First Cell Phone Call Was an Epic Troll (video)

First Cell Phone Call Was an Epic Troll
In the 1960s and early '70s, if you wanted to make a phone call, you did so from a device wired to the telephone grid. When AT&T launched their cellular system for car phones, Dr. Martin "Marty" Cooper and his team at Motorola decided to build a truly wireless mobile phone, a handheld device that would truly free consumers to communicate on the go. (Video by Jim Fabio, additional footage AT&T Archives & History Center)

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New Moto Products LIVE; Microsoft Android Patents Worthless?

Join Lauren Gellman, Director of Product Marketing, and Steve Sinclair, VP of Product Marketing, for a first look at the new portfolio of Moto products.  They will be answering your questions live Friday, September 5, 2014,  at 1:30 PM CT -  time conversion. Mark your calendars and post your questions using #askmoto 

@Motorola: join us at 1:30 PM CT on Sep. 5 for our "First Look" live Q&A (post questions now using #askmoto). The details: http://bit.ly/1BdRi2Q

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It is estimated Microsoft gets $2 billion (US$) a year from its Android patents, but a recent analysis in wake of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce's disclosure of what patents Microsoft claimed, questions the value of Microsoft's patents--

M-Cam specifically tried to answer the question of whether Microsoft owns proprietary rights to Android OS, and whether the giant software maker was unfairly taxing Android device makers....The most damning part of the M-Cam report, however, was the revelation that more than 40 of the 65 commercially viable patents had actually been preceded by other companies, and that Microsoft had failed to cite them in its patents filings as required by law. (source infra)

What Lies In Store For Microsoft's Android Patents? - Microsoft Corporation | Seeking Alpha: "...Hitherto, only Motorola has ever successfully challenged Microsoft in court regarding patent demands. Motorola won 16 of the 17 patent suits it had filed before the Germany Federal Patent Court. Microsoft's only victory in the case was in regard to U.S. Patent No. 6,370,566 for ActiveSync. All other Android manufacturers have usually elected to pay whatever Microsoft demanded from them, due to the fear of heavy litigation costs. After all, patent trolls cost the U.S. economy nearly $30 billion per year... With the Microsoft's Android patents no longer a secret, you can expect to see more disgruntled Android manufacturers taking Microsoft to court instead of simply putting up and paying up like they've always done...."


TODAYonline
Groups Accuse Apple Supplier of Labor Violations
New York Times
The allegations involve employees at a factory in the eastern China city of Suqian that is owned by Catcher Technology, a Taiwan company, and that ...


Wall Street Journal
Apple Watch to Allow Mobile Payments
Wall Street Journal
Apple also is expected to add the wireless technology to the next versions of its iPhone, people familiar with the device said, potentially simplifying the ...


CBS News
Even If You Use Apple's Two-Step Verification, Your Photos Are Still At Risk
Huffington Post
But as Michael Rose at TUAW, an Apple news site, noted on Tuesday, ... Google,Facebook, Twitter and Apple are among the companies that offer the ... I'm a technologyreporter who takes my online security very seriously, and I ...
Apple's iCloud woes come just as it doubles down on the cloud - Washington Post
How and Why to Turn On Two-Step Verification for Your Apple, Google, and Yahoo Accounts - Yahoo Tech
Apple security breach causes investor panic, stock slide ahead of iPhone 6 launch - ZDNet


Modern Readers
Apple stock plunges amid celebrity hacking, ahead of purported iWatch announcement
Washington Post
More quantifiable was the downward lurch Wednesday that pushed the market value ofApple down by $26.1 billion. That's the price tag USA Today ...

Google Hires Leading Researcher to Build a Quantum Computer | MIT Technology Review: "Google is about to begin designing and building hardware for a quantum computer, a type of machine that can exploit quantum physics to solve problems that would take a conventional computer millions of years...."

Amazon, Microsoft may invest in Cyanogen to better compete with Google - Silicon Valley Business Journal: "...The report said that Cyanogen is planning a large Series C round of funding. It has raised about $30 million to date from investors who include Andreessen Horowitz, Tencent, Benchmark and Redpoint Ventures. The company faces the usual challenges of startups that are built on open source software that is supported by enthusiastic developers. It would likely need to find services and apps that it can charge for on top of CyanogenMod. But if it is acquired by a handset maker like Microsoft or Amazon, it could become an important differentiator from makers of other Android-powered devices."

