Il Corriere del web

With SXSW starting Friday in Austin, Texas, every location-based service out there is right now finalizing updates that they hope will be the one that gets them used more than all the others. Loopt, is betting on events integration.
The latest version of the app, due to hit the App Store tomorrow will feature a new Pulse tab. Here you’ll find events populated from a ton of sources including the live music tracker SonicLiving (SXSW is first and foremost a music event, after all) and most notably, Facebook. This pre-population is important, because it means the events will already be in the system so users won’t have to do anything other than share it with friends, or check-in if they’re going. The feature also uses you current location to show which events are happening around you at any given moment that a lot of people are at.
As you might expect, you also also tell who is already at the event, and which of your friend is supposed to be going. The later feature works with Facebook Connect. You can RSVP to an event right from within Loopt and see who else is scheduled to go.
Calling it the “best event ever from an app,” Loopt founder Sam Altman believes they’ll have every single event taking place at SXSW in their system. A newer startup, the recently funded Plancast (started by TechCrunch alum Mark Hendrickson), may have something to say about that statement as they’ll be debuting their own events-based iPhone app at the festival as well. And like this new Loopt feature, a key Plancast component is Facebook event integration.
Loopt was one of the original hot players in the location space, launching an iPhone app alongside the App Store launch in 2008. However, their initial bet was on always-on location updates, which the iPhone cannot do because it will not allow third-party apps to run in the background. Loopt found a loophole (see what I did there?) to that through AT&T, but by then the momentum has already swung to the check-in based location services like Foursquare and Gowalla. Last year, Loopt pivoted its app to be more predicated around check-ins.
Look for the latest Loopt app tomorrow in the App Store.
Disclosure: Loopt offers a TechCrunch branded version of the service here.

iPhoneItalia Redeem Contest è il nostro concorso quotidiano in cui mettiamo in palio codici promozionali per scaricare gratuitamente e legalmente applicazioni e giochi da App Store. Oggi mettiamo in palio 5 codici redeem per Livella Fotografica, disponibile su AppStore al prezzo di 1,59?.

Livella Fotografica è una nuova applicazione per iPhone che permette di misurare l?amgolo di inclinazione degli oggetti inquadrati tramite fotocamera.
Il concorso termina alle 23:00 (ora italiana) di oggi 10 marzo 2010 e i codici saranno assegnati per estrazione. Per partecipare è sufficiente commentare questo articolo.
I vincitori dell?estrazione verranno indicati su questa stessa pagina in serata. Ricordiamo che per usufruire dei codici redeem è necessario disporre di un account iTunes Store USA (qui la guida su come crearne uno).
Possono partecipare al concorso tutti gli utenti (registrati e non registrati) del sito, ad esclusione dei membri della redazione e dei membri dello staff del forum (moderatori).
Ricordiamo che ogni utente può partecipare una sola volta: tentativi di partecipazione multipla usando nickname/email diversi comporteranno la squalifica automatica dell?utente.
I vincitori saranno contattati tramite email al termine dell?estrazione, per questo è importante assicurarsi di fornire un indirizzo email valido e funzionante. Buona fortuna a tutti!

Business to business software can be a tough sell. Online B2B can be even a harder sell. While there is certainly money to be made, unless you’re one of the big players, the likelihood you’re going to succeed is pretty small. Starting today, Google is taking their roll as one of the big players and extending a platform to boost some smaller players.
Tonight, Google has unveiled their Google Apps Marketplace. This is an app store for enterprise apps in the cloud. Using a set of APIs, these third-party apps can deeply integrate their products within Google Apps, which already some 25 million people are using. And that also includes over 2 million businesses ranging from startups, to small businesses, to Fortune 500 companies.
For customers, this means a one-stop shop for a variety of applications that their business or organization can use. And it’s extremely simple to get started with apps in the marketplace ? it just takes 4 clicks, Google says (though that initial click will have to come from your domain admin to approve the use of the app). For developers, particularly small startup developers, it means instant access to more users than they can likely imagine. It also potentially means something more important: money.
Like the popular mobile app stores (Apple’s App Store and Google’s own Android Market), Google is allowing developers to sell their apps through this Marketplace. And they’re actually offering a better deal: Google will keep just 20% of the revenue, while the developers keep the other 80% (compared to a 30/70 split with the Android Market). The reason for this better split is that Google believes the B2B market is a bit different, and they want to entice developers to join on board. And instead of Apple’s App Store, which charges a $100 yearly fee to developers, Google is charging a one-time fee of $100 to enroll in the program ? and that’s for as many apps as you want to create.
As for what Google will do with their 20% share, they’re not entirely sure. “We don’t know what will happen with the revenue, but we think it’s a very fair rev share for the value we’re providing,” Google Vice President of Engineering Vic Gundotra says.

As you might expect, Google will feature certain apps on a rotating basis. And each will have a star rating system and reviews written by people who have used the app. Apps will be grouped into different categories to make it easier for customers to find exactly what they’re looking for. Once they do, the four steps alluded to above are:

Click “Add it now”
Agree to the vendor’s Terms of Service
Grant access to the data that the app is requesting.  Some apps require data access, some don’t – only grant access to apps you trust.
Turn it on and start enjoying your increased productivity

So how does this all work? Google connection points for integration into Apps are actually done through open protocols such as OAuth. And while signing-in may seem like a pain across different apps, Google has streamlined that as well thanks to another open protocol: OpenID.
Once an app is hooked in to Google Apps, it will appear on your main Apps Dashboard alongside the other Google-made apps you use. It will even appear in the “more” drop down that Google uses in the toolbar across its properties. And because these apps are so tightly woven into Google Apps, they can take advantage of the built-in Google Apps such as Gmail and Gtalk to easily communicate within the third-party apps.

And there’s more. While it’s not quite ready to launch just yet, in the second half of 2010, Google plans to launch flexible billing options for third-parties using its services. Basically, this will allow companies to use Google Checkout to handle complicated billings, such as subscriptions. This could mean trouble for startups specifically in this space, such as Recurly. Also coming later will be details analytics for transactions, we’re told. For now, developers are free to hook up their data to their own analytic programs to run their numbers.
While Google’s options for this Marketplace sound nice and open, there’s actually something even better: you don’t have to build your apps on their platform. Whereas a big player likes Salesforce wants to keep the apps it works with in the Force.com ecosystem, Google doesn’t care where you build it ? it can be on App Engine, or on anything else. You simply hook your app up to the APIs and you’re ready to go. It’s a model so enticing that even a big Google competitor in this space, Zoho, is ready to work with them, and launching as an initial partner. All told, there are more than 50 companies partnering up at launch, including a winner of the audience award at this year’s TechCrunch50, Socialwok.
As to whether Google could eventually roll this app store model out to the more consumer facing apps they offer, Gundotra gave me the old, “We have nothing to announce at this time.” That reads suspiciously to me like a “yes,” provided this is the hit it seems like it should be.

Zoho, a web-based productivity suite that was called a “fake Office” by a Microsoft VP, is announcing a significant partnership with Google today. The startup will be a launch partner for Google’s recently launched Google Apps Marketplace, which allows vendors to sell applications that compliment Google Apps. Here are our notes from the announcement. Zoho will be integrating two of its app over 20 business applications – Zoho CRM and Zoho Projects with Google Apps.
So starting today, Google Apps users will be able to add on-demand CRM app Zoho CRM and project management software Zoho Projects into Google Apps. While Zoho has previously rolled out the ability log-in to its applications via your Google Apps IDs, the two applications have been specially formatted for further immersion into Google Apps with App’s extended APIs. IT admins will now have an option to add Zoho Apps to their domains through Google Apps Marketplace. Once the IT admin adds a Zoho application to their domain, all users within the domain will have access to the Zoho Application through Google universal navigation.
In the version of Zoho CRM for Google Apps, Zoho will allow Google Apps domain admins choose the users he or she wants to provide access to Zoho CRM and can import users from Google Apps contacts. And if you have Mail Add-on enabled in Zoho CRM, you can POP your email from Google Apps to Zoho CRM. These emails will show up in the CRM system automatically for each contact. Emails sent from Zoho CRM will also show up in Gmail in Google Apps.
Zoho CRM and Projects will also be integrated with Google Apps Calendar. Google Apps users will now be able to subscribe and view their CRM and Projects events right within Google Calendar. Additionally, Zoho Projects and Zoho CRM allows you to attach documents directly from Google Apps.
The fact that Zoho was chosen as a pilot partner for this program isn’t surprising. Although some of Zoho’s applications compete with Google apps products, the startup has consistently pushed interoperability with Google Apps. Over the past two years, the startup launched a deeper integration with Google Docs; and the ability to log-in with Google and Yahoo IDs. And according to our latest stats, Zoho has definitely reached over 2 million users, and has a loyal follower base.

