Month: May 2013

Microsoft

Microsoft: Google Doesn’t Get Business Productivity Tools

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As reported on TechCrunch. by FREDERIC LARDINOIS When it comes to productivity apps, Office is still clearly the market leader, and Microsoft is now also quickly iterating on its online apps for Office. When it comes to its competition with Google’s online productivity apps, though, it’s hard to figure out if Microsoft is feeling superior or threatened (or a bit of both). Earlier today, I talked to Michael Atalla, the director of product marketing for Office 365 at Microsoft.…

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Google News

Google Framed As Book Stealer Bent On Data Domination In New Documentary

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As reported on TechCrunch. by JOSH CONSTINE “Google And The World Brain” is a new documentary about Google’s plan to scan all of the world’s books, which triggered an ongoing lawsuit being heard today. The hair-raising film sees Google import millions of copyrighted works, get sued, lose, but almost get a literature monopoly in the process. It’s scary, informative, and worth watching if you recognize its biased portrayal of Google as evil. The film is getting wider release…

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Culture Hardware Dev

APX Labs mods Epson Moverio headset, adds camera, mic and motion sensors for improved AR

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As reported on Engadget. By Michael Gorman Epson’s 3D display glasses, the Moverio BT-100 have been floating around as a development platform for a couple years, and APX Labs is the latest to hack the headset. APX Labs is a software firm best known for creating Terminator Visionaugmented reality tech for the US military, and it decided to use the BT-100 as a vehicle to develop and showcase a smart glasses platform it’s built to work for both business…

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Business Social Networking

Facebook rumored to be buying GPS app Waze for up to $1 billion

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As reported on Engadget. By Daniel Cooper Between buying Instagram and calling Facebook Home the “next version” of his social network, it’s fairly clear Mark Zuckerberg’s obsessed with the prime real estate on your smartphone. Israeli newspaper Calcalist is reporting that Zuckerberg and Co. are eyeing up crowdsourced GPS app Waze, which generates mapping data by pulling it from its users’ devices in real time. The paper says that Facebook entered into discussions around six months ago, with prices in the $800 million to…

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Business Microsoft

TechCrunch: Microsoft offering $1 billion to buy Nook Media

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As reported on Engadget. By Daniel Cooper  Microsoft has put forward an offer to buy complete control of Nook Media LLC, according to internal documents seen by TechCrunch. Redmond’s joint venture withBarnes & Noble was set up last year to handle the Nook e-reader, tablet and college bookstore business. If the documents are accurate, Microsoft will dump the academic retail chain while retaining the digital arm of the partnership for $1 billion. The evidence also suggests that Nook Media will axe…

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Environmental

Keeping a Wolf at Home to Save the Species

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As reported on Wired. BY PETE BROOK View as gallery   Getting photos of wolves is difficult. It usually requires traveling into the farthest reaches of North America or other remote locations. But photographer Camille Seaman in Oakland only needed to cross the San Francisco Bay to find one for her latest project. Aqutaq, a two year-old female white wolf (aka arctic wolf), lives in Marin County in the shadow of Mt. Tamalpais with owner Oliver Starr. Aqutaq…

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Google

Google Glass software update adds Google+ notifications, limits background uploads

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As reported on The Verge. By Chris Welch If you’re lucky enough to be an early Google Glass owner, you might want to glance at device settings to see what software your headset is running. According to reports, Google is tonight pushing out a new update, XE5, that contains a number of bug fixes, optimizations, and other changes. First, Google is implementing a new rule on where and when Glass can upload data in the background. From…

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Google

Google’s Deep Learning project and the search for a brain-like computer

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As reported on The Verge. By Adi Robertson Stanford Professor Andrew Ng is bringing back the idea of an artificial intelligence that can think like a person. With Google’s Deep Learning project, he’s creating machines that take a multi-layered approach to information, building up knowledge and figuring out concepts by passing data between various networks that can each recognize a small piece of it. The approach is designed to mimic how the human brain processes information…

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Government Local

White House close to backing FBI’s wiretap backdoor proposal, says NYT

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As reported on The Verge. By Jeff Blagdon The White House is reportedly close to backing an FBI plan that would simplify online wiretapping by providing for significant fines against web services that refuse law enforcement requests. The New York Times reports that companies could face fines of up to $25,000 day if they fail to comply with judge-issued wiretap orders.   COMPANIES ARE ABLE TO CLAIM THEY CAN’T IMPLEMENT A WIRETAP Citing officials familiar with the deliberations, The Times reports that while…

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Application Google

Google Maps Said To Be Getting A Facelift That Could Appear At Google I/O

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As reported on TechCrunch. by CHRIS VELAZCO Google’s bound to pull back the curtain on some goodies at its annual I/O conference next week (though it’s being characteristically quiet about the whole thing), but could a redesigned version of Google Maps be one of them? That’s what the folks at the (completely unofficial) Google Operating System blog hint at — they’ve come into possession of a pair of screenshots that supposedly depict Google’s new approach to mapping, and…

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