Google may be helping terrorists

United States' defense department has banned Google from capturing images of military facilities for its Street View feature on Google Maps after intimate pictures of Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas were discovered.

The department, in a statement, said that the offending snaps included "360-degree views of the covered area to include access control points, barriers, headquarters, facilities and community areas." This definitely poses threats to national security.

In a BBC interview, Google spokesman Larry Yu admitted that the drive-by recording of Fort Sam Houston had been "a mistake". He added that Google has "a compliant image removal policy - not only relative to the military but to consumers also", a reference to privacy concerns which last August led the search monolith to agree to obscure number plates and faces on request.

Microsoft really wants and needs the web

After an unsuccessful hostile takeover on Yahoo!, the world's largest software company tries its luck for web domination via the introduction of web-inspired products.

It has recently introduced Microsoft Office Live, a service that makes it more convenient for Microsoft Office users to use their paid for software over the Internet. Google already has Google Docs online and as a defense to being called a copycat, Microsoft says they are only trying to make it simpler for Microsoft Office users to extend the capabilities of their applications online. Well the concept is the same: users save their documents online for sharing and collaborative modification--basically the Google Docs concept.

Another development is Microsoft's introduction of the Silverlight platform in collaboration with Nokia. Silverlight is deemed as a competitor to Adobe's Flash and it will debut on Nokia's high end smart phones that run a Symbian operating system. The Silverlight platform is designed to enable web designers and developers to create rich web applications that are independent on browsers, operating systems, and handsets.

Email is dying?

Email is antiquated, it's backward, and everybody hates it. This seemed like a consensus on how email is for speakers and several participants at the Future of Web Apps conference.

According to Kevin Marks, Google engineer and Technorati veteran, e-mail is a "strange legacy idea."

"E-mail has died away for a group of users. For the younger generation, they don't use e-mail," he said, talking about the young Web users who have started to abandon e-mail for Facebook messaging and mobile texting. "They see it as this noisy spam-filled thing that annoys them every day...they see it as how you talk to the university, how you talk to the bank."

Likewise, WordPress founder Matt Mullenweg inferred that overwhelming volumes of spam were making Web users explore options other than e-mail.

Several industry players are aware of the decline of email popularity. Social networks, spams, and the introduction of new messaging services are some of the culprits. Nevertheless, email's death is something remotely possible (for me). It has been said that the younger generation relies on social networking websites for messaging. Well, how do users register in social networking websites in the first place? They'd need some email address of course! Email popularity may suffer some decline primarily in terms of usage frequency. It will not die too soon though--not even in the next couple of centuries.

Tech addiction is for real

One day we might need to build "tech rehabilitation centers."

Addiction to gadgets and other technological items is true and that's what one UK research intends to explore.
A small-scale study of 360 people led by Professor Nada Kakabadse of Northampton University suggested that up to a third were addicted to their gadgets or tech items. In the early stages of addiction, workers were often very productive, replying to e-mails and messages, but as time went on there were more serious consequences. Professor Kakabadse says some people are very anxious not having their gadgets next to them and it was often difficult to detect when someone had become an addict.

More details here.

Painting discs blu and kicking HD DVD some more

And so the Blu-Ray format wins.

Toshiba's HD DVD is down and the kicks keep coming. Now, even known partners and ardent supporters of the HD DVD format are swearing allegiance to the Blu-Ray.

Toshiba has already released an official statement stating the end of the road for the HD DVD. A day after this, Universal Pictures Digital adopted the Blu-Ray format along with various other companies and retailers.

Amazon.com announced that it will support Blu-Ray. Its statement says: “The high-definition landscape is rapidly changing … In order to best serve our customers, Amazon is recommending Blu-Ray as the preferred digital format and will continue to carry the ‘Earth’s Largest selection’ of Blu-Ray products.”

One week prior to Toshiba’s official announcement, Netflix announced preference for the Blu-Ray format. The company says: "There is absolutely nothing wrong with having one single format, as this would only ease the customer’s choice and bring clarity to the consumer. Netflix has offered both formats, ever since the beginnings of HD DVDs in 2006, but decided it is time to move on and look forward to what this change could mean for the adoption of high-definition in general."

Since the beginning of this year, a number of retailers already decided to adopt the Blu-Ray, including Woolworths and Wal-Mart. Toshiba lost as the Sony hot item rapidly becomes a market favorite.

