U.S. government analysts believe a Chinese man with government links wrote the key part of a spyware programme used in hacker attacks on Google last year, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

The man, a security consultant in his 30s, posted sections of the programme to a hacking forum where he described it as something he was “working on,” the paper said, quoting an unidentified researcher working for the U.S. government.


The spyware creator works as a freelancer and did not launch the attack, but Chinese officials had “special access” to his programing, the report said.

“If he wants to do the research he’s good at, he has to toe the line now and again,” the paper quoted the unnamed U.S. government researcher saying.

“He would rather not have uniformed guys looking over his shoulder, but there is no way anyone of his skill level can get away from that kind of thing. The state has privileged access to these researchers’ work.”

The report did not say how analysts knew about the man’s government ties.

The allegations over the spyware are the latest episode in a dispute that has pitted Google and the United States against China, with its wall of Internet controls and legions of hackers.

In January, the giant Internet search engine company, Google, threatened to pull back from China and shut its Google.cn Chinese-language portal over complaints of censorship and sophisticated hacking from within China.

Washington has backed those criticisms and urged Beijing to investigate hacking complaints thoroughly and transparently. Beijing has said it opposes hacking.

The Financial Times report also quoted unnamed sources backing a New York Times report that analysts had traced the online attacks to two Chinese educational institutions, the prestigious Shanghai Jiaotong University and the Lanxiang vocational school.

The two establishments have denied the reports. And the allegation that the latter, a high-school level institute that also trains hairdressers, chefs and car mechanics, could take on one of the world’s most powerful Internet firms, have been widely mocked in Chinese cyberspace.

“How can these future cooks be such powerful hackers?” a web user from Zhejiang province said on the portal www.163.com.

The use of the school’s IP address could simply mean that hackers had taken over its computers to hide their tracks.

But Lanxiang’s website also claims to have the “biggest” computer laboratory in the world, a boast it says is confirmed by Guinness World Records.

There was less online comment about the well-respected Jiaotong University, which attracts top graduates and has a School of Information Security Engineering.

Google
has finally launched its new social product, Buzz, at an event held at its Mountain View, CA headquarters. Google Buzz is an easy way to start conversations, share updates, photos, videos, add comments and much more - right from a Gmail account. The updates, which are often termed as ‘Buzz’, are available in real-time to the users right in their Gmail Inbox.


Head to http://buzz.google.com and check if it is being made available to you from your PC or iPhone/Android browser. Yes, Google Buzz has also been rolled out for iPhone and Android platform, leaving the rest mobile platforms behind for the time being. Buzz is free from any sign-up or setup hassles.

Google Buzz is being heavily compared with Facebook acquired FriendFeed service that allows posting, sharing and viewing photos, videos and commenting within the stream of updates. If you can recollect, two years back, Yahoo had introduced a service named - Buzz, which is mostly a social news service that collates user-select content from the web and ranks it on basis of popularity.

Do note that Buzz doesn’t have any character limitation like Twitter. However, that doesn’t mean one can paste stories and lengthy blog posts just for heck of sharing.

Here are the key features of Google Buzz:

Gmail Inbox Integration:
It will take place without pushing update emails to Inbox mail as the updates will be dynamically updated in real-time to form threaded Buzz conversations. Also, all basic keyboard shortcuts for Gmail work for Buzz as well. It’s obviously visible that Google is counting on those billions of Gmail users who’ll wish to try out Buzz.. But why mix social pleasure with mails? Whether Google should have included Buzz to Gmail or not is going to be a pro-longed debate. Many would like to keep their serious mailing stuff separate from social conversations. However, getting an all-in-one-time access is nothing new. It’s being developed previously like the Adobe Air apps that offer support for multiple account login to share content socially.

Automatic Friends Lists:
Based on the contacts you frequently mail and chat with, Buzz will automatically make names appear in your Buzz stream. Buzz will also give you a list of “Recommended Buzz” users that will based on ‘friend-of-friend’ content sharing into your stream - even if those folks aren’t acquainted to the user.

This may raise a question of privacy. For instance, Adam is a popular guy and is on Becky’s list and wishes to share updates only with Becky’s friends. But what if a contact of Sam who is on Becky’s is recommended to connect with Adam? Also it’s kinda unsure whether the email address could be held as private from the connected ‘friend-of-friend’.