Tonight, Google launched its Google Apps Marketplace, an online storefront for Apps products and services. Here are our notes from the announcement. And of course, the marketplace is launching with a number of pilot partners (50 to be exact). One of those partners happens to be recently launched Socialwok, a product that ads a social layer to Gmail and other Google products. At last year’s TechCrunch50 conference, Socialwok made a big splash, winning the award for best demopit startup and launching its enterprise-friendly, FriendFeed-like layer for Google Apps. The web-based application was praised for launching a social network that wrapped around the very unsocial Google Apps. And the startup just launched a gadget to allow users access all the features of Socialwok without leaving Gmail.
Socialwok in the the Google Apps Marketplace allows organizations to use their existing Google Apps accounts to login into Socialwok and create a social network for their domains to share within Google Docs, Google Calendars, Google Spreadsheets and other Google objects in feeds. For example, with the Socialwok Gmail gadget, users can view, post and comment on various feeds in their organization right from Gmail.
Ming Yong, CEO of the company, said that integration with the marketplace was a logical choice because of the growing number of SMBs that are using Google Apps as their productivity suite of choice. Currently Google has more than 2 million businesses using the Google Apps Suite. Over 4,000 domains and thousands of users are currently using Socialwok. Socialwok’s standard edition on the marketplace will be free but the startup will launch a paid edition in May.
Socialwok, which employs a freemium model, has steadily been adding features and improvements to its application, including releasing a new version of its HTML 5 mobile version for Android and iPhone browsers. And in the process of developing an innocative application, startup managed to catch Google’s eye. Socialwok was chosen as one of the showcase companies for AppEngine technology at this year’s Google IO Developer Sandbox (Socialwok is powered by Google App Engine). And the startup wrote a blog post on Google’s Enterprise Blog about Socialwok.
We’ve continuously written that if Google doesn?t buy the startup, they should at least heavily promoting what they?re doing. And it appears that Google has taken the latter route. For now. There’s no doubt that Socialwok could face the same fate as Google Docs killer and collaboration platform Etherpad or Microsoft Word collaboration plug-in Docverse.

Over the last few days, a strange situation has been brewing between Amazon and a sizable number of comic book fans. On March 7, Bleeding Cool broke the news of an apparent Amazon sale featuring high quality hardcover Marvel graphic novels at bargain-basement prices of $14.99, when their retail prices were more along the lines of $125. Alas, it turned out to be a pricing error. Amazon could have simply canceled the orders (which is common practice for online retailers), but instead, it tried to do right by its users and said it would honor some of the orders. Except it didn’t actually have enough books in stock to do what it promised, leading to another wave of frustration from the comics fans. Now Amazon is looking to smooth things over with some $25 dollar gift certificates.
The tale is a bit complicated. After word of the apparent sale began to spread, plenty of comics fans began to snatch up the books as quickly as they could, causing some of the graphic novels to climb toward the top of Amazon’s best seller lists. Within hours Amazon fixed the pricing glitches (which affected multiple items), and told some customers that rather than canceling their entire orders, they’d still receive a single copy of the books they purchased at the heavily discounted price. The only catch was that they’d only get one copy apiece (many people had purchased multiple copies). Quite a nice gesture considering that Amazon could have simply canceled the orders outright.
Unfortunately, something went wrong. This morning, Bleeding Cool reported that many (and perhaps all) of these single-copy orders had been canceled as well, without any kind of notice or email from Amazon. As it turns out, Amazon simply doesn’t have enough books in inventory to fulfill all the orders it promised, so it’s handing out $25 gift certificates as an apology for the inconvenience.
Not everyone who bought a Marvel book is getting a certificate ? if you placed an order that was immediately canceled, then it sounds like you won’t get one. And some people should be actually getting their books in the mail. But if you got a letter saying that you would be getting a single copy of a book and your order has since been cancelled, you should be hearing from Amazon about this shortly.
It’s hard to really fault Amazon for this. Obviously there were some errors in miscommunication, but it really didn’t have to do any of this ? every online retailer has a clause in their Terms of Service that doesn’t make them liable for pricing mistakes.

Tonight, Google is hosting one of their Campfire One events at their headquarters in Mountain View, CA. They’re using the event to launch their new Google Apps Marketplace. This is the app store that business applications can use to reach the more than 25 million people and 2 million business that use Google Apps for their domains.
Below, find our live notes.
Vic Gundotra, Vice President of Engineering

Two million businesses have “gone Google”
25 million users.
Everything you need is now in the cloud for businesses
Tonight we’re launching the new Google Apps Marketplace
It’s great for developers – who get access to these 25 million users instantly
It’s also great for users.
It’s simple to integrate.
Build your app. And you don’t have to use App Engine. You can use whatever you want.
And you can sell your app in the Marketplace.
What does Google ask in return? A one-time fee of $100. And a low 20% rev share.
Over 50 launch partners.

David Glazer, Engineering Director

I want to walk you through the “how” now – build, integrate, and sell.
Google Apps now has a large and growing number of extension points (we’ll be adding more over time)
there is a central management system
Universal integration to Google Apps navigation system.
We use OpenID to manage authentication. Single sign-on.
And we use OAuth for secure access to data. The OAuth grant of trust is built into the Marketplace.

We have a complete manifest.
Time for a demo. Here’s a developer showing off a “hello world” application.
Easy step-by-step process to get your application in the Marketplace.

It might take a couple of days for the app to show up in the Marketplace when you submit it.
A domain admin simply then clicks the “Add it now” button.
Then just three clicks left – 1) agree to terms of service 2) grant data access (such as to your calendar) 3) enable the app
You can even see it in the apps drop down if you’re in, say, Gmail.

Here’s Intuit now showing how to take a real app – for payroll – to show how easy it is to itegrate.
Intuit is the largest payroll provider in the nation.
We usually serve small companies, many are less than 20 employees.
Another demo, this time from Atlassian – a software development company
You can easily embed your information inside of Gmail.

Twitter has just announced that it is launching a new anti-phishing feature that allows Twitter’s Trust and Safety team to monitor all links submitted through the service for potentially malicious attacks. Part of the new feature will involve the use of Twitter’s link shortener twt.tl, which may now start popping up in some of your emails and direct messages.
At this point, it’s not really clear which links are being converted to Twitter’s twt.tl shortened links. We just ran a test at the TC office with two different links: one for an article on GigaOm, and another for a bit.ly link that pointed to a page on Google Buzz. The links I received on my Twitter client were both unchanged, but both were converted to twt.tl links in our Email notifications (obviously neither of them had malicious content).
From the Twitter blog:
Today, we?re launching a new service to protect users that strikes a major blow against phishing and other deceitful attacks. By routing all links submitted to Twitter through this new service, we can detect, intercept, and prevent the spread of bad links across all of Twitter. Even if a bad link is already sent out in an email notification and somebody clicks on it, we’ll be able keep that user safe.
Since these attacks occur primarily on Direct Messages and email notifications about Direct Messages, this is where we have focused our initial efforts. For the most part, you will not notice this feature because it works behind the scenes but you may notice links shortened to twt.tl in Direct Messages and email notifications.
Image via ToastyKen

La Critical Thought Games ha annunciato che il gioco GeoDefense 2 verrà pubblicato inizialmente su AppStore nella sola versione per iPad.

Il gioco, che ricordiamo è il seguito di un ottimo tower defense, avrà una grafica rinnovata e un gamplay completamente rivisto ed adattato al display dell’iPad.
GeoDefense 2 sarà pubblicato subito dopo il lancio delliPad.
[via]

Ecco un nuovo concept realizzato dal bravissimo Antonio De Luca: l’iPhone Pro.

Questo iPhone ha un grande display, il nuovo OS 3.2 e un raffinato meccanismo che nasconde due paddles con superficie touch e retroilluminazione led. La camera frontale è nascosta proprio nel paddle superiore.

Questa configurazione hardware renderebbe l’iPhone anche più pratico per i giochi, con più tasti-controllo. Sul retro, invece, troviamo un attacco in stile magsafe.

Ed ecco un video:

Cosa ne pensate?

Spesso abbiamo parlato della sicurezza dell’iPhone che, se non sbloccato, risulta uno sei sistemi più difficili da violare. Capita invece che  terminale come HTC Magic, con sistema operativo Android (fino ad ora considerato sicuro), sia affetto da un pericoloso malware.

