Google memperkenalkan Google Wallet dan Google Offers

Hari ini Google memperkenalkan Google Wallet dan Google Offers pada sebuah acara di New York City.

Perusahaan tersebut mengatakan pihaknya berencana untuk membawa semua bagian dari retail experience bersama-sama untuk membuat " tomorrow's best shopping experience," kata Wakil Presiden Pemasaran Google, Stephanie Tilenius.

Layanan ini akan menggabungkan kupon dan diskon dan pembayaran pada saat orang membeli barang melalui telepon mereka.

Layanan ini akan bekerja seperti ini: Kupon untuk item atau barang yang akan dibeli, secara teratur akan muncul di telepon Anda, atau item yang ada di toko luar rumah anda akan muncul di telepon dan Anda akan membeli barang secara online. Ketika Anda pergi ke kasir toko, Anda pemberitahuan pada telepon Anda melalui terminal, yang akan menagih kartu Anda. Sementara loyalty points dengan pedagang akan ditambahkan ke telepon Anda. Akhirnya penerimaan akan dikirim ke telepon Anda.

Ponsel pertama yang akan mampu melakukan hal ini adalah Nexus S yang berbasis Android, yang memiliki chip NFC dibuat oleh dalam NXP. chip NFC ini dapat melakukan pembayaran melalui sistem PayPass MasterCard. Sistem ini menggunakan teknologi NFC (near-field communication ). NFC adalah teknologi chip yang, ketika ditempatkan dalam dua perangkat yang berbeda, memungkinkan sejumlah kecil data yang dikirim melalui jarak yang sangat singkat antara mereka. Hal ini dapat mencakup data seperti informasi kartu kredit, info tiket kereta api, dan bar code. Semua ponsel Android nantinya akan berisi chip NFC, kata Google pada acara tersebut.

Google Wallet tidak akan diluncurkan resmi sampai musim panas ini tahun ini, tetapi sementara itu akan ada beberapa uji coba lokal di San Francisco dan New York City sebelum berkembang ke kota-kota lebih. Retailer pertama yang akan bergabung seperti Macy's, Subway, Walgreens, Toys "R" Us,, Bloomingdale's Guess, dan Bagels Nuh. Untuk layanan pembayaran, Google bermitra dengan Sprint, MasterCard, Citi, dan FirstData.

Google Wallet akan mendukung beberapa kartu, Citi dan Mastercard, dan kartu prabayar dari kartu kredit. Merk kartu kredit yang lain akan bergabung kemudian, menurut Telenius. Google mengatakan loading kartu pada ponsel akan lebih aman daripada berkat dompet fisik ,password smartphone dan enkripsi di telepon.

Google juga memperkenalkan Google Offers, sebuah layanan transaksi harian yang akan dikirimkan ke pelanggan melalui e-mail atau ke telepon. Seperti sistem pembayaran, untuk menebus kupon ini pelanggan dapat menunjukkan kasir di toko atau tekan telepon mereka untuk membayar. Penawaran google akan mulai uji coba di San Fransisco dan New York musim panas ini. American Eagle adalah salah satu retailer pertama yang akan mendukung Google Offers.

Akhirnya boarding passed, tiket, dan banyak lagi akan datang ke Google Wallet. Ini adalah "langkah pertama," tegas Tilenius. "Visi ini akan memerlukan waktu memetik hasilnya."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20066478-260.html#ixzz1NWHARWiz

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Google memperkenalkan Google Wallet dan Google Offers

Hari ini Google memperkenalkan Google Wallet dan Google Offers pada sebuah acara di New York City.

Perusahaan tersebut mengatakan pihaknya berencana untuk membawa semua bagian dari retail experience bersama-sama untuk membuat " tomorrow's best shopping experience," kata Wakil Presiden Pemasaran Google, Stephanie Tilenius.

Layanan ini akan menggabungkan kupon dan diskon dan pembayaran pada saat orang membeli barang melalui telepon mereka.

Layanan ini akan bekerja seperti ini: Kupon untuk item atau barang yang akan dibeli, secara teratur akan muncul di telepon Anda, atau item yang ada di toko luar rumah anda akan muncul di telepon dan Anda akan membeli barang secara online. Ketika Anda pergi ke kasir toko, Anda pemberitahuan pada telepon Anda melalui terminal, yang akan menagih kartu Anda. Sementara loyalty points dengan pedagang akan ditambahkan ke telepon Anda. Akhirnya penerimaan akan dikirim ke telepon Anda.

Ponsel pertama yang akan mampu melakukan hal ini adalah Nexus S yang berbasis Android, yang memiliki chip NFC dibuat oleh dalam NXP. chip NFC ini dapat melakukan pembayaran melalui sistem PayPass MasterCard. Sistem ini menggunakan teknologi NFC (near-field communication ). NFC adalah teknologi chip yang, ketika ditempatkan dalam dua perangkat yang berbeda, memungkinkan sejumlah kecil data yang dikirim melalui jarak yang sangat singkat antara mereka. Hal ini dapat mencakup data seperti informasi kartu kredit, info tiket kereta api, dan bar code. Semua ponsel Android nantinya akan berisi chip NFC, kata Google pada acara tersebut.

