Torrent search engine BTjunkie is the latest file-sharing service to fall on its sword in the wake of the Megaupload sting. Junkie, one of the largest BitTorrent indexes, decided to shut down voluntarily. A statement on the website reads, "This is the end of the line my friends. The decision does not come easy, but we've decided to voluntarily shut down. We've been fighting for years for your right to communicate, but it's time to move on. It's been an experience of a lifetime, we wish you all the best!" The site was never directly targeted by copyright holders, an unnamed BTJunkie founder told TorrentFreak. However, the site was reported to the US Trade Representative (USTR) in 2011, the RIAA and MPAA listed the torrent index as a 'rogue' site, and Google censored the search term. Despite avoiding legal attention so far, the site's founder told TorrentFreak that the legal action against file-sharing sites Megaupload and The Pirate Bay played an important role in its closure. Online storage locker Megaupload was seized and shut down by the US Department of Justice in January 2012, for allegedly breaching copyright infringement law. The site's staff members were arrested and founder Kim Dotcom was recently been denied bail. Meanwhile, the founders of The Pirate Bay were arrested for copyright infringement in 2009. This month, the supreme court of Sweden made the ruling final, and announced that the founders will not be able to appeal their months-long prison sentences or combined fines of 46 million kronor (around $6.83 million). In response to Megaupload's shutdown, a raft of popular Web lockers have neutered the ability to share files with others. FileSonic, FileServe and Uploaded.to all cut off file-sharing in the days after Megaupload was seized. The Pirate Bay, on the other hand, moved its domain name from .org to the Swedish .se. A Pirate Bay insider told TorrentFreak that this was to prevent US authorities from seizing the popular domain. Read the comments on this post
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The big-name team of visionaries behind 'Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning' shared last-minute thoughts prior to the game's release. /p>
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Conglomerate Honeywell, which develops thermostats, has filed a patent infringement lawsuit against Nest Labs, the developer of the innovative smart thermostat. The lawsuit, which was filed United States District Court for the District of Minnesota, alleges infringement of seven Honeywell patents related to its thermostat technology. As we've reported in the past, Nest, which was founded by the godfather of the iPod, not only provides an intelligent thermostat for your home but also saves energy as well. For example, the technology will analyze the thermal decay of a house to determine how long it takes for heat to dissipate. An “Auto-Away” feature uses far-field motion detection to assess whether no one is in the house for a few days, perhaps because you’ve gone on vacation. If so, the unit goes into low-energy mode.
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Google today launched a somewhat mysterious website called "Solve for X," which will now be the official homepage for a conference by the same name. Solve for X, according to the description provided, seems similar in format to the series of conferences from TED, but with more of a scientific focus. The invite-only gathering is designed to attract global innovators who present short, technology-focused presentations on topics like low-energy desalination, e-waste mining, crowd-sourced protein folding, stretchable silicon biosensers, climate change, and more.
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itwbennett writes "A Court in Delhi, India has ordered Google to remove content that 'is said to mock gods worshipped in India,' according to an IDG News Service report. Mufti Ajiaz Arshad Qasmi, a private citizen, 'had filed a civil suit against Google and other Internet companies including Facebook, objecting to certain content on their websites.' While Google agreed to remove the content, citing a 'long-standing policy of responding to court orders,' other Internet companies named in the suit are likely to appeal." Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Zothecula writes "Research scientist Andreas Mershin has a dream to bring inexpensive solar power to the masses, especially those in developing countries. After years of research, he and his team at MIT's Center for Bits and Atoms, along with University of Tennessee biochemist Barry Bruce, have worked out a process that extracts functional photosynthetic molecules from common yard and agricultural waste. If all goes well, in a few years it should be possible to gather up a pile of grass clippings, mix it with a blend of cheap chemicals, paint it on your roof and begin producing electricity. Talk about redefining green power plants!" Read more of this story at Slashdot.
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Microsoft is gearing up to release a phalanx of native mobile applications for its CRM software, with clients aimed at BlackBerry, Windows Phone 7, iOS, and Android 2.2 and higher devices, the company announced Monday.
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The BitTorrent search engine BTJunkie has shut down its website, the latest file-sharing site to take defensive action following law enforcement's shutdown of MegaUpload last month.
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Do you think data breaches are up or down in 2011 compared to 2007 or 2008? The official answer may surprise you. According to DatalossDB and the 2011 Data Breach Investigations Report [PDF link] by Verizon, the number of records compromised per year has been decreasing since its 2008 peak. But these reports are missing something very important. It all comes down to what is reported. Last year I met with more than 450 CIOs and CSOs, and almost all of them said that incidents are way up. New breaches are constantly making headlines, so why is there a discrepancy between our perception and what these reports are finding?
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IT professionals know that handing data over to a third-party is always risky, but cloud computing creates unique concerns for IP. Here are nine tips to protect critical corporate data wherever it goes
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Everywhere he turns, LimeWire founder Mark Gorton seems to be facing a new lawsuit from some new group of copyright owners.
