Google won't jeopardize its valuable alliance with Android makers by beefing up Motorola, but rather, take what it needs from the beleaguered handset maker, leaving it to hemorrhage out.
Mototola reported losses again this quarter, with poor sales and merger-related costs dragging the company down. Though 20 percent of the company's losses were related to its pending merger with Google, the rest came from lackluster phone sales, as Samsung continues to edge the company out of the market.
Google pledged to treat Motorola the same way it treats other Android partners, but as its new business venture hemorrhages money, the search giant may end up treating the company worse than its competitors, simply absorbing its parts.
The search giant's interest in Motorola stems from the company's robust patent portfolio, which will help Google equip itself in patent skirmishes against Apple and other rivals. Google is also pushing into branded tablets and smartphones, and it may use Motorola's hardware know-how to move ahead with those plans.
Motorola is not keeping up with Samsung and other more successful rivals like HTC. The company would certainly need help from Google to recapture its market share. Instead, Google is discussing the sale of Motorola's more profitable home segment, leaving its flailing mobile component even deeper in the hole, and it may not be long until it begins an even broader sale.
Google would have to perform a tricky balancing act to help out its companion company without upsetting its more successful Android partners. Both HTC and Samsung, though initially publicly supportive of Google's acquisition of Motorola's patents, have expressed a willingness to beef up their phones on other platforms -- mainly, windows -- and Google won't be willing to jeopardize the standing of its OS with two major phone makers.
Many Android manufacturers worried Google will favor Motorola in the wake of the acquisition, and bailing out the troubled company could be an unfavorable signal that Google may not want to send to its partners.
The merger between Google and Motorola is still pending Chinese approval, although Europe and U.S. gave the go-ahead. Since Motorola is banking on the acquisition, it could be in even more trouble if the deal falls through.
Motorola may not turn around its finances on its own, and if Google tries to help the flailing company, it risks angering its Android associates, which may lead to a major shakeup in the mobile industry. Google's alliance with Motorola gave it patents and boosted its hardware capabilities, but if it endangers the company's partnership with Samsung, it may have cost more than it is worth.
Google spent a pretty penny on Motorola, but the biggest threat to its pocketbooks is a collapse of its Android empire, and that is likely to remain its priority.
More tween girls are turning to the Web to take quizzes and play social role-playing games, illustrating how a key demographic is paving the way for future gameplay.
A new report by tween gaming platform GirlsgoGames.com's 7.6 million U.S. site visitors found nearly 50 percent of girls between the ages of 8 and 12 are turning to the Internet for entertainment and social gaming. They are also spending more time once they get there, with monthly playing times doubling from 38 minutes to one hour and 18 minutes.
The news reflects something people have known for some time: girls typically focus on being creative, cultivating friendships and engaging with a community of fans, a trend that is carrying over into adulthood and influencing digital gaming.
Tablets, laptops and mobile devices are replacing yesterday's cardboard cut-outs and tween celebrity magazines. Girls are using the devices to take quizzes, formerly the domain of the teen beat magazines, and virtually dress up their favorite electronic "paper doll" celebrities in new clothes and makeup.
Not surprisingly, the tween girls and their $260 billion in U.S spending are especially attracted to the social aspects of online gaming and to interactive games where they can share content. Games that involve cooking, dressing up and quizzes topped the list, followed by make-up/makeover and animal games.
The report dovetails with news earlier this year from MocoSpace that more women than men play mobile games and underscores this gaming industry shift may be more substantial and enduring.
The mobile social network's survey reports more than a quarter of women age 30 and over play mobile games for more than three hours a day, compared to just under 19 percent of men in the same age group, challenging the notion of a "gamer" as a teenage boy hunched over a console controller in a dim basement.
And women, like the girls they once were, are playing social games, fueled in part by the rise in social gaming on smartphones.
Many popular mobile games like "Words With Friends" encourage people to play against others via social networking sites. The social aspect of these games may continue to draw in more women and girls, especially as developers take advantage of the trend and start creating more titles with female players in mind.
The video game industry is taking note of the growth of social gaming reflected in Zynga's popular Facebook games like "FarmVille" and "CityVille." These gaming companies will likely continue developing increasingly social mobile games, especially to feed the growing appetites of the "pink" gamer who, as she ages, continues to demand creative and social titles.
