Tech News Today 317

Tech News Today Episode 317

Tech News Today 317: Best Dead Platform Ever

Google speeds up the Internet, Windows kills off optical disks, Apple can't handle the beta, and more.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com

Hosts

• Tom Merritt (@acedtect)
  • TomMerritt.com
• Sarah Lane (@sarahlane)
  • SarahLane.com
• Iyaz Akhtar
  • thisoldnerd.finitecomedy.com
• Jason Howell (@raygun01)
  • JasonHowell.net
• Molly Wood
  • Buzz Out Loud Podcast

Topics

• OpenDNS and Google team to speed up the web
  • Google (Public DNS) and OpenDNS and several CDNs: Global Internet Speed Up. Code implemented today.
  • CDNs *usually* route based on address of DNS seerver
  • Internet Speed Up attaches a bit of requestors IP address to DNS request so CDN can deliver from a server near requestor
  • Standard has been submitted to IETF but not yet reatified
  • IP address seen in a typical HTTP request, so no extra privacy implication
  • Among CDNs, Edgecast, Contendo and BitGravity are on board but not Akamai and Limelight yet.

• Windows 8 To Natively Support ISO and VHD Mounting
  • Rajeev Nagar of the Windows 8 Storage & File Systems team has detailed --Windows 8 will mount ISOs (and VHD)
  • Feature will be built into Windows 8 ribbon
  • Sets up installs nicely for tablets and laptops without optical drives
  • Can also backup discs and then mount them from a drive without having to find the disc (though no native creation of ISOs, you can still do that the old fashioned way)
  • Explorer will treat them visuallya s discs including an eject button
  • One graphic shows Office as an ISO"

• Apple temporarily closes iTunes Match sign-ups
• Apple explains: iTunes Match beta "streaming" isn't streaming at all
• Apple’s Cloud Still Isn’t Streaming
  • Apple opened iTunes match to developers last night then closed it this morning
  • Apple replaced the sign-up tools with a note saying "iTunes Match beta testing has begun with an initial set of developers," and that "over the next days, we will continue to expand our testing. Please check back later to subscribe."
  • Reports from some people indicated tunes streamed to devices, Apple told AllThingsD theat they do not technically stream, but play while downloading. Clever.

Discussion Stories

• HP says prefers to spin off PC unit
• HP executive says PC business to remain world No.1
• Hewlett Packard Prefers To Spin Off PC Unit
  • An HP Spokesman told Reuters “We prefer a spin-off as a separate company and the working hypotheses is that a spin-off will be in the best interests of HP’s shareholders, customers and employees,”
  • Tom Bradley still in line to lead spun-off group. “My intention would be to lead it through this transaction…and if it’s a standalone public company, to lead that,” he told Reuters, adding “A standalone company could and will do what’s most required to drive value for shareholders and partners.”
  • Bradley said ""Tablet computing is a segment of the market that's relevant, absolutely,"" he said, without elaborating. Todd Bradley told Reuters in an interview he intends to lead any standalone company created, and expects it to be a full-fledged computer maker spanning tablets, ultra-thin and all-in-one PCs.

• HP's Dead TouchPad Claims No. 2 Best-Selling Tablet Spot
• HP leaves TouchPad Go suppliers adrift with parts for 100K tablets
• HP update to boost TouchPad 'functionality'
• More TouchPads on the Way
  • Mark Budgell on HP TheNextBench blog said HP will produce one last run of TouchPads to meet unfulfilled demand. Don't know how many.
  • HP will be manufacturing a limited quantity of TouchPads with webOS during our fourth fiscal quarter 2011, which ends October 31.
  • "We expect that HP TouchPad owners can look forward to an over-the-air update that will enhance the platform and add functionality and a growing applications catalog," an HP spokesperson told CNET - HP also said that it is seeing "huge spikes in activations and between 3-5X downloads of apps"
  • And HP continues to offer free apps. Today, it announced another "six pack" of free apps, including Angry Birds Rio HD and FlightPredictor HD.
  • Suppliers had been building inventory to create the HP TouchPad Go when HP discontinued it. HP Taiwan pointed out will maintain its promise to the partners.
  • Trip Chowdhry, an analyst Global Equities Research believes HP's intial order was for between 500,000 to one million units. So if it continues to sell out it could be the number 2 selling tablet.

"Hi TNT Crew,

HP emailed me today (in response to signing up for notification of Touchpad availability). They now say "we know it will be at least a few weeks before we have a limited quantity available again"" and offered a 25% discount through tomorrow on ""all printers, ink, HP accessories, and PCs starting at or above $599".

Love the show!

