Twitter was just the beginning. After dreaming up the innovative communication medium, Jack Dorsey is looking to revolutionize another core aspect of society — money.

On Tuesday, Dorsey announced his new start-up, Square, which will let anyone with a cellphone or iPod become a merchant and accept credit card payments.

Square is a small plastic device that plugs into a gadget’s headphone jack. Buyers swipe their credit cards through the machine, which then transmits the payment data to an application running on a connected iPhone or iPod Touch. (Android and Blackberry apps are in development, and computer software will be available later.)

You don’t have to have the Square gadget or app to pay. You just need a credit card and an e-mail address to receive a receipt.

A select few cafes and small vendors are among Square’s first beta testers. Intelligentsia Coffee & Tea in Venice will be one of the first in Southern California, starting as early as next week.

Beginning sometime early next year, Dorsey wants everyone to use Square.

“I think we’re going to give the Squares away for free,” Dorsey said on the phone from San Francisco on Tuesday, “because they’re pretty cheap for us to make.”

Once the company begins ramping up hardware production, you’ll be able to sign up for an account, enter a shipping address onto the site and receive a device in the mail. Like PayPal, profiles are tied to a bank account.

Dorsey envisions the service replacing virtually every cash transaction. Let’s say a friend owes you $30 for dinner last week, but there’s no ATM in sight. Grab the Square device from your keychain, plug it into your phone and tell him to pay up.

Then there’s the untapped market on Craigslist. The free and ubiquitous classified ad site “is doing more transactions than eBay today and has no inherent payment mechanism,” Dorsey said. “It’s a huge market for us.”

The payment system is secure, Dorsey said. Transactional data is safely encrypted, and the credit card info is never stored on the device, only passed along, he said. Signatures are drawn with a finger on the touch screen.

Buyers with a Square profile can set their photos to display on the vendor’s screen to thwart identity thieves or daughters with a penchant for “borrowing” plastic. (It won’t stop your twin sibling from charging things to your card, though.)

Even the e-mail address and phone number a customer is asked to put in during the sale is invisible to the seller. It’s only used to transmit the digital receipt, which can include a logo and links to the retailer’s website or Twitter page.

A cool, high-tech toy for free. What’s the catch? Well, Dorsey has a hidden agenda, albeit one shared by many — he’s sick of cash.

“I, for one, hate getting change,” Dorsey said. “I just can’t stand it.”

The current credit card system isn’t without its faults, either. “I get so annoyed when people give me a paper receipt for something that was like $5,” he said. “There’s nothing that I would do with that receipt.”

His solution is Silicon Valley’s hippest new start-up: Square. Its e-mail receipts save trees; its charitable donations save the poor; and, gasp, it even has a business model. “We may charge $1 for the app,” Dorsey said in an e-mail.

– Mark Milian
twitter.com/markmilian

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2009/12/square.html

Following a press release from ComScore indicating that Microsoft has approached 10% market share with Bing, more comprehensive search statistics indicate that Bing’s growth and share of web search is being wildly overstated.

ComScore’s October “US Core Search” rankings made headlines in suggesting that Microsoft’s Bing, combined with the company’s other search properties, have incrementally amassed a significant share of US search, now at 9.9%.

However, ComScore’s press release points out in small type that “searches for mapping, local directory, and user-generated video sites that are not on the core domain of the five search engines are not included in the core search numbers.”

Microsoft doesn’t have a big share of the mapping, local directory, and user generated search market. By removing this from its “core” rankings, ComScore greatly inflates Bing’s importance, because the vast majority search related to maps, local search, and “user generated video” (why not just say “YouTube”) are all owned by Google. Microsoft’s own “Soapbox” effort to match Google’s YouTube failed and was shut down in August after a three run.

When looking at more neutral statistics that don’t gerrymander figures to arrive at a desired conclusion, the facts are very different.

