Facebook is uploading icontacts from your smartphone, not everyone can see them. But ...

It appears that Facebook has found itself in the midst of yet another privacy issue. Once again, as is often the case among these types of SNAFUs, it's a misunderstanding due to lack of communication.

The bruhaha began when the following message began popping into people's Facebook feeds on Wednesday (including ours):

"Friends! ALL THE PHONE NUMBERS IN YOUR PHONE are now PUBLISHED on Facebook!"

• Go to the top right of the screen,click on Account,
• then click on Edit Friends, 
• go left on the screen and click on Contacts. 
• Then go to the right hand side and click on 'visit page' to remove this display option. Please repost this on your Status, so your friends can remove their numbers and thus prevent abuse if they do not want them published.

It's true, we noticed that we had the phone numbers of a number of our contacts in Facebook, and we didn't put them there. In fact, we didn't even know them.In addition, if your friends had phone information in their profile, and shared it, you'd now see it as well. In other words, what Facebook did was combine, or consolidate, the phone numbers from your smartphone and the phone numbers from your Facebook Friends into one list.

You just weren't expecting it, and Facebook didn't highlight the feature enough when it added.

In fact, if you visit your account and your contacts page in Facebook, off on the right you'll see:

"Facebook Phonebook displays contacts you have imported from your phone, as well as your Facebook friends.
"If you would like to remove your mobile contacts from Facebook, you need to disable the feature on your mobile phone and visit this page."

Just to be clear, you are the only one who can see the information uploaded from your phone. It's not like the phone numbers of people from your phone will show up in other people's Facebook contacts, unless they have them in their phone, as well, or their profile information shares it. There is, of course, an exception: Facebook can see it, as well.

Read More...

Call of Duty: Black Ops passes $1 billion in sales

After raking in $360 million on its first day of release alone, Call of Duty: Black Ops has surpassed $1 billion in worldwide sales, after only six weeks of sales, Activision announced earlier this week. The video game's first day sales set a record, eclipsing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the prior record holder, which had $310 million in sales its first day.

Activision also announced that the game is setting online usage records. For one thing, since its launch on November 9th, Call of Duty: Black Ops players have played more than 600 million hours, or the equivalent of more than 68,000 years.

Call of Duty: Black Ops players are spending an average of 87 minutes per day online. That exceeds the average of Facebook users, who spend about 55 minutes a day online. Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing said,

"The $1 billion milestone is staggering, but it doesn't tell the whole story. The true measure of Black Ops' success lies in the millions of hours that people are investing in this game and this community. Call of Duty has in many ways become one of the world's most engaged social networks. We are grateful to and humbled by the ongoing support of the gaming community and we are committed to continuing to give them the greatest gaming experiences that we can."

Read More...

Nokia N8 Officially Available From Rogers Wireless In Canada

The highly anticipated Nokia N8 is officially available at Rogers Wireless in Canada. Rogers is exclusively offering the device at $79.99 on 3-year voice and data plans.

Straight from Rogers RedBoard, the N8 packs a 12-megapixel camera with Carl Zeiss optics and Xenon flash. In addition to USB-on-the-Go and the ability to record 720p HD video, some of the included features are:

• A 3.5-inch AMOLED touch screen.
• A 16GB internal memory, expandable to 32 GB via MicroSD card.
• The ability to watch videos on your HD TV through HDMI connectivity.
• Six hours of video-playback time
• GPS receiver
• Access to thousands of apps through Nokia’s Ovi Store.
• A full web browser that supports Flash-based content.

It is the first device, of many, to ship with the brand new Symbian^3 platform in 2010.

Read More...

Google added features ‘Instant Previews’

Google search engine users will be able to enjoy a new feature that allows one to see a preview of search results. People can see the sites in the search results page before the pulled-click.

Features “Instant Preview” Google announced, Tuesday, November 9, 2010. These features are intended to help people see the websites that are relevant or irrelevant to their taste. This feature works for Google web search, and search for news, videos and local business.

