Pakistan IT » Websites

Facebook Strikes Deal to Create New Social Network in China

Pakistan IT — Sat, 07 May 2011 13:39:49 +0000

Facebook is reportedly working with China’s largest search engine to create a new, jointly owned social network. The collaboration with Baidu would allow Facebook to get a foothold in the Chinese market while giving Baidu the chance to capitalize on Mark Zuckerberg’s network-building expertise. The new site would still need to be approved by Chinese’s Internet regulators, who retain final say on pretty much everything. And it definitely wouldn’t be able to use the Facebook.com URL, which remains blocked throughout the mainland.

via: NBC Bay Area

source: Silicon Alley Insider

Incoming search terms:

You might also like:

Convofy: Social Networking for Enterprises

Pakistan IT — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:32:51 +0000

The expansive universe cultivated by Facebook demonstrates the changing trend in networking and social behavior exhibited by the internet populace. Left behind are the days when one would find pen pals in corners of the world; we now find friends through a web medium that not only gives a brief intro, but also provides some assurance in terms of common contacts.

If one is to review the history of Facebook, a common story with the release of the motion picture “The Social Network”, the interesting factor found common is the initial thinking that led to the planting of the roots for this giant. It was exclusivity; a club that only a few could get into, while everyone wanted to be in it. In fact, even Orkut employed a similar technique in its heyday, requiring an invitation from members to join.

However, opening up the club proved to be the best thing for Facebook, propelling it into the heights of the internet world, and of course, making a billionaire out of its founder.

Instead of emailing your friends and family and attaching pictures, you could simply share your life and even your daily routine with your world; all through one portal. As the popularity has climbed, more developers have taken to this one platform to share their wares, from games to markets. And this has meant that the time spent by an average user of the site has also increased dramatically, in some cases, alarmingly.

This is one of the reasons why many workplaces have restricted worker access to social networking sites from the office, with information security and confidentiality also playing vital roles.

The various researches done so far have shown diverging results on what would be the best solution for a more open and productive workplace. In fact, a recent Gartner report showed a decline in the use of email communication corresponding with an increase in social network mediums as primary contact platforms. The hypothesis by the report states that social platforms could become the solitary modes in the next 5 years for all forms of communication; email, notes, messages, photos, etc.

Taking into account the global trend, enterprises have to make decisions on how to utilize the social platform; incorporate or segregate. Some organizations have welcomed Facebook openly, relying on the strong member base to promote and market their brands and environment. Others have kept the gates closed.

This is an arena that has become the new battleground for software houses, with Yammer and Salesforce applying the early breaks to introduce enterprise-specific social portals.

The model utilized by these enterprise options is similar to Facebook’s historic model; allowing people of one domain network to connect. In such cases, an enterprise deploys a social platform for all its employees to utilize for all communication, at the office and beyond the doors of the workplace. For a large organization, this is one of the best and low-cost ways to have its people get to know each other, especially in light of the segmentation and segregation that most large entities employ for efficient working processes. Additionally, with Admin control remaining in the hands of the company, the chances of mischief can be minimized.

Convofy

Scrybe, an Adobe Systems Inc. & LMK Resources funded Tech company, (with roots in Pakistan) has become the new member of the social networking arena, launching Convofy.

Being the proud creators of a popular calendaring and personal productivity suite, the new product aims to revolutionize the social networking experience for enterprises. Key features that its founder Faizan Buzdar has been quick to highlight include:

Features:

