Online travel agency Expedia (and a dozen others) on Friday accused Google of breaching EU rules

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Google seems to be in more trouble as the EU watchdog is now investigating the world's most popular search engine after rivals, including Microsoft, accused Google of abusing its dominant position in the market for Web search engines.
EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said earlier this week that he would decide after Easter whether to formally charge Google or drop the investigation.
Expedia said it had details of specific business and search practices by Google that violated EU competition and consumer protection laws.
"The complaint offers evidence of how Google's conduct harms not only competition, but consumers," Brent Thompson, senior vice president of government affairs, said in a statement.
"Expedia believes that strong action is needed by the European Commission to restore a fair and competitive marketplace in online search that respects consumers' rights," he said.
Google said it has not been informed of the complaint yet.
"We haven't seen the complaint yet, but we've been working to explain how our business works, cooperating with the European Commission since this investigation began," Google spokesman Al Verney said in a statement.
"Because there's always room for improvement, we're happy to discuss any concerns the Commission might have," he said.
There are now 12 complaints with the EU watchdog, the majority of them small competitors across Europe, which claimed that Google demoted their sites and promoted its own services. Google has denied that it stifles competition.
U.S. enforcers are also investigating Google which controls more than two-thirds of the global search market.
EU privacy regulators are also scrutinizing Google's new privacy policy which came into effect on March 1.

Apple Invents a Killer 3D Imaging Camera for iOS Devices

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Apple has invented a killer 3D imaging camera that will apply to both still photography and video. The new cameras in development will utilize new depth-detection sensors such as LIDAR, RADAR and Laser that will create stereo disparity maps in creating 3D imagery. Additionally, the cameras will use advanced chrominance and luminance Sensors for superior color accuracy. And if that wasn't enough, the new cameras will not only include facial recognition but also facial gesturing recognition. Intel discussed the coming 3D revolution back in 2010 and it appears that Apple wants to be one of the first to introduce this killer 3D camera. While others may have beaten Apple to market first, the technology described in today's invention will definitely provide iOS devices with the ability to view killer 3D images that could only be appreciated on Apple's "Resolutionary" Retina Display. Apple's resolutionary experience has only begun. With the ability to view stunning 3D imagery, photos and videos on our new iPad displays, the resolutionary experience is only going pop our brains even further.  
 
Today's Cameras with Limited 3D Capabilities
 
Existing three-dimensional image capture devices, such as digital cameras and video recorders, can derive limited three-dimensional visual information for objects located within a captured area. For example, some imaging devices can extract approximate depth information relating to objects located within the captured area, but are incapable of obtaining detailed geometric information relating to the surfaces of these objects.
 
Such sensors may be able to approximate the distances of objects within the captured area, but cannot accurately reproduce the three-dimensional shape of the objects. Alternatively other imaging devices can obtain and reproduce surface detail information for objects within the captured area, but are incapable of extracting depth information.
 
Accordingly, these sensors may be incapable of differentiating between a small object positioned close to the sensor and a large object positioned far away from the sensor.
 
Apple's Advanced 3D Camera Solutions
 
Apple's invention relates to systems, apparatuses and methods for capturing a three-dimensional image using one or more dedicated cameras.
 
According to Apple, one embodiment may take the form of a three-dimensional camera configured to capture at least one image including one or more objects, comprising: a first sensor for capturing a polarized image, the first sensor including a camera and a polarized filter associated with the first camera; a second sensor for capturing a first non-polarized image; a third sensor for capturing a second non-polarized image; and at least one processing module for deriving depth information for the one or more objects utilizing at least the first non-polarized image and the second non-polarized image, the processing module further operative to combine the polarized image, the first non-polarized image, and the second non-polarized image to form a composite three-dimensional image.
 
Another embodiment may take the form of three-dimensional imaging apparatus configured to capture at least one image including one or more objects, comprising: a first sensor for capturing a polarized chrominance image and determining surface information for the one or more objects, the first sensor including a color imaging device and a polarized filter associated with the color imaging device; a second sensor for capturing a first luminance image; a third sensor for capturing a second luminance image; and at least one processing module for deriving depth information for the one or more objects utilizing at least the first luminance image and the second luminance image and combining the polarized chrominance image, the first luminance image, and the second luminance image to form a composite three-dimensional image utilizing the surface information and the depth information.
 
Still another embodiment may take the form of a method for capturing at least one image of an object, comprising: capturing a polarized image of the object; capturing a first non-polarized image of the object; capturing a second non-polarized image of the object; deriving depth information for the object from at least the first non-polarized image and the second non-polarized image; determining a plurality of surface normals for the object, the plurality of surface normals derived from the polarized image; and creating a three-dimensional image from the depth information and the plurality of surface normals.
 
Sample image sensing devices include charge-coupled device (CCD) sensors, complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor sensors, infrared sensors, light detection and ranging sensors, and the like. Further, the image sensing devices may be sensitive to a range of colors and/or luminances, and may employ various color separation mechanisms such as Bayer arrays, Foveon X3 configurations, multiple CCD devices, dichroic prisms and the like.
 
Devices that will use the new 3D Capturing Technology
 
Apple states that in some embodiments, the image sensing device may be configured to convert or facilitate converting the captured image into digital image data. The image sensing device may be hosted in various electronic devices including, but not limited to, digital cameras, personal computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs), mobile telephones, a standalone camera, or any other devices that can be configured to process image data.
 
Components Integrated into a 3D Image Capturing Camera
 
Apple's patent FIG. 1A below is a functional block diagram that illustrates certain components of one embodiment of a three-dimensional camera.
 


As shown in FIG. 1A above, the three-dimensional imaging apparatus/camera 100 may include a first imaging device 102, a second imaging device 104, and an image processing module 106. The first imaging device 102 may include a first imaging device and the second imaging device 104 may include a second imaging device and a polarizing filter 108 associated with the second imaging device.
 
