Optical disc offers 500GB storage

A disc that can store 500 gigabytes (GB) of data, equivalent to 100 DVDs, has been unveiled by General Electric.

The micro-holographic disc, which is the same size as existing DVD discs, is aimed at the archive industry.

But the company believes it can eventually be used in the consumer market place and home players.

Blu-ray discs, which are used to store high definition movies and games, can currently hold between 25GB and 50GB.

Micro-holographic discs can store more data than DVDs or Blu-ray because they store information on the disc in three dimensions, rather than just pits on the surface of the disc

The challenge for this area of technology has been to increase the reflectivity of the holograms that are stored on the discs so that players can be used to both read and write to the discs.

Brian Lawrence, who leads GE's Holographic Storage said on the GE Research blog: "Very recently, the team at GE has made dramatic improvements in the materials enabling significant increases in the amount of light that can be reflected by the holograms."

More capacity

The higher reflectivity that can be achieved, the more capacity for the disc. While the technology is still in the laboratory stage, GE believes it will take off because players can be built which are backwards compatible with existing DVD and Blu-ray technologies.

In a statement the firm said: "The hardware and formats are so similar to current optical storage technology that the micro-holographic players will enable consumers to play back their CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs."

''GE's breakthrough is a huge step toward bringing our next generation holographic storage technology to the everyday consumer,'' said Mr Lawrence in a statement.

He added: "The day when you can store your entire high definition movie collection on one disc and support high resolution formats like 3D television is closer than you think.''

Micro-holographic technology has been one of the leading areas of research for storage experts for decades. Discs are seen as a reliable and effective form of storage and are both consumer and retail friendly.

However, General Electric will need to work with hardware manufacturers if it is to bring the technology to the consumer market.

The relatively modest adoption of Blu-ray discs sales globally might be an issue with some companies who believe digital distribution and cloud computing is the long-term answer to content delivery and storage.

"This is truly a breakthrough in the development of the materials that are so critical to ultimately bringing holographic storage to the everyday consumer," said Mr Lawrence.

Facebook users say yes to changes

Facebook users have voted to back changes which give them control over data and content they post on the site.

Early results suggest 75% of those who voted support the proposals.

The vote was triggered by changes Facebook made to its terms and conditions in February.

The move drew fire because it appeared to hand the social network site ownership of images, videos and data that users posted on profile pages.

Low turnout

In response to the criticism, Facebook withdrew the changed terms, wrote a new set and invited its 200 million members to make their views known.

The new terms return control of what is done with data put on the site to users and give them the right to ask for it to be deleted if they stop using Facebook.

In total about 600,000 people took part in the week-long vote. Initially, Facebook said it would only adopt those new terms if 30% of its members voted in support of them.

However, writing in a blog posting on Facebook announcing the early results, Ted Ullyot, Facebook's legal chief, said it would adopt them anyway.

"You can expect to see the new documents on the site in the coming weeks," wrote Mr Ullyot.

He said a preliminary count suggested 74.4% backed the new Facebook Principles and Statement of Rights and Responsibilities.

The results are now being assessed by an external auditor to produce a final count.

Mr Ullyot expressed disappointment that there was not a bigger turnout but acknowledged that the exercise was a first for both Facebook and its members.

Future votes on changes to how the site operates, which are enshrined in the new terms, will have a threshold of less than 30% for any alterations to be made binding.

"We are hopeful that there will be greater participation in future votes," he wrote.

Yahoo pulls the plug on GeoCities

Yahoo is to close its personal web hosting site GeoCities later this year.

In a statement, the firm says it will no longer be accepting new customers and will focus on helping "customers build new relationships online".

Yahoo bought GeoCities for $3.57bn at the height of the dotcom boom in 1999.

At its peak, GeoCities boasted millions of active accounts, but it has since fallen out of fashion, with users migrating to social networking sites.

Yahoo says that existing GeoCities accounts will remain live for now, although it stresses that users should start looking for alternative sites.

"You don't need to change your service today, but we encourage anyone interested in a full-featured web-hosting plan to consider upgrading to our award-winning Yahoo! Web Hosting service," the firm said in an online post.

The closure of GeoCities spells the end of Yahoo's free hosting, although other services - such as e-mail accounts - remain unaffected.

