Samsung Charged by the EU with abusing vital telecoms patents

The European Commission has charged Samsung Electronics with abusing its dominant position in seeking to bar rival Apple from using an patent that's essential to cell phone use.
The Commission sent a "statement of objections" to the South Korean group, with its preliminary view that Samsung was not acting fairly.
"Intellectual property rights are an important cornerstone of the single market. However, such rights should not be misused when they are essential to implement industry standards, which bring huge benefits to businesses and consumers alike," Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said in statement.
Apple and Samsung, the world's top two smartphone makers, are locked in patent disputes in at least 10 countries as they vie to dominate the lucrative mobile market and win over customers with their latest gadgets.
The filing of competition objections is the latest step in the Commission's investigation. After notifying Samsung in writing, the company will have a chance to reply and request a hearing before regulators.
If the Commission then concludes that the firm has violated the rules, it could impose a fine of up to 10 percent of the electronics firm's total annual turnover.
Technology companies are increasingly turning to the European Commission as the European Union's competition authority, to resolve their disputes. The Commission is also investigating Google and Microsoft.
In the case of Samsung, its standard-essential patents (SEPs) relate to the EU's 3G UMTS standard. When this was adopted in Europe, Samsung committed to license the patents fairly to competitors, the Commission said.
However, it began seeking an injunction in 2011 in various EU member states against Apple's use of these patents. The Commission opened its investigation in January 2012.
Samsung said it was studying the Commission's statement. It said it would cooperate fully and "firmly defend ourselves against any misconceived allegations".
"Samsung is confident that, in due course, the Commission will conclude that we have acted in compliance with European Union competition laws."

Facebook new drag-and-drop photos, simplified timeline and new privacy controls

An update pushing out to individual users lets them drag-and-drop photos into a new post, like we've seen on other social networks, and to a newly streamlined Messages format that's rolling out at the same time. A much smaller circle is seeing a second update. Facebook has confirmed to ABC News that it's conducting limited trials of an updated Timeline that moves the news feed to a single column, replaces the thumbnail navigation with simpler-looking tabs and makes all profile page information available through scrolling. A spokesperson wouldn't say if or when the new Timeline would reach the wider public, but history points to "when" being more likely. They did however mention that the new privacy shortcuts, activity log and untagging tool would be going live for all users starting tonight, and we've already seen them pop up on some of our accounts.

Instagram users leave by the thousands today due to Facebooks new terms of service

Instagram, or should we say Facebook, is out with a new Privacy Policy and Terms of Service agreement that all users must follow beginning Jan. 16, 2013. The Huffington Post was the first to dig through this. We warn you: there is absolutely nothing to love here and because of that there have been mass deletions of accounts today by thousands of very annoyed users.
Instagram can now make money on your photos
We already know that Instagram ads are coming. What you probably didn’t know is that your photos could popup in a future campaign.
Note: highlights are mine.
Some or all of the Service may be supported by advertising revenue. To help us deliver interesting paid or sponsored content or promotions, you agree that a business or other entity may pay us to display your username, likeness, photos (along with any associated metadata), and/or actions you take, in connection with paid or sponsored content or promotions, without any compensation to you.
What ads?
Not only are ads arriving soon on Instagram, but sometimes they won’t be marked as such.
You acknowledge that we may not always identify paid services, sponsored content, or commercial communications as such.
Again, Instagram can use your photos
Given the first point, this shouldn’t be surprising. Facebook isn’t claiming that they own our photos, just that they can use them to make money. Nice, huh?
Instagram does not claim ownership of any Content that you post on or through the Service. Instead, you hereby grant to Instagram a non-exclusive, fully paid and royalty-free, transferable, sub-licensable, worldwide license to use the Content that you post on or through the Service, except that you can control who can view certain of your Content and activities on the Service as described in the Service’s Privacy Policy, available here: http://instagram.com/legal/privacy/.
But you must still post responsibly
Okay, so nude photos are now okay?
You agree that Instagram is not responsible for, and does not endorse, Content posted within the Service. Instagram does not have any obligation to prescreen, monitor, edit, or remove any Content. If your Content violates these Terms of Use, you may bear legal responsibility for that Content.
Facebook won’t even backup your photos
So after Instagram uses our photos to make money, they can also lose them and not be held responsible? Facebook lawyers, aren’t they great?
Instagram is not a backup service and you agree that you will not rely on the Service for the purposes of Content backup or storage. Instagram will not be liable to you for any modification, suspension, or discontinuation of the Services, or the loss of any Content.
If you really want to read this gibberish in its entirety, click here. Otherwise, check out our Instagram alternatives.

