Daily News Courier

Why Obama’s Cyber Defense Order Won’t Amount to Much

The president’s executive order falls short of meeting the severity of the cyberattack threat.

There’s been a lot of rhetoric recently about the threat that cyberattacks pose to national infrastructure, but President Obama’s new executive order—with its focus on voluntary standards and information sharing—is unlikely to provide much protection. The executive order requires that new information-sharing, standards-setting, and R&D plans get up and running over the next few months to two years.

Facebook’s Graph Search Won’t Hurt Google Without Your Help

The success of the social network’s new search tool will depend on how much information its users are willing to share.

Facebook hopes you’ll use its new social search feature, Graph Search, to find everything from dentists your friends recommend in New York to restaurants they’re talking about in San Francisco. But while the tool appears to be a smart way to glean insights from your connections, experts say it is inherently limited by the amount of useful information shared within a user’s social circle or made publicly available by those outside that circle. That means it may take time—and effort on the part of Facebook users—for it to be truly useful.

The Commodity Technology Powering Instagram’s Imitators Won’t Save Them

Aviary provides filters and photo editing features for Flickr and Twitter

No, your Nexus 4 won’t magically grow LTE support

It takes more than a chip to enable 4G connectivity

Ever since a recent iFixit teardown revealed the presence of a Qualcomm WTR1605L 4G LTE chip in the Nexus 4, there's been a lot of speculation as to what it might mean. Conventional wisdom suggests that LG wouldn't just include extraneous silicon in the device unless it was planning to use it for something.

That's lead some to believe that the current Nexus 4, a device advertised with HSPA+ connectivity, might actually be hiding LTE support to be unlocked in a future software update. Or maybe it could be possible to root the Nexus 4 and, you know, use mad hacking skills or something to unlock LTE on the device.

All of those things are wrong.

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Shale Oil Will Boost U.S. Production, But It Won

The U.S. will still need more big breakthroughs to eliminate the need for imported oil.

The United States could see a surge in oil production that could make it the world

Hydrogen Cars: A Dream That Won’t Die

Better technology and high battery costs have revived interest in hydrogen-guzzling vehicles.

By the mid-2000s, the dream of hydrogen-powered cars had faded in the face of stubborn practicalities like the lack of charging stations and the inefficiency of fuel cells. But as the auto industry wrestles with the limitations of battery-powered electric vehicles, the dream lives on. That is apparent at the Paris Auto Show.

Why Facebook’s Search Engine Won’t Be Anything Like Google’s

Trying to match Google’s immense index of the Web would be very costly—but Facebook could instead build search on top of the data we’ve already given it.

When Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg mentioned during an interview last month that he wanted to build a search engine, headline writers instantly put leading search engine Google on notice. Yet, while Larry and Sergey are probably watching closely, the technology and data at Facebook’s disposal suggest the company will most likely create something fundamentally different from Google’s search service.

Why There Won’t Be a Netflix Prize Sequel

Streaming video has given Netflix a wealth of new data, and it’s too sensitive to share.

In 2006, Netflix launched an unusual, and highly successful, competition designed to improve its recommendation system. It released a database of 100 million movie and TV show ratings from nearly 500,000 users and, in 2009, awarded the $1 million jackpot the first team to beat its own recommendation algorithm by more than 10 percent.

Peter Chou: HTC won’t ‘destroy brand image’ by releasing super-low-end phones

HTC Chief Executive Peter Chou has reaffirmed the company's commitment to focus on higher-end devices in 2012, saying it wouldn't "destroy" its brand image by releasing "cheap, cheap phones" in order to increase product shipments. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, the HTC boss added, "We insist on using better materials to make better products that offer premium experience. Many consumers like that."

In the past six months, HTC has refocused its efforts on "hero" products at every level, including the HTC One series at the high end, and phones like the Droid Incredible 4G LTE in the mid-range market. So it's important to recognize what Peter Chou is referring to when he talks about "cheap, cheap phones." Devices like the recently-launched Desire C and One V may be low-end and inexpensive by Western standards, but there's a whole other ecosystem of super low-end phones coming to market in China and developing countries. In China, HTC offers phones around the 2000 yuan level, while the likes of Motorola are pushing for even cheaper 1000 yuan devices. At this price point, Chou says, "we won't have good products."

Whatever the case, this comes as confirmation that HTC doesn't intend to release phones that are any cheaper than current budget offerings like the Desire C, and that design and build quality remain priorities for the manufacturer (though that's long been clear to anyone who's used HTC's phones.) In the fiercely competitive smartphone market of 2012, HTC will be hoping its focus on mid-level and above devices will set it apart from its competition.

Source: The Wall Street Journal

HBO GO adds Amazon Kindle Fire support, still won

The fantastic HBO GO app, which allows HBO subscribers to watch full episodes and view special content on their Android devices, now supports the Amazon Kindle Fire. HBO made the announcement today that and uploaded GO into the Amazon Appstore, bringing more than 1,400 movies and premium television shows to one of the best selling Android tablets to date.

HBO GO requires an HBO subscription through a cable operator. Once a paying subscriber is authenticated, the app provides access to all of HBO’s popular shows, miniseries, cast and show information, and entire seasons of popular shows. The app offers a Watch List that can customize a queue of videos to watch, so there’s always something worth seeing when you’re on the go.

Sadly, it’s the only Android tablet currently supported by HBO. Despite 10-inch screens with beautiful screens being perfectly suited to stream True Blood, HBO has yet to open up support to the other Android tablets that have proven popular. The ASUS Transformer Prime, Motorola Xoom, and Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 have all been denied access. Looks like it’s back to watching shows on our little 4-inch screens instead – or 7 inch if you have a Kindle Fire.

Download HBO GO to your Kindle Fire by visiting the Amazon Appstore.

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