Forget Glass, self-driving cars or a smartwatch. Developers, not physical consumer products, were Google's darlings at the company's annual I/O conference this week.
Computerworld News
Tag Archives: Services
At Google I/O, developer services hogged the spotlight
Google I/O 2013 on-site Wrap-up: Glass, Developers, and Services on tap
It’s a return to form here at Google I/O 2013, with none other than Google’s own Vice President of Android Product Management Hugo Barra letting us know that he’d personally fought hard for a more developer-focused single keynote address. As past years had been notably more consumer and product-focused than 2013, it’s not a flash-bang
Judge Tosses DMCA Defenses, Creating Unexpected Copyright Liability for Web Services In New York
Editor’s note: Sid Venkatesan is an IP partner specializing in high stakes IP disputes and IP counseling for technology companies in the Silicon Valley office of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP. James Freedman is an associate in Orrick’s IP group and a recent Stanford Law School graduate.
A New York appellate court has recently ruled in UMG Recordings v.Escape Media Group that the safe harbor protections that Congress designed for Internet companies do not cover sound recordings made before 1972. The decision is a new and unexpected break with earlier decisions by state and federal trial courts.
TechCrunch
Amazon Web Services launches new certification program
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has launched a Global Certification Program, which will allow solutions architects, systems operations administrators, and developers to get proof of their cloud know-how.
Computerworld News
Yahoo axing seven more apps and services as part of streamlining effort
Get ready to say goodbye to another another batch of Yahoo products at the end of this month. As the company continues to streamline and focus its services, March 31st will be the last day of stand-alone existence for Upcoming, Yahoo Deals, Yahoo Kids, Yahoo SMS Alerts, Yahoo Mail and Messages for feature phones. Noting an aim to slim down to roughly 15 offerings from 75, as The Register points out, this follows a few weeks after the company nixed other services like its BlackBerry app. Additionally, if you’ve been hanging onto the old version of Yahoo! mail, you’ll have no choice but to switch to the new version by June 3rd. Yahoo! There’s not word on what we can expect next, although EVP of Platforms Jay Rossiter notes that cuts like these are needed so it can focus on the likes of its new Mail and Weather apps. You’ll find the details for each cut at the source link.
Filed under: Internet
Via: The Register
Source: Yahoo
Yahoo makes major cuts in services as Mobile ramps up
This afternoon the folks at Yahoo have announced their intent to end services with Yahoo Deals, Yahoo SMS Alerts, Yahoo Kids, and the feature phone versions of Yahoo Mail and Messenger. While the smartphone versions of both Yahoo Messenger and Yahoo Mail will (of course) continue to roll forward, both the feature phone versions and
Jolicloud Adds Search To Jolidrive, Its Cloud Services Dashboard Pivot, To Power Content Discovery & Rediscovery
Jolicloud, which last October pivoted yet again — to become Jolidrive: a “entry point”/dashboard for accessing third party cloud services like Dropbox, Google Drive, Box and also social accounts like Vimeo and YouTube — has taken the next obvious step on this new product path and added a search function to flesh out its role as a cloud content (re)discovery service.
TechCrunch
Intel acquires Mashery for planned services suite
Intel has purchased Mashery, a provider or API management tools, in the chip maker's latest move to expand into software and services.
Computerworld News
Google Mail and other services back after disruption, company says
Google Apps, Gmail services disrupted this morning
Google Apps, including Gmail and Google Documents, suffered a disruption this morning.
Computerworld News
Nintendo of America retiring several Wii online services on June 28th
Earlier today, Nintendo announced that several of the original Wii’s online services will fade to black in the console’s homeland. Adding to the carnage, the company confirmed that us yankees are far from exempt. Starting on June 28th, the Forecast Channel, News Channel, Everybody Votes Channel, the Check Mii Out Channel and the Nintendo Channel will all be taken offline. Wii Message Board and data exchange between friends are scheduled to get the axe as well. Now before you start contemplating trading in your system for its leaner, disconnected successor, we should note that the Wii Shop Channel will remain online. So there’s still time to snag a copy of Super Mario 64 from the Virtual Console for nostalgia’s sake.
Via: Joystiq
Source: Nintendo
Salesforce.com launches new services for mobile app development
Salesforce.com is giving customers and partners access to a new set of tools and services for building mobile applications on its cloud platform.
