India Issues Ultimatum To RIM: Open Up By August 31 Or Else

The ongoing drama concerning government access to secure Blackberry communications is coming to a head in India, where RIM was given a final compliance date today. If a satisfactory agreement is not reached between the smartphone company and the Indian government, the latter will shut down the former’s email and messenger communications altogether, resulting in Blackberry users being reduced to internet and voice access.
RIM, predictably, has said it will not make any special deals, although if (as-yet unconfirmed) reports are true, that’s just what they did in Saudi Arabia. I don’t envy RIM, but this is one of the known risks of being a multinational corporation.

Sprint Epic 4G launching August 31st

Earlier this month we reported that my favourite of the Galaxy S variants — Sprint’s Epic 4G — would see a release… yesterday. Clearly, this didn’t happen. So, when can we expect the QWERTY infused beast?
Gizmodo report today that we can reserve the phone from August 13th, for an August 31st release date.
And you know what else they told me? The price: expect to fork out $350 for the privilege, with a $100 MIR bringing it down to a still-rather-hefty $250.
So, given this new information, are you still keen? If I lived in the US, you know I would be. S-AMOLED QWERTY phone? Try and keep me away!

Video: Slim n sexy Android-powered Dell Thunder

Dell have produced two Android-powered handsets to date: the uninspiring Aero and the enjoyably large Streak. Neither of the phones, however, have had true mainstream appeal. It seems the third time, as they say, is a charm, as the Thunder is a sexy piece of kit. We first saw the Thunder back in April, when it leaked alongside two other sexy-lookin’ handsets. At the time, we were unsure of the authenticity of the leak, but now it appears that it was at least 33% real… and 100% gorgeous.

Apple releases iOS 4.0.2, patches PDF vulnerabilities (and sends jailbreakers back to the drawing board)

When the genius minds of the iPhone hacking community discovered that just about every iPhone around was vulnerable to a PDF rendering bug that allowed for one-click jailbreaking, the geek world celebrated — until someone pointed out that this was really, really scary. Deep running system controls, accessible via a browser exploit? As our Spanish-speaking friends around the world would say: No bueno.
Fortunately, Apple didn’t just kick back and hope nothing bad would happen.

U.S. Cellular launching the HTC Desire on August 27th

Being the sixth largest carrier in the U.S. is no small feat — and once you’re there, you’ve gotta make sure to roll with the times to keep your customers for defecting. U.S. Cellular seems to realize that Android is all the rage right now, and has been embracing it well: they’ve got the Samsung Acclaim (exclusively, even!) already, plans to launch a Galaxy S variant in October, and, according to their people, “two LG Android-powered phones following closely behind”.
But wait, there’s more! On August 27th, U.S. Cellular will be launching the HTC Desire to the hungry hands of their 6.2 million customers

RIM Reportedly Bows To Pressure From Saudi Arabia, Hands Over Blackberry Access

RIM’s response was a stolid “relax,” but the public response appears to be different from the internal one, if reports from inside the company are true. What the Saudi Government has praised as “positive developments” are reportedly concessions by RIM giving that government unprecedented access to certain RIM resources, giving it the power to eavesdrop on any Saudi Blackberry user.

How Is 3D TV Doing? Some Data From Japan

Think what you want about 3D TV, but it’s here already, and we’ve just seen the beginning. But are people actually buying the devices, as a few dozen models are now available in the US, Japan and other places? The Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business daily, recently investigated the 3D TV market in Nippon. What they found out could be of interest for the US and European markets as well.

WePay Raises $7.5 Million For Hassle-Free Group Payments Platform

WePay, a Y Combinator backed startup that aims to take the hassle out of group paying, has raised $7.5 million in Series B funding led by Highland Capital Partners with existing investor August Capital participating in the round. The startup previously raised funding last December from an all-star roster of angel investors including Max Levchin, Ron Conway, Dave McClure, and Steve Chen.
As we wrote in our initial coverage of the payments platform, WePay is an easy way to collect, manage and spend money for groups. WePay’s platform based around a prepaid debit card system, which makes its accounts easy to set up as well as more flexible when it comes to setting up group paying.

