Solve Media Launches Brand-Research Tool Disguised as a Captcha
Solve Media sure loves its Captchas -– those usually hard-to-read letters that web users have to type in to prove that they aren’t a bot. The startup first came out with Captchas that require people to type in a brand’s advertising slogan or tagline, and then iterated on the type-in model by letting online viewers skip pre-roll video ads if they type in a brand’s message. Now, the company is rolling out a tool called Brand Tags that turns Captchas into mini brand-research tools for brands.
http://adage.com/article/digital/solve-media-launches-brand-research-tool-disguised-a-captcha/235174/
Voice control comes to MOG’s music streaming service with Ford SYNC AppLink
Good news for those who like music on-the-go, Ford had just added a new heavy hitter to its AppLinkplatform, and this time it comes from none other than MOG. The streaming service boasts a catalog of 15 million tracks, which is available to mobile devices for a monthly subscription fee of $9.99. With the Ford SYNC integration, users may access this vast library either through voice commands or in-dash controls, and as another nice touch, one’s music queue will automatically resume from wherever they left off. Voice commands include “artist only” and “similar artists,” along with “downloads” for situations when you aren’t able to stream and “shuffle favorites.” Finally, users may also create presets based on what’s currently playing, simply by pressing and holding one of the in-dash preset buttons. This availability is solely for iOS users, but if you’d like to learn more, check the full PR after the break.
http://www.engadget.com/2012/06/06/mog-music-streaming-ford-sync-applink/?m=false
Bad day for LinkedIn: 6.5 million hashed passwords reportedly leaked – change yours now
LinkedIn has responded to the issue, updating its official Twitter account to state that it is “looking into reports.” Scroll down for more information.
Already in the spotlight over concerns that its iOS app collects full meeting notesand details from a device’s calendar and sends them back to the company in plain text, LinkedIn user accounts are now said to have been compromised, with 6.5 million hashed and encrypted passwords reportedly leaked.
http://thenextweb.com/socialmedia/2012/06/06/bad-day-for-linkedin-6-5-million-hashed-passwords-reportedly-leaked-change-yours-now/
Microsoft has now sold over 600 million licenses of Windows 7
Microsoft announced today that the company has now sold over 600 million licenses of Windows 7 since its introduction in October 2009. Speaking at Computex 2012, Microsoft’s Steve Guggenheimer revealed the number while demonstrating some of the latest Windows 7 devices. Microsoft previously announced in January that the company had reached 525 million licenses sold of Windows 7, and prior to that the operating system reached 240 million in sales to mark its first birthday. Windows 7 is now running on more than 39 percent of internet connected devices worldwide, according to Microsoft.
http://www.theverge.com/2012/6/6/3067350/windows-7-600-million-licenses-sold
Are Publishers Failing on Tablets?
The tablet experience for most magazines means that elegant designs and rich content are undermined by static 96-page PDFs that can take anywhere from a few minutes to over an hour to download. The last time I checked, no one wants to download an entire website to get one page. So why do publishers still make readers download an entire magazine? And why do they insist on delivering their content in 30-day packages that are often written months in advance? In our Twitter-speed world, magazine content can sometimes feel like it’s from another planet.
http://www.digiday.com/publishers/publishers-need-better-tablet-content-strategies/
The Curious Case of Internet Privacy
Here’s a story you’ve heard about the Internet: we trade our privacy for services. The idea is that your private information is less valuable to you than it is to the firms that siphon it out of your browser as you navigate the Web. They know what to do with it to turn it into value—for them and for you. This story has taken on mythic proportions, and no wonder, since it has billions of dollars riding on it.
http://www.technologyreview.com/news/428045/the-curious-case-of-internet-privacy/
Stuxnet expert calls US the “good guys” in cyber-warfare
Sitting in the front row for the first full day of the International Conference on Cyber Conflict was one of the industry’s foremost “rock star” researchers, Ralph Langner.
The German researcher has become one of the most-cited sources on Stuxnet, the US-and-Israeli computer worm that targeted Iran’s nuclear program. Langner’s 2011 TED talk has been seen over half a million times, and he spoke at last year’s CyCon here in Estonia.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/06/stuxnet-expert-calls-us-the-good-guys-in-cyber-warfare/
Nasdaq Tabs $40 Million as Facebook IPO Compensation
Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. outlined plans for a “one-time” payout of around $40 million to compensate some financial firms that lost money after the exchange operator botched their trades during the initial public offering of FacebookInc.
http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702303665904577450501701149664-lMyQjAxMTAyMDAwNjEwNDYyWj.html
How Much Would The Average Person Pay For A Standalone HBO GO Subscription? About $12 A Month
Two years ago, HBO introduced HBO GO, giving fans a way to access all of their favorite programming online, on tablets and mobile devices, and increasingly on connected TV platforms. For those of us who have had a chance to use it, HBO GO is nothing short of a revelation, as viewers can watch pretty much every episode of every HBO original series ever made, as well as a pretty good selection of new release movies.
http://techcrunch.com/2012/06/05/hbo-go-without-hbo/
Android Expected to Reach Its Peak This Year as Mobile Phone Shipments Slow, According to IDC
he worldwide mobile phone market is forecast to grow slightly more than 4.0% year over year in 2012, the lowest annual growth rate since 2009, due to a sharp decline in the feature phone market and sluggish global economic conditions. According to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, vendors will ship a total of nearly 1.8 billion mobile phones this year, compared to 1.7 billion units shipped in 2011. By the end of 2016, IDC forecasts 2.3 billion mobile phones will be shipped to the channel.
http://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS23523812
Taking flight: #Twitterbird
Over the past six years, the world has become familiar with a little blue bird. The bird is everywhere, constantly associated with Twitter the service, and Twitter the company.
Starting today you’ll begin to notice a simplified Twitter bird. From now on, this bird will be the universally recognizable symbol of Twitter. (Twitter is the bird, the bird is Twitter.) There’s no longer a need for text, bubbled typefaces, or a lowercase “t” to represent Twitter.
http://blog.twitter.com/2012/06/taking-flight-twitterbird.html
