Presenting iCloud

After finally giving us a solid release date for iOS 5, iCloud was the next topic. As is already happening, iTunes moves to the cloud and will be automatically synced to all devices. Photo Stream would do the same, keeping your photos in sync. Backups would also be taken to the cloud, as well as the Find my iPhone app. Essentially, it’s become a free version of MobileMe, pretty much as promised.

Microsoft Begins Windows Phone 7 Ad Push

Microsoft is beginning its advertising push for Windows Phone 7, and its first ad conjures up imagery of Lawrence of Arabia (heck, it WAS shown before a screening of the flick in London so take it as you will). As the phone appears out of the haze of the desert, a message appears in an Arabic-looking font stating “The Revolution is Coming.”

What do you think of this first ad for WP7? Feeling hyped about this yet?

Five Million Websites Carried Koobface Worm Variant

In what’s being called a record for the single biggest viral infection, a hack may have potentially delivered a variant of the Koobface worm to visitors of sites that had the “Small Business Success Index” survey widget installed. This included every parked domain hosted by registrar Network Solutions. The company has since removed the offending widget, it said.

Web searches for the code indicate that for the most part, the survey only appeared there — but the size of this infection is stunning: potentially as many as five million websites. Researchers at Armorize say the infected widget would be installable on Blogger, Linkedin, Twitter and Facebook. I guess the best advice here is that if you’ve recently ended up on a parked domain, scan your computer now for viruses.

The N92 is the Verizon iPhone

The Verizon iPhone drumbeat continues as Daring Fireball’s John Gruber says that Apple is indeed working on a CDMA variant of the iPhone 4, dubbed internally the “N92.” While the device is not in device testing yet — that’s the level where engineers like Gray Powell take them out into the wild — it is at engineering-level testing right now.

Gruber speculates this is where the phone would need to be in order to make it to a January 2011 release, which seems to be the date many are fixated on for its release. He cautions however that the news does not necessarily mean Verizon’s getting it: there are other CDMA carriers after all.

Amazon, the Gadget Maker?

Amazon may have got a taste of gadget success with its hugely popular Kindle, and that may lead to more products coming out of the company, Nick Bilton writes for the New York Times’ Bits blog. The company is currently doing a significant amount of hiring in its Lab 126 division (that’s where the Kindle was made), and insiders say its just not new Kindles they’ll all be working on.

According to Bilton’s sources, the company has already looked into producing MP3 players, portable electronics, and even an Amazon phone. The phone is probably the biggest stretch for them, but hasn’t been 100% ruled out just yet. Either way, the company’s moves are all about protecting its position in the digital content space. Guess they’re just not all about books anymore, eh?

20 Billion Tweets on Twitter

Social networking service Twitter hit its 20 billionth tweet on Saturday, reaching the milestone only two months after it had received its 15 billionth tweet, and five months after hitting ten billion. The accelerating growth shows that the fad surrounding Twitter is still going strong, and especially in Japan, where the milestone tweet occurred.

Some 12 percent of all tweets originate from the country, the single biggest contributor to Twitter traffic. Some say the language itself is the reason: saying something in 140 Kanji characters would be a much more complete thought than in 140 Roman ones.

Apple Aware of iOS4 Problems on iPhone 3G

If you own an iPhone 3G and find iOS4 has slowed down your device considerably, you’re not alone. Apple’s support forums are littered with complaints, and the Wall Street Journal says that Apple is looking into the issue. In addition, it’s been reported that battery life has degraded and the phone has become hot to the touch.

It’s not clear why the phone may be heating up — then again, one could venture a guess that iOS4 may be taxing the phone a bit more that its predecessor. Any one with a iPhone 3G and iOS4 — are you seeing these problems?

There is a iPad Component Shortage, Mr. Cook

Apple’s chief operating officer Tim Cook said Tuesday that the iPad shortages had nothing to do with a component shortage, but it appears that’s not completely true. LG Display’s CEO Kwon Young-soo told reporters Friday that even with his plants running at full capacity, the company cannot meet the demand. Kwon estimated that it would be the spring of next year before the company could catch up.

The problem may actually get worse before it gets better: LG may ramp down production slightly next month. It is considering adding new production lines for Apple’s iPad displays, however, according to the Reuters report.

Nine new markets for the device were launched today, which means the device is now available in a total of 19 countries. About 3.27 million iPads have sold — approximately one million every month.

Twitter Failwhaling Following Brazil Upset

Twitter is having some serious problems in staying up following the Netherlands’ 2-1 come-from-behind upset of World Cup favorite Brazil Friday. The social networking site has found it hard to stay up during the event, frequently coming down following the final whistle of major matches.

