Category: Computers, Science & Technology

So, if Verizon bought Netflix… is that a good thing? I am a customer of both. What would the impact be? Would prices go up? What about… Naomi? (Wierd reference to the Electric Company, kid’s show back in the day.)

Verizon May Be Pondering Netflix Purchase

“Verizon is reportedly thinking about purchasing Netflix in an effort to make its way into the video streaming/DVD rental business and to give Netflix a boost as well

Just last week, reports indicated that Verizon was preparing to launch a video streaming service that would rival the likes of Netflix and traditional cable TV. However, according to Fox Business, Verizon is reportedly thinking about purchasing Netflix in an effort to make its way into the video streaming/DVD rental business and to give Netflix a boost as well.

While Verizon has a large user base with its internet, phone, data and wireless services, it would have had to come up with a unique video streaming service that challenged already-established Netflix as far as content and subscription prices. This wouldn’t be an easy task, and taking hold of Netflix would give it an automatic 23 million customers.

The deal could be advantageous for Netflix as well, since it has been struggling this year after raising prices and changing plans back in July. From there, the once unstoppable video giant continued ticking off customers with antics such as the loss of Starz content after the premium subscription channel refused to renew its distribution deal, launching a DVD spinoff business called Qwikster requiring a completely separate account, and then changing its mind about the Qwikster idea altogether.

So far this year, Netflix stock has fallen 57 percent. Just last month, it announced a bleak 2012 outlook and its shares dropped to their lowest point since March 2010.

Despite the potential advantages that most reports are pointing out, the potential disadvantages could likely outweigh any benefits listed above. For instance, Verizon could get greedy and decide to limit the Netflix service to Verizon customers only. Also, Netflix has been known for its rebellion against traditional cable TV by offering its own business model with cheaper monthly services and a growing amount of content. If Netflix were to fall under Verizon’s thumb, this likely wouldn’t be the case anymore.”

How cool is this?!?! Beakman’s World is on Netflix! And, so is all of the Star Trek series! I love my Netflix streaming! Awesome-ness!

By the way, I used to love to watch Beakman… now that I have access to all episodes on Netflix, I will be watching again and again! Get ready for more oddness! It is inspiring!

Probably not. Who needs it now that we have HTML5?

Microsoft releases Silverlight 5

“Microsoft made available on December 9 for download the gold version of Silverlight 5, the latest version of its browser plug-in and Web, desktop and mobile development platform

Version 5 — which my contacts are saying is the last major release of Silverlight — will be supported by Microsoft until 2021 — which is a much longer period of time than previous Silverlight releases have been supported.

The version 5 release supports all the same platforms that the previous versions of Silverlight did: Windows, Mac. It also works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome and Safari.

Microsoft officials didn’t use the release of Silverlight 5 as a chance to offer further guidance as to the platform’s future. We still have no word on when or if there will be a Silverlight 6. There’s also still no official confirmation or denial from the company about rumors I’ve heard that there won’t be a Mix 2012 conference next year.

A list of some of Silverlight 5’s features can be found in today’s post on the Silverlight blog. Among those features: Hardware decode of H.264 media; extensionof the trusted application model to the browser; and graphics stack improvements with 3D support using the XNA programming interface on Windows.”

Ooops! Adobe has a problem… but it is working on it!

Adobe scrambles to patch Acrobat zero-day hack

“Adobe has reported a new ‘critical vulnerability’ for current and older versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat for Windows, Mac OS X, and Unix operating systems. The attack has already been exploited by hackers in targeted attacks against the Adobe 9 reader on Windows, the company stated in its security advisory The hack appears to have already been used in an attack on US defense contractors and research facilities.