Microblogging & Status Updates - See your team’s updates in real-time and never miss what your co-workers are sharing. Your team comments on the posts you share, and you see all conversations in real-time. You can talk with your co-workers, not at them.
Sharing Files & Images with Unlimited Storage – Upload and share images or documents with your co-workers or groups without a worry about storage limits. Quickly get your point across using annotations and context.
Sharing Blogs, Articles, Web Links – Create a knowledgebase for your team simply by sharing links and capturing conversations on the signals within those articles. Sharing links is literally as easy as drag and drop.
Sharing To-Dos & Milestones – Share to-do lists and milestones with your co-workers. Multiple people can interact with a task list, in real-time, so everyone in your team is on top of what is going on.
Presence and Company Chat - Know who is online at your workplace and available for chat. You can start a private chat with one person or you can start a chat within a post so all relevant teammates know what’s going on.
Motivational Analytics – The size of the presence bubble tells how actively your co-workers are contributing in to the system. Each post shows who you are most likely to chat with. Your contacts and groups are organized based on your interaction with them.
Employee Profiles – Find relevant information about co-workers and discover domain experts across your organization.
Mobile App – Convofy’s mobile web app is available for any modern device including the iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, etc. Stay connected with what is going on at work, even when you are not there.
Private and Secure – Your security is Convofy’s top priority. Work in a private and secure environment in the cloud.
Groups – Create private groups for teams, projects and topics and invite relevant coworkers.
Unlimited Storage – Share away with unlimited storage on Convofy.
Unlimited Users – Your entire company can join your private network. Only a work email address is needed.
Administrative Tools – Claim the data in your company network. Manage and moderate content with advanced administrative tools.
Guest Users – Work with people outside your network, such as clients and contractors by inviting them to groups.
Security Controls – Convofy is safe and secure. Customize password and usage policies. Restrict usage to an IP ranges, or restrict guest domains.
Network Wide Keyword Search – Search the entire network for keywords in one click.
Priority Support – Access to our enhanced support option for any queries from your company.

User experience seems to be the vital aspect considered during the design of Convofy, and the only way to get the complete feel for it would be to try it out. The viral impact of the product has already had several competitors sign up to review the platform, while also enticing large enterprises to join and give their workforce a vital connection tool.

Just like all of us would like our mobiles to be the all-in-one device, Convofy aims to do the same with the office environment. Still early days to predict the success factor, but things are appearing green at the moment.

Take a look for yourself and share the experience: http://www.convofy.com

Have a look at following preview video:

You might also like:

Facebook Founder Allegedly Sold Half of his Company for Just 1,000 Dollars

Pakistan IT — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 09:11:13 +0000

We usually don’t cover global tech stories, but this is huge, so we thought our readers might get interested in reading this.

Well, the headline might look crazy to you, but the fact is that Paul Ceglia, initial partner of Mark Zuckerberg (the founder and CEO of facebook), is claiming to have 50 percent financial rights over Facebook, based on his initial investment of USD 1,000 – that he made back in 2003.

This way, Paul Ceglia is potentially the luckiest investor in the history of tech world. He, may get as many shares in Facebook as Zuckerbeg has – based on his 1,000 dollars investment that he made in facebook in early days.

Paul says that he has the copy of contract with at least one dozen emails, which facebook says are fake, to prove that his initial investment is legit and he is rightful owner of facebook shares (exactly equal to Zuckerberg’s) valuing around 10 billion dollars.

It all started back in 2003 when Zuckerberg shared his idea of year book (later called as facebook) with Paul and asked him for fund injection, which Paul agreed and paid 1,000 dollars to Zuckerberg against 50 percent stakes in the project.

After several months of this initial investment by Paul, Zuckerberg was able to launch facebook in early 2004, which turned out to be a successful project (though the access to website was limited to Harvard University students only).

Later on, in summer 2004, Zuckerberg seemingly lied to Paul and said that project didn’t go through well and he’s thinking of taking the website off-air. He offered Paul the the refund of his investment, which Paul claims Zuckerberg never made.

Currently the case is in court, and may turn out to be one of the biggest tech stories of history.

And just don’t consider it another ordinary lawsuit, as the tech analysts are taking this incident very seriously, plus a fact that the law firm behind Paul Ceglia, DLA Piper, is a major international law firm that primarily represents technology companies. It is said that DLA Piper takes only those cases which it believes have some value and credibility in them.