Samsung Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2 and others have a major security flaw.

Samsung's Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note 2 smartphones have been revealed to suffer from a security flaw found in their Exynos ARM-based system-on-chip (SoC) processors, which could lead to users' personal data being exposed to malware.
First spotted by a user on the XDA Developers forums, the flaw affects all Android-based Samsung devices that use the Exynos 4210 and 4412 system-on-chip processor - including the Galaxy S2, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note, Galaxy Note 2 and Galaxy Note 10.1, but not the cut-down Galaxy S3 Mini, which uses a different processor. The Samsung-manufactured Nexus 10 tablet, meanwhile, also escapes the bug as it uses the next-generation Exynos 5-series processor rather than the Exynos 4 family.
Currently, the flaw is not known to be exploited in the wild except for an application designed to allow users to 'root' their handsets - a process analogous to 'jailbreaking' an iPhone - without the need to connect the handset to a computer and use third-party software. The developer who discovered it, however, warns that it could be potentially serious: allowing full read/write access to the device's memory, the flaw allows malware to read personal details - including usernames and passwords - or patch itself into other applications, such as to record telephone calls or text messages. The vulnerability could even be used to trigger the device's microphone or camera remotely.
So far, there is no news of an official patch from Samsung, with some researchers releasing a third-party unofficial patch to work around the flaw.

iPad Mini sales double Apple's original order expecting 12 million units sold this year since launch which is huge.

Initial orders of the iPad mini -- pegged at around six million units for 2012 -- may be only half of what will be required, according to a report from NPD DisplaySearch analyst David Hsieh, Apple is now asking its iPad mini display partners to double the initial order, expecting more than 12 million units to be sold by the end of the year. For a product who's size class was strongly resisted by Apple for years, the nearly 8-inch iPad mini is very likely to outsell its larger, recently-updated big brother, the 9.7-inch fourth-gen iPad.
Sales of the iPad mini have taken off since the device became widely available in stores -- where potential buyers can see and feel that the Mini is much slimmer and lighter (and only slightly smaller) than the full-size iPad, which at a cursory glance doesn't appear to have changed much from the previous iteration. If the 12 million figure is accurate, the iPad mini will also beat out all of its Android-based tablet competition in sales during the quarter, and perhaps for the entire year.

The Mini has won praise in particular for its seamless transition to the smaller size, exceptional quality of construction, increased portability and ability to take full advantage of Apple's much wider and larger selection of tablet-optimized apps -- a major selling point that continues to restrict Android tablets to very limited success if any. The higher price -- $329 -- compared to its closest competitors (the Kindle Fire HD and Galaxy Nexus 7) also doesn't appear to have phased consumers, again perhaps because consumers who are buying in stores can clearly see that the Mini, despite its name, is significantly bigger than the competition.

While Apple has said that it doesn't believe the iPad mini is "cannabalizing" sales of the fourth-generation iPad too much, sales of the iPad 2 -- which the iPad Mini mimics from a spec standpoint -- are likely to be poor due to the presence of the Mini. Apple kept the iPad 2 available as a lower-cost full-size option, but discontinued the third-generation iPad after only eight months, replacing it with the similar but double-speed fourth-generation Retina iPad. NPD's Hsieh says that the iPad mini could account for as much as half of all iPad shipments in 2013, making it the best-selling model.

The company also believes total iPad shipments could reach more than 100 million in the next year, which would likely force Apple to find additional display-making partners -- LG Display and AU Optronics, the current iPad mini display suppliers, may not be able to scale to that level demand that quickly. Both companies have struggled to keep up with quality and quantity demands from Apple for the displays.

