19 new stories on The Next Web today |  |
- New Windows 0-day exploit bypasses UAC, gets published online [TNW Microsoft]
- Yahoo! Sends MENA Users to Arabic Maktoob [TNW Middle East]
- Nexus S and Gingerbread detailed in new blurrycam shots [TNW Mobile]
- Spotify losing in UK but profitable in Sweden [TNW Apps]
- Google now offering worldwide usage stats for its Fonts API [TNW Google]
- Apple Vice President flew to China in iPhone copy dispute [TNW Asia]
- A Friend Request from Diaspora: We Accept, but we’re slightly disappointed. [TNW Social Media]
- Could Well.ca become Amazon North? [TNW Canada]
- XM Canada & Sirius Canada Merge. Huh? What? [TNW Canada]
- 10 Amazing Black Friday Smartphone Deals [TNW Gadgets]
- Vizio and Toshiba reportedly to announce Google TV sets at CES [TNW Google]
- How To: Get the most out of Facebook’s Impressions and Feedback stats [TNW Social Media]
- Facebook sued again, this time for patent infringement by Priceline founder [TNW United States]
- Sir Richard’s New iPad Magazine! [TNW Apple]
- Try This: Geckoboard. CRM, email, stats and more all in one dashboard [TNW Apps]
- The Next Web Podcast – Episode 36: Cloudy [The Next Web]
- Content Ratings Coming To The Android Market [TNW Mobile]
- Shocker: BlackBerry PlayBook’s rumored pricing is competitive [TNW Gadgets]
- Try This: The Feed. Gorgeous new iPad news reader [TNW Apps]
- Google Chrome leads a list of vulnerable apps, but there’s more to the story [TNW Apps]
| New Windows 0-day exploit bypasses UAC, gets published online [TNW Microsoft] Posted: 25 Nov 2010 03:56 AM PST
Disclosed on a chinese message board, the new flaw centres on a weakness in the win32k.sys file which interfaces with the kernel of various Windows subsystems. The vulnerability is said to be a privilege escalation exploit, which will allow attackers to execute arbitrary code in kernel mode, completely bypassing the User Account Control on newer Windows systems. Details of the flaw were published by Prevx, an IT security company, providing explanations of how the exploit came to be:
Users of Windows XP, right through to Vista and Windows 7 are vulnerable to the exploit, which will execute on both 32 and 64-bit operating systems. At the moment, there are no reported instances of this exploit being used in the wild but because the flaw is publicly available online, it can be expected that developers and attackers will pick up the proof-of-concept code and use it to deliver malware soon. Winrumors contacted the Redmond company for comment, a spokesperson confirmed the company was “investigating public PoC for a local EoP vuln requiring an account on the target system." [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.]     |
| Yahoo! Sends MENA Users to Arabic Maktoob [TNW Middle East] Posted: 25 Nov 2010 02:32 AM PST
When we first checked out the new design we highlighted all the major changes but have noticed a couple of things since the official launch 2 days ago we thought you might find interesting. According to a Yahoo! Maktoob press release Ahmed Nassef Vice President and Managing Director of Yahoo! Middle East said: "The new homepage is an opportunity for online users to have all their content personalized, tailor-made and adjusted to suit each individual's preferences.” He continued “For example, if someone is an avid football fan and regularly reads about football within the Yahoo! Maktoob News and Sports section, the homepage will recognize these habits and will display the latest football relevant news the next time this person visits. If, for example, the online user then changes their browsing habits to only read information about basketball, the home page will recognize this and will start presenting basketball-relevant information." The new Yahoo! Maktoob redirects all users who attempt to reach the international Yahoo! homepage from the MENA region to the Arabic version of Yahoo! Maktoob providing them with an option to go back to the international page. For Arab countries excluding the UAE, users who access the yahoo.com website for the first time will be redirected to maktoob.yahoo.com in Arabic, and for those who visit Yahoo.com from the UAE, will be redirected to en-maktoob.yahoo.com in English from mid December That is a smart move, although most Maktoob users will probably just stick to the localized version since it’s where regionally relevant content can be found. But there is a small hiccup for English users in the MENA region. If you happen to be an English oriented MENA user of Maktoob, once you’re redirected to the Arabic Maktoob instead of Yahoo.com, you’ll opt to use the English version, which accordingly takes you to the English sub-domain. But instead learning, it