Alibaba Invests In Array of US Tech Companies (video)

Alibaba Is Investing Huge Sums in an Array of U.S. Tech Companies - NYTimes.com: "In March, Alibaba made a $215 million investment in Tango, a messaging app. It recently contacted Snapchat, another messaging app that this year turned down a $3 billion acquisition offer from Facebook, about making a big investment that would value the young company at $10 billion...the recent investments aren’t just about size. Alibaba is also rubbing elbows in the sometimes insular world of Silicon Valley-funded start-ups, where a handful of plugged-in financiers can help the company spot the next breakout smartphone app or e-commerce trend before it hits the mainstream...."

Microsoft sues Samsung Electronics
Korea Times
Microsoft has filed a lawsuit against its longtime partner Samsung ... failed to payMicrosoft for the use of its technology in Android-based smartphones ... it would have been a better choice to do things the Google-Motorola way and ...


Dallas Morning News
Amazon Fire phone sure makes it easy to shop
Dallas Morning News
Heck, Microsoft has its own phone operating system, app store and OneDrive ... But until last month, Amazon was the only one without its own phone. With the new Fire phone,Amazon can now sell you a phone optimized to .... If you're fed up with Apple and Google, here's another phone OS for you to try ...

Interactive technology bringing SC museum alive
seattlepi.com
MOUNT PLEASANT, S.C. (AP) — From a simulated flight around the moon to the chaos in the gun turret of a destroyer fending off World War II ...


The Guardian
Microsoft digs in on digital privacy
The Hill
Microsoft is squaring off against the Justice Department in a case that could ... AT&T and Apple have all filed briefs supporting Microsoft's argument, ...


New York Times
Facebook's Gateway Drug
New York Times
Leading the charge for Internet.org is Facebook's chief executive, Mark ... His vision is ambitious: Facebook recently bought a small drone maker so that it ... pseudo-humanitarian rhetoric of rights espoused by technology companies.


Toronto Star
Facebook co-founder wants to replace email
Foster's Daily Democrat
Moskovitz is trying to turn that chronic headache into an afterthought with Asana, a San Francisco startup he runs with former Facebook and Google ...


TechCrunch
Apple Leads in Accessibility, But Can Third-Party Developers Follow?
TechCrunch
Editor's note: Steven Aquino is a freelance tech writer and iOS accessibility expert, based in the San Francisco Bay Area. His work has appeared in ...


USA TODAY
Microsoft has a new NFL app for Xbox One and Windows 8
Engadget
The start of a new NFL season is just around the corner, and Microsoft's been working hard to improve the experience for football fans on the Xbox ...


Gas 2.0
NASA says puzzling new space drive can generate thrust without propellant
Gizmag
A NASA study has recently concluded that the "Cannae Drive," a disruptive new method of space propulsion, can produce small amounts of thrust without the use of propellant, in apparent discordance with Newton's third law. According to its inventor, the ...

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US Federal Judge Single-handedly Kills US Tech Global Market

"It's not like there was much left in the wake of the Edward Snowden disclosures, which threw nine Silicon Valley giants under the global surveillance bus more than a year ago... To the outside world, lack of trust [is] still a big issue. Particularly for Europe... But as relations were beginning to improve, the US judiciary decided that, for the purposes of its own law enforcement and intelligence agencies, the world was its oyster and data stored outside of its jurisdiction was fair game. US to Europe: We'll take what we want, when we want it... " (source infra)

The final nail in the coffin--there is now every incentive for the rest of the world to reject using US technology companies in almost every area--email and other communications, social media, search, cloud storage, etc. Which foreign tech companies will now capture the global market? Most likely Chinese and some European providers, and perhaps Indian, will take the world markets and leave the US in the dust of its "Patriot Act," institutional and governmental paranoia, and overreaching laws--

How one judge single-handedly killed trust in the US technology industry | ZDNet: "... that's certainly a phrase one US judge can nail on the casket of her career... Some people play video games. Some work tirelessly for 80 hours a week for the sake of their startup. Some destroy the global trust in the US technology industry... US District Judge Loretta Preska ruled on a case that has massive global implications for US technology giants.... " (read more at link above)


Reuters
Microsoft Privacy Case: What's At Stake?
InformationWeek
A ruling that Microsoft must turn over emails in a foreign data center could cost US businesses billions and make a mess of international law, experts say....

Microsoft sues Samsung for license violations, post-Nokia
PCWorld (blog)
Microsoft sued Samsung Friday, saying Samsung violated the terms of a patent ...Microsoft has struck several licensing agreements with technology ...


