Product Reviews Net » Twitter http://www.product-reviews.net Information on the latest gadgets, technology, news and product reviews Sun, 27 May 2012 11:45:01 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 Twitter erupts as O2 accused of sharing phone numbers http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/25/twitter-erupts-as-o2-accused-of-sharing-phone-numbers/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=twitter-erupts-as-o2-accused-of-sharing-phone-numbers http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/25/twitter-erupts-as-o2-accused-of-sharing-phone-numbers/#comments Wed, 25 Jan 2012 10:44:22 +0000 Gary Johnson http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=147921 There are often concerns how our personal data is protected as we rely on the internet and our cell phones more than ever. There are often security breaches with hackers gaining access to various websites, and now Twitter erupts as O2 is accused of sharing user’s phone numbers.

O2 customers reacted furiously this morning after it emerged that when they visit a website via their smartphone, the carrier sends the site their phone number. This serious security flaw means that any malicious website can get hold of your number and use it with a phishing attack or other scam.

According to an article at Mobile News the operator is putting in a customer’s number via header information when they visit a website. The security flaw was first found by user Lewis Peckover, and the number appears in the header information so the website can display the page to suit the user’s smartphone an OS.

This data is not usually recorded by a website, but could be spotted by an administrator of the site, and can then be easily be used for malicious purposes. A similar problem is also affecting GiffGaff and Tesco Mobile, but it hasn’t been found on Everything Everywhere, Three, and Vodafone.

O2 has said they are looking into the matter and added that “security is our top most priority“, but will come as little comfort to affected users. The problem was still found to be happening this morning when using a Nokia Lumia 800 on the carrier. Update: It appears that O2 has now closed the loop hole.

Are you concerned about this problem?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/25/twitter-erupts-as-o2-accused-of-sharing-phone-numbers/feed/ 0 Rupert Murdoch hits out at Google via Twitter account http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/16/rupert-murdoch-hits-out-at-google-via-twitter-account/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rupert-murdoch-hits-out-at-google-via-twitter-account http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/16/rupert-murdoch-hits-out-at-google-via-twitter-account/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 08:58:28 +0000 Gary Johnson http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=147476 During the last few months Rupert Murdoch who owns the News Corporation has been hitting the headlines quite a lot. Now he has hit out at Google over piracy via his Twitter account.

Murdoch took to Twitter to accuse Google of being the “leader” of internet piracy, and highlighted free links the search engine giant provided for the Mission Impossible movie. The boss of the News Corporation empire accused Google of “plain thievery“, and according to The Telegraph Google responded branding his comments as “nonsense“.

The media tycoon also accused the Obama administration in Washington of giving in to the will of the “Silicon Valley paymasters” because of plans to scale down online piracy legislation. This is not the first time Murdoch has taken to Twitter to view his opinions since opening an account earlier this month.

He ridiculed British people for the amount of holidays they take, and it seemed his wife took to the site to tell him off about his comments, but it turned out to be a fake account set up in her name. Murdoch’s latest tirade comes as an intense debate in the US regarding online piracy legislation.

The White House has hinted it may not proceed with proposals that would give the state power to interfere with the internet. This is what led Murdoch to make his comments by accusing Google of being a “piracy leader“, and streaming movies for free while selling adverts.

He went on to post further tweets complaining how online piracy was damaging the movie industry, and claimed to have searched for Mission Impossible and found a variety of sites offering links to the movie for free. He did add that Google were a “great company” and that it does block “many other undesirable things”.

Google has responded and rubbished Murdoch’s claims and added the company removed five million websites from their search results that infringed rules, and invested over $60 million to fight against bad advertisements. They believe they are some good ways to close down foreign criminal websites without having to censor the internet.

