Maggie Shiels

Facebook and Skype's video chat link-up

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:30:26 +0100

Video chat features are set to become the killer app in the world of social media now that Facebook has announced a partnership with Skype to offer just such a product hard on the heels of one rolled out by its rival Google.

The deal means that Facebook's 750 million users will now be able to connect with friends via video and not just through posting messages and poking one another.

Facebook adds in Skype video chat

Wed, 06 Jul 2011 20:23:35 +0100

Coming hard on the heels of Google+, Facebook's Skype offering is likely to be compared to its rival's Hangout feature. That product allows up to ten people to chat at any one time, while the Facebook/Skype video chat feature facilitates just one-on-one video chatting.

Skype did hint that there will be added features in future, but Google has stolen the lion's share of the headlines and Facebook will not enjoy being seen as following in its footsteps.

Google’s social play

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 09:21:59 +0100

Unlike the launch for Google Buzz, Google+, the company's most aggressive attack on Facebook's domination in the world of social networking, was unveiled with little fanfare and little fuss.

Back in early 2010 the fourth estate came out in force to hear all about Buzz, the search giant's big social play at the time.

The PC is dead, long live the PC

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 09:57:22 +0100

At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC), the company declared that we are living in a "post-PC world.

Evidence of that can be seen everywhere the company stated from smartphones to tablet devices. And of course it was noted in front of the 5,200 strong developer audience that Apple was a big driver of this change.

'China hackers' hit Google e-mail

Thu, 02 Jun 2011 00:01:58 +0100

Security experts say they are seeing an increase in these so-called spear phishing incidents in which attackers go after specific information or assets and aim at "high value individuals".

One consultant described it as an "epidemic", while another said such attacks are all too easy to perpetrate given the amount of information that lives on the internet about people - from their Twitter stream to their Facebook pages to sites that trace your family tree.

Google boss laments his ‘friendly’ failure

Wed, 01 Jun 2011 11:13:23 +0100

It's not often you get a senior executive of a global company make a public mea culpa on stage in front of an audience of peers, industry watchers and insiders.

But that is just what Eric Schmidt did when he appeared as the opening act at D9, a major tech conference in Rancho Palos Verdes in California hosted by the tech blog AllThingsD.

Quora: Looking for answers online

Thu, 26 May 2011 09:41:23 +0100

During the age of the enlightenment in the 18th Century when many new ideas and theories were being formed, Sir Francis Bacon famously said 'knowledge is power".

That very maxim holds as true today as it did then but even in the age of the internet, it can be hard to get access to the right kind of knowledge.

Are we ready for Google laptops?

Thu, 12 May 2011 13:28:55 +0100

At Google's developer conference in San Francisco, the company took the wraps off a couple of laptops that it believes will herald a revolution in how we will use computers in the future.

The machines, by Samsung and Acer, will be powered by the company's Chrome operating system and will be geared towards getting users to do everything via the web, because they say that is where most people increasingly spend their time. The devices are being called Chromebooks.

A new beginning for my blog

Thu, 12 May 2011 11:01:33 +0100

Innovate or die is the mantra here in Silicon Valley and with that thought in mind, my blog has moved to this new page.

I hope you like the change which allows me to bring my take on the technology industry from the capital of innovation together with all my video, audio, photos, posts, news stories, features and, soon, tweets all in one place. You can still find my old posts here.