forgets. So if you want to go to the international version of Yahoo, click on the ‘Yahoo.com’ link in the Arabic version, or else you’re stuck with Yahoo! Maktoob. The new design also specifically promotes Yahoo! Maktoob’s new Video on Demand service, which they seem to be producing in-house. It’s actually not so bad if you want the truth, and will probably only get better with 32 million eye balls checking them out. Let us know if you find anything else out-of-order as I’m sure the guys from Yahoo! Maktoob would like to nail this before they roll out the auto-redirect for their UAE users. [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 and Gingerbread detailed in new blurrycam shots [TNW Mobile] Posted: 25 Nov 2010 02:00 AM PST
XDA did confirm that Gingerbread would indeed be Android 2.3, quashing speculation that Google’s software would jump straight to a version 3.0 release. The new OS retains its dark appearance but includes a new taskbar, prominent new icons, the dialler UI has been given an overhaul but retains many of the same features that Android users know and love. The pictures give us a chance to see the curved screen of the Nexus S with XDA noting the specifications of the device also:
The shots can be found below, blurred as leaked spy-shots typically are. Are you any closer to buying this device as soon as its confirmed? [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.]    |
| Spotify losing in UK but profitable in Sweden [TNW Apps] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 11:22 PM PST
The figures show that net sales in both territories were similar at about 10M Euros but that, clearly, their expenses in the UK were higher. Spotify’s expansion plans have been delayed several times as they have struggled to sign deals with the major record labels. A year ago, they were predicting a roll-out to the USA and even in China by the first half of 2010. However these roll-outs have failed to materialize. In the meantime, competitors like Grooveshark and We7 are establishing footholds in the important US market and, if rumours are to be believed, even Apple may be readying a subscription based music on demand service. Analysts are still saying that the outlook for Spotify could be very good, however, the landscape is completely different, compared with a year ago, so they must be feeling the pressure to establish their service in other markets before their lead is lost.ArcticStartup, Music Ally [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.]    |
| Google now offering worldwide usage stats for its Fonts API [TNW Google] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 07:33 PM PST
On the face of this it kind of sounds boring, but if you’re a webmaster, this could be an extremely useful tool, whether or not you actually use Google Fonts on your site. Stats are given for the last seven days and are based on fonts served up by the Google Fonts API, so the stats could very likely be skewed by larger sites using Google Fonts. Still, it’s pretty interesting to look at what fonts are popular around the web (and the world, as there is a Google Analytics type map view as well). To view the new stats, you need to click on the font you want to look at, then click the “Info” link. Google now allows you to sort fonts in the directory by popularity. Over the last week, the font Droid Sans has been the most popular as it was served over 35 million times. Conversely, the font Cousine was only served less than 6,000 times in the last week. If you’re building a website or are font obsessed (trust us, some people are) then this should be a good resource for you moving forward. [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.]    |
| Apple Vice President flew to China in iPhone copy dispute [TNW Asia] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 07:29 PM PST
The Meizu M8 was widely promoted in mock up form within weeks of Apple’s January 2007 iPhone announcement. By the time the M8 was released, late in 2008, a year before Apple entered the Chinese market, the design was very similar to the then current iPhone 3G. Over time, Meizu did attempt to differentiate the M8 phone’s customised version of Microsoft’s CE 6 operating system from Apple’s iPhone operating system but it was not enough to prevent Apple’s legal challenge. According to Meizu, Apple originally negotiated with the company to stop further production of the M8 but then changed their minds and ordered Meizu to withdraw all M8 phones that were already in the retail channel. The company is now said to be working on the M9, an Android based successor to the M8. Wong had this to say in an online chat when asked for an official statement, translated by Meizu Me.
