Google+ is a social networking website designed by Google to compete with Facebook, and offers similar features such as news feeds, photos and status updates.
The service was unveiled on June 28 with an invite system, which Google has said has created “insane demand”, so much so they have decided to halt users from sending any more invites.
Google have not yet set a date for a full public roll out of the new social networking website.
You can read more at sydneymorningherald.com.au
Samantha Amjadali from theage.com.au posted an interesting news piece on HTML 5 yesterday, offering a bit of an insight into what HTML is and what HTML 5 will offer in future.
For those who aren’t so familar with HTML, it is, as described in the article as “hypertext markup language. It is, in effect, the web’s DNA and creates a global system for identifying and linking web pages”. You could describe it as the language a website uses to communicate with your internet browser to tell it what to display.
HTML 5 is an updated version of this language, aiming to be complete by 2014.
You can read the full article at theage.com.au
As I’ve been reading the technology sections of various online news sources lately, I’ve been coming across more and more stories of websites being hacked.
Some of the more recent attacks included the high profile breach of personal data from Sony, down to a less serious fake news story on the PBS news website, announcing Tupac was alive in New Zealand.
theage.com.au has an article exploring these in more depth, along with other breaches and there effect on those who were targeted.
Fresh off our last blog post about Apple releasing the iCloud, it seems the name may have landed them in some hot water.
Reports over at theage.com.au say that US-based iCloud Communications is suing Apple for using the name they claim to have been using since 2005.
You can read more over at theage.com.au
Many in tech circles see cloud computing as the future, but it looks like it’s about to break into the mainstream.
Apple CEO, Steve Jobs, recently announced his intention to “demote the PC and the Mac to just be a device”
With iCloud, files are stored by Apple in data centres, or the ‘cloud’. This will give users access to content from any Apple gadget, without the need to store the data on your devices hard drive.
You can read more at smh.com.au
Google became the first company to allow people to use their smartphones as credit cards when they released “Wallet”, and it is expected their rivals will follow suit.
Not everything went smoothly for Google though, with EBay filing a lawsuit accusing Google of stealing trade secrets to build the platform.
Apple, Amazon.com, eBay and Facebook are all believed to be working on similar technology, also allowing consumers to use smartphones to pay for goods or services.
You can read more at the sydneymorningherald.com.au
Thomson Reuters Deals Intelligence data has revealed upwards of US $5 billion of venture capital investment has been injected into growing web companies in the first 4 months of this year.
This means 2011 is on course to be the busiest in dollars terms since way back in 2000, when the web was really starting to take off. More than US $55 billion was shared back then.
Valuations for Facebook (US $70 billion) and GroupOn (US $15 billion) are believed to be one of the reasons for the growing investments in web start ups.
ICANN, the governing body for internet domain names, is set to announce on June 20 the decision to approve rules allowing businesses to register brands as internet domain names.
This means that we will no longer be limited to traditional domains such as .com, .com.au etc.
In an earlier blog post, on the 26th of April we posted that cities will be able to register their names as a domain, such as .sydney, but with businesses also likely to get approval you can expect to see domains such as .sony
Next time you want to buy a TV online, you may have to simply type in tv.sony
You can read more at theaustralian.com.au
Mozilla, a Non Profit Organisation who develop the popular internet browser Firefox have resisted a request by the Government to remove a software tool that is claimed to assist in circumventing federal efforts at curbing internet piracy.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, part of the US Department of Homeland Security, have been taking over domain names it believes house piracy related information.
The MafiaaFire tool, available to Firefox via a third party matches these website domains with an alternate address, so that visitors can reach the sites.
Online purchases via credit card have risen on average 15% a year since 2005, the Reserve Bank has announced.
These figures support the trend that more consumers are willing to shop online, both within Australia and internationally.
You can read more at sydneymorningherald.com.au
