Sjapstore.com

Some developers are making more money by showcasing their wares in Amazon's Appstore instead of Google's Android Market, according to research from Distimo. The mobile analytics firm looked at the 110 apps available in both online stores that generated at least $200 per day in revenue during the last week of January. Of those, 42 earned more money sitting in the Amazon Appstore than they did in the larger Android Market. The Appstore also accounted for 28 percent of the total revenue from the top 110 sellers.

Research In Motion has released its first update for the PlayBook's operating system. The debut of BlackBerry PlayBook OS 2.0 adds -- finally -- some essential features to the tablet, such as a native email client, calendar and contact functionality. RIM wanted to ensure that it would not just provide email via the tablet -- but secure email, said David Heit, director of product management, enterprise, at RIM. "This is not just about an email client -- it is about achieving a secure and well-managed connectivity," he said.

Apple is hard at work building the "largest end-user-owned onsite solar array" in the U.S., according to a brief environmental report it released this week. The company announced that at its Maiden, N.C., data center, the central nervous system for services like iCloud and Siri, will be a LEED-certified data center running completely on renewable energy. The solar project will provide provide 42 million kWh of solar power to the center each year.

I spent the best part of last week cruising up and down Silicon Valley, checking in with customers and would-be clients. The consensus from this non-scientific survey is that business is better than OK, and most people are expecting this year to be the best in a while. Of course, there is a cloud -- literal and figuratively -- to go with that silver lining. After all, we're bouncing off a long fall to what's still a soft bottom. Business is good enough out there that many companies can't find enough qualified people.

Barnes & Noble released a new Nook Tablet Tuesday, shaving US$50 off the price and reducing the storage by half. The new price, $199, matches Amazon's Kindle Fire. The new Nook emulates the Fire on a number of fronts -- price and 8 GB storage. The new Nook comes with a 1 GHz dual-core processor and a slot for a microSD card that will hold up to 32 GB. B&N also dropped the price of its Nook Color e-reader $30 to $169. Amazon heated up the tablet market last fall when it introduce the Kindle Fire at a price that many consider a loss-leader.

For some, any move to the cloud -- at least the public cloud -- means a higher risk for security. For others, relying more on a public cloud provider means better security. There's more of a concentrated and comprehensive focus on security best practices that are perhaps better implemented and monitored centrally in the major public clouds. And so which is it? Is cloud a positive or negative when it comes to cybersecurity? And what of hybrid models that combine public and private cloud activities -- how is security impacted in those cases?

The Obama administration's program to modernize federal information technology operations is now in its second year, and the momentum for reform is continuing at a high level. "We are seizing on the power of 21st century technology to consolidate data centers and moving to lightweight, shareable technologies, such as cloud computing, while also directing agencies to consolidate commodity IT services, and shift to shared services," Federal Chief Information Officer Steven VanRoekel said last week.

Yelp, the online local review service, expects to sell 7.15 million shares in its IPO, at US$12 to $14 each. The total potential take is $100 million. The company will list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "YELP." Yelp's price target values the company at roughly $778 million, about nine times last year's sales. That compares to Google's IPO at five times sales and Yahoo's IPO at four times sales. Yelp listed both Google and Yahoo as competitors in its IPO filing. Yelp claims about 66 million unique visitors per month and has about 25 million local reviews.

These days, cybercriminals are successfully circumventing advanced security controls with the precision of a sniper. In the crosshairs are banks, financial institutions, governments and enterprises. In a recent Gartner survey, 76 U.S. banks indicated that malware-based attacks were a growing problem and that fraudsters were able to defeat defenses such as advanced profiling systems, risk-based authentication and even most strong authentication methods. Unlike the old shotgun approach, attackers now carefully study their prey using cyberreconnaissance techniques.

Amazon's Kindle Fire was second in tablet marketshare only to Apple's iPad in the fourth quarter of 2011, according to a report from IHS iSuppli. Amazon didn't release official sales figures when it reported its quarterly earnings for the end of 2011 recently, but the iSuppli report states the company shipped 3.9 million Kindle Fires during the last three months of 2011. That gave the Android device a 14.3 percent marketshare of the worldwide tablet market. The Kindle Fire came in ahead of devices from Samsung and Barnes & Noble.

