Facebook to launch Verified Accounts for prominent public figures

Last year, Facebook launched the ‘Subscribe’ feature that allows users to subscribe to the public posts of celebrities, journalists and anyone they are interested in following, without adding them as a ‘Friend’. Apart from helping people connect with their fans, this feature is also helping scammers and spammers create fake profiles.

According to a recent report from TechCrunch, Facebook will start launching verified accounts for prominent public figures to verify their accounts, tomorrow.  The verified users will gain more prominent placement in Facebook’s “People to Subscribe To” suggestions.

Users cannot request verification, instead, Facebook will decide which accounts will be verified. Those asked to verify their profile, will need to submit an image of a government-issued photo ID, which is deleted after verification. They’ll also be given the option to enter an nickname that can be displayed next to their real name in parentheses or as a replacement.

However, unlike Twitter that displays badges on verified profiles, the approved accounts on Facebook won’t display a badge. So, the new feature won’t help users in identifying a fake profile from a genuine one.

Chinese search giant Baidu expands to Brazil

China’s biggest search engine Baidu Inc is expanding outside the country by setting up an office in Brazil. According to China Daily, the company is preparing to set up a branch in Sao Paulo.

“Baidu aims to compete with Google, with the new branch,” a manager in charge of Baidu’s business in the Latin American country stated.

“It will launch a Wikipedia-like product first, but it doesn’t have a timeline for its search service. The new branch will employ 20 people in the first six months and perhaps more eventually,” the manager added.

This is not the first time that Baidu’s is setting up a base in a foreign country. In 2007, the search engine entered the Japanese market. However, it remains a small player in Japanese search market, where Google has an overwhelming share.

Baidu’s market share in the fourth quarter was 78.3%, according to a data from Beijing-based research firm Analysys International, while Google’s market share was only 16.7%. Analysts expect Baidu’s earnings to increase 54% in 2012 and at an average of 48% annually for the next five years.

Cisco approaches EU court to challenge Microsoft-Skype deal

Networking company Cisco has reached the European court to challenge Microsoft’s $8.5 billion takeover of Skype. The merger which took place in October last year, according to Cisco, blocks its own video conferencing systems. The company claims that by integrating Skype exclusively with its Lync Enterprise Communications Platform, Microsoft could lock-in businesses who want to reach Skype’s 700 million account holders to a Microsoft-only platform.

Marthin De Beer, the head of Cisco’s video conferencing division, wrote in a blog post, “We respect the European Commission, and value Microsoft as a customer, supplier, partner, and competitor. Cisco does not oppose the merger, but believes the European Commission should have placed conditions that would ensure greater standards-based interoperability.”

“This appeal is about one thing only: securing standards-based interoperability in the video calling space. Our goal is to make video calling as easy and seamless as  email is today. Making a video-to-video call should be as easy as dialing a phone number. Today, however, you can’t make seamless video calls from one platform to another, much to the frustration of consumers and business users alike,” Marthin adds.

Microsoft is confident that EU will not change its mind over the Skype deal.

“The European Commission conducted a thorough investigation of the acquisition, in which Cisco actively participated, and approved the deal in a 36-page decision without any conditions. We’re confident the Commission’s decision will stand up on appeal,” the company said in a statement.

Twitter launches a self-service advertising platform for small businesses

Now small businesses can easily buy and place ads on Twitter. The micro-blogging site has launched a self-service advertising platform,  that will enable advertisers to easily manage their marketing campaigns and budgets.

The new service will be available only to advertisers who accept or use American Express cards, but will be rolled out to other cardholders in the coming months.

Like Google’s advertising platform, Twitter’s ad service will allow advertisers to specify how much they are willing to spend, pick the cities or regions where they want their ads to appear and write their own commercial messages, which will be limited to Twitter’s 140-character limit per tweet. Twitter will charge, only for ads that users respond to –by retweeting, following the company and  by clicking the tweet links.

For each of the first 10,000 qualified businesses in the U.S. that sign up at http://ads.twitter.com/amex, the American Express Co. will buy $100 in Twitter ads. The ads, called “promoted products,” will begin appearing within in users’ Twitter stream by late March.

“The response to the ads so far has been mostly positive. I have every expectation that we will be able to scale this very rapidly,” said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo Costolo.

Founded in 2007, Twitter has more than 100 million active users and a valuation topping $8 billion. But, the company  like others in the social media space, is not aiming for the IPO yet.