Google Wallet tidak akan diluncurkan resmi sampai musim panas ini tahun ini, tetapi sementara itu akan ada beberapa uji coba lokal di San Francisco dan New York City sebelum berkembang ke kota-kota lebih. Retailer pertama yang akan bergabung seperti Macy's, Subway, Walgreens, Toys "R" Us,, Bloomingdale's Guess, dan Bagels Nuh. Untuk layanan pembayaran, Google bermitra dengan Sprint, MasterCard, Citi, dan FirstData.

Google Wallet akan mendukung beberapa kartu, Citi dan Mastercard, dan kartu prabayar dari kartu kredit. Merk kartu kredit yang lain akan bergabung kemudian, menurut Telenius. Google mengatakan loading kartu pada ponsel akan lebih aman daripada berkat dompet fisik ,password smartphone dan enkripsi di telepon.

Google juga memperkenalkan Google Offers, sebuah layanan transaksi harian yang akan dikirimkan ke pelanggan melalui e-mail atau ke telepon. Seperti sistem pembayaran, untuk menebus kupon ini pelanggan dapat menunjukkan kasir di toko atau tekan telepon mereka untuk membayar. Penawaran google akan mulai uji coba di San Fransisco dan New York musim panas ini. American Eagle adalah salah satu retailer pertama yang akan mendukung Google Offers.

Akhirnya boarding passed, tiket, dan banyak lagi akan datang ke Google Wallet. Ini adalah "langkah pertama," tegas Tilenius. "Visi ini akan memerlukan waktu memetik hasilnya."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20066478-260.html#ixzz1NWHARWiz

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Google unveils mobile payments, coupon service

Google today introduced Google Wallet and Google Offers at an event in New York City.
The company says it plans to bring all parts of the retail experience together to make "tomorrow's best shopping experience," said Google Vice President of Commerce for Stephanie Tilenius.

The services will combine coupons and discounts and payments at the time people buy things through their phone.

Together the services will work like this: Coupons for items you buy regularly will pop up on your phone, or an item that the store you're shopping at is out of will pop up on the phone and let you buy that item online. When you go to a store's cashier, you can wave your phone over a terminal, which will charge your card. Meanwhile your loyalty points with that merchant will be added to your phone. Eventually receipts will be delivered to your phone.

The first phone that will be able to do this is the Android-based Nexus S, which has an NFC chip made by NXP inside. It can make payments via MasterCard's PayPass system. The system uses NFC, or near-field communication, technology. NFC is a chip technology that, when placed in two different devices, lets small amounts of data be sent over very short distances between them. This can include data such as credit card information, train ticket info, and a coupon bar code. All future Android phones will contain NFC chips, Google said today.

Google Wallet won't be out until this summer officially, but in the meantime there will be some local trials in San Francisco and New York City before expanding to more cities. The first participating retailers will be Macy's, Subway, Walgreens, Toys "R" Us, Bloomingdale's, Guess, and Noah's Bagels. For the payments service, Google is partnering with Sprint, MasterCard, Citi, and FirstData.

Google Wallet will support multiple cards, Citi and Mastercard, and a prepaid card funded from any credit card. More card brands will be coming, according to Telenius. Google says loading a card on a phone will be more secure than a physical wallet thanks to a smartphone's password and encryption on the phone.

Google also introduced Google Offers, a daily deals service that will be delivered to customers in an e-mail or to a phone. Like the payment system, to redeem these coupons a customer can show the cashier at a store or tap their phone to pay. Google Offers will begin trials in San Francisco and New York this summer.

American Eagle is one of the first retailers that will support Google Offers.

Eventually boarding passes, tickets, and more will come to the Google Wallet.

These are "the first steps," Tilenius stressed. "This vision will take a while to come to fruition."

Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31021_3-20066478-260.html#ixzz1NWHARWiz
 

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3 reasons Mango could interest you in buying a Windows Phone

Hear Microsoft executive Andy Lees describe Mango's 500 improvements to the Windows Phone platform would be daunting.

Microsoft demonstrated Tuesday at least 20 of the 500 ways Mango is better than Windows Phone 7. But even 20 improvements is too many for most people to easily comprehend. (However, Lees promised even more Mango demonstrations in coming months before Mango is ready to be shipped in the fall.)

Here are three reasons why Mango might help Microsoft sell more Windows Phones, pulling it up from its current fifth place in the smartphone OS rankings. If these reasons don't persuade loyal Android or iPhone users, they might attract first-time smartphone buyers.

1. Internet Explorer 9 integration

If you're a speed nut (and who isn't?), you might appreciate that Mango is running a full desktop version of the IE9 browser, not a mobile variation.