Computerworld News
Vodafone launching 4G services in Australia from June
In the race to bring 4G services to Australia, Vodafone’s been the sweaty kid with the stitch for far too long. Fortunately, the puppy fat seems to be shedding, as the company has announced it’ll finally launch its own LTE in June. The bulk of the network will center around Sydney and Perth, while citizens of Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Newcastle, Wollongong and the Gold Coast can expect “some coverage” for the time being. The company hasn’t said what it’ll do in the way of charging for the new services, but if you’re already a Vodafone customer with an LTE-capable handset, then those devices will be activated alongside the national rollout. Hooroo!
Latam Local Services Marketplace Startup GetNinjas Raises $3M Series A To Get More Nimble By Getting More Developers
GetNinjas, a local services marketplace startup based in São Paulo, Brazil has closed a $ 3 million Series A round backed by new investor Otto Ventures, with existing investors Monashees and KaszeK Ventures also participating. The latter both invested in GetNinjas’ 2011 seed round, which raised a total of $ 700,000.
TechCrunch
FTC reveals $50,000 Robocall Challenge winners, alarms Rachel from card services (video)
The FTC has managed to find two non-violent solutions to its Robocall Challenge, aimed at blocking auto-dialing telemarketers, thanks to winners Serdar Danis and Aaron Foss. The pair, who will receive $ 25,000 each, came up with variations on a system that would pre-screen calls before ringing your phone while allowing the FTC to blacklist known scammers at the same time. Google took a non-cash prize in a separate category with a scheme that would foil caller-ID spoofing often used by boiler rooms like the notorious “Rachel from card services” outfit, which has over a hundred numeric aliases. The FTC receives a whopping 200,000 complaints per month about the nuisance and screened nearly 800 submissions (see the More Coverage link), many of which show a certain, shall we say, passion for the topic. Check winner Foss’ video submission after the break.
Filed under: Misc
Via: Huffington Post
Source: FTC
Epicor suit claims services firm hijacked its ERP software
Epicor is suing IT service provider Alternative Technology Solutions, claiming the company illegally used its ERP (enterprise resource planning) software in order to develop and sell add-ons and services, in a case that has parallels to tussles over third-party software maintenance.
Computerworld News
Amazon Web Services Launches CloudHSM, A Dedicated Hardware Security Appliance For Managing Cryptographic Keys
Amazon just announced the launch of CloudHSM, a new service that provides Amazon Web Services users who need to meet corporate, contractual and regulatory compliance requirements for data security a way to do so by using a dedicated Hardware Security Module (the ‘HSM’ in CloudHSM) within the Amazon cloud. Until now, Amazon argues, the only option for many companies that use its cloud services was to store their most sensitive data – or the encryption keys to it – in their own on-premise data centers. This, of course, made it hard for these companies to fully migrate their applications to the cloud. The new service, Amazon writes, can be used to support “a variety of use cases and applications, such as database encryption, Digital Rights Management (DRM), and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) including authentication and authorization, document signing, and transaction processing.” The actual appliances are Luna SA modules from SafeNet, Inc. The new CloudHSM service uses Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) and the appliances are provisioned inside the user’s VPC with an IP address the user specifies. The service, Amazon says, provides businesses with secure key storage and protects these keys with “tamper-resistant HSM appliances that are designed to comply with international (Common Criteria EAL4+) and U.S. Government (NIST FIPS 140-2) regulatory standards for cryptographic modules.” Because the HSMs are located close to the user’s EC2 cloud computing instances, network latency should be very low. All of this, however, doesn’t come cheap. The upfront cost to provision a CloudHSM is $ 5,000 and the hourly cost are $ 1.88 per hour, which comes out to $ 1,373 on average per month. For businesses that need this kind of security, that’s probably a small price to pay, but this is clearly not a service that’s geared toward startups that just want to ensure their encryption keys and data are stored safely. The HSM client software can load balance requests across two or more CloudHSMs, though Amazon notes that it can take “several weeks” to provision more than two HSMs.
TechCrunch
SideCar brings carpooling services to Washington D.C.
SideCar is a service that arranges a carpool between two people in an easy-to-use app. The service has been available in San Francisco, Seattle, Los Angeles, Austin, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston, and Brooklyn, but has now just launched in Washington D.C. The app simultaneously gets more cars off of the road while also offering passengers easy,
Google to shut down Google Reader and other services on July 1st
Google is just releasing shocker after shocker today. First with the announcement that Andy Rubin is leaving Android, and now with its announcement that Google Reader (and several other of its services) will be shutting down. Google says that usage of Google Reader has been declining year after year, and that it’s time to “retire”
Microsoft has access issues with Hotmail, Outlook, SkyDrive services
Microsoft experienced disruptions for several hours to its online suite of mail, calendar and storage services, leaving many users unable to access their accounts.