Do you agree with Rupert Murdoch?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/16/rupert-murdoch-hits-out-at-google-via-twitter-account/feed/ 0 Twitter warned to raise its child protection security http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/13/twitter-warned-to-raise-its-child-protection-security/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=twitter-warned-to-raise-its-child-protection-security http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/13/twitter-warned-to-raise-its-child-protection-security/#comments Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:09:59 +0000 Chris Maugham http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=147432 Social networks often find themselves at the center of rows concerning their security levels and the protection they offer when it comes to children using their site. Facebook is the biggest social network of all time and even they still get issues raised; now Twitter is being warned to do more to protect its young users.

The news comes after the CEOP (Child Exploitation and Online Protection) center told the site ‘more can be done.’ Head of CEOP Peter Davies stated ‘Providers of online services have a responsibility to safeguard their environment in order to minimize the risk to children and close down opportunities for offenders.’

Facebook and Bebo are both reported to provide a substantial amount of data when it comes to reporting illegal activity incidents within their sites. Twitter on the other hand fails to provide as much information, only 1000 reports a month, which is not enough and their reporting mechanisms must be improved.

According to the report at the BBC, Twitter insists safety remains a high priority for the company despite what the CEOP may think. In defense of the site, another child protection organization claims that it is the police force and governments’ responsibility to protect young users from online threats and is not the fault of Twitter or other online social networks that this type of threat exists.

NetClean Chief Executive Christian Sjoberg says Twitter and similar companies ‘are doing everything they can to prevent this activity taking place on their networks.’ The fact of the matter is this type of activity cannot be completely prevented only addressed, which means such activity must be reported and acted upon straight away as the CEOP encourages. Communication is key.

Do you think more can be done to avoid these incidents or do you agree that these companies do everything they can to prevent this activity taking place?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/13/twitter-warned-to-raise-its-child-protection-security/feed/ 0 Retailer lets slip news of new Medal of Honor release http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/12/retailer-lets-slip-news-of-new-medal-of-honor-release/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=retailer-lets-slip-news-of-new-medal-of-honor-release http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/12/retailer-lets-slip-news-of-new-medal-of-honor-release/#comments Thu, 12 Jan 2012 14:11:55 +0000 Gary Johnson http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=147388 With the way we all integrate with social media these days there can be times when we post things that we soon regret, and businesses are not immune to this either. There are reports today that a retailer has let slip news of a new Medal of Honor release, along with another EA title.

The last Medal of Honor title was released towards the end of 2010, and now it seems almost certain that we will see a new release this year. A report on Gamerzines is saying that after a presentation by the publisher EA, UK retailer GAME took to Twitter to say that the publisher had revealed a new title from the franchise will launch this year.

It has now been deleted but the tweet also said EA would be launching Need for Speed 13 sometime this year, which is thought to be Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2. Late last year a promotional leaflet that was included with Battlefield 3 hinted a new Medal of Honor title was on route, but it didn’t reveal any timeframe.

Almost a year ago in February 2011 Medal of Honor Executive Producer, Greg Goodrich, revealed that Danger Close were already at work on the next game in the franchise. Any sequel has yet to be announced officially by the publisher EA.

If there was a new Medal of Honor game this year it would fill the gap between releases of the Battlefield series. DICE has hinted previously that it doesn’t want to release a Battlefield game every year, which will be unlike Activision with the Call of Duty franchise.

Are you hoping for a new Medal of Honor game this year?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2012/01/12/retailer-lets-slip-news-of-new-medal-of-honor-release/feed/ 0 New Twitter design, first look at new layout http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/12/14/new-twitter-design-first-look-at-new-layout/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=new-twitter-design-first-look-at-new-layout http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/12/14/new-twitter-design-first-look-at-new-layout/#comments Wed, 14 Dec 2011 01:12:05 +0000 Jamie Pert http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=146321 Within the last few hours the guys over at Twitter have rolled out a completely new design, we have just spent ten minutes trying it out and we have to say that on the whole we are impressed. We will quickly give you a run through of some of the major changes – most of which make the new homepage look like the latest version of the Twitter app which has recently hit Android.

