Buyology Author Martin Lindstrom on Alipay, Global Retailing (video)

Will Alipay Revolutionize America?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play or go to link above)
“Buyology” Author Martin Lindstrom discusses the impact Alipay will have on global retailing. Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal also speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Source: Bloomberg Nov.28)


The Westside Story
Report: Sony Prepping E Ink Watch
PC Magazine
Details are scant on Sony's FES Watch, but it sure looks like a novel offering....


kjrh.com
Recalls this week: battery packs, doors
Charlotte Observer
A line of battery packs used to charge electronic devices are being recalled this week because they can overheat and cause a fire....


Daily Digest
Roku, Chromecast Or Fire TV: Which Streaming Stick Is Right For You?
Forbes
If you're looking to add streaming capability to your TV without taking up extra shelf space, a streaming stick can be a good—and less expensive—alternative to the standard set-top box . Roku, Google GOOGL +0.27%, and now Amazon all make sticks that let ...


ZDNet
Sony Pictures corporate files stolen and released in cyberattack
ZDNet
Sony has quite the history with hacking and cyberattacks affecting its networks, and now a subsidiary of the company is coping with intrusion on internal networks. Sony Pictures Entertainment, the television and movie arm of the tech giant, was hijacked this ...


ZDNet
Two-thirds of iPhone and iPad users now running iOS 8.0/8.1
ZDNet
It's been slow progress, but figures released by Apple show that iOS 8.0/8.1 usage has finally hit the 60 percent mark. See also: Compared to iOS, Android Lollipop adoption rates suck. Data released by Apple shows that almost two thirds of users accessing ...


Firstpost
How the Samsung Galaxy Note got its pen in CNET UK podcast 412
CNET
The Samsung Galaxy Note almost came with a toothpick, we're going back to "Jurassic World", and BT has its sights on O2 -- or maybe EE...


NDTV
Google Play Deals Include Nexus 9, Smartwatches
PC Magazine
On Black Friday through Cyber Monday, get Google Play credit and some extra discounts on Nexus 9 and Chromecast. 0shares. Hands On With the Google Nexus 9. Big box retailers aren't the only ones offering Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. On the ...


Christian Science Monitor
Windows 10 Consumer Preview May Come In January
Tom's Hardware
Just days after Microsoft indicated that no more builds of Windows 10 will be pushed off to Insiders this year, unnamed sources are now talking about a large-scale event that will take place in January. This event will happen later in the month and will reveal ...


Mobile Burn
Tutorial: Google Play Store and All Apps on Your Windows PC
Mobile Burn
Some recent all-in-one PCs (we're thinking the HP Slate 21) came with Android instead of Windows and the truth is Android is not robust enough as a full machine OS. Of course, some laptops come with both Windows and Android, but these hybrids have ...

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Zuckerberg Speaks Mandarin but Can Facebook Speak Chinese? (video)

Speaking Mandarin: Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, at Tsinghua University, Beijing, China, (video above)--Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg impressed audiences at Tsinghua University in Beijing on Wednesday by answering questions in Mandarin. How well does Zuckerberg speak Chinese? Jeff Wang, the director of education and China Learning Initiatives at the Asia Society, grades Mark's Mandarin. (Oct 24, 2014-Bloomberg)


Forbes
Mark Zuckerberg Knows Chinese, But It's A Long Road To Export Facebook
Forbes
Mark Zuckerberg has impressed the world with his almost-fluent Chinese, but can his effort translate into Facebook's success in China? In a 30-minute ...

China's Massive iCloud Hack Is So Obvious It May Be a Message to Apple | Motherboard: "China is trying to hoover up its citizens’ iCloud passwords, according to various reports, and it's doing so in a rather brazen way. The hacks are so blatant that it appears China doesn’t even care who catches it spying. Onlookers have suggested that either the Politburo isn’t worried about being seen as a digitally repressive state, or it’s sticking its middle finger up at Apple. It could well be both...."

Say hello to Microsoft Lumia - [Microsoft site] Conversations: "When we announced that the Nokia Devices & Services business would become part of Microsoft, we also shared that Lumia, our smartphone brand, would become part of the Microsoft family. Since then, we have naturally been making the change from Nokia to Microsoft in our websites, packaging and other consumer touch points...."

The Laborers Who Keep Dick Pics and Beheadings Out of Your Facebook Feed | WIRED: "... the image on Baybayan’s screen does not resemble typical startup work: It appears to show a super-close-up photo of a two-pronged dildo wedged in a vagina. I say appears because I can barely begin to make sense of the image, a baseball-card-sized abstraction of flesh and translucent pink plastic, before he disappears it with a casual flick of his mouse...."


New York Times
Microsoft Offers Tantalizing Signs of Progress
New York Times
And many venerable technology companies are struggling to leap from the ... 30,Microsoft's fiscal first quarter, the company said its net income was ...
Microsoft sales beat Street hopes, cloud profits up - Reuters
Microsoft Bucks Trend as Sales Defy Expectations - Wall Street Journal
Microsoft's Q1 2015: Surface growing strongly and Lumia sales up - The Verge

Microsoft Shipped 2.4 Million Xbox Consoles In Q1 FY15
Microsoft's fortunes are turning around with regard to the gaming division, shipping 2.4 million Xbox consoles in the company's first quarter of the new ...

