Happy Droid Day!
After weeks of speculation, followed by a real announcement, followed by more waiting, Motorola and Verizon have finally released the Droid, the supposed iPhone-killer which is the first device using version 2.0 of Google’s Android operating system.
The reviews have been positive so far, with gadget… Continue Reading
5 O’Clock Roundup: Raytheon buys BBN, Verizon hot … and not, things built on Twitter
Raytheon completes acquisition of BBN for $350M — Both companies do defense R&D and are packed with MIT grads. Raytheon works on military projects such as the Army Expeditionary Warrior Experiment. R&D company BBN makes cheery Internet publishing tool suite EveryZing, but the company also… Continue Reading
Cisco recruits Smart Grid players into interoperable consortium
A day after IBM announced its new SAFE software package providing a standard infrastructure platform for utilities and Smart Grid startups, Cisco Systems has announced its own consortium of companies adopting common IP-based communications standards. In doing so, the company hopes to network Smart Grid… Continue Reading
5 O’Clock Roundup: TiVo gets $200M judgement, Amazon restores 1984, Tim O’Reilly preaches government as a platform
VentureBeat launches 5 O’Clock Roundup — Roundup, our end-of-workday mix of high-level business stories and tech items that we didn’t post on but think you should know about, has been renamed 5 O’Clock Roundup.
5 O’Clock Roundup will post every weekday at 5:00 pm Pacific time…. Continue Reading
Verizon President Strigl to resign
“I believe that this is an appropriate time to announce my retirement,” Verzion President and COO Dennis F. “Denny” Strigl — pronounced “STREE gul” — said in a prepared statement from America’s biggest phone company this afternoon.
According to a Verizon spokesman, Strigl had been “planning… Continue Reading
Roundup: Ancestry IPO, exec pay cap in Congress, Verizon’s sub-$99 smartphones
Ancestry.com files for a $75 million IPO – The company, which traces its roots back to Ancestry Magazine and 1983, has collected nearly $400 million to date — $95 in investment rounds, and another $300 million from the sale of a majority stake to Spectrum Equity… Continue Reading
Q&A: Verizon says it will be the first to offer ‘true’ mobile video
[Disclosure: This post is one of a series of articles sponsored by Verizon. The company has given us editorial freedom to write what we'd like. In return for us covering the company's developer conference, Verizon will be running ads on our site in ensuing weeks.]
Verizon… Continue Reading
Roundup: Apple tablet haters, do NOT text while driving, Verizon cutting another 8,000 jobs
Why the rumored Apple tablet could be a flop — Apple products get more than their share of pre-release hype from … well, from just about everyone but Bill Gates. PC World writer Michael Scalisi explains why he thinks the rumored device, best described as… Continue Reading
Verizon agrees to limit exclusive handset deals
A few weeks ago, the FCC began to examine whether exclusive handset deals between cellphone makers and wireless carriers was bad for consumer choice. This was the latest follow-up to a request made last year by a group of two dozen smaller wireless carriers, each… Continue Reading
Roundup: Verizon Pre not coming too soon, the fall of Vidoop, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Verizon won’t be offering the Palm Pre within half a year — Lots of coverage on Techmeme.
“The Fall of Vidoop” – A fascinating, in-depth look at issues inside the secure storage company, as told by former employee and web developer Chris Messina.
Facebook gets… Continue Reading
Roundup: Twitter’s inventor readies next big thing, Verizon supports texting bans, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Twitter co-founder to launch iphone payment service — The project, code-named Squirrel, will allow your iPhone to take credit card payments (though it won’t be the first service to do this), TechCrunch’s MG Siegler reports.
Verizon will support bans on text messaging while driving —… Continue Reading
IBM pours $2B into smart grid as other big names reach for a piece of the pie
IBM’s lending and leasing branch, IBM Global financing has committed $2 billion to fund startups and utilities working on smart-grid and green technology projects. With this investment, it leaps to the front of a crowd of major corporations like Intel, AT&T, General Electric and others… Continue Reading
Roundup: Microsoft’s team-up with Verizon, Wolfram/Alpha’s demo, and more
Here’s the latest action:
Are Microsoft and Verizon teaming up on an iPhone rival? — That partnership may be the real source of rumors about negotiations between Verizon and Apple, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Stephen Wolfram demos Wolfram/Alpha search engine — Larry Dignan of ZDNet says the… Continue Reading
Verizon flirts with Apple, but Android is already girlfriend material
There’s been lots of speculation that Verizon, the largest U.S. phone network, is flirting with Apple, with the idea of introducing an iPhone on Verizon’s network next year.
Verizon is building out a new fourth-generation network, based on Long Term Evolution (LTE), which is why interest… Continue Reading
Roundup: Pleo is dead, Twitter spreads swine flu, Google Earth solves plane crash and more
Here’s all the latest action:
Verizon iPhone in the works — Apple and Verizon have been talking about launching an iPhone for the Verizon network as early as next year. USA Today has the story.
Tragedy strikes as Pleo, the magic dinosaur, is liquidated — Ugobe, maker of robotic… Continue Reading
Roundup: US CTO choice gets thumbs up, EPA seeks new powers, Pirate Bay protests erupt
Here’s the latest action:
Tech industry cheers Obama’s CTO choice – He may not have come out of Silicon Valley, but Aneesh Chopra from Virginia is getting positive reaction to his appointment as the nation’s top technology official. The Wall Street Journal has more. Our initial… Continue Reading
Apple to Verizon: Can you hear me now? Maybe.
Before it settled on AT&T as the carrier for the iPhone in the United States, Apple shopped the phone to Verizon Wireless and was shot down. It’s thought that Verizon didn’t want to make the concessions (including ceding a lot of control) to Apple which… Continue Reading
Roundup: New Android G2 makes an appearance, layoffs hit 300,000, Apple sales slowing
Here’s the latest action:
HTC’s G2 Android phone – Sites like Gizmodo are giving the new Android phone the thumbs up based on working demos available at the Mobile World Congress.
Hacking Caller ID – A service dubbed TrapCall from TelTech Systems of New Jersey lets people figure out… Continue Reading
Roundup: Zune prunes, tech gets part of the stimulus, Sprint cuts a lot of jobs and more
Here’s the latest action:
Zune prunes — Microsoft’s Zune portable media player saw its revenue decrease by over $100 million, or 54 percent, in the fourth quarter of 2008. Microsoft blames price cuts on the 30 gig model (you know, the one that had the massive failure)… Continue Reading
Text messaging further exposed as a colossal rip-off
I can’t begin to tell you how happy I am that The New York Times decided to take on the colossal rip-off that is text messaging in a story this weekend. Text messaging is a great service, but it should be included for free with… Continue Reading