Rupert Goodwins, editor of the ZDNet website, said the closure of GeoCities was the end of an era.

"I think GeoCities was the first proof that you could have something really popular and still not make any money on the internet.

"It was a fascinating experiment in the pre-industrial era of the internet, but after the initial exuberance on what the web could do, it turned out to be more complicated than just giving them free hosting.

"You need to give users tools to actually do things and make things simple, one of the reasons sites like Facebook and MySpace are so popular," he said.

Amazon blocks Phorm adverts scan

Amazon has said it will not allow online advertising system Phorm to scan its web pages to produce targeted ads.

Phorm builds a profile of users by scanning for keywords on websites visited and then assigns relevant ads.

It has proved controversial because it scans almost all sites a user visits and there is an ongoing political debate about how a user gives consent.

Last month the Open Rights Group wrote to the world's leading websites asking them to opt out of Phorm.

Phorm has conducted trials with BT of its technology, which is marketed as Webwise. BT plans to roll out the service to users after analysing the results of the trials.

In a statement, Amazon UK said: "We have contacted Webwise requesting that we opt out for all of our domains."

The company declined to comment further on the reasons behind its decision.

In a statement, Phorm said: "There is a process in place to allow publishers to contact Phorm and opt out of the system, but we do not comment on individual cases."

Last month the Open Rights Group wrote to the chief privacy officers at Microsoft, Google/Youtube, Facebook, AOL/Bebo, Yahoo, Amazon and Ebay urging them to opt-out of Phorm.


Drop plans

Amazon is the first company to give any sort of response at all.

Jim Killock, executive director of the Open Rights Group, said: We expect more sites to block Webwise in the near future and also ISPs to drop plans to snoop on web users."

He said other sites - LiveJournal, mySociety and Netmums - had contacted the Open Rights Group to say they too would be blocking Phorm's technology.

Earlier this week the European Commission said it was starting legal action against the UK over its data protection laws in relation to Phorm's technology.

The European Commission has described the technology as an "interception" of user data and wants UK law to reflect more explicitly the need for consent from users in order for the service to be implemented.

At present, UK law only covers "intentional" interceptions and requires there only to be a "reasonable grounds for believing" that consent to interception has been given.

Windows 7 now 'available to all'

he latest Windows release will be available to everyone after a surge in demand crashed the Microsoft website on 9 January, the original release date.

In response, the company has lifted a planned limit on the number of copies of the Windows 7 Beta available for download.

Microsoft delayed the launch by one day to add "more infrastructure and servers" to cope with demand.

The unlimited download will last for two weeks, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft had initially planned to restrict downloads of the software to 2.5m copies, but now says that unlimited copies will be available until 24 January.

After that, the limit will be reinstated, though it looks likely to be surpassed by then.

Laurence Painell, product manager at Microsoft, said that it had removed the download limit so that Windows 7 would be available to "a much wider audience".

Shocking demand

"We would expect a beta to only be of interest to tech-enthused and those that have a vested business interest, to look at an operating system for testing purposes," Mr Painell explained.

"We didn't quite anticipate the demand that we saw."

Windows devotees flooded the Windows 7 blog with comments while waiting with bated breath for the delayed download.

A commenter on the blog called Adinelus posted from Romania on 9 January: "Thank God it's Saturday tomorrow, otherwise I would have missed this.

"Hope you guys have some spare servers…because millions wait for you!"

Mr Painell stressed that consumers should be aware that they are getting a preliminary version of Windows 7 which is meant for testing.

As a result, the software is likely to have problems that haven't been ironed out, and Microsoft does not provide technical support for it.

"It's not ideal for every consumer to install and use it on a daily basis," he explained.

Microsoft encouraged people with MSDN (Microsoft Developer Network) or TechNet accounts to download the software through their subscriptions, to avoid the congestion on its public sites.

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Picnik.com

At Picnik.com there is a wonderful online application to help you create masterpieces from your digital photographs.

Sometimes the best compositions can be ruined by red-eye or bad exposure, and this little application will not only sort out these basic issues, but is also incredibly easy to use.

Simply click Upload Photo and choose a file from your PC, or you can use one of the buttons to upload from the photo sharing websites they support.

