Tech Biz

One of my favorite parts of Google is getting instant responses from search results — it massively simplifies currency conversion, for one thing. So it’s interesting to see that the company now lets you create Google Now reminders right from its search box, as the Google Operating System blog explains. The feature works if you Continue Reading →

Internet of Things is the current hip phrase of technology evangelists, geeks and all kinds of clairvoyants. If, according to tech blogs and websites, 2013 was the year of big data, then 2014 certainly is the year of Internet of Things. New projects, big funding rounds, the general hype and excitement are everywhere. And yet, Continue Reading →

In the small town of Fayetteville in northern New York, you’ll find the local library in an old furniture factory dating from the turn of the 20th century. The refurbished building retains hints of its industrial past: wooden floors, exposed beams, walls lined with carefully labelled tools. But instead of quietly perusing stacks of books, Continue Reading →

The biggest group affected by Microsoft’s July 17 layoff of 18,000 people are the 12,500 former Nokia employees who joined Microsoft as part of the Nokia handset acquisition. That leaves another 5,500 Microsoft employees, out of its current workforce of close to 130,000, who are being let go. Who are these individuals? Microsoft officials are Continue Reading →

Facebook is try out letting you pay for ecommerce purchases from other businesses without leaving its site or app. For now it won’t be charging the few small and medium-sized businesses in the US to test this new Buy button on their News Feed Pages posts and ads. When I asked if Facebook would be Continue Reading →

Is Yahoo, which will reap billions from an early investment in Alibaba when the Chinese e-commerce giant goes public this summer, going to pursue an often-rumored merger with AOL? Matchmakers have speculated about the possibility of a merger between Yahoo and AOL for the last couple of years. The rumor mill recycled the story recently Continue Reading →

Microsoft has started accepting requests from users in Europe who want to remove search links from Bing under a recent “right-to-be-forgotten” ruling by Europe’s top court. The company has asked European residents, who want Microsoft to block search results that show on Bing in response to searches of their names, to fill up a four-part Continue Reading →

After years of complaints, Google has finally dropped the real-name restrictions on its Google+ network. The company apologized for the “unnecessarily difficult experiences” the rules had created. When Google+ first launched, Google required that users sign up with their real identities. Over time, those restrictions were lessened, first for Pages and then for YouTube users. Continue Reading →

Google has Nest, Apple has HomeKit and Samsung has…SmartThings, we’re hearing. The deal was completed for around $200 million dollars, though it might have been less according to one source. (Update: The deal is not done yet, says another.) SmartThings is in the home automation space, and allows you to connect devices like lights and Continue Reading →

Apple has agreed to pay $450 million to resolve U.S. state and consumer claims the iPad manufacturer conspired with five major publishers to fix e-book prices, according to court records filed Wednesday. The settlement, which would provide $400 million for consumers, is conditioned on the outcome of a pending appeal of a New York federal Continue Reading →