Twitter cuts off UberMedia apps for tweets

Twitter has suspended UberTwitter, and twidroyd applications in a clash with a startup that controls a fifth of the "tweets" at the hot microblogging service.

UberMedia applications cut off from Twitter handled messages "tweeted" from Android, BlackBerry, or iPhone smartphones. Other software is available to "tweet" from those kinds of smartphones.

"We have suspended UberTwitter and twidroyd for violating our policies," Twitter said in a post at the San Francisco firm's online help center.

"Every day, we suspend hundreds of applications that are in violation of our policies." Twitter added that it was taking the unusual step of sharing the news because "today's suspension may affect a larger number of users."

California-based UberMedia is an Idealab company that has been gobbling up applications people use to synch Twitter messages to various devices.

UberMedia early this month added popular Twitter "client" TweetDeck to Echofon, twidroyd, and UberTwitter in a stable of applications said to control 20 percent of "tweets" fired off on any given day.

UberMedia chief executive Bill Gross described his operation as the leading independent provider of applications for reading and posting to Twitter and other social Internet platforms.

An Accel Ventures led round of funding last week pumped USD 17.5 million into UberMedia in a move that some thought would spark concern at Twitter that the company might be growing into a competitor.

"Our goal is to enhance the Twitter experience with functionality in our clients and to be the best partner with Twitter in growing and enhancing their ecosystem," Gross said while announcing the Accel investment.

The funding came with the addition of Accel's Jim Breyer to the UberMedia board. Breyer also sits on the board of social networking titan Facebook.

The investment made it clear that UberMedia's plan is to make money from Twitter traffic as Twitter itself grapples with how to cash in on its popularity.

UberMedia told AFP yesterday that it was preparing a response to Twitter suspending some of its applications.

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8 in 10 web browsers vulnerable to hackers

A research has found that as many as 8 in 10 web browsers are vulnerable to hackers and criminals because they are not kept up-to-date.

The vast majority of users are not following the basic precaution of installing patches for known security holes, making them a relatively easy prey for identity thieves and other attackers, reports the Telegraph.

The finding comes immediately after the government estimated that cyber crime costs consumers 3.1bn pounds per year, out of a total cost to the economy of 27bn pounds. Businesses bear a 17bn pounds cost, the Cabinet Office said.

Qualys, a US security firm conducted the browser research. It collected the data from a free service it offers which scans browsers and their plug-ins for unpatched vulnerabilities.

Exluding plug-ins, the security picture for browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer, Opera and Safari, and is less bleak. Only 25 per cent of those tested in January had unpatched vulnerabilities. This is because they are typically automatically updated, Qualys said. at the RSA security conference in San Francisco.

But plug-ins, software add-ons which serve up many of the web's advanced features such as video and interactivity, are very often not automatically updated and leave users exposed.

Nokia sees Windows phone prices dropping fast

Prices of smartphones using Microsoft's Windows Phone software platform will fall fast, Nokia's chief executive Stephen Elop said on Friday.

Last week Nokia, the world's largest phone maker by volume, said it would adopt Microsoft's software across its smartphones, raising fears the firm would miss out during the transition on surging demand for cheaper smartphone models..

Elop said one of the key topics in the talks on doing a deal with Microsoft was convincing Nokia that it could reach "a very low price point."

"We have become convinced that we can do that very quickly," Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a meeting with Finnish business journalists.

Trying to better compete with Apple's iPhone, Microsoft has so far had tight hardware requirements for phone models using its software -- pushing up handset prices and limiting the potential market.

As part of the push to a wider market and lower prices, Microsoft plans to open its mobile platform to other chipset suppliers beyond Qualcomm.

Google group keeps sights on Microsoft in new era

When a recruiter pitched Dave Girouard a job at Google Inc seven years ago to sell technology to other companies, he had the same question many are asking today.

"Why does Google have an enterprise business? Are they serious about that?" recalls Girouard of one of the world's largest consumer Internet companies.

In a company where advertising accounted for 96 per cent of 2010 revenue, Girouard's role selling Web-based email and productivity software seems out-of-place -- even as his team has swelled to more than 1,000 employees.

Google's enterprise business positions it to tap into a lucrative market long dominated by Microsoft Corp and represents one way to diversify revenue. But with the giant Internet search company facing a big threat from Facebook in social networking and from Apple Inc in the mobile market, some question whether Google's battle with Microsoft for business customers is yesterday's war.

That point will be particularly poignant as co-founder Larry Page prepares to take the CEO reins from Eric Schmidt , a former chief of Novell, in April. While Schmidt's business experience and perspective were shaped at a time when Microsoft was the technology industry's dominant power, it is not clear whether Page shares the same worldview.

"It's hard to see Larry focusing more on it (the enterprise business) than Eric did," said BGC analyst Colin Gillis.

Google's commitment to the enterprise business will not waver, Girouard said in an interview at the company's headquarters last month. Page, he noted, has been involved and supportive of the enterprise business from Day One.