So long YouTube; Apple has pulled the app from the latest iOS 6 beta. Of course, you can still watch YouTube in Safari and Google is reportedly writing a YouTube app for the iTunes App Store. Maybe we see a better YouTube experience as a result. Read more »
After finding success with the pen-enabled Galaxy Note smartphone, Samsung is going bigger: It will launch the Galaxy Note 10.1 tablet this month with Android 4.0. Unique to this model is a multitasking mode that shows two apps at the same time on the screen. Read more »
Even as Google is cutting products in an attempt to “focus,” these moves are also just freeing up resources for the company to take on new risks. Some of those new projects are already not working out, like the Nexus Q. Read more »
Android 4.0 is finally getting out on phones and tablets according to Google’s dashboard. Surprisingly, the next version, Jelly Bean, is gaining adoption quickly too. Google’s Wallet now supports more credit and debit cards while T-Mobile’s Galaxy Note blurs the lines between smartphone and tablet. Read more »
Once a rising star, HTC has struggled for several quarters due to strong competition from Apple and Samsung. The company’s One X smartphone line has boosted revenues a little, but HTC’s confidence is waning: It lowered next quarter’s expectations for the third time in a row. Read more »
Android 4.0 is making adoption gains thanks to software upgrades and new devices on sale with the Ice Cream Sandwich software. Nearly 1 percent of devices run Android 4.1 thanks to Google’s Nexus device program and strong demand for the company’s 7-inch slate. Read more »
Good news for anyone shipping a bunch of bits around the world. IP transit costs are down and are dropping more rapidly. But this doesn’t mean cheaper broadband for most consumers given the lack of competition in the middle and last mile access businesses. Read more »
Google is opening up Google Wallet and giving users more payment options and control over security. However, while the mobile payments feature can be used at 200,000 locations today, the list of devices equipped to handle them is still very short. Read more »
Facebook on Wednesday unveiled detailed numbers about the energy consumption, and carbon emissions, of its data center and operations in 2011. The move represents a greater push for transparency and an effort to help manage energy-related costs, not to mention some solid marketing. Read more »
Thinking about signing up for Google Fiber? Curious about those sleek black boxes Google is showing off? Here’s what each box does and what it looks like — the Network Box, a Storage box and optionally a TV Box if someone gets the TV service. Read more »
Despite its current decline, RIM is a different firm today than it was in 2007, with new management, a full awareness of its shaky position, an upcoming OS release and a number of lingering advantages that can still be leveraged. Here’s how it just might survive. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
As YouTube plans to expand its premium content initiative into the U.K. and France, some existing channel partners say additional production funding is needed in the U.S. “We’re not really funded enough to win,” said one channel operator. Read more at paidContent »
Buying and selling renewable energy credits has helped to build New Jersey into a major solar state. That has enticed a San Francisco startup to start offering a credit trading service, which it launched on Tuesday, to help installers finance residential projects. Read more »
Could Google be preparing a Drive promotion for Chromebooks and Chromeboxes? Based on a review of Chromium OS code snippets, the answer appears to be yes; there are references to a free 100 GB of Google Drive space, which would make Chrome OS more appealing. Read more »
The wait for a Nexus 7 dock may not be much longer. According to leaked images and details, a $49.99 landscape dock is planned to launch in late August, along with a premium Nexus 7 case. Sounds legit since the original images were removed “by request”. Read more »
Spotify’s conversion rate isn’t bad: Out of 15 million active users, more than 4 million are paying subscribers. That number may soon increase thanks to Android support for Spotify radio, which is ad-supported and offers unlimited playback of Spotify’s entire digital music catalog. Read more »
Our reporter visited a vegan bakery in Kansas City that was one of the first places to get Google Fiber. He offers speed tests via wired, Wi-Fi and a sense of the problems that Google Fiber will have to overcome to sign up customers. Read more »
With the growth of sensors and microelectronics, the potential uses of wearable-computing technologies now reach to health and fitness, gaming, fashion, disabilities and augmented reality. Most importantly, the widespread adoption of wearables will drive the form function and market for mobiles in vital ways. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
GMail users are now able to video chat with up to ten of their contacts, thanks to a new integration of Google+ Hangouts. The group video chat platform replaces Google Talk’s video chat, and is part of Google’s efforts to merge all of its messaging products. Read more »
It’s here! Samsung’s Galaxy Note has arrived for those wanting a T-Mobile version and it looks to be worth the wait. This video look shows Android 4.0.4, the S-Pen and an overall size comparison between the Note, Galaxy Nexus and Nexus 7 tablet. Read more »
