Google Claims Page Speed Service Loads Pages 60% Faster

Google has launched a new tool designed to help web sites deliver pages up to 60 per cent faster, in a move that could benefit online firms keen to improve the user experience.

The Page Speed Service automatically applies key processes to web pages to optimise them for the quickest possible loading times, as Google engineering manager Ram Ramani explained in a blog post.

"To further simplify the life of webmasters and to avoid the hassles of installation, today we are releasing the latest addition to the Page Speed family: Page Speed Service," he said.

"Users will continue to access your site just as they did before, only with faster load times. Now you don't have to worry about concatenating CSS, compressing images, caching, gzipping resources or other web performance best practices."

Ramani claimed that tests of the service had already delivered page loading improvements of between 25 and 60 per cent on several sites, and published videos showing the improvements in the loading speeds in action.

The service is currently being offered to a limited number of webmasters free of charge. It will be available more widely later in the year, and Google said that "pricing will be competitive".

The tool could clearly be of interest to online businesses by helping web sites to load faster and limit user frustration.

The Page Speed Service could also help improve browsing on-the-move as more people access sites on mobile devices with potentially slow data connections.

The honeymoon's over for Google+

I'm not a Google+ fanboy any more.

I've been using Google+ for almost a month, and the bloom is definitely off the rose. It looks like I'm not alone. Online analysis firm Experian Hitwise has tracked visits to Google+ since it went live in June, showing a tiny 3 percent decline in the total number of visits to Google+ from the United States during the week of July 16 to July 23. I wouldn't lose any sleep over it, but hyperexponential growth no longer seems to be in the cards.

Some of the slowing is certainly due to relationship rebound -- Google+ isn't as shiny and new as it was two weeks ago. But some of it, I believe, has to do with people turning sour on the "real name only" policy.

Google has made it quite clear that Google+ participants are expected to use their real names -- no handles, no pseudonyms, no group names, not even a nom de guerre. Google's stated aim is to make it easier for friends and family members to find you on G+. Others theorize that Google's trying to create a more genteel site, with less trolling, disruptions, spam, and abusive behavior.

I think there's more to it.

At its heart, Google wants to set up G+ as a commercial hub. Sure, G+'s handlers want you to stick pics of the kids up there, tweet your status, play games, and ogle at hangout cams. But as Google knows well, there's money to be made acting as the glue that binds commercial activities. Requiring some sort of authentication at this point sets a small hurdle that raises G+ above the level of other social networks.

Google's reaction to apparently invalid names, shutting down user accounts that appear to be in violation of the rule, has brought a hail of criticism -- for good reason. Some of the shutdowns were draconian or worse, removing access to all data without notification or explanation. Bill Noble's G+ entries describe many of them. Shutting down, then restoring, William Shatner's account was a PR nightmare.

To make the situation even murkier, Robert Scoble quotes Google VP Vic Gundotra as saying Google doesn't intend to require full legal names; the company just wants to delete obviously fake and offensive names, set some standards, "Like when a restaurant doesn't allow people who aren't wearing shirts to enter."

Of course, that isn't at all what the Google policy says.

Regardless of where you stand on the subject of anonymity and pseudonym use in a business context, this much is clear: The controversy has taken the steam out of several Google+ diehards and brought a rift in the early-adopter community. It remains to be seen if this, and other privacy concerns, will significantly slow down the G+ juggernaut.

Courtesy: InfoWorld

Developers Get Updated Windows Phone 7 'Mango' SDK

On the heels of the Windows Phone "Mango" release to manufacturing, Microsoft on Wednesday also provided developers with an updated version of its beta Mango software development kit (SDK).

The revamped software, known as the Windows Phone SDK 7.1 "Beta 2 Refresh," is available for download now at the Mango Connect site, Cliff Simpkins, product manager for Windows Phone 7, wrote in a blog post. The update represents "a month of great progress by the engineering team, further refining and improving the Mango developer experience," he said.

Simpkins highlighted a few of the improvements included in Beta 2, including locked APIs, built-in screenshot capability in the emulator, improved profiler, the ability to install NuGet into the free version of the Windows Phone SDK tools, and a peek at the Marketplace Test Kit.