Thanks, Steve Brooks"

• Google Says Gmail Attack Focused on Iranian Targets
• Hackers stole Google SSL certificate, Dutch firm admits
• World ostracizes firm that issued bogus Google credential
  • Yesterday evening Google posted in response to the MITM attack saying the people afected were primarily in Iran (possibly presented to users of ParsOnline and other Iranian ISPs)
  • Chrome users were protected against the DigiNotar certificate because it checks the issuer.
  • Chrome and Firefox and Windows are no longer accepting DigiNotar issued certs
  • DigiNotar admitted it had been hacked a month ago (noticed on July 19 cert issued for google.com on July 10) and thought it had revoked all stolen certs

News Fuse

• Jawbone introduced a new bluetooth headset called the Icon HD along with a USB adapter called the Nerd. Instead of having pair and unpair a headset to multiple devices, the combo would allow you to pair to a phone and a computer at the same time. So you'd be able to answer listen to answer a Skype call on your PC or your phone with one solution. ThisIsMyNext says the Icon HD and Nerd aren't perfect, but it's a good idea.

• RAM is about to get a whole lot cheaper according to IHS iSuppli analysts. They base their claim on basic economics - there's going to be an oversupply which will drive prices down by almost 25%. This is good news for consumers, but RAM makers may be crying because the prices will be close to cost. IHS iSuppli says the price drop will happen in the third quarter of this year.

• Google just got hit with a derivative suit - that's not a math-based lawsuit - it's when a shareholder sues a company in which it holds stock. Patricia McKenna says that Google breached its fiduciary duty in not including revenue made from those Canadian drug ads in its financial statements. The suit also claims that Google should have known it was illegal for pharmacies outside the US to ship prescription drugs into the U.S. There's no information on how much McKenna is looking for in damages.

• Google's search results will be getting a human touch because Google has confirmed that it will study the clicks of +1 buttons and those clicks will influence its search results. In a statement to Wired.com, a spokesperson said that the +1 button will be one of more than 200 signals that Google uses, so don't expect search results to be gamed by people clicking that button.

• Facebook recently introduced that it would pay out a bounty to people who find security bugs at the start of this month. So far, Facebook has paid out $40,000 in bounties. Facebook pays out $500 as a base payment for a security bug, but pays more for the discovery of major flaws - so it's hard to tell how many bugs have been found already.

• Zite, the personalized news reader for iPad which is sort of like Flipboard, but supposed to be smarter was just purchased by CNN. AllThingsD reports that the acquisition cost $20 to $25 million, but CNN did not mention the purchase price in its official statement. Zite will be a wholly owned subsidiary of CNN and be a separate business.

• Looks like Groupon and LivingSocial are the big dogs in the deal world right now. First Facebook closed out its deals program, now Yelp is also stepping away from is deal service. Yelp is cutting its Yelp Deals staff in half, but that staff will be relocated in other divisions of the company. Whose deals biz will go bust next?

• Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi will combine their LCD making efforts according to Yomiuri Shimbun. The deal doesn't cover big-screen manufacturing, only small and medium sizes that find their way into phones and tablets. Is this a trend? Samsung Electronics also plans to reduce its monthly television panel output by fourth-fifths by the end of this year and convert some of the lines to produce displays used in tablets and notebooks.
  • Samsung Elec to cut TV LCD output sharply: report

• Two Pirate Bay founders launched a new one-click download site Bayfiles. Unlike The Pirate Bay, Bayfiles will directly host the content but will provide no search function; users must have a specific download URL to retrieve material. The Hong Kong based company will respect any copyrighted files brought to its attention, removing them from the site and banning all re-uploads of the identical content.

Randomizer

• New body 'liquefaction' unit unveiled in Florida funeral home

Calendar

• Samsung Launches Bada Phones with ChatOn Service
• Samsung made its announcement today and it's about the Galaxy S II - Sprint, AT&T & T-Mobile getting the phone. Screen sizes will vary, but Sprint gets the epically named "Sprint Galaxy S II Epic 4G Touch" phone.
• Canadia rejoice! Samsung Galaxy S II LTE heads to Rogers for 4G fall debut
• T-Mobile BlackBerry Bold 9900 available tomorrow August 31st
• LG Thrill 4G will arrive on September 4th, AT&T confirms
• Sprint's ‘Strategy Update’ is happening on October 7th, likely to detail 4G plans

Email

"Hey TNT, Michael (allegedly) from Ottawa Canada. I'm really confused over people's problem with anonymity and Google's policy against it. if your name is ""Sarah Lane"" and you want to be anonymous on Google+, why not say your name is ""Tom Merritt"" or be creative and call yourself ""Larah Sane""? It's pretty easy to make up a name that sounds real enough for Google.

Love the show, Michael (allegedly)"

"Shame on you Sarah and Tom. I just listened to last Friday's show and your report on GameStop offering a $50 gift card for people who had the free coupon to OnLive removed from their copy Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Tom asked "Can you still get it if you actually received your coupon." and Sarah responds with, AND I QUOTE... "Well you just say 'I never got a coupon.' That's what you do." And Tom agrees "Yup."

I couldn't believe my ears! Are you really promoting lying? Should we all just go out and get any free deal we can even if we're not entitled to it? I'd be curious to check your hard drives and see just how many free songs and movies you have downloaded. Tisk, tisk, tisk. Someone should call your mothers. Or Leo.

Signed,

Biocow"

Sponsors

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Production Information

• Edited by: Jeff
• Notes:

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