Microsoft demonstrated this IE9 capability in Mango in April for Windows Phone developers, who cheered when a browsing speed test favored Windows Phone over phones running Android, BlackBerry and iOS. Again on Tuesday, a speed test favored Windows Phone on Mango and IE9.
Derek Snyder, a Microsoft product marketing manager, ran the same HTML5 browsing speed test simultaneously on a BlackBerry Torch, an iPhone 4 with the latest firmware, a Samsung Droid Charge running Android with a dual-core processor, and a Windows Phone running Mango.
In the test results, the BlackBerry got 4 frames per second of HTML5 loading, while the Android device got 10 frames per second and the Mango-powered phone got 25 frames per second. The iPhone was started by hand just after the BlackBerry but had not begun loading by the time Snyder started the remaining two devices. The Mango device finished the HTML5 loading ahead of the others.
"It proves to be a fantastic browsing experience," Snyder said.

2. Quick cards and Bing integration

Microsoft describes quick cards as a way for a user making a Bing search to get a quick summary of relevant information, including related apps. Snyder described quick cards as a "blurring" of Internet searching and apps.

In one demonstration of quick cards, Snyder showed a search for the movie Water for Elephants, which resulted in show times, ratings and a quick synopsis rather than taking him to a separate website. He then clicked on the IMDB application, which quickly opened to a specific section of the online film database for the movie.

Bing search is also being enhanced with visual searches. In another demo, Snyder took a photo of a book, which launched a quick card that gave reviews and places where the book could be purchased online, including Amazon's Kindle app. Then Snyder tapped the Kindle app and downloaded the book to his phone for future reading.

3. Office, Xbox and Skype

Mango includes an updated version of the Office suite that will ship with new versions of Excel, One Note and PowerPoint. Among the improvements, users will be able to highlight cells in Excel to change data.

The upgrade will also include the Internet voice and video service Skype to allow users to make Skype calls from Windows Phones. Microsoft said earlier this month it would buy Skype for $8.5 billion.

Mango will also have an Xbox Live gaming capability, the only smartphone OS to do so. Users will be able to see a friend list, and every game on the device can be accessed through the Xbox Live tile on the home screen in Mango, Microsoft said.

The inclusion of Office, Skype and Xbox Live is important because all three products are already market leaders separate from Mango, noted Ross Rubin, an analyst at NPD.

"Office and Xbox Live have the most momentum in the market in terms of an engaged user base of all the products and services on Windows Phones," Rubin said. "Skype represents another opportunity to build atop of a community that is strongly engaged in that product. Adding to those products and services is where Microsoft can get better dividends with Mango."
Rubin said the Office enhancements with Mango will be an especially important way for Windows Phones to stand out in the market. "While there are other products competing with Office, such as Documents to Go, Office is clearly a very strong offering for Microsoft. It means that consumers are assured of fidelity within documents."

Ramon Llamas, an analyst at IDC, said that while Mango might not be the OS version that makes current iPhone and Android users want to switch and try Windows Phone, it could attract millions of first-time smartphone buyers in coming years.


http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9217022/3_reasons_Mango_could_interest_you_in_buying_a_Windows_Phone_?taxonomyId=201&pageNumber=1

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Rapid-release idea spreads to Firefox 5 beta

Mozilla released a beta version of Firefox yesterday, its first on a new quick-release plan intended to bring features to browser users and Web developers sooner.

Firefox 5 beta's big new feature is support for CSS animations, which let Web developers add some pizzazz to actions such as making dialog boxes pop up or switching among photos. Also in the new version is canvas, JavaScript, memory, and networking, according to the release notes and bug-fix list.

That may not sound like a dramatic overhaul for a whole new version number, and indeed it isn't. Mozilla is following in Google's Chrome footsteps with a faster release cycle that means new versions arrive more rapidly but the differences from their predecessors are less dramatic. It also means a major change in version number doesn't mean a major overhaul has taken place.

Mozilla has three main versions of Firefox now: the release version for mainstream users, the beta version with new features under testing, and the most raw, Aurora, a version to introduce those new features. Those three versions correspond to Chrome's stable, beta, and dev releases. There's also a nightly Firefox build for those who want to try whatever patches have arrived in the last 24 hours, but it's most likely to be unstable.

The new process means that whatever is done on a particular schedule can ship in the new version--a more calendar-focused process than feature-focused process. One goal of the approach is to reduce the penalty of missing a train, because with a rapid release cycle, another train should come to the station soon.

"The shift to a rapid release development cycle delivers cutting edge Firefox features, performance enhancements, security updates and stability improvements to users faster," Mozilla said in its blog post announcing the Firefox 5 beta. "After five weeks of testing on the Firefox Aurora channel, the next version of Firefox is ready for the beta channel."

Another feature in the new beta is the ability to switch among the various versions of Firefox by clicking "change" in the "About Firefox" dialog box.

Also arriving yesterday was a new beta of Firefox 4 for mobile devices, a version that adds support for a do-not-track technology Mozilla hopes Web sites will embrace to aid those who don't want their personal behavior or data recorded.

