Gmail phone service used to place 1m calls, Google says

Gmail's new phone service has been used to place 1,000,000 calls in the 24 hours since it was launched, Google has disclosed.

Google confirmed yesterday that it was rolling out the new function, which allows users to make direct calls to telephones through its email service using the inbuilt speakers and microphones on their computers, in the US and Canada.

The “Calls from Gmail” service, which was launched with immediate effect following yesterday's announcement, will allow free calls to American and Canadian numbers “for at least the rest of the year”.

Selected British users are also being given access to the function.

Low rates, which could be as low as two cents per minute to Europe, China and Japan, will also be available for international calls.

Writing on the official Gmail Blog, Robin Schriebman, a software engineer, said that the addition was a development of the company’s current, computer-to-computer voice and video chat services.

His post said: "Gmail voice and video chat makes it easy to stay in touch with friends and family using your computer’s microphone and speakers. But until now, this required both people to be at their computers, signed into Gmail at the same time.

"Given that most of us don’t spend all day in front of our computers, we thought, “wouldn’t it be nice if you could call people directly on their phones? Starting today, you can call any phone right from Gmail."

The move will put Google into direct competition with new media companies such as Skype, as well as traditional phone operators such as BT.

It will work by adding another option to the chat list in Gmail, as well as offering a traditional-style on-screen keypad

Todd Rethemeier, an analyst at Hudson Square, told Reuters that Google’s move presented “a risk to Skype”. He said, however, that it was the attraction of cheap international calls that would be likely to drive people to use the service.

Google has not yet announced any plans to operate the service in the UK or on its mobile phones.

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Ten ways to protect your privacy online

As attitudes to privacy are starting to change, here is a short list of some ways you can protect your privacy online:

1) personalised search engine optimisation - strange as it may seem, people are willing to pay for experts to alter how far up Google's listings their name appears when they type it in. The method allows you to keep the bad news private and highlight whatever - true of false - information you desire. As one firm put it: "If you’ve ever Googled yourself and been less than happy with the results, you’ve discovered a need for personal SEO."

2) change your name - stranger yet, Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, has said young people might have to change their names when starting adult life to escape the shadow of their dodgy past. Many adults already use aliases for sites like Facebook so only those who know that know where to find them.

3) change your security/privacy settings - a lot of Facebook users, to name just one social networking site, simply don't bother taking enough interest in this but it offers you some genuine control over who sees what. Do you really want a prospective boss checking what you used to do at the weekends?

4) set strong passwords - this is something online registration has been encouraging for years now but too many people just put in their birthdate, pet's name, or the name of the site. To add to the problem, there are thousands of hacking guides specifically designed to get into Facebook which are available via Google. The best advice remains: use a long, interspersed combination of lower-case letters, capital letters and numbers.

5) untag yourself - social networking sites allow other people to "tag" photos of you but you have the opportunity to remove it, which is sometimes wise. So pay attention when you are prompted to do such things.

6) don't include dates of birth/address/mother's maiden name - such things are almost invariably used as security questions for banks and credit card databases. Therefore giving them up compromises your security and makes it easier to forge your identity, "clone" your cards and steal your money.

7) don't respond to dodgy emails - an obvious one and a bit of an old trick now but people still fall for it. If you get an unsolicited email from an African business (a stereotype but often true) wanting to give you an incredible amount of money for a simple task, delete it. It's a scam. And you could be opening the door for electronic intruders.

8) log out - if you're in a library or some other communal space, people can get onto the machine you've just vacated and dive into your profiles if you have not logged out properly. Clearly this is most important for financial matters.

9) wi-fi - if you've got wi-fi at home, give it a good password (see above). Otherwise it allows intruders in with few barriers to overcome.

10) don't use Facebook - if you're absolutely terrified that someone might learn your darkest secrets or that a German fancy dress evening might backfire later in life. The only certain way to avoid embarrassment is to avoid social networking sites altogether

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1000 new Digg invites

For the past few months link aggegator Digg has been running a closed, invitation only preview of a new version of the site.

The new Digg features a clean new design, is faster to use, and is focused on users building personal recommendation networks, as well as the existing global Top News list.