Google Maps app for iPhone now available for iPhone

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The rumors are true! Google Maps for iPhone is now available in the App Store. One of the biggest things it offers that Apple Maps doesn't is public transit directions by train, bus, or subway.
The main features of Google Maps includes built-in Google local search, voice guided turn-by-turn navigation, public transit directions, and Google Street View. You can also discover places to eat, drink, shop, and play including rating and reviews. If you sign in, you can save and quickly access all your past searches and direction from your computer, right on your iPhone.
Additionally, Google Maps lets you access live traffic information in cities across the world, see inside more that 100,000 businesses worldwide, and view high resolution satellite imagery of locations around the world.
Personally, I'm having issues installing Google Maps and keep getting a "this item is no longer available" error, but others are able to download it fine. We've heard installing through iTunes on your computer might be a good work around as well.
When you get it installed, let us know what you think!

• Free - Download now

Is your credit card details being stolen at point-of-sale terminals when shopping at big companies?

Administration panel for Dexter, a malicious application that steals credit card data from point-of-sale systems. The malware was recently found on hundreds of computers around the world.

A researcher has uncovered new malware that steals payment card data from point-of-sale terminals used by stores, hotels, and other businesses.
Dexter, as the malware is called, has infected hundreds of point-of-sale computers at big-name retailers, hotels, restaurants, and other businesses, according to a report issued by Aviv Raff, chief technology officer of Israel-based security firm Seculert. Businesses infected in the past three months are located in 40 different countries, with 30 percent of those compromised located in the US, 19 percent in the UK, and nine percent in Canada. Malware that infects point-of-sale terminals can be one of the most efficient ways to carry out payment card fraud because it targets machines with access to large amounts of the required data.
"Instead of going through the trouble of infecting tens of thousands of PCs or physically installing a skimmer, an attacker can achieve the same results by targeting just a few POS systems with specially crafted malware," Raff wrote. "Dexter is one example of such malware."
Dexter has infected systems running a variety of different versions of Windows, including XP, Home Server, Server 2003, and Windows 7. Once installed, Dexter uploads the contents of computer memory to a server located in the Republic of Seychelles. An online parsing tool then attempts to ferret out Track 1 and Track 2 card data processed by various POS applications. The data is then retrieved by the malware operators, presumably for the purpose of cloning payment cards. More on Dexter here.

It remains unclear how POS systems are infected by Dexter, which gets its name from a string of text found in one of its files. The large percentage of infected Windows servers suggests Web-based exploits and social engineering traps aren't likely vectors, since those types of machines typically aren't used to browse Web pages. Raff declined to identify the businesses infected by the malware.

Google has 'no plans to build out Windows apps,' according to product manager

Despite the fact that Google showed Windows 8 users how to "get your Google back" a few weeks ago, it sounds like the company won't put much support behind Microsoft's latest OS going forward. Speaking to V3, Google Apps product management director Clay Bavor said that "we have no plans to build out Windows apps." Bavor had some harsh words about the installed base for Windows on both the PC and on mobile, saying "we are very careful about where we invest and will go where the users are but they are not on Windows Phone or Windows 8." He did leave some wiggle room by noting that if the trends changed, "we would invest there, of course," but it sounds like Google hasn't exactly been blown away by what it has seen so far. There's also a chance that Google is getting tired of Microsoft's constant attack ads, though we'd be surprised if it stopped developing for Windows over some cheeky commercials.
Of course, Google has already invested a bit in the Windows 8 platform — its search app is native for the new OS and is available in the Windows Store, and there's also a Metro version of Chrome available. From the sound of things, that might be all Windows users get for some time. Instead, Bavor said that Google will continue focusing on its iOS and Android apps as well as its cloud-based offerings like Drive and Gmail. Still, it wouldn't surprise us to see Google do an about face eventually — while Windows 8 sales may not be as high as expected, we still wouldn't want to bet against Microsoft's new desktop OS achieving dominance sooner or later.

