10 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- Sprint Epic 4G becomes first U.S. Galaxy S handset to get Android 2.2 [TNW Mobile]
- Perfect Photo for iPhone facilitates creating flawless photos [TNW Apps]
- The greater problem of Wikileaks: When innocent sites become the victims [TNW Media]
- Intentional or not, Groupon’s flirtation with Google has made it a super-anticipated IPO [TNW Industry]
- Nexus S camera gets put to the test, passes with flying colors [TNW Mobile]
- Well whadya know…Obama has a temper. [TNW Shareables]
- Asking the East Coast: WDYDWYD? (Why Do You Do What You Do?) [TNW Media]
- Newspaper complains to European Commission after Apple rejects topless girls app [TNW Europe]
- Playstation Phone emerges on video again, this time with more Playstation [TNW Mobile]
- Stack-It: An incredibly easy way to manage and share groups of links [TNW Apps]
- Another Classic iPhone AutoCorrect Fail [TNW Shareables]
| Sprint Epic 4G becomes first U.S. Galaxy S handset to get Android 2.2 [TNW Mobile] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 08:23 PM PST
That’s right folks, according to Brief Mobile, the official version (not the leaked) of Android 2.2 has begun rolling out over the air for the Epic 4G after a wait that left many owners frustrated. In doing so, Sprint has beat all three of their rivals to the punch. AT&T has yet to roll out Android 2.2 for the Captivate and Verizon and T-Mobile have yet push the update for the Fascinate and the Vibrant, respectively. However, now that Sprint made a move, expect the other carriers in the United States to start pushing their updates in the very near future. Side note. Because this is an OTA update, it’s going to roll out slowly. However, if you have the brawn, you can install the update this very second if you wish. Head here and follow the instructions and you’ll be running Froyo in no time at all. Enjoy everyone.Image Credit [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Perfect Photo for iPhone facilitates creating flawless photos [TNW Apps] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 06:11 PM PST
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| The greater problem of Wikileaks: When innocent sites become the victims [TNW Media] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 11:04 AM PST
The Amazon ExperienceAmazon has found itself in two situations, recently, wherein it had to make difficult business decisions. In the first case, its self-publishing format for the Kindle was playing host to a book that served as an instruction manual for keeping a pedophile safe. After public outrage, Amazon first chose to continue hosting the book, stating that it didn’t condone censorship:
With Wikileaks, Amazon’s AWS played host to the information that was being disseminated. Government pressure was laid onto Amazon to pull the content, and Amazon eventually did. However, a statement from Amazon paints a different light onto the scenario than what we as the public would have believed:
The obvious question is whether Amazon should adopt a pre-screening policy for its hosting. While it absolutely would add to the work for Amazon, it might prevent future issues. Simply put, Amazon likely did get clued to the potential Wikileaks issues but the problem could have been averted by a screening method. The Trials of Twitter
We’ve reached out to Twitter for comment, but as of yet have not received a response. However, given past circumstances surrounding activities deemed illegal in the United States, Twitter would likely point to its terms of service. This is a simple rule that nearly any site needs to think of in advance when hosting user-submitted content. Those terms of service are a life-saver, as long as they’re enforced. PayPal ProblemsAs was the case with Amazon, PayPal has a distinctly different problem on its hands. In being the donation source for Wikileaks, not only was PayPal enabling the site to continue financially, but also PayPal was benefitting monetarily via its surcharges. While PayPal has now cut off Wikileaks’ access to its financial donations through the site, there will likely still be questions to be answered by PayPal from the U.S. government agencies that are now involved. Who’s Next?At first, the only sites which had to worry about the Wikileaks ordeal were those hosting content in affected countries. However, as the case continues to grow, more sites are becoming part of the grand scheme, even if unwittingly. At this point, any site which hosts, links to or otherwise makes available the Wikileaks content runs the risk of government involvement — especially those based in the United States. So who’s next? It’s a question to which the answer remains to be seen. Moving forward, it is simply advisable that site owners are more cognizant of what is being hosted on their servers. This situation has shown us, at a minimum, that the release of information holds the capability of causing problems for everyone, even if a site had no intention of becoming involved. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Posted: 04 Dec 2010 10:43 AM PST
