Tag Archives: Silicon Valley
FIRST TAKE: Google’s long-term view is clear
SAN FRANCISCO — You might call Vic Gundotra an eternal optimist and underestimate his steely resolve.
The senior vice president of engingeering, social, for Google is, if nothing else, a staunch advocate of the nearly 2-year-old Google+ social network. Despite having less than half of Facebook’s global audience of 1 billion, the service continues to make enhancements in pursuit of mobile ads. Today, it announced 41 new features, including snazzy photos and a redesign.
“We plug away,” Gundotra said during a demo at the Googleplex in nearby Mountain View on Friday.
The Sisyphean journey of Google+ underscores Google’s sheer persistence (echoes of Microsoft?) that is sure to be an undercurrent theme at Google I/O, its annual developers conference here this week. Today, Google regaled developers
Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-TechTopStories/~3/tYxxxBAFyT8/
McAfee cut a colorful figure in Portland, Ore.
SAN FRANCISCO — John McAfee agreed to an interview because he “liked the tone” of my voice during a phone conversation.
When we met last week in Portland, Ore., he complimented me on my manners and disposition.
By turns, brilliant, eccentric, charming, vulnerable and scattered, McAfee cut an intriguing figure for four hours during an interview at his apartment, nearby coffee shop and sushi restaurant.
“Being a paranoid schizophrenic, you have to speak well to set people at ease,” McAfee said, joking, at lunch. He paid with a $100 bill.
McAfee, who landed in the U.S. in December after an international manhunt that led him from Belize to Guatemala to Miami, agreed to an interview to explain how he became a “person of interest” in the unsolved murder of Gregory Viant Faull in Belize
Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-TechTopStories/~3/3aSzAcWjEc4/
Google’s zany hardware projects may not be zany in year
SAN FRANCISCO — Halfway through Google’s quarterly conference call in late April, CEO Larry Page sounded a bit exasperated after a stock analyst asked him how much the company planned to invest in some of its more-speculative ideas.
“I feel that when I say anything, I always get asked that question,” Page answered, just after he’d spent several minutes talking enthusiastically about self-driving cars, Google glasses and other projects that as yet contribute nothing to the company’s bottom line.
Wall Street concerns over such spending are understandable after Google reported that Motorola Mobility, the phone maker acquired by the search giant one year ago for $12.5 billion, had an operating margin of -18% in the first quarter. And that figure excluded stock compensation
Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-TechTopStories/~3/TDF3-ADzJIQ/
File sharing security arises as a concern
SEATTLE — WatchDox is a Silicon Valley-based company that supplies technology enabling large organizations to lock down Microsoft documents moving to and fro, between desktop PCs and mobile devices, including Apple iOS and Google Android devices.
The company recently landed a contract with a financial institution to help secure the work products of 70,000 network users. CyberTruth asked WatchDox CEO Moti Rafalin, CEO of WatchDox, to outline why such services are needed.
CT: Have we really arrived at a time when companies have to think about locking down each copy of every potentially sensitive work document?
Rafalin: We’re definitely not at a point where companies have to individually lock each file. However, they do need to find ways to keep the really critical files protected while meeting the needs of an increasingly mobile, Article source: http://rssfeeds.usatoday.com/~r/usatoday-TechTopStories/~3/cFeMz83fVNE/
Arts and crafts get a tech makeover
(CNN) — Some people hire florists and caterers when planning their wedding. Former Google employee Brit Morin brought on a programmer to create a custom app.
That personal app grew into Weduary, a real product that helps people design wedding sites, and Morin went on to create her own lifestyle how-to company called Brit + Co., which combines crafting, homemaking and a bit of tech.
In the year since it launched, Brit + Co. has created tons of step-by-step posts, filmed how-to videos staring Brit, brought in user-generated projects and started selling merchandise such as crafting starter kits, books and subscription boxes called Brit Kits. For $20 a month, Brit + Co. will deliver a Brit Kit box filled with
Article source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/edition_technology/~3/Vr0tF4b0Z-4/index.html
