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Microsoft's iAd-like Windows 8 ads could entice clicks within apps

Windows 8 app ads

Microsoft has been experimenting with various new ways to create ad platforms on Windows 8 and Xbox, but this week the company is launching a new format designed to create interactive and panoramic adverts within applications. The software giant has teamed up with a number of agencies to create concepts that show off the potential for the new "Ad Pano" ad format.

The new ads are a big change...

Yahoo reveals some data request numbers, urges openness on secret FISA orders

Yahoo (STOCK)

Of the nine major tech companies at the heart of Eric Snowden’s revelations about an NSA spying program called PRISM, over the past week, Facebook, Microsoft, and most recently Apple have all opted to publish the total number of data requests they’ve received from the government. Today, they’re being joined by Yahoo, which announced that over the past six months it’s received between 12,000 and 13,000 such requests. Because of the Obama administration's requirement to obfuscate the data, that number includes ordinary law enforcement requests and secret FISA orders, without a further breakdown.

"Like all companies, Yahoo cannot lawfully break out FISA request numbers at this time." Marissa Mayer

Skype Video Messaging now free to use, exits beta with no Windows Phone support

Skype Video Messages

Skype launched its Video Messaging feature earlier this year as a preview for Mac, iOS, and Android, but it was limited to 20 free messages before a Skype Premium subscription for $4.99 a month was required for continuous use. Skype is bringing the feature out of preview today and scrapping the subscription requirement to let users send and receive video messages freely.

The Video Messaging feature, which lets you send short video clips to Skype contacts, is available for Windows, Mac, iOS,...


Xbox Music redesign revealed alongside new Windows 8.1 apps

Xbox Music for Windows 8.1

Microsoft is tweaking a number of its built-in apps for Windows 8.1, but the Music app appears to include the most changes. A freshly redesigned copy of the Windows Store in leaked builds of Windows 8.1 has revealed the new user interface for Xbox...

Google to battle child porn with new industry-wide image blocking tool

Google New York Chelsea Office (STOCK)

Google is working on a new plan that would help to wipe child porn from the web. The upcoming technology will allow websites, law enforcement agencies, and charities to build a collective database of abusive imagery that should be hidden and removed, according to The Telegraph, which has been briefed on the plan. These groups have already been identifying and blocking abusive content individually, but so far there's been no easy way for each...

Anti-social: 'Hell is Other People' keeps you as far away from your 'friends' as possible

Hell is Other People

FourSquare makes keeping track of where your friends are effortless, but what if you're not feeling particularly social on a given day? Hell is Other People is "an experiment in anti-social media" according to its developer Scott Garner. Using data from your FourSquare account, the web app will monitor recent check-ins of your "friends" and calculate a position where you're almost guaranteed to avoid them entirely.

These "optimally distanced...

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