After clicking the magnifying glass icon, people will see pictures of sites in the white space on the right of search results within a tenth of a second. Although the preview image will vary in size, as set out Google, the search engine to design the best possible preview of the display so it will not interfere with the overall display. Thus was launched FoxNews.

In addition, when users view images from a website, Google will include a visual preview of search results to another in the background so that users can compare your website with me rolling the cursor over the search results page.

This is a continuation of the Instant Search feature, which Google launched in September last. This feature helps users to get search results even if the user continues to type in the search box. Last week, Google also launched Google Instant for Google’s Android platform.

Google claims that five percent of users ‘Instant Preview of’ more likely to feel satisfied with the website of their choosing. Google will launch this feature in 40 languages over the next few days.

Read More...

BCCI To Stream Live Cricket Matches On It’s Website

With the web taking over our lives day after day, users now want better internet experiences. Take for instance online streaming of events especially sports. We have already told you about the online streaming of Commonwealth Games. Now it’s the turn of The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) which has revamped its official website, BCCI.tv. The new website supports live streaming of cricket matches that are played between India and other countries.

The live stream can be accessed at: bcci.tv/bcci/bccitv/index/livestream

As of now, Internet users across India will be able to see all matches in the series against New Zealand online. However, there will be a five-minute delay between the live action and the ‘streaming’ which is quite acceptable. Not only this, the website will also have a plethora of other useful features such as an online ball-by-ball commentary and scoresheets of domestic matches. The website is being maintained by Tata Consultancy Services (TCS).

Read More...

Amazon Announces 70% Revenue Share For Kindle Publishers

If you write great content, you should definitely get a bigger pie of the revenue. This can be for books, videos and all other content created by users. Looks like Amazon is now understanding this and doling out a bigger pie; 70% of the revenue share; to Kindle magazine and newspaper publishers.

If you sell a title or subscription on Amazon Kindle, you will now be entitled to a 70% revenue share. The new 70% royalty will start from December 1, 2010. However, there are some restrictions on who can earn a 70% revenue, which include magazines and newspapers which are sold to:

• Customers who can read the title on all Kindle devices and applications.
• Customers who can read the title in all geographies for which the publisher has rights.

If you are a blog owner and publish your blog on Kindle, you will not be able to take advantage of the new revenue sharing model.

More info at the Amazon blog.

Read More...

The X-ray is 115 years old: latest Google Doodle

Google's latest Doodle is celebrating 115 years of X-ish technology. No, we don't mean X-Files or X-Men: we mean X-rays.

Google's Doodle

115 years ago, on Nov. 8, 1895, German physics professor Wilhelm Roentgen discovered X-rays. As with many important discoveries, it was an accident.

Roentgen was experimenting with electron beams in a gas discharge tube when he discovered X-rays. He noticed that a fluorescent screen in his lab started to glow when the electron beam was turned on, which in and itself was surprising, as fluorescent material normally glows in reaction to electromagnetic radiation. However, the tube was surrounded by heavy black cardboard, which Roentgen assumed should have blocked most of the radiation.

Placing various objects between the tube and the fluorescent screen, it still glowed. When he placed his hand in front of the tube, not only did it continue to glow, but he saw the silhouette of his bones projected onto the fluorescent screen, thus producing the first set of skeletal X-ray images in history.

A week later, he took an X-ray photograph of his wife's hand, which clearly showed her wedding ring and her bones. Roentgen called the new radiation "X" to indicate it was an unknown type of radiation. Many of his colleagues suggested calling them Roentgen rays, but the name stuck.

In addition to celebrating 115 years of X-rays, according to Google exec Marissa Mayer, the small "g" in today's Google doodle is an homage to PigeonRank, a 2002 April Fool's joke at the company (look carefully; there's a bird skeleton in there).

Read More...

HTC prepare online stores compete with Android Market?