Chromebooks: Going offline to compete | ZDNet: ... quite a few apps work offline; there's even a section in the Chrome Web Store that makes them easy to find. This improvement, coupled with the fact that like PCs and Macs users are rarely offline, make Chrome work like most platforms. Google isn't content with this, and recently mandated that legacy packaged apps must go away by the end of the year, and will get kicked out of the store...

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Apple iPhone Wallet; iCloud Security Questioned

Apple Teaming Up With Visa, MasterCard on IPhone Wallet
Bloomberg
"Apple Inc. plans to turn its next iPhone into a mobile wallet through a partnership with major payment networks, banks and retailers, according a person familiar with the situation. The agreement includes Visa Inc., MasterCard Inc. and American Express Co. and will be unveiled on Sept. 9 along with the next iPhone, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. The new iPhone will make mobile payment easier by including a near-field communication chip for the first time, the person said. That advancement along with Touch ID, a fingerprint recognition reader that debuted on the most recent iPhone, will allow consumers to securely pay for items in a store with the touch of a finger...."


CBS News
Apple patches iCloud security gap after celebrity photos hacked, reports say
CBS News
The day after private, nude photos of actress Jennifer Lawrence and other celebrities were released online, Apple has reportedly patched a security ...
Apple patches 'Find My iPhone' exploit - ZDNet
Jennifer Lawrence - Daily Mail

Apple - September 9 Will Give You A Stomach Ache And Nothing More... Focus On Sales - Apple Inc.  | Seeking Alpha: "With the iPod, AAPL still has 72% of the portable music player market even though the overall portable music player market has been cannibalized by smart phones by 33%. According to AppleInsider, Steve Jobs once said, "if we don't cannibalize ourselves, someone else will." This brings an interesting take on the iPod. Apple will effectively know when to kill its iPod if and when the time comes."


Forbes
FAA Dithering Forces Google And Other Drone Innovators To Take Their Jobs And Technology ...
Forbes
What wasn't surprising to experts familiar with the industry is that Google conducted all ... Amazon waited patiently for months, while the FAA dithered.


NBCNews.com
A Drone Flew Over Apple's New Campus, And What It Saw Was Amazing
Forbes
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said last week that he was 'doubling down on ... You can follow him on Twitter @GregoryMcNeal or on Facebook.
Drone gets peek at Apple's new 'spaceship' campus (VIDEO) - RT - Daily news
Someone Flew A Drone Over Apple's New "Spaceship" Campus In California - BuzzFeed


New York Times
Amazon Bets on Content in Deal for Twitch
New York Times
Amazon's desire to outmaneuver both Google and Yahoo and get its hands on the controller at Twitch probably makes sense. Demographically, it's a ...


Wall Street Journal
EU Sends Questionnaire to Rivals Over Facebook Deal With WhatsApp
Wall Street Journal
Here, the Facebook and WhatsApp icons are displayed on an iPhone. ... looking into the way in which many people now use Apple Inc.'s iMessage, ...

Staying Safe And How To Disable Apple iCloud
Forbes
'TFA' is offered by Apple as well as rivals Google Google, Microsoft Microsoft and social media networks like Facebook and Twitter. TSV greatly ...


The Guardian
Move over Amazon, HMV is getting people back in stores
The Guardian
The music retailer is on course to overtake Amazon as the UK's biggest music and DVD retailer, just 18-months since its collapse. What's behind the ...


Telegraph.co.uk
As Amazon And Alibaba Face Off, Who Will Come Out On Top?
Forbes
Amazon and Alibaba, the world's largest e-commerce companies, are ... With big names like Burberry and Apple Apple recently joining the Tmall ...

This could be the Apple iCloud flaw that led to celebrity photos being
Owen Williams
An alleged breach in Apple's iCloud service may be to blame for countless leaks of private celebrity photos this week. On Monday, a Python script ...

