| Exclusive: Google to replace M&A chief Posted: 07 Dec 2012 03:59 PM PST  SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Google Inc is replacing the head of its in-house mergers and acquisitions group, David Lawee, with one of its top lawyers, according to a person familiar with the matter. Don Harrison, a high-ranking lawyer at Google, will replace Lawee as head of the Internet search company's corporate development group, which oversees mergers and acquisitions, said the source, who spoke anonymously because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Google is also planning to create a new late-stage investment group that Lawee will oversee, the source said. Google declined to comment. ...
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| Internet governance talks in jeopardy as Arab states, Russia ally Posted: 07 Dec 2012 08:30 PM PST SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A landmark attempt to set global rules for overseeing the Internet threatened to fall apart on Friday as a rift pitting the United States and some Western countries against the rest of the world widened, participants in the talks said. A 12-day conference of the International Telecommunications Union, taking place in Dubai, is supposed to result in the adoption of a new international treaty governing trans-border communications. But in a critical session at the midpoint of the conference on Friday, delegates refused to adopt a U.S. ... |
| Apple and Samsung: A defining rivalry in a changed mobile market Posted: 07 Dec 2012 02:27 PM PST  JAKARTA/SEOUL (Reuters) - What a difference three months can make. At the end of August, Apple Inc seemed on top of the world. Fresh off a resounding $1.05 billion U.S. legal victory over arch-foe Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, the company was gearing up to launch the fifth iteration of its iconic iPhone. Just a week prior, its market value had surpassed Microsoft Corp's and it became the most valuable technology company in history. That was then. Since winning a landmark U.S. patent infringement case in August, its stock has dived 18 percent, wiping $108 billion from its value. ...
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| Sulia: The Hottest Social Network You've Never Heard Of Posted: 07 Dec 2012 06:03 AM PST  Sulia is "a subject-based social network that connects you to the top social sources on subjects you care about."You can sign up to the service by connecting either your Twitter or Facebook accounts.
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| College Programmers Beat Tech Elite in Hacking Contest Posted: 07 Dec 2012 05:38 AM PST  It was 3 a.m. on the first day of final exams. While most slept, a small cohort of students, overcome with excitement, locked arms to sing the Auburn University alma mater. The Alabama school, which has recently produced NFL stars named "Cam" and "Cadillac," had just pulled off an earth-shaking upset in an unlikely "sport" — coding.
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| Italian tax police visit Facebook's Milan offices Posted: 07 Dec 2012 04:45 AM PST  MILAN (Reuters) - Italian police have been carrying out checks at the Milan offices of Facebook to assess whether it regularly declared its income in Italy, an investigative source and the U.S. company said on Friday. Italian officials have stepped up their efforts to collect taxes in recent months and have already targeted other big corporate names such as Google to check whether they are paying their dues. The investigative source said tax officials first went to the offices of Facebook in Milan nearly a month ago to collect documents. ...
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| China's mini Apple takes slice of smartphone pie Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:38 AM PST  BEIJING (Reuters) - China's Xiaomi Technology is a fairy tale for nerdy entrepreneurs. Less than three years after its founding, the smartphone maker is valued at $4 billion and evokes Apple-like adoration from its fans, some of whom are desperate enough to skip work for a shot at buying the latest product the day it goes on sale. Founder Lei Jun dresses like the late Steve Jobs, in jeans and a black top. He has created a fervent fan base for Xiaomi's moderately priced high-end smartphones by mimicking Apple Inc's marketing tactic of attaching an aura of exclusivity around its products. ...
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| SEC wrestles with Internet age in Netflix case Posted: 07 Dec 2012 04:13 PM PST  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A regulatory probe of Netflix Inc over disclosures made on its chief executive's Facebook page could prove an important test of whether a rule designed to prevent leaks to analysts can translate to the social media age. The movie and TV streaming service revealed on Thursday that it may face action from the Securities and Exchange Commission if the agency determines the comments from CEO Reed Hastings violate a rule that requires information to be disclosed to investors at the same time. ...
