Ed Oswald
Recent Posts
App Store downloads pass one-billion mark
According to the counter on the front page of the App Store, Apple passed the one billion mark just before two o’clock today. Whoever won the title of billionth download will be making off like a bandit: The Cupertino company will be contacting them to deliver a 17″ MacBook Pro, a 32GB iPod touch, a Time Capsule, and an iTunes Gift Certificate worth $10,000.
Reaching a billion downloads so quickly is impressive: the App Store has only… Continue Reading
Jawbone doubles its strengths with Prime headset
San Francisco-based Bluetooth headset maker Aliph has introduced its third generation headset, the Jawbone Prime. Along with offering four different colors, the company has also reworked its signature noise cancellation technology and fit options, which will make the device more adjustable for a wider range of consumers.
The Prime will have a talk time of about four and a half hours with a standby time of up to eight days. Aliph also says the device will… Continue Reading
Quickoffice beats Microsoft to the punch with iPhone app for Office documents
Dallas-based Quickoffice has released the first iPhone application suite that lets you view and edit Microsoft Office documents. Available for $19.99 from the App Store, it includes its own versions of Word and Excel it calls Quickword and Quicksheets, as well as file-management services. It also offers a web-based interface so you can transfer documents to and from the device. The application is a renamed and upgraded version of what was previously called MobileFiles Pro… Continue Reading
Fotomoto lets photographers sell work direct on their sites
Fotomoto lets photographers sell their photos directly to customers through their own web sites. E-commerce capabilities can now be added to an artist’s photo gallery with only a few lines of JavaScript code, the company claims.
An offering like this could turn the industry on its head. Previously, most photographers had to go through a middleman like iStockPhoto to sell their work online. In turn, they had to sacrifice control over how their images were sold,… Continue Reading
TwitPub aims to bring marketplace to Twitter
TwitPub has set up shop as a Twitter marketplace — that is, a place where you can, say, sell horoscopes or stock tips on Twitter and make money from Twitter users who subscribe to your offering. TwitPub calls these subscriptions “premium tweets.”
All you need to get started is a private Twitter account or an account that has its updates protected. From there, you sign up for a TwitPub account, and the service automates the process… Continue Reading
Trend Micro debuts iPhone app for safe browsing
Security firm Trend Micro has released a free iPhone application that incorporates its Smart Protection Network (SPN) into a browser to protect users from malicious websites while surfing the web on the device. ‘Smart Surfing’ uses the Mobile Safari engine, although it doesn’t replace the device’s default browser.
As a user surfs from site to site, the bar changes color depending on the site’s rating. The progress bar stays green when loading, and a check mark… Continue Reading
New bill may give president ability to shut down Internet
Legislation is now passing through the U.S. Senate that could give the president unprecedented powers over the Internet, including the ability to ’shut down’ portions of it when a cybersecurity emergency is declared. The bill was introduced at the beginning of the month, but concerns have since been raised over its vague wording.
At issue is Section 18(2) of the Cybersecurity Act of 2009, which reads as follows:
“The president … may declare a cybersecurity emergency and… Continue Reading
Bay Area restaurant tweets up a good deal
Hip San Franciscan restaurant Luna Park has turned to Twitter to help promote its business. It’s initial promotion is the tweeting of a “password” to its followers, which they can then give to their waiter to get the employee discount — 50 percent off their bill. Pretty sweet deal.
Luna Park’s fare, according to its website, is “mostly French and Italian with a few American and Asian accents,” and it also offers cocktail service. It is… Continue Reading
MeFeedia doing well with video search . . . for now
MeFeedia, a video search company that many people haven’t heard of, says it has a whopping 7.6 million unique monthly visitors.
How? It’s playing in a crowded video search market, but it says it is distinguishing itself by using social information such as comments, ratings, and recommendations to categorize videos on its service. Competitors like Blinkx, VideoSurf and Pixsy use video file inspection techniques to help them organize content, and rely less on such social data.
MeFeedia,… Continue Reading