Internet
Google Deletes Around 150,000 GMail Accounts Due To Reset Bug – Do You Have Backups?
February 28, 2011
With over 100million accounts, Gmail is one of the biggest email providers out there, and as we increasingly use email to conduct and document pretty much everything we do it would pretty annoying if the provider of your email service accidentally deleted everything that you had on your account, but that is exactly the situation that about 150,000 individuals woke up to this morning.
Throughout today on Twitter and a variety of support forums victims of the bug (which Google say has affected less than 0.08% of their users) have been reporting that years worth of messages, chat logs and attachments have been lost as their accounts were effectively reset, complete with welcome messages.
Continue reading »Facebook Valued At $70 Billion, But Will It Ever Crash & Be Replaced By Another Social Network?
February 27, 2011
Bebo. Friendster. MySpace. All great social networks that have come and gone in what the history books will call a blip, a blink of an eye. Of course, they are still in existence, but when you pit them against the almost insanely powerful Facebook, they pale into almost complete insignificance. Twitter, which is more of a micro-blogging tool than a social network, is the only viable competitor to Facebook, and even that is a debatable statement.
In truth, Facebook commands what must be one of the greatest monopolies in the relatively recent history of the technology industry. I mean, even Microsoft’s Windows has it’s competitors, despite their comparatively diminutive stature. But, will Facebook ever come crashing down?
Continue reading »Apple Purchased LaLa As ‘Insurance’ For iTunes – Could It Now Pave The Way For New MobileMe?
February 26, 2011
In 2009, the music streaming service LaLa was snapped up by Apple in a typical move from the Cupertino based giants, and as yet nothing has come of it in any way, shape, or form. And today, executives at Apple declared that the move was indeed comparable to insurance, and they have no plans to replace the almost entirely dominant iTunes distribution platform with a streaming service.
However, along with the discontinuing of Apple’s current MobileMe service, there is speculation arising that at last something will become of LaLa, as it becomes the building blocks for a new music streaming service from Apple, allowing iTunes users to upload their iTunes libraries to the ‘cloud’, and access the music from any device connected to the Internet. Of course, this is exactly what LaLa was originally set up to do back in 2007, so it is not altogether unfathomable that it may be the eventuality we are heading for.
Continue reading »Apple Pulls MobileMe From Stores – The End? Or Start Of New Cloud Services?
February 25, 2011
For one reason or another, Apple has clearly decided that right now is a good time to make changes. A lot of changes. First, Apple gives us new MacBook Pro laptops, then that is swiftly followed by an impressive developer preview of the next version of Mac OS X, 10.7 (Lion), and on top of that there is an iPad 2 event just next week.
Today, though, might mark the end of another product, rather than adding a new one, as Apple has pulled it’s MobileMe cloud services package from online stores and shelves in its many high street stores.
Continue reading »Google Food Recipe Search Introduced – What Meal Will You Cook Up?
February 25, 2011
Search giant Google has today begun to roll out a further expansion of its already comprehensive search tools by introducing a food recipe search facility.
Google itself hasn’t actually spoken out about it officially yet like they did with their recent Instant Search feature, however some engineers within the company, in an exclusive interview with Wired, revealed the plans.
The tool itself allows users to obviously search for recipes, but also filter based on number of calories, ingredients and more, with all the usual kitchen related stuff going on, however it is not this which is so amazing, more what goes on behind the scenes.
Continue reading »Best Broadband Internet Provider Deals For 2011 (UK)
February 16, 2011
Choosing your ISP can be an incredibly difficult task: not only is the choice very wide and the use of language very liberal (and confusing), but it is something that will effect you every day, and given how much we rely on the internet when it goes wrong it can be fairly catastrophic.
However, here on Zath we’ve previously covered the Top UK Broadband Providers Awards 2010 and now ISPreview.co.uk have gone some way in helping you make that decision. They’ve had a look at the reviews and experiences they’ve had over the last year to come up with some of the best broadband provider deals for 2011 and some advice on who to go to for your internet needs.
Continue reading »Last.FM Becomes Subscription Only For Home & Mobile Devices – Will You Pay Or Move Streaming Music Services?