PR trick or not, Meizu have a long history of producing close copies of Apple gadgets, previously focusing on iPod Nano mp3 players. It really comes as no surprise that Apple took this action. Perhaps the only surprise is that it took so long.Electronista, image, image [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.]    |
| A Friend Request from Diaspora: We Accept, but we’re slightly disappointed. [TNW Social Media] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 07:01 PM PST
Their idea, Diaspora “aims to be a distributed network, where totally separate computers connect to each other directly, will let us connect without surrendering our privacy. We call these computers 'seeds'. A seed is owned by you, hosted by you, or on a rented server.” Since Diaspora won’t have access to user data, they can’t infringe on users’ privacy. In terms of the technical aspects behind this, we have our doubts. They launched their idea on Kickstarter with a $10,000 goal to cover summer expenses to develop the app. It seemed like everyone was really, really excited for them to succeed, mostly because people were hating on Facebook so bad. By June 1st, Diaspora has raised a total of $200,647 collected from a total of 6,479 backers including Mark Zuckerberg himself. Unlike Facebook, Diaspora runs on open-source software and doesn’t depend on centralized servers. It addresses a key feature that Facebook has neglected, which is contextual sharing. Diaspora lets you create "aspects," which are personal lists that let you group people according to the roles they play in your life such as family, friends and co-workers. According to the founders, they think that aspects are a simple, straightforward, lightweight way to make it really clear who is receiving your posts and who you are receiving posts from. 6 months of plug-ins, APIs and designing UIs later and the the alpha release has arrived. They released alpha invites yesterday, and we snagged one today. You’ll notice the home page features a stream of your contacts’ comments similar to Facebook and Twitter. You can choose to share a message across all of your “aspects” and share that message publicly via RSS, Twitter or Facebook. The “Aspects,” which you’ll see in the tabs on top and on the right hand side are labeled, “Family,” “Work,” and “Friends.” If I want to share something across just one of those aspects, I simply click on that aspect and post on that wall and it uploads in near real time. Once I’ve posted a comment I can easily delete or re-share the comment on other aspects. Creating a profile on Diaspora is a minimal effort. Photo, short bio, birthday and a blank space for gender, so feel free to enter “Ultrasexual,” if you so choose. All of Diaspora is pretty minimal at the moment. It’s a simple, nearly skeletal social graph but it looks pretty slick. It has a few bugs to work out, for example a few of my photos/messages wouldn’t post and you can’t add contacts using an iPad as the ‘drag to add’ doesn’t work, but that’s to be expected. It does seem a little odd that a project that came to be called the "anti-Facebook," has chosen to integrate with Facebook. Twitter has also been integrated, although it still has some kinks to work out like how to properly share an image with Twitter. Watch our video demonstration here: Yes, it’s only the alpha release, but it seems like the kids have spent three months learning how to program more than anything else. One New York City programmer said, “Must say… pretty bummed with Diaspora. These kids are cutting their teeth on this project instead of delivering a useful tool.” But as more users join, provide feedback and more people get involved in its open source platform, we (and probably their 6,000 backers) hope they’ll be able to grow into a more robust network, particularly as Facebook grows larger and more Goliath like by the day. So, as we’ve been saying all along, but now with a slightly less expectant breath, best of luck boys. [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.]    |
| Could Well.ca become Amazon North? [TNW Canada] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 06:52 PM PST
David makes an interesting comparison to Amazon, as far as getting into a niche (Well.ca started with health and beauty products) and figuring out how to earn revenue. I would think about buying some health and beauty supplies online, but the real business barrier is the “spur of the moment” factor. I don’t think about buying shampoo until I’m almost out of it. That said, the prices look good, and there is free shipping so I can order something at two in the morning and have it in a day or two it certainly could be worth it. Like Amazon, Well.ca has expanded into electronics, housewares, and all facets of personal care. I think this is one area where people might not have thought that there would be consumer demand. Going to the drugstore is pretty painless, but I think people said the same thing about books didn’t they? Hmm, and come to think of it I am out of shampoo…and it is snowing out…Startup North [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.]    |
| XM Canada & Sirius Canada Merge. Huh? What? [TNW Canada] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 06:05 PM PST
Digital Home and CBC News didn’t say what was probably on all our minds (though Engadget did say it)—hold on, they hadn’t already merged? It’s easy to understand the confusion, actually, because the companies have been under one roof in the States since 2008. I think there is a larger question here: Is satellite radio still relevant and viable today? I gave XM Radio a try some time ago (I even still have the little mini player, headphones and antenna) and thought the content was good, but in the city? Line of sight really killed reception. Even now I don’t listen to CBC Radio OTA most of the time, I listen to it streamed through iTunes, my iPhone or iPad (like the Jazz stream from Radio 2 especially and listen to it almost all the time now). Now in the car, I always have the radio on. I don’t understand why my wife likes to have the radio off to talk … just odd being in a car means having the radio on to me. Where does satellite radio fit into this? I don’t pay for radio stations over the air or over the Internet? Are the subscription fees worth it? I think Internet options like Pandora (wish we could get it in Canada again) and Last FM are spelling the end of satellite radio. And if I want custom mixes of songs (granted only Canadian indie bands), I don’t have to go farther than CBC Radio 3. I must be missing something, because XM-Sirius have 1.7 million subscribers in Canada. Sound off in the comments…does satellite radio still have a strong future or is something free and internet-based better? Digital Home, CBC News, Engadget, photo 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.]    |
| 10 Amazing Black Friday Smartphone Deals [TNW Gadgets] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 05:12 PM PST We're a mere two days out from Black Friday and many of you are scouring the internet for the best deals on gadgets and gizmos. Many of you probably have been waiting for this day to finally ditch your feature phone and adopt a smartphone on the cheap. Sound about right? If that's the boat you're on, then you probably want to take a look at this run down of 10 of the top Black Friday deals for smartphones. There are a lot of them out there but we think that these get you the most bang for your buck. Per usual, not put into any sort of order.
