Moto Mods: Moto Z & Moto Z Force Review (video)

Moto Z and Moto Mods review:

Lenovo’s latest Droids, the new Moto Z and Moto Z Force, are two very good Android smartphones with snap-on attachments like a speaker and movie projector. The Verge’s Chris Welch reviews these new smartphones that came to Verizon in July. Video above published July 21, 2016.

More info:

• Moto Z Force Droid Edition - Modular Phone | Motorola
• Moto Z and Moto Z Force - Google Search

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Why European Parliament Is Picking a Fight With Google (video)

Thursday the European Parliament voted  in favor of breaking up Google (the vote is not binding). The world's largest search engine is accused of squeezing out its competitors. Bloomberg spoke with a legal expert about what's driving this action. (Source: Bloomberg 11/26) 

European parliament votes | Ars Technica: " Although the vote is non-binding, it's a definite setback for the company...."


India Today
International Business|In Symbolic Vote, EU Parliament Passes Measure to Break Up Google
New York Times
A breakup of Google in Europe will almost certainly not happen, legal .... Google in Europe are major American technology companies like Microsoft ...
European Parliament Votes To Break Up Google - Forbes
European Parliament Approves Google Breakup Resolution - Wall Street Journal
European Parliament Backs Investigation To Split Google Search From Its Other Businesses - TechCrunch


Wall Street Journal
EU Says Google Should Extend 'Right to Be Forgotten' to '.com' Websites
Wall Street Journal
In a new set of guidelines agreed upon in Brussels on Wednesday, the body representing the European Union's 28 national privacy regulators said search engines should apply the bloc's new right to be forgotten to all of their websites—in particular .com ...

New York Times
Sunset Overdrive, This War of Mine, Super Smash Bros. and Civilization
New York Times
Hovering above the destruction in Sunset Overdrive, set in a city of murderous creatures....

NDTV
Sony settles with FTC on allegedly misleading PlayStation tweets
Los Angeles Times
Sony's PlayStation Vita may not have been so game-changing after all. Sony settled with the Federal Trade Commission on Tuesday over charges that it deceived customers in 2011 about the "game changing" advanced technology on the handheld gaming ...

CNET
Get 100 free MP3 albums from Microsoft
CNET
"We'll see your one free album, Google, and raise you a hundred!" The catch? Windows 8 and Windows Phone users only...

PCWorld
Twitter starts peeking at the other apps on your phone
PCWorld
Twitter, hungry for new data to fuel its targeted advertising, will start looking at what other apps its ...

San Jose Mercury News
Tablet shopping: iPad, Android or Windows?
San Jose Mercury News
NEW YORK -- Time for a tablet? People tend to hold onto tablets longer than smartphones, so take time to weigh your options. A major consideration is what phone you or your gift recipient already has. Although it's possible for Android owners to have Apple's ...

CNET
Amazon Black Friday deals on Kindle and Fire devices start Thursday
CNET
Amazon is offering some impressive deals on its in-house Kindle readers, Fire tablets and Fire phones during the Thanksgiving and Black Friday weekend....

Computerworld
Lenovo Pranks Shoppers for Yoga 3 Ad
PC Magazine
The laptop maker on Tuesday released a Yoga 3 promotional video featuring unsuspecting mallgoers and a broken Apple laptop. The prank featured members of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater comedy troupe, who tricked passersby at the Plymouth ...

Computerandvideogames.com
Assassin's Creed Unity Season Pass 'discontinued', free game offered
Computerandvideogames.com
In a drastic move following the marred launch of Assassin's Creed Unity, Ubisoft has "discontinued" the game's Season Pass and announced free offerings as compensation to owners of the game. Ubisoft Montreal CEO Yannis Mallet detailed the move in a ...


TechCrunch
Identity Wars: Why Apple Pay Is About More Than Payments
TechCrunch
Editor's Note: Patrick Salyer is the chief executive officer of Gigya, a customer identity management company. There's been no shortage of attention ...

Microsoft reportedly planning Windows 10 event for January
Microsoft will hold an event this January to show off the new features of Windows 10, according to The Verge. Although January is traditionally ...

Hackers force message on websites via US firm - San Francisco Chronicle: "...The executive says hackers rerouted Internet traffic from its website to a computer server that generated a message to visitors that their site had been hacked by the Syrian Electronic Army. Published reports noted the message appeared on websites for several UK newspapers, CNBC and the National Hockey League. Gigya says no user or company data was compromised in the hack. The Syrian group aligns itself with Syrian President Bashar Assad..."

Here are most of Amazon's Black Friday videogame deals, all in one place

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Apple Malware (video); Apple, Microsoft, Google, Most Valuable Global Brands

(Allow video to load after clicking play or go to link)
CrowdStrike President Shawn Henry discusses Apple blocking malicious software aimed at users of its products in China. He speaks with Bloomberg's Trish Regan on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg 11/6)

Apple, Microsoft And Google Are World's Most Valuable Brands: "When it comes to charging a premium price and moving product, no one does it better than Apple AAPL -0.42%. There are other phones and tablets that are functionally comparable or arguably better than the iPhone and iPad, but the Apple brand carries tremendous weight and credibility, and customers are willing to pay up for that. The company sold 39.3 million iPhones in its latest quarter and could sell as many as 60 million during the last three months of 2014 with the holiday selling season. Apple also moved 12.3 million iPads and 5.5 million Macs last quarter...."

