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Bitcasa promises infinite file storage for cheap
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Storage, Videos,
We've been intrigued by a Bitcasa since we learned about the service a little over a week ago. The promise of the company is that they offer "infinite storate on your desktop" - a one-stop shop for storing all of your data, regardless of how much data you have. We've heard similar claims in the past from other companies, but they quickly renegged and changed terms to a tiered model. We're used to hearing terms like "unlimited" thrown around by wireless carriers, but even they will start throttling your data (or shutting it off) if you use too much of your unlimited allotment. That's actually why Bitcasa uses the term "infinite" instead of "unlimited" - they really want you to know that they mean what they say. The company was founded by a crew from companies like Mastercard, VeriSign, and Mozy, so it's easy to imagine that things like security and data protection would be taken seriously.
We can't vouch for the service just yet, but we will be getting access soon and will report back with our thoughts. In the meantime, check out the video above, and register for the Bitcasa beta yourself if you want to give the service a try.
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Rdio and MOG prepping ad-free no-cost option for their music catalogs
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hot Deals, Internet, Music,
Rdio said late Wednesday night that the service plans to provide free access to its music catalog without advertising, leading to speculation that social sharing might be the next business model.
MOG reportedly plans to announce a similar strategy on Thursday, and other music services are expected to follow suit. When Spotify launched in the U.S., it too pursued a free model, and more than 1.4 million people have signed up, according to reports. It's all leading up to an expected launch of Facebook Music next week, where social advertising could pay for the "free" services.
"Continuing on its first-to-market strategy, Rdio will soon be launching free access to its music catalogue without advertising," a spokesman said in an email on Wednesday night.
The offering will be available in the very near future and available to any consumer, with no need for a credit card, Rdio's spokesman added.
Click to continue reading Rdio and MOG prepping ad-free no-cost option for their music catalogs
Steve Jobs death tweet results in What’s Trending’s CBS deal dying
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Internet,
Steve Jobs might be alive and kicking, but those responsible for posting a Twitter message suggesting otherwise have suddenly found a new death on their hands to talk about: The death of their Web show's affiliation with CBSNews.com.
The Twitter account for the web show "What's Trending" was responsible for the Friday Twitter message: "Reports say that Steve Jobs has passed away. Stay tuned for more updates." The problem? Jobs sure wasn't dead.
The show attempted to cover its bases by disavowing the death report minutes later, but armies of users retweeting the update had already cast the unconfirmed report out into cyberspace. And CBS was left to mop up the egg on its face–even though What's Trending shares no newsgathering partnership with the company, plenty of news reports started to attribute the erroneous tweet to, "a CBS Twitter account."
Click to continue reading Steve Jobs death tweet results in What’s Trending’s CBS deal dying
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Netflix now streaming in Latin America, starting with Brazil
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Home Entertainment, Internet, Movies,
Netflix has officially expanded its business into Latin America: Brazil's the first country to receive the company's streaming movies and television shows, and Netflix plans to roll its service out to a total of 43 different countries in Latin American and the Caribbean over the next week.
Just looking at the numbers, Netflix will be able to bolster its current user count of around 23 million people –only consisting of American and Canadian viewers up until today – by the percentage of Latin America's roughly 205 million Internet users that could potentially tune in to their new streaming service. It's a big audience with potentially big rewards for Netflix, which is perhaps why the company spent so much time performing its due diligence to determine just how its Latin American audience views movies and TV shows.
"We've licensed thousands and thousands of hours of feature films, classic favorites, gripping telenovelas, documentaries and kids shows we know you'll enjoy," wrote Rochelle King, Netflix vice president of user experience and design, on the company's blog.
Click to continue reading Netflix now streaming in Latin America, starting with Brazil
Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga fans upset about YouTube music video takedowns
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Music,
An unknown number of popular music videos disappeared from YouTube on Sunday night and Monday, thanks to what appeared to be either a hack or prank by what may be a 13-year-old cricket fan.
Videos from Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and other popular artists that were associated with Sunday's MTV Video Music Awards disappeared from YouTube's site, as well as the Vevo channel, WebProNews reported. The reason? A copyright claim that was filed by a person or persons named iLCreative.