Last week it was Android tablets, this week was about Android smartphones. Sprint announced a QWERTY keyboard version of the Photon Q with LTE, while Samsung’s Galaxy S III continues to set sales records. Can the leaked HTC One X+ slow Samsung’s momentum? Read more »
Companies doing business on the web and in the cloud must spend a lot on infrastructure to stay running and to support new services. Here’s what Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Yahoo and Zynga spent in the recent quarter, and what it might mean. Read more »
Google’s launch of its gigabit fiber to the home network on Thursday had many positive elements, including free broadband at lower speeds for residents. But there were some things about the proposed network that will disappoint people in the industry and may worry privacy groups. Read more »
The long-running lawsuit over Google’s decision to scan millions of books could be nearing the end game. Google’s latest filing, in a case poised to redefine copyright law, cites everything from Mad Men to minority rights to argue that book scanning is “fair use.” Read more at paidContent »
The Boston area’s push to remake itself as a bike-friendly venue, is starting to pay off, at least in Cambridge’s tech-heavy Kendall Square neighborhood. And now things may get even greener as the Hubway bike-sharing is set to expand beyond Boston into Cambridge as well as Somerville and Brookline. Read more »
Google’s fiber-to-the-home network may look like a loss leader for the search engine company, but its executive teams says it’s profitable. Here are the three ways Google has managed to cut the costs of building out a network and beat ISPs at their own game. Read more »
Amazon didn’t wow the street with its Q2 earnings news but the company will definitely keep investing in its cloud infrastructure. For its upcoming quarter, it plans to spend a strapping $800 million to $900 million capex money on technology, said CFO Tom Szkutak. Read more »
Motorola is giving its suburban digs for a new home in downtown Chicago, where it will anchor the Windy City’s emerging tech community. The corporate HQ will officially be in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, along 3,000 employees, but the big brass will reside in Silicon Valley. Read more »
Google Fiber just launched today to offer faster access to consumers with a TV product, a terabyte of free storage in G Drive and more. The search giant will even offer free access at what it deems “average” Internet speeds of 5Mbps down. Read more »
The popular Google Talk app is down for most users on Thursday morning. This snafu, which cut many people off from their instant messaging/video chat app of choice, along with today’s WIndows Azure snafu in Europe, show the dark side of cloud computing. Read more »
Google plans to launch a fiber network in Kansas City with the goal of seeing what people there can do with a gigabit connection. But as one city that already has a gigabit network can tell you, the answer so far may be, “Not much.” Read more »
For years, tech vendors built complicated partner programs to sell, support and maintain their stuff and break into new markets. Now Google, Amazon are following suit with new-look partner programs. The goal is to bring new customer business into their respective clouds. Read more »
Google has improved its movie and TV show offerings in Google Play; great for the new Nexus 7 tablet and Nexus Q streaming device. But you’re out of luck for video playback — rentals or purchases — if you have a Google-powered Chromebook. What gives? Read more »
Benchmarking results from Zencoder show that Amazon Web Services beats out Google’s Compute Engine in a test of a specific CPU-intensive workload. Compute Engine’s performance was hindered by a lack of HPC instances, which Google could one day add. But it’s nice to see real-world comparisons. Read more »
A long-running dance between the European Commission and Google over antitrust allegations is finally coming to an end amidst reports that the two sides have reached an “understanding.” Read more »
While it’s overstating the case to say that Box has renounced its fatwa on Windows Phones, it is worth pointing out that the cloud storage company now supports the current release of Windows Phone and will support the upcoming Windows 8 Phone as well. Read more »
Samsung’s “one phone model for the world” strategy continues to pay off: The Galaxy S III has already topped 10 million sales since its May 29 launch. A rough estimate shows that figure to be nearly 20 percent of Android activations on a daily basis. Read more »
Amazon is expected to introduce up to 6 new tablets, including a 10-inch model. Why not? Few besides Amazon have the consumer data, shopping experience and content to make multiple screen sized tablets, proving that one size doesn’t fit all when it comes to mobile devices. Read more »
Organizations are coping with the challenge of processing unprecedented volumes of data. However, the processes involved with using a large cluster to run applications like Hadoop are error-prone. So IT managers are turning to cluster-management solutions to automate tasks associated with cluster creation, management and maintenance. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
For all of Microsoft’s huge investment in the Windows Azure cloud computing platform, there was very little mention of the multi-billion-effort on Thursday’s Q4 and FY 2012 earnings call. Microsoft CFO touted major updates for Windows, Windows Phone, Office and Windows Server in the coming year. Read more »
