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Google, the ever expanding juggernaut search engine has gone from robots to wind mills, but now sets its sights on the telephone company.

The search engine has been assembling all the tech gadgets together in a line up to conquer mobile phone providers like Orange, O2, and Virgin mobile.

Google likes to have its tech-finger in every pie and is known to license the must ultra-popular Android smartphone operating system.

However, it’s not enough for the power driven company, they want more and are tying the hand at becoming an internet service provider.

Launched in May 2009, the hit low-cost calling service gathered supports and five months down the line had 1.4 million users, most of them were using the service every day!

CEO of Quantum Networks, Ari Zoldan said: “Google’s various efforts are clearly focused on being able to reach as many people on the planet as possible, but that is not something they can fully accomplish just by licensing out Android.”

Meanwhile, Jeffrey Hammond from Forrester Research claims: “While I think Google could become a mobile provider, I’d view it as a nuclear option.”

It’s clear that Google loves to push the boundaries and keep people on their toes. Whatever next has the search engine got up its sleeve? Only time will tell.

Ever wanted someone else to wash your dishes? Or how about clean the house for you? Well this is how Scott Hassan, the Silicon Valley entrepreneur felt before jumping on the band wagon of robots!

The early Google architect is aiming to fast-track innovation in the personal robotics world with his 50-employee company, Willow Garage.  His first robot, the PR2 as he calls it, hit the market like never before in September.

Mr Hassan hopes that PR2 will help desktop computer programmers create all sorts of applications. Exactly, why work when you can have a robot do it for you?

Although industrial robots have been thriving for decades, home and office robots are a new combination. They bring the sci-fi to reality and make ET look almost, human.

The PR2 is fully equipped with open-source software code, also known as ROS for ‘Robot Operating Sytem’. It comes with a heavy duty of computers, wheels, arms, cameras, range finders and touch sensors.

According to Mr Hassan, he said: “People can stop reinventing the wheel, and they can start doing new things right away,” says Keenan Wyrobek, co-director of Willow Garage’s personal robotics program. “It’s a huge unmet need for the industry.”

However, the robot comes at a price and in this case a very high price- $400,000 to be exact. The company will make no immediate profit from the product since it is not in popular demand. You can breathe easy; robots are not going to overtake our home or office, just yet. But Willow Garage is in this for the long-haul.

Being armed and ready is somewhat of an understatement. We know you’ve heard it all before, ‘internet security is a MUST HAVE.’ But for 2011 you better brace yourself, because malicious coders and all-out cyber crooks are set to attack iPhone, Facebook and Foursquare. You better believe it. They are out there and are preparing for battle.

McAfee, the computer security company has issued a warning for all internet lovers to coat themselves in a battalion of security and encryption (code).

A report has revealed that mobile phone users can update their current whereabouts- posing an increasing security threat. Location-tagged Twitter posts are also a huge concern.

The reports revealed: “Use Bing’s mapping functionality, for example, and plot all the GPS-enabled tweets in an area. It is easy to correlate these by topic or area of interest. In just a few clicks cyber criminals can see in real time who is tweeting and where, what they are saying, what their interests are, and the operating systems and applications they are using,” McAfee says. “It then becomes child’s play to craft a targeted attack based upon what the bad guys have just learned from these services.”

Increasing social media connections will eventually surpass the old school e-mail. Tear. But cry not, social media is proving to be ever more popular and convenient, but this great new technology comes at a price.  Although there haven’t been vast reported cases of cyber-attacks on mobile phones, McAfee says that will change in the coming year. This will increase especially now after the Wikileaks scandal.

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NORAD-Google-tracking Santa

Search juggernaut engine, Google will be tracking down Santa Claus using various internet tools on its site. These technology gadgets and gizmos to track Santa on his global travels include; Google maps, Google earth and YouTube.

The search giant has a love for Christmas shenanigans and with a little help from NORAD (North American Aerospace Defence Command) it has become a festive tradition like putting up a Christmas tree, or cookies and milk for the man dressed in red to eat and drink.

According to Brian McClendon, the original Google Engineering Elf, people are very interested in knowing how does Santa visit so many children in one night? Will he eat the cookies I left out? How does he fit all those presents into his sleigh? These childhood mysteries are part of what makes the Santa tradition so special.

“There’s one timeless question that we’re proud to say we can help answer: Where in the world is Santa at this very moment?

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He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake, and he knows how many followers you have on Twitter and Bebo.

Santa Claus is everywhere! Yes, as creepy as it sounds Santa can hunt with his reindeer, by following the slug trail you leave across the internet through texts and e-mails. If you use Facebook or Twitter than chances that you’ll meet Santa along the way are good.

St. Nick, not to lose out on the fun, has also launched himself over social media sites and will be available by text or e-mail.  Children will be able to watch his trip across the world online or take a phone call.

So long, and farewell are the days of sitting on the laughing mans red clothes knee, or pencilling down a wish list of goods. Santa Claus is taking to new technology. You better believe it. In his land far, far away, he can be found on the internet.

