Saturday, July 9, 2011

Microsoft deals to take Bing to China

Microsoft has recently signed a deal with Baidu, the largest Search provider in China. According to the deal, Microsoft Bing will power the English language search results for Baidu. This shows a rather different approach compared to Google, which is competing via it own search engine in the country.

Google’s share in China is at 19.6 percent, but Baidu commands the vast majority at more than 75 percent of the search market. So the deal should potentially bring a significant market for Microsoft to work with.

On the financial front, all advertising revenue as a result of the partnership will go to Baidu, as it owns the site, but it will help Microsoft promote Bing in the world’s biggest internet market, where it said to have less than a 1 per cent market share.

Samuel Shen, senior vice president of Microsoft China said the partnership “would give Baidu’s many users better results and a better English search experience. At the same time, it will allow more Chinese users to experience Bing”.

English is gaining in popularity in the country as people adopt it as their second language. Already more than ten million English language searches hit Baidu every day.

Source: Financial Times

Datascrip Buka Canon Center di Ratu Plaza

Datascrip Buka Canon Center di Ratu Plaza

Jakarta -

( fw / fw )


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Swype replica comes to Jailbroken iOS

One thing Android people are really proud of is the customization they can do on their phone as compared to limited options on iPhone. This includes using different keyboards to improve typing experience on touch screens. Swype has become a favorite choice of many as you just swipe your finger on top of keyboard and it automatically guesses the word you want to type. And now finally an unofficial replica of the Swype app is available for iOS users too.

This app although still called Swype is not a ported version of official Swype, but will be a brand new open source software using its own algorithms that just inspires from Swype input method. The developer Andrew Liu (aka WyndWarrior) may  call it iSwipe but he has not finalized it yet. He is the same person who previously made iDashboard which added ability to add widgets to your iOS screen just like Androids.

You can get this Swype beta app for iOS on jailbroken devices via Cydia. But do note that this software is still in beta and has limited functionality and compatibility.

Datascript Buka Canon Center di Ratu Plaza

Datascript Buka Canon Center di Ratu Plaza

Jakarta -

( fw / fw )


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Thunderbird conversations – give a taste of Gmail’s threaded view inside Thunderbird

Gmail has a very easy to grasp and yet powerful interface. It shows email messages and replies as threaded messages removing the complication of tracking the previous email to remind you of history of conversation. “Thunderbird conversations” does exactly that but for Mozilla’s Thunderbird email client. Conversations is an extension for Thunderbird which unifies your multiple e-mail accounts and then lets you view emails as threads.

First of all in message pane section changes the “From” column to “Between” column, which shows that how many people are involved in an email discussion. In email view window, the thread header are shown with small snippet of what conversation contains. You can click this header to expand / collapse full email history too. This gives a really clean and practical interface to emails that have many replies and forwards.

Lastly it also brings a quick reply feature at bottom just like Gmail, so that you don’t have to open a separate window with bloated TOs, CC, subject lines etc. It is just a plain simple quick reply box to improve your speed of replying to conversations. Really a recommended extension for those who wanted a more Gmail like interface in Thunderbird or just want to improve their efficiency while using Thunderbird desktop client.

You can obtain the extension @ Mozilla.org

Apple Targetkan Jual 25 Juta iPhone 5

Apple Targetkan Jual 25 Juta iPhone 5

Jakarta - Bagaimana pun wujudnya iPhone generasi terbaru nanti, Apple tampaknya akan menjual lebih banyak smartphone besutannya tersebut. Rumor terbaru menyebutkan Apple berencana menjual 25 juta iPhone 5 sebelum akhir 2011.

Ya, desas-desus mengenai iPhone 5 mulai memanas. Sebelumnya dilaporkan bahwa perusahaan milik Steve Jobs ini sudah menyiapkan 15 juta unit iPhone 5 untuk dirilis September tahun ini.

Informasi terbaru yang disampaikan Wall Street Journal melansir kabar yang lebih heboh lagi. Kabarnya, kepada para pemasok Apple memberitahukan bahwa perusahaannya berharap bisa menjual 25 juta iPhone 5 sebelum akhir 2011.

"Perkiraan penjualan iPhone terbaru Apple sangat agreasif. Mereka meminta kami membantunya memenuhi target 25 juta unit iPhone hingga akhir tahun ini. Produksi awal mungkin hanya beberapa juta. Kami diminta mengapalkan komponen untuk dirakit Hon Hai mulai Agustus," ujar sumber yang tidak disebutkan namanya.

Dikutip detikINET dari Wall Street Journal, Sabtu (9/7/2011), Hon Hai adalah perusahaan besar asal Taiwan yang merakit iPad Apple. Dia mendapatkan komponen untuk iPad dari perusahaan lain di Taiwan dan wilayah Asia. Dari para pemasok ini, terkumpul informasi mengenai detail informasi baru yang disebut sebagai iPhone 5.

iPhone 5 konon akan membawa sejumlah peningkatan fitur yang sangat signifikan ketimbang para pendahulunya. Desainnya akan lebih ramping dan dilengkapi kamera 8 megapixel. Selain menggunakan chip dari Infineon Technologies yang dibenamkannya pada iPhone 4, iPhone 5 juga akan memakai chip wireless band dari Qualcomm.

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Nintendo Wii U to launch in April 2012

In a recent Forbes interview with the president and Chief Operating Officer of Nintendo America, Reggie Fils-Aime, outlined the possibility of the Wii U seeing a launch date somewhere after April 2012.

The date, comes as no surprise as BGR reports as Nintendo has a history of having two generations of consoles on the market at the same time. The Nintendo DS was launched alongside the Gameboy Advance and the Wii was marketed along the same time as the GameCube.

He also mentioned the possibility of cross platform play where a gamer on the 3DS could potentially play against one on the Wii U.

Zynga Sulap Aturan Privasi Jadi Game

Zynga Sulap Aturan Privasi Jadi Game

Jakarta - Membaca sederet aturan kebijakan privasi sebuah layanan atau situs adalah hal yang membosankan. Namun tidak dapat dipungkiri, mengetahui aturan tersebut sangat penting dan kita disarankan untuk mempelajarinya. Nah, si pembesut FarmVille Zynga, malah mendapat ide untuk menjadikan aturan privasi sebagai game.

Menarik dan unik. Mungkin dua kata itu yang akan terlintas pertama kali di benak para gamer. Game yang dinamakan PrivacyVille ini dirancang sebagai permainan tutorial yang memberikan reward kepada pemain karena telah mempelajari peraturan privasi mereka.

Tentunya, dengan cara ini gamer akan dengan senang hati mencari tahu seluk beluk kebijakan privasi yang diberlakukan Zynga pada setiap gamenya. Dan karena hadir dalam bentuk permainan, gamer tak akan merasa dipaksa mempelajari sesuatu.

"PrivacyVille menawarkan sesuatu yang kami yakin merupakan jenis game pertama yang memberikan penghargaan kepada gamer secara langsung karena mereka telah mempelajari tentang privasi," tulis Zynga di blognya.

Dikutip detikINET dari Digital Trends, Sabtu (9/7/2011), gamer tak harus terkoneksi dengan Facebook atau terdaftar sebagai pemain game Zynga untuk 'berkeliling' melihat-lihat PrivacyVille, langsung kunjungi saja situsnya.

Saat berkeliling di PrivacyVille, gamer akan melihat bangunan-bangunan yang harus diklik satu per satu. Ketika diklik, bangunan itu akan memunculkan kotak berisi informasi pendek yang berhubungan dengan privasi.

Selanjutnya di akhir tour, Zynga akan memberikan lima pertanyaan yang sangat mudah, bahkan semua gamer dipastikan bisa menjawabnya. Setelah selesai, Zynga akan memberikan poin sebesar 200 zPoints.

Poin ini bisa digunakan di game Zynga lainnya. Nantinya gamer akan diberi opsi opsi untuk terkoneksi dengan RewardVille atau Facebook dan bisa mengklaim sejumlah zPoints yang berhasil didapat untuk digunakan berbelanja barang virtual.

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HTC Sensation, Memang Sangat Menggoda

HTC Sensation, Memang Sangat Menggoda

Jakarta - HTC akhirnya merilis ponsel Android pertama mereka yang sudah menggunakan prosesor dua inti, Sensation. Produk ini tidak hanya bertenaga, namun juga memiliki penampilan yang memikat. Yuk, ulas satu persatu.

Desain dan Interface

Awal menggengam ponsel ini, detikINET terpikat dengan tampilan seluruh permukaannya, cukup tipis namun nyaman digenggam. Tak pelak kesan kokoh dipertegas dengan perpaduan bahan almunium dan plastik di bagian belakang.



Di HTC Sensation tidak banyak tombol fisik yang melekat. Tidak ada menu atau sejenisnya, bahkan tidak juga tombol khusus kamera, yang ada hanya tombol volume dan power di bagian atas.

HTC Sensation memiliki dimensi layar 4,3 inchi dengan resolusi 540 x 960 pixels. Cukup besar memang, namun tak menyulitkan pengguna menggengamnya dalam satu tangan. Bentuknya yang mengusung tanpa sudut juga berhasil menyembunyikan kesan besar pada ponsel ini.

Untuk interface, ponsel ini sudah mengusung HTC Sense versi 3.0, jadi memang sangat berbeda sekali dengan produk HTC sebelumnya.



Animasi perpindahan home screen di dalamnya terlihat menarik, mungkin karena HTC Sense 3.0 sudah memanfaatkan kinerja GPU untuk tiap animasinya.

Ada beberapa penambahan shortcut dalam Sensation yang tidak ada ponsel HTC lainnya. Misalnya 4 shortcut aplikasi yang ada pada lock screen, dan ini semua disesuaikan dengan kebutuhan pengguna.

Menilik lebih lanjut ke bagian dalam. HTC juga menyediakan langsung menu Quick Setting yang terletak di sebelah bar notifikasi. Isinya, beberapa pengaturan seperti menghidupkan Bluetooth, Wifi, GPS, Mobile Network, dan yang baru adalah Task Manager untuk menutup aplikasi yang tidak terpakai.