“I don’t look at what other companies are doing. We don’t think in terms of building this company for a particular IPO date. We are trying to build this company for the long term,” Costolo added.

Last year, Twitter generated ad revenue of about $140 million, according to the research firm eMarketer Inc. This year, it is expected to sell $260 million in advertising, boosted by the new self-service platform.

Baidu to monetize its mobile search traffic and social media platforms

Chinese search giant Baidu is planning to monetize its mobile search traffic and social media platforms this year in an effort to boost its growth in the Internet and mobile space.

At present, mobile services make up only a small percentage of Baidu’s total revenue. By stepping up its efforts to generate revenue from mobile services, the search company plans to tap into China‘s lucrative mobile Internet market. Other than mobile, Baidu is also pursuing a strategy to monetize its social media platforms.

“We do think mobile will become a very important channel to distribute our products and that has increasingly become true over the past quarter. And we think during the coming year, mobile will represent an ever larger percentage of our total traffic. In the past, we have not spent any resources in monetizing the mobile traffic. But starting from this year, we will do something to figure out how to better serve our customers on our mobile platform,” said. Robin Li, chief executive of Baidu, as reported by the Reuters.

Baidu has a dominant position in China’s Internet search market , where search giant Google has been unable to operate due to censorship laws. Baidu’s market share in the fourth quarter was 78.3%, according to a data from Beijing-based research firm Analysys International. Analysts expect Baidu’s earnings to increase by 54% in 2012.

Apart from boosting its mobile and social media service, Baidu is also expanding its international business. After setting up an office in Japan in 2007, the search engine has opened a new branch in Brazil.

U.S. Department of Transportation to restrict Social Media usage while driving

Taking into account the dangers of social networking while driving; the U.S. Transportation Department has asked automakers to disable devices that allow drivers to access social networks such as Facebook and Twitter while driving.

In the non-binding voluntary guidelines issued today, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called for disabling manual texting, Internet browsing, 10-digit phone dialing and the ability to enter addresses into a built-in navigation system for drivers, unless the car is in park. The guidelines bring attention to distracted driving caused by use of mobile phones and other electronic devices behind the wheels.

“Distracted driving is unsafe, irresponsible and can have devastating consequences. Every single time a driver takes his or her focus off the road, the driver puts his or her life and the lives of others at risk,” LaHood stated.

The DOT is not trying to ban the usage of social networking sites, while driving, just trying to reduce the use.

“We recognize that vehicle manufacturers want to build vehicles that include the tools and conveniences expected by today’s drivers,” said David Strickland, administrator of the department’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

In December, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board called mobile-phone use in cars a public-health epidemic on the scale of smoking or drunk driving.

“It’s recommended that all U.S. states ban phone use by drivers, even with handsfree devices. The safety board can’t make or enforce rules,” said  spokeswoman Kelly Nantel. The board plans a meeting on distracted driving in March.

Zynga to launch a new platform to promote other game developers

To reduce its reliance on Facebook and diversify its revenue streams, Zyngais planning to launch a new publishing platform to promote games created by other developers.

According to the Bloomberg reports, the platform will be unveiled in March, and would allow other game developers to advertise their wares in Zynga games and on a separate Web portal. Zynga will keep a portion of the sales generated from these games, said people familiar with the matter.

The company has not officially announced the new service, though.

Shares of Zynga fell 18 percent on Wednesday, after the company reported in the earnings report that its user growth has slowed in the final three months of 2011. Zynga also added that it had lost $435 million, or $1.22 per share, in the fourth quarter on $311 million in revenue.

At present, Facebook accounts for more than 90 percent of Zynga sales. By selling services to other developers, the company can reduce its reliance on Facebook. Promoting apps made by other developers is also going to be less risky and would require less resources than Zynga’s main business of developing games.

During an event at the company’s San Francisco headquarters in October, Zynga also debuted Z cloud, its private cloud infrastructure.

“Z cloud is aimed at building a direct relationship with consumers whether they are on the Web or mobile,” CEO Mark Pincus said.

Facebook adds 12 new Media Apps to Timeline

Facebook reported on its blog yesterday, that the recently launched Open Graph feature has boosted traffic and engagement for the Facebook Timeline apps.

“We’re now seeing new content discovery and increases in traffic and engagement happening more broadly for companies of all sizes. For large companies, they’ve been able to scale and re-introduce their products to new audiences. For startups with small teams and a small user-base, open graph has driven a lot of discovery and growth, allowing many companies to double the size of their user base in weeks,” Facebook developer Vladimir Fedorov wrote on the companyblog.

