Google Buys Twitch, Amazon Losses Increase

Google's $1B purchase of Twitch confirmed -- joins YouTube for new video empire | GamesBeat | Games | by Dean Takahashi: "Google has signed a deal to buy game-livestreaming firmTwitch for $1 billion, confirmed sources familiar with the matter.We don’t know everything about this deal, such as when it will be announced and the exact purchase price... The deal underscores the value of live Internet streaming and the rise of competitive gaming as a spectator sport — something that draws millions of viewers, can offer prize pools that surpass pro golf’s marquee events, and provides a multibillion dollar opportunity for advertisers...."(read more at link above)

Amazon's Ambitious Bets Pile Up, and Its Losses Swell
New York Times
Jeffrey P. Bezos, Amazon's founder and chief executive, during an event in ... SAN FRANCISCO — Writers are peeved at Amazon. ... Mr. Szkutak listed some of the reasons:Amazon Web Services is in a price-cutting war with Google ...


Businessweek
Facebook Finally Figured Out How to Make Money Off of Your Phone
Wired
The Wall Street skeptics were circling, and within little more than a month, the value of theFacebook shares on which that fortune was built bottomed ...


Reuters
Google under fire from regulators on EU privacy ruling
Reuters
Regulators quizzed Google over its decision to remove search results only from ... Googlehas so far approved more than half of roughly 90,000 incoming ... data protection authorities on Thursday met executives from Google, Yahoo YHOO.O and MicrosoftMSFT. .... Facebook · Twitter · RSS · YouTube ...


TIME
Facebook's Next Battle Is Wrestling Your Credit Card Number from Amazon
TIME
With numbers like that, Facebook has started breathing down Google's ... on a completely different front, against a completely different player: Amazon.


Latin Post
Yahoo Eyes Mobile Ad Dollars With Flurry Acquisition
Forbes
Yahoo! announced on Monday, July 21, that it is acquiring mobile ad exchange Flurry. While the company has not disclosed the amount spent, it did ...

Facebook Gain Makes Zuckerberg Wealthier Than Google Guys
Bloomberg
Amazon reported its biggest quarterly loss since 2012 today as Bezos ... The Microsoft Inc. chairman's net worth has grown 7.9 percent this year, with ...


Firstpost
Google Maps Engine Gets Workforce Management Tool
InformationWeek
Google Maps Engine Pro customers now have free access to Maps Coordinate to manage workers and share location information in real time.


Forbes
Google, Apple And Facebook Are In The Clear. So Why The Angst?
Forbes
When Google reported its earnings last week eMarketer ran an article that showed howGoogle along with Facebook accounted for over 72% of the ...


Boston Globe
Google Glass Road Show coming to Boston
Boston Globe
Jessica Ridilla wears her Google Glass in the biology lab at Brandeis University, filming experiments with the attached camera on the high-tech ...

Chrome Beta for Android Update
Jason Kersey
The Chrome Team is excited to announce the beta release of Chrome 37 for Android. Chrome 37.0.2062.39 will be available in Google Play over the ...
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Honeymoon Period Over For Marissa Mayer, Yahoo (video)

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Yahoo will return at least half of the cash it reaps from Alibaba's IPO to investors, providing solace to shareholders who’ve hung on as CEO Marissa Mayer struggles to revive sales. Bloomberg's Paul Sweeney and Cory Johnson have more on "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg July 15)

Honeymoon Period Over For Marissa Mayer - Yahoo! Inc. (NASDAQ:YHOO) | Seeking Alpha: "Yahoo's CEO, Ms. Marissa Mayer, recently completed her two year anniversary. The stock has recovered since she took the reins, but it is still a far cry from Yahoo's golden days. Search and display revenues are not picking up as expected and their stock is trading at $35.61 with a market capitalization of $36 billion. It touched a 52-week high of $41.72 in April this year. The problem with Marissa's approach thus far is that it is heavy on hype, and light on fundamentals. I am still scratching my head trying to figure out what on earth is her monetization plan for all the assets she has bought. The market, in the next few quarters, will do the same. Currently, the only real case for investing in Yahoo is to gain access to the Alibaba upside."


Forbes
Yahoo Buys Flurry To Jump-Start Mobile Business
Forbes
Yahoo Yahoo has confirmed it's buying the mobile ad exchange Flurry, ... Yahoo and Flurry “can now start to battle Facebook and Google for mobile ...
Yahoo to Acquire Flurry to Strengthen Mobile Products - Yahoo - Investor Relations

China's Xiaomi announces latest flagship Mi 4 smartphone
BEIJING, July 22 (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi unveiled on Tuesday its new flagship Mi 4 smartphone, aimed squarely at the premium handset market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. The Mi 4 will feature a Qualcomm Inc Snapdragon ..


