Facebook testing real-time update feature

SAN FRANCISCO: Facebook said it is dabbling with a Twitter-like feature that alerts members in real time to what their friends are up to on the social network.

The feature, reportedly called "Happening Now," is being tried by a "fraction of a percent" of Facebook's more than 600 million members, according to the world's leading online social network.

"We are currently testing a feature within News Feed that gives people the ability to see what their friends are commenting on and 'liking,' as these actions are being taken on Facebook," the California company said in an email reply to an AFP inquiry.

"In the coming weeks, as we learn more from this test, we'll keep making improvements and may expand it to more people."

The feature was seen by some as a potential challenge to global microblogging service Twitter, which lets people share what they are thinking, doing, or seeing instantly in messages of 140 or fewer characters.

The new Facebook feature for now apparently alerts people to what friends are doing at the social network.

Google Acquires Ad-Optimization Firm AdMeld

Google Acquires Ad-Optimization Firm AdMeld for $400 Million
Deal Ads Key Piece to DoubleClick Publisher Platform

Google has acquired online ad optimization company Admeld for $400 million, according to a source close to the deal. The deal ads a missing piece to Google's online ad infrastructure that powers much of online display advertising today, but could bring more regulatory scrutiny.

AdMeld is one of several companies that help publishers decide which ad to accept from a host of buyers such as ad networks or buyers participating in exchanges. Others in the space include the L.A.-based Rubicon Project and Palo Alto-based Pubmatic.


Admeld CEO Michael Barrett Observers have long thought that Google would add optimization functionality to its ad server, DoubleClick; the question was whether it would build it on its own or acquire an existing company, as it did with the demand-side platform Invite Media, which it acquired last year.

AdMeld is led by CEO David Barrett, former head of digital sales at News Corp. Mr. Barrett helped MySpace reach its revenue heyday, but took the fall when traffic and sales started to plummet. Google is expected to add the functionality to its suite of tools for publishers. Through DoubleClick, Google powers much of the world's online display advertising, taking a tiny cut of the buy along the way.

With the deal, Google has acquired 12 companies since the beginning of the year, according to Tolman Geffs, co-president of Jordan Edmiston Group, a media investment bank. TechCrunch's Michael Arrington first reported news of the deal.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on "rumors."
The deal could trigger some regulatory scrutiny. Google has been through several tough reviews, including its deal to acquire DoubleClick in 2007, and its attempt to forge a search partnership with Yahoo in 2008.

How to disable facial recognition in Facebook

How to disable facial recognition in Facebook



Tagging friends in Facebook photos may be somewhat of a chore, but that doesn't mean we asked to be opted in to Facebook's new facial-recognition photo-tagging feature. As we reported yesterday, Facebook quietly rolled out facial-recognition software "that will automate photo tagging and suggest friends to tag in your photos based on what they look like."

Here's how it works: when you or a Facebook friend uploads a photo, Facebook uses facial-recognition software to match faces in that photo with previous photos on Facebook in which you've been tagged. Facebook groups similar photos together and suggests names for tagging purposes. Granted, Facebook isn't tagging photos itself, but it is certainly making the process easier for your friends to tag photos of you.
As Facebook says here, "Now if you upload pictures from your cousin's wedding, we'll group together pictures of the bride and suggest her name. Instead of typing her name 64 times, all you'll need to do is click 'Save' to tag all of your cousin's pictures at once." That's great, unless one of those 64 photos are of you at the end of the evening, slumped in a chair with your tie in your drink.
The introduction of facial recognition on Facebook has many users rightfully uneasy. Worse, Facebook has enabled it by default. Here's how to disable it:


Click on Account in the upper-right corner of your Facebook page, and from the pull-down menu choose Privacy Settings.


Next, find the small Customize settings link and click it.



On the next page, scroll down to the "Things others share" section, and click the Edit Settings button next to "Suggest photos of me to friends" header. You'll notice it's Enabled by default. Click on the button and select Disabled and then hit the Okay button to restore some of your privacy on Facebook.