More Office. Everywhere you need it. - The Official Microsoft Blog: ".... we’re taking the next major step to bring Office to everyone, on every device, and I’m excited to announce that Office apps customers love are coming to Android tablets with the start of our Office for AndroidTM tablet Preview. We’re also delivering Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for iPhone® and updates for the iPad apps–to ensure a consistently beautiful and productive Office experience on every device. Our vision of Office everywhere wouldn’t be complete without Windows, so I’m pleased to confirm that new, touch-optimized Office apps for Windows 10 are in the works and we’ll have more to share soon...."

Lenovo Group Quarterly Profit Rises 19%, Revenue Up 7% - WSJ - WSJ: "...Lenovo Chief Executive Yang Yuanqing said the decline in mobile device revenue, despite shipment growth, was partly because many of the phones shipped near the end of the quarter hadn’t yet contributed to revenue. Lenovo has a challenge integrating two businesses it bought recently. A week ago, the company said it completed its $2.91 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility from Google Inc., while earlier in October it closed a $2.1 billion deal to buy International Business Machines Corp. ’s low-end server business...."

Why Amazon is Quietly Investing in a Massive Land Grab | Money.com: "The expansion gives Amazon physical beachheads from which it can capture a growing share of retail sales on a city-by-city basis. Perhaps most importantly, it chips away at one of the principal deterrents to online shopping: immediacy. Thanks to fulfillment centers built since 2012, Amazon offers same-day delivery to customers in 12 out of the 14 largest metropolitan areas, including New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago. A full 31% of the American population can now order something from Amazon in the morning and get it delivered to their doorstep that evening...."

Other TECH NEWS:

New York Times
Microsoft Changes Tack, Making Office Suite Free on Mobile
New York Times
Microsoft: Now you can create, edit on Office mobile apps for free - CNET
Microsoft unveils new free Office apps for iPhone - USA TODAY
Microsoft makes Office for iPad free to use, starts testing Android tablet version - Engadget


Businessweek
Amazon debuts Siri-like digital assistant Echo for your home
CNET
The new Amazon Echo answers questions, and lets you buy and play ... digital assistants -- like Apple's Siri, Microsoft's Cortana or Google's Google ...
Amazon Echo is a Star Trek computer for your home - CNET
Amazon's new Echo device marries Sonos with Siri - Gigaom
Amazon Unveils Echo, a Speaker With a Siri-Like Voice Assistant - Mac Rumors


CNET
New Apple-focused malware uses Macs to infect iPhones
CNET
Apple malware affects mostly Chinese users - BBC News
WireLurker Apple iDevice Malware Attacks More Than 350000 In China - Was It The Government ... - Forbes
Researchers find malware targeting Apple - USA TODAY

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Apple Leaks Pictures of iPad Mini 3, iPad Air 2 (video)

(Allow video to load after clicking play or go to link)

Cory Johnson reports on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg Oct 15)

Tech NEWS:

Forbes
Google Tries to Upstage Apple With Latest Devices
ABC News
By MICHAEL LIEDTKE AP Technology Writer ... Google is coming out with bigger, more expensive versions of its Nexus phone and tablet to attract ...
Google unveils Android Lollipop and latest Nexus devices - CNNMoney
Google Unveils Nexus 6 Phone to Rival iPhone 6 - Wall Street Journal
New Google Nexus Player Kicks Off Latest Apple TV Fight - Forbes

Lenovo to challenge Xiaomi on smartphones with new company in China
PCWorld
In China's smartphone market, Lenovo wants to fight fire with fire against rival Xiaomi by setting up a new mobile devices company that will use a separate brand, and leverage the Internet to sell directly to consumers. The still unnamed company will help ...

New York Times
Apple Set to Unveil New iPads, as Rivals Are Gaining Ground
New York Times
Technology ... During an event at its Cupertino, Calif., headquarters on Thursday, Apple is set to unveil ... The new iPads are also expected to include support for Apple Pay, the mobile ... Some, like those sold by Micromax in India, cost as little as $50; Amazon'sKindle Fire can be had for as little as $100.
What to expect at Thursday's Apple event - Boston Globe
What We Expect Apple to Announce at Its Event This Thursday - Yahoo Tech


Macworld UK
New Apple TV 2014 release date rumours: Apple TV will be 'HomeKit hub', feature 'Twitter ...
Macworld UK
And why is Apple taking so long to update the Apple TV? ... Plus an analyst has said thatApple is working with Twitter and Facebook to bring ... Stick and Google ChromeCast, it's possible that Apple's next Apple TV could take a .... The new Amazon FireTV offers voice control, which has lead to calls for ...


TIME
3 Reasons Google's Same-Day Shipping Looks Like a Game Changer
TIME
Forget Apple! Google's Biggest Rival is Actually Amazon ... Google promises same-day shipping on all such orders, at a cost of $4.99 per delivery or ...

Google Announces Nexus Player Media/Gaming Android Console
Google is set to release its own version of Amazon's Fire TV - a set-top media and gaming box that has the ability to use an optional controller.

