Technology Industry Archive

Google’s developer evangelist, Vic Gundotra, may have alienated his key constituency, mobile application developers, by claiming that mobile phone users will end up getting their apps from Web browsers rather than from app stores operated by the likes of Apple, Nokia, Palm, and Research in Motion. Many, many applications can be delivered through the browser and what that does for our...

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Download speeds are to the telecom industry what megapixel counts are to digital photography: only part of the story and an unbridled attempt by marketing to bamboozle customers into perceiving value that may not be there. So it’s not surprising that Qwest would join the bandwagon — except that in an interview with me not so long ago, the company’s CTO himself questions the...

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A look at highlights of the past week in the high tech legal world: courts, regulation, and lawsuits. Facebook sued for click fraud — A would-be class action suit with RootZoo is targeting Facebook because of alleged click fraud by users of Facebook. According to a previous story by TechCrunch, Facebook had admitted a problem but said that it was on top of it. [Source: Eric Goldman...

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Legendary fund manager James Altucher and verbose venture capitalist Fred Wilson are debating the merits of investing in Web 2.0 properties. While the this debate could seem nothing bigger than a pissing match outside the Tavern on the Green, the stakes are much higher when you consider that not only the ongoing value of the investment vehicles in question, but ultimately their long-term...

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The details of IBM’s second quarter earnings report may reflect IBM’s near-term future more than its long-term prospects. Sister-site CNET has a summary of the top-line numbers, highlighted by strong margin and earnings growth despite overall lower revenue than in Q2 2008. Revenue was $23.3 billion, a 13 percent decline (7 percent decline in constant currency terms), but diluted...

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Google’s financial performance in the second quarter of the year was most impressive, and there are many places you can read about it. So let’s look at some things that most people haven’t, like non-ad revenues. One of Google’s big weaknesses, perhaps its largest, is the utter dependence on advertising revenue. The first six months of 2009 actually showed that non-ad...

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Despite what you’ve heard, the online version of Office 2010 announced by Microsoft earlier this week won’t be free to corporate users, and isn’t a threat to the likes of Google, Adobe, or even Zoho, which sells online productivity software to small and medium-sized businesses. It’s true that Microsoft will offer consumers a free “lightweight” version of...

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We’ve all seen IBM’s ‘Smarter Planet’ ads, which leave no doubt that Big Blue is angling for a much stimulus money as it can get. Conveniently, IBM can lean on former CTO and current wise-man emeritus Irving Wladawsky-Berger, to take urban planning out of the realm of politics and into purely technological terms: We have much to learn about cities:  how to improve...

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So you thought little services like Google Voice might come without a price to pay, eh? Not so fast. A patent application published today gives one idea how the company can find new ways to deliver advertising. A hint: they’ve got your number and they’re not afraid to use it to deliver audio ads when you least expect them. The application title is “Ringback Advertising.”...

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Many managers tune out at technical details, but this is one time that they shouldn’t, particularly if they work at companies that distribute and update software. Google’s Chrome team announced a new compression algorithm (via Slashdot.org) that it expects to keep updates small. To consider the importance, think of the last time you had to download a Windows or Mac OS update. Not fun....

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