Just to add here, in past, facebook had to pay 65 million dollars to Winklevoss brothers (who were without any document proof) in a settlement case when both the brothers had accused Zuckerberg of stealing their idea of launching facebook.

You can read complete emails (between Zuckerberg and Paul) and more details on Business Insider and a webcast discussion on TechCrunch.

You might also like:

A Browser that Speaks Your Language

Pakistan IT — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 09:22:52 +0000

The latest version of Google’s Chrome shows the potential of HTML5.

Early adopters can now get a sneak peek at the future of the Web by downloading the latest prerelease, or “beta,” version of Chrome, Google’s Web browser. One of the most interesting new features is an ability to translate speech to text—entirely via the Web.

The feature is the result of work Google has been doing with the World Wide Web Consortium’s HTML Speech Incubator Group, the mission of which is “to determine the feasibility of integrating speech technology in HTML5,” the Web’s new, emerging standard language.

A Web page employing the new HTML5 feature could have an icon that, when clicked, initiates a recording through the computer’s microphone, via the browser. Speech is captured and sent to Google’s servers for transcription, and the resulting text is sent back to the website.

To experiment with the voice-to-text feature, download the latest beta version of Chromehere. Then go to this webpage, click on the microphone, and start talking. You’ll probably find the results mixed, and sometimes hilarious. Using the finest elocution I could muster, I read the opening passage of Richard Yates’s Revolutionary Road: “The final dying sounds of their dress rehearsal left the Laurel Players with nothing to do but stand there, silent and helpless.” I got error messages several times in a row (“speech not recognized” or “connection to speech servers failed”). Once, I received this transcription: “9 sounds good restaurants on the world there’s nothing to do with fam vans island.”

The new feature derives in large part from experiments Google conducted through its Android operating system for mobile devices. For more than a year, saysVincent Vanhoucke, a member of Google’s voice recognition team, Android app developers have been able to integrate voice recognition into their apps using technology provided by Google. This has provided Google with useful voice data with which to train its voice-recognition algorithms. Today, some 20 percent of searches on Android phones are conducted using voice recognition, says Vanhoucke: people use voice recognition to write texts, send emails, or conduct searches. “It has really opened up interesting new avenues,” says Vanhoucke.

However, unlike desktop voice-to-text software, which first accustoms itself to a user’s voice, Chrome is trying to churn out text from voice without prior training.

”

I suppose if they keep track of [the] IP address, they could adapt” to a given user’s voice, says Jim Glass, a speech recognition expert at MIT. Glass notes that the mobile phone provides an acoustic environment very different from that of a laptop or desktop computer; for one thing, a phone’s microphone is reliably placed right at the user’s mouth, unlike computer microphone setups in homes or offices. “This is the beta version of Chrome,” says Glass. “They’ll be collecting data, and we can be sure they will be refining their models–that’s the nature of the speech-recognition game.”

Even if it’s rough around the edges, sometimes the technology impresses. I tried once again and got back “the final warning sounds of the dress rehearsal at laurel players with nothing to do with stand there.” Not so bad. And the Chrome app nailed it to a letter when all I said was “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”

Third-party programmers have also begun creating Web pages capable of using the new feature of Chrome. Already available for trial is a browser plugin called Speechify that lets you search Google, Hulu, YouTube, Amazon, and other sites using voice with Chrome.

Other inventive uses could soon follow. “Games could be taking keyboard, mouse, touch, accelerometer, and speech input together,” says Karl Westin, an expert on HTML5 who works for Nerd Communications, based in Berlin, Germany. “Having an aeroplane game where you could actually scream ‘up, UP, UUUPPP!’ could be fantastic.”

But the technology is more than just a toy—it also points the way to a much more capable Web. HTML4, the last major version of the HTML language, emerged in 1997. Since then, plugins like Silverlight and Flash have added media-processing capabilities to the Web. But HTML5 enables media playback and offline storage via the browser.

