John Lister

The image-hosting site Flickr has launched an online video page that appears to be a natural rival to YouTube. However, most analysts think the move has come too late. It's an extension of the search engine wars: Flickr is owned by Yahoo, while ... Google owns YouTube. Though Yahoo already has a video hosting service, it's only available to media outlets and professionals. The new Flickr service will allow anyone to view videos, but only 'pro' members can upload footage. This will cost $24.95 a year, and even then clips will be limited to 90 seconds. That's in sharp contrast to YouTube, which ... (view more)

Microsoft is applying the power of the microprocessor to a traditionally low-tech problem: traffic jams. The firm is launching a web service that will give driving directions specifically designed to avoid busy spots. It's based on a technology ... called 'Clearflow', which took researchers five years to develop. The idea is that every time traffic backs up, it causes an effect that spreads across adjoining roads. Clearflow can quickly measure and analyse the way live traffic problems affect side streets as well as major highways. The system will cover 72 cities and will be free to use as part of ... (view more)

Facebook appears set to settle a long-standing legal row over claims founder Mark Zuckerburg stole the idea for the site from Harvard colleagues. ConnectU, a site for keeping in touch with current and former college classmates, launched the lawsuit ... in question way back in 2004. Its founders, brothers Cameron and Tyler Vinklemoss and Divya Marenda, said Zuckerburg had taken the idea when he worked for them in 2003. This work involved setting up Harvard Connection, a dating site specifically for the university. The lawsuit claimed Zuckerburg deliberately took his time on the project because he ... (view more)

Amazon has launched a new service allowing customers to buy products via their cell phones. Those who've tested it say the service works smoothly...but is a complete waste of time. The scheme works by allowing customers to text the name of a ... product, the ISBN (for books) or the Universal Product Code (the barcode number for other products) to 262966, which spells out Amazon on keypads. They then receive a text message back with the first two products that match the search and text either 1 or 2 to make their selection, or M for more options. First time users will then need to text the email ... (view more)

There's a major shortage of iPhones in stores across the country, and Apple's own online outlet is also running short. The shortage has prompted speculation Apple is planning to bring forward the launch of its next phone, likely based on 3G ... technology. AppleInsider, an unofficial site that reports on the company's business, says it contacted Apple stores across the country and all were out of stock of both the 8GB and 16GB models. Thus far, there's no news as to when replacements will arrive. Readers of the site added to the reports, suggesting some entire states were without stock. There's ... (view more)

A security researcher won $10,000 for hacking a MacBook Air in just two minutes. Rubbing salt in the wound, he said Apple's operating system was the easiest of targets. The competition, held at Vancouver security conference CanSecWest, challenged ... entrants to break into one of three laptops: a MacBook Air running the latest version of Macintosh's Operating System, a Fujitsu running the latest edition of Windows Vista, and a Sony Vaio running Ubuntu, an operating system based on the open-source Linux system. All three machines were protected with the latest security patches offered by the ... (view more)

Adobe has launched a free online version of its popular Photoshop image editing software, combining it with an online picture storage service. Photoshop Express includes basic features such as airbrushing, red-eye reduction and re-sizing, along with ... some fancy effects that turn pictures into sketches or distort them for comic effect. Users also get two gigabytes of online storage, and images can be shared via on-line galleries or integrated with social networking sites such as Facebook. It seems the plan is to introduce Photoshop to new users in the hope of them buying an upgrade to Photoshop ... (view more)

Movie rental firm Netflix had to delay deliveries by a day after its site was down for nearly 11 hours on Monday. It's thought the problem was caused by a routine weekly maintenance session, scheduled for the middle of the night, mistakenly taking ... place during the day. Engineers noticed the problem at 7am Pacific time and didn't get it fixed until 6pm. (Source: wired.com ) Because the company's distribution centers all rely on the website to access customer data, no deliveries were possible on Monday. A spokesman said on Tuesday that "We're shipping everything that should have been shipped ... (view more)

Apple is using its iTunes software to persuade Microsoft Windows users to ditch Internet Explorer and switch to its Safari web browser. The iPod-maker is taking advantage of an update service in iTunes that tells users when a new version of the ... software, or the accompanying QuickTime program (used for iTunes videos) is available. Around 100 million people use iTunes to manage their iPod players, many of them on a Windows PC. The update service is now suggesting to users that they download the new edition (3.1) of the Safari browser. That's a little cheeky; the message is seen by everyone, ... (view more)

Apple is reportedly considering a plan to sell premium-priced iPods that include unlimited access to the entire iTunes library. The deal would work on both iPods and iPhones, and would either be a flat-fee or a monthly subscription. Users could then ... download as many songs as they like from the iTunes site for as long as they have their device. Subscribers could still be able to keep up to 50 of the songs on their computer even after they stop using the iPod or iPhone. It's possible they might be allowed to legally burn them to CD as well. (Source: chicagotribune.com ) It's thought Apple could ... (view more)