A staple of the Droid series from Big Red and still one of the best smartphones on the market, the Droid Incredible is available from Amazon for a penny. Seriously. A penny. If you want a quality smartphone, look no further than the Droid Incredible. However, take into consideration the fact that Verizon's LTE network is about to roll out and the Droid Incredible isn't 4G enabled. Keep in mind, Amazon's deal requires you to either start a new contract or extend your current one. If you could care less, then this is a deal to consider.
While the LG Optimus T isn't the most tricked out smartphone on the market, it's certainly a capable device and a perfect introduction for those getting their first smartphone. It has Android 2.2, it's fast and guess what? It's free. With a two year agreement of course. The Optimus T is a perfect device for those that don't need all the bells and whistles and just want something with the latest software that works exactly as advertised. Still not convinced? Take a look at our own Brad McCarty's first-look at the LG Vortex which is Verizon's version of the Optimus T. He seems to be pretty impressed.
While AT&T might be offering BOGO deals on Windows Phone 7 devices this Saturday, Amazon's deals are better. For example, the Samsung Focus is available for $49.99, a device that is arguably the best offering with WP7 right now. Huge display with amazing resolution. Zippy processor. 5 mega pixel shooter with flash support. Lots of memory. Pretty darn good for $50 bucks.
If you're looking to hop aboard the BlackBerry train then you probably want to take a look at its flagship device that calls AT&T home. Right now and for an undetermined amount of time, you can snag the BlackBerry Torch at Amazon for a penny. All you need to sign up for is a two-year contract. You also may want to keep Wirefly in mind because they supposedly are going to be offering the Torch on Black Friday for a price that is "too low to show." Free, perhaps?
Speaking of Wirefly, they are also going to be offering Verizon's Android BlackBerry clone, the Motorola Droid Pro, for an unbeatable price. For all of you business people out there, especially those that frequent Area 51, definitely a device to look at. And you definitely want to take a look at this deal because the Droid Pro is currently backordered at Amazon and costs $49.99. It'll be interesting to see how low Wirefly goes.
The LG Quantum might not be the most talked about smartphone in the world but if you're looking to get Windows Phone 7 on AT&T for cheap, and you weren't overly impressed with the Focus, then it's certainly an option to look at. Wirefly is going to be selling it for a price, again, "too low to show." Whatever the price is, it will probably do the full QWERTY device with a 3.5 inch WVGA TFT display, 5 MP camera, 1GHZ processor and more, justice. Stay tuned though.
If you want the Droid with the big screen and Android 2.2 on board, the Motorola Droid X is going to be on sale through Wirefly for an undisclosed amount although they say it will be their "best offer ever." Again, that's better than attempting to get it at Amazon or Verizon stores. Over at Amazon, it's available for $49.99 but it's backordered and finding a Droid X in a Big Red retail store come sometimes prove to be extremely difficult.