Net Application’s search engine market share figures have been tracking the industry since at least 2000. For October 2009, the latest full month recorded, it gave Microsoft Bing just a 3.49% share of all search globally, along with 0.08% share for MSN Search and 0.01% share for Microsoft Live Search. Yahoo Search took second place with 6.68%, leaving the lion’s share for Google at 84.53%.

This establishes the trend AppleInsider reported this summer that despite glowing press releases for Bing, Google keeps eating away more and more of the web search market globally, while Microsoft and Yahoo continue to remain stagnant.

As the chart below shows, in the four years between 2004 and 2008, Google incrementally shifted from having almost 60% share to having a dominating +75% share, while Yahoo fell from 18.5% to 12.7% and Microsoft fell from 14% to 6.3%.

Over the last two years since, Google has continued to gain share while Yahoo’s dropped to the current figure of 6.7% and Microsoft’s Bing, MSN and Live Search combined amounted to just 3.5% of the global web search market.

Google on Thursday revealed a bevy of noteworthy developments for its Chrome OS. The company released the Chrome OS to the open source community, laid out its security vision and promised to deliver a simple operating system. However, the success or failure of the Chrome OS will ride on whether users will give up desktop applications.

Sundar Pichai, Vice President of Product Management, outlined the Chrome OS, noted that “there’s a paradigm shift in computing” presumably to netbooks and noted:

“Every application is a Web application. There are no conventional desktop applications.”

And there’s the rub. The Chrome browser on Chrome OS will be “blazingly fast” with a demo boot time of 3 seconds or so. The security picture is solid. And since the Chrome OS is connected to the Web, silly things like updating and installation will go away.

Simply put, Google’s vision rides in the cloud. The devices that run the Chrome OS will have all data in the cloud and depend on wireless cards and Wi-Fi. Google said it would specify what wireless cards it will support. Google’s mission is to give the Web applications access to all of the hardware available to today’s operating systems.

So here’s the question: Are you ready to give up your desktop applications?

You have about a year to answer the question and there will probably be a big debate between now and the Google OS launch with hardware partners. Google executives walked a line between pitching Chrome OS devices as a secondary computing machine, but one where you may spend the majority of your time on it.

Pichai noted that if you’re a lawyer doing contracts all day Google’s Chrome OS powered netbooks “won’t be the machine for you.”

Nevertheless, Google’s moves today with the Chrome OS are notable and the company clearly thinks that its approach will be a hit. And it’s hard to argue for the simplicity of a browser-based operating system, quick boot times and the move to cut out a lot of startup processes. If successful, Google can push more folks to the cloud.

My hunch is it may a while to get consumers to believe that “every application is a Web application.”

There are a ton of moving parts here. Among the notable background links and ZDNet coverage:

Larry Dignan is Editor in Chief of ZDNet and Editorial Director of ZDNet sister site TechRepublic. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.

For daily updates, follow Larry on Twitter.

Email Larry Dignan

Google Inc. said Thursday the Internet search company is “a year away” from making its anticipated Chrome computer operating system available to users.

Vice President Sundar Pichai, speaking to reporters at a briefing on the company’s Mountain View, Calif., campus, said rumors that Google was close to launching its new operating system were not true.

In July, the company said it was working to develop a new operating system that it hopes will drive Internet users to its Web services and applications.

The new operating system, which Google said would be available to consumers in the second-half of 2010, is a direct assault on software maker Microsoft Corp., which has long dominated the computer software market and is now trying to muscle in on Google’s core business: Internet search advertising.

The new OS also comes as Google looks for ways to diversify its business. Internet search advertising constitutes 97% of the company’s $22 billion in revenue and efforts to cash in on its software applications and video-sharing site YouTube have generated limited results.

Analysts said Google’s operating system push was an ambitious long-term strategic move to broaden the company’s reach and increase use of its search engine and other revenue-generating services. But any impact on the company’s financial performance would be years away.

