Category: Tech

Offisync is currently the top rated application in the Google Apps Marketplace. 216 users have taken a second to say how much they like it. This is because Offisync let’s you do what may seem impossible at first: integrate Microsoft Office on your desktop with Google Docs in the cloud. Many users, forced to choose between the desktop and the cloud, could suddenly breathe a sigh of relief. Offisync gives you the best of both worlds.

Installation

Offisync was actually around before the Google Apps Marketplace even existed. Installation is a two step process depending on how you plan to use it. For users who just want to connect their desktop Office suite with their standard Google account, simply download the Offisync software and follow the installation instructions.

If you want to use Offisync with your custom domain on your Google Apps account, you will also need to install Offisync from the Google Apps Marketplace. It’s a quick process to install and activate it, only taking a few clicks of your mouse. After that, all users on your domain will have access to use it.

What To Do With It

Now that you’ve got everything installed, putting it to good use is easy. When you start up Office, you will find that you have a new Offisync toolbar (or menu, depending on your version of Office). Your first step will be to add your Google account. You can do so by navigating to the Offisync toolbar and choosing Settings. In the Accounts dialog, click Add and enter your Google email address and password. If you’re using Google Apps, be sure to enter the correct email address at your domain.

Now, you will have full access to your Google Docs folders. Simply choose Open on the Offisync toolbar. Perform web and image searches from the toolbar and insert the resulting content directly into your document. As you edit your documents locally, just be sure to use the Offisync Open/Save options to stay in sync with the cloud.

Other Features

If you opt for a premium account ($12 per year or a one-time payment of $30), you will have access to a few additional features:

• Edit your files stored on Google Sites.
• Co-authoring for your documents – This lets you see, in real-time, changes made by those you have shared the document with.
• Save your documents in native Office format – Offisync usually converts your document to Google Docs format in order to store it, but this feature lets you store your document in Google Docs without converting and without losing any important formatting.

Offisync should help ease the transition from Google Docs if you plan to switch to the new Office 2010. If you just like the feel of editing documents locally, but being able to access them from anywhere, this also works. Regardless of the situation, Offisync may be just what you need to make dealing with documents easier.

Do you use Offisync yet?

YouTube Turns Five

The most popular video sharing site on the Internet turned five this week. They have a channel dedicated to the event where users can submit videos detailing how YouTube has affected their lives. YouTube receives over two billion views each day. According to Google, this is almost double the combined prime-time viewing audience for all 3 major television networks. The bulk of their traffic comes from outside of the US, though. YouTube also recently launched a localized South African version of the site.

Springpad Launches for Android

Springpad (getting started guide) has released an Android app, which only makes it more viable as an Evernote competitor. Just as the web interface does, the mobile application adds extra data to whatever you store. This helps to easily create a useful database of stuff with less manual labor on your part. You can also share your items across the social web.

TweetDeck Web Interface

At the Google I/O conference, attendees got a glimpse of an HTML5 interface for TweetDeck, the popular Twitter client. If you were to ask people why they don’t use TweetDeck, one of the primary answers will be that it’s an Adobe Air application. Many users just don’t want that type of overhead. An HTML5 interface for TweetDeck is currently under development and, by the time is actually released, should include support for Google Buzz. The desktop version recently added Buzz support.

Extension.fm Gets Funding and Goes Public

Audio discovery service Extension.fm is an extension for Google Chrome that collects audio streams as you browse the web. You can listen to these as you browse or access them later. It’s pretty different from other services like Pandora and Last.fm in that you probably won’t end up with anything close to a cohesive mix centered around a single artist or band. It provides for a very interesting experience which is now open for all to try.

Twitter Makes Tweetie Free and Dominates App Store

Twitter seems to have accomplished exactly what they set out to do in their purchase of the Tweetie app on the iPhone. A simple change in name from Tweetie to Twitter and the app now dominates the App store. The fact that it dropped in price from $2.99 to free probably helped as well. Most importantly, this change should help Twitter better control the experience for new users.

There were a lot of cool new technologies and services launched at Google I/O. As always, Google is making big moves in many different directions. There is now no denying that Google and Apple are in direct competition in multiple areas. Here are a few announcements that stood out.

