Can Motorola be the Game Changer?

Seems as though Motorola is intent on reclaiming some lost ground with the modular smartphone concept that it is developing. From the looks of it, there is every possibility it can become a gamechanger or at the very least change the way we think about smartphone components. Read more from the Newstatesman below.

www.newstatesman.com/future-proof/2013/10/motorola-has-been-secretly-planning-ambitious-modular-smartphone-concept

Apple Keynote 2013 = Mind Blown

Tech behemoth Apple unveiled a slew of technologies and upgrades that will keep the most loyal of Apple customers happy and make believers out of skeptics. What on the surface seems like a typical keynote address gave insight into the deep comittment to design excellence and technological innovation. Apple has reinforced its superiority in hardware and software integration and demonstrated once more how simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

With their advanced supply chain Apple announced for immediate shipping the new iPad Air with 64bit infrastructure and upgraded MacBook Pro as well as the iLife suite & OS X Maverick both of which are available free. The last part about it being free will probably not sink in until other Software companies have no choice but to follow. The Mac Pro will be out in December 2013 and promises to be the most advance Apple product yet.

http://www.apple.com/apple-events/october-2013/

One of the more exciting product introductions was the ANKI Drive which marries real world gaming with AI using IOS devices

Google Glass Apps Race

As Google glass gathers momentum (try saying that 10 times fast), the app developers have been trying to develop apps that will match the hardware's mobility. One such app is race yourself, which is currently going through the rounds of crowd funding .The app allows the user to see how well they are doing versus themselves from previous attempts at running/walking/cycling/driving the same route.

Looks quite intuitive and should appeal to your inner competitor when launched.

Everything you need to know about Google in one place

The folks over at entrepreneur.com have been so kind as to post an amazing infographic about all things Google

Have fun

http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228156

Reinventing a giant, well maybe.

Yahoo! may be turning the corner. With new leadership in place, they have been able to create an exciting story in the last year that points either to a great comeback in the making or the most reckless of corporate spending sprees in. 

Observing Marissa Mayer's impact on the sleepy giant Yahoo! for the past few months is a sight to behold. In comes this experienced and clearly driven ex-googler and new life seems to have been breathed into the former child star of the tech industry. The stock price is now at a five year high with all of the growth taking place in the last year alone. 

The market seems to be extremely encourage by Mayer's aggressive strategy of tech acquisitions and acqui-hires which are aimed at transforming Yahoo! into a mobile ready technology firm.

For some more interesting articles on the turnaround at Yahoo and their M&A activity have a read of the following web articles.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mergers_and_acquisitions_by_Yahoo!

http://mashable.com/2013/07/31/yahoo-marissa-mayer-20-startups/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-08-01/can-marissa-mayer-save-yahoo#r=hp-ls




About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is an American multinational Internet corporation headquartered in Sunnyvale, California. It is globally known for its Web portal, search engine Yahoo! Search, and related services, including Yahoo! Directory, Yahoo! Mail, Yahoo!

Convergence driving more changes at Microsoft

It has been reported that Microsoft will be reorganising the company to move toward "One Microsoft", a structure that aims to remove product silos and unify all of the product development and advertising efforts. This hopefully can improve Microsoft's ability to take on Apple and Google who already offer products that integrate hardware and software seamlessly. This comes as PC sales has recorded yet another quarter of declining sales and is seemingly struggling to keep up in the mobile market. 

The shake up is not without management casualties, as some very senior managers are reportedly packing up for greener pastures. It is early days yet to understand what this means for Microsoft's approach to product development and innovation but one thing is for sure, they won't be rolling over anytime soon.

What's Yahoo! up to?

The first line in LL Cool J's now famous track "Mama said knock you out" states "Don't call it a comeback, I've been here for years!". I imagine this would be the best song for Marissa Mayer, the new CEO at Yahoo!, to pipe through their headquarters to amp up the staff to get through the day. Once the go to place for web content and web innovation, Yahoo! barely manages a mention in today's webesphere. However ex-Googler Marissa has been leading the comeback effort that has seen Yahoo! complete 15 acquisition for 2013 alone. From the looks of it, Yahoo! is building a portfolio of mobile ready technologies that already have a network of users locked in to their ecosystems. Arguably, they are acqui-hiring new blood as well as a way of breathing life and energy into the building. The hodge-podge of companies point to the intent to build platforms that take advantage of the smartphone revolution with a focus on consolidating content and providing recommendations to users. I guess you can call it a "portal 2.0" strategy.