Write to Scott Morrison at scott.morrison@dowjones.com

With the U.S. unemployment rate at 10.2 percent, Obama told Fox News his administration faces a delicate balance of trying to boost the economy and spur job creation while putting the economy on a path toward long-term deficit reduction.

His administration was considering ways to accelerate economic growth, with tax measures among the options to give companies incentives to hire, Obama said in the interview with Fox conducted in Beijing during his nine-day trip to Asia.

“It is important though to recognize if we keep on adding to the debt, even in the midst of this recovery, that at some point, people could lose confidence in the U.S. economy in a way that could actually lead to a double-dip recession,” he said.

Fox News, which released a transcript of the interview, showed that comment by Obama on Wednesday morning and said the full discussion would be broadcast later in the day. (Reporting by Caren Bohan; Editing by John O’Callaghan)

By Brian X. Chen

Google plans to host an event on Thursday morning to provide an overview of Chrome OS, its upcoming PC operating system.

Google announced Chrome OS in July, 2009 without disclosing many details about the operating system. What’s known is that Chrome will be a lightweight, open-source, Linux-based OS with a strong focus on web surfing using the Google Chrome browser. Applications will run mostly inside the browser, which in effect turns the web into the platform. The Chrome OS will initially be targeted at netbooks — low-powered, miniature notebooks, Google said in July.

Still, we have yet to see any official visuals of the OS, and thus far the media has only speculated about Chrome’s potential. Google has said Thursday’s event will give a “complete overview” of the OS with technical background and demonstrations.

Some questions to ponder on before Thursday’s event:

• Will Google indeed proceed with plans to target the Chrome OS at netbooks? Compared to 2008, this year’s netbook shipments are slowing down, and the miniature devices are proving to be a recession-driven fad. Why target the OS at a played-out product category?
• What apps does Google have in store to launch with the OS? The success of a platform’s launch, after all, is largely determined by its initial software offerings.
• Will all apps be web-based, or will the OS support native programs as well? Apple’s first-generation iPhone supported web-based apps, and the company was roundly criticized for not providing access to the device’s native APIs until a year later.
• When can we have the OS? Since Chrome is open source, we can expect that having the OS will be as easy as downloading and installing it onto our PCs. Google hasn’t provided a time frame of when we can expect the OS, but hopefully Thursday will provide an official launch date.

Have any more questions? Post them in the comments below. Wired.com will be attending the event to try to get your questions answered.

Via TechCrunch

Yardena Arar, PC World

With the release of the Office 2010 beta, the general public finally gets to check out how Microsoft plans to deliver on its promises for the next edition of its flagship productivity suite–namely, close integration with lightweight Web versions of core apps (Excel and PowerPoint Web are the first to debut for consumers via Windows Live, with Word and OneNote available only in the business-oriented SharePoint 2010 server beta), better multimedia support, a subtle interface refresh, and a slew of features designed to make document creation and sharing easier. But there’s some news too, most notably support within Outlook for tracking feeds from social networks.

Suitewide, the most immediately apparent change is the departure of the round Office button that brought up commands for saving and printing documents as well as for changing application-specific settings. Instead, Microsoft returns to a familiar menu convention: a File tab that brings up a full screen of commands and information. Microsoft calls this screen the Backstage View.

The left navigation bar in Backstage View holds many of the commands, but most of the real estate is devoted to big panes filled with document-specific items such as editing permissions, links to autosaved versions, file size, and even a thumbnail. (Businesses can customize Backstage View to integrate their workflow processes.) It’s a nice idea in many ways–the ability to return to previous unsaved versions is especially good–but it can also be a bit disconcerting since you completely lose sight of the original document (except for the tiny thumbnail).

One of the cooler suitewide tweaks affects a simple task that most people perform every day: cutting and pasting text. Having observed that in many instances users immediately undo their paste, Microsoft engineers have added a paste-preview feature that lets you see the results before you commit (similar to the mouse-over previews of font changes and other edits available in the ribbon). You even get to choose between previews that apply different formatting options, either maintaining source formatting, merging with destination formatting, or removing all formatting.