A projectionist crushed dreams by ruining a screening of "Avengers," prompting a flurry of criticism against digital film, while Google founder Sergey Brin looked to help others achieve dreams by ramping up his charitable contributions.
Music lovers in New York and L.A. discovered their big-city credentials don't necessarily translate into taste-making after research knighted Atlanta and Montreal the most important musical cities. Rapper Boobe assailed the world with "Don't Text Me," and even though he's from D.C. (not high on the list of influential cities), his tech-savvy lyrics may pave the way for songs about the trials and travails of Google Docs.
Meanwhile, an intrepid college freshman showed the Internet how to make a DIY smart home, and probably made his parents proud.
"Avengers" Defeated By Hapless Projectionist
Film critics and fanboys waiting to see the "Avengers" movie had to wait a little longer after the screening copy of the film was accidentally deleted by a projectionist. The film was screen two hours later than scheduled, due to the time spent downloading the new screening file.
The snafu prompted a debate over the merits of digital film versus traditional reels, as famous projectionist Steve Kraus explained how deleting a digital film could happen after a few mindless clicks.
Why didn't the projectionist simply download a torrent of the film and try to sneak it onto the silver screen? Official digital film packages are enormous files, and run off different codes than illegally pirated files found online, so it would not have worked.
Google Founder Encourages Philanthropy
Google co-founder Sergey Brin will give $1 million to Tipping Point Community -- as long as other tech luminaries pitch in matching donations. Brin and his wife, fellow tech entrepreneur Anne Wojcicki, are long-time supporters of Tipping Point, a Bay Area organization that distributes funds to various charities.
Brin's gambit to raise funds for Tipping Point specifies that his generous donation must be matched by other people in the tech world, not just any philanthropic entrepreneur. Other high-profile donors occasionally give conditional donations, but they are rarely so specific.
Brin and Wojcicki may be trying to foster a greater philanthropic spirit in Silicon Valley.
Researchers Use Last.fm to Find the Best Cities for Music
Irish researchers used data provided by Last.fm to create a chart showing which cities have the biggest influence on music. Surprisingly, New York and Los Angeles, though the largest North American cities, are not particularly high on the musical influence hierarchy.
The researchers split the charts into genres, and for hip-hop and music in general, Atlanta reigns supreme, while Toronto and Chicago made bigger impacts than its bigger cousins on the East and West Coasts.
For independent music, Montreal sets the standard -- which makes sense, given troves of indie darlings, like Arcade Fire, Wolf Parade, Islands, Leonard Cohen, Grimes and countless others, call Montreal home.
Smart Home Technology Goes To College
One enterprising UC Berkeley freshman, Derek Low, rigged his dorm room to be, in his words, "ridiculously automated." Low only spent a few hundred dollars on the supplies, but he managed to hitch his lights and curtains to motion sensors, wireless remotes, his smartphone, computer and tablet, offering him a dizzying number of ways to adjust his room's lighting.
He even created a "party mode," which closes the shades, turns on a flashing strobe light and plays loud music, which can also be initiated a number of innovative ways.
Low's DIY project, called BRAD (for "Berkeley Ridiculously Automated Dorm") shows it does not take a lot of money or space to connect appliances and lights to mobile technology -- just imagination.
"Don't Text Me": Summer Jam 2012?
Rapper Boobe laments how hard it is to avoid unwanted romantic attention in the age of constant mobile communication with his song "Don't Text Me."
In the vein of Destiny's Child's "Bugaboo," the song is an ode to getting rid of overzealous communicators. But while Beyonce said her boyfriend's endless communication made her "want to throw my pager out the window," Boobe updates his lingo, dissing his lover for sending him scandalous iPhone videos by saying he put them up on YouTube and Vimeo.
The technology changes, but crazy exes will likely remain a popular hip hop trope.
Two-thirds of Americans say they are unwilling to pay more than $50 per month for a mobile data plan, but eventually they'll have to eat those words or change the way they use their smartphones.
The launch of LTE networks, which carriers claim are ten times faster than their 3G predecessors, will eventually have customers paying more than they ever dreamed of for data. Faster speeds open up new possibilities on mobile devices and make data-heavy tasks like video streaming, downloading apps and sending large files very easy to do.