Not enough just to make handsets for overthrew Apple, HTC was preparing to launch its own app store that allows them to sell e-Book or application. Even reportedly developing an online store is a step.
Taiwanese manufacturer that hopes to distribute content and services to their own devices. HTC desire is also not released after the Acer, the second largest PC maker in the world, said last month that they plan to launch the next generation of an application store.

Launched by FT.com, Monday, HTC plans is also a pressure on device manufacturers to differentiate themselves through service and internet content, as competition heats up in fast-growing smartphone sector, particularly among Google’s Android-based devices.

HTC has grown as a well respected manufacturer of smartphone, with a third-quarter earnings more than doubled from last year to USD2.51 billion. However, it faces increased competition with Samsung followed in the previous quarter, it seems reasonable HTC should make active innovation.

Nearest source at HTC told if there are special teams who worked as a content editor for an online store that HTC planned for their handheld devices, including for e-books, magazines as well as for applications.

The team was originally to include a small number of staff based in Taiwan, with plans to expand to 100 people in different locations around the world.

Peter Chou, HTC’s chief executive, has previously said he saw the direction HTC will run its own application store.

Read More...

Twitter Introducing Location Based Places/Check-ins?

Looks like location is taking a new dimension. You can no longer just visit some place and not tell your friends about it, literally. Facebook recently introduced a new location based service called Facebook Places. Facebook Places was in direct competition with previously introduced service Foursquare.

Twitter Places/Check-ins

It looks now that Twitter is also all set to introduce Places and Check-ins. As you can see from the image above, Twitter has some sort of check-ins in place where users can claim to be in places. In addition to that people can also check-in to places as seen in the "Recent people in Twitter HQ". If you are a Foursquare user, you might be familiar with this, albeit, instead of claiming a place, you actually become the mayor of a certain place.

With location based services heating up, thanks to the additional advertisements services can obtain from local businesses, this is definitely going to be another way for Twitter to claim a share of revenue, just like Facebook did.

(via techie-buzz Scripting News – Hacker News h/t @Scobleizer | Image Credit – Scripting News/Flickr)

Read More...

Facebook Hiring Engineers For It’s Palo Alto Office On Indian College Campuses?

We recently had a tip off from a student of one of the best engineering institutions in India located at Kharagpur that Facebook has started the recruitment process for hiring engineers from their campus. Currently the job profile that is being offered is of a Load Balancer at Facebook’s Palo Alto office and the pay package stands at 80,000 USD per annum which is huge for a fresher by Indian standards.

Facebook has been working on a new kind of data structure called the HayStack. The speciality of this data structure is that it reduces the image upload request load off Facebook’s servers. Facebook receives close to 16 million photo upload requests each minute. So instead of uploading these photos one by one, the photos are put in a special array and this array is then uploaded at once.

The engineers who are hired from India will either be made to work on this new technology or as a Load Balancer. I wonder, why is Facebook not hiring core developer talent from Indian campuses.

via techie-buzz

Read More...

Banshee To Replace Rhythmbox In Ubuntu 11.04 – More Mono!

The Ubuntu Developers Summit at Orlando, Florida is over and now we have the tentative list of the default applications that will ship with Ubuntu 11.04 “Natty Narwhal”. There are no major changes in the default applications – Firefox stays, Evolution is still preferred over Thunderbird etc. Of course the choice of Unity over GNOME Shell for the desktop is a big surprise but that is another thing.

A really surprising change is that the music player Rhythmbox will be replaced by Banshee. There is really nothing wrong with Rhythmbox – in fact it is much better than Banshee in my opinion. So, it is surprising that they have decided to ditch Rhythbox.

And Banshee has a little detail that will make a lot of people cringe – it is a mono application. In spite of Miguel de Icaza’s efforts, mono still remains one technology that a lot of people in the open-source community love to hate. With the inclusion of Banshee, Ubuntu has brought up the mono apps count to three – Tomboy Notes and gbrainy being the other two.

Before the official announcement, there are still some little details like CD space issues to be resolved. In any case, that should be resolved and the replacement of Rhythmbox by Banshee is almost certain.

