Will Google+ app for iphone accepted by Apple

            The fate of Google's new social app reaching a global stable of mobile users is   within the hands ofSteve Jobs.

the Google+ iPhone app has been submitted to the App store (no, not today, sometime prior to today) and is awaiting approval," Google's Erica Joy posted on her Google+ account.

The submission also included an iPad app, she said.

Apple and Google have been balancing a relationship as technology partners but also as rivals.

Apple uses Google maps as the primary map application on its iPhone and iPad. But Google has grown to be even more competitive in recent years.

The search giant put out its own mobile operating system, the Android, which has risen to become the primary competitor to Apple's iPhone, and recently, Apple's iPad.

Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was forced to step down from the board of Apple as competitive pressures between the companies mounted.

Responding to the tension, Apple has been careful to release apps that threaten its core businesses. Apps for Google Voice, for instance, were initially rejected, but an FCC inquiry finally let the program through in November 2010.

It's unclear if any part of Google+ threatens Apple, however.

The new social network does integrate voice chat which threatens the iPhone's native cellular technology, but Skype was recently let through, meaning that basis may be more difficult to defend.

Google+ does do video-chat, which is a direct competitor to Apple's own FaceTime application.

Google rebranding Blogger and Picasa as part of its new SocialNetwork branding

Google will axe two popular brand names, Mashable has reported.

Blogger and Picasa will be renamed as part of a branding push following the release of Google+, the company's new social network. Blogger will be called Google Blogs and Picasa will become Google Photos.

From Mashable:

"Picasa and Blogger were also Google acquisitions, although both companies have been part of the Google empire for far longer. Picasa was acquired in 2004 and Blogger (co-founded by Evan Williams of Twitter) was acquired in 2003 and is one of the top 10 most visited websites in the world. Although the rebranding could upset some existing customers, it also gives Google the ability to completely integrate both services into Google+."

The move is not without precedent. For example, when Google acquired JotSpot in 2006, the service was renamed Google Sites.

Mashable also reported that while other brands may be subject to a name change, YouTube will not be one of them.

Given that the Google brand has taken some heat recently, we wonder how users will react to the news.

paypal Twitter acc got Hacked

          PayPal U.K Twitter feed Hacked

PayPal's U.K. Twitter feed has apparently been taken over by outsiders critical of the company.

The Twitter handle @PayPalUK on Tuesday featured several negative tweets about the company and multiple links to PayPalSucks.com, a website that encourages users to seek out alternative payment services and touts "eBay/PayPal Anti-Trust Class Action" litigation.

"PAYPAL CAN FREEZE YOUR FUNDS FOR NO REASON, DO NOT USE PAYPAL!!" read one tweet on the compromised account.

"All your paypal accounts are now frozen while we clean up this mess.." another tweet said.

The Next Web received the following statement from PayPal:

PayPal UK’s Twitter feed was targeted by hackers tonight. PayPal would like to reassure all customers that PayPal’s UK customer systems and data have not been breached or hacked in any way. There is no link between customer systems and our Twitter account.

The Guardian supposes that this individual is a disgruntled customer and notes that the incident is not necessarily hacker-related: "Twitter accounts are protected by a simple password which can sometimes be guessed or stolen and means that the service can be accessed by anyone with that password.

Twitter account of Fox News got hacked : Disturbing tweets saying obama was shot dead

This was the Screenshot of a tweet that suddenly appeared on Fox News twitter account.

An official Twitter account belonging to the political team at Fox News has been compromised and fallen into the hands of hackers who have posted false stories claiming that Barack Obama has been assassinated.

The messages were posted at approximately 2am local time, and were quickly retweeted across the network.

Messages posted to the @FoxNewsPolitics account included:

BREAKING NEWS: President @BarackObama assassinated, 2 gunshot wounds have proved too much. It's a sad 4th for #america. #obamadead RIP

and

We wish @joebiden the best of luck as our new President of the United States. In such a time of madness, there's light at the end of tunnel

The rogue tweets seem to have begun after a message was posted on the FoxNewsPolitics account saying "Just regained full access to our Twitter and email. Happy 4th".

