InformationWeek Stories by Eric Mack

InformationWeek Stories by Eric Mackhttp://www.informationweek.comInformationWeeken-usCopyright 2012, UBM LLC.2011-09-20T20:53:00ZGoogle+ : Open to the Public, Adds New FeaturesAfter nearly three months in beta testing, which seems pretty short for Google, the doors have been thrown open wide on Google+.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231601802?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors The sign-up screenshot says it all. Google+, available just to invited insiders for the last three months of its field trial, is now available to anyone who cares to try it out. The ultimate gathering spot for insiders, Google+ opens up just in time to steal a bit of thunder from Microsoft’s Windows 8 hoopla and Facebook’s F8 conference going on now. On Tuesday morning, Google+ chief Vic Gundotra also announced a few more features – multi-user video chat via its Hang Out feature is now available on Apple iOS and Google Android based mobile devices, and it includes the long-awaited search capability. Gundotra, <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/09/google-92-93-94-95-96-97-98-99-100.html">in his post</a> detailed hundreds of features. Among them is feature No. 100. He wrote: <blockquote>"For the past 12 weeks we’ve been in field trial, and during that time we’ve listened and learned a great deal. We’re nowhere near done, but with the improvements we’ve made so far we’re ready to move from field trial to beta, and introduce our 100th feature: open signups. This way anyone can visit google.com/+, join the project and connect with the people they care about."</blockquote> And with that, Google smashes the garden wall. If you’ve been locked out of the party, weep no more. Check out this slide show for a quick and dirty tour of the most notable Google+ features, old and new, and a bit of analysis.Just because it's a no-brainer doesn't mean it needed its own alpha period away from the brutal hordes of the field test crowd, apparently. But at last the most famous search company in history has decided to bite the bullet, and add search to Google+. This was BYTE's biggest beef with the system since its inception. It's about time Google added it.Look out FaceTime, now Google+ enables multiuser video chat for iOS and Android chat. But there's a catch. For Android devices, you need Android Gingerbread or higher and this <a href="https://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.plus" target="_blank">new Android app</a>. You of course also need a mobile device with a front-facing camera.Hangouts aren't just for your closest pals and technorati folk like Robert Scoble anymore. Hangouts On Air lets you to broadcast your hangout. That means anyone can watch you and your friends. Make sure you watch that camera light! This feature is going to roll out slowly with a limited number of broadcasters, beginning with <a href="https://plus.google.com/u/0/109351399938437494273/posts" target="_blank">will.i.am</a> of Black Eyed Peas Fame. The celebrity will be hosting the first On Air Hangout on Wednesday evening. Besides mobile and broadcasting Hangouts, there are some new extras within Hangouts. The new screen sharing feature lets you show off your vacation photos, your high score, your lesson plan or whatever else is on your screen. Sketchpad is for doodling, scribbling and drawing. And Google Docs work now within Hangouts, too. You also can access Named Hangouts, which lets you join or create public hangouts.Last week the <a href="http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/2011/09/getting-started-on-google-api.html" target="_blank">Google+ API</a> launched and now Google is rolling out its Hangout APIs to developers. Developer support is going to be key for Google+ success moving forward. All of you app developers can get more info at the <a href="http://googleplusplatform.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Google+ Platform blog</a>.2011-08-17T13:40:00ZAmazon, Apple Outages, More Patent Attacks: BYTE NewsbriefsThe Apple Store went down for hours today with no explanation.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231500155?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors Search the recent Amazon outage or today's four-hour Apple outage online and you'll see hundreds of news and blog pieces. What is up with that? It's old school, but speculation regarding hackers and data centers is a waste of so-called ink. A big outage is news when we know what caused it -- and if it truly demonstrates how well upcoming cloud services from Apple and Amazon will work. With recent outages, it is too soon to call. BYTE did contact Apple about this morning's as yet unexplained Apple Store outage and we'll have comments in a later update. The Apple Store, by the way, is <a href="http://store.apple.com">back up</a>. ALSO IN THE NEWS: Two days after Google bought Motorola Mobility and its 7,000 plus 4G and other patents</a>, the patent wars rage on. HTC is taking on Apple. The Taiwanese electronics giant officially claimed patent infringement against Apple today, alleging that some Apple Macs and iOS devices infringe on HTC Wifi processor communication order-line modulation technology patents. We'll watch. Patent wars are bad news for buyers. Lawyers make money, and costs get passed along to you. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/August_2011/app-patent.jpg"/> One of the patents HTC claims Apple is infringing. And in product news, RIM announced a Sunday release for its <a href="http://news.softpedia.com/news/BlackBerry-Bold-9930-and-Torch-9850-at-Sprint-on-August-21st-216979.shtml">new Bold and Torch smartphones</a>. The new AR capability is worth checking out. Or are you, like BYTE's Craig Johnston, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/commentary/personal-tech/smart-phones/231001202"> just completely disenchanted with recent RIM fumbles</a> ? We'll update BYTE Newsbriefs later today USA PT. Based in Taos, NM, Eric Mack is BYTE's executive news editor at BYTE. Gina Smith, chief editor based in San Francisco, contributed to this piece. Email Eric at EricM@BYTE.com and Gina@BYTE.com. 2011-08-15T19:33:00ZGoogle Buys Motorola Mobility for $12.5B BYTE Special Report BYTE Special Report - Google Buys Motorola Mobilityhttp://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231500001?