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Lenovo Smartphone Profits Up (video)

Video - Lenovo Smartphone Profits Jump in Second Quarter - WSJ.com: "Can Lenovo Beat Apple and Samsung with Motorola? Lenovo’s smartphone market share jumped in the second quarter as it sold more handsets in emerging markets. The Wall Street Journal’s Yun-Hee Kim speaks to IDC Analyst Bryan Ma about whether it can take on Apple and Samsung."

Sprint Dives Into Wireless Industry's Price War - WSJ: "Sprint Corp. dived into the wireless industry's price war Monday, saying it would offer new data-heavy family plans for $100 and pay up to $350 when subscribers switch from rivals."


Wall Street Journal
As Google Builds Out Own Content, Some Advertisers Feel Pushed Aside
Wall Street Journal
....Google has said its shifts are motivated in part by users' shift to mobile devices from personal computers. Google's revenue from search ads on PCs fell last year for the first time, researcher eMarketer Inc. estimates. On the smaller screen of a smartphone, users spend more time in apps and less time browsing the Web that Google has organized and monetized via search-related advertising. ...
Google: The $400 Billion Epistle - Wall Street Journal


Wall Street Journal
Apple's New iPhone Could Crack GT's Stock
Wall Street Journal
GT is building a manufacturing facility in Arizona in partnership with Apple to produce sapphire material for the iconic company's devices. The next ...


WJLA
Facebook Messenger: Is the paranoia justified? Five biggest myths busted
WJLA
NEW YORK (AP) - Facebook's recent effort to force people to adopt its standalone mobile messaging app has privacy-concerned users up in arms.


Business Insider Australia
What Facebook doesn't show you
Washington Post
So I went through my whole Facebook network – all of my 403 friends and the ... (think SEO for Google), and publishers invest enormous amounts of energy into ... Throughout my day on Facebook, I didn't see a single story from The ...


Forbes
The Moto 360 And Apple iWatch Will Kickoff The Smart Watch Wars Soon
Forbes
Motorola's Moto 360, the first round-face Android Wear smart watch, is coming next month and we could see our first glimpse of Apple's Apple's ...


PCR-online.biz
Apple plans reversible USB cable for iPhone 6, leaker says
CNET
The company's Lightning connector is already reversible on the eight-pin dock side, butApple might start offering a reversible connector on the other ...


Gigaom
Roku TVs marry cheap prices, proven smarts (hands-on)
CNET
The Roku TVs introduced at CES in January are now available for preorder. In addition to offering our favorite streaming platform built right into the TVs, the initial wave of models is priced even lower than mainstays like Vizio. by David Katzmaier.


Financialbuzz.com
China's first private rocket firm aims for market
Space Daily
Hu Zhenyu, 21, founder of Link Space, China's first private rocket firm, does not want people to call him a "rocket scientist" but a rocket entrepreneur. Rocket launches have traditionally been been a state monopoly in China, but the young graduate from South ...


Firstpost
AMD Announces Radeon R7 Series Solid-State Drives
Techgage
Talk about unexpected. At a time when fabless SSD manufacturers are consolidating or being snapped up by companies with in-house NAND production, AMD is bucking the industry trend by announcing the launch of the Radeon R7 SSD family.


SFGate
Amazon's first Fire phone update tackles its big interface problems
Engadget
Generally speaking, Amazon's Fire phone hasn't had the warmest of receptions, and the online retailer is looking to improve things with its first major update for the device. To start with, the flagship smartphone from Amazon is finally capable of multitasking, ...

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Smartphones, Ultra Cheap, Ultra Chic

source: Statista

Ultra Cheap Mobile Phones Will Upset The Industry Apple Cart - Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) | Seeking Alpha: "...The pressure from lower priced phones is having its effect already. IDC reports that while over 300 million smartphones were sold in Q2, a 25% rise over 2013, both Apple and Samsung lost market share in the period. Worse for both in some respects, Bloomberg reported that China Mobile has slashed subsidies for higher priced devices. Samsung had already seen its profits suffer a decline as its smartphone shipments stuttered and average selling prices fell in the second quarter causing a 10% drop in revenues and a profit drop. You don't have to be a rocket scientist to calculate what happens to Apple profits if its volumes drop 10% and its prices drop 10% in parallel..."

Lenovo Takes On Apple, Samsung in Smartphones - WSJ: "Chinese Firm's Net Climbs 23% Amid Strength in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America"

Uber car service twists sharing economy into ‘sucker’s economy’ - Therese Poletti's Tech Tales - MarketWatch: "According to Gawker’s ValleyWag , some customers in San Francisco paid the equivalent of a flight to the East Coast to take the Uber car service after the city’s big music festival Outside Lands, in Golden Gate Park. Some customers tweeted they were charged from $290 to as much as $470 to go from Golden Gate Park to other destinations in the city...."

Amazon launches credit-card processor for businesses
The Desert Sun
Businesses must buy Amazon's card reader for $10 and download the free mobile app from the Amazon app store, the Apple app store or Google Play ...
How Mobile Payment Providers Can Beat Back Amazon - Forbes


CNN
Why did Yahoo post photos of Ferguson cop?
Atlanta Journal Constitution
We know some details about Wilson, but Yahoo News made the curious decision Saturday to post a Facebook photo it claims is Wilson receiving a ...