The Edit tab allows you to make basic changes, then add special effects, shapes and text under the tab marked create. You can play around with your pictures for free, without even registering. You can even save your work to your hard drive or any of a number of popular photo sharing websites they support.

There is of course the obligatory Premium service, which allows you to pay if you want a wider selection of tools and fonts to use in an ad-free environment.

Finally, if you have used the application to make your own postcard or e-greeting, you can e-mail it on to the people of your choice, again without registration, but you will have to put in your own e-mail address.

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Navy.com

The US Navy offers a pretty cool little game. It is free and a good challenge.

NTE: Strike and Retrieve is a hefty old download - 126MB to be precise - so get the download running and go off to do something else for a while.

You will need to register so that they can analyse your performance, which the terms and conditions state is used to help them benchmark future recruitment standards.

Do not worry though, you only need to put in your e-mail address, so you will not be getting a knock on the door from a recruitment officer any time soon.

The game is a combination of tactics, skill and hand-eye co-ordination. The controls take a bit of getting used to as you pilot your sub-aqua vehicle through a hostile and treacherous terrain.

You will need to figure out the right combination of equipment to complete each mission, with a terribly annoying officer's voice giving you firm encouragement along the way.
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Deputy Dog

In the writer's own words, this is a blog about stuff. Mainly interesting architecture, clever design, geographical oddities and so on, and he does not use capital letters to define his punctuation. So get over it. Life is too short to worry about these things.

Not only is the content of this blog awe-inspiringly imaginative, but it is really well written. Topics are as wide ranging as "10 annoying brilliant offices" to the "top 10 physically modified people", with oodles of images and very readable commentary to draw you in.

Click the Popular link at the top to jump to the most highly rated entries. "Seven amazing holes" is the most peculiar subject to have dreamt up, but utterly incredible to look at and read.

I do not know where this guy gets his material but he is a true online genius. Thank you Deputy Dog, whoever you are.
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Downgrade plan for Windows 7 PCs

Anyone buying a PC with Windows 7 pre-installed will be able to swap it for XP or Vista.

Microsoft has confirmed that the licence conditions under which the software will be sold will allow people to downgrade.

The conditions will apply to both businesses that buy licences for Windows in bulk and consumers that get the operating system on a PC or laptop.

No firm date has been given for the release of Windows 7's final version.

New life

Downgrade rights are common in Microsoft licensing terms and conditions but the software giant has been forced to expand and extend them for XP, given user reluctance to move to Windows Vista.

Microsoft dispute claims that Vista has not been popular, quoting figures that suggest it has outsold XP over similar time frames.

However, Microsoft has twice granted Windows XP a reprieve to allow computer makers to get licences for it for far longer than was originally planned.

Windows XP, released to consumers in 2001, was also granted a lifeline to ensure that it could be used on so-called netbooks - cut-down net-capable laptops that are proving very popular.

At the same time, computer makers such as Dell and HP have been exploiting clauses in the licensing terms that let them rollback machines with Vista pre-installed to the older operating system.

The news comes as the cut-off date for free mainstream support for Windows XP ends. From 14 April, Windows XP and Home plus Office 2003 enter their "extended support" period.

This means the only updates and bug fixes these products will get will be to improve security.

Microsoft has said that the release candidate of Windows 7, which will be broadly similar to the final version, will be released in late May 2009. The final version is expected in January 2010.

Microsoft unveils its web vision

Microsoft has lifted the lid on a new web service called Live Mesh, designed to connect a multiplicity of devices and applications online.

The service is seen by many as a key plank in the company's vision for the future of the web.

Live Mesh is designed to blur the lines between running software and storing data on a desktop and "in the cloud".

Microsoft's Amit Mital said Live Mesh would "connect and bring devices together... to work in concert".

Live Mesh pits Microsoft against companies like Amazon, Google and Salesforce.com which are already offering different varieties of so-called software-as-a-service systems.

It comes as Microsoft is engaged in a bid to buy rival Yahoo and emphasises just how important the web has become to the firm.

"We may be seeing signs of a Microsoft that is newly focused," Jonathan Yarmis, a vice president and analyst at AMR Research, told Reuters news agency.

He added: "This is exciting because it has as much to do with who is doing it as what Microsoft is doing."

Microsoft has long been criticised for its unfocused efforts in the online space and for attempting to tie the use of Windows to the web.

