Virtual Reality Aims For A Mass Market (video)

Virtual reality aims for mass market

Sony's PlayStation VR, Facebook's Oculus and Google's Daydream are all taking different approaches with their latest VR technology to win over mainstream consumers. The FT.com's Tim Bradshaw reports.  Video published Oct 11, 2016


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PlayStation Vue, Roku, Cable TV Cord Cutting Made Easy (video)

Cut Cable TV Easily With Roku and PlayStation Vue:

PlayStation Vue lets you stream major cable TV channels live or watch shows on demand, and now it's on Roku TVs, set-top boxes and HDMI sticks. WSJ's Nathan Olivarez-Giles explains Sony's cable-cutting service. Published June 24, 2016 by The Wall Street Journal.

#cutthecord #cutthecable #cordcutter #cordcutting

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Tech News: Sony Malware Bomb, Android Auto, Municipal Fiber

Bloomberg’s Mia Saini reports on lessons learned from the hack attack on Sony.


Peter Singer, author of “Cybersecurity and Cyberwar,” and senior fellow at New America Foundation, discusses the hacking attack on Sony Pictures.

State-sponsored or not, Sony Pictures malware “bomb” used slapdash code | Ars Technica: "... But as Cisco research engineer Christopher Marczewski and Williams wrote in a Cisco Talos blog post today detailing their analysis, the wiper malware didn’t have to be very complex to do what it was intended to do. “Data is the new target, this should not be a surprise to anyone,” Marczewski wrote. In addition to denying the victim access to corporate data and doing harm to their business, “wiping systems is also an effective way to cover up malicious activity and make incident response more difficult, such as in the case of the DarkSeoul malware in 2013,” he added. As crudely as it was built, it’s clear that the wiper malware compiled for the actual attack on Sony Pictures was packed with deep intelligence on the company’s network...."

Exclusive: Google aiming to go straight into car with next Android - sources | Reuters: "Google, however, has never provided details or a timeframe for its long-term plan to put Android Auto directly into cars. The company now plans to do so when it rolls out the next version of its operating system, dubbed Android M, expected in a year or so, two people with knowledge of the matter said."

Need for Speed · thewalrus.ca: An Alberta town becomes an unlikely Internet innovator--"... A similar project has arisen in Chattanooga, Tennessee, where the city owns a fibre network that also recently launched 1 Gbps service. In Ontario, the city of Stratford and a group of communities in the east of the province have experimented with building their own networks. In Olds, the institute owns O-Net and the infrastructure, but the majority of funding has come from provincial loans guaranteed by the municipality...."


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Report: North Korea Linked To Cyberterrorism Against Sony (video)

U.S. Links North Korea to Sony Hacking - NYTimes.com: "... Senior administration officials, who would not speak on the record about the intelligence findings, said the White House was still debating whether to publicly accuse North Korea of what amounts to a cyberterrorism campaign..."



Sony’s New York premiere of “The Interview” was canceled and the fourth-largest U.S. cinema chain won’t screen the film after threats of violence from the hackers behind a devastating cyberattack on the studio. Adallom President of Marketing Tal Klein and Bloomberg’s Lucas Shaw speak on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg)

more tech News:
Google's Detractors Take Their Fight to the States
New York Times
Google's detractors complain about the search giant to everyone they can, ... ForMicrosoft, any limits imposed on Google might help it improve the ...


Wired
Sci-Fi Author Neal Stephenson Joins Mystery Startup Magic Leap as 'Chief Futurist'
Wired
Silicon Valley is already abuzz over this stealthy augmented-reality startup, mainly due to some funding from Google and a brief glimpse of the company's technology that shows a 3-D virtual elephant floating above someone's hands. And now, the company ...

ABC News
Instagram Gets Five New Filters
PC Magazine
It's been two years since Instagram added any new filters to its lineup of classics like Rise, Lo-Fi, and X-Pro II. So it's high time the Facebook-owned company got on that, right? Well, get ready to get excited, Instagrammers. Because the photo- and ...

