UK finally gets access to Google's Map Maker editing tool

Those red pins look almost like little hearts, revealing which countries have been showered with the affection of Google's crowdsourced map improvement tool and those -- like the UK -- that have so far been left out. We can now safely ignore the chart, however, as the UK has just received its dose of Map Maker love, taking its rightful place among nations like the US, France, India and even North Korea. Instead of just reporting problems, which has long been possible, Brits can use the browser-based service to contribute additional local knowledge about everything from bus stations to cycle routes, as well as natural features like parks and even bits of shrubbery. (Hopefully, only really amazing bits of shrubbery.) You can watch folks adding these sorts of things, almost in real-time, at the Google link below -- and it's weirdly addictive.

Via: BBC News

Source: Google Map Maker

More Coverage: Google's official blog

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By: Unknown On 9:29 AM

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NBA gives casual fans and armchair GMs access to the league's entire statistical history

HOUSTON and NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa., Feb. 15, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Basketball Association (NBA) and SAP AG (NYSE: SAP) today announced the launch of NBA.com/Stats, a new unprecedented statistical destination on NBA.com providing fans with interactive access to unlimited amounts of official NBA statistics and analysis.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110126/AQ34470LOGO)

Powered by the real-time SAP HANA® platform and free to all fans and media, the NBA's unparalleled statistical offering will feature the league's entire official statistics history, previously only available to league and NBA team personnel, including:

Every NBA Box Score: Dating back to the inaugural 1946-47 season, every NBA box score will be available including memorable games such as Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game in 1962 and Kobe Bryant's 81-point game in 2006.
Advanced Shooting Charts: Comprehensive shooting charts for offensive and defensive performance providing visual shot displays, "hot spots," and more.
Top Lineup Combinations: The best two through five man lineup combinations over the last six seasons. Combinations can be sorted based on a variety of statistical breakdowns.
In-depth Statistical Breakdowns: Per possession, clutch, efficiency, player/team comparisons and additional in-depth statistics with many breakdown options.
Player Pages for Every NBA Player: Complete individual statistical pages for every player in NBA history.
NBA.com/Stats will allow users to interact and analyze official league, team, and player statistics in real-time via an intuitive, highly visual interface. In addition, content from NBA.com/Stats can be easily shared with others via social networks Twitter, Facebook and Google+.

"NBA.com/Stats provides our fans and media with the definitive tool for accessing our entire up-to-the-minute history of official NBA statistical information," said NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver. "Working together with SAP, a global leader in providing innovative software solutions, this groundbreaking offering brings big data to the NBA allowing fans, broadcasters and the media to run unlimited statistical breakdowns of NBA players and teams, past or present."

"Sports fans have a passion for statistics because it brings them closer to the game, their favorite teams and players," said Steve Peck, senior vice president, Global Strategic Initiatives, SAP. "The new NBA.com/Stats goes beyond the numbers by offering a dynamic, comprehensive and statistical experience like never before. As a proven business platform, SAP HANA will help the NBA provide an experience that allows millions of fans to find insights in the numbers that had previously only been available to NBA teams and selected members of the media."

SAP will be the presenting partner of the new NBA.com/Stats destination. In July 2012, the NBA and SAP announced a new multiyear marketing partnership that made SAP the Official Business Analytics Software Partner of the NBA. The partnership includes the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and the NBA Development League (NBA D-League).

Along with SAP HANA, the NBA will utilize SAP® BusinessObjects™ business intelligence (BI) solutions for advanced analysis with SAP BusinessObjects Explorer® and SAP® Landscape Transformation software to power official NBA statistics on NBA.com/Stats.

In addition to unlimited statistics, NBA.com/Stats will provide special editorial features that highlight innovative NBA.com/Stats findings, in-depth analysis on historical box scores, a look "Behind The Numbers" and regular contributions from NBA.com's statistical expert John Schuhmann. A special "Glossary" section will provide a complete breakdown and explanation of innovative and new statistics.

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By: Unknown On 9:29 PM

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Eric Kessler announces AirPlay support for HBO Go and Max Go apps, says à la carte HBO access still isn't economically viable

Eric Kessler, President & COO at HBO, just announced that a long-awaited feature will be going live today during his interview at D:Dive Into Media 2013. HBO Go and Max Go users with Apple products filling the home will now be able to enjoy AirPlay beaming. Straight from the man himself:

"Our long-term goal for Go is to be on all platforms and all devices. Effective today, we will be enabling AirPlay -- any device that allows users to watch on the big screen is great. You can play HBO Go on your iPhone or iPad, and then beam that to your HDTV via an Apple TV using AirPlay."