Generating Stereo Disparity Maps
 
The fields of view of the first and second imaging devices 112 and 114 noted above may be offset so that the received images are slightly different. For example, the field of view 112 of the first imaging device 102 may be vertically, diagonally, or horizontally offset from the second imaging device 104, or may be closer or further away from a reference plane or point. Offsetting the fields of view of the first and second imaging devices 112 and 114 may provide data useful for generating stereo disparity maps, as well as extracting depth information.
 
Depth-Detection Technique Options: LIDAR, RADAR and Laser
 
Apple states that the first imaging device 102 noted in FIG. 1A above may be configured to derive an approximate relative distance of an object 110 by measuring properties of electromagnetic waves as they are reflected off or scattered by the object and captured by the first imaging device.
 
In one embodiment, the first imaging device may be a Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) sensor. The LIDAR sensor may emit laser pulses that are reflected off of the surfaces of objects in the image and detect the reflected signal. The LIDAR sensor may then calculate the distance of an object from the sensor by measuring the time delay between transmission of a laser pulse and the detection of the reflected signal. Other embodiments may utilize other types of depth-detection techniques, such as infrared reflection, RADAR, laser detection and ranging, and the like.
 
Utilizing Microlenses
 
Apple invention also touches on the fact that their 3D capturing camera will utilize microlenses that overly subfilters that focus on polarized light. The microlenses can be formed from any suitable material for transmitting and diffusing light through the light guide, including plastic, acrylic, silica, glass, and so on and so forth. Additionally, the light guide may include combinations of reflective material, highly transparent material, light absorbing material, opaque material, metallic material, optic material, and/or any other functional material to provide extra modification of optical performance.
 
In one embodiment, the microlenses may be convex and have a substantially rounded configuration. Other embodiments may have different configurations. For example, in one embodiment, the microlenses may have a conical configuration, in which the top end of each microlens is pointed.
 
In other embodiments, the microlenses may define truncated cones, in which the tops of the microlenses form a substantially flat surface. Additionally, in some embodiments, the microlenses may be concave surfaces, rather than convex.
 
As is known, the microlenses may be formed using a variety of techniques, including laser-cutting techniques, and/or micro-machining techniques, such as diamond turning. After the microlenses are formed, an electrochemical finishing technique may be used to coat and/or finish the microlenses to increase their longevity and/or enhance or add any desired optical properties.
 
Chrominance and Luminance Sensors
 


Other essentials noted in the 3D camera design include the use of a first chrominance sensor (202) and a luminance sensor (204). The luminance sensor may be configured to capture a luminance component of incoming light. Additionally, each of the chrominance sensors may be configured to capture color components of incoming light. In one embodiment, the chrominance sensors 202,206 may sense the R (Red), G (Green), and B (Blue) components of an image and process these components to derive chrominance information.
 
Other embodiments may be configured to sense other color components, such as yellow, cyan, magenta, and so on. Further, in some embodiments, two luminance sensors and a single chrominance sensor may be used. That is, certain embodiments may employ a first luminance sensor, a first chrominance sensor and a second luminance sensor, such that a stereo disparity (e.g., stereo depth) map may be generated based on the offsets of the two luminance images. Each luminance sensor captures one of the two luminance images in this embodiment.
 
Facial and Gesture Recognition
 
In another embodiment, the three-dimensional imaging apparatus may be used for recognizing facial gestures. Facial gestures may include, but are not limited to, smiling, grimacing, frowning, winking, and so on and so forth. In one embodiment, this may be accomplished by detecting the orientation of various facial muscles using surface geometry data, such as the mouth, eyes, nose, forehead, cheeks, and so on, and correlating the detected orientations with various gestures.
 
3D Models Created by Rotating Objects
 
In another embodiment, the three-dimensional imaging apparatus may be used to scan an object, for example, to create a three-dimensional model of the object. This embodiment may be accomplished by taking multiple photographs of the object or video while rotating the object. As the object is rotated, the image sensing device may capture more of the surface geometry and use the geometry to create a three-dimensional model of the object.
In another related embodiment, multiple photographs or video may be taken while the image sensing device is moved relative to the object, and used to construct a three-dimensional model of the objects within the captured image(s). For example, a user may take video of a home while walking through the home and the image sensing device could use the calculated depth and surface detail information to create a three-dimensional model of the home. The depth and surface detail information of multiple photographs or video stills may then be matched to construct a seamless composite three-dimensional model that combines the surface detail and depth from each of the photos or video.
 
The coming 3D Revolution was first discussed in our report titled "Intel's CES Keynote 2010, Apple and iLife 3D." The Intel rep stated that it would take 8 to 16 processors to pull off 3D in simple to use consumer applications. Fitting this into a camera would be stunning.
 
Patent Credits
 
Apple's patent application was originally filed in Q3 2011by inventors Brett Bilbrey, Michael Culbert, David Simon, Rich DeVaul, Mushtag Sarwar and David Gere and published today by the US Patent and Trademark Office.

Google's Opening An Online Tablet Store

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When Google first announced plans to buy Motorola last year, most pundits agreed that Google had no intention of actually owning Motorola, that it was just buying Motorola for the patents.

We, on the other hand, argued that Larry Page might be buying Motorola because he actually wanted to get into the gadget business--on account of the fact that Apple was producing much better smartphones and tablets than Google.
In the year or so since the deal was announced, it has become more and more clear that Larry does, in fact, want to make gadgets.
In the latest evidence of this, Google is now planning to open an online tablet store in which it will push Android-based tablets, Amir Efrati of the Wall Street Journal reports.
In this store, Google will initially sell tablets that are manufactured by its tablet hardware partners like Asus and Samsung. But the tablets may be co-branded as Google tablets.
And then, when the Motorola deal finally closes, Google's tablet store will sell Google tablets.
Why is Google opening an Android tablet store?
Because sales of Android tablets have been horrible.
In the smartphone market, Google was able to partner with carriers to push Android-based smartphones. These distribution channels were effective, and Android quickly amassed the leading global market share (although in the U.S., Apple has been clawing back share and closing the gap).


