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Have You Jailbroken Your Ford Lately?

By David Strom / February 16, 2012 4:03 PM / Comments
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At a not-too-distant point in our future, this will be a serious question. Today Ford and Bug Labs announced that they are jointly supporting the first open source car software. Think of it as your car's API. You'll need to install a small $40 piece of hardware to interact with the car systems, and the effort, called OpenXC, is making this data available to both Android and Arduino platforms. What can you do for starters? Things like read real-time data about your car's position and speed, and a dozen other measurements about your car's performance. "OpenXC opens up a previously opaque environment to an entirely new class of developers, who will bring more ideas and solutions to the table than any one company or industry consortium could dream up," according to information posted on the site.


Daily Wrap: "Jelly Bean", Android 5.0, Rumored for Q2 and more

By Robyn Tippins / February 16, 2012 6:04 PM / Comments

dailywrap-150x150.pngRumors emerge of a new version of Android, "Jelly Bean", that may be announced in Q2 2012. This and more in today's Daily Wrap.

Sometimes it's difficult to catch everything that hits tech media in a day, so we wrap up some of the most talked about stories. We give you a daily recap of what you missed in the ReadWriteWeb Community, including a link to some of the most popular discussions in our offsite communities on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Google+ as well.

Invalid Argument - Episode 0

By Jon Mitchell / February 16, 2012 5:34 PM / Comments

chrome_awsnap150.jpgWell, we tried to tape our first episode of Invalid Argument today, but a clusterf--- of Google+ Hangout and YouTube bugs messed that one up pretty thoroughly. Google tells us that three different bugs combined today for a perfect storm. Anyone who tried to tune in live (we love you) got a totally blank screen, and it sounds like lots of Hangouts went the same way today. It was awesome. We promise.

We did a dry run yesterday, and that didn't work, so this time we came prepared to back it up, at least. But, unsurprisingly, this backup looks and sounds like complete crap. But I'm going to post it anyway. We'll call it Episode 0. It proves that this show will rock once the technical difficulties are worked out.

Facebook is Getting Crowded: 12 Media Apps Join Timeline

By Alicia Eler / February 16, 2012 5:00 PM / Comments

shutterstock_facebook_like.jpgFacebook users, do you "like" this?

Today Facebook launched 12 media apps for Timeline, joining social news apps such as Yahoo!, Washington Post Social Reader, Digg Social Reader and The Guardian's social news app.

This announcement comes shortly after Facebook launched 60 social apps that focused mostly on cooking, eating, travel, running and reviewing movies. With this bevy of now 80+ social apps, Facebook hopes that its users will think about the platform more as a space for lifestreaming everything rather than just a place for connecting with friends and family members.

Of course, try asking Facebook what it thinks Facebook should be used for, it will not give an answer. Use it for whatever you want. Install these apps if you feel like it. It's Facebook's world, sure, but users do have the ability to shape it, or opt-out completely.

Dropbox Automator Update Brings Kindle Upload, Google+ Integration

By Joe Brockmeier / February 16, 2012 4:31 PM / Comments

wappwolf.pngDropbox Automator has gotten a major update this week, adding a Google+/Picasa uploader, support for sending files to Box.net and to Amazon's Kindle. Better yet, the service now lets users restrict access to just one folder in Dropbox.

We covered Dropbox Automator when it launched at the end of December, but the service had a few rough edges. Specifically, some of the conversions weren't working or worked sporadically, and you had to give Wappwolf (the company behind Dropbox Automator) full access to all of your Dropbox folders.

Stage 2 Under Way for DHS Remote Identity Validation Card Plan

By Scott M. Fulton, III / February 16, 2012 4:00 PM / Comments

Dept. of Homeland Security (150 px).jpgBack in the 1990s, U.S. government agencies were officially transitioning their identity systems to smartcards. The Homeland Security Dept. did not exist yet. So the agency expected to lead the way was the Defense Dept., which had a Common Access Card initiative, but not really enough fuel to keep that initiative going.

After Sept. 11, 2001, the new DHS department was ordered to carry out Homeland Security Presidential Directive 12 (HSPD-12) - an order mandating a smarter card that contains its own biometrics, effectively invalidating the card if someone else happens to be holding it. It's a decade later, and agencies throughout the government are moving to cloud architectures. Now DHS is taking step 2 in the rollout of a defense identity management system (DEFIMNET) forged through trials with DOD. The challenge, as the CEO of the manufacturer of this system tells ReadWriteWeb, will be to live up to HSPD-12 expectations that were written before the cloud as we know it today was even conceived.

Pinterest Isn't Ready to Focus on Making Money

By Alicia Eler / February 16, 2012 3:30 PM / Comments

shutterstock_money_benjamins.jpgPinterest is no longer using Skimlinks, the company that provided a way to monetize affiliate links and actually make some money.

CEO Ben Silbermann got in touch with Josh Davis of LL Social, the site that spread news of Pinterest's use of Skimlinks' affiliate links. Of their conversation, Davis writes that Silberman..."indicated that the use of Skimlinks was a test, not a business plan, and that Pinterest had stopped using Skimlinks a week before I wrote the original story on the subject."