Improved picture-editing tools allow you to preview and apply cropping (and many new adjustments and effects) on the fly as you insert images into Office documents.

The ribbon interface introduced in the key Office 2007 apps goes suitewide in Office 2010, with more contextual changes. Application icons are chunkier and restricted to one letter, which invites confusion in the case of PowerPoint and Publisher, and bemusement in the case of Outlook and OneNote (the latter’s icon is the letter N, one leg of which looks like a 1).

Other interface changes include a new color scheme, with classy muted grays that make the sky blues of past editions seem almost boisterous, and an orange logo instead of the multicolored one of years past.

Continue Reading the Rest of the article here…

Dave Rudden, GamePro

After giving many of its users an early look at the new Xbox 360 feature, Microsoft has announced (via Major Nelson) that it will be officially rolling out its latest Dashboard update, which includes Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm.

You can check out my in-depth impressions of the update here.

Meanwhile, Eurogamer has received confirmation from Sony that recently leaked images of a customized PlayStation 3 version of Facebook (found by Scrawl) are indeed legitimate. While the PS3 is already capable of viewing Facebook through its web browser, this will hopefully allow for quicker and more user-friendly access to the popular social networking site.

Visit http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org/pact_website.html for further information

A new online platform launched today by the World Future Council provides policymakers throughout the world with the right tools to unleash sustainable energy development. The new PACT website (www.onlinepact.org) embraces eight new policy recommendations on energy efficiency.

Submitted on 11/11/09, 08:31 AM

Hamburg/London, November, 11th 2009: A massive uptake of renewable energy and the application of efficient technologies is the key to fighting climate change, creating jobs and building future economies. A new online platform launched today by the World Future Council provides policymakers throughout the world with the right tools to unleash sustainable energy development in their country. A catalogue of policies and regulations to accelerate the deployment of renewable energy and to reduce the overall energy demand now helps Parliamentarians to create a better policy framework. The PACT website www.onlinepact.org that was originally launched in November 2007 has been completely rebuilt and embraces eight new policy recommendations on energy efficiency.

“It is eye-opening to realise that replacing a single 100 Watt traditional light bulb with an energy saving model results in a saving of C02 emissions that equals driving a fuel efficient car from India to Germany. If all light bulbs worldwide were replaced global CO2 emissions would be reduced by 2%. This equals more than 50% of global aviation emissions per annum”, says Dr. Axel Bree, Policy Officer and chief editor of the PACT website.

Bree: “Our new website has been explicitly designed for policymakers. We want to sensitise them to the urgent need to develop sound renewable energy policies and increase energy efficiency but also emphasise that, by promoting the renewable energy transition, thousands of jobs can be created and money can be made. The unique aspect is that we don’t leave it at that but combine this information with precise policy recommendations and suggestions of how to implement them”.

The PACT website is divided into a section that provides ‘a one step clearing house’ for designing ‘Feed-in Tariffs’ as best policies to accelerate the development of renewable energy and into a series of eight sound policy recommendations to reduce the overall energy demand. There are policy examples for the use of cooking stoves, which do not emit CO2 or other hazardous fumes, but produce biochar, an organic, carbon-storing fertilizer. Smart electricity meters inform consumers about how they could save up to 10% of their electricity costs by running the washing machine at off-peak times or turning off appliances on stand-by. Congestion charges can mitigate traffic problems and curb gasoline consumption in large cities while taking in funds for public transport and cycling lanes.

All policy recommendations listed on the PACT website are the result of in-depth research by the WFC. They meet the WFC Future Justice criteria that are designed to thoroughly check policies for unintended negative consequences. Case studies prove that the recommended

policies can work and have worked successfully in the past. The website is complemented by a new booklet that can be downloaded at onlinepact.org/1552.html or ordered from the WFC.

