Shelly Palmer’s Daily Radio Report

The Internet has 4.3 billion IP addresses available for connected devices, but we’re running out of them sooner than we thought. The current Internet Protocol was created in 1977 and wasn’t built to handle the web’s explosive expansion. Luckily, a new protocol will soon be in place that allows for nearly infinite connections. In other news, Microsoft showed of the future of Windows Phone 7 at the Mobile Web Congress, boasting interactivity with Xbox and Kinect. While the demonstration didn’t promise specific connectivity, Microsoft is aiming to create a connected device ecosystem. The big Windows Phone 7 update should arrive in the second half of the year. And finally, Nielsen reported that online video watching has increased by 45% since last year. There are only 3.1% more people now watching online video, which means that current users are simply consuming more. Netflix is the big winner, cashing in on paid subscriptions.

A report by Symantec says that the computer virus Stuxnet infected five Iranian industrial facilities. Stuxnet is the same virus that infected Iran’s uranium enrichment complex and took 1,000 gas centrifuges offline. The malware was able to infiltrate their systems through an infected email or USB jump-drive. In other news, Apple is considering taking their MobileMe cloud storage system and turning it into a multimedia hub. Users would be able to store their iTunes downloads online and access them from any web-ready device. The media storage locker could be made available as early as June. And finally, Congresswoman Jackie Speier has introduced the Do Not Track Me Online Act to the House of Representatives. The bill is supported by eight privacy advocate organizations and would allow consumers to opt out of online tracking. By opting out, advertisers would lose the ability to serve ads that are specific to users.

A recent speech by President Obama stressed that providing wireless Internet access in even the most rural of locations is imperative to future economic growth. Obama’s proposal claims that it will cut the deficit by $9.6 billion in a decade, while doubling the wireless broadband spectrum. In other news, professor Alan Snyder invented a ‘thinking cap’ that makes those wearing it better at math and art. The headgear works by passing low levels of electricity through the brain, isolating the problem solving right hemisphere. Test subjects did better at math than those not wearing the device. And finally, researchers have figured out a way to infiltrate an iPhone’s security in 6 minutes. Without knowing your password, a hacker can install software that opens the phone to attacks. Once software is installed, the program can extract all sorts of personal information including any accounts you have linked to the phone.

AT&T will be offering mobile customers with select plans the ability to make unlimited calls to any other mobile number. Starting February 10th, customers can sign up for the program online as long as they already have unlimited messaging and a “qualifying voice plan.” This is another way AT&T hopes to make up for Verizon’s iPhone sales. In other news, HP is finally getting into the mobile market. After buying Palm a year ago, HP is releasing a tablet and multiple smartphones that use Palm’s webOS operating system. The tablet, named the “Touchpad,” will weigh 1.5 pounds and have a 9.7-inch screen. And finally, a memo from Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop was leaked and revealed harsh disappointment in Nokia’s progress. The memo says that while Nokia has sources of innovation, it has not been brought to the market fast enough. Elop ultimately compared Nokia to a “burning oil platform.”

For the first time ever smartphones have outsold personal computers. In the fourth quarter of 2010, 100.9 million smartphones were shipped versus 92.1 million PCs. Smartphone sales are up 87.2% from last year and companies like Samsung and HTC have seen exponential growth. In other news, the Roman Catholic Church has sanctioned the release of a mobile app that encourages people to go to confession. The app offers an “examination of conscience” that will determine which of your sins are confession worthy.  You can even study your prayers and write drafts of your transgressions. And finally, Apple’s iPhone 4 for Verizon has been dissected and appears to have a universal antenna. A Qualcomm chip was installed to handle Verizon’s network, but could also be used on other GSM networks worldwide. The iPhone could become even more popular with a universal chip.

AOL announced that it’s buying the Huffington Post for over $300 million in cash. AOL has spent over $530 million on acquisitions this past year and this buy is another step towards becoming a massive content company. HuffingtonPost.com will bring the company 26 million unique visitors a month to turn into even more advertising revenue. In other news, activist hero and Google marketing executive, Wael Ghonim, was finally released by Egyptian authorities on Monday. After disappearing over a week ago, Ghonim was one of many advocates who went missing during the protests. While his release is heartening, there are still other protestors uncounted for. And finally, hacktivist group ‘Anonymous’ outdid itself once again and hacked the very agency that is investigating it. Security firm HBGary Federal had its Twitter, LinkedIn and email accounts of COO Ted Vera hacked. ‘Anonymous’ posted the information online, including the text of over 60,000 company emails.

This year’s Super Bowl commercials are relying on the power of social media. Companies like Volkswagen and Audi are using YouTube and Twitter to capitalize on the active audience. Volkswagen’s commercial is already a top viewed video on YouTube and Audi used Twitter contests to help drive their hashtag to the top of trending topics. In other news, the FCC is re-evaluating an $8 billion infrastructure fund for expanding rural phone service. Instead, they want to use the money to bolster broadband Internet connections in even the most rural of areas. The fund has grown from $2.3 billion and reflects the administration’s mandate for nationwide broadband access. And finally, the U.S. Military launched a secret satellite that will be used to collect intelligence from space.  While the purpose of the satellite is being left confidential, the National Reconnaissance Office hopes the technology will demonstrate more effective ways to gather intelligence.

Verizon stated that while it’s offering an unlimited data plan for new iPhone 4 subscribers, they reserve the right to throttle the connections of those hogging data. The restrictions are for the top 5% of bandwidth-consuming users, and only when the usage is affecting surrounding customers. In other news, telecomm company Vodafone claims that Egypt forced them to send propagandistic text messages to its customers. The pro-Mubarak statements urged people to “confront the traitors” and even signed the message with Vodafone’s name. The company says the texts had been sent since the beginning of the protests without their control. And finally, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is attempting to crowdsource fraud reports. The new agency aims to be a “21st century regulator” and has launched the website ConsumerFinance.gov to help consumers report malicious companies. By using the Internet, the agency hopes to detect issues in the market much sooner.

A recent survey by Deloitte reveals that American consumers have their attention divided while watching television. 42% are surfing the web, 29% are on the phone and 26% are texting or sending instant messages. While people are now multi-tasking more while watching television, 79% are still doing the viewing on their TV sets—not computers. In other news, U.S. law enforcement officials seized 10 popular websites known for illegally streaming live sporting events and even pay-per-view events for free. As the Department of Justice said, these streams are harmful to professional leagues. And finally, a student was suspended for insulting a teacher on his Facebook page. The ACLU stated that the suspension is a direct violation of state and federal law and the status update is an extension of the student’s free speech. A federal agency declared that the law protects Facebook statuses as long as no threats are made.

Google claims that Bing is stealing their search results and Microsoft isn’t denying the accusation. By assigning bogus queries to specific sites, Google caught Bing in the act. Strings of random letters bring up the same results on both search engines, but not until Google had assigned them to specific pages. In other news, AT&T is facing a lawsuit that states iPhone customers are being overcharged for data usage. Tests on brand new phones with no services installed were still charged for over 2MB of data. AT&T’s billing software has come under scrutiny before and this time it could be responsible for millions of dollars in charges. And finally, iPhone 4 pre-orders will be made available to existing Verizon customers starting February 3rd. If you’re making the switch from AT&T, Verizon will give you $212 trade-in credit for a 16GB iPhone 4 and $285 for the 32GB model. Have an older generation iPhone? They’ll take those too.