Mozilla also is experimenting with another idea that's all the rage, a minimalist user interface frame. Firefox 4 did away with some items, such as its menu bar, but an experiment called LessChrome HD does away with just about everything except tabs. (Chrome in this case refers to the user interface items, not Google's rival browser.) With LessChrome HD, user interface elements such as the address bar pop up when the mouse hovers in the appropriate location.

Chrome, which has long embodied the minimal-UI ethos, has a similar option called compact navigation under way that makes the address bar part of the tab, too, so that a few more precious pixels of Web page are visible. This cnav option is only available on Windows right now and isn't enabled by default.

With Web applications, it's important to show as much as possible--especially since those apps can come with their own user interfaces, such as navigation and menu bars. It's not yet clear yet just how much of the browser interface should be hidden, though; there's still plenty to do with a browser beyond clicking its tabs, and hiding the address bar by default would doubtless cause another round of griping from those who didn't like their menu bars and status bars disappearing, either.


Source : http://news.cnet.com/8301-30685_3-20064976-264.html

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Ballmer: Windows 8 is coming in 2012

Microsoft's next version of the Windows operating system, dubbed Windows 8, will debut in 2012, company CEO Steve Ballmer said Monday.

Ballmer made the announcement in Tokyo, speaking to an audience of software developers. Observers had been expecting the next version of Windows next year, but this is the first time that the company has officially confirmed the 2012 date.

Ballmer told the developers, "as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming," according to a transcript of his speech posted to Microsoft's website.

"As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors," he added.

This is also the first time Microsoft has officially confirmed the Windows 8 name.

A 2012 release date would put Windows 8 about three years behind Windows 7, which came out in July 2009. Microsoft expects to sell more than 350 million copies of Windows 7 this year, and the company has traditionally relied on new versions of its operating system to spur sales.

The OS is expected to have an updated user interface and will support low-power ARM chips, a move designed to give Microsoft a fighting chance in the emerging tablet computing market.

More details on the upcoming version of Windows could materialize at the upcoming D: All Things Digital conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, next week. Microsoft's Windows division president, Steven Sinofsky, is slated to speak there.

Source: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216957/Ballmer_Windows_8_is_coming_in_2012

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HTC ThunderBolt vs. HTC EVO 4G: Battle of the Flagship Android Smartphones

Sometimes you choose a phone rather than a carrier -- you want the best possible phone for your needs, and are willing to sign a contract with whichever one has the perfect device for you. That's why we're comparing 4G phones offered by two different carriers.

In one corner we have the HTC EVO 4G from Sprint, which was the first 4G phone to be available to the general public. In the other corner, we have the HTC ThunderBolt, the first 4G phone available from Verizon. At first glance these devices are almost identical, so the key is to focus on the small details that can end up making a big difference.

BUILD & DESIGN

On the design front, the Evo 4g and the ThunderBolt are very similar, with only minor cosmetic differences. Both devices are mainly black, with the entire design dominated by the large Touchscreen display. They are almost identical in size and shape. The EVO measures 4.8-inches tall and 2.6-inches wide, which is very slightly taller and thicker than the ThunderBolt's 4.75-inches tall and 2.44-inch width.

Both have a built-in kickstand, which is great for hands-off viewing, However it only works in landscape on the Sprint EVO 4G, The ThunderBolt's kickstand is new and improved, and works well in both portrait and landscape mode.

Display and Keyboard

Both devices have a 4.3-inch display running at 480 x 800 resolution, so in this area it's virtually a dead heat. The only advantage goes to the Sprint EVO 4G, which has an HDMI video-out port that can be used to show videos on a compatible TV.

The same is true of the keyboard, since neither phone has a physical QWERTY keyboard. No matter which one you choose, you'll be using the on-screen virtual keyboard for all of your data entry needs.

PERFORMANCE

Performance is another close call, with the EVO 4G and the ThunderBolt each featuring a 1GHz processor. Both phones are quick and responsive, without a great deal of waiting time when launching apps or switching between them.
Both run Android OS 2.2 and an upgrade to OS 2.3 for each of these smartphones is expected in the coming weeks, so this is another tie.

Call Quality

The ThunderBolt is the clear winner here, with crystal clear voice quality. When I tested this model, some of my callers couldn't even tell I was on a mobile phone, which was unfortunately not the result I got while using the Sprint EVO 4G. Voice quality ratings were decidedly mixed, and I didn't experience any major problems but my callers had a hard time hearing me, because of interference from background noise.

Productivity and Entertainment

This is another dead heat, since the EVO 4G and the Thunderbolt are essentially the same device when it comes to apps and basic capabilities. Each one includes Quickoffice for working with Microsoft Office files, plus Google Maps for navigation.

The other included apps are basically determined by the carrier, so the EVO 4G has Sprint Navigation while the Thunderbolt has VZW Navigator, for example. The ThunderBolt has a lot more pre-loaded apps than the EVO 4G, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Some of those apps, like the demo for Let's Golf 2, cannot be removed without actually rooting the device and doing some pretty advanced customization. If you're looking for slick and streamlined in the app department, the EVO 4G is the clear winner in this category.

