Alejandro Freixes
Feb 24, 2012
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High-Tech Nova Weekly: Top five trends for 2/20-2/24

Let's take a look at what high-tech innovation trends shaped the industry this week!

Unauthorized User Tracking

While we've all grown essentially numb to the constant use of our own personal data for marketing purposes, recent discoveries by Consumer Watchdog led to complaints that Google is actively bypassing browser Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) features in Safari Web browsers to deliver DoubleClick tracking cookies to users. The Internet Explorer team lead Dean Hachamovitch, in what seems to be curiously opportunistic timing by Microsoft, claims that Google is also bypassing P3P in IE. Google pounced immediately on Microsoft, declaring its P3P is "non-operational." It will be curious to watch how this all plays out, especially since the White House recently proposed a Consumer Bill of Rights to give consumers more control over their own data. Where to we draw the line between internet freedom and censorship, especially with ACTA looming on the horizon?

Mobiles and Tablets

With Mobile World Congress 2012 just days away, the major players have begun circling. In this video the Mobile World Live team examines the evolution of the mobile industry's past, present and future. LG announced its Optimus 4X HD quad core processor and Apple began acquiring more companies like Chomp and Acer's Liquid Glow to bolster its tech capabilities. Research in Motion caused some waves with its RIM Playbook 2.0 tablet and Nook dropped its price to stay competitive with Kindle, but that doesn't elevate either one beyond their second-rate reputation and earnings. The iPad 3 and Samsung Galaxy S3 are in the shadows, training for the big brawl and the PS Vita has come out guns blazing in the gaming realm. Will someone please make a hybrid smartphone and gaming device? Maybe the NVIDIA Tegra 3 pact with LTE this week can set the stage.

Fighting Antitrusts Instead of Trusting Innovation

The usual gladiator combat continues between the mobile and computing giants of the world. Microsoft claims Motorola is charging too much for its patents, T-Mobile says Verizon is hogging spectrum and Motorola forces Apple in Germany to put iCloud and MobileMe push email on hold. If these companies spent as much time and money on research and development as they did on patent trolling and public displays for their investors, they could design around obstacles instead of wringing their legal hands.

Apps, Marketplaces and the OS Game

Apps are always being churned out, but what's perhaps not so obvious is the question of where to sell them. Apparently devs have been piping up that Amazon is more lucrative than the Android market. Apple, seizing their chance, claimed they sell apps cheaper on their iOS than the Android does. It smells a bit like the OS wars, but there's a deeper question here. As Mozilla enters the competition for app marketplace, what exactly makes one platform superior to another for hawking your wares as an app developer? Stay tuned for an answer next week.