Representatives from YouTube declined to comment. "A few videos by Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were briefly taken down by YouTube as a result of false copyright claims. This issue has been resolved," a Vevo spokeswoman said in a statement Tuesday.
Click to continue reading Justin Bieber, Lady Gaga fans upset about YouTube music video takedowns
Redbox offering free DVD rentals in exchange for access to your Facebook info
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Internet, Movies,
Redbox is trying to get Americans off their streaming movie services and down to the local kiosk on August 25th with a free DVD rental.
The movie-rental kiosk service is attempting to lure existing customers down to the local grocery with the free DVD rental, normally worth just a buck. And there's a catch, as well as a bonus.
The offer was emailed on Sunday. Redbox officials weren't available for comment over the weekend.
So far, Redbox hasn't indicated how many customers will receive the free code, or if it applies to frequent customers, occasional customers (like or family) or new, potential additions. The catch? Each user needs to access the code via Facebook, and signing in allows Redbox to access your personal information, including your Likes, and post an update(s) to your Wall.
Amateur hacker takes credit for cracking BART police Web site
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Smartphones, Internet,
BART's troubles with Anonymous hackers continued Wednesday with the apparent hacking of a BART Police Officers Association website and ensuing publication of private data belonging to more than 100 BART police officers.
A Pastebin posting of data obtained in what appears to have been a "serious security breach" of BARTpoa.com, according to Sophos' NakedSecurity blog, includes the names, home addresses, email addresses, and passwords belonging to officers employed by Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
And the latest attack on BART may have been done by a self-proclaimed first-time hacker.
Late Wednesday, Twitter accounts associated with Anonymous and the campaign against BART began pointing to a purportedly leaked Internet Relay Chat log in which a user called "Lamaline_5mg" claimed to have broken into the BARTpoa.com database, acting alone and using an SQL injection tool, a common means of network intrusion:
Click to continue reading Amateur hacker takes credit for cracking BART police Web site
Microsoft’s living room vision includes apps, Mediaroom, and Xbox
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: HDTV, Home Entertainment, Internet, Microsoft, Video Games,
Microsoft showed off the future of the living room on Wednesday, and it appears to be a combination of Bing, Kinect, and the Mediaroom IPTV technology that forms the foundation of the Xbox.
Oh, and it seems to be taking place first overseas.
In a video embedded below, Microsoft's Marc Whitten, corporate vice president of Xbox Live (identified as a corporate vice president of ISS Experiences) showed off short clips of how the living room, as exemplified by the Xbox 360 and Kinect, continued to evolve. The demonstration placed a premium on natural user interfaces, identified by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates as one of the most significant advances in personal computing.
"Our goal is really, really simple," Whitten says in the video. "It's about how we make this effortless, intuitive and delightful. And that starts by making the technology fade out of the way, getting it all into the background."
Click to continue reading Microsoft’s living room vision includes apps, Mediaroom, and Xbox
China suspected in Google Gmail phishing attacks
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Google, Internet,
Spear phishing attempts to penetrate the personal Gmail accounts of U.S. officials, journalists, and activists, reported by Google in June, have not ceased, according to a security researcher who first discovered the attempts in February.
Spear phishing uses bogus emails to trick recipients into entering personal details, like home addresses and Gmail passwords.
"I am posting this only to highlight the fact that once compromises happen and are covered in the news, they do not disappear and attackers don't give up or stop. They continue their business as usual," wrote Mila Parkour, a D.C.-based security researcher on her Contagio Malware Dump blog, as picked up by ComputerWorld.
Click to continue reading China suspected in Google Gmail phishing attacks
Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader is an Apple-circumventing HTML5 browser app
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Internet, Software,
Amazon on Wednesday unveiled its Kindle Cloud Reader, an HTML5-based reading app accessible via the Web.
The feature is accessible at amazon.com/cloudreader and provides access to e-books through the browser, offline and online, with no downloading or installation required, Amazon said. Cloud Reader will automatically sync with other Kindle apps, allowing you to start reading on the Web and pick up on an iPhone or Kindle, for example. Books that you are reading will automatically be made available for offline use.
At this point, Kindle Cloud Reader works with Safari on the iPad and desktop and Google's Chrome.
Click to continue reading Amazon Kindle Cloud Reader is an Apple-circumventing HTML5 browser app
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