Twitter: Yes, Jack Dorsey is leading product “full-time”

One of the more confusing pieces of tech news in the past few months was the announcement that Twitter creator Jack Dorsey (pictured) was returning to the company to lead its product team. That seems a bit overwhelming, since Dorsey is still chief executive of his new mobile payments company Square, but Twitter vice president of engineering Michael Abbott emphasized today that from his perspective, Dorsey is “full-time on the product side.”

Abbott was speaking … Continue Reading

Mobile web for the masses, rich apps for the loyal

Retailers are quickly realizing the importance of creating a robust and personal mobile shopping experience for their customers. When implementing a strategic mobile strategy, the first question retailers consider is this: mobile-optimized website, rich downloadable app or both?

While the deployment of a mobile-optimized website designed to reach the broadest audience is necessary in any successful mobile strategy, the most strategic move is to include a rich app for the iPhone/iPod Touch, Android or BlackBerry. … Continue Reading

Investors buy majority stake in online game maker Bigpoint for $350M

German online game publisher Bigpoint announced today that two major private equity firms have bought a majority stake in the company for $350 million. The transaction values Bigpoint at more than $600 million and shows that the free-to-play online game business is becoming a mature business alongside the console game publishers.

Bigpoint is at the forefront of free-to-play online games, where users play for free and pay real money for virtual goods such as better … Continue Reading

Lenovo's Android 3.0 Thinkpad tablet looks like the first truly business-ready slate

Forget the BlackBerry PlayBook. Lenovo is getting into the business slate arena with its upcoming ThinkPad tablet, and it looks like the company is leveraging all of its enterprise experience with the ThinkPad brand to create something truly innovative.

According to leaked slides sent to This is My Next, the ThinkPad tablet — also referred to as the ThinkPad Slate — isn’t your typical iPad clone: it’s going to have a keyboard portfolio case, which … Continue Reading

Is Facebook’s new Send button useful or just confusing?

Wait a second. Facebook is adding another button for sharing content? Well, yes — the company just announced that it’s now offering a Send button to publishers.

This may seem a bit confusing, especially since Facebook only recently finished phasing out its Share button in favor of the Like button. Just talking about all of these buttons makes my head hurt, so why is Facebook bringing another one into the picture?

The Send button does … Continue Reading

Did Sony shut down PSN to prevent "extreme" piracy?

Sony shut down its Playstation Network after a new custom firmware version for the console let users download games and content with a fake credit card number, according to a moderator from Playstation fan-site PSX-Scene.

The moderator, who posted the information on news aggregator Reddit under the user name chesh420, said the latest version of a custom firmware for the Playstation 3 called Rebug.me let Playstation 3 owners with that firmware installed access a developer … Continue Reading

Wheego Ships First LiFe Electric Car on Earth Day

Late last week a couple in Atlanta, Georgia became the first owners of the latest battery electric  car to hit the roads, the 2011 Wheego LiFe. Handed over to commemorate Earth Day 2011, the small electric car which bears a passing resemblance to the 2011 Smart ForTwo electric drive is the first highway capable car from the small automaker.

But unlike other electric cars hitting the roads this year, the LiFe has a relatively short … Continue Reading

Dust, turtles threaten BrightSource's $250M IPO

Solar power provider BrightSource’s $250 million IPO is now riding on whether the company can wash mirrors and care for turtles.

Seriously.

The solar power tower company — which use an array of mirrors to heat water that powers a conventional turbine — filed to go public Friday to raise up to $250 million. One of its largest risk factors cited was whether the company could effectively wash and keep those mirrors clean every twoweeks. … Continue Reading

Can Yahoo win at social TV with IntoNow?

It looks like Yahoo is the latest competitor in the social TV market, with today’s announcement that it has acquired startup IntoNow.

I was pretty impressed with IntoNow when it launched in January. On top of the basic ability to “check in” to a TV show, IntoNow’s mobile app added cool features like Netflix integration and the ability to see what’s on now that your friends have watched in the past. Most significantly, its technology … Continue Reading

Steve Jobs says Apple doesn't track mobile users

Apple chief executive Steve Jobs said that Apple doesn’t track its users, based on an email sent to a MacRumors blog reader.