The Independent
Google Reveals 2014's Top Searches
PC Magazine
Google clocked trillions of searches worldwide in 2014, but one man managed to steal the spotlight: The late Robin Williams landed the No. 1 spot in the global trends charts. The comedian and actor passed away in August, prompting folks around the world ...

PCWorld
Sony can make any eyewear more like Google Glass
Engadget
Sony has just announced a new attachable display module that can turn a "pair of fashionable glasses, goggles, sunglasses, or other type of eyewear" into smartglasses. And, yes, it's completely detachable so you can remove it whenever you want to.

Wall Street Journal
Sprint to Face Record Fine Over Unauthorized Customer Charges
Wall Street Journal
WASHINGTON—The Federal Communications Commission is preparing to fine Sprint Corp. a record $105 million over allegations the company charged consumers for unwanted text message alerts and other services. An FCC official confirmed that the ...

USA TODAY
Report: Samsung Eyeing Apple Pay Competitor
PC Magazine
Samsung is in talks with payments startup LoopPay for a technology that would rival Apple's new mobile payment system, according to a Tuesday report from Re/code. The technology, slated to make its debut in 2015, would bring greater convenience to the ...

CNET
Alleged OnePlus Mini spied in leaked photos
CNET
A pair of images have emerged showing what purports to be a smaller take on the OnePlus smartphone...

Forbes
Why Nintendo's Wii U Might Be The Best Console To Unwrap Christmas Morning
Forbes
In the next week or so, there will likely be many articles stacking up the three major consoles, the PS4, the Xbox One, and the Wii U, comparing price, features, graphics, games and so on as you try to understand which one to buy for someone (or yourself) this ...

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Does Sony Have a Case to Stop Hack Reporting? (videos)

Does Sony Have a Case to Stop Hack Reporting?: Video - Bloomberg:
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Sony Pictures Entertainment requested news outlets stop disclosing material from a devastating computer hack as its studio chief made plans to meet a civil-rights leader after the exposure of a racially tinged e-mail exchange. Rasch Technology And Cyberlaw Principal Mark Rasch weighs in on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg 12/15)

Sony Asks Media to Destroy Hacked Data: Do They Have a Case?: Video - Bloomberg:
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Trend Micro's Tom Kellermann and Bloomberg's Lucas Shaw discuss the ethical issues raised by the hack attack on Sony Pictures. They speak with Bloomberg's Trish Regan on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg 12/15)


New York Times
Apple Wins Decade-Old iTunes Suit
New York Times
Several other Apple executives were called to the witness stand. ... in the process of fixing hacks, “it might screw up the Real technology anyway, ... accusation: that Appleand the online retailer Amazon had colluded to make their ...
Apple Wins iPod Antitrust Trial - Wall Street Journal
Jury finds Apple not liable of harming consumers in iTunes DRM case - The Verge
Apple Wins Class-Action Lawsuit Over iPod Prices - ABC News


RT
Apple halts online sales to Russia as the ruble plunges in value
The Verge
According to reporters at Bloomberg, Apple is shutting down its online sales to Russia because of the "extreme fluctuations" in its currency, the ruble.
Apple Stops Online Sales in Russia Over Ruble Fluctuations - Bloomberg


Newsweek
What People Are Searching For, According to Google
Newsweek
Every December, as one year is about to give way to the next, Google ... pumpkin pie, anapple and an egg; Paleo, Atkins and Gluten-free were the ...
Robin Williams Tops 2014 List of Google Searches - ABC News


CNET
Dozens of vendors jump on Apple Pay bandwagon
CNET
Log In to CNET; Sign In with Facebook Google Yahoo; Join CNET; Member Benefits ... With the expanded list, Apple says its mobile-payments system now ... Other services such as Google Wallet and Softcard have tried to find ... CNET, Computer Shopper,Microsoft TechNet, and other technology sites.
Apple Pay Recruits Dozens of New Banks and Stores - Wired
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Sony, DarkSeoul, Hackers, North Korea Links (video)

What's the Deal With DarkSeoul?
Sony's hackers are demanding the studio stop showing 'The Interview.' Experts say the attacks on Sony show similarities with a hacking group called DarkSeoul with suspected links to North Korea. (Source: Bloomberg)

techNEWS

Reuters
Sony's PlayStation store back online after cyber attack
Reuters
REUTERS - Sony Corp said its PlayStation Network and Sony Entertainment Network had been disrupted by hackers in a distributed denial-of-service attack on Monday. Sony said its systems were back online and the company was investigating the cause of ...