Computerworld News
Amazon Web Services aims to simplify roll-out of Node.js apps
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has expanded its Elastic Beanstalk to include Node.js, in an effort to make it easier to deploy and manage application development on its cloud.
Computerworld News
Yahoo preparing to shut down 7 services
It looks like the work-at-home program isn’t the only program Yahoo is shutting down. Yahoo is also planning on shutting down 7 other products that aren’t bringing in the kind of success Yahoo needs right now. Along with these products, Yahoo also plans on reducing their number of mobile apps from 60-75 to a measly
Xerox’s CEO Wants to Shake Up the Services Market
Ursula Burns says Xerox can outfox low-cost outsourcing companies with better technology.
Xerox dominated the office of yesterday with its copiers, laser printers, and fax machines. Now Ursula Burns is trying to strengthen its role in the offices of tomorrow. Since becoming CEO in 2009, she has increased Xerox’s sales of IT-related services, like processing health insurance claims and managing customer-service call centers. Nevertheless, Burns—a mechanical engineer who has worked at Xerox since an internship in 1980—told MIT Technology Review’s deputy editor, Brian Bergstein, that the company isn’t straying from its technological roots.
Google adds fee-based support services for cloud platform customers
Google has launched fee-based support services for customers of its cloud platform and infrastructure products, like App Engine, Compute Engine, Cloud Storage and Big Query.
Computerworld News
Ingenico Agrees To Acquire European Online Payment Services Provider, Ogone, For €360M To Build Out Multi-Channel Payments Strategy
Ingenico, a global payment provider, is to acquire Brussels-based, pan-European online merchant payment services provider Ogone for €360 million. Ingenico said the acquisition furthers its strategy of becoming a “one-stop-shop” multi-channel payments provider, with Ogone’s online platform helping to build out its existing point-of-sale and mobile payment offerings.
TechCrunch
Microsoft to provide cloud services for city of Chicago in four year deal
There’s a cloud hanging over the second city and it belongs to Microsoft. In a release issued today, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced plans to migrate the city’s 30,000 civil servants to a cloud-based solution for email and all desktop applications. Apart from the $ 400,000 the four-year deal is projected to save taxpayers annually, the move to Microsoft’s cloud computing for government platform will also help to bolster efficiency and streamline communication internally, as the city goes from three conflicting email systems to just one. According to the city’s Department of Innovation and Technology, this department-wide transition should reach completion by the end of 2013. It’s not the Windy City’s first big leap into remote storage — its hosted Department of Aviation data there for some time — but it does mark Emanuel’s commitment to modernization. Hit up the break for the city’s official PR.
[Chicago photo credit: Nimesh M / Flickr]
Continue reading Microsoft to provide cloud services for city of Chicago in four year deal
Filed under: Internet, Microsoft
Source: The Official Microsoft Blog
Le Parcel, Because Tampons And Monthly Subscription Services Go Hand In Hand
If ever there was a consumer product suited for monthly subscriptions, it would be tampons. It only takes one midnight trip to the pharmacy for you to agree with me.
That’s where Le Parcel comes in. It’s a new startup that lets you choose which brand of feminine hygiene products you’d like to have shipped to you monthly, along with some chocolate of course.
TechCrunch
Online services for Madden NFL 11, others get the ax
EA says the move is designed to free up engineering and IT staff time for more popular games. [Read more]![]()
CNET News
Amazon Web Services now accommodates big data storage
Eyeing the growing market for big data analysis, Amazon Web Services (AWS) has introduced a storage package, called High Storage, that can offer fast access to large amounts of data.
Computerworld News
Parse Adds Crowdflower’s Photo Moderation To Its Mobile Backend Services
The aim of Y Combinator-backed startup Parse is to provide backend services tackling the “monotonous, tedious,” parts of mobile app development, so that developers can focus on what truly sets their products apart, rather than the “really common functionality.” Today it’s adding photo moderation to that list of services, thanks to a partnership with CrowdFlower.
The latter company, a TechCrunch 50 graduate that offers tools for managing crowdsourced labor, has already released its own self-serve product for photo moderation. However, Lukas Biewald said that in order to use the CrowdFlower API, developers still need to “write a bunch of code to connect with it.” Integrating through Parse, on the other hand, requires “very little effort.”