A scoprirlo è stato Pedro Bustamante di Panda Security, il quale ha mostrato come alcuni HTC Magic distribuiti in Spagna da Vodafone contengono vari malware.
In pratica nel sistema è presente un codice che, durante la sincronizzazione tra dispositivo e Pc, apre su Windows una backdoor (verso il botnet Mariposa) capace di sottrarre informazioni delicate presenti sul computer stesso.
Non finisce qui: tali dispositivi sono affetti anche dal conosciutissimo malware Conficker e da un altro programma capace di sottrarre le password del gioco Lineage.
Probabilmente gli smartphone sono stati infettati da Pc Windows durante la configurazione in fase di produzione.
Il problema è limitato solo ai Pc Windows, e, sembra, solo in Spagna.
Grazie Dario per la segnalazione
[fonte]

Oggi vi mostriamo la nuova custodia per iPad presentata da Quirky.

Si chiama Cloak, è un case sportivo ed è realizzata in plastica e gomma antiscivolo. Si chiude tramite cerniera, fornendo protezione integrale all’iPad, ma una volta aperto può essere utilizzato come supporto per mantenere il dispositivo in modalità landscape.
La custodia sarà presto disponibile al prezzo di 36$.

Roma – Il fisico Charles “Chuck” Thacker, 67 anni, è stato insignito del prestigioso premio A.M. Turing, il premio nobel dell’informatica che va a colui che ha fornito nel corso dell’anno il maggiore contributo nel campo dei computer.

Solitamente il premio, accompagnato da un assegno da 250 mila dollari, viene attribuito per lavori concettuali o teorici, mentre Thacker se l’è aggiudicato per i contributi forniti nel campo del design e della costruzione del computer: è solo la seconda volta nella storia del premio che viene accordato per questo settore (la prima volta era andato a Maurice Wilkes nel 1967).

Il contributo di Thacker è stato importantissimo per la realizzazione di Alto, il primo PC moderno e il prototipo del PC collegato, per le workstation multiprocessore e per le basi dei tablet attuali (in particolare per quanto riguarda l’interazione diretta con l’utente). Laureato come detto in fisica, Thacker ha lavorato in alcuni dei centri più importanti per ciò che riguarda la ricerca informatica, a partire dallo Xerox PARC, passando per il DEC Systems Research Center e infine il Microsoft Research Cambridge.

L’esperienza e i risultati accumulati in anni di lavoro gli hanno garantito fama e apprezzamenti, tanto da venire oggi considerato come “uno dei più importanti ingegneri informatici nella storia di questo campo”.

Thacker, infatti, con il computer Alto ha introdotto tecnologie che hanno dominato per decenni lo scenario, dall’utilizzo dei display bitmap che permettevano le moderne GUI (graphical user interface) e gli editor WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get), alle connessioni locali Ethernet originali (da cui derivano quelle utilizzate oggi), fino a gettare le basi per i moderni tablet.

Claudio Tamburrino

Roma – Che cosa si nasconde dietro l’interruzione di servizi fondamentali per il web come quelli offerti dai capaci datacenter di Google? In seguito a una “degradazione” generale delle appliance basate sull’infrastruttura App Engine avvenuta lo scorso febbraio, Mountain View ha analizzato la situazione e offre ora un resoconto abbastanza dettagliato su cosa è andato male, cosa non doveva succedere, e sul perché l’efficienza di recupero delle macchine è ancora meno importante della capacità degli uomini (in questo caso i tecnici in loco) di reagire alle emergenze seguendo le procedure più indicate.

“Il 24 febbraio del 2010″, scrive l’App Engine Team sul gruppo ufficiale, “tutte le applicazioni basate su Googe App Engine si sono trovate in un stato operativo variamente degradato per un periodo di due ore e venti minuti” fino alle 18:09 ora di Greenwich.

La causa fondamentale del problema è stata individuata in una temporanea interruzione di corrente nel data center primario di Google e, sebbene l’infrastruttura sia progettata per risollevarsi in fretta in occasioni del genere, la “rarità” del problema in combinazione con i problemi riscontrati nell’interpretare le procedure interne ha esteso il periodo di durata del malfunzionamento.La “rarità” del problema consiste nel fatto che le procedure di spostamento e ripristino del carico di lavoro verso centri sostitutivi prevedono che si verifichi uno stato di “general failure” riguardante la stragrande maggioranza delle macchine, mentre nel caso specifico l’interruzione di corrente ha impattato soltanto sul 25 per cento dei server presenti nel data center.

In occasione di questo peculiare incidente, i tecnici del centro si sono trovati a fronteggiare una situazione nuova senza avere regole specifiche da seguire, il che ha portato a una analisi erronea della situazione che ha a sua volta esteso oltremisura il periodo di “downtime”. Nel mezzo ci sono ovviamente capitati gli utenti, lesti a segnalare i problemi lato server, e costretti a subire la mancanza di coordinazione tra il personale più che l’ostracismo intransigente e capzioso dell’infrastruttura hardware.

Che fare, dunque, per evitare che capitino nuovi incidenti del genere? Google dice di aver approntato piani di ripristino in caso di fallimenti hardware parziali, oltre a nuove procedure di analisi che siano in grado di verificare se App Engine è in grado di funzionare lo stesso anche con una percentuale minoritaria di server offline.

Ma soprattutto, Mountain View ha messo in atto una pratica di “esercitazioni” regolari per lo staff messo di fronte a un ampio numero di necessità di intervento, senza dimenticare l’audizione bimestrale di tutti i documenti operativi. Grazie alla messa in atto delle nuove procedure, promette Google, l’incidente di febbraio sarebbe durato soltanto 20 minuti e avrebbe al massimo rallentato le applicazioni invece di mandarle tutte in crash.

Alfonso Maruccia

Roma – Sia Mozilla che Apple stanno testando versioni sperimentali dei rispettivi browser che promettono di minimizzare la possibilità che il crash di un plugin possa causare il crash dell’intero browser.

Della soluzione impiegata da Apple si sa ancora molto poco: a farne menzione è Apple Insider, il quale ha appreso da alcuni bet tester che l’imminente versione 4.0.5 di Safari “impiegherà un plugin manager decisamente migliorato, concepito per ridurre il numero dei crash causati dai plugin, incluso Adobe Flash”.

Del progetto di Mozilla, noto come Electrolysis, si conoscono invece molti più dettagli. ?noto come alla base di Electrolysis vi sia un’architettura multiprocesso simile a quella utilizzata da Google Chrome, architettura che isolerà i plugin – e non solo quelli – in un processo separato dal browser.Electrolysis, di cui Ars Technica riporta qui le ultime novità, viene attualmente testato da Mozilla all’interno di alcune nightly build di Firefox. Questa nuova architettura dovrebbe fare il suo debutto in Firefox 4.0, il cui rilascio è previsto per la seconda metà dell’anno.

Come detto, i plugin non saranno i soli componenti a girare in un processo separato dal browser: Electrolysis applicherà questo meccanismo anche alle tab, in modo tale che il crash o il blocco di una scheda non pregiudichi il corretto funzionamento delle altre. A beneficiare di questo approccio non è soltanto la stabilità generale del browser, ma anche la sicurezza e le performance.

Alessandro Del Rosso

Roma – Inizialmente erano state fornite spiegazioni piuttosto vaghe: i server della software house francese Ubisoft erano rimasti inaccessibili a causa di una domanda eccezionale relativa ai giochi Assassin’s Creed 2 e Silent Hunter V. Ora, Ubisoft ha chiesto ufficialmente scusa alle migliaia di giocatori che erano state tirate fuori dai game nel corso dell’ultimo fine settimana.

Per oltre dieci ore, a partire dalla mattinata della scorsa domenica, un vasto numero di player non era riuscito a collegarsi ai server del game publisher transalpino. Un vero problema, dato l’obbligo loro imposto di giocare soltanto se connessi. E anche una beffa, dato che i possessori della versione crackata sembra riuscissero nel frattempo a giocare tranquillamente.

Una beffa che sembra non essere andata particolarmente a genio ai legittimi acquirenti dei due nuovi, attesi titoli. Sui forum sono piovute critiche non troppo velate. “Questo penalizza semplicemente acquirenti legittimi come me che vorrebbero giocare, ma non possono”, ha dichiarato un utente. Un altro player – altrettanto scontento – ha sottolineato l’irritante silenzio della stessa Ubisoft su quanto accaduto.Ma la software house francese ha alla fine parlato, gettando luce sul vero motivo del recente crash dei suoi server. “Ubisoft chiede scusa a tutti i giocatori che non sono riusciti a giocare a SH 5 e AC 2 – ha spiegato un comunicato ufficiale – I nostri server sono stati vittima di un attacco e, sebbene non siano caduti, il normale servizio ha subito una limitazione dalle 2.30 alle 9.30 ora di Parigi”.

Secondo le dichiarazioni di Ubisoft, gli attacchi non avrebbero coinvolto il 95 per cento dei player, ma semplicemente una ristretta cerchia che – dopo il tentativo di dare avvio ad una sessione di gioco – ha dovuto osservare un avviso di errore di tipo DDoS. Il game publisher transalpino ha quindi spiegato ai suoi utenti che è attualmente al lavoro per evitare che ciò accada nuovamente nel futuro.

