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Facebook still isn't doing enough to protect users' data, Germany's consumer protection minister said Thursday, adding that she plans to give up her account.

The minister, Ilse Aigner, first raised concerns about Facebook two months ago, urging the network to upgrade its privacy settings.

Last week, in response to a backlash among users, Facebook announced that it was simplifying its privacy controls and applying them retroactively, so users can protect the status updates and photos they posted in the past.

Those changes were "a first step in the right direction, but I still have my doubts as to whether these improvements will really bring a true turning point," Aigner said after meeting Richard Allan, Facebook's director of European public policy.

Aigner said the meeting "unfortunately confirmed my skepticism."

She said she plans to leave the network, but will remain in contact with Facebook managers and "will not rest until data protection is improved decisively."

The changes so far aren't enough "to protect the privacy of users and to comply with our German law, which has higher standards than elsewhere in the world and America," Aigner added.

She complained that the network's data protection system remains too complicated and geared toward opting out of sharing information rather than opting in.

Aigner has also harshly criticized Google Inc. for failing to respect German data protection regulations through its Street View mapping program.

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I've tried many gadgets that send my home phone calls over the Internet, but only one has really done a good job of it: the Ooma. Although it has been around for a couple of years, it recently trotted out an upgrade that promises even better call quality, plus some other bells and whistles.

That intrigued me enough to take a look at the latest model. My verdict: For most home users, Ooma may not have gotten much better, but it's still the best one I know of.

When the first Ooma device, the Hub, came out in 2007, its core proposition was this: Pay $250 for a box that's the size of an answering machine, hook it up to your broadband line and home phone, and get unlimited domestic calls for free -- for life.

That was a good deal, especially since the Ooma had stellar audio quality and reliability, something the other Internet phone services lacked. Being a techno-optimist, I had dragged home a succession of other phone devices over the years, only to have them all nixed by my wife, who uses the home line more than I do. "Horrible" was her judgment on Internet telephony.

The Hub passed the wife test, and I have been using it at home for more than a year, feeling confident enough to ditch my traditional phone line. There were two service outages early on, but since then, it's worked great, and it's already paid for itself.

Late last year, Ooma launched a new model, the Telo, which is the basis for all the new features. However, it also started to look as if Ooma's original offer was too good -- at least for the company. The service is no longer free for life: Buy a new Telo, and you'll have to pay $11.95 per...

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The big difference between Apple's new tablet and Microsoft's general purpose computers is that the iPad can't do as much, Ballmer says.

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Prudential will try to draw a line under its botched Asian takeover at an investor meeting on Monday amid signs that investor fury over the deal is abating.

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BP made promising strides in its latest bid to capture some of the oil spewing from its ruptured deep-sea well in the Gulf of Mexico, while President Barack Obama called off an overseas trip and prepared for another visit Friday to the spill-stricken U.S. Gulf Coast.

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General Motors creates a $100 million fund to foster innovative auto technologies, betting that advanced tech will perk up sales.

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Chief digital officer will work with New York City agencies to streamline communications through social networks, mobile, and other Web 2.0 technologies.

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Residents of New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Minneapolis may be seeing Motorola-branded Smart ForTwo cars in their cities soon, as part of the mobile hardware company's National Safe Driving Month campaign.

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Government review stems from an agreement which allows China access to the source code for Windows 7 and other software.

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The telecom operator says TD-LTE network cards and wireless routers for industry applications will be available within a year.

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