What is the future of location based services?

Google to add Galapagos Islands to Street View

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Few have explored the remote volcanic islands of the Galapagos archipelago, an otherworldly landscape inhabited by the world's largest tortoises and other fantastical creatures that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Windows Phone and BlackBerry 10 still don’t offer apps people want

If you purchase a Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10 smartphone, don’t expect to download the same applications your friends are using on their iPhones and Android devices. A new report from research firm Canalys has found that a majority of the top Android and iOS applications still aren’t available on Windows Phone or BlackBerry 10. When combined, the two operating systems were found to only support 34% of the top 50 free and top 50 paid applications in the App Store and Google Play in the United States. The Windows Phone Store offered 16 of the top 50 free apps from the App Store, and 14 of the top 50 paid apps. The operating system fared slightly better when compared to Google

The New Shazam Is an Advertising Bug for Your House

Shazam, the song-identifying app whose logo keeps making its way onto TVs for second-screen expansion, has expanded its smart-listening deeper into your life with a new automatic tagging feature that basically turns your iPhone or iPad into a personal little wiretap. (The new feature isn't available for Android yet.) To save users time, Shazam no longer requires users to tag songs, shows, or advertisements to get a fuller experience about said ditty, program, or marketing campaign. ...

Google Glass: Not just for nerds

Google Glass is a big deal. It marks the beginning of the next paradigm in consumer electronics, where intelligent wearable gadgets will take the place of common accessories rather than compliment them. BGR has argued that Glass itself likely won’t sell terribly well because it is so unnatural, but it will instead evolve over time and serve as a jumping off point for wearable devices from Google and others that might appeal to a wider audience. Not everyone agrees, however, and Google’s Developer Advocate Tim Bray recently shared his thoughts on Google Glass publicly for the first time. The biggest knocks against Glass are its jarring “dorky” look, its awful battery life and its privacy implications. Regarding battery life, Bray agrees

E-commerce software maker ChannelAdvisor shares soar in debut

(Reuters) - Shares of cloud-based e-commerce software provider ChannelAdvisor Corp soared as much as 39 percent in their debut, as enterprise software makers continue to draw investor attention with their strong revenue models. The company's shares opened up 25 percent, after its initial public offering of 5.8 million shares was priced at $14 per share, the high end of its pricing range. They touched an intraday high of $19.46, valuing the company at about $400 million. ChannelAdvisor, founded in 2001, helps companies sell their merchandise across online channels such as Amazon. ...

Netflix, what are you?

Netflix goes back to the basics, explaining what video streaming is, and how it works

Don’t expect Google Fiber to come to your town anytime soon

Google Fiber has taken the United States, and the world, by storm. Google is looking to shake things up with extremely fast Internet speeds available at reasonable prices, while at the same time pressuring traditional industry players to adapt. But millions of Americans will be forced to settle with the mediocre speeds provided by their current Internet service providers, unfortunately. A recent report from market research firm IHS iSuppli suggests that Google is unlikely to deploy Fiber on a nationwide level. The firm believes the cost of building a national Fiber infrastructure will be too high for Google and the company is expected to remain a minor player in the U.S. broadband market. “While the deployment of Google Fiber to the

Your oldest, most outdated device

Some of the best technology writers in the world spill the beans on the most outdated gadgets they still own

GameStop results beat as mobile sales rise

(Reuters) - Video games retailer GameStop Corp's quarterly profit beat estimates for the fourth consecutive quarter, suggesting that its strategy of expanding its digital and mobile offerings is paying off in a tough video-gaming environment. Sales of video game hardware and software sales have dropped as gamers lean towards lower-priced online offerings on tablets and smartphones. However, GameStop has managed to buck the trend by selling new and used games to console owners and iOS and Android devices in some stores. ...

Apple enjoyed Irish tax holiday from the start

By Poornima Gupta and Padraic Halpin SAN FRANCISCO/DUBLIN (Reuters) - Apple has operated almost tax-free in Ireland since 1980, welcomed by a government keen to bring jobs to what was then one of Europe's poorest countries, former company executives and Irish officials have said. Chief Executive Tim Cook faced criticism from a Senate subcommittee in Washington on Tuesday over the iPad and iPhone maker's tax practices, which had been shrouded from full view behind secretive tax-exempt Irish-based corporate entities. ...