Seluruh aplikasi pada HTC Sensastion bisa ditampilkan dalam tiga kategori: seluruh aplikasi, aplikasi yang sering digunakan, dan aplikasi pihak ketiga yang diunduh pengguna. Selain itu tampilan lainnya tidak banyak berbeda dari ponsel HTC lainnya.

Spesifikasi Sangar

HTC Sensastion memang terbilang mengusung spesifikasi yang sangat tinggi. Bagaimana tidak? Untuk prosesor saja sudah menggunakan Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon dual core 1,2 Ghz, memori 768 MB RAM, GPU Adreno 220, dan kamera 8MP. Tapi sayang, kapasitas penyimpanannya hanya 1GB.



Untuk mengetahui seberapa tangguhnya ponsel ini mengolah aplikasi kelas berat, detikINET melakukan pengujian melalui beberapa aplikasi benchmark seperti Quadrant v1.1.7 dan AnTuTu Benchmark v2.0.1. Hasilnya?

Pada aplikasi AnTuTu Benchmark HTC Sensation berhasil menorehkan angka sebesar 4550, sedangkan pada Quadrant hanya mendapatkan 2173. Bukan yang tercepat di kelasnya memang, namun cukup tangguh melahap aplikasi terberat sekalipun. Sebagai catatan, aplikasi Quadrant yang dicoba detikINET tidak mengenali spesifikasi ponsel ini dengan baik.

Kualitas Kamera dan Audio

HTC Sensation memiliki kamera utama 8MP di bagian belakang yang mampu menjepret gambar pada resolusi 3264x2448 pixel, dilengkapi dengan autofocus serta dua lampu flash LED agar gambar kian cemerlang. Sedangkan bagian depan ada kamera kecil beresolusi 640X480 pixel.



Hasil jepretan ponsel ini di luar ruangan terlihat baik dan cepat, namun sayang hasil fotonya terlihat kurang tajam. Tapi jika digunakan untuk merekam video, hasilnya sangat baik pada resolusi 1080p @30fps.

Seperti ini hasil fotonya di luar ruangan




Untuk kulitas suara, jangan berharap banyak pada keluaran speaker internal karena memang tidak dirancang untuk musik tapi ketika didengarkan melalui headphone atau speaker, wuihh.. dentumannya keras terdengar. Sebagai penunjang ponsel ini juga telah mendukung teknologi SRS.



Daya Baterai

Ponsel dual core mamang cukup identik dengan konsumsi baterai yang boros, lalu bagaimana dengan HTC Sensation?

Pertama, detikINET menggunakan ponsel ini sebagai gadget kedua, yang berarti hanya digunakan sebatas browsing, email, social networking dan lainnya tanpa panggilan telepon atau SMS. Dan ternyata, ponsel ini sanggup bertahan 21 jam dengan koneksi 3G yang selalu online.

Dan kedua detikINET menggunakan sebagai ponsel utama untuk dipakai sesuai kebutuhan sehari-hari. Hasilnya terpaut cukup jauh, HTC Sensation hanya bertahan sekitar 10 jam.



Kesimpulannya, HTC Sensation memang menawarkan segenap fitur yang jarang ada pada ponsel di kelasnya, mulai dari desain kompak yang elegan hingga sejumlah fitur menarik. Ponsel ini juga dibanderol pada harga yang cukup masuk akal, Rp 5,5 juta. Tertarik memilikinya?

Kelebihan
+ Performa tinggi
+ Resolusi layar tinggi
+ Desain menarik

Kekurangan:
- Memori internal kecil
- Baterai boros

Spesifikasi:


 




( eno / ash )


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Did Etsy yank $350 Casey Anthony trial diorama?

By Helen A.S. Popkin

A $350 interpretation of the Casey Anthony trial, using dolls and the Middle School-respected medium of diorama — available on Etsy on Thursday— is now nowhere to be found.a

Could it be someone snapped up this one-of-a-kind rendition of the Trial of This Century soon after Jezebel drew our attention to it? Thing is, we can find no sign that the diorama's seller, gooddeals99, ever existed on the artisan website. Maybe this bit of criminal Americana got the hook from the online merchant for its questionable taste. Alas, Etsy's privacy policies prevent the online merchant from telling us whether they've yanked any product or seller ever (oh, we asked).  a

Prohibited items on Etsy include the obvious, such as alcohol, live animals, pornography and firearms ... but nothing about dioramas. You don't have to squint however, to see how such a craft might fit in either of these Etsy "Don't" contingencies:a

Even beyond these standards, Etsy members are responsible for making important moral or ethical decisions regarding what they buy and sell on Etsy.a

We reserve the right to remove listings that we determine are not within the spirit of Etsy. Such listings will be removed from the site, and the member's selling privileges may be suspended and/or terminated.a

Turns out, eBay also had a "a courtroom diorama featuring dolls of Casey Anthony, George Anthony, Judge Belvin Perry and Assistant State Attorney Jeff Ashton," almost two weeks ago, reports the Orlando Sentinal's Beth Kassab. We couldn't find it today, but Kassab notes that the online auctioneer will, and has, yanked Anthony-related items that crossed the line, and provided the reporter this statement:a

"eBay has removed some listings that did not comply with our Offensive Materials policy. Out of respect for victims of violent crimes, eBay does not allow listings that attempt to profit from human tragedy or suffering."a

While many are outraged at the possibility Casey Anthony could earn millions from book deals and the media, others see opportunity in the outrage and are looking to make some money of their own.a

Casey Anthony-related items remain available on both eBay and Etsy, though on eBay it's mostly newspapers and magazines with trial-related headlines and content. Also on eBay, Casey Anthony's high school yearbook and an autograph from Jose Baez, Anthony's lawyer (because you really need that), T-shirts, and the same "Remember Caylee Marie" vinyl laptop decals and "I support Caylee's law" stickers available on Etsy.a

advertisement advertisement advertisement

While the diorama is gone, other Casey Anthony-inspired crafts called out by Jezebel and the Daily Dot remain available on the artisan website, including a felt doll with her mouth sewn shut, called "The Trial" ($30), as well as portraits of Anthony, Judge Belvin, and defense attorneys Jose Baez and J. Cheney Mason ($30 each).  a

Meanwhile, pendants booted from eBay —"Justice 4 Caylee" featuring a picture of the little girl, and "Guilty" with a picture of Anthony ($8.99) —are now on Etsy.a

Julie Prytherchal, a full-time mother of three, told the Daily Dot that she was "spitting mad" over the Casey Anthony case and made the pendants because "I just wanted to see how many people felt the way I did." After eBay booted Prytherchal, she says she asked Etsy if she could sell there and got the go-ahead.  As of her Daily Dot interview, she'd sold only two. Prytherchal, it seems, is into the arts and crafts as an outlet for her anger, and not for profit.a

via Jezebel and Daily Dota

More on the annoying way we live now:a

Internet explodes over Casey Anthony verdict  Casey Anthony iPhone apps are best-sellers Amish sexter busted for buggy sex invite to girl, 12

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. a

Rumors Swirl Around Imminent Facebook Music Service

Rumors are swirling around a new Facebook music service. The latest reports speculate that the social networking giant will hook up with Spotify.

The rumors started after technology blogger Jeff Rose published a snippet of code that appears to be a call to action to download an app dubbed "Facebook Vibes."

Rumors of Facebook considering a music service date back to October 2008. That's when the New York Post reported that Facebook was going to respond to MySpace's effort to differentiate itself among youthful social networkers with a music service.

But Forbes reported in May that Facebook is in talks with Spotify. According to Forbes, the partnership was already inked and the service is undergoing testing. When launched, users would reportedly see a Spotify icon on the left side of the newsfeed, where icons for photos and events are positioned.

Who is Spotify?

The Spotify service offers free and legal access to a significant music library. Spotify is an advertising-supported streaming music service that promises listeners are exposed to less advertising than they find on commercial radio. Spotify also has a subscription service.

The United Kingdom-based service is not yet available in the U.S., but the company has an e-mail sign up list for customers that are interested. Spotify could make its U.S. debut on Facebook, if the rumors hold true.

Apple's App Store offers a Spotify app. The app lets users listen to playlists even when they don't have a network Relevant Products/Services connection, like on a plan or underground. It's not clear if the Facebook app would work the same way.

Competing with Google

"Originally I thought that Google+ was going to break on the beach of Facebook, but Google did something smart with regard to Google+. By making it exclusive they created a bit of a breeding frenzy around Google+," said Rob Enderle, principal analyst at The Enderle Group. "A lot of the influencers are gravitating over to Google+ and they might actually have a wave, in which case Facebook could be facing a relatively rapid migration to the product."

As Enderle sees it, Facebook may be in somewhat of a panic mode trying to bring on board other services as quickly as possible. He said the video Relevant Products/Services chat service is "so basic" that it has the look and feel of being rushed. Enderle suggested the music service is another feature Facebook might be rushing to market to try to keep people using the social network.

"At the end of the day, Facebook is about sharing and what is often shared -- and this goes back to when we made mix tapes -- is music. Music is a natural adjunct to a social media site, if you can figure out a way to deliver it the way people want it and do it legally," Enderle said. "It's very likely that Facebook is going to end up with music, and I think there are a lot of things pushing Facebook in this direction."
 

HTC buys chip firm S3 Graphics

This latest attempt by a large tech firm to gather as many panents as possible sees smartphone manufacturer HTC buying Graphic chip maker S3 Graphics for the tidy sum of $300 million

This purchase nets HTC around 250 patents in the process. The deal, as reported in Phandroid, will see ownership of the patents change hands but will give license to S3 patents to Via. A rather smart move as on the long run this will prevent possible future lawsuits.