February 9, 2011
Last.FM has announced that users will now require a £3 / $3 / €3 per month subscription to utilise its mobile applications on devices such as the iPhone and Android smartphones from next Tuesday, February 15th.
The service has always been free with an optional subscription available for ‘premium’ features, however, the free ad-based model that works well on the website, and will continue to do so, has not been as prominent on mobile applications.
Continue reading »Google Art Project – Street View Extends Into Museums & Art Galleries!
February 3, 2011
When I was a kid I’d always liked the idea that you could walk around a virtual equivalent of the real world and go inside those virtual buildings that you couldn’t in real life. Whilst that dream will probably never be fulfilled, Google Street View was a massive step forwards towards that which is now available all over the world including offering path views and now this week’s announcement from Google is perhaps another.
The latest innovation from the internet giant is entitled “Art Project” and it is special in two ways: firstly it allows you to navigate through certain museums and art galleries using the same 360 degree technology that we’ve seen on Street View, and also allows you to view some of these pictures in incredible detail.
Continue reading »Google Launches A Website-Based Market For Android Users
February 2, 2011
Honeycomb isn’t the only thing that’s been getting a bit of love and attention in the past few months, you know! Google today announced that the Android Market can now be accessed from the web by visiting market.android.com.
Using the website, Android users can browse the store, search for specific applications, and purchase applications directly from the website so there’s no need to worry about viewing apps on the internet and then having to re-search for them on your mobile device.
Continue reading »BT & Virgin Expand Their Fibre Broadband Horizons – But How Long Until Widespread Rollout?
January 27, 2011
Despite the fact that we are one of the countries at the forefront of modern technology we still languish behind many smaller ones (especially those in eastern Asia) when it comes to broadband speeds, but with increasing public pressure that is slowly being changed and the latest announcements from Virgin and BT represent several steps in the right direction.
Whilst Virgin Media Broadband have this week announced that they have expanded their much-advertised 100Mbps to another 150,00 homes this merely matches BT’s news at the end of last year that they will be trialling 1Gbps broadband, speeds that have only really been available in countries like Korea.
Continue reading »Stuxnet – Cyberwar Computer Worm That Took Down Nuclear Powerplants & Hailed A New Type Of War
January 26, 2011
I don’t know how much you can remember of 2010 but with regards to cyber-crime the ‘Stuxnet’ computer worm was by far the most influential, not just because of the damage that it had caused but also because it’s use hailed the dawn of a new age in warfare.
However not a massive amount was ever discovered about its origins despite intensive research by some of the best computer labs in the world, but it was claimed last week that it was in fact designed by American and Israeli experts, something that says a lot about how cyber-war is developing.
Continue reading »Mflow Review (Update) – New HTML5 Interface & Recommendation Credit System
January 22, 2011
Last May we wrote about music streaming service Mflow and what affects the then new Spotify social features would have on the fledgling application.
Mflow have recently updated their offering and released a brand new web-based application which is currently rocking along quite nicely in beta.
The first thing you notice about the service is the tweaked interface which is now cleaner and more intuitive to use.
However, what is very cool about the update is the use of HTML5 to build the service. It means that you can use any browser and Mflow will work with ease, making your experience identical no matter what your preference.
Continue reading »Amazon To Buy LoveFilm – Will Online TV/Movie Rentals Be Their Next Digital Content Success?
January 20, 2011
Amazon has today announced that it has reached an agreement to swallow up all remaining shares of movie rental and streaming company LoveFilm.
It’s really that simple from our point of view, but obviously from a business perspective on their side of the fence it’s a great deal more complicated, although in truth we don’t need to get into that, we can leave it for the experts.
We recently saw news of LoveFilm movie streaming coming to the PS3 here in the UK – much like the US-based service, NetFlix, which operates an entirely similar service to LoveFilm in the US.
Continue reading »Yahoo, Google & Facebook Commit To IPv6 Internet Addressing Test – Not The End Of The Internet Then!