WebM

WebM is an alternative video format to the current H.264 being used for many HTML5 applications. The problem with H.264 is that they will start charging a licensing fee for it’s use in 2015. This has made some uneasy about devoting too much energy to the H.264 format and the proposed HTML5 standard as it relates to video. Licensing fees could be too much for your average developer or startup. WebM provides a free and open, high quality choice for those looking to get into the HTML5 game with no danger of fees in the future.

Google TV

While sites like Hulu and YouTube are challenging traditional television in terms of viewers, there still seems to be something missing in the experience. Many of your shows aren’t available, for one. Also, the experience of finding and watching videos on the web far exceeds that of the interface from your standard TV. With that in mind, Google has developed Google TV, which aims to combine your standard television experience with the power of the web. They have already partnered with sites like Jinni.com and Rovi and developers can start optimizing their sites for Google TV right now. It remains to be seen exactly how things will pan out, but we can already see that this could be a huge game changer for black media.

App Engine for Business

App Engine is the platform that has allowed countless developers to create web applications without the need to worry about scalability or storage, probably the most boring parts of the process. Creativity in development and design can flourish when the back-end stuff is being taken care of. App Engine for Business takes this idea to the next level, allowing enterprise-level development on the same platform as Google itself uses. Listening to feedback from enterprise customers, Google has added the necessary features at a reasonable cost of $8 per user.

Android Froyo

Probably one of the most anticipated segments, the features announce for Android 2.2 (codename “Froyo” after frozen yogurt) didn’t disappoint. One of the most notable new features in the ability to not only tether your Windows or Linux computer, gaining access to the net via your 3G phone connection, but you can also use that connection to create a mobile hotspot for up to 8 devices. As part of this announcement, it seems that Google has quietly launched a competitor to iTunes that seems to do all the things you wish iTunes would. For more details, visit the Android Developers blog.

Other Announcements

Google has finally launched an API for Buzz, which has already been integrated into clients like Tweetdeck and Seesmic. For me, the fact that Buzz is locked away inside my Gmail has been a huge deterrent to actually using it, so this may be a huge step forward for Buzz. Google Latitude has also got a new API, which could definitely cause some disruption among location-based services. Google Storage for developers is basically competition for Amazon S3 and may succeed in stealing away some Amazon S3 customers who want to consolidate and simplify operations.

For more details and videos, visit the Google Code Blog.

Microsoft Security Essentials, while not some flashy new piece of software, is probably one of the most overlooked. Even some who have heard of it have yet to actually download and install it. Being more of a tech person, I always find it surprising how vulnerable many people are when it comes to their computer’s security, especially when Microsoft is offering most of what they need completely free.

Protection from viruses, malware, and spyware is a group effort. While you may have your computer secured, people you contact or collaborate with may not. This is how these malicious programs are able to thrive. Conversely, if you are the one who doesn’t have the proper protection, you are not just putting yourself at risk, but everyone that you deal with. This includes friends, family, and even your customers and fans.

That being said, it’s of utmost importance to make sure you are not part of the problem. While many new computers come with some type of antivirus and/or spyware protection installed, these are usually trial versions and chances are yours has already expired. Microsoft Security Essentials is a free download. You don’t need any technical knowledge to get going. It provides multiple levels of protection and doesn’t overwhelm your computer.

What MSE really offers is real-time protection from malicious activity on your computer. This means that it keeps you safe from viruses, spyware, and other malicious software all the time. While it does run regular scans, it also keeps an eye on your computer and attempts to block any suspicious activity the moment that it happens.

Many programs aim to do this, but Microsoft Security Essentials does it well. Not only that, but it stays quietly in the background until you need it rather than randomly bogging down your system. While some MS software in the past has been a bit resource intensive, MSE is surprisingly efficient. It is kept up-to-date with the latest security information and software updates. Once installed, any user can tell if there is a problem: when you’re green, you’re good.

Once you download and install Microsoft Security Essentials, your work is pretty much done. It will keep itself updated and run scheduled scans without your interference. Don’t end up looking bad and infecting your customers. Take the easy way out.

Are you using MSE yet?