This Is How I Read TechCrunch: Without Comments

As regular readers are undoubtedly aware, I have a sort of love/hate relationship with our commenters. Well, okay, it’s more hate/hate. I find it amusing, but I realize not everyone does. Some people say they avoid our stories just so they don’t feel the need to take a shower after reading our comment section. I have good news for those people: there’s an extension for that.
Remove TechCrunch Comments is a Google Chrome extension made by user hrparmar. He actually made it back in January, but we’re just seeing it now. And it’s awesome.

Microsoft Sends Us Crayons, Fails To Tell Us IE9 Beta Launches Sept 15

Today, as I walked into TechCrunch headquarters after this morning’s Google Android event, I was approached by a sweaty man who had clearly just ridden his bicycle across town. He’d come to deliver a large, white box that had only a single marking: a tiny Internet Explorer sticker. “This will probably be mediocre,” I said to myself. “Goofy” would have been a more accurate prediction. Inside, I found a handful of confetti along with an array of crayons, colored pencils, and paints that would put some pre-schools to shame. There was also a single, not-so-mysterious note with the text www.beautyoftheweb.com. Given my extensive sleuthing skills it did not take me long to attempt to plug the domain into my browser, only to repeatedly meet a “401 – Unauthorized” error that said I had invalid credentials. My attention waned and I went off to play with my new crayons.

And Of Course, Here’s The Twitter Movie Trailer

First there was the Facebook movie trailer. Then, there was the YouTube movie trailer. Obviously, it was only a matter of time before we got the Twitter movie trailer. And now here it is.
And it’s good.
As you might expect, the Twitter movie trailer created by Next New Network’s Barely Digital group, explores the founding of everyones’ favorite 140-character social network. It opens with tweets such as “My hair is sad today”, “My computer is being a fart butt right now” and “Just left my wife and kids. W00T!” Then we get into the backstory. “I need to create a way to blog that is as random and incoherent as writing on a bathroom wall.”

The Motorola Droid 2 Gets Released And Ripped Apart In The Same Day

The Droid 2 hit VZW stores earlier today, but yet the mad scientists over at iFixit already got their hands on one and tore it apart in the name of gadget pr0n. The process didn’t revel any terribly surprising although while the battery is rated at the same 1390 mAh, even though Motorola is claiming twice the battery life. That’s neat. Click through to iFixit for the rest of the gory pictures.

Axon Logic Hackintosh Tablet May Just Out-iPad The iPad

Back in April we heard word of an affordable hackintosh tablet called the Axon Haptic. We were skeptical, since all we had was an anonymous tip and a render — something any 3D concept artist could have cooked up in an hour or two. But now we know that the Axon Haptic is real, you’ll be able to pre-order it this week, and yes, it runs OS X.
Read More

QuakeCon: Carmack Has Rage Running At 60 Frames Per Second On The iPhone. Whoa.

Am I QuakeCon this year? No, of course not because that would have actually been fun. But I do know this: John Carmack just announced that he’s got the Rage engine running on an iPhone. At 60 frames per second, no less. Ridiculous, yes.

Cyber-Cute Overload: Quadrocopter Drone Has Its Own Little Home

Oh no! I’ve been wrong all this time! The Robocalypse won’t be a sudden proliferation of hunter-killers and corpse-eating tanks — it’s going to be a Cutezkrieg! Japan will be, I am afraid, the first to fall. They are already a slave to the kawaii.
This little bugger is called the Scandicraft, and it lives in that mailbox until there is a perimeter breach, at which point it emerges and flies around, looking for the intruders and transmitting a live video screen. Irresistible (and terrifying).