For example, four years ago, 5-gigabytes of data at AT&T cost users $20 per month, and two years ago, the company upped the price to $30 a month. Today, that same amount of data cost $50 a month.
Performing such data-heavy tasks with such ease is both a gift and a curse for customers. Suddenly, smartphone owners who were only using 1-gigabyte of data a month could find themselves using three or four to watch a few movies a month on their phones, and those few customers who do need a 5-gigabyte plan could be looking at more-expensive options as well.
Even if a customer makes a conscious effort to stay within their current data limit when they buy a LTE smartphone, they will still fall victim to the same price increases as everybody else. AT&T or Verizon's $30 a month plans offering 3-gigabytes and 2-gigabytes of data respectively may still work just fine for many customers, but as data use continues to increase and the spectrum crunch gets tighter, history shows, and analysts expect, those prices will go up.
As a result, customers will be forced to adapt: pay more, or use their smartphone less. In a world where people rely so heavily on access to their email, downloading apps, social networking and watching video on the go, what will be the more popular choice among users? It's likely most customers will opt to pay more, and every wireless carrier knows it.
There are certainly customers out there who do not rely on data and never will, but as mobile technology becomes ingrained in our society, more people will require it, and even more may not even realize how big a part of their everyday lives mobile access has become.
Two-thirds of Americans may have said they're unwilling to spend over $50 a month on mobile data, but most of them were probably lying, at least to themselves.
Apple is fighting to keep a deposition of late co-founder Steve Jobs under wraps, as the company attempts to hold on to its trade secrets, and advantage, in the music business.
A collection of musicians wants access to a deposition given by Jobs in 2010, as they fight a new case against the Universal Music Group. Apple says attorneys for the plaintiffs failed to show why the deposition is pertinent to their case, and the company maintains a release of the documents would be competitively damaging.
The plaintiffs are also seeking access to a second deposition given by Apple's senior vice president Eddy Cue, along with other documents that contain more information about the company's relationships with record labels.
It's unknown whether the information in the depositions actually contains secret strategies that would hurt Apple's prospects in the music business, but it's clear the company does not want the contents revealed to competitors or the public. The judge in the original case cleared the courtroom of everyone but the jury when Job's deposition played, and Apple points to this fact as evidence to support its position that the documents should stay private.
Apple's desire to keep Job's deposition from coming to light stems from its belief that his statements contain "highly confidential and proprietary trade secrets." The iPod maker has worked hard for over a decade forging delicate relationships with music labels and record companies to build its iTunes Store.
With the cooperation of major record labels, who had been battling illegal downloading and flailing for a digital music solution of their own, iTunes became the go-to platform for digital music and Apple continues to enjoy a strong, well-established dominance with the help of the record industry.
If Job's deposition contains sensitive information about partners in the music industry Apple still has today, a public reveal of those details may damage these crucial relationships.
Apple's competitors will be the main beneficiaries if the court rules the plaintiff has the right to get access to Job's deposition. Amazon and a host of other download services have vied with Apple for a stake in the music market, but iTunes is far and away the market leader, though a host of streaming services is now emerging to challenge downloading platforms. If the industry is at another turning point, revealing Apple's strategies may harm the company as offerings like Spotify look to gain ground.
Details in the deposition may include financial figures for dealings between Apple and record companies, undisclosed terms of licensing agreements and tactics the company used to outperform competitors in the market. Any and all information may shed light on how Apple has built its lead in the digital music market.
A leak of the depositions can't change all that Apple has already done in the music business, but if any of the information in them helps competitors, it may cost the company millions.
For soldiers fighting Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, popular game Tetris is as helpful as therapy or medication.
A research team at Oxford University discovered playing Tetris alleviates symptoms of PTSD, including flashbacks, by interrupting the process of storing painful memories in the brain.
"Tetris therapy" doesn't erase or suppress the memory, but because Tetris engages the same parts of the brain used for imprint vivid mental images, playing the game soon after trauma may interfere with the mind using those areas to store extensive, detailed recollections.
The Tetris therapy could be especially helpful for soldiers in combat zones trying to stop reliving painful experiences, as accessing the game is easier than making time for extensive talking therapy, or risk the side effects of pharmaceutical drugs used to treat PTSD. The U.S. Army could use the popular game to treat returning and deployed soldiers.