Reinforcing the old saying that content is king, Yahoo has decided to purchase Associated Content. This move puts a network of over 380,000 freelance content creators at their disposal. According to Yahoo, Associated Content boasts 16 million unique visitors each month. AC’s editorial staff picks through 50,000 articles, images, and audio and video clips every month. Yahoo will be able to leverage this never ending flow of original content to drive traffic to it’s search engine and web properties. This traffic should help to boost ad revenue.

“Together, we’ll create more content around what we know our users care about, and open up new and creative avenues for advertisers to engage with consumers across our network,” said Yahoo CEO Carol Bartz in a statement on Tuesday. – via BusinessWeek

The specific terms of the deal have not been disclosed at this time, but sources say Yahoo shelled out around $90 million. The deal should be finalized by the third quarter of this year. While this seems like a win for Yahoo as it competes with it’s long time rival AOL, many feel this may have been a bad decision. Associated Content does generate a lot of content, but some think this is at the expense of quality.

It looks like Carol Bartz has decided that the way for Yahoo to survive is to add to the proliferation of content that is being produced for the sole purpose of garnering search traffic. That ‘content’ is often just glorified keyword wrappers that do little to actually help a reader but plenty to sucker them into an advertising trap. via Marketing Pilgrim

As TechCrunch points out, many are also scratching their heads because this move seems to go against their overall strategy and brand image. Many trust Yahoo for the quality of their content, but AC doesn’t operate within the same arena. Being open to any content creator, you will inevitably come across things that just don’t make the grade.

We will have to wait and see exactly how Yahoo plans to take advantage of this acquisition. Yahoo has already planned to open up the site internationally as it is US-only at the moment. It’s possible they have other tricks up their sleeves that may serve to increase the quality of content available. They could also be planning to just leverage the community of content creators in some way. What better type of community to have than one already focused on generating content?

Microsoft will be launching the next generation of Hotmail or possibly of web mail in general. The new version is being called Hotmail Wave 4 and it will pack a feature set very similar to what Gmail currently offers. In some cases, it will take things to the next level. Boring email attachment and links are automatically displayed as previews. Threaded conversations, ridiculous amounts of cloud storage, and advanced search will all make an appearance.

Hotmail Wave 4 helps you work smarter and be more productive. You can do more with your email without ever leaving your inbox. If someone sends you a bunch of photo attachments, you can view them as a photo gallery rather than downloading them all or opening too many browser tabs. The same goes for documents and presentations. Taking things a step further, even links to photos and videos are handled intelligently, embedding the content directly in the email. If you receive a document that requires editing, you can do so right inside of Hotmail and send it back as a reply. No need to even download the document locally.

Hotmail is the #1 web mail client worldwide and is only second to Yahoo in the US. Gmail has been running a close 3rd for a while now. While Hotmail Wave 4 is stomping on Gmail’s toes by adding tagging, smart filtering, and conversation views (rather than simple chronological order), it is completely destroying Gmail as far as handling attachments.

• Gmail has a maximum size of 25MB for attachments. Hotmail is giving you 50MB per attachment.
• Hotmail will let you attach 10GB of data to a single email. Not only is this a ridiculous amount of data to be able to send, but it’s 400 times what Gmail will let you do. This will let you send just about anything you want via email: entire photo albums, a few mixtapes, full-length movies, etc.
• Instead of downloading documents, editing them, and then sending back as an attachment in your reply, just edit the document in Hotmail as your reply in one step.

Windows Live Skydrive and Silverlight are the technologies behind the scenes that makes this all look like magic. Email has been around forever, but hasn’t really changed much. Gmail pushed the boundaries, but is still just scratching the surface. The new Hotmail will allow you to do those things you’ve always wished your email did.

I just wonder how long it will take Gmail to notice they are being left behind. It will also be interesting to see how many Gmail users jump ship and how many dormant Hotmail accounts get put back on active duty. Look for the new Hotmail this summer.

Threadbox is a service that claims to help workgroups “increase productivity by harnessing conversations, files, dates, and opinions.” Most of our daily communications and collaborations go through email and many existing solutions for collaboration don’t seem to take this into account, sometimes making them difficult to learn and adapt to.