The Week Magazine
Hackers sent Sony extortion email before security breach
The Week Magazine
The hackers behind a major attack against Sony last month reportedly emailed the company beforehand asking for money, Mashable reports. "Pay the damage, or Sony Pictures will be bombarded as a whole," the Nov. 21 email read. "You know us very well.


TechCrunch
Amazon To Let Shoppers Bargain For Lower Prices With New “Make An Offer” Option
TechCrunch
Amazon, pushing hard to pick up more business during the holiday season, wants you to make a deal. Taking a page from the likes of eBay and ...
Now you can haggle on Amazon - USA TODAY


CNET
Amazon tests delivery by bike in New York City
CNET
Amazon is testing bike messengers deliveries in New York City, which ... Google launchedGoogle Express last year in San Francisco and has since ...
Amazon wants an NYC bike messenger to bring you a package within an hour - The Verge


CNET
Facebook, Vessel put YouTube on notice: Your talent isn't safe
CNET
Over the last several months, Google has been actively striking deals with ... WhileFacebook is an obvious threat to YouTube, Google is by far more ... and Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, to collect funds and target content creators. ... Don Reisinger is a technologycolumnist who has covered everything from ...


NBCNews.com
Amazon Official to FAA: Let Us Test Our Delivery Drones Outdoors
NBCNews.com
The massive flames that lit up downtown Los Angeles early Monday were terrifying, but thanks to modern firefighting technology and techniques, they ...

Google-backed password-killer crosses major milestone
The Verge
In October, Google unveiled a surprising new way to log into Chrome and ... Google's security key was one example, and another was Samsung's ... has built a program adapting Apple's now-open API to the FIDO protocols. ... Qualcomm, and Blackberry; service companies like Google, Microsoft, and ...

Facebook Video Is Driving YouTube Off Facebook
Business Insider
Outside of Facebook, YouTube still dominates in terms of video uploads and views. A Google spokeswoman told Business Insider that 300 hours of ...

Powerful, highly stealthy Linux trojan may have infected victims for years
Ars Technica
Researchers have uncovered an extremely stealthy trojan for Linux systems that attackers have been using to siphon sensitive data from governments and pharmaceutical companies around the world. The previously undiscovered malware represents a ...

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Who Is Hacking Hollywood and Wall Street? (video)

Hollywood and Wall Street Hacked: Who's Doing It? : Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play or go to link above)
Jen Weedon, manager of threat intelligence at FireEye, discusses the theft of merger-and-acquisition information from more than 80 companies and the hack attack of Sony Pictures. She speaks with Bloomberg's Trish Regan on "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg 12/1)


New York Times
Technology|Amazon's $250 Million Shortfall (or Investment)
New York Times
Sometime last summer, a quarter-billion dollars went missing at Amazon. Analysts were expecting the usual gangbusters third quarter. But it was ...
Watch the Robots Shipping Your Amazon Order This Holiday - TIME
Amazon's New Robot Army Is Ready to Ship - ABC News
Drones Are So Last Year At Amazon, Yet The PR Machine Rolls On - TechCrunch


NPR
Is A Threat Posted On Facebook Really A Threat?
NPR
The U.S. Supreme Court is tackling a question of increasing importance in the age of social media and the Internet: What constitutes a threat on ...
Supreme Court to weigh whether Facebook rants are threats - MSNBC

Google Glass will return in 2015 with Intel inside, says WSJ
2015 will see Google launch a new model of its Glass headset, which will be ... 


Forbes
Google Unseats Apple In U.S. Classrooms As Chromebooks Beat iPads
Forbes
As of the third quarter of 2014, Chromebooks have displaced iPads as the most popular new devices shipping to U.S. schools. This is a huge win for Google in a market historically dominated by Apple and Microsoft. According to the Financial Times and IDC, ...