Smartphone use in the Army is on the rise, and since Tetris is available as an app and on portable gaming devices, troops will have access to the game, even from remote outposts.
This isn't the first time research suggested video games can help people with psychological or neurological conditions. Autism researchers credit social games on iPads with helping people develop social skills and communicate more clearly, while studies show app games like "Angry Birds" help elderly people stay mentally keen.
There are already apps on the market to monitor stressed-out mobile phone users, like iHeal, which is designed to prevent drug relapses but can also be used to gauge PTSD patients' health, helping them know when to seek care. These monitoring apps could be used to see if Tetris therapy is working, by comparing the stats of people who are regularly playing Tetris to combat symptoms with those who do not.
Video games are sometimes maligned for turning the mind to mush, but this study, along with others, illustrates how they can positively rewire the brain and supplement more traditional treatments for mental disorders.
Facebook can share their status as an organ donor with a new Timeline feature, demonstrating the site's massive potential for good.
Beyond sharing their status with friends, interested users can also find information about how to register as a donor on Facebook, and set the status to public so the medical community has access to the data.
Although raising awareness is the feature's primary goal, its introduction highlights the social network's capacity to facilitate lifesaving procedures, since it may not be long until the function actually connects people in need with available organs.
Users considering kidney, blood or bone marrow donation can actively seek people in need, while people are already organizing searches on Facebook for these willing donors, speeding up the process of locating life-saving connections.
For essential organs, such as the heart, lungs or liver, it gets trickier, but using Facebook is still possible. Although critically sick patients and their loved ones may not want to think about the possibility they will not pull through, if terminal patients set their organ donor status to public, the medical community may be able to harness the feature to find local organ donors when the time is right.
Already, people use informal Facebook networking to find willing donors, reaching out to their friends and extended networks. Socialblood.org, a Facebook app matching blood donors with rare types, also connects recipients and donors through the site.
This sort of feature illustrates Facebook can work for more serious purposes beyond "slactivism," or a culture of clicking on altruistic links without actually doing anything. For example, Facebook engendered an upswing in people discussing and "liking" political articles and NGO pages about the relative merits of Kony2012, but it does not diminish real activism, and in this case, it provides a life-saving service sustained by its users' integrity.
Facebook is a platform for social connectivity, and it can be abused through cyber-bullying and over-sharing -- but others use it to organize protests, check in with loved ones in emergencies, contact authorities about crimes, and now hunt for critical health resources. The platform is not inherently good or bad, and its embrace of organ donation match-ups demonstrates how the site can positively impact society.
A strange new undergarment is keeping iPhones secure even at the most raucous parties.
Meanwhile, loud people may not like what they find on a new website ranking Twitter users by how annoying they are, and one decidedly non-annoying Army vet took on Hollywood to bring joy to troops.
A creative marketing strategy used cute kitten videos to attract attention, and academics launched a project to create potentially the most boring video game known to man, woman or beast.
Bra Keeps IPhone Safe
Students tired of losing their phones and lugging around purses on nights out may line up for the JoeyBra, a bra with side pockets capable of holding an iPhone, debit card and ID.
University of Washington undergrads Mariah Gentry and Kyle Bartlow created the inventive undergarment after realizing most girls did not bring their purses out to parties, and often lost their belongings as a result. The JoeyBra is $20 and looks like a normal bra, but easily fits the iPhone into its secure pocket.
This might be a must-have item for women who want to indulge in drinks at parties without constantly searching for their iPhones. The business students behind the project have the bras for sale online, and plan to reach out to retailers like Nordstrom for increased distribution.
Measuring Obnoxiousness On Twitter
Sites measuring social influence like Klout are gaining popularity, and a new site pokes fun at the concept of ranking their online social skills.
The site (which will remain nameless, as it has a slightly scandalous title and an even ruder heading, but you can see it here) lets users enter in their Twitter handle, and calculates an obnoxiousness ranking based on misuse of English, re-tweets, anger and use of social apps.
People who spell things correctly and don't spew rage get low scores, and are dubbed "quite a nice person." Others get less polite epithets. Anyone can search for the ranking of fellow Twitter users, so those buying into the hype of social rankings may want to adjust their Twitter history, or fall prey to a high score on this less-desirable ranking system.