Richer, Faster Sharing Experience:
In Buzz, Google focuses on one of the most crucial aspects in social arena today - real-time sharing and updates. Buzz allows importing feeds from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr and Google Reader to stay updated with the contacts on those services. Photos from Flickr and Picasa would appear as thumbnail and clicking on thumbnail will give an overlay interface based full view of the image. The posts and comments on the posts get updated in real-time and one doesn’t have to refresh the page. Note that real-time update may not be supported in all web browsers and may cause freezing issues with them abruptly.

Public and Private Sharing:
An option of public and private sharing of updates is offered. So, one has a choice to make update publicly viewable or only for private network of friends and family. Public updates to Google Profiles of the user and the contacts who follow them. Private updates can be shared across the private network that could be setup. Note that public updates will be visible on the user’s Google Profile and will eventually show up in Google Search. So, be careful what information you share in the Buzz. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT share personal information in the Buzz. Be afraid, be very afraid.

by Dan Moren, Macworld.com

The first inkling we had that something was off between longtime friends Apple and Google came last July when Apple pulled existing third-party apps for Google’s Voice service from the App Store. Six months later, Google’s finally remedied the situation by adding a dash of HTML5 into Voice’s Web interface.

On Tuesday, Google unveiled the snazzy new interface for Google Voice for the iPhone and Palm Pre. In addition to a mobile-optimized version of your Voice inbox, you can place calls using the service (including cheap international calls), send and get text messages, and play back voicemail messages. Your Voice number will show up as the caller ID, so people can call you back there instead of on your mobile number.

As Google points out in its tutorial video, it’s a snap to add the Google Voice page to your iPhone’s Home screen, which really turns it into a viable replacement for the iPhone’s own phone service.

Of course, you’ll still need a Google Voice account in order to take advantage of the new features, so if you don’t have one yet, go ahead and request an invite. If you’re wondering what all the hubbub about Google Voice is, be sure to check out our primer on the service.

By InformationWeek

The issues appear to be less about the Nexus One itself and more about Google’s online-only approach to support. Customers can only buy the device and get support online, mostly through help forums, which Google monitors. “The online model is not a good one,” Ken Dulaney, analyst for Gartner, told InformationWeek on Monday.

Gartner believes Google will eventually have to provide support through a retail store, probably through a partnership with carriers. “Sometimes you have to go to the store and have someone look at the phone,” Dulaney said.

Google said it was moving as fast as possible to address complaints. “We work quickly to solve any customer support issues as they come up, and we are trying to be as open and transparent as possible through our online customer help forums,” the company said in a statement e-mailed to InformationWeek. “We’ll continue to address all issues in as timely of a manner as possible.”

In the meantime, some Nexus One customers are having trouble getting answers to their questions, particularly about spotty 3G coverage. The Nexus One costs $529 for an unlocked model that can be used on multiple carriers. Initially, however, T-Mobile is the best option for 3G coverage.

Spotty 3G coverage, whether its the Nexus One or Apple’s iPhone, is typical for today’s networks, so those complaints are not surprising. “Customers are going to complain about that for just about everybody,” Dulaney said. “There is always spotty coverage. That’s a buyer beware type of thing with all the carriers.”

But getting the run around is not typical. Customers report calling T-Mobile and being told that the problem lies with HTC, the smartphone manufacturer. Calling HTC, and they get told to call T-Mobile, because its a network problem.

T-Mobile is getting complaints from current customers who want the Nexus One, but are ineligible for the discount, which is only for new customers. Depending on their current phone and the length of time they have on their service contract, T-Mobile customers could be eligible for a partial discount for upgrading to the Nexus One.

“That’s an ongoing problem,” Dulaney said, noting that carriers haven’t done a very good job in general in educating customers. “There’s a lot people who still don’t understand what a subsidy is.”

Apple, which gets high marks from customer service, offers support online, over the phone and at its retail stores. The multiple options approach has been credited with the company’s success in providing customer service.

full story / source

By Douglas MacMillan

Google’s low-cost online ads have singlehandedly revolutionized the way big brands spread marketing messages across the Web. But the company has had a harder time luring ad dollars from local businesses and mom-and-pop shops.

