John Lister

Microsoft's much-hyped rival to the iPad, the Surface, may not be as attractive to consumers as it once appeared. Reports from reputable sources indicate the new device may have only WiFi capabilities, and not the ability to use cellphone networks ... to access the Internet. The Surface, officially unveiled last week , is similar in size and shape to the iPad. However, rather than forcing users to rely on a touchscreen, its case houses a built-in physical keyboard. Microsoft's new tablet computer also runs Windows 8, the company's newest operating system (set to launch this fall). Microsoft's ... (view more)

Facebook plans to allow companies to charge monthly fees for the use of applications on the popular social media website. This new policy could create a lucrative market for Facebook versions of newspapers, magazines, and more. At the moment, it's ... not possible for software developers to charge people who like and use their applications on Facebook. Instead, they can charge only for one-off purchases that people make within the application itself. The best known example of this is Zynga's Farmville. Currently, users can play the app free-of-charge. But if they want to get an extra advantage ... (view more)

A new report from Google indicates the US government is currently requesting more information about the online activity of its citizens than ever before. In the second half of 2011, it received 6,321 requests for Internet user data, compared with ... 4,601 in the same period in 2010. That's a 37 per cent increase. The figures were revealed in Google's latest Transparency Report. The US requests cover a total of 12,243 Internet users. (Source: google.com) However, the increase in demands for user data isn't necessarily a sign that the US government is snooping more. Google said the increase could ... (view more)

An Australian retailer claims it will charge Internet visitors an extra 6.8 per cent tax if they buy from the vendor while browsing its site with Internet Explorer 7 (IE7). Not surprisingly, it appears users may not actually have to pay this fee. ... Visitors to Kogan.com who are using Internet Explorer 7 will see a special pop-up screen reading: "It appears you or your system administrator has been in a coma for over 5 years and you are still using IE7. To help make the Internet a better place, you will be charged a 6.8 percent tax on your purchase from Kogan.com. This is necessary due to ... (view more)

Google has revealed that last year it refused to comply with most US government requests to remove controversial content from its websites. The company also discussed its behavior in removing terrorism videos and its response to a particularly ... unusual request from the Canadian government. Google explored these issues in its latest Transparency Report, which provides information about private and public requests that Google receives to censor specific Internet content. According to the report, between July and December 2011 Google received US court orders to take down a total of 3,851 items. ... (view more)

Verizon is scrapping its existing phone plans and replacing them with completely new ones. The new options will be much simpler, and could help people who use a lot of data save a good deal of money. Under the new strategy, people using cellphones ... rather than smartphones will simply be offered a single $40 per month plan with restrictions on the number of calls and texts. That suggests Verizon expects the current trend towards upgrading to smartphones will continue, or at least that the company doesn't expect to generate much profit from customers who won't pay for mobile Internet access. For ... (view more)

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney's personal email account has reportedly been hacked. According to some observers, security weaknesses in Microsoft's Hotmail email service allowed the hack to occur. In reality, however, slip-ups by both ... Romney and Microsoft facilitated the hack. The incident occurred after the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) obtained and printed several emails sent to and from Romney during his time as governor of Massachusetts. The newspaper did not hack the account to obtain the emails, but rather made a legal request for Romney's office to hand them over. The WSJ ... (view more)

The creators of the Flame virus now appear to be attempting to remove it from the computers it has infected. This bizarre move from hackers, who normally seek to increase rather than decrease the number of machines their code infects, may be part of ... a belated attempt to prevent further analysis of how Flame works. The existence of Flame was announced late last month by security firm Kaspersky Lab. At the time, Kaspersky noted the virus was exceptionally sophisticated and had been designed specifically to harvest data using tactics as diverse as taking screenshots and eavesdropping on phone ... (view more)

Software used by Iranian citizens to access the uncensored Internet anonymously has now been revealed to carry malware. Even worse, it carries a variant of malicious software that tracks everything any user types into an infected computer. The ... dangerous software is named Simurgh, after a mythical creature in Iranian folklore. The software is thought to help Internet users combat harsh government controls and shield users from being located and identified. Software Hides Identity of User From Watchers The software is mostly used by Iranians to hide their identity. Users believe it creates ... (view more)

Samsung has launched a complete desktop computer priced at just $329. Samsung says the new device, called a "Chromebox" because it runs Google's Chrome operating system (OS), will never get a virus or lose performance. Chrome OS is an operating ... system designed by Google that closely resembles the company's Chrome browser. Instead of a Windows or Mac style desktop, the user accesses services through a web browser. For example, rather than launch Microsoft Word, the OS provides direct access to the Google Docs online service. As a result, much of the processing work required to run ... (view more)