The real time discussion tracking, file sharing, schedule coordinating, project managing, decision making tool that works right alongside email – and just might replace it.

It Starts With a Thread

A thread is simply a collection of all the items related to a discussion within Threadbox. They are in essence the same as a thread on any other communications platform, except for including features like file attachments, to-do lists, conference calls, events, and group opinions.

Anyone can start a thread and then invite others to it via email. Anyone on the thread can post messages and other items. A unique posting email and email notifications for new items in the thread make it easy to add content and integrate Threadbox with your existing email workflow. The posting address for the thread can be customized so that your participants can easily remember it.

Threadbox takes a page from the Posterous book, allowing you to start a thread simply by emailing start@threadbox.com in addition to starting a thread from the website. In either case, you get a link to your shiny new thread and the option to add participants. While Threadbox can be tightly integrated with your email, you still have the option to work from the web inbox and forego emails entirely.

Privacy

Threadbox threads work just like mailing lists. If you have been invited, you can see what is being posted. Only participants of the thread can see the content, but this does not prevent this content from leaking out of the system. This isn’t a major concern for most individuals and organizations, but is worth noting given current privacy concerns around Facebook, Twitter, and Buzz. In short, Threadbox is probably no more insecure than the email you would otherwise be using anyway.

Other Features

Threadbox keeps to it’s word in providing a simple interface for complex communications. Other services do have a similar layout, but Threadbox has done a good job of keeping the focus on the threads in their user interface and documentation. Once you’ve got the basics of creating and interacting with a thread, the rest flows as naturally as posting a status update.

Threadbox is free to use with up to 1GB of storage. For some organizations, you may want to investigate Threadbox PRO for 20GB of storage, enhanced security, data exporting, custom URL, and conference call recording.

Threadbox promises more features in the future, like SMS and IM notifications. Definitely an awesome tool for independent professionals and organizations with clients and partners to collaborate with.

What do you think about Threadbox?

YouTube currently get about 2 billion views per day, 70% of those views are from outside of the United States. It only makes sense for them to step into those locations that are feeding the site and set up locally. This new setup will give South African users more opportunity to increase exposure.

“There’s something on YouTube for everyone, from amateur to professional content, the unexpected to the emotionally affecting, the educational to the entertaining. We’re very excited to bring a local version of YouTube to South Africa and we look forward to continuing to improve the YouTube experience for our South African users.” -Chad Hurley, YouTube Co-Founder

South African video blogger KhayaV has been using YouTube since 2006, and was even able to buy Youtube likes since 2009. He says, “YouTube is a fascinating platform where people from different cultures and countries all over the world are active participants in a global conversation. By giving people the power to broadcast themselves, YouTube helps increase our understanding of each other, one clip at a time.”

YouTube has already secured partnership agreements with a number of South African media companies including the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and e.tv. These partners will attempt to leverage their channels on the site, possibly expanding their offerings to cover a variety of news, sport, soaps, dramas and comedies.

One major focus is to make sure the site and the videos load and play quickly for all visitors. This includes places where bandwidth may be scarce. To this end, users have the option to view YouTube using the beta interface. This cuts things down to a bare minimum to deliver videos in as small a number of bytes as possible. You can opt-in and try out Feather to see how it works.

Grind.com is a new social network aimed at connecting you with the types of people who will aid your success. The site begs the question, What’s YOUR grind? Network with a vibrant community of urban professionals who work hard, play hard, and are always on their hustle. Grind opens up this new community of movers and shakers to the public today.

Grind was founded by Eric Walden, a California data professional. The name was chosen because of the unique imagery that it conjures up, which goes along with the direction of the site.

“I like the image that comes to mind with the word grind,” said Walden. “Like gears grinding in an automobile to propel the vehicle forward, being on grind means to always be hustling, or otherwise engaged in money-making activities.”

For many users, Grind will be a much-needed addition to the social networking landscape. Privacy is being considered from the door, taking a subscription-based approach to sharing content. Only the people you authorize can view your Shouts.

“Grind.com keeps profiles and search options private enough that the only people who can find you are the ones actually looking for users in their neighborhood networks,” said Walden. “Even with a completely public profile, Grind users won’t be bothered with unsolicited comments or messages.”