First 720p videos from iPhone 4 hit YouTube

Truly a blockbuster. Maybe this guy should move to some place where they have… you know, objects.
Really, though, it’s not bad. Obviously you’re getting a ton of smear and skew, as you will with any “HD” device of this size, but it’s also just as good as any $100-$150 pocket cam you’re likely to find. We’ll have our own video and image quality tests in our full review, of course.    Watch on YouTube

iFixit tears apart the iPhone 4 in graphic detail

iFixit is legendary for taking things apart. They are famous for going to great lengths to get the latest in technology, and then tear it apart. The iPhone 4 is no exception, as their person took a 16 hour plane ride as well as packed a tent prepared to sit and wait for the phone. Ironically, FedEx delivered the phones two days earlier then expected, and they didn’t have to send anyone to Japan.



Microsoft taking a loss on Kinect?

Inside sources close to the matter have said that the build costs of Kinect are near $150. When you add up all the time to write the software and the costs of the hardware, it gets expensive. This has many people at Microsoft concerned.

“My Phone Is Off For You” – how to show you care in this modern age

It’s not often that I get to leave my phone at home. More often than not, it’s an accident. However, when I do it on purpose, it’s a deliberate act of self-denial — I know, I’m so selfless! Seriously, though. I do fully disconnect myself when I know something or somebody requires my full attention, but how, oh how can I broadcast that fact to the world so they can adore me for it? …Aha!

Linux: the people’s product

The Linux Foundation ran a t-shirt design contest back in March to kick off the grand opening of the new Linux.com store. More than 100 designs were submitted, and of these six were selected as finalists. Almost eight thousand votes were tallied, and the community-selected winner, with 57% of the votes, is Mr. Said Hassan from the Gaza Strip, who designed “The People’s Product.” Shirts with this winning design are being produced now, and will be available for purchase at the Linux.com store soon-ish.

Here’s the Dell Streak’s US retail packaging (maybe)

The Dell Streak is set to be released here in the states sometime soon — we hear the end of July. The 5-inch tablet/phone/EVO-eater will no doubt launch to a ton of criticism about it’s large stature and whatnot. Love it or hate it, this is what the retail packaging will likely look like. Think Jabra headset packaging, but with a very large touchscreen instead of a bluetooth headset suspended in a clear acrylic casing.



TRON controllers will be available for purchase

Rejoice user! Devin won’t be keeling over from auto-erotic asphyxiation after all. The TRON controllers that he saw at E3 and threatened to hold his breath over? Well, they are going to be for sale. To be honest, I haven’t considered replacing my stock Xbox 360 controllers until this point, but now I’m afraid I have no choice.

Mixtape watch keeps track of time, reminds you of that one road trip and that sweet mix you made that everybody totally liked and you played it like 30 times

If you’re a nostalgic person, and you enjoy novelty watches, I can only imagine the levels of joy you’re feeling right now. This Mixtape watch from EOS features not only the classic cassette tape look, but the classic mixtape motion. The tape dials actually spin, which I suppose reduces battery life — but so what?!




Facebook Has Been Massively Underreporting Twitter App Users — By Over 6 Million

Inside Network’s AppData is a goldmine of information about third-party applications on Facebook. With it, you can see stats like: FarmVille has 63.9 million monthly active users — making it nearly three times as large as the number two app on Facebook, Texas HoldEm Poker (also a Zynga game), which has 28.5 million monthly active users. But there was always something a little wonky about certain areas of AppData’s data. For example, they showed that Facebook for Android only had 67 monthly active users — yes, 67. But something happened this past week that seemed to correct the data, and it exposed one new massive Facebook app: Twitter.
As Inside Facebook (another site under InsideNetwork) noted yesterday, some change Facebook recently made appears to have corrected the stats for a number of apps. The aforementioned Facebook for Android shot up to 4.7 million MAU from its 67 — a 7 million percent increase. The other big increase in the top 10 gainers? Twitter, which went from it’s previously reported number of just over 400,000 users, to nearly 7 million — a change of over 1,300 percent. And the app still appears to be growing pretty fast. The Twitter app’s own page on Facebook now confirms this new number.

