A researcher at Kansas State University found that mobile phones tend to primarily act as passive entertainment devices rather than serve the purpose of a anytime-anywhere communication device.

The focus group of the research was rather limited with the population of the university campus being adults between the ages of 19 and 24.

Esther Sweeney’s research determined that mobile phones are very personal products and the individual ownership is “a big deal” for their owners. Phones are not shared and have become key entertainment devices, which is not very surprising. However, Sweeney also said that her survey suggests that, while phones have become a part of us, we do not use them to express ourselves – which indicates that phones could be seen as passive entertainment devices (at least at the campus of Kansas State University).

She went a bit further and compared cellphones to be the “adult version of electronic Tamagotchi pets” many students cared for when they were children: “People don’t turn them off, are constantly playing with them, and want to show off the neat things the phone can do.”

SOURCE via Kansas State University

Security firm Impervia published a report based on its findings after analysing the leaked LulzSec chat logs.

Tuesday night security firm Impervia sent over a copy of a report set to go live Wednesday at noon PST, detailing its findings after analyzing the leaked LulzSec chat logs provided by The Guardian. Essentially the now-disbanded hacker group used three attack vectors: SQL Injection, Cross Site Scripting (XSS) and Remote File Include (RFI). The report thus points out the SQL Injection and XSS are the most common Web security vulnerabilities, and that enterprise security continues to ignore these two common vulnerabilities.

Read more…

Veteran Microsoft reporter Mary-Jo Foley of ZDNet has a tip about when Windows 8 will see release.

The original belief was that Windows 8 would hit the release to manufacturing (RTM) in Q2/Q3 2012 following various beta previews and release candidates. The new rumor is that Microsoft is shooting to RTM by April 2012. What’s more, rather than just RTM the two desktop and business editions; Microsoft is aiming to finish Windows 8 for x86, x64, as well as the ARM SoC and Windows 8 Servers all for a simultaneous RTM.

The rumor extends itself to say that there will be a beta release around the time of the BUILD conference this September. It will be the only beta release that will be followed by the release candidate in January 2012. If true, an April 2012 RTM time would mean a retail launch that could be just in time for the back-to-school buyers.

SOURCE via Zdnet

Last week we heard word of a device rumored to be the Nexus 3. This week, the scuttlebutt has it that the phone will actually be named the Nexus Prime.

Google’s Nexus line of smartphones is popular among those that don’t like to wait months for their OS updates; so it seems only fitting that a brand new Nexus device be the first to bring us Ice Cream Sandwich. Last week BGR reported on the specs of what it purported to be either the next Nexus handset or, at the very least, a “pure Google” flagship handset from one of the search giant’s partners. Today, we’ve got a few more snippets of information. Read more…

It’s been two months since the personal details of 100 million PSN and SOE users were stolen and Sony is still dealing with the fall-out.

Sony has faced a lot of criticism over the monumental PSN hack that saw the data of millions of users compromised. Though the hack happened two month ago (and many more companies and agencies have been hacked since then), time has done little to calm those who feel Sony didn’t do enough to protect user data. In fact, three PlayStation users in New York have filed suit against the the electronics giant claiming negligence. Read more…

Given its importance, it is strange how little Microsoft has been communicating about Office 365 in a little known blog, in press releases and public events – until today. Is Microsoft afraid of Google’s next move?

You may have heard of Office 365 just occasionally, but it is really a big deal for Microsoft. If we assume that cloud services will be playing a major role in our lives – and if we assume that cloud services will replace locally installed software at some point – then Office 365 is Microsoft’s first notable, large-scale cloud service for a wide range of customers. It also launches as a possible alternative of Microsoft’s Office products, which generate more than $4.5 billion of revenue per quarter as part of Microsoft’s Business division and remain a core money source for the company.

Office 365 just launched, but there is a good chance that you have no idea what it is and there is an even better chance that you have no idea how it looks and how it feels. The good news is that you haven’t missed much if you have not been part of the beta launch. In all fairness, the product is targeted at a limited audience: mainly businesses and not consumers. Read more…

We have heard plenty of rumored valuations of Facebook, some of which went as high as $100 billion.

There is a more tangible number available as investment fund GSV Capital just bought 225,000 Facebook shares at an average price of $29.28 per share. Since Facebook currently has 2.4 billion outstanding shares, the purchase assumes a Facebook value of currently $70.3 billion. Not bad.

Back in January, Goldman Sachs invested about $500 million in Facebook based on a $50 billion valuation. If we go further back in time, Facebook was valued at $12 billion based on a $240 million investment by Microsoft in October 2007, at about $550 million based on a $27.5 million investment by Greylock Partners in April 2006 and at about $100 million based on $12.7 million funding Facebook received in May 2005 from Accel Partners. Facebook has received a total of $2.34 billion in funding so far and is expected to record revenues of $2 billion this year.

Facebook’s valuation is mainly driven by claims of continued user growth as well as gains in advertising market share. Facebook reportedly has about 750 million users and a 33% display ad share in the U.S.

SOURCE via Internet Retailer