Unfortunately, the only two carriers in the United States that have this device are U.S. Cellular and Cellular South. Fortunately, one of them has it on sale for a pretty good price. U.S. Cellular has the HTC Desire available through Monday for the low price of $49.99. That's a steal for a device that rocks a 1GHz processor, Android 2.2, AMOLED display that measures 3.7 inches, and is essentially a copy of the Nexus One.
If you can live without the newly minted Motorola Droid 2 Global and its 1.2GHzp processor, then you might want to take a look at Amazon's offer for the original Motorola Droid 2 which has the device listed at a penny. Not bad for a phone that's only been out since August.
Last but not least, a Sprint device and one of the best smartphones on the market. Now, the offer for the HTC EVO 4G through Amazon isn't cheap but it's certainly cheaper than most places. If you're got $100 sitting around you can get the 4G equipped EVO on a two year contract. That's a steal as far as we're concerned. These are certainly not the only deals out there but they are darn good ones, so keep them in mind when you're shopping on Friday. Feel free to leave any other deals you find in the comments below.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.]    |
| Vizio and Toshiba reportedly to announce Google TV sets at CES [TNW Google] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 04:51 PM PST
Right now, Sony is the only television manufacturer that has committed to Google TV, though Samsung has also reportedly expressed plans to deliver TVs with the Google TV software installed. Sony offers both a television and a Blu-Ray player with Google TV, and there is also the Logitech Revue set-top box. Bloomberg contacted all of the companies involved in the report, but none would confirm the news, and either did Google. That said, the reportedly positive reaction Sony has received on its $1,300 Google TV is probably enticing these other manufacturers to at least give Google TV a shot, although the general vibe of reviews around the Internet have said that Google TV is strictly a “geek” product right now, and not ready for primetime (we haven’t thoroughly tested it yet, though our initial reactions weren’t that harsh, though, admittedly, we’re geeks). Google certainly could use a few more partners in the current – and very important – fight/appesal process it is currently waging with major TV networks including Fox, CBS and others. Right now, Google TV is kind of crippled as users can’t access any of the major networks’ online content and/or Hulu.com. So right now, Google TV is basically a glorified YouTube/Netflix player, which really isn’t enough value, especially as the cheapest Google TV device (the Revue) costs $299. That said, Google seems very determined to make Google TV viable, so we’d fully expect to see a number of new hardware partners sooner rather than later. Note: Google TV is only available in the US at this time.SF Gate [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.]    |
| How To: Get the most out of Facebook’s Impressions and Feedback stats [TNW Social Media] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 04:02 PM PST Facebook Pages’ Administrators might be happy to hear that from now on they will all be able to have access to stats on the number of impressions and on the feedback of each entry posted on their wall. Until now this feature was available only for pages that had at least 10,000 fans, but now it’s available to all Administrators. Having access to this data is definitely something that will make happy many small businesses and organizations. Want to see what the hype is all about? Check this out: But now that you have it, what are you going to do with it? First off, you need to understand the meaning behind the names –
So let’s say that you post something and it is seen by 10 people. Of those 10 people, one left a comment and one clicked like. Your Feedback score, then, would be 20%. But you have to take these numbers inside the context of what they mean. For instance, let’s say that as your popularity grows, you see a greater number of impressions but a smaller feedback number. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing (though not necessarily good, either). While it’s our hope that everything you post gets liked and commented upon, you have to understand that what we want and what we get aren’t always one in the same. In any transaction-based situation, as the number of users goes up the potential for interaction increases. However, it’s not likely that the act of interaction will increase by the same number. As is true with almost anything that you’re doing publicly, you’ll need to gauge the reaction and take it into consideration from two directions. First, is the reaction overall positive or negative? Second, based upon the first answer, what did you do that was different from what you’ve done before? Getting the most out of any statistic is a matter of taking all sides into account. With Facebook’s addition, it will give you some insight, but it won’t answer every question. So take the information as it is given and see what interesting things you can find with it. [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.]    |
| Facebook sued again, this time for patent infringement by Priceline founder [TNW United States] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 03:48 PM PST