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| New Android apps worth downloading: Kickvox, Splice, Spellwood: Word Game Adventure Posted: 07 Dec 2012 04:02 AM PST Kickvox is a visual search engine designed specifically for mobile devices. We've got a pair of quality games for your approval including Splice, a title that's all about recombining cells to make new organisms, and Spellwood, a word game for people who are new to word games. |
| How one startup is overhauling Android to make it enterprise-ready Posted: 07 Dec 2012 08:57 PM PST  The common misconception that Android isn't secure enough for the business world or government employees is about to change. A Boston-based startup called Optio Labs has created a custom version of Google's (GOOG) mobile operating system that can control what can and cannot be accessed depending on location, network or running apps. The technology can even allow a phone to display sensitive company data or block things like texting and camera usage based on room-specific security and access settings, Technology Review reported. This unique feature can utilize a Bluetooth beacon that, when in range, would send a cryptographic tether to a device. It would also be possible to use near field communications to view sensitive information, theoretically forcing workers to "bump" their bosses phone to
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| Mobile apps slowly creeping up on TV as the lazy person’s favorite pastime Posted: 07 Dec 2012 08:01 PM PST  Some day, we may refer to lazy and docile people as "app potatoes." New data from Flurry Analytics shows that Americans are spending more time using mobile apps than ever before, and are now spending nearly as much time using them as they spend watching television. According to Flurry, U.S. consumers now spend 127 minutes per day using mobile apps, up from just 94 minutes per day one year ago. Television, by contrast, has remained constant as Americans spent an average of 168 minutes per day watching TV in both 2011 and 2012. Flurry doesn't think that apps are just a fad either, as the firm writes that "we ultimately expect apps on tablets and smartphones to challenge broadcast television
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| 'Borderlands 2,' 'Dishonored' win at Spike VGAs Posted: 07 Dec 2012 07:09 PM PST  The cartoony post-apocalyptic shoot-'em-up sequel "Borderlands 2" and the stealthy first-person game "Dishonored" were among the early winners at the Spike Video Game Awards on Friday.
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| Japanese carrier faces subscriber exodus over lack of iPhone 5 Posted: 07 Dec 2012 07:04 PM PST  T-Mobile isn't the only carrier that's been hurt by not having the iPhone. Reuters reports that NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest wireless carrier, saw a net loss of almost 41,000 subscribers over the last month and the iPhone is taking blame as the primary culprit. NTT DoCoMo said that last month's subscriber loss was the first it had seen in over five years and Reuters says this happened because "users switched to Softbank Corp and KDDI Corp to grab an Apple (AAPL) iPhone 5 supplied in Japan by the two smaller carriers." Softbank's subscribers in November grew by nearly 302,000 while KDDI's grew by 228,000, Reuters notes.
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| APNewsBreak: Dispute over records at nuclear plant Posted: 07 Dec 2012 06:23 PM PST A federal board Friday ordered the operator of a shuttered nuclear power plant in California to turn over dozens of pages of documents that were withheld when the company submitted a plan to restart one of its damaged twin reactors. |
| Google hauled in $1 billion in Google Apps revenue this year Posted: 07 Dec 2012 06:12 PM PST  Google (GOOG) isn't just be a consumer tech company anymore. Unnamed sources have told the Wall Street Journal that Google "generated around $1 billion from the sale of Google Apps and separate mapping software to businesses and governments" over the past year, signifying that Google has made significant progress in its push into the business technology market. The Journal notes that "more than five million businesses use Google Apps, though the vast majority have fewer than 10 users and thus use the free version" that Google has said it plans to drop. Needless to say, any incursion by Google into the business world is a direct shot across Microsoft's (MSFT) bow, which might be one reason why Steve Ballmer and company
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| Top Google executive forced off Twitter Posted: 07 Dec 2012 05:20 PM PST  Working at Google (GOOG) has its benefits — for one thing, the company's reputation as an innovator is nearly unmatched — however things aren't always as simple as they look. After making a joke on Twitter about Microsoft and Nokia's Windows Phone partnership, Google's senior vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra was told to stop using the micro-blogging site. Gundotra had been using the social network since December 2007 and suddenly stopped in July 2011. It had been previously speculated that Google CEO Larry Page had told the executive to stop, however nothing had been confirmed until now. While speaking at the SMX Social Media Marketing conference on Thursday, Gundotra confirmed that his "boss" had asked him to stop using
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| FCC chairman urges FAA to revise in-flight iPad rules Posted: 07 Dec 2012 04:27 PM PST  No, it doesn't make any sense that you have to turn off your iPad or Kindle during airplane landings, and now the chairman of the Federal Communications Commission wants to see that change. In a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, FCC chairman Julius Genachowski urged the agency to "enable greater use of tablets, e-readers, and other portable devices" on flights, The Hill reports. Genachowski went on to say that letting passengers use their devices more during flights is important because "mobile devices are increasingly interwoven in our daily lives" and that they "enable both large and small businesses to be more productive and efficient, helping drive economic growth and boost U.S. competitiveness."