USA TODAY
Amazon looks to gain liftoff for drone delivery testing
USA TODAY
Amazon is going on the offensive as it seeks federal approval to test its ... of thetechnology, said Ben Gielow, general counsel for the Association for ...


The Guardian
Amazon's Russell Grandinetti: Kindle champ takes on the books trade
The Guardian
But in less than six months, Amazon's mood has soured. ... "Books compete against mobile games, television, movies, Facebook, blogs, ... Apple, Google and Microsoft are all looking to compete in the ebook market. ... Technology.


SFGate
Facebook offers Zambia free Internet access
SFGate
Count Google as one of them. The Mountain View search giant is testing technology that uses balloons that float 12 miles above the Earth's surface to ...


Gigjets
5 myths: Facebook's message app
Omaha World-Herald
NEW YORK (AP) — Facebook's recent effort to force people to adopt its standalone mobile messaging app has privacy-concerned users up in arms.

Apple CEO Tim Cook Takes Ice Bucket Challenge, Puts Dr. Dre in the Spotlight
Mashable
The celebrity and business world has been swept up in taking the ALS ice bucket challenge, and the latest entrant in the star-packed list of challenge ...


Reuters
Look, no hands! Test driving a Google car
Reuters
It's actually high praise for the car in question: Google Inc.'s driverless car. ... Googlepublicly disclosed its driverless car program in 2010, though it began the previous year. ... his mission is to perfect the technology, after which the business model will fall into place. .... 

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Snowden Says Drop Dropbox, Use SpiderOak

Take it from the "pro" --

Snowden Says Drop Dropbox, Use SpiderOak - Digits - WSJ: "Edward Snowden singled out cloud-storage provider Dropbox for lacking security measures he says would protect users from government snooping. He then plugged smaller competitor SpiderOak, which he says does."

Amazon unveils Kindle Unlimited, an e-book subscription service
Los Angeles Times
Amazon entered the e-book subscription market Friday by launching Kindle Unlimited, a Netflix-like subscription service for e-books available for ...


New York Times
Microsoft may drag out layoffs for a year
Computerworld (blog)
Computerworld - Microsoft yesterday said it could take as long as a year to lay off the 18,000 workers who will be eventually shown the door, making ...


FanSided
Google reveals Athena, a Material Design-inspired revamp of Chrome OS
PCWorld (blog)
Chrome evangelist François Beaufort gave us a glimpse of the potential future of Chrome OS on Friday, and boy is it ugly. Maybe that's a bit harsh.


The Guardian
Apple should do more to tackle in-app purchases problem: EU
Chicago Tribune
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Apple has provided no concrete and immediate solutions ... Since then, Google, which owns the Android operating system for ...


Reuters
Google's executive shuffle highlights its growing ambitions
Chicago Tribune
On Thursday, Google announced the surprise departure of its veteran ... such as the Google+ network launched to take on Facebook Inc, appear to ...


Wall Street Journal
Google Honors 'Right to Forget' Tantric Workshop
Wall Street Journal
Europe's new "right to be forgotten" on the Web now applies to references to Tantric sex. A Netherlands-based private-equity investor named Greg ...


CIO Today
Apple-IBM Deal: 9 Moves Rivals Should Make
InformationWeek
With Apple and IBM allied to advance iOS in the enterprise, these mobile technology ... As for Google and Microsoft, the gauntlet has been thrown.

Microsoft Shows Tech 'Monopolies' Don't Last
InformationWeek
... shows just how vulnerable the world's biggest software company has become as competitors from Apple toGoogle to Amazon.com have eaten its ...


Boston Globe
Facebook tests button to let people shop from its website
Boston Globe
The “buy” button is shown on a Facebook page. With the feature, the social network aims to keep up with Twitter and Google. ... The company also recently signed a deal withAmazon.com to let Twitter members shop by hashtag.


TIME
Microsoft Is Shuttering Xbox Entertainment Studios, but Halo TV Series Lives On
TIME
Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Studios Phil Spencer speaks at the Microsoft Xbox E3 2012 media briefing in Los Angeles on June 4, 2012.
Why Microsoft is Closing Xbox Entertainment Studios - The Next Web

Lenovo stops selling small-screen Windows tablets in the U.S. due to lack of demand | PCWorld: "Lenovo has stopped selling Windows tablets with screen sizes under 10 inches in the U.S. due to lack of interest."

On Apollo 11 anniversary, people share their memories and thoughtsWashington Post
On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin was “out of town” when the world rejoiced in a way never seen before or since. He and Neil Armstrong were on the moon. They missed the celebration 45 years ago. So did Michael Collins, orbiting solo around the moon in the ...

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NBC fabricated misleading Russian Hack Story

Pathetic American media is the phrase Seymour Hersh used to describe today's mainstream media in the US -- prime example is the fabricated, misleading report on NBC about a Russian hack - pathetic!