Twitter Introduces Automatically Shortened URLs

Eliminates the need to use third-party services for the same.

Twitter has started offering automatic shortening of long URLs, so they can fit within the 140-character limit of the micro-blogging service. Earlier, it was required to go to a third-party URL-shortening service such as bit.ly to do the same

URL-shortening converts a long URL into a URL just a few characters long. In this shortened form, it is easy to post as a Twitter message. The new URL-shortening feature in Twitter, automatically shortens any URL you type as a tweet, into a 19-character URL starting with t.co. The difference between this service and others is that you will still view the first few characters of the original long URL instead of the shortened URL so that people can know about the site they will visit when they click on the link. But you can be sure that the URL is shortened because you can seemingly post messages longer than 140 characters, which would not be possible on Twitter.

While this service has now been built into Twitter, people may continue using any other third-party service for the same

Dell to launch 10-inch Android tablet in China

(Reuters) - Dell Inc has chosen to launch its new 10-inch Android tablet in China this summer, passing up on a U.S., Europe launch, as China emerges as a front line battle for tablets.

The tablet named "Streak 10 Pro" will target Chinese "prosumers", a term used to describe advanced-level consumers, Amit Midha, Dell's President of Greater China and South Asia, said on a corporate blog on Thursday.

Dell, which is also working on a Windows 7-based tablet for enterprise customers due later this year, will evaluate launches of the Android tablet in other regions in the second half of the year, he said.

Dell's decision to launch a 10-inch (25 cm) tablet in China is a signal of the market's growing importance to the company.

Dell's China sales grew 22 percent in the first quarter while its retail presence in China exceeds 10,000 sales points, Midha said.

"In China in particular, we're currently number 2 in the Chinese PC market and we're seeing a significant increase in the number of small- and medium-business users, who are adopting mobility products as part of their growth plans," he said.

Dell has chosen China to launch new products before. In 2009, Dell announced it will enter the smartphone market starting in China before moving into Brazil.

By launching the Android tablet in China, Dell hopes to give more time to developers to develop applications for the device as China blocks some Google applications and the Android Market is not yet available.

The tablet market is currently dominated by Apple Inc's iPads, Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility Holdings tablets.

"The end product (encompassing the hardware, software, and availability of applications, services and solutions) delivered in China will be significantly different to what would be delivered in many other countries. That's why it makes sense to start there" Midha said, adding that Dell will take what it learns in China to shape mobile products for other markets.

India's top 50 engineering colleges 2011

Ranking methodology

We scanned the last five year rankings of about 241 colleges and normalised their ranks, by assigning differential weights to subjective and objective ranking. Such a process is used to develop clusters of institutions. The research standing of individual institutions were further used to refine the clusters and remove the odd men out.

Individual clusters were ranked serially. In each of these clusters the differences in cut-off marks, wherever possible (like in case of IITs and AIEEE institutes and some States) were used to arrive at individual ranks.

Tata Manza Mileage @ 46.33 kmpl

Tata Manza Mileage @ 46.33 kmpl! Narayanan Menon Breaks Record!

Mechanical Engineer, Narayanan Menon surely doesn’t not like exponentially growing petrol prices in India. He did the obvious you’d expect any engineer to do – get the most out of his car engine. The proud owner of Tata Manza (Quadrajet Aura ABS) set out on 72.3 kilometer long drive on Coimbatore- Avinashi by-pass on May 25 and made an entry into the Limca Book Of Records by churning out incredible 46.33 km per litre of diesel. Menon covered the whole

distance with just 1.58 liters of fuel.

Narayanan Menon With His Tata Manza
While the Tata Manza Quadrajet Aura engine has made a name for its mileage, Menon (MD of Aromen Engineering Company) gives the credit to proper engine maintenance and good driving skills. Indian engineers who care a great deal about the fuel economy of car should take lessons from Narayanan Menon. Maintain your car, service is properly and timely – and you can expect magic from the machine.