Nokia 3D World gaze app

Nokia 3D world gaze app is a new upcoming app from Nokia which combines Google Earth’s like information overlay on a 3D globe on your mobile phone. You can move it around your current location to see information overlays as a mix of 3D map and Augmented reality information panels. Plus it gives you ability navigate to any place in world using the globe overview and get information and pictures from that region overlaid on top. check the app in action in video below:

The app is still in beta so you can find it for free @ Nokia beta labs to test out right now.

Google+ to Businesses: Wait a Bit

A company is not a "he" or a "she," which is one of the reasons why Google is asking businesses to hold off using their new social network Relevant Products/Services, Google+. Now in a field test and currently intended for consumers, Google+ recently asked Ford to indicate its gender when that company was setting up a page.

Google said a version of Google+ for companies is being developed for Google Apps. In a post on the company blog, advertising lead Christian Oestlien wrote Wednesday that "some really great companies" have been starting to use the social network. "But," he added, "we know our product as it stands is not optimally suited to their needs."'

'An Optimal Experience'

Oestlien added that users communicate with other users differently than they do with brands, and the company intends to "create an optimal experience for both." A business-oriented Google+ is expected later this year.

Some tests will be conducted over the next few months with selected marketing partners, in which Google will be looking to find out the effect that the Google+ experience might have on brands. Companies seeking to participate can also sign up through a Web form.

Oestlien said that Google+ for businesses will include "rich analytics and the ability to connect that identity to other parts of Google that businesses might use on a daily basis," such as Google's ad network, AdWords. Currently, in addition to business-specific interactions that the search giant wants to include, Google Profiles -- a requirement for using Google+ -- is not compatible with Google Apps.

Ford's current page on Google+ looks like a personal user profile page. Ford Europe has been trying out a contest on Google+, where users are asked to write the best caption for an image. The winner, determined by voting, received the Dirt 3 game for the Xbox 360 game console. About 80 users posted comments relating to the test contest.

'Abandoned Their Own Web Sites'

As with Google+ for consumers, Google+ for businesses is competing with Facebook. The world's largest social networking site with over half a billion subscribers, Facebook has had business-specific pages for a while. These Facebook Pages are widely used by companies, as part of experiments or sustained social networking campaigns.

Andrew Frank, Research Director for the Gartner Relevant Products/Services Group, noted that "a lot of businesses obviously are putting a lot of attention and money into trying to figure out how to interact with prospects and customers" through social networks.

He said that Facebook has been successful in attracting businesses, so much so that "some businesses have all but abandoned their own Web sites in favor of emphasizing their Facebook pages," which exist within that social network's enormous community of groups of friends. This "huge embrace by marketers" of social networking, Frank said, is still being assessed in terms of its effectiveness -- including the determination of what metrics to use.

Frank said that he expects businesses to "keep an open mind" about Google+, adding that "the marketing money is there if Google call pull off" an effective business orientation.
 

Mystery code may mean Facebook music service

By Helen A.S. Popkin

A peek into Facebook's latest upgrade — Skype-based video chat — may have provided a clue in the social network's next step toward total Internet dominance, a streaming music service.a

While installing the program for Facebook's new video chat, software engineer Jeff Rose did some poking around the code and found the installer supported a couple of other applications. One, called "Peep," the video chat plugin, and another one most interesting. In his Life is a Graph blog, Ross writes:a

At some point in the future they seem to be prepared to download another app though, called Facebook Vibes. I searched around to see what this is all about, and it seems that this is an unannounced feature that has yet to be released. The vibes app connects with a music download dialog in the page though, so I’m guessing that with this release we are seeing the seeds for Facebook’s upcoming music offering.a

Forbes reported a possible partnership between Facebook and Spotify last May, and as we learned earlier this week, popular streaming service is finally coming to the U.S.a

In June, GigaOM's Om Malik had the scoop on the next big phase of Facebook's continuing expansion:a

Facebook’s musical ambitions go beyond Spotify and include other music services and applications. The company is currently working on lining up more partners for the 2011 edition of f8, its annual developer conference, which is most likely to be held in August 2011.a

"Whatever the case, Zuckerberg said yesterday that it was only the 'beginning of the launching season in 2011,' and we've heard separately that July is going to be a very busy month at the company," Business Insider reports.a

We've reached out to Facebook, and will update this post if we learn anything new.a

More on Facebook:a

Let the Facebook video chat fear mongering begin Facebook adding Skype video calling How to transfer photos from Facebook to Google

Helen A.S. Popkin goes blah blah blah about the Internet. Tell her to get a real job on Twitter and/or Facebook. a

Friday, July 8, 2011

Serangan Cyber Lebih Terarah

Serangan Cyber Lebih Terarah

Jakarta - Serbuan spam alias pesan sampah di email seperti tak ada habisnya. Namun menurut laporan Cisco, jumlah spam massal menurun drastis dari 300 miliar menjadi 40 miliar per hari pada periode Juni 2010 hingga Juni 2011.

Cisco menyatakan, kejahatan cyber semakin kompleks dan cakupannya terus berubah. Para pelaku telah melakukan pergeseran strategi besar-besaran dengan meninggalkan serangan spam massal tradisional untuk beralih ke serangan lebih terarah.

Dalam penelitian yang dilakukan oleh Cisco Security Intelligence Operations, hal ini berpengaruh terhadap 'keuntungan' yang diraih penjahat cyber dari serangan massal berbasis email yang berkurang sampai lebih dari 50 persen. Dari USD 1,1 miliar di bulan Juni 2010 menjadi USD 500 juta di bulan Juni 2011.

Namun kejahatan spearpishing meningkat 3 kali lipat dan penipuan serta serangan yang merusak meningkat 4 kali lipat. Sementara kerugian yang diakibatkan dari kejahatan terarah terhadap perusahaan-perusahaan di seluruh dunia mencapai USD 1,29 miliar per tahun.

Serangan yang terarah merupakan ancaman yang sulit untuk dihalau dan dapat mengakibatkan kerugian yang besar. Dengan jumlah yang jauh lebih sedikit, kejahatan yang mengusung anonimitas ini memfokuskan serangan kepada individu atau kelompok tertentu, dengan menggunakan kanal-kanal distribusi botnet yang terspesialisasi.

Nick Edwards, Director of Cisco Security Technology Business Unit mengatakan, sekarang ini semakin banyak serangan terarah yang fokus untuk mendapatkan akses ke rekening bank perusahaan dan aset intelektual yang berharga.

"Usaha penegakan hukum yang telah dilakukan membuat serangan spam masal semakin kurang diminati oleh penjahat cyber, sehingga mereka beralih untuk mengalokasikan lebih banyak waktu dan usaha melakukan spearphising dan serangan terarah," tukasnya, dalam keterangan yang diterima detikINET, Jumat (8/7/2011).”

Pada umumnya, mereka mengandalkan malware atau APT (Advanced Persistent Threats) untuk mengumpulkan data yang diinginkan selama satu periode waktu tertentu. Salah satu contoh serangan terarah adalah worm Stuxnet yang sempat menghebohkan.

Worm ini memiliki potensi untuk mengganggu sistem komputasi industri dan dapat melintasi sistem yang tidak terhubung jaringan, sehingga menimbulkan risiko bahkan pada saat sistem tidak terhubung pada jaringan ataupun internet.






( ash / fyk )


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Pemenang Blog Award Silver - Periode 2

Pemenang Blog Award Silver - Periode 2

Jakarta - Tim Internet Sehat telah memilih tiga pemenang bulanan Internet Sehat Blog & Content Award (ISBA) 2011. Setelah melakukan proses penilaian, bersama ini kami menyampaikan bahwa blog berikut di bawah ini layak dan berhak mendapatkan penghargaan ISBA 2011 untuk kategori Silver periode 26 Mei - 30 Juni 2011:

http://sepeda.wordpress.com
http://www.emfajar.net
http://lemari-buku-ku.blogspot.com

Kategori Silver dipilih dari para penerima penghargaan Internet Sehat Blog & Content Award kategori Bronze pada periode tersebut. Keputusan atas blog terpilih tersebut adalah mutlak dan tidak dapat diganggu-gugat. Tidak ada korespondensi dalam bentuk apapun khusus terkait dengan keputusan atas pemilihan blog tersebut.


Hadiah

Bagi pemenang kategori Silver, masing-masing berhak mendapatkan hadiah sebagai berikut:
- Satu (1) buah Headset/Headphone
- Satu (1) buah DVD Linimas(s)a, film dokumenter tentang gerakan social media di Indonesia
- Satu (1) voucher XL senilai Rp 100.000


Selanjutnya tim Internet Sehat akan mengirimkan email kepada masing-masing pemenang untuk melakukan notifikasi. Selamat ya buat para pemenang!

Internet Sehat Blog & Content Award (ISBA) 2011 adalah sebuah penghargaan sepanjang tahun yang diberikan kepada pengelola Blog, Wiki, Forum, Portal dan berbagai jenis layanan konten lainnya, baik perseorangan ataupun berkelompok, yang dengan segenap daya kreatifitasnya telah menuangkan ide, gagasan dan pikirannya dalam bentuk tulisan secara online. Tulisan tersebut tentunya yang harus dapat memberikan ide ataupun mengarahkan pembaca untuk melakukan tindakan yang positif dan bermanfaat, bagi dirinya ataupun masyarakat sekitarnya di Indonesia. Goal dari program ini adalah untuk men-generate tumbuhnya konten-konten lokal sehingga semakin banyak generasi muda Indonesia yang aktif menulis di blog. ISBA 2011 diinisiasi oleh ICT for Partnership (www.ictwatch.com), didukung oleh XL Axiata (www.xl.co.id), Norton Symantec (www.symantec.com), dan detikINET (www.detikinet.com).

Ingin seperti mereka? Simak cara-caranya di http://isba.ictwatch.com.




( ash / ash )


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Like vs +1, Panasnya Perang Social Sharing

Like vs +1, Panasnya Perang Social Sharing

Jakarta - Google dan Facebook tengah bersaing ketat. Masing-masing ngotot menjadi jawara jejaring sosial dunia maya. Toh pada akhirnya hanya ada satu pemenang. Hadirnya Google+ makin memicu perang social sharing.

