Dropbox, Microsoft Gang Up on Google

Microsoft and Dropbox have been competing for cloud storage customers, but they decided to collaborate instead, pressuring their mutual enemy, Google. Dropbox claims to house 35 billion Office files, and it is used by 80,000 companies worldwide. "This partnership gives both something to walk away with -- and in the end, customers of both win out," said Directions on Microsoft analyst Wes Miller.

Microsoft on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with Dropbox -- only eight days after announcing unlimited cloud storage for Office 365 subscribers in a move widely seen as a frontal attack on Dropbox and Google.

The companies will integrate their services forphones, tablets and the Internet, so that users can access and collaborate on Office files either from Dropbox or Microsoft Office.

However, Dropbox has had several security problems, and that might be an issue.

"My experience with Dropbox is one-and-a-half years old. I installed Dropbox, examined how it did what it did, and immediately uninstalled it,"Secure Channels CTO Robert Coleridge told the E-Commerce Times.

"The big flaw then, and it looks like now, is that they and most other similar [companies] rely on perimeter security -- password authentication," he continued. "Perimeter security has become a joke."

What Users Will Get From the Teamup

Dropbox and Microsoft users now can access Dropbox from Office apps; edit Office files directly from Dropbox and sync them across devices; and share new or edited files from the Office apps using Dropbox's sharing feature.

The sharing feature will be available in the next updates to the Office apps for iOS and Android, which are due in the next few weeks.

Dropbox will make its application available on the Windows Phone and Windows tablet platforms over the next few months.

The Dropbox website and Office Online will be integrated on the Web by the first half of 2015.

All Microsoft Office users with a Dropbox account will be able to use the new capabilities.

Dropbox for Business customers must have a subscription to Office 365.

What About Harmony, Then?

Dropbox in April announced Project Harmony, a set of editing and collaboration tools for Microsoft Office. It's not clear what's going to happen to it.

Project Harmony "is about creating a collaboration platform, and connecting that platform to the tools that craft the content would seem to be a natural step," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told the E-Commerce Times.

Why Microsoft, Dropbox Are Smoking the Peace Pipe

It may be that Microsoft decided to bow to the inevitable. Dropbox claims to house 35 billion Office files, and it is used by 80,000 companies worldwide. It's teaming up aggressively with partners, and Microsoft may have found it more desirable to collaborate than to compete.

Dropbox "is very much a common enemy of Google," Wes Miller, an analyst at Directions on Microsoft, told the E-Commerce Times. "This partnership gives both something to walk away with -- and in the end, customers of both win out."

Dropbox "gets a first-tier integration point within Microsoft applications [and] Microsoft gets ... Office users out of dedicated Dropbox fans, as well as promised Dropbox applications for Windows tablets and phones," he added.

Microsoft might be seeking to avoid further conflicts with European Union regulators, who have launched several antitrust probes against it, Enderle suggested.

"After the EU issues of the last decade, Microsoft adopted a much more aggressive policy with regard to interoperation and partnering," he pointed out. Microsoft gets "a potentially larger total available market for Office 360 and a hedge against someone using Dropbox as a competitive lever, and it's good PR to keep regulators happy."

Dropbox Security Issues

Intralinks in May found clickable URLs that opened up Dropbox users' tax returns, mortgage applications and other personal documents when it looked at data from Google Adwords campaigns that mentioned its competitors -- Box.com and, yes, Dropbox.

Dropbox has had problems with the security and privacy of secret links.

Hackers last month claimed to have stolen nearly 7 million Dropbox usernames and passwords. Dropbox's response was that they had been stolen from unrelated services.

Also last month, a bug wiped some users' files from the Dropbox cloud.

"If folks are concerned about this," said Enderle, "they should encrypt their files before linking to the service."

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YouTube Warms to Subscription Model

YouTube appears to be edging closer to offering some type of ad-free subscription service. The challenge will be in monetizing such a service, however. An experiment YouTube conducted last year with several channels hasn't worked out very well. However, "ad-free content subscription models in some categories ... are working well," said tech analyst Greg Sterling.

YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki this week told the Code/Mobile audience that her team was in the early stages of exploring a new subscription business model. Wojcicki didn't offer any specific details, but she did suggest that one option might include an ad-free service.

That would be a big change from YouTube's current advertising-only approach. YouTube accounted for close to 20 percent of peak Internet traffic in North America, Sandvine reported almost a year ago.