The choice of Unity for the desktop did not please many people. With the inclusion of more mono apps that number should increase. Natty Narwhal should be an interesting release.

via techie-buzz

Read More...

Samsung Galaxy Tab Now Available On Orange UK

Orange recently announced the launch of Samsung’s first tablet device, the Samsung Galaxy Tab in the U.K. This powerful device is available immediately for purchase through selected Orange retail shops and Orange telesales. The Samsung Galaxy Tab is available on one month and 12 month price plans from Orange.

“The Galaxy Tab is the perfect complement to our smartphone and mobile broadband device portfolio, and we’re giving our existing customers the best value packages on offer. We believe that with Christmas fast approaching, and these great offers, the Galaxy Tab will prove popular with UK consumers,” said, Pippa Dunn, VP of Propositions for Orange.

Samsung Galaxy Tab comes with a 7 inch TFT-LCD touchscreen display, 1024×600 pixels resolution, Android 2.2 (FroYo) OS, TouchWIZ 3.0 UI, 1GHz processor, 3.2 megapixel camera with HD (720p) video recording and playback, 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, Wi-Fi, 3G Connectivity, 512MB RAM, 16GB of internal memory, 32GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 3.0, A-GPS and 4000mAH battery.

Galaxy Tab is priced at £529 for one month plans, and at £499 for 12 months options. On select Dolphin price plans, customers will receive an additional 1GB “quiet time” data allowance (from midnight until 4pm), and have the option of unlimited data through BT OpenZone public WiFi. Samsung Galaxy Tab is also being sold by Vodafone, Orange, O2, Talkmobile, Carphone Warehouse and Amazon in U.K.

via techie-buzz

Read More...

Tata Docomo Offers Free 3G Services For 7 Days

We recently posted that Tata Docomo’s 3G services will go live from tomorrow midnight and now we have another breaking news. Tata Docomo recently posted in their Facebook page that their 3G services will start from November 5th and they will offer free 3G services for the first 7 days. Tata Docomo users can enjoy free 3G services on their mobile phones and USB modem from November 5th to November 11th midnight.

Tata Docomo has won 3G license in nine circles – Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, UP (West), Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra. Tata Docomo subscribers from these nine circles can enjoy free 3G services for the 7 days on their 3G devices.

Tata Docomo’s 3G Network supports high-speed Internet access with speeds of up to 21.1 Mbps. The network also supports HD Voice for a superior voice experience on calls. Tata Docomo will offers 3G services like Mobile TV,Video-SMS, Video-Streaming, Route-Finder, Live Aarti and much more.

This is definitely a good news for all the Tata Docomo subscribers in these nine circles. Are you excited for the launch of Tata Docomo’s 3G services in India? Lets us know your views in the comments below.

Read More...

Hong Kong Wants More Indian IT Firms To Set Shop In Their Country

Not only is US aware of India’s IT expertise and ability. Even countries in the western part of the world are aware of it. In a recent interview with Simon Galpin, director-general of InvestHK, he said that Hong Kong feels it has strong economic ties with India and wants more Indian IT companies to start business in Hong Kong.

Indian IT

More than 1,500 Indian companies are already doing business in Hong Kong and this number is expected to go up. The Indian economy is expanding gradually and markets like Hong Kong can provide Indian businesses a conducive environment. However the major Indian companies doing business in Hong Kong include Indian Banks, airlines and other enterprises. This is one of the main reasons why Hong Kong wants more Indian IT countries in Hong Kong.

via TOI, Image via SpicyIP

Read More...

Mobile Number Portability Is (Wait For It) Delayed Again

This is the third time mobile number portability in India has been delayed. Previously scheduled to roll out by November 1st in Haryana, the Department of Telecom has said that the service will be in effect by November 25th. They've said that all the networks are placed in order to implement MNP but haven't given a reason for the delay. "Though there had been some delay in the launch of the service, it had been ensured that the service was provided to all subscribers sans any technical glitches," said Sachin Pilot, Minister of State for Communications and Information and Technology.