“The insight we had was that more and more people were spending all their time in the browser,” says Google’s Brian Rakowski, group product manager for Chrome. E-mail and instant messaging increasingly take place in browsers rather than in separate e-mail or AIM applications. “We’d like it to be case that you never have to install a native application again,” says Rakowski. “The Web should be able to do all of it.”

source: technology review

You might also like:

PSEB Has Almost Lost Its Website, For Ever!

Pakistan IT — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 08:31:33 +0000

The official website of Pakistan Software Export Board is down for three days now, with a note on it saying that site is being updated and it will be back soon.

However, a source in PSEB who requested not to be named told ProPakistani that PSEB lost its website due to non-payment of its hosting bills. He further told us that PSEB is likely to lose all its data as hosting service provider has terminated the account on account of non-payment of hosting dues.

We have learned that PSEB has shifted its website to a new server for time being, however, the old data is yet to be recovered from old host, which won’t be possible unless PSEB clears its outstanding dues.

Previously PSEB was hosted with Server4Sale, however it never paid for the hosting services, told us Server4Sale representative in Pakistan. Hosting company confirmed ProPakistani that PSEB account was suspended after un-acknowledged multiple notices.

When asked from PSEB, a official denied to comment on hosting/payment issues, however, he said that website will get back online till tomorrow evening.

We have heard unofficially that PSEB may develop a new website design/content to get it back online, at earliest.

PSEB is said to be the responsible body for promoting IT industry in the country and then taking those locally developed products and services abroad to get them exported.

You might also like:

Zong Partners with Twitter to Offer Services via SMS

Pakistan IT — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 09:34:53 +0000

Zong has partnered with twitter to officially offer SMS service for twitter users in Pakistan, with which you can receive twitter updates, retweet statuses, send direct messages, send twitter updates and use other twitter functionality through SMS with Zong.

Zong is only the second network after Mobilink that officially supports Twitter updates via SMS.

Pricing:

More importantly, this service is free, at least for now.

How to use Twitter SMS Service with Zong:

To start using Twitter SMS service with Zong, SMS ‘Start’ from your Zong to 40404 as SMS.

You will be guided through an account setup wizard to connect your Zong number with an existing twitter account or otherwise signup for an new account.

To get SMS notifications for your followers you must activate SMS notification in your twitter account settings as well:

Twitter SMS commands

Following are few commands that you can use with Zong’s SMS service for Twitter:

FOLLOW username: Start following a user
UNFOLLOW username: Stop following a user
ON/OFF: Turn all Tweet notifications on or off
ON/OFF username: Set Tweet notifications for a user on or off (you’ll still be following them even if you set it to off)
GET username: Shows you the latest tweet from any user
RT username: Retweet a user’s latest tweet
FAV username: Favorite a user’s latest tweet
D username your-message: Send a direct message to a user

microblogging, SMS Packages, Social Network, Telecom, Twitter, VAS, Zong

You might also like:

Lawyer Files $1 Billion Lawsuit Against Facebook, Zuckerberg Over Palestinian Intifada Page

Pakistan IT — Sat, 02 Apr 2011 08:36:12 +0000

Earlier this week, Facebook pulled a controversial page calling for a Third Palestinian Intifada after facing intense pressure and criticism from Israeli politicians and organizations like the Anti-Defamation League. When it eventually decided to remove the page, the social network explained the decision by pointing out that comments on the page had “deteriorated to direct calls for violence,” thereby warranting its termination per company policy. One lawyer, however, thinks Facebook should’ve yanked the page much earlier — and he’s asking for more than $1 billion to help heal the wounds.

