Microsoft puts Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote on Google Chromebooks

"Microsoft on Monday conceded that Google's Chrome OS and the Chromebooks the operating system powers are capable of doing real work, a reversal of its "Scroogled" campaign that once blasted the laptops as worthless. Almost as an afterthought, Microsoft yesterday announced it was bringing its free Office Online apps -- Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote -- to rival Google's Chrome Web store, the primary distribution channel for Chrome OS software...."
source: Microsoft concedes Chromebooks are work-worthy Computerworld "....The move was largely symbolic: The Office Online apps have long been able to run within virtually any browser, including Chrome, the foundation of Chrome OS...."

Google to Buy Titan Aerospace as Web Giants Battle for Air Superiority
Wall Street Journal
Facebook had been in talks to buy Titan earlier this year, but Google offered to top anyFacebook offer, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Google Glass: 5 Reasons I Won't Buy
InformationWeek
Google Glass: 5 Reasons I Won't Buy. Google Glass is available for one day only to anyone willing to plunk down $1,500. Here's why I'm saying no....

Apple v. Samsung: Samsung resumes defense against iPhone maker's patent case
San Jose Mercury News
SAN JOSE -- Samsung on Monday resumed its defense against Apple's ... Apple, however, has told jurors that Google has nothing to do with the ...

Microsoft's Siri rival, Cortana, closes mobile gap with Apple and Google
San Jose Mercury News
Microsoft takes some of the best parts of Apple's and Google's virtual assistants and adds a few useful tools of its own. The result is Cortana, named ...

Apple now cooperating says external compliance monitor Bromwich in first report
Apple Insider
Apple's court-appointed external compliance monitor Michael Bromwich on Monday issued his first report to U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote, noting a marked improvement in relations between himself and the Cupertino, Calif. company. Bromwich....

Google acquires drone company Titan Aerospace
CBS News
Google is buying Titan Aerospace, which manufactures solar-powered ... Google andFacebook have both launched ambitious projects that aim to get ...

Google May Push Sites to Use Encryption
Wall Street Journal
In a move that experts say could make it harder to spy on Web users, Google is considering giving a boost in its search-engine results to websites that ...

Google's 'Game of Thrones' spoilers are what's trending
CNET
It was clear from the lists of trending topics on Twitter and Facebook that ... Later, I revisited Google Trends and one of the "Game of Thrones" search ...

Facebook Prepares A Money-Transfer Service, But Still Needs Trust
Forbes
With more than 1 billion active mobile users, Facebook has the kind of scale to make any e-payments service jealous, but it could be years before the ...

Saturn spotted spawning new FEMTO-MOON
Register
Boffins peering at images sent home by NASA's Cassini spacecraft think they may have spotted the first throes of a new moon coming into being. Dubbed “Peggy”, the moonlet is probably a lump of ice. But astroboffin Carl Murray from Queen Mary University of ...

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New Google Sheets (video), who needs Excel anymore?

Meet the new Google Sheets - Google Sheets has been rebuilt from the ground up. It's faster, supports larger spreadsheets, has a number of new features, and works offline. Try it out at g.co/newsheets. (Dec 11, 2013)

Google Sheets update means it can finally compete with Excel | memeburn: "Google ... can finally compete with Microsoft Excel. ... Google Sheets is free where as Microsoft’s Excel will leave a sizable dent in your wallet. You don’t need individual licenses for each employee at the office who needs access to the spreadsheets, you can all collaborate on the same file at the same time. The latest update allows Google Sheets to be used offline (a big issue thus far) as well as an array of new features which are exclusive to them. ... On top of that Google acquired Quickoffice a while back, which means you can make and edit documents from Word to PowerPoint and yes Excel via their apps — available on iOS and Android..." (read more at link above)

Galaxy Note 3 Review: Software is Painful, MIT Professor Says | BGR: "MIT professor and Internet startup pioneer Philip Greenspun seems to always have a Christmas gift in his bag for big tech companies. Last year, he ripped Windows 8 apart and called it a “Christmas gift for someone you hate.” If the decline in PC sales over the past 12 months is any indication, it looks like he was onto something. This year, Greenspun is back and this time he has set his sights on Samsung. The well-known Web entrepreneur knows a thing or two about software, and he always does a reasonably good job of assessing products from the typical consumer’s point of view. If his opinion represents that of the typical consumer in this case, Samsung might have something of a problem on its hands."

Google Adds to Its Menagerie of Robots

New York Times
Google confirmed on Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Boston Dynamics, an engineering company that has designed mobile research robots for the ...

New York Times

Microsoft Must be Terrified by Penney Lesson, MIller Says

Bloomberg
J.C. Penney hired Johnson from Apple Inc. (AAPL), where he turned the iPad ... Microsoft, the largest software maker, has been considering outsiders for the ...

Microsoft likely to bring back Start menu in future Windows update [in 2015 - 3 years too late?]
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft will bring back the Start menu to Windows 8 and let users run "Metro" apps inside windows on the desktop, restoring traditional elements to its newest operating system, according to a report by a long-time Microsoft watcher ...

Amazon pressed on gun accessory sales, a year after Newtown

Chicago Tribune
BOSTON (Reuters) - Activist investors have asked Amazon.com Inc to review its sales of firearms accessories, concerned that the online retailer offers products ...

Economic Times

Microsoft Expands Global Startup Accelerator Program In The UK

Forbes
Microsoft Microsoft has announced the names of 12 early stage start-ups it is backing through its recently launched London-based accelerator programme next ...

Economic Times

Microsoft to Launch First Original Shows on Xbox in Early 2014

Variety
Developing original series for Microsoft has taken a little longer than veteran TV ... “We aren't Netflix, we aren't Amazon, we're a different animal,” she said.

T3

Google suspected of breaking Canada's antitrust laws

IBNLive
San Francisco: Government regulators in Canada are poised to open a formal investigation into whether Google is abusing its dominance of the Internet search ...

IBNLive

Apple orders for A-series chips expected to contribute up to 10% of ...

Apple Insider
As Taiwanese chipmaker TSMC gets set to ramp up production on its 20-nanometer process fab in January, some analysts believe the company is poised to ...

Apple Insider

Google Glass to hold event in Austin to win over public

UT The Daily Texan
Glass Guides Emmanual Matthews and Laura Lim discuss Google Glass' features at the Austin Through Glass exposition on Thursday morning. The event will ...

UT The Daily Texan

Apple pulls another anti-censorship app from China's iOS App Store

Apple Insider
For the second time in three months, Apple has come under fire for its ...Because if Apple doesn't listen, they'll just ban Apple entirely, just like ifGoogle doesn't ...

Apple Insider

Microsoft times BUILD dev conference to fall outside Apple's shadow

Computerworld
BUILD 2014 will run April 2-4, and again take place in the Moscone Center, the facility Microsoft used last June and the same one Apple has planted its ...

Computerworld

Google says Android app permission manager was released by ...

Sean Buckley
Remember that "Apps Ops" feature Google snuck into Android 4.3? The company seems to have changed its mind. The feature was originally hidden, but when.
Engadget RSS Feed

Google talks up Chromecast in 2014 | Internet & Media - CNET News

Seth Rosenblatt
In the coming year, Google wants to take Chromecast around the world, ... Google, Microsoft offer different methods for tracking Santa · Google's quest to build ... A granted patent shows Apple'sthinking behind its own video goggle experience.
CNET News

China Lands Probe on the Moon, Report Says
New York Times
China became the third country to land a spacecraft on the moon on Saturday, after its unmanned Chang'e-3 probe settled onto the Bay of Rainbows, state television reported

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