The truck's not stopping here yet

The plan is still as planned though. MNP will be implemented in Haryana first and the rest of the country is divided into 22 zones which are clustered into 11 service areas. MNP will roll out over these as well over the course of a few months.

via tech2

Read More...

Encrypted SIM Cards Coming Soon To India For Safer Communication

India is witnessing a huge growth in mobile banking and net banking on the mobile phone. In order to make sure the consumers are protected from mis-happenings while using these modern media of transactions, the Govt. of India has allowed the use of proxy SIM cards carrying digital certificates for mobile phones. This allows secure communication over SMSes and email and these digital certificates provide another layer of authentication on mobile communication.

Encrypted SIM

According to the Controller of Certifying Authority of India, Mr. N Vijayaditya the govt. is recommending the certification of proxy SIM cards with digital certificates. These are very easy to use and can be inserted on top of regular SIM cards. Use of these digital certificates can make mobile banking and mobile transactions secure.
[via Tech2]

Read More...

Send Tweets Longer than 140 Characters With Tall Tweets

Ever wanted to say something which you could not fit in 140 characters on Twitter? Well, there are tons of services which allow you to tweet more than 140 characters. However, those services will basically trim your tweet to a smaller length and then add a URL for users to see the rest of the tweet.

Tall Tweets

Tall Tweets, is a similar service, which allows you to send tweets which are longer than 140 characters. However, instead of adding a link to view the whole tweet, this service trims the content and fits it in multiple tweets.

You can try out tall tweets and send out longer tweets from within the browser to see how it works, or visit the developer’s detailed post to know more.

Read More...

Facebook application developers selling user identity

facebook declare the data brokers have purchased an application which can identify social networking site user information from the developers. As a result, facebook application developer suspended for six months.

The announcement posted on the developer blog reveals some existing popular applications on facebook are transmitting the identity of users, one of which data on behalf of the user’s friends about 25 applications to advertising companies.

“We found a data broker who pay developers to ‘steal’ the identity of users,” he wrote in a blog facebook developers. “This is a violation of policy and this is very serious.”

After suspend the developers, facebook will be asking them to submit data that has been leaked to re-audited and requested a commitment that they will not repeat it.

Unfortunately, facebook does not identify who the data brokers that buy information from the application developer. However, the company led by Mark Zuckerberg had been agreed with Rapleaf, a data aggregation company based in San Francisco to erase all user data they get from facebook application developers.
[source twitteling]

Read More...

Oh Look, Microsoft Is De-Prioritizing Silverlight

Back in August, we noted some online rumors that Microsoft was seriously cutting back on Silverlight, pushing internal folks to work on HTML5 instead. Our comments were filled with people saying that we were crazy and that Microsoft was betting more and more on Silverlight. So it's interesting to see that, after noticing barely any mention of Silverlight at Microsoft's Professional Developers Conference, Mary Jo Foley asked someone at Microsoft what's up, and was told that Microsoft's "strategy has shifted," and the company is betting on HTML5 for its cross-platform efforts. It's true that it's still pushing Silverlight in specific platforms -- with mobile being a big one (and, I'm sure, Netflix movie delivery remaining another), but it does seem like Microsoft is drastically scaling back what it plans for Silverlight.

Read More...

Wonder What Windows Phone 7 Device Bill Gates Uses?

I’ve talked to quite a Microsoft employees who’ve been a part of Windows Phone 7 and they are all genuinely excited about what they’ve come up with. Microsoft will be handing out Windows Phone 7 devices to all its employees. Paid attendees at Microsoft’s developer conference – PDC 10 were given LG WP7 handsets. Some brilliant sleuthing by Daniel Rubino of WPCentral he found out that Bill Gates uses the Samsung Focus:

The Focus will be launching in the US on AT&T starting November 8 and is considered as one of the better WP7 device by reviewers. The AMLOED screen and light weight make it a nice phone to own and now that it has got Bill Gates’ approval, Samsung and AT&T better stock their inventory.
[source Techie-buzz]

Read More...