The blog’s unidentified reader asked Jobs in an email if Apple tracks its users. The question came up because researchers discovered last week that iOS devices track a user’s whereabouts and stores it for a considerable period of time.

We’re checking with Apple to see if the email is authentic. The user reported … Continue Reading

Five days and counting: Sony's PlayStation Network outage continues

Apologize early and often. Sony has learned that much as it communicates with 70 million registered users about why their beloved PlayStation Network isn’t working. As the outage enters its fifth day, the Japanese company has to start thinking about how to compensate its users to get them to come back.

Coinciding with the crash of Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud web services, the Sony outage will have users questioning how much they should rely on … Continue Reading

Ten features Nintendo needs to build a disruptive game console

Nintendo isn’t in the habit of asking journalists for advice about its consoles. But here’s some unsolicited advice about what I would like to see in a next-generation video game console. It’s good to bring this up now because, as the leader in the Wii generation, Nintendo’s choices will likely influence the other players in the industry and determine the pace of innovation in video games for years to come.

Nintendo confirmed last night that … Continue Reading

Can your smartphone save your life?

Every meal you eat is analysed by a nutritionist. Your workouts are monitored and progress tracked. When driving, an app checks you for alertness and let’s you know if you need to stop and take a rest.

Since you are diabetic, you use a mobile glucose monitor to regularly send readings to your doctor via your mobile phone. The house of your elderly Dad is instrumented with motion, pressure, fall and temperature sensors and you … Continue Reading

Nook Color gets Android tablet update with apps, Flash and more

Nook Color owners are in for a treat today, as Barnes & Noble has finally rolled out its long-awaited update that will transform the e-reader into an Android tablet with apps, Flash and a slew of other new features.

With today’s update, the Nook Color is now a compelling $250 tablet, as well as a competitor to other e-readers like the Kindle. It also makes Barnes & Noble the company behind the cheapest tablet on … Continue Reading

Nintendo confirms new console on the way, reports profit drop

Nintendo confirmed rumors that it will release a new video game console in 2012 as a successor to the aging Wii console. The Japanese company made the announcement as it reported relatively weak sales and profits for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.

Nintendo said it plans to release a new console to replace the Wii, which has sold more than 86 million units since its launch in 2006. The company will show a … Continue Reading

Russian police free kidnapped son of Kaspersky Lab's founder

Russian police rescued the kidnapped son of Eugene Kaspersky, founder of Kaspersky Lab, in an operation that led to the arrest of five suspects.

The case involved one of Russia’s few stand-out successes when it comes to technology. The kidnapping drew attention to the perils of crime in Russia — risks that admittedly exist in any country — at a time when the Russian government is trying to establish a high-tech industry in Russia. It … Continue Reading

In fourth day of outage, Sony says it is beefing up PlayStation Network security

Sony is working to improve the security of its PlayStation Network and its Qriocity music service as it works to rebuild the system and bring it back online. The service went down late Wednesday night due to an “external intrusion” and has been down ever since.

Sony hasn’t offered a detailed explanation of the cause of the outage for the PSN, which has more than 70 million registered users on the PlayStation 3 and the … Continue Reading

Apple testing out T-Mobile iPhone — oh, and it has an A5 chip

File this one under “well, duh”: Apple is apparently testing out the iPhone on T-Mobile’s network with prototype devices, according to photos leaked to the mobile site Boy Genius Report.

Even juicer, the prototype iPhone is likely sporting an A5 chip, just like that super-powered “iPhone 4S” we reported on a few days ago, 9to5 Mac reports.

That Apple is testing the iPhone on T-Mobile comes as no surprise — the company would be silly … Continue Reading

Amazon's outage in third day: debate over cloud computing's future begins

As Amazon’s web services outage passed its third day, the debate on the future of cloud computing is underway. The outage is costing web sites such as Reddit and Quora considerable losses as users turn elsewhere to get their social media needs met.

Amazon’s Elastic Compute Cloud service hosts thousands of major web sites that rely on it to serve pages to users. And users rely on these services to store their personal accounts and … Continue Reading