What slipped between the cracks 2/22-2/28

February’s coming to a close and we’re now on the brink of March (and very close to Spring Break for me). Here’s what happened during February’s dying breath:

Some of those features the iPad is missing, like the front-facing camera, might turn up in future iPads (which would be a smart move).

On Wednesday, Foursquare’s first TV promo was spotted on Bravo. It was less a commercial and more the Bravo TV voice just talking about Foursquare. I would be interested to see an actual commercial, like Google’s Super Bowl ad.

Palm has announced that its quarter revenues will be well below what they originally projected. They blame “‘slower than expected consumer adoption’ of its products.”

Google has been under fire this week after an Italian judge found three executives guilty of violating privacy law when children who bullied an autistic child filmed it and then posted it to Google (in the U.S. a judge dismissed a similar privacy suit). Then, European regulators are making changes to what can be allowed with Google’s Street View.

Lastly, a Windows Phone 7 video has been revealed.

What slipped between the cracks

Here’s a quick round up of some other stories that happened this week:

Twenty-four global phone carriers have come together to combat Apple by creating one large app store that can deliver applications to all mobile users.

The Mobile World Conference was held on Monday in Barcelona, Spain and there was an Android tablet.

Also at the MWC was the announcement that Verizon is bringing Skype to its users in March.

TechCrunch brought to light the Web site called Please Rob Me, which uses location-based services, like Foursquare, to see who is not at home. Basically, if you check in somewhere that isn’t at your house, it streams to this site.

Lastly, if you like fashion with your tech, fashion designer Vivienne Tam has designed in-ear headphones that will put you back $200.

Someone is always watching

Privacy is taking a real beating lately. Now, there are reports a school in Philadelphia is using the webcam on school-issued laptops to spy on students. So how exactly does one know if the school is spying on you? Well, it helps if the school is dumb enough to use information seen through the webcam.

A class action suit has been brought on behalf of all the students issued these laptops against the school in Blake J Robbins v Lower Merion School District. Apparently, Robbins exhibited in his own home what the school thought was improper behavior and the school’s vice principal used a photo from the webcam as evidence to discipline him. Not the smartest move by the school. After all, that’s like telling the cops you were there when they sodomize a guy on the subway because you had just sold him the drugs. Oops.

I have a webcam that is almost never used, but imagine for a second if it was on and someone was creepily using it to watch me. Now I feel stupid for all those times I sing (probably off key) to music or talk to myself; I’m embarrassed for all the times I’m changing (I thought I was safe with the shades down!); and I’m mad as a result.

Just think, just over a hundred years ago Samuel Warren and Louis Brandeis argued for the right to be let alone (aka privacy). Then we became fanatical about it. Now, it’s as if we’ve forgotten all about it. People are willing to bring TV cameras into their lives, to post about the mundane and the personal on Twitter and Facebook, and to broadcast where we are at all times with sites like Foursquare and Loopt.

Who knows? Maybe this privacy thing goes in cycles. Maybe after a few years of having our personal lives constantly invaded society will start to retreat again. But once we let go of so much privacy, can it be taken back so easily?

The next thing in social networking

The great thing about Twitter and Facebook is that people can always see what friends are up to. Often one friend will say to another, “I’ve been stalking your Facebook page.” Stalking, in this sense at least, doesn’t have a bad connotation anymore. People love to see what others are doing. They like to stay in touch and in the loop so to speak. That’s why the newest social networks are location-based, which basically means that when a person logs in their location is shown.

There’s actually a whole lot of these sites for people to choose from, but the one that I think is cool is Foursquare. The idea behind the company is to get people out to new places that friends would recommend. The site offers tips based on what your friends like or didn’t like at a place you’re going. But the fun part about Foursquare is that it’s a competition.

People love to compete. That’s why the Olympics are such a big deal. It’s why professional sports in general are such lucrative markets. Even when you’re not actually playing the fans get into it because of the nature of competition. I’m a Mets and Giants fan. Please don’t talk to me about Philadelphia. And I have a friend who lives near Philly whose family hates me when the games come on.

At Foursquare you have the chance to become the “mayor” of a location. All you do is log into Foursquare using the Android or iPhone app or go to the site on a laptop. Whoever has been to that location the most becomes the mayor. Which means you can be dethroned. And the main webpage has a live feed so you can be continuously updated. It looks a little something like this:

As you can see it’s available all over the world in over 100 cities, which is up from the 60 it was available in just a month ago.

Oh and there’s something else fun about Foursquare; how do you like free stuff?

Yes, I said the magic word: free. Or at the very least discounted. Restaurants and stores are beginning to have offers for people who go to the place and log in on Foursquare. For instance, you might get a free shot. You might get a free cup of coffee on your sixth visit or a free appetizer with your meal. That should be plenty of incentive to get people out and about.