The Open Graph integration has turned out to be beneficial for several apps including Pinterest, Spotify, Songza, Deezer, Artfinder, Rockmelt and others.

Facebook has now launched 12 new media apps for the timeline. These apps would significantly increase the traffic and engagement to the sites, while allowing media sites to reach younger users, Director of Facebook of Media Partnerships Justin Osofsky said in a statement.

Facebook teams up with Indian music site Saavn for global music service

Facebook has approached Indian social music service ‘Saavn’ for social and global music partnership, states a recent reportfrom TechCrunch.

Saavn (South Asian Audio Video Network) is an ad-supported digital music service for Bollywood, Indian and regional South Asian music. The site allows users to create and listen to playlists for free on the web, iOS and Android devices, from its comprehensive collection of 1 million-plus licensed tracks. The service is free, but premium membership options are also available with additional features like offline access to the songs etc.

Saavn is already reaching out to the Facebook users via its Timeline app, which was launched four weeks ago. The music service had roughly 35,000 monthly active users before the launch of a Facebook app. The number shot to 785,000 within four weeks of the launch. Daily new users of the Saavn Facebook application increased 40 times in the same period, and have generated over 750 million Facebook story impressions, according to the reports.

India is one of Facebook’s fastest-growing markets and by partnering with a popular Indian music site, the social networking can reach out to more Indian users, and boost its popularity in the country.

Google is tracking the online behavior of iPhone users: WSJ

Google got into trouble with Twitter and other technology giants, after the search giant announced the launch of new social features on its search engine that displays posts on Google+ and its other online services. Now, Google has been caught indulging in yet another evil act, infuriating those who already feel that the company has been adopting unfair means to dominate the web.

A recent report from the Wall Street Journal states that Google and several other advertising companies have been bypassing the security settings of millions of iPhone users to monitor their web-browsing habits- even those who want this kind of monitoring to be blocked.

“The companies used special computer code that tricks Apple’s Safari Web-browsing software into letting them monitor many users. Safari, the most widely used browser on mobile devices, is designed to block such tracking by default,” the WSJ states.

The Google code was first spotted by Stanford researcher Jonathan Mayer and confirmed by Ashkan Soltani, a technical adviser to the Journal. Google disabled this code immediately after being contacted by The Wall Street Journal.

In a statement, Google said: “The Journal mischaracterizes what happened and why. We used known Safari functionality to provide features that signed-in Google users had enabled. It’s important to stress that these advertising cookies do not collect personal information.”

“We are working to put a stop to the circumvention of Safari privacy settings,” an Apple official added.

Apart from Google three other online-ad companies -Vibrant Media Inc., WPP PLC’s Media Innovation Group LLC and Gannett Co.’s PointRoll Inc were also found using similar techniques.

FTC asks Apple, Google to protect the privacy of kids using apps on smartphones and tablets

The mobile and tablets usage among kids is growing. Technology companies like Google and Apple are developing apps including games and other interactive programs targeted mainly at kids. Increased exposure to these gadgets pose a major threat to the kids’ privacy.

The Federal Trade Commission on Thursday criticized Apple, Google and other tech firms for failing to protect the personal data of kids using apps on tablets and smartphones.

“Child privacy laws require online firms to get permission from parents to collect data about users under 13. Companies must also clearly explain what information is being collected, and how it is being shared or used for profits,” the FTC stated, adding that it would investigate specific app developers as well as Apple and Google to determine privacy violations.

With more than 500,000 apps in Apple Inc’s App Store and 380,000 in Google Inc’s Android Market, consumers have topped 28 billion app downloads since the market launched in 2008.

In a survey conducted with 1,000 apps designed for children on iTunes and the Android Marketplace, the Federal Trade Commission found that the companies could be tracking data such as geolocation, phone numbers, contact lists, call logs and other “unique identifiers. However, FTC has not identified the apps that have been collecting data .

The FTC has urged app stores, developers and third parties to boost their privacy policies and provide  parents with information explaining what data is collected and how it is used and shared.

Infographic: The Future of Social Sharing

Sharing at some point was restricted to forwarding interesting content to friends and family members via email. With the launch of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, sharing is just a click away and faster than we could even imagine. Social media and technology has also enhanced the magnitude of sharing – a single tweet can now reach millions of people – including the people you know and those you hardly know. The trend of Social Sharing is here to stay and is expected to increase and improve in the years to come.

