Visa, Mastercard, Tracking Your Smartphone (video)

Banks and card networks like Visa and MasterCard are working with wireless carriers to cut down on fraudulent transactions by tying purchases to the location of a shopper's smartphone. Bloomberg's Crayton Harrison reports on "In The Loop." (Source: Bloomberg June 26)

Google execs visit Cuba for first time to promote open Internet | Reuters: "... The Google delegation in Havana met with students and was given a tour of Havana's University of Information Sciences on Saturday, according to 14ymedio. Sanchez started 14ymedio, Cuba's first independent online newspaper in May, although the site has been repeatedly blocked in Cuba. The Cuban government sought to discredit Sanchez as a paid propagandist doing the bidding of the U.S. government."

Why Google, Amazon and Apple are making set-top TV boxes: "The answer, says Creative Strategies’ Ben Bajarin, can be found in the attached chart, taken from Mary Meeker’s Internet trends slide show. It shows consumers around the world spending less time in front of their PCs and more time looking at their smartphones and televisions. Americans, for example, spend an average of 2 hours and 31 minutes a day staring at their smartphones and 2 hours and 27 minutes staring at their TVs."

Google Apps update alerts: Removal of Quickoffice from Google Play and App Store: "With the integration of Quickoffice into the Google Docs, Sheets and Slides apps, the Quickoffice app will be unpublished from Google Play and the App Store in the coming weeks. Existing users with the app can continue to use it, but no features will be added and new users will not be able to install the app."

Facebook News Feed: 5 Changes
InformationWeek
Gone are the days when Facebook showed you every post from every friend. Here's a look at Facebook's latest News Feed algorithm changes and ...

Google I/O 2014: 10 Big Developments
InformationWeek
Google unveiled everything from Android to wearable news at its annual developers show. Here are the developments that matter most. Previous.

Google I/O: Project Tango LG Tablet Coming To Consumers In 2015
Forbes
Google's Google's Project Tango — an effort to develop mobile devices that can map the space around you — is set to be in consumers' hands next ...

Google focused on big data, real-time analysis in the cloud
Computerworld
Google plans to focus on helping those companies over the next year. ... continuing what some have called a price war with Amazon Web Services.

Status update: Facebook not so diverse
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook, the world's most popular social network, ... He appeared at the shareholder meetings of Google and Facebook to ...

Facebook battles Manhattan DA over warrants for user data
Boston Globe
NEW YORK — Facebook and the New York district attorney's office are in a bitter fight over a privacy question that was bound to come up sooner or ...

Google targets business users with cloud, Docs advances
Computerworld
"Microsoft Outlook is well-entrenched in almost all large businesses. ... or Apple devices, there's now mobile support for Google Slides, an Android app ...

Microsoft to double OneDrive free space, slash extra storage prices up to 73%
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft today announced it would double OneDrive's free storage space for ... (Data: Amazon, Apple, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft.).

Microsoft $650 Macbook Air Trade-In: Fine Print
InformationWeek
But it appears especially interested in Apple customers who might be getting ... even in light of the price war among Google, Amazon, and Rackspace.

Microsoft Exchange Online Suffers Service Outage
InformationWeek
Microsoft's Exchange Online hosted email service suffered a disruption Tuesday morning, leaving many users without email for much of the morning.

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Google Android vs Apple iOS; Android L video

Google Android 'L': 10 things you need to know - Google gives us a look at the new android update called Android-L, we do not know what the L stands for yet but here are 10 things we do know (video above) source: The Telegraph

Where WWDC Hinted, Google IO Delivers... Something - Google Inc. - Seeking Alpha: ".... The fundamental takeaway for investors of any stripe is that Android just keeps improving and becoming more competitive with iOS and Windows Phone. The idea that iPhone is "crushing" its competition, which is mostly Android, is a fanboy fantasy rooted in an ignorance that investors in Google's mobile competitors can ill afford. When iPhone 6 arrives this fall, I believe it will still be superior to the wave of Android L phones it will compete with. The point I make repeatedly is that technological superiority does not guarantee market success. In "Why iPhone 6 Won't Reverse Apple's Market Share Decline" I predicted that iPhone's market share would subside to about 16% in calendar Q4 with iPhone y/y revenue growth declining to 7.8%, down from 15.6% in Q4 2013. The strengths of Android L may indicate that these numbers are optimistic."

Private Castles in the Cloud | MIT Technology Review: "On June 25, the Supreme Court handed down a landmark ruling on digital privacy. In U.S. v. Wurie and Riley v. California, the court unanimously held that police generally require a warrant to search information on cell phones seized from people who have been arrested. Writing for eight of the justices (Justice Samuel Alito issued his own concurring opinion), Chief Justice John Roberts acknowledged that the court understood how this ruling might pose issues for law enforcement but said, “Our answer to the question of what police must do before searching a cell phone seized incident to an arrest is accordingly simple—get a warrant.”..."

Google I/O 2014: 10 Big Developments
InformationWeek
Google unveiled everything from Android to wearable news at its annual developers show. Here are the developments that matter most. Previous.

Facebook has been experimenting on you
Chicago Tribune
This might be the reason Facebook doesn't have a dislike button. ... which explains how and why Facebook used nearly 700,000 news feeds and ...

Facebook: NYC prosecutors got data on 381 users
USA TODAY
NEW YORK (AP) — Prosecutors building a sweeping disabilities-benefit fraud case got a trove of data from the Facebook accounts of more than 380 ...

Google Powered Up A Semi-Functional Project Ara Prototype Device at I/O
Forbes
A plethora of news has come out of Google Google's I/O conference this week, most of it revolving around Android and the company's plan to use its ...

Facebook News Feed: 5 Changes
InformationWeek
Gone are the days when Facebook showed you every post from every friend. Here's a look at Facebook's latest News Feed algorithm changes and ...

Microsoft to shutter security notification service
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft on Friday said it would shut down its email ... Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsers and ...

Google's cardboard VR headset is no joke -- it's great for the Oculus Rift
CNET
Google Cardboard is the company's DIY method for turning your Android smartphone ... When Google announced a do-it-yourself virtual reality kit made of cardboard ... WasGoogle mocking VR and poking fun at Oculus, the VR goggle makers Facebook acquired for $2 billion? .... Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Microsoft rumored to be planning to replace 'Surface' branding with 'Lumia'
ZDNet
But according to known leaker @evleaks, Microsoft may be doing just that. According to his unnamed sources, Microsoft may be moving toward ...

Google Shuts Down TalkBin, A Feedback Platform For Businesses It Acquired In 2011
TechCrunch
TalkBin, a customer feedback platform for businesses that was incubated at Y Combinator and then acquired by Google in 2011, is being shut down ...

Google execs visit Cuba for first time to promote open Internet
Reuters
Google is on an official two-day visit "to promote the virtues of a free and ... Neither Google nor the Cuban government made any official statement ...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Twitter, Change, Growth, Global (videos)

Twitter's Not a Niche Product, It's Global: Zachary: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
George Zachary, a partner at Charles River Ventures, discusses Twitter's executive exodus and the sky-high valuations for tech stocks with Emily Chang on Bloomberg Television's "Bloomberg West." (Source: Bloomberg June 13)

Do Tech Companies Need Chief Operating Officer?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
AIG Non-Executive Chairman Steve Miller and Gabelli Asset Management CEO Mario Gabelli discuss Twitter’s management shake-up on Bloomberg Television's “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (Source: Bloomberg June 13)

Can Twitter Grow Without Changing?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Bloomberg Contributing Editor David Kirkpatrick and Josh Rosner, managing director at Graham Fisher and Company, discuss the management shakeup at Twitter as chief operating officer Ali Rowghani steps down from the position and the company’s struggles to find growth and broaden its user appeal. They speak on Bloomberg Television’s “Bloomberg Surveillance.” (June 13 Bloomberg)


more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Why Google Is Integrating all Android Platforms (video); Amazon Phone a Flop

Why Google Is Integrating all Android Platforms: Video - Bloomberg:
Google unveiled a new version of its Android software for smartphones and other devices as it battles Apple to be the foundation for mobile technology. Evernote CEO Phil Libin and Wired Deputy Editor Joe Brown speak on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg, June 25)

Google unveils products, updates that tie everything together
Los Angeles Times
Google wants to be everywhere in your life, all the time. ... Broadly, it's similar to the message offered earlier this month by Apple at its own annual ...

Amazon: Fire Phone Is A Flop - Seeking Alpha: "Summary: Fire Phone is overpriced with lower specs than the iPhone 5s and Galaxy S5. Some features are gimmicky and some are useful but nothing compelling over other high-end phones. Restriction to one carrier, AT&T, and lack of Google core services will turn off potential customers. Sales volume slower than Apple TV...."

Google I/O condensed: The 33 most important things to know
Computerworld (blog)
Google IO 2014 The big G kicked off its annual Google I/O developers' conference with a massive two-and-a-half-hour keynote this morning -- and this ...

Status update: Facebook not so diverse
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO – Facebook, the world's most popular social network, ... He appeared at the shareholder meetings of Google and Facebook to ...

Google Starts Removing Search Results Under Europe's 'Right to be Forgotten'
Wall Street Journal
Google engineers overnight updated the company's technical infrastructure to start implementing the removals, and Thursday began sending the first ...

Google reacts to Office 365 momentum with beefier Apps suite
PCWorld
Under pressure from Microsoft's Office 365, Google has launched a premium edition of Apps with unlimited cloud storage and extra IT controls, and ...

Google Fit service to compete with Apple Health
SFGate
In the race to dominate the fast-growing digital health industry, Google unveiled a service Wednesday that collects users' fitness data in one place.

Google Glass beta 'Explorer' edition goes on sale in the UK for £1000: Will you ...
Tech Times
Google Glass is available in the UK for the first time, with updates enabling to understand British English. The price for the product is set at £1,000. (Photo : Jeff Blackler). Google Glass is expanding outside the U.S. for the first time. The devices are now ...

Trio Of Supermassive Black Holes Found
WallStreet OTC
The galaxies we see in the present day Universe were built through the merger of smaller ones. Almost all of the galaxies contain supermassive black holes at their cores. Basic logic would suggest that the mergers would also have placed supermassive black ...

Balloon space flight company completes small-scale test flight
Reuters
(Reuters) - An Arizona start-up company says it has successfully completed its first small-scale test flight of a stratospheric balloon and capsule being developed to show tourists a space-like view of the Earth from 19 miles (30 km) above ground. Privately ...

Aereo's use of TV fare found to break copyright law
Boston Globe
The Internet streaming service Aereo is acting illegally when it retransmits television shows that its tiny antennas capture for free, the US Supreme Court ruled Wednesday — a major victory for broadcasters at a time when consumers are rapidly moving away ...

US And German Astronauts Play Soccer In Space
Forbes
U.S. and German astronauts playing a friendly game of soccer to prep for Thursday's match. (Credit: NASA). Like the gravitational pull of a black hole, the World Cup is so powerful that you can't escape it even if you're in orbit. When the astronauts haven't ...

Improved communication between experts and the public key in winning battle to ...
The Independent
Scientists need to become more humble and to completely re-think the way they communicate if the battle to curb climate change is to be won, one of the world's leading climate experts has warned. Lamenting what he calls a “mismatch” between the state of ...

New Chromebook features show up at Google I/O
CNET
At the Google I/O keynote in San Francisco, the company showed off new features for Chromebook laptops running the Chrome OS. Most notably, a phone running the new Android L mobile OS can unlock your Chromebook and even log you into Web ...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Top Microsoft Lawyer Blasts Secret Surveillance Court -- Unaccountable, Unjust

Microsoft’s Top Lawyer Slams Secret Surveillance Court - Digits - WSJ: "The U.S.’s secret surveillance court is unaccountable to the public and not “inclined to promote justice,” Microsoft’s top lawyer said Tuesday. General counsel Brad Smith said the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court [FISA Court], which reviews applications and appeals involving U.S. government data-collection efforts in the name of national security, acts unlike most other courts because “only one side gets to tell its story.” The surveillance court also effectively creates law “that the American public is not permitted to read,” Smith said Wednesday in a speech at the Brookings Institution. The 35-year-old court was cast into the spotlight following revelations about National Security Agency’s data-collection programs. The court’s decisions and most documents submitted to the court are secret, which Smith said made it tough for those opposing the government’s data demands to have a fair hearing. “This is not an approach inclined to promote justice,” Smith said, as he showed an image of what he implied was a government document before the surveillance court, with all text blacked out...."

Google I/O 2014 LIVE, June 25-26:
EVENT SCHEDULE:
https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule
LIVE STREAMING:
https://www.google.com/events/io/schedule#!/filter/live-streaming
VIDEOS
https://www.google.com/events/io/io14videos

Google Courting Developers as Device Sprawl Spurs Choices - Bloomberg:“....This year at Google I/O, we’re focusing on three key themes: design, develop and distribute -- to help developers build their apps from start to finish, with tools for the entire development cycle,” the company said in an e-mailed statement. “Our large, open platforms -- Android and Chrome -- provide the foundation for developers to evolve their offerings for phones, tablets and other new form factors.” Amid the sprawl, Google has put more emphasis on developers at I/O ... In total, there are more than 1 million apps in the Google Play store. Android-based smartphones made up 78 percent of the global industry in 2013, up from 66 percent in 2012, according to Gartner Inc. The No. 2 player was Apple’s iPhone, which had 16 percent, down from 19 percent...."

Google Play Emerges as Powerful Weapon for Internet Giant - WSJ: "....There are now more apps available in the Play store, 1.5 million, than the App Store, 1.2 million, according to market researcher App Annie. App downloads from the Play store surpassed those from the App Store for the first time in 2013. The App Store still generated more than twice as much revenue for developers last year, but that was down from six times as much in 2012. Google Chief Business Officer Nikesh Arora told investors in April that Play store payments to developers quadrupled in 2013 from 2012...."

Microsoft Exchange Online Suffers Service Outage
InformationWeek
Microsoft's Exchange Online hosted email service suffered a disruption Tuesday morning, leaving many users without email for much of the morning.

Microsoft's 'First' Android Phone Aims Low
InformationWeek
Microsoft on Tuesday revealed the Nokia X2, a smartphone that can officially ... The X2 doesn't use any Google services and instead uses Microsoft's.

Amazon's Fire Phone May Be Too Magical for Its Own Good
Wired
After several years of rumors, Amazon finally announced the launch of its very ... In a landscape dominated by Apple, Samsung, Google, and other ...

How Amazon's Product Design Is Governed by the Whims of Jeff Bezos
Businessweek
When Amazon (AMZN) released its new phone last week, one of the most notable ... 

[From POLITICO's Morning Tech]:
Apple Starts Production of BIG iPhone
Bloomberg story on Chinese suppliers' plans to begin mass production of 4.7-inch and 5.5-inch iPhones: http://bloom.bg/V7CbZt

FCC HIRES INVESTMENT BANKERS TO ADVERTISE INCENTIVE AUCTION. The agency hired New York-based Greenhill & Co. to develop educational material to persuade broadcasters to participate in the auction http://bit.ly/1rrMcLg

AMAZON, WARNER BROS. CLOSE TO RESOLVING PRICING DISPUTE. The e-commerce giant is no longer forcing backorders of Warner Bros. DVDs http://on.wsj.com/V7AoU7

TECH MOGULS BACK MAYDAY SUPERPAC. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, Union Square Ventures' Fred Wilson and Paypal exec Peter Thiel and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman will work to raise $12 million to support candidates this fall who are willing to fight for campaign finance reform Reuters:http://reut.rs/V7BlM3

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Google I/O Starts Today; Oracle Spending Its Way Out of Major Errors (video)

(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Oracle Spending Its Way Out of Major Errors (video above)
FBR Capital Markets Senior Analyst Daniel Ives discuss Oracle to buy Micros for 5.3 billion dollars with Trish Regan on “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg, June 23)

GOOGLE I/O Starts Today with LIVE Streaming from Moscone Center, San Francisco, starting at 9:00 AM PDT

expVC | expvc.com | domain name news: Google LIVE Presentation Wednesday on New gTLD Domain Names: "Google presentation on New gTLDs -- Who Cares About New Domain Names? --streamed LIVE* from Google I/O in San Francisco: Wednesday, June 25 1:00 PM - 1:45 PM (Pacific Time US)...."

Broken promises: Verizon, Google, and the Chromebook data debacle | Computerworld Blogs: "... Verizon is telling customers that as far as it's concerned, the plans were valid only for one year -- and that's why those initiated last spring are now expiring. I called the carrier's customer service line and, after holding for 15 minutes and then talking in circles to an agent for another 10, was able to get through to a supervisor. That person politely told me he wasn't aware of any two-year commitment and that -- despite my pointing out official documentation to the contrary -- there was nothing he could do to help me.... "

How Marissa Mayer Fell Asleep and Kept Ad Executives Waiting For Hours - CMO Today - WSJ: ".... Interpublic Group arranged a private dinner at the swanky L’Oasis for Ms. Mayer to meet executives from marketers such as Mondelez International, brewer MillerCoors and Greek yogurt maker Chobani. It was supposed to be a chance for Interpublic and some of its clients to get a first hand update from Ms. Mayer on what Yahoo has to offer. But Ms. Mayer was nearly two hours late, and several dinner attendees including  IPG Chief Executive Michael Roth ended up leaving before she arrived, people familiar with the matter said. Ms. Mayer told some attendees that she had fallen asleep, some of the people said. “If it were an investor meeting, a board meeting or a potential acquisition, I am sure she or someone from her team would have woken her up,” said one top executive in attendance.  “It is another instance where she demonstrated that she doesn’t understand the value of clients, ad revenue or agencies,” the person added. A Yahoo spokeswoman declined to comment...."

Google says voice search now supports Indian dialect
Times of India
NEW DELHI: Google on Tuesday said that now its voice search supports ... As Microsoft,Apple and Google battle in the smartphone market, a virtual ...

Microsoft's 'First' Android Phone Aims Low
InformationWeek
The X2 doesn't use any Google services and instead uses Microsoft's. That means no Gmail and no Google Drive. In their place you'll find ...

Google I/O: Pressure Is On
InformationWeek
Amazon, Apple, and Samsung all made moves this month to neutralize ... Here are four things the Internet titan should do at Google I/O this week to fight ... search engine from long-time rival Microsoft, to power Spotlight, the built-in ....

Microsoft to double OneDrive free space, slash extra storage prices up to 73%
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft today announced it would double OneDrive's free storage space for ... (Data: Amazon, Apple, Dropbox, Google, Microsoft.).

Microsoft $650 Macbook Air Trade-In: Fine Print
InformationWeek
But it appears especially interested in Apple customers who might be getting ... even in light of the price war among Google, Amazon, and Rackspace.

Amazon, Warner Bros. Near Resolution on Pricing Dispute
Wall Street Journal
Preorders of Warner DVD and Blu-ray releases like '300: Rise of an Empire' are being offered on Amazon.com again. Pictured, Sullivan Stapleton in ...

Apple's Big IPhones Said to Start Production Next Month
Bloomberg
June 24 (Bloomberg) -- Apple suppliers in China will begin mass ... 40 percent of mobile gadgets based on Google Inc.'s Android operating ... Last year, the smartphone produced $91 billion in revenue alone, more than the total sales of Oracle Corp., Yahoo! Inc.,Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. combined.

Amazon's Fire Phone May Be Too Magical for Its Own Good
Wired
After several years of rumors, Amazon finally announced the launch of its very ... In a landscape dominated by Apple, Samsung, Google, and other ...

Google Glass with designer frames go on sale on fashion websites
Los Angeles Times
Designer Diane von Furstenberg and Google designer Isabelle Olsson ... Two years after she brought Google Glass to the New York Fashion week ...

Google Begins Testing Domain Registrations - The Next Web
By Josh Ong
Google today revealed that it is building a domain registration service called GoogleDomains. ...
The Next Web

​Google wants to sell you your next domain name
By Sean Buckley
Right now, it's possible to buy a domain name using Google services. You can start the process on Google's own pages, process the transaction ...
Engadget RSS Feed

Today's Google doodle knows we're watching the World Cup at work - SBNation.com
By Michael Katz
Google knows we are watching the World Cup at work. ... Like SBNation.com Facebook. One more thing Google knows about us. Doodle_medium ...
SBNation.com - StoryStream™ Headlines

Google Gives Employee Week Off at Daughter's Request | NBC Bay Area
By NBC BAY AREA STAFF
A Google employee is getting a week off of work to enjoy his birthday, thanks to a letter his daughter wrote to his boss.
NBC Bay Area - Top Stories

Daily Report: Microsoft Sees Quantum Computing as Technology's Next Frontier - NYTimes.com
By By THE NEW YORK TIMES
Now a group of physicists and computer scientists funded by Microsoft is trying to take the ... Re/code | Bill Maris, the man behind Google Ventures, wants to redefine Silicon Valley economics. ... Tim Cook, Making Apple His Own; 3.
NYT Bits

German Publishing Association Files Complaint Accusing Amazon Of Antitrust Violation...
By Ashlee Kieler
Tensions between Amazon and German book publishers reached new ... Over the past several months, Amazon and book publishers in Germany and ... DOJ Proposal: Apple Must Let Amazon…
Consumerist

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Video Games Are Mainstream, Getting Better (video)

Tretton: Video Games Are Mainstream, Getting Better: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
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 ...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla (video)

Digital Payment Competition Heats Up With Dwolla: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
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...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Is the Amazon Fire smartphone a threat to Apple, Samsung? (video)

Is Amazon's Fire Phone a Threat to Apple, Samsung?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Amazon.com jumped into the smartphone market with a handset called Fire Phone that is closely tied to the Web retailer’s other services, ramping up competition with Apple and Samsung Electronics. Brad Stone takes a look at the new phone on Bloomberg Television's "Street Smart." (Source: Bloomberg June 18)

Why iPhone 6 Won't Reverse Apple's Market Share Decline - Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) | Seeking Alpha: "When iPhone 6 arrives this Fall, it will only briefly arrest Apple's smart phone market share decline. This decline speaks to the increasing competition that Apple's iPhone faces rather than the inherent worth of iPhone 6...."

Amazon Fire: Pros and cons of new ground breaking smartphone
Detroit Free Press
Apple is very stingy and offers little cost-free space (just 5 GBs for free iCloud) ... There's no reason why Apple and Samsung, and to a smaller extent, Microsoft, should ... Why could Google sell a new Nexus phone last year for just over $300, yet Amazon .... Twitter · Facebook · Mobile · RSS · E-mail Alerts.

Facebook Ads and Tracking: What You Need To Know
CIO Today
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 ...

Apple's smartwatch reportedly launching this fall
USA TODAY
Apple appears poised to jump into the smartwatch market this fall. According to ... Later this year, Google enters the space with its line of Android Wear ...

Facebook, Twitter, Google score during World Cup
Bryan-College Station Eagle
NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter and Facebook lit up in a World Cup frenzy this ... Google, meanwhile, tracked more than 641 million World Cup-related ...

Apple blurs line between Mac, iOS platforms and that's OK
The Seattle Times
Apple is bringing the OSX and iOS platforms a bit closer to each other in their ... (and not reflexively open a Web browser to perform Google searches).

Cutting the Cord: Aereo decision could be turning point
USA TODAY
Either way the decision goes, the Supreme Court's ruling on the legality of the Aereo streaming service could drive more people to cut the cord. The court is expected to rule before the end of the month — and as early as Monday — on whether Aereo is ...

SpaceX launch delayed again, this time because of weather
Reuters
CAPE CANAVERAL Fla (Reuters) - Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, on Saturday delayed the planned launch of a Falcon 9 rocket carrying six communications satellites after cloudy skies socked in its Florida launch site. The privately owned ...

Apple to partner with Kobe Bryant and others to test IWatch
Atlanta Journal Constitution
9to5Mac reports sources familiar with the matter say Apple is teaming up with professional athletes to test the iWatch "in intenest training environments." The outlet names pro athletes such as Lakers player Kobe Bryant and Kings player Dustin Brown. They, of ...

Power of Microsoft's Bing an open question in search industry
DAWN.com
SEATTLE: Microsoft Corp's new chief executive, Satya Nadella, likes to boast that Bing is growing and powers 30 per cent of the Internet search market, making it a worthy competitor to Google Inc. But within the advertising and research industries that ...

Video game athletes battling it out in California
San Jose Mercury News
ANAHEIM (AP) -- The nation's video game athletes have gathered in Southern California to battle aliens and bad guys. The Orange County Register said more than 1,000 eSports players are taking part in the Major League Gaming Championships in ...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

T-Mobile CEO says AT&T and Verizon Raping You (video)

T-Mobile CEO: Duopolists AT&T, Verizon Raping You: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
T-Mobile chief executive officer John Legere, a self-styled rebel, told a crowd at the company's Uncarrier 5.0 event that duopolists like AT&T Verizon are "raping" customers because the companies "hate you." (Source: Bloomberg, June 19th)

Google's Nest buys Dropcam to connect the home further
PCWorld (blog)
Google said late Friday that its Nest connected-home division had agreed to purchase Dropcam in a deal that will extend Google's control into the ...

Amazon Fire: 6 Key Points
InformationWeek
Amazon's Fire smartphone might convince people to buy more stuff from ... Further, the Fire Phone doesn't include the Google Play Store, which is ...

Microsoft and Google, taking cue from Apple, add kill switch
San Jose Mercury News
Following Apple's lead, Google and Microsoft will add "kill switches" to their next smartphone operating systems -- a measure that has apparently led ...

Apple Plans Multiple Designs for Smartwatch
Wall Street Journal
Facebook; Twitter ... Apple Plans Multiple Designs for Smartwatch ... wearable devices from rivals such as Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.

Google hosts all-girl coding party
CNNMoney
google made with code Actress and producer Mindy Kaling was the host at an event geared toward getting more young girls interested in tech.

Microsoft Accidentally Confirms Surface Mini
InformationWeek
Microsoft -- ostensibly by accident -- just confirmed that its long-rumored Surface Mini was, and possibly still is, a real project. The Surface Pro 3 User ...

Facebook, Twitter, Google score during World Cup
San Jose Mercury News
NEW YORK -- Twitter and Facebook lit up in a World Cup frenzy this week as millions of people around the world took to social media to share in the ...

Google Invests $50 Million to Close the Tech Gender Gap
TIME
Google has promised to do all it can to recruit more women into Silicon Valley, and now the company is putting its money where its PR is. On Thursday ...

Google Considering Investment in New Trans-Pacific Cable
Wall Street Journal
"The newcomers like Google and Facebook are filling in the gap." ... A Microsoftspokeswoman said the company is in talks to help build a cable ...

Microsoft reveals Office 365 roadmap, offers opt-in previews
Computerworld
Computerworld - Microsoft on Thursday delivered on a promise made earlier this year to provide a roadmap to future Office 365 enhancements and ...

Great White Shark Making Comeback in US Waters
ABC News (blog)
Nearly 39 years to the day since “Jaws” first terrified audiences, a new report shows that the real thing is making a comeback — the US is seeing a boom of great white sharks. Related: Track a great white shark as it makes its way toward Texas. According to a ...

'Neanderthal-Like' Skulls Reconstructed From Pit In Spain Hint At Human Evolution
Fox News Latino
In Spanish, the world for jigsaw puzzle is “rompecabezas”—literally, a head breaker. Researchers in Spain flipped that process, taking hundreds of pieces of ancient bone that were found in a cave north of Madrid near Burgos called the “Pit of the Bones” and ...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Who Is Going to Buy the Amazon Fire Smartphone? (video)

Is Anyone Going to Buy Amazon’s New Smartphone?: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Bloomberg’s John Butler and Emily Chang discuss the new Amazon Fire and the smartphone wars. They speak on “Market Makers.” (Source: Bloomberg-June 19)

T-Mobile Just Did What Amazon's Fire Phone Could Have Done - Businessweek: "...Starting June 23, people can go to a T-Mobile store and pick up an iPhone 5S to test free on the T-Mobile network for a week. The way phone companies talk about network performance makes it practically impossible for normal people to know how good their service will be, so handing out free trials might be the best way for T-Mobile to persuade people that things have changed...."

What Amazon’s Fire Phone Means for Apple - MoneyBeat - WSJ: "...“History has proven that entering the mobile device market is tough,” Mr. White says. “In our view, today’s announcement represents another attempt by Internet-related players to compete in the mobile device world. These initiatives have left Apple unscathed in recent years.”..."

Chinese Android smartphone comes with malware pre-installed: "A German security firm is reporting that an Android smartphone manufactured in China is shipping with malware pre-installed on it. The Star N9500 smartphone, which can be easily found available for sale via outlets like Amazon and eBay for relatively cheap prices, is said by researchers at G Data to be infected with the Uupay.D Trojan horse, posing as a version of the Google Play Store app...."

Google Nexus 6 Will Not Be Made by Us: LG Executive | NDTV Gadgets: "The latest reports indicate that LG might not be the manufacturer Google contracts to create its next Nexus smartphone, thought to be called the Nexus 6. As recently as last month, a report had indicated the next Nexus handset would be based on the recently launched LG G3, but now according to an LG executive quoted in an interview, this might not be the case...."

On T-Mobile, you can now stream music without hurting your data plan: "Streaming music on your phone would be fantastic -- if it weren't for all those pesky data caps. T-Mobile's latest UnCarrier move addresses this particular pain point: Starting today, you'll be able to listen to all of your favorite jams on popular streaming music services without it counting against your data plan. The catch? It's limited to a few of the most popular offerings, such as Pandora, Spotify, iTunes Radio, iHeartRadio, Slacker, Rhapsody and Samsung's Milk Music...."

Microsoft Reveals Office 365 Public Roadmap
InformationWeek
Microsoft unveils its Office 365 roadmap and First Release program to create a closer, more open ... Microsoft Office For iPad Vs. iWork Vs. Google.

Facebook goes down across multiple countries
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook suffered its longest and largest outage in years on Thursday, disconnecting millions of users around the globe.

Amazon And Samsung Are Locked In A Battle Against Google
Forbes
The key to these online stores is simplicity, and here Amazon might even be able to beat Apple and Google, because it has perfected the fast ...

Quantum Computing Researchers Tap Test & Measurement Tools
EE Times
It should come as a surprise that the snoops at the US National Security Agency are running an $80 million research program with the aim of developing a quantum computer capable of breaking traditional encryption schemes. While quantum computing is ...

Harley-Davidson Might Be Making An Electric Motorcycle
TechCrunch
A mysterious video released on Harley-Davidson's YouTube channel today shows a much quieter motorcycle zooming down Route 66, fueling speculation that this bike is electric. Harley fans were already suspicious after the folks at Visor Down leaked of one ...

Amazon's Five-Inch Selling Machine
New Yorker (blog)
The world's first call from a handheld cell phone, or at least the first one ever announced, was placed, in 1973, by a Motorola executive named Marty Cooper to a rival at Bell Labs. Standing on Manhattan's Sixth Avenue, he used a grayish-beige Motorola ...

BlackBerry phones to get Amazon Appstore for Android
Gamasutra
Though the company once courted game developers, BlackBerry is now shifting its focus away from improving its own app development ecosystem in favor of a readymade solution to its problems. Starting this fall, The Wall Street Journal reports, phones ...

 more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Priceline buys OpenTable (video); Amazon Fire Smartphone

Why Priceline Paid $2.6B for OpenTable: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Priceline is buying OpenTable in a deal valued at $2.6 billion to add restaurant bookings to its travel business as the industry steps up investments in local listings and mobile services. Bloomberg Contributing Editor Paul Kedrosky, Cory Johnson and Jeffrey McCracken comment on Bloomberg Television's “Street Smart.” (Source: Bloomberg June 13)

Amazon.com unveils the Fire Phone, its first smartphone
Los Angeles Times
Amazon Chief Executive Jeff Bezos holds up the Fire Phone at a media ... The silhouette of Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc., ...

Amazon And Samsung Are Locked In A Battle Against Google
Forbes
Amazon's operating system – for the Kindle, and presumably the Fire Phone ... This is, to some extent, the ultimate rebellion by Amazon, using Google's ... and here Amazon might even be able to beat Apple and Google, because it ...

Yahoo, LinkedIn, Google: Not A Diverse Club
InformationWeek
Yahoo joined LinkedIn and Google in releasing workplace diversity statistics. They tell the same tale: Silicon Valley is predominantly white and male....

Facebook announces its open data-center switch
Computerworld
Facebook has taken networking into its own hands, building a switch to link servers inside its data centers, and wants to make the ...

Amazon Appstore heads to BlackBerry 10 phones
CNET
BlackBerry 10 supports apps designed for Google's Android mobile ... Its selection of apps is limited compared to Google's Play store and Apple's App ...

Google Ready to Comply With 'Right to Be Forgotten' Rules in Europe - NYTimes.com
By By MARK SCOTT
Google will start to remove links to online content in Europe by the end of the month to ... Last month, Google created a rudimentary framework, including a new online form for ... BlackBerry to Add Amazon App Store to Phones ... Yahoo Tech | Harvard scientists successfully transferred a smell across ...
NYT Bits

Amazon Fire Phone: An All-Seeing 3D Prime Contender - Gizmodo
By Brent Rose
...Amazon's phone is here, and it's called the Fire Phone. ... Report: Google in Talks to Buy Stake in Virgin Galactic ...
Gizmodo

Yahoo CEO takes heat for stilted presentation in Cannes
USA TODAY
CANNES, France — This is an advertising conference, so some spinning and selling is expected. Yet, a Tuesday presentation from Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer was flagged by some attendees as an excessively hard sell. Audience members took to Twitter to ...

Earth's Most Abundant Mineral is Seen for the First Time and is Given a Name
Chinatopix
Believe it or not but the Earth's most abundant mineral doesn't have a name and hasn't been seen, until now. What on Earth is the Earth's most abundant mineral? If you answered quartz, you'd only be partially correct. Quartz is the commonest mineral in the ...

BC court ruling orders Google to block sites worldwide
The Globe and Mail
In an unprecedented ruling, a B.C. court has ordered Google Inc. to block a group of websites from its worldwide search engine – a decision raising questions over how far one country's courts can exert their power over the borderless Internet. The temporary ...

Agency Aims to Regulate Map Aids in Vehicles - NYTimes.com: "“They don’t have enough software engineers,” said Catherine McCullough, executive director of the Intelligent Car Coalition, an industry group. “They don’t have the budget or the structure to oversee both Silicon Valley and the auto industry.”"

SpaceX's Elon Musk hopes to put humans on Mars in 10 years
CNET
The founder of the private space transport company gives a short timeline for the possibility of firing up a self-sustaining city on the Red Planet. by Dara Kerr...

more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom

Managing Your Digital Past (video); Bitcoin 51% attack

Managing Your Digital Past: Video - Bloomberg:
(Allow video to load after clicking play)
Open Rights Group Executive Director Jim Killock discusses the debate between people’s “right to be forgotten” online and the right to view an uncensored web after the EU’s top court ruled that people can ask search-engine owners to remove personal information. He speaks to Anna Edwards and Mark Barton on Bloomberg Television’s “Countdown.” (Source: Bloomberg June 12)

What is a 51 percent attack and why is it a threat to Bitcoin's future? - Everything you need to know about bitcoin - Vox: "... So long as computing power is decentralized, no one can tamper with the blockchain. If someone tries to alter a block that has already been accepted by the network, that person's change will be "shouted down" by the majority of miners who have already accepted the block as an official part of the blockchain. But that could change if someone gained control of a majority of the network's computing power. This is known in the Bitcoin community as a 51 percent attack. And that has become an increasingly serious concern in recent months. Miners have organized themselves into pools that work together and share the proceeds of their efforts. And in June 2014, a mining pool called GHash gained slightly more than 50 percent of the network's computing power...."

YouTube to block indie labels who don't sign up to new music service | Technology | theguardian.com: "...The company's head of content and business operations, Robert Kyncl, told the Financial Times that the service – previously rumoured to be called YouTube Music Pass – will launch more widely later in the year. His confirmation that YouTube will block videos from labels that do not sign licensing deals for the new premium tier will be hugely controversial among indie labels, with trade body WIN already filing a complaint to the European Commission about its negotiating strategy...."

Wireline isn't the only net neutrality fight you should care about
BGR
U.S. regulators are apparently considering whether to take a fresh look at wireless and wireline networks and whether to apply the same net neutrality rules to both fixed and wireless Internet traffic, Reuters writes. These two types of Internet providers offer ...

Three things you need to know about the phone Amazon is...
The Verge
The Amazon phone is coming. Finally. At least that's what the company is very likely to announce at a big press event this Wednesday. Amazon has long been rumored to be working on a smartphone follow up to its line of Kindle Fire tablets, and all signs are ...

Google Adds Step-By-Step Instructions to Search Results: "Google got a little smarter once again this week. Now, if you search for something that Google knows has a step-by-step answer, it will give those steps to you above the search results.P For example, if you search gmail export contacts, Google will give you step-by-step instructions for exporting your address book. It works for non-Google stuff, too...."

Facebook takes another shot at Snapchat with Slingshot
USA TODAY
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook hopes its new Slingshot app will get people talking. The widely anticipated mobile app is being released today in the ...

Amazon Phone Looks To Be AT&T Exclusive
InformationWeek
Back in 2007, AT&T was the sole carrier to offer Apple's iPhone. ... carrier to sell theFacebook phone (HTC First), among other firsts and exclusives.

Microsoft Embraces Open With IE Developer Channel
InformationWeek
Microsoft on Monday launched Internet Explorer Developer Channel, ... IE Developer Channel could help by shifting Microsoft's Web efforts toward the ... rapid-release models favored by competitors such as Mozilla and Google. .... Apple just held WWDC, where the theme of the day was more open ...

Google Faces Fresh Antitrust Complaint in Europe
Wall Street Journal
Android commands 81% of the mobile market.... 

Sales of Nest smoke detector resume at lower price
Businessweek
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google's Nest Labs is resuming sales and lowering the price of a high-tech smoke detector that was pulled from the market after malfunctioning. The new price for the detector, called "Nest Protect," will be $99 when sales resume ...

British spies track Facebook, Google use
San Jose Mercury News
LONDON -- The U.K.'s electronic spy agency is legally allowed to track the online activities of millions of Britons who use U.S.-based platforms such as ...

Microsoft Office For iPad Vs. iWork Vs. Google
InformationWeek
We compare the free alternatives from Apple and Google. ... More than a year beforeMicrosoft released Office for iPad, many critics had already ...

Microsoft Brings Predictive Analysis To Azure
InformationWeek
Microsoft isn't synonymous with advanced analytics, like SAS and IBM SPSS, but it announced Monday that it hopes to take predictive analysis ...

Jill Lepore: What the Theory of “Disruptive Innovation” Gets Wrong : The New Yorker: "Disruptive innovation is a theory about why businesses fail. It’s not more than that. It doesn’t explain change. It’s not a law of nature. It’s an artifact of history, an idea, forged in time; it’s the manufacture of a moment of upsetting and edgy uncertainty. Transfixed by change, it’s blind to continuity. It makes a very poor prophet."
more technology news below ( @ web version--link below)

Follow @expricom