Social sharing yang dimaksudkan di sini adalah konten-konten yang dibagikan para pengguna internet melalui 'wall' milik Facebook, atau 'stream' milik Google+.

Tren inilah yang sedang terjadi di dunia maya saat ini. Saat ada sesuatu yang baru, semua orang seolah berlomba mengumumkannya kepada dunia, entah lewat Twitter, Facebook, atau Google+ si pendatang baru.

Selama ini, Facebook menjadi pemimpin di bidang ini. Namun dalam waktu beberapa minggu, geliat perubahan mulai terasa di jagat internet. Google+ datang dengan angka pertumbuhan yang cukup lumayan -- walau sementara ini masih digunakan secara terbatas.

Penggiat jejaring sosial saat ini seakan dihadapkan pada dua pilihan: +1 (Google) atau Like (Facebook). Dari satu sisi, +1 memang belum terlalu terlihat berguna, selain hanya bersifat merekomendasikan suatu konten yang di-share. Hal ini tak ubahnya dengan 'Like' milik Facebook. Jika seseorang menambahkan +1 di sebuah konten, tentu takkan terasa. Namun jika 750 juta orang melakukannya, akan beda hasilnya.

Menurut situs Techcrunch, Jumat (8/7/2011), saat ini Google tengah menyiapkan tim untuk mengembangkan strategi bagaimana sebuah perusahaan atau brand (seperti detikcom) dapat memfasilitasi konten yang di-share pada Google+. Mungkin Facebook adalah perusahaan jejaring sosial. Tapi dalam hal ini Google adalah perusahaan 'penuai data' yang mungkin lebih disukai para marketer.

Nah, kini semua berbalik ke selera publik. Pertempuran baru di bidang sharing konten telah dimulai, Google dan Facebook pun segera berebut kue tersebut. Sadar atau tidak, kita sedang berada di tengah 'perang social sharing', 'Wall' versus 'Stream' dan 'Like' versus '+1'.




( fw / ash )


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Nokia Janjikan Dukungan Penuh untuk N9

Nokia Janjikan Dukungan Penuh untuk N9

Jakarta - Nokia N9 adalah smartphone berbasis OS MeeGo pertama dari Nokia. Meski punya desain cantik dan inovasi layar sentuh tanpa tombol fisik, keraguan meliputi N9. Sebab, Nokia tak menjadikan MeeGo sebagai OS pilihan di smartphone melainkan Windows Phone 7.

Diprediksi, Nokia N9 adalah handset MeeGo pertama dan terakhir dari Nokia. Hal ini pun menjadi kekhawatiran para peminat ataupun developer karena mungkin dukungan Nokia pada N9 akan setengah-setengah.

Nokia jelas mendengar kekhawatiran ini. Mereka pun menjanjikan akan terus mendukung platform MeeGo sampai bertahun-tahun mendatang.

Janji tersebut dikatakan oleh Klas Ström, Head of Portfolio Management Nokia. Melalui akun Twitternya, Strom menyatakan janjinya.

"Kami akan mensupport Nokia N9 sampai bertahun-tahun dan merilis beberapa update software, jangan khawatir," tulisnya seperti detikINET kutip dari UnwiredView, Jumat (8/7/2011).

Konsentrasi terbesar Nokia jelas ditujukan untuk mengembangkan ponsel WP 7 yang dipastikan meluncur akhir tahun ini. Namun dengan janji di atas, paling tidak peminat N9 bisa sedikit lega mengenai masa depan handsetnya.




( fyk / fw )


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Multi-platform distribution More Preferred

Online media is now facing a number of challenges. Starting from the presence of social media to mobile with a variety of platforms and operating systems. Everything is forcing businesses to devise strategies online.

We think we make the web then people access. That was then. Now we must try to distribute,

One of the loopholes to distribute content via mobile is. A large number of handsets in the communities with the ability to make mobile Internet access becomes a potential. Unfortunately, mobile development also has challenges. The number of mobile platforms and operating systems are not little.

We know there is Android, IOS, Symbian, Blackberry. That's great. A small lot. To be able to distribute content, a variety of platforms should be tilled. In the presentation, Edi New York Times describes the mission to develop and distribute content to all platforms.

Develop into all the platforms is not easy. There are many platforms, in terms of cost is also high and of the difficulty vary between platforms.

For the first online media who want to expand content distribution, Edi suggested, "Surely we have to choose where the most potential, the user should at most. Because this is impactnya to business."

By developing into a variety of platforms, in addition to increasing distribution of content will also increase business. From there, it could look for loopholes to get revenue. "Surely multiplatform business value will be higher than the single platform. I can not say definitely but it certainly will be higher because we are not content can be enjoyed more

Google+’s Dave Besbris explains sporadic invite system

Lack of a Google+ invite getting you down? Feeling alone on Facebook as your friends have migrated to Google+? Well, Dave Besbris, Google+’s Engineering director took the time to explain why exactly the Google+ invite system was hard to come by.

The announcement made, er… via his Google+ profile, claimed that Google was trying to ensure that users had a fast and reliable service as it grew in an Organic manner. The service is in the infant stages as of now and an all out frenzy of demand has been unleashed upon this young service. A little protection is in order.

Apple Store spycam artist says that Secret Service busted him

This still was taken from Kyle McDonald's video documenting his art project. As it includes photos taken in Apple Stores without permission, we have blurred all subjects' faces.a

By Nidhi Subbaraman

A Brooklyn artist says he had his computers taken away by the U.S. Secret Service when word about his recent art project got out, according to an exclusive report by Mashable.a

Kyle McDonald wanted to document the way people interacted with computers. So, without permission, he installed software on public computers in two Apple Stores in New York, that took a photo a minute of anything and anyone in front of it. The photos were automatically sent to his home computers.a

Over three days, McDonald collected thousands of photographs, even coming back to the stores every morning to reinstall the software, as Apple wipes store model computers every night.a

McDonald uploaded the finished piece to his website, but in keeping with the spirit of the project, arranged a guerrilla-style public showing of the piece at the 14th Street Apple Store in New York last week.a

As customers worked on the store computers, the screen randomly went blank, then displayed a picture of themselves, before showing off a few photographs that McDonald had captured of other unsuspecting screen gazers.a

As this video taken at the event shows, a lot of people were taken aback when their screens were temporarily hijacked. But for the most part, it seemed like no one was making any serious fuss.a

That is, until the Secret Service showed up at McDonald's house to collect his two computers, two flash drives and an iPod, said the artist. According to Mashable, the charge was computer fraud.a

McDonald told Mashable that he tested the waters before he went ahead with his project. Before he started, he apparently asked one security guard and a few Apple Store customers if they'd mind having their pictures taken. When he found no objection, he went ahead with the much larger — and much sneakier — photo session.a

McDonald's motivations seemed to be pure, as an artist at least. "I thought (if) maybe we could see ourselves doing this we would think more about our computers and how we’re using them,” he told Mashable. To be fair, he was the guinea pig on his first stab at the human-screen interaction project. a

While we are confident that Mashable did the due diligence and looked into the facts of this story, some puzzling questions remain. For one, if McDonald is actually under investigation by the Secret Service, it's unusual that he was so enthusiastic about talking about and even disseminating his potentially illegal project. Since the Mashable story went live, McDonald tweeted that he contacted the Electronic Frontier Foundation, who advised him to stay quiet about the matter. But, his Tumblr page is still up. a

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Apple has not responded to Mashable, but we don't know their side of the story either. a

For a video of McDonald's artistic misadventure, which we did not embed here for reasons that should be obvious, head over to Mashable.a

More on security and Apple from msnbc.com: a

Apple to patch PDF security hole in iOS Germany warns of Apple software security hole Website will "jailbreak" your iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone

Nidhi Subbaraman writes about technology and science at msnbc.com. Find her on Twitter, and join our conversation on Facebook.a

15 Billion Appstore downloads and $2.5 billion paid to developers says Apple

The Apple appstore may be ‘just’ three years old but in tech terms that’s eons. The latest numbers coming out of Jobs’ fortress reveal just how successful the app store has been in those three years.

15 billion app downloads in three years, a number that even the folks over at Google would agree is gargantuan. The app store also boasts a selection of 425,000 apps. Engadget is also reporting that Apple has also paid out $2.5 billion to App developers as a result of their sales. This is, of course, after Apple has deducted it’s 30% cut of course. Not that many developers have a problem with that seeing the success of the store.

Tap-Izy, Skema Pembayaran Lewat Kibasan Ponsel


Pengguna Tap-Izy (dok.Telkomsel)

Jakarta - Telkomsel meluncurkan inovasi pembayaran contactless melalui ponsel. Dengan layanan ini, pelanggan bisa melakukan pembayaran produk dan jasa dengan uang elektronik secara cepat dan mudah hanya dengan mendekatkan ponselnya ke mesin Tap-Izy.

Seperti diketahui, jumlah masyarakat yang beralih kepada metode pembayaran cashless (non-tunai), baik melalui transaksi online dan dompet elektronik, dalam beberapa tahun terakhir cenderung meningkat.

Hal ini dikarenakan, transaksi cashless memberikan banyak benefit dari sisi kemudahan, kecepatan, dan keamanan, terutama bagi mereka yang memiliki mobilitas tinggi.

"Saat ini kebutuhan masyarakat untuk melakukan transaksi pembayaran secara cepat dan praktis semakin tinggi. Itu sebabnya kami menghadirkan, layanan Tap-Izy sebagai wujud nyata Telkomsel dalam mewujudkan less cash society di era mobile lifestyle," kata Direktur Utama Telkomsel Sarwoto Atmosutarno, dalam keterangannya, Jumat (8/7/2011).