Financial Express
Samsung mobile boss given second chance for turnaround
ZDNet
Samsung Electronics' mobile boss and co-CEO Jong-Kyun Shin will keep his post despite recent downturns in the company's smartphone business, Samsung said in the conglomerate's annual management reshuffle announcement. There were rampant ...

Star Witness in Apple Lawsuit Is Steve Jobs
New York Times
Emails by the Apple chief, who died in 2011, have been used against the company in lawsuits....

Forbes
Apple Store logos tinted red worldwide in support of World AIDS Day
Apple Insider
Apple brick-and-mortar retail outlets around the world on Monday changed their iconic Apple logos red in recognition of World AIDS Day, which in 2014 is commemorating its 26th year of supporting those affected by the disease....

Sony hires Mandiant after cyber attack, FBI starts probe
Reuters
Sony Pictures looks for North Korea link to cyber attack...

TechCrunch
After Firefox, Yahoo aims Apple Safari as default search engine
Inferse
Summary: Firefox has a relatively unclear future after signing a long-term deal with Yahoo, to replace Google as the default search engine, as Safari looks to make same move in 2015... 

Hindustan Times
Xbox Japan chief resigns after poor sales
Hindustan Times
The head of Microsoft's Xbox business in Japan has stepped down, but the firm said the move was not linked to years of poor sales of the games consoles. Takashi Sensui resigned Sunday as "interactive entertainment business general manager" at Microsoft ...

Microsoft acquires email startup Acompli
Although limited Exchange email and calendar compatibility is cooked into both Google and Apple's mobile OSes, Acompli handles tasks like creating ...

Yandex Gives Its Browser A Minimalist Makeover | TechCrunch: "The alpha version of the browser is currently available for Mac and Windows and is offered in 15 languages at this point, including English, Russian and Turkish."

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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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Fabric, Twitter Tool for Building Apps (video)

Twitter Vice President of Product Kevin Weil discusses the company’s plans to introduce "Fabric," a tool for building mobile apps. He speaks on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg 10/23)

more info: https://dev.twitter.com/products/fabric

Amazon Spends and Grows, but Still Wants for Money
New York Times
Technology |​​NYT Now ... Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon's chief, announcing the Fire phone earlier this year. ... Amazon's shares have not suffered much, if at all, from the Fire's failure. ... in cloud computing, but it faces increased competition from Google andMicrosoft, both of which have deeper pockets.
Losses Jump at Amazon, as Investments Pile Up - New York Times
Amazon's holiday-quarter forecast disappoints, shares dive - Reuters
Amazon's Spending Leads to Biggest Quarterly Loss in 14 Years - Wall Street Journal


New York Times
Microsoft's Sales Increase, Helped by Its Acquisition of Nokia, and Investors Notice
New York Times
Satya Nadella, Microsoft's chief executive, at an event earlier this week ... And many venerable technology companies are struggling to leap from the old ... competitors going after its corporate customers, like Amazon and Google, by ...
Microsoft Bucks Trend as Sales Defy Expectations - Wall Street Journal


New York Times
At Facebook, Creating Empathy Among Cyberbullying
New York Times
No, he is not responsible for increasing advertising revenue or keeping the website alive 24 hours a day. Mr. Bejar has a much more inscrutable task: ...

Facebook's anonymous Rooms is a chat app that feels like the old days
Facebook's new Rooms app is weird, and it isn't long after installation that you figure out why. ... Apple fixed the bug – you should be able to download Rooms now! ... Microsoft is doing great, and so are Surface Pro 3 and Office 365 ... Amazon Kindle Voyage review: The best e-reader is also the priciest.

Jogging and jamming with Android Wear and the Sony SmartWatch 3
Starting today you can pre-order the Sony SmartWatch 3 from Verizon Wireless and it's coming soon to GooglePlay. SmartWatch 3 is the first Android ...

Finally! The phone-charging cable you've been waiting for
Sometimes we get so caught up in new technology that we forget to go back ... The cable comes in a Lightning version for Apple's iPhones and iPads that's .... 7.99 for a 15 foot mini usb 3.0 cable on amazon, then a buck or two for a hook on my nightstand.