Black Press USA
Amazon Fire: 5 Things Missing
InformationWeek
Amazon left out some important features in its splashy new Fire smartphone. ... Unfortunately, the high-end flagships of Samsung, LG, Apple, and HTC ... AT&T is most often willing to absorb such risks (remember the Facebook phone?) ... FireOS is an offshoot of Google's Android operating system.



Business Insider Australia
Google Said to Plan Separating Photo Service From Google+
Bloomberg
The world's largest search engine, grappling with competition from Facebook Inc. (FB), Twitter Inc. (TWTR) and Yahoo! Inc., is freeing up services from ...


E! Online
Facebook Messenger: 5 Things To Know
InformationWeek
Facebook will soon require users to download Messenger to chat with friends. Here's the lowdown on important privacy settings and features.


Chron.com
Yahoo's live concert streams could be cure for many ills
San Jose Mercury News
LOS ANGELES -- Sometimes the struggles of an industry can bring music to your ears. And your screens. Live Nation's partnership with Yahoo to ...


Reuters
Apple $450 million e-book settlement wins court approval
Reuters
Apple has been appealing Cote's July 2013 finding, in a case brought by ... to drive up e-book prices and impede rivals such as Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O). In June, Apple agreed to settle related class-action litigation brought on .... business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, ...


Tech2
Google, Apple & The Battle For Your Ears
InformationWeek

Android grabs record 85 percent smartphone share | PCWorld: "Google’s dominance of the smartphone market has reached new heights, with its Android operating system now accounting for a record 84.6 percent share of global smartphone shipments, according to research by Strategy Analytics..."

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Google I/O Starts Today; Oracle Spending Its Way Out of Major Errors (video)

(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Oracle Spending Its Way Out of Major Errors (video above)
FBR Capital Markets Senior Analyst Daniel Ives discuss Oracle to buy Micros for 5.3 billion dollars with Trish Regan on “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg, June 23)

GOOGLE I/O Starts Today with LIVE Streaming from Moscone Center, San Francisco, starting at 9:00 AM PDT

expVC | expvc.com | domain name news: Google LIVE Presentation Wednesday on New gTLD Domain Names: "Google presentation on New gTLDs -- Who Cares About New Domain Names? --streamed LIVE* from Google I/O in San Francisco: Wednesday, June 25 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM (Pacific Time US)...."

Broken promises: Verizon, Google, and the Chromebook data debacle | Computerworld Blogs: "... Verizon is telling customers that as far as it's concerned, the plans were valid only for one year -- and that's why those initiated last spring are now expiring. I called the carrier's customer service line and, after holding for 15 minutes and then talking in circles to an agent for another 10, was able to get through to a supervisor. That person politely told me he wasn't aware of any two-year commitment and that -- despite my pointing out official documentation to the contrary -- there was nothing he could do to help me.... "

How Marissa Mayer Fell Asleep and Kept Ad Executives Waiting For Hours - CMO Today - WSJ: ".... Interpublic Group arranged a private dinner at the swanky L’Oasis for Ms. Mayer to meet executives from marketers such as Mondelez International, brewer MillerCoors and Greek yogurt maker Chobani. It was supposed to be a chance for Interpublic and some of its clients to get a first hand update from Ms. Mayer on what Yahoo has to offer. But Ms. Mayer was nearly two hours late, and several dinner attendees including  IPG Chief Executive Michael Roth ended up leaving before she arrived, people familiar with the matter said. Ms. Mayer told some attendees that she had fallen asleep, some of the people said. “If it were an investor meeting, a board meeting or a potential acquisition, I am sure she or someone from her team would have woken her up,” said one top executive in attendance.  “It is another instance where she demonstrated that she doesn’t understand the value of clients, ad revenue or agencies,” the person added. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment...."

Google says voice search now supports Indian dialect
Times of India
NEW DELHI: Google on Tuesday said that now its voice search supports ... As Microsoft,Apple and Google battle in the smartphone market, a virtual ...

Microsoft's 'First' Android Phone Aims Low
InformationWeek
The X2 doesn't use any Google services and instead uses Microsoft's. That means no Gmail and no Google Drive. In their place you'll find ...

Google I/O: Pressure Is On
InformationWeek
Amazon, Apple, and Samsung all made moves this month to neutralize ... Here are four things the Internet titan should do at Google I/O this week to fight ... search engine from long-time rival Microsoft, to power Spotlight, the built-in ....