How NBC's Russian Hack Actually Happened, According to the Security Expert Who Set It Up | Motherboard: " . . . The consultant, Kyle Wilhoit, a senior threat researcher at Trend Micro, set the record straight today in a blog post on the Trend Micro site and an accompanying white paper. He explained that Engel's report, while not completely inaccurate, was edited in a misleading way and the implications were overblown...." (read full article at link above)

Two Charged In BitCoin Money Laundering Scheme « CBS Miami: "According to police, undercover officers and special agents from the Miami Electronic Crimes Task Force (MECTF) posed as Bitcoins buyers and contacted various individuals which had a high volume of BitCoin activity.The agents let them knowt hat they needed to move money to facilitate their criminal activities. Reid and Espinoza allegedly offered to assist the agents in their transactions, for a fee. According to police it’s the classic definition of money laundering. “All of us in law enforcement know that criminals are always seeking new ways to make their activities profitable,” commented State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle. “BitCoins are just a new tool in the cyber criminal’s toolkit.”"

Google to own $750 million Lenovo stake after Motorola deal closes: HK exchange | Reuters: "Internet search company Google Inc will own a 5.94 percent stake in China's Lenovo Group Ltd worth $750 million once Lenovo's deal to buy Google's Motorola handset division closes, according to a disclosure on the Hong Kong stock exchange."

October 2015: The End of the Swipe-and-Sign Credit Card - Corporate Intelligence - WSJ: "Beginning later next year, you will stop signing those credit card receipts. Instead, you will insert your card into a slot and enter a PIN number, just like people do in much of the rest of the world. The U.S. is the last major market to still use the old-fashioned signature system, and it’s a big reason why almost half the world’s credit card fraud happens in America, despite the country being home to about a quarter of all credit card transactions."

Google Briefly Tops Exxon as 2nd-Most Valuable U.S. Firm
Bloomberg
Apple had a market value of $463.5 billion. Software company Microsoft Corp. is No. 4 with $303.5 billion. Technology companies are establishing themselves as key players worldwide as they disrupt industries from retail to finance. Google, which went ...

Apple's Tim Cook on Plans for Cash and Emerging Markets
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Google gets rid of something that's losing money, something that they're not committed to. I think it's really hard to do hardware, software and services and to link all those things together. That's what makes Apple so special. It's really hard, so I ...

Google goes after enterprise with Chromebox for meetings
Computerworld
Computerworld - Google is looking to open the door wider to the enterprise, launching a videoconferencing tool designed to make it easier and cheaper to have face-to-face meetings with far-flung co-workers. The new meeting tool also could help push ...

Google makes statement about Russian anti-gay law
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- With the Winter Games underway in Sochi, Google quietly but vibrantly added its voice Thursday to the chorus of U.S. companies speaking out against Russia's law restricting gay-rights activities by updating its iconic search page ...

Google Posts French Privacy Warning, Follows Very Specific Instructions
Wall Street Journal (blog)
Et voila. On Saturday morning, Google bowed to French authorities and posted a notice on google.fr informing users that it has been fined €150,000 ($204,525) for violations of France's privacy laws. Google lawyers had tried to block the notice in an ...

Amazon Flow makes searching for items a breeze with an iPhone
Los Angeles Times
The feature is called Flow, and it's designed to be a quicker way to search for products than by typing their name or scanning their bar code, as were already possible through the Amazon app. The Seattle online retailer is marketing the feature as a ...

Judge rebukes Apple for invoking nationalist bias but denies Samsung a retrial
PCWorld
“When I was young, I used to watch television on televisions that were manufactured in the United States,” an Apple attorney told the jury. “Magnavox, Motorola, RCA. ... They were inventors. They were like the Apple and Google today. “But they didn't ...

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Microsoft Discovers the Power of the Mouse

Surprise, surprise, Microsoft discovers most desktop PC users don't want (or need) gorilla arm syndrome -- of course Steve Jobs understood this years ago --

Use a mouse? Then you’ll likely love the upcoming Windows 8.1 update — Tech News and Analysis: "A leaked, early build of Update 1 for Windows 8.1 appeared online over the weekend and it shows a merger between the Desktop and tiled interfaces of Microsoft’s platform. Mouse and trackpad users should be happy with these changes...."

U.S. states claim Apple owes them $840 million over e-books – MacDailyNews - Welcome Home: "“Apple Inc. (AAPL) faces as much as $840 million in state and consumer antitrust claims related to electronic-book deals with publishers that led to a U.S. lawsuit and court-ordered monitor,” Patricia Hurtado and Christie Smythe report for Bloomberg."

Amazon considers $40 Prime price hike
CNN
Amazon said it is thinking about raising the price of Prime membership by as much as $40, hoping it can strike the right balance between managing rising costs and scaring away customers. Prime members get two-day shipping on a large number of Amazon ...

Google Opens Chromecast To Developers
InformationWeek
Though Google has not released Chromecast sales figures, CFO Patrick Pichette said during the company's earnings call last week that Chromecast was a bestseller throughout the last quarter of 2013. Chromecast remains at the top of the Amazon.com Best ...

Microsoft's CEO Pick: a Safe Choice, With Edge
Wall Street Journal
Google, Apple, Amazon and others are branching out into driverless cars, wearable computing gadgets, sensor-packed devices and flying robots. Microsoft has plans in some of those areas, but has shelved similar projects in the past. Around the time ...

Apple's iPad Losing Share To Samsung And Lenovo
Forbes
Samsung has solidified its second place position with Amazon slipping to third. While Lenovo is in fifth place behind ASUS it is ... IDC published its preliminary worldwide tablet shipment data and I have developed a Google Google Doc with quarterly ...

