The Latest Web Industry News

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  Google's Flirtation With Being A Hardware Company Is Over

  17th May 2013 21:03

  A year ago, I left Google's annual I/O developers conference convinced it was making a major strategic shift into being a hardware company. As this year's I/O wraps up, I'm left questioning that conclusion. The message Google is putting forward in 2013 is very different: It's all about what developers can do with the software tools it provides, whether that means broad digital platforms like the Chrome Web browser and the Android mobile operating system, or fungible, ubiquitous services like…

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  App Not Working? It Might Be Time To Check The 'Weather'

  17th May 2013 20:04

  If you've ever used the Internet — and you know who you are — you've undoubtedly had apps or various services stop working unexpectedly. For ordinary users, this usually just means no access to Twitter or Gmail for a while. But for developers, whose apps and services rely increasingly heavily on hooks into popular Web services, the problem can be far more complicated. That's because modern Web services (and the apps that facilitate them) can fail for a variety of…

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  Google: Please Fix The Crippling Problem Plaguing Google+

  17th May 2013 18:10

  Google+ has never looked and felt as it good as it does right now. Alas, looks aren't everything. A massive overhaul of the service, announced Wednesday during a keynote at Google's I/O conference for developers, has brought it in line with the most modern and functionally powerful Web design principles. It now has a multi-column layout, scrolling menu bars, and enormous images. Google also rolled out an umbrella messaging service called Hangouts, a standalone app for Web and mobile that…

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  Yahoo Reportedly Looking To Buy Tumblr For That Magic $1B

  17th May 2013 17:30

  Yahoo is in talks to acquire the fast-growing blogging site Tumblr for as much as $1 billion, AllThingsD reports. This could be the "big deal" Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has reportedly been looking for.

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  New 'Social' Businesses Want To Know All About You. No Thanks!

  17th May 2013 15:09

  Marc Benioff, Salesforce.com's hyperbolic CEO, has been telling anyone who will listen that the "sudden convergence of cloud, social and mobile spheres" is forcing - and allowing - companies to connect with customers in new ways, and to listen with an intensity never before possible. I'm sure the benefits of social business are dramatic and undeniable, but am I alone in being totally creeped out at what seems to be an obvious invastion of privacy? I don't know about you,…

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  Google Sensors Are Data Mining I/O Attendees - And They Don't Care

  17th May 2013 14:07

  If you're visiting the Google I/O developers conference this week, you're a tiny part of a giant Google experiment to sniff out everything from your body heat to your breath. Google is even listening to your footfalls as part of its Data Sensing Lab I/O 2013. Think that's a scary, Big-Brother invasion of privacy? The conference attendees I talked to didn't seem to mind. In fact, one wanted Google to collect even more data. Google planted 525 powered sensors around…

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  Google And SAP: Two Very Different Cloud Strategies

  17th May 2013 13:32

  While both Google and SAP shared a 1980's music sensibility at their respective conferences this week - Billy Idol performed at Google I/O and U2's Bono walked the floor at SAPPHIRE - the two companies see the future of computing very differently. Even when the two companies agree on the importance of cloud computing, their strategies couldn't be more different. For one thing, SAP's new cloud isn't even a cloud. But then, SAP's Bono wasn't really Bono, either, but merely…

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  Google Is Prepping A Sneak Attack On Microsoft Office

  17th May 2013 12:57

  Google's alternative to Microsoft Office, Google Apps, has always suffered from the fact that it offers a sort of "good enough" compatibility — fine for most basic document and spreadsheet tasks, but not enough to match certain Office features. Now Google is preparing to use technology from a recent acquisition, QuickOffice, to close that gap. In recent weeks, Google sources have told me that Google has been internally testing, or "dogfooding," QuickOffice, which began life as a standalone productivity app…

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  Why Path May Be The Ultimate App For Google Glass

  16th May 2013 22:14

  I'm a devoted Pathhole—a hardcore user of mobile social network Path. For all that I make fun of Path's twee, artisanal, and bespoke nature—on a recent visit to its lovely office in San Francisco, I was tempted to ask CEO Dave Morin if his software engineers were cruelty-free—I have a soft spot for the service that brings me updates from a small circle of friends, which I then festoon with emoticons. If anything might convert me into a Glasshole, the…

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  Google Glass Gets New Twitter, Facebook, CNN Apps

  16th May 2013 20:07

  The universe of apps for Google Glass, initially limited to the New York Times and the social network Path, is expanding rapidly. Google on Thursday announced several more entries to its Glassware stable: Facebook, Twitter, Evernote, Tumblr, CNN news updates, Elle fashion features and a Glass-only game called Ice Breaker. Look for more Glass apps to surface as the augmented reality goggles move closer to a public rollout later this year.