Google shocked everyone by purchasing Motorola Mobility, the wildly popular cell phone manufacturer. But what does it mean? Will Android phones be limited to Motorola or can other phone makers still play in that sandbox? Android-equipped phones are most popular smartphones on the market, even more popular than Apple iPhones. So many questions…but not enough answers. By the way, S&P has downgraded Google stock to sell, saying that the purchase of Motorola puts Google at risk.
In other news, the Bay Area Rapid Transit system is under heavy fire for turning off the cell phone service in its station during a recent protest. They wanted to stop protest organizers from using phones to organize the protests, much like was done recently in London. Was it illegal? The FCC will let us know.
Lots and lots of news and info today so let’s get started…JRC
Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B
Google said today it has agreed to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, giving the search giant valuable intellectual property and getting it directly into the handset business. Google will pay $40 a share in cash for Motorola, a 63 percent premium over the company's closing stock price on Friday. The acquisition will "mildly" add to earnings once the deal closes by year's end or early 2012, Google said.
FCC to Scrutinize BART's Cellphone Block
The Bay Area Rapid Transit system, or BART, will reportedly come under the FCC's microscope following the block that the public transportation system put on mobile devices inside its stations. BART says it instituted the block to keep a public protest from growing out of hand. That decision spawned further protests and may have violated the law.
Gartner: 94 Percent of New PCs Will Ship with Windows 7 in 2011
We've all heard about how people are abandoning Windows in droves, moving to Macs or leaving for Linux. Well, maybe not so much. A recent report from research firm Gartner says by the end of this year, 42 percent of all PCs in the world will be running Windows 7 (and of course, there are still many, many individuals and businesses that are sticking with XP until official support ends in 2014). Even better, they expect 94 percent of new PCs shipped in 2011 will come with Windows 7 - close to 635 million of them.
No contest: Mac vs. Windows security
For nearly two decades now, security experts have debated whether Microsoft or Apple offers superior security. The battle heated up again in the wake of news out of Black Hat about a newfound weakness in the Mac platform. However, the question of whether Microsoft or Apple is more secure is no longer even relevant: Security threats of today and tomorrow aren't as tied to specific desktop platforms as they once were.
Microsoft making big speech bets with Windows 8
The Microsoft Tellme team is working with the Bing, Windows Phone, Kinect/Xbox, Azure and other Microsoft teams to add new speech-centric capabilities to Microsoft and third-party products in the coming year-plus.
Beat the Cell Phone Data Cap Game
We're cutting through the noise to tell you exactly what you need to know, how to avoid getting charged overages, and ways to bring down your data use before your wireless carrier cuts your speed.
Why do people fall for Trojans?
Out in the physical world, crime happens every day. People get robbed and have their pockets picked, and no one blames the victim. So why do the rules change when nontechnical PC users fall for a Trojan online?
Help CERN find the God particle
As a rule, I advocate turning off your electronics whenever they are not in use. It is good for the planet and good for your electric bill. However, if you are using that otherwise dormant silicon to do something spectacular, say, locating the Higgs boson (also known as the God particle), I am all for that.
No comments:
Post a Comment