A Connecticut company called Walker Digital LLC – owned by Priceline.com founder Jay Walker, who at one point according to his Wikipedia page was worth $4 billion from Priceline stock before losing most of that value during the dotcom crash – is suing Facebook over, “misappropriating an invention that helps computer users establish anonymous communications…Walker Digital's employees invented a system that allows users to more effectively manage and control the release of personal information,” and the suit is claiming that Facebook is somehow violating this invention according to Businessweek. Could this be related to Facebook’s new Messages system? We don’t know. We did a quick Google search on Walker, and it seems that he is no stranger to legal proceedings according to a 10 year old Forbes article, when Walker Digital was being investigated by the Connecticut district attorney’s office after laying off over a 100 employees at the height of the bursting of the bubble. The article also points out that in May 1999 – again, before the crash – Walker was featured on the cover of Forbes. Facebook has already responded to Businessweek with its usual response, saying, “We believe this suit is completely frivolous and we will fight it vigorously,” – we say ‘usual’ because Facebook – and more specifically co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerburg – have been embroiled in many lawsuits, including one this year in New York from a man that claims to own 84% of Facebook as well as a class action suit in Canada. Businessweek reports that the Walker Digital complaint is: Walker Digital LLC v. Facebook Inc., U.S. District Court, 10cv1026, District of Delaware (Wilmington). To see the patent: 5,884,271. We’ll try to dig up the actual document, but if any of our readers can point us to it, we’ll embed it here.Businessweek [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.]    |
| Sir Richard’s New iPad Magazine! [TNW Apple] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 03:00 PM PST
The digital magazine, codenamed “Project,” will be released next Tuesday and will be tailored for the Apple iPad. News of Branson’s venture into digital media came shortly after Rupert Murdoch’s announcement of The Daily, a digital newspaper for the iPad. “Project” themes will include entertainment, travel, business, design, and international culture. Sounds like a fun zine to write for, but I’m sure Zee is a much better boss than RB. I personally look forward to the day when the seatback in front of you contains my very own Richard Branson branded iPad, which of course will include his new “Project” magazine. Branson is also working on Virgin Galactic, an enterprise that will offer commercial space travel within the next 18 months. Interstellar space hotels are next on the drawing board. Basically, Richard Branson is the coolest living being in the Universe.Yahoo News [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.]    |
| Try This: Geckoboard. CRM, email, stats and more all in one dashboard [TNW Apps] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 02:50 PM PST
How, then, do you monitor everything that you have going on without creating your own application via API’s or resorting to checking numerous websites? While there haven’t been many viable ways of creating a business dashboard for your company, Gekoboard is looking to change that. At its heart, Geckoboard brands itself as a real-time business status board. By integrating applications via API from a number of services, Geckoboard allows you to monitor what’s going on with your company, helps you to communicate with it and can even alert you when things go wrong. Since its inception back in July of this year, Geckoboard has been working hard to add more features and fix bugs that are found along the way. The question that is first asked from the Geckoboard Blog sums up what you might be wondering yourself – “What is a Status Board and Why Do I Need One?”. The answer? Clear and correct:
What we love about Geckoboard is that, since it runs via API, it has spawned a number of other sites that add functionality to it. GeckoboardApps, for instance, is a third-party site that creates application widgets for Gekoboard that are not included in the base product itself. We love the fact that the apps are managed. hosted and supremely simple. Still not convinced? While I don’t want to show everything that sits “behind the curtain” of TNW, I absolutely want to show you why Geckoboard needs to be on your radar. That said, here’s a look at my own board, and a walk-through of how it works: So now that you’ve seen it, there’s a good chance that you want in the door, right? The problem, of course, is that Geckoboard is in a private beta. Of course, we’re TNW and we love to pull strings for you when we can. That said, if you want to join in and give your company a running start, you can use this code when signing up:
We, as well as the Geckoboard crew, would love to know your thoughts about the service. From where we’re sitting, it’s an amazing way to bring so many of your necessary features into one place. [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.]    |
| The Next Web Podcast – Episode 36: Cloudy [The Next Web] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 02:06 PM PST Array
On this week’s show: Brad McCarty (Nashville), Chad Catacchio (Los Angeles), Courtney Boyd Myers (NYC) Download / Listen: In this week's episode: If Twitter removed the 140 character limit from DM's. Would we have an email killer? [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.]    |
