The Android L-Developer Preview is now well underway. In the first of a new series of DevBytes, Rich Hyndman brings together a look at the new features. (Jul 18, 2014)
Worldwide Smartphone Shipments Edge Past 300 Million Units in the Second Quarter; Android and iOS Devices Account for 96% of the Global Market, According to IDC - prUS25037214: "The dominant smartphone operating systems (OS), Android 84.7% and iOS 11.7%, saw their combined market share swell to 96.4% for the quarter, leaving little space for competitors. Android was the primary driver with its vendor partners shipping a total of 255.3 million Android-based smartphones in 2Q14, up 33.3% year over year. Meanwhile, iOS saw its market share decline despite posting 12.7% year-over-year shipment growth. While Android and iOS both realized gains from a year ago, the rest of the market recorded losses...."
A Fascinating Look Inside Those 1.1 Million Open-Internet Comments : All Tech Considered : NPR: ".... every emergent theme was "pro" net neutrality, or supports the idea of a level playing field for content on the Internet. The comments did include "anti" net neutrality positions. They included statements opposing the "FCC's crippling new regulations," as commenters wrote. But they came from a form letter, or template, and all comment clusters that came from templates (five separate ones in all, four of five supporting net neutrality) were collapsed into a single node. Taken with the entire body of comments sampled, there weren't enough unique or organic anti-net-neutrality comments to register on the map...."
TechStars NYC co-founder launches Spring, a brand-backed mobile marketplace - The Next Web: "David Tisch, the co-founder of TechStars NYC, today launched his new startup, Spring, an iOS-based ecommerce platform that has the support of several high-end brands. Shopping on the Spring app (US-only for now) feels like scrolling through Instagram if you only followed fashion brands, or Pinterest without all the amateur crafts. Product photos are meant to be edgy lifestyle images instead of your usual shots on a white background. At launch, Spring has over 100 brands on-board, including Warby Parker, Band of Outsiders and Hugo Boss. “The only brands we’re letting onto the platform is brands that care about the customer, brands that have a soul,” Tisch said...."Exclusive: Ultra Violet: Google is testing a new design for Hangouts: "Given the all-encompassing redesign of various Google services, it was almost to be expected, now you can say it with any degree of certainty: Google Hangouts gets a new look...."
YouTube TV: YouTube refreshes television app for set-top boxes, game consoles and smart TVs "...The refreshed interface should pop up soon -- it's available now with Xbox One, and Google plans to roll it out to other devices within the next few weeks." https://www.youtube.com/tv
Google's IPO, 10 Years Later: "On August 19, 2004, Google went public in a highly anticipated initial public offering that valued the six-year old company at what seemed to be an astronomical $23 billion, with a price-earnings ratio of 80, a mere six years after its founding. The company was already generating annualized revenue of $2.7 billion and profits of $286 million. Today, Google’s market cap is $390 billion, with annualized revenue of $64 billion and profits of $13 billion. Google’s market cap is the third highest of any U.S. company, with only Apple and Exxon Mobil being bigger. Public market buy-and-hold investors have scored a “ten-bagger”, earning a return of more than 1,000% over the decade.... "
Google Exec Violated Ethics Rules While at DARPA | News & Opinion | PCMag.com: "...The Defense Department was tipped off in 2011 by the Project on Government Oversight (POGO), which alleged that RedX received $1.75 million in contracts following Dugan's appointment to DARPA. The non-profit watchdog group also said she kept a financial stake in the company after her departure, Navy Times reported...."
Google goes DARPA: "...Today Dugan is leading a cadre of big-idea special forces—called Advanced Technology and Projects group, or ATAP for short—on an even grander mission for parent Google, where the unit is slated to remain after the sale of Motorola to Lenovo is completed later this year... "
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Google Android 'L': 10 things you need to know - Google gives us a look at the new android update called Android-L, we do not know what the L stands for yet but here are 10 things we do know (video above) source: The Telegraph
Where WWDC Hinted, Google IO Delivers... Something - Google Inc. - Seeking Alpha: ".... The fundamental takeaway for investors of any stripe is that Android just keeps improving and becoming more competitive with iOS and Windows Phone. The idea that iPhone is "crushing" its competition, which is mostly Android, is a fanboy fantasy rooted in an ignorance that investors in Google's mobile competitors can ill afford. When iPhone 6 arrives this fall, I believe it will still be superior to the wave of Android L phones it will compete with. The point I make repeatedly is that technological superiority does not guarantee market success. In "Why iPhone 6 Won't Reverse Apple's Market Share Decline" I predicted that iPhone's market share would subside to about 16% in calendar Q4 with iPhone y/y revenue growth declining to 7.8%, down from 15.6% in Q4 2013. The strengths of Android L may indicate that these numbers are optimistic."
Private Castles in the Cloud | MIT Technology Review: "On June 25, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling on digital privacy. In U.S. v. Wurie and Riley v. California, the court unanimously held that police generally require a warrant to search information on cell phones seized from people who have been arrested. Writing for eight of the justices (Justice Samuel Alito issued his own concurring opinion), Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged that the court understood how this ruling might pose issues for law enforcement but said, “Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple—get a warrant.”..."
Google I/O 2014: 10 Big Developments
InformationWeek
Google unveiled everything from Android to wearable news at its annual developers show. Here are the developments that matter most. Previous.
Facebook has been experimenting on you
Chicago Tribune
This might be the reason Facebook doesn't have a dislike button. ... which explains how and why Facebook used nearly 700,000 news feeds and ...
Facebook: NYC prosecutors got data on 381 users
USA TODAY
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors building a sweeping disabilities-benefit fraud case got a trove of data from the Facebook accounts of more than 380 ...
Google Powered Up A Semi-Functional Project Ara Prototype Device at I/O
Forbes
A plethora of news has come out of Google Google's I/O conference this week, most of it revolving around Android and the company's plan to use its ...
Facebook News Feed: 5 Changes
InformationWeek
Gone are the days when Facebook showed you every post from every friend. Here's a look at Facebook's latest News Feed algorithm changes and ...
Microsoft to shutter security notification service
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft on Friday said it would shut down its email ... Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and ...
Google's cardboard VR headset is no joke -- it's great for the Oculus Rift
CNET
Google Cardboard is the company's DIY method for turning your Android smartphone ... When Google announced a do-it-yourself virtual reality kit made of cardboard ... WasGoogle mocking VR and poking fun at Oculus, the VR goggle makers Facebook acquired for $2 billion? .... Microsoft Surface Pro 3.
Microsoft rumored to be planning to replace 'Surface' branding with 'Lumia'
ZDNet
But according to known leaker @evleaks, Microsoft may be doing just that. According to his unnamed sources, Microsoft may be moving toward ...
Google Shuts Down TalkBin, A Feedback Platform For Businesses It Acquired In 2011
TechCrunch
TalkBin, a customer feedback platform for businesses that was incubated at Y Combinator and then acquired by Google in 2011, is being shut down ...
Google execs visit Cuba for first time to promote open Internet
Reuters
Google is on an official two-day visit "to promote the virtues of a free and ... Neither Google nor the Cuban government made any official statement ...
more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)