Microsoft also sent out an OS update to Microsoft Update servers, which will let developers update retail Windows Phones that they updated to Mango over the last month. When it's available, developers will see a pop-up, which will prompt them to connect their phone to their computers. The update, dubbed Build 7712, is not the RTM but a pre-release build; details about installation are available on the blog.

So why didn't Microsoft provide developers with the RTM version of Mango? Two reasons.

"First, the phone OS and the tools are two equal parts of the developer toolkit that correspond to one another. When we took this snapshot for the refresh, we took the latest RC drops of the tools and the corresponding OS version," Sipmkins wrote. "Second, what we are providing is a genuine release candidate build, with enough code checked in and APIs locked down that this OS is close enough to RTM that, as a developer, it’s more than capable to see you through the upcoming RC drop of the tools and app submission."

Simpkins urged developers to try out build 7712; "it’s a sweet ride, to be sure," he wrote.

"The next version of Windows Phone 7, called 'Mango,' although that won't be its final name, is great-looking and fun to use," wrote PCMag mobile analyst Sascha Segan. "It's full of people-centric features that make it easier to stay in touch with friends and family, to communicate, and to share ideas. It's easier to use than Android, and in many ways slicker than Apple's iOS."

Google goes for a new look

Google has switched the look of its search pages to a more minimalist style.

Google sprung the new look of its search pages on users without notice. The look is a fairly big change with sidebars being moved, more white space, and links to cached versions of pages are gone.

A web search now has more white space between results and the same is true for a news search. The sidebar that used to appear on the left hand side that lets you switch between search categories like images, news and shopping is now horizontally sandwiched between the search bar and search results.

The filter options such as time and relevancy are arrayed horizontally like the sidebar and have been turned into drop down tabs to select the different options. Links are still coloured blue but are now in plain text with no underlining.

The footer has also been changed with the long standing Goooooooooogle image that went with the page numbers vanishing, leaving just the numbers behind.

The new look is quite different and we're not sure how much we like it. No doubt we'll get used to it quickly, though. Apparently someone at Google has to tweak the design occasionally to justify their stratospheric paychecks.

AMD takes microprocessor market share from Intel in Q2

Strong demand for Fusion chips helped Advanced Micro Devices take global microprocessor market share from Intel in the second quarter this year, Mercury Research said in a study released on Thursday.

AMD's x86 microprocessor market share grew to 19.4% during the second quarter, up from 17.8% during last year's second quarter. Intel's market share fell to 79.9% from 81.3% in the year-ago quarter.

AMD benefited from growing demand for lower-priced PCs amid gloomy economic conditions in some parts of the world, said Dean McCarron, principal analyst at Mercury Research. AMD processors are cheaper than competitive chips from Intel, and AMD's latest Fusion chips were in strong demand from PC makers.

AMD's Fusion family of chips integrate a CPU and graphics processor inside a single chip. PC vendors like Hewlett-Packard and Toshiba have embraced AMD's recently released Fusion chip code-named Llano, which is aimed at mainstream PCs. HP in June announced 11 new laptops with Llano, and laptops with the chip priced between $500 and $700 are also available from Toshiba, Samsung and Acer. AMD in the first quarter shipped power-efficient Fusion chips for lightweight laptops and desktops, which have also done well.

AMD shipped around 12 million Fusion processors through the end of the second fiscal quarter, which ended on July 2, said Thomas Seifert, interim CEO at AMD, during an earnings conference call last week. Fusion processors made up around 70% of AMD's mobile chip shipments.

The popularity of Fusion chips hurt Intel's market share, though the chip maker's latest Core i3, i5 and i7 chips based on the Sandy Bridge microarchitecture sold well, McCarron said. Overall Intel CPU shipments were hurt as demand for AMD's Llano CPUs went up.

Google's two-step authentication goes worldwide

Google said Thursday that it has rolled out its two-step authentication sign-in system to 40 languages across over 150 countries. The service, which is intended to make it more difficult for hackers to break into Google accounts, has been available since February as an optional service but only in English.

