In a commitment to honesty, Twitter tries to bury the hatchet with third-party developers

October 28, 2011 8:20 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

Ryan Sarver had just come back to work after his wedding.

Notice I said “wedding” and not “honeymoon.” Sarver has for some time been Twitter’s first line of defense between the company and a occasionally disgruntled army of third-party developers. …

“The ugly cousin” no more: inside Android’s beautiful new design

October 26, 2011 9:16 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

For too long, Android has been the ugly cousin to Apple’s iOS in terms of design. But with the release of Android 4.0, a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich, all that is changing.

For perhaps the first time, “The way things look …

iPhone 4S review: There’s something about Siri

October 18, 2011 6:00 AM Devindra Hardawar
Devindra Hardawar

Editor's Pick

The iPhone 4S is a quietly revolutionary mobile device, even though it looks exactly the same as last year’s iPhone 4. The big pull this time around isn’t the hardware — though the faster processor and revamped camera are certainly …

Big-name designers dissect Facebook’s timeline

October 11, 2011 1:54 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

Facebook’s Timeline is possibly the biggest wholesale design change the site has seen. So we called in three top designers to critique the concept and execution.

Last week, we chatted with Facebook product chief Sam Lessin about how and why …

Once Facebook launches Timeline, you’ll never want to leave

October 6, 2011 6:00 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

When Facebookers began thinking about the design for Timeline, the name for the new look and feel of Profiles, they reached for books more often than browser tabs.

As a result, while the new Facebook Profiles might look a bit …

Can a single game reach a billion players?

September 30, 2011 11:00 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Editor's Pick

A growing number of game visionaries are saying a single game can reach a billion people. That idea has become a cause célèbre, providing a target for an industry that is expanding beyond its old boundaries.

For skeptics who believe …

Box.net founder Aaron Levie is poised on the edge of startup stardom

September 29, 2011 4:01 PM Matthew Lynley
Matthew Lynley

Editor's Pick

The first time I met Box.net chief executive Aaron Levie, he showed me a magic trick with a deck of cards.

A year later, the 26-year-old was standing on stage (in his typical electric orange sneakers) in front of 350 …

29 electric car makers ready to rule the streets

September 29, 2011 10:01 AM Matthew Lynley
Matthew Lynley

Editor's Pick

Some crazy concept cars have emerged since the electric car frenzy hit the market in 2008. Where are they now?

We caught up with 29 electric car manufacturers and developers to find out what they’re doing today. Some are still …

Feds close huge chip counterfeiting case (exclusive)

September 25, 2011 8:25 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Editor's Pick

VisionTech Components sold a large amount of semiconductor chips to more than 1,100 customers from its office in Clearwater, Fla. Unfortunately, federal prosecutors allege, the chips were counterfeits. In this case, the perpetrators were brought to justice when authorities uncovered …

People analytics: How Google does HR by the numbers

September 20, 2011 8:16 AM Ciara Byrne
Ciara Byrne

Editor's Pick

Google offered some insights yesterday into its innovative, data-driven HR process. “All people decisions at Google are based on data and analytics,” said Kathryn Dekas, a manager in Google’s “people analytics” team, speaking at O’ Reilly Strata. Those decisions cover …

Top 5 on-demand streaming music services feat. Spotify, MOG and Rdio

September 17, 2011 11:05 AM Sean Ludwig
Sean Ludwig

Editor's Pick

There’s a digital music revolution afoot. For the price of a single iTunes album, you can stream a month’s worth of songs from millions of choices while at home or on the go. But there’s so much movement and so …

Electric car range anxiety evaporates after 3 months

September 9, 2011 10:27 AM Matthew Lynley
Matthew Lynley

“Range anxiety” for pure battery-powered electric car owners wears off quickly as a driver begins to understand the capabilities and charging patterns of their car, according to a new study by the Technology Strategy Board.

Around 35 percent of electric …

Are we going to be bandwidth hogs or cloud computing patrons? A three-way debate

September 7, 2011 7:00 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Last month, Comcast stirred up a debate about bandwidth caps, excessive internet use, and cloud computing after it cut off Seattle resident Andre Vrignaud (pictured right) for using too much internet bandwidth when he uploaded his music collection to the …

Groupon Clones: Still viable or dead on arrival?

September 5, 2011 10:01 AM Meghan Kelly
Meghan Kelly

Editor's Pick

With Groupon clones lining the digital streets like “GIRLS GIRLS GIRLS” signs in the seedy parts of Reno, you’d think the model was an easy one to replicate.

Facebook did it; Yelp did it; now Google is doing it. But …

Purple lights and math help PlantLab grow food more efficiently

September 2, 2011 12:04 PM Ciara Byrne
Ciara Byrne

Editor's Pick

We’ve had local food, organic food, slow food and even urban farming. Now get ready for disco farming.

The Dutch “plant control freaks” behind PlantLab want to farm indoors under purple light. It’s not just for the looks, though. PlantLab …

After three pivots, Playhaven finds a niche in monetizing mobile apps

September 1, 2011 8:28 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Editor's Pick

Playhaven started life as a gamer’s social network. Then it morphed into making communities for mobile games. Now, after its third pivot, the company is focused on how to make money for mobile app developers via a real-time game marketing …

Extended-range hybrids pick up steam

August 30, 2011 3:02 PM Matthew Lynley
Matthew Lynley

A clear trend is emerging among electric car manufacturers: Plug-in hybrids are a better near-term bet than purely battery-powered cars.

Ford today unveiled the latest in its series of electric cars, a plug-in hybrid electric car called the Evos. The …

Exclusive: Facebook opens up about open-source software

August 30, 2011 2:10 PM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

This is the second of a two-part exclusive on Facebook’s involvement with and creation of open source technologies. The first installment focused on hardware. For these articles, we spoke with two of Facebook’s open source gurus, David Recordon and Amir …

Otoy’s cloud tools can render stunningly realistic video (exclusive)

August 30, 2011 7:15 AM Dean Takahashi
Dean Takahashi

Editor's Pick

Filmmakers and game creators would love to create animations so realistic that they look like they were produced inside a Star Trek Holodeck, the virtual simulator from the sci-fi TV and film series. In the Holodeck, you couldn’t tell whether …

Exclusive: How Facebook is open-sourcing its data centers and servers

August 25, 2011 6:11 AM Jolie O'Dell
Jolie O'Dell

Editor's Pick

This is the first of a two-part exclusive on Facebook’s involvement with and creation of open source technologies. For these articles, we spoke with two of Facebook’s open source gurus, David Recordon and Amir Michael, about how the company is …