The internet of things isn’t a new idea, but it is finally becoming a reality. In this week’s podcast, Adam Dunkels of ThingSquare explains what the tipping point was and how far we’ve come. Read more »
The GPS Navigation & Maps app combines OpenStreetMap-based maps with turn-by-turn navigation, with everything working offline as well as online. It’s a cheaper rival to TomTom and CoPilot, and one for privacy-minded Google users to consider. Read more »
In a provocative live webinar, David Linthicum, Jo Maitland and John Cowan discuss the emergence of Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) market exchanges and how they will change the technology landscape and financial approach to IT infrastructure. Read more »
SunPower plans to sell lithium ion batteries — or other energy storage technology — bundled with solar panels. The move follows other solar companies into the energy storage space. Read more »
Even as Google makes moves to compel developers to try out the Google Cloud Platform, developers see Amazon Web Services as the clear cloud to beat, at least for now. Read more »
Until I tried them on, I had no interest in wearing Google Glass around town. But the simple snap of a photo with Google Glass on Wednesday without moving my head or hands gave me a new understanding of Glass. Read more »
Those (like me) expecting hardware at Google I/O were disappointed. But in hindsight, Google’s “merger” of Chrome and Android through services and APIs may be more important for the company’s future. Hardware can always follow. Read more »
Google is expanding its cloud platform with a “NoSQL-like” database called Cloud Datastore. It’s a fully managed database that’s replicated across data centers and built to scale. Read more »
With the next release of its WLAN software all Ruckus-built hotspots will be able to supply optional encrypted connections to any user who wanders into Wi-Fi coverage. Read more »
As doctors prepare for an influx of new patients, PingMD, a newly-relaunched mobile app, wants to help doctors more efficiently communicate with patients and peers. Read more »
Bitcoin traders were rattled yesterday on news that Homeland Security had shut down a popular form of trading the cyber-currency. Today, the price recovered as news emerged that the feds are targeting an exchange more than Bitcoin itself. Read more »
Apple announced a big milestone in app downloads on Wednesday, the same day that Google’s I/O developer conference kicked off in San Francisco. The app store has now seen 50 million downloads so far. Read more »
Looking for a job in digital media? Each week we highlight some of the most interesting positions posted to paidContent’s jobs board. Check out the latest gigs at media companies across the country. Read more at paidContent »
Mellanox, the networking chip company famous for its Infinband products has agreed to to buy photonics startup Kotura in an all-cash deal. The purchase comes after Kotura started making products for the data center. Read more »
Tesla could raise another $830 million in a new offering in a combination of selling common stock, and issuing senior convertible notes. That means Tesla can pay back its DOE loan early, among other things. Read more »
11 months after it was announced, Google Compute Engine is now available to the masses, Google Senior VP Urs Hölzle said Wednesday afternoon. Read more »
Google TV will finally be upgraded from Android 3.2 aka Honeycomb when it receives the next major system update later this year. The new version will be based on Android 4.2.2. Read more »
YouTube is opening up its live streaming to almost everyone: The service will allow every channel owner with at least 1000 subscribers to go live. Read more »
New notification features for Google Now and richer voice recognition in searches on mobile devices and desktops keeps Google the search to beat. Read more »
Facebook and the Open Compute Project are hosting their second hardware hackathon with the winners presenting at GigaOM’s Structure conference on June 19. So start thinking about your idea, and go register. Read more »
Google is getting ready to compete with Apple in the education market in a bigger way with the launch of Google Play for Education, an Android app store for educators. Read more »
Eight years after Google launched Maps as a beta product, the search giant is reinventing the map for a new data rich web that lives on fast broadband, and runs on computers with oomph to spare. Read more »
A third of all smartphones activated in Q1 were on prepaid plans, a trend that historically has favored Android, according to The NPD Group. Apple, though, is starting to make in-roads into the prepaid market. Read more »
A new service — two years in the making — from VMware and Verizon claims to enable true “dual persona” smart phones for enterprise use. Read more »
Google’s reworking of its social network, Google+ shows that the company has started to marry data with design and craft new experiences. Will that be enough to turn you and I into active participants? Who, knows, I am just happy it doesn’t look like Facebook. Read more »
Apple’s exposure in a closely-watched price-fixing case over ebooks looks more serious as the CEOs of major publishers — which have already settled with the government — will testify about Apple’s role in the case. Read more at paidContent »
Peer-to-peer car sharing startup RelayRides tells us that long-term sharing — over days, weeks and months — makes up the bulk of their sales. Is this an emerging trend for this nascent service? Read more »
Google said it will introduce location-oriented APIs so Android developers can build richer applications that make the most of the sensors on Android devices. Read more »
Andreas Weigend, formerly chief scientist at Amazon, has some ideas for how businesses can do more with their customers’ data. A few come from his old employer, while others stem from personal experience. Read more »
Google’s Spotify competitor is official. The company unveiled the new service at its Google I/O developer conference Wednesday. Read more »
Google tends to use its annual Google I/O conference to drop a bunch of stats about its achievements – and 2013 is no different. Check out key data on Android devices, Google Play downloads and more. Read more »
Content providers will soon pay mobile carriers to exempt their traffic from consumers’ mobile data plans, says AT&T’s Randall Stephenson. That may seem like a good deal for consumers but in the long-term it’s actually a raw deal. Read more »
This webinar will explore the drivers of shadow IT dev-test practices and examine the key benefits, risks and considerations of moving development and QA to the cloud. Join GigaOM Research analysts and HP Cloud Services on May 30, 2013. Read more »
Google will reveal new communications features for Google Apps for Business users built on Google+ technology, we’ve learned just before Google I/O is set to begin. Read more »
Starting at 9am PT we’ll bring you live coverage of Google I/O 2013 right here. Don’t miss Google’s most significant public event of the year. Read more »
The New Yorker has launched Strongbox, an open-source software system that allows users to submit confidential documents to the magazine anonymously. Strongbox was built by Aaron Swartz before his death. Read more at paidContent »
Udacity and Georgia Tech are teaming up with AT&T to offer an entirely online computer science masters degree that will cost students less than $7,000. Read more »
Like FindTheBest, the highly ambitious Versus IO takes a data-centric approach to product comparisons. But it’s also using natural language algorithms and a generic data model, raising interesting possibilities for the future. Read more »
ComodIT’s “direct install” button allows for quick installation of apps on on-premise or cloud-based servers, and even makes it possible to test-drive apps for free in a ComodIT-sponsored EC2 micro instance. Read more »
Open source is a great place for innovation. But it’s just the beginning. That’s Intel’s take on Apache Hadoop. It’s a solid ecosystem that can help organizations get value out of big data, but enterprises should continue to demand more from the platform. Read more »
