Google Recognises Palestine

Internet search behemoth Google has recognised Palestine’s upgraded United Nations status, placing the name “Palestine” on its search engine instead of “Palestinian Territories,” the US company said, raising the ire of Israel. The domain name www.google.ps, Google’s search engine for the territories, now brings up a homepage with “Palestine” written underneath the Google logo.

In November last year the UN general assembly upgraded Palestine to the status of non-member observer state by a vote of 138 votes in favour, 9 against and 41 abstentions.

Palestinian authorities have since begun to use the “State of Palestine” in diplomatic correspondence and issued official stamps for the purpose. The google recognition took effect this week, Google spokesman Nathan Tyler said in a statement :: Read the full article »»»»

DARPA Develops Navigation Without GPS

GPS – Global Positioning System – has served the direction-challenged well, but the satellite based system some pretty outstanding drawbacks. Ever tried using your satnav in a tunnel? …or how-about something as simple as retrieving directions indoors??.

These hiccups might be a slight inconvenience for joe-public, but it’s downright disastrous for the military, the original GPS users.

Our favourite gadget-factory – DARPA – is addressing such concerns with the development of a completely self-sufficient navigation system, one that aids navigation when GPS is down.

DARPA researchers working at the University of Michigan have taken a clever approach with the creation of a – TIMU – Timing and Inertial Measurement Unit. The unit, a single chip containing a six axis IM - three gyroscopes and three accelerometers – integrating with a highly accurate master clock, all in a system  smaller than a 5 cent coin.

The chip integrates breakthrough devices from DARPA’s übercool – Micro-Technology for Positioning Navigation and Timing – Micro-PNT program. The TIMU prototype gives the device the superneat ability to gather precise orientation, acceleration and time information to track a user’s position while travelling from point A to B :: Read the full article »»»»

UPDATE! Apple, Microsoft and Adobe Front Australian Parliamentary Inquiry

Australia’s parliamentary inquiry into consumer electronics and IT pricing has heard testimony from Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, the testimony however failed to impress. Australia consumers pay up to 90 per cent more for some of the most commonly required IT products, the trap of course is that programs like Adobe’s Photoshop are essential, irreplaceable tools in many businesses. The price discrepancies rely heavily on an enthusiastic abuse of copyright and a heavy handed approach to geo-blocking.

The price gouging by some of the planets largest companies led the parliamentary inquiry to take the unusual step of forcing Apple, Microsoft and Adobe – The Big Three – to front up and explain their obscene pricing policies. The inquiry issued a threatening summons to the world’s technology behemoths, demanding they answer accusations. Committee chairman Nick Champion says the inquiry has heard from many Australian consumers and organisations frustrated at the prices charged for digitally downloaded software, computer games, music, movies, and e-books. Matt Levey, head of campaigns for independent consumer organisation Choice, says Australian consumers should not have to pay so much more.

Microsoft, which employs 800 people in Australia, says attempts to compare absolute prices across different counties is of limited use because there are a range of regional factors that need to be taken into account. The company says it provides recommended retail prices for its products that take into account various market forces, such as the size of the market, and the consumers willingness to pay. Adobe, which sells a wide range of consumer and professional software packages, says most of its business in Australia is conducted through third parties which incur local costs. Adobe told the commission that it charges an extra $1,000 to download software in Australia because it offers a local, bespoke experience, while Apple blames local copyright holders for its iTunes prices, which are 50 per cent higher than in the United States. The inquiry heard examples of an Arctic Monkeys album costing $17.99 on iTunes in Australia but the equivalent of $13 overseas, and the movie Toy Story costing $24.99 in Australia but $10 overseas :: Read the full article »»»»

Europeans Fine Microsoft $700 Million Over Lack of Browser Choice

The technology behemoth that is Microsoft has been fined more than $AU700 million for failing to offer it’s OS users a choice of different internet browsers in Europe.

The company was found to have breached its own 2009 commitment to introduce a pop-up screen offering users a choice of browser, rather than just Internet Explorer. The pop-up was introduced as part of an earlier European Union competition case, but was dropped in a Windows 7 update in early 2011.

Microsoft claims the omission was simply the result of a “technical error”. The tech-behemoth was fined 561 million euros – $AU711 million – taking the total cost of its regulatory troubles in Europe to 2.15 billion euros – $AU2.75 billion – since 2002.

The European Commission, which acts as competition regulator across the 27-member European Union, said it found Microsoft broke its undertaking between May 2011 and July 2012. The Commission said it takes such settlement commitments very seriously :: Read the full article »»»»

Facebook Hacked

Facebook says its computer system has been targeted in a series of attacks by an unidentified hacker group, however, the social media behemoth has stressed they don’t believe there is any evidence that user data has been compromised.

The company says the malware came from the infected website from a mobile developer.

“Last month, Facebook security discovered that our systems had been targeted in a sophisticated attack,” the company said in a blog post.

“The attack occurred when a handful of employees visited a mobile developer website that was compromised. We remediated all infected machines, informed law enforcement, and began a significant investigation that continues to this day.”

The social network, which says it has more than 1 billion active users worldwide, said it was not the sole target. Facebook’s announcement follows recent cyber attacks on other prominent websites :: Read the full article »»»»