It appears that neither app has seen an update in Apple's App Store just yet, but we're guessing it's only a matter of time before both are refreshed. [Update: Looks as if both updates are now live!] Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that HBO will be on Apple TV for some time yet. Host Kara Swisher asked Kessler what the problem was in getting 'em on there. His reply? "We will get on Apple TV -- there is no problem. These things take time."

We spoke firsthand with Kessler following his interview, and he affirmed that there's no 30 percent revenue cut to worry about with Apple TV like there is for conventional apps on the App Store. It seemed that HBO simply viewed this as a lower priority now that AirPlay is a reality, and it may go a long way to explaining why so many other video apps are opting for AirPlay inclusion rather than focusing efforts on a dedicated Apple TV app.

Pivoting from there, Swisher asked why HBO wouldn't cave to vocal critics online and offer HBO Go / Max Go to those who don't subscribe to HBO via pay-TV. According to him, "it's about economics." Kessler confessed that while this may change in the future, "the economics today don't support this." He admitted that HBO has done extensive research to see whether or not people actually would pay a meaningful sum of money for access to HBO's content outside of a pay-TV package, and evidently, the numbers just don't add up.

Of course, there's a ton of behind-the-scenes variables in play when thinking about distribution agreements with monolithic cable providers, and it's clear from his interview that the particulars are far more complex than most people realize. In other words, HBO would suffer from implications related to breaking its content out of a pay-TV model -- it's quite possible that there's simply no way to charge enough for à la carte HBO access to make up for the negative economic impact that would happen should that card be played. Or, that the price it'd have to charge would be so obscene, that none of the people clamoring for it would actually open up their wallets and make good.

In closing, Kessler confessed that some 80 percent of all HBO viewing happens on the traditional television, while on-demand usage takes up another 16 percent. In other words, HBO Go viewing makes up just "two to three percent" of overall usage. Granted, he noted that even HBO On Demand usage was fairly flat for the service's first three years, but began to ramp up after more and more channels began to offer on-demand services. So, for those demanding à la carte access to the HBO Go app -- you might want to wait for app usage to rise above the single digits. The truth is, that figure is just too small right now to register on the radar of most executives.

We'll be reporting live from D:Dive Into Media as it continues on February 11-12. You can follow our coverage by using the "dmedia2013" tag.

Source: iTunes (HBO Go), (Max Go)

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By: Unknown On 2:09 PM

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MoviePass app comes to Android with $30/mo theater access, caveats

For film buffs who prefer the really big-screen experience, MoviePass seems a no brainer -- pay around $30 per month and watch as many movies at the cinema as you want. Now Android users can get the same MoviePass app as their iOS-toting counterparts on Google Play, albeit with the same kickers: its still in beta and is invitation only. There are other constraints too, for now: you'll need a GPS-equipped smartphone, access is limited to one movie a day, the price goes up from $30 depending on your market and you'll have to pay with the included MoviePass card -- among others. Still, on top of access the app also lets you find showtimes, chart your movie-going, manage rewards, share socially and "even reserve a copy of the film and soundtrack you just saw," according to the outfit. Anything that encourages us to get out of the house occasionally has to be a good thing, considering all the tech keeping us there.

Via: Android Police

Source: Google Play

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By: Unknown On 9:32 PM

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Nokia will limit access to software updates via NaviFirm

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By: Dilusha On 9:51 PM

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Nokia will limit access to software updates via NaviFirm

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By: Dilusha On 9:20 PM

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China may require real name registration for internet access

BEIJING | Tue Dec 25, 2012 12:20am EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China may require internet users to register with their real names when signing up to network providers, state media said on Tuesday, extending a policy already in force with microblogs in a bid to curb what officials call rumors and vulgarity.

A law being discussed this week would mean people would have to present their government-issued identity cards when signing contracts for fixed line and mobile internet access, state-run newspapers said.

"The law should escort the development of the internet to protect people's interest," Communist Party mouthpiece the People's Daily said in a front page commentary, echoing similar calls carried in state media over the past week.

"Only that way can our internet be healthier, more cultured and safer."

Many users say the restrictions are clearly aimed at further muzzling the often scathing, raucous - and perhaps most significantly, anonymous - online chatter in a country where the Internet offers a rare opportunity for open debate.

It could also prevent people from exposing corruption online if they fear retribution from officials, said some users.

It was unclear how the rules would be different from existing regulations as state media has provided only vague details and in practice customers have long had to present identity papers when signing contracts with internet providers.