While initially offered for Windows XP and Vista users, Microsoft has said Live Mesh will also be rolled out to Apple Macs and other platforms.

Mr Mital, general manager of Live Mesh, said: "Devices are how we interact in this new "web-connected" world and we use a variety of them, including PCs, laptops, media devices, phones, digital picture frames, game consoles, music players and the list grows at every CES.

"However, as we discover, adopt and use more of these digital devices, it becomes increasingly difficult to keep the people, information and applications we depend on in sync."

Microsoft says Live Mesh can be used to create an online network of devices, from your PC to your mobile phone.

Files and folders, such as documents, music and photos, on those devices can be synchronised online and accessed via a web browser.

Live Mesh is also designed to facilitate the sharing of media online between different users.

"This new software-plus-services platform enables PCs and other devices to 'come alive' by making them aware of each other through the internet," said Mr Mital.

"We aspire to bring together Windows, Windows Live, and Windows Mobile by creating seamless experiences that span these offerings," Ray Ozzie, Microsoft's chief software architect, wrote in a memo to staff this week.

Users will have 5GB of personal online storage and unlimited peer-to-peer data, for synchronising information between devices.

Web 2.0: More than just a number?

Could Web 2.0 become "Web squared"?

That was the conundrum raised by the man who actually popularised the Web 2.0 moniker that many have grown to love and hate in equal part.

But during internet veteran Tim O'Reilly's keynote speech at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco, he looked back over the past five years to demonstrate that the "baby we built with technology is growing up and it's starting to go to work".

He told the assembled audience of developers that the web was more than just a fun place to hang out and catch up with friends on Facebook or MySpace.

As proof of the "maturation" of Web 2.0 technologies, Mr O'Reilly described how they were increasingly interacting with the world through the use of sensors.

As proof, he cited the Google search application that predicted where flu would hit next, an energy metering aggregator called Amee and an internet sensor that Twittered people automatically when their plants needed watering.

"We are starting to see a co-ordination of these sensors. That is the future," stated Mr O'Reilly, the founder of O'Reilly Media, which organised the conference along with TechWeb.

He then told the audience that this led to a formulation "moving beyond Web 2.0 as it really engages with the world, it really becomes something profoundly different and we are calling it Web squared".

At that point, a slide came up with the words "Web 2.0 + World = Web Squared."

Alive and well

Certainly the Web 2.0 title is one that even Nate Elliott, a principal analyst for Forrester, feels is sounding tired.

"Yeah, it's time to call it the Web 7.0 conference or what about 9.2," he joked.

Co-conference chair Jennifer Pahlka from TechWeb acknowledged that the title definitely seemed to get under people's skin.

"There is a contingent of people that are tired of the word. Are people tired of the concept? I don't think so and I think many, many people are only now discovering the concept," she told BBC News.

Mr Elliott agreed that there was a lot still going on and that the name should not cloud that.

"Web 2.0, as a set of ideas, is alive and well," he said.

"There are still a lot of challenges around that we haven't solved and you see a lot of interesting discussions at this event where people are trying to solve those problems. But Web 2.0 has a healthy future to look forward to regardless of what it's called."

Ms Pahlka was a bit more vocal.

"Look, I don't really care what it's called. I care that people understand that delving into this concept and building businesses and applications and products out of it is a way we can innovate in our economy.

"And we desperately need innovation now."

The 'power of less'

With the lagging economy looming large over this Expo, it more than explains the reason for the theme of the Power of Less.

The number of attendees and exhibitors was down by around 20% but Ms Pahlka said being forced to go back to basics and think more simply was a good thing.

"If you choose a path of less, whether that's less cluttered design or a simpler business model, it helps you focus on what you are doing.

"You end up finding the constraints of less provides this enormous creativity, this enormous opening and these business opportunities for you."

As an example of that, Ms Pahlka referred to Twitter.

"Twitter is a classic example of the 'power of less'. It has a slim design. It's a company that does only one thing - it allows you to send 140-character messages.

"All the other features their users have requested they have said let someone else do them, this is what we are doing and we are going to do it really well and an eco-system has evolved around that approach," said Ms Pahlka.

