Tech News Today 382

Tech News Today Episode 382

Tech News Today 382: It's Not On Fire

Remotely set a printer on fire, use Google Maps to escape from Ikea's labyrinthe, Facebook apologises profusely, 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 (@Iyaz)
  • thisoldnerd.finitecomedy.com
• Jason Howell (@raygun01)
• Patrick Beja
  • patrickbeja.com

Top Stories

• Facebook settles with FTC, under privacy watch for 20 years
• In Response To FTC Privacy Settlement, Facebook Splits The Chief Privacy Officer Role In Two
• Complaints and Remedies
• Zuckerberg's blog post on the matter
• FTC Slaps Facebook’s Hand Over Privacy Deception
  • As expected FTC approved settlement with Facebook. All privacy changes must be opt-in and Faceook agrees to 20 years of audits (first in 180 days, every 2 years thereafter). And bars Facebook from making any further deceptive privacy claims, prevent access to deleted accounts within 30 days.
  • December 2009 and spring 2010 changes triggered investigation. (charges that it deceived users and gave out more information than necessary to third parties, including app developers,)
  • Mark Zuckerberg wrote a blog post admitting the messed up with Beacon and the privacy changes. ""But we can also always do better. I'm committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy,"" Zuckerberg said.
  • Erin Egan will become chief privacy officer of policy, and current Chief Privacy Counsel Michael Richter will become chief privacy officer of products.
  • Decision passed unanimously into public comment period. Could still be altered.
  • Could be fined $16,000 per violation per day.

• WSJ: Facebook considering IPO at $100 billion valuation for early 2012
• Facebook IPO coming next spring?
  • WSJ notes a $10 billion IPO being considered by FB
  • Bloomberg: current record holder Infineon Technologies AG, which launched at $5.23 billion in 1999.
  • WSJ claim that Facebook has already started discussions with the Securities and Exchange Commissions, although Mark Zuckerberg has yet to make any final decisions,
  • The filing reportedly could occur as early as this year, with shares making their debut on the market between April and June 2012.
  • CNET notes: Facebook expects to start filing public financial reports no later than April 30, 2012.

• HP printers can be remotely controlled and set on fire, researchers claim
  • Columbia University researchers Columbia PhD student Ang Cui and Professor Salvatore Stolfo discovered flaw in HP printers.
  • Steal personal info, attack networks - Could make the printer part of botnets. attack computers through USB connection
  • Reported to feds and HP this month
  • printers accept software updates without examining digital signatures, and check for updates each time they accept a print job
  • "In one demonstration of an attack based on the flaw, Stolfo and fellow researcher Ang Cui showed how a hijacked computer could be given instructions that would continuously heat up the printer’s fuser—which is designed to dry the ink once it’s applied to paper—eventually causing the paper to turn brown and smoke," A thermal sensor shut the printer down before it caught on fire.
  • HP Chief Technologist Keith Moore disputed claims saying since 2009 printers have required digitally signed and if the printer is behind a firewall it shouldn't have an issue. Researchers claim the vulnerable models are still in stores.

Discussion Stories

• Has Microsoft Missed The Boat With A Tablet OS? Forrester Says Yes
• Forrester: Consumer Interest In A Windows Tablet Tumbles But Still Leads Android
• Taiwanese PC vendors reportedly planning Windows 8 on ARM laptops for June 2013
  • In Q1, 46 percent of consumers said they would most of all prefer Microsoft’s OS on a tablet; today, that number has come down to 25 percent.
  • Apple increasing to 28 percent from 16 percent -- 61% considering buying an iPad
  • Android’s appeal gained some ground going from 9% in Q1 to 18% in Q3,
  • Microsoft called a "fifth mover" Apple, Samsung and RIM will release 2nd and 3rd gen tabs by Microsoft's debut
  • PaidContent notes in May Nielsen noted that tablet penetration in the U.S. was at less than five percent
  • Forrest found the optimal price point to be $308. Also state Windows 8 adoption should be good and can be leveraged. WinPhone not so much.
  • DigiTimes reports that sources from within notebook vendors have identified June 2013 as the launch window for new ARM-based Windows 8 laptops.