Play Your Android Games and Videos on the TV with Google Chromecast
There's a lot you can do with the Google Chromecast but did you know you can cast your screen from your Android phone or tablet to any ...

How Is Google Analytics So Damn Fast?
TL; DR: Google Analytics stores a massive amount of statistical data from web sites across the globe. Retrieving reports quickly from such a large ...

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Carl Icahn Says Apple Shares Sell at Half Price, Wants Buyback

Carl wants his shares in Apple to increase in value--now--

Wall Street Journal
Icahn Letter Pushes Apple to Buy Back More Shares
Wall Street Journal
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn, in an open letter, called on Apple CEO Tim Cook to buy back shares. Icahn also projects a new Apple HD TV set in ...
Icahn: Apple shares sell at 'half price' value - USA TODAY
One More Thing: Carl Icahn Expects Apple To Crush The 4K TV Market - Forbes


The Hindu
The Disconnect Between Yahoo Shareholders And Marissa Mayer
Forbes
I'm not the only shareholder who is critical now of Mayer as a CEO. I've spoken to many investors privately who share my frustration and have ...


Wall Street Journal
Larger Apple iPad to Be Delayed
Wall Street Journal
Suppliers of the Cupertino, Calif., company had originally planned to produce the larger iPad in mass volume beginning in December, the people said.


USA TODAY
Report: Amazon to open retail store in NYC
USA TODAY
Online retail giant Amazon will take on Macy's and other Herald Square retailers with a ... "Even the Apple Store carries non-Apple products," he says.
Amazon's first brick-and-mortar store said to open in Manhattan - Engadget


Wall Street Journal
Apple Supplier Wants to Wind Down Production
Wall Street Journal
GT Advanced Technologies, a manufacturer of synthetic sapphire that was considered for Apple's new smartphones, is looking to end production after ...


New York Times
Technology Titans Lead Ranking of Most Valuable Brands
New York Times
In addition to Apple and Google, they are Microsoft, at No. ... And Facebook — which had the highest percentage increase in value from last year, 86 percent — is, ... 45, up 27 percent; Amazon, classified as a retail brand, No. 15, up ...


New York Times
Wearable Technology That Feels Like Skin
New York Times
Apple and Samsung, for example, are betting on the wrist; Google, the face. A slew of tech companies believe clothing will simply become electronic.


New York Times
Court Hears Case on Pay for Amazon Workers Screened After Work
New York Times
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Wednesday heard arguments over whether workers at an Amazon warehouse in Las Vegas must be paid ...

Microsoft reboots
"Lucrative irrelevance" is the phrase Vanity Fair's Bethany McLean uses to elaborate Microsoft's future under Ballmer. With Ballmer gone, though, does ...

GT Advanced Wants to Keep Issues With Apple Secret
GT Advanced Technologies, the sapphire supplier that filed for bankruptcy protection Monday, wants to keep what went wrong between it and Apple ...

The Apple Products Most Overdue For An Update
Well, it's official: Apple is holding an event on October 16 that will reportedly ... You can also follow us onFacebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

Google Maps takes its 'street view' to the desert, uses camels instead of cars
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – (Oct. 8, 2014)– Google is taking its famous street view ... In the description of YouTube video above, Google Arabia says, “Explore the Arabian ... Photo courtesy of the Prayers for Shane Facebook page ...

How to Customize Your Google Chromecast with Personal Wallpapers and More
The Chromecast finally supports a feature users have been requesting for ages: customized wallpaper. Read on as we show you how to add custom ...

Google Chrome Blog: A simpler, faster way to use Hangouts on your desktop: "... Voice calling from your desktop. The app now has all the video and voice features you’re used to in Hangouts. We recently announced you can make phone calls to any number in the world (via Hangouts dialer) and now you can do this right from your desktop. If you use Google Voice, the app includes complete Google Voice support, so you can make and receive calls, and get your voicemails and SMS messages directly in Hangouts...."

Attn: Developers:
Chrome 39 beta arrives with new developer features, including JavaScript Generators and Web Animations control | VentureBeat 

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Chromecast sales equal Roku; Tablet Sales Decline

Roku and Chromecast go head-to-head in streaming race, Apple TV falling behind — Tech News and Analysis: "Google sold 3.8 million Chromecast streaming sticks last year, which makes the device about as popular as Roku’s streaming devices. Roku and Chromecast were the two most successful streaming devices sold in the U.S. in 2013, according to new data from Parks Associates, which puts Apple TV on third place. Google sold an estimated 3.8 million Chromecast streaming sticks after introducing the product in mid-2013, according to Parks, which also estimates that this about equals Roku’s sales throughout 2013. Apple is trailing, and sold just a bit more than two million devices in the U.S. last year, according to data shared by Parks...."

Meanwhile Tablet sales decline, ramifications for Apple iPad and Microsoft Surface strategies?
Tablet Shipments Decline For the First Time, NPD Says - Digits - WSJ: "... Global shipments of tablet computers, after years of robust growth, declined for the first time in the first quarter of this year, according to NPD DisplaySearch. The research firm also lowered its tablet shipment forecast for 2014. The decline is in part because of weakening demand for smaller tablets – those between 7 inches and 7.9 inches – which accounted for 58% of global tablet shipments last year. In China and other emerging markets, competition from smartphones with screens larger than 5.5 inches is hurting demand for those tablets, NPD said...."

