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The Google Goggles visual search application has been updated to include new features that enable it to recognise and translate words from one language to another. The search giant claims that the move could spell the end of tourists struggling with foreign menus. Google Goggles combines web search with the images from the high-quality cameras that now feature on most smartphones. So taking a picture of, say, Big Ben and pressing search allows users to see information about the landmark. Now... Read Full Story

Ryan Sarver, an engineer at Twitter, said the company had acquired third-party client Tweetie in order to make it easier for newcomers to the microblogging service to download a Twitter app. Although there are dozens of third-party clients available, none are allowed to feature “Twitter” in there name, leading to potential confusion. “We realised that it was causing massive confusion among user’s who had an iPhone and were looking to use Twitter for the first time,” wrote Sarver in a blog... Read Full Story

The picture was posted online by Doug Bowman, Twitter’s creative director. The image shows a cleaner interface, and enhanced user information. It lists the number of days the user has been a member of Twitter, and details about the average number of tweets they send per day and number of @replies received. “It’s not all that much of a look, but it definitely looks like there will be some big changes coming soon,” wrote Bowman. “What do you think of the new design? Let us know.” The leaked... Read Full Story

Hackers have flooded the Internet with virus-tainted spam that targets Facebook’s estimated 400 million users in an effort to steal banking passwords and gather other sensitive information. The emails tell recipients that the passwords on their Facebook accounts have been reset, urging them to click on an attachment to obtain new login credentials, according to anti-virus software maker McAfee Inc. If the attachment is opened, it downloads several types of malicious software, including a... Read Full Story

Google Inc.’s business ties in China unraveled a little more amid a widening backlash to the U.S. Internet company’s decision to move its Chinese search engine offshore in a challenge to the country’s online censorship laws. While Google’s stand is winning it praise in the U.S. and other countries, it’s threatening to turn the company into a pariah in China. A high-profile Communist Party newspaper skewered Google in a front-page story. And more of its partners and advertising customers in... Read Full Story

The milestone, which was reached last night, underlines Twitter’s meteoric growth and increasing popular appeal. In November 2008, it broke the billion tweets mark, and reached five billion tweets last November. However, Twitter users have been unable to identify who sent the 10 billionth tweet, as it came from someone with a “protected” profile, meaning their messages cannot be viewed by the general public. News that the milestone had been reached came from Gigatweet, the site that keeps a... Read Full Story

The list, compiled annually by Fast Company, a US magazine which focuses on innovation, digital media and technology, pulls together the 50 most innovative companies from around the world. Last year Facebook did not even make it into the top 10, coming 15th in the list. The magazine awarded it the top spot, over Google, which came fourth this year, falling back from second position last year, and over Apple, which came in third, because of its fast levels of development and growth. “Somewhere... Read Full Story

WHAT’S THIS I HEAR ABOUT CHIP AND PIN BEING COMPROMISED? Scientists at Cambridge University claim to have found a way to trick the chip and pin system into accepting a stolen credit or debit card without needing the correct pin. They say the flaw casts doubt on the integrity of the entire system. The “man in the middle” technique involves having a separate card reader in a back pack. The fraudster puts the stolen credit or debit card into the shop’s reader, but then the second reader in his... Read Full Story

Development on Google Gears – which was launched 2007 to enable Google users to access accounts, such as Gmail or WordPress, while offline – has now been dropped in favour of HTML5, the new web protocol which makes it possible to play videos and other embedded content on web pages without the need for a specialist plug-in, such as Adobe Flash. The latest generation of browsers are able to natively support new web standards, such as HTML 5, making separate programs, such as Google Gears... Read Full Story

In a move ahead of Thursday’s 31st anniversary of the creation of Iran’s Islamic Republic, the national telecoms agency in Tehran said that it will ban Gmail and will instead facilitate its own national email service. The decision, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes just a month after Google threatened to leave China amid concerns that its systems had been attacked by Chinese hackers. The Iranian announcement is understood to be part of a wider crackdown on opposition protests... Read Full Story