Technology services are using Santa to their favour as a promotional boost this winter. Portable North Pole, a project launched by Montreal-based video web developer UgroupMedia, has been sending children personalized videos taken of Santa, yes the man himself, and if you are lucky enough, you may even be given a lump of coal. However, tell the site your child hasn’t good, and the video Santa will peer down his glasses giving you an evil stare and say in a deep digital monotone voice: “You’re on my naughty watch.”

A fight between good and bad has commenced in cyberspace. Human rights groups and campaigners have been targeted by hackers opposing their viewpoints over the internet.

Various web-based campaigning groups have been bashed offline for several weeks by cyber-attacks. It appears their internet security is not adequate for these nimble hacking fingers.

As a result, researchers worryingly say that the attacks will increase as the tools and techniques become more widespread.

Meanwhile, human rights groups and independent media groups are being urged to beef up their defences to avoid falling victim.

According to a report done by Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, the attacks have tried to knock off an overwhelming amount of data. From the 12 months between August 2009 and September 2010, the research found 140 attacks against more than 280 different sites.

“These attacks do seem to be increasingly common,” said Ethan Zuckerman, one of the authors of the report.

Furthermore, the report found that DDoS is increasingly being used as a political tool and as a form of protest.  According to the BBC news report ‘the most recent example of a volunteer DDoS comes from Anonymous, a loose-knit group of activisits, who used the method to launch attacks on the websites of firms it perceived to be anti-Wikileaks.’

Online companies are being warned about any scams and to update their security software regularly. Hackers are becoming much more smart and knowledgeable, and therefore security measure need to be more advanced.

Increasing amounts of online crime has hit social media sites on web hosting social media sites. Criminal activity has been instigated by social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Victims targeted by criminals have been subjected to rape, paedophilia, bullying, assault and burglary to even, in severe cases- murder.

Police, Insurance companies and security services are issuing a warning to all online users who share out information to be careful about what they put out on the interent. It’s a wide open cberspace, where information if floating around, waiting to be picked up by criminal hands. Once these dangerous people get your personal information, it becomes very hard to prevent them from causing further damage. They can piece together from your name and work, where you live, how much you earn etc.

A problem with this is that, many online users update their activity continually. This type of status activity can help criminal keep track of what you do and where you are. For example, “out shopping” or “looking forward my holiday in two weeks’ time, in Spain.” A criminal can then burgle your house while you’re away. It’s like an open invitation, saying ‘hey, come right on in and take it all.’

A security expert reported: ‘you might as well put up signs ­saying: Burgle me on this day. Stalk me at this address. Or, here’s everything you need to steal my identity.’ According to Michael Fraser, a reformed burglar who presents the television show on the BBC Beat the Burglar.

Mr Fraser said: “if you accepted me as a friend of a friend, I know your name, your address and your date of birth [and from that] I can go to 192.com and find out what you do for a living, how much your home is worth- and whether you’re likely to be worth burgling.”

Melissa ­Wedgewood, from Hull, a keen social media user was violently attacked by her ex-­boyfriend and his new girlfriend. The attack was triggered through Facebook, after she had rejected her ex-boyfriends friend requests. The new girlfriend of Melissa’s ex became jealous and a revenge attack was planned. However, this is not the only story like this; several cases of crime have been reported. All of them have one thing in common- social networking sites that allow users to share our personal information.

Jason Hart, a senior vice president of CRYPTOCard Network Security says: ‘Once you accept a stranger into your Facebook account, they can begin what we call social ­engineering — ­delicately asking questions to build up information about you.’  He added ‘the message is simple: you wouldn’t invite a perfect stranger into your house simply because they knocked on your door and said they wanted a look around. So why do it on Facebook?’

Google have apparently made good on their promise to delete Wi-Fi data that had been accidently, or ‘accidently’ collected by Google UK’s Street View cars. Remember the little (slightly ridiculous looking) vehicles with cameras attached by a long pole to the roof? You couldn’t miss them and evidently, they didn’t miss you either, sometimes even making off with some of your personal data.

Catching snippets here and there of emails, URLs and even passwords, the first batch of information collected was deleted, or ‘deleted’ in November. Although this does seem to be Google’s fault, the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) have come under fire for not being strict enough with the search engine giant.

Now that Google UK appears to be making amends, other countries want the same treatment however this is thought to take a bit more time to erase.

In a statement from Google they said, “We can confirm that the UK data has now been deleted, and that this has been independently certified.”

What a relief!

A shocking 7.7 million people have illegally downloaded music this year over the internet, according to research commissioned by the British record industry’s trade association. Latest reports are showing a staggering 1.2 billion tracks were pirated or shared, driving the industry to a £219 million loss.

Illegal downloading is becoming a “parasite” says Geoff Taylor, of the British Recorded Music Industry (BPI). However, campaigners for consumers of digital rights argue it’s a call for a new anti-piracy legislation because the illegal downloading is “immoral”.

Illegal downloading decreases CD sales, DVDs, Computer games and other entertainment. Furthermore, the consequences for music pirates can be severe.  Last year a downloader was ordered to pay $675,000 to the RIAA for the illegal sharing of 30 songs online.

Meanwhile, despite all the illegal downloading, the UK already maintains 67 legal downloading services. Websites that store illegal illicit files are “rising alarmingly”.

The BPI is calling for new legislation to raise awareness of digital rights and civil liberty issues.