• Microsoft reportedly launching Office for iPad in 2012
• SkyDrive gets simple app-centric sharing for Office, powerful file management, HTML5 upload, other updates
• Microsoft issues first upgrade to Office 365
  • The Daily reporting MS Office launching for iOS in 2012
  • Office for iPad's price point also is rumored to be similar to iWork on iOS's $10 per app pricing.
  • The Daily claims a new Office for Mac will be coming out closer to the end of 2012, but the iPad apps are likely to launch much sooner.
  • SkyDrive update released today cleans up process of sharing docs from apps.
  • Microsoft has issued its first update to the Office 365 cloud portfolio, adding support for the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango release and Apple’s OS X Lion operating system, and updating storage and sharing services.

• Google Maps 6.0 for Android adds indoor maps, new Places homescreen
  • Google Maps for Android 6.0
  • indoor maps of select airports, malls, and retail stores in the US and Japan.
  • Mall of America, Chicago's O'Hare and Midway airports, San Francisco International, and various Macy's, Bloomingdale's, IKEA, and Home Depot locations.
  • if you're a business owner you can upload floor plans to get your location added as well.
  • new top menu element that allows you to quickly jump between features -- new Places homescreen that gathers relevant info about various restaurants, shops, and other establishments around you

News Fuse

• Chanel doesn't need SOPA apparently. US Federal Judge Kent Dawson in Nevada ordered 700 domain names seized, transferred to GoDaddy, redirected to a page indicating they had been seized. Additionally he has ordered alls earch engines and social networks to de-index any links to the sites. Apparently Judge Dawson believes he has jurisdiction over the entire Internet.

• The New York Times reports that a consortium is interested in buying a minority stake of Yahoo. Silver Lake, Microsoft and venture capital firm Andreesen Horowitz are some of the big players in that consortium. AllThingsD reports that Mark Andreesen is contemplating a position as an executive chairman depending on whether his friend Jerry Yang is alright with such an arrangement. Andreesen is also reportedly concerned that no one could - not even himself - could turn Yahoo into a growth company.

• The New York Times reports that AT&T is in negotiations with Leap Wireless to sell some of T-Mobile's wireless spectrum and a large part of T-Mobile customer accounts to make the AT&T/T-Mobile merger happen. AT&T hopes this makes Leap large enough to be a viable competitor to put away the DOJ's antitrust concerns. If it works, AT&T gets to have T-Mobile's precious precious wireless spectrum. Oh, by the way, the Wall Street Journal reports that the FCC will allow AT&T to withdraw its merger application.
• WSJ: FCC will approve AT&T's withdrawal of T-Mobile deal

• RIM announced "BlackBerry Mobile Fusion," a new piece of security software that will allow iOS and Android devices to be managed the same way BlackBerrys are. Starting March 2012, IT admins will be able to remotely wipe, lock, and manage software and security settings with one interface. Sorry MeeGo fanboys, no support for you.

• Because we need everything neatly labelled, the CTIA and ESRB have created a new app rating system that will be backed by some major players like the big four wireless carriers in the U.S. and Microsoft. After an app is reviewed it will receive a rating similar to what you've already seen on video games. Apple and Google are not on board with this ratings scheme because they already have their own app ratings systems in place.

• Stop the presses, Apple is working on next generation iPhones and iPads - code from iOS 5.1 beta says so! The next iPhone is codenamed iPhone 5,1; the next Apple TV is codenamed J33. Much more interestingly in the beta is the inclusion of APIs that allow developers to hook into Siri so you may be able to speak to more apps in the near future. The update also looks to squash bugs and help out that battery life issue on iOS 5.
  • iOS 5.1 beta offers developers limited Siri integration

• A $15 USB tethering app popped into the Apple App Store this morning before being promptly booted out. The iTether app was available for around 7 hours and was the #1 top grossing app in the U.S. App Store. There's no official statement from the app developer or Apple on why it was allowed or booted - it just violated all kinds of app store and wireless carrier rules.