Opera Hooks Up With MegaFon To Expand Its Mobile Browser Reach In Russia

Opera Software has struck a deal with Russia’s federal mobile operator OJSC MegaFon under which MegaFon’s special package “Unlimited Internet with Opera Mini” will be distributed to all Russian territories.
That may not sound like much at first glance, but you have to consider that MegaFon boasts over 53 million mobile subscribers, spanning all seven Federal Districts of Russia.
Furthermore, MegaFon serves some 39 percent of all mobile Web traffic in Russian territories, according to recent research (it was first in Russia to run a 3G network based on UMTS). The operator says internal statistics have shown that Opera Mini subscribers effectively generate twice the traffic than any other MegaFon user.

Twitter For iPhone Quick To Add Multitasking And Retina Display Support

When Twitter bought Atebits, the company behind the excellent iPhone Twitter client, Tweetie, there was some concern it would slow down development of that app. Luckily, it doesn’t look like that has happened. As today, Twitter for iPhone version 3.0.1 has just launched, and with it comes suport for both iOS 4 and iPhone 4.
In fact, while other huge apps on the iPhone, such as Facebook, lag behind in supporting the newest iPhone functionality, Twitter is one of the first to implement some of the useful new features.

Zuckerberg: Facebook Revenue Estimates Of $1.1 Billion “Not So Far Off..”

Earlier today Inside Facebook posted a very interesting interview with Facebook founder/CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The conversation touched on a range of topics including the proliferation of social gaming, the argument for instituting Facebook Credits across all games, and why Zuckerberg is no longer afraid of Twitter. It also shed some light on Facebook’s revenue numbers: Zuckerberg said that estimates that Facebook would make between $1 and $1.1 billion this year “are not so far off in either direction that it’s causing us any pain…”
So what did he mean by that? Zuckerberg says that revenue estimates last year were lowballing Facebook’s revenue stats to the point that it was hurting the company. Now that’s changed, at least to the point that Facebook isn’t seeing any adverse effects from analyst guesses.

Zuckerberg Admits He “Paid Too Much Attention” To Twitter

This morning, Inside Facebook posted a great interview with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg about the state of the company. It’s worth reading in its entirety for thoughts about the Platform, Credits, gaming, and the company’s financials. But one thing that caught my eye in particular was his thoughts about Twitter.
Over the past year and a half, Facebook has been under a lot of criticism that it is drifting away from its core service and into a more Twitter-like state, where short status updates rule and all information should be public. When Facebook failed to acquire the company in late 2008, Twitter’s influence on the look and feel of Facebook became more and more apparent. But Zuckerberg says that the time of Twitter infatuation is now over.
As good as I think they are, I think I personally just paid too much attention to it,” Zuckerberg tells Inside Facebook’s Justin Smith. Why was he so focused on the rival? Their growth rate — it had Facebook worried.

Google Counters Apple’s HTML5 Showcase With HTML5Rocks (Yes, It’s Really Called That)

Earlier this month, Apple unveiled a new site to showcase HTML5. On it, Apple showed off a number of impressive web demos coded using only HTML5 technologies. However, at least on the main page, these demos were restricted to working on only Apple’s Safari web browser. So now Google is countering with its own HTML5 site — called, get this, HTML5Rocks.
Google and Apple are arguably the two biggest companies attempting to push HTML5 forward. Notably, both also dominate updates to the WebKit rendering engine (with both Safari and Google Chrome use). But both also seem a bit at odds with HTML5 because both have popular mobile platforms that use native applications not coded with HTML5. In recent weeks though, the two companies (which are in the middle of a war with one another) seem to be trying to show that each is fully committed to the open web.

Google Translates “Call Us For Free” To “Skype” In Italian

Google Translate is also known for its occasional snafus. For example, an English to French translation of “videos on Vimeo” previously resulted in “des videos sur YouTube.” Another example of a wonky translation took place when Kai-Fu Lee, president of the search giant’s China operations, left the company.
Today’s questionable result comes from an English to Italian translation of “call us for free.” The phrase returns in Italian as “Telefonare gratis con Skype.” The reverse translation results in ‘call us for free.’