The two-step verification system combines password-based authentication with a verification code. The code is generated by a Google app on the user's iPhone, Android or BlackBerry smartphone, or sent to the user by short message service (SMS) or automated voice call. The account can be accessed only after this code is entered. The verification code can be made valid for a session or for up to 30 days at a time.

The verification system was offered in September to users of Google Apps, and was introduced in English to Google accounts in February. There was no geographic limitation earlier, but Google now supports more countries for receiving codes via SMS and voice calls, for people who aren't using the Google Authenticator app on a smartphone, Google said in an e-mail.

The option to receive the codes through SMS and automated voice calls is likely to be useful to users in emerging markets like India where most mobile users do not have smartphones.

After the user sets up a phone to receive verification codes, 10 backup codes are issued. These backup codes can each be used once instead of a verification code to sign in, and could be useful when users don't have access to their phone, for example, while traveling, Google said. While setting up the preferences, users can also provide an alternative mobile number in case the first phone is not available or lost.

Email, social networking and other online accounts still get compromised today, but two-step verification cuts those risks significantly, said Nishit Shah, product manager for Google security.

Microsoft fixes Mac Office bug in Apple's Lion

Microsoft has released an updated version of Communicator for the Mac that works with Apple's new Lion operating system.

Communicator for Mac 2011 version 13.1.2 was released Thursday to Microsoft's download site, and will be pushed to users via the company's update service shortly, a Microsoft product director promised.

The new version of Communicator resolves the crash bug that afflicted the program when users tried to run it on Mac OS X 10.7, the new operating system Apple launched July 20.

Communicator is the corporate version of Microsoft's consumer-grade Messenger chat client for the Mac, and is available only to business and academic volume licensing customers. It is also the software that connects Mac users to Microsoft's enterprise communications server software, Lync 2010.

Last week, Microsoft's Office for Mac development team reported several problems with the 2011 and 2008 editions of the suite when run on Lion.

At the time, the Communicator crash bug and a glitch that prevents users from importing messages from Apple's Mail email client into Outlook 2011 or Entourage 2008 were the top two issues spelled out then by Pat Fox, a senior director of product development.

In a blog published Thursday, Fox announced the availability of Communicator 13.1.2 and reiterated that Office for Mac 2004 does not work, nor never will, on Lion because the suite was written for the PowerPC CPU.

With Lion, Apple dropped support for Rosetta, the emulator that allowed PowerPC programs to run on Intel processor-equipped Macs.

Microsoft has remained mum on a timetable for other Office 2011 fixes, including one for the Mail-to-Outlook bug and several minor problems with Excel, PowerPoint and Word.

Fox also told customers that they'll have to wait for Microsoft to support new Lion features -- such as auto save, document versioning and a full-screen mode -- in Office for Mac 2011.

Communicator 13.1.2 can be downloaded from Microsoft's website.

Google service rewrites Web pages for speed

Google has developed a hosted service that analyzes Web pages, rewrites their code to make them perform better and serves them up from Google servers.

To use the Page Speed Service, Web publishers must sign up and point their site's DNS entry to Google. The service grabs the site's content, optimizes it for speed and delivers the pages to end users.

Visitors will continue to access a site in the same way as before but could see speed enhancements of 25% to 60%, according to Google.

The service is currently being offered free to a limited number of hand-selected webmasters. Google will announce pricing and other details later. Webmasters can sign up to receive information.

Google has many products and initiatives designed to help speed up the rendering of Web pages, both its own and those of other websites.

It believes a faster online experience is better for everyone, including Google, which has found in tests over the years that even small improvements in Web page performance can lead to significantly greater usage.

Oracle releases Java SE 7

In what is the first major update to the programming language in more than five years, Oracle has shipped Java Platform Standard Edition 7 (Java SE 7), the company announced Thursday.

This is the first release of Java SE under Oracle's stewardship.

"We all know for various business and political reasons that this release has taken some time," admitted Oracle chief Java architect Mark Reinhold in a webcast earlier this month.