Tap-Izy merupakan inovasi produk SIM card yang telah dilengkapi dengan teknologi Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). Chip dan antena yang tertanam pada SIM card ini memungkinkan pelanggan untuk melakukan transaksi pembayaran dengan mengibaskan ponsel ke alat pembaca (reader) yang terdapat pada mesin electronic data capture (EDC) Tap-Izy di kasir.

Layanan Tap-Izy yang didukung teknologi RFID merupakan pengembangan dari layanan mobile wallet T-Cash yang memanfaatkan SMS sebagai basis layanan. Dalam menghadirkan layanan ini, Telkomsel bekerjasama di bidang teknis dengan PT Ecash Payment Indonesia.

Untuk dapat menikmati fasilitas Tap-Izy, pelanggan kartuHALO dan simPATI harus terlebih dahulu mengganti SIM card-nya dengan SIM card Tap-Izy di GraPARI. Masyarakat juga dapat membeli perdana kartuHALO dan simPATI yang sudah dilengkapi fitur Tap-Izy seharga Rp 50.000 di GraPARI serta gerai Indomaret dan 7-Eleven bertanda Tap-Izy.

Untuk mengaktifkan layanan Tap-Izy di SIM card, pilih 'Tap-Izy' pada 'T-sel Menu' di ponsel. Kemudian masukkan nomor PIN 1234, lalu pilih 'Activation' untuk aktivasi. Setelah layanan Tap-Izy aktif, pelanggan dapat mengisi saldo elektronik Tap-Izy dengan nominal Rp 25.000 hingga Rp 1 juta di GraPARI serta gerai Indomaret.

Sesudah memiliki saldo di dompet elektronik ini, pelanggan langsung dapat menikmati mudahnya pembayaran di berbagai merchant rekanan.

Transaksi pembayaran menggunakan Tap-Izy saat ini dapat dilakukan di gerai Indomaret, Starmart, Solaria, dan Disc Tarra. Dalam waktu dekat, gerai 7-Eleven dan Circle K juga akan menyediakan layanan pembayaran menggunakan Tap-Izy, sehingga secara keseluruhan pelanggan akan dilayani sekitar 500 gerai Tap-Izy.

Saat ini seluruh aktivitas Tap-Izy, seperti: penggantian SIM card lama dengan SIM card Tap-Izy, penjualan perdana Tap-Izy, pengisian saldo Tap-Izy, serta transaksi pembayaran menggunakan Tap-Izy berlaku untuk wilayah Jabotabek. Ke depannya, layanan Tap-Izy akan hadir di wilayah-wilayah lainnya di Indonesia.

Melalui kerjasama Telkomsel dengan PT Kereta Api Indonesia, pelanggan juga dapat memanfaatkan layanan Tap-Izy untuk membeli tiket kereta Jabodetabek kelas ekonomi. Pelanggan bisa mengunjungi loket-loket penjualan tiket kereta yang tersebar di 24 stasiun di wilayah Jabodetabek.

Dalam waktu dekat, layanan Tap-Izy juga tersedia untuk pembelian tiket kereta commuter line (kelas ekspres).
( rou / rou )


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4 Hal yang Memaksa Telkom Berubah

4 Hal yang Memaksa Telkom Berubah

Jakarta - Berubahnya konsep bisnis Telkom dari sekadar penyedia jaringan telekomunikasi menjadi Telecomunication, Information, Multimedia dan Edutaiment (TIME) ternyata didorong oleh empat perubahan besar di masyarakat.

Direktur Umum Telkom Rinaldy Firmansyah dalam kuliah umumnya tentang leadership di Sekolah Bisnis dan Manajemen (SBM) ITB memaparkan hal tersebut.

Menurutnya, saat ini masyarakat mengalami empat perubahan besar. Yakni perubahan lifestyle, perubahan teknologi, perubahan regulasi dan perubahan lingkungan bisnis.

"Ini kenapa Telkom juga berubah. Kita harus berubah memenuhi tuntutan perubahan tersebut," katanya, Kamis (7/7/2011).

Lebih lanjut Rinaldi mencontohkan salah satu perubahan yang dilakukannya adalah telepon kabel (fixed line) yang mulai tergerus pelanggannya.

"Telepon kabel sudah tidak laku. Kita harus melihat apa yang laku. Internet dan seluler yang laku sekarang. Ya sudah, kita perkuat itu," terangnya.

Namun perubahan tersebut bukanlah hal yang mudah untuk diterapkan. Cepatnya perubahan juga menjadi tantangan tersendiri.

"Perubahan teknologi misalnya. Dulu 3G muncul, tiba-tiba mau muncul 4G. Dan sekarang ada lagi LTE. Padahal dulu waktu belanja modalnya sampai triliunan rupiah, tapi sudah berubah teknologinya. Kita mau tak mau harus mengikutinya. Makanya diperlukan perencanaan bisnis yang matang untuk menghadapinya," Rinaldi menandaskan.




( afz / ash )


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Facebook leads in social media site reliability, speed

AlertSitea

By Suzanne Choney

Mark Zuckerberg said almost casually the other day that yes, Facebook has 750 million users and "is still growing quickly." But will that heft hurt its website reliability and speed? What about its incorporation of Skype for video chat? So far, it's holding its own and reigns as No. 1 when it comes to reliability and speed among five major social media sites, according to a new report from AlertSite, a Web performance monitoring company.a

Facebook has held the No. 1 spot for the six quarters that AlertSite has been measuring such elements, and says that, Facebook's website speed is increasing "with every quarter that passes."a

"In Q2, users visiting the site could expect to wait a mere 0.70 seconds for the homepage to load, down a fraction from Q1,"  when it was 0.75 seconds; in the last quarter of 2010, it was 1.06 seconds.a

Website availability was also excellent, with Facebook delivering "99.98 percent availability" in the second quarter of the year, overtaking YouTube, "which had retained the honor for the past two quarters and fell just short this quarter with an equally impressive 99.97 percent availability.a

"LinkedIn, which was ranked as the second most reliable network in Q1, came in third with 99.93 percent availability. Despite dropping in the rankings, both YouTube and LinkedIn improved their availability over last quarter. LinkedIn and YouTube were also among the fastest social networks in Q2, with 1.34 and 1.58 second response times, respectively."a

Struggling MySpace had the slowest response time — at 3.85 seconds — of the five social media sites analyzed by AlertSite.a

AlertSitea

What does it matter whether a site's response time is 1.34 seconds or 3.85 seconds? To many of us, it may not. But those tenths-of-seconds and seconds add up to a good day or a bad one at the cash register.a

Google certainly knows speed's value; last fall it introduced Google Instant search with the promise that users would save between 2 to 5 seconds per search with Instant, which shows streaming search results as you type letters into the search box.a

Here's what Bojan Simic, founder of TRAC Research, told AlertSite about website speed and reliability, based on research he did in 2010:a

4.4 seconds is the average delay in website response times when business performance begins to decline. $21,000 is the average revenue loss for one hour of website downtime. $4,100 is the average revenue loss of an hour of website slowdowns.

And perhaps not surprising to anyone who spends any amount of time on the InterWebs: Site slowdowns happen 10 times more often than site outages.a

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Related stories:a

Let the Facebook video chat fear mongering begin! Facebook adding Skype video calling Casey Anthony verdict fails to crush the Internet Facebook best at privacy, LinkedIn worst: ranking

Check out Technolog, Gadgetbox, Digital Life and In-Game on Facebook, and on Twitter, follow Suzanne Choney.a

Google Maps 5.7 brings offline maps support

Google Maps 5.7 for Android is now available for your downloading pleasure in the Android Market. Included in the latest revision is full-blown transit navigation, updated directions, an improved search widget, photo viewer for places and one unannounced feature of epic proportions: offline maps mode. Put simply, Google Maps 5.7 is a game changer.

Offline map mode in Google Maps 5.7 represents a milestone for the navigation service, as this was a hot favorite feature of mine for which I always considered Nokia Ovi maps better than Google maps. This also brings serious competition to paid GPS navigation services and standalone car navigation systems.

Right now this seems like an experimental feature for Google maps since only around a 10 mile radius of offline mapping is available. If you’ve updated to Google Maps 5.7 and you’re wondering how you can download offline maps simply follow these directions:

1. Open Google Maps 2. Tap the menu button 3. Select “More” 4. Choose the “Labs” option 5. scroll down until you see “”Download map area” and click download.

If you have not downloaded Google maps then you can grab it @ Android Market

Verizon Launches New Motorola Droid 3

Motorola's new Droid 3 smartphone Relevant Products/Services is now available for purchase from Verizon Wireless online and will begin selling in retail outlets nationwide on July 14. Powered by Google's Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, the Droid 3 is priced at $199.99 for customers signing up for two-year service contracts with Verizon.

Over the years Verizon has been the biggest U.S. reseller of Motorola's Droid devices, but wireless Relevant Products/Services carrier's launch of the iPhone 4 earlier this year undoubted contributed to Motorola's one percent decline in the U.S. market from March through May, according to comScore. The new Droid 3 should give new customers -- as well as current subscribers pondering a smartphone upgrade -- plenty of reasons to give the new device serious consideration.

Exclusively designed for Verizon, Motorola's Droid 3 is the world's thinnest smartphone to feature a miniature Qwerty keyboard that slides out from the bottom of the handset. Moreover, the new 3G smartphone features a 4-inch qHD display, which is one quarter of a full HD 1080p high-definition video Relevant Products/Services frame and equivalent to three quarters of a 720p frame.

Enterprise Ready

Under the hood, Motorola's Droid 3 packs an eight-megapixel camera for shooting 1080p HD video clips and a dual-core, one-gigahertz OMAP 4 processor from Texas Instruments for enabling fast multi-tasking. Compatible with Adobe Flash Player 10, Droid 3 also sports a second camera for enabling video chat sessions.

The global-ready Droid 3's radio capabilities include the ability to connect up to five Wi-Fi enabled devices while users are on the go. And the new smartphone ESP smart dock technology, which offers a unique user-defined experience for the docks, based on location and predefined user settings, noted Motorola spokesperson Danielle McNally.