Inbox by Gmail: everything you need to know about Google's...
Google has announced a new Gmail app known as Inbox, said to ... Scott has never owned an Apple device, of any kind, and doesn't see this ...

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

Wall Street delivers bad news to Amazon
CNN Money
Amazon loses more than $14 billion in value after reporting another loss. ..

Facebook wants to bring back the anonymous chatroom
CNN.com
Facebook releases a free app that lets you anonymously create or join chatrooms based on shared interests.

Teaming up with Oxford University on Artificial Intelligence
Google Europe Blog
It is a really exciting time for Artificial Intelligence research these days, and progress is being made on many fronts including image recognition and ...

Apple Pay vs. Google Wallet vs. PayPal
CNET.com

Facebook's new 'Rooms'
CNBC.com
Facebook announced a new stand-alone mobile app that enables people to ... Facebook has announced a new mobile app called "Rooms," reports CNBC's Julia ... "The Puls" smartwatch in hopes of blending fashion and technology. ... Amazon Takes $170 Million Writedown on Weak Fire Phone Sales.

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Sony's Biggest Flops (video); Android Split for Work and Play

(Allow video to load after clicking play or go to link )
Sony's famed and praised Walkman turns 35 this week but not every Sony product can say they've lasted that long. Bloomberg Ranx looks at five of Sony's biggest gadget flops. (Source: Bloomberg July 3, 2014)

Google Splits Up Your Android Phone for Work and Play | Business | WIRED: "... According to Amit Singh–who oversees business sales at Google–the software used to separate apps is based on technology Google acquired with its recent purchase of a company called Divide. The idea is that, by placing corporate apps in secure software “containers,” Google can allow businesses to manage and monitor them without messing with all the personal stuff on your phone. For instance, if you leave your job at a particular company, Singh told us after Pichai’s keynote speech, the company can erase all your corporate data and apps without touching, say, your personal Gmail account or Twitter app. For Google, the ultimate aim is to make Android more appealing to businesses that are concerned about securing corporate data on employee phones...."

Google Starts Scrubbing News Articles From Search After Court Ruling
TIME
Google In this photo illustration the Google logo is reflected in the eye of a girl on February 3, 2008 in London, England. Chris Jackson—Getty Images ...

Google makes way for wearables with Play Services update
PCWorld
Google has released a new version of Play Services that opens the door to more smartwatch apps and cooler games. Play Services is a set of features ...

Facebook may face European inquiries
Boston Globe
NEW YORK — Facebook could be in hot water with Europe's privacy regulators. The social network is facing potential investigations after it disclosed ...

Apple expands CarPlay to nine more automakers
Los Angeles Times
CarPlay, Apple's forthcoming vehicle radio system, will be supported by nine ... Googlelast week announced a vehicle radio system of its own called ...

Facebook's mind game was a violation of trust
Boston Globe
Every so often, the giant social network Facebook does something guaranteed ... And yetFacebook, Google and every other big-name Internet site ... ignore Google and ... at least dip into alternate services like Bing or Yahoo, or the ...

Amazon vows to fight FTC over sales to youths
Boston Globe
LOS ANGELES — Amazon said Wednesday it is prepared to go to court against ...Apple complained when the FTC announced its settlement with the ...

Google scoops up Songza and its modern version of the 80s mix tape
Computerworld
Music streaming service Songza announced today that it is being acquired by Google. Neither company provided financial details of the deal, ...

Microsoft trolls for Office beta testers
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft today put out a call for commercial and consumer beta testers to put upcoming versions of Office through the wringer.

Google Bans Porn From Its Ad Network
NBCNews.com
Google Bans Porn From Its Ad Network. Google is getting ... work in the industry. In May, Amazon began deleting the wish lists of several adult stars.

Microsoft Outlook Web App: Slicker Email Attachment Handling
InformationWeek
Microsoft Office For iPad Vs. iWork Vs. Google ... Earlier this year, Microsoft previewed a variety of upcoming tools designed to make Office easier to ...

