Archive for November, 2011
Review: Apps to make holiday shopping easier (AP)
SAN FRANCISCO – Even if you love to shop, it can be a pain this time of year. Stores are crowded, gift options seem endless and it’s hard to determine if you’re getting the best prices. If you have a smartphone, though, there’s a simple solution: Apps.
Your Laptop’s Wi-Fi Might Cause Male Fertility Problems (Mashable)
[brightcove video="1303335080001" /] [More from Mashable: Personal Computers: A History of the Hardware That Changed the World] Men beware. The Wi-Fi from your laptop could be hurting the health of your sperm
Blackstone, Bain to lead Alibaba’s bid for Yahoo: sources (Reuters)
(Reuters) – Private equity firms Blackstone Group and Bain Capital will lead a bid for the whole of Yahoo Inc after agreeing to team up with Alibaba Group, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday. The two buyout houses are eager to acquire Yahoo’s core U.S. operations, one of these people said, adding that the composition of the consortium, which will also involve Japan’s Softbank Corp, has not yet been formalized
Summary Box: Review of smartphone shopping apps (AP)
APP-Y HOLIDAYS: A number of cheap and free smartphone apps can ease holiday shopping, and some can even make it more fun. SOME WINNERS: Price Check by Amazon and RedLaser (free, available for iPhone and Android) make it easy to search for the best prices on items by typing in a product’s name or scanning a barcode. —Shopkick (free, available for iPhone and Android) makes shopping like a game by giving you points when you visit local stores
Film business strikes back at Google over piracy act (Reuters)
WASHINGTON (TheWrap.com) – The film industry came back swinging Wednesday, calling recent claims by tech companies including Google that online piracy legislation will destroy the internet “nonsense,” while also labeling those assertions as an effort to “gin people up.” Speaking at a phone briefing with the media, Michael O’Leary, senior executive VP for global policy and external affairs for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), said that the scourge of online piracy “is only getting worse” and that proposed legislation in Congress would go a long way toward combating the problem. He argued that the recent outcry from Google and other tech companies against the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) had more to do with economics than with concerns about civil liberties. Opponents of the bill, including many public advocacy groups, say it is fraught with potential unintended consequences that could censor free speech and smother innovation.
Siri-ously? Can we find a decent voice assistant for Android? (Appolicious)
Siri voice assistant alternatives are being marketed to Android devices with alarming regularity.
The Dow Jones average’s largest daily point gains (AP)
The 490-point jump in the Dow Jones industrial average on Wednesday was the seventh-largest one-day point gain on record. Here are the others: Oct
Watch the adorable Qbo robot recognize itself in the mirror for the very first time (Yahoo! News)
Only a small number of animals have been observed to recognize themselves in the mirror, and even humans spend the first 15 months or so of their lives blissfully unaware of what they look like. But robots with the right features (and a little help) can apparently also be self-aware, as demonstrated on this video of The Corpora’s pint-sized Qbo bot.
Summary Box: Central banks’ move jolts stocks (AP)
BIG LIFT: Stocks soared Wednesday after the world’s leading central banks acted to reduce banks’ borrowing costs. The central banks of Europe, the U.S
Spotify expands into apps to expand music service (AP)
NEW YORK – Online music provider Spotify is adding free apps to its service to broaden its reach and expand what people can do with its vast trove of digital tunes. Spotify Inc. said Wednesday that it is adding apps from Rolling Stone and Billboard magazines, Internet radio service Last.fm, and a slew of others