That message implies that whoever hacked into the account compromised the email address of the person who administers the FoxNewsPolitics account, giving an unknown third-party the ability to post tweets at will.

At the time of writing the false announcements are still present on the FoxNewsPolitics Twitter page - the July 4th Independence Day holiday may mean that no-one at Fox has been able to log into the account to remove the tweets.

A Twitter account calling itself "TheScriptKiddie" has claimed responsibility for the attack, but has since been suspended.

The Fox media empire appears to have drawn a lot of fire from hackers in recent months. In May, hackers stole details of employees usernames and passwords and defaced Twitter and LinkedIn pages.

Previously, the personal information of more than 250,000 people was stolenfrom Fox's The X Factor show.

Although some may be amused by the latest hack, users can clearly be put at risk if an account is exploited by somebody with malicious intentions (they could link to a website containing malware, as we recently saw with the recent breach of Simon Pegg's account for instance).

The employees of Fox responsible for the administration of the company's social media accounts might be wise to refresh their knowledge of password security and check that their computers have not been compromised with spyware.

Google+ first privacy flaw

Infant Google+ has a pretty privacy flaw already. 

As the FT's Tim Bradshaw pointed out, despite the fact that you have private "Circles" like family and friends who only can see your content, anyone can "reshare" that content with their own "circles." That content can potentially then be reshared with anyone. Sort of like retweets on Twitter, content originally meant for private consumption could end up going viral. 

Since the FT pointed out, Google implemented an interesting fix. Here's what we saw when we tried to reshare this image

Facebook Through Skype will launch Video Chat feature

Facebook to launch Hangout like feature with the help of Skype

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently promised that on July 6, Facebook would "launch something awesome" that the company's Seattle team developed. On Friday, Facebook distributed official invitations for a special event at its Paolo Alto headquarters on July 6.

Facebook's got something up its sleeve. But what?

TechCrunch claims to have an inside scoop that the social network has partnered with Skype to develop a video chat service, according to "a source with knowledge of the partnership."

Writes TechCrunch,

The product has been built on Skype and will include a desktop component. It’s not clear to me whether that means it will just work if a user has Skype already installed on the computer, or if additional software will need to be downloaded even if the user already uses Skype. But it’s clear that there’s very deep integration between the products, and from the user’s perspective, the product will be an in browser experience.

Google's newly launched social network (Google+) features a video chat feature (called Hangouts) that lets users chat one-on-one or in groups of up to 10.PCWorld predicts that the feature could grow into "serious competition" for Skype. Facebook currently does not offer a video chat feature.

The popular gaming company Zynga files for $1 billon IPO

[DealBook]:Zynga,  social network game developer behind hits such as Farmville — and the owner of other smash titles such as Words with Friends on Android and iPhone — has filed for an initial public offering (IPO), The New York Times reported on Friday. It currently has a $20 billion valuation and has plans to offer 10% of its shares; Morgan Stanley will work on the deal. Mark Pincus, the company’s CEO, expects that Zynga can earn $1 billion through the IPO. Unlike some other recent tech IPOs, which have caused many to claim the industry is in the midst of a “tech bubble,” Zynga has had solid earnings through its business model, which typically relies on in-app purchases for in-game currency. The firm reportedly recorded a profit of $90.6 million in 2011 on revenues of nearly $600 million. Zynga currently remains the top-dog when it comes to gaming on Facebook — it has 272.5 million active users across its biggest titles such as Cityville and Farmville.
Read:[DealBook]

Mark Zuckerberg:"Company going to launch something awesome next week"

Mark Zuckerberg teased reporters on a tour of Facebook's Seattle office today by announcing that the company will "launch something awesome" next week, reportsReuters, which guesses it's in the "mobile or tablet arena." Let the speculation begin:

• BGR: "We suspect it’s going to be the newiPhone photo-sharing service that we saw just last week. ... It’s entirely possible that Zuckerberg will also take the wraps off of his company’s native Facebook iPad app, since it would likely fit well into the photo-sharing ecosystem."

• CNET: "It could be Facebook's long-awaited iPad application. The company currently offers an iPhone app, but iPad owners have so far been forced to use the full site."
• Business Insider: "If we had to guess it would be an iPad app."