Discovered by Lockheed Martin’s Computer Incident Response Team and MITRE, the vulnerability could allow an attacker to send a malicious Adobe document file that crashes Reader, and ‘potentiallty allow an attacker to take control of the affected system,’ according to the Adobe Product Security Incident Response Team’s alert. In a blog post, Adobe’s director of product security Brad Arkin said that Adobe is planning to release a fix for the Windows versions of Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.4.6 ‘no later than the week of December 12.’ There is currently no workaround for Reader 9.x.

Arkin said that the risk to Mac OS X and Unix users of Reader is ‘significantly lower,’ and that the attack can be blocked on Windows with Reader X by opening documents in Adobe Reader X in ‘protected mode.’ Patches for those versions of Reader will be held until the next quarterly update of Reader, scheduled for January 10.”

Chrome rocks (again!) Fast, safe, and, did I mention, fast? I love Chrome!

Chrome sandboxing makes it the most secure browser, vendor study claims

“A new study by security vendor Accuvant Labs concludes that Google Chrome is more secure than rivals Firefox and Internet Explorer, largely because of Chrome’s sandboxing and plug-in security.

The research was funded by Google, which might make any reasonable person suspicious of its conclusions. Accuvant insists that Google gave it ‘a clear directive to provide readers with an objective understanding of relative browser security’ and that the conclusions in the paper ‘are those of Accuvant Labs, based on our independent data collection.’ Accuvant also made the supporting data available as a separate download so that it can be scrutinized by other researchers.

Accuvant focused only on Chrome, IE and Firefox, leaving out Safari and others for the sake of time. It also tested the browsers only on Windows 7, 32-bit edition. Despite concluding research in July, the paper was just released today. As a result, the report excludes newer versions of Chrome and Firefox, which have more rapid release cycles than Internet Explorer.

But the 102-page report otherwise seems fairly thorough, and Accuvant says it will update the report as the security of each browser evolves, and claims that it already provides a better look at browser security than metrics such as vulnerability report counts and URL blacklists. ‘We believe an analysis of anti-exploitation techniques is the most effective way to compare security between browser vendors,’ the report states. ‘This requires a greater depth of technical expertise than statistical analysis of CVEs, but it provides a more accurate window into the vulnerabilities of each browser.'”

Well, we now know what HP is going to do with webOS!

HP to Contribute webOS to Open Source

“HP to enable creativity of the community to accelerate the next-generation web-centric platform.

PALO ALTO, Calif., Dec. 9, 2011

HP today announced it will contribute the webOS software to the open source community.

HP plans to continue to be active in the development and support of webOS. By combining the innovative webOS platform with the development power of the open source community, there is the opportunity to significantly improve applications and web services for the next generation of devices.

webOS offers a number of benefits to the entire ecosystem of web applications. For developers, applications can be easily built using standard web technologies. In addition, its single integrated stack offers multiplatform portability. For device manufacturers, it provides a single web-centric platform to run across multiple devices. As a result, the end user benefits from a fast, immersive user experience.

“webOS is the only platform designed from the ground up to be mobile, cloud-connected and scalable,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and chief executive officer. “By contributing this innovation, HP unleashes the creativity of the open source community to advance a new generation of applications and devices.”

HP will make the underlying code of webOS available under an open source license. Developers, partners, HP engineers and other hardware manufacturers can deliver ongoing enhancements and new versions into the marketplace.

HP will engage the open source community to help define the charter of the open source project under a set of operating principles:

• The goal of the project is to accelerate the open development of the webOS platform
• HP will be an active participant and investor in the project
• Good, transparent and inclusive governance to avoid fragmentation
• Software will be provided as a pure open source project

HP also will contribute ENYO, the application framework for webOS, to the community in the near future along with a plan for the remaining components of the user space.”

So, we should know more next week about how Microsoft’s AppStore will work. Not exactly holding my breath!

Microsoft to reveal details on its Windows 8 app store next week

“Slated to take place in San Francisco, the two-hour Windows Store preview event should provide the latest details about the Windows Store to the invited developers and members of the press.

Microsoft has been mum about the Windows Store lately, but it did reveal some facts at its Build conference in mid-September.