What Happened to Motorola | Chicago magazine | September 2014: "...However, as the history of many giant corporations (Lehman Brothers, General Motors) shows, great success can lead to great trouble. Interviews with key players in and around Motorola and its spinoffs indicate that the problems began when management jettisoned a powerful corporate culture that had been inculcated over decades. When healthy internal competition degenerated into damaging infighting...."

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Jack Ma, Wealthiest in China (video)

Found Assets Make Jack Ma China’s Wealthiest : Video - Bloomberg:
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On "Movers & Shakers," Bloomberg's Betty Liu and Matt Miller report on discovered hidden assets that taken into account make Jack Ma China’s wealthiest person. They speaks on Bloomberg Television's "In The Loop." (Source: Bloomberg Aug 28)

Motorola teases Moto 360 smartwatch, new phones for 9/4 event - CNET: "The company plans the unveiling of its eagerly anticipated smartwatch and possibly new versions of its Moto X and Moto G smartphones."

Apple announces special event for Sept. 9: "...It’s widely expected that Apple will introduce new iPhones at the event, which makes perfect sense—Apple has used the September event to launch new iPhones for a number of years now. Getting new products out in the fall sets the company up for a solid holiday shopping season, the busiest time of the year for consumers...."

Amazon: Not an E-commerce Company | stratechery by Ben Thompson: ".... Amazon is not an e-commerce company. No more pointing at the fact that e-commerce is only 6% of U.S. retail, or that Amazon’s multi-sided network of merchants and customer base are the key factors in determining their future success. No, the company is going for something a whole lot bigger, even as their foundation is being slowly watered down by the same Internet that made Bezos feverish nearly 20 years ago."

Google’s Smith Is Top Candidate for U.S. Chief Technology Officer - Bloomberg: "America is close to getting a new chief technology officer: Megan Smith, a longtime executive at Google Inc. and most recently a vice president at its secret lab, Google X...."

Broadcom's WICED Sense Is A $19.99 Developer Kit To Aid In Rapid Prototyping of Internet of Things Apps | The Digital Letter: "....With applications and devices centered around everything from retail, infrastructure, and transport to clinical health, medical devices, and biometric technology, and also to home automation, entertainment, and of course, wearables, the common thought is that soon everything we touch and look at will be connected to the Internet in some way...."

It's Over: The Rise & Fall Of Google Authorship For Search Results: "...In short, proper adoption of rel=author markup was extremely low. Google clearly went to extreme efforts to try and make the connection between author and publisher, even in the face of many challenges. From a broader perspective, this tells us quite a bit about the difficulties of obtaining data from publishers. It’s hard, and the quality of the information you will get is quite low...."

How to fix Google Play errors - CNET: "Thanks to XDA member mohamedrashad, there's a thread with the error codes and what they mean, along with ways to fix each issue. Here's a sample of that list with some of the most common error codes:"

US courts trash a decade’s worth of online documents, shrug it off | Ars Technica: "...PACER has long been criticized as a deeply dated system that already does too little and charges too much for access to things like judicial orders that are important public documents. Its inefficiency spawned a project called RECAP, which worked with the Internet Archive to make PACER documents available for free, instead of the 10 cents per page PACER charges. (PACER actually raised its charge from seven to ten cents per page, all while bandwidth and storage costs plummeted.)..."

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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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Richard Branson: Better World in 10 Years (video)

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Richard Branson: World Better in 10 Years Than Now: Video - Bloomberg: "May 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Group Founder and Chairman, discusses Virgin Galactic, Virgin America, Virgin Atlantic, and the space, music, and airline industries with Bloomberg's Cory Johnson."

Say No to The Internet Slow Lane | OpenMedia: "Many of your favorite websites could slow to a crawl. U.S. FCC Chair Tom Wheeler is about to cave to Big Telecom’s demands at a crucial meeting.  We only have a few hours to tell the FCC to back off their Internet Slow Lane plan. Send your message now." (go to link above)

Facebook and Square pull failed apps from digital stores - Los Angeles Times: "Facebook Camera, Poke and Square Wallet have been removed from app stores, bringing an end to three  apps from notable tech companies that were never able to catch on. The social network giant pulled Camera and Poke from the Apple App Store on Friday. The two apps were launched in 2012 and were clones of other popular apps that posed threats to Facebook's dominance in mobile social networking...."