On a positive note, Google making its own gadgets could begin to cure the Android fragmentation problem.
The tablet distribution market, however, is completely different: Google and its hardware partners have to rely on retailers to sell the tablets. And if those retailers also sell Apple products, they have had to agree to give Apple products much more visibility and promotion. So Android tablets have largely been ignored by consumers.

The one Android tablet that has been successful is Amazon's Kindle Fire, but that tablet is "Android" in name only--Amazon has significantly modified and customized the platform to serve its own goals. And Amazon has sold a lot of Fires, in part because it owns the most powerful online distribution channel in the world.
Apple, meanwhile, now owns a global network of retail stores in addition to its online store and third-party retailing partners. So there's huge distribution for the iPad.
Add all that together, and Android tablets (Kindle Fire excepted) have basically been dead on arrival.
So Google wants to fix that.
And the way it's going to try to fix that is to open an online tablet store.
Google has been in the ecommerce business before, briefly, when it sold its Nexus One smartphone in a soon-to-be-aborted attempt to disrupt the wireless carrier control over the smartphone market. It sold about 100,000 Nexus Ones and then pulled the plug.


Daniel Goodman / Business Insider
Hate to say it, Google, but if you're really serious, you're going to have to build some of these.
A Google tablet store would presumably be a longer-term effort.

Would it make much of a difference in the tablet market?
It would probably help. Especially if Google matches or beats the Kindle Fire pricing of $199.
To really make an impact in the tablet market, though, Google will likely have to either drastically undercut the iPad on price (which it would if its sells them for $199) or build tablets that are close to being as good as the iPad.
And, even then, it would be at a huge disadvantage relative to Apple, because of the power of the Apple stores as a distribution channel.
So if Google is really serious about competing against Apple, Google may well have to start building retail stores.
And it will have to build retail stores while also running its core business, search, and all of its other web-based business. And it will have to do that while also trying to kill Facebook in social and Microsoft in the enterprise. And while trying to build self-driving cars, building wind farms, and doing all the other things that Google does.

Flexible E-Ink Display's available mid year.

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The future of digital reading is flexible. And by flexible, I mean bendable, not multipurpose. Now, LG has announced the first malleable, plastic e-ink display, and while it's hardly Retina, it will be appearing in devices as early as this summer.
The six-inch display is made of plastic, which allows it to bend at an angle of up to 40 degrees. It's also thinner—at just 0.7 millimeters—and lighter than its glass counterparts, weighing in at 14 grams.
The craziest part is that the display is already being shipped to factories in China, and LG hopes to have products on the market by "the beginning of next month." That sounds ambitious, but you definitely expect to see the display in devices by the summer

Microsoft Plans to Speed Up the Web

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Microsoft wants in on the drive to speed up the web. The company plans to submit its proposal for a faster internet protocol to the standards body charged with creating HTTP 2.0.
Not coincidentally, that standards body, the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), is meeting this week to discuss the future of the venerable Hypertext Transfer Protocol, better known as HTTP. On the agenda is creating HTTP 2.0, a faster, modern approach to internet communication.
One candidate for HTTP 2.0 is Google's SPDY protocol. Pronounced "speedy," Google's proposal would replace the HTTP protocol - the language currently used when your browser talks to a web server. When you request a webpage or a file from a server, chances are your browser sends that request using HTTP. The server answers using HTTP, too. This is why "http" appears at the beginning of most web addresses.
The SPDY protocol handles all the same tasks as HTTP, but SPDY can do it all about 50 percent faster. Chrome and Firefox both support SPDY and several large sites, including Google and Twitter, are already serving pages over SPDY where possible.
Part of the IETF's agenda this week is to discuss the SPDY proposal, and the possibility of turning it into a standard.
But now Microsoft is submitting another proposal for the IETF to consider.
Microsoft's new HTTP Speed+Mobility lacks a catchy name, but otherwise appears to cover much of the same territory SPDY has staked out. Though details on exactly what HTTP Speed+Mobility entails are thin, judging by the blog post announcing it, HTTP Speed+Mobility builds on SPDY but also includes improvements drawn from work on the HTML5 WebSockets API. The emphasis is on not just the web and web browsers, but mobile apps.
"We think that apps - not just browsers - should get faster," writes Microsoft's Jean Paoli, General Manager of Interoperability Strategy.
To do that, Microsoft's HTTP Speed+Mobility "starts from both the Google SPDY protocol and the work the industry has done around WebSockets." What's unclear from the initial post is exactly where HTTP Speed+Mobility goes from that hybrid starting point.
But clearly Microsoft isn't opposed to SPDY. "SPDY has done a great job raising awareness of web performance and taking a ‘clean slate' approach to improving HTTP," writes Paoli. "The main departures from SPDY are to address the needs of mobile devices and applications."
SPDY co-inventor Mike Belshe writes on Google+ that he welcomes Microsoft's efforts and looks forward to "real-world performance metrics and open source implementations so that we can all evaluate them."
Belshe also notes that Microsoft's implication that SPDY is not optimized for mobile "is not true." Belshe says that the available evidence suggests that developers are generally happy using SPDY in mobile apps, "but it could always be better, of course."
The process of creating a faster HTTP replacement will not mean simply picking any one vendor's protocol and standardizing it. Hopefully the IETF will take the best ideas from all sides and combine them into a single protocol that can speed up the web. The exact details - and any potential speed gains - from Microsoft's HTTP Speed+Mobility contribution remain to be seen, but the more input the IETF gets the better HTTP 2.0 will likely be.