W3C 2011: Web for All

The 20th International World Wide Web Conference, WWWC (W3C) 2011 was organized jointly by the International Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Bengaluru and Hyderabad and the Institute of Information Technology, Mumbai. WWWC 2011 with the theme 'Web for All' was spread over 5 days from March 28th to April 1st, 2011 at the Hyderabad International Convention Center (HICC) in Hyderabad.Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the former President of India formally inaugurated the event on March 30th.


Prof S Sadagopan, director, IIIT, Bengaluru shares the excitement of bringing the international event to India with VOICE&DATA, “It is a part of our larger effort to get supply side leadership for the country. World has given us this leadership. There is yet a long vision. This is a part of larger game play. These kinds of research oriented events are the seeds which will reap huge benefits. It will boost research activities in India.”

Future of the Web

This conference discussed future of the web and to bridge digital divide. W3C 2011's theme being 'Web for All' aims to promote the all-inclusive aspect of the Web. At present, around 11% of Indian population access web. Referring to the theme 'Web for All', Prof S Sadagopan said, “People in India have recognized the potential of ICT. There are multiple things that are happening, primarily the affordability. We are moving towards the phase of integrating web and mobile, hence people can access web via mobile. Content is improving in Indian languages.” He added, “People, even in rural areas who are now coming into 15 to 16 years are becoming literate. Things are happening though it is not dramatic.”

Web for Empowering Democracy

Sir Tim Berners-Lee shared his insights about Web while delivering keynote address on 'Designing the Web for Open Society' on March 31st, 2011. He said that right to internet should be a human right as in Finland. World Wide Web also reflects the principles of democracy which signifies equality of all people irrespective of their racial, national, social or economic background. Hence it has emerged as the embodiment of the principles of democracy and a powerful tool to achieve democratic process in lands where democracy is non-existent. Referring to the Egypt revolution, he said that web is a powerful tool if used in a right way. Industry is now talking about real-time web data. Data is growing double the times within a span of 10 months. With regard to semantic web, he pointed that interpretative web is exciting. But most of the data is non-formatted. Control of cybercrime doesn't have a simple solution. There are problems of jurisdiction between countries. There's the issue of coordination among law enforcing agencies of different countries. Even if one country does not participate in the regulatory mechanism, all the bad can happen from there. He declared, “Unfortunately IT is conservative and conventional when it comes to producing web data. There should be an interconnection of data amongst all verticals. It is not the internet policy which is questioned time and again but the functions of internet. Internet is very centralized; suppose if the access to internet is interrupted, we would not have a copy of it. Hence we should think about reconnecting immediately if there is any political or any other disaster. Internet is a wonderful place which is like a tree and it escalates system. People should know how to use the unlimited data on net.”

The annual event drew around 700 people from 49 countries. The exclusive research oriented WWW 2011 event was an amalgamation of researchers, technologists, developers and users with intense technical sessions viz, 81 technical papers, 90 posters, 25 demos, 12 tutorials, 9 workshops and a PhD symposium. It also attracted CIOs, IT directors and decision makers from the public and private sectors.

Nokia launches new dual SIM handsets

Nokia has unveiled two dual SIM mobile handsets in India – Nokia C2-00 and Nokia X1-01. The dual SIM music phones have been manufactured at the company's Chennai facility. The dual SIM music phones, made at the company's Chennai facility, have set new benchmarks in the mobile Internet and music space in the entry-level dual SIM category, said Vipul Sabharwal, director sales, Nokia India, during the launch. Nokia C2-00 is priced at Rs. 3,000 and X1-01 is priced at Rs. 2,000.