Mauro Vecchio

Roma – A pochi giorni dal suo rilascio, Opera 10.50 deve affrontare una vulnerabilità che, stando alle più recenti informazioni, può essere potenzialmente sfruttata per eseguire del codice a distanza.

Secunia spiega in un advisory che la falla, scoperta dal ricercatore Marcin Ressel, è causata da una non corretta gestione delle richieste HTTP con Content-Length malformato. Un malintenzionato potrebbe approfittarne per causare il crash di Opera ed eseguire del codice a propria scelta.

Per il momento la vulnerabilità è stata verificata nella versione 10.50 di Opera, ma Secunia non esclude che anche altre versioni del browser norvegese siano vulnerabili.In questo post Secunia afferma che sulla vulnerabilità c’è stata parecchia confusione: la vera causa del problema è emersa solo dopo che il problema era già stato divulgato, inoltre Opera Software avrebbe inizialmente sottovalutato la debolezza.

“Negli scorsi giorni abbiamo lavorato insieme a Opera Software fornendole i dettagli necessari a chiarire che la minaccia non è legata soltanto al crash del browser, ma anche alla potenziale esecuzione di codice” si legge nel post di Secunia. “Opera Software ci ha fatto sapere che ora sta gestendo il problema come una vulnerabilità e che rilascerà un advisory e un fix il più presto possibile”.

Agli utenti di Opera 10.x non resta dunque che attendere l’imminente patch, ponendo nel frattempo massima attenzione durante la navigazione.

Alessandro Del Rosso

Online vacation rental giant HomeAway this morning announced that it is expanding its global footprint and moving into South America with the acquisition of the publisher of AlugueTemporada.com.br, Brazil’s leading vacation rental site. The terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
With its acquisition of what HomeAway claims is the largest vacation rental website in South America with over 12,000 property listings, the company is for the first time extending its virtual borders beyond North America and Europe and increasing its total vacation rental listings to a respectable 475,000 properties.
AlugueTemporada.com.br will continue to operate as an independent brand from its office in Rio de Janeiro, the city that will – conveniently – be hosting both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Seems like HomeAway is on a bit of a buying spree more than two years after it raised a whopping $250 million in a single financing round – just last week it announced that it had purchased BedAndBreakfast.com for an equally undisclosed sum.
HomeAway also operates HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, BedAndBreakfast.com and VacationRentals.com in the US and multiple vacation rental sites in France, the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
Expect more small acquisitions from HomeAway in the months to come.

F1 2010 Timing App è l’unica applicazione ufficiale della Formula Uno presente in AppStore che consente di trasformare il nostro iPhone in uno schermo telemetrico come quelli usati dai vari Team durante le gare. Ora aggiornata alla stagione 2010!

L’applicazione offre una serie completa di dati ed informazioni che completano in modo tecnico l’esperienza dei Gran Premi; potremo visualizzare una riproduzione esatta del tracciato su cui è visibile l’esatta posizione di ogni vettura e facendo un tap su una qualsiasi di esse accedere alle informazioni relative al pilota, con i vari distacchi da avversari che precedono o seguono ed i singoli tempi su giro presi in tempo reale dagli strumenti telemetrici presenti sulla pista.

Quando si è impossibilitati a godersi le immagini della gare in TV è comunque possibile rimanere informati grazie ai commenti scritti in diretta nell’apposita sezione dell’applicazione o consultare una completa banca dati di informazioni e curiosità riguardanti piloti, team, tracciati, classifiche e news provenienti dal mondo delle F1.

Il prezzo di F1 2010 Timing App è decisamente elevato rispetto alla media delle applicazioni presenti in AppStore ma se lo considerate diluito per tutti i Gran Premi della stagione può rappresentare davvero un Must Have per gli appassionati di questo Sport.

[via]

Google’s recently announced $25 million acquisition of DocVerse represented one saga of an ongoing war between Google and Microsoft over dominance in the productivity suite place. Today, Israeli enterprise software company Mainsoft is launching a Docverse-like plug-in that may up the ante in the battle. Harmony is launching free plug-ins that bring Google Docs documents and Microsoft SharePoint document libraries directly to Microsoft Outlook.
Once downloaded, Harmony for Google Docs will open in a sidebar pane within Outlook. The new Harmony sidebar enables people to share a single, centralized copy of the document, eliminating the many intermediary steps associated with sending e-mail attachments back and forth. The plug-in allows users to locate, share, and work on Google documents directly from their email client.
Once logged in to your Google account, you’ll be able to drag any files (ie Microsoft Word files, PDFs) directly from an email to the Harmony sidebar to upload and convert them to Google documents. You can drag a Google document from the sidebar to create links in your e-mail messages and meeting requests to other users and viewers. Harmony automatically shares the document with the recipients. You can decide to give recipients read or write access. Recipients simply click the link in the message to open the document in their browser and don’t need to have Harmony installed to view the document.
Harmony also allows you to search document contents on Google Docs from the Harmony search box and locate documents using the View Bar, which allows you to switch between common views, such as spreadsheets, starred items, items owned by or shared with you, and more. One of the major features of Harmony is the ability to actually open and edit Google documents from directly in Outlook. All your changes are saved online and are available to your colleagues. You can organize and create folders to store Google Docs and also save Google documents in Office format. Harmony can export Google documents to Office, Open Office, PDF, RTF, HTML, TXT, and image formats.

The SharePoint plug-in isn’t nearly as sexy as as the Google Docs app but still offers a useful set of tools for enterprise users. The plug-in aims to transform Microsoft Outlook into a collaboration console, with access to documents stored on SharePoint. Similar to the Google Docs plug-in, you can drag e-mail attachments or entire e-mail messages to publish them on SharePoint. You can search the contents of documents in your current SharePoint site or library and share documents via e-mail message, calendar appointment, or task. You can edit a document from within Outlook, view document history and more.
Harmony was built using SharePoint Web Services interfaces and Google Docs open APIs and in the process has transformed Microsoft Outlook into a more collaborative application. Most importantly, the Google Docs plug-in makes the transition between web-based documents and the desktop email client seamless. It gives Microsoft users the best of both worlds, much like Docverse did with Microsoft Word documents and web-based files. If you use Microsoft Outlook and Google Docs, the plug-in seems like a no brainer to download. Plus its conveniently free. Considering the fate of Docverse, it may only be a matter of time before Microsoft and Google come sniffing around Harmony.

BigBoss ha appena rilasciato su Cydia lo spoofer del firmware 3.1.3, grazie al quale potrete far credere ad iTunes di avere l’ultimo firmware installato quando in realtà l’iPhone monta ancora una versione precedente.

Lo scopo di questo spoofer è quello di consentire l’installazione di applicazioni che richiedono il nuovo firmware 3.1.3. Molti utenti con iPhone jailbroken, infatti, proprio perchè il nuovo firmware non apporta particolari migliorie, hanno deciso di rimanere al firmware precedente, ma ora su AppStore sono presenti molte applicazioni che richiedono esplicitamente tale aggiornamento.
Installando lo spoofer simulerete la presenza del nuovo firmware su iPhone. Per tornare alla situazione precedente basta disinstallare il tool e riavviare l’iPhone.
“Firmware 3.1.3″ è disponibile gratuitamente su Cydia.

 
E uscita la nuova versione del Android NDK (Native Development Kit) con una importante novità.

Infatti e stato aggiunto il supporto alle librerie OpenGL ES 2.0 a partire da Android 2.0 e successivi. Quindi in futuro ci possiamo aspettare applicazioni e giochi graficamente molto più definiti ed accattivanti dal punto di vista della grafica 3D.
Se volete avere delle info potete visitare Android Developers
Saluti dal vostro AndyPower

Con i suoi 23.000 metri quadrati ha superato il magazzino della Coop di Prato, che per un po&’ ha goduto del titolo di “tetto fotovoltaico più grande d&’Italia”: il deposito Atm di Milano Precotto, che serve la linea metropolitana M1 e la tranvia, da tre mesi produce energia elettrica.

I pannelli solari montati sul tetto servono ad alimentare parzialmente la linea 1 del metrò: sono in grado di produrre 1,4 milioni di kilowattora all&’anno e da quando sono operativi hanno permesso di ridurre le emissioni di CO2 di 70.000 Kg.

Il tetto fotovoltaico è stato realizzato mediante un Finanziamento Tramite Terzi: la società Dedalo Esco ha creato l&’impianto, corrisponde ad Atm l&’affitto del tetto e rientra delle spese tramite il Conto Energia (il programma europeo di incentivazione).