• Senior advisor to the European Court of Justice Yves Bot published an opinion saying that the functionality of a computer program cannot be protected by copyright because it would make "it possible to monopolize ideas…" Bot's opinion relates to a dispute between SAS and Wold Programming. While the opinion carries weight with the ECJ, it doesn't bind the court, which will make its final ruling next year. Either way it will have a huge impact on software rights in the EU.

• Amazon responded to Congress's concerns about user privacy revolving around its Silk browser. The company says that web addresses passed through Amazon's servers are held for 30 days, data will not be associated with individuals and SSL traffic won't go through its servers. Amazon also said it will not rent or sell the data it collects. Representative Ed Markey still is not satisfied saying he wants to know more details as to what Amazon will do with the data it collects.

Randomizer

• Staff to be banned from sending emails

Calendar

• "Lisa", the codename for an Ubuntu variant called Linux Mint has arrived. the distro has a new desktop that's based on GNOME 3.2, and Mint Gnome Shell Extensions customization. Also the default search engine is DuckDuckGo

• Verizon FiOS Customers Can Now Sign Up For the New Xbox 360 Service, Will Let You Control Live TV via Kinect, AKA your hands! Existing customers can call Verizon to add an Xbox to their current service. Along with Xbox Live Gold, you’ll also need to subscribe to both FiOS TV and FiOS Internet.

• Spotify makes it's big announcement tomorrow and AllThingsD thinks it will be the ability to let third-party developers tap into Spotify’s music library and make it available to their own users

• Nintendo posted a 3DS update to its site that says the firmware refresh promised by the end of November "is in the final stages of internal testing," and that it will be released by December 8th.

• Zynga's IPO roadshow reportedly begins Monday. that's when they parade around convincing people with money that they want, nay, need to buy shares.

INCOMING

Email

"I wish someone could tell me how it is that in Europe and many other parts of the world multiple carriers can use the same frequencies (850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100) and still exist and make money, while in the US the wireless telecoms feel they need to have separate bands from one another to compete.   I feel that the FCC should allow the ATT - T-Mobile acquisition, along with future spectrum auctions, under this condition:   All owners of the spectrum MUST be able to license out their frequencies to other carriers at a fair rate to other service providers. The other providers could piggyback on the owner's spectrum (like Virgin Mobile or SimpleMobile), or build out their own service, like MetroPCS.   Be neutral as to the type of data being used on the service (VOIP, Streaming Video, Gaming, etc) but allow the carrier to maintain their network under certain usage conditions.  

The carriers can still compete. Some will focus on the widespread network coverage, others will offer additional services, others will focus on low price and the accompanying lower quality of service. But anyone can switch to another provider without having to jump through hoops and throw away or slag off a 300-500 dollar phone if they want to move to a different service.   Is America the land of the free, or the land of the 'use what you want, when we let you use it'.   -- Steve Bank"

"Adopters may no longer use HDMI version numbers in the labeling, packaging, or promotion of any cable product. This is effective immediately for any references to the HDMI Specification Version 1.4, and Adopters have a one-year grace period for removing references to earlier versions of the HDMI specification when describing their cables."

http://www.hdmi.org/manufacturer/trademark_logo_pub.aspx

Tamahome"

"Hey TNT team, love the show, since day 1 (I'm a closet Tom Merritt fan, and have followed him since the early CNET days, he even read some of my emails back in the day)...anyway...I have some feedback for show 381 that can help you with two things!

You mentioned podcasting apps, and that Jason has to build a best of show. Well we have a podcasting app that lets you share a position in an episode with someone else. So people could scrub to their favourite bits, tap one button and send it straight to Jason! It's called 'Pocket Casts' and is available for both iOS and Android:

http://pocketcasts.com/

A lot of our users already listen to your show (we even featured it once) so just thought it might be a great way to help you build a best of, plus we'd love to spread the word, since we think it's better than the alternatives (iTunes, Instacast, Downcast, etc)

cheers,

Russell Developer and Co-founder"

Sponsors

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Production Information

• Edited by: Jeff
• Notes:

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