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Search Results for: "DATA"

iPad Frenzy is Spiking Interest to iPhone OS Anew

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Mobile Analytics company, Flurry has released some interesting data points relating to the sudden spike in the number of iPhone developers adding their mobile tracking code to new projects.  Flurry observed the sudden spike especially when the hype over the launch of the Apple iPad started to build up prior to the launch in February. The very controversial iPad if you still remember will be running on the same OS used by the iPhone.

Flurry observed that the number of developers adding their analytics tracking code to new iPhone OS apps projects increased by three-fold in January as compared to what was supposed to be a waning interest as observed in the early part of December. During that time, developers seem to have been focusing more on the Android platform.

The mobile analytics firm attributes the spike, which incidentally they claim is the biggest so far in the company’s history to the imminent arrival of the iPad. According to Flurry:

“Historically, Flurry has measured surges in new application starts within its system in anticipation of new device launches, including for the Motorola Droid and iPhone 3GS. As such, we hypothesize that excitement generated by Apple’s iPad event in January is driving this growth. For developers who get a jump on customizing their applications for the iPad, there may be an opportunity to stand out early on, and earn more downloads.”

So, are apps developers actually jumping onto the iPad bandwagon and preparing their applications in time for the release of the iPad? Well, Flurry’s data seem to show that this is happening. But, we have yet to see and March is just a couple of weeks away.

Google Chrome 4 Supports Greasemonkey Scripts

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If you’ve been using Google Chrome 4 as your web browser, you’ve probably installed several extensions right after it was launched recently. But if you feel like that currently available Google Chrome extensions is not enough, how’s 40,000 more extensions sound to you?

Yes, believe it or not there are around 40,000 new extensions which you can install/activate on your Chrome 4. Well, thanks to Greasemonkey user scripts which has just been supported by Chrome. If you’ve been using Firefox before, you’d know that these scripts lets you customize web pages through simple Javascripts

Actually the 40,000 extensions are basically the converted user scripts available on Greasemonkey before. And with Greasemonkey enabled, you can practically use these user scripts on your Chrome browser after it is converted into Chrome Extension.

Installing these  scripts is just like installing or activating the usual Chrome extensions. That means the process can be done easily.

Of course there’s caveat emptor here. These scripts are very powerful and even has full access to your data, so be cautious of what scripts your are going to activate. In addition, some Greasemonkey may not work with Google Chrome 4 just yet.

So there. To make Google Chrome 4 more fun and useful either you check out the extensions gallery or get more Greasemonkey scripts.

Report, Corporate Security at Risk Due to Attacks on Social Networks

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Hope that this news doesn’t get into your company’s IT administrators as I’m pretty sure their first reaction would be to block off your access to social networking sites, if they haven’t done so yet. A new report by IT security and data protection firm Sophos, showed that there is an alarming rise in cybercriminals attacking corporate staff coming from Facebook, Twitter and other social networks.

The Social Security report is part of Sophos’s 2010 Security Threat Report which surveyed more than 500 organizations and explored current and emerging computer security trends.

The report found out that 57% of users report they have been spammed via social networking sites. This is an increase of 70% from last year’s data. As for malware, 36% of users reported that they have received malware via social networking sites. This is 69.78% increase from last year’s data.

The report also revealed 60% of the respondents naming  Facebook as the biggest security risk for the company followed by MySpace, Twitter and LinkedIn. While this is understandable considering that Facebook is the largest social networks in terms of  membership, LinkedIn however could provide the most vital information about corporate individuals since it is more business oriented and information shared by its members can provide a corporate directory which cybercriminals will be more than be happy to exploit.

Another interesting point to note here is that Sophos found out that 49% of the firms surveyed have allowed their staff free access to Facebook. So while companies are loosening their attitude to staff activity on social networks, there goes your friendly malware, spam, phisers and identity theft threatening to spoil the party.

National Geographic’s iPhone Atlas Uses Bing Maps

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In their latest foray into the iPhone apps market, National Geographic is bringing in their version of the World Atlas.  This iPhone app lets you view 7 different levels of cartography, 3 maps styles and a location finder around the world containing 7 million place listings.  In addition, the app also makes use of the Bing Maps platform, embedded right into the heart of the said iPhone application, even serving as a mapping option.

