Amazon snubs XBMC Kodi while Google Play embraces it
If you haven't heard the news, the program formerly known as XBMC, or Xbox Media Center, is now Kodi. The name change reflects the change in direction that the software has taken as it has evolved. It now does much more than it ever intended and runs on just about every platform.
Unless you have a Kindle Fire. Despite that the tablets run Android, it's very different -- the version is highly customized to fit the Amazon ecosystem, locking customers into the Amazon App Store and getting rid of Google Play. This generally is OK, most apps folks want are in both places.
Amazon releases a new Kindle Paperwhite
It hasn't been terribly long since we saw new Kindles from Amazon, but that isn't slowing the company down. The svelte reading device is getting another update, this time it's the Paperwhite version getting the overhaul.
Amazon refers to the Paperwhite as "the most popular and best selling" version of its Kindle line, which is only slightly surprising, given that it's more expensive than the base model, which also works very nicely.
The 10 best presents for Father's Day
Father’s Day is fast approaching and time is running out to secure the perfect gift. Luckily, there’s a whole host of potential presents for the tech-obsessed fathers out there, ranging from the practical to the practically useless.
So whether it’s a novelty gadget you’re after or something he’s likely to use every day, we’ve rounded up the best gift ideas for Father’s Day 2015.
Amazon publishes opaque transparency report
Post-Snowden there is great interest in just what involvement the government has with technology firms. There are frequent requests from government agencies for information about users and the likes of Google, Snapchat, and even the NSA itself have all released transparency reports that reveal, in broad strokes, the number of requests for data they have received.
Amazon is the latest company to release a transparency report -- although the term really should be used in the loosest possible sense. The report includes scant details about the number of subpoenas, search warrants, court orders, and national security requests received in the first five months of 2015. The report is so vague as to be virtually meaningless.
Google announces YouTube Gaming -- puts Amazon's Twitch in crosshairs
Playing video games is a very fun hobby. Hell, for some people, playing them is a job; yes, professional competitive gaming is a real thing. You know what else is cool? Watching other people play. While it was an absurd notion years ago, nowadays, people enjoy being spectators to another person's gameplay. I watch Pewdiepie, like, every day.
The most famous platform for streaming gameplay is Twitch, which is why Amazon bought the service for a ton of cheddar. Not to be outdone, however, Google today announces its own streaming service for gamers -- the unimaginatively named YouTube Gaming. While I do not expect a mass exodus from Twitch, Amazon's service will certainly lose some of its luster as a result. Interestingly, it will be run by former pro-gamer, Ryan Wyatt -- aka Fwiz -- most widely known as the former love interest of Justine Ezarik -- aka iJustine.
Amazon building huge solar farm to power Web Services
Amazon Web Services (AWS) is about to become a lot more environmentally friendly after announcing the construction of an 80 megawatt solar farm.
The green proposal will generate 170,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of solar power each year, the equivalent of approximately 15,000 US homes.
The Apple PR machine wheels out women from the shadows for WWDC
Diversity is one of the latest buzzwords that tech companies are keen to throw around whenever the chance arises. If you were to knock back a shot of something every time it cropped up in press releases, keynote speeches, and company reports, rates of global alcoholism would shoot through the roof. Now a follower rather than a leader, Apple is ready to jump on just about any bandwagon that happens to be passing.
Google, Microsoft and other companies have recently waxed lyrical about the diverse sexual and racial makeup of their workforces -- it looks great for public relations, after all -- and Apple wants a slice of that pie for itself. It's a company that is highly adept at capturing the zeitgeist; as my colleague Joe Wilcox puts it, Tim Cook is an opportunist. The latest attempt to curry favor with the in-crowd, it seems, is to wheel out a few token women at today's WWDC keynote.
Adware spreading through Skype links
Skype users, beware. There are nefarious links being spread around through Skype, and if you click them you will be presented with a lot of adware. However, there are good news, and bad news here.
Researchers at the security behavior management company PhishMe have identified a campaign in which Skype was used to distribute adware, SC Magazine reported on Wednesday.
Amazon Fire TV rises to the top of US set-top box market
Last year Amazon rolled out its competitor in the set-top box market, the Fire TV. The box seemed to be a hit, and the price point was right to compete, at $99. That places it squarely in the crosshairs of Roku and Apple. But how is it fairing in this tight market?
According to a recent report the answer is "quite well". According to Strategy Analytics, the retail giant is pulling in a whopping 30 percent of the current streaming media device market. In fact, the top four makers account for 90 percent of the total market.
Satya Nadella is the most-influential tech leader
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has been revealed as the most influential technology leader by Juniper Research’s latest industry rankings.
The rankings are based on a number of factors, including vision, innovation and personal capital, and saw Nadella gain top spot as a result of the fundamental changes he is implementing at his company.
Amazon decides to start paying tax in the UK
The issues of big companies paying enough taxes is something that has a lot of people talking at the moment -- governments in particular. Many companies -- including Microsoft, Apple, Google, and others -- take advantage of financial schemes that funnel money through other countries. Now Amazon has announced that it is to start paying corporation tax on sales made in the UK.
Using a scheme similar to the so-called Double Irish, Amazon had been routing transactions for UK-based sales through offices in Luxembourg. The decision to move these sales to the UK means that the company will be able to avoid the possibility of being hit with a hefty bill if the UK government clamps down on the use of such tax avoidance schemes.
Streaming video subscriptions will quadruple by 2019
Online video services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video are undeniably popular, but they are set to explode in the next few years. A study published by Juniper Research suggests that in a period of just five years (2014-2019) the number of people subscribing to streaming video services will rocket from 92.1 million to 332.2 million.
Despite what many people may have thought, it is not growing use of mobile devices for entertainment that will be responsible for the increase. The nearly fourfold growth will be driven by the success of the likes of Google's Chromecast and Amazon's Fire TV Stick.
Alibaba has to expand globally, or it 'won't be able to last'
Even though it reigns supreme in one of the world’s largest markets, China, Alibaba wants to expand globally. If it fails to do so, it might not survive, the company’s new CEO said recently.
In a speech given to employees on Wednesday, the new Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang said Alibaba will heavily invest in "new and existing overseas operations".
Apple is the greenest tech giant according to Greenpeace
Internet companies might not seem like major contributors to pollution, but Greenpeace is not letting them have a free ride, in a new report showing how some companies are much cleaner than others when it comes to energy.
For those that don’t know, most large-scale Internet companies invest heavily in data centers. These data centers run on electricity 24/7, meaning companies like Google, Oracle and Amazon are indirectly pushing the rate of pollution.
Exclusive: Amazon will launch a payment service in India
A well-placed source tells BetaNews that Amazon is planning to launch a payment service in India. The project by the world's largest e-commerce company is currently underway in a six-month beta program.
The program allows partner sellers in the country to integrate Amazon’s payment option into their respective websites, which will supposedly make it easier for many of them to do business.
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