Shelly Palmer

Report: Flickr and Vimeo Will Have Deep iOS7 Integration

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:11:27 +0000

In the upcoming overhaul of its iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch operating system, iOS 7, Apple plans to include an increased presence of third-party social networks, including Flickr and Vimeo, according to a person familiar with the software. Since the new software is yet to be even officially announced, there is a very real possibility that any feature in testing could be removed prior to the announcement, this person said (much like Facebook integration was removed from iOS 4). Last year, Apple added Facebook integration to iOS, and in 2011, the company struck a deal to integrate Twitter. Both Flickr and Vimeo will now also be integrated deeply into the new operating system, so users will be able to sign into the respective networks via iOS 7′s built-in Settings application. Like with iOS’s Facebook and Twitter ties, Apple customers will be able to log-in one time into each social network and have full sharing access.

Read the full story at 9to5Mac.

GIF Creator Says the Word is Pronounced ‘Jif’

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:11:20 +0000

You thought it had been settled, didn’t you? You’ve been practicing the new pronunciation (or the old one). And now you’re going to have to think again. Recently, the White House very presciently decided to open its own non-purple Tumblr account. It took the occasion to declare with seeming finality that GIFs — those very files that so many people find funny — are hard, not soft. Hard as in hard “g.” Gif like “gift.” Not like “jiffy.” Some giffers fell in line. Now they will have second thoughts. For the GIF’s creator, Steve Wilhite, begs to jiffer. As The New York Times reports, Wilhite will be accepting a lifetime achievement award at the Webby Awards Tuesday night. So he thought he’d offer something of his own. The former CompuServe employee served up this definitive quote to the Times: “The Oxford English Dictionary accepts both pronunciations. They are wrong. It is a soft ‘G,’ pronounced ‘jif.’ End of story.”

Read the full story at CNET.

The US Has 82.4 Million Broadband Connections

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:11:04 +0000

Americans continue to spend big on their internet needs, and that is reflected in the robust demand for broadband during the first three months of 2013. Data collected by Leichtman Research Group, a Durham, NH-based market research company, shows that the top broadband providers in the U.S. added 1.1 million (net) new connections over that period, bringing the total number of broadband subscribers to about 82.4 million. According to their research, cable companies have about 47.5 million broadband subscribers, while the remainder are with the phone companies. Cable companies added about 800,000 new subscribers, about 72 percent of the total for the month. The top two phone companies — AT&T and Verizon — saw a decline of 696,000 DSL accounts but added a total of 919,000 fiber subscribers. FIber-based broadband now accounts for about 40 percent of AT&T and Verizon’s total broadband customer base.

Read the full story at Giga OM.

NFL Sidelines Will Feature Surface Tablets Starting This Season

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:10:54 +0000

Soon, NFL players will have a better way to see what happened on the last play than tilting their heads back to check out the scoreboard. The National Football League announced a partnership with Microsoft, through which coaches and officials will use Microsoft’s Surface tablets on the sidelines, potentially replacing coaches’ laminated playbooks and Polaroid images used by quarterbacks to figure out what went wrong on that last interception. The partnership also includes plans to use the Surface and next-generation Xbox game console for interactive viewing experiences for fans. Giving coaches and officials access to tablet computers seems like an obvious step for the league, which, after all, exists in the 21st century. But the NFL has a Luddite streak. Over the last several seasons, many teams have begun using iPads as playbooks during practice, but they had to leave the devices behind on game day.

Read the full story at Business Week.