"As users transition from docks in the home, office, or car, Droid 3 adapts its features automatically based on the dock it's connected to and users' pre-defined settings, giving them the experience they want most as they move throughout the day," McNally said in an email.

Droid 3 provides IT Relevant Products/Services administrators an arsenal of advanced security Relevant Products/Services capabilities, such as device and SD card encryption, complex password support and remote Relevant Products/Services data Relevant Products/Services wipe of the device and its accompanying SD card. Also on tap is Citrix Relevant Products/Services Receiver -- a software client for delivering corporate apps, desktops and data to any employee Relevant Products/Services's device -- as well as a fully integrated videoconferencing software platform called Citrix GoToMeeting. (continued...)

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Google Apps boasting 3,000 signups a day

Google chief, Robert Whiteside, was more than happy as he reported Google’s signup numbers. A whopping 3000 signups per day TheNextWeb reports. Whiteside also mentioned that roughly three million companies the world over now use Google Apps for a variety of services, ranging from email & calendar to other cloud based services. A majority of the companies are small and medium enterprises, possibly due to the fact that google permits smaller companies to use their services free of charge while larger firms pay for services as well as better features and increased business support and reliability. He also mentioned that one third of all the companies which use Google’s services are based in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Apple Denied Exclusive Use of the Term 'App Store'

Apple may have first used the term "app store," but a judge has refused a preliminary injunction that would allow the company exclusive use. While the legal battle over a term that was unknown a few years ago is likely to continue, "App Store" may now gain more widespread use in the industry.

On Wednesday, District Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton of the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California issued an 18-page opinion that denied Apple's request to prevent Amazon.com from using "App Store." But the matter now continues forward legally, with a trial date set by Hamilton for October 15 of next year. Apple filed the suit in March.

'Famous,' Not 'Prominent'

One of Apple's arguments in its suit was that Amazon, whose Internet-based app store carries apps for the Android platform as well as for Apple's, would cause confusion among consumers who were used to "App Store" meaning Apple's apps. Hamilton found that there was no evidence of such confusion, nor of any effort by Amazon to create a connection between Android apps and Apple's.

Amazon has said that "App Store" is now a generic term, and that Apple's online store is only one example of a place where customers can find and purchase apps. In the ruling, the judge found that "Amazon Appstore for Android" was a fair use that Apple could not prevent.

In her opinion, Judge Hamilton wrote that "Apple has not established a likelihood of success on its dilution claim." She said that the company has not demonstrated App Store "is famous, in the sense of being 'prominent' and 'renowned.'"

Hamilton did agree that Apple has spent a lot on ads and publicity, and has sold "a large number of apps" from the App Store. But she wrote that there is also evidence App Store is being used by other companies, in addition to Amazon, to describe what their store contains.

'Enormously Important'

Amazon has also contended that its use of app store is not as a trademark, but as a descriptive term of what customers can find there.

Laura DiDio, an analyst with Information Technology Intelligence Corp., said that " 'App Store' is enormously important to Apple, since the more exclusively it can use the term, the better for its sales."

She added that Apple, "like all companies, likes to be in control," and, if the company can no longer use App Store as its exclusive name, "it will have an impact." But, DiDio said, it's "hard to tell at this point" what kind of impact that might be.

DiDio is optimistic that Apple can figure out how to deal with the loss, if that is the eventual outcome. "Apple is nothing if not nimble and innovative," she said, and, if they can't keep exclusive use of App Store, "they're going to make other companies spend a lot of money to keep up with them."
 

Apple to patch PDF security hole in iOS

By Rosa Golijan

Another day, another Apple drama. Today our big worry is the reappearance of a security exploit which has been haunting iOS devices for years. Don't worry though: Apple is aware of the problem and has vowed to fix it ... again.a

TheNextWeb reports that the PDF file-related security hole used to easily jailbreak — or unlock — iOS devices so that they can run unauthorized software is back once again and can be used for nefarious deeds:a

The exploit, which takes advantage of a hole in Apple’s mobile Safari application, allows a user to jailbreak their device by loading an “infected” PDF file to gain root privileges. a

...However, a German IT agency has warned that the same exploit can be used by criminals to access and steal sensitive data, stating that it “is sufficient to infect the mobile device with malware without the user’s knowledge”.a

According to Apple, the company is “aware of this reported issue and developing a fix that will be available to customers in an upcoming software update.” We don't know if that means that we'll see a software update prior to the release of iOS 5, but we wouldn't be surprised if Apple chose to push out a security fix to its users.a

Related stories:a

Germany warns of Apple software security hole Rumor: iPhone 5 to have curved screen Report: Faster, more powerful iPhone coming in September Rumor: Apple is making an 'iPad 2 Plus'

Rosa Golijan writes about tech here and there. She's obsessed with Twitter and loves to be liked on Facebook. Oh, and she can be found on Google+, too.a

Thursday, July 7, 2011

DropBox revises TOS to stop user backlash

DropBox has become an industry standard for online file storage, mostly for people who want to backup their files online for access on multiple PCs. But recently it got some backlash from users when Terms of Service of site showed that DropBox had rights over files of users.

But now DropBox has issued a clarification over their blog that people have misunderstood legal terminology and now they have revised Terms of service in simple language to curtail the issue people had with its TOS. t DropBox state that they only have as much right over the files of users as are legally required to share and host their files and to show thumbnails and previews of documents to users. The creative usage rights of files as well as ownership still belong to users themselves. Here is the complete clarification issued on Dropbox blog:

…By using our Services you provide us with information, files, and folders that you submit to Dropbox (together, “your stuff”). You retain full ownership to your stuff. We don’t claim any ownership to any of it. These Terms do not grant us any rights to your stuff or intellectual property except for the limited rights that are needed to run the Services, as explained below.

We may need your permission to do things you ask us to do with your stuff, for example, hosting your files, or sharing them at your direction. This includes product features visible to you, for example, image thumbnails or document previews. It also includes design choices we make to technically administer our Services, for example, how we redundantly backup data to keep it safe. You give us the permissions we need to do those things solely to provide the Services. This permission also extends to trusted third parties we work with to provide the Services, for example Amazon, which provides our storage space (again, only to provide the Services).

Sony S1 tablet running Playstation Suite video’ed

After it’s April announcement, Sony has been scarce with information on its two upcoming tablets, S1 and S2. However, after getting its Xperia Play Playstation-certified, it was expected that the uniquely designed, powered packed tablets would feature the same as well.

Although Sony has yet to confirm support, a video from Notebook Italia pretty much does just that, showing off Playstation Suite running on the tablet. The Playstation Suite provides access to Sony Playstation certified games and content, such as the Green Hornet trailer shown in the video.

The S1 will be fitted with a dual-core Nvidia Tegra 2 processor, so playing games on the device shouldn’t be much of problem.

4 Hal yang Memaksa Telkom Berubah

4 Hal yang Memaksa Telkom Berubah

Jakarta - Berubahnya konsep bisnis Telkom dari sekadar penyedia jaringan telekomunikasi menjadi Telecomunication, Information, Multimedia dan Edutaiment (TIME) ternyata didorong oleh empat perubahan besar di masyarakat.

Direktur Umum Telkom Rinaldy Firmansyah dalam kuliah umumnya tentang leadership di Sekolah Bisnis dan Manajemen (SBM) ITB memaparkan hal tersebut.

Menurutnya, saat ini masyarakat mengalami empat perubahan besar. Yakni perubahan lifestyle, perubahan teknologi, perubahan regulasi dan perubahan lingkungan bisnis.

"Ini kenapa Telkom juga berubah. Kita harus berubah memenuhi tuntutan perubahan tersebut," katanya, Kamis (7/7/2011).

Lebih lanjut Rinaldi mencontohkan salah satu perubahan yang dilakukannya adalah telepon kabel (fixed line) yang mulai tergerus pelanggannya.

"Telepon kabel sudah tidak laku. Kita harus melihat apa yang laku. Internet dan seluler yang laku sekarang. Ya sudah, kita perkuat itu," terangnya.

Namun perubahan tersebut bukanlah hal yang mudah untuk diterapkan. Cepatnya perubahan juga menjadi tantangan tersendiri.

"Perubahan teknologi misalnya. Dulu 3G muncul, tiba-tiba mau muncul 4G. Dan sekarang ada lagi LTE. Padahal dulu waktu belanja modalnya sampai triliunan rupiah, tapi sudah berubah teknologinya. Kita mau tak mau harus mengikutinya. Makanya diperlukan perencanaan bisnis yang matang untuk menghadapinya," Rinaldi menandaskan.




( afz / ash )


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Packard Bell unveils new all-in-one PC ‘oneTwo S’

Press release: All-in-ones are the desktop booming market. They address people looking for new ways to use technology both in creating content and consuming it with a friendly interface. Since 2009, Packard Bell has established itself as a key player on the all-in-one segment, with its acknowledged oneTwo series available in 21.5 and 23 inches. Packard Bell now enlarges its successful range with an unprecedented 20-inch format: the brand-new Packard Bell oneTwo S.

Stylish and intuitive like the entire series, this new comer suits modern digital life and fits into any room. Its customized touch portal with plenty of gadgets delivers easy access to media content and social networks with great fun.

Stylish and friendly design Packard Bell oneTwo S strikes for its unique round design, evoking happiness and relaying a friendly, simple and fun everyday experience. Its ultra-slim, streamlined design saves space. The chassis comes in glossy black, matte white, chrome and silver to easily match with any decor. Chrome-colored back-stand can be adjusted with one hand to get the best viewing angle. With a single power cord, the new Packard Bell oneTwo S is definitely easy to set up.