Overall watch time has been growing at a 50 percent annual rate, Wojcicki noted during the conference.

At some point, people won't want to see ads, observed Wojcicki, who took over as YouTube CEO in February, and that's when a subscription model could come into play.

This is a surprising turn, given that Wojcicki's background was in the online ad business. Prior to running YouTube, she led Google's advertising and analytics team and oversaw AdSense, AdWords and DoubleClick.

New Subscribers

The idea of a subscription model for YouTube isn't entirely new, however. A subscription option introduced in May 2013 enabled some channel owners to charge viewers to watch some videos -- the channel owners were offered 55 percent of the proceeds.

National Geographic, Sesame Street and UFC were part of that initial trial, but National Geographic quickly scaled back after failing to attract the requisite viewers to make the subscription model work. That is not to say what didn't work before couldn't work now.

"Video service providers like Netflix, Hulu and now YouTube are pivoting their models to respond to consumer interest in offering video content that isn't interrupted by advertisements," said Josh Crandall, principal analyst at Netpop Research.

"As a parent of two impressionable preteens, I'm included," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"Ad-free video content has changed my perspective on how much video we're comfortable with in the house. Through my subscriptions, I've realized that it's less the videos that the kids are watching than the advertisements that encourage consumerism that pop in between," Crandall said.

"It's worth a few dollars to skip those enticing messages that kids can't seem to turn away from," he added.

"Ad-free content subscription models in some categories -- Hulu Plus, Pandora, Spotify, Google Play -- are working well," observed Greg Sterling, vice president of strategy and insights at the Local Search Association.

"Thus there's an opportunity here to offer more choice to YouTube users," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"There's a material difference right now between the services -- especially Hulu -- mentioned above and YouTube, which has lots of low-quality video and noise," Sterling pointed out. "The fact that there are so many weeds on YouTube may limit the subscription opportunity."

Advertiser Response

YouTube would not be the first online site to move away from a fully ad-supported model to one that offers a subscription-supported service. The question becomes one of advertiser response, and how the online advertising business will adapt to ad-free services.

"The advertising industry thrives on creativity. Today, creativity extends to closed-gardens in which service providers offer ad-free subscriptions," noted Crandall.

"Advertising isn't going away because service providers offer an ad-free service model," he added. "How will advertisers cope? They'll find solutions to promote their products through product placement in shows, lifestyle messaging, and through digital media."

Interface Challenges

Many viewers on YouTube actually tune in to watch certain ads.

"Budweiser's 'Puppy Love' ad has been viewed more than 52 million times on YouTube," said Crandall.

"YouTube's challenges will be more user interface than business modeling," he suggested.

"Will users be able to access a video that's supported by ads as easily and quickly as those who select the ad-free subscription package? Or will users be confronted with additional screens offering the ad-free solution?" Crandall wondered.

"If the service doesn't manage the different models seamlessly side-by-side," he said, "YouTube risks alienating a large group of important viewers."

Revenue Driver

While not everyone may want to pay a subscription to view what has for the most part been free, it actually could draw in some users. Still, it may not be much of a new revenue stream for YouTube and Google.

"Pricing is key," said Sterling.

"That will determine how large or small the uptake is. Another question involves the scope of content to be included in an ad-free subscription -- everything or selected content? My assumption is that the entire site would be ad-free," he added.

"In the end, it's unlikely to be a big revenue driver for Google," Sterling predicted. "Rather, it's a consumer-friendly option for those that want it. And for those that opt in, Google would get the benefit of a sign-in from those users as well." 

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2014's Top Google Play Picks: Fitness, Netflix, Frozen and More

Health and fitness was the fastest-growing category of apps on Google Play this year, according to a report Google published on Thursday.

MyFitnessPal was the most-downloaded app within that category, while Duolingo led the education category. Facebook was top among social apps named in the report, which listed the most popular apps, games, movies, music, news and books in 2014 on Google Play.

Netflix, home of the award-winning original series House of Cards, was the leader in entertainment apps, and Pandora was tops in music. NFL Mobile ranked No. 1 among sports apps, while Flipagram led photography. TripAdvisor was the most popular app for travel.

It's Raining Mobile Devices

"Between Android Wear and other fitness devices, as well as even just using your smartphone as a health tracker, health and fitness has been an extremely important category this past year," said Kevin Krewell, a principal analyst with Tirias Research.

