Twitter Reveals Photo Sharing Feature

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Jack Dorsey, writing on the Twitter Blog:

Millions of people share photos on Twitter every day. We’re going to make that easier than ever. Over the next several weeks, we’ll be releasing a feature to upload a photo and attach it to your Tweet right from Twitter.com. And of course, you’ll soon be able to easily do this from all of our official mobile apps. A special thanks to our partner Photobucket for hosting these photos behind the scenes. Services like yFrog and Twitpic are in trouble. Other services like MLKSHK who provide more value that just a dump for photos might be okay though.

Google's Eric Schmidt, "If you care about security, get a Mac, not a PC."

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Google's former CEO and now board Chairman, Eric Scmidt, was interviewed last night at D9 on stage. He made several interesting revelations. Jason Kincaid, writing for Techcrunch:

Today during a keynote interview at AllThingsD’s D9, Google Executive Chairman (and former longtime CEO) made a key announcement: Google has recently renewed its partnership with Apple over mapping and search. In other words, don’t look for a new version of Maps on iOS at next month’s WWDC. So, why is this important? Apple has long shipped every iPod Touch, iPhone, and iPad with a Maps application powered by Google. It’s great (though arguably not as good as its Android counterpart). But Apple and Google are competing fiercely in the mobile market, and every time someone runs a search using Maps from an iOS device, Apple is handing Google a little more data that could be used to further improve their local products. Later on during the interview, Schmidt spoke this gem of a quote: ... Schmidt also puts in a plug for Chrome, saying it is more secure. Walt Mossberg, "What else could you do to promote security?" Eric Schmidt, "You could use a Mac instead of a PC. Viruses are far less likely to affect Mac users."

Federal Government Loosens Its Grip on the Blackberry

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Michael S. Rosenwald, reporting for The Washington Post:

Kundra, the U.S. top information officer, said, “The line between work and home in terms of technology is beginning to blur.” Asked what he typically hears from workers about government- or corporate-provided technology, Kundra said, “It’s not a question of whether they don’t like it. They despise it.” Kundra’s answer to the issue of people using unauthorized devices is simple: Give them what they want. Like many federal workers, he carries two devices — a BlackBerry (for work stuff) and an iPhone (for personal stuff). And like many people, Kundra says he wants to be a “one-device guy.” He recently began pondering a radical idea with federal agencies: Let workers use whatever mobile device they want, apply strict security settings, and have the government pay a stipend for service. Two basic points 1. If this happens, expect to see graphs of RIM's decline accelerate greatly. 2. IT Managers across the corporate world will fight this tooth and nail for years to come. Think of this in terms of the mentality that led those same people to make employees still use IE 6, Windows XP, etc. They like supporting Blackberry because it makes their lives easier. They've been doing it for years. They're used to it. The way the Blackberry server works from their end gives them a level of control over the devices that they wouldn't otherwise have. They also don't want to have to learn to support iPhones/Androids/etc. Cudos to the government for doing this.

Apple Secures Deals With All Four Labels For iCloud

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Yukari Iwatani Kane and Ethan Smith writing for the Wall Street Journal:

Apple Inc. has reached terms with major recorded-music companies to allow it to launch a digital locker service that would be more robust than those currently offered by Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., according to people familiar with the matter. According to these people, deals with three labels have been completed, and the fourth, with Vivendi SA's Universal Music Group, is likely to be signed this week. Apple has signed deals with Warner Music Group Corp., Sony Corp.'s Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Group Ltd. Being out ahead of Amazon and Google to sign all four major labels is huge for Apple. This will allow Apple's music locker to be an 'active' one rather than a passive one. The current way Amazon and Google's services work is you must manually upload music to their services in order for you to stream it later. These deals could conceivably allow Apple to scan a list of all your music in iTunes, and simply make all of that music available on iCloud without you having to manually upload your music. This will make it much more painless to adopt. I'm sure these contracts will allow Apple to do other things as well that Amazon and Google aren't able to do legally.

Apple’s Mobile Strategy is to Make the Technology Irrelevant

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Kyle Baxter writes at TightWind:

Google is seeking a controlling position in the smartphone market and all of the benefits it entails. In Leading the Revolution, Gary Hamel wrote that what is not different is not strategic, and he’s right; pursuing the same strategy as Google is a fantastic way to fail. Apple could open iOS to chosen partners and try to compete with Google on their own terms, but that’s precisely the problem. That’s Google’s game, and one Apple will lose. Instead, Apple should try to continually define the industry, rather than control it. This means both creating the mobile industry’s device types (pocket-sized touch screen phone, touch screen tablet) and introducing new features and technologies that set the norm for mobile devices. By doing so, Apple can control the market without needing a monopoly position. Spot on.

A Programmer Explains Why Android Apps Are Ugly

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Christopher Mims, at technology review writes about developing for Android devices:

Developing for such a wide array of device screen sizes and aspect rations means that not only is it impossible to create pixel-perfect designs for Android interfaces, there isn’t even any guarantee that a given interface can be scaled to fit a particular screen. And in case you missed it, you should read this article that made the rounds a few days ago as well.