Sonos Announces iPad App

I’ve always had a soft spot in my necrotic heart for Sonos. In the face if iPods, Zunes, mobile phones, and everything else, they’ve kept pumping out great, compact products for folks with big houses. They’ve never pretended to be too high-class for the rest of us yet you basically use their products to create soundscapes, just like Disney World, Vegas, and the haunted house I made in my basement as a kid.
Sonos just announced their iPad app – probably available in August – that allows you to control your Sonos system on the iPad’s bright screen. The app allows you to browse your iTunes and Sonos collection, pick radio streams, and even set different rooms with different playlists. When I tested the Sonos kit I used to like to make my bathroom, for instance, the Drum’n'Bass room to ease evacuation.
Video after the jump.

1,000 Trial Invites For Rdio

The latest streaming music service to launch is Rdio, which is backed by the founders of Skype. It lets you stream 5 million songs from all the major labels (some key indie bands are missing though), create playlists, and find music through other people. The problem is that it is rolling out slowly. You need an invite just to try it out.
Well, we just got 1,000 invites for TechCrunch readers. Just click here and use the code “RDIOTC01″
The invite is only good for three days, after which you need to subscribe for at least $5 a month to keep listening. But it’s wor

The Kindle Won

I’ve been thinking this for a long while: Amazon won the ereader war. They were first to market – not officially, but in terms of mindshare, they offer a software package that is compelling on almost every mobile and desktop platform, and they have an entrenched user base already invested in their product. Nothing else comes close. No matter who you are, no matter what you think about ebooks and their future, Amazon owns the mind share – and the market share – and everyone else is doomed. Maybe I’m being a bit overly pessimistic, but I’m trying to make my point abundantly clear: everyone else in this space is playing a distant second to Amazon and its Kindle store.
First, don’t take my word for it. Om made a similar point and even offers a numbered list of reasons why including, but not limited to:
1. The Kindle App has made the Kindle “device” a obsolete for many early adopters.
2. Kindle was first with a popular and interesting solution to ebook reading. Say what you want about Sony and their Reader line: nobody beats the Kiz.
3. It’s all about software now, and Kindle rules the roost.

YouTube Expands Catch-Up, Primetime TV Content Library With WWE Deal

YouTube has just announced that it will now offer full-length, current episodes of a suite of World Wrestling Entertainment-related programming. The deal includes episodes of Friday Night Smackdown, WWE NXT, WWE Superstars, and ECW. I don’t know what any of those are, but I assume they all involve tights, big hair, and burly guys fighting. You can find all of it on the WWE’s official channel.
This sort of content may not pique the interest of a huge number of TechCrunch readers (I can honestly say I’ve never watched a WWE event in my life) but the deal is significant: this is the one of the first times YouTube has offered so-called “catch-up” primetime programming.  

More rumors have Hulu going to new devices, premium pay model soon

These aren’t new rumors, exactly: we heard Hulu bought a ticket to Xbox-town a week ago, and of course the pay model has been a long time coming. In fact, it was supposed to launch a couple weeks ago. We heard there was a delay, and now “sources” are saying the move to pay (and to other devices, including the iPad) will happen “in the next month or two.” What! That’s as specific as they could get? Some source! Reuters would do better to read CrunchGear.

Apple’s A4 ain’t that special

I really don’t understand what the big deal is about the A4. ARM designed the chip, Apple customized it, and Samsung built it. How is that any different from any other phone or device manufacturer?
The A4 variant (an unfortunate name considering the A* naming convention in ARM chips) is just an A8-based chip with a setup specific to the iPhone or iPad’s PCB layout and processing needs. Apple doesn’t have fairy dust to sprinkle on it to make it anything more than that.
That said, however, there’s a lot more to a device than making the right hardware decisions. The Samsung Wave, it has been revealed, uses a very similar Samsung-made (obviously) 1GHz ARM A8 processor, putting it as near Apple’s A4 as can be. But do you think you’re going to have a similar user experience? No, silly! So much depends upon the UI designers and coders that the processor is really only a secondary consideration.

