Norton introduces Android app to track kids smartphone activity

With the rising popularity of mobile apps, Norton puts forth its security mobile apps to keep a tab on smartphone activities of kids. Norton has introduced the Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition, which is a free app for Android platform running version 2.2 or 2.3 that enables parents to keep a tab on their children’s mobile activities. It is a part of the Norton Online family for PCs and Macs. The app dishes out various features to teach kids safe and appropriate digital habits.The application also offers web monitoring and blocking features for free. It lets parents view the sites their kids are visiting and block inappropriate content. The same set of web filtering settings can be used for the child’s PC and apply them on the Android phone.  The service tracks up to seven days of content for free.

“Parents know they need to be involved in their kids’ digital lives, and most actually set and discuss house rules for computer use and Internet browsing” said Effendy Ibrahim, Internet Safety Advocate and Director, Asia Consumer Business, Symantec.  “But to make those rules work, you need to extend them to your child’s mobile phone where so much web browsing takes place.  With Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition, parents can help their kids stick to those rules, regardless of which device they are on.”

Parents need to simply download the app on the child’s Android phone, log into Norton Online Family account or create one, and centrally manage ‘House Rules’ on the device through onlinefamily.norton.com. More than 12 phones can be added to the same account without any additional charge.

Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition is available for free in the Android Market and supports English, Japanese, German and Polish languages. A free, basic Norton Online Family account will activate the mobile web-filtering and monitoring within Norton Safety Minder: Mobile Edition. A paid subscription to Norton Online Family Premier is now available only in the U.S, which unlocks further advanced features too.

Government to directly check BBM and other IM services

The Indian government has been trying to intercept the BlackBerry Messaging service for quite some time. The talks are going back and forth but with no real outcome regarding the same. This may not be any news as it has been floating around from 2010. As per a report by Indian Express, it seems the government may be close to finding a solution for the same as they plan on setting up a dedicated server in India which can intercept these texts without the need to send requests to Research in Motion.

 The report states that the Department of Telecom (DoT) has found the solution provided by Research in Motion to them regarding accessing the BBMs as satisfactory and the Ministry of Home Affairs is working out a mode in which they can intercept these messages without the need to send requests to RIM for surveillance. Towards the end of December, DoT informed Home Secretary R K Singh, “The server has been inspected by a team of officers and permission for direct linkage for lawful interception was expected to be issued shortly.” The report states, “It said that RIM has installed a dedicated server at Mumbai and a similar arrangement would be prescribed to Nokia for intercepting its Pushmail. “

The report goes on to add, “The MHA had preferred an arrangement where probe agencies could decode messages themselves so that they could conduct surveillance without disclosing the names of suspects to RIM.” After finding a solution for accessing BBM, the MHA plans on intercepting other instant messaging services such as Yahoo, Hushmail, and Gmail. The Ministry of Home Affairs have told DoT to ensure service providers make sure that all emails that have been accessed from India are passed through servers located in the country itself.

The Department of Telecom went on to state that since Skype was planning to set up an Indian-centric software, the conversations through this VoIP service could be intercepted. They said, “This would address the current concerns significantly.”

Google Home Entertainment System Will Challenge Apple, Microsoft

Google's home entertainment device will be a WiFi system for streaming music and likely controlling Google TV and other home products. Apple will also play here.

The Wall Street Journal report that Google is building a home entertainment system to let users stream music throughout the home without wires has roiled the tech sector the last couple of days.
The news comes several months after Google unveiled a streaming music server that let users tap a CD against a  device to scan the music into Google's Music storage locker.
The experimental product, dubbed Project Tungsten at Google I/O last May, falls under the company's Android @Home banner for powering home consumer electronics and eventually home appliances such as lights, thermostats, refrigerators and microwaves with the company's Android operating system.
Google has asked the Federal Communications Commission permission to have 252 Google employees test the prototype device in Google's hometown of Mountain View, Calif., Los Angeles, Cambridge, Mass., and New York City.
According to the patent application, which GigaOm discovered, users will connect their device to home WiFi networks and use Bluetooth to connect to other home electronics equipment. The device is designed to test the throughput and stability of the home WiFi networks that will support the device.
The system will certainly leverage Google's Music streaming service and work with Google TV, the company's Web-based television surface. These products could be controlled via Android smartphones and tablets. However, while Google simply licenses the Android-based Google TV software to TV OEMs such as Sony and Vizio, Google will allegedly market and brand the home entertainment device under its own name. This is unusual for a company given to releasing Android under open source and letting OEMs build products.
Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey told eWEEK Google's biggest challenge will be in explaining to people that whatever it wants to sell is a platform rather than a product. Such a device could get lost in the muddle of other home TV devices from Sonos, Roku and Logitech.
Yet if Google can sell Android as a single controlling platform for all home electronics rather than just a single consumer electronics device "they have a shot at defining a new category."
Pundits opine that Google will fumble this project away because it has no experience building and marketing hardware products, let alone consumer electronics devices. Others argue Google will tap Motorola Mobility (NYSE:MMI), which makes set-top boxes, for its hardware and marketing expertise.
Both points are valid and yet Google has other challenges. Microsoft's Xbox 360 is a home entertainment gaming and streaming system.
Apple, already dominant in consumer electronics, is purportedly preparing to launch its own Web-based super TV system this year. Such a device would sync across Apple's Macs, iPhones and iPads, all tethered by the company's iCloud storage service. McQuivey noted:

Apple's forthcoming TV won't just be a TV, it has to be a home information and experience management platform. It may not even be designed to replace your living room TV (replacement cycles are too long there to get the kind of sales spike Apple will want), but it will definitely be designed to manage your whole life -- all your media, your personal information, and eventually the full body of data that you generate each day including how well you slept last night, how much you weigh today, and whether you're fighting more with your spouse than before.

"That's where all of this ends. Google knows it, Apple wants it, Microsoft might accidentally get there first, and Facebook is most likely to be the glue that connects people to it all. It's the technology platform holy grail, of course, but you can't sell it that way today. You have to sell it as a TV streaming device that happens to have an app platform."
Google might have an advantage in addressing a larger market, something Android lends itself to naturally by remaining open source. Apple, however, will target existing Apple users who have their Macs, iPhones and iPads -- and certainly the existing Apple TV users.
"Google has to strike now in order to signal to people that there will be a more open alternative, one in which you can buy from Samsung, Verizon, and even Amazon and have it all accrue to the same platform," McQuivey said.
"Will they do it well? I'm not confident they will, but if they wait and try to follow quickly like they did with tablets, they might spend 5 years catching up."

Windows 8 now stable on ARM processors

Multiple sources have reported seeing impressive demos of Windows 8 running on high-profile devices from key manufacturers already and the word is developers are expected to receive a stable build of Windows 8 suitable for ARM architecture come February.
"In October of last year, it [Windows 8 on ARM] scared the industry because it was unstable. But what we are seeing now is quite stable," one industry insider told the team at CNET.
"We haven't heard this directly from Microsoft, but we've heard this from the hardware partners that [Microsoft] is working with. We've been promised something in the February time frame."

There are a number of key reasons why bringing Windows 8 to ARM is so significant. For one, Windows 8 using ARM architecture would be far less costly than with an Intel equivalent. An Intel-based Windows 8 device showcased at CES this year, would have been considerably cheaper as a cosmetically identical ARM-based unit.
"The bigger implication is, with [Intel-based] ultrabooks you're popularizing the idea that you have this thinner design that turns on faster, that lasts longer [battery life]--but then you have Windows 8 on ARM that's built at a price point that's much lower. And does all of those things too. This is setting up the ultrabook to head right into the teeth of their [ARM] competitor," said the same source.
Despite claims over Windows on ARM coming later to market than Intel, some expect their releases to occur almost simultaneously. The likes of Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and Nvidia are the largest suppliers of ARM chips today and Windows 8 has reportedly been seen running stably on at least two ARM platforms.
With ARM chip designs being the most widely used globally, Windows 8 could be the most significant release of Microsoft's operating system, since Windows 3.0 as it would be able to run across Intel, AMD and ARM architecture.
There are however, some reservations about ARM's readiness to support Windows 8. A question mark still hangs over one important Microsoft application, Office. Despite one person stating that, "Office is fine [on ARM]", we've yet to see any demos or hear anything official from Microsoft on its compatibility.
Intel too are quick to point out the inclusion of legacy applications, one area where their chips still hold the advantage over ARM. One source said "I'm not aware of any third-party legacy applications running on Windows 8 on ARM. Of course, some of the Metro apps that Microsoft has demoed will be available on ARM. These are mostly HTML5 apps," they explained.
Microsoft know they need a diverse library of applications available on any architecture by the time Windows 8 launches officially. This is the reason some think Microsoft are being cautious to demonstrate their next operating system on ARM and why developers are no doubt itching to get their hands on it now.