Battery and Camera

Battery life on both devices is a concern, because the price you pay for that blazing fast 4G speed is a power-hungry phone. Both the EVO 4G and the ThunderBolt really eat the battery away quickly, though the EVO 4G gets the slight edge in this category.

The EVO 4G was able to last through a day of use without dying by mid-afternoon, while the ThunderBolt died a couple of times before I got home from work. The EVO 4G also makes it a little easier to turn off the 4G wireless during those times that battery conservation is more important than fast web browsing.

Both devices have similar cameras -- 8 megapixels on the rear and 1.3 megapixels on the front for video calling. They both take very good photos, focusing quickly so that you won't miss a shot. The ThunderBolt has a slight edge here because the camera controls are easier to manipulate, as compared to the EVO 4G. On the ThunderBolt you can quickly access special coloring effects, and the flash handles low light situations a bit better, with less grainy results.
Price

Since the EVO 4G has been around for a little while, it is currently available for $200 with a new two-year contract as opposed to the ThunderBolt, which will set you back $250 with a contract. Whether or not the $50 savings is enough to consider the EVO 4G is a question that only you can answer, especially given the EVO's shortcomings when it comes to voice quality.

THE WINNER

Even though the competition was neck-and-neck in several of the categories, I have to give the nod to Verizon's HTC ThunderBolt. That's the device I'd pick if I were buying a new phone, because it's hard to argue with the latest and greatest, and because the Verizon network does seem to be stronger in my area.

Having said that, the EVO 4G is a strong competitor and certainly should not be overlooked. It's $50 less expensive, has a HDMI out, and isn't as loaded with extra apps that I wouldn't use. The camera quality is about the same, though voice quality isn't quite as good. For the bargain conscious consumer, however, the Evo 4g is a worthy competitor.

The bottom line is that these phones are so close that it truly can go either way, so it's best to evaluate what your top priorities are in a mobile device. Add in the carrier rate plans and coverage available in your area, and you'll come out with a clear winner.

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Android vs. iOS: Developers face off

In mobile computing, two platforms have emerged as dominant choices: Apple's iOS, which runs on the iPad and iPhone, and Google's Android, deployed on a variety of systems, including Motorola Mobility's Xoom tablet. For developers and users, the two platforms each offer distinct differences both technically and in their app store strategies.

Developers are lining up in the respective iOS and Android camps, citing enterprise and developer benefits ranging from multivendor support for Android to more maturity for iOS. Although some IT shops and developers are sure to back both platforms, pronounced differences between the two mean there can be no attitude that they're both the same when it comes to developing apps.

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Android, iOS vie for customers, and developers are watching carefully Android's multivendor strategy, as opposed to the Apple-only availability of iOS, could lead to it capturing the enterprise, similar to how Windows won out on the desktop, says Robert Mac Hale, project evangelist at Lingo-Bingo.com, where he is helping develop a mobile application development framework: "Within five years, Android should go farther [in adoption] than iOS by a large margin."

To help make this happen, Google may need to cooperate with Microsoft to ensure interoperability between Android and Microsoft Exchange, he says. "As I inventory complaints from iPhone users transitioning to Android, the Outlook sync problem is at the top of the list. Imagine someone entrenched in Outlook without Exchange Server: Their calendar and contacts contain a map of their personal life and business relationships," which is often lost due to Android's lack of support for Exchange security features.

Also, Apple's insistence on keeping Adobe's popular Flash Player rich Internet plug-in off of iOS devices helps Android, Mac Hale says. "I know people who moved from iPhone to Android solely for Flash. Flash support on Android is a make-or-break purchasing decision for many users. Many content providers build streaming video around Flash. And iPads cannot access this live webcast content," he says.

But Aaron Hillegass, CEO of programming contractor Big Nerd Ranch, sees iOS having the advantage: "Enterprise IT departments are overwhelmed not by technical problems but by the needs of nontechnical users. iOS's better user experience means that an iOS app can be used by less-savvy users with little or no training."

As for Flash, Hillegass describes it as a "weak technology" that will be replaced by an open standard like HTML5 anyway. "If there is any downside to not supporting Flash, it will disappear soon."

Developer opportunities for mobile apps center on Android and iOS Dice.com, which runs a job board for technology professionals, is finding growing demand for both iOS and Android development skills. The number of positions mentioning iPhone is up 166 percent this year, to 1,035 postings; Android postings are up 266 percent, to 1,160, says Alice Hill, Dice.com's managing director.

"You have a pretty big jump from the previous year, but there's a scarcity in terms of the number of people who have those [development skills]," Hill says. Dice.com has about 1 million résumés in its database, but only 1.6 percent mention iPhone skills and 1.2 percent cite Android. "There's just not a lot of talent out there."