"There's been an explosion of devices, with just about every manufacturer coming out with a health tracker or smartwatch," he told TechNewsWorld.

It has been a "breakout year" for health and fitness technology, agreed Tuong Huy Nguyen, a principal research analyst with Gartner.

A Death Greatly Exaggerated

The category was already significant last year, and a surge was evident at CES 2014, noted Nguyen, who expects to see another leap at next year's trade show in January.

"There's actual interest there," he told TechNewsWorld. "I expect this trend will continue into 2015 as we see more devices emerge in that category."

Facebook's presence on the app list, meanwhile, shows that social technologies are still going strong, Nguyen suggested.

"It's been common this year to hear people asking if social is dead," he pointed out. "This proves that while it may not be as exciting as it used to be, people are still using it."

No Productivity Apps

One notable absence on the report's list of apps was the productivity category, said Chris Hazelton, research director for enterprise mobility at 451 Research.

"How has Google's own Docs and Sheets been adopted?" he wondered.

"They're probably not the major revenue drivers yet for Google, but it's interesting they were left out," Hazelton told TechNewsWorld.

The Big Freeze

Among the top games on Google Play this year were Candy Crush Saga,Don't Tap The White Tile, Farm Heroes Saga, Subway Surfers and Clash of Clans.

"You have to remember that when you're talking about mobile games, you're also talking about casual gamers," Nguyen pointed out.

"The opportunity is big there, but it's also a little squirrelly -- it's hard to cater to a segment that's doing something casually," he said. "The winds change fairly quickly within the casual market. We may see a tossup there for next year."

As for movie of the year, Frozen took that honor on Google Play while its soundtrack was named album of the year.

The most popular TV show was The Walking Dead.

Among the leading news sources were The New York Times, TMZ and Forbes Now. The top two books were The Fault in Our Stars and Fifty Shades of Grey.

A Mixed Crowd

The prominence of Frozen in the report, in particular, shows "a significantly young demographic among a lot of the people using Android," Krewell pointed out.

Then again, the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey shows that an older crowd is actively using Android tablets as well, he suggested, even as teenager-oriented The Fault in Our Stars reflects another demographic altogether.

"I think you're seeing tablets being used for watching movies by a lot of young people but also as an e-book by a larger demographic, including older people," Krewell explained. "Android devices are being used in a lot of different ways by many different age groups.

 

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Facebook Search Tool Finds Posts in a Haystack

Facebook on Monday made it possible for users to perform keyword searches for individual posts on the social network.

"With a quick search, you can get back to a fun video from your graduation, a news article you've been meaning to read, or photos from your friend's wedding last summer," said Tom Stocky, Facebook's vice president of search.

Users still have the option of using search phrases like "my friends who live in New York," he pointed out. Search results remain personalized and unique -- users can see only things that have been shared with them.

The updates are due to roll out this week in U.S. English. They'll be available via the Facebook website and its iPhone app.

Long Time Coming

"It has taken a long time," Internet marketing expert Brian Carter told TechNewsWorld.

The changes are necessary: "Have you ever missed a post and gone back and the newsfeed is so personalized that it doesn't even show it anymore? Or you clicked on a link and loved it but lost the link?" he asked.

"So much of Facebook is about discovering and sharing great content," Carter said. "This will make finding that content again much easier, not to mention looking back at previous conversations."

It's not yet clear whether the search functionality will apply only to post content or to comments as well, but either way, it's "a much-needed tool," Carter said. "It's even more important for mobile, because the mobile experience is a bit slower and more limited."

'A Usability Problem'

The move is "long overdue," said Jim Tobin, president of Ignite Social Media.

"Graph Search never really reached its potential, and I can recall many times when I wanted to show someone a post I'd seen earlier and couldn't easily find it," he told TechNewsWorld. "When you have billions of pieces of content, not being able to find them is a usability problem."

The new feature "improves the network's utility and will encourage people to spend more time with it," agreed Paul Gillin, B2B social media strategist.

A Threat to Yelp?

"I'm struck by the timing, since Twitter announced just three weeks ago that the entire Twitter history would now be searchable, not just the previous two or three weeks, as had been the case in the past," Gillin told TechNewsWorld. "I wonder what new technology innovation has suddenly enabled this functionality?"