Apple Updates Logic Pro and Express, May Be Fast-Tracking iPhoto Patch

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Apple’s pro audio users were blessed with a couple of software updates on Tuesday, while a “highly reliable source” claims that Cupertino is hard at work putting a new iPhoto 9.2.3 patch on the fast track to address stability issues with this month’s update.

AppleInsider is reporting on a trio of software updates for Apple’s creative applications. On Tuesday afternoon, Cupertino pushed out updates for the company’s pro audio applications Logic Pro and its stripped-down sibling, Logic Express, bringing both apps to version 9.1.7.

The 195.66MB Logic Pro 9.1.7 update “improves overall stability and addresses some minor issues” which include:

- Resolves several issues related to the download and installation of content
- Updates compatibility with GarageBand for iOS projects
- Fixes a problem that produced an error message when editing fades on numerous regions

Meanwhile, the prosumer-focused Logic Express 9.1.7 weighs in at 139.92MB and also offers improved stability while patching a few different issues:

- Updates compatibility with GarageBand for iOS projects
- Fixes a problem that produced an error message when editing fades on numerous regions
- This update is recommended for all users of Logic Express 9

Finally, AppleInsider has also received insider information from “a highly reliable source” who claims iPhoto 9.2.3 may be just around the corner. In addition to the usual “overall stability” patches, the update also promises to address “an issue that could cause iPhoto to quit unexpectedly on systems with multiple user accounts.” A pre-release version of the update is packed into a 256.9MB download, although there’s no word on when it might actually land in your Software Update window.

Intel's Unreleased Ivy Bridge Core i7-3770K Running Mac OS X Lion

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Thanks to TonyMac for this info
Well it's official- Intel's upcoming Ivy Bridge platform runs great on Mac OS X Lion. Here's a few screenshots of the Core i7-3770K running at stock 3.5GHz on a Z77 motherboard submitted to us via an anonymous tip:



 
Because there are no Macs yet with Ivy Bridge, the tipster had to use a modified kernel to boot. We can't wait to test out these chips to see what else they can do. Intel's official release date for Core i7 and Core i5 desktop CPUs is April 29th. Check out the Hardware News and Rumorssection of the forum for more information on upcoming products. 

For discussions on this and other topics, register today at tonymacx86.com!

Accidentally upgraded to 5.1? Downgrade Your A5 Devices To iOS 5.0.1

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Hacker iH8Snow is known for making some incredible contributions to the jailbreak scene, and now he has come along with another huge one. He tweeted about an exploit he discovered in Apple’s appticket system that will allow users to revert their iOS devices with A5 chips back to iOS Found a loophole in Apple's apticket system. Restored my iPad 2 to 5.0.1 from 5.1. Works on all A5 devices. :)
Just as it always has been when reverting an iDevice back to a previous version of its firmware, you will need to have your SHSH blobs stored for the older version of the firmware. Devices featuring the A5 chipset are notoriously hard to revert back, even with SHSH blobs. This new exploit could change that completely. Before this loophole, users who accidentally upgraded would be stuck waiting for a jailbreak to launch for iOS 5.1, and if the struggle to jailbreak iOS 5 and 5.0.1 on A5 devices is any indication, that could be a very long wait.
This doesn’t mean you should go ahead and update your device just because you may be able to bring it back. If you are sitting on iOS 5.0.1, you should be happy and enjoy the pleasant experience of owning a jailbroken iOS device. Even though he had success reverting his device back, it does not necessarily mean it will work for everyone.
Sadly, this will not help users who purchase a new device with iOS 5.1 already installed, as their SHSH blobs will not be stored for iOS 5.0.1. If you are one of these poor souls, you will have to wait until they figure out an exploit to jailbreak the latest firmware.
At this point, we only have this tweet to work with, and he has not said when this will be made available to the general public. Still, for users who made this fatal upgrade mistake, it is fantastic to know that the end of being stuck with an unjailbroken device is in sight.

XBMC 11.0 - Eden released

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It's been over a year in development so it's great news that the latest major release of XBMC (11.0) is finally ready and available for download. You can find XBMC 11.0 here.


XBMC 11.0 Milestones include Addon Rollbacks, vast improvements in Confluence (the default skin), massive speed increases via features like Dirty-region rendering and the new JPEG decoder, a simpler, better library, movie set scraping, additional protocol handling, better networking support, better handling of unencrypted BluRay content and structures, adjustable display refresh rate in OSX (to match the already available feature in Windows and Linux), AirPlay support, an upgraded weather service with geoip lookup, and much, much more. Check out the highlights in the summarized changelog.

The new Confluence

In addition to our many software improvements, we’ve increased our reach in the realm of hardware support since Dharma was released. Eden marks the first in-sync stable release for the Apple TV2, iPad, and other iOS devices. We’ve vastly improved the method by which we handle input, including heavily upgrading JSON-RPC support, making remote control support much, MUCH simpler in Windows, and enabling unique methods of device communication with hardware. And now even AMD devices are supported for GPU video decoding in Linux to some extent, thanks to the inclusion of VAAPI.
Beyond XBMC 11 for Windows, Linux, OSX, and iOS, we are also happy to announce XBMCbuntu Final.
XBMCbuntu is very similar to past versions of XBMC Live. By default, the user boots directly into XBMC, and if he/she chooses, he or she will never see the underlying OS. However, unlike Live, XBMCbuntu is now built upon a full LXDE desktop environment, which has a web browser (Chromium) with a fully updated (and updatable) version of Flash built-in and a GUI package manager ready to install and update all of the normal Ubuntu programs a typical Linux user might use. The user may now toggle between XBMC, which auto-starts, and a normal desktop if he or she chooses. And, perhaps most exciting for many users, XBMC will now be upgradeable, both from command line and from the GUI package manager, without fear of crashing the XBMC experience.
Naturally, those users who do not want to see the desktop will never need to. When you boot your computer, you will be booted directly into the XBMC homescreen, just as you are right now. The only clear difference is the new power underneath the hood. Those users who have already installed the Beta version of XBMCbuntu can upgrade to final using the apt-get upgrade commands.
There are truly an incredible number of updates and improvements between Dharma and Eden. But don’t take our word for it. Download XBMC 11.0 Eden now.