Amazon's Next Steps Toward Cloud Domination
InformationWeek
The headliner was clearly Amazon Zocalo, a file-sharing service, but the ... AmazonZocalo is a managed file-storage and sharing service aimed ... to fit somewhere between DropBox-like offerings and Microsoft SharePoint ... identity providers for logon, includingFacebook and Google, and Amazon says ...

Amazon Sued Over Billing for App Store Purchases
New York Times
Amazon's mobile store, the suit states, introduced the ability to bill ... But Ms. Rich said the F.T.C.'s goals in both the Apple and Amazon cases had ...

Amazon seeks OK for testing of 50-mph drones
USA TODAY
Amazon is apparently getting serious about using drones to make super quick, airborne deliveries like something you'd see on The Jetsons.

Amazon Shelves French Book Discounts
Wall Street Journal
The new law, which went into effect Thursday morning, essentially forbids online booksellers from applying government-regulated discounts to the ...

Microsoft gears up to open 'right to be forgotten' request form
ZDNet
With the ruling related to a complaint about results in Google, and it ... release the form because it needs to coordinate with Yahoo, whose search is powered by Bing. ...Microsoft is yet to reveal whether it will also follow Google's recent decision ... EPIC files complaint over Facebook emotion experiment.

Google Faces New Search Complaint
Wall Street Journal
An internal Yelp presentation, reviewed by The Wall Street Journal, claims that Google is showing results from its Google+ local listings ahead of links ...

Google launches $100M fund for European startups
San Jose Mercury News
MOUNTAIN VIEW -- Google has started a $100 million fund to invest in European ... The fund, which will be managed by Google Ventures, the company's ... trailing only Yahoo, which made 22 acquisitions, according to research and ...

Google's top lawyer says EU's 'right to be forgotten'...
The Verge
Google's chief legal officer has explained why the company disagrees with the EU's recent ruling that people have the "right to be forgotten" by its search engine. Writing in The Guardian, David Drummond explains the search giant's problems with the ...

Microsoft CEO signals change, defers talk on job cuts
Chicago Tribune
Since absorbing the handset business of Nokia this spring, Microsoft has 127,000 employees, far more than rivals Apple Inc AAPL.O and Google Inc ...

Chimp IQ
Chimpanzee Intelligence Depends on Genes, Human Caretakers Don't Affect It
Design & Trend
Some chimpanzees are lucky enough to be born smarter than their peers, and as with humans, a sizable amount of the variation in intelligence depends on the genes that the chimps inherit from their parents. Some chimpanzees are lucky ...

7 Dwarf Galaxies Found By Frankenscope
Science 2.0
A new type of telescope made by stitching together telephoto lenses recently discovered seven celestial surprises while probing a nearby spiral galaxy - previously undetected dwarf galaxies. Pieter van Dokkum, chair of Yale's astronomy department, ...

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Access to Google services in China returns

Not much internet freedom in China --

Access to Google services within China returns | Reuters: "Users in China were able to access online services for Google Inc on Thursday, after more than a month of severe disruption that almost completely blocked people from using features such as its search, maps and e-mail functions. The Google disruption began in the run-up to the 25th anniversary of the government's bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators around Beijing's Tiananmen Square. China maintains tight control over the Internet, nipping in the bud any signs of dissent or challenges to the ruling Communist Party's leadership...."

Google Cloud Platform Blog: Welcome Microsoft, RedHat, IBM, Docker and more to the Kubernetes community: "Kubernetes is an open source manager for Docker containers, based on Google’s years of experience using containers at Internet scale. Today, Microsoft, RedHat, IBM, Docker, Mesosphere, CoreOS and SaltStack are joining the Kubernetes community and will actively contribute to the project. Each company brings unique strengths, and together we will ensure that Kubernetes is a strong and open container management framework for any application and in any environment - whether in a private, public or hybrid cloud. Our shared goal is to allow a broad range of developers to take advantage of container technologies. Kubernetes was built from the ground up as a lean, extensible and portable framework for managing Docker workloads. It lets customers manage their applications the way that Google manages hyper-scale applications like Search and Gmail. Containers offer tremendous advantages for developers. Predictable deployments and simple scalability are possible because Docker packages all of a workload’s dependencies with the application. This allows for ultimate portability; you can avoid vendor lock-in and run containers in the cloud of your choice. It is just as important that the management framework has the same properties of portability and scalability, and that is what the community will bring to Kubernetes...."

Aereo Lays Out New Survival Strategy in Letter to Judge - Hollywood Reporter: "... Aereo reports that it is proceeding to file the necessary statements of account and royalty fees, and asserts that the Supreme Court's decision has overruled the 2nd Circuit decision in Ivi, which concerned a predecessor digital TV transmitter that once attempted to gain legitimacy through the paying of compulsory license fees. Even if the judge doesn't accept the argument, Aereo says there are still issues to be addressed about the "scope" of any preliminary injunction...."

Google Chrome Blog: Mirror Your Android Screen to the TV with Chromecast: "Chromecast makes it easy for you to enjoy your favorite entertainment on the biggest screen in the house. Starting today, you can mirror your Android phone and tablet to the TV so you can see your favorite apps, photos or anything else, exactly as you see it on your mobile device—only bigger. To start mirroring, simply select “Cast Screen” from the navigation drawer in the Chromecast app and select your Chromecast device.  On Nexus devices, this feature is also available through the quick settings menu. Now, anything on your Android device will appear on the TV. You can share photos stored on your phone with a group of friends, or scope out the scenery for your next family vacation together on the big screen using Google Earth...."

