How Will Google’s New Privacy Policy Affect You?

If you were hanging around the internet yesterday afternoon, you probably notices some hubbub around Google's new, unified Terms of Service Agreement. But what's it actually going to mean for you? Well, this:

How Will Sharing My Data Google-Wide Affect Me?

One of the chief gripes about the change is that Google will "track" you through across all of its services. Just to clarify: Google has always stored user data. Have you noticed how in Google Maps sometimes an address you searched for a year ago will auto-fill in? Well, now one Google application can see what you searched for in another, so if you searched for "Furbies" on Google's homepage (for some freaky reason) and then later went to YouTube, you might see Furbies videos pop up. That's new. Previously data was compartmentalized between applications.
That could be a bad thing if Google was changing its policies on the data it shares with third parties, after all Google+ knows your real name, right?. Fortunately, that isn't the case (more on that in a sec). You know how your contacts are currently shared across Gmail, Calendar, and Docs? It's going to be like that, except with everything, everywhere. If you already trust Google with your data, this isn't that different. At the end of the day, the only change you might notice are some search improvements. Google's example:

We can provide reminders that you're going to be late for a meeting based on your location, your calendar and an understanding of what the traffic is like that day.

That actually sounds kind of awesome and not at all unlike what Apple's Siri can do, except across a broader range of services. And you can't turn it off.

Will This Make Targeted Ads Too Targeted?

There is a lot of talk of how now ads will be super targeted to you. For a long time Google's ads have been "personalized" (blech!) to you by pulling data out of your searches. The concern is that now it will be pulling from this larger, more unified, more personal shared data pool. It will, it's true, and personally, I don't like it. But there is one very important thing to note: you can turn it off!
It's super easy to turn personalized ads off. I did and it felt great. Just click this link to go to your Ads Preferences Manager, click "Opt Out" under "Ads in Search and Gmail", and then again under "Ads on the Web". That's it, you're done. Whether Google should make something like that opt-in is another argument that's well worth having, but for now: go switch off targeted ads if you feel creepy about what shows up in your Gmail headers.
The other very important thing to note is that Google has not changed its policies on sharing data with third parties. From Google's blog post:

We don't sell your personal information, nor do we share it externally without your permission except in very limited circumstances like a valid court order.

If you want more specifics, read up on it here.

Is Google Search Way Too Personal Now?

Our Mat Honan didn't like Google's new "Search Plus Your World" feature, which places Google+ search results (when there are some) above regular search results. I agree. After using it for a while I found it to be more annoying than useful, and it degrades the quality of your search results. Fortunately, under Google's new Terms of Service, you can still turn it off.
You have two options for deactivating Search Plus Your World. If you sometimes want those results and sometimes don't, head to the top right of the search window. There, you can toggle between "Show personal results" by clicking the person icon or "Hide personal results" by clicking the world icon. You can toggle back and forth at will.
Or, if you know you hate them and don't ever want to see them or think about them again, click the gear icon in the top right of the window, click Search Settings, then scroll down to Personal Results, and click "Do not show personal results." Hit Save, and they're forever banished.

What's the Impact on Android?

As of now, it doesn't appear that your user experience on Android will change in any significant way. That said, some of you may be done with Google and want to walk away, but you just got a shiny new Android phone a month ago and can't swap it out for another year or two. So you're screwed and you have to use Google services, right? Actually no. Here's what you do:

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Back up everything important that's on your phone, and then do a factory data reset. This will wipe all of your data, accounts, settings, and apps off of the phone. Then when you go through the guided setup and it asks you for you Google account, simply skip it. You can still use the mail client for whatever email you want. Still use the calendar app. For apps, you can download the Amazon App Store. You should also probably go into Settings>Location services and uncheck Google's location service and Location & Google Search. You can even set the browser's default search engine to something other than Google if you want. Google Wallet will remain under a separate Terms of Service and will not be affected by any of this. So it's cool, the fake money in your fake wallet is safe.

Is This Worth Abandoning Google Over?