FACEBOOK CONFIRMS: Ads Are Coming To Instagram

FACEBOOK CONFIRMS: Ads Are Coming To Instagram
Facebook vp/global marketing solutions Carolyn Everson tells us that yes, "monetization" will be coming to Instagram. Thus far, the photo-sharing app has been ad-free. But ever since Facebook acquired the company, speculation has been rife that the service's big, broad, relatively uncluttered palette is ripe for sponsored pics and posts.

We told you that Wall Street believes ads will arrive in Instagram back in October. Advertisers have been eyeing Instagram as an ad medium since the acquisition in April. And Facebook itself hinted it was focused on photo sharing back in July.
We asked Everson about the plan for Instagram at BI's Ignition 2012 conference. Here's exactly what she told us. Bear in mind, she's the ad sales chief — that's the context for "monetization."
BI: Will you put ads in Instagram?

CE: Eventually we'll figure out a way to monetize Instagram.

BI: How far are you away from figuring that out?

CE: Well, Instagram continues to grow incredibly fast and we're still a very small team when you think about the amount of people they are reaching. There are many brands that use Instagram right now to try to get a feel for how to engage with their followers. We will definitely be figuring out a monetization strategy. When that will happen, I can't comment, but it's going to happen.
Note: Facebook declined further comment on whether there was any difference between "ads" and "monetization."


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/facebook-confirms-ads-are-coming-to-instagram-2012-12#ixzz2EtqkRMtv

Internet Explorer 6-10 vulnerability lets hackers track your mouse movements

A vulnerability found in Microsoft's Internet Explorer allows hackers to track the movements of your mouse cursor across the screen, which could in turn reveal data entered on virtual keyboards.
Virtual keyboards and keypads can be used to reduce the chance of a keylogger recording every keystroke and therefore being able to "read" your passwords. However Spider.io discovered that Internet Explorer versions 6 to 10 make it possible for your mouse cursor to be tracked anywhere on screen, even if the IE tab is minimised. You can see a video demonstration of the vulnerability embedded in this post, or you can try it yourself at this link (provided you are browsing with IE).
This particular vulnerability is of concern, because if you use Internet Explorer your mouse movements can be recorded even if you never install any software. A hacker simply needs to buy a display advertising placement on any webpage you visit. As long as the tab with the ad remains open, mouse movements can be tracked.
The analytics company disclosed the vulnerability to Microsoft back in October, but has now gone public. The Microsoft Security Research Centre recognises that there is a vulnerability but has said that there are no immediate plans to patch it. Spider.io says that a number of web analytics companies are already making use of this ability to track cursor movements.
Spider's Douglas de Jager explained to Wired.co.uk that they discovered the issue when looking into ways to measure the position of advertisements on a web page. There are two ways to measure the "viewability" of display advertisements online -- i.e. to check whether the ad slots are placed in a prominent place on the website. (This is because some disreputable publishers have been known to place MPUs and other ad placements outside of the frame of the website so that -- for example -- a video might be playing on repeat out of sight, meaning that the advertiser is paying for views of their video when web users aren't actually able to see them.)
One involves a geometric approach, which compares the position of the four corners of the ad relative to the host webpage and comparing the position of the four corners of the browser's viewpoint relative to the host webpage. A variant of this approach is comparing the ad with the screen edge rather than the host page. This geometric approach doesn't work so well when ads are embedded in "unfriendly" or cross-domain iframes. A second approach involves monitoring browser optimisations: by monitoring how a browser allocates resources to render an ad, you can determine what proportion of the ad is in view -- this is the approach that Spider.io uses.
The Internet Explorer issue arose in the geometric approach that the browser takes, which involves showing the position of the cursor relative to the advertisement and relative to the screen edge -- allowing web analytics companies and potentially hackers to ascertain the cursor position at any point.
In order to glean any meaningful information from this attack, any hacker would need to know what website or application the user was using and the layout of the site. The site would also need to use an onscreen keypad or keyboard to enter sensitive information -- something that ING Direct's online banking service uses.

Android Malware: Only 15% of it Detected By Google !