Nokia said the two mobile phones offer smarter multiple SIM management and enhanced music capabilities, and the handsets have been designed keeping in mind the requirements of the Indian consumers. Nokia claimed the Easy Swap feature of the handset allows users to change SIM cards turning off the phone or removing the battery. Also, with the Nokia C2-00, users can browse the Internet, read emails and enjoy instant messaging with either SIM card. With 32 GB expandable memory, one of the interesting features of Nokia C2-00 is that there is no need to reboot or redefine settings, as the phone remembers up to five different SIM cards.

Coming with up to 16 GB of memory support, Nokia X1-01 also boasts of a 'jumbo' battery that promises continued music playback of up to 36 hours. Nokia said X1-01 allows users to personalize their dual SIM experience with their own SIM name, call or SMS settings, logo, ringtone or music. This handset also remembers the settings for up to five SIM cards.

appMobi Acquires Hosting Platform

appMobi likes HTML5-based mobile games, and it wants you to like them, too, which is why appMobi is focused on giving developers the tools required to make HTML5 and JavaScript mobile applications that run smoothly across platforms and browsers.

Of course, many loudly pronounced HTML5 the new heir to the throne, as it would finally bring the native app experience to every mobile device, and take some of the iterative work in app creation out of the hands of developers. The problem is that this pronouncement jumped the gun by more than a few paces: HTML5, while an important step forward, is still a work in progress.

But, today, appMobi announced a new technology, called DirectCanvas, that it claims speeds up the often slow graphic rendering of HTML5 in mobile games by 500 percent. DirectCanvas was designed to accelerate the HTML5 canvas element, allowing graphics and animation in mobile games to be more fluid, in other words, to appear with greater speed and fewer glitches. appMobi hopes that its technology will allow game studios to build a more diverse range of mobile games, which many have resisted because of the questions over whether or not devices can support complex HTML5-based games.

appMobi also announced today at E3 that it acquired TapJS, a game hosting platform with community features that enables users to integrate games with player accounts, server-side data storage, leader boards, badges, Facebook, and more through a simple JavaScript API. appMobi said that acquiring TapJS will beef up its mobile development feature set by adding the startup’s engagement features, like player challenges and leader boards and allow developers to integrate social elements to their games using the platform.

For more on the comparison between appMobi’s new speedy updates to HTML5 in gaming, check out the video below. The technology looks impressive, but it will take DirectCanvas getting out into the wild in the hands of developers before we’ll know whether or not this can have a significant effect on HTML5 game development across the board.

Wall Street expects iCloud to drive sales of Apple's iOS devices

The newly announced iCloud service is expected to further drive sales of iOS devices as users become even more tied in to Apple's increasingly proprietary ecosystem, analysts on Wall Street believe.

Some of the most prominent analysts offered their take on iCloud, iOS 5 and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion following Monday's keynote presentation at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference. Most were wowed by iCloud, viewing it as an important component of Apple's product strategy.

Piper Jaffray

Analyst Gene Munster said Apple is increasing the likelihood that consumers will buy multiple devices. A central drive for Apple will be the free iCloud service, which will automatically share contacts, calendars, messages, photos, apps and music purchased on iTunes.

Going even further, Apple has made it easier for users to cut the cord to their PC. The new iOS 5 mobile operating system will make it possible for users to operate their iPhone or iPad without tethering to a computer and syncing with iTunes.

Apple's decision to make iCloud free will eliminate about 0.3 percent of Apple's revenue in 2011, Munster believes. By his calculations, that number will be easily offset by higher sales of devices.

Munster's overweight rating on AAPL stock and $554 price target also do not take into account pricing on Lion, so in his view the low $29.99 cost of the Mac OS upgrade will not have an impact on his numbers. He also noted that users who make the upgrade to Lion will be more likely to stick with the Mac platform.





Gleacher & Company

iCloud will increase the "stickiness" of the Apple ecosystem, analyst Brian Marshall believes. And while the service will be a financial benefit for Apple in the long run, he does not see it moving the company's "financial needle" in the near future.