After analyzing the social sharing habits of over two thousand active Facebook, Twitter and Google+ users, Beyond has come up with this interesting infographic that lists out the social sharing trends of future: Here are some key predictions from the study:

The rate of shared content will eventually plateau. Users become more passive the longer they are on a social network, which means that brands need to find ways to keep their fans active and engaged

Like it or not, frictionless sharing is here to stay. While unpopular with many, frictionless sharing has been ushered in by Facebook and is used by Spotify and others. A backlash has already began, but Beyond argues that this will pass and frictionless sharing will soon evolve to become commonplace and more widely accepted

The Google+ Circles model is likely to catch on. It needs to be simplified for users, but segmenting your social networks into specific friend groups to selectively share content may prove to have legs

Discount, discount, discount. Consumers will always want discounts and giveaways, and brands that utilize these marketing tools will spur users to continue to share their content

What we’re prepared to share will evolve. The most common events that people share now are status updates about life achievements, but over time this will likely evolve to include personal milestones sent via frictionless sharing, if this can be made easier

The reasons why we share will remain the same. The top three reasons for sharing are to inform friends, express a point of view or to say something funny. These elements have been the bedrock of how we have always expressed ourselves to others, and this likely will not change

Angry Birds flock to the Space

Rovio, the developer of the popular Angry Birds game is planning to roll out a new version of the game – Angry Birds Space on March 22.

Rovio has not given out much info on the new game. The game’s website reads, “One small fling for a bird. One quantum leap for birdkind.”

According to the Yahoo Games!, “You’ll be lobbing birds on entirely new planets while contending with zero gravity, leading to new gameplay elements like slow-motion puzzles and “lightspeed” destruction in the Angry Birds Space.”

“We think fans are really going to love it because we’ve already gotten amazing feedback on the physics of our games. They’re so accurate and easy to grasp that some teachers use Angry Birds in their lessons about projectile motion,” Andrew Stalbow, GM of Rovio North America, tells Yahoo! Games.

Rovio has also teamed up with NASA and National Geographic as launch partners on Angry Birds Space, the reports point out.

Check out the teaser trailer of the game below, and let us know your ideas on this.

Snapdeal to snap up a new e-commerce deal?

India’s Daily deals giant Snapdeal is in advanced talks to acquire an e-commerce company, two people with direct knowledge of the matter toldthe Economic Times.

The company which raised $40 million ( Rs 190 crore)  in series B funding from Bessemer Venture Partners, along with its existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Indo-US Venture Partners, last year, is looking to buy a small-to-mid-size portal that will allow it to expand beyond the group buying space, revealed one of these sources.

Launched in February, 2010, with retail lifestyle services, Snapdeal has diversified its offerings to include deals on luxury goods and gadgets, apparels, cosmetics, jewelry, books, movies etc. It has operations across 50 cities in India, and partnerships with over 10,000 brands and retailers across various categories. In June 2010, Snapdeal bought Bangalore-based group buying site Grabbon.com for an undisclosed amount.

Just last week, Flipkart announced that it was acquiring consumer electronics retailer Letsbuy in a cash-and-stock deal estimated to be worth $20 million. The e-commerce market it booming, and more mergers and acquisitions are on the way. For now, let’s keep our eyes open to Snapdeal’s upcoming acquisition.

Groupon acquires Location Database startup Hyperpublic

Daily deals giant Groupon has acquired a New York based startup named Hyperpublic, that builds an open database of people, places, and things tied to a specific location and allows developers to develop applications based on the collected data.

The new acquisition would provide Groupon with the technology needed to enter Foursquare’s territory and offer new services.  While Foursquare allows users to leave comments on the locations they visit, Groupon may be working towards gathering user reviews about venues itself, states Business Insider in arecent report.

Hyperbolic, which has raised $1.15 million from Lerer Ventures, and Softbank Capital, among others was founded by Lerer Ventures General Partner Jordan Cooper along with Doug Petkanics two years ago.

The two companies have not revealed the financial details of this deal, but Jordan Cooper, co-founder and chief executive of Hyperpublic, said that the company and its investors were happy with the return it offered. Cooper further added that few members of the Hyperpublic team would begin working at Groupon’s California engineering offices, and that the company would continue to research and analyze local market.