Review: Wiebetech ToughTech Mini-Q secure hard drive

Short version: A plain-looking, but robust drive for the security-conscious interface fiend in us all. Or at least those of us with cash to spare.  Read More

WWE finally has a YouTube account (and with full episodes)

I must be seeing things… is that an official WWE YouTube page, and one that already has last night’s episode of Monday Night Raw online? This is so unlike WWE, embracing technology. They must have hired someone new in recent weeks, someone who told them that, you know, the Internet isn’t merely for “geeks” anymore.

Astro A30 Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker headset coming at ya

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker comes out today in North America, and in 10 days in Europe. (It came out in Japan about two weeks ago.) Famous Japanese video game magazine Famitsu gave it a 40/40, so we can safely assume it’s not bad at all. Also not bad, probably? The Astro A30 gaming headset. Konami helped the Astro team design the headset, dontcha know?

Casio’s rugged digital camera EX-G1 gets 2 limited edition colors (in Japan)

When Casio’s rugged digital camera, the Exilim EX-G1, came out last year, it received great reviews (for example, from us). And it appears as if the 12.1MP device sold really well, too, as Casio today in Japan announced [JP] two limited edition colors (the EX-G1 GN in green and the EX-G1 SR in silver).

Video: Here’s that Red Dead Redemption short film

Did you miss the premiere of that John Hillcoat-directed Red Dead Redemption short film the other day? Do you not know how to use BitTorrent or Usenet? Then I have some good news for you. By clicking “Read More” you can see the entire thing! There’s no real spoilers so no worries there.

How to test iOS 4.0 right now

If you’re the excitable type, you may want to try the iOS 4.0 Gold Master right now. This is probably the most dangerous thing you can do to your phone aside from run over it with a car, so don’t say we didn’t warn you. There are many sources, obviously, so do a Google search.

Toyko Flash’s Changing Lanes Watch: Changing the way you view your time

Many times during the day, I look at my watch. It’s a rather easy thing to read. Its functionality and simplicity has remained for years. However, that notion wasn’t good enough for one company, namely Tokyo Flash.

Video: Yes, that’s Crysis 2 running on the Xbox 360

Part of the draw of Crysis 2 is that it’ll run just as well on your Xbox 360 or PS3 as it will on my PC. That’s what CryTek, the game’s developers, told the gaming press back in April. I saw the Xbox 360 version in action that day, and yeah: it looks insane for an Xbox 360 game; hard to believe it’s running on five-year-old hardware. But now you can look at the game in action for yourself~!

An iPhone Lover’s (Initial) Thoughts On iPhone 4

This morning, my colleague Jason Kincaid wrote a very good and very level-headed post about the new iPhone (and the new iOS 4 software) from the perspective of an Android user. I’m going to come at it from the other angle.
Recently, I’ve written my takes on both the Nexus One and the EVO 4G from the perspective of an iPhone lover. Obviously, I don’t have an iPhone 4 yet, and so this isn’t a full review, but after the keynote yesterday we did get some hands-on time with the new device. So I figured I’d write down my initial reaction after playing with the new hardware for about 20 minutes or so. Before I go any further, I’ll save you the suspense: it’s awesome.