Microsoft to double OneDrive free space, slash extra storage prices up to 73%
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft today announced it would double OneDrive's free storage space for ... (Data: Amazon, Apple, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft.).

Microsoft $650 Macbook Air Trade-In: Fine Print
InformationWeek
But it appears especially interested in Apple customers who might be getting ... even in light of the price war among Google, Amazon, and Rackspace.

Amazon, Warner Bros. Near Resolution on Pricing Dispute
Wall Street Journal
Preorders of Warner DVD and Blu-ray releases like '300: Rise of an Empire' are being offered on Amazon.com again. Pictured, Sullivan Stapleton in ...

Apple's Big IPhones Said to Start Production Next Month
Bloomberg
June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Apple suppliers in China will begin mass ... 40 percent of mobile gadgets based on Google Inc.'s Android operating ... Last year, the smartphone produced $91 billion in revenue alone, more than the total sales of Oracle Corp., Yahoo! Inc.,Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. combined.

Amazon's Fire Phone May Be Too Magical for Its Own Good
Wired
After several years of rumors, Amazon finally announced the launch of its very ... In a landscape dominated by Apple, Samsung, Google, and other ...

Google Glass with designer frames go on sale on fashion websites
Los Angeles Times
Designer Diane von Furstenberg and Google designer Isabelle Olsson ... Two years after she brought Google Glass to the New York Fashion week ...

Google Begins Testing Domain Registrations - The Next Web
By Josh Ong
Google today revealed that it is building a domain registration service called GoogleDomains. ...
The Next Web

​Google wants to sell you your next domain name
By Sean Buckley
Right now, it's possible to buy a domain name using Google services. You can start the process on Google's own pages, process the transaction ...
Engadget RSS Feed

Today's Google doodle knows we're watching the World Cup at work - SBNation.com
By Michael Katz
Google knows we are watching the World Cup at work. ... Like SBNation.com Facebook. One more thing Google knows about us. Doodle_medium ...
SBNation.com - StoryStream™ Headlines

Google Gives Employee Week Off at Daughter's Request | NBC Bay Area
By NBC BAY AREA STAFF
A Google employee is getting a week off of work to enjoy his birthday, thanks to a letter his daughter wrote to his boss.
NBC Bay Area - Top Stories

Daily Report: Microsoft Sees Quantum Computing as Technology's Next Frontier - NYTimes.com
By By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Now a group of physicists and computer scientists funded by Microsoft is trying to take the ... Re/code | Bill Maris, the man behind Google Ventures, wants to redefine Silicon Valley economics. ... Tim Cook, Making Apple His Own; 3.
NYT Bits

German Publishing Association Files Complaint Accusing Amazon Of Antitrust Violation...
By Ashlee Kieler
Tensions between Amazon and German book publishers reached new ... Over the past several months, Amazon and book publishers in Germany and ... DOJ Proposal: Apple Must Let Amazon…
Consumerist

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Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla (video)

Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Dwolla, discusses the company's digital payment system and the future of Bitcoin with Trish Regan on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg June 12)

Amazon Sets Fire to Its Money-Losing Business Plan - Bloomberg View: "....Ultimately, I think Amazon would have been better off investing the considerable time and effort it involved with the Fire Phone into better marketing of Prime, as well as into a concerted campaign to get users to add and use an Amazon app -- with Firefly functionality -- on their existing smartphones. Those Apple-like phone margins may look attractive in the short term, but hasn't Amazon always been the king of the long term?"

Supreme Court raises bar on software patent claims - CNET: "... The court consistently has upheld the idea that abstract ideas, such as methods of doing business, are not patentable. This could call into question thousands of patents, as Thomas explained that "the mere recitation of a generic computer cannot transform a patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention." He applied the same logic to Alice's other patent claims of unique method and unique medium...."

Google Considering Investment in New Trans-Pacific Cable - WSJ: "Much of Google's bandwidth is reserved for its private "B4" network, which shuttles emails, YouTube videos and other traffic among about a dozen of its data centers. The network, now more than three years old, already carries more traffic than the public-facing one Google uses to send its search results and YouTube videos to the Internet, according to a white paper the company published last year. Web companies flush with cash are filling a void left by telecom companies that aren't plowing as much money into new backbone network capacity. "The amount that each carrier invests is not increasing at all," according to Shota Masuda, senior manager of Japanese supplier NEC Corp.'s submarine network division. "The newcomers like Google and Facebook are filling in the gap.""

