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News

• Ovum: Gov't must use Facebook, Twitter to engage with public

  Both federal and state governments must utilise social media tools to engage with the public, Ovum has warned.

• Google Books settlement proposal rejected

  A proposed agreement drafted by Google, authors and publishers to settle their yearslong copyright litigation has been rejected, a major setback to Google's ambitious plans to build a massive marketplace and library for digital books.

• Google Voice coming to all Sprint phones

  Sprint is integrating the Google Voice application into all of its phones, giving users a new way to make cheap international calls.

• Twitter adds option to always use HTTPS connection

  With the rising awareness and concern over the stealing of passwords and other sensitive data from unsecured Wi-Fi networks, Twitter is the latest online services company to boost its use of encrypted website connections.

• Cebit kicks off with talk of openness

  Open democracy, open borders and open standards were the themes to which speakers returned again and again at the opening ceremony for the Cebit trade show in Hanover, Germany, on Monday night.

• RealNetworks founder starts Facebook video chat service

  The founder of RealNetworks has launched a new social video service that connects with Facebook and lets users chat with multiple friends at once.

• Facebook CEO Zuckerberg gets his own comic book

  Just when you thought billionaire 20-something Mark Zuckerberg couldn't possibly get any more exposure, a new comic book has hit store shelves telling the real story of the Facebook founder's rise to glory.

• Twitter no longer grounding UberSocial, twidroyd apps

  Twitter said on Sunday that it has freed <a href="http://ubermedia.com/">UberMedia</a>'s UberSocial (previously UberTwitter) and twidroyd apps from exile after <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/021811-ubersocial-ubertwitter-twitter.html">shutting them off on Friday for what Twitter said</a> was a breach of its terms of service. 

• Internet, Facebook blackout hits Algeria as protests gain strength

  Reports out of Algeria say the North African country has shut down Internet access and eliminated Facebook accounts as pro-democracy protesters seek to topple the government much as Egyptians did in their nation this week.

• Avaya offers virtual meetings, SaaS-style

  Avaya this week updated its <a href="http://www.networkworld.com/topics/collaboration-web20.html">enterprise virtual collaboration software</a> and started offering it in a software-as-a-service model.

• Desk-bound government workers find mobility, collaboration options lacking

  It's easy to talk about modernizing the way local, state and federal governments operate. Providing easier access to services, allowing employees more flexible work arrangements and improving collaboration are popular public-sector goals. But in reality there's a lot of work to be done to realize those goals, says Forrester Research.

• All hail the Zuck: Facebook CEO Zuckerberg appears on SNL

  Mark Zuckerberg, the ubiquitous CEO of Facebook, made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live this weekend alongside two actors who portray him.

• Facebook cuts developer access to user numbers, addresses

  Facebook has disabled a new capability it introduced several days ago that let users share their cell phone numbers and physical addresses with developers of applications they use on the site and with publishers of Web sites they've linked their accounts to.

• Report: News Corp considering options for MySpace

  News Corp, which owns MySpace, has revealed it is considering a sale, merger or even spinoff of the social network.

• MySpace slashes nearly half of staff

  MySpace is laying off 500 employees, or about 47 per cent of its global staff, as part of a restructuring by the once-leading, now struggling social-networking site.