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In a rare show of generosity from an Internet service provider, Verizon plans to boost FiOS upload speeds to match customers’ download speeds at no extra charge. ISPs typically offer much slower uploads compared to downloads. Under Verizon’s previous plan, for instance, customers with 15 Mbps downloads only received 5 Mbps uploads, and customers paying Continue Reading →

With the threat of terrorism and extreme weather perennially perched on the horizon, Chicago’s getting creative with its infrastructure upgrades. The city’s primary power company, Commercial Edison, is planning to install superconducting cables to prevent outages in the city center. Why doesn’t every city do this? The job sounds pretty simple. ComEd will lay superconducting Continue Reading →

LinkedIn just announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Bizo, a company that helps advertisers reach businesses and professionals. LinkedIn says the deal is worth around $175 million — 90 percent cash and 10 percent stock. Bizo spun out from business directory ZoomInfo back in 2008. It raised a total of $20 million Continue Reading →

At age 19, Londoner James Proud decided to skip out on college and move to the States. As one of several “Thiel Fellows,” Proud received a $100,000 grant from esteemed venture capitalist Peter Thiel to skip college, move to San Francisco, and start working in tech. Thiel didn’t expect anything in return, and Proud didn’t Continue Reading →

Alohar Mobile, the location startup led by ex-Google Maps architect Sam Liang, on Wednesday launched a new iPhone app called PlaceUs that tries to add contextual intelligence to location sharing. PlaceUs aims to help people stay connected with a close circle of loved ones. As the app learns your routines, it can do things like Continue Reading →

The problem with wearables is that usually people stop wearing them. According to one recent report, one-third of users of activity-tracking wearables, like the Fitbit and the Jawbone, toss their devices aside after just six months. To overcome this, a small cadre of companies has been furiously working to develop smaller, sleeker, more discreet devices Continue Reading →

While iOS 8 for the iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch is set for a September launch, Apple is planning to bring its next-generation Mac software, OS X Yosemite, into the wild a month later, in October, according to several sources. Apple plans to continue releasing OS X Yosemite Developer Previews every two to three weeks Continue Reading →

Remember the Surface Mini, a device that got axed at the last minute? Microsoft gave it a shout out in its earnings report on Tuesday. The company noted in its hardware section that its “[c]urrent year cost of revenue included Surface inventory adjustments resulting from our transition to newer generation devices and a decision to Continue Reading →

Japan is hoping to stage a Robot Olympics in 2020 alongside the summer games which will be hosted in Tokyo. Shinzo Abe, the prime minister, has said he wants to use such an event to showcase the latest global robotics technology, an industry in which Japan has long been famed as a pioneer. Mr Abe also Continue Reading →

Based partly on a previous filing by Google about an unnamed foreign company it tried and failed to buy for $4 billion to $5 billion and a line I had in a story that noted that a top exec at the search giant had expressed interest in buying Spotify — the Journal is reporting that Continue Reading →