Join the community via a standard sign up process, or sign in directly with Facebook, Twitter, Windows Live, and Ning. Share your grind via simple status updates known as “Shouts.” You can also attach your location, include images, links, and call out users directly via the @ symbol.

Not forgetting about the growing mobile market, Grind was created to support mobile platforms including Java, Blackberry, and the iPhone. Mobile features include:

• Browse through statuses and attachments
• Share photos taken with your phone’s camera (not supported on some phones)
• Search through members and statuses
• Link to Twitter
• Link to Facebook
• Find places of interest around you

While many social networking services are simply focused on connecting and communicating with people, Grind.com is focused on getting you in touch with the right people. It currently packs just the right set of features that make testing it out worth the effort, allowing you to forward updates to other networks and keeping the privacy question simple.

So, what’s your Grind?

Qhub Gets Badges

Remember Qhub? It’s the service that lets you create your very own Q&A website. Q&A is hot right now for some reason. Apparently, people like asking questions. With the plethora of related services that have popped up recently, Qhub has decided to take a page from Foursquare’s playbook and add badges. It’s pretty simple: you earn badges for being a useful community member. Don’t act like you don’t suddenly have an urge to create or join a Qhub so you can earn badges.

Echo Gains High Profile Customers

Echo, realtime reactions engine formerly known as JS-Kit, bagged a few more customers today. The Washington Post, Newsweek, Slate, Time, Forbes, AMC, Morningstar and Sports Illustrated all signed up. Echo says that they are pushing 400 million realtime streams, not even including these new customers. Looks like Echo is making big moves and you can join the party for as little as $99/year, which is probably why your average blogger sticks with Disqus.

Diaspora Raises Over $115,000

In response to the shenanigans going on with Facebook recently, many have called for a completely private alternative. Yes, people are looking for a private social network to replace Facebook. They want an open and transparent closed and private social network. I could make puns on this all day, but money talks and four New York University students have raised $115,000 for their Diaspora project. The concern here is that Diaspora is not an original idea and definitely not the only game in town. As a matter of fact, OneSocialWeb and others are much farther ahead. The real question is, who is going to bother installing and running these networks? Are you looking to run your own Facebook?

Secret Telecom Anti-Net Neutrality Plan a Fake

While many are still unclear as to exactly what this net neutrality thing is all about, others are pushing relentlessly for one side or the other. The Center for American Progress dropped a bombshell on their Think Progress blog which detailed the telco’s secret plans for fighting net neutrality. The problem is that the PowerPoint document and the entire Net Brutality campaign was created by a group of students for a competition, not by the telecom companies. The one American member of the six-person team says they had no contact with and received no assistance from any telecom companies.

Voiceroute Pte Ltd, the folks behind Socialwok, have launched Socialwok Outlook Social Connector for Office 2010, 2007, and 2003 today. Socialwok is the service which allows you to easily connect and collaborate with your co-workers. Use your existing email address to to create a private social network to share ideas, emails, files, documents, and other rich media using status updates.

“Socialwok is committed to bringing the power of social networking technologies like passive sharing to small and medium-size businesses (SMBs). There are many SMBs on the Microsoft Office platform already using Microsoft Outlook for everyday messaging. As such, it is a logical choice for us to integrate with Microsoft Outlook 2010 especially since this version of Outlook includes native support for social networking. We are excited about bringing business social sharing and collaboration to Outlook”, says Ming Yong, Socialwok CEO.

This is a very exciting announcement for Socialwok as it only marks the beginning of a much greater strategy. According to Ming, Microsoft will soon become the dominant player as far as cloud-based office productivity applications goes. This is very likely since Microsoft already has a stronghold in the desktop arena and is including free cloud services with it’s latest Office 2010 release. “By working closely with Microsoft, my company aims to realize our vision of being the largest business social collaboration network for cloud based office productivity in the world.”, says Ming Yong, Socialwok CEO.