A Morgan Stanley analyst has cut his rating on Amazon to equal weight from overweight. The reason? Mounting near-term challenges that mean 2012 will be a year of transition for the stock. Generally, the company is a long-term supporter of Amazon, Scott Devitt wrote, and it remains a long-term supporter. However, there are near-term trends the company must address, and soon, he said. Chief among them is Apple's wild success in changing the digital distribution of music, books and other content.

Amazon's Chinese website is no longer offering Apple iPads for sale. This follows a request from Apple to drop the product because Amazon isn't authorized to sell the device, in that country, according to a recent report. Meanwhile, officials in various Chinese cities are confiscating iPads from retailers, apparently in connection with a legal dispute between Cupertino and Taiwanese firm Proview, which asserts it has rights to the iPad name in China. However, that issue is not related to the stoppage of Amazon's iPad sales in China, according to Yankee Group's Carl Howe.

Three years ago, the University of the Sciences in Philadelphia was at a crossroads with its constituent relationship management system. The system it was using at the time, based on Unidata, was decades old, said Necie Steward, director of advancement services for USciences. The provider was planning to upgrade the system to a newer version, which would have required no small upheaval within the various departments that used it. As it happened, most of the users hated the system and welcomed the opportunity for a complete change.

The infographic looks at everything from gifts bought, to how long a site takes to load.

This will allow fans to follow real celeb Facebook accounts.

This is according to the US Commerce Department.

The European Union Court of Justice has rejected a call for Internet platforms to filter and block unauthorized copyrighted material. The suit was brought by music industry group SABAM against Netlog, an online social networking platform that lets users share content through profiles. SABAM objected to Netlog users sharing copyrighted material without permission. However, Netlog is not in violation of EU law when it acts as a hosting service and allows users to store information, said the Court of Justice.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission has put in place tougher restrictions regarding prerecorded telemarketing calls, aka "robocalls." In a 3-0 vote, the commissioners agreed on four ways to limit the automated marketing calls, which often irritate users of residential and cellphone lines. The FCC ruled that telemarketers will have to receive written consent from a consumer prior to placing a robocall. The commission noted that some consumers may want to give consent to receive certain automated calls, such as ones regarding school closings or flight delays.

The word "terminal," before the computer revolution, had several meanings, one of which described it as either end of a carrier line containing facilities for freight and passengers. Nowadays, in the computer age, it can mean the end point of a carrier line containing data "floating" in a cloud and saved for many users and uses. Specifically, in the case of V-Rooms, it means the secure cloud-location used as a warehouse of private portals. So many individuals and businesses are now looking to cloud computing in order to store valuable data off-site.

Every day, I get calls from reporters looking for comments on stories it are writing about AT&T. I'm sometimes asked whether I love or hate AT&T. After giving that question some thought, let me set the record straight: a little of both. I have been a fan of AT&T for many years -- in fact, even before it was AT&T. I am talking about SBC, BellSouth and Cingular. However, that does not mean it does everything right. During the smartphone explosion of the last few years, AT&T Mobility has done quite a bit right but has also had its challenges.

My childhood birthdays and Christmases had a few eternally repeated phrases associated with them: "Happy Birthday," "Merry Christmas," and "He'll grow into it." The latter one was always perplexing to me. The volume of oversized clothing I received as a kid from aunts, grandparents and family friends was astounding. Over time, I did actually grow into those clothes. Social CRM, for a lot of businesses, is like those gifts: It may not be a perfect fit immediately, but given time and the evolution of your business, you're likely to grow into it.

According to a study by Cisco Systems Inc.

A look at how sharing on these platforms will develop.

Adding that online sales contribute to nearly 25% of all revenue.

The FCC indicated it will not approve LightSquared's network, as it would interfere with GPS signals used by planes, boats and cars throughout the U.S. The FCC's approval of LightSquared's plans was conditional on resolving those interference issues. LightSquared's high-speed network would have served as many as 260 million people. The company remains committed to finding a resolution with the government and the GPS industry, it said Wednesday. It maintained that the testing process that influenced the FCC's decision was severely flawed and relied on obsolete and niche devices.

Online game maker Zynga reported a net loss during its first quarter as a publicly traded company, due mostly to heavy stock compensation from its IPO and an increase in research and development costs. Revenue at Zynga, however, was up 59 percent during the last three months of 2011. The company brought in $311.2 million, compared to $195.8 million a year ago. But because the company had to pay a one-time stock compensation of $510 million after its IPO filing, Zynga reported a net loss of $435 million, or $1.22 per share.