Datawind won’t be associated with the Aakash deal anymore

To launch an improved version of the Aakash tablet, and to make it fully indigenous, Telecom and HRD minister Kapil Sibal stated that the tablet’s previous manufacturer Datawind will no longer be associated with the project. For further development of the tablet computer, the government has roped in C-DAC and ITI in.

The new tablet will be available at the same price, according to the reports.

“There have been some problem with Datawind I must confess. Therefore, I have got into the act. IT ministry has got C-DAC and ITI into the act and I am going to ensure that this product is fully indigenous and truly an Indian product,” Sibal stated.

Sibal added that the ultimate objective is to give a quality product to the children.

“I think it’s a great thing if there is competition. Ultimately my objective is to get a quality product in the hands of the children. I have set the benchmark, it has changed the mindset of the world, I can tell you that. Everybody now wants to produce a tablet which is of quality and which is reasonably affordable. So if the whole world wants to produce, I don’t care who produces, if ultimately it is produced by somebody for children, he noted.

Aakash – II is expected to be launched in 2012, but the exact time of the launch of the device has not been reveled yet.

YouTube ropes in Hollywood to boost content and create new channels

YouTube is roping in Hollywood producers, directors, and filmmakers, to create original content, and reach out to the new generation of users that rely more on smartphones than on traditional TV for their daily dose of entertainment.

According to the recent reports, the online video giant is aiming to create 25 hours of programming per day, and 96 additional YouTube channels, with the help of some of the top names in the TV industry, spending a seed amount of $100 million on the project.

You Tube has managed to entice some of TV’s biggest stars, including “Fast Five” director Justin Lin, “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker, and Nancy Tellem, the former president of CBS entertainment. It is betting that a stream of well-funded, quality videos would attract more revenue from advertisers, bring in more viewers and bolster its Google’s fledgling Web-connected-TV platform, Google TV.

“This was really about galvanizing the ecosystem at large. We see the portfolio (of funded channels) really representing the best of TV meeting the best of the Web,” says Alex Carloss, global head of original programming for YouTube.

Preparing its video platform for the new content, YouTube also revamped its site last year, to make it look more like a TV. The redesign puts the focus on YouTube channels instead of individual videos. Users can create their own channel, post their own videos, and monetize them with pre-video ads.

China Telecom to start selling iPhone 4S in China from next month

China Unicom, one of China’s leading telecom operator startedoffering iPhone 4S with a service contract in January. Now,Apple has teamed up with another leading carrier – China Telecom to boost the sale of its iPhone 4S in the nation.

From next month, China Telecom users who commit to a two-year contract can get a free 16-gigabyte handset with a service plan costing 389 yuan ($62) a month, while a three-year plan cuts the monthly minimum to 289 yuan.

China Mobile Ltd, the world’s largest carrier by customers, has also been negotiating a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone, but the operator uses a home-grown proprietary 3G technology called TD-SCDMA that Apple doesn’t support. It is, however, expected to launch its 4G TD-LTE network, late this year or early in 2013, which would help it work out a deal with Apple.

“iPhone 4S has been an incredible hit with customers around the world. The company can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers in China,” said Carolyn Wu, a Beijing-based spokeswoman for Apple.

Apple was the fifth-largest smartphone maker in China in the fourth quarter, with shipments of 2.08 million handsets, according to Gartner data. The technology giant ‘s iPhone market share in China is expected to be quite steady after its deal with China Telecom, which has more than 38.7 million 3G subscribers.

Gaana.com launches Timeline app on Facebook

Indian music streaming site Gaana.com has launched a new app for Facebook’s  Timeline, that allows users to share the music they are listening to with their Facebook friends. Owned by the Times Group, Gaana.com has a rich collection of Hindi, English and regional music.

Clicking on the Gaana.com app on Facebook will take the user to the music site, where they can choose the music they want to listen to. When a user listens to a song, a message is posted on his/her Facebook profile, indicating the song they are listening to and encouraging their friends to join in .

“We have always believed music is discovered via common tastes and peer to peer recommendation. With gaana.com’s integration on Facebook’s Timeline, we expect to see strong traction of our content and an increased user base via Facebook. The app has already got some 0.14 million ‘Likes’ on Facebook,” said CEO Rishi Khiani of Times Internet.