Facebook Taking Steps to Open a China Sales Office
Bloomberg
Facebook Inc. is taking steps to open a sales office in China to work with ... EBay Inc. and Yahoo! ... In 2010, Google Inc. said it wouldn't comply with the country's online censorship rules and shuttered its local search page. ... Steve and Jimmy: The Roots ofApple's Bid for Beats · America on the Move ...

Google Must Amend Some Search Results After EU Ruling
TIME
A European court in Amsterdam ruled Tuesday that Google must remove outdated or irrelevant personal information on individuals from its search ...

New Motorola smartphone aims at crowded low-cost market
PCWorld
Motorola Mobility is hoping to build on the success of the Moto G with another affordable smartphone. But the new Moto E will face even greater competition in a segment, that thanks to increased competition between processor manufacturers, is turning into a ...

Google Faces German Order to Change Handling of Personal Data
Businessweek
Google Inc. (GOOG:US) is having another run-in with European regulators over the protection of personal data. This time, the operator of the biggest Internet search engine is violating German rules by compiling customers' data without asking for their consent ...

Microsoft Azure tools aim to help companies manage hybrid clouds
PCWorld
For the kick-off of its annual Tech Ed user conference, being held this week in Houston,Microsoft has released a bevy of tools and services to help ...

Microsoft and its partners announce new affordable access projects on four continents
MarketWatch
Microsoft's commercial partnership with SpectraLink Wireless and research partnership with Facebook will deploy wireless networks covering entire ...

Apple Does Not Have More Cash Than Britain And Israel Combined
Forbes
This is a little boo boo from the New York Times. They're talking about the restrictive hiring practices case in Silicon Valley that was recently settled.

Google testing what could be 'dramatic' Gmail redesign
Computerworld
Screen grabs of the redesign on sites including Geek.com show big changes to Gmail's look and functionality. Geek.com, which appears to be testing ...

Google Drive Features - Business Insider
By Matt Johnston
If You Are Not Using These Google Maps Hacks, You Are Totally ...
Business Insider

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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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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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AT&T desperate, why would anyone switch from T-Mobile?

Desperate AT&T will give you $200 to switch over from big, scary T-Mobile | VentureBeat | Mobile | by Ricardo Bilton: "AT&T’s switcher credit, however, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. For one, T-Mobile rid itself of service contracts last year, so any customer who wants to leave the carrier really has nothing standing in their way. More, I suspect it’s going to take a lot more than $200 to convince T-Mobile customers to willingly go back to AT&T. To put it simply: AT&T officially sees T-Mobile a serious threat. And that’s not something I thought I’d ever write..."

Expri Editor's Note: T-Mobile is THE CARRIER if you are in the US. T-Mobile is, by far, the best choice for smart consumers -- $30 month for unlimited text and data (internet--5GB at 4G) and 100 minutes voice, OR $50 month for unlimited voice, data, and text. NOBODY can match that in the USA. Order your smartphone directly from Motorola (Moto X or Moto G) with the T-Mobile SIM already installed (#s needed to activate will be on the outside of the box) so you can activate everything with one call to T-Mobile, the Uncarrier. (Note: all expri.com editors' recommendations are unpaid and unsponsored, and based on personal experience and reviews.) 

T-Mobile CEO John Legere isn't too impressed with AT&T's latest promotion
DailyTech
Earlier today, we reported that AT&T is seriously gunning for T-Mobile customers by offering up to $450 in incentives to switch. $250 of that incentive package comes in the form of trading in your smartphone, while the other $200 is a straight cash bonus to ...

CES: Five Big Consumer Electronics Trends Hiding Behind the Gadgets
eWeek
NEWS ANALYSIS: Five big trends are shaping the consumer electronics market in 2014, but they will get lost among all the HDTVs, smartphones, tablets and other gadgets on the show floor. The annual Consumer Electronics Show (CES) starts next week.

Google Nexus 5 Review: Top 11 Best (And Worst) Features Of The ...

International Business Times
Google and LG have teamed up again to offer the Nexus 5, the latest smartphone to offer a completely unadulterated Android experience. How does ...

International Business Times AU

Was Microsoft's Surface Saved by Christmas?