Cast your Android screen from the Chromecast App -  Current Devices "Nexus 4 Nexus 5 Nexus 7 (2013) Nexus 10 Samsung Galaxy S4 Samsung Galaxy S4 (Google Play Edition) Samsung Galaxy S5 Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Samsung Galaxy Note 10 HTC One M7 HTC One M7 (Google Play Edition) LG G3 LG G2 LG G Pro 2 Support for additional devices coming soon"

Amazon allowed kids to spend millions on in-app purchases, FTC says
PCWorld
This week, Politico reported that Apple has complained to the FTC that Google allows the same kinds of in-app purchases in its mobile app store.

Google executive's November death on Santa Cruz yacht turns torrid with prostitute's arrest
San Jose Mercury News
The victim: Forrest Timothy Hayes, a 51-year-old who was on the Google team ... In Facebook posts and pictures on a page that disappeared around noon ... Google andApple representatives declined to discuss Hayes' tenure or ...

Google's Venture Capital Arm Adds $100 Million European Fund
Bloomberg
Google provides funds to the ventures arm, which makes strategic ... Facebook Inc. this year agreed to spend $19 billion for messaging startup ...

Apple Secures EU Trademark for Store Layouts
Wall Street Journal
Apple Inc. has secured an EU court ruling to register the layout of its shops--like its new flagship store opened in Madrid, Spain, last month--as a ...

Microsoft CEO backs Xbox in employee memo
USA TODAY
Microsoft chief Satya Nadella says the company will "continue to grow and innovate" with their Xbox video game brand, brushing off speculation that ...

Yahoo plan for Alibaba cash draws attention
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Yahoo Inc. will kick off the tech earnings ... “We will be listening closely for how Yahoo thinks about using its Alibaba ...

Microsoft Enhances Azure, Office 365
InformationWeek
Microsoft sets the tone for its Worldwide Partner Conference with new Office 365 plans, ...Microsoft announced a raft of enhancements Wednesday to its cloud ... with those ofAmazon and other cloud competitors, and how well Microsoft ... I'm sure Apple will come up with something better for their users.

Apple's CarPlay to dominate infotainment systems, will be in 24M cars by 2019
Computerworld
Computerworld - In just five years, Apple's CarPlay API for iPhone integration ... Earlier this year, Google announced it would start an Open Automotive ...

Amazon Web Services Launches New Capabilities for Mobile Developers
MarketWatch
Amazon Cognito is a new service that provides simple user identity and data ... unauthenticated guests and then sign in with Amazon, Facebook, or Google. ... send notifications to Apple iOS, Google Android, and Kindle Fire devices.

Apple Plans All-Glass iPhone In Radical Design Shift
Forbes
It has long been an industry joke that the ultimate Apple Apple design would simply be a piece of glass. Well such teasing may not be far off the mark ...

Apple brings iTunes Extras to Apple TV, HD Extras to Macs today & iOS 8 in fall | 9to5Mac
By Jordan Kahn
While we'll have to wait for iTunes Extras to arrive on iOS with the release of iOS 8 this fall, the Apple TV OS 6.2 update rolled out late last month to ...

Satya Nadella Says Changes Are Coming to Microsoft - NYTimes.com
By By NICK WINGFIELD
An essay sent to Microsoft employees by the company's chief executive appears to ... Satya Nadella's essay, sent by email to Microsoft employees, said the company would " ...
Bits

FTC: Amazon Billed Parents Millions for Kids' Unauthorized App Buys - Gizmodo
By Kate Knibbs
The Federal Trade Commission has filed a lawsuit against Amazon demanding ... Earlier this year, Apple settled a similar complaint for $32.5 million.
Gizmodo

Facebook Is Studying Your Mom, Your Makeout Buddy, and Your 9/11 Conspiracy Theories ...
By Dana Liebelson
Facebook users and privacy advocates erupted in anger recently after New ... Although it's unlikely Facebook users have heard about most of these studies .... in with Facebook, Twitter, Google, Yahoo, Disqus, or OpenID to comment.
Culture | Mother Jones

RUMOR: Apple Put In A Gigantic Order For The iPhone 6 - Business Insider
By Jay Yarow
Taiwan's “Business Weekly” is reporting that Apple told suppliers to make 68 million ... Login With Facebook Login With Twitter Login With Google.
Business Insider

Regulators sue Amazon on billing practices for in-app purchases | SiliconBeat
By Michelle Quinn
The FTC settled with Apple in January on the same issue. ... opportunity to point regulators to an article about Google's own practices, as I wrote about ...

Google Maps goes to Angkor Wat, Cambodia - AMERICAblog
By John Aravosis
Google takes you on a journey to the historic temple of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. How cool is that?
AMERICAblog News

Space Probe Might Lack Nitrogen to Push It Home - NYTimes.com: ".... On Wednesday, the team tried firings with different permutations of tanks, valves and thrusters. None worked, leading the engineers to suspect that the problem was not mechanical, but empty tanks. The nitrogen is used to squeeze the fuel, hydrazine, to the thrusters. “Without that, you don’t have a rocket,” Mr. Cowing said. There is a small chance that ISEE-3 is on course to slam into the moon on Aug. 10. A communication session on Friday will help determine its path. If it misses the moon, it will again wander in a looping orbit around the sun. “I’m going to wave to it as it goes by,” said Robert W. Farquhar, who was the spacecraft’s project scientist when ISEE-3 launched and who came up with the idea of sending it to visit a comet. Even though they might not be able to capture the spacecraft, Mr. Cowing said they were devising an alternative in which ISEE-3 would collect scientific data and send it back to Earth. “There’s a Plan B,” he said. “We’re going to listen to the spacecraft as long as it talks.”"