The first thing you will notice is the a refined homepage, when logged in you will now see your number of tweets, followers and the people you are following in the upper left-hand side of the display, beneath this is a box which allows you to compose new tweets, when the cursor goes in this box it expands so that you can see all 140 characters and a add location and an image to your tweet (see below).

Underneath the ‘Compose new Tweet…’ box you now see the ‘Who to follow’ box, here you see three recommendations and you can simply follow these people with one click, or remove them from your ‘Who to follow’ list by clicking the ‘x’ symbol, alternatively you can click ‘View All’ to see all recommendations or click ‘Refresh’ to see three different Twitter users who you may want to follow.

The final thing to see on the left-hand column is the trends section, you can choose your preferred trend location (most use Worldwide) and see a list of the top 10 current trends, all of which can be clicked on to take you to a search page for that particular trend, you can see the entire left-hand column of the new Twitter layout below.

Your stream now shows on the right hand side and looks a lot like it always has, the only difference is when you click on a tweet, instead of now showing details on the right hand side the tweet expands a little and allows you to quickly see who has retweeted that particular tweet.

If you click on someone’s name or profile picture it now shows a popup-like window where you see the Twitter user’s name, user name, bio, a larger version of their profile pic and their three most recent tweets. There are also useful buttons and links allowing you to see more tweets, follow users and add them to lists.

What’s most noticeable is the new top bar which sits above both columns and stays at the top of the page when you scroll down, there are three main buttons which from left to right read: ‘Home’, ‘@ Connect’ and ‘# Discover’. Also on the right you can use search or access a drop-down menu which allows you to see your direct messages, lists and settings. You can also access help, view keyboard shortcuts and log out. Finally there is a tweet button which when pressed shows a popup window allowing you to compose a tweet.

When you click on the ‘@ Connect’ button on the top bar you can see your interactions and mentions, if you click the ‘# Discover’ button you can find out more about all current trends and see a stream titled “stories”, this stream shows images, videos and blurbs of text from articles. We’re not too sure whether this is the same for everyone or perhaps an intelligent stream of stories to suit your interests. We will keep you posted when we find out more about this feature.

On the whole we like the new look but there is room for improvement, firstly we think that the ‘@ Connect’ button on the top bar should light up when you receive an @ mention, also we would like to see a ‘Direct Messages’ icon on the top bar which lights up when you receive a direct message.

Below you can see a screenshot which shows the new look – do you like the design? Interestingly we checked Twitter.com with another account and the new design didn’t show up, is it showing for you?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/12/14/new-twitter-design-first-look-at-new-layout/feed/ 7 Many users shun big brand ads on Facebook and Twitter http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/11/10/many-users-shun-big-brand-ads-on-facebook-and-twitter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=many-users-shun-big-brand-ads-on-facebook-and-twitter http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/11/10/many-users-shun-big-brand-ads-on-facebook-and-twitter/#comments Thu, 10 Nov 2011 09:51:37 +0000 Gary Johnson http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=144885 A couple of days ago we had an article looking at the amount of content that gets Liked on Facebook, with many people not wanting to Like something. Lots people who use the site have said they would love to see a dislike button on the social network. Now we have news that many users shun big brand ads on Facebook and Twitter.

A new survey has found that almost two-thirds of British users don’t want to be bothered by big name brands, and their marketing on both Facebook and Twitter. According to The Guardian of the 72,000 internet users taking part in the study, British people are less susceptible to online marketing messages compared to other countries.

It was found in the country 61 percent of internet users don’t want to engage with brands on social networks. This compares to 57 percent in other developed countries and 45 percent in Latin America. There is a bigger divide in attitudes regarding the cost of the internet though, as almost half of those asked in growing markets such as Egypt and India would use the internet more if it was cheaper.