On the company’s status page, Twitter acknowledged the problem, but didn’t lay the blame on the World Cup match. “We’ve received reports of elevated error rates for users; we’re currently investigating,” it reads. The last time Twitter’s Failwhale was making a regular appearance was on the 23rd of June, the day of Algeria’s match with USA that catapulted it into the first knockout round.

Broadband Becomes a Legal Right in Finland

Finland put into effect on Thursday a new law that mandates telecommunications companies make available Internet access of 1 MBps or higher available to all permanent residences and businesses. The move is the first step in making 100 MBps or faster access available to every Finn by 2015, the government said.

The “universal service obligation” would be handled by about 26 different nationwide providers who would offer service around the country. It should not be too difficult: Finland is one of the world’s most wired countries, but only about 26 percent have a broadband connection–about the same as the United States.

Apple Facing Possible Lawsuit Over iPhone 4 Antenna

California-based law firm Kershaw, Cuttiner, and Ratinoff is asking for customers with iPhone 4 signal reception issues to contact it, likely signaling the beginnings of a class-action suit against Apple over the issues. An announcement was posted to their site this week.

The reception problem looks like it won’t be going anytime soon. While some have tried to argue that the problems are related to iOS4 itself, it seems highly unlikely it’s a software issue alone. With Apple confirming that the metal band around the phone does serve as an antenna, it seems only logical that any interference(including putting your hand over it) would impact signal quality.

Organization Launches Stolen Data Reporting Service

The National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) has launched a service called Internet Fraud Alert, which aims to act as a central location for researchers to report stolen data that they may find online. Microsoft developed the backend of the website, and then donated it to the NCFTA. While companies often perform internal investigations, it is common to find data that is actually stolen from another company. Until now, there was no way to share these findings easily.

Several companies including Microsoft, eBay, Paypal, Citizens Bank, and Accuity have partnered to offer support, and the service also has the blessing of the American Bankers Association, the Anti-Phishing Working Group, as well as the Federal Trade Commission. Approved organizations will be able to begin submitting found data immediately.

Jobs Takes Issue with App Store Approval Characterizations

Standing on the stage in front of thousands of developers at the 2010 Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple CEO Steve Jobs seem to take issue with the medias often negative characterization of the App Store process. Apple has repeatedly been criticized for using what seems to be an uneven standard when selecting which apps make it through to the store.

Jobs was having none of that. He claims that Apple approves 95% of the apps it receives for inclusion, most in less than a week. Some 15,000 apps are sent per day, he added. So what happens to the other five percent that don’t make it? Jobs says these are either buggy and do not do what they say they do.

Doesn’t seem to address the actual problem in my opinion, but I guess you can give Steve Jobs credit for attempting to get out in front of the issue?

Check Up on Your Congressman… On Facebook

These days, everybody’s on Facebook, including your local Congressman. To highlight the increasing usage in Congress of the social networking site, Facebook has launched a special page listing the more than 300 members that use the site in an official capacity. The site’s hope is this promotion will encourage others to start using the site.

In addition to listing the pages of these members, the page’s wall is filled with stories on how members are using Facebook, as well as highlighting technology legislation that is passing through Congress.

So you may ask, who are the most popular members of Congress? Republican Rep. Michelle Bachmann of Minnesota leads the House with 29,000 fans, while in the Senate Democrats Mark Udall of Colorado and Claire McCaskill of Missouri lead with about 4,000 fans apiece.

Social Networking Users Naive About Privacy?

A study from Consumer reports that appears in their June issue seems to show that a significant number of social networking users are exposing details of their personal lives that could put them at risk. The study found that one out of every ten users had experienced a problem as a result of information on their profiles.

This is probably because a quarter of users have little or no understanding of the privacy controls available, Consumer Reports wrote. You might remember my article awhile back on finding out the hard way about the information I was sharing on my own profile: it looks like by far I’m not the only one…

Reuters: Lenovo Leading Candidate to Acquire Palm

Reuters is reporting that its sources have said that Chinese PC brand Lenovo is now the leading candidate to buy Palm. This follows HTC’s apparent decision to pass on the US device maker following a look at Palm’s books, the story reads. It’s estimated that Palm could sell for about $1.3 billion based on the current market, a bargain considering its once mighty position in the industry.

This would not be the first time Lenovo was involved in cellular phones, however. Several years ago, the company sold that portion of its business to focus on PCs, however it bought it back last year. It has one smartphone which is currently available in China.