Why Japan Matters: iPad Mania, Cloud Computing, And Social Intelligence

Editor’s note: Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO of salesforce.com, really loves Japan. And if you are a startup founder or tech executive, he thinks you should too. He explains why in this guest post, culled from observations from his most recent visit.
Thousands of people lined up last week to buy iPads. And, if you didn’t notice them, it’s because they were in Tokyo.
I’ve been living in Japan for the past three weeks and couldn’t miss the madness around the introduction of the iPad here. I couldn’t believe the demand for this new “magical” computer. After all, this is the country that developed and built some of the world’s most popular PCs—and now the iPad, which was designed somewhere else, is revered. It’s bowed to. (Reportedly, about half of Japanese business and technology magazines are featuring the iPad on their covers.) I expect that out of the 10 million iPads sold this year, at least 500,000 to one million will be sold in Japan.
Something else amazing in Apple-mania happened last week. Apple’s market cap passed Microsoft. I suggested in a post last April, “The end of Microsoft. A door opens to a new cloud”, that this seminal event was about to happen. Steve Jobs described it as being “Surreal”. I agree. It is surreal—both unbelievable and fantastic. This is a milestone that signifies a dramatic change of computing: Windows is on the decline, and new technologies such as iPads and iPhones, Android and Google Search, and Cloud Computing are on the way up.

Winning The App Store Lotto: What A Week At No.1 In The App Store Looks Like

Ever wonder what a week as the No. 1 free iPhone app in the App Store translates to in downloads and ad revenues? One of the employees at mobile ad management platform Burstly created an app called Air Horn, which simply makes a very loud horn noise. The app, which had been out for over 6 months and had zero marketing dollars spent to promote it, recently hit the No. 1 spot on the Free App list.
Developed in less than three hours by Alex Miyamura, Air Horn was at the top spot for 8 days and just dropped to no. 2 this morning. Over the past week, Air Horn has made $20,000 from advertising (ad banners) and in-app purchases.

Caffeine: Google Finally Brews Its New Pot Of Web Results — 50% Fresher

In August of last year, we wrote about Caffeine, the codename for Google’s latest iteration of its search product. The idea behind it was simple yet encompassing: to “push the envelope on size, indexing speed, accuracy, comprehensiveness and other dimensions.” Back in December, it looked just about ready, but never came. Today, it’s finally ready to roll.
In a post on the Google Blog, the company is saying that the new web indexing system is complete. Significantly, it provides “50 percent fresher results for web searches than our last index, and it’s the largest collection of web content we’ve offered.” Basically, you’ll now be able to find more current links faster than ever before.

Twitter Hints At Content Recommendation Service With New Link Shortener

Today, Twitter has expanded the testing of its own URL shortner — which is now using the t.co domain. The expansion (which will eventually be available to all Twitter users) is interesting in terms of what it means for the URL shortening ecosystem. But it also should be interesting from a broader perspective to the entire ecosystem because it opens up some new possibilities, such as content recommendation.
Twitter developer Raffi Krikorian notes as much in the Twitter Development Talk Google Group today. Specifically, he writes, “we want to be able to build services and APIs that can make algorithmic recommendations to users based on the content they are consuming.” This will be possible because Twitter will be keeping track of all clicks (as they note, “in aggregate and not identifiable manner”).

Exalead, The ‘French Google’, Is Acquired For $162 million

Exalead, the search engine that (no kidding) underlies Friendster and has been behind French government attempts to build a platform to rival Google (yes), has been acquired by Dassault Systèmes, a leader in 3D software for big company processes for about €135 million ($161.5m).
Exalead was also key member of Quaero, a technology consortium with a five-year budget of €199 million, funded by the French government to develop multimedia search tools. Where is Quaero now?

Twitter To Begin Wrapping All Links With Official t.co Link Shortener

Big changes are coming to Twitter links. In a post just published on the Twitter blog, the company has announced that it will soon be using a new official link shortening service t.co to wrap all links shared on Twitter. Starting some time this summer, every time you share a link through either the Twitter web client or a third-party, it will be wrapped in a link with the format t.co/******.
So what does this mean for the Twitter ecosystem? Twitter VP of Product Jason Goldman says that the feature serves three purposes. First, it’s going to help Twitter crack down on spam, as the service will be able to accurately monitor the distribution of each link, and it can warn users when it thinks a link may be malicious. Second, it will allow users to better understand where links are going (more on that below). And third, it will help Twitter with analytics, which is related to its Promoted Tweets. Goldman says that Twitter is pre-announcing the feature, which is currently only active with three accounts, to give the developer community a heads up for what’s coming.