ESPN is seeing huge traffic and engagement from its mobile offerings — enough for the sports giant to think about its design and products from a “mobile-first” perspective. And it is not alone, as we have pointed out many times before. Read more »
Diabetes is one of the fastest spreading diseases in modern society. Medication solves only half the problem – the trick is to constantly monitor sugar levels and one’s lifestyle. Now a group of startups are finding ways to make those tasks simpler and easier. Read more »
When Apple announced blockbuster earnings earlier this month, we were all shocked. A few days later, when comScore announced that little-known startup Pinterest had cracked the social network top ten, we were surprised. We shouldn’t be: This is the new normal for our technology-driven society. Read more »
There is a lot of talk about data, 3D printing, innovation, design, user interaction and curation. So this week’s theme is a collection of writing that questions conventional wisdom about these aforementioned themes. Most of them are long — so better get a cup of tea now. Read more »
From 1990s through 2011, DSL, a broadband technology, had a strong run at large phone companies in America. Now it is falling behind cable broadband and fiber. The latest data from Verizon, AT&T and Time Warner Cable points to its declining fortunes. Read more »
Earlier today a Facebook staffer released a browser extension called “Don’t Be Evil,” a not-so-subtle dig at Google’s corporate motto. Unfortunately, both Facebook and Google are two companies who don’t quite understand that “don’t be evil” is more than just words. Read more »
It is not a surprise that when you walk and text, you see a massive drop in viewing your surroundings, but did you know that when walking and texting or talking on the phone at the same time, your speed of walking declines by 16 percent? Read more »
What a week! Web took to activism and pushed back SOPA & PIPA; Kodak filed for bankruptcy & MegaUpload got busted. With the week wrapped up, here are some of the posts from our team that I highly recommend you give a read. Read more »
It is a rainy and soggy weekend in San Francisco. The gloomy skies make me want to go in the opposite direction and offer up some lighter fare for the readers while I return to my brooding. Have a great weekend, everyone. Read more »
After 132 years in business, photo film maker Kodak filed for bankruptcy and in the process becoming yet another fallen corporate giant. The company’s failure has lessons for others such as Yahoo and Nokia who might meet a fate similar to the photo company. Read more »
The Internet seems to have gone mad over comments by Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder and chief executive officer of Facebook. I applaud Zuckerberg for finally taking a stand on this important issue but the company and Zuckerberg need to take actions that speak louder than words. Read more »
Apigee, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based API management platform and services company is buying San Francisco-based Usergrid, as part of its increasing focus on the mobile app business as the web shifts to a mobile-first development model. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Read more »
We love to dress up our wrists with cool watches, smart watches and of course, the best of them all, iPod nano watches. And that is why we are constantly writing about iPod nano straps. Here is another one from Ireland-based Curve Creative — Nanolet. Read more »
O3b Networks, a Google-backed, satellite-based telecom company, says it will launch its revolutionary new satellite-broadband service next year. It launched with fanfare in 2008 and in 2010 raised a whopping $1.18 billion but had to limit its size and scope because of the global credit squeeze. Read more »
Sarah Lacy, a book author and a veteran journalist (and most recently with TechCrunch) is launching PandoDaily, a daily technology news blog focused on startups and the startup ecosystem. The company is being funded by a $2.5 million investment from Silicon Valley elite. Read more »
Comcast, the Philadelphia-based cable company, was the fastest broadband service provider in the U.S., according to Ookla, a broadband speed test company. In fact, Comcast and its cable industry peers trounced the phone companies when it came to download speeds. Read more »
The Internet seems to have put 2011 and the holidays behind it. This was an unusually busy week, and the content that flows to me saw a big jump. Here are some stories for you to read. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. Read more »
The total number of global broadband subscribers is inching toward 600 million, according to data released by industry group Broadband Forum. They estimate that at the end of the third quarter of 2011, there were about 581 million broadband subscribers. Read more »
Diane Greene has joined the board of directors of Google announced today. Greene was the CEO of VMware but was replaced by current CEO Paul Maritz a few years ago. Green, who was the co-founder of VMWare is quite plugged in to the Silicon Valley ecosystem. Read more »
MySpace, the grand daddy of social is still wheezing along, comScore says. In fact it is bigger than Tumblr and Google Plus. Infact, people spend more time on MySpace, a dying platform than on Google Plus. Pinterest just cracked the top ten list! Read more »