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsGoogle has purchased Motorola Mobility for $12 billion dollars. Google's Larry Page and Andy Rubin told investors the move is all about adding to its library of patents, supporting and extending Android, and making a more solid move into the household, which could mean second life for Google TV. But is there even more than meets the eye behind the deal? BYTE's <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/authors/6943">Gina Smith</a>, <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/authors/7063">Eric Mack</a> and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/authors/1057">Fritz Nelson</a> speak with <a href="http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=PRF003108">Al Hilwa</a>, Program Director for IDC's Application Development Software research in this BYTE special report. <center> <object height="270" width="452"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"/><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"/><param name="movie" value="http://player.wizzard.tv/player/o/i/x/131345203053/config/k-f86f7b00a54c8ac4/uuid/null/episode/k-31d7cc7b9bf8e34c"/><embed src="http://player.wizzard.tv/player/o/i/x/131345203053/config/k-f86f7b00a54c8ac4/uuid/null/episode/k-31d7cc7b9bf8e34c" name="movie" menu="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" AllowScriptAccess="always" AllowFullScreen="true" width="452" height="270"/></object> </center> 2011-08-12T09:30:00ZHow VOiP Will Rock Your WorldA look at the future of VoIP and players like Skype, Google Voice, Vonagehttp://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231300513?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors The growth is nothing short of meteoric. I'm not talking Apple, I'm talking VoIP. Voice and video over Internet protocol is exploding -- via both new consumer apps and enterprise-targeted services. Already most PBX systems use it, and now with carryover from consumer platforms has pushed a once fringe technology to critical mass. Products from <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/windows/microsoft_news/229403154">Microsoft,</a>Google and <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/commentary/personal-tech/tablets/231002958">Amazon</a> will hit business soon. If you haven't seen it already, you will. VoIP is on the brink of ubiquity. The floodgates are opening. Already Skype is available across almost every conceivable platform and device. And more options are on their way. I easily can imagine a future where <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/calling-from-gmail-now-in-38-languages.html">Google</a> and its abundant fiber become the de facto telecom company. Traditional carriers will have to fight to keep up -- how fast can they go full-digital and video-capable? The road for them looks rough. The VoIP landscape is rapidly evolving and change is lightning quick. To help you and your business make sense of it all, here's my deep dive into VoIP tech now and as it evolves in coming months and years. The State of VoIP in 2011 "We appear to have the most acceleration right now to move off of traditional analog voice to full digital," analyst Rob Enderle tells BYTE. "This isn't voice but integrated service so that you can easily bridge to video -- and you can connect voice back to something related to e-mail and message management. "The term we've been using for well over a decade is convergence, but for whatever reason the industry has come around to the idea that this stuff needs to be done quickly," Enderle says. Why the sudden rush? Power players like Microsoft and Google have likely pushed the surge, moving VoIP beyond second-tier players offering edgy services and toward truly ubiquitous, mainstream availability. "Now we've got A-class companies that are behind it and that makes a difference," Enderle says. "Traditional voice is going away… that particular part of the (traditional carrier) business has become obsolete and now we're just waiting for the market to finish the process" to turn everything digital. It's not the first time pundits have predicted the death of old-school landline service. But now, with executioners like Microsoft and Google and their sharp, high-powered axes, it's happening. The signs are all around us. The Estonian Endgame? As of this writing, a week after being released, Skype for iPad remains among the top free apps in the iTunes store. More than 27 million people are currently logged in to Skype's network at this writing, a number that doesn't even include the millions of potential Skype video chats going on via Facebook. And it doesn't take into account the Google+ video moves or what Amazon is planning for its high-powered video-capable quad core tablet, code-named Hollywood, which sources tell BYTE Amazon is trying to rush to market by the holidays. <object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/B5G_CkPfDOU?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/B5G_CkPfDOU?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Skype expects to be the standard, and certainly its early lead sets it up for it. "We're a company that crosses different ecosystems, that supports multiple platforms, gives users lots of choice, and we sort of want to become the standard for IP communication," Skype executive Rick Osterloh tells BYTE. As for the challenge of competing with traditional wired and wireless carriers, Osterloh emphasized the distinction between IP communication and traditional telecoms. "Skype is really an additional communications tool that's added on to (a customer's) portfolio," Osterloh says. Specifically, he sees Skype's video component as a prime example of adding to users' existing roster of tools without taking anything away from the carriers. It's a nice sentiment, probably driven by Skype's need to stay friendly with the existing carriers. After all, Skype relies on those carriers and must play nice. But notice that countries like Belize, with powerful and centralized telecom carriers, have shut Skype out. And Skype's rhetoric doesn't really jive with some of the other services it now offers, such as the option to SkypeIn to a dedicated number. That's a clear replacement option for traditional home phones. Gartner analyst Ken Agress says the company is obviously positioning itself as an alternative to the traditional analog phone network. "There's definitely downward pressure (on traditional carriers)," Agress says, "because as we move into an IP-enabled voice era, it becomes easier to establish international connections without having to do lots of dedicated trunks, so you gain efficiency." That all translates to the single feature that has driven consumers to Skype and other VoIP providers more than any other so far – cheaper prices to call more numbers worldwide. Costs and Critical Mass Last week, a rash of VoIP announcements had pricing at the core -- a clear move toward expanding VoIP beyond early adopters and into the mainstream. <a href="http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/calling-from-gmail-now-in-38-languages.html">Google Voice</a> lowered rates to 150 dialing destinations. <a href="http://www.vonage.com">Vonage</a>'s new iPhone app provides fifteen minute calls for under two bucks to a hundred countries with a free trial. <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110727005661/en/Goober-Networks-Launches-Domestic-International-No-Cost-VoIP">Goober Networks announced</a> it is offering free ad-supported VoIP calls. All of those new options could actually be good news for the lifespan of the analog phone