By Oracle's estimate, 9 million developers worldwide use Java. Tiobe Software estimates it is the world's most widely used programming language, edging out C and trumping C++ with twice as many users. More than 3 billion devices run Java, and it is deployed by 97% of enterprise desktops worldwide. Each year, the Java runtime is downloaded more than a billion times.

Since Oracle acquired Java as part of its January 2010 acquisition of Sun Microsystems, it has come under close scrutiny from a number of quarters for its management. In December, the Apache Software Foundation withdrew its participation from the Java Community Process, claiming that Oracle did not govern Java as a truly open specification. Oracle, meanwhile, has sued Google for what it considers inappropriate use of Java in Google's Android mobile operating system.

The new release is "solid, though it is more of an incremental release than anything else," said Mark Little, senior director of engineering for Red Hat's middleware business, as well as Red Hat's primary liaison for the JCP.

This new version addresses many of the trends that have swept over the field of computing programming over the past decade. It offers vastly improved support for the growing number of non-Java dynamic languages designed to run on Java Virtual Machine, such as Scala and Groovy. It features an API (application programming interface) for simplifying the task of running a program across multiple processor cores. The range of actions that programs can take with file systems has been vastly improved as well.

Folder combining in Lion appears to be buggy

One of the more than 250 new features in Lion is an enhancement to the Finder that supposedly allows you to combine the contents of folders. In Snow Leopard and prior versions of the Mac OS X, if you placed a folder into a directory alongside another folder of the same name, then the system required you to either cancel the operation and change the folder name or replace the existing folder. Now Lion should offer an option to combine the contents of similarly named folders; however, depending on the way you perform this task the process may not always work as expected.

If you drag a folder to a location that already contains one of the same name, then it appears the option to combine the folder contents does not show up, and instead you are asked to either stop copying or replace the existing folder. Likewise, if you have two folders in the same directory and rename one to be the same as the other, then you will get a warning that the name is already in use. One would expect both of these actions to invoke the option for combining the respective folders, but this is not the case.

Even if these are intended limitations of the feature, there may also be some bugs with the process, as it appears to only work with folders that contain unique items. If one of the folders contains an item that is the same name as an item in the second folder, then sometimes the system will resort to either replacing the folder or stopping the copy process, instead of merging the folders and renaming the similarly named files within them.

Despite these odd inconsistencies, if the system does show you the option to keep the contents of both folders, then it appears to work fine and combine the contents as one would expect. The only problem is that sometimes there is no option to combine the folders when you might expect there to be.

Overall, while this feature is promising, it appears to still be a work in progress as its behavior is a bit inconsistent. Therefore, my recommendation is to not rely on it to show up all the time; however, if it does show up as you expect, then the combining process does seem to work as expected.

Some Lion users plagued by black-screen bug

A number of early adopters of the OS X 10.7 Lion upgrade are running into a fairly severe bug. What happens is that Macs will crash with a black screen, which requires a forced shutdown. Some systems may show kernel panic messages on-screen, but the majority of them just have a black screen. The issue seems to happen specifically when certain graphics events are happening such as manipulating images in applications, or triggering interface elements when graphics events are occurring. In addition, it happens when systems are woken from sleep.

Most systems that appear to be affected are 2010 MacBook Pros running a Core i5 or Core i7 processor and with Nvidia 330M graphics, but some iMac systems have also been affected. The problem appears to be an issue with the handling of the Nvidia graphics card, either in the drivers or in the firmware of the card, and may be rooted in how the systems are handling the switch between the onboard and discrete graphics chips in these dua-GPU systems. Affected users have found that if they force their systems to run on the integrated graphics chip then the prevalence of the crashes lessens, if they happen at all.

After a lengthy thread in the Apple discussions surfaced regarding this issue, Apple has claimed to be looking into it, and has asked people for crash reports and other details of the problem.

Intel ships low-voltage Celeron processors

Intel has shipped two ultra-low-voltage Celeron processors this month as the company fills out its Sandy Bridge chip lineup for budget laptops.