Earlier this year, the government began forcing users of Sina Corp's wildly successful Weibo microblogging platform to register their real names.

The government says such a system is needed to prevent people making malicious and anonymous accusations online and that many other countries already have such rules.

"It would also be the biggest step backwards since 1989," wrote one indignant Weibo user, in apparent reference to the 1989 pro-democracy protests bloodily suppressed by the army.

Chinese internet users have long had to cope with extensive censorship, especially over politically sensitive topics like human rights, and popular foreign sites Facebook, Twitter and Google-owned YouTube are blocked.

Despite periodic calls for political reform, the ruling Communist Party has shown no sign of loosening its grip on power and brooks no dissent to its authority.

(Reporting by Ben Blanchard and Huang Yan; Editing by Michael Perry)

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By: Dilusha On 5:00 PM

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Banks fend off attacks designed to disrupt online banking access

A man works at his computer in Virginia Beach, Virginia, February 7, 2012.

Credit: Reuters/Samantha Sais

By Jim Finkle and Rick Rothacker

BOSTON/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina | Fri Dec 14, 2012 11:21am EST

BOSTON/CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp, JPMorgan Chase & Co and U.S. Bancorp and other major U.S. banks seem to have stopped a group of hacker activists from seriously disrupting their online banking operations.

A financial services industry organization and several cyber security companies said a group of "hactivists" that impeded access to some major U.S. online banking sites in September had so far failed to gain traction in a second campaign that began this week.

"There has been no impact to critical financial systems," the Financial Services Information Sharing and Analysis Center, or FS-ISAC, said in a statement.

Tom Kellermann, vice president of cyber security at security software maker Trend Micro Inc, said the banks had been "very successful.

"I wouldn't see any prolonged outages for the major financial institutions in the coming year."

Arbor Networks, which sells equipment that companies can use to protect their websites against attack, said banks had bolstered their defenses since the last round of attacks in September.

"Everyone has been through this once or twice," said Dan Holden, an Arbor director. "There is just a better level of preparedness."

On Monday, a group that calls itself the Qassam Cyber Fighters said on a website called Pastebin.com that it was planning attacks against a group of five banks that also included PNC Financial Services Group Inc and SunTrust Banks Inc. The same group took credit for the disruptions in September.

U.S. Bancorp spokesman Tom Joyce said the regional bank's website was performing well, but some customers might be experiencing intermittent delays. "We can assure customers that their data and funds are secure," he said.

PNC said its website had unusually heavy traffic in the past several days, causing occasional difficulties in accessing it. Bank of America said it was monitoring its systems, which were operational.

SunTrust and JPMorgan declined to comment.

(Reporting By Jim Finkle in Boston and Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, North Carolina; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

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By: Dilusha On 5:50 PM

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Google could be shutting down 4G access on Nexus 4

Bye bye 4G

Google may be making it harder for people to switch on 4G on their LG Nexus 4, after it removed some key documentation from public view.

Back in November we reported that a 4G chip was found during a teardown of the Google Nexus 4, with LG later explaining the reason behind it was because the handset used the same board as the LTE-enabled Optimus G.

Further digging revealed the 4G chip could be enabled in the settings menu, allowing super-fast connectivity over the 1700MHz spectrum – especially handy for Canadian users.

However Google has now removed some keys files from its developer archives including the factory images for the Nexus 4 which are used to restore the handset to its original state.

The Nexus 4 isn't officially licensed to use 4G, meaning Google could be at risk of attracting unwanted attention from governing bodies if people hack it on, which has led people to believe this latest move is a way of making it harder for users to access the LTE capabilities.

For now this is purely speculation, and there could be plenty of other explanations as to why the images were removed – maybe there was an error in them and they've been taken offline while they are fixed? We can't be sure.

Google has not made any official comment regarding the removal of these files, but we'll be keeping an eye out for any further developments.

From Google via Android Central

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By: Dilusha On 12:21 PM

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Microsoft partners with Devicescape to give WP8 users access to over 11 million WiFi hotspots

Easy Access to High-Quality Hotspots Offers Windows Phone Users Cost Effective Data Use
SAN BRUNO, Calif.,November 6, 2012 Devicescape, the WiFi offload company, today announced that it has licensed WiFi data from its Curated Virtual Network (CVN) to Microsoft forWindows Phone 8. This agreement will allow Windows Phone 8 users to easily and reliably locate high-quality hotspots leading to a significantly improved user experience while reducing mobile data costs.

By: Dilusha On 11:11 AM

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