The Oldest Hollywood Bootlegger
The New York Times profiled Hyman Strachman, a prolific 92-year-old movie bootlegger who has personally burned hundreds of thousands of DVDs. Despite Strachman's illegal agenda, he has sidestepped legal repercussions, possibly because of his old age and venerable status -- he is a World War II veteran -- but also potentially because of the nature of his pirating mission.
Strachman, called "Big Hy" by his admirers, illegally copies movies and sends them to soldiers abroad. He does not profit from the venture, and may have spent over $30,000 on shipping and disc costs. He wants to help soldiers feel connected and entertained while they are on duty, as they often miss years of new releases.
Strachman started the project after his wife of over 50 years died. His son believes it reinvigorated him and gave him a purpose, and he receives thank-you letters regularly from troops overseas.
Kittens Attack Websites
A new app called KittyCat Hijack turns an ordinary Web-browsing experience into a feline frenzy, as images of cats swarm the computer screen. Anyone who has trouble keeping their real-life cats away from their keyboards may not like this app, but kitty-challenged people may welcome it as a novel experience.
Created by Canadian cat food brand Temptations, the KittyCat Hijack is activated through the company's Facebook page. Intrigued users can drag a cat food bag icon into their bookmarks page, and then click on it again when they want to see a little cat purring and peeking out onto their favorite webpages.
Again, not a great app for work -- but it can serve as a cute pick-me-up for cat lovers.
Can You Enjoy The Wilderness Through A Video Game?
In a head-scratching development, a team of academics from University of Southern California are creating a game based on Walden, Henry David Thoreau's transcendentalist masterpiece about solitude, self-reliance and the great outdoors.
Thoreau waxed philosophic on the benefits of long walks, fishing and taking in the beauty of nature, activities that runs counter to most found in video games, but the academics believe the game may spark interest in Thoreau's writing.
They want to give an opportunity for scholars who do not have enough time to visit a sparsely populated area to understand what Thoreau's experience was like, although a game where the character has no concrete goals or purpose does not sound like the most exciting venture.
Apple doesn't just invent new gadgets: the company has perfected a method of avoiding high taxes, saving it billions of of dollars over the years, but opening its business practices up to further scrutiny.
In Brief boils down complex events to give you the heart of the matter -- today and what it means for tomorrow -- clearly and simply.
What's Happening: According to a weekend report in the New York Times, Apple locates operations in parts of the U.S. and the world that have lower corporate tax rates, which allows it to keep even more of its profits. Apple is headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., but it collects and invests its profits from a small office in Reno, Nev., which conveniently does not charge corporate taxes.
What's Really Happening: If Apple were only operating one outside office, its tax plans probably would not surprise or shock many people. After all, many companies choose to run in locations where their tax dollars would be lower.
However, Apple has apparently perfected ways of finding where the lowest tax rates are -- and negotiating its way to sweetheart deals with countries that want to attract Apple's business and factories. Not only that, but Apple's methods of avoiding high taxes are attracting attention from other large tech companies, such as Google, which do most of their business in the U.S. but pay taxes elsewhere at a much-lower rate.
For example, the Apple has mastered the "Double Irish With a Dutch Sandwich" method, allowing the company to funnel profits through Irish subsidiaries and the Netherlands and then to the Caribbean. This allows Apple to bypass tax rates not only in the U.S., but in the U.K. and other European countries as well.
As a result, Apple allocates about 70 percent of its profits overseas, even though most of its executives, marketers, employees and retail stores are in the U.S. Without the tax dodge, Apple would have paid $2.4 billion more in federal taxes in the U.S. alone last year.
The news comes on the heels of negative reports about the work conditions at Apple's Chinese Foxconn plant, leaving Apple to explain how its business practices -- and not always its technology -- may have led to its multi-billion-dollar success.
What's Next: Apple says that while it saves tax money by diversifying its operations, it also pays plenty of taxes and "conducts all of its business with the highest of ethical standards, complying with applicable laws and accounting rules."
This means that unless governments change their taxing rules, Apple won't change its strategy.
However, by keeping its tax money out of the U.S., where most of its customers live, Apple faces a public relations nightmare of being seen as a company that doesn't pay its fair share in taxes.
This criticism would be in addition to the negative publicity it already receives for making most of its iPads in China, depriving U.S. workers of jobs to keep Chinese workers employed in what many complain are less-than-optimum conditions.
