Google Video shuts down for good

Ever since Google bought YouTube for $1.6 billion in the fall of 2006, they haven’t really had much need to give attention to Google Video. And this week, the search engine giant announced via email that Google Video is shutting down for good.

If you happen to have any materials posted on the video sharing website, better head over and save them because starting on April 29, your videos will no longer be viewable. A download button has been added so you can grab any video content you want to save. However, that feature will be disabled after May 13.

Here’s the email the search engine giant sent its Google Video users this week:

Dear Google Video User,

Later this month, hosted video content on Google Video will no longer be available for playback. Google Video stopped taking uploads in May 2009 and now we’re removing the remaining hosted content. We’ve always maintained that the strength of Google Video is its ability to let people search videos from across the web, regardless of where those videos are hosted. And this move will enable us to focus on developing these technologies further to the benefit of searchers worldwide.

    On April 29, 2011, videos that have been uploaded to Google Video will no longer be available for playback. We’ve added a Download button to the video status page, so you can download any video content you want to save. If you don’t want to download your content, you don’t need to do anything. (The Download feature will be disabled after May 13, 2011.)

    We encourage you to move to your content to YouTube if you haven’t done so already. YouTube offers many video hosting options including the ability to share your videos privately or in an unlisted manner. To learn more go here.
    Here’s how to download your videos:

    1. Go to the Video Status page.
    2. To download a video to your computer, click the Download Video link located on the right side of each of your videos in the Actions column.

    Once a video has been downloaded, “Already Downloaded” will appear next to the Download Video link.

    If you have many videos on Google Video, you may need to use the paging controls located on the bottom right of the page to access them all.
    Please note: This download option will be available through May 13, 2011.
    Thank you for being a Google Video user.

    Sincerely,
    The Google Video Team

LimeWire Loses Court Battle, Shutdown Immediately

Popular file-sharing service LimeWire has been found guilty of violating copyright laws, prompting a court to order the company to cease its peer-to-peer functionality.

A federal court judge ordered LimeWire to stop all downloads, uploads, file sharing, and any other illegal distribution of files, putting an end to what has become one of the biggest peer-to-peer community in the Internet. The decision affects millions of users who rely on LimeWire to share music and other media files through the Internet. LimeWire said it catered to around 50 million users each month.

The case was brought against LimeWire by the Recording Industry Association of America, which accuses the company of allowing “billions and billions of illegal downloads.” Another trial will be conducted in January to determine the damages that LimeWire may have caused record companies since it began operation in 2000.

Despite the unfavorable decision, LimeWire said it is not about to just fade into oblivion. The company, which was founded by Mark Gorton in 2000, said it is planning to become a hub where users can legally buy music from independent artists.

Facebook Reaches 500 Million Users

If Facebook users constitute an entire nation, it would rank as third most populous country.

The six year old giant social networking site reached the 500 million users mark last weekend and the site is expected to announce the actual number anytime this week.

As part of the occasion, the site will be launching Facebook Stories, a special application that will feature short tales about users whose lives were changed because of Facebook.

500 million users are more than the latest population census of the United States which stands at 309 million. Only China and India have more people, each with a billion residents.

Analysts believe that advertisers will take advantage of the situation despite the fact that the site had encountered issues in the past few months. Such issues include privacy settings and the cartoon drawing competition that Muslim users found to be not good.

Facebook was created by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg and was launched last February 4, 2004.

Steve Jobs Apologizes, Offers Free Case

The press conference gave an occurrence that some may say a surprise move, that of the CEO of Apple apologizing for a product – and offers something free in return.

“There are some customers having problems with their iPhone 4s,” said CEO Steve Jobs Friday, July 16. “I apologize to them.” Before apologizing, the usually black long-sleeved mock turtleneck clad executive defended the people behind the smartphone development. “We are human and we make mistakes sometimes. We don’t know everything. But we figure it out pretty fast, and we take care of our customers.”

He actually began the conference explaining that the handset’s antenna problem is a minor issue that is featured in all mobile phones. He stressed out that only a few of the iPhone 4 users are complaining about it. By statistics, only 2% of those who bought a unit returned the product.

The problem in question is that the signal reception of the antenna fades or disappears when users grip the device in a conventional way.

As a containment measure, while the company looks for a permanent solution, he said that they would be giving a free case to anyone who bought an iPhone 4. Users who would be availing should grab the opportunity until September 30 only. Anyone who already bought a case through Apple may ask for a refund.

Mozilla launch Firefox 4 Beta 1

There is something sleek and shiny which can now be downloaded for free at Mozilla.

The company that claims to be the “world’s best browser” has introduced to the public Mozilla Firefox 4 beta which is available for free at the Mozilla website.

Beta, which can be used for Windows, OS X, and Linux, has introduced amazing improvements such as a new tab location for better visual display (much like Chrome), a new add-ons manager, and includes an HTML5 for HD quality video.

Under the hood, it offers crash protection guaranteed in uninterrupted browsing for Windows, Linux and Mac users. It also has an Indexed DB, Websockets, and JetPack SDK where add-ons can be installed without restarting the browser.

However, Mozilla’s new addition is in its early beta phase. Such a stage is open to unexpected performance quirks such as crashing and unreliability. Despite this fact, the public is welcome to try out the new browser.

iPhone 4 software update will not fix signal issues

Apple has announced that its upcoming software update for the iPhone 4 will have no affect on the signal loss issues other than to falsely display improved signal bars.

iPhone 4 owners and wannabe owners will be disappointed by the purely cosmetic improvements to the handset’s devastating signal loss problems. According to Gizmodo, AppleCare, the customer service hand of the Cupertino company has stated: “The incoming software update will not fix this antenna problem, only change the way the phone displays the available signal, make it more accurate.”

Whilst it was obvious from the outset that the new Apple smartphone issues ran deeper than a simple software miscalculation, Apple has remained adamant that the problem is manageable and easily fixed.

Alternative solutions to the problem that is causing dropped calls and the loss of usable reception and internet connections presented by Apple range from the callous “Just avoid holding it in that way” remarks from Steve Jobs to the extortionate buy our Bumper advice.