Touch and personalize your fun Personalization is a key asset for Packard Bell. The Packard Bell Touch Portal is customized for personalized media consumption and social networking, offering intuitive usability. Show your personal style and customize your wall paper. Choose the pattern and mask or create new ones; pick up your favourite photo and display it on the wall paper; set the date, the time, the weather of where you’d like to be. Cool gadgets are at your disposal directly from your desktop! With TouchMemo, hand write a note, display it on the desktop and set an alarm reminder. With TouchFriends, stay in touch with your pals and display their picture on the desktop as well. With the optional hi-speed wireless connection you can always “stay in touch”. You can also add applications from PC to the PB Touch Portal, and rearrange, according to your preferences, the positioning of the coloured icons or frequently used applications for a quick launch. You are now ready to enter a new dimension of one-touch friendly and intuitive applications.

Easy Sharing Packard Bell oneTwo S offers a complete internet and social networking solution, touch-enabled and intuitive to use. TouchBrowser makes your web surfing easier and faster. You can organize My favorite sites in folders with drag and drop ease, touch and open several web pages for comparison. The Journal Clipboard gives easy access to webpage updates. TouchMusic enables to organize and enjoy all your MP3 collection. Browse My music library, Recently played songs or New imported albums, to launch your favourite tune immediately. TouchPhoto manages the pictures in your oneTwo S (or on Facebook and Flickr) to quickly share them with friends. With TouchVideo, browse your videos from My video library and share them on YouTube instantly. You can also browse the most viewed videos and latest movies’ trailers on YouTube through direct access. Create your own webcam effects for pictures and video with TouchCam. The HD recording of the built-in 2.0 MP HD webcam provides high quality images.

Finally, you can add Adobe Photoshop Elements 9 full version’s icon on your wall paper, and have a quick access to your favorite photo editing software. Packard Bell oneTwo S features “Cyberlink MediaEspresso 6”, the fastest universal media converter. MediaEspresso converts any type of video files stored in your all-in-one’s video library, to easily transfer it on your mobile devices including smart phones, with amazing display quality.

Riveting all-in-one entertainment The new Packard Bell oneTwo S features top-of-the-line components to assure ultra-smooth multitasking. The 20-inch high-definition display provides vivid HD ready images. The optional TV-tuner enhances a boundless experience just like on digital TV, enriched by the True studio-audio of THX TruStudio PC.

Packard Bell oneTwo S features the 2nd Generation Intel Core processors or the latest AMD processors up to Phenom II X6. Optional NVIDIA or AMD Radeon HD discrete graphic cards, with full Microsoft DirectX 11 support, complete the performance picture. Back-up and files’ duplication are no more an issue thanks to MyBackup, the Packard Bell’s auto backup suite. Feel free from every constraint and enjoy your All-In-One also with the optional wireless keyboard and mouse, for longer sessions.

Packard Bell oneTwo S will be available on shelves in June 2011 in Middle-Eastern outlets.

Availability, software offer and technical features may vary according to countries.

Game, Aplikasi Paling Populer di Smartphone

Game, Aplikasi Paling Populer di Smartphone

Jakarta - Game menjadi aplikasi paling populer di perangkat mobile, terutama smartphone. Aplikasi permainan memuncaki kategori mobile apps disusul aplikasi info cuaca dan jejaring sosial di urutan selanjutnya.

Berdasarkan data terbaru yang dirilis firma riset Nielsen, pengguna yang mengunduh aplikasi smartphone dalam 30 hari terakhir, 93 persennya membeli aplikasi game.

"Sebaliknya, hanya 76 persen pengunduh yang bersedia membeli aplikasi news," tulis Nielsen dalam laporannya yang dilansir Los Angeles Times dan dikutip detikINET, Kamis (7/7/2011).

Diketahui, kebanyakan gamer di iPhone, ponsel Windows Phone 7 atau Android mengunduh game yang kerap mereka mainkan. Sementara pengguna BlackBerry biasanya hanya memainkan game yang sudah ada di perangkat mereka.

"Rata-rata gamer mobile bermain game 7,8 jam per bulan. Mereka yang memakai iPhone cenderung bermain selama 14,7 jam setiap bulannya sementara pengguna Android 9,3 jam per bulan," tulis Nielsen.

Dalam data pengunduh aplikasi selama 30 hari terakhir, Nielsen mencatat 64 persen mengunduh game, 60 persen mengunduh aplikasi info cuaca dan 56 persen mengunduh aplikasi jejaring sosial.




( rns / ash )


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Sid Meier and 'Civilization World' set out to conquer Facebook

Firaxisa

At long last, renowned game developer Sid Meier has brought "Civilization World" to Facebook. But is it a game that both casual Facebook players and seasoned "Civ" veterans can enjoy? And can it compete with the likes of "FarmVille" and "CityVille"?a

By Winda Benedetti

Legendary game developer Sid Meier — the man behind the long-running and much-loved Civilization franchise — has finally taken his empire-building strategy series where it has never gone before.a

To Facebook.a

Meier — founder of game development company Firaxis and a man often referred to as "the godfather of computer gaming" — took some time to talk to me via email about his newest project: "Civilization World."a

"CivWorld" just entered its public beta test this week. That means it is available for free to all gamers with a Facebook account ... though it's still being tweaked. (You can find it on Facebook here.)a

Certainly some veteran Civ players have expressed skepticism about seeing their favorite franchise move to Facebook. The Civilization games — the first of which launched 20 years ago — have inspired a passionate following and have sold more than 10 million copies around the world. And while much of Facebook gaming has a reputation for being as surface level as it gets, Civilization games are known for quite the opposite — complex and profoundly nuanced strategy gameplay that is prone to taking over extensive periods of your life.a

But I've had a chance to spend some time with "CivWorld" over the past few days and from what I can tell so far it seems to be doing a fine job walking that delicate, difficult line between casual games and hardcore games. That is, it’s accessible enough for the Facebook gaming crowd to jump into — even if they haven't played a Civilization game before — while it still offers a lot of depth, challenging strategy and unique social opportunities to keep veteran Civ players engaged.a

No, this is not "Civilization V," but this is certainly a Civilization game at its heart. Fire up the game and Civ players will find themselves faced with a familiar goal — building from the ground up a city and a civilization that will survive, thrive and, ultimately, dominate throughout the centuries.a

And those familiar with the more casual-friendly Zynga games like "CityVille" and "Empires & Allies" will find plenty of familiar elements as they get started. As with, say, "FarmVille" this is a persistent world that you will nurture and grow over time with some assistance from your Facebook friends. And there is a helpful in-game tutorial and wiki guide to ease you through the more complex matters of state and a dominating strategy.a

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Most importantly, both casual Facebook players and Civ vets will discover some truly unique gameplay twists they haven't experienced before.a

It should be said that Meier himself has been deeply involved in the making of "CivWorld" — he was the designer and programming lead — which is in itself a good reason to give the game a try no matter what background you come from. This is a developer known for his painstaking dedication to his products and for trying to ensure that his games are, above all, fun to play. And based on how much time I have unwittingly sunk into "Civilization World," I can say it is, indeed, fun to play.a

But here’s what the Godfather himself had to say about "CivWorld" and making the leap into the brave new Facebook frontier:a

What do you think it is about the Civilization franchise and the gameplay behind it that has clicked so well with players?a

Meier: Civilization is a game encompassing all of human history and we think these real-world ideas are interesting to players from all walks of life. The player is the central figure in each game and we offer them a chance to lead a nation to greatness by making choices and decisions during the game that will determine their fate. There are endless paths to achieve victory, so players have enjoyed testing out different tactics and strategies to find their own way to success, which is what keeps them playing over and over again.a

In many ways, your games are the predecessor to and seemingly the inspiration for many of the Facebook games out there. So why are you and your team bringing Civ to Facebook? Why now?a

In "CivWorld" you'll be tasked with designing and growing a city - and a nation along with - from the ground up.a

Meier: Facebook created a new place to play games and we were excited to explore the possibilities for a Civ experience on this new platform. In the past few years we’ve developed fun Civilization games on PCs, consoles and mobile platforms, and Facebook is something that intrigued us.a

We can tap into the existing connectivity with friends that Facebook provides to offer players a more social Civ experience. They will be able to partner with their friends to build empires and rule the world — which has not been offered in any Civ experience before. Also, we can continue to add to the CivWorld experience as the game continues to grow and evolve on Facebook, and we hear what players like and what more they’re interested in seeing, which is very appealing to us as game designers.a

What sets "Civilization World" apart from other Facebook games?a

Meier: CivWorld is a unique Facebook game in that it has a beginning, a middle and end and lives in a persistent world. When you leave a game of CivWorld, the game continues without you, meaning battles will be started, the market will fluctuate, technology will be discovered and so on.a

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It’s also one of the few truly collaborative games on Facebook. Civs can share resources among their citizens, vote on important issues affecting their nation, combine troops to better their chances in battles and generally work together for the greater advancement of their Civ. We think this blend of cooperative and competitive elements offers a very new experience to Facebook players.a

And what sets "Civilization World" apart from other Civilization games?a

Meier: "CivWorld" has the core Civilization elements such as building, research (tech tree), combat, culture, exploration and wonders presented in a way that delivers a fun experience on the Facebook platform. We’ve taken advantage of what the Facebook platform offers by delivering a persistent game world, offering players the chance (for the first time ever in a Civ game) to work together with their friends to build a powerful empire, new mini-games to help advance your Civ, in-game chat so players can work together in real-time and so on. CivWorld has all of the Civ elements fans will be looking for, wrapped in cool new features that will offer a very new experience to Facebook players.a

How important is the social aspect of "CivWorld" to playing it? Can you go it on your own successfully?a

Meier: Collaboration is key to winning in "CivWorld." You cannot win eras and start battles as an independent player, and you’d also lose the benefits of having a large pool of items to share. a

But for people still wanting to go it alone, you can enjoy building out your city, acquiring achievements and resources and visiting other players in the game, you just cannot win the overall game.a

Can you explain a little bit about how each game has a beginning and an end? How does a game end and about how long will each game last?a

Meier: Each game will start in the Ancient era and end in the Galactic era, the 21st era of the game. Each game’s length varies and is dependent on the speed of the players. If they are more actively playing, the game will progress at a quicker rate. Generally we’ve seen games last around two weeks’ time.a