“Using Microsoft’s suite of developer tools like Microsoft Visual Studio and Outlook Social Connector, software vendors like Voiceroute are helping us build a rich ecosystem of third-party applications that work seamlessly with Office 2010. Office Web Apps is a key platform for taking the work done on Office by 500 million around the world into the cloud. Engaging and encouraging vendors like Voiceroute to develop cloud-based social collaboration services that integrate with Office 2010 is an excellent demonstration of our continued commitment to bring the benefits of cloud computing to the masses across the browser, the phone or the desktop.” – Haresh Khoobchandani, Senior Director, Business Marketing Organization for Microsoft Singapore

Not only is this a big step for Socialwok, but it seems that Microsoft has definitely realized the social web is important for their success. Not only that, but they see the power of leveraging a “rich ecosystem of third-party applications.” Third-party developers have been a driving force behind the social web. This is especially true for Twitter. In addition to Apple’s App Store, there is the Google Apps Marketplace, Foursquare’s new marketplace, and many others.

In a somewhat disturbing victory for the RIAA, a federal court has found Limewire responsible for copyright infringement on their network. This could be bad business for file-sharing as we know it.

The Lime Group, parent company of Lime Wire, lost the suit against the music industry, who was granted summary judgement by U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood. They were also found to have engaged in unfair competition, and induced copyright infringement.

“The evidence demonstrates that [Lime Wire] optimized LimeWire’s features to ensure that users can download digital recordings, the majority of which are protected by copyright,” Wood said in her 59-page decision. “And that [Lime Wire] assisted users in committing infringement.”

There may be details that have not come out at this time, but Limewire is still a piece of software at it’s core. It’s unclear exactly how educated Woods may be on the technology, but this is a very broad brush to paint with. The wording here seems akin to charging a gun maker with a murder committed by one of it’s customers. You may as well also charge Google for assisting in locating torrents and CNET for allowing Limewire to be downloaded in the first place.

Limewire is an insanely popular file-sharing service, having been downloaded over 200 million times according to CNET’s Download.com. 58 percent of people who say they downloaded music from a file-sharing service did so using LImewire. They are the primary choice for the average person as the software covers all the bases without being too technical.

The most dangerous part of this decision is that the court holds founder Mark Gorton personally responsible for the copyright violations. This could scare away other companies and individuals from innovating in the file-sharing or music space at all. The RIAA says they are entitled to the maximum judgement, which would be $150,000 for each registered work downloaded. Assuming only 1000 songs were ever downloaded from Limewire, which is a ridiculously small estimate, that’s already $150 million owed.

We can only hope that this is not the end of the story. While protecting copyrighted works is of utmost importance, going after software that could be used to violate copyrights is not the solution. Limewire looks forward to a status conference with Judge Wood on June 1st regarding the judgement.

It’s been a pretty basic disagreement that we all thought would be over quickly. Apple decided not to include Flash on the iPad. That seems to be the event that sparked all this. Steve Jobs later wrote a detailed letter as to exactly why Flash was left out in the cold. Now, it seems Adobe feels the need to fire back. They have been running huge ads in support of Flash on quite a number of websites today. They begin with a big “We [heart] Apple” banner and end with an incendiary remark about your freedom being taken away:

“What we don’t love is anybody taking away your freedom to choose what you create, how you create it, and what you experience on the web.”

This new ad campaign comes in concert with a new Freedom of Choice channel on Adobe’s website. I understand what Adobe is trying to say here, but I’m just having a hard time buying into it. Adobe hasn’t really been that interested in freedom until they got locked out of Apple. Flash, a very important part of the web as we know it, is also the bane of many users and developers alike.

While Jobs’s Thoughts On Flash aims to explain why Flash is a problem in it’s current state, Adobe’s new ad campaign and website barely get to the primary issues. Even the included open letter to Apple does not address the main points. It all reads like ad copy. Adobe simply seems to be trying to sell us Flash with ideals of freedom on the web with no real reasons as to why Flash is needed.

We believe that consumers should be able to freely access their favorite content and applications, regardless of what computer they have, what browser they like, or what device suits their needs. No company — no matter how big or how creative — should dictate what you can create, how you create it, or what you can experience on the web.

When markets are open, anyone with a great idea has a chance to drive innovation and find new customers. Adobe’s business philosophy is based on a premise that, in an open market, the best products will win in the end — and the best way to compete is to create the best technology and innovate faster than your competitors.