Facebook Is Altering What Ads You See
The Ledger
NEW YORK | If you use Facebook, the specific ads you see have been based mostly on what you do on Facebook — your profile information, status ...

Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google: Month in review on ZDNet Mobile News
ZDNet
There's been a wide range of coverage this month on ZDNet Mobile News, from the recently announced Fire phone from Amazon to some new ...

With Google, an Eye on New Screens
Wall Street Journal
Called I/O, the Google conference promises to be much broader in scope than Apple's, reflecting the ambitions of Chief Executive Larry Page. Apple ...

Facebook, Twitter, Google Score Big During World Cup
NewsChannel5.com
NEW YORK (AP) - Twitter and Facebook lit up in a World Cup frenzy this week ...Google, meanwhile, tracked more than 641 million World Cup-related ...

Yahoo aims to be a mobile company
SFGate
Facebook is on top of the world of mobile advertising, but analysts say that Yahoo is positioned to stay competitive in this rapidly growing world.

FCC Hits Chinese Company with Record Fine for Selling Signal Jammers
PC Magazine
C.T.S. Technology Co. Ltd allegedly marketed a total of 285 different signal jammers over the span of two years or so. 0shares. Signal Jammer. The Federal Communications Commission has announced a record-breaking fine against Chinese electronics ...

Can Obama save the honey bees? 
Christian Science Monitor
President Obama ordered US agencies to come up with a plan for protecting honey bees. Why just a plan? Why isn't the US banning neonicotinoids, a kind of pesticide that some research shows is killing off US honey bees?...

Nexus 8 to Run on Android 4.5 Lollipop, Slated for July-August Release: Reports
Design & Trend
Reports have been swirling that Google Nexus 8 will be an 8-inch tablet that will run on Android 4.5 “Lollipop” instead of KitKat, and is said to feature a Qualcomm applications processor...

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Is the Amazon Fire smartphone a threat to Apple, Samsung? (video)

Is Amazon's Fire Phone a Threat to Apple, Samsung?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Amazon.com jumped into the smartphone market with a handset called Fire Phone that is closely tied to the Web retailer’s other services, ramping up competition with Apple and Samsung Electronics. Brad Stone takes a look at the new phone on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg June 18)

Why iPhone 6 Won't Reverse Apple's Market Share Decline - Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) | Seeking Alpha: "When iPhone 6 arrives this Fall, it will only briefly arrest Apple's smart phone market share decline. This decline speaks to the increasing competition that Apple's iPhone faces rather than the inherent worth of iPhone 6...."

Amazon Fire: Pros and cons of new ground breaking smartphone
Detroit Free Press
Apple is very stingy and offers little cost-free space (just 5 GBs for free iCloud) ... There's no reason why Apple and Samsung, and to a smaller extent, Microsoft, should ... Why could Google sell a new Nexus phone last year for just over $300, yet Amazon .... Twitter · Facebook · Mobile · RSS · E-mail Alerts.

Facebook Ads and Tracking: What You Need To Know
CIO Today
If you use Facebook, the specific ads you see have been based mostly on what ...Google, Facebook and Yahoo -- among the largest hubs for online ...

Apple's smartwatch reportedly launching this fall
USA TODAY
Apple appears poised to jump into the smartwatch market this fall. According to ... Later this year, Google enters the space with its line of Android Wear ...

Facebook, Twitter, Google score during World Cup
Bryan-College Station Eagle
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter and Facebook lit up in a World Cup frenzy this ... Google, meanwhile, tracked more than 641 million World Cup-related ...

Apple blurs line between Mac, iOS platforms and that's OK
The Seattle Times
Apple is bringing the OSX and iOS platforms a bit closer to each other in their ... (and not reflexively open a Web browser to perform Google searches).

Cutting the Cord: Aereo decision could be turning point
USA TODAY
Either way the decision goes, the Supreme Court's ruling on the legality of the Aereo streaming service could drive more people to cut the cord. The court is expected to rule before the end of the month — and as early as Monday — on whether Aereo is ...

SpaceX launch delayed again, this time because of weather
Reuters
CAPE CANAVERAL Fla (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, on Saturday delayed the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying six communications satellites after cloudy skies socked in its Florida launch site. The privately owned ...

Apple to partner with Kobe Bryant and others to test IWatch
Atlanta Journal Constitution
9to5Mac reports sources familiar with the matter say Apple is teaming up with professional athletes to test the iWatch "in intenest training environments." The outlet names pro athletes such as Lakers player Kobe Bryant and Kings player Dustin Brown. They, of ...

