(Cross-posted on the Official Google Blog.)

Google Instant makes search faster by displaying not just predictions but actual search results as you type. This saves valuable time on a desktop browser, but wouldn’t it be great to have Google Instant on mobile devices, where each keystroke and page load is much slower and you frequently have just a moment to find the information you need?

In September we announced that we were working to bring Google Instant to mobile, and today we’re making a beta version available to most iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. To try it out, go to google.com in your phone’s browser and tap the Google Instant “Turn on” link beneath the search box (if you don’t see the “Turn on” link, try waiting a moment and then refresh the page).

Like the desktop version of Google Instant, when you type on your mobile device you’ll see predictions of what you might be searching for. If you type [anse], for example, you should see [ansel adams] along with other predictions. Results for the first prediction appear automatically, and tapping on the other predictions will display those results. Pressing the enter key or the search button skips the predictions and will display results for exactly what you’ve typed. Check out our demo video:



With Google Instant on mobile, we’re pushing the limits of mobile browsers and wireless networks. You will probably notice a big improvement in speed when you search thanks to a new AJAX and HTML5 implementation for mobile that dynamically updates the page with new results and eliminates the need to load a new page for each query.

Google Instant for mobile works best on 3G and WiFi networks, but since the quality of any wireless connection can fluctuate, we’ve made it easy to enable or disable Google Instant without ever leaving the page. Just tap the “Turn on” or “Turn off” link.

We hope you’ll enjoy using Google Instant for mobile as much as we enjoyed making it. It’s currently available for Android 2.2 (“Froyo”) devices and iPhones and iPods running iOS 4 in the U.S. in English. We’re working to support additional countries and languages and more devices in the coming months, so stay tuned.

Posted by Steve Kanefsky, Software Engineer

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Posted by Marzia Niccolai, App Engine Team

Update: This morning we released SDK 1.1.7 due to an issue with the 1.1.6 release. SDK 1.1.7 contains the fix for this issue, as well as the fixes and features listed below.

Today we released the 1.1.6 SDK. You can download it on our Google hosting project, and peruse the release notes for more details on the release.

This release contains some notable new features, including several to our datastore:

• You can now sort and filter on an entitys key


• You can now delete an entity directly using its key, without fetching the Model object.


• If you specify a key_name when creating a Model, its key will now be available before you call put()


• URLFetch calls made in the SDK now have a 5 second timeout, matching production

Also, it contains a number of issue fixes, including the following:

• SDK now only supports the same headers as production


• In production, fixed an erroneous NeedIndexError when two ancestor queries were specified


• Calling to_xml() on a model instance containing a BlobProperty returns that BlobProperty base64 encoded


• URLFetch now uses the original HTTP method (e.g. POST) when following a redirect

As always, any and all feedback is welcome in the Google Group!

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A German court ruled Friday that Google must block photos of a sadomasochistic orgy involving former Formula One boss Max Mosley.

The court said the six images taken from a video of the orgy that was filmed by Britains now defunct News of the World tabloid seriously breached Mosleys privacy.

Google must prevent the pictures being shown on its German-based google.de site, including via links on its search engine, the court in the northern city of Hamburg ruled.

"In the courts view the pictures offered seriously violate the plaintiffs privacy," said judge Simone Kaefer.

The ruling is the latest in a string of legal battles waged by 73-year-old Mosley related to the publication of the video and a 2008 article published by the Rupert Murdoch-owned British newspaper alleging it was a Nazi-themed orgy.

Mosley successfully took the publisher of the newspaper to court over the Nazi claim, winning £60,000 (73,000 euros, $99,500) in damages when the judge ruled there was no Nazi element.

In November a French court also ordered Google to prevent its search engine from providing links to images of the orgy, prompting the US company to immediately announce it would appeal.

Google argued in the French case that the courts decision raised fears of costly and heavy-handed automated censorship of the Internet.

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WhatsApp Messenger is a smartphone messaging app which allows you to exchange messages with your friends and contacts without having to pay for SMS. WhatsAppmessage each other! To send and receive messages, WhatsApp utilizes your existing smartphone internet data plan: 3G/EDGE (or Wi-Fi when available)

In addition to messaging, Nokia Symbian, iPhone, Android and BlackBerry WhatsApp Messenger users can send each other unlimited images, video. WhatsApp Messenger is cross platform and available for iPhone, BlackBerry, Android and Nokia. Minor update probably some UI enhancement and bug fix.

Changelog 2.6.71:

Correction of bugs present in previous version

Contact Share feature added, allows you to share your contacts detail.