Il tetto fotovoltaico di Precotto per alimentare la metropolitana – un progetto unico non solo in Italia ma anche in Europa – è “un tassello importante del piano d&’efficienza energetica messo a punto da Atm”, come spiega Elio Catania, presidente della società.

L&’obiettivo dell&’intero programma è di totalizzare “un risparmio medio di 14 milioni di kWh/anno di energia elettrica tra il 2007 e il 2010″.

Con Lost Planet 2, Capcom ha fatto le cose in grande. Nell’ultimo trailer del gioco, tutto ?rande: gli ambienti sono grandi, i veicoli sono grandi, i mostri sono grandi e le armi sono grandi. Non per nulla lo slogan del filmato ?ill Big.
Il gioco esce per Xbox 360 e Platstation 3 il 18 Maggio.

Dopo Babel Rising la Bulkypix ha da poco rilasciato in AppStore Maestro Green Groove, un gioco musicale che crea un bel mix tra i classici platform ed il genere “Guitar Hero”.

In una giungla lontana si trova una specie sconosciuta e variopinta di uccelli amanti della musica; questi simpatici orchestratori passano il loro tempo a correre lungo i fili, raccogliere frutta e schiacciare ragni, il tutto a tempo di musica.Noi saremo il direttore d’orchestra ed il nostro compito sarà quello di aiutare Presto (il nome del nostro uccello rosa) a svolgere la sua sinfonia completando i suoi compiti.

Ciò che da a Maestro Green Groove un tocco in più è come il suo aspetto platform interagisce con la musica, saltare, raccogliere oggetti, e toccare i nemici deve essere fatto in sintonia con la colonna sonora ed ogni mossa aggiunge una nota, intonata o meno, alla melodia.

Controllare Presto è abbastanza semplice, pizzicando in su o in giù una corda potremo saltare o cadere ad un filo inferiore; una linea più spessa appare sul filo e questa si restringerà sempre più fin quando Presto non vi arriverà sopra, è quello il momento giusto per eseguire uno swipe e stare a tempo. Anche i ragni, che vengono fuori dal fondo, devono essere toccati al momento giusto, e questo sarà quando i due cerchi che ha attorno si sovrapporranno.

Maestro Green Groove comprende 12 livelli (tre per ognuno dei quattro livelli di difficoltà), ma sono presenti solo tre canzoni, ogni livello di difficoltà aggiunge un po’ di lunghezza in più per la traccia ed aggiunge nuovi elementi di gioco, ma sembra comunque di stare ascoltando le stesse canzoni in ripetizione

Un altro problema è l’elevata difficoltà del gioco, per passare una traccia, è necessario ottenere una valutazione di B+ o superiore e commettendo un solo errore, come ad esempio cadere accidentalmente sbagliando il tempo di un salto, si può compromettere l’intera canzone e questo rende il tutto un po’ frustrante, soprattutto se l’inesattezza avviene verso la fine del livello. C’è da dire però che è possibile eliminare lo stress giocando la modalità libera dove potremo scegliere qualsiasi livello sbloccato e cambiare i suoni con quelli di una lunga lista di strumenti differenti (a corda ed a percussioni) come sitar, tamburo e xilofono.

La grafica lascia un po’ a desiderare, è presa direttamente dalla versione DS e data la bassa risoluzione risulta molto “pixelosa”; è vero che questo non costituisce un vero ostacolo per il gioco che risulta ugualmente gradevole, ma potremo avere qualche problema nella lettura di qualche scritta.
Nel complesso possiamo dire che Maestro Green Grove è un gioco divertente, consigliato a tutti gli amanti della musica, che non spiccherà sicuramente per longevità (date le poche melodie presenti) ma che risulterà al prezzo proposto di soli 0,79? un ottimo compromesso qualità prezzo. Ecco un video dimostrativo del gameplay:

VOTI
Audio: 7,5
Gameplay: 7
Grafica: 5
Longevità: 5
Compatibilità iPhone: 7
Totale: 6,5

Eccoci con il nostro consueto appuntamento dedicato alle migliori offerte presenti attualmente su AppStore, compresa la FREE APP A DAY.

Bulls & Bears da 0,79? a gratuita
Cerca di recuperare tutte le monete…

iSling da 1,59? a gratuita
Uno shooter game ambientato nel Far West

Filmera da 0,79? a gratuita
Fotocamera a tutto schermo, tocca il display per scattare la foto

Dr Planet da 1,59? a gratuita
Arcade game classico ambientato nello spazio

Poker Tower da 0,79? a gratuita
Gioco di poker

Stop and Go da 0,79? a gratuita
Simpatico gioco nel quale dobbiamo gestire una serie di semafori…

Vancouver 2010 da 2,59? a 0,79?
Malgrado le Olimpiade siano finite, questo rimane comunque un ottimo gioco.

Magnetic Joe e Magnetic Joe 2 da 1,59? a gratuita
Due bellissimi puzzle game?

MMS Tool da 2,59? a gratuita
MMS Tool è un programma che ti dà la possibilità di inviare immagini e / o audio utilizzando il normale servizio di SMS. Maggiori info qui.

Wild Space da 0,79? a gratuita
Altro ottimo gioco ambientato nello spazio

Entranced da 2,59? a gratuita
Un gioco consigliato a tutti gli amanti della musica

Original Gangstaz da 0,79? a gratuita – OFFERTA FREE APP A DAY
Classico gioco online di gang war

iOverTheNet da 1,59? a 0,79?
Bellissimo gioco di Beach Volley

You may remember Akoha, a startup which launched at the 2008 TechCrunch50 conference which uses ?mission cards? that friends pass to each other along with a mission ( i.e. give someone a book or buy someone a meal.) The idea is that users will socialize their missions, using your social graph to compete against friends and determine how your missions performed. Akoha has been played in more than 65 countries since the company?s launch.
Today, Akoha is launching an free iPhone app and a redesign of its site. Akoha’s iPhone app. With the new app, Akoha has increased the number of missions that can be played. A now Akoha is rewarding players for completed missions with badges, similar to Foursquare’s badge model. Akoha is also allowing users to socialize missions by integrating with Twitter to allow users to broadcast completed tasks.
Akoha was founded by Austin Hill and Alex Eberts, who together co-founded Zero-Knowledge Systems (now Rdadialpoint) in 1997. In 2008, the startup received $1.9 million in funding from David Chamandy (co-founder, Lavalife), Ron Dembo (founder, Zerofootprint.net), film producer Jake Eberts (Chariots of Fire, Ghandi), and seed fund Montreal Start Up.

Si fanno pi?nsistenti le indiscrezioni che vorrebbero Microsoft al lavoro per realizzare un nuovo modello di Xbox 360, presumibilmente una versione “slim” dalle dimensioni contenute.

Parlando alla University of Washington, qualche giorno fa Steve Ballmer (la bocca pi?rga di Redmond) aveva lasciato intendere che Xbox 360 potrebbe prossimamente donarsi al pubblico in nuovi modelli.
Poich?’espressione usata ?tata “We may have more form factors in the future that are designed for various price points and options”, non ?hiaro se Ballmer alludesse a nuovi ritocchi al prezzo della console oppure a vere e proprie revisioni dell’hardware.

Oggi tuttavia un annuncio di lavoro pubblicato da Microsoft sembrerebbe puntare in direzione della seconda ipotesi: si ricerca infatti un ingegnere elettronico che possa lavorare ad una nuova motherboard della console, lo scopo ?uello di una “aggressiva riduzione dei costi di sviluppo” per poter di conseguenza espandere il mercato di Xbox e prodotti correlati.
Se non sar?avvero un modello alleggerito, quantomeno sappiamo che si sta preparando una nuova SKU differente e pi?rformante per componentistica.

Ingegneri all’ascolto, ecco di seguito l’annuncio, casomai foste interessati a farvi avanti.

Job Category:
Hardware Engineering
Location: United States, CA, Mountain View
Job ID: 714897
Product: Xbox Home
Division: Entertainment & Devices Division

Motherboard Design Engineer
Job Description
The Xbox 360 Console development team is seeking qualified candidates for an Electrical Engineer. The responsibilities of this position are focused on specifying, designing (schematic capture, PCB layout, BOM, cost analysis), implementing and verifying the mother-board and other various sub-system boards that make up the XBOX 360 product line. This work includes development of requirements and evaluating different solution for functionality, cost, and risk. The subsystems on the XBOX 360 mother board include (but are not limited to): High speed busses (front side bus, memory bus, PCIe bus, SATA bus, USB bus, I2S, etc.), memory, Ethernet, audio/video, system clocking, power and thermal management, and misc. analog/digital circuitry.
The XBOX 360 Console Development team is responsible for aggressive cost reduction of the console throughout the life of the product as well as expanding the market for the console in derivative products. The position involves working closely with industrial designers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, software engineers, test engineers, component engineers, and program managers.

