Google to revitalise Internet TV?
Industry watchers received a shock on Saturday night with news that Google has purchased DVR software and set-top box company SageTV, writes Digital Trends.
The news came via an e-mail sent to SageTV customers and a near-identical statement posted to the company's Web site, which has ceased all functionality aside from a landing page that explains the acquisition.
Google's purchase of SageTV ignites curiosity as to whether its technology (and development team) will be used to revitalise Google TV, an Internet TV software that has been panned as an “underwhelming” product.
Obama takes Twitter more seriously
President Barack Obama is taking a more active role on Twitter, 140 characters at a time, according to the Associated Press.
Obama's campaign said in a posting on its Web site on Friday that Obama will tweet regularly from the popular social media service and his personal tweets will be signed “-BO”. The campaign said it will now manage both Obama's Twitter account and Facebook page.
Obama has more than 8.69 million followers on Twitter, making him the third most-followed account among Twitter users, according to Twitter statistics Web site twittercounter.com. Obama trails only entertainers Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber in followers.
US to outlaw location-based stalking
Two US senators have filed the Location Privacy Protection Act, which would require stricter controls and more transparency for all cellular companies that collect location data, notes The Register.
The Bill, brought by senator Al Franken and co-sponsored by senator Richard Blumenthal, would make it illegal to divulge location information to any third-party, and set penalties for a variety of location offences, including location-based stalking.
A special report commissioned by the Department of Justice in 2009 uncovered that there were 26 000 victims of GPS stalking each year, many of them by cellphone.
US plans 'virtual firing range'
The United States government is building its own "scale model" of the Internet to carry out cyber war games, reports BBC News.
Several organisations, including defence company Lockheed Martin, are working on prototypes of the "virtual firing range". The system will allow researchers to simulate attacks by foreign powers and from hackers based inside the US.
More than $500 million has been allocated by the Department of Defense to develop "cyber technologies".
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