Google Alerts British News Outlets About Deleting Their Links - NYTimes.com
By By MARK SCOTT
LONDON – A week after Google started to remove links to online content in Europe, some ... (The links, however, are still available on Google.com) ... market share in Europe, and other search engines like Microsoft's Bing. ... The Wall Street Journal | A senior Amazonexecutive on Tuesday defended the ...
Bits

How Google Street View Was Created - Business Insider
By Lisa Eadicicco
Elliot Kroo, an engineer that claimed he was Google's youngest intern ever at 14, helped create ... Login With Facebook Login With Twitter Login With Google ... BEACONS: What They Are, How They Work, And Why Apple's iBeacon ...
Business Insider

'Right to be forgotten': BBC, The Guardian, Daily Mail push back on Google
Sydney Morning Herald
A disgraced football coach and an investment banker involved in the global financial crisis are two of the early successful applicants to evoke the digital world's newly minted "right to be forgotten". Three major international news groups have received "notice ...

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Windows 8 Claims Another Victim, Sony Predicts Billion Dollar Loss, Shuts Down PC Business

What Godzilla did to Japan is what Microsoft Windows 8 has done to the PC business --

Sony Now Predicts a $1.1 Billion Loss, Shuts Down PC Business | Entrepreneur.com: "Sony is shuttering its computer business, refocusing its TV division on high-end units and laying off 5,000 people. It is also predicting a massive loss of 110 billion yen, or $1.1 billion, for the fiscal year, a drastic change from its prediction three months ago of a 30-billion yen profit ($294 million)...."

What the Windows 7 Pro sales lifecycle changes mean to consumers and business buyers | ZDNet: "The easiest way to exercise downgrade rights is to buy a new PC with the downgraded version installed by the OEM. That configuration means you have full support from the OEM for Windows 7 Pro. The PC you buy includes media for Windows 8.1 and the right to upgrade to that version (also with support from the OEM) at any time. Those PCs are widely available for sale today, as I noted last month (see Where can you still find a PC running Windows 7?) Most of those models are sold with a Windows 8 Pro license and Windows 7 installed as a downgrade."

Microsoft extends date for OEM preloads of Windows 7 for business users | ZDNet: "Microsoft is going to allow OEMs to continue to build and sell new PCs with Windows 7 Professional preinstalled beyond October 2014, the original date that would have been the cutoff under the company’s normal sales lifecycle. But OEMs won't be permitted to build and sell new PCs with the consumer editions of Windows 7 after October 31, 2014...."

Rakuten to Buy Voice-Call App Maker Viber - WSJ.com: "Since 2012, Mr. Mikitani has also mandated that all in-house business—from meetings to memos to cafeteria menus—be in English, to prepare Rakuten's 3,498 employees for life in the international business community. Buying Viber would give Rakuten access to millions of Viber users, who could use their phone number and password to open a Rakuten shopping account, Mr. Mikitani said. Viber's virtual stickers will also bring in cash, and the two companies said they hoped to make games available on Viber in the future as well. Viber rival Line Corp., the Japanese arm of South Korea's Naver Corp. offers games—a lucrative source of app revenue...."

Merkel, Hollande to discuss possible European communication network that avoids U.S. - Yahoo News: "German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday she would talk to French President Francois Hollande about building up a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States. Merkel, speaking on Saturday ahead of a visit to France, has been pushing for greater data protection in Europe following reports last year about mass surveillance in Germany and elsewhere by the U.S. National Security Agency. Even Merkel's cell phone was reportedly monitored by American spies...."

Google promises 10Gps fiber network to blast 4K into living rooms • The Register: "Google Fiber is the fastest broadband internet provider in the US, but according to the Chocolate Factory's CFO Patrick Pichette, its 1Gbps connection speeds are going to increase ten-fold. Pichette told the Goldman Sachs Technology and Internet conference that the firm is actively developing the equipment to pump 10Gbps of data into homes and offices on its network and will deploy it faster than people expect...."

Apple & Google Begin Rejecting Games With "Flappy" In The Title
TechCrunch
The Flappy Bird phenomenon shows no signs of slowing down, despite the fact that the original title was yanked out of the App Store by creator Dong Nguyen, whose newfound fame apparently became too overwhelming. But though “Flappy Bird” itself may ...

