Google I/O: Arming for the battle of the public cloud stars
Whether or not Google officially rolls out its GCE public cloud to all takers this week, GCE will take on AWS and Windows Azure for market- and mind-share going forward. Read more »
Sony’s water-resistant Xperia ZR shows why now is a great time for Android hardware
From phones that can take pictures underwater to handsets with larger screens in a small phone body, the quality of design in current Android flagships is at an all-time high. Read more »
The week in cloud: Google picks Debian; AWS console for Windows; Adobe faces wrath
photo: Shutterstock / Gena96
Google picked Debian as the default OS for the Google Compute Engine; AWS builds console to enable Windows IT admins to manage on-prem and AWS workloads, Adobe feels artists’ ire. Read more »
Android this week: New Nexus 7 specs; Android @Home thoughts; Google X Phone tests
In advance of Google I/O more Nexus 7 refresh thoughts hit the web this week. Will Google move to a 1080p or better display? Android @Home could be a surprise feature at I/O, while Google’s X Phone may have been FCC tested Read more »
Google Drive document lists go down, then come back up
Google Drive had another service disruption on Friday, and it probably doesn’t help Google’s efforts to woo enterprises onto Google Apps and other Google cloud products. Read more »
Take that, iPad mini: Retina display Nexus 7 at Google I/O says analyst
photo: Google
The expectations of a new Nexus 7 keep rising. This week an analyst notes that Google will use a 1920 x 1200 display and Snapdragon 600 chip for an updated small tablet. Read more »
This offline video game with Xbox controller support shows Chrome OS isn’t “just a browser”
Despite myths of Chrome OS as only running web apps, there is now software that can be installed and used offline on a Chromebook. This particular game supports an Xbox 360 controller too. Get ready for the second coming of Chrome OS. Read more »
Losing its way: Why Google would be stupid to let Facebook acquire Waze
photo: Flickr / Dunechaser
News reports out of Israel say Facebook is in talks to acquire traffic-information service Waze for as much as $1 billion, but Google will be making a big mistake if it doesn’t try to top that offer. Read more »
“Fair use” takes center stage at Google Books appeal
photo: Google
The long-running fight over Google’s decision to scan the world’s library books took a new twist on Wednesday as an appeals court pushed the parties over copyright law’s “fair use” doctrine. Read more at paidContent »
Open interviews and gatekeepers: The media can either open up or sources can go direct
photo: Shutterstock/Luis Santos
Startup founder Chad Whitacre caused a fuss recently when he suggested that a reporter do an “open interview” that would be available to everyone — but why is that approach seen as such a threat by some media outlets? Read more at paidContent »
Google lets iOS apps direct users to Chrome instead of Safari
Google is helping third-party iOS app makers send their users to Chrome instead of the default Safari browser. It’s yet another step in the company finding ways to reach its users on Apple’s own platform. Read more »
White House picks long-time Googler for privacy post (report)
Nicole Wong, a top lawyer with a reputation for standing up for liberty and free expression while at Google and Twitter, is headed to the White House. Read more »
Google keeps fighting for the heart of the iPhone with new Gmail update
Even as Apple has decoupled its iPhone partnership with Google for everything except search, the web company has still found a way to reach its users who have iPhones and iPads. Read more »
How an old-school telco gear maker got the cloud religion. Can it convert the carriers?
Metaswitch is bringing the cloud model to telcos by open sourcing it’s new IMS core software that runs on commodity hardware. IT’s a good first step for the telcos but they must go further. Read more »
Why retailers should forget showrooming and turn to in-store Wi-Fi
Given the documented ability of mobile apps, search, and social networking to lift sales, it makes forehead-smacking sense for retailers to shift their focus away from sales lost to showrooming into harnessing the shopper’s in-store wireless experience for themselves and their brands. Read more »
Android this week: Nexus 11 leaked; Wii Fit turns into smart scale; LG Optimus Pro here
Is a Nexus 11 tablet coming later this month? Leaked information suggests it could happen. LG’s new Optimus G Pro is here and first impressions are very positive, while a free app turns the Wii Fit Balance Board into a smart scale. Read more »
The Google Now dilemma: Yes, it’s kind of creepy — but it’s also incredibly useful
There’s no question the kind of data collection Google has to do in the background to power its Google Now service can be a little intrusive — perhaps too intrusive for some. But it also makes the results extremely useful. Read more »
More offline Chrome apps arrive: Chrome Web Store previews Packaged Apps
Google has long been pushing for more offline and even native-like apps for Chrome OS and the Chrome browser. Now it’s taking the next step: Highlighting these Packaged Apps in the Chrome Web Store. Read more »
CenturyLink gets gigabit fever … in Omaha
Guess who’s getting a gigabit network now? Residents of Omaha, Neb. woke this morning to news they are getting a fiber-to-the-home network. From CenturyLink. Read more »
Google working on Chrome OS for Intel Haswell chips: More Chromebook battery life ahead!