Intel said readying SSD 320, 720 for May with 800GB space

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Intel SSD roadmap for 2012 leaks out

I LOVE SSD's. They are by far and away the best thing you can upgrade in your computer and see a huge speed increase in most cases so this is good news.
Intel's SSD 520 should be joined by two multi-model launches this year. New roadmap leaks to Digitimes have Intel unveiling a new budget 300 series drive, Maple Crest, and a new 720 series, Ramsdale. Both would be based on a 25-nanometer, multi-level cell design, which would help the 720 series start at 400GB and peak at 800GB.
Ramsdale would be a PCI Express-based design for servers and workstations, where the new 300 by implication would be a typical SATA drive for mainstream users.

A second wave was reportedly due in the fall. Jay Crest and Oak Crest (300 series), King Crest (500 series), and Taylorsville (700 series) would all use an even more space-efficient 20nm process. Other than Taylorsville having cheaper 100GB and 200GB options along with 400GB and 800GB, little was uncovered about what they would entail.

The new drives will most likely focus on performance as well as cost. Most SSDs still cost hundreds of dollars, in part as it takes larger amounts of flash memory chips to work. Smaller manufacturing lets Intel use fewer parts or get more usable chips from a production yield, lowering its own prices.

Facebook privacy policy tweaks, more reasons to run

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A section of the proposed changes to Facebook's Statement of Rights and Responsibilities for users.
(Credit: Facebook)
Privacy advocates in the U.S. and the European Union are on edge over changes Facebook is enacting in its language governing its terms of service.
Their upset comes as Facebook is proposing modifications to its Statement of Rights and Responsibilities (PDF) that, at least on the surface, seem fairly minor and don't indicate any radical shift in thinking or practice in terms of privacy.
Specifically, the revised document says that the "Privacy Policy" is now called "Data Use Policy," wording that was changed in the company's actual privacy guidelines more than a year ago, spokesman Barry Schnitt told CNET today. "We're just making the Terms consistent."
The document also has other wording changes, but they do not outline any meaningful modifications to the company's practices. For example, the document now specifies that a user's data is shared with the apps that friends use. This has been the case for about five years and is explained in the privacy policy, but wording was added to the terms of service to clarify, according to Schnitt.
"Facebook is a social Web site and so is our platform," he said. "Apps need data from friends to develop these social experiences and that is the whole purpose for our platform. If you're not comfortable with that bargain, you can use your app settings to control what friends can share about you, block individual apps, or you can turn off the platform altogether."
But Sarah Downey, privacy analyst and attorney at online privacy company Abine, said with the changes Facebook is acknowledging that its focus is on collecting user data.
Schnitt insists that no changes are being made to Facebook's privacy policy and the clarifications "do not change one thing about how your data is used."
German officials are complaining that Facebook isn't doing enough to provide users control over their data and is instead giving users more duties and less rights. In a statement issued yesterday, the officials accuse Facebook of giving itself the right to "comprehensive tracking of registered and un-registered users."
Facebook added the words "and non-users who interact with Facebook" to a provision in the terms of service that say users consent to having personal data transferred to and processed in the U.S., and other conditions. Another section says "You will not tag users or send email invitations to non-users without their consent" and the words "or tag users if you know they do not wish to be tagged" were added to the end of that sentence.

Moritz Karg, spokesman for the data privacy and information freedom authority in Hamburg, argues that Facebook should be responsible for blocking tags on people who don't want them, instead of individual users, and is worried about Facebook's use of facial recognition technology.

"If you don't want someone to be able to tag you, simply block them," Schnitt responded. "If you're tagged by someone else and want to remove it, we make that easy. We also created an easy way to complain directly to the user about a photo you don't like."
Downey of Abine also noted that Facebook tracks non-users on other Web sites using JavaScript code that grabs IP address, site visited, and other information when people visit a site with a Facebook "Like" button on it. "I don't think people realize that if you go to a non-Facebook site the 'Like' button can track you, even if you don't click on it," she said. "They consider you interacting with it if you're merely viewing the page."
"Rumor is that post-IPO Facebook will try to launch its own ad network. So this tracking across the Web on non-Facebook sites suggests that," Downey said. "Facebook is a data collection machine and that's how they make their money."
The German officials also complain that Facebook didn't give users enough time to provide feedback on the changes. The company notified users via the Facebook Site Governance page a week ago and gave them until 5 p.m. PT today to comment. As of this afternoon, there were more than 700 comments, many of which were negative but not related specifically to the proposed terms of service changes.
"Rather than simply imposing changes on users, we propose them and invite feedback," Schnitt said. "We are the only site that I know of that proposes changes, solicits feedback, answers questions, and makes changes before the documents are official."
Facebook settled a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission about its privacy practices last year, agreeing to let users "opt in" to changes that alter how their data is shared with advertisers and other users, among other things.
Online privacy and, in particular, privacy policies are a hot topic right now as companies grapple with balancing how to make money off advertising without violating users' privacy rights. For instance, Google has suffered the wrath of the public over changes it made to its privacy policy earlier this year that will allow it to combine user data from across its broad swath of services. The move has provoked a backlash from privacy advocates and lawmakers.