The search giant is in talks to pay more than $500 million to buy Yelp, an online community for local business reviews, a person familiar with the matter said on Dec. 18. Google’s (GOOG) interest in the five-year-old startup underscores the value of local advertising online, a multibillion-dollar business it has so far struggled to enter. Analysts say acquiring Yelp could step up growth in Google’s core search advertising business, which has slowed in recent years, as well as in such other areas as mobile services. Representatives of Google and Yelp declined to comment on the talks.

While they were slow to move ad spending online, local advertisers have stormed the Web in recent years. As a whole, the market for local online advertising is expected to surge to $14.2 billion this year, from $2.1 billion in 2004, according to research firm Borrell Associates. Increasingly, local shops are shifting spending from big phone books such as the Yellow Pages and other print media to the Web sites of local newspapers and such directory sites as Yelp and InterActiveCorp (IACI)-owned CitySearch, says local media analyst Gordon Borrell. With consumers so attuned to the convenience of the Internet, “Why do you need the phone book any more?” he asks.

Google has flirted with local advertisers before. The company works with online directories such as the AT&T (T)-owned YellowPages.com, whose sales people pitch businesses on buying sponsored links in search results. In September, Google invited merchants to add details about their businesses to Google Maps, a tool used by millions each day.
at Yelp, 8 million local reviews

But the Mountain View, Calif., Web pioneer has lacked a direct line of contact with smaller sellers sprinkled throughout the country. “Reaching those small advertisers is very difficult and expensive,” says Matt Booth, senior vice-president at the Kelsey Group. “Local could be a big part of their business, but it’s not a huge part of their overall business today.”

Yelp, on the other hand, is all about local. Started in 2004 with a $1 million investment from PayPal (EBAY) co-founder Max Levchin, the site says that each month it attracts more than 26 million people who collectively have contributed more than 8 million one- to five-star reviews on attractions in their neighborhoods. San Francisco-based Yelp has a sales force of 200 people who sign up local merchants for sponsored listings throughout the site. Ad revenue totaled about $45 million this year, according to analysts’ estimates, and Yelp has been expecting to become profitable in 2010.

Google has increased its pace of acquisitions in recent months to beef up its advertising business and to snap up assets devalued amid the recession. Yelp would help Google get smarter about local advertising, says Sandeep Aggarwal, analyst at Collins Stewart. “Yelp has more intelligent information,” he says. Instead of just addresses, phone numbers, and other basic data on small businesses, Yelp also boasts extensive knowledge of people’s tastes and price preferences. “Often when someone is looking for something, they also want this kind of information,” Aggarwal says.
“Yelpers:” local, tight-knit groups

That data would likely prove valuable to Google’s mobile efforts, too. This year, a free app preinstalled in the Motorola (MOT) Droid and other phones using Google’s Android software let users receive turn-by-turn navigation to their destination. With Yelp’s data, the app could suggest restaurants and other services along the way.

Yelp also gives Google entrée to a loyal social community-something it has had difficulty building on its own in the past. Users of Yelp, often calling themselves “Yelpers,” have been known to form tight-knit groups that meet at favorite bars and hang-outs. “This is distinct from what Google is about,” says Greg Sterling, principle of Sterling Market Intelligence. Yelp’s is a fandom that lures a lot of interested advertisers.

Sterling says a Yelp deal might be about more than just ads. “[Google] has ambitions that are broader than simply selling advertising. There’s a whole range of stuff they can offer” small businesses, he says. By cozying up to more mom and pops, the company may hope to get the word out about its Google Docs and other online apps. The vast majority of small businesses buy competing software from Microsoft.

Google’s negotiations with Yelp are unlikely to conclude before yearend, says the person familiar with the matter. Technology blog TechCrunch first reported on the talks.

Clinching a deal might give Google a leg up on rivals Microsoft (MSFT) and Yahoo! (YHOO), which analysts say were also potential buyers. The talks are most likely to rankle AT&T and other companies that partner with Google to “resell” search ads to local businesses signing up for the Yellow pages. (AT&T did not immediately respond to a request for comment.) Says Borrell: “Those relationships have gotten tenuous because they believe Google is competing with them by providing all this great stuff.”

Douglas MacMillan is a staff writer for BusinessWeek in New York.

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