Until the Chromebook Pixel, Chrome OS laptops were relegated to use older, slow Intel chips. Looks like that’s changing as new Chrome OS code has numerous references to Intel’s fourth-gen Core chip, which should greatly boost Chromebook battery life. Read more »
Leap2 gets $1.6M to change mobile search
Leap2 has a new mobile search app that’s pretty useful as well as a $1.6 million first round of funding. The Kansas City, Mo. startup combines web searching and social in a compelling package. Read more »
Google uses Finnish data center as springboard for startup outreach
After doing something similar in Belgium, Google is using its seawater-cooled data center in Hamina, southeastern Finland, as a way to solidify its presence among local startups. Read more »
Google research director and AI expert Peter Norvig elected into AAAS
photo: Peter Norvig
Artificial intelligence expert and Google Director of Research was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences last week. He’s well known for a 2009 paper titled “The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Data.” Read more »
Get ready for Google I/O: reported Nexus 11 tablet specs leak
Google may be up-sizing its tablet line in a few weeks: A reported Samsung road-map shows a Nexus 11 tablet with two potential firsts. This could be a Nexus with memory expansion and also use an octa-core Samsung Exynos chip. Read more »
The growing importance of timing in data centers
Accurate timing has grown more important in distributed systems, not just for mobile networks, but also for tracking data between data centers. Our love of digital junk is pushing storage to the edge. Read more »
North Korea asked for Android — Google chairman on good tech and bad governments
Smartphones are part of a revolution that is connecting and giving a voice to people for the first time. Google’s chairman, Eric Schmidt, warned on Friday that the revolution has a dark side too. Read more »
Banned in China: Bloomberg and New York Times say they had no choice
Should news outlets in China engage in occasional self-censorship for the greater good of reaching readers and projecting influence? Read more »
HP Slate 7 hits US for $169. How does it stack up against Google’s $199 Nexus 7?
You can finally buy an HP Slate 7 in the U.S. for $169.99, but will you? I think it’s a tough sell for HP when the Nexus 7 is priced just $30 more and has a better screen. Read more »
UK prepares for white space broadband rollout in 2014
photo: Flickr / Cillian Storm
The UK telecoms regulator Ofcom has announced an industry pilot of the long-range broadband and M2M technology later this year, in order to make sure everything works properly ahead of a likely national deployment next year. Read more »
Pushing for better tablet apps, Google adds new developer optimization tool
Google continues to make it easier for developers to improve the Android app experience on tablets. When submitting apps to Google Play, a new optimization tip tool alerts developers when they’re missing out on tablet support. Read more »
Google: government censorship requests jumped 20% in last six months
Google has published new numbers that show how governments around the world are asking to remove more content from services like YouTube than ever before. Read more »
Google’s search concessions to the EU are now out and up for comment
photo: Getty Images / Justin Sullivan
The European Commission has formally revealed the concessions Google is offering to make in order to settle an antitrust investigation over its search practices. Interested parties have a month to comment. Read more »
Latest software update hints at Chrome OS tablets being “what’s next” for Google
We’ve hear rumors of Google Chrome tablets in the past but they’ve never panned out. Google, in fact, denied working on one. The most recent Chrome OS build gives strong hints that point to the contrary, however. Read more »
Data center rivals Facebook and Google pump $700M in new construction into Iowa
photo: Facebook
Facebook confirmed a data center in Altoona, Iowa, the same day Google said it would also expand its data center operations in the state. As Facebook pushes transparency, it’s also pushing the notoriously secretive Google. Read more »
Why it’s time for Twitter to add two-factor authentication
photo: alexmillos/Shutterstock.com
As the stakes rise for Twitter when it comes to the security and monetary risks surrounding tweets, it’s time for the company to consider stepping up its security practices to keep accounts safer from hacks. Read more »
SRCH2 is rethinking enterprise search for the instant age
photo: Shutterstock / Gunnar Pippel
A startup called SRCH2 launched on Tuesday with the promise of delivering instant search faster and more accurately than than any other enterprise search product. Read more »
Google gets serious about toolbar scams with new ad policy, forcing AVG to retreat
photo: BMJ
Google’s published a blog post last week about “bad apples” in the ad industry. The meaning of the post is now clear: it was intended to rein in shady software, but also to send a message to other advertisers to clean up their act. Read more at paidContent »
The first Firefox OS dev phones are on sale
Produced by the obscure Spanish outfit Geeksphone, the Keon and Peak are the first devices to ship bearing Mozilla’s HTML5-centric operating system. Prices start at $119 before taxes. Read more »
Data centers are getting more sophisticated, so why aren’t our metrics keeping up?
photo: Microsoft
As the web giants, co-lo providers and cloud companies add millions of square feet of data center space we need to start getting more sophisticated in how we view these rooms full of servers. Read more »
Superstar investors give Upstart $5.9M for its first birthday
Khosla Ventures, Eric Schmidt, Marc Benioff and Scott Banister pony up for Series A round as Jessica Jackley and Bob Kerrey join board of startup that matches college grads with backers. Read more »
