use. Under pressure from the FCC, Verizon has decided to refund this 15 million customers an amount totaling around 90 million. To each customer, this means a credit between $2 and $6. Former customers will get the credit as a check. Does Starbucks take checks?
As we reviewed customer accounts, we discovered that over the past several years approximately 15 million customers who did not have data plans were billed for data sessions on their phones that they did not initiate. These customers would normally have been billed at the standard rate of $1.99 per megabyte for any data they chose to access from their phones. The majority of the data sessions involved minor data exchanges caused by software built into their phones; others involved accessing the web, which should not have incurred charges. We have addressed these issues to avoid unintended data charges in the future.
via Engadget
The End of a 12second Era
When 12seconds first came on the scene, most people couldn’t figure out just what you’d do with it. Why would you want to make a 12second video? A group of passionate users took to the daily challenges and 12seconds grew in popularity, adding features along the way. They “launched an innovative micro-vlogging system, built crazy mobile apps, created revenue with legit sponsors, we were nominated for awards and had the best users on the Internet – our beloved 12ers.” They even got Bill Cosby on board. Still, the team feels that “12seconds is in its twilight” and ” it’s time to call it. It is time to end 12seconds.”
Nearly 3 years ago, David Beach and I decided to grab a beer at a local pub and talk about startup ideas. I told him a dumb idea and he told me about one called 10seconds. I said, “we should do that one.” He said, “okay.” And that was it. That is until we figured out that 10seconds.tv was already taken. 12seconds sounded pretty good to us too.
We set out on a journey that would take on a wild ride of ups and downs. We experienced birth, death and (Beach) even battled cancer.
Today we are announcing the end of 12seconds.
Check out the Thank You messages, posted 12seconds style, from Jacob and Beach. I guess I’ll have to find another place to post vids of Kanye tweets.
via 12seconds
Google TV Coming Soon
Five months ago, Google announced Google TV at Google I/O. To refresh your memory: “it’s a platform that combines your current TV programming and the open web into a single, seamless entertainment experience.” We talked about how Google TV could change the game for black media. Since then, we’ve seen the launch of the Apple TV, which is a similar offering. The primary difference being the Apple TV is a set-top box, while Google TV is more focused on becoming a physical part of your TV.
Now, we find that Google has been making some strategic partnerships to make sure your Google TV is packed with content.
- Turner Broadcasting has been hard at work optimizing some of their most popular websites for viewing on Google TV, including TBS, TNT, CNN, Cartoon Network and Adult Swim, available anytime through Google TV.
- NBC Universal has collaborated with Google TV to bring CNBC Real-Time, an application that allows you to track your favorite stocks and access news feeds while enjoying the best financial news from CNBC directly on the TV screen.
- HBO will bring access to hundreds of hours of programming to Google TV with HBO GO. Authenticated subscribers will soon be able to access all of their favorite HBO content on-demand in an enhanced website for Google TV.
- NBA has built NBA Game Time, an application that lets you follow game scores in real-time and catch up on the latest highlights from your favorite team in HD.
They are also working with the likes of Amazon Video on Demand, Netflix, The New York Times, USA Today, Vevo, Pandora, Napster, Twitter, and Blip.tv. Most online video sites and services aimed at revolutionizing your television experience have one common failing: lack of the content you want to watch. It seems that Google is doing everything they can to avoid this, including some slick hardware from Logitech and Sony.
Still, there are some who don’t see what’s so great about Google TV. For most tech types, this might be common. For the average person, they don’t know anything about torrents and would rather shove pins into their eyeballs than watch movies on their computer or smartphone.
via Logitech, CrunchGear, Google TV Blog, Sony Insider