Google to build new €150m data centre in Dublin
Irish Independent
The new building could bring the total amount invested in Irish property over the past four years by the California-headquartered company, which employs over 2,500 people here, to as much as €500m. Google and other US technology giants have come in for ...

Apple unlikely to launch 12.9" iPad or third-gen iPad mini in 2014, iPad Air ...
Apple Insider
The iPad Air may be the only model in Apple's tablet lineup to receive a refresh this year, with an allegedly still-in-development 12.9-inch model unlikely to launch, and even a successor to the iPad mini with Retina display in doubt, according to one ...

Google Acquires SlickLogin, The Sound-Based Password Alternative
TechCrunch
Word of the acquisition is confirmed by a notice on the company's site, where they say that they'll be joining Google in their efforts to “make the Internet safer for everyone”. We've also confirmed this news with Google. Exact details of the deal are ...

Google makes huge investment in clean energy
CNBC.com
If you ask top executives at Google, Apple, Facebook or Microsoft, they will all tell you they are gigantic consumers of energy. And it's for this reason that top companies in Silicon Valley are in a race to be the leader of clean and renewable ...

Google tools that work for travelers
The Seattle Times
And if you received a confirmation for a hotel or flight reservation in your Gmail inbox, those notifications will also show up. Privacy-minded travelers take note: If you're concerned about an app tracking your whereabouts, search history and Amazon ...

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Takes Over, Sony exits PCs

Ballmer still lurking on the Board of Directors though -- 

Inside the Microsoft CEO Search: How Satya Nadella Was Chosen - WSJ.com: "...On Monday, Mr. Ballmer finished moving out of his office in Building 34, the Microsoft campus home to many senior executives ... Ballmer, remains a presence in addition to his board seat. The billionaire will become Microsoft's largest individual shareholder next quarter if Mr. Gates continues selling his shares for his philanthropic activities. As of Tuesday evening, Mr. Nadella's belongings were ready for the move into his new corner office."

Sony to exit PCs, spin off TV business, eliminate 5000 positions
Los Angeles Times
Sony Corp. is exiting the PC market, announcing Thursday that it was selling its Vaio personal computer division. The Japanese company said the move came after a "comprehensive analysis of factors, including the drastic changes in the global PC industry."...

Gates Spends Entire First Day Back in Office Trying to Install Windows 8.1 : The New Yorker: "A Microsoft spokesman said only that Mr. Gates’ first day in his new job had been “a learning experience” and that, for the immediate future, he would go back to running Windows 7." (parody)

If History Is Any Lesson, Facebook's Newest App Is Doomed To Fail - Business Insider: "...Think of Paper as your News Feed, but in a gorgeous layout designed for your smartphone's screen. You can even write your own posts, view notifications, and send Facebook messages within the app. In short, it has most of the functionality as the regular Facebook app, just wrapped in a prettier package. And that means there's very little reason for someone to use Paper. It may look gorgeous, but Paper doesn't offer much more than a hint at the future of Facebook's app design. Outside of the curated story lists from Facebook's editors, Paper just shows you the same content you'd read in your News Feed anyway...."

Skilled, Cheap Russian Hackers Power American Cybercrime - NBC News.com: ".... what can the US do to curb the rise of cybercrime from Russia? The short answer is: not much. Companies are going to have to spend more and more resources to protect themselves and learn to be more open about attacks when they happen....The scale of the damage done at Target might help explain why the FBI’s new director, James Comey, told a congressional committee that cyber threats are eclipsing terrorism as the main threat we face as a nation."

Investors dump Twitter stock as results divide Wall Street | Reuters: "Twitter Inc's shares fell almost 25 percent on Thursday, wiping out about $9.8 billion in market value, after the company reported a sharp slowdown in user growth..."

HTML5 Catches Up To Apple – ReadWrite: "As Apple’s market share slips to Google's surging little green robot, developers are increasingly turning to HTML5 as a way to embrace both iOS and Android...."