TechCrunch
Google Could Loosen Amazon’s Cloud Grip With Pay-Per-Use API Services
Editor’s note: Chris Potter is co-founder of ScreenLight, a cloud video collaboration service for video producers to review and approve video with their teams and clients.
Google recently rolled out a number of enhancements to its Cloud Platform products. With these changes, it’s clear that Google is aiming its sights directly at Amazon Web Services and other IaaS providers, such as Windows Azure, Rackspace, HP, and other OpenStack providers.
TechCrunch
Google to phase out Sync, other services
Google will begin to phase out its Sync service for consumers and discontinue several other services in early January.
Computerworld News
Google Does Winter Cleaning, Shuts Down “Less Popular” Calendar Features, Punchd Loyalty App, Multiple Sync Services
Google likes to make sweeping changes in bulk, getting rid of features that don’t matter, really. Why don’t they matter? Its users tell them so by not using them. In a “Winter Cleaning”, there were some minor cuts, and a somewhat major one, the shutdown of Punchd, its loyalty card app and service. Merchants must not have been getting their bang for the buck by integrating it into their offerings. The sync service drops are interesting, specifically Google Sync Exchange within Gmail, Contacts and Calendars. The last Google “cleaning” was the official death of Wave, so the company doesn’t mess around when things just never stuck with its users. The company says it aims to make things more “seamless” in 2013, something we’ve seen with its Chrome, Gmail, Google+ and Maps apps for iOS recently. Here’s what Venkat Panchapakesan, VP, Engineering, had to say: Technology offers us a way to make a big impact on the world. In 2013, we’ll keep working hard to build a seamless, amazing Google experience for you. The following will be going away: – On January 4, 2013, we’ll be shutting down several less popular Google Calendar features. You’ll be unable to create new reservable times on your Calendar through Appointment slots, but existing Appointment slots will continue working for one year. In addition, we’ll discontinue two Calendar Labs—Smart Rescheduler (we recommend Find a time view or Suggested times as alternatives) and Add gadget by URL. Finally, Check your calendar via sms and Create event via sms (GVENT)—U.S.-only features for creating and checking meetings by texting information to Google—will be discontinued today, as most users prefer mobile Calendar apps. – Google Sync was designed to allow access to Google Mail, Calendar and Contacts via the Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync® protocol. With the recent launch of CardDAV, Google now offers similar access via IMAP, CalDAV and CardDAV, making it possible to build a seamless sync experience using open protocols. Starting January 30, 2013, consumers won’t be able to set up new devices using Google Sync; however, existing Google Sync connections will continue to function. Google Sync will continue to be fully supported for Google Apps for Business, Government and Education. Users of those products are unaffected by this announcement. – In addition to Google Sync, we’re discontinuing Google Calendar Sync on December 14, 2012 and Google Sync for Nokia S60 on January 30, 2013. We’re also ending
TechCrunch
Costanoa Venture Capital: A $100M Fund For Startups That Develop Cloud Services For Business And Consumer Markets
Sutter Hill Ventures Greg Sands has launched a $ 100 million fund to invest in early stage, cloud services for businesses and consumers that leverage data and analytics.
TechCrunch
Square For Services, Not Just Goods: Payment Company Partners With San Francisco Ice Rink [TCTV]
When you think about using Square, it’s very easy to drift off into thoughts of paying for coffee, food, or goods at a farmer’s market. In reality, the point-of-sale system that Square has created is a powerful thing for any business, small or large. Today, TechCrunch spent some time at Safeway Ice Rink in Union Square, right in the heart of San Francisco. I’ve learned that the company is seriously infatuated with squares (even its new office will be in the shape of one), so it makes total sense that they approached the Union Square rink for the promotion. So far, so good. Have a look:
TechCrunch
Android’s Google Now services headed for Chrome, too
The all-purpose alert system isn’t just for Android. Google Now is being built into Chrome as well, taking advantage of its notifications system. [Read more]![]()
CNET News
Cisco aims for bigger services business, more software revenue
Cisco Systems plans to expand its services business over the next several years, seeing a more important role for itself in a world of connected machines and devices.
Computerworld News
Amazon Web Services continues Windows push with PowerShell
Amazon Web Services has added PowerShell to the management options for its cloud, in a move that reaches out to the Windows community.
