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Google’s Leaked Play Store Redesign Foregrounds Media And Summaries

nexusae0_wm_11 Google has a new look for all of Android coming with Android L, the final public release of which should arrive sometime this fall. The latest version sports something called ‘Material Design,’ a new set of principles for user interface creation that’s meant to make software better for touchscreens and high density displays. The Play Store wasn’t updated in the… Read More

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Apple Asserts Its Commitment To Privacy In Response To Report By China’s CCTV

apple-store-china Apple has published a statement via its Chinese website as a follow-up to a report on the state-run CCTV last week that claimed its devices could present a state security risk according to researchers. The statement, available in both Chinese and English, details Apple’s efforts to ensure customer privacy is protected, and reiterates that Apple does not store or track user locations… Read More

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Chinese State Media Renews Anti-Apple Rhetoric, Calls The iPhone A “National Security Concern”

sanlitun-apple-store-china Apple has faced a fair amount of state-sponsored criticism in China, a market where the prevailing powers have a stated goal of promoting more home-grown network and IT solutions. The Wall Street Journal reports that Apple’s iOS 7 poses a threat to national security because of its ‘Frequent Locations’ feature, which identifies and provides users a map of their oft-visited… Read More

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The PC Market Has Its Strongest Quarter In Recent Memory

Screen Shot 2014-07-11 at 8.54.02 AM Personal computers, long an ailing member of the larger technology market, had a strong second quarter. After consistent quarters of decline, the worldwide PC market was either up 0.1 percent, or down a modest 1.7 percent in the period, according to Gartner and IDC, respectively. In the United States, the PC market was up around 7 percent in the quarter, again according to the two firms. Read More

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CEO With A Heart Of Gold, Neil Young Takes The Reins At PonoMusic, Tech Vet John Hamm Remains Investor

ponoplayer A changing of keys and tempo, at PonoMusic, the venture founded on the premise of a high-fidelity digital music service and music-playing device. Neil Young, the iconic musician who founded Pono and saw it raise over $6.2 million on Kickstarter after aiming for only $800,000, is stepping in as its new CEO as John Hamm steps down. Hamm will remain an investor in the company, the company noted in… Read More

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Misfit Moves Further Away From Hardware And Into Platform Territory With New Beddit Integration

misfit-beddit The hardware wearable business is a tough gig, and today brings another reminder: Fitness and activity tracking startup Misfit has announced a new partnership with Beddit, a hardware maker that builds a smart sleep-monitoring system. The Beddit deal brings a co-branded device to Misfit’s lineup of offering, allowing the Misfit app to now also track advanced sleep information. Read More

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Vaavud Takes To Kickstarter Again For A New Smartphone Wind Meter That Tracks Direction

vaavud-2 Kickstarter has been around long enough that the Kickstarter double-dip is now a well-established thing – basically it’s the practice of a company returning to the crowdfunding well to secure the resources for a new product launch. The original Vaavud was a wind meter that required no power and plugged into your smartphone’s 3.5mm stereo input jack, but that actually… Read More

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Microsoft CEO Gears The Company For Change, And A Renewed Focus On Productivity And Platforms

Microsoft Nadella Elop Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella released a letter to employees today via the Microsoft website, and while the missive is aimed at employees in terms of syntax, it’s clearly designed to address the public, too. The occasion for the letter is the kick-off of Microsoft’s fiscal 2015, ahead of the final results for FY 2014, which drop July 22. The subject matter is a call to action,… Read More

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FreedomPop Brings Its Free Wireless Service To Europe, Sans Handsets

freedompop FreedomPop, the startup out of LA that has been going after U.S. carriers’ wireless business with a “free” basic mobile offering, is now bringing a SIM-only version of its service to Europe and beyond. Today, the company announced that it will kick off first with FreedomPop in Belgium, with rollouts also in the UK, Germany, France and Spain, as well as to markets in the… Read More

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