Saavn, another Indian music portal which launched its Facebook Timeline app last month, increased its monthly active users from 35,000 to 785,000 within four weeks of the launch of the application. Saavn was also approached by Facebook recently for a joint collaboration towards global distribution of music.

iPad users are older and wealthier than other tablet users

Owners of Apple iPads are older and have more money than the other tablet owners, says a recent study.

According to a research done by NPD, a leading market research company, more than 40 percent of iPad owners have a household income of $100 thousand or more compared to 26 percent of non-iPad owners.

With more and more tablets entering the market, the ownership of the device is growing rapidly. Even those who couldn’t earlier afford to buy a tablet, can now opt for one of the low-cost ranges. The study found that the new tablet owners make less money and are younger than the early adopters, with buyers at the end of 2011 being 50 percent more likely to have an income under $45 thousand, and 33 percent more likely to be under 34 years of age.

“As the demographic of the tablet owner continues to change the tablet market is beginning to take on a new role. We are seeing some of the tasks traditionally performed on devices, such as PCs, now being performed on the tablet. In fact, all five of the top activities shifted towards the tablet between early and late 2011,”said Stephen Baker, vice president of industry analysis at NPD.

However, the flourishing tablet market is not going to wipe out the market of other devices.  In the study, only 10 percent of tablet owners stated that they don’t need a PC notebook that they were once considering. The same trend is  reflected among non-tablet owners, 26 percent of whom say they are likely to buy a notebook in the next year, while just 18 percent say they will purchase a tablet.

“Even as consumers increasingly use tablets for tasks that were once exclusively done on their PC, they continue to plan new PC purchases. Usage is still evolving and most people, being inherently conservative in their device outlook, continue to hedge their bets on their device preference by planning to maintain an array of products to afford them maximum flexibility,” Baker adds.

Proview willing to talk to Apple to settle the iPad trademark dispute

There’s a ray of hope for Apple which is caught up in the iPad trademark dispute with Proview technology in China. According to the latest reports, Proview has indicated that it’s willing to talk to Apple and settle the dispute.

Chinese Electronics firm Proview Technology Shenzhen filed a trademark infringement case against Apple stating that it owns the Chinese rights to the “iPad”, blocking the sales of Apple’s tablet computer in several retails stores in China, including the as well as the imports and exports of the device. Apple had applied for the transfer of the trademark from Proview Shenzhen, but the application was turned down by China’s trademark administrative authorities.

A hearing is scheduled in a Shanghai court on Wednesday, and in the Guangdong High Court on 29 February.

“We are now preparing for negotiations. The court cases will continue until we reach an agreement,” said Proview’s lawyer, Xie Xianghui, adding that Apple had told Proview it had “peaceful intentions”.

The two firms are expected to settle the issue peacefully, instead of continuing with their fights in the court, considering the huge demand for Apple products in China, and the fact that most of the Apple devices are manufactured in the country.

IBM launches a new platform to help companies fight cyber attacks

IBM has entered the Internet security market, and has launched a new platform to help companies and organizations fight cyber attacks, according  a recent report from the Reuters.

IBM’s QRadar Security Intelligence Platform, according to the company, would help it analyze real-time data feeds from more than 400 different sources. This new platform combines known threats and hackers’ methods with real-time analysis of the traffic on the corporate IT infrastructure.

“Trying to approach security with a piece-part approach simply doesn’t work. IBM is betting that a broadbased approach will appeal to companies and organizations looking to prevent threats before they happen. These attacks don’t come out of the blue. No one walks into a bank and walks out with the crown jewels in one fell swoop.They will spend a enormous amount of time and put in place the mechanisms to get the info they want and obviously they try to hide their trail and not set off security events,” said Brendan Hannigan, general manager at IBM Security Systems.

QRadar Security Intelligence Platform would help organizations that are struggling to defend themselves against the theft of customer and employee information, credit card data and corporate intellectual property.

According to the FBI Director Robert Mueller, cyber attacks against government agencies and businesses would surpass terrorism as a danger to the United States. The information security market is expected to grow to $71 billion by 2015 from $55 billion last year.

Clik App lets you stream YouTube videos to any web enabled screen using your Smartphone

Wouldn’t it be great if you could use your smartphone as a remote control to operate your computer screen? A new app called Clik now lets you do just that.

Clik is an Android/ iOS app that allows you to stream YouTube videos to any web-enabled screen with your smartphone. You can play, pause, search, browse, add favorites, increase or decrease the volume – all using your smartphone, and without the need for any additional software or hardware. Clik can be used with any screen as long as it has an Internet connection ( WiFi, cable, DSL, or wireless) and with all browsers including Internet Explorer, Google Chrome, Safari and Mozilla Firefox.