Computerworld News
Google confirms once-nixed phone services
This week one Google executive is confirming that the company had indeed looked into creating their own wireless network for smartphones as if the news were no big deal at all. Of course the possibility of Google creating a wireless network would be as big – or bigger – news than their already initiated Google
Staples To Offer 3D Printing Services
An anonymous reader writes “Mcor and Staples announced today a deal in which Mcor will supply their paper-based 3D printers to Staples Copy Centers worldwide. Staples customers will be able to upload their 3D model and pick up the printed object at their local copy center. The rollout starts in The Netherlands and Belgium in 1Q 2013 and then opens up in other countries.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Pakistan To Cut Phone Services To Prevent Muharram Attacks
SternisheFan writes with this news from the Indian Express: “Pakistan’s interior minister Friday said the government will suspend cell phone services in most parts of the country over the next two days to prevent attacks against Shia Muslims during a key religious commemoration. Militants often detonate bombs using cell phones and this is the first time the government has implemented such a wide-scale suspension. Saturday and Sunday are the most important days of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, especially important to Shias. Pakistani Shias Sunday observe Ashoura, commemorating the 7th century death of Imam Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad’s grandson. Different parts of the Muslim world mark Ashoura on different days —neighbouring Afghanistan, for example, observes it on Saturday. ‘The suspension of cell phone services will begin at 6 am Saturday and run through the next day,’ Interior Minister Rehman Malik told reporters in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad. He said 90 per cent of the bombs set off by militants in Pakistan have been detonated using cell phones. Some criticized the government for suspending services, saying it was a huge inconvenience.”
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Online Legal Services Company LegalZoom Sues Rival RocketLawyer For Misleading Advertising, Trademark Infringement And More
This is going to get ugly. Online legal services company LegalZoom is suing rival Rocket Lawyer, according to a release issued by the LA-based LegalZoom today. The charges are false and misleading advertising, trademark infringement and unfair competition. The suit was filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
TechCrunch
The top 5 issues with the top 5 cloud storage services
A survey by technical support website FixYa indicates that security, missing folders and a lack of app support top the list of user issues with the top five consumer cloud services.
Computerworld News
3Scale Discounts Cost Of Managing APIs Through Nginx Open-Source Server, Gives Developers Access, Services, Quality
3Scale has discounted the cost for managing APIs in the enterprise through a new plug-in it has added to Nginx, the open-source web Server technology. The plug-in runs inside Nginx and connects to the on-premise 3Scale service, which allows a customer to extend the modules that Nginx has for security, policies, etc. It connects to 3Scale features such as analytics and security services. 3Scales’s Steve Willmot said to me in an interview here at the Defrag conference that the service starts at $ 2,500 per month for five million API calls per day or 150 million calls per month. They also offer a standard tier of 250,000 API calls per day at $ 125 per moth. 3Scale also offers a free service. With Nginx, Willmot said a developer enters a URL for their API endpoint, then defines mapping rules through the 3Scale interface. It is then configured and added to the 3Scale service. API evangelist Kin Lane said 3Scale offers a pretty robust service for the price that it charges. It’s a cloud-type model with a freemium offering. You essentially pay as you go. This includes the integration of Swagger, a “specification and framework implementation for describing, producing, consuming, and visualizing RESTful web services.” 3Scale uses Swagger to provide an open-source spec of the customer’s API that provides interactive documentation to make calls on the service. According to Swagger, the documentation of methods, parameters and models are tightly integrated into the server code, allowing APIs to always stay in sync. Willmot said that the company wants APIs to be easy to create, but it is important to have capabilities such as access control and analytics to make the service complete. Integrating open-source technologies gives 3Scale the capability to offer affordable API management services. In comparison, the Apigee platform costs $ 100,000. Anant Jhingran, Apigee’s vice president of data, said the company has also launched its own cloud service that is free to start but increases in price after the enterprise customer surpasses 3.5 million API calls a day. Mashery’s costs are in the range of $ 2,500 per month and up. Jhingran told me today at Defrag that the market for APIs is broad and deep. There will be customers who want a platform like that from Apigee and those who want a service like 3Scale. It’s a rising tide that will benefit a broad market of users. Mashery CEO Oren Michels said it is hard to do an apples-to-apples comparison
TechCrunch
MessageMe — a messaging app that 




Nokia is taking one more step to push its mapping and devices services as a standalone business. Today, Stephen Elop announced during the handset maker’s press conference at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona that it would be rebranding all of its Nokia-branded mapping and navigation services as “HERE” going forward.
Twitter 
Recent Comments