Power of Microsoft's Bing an open question in search industry
DAWN.com
SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp's new chief executive, Satya Nadella, likes to boast that Bing is growing and powers 30 per cent of the Internet search market, making it a worthy competitor to Google Inc. But within the advertising and research industries that ...

Video game athletes battling it out in California
San Jose Mercury News
ANAHEIM (AP) -- The nation's video game athletes have gathered in Southern California to battle aliens and bad guys. The Orange County Register said more than 1,000 eSports players are taking part in the Major League Gaming Championships in ...

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Who Is Going to Buy the Amazon Fire Smartphone? (video)

Is Anyone Going to Buy Amazon’s New Smartphone?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Bloomberg’s John Butler and Emily Chang discuss the new Amazon Fire and the smartphone wars. They speak on “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg-June 19)

T-Mobile Just Did What Amazon's Fire Phone Could Have Done - Businessweek: "...Starting June 23, people can go to a T-Mobile store and pick up an iPhone 5S to test free on the T-Mobile network for a week. The way phone companies talk about network performance makes it practically impossible for normal people to know how good their service will be, so handing out free trials might be the best way for T-Mobile to persuade people that things have changed...."

What Amazon’s Fire Phone Means for Apple - MoneyBeat - WSJ: "...“History has proven that entering the mobile device market is tough,” Mr. White says. “In our view, today’s announcement represents another attempt by Internet-related players to compete in the mobile device world. These initiatives have left Apple unscathed in recent years.”..."

Chinese Android smartphone comes with malware pre-installed: "A German security firm is reporting that an Android smartphone manufactured in China is shipping with malware pre-installed on it. The Star N9500 smartphone, which can be easily found available for sale via outlets like Amazon and eBay for relatively cheap prices, is said by researchers at G Data to be infected with the Uupay.D Trojan horse, posing as a version of the Google Play Store app...."

Google Nexus 6 Will Not Be Made by Us: LG Executive | NDTV Gadgets: "The latest reports indicate that LG might not be the manufacturer Google contracts to create its next Nexus smartphone, thought to be called the Nexus 6. As recently as last month, a report had indicated the next Nexus handset would be based on the recently launched LG G3, but now according to an LG executive quoted in an interview, this might not be the case...."

On T-Mobile, you can now stream music without hurting your data plan: "Streaming music on your phone would be fantastic -- if it weren't for all those pesky data caps. T-Mobile's latest UnCarrier move addresses this particular pain point: Starting today, you'll be able to listen to all of your favorite jams on popular streaming music services without it counting against your data plan. The catch? It's limited to a few of the most popular offerings, such as Pandora, Spotify, iTunes Radio, iHeartRadio, Slacker, Rhapsody and Samsung's Milk Music...."

Microsoft Reveals Office 365 Public Roadmap
InformationWeek
Microsoft unveils its Office 365 roadmap and First Release program to create a closer, more open ... Microsoft Office For iPad Vs. iWork Vs. Google.

Facebook goes down across multiple countries
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook suffered its longest and largest outage in years on Thursday, disconnecting millions of users around the globe.

Amazon And Samsung Are Locked In A Battle Against Google
Forbes
The key to these online stores is simplicity, and here Amazon might even be able to beat Apple and Google, because it has perfected the fast ...

Quantum Computing Researchers Tap Test & Measurement Tools
EE Times
It should come as a surprise that the snoops at the US National Security Agency are running an $80 million research program with the aim of developing a quantum computer capable of breaking traditional encryption schemes. While quantum computing is ...

Harley-Davidson Might Be Making An Electric Motorcycle
TechCrunch
A mysterious video released on Harley-Davidson's YouTube channel today shows a much quieter motorcycle zooming down Route 66, fueling speculation that this bike is electric. Harley fans were already suspicious after the folks at Visor Down leaked of one ...

Amazon's Five-Inch Selling Machine
New Yorker (blog)
The world's first call from a handheld cell phone, or at least the first one ever announced, was placed, in 1973, by a Motorola executive named Marty Cooper to a rival at Bell Labs. Standing on Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, he used a grayish-beige Motorola ...

BlackBerry phones to get Amazon Appstore for Android
Gamasutra
Though the company once courted game developers, BlackBerry is now shifting its focus away from improving its own app development ecosystem in favor of a readymade solution to its problems. Starting this fall, The Wall Street Journal reports, phones ...

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