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cloudpuzzle

The role that IT plays is transforming. Thus, the skills, roles, and tools for CIOs have to transform too. Why? If the trend toward cloud-based services continues, then the role of the CIO will shift from being a builder/technologist to becoming an integrator/vendor-manager. Read more »

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The leading social media platforms’ latest campaign efforts could turn out to be more effective politically than traditional lobbying. Rather than acting simply as one voice among many asking for legislative favors or regulatory forbearance, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook are providing tools that politicians can ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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The mobile payments industry seems to get more heated by the day even as consumer demand remains unclear. Privacy concerns will increasingly threaten the brutally competitive industry, but payment providers who effectively address those issues will increase their odds of ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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There’s been an unsurprising amount of anger and political games from Republicans over the recent announcement that Wanxiang Group would invest $465 million in ailing American battery maker A123 Systems, effectively taking control of the company. Probably the most succinct political statement came from the Romney ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Groupon’s second quarter results were about in the middle of its guidance, it showed a profit, and it cut way back on marketing expenses as a percentage of sales. The result? Its stock is at an all-time low. Can Groupon turn it around? Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Thanks to a newly published patent we now know what Apple TV 2.0 will be. It’s a highly module video processing system that can support set-top, mobile and networked implementations, fronted by a very slick user interface and remote control configuration. What it is not is ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Flash storage is hitting the headlines this week as IBM acquired Texas Memory and Skyera sets a new price point that undercuts its competitors. So what’s the catch? Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Flash storage is hitting the headlines this week as IBM acquired Texas Memory and Skyera sets a new price point that undercuts its competitors. So what’s the catch? Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Groupon’s slowing growth has led some onlookers to question whether the market for daily deals may already be peaking. But mobile will change that market in a very big way, and Groupon should focus on a few key areas to keep ahead of the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Zipcar lost about a third of its market value last week as it reported slowing membership growth, a failed broadcast radio campaign and problems with its U.K. expansion. It also lowered revenue and income guidance for 2012, the year in which it was hoped the company ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Zynga is in turmoil. Since its IPO, Zynga stock has cratered, and it lost its COO. Its emerging mobile strategy has failed to impress. With increasing competition, it’s worth understanding whether Zynga’s troubles are unique to the company, or whether it is social gaming itself that ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Traditional retailing continues to undergo disruption as e-commerce overturns long-established consumer behaviors. But new mobile tools for merchants and a new platform push by eBay aimed at brick-and-mortar operators are giving traditional retailers an e-commerce leg up and may finally let them deliver on the promise ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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As the market for solar in Europe has been hammered by rollbacks in subsidies, from Germany to Italy, many on the domestic front have noted that at the end of 2016, the 30 percent tax credit on residential solar installations will expire. Sure, that’s over four ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Last week, Facebook and Twitter generated consternation within their respective ecosystems. These uproars illustrate key differences in the two dominant social media platforms. Facebook APIs channel data and technology services, but Twitter’s all about the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Although the networks have complained in recent years about the high costs of rights for major sporting events, to say nothing of the impact those high costs have on the carriage fees the networks demand from pay-TV distributors, nothing in NBC’s experience with the London Games ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

google_fiber_truck

Community-owned broadband gets a significant boost with the Google fiber announcement, even though Kansas City doesn’t own the network. The trick is understanding which Google tactics can be replicated by community projects and how to use gigabit envy to get municipal networks built. Read more »

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Amazon Web Services is hyping the growth of its app marketplace, but behind the scenes it’s pretty slow and it’s unclear if AWS cloud users will necessarily use it to buy apps. Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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When the Commerce Department levied substantial tariffs on Chinese solar panels makers a few months back, GigaOM contributor Ucilia Wang noted that there would be negligible impacts on American consumers because solar panels made up a small part of the actual cost of putting in a ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Last Thursday, Facebook did its first earnings call as a public company. Though it showed a solid 32 percent revenue growth to $1.2 billion, reactions were mixed at best and the stock suffered. Unrealistic expectations are causing people to overlook Facebook’s fitful progress in online advertising, ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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How do data-center-dependent companies like Google or Facebook reduce their power bills and carbon footprints? The server itself could be designed to use less power. With that possibility now looming, a number of players are jumping in, from startups to established chip makers like Intel. Read more at GigaOM Pro »

handshake_buddawiggi

The Wholesale Application Community (WAC) will go down in mobile history as one of the most ambitious, but failed, attempts at collaboration by our dear telco friends. Locaid’s CEO Rip Gerber explains why these powerful carriers — all facing common threats — couldn’t get their WAC together. Read more »

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Netflix talked confidently in its second quarter letter to shareholders this week of its ability to compete with Amazon-owned LoveFilm and BSkyB’s recently launched Now TV services in the U.K. But the same earnings report was bracketed by a pair of announcements that could raise ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Current security technologies and practices are broken and cyber criminals are making hay. It’s time to move away from the whack-a-mole model of fighting cybercrime and towards a collaborative, proactive strike approach, according to newly funded security startup, CloudStrike. The active defense or strike back approach is ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Microsoft’s struggles to make a successful business out of advertising led to the company posting its first-ever quarterly loss. Some have been saying for years Microsoft should never have gotten into media. Is it about to get ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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When it comes to the share economy and sharing physical space, Airbnb and its billion dollar valuation has stolen much of the show in the first act of a larger story about how consumers are choosing access over ownership. But the question remains whether a startup ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

planeflight

These days, agility is all the rage, particularly in information technology circles, but our understanding of the word is shallow. Consequently, we have little idea how we might increase it systematically. A strategy developed by a fighter pilot can help us break through the mental logjam. Read more »

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The thrust of the Justice Department’s two recent antitrust investigations is the same in each: to see whether incumbent media providers are abusing their dominant positions within traditional distribution chains to squelch competition arising from new, digital distribution ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Facebook and, to a lesser extent, Google, continued to dominate social and online media in the second quarter. Activity in the social-enterprise space picked up as well, while Google’s social initiatives have garnered mixed results at best. Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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New CEO appears to have the savvy and the experience to help Yahoo regain its status as a major player in mobile. Here are a few things I think the company should focus on as it tries to find its way out of the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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VMware shakes up its cloud strategy with spinouts rumored and a reshuffle at the top. Paul Maritz is out, Pat Gelsinger is in as CEO. Read more at GigaOM Pro »

used old GSM Cell phones

Mobile operator profits have more than doubled in the last 10 years. But operators can’t rest on their laurels. As voice, texting, and data revenues fall over time, operators must step up to take up the role of becoming an over the top provider. Read more »

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It seems that the last six months has brought an increasing focus on Apple’s conscience as everything from its labor practices in Asia to it its sourcing of power for its to data centers to how recyclable its computers are has been scrutinized. Apple has actually ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Cleantech continues to be a diverse market of opportunities. In the second quarter of 2012 companies from Tesla to car-sharing service RelayRides and a pack of solar players worked to monetize strategies to leverage consumer and corporate interest in going green. Read more at GigaOM Pro »

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Travel search company Kayak Software filed an updated S-1 last week, implying that it will finally make its long-delayed IPO sometime this week. A successful offering would bode well for the overall startup environment and as a proof of concept for vertical search. But Kayak also ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »

boxing

The discussion of wired and wireless broadband often resembles a holy war. Devotees of each camp are adamant that theirs is the only true religion in the national effort to get broadband everywhere it needs to be. But they will have to work together. Read more »

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