Bloomberg
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Chitka's Mobile Division General Manager Matt Kojalo discusses the sales of Microsoft's Surface tablet over the holiday ...

Tech Times

Apple slides late in mixed day for tech stocks

MarketWatch
Other decliners included Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) , eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) , Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Micron Technology ...

ITProPortal

'Cool' Apple iWatch Coming Out This Year: White

Bloomberg
Jan. 3 (Bloomberg) -- Cantor Fitzgerald Global Head Technology Hardware and Software Brian White and Bloomberg's David Kirkpatrick discuss ...

Google to Discontinue Bump and Flock Services

Indiatimes.com
Google is clearly on a killing spree. 2013 was the year when some of the most remarkable Google services were killed, despite protests and even ...

Indiatimes.com

Microsoft's Xbox One Almost Went Entirely Disc-less After E3

Forbes
Microsoft was scrambling in the wake of E3 to alter the Xbox One after a wave of negative feedback about the company's policies regarding the system ...

Last Year's Apple Rumors? Mostly Bogus

TIME
Black Friday shoppers walk past an Apple Store inside the Glendale ... of evidence to prove that the majority of Apple rumors shouldn't be trusted.

Microsoft Releases Linux Integration Services 3.5 for Hyper-V

eWeek
Microsoft is making room for more Linux distros on its virtualization platform with the release of Linux Integration Services 3.5 (LIS 3.5) for Hyper-V.

eWeek

100-Million-Year Old Amber Fossil Preserves Ancient Flowers Caught In The ...
International Business Times
Researchers have discovered a “perfectly-preserved” example of sexual reproduction in flowering plants in a 100-million-year old amber fossil. Amber Fossil A 100-million-year old amber fossil contains flowering plants in the middle of sexual reproduction.

Lyrics Site Rap Genius Returns to Google Search
Entrepreneur
One site that was banned by Google is back in the search giant's good graces. Lyrics site Rap Genius tried to manipulate the way it turned up in Google search results by soliciting bloggers to link to its pages in exchange for exposure via Rap Genius' social ...

Fuhu, Inc. and DreamWorks Animation Launch the DreamTab
Wall Street Journal
EL SEGUNDO, CA--(Marketwired - Jan 3, 2014) - Fuhu, Inc., creator of the award-winning nabi(R) tablet, and DreamWorks Animation (NASDAQ: DWA) have joined forces to unveil the DreamTab, a state-of-the-art new tablet designed from the ground-up just ...

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Motorola Has Best Smartphones and Prompt Android Updates!

Shopping for a new smartphone? Let me make this easy for you -- Go to http://www.motorola.com and design (and buy) your new Moto X or Moto G. Looking for a US carrier with the best deals? T-Mobile (off contract) is the way to go! Order your Motorola phone with the T-Mobile sim card already installed, and when you receive it, one phone call to T-Mobile will open your account, transfer your number and activate the phone (and you can save $$$). (Editor's note: these are unpaid recommendations, and are based on the expri.com editor's personal experience and other reviews and experiences).

Motorola’s Prompt Android Updates Are Making Everyone Else Look Bad | TIME.com: By updating its phones to Android 4.4 already, Motorola is embarrassing its rival phone makers. It’s now clearer than ever that other companies either aren’t dedicating enough resources to updating their phones, or need more time because their modifications to Android require more work. Most major phone makers tweak the Android source code on their handsets, changing the visual aesthetic and modifying core apps ... Motorola proved that a there’s a better way. Aesthetically, its phones are similar to stock Android, but Motorola has added a few useful features on top, such as always-on voice commands and notifications that appear as you’re taking the phone out of your pocket...(read more at link above)

Why regulators are likely to reject a Sprint/T-Mobile deal | Mobile - CNET News: "Reports have surfaced that Sprint is interested in acquiring T-Mobile, but T-Mobile's recent success with its "Uncarrier" strategy is likely to sway regulators to block any deal that takes T-Mobile out of the game..."

BlackBerry Staggers to a Deeper, $4.4 Billion Loss - NYTimes.com: "BlackBerry, the hobbled smartphone maker, reported more dire financial news on Friday, posting a $4.4 billion loss and a 56 percent drop in revenue in its latest quarter. The company also outlined a sharp retreat from its once-core handset business by entering a partnership with the Asian contract manufacturer Foxconn."

