The Comunicano Daily for Tuesday February 4th, 2014

The Comunicano Daily

Well, the Wait is over. Microsoft has named a new CEO, and with the news, also announced that Bill Gates will be more involved in the decisionmaking. There's lots of news coverage on the web and you can expect to see more perspectives over the next few days. This is a move that will be questioned and challenged.      Nadella's the one: Microsoft names new CEO, Gates stays on board, Thompson is chairman Well, it's finally over. After five months of cloak and dagger and dueling leaks, Microsoft has named Satya Nadella, its cloud chief, as its third-ever CEO, replacing long-time veteran Steve Ballmer. Company cofounder Bill Gates will remain on the board - and act as counsel to Nadella, as rumored - but will cede his chairman slot to director John Thompson, who led this slow-motion search process.     [continue...]     Microsoft’s Bill Gates “Steps Up” To New Role As Technology Advisor: Was He Pushed Or Did He Jump? Along with the news today that Satya Nadella will be the next CEO of Microsoft, another big change in the executive ranks: Bill Gates, Microsoft co-founder, is leaving his role as chairman of the board and is taking a new role as "Founder and Technology Advisor".     [continue...]       The new FCC commissioner Tom Wheeler is making moves. He's pushing more money into the eductaion channel to bolster broadband, taking an early position on the potential T-Mobile/Sprint merger and will have to have a hand in shaping net neutrality.     Tom Wheeler: Broadband Internet Needed for Education Tools, FCC to Invest $2B The Federal Communications Commission is set to invest $2 billion over the next two years in the broadband network connections of U.S. schools, National Journal reported Monday. "In the Internet age, every student in America should have access to state-of-the-art educational tools, which are increasingly interactive, individualized and bandwidth-intensive," FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler said, according to the report.     [continue...]     FCC chief reportedly skeptical on Sprint-T-Mobile deal FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler is the latest regulator to pour cold water on a potential merger between the third and fourth-largest wireless carrier. (Credit: Lynn La/CNET) Regulators do not like the prospect of Sprint buying T-Mobile.     [continue...]     New bill would restore net neutrality pending FCC action A new pair of bills have been introduced to the Senate and House to protect Net Neutrality after a circuit court ruling struck down the FCC's previous rules earlier this month.     [continue...]       Over the weekend, I penned a post for the Gigsky blog about the ChromeCast. Today lots of news came out from Google about the release of an SDK for ChromeCast. For app developers this is a big opportunity as is it for web sites as now it becomes very easy to send more content from more devices to HDMI monitors. When you combine this with the Internet of Things (everything) it's a big deal     Google Developers Blog: Ready to cast: Chromecast now open to developers with the Google Cast SDK Back in July we announced the developer preview of the Google Cast Software Development Kit (SDK), the underlying Chromecast technology that enables multi-screen experiences across mobile devices (phones, tablet, laptops) and large-screen displays. Starting today, the Google Cast SDK is available for developing and publishing Google Cast-ready apps.     [continue...]     Get ready for tons of new Chromecast apps: Google releases Cast SDK   Countless apps could become Chromecast-compatible any day now: Google officially released the Google Cast SDK Monday, which allows developers to add Chromecast integration to their Android, iOS and web apps. Chromecast PM director Rishi Chandra said during an interview earlier this week that he could eventually see millions of websites and mobile apps add support for Google Cast: "Our opportunity set is fairly large."       [continue...]     AllCast works with Chromecast again, streams local media from Android to TV With Google releasing the official Chromecast SDK to developers on Monday, we can expect an influx of Chromecast apps to follow. And among the first is AllCast, which actually had and later lost Chromecast support last year because the SDK wasn't yet final. The Android app was quickly updated on Tuesday morning in the Google Play store.     [continue...]     Asus unveils $179 Chromebox, coming in March Asus on Monday announced a new Chromebox. The Google Chrome-based machine starts at $179 and is powered by an Intel Haswell-based Celeron processor. Geared towards stationary use - like business, home and school - the Chromebox measures just 4.88 by 1.65 inches, which makes it comparable to the size of a Roku streaming box.     [continue...]       APIs are hot and will be the focus of the upcoming TadHack in Madrid which is very relevant to telcos and telecom execs. Zapier is one of the service providers we use at Comunicano, and their news of 28 new API's in 28 days is very important to their growth. Using Zapier, like IFTTT makes a lot of repetitive tasks automatic.     28 days, 28 APIs: Zapier adding an app a day to its integration library this month February is now the month of API integrations, in addition to Black History Month and the month of love. Zapier is a buzzy Y Combinator company that simplifies the process of connecting web apps and APIs. The company announced that February is the "28 days of integration love," meaning it will release a new integration every single day this month.     [continue...]       It looks like Apple is going to move towards operating their own Content Delivery Network (CDN). This is a very important step as Apple wants to control the end to end user experience and be able to better deliver content and integrate it more into iCloud.     Apple Building Out Their Own CDN To Deliver Content To Consumers Over the past year, there has been speculation of when or if Apple would build out their own content delivery network for the purpose of delivering content to consumers. To date, all of the CDN deployments done by Apple have been for internal purposes only, but that's about to change.     [continue...]       Facebook is developing apps. First we saw the release of Messenger. Now we're seeing what could be THE new generation of Facebook on mobile. It's called Paper.     Paper Now Available For iOS In The US, And It Could Be A Facebook Replacement Facebook's new standalone app Paper is now available for download on iOS to everyone in the US, and it's more than just a content reader. Paper has messages, notifications, search, and a completely redesigned profile. When I asked the team leaders behind Paper if they still used the old one, product manager Michael Reckhow diplomatically responded "mmhmm, yeah", but designer Mike Matas just smiled coyly.     [continue...]       Uber, the car service, not the conferencing service, is launching a Lyft competitor called UberPop in Paris. Having already come under scrutiny by the French regulators, it will be interesting to see just how long this goes unchallenged.     Look Out Lyft, Uber Is Getting Serious About Ride-Sharing With UberPOP In Paris Urban transportation company Uber just announced a brand new offering for Paris called UberPOP - and it looks a lot like Lyft. It's a cheaper ride-sharing service built right into the Uber app. Everybody can become a driver.     [continue...]       And just when you thought you knew what Google search was they are changing it.     The Morning Download: Google Planning New Kind of Search Good morning. Google Inc. engineering chief Ray Kurzweil said Monday that he's helping his company change its search algorithms to do a better job of understanding queries and providing answers people actually need. Mr. Kurzweil is working on a more human-like approach to search that will not only understand the content of Web documents, but remember queries and return answers when new information comes to light.     [continue...]

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