The Leader Newspaper

Features » Computers and Internet

TECHBITES – 21ST NOVEMBER 2011

Print | Send to a friend

James Bone / 2011-11-18 12:39:22

Facebook now believes it has removed most of the violent and pornographic images posted to the site as part of a spam attack. “Users were tricked into pasting malicious code into their browser address bar which caused the images to be posted”, they say. Facebook allows anyone above the age of 13 to be members and, of course, has a ban in place for these types of images. The attack came to light after thousands of users complained to Facebook and news sites. No user data or accounts were compromised in this attack.

Samsung has revised its Galaxy Tab 10.1 after an injunction banned German sales after Apple complained it looked too much like its iPad. The Galaxy Tab 10.1N, which has a redesigned metal frame and newly located speakers, will go on sale later this month. Apple may seek to request a new injunction or claim that the 10.1N still infringes the current injunction. Samsung and Apple are currently involved in patent disputes in the US, Japan, Italy, South Korea and Australia with both sides claiming the other has infringed a range of patents but both use each other as suppliers.

Google has launched its latest venture, an online music store, Google Music in the US. Devices running Android software will be able to buy, store and stream music in MP3 format. It has signed up many music labels to build a library of 13 million songs which range from $0.69 to $1.29 with a different free track available each day and all come without DRM copy-protection. The service is also integrated with its Google+ social network. Google has not discussed offering the service outside the US at this time.

eBay is opening a high street shop in a 5 day experiment from Dec 1^st – 5^th near Oxford Street, London. The shop will have no tills and a limited selection of products, of which, none can be taken away. A selection of bestselling items will be on display with QR codes attached that can be scanned by smartphones which will take the customer to the payment section of eBay. They will also have a separate area of the shop where eight tablet computers will be available for shoppers to browse eBay.co.uk.

Apple has started a replacement program for some 1^st generation iPod Nanos after they found that some were suffering from a battery problem linked to one supplier. It said: “Apple has determined that, in very rare cases, the battery in the iPod Nano (1st generation) may overheat and pose a safety risk”. Affected units were sold between September 2005 and December 2006. To find out if you are eligible, visit http://bit.ly/ipod-replace