Plus a 404 page to stay on, more Android app permission niggles, how quickly is iOS 7.0.6 being adopted?, and more
A burst of 9 links for you to chew over, as picked by the Technology team
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| Hundreds of people queue outside the Sony store to purchase Sony's new flagship video-game console, the Playstation 4 (PS4), during the official PS4 launch at the Sony store in Paris, France. But Sony will have closed 26 stores in the US by 2015. EPA/IAN LANGSDON Photograph: IAN LANGSDON/EPA |
Google SVP Sundar Pichai denies it bid on WhatsApp >> 9to5Google
Google SVP Sundar Pichai went on the record during a panel discussion at Mobile World Congress to put that claim to bed, The Telegraph reports.
"Whatsapp was definitely an exciting product," he said. "We never made an offer to acquire them. Press reports to the contrary are simply untrue."
The source of the reports that Google attempted to pick up WhatsApp for $10bn source back to a report by Fortune citing "two separate sources" claiming Google had previously underbid Facebook.
The Information (paywalled) added to the mix that Google CEO Larry Page met with WhatsApp's leadership just before Facebook's acquisition went public in a last minute effort to at least keep WhatsApp from selling.
While Pichai explicitly states that Google made no offer to buy WhatsApp, there was certainly smoke signalling a connection prior to Facebook's acquisition of the firm. Reports surfaced just over a year ago describing talks between Google and WhatsApp over a possible acquisition, but WhatsApp was quick to deny any such talks.
10 amazingly stupid things the 'experts' will try to tell you about Microsoft >> ZDNet
Ed Bott has a bone or ten to pick. The Windows Phone prediction (No.9) will be a good one to come back to. (Thanks @timacheson for the link.)Mobile apps have overtaken ... >> Ian Maude
Maude is a consultant on digital media at Enders Analysis:Mobile apps have overtaken PC internet usage in US - in total, mobile devices now account for 55% of time spent online.There's a graph to accompany it; desktop use has stayed roughly static, but mobile apps have ramped like made, roughly doubling since November 2012. (Mobile browsing is gradually rising, but much smaller.) Tablets join the fray in February 2013.
IBM sees growing enterprise demand for Windows Phone >> Redmondmag.com
Jim Szafranski, senior VP of customer platform services at IBM's FIberlink unit, said many of its enterprise customers would like to see their employees use Windows Phone for work-related activities because of its tight integration with Microsoft's back-end systems. Consumer demand for Windows Phones of course continues to trail that of iPhones and Android devices, he said.
"Actual end user momentum is trailing business interest," Szafranski said. "IT likes Microsoft and likes Windows. They've made a lot of investment in things like Active Directory and Exchange and as a result they have a lot of interest in seeing Windows Phone used by employees. I don't think anyone is going to be all Windows on mobile, but enterprises do want it and I think they have a strong opportunity when it comes to the enterprise side of purchase decisions."BlackBerry didn't thrive when IT wanted people to carry two smartphones; that's why it's in trouble. Given that smartphone penetration is well over 60% in the US and UK - and you'd expect the remaining 40% aren't in jobs where they wouldn't already have a smartphone - one suspects this isn't going to go IT's way.
UPDATE: iOS 7.0.6 adoption climbs to 25.9% in North America >> Chitika
To provide an even more current view of the progress of iOS 7.0.6, Chitika Insights examined overall iOS version distribution as of Tuesday, February 25. The graph below shows iOS 7.0.6 users generating close to 26% of total iOS-based North American Web traffic. This represents a near 13 percentage point increase in share since our previous study period two days prior.Still leaves about half of devices on susceptible versions, though Chitika suggests they might be updated within a week given current progress.
Tube Map Live Underground >> Android Apps on Google Play
It's got an update:• Tube Map requires a number of new permissions:Users don't seem pleased (judging by reviews). If Android had the granularity to let you reject or accept those, it wouldn't stop you receiving the ads that are used to fund the app. Instead, users get annoyed - and some uninstall.
WRITE_CALENDAR
READ_CALENDAR
RECORD_AUDIO
These are used by some of our advertisers to allow you to interact with ads via voice commands or through your calendar. These will only be used if you tap on certain adverts.
404 >> Développeur Web sur Lille (59), Romain Brasier.
Certainly the best 404 page you'll play today, especially if you're of a certain age.Sony closing 20 US Sony Store locations by end of 2014 >> Polygon
Sony is planning to close 20 of the 31 extant Sony Store locations in the U.S. by the end of the year, the company announced today.
This restructuring of Sony's US retail portfolio is part of companywide cost-cutting efforts — including a sale of its Vaio PC division and a spinoff of its television business into a separate entity — that Sony announced earlier this month. That plan calls for 5,000 layoffs worldwide by the end of Sony's 2014 fiscal year, which will conclude on 31 March, 2015. Sony said today that approximately 1,000 of those individuals will be laid off by the end of 2014.Sony had already closed six US stores this year. Of the 20 closing, six are in the same malls as Apple; of the 11 staying open, 10 are in malls with Apple. Is the real problem with malls, or Sony's diminishing consumer brand?
This is an early prototype of the Google Watch made by Motorola last year [update: one more image] >> Android Police
Like an extremely ugly version of the Pebble, with a less clever charging system. A USB connector? Seriously?You can follow Guardian Techblown.com
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