| Content Ratings Coming To The Android Market [TNW Mobile] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 01:08 PM PST
So, what’s it all about and who does it affect? Well, Google is saying that the new function is going to supply users more information about software in order for them to make the best selections. Unfortunately, they didn’t elaborate with any information or photo evidence so we’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out visually. Oh, and it’s not only going to affect consumers. No. In fact, it’s going to impact app developers as well. While the current rating policy for the Market won’t change, developers are going to have to supply some new information when submitting a new app or an update for a current one. And over the next few weeks, current applications will have to be updated as well. If not, well, Google has prepared an interesting policy for devs that don’t adhere to the new rules:
So, if you're the developer of Monkey Kickoff, you probably want to make sure you update your application with a rating as soon as you possibly can. Or face the wrath of the Goog’s new policy.Image Credit, Image Credit 2 [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.]    |
| Shocker: BlackBerry PlayBook’s rumored pricing is competitive [TNW Gadgets] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:29 PM PST
While it’s just a rumor, most of you won’t be shocked by what you read here, even if it’s not the final pricing. So, RIM’s going to be unleashing 3 different devices onto the world. An 8GB version, a 16GB version and a 32GB version. Here is what the pricing looks like according to their source: 8GB: $399 16GB: $499 32GB: $599 Very realistic and very competitive which shouldn’t surprise anyone. The report also goes on to state that the first versions of the BlackBerry PlayBook will be Wi-Fi only meaning they won’t have built-in WWAN connectivity meaning you’ll have to tether or use Wi-Fi in order to get on the internet. If you were hoping for a carrier supported PlayBook, you’ll apparently have to wait until 2012. Just for comparison’s sake, here is how the two other tablets stack up as far as pricing is concerned. The Samsung Galaxy Tab ranges from $399 to $650 and the iPad starts at $499 and gets as expensive as $829. Anyway, from what we’ve seen from the PlayBook so far, those prices don’t appear to be that bad for a device of this caliber. Of course, we’ll have to wait until Q1 to see if it lives up to its hype.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.]    |
| Try This: The Feed. Gorgeous new iPad news reader [TNW Apps] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:08 PM PST
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| Google Chrome leads a list of vulnerable apps, but there’s more to the story [TNW Apps] Posted: 24 Nov 2010 12:01 PM PST
The report, detailed via NetworkWorld, shows Chrome topping its annual list of vulnerable apps with a total of 76 reported vulnerabilities. Among these, Bit9 claims to find buffer overflow and site scripting vulnerabilities which could open a host computer to attack. It’s worth bearing in mind, though, that the webkit-based Safari comes in at the number two slot, with 60 vulnerabilities of its own. What is not discussed, interestingly, is which version of Chrome was tested by Bit9. With the rocket-fast release schedule under which Chrome operates, something that was tested only a week ago could be nearly obsolete by now. Bit9 even confirms this, stating in its release:
While the information is certainly enough to make you stop and think for a moment, the end result is really up to each user. At this point, even though we’re excited about the Firefox 4 release, there simply isn’t a browser on the market that can compete with Chrome from what we’ve seen. Even the newly-released Opera, with all of its flash and sparkle, fails to compare in real-world use. Maybe it’s time for the resurgence of Internet Explorer? As for the rest of the list? Not a lot of surprises, really:
Given how many exploits that we hear of when it comes to Java, unpatched installations of Microsoft Office, hacked Firefox users and Adobe Flash issues, it’s a list that you likely could have sat down and made yourself. Granted that the order might have been different, but the names are still the same. [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.]    |
Samsung’s Nexus S has been shrouded in mystery, 
Jack Wong, CEO of Chinese phone manufacturer 
Online health retailer 
Filed under “Wait, didn’t this happen years ago?”, XM Canada and & Sirius Canada are finally merging their satellite radio operations (pending CRTC approval):
According to 
Here at TNW, we deal with a lot of different ways to keep things running. Using combinations of products from 
Here we are, the day before Thanksgiving in the US. While many of our usual suspects are out galavanting around, Brad, Courtney and Chad are here to save the day. While Twitter talk takes up a good part of the podcast, we’ll chat about Google’s Chrome OS and have some discussion about our geeky Christmas wishlists, as well.
TNW Quick Hit
The Feed's interface offers one an overview of everything on the menu, along with a versatile filtering system and two different zoom levels. Further, The Feed uses proportionately sized stacks to illustrate your read and unread items, a grand feature.
We’ve talked at length about Chrome being the “| You are subscribed to email updates from The Next Web To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
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