Intel's dual-core Celeron 857 runs at a clock speed of 1.2GHz, has 2MB of cache and is priced at US$134 for 1,000 units. The single-core Celeron 787has a clock speed of 1.3GHz, 1.5MB of cache and is priced at $107. Both processors have on-chip graphics and draw 17 watts of power.

Celeron chips sit at a lower rung of Intel's processor family ladder and are used in basic laptops capable of word processing and Internet surfing. Celeron chips are commonplace in sub-$400 laptops with full-sized screens, a market where Advanced Micro Devices' E-series and C-series chips also play. Intel CEO Paul Otellini last week said more Sandy Bridge-based Pentium and Celeron chips would be released in the second half of this year.

PC makers have not announced laptops with the new processors.

The Celeron chips lack some graphics, power-saving and speed-enhancement features found on the latest Core processors, which are also based on Sandy Bridge. Celeron does not include Turbo Boost, in which cores can be shut down to save power or cranked up to boost processor performance. Celeron also lacks Quick Sync, a hardware feature to convert high-definition video into a format suitable for smartphones and tablets in just a few seconds.

Three-quarters of rootkit infections found on Windows XP machines

Three-quarters of rootkit infections can be found on Windows XP machines, and pirated and unpatched copies are providing cyber criminals with an easy target, according to the latest research from anti-virus software vendor Avast.

The Czech firm's Virus Lab researchers analysed over 630,000 samples from a six-month study, and found 74 per cent of infections originating from Windows XP machines, compared to 17 per cent from Vista and only 12 per cent from Windows 7.

The figures can partly be explained by Windows XP's large market share, along with improved in-built security features in newer versions of the software, but there are other factors at play, according to Avast lead researcher Przemyslaw Gmerek.

"One issue with Windows XP is the high number of pirated versions, especially as users are often unable to properly update them because the software can't be validated by the Microsoft update," he said. "Because of the way rootkits attack - and stay concealed - deep in the operating system, they are a perfect weapon for stealing private data."

The extent of pirated Windows XP software is still largely unknown, but the growing popularity of RemoveWGA, a free tool which removes Windows Genuine Advantage notifications, could be seen as a pointer.

The research also found that rootkit attacks targeting the PC's Master Boot Record were the most popular among hackers, accounting for over 62 per cent of all infections. Driver infections made up 27 per cent of the total.

Avast said that the Alureon, or TDL4/TDL3, malware family was responsible for 74 per cent of infections. Gmerek advised users to keep anti-virus software updated on their machines, and urged those who suspect a rootkit infection to scan their computer.

IEEE issues WiFi spec that could expand hot spot from 60 feet to 60 miles

The IEEE has published a new set of wireless standards designed to extend the WiFi access from a maximum of a few hundred feet to as far as 62 miles, at 22Mbit/sec.

The new spec, the IEEE 802.22 Wireless Regional Area Networks in TV Whitespaces (PDF) is the result of fast technical work following years of legal wrangling with the National Association of Broadcasters and other groups representing companies in the television business.

Like all wireless networking protocols, 802.22 signals are broadcast like radio signals. Except, in this case the frequencies are within the "white spaces" in the VHF and UHF TV bands rather than within the spectrum normally used for radio.

The NAB and other broadcasters' groups fought to keep the FCC from approving use of "white space" – blank areas in the TV spectrum between the frequencies already approved for commercial broadcasters to use.

Broadcasters wanted to keep those white spaces free to keep other signals from interfering with their own, and to give themselves room in which to offer Internet access of their own – as cable companies have done – should they choose to do so.

The FCC shut that down – primarily to get access to more spectrum for use by mobile and broadband signals– then handed responsibility for administering the now-open spaces to a series of IT vendors, including Microsoft and Google.

IEEE, acting with unusually speed – probably not to keep ahead of Microsoft and Google, who were reported to be working on its own proprietary networking protocol for white-space WLAN networking – put together 802.22 and presented it as a way to create Wireless Regional Area Networks (WRAN).

Because the UHF and VHF signals travel farther and more clearly than other WiFi signals the distance at which they can make fast connections is vastly greater than any of IEEE's other WLAN flavors most cell networks and even the much-anticipated but so far disappointing WiMax.