network, because such a fragmented and varied menu of options could keep the VoIP reaper away for a while longer. Rob Enderle says that while neither Skype nor any of the other VoIP providers have yet reached critical mass, VoIP itself has, leaving only generational barriers and general aversion to change as the remaining barriers to a mainstream VoIP revolution. "It's not going away and now it's just a case of folks moving from the way they were doing things to a new thing," says Enderle. Vonage, more than any other VoIP player, has been working to make that transition as simple and seamless as possible. The company has a national footprint, 2.4 million customers on its home phone replacement plan. Vonage VP Gavin Macomber tells BYTE it's looking at three frontiers for growth: international long distance from home and mobile phones, international service for customers who don't already have accounts via the iPhone app or for Android, where Vonage is soon to land, and a move into more countries, beginning with Canada and the United Kingdom. And this is where the true nature of the race emerges. The analog system cannot survive in the midst of this explosive move toward ubiquitous VoIP. That's clear. All that remains is which player and strategy will come to finish it off. Vonage seeks to co-opt users of all technical abilities with an analog replacement strategy. Soon to be Microsoft's Skype continues to push a whole new communications suite up the demographic chain, with younger users bringing more parents and grandparents into the fray. Google is attempting an end-run around both using a different model with Google Voice's sexy multiple number aggregation feature, along with its Gmail and Android integration. <object width="425" height="349"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHIWUw6cf1U?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sHIWUw6cf1U?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="349" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Even more smaller players dither around the edges with ad-supported models, products targeting the enterprise and more. And they may not be small for long. But there's still another force at play in the mainstream transition to VoIP – the traditional carriers themselves. <img src="http://i.techweb.com/infoweek/byte/news/August_2011/452voip.png"> Carry Us Into the Future "If (carriers are) smart, they can occupy an important piece of the future public switched telephone network by putting a strong IMS platform in place and integrating well with their (VoIP providers), the question is whether they're going to be that smart or nimble," says Gartner's Agress. IMS stands for IP Multimedia Subsystem, an architectural framework most closely associated with 3G and 4G networks. Agress describes it as a set of standards that will take VoIP and allow it to be implemented on an industrial scale. It could also be the carriers' best hope for staying relevant in the long-term, although none has brought an IMS-based offering to market just yet. If the telecoms don't manage to remake the public switched telephone network into something VoIP-friendly in their own image, there is the remote possibility another company may be able to. "Google already owns a substantial amount of the national fiber in the United States…putting themselves in the position where they could be a carrier," says Rob Enderle, noting that Google would still have last-mile difficulties in providing services. Nevertheless, he figures the company already has 80 percent of the infrastructure it would need. Gartner's Agress is skeptical about whether Google will move further into the telecommunications business because of the regulatory headaches it would face by becoming an actual carrier. Everyone BYTE spoke with for this story agrees that the traditional phone system will remain in place for some time. No other single network penetrates as many homes and businesses worldwide yet, but Enderle believes the younger users of the products announced this month will continue to push the generational movement towards VoIP forward. They're also likely to continue bringing them into offices at an increasing rate. It may not be long before corporate VoIP goes the same way that corporate Blackberry accounts seem to be heading. For now, BYTE will sit back and continue to watch the battle for king of the ever-taller VoIP hill. And for the analog phone system, it's not looking good. Take care, guys. It's been fun and don't call us, we'll call you. Michael Doornbos and Mike Rothman contributed reporting to this story. Eric Mack is BYTE's Executive Editor for News. Follow him <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ericcmack">@ericcmack</a> or email eric.mack@byte.com.2011-08-05T17:00:00ZVoIP Coming Off the Back Burner: Stay TunedPreviewing a deep dive on the current landscape for video, VoIP and the other ways we communicate.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231300346?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors After what seems like years of simmering on the back burner, voice and video over IP (VoIP) services are coming into their own. "We appear to have the most acceleration right now to move off of traditional analog voice," analyst Rob Enderle tells BYTE. "For whatever reason the industry has come around to the idea that this stuff needs to be done quickly." Enderle is just one of many people I've spoken with this week for a deep dive on the current landscape for video, VoIP and the other ways we communicate over what looks less and less like a traditional wired phone network. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/August_2011/skype.jpg"/> It's an area that's started to move at lightning speed recently with Microsoft's bid for Skype, Skype integration into Facebook, Hangouts on Google+ and more. Just this week, a new ad-supported service with free international calling debuted, along with Skype on iPad, an interesting Vonage iOS app and Google expanding its voice service again, too. Look to BYTE next week for the full story on all of this, and a look into the future. You just might be surprised at the role that some experts think your current phone carrier and big names like Google will be playing in the years to come. We've also got a full review on the Skype iPad app rolling out in the coming days, too. So be sure to stay tuned to BYTE, but please don't put us on hold... Eric Mack is executive editor of news at <a href="http://www.byte.com" target="_blank">BYTE</a>. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/EricCmack" target="_blank">@EricCMack</a>. Got a news story or idea? Email him at <a href="mailto:eric.mack@byte.com">Eric.Mack@BYTE.com</a>.2011-08-05T07:00:00ZZynga Co-Founder Joins New TeamZynga is heading toward a big IPO, but one of its founding team members is now placing bets on a lesser-known social gaming company. http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231002978?