Latest News
Google Reader Makes A More Visual Play
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
Google launched a new service today in from its Labs called Google Reader Play. It is a more visual way to browse through the most popular items being saved and shared on Google Reader. When you launch it, you are presented with a large photo, video, or text excerpt on the main part of the screen, and can flip through by clicking on arrows or selecting an item from the filmstrip at the bottom of the screen. Google Reader Play doesn't require you to sign in, but if you do then you can star, share, and like items, and it starts to recommend things to you based on what your friends share, star, and like in Google Reader. The user interface seems to borrow a lot from StumbleUpon, with its concept of randomly flicking through the best stuff on the Web. In particular, it's very similar to StumbleVideo, except it includes more than just videos. It is very image-heavy. The user interface reminds me of some elements of enjosythin.gs as well in the way that it presents images and text excerpts in a blown-up manner. The arrows are very Fast Flip, another Labs experiment for the Google News in making magazine and newspaper articles more visually browsable.
CA Acquires Cloud Monitoring Company Nimsoft For $350 Million
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
IT software giant CA has acquired cloud monitoring startup Nimsoft for $350 million according to a release issued today. Nimsoft offers performance monitoring software to businesses. CA is making a big move towards the cloud. The company just bought up 3Tera, Cassatt, NetQoS and Oblicore. 
hi5 CTO: Zynga Is Mediocre. It Isn’t Social, It Just Discovered An Opening For Spam
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
Today during a panel on disruptive game platforms at GDC's GamesBeat, a panel of gaming execs took the stage to talk about the current situation in gaming. The standout speaker so far has been hi5 President and CTO Alex St. John, who has not pulled any punches in his criticisms of Facebook and other companies. Moments ago, he just attacked Zynga, calling its games mediocre and saying that its success stemmed from spamming users. Here's what he said (paraphrased): "Zynga makes mediocre games. What Zynga discovered is that Facebook had left an opening for spam. They acquired a lot of audience from a security loophole that Facebook has since closed. And they aren't social. Their only social game is Poker — it's the only one that you can chat in. All subsquent games are turn based and spread over days."
Technical Glitch Leaks Special SXSW Foursquare Badges Early
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
If you're excited about the mysterious array of special Foursquare badges promised for this year's SXSW, then you'll probably want to skip this post. Otherwise, read on. A site dedicated to Foursquare badges appropriately called Foursquarebadg.es has taken advantage of a technical glitch this morning to identify 15 special badges that will be available during this year's SXSW conference, which starts this week in Austin, Texas.
Blippy Gets A Facebook-Inspired Redesign And An Important New Privacy Feature
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
When Blippy launched a few months ago, the idea was to get the site up there as bare-bones as possible so it was simple to people. That makes sense since the idea of sharing your credit card transaction data was (and remains) highly controversial. But despite the controversy, users have embraced Blippy. So now it's time to give it a fresh coat of paint — and a new privacy feature. Today, Blippy has undergone a massive redesign. Previously, Blippy was a stream of your friends' transactions and little else. Now, it's much more robust. In fact, it looks very similar to the most recent redesign of Facebook. You'll notice the new update indicators next to the logo that get badged with a number when there is an update. You'll also notice a search box front and center (for now, this is only to search for businesses or users).
Google Gains, Apple Stays Steady, And Palm Loses In Smartphone Share
Posted on: 10 Mar 2010
No wonder Apple is suing HTC for patent infringement over its Android phones. In the three months between October and January, Android's overall share of smartphone subscribers in the U.S. rose 4.3 points to 7.1 percent, according to mobile market share data released by comScore. Android showed the biggest single gain of any of the top five smartphone platforms. Apple's share was virtually flat at 25.2 percent (up 0.3 percent), while RIM's Blackberries saw a 1.7 percent gain to 43 percent.