media attention

If you use a social network or Adobe Reader products, beware in 2010. Security researchers say these vehicles will see more malicious attacks from hackers in the months ahead.

On Monday, McAfee Labs released its 2010 Threat Predictions report to outline the tech threats enterprises and consumers should be wary of. Social networking and Adobe products are in the spotlight, along with banking Trojans, botnets and HTML 5.

Industry analysts are advising wireless network operators to stop subsidizing devices. While the subsidies let them draw in consumers with free or low-cost devices in exchange for lengthy service commitments, the deals end up squeezing their profit margins, according to Andy Castonguay of the Yankee Group.

"AT&T's iPhone model is a prime example of the negative effects of the subsidization model," Castonguay said. "It shows that an AT&T iPhone account with high data usage doesn't break even until month 17 of a 24-month contract."

A Lengthy ROI Window

Attention Internet-savvy travelers: Thailand is giving away free trips to five lucky couples who don't mind sitting in front of a computer while on vacation.

The Tourism Authority of Thailand launched a new campaign Tuesday offering five couples fully paid trips to the country's most popular cities and beaches. In return, they will be asked to blog, chat and tweet about their holiday in a bid to win a grand prize of $10,000, a BlackBerry and a video camera.

by Olivia Scheck

Facebook tried to buy Twitter, but was rejected. Google didn't buy Twitter, but acquisition plans were rumored. Will Apple be the winner in the Twitter acquisition game?

Speculation is building about Apple acquiring the micro-blogging service. News reports suggest Apple is in the final stages of Twitter acquisition talks that could see the Mac maker cough up $700 million for the company. That would be about $200 million more than Facebook reportedly offered.

Aliso Viejo's [Calif.] QLogic Corp. has a tenuous lead on local rival Emulex Corp. in the race to market new technology that promises to combine two types of corporate networks.

QLogic and Costa Mesa-based Emulex are competing for design wins for what's known as fibre channel over Ethernet. The technology combines the speed of specialized data networks with the cheaper, more common networks of servers and desktop computers.

The fight for media attention started last year, even as the two companies worked to iron out the technology.

Amazon.com is setting the stage to take e-book readers to the next level. Lexcycle on Monday announced that it will be acquired by the e-commerce giant.

Lexcycle is a year-old company that makes the iPhone e-book application Stanza. It's a free application that works with the iPhone and the iPod touch and can be used to download a selection of more than 100,000 books and magazines. Lexcycle positions it as a wireless electronic library that stays open 24/7.

A counter on Apple's Web site is quietly ticking off the number of apps downloaded from the App Store. Late Tuesday afternoon, the number was approaching 990 million. Watching the digital numbers spin along is mesmerizing, and if you sit quietly enough you can almost feel the breeze.

According to calculations by U.K. research firm Mobile Squared, at the current rate of downloads, the one billionth app will be sent over the Web sometime on Thursday.

In what has emerged as Web 2.0's latest phenom, Twitter's membership is growing by leaps and bounds. According to comScore Media Metrix, Twitter saw 9.3 million visitors in March. That's an increase of more than five million visitors, or 131 percent, from February.

What's causing Twitter's exponential growth? Is it the media attention? The Google acquisition rumors? The viral nature of Web 2.0 technologies? All of the above?