Google’s Conversational Search Feature is Now in Chrome

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 17:09:25 +0000

Google has quietly rolled out its new conversational search feature in the latest version of its Chrome browser for Windows, Mac and Linux. Users that hit up the Google homepage will now see a small microphone symbol in the right-hand side of the search field, as well as at the top of any page containing search results; it will ask for permissions to access a connected microphone, before enabling conversational search queries. The update means that users can now search the Internet and ask Google questions from the desktop using only their voice. The idea is that people should be able to use words and phrases used in everyday conversation, rather than the strict keywords that have been embedded in our brains over the last decade or so. The user could ask, for instance, ‘How do I get to Wembley Stadium?’, and Google will interpret the question and then serve up relevant route information via Google Maps.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Report: HTC is in ‘Utter Freefall’

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:31:22 +0000

The Verge has learned that HTC’s Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC’s overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It’s not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession — most recently Jason Gordon, the company’s vice president of global communications. Other fresh departures include global retail marketing manager Rebecca Rowland, director of digital marketing John Starkweather, and product strategy manager Eric Lin. It’s not a coordinated poaching effort that’s draining HTC’s Seattle-based North American operations. Starkweather has landed at AT&T, while Lin and Rowland have both joined Microsoft (Gordon has yet to announce his next move). So why is everyone heading for the door at once?

Read the full story at The Verge.

Amazon’s ‘Kindle Worlds’ Offer Royalties for Aspiring Authors

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:31:10 +0000

Amazon announced a new publishing platform on Wednesday called Kindle Worlds, which will give both established authors and aspiring fan fiction writers the chance to earn royalties based on their work. Fan fiction is a rather murky topic, given that it often combines beloved characters and franchises in rather unusual scenarios. Regardless, the medium has proven to be incredibly popular on the Internet and it’s clear that Amazon sees an opportunity to earn some additional profits. The company has secured licenses from Warner Bros. Television Group’s Alloy Entertainment division for Gossip Girl, by Cecily von Ziegesar; Pretty Little Liars, by Sara Shepard; and Vampire Diaries, by L.J. Smith. All three are also incredibly successful TV shows in their own right, which should add to the interest both from fans and aspiring writers.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Twitter Expands Tweets to Include Interactive Offer Links

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:30:58 +0000

Twitter just unveiled the Lead Generation Card, a new expandable tweet format which allows users to show their interest in a particular discount or offer that’s being promoted by their favorite brand. When a user expands the tweet, they’ll see a description of the offer, as well a small button underneath that will allow them to instantly send their basic contact information – name, Twitter handle and email address – to the brand or business in question. All of the information is pre-filled within the Twitter Card based on the users’ existing account settings, thereby avoiding the often tedious process of filling out an online form. As soon as the button is clicked, the information is sent securely to the account that sent out the offer. Twitter has been testing the feature already with a handfulof brands including New Relic, Full Sail and Priceline.

Read the full story at The Next Web.

Apple’s ‘Made in USA’ Macs Will Be Built in Texas

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:30:41 +0000

Last week, we learned that Apple was looking to devote about $100 million to bring the manufacturing of one of its Mac product lines back to the United States. At Tuesday’s Senate hearings on the company’s untaxed overseas pile of cash, Apple CEO Tim Cook confirmed that the new Mac would be manufactured in Texas. The computer will also “include components made in Illinois and Florida and rely on equipment produced in Kentucky and Michigan.” Moving away from solid facts and into informed speculation, AllThingsD notes that longtime Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn has facilities in Texas that may be used to build the new Mac. Apple is also building a campus in Austin, Texas, indicating that the company may continue to expand in the state. The new Mac is likely to be an updated version of one of Apple’s existing product lines.

Read the full story at Ars Technica.

Apple Claims Google Now Violates Siri Patents

Top Stories — Wed, 22 May 2013 16:30:32 +0000

Apple has updated an earlier lawsuit filed against Samsung with claims that the Galaxy S4 and its Google Now feature violate two Apple patents covering functions of its own virtual personal assistant, Siri. Florian Mueller of FOSS Patents relayed news of the updated complaint on Wednesday, and he noted that two of the patents — U.S. Patent 8,086,604, and U.S. Patent 6,846,959 — cover technologies related to Siri. Both filings describe a “universal interface for retrieval of information in a computer system.” Apple also added three more patents to its earlier complaint that are not related to Siri, according to the report.

Read the full story at Boy Genius Report.