Qualifications:
Minimum BS/MS in Electrical Engineering
Minimum of 4 years experience contributing to the design and production of complex products in the consumer PC or consumer electronic industry.
A solid understanding of core engineering principles, fundamental circuit design, and analytical techniques is required.
Familiarity with PC, embedded system architectures hardware and software, experience with implementation of high speed serial busses (SATA, PCIe, USB) and/or high speed parallel busses such as: memory bus (DDR2, GDDR3, etc.), CPU front side bus, Hyper transport, and/or voltage regulator/power delivery design a plus.
Design for manufacturing and test experience is required.
Strong bench evaluation and in-lab debugging skills are required.
Strong communication skills required. Including the ability to clearly express technical concepts in verbal and written forms.
Must be able to plan work, and work to a plan adapting as necessary in a rapidly evolving environment.
The ability to comprehend and assimilate technical concepts across multiple disciplines is a plus.
Enthusiastic, motivated and self driven.
Domestic and international travel may be required.

Codemasters ha presentato su Official Xbox Magazine il suo nuovo shooter Bodycount, erede spirituale di Black. Proprio come il fps uscito su Xbox e PlayStation 2 nel 2006, molta enfasi sarebbe riposta nel feeling con le devastanti armi a disposizione del giocatore, tanto da venire definito addirittura come nuovo archetipo del genere fps.

Il gioco uscir?er PlayStation 3 ed Xbox 360 nel primo trimestre del 2011. Di seguito i primi screenshots del gioco ed il comunicato ufficiale diramato da Codemasters.

BODYCOUNT™ REVEALED AS CODEMASTERS STUDIOS GUILDFORD’S NEW SHOOTER IP

New game from Creative Director Stuart Black set to reboot shooter gun play.

BLAH (2pm UK TIME) – Set to rip apart the First Person Shooter and deliver genre-defining gun play that comes alive in an orgy of bullets and destruction, Codemasters today confirmed that Bodycount™ is the new IP in production at Codemasters Studios Guildford.

Designed by Creative Director Stuart Black (co-creator and designer of Black, 2006), Bodycount is being created by an all-star development team using the EGO® Game Technology Platform, an evolution of Codemasters’ award-winning engine, for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and scheduled for release in Q1 of 2011.

“Our core focus for Bodycount is to deliver best-in-class gun play that places the gamer at the heart of the experience,” said Executive Producer Tom Gillo. “From the jaw-dropping devastation caused by firing into enemies or shredding the world around you in a hail of bullets, Bodycount will crystallise that moment of pulling the trigger into an exhilarating sensory overload of action.”

In Bodycount players become ensnared in a clandestine global power struggle as a powerful combat asset with a green-light to eliminate enemies known only as ‘Targets’ on behalf of the ‘Network’. Equipped with a mouth-watering selection of contemporary weapons, players and opponents tear through destructible cover to execute explosive kills in a shreddable world where operatives are encouraged to leave no witnesses. Complimented by online multiplayer and co-operative game modes, Bodycount will blast outrageous action and spectacular fire-fights from both barrels.

“We’re all massive FPS fans,” said Stuart Black, Creative Director on Bodycount “and believe that there’s room for a refresh of the shooter experience. If Race Driver: GRID™ was all about the purity of racing, then everything in Bodycount is absolutely centred on the bullet and its impact on the world. Our shredding tech enables us to create a different kind of gameplay, where players and AI can’t hide behind indestructible cover and rely on whack-a-mole mechanics. Here the environment is constantly changing as the game world is shot to hell; it’s going to be a huge amount of fun.”

Bodycount is being developed using the EGO Game Technology platform, evolved from the award winning EGO Engine. Enabling Codemasters development talent to share tools and technology across its Studios and Central Technology teams, the EGO Game Technology Platform empowers Codemasters game designers to realise their creative visions across multiple platforms featuring cutting edge graphics, powerful AI and advanced physics systems and integrated network play.

“By investing extensively in our people and tools, we have attracted an exciting team of development talent to Codemasters Studios Guildford, empowered with a mandate to create innovative, original games using award-winning technology,” said Gavin Cheshire, Vice President, Codemasters development. “As our first internally produced new IP for many years, Bodycount will deliver a fresh FPS experience powered by intense combat, compelling narrative, advanced AI and engaging online multiplayer game modes.”

In the UK, Bodycount debuts with a front cover of Xbox 360: The Official Xbox Magazine, which heralds the game as ‘the ultimate shooter’; the magazine is on-sale March 11th. An extensive announcement feature is also running in PlayStation Official Magazine on-sale March 16th.

For all the latest on Bodycount follow @bodycountgame on Twitter (www.twitter.com/bodycountgame), become a fan on Facebook or visit www.codemasters.com/bodycount

Alcuni giorni fa è stata pubblicata su AppStore l?applicazione Area133 (0,79?), che ricordiamo consente l?accesso alle informazioni presenti nell?Area Clienti 133 del portale di 3 Italia, ed oggi è stato rilasciato un nuovo update.

Adesso è possibile gestire tutte le SIM associate allo stesso account senza dover effettuare l’autenticazione con altre credenziali e di modificare le etichette delle celle facendo scorrere il dito sulle stesse perché a volte (soprattutto nelle soglie) capitava che una descrizione troppo lunga andasse a “coprire” il valore della soglia. Inoltre è stato anche ottimizzato il codice.

Since its launch almost exactly a year ago, Foursquare’s website has largely had the same basic design. Tonight, it looks like that’s finally getting updated.
While it looks like the update is still in the process of rolling out to all the pages, Foursquare.com now clearly has new system-wide toolbars, a brand new sign-up page, as well as some new settings. You might also notice a new, name-only logo.
While it’s been clear for a while that Foursquare has been working on a site redesign, only in the past few days have signs started to show that it was coming. For example, a completely revamped History area showed up a few days ago, one allowing for venues to have categories as well as show which friends you checked-in with at places.
The biggest part of the changes currently rolling out is to the sign-up page. The new step-by-step process looks highly influenced by Twitter’s sign-up page (which they too tweaked a few times over the years). The process now allows you to sign up, easily find friends already using Foursquare via Twitter or Facebook Connect, as well as link up to those aforementioned networks. After you do that, there’s a one-page rundown of what you can do with Foursquare (such as download one of the mobile apps, earn badges, and explore cities).
These sign-up pages are important for convincing new users to not only sign up, but also showing them what to do. With Foursquare signing mainstream deals left and right, they’re going to need this.

Something else that appears to be new: an option in the setting page for  letting local businesses see that you have checked-in at their venue. When you click the link to learn more, it says:
We allow verified venue owners to see statistics about checkins at their venue. These stats include recent visitors, most frequent visitors and most popular checkin times. You can always opt out if you’d rather not share this data with the venues you visit.
Sadly, with the redesign, there is still no way to check-in from the site itself. You have to use one of the app, the mobile web, or text messaging to do that.
Speaking of mobile apps, Foursquare is about to launch a completely redesigned iPhone app as well. All of these moves are necessary if Foursquare is going to keep up with its better-designed rival, Gowalla (which also just revamped its website).
Something else interesting from tonight: apparently the concept of “checking-in” made its onscreen debut on the popular TV show Gossip Girl. Co-founder Dennis Crowley noted the move and tweeted out a picture of it captured from the show. While there is no specific mention of Foursquare, it’s pretty obvious what they’re paying homage to. And Foursquare actually has paid homage the other way, with its “Gossip Girl” badge.
The move towards the mainstream continues.

Codemasters ha svelato le primissime immagini dell’attesa simulaziona automobilistica Formula 1 2010, prossimamente in arrivo su PC e console.
Non si tratta, per il momento, di materiale direct feed, bens?i scansioni di una rivista, quindi la qualit?on ?ccelsa. In compenso possiamo leggere quello che Official Xbox Magazine ha da rilevare sul gioco: tutte ottime notizie, pare.

Quello che colpisce al primo impatto ?a grande cura del comparto grafico, definito molto sopra gli standard degli altri racing. Nonostante lo sviluppo del gioco sia ancora in fieri, l’EGO engine si dimostra quindi di eccellente qualit?gestendo in maniera incredibile sia i tracciati che i dettagliatissimi spalti lungo le piste nonch?e condizioni meteorologiche in real-time delle gare, che avranno molta influenza sulla prestazione del giocatore data l’accuratezza della simulazione.

Il gioco consta anche di una componente gestionale del team della scuderia scelta, con influenze quasi da rpg, e di una modalit?i corsa fuori strada, raccogliendo l’eredit?i DIRT 2 per cos?isultare gradito ad un pubblico pi?riegato rispetto ai soli amanti della F1.