Views Times
Microsoft's Productivity Story: Showtime For Nadella
InformationWeek
Microsoft is Nadella's show now, and the CEO deserves high marks for ... Apple and Google have thumped Microsoft in the mobility arena. It may be a ...


Economic Times
Facebook's Save Button Bookmarks Content For Later
InformationWeek
Every time you visit Facebook, your news feed contains up to 1,500 new posts -- from friends, people you follow, and Pages. And while its news feed ...


ITProPortal
Microsoft reveals bankruptcy of devices strategy by dumping Nokia feature phones
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft was right to ax the feature phone business it inherited when it bought Nokia's handset business for $7.2 billion, analysts ...

Google Glass: Paramedics' next tool
Chicago Tribune
While Google Glass' potential as a consumer device remains to be seen, Lauren Rubinson-Morris is excited about its possibilities in her workplace.

Facebook Earnings Preview: Good Performance Expected to Continue
Forbes
Facebook will release its Q2 2014 results on July 23. The expectations are high considering the company's performance in recent quarters. We expect ...


Forbes
Apple IBM Alliance Is Already Threatened By Start-ups
Forbes
The alliance will no doubt warrant a mention in today's Apple earnings call, which is expected to show ... To succeed in healthcare the Apple IBM alliance needs a platform. ... One big reason for that, according to The Register, is the continuing presence and dominance of Microsoft. .... 

Facebook Introduces Save, Bookmarks Interesting Articles to Read Later
Eric Ravenscraft
For the casual reader, Facebook just introduced a feature called "Save." Now ... AutoVoice Now Lets You Create Custom Google Now Commands ...

Amazon unlimited e-book service is limited
This screen shot taken from an Kindle Fire HDX shows "The Hobbit" by J.R.R. Tolkien, an audiobook available through Amazon's Kindle Unlimited ...

Announcing: Microsoft's Unified Technology Event for Enterprises
D. Begley
Announcing: Microsoft's Unified Technology Event for Enterprises ... Follow TechEd on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the TechEd Insiders ...

Apple vs. Google: The Battle For Your Car
Barry Ritholtz
Both Apple and Google have announced programs to. ... Apple Carplay and Google Android Auto are scheduled to roll out later this ... Amazon.com.

Offshore Wind Farms are the new foraging grounds for the Seals
Techsonia
A team tracked the seals with the help of GPS technology and found that they used offshore wind farms as foraging grounds. Advertisements. This study found that these wind farms act as artificial reefs for seals and they hunt near these man-made structures.

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Video Games Are Mainstream, Getting Better (video)

Tretton: Video Games Are Mainstream, Getting Better: Video - Bloomberg:
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John Vignocchi, executive producer of Disney Infinity, and Jack Tretton, former CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment, talk with Bloomberg's Jon Erlichman about trends at this years E3 conference, Disney Infinity, virtual reality and the future of gaming. (Source: Bloomberg June 12)

Google's states of play
Politico
Google is a Washington powerhouse that shapes federal law, rewards congressional allies and boasts a new 54,000-square-foot office, just down the ...

Google I/O 2014: What to expect as Google increases its focus on 'connected' tech
PCWorld (blog)
Google needs an answer to Microsoft's DirectX 12 and Apple's Metal—that is, a lower-level graphics programming language that allows more efficient ...

Facebook Hastens the Era of Open Source Hardware
Forbes
If necessity is the mother of invention, then the need for cheap, efficient, compact servers and network equipment has made Facebook an innovator of ...

Yahoo aims to be a mobile company
SFGate
Facebook is on top of the world of mobile advertising, but analysts say that Yahoo is positioned to stay competitive in this rapidly growing world.

Apple, Google, Samsung vie to bring health apps to wearables
Chicago Tribune
Apple Inc , Samsung Electronics Co and Google Inc , searching for applications that could turn nascent wearable technology like smartwatches and ...

Microsoft Previews All-Cloud Azure Disaster Recovery Service
eWeek
Microsoft is setting out to erase any lingering doubts about cloud-based disaster recovery with a preview of Azure Site Recovery (ASR) to Azure.

Facebook widens tracking for advertisers
New Zealand Herald
If you use Facebook, the specific ads you see have been based mostly on what ...Google, Facebook and Yahoo - among the largest hubs for online ...

Facebook takes a shot at picture messaging with Snapchat-like app
Columbus Dispatch
Availability: Slingshot, which Facebook officially released last week, works with Apple and Android devices. A Facebook account isn't required.