New Google Voice update brings folders and dialer integration for ICS

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If you're a Google Voice user there's quite the update waiting for you in the Google Play store this afternoon. The newest version (0.4.2.54) features tight integration with the Ice Cream Sandwich dialer, a new voicemail option, and the inclusion of labels (think folders) for your inbox. Here's the not-so-fun part -- unless you have a phone with Ice Cream Sandwich, you won't get to see most of it.
All phones will get the inbox labels, which is one thing many folks, myself included, have been waiting for. If you use your Google Voice inbox as a catch-all storage and never delete anything you can now attempt to keep things organized and access it all from your phone. This is the best change for me, but the others are nice as well.
Voicemails are now able to be played through the native Ice Cream Sandwich dialer, just like carrier voicemail. You can adjust the speed to play them faster or slower (handy when skipping to the good part). You enable this in the Google Voice settings, and it's a great way to manage two numbers if that's how you roll. That is how I roll, and it's really handy. Too bad it's ICS only. Hit the break for a couple screenshots of all this, and the download link if you need it.

Adobe Photoshop CS6 hands-on preview

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Update! here is the link to the free beta from Adobe
First Look: Photoshop CS6 Beta is dark, swift, and content aware
Beta release reveals advances under the hood for boosting speed, intelligent operations, and 3D functionality
Adobe has announced, for the second time in its history, a free public beta of Photoshop. Photoshop CS6 will be available to try for the next few months as Adobe readies its Creative Suite of applications for launch alongside the brand new Creative Cloud online hub, targeted to creative pros. The Photoshop beta is available now on Adobe Labs. The new Photoshop version works only on 64-bit Mac systems, and no longer in 32-bit mode.
Various under-the-hood improvements promise to make life easier and protect long hours of labor intensive operations. The highest profile of these include Background Save and Auto Recovery, Preset Migration and Sharing, and the new Mercury Graphics Engine.
Simply selecting some program preferences lets Photoshop automatically save and recover your work in the event of a power interruption. When you upgraded from previous versions of Photoshop, you often lost painstakingly applied presets that automated many repetitive tasks. The new version lets you apply your presets, tools, and workspaces to the new upgrade. While the Mercury engine is familiar to users of Premiere Pro, Photoshop's new Mercury Graphics Engine is mostly a software-based implementation of multicore functionality.
The dark side
The changes in the new version of Photoshop are immediately apparent. The program has gone over to the dark side by default, opening to a sophisticated-looking dark gray interface. This is intended to complement themes of some of Adobe's other creative programs—specifically Lightroom 4, Premiere Pro, and After Effects.
Additional default themes in medium gray, light gray, and black are also included. However, you can set the interface colors to whatever you want, and they change immediately. The same holds true for Photoshop’s companion asset management application, the now 64-bit Bridge. The dark, Aperture-like theme looks attractive, but as with all light type on a dark background, menu items can be difficult to read.
And speaking of interface updates, Adobe has also redesigned and streamlined the program’s menu icons, though they’re still familiar and easily recognizeable. Panels are now labeled in upper- and lowercase type instead of in all caps, enhancing legibility. A new Properties panel now combines Adjustment layer and Mask settings into a single panel. Attention to such details keeps the Photoshop looking fresh.


Photoshop CS6 defaults to a dark interface with light type. But you can change it to whatever you want at any time.
Content awareness
In past versions of Photoshop, Adobe introduced the concept of content-aware image technology, in which edits can take into account the relationship between objects and elements in an image. This lets you edit in an intuitive way with more realistic looking results. Adobe now has added to the content-aware features of previous versions the new Content Aware Move and Content Aware Patch functions. The Content Aware Move tool lets you pick up an object and relocate it to another part of the image while the program performs a content-aware fill operation in the background. The Patch tool's new Content Aware option, a more refined cloning operation, lets you choose the pixels used to fill a designated area in an image, as opposed to letting the program decide. Thus, Photoshop performs a little extra blending to make lines and patterns match.


The new content-aware tools are grouped with the Healing Brush in the toolbar.


The Content Aware Move tool lets you relocate objects within an image. The horse at the right was moved closer to his companions—note the selected new location.
Layer improvements
Over the years, Photoshop's layers feature has received much attention and many improvements. Photoshop CS6 adds a Layer Search function and the use of vector layers to apply—for the first time—strokes, dashed lines, and gradients to vector objects. Other tweaks include the ability to simultaneously change the blend mode of and to duplicate multiple layers. You can also now see opacity, fill, and blend modes of hidden layers. And you can now simultaneously change layer styles and effects for all layers in a group.
Adaptive Wide Angle filter
Photoshop CS6 offers a new way to achieve lens corrections. The Adaptive Wide Angle adjustment filter lets you quickly straighten objects that appear curved in photos shot with wide-angle or fish-eye lenses, or panoramas created with Photomerge. Using Adobe’s CS5 lens correction system, which fixes lens-based geometric distortion, chromatic aberration, and vignetting, the new filter reads lens metadata and lets you click and drag new on-canvas tools to straighten and align objects vertically or horizontally in the scene.


Using the new interactive Constraint tool, you can click to directly adjust an angled element in your image.
Crop tool
Photoshop CS6’s GPU-enabled, nondestructive Crop tool sports new composition controls. Whereas CS5 included a basic grid and Rule of Thirds overlay, CS6 lets you preview Golden Ratio, Diagonal, Triangle, and Golden Spiral overlays. You can also use the new Perspective Crop tool to straighten images. The new Crop tool is designed to help you change the aspect ratio (shape) of your image more easily, without accidentally changing resolution and thus the image quality.


A reconfigured Crop tool in Photoshop CS6 offers additional cropping overlays such as Golden Spiral (shown here) and Triangle. There’s a new Perspective Crop tool for straightening.
Blur Gallery
Added to Photoshop CS5’s 11 Blur plug-ins is a new Blur Gallery consisting of Field Blur, Iris Blur, and Tilt-Shift. These on-image controls add blurs to any image without requiring selections, layers, or depth maps. Iris Blur creates a shallow depth of field and lets you control the blur’s area and intensity. Field Blur lets you pinpoint (with a virtual pushpin) the parts of an image you want blurred and control blur intensity. The Tilt-Shift blur applies blurs along one or more planes, letting you adjust both location and intensity, like the popular Lensbaby tilt-shift lens. You can also apply and adjust a bokeh (background blur) effect with any of the three new Blur tools. The Blur Gallery offers a full-screen preview with collapsible panels, allowing you to see your results at a respectable size.


