Friday, February 25, 2011

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1st News: Consumer Rerpots doesn't recomended Verizon Iphone 4
After declining to recommend the popular smartphone after its original release last June, the influential product review publication is now giving a thumbs-down to the new model for Verizon's network.

According to Consumer Reports, the phone has the potential for problems with dropped calls and poor reception, just like its predecessor.

"The Verizon iPhone 4 closely resembles the original AT&T iPhone 4 in many positive respects, including offering great multimedia functionality, a sharp screen, and the best MP3 player we've seen on a phone," Paul Reynolds of Consumer Reports wrote Friday on the group's Electronics Blog.

"Unfortunately, it also shares with its sibling the possibility of compromised performance in low-signal conditions when used without a bumper or case."

The blog post swerves back and forth sharply, complimenting multiple features of the phone (and noting positive reviews from users) but saying that lab tests by its engineers showed the reception issue.

The problem involves holding the external band that wraps around the ultra-thin phone and houses its antenna. Covering the bottom left side of either band hurts reception, according to Consumer Reports and other reviewers. Bloggers dubbed it "the Death Grip."

In July, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced that the company would give away free bumpers to cover the antenna on the AT&T iPhone 4. But a few weeks later, the company discontinued the program, saying the problem had been exaggerated.

Representatives for Apple and Verizon did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment for this report.

Last month, when asked about phone's prior troubles, Apple COO Tim Cook said the antenna was "going to work great." The Verizon iPhone went on sale February 10 and has a slightly different configuration than the AT&T model.

At that time, Verizon chief technical officer David Small told CNN that the antenna problem that plagued the AT&T version of the phone wouldn't have passed his company's testing.

"We have a very stringent design criteria for our antennas," he said. "You won't see any antenna issues with this device."

This news is about the Iphone 4. It tells that is not recomended, because it has some fails. I think that this is very bad, because there are a lot of people who bought it, and it doesn't work very good. They had to make it better.

2nd News: Google declares war on content farms
Google has announced a major algorithmic change to its search engine, subtle in nature and perhaps unnoticeable to many users, but one that should dramatically improve the quality of Google's search results.

With this move, Google is targeting content farms -- a common name for low quality sites whose main goal is to attract search traffic by piling up (mostly) useless content, usually by either producing large amounts of low-quality text or by copying it from websites with original content.

Google does not go into details of the change which should impact 11.8 percent of Google's queries (currently only in the U.S., with plans to roll it out elsewhere over time), but it does say that it will affect the ranking of many sites on the web.

"This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites -- sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites -- sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on," explain Googlers Amit Singhal and Matt Cuttsin a blog post.

While the change will surely have many website owners up in arms, complaining that their website was unfairly ranked lower than before (we're sure that in some cases they will be right), it's a very welcome one.

The popularity of Google's search engine is still second to none, but Google has been plagued by black hat SEO practices and content farms for a while now, with thecomplaints from users slowly mounting over time.

If Google manages to put an end to content farms or at least significantly reduce their influence in search results, it will be an important step in regaining the trust of its millions of users

This news is about that google will make a improvement on the searcher. I think is very good, because it would not be more bad pages with little or no useful information.

3rd New:'American Idol' voting goes online via Facebook

Facebook users soon could become the power brokers in who becomes the next Kelly Clarkson or Carrie Underwood.

"American Idol," Fox's massively popular TV singing contest, will be adding online voting next week, according to a news release. Voters will use their Facebook profiles to log in to a designated voting page on the "American Idol" website.

"We have been wanting to do online voting for several years, and now Facebook has offered us a secure solution and we are ready to go," said Simon Fuller, the show's creator. "The show has always involved a high level of engagement with its viewers through texting and phone voting, and it's great to expand on this tradition."

The online system will begin after Tuesday's episode.

People will still be able to vote for their favorite singers via text message or voice call.

Fans will be able to vote up to 50 times from each Facebook account, according to the release.

That could be a major shift in how results are tallied. As Jackie Cohen at the All Facebook blog notes, only the most rabid "Idol" fans are texting or calling in anywhere near 50 times.

"Adding Facebook voting would likely foster more participation in the voting. It certainly makes sense for 'American Idol' to limit each viewer to a maximum of 50 votes per show, but that could be more voting than most fans can achieve via telephone," Cohen wrote.

The Facebook report had been tipped off in reports by Entertainment Weekly and other media outlets. Earlier this week, executive producer Nigel Lythgoe told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Rodney Ho that online voting will be added this season.

Tech-news blog Mashable (a CNN partner) notes that viewers last season could use a Facebook app, "Idol Fanatic," to call in votes. The app used the Ribbit online telephone service, but has apparently now been shut down.

According to leaks reported by People magazine, "X Factor," the upcoming talent show to be hosted by former "Idol" judge Simon Cowell, also plans to introduce Facebook voting.

This news is about that you could vote from Facebook in American Idol. I think is very good, becuase every people that have Facebook could vote, and anyone could have a Facebook acount. And they are using something very easy yo use.

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