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AutoCast for Chromecast

AutoCast -  AutoCast is a Tasker plugin that gives you full control over your Chromecast. It not only enables you to cast images, audio and video from Tasker, but you can also cast and control many other local or web contents, like YouTube videos and playlists, notifications, voice, and web pages! You can also take over other apps that are being cast and control their playback! Get the app here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...
Other apps used in the video:
Tasker: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de...
AutoNotification: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... (to intercept Android notifications)
AutoVoice: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... (for voice commands)
AutoShare: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... (to share stuff from the browser and gallery app)
AutoRemote: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... (to cast from my PC)
BubbleUPnP: https://play.google.com/store/apps/de... (to cast system audio; check how to do it here: http://joaoapps.com/autocast/faq/)

'AutoCast' for Android might be the most useful Chromecast app yet | VentureBeat | "...Yet the real selling point for AutoCast is its ability to let you multitask via Chromecast-connected TVs. That means you can cast a slideshow of photos to your TV’s screen and have music playing in the background that uses the TV’s speakers. This also means you can get notifications while you’re watching a movie.
AutoCast is available now for free in the Google Play Store..."

Google's Project Loon balloon circles Earth in a record 22 days - CNET: "The tech giant may have found its darling with Ibis-167. Surfing air currents and dodging the polar vortex, the Wi-Fi carrying balloon beat all odds in its recent journey...."

Microsoft takes steps to improve its Windows 8 business-app story
ZDNet
Microsoft's onerous requirements for sideloading Windows Store/Metro-Style apps is one of the reasons for the dearth. Sideloading is the way ...

HTC's M8: Get This Smartphone Before It's Too Late?: "Chou says in a March 25 company statement. “Today I’m proud to launch the most stunning, intuitive and advanced handset that the industry has seen to date, the new HTC One (M8).”"

Amazon Fire TV review: A great device, but not fully ready
IBNLive
Apple TV already has all that, but it doesn't offer Amazon Instant Video directly on the device. ... You can also check email and Facebook. ... Meanwhile, Google Inc. has a $35 streaming device called the Chromecast. ...

Google working on new Android TV platform: Report
Times of India
NEW DELHI: It appears that Google has not given up on the idea of creating its ... to compete with Apple TV and Amazon's recently unveiled Fire TV offering. ... Google wants developers to create simple apps for Android TV and is ....

Apple's Deep Pockets: What $159 Billion Could Do
New York Times (blog)
And tech giants like Apple, Google and Microsoft had the most. ... Amazon has bought robot makers, e-commerce services and hardware start-ups. And Facebook has spent more than $20 billion in just the last two months on a ...

Facebook post saves girl's vision as 'glow in the eye' raises alarm
WXIA-TV
When her 3-year-old daughter gave herself a new hairdo last fall, Tara Taylor proudly posted a photo of the look on Facebook. It wasn't the cute bows ...

Microsoft Office for iPad: Hit or miss?
Business Standard
Microsoft Office. These two ... one from Microsoft. Office for iPad, though, will remain on my Apple tablet, even if I'm not going to subscribe to Office 365.

Google pays EU fine for Street View breaches
HeraldNet
LUXEMBOURG - Google paid a $1.37 million fine in Italy after the local regulator found its Street View cars drove incognito across the country, ...

Microsoft's open sourcing of .Net: The back story
ZDNet
Microsoft's move to open source key chunks of its .Net platform was one of the biggest announcements at Microsoft's Build 2014 show last week.

Google's climb of Mount Meru
The Hindu
“Do you really want to climb this?” asked the journalist next to me as we looked up at the steep flight of steps leading up to Mount Meru. No, this was ...

Apple Acknowledges Consumers Want Larger and Cheaper Phones - Mac Rumors
By Arnold Kim
The latest internal documents coming out of the Samsung/Apple trial show some candid insight into Apple's analysis of the future of the smartphone ...
MacRumors: Mac News and Rumors...

"Night Walk In Marseille" Is The Best Use Of Google Maps So Far - BuzzFeed
buzzfeed.com
Let Google take you on a magnificent tour of the French city's streets at night. .. ... Don't forget to share with your friends on Twitter and Facebook.
www.buzzfeed.com/.../night-walk-in-marseille-is-the-best-use-...

Google Recently Studied Square Acquisition - The Information
theinformation.com
Google recently pondered an acquisition of payment company Square, according to two people briefed on the company's thinking. The companies ...
https://www.theinformation.com/Google-Recently-Studied-Sq...

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New Photowall iOS App, Chromecast interactive photo viewer

One more reason to buy Chromecast -- expect more of these kinds of fun and creative apps for Chromecast in the coming months --

Google’s Photowall for iOS turns the Chromecast into an interactive photo viewer — Tech News and Analysis: "Got an iPhone and a Chromecast? You can hold a photo viewing party with the new Photowall app from Google. The software lets multiple people share and doodle on big screen photos, creating a YouTube video of the entire session...."

