sharing

Beyond hashtags: Instagram's next challenge is tackling big data

SAN FRANCISCO -- Instagram CEO Kevin Systrom said his company's big hurdle is knowing how to mine the constant stream of photos being uploaded each day to the popular network.

"Instagram isn't necessarily a photo company, or a communications company as I like to say, we're also going to be a big data company," he said today at the GigaOm Road Map conference in San Francisco.

Systrom said the company, recently purchased by Facebook, needs to find better ways to organize the billions of photos shared on Instagram. That means looking beyond hashtags for looking … Read more

Android gains in tablets, Apple slows in third quarter, IDC says

Apple's tablet market share took a hit as consumers "sat out" the third quarter in anticipation of the iPad Mini, analyst firm IDC said. Android tablets made gains as a result.

After a strong second quarter, Apple's unit shipment growth slowed in both consumer and commercial (including education) markets, according to an IDC report published Monday.

"We believe a sizeable percentage of consumers interested in buying an Apple tablet sat out the third quarter in anticipation of an announcement about the new iPad Mini," said IDC analyst Tom Mainelli in a statement.

Apple's … Read more

Create and uncompress several archive file types

StuffIt Expander is a file compression and expansion utility that can handle a number of different file archive formats. It's a free app available from the App Store and several other Web sites, and it installs quickly.

StuffIt Expander supports a number of file formats, including ZIP, ZIPX, 7ZX, RAR, and TAR. The StuffIt Expander interface is clean, allowing you to create archives by the usual drag-and-drop method or by menu actions. Clicking on an archive file can unpack that archive. You can add password protection to your ZIP files. There is a registration nag that appears with StuffIt … Read more

Illegal file-sharer gets slapped with $1.5 million in damages

The damages award against illegal file-sharer Kywan Fisher will most likely send him to the poor house. Illinois federal court Judge John Lee ordered Fisher to fork out $1.5 million to adult entertainment company Flava Works this week, according to TorrentFreak.

Flava Works sued Fisher for sharing 10 movies he'd previously paid for via BitTorrent. The damages award amount was reached by fining Fisher $150,000 per movie. This is the largest damages award ever ordered in a BitTorrent case.

Flava Works caught Fisher sharing its movies by tracing the illegal copies he was accused of sharing back … Read more

Netflix readily accepts Icahn's business advice

After Carl Icahn snapped up a 10 percent stake in Netflix, which caused a 15 percent jump in the company's stock shares yesterday, the streaming-video company announced that it's ready to listen to Icahn's business advice.

"We have many shareholders, now including Mr. Icahn, and we're always open to their perspective on how to build on our success," a Netflix representative told CNET in an e-mailed statement.

Icahn's history as an investor is full of high-profile proxy fights and tussles with management. In recent years, he has fashioned himself as an investor activist. … Read more

Android beats iOS 5-to-1 in Q3 smartphone market share

Android commanded the worldwide smartphone market share in the third quarter, new data from research firm IDC has revealed.

With a whopping 75 percent of market share and more than 181 million smartphones shipped, Android's operating system is apparently just fine with most phone users. In a distant second place, Apple's iOS grabbed fewer than 15 percent of the world's market share.

"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," IDC Mobile Phones Research Manager Ramon Llamas said in a statement. "In every … Read more

Former Zappos CEO creates Threadlife to share video instantly

Threadlife, a new video-sharing app developed by a former Zappos founder, intends to make capturing video as easy as taking a photo -- one three-second clip at a time.

Created by Zappos founder and former CEO Nick Swimurn and his creative guru Ken Martin, Threadlife takes three-second clips, called "stitches," and threads them together to create a montage-like reel of moments. The result is a stream of small moments woven together to form a conversation of sorts.

"Everyone has something that's precious to them, our sense is this is the best way to capture or share … Read more

Three methods for sharing an iCloud calendar

Missing an appointment or an event because you forgot to add it to your calendar is never a fun experience. Although, it does make for a good excuse. If you and your significant other (or coworkers, for that matter) use an iOS device, a Mac, iCloud, or any combination of the sort you can easily share an iCloud calendar, making sure you are both on the same schedule.

iOS Sending an invite to share an iCloud calendar using your iOS device takes just a few taps. Share an existing calendar, or create a new one, and share it by entering … Read more

How to share an iCloud calendar using your Mac

We've already covered how to share an iCloud calendar using your iOS device or from iCloud.com, now we'll show you how to share from your Mac. You'll need to be running OS X 10.7 or higher in order to share an iCloud calendar from your Mac.

Launch Calendar on your Mac. If the list of your calendars isn't visible, click on the Calendars button in the top-right corner. If you hover your mouse of the name of a calendar, you'll see the share icon appear next to it. Clicking on the icon will … Read more