trends

A radio talk-show host urged his listeners Wednesday to search the Internet for two specific phrases in order to get those terms into Google's closely watched Google Trends list and promote a blog post implying President Obama will invite a terrorist attack on the U.S. to boost his popularity.

Alex Jones, who hosts The Alex Jones Show weekdays on around 60 radio stations, asked his listeners to conduct Internet searches with two specific queries: "save his presidency" and "Obama terror attack." They responded, driving those two terms briefly to the top of Google Trends … Read more

COLOGNE, Germany--Camera makers must wake up to the competitive threat of mobile phones by embracing networking technology or face unpleasant consequences as photography habits shift profoundly.

That was the warning from Ed Lee, an InfoTrends analyst speaking to a photo industry audience at this week's Photokina imaging show here. Change has been unceasing in recent years, with the arrival of digital photography paving the way for electronics manufacturers to join traditional camera companies. Now, camera makers face new disruption.

"The digital camera vendors need to be much more aggressive about getting their cameras connected," Lee said. "Otherwise, I can see a world where the mobile phone will be king and the digital camera will be relegated to just taking pictures. I don't think that's a world the camera vendors want to see happen."

Fundamentally, mobile phones and social networking sites such as Facebook have transformed the practice and purpose of photography so it's less about preserving memories and more about sharing what's happening.

"Smartphones allow people to capture an image and share it with an online site or a social network. You're allowing your friends and family to be in the moment with you as the event is still going on," Lee said.

Indeed, smartphones are advancing rapidly. Apple's iPhone, a standout product when it comes to Internet connectivity, rapidly ascended the Flickr ranks of most-used cameras because it makes sharing images easy. With Android and other operating systems, such smartphones are spreading rapidly. At the same time, their cameras' quality is steadily improving with higher resolution, built-in flashes, and in the case of the iPhone 4, a new HDR mode for high-dynamic range shots. … Read more

Security firm Trend Micro has found malicious files in the wild related to a zero-day exploit in Adobe Reader and Adobe Acrobat.

The file that Trend Micro spotted on the Web called TROJ_PIDIEF.WM includes two "downloaders" called TROJ_DLOADR.WM and TROJ_CHIFRAX.BU. According to Adobe Systems, which first mentioned the exploit Wednesday, the malicious files would allow an attacker to "take control of the affected system." The company said that it could also "cause a crash."

Trend Micro said that the site where it found the exploit was registered in Hong Kong, while … Read more

Trend Micro redone security suites for 2011 introduce new names for their products and a new emphasis on cloud-based protection. Trend Micro Antivirus+, Trend Micro Titanium Internet Security, and Trend Micro Maximum Security include the overhauled cloud-based Smart Protection Network proprietary engine to protect against viruses, malware, phishing attacks, and other threats.

The suites are notable for the heavy reliance on cloud-based technology and Trend Micro's emphasis on its Smart Scan tech. According to the company, this works by constantly scanning for threats when connected to the Internet, and utilizing locally-cached databases when working offline. The offline database includes … Read more

Garmin has announced two new Nuvi lines, the 2200 series and the 2300 series, aimed at the entry-level GPS market.

The 2200 series consists of three new models: 2200, 2250, and 2250LT. The Nuvi 2200 features a 3.5-inch display, Garmin's ecoRoute fuel-efficient routing and driving tools technology, and a feature called MyTrends that remembers your favorite destinations and can automatically offer routes and travel times. For example, if you head to work everyday at 8 a.m., eventually the Nuvi will remember and automatically set work as your destination when you hop in the car.

The 2200 comes … Read more

Too bad This Week in Google was already taken.

Google announced plans Friday to produce a weekly video show called Google Beat, in which it will highlight the top search queries of the week as produced by Google Insights for Search and Google Trends. Gabriel Stricker, a Google representative, described the show as a weekly representative of the yearly Google Zeitgeist list that the company puts together toward the end of a calendar year, listing the most active search terms for that year.

It's a bit of a departure for Google: the format is basically a 90-second news/entertainment … Read more

Credit for today's 404 Podcast show goes to the random madman in The 404 Live chat room this morning, who popped in only to shout "COLLEGE IS EXPENSIVE" before getting booted for using all caps. See you tomorrow, phantom screamer! Today's episode of The 404 takes a closer look at Blackberry's new Torch smartphone, Facebook's ethnicity trend study, regional gadget trends, and why it's never a good idea to sing John Denver at karaoke.

Tech Web site Retrevo recently conducted a gadget survey to find out which states buy up the most consumer … Read more

Trend Micro has signed a deal to acquire Humyo, an online storage and file synchronization provider.

As a security company, Trend Micro sees the acquisition as a way to offer its customers secure, cloud-based storage. Humyo provides an online storage center through which people can automatically back up and synchronize data from their PCs, Macs, smartphones, and other connected devices.

As more people tap into the cloud to store and access their files, Trend Micro said Friday that integrating Humyo will help fill a growing need for data security for individuals and small business customers. The acquisition will also give … Read more

When compared to the Centers for Disease Control's national surveillance of influenza lab tests, data from Google Flu Trends is 25 percent less accurate at estimating rates of lab-confirmed influenza infections, according to a new study out of the University of Washington.

The findings are being reported at the American Thoracic Society 2010 International Conference in New Orleans this week.

Google Flu Trends estimates national rates of flu-like activity by monitoring the popularity of certain Google search queries in real time. This method is precisely the problem, because the influenza virus does not always cause influenza-like illnesses. (The researchers … Read more