Geekly Update - 08 August 2011

The AskBobRankin Geekly Update

All Our Base Are Belong To Them. An analysis of cyber attacks over the past five years is pointing to China as the source of a broad hacking offensive, in which data was stolen from more than 70 international organizations and businesses.

Logitech has dropped the price of its Google TV to $99, thereby making it more competitive with rivals Apple TV and Roku 2 XS.

Germany claims that Facebook's facial recognition system violates the country's privacy laws and wants the information deleted or it will charge the company with fines.

If you travel frequently or make a lot of international calls, then Vonage's World Plan may be for you. For $25.99 a month, subscribers can call landline numbers in over 60 countries and mobile phones in up to 10 countries.

Facebook will now reward security researchers for finding website code vulnerabilities with more than a White Hat listing. The researcher must be the first to identify the bug to receive the $500, and Facebook may increase the bounty for particularly juicy bugs.

Following their addition of Payfone that allows customers to charge purchases to cellphones, Verizon has now integrated American Express Serve. The new service makes checkout and digital payment possible by simply entering a mobile phone number. Tip: Don't lose your mobile phone. Ever.

Canalys' latest study shows that while the majority of smart phone users have iPhone, Android now has a global market share of 48%. All told, about 107.7 million smartphones shipped in 2011 Q2.

CA Technologies has discovered a new Trojan that attacks Android mobile devices, by taking the form of an app that might steal and record users' conversations.

iPad users can now Skype with a new app for the tablet that includes SMS and IM capability. Two way video calling is available.

To compete with Apple, Google is moving ahead quickly with its Talk service that allows VoIP access internationally. Product Manager Pierre Lebeau says that anyone with a Gmail account can call others in 38 different languages, for a price.