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors Zynga is heading toward a big IPO, but one of its founding team members is now placing bets on a lesser known social gaming company. Andrew Trader, former VP of sales and business development for Zynga, has joined the board of KIXEYE, which is a sort of yin to Zynga's yang in the social gaming sphere. The company makes more involved and difficult-to-master games for social networks than Zynga does with its decidedly casual offerings. You might even call it hard-core social gaming. Backyard Monsters and Battle Pirates on Facebook are a few of that company's early hits. "KIXEYE has emerged as the leading innovator of social games for core gamers. Gamers want great games, not re-skinned versions of the same thing," Trader said in a statement. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/zynga1-hoffberg.jpg"/> KIXEYE, which was known as The Casual Collective until a few months ago, announced the addition of Trader to its board along with an additional $18 million in funding this week. Right now social gaming is big business, and Zynga completely dominates it. Reports put the IPO valuation for the four-year-old company easily in the billions of dollars, maybe as high as $20 billion. Not bad for a company built entirely on top of Facebook, which some think could be valued at $100 billion, by the way. Just for perspective: in 2008 the entire game industry was valued at about $22 billion. The same year, the US film industry reported slightly under $10 billion, a record for that vertical. The key to Zynga's success is clearly Facebook. A source close to both companies tells BYTE that the incestuous relationship between the two will become more clear after both have completed an IPO. Facebook has become an Internet within the Internet, capable of creating marketplaces and industries of significant size almost entirely within its walls. Its ability to create new communities within its vast membership makes it an attractive platform. It's also the only platform that matters for social gaming right now, and it's where KIXEYE and Andrew Trader are hoping there's enough room for a second social gaming giant to emerge. Trader's the guy that helped scale Zynga to hundreds of millions of active users, after all. But there's an interesting wrinkle that's gone under-reported so far. That's the fact that Google is one of the biggest investors (if not the biggest) in Zynga. Combine that with reports that Google is planning to welcome social games into Google+ and pay developers more for the privilege than Facebook, and you have a tectonic shift shaking the foundations that all of social gaming has been built upon. With the social gaming sphere set to expand, Zynga looks to continue to dominate, but there could soon be plenty of new social real estate for old hands like Andrew Trader to play in. Keep checking back with BYTE for more coverage of all the upcoming social IPOs and new frontiers for gaming. Jonathan Hoffberg is a senior contributor at <a href="http://www.byte.com" target="_blank">BYTE</a>. Email him at <a href="mailto:johnathan.hoffberg@byte.com">Johnathan.Hoffberg@BYTE.com</a>. Eric Mack is executive editor of news at <a href="http://www.byte.com" target="_blank">BYTE</a>. Follow him <a href="https://twitter.com/#!/EricCmack" target="_blank">@EricCMack</a>. Got a news story or idea? Email him at <a href="mailto:eric.mack@byte.com">Eric.Mack@BYTE.com</a>. 2011-08-03T16:21:00ZMobile Payment Wars ContinueVerizon and American Express have announced a mobile payments strategy, but the winner of this game may not have even entered the arena yet. Gina Smith speaks with Ron Posner.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231300156?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors The battle to replace your wallet rages on, but the war may not be won for several years. This week <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/business/231300140">Verizon threw its hat in the ring</a>, announcing a partnership with American Express to allow customers to use their cell phone number as a verification tool to make purchases via smartphone or tablet that then show up on their Verizon bill. The system doesn't use the much hyped near-field communications (NFC) technology and differs from other recent payment system announcements by big names like Google and Square. But the truth is we probably haven't seen the winning formula for revolutionizing digital payments just yet. BYTE's Gina Smith spoke with mobile payments expert Ron Posner for this BYTE TV segment. Posner says it's still a long road to liberating our money from our wallets. <object id="flashObj" width="420" height="236" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=9,0,47,0"><param name="movie" value="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="flashVars" value="@videoPlayer=1094390736001&playerID=991561270001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXneipa9bRIkZsgcIk-7WR-zx_&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" /><param name="base" value="http://admin.brightcove.com" /><param name="seamlesstabbing" value="false" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><param name="swLiveConnect" value="true" /><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always" /><embed src="http://c.brightcove.com/services/viewer/federated_f9?isVid=1&isUI=1" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" flashVars="@videoPlayer=1094390736001&playerID=991561270001&playerKey=AQ~~,AAAAAF14eAc~,GZC-YoxXneipa9bRIkZsgcIk-7WR-zx_&domain=embed&dynamicStreaming=true" base="http://admin.brightcove.com" name="flashObj" width="420" height="236" seamlesstabbing="false" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowFullScreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" swLiveConnect="true" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash"></embed></object>2011-07-25T18:49:00ZAmazon Tablet Is Strong iPad Competitor, Consumers SayWhen Amazon's tablet arrives this fall, consumers will be paying attention.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231002596?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsBYTE brought you the <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/consumer-services/231002454">exclusive </a> story on Amazon's plans to deliver this fall a 3G tablet requiring no contracts or WiFi. Analysts told us that a unique tack like that might finally give Apple's iPad some real competition. Customers seem to agree. According to new study from <a href="http://www.retrevo.com/content/blog/2011/07/could-amazon-be-androids-best-hope">Retrevo</a> customers say they'd be more likely to consider an Amazon-branded tablet than one from other Apple competitors. In the study, 55 percent of survey respondents said they'd consider buying an Amazon-manufactured tablet. Samsung and Dell were tied for second place, with a 38 percent positive response, followed by Motorola and HP/Palm with 31 percent, 24 percent for RIM and just 21 percent for Barnes & Noble. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/tablet_survey1.jpg"/> The study's authors concede that it's possible those surveyed confused Amazon's e-reader, the Kindle, with its upcoming but unannounced tablet. Two other sets of survey data points aren't such good news for Amazon and other iPad rivals. They concern price. Early guesses put the price point for an Amazon tablet higher than many current offerings, well above the $250 mark. A majority of respondents, 79 percent, said that's what they'd pay for an Android-based competitor to a $499 iPad. Raise the cost to $300 and votes quickly plummeted to 48 percent. The survey also found that low price is the most important feature for consumers who are considering a new tablet purchase, not format or manufacturer. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/tablet_survey2.jpg"/> So far this year, a half-dozen big manufacturers have tried and failed to mount a real challenge to Apple. Even for Amazon, with its reportedly "free 3G" Cloud Drive-integrated tablet, it's still going to be a steep hike. Half of the people that took the survey and plan to buy a tablet in the near future say it will be an iPad. Eric C. Mack is BYTE's Executive Editor for News. His favorite tablet is equipped with plenty of lined, yellow paper. Follow him <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ericcmack">@ericcmack</a> or email eric-DOT-mack-AT-BYTE.com.2011-07-22T21:00:00ZAmazon's Upcoming Tablet To Be WiFi, Contract-FreeAmazon's plans involve much more than just renting textbooks. Look at what Whispersync can do.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231002454?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors The biggest news from Amazon in 2011 won't be Cloud Drive or e-textbook rentals. It won't even be the hardware details on the Android-based tablet that's expected this fall. It will be a technology most Kindle devices already use, sources say. That technology will bring all of Amazon's assets together to challenge Apple and Google. Whispersync, Amazon's syncing service, works in tandem with Whispernet, a free cellular-based network. Piggybacking off Sprint, 3G Kindle users already connect to it for free. Up until this week, Amazon used Whispersync mainly for bookmarking Amazon e-books. It allows readers to pick up where they left off reading, even when switching between different Kindle devices and platforms. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/kindle-452.jpg"/> Sources at Amazon whispered to BYTE that Whispersync is the secret sauce in the company's tablet strategy. If Amazon's upcoming tablet is the company's worst kept secret, then Whispersync may be the key to the future that's been hiding in plain sight for the past few years. A free-to-use syncing and sharing technology requiring no Wi-Fi or contracts and operating via cellular, WhisperSync is not just about bookmarks, it turns out. It is the large-scale distribution mechanism behind the syncing and uploading of textbooks in Amazon's new textbook rental service, announced Monday. That rental service will make some 230,000 textbooks available to students on Kindles at discounts of up to 80%--for as long as 360 days. Amazon's Kindle VP Dave Limp noted something else new at the announcement: "We're extending our Whispersync technology so that you get to keep and access all of your notes and highlighted content in the Amazon Cloud, available anytime, anywhere--even after a rental expires," said Limp. "If you choose to rent again or buy at a later time, your notes will be there just as you left them, perfectly Whispersynced." Take note of that new verb, Whispersynced. You might be hearing it more often come fall. The effort begins now with books, sources told BYTE, but it ends with music and video and perhaps even e-mail on an Amazon tablet that we could see in less than 90 days. Amazon has not confirmed the tablet's existence and has yet to confirm or deny it to BYTE. Whispersync is key to Amazon's tablet plans and represents the company's main competitive weapon against the tablet space's only winning player, Apple, sources say. Forrester analyst Frank Gillett sees Amazon gunning for Apple's iPad. "If I connect all the dots, where I think Amazon is headed is toward something like Apple's iCloud," he tells BYTE. He's also predicting the effort will include some new services from Amazon, like e-mail, as the company moves to help consumers manage not only the commercial content that it sells, but also personal content. The tablet is rumored to ship in a nine-inch form factor. Whispersync essentially turns the future tablet--or a Kindle--into a WiFi-free cell device that uses Cloud Drive to share and sync huge volumes of rich media, including books, music, photos and video, sources told BYTE. "It's an unusual feature that's appealing to a lot of people because they can just look at the gadget and say 'yep, I've got a signal' and then they can buy stuff," says Forrester's Gillett. "Furthermore, there's no monthly network charge… it's a simplicity thing." Amazon's tablet may not beat Apple on device cost. But priced effectively, the combination of the Amazon Marketplace, Cloud Drive, and cell-based syncing service will likely resonate with heavy media users, Amazon's sweet spot. Amazon is targeting a mid-October release for its Whispersync-enabled Android tablet, in time for the holiday season, sources told BYTE. Watch BYTE for more coverage soon on Amazon's upcoming tablet and Whispersync. Based in Taos, New Mexico, Eric Mack is executive editor of news at BYTE. Email him at Eric.Mack@BYTE.com. Based in San Francisco, Gina Smith is launch editor at BYTE. Follow her at @ginasmith888. Email her at Gina@BYTE.com.2011-07-20T14:11:00ZApple Ships OS X Lion, Announces $999 and up MacBook Air NotebooksApple's OS X 10.7 Lion is due Wednesday.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231002147?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors BYTE -- The latest upgrade to Apple’s Mac OS X – OS X 10.7 Lion – is available today. Priced at $29.99, the upgrade is available now for download in the Mac App Store and via Apple Stores, they said. To be <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/howto/personal-tech/desktop-os/231001728">ready to upgrade</a>, Mac users need a system with Mac OS X 10.6.6 Snow Leopard installed. Hardware requirements are what BYTE previously reported. OS X 10.7 requires an Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo, i3, i5, i7 or Xeon processor and a minimum of 2GB of RAM. This marks the first time Apple will be pushing out an upgrade to its desktop OS without DVD and primarily through digital downloads. Apple Stores are also assisting customers with the upgrade. Apple also announced, as BYTE reported last week, a USB drive to be on sale in August for $69. That's all upside for Apple, analysts say, pointing out that the USB bulk cost to Apple is a small fraction of that. In addition, it's selling a $49 upgrade to Apple Server. This puts the $29.99 cost in perpective -- and at least partially explains Apple's thinking behind pricing the downloadable upgrade so low. Apple is certain to profit greatly on USB sales, as many users want and need a backup install plan in case of system crashes and re-install needs. What's inside? Apple OS X 10.7 Lion upgrade is significant with its 250 plus new features. Among them: AirDrop, which enables close proximity WiFi file sharing between Lion users, the megadesktop <a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/desktop-os/231001357">Mission Control</a>, full integration of multi-touch gesturing, full-screen app support, auto saving and restore features and a revamped iOS-like Launchpad. Check BYTE's<a href="http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/personal-tech/desktop-os/231001392">BYTE OS X Lion Team Coverage page</a>, for links to our in-depth Lion review, photo gallery feature preview, how tos, tips and more. More will follow in coming hours and days. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/lion1.jpg"/> Apple announced new hardware today also, including new MacBook Air, featuring Thunderbolt technology and faster performance. Starting at $999, the optical-free Air is now Apple's entry-level system. Its previous entry-level system is now in schools only. The new Air will be available Thursday, reps say. OS X Lion is "a solid upgrade with limited essential utility right now," says Adam Grill, analyst and group president at The Odyssey Group, a technology research firm in New York. "But (it) will be impressive when new hardware is out to take advantage of it, and that hardware is not far off." Future hardware expected this fall also will include native multi-touch pads to allow users to better take advantage of gestures, added sources close to the company. Apple MacBook Air will soon be its entry-level system. "The downloadable Lion update is an example of the decreasing importance of physical media," observes BYTE senior contributor Joey Kelley. As BYTE news editors reported last week, the company looks to be gradually killing off all optical-based systems. When contacted, Apple reps neither confirmed nor denied that statement, but its announcements today telegraph the intentions here. There is a very real move away from optical-drive systems. Apple is surely saving some bravado for later in the year when the new flavor of iOS and up to three new iPhones reportedly to debut. Apple refused to comment on that speculation also, but sources say the new iOS release is imminent. Apple knows OS isn't "where the growth is going to be and it isn't putting the bulk of its development work there," says Rob Maxwell, lead incident handler for the University of Maryland and a BYTE senior contributor. With Lion, Apple is bringing together two different parts of its business. "Lion is a small step toward unifying the iOS experience with that of OS X. It (Lion) is not so large or mandatory that traditional end-users will be put off, but it does open doors into OS X for iOS-only users who'd like to maintain that experience." Lion is a big upgrade size-wise. At 3.76GB, it requires the latest edition of OS X Snow Leopard. Apple Store employees are available now to upgrade systems to Mac OS X (10.6.6) as they help customers with the Lion install. So far, teamBYTE staffers report little or no problems with the upgrade. We'll be following their experience in coming hours and days. Watch BYTE for more news and reviews on the new hardware Apple announced today. Eric Mack is BYTE's executive news editor. Follow him @ericcmack or email eric.mack@byte.com. 2011-07-20T06:00:00ZLulzSec Tweets Exult And Threaten, Global Sting ContinuesLulzSec Twittter account makes threats, honors arrested comedian and alleged attacker.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231002157?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors Early Wednesday morning, a Twitter feed from a self-identified member of the hacking group LulzSec announced that the group was "sitting on a trove" of email it snagged during this week's attack on various media properties of Rupert Murdoch's News International, most notably The Sun. At 5:50 a.m. ET Wednesday the @Lulzsec account tweeted: "It is a far better thing that he did then than he has ever done before. @JonnieMarbles." <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/19/jonnie-marbles-comedian-activist-attack-murdoch">According to the UK Guardian</a>, comedian Marbles, who attacked Rupert Murdoch during his parliamentary appearance, was arrested July 18. Late Tuesday, United Kingdom police claimed to have snagged a 16-year-old member of LulzSec and the hacking group Anonymous in South London. That capped off days of arrests, part of a global sting in the United Kingdom, Holland, and the United States. According to the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ), more than 16 individuals are in custody, 14 of them for alleged involvement in denial-of-service attacks on PayPal. Most of those arrested, the DOJ and FBI said, are in custody in the United States. According to <a href="http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/July/11-opa-944.html">a DOJ report</a>, law enforcement nabbed 14 of those individuals in New York, Florida, California, Nevada, New Mexico, Alabama, Arizona, and the District of Columbia. FBI and DOJ spokesmen said they are charged with cyber-related crimes in the PayPal attack. The sting is ongoing, they said. The arrests and, now, renewed LulzSec threats, come in the wake of a LulzSec <a href="http://www.lulzsecurity.com">hacker</a> attack on News International's The Sun. The attack opened with a fake story reporting the octogenarian media mogul's suicide. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/LulzSecFakeSunstory.jpg"/> Murdoch's media empire has been embroiled in a controversy over alleged hacking by reporters into voice mail accounts--belonging to such notables as royal family members and even a murder victim. According to Murdoch reps, the scandal forced its surprising shutdown of a cornerstone property, The News of the World. The back-and-forth battle between hackers and the site's administrators continues to rage. Attempting to visit The Sun's <a href ="http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/">site</a> Wednesday morning brought up various obviously hacked results--including network errors, a redirect to the hackers' Twitter feed, or a hacked front page bearing a fake story. On its Twitter feed during the attack, the LulzSec Twitter feed taunted: <blockquote>TheSun.co.uk now redirects to our twitter feed. Hello, everyone that wanted to visit The Sun! How is your day? Good? Good! ...