Last month, Google unveiled a new security feature that sought to stop what experts have warned is a growing problem on Android phones: malware.
But a security researcher on Tuesday said the service fails to detect the vast majority of harmful apps.
Smartphone owners running Android 4.2 and later with Google Play installed can use the new security service, which is supposed to flag unsafe apps and send users messages that say, “Installing this app may harm your phone” or “Installation has been blocked.” If a user receives the latter message, Google prevents the app from being installed.
But Xuxian Jiang, an associate professor computer science at North Carolina State University, tested Google’s new security service and found it detected only 15 percent of known malicious apps as being dangerous. His research was based on 1,260 samples of malicious code from the Android Malware Genome Project, an initiative run by the university to analyze cybersecurity threats on mobile devices.
He noted that VirusTotal, a cybersecurity software company that Google bought in September, worked better than the security feature that Google unveiled last month. However, VirusTotal has not yet been integrated into Google's new app verification service.
A Google spokesperson said the findings focused on a group of malware "that may not be representative of actual conditions," while Google's new app security service "uses real-world data and multiple detection techniques to protect against Android malware."
"We go after threats users are most likely to face," the spokesperson said.
Security experts have repeatedly warned that the number of malicious Android apps is growing, partly because Google’s method for policing its mobile app store has been less stringent than Apple’s system for keeping malware out of its mobile app store.
Such claims have prompted Google to unveil new mobile security features over the past year. In February, Google unveiled “Bouncer,” which was supposed to flags bad apps before they entered Google’s app store, known as Google Play.
In June, security researchers claimed they had found a workaround that allows hackers to sneak dangerous apps past Bouncer.
"No security approach is foolproof, and added scrutiny can often lead to important improvements," Hiroshi Lockheimer, Android vice president of engineering, wrote in February.

Linux 3.7 arrives, ARM Support!!

The latest Linux, 3.7, comes with real improvements for ARM developers and network administrators.
Only months after the arrival of Linux 3.6, Linus Torvalds has released the next major Linux kernel update: 3.7. The time between releases wasn't long, but this new version includes major improvements for ARM developers and network administrators. The 3.7 source code is now available for downloading.
Programmers for ARM, the popular smartphone and tablet chip family, will be especially pleased with this release. ARM had been a problem child architecture for Linux. As Torvalds said in 2011, "Gaah. Guys, this whole ARM thing is a f**king pain in the ass." Torvalds continued, "You need to stop stepping on each others toes. There is no way that your changes to those crazy clock-data files should constantly result in those annoying conflicts, just because different people in different ARM trees do some masturbatory renaming of some random device. Seriously."
ARM got the message. Thanks to Olof Johansson, a Google Linux and ARM engineer, unified multi-platform ARM was ready to be included in Linux 3.7.
ARM's problem was that, unlike the x86 architecture, where one Linux kernel could run on almost any PC or server, almost every ARM system required its own customized Linux kernel. Now with 3.7, ARM architectures can use one single vanilla Linux kernel while keeping their special device sauce in device trees.
The end result is that ARM developers will be able to boot and run Linux on their devices and then worry about getting all the extras to work. This will save them, and the Linux kernel developers, a great deal of time and trouble.
Just as good for those ARM architects and programmers who are working on high-end, 64-bit ARM systems, Linux now supports 64-bit ARM processors. 64-bit ARM CPUs won't ship until in commercial quantities until 2013. When they do arrive though programmers eager to try 64-bit ARM processors on servers will have Linux ready for them.
Website and network administrators will also be happy with Linux 3.7. TCP Fast Open will now be supported on servers By eliminating a step in opening Internet TCP connections, TCP Fast Open can speed up Web page opening speeds from 10 to 40%.
Network managers who have Windows PCs on their networks will also be glad to know that Linux now supports Server Messenge Block (SMB2) protocol.. Microsoft introduced this file-sharing protocol in 2007 in Vista. While its predcessor, SMB, is still supported on Windows, SMB2 support will enable Linux file servers, and the many Network Attached Storage (NAS) devices that use Linux for their operating system, to deliver files faster to Windows PCs.
For those who are still using Network File System (NFS) to share files on their networks at long, long last Linux 3.7 now fully supports NFS 4.1. The main advantage of this is that it also means you can parallel NFS (pNFS). PNFS enables you to use clustered servers to provide extremely fast and scalable parallel file access.
If you want to know more about what's new and significant in Linux 3.7, check into th Kernel Newbies Linux 3.7 Website. The bottom line though is that if you're working with ARM or you're running a network, you're going to want Linux 3.7 in your Linux distribution as fast as possible. For you, Linux 3.7 is a game-changing release.