The new Blur gallery adds three different adjustable blurs that you can also use with the bokeh effect. This is the Iris blur, which lets you use interactive, on-canvas controls with a full preview.
Camera Raw 7
You can edit an image in the Camera Raw interface whether or not it was shot in Raw format. Adobe has rewritten the Camera Raw Basic panel and its controls for easier use. All sliders start at zero, so it’s easy to see how to fix even low-resolution shots. Two new controls, Highlights and Shadows (derived from Lightroom 4’s processing engine) help pull more detail from images than previous Raw plug-ins. Overall, the Camera Raw 7 plug-in offers more image controls that can be applied with the Adjustment Brush, including Temperature, Tint, Highlights, Shadows, Noise Reduction, and Moiré Reduction.


Unlike past versions, all sliders start at zero so the corrections are more intuitive.


The interface for Camera Raw 7 is easier to use than past versions and offers new Shadows and Highlights sliders.
Painting and Drawing
Photoshop would not be Photoshop without fresh tools and streamlined methods of painting and drawing. New erodible brush tips are designed to wear down naturally. You can also use erodible tips with the Brush tool, Pencil tool, Mixer Brush tool, and Eraser tool. A new Airbrush tip features a real physics engine to make airbrushing more realistic. That’s in addition to improved brush rotation, painting presets, and more. A new Oil Paint filter lets you instantly turn a photo into an oil painting.


Sometimes, a routine image just looks better as an oil painting. With the new Oil Paint filter, you won't have to wait around for the results.
Video
Photoshop CS6’s new video functionality—designed as a starting point for video creation—features a new Timeline panel in addition to Photoshop's familiar Animation panel. The workflow, targeted to photographers, includes letting you create, edit, splice, and add audio track and transitions to your clips in a drag-and-drop interface. Having all Photoshop's editing tools at your disposal offers manifold artistic options. You can then export and render video in a number of formats.


It's easy to select and drop video clips and stills into the timeline. Add titles and transitions via drag and drop.


Output your video to a large number of formats.
Improved Auto Correction
Photoshop always let you automatically correct images with various controls under the Image menu. Photoshop CS6 approaches auto corrections in a different and more intelligent way. Auto options are available in Curves, Levels, and—for the first time—Brightness/Contrast controls. The interface is the same, but the underlying algorithms driving them have changed. The Auto button derives its results from a database of thousands of hand-edited images. An Enhance Brightness and Contrast algorithm—developed with reference to thousands of manually corrected examples—bases calculations on image data.


Not all auto corrections are the same, and a new algorithm bases auto corrections on a database of hand-corrected images.
3D
Adobe has revamped its 3D engine for CS6 to make it easier and faster to create and manipulate 3D objects. A new in-context and on-canvas editing interface is designed to enhance usability. Right-clicking on a 3D object shows contextual pop-up panels with content of the panel related to the area clicked.
Adobe has scrapped CS5’s large Reposé dialog box and subsumed the 3D technology into the interface. Now, a Properties panel and widgets enable 3D extrusion and the manipulation of 3D objects in real time. The program also supports draggable shadows and ground plane reflections. The Picture In Picture window shows an alternate view of the 3D object. With it, you can switch camera views, pan, zoom, and swap this view with the main document window.
For combining 2D and 3D functions, you can add 3D objects to a photo and have the object align with the Vanishing Point of the image.


The new 3D interface emphasizes responsiveness and ease of use with in-context and on-canvas controls.
Skin tone aware selections and masking
Photoshop CS6 introduces more controls for preserving skin tones in images where you either want to change or adjust the skin color, or preserve skin tones as you change other parts of the picture. The Color Range dialog box, under the Select menu, offers both a Skin Tones option and a Detect Faces checkbox. Used in concert, they can help you create an accurate mask.


Choose Color Range from the Select pull-down menu, and then choose Skin Tones and Detect Faces to preserve accurate flesh tones.
There's lots more
These are only a few highlights of the new Photoshop CS6 upgrade, now available in beta on Adobe Labs, and due out by summer. There's a lot more to look at in the beta, including Character and Paragraph styles, and a lorem ipsum generator for creating placeholder text and Rich cursors, a handy informational overlay that appears whenever you use the Move, Crop, Free Transform, and similar tools. It shows size information, rotation angle, and x/y coordinates. The new version of Photoshop welcomes Contact Sheet II and PDF Presentation back into the package, as well as a redesigned, streamlined print dialog box. New Bicubic Automatic image resampling (handy for enlargements) lets Photoshop pick the best interpolation method. It's also used with the Crop tool and Free Transform tools.

ICS for the Samsun Galaxy Note will come in Q2, with 'premium suite' apps

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Samsung mobile has issued a press release all about the Galaxy Note and it's upcoming "Premium Suite" software upgrade. Sometime in Q2 of this year, Samsung expects to update the 5.3-inch Note to their version of Ice Cream Sandwich and bring better application support for the S pen as well as unnamed extra multimedia features. 
The three applications mentioned specifically are S Note, a tool that combines notes or drawings with other digital content as well as using "Shape Match and Formula Match applications that help correct and digitize geometric shapes and even solve numeric formulas hand-drawn with S Pen"; My Story, which appears to be an application that helps you design e-cards and notes with multimedia content; and of course Angry Birds Space -- the newest iteration of the Angry Birds franchise from Rovio. In addition, Angry Birds Space will be available (sans the extra-special Galaxy Note level) for all Galaxy Series devices. 
Of course the biggest draw for most of us will be the update to Android 4.0, which Samsung teased Note users about on Facebook earlier today. The version for the Note is said to include the features we've come to expect from ICS, including Android Beam and Face Unlock, as well as an "entirely new look and feel" to the Android operating system. The Q2 timeframe is coming up shortly, and International Galaxy note users are ready and waiting. Hopefully, the AT&T version follows quickly. Hit the break for the full press release.