Vi riportiamo agli scans di OXM per la fonte (in inglese) di quanto sintetizzato e la visualizzazione delle immagini. Nella versione provata da OXM le vetture utilizzate sono ancora quelle del 2009 ma il parco macchine sar?vviamente aggiornato al 2010 per l’uscita del gioco.

Roma – Confermando le indiscrezioni circolate nelle scorse settimane, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe ha annunciato che gli utenti di PlayStation 3 potranno fruire della modalità di visione 3D (stereoscopica) con un semplice aggiornamento del firmware.

“Gli utenti PS3 di tutto il mondo non avranno bisogno di ricomprare il sistema per godere dei giochi in 3D: gli basterà scaricare via Internet un aggiornamento al software della PS3″, ha spiegato Nainan Shah, dirigente di Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Shah ha poi aggiunto che la possibilità di aggiungere una funzione così importante con un semplice aggiornamento software è anche merito della grande potenza e versatilità del processore Cell. Questo stesso processore viene peraltro utilizzato sui televisori top di gamma di Toshiba, anch’essi 3D-ready.Il dirigente di SCEE non l’ha specificato, ma stando alle indiscrezioni l’update verrà distribuito entro l’inizio dell’estate e porterà il numero di versione 3.20.

Lo scorso dicembre Sony ha preannunciato il lancio, nel corso del 2010, dei primi giochi stereoscopici per PS3. In quell’occasione John Koller di Sony Computer Entertainment America ha spiegato che per godere della visione 3D sarebbero stati necessari occhiali specifici e un televisore compatibile. Non è un caso che la presentazione dei primi titoli stereoscopici dovrebbe avvenire proprio in occasione del lancio dei primi televisori 3D targati Sony.

Nel frattempo il consorzio HDMI Licensing ha pubblicato la nuova specifica HDMI 1.4a, che aggiunge alla famosa interfaccia di connessione video il supporto alla distribuzione di contenuti 3D in alta definizione. Qualcosa di simile a quanto fatto dallo standard concorrente DisplayPort con il recente rilascio della versione 1.2.

Alessandro Del Rosso

src=”http://pagead2.googlesyndication.com/pagead/show_ads.js”>
BigBlueButton è un progetto open source che permette di creare conferenze e meeting online senza installare software aggiuntivi.

Il progetto è open source, abbiamo la possibilità di provare una demo o leggere una documentazione dettagliata.
L’applicazione permette di creare meeting e far accedere nello stesso tempo più utenti tramite VOIP condividendo le proprie webcam o desktop.
Il progetto è strutturato specificamente per formazione a distanza o per riunioni interne.
Abbiamo la possibilità di caricare presentazioni PDF o documenti di Office, e avere un’ottima navigazione tramite zoom, puntatori ecc.
BigBlueButton si basa completamente su tecnologia open source e può essere ulteriormente migliorata con le API fornite.

With the SXSW conference approaching in Austin, we are seeing a lot of geo-location launching this year. A lot of startups are taking advantage of Foursquare’s APIs in particular to get their geo apps quickly out of the gate.
Take FourWhere. It is a pretty basic mashup of Foursquare comments and venues overlayed on Google Maps. You can search by city and neighborhood, and see all the recent tips from people who have checked into various nearby restaurants, bars, stores, and offices. The site forces you to right-click to see comments or venues instead of just having a menu in the side, but it does the job.
I’m kind of surprised Foursquare doesn’t offer the exact same functionality, but that’s what APIs are for. Sometimes startups need other startups to show them what they should be doing.
FourWhere was created a demo app for SXSW by social media analytics firm Sysomos. It plans to add more data from services like Yelp, Twitter, and Gowalla in the future, which brings up the issue of whether it picked the best name.

I maggiori quotidiani statunitensi, come il New York Times ed il Wall Street Journal, hanno da subito mostrato grande interesse per iPad e, sin dal giorno della presentazione, hanno cercato di ottimizzare al massimo i propri siti web e di lavorare intensamente allo sviluppo di applicazioni dedicate.

Anche USA Today, altra testata di grande importanza, ha mostrato ieri che ovviamente non sarà da meno, presentando la sua nuova applicazione ufficiale dedicata esclusivamente iPad, gia disponibile dal giorno del lancio del nuovo dispositivo Apple.
La dimostrazione è avvenuta per l’ E-reader Symposium 2010 al Donald W. Reynolds Institute all’ Università del Missouri in Columbia ed è stata guidata da Chuck Rose che ha affermato:
“Quando Steve Jobs annunciato iPad, [l'editore di USA Today David Hunke] ha sottolineato la nostra volontà di essere nello store già dal giorno del lancio“.
L’applicazione è stata sviluppata da Mercury Intermedia che aveva già lavorato insieme ad USA Today nella versione per iPhone e verrà inserita in AppStore non appena Apple ne darà la possibilità.
[via]

It’s a little surprising to see a Twitter application coming out of Fuze Box (formerly CallWave), which creates visual collaboration product. The company has clearly caught the Twitter bug (albeit a little late) and today is launching Tweetshare, an third party Twitter app that allows anyone to immediately publish any type of content to the web, including HD video, presentations, images and more and automatically start Twitter conversation threads around their content. It’s kind of like FriendFeed meets Twitpic or Twitvid. Tweetshare has also rolled out a companion iPhone app that allows mobile users to upload content, tweet and create discussions on the Tweetshare platform.
A social alternative to static landing pages, Tweetshare aims to be a Twitterfied-Facebook Fan Page. Twitter users can post relevant content, such as presentations, images, videos and PDFs, and can also Tweet from the platform. Any comments made on a Tweetshare page or similarly, made on Twitter in response to posted content is also threaded on the page. A free application, Tweetshare also provides measurement and analytics tools, including polling functionality and the ability for users to become a fan of a brand?s Tweetshare Fan Page. And similar to YouTube channels and Facebook pages, Tweetshare Fan Pages can be branded and customized.
The site is missing Facebook connect, but Fuze Box says this will be rolled out soon. Of course, Mixx offers branded Twitter channels through TweetMixx, which offer some of the functionality of Tweetshare. And Tweetmeme also offers a similar product. Its unclear if there is any monetization that can be made from the Tweetshare, but the application seems that it could be useful.
Fuze Box has a pretty unique history as far as startups go. CallWave was founded in 1998 and went public in 2004, trading on NASDAQ under the ticker symbol CALL. After reaching a peak soon thereafter of over $15 per share, the stock dropped steadily, dipping as low as 50 cents early this year. Deciding to cut its losses, the company delisted itself from NASDAQ on Monday after buying back shares from public shareholders at a 44% premium over the current market value and paying out a total of $10 million. Last summer, the company rebranded itself as Fuze Box and launched Fuze Meeting, which it?s pitting as a sleeker, lighter, and cheaper alternative to services like WebEx.
Although the company has experienced some tough times over the past few years, it appears to be in a better place now. And the startup is obviously broadening its product base. However, while a little late to the Twitter frenzy, Fuze Box is moving in the right direction.

CauseWorld, a mobile app that lets users check in to retail shops for credits that can be donated to charity, is clearly on a roll. The app first launched in December as ?the first mobile application that let?s you do good deeds simply for walking into a store.?
CauseWorld app users earn ?karma points? when they walk into stores and check in with their cell phone. No purchase is required at any store, and karma points can be redeemed nine predefined good causes. Big brands like Kraft Foods and Citi (both are on board) then turn the karmas into real dollar donations to those causes. Food for poor families, water in Sudan, trees in the Amazon, etc. are examples of the causes.
The company has now donated about half of the original $500,000 donated by Kraft and Citi for the test period. And these brands seem to be happy. CauseWorld has been downloaded more than 300,000 times, probably putting it on par with location based check in networks like FourSquare. Last week Proctor and Gamble said it will give users karma points for scanning the bar codes of 27 products, like toothpaste or face cream. And now Citi will announce that it is expanding it’s support of CauseWorld. It’s total contribution is now at $700,000.
The charity angle on CauseWorld is brilliant and gives users an added incentive to check in at retail stores. But ultimately what Shopkick, the company behind CauseWorld, is aiming for is a bridge between the mobile world and the physical retail space. CauseWorld. Shopkick has much bigger plans, they say, that’s all very hush-hush. Sometime later this year we’ll see their new product.
The company, founded by Cyriac Roeding, has attracted some of the most high profile investors in Silicon Valley: Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Reid Hoffman.
The press release is below:
CITI INCREASES CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEW ‘CAUSEWORLD’ APP FROM SHOPKICK, INC.