Microsoft: Why the Windows XP show is finally over
ZDNet
It's easy to get sentimental about Windows XP and forget the hostile reception the OS received at launch — but the fact is, it's simply not cut out for the modern world, according to a senior Microsoft executive. Despite the undeniable eventual ...

Google did win from buying Motorola, but not in the way you might expect
ZDNet
Selling Motorola to Lenovo means Google is no longer the only Android handset maker publicly refusing to take a patent licence from Microsoft (companies such as Foxconn, LG, Samsung and HTC are among those that have decided to license Microsoft's ...

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Google sells Motorola but keeps Project Ara, Advanced Technology group

Analysis: Sale of Motorola to Lenovo: a smart play by both Google and Lenovo. Lenovo gains market share and credibility as global smartphone maker, just as they did with computers in the 1990s when they bought IBM's computer division. Google unloads Motorola (with terms and conditions), retains patents and the advanced technology group. Moto X and Moto G are big success stories which Lenovo can leverage. Google can concentrate on Android and its Google services for smartphones. Expect the phase-out of Nexus devices and many more "Google Play" devices from multiple OEMs, each offering the pure Google Android experience. "Google Android" is the new "Microsoft Windows" of computing. Contrast the Google-Lenovo deal with the money losing strategy of Microsoft buying Nokia. Smartphones are being commoditized. Prices will continue to decline, which is good for the consumer, but expect pricing pressure to prove difficult for both Microsoft Nokia and Apple iPhone in the long-term. Without scale and ability to manufacture on thin margins, only a few companies (principally Asian) will emerge with the bulk of marketshare. Xioami and Lenovo both seem poised to expand globally. Within 3 years, Samsung, Lenovo, and Xioami look to be the dominant players.  Apple, Nokia and the others will be under severe pricing pressure from this point forward. In the meantime, Google will accelerate innovation of the Android operating system (which it gives away for free), and all Google services for smartphones.

Google to keep Motorola's Advanced Technology group, including Project Ara modular phone | The Verge: "The best part of Motorola is moving to the Android team - Google's blockbuster $2.9 billion sale of Motorola Mobility to Lenovo won't include the Advanced Technology and Projects group led by former DARPA director Regina Dugan. The news was confirmed today on a conference call with Lenovo, and sources familiar with the matter say the group will be integrated with Google's Android team, where Dugan will report to Sundar Pichai but maintain a more independent role. Dugan, who was named to The Verge 50 earlier this year, manages a team of just under 100 people, all of whom will be moving from their current offices in Sunnyvale to Google's Mountain View office..."

Google Keeps ‘Vast Majority’ Of Motorola Mobility Patents In Sale To Lenovo | TechCrunch: "Motorola Mobility is being sold to Lenovo, in a deal worth $2.91B. Google is divesting itself of the handset division it purchased for $12.5B in 2011, but it will keep some of the assets — including patents..."

Official Google Blog: Lenovo to acquire Motorola Mobility: "... Lenovo has the expertise and track record to scale Motorola into a major player within the Android ecosystem. They have a lot of experience in hardware, and they have global reach. In addition, Lenovo intends to keep Motorola’s distinct brand identity—just as they did when they acquired ThinkPad from IBM in 2005. Google will retain the vast majority of Motorola’s patents, which we will continue to use to defend the entire Android ecosystem. The deal has yet to be approved in the U.S. or China, and this usually takes time. So until then, it’s business as usual. I’m phenomenally impressed with everything the Motorola team has achieved and confident that with Lenovo as a partner, Motorola will build more and more great products for people everywhere."

Microsoft's Open Compute Move: Just Good PR?
InformationWeek
Microsoft surprised the tech industry Tuesday when it joined the open-source hardware movement, announcing at the Open Compute Summit in San Jose that it would offer the Open Compute Project (OCP) specifications used in Microsoft datacenters as well ...

Amazon to Offer Kindle Checkout System to Physical Retailers
Wall Street Journal
To accelerate the project, Amazon last year bought certain technology and hired some engineers from GoPago Inc., a San Francisco startup that offered checkout systems linked to a smartphone app, the people said. GoPago is now a unit of DoubleBeam Inc.

Microsoft is about to take Windows XP off life support
CNN
After April 8, Windows XP computers will be more susceptible to malware and viruses beginning, since Microsoft will no longer address major holes in the software. Although antivirus software will continue to fend off some malicious attacks, Microsoft's ...

Exclusive: Google close to settling EU antitrust probe - sources
Reuters
EU regulators will not seek feedback from the 125 rivals, including Microsoft and third parties, who commented on Google's previous proposals as they have a clear idea of their thinking after the last two market tests, the official said. RIVALS READY ...

5 Apple Patents Hint At Surprises
InformationWeek
If such a device comes to market, a 2011 Apple patent that describes an iPad keyboard accessory is sure to generate attention. The patent describes a flexible Smart Cover that doubles as a keyboard, broadly like Microsoft's Type Cover for its Surface line.
“Honey Encryption” Could Trick Criminals with Spoof Data | MIT Technology Review: "...Juels and Ristenpart will present a paper on Honey Encryption at the Eurocryptcryptography conference later this year. Juels is also working on building a system based on it to protect the data stored by password manager services such as LastPass and Dashlane. These services store all of a person’s different passwords in an encrypted form, protected by a single master password, so that software can automatically enter them into websites...."