Relative to the previews of iOS 5 and Lion, Marshall believes iCloud stole the show, as he called the service "brimming with functionality." He also believes iCloud "will likely far exceed community expectations" with its list of features, including wireless sync, documents in the cloud, and iTunes in the Cloud.

Gleacher & Company has reiterated its "buy" rating and price target of $450 for AAPL stock. Marshall said the key risk for the company remains the health of Chief Executive Steve Jobs, and noted his physical appearance took "an unfortunate turn for the worse" since he last appeared at the iPad 2 introduction in March. "We wish him a full recovery," Marshall wrote.





RBC Capital Markets

iCloud positions Apple for a "post-PC" world, and is a "possible game changer" for the company, analyst Mike Abramsky wrote in his note to investors. Apple's vision with a closed ecosystem of hardware, services, software and applications could help drive the company's next leg of growth and valuation against the competing Google Android platform, he believes.

"By 'cutting the cord' to the pC, Apple may expand its addressable market by 4x, addressing the (about 3 billion) handset users who have a phone -- but not a PC," he wrote. "We believe we may see new devices in time, based off iCloud services."

Abramsky was also impressed by iOS 5 and Lion, which he said reflect Apple's "trademark user experience," highlighting convenience, simplicity and discoverability. The new products and services unveiled by Apple on Monday "have the potential to significantly expand and defend Apple's franchise," he said.

RBC Capital Markets has reiterated its outperform rating for AAPL stock, as well as its price target of $450.





Ticonderoga Securities

Analyst Brian White believes iCloud, Lion and iOS 5 further enhance Apple's ecosystem, and he was also encouraged by the appearance of Jobs at Monday's keynote. He believes the biggest announcement was iTunes in the Cloud.

"Clearly, the most anticipated app for iCloud was bringing iTunes into the cloud, allowing consumers to push already purchased songs into the cloud across Apple devices, while automatically downloading future song purchases across devices," he wrote.

White has reiterated his buy rating and 12-month price target of $612 for AAPL stock.

Deutsche Bank

"iCloud hits take-off velocity," analyst Chris Whitmore's note to investors reads. Like others, he didn't change his financial outlook for Apple based on iCloud, but he believes in time the service will attract new users and developers.

"We believe iCloud will greatly increase the stickiness of the Apple platform, particularly for multi-device iPad/iPhone/Mac owners, and further differentiate the AAPL platform in terms of scale and size," he said.

Whitmore has maintained a buy rating and price target of $450 for AAPL stock.





J.P. Morgan Research

Analyst Mark Moskowitz was less impressed than his peers, declaring there was "no wow factor at WWDC." Still, he believes iCloud and other improvements will likely keep Apple ahead of its competitors.

"While WWDC did not introduce a major, new product category or refresh, we think there were plenty of incremental building blocks for driving above-peer revenue growth," he said. "Of note, the iCloud service stands to further cement Apple's role in constructing a 'way of life' for the user."

Moskowitz and J.P. Morgan have maintained an "overweight" rating for AAPL stock, with a price target of $450.

JMP Securities

Analyst Alex Gauna is less bullish about AAPL stock than others on Wall Street, and he came away unimpressed with Monday's keynote, declaring it "cloudier, with less lightning bolts, than normal." He also said the presentation had "no real surprises," and was merely an evolutionary step for Apple.

Gauna noted that the company's stock dropped more than 1.5 percent in response to the keynote, and he said he agreed with the reaction from investors. He was particularly disappointed by the lack of new hardware, which he said is needed to "stem the tide of faster Android adoption, or to make enterprise inroads."

Still, Gauna said that Lion and iOS 5 updates are "likely to please the Apple faithful and keep Apple products best in class with regard to intuitiveness and usability." He also said iCloud should maintain the dominance of iTunes.

Gauna remains concerned about Apple's "ability to execute without a healthy CEO," and as such has reiterated a "Market Perform" rating for AAPL stock, without a set target price.