A deal worth billions to Yahoo has reportedly hit a snag. The deal between Yahoo and two of its Asian partners, China's Alibaba Group and Japan's SoftBank, has reached an impasse, according to a recent report. The accord would, among other things, save Yahoo $4 billion in U.S. taxes. Yahoo's investment in Alibaba and Yahoo Japan is estimated at $17 billion, and Yahoo likely aims to turn that investment into cash that can be used to increase the value of the investments made in the company by its shareholders.

Dealing with naturally risk-averse and conservative IT policies becomes increasingly less desirable to consumers when compared to the types of enablement available to the adventurous as technology rapidly evolves. IT is left to languish unappreciated, a resource of last resort, with an insurmountable burden of legacy-induced maintenance, and no chance of being seen as anything other than an impediment. A look at some possible causes of past migrations suggests how IT might be able to avoid the ignominy of being dumped and tumbled under the waves of change.

Apple's stock leaped beyond the $500 mark this week, closing Tuesday at $509.46 amidst a period of continued growth following the strong holiday sales season the company recently reported. Shares have climbed 17 percent over the past month, rising on 11 out of the past 14 days since the company reported its last record-breaking quarterly earnings report. Thanks to strong sales of the iPhone, along with the market-leading iPad, the company has some Apple-watchers calling the $500 price point an unsurprising stop on a continuing ladder upward.

Last week Oracle bought the HR SaaS company Taleo for $1.9 billion, which to me means it's time to do you-know-what to the fire and call in the dogs. This hunt is officially over and out. The hunt in question is for legitimacy and primacy of the SaaS and cloud computing model. Many people would argue that legitimacy happened when Salesforce had its first billion-dollar year -- heck, its first $100 million would do just as well. But primacy has always been a wee bit dodgy.

Apple's stock leaped above the $500 mark this week, closing Tuesday at $509.46 amid a period of continued growth following the strong holiday sales season the company recently reported. Shares have climbed 17 percent over the past month, rising on 11 out of the past 14 days since the company reported its last record-breaking quarterly earnings report. Thanks to strong sales of the iPhone, along with the market-leading iPad, the company has some Apple-watchers calling the $500 price point an unsurprising stop on a continuing ladder upward.

According to Harris Interactive’s annual Reputation Quotient study.

The internet subculture group targets a US weapons manufacturer.

Thanks in part to the MySpace Music Player and celeb investor, Justin Timberlake.

With revenue increasing 59%.

Google has cleared a significant hurdle in what will perhaps be its greatest prize yet: its $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility. The deal has gotten the green light from both U.S. and European regulators. Their approval did not come without some words of caution about making sure that critical patents are licensed at fair prices. EU Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia, for example, told reporters that the EC would not hesitate to open cases if it felt that Google was abusing its new patents. The Justice Department also expressed a degree of uncertainty.

Federal agencies charged with improving the efficiency of information technology operations are embracing data consolidation, the cloud and mobile devices. One of the major factors involved in these efforts is the use of virtualization technologies that enhance the productivity of computer operating systems. Federal agencies are now under the gun to drastically reduce the number or government data centers from 2,800 to about 1,800 by 2015. Steven VanRoekel, the federal chief information officer, has set a target of shuttering 472 centers by the end of 2012.

Last week saw a pair of announcements by major vendors that reflect the degree to which solid state disk or flash caching technologies are moving into the mainstream: 1) IBM announced several key enhancements to its latest XIV Gen3 solutions, including a solid state drive caching option that can increase system performance by up to three times; and 2) EMC announced VFCache, a new server flash caching solution that increases throughput by 3X while reducing latency by 60 percent, thus enhancing the performance of read-intensive workloads with cacheable working sets.

Apple on Monday announced that the Fair Labor Association, an industry group it joined a month ago, would conduct "special voluntary audits" of its final assembly suppliers. These include Foxconn factories in Shenzhen and Chengdu, China. Labor rights experts led by FLA president Auret van Heerden commenced the audit Monday at the Shenzhen facility called "Foxconn City," Apple stated. Similar inspections will be conducted at the facilities of two other Apple suppliers, Quanta and Pegatron, later this spring.

If you have an AT&T unlimited data plan, and if you're in the top 5 percent when it comes to data use, you may have noticed your download rate has slowed to a crawl. When AT&T introduced its tiered data plan last year, the company emphasized it would honor the millions of customers who had previously signed up for unlimited data plans. However, AT&T has begun slowing down the download performance of the heaviest users among its unlimited data population.