CauseWorld adds two leading microfinance organizations to its cadre of consumer-supported causes

New York, NY ? March 9, 2010 ? Citi announced today that it will expand its support of shopkick, Inc.’s successful CauseWorld application by providing an additional $350,000 in financial support for CauseWorld causes. Citi’s total contribution now stands at $700,000. About half has already been given to the causes by Citi on behalf of CauseWorld shoppers.
Citi also announced that the CauseWorld application would add two microfinance organizations ? BRAC and ACCION USA ? to its cadre of causes to which shoppers with the app may now donate.
“Already, the CauseWorld app is having a strong impact. It speaks volumes about the potential power of location-based mobile services. Citi continues to explore ways to bring new value, including convenience and smarter ways to use money, to customers and potential customers by working with leading companies, VCs, and startups like shopkick,” said Jeff Semenchuk, head of Citi?s Growth Ventures unit. “Citi is committed to meeting our customers’ emerging mobile, retail and payment needs,” he said.
“The CauseWorld app is proving to be a very effective way for Citi to support leading social impact-focused nonprofit institutions. The fact that shoppers are making the decisions makes it all the more interesting. We’re pleased that the CauseWorld app will also now include two of the leading microfinance organizations, BRAC and ACCION USA,” said Robert Annibale, Global Director of Citi Microfinance and Community Relations.
ACCION USA brings affordable microfinance solutions to small business owners. It funds microcredit loans and financial education programs that help American small business owners grow and thrive.
BRAC is a development organization dedicated to alleviating poverty by empowering the poor to bring about changes in their own lives. Shopper-generated ?karma? will help provide microcredit loans to give poor women in Africa the tools they need to generate income for themselves and their families.
CauseWorld users will be able to donate to BRAC and ACCION USA immediately.
Since its December 23 launch, Citi has helped support a number of important causes through CauseWorld, including providing clean water for people in developing countries such as Sudan, providing meals to families in the US, planting trees as well as donating books. CauseWorld users are also benefiting Haitian and Chilean earthquake relief efforts.
“Citi saw the potential in CauseWorld before the app was even built,” said shopkick CEO Cyriac Roeding. “It’s every entrepreneur’s dream to work with people who ‘get’ the idea, even before it becomes reality. Citi’s new microfinance causes and additional financial contribution underscore their focus on creating sustainable impact.” shopkick is backed by Kleiner Perkins and Reid Hoffman.
The CauseWorld application, available for Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, was released in December. The CauseWorld app works by allowing iPhone and Android users to collect “karmas” by opening the app and “checking-in” when they come close to, or enter, retail stores. Karmas are then funded by Citi and Kraft Foods so that the user can spend collected karmas on real world charitable actions like planting trees, feeding families in America or providing clean water to people in Sudan.
Once the chosen action has been carried out by the charity partner, users can publish their good deeds to their Facebook feed, so all of their friends can see their pride and join in supporting good causes. A list of participating retail stores is included in the CauseWorld app and no purchase is necessary at the stores to earn karmas. With the addition of BRAC and ACCION USA, eleven charities have partnered with the CauseWorld App including: American Red Cross, Feeding America, American Forests, GlobalGiving, DonorsChoose.org, Prevent Child Abuse America, Carbonfund.org, American Humane Association and Room to Read.
How it works:
· Users download the free app on their iPhone.
· Collect karmas, the currency created from sponsorship money from Kraft Foods and Citi, by visiting participating retail locations.
· Spend karmas on real world charitable actions like planting trees, feeding the hungry and providing clean drinking water.
· Charities carry out the actions.
· Publish on Facebook to show friends and family.
· Build up a profile with icons showing all your karma expenditure.
· Earn badges and level up by earning more karma.
The CauseWorld App is available for free from the App Store on iPhone or at www.causeworld.com/iphone.
About Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has approximately 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 140 countries. Through Citicorp and Citi Holdings, Citi provides consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, transaction services, and wealth management. Additional information may be found at www.Citigroup.com or www.Citi.com.
About shopkick
shopkick is a new Menlo Park-based startup funded by Kleiner Perkins’s iFund and Reid Hoffman, founder and Chairman of LinkedIn, and investor in Facebook. shopkick Inc. was founded based on the belief that the intersection of mobile and physical retail is the next big opportunity in mobile to create consumer value. The Silicon Valley-based company’s goal is to drastically improve the shopping experience of consumers by utilizing cell phones’ location awareness, unprecedented personalization capabilities, and social/viral features. shopkick launched its mobile application CauseWorld in the United States in December 2009, supported by Citi and Kraft Foods. The shopkick team consists of mobile and web experts who previously built the mobile division of CBS in Los Angeles, and successful mobile and online ventures in Europe and the U.S. (12snap, GoldPocket Wireless, Loopt, CommerceFlow, Rojo), and from Google, TellMe/Microsoft, and Procter & Gamble.
About ACCION USA
ACCION USA is a leading U.S. microfinance organization that provides access to capital and financial education to low- and moderate-income individuals, primarily minorities and women. A pioneer and recognized leader in U.S. microfinance, ACCION USA empowers individuals to create sustainable businesses, increase family incomes, and contribute to the economic development of cities across the U.S. Since inception in 1991, ACCION USA has provided over $119 million in small business loans ranging from $500 to $50,000, offered nationwide via the ACCION USA online lending platform. For more information about small business loans, visit www.accionusa.org.
BRAC
BRAC, an international development organization, was founded in Bangladesh in 1972 by Fazle Hasan Abed. Today, BRAC has grown to become the world?s largest NGO employing more than 120,000 people, the majority of which are women, and reaching more than 110 million people with development interventions in Asia and Africa. Since 2002, BRAC has been using its experiences of innovating and scaling up multifaceted anti-poverty programs to energize and accelerate poverty alleviation efforts in other countries. Currently BRAC has country programs in Afghanistan, Liberia, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, Southern Sudan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, and Uganda, and is beginning programs in Haiti. BRAC also provides support to other NGOs in Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Pakistan and Peru. BRAC USA is an affiliate office of BRAC that engages volunteers, supporters and other resources to further BRAC?s vision of a world free from all forms of exploitation and discrimination where everyone has the opportunity to realise their potential.

Last October, developer Loren Brichter set the App Store on fire with the sequel to his brilliant iPhone Twitter client, Tweetie. It looks like he’s about to do the same to the Mac.
Brichter sent out a series of teasing tweets today indicating that Tweetie Two is coming soon for the Mac. One, from his atebits account, reads:
Ready… ready?! News about Tweetie Tw… ROOOOOAAAAR!! NOOOO DON’T EAT M *BLAM BLAM*. *CHOMMMPP* Aaaaararrrrrgghhhhhh.
While clearly he’s about to say “News about Tweetie Two,” that in and of itself isn’t very useful. The more useful tweet comes from his personal Twitter account, where he links to a “leaked” screenshot, “Shhh, @atebits doesn’t know I’m leaking screenshots.” To which he replies to himself, “Damn you @lorenb!” Cute.
Better is the screenshot itself (below). While it doesn’t show much of anything beyond what seems to be a frame for Tweetie Two (which he humorously calls “Tweetie Too”), the fact that it’s far enough along to for him to feel comfortable leaking anything is a good sign.
Brichter released Tweetie for Mac last April, following the success of Tweetie (the first one) for the iPhone. It costs you $20 for the ad-free version, but it is well worth it if you’re addicted to Twitter want want a native, non-AIR app (though Echofon has a nice one as well).
So what else do we know about Tweetie Two for the Mac? Brichter actually set up a Formspring.me account where he has answered some questions himself. Notably, the pricing for Tweetie Two will be the same as the first one. Brichter basically spends all his time on the project. And he even designs it himself. Also, “The interface is going to be substantially different,” he writes.
Finally, when asked if he plans to develop for the upcoming iPad, Brichter has just two words, “Hell yeah.” Tweetie for iPad, anyone?

iPhoneItalia crede nella partecipazione attiva degli utenti, come dimostrato iniziative quali Contest Art, Make&Play, sondaggi e tanto altro, ma da oggi iniziamo un nuovo tipo di servizio che consentirà a tutti voi di parlare, discutere e dibattere su questioni riguardanti l’iPhone.

Ogni settimana stileremo un calendario degli appuntamenti su Tilimi, ognuno dedicato ad una particolare materia. Il primo appuntamento è fissato per oggi 9 marzo, dalle ore 18 alle ore 20: sul canale iPhoneItalia di Tilimi (frequenza 11.20) parleremo delle ultime scelte di Apple che ha deciso di togliere numerose applicazioni dall’AppStore (sessuali, WiFi, inutility…). Cercheremo quindi di capirne insieme i motivi e confrontare le varie opinioni.
Insomma, un modo per stare insieme, conoscersi meglio e parlare di iPhone.  Allora segnatevi l’appuntamento odierno: ore 18 su Tilimi, frequenza 11.20.
Ricordiamo che potete partecipare al dibattito sia tramite iPhone, scaricando l’applicazione Tilimi (AppStore – 4,99?), che tramite PC/Mac scaricando la versione desktop, che è disponibile gratuitamente sul sito ufficiale.