Move over Comcast, Google Fiber is coming to even more cities! --
Official Blog: Exploring new cities for Google Fiber: "... We've long believed that the Internet’s next chapter will be built on gigabit speeds, so it’s fantastic to see this momentum. And now that we’ve learned a lot from our Google Fiber projects in Kansas City, Austin and Provo, we want to help build more ultra-fast networks. So we’ve invited cities in nine metro areas around the U.S.—34 cities altogether—to work with us to explore what it would take to bring them Google Fiber...."
More info at link above and at: https://fiber.google.com/newcities/
HP 'KNEW' about Autonomy's hardware sales BEFORE the whistle blew: report • The Register: "HP knew about Autonomy's hardware and reseller sales long before a whistleblower pointed them out and the company wrote down its acquisition by $8.8bn, theFinancial Times has claimed (paywall), citing emails and Deloitte audit reports. HP has accused Autonomy of "accounting improprieties, misrepresentations and disclosure failures" to excuse the massive writedown it made after it bought the UK software firm for $11.1bn in 2011. A year later, it claimed that it was misled about the state of the company's business when it wrote off most of the cost of the purchase...."
FCC won’t appeal Verizon ruling, will regulate ’Net on “case-by-case basis” | Ars Technica: " . . . Senior Staff Attorney John Bergmayer of consumer advocacy group Public Knowledge has previously warned that case-by-case regulation is ineffective. "We're in a bad place with net neutrality right now because the FCC got itself tied up in a knot with subtle lawyering," Bergmayer wrote. "Instead of building on its successes as a telecommunications regulator, it tried to come up with a 'third way.' I'm skeptical that yet more subtle lawyering—a fourth way or a fifth way—is going to save us." Public Knowledge CEO Gene Kimmelman released a statement today, saying, "While skeptical that the FCC's initial focus on section 706 will yield meaningful results, we are encouraged to see that the FCC plans to keep its 'reclassification' proceeding open...."
We Need Straightforward Rules to Protect Net Neutrality | Public Knowledge: "Telecom lawyers just can't stop coming up with complicated answers to simple problems. The reason the FCC lost its net neutrality case at the DC Circuit was simple. It tried to both de-regulate broadband access, by classifying it as an "information service" (something like a website or a social network), while applying traditional "telecommunications" rules to it--things like prohibitions on blocking content and discriminating against competing services. The DC Circuit Court of Appeals said--sorry, FCC. If you want to treat broadband access like a communications service, you need to formally classify it as one. Clever legal tricks aren't going to get you around this...."
Official Blog: Thank you, and welcome to the new Google Maps: "Over the coming weeks the new Google Maps will make its way onto desktops around the world. Many of you have been previewing it since its debut last May, and thanks to your helpful feedback we’re ready to make the new Maps even more widely available.... "
Xiaomi kicks off global expansion with Singapore launch | ZDNet: "Chinese smartphone darling, Xiaomi, has kicked off its global expansion plans in Singapore where its Android devices will go on sale this Friday, marking the company's first foray into markets outside of Greater China...."
AT&T reveals number of NSA and location demands in first-ever transparency report — Tech News and Analysis: "AT&T has made good on its promise to publish a report showing how often government demands data about its customers. The report includes information about cell tower searches and once-secret NSA demands...."
Apple passing Microsoft — Benedict Evans: "A symbolic moment, this: in Q4 2013 the number of computers* sold by Apple was larger than the number of Windows PC sold globally. If you add Windows Phone to the mix they're more or less exactly equal. "
Apple, Google, Microsoft: Where does the money come from? | ZDNet: "Three companies dominate the tech landscape in 2014: Apple, Google, and Microsoft. Although they compete directly and indirectly in various segments, each company has its own distinct financial personality. Big Three earnings Apple Q1 2014 hardware sales: By the numbers Microsoft earnings cheat sheet: Windows is back to cash cow number one Google's earnings: What future for plunging AdSense business? The best way to understand the differences between these three publicly traded companies is to look at the detailed reports each is required to file every quarter...."
BBC News - Kim Dotcom mansion raid was legal, NZ court rules: "However, the court did agree that the investigators' cloning of electronic evidence had been unlawful. . . .Mr Dotcom's legal team said it intends to contest the appeal court's decision."
Microsoft kills SkyDrive, launches OneDrive
Computerworld
In comparison, Apple provides only 5GB of free storage space for its iCloud online syncing and storage service, Google offers 15GB free with Google Drive, and the popular Dropbox file synchronization service hands just 2GB to customers free of charge.
Apple, Elon Musk and interplanetary travel
CNET
Apple, as well as Microsoft and Google, wants to be in every car, not just Tesla. The company is betting that iOS users want to have their Apple-ness everywhere. Applehas been working with Audi, General Motors, Ford, Hyundai, and others to integrate ...
Apple Gains Some Ground in China Smartphone Market
Wall Street Journal (blog)
According to research firm IDC, Apple's market share in mainland China rose to 7% in the quarter from 6% in the third quarter. The fourth quarter was the first full quarter afterApple launched its iPhone 5S and 5C in China in late September, on the ...
Google Capital Lands $300 Million and Leaps Into Web Education
Bloomberg
Google Inc. (GOOG)'s new investment arm has $300 million in fresh capital to put to work this year and is starting the dealmaking with its first foray into Web education.Google Capital, established by the search company to back late-stage technology ...
Microsoft Brings Lync, Skype Closer Together
InformationWeek
Microsoft faces strong competitors such as Cisco, Siemens, Google, and ShoreTel in the unified communication and collaboration market, which research firm IDC estimates will be worth $21 billion this year. Lync is formidable in its own right; in ...
Steve Perlman's Artemis unveils his 'breakthrough' wireless broadband ...
VentureBeat
Steve Perlman, the serial Silicon Valley entrepreneur who brought us OnLive and WebTV, has announced a new wireless broadband technology called pCell. The technology will enable full-speed wireless broadband to every mobile device, regardless of ...
more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)