We have given you a guide of alternatives to Google services should you want to abandon ship entirely. There are certainly reasons to be concerned about keeping all of your eggs in one basket. It means there's a single point of failure, which makes me nervous. Thet fact that you can't opt-out, and that Google will know more about you than your wife? That's a little creepy.
At the same time, it's extremely convenient to have all of your eggs in one basket—you always know exactly where they are. Plus Google's services place nicely together in a number of time-saving ways. Weighing convenience against security risks is your decision to make. I personally don't see the new Terms of Service have having added any additional risk to the equation. Your YouTube and Gmail accounts had the same password before, and they still will. Personally, I was willing to risk it before, and I'll probably continue to do so.
But make up your own mind. Read the new Terms of Service yourself. Compare it with the old Terms of Service. Compare it with the Terms of Service of other companies offering similar products. It's up to you to make an informed decision. Time to use the old think-bucket.

The Next Xbox Could Be Six Times As Powerful

According to IGN, sources close to the next Xbox project have told them the new console will have six times the graphics processing power of the Xbox 360, and will have 20 percent more performance than Nintendo's Will U.
Sounds pretty awesome right? Too bad it's not expected to ship until October or November of 2013. Le sigh. IGN's sources have also confirmed that the Xbox 720's—or whatever it ends up being called—GPU will begin production by the end of this year, and will be based on AMD's 6000 series instead of the newer 7000 series. More specifically, it will most likely be not that far off from the current $80 Radeon HD 6670.
On one hand it's nice to see the rumors of the next-gen Xbox starting to solidify, but on the other hand, waiting until 2013 to get our hands on one is going to be arduous. [IGN]

Katrina Kaif

Apple Gets OK to Keep Palm Unplugged From iTunes

Palm Pre owners, get ready to kiss your iTunes music goodbye.
The most recent turn in the Apple vs. Palm debate makes it even less likely that the Palm will again be able to sync with iTunes.

On Wednesday, Palm received a letter from the USB Implementers Forum, a group overseeing standards for USB connections, in reply to their complaint that Apple is constricting trade by not allowing Palm and other devices to sync to iTunes. The letter from USB-IF not only dismissed any violation by Apple, but also stated that Palm was actually the one in violation of the group’s membership agreement. That’s because Palm was misrepresenting the Pre as an iPod in order to access iTunes — a violation of the rules USB member companies have agreed to.

Palm and Apple have been in contention over iTunes syncing since the launch of the Palm Pre. One of the Pre’s selling points was that it could sync with iTunes music, a convenient feature for users of the popular music application. Apple soon struck back, disabling Pre syncing with a series of iTunes updates.

But there are other ways Palm could get around this decision for their customers. Research in Motion, the mobile OS for the Blackberry, has developed software to allow the transfer of music from iTunes to selected Blackberry devices. Users can transfer music from their computer to the Blackberry’s media player. However, only songs without digital rights management apply to this alternative to syncing. If you haven’t upgraded your iTunes purchases to be DRM-free, then only music purchased after January of earlier this year will work.

Unfortunately for Palm, the ability to sync to iTunes was a key feature for consumers who use iTunes to manage their music. Without a solution to the iTunes block, Pre owners will have to find other ways to keep their mobile music alive.

Google Cracks Down on Android Developer, Offers Olive Branch

Android is an open platform, but watch out: It includes a lot of proprietary apps, including Google’s.
A popular Android hacker found out the hard way when he received a cease-and-desist letter from Google for his latest modification of the Android OS. Steve Kondik, also known as “Cyanogen”, has been distributing a version of the Android firmware that includes multitouch and other capabilities not included in the base version. Google took exception to his inclusion of code owned by the search giant and sent him a cease-and-desist letter demanding that he stop distributing it.

Kondik’s story created an uproar within the Android community and raised questions about how much the Android OS relied on closed-source applications for its functionality. That’s because the base of the platform is indeed open source, but without the applications that run on top of it, it’s not very useful to consumers.