Google's Bold Plan to Overthrow Amazon as King of the Cloud | Wired Enterprise | Wired.com: "Urs Hölzle oversaw the creation of the world’s largest computer. It’s a machine that spans the globe — from The Dalles, Oregon to Hamina, Finland to Quilicura, Chile — and you use it every day. It’s called Google....this past January, Hölzle sent a thunderclap of a corporate memo across the company, laying out a new direction for both his team and the entire Google empire....a major expansion of the company’s cloud computing services — services that let outside businesses or software developers run their own software atop Google’s global infrastructure. “We will spend the majority of our development efforts on this New World,” wrote Hölzle. “Every developer will want to live in this world…and it’s our job to build it.”...."
more info:
https://cloud.google.com/
https://cloud.google.com/products/compute-engine/

Apple in Talks With Comcast About Streaming-TV Service
Wall Street Journal
While devices have made some inroads in the TV industry, none offer the kind of fully formed TV service, with the guarantee of network quality, that ...

Microsoft's Nokia buy suffers delay
ZDNet
Set to go ahead for $5 billion, with roughly $2.17 billion spent on licensing Nokia patents,Microsoft will not only acquire Nokia's handset-making ...

Microsoft case shows privacy's a myth
Boston Herald
While U.S. technology giants such as Facebook, Google and Microsoft have taken pains to distance themselves from government spy efforts brought ...

Amazon set to put AWS in the spotlight
MarketWatch
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — The average consumer knows many things aboutAmazon.com Inc., including its almost endless list of products ...

Apple Could Spur Growth By Opening Up iTunes, Mobile Payments
Forbes
Billboard reports that Apple is considering a multi-pronged strategy that may include an iTunes app for Google's Android. Google has always had apps ...

Microsoft to rebrand 'Windows Azure' as 'Microsoft Azure'
ZDNet
Microsoft will announce its rebranding of its "Windows Azure" cloud operating system to "Microsoft Azure," this week, according to a couple of tipsters ...

Google, DuckDuckGo And The Regulation Of Privacy
Forbes
This piece about DuckDuckGo rather interested me, for it speaks to the argument that is being had over the regulation of privacy in both the US and the ...

Behind Apple's Siri Lies Nuance's Speech Recognition
Forbes
Very quickly after his company was founded, Microsoft CEO Bill Gates .... Apple,Google, and Nuance are also working on language understanding.

Microsoft's Build powwow: Our wish list
ZDNet
In fact, Microsoft's enterprise business carries the team and gives the company the cash to spend to alleviate its Apple (the Nokia acquisition?!? Really ...

5 Things We Know and 5 Things We Don't About The New Moto 360
Android Headlines - Android News
The smart watch is growing fast, and Motorola has made some splashes recently. The Moto 360 is taking the world by storm as everyone wants to know more. Though we may not know everything just yet, so let's pull together what we do know, and ask the ...

Evidence Of Frost On Martian Sand Dunes
The Almagest
Mars was never though of as a resourceful planet of sorts, but all of that could change. Due to the HiRISE (High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment) technology being implemented within the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (more so known as the MRO), ...

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Amazon Video Streaming Device Coming

Move over Roku, Apple TV, and Chromecast -- here comes Amazon --

Amazon to Ship Video-Streaming Device in April
Wall Street Journal
The device will thrust Amazon into an intensely competitive market in set-top boxes, which include the Roku device, Apple TV and Google's Chromecast, a top-seller on Amazon'sown website. Roku's streaming devices sell for as little as $50, while the ...

Microsoft CEO Nadella to unveil Office on iPad next week
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft will announce Office apps for Apple's iPad on March 27, according to a pair of reports Monday. CEO Satya Nadella will take part in his first public press conference starting at 10 a.m. PT (1 p.m. ET) that day, according to ...

Google, Viacom settle YouTube lawsuit
CNNMoney
By Brian Stelter @brianstelter March 18, 2014: 10:40 AM ET. google youtube. Viacom sued Google unit YouTube in 2007, seeking more than $1 billion for unauthorized video uploads from "The Daily Show with Jon Stewart," and other programs. NEW YORK ...

Google buy eBay? A 'home run' says analyst
MarketWatch
Sebastian noted that Google Chief Executive Larry Page “has shown that he is open to large deals, and both companies would likely be stronger together in the significant technology and user arms race unfolding with Amazon, Apple and Facebook ...

Apple introduces cheaper iPhone 5C
CNNMoney
Sales of the colorful, plastic iPhone 5C have been below the company's expectations, and CEO Tim Cook acknowledged in January that Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) misjudged demand for it. As a result, Apple unveiled an 8 GB version of the iPhone 5C on ...

Microsoft ships Surface 2 tablet with LTE
PCWorld
To deliver on Microsoft's vision of productivity for the Surface tablet, it needed an LTE version—and that has finally arrived. Microsoft said Monday that it will begin shipping a version of the Surface 2 tablet with LTE connectivity embedded inside ...

Microsoft's OneNote strategy: Battle Evernote, or something bigger?
Computerworld
The OneNote app has been published to the Mac App Store, the OS X version of Apple'sbetter-known App Store for the iPhone and iPad. Microsoft also scratched off the price tag from the Windows desktop version of OneNote, which had cost $70 as a ...

