Weekly Digest
Weekly Digest Issue No. 504
25-02-2010
by Deirdre McArdle
Apple: We're banning sexy apps | Yahoo buddies up to Twitter
Google under EU microscope
Internet giant Google could soon be facing the heat in the EU as anti-trust regulators there launch a preliminary investigation into its online search strategy. Three European internet companies have complained to the EU about Google's search practices, particularly in reference to the way in which it ranks competitors' sites. The three companies are: Ciao.de, a German subsidiary of Microsoft, Foundem.co.uk, a UK price comparison site, and EJustice.fr, a French site that specialises in legal search enquiries. They allege that Google unfairly ranks competitors' sites, which means they essentially end up lower down the rankings on Google search results. For its part, the search giant has said it does not violate European law or take any action to stifle competition. Read a blog post from Google's senior competition counsel Julia Holtz, where she seems to be painting a Microsoft versus Google picture. In any case, the investigation is in the early stages, and may not ultimately lead to anything. However, Google has come under some intense EU scrutiny of late, albeit for areas other than search, such as its Google Books plans, its Street View technology and its data storage practices. It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out.
Apple: We're banning sexy apps
Apple's approval policy for its App Store hit the headlines this week when the iPhone maker made a few changes that saw it remove what it deemed "overtly sexual" apps. The policy change seemed to catch developers of these apps by surprise; Jon Atherton, the developer behind Wobble iBoobs, for example, claims he received an e-mail from Apple telling him that his application was being removed from the App Store because of a new policy change. Other applications that feature women in bikinis and lingerie have also been removed. In an interview quoted in the New York Times, Philip W. Schiller, head of worldwide product marketing at Apple, said that recently it noticed that developers were submitting "an increasing number of apps containing very objectionable content". Schiller said as a result Apple began to get more and more complaints from women "who found the content getting too degrading and objectionable, as well as parents who were upset with what their kids were able to see". Over the weekend around 5,000 'sexy' apps were removed from the App Store although Apple has come under fire for its seemingly unbalanced removal process, in that content from well-known magazines FHM, Playboy and Sports Illustrated were not removed. Schiller explained that the "source and intent" of apps were taken into consideration when the ban was applied. Summing up, it seems in the choice between developers and consumers Apple has made its decision. Industry analysts have suggested that in the long run this may well turn out to be the clever choice, particularly as it prepares to launch the iPad, which will have an increased focus on apps and will bring Apple even more into the mainstream market.
Yahoo buddies up to Twitter
In the same week that Yahoo's search tie-up with Microsoft was given the green light by European regulators, the company announced it planned to develop a content deal with Twitter. Under the terms of the deal Yahoo users will be able to access their Twitter feed from within Yahoo webpages, as well as being able to tweet and read tweets. The search firm also said it plans to display Twitter content on its news, sports, entertainment and finance webpages, as well as in Yahoo Mail and its homepage. Yahoo said it has also started incorporating tweets into its real-time search results, with immediate effect; both Google and Microsoft's Bing have already incorporated real-time relevant tweets into their search results. The rest of the functionality should come on stream by December, according to Yahoo. While the financial terms of the tie-up were not disclosed, analysts believe Yahoo is paying for Twitter's user-generated content. The search firm struck a similar deal with Facebook last December that allows Facebook users to view and send status updates from Yahoo sites or put Flickr photos on the social network. Yahoo says that deals like these with Twitter and Facebook "will transform Yahoo into a highly customisable social experience".
Cybercriminals working overtime
Viruses and spam were in the news this week with a spate of new threats targeting PC users. First up, security firm Eset highlighted a fraudulent e-mail attack that flooded Irish inboxes during the week. The e-mail, from the 'Microsoft Security Team', claimed to be a "Conflicker.B Infection Alert". This fake e-mail, complete with the poor spelling that is characteristic of many of these types of attacks, urges recipients to install an attached file to 'secure' their computers. The attachment in fact contains the Win32/Kryptik.clu Trojan, which makes PCs vulnerable to other malware attacks. Eset also warned that spammers have now turned to the Irish language to try to trick users into opening and acting on fake e-mails. Meanwhile, Irish banks warned online banking users to be wary of a sophisticated Trojan horse virus nicknamed 'silentbanker', which can intercept user login details if inadvertently downloaded. Finally, the last few days saw an outbreak of phishing attacks on Twitter, which were spreading by DM (direct message) and linking to a site called bzpharma, which is using compromised accounts to send out spam. If nothing else, these threats show that cybercriminals are honing their social engineering 'skills', which ultimately means PC users need to be increasingly wary of e-mails and DMs on social networking sites from unfamiliar people.
E-government: the 'silent revolution'
The Irish e-Government Awards took place last Friday, with 10 categories plus the overall winning title being fought over. The Non Principal Private Residence Online Payments Service, www.nppr.ie, was the overall winner and also took home the Cross Agency eGovernment Award. The National Concert Hall won the People's Choice Award while the Central eGovernment Award was given to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Food for IFORIS iNet - Forestry Online Mapping & Planting Applications. The State Body award was won by the Property Registration Authority (PRA), which collaborated with the Law Society of Ireland, the Irish Banking Federation, the Revenue Commissioners and the Companies Registration Office to move property registration online. The development led to an 800 percent jump in the processing of applications, from just 35 cases per day to 350 cases a day. Bord Gais Energy's Big Switch campaign was named the eMarketing winner, while Mayo County Council was recognised in the Local eGovernment category for bringing its services online. Maeve Kneafsey, Managing Director of Elucidate, which co-hosted the event with Eircom, called e-government the "silent revolution". "The rise and rise of e-government is having a major effect in cutting costs, making efficiencies and in bringing about 'joined-up government' in the form of interdepartmental collaboration. She said she couldn't see any reason why e-government is not made one of the Government's "biggest policies to bring back economic growth". For a full list of the winners, click here.
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