To start using the Clik, you must download the free Clik app from the iTunes Store or Android Market. Then, go to clikthis.com on your browser screen to generate a unique QR code, and use your smartphone to scan the QR code (syncing the phone and the screen together using the smartphone’s cellular or WiFi connection). You have now connected your smartphone to the screen, and you can use to operate the screen and play your favorite YouTube videos.

The amazing thing about the Clik app is that it’s entirely free. The only disadvantage being that it’s limited to streaming YouTube videos at this time. You cannot control other websites with your smartphone using the Clik app. But, there is a huge scope for Clik and we can expect it to be extended to other websites very soon.

Go ahead and download Clik from the iOS store or the Android store, and let us know how you find it.

Now you can improve your Search Profile by using Bing’s Linked Pages

You might have a great social media profile, but what about your search profile? When people search for you online, does the search engine direct them to the most relevant links? Try searching for your name and find out. If you feel that your search profile is not impressive enough, there is a way you can improve it. Bing has launched a new tool called ‘Linked Pages’ using which you can spruce up your search profile and control how you show up on  the search engine.

To get started, go to bing.com/linkedpages. Log-in with your Facebook ID and grant Bing permission to post to Facebook. Search for yourself. Try including the name of your city, school, or employer to find more results and then start linking. You can include links to your social media profiles, blog, organizations you’re associated with, activities you’re involved with or just the sites you like. When searches for you, they’ll not only see trusted results from Bing, but also the pages and sites you’ve linked. You can also help your friends show up better on Bing by just searching for a friend and adding link pages about them.

You have full control over what results you’re linked in. Simply follow the link notification from Facebook or go to bing.com/linkedpages to remove links you added or links your friends added about you. You have to give Bing permission to start linking pages and can disable the application in Facebook anytime.

IBM launches a new platform to help companies fight cyber attacks

IBM has entered the Internet security market, and has launched a new platform to help companies and organizations fight cyber attacks, according  a recent report from the Reuters.

IBM’s QRadar Security Intelligence Platform, according to the company, would help it analyze real-time data feeds from more than 400 different sources. This new platform combines known threats and hackers’ methods with real-time analysis of the traffic on the corporate IT infrastructure.

“Trying to approach security with a piece-part approach simply doesn’t work. IBM is betting that a broadbased approach will appeal to companies and organizations looking to prevent threats before they happen. These attacks don’t come out of the blue. No one walks into a bank and walks out with the crown jewels in one fell swoop.They will spend a enormous amount of time and put in place the mechanisms to get the info they want and obviously they try to hide their trail and not set off security events,” said Brendan Hannigan, general manager at IBM Security Systems.

QRadar Security Intelligence Platform would help organizations that are struggling to defend themselves against the theft of customer and employee information, credit card data and corporate intellectual property.

According to the FBI Director Robert Mueller, cyber attacks against government agencies and businesses would surpass terrorism as a danger to the United States. The information security market is expected to grow to $71 billion by 2015 from $55 billion last year.

DeNA launches Mobage Social gaming platform in Huawei smartphones in China

DeNA China has partnered with the Chinese subsidiary of leading mobile device manufacturer Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd for the Mobage social gaming platform.

Under this new deal, Huawei smartphone users in China can easily access the Chinese version of DeNA’s Mobage social gaming platform. Using Huawei’s official “HiSpace” app store, users can now easily find and download high-quality mobage social games. The two companies also plan to preload a link to HiSpace’s list of Mobage games on the home screen of Huawei smartphones for China.

Japan- based DeNA continues to expand the Mobage social gaming platform in other countries through collaborations with local companies.  The company recently teamed up with South Korea’s major portal operator Daum Communications, to launch Daum Mobage, a localized version of Mobage for South Korea. Daum Mobage allows smartphone users in South Korea to enjoy social networking features, such as avatars, status updates, and high-quality, Korean-language social games from around the world.

The Daum Mobage platform and gaming apps are now available for download on Android Market. DeNA and Daum plan to attract new users through Daum’s popular services including its PC and mobile Web portal (www.daum.net) with 15 billion monthly page views, MyPeople mobile messenger service with over 16 million users and the nation’s largest AD@m mobile advertisement network with over 15 billion monthly page views. The companies also plan to develop Daum Mobage apps for iOS devices