Apple's rumored Healthbook app: 7 things you need to know
Los Angeles Times
In terms of design, Healthbook is expected to look a lot like Passbook, one of Apple'sexisting apps that is used to store passes from numerous iOS apps. 9to5Mac included mock-ups of the app in its report, which are based on screen shots of the app ...

Google's chat service crashes in second major disruption of 2014
San Jose Mercury News
Google has been building up its professional offerings to challenge Microsoft's dominant enterprise offering of the Office productivity tools and Outlook email program, offering paid versions of its free Web-based suite to corporations. Google's non ...

Google not playing around with Google Play updates
Computerworld (blog)
Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) announced .... it is unlocking its Googly self to help empower gamers. Along with updates to allow game gifting, it has enhanced the GooglePlay Game service to permit multiplayer invites to Apple's iOS devices. Google of ...

A new look at the Big Bang, moments later
Boston Globe
CAMBRIDGE — In a landmark discovery about the first moments of the universe, a team led by a Harvard astronomer announced Monday it had found strong evidence of what happened just after the Big Bang 13.8 billion years ago: In the slightest fraction of a ...

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Primary Video Source No Longer TV

A complete disintermediation in video viewing -- Losers: Live TV, television networks, local TV stations, cable TV operators. Winners: online video, YouTube, Netflix, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Daily Motion, Vimeo, etc. --

Off the Grid National Survey from Targeted_Victory

As viewing habits change, political campaigns must change their habits, as well - The Washington Post:

"....For the first time, fewer than half (48 percent) of [the 800 likely voters surveyed, 30% on cell phones] say that live TV is their primary source for watching video content. The second-most-preferred form for viewing is through recorded programming, but a majority said they skip 100 percent of the ads when they watch. ... Seventy percent of those surveyed said they had watched live television in the previous week. But fully 30 percent said that, other than live sporting events, they had watched no live television in the previous week. For younger voters, it's closer to 40 percent...Over time, this will require a substantial reorientation in thinking about how to allocate advertising dollars...."

Cameras on cops: Coming to a town near you: "Who watches the watchers? It's an age-old question, but police across the country may have a new answer. The Los Angeles Police Department is currently testing body-mounted cameras that record officers' interactions with citizens. The New York Police Department says it's reviewing the technology...."

The Future of Internet Freedom - NYTimes.com: ".... Much of the fight against censorship has been led by the activists of the Internet freedom movement. We can join this open source community, whether we are policy makers, corporations or individuals. Money, coding skills or government grants can all make a difference. Given the energies and opportunities out there, it’s possible to end repressive Internet censorship within a decade. If we want the next generation of users to be free, we don’t see any other option."

Google patches $310K worth of Chrome, Chrome OS bugs
Computerworld
While all four targeted browsers -- Chrome, Apple's Safari, Mozilla's Firefox andMicrosoft's Internet Explorer -- fell to researchers at the cash prize contest, Google's was the only one to have fixed flaws as of Sunday. Four vulnerabilities were ...

Notification overload: Why I'm turning off my phone alerts ... at least until my apps know me better | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Andy Hickl, A.R.O.: "I’ve decided not to receive any more notifications on my phones. No, I’m not a Luddite. Just someone who’s escaping the noise and anxiety caused by a mostly broken system...."

Look, Smartphone: No Hands! | MIT Technology Review: "Controlling an iPhone or Android phone with just your voice and a noise-cancelling headset is doable, but frustrating.....People might not mind chattering alone in the car, but not everyone is comfortable doing so on the bus. “I think giving people choice is always the best option when you can,” he says. I agree, in part because I couldn’t shake the feeling that I looked completely bizarre muttering to myself while using the Era in public. I suspect erasing that feeling will prove to be even more difficult than improving the speech recognition."

Google’s Chromecast streaming stick set to go on sale in the UK this week | Technology | theguardian.com: "The Chromecast plugs directly into a television via the HDMI port and acts as a receiver for media sent from Android smartphones and tablet apps, Apple devices as well as computers via the Chrome browser...."

Glenn Greenwald’s Encryption Guru - Alex Carp - POLITICO Magazine: ".... Schneier is a legendary encryption specialist who has written or edited 13 books on the subject, and worked for the Department of Defense, telecommunications companies, banks and governments. Most recently, he’s been a vocal advocate of the idea that the best security systems accept a reasonable amount of risk; a blind focus on protecting against every threat, he says, usually comes with unexpected costs....."

Google improves game content for players and developers
PFhub
This week, the Game Developers Conference kicks off at San Francisco's Moscone Center. While that is taking place, Google Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG) has announced a bevy of positive changes it is making on games for players and developers. This is a move ...

Google's chat service crashes-- now Fixed
San Jose Mercury News
Google has been building up its professional offerings to challenge Microsoft's dominant enterprise offering of the Office productivity tools and Outlook email program, offering paid versions of its free Web-based suite to corporations. Google's non ...

Alibaba plans IPO that could break Facebook's record, Yahoo shares jump - San Jose Mercury News: "...."There are certainly some smart investments that I owe to my predecessors. Very notably, Jerry Yang's investment in Alibaba is something that people are very excited about," Mayer said at a conference in San Francisco last year. While Alibaba has not established how many shares it expects to sell nor a preliminary price range, experts say the company is currently worth as much as $200 billion, topping Amazon's market capitalization, $172 billion. An IPO that comes anywhere near that type of valuation would easily top Facebook's $104 billion value during its May 2012 IPO, when the Menlo Park social network raked in $16 billion, the most ever for a technology company...."