Amazon’s Kindle Fire was one of the most popular devices on sale this holiday season. The tablet, which is based on a version of Android OS, is expected to rival iPad. Data from Read It Later, a time-shifted reading app, only proves that point. Read more »
Apple is expected to have a great holiday quarter, which some believe would be company’s best ever. New data from an Apple supplier- Multi-Fineline Electronix which makes printed circuit boards for iPhone and iPads – is only bolstering that argument, according to UBS analyst Maynard Um. Read more »
Skype is killing long-distance phone calls, minutes at a time. In fact, the growing popularity of the service has seen it steal minutes away from the phone companies. And for consumers that is good news. What’s more, the idea of free voice is only gaining traction. Read more »
If the latest data is to be believed, the battle for high-end smartphones is essentially a tussle between Apple and Samsung. With China’s ZTE’s and Huawei’s aiming for the lower end of the business, is there is room for HTC, LG, Sony or Motorola? Read more »
Xavier Niel, the maverick founder of Free.fr broadband service, will redefine the mobile landscape with Free Mobile, a new approach thanks to a cutting-edge network that blends Wi-Fi, HSPA+ 3G, femtocells and its all-fiber backbone, offering unlimited voice, texting and data for cheap. Read more »
Happy 2012. It is great to be back. I hope you are all rested and relaxed after the break and ready for some great reading. Here is the first of what will be many recommended story emails/posts. Read more »
Yahoo apparently is looking to overhaul its board of directors,. Like me, many critics believe that have been negligent in their duties. I have a handy list of some great corporate leaders who can contribute positively and also help new CEO’ Scott Thompson’s quest for innovation. Read more »
Zynga, which recently went public, is a social gaming trailblazer and is one of the biggest game providers for the Facebook platform. However, the company has received a lukewarm reception on Wall Street and that trend continues. An analyst report reveals some facts that explain why. Read more »
A recent post by Andrew Clay Shafer raised doubts about the abilities of growing number of incubators that are imitating the likes of 500 Startups. The key qualities of these incubators are no different than incubators from 1999, as an old Forbes.com piece of mine shows. Read more »
Pinterest is one of the hottest startups around these days and represents the latest buzzword in the Valley: curation. Here are some of my thoughts on why Pinterest and other such companies are getting attention and gaining traction with younger Internet users. Read more »
Yahoo has appointed a new CEO — Scott Thompson, a veteran of PayPal, a division of eBay, and he has his work clearly cut out for him. Despite choosing a new CEO, the company’s problems, including a troubled and toxic board, have not gone away. Read more »
Having woken up at 2 am and unable to go to sleep, I ended up watching Eames: The Architect & The Painter, which just went online on PBS.org. It is must see TV for anyone who wants to learn how creatives thing and work. Highly recommended. Read more »
Investor’s Business Daily has named Google’s Larry Page “CEO of the year” eight months after he took over for Eric Schmidt. Talk about being premature. There is no doubt he has made many moves, but it is not clear if those moves are going to pay off. Read more »
As I look ahead, I hope that over the next few months, some of the technology products that I use the most will make incremental changes that could make life better for the people who use their products – including me. Read more »
SoundCloud, a web audio startup, has raised $50 million in new funding from investors led by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers. GGV Capital also participated. Previous investors in the company include Union Square Ventures, Index Ventures and Doughty Hanson Technology Ventures. Read more »
Read It Later is one of the quiet success stories of the tablet and smartphone revolution. What started as a simple Firefox extension is now a much-used tool for our shifting reading habits, thanks to the emergence of new mobile devices. Read more »
On this last day of 2011 and the end of the first year of me writing my occasional newsletter, Om Says, I have picked out 12 stories from the archives that I feel are something you might want to revisit this weekend. Happy 2012, everyone. Read more »
A sharp uptick in the sales of Apple’s iPhone 4S along with the status of “top app of 2011″ has turned this to be a year to remember for San Francisco-based startup, Instagram. The company saw a spike in new users and photo-sharing activity. Read more »
Today just happens to be the four-year anniversary of a hiccup that redefined my life and made me think differently about how I live, how I create, what I consume and how I approach work. Here are some observations (not lessons) from the past four years. Read more »
Berlin is the most un-German of German cities. It is relatively new in its latest & post-unification incarnation. It is cheap and it has no major industry – for now. But that could soon change. My impression from a visit to what could become Europe’s biggest tech-hub. Read more »