Of the British people taking part in the survey one-fifth felt social networks were a good place to purchase products. This compares to a global average of forty percent, and a further sixty percent feel social networks are not a good place to learn about brands.

This comes as big brands such as Burberry and Pepsi are spending big amounts to try and get new business from consumers online. Facebook is predicated to raise $2.8 billion next year with Twitter getting $234 million. Meanwhile Google that makes most of its money from advertising is expected to raise $16.5 billion in revenue.

Do you get annoyed by ads on Facebook or Twitter?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/11/10/many-users-shun-big-brand-ads-on-facebook-and-twitter/feed/ 0 Official Android Twitter page live, promotes Ice Cream Sandwich http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/14/official-android-twitter-page-live-promotes-ice-cream-sandwich/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=official-android-twitter-page-live-promotes-ice-cream-sandwich http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/14/official-android-twitter-page-live-promotes-ice-cream-sandwich/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 23:58:59 +0000 Jamie Pert http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=142954 If you are a fan of Android, you may agree that finding out official information regarding the OS can be hard work, well it looks like Google agree with this – therefore they have today set up an official Twitter page for Android, so far two tweets have been published – one of which advertises Ice Cream Sandwich.

If you want to follow Android check out this link (@Android), the initial tweet read “Hello world! Android is now on Twitter”, whilst the second read read “Something delicious is coming:” with a link pointing towards a YouTube video, we have embedded this at the bottom of this post.

The video isn’t very interesting, but it does suggest that Android Ice Cream Sandwich is coming soon, in the video a delivery trucks drops a large crate off at what appears to be the Google HQ, here you get to see large statues of a Donut, Eclair, Gingerbread, Honeycomb and of course an Android-shaped Ice Cream Sandwich – you can see what we mean below.

As you can see Google is really starting to promote its iOS 5 rival, exactly a day after Apple rolled out its new OS version, we love the way both mobile platforms are currently battling it out and can’t wait to see exactly what Google has up its sleeve with ICS – under the video it suggests that you will be able to watch the live Ice Cream Sandwich reveal at YouTube.com/Android, it kicks off on 19th October at 10am Hong Kong Time – we will talk about this in more detail later today.

Check out the video below and remember to follow Android on Twitter, whilst writing this post the followers jumped from 8k to 12k – we are sure that this will grow rapidly.

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/14/official-android-twitter-page-live-promotes-ice-cream-sandwich/feed/ 1 iOS 5 release: Midnight wonder’s, Twitter app update time http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/12/ios-5-release-midnight-wonders-twitter-app-update-time/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ios-5-release-midnight-wonders-twitter-app-update-time http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/12/ios-5-release-midnight-wonders-twitter-app-update-time/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 00:17:39 +0000 Daniel Chubb http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=142736 You can bank on the iOS 5 release time being within the next 24 hours, although the exact time is currently up for debate and some people are guessing that iOS 5 may be live at midnight.

Tradition has shown that the iDevice software updates normally release around 10am PST, which works out at 6pm GMT. This has been the way for a few years, although not everything goes to plan and we’ve seen some server errors and crashes on Apple’s part over the years.

Apple has learned from their mistakes and this year should offer a much more stable download, with less problems, well that’s our hope. One big new feature for 2011 is iCloud, and remembering the problems with the MobileMe launch, we’ll have our eye closely on the rollout over the coming hours and days.

Many apps are getting ready for the iOS 5 update for iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch. In fact the process of making sure apps were ready has been going on for some time, although only today has Twitter updated their app to v3.50. Meaning it is time to update your Twitter app ready for enhancements in iOS 5.

What’s new in Twitter app version 3.5? You’ll find some minor enhancements and bug fixes, the added ability to tap a location on your iPad to show Tweets nearby, the design for direct messages has been updated on the iPad, and there is a completely enhanced sign up experience. The updated app can be downloaded via your iDevice, or on iTunes here. Let us know when you installed iOS 5 if you’ve got any problems with apps.