January 14, 2011
Here’s something that most internet users don’t know: we’re running out of web addresses, and we’re running out of them fast. Under the system currently in place the last web addresses will go in November of this year which will spell the end for version 4 of the addressing scheme (or IPv4).
Fortunately there’s quite an easy solution in the form of IPv6 which is essentially the sixth version of the Internet addressing scheme, and some of the biggest names on the net in the form of Google, Yahoo and Facebook have committed to taking part in a “test flight” on the 8th June that will precede a general rollout later this year.
Continue reading »‘Facebook Crime’ Rises By 7400% In The Past Three Years – Have Things Got That Bad?
December 16, 2010
The popularity of Facebook continues to grow and really cannot be denied: if it was a country it would be the third biggest in the world, and as with most things where there are people there is crime.
So it should really come as no surprise that a report released by Cambridgeshire Police revealed that crime related to the popular social networking site has increased over the same period of time that the popularity of the site has, although the percentage itself may seem a little worrying at first.
However you shouldn’t be as worried as that figure implies, as far as the raw figures are concerned within Cambridgeshire crimes related to Facebook rose from a next-to-nothing figure of 22 in 2007 to a slightly more significant value of just over 1,600.
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Social Artworks Review – Facebook Profile Picture Collage Poster/Canvas Of Your Friends
December 14, 2010
A new website called Social Artworks opened its doors for business today which is combining an established creative idea with the personal and social network aspect of Facebook.
The product that Social Artworks have launched today reminds me of my student days when I’d often see all sorts of collage-style posters around the place, although admittedly these often revolved around alcohol. However now you get yourself a custom collage poster or canvas to hang on your wall which is quite literally personal to you!
Continue reading »Google’s Web Store Now Online In The US – Chrome Web Apps In An iTunes-Style!
December 7, 2010
The curtains rolled back on Google’s web store back in May, and since then not a lot has been heard. However, now it has been officially rolled out in the US and was showcased today at Google’s press event in San Francisco.
The UI of the web store is pretty similar to the iTunes 10 store in truth, though I’m not sure anybody at Google would thank me for pointing it out. It is basically a mixture of category lists, previews and icons, quantified lists and collections. Nothing particularly revolutionary and the apps are not a lot different either to what you would expect to find on an iDevice.
Continue reading »Google eBooks Gets Launched Into The Cloud – Enough To Beat The Amazon Kindle & iBooks?
December 6, 2010
So here we are again back to eBooks, always with the eBooks. One of the fastest growing aspects of the consumer tech industry has received backing from Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, Sony and so many more it would literally hurt to list them all, just check your nearest health and safety at work handbook for a comprehensive list of exactly why.
Anyway, what we have for you today is what some would consider a breath of fresh air in an increasingly polluted market, and others would consider just another tedious eBook service. It’s by Google, and it used to be called Google Editions, but apparently that wasn’t plain enough, so let’s give a warm welcome to Google eBooks.
Continue reading »PREVIEW: ‘Allow’ Enables You To Control Your Personal Data Privacy & Marketing Database Information
December 1, 2010
Cyber security has become a rather large area of concern for many people over the past few years. It seems as though you’re faced with companies left, right and centre all trying to get as much data about you as they can. After all, there are few things more valuable in a century where your data allows tailored adverts on the sites you browse, and personal recommendations on shopping sites across the internet.
Keeping track of who has information about you, and what information they hold, is near impossible to do on your own. When we were told about what a new company called Allow and what they are doing in the market, my interest was immediately piqued.
Continue reading »BitDefender ‘safego’ App Reveals One Fifth of Facebook Users Subjected to Malware
November 30, 2010
To call Facebook ‘massive’ would be an understatement: if it were a country its 500 million active members would make it the 3rd biggest in the world (behind China and India) and a staggering 250 million of these (enough to make it the 4th biggest behind the US and ahead of Indonesia) log in each day. So if you want a big market for your malware, this is the place to go!
Unsurprisingly that is exactly what people have been doing, but last month BitDefender who specialise in Internet security solutions announced the Beta launch of ‘safego’ which is a free application for Facebook focusing, surprisingly enough, on security and BitDefender have now released some of the statistics gathered by the app and they make very interesting reading.
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