Of course, Groupon wasn’t a nobody before all of this hoopla, but when Google gets involved, well, everyone follows every move, and Groupon got mentioned every time. Oh, and so did those continually skyrocketing rumored sales prices: $2 billion, $3 billion, $5 billion, $6 billion. Everyone watching those numbers go up, up, up had only one thought in mind: “I wish I owned a piece of Groupon…” Well, sometime in 2011 or 2012 perhaps you should probably get your chance when Groupon makes an initial public offering. Unless Google is planning on coming back with a counteroffer that Groupon really can’t refuse (whatever that number would be), it is unlikely that anyone else will try to outbid Google, which means that Groupon has only one viable big-time exit strategy, an IPO. The cynic in me wonders if this was the plan from the beginning at Groupon HQ, or whether the decision to no sell was a torturous as it would be for many. I actually think that it was probably just a case of “hey, might as well listen to what they have to say”, but I’ll/we’ll probably never know. I was watching a Twitter search for “Groupon” last night in the rapid-fire that is Tweetdeck User Streams, and it was pretty interesting to see the wide range of reactions, from “insane!” to “great!” to “Yelp all over again?” Frankly, for Google I think (and so does Niall) that this was for the best – Google still has the very viable option of just cloning Groupon. For Groupon, well, obviously it’s a big risk (but if its revenue is $2 billion a year – or even half of that – maybe not so much), but one that I think it can mitigate pretty well if it moves reasonably quickly towards an IPO. Frankly, I think that unlike Facebook which may have used the same strategy as Groupon may have used here, the switching cost for leaving Groupon is minimal, so if another company comes along that offers better deals, people will go there (which is, not to be too repetitive, Google should just clone Groupon). So for my two cents, Groupon should capitalize on all of this free media coverage/foaming at the mouth and give the common man and woman a chance to own a piece of what $6 billion of Google’s piggy bank couldn’t buy. Or, it could wait too long, let all the buzz fizzle away, and possibly watch as Google or Facebook or another future competitor eats its deal-of-the-day-lunch. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Nexus S camera gets put to the test, passes with flying colors [TNW Mobile] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 10:33 AM PST We’ve seen some blurrycam shots of it running Gingerbread. We’ve seen crisp shots of it. We have seen Google’s CEO holding it in plain sight. Before today though, we had never seen what the Nexus S itself could do video and photo wise. Those strange test shots of nothing that popped up awhile back don’t count. The folks over at Engadget have obtained some pretty clear images and video taken with the upcoming, Gingerbread rocking device from Samsung. While the videos aren’t mind blowing, the photo from inside one of Google’s buses is pretty darn impressive for what supposedly is a 5 megapixel camera.
And the videos: So again, the capabilities of the camera on the Nexus S aren’t out of this world but they are very capable and that should please those of you who have been waiting for this thing to arrive. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Well whadya know…Obama has a temper. [TNW Shareables] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 10:18 AM PST UPDATE: Apparently it’s a fake. A Tonight Show digital edit – watch the right flag very carefully. :-/ [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Asking the East Coast: WDYDWYD? (Why Do You Do What You Do?) [TNW Media] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 10:13 AM PST In this month’s issue of Wired Magazine, writer Ted Greenwald described the trending Silicon Valley meme, “WDYDWYD or Why Do You Do What You Do?” calling it the “hottest team-building meme since Outward Bound.”
The meme originated in 2004 at Burning Man by artist Tony Deifell who posted photos of strangers answering the questions on the Ning social network. The inspiration behind the meme originated with a call he received late one night from a young student working on a school project. She blurted out, “Why do you do what you do?” Deifell was quite taken a back, and like many people faced with the question, he embarked upon an existential meditation.
Deifell has since carried WDYDWYD from the festival to the Silicon Valley boardrooms of the National Holistic Institute, Google and Twitter. The site, which he describes as an open-sourced art project, is still growing steadily on Ning. Student Joe Moloughney founded the WDYDWYD Facebook group, calling it a worldwide community art project with 1,500 members. Their Twitter page has over 1,000 followers. Artists like photographer Bill Kennedy, author/cartoonist Hugh MacLeod and French performance artist Séverine Carminati have all got involved. But this meme is still primarily just on the West Coast. So, what would the East Coast answer? I asked a few prominent East Coasters, “Why do you do what you do?” Here are their answers:
- Ashley Casselman, Senior Associate at the World Economic Forum.
-Laurel Touby, Founder and SVP, mediabistro.com
- Seth Porges, an Editor at Popular Mechanics
-Soraya Darabi, Co-Founder of Foodspotting.
- Julia Kaganskiy, Editor of The Creators Project and Founder of the ArtsTech Meetup.
- Alexis Ohanian, Co-Founder of Reddit and Head of Marketing for Hipmunk
-Robert J. Moore, CEO of RJMetrics.
- David S. Rose, Managing Principal of Rose Tech Ventures and founder and Chairman of New York Angels. What makes our New York answers resemblant of our city? A touch of irony perhaps? A grittier sense of responsibility? A necessity to be edgier? After asking so many of my peers, I gave it a think. I do what I do because every writer requires inspiration. So my fellow East Coasters, WDYDWYD?
[Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Newspaper complains to European Commission after Apple rejects topless girls app [TNW Europe] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 08:35 AM PST
The app was reportedly rejected due to the inclusion of racy photos of topless “Page 9 girls”. Fair enough, you might say. After all, Apple is famously squeaky clean when it comes to its developer guidelines for iOS apps. The problem is, Apple has already approved similar apps including, as we reported earlier this year, the UK’s Sun newspaper iPad app with its similar “Page 3 girls”. If successful, Ekstra Bladet’s complaint could see Apple fined under European law. “We find that there is a market discrimination as Apple allows other newspapers in the App Store with similar content”, Media Watch quotes a statement from the newspaper as saying. “Apple is the sole distributor of applications for iPhone and iPad and, thus, the European Commission will most likely find that Apple holds a dominant position in this market”, it continues. “A dominant undertaking is not allowed to abuse its position by refusing to grant access to an essential facility or by discriminating against its customers.” The news comes in the same week that the European Commission launched an investigation into allegations of anti-competitive behaviour by Google. The Commission isn’t shy about acting when it feels it needs to. In 2008, Microsoft was fined $1.4bn for defying sanctions imposed on it for abusing its dominant place in the software market. Apple has recently acted to make its app approvals process more transparent, with the publishing of its previously secret rules for which apps get allowed into its store. That hasn’t stopped confusion over strange decisions like the recent approval (and subsequent withdrawal) of a BitTorrent app and about whether single radio station apps were banned or not. By approving some apps featuring racy photos and not others Apple isn’t helping itself. We’ll keep our eyes on any action the European Commission may decide following this complaint about Apple. As we read the situation, it may well boil down to whether the Apple App Store counts as an “Essential facility”. There’s always the more relaxed Android Market you can opt for if Apple turns you away.Media Watch, H/T Jon Lund [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Playstation Phone emerges on video again, this time with more Playstation [TNW Mobile] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 08:04 AM PST
Following a leak three days previous, the first spy video (which we showed you earlier), gives us a close-up view of the Zeus, showing the homescreen and the software specifications of the device. Gingerbread is present on the prototype, as is an interesting little Playstation icon in the Android menu. Unfortunately for us the app never actually gets launched, meaning we don’t get to see what Sony Ericsson hopes will captivate gamers. Luckily, the same person who provided us with the first overview of the handset returns to demonstrate the Playstation application and give us the first look at the Zeus’ Playstation gaming personality. Although the app loads, there are no games available, so just an empty game library is displayed. All that is missing now is the official confirmation from Sony Ericsson. Now that the device is leaking consistently it could mean the device could be unveiled soon. Rumours suggest we will have to wait until February, will the buzz surrounding the handset be sustainable if its left that long?Image Credit, Engadget [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Stack-It: An incredibly easy way to manage and share groups of links [TNW Apps] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 07:31 AM PST
Then, I had a moment where I ended up having to share 4 different URL’s and suddenly Stack-It made a whole lot of sense. Sometimes the easiest, most simplistic stuff, just happens to be the best. Stack-It is an incredibly easy way to share a group (or “stack”) of URL’s easily. All you have to do is head to the site, paste your URL’s into the box and then create your link. You can choose a custom link, if you’d like, and Stack-It can even embed content from popular sites like YouTube, Flickr, Amazon, Vimeo and more. Need an example? Check out this stack that we’ve put together from this past week’s TNW Podcast. So as you see, heading to the link gives you an organized list of links that are relevant to whatever topic you’ve chosen. There’s even a bookmarklet where, as you’re browsing, you can simply click it and add a link to your existing stack. Let’s say, for example, that you’re gathering links about San Francisco. Stacking in a bunch of links, you might end up with a page similar to this. It’s not a world-changer, but it’s darned handy. Sometimes, that’s what counts. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
| Another Classic iPhone AutoCorrect Fail [TNW Shareables] Posted: 04 Dec 2010 06:49 AM PST And you’ve seen this one right? Yeah you have. [Notice: this is the RSS feed for ALL stories from across The Next Web - that means a lot of stories every day - for just our top stories, subscribe to our Top Stories RSS feed here.] |
TNW Quick Hit
Once your photo is perfected, the app offers numerous in-app sharing options: email, Facebook, Twitter and Flickr, in addition to allowing saving the photo to one’s photo album, a documents folder (allowing for easy image sharing between computer and 
If you choose to share the photo via Twitter, which I did, you must enter a one-time pin granting the app access to your Twitter account. Upon doing so you can add a message to your post and alter the image size before Tweeting your photo.
First off, this is my last post on the 
Sony Ericsson’s Playstation Phone (Zeus Z1) has emerged again in two independent videos, this time giving us a good look at the gaming elements of the handset.
Sometimes we get tips in the email and things don’t sound immediately impressive. I have to admit that, at first, I didn’t see the need for 
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