Trying to outdo Apple’s Mac App store, the Windows Store will let users download free trial copies of Metro-style apps to check out for a limited time. So developers won’t have to cook up both paid and “lite” versions of their applications. Beyond that, both free and paid apps would be available. Microsoft will also run security checks and other tests to certify each app.

Traditional Windows desktop and Metro-style apps would both be accessible through the Windows Store, according to Mary Jo Foley of CNET sister site ZDNet. However, Windows desktop apps will not be directly downloadable but instead would be offered through a link to the third-party developer. Microsoft’s demo at Build showed a link to download Quicken, as one example. Metro-style apps would be available only through the Windows Store.

Developers will also be able to promote their Windows 8 Metro apps via their own Web site, according to WinRumors. From the developer’s site, users could click on a download button that will bring them to the Windows Store where they can grab the application directly.”

My favorite Web Browser (Google Chrome) just passed up Mozilla’s Firefox (my former favorite browser) in stats on the InterWebs! Hooray!

Chrome overtakes Firefox in the web browser race

“BEANCOUNTERS at Statcounter have revealed that Google’s Chrome web browser has leap-frogged Mozilla’s Firefox in global market share.

The latest figures from the firm show that Chrome has taken a slightly higher percentage of market share to take second place behind Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Globally, Chrome now has 25.69 per cent usage compared to Firefox at 25.23 per cent, according to Statcounter.
Aodhan Cullen, CEO of Statcounter said, ‘We can look forward to a fascinating battle between Microsoft and Google as the pace of growth of Chrome suggests that it will become a real rival to Internet Explorer globally.’

‘Our stats measure actual browser usage, not downloads, so while Chrome has been highly effective in ensuring downloads our stats show that people are actually using it to access the web also.'”

A new look for YouTube, and new features… looks to me like YouTube is getting better and better!

YouTube Unveils New Look

“The Internet’s most popular video site–and the second most popular site, period, according to owner Google–has finally gotten an image overhaul. YouTube unveiled its new look, which features gray navigation bars, on Thursday.

YouTube announced the renovation on its blog: ‘So, today we’re introducing a new homepage, Channel design and a fresh coat of digital paint.’

The new design makes YouTube’s website much easier to navigate–not that that’s really saying much. YouTube’s old site design was basically videos in a grid on a plain, white background–there wasn’t a lot of order. While users could navigate by clicking light gray buttons at the top of the page to see recent activity, subscriptions, and recommendations, the homepage was mostly an overwhelming jumble of images and text.

Now, YouTube has a dark gray sidebar on the left side of the page, where users can see their subscribed channels. Clicking on a link on the left side of the page (there’s also ‘Trending’ and ‘Popular Channels’ links, in addition to users’ subscribed channels) changes the content in the center column, where videos appear in a list rather than a grid. There’s also a right-hand sidebar with ‘Recommended’ videos.”

Cross posted from the Hand Held Hack:

I, officially, want a Kindle Fire! I am opening to save up some pennies during the Christmas season and order one! So, looks like a lot of other folks are as well!

3-4M Amazon Kindle’s Shipped, 5M Expected by 2012

“We knew that the Amazon Kindle was a popular tablet but just how popular is slowly becoming clear. Water cooler talk in Taipei points to Amazon shipping between 3-4M Kindle Fire’s and they are continuing to increase orders for the popular Android tablet. Suppliers expect that shipments will ram up to around 5 million units by the end of December or early January.

Wintek, who is a major supplier of touch panels for Kindle Fire, has recently raised its internal forecast of shipments to Amazon. Industry sources have estimated that Wintek will ship about 3-3.5 million touch panels for Kindle Fire before January.

Unlike the ASUS Transformer Prime who can’t keep up with initial demand, the Kindle Fire is taking care of their potential customers. Then again the Prime is a high end device and creating scarcity will only make the geeks want it more.”