The mobile capability will be welcome because "people often want to search for friends' recommendations when they're looking for a nearby restaurant or business," he noted.

"Previously, that was all but impossible on Facebook," Gillin said. "If I wereYelp or TripAdvisor, I'd be nervous, because a lot of the value they've provided has been aggregating opinions over time. Facebook isn't negating their value, of course, but it's giving users a valuable new resource to get recommendations when they need them."

'Most Content Is Inane'

It's surprising that Facebook waited so long to make its content searchable, particularly given that "Google has been indexing LinkedIn's content forever," said marketing and social media expert Lon Safko.

"If you write a blog on LinkedIn, Google will index it usually within 30 minutes," he told TechNewsWorld. "Not so for Facebook."

Then again, "most of the content on Facebook is inane -- there really hasn't been a dire need to find that other funny cat video," Safko added.

"I guess the good thing is that at least Facebook is still listening to users," he said. "After Facebook went public, the only changes we've seen [have been] ways for them to charge us for services we used to have for free. It's nice to see some enhancements made solely for the users.

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Google Releases Consumers From the Scourge of CAPTCHA

CAPTCHAs -- those combinations of squiggly, helter-skelter numerals and letters designed to make the Web safer -- are tricky enough that they generally have been viewed with loathing by the very people whose Web experience they were designed to protect. Google has discovered an easier way to discriminate between humans and machines, relieving consumers of the burden of proof.

Google on Wednesday announced the no-CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA, a kinder, gentler way of distinguishing human Web surfers from bots.

The new system requires that users confirm their humanity by checking a box to the left of the statement "I'm not a robot." A privacy statement is displayed on the right.

If checking the box doesn't work, a window containing distorted text will pop up.

"Given how annoying CAPTCHA was, I actually think this is a step in the right direction," Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group, told TechNewsWorld.

Google also unveiled new CAPTCHA technology for mobile users that requires them to match a given image to a gallery of others.

How the No-CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA Works

Google's latest iteration of its CAPTCHA technology relies on subtle cues, including how users move their mouse to respond to the CAPTCHA box on the screen, artificial intelligence, and advanced risk analysis built into the CAPTCHA technology.

"I know you're human but tell me so anyway, just because" seems to pretty much sum up this approach, which raised a few hackles when Google first disclosed it in October.

"Interesting, but if the system has already determined that someone is human then why even present the easy captcha?" asked "Jono" in one of many comments in that vein following the October announcement.

The new CAPTCHA might not work quite the way users thought it would, however.

"From what Google has released," said Electronic Frontier Foundation Staff Technologist Jeremy Gillula, "it appears the new Captcha will work as follows: Google analyzes all sorts of data as you click the 'I'm not a robot' checkbox.

"If from that data they're still not sure whether or not you're a bot, then they'll serve you a more traditional CAPTCHA," he told TechNewsWorld. "So, they don't know whether or not you're human until after serving you the first CAPTCHA."

Google's All-Seeing Eye

Information collected for the CAPTCHA adds to the massive amounts of data Google already has on users.

Google two years ago announced plans to consolidate information on usersacross all its services, sparking an outcry among privacy advocates and leading The Washington Post to instruct readers how to close their Google accounts.

"They've been collecting information on us for some time," said Enderle. "This is one of those rare instances when they are using that information to make things easier for us."

When its Captchas appear on other sites, Google will be able to track users' movements only over the CAPTCHA widget and not over the entire Web page, Google reportedly said.

"Given the breadth of services they offer, I'm not sure this 'Chinese wall' means that much," Enderle opined.

Privacy Is Not an Issue, Maybe

Google "hasn't really invented a new threat to privacy here," Gillula pointed out. "Analyzing keystroke and mouse dynamics for identification is a technique that's been around for a while."

Google already can track users from one device to another without the data it will capture through the no-CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA technology, noted Robert Neivert, COO at Private.me.

"Our mouse movements are just another piece of information among many, and they're probably not even that significant," he told TechNewsWorld. "Overall, there are much bigger privacy fights that are important."

In any event, the company "already has ... [user] information and has many other ways to acquire it," Enderle remarked. "If you were worried about Google getting information about you, it likely is way too late by the time you click on the CAPTCHA widget.

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Wristband Heads Off Password Headaches

Everykey can unlock devices, as well as passwords at websites -- and the Bluetooth used by Everykey can access multiple devices simultaneously. Ordinarily, a Bluetooth device can be paired with only one device at a time. "We've filed a patent for a unique way for Bluetooth to communicate with an unlimited number of devices at once," said Everykey CEO Christopher Wentz.