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| New Sony online store offers remote downloads to PlayStation and mobile devices Posted: 07 Dec 2012 03:36 PM PST  Continuing its efforts to make buying digital content for PlayStation consoles easier, Sony's (SNE) quietly flipped the switch on for its Sony Entertainment Network Store. The new Web store finally allows games, movies and TV shows for the PlayStation 3, PS Vita, PSP, Xperia tablets and Xperia smartphones to be purchased through a Web browser and then queued up for download to a designated device. Content can be purchased with credit cards, pre-paid cards and even PayPal. Currently available only in Europe, Sony says the new SEN Store will launch in the U.S. next week and is part of the company's latest round of updates that put it on equal footing with Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox LIVE for Xbox 360. As gamers would know, the Xbox
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| New Halo game in works as franchise sales break 50 million Posted: 07 Dec 2012 02:51 PM PST  Always bet on Master Chief and his Halo games – always. 343 Industries, the developer of Halo 4 revealed to CVG that the franchise has sold over 50 million copies worldwide since the original game launched for the Xbox in 2001, with about 4 million of those sales from the new game. As if we needed more proof that the Xbox brand and Halo go hand in hand, the developer also said the Halo games have driven gamers to play "more than 5 billion hours" on Xbox LIVE. Eleven years on and Halo is as iconic for Microsoft (MSFT) as Super Mario is for Nintendo (NTDOY). According to 343 Industries' development director Frank O'Connor told CVG "a lot of people at 343 are already prototyping ideas and software
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| Self-Dissolving Condoms; The Science of Southern Accents Posted: 07 Dec 2012 02:07 PM PST  Discovered: hypercondoms are greening sex; children would rather befriend someone without a drawl; Maori cooking stones can tell us something about magnetic fields; DNA as Legos.
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| Super-clear format can puncture 'Hobbit' fantasy Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:52 PM PST One thought struck me as I watched the new "Hobbit" movie in the latest super-clear format: "The rain looks fake. It's not hitting their faces!" |
| Cisco grabs for 'No. 1 IT company' crown Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:49 PM PST Cisco Systems Inc. isn't content to be the world's largest maker of computer networking gear. It says it wants to become the "No. 1" supplier of information technology to big businesses by broadening its offerings of services and software. |
| Amazon’s Android Appstore explodes, downloads increase 500% over last year Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:44 PM PST  Amazon's (AMZN) Appstore is on fire. While the marketplace may not boost as many apps as Google's (GOOG) Play Store, it has seen substantial growth in the past year. In fact, the company announced on Thursday that its Appstore has seen downloads increase more than 500% since last year. Amazon also revealed that the number of developers utilizing in-app purchasing doubled in the third quarter and that 23 of the top 25 grossing apps now incorporate the technology. "Amazon offers the best end-to-end solution for app and game developers," said Aaron Rubenson, Director of Amazon Appstore for Android. "Developers can use Amazon Web Services' building blocks as the infrastructure for their games. To enhance customer engagement, they can add features
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| The Era of Twitter Without Instagram Has Now Begun Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:39 PM PST  We know everyone is a little bummed about all those filtered photos disappearing from your Twitter streams this weekend, but let's not get all worked up about it: They are disappearing, and there is no scandal.
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| Phone cos. to relay 911 texts by May 2014 Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:25 PM PST The Federal Communications Commission says the nation's four largest wireless carriers have agreed to relay text messages to text-enabled 911 call centers by May 2014. |
| Microsoft may let other retailers sell the Surface after all Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:20 PM PST  Microsoft's (MSFT) current strategy for selling its Surface tablet is puzzling to say the least. The company only offers its flagship tablet online or from one of its 32 Microsoft Stores throughout the United States and Canada. According to a predominate Microsoft blogger, however, the company may soon expand the Surface tablet's availability to additional retail outlets. Paul Thurrott of Windows IT Pro has been informed by one of his "most trusted sources" that the Windows RT version of the Surface will be offered in traditional brick-and-mortar locations "within days." The company will reportedly offer the device in retail stores overseas due to the lack of Microsoft Store locations, while consumers in the U.S. and Canada are expected to see
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| Why is Wall Street losing its appetite for Apple? Posted: 07 Dec 2012 01:13 PM PST  This holiday season is shaping up to be a record-breaking period for Apple as shoppers snap up iPhones and iPads. So, why is the world's most valuable company losing its luster with investors?
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| Cold water for Google Fiber fans: Covering the whole country could cost $140 billion Posted: 07 Dec 2012 12:41 PM PST  Bad news for those of us who would love to see Google (GOOG) expand its fiber network out to the entire country: Doing so may be prohibitively expensive. Business Insider points us to a new research note from Goldman Sachs estimating that it would cost Google an estimated $140 billion or more to make Google Fiber available to the rest of the United States. Since Google has "only" $45 billion on hand and since its annual CAPEX budget is $4.5 billion, it's highly unlikely that Google Fiber will be rolling into most peoples' neighborhoods in the near future. And that's not the worst part — according to Goldman, "even a 50 million household build out, which would represent less than
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| Sprint reportedly looking to team up with Dish on its proposed national wireless network Posted: 07 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST  The intrigue surrounding the Dish Network's (DISH) plans to build out its own nationwide mobile data network just got even more interesting. Unnamed sources have told Bloomberg that Sprint (S) has been trying to hash out a deal with Dish that would let the satellite television provider "offer mobile-phone service over the carrier's network" in exchange for giving Sprint "access to Dish's mobile airwaves, which aren't currently being used." From there, the companies would either "share revenue from customers who sign up for a Dish wireless service, or Dish may pay Sprint a fee to use the network." Dish, which wants to use a 40MHz chunk of satellite spectrum on the 2GHz band for terrestrial LTE-Advanced services, has also reportedly held talks
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| NASA: Apocalypse, No! Posted: 07 Dec 2012 12:08 PM PST  With the Mayan apocalypse fast approaching (two weeks!), a NASA senior scientist has reassured the world that the space agency isn't hiding any intel on the order of the universe and its impending implosion December 21. "There's no cosmic catastrophe coming," David Morrison said definitively to Current TV's Cenk Uygur. (Watch the full video below.)
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| ‘Six strikes’ ISP policy could be a disaster in the making Posted: 07 Dec 2012 11:37 AM PST  ISPs have delayed implementing their "six strikes" anti-piracy program so many times now that we're beginning to wonder if the whole thing isn't just a giant bluff. All the same, TIME's Matt Peckham has written an interesting piece about how the long-threatened policy could be a nightmare for apartment building owners and small businesses that rely upon shared connections. Basically, Peckham says that the new policy could amount to a form of collective punishment for users on such connections, who may have to implement measures such as deploying tracking software to discover where copyright violations are happening. "Who's responsible for each infraction?" he asks rhetorically. "Who should be punished? The entire complex, by throttling or at some point terminating our
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| How Apple may have turned Samsung into its very own ‘Frankenstein’s monster’ Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:51 AM PST  Were Nietzsche alive today and covering the tech industry, he might say something along the lines of, "And what you outsource to the abyss, the abyss outsources also onto you." Over at Asymco's blog, James Allworth has written a very interesting piece arguing that Apple (AAPL) really has itself to blame for the rise of smartphone rival Samsung (005930). In fact, Allworth contends that Apple's reliance on Samsung as a component supplier may have taught the South Korean manufacturer everything it needed to know about effective smartphone design and supply chain management. Allworth's argument can be summarized thusly: Apple spent a good part of the last decade thumping its competition because it had gone through "a long gestation period" where
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| T-Mobile to Offer Cheapest iPhone 5 in 2013 Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:44 AM PST T-Mobile, the smallest of the "big four" wireless carries in the United States, already offers the country's cheapest iPhone service -- if you have an unlocked iPhone. And according to Engadget's Brad Molen, more than a million unlocked iPhones are on T-Mobile's network already. |
| FCC plans to make 911 texts available by May 2014 Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:27 AM PST The Federal Communications Commission says the nation's four largest wireless carriers have agreed to make emergency 911 texts available nationwide by May 2014. |
| Apple’s new 27-inch iMacs won’t ship until January Posted: 07 Dec 2012 10:15 AM PST  Customers who order one of the new ultra-thin 27-inch iMacs will now have to wait until January to receive them. As picked up by 9to5Mac, Apple's (AAPL) online stores in the U.S. and Canada show a January ship-time for the large-screened iMac. Apple announced on November 30th that the 27-inch iMac would ship in the next "3-4 weeks." Obviously, if the new ship times are accurate, the high-end iMacs that start at $1,799 and includes a 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, 1TB hard drive and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660M GPU won't arrive until the new year. 9to5Mac says shipments might not arrive until the end of January. It's been reported that difficulties in the manufacturing process are to blame for the iMac's delay.
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