With more social integration in iOS 5, do you think 3rd party social apps are still needed, and if so which is your favorite?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/12/ios-5-release-midnight-wonders-twitter-app-update-time/feed/ 4 BBM goes down again as users take to Twitter http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/11/bbm-goes-down-again-as-users-take-to-twitter/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bbm-goes-down-again-as-users-take-to-twitter http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/11/bbm-goes-down-again-as-users-take-to-twitter/#comments Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:58:37 +0000 Gary Johnson http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=142674 RIM may be seeing some tough times recently but one feature that pulls many users to its devices is its BlackBerry Messenger service. Many teenagers get a BlackBerry for this feature, but we now have news that BBM goes down again, as users take to Twitter to talk of their frustrations.

The service experienced some downtime yesterday, and now there are reports that it has crashed again, the second time in two days. ZDNet are reporting that even though RIM said things were back to normal, users in Europe, Africa, and The Middle East are reporting more downtime.

BlackBerry owners have taken to Twitter to voice their frustrations and anger following another apparent network failure. Users in Europe are saying that no data is reaching or leaving their handsets, but texts and multimedia messaging actually working.

There are other users in the areas though who are saying that the BlackBerry service is completely down. This comes less than a day after the last outage that will be of some embarrassment to the struggling company. RIM had not given any reason for yesterday’s outage, but sources were claiming a data center near London in the UK had failed.

The data center went down around 11am GMT yesterday, and is responsible for BlackBerry’s online services. It is not known if vandalism was to blame that has caused other networks to lose service in the past. This latest issue won’t have helped the company as it looks to return to some of its former glories in the mobile world.

Is the BlackBerry Messenger service working in your area?

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]]> http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/10/11/bbm-goes-down-again-as-users-take-to-twitter/feed/ 1 Sony’s silence regarding PSN outage / 8002A548 error http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/09/21/sonys-silence-regarding-psn-outage-8002a548-error/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=sonys-silence-regarding-psn-outage-8002a548-error http://www.product-reviews.net/2011/09/21/sonys-silence-regarding-psn-outage-8002a548-error/#comments Wed, 21 Sep 2011 20:31:57 +0000 Jamie Pert http://www.product-reviews.net/?p=141013 When the PlayStation Network went down back in April gamers were very frustrated by Sony’s silence regarding the matter, today we have heard hundreds, if not thousands of reports suggest that the PSN is down once again (as we reported earlier)- however Sony has not left any reassuring messages on the PlayStation Blog, official Twitter feed or Facebook Page.

So far there has been one very vague tweet which reads “We’re aware that some of you are having issues trying to log into PSN. We’re working to resolve the issue, and we’ll update you here” – you can see the tweet for yourself here. Since then there have been thousands of tweets from frustrated gamers who want to know what’s going on, one reader even suggests that the PSN error codes need to be changed to something which gamers can understand and in turn self diagnose.

As this article’s title suggests there are also lots of people who are currently seeing an 8002A548 error message, you can find out all about this error here, or perhaps watch a video which claims to fix the issue here. We aren’t sure whether this error message is something related to today’s outage, but the links could come in handy. Again Sony has not tweeted anything regarding this error message, which means it is up to gamers to second guess what this error means and how they should go about fixing it.

We really think Sony needs to use social networking to its advantage, one simple Tweet or blogpost would end of all the confusion and perhaps keep PS3 gamers happy for now, instead mystery surrounds the outage – which means people are wondering if Sony’s gaming network has once again been hacked.

Obviously we will keep you posted as we hear more on the matter – in the mean time we would love to hear your opinion regarding Sony’s silence – should Sony use Twitter to keep gamers informed in more detail regarding problems?

Update: We found some tweets on the PlayStation EU Twitter feed, yet still the main PlayStation Twitter feed has not been updated with any reassuring tweets. The Tweets below suggest the PSN should be back online within two hours.

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