Has software glut got you down? Do you reuse passwords because creating unique ones for all your online accounts would cause a memory overload? If your answer to those questions is yes, you may be interested in a bit of jewelry called the "Everykey," by a startup with the same name.

Everykey is a wristband that, combined with software and the cloud, removes the need to remember the countless log-in credentials we use every day. What's more, it will work with electronic locks, too -- like car doors.

The bracelet uses Bluetooth to authenticate you to a variety of devices -- iOS, OS X, Windows, Android and Ubuntu Linux -- and it works with popular Web browsers Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

Bluetooth Twist

When you open a Web page that asks for login, Everykey's software will reach into the cloud and pull down the credentials for the page and log you in automatically -- much the way a password manager like LastPass works.

Everykey sends out a short encrypted Bluetooth message every second so your device knows you're in its vicinity.

"One benefit of our product over others is that ours can unlock the device itself, whereas a traditional password manager can only enter passwords at websites,"Everykey CEO Christopher Wentz told TechNewsWorld.

A nice twist is that the Bluetooth used by Everykey can access multiple devices simultaneously. Ordinarily, a Bluetooth device can be paired with only one device at a time.

"We've filed a patent for a unique way for Bluetooth to communicate with an unlimited number of devices at once," Wentz said. "It's our own inventive way of handling Bluetooth communication.

Wentz, who developed the idea while an undergraduate at Case Western University, has launched a Kickstarter campaign to get Everykey into production. He hopes to raise US$100,000 by Nov. 29 and begin shipping product in March 2015. As of Tuesday morning, the project was within $7,000 of reaching its goal.

Everykey will retail for $100, but Kickstarter participants can pre-order it for $50.

Hacking Apps

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'Elegant' Regin Malware Linked to Brits, NSA

My, that Regin is a looker. If for no reason other than the admiration security researchers have heaped on the "sophisticated" malware, one might guess that it's the work of the U.S. and friends. Another hint is that no victims have been found in the U.S., UK, New Zealand, Australia or Canada. Further, Regin has been used by British intelligence and the NSA, The Intercept reported.

A sophisticated malware program called "Regin" has been used in systematic spying campaigns against a range of international targets since at least 2008, Symantec reported on Sunday.

Regin is a backdoor-type Trojan with a structure that displays a degree of technical competence rarely seen in malware, according to Symantec.

"Its elegance is comparable to Stuxnet and [it is] much more elegant than Flame," said Scott Borg, CEO and chief economist with the U.S. Cyber Consequences Unit.

"It's a beautiful piece of architecture," he told TechNewsWorld.

Stuxnet, which was used to attack Iran's nuclear development program, and Flame, which was used to spy on computers in Iran and elsewhere, are widely believed to have been created by the United states and Israel because of their sophistication.

Regin "has a level of sophistication that we never see in cybercriminal types of malware," Richard Stiennon, chief research analyst with IT Harvest, told TechNewsWorld.

Stealthy Attacker

Regin makes sophisticated use of modular design and encryption, noted Adam Kujawa, a malware intelligent analyst with Malwarebytes.

"The malware keeps itself separated into multiple parts. Each part is heavily encrypted and, most of the time, difficult to identify as being a part of anything," he told TechNewsWorld.

"In addition, the malware stores operational code within the Windows registry, something that has only been seen a couple of times in the past few months" he pointed out.

Remember, Regin was written in 2008 or earlier.

"The command-and-control communications is also sophisticated and designed to conceal outgoing traffic,"SentinelOne CEO Tomer Weingarten told TechNewsWorld.

However, once the malware is installed, the payloads themselves are straightforward and display the same actions and level of sophistication seen in everyday malware -- such as screen grabbing, password stealing and undeleting files.

As sophisticated as Regin is, it's missing some tricks found in Stuxnet, such as signing its kernel driver to bypass Microsoft PatchGuard in the 64-bit version of Windows.

"To bypass PatchGuard, malware needs a genuine security certificate. This has only been seen in malware a handful of times, and only in the most advanced attacks. Stuxnet is one example," Weingarten said.

"This could imply that Regin is the work of a smaller government which is not as technologically sophisticated as top-tier nation states," he reasoned.

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