Click below to download

http://www.mediafire.com/?80d9i55bopqu3nr

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The bad news from Nokias camp just keep on coming in. First the Finns announced they are letting Vertu go, and now they have issued a press release stating the company will be sharpening its strategy by adding 10,000 lay-offs.



The staff reduction is due to several factory closings in Canada, Germany and Finland, and is planned to happen before the end of next year. Furthermore, three key executives will also be waving a last goodbye to Nokia.

Those are the chief marketing officer Jerry Devard, the executive VP of mobile phones Mary McDowell as well as the executive VP of markets Niklas Savander. All of them will leave Nokia come June 30. Their places will be filled in by Timo Toikanen, executive VP of mobile phones and Chris Weber, executive VP of marketing and sales, as well as senior VP of communications Susan Sheehan on July 1.

Also, Nokia emphasizes its ongoing push of Series 40 and Series 30 devices to developing markets in its goal to reach the next billion internet users.

Source | Via

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Say what you will about the world catching up to Japan in terms of cell phone wizardry, but the seasonal carrier portfolios there always manage to surprise. We were waiting with bated breath for the Softbank holiday lineup, and it didnt disappoint, with the most notable addition being the Fujitsu Arrows A 301F, due in December.

The Android handset sports top-shelf specs like a 5" Full HD display, Snapdragon 800 processor and a 13 MP rear camera. The kicker is that Fujitsu claims it will last you three days on a charge, while the thin device only sports a 2600 mAh battery. We dont know whether the claim is due to an eventual frugal IGZO display panel, or power draw optimizations that Fujitsu calls "human-centric engine", but the company also says that the juicer can be topped up for a full day of use in just 10 minutes.

Wed assume this is done via a high-power AC adapter, and indeed Fujitsu lists "dedicated" power brick and dock that come with the handset, just like Sonys claims for half an hour phone charging are only valid with a special adapter. Still, being able to plug the phone, drink your coffee and walk away with a whole day worth of charge, is a noble idea worth exploring by other phone makers, too.

The list doesnt stop here, though, as the camera sports optical image stabilization and the back of the phone houses a fingerprint sensor, just like with the HTC One Max phablet, though the one here oddly reminds us of the round Touch ID scanner of Apple in the new iPhone 5s. Sounds like a pretty complete package, too bad its unlikely to see the light of day outside of Japan.(PhoneArena)

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The operators of fakeplastic.net have been charged with selling bogus credit cards and overlays.

All that credit and debit card information that gets stolen when criminals hack places like Target and Neiman Marcus is only worth so much to an ID thief. Sure, one could use that info to place online orders, but you’re just asking to be tracked down and caught that way. The real prize comes when you take that information and create real-looking credit cards with it.

Last night, the Justice Dept. announced that it has charged three Florida men for running a website — fakeplastic.net — that the DOJ describes as a “one-stop online shop selling counterfeit credit cards and holographic overlays,” that could be used by other baddies to either fake their identities or use stolen credit and debit card numbers in retail stores.

Feds say that cards tied to this operation are responsible for at least $34.5 million in fraud.

The 39-year-old alleged ringleader from Palm Bay has been charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods or services, and conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with authentication features.

His two alleged conspirators — a 31-year-old also from Palm Bay, and a 30-year-old from Melbourne — have been charged with conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods and conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud.

The site was actually seized by the FBI and U.S. Postal Inspection Service back on Dec. 5, but rather than make a public spectacle of the seizure, authorities continued to allow customers to make purchases.

The DOJ says that, following the site’s seizure, authorities made more than 30 “controlled deliveries” to customers. This means that customers were sent their orders, but those illegal materials never left the control of law enforcement.

These deliveries resulted in 11 additional arrests of alleged fakeplastic customers.

The U.S. Attorney in the case described fakeplastic.net as a “made-to-measure service [that] provided the last link in the chain necessary for criminals to make money from stolen credit card numbers and identities.”

It’s believed that the site’s operator began selling counterfeit cards and related items as early as April 2011. Fakeplastic.net was launched in June 2012. Between the pre-fakeplastic sales and the sales made through the website, the DOJ claims that the three suspects sold materials for around 69,000 fake credit cards, plus another 35,000 holographic stickers used to make counterfeit cards appear more legitimate, and more than 30,000 state identification card holographic overlays.

The alleged ringleader is believed to have personally made around $1.7 million from these sales.

The fraud conspiracy charges each carry penalties of up to 30 years in prison and fines of $1 million. The charges for conspiracy to traffic in counterfeit goods or services could mean up to 10 years in prison and fines of $2 million. The charge of conspiracy to commit fraud and related activity in connection with authentication features comes with a maximum of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

by Chris Morran via Consumerist

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