However, the controversy has sparked constructive discussions about the future of Android, and has even motivated Google to extend a helping hand to independent developers.
Continue Reading “Google Cracks Down on Android Developer, Offers Olive Branch” »

MSI Wind Notebook. 20% Bigger, 20% Duller

Like the MSI Wind, but don’t like the way the tiny 10-inch netbook slides effortlessly into a small bag? Then the 12.1-inch Wind U210 might be for you. Aside from the extra inches, from the outside the Wind looks just like its little brother, with the usual netbook compliment of three USB ports, an SD card reader and the like (although it does add an HDMI-out port).

Inside things are different, with the usual Intel Atom chip replaced by a 1.6GHz AMD Athlon Neo MV-40, 2GB RAM and a 250GB hard drive. The display (1366×768) is driven by an ATI Radeon X1250, and the whole thing can easily fit into the space taken up by a 12.1-inch laptop.
Humdrum indeed. Even the oversized keys fail to get us excited (they’re 51% bigger, making them easier to hit, apparently — perfect for typing whilst nodding off to sleep). The big Wind is at least cheap, at just $430, and the rather pedestrian looks mean that it will probably never be stolen. In short, it is probably the most sensibly boring notebook you could buy.

Intel Hints at Its Own Smartphone Operating System

SAN FRANCISCO — Intel showed off a spiffy new version of Moblin, a Linux operating system designed for mobile gadgets. Initially targeted at netbooks, Intel has now hinted that it will extend the system’s reach to mobile phones.

Intel started the Moblin initiative last year in a bid to maximize the potential of netbooks and other devices that use the company’s Atom processor. But this is the first time that it has shown how the operating system, which is built on a Linux core, will appear to users.
“Moblin will be ready in time when Moorestown (the successor to the current Atom platform) ships next year,” Paul Otellini, CEO of Intel told developers at the Intel Developer Forum, an Intel-hosted conference, on Tuesday.

Although Intel did not explicitly say it was planning a smartphone version of Moblin, the company showed a screenshot of the Moblin user interface (above) with phonelike functionality such as notification for missed calls.

Moblin’s user interface is reminiscent of the recently launched Android phone from Motorola, the Cliq. Moblin brings together updates from social networking sites, the browser, news, calendar and phone call updates into a single screen called Myzone.

The social network aggregation idea is one that has become extremely popular among smartphone makers. With the Pre, Palm was the first handset manufacturer to meld contacts, e-mail and social networking information into a single interface. Since then, Motorola and the HTC Hero have adopted a similar approach.

Intel initially aimed Moblin at netbooks, which largely run Microsoft’s Windows XP operating system. But with Moblin potentially running on mobile phones, Intel is walking into an extremely competitive segment. Last year, Google launched Android, an open source mobile operating system built on the Linux kernel. Android is fast becoming a favorite among handset makers such as HTC and Motorola.

So far, Intel doesn’t have a processor for smartphones. But the company has ambitions to get into that fast-growing market. Earlier this year, Intel said it is working with LG to create a new line of smartphone-like internet devices based on the Moorestown platform and the Moblin operating system. The two companies plan to release the device next year.

Meanwhile, Intel’s Moblin developers have been moving forward with their new OS. In January, they released an alpha version of Moblin, with which interested users could test multiple levels of the core Linux operating system including the boot process, connectivity, networking manager and user interface development tools.

At its developer conference Tuesday, Intel showed a slick interface that seemed to be designed to work well with both touchscreen and standard displays. Moblin screens will have a top bar with access to seven broad categories including applications such as a calendar, e-mail, browser as well as online connectivity options and a world clock.

Moblin is designed for multitasking, says Intel. So if a call comes up during web browsing, the interface allows users to switch easily to another application, such as the camera or a map program.

The latest demo is the first sign that Moblin could become a rival to Android and even the iPhone. But with no devices in the market yet that use the operating system, Moblin remains a dream for Intel.
Check out the demo video shown at IDF.
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