World Future Council:
The World Future Council brings the interests of future generations to the centre of policy making. Its up to 50 eminent members from around the globe have already successfully promoted change. The Council addresses challenges to our common future and provides decision-makers with effective policy solutions. In-depth research underpins advocacy work for international agreements, regional policy frameworks and national lawmaking and thus produces practical and tangible results. The World Future Council Foundation is registered in Hamburg.

Media contact:

Anne Reis
Media & Communications Officer

Phone: +49 (0)40 30 70 914-16
Email: anne.reis@worldfuturecouncil.org

http://www.worldfuturecouncil.org

Microsoft’s Windows 7 Starter Edition, primarily meant for low-power PCs and ultra-portable netbooks, could disappoint some users who want features such as desktop personalization and DVD playback, suggests a new survey by online electronics marketplace Retrevo. Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has suggested in the past that Microsoft will try and steer consumers away from netbooks and toward higher-priced “ultra-thins” that presumably run higher-margin versions of Windows 7.

Microsoft’s version of Windows 7 for netbooks may disappoint some users, according to a new survey released by online electronics marketplace Retrevo.

Retrevo’s survey found that 79 percent of the 1100 respondents surveyed were not planning on purchasing a netbook this year. Of the remaining 21 percent, 54 percent knew that Windows 7 came in different versions—such as Starter and Ultimate—but only 39 percent knew that the Windows 7 Starter edition lacked some Windows XP features such as desktop personalization and DVD Playback.

“Retrevo was not surprised to discover that 61 [percent] of consumers intending to buy a netbook computer were not aware of limitations in Windows 7 Starter Edition,” explained a Nov. 5 posting on the Retrevo Blog. “When Retevo pointed out the differences, 56 percent of those respondents said they would not be satisfied if their net netbook came with Windows 7 Starter Edition.”

Specifically, Retrevo’s blog post suggests, consumers may not be aware that Windows 7 Starter Edition will not allow a netbook to play DVDs even if an external DVD drive is connected to the device. Windows 7 Starter Edition’s lack of multi-monitor support, Windows XP Mode, Windows Media Center, and shiny Aero interface features may also have a negative impact on users.

Netbook sales have represented a bright spot for an otherwise moribund PC industry in 2009, with consumers gravitating toward the devices as an ultra-cheap and super-portable way to fulfill most of their tech needs.

Aware of their popularity, Microsoft introduced a method by which netbook users could download an install Windows 7 on their machines, a number of which lack DVD drives. From Microsoft’s revamped online store, a stripped-down Windows 7 for Netbooks can be downloaded onto a bootable USB or burned to a DVD.

“For netbook users without DVD drivers, the Windows 7 USB/DVD Download Tool [WUDT] will take an ISO image and create a bootable UDB device that can be used to install Windows 7,” Microsoft spokesperson Brandon LeBlanc wrote in an Oct. 22 entry on The Windows Blog. “The WUDT can also create a Windows 7 installation DVD from the ISO file as well.”

However, those wishing to boot off a USB device or external DVD player will need to configure their BIOS in order to make that happen, a fact that may lead some netbook owners to seek assistance from someone more tech-minded.

(Update: As of Nov. 10, Microsoft seems to have removed the ability to purchase Windows 7 for Netbooks from its online store, possibly in a dispute over the tool’s coding. More on this story as it develops.)

Despite the concession to netbooks for Windows 7, Microsoft has publically expressed an urge to pull consumers toward higher-priced devices.

During Microsoft’s annual Financial Analyst Meeting on July 30, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer told gathered analysts that his company’s manufacturing partners would begin introducing ultra-thin PCs onto the market by the end of 2009. Those devices, which would feature larger screens and more processing power while maintaining portability, would presumably sell at a higher price point and run versions of Windows that offer Microsoft higher margins.

“We want people to be able to get the advantages of lightweight performance and be able to spend more money with us,” Ballmer told the assembled analysts.

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated with a mention that Windows 7 for Netbooks is no longer available for sale on Microsoft’s online store as of Nov. 10.