Mr Elliott said that while he understood the need for businesses to hunker down and go into survival mode, he was disappointed that he was not seeing more cutting edge innovation at this year's Expo.

"When I look around, I see ideas, but I see less people shooting for the moon. I see more people trying to get the ideas that already exist right.

"Of course it's important to keep innovating and to keep finding those big ideas. We are waiting to see what will come from this recession and we are hearing from all sorts of companies that they have to focus on results, on accountability and making sure every dollar spent is spent wisely."

With such a serious backdrop to the conference, Mr O'Reilly ended with a call to arms.

"We need to create more value than we capture. In our financial system there were a whole lot of people who said: 'Wow, I can get a lot for myself.' This is really a tale of how collective intelligence can go awry.

"We know that this wonderful flowering of innovation is something that we have created together. I want you all to take that as your mission to continue to create, to invent and to make value for this challenged world of ours."

Google introduces phone services

Google has strengthened its mobile services with the debut of a service called Voice that could be a challenge to Skype and other phone firms.

It lets customers make cheap international calls and gives them a speech-to-text feature for voicemail.

The services are available thanks to Google's acquisition of phone firm GrandCentral which gives users a lifelong universal phone number.

"This could be big. Google is seen as disruptive," said analyst Jon Arnold.

"They are a wild card in telecoms and wireless but this is Google and they are very smart at what they do.

"The core of Google's business is search and for a long time the industry was concerned about the GrandCentral acquisition. What was the fit? What was the motivation? It will be interesting to see where they ultimately go with this," said Mr Arnold, principal of analyst firm J Arnold & Associates.

Table stakes

Google Voice is the first major update to GrandCentral, which Google bought for an undisclosed sum, thought to be $50m (£36m) in 2007.

The service gives subscribers one number that lets them route all their phones through - home, office and mobile.

Users also get a single voicemail account regardless of which phone messages are left on.

Google Voice is the latest attempt by the company to reach out beyond online search and advertising.

Domestic calls will be free but international calls will require users to set up a Google Checkout account. Calls to landlines in the UK will cost 2 cents per minute.

EBay's Skype offers free domestic and international calls made over the internet from one computer to another, but there is a charge to landlines and mobile phones.

Skype president Josh Silverman told analysts and investors that "chat and voice will become table stakes". He also revealed that the company is adding 350,000 new users a day and is on track to do more than 100 billion calling minutes in 2009 alone.

Google does not view the service as a threat to Skype or other telecom companies any more than its Google Talk offering, which lets users chat over the internet for free.

"This is about allowing your existing phone to work better," said Craig Walker, now group product manager for real time communications at Google and co-founder of GrandCentral.

"It's not that we are replacing your phone, we are giving [it] the ability to work better," he said.

He declined to say how many users had signed up. Google Voice is currently only available to former GrandCentral users.

"Chore"

Google Voice also allows all voice messages to be turned into text which will then be sent either through an e-mail or an sms.

"Voicemail can be a pretty negative experience for a lot of people," said Mr Walker.

"Now it's about putting the user in control. We will transcribe voicemails and convert it into text and put it in your inbox so that it's searchable and you will always have a record of that voicemail.

"Voicemail need no longer be the chore it has been in the past," he declared.

Mr Walker demonstrated its search capabilities by displaying the 1,000 or so voicemails he had accumulated while testing the system over the past few months.

By typing "pool man" in a search box, he located an old voicemail from December 2008. Returned results were in both text and audio form.

"I would never have been able to find that number. The phone company deletes everything for you after a couple of weeks and the scrap of paper I wrote the number on is long gone. This feature makes your voicemail a pretty powerful tool," said Mr Walker.

Opportunity

Google boss Eric Schmidt said he viewed mobile as the next big opportunity.

At the recent Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in San Francisco, Mr Schmidt said he believed mobile search revenues would over take those on a PC within a few years

"The fact of the matter is that mobile devices are going to be the majority of the way that people get information," he said.

A report in February by the Kelsey Group suggested that "about 20% of U.S. cell phone subscribers are on the mobile web right now and only about 5.2 million are doing searches".

Mr Arnold said that if Google perfected its speech-to-text feature to other languages, all bets were off.

"This could be very powerful given the globalisation of markets. Language is another barrier and when you break that down, the world of communications opens up and globally this has exciting opportunities," he said.