Samsung Galaxy S4? No.. Not Happening Any Time Soon.

The successor to the blockbuster Galaxy S III won't be showing up anytime soon.
Don't hold your breath for Samsung to unveil the Galaxy S4 any time soon.
The successor to Samsung's blockbuster Galaxy S3 smartphone won't be showing up at the Consumer Electronics Show next month, CNET has learned.
At the tech confab, Samsung is planning to introduce a number of electronic products, heavily focused on televisions, according to people familiar with the company's plans. Those announcements, however, do not include any major mobile news, and Samsung plans to showcase its mobile products at a separate media event after CES.
Speculation about the Galaxy S4's arrival surfaced yesterday after Samsung released a teaser video for CES. The video revealed little, but it was enough to kick off speculation and anticipation for a smartphone announcement. Samsung actually downplayed the rumor a while back, but that was largely ignored.
It wouldn't make sense for Samsung to unveil the new version so soon, given that the Galaxy S3 continues to sell well, and the company has put its resources behind promoting the newly released Galaxy Note 2.
Many companies are holding off until Mobile World Congress in February to make their announcements, with a number, including Samsung, opting to follow the Apple model and holding their own events.
The Galaxy S3 has proven to be a hit nearly on par with Apple's iPhone franchise. While it doesn't draw the crazy lines and crowds, Samsung's products have consistently ranked among the top-selling wares at each of the carriers. Part of Samsung's success has been its ability to get a consistent version of its Galaxy S3 phone at every carrier, allowing it to tap into the largest base of customers possible.
It's a far cry from the first Galaxy S phone, which was heavily altered and renamed by the U.S. carriers, and looked more like generic smartphones. But persistent marketing and carrier support has helped Samsung establish a reputation for quality mobile products.

Facebook user data to be shared between Facebook-owned services cause you didnt vote it out!

Voting on Facebook's latest policy changes has ended, with voters overwhelmingly asking it to keep the old version of its governing documents, but participation may not have been high enough to make a difference. According to Facebook's governance page, around 670,000 users voted, with roughly 88 percent rejecting the new changes. Unfortunately for them, that total number is far short of the 30 percent of the site's billion active users, so the vote will be advisory rather than binding. Facebook is free to make changes as it sees fit. On a broad scale, these numbers are very similar to what we saw last time — when a relatively tiny number of voters came out overwhelmingly against changes — although turnout was doubled this time.
The proposed changes will allow user data to be shared between Facebook-owned services, primarily Instagram, and will remove controls over who can message users, though they'll be given filtering mechanisms instead. Most dramatically, it will also do away with the veto system, in which a vote is currently triggered after 7,000 comments and is binding if 30 percent of users vote on it. This vote may have just proved the irrelevance of that particular change: as before, it doesn't seem most users really care.

Facebook And Microsoft Are Working On A Deal, And It Could Change Everything About Advertising

Facebook and Microsoft are working on a deal that, if completed, would put Facebook one huge step closer to launching an ad network that could rival Google's in size, and change the way advertising is done online forever.