Android's advantages for developers Android offers an easier application development experience, Mac Hale contends. "If I build an iPhone app, that's no different than building a Windows app with Visual C++. It's just a painful, very laborious process. If I build an Android app today, it's like building a Web page with HTML, JavaScript, and SQL. It has very-rapid-development languages."
The Java-oriented Android, Mac Hale says, offers a rapid development environment whereas iOS does not.

iOS's advantages for developers "Good programmers prefer iOS," Hillegass says. "Most iOS development is done in Objective-C, which is a very dynamic and loosely typed language. This means that a good programmer can do amazing things." By committing to Objective-C instead of Java or Flash, Apple is attracting the best and brightest, he argues.

Hillegass adds, "Besides the flexibility of Objective-C, iOS has a more mature API, better documentation, and better tools." Plus, "iOS runs native code, whereas Android runs on a virtual machine," he says. "Thus far, this has been an advantage for iOS. Even Android devices with faster CPUs feel slower than their iOS counterparts."

Android also suffers from fragmentation, with many versions of the OS on the market. "Anybody can do anything they want, which leads to confusion," says Sujith Kumar, the iPhone-using CTO of the virtualization business unit at Quest Software and a former developer. By contrast, Apple keeps its various devices updated in lockstep to a common OS version.

Google's open app store versus Apple's highly controlled app store In their approaches to application stores, Apple and Google also part ways on strategy -- and that matters to developers. With the Android Market, developers pay a one-time $25 registration fee, then upload away. For Apple's App Store, developers submit their applications under Apple's guidelines and hope the application is accepted.

Alex Ly, a developer at the U.S. Army Geospatial Center, is working with Android instead of iOS. "One of the reasons we chose Android to develop is because it's much easier and more flexible to develop apps for the Google marketplace," he says. The strict conditions of Apple's SDK license so far have received a thumbs-down from his employer: "Our legal department looked at it and wouldn't allow us to sign."

But not all developers view such stringent control as a bad thing. "We're all afraid of Steve Jobs as the dictator who controls the one and only iOS app store, but the good news is we have a dictator," Hillegass says. Even Mac Hale gives Apple a nod: "I think that the value of the Apple business model is the safety of the customer," noting that Apple's approach keeps out spyware and such.

Android's platform, by contrast, is built to be open, Mac Hale says. Applications can be loaded that are not from the Android Marketplace, if the user enables it in their device's settings. But that openness brings its own issues. The Android Market confuses users with matters such as having some pricing based in euros, says Jay Freeman, the creator of the iPhone jailbreaking technology and the Cydia app store for jailbreak apps. "There's a lot of barriers to people actually making purchases in that store," he adds. There's also a problem of malware apps masquerading as legitimate apps in the unregulated Android Market.

But Freeman notes that Android users have another option: Amazon.com's Android application store, the Amazon Appstore for Android. It's an attempt to apply Amazon's expertise in user experience and online purchasing to Android offerings. Although Freeman says Apple understands how people want to make purchases and how to make it easier for them, the lack of an open ecosystem for iOS prevents innovation at the market's pace.

Both platforms are already winners in the marketplace Although differences are clear in the Android and iOS platforms and strategies, developers are likely to choose one or both of these platforms as their first deployment choices because they are the most successful in the market. Enterprises are already seeing employees adopt these two brands of devices. All others -- including Windows Phone and RIM's BlackBerry -- are sure to get lower priority.
"Developers will support whichever mobile operating systems are used by the most people," says Mike Gualtieri, an analyst at Forrester Research. "The technical differences don't matter. Adoption matters."

Source : http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216918/Android_vs._iOS_Developers_face_off?taxonomyId=11&pageNumber=1

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Facebook denies privacy breach allegations by Symantec

Facebook today denied that it may have accidentally exposed personal user data to advertisers and other third parties for several years, as claimed this week by two security researchers at Symantec Corp.
The researchers in a blog post Tuesday noted that a Facebook programming error -- since fixed -- could have allowed advertisers to access member profiles, photographs and chat messages and to post messages and mine personal data from them.
According to Symantec, the leaks stemmed from a faulty API used by developers of Facebook applications. It caused "hundreds of thousands" of Facebook applications to accidentally expose the so-called access tokens that are granted by users to Facebook applications. "Each token or 'spare key' is associated with a select set of permissions, like reading your wall, accessing your friend's profile, posting to your wall, etc.," the researchers said.
Any third party or advertiser associated with an application developer that had used the faulty API would have had access to the tokens, allowing them to perform whatever actions the tokens allowed. While it's unclear how many advertisers even knew what was going on, the potential repercussions of the data leaks are "far and wide," Symantec claimed.
But Facebook downplayed the issue and argued that Symantec's report has a "few inaccuracies."
"We appreciate Symantec raising this issue and we worked with them to address it immediately," Facebook spokeswoman Malorie Lucich said in an emailed comment. But, "specifically, no private information could have been passed to third parties, and the vast majority of tokens expire within two hours," she said.
"The report also ignores the contractual obligations of advertisers and developers, which prohibit them from obtaining or sharing user information in a way that violates our policies," Lucich said.
She added that Facebook has no evidence of information being used in a way that violates company policies. "We take any potential issue seriously and quickly took steps to prevent this from happening again."
A Symantec spokesman this afternoon said the company still believes its original report is accurate, but did not comment further.
Kevin Haley, director at Symantec security response said that while it's likely that third-parties had not noticed the leak, it would be hard to say for sure whether someone noticed it and took advantage of it.
The issue is unlikely to improve Facebook's already battered reputation on the privacy front. The company has been at the center of numerous privacy related issues over the past couple of years.
Last October, for instance, the company found itself in the middle of a major firestorm after the Wall Street Journal reported that several popular Facebook applications such as FarmVille, Texas HoldEm Poker and FrontierVille had been secretly sending user information to advertisers.
Last year, the company was also hit with a lawsuit after some members claimed that changes the company made to its privacy settings made it even harder for users to control access to their personal data.
"This breach does not surprise me, because I've seen its like before in Facebook and in other Web sites [and] platforms," said Chris Palmer, technology director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "Although this bug might quite likely be an accident, it is not the first of its kind in Facebook."
Providing advertisers with detailed profiles of Facebook users has been part of Facebook's business model, he said. "Therefore we can expect for this kind of security failure to arise again," he said. "The business model requires Facebook to walk a fine line between keeping advertisers happy and not angering too many users."
Jeffrey Chester, executive director of the Center for Digital Democracy (CDD), said Facebook is working with a growing list of third parties who are in the business of collecting Facebook user information. "The company has the data collection for ad targeting spigot turned on -- so it's not a surprise that user information is leaking out to the others," Chester said.
"Facebook needs more than a digital plumbing job -- it needs to put a privacy policy in place that allows its members to actually control their information," Chester said.