</blockquote> In addition to redirecting the website, LulzSec Twitter accounts continue to publish the passwords and mobile phone numbers for former News of The World employees. Known Anonymous and LulzSec "contributor" Sabu also posted on his Twitter feed this week that a press release with more details would be forthcoming. Later Sabu tweeted a challenge to United Kingdom authorities to "... investigate the hack on the mail server(s) associated to The Sun/NotW." Monday's hack on The Sun occurred the same day British police officials resigned over alleged close ties to News of the World. On Sunday, former News of the World exec Rebekah Brooks was arrested on charges relating to a phone-hacking scandal that included bribing police. Based in Long Island, NY, Shawn Ingram is a senior editor of news at BYTE. Follow him <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/shawn_i">@shawn_i</a> and email him at <a href="mailto:Shawn.Ingram@BYTE.com">Shawn.Ingram@BYTE.com</a>. Based in New Mexico, Eric Mack is BYTE's executive editor of news. Follow him <a href="http://twitter.com/#!/EricCMack">@ericcmack</a> and email him at <a href="mailto:Eric.Mack@BYTE.com"> Eric.Mack@BYTE.com</a>.2011-07-20T04:45:00ZWhat the Future Holds -- in PicturesThis is a a photo essay from the WorldFuture Conference.http://www.informationweek.com/byte/news/231001935?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_AuthorsBYTE -- Futurists presented bold visions at the BetaLaunch Expo in Vancouver, part of the WorldFuture 2011 conference. Perfect timing for the BYTE launch. Forward thinkers presented fantastical ideas, ranging from artificial island nation plans to Oxford's Aubrey de Grey's anti-mortality ideas. Check out our photo essay. First up, Motorola's Nicole D. Tricoukes, business innovation manager at Motorola Solutions, shows off the Golden-i headset concept design. The Golden-i is an entire system in a headset. It's voice-activated and uses a monocular display Tricoukes says is equivalent to a 15-inch laptop screen. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/AaronMCohen_WFS_01.jpg"/> Photo courtesy Aaron M. Cohen/World Future Society Here's a video of Morotora showing off the Golden-i. If you've never seen this before, it's worth a look now. <object width="452" height="287"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/uezGoh_oxss?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/uezGoh_oxss?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="452" height="287" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Inside the Bluetooth-enabled headset is a Windows embedded CE operating system. But the Golden-i design also controls up to seven devices or networks simultaneously, from smartphones to servers. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/PatrickTucker_2.jpg"/> Vancouver-based blogger Kim Werker tries on the Golden-i computer headset. Photo courtesy: Patrick Tucker/World Future Society Alex Peake (pictured below in white), designer of the education game, <a href="http://primerlabs.com/codehero">Primer Code Hero,</a> shows off his program. One of Peake's goals is to make the process of acquiring all sorts of knowledge playable. Expect more from Peake and his team on this end, and more on gaming as a teaching technique in the next few days here at BYTE. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/AaronMCohen_WFS_02.jpg"/> Photo courtesy Aaron M. Cohen/World Future Society Code Hero turns the process of learning to design games into a game. The first-person cooperative shooter lets players use a "code gun" that fires Javascript. Peake says no programming experience is needed to play the game. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/primersplash.jpg"/> Photo courtesy of Primer Labs Oxford gerontology researcher and author <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Ending-Aging-Rejuvenation-Breakthroughs-Lifetime/dp/0312367074/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1276702460&sr=8-1">Aubrey deGrey</a> discusses what he believes is the cure for aging. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/AaronMCohen_WFS_03.jpg"/> Photo courtesy of Aaron M. Cohen/ World Future Society As he explains in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Genomics-Age-Technology-Transforming-Live/dp/0814408435/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310888958&sr=8-1">BYTE editor's Gina Smith's book, The Genomics Age,</a> the first book to deeply focus on deGrey's approach, the trick to slowing or even stopping aging is to approach the repair of the human body as one would a house. Fix as you go. Aging, he says, is an engineering problem. The researcher believes that someone living today will easily break the 500 year barrier. And finally, there's sea-steading, the idea of creating permanent, autonomous communities above water. It's a seccesionist's dream. One of the driving forces here is the opportunity for society to start from scratch and build new social and political models of governance. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/AaronMCohen_WFS_05.jpg"/> Representatives from the <a href="http://seasteading.org/about-seasteading/introduction">SeaSteading Institute</a> discuss building artificial island nations. Photo courtesy Aaron M. Cohen/World Future Society <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/WorldFuture_452/seasteading_05x.jpg"/> SeaSteading Institute BYTE deeply covers personal tech techpros care about. But there's nothing wrong with a little dessert. Enjoy the weekend! Eric Mack is executive editor of news for BYTE. Someday he might live on an island nation. He might live to 500. In the meantime, reach him with news ideas and comments at BYTEmack@gmail.com or follow him <a href="http://www.twitter.com/ericcmack">@ericcmack</a>. 2011-07-13T01:11:00ZConfusion and Costs Make 4G a Hard SellConfusion and concerns over costs are making new 4G networks a hard sell for carriers, according to Retrevo Gadgetology Survey.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231001283?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors Even though most smartphone users are technically twice-removed from true 4G data service, a new survey shows many think they already have it. The new <a href="http://www.retrevo.com/content/blog/2011/07/confusion-and-skepticism-may-impede-4g-adoption">Retrevo Gadgetology study</a> shows many iPhone and BlackBerry owners are under the false impression they already have 4G phones. THis is despite the fact that neither line currently supports 4G. Retrevo also notes that there are several Android 4G phones currently available, but probably not owned by all 29% of Android owners who say they have one. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/news/July_2011/retrevo-gadgetology_4G-graphic-452.png"/> Further confusing the matter is the fact that the level of service carriers are currently rolling out and promoting as 4G is not anywhere near true 4G as defined by the <a href="http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/index.asp?category=information&rlink=rhome&lang=en">International Telecommunications Union</a>. The ITU is a UN agency that tries to keep a handle on a number of things, including standards for radio and satellite telecommunications--Verizon, AT&T and Motorola are among the big names designated ITU "sector members." In other words, all the big players were at the table when true 4G was conceived as wireless data service capable of peak speeds of 100 mbps when the user is moving at higher speeds (like when driving), and 1 gig per second when stationary or moving slowly (as in pedestrians). Nonetheless, Verizon and AT&T are marketing their next-generation networks as 4G, even though the most commonly seen speeds are only about one-tenth that required for true 4G. So, while none of us have the real thing, the study reveals roughly a third of us think we have 4G, or at least what the carriers are calling 4G. But of those that think they have the faux 4G, a vast majority are probably mistaken and confusing it with 3G or "3.5G" networks like HSPA+. All this means, besides again confirming the general public's difficulty with keeping tech nomenclature straight and the industry's failure at communicating it, is that 4G--fake or not--is going to be a hard sell. The Retrevo study also found that fewer than a quarter of respondents plan to upgrade to 4G, with the overwhelming reasons for not switching to 4G being concerns over costs for the data plan, especially perceived underwhelming performance. A smaller group of users said they probably won't upgrade due to simple lack of knowledge about the technology. While 4G might need a little more polish before users are willing to invest in a new device solely for 4G's sake, a strong majority of iPhone fans plan to buy the next-gen Apple smartphone regardless of 4G compatibility -- 61 percent say they'll buy or consider buying a new iPhone without 4G, according to the Retrevo survey. For the time being, this survey shows 4G isn't quite the marketing tool AT&T and Verizon seem to think it is, judging by how heavily it plays in their current campaigns. But as both carriers continue their next-gen network rollouts, higher data speeds will simply come to be expected by users, regardless of the moniker they go by. When the public is finally straight on what exactly 4G is, maybe then carriers will finally be ready to start offering the real thing -- a true 4G network that actually lives up to its name. Eric Mack is executive editor of news at <a href="http://www.byte.com" target="_blank">BYTE</a>. Got a news story or idea? Email him at <a href="mailto:bytemack@gmail.com">BYTEmack@gmail.com</a>.2011-07-11T09:50:00ZFrom the Bubble to the Arctic and Back to BYTEBYTE is back just in time for the new digital revolution.http://www.informationweek.com/news/231001281?cid=RSSfeed_IWK_Authors BYTE -- Eleven years ago this month, I was sitting in the offices of long-since-gone Business 2.0 magazine in San Francisco watching the spectacular fallout from the dot-com bubble burst in progress. A revolution was collapsing around us. If you were to look for me 18 months later, I would have been pretty hard to find. I was manning a radio station in Bush Alaska along the Yukon River, 250 miles from the nearest stoplight. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/BLOGS/Mack_Eric/bushcover-sm.jpg"/> Yes, I was one of those people that kind of freaked out and dropped off the radar following the crash, the 2000 election debacle and finally, 9/11. Part of me felt that technology had failed us. Well, not completely, but it had failed to produce the bright, shiny Utopia that seemed imminent right around 1998 or so. Of course, readers of BYTE saw the possibilities the future held long before they hit the mainstream in the 1990s, but there was something in the air in the late 1990s. It was really happening. Suddenly there was unlimited funding for all our wildest, nerdiest ideas, even the really stupid ones. Tech was changing everything – life, the world, even the economy and the nature of business – it was a "New Economy," remember? Or so they said. It all came apart so quickly. Widespread optimism and dreaming gave way to recession, terrorism, war, climate change, war, terrorism and mega-recession. I spent almost four years hiding out in Alaska, (and having an <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0054YFLJW">incredible time up there</a>, to be sure – you've got to go sometime), then spent time traveling the world, reporting on politics, energy, the environment--topics that seemed to have the same urgency that I had felt in the Web 1.0 world. <img src="http://twimgs.com/informationweek/byte/BLOGS/Mack_Eric/100_1526-sm.jpg"/> Then a few years ago, as the overall gloominess of the past decade dragged on, I started to notice something. There was a bright, shining light beginning to penetrate the fog of wars, social and economic inertia, and it was emanating once again from Silicon Valley. And not just from California, but from the entire West Coast, and from Boston, and our many great University towns, and Austin and the Rust Belt and Israel, China, Europe, Buenos Aires, Nairobi, you name the place – it was all starting to happen again, but this time bigger, better, broader and smarter. During the years of my tech sabbatical that started in Alaska, when I was traveling and reporting for NPR and a number of other outlets, I had little optimism to offer about the future. But in the past few years since I returned to writing about technology that has changed. In fact, I haven't had as much optimism and enthusiasm about the future as I do right now with the re-launch of BYTE at this pivotal moment. BYTE was there for the beginning of the personal computing revolution, before most people even recognized it as such. Today, most of my friends who aren't in the tech world think I'm crazy when I tell them how much hope I have for tomorrow, how it will absolutely blow their minds. But it's already happening – digital tools are taking down entrenched governments without firing a shot, business is being re-shaped again, and if we can just get our cars to fly, we'll have lapped the Jetsons. And now BYTE is back to chronicle this new revolution, again. The media has had a hard time keeping up with the most recent tectonic shifts in technology, but BYTE is back and we've brought with us some legacy tools – authority and integrity – to integrate into our new media landscape and help right the ship. I'm excited to be sailing into this bold new future with BYTE's storied history as a strong anchor that binds us to the lessons learned in the past. And let's not forget our deep stable of journalists and technologists who can help us organize the complex timelines that have carried us to where we are today, as well as decode what's coming next. This is a new chapter... actually, more like a new book for BYTE and for our ever-shrinking, interconnected world. Today I feel ready and eager to continue on towards that bright horizon, which for me – and I hope for all BYTE readers – is looking quite vast once again. We're back! And so is BYTE! Eric Mack is BYTE's executive editor of news. Email him with news ideas and comments at BYTEmack@gmail.com