IEEE pitches the protocol as a way to reach remote or rural areas that have little access to broadband or the Internet at all except through dial-up.

It won't be long before cell carriers, cable companies and others start putting up WRAN routers on their poles and towers, however.

Google Maps 5.8 for Android Adds Photo Upload Feature

For the frequent traveler and explorer, be it local or overseas, Google Maps has just added a few enhancements to its Google Maps app for Android. One such feature is the ability to upload photos for places straight from your mobile device. When you think about it, it makes perfect sense to capture specific landmarks and tagging it to the places for easy identification.

Other features that have been added to Google Maps 5.8 for Android includes descriptive terms and a new My Places option. The former is an enhancement to the search results, bringing up points of interest related to businesses, such as their specialties. My Places provides a listing of your favorite and recently visited places.

And if you've stumbled upon an interesting location that hasn't been placed on Google Maps, you can also add it to Google Maps. Doing so will check you into that new location.

Sounds a lot like Foursquare, doesn't it? With Google's various services bolstering each other while performing nearly the same functions as most location based services, it makes one wonder if Google will emerge as the dominant service in the near future.

Source: Google Mobile Blog

First Windows 'Mango' Phone Unveiled

The first smartphone based on the new "Mango" edition of Microsoft's Windows Phone platform was unveiled on Wednesday in Tokyo. The phone is the first of several handsets due over the next few months, that Microsoft hopes will signal its return to the smartphone market as a serious player. 

Despite getting several thousand applications and generally positive reviews, the new platform, which replaced Windows Mobile, was relegated to the sidelines by a rush of new Android devices and updates to Apple's iPhone.

Mango, officially Windows Phone 7.5, adds some 500 improvements to the Windows Phone 7 platform, according to the company. They include an e-mail "conversation view" that is said to make long e-mail discussions more efficient, a "threads" feature that brings together text, instant messages and Facebook chat, and Internet Explorer 9 for faster Web browsing.

Some of those improvements can be seen in the new handset, the IS12T, which will be available in Japan only. Built by Fujitsu Toshiba Mobile Communications, the phone will be available in September or after. No price was disclosed.

The company is one of several partners Microsoft is working with on Mango handsets. Others include Taiwan's Acer and China's ZTE, but perhaps the most awaited phones will be from Nokia.

The Finnish cell phone maker threw its weight behind Windows Phone 7 earlier this year when it announced a wide ranging agreement with Microsoft to collaborate on future handsets and technologies.

Nokia is losing market share to aggressive competitors, but it remains one of the world's largest manufacturers of smart phones, so it has the potential to help Microsoft shift the market.

The launch of the phone came just hours after Microsoft signed off on the operating system and declared it ready to be installed in consumer handsets. That should mean additional phones will get launched in the coming weeks.

Facebook unveils online guide for businesses

Businesses and other organizations not sure how to set up the right Facebook page can now get help from a guide just launched by the social network.

The new Facebook for Business help guide offers a step-by-step tutorial on how business users can set up a page and use it to market themselves and connect with customers. It comes as Google is trying to work out the kinks with its new Google+ social network, including ways for businesses to make use of it.

The how-to guide first explains how to create the best page for specific types of businesses, ensuring that it can draw in the right customers and other interested parties. Moving further, the guide then shows businesses how they can publish ads and sponsored stories to market themselves and boost their image. Finally, Facebook suggests various built-in apps to transform a business page into a richer platform designed with social media and mobile use in mind.

With each page of the guide, Facebook also provides links to create the actual pages, apps, and other content.

The social network has lately been encouraging its business users to set up the right type of page. In March, the company launched a new feature that can migrate a personal profile into a business page.

Google, meanwhile, has bumped into trouble with companies eager to set up Google+ profiles. The search giant's social network, launched in June, has so far focused on individual profiles, prompting Google to shut down a number of Google+ accounts created by corporations. Scaling back on its plans to support enterprise accounts, Google is now advising companies to pick one individual to create a profile that can represent the entire business.