Android 5.0 Lollipop arrives for Galaxy S5 on T-Mobile, and more for Wednesday, February 18, 2015

Android 5.0 Lollipop arrives for Galaxy S5 on T-Mobile Kevin C. Tofel Feb 18 2015, 6:29am PDT Fire up your Galaxy S5, T-Mobile customers: You should have a sweet surprise waiting for your phone. Several sources are reporting that the Android 5.0, or Lollipop, software upgrade is now available for the T-Mobile version of Samsung’s current flagship phone; either as an over- the-air […] Read More » Media veteran John Battelle launches NewCo to focus on social change Mathew Ingram Feb 18 2015, 6:00am PDT Former Wired and Industry Standard founder John Battelle has taken some of the ideas behind his Web 2.0 conference and created a new festival-conference hybrid called NewCo, aimed at companies that are involved in social change Read More » Qualcomm’s new mid-range phone chips get high-end features Kevin C. Tofel Feb 18 2015, 5:56am PDT The lines between an average and a flagship phone are going to blur this year as Qualcomm trickles current high-end features down to its newest mid-range chips. The company on Wednesday provided details of its four newest Snapdragon chips that will power phones as soon as the first […] Read More » It’s arrived: The evolution of clean power & data centers Katie Fehrenbacher Feb 18 2015, 5:00am PDT The world’s largest internet companies are turning to clean power to run their data centers like never before. This month we saw huge clean power deals from Apple, including big solar projects planned in California and Arizona, and a big wind buy from Google to provide local power […] Read More » This startup’s software can manage your storage, all inside the server Jonathan Vanian Feb 18 2015, 5:00am PDT Although we’re still a ways away from seeing the data deluge that’s sure to come as the internet of things becomes more mainstream, that doesn’t mean storage startups aren’t busy creating technology designed to handle the flood of data. Launching Wednesday, a new Sunnyvale-based storage startup […] Read More » Private cloud? Public cloud? Rackspace erases the difference Barb Darrow Feb 17 2015, 5:50pm PDT Rackspace is going to stop distinguishing between the money it makes from public cloud and what it derives from “dedicated” cloud, a category that encompasses a bunch of options. Well that’s one way to sidestep the whole “is private cloud dead?” debate. The move may show a fanatical obsession on managed cloud […] Read More » Ray wants to be the last remote control you’ll ever buy Janko Roettgers Feb 17 2015, 5:15pm PDT David Skokna wants to simplify TV, one button at a time. That’s why Skokna and his team at Ray Ventures are introducing a remote control to replace all other remote controls this week. The Ray Super Remote, as the $200 device is being called, combines the […] Read More » Man-made DNA can now store data for millions of years Signe Brewster Feb 17 2015, 4:43pm PDT Swiss scientists have discovered encasing DNA in glass and chilling it down can preserve data encoded in it for millions of years, moving them closer to an entirely new, and better, way to store the world’s information. Researchers first turned data into DNA and then retrieved it two years ago, […] Read More » Active antennas could mean more powerful Wi-Fi networks Kevin Fitchard Feb 17 2015, 4:38pm PDT Smart antenna maker Ethertronics is taking active antenna technology it originally developed for mobile phones and applying it to Wi-Fi routers and gadgets. Its hope is to create consumer wireless networks that can make that leap to the furthest reaches of your home where Wi-Fi signals […] Read More » Play on: The iPad gets an official Google Play Music app Kevin C. Tofel Feb 17 2015, 1:18pm PDT Given that iOS has iTunes with its own Radio software, there might not be a ton of widespread interest in Google Play Music for iPad owners. I actually do use Google’s music service on a daily basis — mainly because it integrated Songza’s playlist function — so I’m […] Read More » Pushbullet is quietly becoming a universal message app interface Kevin C. Tofel Feb 17 2015, 12:18pm PDT Back in November, Pushbullet added a way for Android users to send and reply to texts from the Chrome browser, with messages actually being initiated from a connected phone. Last month, Pushbullet arrived for Mac OS X and iOS. Now, the company has become more of […] Read More » Apple monitor under fire for $2.6M bill, “roving inquisition” Jeff John Roberts Feb 17 2015, 11:57am PDT The lawyer overseeing an Apple antitrust order is a political hack who has run roughshod over the judicial process during ten visits to the company’s Cupertino headquarters, a Wall Street Journal editorial charged Tuesday, and he should pay back the $2.65 million he has already charged the company for a court-ordered […] Read More » OpenStack comes up huge for Walmart Barb Darrow Feb 17 2015, 8:49am PDT For those skeptics who still think OpenStack isn’t ready for prime time, here’s a tidbit: @WalmartLabs is now running in excess of 100,000 cores of OpenStack on its compute layer. And that’s growing by the day. It’s also the technology that ran parent company Walmart’s prodigious Cyber Monday and holiday season sales operations. If […] Read More » Microsoft Office can now save files to Apple’s iCloud Drive Kif Leswing Feb 17 2015, 8:18am PDT Microsoft is really serious about enabling its services to run on all devices and work with other companies’ products. The latest example: The Office app for iPhones and iPads can now save files to Apple’s relatively new cloud storage service, iCloud Drive, along with other cloud […] Read More » Pivotal open sources its Hadoop and Greenplum tech, and then some Derrick Harris Feb 17 2015, 8:00am PDT Pivotal, the cloud computing and big data company that spun out from EMC and VMware in 2013, is open sourcing its entire portfolio of big data technologies and is teaming up with Hortonworks, IBM, GE, and several other companies on a Hadoop effort called the Open […] Read More » AT&T charges $29 for privacy. Time for others to do the same Jeff John Roberts Feb 17 2015, 7:41am PDT AT&T just rolled out blazing fast fiber-to-home internet service in Kansas City for $70 a month. But there’s a catch: customers who don’t want the telecom giant spying on their web surfing will have to pay an extra $29. This is the same pay-for-privacy bargain that AT&T, which […] Read More » Why the first Apple Watch may not be the one Apple envisioned Kevin C. Tofel Feb 17 2015, 6:31am PDT When the Apple Watch starts shipping in April, it won’t likely have all of the features that Apple originally wanted. After working on the watch for four years, according to the Wall Street Journal, Apple didn’t get all of the sensors and related functions it had hoped […] Read More » Microsoft claims compliance with ISO data privacy standard Barb Darrow Feb 17 2015, 6:13am PDT Microsoft says its compliance with a data privacy standard set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) means customer data in its Azure cloud will be safer from prying eyes. The ISO/IEC 27018 standard aims to establish “a uniform, international approach to protecting privacy for personal data stored in the cloud,” Microsoft […] Read More » Oh, look: An Android Wear watch that looks like a watch Kevin C. Tofel Feb 17 2015, 5:35am PDT LG was Google’s primary hardware partner to develop the first Android Wear smartwatch last year and now it’s taking the next step to make the devices look more fashionable. On Monday, LG previewed the LG Watch Urbane: A digital smartwatch with the design of an analog […] Read More » Conservatives shift in public broadband fight. Advantage: consumers Craig Settles Feb 16 2015, 10:00am PDT “I am absolutely Republican, and absolutely pro-business,” stated State Senator Janice Bowling of Tennessee’s 16th District. “Yet if we don’t get high-speed internet into small towns and rural communities, there will be no businesses in those areas.” Getting high-speed internet access into more communities is influenced […] Read More »