Latest blockbusters now on YouTube

NEW DELHI: To catch the latest blockbuster, you no longer have to splurge in a multiplex. Just log on to YouTube.

The online video sharing site on Tuesday launched ' YouTube Box Office' where movie buffs can watch a premium blockbuster every month absolutely free of cost on the new channel.

Kick-starting the initiative will be the latest hit 'Band Baaja Baaraat', starring Ranveer Singh and Anushka Sharma.

It will also feature other popular movies which users can watch for free from the YouTube catalogue of movies which include over 1500 titles, including regional language films.

YouTube is now roping in leading film production houses for the purpose.

"We are working with the companies to fulfill business needs, from securing global distribution to marketing films, creating new business models around old content, and engaging with fans," Gautam Anand, Director ( Content Partnerships )) of YouTube Japan-APAC, said.

So how is YouTube making money by showing movies for free?

"We make the money through advertising and do a revenue share with our partners. We want to create a comprehensive video platform. To do this, we need to make our partners profitable," he said.

This initiative also opens up a new window of opportunities for marketers to utilise the platform and engage the YouTube community.

Anand Gurnani, General Manager (Digital & New Media) of Yash Raj Films , said, "Apart from offering tremendous reach, evolved digital platforms like YouTube also enable the monetisation aspect through advertising revenues in an unobtrusive manner, while offering a great online viewing experience to the users."

Google Buys PostRank

Google Buys Social Analytics Company PostRank

Google has acquired PostRank, a four-year-old social start-up that measures social media engagement for online sites, stories and authors. Not much of anything about the deal is being disclosed, besides that PostRank’s team will be moving from Waterloo, Ontario to Mountain View, Calif. to help Google with measurement for both its users and advertisers. See our story about what happened to SayNow, another recent Google acquisition.

When Facebook acquired Beluga this past March, it was an interesting deal for them. Interesting, because they previously had only done deals for talent. But this deal, they told us, was for both talent and assets. In other words, they were also interested in the technology behind Beluga. More importantly, the plan was to keep Beluga running. And they have. Sort of.

Over the past several weeks, users of Beluga have probably noticed some major reliability issues. These range from the mobile apps missing messages because they’re unable to connect to the service, to the service’s website being totally down. Last night, Beluga was totally down for a few hours. There was no indication why it was down, even after it came back. This has been happening more frequently. Not good.

It’s hard not to be reminded of FriendFeed. That service, which Facebook bought in 2009, also reminded live post-acquisition. While that was a talent deal, the core FriendFeed team said they were committed to keeping it up indefinitely. The reality has been that while it’s still up, performance issues and lack of continued development have driven away many of the core users (though, odddly, usage started spiking in Turkey after the deal). It’s a ghost town now. A shell of what it used to be.

And Beluga appears to be headed in the same direction. When Facebook acquired it, we were just heading into a full-on group messaging app showdown. To me, Beluga was the most promising of the new players. It had all the essentials I wanted/needed to replace SMS on my phone. And it was fast — really fast. My social circle started getting really into using it all the time.

We barely use it anymore. Again, it’s just too unreliable now.

I’ve reached out to the Beluga team to see what the deal is. I have yet to hear back, and I may not because Facebook tends to rule with an iron fist about such matters. Officially, the team was assigned to the groups and messaging teams within Facebook. While the new Facebook Messages is finally rolling out to all users, there hasn’t been any major new developments there in months either. There’s certainly no stand-alone Facebook Messages app that some of us had been hoping for — even though Google has quietly been working on one.

At the time of the acquisition, both Facebook and Beluga said that they would be providing details about Beluga’s ultimate future “in the coming weeks”. By my count, it has now been about 13 weeks. It’s time to let us know if Beluga will live, be officially harpooned, or if it will be left to drift at sea like FriendFeed.

I don’t have a good feeling about that answer. Too bad.