MEXICO CITY: Monarch butterflies drop, migration may disappear - Technology - MiamiHerald.com: "The stunning and little-understood annual migration of millions of Monarch butterflies to spend the winter in Mexico is in danger of disappearing, experts said Wednesday, after numbers dropped to their lowest level since record-keeping began in 1993. Their report blamed the displacement of the milkweed the species feeds on by genetically modified crops and urban sprawl in the United States, extreme weather trends and the dramatic reduction of the butterflies' habitat in Mexico due to illegal logging of the trees they depend on for shelter."

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Apple says goodbye to MacBook

Apple bids farewell to the MacBook Reuters By Erica Ogg at GigaOm We knew Apple was introducing something today, but what we didn't know was that it was going to be saying goodbye as well. In addition to Apple officially making OS X 10.7 available for download, it unleashed a fresh set of ...

Lenovo Unveils 3 New Tablets Wall Street Journal By OWEN FLETCHER BEIJING—Chinese computer-maker Lenovo Group Ltd. on Wednesday unveiled three tablet devices it will sell globally, expanding its tablet push beyond China and intensifying competition in a device category led by Apple Inc.'s iPad. ...

DISH Network Backs Opposition to AT&T/T-Mobile Merger Reuters By Jake Weinraub at TheWrap DISH Network spoke out Wednesday in support of Senator Herb Kohl's (D-WI) opposition to the AT&T/T-Mobile merger. As chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Antitrust, Kohl has been an impassioned advocate for net neutrality, ...

Roku hopes addition of 'Angry Birds' game spurs sales of its latest flock of ... Washington Post By AP, SAN FRANCISCO — Roku is ready to hatch the popular “Angry Birds” video game on a new version of its set-top box for streaming online entertainment to TVs. The addictive game and a controller will be included on a Roku box that will sell for $100 ...

Google to Shutter Google Labs in 'Streamlining' Effort PC Magazine By Damon Poeter Google is shutting down its Google Labs experimental project incubator as part of an effort at "simplifying and streamlining" the company's product lines, the search giant revealed on its official blog Wednesday. ...

Google refocusing on products: CFO AFP ASPEN, Colorado — Google co-founder Larry Page, who took over as chief executive in April, is refocusing the Internet giant on products and its "start-up philosophy," its chief financial officer said Wednesday. Patrick Pichette, speaking at the Fortune ...

Apollo's Lunar Modules (photos) CNET Forty-two years after the first moon landing, and with a new lunar X Prize looming, we take a look back at a few of the key Apollo missions, and specifically at the Lunar Modules that brought the astronauts to and from the surface of the moon. ...

T-Mobile focuses on value with new mobile plans Reuters By Kevin C. Tofel at GigaOm Starting on July 24, T-Mobile customers can take advantage of new plans that the carrier says offer a potential savings of $800 per year over service from rival carriers. The new Value plans offer both single and family line ...

Decoding DNA With Semiconductors New York Times By NICHOLAS WADE The inventor of a new machine that decodes DNA with semiconductors has used it to sequence the genome of Gordon Moore, co-founder of Intel, a leading chip maker. A wafer used in the process of reading genetic code. ...

Welcome to the Apple store that isn't CNET by Chris Matyszczyk They have iPods, iPads, and MacBook Pros on their tables and pristine white paint on their walls. But these are mere prestidigitators who want to press you into believing you are in a temple of the digital world. ...

Recommended: Everest pulled up for height check msnbc.com Quantum fluctuations in science, space and society, from quarks to Hubble and Mars. Served up by Alan Boyle, msnbc.com science editor. E-mail Alan, or connect via Facebook or Twitter. Everest, which straddles Nepal and China, is generally thought to ...

Daytona Project Will Help Researchers Crunch Data Sci-Tech Today By Adam Dickter Scientists who require large-scale data capabilities will benefit from Microsoft's Project Daytona, running in the cloud on Windows Azure. Project Daytona debuted at the Microsoft Research Faculty Summit. An analyst said Project Daytona ...

Google Search Gives Users a Heads-Up on Malware Infections TechNewsWorld By Erika Morphy Google is alerting users when it turns up evidence of a certain type of malware in their systems in the form of warnings delivered with search results. The service is meant to provide an extra layer of protection. ...

When Google Does Not Make Sense Tom's Guide I have been thinking about Google's most recent earnings call quite a bit and there were some thing I could not quite get my head around. Google had a stunning quarter result with $6.55 billion of revenue and $2.5 billion in net income. ...

Dell Said to Consider Brocade Before Purchasing Force10 Instead San Francisco Chronicle July 20 (Bloomberg) -- Dell Inc. is no longer interested in buying Brocade Communications Systems Inc. after announcing the acquisition today of Force10 Networks Inc., according to a person with knowledge of the situation. ...

Hitwise: Google+ Grows Fast, Still Minor Player PCWorld By Juan Carlos Perez, IDG News The new Google+ social networking site, out in limited beta release since late June, is growing its usage very quickly, but it remains far from a leadership position, according to Hitwise. For the week ending July 16, ...

West, Russia divided on U.N. council climate role Reuters By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Western nations clashed with Russia and developing countries on Wednesday over whether climate change was a security matter meriting the attention of the Security Council, the most powerful UN body. ...