Google Takeout from the Data Liberation Front

We believe you should be able to export your information from Google products when you want to. We have a special engineering team called the Data Liberation Front which has one goal – to make it easier for our users to move their data in and out of Google products.
That’s useful if you want to store a copy of your information on your own computer, or if you want to leave Google for another product and take your information to the new service. We’ve launched a data liberation tool called Google Takeout which makes it easier to move data in and out of Google products.

Foursquare Rolls Out New Version Of “Explore” On Mobile With Filters & Improved Search

his morning, Foursquare launched an updated version of its “Explore” feature for both its iPhone and Android applications. The new version brings over several of the features already available through Foursquare on the web, including filters, photos in search results and the ability to change your location.
After updating your mobile app, you’ll see the improvements in the “Explore,” section, Foursquare’s local guide which is augmented by your friends’ recommendations and visits as well as other Foursquare users’ tips and comments. Like a mini local search engine, you can search for venues by category (“coffee,” “nightlife”), name, or even something very specific, like what  food you’re in the mood for (“tuna,” “burgers”). You can also tap “Specials” to see just those venues offering check-in or mayor discounts.
Starting today, you’ll now be able to use the new filter button (at the top right on iOS or bottom right on Android) to narrow your search results by options like “New to me,” places you’ve already been, “Both,” or, alternatively, you can choose to see those places your friends have tried.
You can also use Explore to find recommended places in areas outside your current location, as determined by your phone’s GPS. You can either type in a location or drag the map around, then pinch or tap to zoom into new neighborhoods.
Although still sometimes overlooked by those who just use Foursquare as a checkin service/social network, Explore represents a key new direction for the location-based startup. The idea, as Foursquare founder Dennis Crowley explained last month when Explore arrived on the web, is to try to “make local search much smarter…it’s based off what you and your friends actually do, where you go and when you go.”
And, for obvious reasons, local search is much smarter when you can actually use it while on the go. The new Foursquare apps are out now, check the appropriate app store for the update.

Microsoft To Launch Windows 8 Consumer Preview At MWC On February 29

While Samsung’s new low-key approach to MWC may have some gadget fans feeling blue, Microsoft’s plans for MWC just made things much more interesting. The company has begun to send out press invitations to an event at this year’s Mobile World Congress where they will officially launch the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
The invitation is understandably light on details, but the event is slated to take place between 3 and 5PM CET.
Though members of the tech press have managed to get some hands-on time with early builds of Windows 8 in the past, the consumer preview is a considerable milestone for Microsoft in that the general public will finally get their chance take the new OS for a spin. The new Metro UI, seen above, is one of the most striking new additions to Windows, but other changes run much deeper than that. Compatibility with ARM processors is a first for Windows 8, and a renewed focus on getting the OS onto devices with different form factors means that Windows 8 isn’t just a rehash of the same old Microsoft philosophy.
Not that the general public would even notice that. They’ll be much to busy poking around with the build’s preloaded apps and games to bother checking under the hood.
That Microsoft would choose to put their latest OS in the hands of the public at a wireless conference is a bit of head-scratcher when you consider their very public exit from keynoting at CES. Recent reports point to deep connection between Windows 8 and the forthcoming Windows Phone 8 mobile platform though, and what better way to make that connection concrete than at Mobile World Congress?
Developing…

Iberry to launch "India's first" Android 4.0 tablet in March

Yes, we’ll be seeing many Ice Cream Sandwich-based tablets at MWC, but we’ll probably have to wait a bit to get our grubby hands on this Android 4.0 goodness. Or will we? Apparently, iberry HK, a Hong Kong- based electronics manufacturer has set up shop in Chennai and is all set to launch India’s first Android 4.0 based tablet. They just may be able to pull it off, as besides some existing tablets that have already got ICS, the big guns will only start trickling in a little later. it will be called the Auxus AX02 and that it will run ICS. The company currently has two products available and both run on Gingerbread. The AX02 will feature a 7-inch capacitive touchscreen, feature HDMI-out and will most likely sport a dual-core CPU. If the image shown above is the actual tablet, then we can see the front facing camera and what seems to be a physical home button, of sorts. This is a bit odd, since Google is trying to do away with any physical buttons on a device. That may change when the product actually launches.