Titan sprouts 'Magic Island', say astroboffins
Register
Astroboffins monitoring Titan have spotted something new that hints at how the moon's weather works. The folks behind the discovery have named the new feature a “magic island”, because nobody knows what it is or why it appeared. The discovery is ...

Emperor penguins could survive global warming, study indicates
Haaretz
The flightless fowls don't actually breed in the same place every year, scientists found to their surprise: They will move if they have to. By Ruth Schuster | Jun. 23, 2014 | 9:23 AM. Tweet. Emperor penguin (AP). An Emperor penguin that got lost and wound up ...

European Space Agency—The Earth's Changing Fields Of Magnetism (Satellite)
SatNews Publishers
[SatNews] The first set of high-resolution results from ESA's three-satellite Swarm constellation reveals the most recent changes in the magnetic field that protects our planet. Magnetic field changes. Image courtesy of ESA. Launched in November 2013, ...

Scientists reveal secrets of Higgs Boson particle
New Zealand Herald
Scientists working at the Large Hadron Collider have discovered more information about the Higgs Boson particle. Photo / CERN. Physicists say they have learned more about the identity of the Higgs Boson, the elusive particle whose ground-breaking ...

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Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla (video)

Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla: Video - Bloomberg:
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Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Dwolla, discusses the company's digital payment system and the future of Bitcoin with Trish Regan on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg June 12)

Amazon Sets Fire to Its Money-Losing Business Plan - Bloomberg View: "....Ultimately, I think Amazon would have been better off investing the considerable time and effort it involved with the Fire Phone into better marketing of Prime, as well as into a concerted campaign to get users to add and use an Amazon app -- with Firefly functionality -- on their existing smartphones. Those Apple-like phone margins may look attractive in the short term, but hasn't Amazon always been the king of the long term?"

Supreme Court raises bar on software patent claims - CNET: "... The court consistently has upheld the idea that abstract ideas, such as methods of doing business, are not patentable. This could call into question thousands of patents, as Thomas explained that "the mere recitation of a generic computer cannot transform a patent-ineligible abstract idea into a patent-eligible invention." He applied the same logic to Alice's other patent claims of unique method and unique medium...."

Google Considering Investment in New Trans-Pacific Cable - WSJ: "Much of Google's bandwidth is reserved for its private "B4" network, which shuttles emails, YouTube videos and other traffic among about a dozen of its data centers. The network, now more than three years old, already carries more traffic than the public-facing one Google uses to send its search results and YouTube videos to the Internet, according to a white paper the company published last year. Web companies flush with cash are filling a void left by telecom companies that aren't plowing as much money into new backbone network capacity. "The amount that each carrier invests is not increasing at all," according to Shota Masuda, senior manager of Japanese supplier NEC Corp.'s submarine network division. "The newcomers like Google and Facebook are filling in the gap.""

Facebook Is Altering What Ads You See
The Ledger
NEW YORK | If you use Facebook, the specific ads you see have been based mostly on what you do on Facebook — your profile information, status ...

Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Google: Month in review on ZDNet Mobile News
ZDNet
There's been a wide range of coverage this month on ZDNet Mobile News, from the recently announced Fire phone from Amazon to some new ...

With Google, an Eye on New Screens
Wall Street Journal
Called I/O, the Google conference promises to be much broader in scope than Apple's, reflecting the ambitions of Chief Executive Larry Page. Apple ...

Facebook, Twitter, Google Score Big During World Cup
NewsChannel5.com
NEW YORK (AP) - Twitter and Facebook lit up in a World Cup frenzy this week ...Google, meanwhile, tracked more than 641 million World Cup-related ...

Yahoo aims to be a mobile company
SFGate
Facebook is on top of the world of mobile advertising, but analysts say that Yahoo is positioned to stay competitive in this rapidly growing world.

FCC Hits Chinese Company with Record Fine for Selling Signal Jammers
PC Magazine
C.T.S. Technology Co. Ltd allegedly marketed a total of 285 different signal jammers over the span of two years or so. 0shares. Signal Jammer. The Federal Communications Commission has announced a record-breaking fine against Chinese electronics ...

Can Obama save the honey bees? 
Christian Science Monitor
President Obama ordered US agencies to come up with a plan for protecting honey bees. Why just a plan? Why isn't the US banning neonicotinoids, a kind of pesticide that some research shows is killing off US honey bees?...

Nexus 8 to Run on Android 4.5 Lollipop, Slated for July-August Release: Reports
Design & Trend
Reports have been swirling that Google Nexus 8 will be an 8-inch tablet that will run on Android 4.5 “Lollipop” instead of KitKat, and is said to feature a Qualcomm applications processor...

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Amazon Smartphone To Disappoint? (video); Cable Companies Fake Support

Can an Amazon Smartphone Compete With the iPhone?: Video - Bloomberg:
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Amazon.com is planning to introduce a smartphone later this month, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, plunging the world’s largest online retailer deeper into the competitive mobile-device market. Zeb Eckert reports on Bloomberg Television's "First Up." (Source: Bloomberg-June5th)

Amazon's Smartphone Likely To Disappoint Consumers And Shareholders - Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) | Seeking Alpha: "... an Amazon (AMZN) smartphone appears to be ready for release into a very crowded market. While a low-cost, high-end smartphone could certainly increase Amazon's revenue, it seems likely to do little for the company's profitability. Poor value for customers Amazon's heavily customized variant of Android does not adhere to Google's requirements, and as such, is denied access to Google apps and services. This has resulted in Amazon's Android tablets not being able to access the Google Play Store, nor are they allowed to access many essential Google services such as Google Maps. Even worse, key Google APIs, the interfaces programmers use to make apps compatible with Google's services, are not accessible on Amazon Android devices, meaning developers cannot easily port their devices to Amazon's version of Android if they utilize Google's services...."

Cable Companies Are Astroturfing Fake Consumer Support to End Net Neutrality | VICE United States: "....To the surprise of probably no one, ISPs are enraged at the prospect of being classified as a utility and are fighting back. But the attacks are not fully transparent. Many of the organizations protesting a move toward classifying ISPs as a utility, which is the only likely option for enacting net neutrality, are funded by the ISP lobby.... A disclosure obtained by VICE from the National Cable and Telecom Association (NCTA), a trade group for ISPs, shows that the bulk of Broadband for America's recent $3.5 million budget is funded through a $2 million donation from NCTA. Last month, Broadband for America wrote a letter to the FCC bluntly demanding that the agency “categorically reject” any effort toward designating broadband as a public utility. It wasn't signed by any internet consumer advocates, as the Sununu-Ford letter suggests. The signatures on the letter reads like a who's who of ISP industry presidents and CEOs, including AT&T's Randall Stephenson, Cox Communications' Patrick Esser, NCTA president (and former FCC commissioner) Michael Powell, Verizon's Lowell McAdam, and Comcast's Brian Roberts...." (read more at link above)

Amazon expands middleman role in latest online payments push
Reuters
The new service broadens Amazon's profitable role as a middleman for ... Some analysts have said Amazon has been held back in payments because ...

As Apple, Google and Amazon Roll In, Who Will Be The Last Music Streaming Service Standing?
Forbes
Reports last week that Google Google is in talks to acquire Songza, a six year old music curation and streaming service, show that an industry-wide ...

Yahoo says mobile isn't an internal 'hobby' anymore (Q&A)
CNET
Adam Cahan, Yahoo's SVP of mobile and emerging products, thinks Yahoo's mobile efforts are on the right track. ...

Apple Chicken Fat Ad Suggests That iWatch Will Be Companion Screen to Fitness Devices
Forbes
So here's the question: would Apple really be putting a spotlight on a bunch of devices that it intends to put out of business with its forthcoming iWatch?...

Google's interns have it way better than you do
New York Post
Also on the list: Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, eBay, Google and Apple, all of which pay more than $5,000 a month, or $60,000 annually if these were ...

Facebook, Twitter and other social networks are the new matchmakers. And they're free.
Washington Post
Teresa Dowell-Vest, 42, left, and Michelle Alexander, 40, met on Facebook and will have a marriage ceremony June 14. (Sarah L. Voisin/The ...

Google could flag adjusted search results, report says
CNET
Under new European rules Google has to remove links to offending material online, but you will at least know when your search results have been ...

Operator Says Thai Government Ordered Facebook Shutdown - The Next Web
By Mia Vals
Telenor says Thailand's recent Facebook outage was ordered by the ... plans to meet with representatives from Google, Facebook and chat app Line.
The Next Web

Search Apps Stealing Mobile Search Ad Revenues from Google [Report] - SEW
By Jennifer Slegg
Google's dominance in paid search is taking a hit and is forecast to fall to ... FacebookPhoto Sizes Cheat Sheet for Marketers: Apps, Ads, Albums & More ... Model BattlesGoogle, Yahoo in Court Over Images Linking Her to Porn ...
Search Engine Watch

Amazon Losing PR Battle With Hachette | Media | Minyanville's Wall Street
By Carol Kopp
Is Walmart's formula the right strategy for Amazon? ...
Minyanville - Technology

Cybercrime Remains Growth Industry With $445 Billion Lost
Businessweek
That's the main message from former U.S. intelligence officials, who in a report today outlined scenarios for how $445 billion a year in trade theft due to computer hackers will worsen. They warned that financial companies, retailers and energy companies are ...

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