Nevertheless, a few companies express ‘everlasting’ support for the HD DVD. LG said it will continue to develop players compatible with this format, despite Toshiba’s Tuesday announcement, in a statement issued to Pocket-lint: “LG believes that at this present moment in time, it is necessary to provide a player which supports both formats and therefore create simplicity and convenience for the existing HD DVD consumer.”

Yahoo! Bill, it's a no

Desperate Microsoft so badly wanted to give Google a toughie competition that it sent out an unsolicited offer to acquire Yahoo! for $31 per share. Everybody had their piece to say. The antitrust regulators were a factor. But Yahoo!'s Jerry Yang says it's a no.

Presented below is the text of an email sent by Yahoo Inc. CEO Jerry Yang to employees on Feb. 11. He explains the company's decision to rebuff Microsoft's buyout bid.

Subject: our board's decision

yahoos

as you'll see from the news release we issued today, our board of directors has reviewed microsoft's unsolicited proposal with yahoo!'s management, financial and legal advisors. after a careful evaluation, the board has unanimously concluded that the proposal is not in the best interests of yahoo! and our stockholders. of course, the board of directors is continuously evaluating all of its strategic options in the context of the rapidly evolving industry environment and we remain committed to pursuing initiatives that maximize value for stockholders.

we believe microsoft's proposal substantially undervalues yahoo!—including our highly recognizable global brand, large worldwide audience, significant recent investments in advertising platforms, future growth prospects, our ability to generate free cash flow and our earnings potential as well as substantial unconsolidated investments (like alibaba and yahoo! japan).

you deserve the credit for the tremendously valuable business we have built. all of us in management, as well as the members of the board, deeply appreciate and respect what you have done and continue to do in order to maintain and enhance yahoo!'s leadership position in the online world.

we have been very deliberate about the steps we are taking to position yahoo!. we are putting in place the pieces we need to accelerate growth by becoming a leading starting point for users and the must buy for advertisers. the global online advertising market is projected to grow from $45 billion in 2007 to $75 billion in 2010, and our more focused strategies position us to capture an even larger share of this market. we are moving to take advantage of this unique window of time in the growth of the online advertising market to build market share and to create value for stockholders.

several key assets form a solid foundation as we execute this strategy.

first, our global brand is a tremendous base from which to build leadership as the starting point for internet use: yahoo! is one of the most recognizable and admired brands in the world. we have some 500 million users (1 out of every 2 internet users worldwide). in the u.s., we are #1 in personalized home pages, mail, music, news, sports, shopping and travel. yahoo! also is #1 in time spent on our sites, an increasingly important metric for marketers.

second, our substantial operating cash flow, which we expect to grow in the double digits in 2009, gives us the financial flexibility to execute our plans.

third, we have made important investments in our core computing infrastructure that provides us greater scalability and increases the rate of iteration on core technologies like algorithmic search as much as tenfold. and of course, you're familiar with our investments in enhanced search technology through panama.

these assets—the brand, the audience, the financial strength, and the technology—position us to capitalize on this pivotal moment for yahoo! and the online marketplace. of course, our most important resource is you: the thousands of creative, passionate and committed yahoos who are executing our strategies to deliver value for users, advertisers, publishers—and stockholders.

as you know, we have taken significant steps to refocus our business on our starting point—must buy strategies. and we're making headway.

starting points: our goal is to grow visits to key yahoo! starting points and properties, by approximately 15% per year over the next several years. and we're on the move: we are the most visited site in the u.s., and the number of u.s. users grew strongly in the double-digits in 2007 on our yahoo.com home page alone. as our open platform takes shape it will significantly accelerate that growth.

mobile, as an area of focus, is the biggest emerging starting point in the world. with twice as many mobile users as personal computer users and projections for substantial advertising growth in mobile, we have an important competitive edge as the number one mobile destination in the u.s. and we are building a superior mobile experience for yahoo! users to further capitalize on this opportunity.

must buy: at the same time, we will increasingly make online advertising easier and more effective for marketers, opening up new ways for them to address consumers. our right media exchange, acquired last year, is more open and easy to use, simplifying transactions for buyers and sellers of online ad inventory. another 2007 acquisition, blue lithium, brings us best in class performance marketing. while we've historically tracked the success of our ad business by focusing on metrics related to our owned and operated sites, our goal is to increase the percentage of the total online advertising demand we touch—to 20% of our addressable market over the next several years, from an estimated 15% in 2007.

our newspaper consortium, is a great example. it has grown to more than 600 newspapers, up from just 264 just seven months ago. combined with ebay, comcast, at&t and others, we are creating a valuable, unique network of premium sites to serve our advertisers.