Read More : www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216629/Facebook_denies_privacy_breach_allegations_by_Symantec?taxonomyId=84&pageNumber=1

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Google engineers deny Chrome hack exploited browser's code

Several Google security engineers have countered claims that a French security company found a vulnerability in Chrome that could let attackers hijack Windows PCs running the company's browser.
Instead, those engineers said the bug Vupen exploited to hack Chrome was in Adobe's Flash, which Google has bundled with the browserfor over a year.
Google's official position, however, has not changed since Monday, when Vupen announced it had successfully hacked Chrome by sidestepping not only the browser's built-in "sandbox" but also by evading Windows 7's integrated anti-exploit technologies.
"The investigation is ongoing because Vupen is not sharing any details with us," a Google spokesman said today via email.
But others who work for Google were certain that at least one of the flaws Vupen exploited was in Flash's code, not Chrome's.
"As usual, security journalists don't bother to fact check," said Tavis Ormandy, a Google security engineer, in a tweet earlier today. "Vupen misunderstood how sandboxing worked in Chrome, and only had a Flash bug."
"It's a legit pwn, but if it requires Flash, it's not a Chrome pwn," tweeted Chris Evans, a Google security engineer and Chrome team lead, using the security-speak term for compromising an application or computer.
Justin Schuh, whose LinkedIn account also identifies him as a Google security engineer, chimed in with, "No one is saying it's not a legit exploit. The point is that it's not the exploit [Vupen] claimed."
When asked to confirm the source of the vulnerabilities it exploited, Vupen was blunt in its refusal to share any information.
"We will not help Google in finding the vulnerabilities," said Chaouki Bekrar, Vupen's CEO and head of research, in an email reply to questions. "Nobody knows how we bypassed Google Chrome's sandbox except us and our customers, and any claim is a pure speculation."
Last year, Vupen changed its vulnerability disclosure policies when it announced it would no longer report bugs to vendors -- as do many researchers -- but instead would reveal its work only to paying customers.
Today's Twitter back-and-forth between Google's engineers and Bekrar grew heated at times.

"When it comes to critical vulnerabilities, all software vendors/devs (including Google) always try to downplay the findings," Bekrar said on Twitter.
"I was thinking something similar about researchers who inflate their accomplishments," Schuh replied, also on Twitter, to Bekrar.
The point made by Ormandy, Evans and Schuh was that Vupen didn't exploit a bug in Chrome's own code, but in Flash, which has been partially sandboxed in the stable version of the browser since early March 2011.
While the Google engineers seemed to acknowledge that a bug in Flash was involved in Vupen's exploit, they also defended the sandbox technology -- meant to isolate Flash from the rest of the computer -- even as it apparently failed to prevent an attack.
"The Flash sandbox blog post went to pains to call it an initial step," said Evans. "It protects some stuff, more to come. Flash sandbox [does not equal] Chrome sandbox."
The blog Evans referred to was published in December 2010, where Schuh and another Google developer, Carlos Pizano said, "While we've laid a tremendous amount of groundwork in this initial sandbox, there's still more work to be done."
Chrome's Flash sandbox is currently available only in the Windows version of the browser; Google has promised to implement it in the Mac and Linux editions, but has not yet done so.
While Bekrar later hinted that Vupen's exploit did leverage a Flash vulnerability, he said the attack code also took advantage of at least one other bug. "[Chrome's] built-in plug-ins such as Flash are launched inside the sandbox which was created by Google, so finding and exploiting a Flash or a WebKit vulnerability will fall inside the sandboxes and will not circumvent it," he wrote. "A sandbox bypass exploit is still required."
Chrome has a reputation as a secure browser, in large part because of its sandbox technology. Chrome is the only browser to have escaped unscathed at the last three Pwn2Own hacking contests, the annual challenge hosted by the CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, British Columbia, and sponsored by HP TippingPoint's bug bounty program.
In March 2011, no one took on Chrome at Pwn2Own, even though Google had offered a $20,000 prize to the first researcher who hacked the browser and its sandbox.