BlackBerry CEO details survival strategy | Mobile - CNET News: "For now, BlackBerry will not be building high-end smartphones for the North American consumer smartphone market. Instead, Chen said that the company will focus device development in this market on enterprise customers..."

Google seeks to commercialize humanoid robots
Computerworld
Computerworld - HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- The first sign that Google now owns robotics heavyweight Boston Dynamics was when the Google bus rolled ...

Computerworld

Apple, Samsung Dominate Tablet Market
InformationWeek
A majority of consumers stick with gear made by Apple or Samsung. ... made up of smaller entry-level devices from the likes of Asus, HP, and Amazon.

Android Community

Amazon workers in Germany to continue strikes in 2014
Reuters
Hundreds of workers at Amazon's logistic centers in Bad Hersfeld and Leipzig... Amazon said that, on average, only 900 staff joined the strike and that ...

NDTV

Google celebrates 100 years of crossword puzzles with doodle
Los Angeles Times
Google is celebrating the centennial of crossword puzzles Friday with an interactive doodle on its home page. Users can head to Google.com to play ...

Slate Magazine (blog)

Protesters vandalize Google bus, block Apple shuttle
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO -- As tech-driven housing costs and evictions soar, anti-gentrification protesters in San Francisco and Oakland on Friday again ...

Bay Area Indymedia

Google announces ban on "multi-purpose" Chrome extensions
ZDNet
Summary: Developers who write extensions for Chrome are on notice. Keep it simple, or risk getting kicked out of the Chrome Web Store. But what's ...

ZDNet

Microsoft: Bing is not a bottomless money pit (any more)
ZDNet (blog)
Summary: Microsoft's Chief Financial Officer for its Applications and Services group tells investors now is the time for Microsoft to put its foot on the gas ...

Google's Top Trending Video Games Of 2013 List Is Full Of Surprises
Forbes
Google has released its annual Zeitgeist, which includes a bunch of top-10 lists of popular and trending searches, including the most talked about and ...

The Vine

Apple's Top Apps of 2013: 10 Insights from the Most Popular ...
eWeek
Apple recently announced its most popular apps of 2013. ... bundled with iOS, but after Apple's falling out with Google, the company nixed that. ... But the popularity of the Amazon Kindle app on the iPad indicates folks are also ...

The Verge

Google gives thumbs-up to first Cyanogen phone
CNET
In a first for the custom Android ROM community, Google signals its approval... Google has approved of Cyanogen's plan to ship CyanogenMod on an ...

SlashGear

5 Things to Know About the Winter Solstice | TIME.com: "Behold! A year has passed since the great Mayan apocalypse of 2012 — newsflash: we’re all still here — and the winter solstice is again upon us. The solstice marks the shortest day of the year for dwellers in the Northern Hemisphere, and the longest day of the year for those south of the equator...The winter solstice occurs at a specific time, not just day. This year, at 12:11 p.m. EST on Saturday, Dec. 21, the sun shone directly over the Tropic of Capricorn, the farthest south the sun reaches, leading to less light and colder temperatures in the north. In the Southern Hemisphere, it was the longest day of the year...."

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India: A conversation with Eric Schmidt (video)

Reimagining India: A conversation with Eric Schmidt | McKinsey & Company: Google opened its first office in India almost a decade ago, and executive chairman Eric Schmidt has since watched the country’s technology sector expand rapidly. In this video interview, Schmidt is optimistic about the role technology can continue to play in India’s development but warns that the regulatory environment must keep improving. This interview was conducted by James Manyika, a director in McKinsey’s San Francisco office . . . . "it’s perfectly possible that India can leapfrog much of the technology that we’ve taken for granted over the last few decades and build very, very powerful fourth-generation LTE networks to handle the tremendous load of all these Indian users and consumers .... Technology is a declining cost industry. And the phone that we have today, which using US prices is a $400 phone, will be a $200 phone in a couple of years, because of Moore’s law, and a couple years later, it’s a $100 phone ... We’ll get a basically successful smartphone with a modestly powerful screen. And the price points can be well below $50.... one of the simple solutions there is to have much more access to WiFi hotspots and the ability to be mobile between them. So even there, we have some solutions. I think there’s every reason to believe that in five to ten years, the majority of Indian citizens will have good access to the Internet...." (Eric Schmidt is executive chairman of Google). (read more at the link above) 

Smartphone market in the US (comScore) -- Android leads the market with more than 50% of the market, Motorola now growing again and is the #3 manufacturer, Apple iOS has 41 % share, Microsoft Windows Phone has slow growth, Blackberry dying with the rest -- Apple 40.6% in US Smartphones, Samsung 25.4%, Android Up, iOS Up: "... the real story is with Motorola ..."