We've been using it for a while and the new system offers some marked improvements on the old Digg. Not least of which is that we now have our own Telegraph.co.uk hub on Digg, to showcase stories we recommend.

Now we've got 1000 free invitations to join the new Digg before launch. Everyone who claims a free invite will automatically start following the Telegraph.

Click here to claim an invitation to the new Digg

We're also interested in hearing what you think of the new Digg, and what you want from a brand like the Telegraph on Digg. Let us know in the comments below.

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India considers BlackBerry email ban

The Indian government is undecided as to whether it will allow Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, to continue operating its corporate email service in the country next month

Discussions are under way between the Indian government and Research in Motion over how the country’s security services can be allowed to monitor emails and instant messages sent over the BlackBerry communication network.
The Indian government has ruled that BlackBerry Messenger, voice calls and text messages will be permitted after August 31, but that emails sent using the BlackBerry corporate email service could be banned unless a deal can be reached between security agencies and Research in Motion over the best way to monitor electronic mail.

Many governments, including those in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, have expressed concerns that terrorists and criminals could be taking advantage of Research in Motion’s heavily encrypted BlackBerry email system to send messages.

Research in Motion said it was working with governments and security services to find ways in which communications could be monitored without fundamentally undermining the privacy of users.

“Discussions will continue for the week and the whole of the next week,” said a spokesman for the Indian government. "BlackBerry services, including phone, SMS and Messenger will run, [but we are not sure yet] about enterprise mail."

There are an estimated 41 million BlackBerry users in India, making it a crucial market for Research in Motion. The Canadian company has told the Indian government that it will come up with a monitoring solution by the August 31 deadline in order to ensure corporate email services are not affected by a ban

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Apple ‘to launch high definition television

will launch an HDTV that integrates its Apple TV set-top box technology and music download service
 in to a stand-alone high definition television, according to a leading analyst
Gene Munster, an analyst at Piper Jaffray, believes Apple will launch an internet-enabled “connected HDTV” some time in the next two to four years that will bring its iTunes music and movie download service directly to the living room.
Munster said that a rumoured forthcoming refresh of the Apple TV set-top box was likely, but that it would be just one part of the overall jigsaw, paving the way for a stand-alone high-definition television that integrated Apple TV’s key features
The new box, expected to be called iTV, is thought to use many of the components found in the iPod touch and iPad, and will have a limited amount of memory. Apple is thought to be readying a new data centre in North Carolina that would support a cloud-based iTunes streaming service, enabling people to stream movies and TV shows to the low-powered iTV, rather than having to store them on the device’s hard drive.
Munster believes a future Apple HDTV would boast these streaming capabilities, and that users would pay around $90 per month for access to content on the iTunes store. The television, combined with the iTunes service, could replace devices such as games consoles, DVD players and even cable or satellite television subscriptions.
"Apple's ability to deliver hardware, software and content that could replace an entire entertainment system with a single TV, puts Apple in a unique position for the emerging connected TV cycle," wrote Munster in a note to investors.
"Apple already has several of the key ingredients for success in the connected TV market, many of which would differentiate Apple from current market players."
However, other industry watchers are less certain that Apple will launch a high-definition television with integrated iTunes.
“I’d strongly disagree that the Apple HDTV was inevitable,” wrote leading analyst Michael Gartenberg on his Twitter feed. “Apple needs to connect with existing screens, not new ones ... [The rumoured HDTV is] not happening.”

It’s not the first time that Munster has predicted Apple’s entry in to the television market. Last February, he said that he expected Apple to “design a connected television. with DVR functionality built in” to hit shops by the end of 2011.
Apple itself seems unsure of the value of connected television services. Steve Jobs, Apple’s chief executive, has in the past dismissed Apple TV as “a hobby”, and said that it would be hard to convince consumers to pay a significant amount of money for a set-top box and monthly subscription when they're used to paying much less for these services.


"The only way that's ever going to change is if you can really go back to square one, tear up the set top box, redesign it from scratch with a consistent user interface across all these different functions, and get it to consumers in a way that they're willing to pay for it,” said Jobs.


“And right now there's no way to do that."

The high-definition television market is worth an estimated $30 billion per year

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