News

Google knows it’s going to have a tough time convincing users to switch to its TV platform. As a result, over the next few weeks, the search giant is handing out 10,000 free Google TV units to developers in hopes of “empowering the developers of the world to make Google TV an even better experience, through websites that have been built with the TV screen in mind.” 3,000 Google TV devices (specifically, Logitech Revues) were already given away to attendees of the Adobe MAX conference. ...

Mashable: There’s a new stocking stuffer for the social gamer on your holiday shopping list: Facebook Credits. Already available at Target stores, the social networking site is set to offer the credits -– which can be used for in-game purchases in games like FarmVille –- at Walmart and Best Buy too. Walmart will offer $5, $10 and $25 versions of the gift cards, while Best Buy will sell them in denominations of $10, $25 and $50. ...

Believe it or not, Google hasn’t forgotten about Feedburner. The RSS feed service has received an experimental new interface that better matches Google Analytics and looks like it might actually integrate into other Google AdSense and Webmaster tools. The interface doesn’t work for every component of Feedburner — if you need to access feed management or change certain settings, you can continue to use the old interface. The new interface — which is accessible via feedburner.google.com/gfb/ — shows real-time stats for clicks, views and podcast downloads from across your feeds. This is really powerful, especially if you use the Feedburner Socialize service to auto-ping Twitter when you publish a post. This can let you track how users are referred and what RSS clients are being used to access feeds. ...

Currently cyber criminals try to make fast money by spamming out emails in masses in Germany which allegedly stem from an Advocate specialized in copyright. According to the spam mails, the user was downloading copyrighted material. An IP address is in the email to proof that. To not call the attorney to action, the recipient of the mail is offered to send 100 Euros via a payment system called Ukash. Don’t fall for that social engineering, don’t pay! ...

Mashable: The Wi-Fi Alliance is about to drop a wireless connectivity bombshell called Wi-Fi Direct. It will enable device-to-device connections using current Wi-Fi standards. The Wi-Fi Alliance will begin certifying Wi-Fi Direct devices today. Communication between Wi-Fi devices isn’t specifically new. The Nintendo DS, for instance, has had device-to-device Wi-Fi interaction for some time, but the technology is proprietary. The Wi-Fi Alliance differentiates Wi-Fi Direct by certifying the standard, ensuring interoperability. Devices stamped with the Wi-Fi Direct certification don’t need wireless networks, as they essentially become micro-hotspots. This technology will conceivably allow devices like an Eye-Fi memory card to directly beam an image to a wireless printer. Since Wi-Fi Direct is largely software based, many recent devices should be upgradeable. ...

Last night Facebook announced that it had over 500 000 000 users. Some facts that have come out of this are that: 8% of the entire world are on Facebook Metro Facebook was valued at $11.5 billion The Telegraph More than 150 million log in through their phone The Guardian Taken from TalkWeb

Lady Gaga took to Twitter this morning to announce that her YouTube videos have hit the lofty milestone of 1 billion total views. The musician is the first to reach such a goal, but Justin Bieber is trailing close behind with 962,726,797 total video views. Sources were predicting this outcome a few weeks ago, with Lady Gaga reaching 1 billion YouTube views around October 20, and Bieber hitting the mark on November 1. ...

Sylvester Caan dropped us a note to tell us (and show us!) his iPad being signed by US President Barak Obama. Take it away, Sylvester: At a rally in Seattle, WA at the University of Washington, the President used the touchscreen on my iPad to give me his autograph. He looked slightly surprised, but proceeded to use his finger to scribble on the iPad using the Adobe Ideas app. ...

Windows 7 might be selling like hotcakes but that’s only going to make it even harder for Microsoft to top. When asked about the riskiest product bet that the software giant is currently developing, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer answered “the next release of Windows” without so much as a second of hesitation. Unfortunately, his interviewers don’t ask him for an explanation, so we’ll have to speculate as to why he chose Windows and not something else like Windows Phone, Xbox Kinect, or Bing. ...

New York (CNN) — Social networking site MySpace, while acknowledging it shares profile information with advertisers, said Saturday that it is taking action against app developers who may have violated the website’s terms of use by sharing user data. A spokesman for MySpace who refused to be named told CNN that it shares information with advertisers, but that it does not identify a user. Although MySpace users are not required to provide an actual name when registering, their user IDs link the public information displayed on their profile, which can sometimes reveal names, addresses and other critical information. ...