Motorola's Project Ara modular phone prototype is 'almost ready' | News | TechRadar: "...what we'd like to eventually get to is [customising] functionality within the device and that's where Project Ara and Moto Maker may converge." Moto's new direction seems heavily centric on giving smartphone users exactly what they want in a smartphone. The Moto X offers custom backplates, materials and colour schemes and Project Ara will take those decisions to the ultimate level for tech enthusiasts...."

Google Squeezes Margins on Moto G Phone
Wall Street Journal
Google's 2012 acquisition of Motorola was a provocative move that put it in competition with partners making phones based on its Android mobile-operating ...

Headlines & Global News

Google, Facebook, Twitter bolster digital defenses in wake of NSA revelations
San Jose Mercury News
But more recently, top executives at Google, Microsoft and Yahoo (YHOO) have touted their efforts -- in a reflection of both growing outrage over government surveillance and a desire to convince users that the companies are doing all they can to ...

Apple iPad Air launch: Mumbaikars form queues to buy the device
Daily News & Analysis
Apple is introducing the new iPads to India soon after Google launched the ... Apple is rolling out the slick iPad Air and the new iPad mini today in India.

Google, Facebook, Twitter bolster digital defenses in wake of NSA ...
San Jose Mercury News
Quietly at first, but more vocally in recent months, Google (GOOG), Facebook and ... But more recently, top executives at Google, Microsoftand Yahoo (YHOO) ...

Guardian Express

Google Updates Play Music App With SD Card Storage But Where ...
Forbes
In case you missed it, Google Google updated their Play Music app yesterday. The update brings some nice UI tweaks including a slick slide-out menu, the ...

Guardian Express

Microsoft mood bra: Embedded sensors may keep you from pigging ...
Los Angeles Times
A bra that helps stop you from pigging out when you're an emotional mess. An uplifting experience? That's what Microsoft is going for with its prototype “smart ...

natmonitor.com

Google's Eric Schmidt wants a ban on Amazon's drones
Fortune (blog)
Google's Eric Schmidt wants a ban on Amazon's drones. By Philip ... Apple (AAPL), meanwhile, is trying to make a virtue -- if not a marketable feature -- out of the ...

Apple iBeacon launched to help customers navigate Apple stores
Newsday
GPS will tell you how to get to the nearest Apple store. With iBeacon,Apple hopes to guide you around once you're inside, whether it's to pick up an order, ...

Newsday

Apple Stores fire up iBeacon to track you while you shop
CNET
Starting Friday, the iBeacon feature in iOS 7 is ready to be your personal shopper, and it won't be shy about saying you're due to upgrade that iPhone.

You are the query: Yahoo's bold quest to reinvent search | Internet & Media - CNET News: ".... for Yahoo really to build something of consequence in search and personalization, it's got a lot of hurdles to overcome. "Yahoo has not been able to figure out how to take their data and combine it with third-party data to create something meaningful," said Sameet Sinha, a senior analyst at B. Riley and Co. Not to mention the fact that Yahoo doesn't have its own operating system -- on mobile or desktop -- to jump-start the adoption of any search tool. But Mayer helped make Google, the company that took search -- a category a handful of other companies were already established in -- friendlier to the masses. Rightly or wrongly, Mayer's bet is that Yahoo has got the user interface chops to create an experience that rivals that of anyone else, including her old company"

Fate of 40 stranded Florida whales unclear
AFP
Miami — After a three-day rescue effort, the fate of 40 whales hung in the balance, with officials saying they had lost track of two dozen of them in southern Florida. The search has been halted due to darkness and weather constraints but it will resume at first ...

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