More: Samsung's Angry Birds site

Samsung offers Premium Suite software upgrade for GALAXY Note users
March 22, 2012 
Software package offers exclusive S Pen applications, enhanced multimedia features, and an Android 4.0 upgrade
SEOUL, Korea – March 22, 2012 – Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd, today announced it will be offering a Premium Suite upgrade for GALAXY Note users worldwide from Q2. It includes extra multimedia features and a range of new S Pen optimized applications in addition to an OS upgrade to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.
The Premium Suite offers new features and applications exclusive to GALAXY Note and its innovative S Pen, which includes S Note, a unique tool that lets you combine your notes or sketches with other digital content, giving you a new way to create your own stories. S Note comes in various ready-to-use templates for a range of tasks including meeting minutes, diary and others.
S Note also includes the innovative Shape Match and Formula Match applications that help correct and digitize geometric shapes and even solve numeric formulas hand-drawn with S Pen, increasing your on-the-go efficiency and productivity. You can draw tables and grids which are instantly digitized, saving time and effort. Moreover, by using the S Note’s integrated knowledge search engines, users can quickly search, and obtain information. 

For a touch of self-expression, the Premium Suite also includes My Story, another S Pen optimized application that allows you to create personalized digital cards for friends or family using any type of content including notes, video content, photos, text or voice.

In celebration of the Premium Suite upgrade announcement, Samsung will provide special offers to all GALAXY users as an official launch partner of Angry Birds Space, the newest Angry Birds game from Rovio Entertainment. For all Samsung GALAXY users, an exclusive GALAXY Note level will be provided for extra fun. Moreover, a special package of 30 challenging levels – ‘Danger Zone’ – will be available for free if unpacked within the three-month period. Visit http://samsung.angrybirds.com/galaxynote  for more information.

“GALAXY Note continues to delight customers all over the world with its incredible versatility and unique user experience. With the Premium Suite upgrade, we wanted to add features that enrich users’ Note experience even more, including the great advantages of Android 4.0 and innovative applications for S Pen,” said JK Shin, President of IT & Mobile Communications Division at Samsung Electronics. “We are committed to providing extraordinary experiences for consumers, and we will continue to provide new features and upgrades to enrich our offering.”

The Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade brings an entirely new look and feel to Android on GALAXY Note, with a more intuitive user interface that includes a redesigned App menu for easier multi-tasking. The upgrade also introduces innovations such as Face Unlock, Snapshot, Android Beam and others.

The availability and scheduling of the software upgrade will vary by market and wireless carriers’ requirements. 

New iPad (3) Camera connection kits does alot more

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Using the Camera Connection Kit (CCK) to transfer and edit photos, videos
The CCK offers two ways to transfer photos from your camera to your iPad. If your camera uses an SD card, use the SD card adapter. But, if your camera uses another storage card (like Sony's proprietary card), connect it to the USB adapter with the included USB cable.
Once your respective adapter is in the iPad, the Photos app will launch immediately. Tap to select the photos you want to transfer, or tap Import at the bottom and select Import All. The imported photos will appear in the Albums tab in a new folder.
You'll then have the option to delete the photos from the SD card, which is useful if you're traveling and need to clear up some storage space on your SD card in a pinch.
Now that your photos are on the iPad, you can edit them in the iPhoto app, share them on Facebook, or even upload them to your Dropbox or other cloud storage service.
For the record, I've tested the Camera Connection Kit with the iPhone, and it is definitely not compatible. Bummer.

The USB adapter of the Camera Connection Kit can be used with more than just your camera.
(Credit: Sharon Vaknin/CNET)
Using the CCK for more than just photography
Unlike its name implies, the CCK will also allow you to use other USB-compatible devices with your iPad. But because these devices draw power from the iPad, only some will work.
Here are some that may work (possibly with some limitations) with your iPad:

• MIDI gear: Digital keyboards, drum sets, and synthesizers can be recorded using an app like GarageBand. Not all models will work, so check this list to see if yours is compatible. If the instrument can be connected to external power, be sure to plug it in.
• USB microphones: Record higher-quality audio with an external mic, like the Snowball, which is compatible with the iPad via the CCK. With this setup, you can record voice directly into GarageBand or your preferred audio recording app.
• Desktop keyboards: Your USB desktop keyboard is much more comfortable than those cramped iPad keyboards. Sure, it's not a portable solution, but if you find it necessary, you can plug in a regular keyboard to the CCK. Just ignore the warning message.
• Card readers: If your camera writes to a CF card, and you have a small CF card reader, simply plug it into the USB adapter and the iPad will read its contents.
• Ripped movies: If you have any ripped movies or personal videos, you can use the CCK to add extra storage to the iPad. You'd only import a movie when you're ready to watch it. To do this, rename your movies to match the file name structure of your digital camera. For example, "DCIM_4132." Then, drag the file into a folder labeled "DCIM" on an SD card or a thumbdrive. When you plug your SD card or thumbdrive into the iPad via the CCK, you'll be able to import the movie onto your iPad and play it from the Photos app.
• Your iPhone or Android phone: This works, but with some limitations. If you need to transfer photos from your iPhone to your iPad in a pinch, plugging it in via USB will prompt the photos app, allowing you to import photos. And, as long as your Android phone stores photos in a folder titled DCIM, it will react the same way.

After some testing, it's clear you cannot read or write nonphoto files to an external hard drive or thumbdrive. This would have been a great way to expand your iPad's storage. Alas, it's not (yet) possible.

If you discover any unique ways to use the Camera Connection Kit, let me know in the comments.