Political activist Larry Klayman is the man behind the billion-dollar, class-action lawsuit, filed yesterday in Washington. Klayman, who is Jewish, alleges that Facebook and CEO Mark Zuckerberg (also Jewish) intentionally kept the Intifada page active in order to “further their revenues and the net worth” of the company. Doing so, he claims, put Klayman’s own life in jeopardy, since he has been “called a Zionist publicly by radical Palestinians and other such Arabic interests.” Naturally, this led Klayman to consider himself “a target of this call to kill Jews.”

So how does Klayman plan on making his case? Consider, if you will, Exhibit A: Aaron Sorkin’s imagination. In his complaint, Klayman cites ‘The Social Network’ as irrefutable evidence that Zuckerberg “has no conscience or sense of right or wrong.” Because movies are real.

And in case you’re wondering whether this is just another April Fool’s prank, keep in mind that Klayman has in the past filed lawsuits against Osama Bin Laden, Hillary Clinton, the Federal Reserve, the Department of the Treasury and, for good measure, his own mommy dearest. Accusing Mark Zuckerberg of profiting from an Intifada is very much within his strike zone.

via: TechCrunch

source: Standard News Wire

You might also like:

Twitter Adds HTTPS Option To Secure Your Account From Hackers

Pakistan IT — Wed, 16 Mar 2011 14:39:40 +0000

Twitter today announced a new settings option that will make your account more secure. Users accessing their Twitter accounts over unsecured internet connections such as a public WiFi network risk getting their accounts hacked, much like what happened to celebrity Ashton Kutcher a few weeks back at the TED conference.

The security improvement gives you a new option under the settings page to select “Always use HTTPS” when accessing your Twitter account. This will encrypt your connection and prevent hackers from sniffing out your password. Even if you do not turn on the setting, it will be automatically enabled for Twitter’s login page as well as access via Twitter’s official app for the iPhone and iPad.

Although login pages will now be encrypted keeping your passwords safe, your account can still be temporarily hijacked if you do not turn on the new setting and continue to access your account on unsecured public WiFi networks. Known as session-jacking, hackers can copy the temporary cookie the site issues after you login, and use that to operate your account as long as you stay logged in.

[via Wired]

You might also like:

Twitter to developers: we want to own the pipes, water, and faucets, but feel free to make soap

Pakistan IT — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:29:01 +0000

An announcement by Ryan Sarver, a member of the platform team at Twitter, could spell bad news for makers of third-party apps that access the growing social network and new ones looking to get in on the action. In a move that will inevitably cause quite a ruckus among developers and tweeters alike, Twitter has essentially decided that no new apps should be developed “that mimic or reproduce the mainstream Twitter consumer client experience.” He goes on to say that existing apps will continue to function, but that the bar will be raised in terms of quality and consistency. Specifically, he cites differences across apps in terminology for core functions like @-replying and trending topics as confusing to users and at the root of the change.

According to Sarver, over 90 percent of Twitter users access the service through official Twitter apps, so for many the change won’t be drastic. The company hopes developers will shift their focus to other areas of the ecosystem that “focus on areas outside the mainstream consumer client experience” such as publishing tools, curation, and social CRM (consumer relationship management). Still, it’s incredibly interesting — and frankly, disheartening — to see a Web 2.0 company making such an un-Web 2.0 move. Of course, this could all be part of Twitter’s plans to eventually monetize the service, but for now we’ll have to take the company at its word, even if that means our choice of clients becomes a little less diverse in the future.

Twitter API Announcements Google Group

You might also like:

Microsoft confirms Internet Explorer 9 will launch on March 14th

Pakistan IT — Thu, 10 Mar 2011 13:36:46 +0000

We had a hint that Microsoft would be releasing the final version of Internet Explorer 9 on March 14th, and now the company has finally, officially confirmed it. That launch will coincide with a press event / party at SXSW, and downloads will be available starting at 9PM Pacific time (or midnight Eastern time). Wondering what’s in store? Then you can always check out our review of the beta version, or simply download it yourself, of course — suffice it to say, it’s no Internet Explorer 6.

ZDNet, Download Squad

The Windows Blog

You might also like: