Stories for May. 22, 2013
Jennifer Lopez gets into the mobile dealer biz, founding Viva Movil
photo: Viva Movil
Viva Movil launching a line of mobile device stores targeted at Latinos and has tapped Verizon Wireless to be its exclusive partner. The phones and service will be Verizon, but the marketing will be all J-Lo. Read more »
How Google plans to rule the computing world through Chrome
Are you ready for Google to take over the desktop? You’d better be if you use Chrome. With it, Google is making a play to rule the computing world as a back door to a new app economy. Read more »
Google X is acquiring high altitude wind startup Makani Power
Google’s moonshot lab Google X is buying up Makani Power, a startup that makes a kite-like wind power device. It’s probably the best place for the long shot, big idea that is high altitude wind. Read more »
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Concurrent is building a Hadoop assembly line in open source
photo: Shutterstock / PENGYOU91
Cascading creator Concurrent has developed a new open source tool called Pattern for running machine learning models on Hadoop clusters. When combined with its SQL tool called Lingual, users can move data from one stage to another easily. Read more »
Netflix may roll out 16 original shows, stand-up comedy specials next year
Netflix continues its competition with HBO by going into the stand-up comedy space. Altogether, the company may launch up to 16 original shows next year. Read more at paidContent »
Vermont sues patent troll over small business shakedowns
photo: Flickr / Jacob Bøtter
Patent trolls have been bleeding legitimate businesses for years — now a state government has turned the tables and asked a troll to pay $10,000 for each of the hundreds of threatening letters it has mailed out. Read more »
Skyhigh Networks gets $20M to lift IT out of the shadows
photo: Shutterstock user alexmillos
In line with big investments in IT security, Skyhigh Networks is gaining ground with $20 million in new funding for software that puts a spotlight on shadow IT. Read more »
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CoolEmAll project tests tools for energy-efficient data center design
photo: Microsoft
The European Commission-funded project wants data center designers and operators to test prototypes of tools that should, from 2014, make it easier to build data centers that are as energy-efficient as possible. Read more »
How robots can do more in data centers and lower the costs of operating the cloud
An article from Data Center Knowledge points to things robots can do to increase efficiency in data centers. But hurdles lie ahead, and data centers will still need administrators, the article suggests. Read more »
Must read
HTC One and the harsh reality of the Android ecosystem
HTC was the shining star during the early days of Android. Now it is reeling under the pressure of cheap Androids, a dominant Samsung and a management disarray. It’s a damn shame, as the new HTC One is actually a nice device. Read more »
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Boost’s new Mobile Wallet is coming to Virgin and maybe even Sprint
photo: Sprint
Sprint has big plans for its digital wallet. It wants to become a “virtual bank” for customers who don’t have checking accounts and a supplemental financial service for those that do. Read more »
Instructions on how to transform a comment troll into a human being
photo: Flickr / Jeremy King
Comment trolls are often used as an example of why blog comments are a waste of time, but a recent series by the Climate Desk showed how they can quickly be turned into human beings. Read more at paidContent »
Zite adds 7 new publishing partners; updates iOS app with Google Reader-inspired features
photo: Albert Chau
Personalized social reader Zite is updating its iOS app with more Google Reader-inspired features, and also added seven new publishers to its publisher program. Read more at paidContent »
Soo Meta, the Storify for online video storytelling, launches to the public
Soo Meta redefines video storytelling by turning Storify-like content curation into great-looking video slideshows. The platform even allows producers to add polls and quizzes to their videos. Read more at paidContent »
Need a quick $30K? Recommend the right developer and it’s yours
photo: Flickr/401(K) 2012
In a sign of scorching demand for star developers, Hubspot is willing to pay a $30,000 bounty to whoever recommends the right person it ends up hiring. Read more »
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Twitter tool lets brands sign up customers inside a tweet
photo: GigaOM
Twitter’s latest ad product provides a call to action right inside a tweet — showing the company is finally creating marketing tools closer to the “bottom of the funnel.” Read more »
Retina overload: Mirasol smartphone display has 77% more pixels per inch than iPhone
photo: Image credit: Engadget
Apple started the race for smartphone screen clarity and others are following. Samsung, LG and HTC all beat out Apple’s Retina Display with higher pixel counts, but even they can’t compete against Qualcomm’s new Mirasol display. Read more »
Penguin agrees to $75 million class action settlement in ebook pricing lawsuit
photo: Shutterstock / zimmytws
Penguin has agreed to pay $75 million to settle the ebook pricing lawsuit with consumers and states. Meanwhile, Apple and the Department of Justice are set to go to trial on June 3. Read more at paidContent »
Must read
Tesla could pay off the rest of the DOE loan today, says CEO
Electric car maker Tesla Motors could make history again, if it pays off its loan from the Department of Energy many years before its due. According to a tweet from the CEO that could be as early as today. Read more »
Splinter.me wants to replace your resume and offer career guidance
The data-centric Egyptian-Romanian-Belgian startup, which is in beta for now, has introduced new features to help recruiters and job-seekers find common connections across disparate networks and search using natural language. Read more »
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OpenStack cloud builder Cloudscaling nets $10M from Juniper, Seagate and friends
New funding will help Cloudscaling continue to build out its Open Cloud System to suit a new class of enterprise applications that want to build on OpenStack. Read more »
Amazon’s new Kindle Worlds gives authors a way to sell fan fiction without legal hassles
Amazon Publishing is launching Kindle Worlds, a publishing platform that lets authors sell fan fiction based on properties like Gossip Girl. Amazon Publishing retains the rights to the works and will set the prices. Read more at paidContent »
‘Personal cameraman’ Swivl gets $500k from Grishin Robotics to go big in education
Swivl, a motion-tracking, iPhone-compatible camera dock that enables individuals to easily video record themselves, has raised $500,000 from venture capital firm Grishin Robotics. Read more »
Who will be the last one at HTC left standing in the US?
After months of slowing smartphone sales and reduced profits, some HTC employees aren’t waiting for the company’s turnaround. Is it possible that HTC is planning to focus more on Asia over the U.S.? Read more »
PracticeFusion’s data footprint gets even bigger with health expense tools for consumers
photo: JCD
Electronic health records company PracticeFusion is making yet another move into the consumer healthcare space with new tools for helping patients manage and track health finances. Read more »
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Cloudcheckr boosts support for Amazon GovCloud
Amazon’s GovCloud presents its own special demands on users and service providers who work with it. CloudCheckr says it’s the only third-party AWS monitoring company that can help agencies assess their GovCloud workloads. Read more »
Must read
GigaOM Chrome Show 6: Chrome battle plans shown off at Google I/O
photo: Image credit: Google Store
Chrome was up front and center at Google I/O, but most of the developments were in services and APIs. If you add them all together, you get a nice vision of how Google plans to dominate the computing world through Chrome. Read more »
Must read
Truecaller API lets third parties tap into database of 600M phone numbers
The reverse-lookup service is now available to developers who can find a use for it, although users should rest assured that telemarketing operations won’t gain access to this treasure trove of numbers. Read more »
Cloudbase.io launches shared API to help mobile apps get connected
The London-based backend-as-a-service outfit thinks not enough mobile developers are considering the opportunities afforded by opening up their apps’ data to other apps, and it wants to help. Read more »
Top jobs of the week in digital media
photo: Shutterstock / Tom Mc Nemar
Looking for a job in digital media? Each week we highlight some of the most interesting positions posted to paidContent’s job board. Check out the latest gigs at media companies across the country. Read more at paidContent »
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Blue Coat to acquire Solera and sweeten network-security story as cyberattacks continue
photo: Blue Coat Systems
As cyberattacks just keep on coming, there’s lots of investment activity, and now Blue Coat Systems is adding more software and hardware capability by acquiring Solera Networks. Read more »
Stories for May. 21, 2013
Must read
The devil you know: entrepreneurs prefer current ventures to new ones
photo: Thinkstock
Entrepreneurs are subject to many of the same biases that cause people to persist with their investments, and don’t necessarily behave to always maximize outcomes when presented with lucrative new opportunities, a new study says. Read more »
pC LIVE Podcast: How to monetize digital content: Advertising or paywall?
photo: Albert Chau
From paidContent LIVE 2013, a re-broadcast of our panel featuring MLB Advanced Media, News Corp., Atlantic Media and ProPublica discussing digital monetization strategies. Read more at paidContent »
Faster & faster! The US now has 82.4 million broadband connections
A resurgent housing market and stronger economy, along with our growing need for speed and connectivity is the reason why demand for US broadband is booming. Here are some numbers to give you an idea as to who is winning and who is losing. Read more »
Say those magic words: Xbox One, Google Glass and the rise of the always-on microphone
photo: visual.dichotomy
Microsoft’s new Xbox One is listening to every word uttered in your living room. But it’s only interested in very few of them . Read more »
Boost Mobile applies a unique spin on the mobile wallet
photo: Boost Mobile
The Sprint prepaid brand is testing out a financial services app that allows you to pay bills, transfer funds and cash checks within a mobile app. For physical transactions, Boost is supplying a prepaid Visa card. Read more »
Top jobs of the week in tech
photo: Shutterstock / Tom Mc Nemar
Looking for a job in tech? Each week we highlight some of the most interesting positions posted to GigaOM’s job board. Check out the latest tech gigs at leading companies across the country. Read more »
Integrated Vimeo, Flickr sharing could follow Twitter, Facebook to iOS
A report on Tuesday from 9to5Mac says Apple is looking to bolster social sharing options in iOS 7 by integrating Vimeo and Flickr. The inclusion could be a subtle way to boost one of its biggest competitor’s rivals. Read more »
Yahoo swears it isn’t going to screw up Tumblr — but how realistic is that promise?
photo: Flickr / Stephen Brace
Fans of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer say she shouldn’t be blamed for the company’s history of failed acquisitions — but there are plenty of other reasons to be skeptical about Yahoo’s $1.1-billion Tumblr deal. Read more »
From Cronkite to Couric: Internet Archive gets $1 million to expand TV news collection
photo: ollyy
The Internet Archive recently launched an ambitious project to collect and index all broadcasts since the start of television. This week it got a major boost. Read more at paidContent »