National Geographic claims that its iPhone app utilizes the “highest resolution”  press ready images. Hence giving you the same rich details and graphics quality of the maps it actually has on the printed, published world maps and atlases. In addition, their iPhone app als features a built-in search tool and places directory to help you easily locate even the most remote places eer known to mankind.

Here’s a rundown of the full features of the National Geographic World Atlas for iPhone:

  • High resolution National Geographic cartography, the same used to print our award-winning wall maps and bound atlases!
  • Preloaded with 3 different styles of world maps, down to country detail. Additional detailed zoom levels and Microsoft Bing maps require internet connection to view. Map Library feature allows you to download and save National Geographic maps for faster access and offline use.
  • Easy-to-use and fast place name search tool, with over 6 million database entries (major cities index is preloaded; full search requires internet or cell connection).
  • World Flags and Facts database, expertly edited and up-to-date with concise socio-economic and geographic data.
  • Push pin tool enables you to mark, annotate, and save your favorite places. Push pins come in a variety of colors and can tap into your iPhoto library or camera.
  • GPS enabled iPhones can center the maps to show your current location.

The National Geographic World Atlas for iPhone will cost you $1.99. You may download the iPhone apps from this iTunes Link.

Stream Your iTunes Library via SpotifiTunes

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Some guys from UK are apparently tired of waiting for Apple to come up with a streaming music service.  They want to have access to their iTunes library even when away from their home computer. And so the solution? SpotifiTunes.

To explain it briefly, SpotifiTunes lets you upload your iTunes database from your PC or Mac to the Spotify website. Then it gives you a summary of your collection categorized in genre, artist and album. You can then select any artist or album and find songs from Spotify and stream it where ever you may be. Of course, you need to have Spotify installed on your computer to use SpotifiTunes.

Not all songs from your iTunes Library may be available in Spotify, although majority of your iTunes music collection might be there.

To use SpotifiTunes, you need to find your iTunes  Music XML file and upload it to this site. You can find your iTunes Music XML file at the following directory on your machine:

Windows: \Documents and Settings\username\My Documents\My Music\iTunes\iTunes Music Library.xml

Mac: /Users/username/Music/iTunes/iTunes Music Library.xml

While this may not be an official Apple service to let iTunes user stream their music online, still, it’s a good work-around while we all await for Apple to release an iTunes streaming music service.  SpotifiTunes is not in any way affiliated with either Spotify or iTunes. This beta tool is currently available only in Sweden, Norway, Finland, UK, France and Spain.

Google Takes 39% of the 30 Billion Videos Viewed Online

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comscoreonlinevideo

Whoa! According to comScore, 30 billion videos have been viewed online in November 2009. So, it’s either most people are watching one of those user-generated video showing the most funny human experience or viewing movie trailers of upcoming blockbuster movies.

Drilling deeper into the comScore data, we’d learn that 39% of these videos viewed online were from Google Sites, 99% of which are hosted on YouTube. Now here’s the interesting fact, Hulu is at distant second getting only 3% of the 30 billion videos viewed online. But that is understandable since Hulu is not accessible worldwide.

So, its either time for Hulu to open up globally or have some new video site that is worthy enough of challenging YouTube.

Looking into the Top 10 Video Content Provider though, the list becomes different. Google Sites is still at no.1 with around 129K unique viewers, followed by Yahoo Sites, Fox, CBS and Hulu.

Other highlights of comScore’s online video data include:

  • The top video ad networks in terms of their actual reach delivered were: Tremor Media Video Network with 20.0 percent penetration of online video viewers, BBE with 17.5 percent, and BrightRoll Video Network with 16.6 percent.
  • 84.8 percent of the total U.S. Internet audience viewed online video.
  • The average online video viewer watched 12.2 hours of video.
  • 128.1 million viewers watched more than 12 billion videos on YouTube.com (94.3 videos per viewer).
  • 38.6 million viewers watched 333.4 million videos on MySpace.com (8.6 videos per viewer).
  • The average Hulu viewer watched 21.1 videos, totaling 2.1 hours of videos per viewer.
  • The duration of the average online video was 4.0 minutes.