I understand that "CivWorld" is to be the most broadly approachable Civ game ever. How did you go about making this game more approachable for the Facebook audience?a

Meier: We didn’t think of it as bringing Civ to the Facebook audience as much as bringing Civ to the Facebook platform. We designed the game to mirror past Civ games, incorporating similar strategies and gameplay options, but with the ability to tap into existing networks of friends to make the experience more collaborative. Also, we had to keep in mind the asynchronous nature of Facebook and design the gameplay to fit players’ different schedules. a

Do you think this is a game that even seasoned Civilization players also will enjoy playing? If so, why? What does the game have to offer them?a

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Meier: We think so. "CivWorld" is still very much a Civ game at its core. It offers a deep and robust gameplay experience with collaborative and competitive gameplay, and a systemic marketplace for trade and other features. CivWorld will let players employ the same strategies they enjoyed in past Civ games, but in a new form that offers a richer multiplayer experience.a

When you look at the trajectory of Facebook gaming, where do you see it headed and how do you see it evolving?a

In the combat portion of the game, you'll pit your military units against those belonging to players who have sided up with a competing nation.a

Meier: Facebook games are definitely a part of the future of gaming and that space is still being developed. We feel that games can be delivered in fun and meaningful ways on many platforms and that all kinds of games and gamers will continue to thrive and co-exist as we move into the future of gaming.a

What makes Facebook work well as a gaming platform? And what do you think could be improved about Facebook games?a

Meier: Facebook taps into people’s network of friends, which presents some very interesting design opportunities and allows for a very social gaming experience that spans generations — similar to the way we’ve always experienced board games or card games.a

Facebook games are still in the early stages of development, so over time we will see what works and doesn’t work on the platform.a

As the man who knows the most about this game, what tip would you give to a new player just starting up their first "Civilization World" game?a

Meier: You don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy "CivWorld," so just follow the in-game advisors and have fun!a

What tip would you give to a seasoned Civilization player starting up a "CivWorld" game for the first time?a

Meier: Veteran Civ players will be very at home in "CivWorld." Our hope is that they approach this game as another fun way to play Civ, and enjoy this version along with the PC, console and mobile versions of Civ that they already love.a

For more gaming news, check out:a

Sir-Mix-A-Lot likes Facebook games and he cannot lie Zynga's new Facebook game is combat ready PlayStation Network to get a spiffy new look Kinect inspires bionic vision for the blind Playable 'Gears of War 3' game leaked to Internet advertisement advertisement advertisement

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com. You can follow her tweets about games and other things right here on Twitter.a

Apple Kian Sengit Lawan Samsung

Apple Kian Sengit Lawan Samsung

Jakarta - Samsung memang telah menarik sebagian tuntutannya ke Apple. Namun hal ini tidak membuat perseteruan di antara keduanya mereda. Apple kini malah lebih sengit menyerang Samsung.

Apple mengajukan keberatan karena Samsung meminta Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Amerika Serikat (AS) agar melarang impor produknya. Kini, seperti dikutip detikINET dari Bloomberg, Kamis (7/7/2011), Apple balas meminta FTC agar melarang impor Galaxy S dan Galaxy Tab milik Samsung.

Pengajuan tersebut diserahkan Apple pekan ini. Perusahaan yang berpusat di Cupertino, California, AS ini mengklaim Samsung telah melanggar tujuh hak patennya terkait dengan teknologi dan desain yang ada pada Galaxy S dan Galaxy Tab.

Seperti diketahui, tuding menuding masalah hak paten antara Samsung dan Apple sudah terjadi sejak April silam. Masing-masing mengklaim bahwa mereka lah yang memiliki hak paten tersebut dan menuduh lawannya telah menyontek.

Awal pekan ini, Samsung menarik tuntutannya terhadap Apple dalam perseteruan hak paten di Amerika Serikat. Namun ditegaskan Samsung, ini bukan berarti mereka menyerah, melainkan sebagai upaya memperkuat posisi hukum dan operasional bisnisnya. Dikatakannya, Samsung tetap melanjutkan perkara gugatannya kepada Apple di enam negara lainnya.




( rns / fyk )


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Video Chat Facebook & Google+, Lebih Menarik Mana?

Video Chat Facebook & Google+, Lebih Menarik Mana?

Jakarta - Beberapa hari belakangan, ranah media sosial tengah diliputi rasa penasaran terkait lahirnya layanan jejaring sosial Google+. Namun kini, di tengah hegemoni situs milik Google itu, Facebook coba memecah perhatian lewat layanan video chat terbarunya.

Ya, penggiat media sosial dunia tengah dimanjakan dengan dua layanan baru tersebut yang pantas dikedepankan. Sebab keduanya digawangi oleh dua raksasa perusahaan internet yang sudah tak disangsikan lagi eksistensinya.

Kekuasaan Google di internet memang sudah meraksasa. Entah apa ada yang bisa menandingi situs besutan Larry Page dan Sergey Brin itu di internet. Yang pasti, trafik Google saat ini bertengger di rangking teratas daftar situs-situs dunia.

Google boleh saja telah meraja di dunia maya. Namun satu lahan basah yang belum mereka kuasai adalah situs jejaring sosial. Oke lah, Google saat ini sudah punya YouTube, namun kepopulerannya masih kalah oleh Facebook.

Google sendiri sejatinya juga sudah memiliki layanan mirip Facebook, namanya Orkut yang dirilis Oktober 2006. Ini merupakan jejaring sosial yang memungkinkan pengguna menampilkan informasi personal dan profesional, bertemu teman baru dan memelihara pertemanan yang sudah terjalin.

Namun sayang, layanan yang namanya diambil dari penciptanya, karyawan Google bernama Orkut Buyukkokten ini kurang begitu sukses.

Hingga beberapa waktu lalu, Google menuntaskan rasa penasarannya lewat jejaring sosial terbarunya -- Google+ -- yang mulai diujicoba untuk umum. Undangan terbatas telah diluncurkan pada beberapa user untuk mencoba Google+, sebelum nantinya dirilis secara luas.

Dan hasilnya, sejumlah testimoni positif bermunculan dari para pengguna dan analis. Bahkan tak sedikit yang meyakini jika Google+ akan mengakhiri kejayaan Facebook.

Google+ sendiri memang bisa dibilang sebagai jawaban sang raksasa internet terhadap dominasi Facebook dan sebagai upaya untuk menyegarkan jejaring sosial di perangkat mobile maupun web.

Layanan ini berbasis sepenuhnya pada konsep berbagi. Tidak hanya foto atau link, namun juga informasi menarik, istilah baru serta partisipasi dalam video chat juga telah disuguhkan.

"Google+ adalah proyek yang bertujuan untuk membuat aktivitas berbagi di web mirip dengan apa yang terjadi di dunia nyata, Anda berbagi sesuatu yang berbeda dengan orang yang berbeda-beda," ucap Vic Gundotra dari Google, dilansir Techradar.

Dengan segala iming-iming itu dan 'efek penasaran' yang seakan dibuat, lantaran baru dirilis terbatas, sontak saja banyak pengguna internet yang berlomba-lomba berburu invitation Google+.

Nah, bagi yang kurang beruntung belum mendapat undangan karena sistem undangan itu sudah ditutup Google, pasti akan lebih penasaran. Sementara mereka yang telah berhasil jadi anggota Google+ diharapkan sedikit banyak akan mengenyampingkan akun Facebook-nya untuk kemudian menggeluti situs jejaring sosial baru yang sedang marak diperbincangkan, yakni Google+.

Serangan Balasan

Facebook tentu agak terganggu dengan kondisi di atas. Hal itu terlihat dari sikap tegas mereka yang memblokir extension di browser Chrome yang memungkinkan pengguna 'memindahkan' teman Facebooknya ke Google+.

Beruntung, mereka sudah memiliki senjata guna meredam hegemoni Google+. Serangan balasan ini pun telah mulai dilancarkan Mark Zuckerberg ketika sang miluner muda melontarkan kalimat: "Facebook akan meluncurkan 'sesuatu yang mengagumkan' pekan depan" sebagai bocoran.

Tentu saja, hal ini cukup menarik perhatian dan menyita rasa penasaran tentang apa yang akan dihadirkan Facebook. Hingga kemudian tanda tanya itu terjawab dengan pengumuman kehadiran fitur video chat Facebook.

Fitur ini merupakan hasil kerjasama Facebook dengan layanan telepon internet Skype. Untuk melakukan video chat, pengguna Facebook yang komputernya dilengkapi webcam harus memilih teman chat. Pada jendela chat yang muncul, klik ikon video kecil di toolbar berwarna biru untuk masuk ke fitur video chat.

Memang fitur baru ini masih muda, belum semua pengguna bisa menggunakan fitur ini lantaran baru dirilis secara bertahap hingga tersedia bagi pengguna secara global.

Namun setidaknya, kehadiran fitur video chat di Facebook ini cukup mengalihkan sejenak perhatian pengguna internet dari Google+. Entah apa memang momentum kehadiran layanan ini sengaja diambil berdekatan atau sekadar kebetulan.

Yang pasti, keduanya kini tengah berusaha untuk menarik perhatian pengguna. Jadi, kini terserah Anda mau memilih yang mana?




( ash / rns )


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Facebook-Skype video chat service launches with Free group calls

It was previously announced that Facebook and Skype would be integrating their services to bring Skype video call technology to Facebook chat. And the service has launched today, now you can initiate a video chat session with any of you Facebook friends without need of dedicated Skype app.

Plus the Facebook-Skype calls brings one of the pro features of Skype: Group video calling for free to Facebook. Yes you can video chat with multiple buddies or family members on Skype without paying a single dime. This has been obviously done to counter the recent Google+ hangout which features group video chatting.

Overall this will be a worthwhile addition to already strong Facebook feature base. Plus with Skype back-end we can be sure of good quality video calls and reliable service.

Try out the feature using your FB friend chat panel or by going to Facebook.com/videocalling