Keyword searching… for targeted advertising and/or NSA surveillance? The line is clearly blurred and getting more and more challenging to differentiate.
(Source) LA Times: http://goo.gl/8vlFdr
Samsung’s debut of their Galaxy Gear Smartwatch doesn’t come as a surprise. However, the fact that it is essentially captive to working as an accessory to other Android devices obviously (arguably) limits the potential for a broad-based appeal.
(Source) BBC: http://goo.gl/jL6jO2
For the nay-sayers, herein is a positive take on the (pending) Microsoft purchase of Nokia.
The upside of this acquisition aside, the reality is: as it now stands, Microsoft, Nokia (and RIM) for that matter, all essentially watched the Smartphone Revolution pass them by with the former unable to launch a phone (does anyone really recall Windows CE?) and the latter (two) resting on their laurels as the industry (and, more significantly, mid-to-high-end consumers) left them by the wayside.
(Source) The Inquirer: http://goo.gl/DDv9zA
If the proposed acquisition of Nokia’s Handset Business is approved (and pulled off successfully) it would look like IBM’s PC Division sale to Lenovo (which has certainly been a model of success). Conversely, if it is not executed successfully, it could be a costly purchase for Redmond in more ways than one. Most notably, that their current partnership has made little more than a ripple (at best) within this market segment.
(Source) Reuters: http://goo.gl/e3usmq
Windows CE: Microsoft’s early attempt to produce what later become known as a Smartphone whereas the firm essentially tried to cram the desktop onto a handset (i.e., FAIL).
(Source) Time: http://goo.gl/rBr9X6
Google’s purchase of WIMM Labs looks like another move by the firm to press-on with the often-rumored, Smart-watch debut that could come as early as this fall…
(Source) The Verge: http://goo.gl/gvCNLk
With the high-profile, hiring of a (now former) Google Executive, Xiaomi looks to be focused on branching out past their current market (Hong Kong, PRC and Taiwan). Moreover, with the firm beginning to make an earnest challenge of Samsung in the aforementioned market (although still behind SK’s flagship Smartphone-maker) perhaps ‘Made in China’ is at the nascent stage whereas it’ll become known for something other than ‘cheap’ (i.e., low-cost), etc. as the nation strives to move up the (manufacturing) value-chain?
(Source) Techcrunch: http://goo.gl/DSSJVP
It’s clear with the recent news that more hacking attacks via organizations such as SEA will continue to be / become commonplace as cyber-espionage shows no shows of abating anytime soon.
(Source) ZD Net: http://goo.gl/Wcwc5e
For those keeping score, it is not any consolation that Facebook reportedly fends off more international government requests for one’s personal details than the firm does from the American government…
(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/NKUi2F