Former HP stars Bradley, Donatelli on brink of exit - sources | Reuters: "...Two sources who spoke to both executives said they disagreed with aspects of Whitman's vision, which involved transforming HP into a provider of servers, storage and networking to corporations, rather than taking on Apple Inc. or Samsung in mobile computing...."

Steve Wozniak: Apple Should Make an Android Phone | Gadget Lab | Wired.com: "“There’s nothing that would keep Apple out of the Android market as a secondary phone market,” said Wozniak–who, it should be noted, is no longer involved in the day-to-day workings of the company. “We could compete very well. People like the precious looks of stylings and manufacturing that we do in our product compared to the other Android offerings. We could play in two arenas at the same time.”"

Snipers took down major grid systems in California last year and it could have been a dress rehearsal — Tech News and Analysis: "According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, last April, in the middle of the night, snipers opened fire for almost 20 minutes on a substation next to a freeway south of San Jose, California, and knocked out seventeen transformers that direct power around Silicon Valley. They also cut the nearby telephone cables. It took a month to fix all the damage — the attackers are still unknown...."

Is there a place for Amazon in the gaming market?
Washington Post
Amazon has acquired gaming studio Double Helix, resparking rumors that the tech giant is looking to step more fully into the world of video games. Double Helix is best known for producing the Xbox One launch game “Killer Instinct,” and is based in Irvine, ...

Nadella's rise renews appeals for Office on iPad, Android tablets
Computerworld
Computerworld - The anointment of new CEO Satya Nadella has renewed calls by analysts that Microsoft free its profitable Office franchise from Windows and release full-featured versions for Google's Android and Apple's iOS tablets. "Nadella should focus ...

15 Years Later, Google Remembers Its First Data Center
PC Magazine
Google data centers are now sprawling high-tech meccas. But 15 years ago, they weren't nearly as impressive. 0shares. Google Data Center. These days, Google's data centers are like sprawling high-tech meccas where you'll find rows upon rows of ...

Prosthetic hand with feeling: Re-creating the brain-hand connection
Los Angeles Times
The human hand is a wonder of strength, sensitivity and discrimination — not only because of those four fingers and the opposable thumb, but also because of the human brain that controls it. No wonder, then, that for those who design hand prostheses, ...

With Its Tiny PC, Google Makes a Play for Your Conference Room
Wired
MOUNTAIN VIEW, CALIFORNIA — Inside Google offices across the globe, company engineers and other employees have long communicated over internet video-conferencing systems developed by the tech giant itself. Googlers call it the “VC” link — a video ...

Patent trolls watch out - Apple and Google join forces to make you think twice: "Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) are today heading a group of 15 companies which have formed a rather unlikely alliance to call on the United States Supreme Court for a strong shift in litigation rules. The highly litigious companies, which frequently level charges of patent infringement against each other on a scale most “patent trolls” cannot match, want the Supreme Court justices to smooth the way for companies to more readily recover legal expenses from patent holders whose claims fail to be legally upheld against a tech company."

Facebook is 10 years old. And half of users are sick of the oversharing.: "... over half of users dislike people sharing too much information about themselves on the social network according to new survey data from Pew, with 36 percent "strongly" disliking oversharing. And the same proportion strongly dislikes when others post pictures or other things about them without asking for permission...."

PNG Image Metadata Found Leveraging iFrame Injections | Threatpost - English - Global - threatpost.com: "Researchers have discovered a relatively new way to distribute malware that relies on reading  JavaScript code stored in an obfuscated PNG file’s metadata to trigger iFrame injections...."

BBC News - Apple's Mac OSX imitated in latest North Korea system: "... devices are heavily restricted. Internet access, for instance, is locked down, with most users able to visit only a handful of sites mostly serving up state-sponsored news. The Red Star OS is peppered with North Korean propaganda, and its calendar tells users it is not 2014, but 103 - the number of years since the birth of former North Korean leader Kim Il-sung."

Typo keyboard maker goes on offensive against BlackBerry | PCWorld: "Typo Products, the start-up being sued by BlackBerry over an iPhone keyboard add-on, has come out swinging against a demand that its product be taken off sale in the U.S...."

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