U.S. Wants Automakers' Help In Stopping In-Car Facebook, Twitter Use

By Dave Copeland / February 16, 2012 3:00 PM / Comments

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The U.S. Department of Transportation is asking car makers to design in-dash control panels to block users from accessing Facebook, Twitter and other social networks while the vehicle is in motion.

In non-binding guidelines released Thursday by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, automakers are also asked to block users from manual texting, Internet browsing, 10-digit phone dialing and entering addresses into GPS systems unless the car is in park. DOT is also working on new guidelines for handheld devices, LaHood said.

Facebook's Unknown Strategy Worries Stock Analysts

By Dave Copeland / February 16, 2012 1:30 PM / Comments

Thumbnail image for shutterstock_ipo.jpgFor us mere mortals who probably won't get first crack at purchasing Facebook shares when the company goes public, the question becomes whether or not it's a solid investment.

That will, of course, ultimately depend on where it prices. But at least one research firm is throwing up a caution flag because Facebook's initial public offering filing doesn't give a clear-cut plan about how the company will grow advertising revenue.

"Pinning" Has to Become Bigger Than "Liking"

By Alicia Eler / February 16, 2012 1:00 PM / Comments

shutterstock_pins_colors.jpgPinterest has officially become a household social networking name in the U.S.

As we've already reported, the majority of users are female. According to data from Google's DoubleClick Ad Planner, of 19 million U.S. users, 82% are female and only 18% are male. With all these eager-to-shop female audience members who are most likely interested in fashion designers, style, collections and craft, it's rather surprising that Pinterest hasn't really figured out how to cash in. "We have one hundred ideas but no execution yet," Jeremie Levine, a board member of Pinterest and a venture capitalist at Bessemer Venture Partners told the Wall Street Journal. If Pinterest is going to succeed, "pinning" has to become the Internet's new favorite thing to do.

Google Says 62% of Restaurant Searches Were Mobile on Valentine's Day

By Joe Brockmeier / February 16, 2012 12:31 PM / Comments

red_android_150x150.jpgIt pays to be mobile, if you want to reach the last-minute planners. According to Google 62% of restaurant related searches on Valentine's Day were from "high end mobile devices or tablets."

Something to think about for restaurants or other businesses that don't have mobile-friendly sites.

YouTube Adds More Google+ Integration & Improves Annotations

By Jon Mitchell / February 16, 2012 12:13 PM / Comments

google_tv_scary150.jpgYouTube is announcing more Google+ integration today. You can now prominently promote their Google+ profiles on your YouTube channel alongside other social feeds. You can also share videos and playlists by other users, as well as text comments, to your channel using a "Channel Bulletin."

Today's update also changes YouTube's new homepage and channel pages in response to feedback. Video titles are now more prominent, aggregated events offer an easier way to see more videos, and adding videos to playlists is cleaner. The annotations editor is also improved, with a full color palette, styles and an easier-to-use timeline.

NPR's Music App For iPad is What Radio Should Look Like in the 21st Century

By John Paul Titlow / February 16, 2012 12:00 PM / Comments

[image]Before the rise of smartphones and tablets, it was hard to imagine Internet audio content ever supplanting radio. The limited Web programming that was available may have been convenient to listen to at one's desk, but it didn't do much good in the car, on a jog or otherwise on the go.

Today, traditional radio is still far from being displaced, but streaming audio from mobile devices sure does offer an attractive, personalized and more interactive alternative. For some of the strongest examples, look no further than NPR's digital efforts. The historically radio-centric news organization has wasted no time building a bridge to the future with its digital products, including a few rather impressive mobile applications.

A Requiem for LightSquared

By Dan Rowinski / February 16, 2012 11:30 AM / Comments

lightsquared_150x150.jpgDisruption scares the hell out of established organizations. The more entrenched the organization, the harder it will fight off the potential disruptor. In terms of the mobile infrastructure in the United States, there has been no bigger potential disruptor than spectrum wholesaler LightSquared. Earlier this week, the Federal Communications Commission suspended LightSquared's waiver, effectively ending the company's business plan and dreams of disruption.

LightSquared's vision was to build a national 4G LTE network with satellite spectrum and provide wholesale. In this goal it came up with two very potent adversaries: the GPS community along with established cellular carriers AT&T and Verizon. After the FCC's ruling, LightSquared is now a company with valuable assets but nowhere to deploy them, dead in the water. What happened?

[Video] Suzanne Vega's "Tom's Diner": From MP3 to Wax Cylinder

By Curt Hopkins / February 16, 2012 11:00 AM / Comments

record.jpegThe closer the present approaches an imagined future, the more it inspires a look backward. As computers became Star Trek pads, people got more interested, for instance, in Babbage's analytical engine or the Antikythera mechanism.

So it's no surprise, but it's still awesome, that a wad of nerdlingers has decided to compare a new wax recording (a la Edison) to one of the first songs to be compressed into an MP3, with both versions sung by the same singer, Suzanne Vega.

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