our key strategies will be enhanced by our adoption of platforms that welcome third party developers and encourage new applications that will enrich the user experience.

finally, beyond our core strategies, there's the added benefit of our substantial, unconsolidated investments in china and japan: we have major positions in yahoo! japan, the leader in its market and alibaba, which is strongly positioned in china, a market with enormous growth potential.

we have accomplished a great deal in a very short time. yahoo! is a faster-moving, better organized, more nimble company well on its way to transforming the experiences of its users, advertisers, publishers and developers.

i hope you are as proud as i am of the yahoo! we have built and we continue to build. thanks for your hard work.

jerry

Blurring Blu-ray's instant success

You thought HD DVD already nears its end and now you plan to get that coveted Blu-ray player because almost everybody thinks it's the "in" thing.

Well, think again.

Below are some of the reasons one CNET blog cites not to buy a Blu-ray player yet.

1. Nearly all current Blu-ray players are obsolete: The Blu-ray standard is still evolving. Most models currently available use the original Profile 1.0 standard, while some newer models use Profile 1.1 (which adds the ability to show picture-in-picture commentaries). Later this year, the first Profile 2.0 players--which add the ability to deliver online special features (BD Live)--will become available. Ironically, both of these are designed to bring the Blu-ray standard in line with HD DVD players, which have long been able to deliver these features.

A couple of the most recent Blu-ray players (the combo players from Samsung and LG) can be updated from Profile 1.0 to 1.1 with a downloadable firmware update. But the PlayStation 3 is, supposedly, the only existing Blu-ray player that will be fully upgradeable to Profile 2.0. So if you don't want your Blu-ray player to be obsolete, the PS3 is your only choice until 2.0 models--such as the Panasonic DMP-BD50--hit later this year.

Caveat: Does anybody really watch those PiP-enabled commentaries? Or want updated trailers downloaded from the Web? Beyond the hardcore cinephiles, I think the answer is a big "no." In other words, if you're among the vast majority who only wants to watch the movie, you're not really gaining anything with a 1.1. or 2.0 player. Those older Blu-ray players should play everything else on the disc (the non-playable features are just grayed out on the menu). With the older players hitting the discount racks to make way for newer models, getting a Profile 1.0 player is a nice way to score a Blu-ray player on the cheap ($300 or less).

2. Blu-ray is best on a big-screen TV: Can you see the difference between standard DVD and Blu-ray? Yes--but it may not be as noticeable as you would think. Like all high-definition material, Blu-ray discs look their most-impressive at bigger screen sizes, where DVD can sometimes start to look a bit soft. Put another way: if your TV is 37 inches or smaller, you probably won't be getting a huge advantage from Blu-ray.

Caveat: Eagle-eyed videophiles--or those who sit especially close to their 1080p TVs--may well see a difference. Rule of thumb: if HDTV programming looks noticeably better than DVD playback on your TV, then Blu-ray will be a worthwhile investment.

3. There are still very few movies available on Blu-ray: As of February 5, 2008, there are less than 450 current Blu-ray titles available in North America (not counting discontinued and adult titles). That stacks up well to HD DVD (around 400). But it's a drop in the bucket compared to standard DVD, which has at least 90,000 titles available (including TV shows).

Caveat: Sure, it's small now, but the number of Blu-ray titles is growing slowly but surely. In fact, Blu-ray and HD DVD adoption (combined) has actually outpaced that of the original DVD format, which took three or four years before it really went mainstream.

4. Blu-ray still has growing pains: How many times have you popped a brand new DVD into your player, only to be greeted with a message that you need to update the firmware to view the movie? Probably never, but Blu-ray early adopters have faced this message more than they would like to admit. (To be fair, HD DVD has had its share of disc compatibility issues as well.) To make matters worse, many early Blu-ray players can't update via Ethernet, so you'll need to burn a CD to update the player. If you're reading Crave, burning a disc probably isn't a problem--but there are many less-tech-savvy people that love DVDs, but have no idea what an ISO file is.

5. Prices have nowhere to go but down: Even without competition from HD DVD, Blu-ray prices seem to be on a one-way ticket downward. Older players can be purchased for about $300, so don't be surprised to see Black Friday 2008 specials at $249 or $199. Caveat: See item number 1: the cheaper players are likely to be older models that are effectively "obsolete."

Sot for the next couple of months (at least), getting a Blu-ray player is something not compelling or practical yet.