The emphasis here is mine, but exactly highlights the problem many have with Flash. If they want anyone to jump on the Flash bandwagon and support their cause, they need to follow their own advice. We need to see Flash running quickly and efficiently in the mobile arena. If it can’t really do so as it is on full-fledged computers, I’m not sure that’s even possible.

via All Things Digital

Facebook has finally decided to directly address the privacy concerns of the media, it’s users, and it’s ex-users. The meeting is scheduled for 4pm today, May 13th. While Facebook has attempted to downplay the outrage from users, as it has done with previous changes in the past, this latest situation is just too much too ignore. According to sources inside the company, the meeting is to discuss and possibly change the companies privacy strategy.

Over the many redesigns, feature additions, and privacy changes that have come across just recently, Facebook has been able to pretty much ignore user complaints. While everyone would complain about the changes, nobody ever did anything about it beyond creating a Facebook group or blogging about it. Now, prominent tech figures and many previous fans have actually closed their accounts due to Facebook’s latest changes.

First, they changed the language on the site to increase engagement round fan pages and groups. This ensured users would end up associating themselves with things unintentionally. The next step was launching the Graph API and implementing Instant Personalization. This made it simple for publishers to implement a Like button on their sites and associate visitors with their content. It also made your personal info freely available to a few 3rd party sites with plans to expand that number in the future.

If this were not enough of a shake up, we then saw a security hole where any of your friends could get a glimpse of your chat history and pending friend requests. Shortly after that, we find out that Yelp, one of the chosen 3rd parties given access to your personal data via Instant Personalization, had a security hole that allowed any third party to get access to all of your Facebook data without you ever visiting Yelp or doing anything out of the ordinary. You didn’t even need to be logged into Facebook.

It’s easy to see how many users are outraged and turned off by the social networking giant. Many so much so that they’ve totally given up and deleted their accounts. One of the primary issues with the changes Facebook makes is that they are all opt-out instead of opt-in. This means you are automatically tossed into the fire and are expected to a) know what has happened and b) know how to opt-out. Most Facebook users haven’t a clue about this stuff and others even doubt if this opt-out policy is even legal.

It’s debatable whether Facebook will be able to turn this thing around or even if they are looking to do so. While they have lost a few users, they are still #1 and this may just be a play to simply cool things down a bit.

via Facebook Calls All Hands Meeting On Privacy

HTC Corporation has taken legal action against Apple Inc., filing a complaint with the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) to halt the sale and importation of the iPhone, iPad and iPod in the United States. This is coming on the heels of Microsoft going after most of the mobile industry by going after Android OS. Of course, HTC is protected through a deal which pays Microsoft royalties for using Android. Wrap your head around that one. The announcement from HTC reads very similar to the one issued by Microsoft just a short while ago:

As the innovator of the original Windows Mobile PocketPC Phone Edition in 2002 and the first Android smartphone in 2008, HTC believes the industry should be driven by healthy competition and innovation that offer consumers the best, most accessible mobile experiences possible,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of North America, HTC Corporation. “We are taking this action against Apple to protect our intellectual property, our industry partners, and most importantly our customers that use HTC phones.”

We also have to remember the fact that Apple originally filed suit against HTC earlier this month, alleging infringement on some 20 patents. HTC may get some support in that suit from Microsoft because of their close ties, though. Nokia has also filed a similar suit against Apple, siting that Apple has violated 10 of its patents.

It seems like these companies have had some pent up frustrations over the years. Its nothing new that these mobile technologies share similar features, but it’s not clear exactly what is causing this recent burst of hostility and legal action. This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as lawsuits in the mobile arena go. The connections between hardware manufacturers, software developers, carriers, and other players are pretty confusing to say the least and it seems that something has disturbed the fragile ecosystem.

As for HTC, the young company say its committed to innovation. The currently offer 12 different handsets among carriers in the United States and plan to continue expanding and diversifying their portfolio. No one can deny that HTC is a major player in the game and makes some of the hottest devices out there. We can only hope that they don’t take any major damage from going at it with the likes of Apple.