Android phone battery suffering? Here's a simple fix | ZDNet: "Google services aren't the only culprits; third-party apps can also get stuck and drain the battery. If your phone keeps killing the battery too fast even after a reboot, check the battery information in Settings. If an app is using the battery too much, Android settings will show it clearly as the offender. If that's the case, you'd better uninstall the app immediately."

Government computers running Windows XP will be vulnerable to hackers after April 8 - The Washington Post: "...Federal officials have known for more than six years that Microsoft will withdraw its free support for Windows XP on April 8, 2014. Despite a recent rush to complete upgrades, an estimated 10 percent of government computers — out of several million — will still be running the operating system on that date, company officials said...."

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Why the Next Microsoft CEO Is Doomed to Failure

"No CEO worthy of the title wants his or her predecessors second-guessing everything in the boardroom," said Jean-Louis Gassée, a former Apple Inc. executive who has served on public-company boards. (source infra)

Microsoft is having trouble choosing a new chief executive. The reason? A Board of Directors which includes a founder who believes he knows best, a CEO who stepped down under pressure for a faster change in strategy, and, soon, an activist investor pushing for big changes. Microsoft had indicated it would pick a successor by summer 2014, but board members had hoped to choose one by November or December, according to sources (see article infra) --

Why Microsoft Hasn't Yet Chosen a New CEO - WSJ.com: "..."What's really a bad idea is a former CEO of your company" staying on the board, Mr. McKinnell said in a late-October interview. "You can't win.'' ... People who know him question whether Mr. Ballmer could sit by if his successor wanted to break free of his strategy or policies. It isn't clear how Microsoft's board, which backed Mr. Ballmer's moves, would react if the next CEO wanted to reverse some of his decisions..." (read more at link above)

From the Better Late than Never Department: U.S. Weighs Tech Fixes After Health-Site Woes - WSJ.com: "After Health-Site Woes Administration Considers Looser Hiring Rules, New Federal Unit . . . ." 

Getting Started With Google Chromecast: The Unofficial Manual – ReadWrite: "... Tab casting is rather interesting for another reason. Thanks to this feature, anything you can open and play within a Chrome browser can play on your television. This includes many unsupported video sites—particularly at full screen playback—as well as select video files (including H.264 MP4 files and WMV vids), audio clips and songs, and images. You can open computer media files in Chrome easily, whether by dragging and dropping them on your Chrome browser or, within the application, going to "File -> Open File…" (read more at link above)

Amazon's Bezos rescued by Ecuador Navy due to kidney stone
Chicago Tribune
CHICAGO/QUITO (Reuters) - Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos was airlifted from a cruise ship by the Ecuadorean Navy after suffering a kidney stone ...

CNBC.com

Google-Election Commission tie-up talks alarm cyber group
Business Standard
Cyber security professionals have raised an alarm about the potential danger to national security, even before the Election Commission (EC) formally ...

Business Standard

Google makes timely purchase of Swiss app developer
PCWorld
In a move likely designed to bring into its fold a team of Swiss Android developers, Google has apparently bought Bitspin, according to a post on the ...

ITworld.com

Apple Snaps Up Popular Photo App
Wall Street Journal
The steady improvements in smartphone camera technology are one of the biggest factors behind the struggles engulfing the traditional digital camera ...

Apple Insider

Google Glass, dance-offs and Mexican food: Sights and sounds from ...
Greenfield Daily Reporter
NEWPORT BEACH, California — When you cram an entire college football team and dozens of television cameras into a cramped hotel ballroom, ...

Wall Street Journal

Apple TV, Chromecast, Roku Jockey For Position In A Crowded Market
ValueWalk
In addition, we looked at Amazon.com, Inc. and Google ...on Amazon from 12/25-12/29 versus 109 for Roku and 64 for Apple TV...

ValueWalk

Google Glass, Situational Awareness, and Hyundais
TechnologyTell
Google Glass Explorer Edition XE V2 – Cotton White – Video Android Glasses Just when we thought that Audi was going to own CES with its Google ...

Tech Times

Google Restores Rap Genius After Apology for Gross SEO Strategy
The Wire
After Google's reckoning, Rap Genius would not show up in search results ...But especially if Microsoft decides to cut its losses on Bing one of these ...

Washington Post (blog)

Microsoft Windows Will Gain Strength in 2014
DailyFinance
Sometime in early 2014, Microsoft will appoint the third CEO in its history, and... tablet market, helping the company fight off Google and Apple in the enterprise. ... With Apple only selling high-priced iPhones, it seems inevitable that ...

Times of India

Facebook, Google, Yahoo all being sued over message scanning
San Francisco Chronicle
The right of technology companies to read the personal communication of their users is set to get a good run in the courts this year. Last week, two ...

San Francisco Chronicle

U.S. Vessel to Aid Ships Stranded in Antarctica - NYTimes.com: "The US Coast Guard vessel the Polar Star has accepted an Australian request to assist in rescue operations in Antarctica.--On Friday, Australian officials said the Chinese ship, the Xue Long, or Snow Dragon, had notified the authorities that it might be trapped by ice, one day after the Chinese used a helicopter from the ship to rescue 52 passengers from the Russian ship, the Akademik Shokalskiy, which had become trapped on Christmas Eve..."

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