Gregor Mendel's naughty peas and our GM future Washington Post (blog) By Alexandra Petri On Wednesday, Google celebrated the birthday of Gregor Mendel, the monk whose experimentation with peas resulted, indirectly, in the demonic genetically modified salmon that are currently terrorizing the French. ...

Updated Netflix app for Android unofficially supports some Honeycomb tablets IntoMobile Netflix recently updated it Android application to support a whopping 24 devices now. Oh, that's not that much. Still, the application that debuted with support of only five handsets is expanding its reach and you can stream video on some devices that ...

Former Harvard president goes off on Winklevoss twins Reuters Cameron Winklevoss (L) and twin brother Tyler Winklevoss are shown in this combination photo leaving the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a hearing on a settlement dispute with Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg in San Francisco, California January 11, 2011. ...

Tesla signed to build power train for electric Rav4 San Francisco Chronicle Rav4 EVs, targeted for release in 2012, feature an electric power train built by Tesla in Palo Alto. Tesla Motors has signed a $100 million deal to build the power train for Toyota's electric Rav4, the Palo Alto company reported Wednesday in a ...

Fermilab Scientists Discover New Particle ConceivablyTech Fermilab today announced that scientists working at the CDF (Collision Detector at Fermilab) experiment confirmed the observation of a new particle, the Xi-sub-b. The Xi-sub-b is categorized as are baryon, which are formed of three quarks. ...

Viber brings free text and VoIP calls to iPhone and Android SlashGear If you are a user of the iPhone or an Android smartphone there is a new app out that will let you text and call pals using VoIP for free. The app is called Viber. Obviously, you need some sort of data plan or access to a WiFi network for the app to ...

APNewsBreak: US mulls sanctions against Iceland The Associated Press HELSINKI (AP) — The United States is set to announce possible trade and diplomatic sanctions against Iceland for ramping up its whale hunts despite an international moratorium on commercial whaling. The Obama administration on Wednesday will cite ...

Photo tour: Sprint Technology Integration Center By Zach Epstein And now comes the fun stuff. BGR on Wednesday toured a number of labs here at Sprint's Midwest headquarters in Overland Park, Kansas. Some we're able to. BGR: The Three Biggest Letters In Tech

Slow crashes can be prevented with better technology | Ubergizmo By Edwin Kee Many vehicles these days provide decent or even above average protection for the driver and passengers, especially at high speeds [...] Ubergizmo

A Closer Look at Zeus Technology « Data Center Knowledge By Colleen Miller WAN optimization specialist Riverbed Technology (RVBD) is acquiring Zeus Technology, the companies said yesterday. Here's a video overview of Zeus Technology and its application development controller technology. Data Center Knowledge

Advanced Cell Technology Starts Human Trials of Embryonic Stem ... By Arlene Weintraub On July 14, Advanced Cell Technology (ACT)---a long-struggling developer of therapies derived from human embryonic stem cells---started its first human trials, Xconomy

Top Solar Stocks: New Leaps in Solar Technology By Kapitall "Alexie Kolpak and Jeffrey Grossman from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology propose a new type of solar thermal fuel that would be affordable, rechargeable, thermally stable, and more energy-dense than lithium-ion batteries. ... Business Insider

Nominate your Java Technology for Duke's Choice Awards at JavaOne ... By arungupta Does your Java technology usage out-compel, out-innovate, and outlast others ? Submit your nominations as this is your chance to be grab the bragging rights! The deadline for submission is Friday, Jul 29, 2011 at 5pm PT. ... Arun Gupta, Miles to go ...

Richard Scudamore: Premier League Goal-Line Technology In Place ... By Jack Atchinson Chief exec raises hope of introducing system. Join the FREE CaughtOffside Fantasy Football League and Win Big Prizes! to Malaysia XI v Chelsea with the. CaughtOffside

Desktop T-Shirt Creator - gHacks Technology News By Melanie Gross If you're looking for a quick and easy way to create your own t-shirt designs, you could do worse than trying out Desktop T-shirt Creator from Uzoom. It's. gHacks Technology News | Latest...

Technology to throw new light on ancient artefacts New technology which makes it possible to study the finer details of some of the world's greatest historical artefacts has been developed by computer scientists and archaeologists at the University of Southampton in conjunction with ... AlphaGalileo RSS Channel

Cool Cat Teacher Blog: Daily Education & Technology News for ... By coolcatteacher@gmail.com (Victoria A Davis, Cool Cat Teacher) Daily Education & Technology News for Schools 07/20/2011. Posted by Vicki A. Davis. Email This BlogThis! Share to Twitter Share to Facebook Share to Google Buzz. Interview with DonTae‏ - YouTube. This amazing student in Evansville ... Cool Cat Teacher Blog

Green Car Congress: University of Illinois licenses StructurePore ... By Mike Millikin Xerion and the University believe that this technology, now called “StructurePore”, will enable Xerion to develop a rechargeable battery with significantly higher charging capacity than that which is presently available with ultra-fast ... Green Car Congress

Veronis Suhler Stevenson (VSS) Acquires Strata Decision Technology ... Maker of Web-Based Financial Tools for U.S. Hospitals and Healthcare Systems | Virtual Strategy Magazine is an online publication devoted entirely to virtualization technologies. Virtual-Strategy Magazine - Your.