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A special in-the-works Bing page is already providing some pointers to Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 Consumer Preview due out this month, though most of the links aren't yet working.
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Thermostat maker Honeywell alleges Nest Labs infringed on seven thermostat-related patents and is seeking to prevent Nest Labs and Best Buy from continued sales of the Learning Thermostat.
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AT&T is now offering the unique Samsung Galaxy Note device for $299.99 pre-order.
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Verizon and Redbox are developing a new video service to compete against Netflix, which will combine Redbox's kiosk DVD and Blu-Ray rental service with streaming and downloadable video content made possible by Verizon's network. Verizon and Redbox parent company Coinstar announced the partnership today with a press release and press conference, saying a subscription service "and more" will become available in the second half of 2012. Details were limited due to "competitive reasons." The joint venture will apparently not include DVDs through the US Postal Service, as Netflix offers. Redbox has kiosks at 29,000 locations nationwide, including grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and at some Wal-Mart stores. "By offering instantly available online and mobile content with immediate access to physical media through rental kiosks, Verizon and Redbox will be uniquely positioned to deliver the best of both worlds—digital and physical—to consumers across the country," the companies said. Verizon owns 65 percent of the new joint venture, which is also described in an SEC filing, with Redbox owning the other 35 percent. While Netflix is struggling after a shaky 2011, Verizon and Redbox will still have their work cut out for them. No mention of specific content was made, but Verizon said it will use its "industry-wide relationships with entertainment content providers" to ensure a good selection of movies online. Read the comments on this post
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The venture will also offer 'immediate access to physical media through rental kiosks.'
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Make that seven of the last nine Super Bowl outcomes that pro football video game Madden NFL has correctly predicted.
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During the last three minutes of the game, an average of 10,000 tweets were sent per second.
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Early last year we pointed out that implementing the proposed EU cookie law would profoundly affect European technology companies and anyone running a business online out of Europe. Let's review why. First of all, it could mean that a staggering 90% of a site's visitors would run a mile rather than saying yes to accepting a simple Google Analytics cookie. This is what happened when the UK's Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) implemented the EU advise on their own web site.
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Ladies and gentlemen, it looks like the mysterious Project Zoetrope will soon be seeing the light of day. Verizon and Redbox owner Coinstar have just taken to the wires today to announce their new joint venture in video entertainment, with their subscription services poised to launch in the second half of this year. Details are still light at the moment (though a 9:30 AM conference call should shed some light on things) but the new service certainly has Netflix in its sights.
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Today, Rdio is releasing a brand new application for Android phones chock-full of fresh features, which is awesome. Mainly because it gives me an excuse to write up a rant I would have published at some point anyway.
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In November, eBay acquired Hunch, a service that provides a “taste graph” of personalized recommendations based on users’ interests. eBay wants to use Hunch's technology to used to drive more personalized, relevant shopping experiences on the marketplace through data analysis. And over the course of the past month, the team over at Hunch has spent some time figuring out the differences in tastes and interests of people who have shopped on eBay and those who have yet to make their first eBay sale or purchase. The results are based on responses from a survey of nearly 70,000 Hunch users (two-third of which are eBay users). Here are some of the results. eBay purchasers are 61% more likely to be early adopters of technology. For example, eBay users are 54% more likely to use Twitter. Non-eBay users are 90% more likely to buy music in the form of a CD vs. other music formats. You can check out the rest of the results in the infographic below:
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Samsung's next flagship smartphone needs to be huge, iPhone 4 huge. It needs to be as competitive as the Galaxy S II as its set to go head-to-head with the iPhone 5. But success won't be found as easily this time. Samsung had nearly a full year to design and release Galaxy S II after the iPhone 4's release. The company doesn't have that luxury this time around. Sout Korean news outlet Electronic Times News just published a report that pegs the S3 as a superphone on a diet. The report states that printed circuit boards, chips and connectors allowed for an overall thickness (or thinness) of just 7mm. That's 1.9mm thinner than the current Galaxy SII -- not that several millimeters really mater. But even though the phone is thinner overall, Samsung is reportedly packing their next flagship to the gills.
Posted 1 hour 51 minutes ago - 02/06/12 - Full Story

Do you believe in a thing called love? If not, just listen to the rhythm of my heart... Or head on over to AT&T's website to pre-order the Galaxy Note. If for some reason you don't remember, the Note is a 5.3-inch phone/tablet hybrid that showed its face in a costly Samsung commercial during last night's Super Bowl. Its claim to fame would be a little stylus, what Samsung is calling the S-Pen, which makes the Note a tad more useful when you're in a pinch and need to jot down a note or something quick like that.
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According to new research from the NPD Group, Apple passed LG and Samsung to become the top-selling U.S. handset brand in Q4 2011. Combined, the three available models of the iPhone (iPhone 4S, iPhone 4 and iPhone 3GS) accounted for 43% of the U.S. smartphone market. Android, however, continued to see larger market share at 48%.
Posted 1 hour 51 minutes ago - 02/06/12 - Full Story