Read More : www.computerworld.com/s/article/9216627/Google_engineers_deny_Chrome_hack_exploited_browser_s_code

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GECKO WEB ENGINE ADALAH

Gecko adalah web engine yang dikembangkan Mozilla Corporation, Yang dikenal sebagai web engine web browser Firefox, web engine ini ditulis menggunakan bahasa C yang memungkinkan berjalan di semua platform system operasi seperti platform Windows 95, 98, 2000, XP dan Mac dan Linux OS. Web engine ini berfungsi untuk membaca text HTML,Javascript,web content,rendering di dalam layar pengguna. Gecko mampu mengembangkan berbagai aplikasi berbasis API seperti web browsers, content presentation, and client/server

Pengembangan web engine Gecko sekarang dikenal sebagai Netscape dimulai pada tahun 1997, setelah membeli dari perusahaan DigitalStyle. Pengembangan web engine sekarang dikenal sebagai Gecko dimulai pada Netscape di Tahun 1997. Web engine yang ada di Netscape, awalnya ditulis pada Netscape Navigator 1.0 dan ditingkatkan selama bertahun-tahun, secara luas dianggap lebih rendah daripada yang digunakan di Microsoft Internet Explorer. Dan akhirnya pada tahun 1998 dibangunlah Firefox dengan lisensi GNU. Dan sekarang sudah mendapat sambutan yang positif dari masyarakat apalagi dengan berkembangnya open source didunia. Nama asli untuk mesin ini adalah Raptor dan kemudian NG Layout, keduanya berubah karena masalah merek dagang.

Gecko digunakan di web browser, terutama Firefox. Hal ini juga digunakan di web browser Mozilla turunan lainnya seperti Camino, Flock, SeaMonkey, K-Meleon, Netscape dan versi Internet Explorer yang berjalan di bawah Wine . Software image viewing Google Picasa (untuk Linux) juga berdasarkan Gecko. Devhelp, sebuah GTK + / GNOME browser untuk dokumentasi API, menggunakan Gecko untuk rendering docs.

Gecko menggunakan Cairo untuk melakukan rendering grafis. Cairo sendiri juga ditulis menggunakan bahasa pemrograman C namun dimungkinkan untuk pengembangan menggunakan bahasa pemrograman yang lain. Dengan adanya Cairo maka memperbanyak dukungan grafis termasuk font ke dalam web browser yang menggunakan Gecko.

Gecko memiliki sebuah fasilitas bernama XUL. XUL sendiri merupakan redering user interface framework yang berbasis XML XUL masih digunakan untuk membuat user interface dan juga fasilitas lain yang ada di Firefox seperti Extention dan Add-ON.

Selain itu Gecko juga menggunakan sebuah komponen yang diberi nama XPCOM. XPCOM ini adalah sebuah modular berkemapuan tinggi dan melakukan compiling pada web engine Gecko ini. Namun pada kenyataanya XPCOM ini membutuhkan resource pada computer yang besar apalagi XUL juga membutuhkan resource yang besar pula. Sehinnga pada pengembangan Firefox 4 yang menggunakan Gecko versi 2.o XPCOM ini mulai di bersihkan dalam web engine tersebut. Karena jelas tujuanya untuk membuat Firefox bisa berjalan dengan resource yang rendah

Fasilitas Standart yang di support Gecko

§ HTML4 (partial support for HTML5)

§ CSS Level 2.1 (partial support for CSS 3)^[4]

§ JavaScript 1.8 (ECMAScript 3, and partial support for ECMAScript 5), implemented in SpiderMonkey

§ DOM Level 1 and 2 (partial support for DOM 3)

§ XML 1.0

§ XHTML 1.0

§ XSLT and XPath, implemented in TransforMiiX

§ MathML

§ XForms (via an official extension)

§ RDF

§ Supports SVG 1.1

§ Supports DOCTYPE switching

Gecko merupakan web engine yang popular saat ini. Dengan segala fasilitas yang dimilikinya web ini mampu menarik minat para pengembang web browser untuk menggunakan web engine ini. Gecko memiliki kelebihan dalam menerjemahkan text dengan lebih cepat dan dukungan terhadapa berbagai jenis font yang ada, selain itu Gecko juga mendukung doctype switching. Namun Gecko memiliki beberapa kekurangan yaitu memerlukan pengalokasian memori computer yang besar saat menjalankannya. Namun Gecko terus dikembangkan agar tetap berjalan dengan resource yang rendah namun dengan kinerja yang tinggi.

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