data

I shouldn't really have to sell you on Bluetooth at this point. Bluetooth has already established itself as the de facto wireless connectivity standard for phones, cars, and a plethora of accessories. However, many users view Bluetooth as just the thing that lets you make calls in your car, the blinking blue light that lets you know the guy talking to himself on the sidewalk isn't crazy, yet another thing to distract you, or (for a surprising number of users) something to be completely ignored. So, I've presented below six reasons why Bluetooth in the car merits … Read more

Sometimes your social media accounts can be useful tools to stay in touch with your friends, family, or even customers. When it comes to Twitter, many of the third-party apps may have your location setting enabled by default. Additionally, it's very easy to accidentally tap the button to add your location when you're working on a smaller mobile screen. So how can you fix that and regain some of your privacy?

Instead of deleting all of your tweets, you can strip the location information from them using a tool provided by Twitter on their Web site. Here's … Read more

The debate over personal data on the Internet and how it is used is always heated, but it becomes even more so when it involves children.

Nearly two dozen children advocacy groups are reportedly teaming up this week to file at least five separate complaints with the Federal Trade Commission against some very large global corporations, such as McDonald's and General Mills, which heavily depend upon business from kids and their parents.

Specifically, the Web sites in question in the complaints are HappyMeal.com, Nick.com, ReesesPuffs.com, SubwayKids.com, TrixWorld.com, and CartoonNetwork.com.

Groups such as … Read more

Facebook manages one heckuva lot of data, a company official told reporters today.

Jay Parikh, Facebook's vice president of infrastructure engineering, went down a list of data stats to break down the massive amount of data the social network processes each day.

Most of the site's data, he said, is stored in a single "cluster" that takes up more than 100 petabytes of disk space. Parikh claimed that Facebook's cluster is larger than any comparable cluster at other companies.

In addition to scanning 105 terabytes of data every 30 minutes -- a process Facebook's … Read more

Wednesday's tech news roundup is at full throttle:

T-Mobile will launch a truly unlimited data plan beginning Sept. 5. No caps or throttling. Sprint also offers this, but T-Mobile is competing with pricing. Sprint's starting price for unlimited data is $80 a month, and users are limited to 450 voice minutes. T-Mobile also starts it at $80 a month, but throws in 500 minutes. The larger difference is when you want both unlimited data and unlimited talk; Sprint charges $110, T-Mobile charges $90 a month. Of course, there's also smartphone choice and service to consider. T-Mobile will … Read more

With T-Mobile USA poised to offer its own truly unlimited data plan, Sprint Nextel is no longer the only game in town.

The move underscores the competitive environment in the wireless industry, with T-Mobile and Sprint required to go the extra mile in their struggle against larger rivals AT&T and Verizon Wireless, both of which have piled more limitations and restrictions on their own data plans. Sprint has said that its unlimited data plan has been a key differentiating factor against its competitors.

T-Mobile believes it has a strong counterpunch for its rivals with its latest option, but … Read more

Tuesday's tech news roundup honors our future robot overlords:

AT&T is being accused of data-plan discrimination and breaking FCC rules regarding new iPhone FaceTime options. AT&T recently announced that iPhone customers could use FaceTime video chat service over a cellular network if they have the new shared data plan. (Previously, FaceTime was limited to Wi-Fi.) But several groups have spoken out about the limit and questioned if it follows FCC guidelines. AT&T responded saying it does not believe this breaks any FCC rules, since FaceTime was offered to all customers over Wi-Fi and … Read more

MiniTool Power Data Recovery Free Edition is a free file- and data-recovery tool for Windows. It bundles several tools that together can recover lost and deleted data from hard drives, USB drives, and nearly every kind of disk or directory that can hold (and lose) data. Of course, not all lost data can be recovered, and there's no guarantee that recovered data will be intact or still usable. But MiniTool's modules are focused on specific data-recovery tasks, giving you a good chance of getting your data back. Its wizard-based operation and simple interface make it easy enough for … Read more

Cisco reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter as the company weathered a tricky fiscal year.

Cisco reported fourth-quarter earnings of $1.9 billion, or 36 cents a share, on revenue of $11.7 billion, up 4 percent from a year ago. Non-GAAP earnings were 47 cents a share.

Wall Street was expecting non-GAAP earnings of 45 cents a share on revenue of $11.6 billion.

For fiscal 2012, Cisco reported earnings of $8 billion, or $1.49 a share, on revenue of $46.1 billion, up 7 percent from a year ago.

In a statement, Cisco CEO John Chambers said the … Read more