The Takeaway: Apple is taking advantage of loopholes that are available for any company with the ability to put offices in well-researched, low-tax locations, so why should it change?
In addition, countries like Ireland, which have already extended billions of dollars in tax incentives to Apple and other tech companies, probably won't withdraw their offers or suddenly raise their tax rates. After all, without such incentives, countries facing severe revenue problems of their own aren't motivated to chase away a major employer like Apple.
Countries losing tax revenue often justify the loss by countering they are still able to generate money from the employees Apple and other companies hire.
Meanwhile, news of Apple's strategy calls attention to places with lower taxes and can alert even more tech companies looking to save money to follow Apple's lead.
In addition, Apple said that while it doesn't pay a lot of tax money, the U.S., U.K. and other countries still make plenty of money from the company because it hires plenty of employees, who spend money where they live -- and higher taxes could make some of those jobs go away, a frightening proposition to job-scarce economies.
Amazon and Apple dominate e-books, but Microsoft's partnership with Barnes & Noble will challenge them in a shifting digital publishing market.
Microsoft's announced partnership with Barnes & Noble will challenge the existing market, bringing a solid contender to the game, accelerating e-reading adoption and changing how people consume, create and share digital content.
As part of the deal, Microsoft is set to invest $300 million for a 17.6 percent investment stake in "Newco," the temporary name for the joint venture. Barnes & Noble will own the remaining 82.4 percent share as it pushes e-reading technologies and spins off its Nook Digital and College businesses.
Former Enemies, Now Partners
Many analysts thought a venture capital firm would join with Barnes & Noble, so Microsoft's involvement comes at a surprise. But the idea makes good sense for both companies, thought the two were previously opposed in a legal wrangle over Nook e-readers.
Microsoft and Barnes & Noble fought over Nook's alleged patent infringement, an issue the partnership will render moot. Instead of battling each other in courtrooms, the new subsidiary will join them together with royalty-bearing licenses on Microsoft's patents, which comes in handy with future Nook e-readers and other tablet products.
Also, Microsoft will likely offer Barnes & Noble's Nook app on its Windows 8 system to push e-book, magazine and newspaper content to its customers. The collaboration brings world-class digital reading to Microsoft's platform as well as millions of users to expand Barnes & Noble's business.
The partnership also opens up the possibility of a Windows 8 e-reader, boosting the profile of the upcoming OS and connecting Barnes & Noble to a massive group of consumers.
Barnes & Noble's e-readers were able to break through and capture a niche in the e-reader and entertainment tablet markets. Still, the company has been unable to parlay that early success into catapulting the brand further, a feat Amazon was better able to achieve with its Kindle e-reader.
The giant online-retailer developed its Kindle Fire, then aggressively priced it and offered a subscription service to give customers a direct link to content, strategies which increased its popularity and sales with consumers.
A Boon for Both Parties
The infusion of Microsoft's investment, as well as its Windows platform audience, will fuel more innovation from Barnes & Noble, which made strides in this area just last week with its GlowLight e-reader. The device debuted in a unique category Amazon isn't able to match, providing a nice boost for the bookseller's business as it attempts to gain ground in the market.
The proposed deal also opens the door for Microsoft to have a greater presence in the exploding tablet market, at a time when it is ripe for educational expansion. Windows tablets barely register against iOS and Android products, considering both Amazon and Barnes & Noble's tablets use a modified Android OS. Developing more offerings with an established player gives Microsoft a jumpstart in an area where it lacks.
The timing is significant for competitors like Apple as well. The Department of Justice is suing Apple and publishers Penguin and Macmillan about their agency pricing model, saying it violates antitrust laws. The lawsuit destabilizes an e-book market -- complete with offerings, publisher agreements and prices -- which is ripe for another competitor to enter.
While the courts debate the case's antitrust merits, Amazon is taking advantage of Apple's legal woes to push forward in the e-book industry on its own pricing terms. More consumers already buy e-books for Kindle than iPad, so Amazon can capitalize on Apple's DoJ troubles to rake in book sales and attract new users, expanding an already large market share in e-books against rivals like Barnes & Noble. But, not so fast, there.
The game-changing partnership boosts formerly minor rivals like Barnes & Noble and Microsoft into contention during the transitional tumult, transforming the e-reader and the tablet market in the process.
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