According to several industry sources, Facebook is in negotiations with Microsoft to buy Atlas Solutions, the ad-serving product Microsoft acquired when it bought aQuantive for $6 billion in 2007. 
Our sources are outside of Facebook and Microsoft. 
Microsoft has been trying to sell Atlas for years, and one of our sources is close to a company that was interested in buying it. In recent days, Microsoft ended negotiations with this company, and said it was moving forward on a deal with Facebook.
Since then, Facebook and Microsoft employees have reached out to other ad tech companies to do research for the deal. A source at one of these companies briefed us on the details of those conversations.
Though acquiring Atlas was the main reason Microsoft bought aQuantive for $6 billion in 2007, it seems like Facebook will pay a much lower price. One source says that prior to Facebook's negotiations with Microsoft, the highest bid for Atlas was $30 million. Microsoft has already written off most of that $6 billion.
Press representatives for Facebook and Microsoft declined to comment on this story. We haven't heard that the deal is about to close, only that talks are serious. It could fall apart.
Building or buying ad-serving technology is seen as one of the last tasks Facebook needs to complete before it can launch, at scale, an ad network for third-party Web sites. 
"[Facebook] needs infrastructure because they are reliant on too many intermediaries," says one industry source.
In 2007, Google paid $3 billion to buy its own ad-serving product, DoubleClick for the same reason.
The value of a Facebook-powered/Atlas-supported ad network could be tremendous.
Here's why.
Facebook is the only company in the world that has a billion email addresses, home addresses, and phone numbers on file.
This asset allows Facebook to do something no other Website can. 
Facebook can tell marketers whether or not a Facebook user saw, on Facebook.com, an ad for a product before going to the store and buying it.  


Gokul Rajaram is developing Facebook's ad products
This is possible because retailers often have their shoppers' phone numbers, home addresses, or email address on file. (They buy them from data collection companies.)

In the short term, Facebook will use this process to tell marketers exactly how much their sales increased thanks to ads on Facebook.com.   
That should make Facebook an attractive place for marketers to advertise, because it's always nice to know exactly what you're getting for your money.
Facebook is already quietly rolling this product out.
What's really exciting is what it could do with an Atlas-supported ad network: perform the same trick for the rest of the Internet.
Facebook computers could track Facebook users across all sites partnered with Facebook, keeping track of what ads these users see and what products they later buy.
A Facebook-partnered website that serves an ad that later leads to a purchase will be able to take credit for helping that sale happen. Websites will be able to charge more, and Facebook will take a piece of the action.
What has to be thrilling to Facebook executives is that some of these Websites will have better, more naturally-situated ad inventory than the tiny, annoying ads currently on Facebook.com. Facebook will finally be able to  leverage its real asset, data, to take advantage of better inventory off of Facebook.com.
There are a couple obstacles Facebook has to overcome to make this vision a reality. 
First, it will have to keep people calm about what may look like an invasion of privacy. That shouldn't be a problem, because Facebook won't actually be invading anyone's privacy. All the data flying back and forth will be anonymous and encrypted — "hashed," to use Facebook's terminology.
Second, Facebook will have to actually build the tech behind such a sophisticated product. That'll be hard. 
But that's why it's in talks with Microsoft to acquire Atlas.

Microsoft opens its social network, Socl to the public

Microsoft is opening the doors on Socl, the mysterious social network project from its FUSE research group. As ZDNet reports, up until now the beta had been limited to a small set of users, but now anyone with a Facebook or Microsoft account is free to sign up.
The first thing we noticed on logging in was that the site has seen a major redesign since last November. Where it used to share a lot of design elements with Facebook, the new layout puts images front and center, with a continuously-scrolling two-column design that has a lot more in common with Pinterest. According to Lili Cheng, Fuse Labs’ General Manager, the team’s idea is to "democratize design and make beautiful posts." Once you're logged into Socl, clicking the new post button gives you a "topic" text field that runs a Bing search for your chosen string. Next, you’re presented with a list of related images, links, and videos that you can paste into a Live Tile-esque grid layout. Also, when you're commenting on others’ posts, a link labeled "Riff on this post" will let you create a new post based on the same search, with a list of relevant links to incorporate courtesy of Bing.

So far, all of the issues we had with Socl at this time last year still stand — there are still no private interactions or curated groups along the lines of Google+’s circles. And despite Microsoft’s stated aim of combining search with a social network, Socl’s simple tagging system still isn’t the most useful way to find relevant content. The project is still a work in progress, but if you’d like to check out what the Fuse Labs teams have been up to, Socl is yours to test drive.