Smartphones and e-book readers like the new Amazon Kindle 2, along with UMPCs, netbooks, gaming devices and mobile satellite navigation systems, make up a new category of fast-growing devices known as MIDs. Small screens, high speed and reliable battery life are the names of the game. In addition, companies such as Intel, with its Atom processors, and Nvidia are looking to define this still developing market. Size matters, and it’s a good time to be small. New data from iSuppli predicts that by 2012 the mobile Internet device category is expected to grow by a factor of eight from 2007 numbers.

via eweek.com

Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you totally need to contact an administrator of this or that website you happen to be on for some reason and could not find any contact information like a contact form or email address you could use to do just that? I personally can think of a few cases where I myself happen to be in such a situation. First of all, sometimes I land on a site that shamelessly uses the content I create here on Profy without giving me any attribution and even monetizing my content with some ads of their own.

via profy.com

MySpace’s Events page hasn’t really seen a major upgrade for years - the site looks like it hasn’t been updated since 2005, and now lags behind Evite and the current leader Facebook by a wide margin. Today, it looks like that’s about to change. The site’s Events tab now redirects to a MySpace application called Social Plan, which was apparently built by Slingshot Labs, MySpace’s stealth incubator that was created last January. As far as we can tell MySpace hasn’t made any announcements about the new feature, but it seems to be accessible to everyone.

via techcrunch.com

Facebook is getting wise to something MySpace has known from the start - users love vanity URLs. When you tell someone your MySpace page, you just say myspace.com/[user/brand/band/etc.] (I'm myspace.com/mikearrington). On Facebook it has always been more difficult. My profile isn't Facebook.com/michaelarrington, it's facebook.com/profile.php?id=500065899. Not so catchy, and the result is people need to do searches to find you. MySpace vanity URLs are popular for the same reason people like domain names instead of just typing in IP addresses.

via washingtonpost.com

Google has launched a VoIP service for mobile phone users that looks set to rival apps from Skype and Truphone. The service offers the ability to make free local and cheap international calls that are routed through the internet and providing you with one number that receives any calls, whether they are to your home, work, or mobile number The service also automatically transcribes a voicemail into text and then send it your Gmail inbox or via SMS to your handset, so you read rather than listen to the voicemail.

via pcworld.com

Twitter is one of the fastest-growing websites on the internet. Major companies are using it. News networks are using it. Celebrities are using it. Politicians are using it. All told, Twitter members have sent over 1 billion short messages -- or tweets -- that have no more than 140 characters. A new website, 1MillionTweets.com, aims to make Twitter history by sending 1 million tweets on behalf of individuals and businesses through a single Twitter account.

via msnbc.msn.com

A federal appeals court has rejected Yahoo Inc.'s bid to move a trademark lawsuit filed by American Airlines from Texas to Yahoo's home turf of Northern California. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Yahoo wanted the case transferred because its sponsored search agreement says that any disputes be settled by courts there or another site picked by the company. But a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans ruled Wednesday that the contract clause didn't apply to the trademark claim made by American.

via chron.com

We all know the famous trends of web 2.0 like user-generated content or content syndication and we have grown to accept the internet as it is - along with all the strengths and weaknesses of the system. And of course as any medium internet can have both good and bad sides - and quite logically it does have both of them.
While it is totally understandable and no one will argue that internet truly makes life more enjoyable than it would have been if not for the world wide web for many people around the world and for some (me included).

via profy.com

Facebook is getting wise to something MySpace has known from the start - users love vanity URLs. When you tell someone your MySpace page, you just say myspace.com/[user/brand/band/etc.] (I’m myspace.com/mikearrington). On Facebook it has always been more difficult. My profile isn’t Facebook.com/michaelarrington, it’s facebook.com/profile.php?id=500065899. Not so catchy, and the result is people need to do searches to find you. MySpace vanity URLs are popular for the same reason people like domain names instead of just typing in IP addresses.

via techcrunch.com

Tim Armstrong is the new chief executive of AOL, a division of Time Warner (NYSE: TWX) and parent of BloggingStocks. Armstrong, a senior VP at Google (you can read the press release here) replaces Randy Falco, who joined AOL in November, 2006. Also leaving AOL is President Ron Grant. Time Warner shares initially traded down in after hours trading following the announcement, but were leveling off by 6:30. The stock closed at $8.32 today, a gain of 5%, and at 7pm was at $8.31.

via bloggingstocks.com

Thunder Bay, ON -- The City of Thunder Bay and the Thunder Bay Community Economic Development Commission (CEDC) today launched new user-friendly websites and the online feature, BizPaL, a partnership with Industry Canada and ServiceOntario. The websites will make it easier for residents, visitors, businesses and investors to access information with new designs, revised content, easy to navigate pages and convenient features. The new sites offer many features not previously available such as online videos, flash photo galleries and accessibility options.

via netnewsledger.com

GOOGLE plans to use your web browsing history to target online ads, joining an industry trend that has raised privacy concerns. The new program is dubbed "interest based" advertising, and it's being tested across Google's partner websites and YouTube, according to a company announcement. Previously, the types of ads that Google served to web surfers were based only on the content of the specific page being viewed. With behaviour advertising, Google and advertisers will be able to look at an individual's broader web history when deciding which ads to pitch.

via news.com.au

With the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket season round the corner, Google’s social networking platform, Orkut, is hoping to turn itself into a hot-bed for advertisers. In discussion with IPL to create brand positioning campaigns and even an IPL profile page for Orkut users, Google is serious about monetising its social media portal. “Last year, we built a stronger base of marketers and invested in internet advertising. In 2009, we should make revenues from our social media platform,” says Google India Managing Director Shailesh Rao.

via business-standard.com

For the tall, beautiful, 24-year-old Colbie Caillat, the road to stardom seemed to open effortlessly for her. In the span of a year, she went from being an aspiring singer-songwriter to gaining national recognition. It all began with the social networking Web site, MySpace, where anyone can create a personal profile and post original music for public scrutiny and approval. After a friend thought Caillat's music should be exposed online, she made Caillat a page and posted a few of her songs. In eight months, Colbie Caillat was the No. 1 unsigned artist on MySpace.

via cmt.com

Do you remember all the recent buzz surrounding Amazon launching the second version of Kindle, its reading device? Of course when some new device is launched to the market accompanied with buzz like this, it will inevitably get attention from potential consumers and even those of us who don’t plan any expenses on new gadgets in the near future will still be interested enough and some willing to possess the gadget sooner or later fascinated by all the coverage the device gets from traditional media and the blogosphere.

via profy.com