Android One heads to Indonesia with Android 5.1 out of the box, and more for Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Android One heads to Indonesia with Android 5.1 out of the box Kif Leswing Feb 4 2015, 6:35am PDT The latest version of Android, 5.0 Lollipop, may only be on 1.6 percent of devices, but Android 5.1 is already starting to show up on new phones. On Tuesday, Google announced that its low-cost smartphone program, Android One, was expanding past the Indian subcontinent into Indonesia. […] Read More » Taboola gets $117M in funding to build a Google Now for content Mathew Ingram Feb 4 2015, 5:59am PDT Taboola founder and CEO Adam Singolda started the company in 2007 to do video recommendations, and now it is one of the largest content platforms on the web -- and has just raised a $117M financing round so it can expand even further Read More » Not a shocker: SAP puts HANA at center of new biz apps push Barb Darrow Feb 4 2015, 5:37am PDT When you hear from SAP these days, the software giant always leads with HANA, its in-memory database. HANA is to SAP what Watson is to IBM — proof that just because a company is getting along in years doesn’t mean it can’t do great stuff. So it’ s […] Read More » What happens when too few databases become too many databases? Barb Darrow Feb 4 2015, 5:00am PDT So here’s some irony for you: For years, Andy Palmer and his oft-time startup partner Michael Stonebraker have pointed out that database software is not a one-size-fits-all proposition. Companies, they said, would be better off with a specialized database for certain tasks rather than using a general-purpose database […] Read More » Qumulo lands $40M to bring order to messy data center storage Jonathan Vanian Feb 4 2015, 4:30am PDT You can add another startup to the growing list of software-defined storage startups getting some love from investors in recent month. Seattle-based Qumulo plans to announce on Wednesday that it took in a $40 million series B investment round, which brings the stealth startup’s total funding […] Read More » Technical preview of Vivaldi browser had 400K downloads in a week David Meyer Feb 4 2015, 2:48am PDT The new Vivaldi browser, unveiled a week ago by Opera founder Jon von Tetzchner, is off to a roaring start. Its first technical preview – the thing isn’t even in beta yet – has already had 400,000 downloads. As von Tetzchner said in a Wednesday update […] Read More » Sony: Pictures hack cost $15M; 2,100 smartphone job cuts coming David Meyer Feb 4 2015, 2:25am PDT Last year’s massive hack on Sony Pictures Entertainment, which the U.S. administration has blamed on North Korea, cost the Sony division around $15 million. In ‘s results (PDF) for the third quarter of its fiscal year (the fourth quarter of 2014 proper), the company had to […] Read More » Startup founder offers free legal help to startups hit by patent troll Jeff John Roberts Feb 3 2015, 3:19pm PDT Chris Hulls got mugged on payday. The founder of Life360 had just raised $50 million to expand his business, a social network app for families, when a patent troll came calling with an invitation to discuss how Hulls could hand over a cut of that money. According […] Read More » Competition could cost US ISPs $24B a year, says report Stacey Higginbotham Feb 3 2015, 11:58am PDT With rumors of Verizon seeking to sell a significant chunk of its wireline assets and as the government continues its review of Comcast’s attempt to take over Time Warner Cable, which could lead to further consolidation in the broadband market, a new report out from a […] Read More » Guardian digital editor is right — ending comments is a mistake Mathew Ingram Feb 3 2015, 10:56am PDT Guardian digital editor and former New York Times staffer Aron Pilhofer says media outlets are making a monumental mistake by ending comments, instead of focusing on how they can use them to build a true community and two-way relationship with their readers Read More » Cable TV viewing declined by more than 12 percent in January Janko Roettgers Feb 3 2015, 10:51am PDT Looks like Netflix and other streaming services are starting to have an impact on traditional TV viewing: Total live TV ratings were down 12.7 percent year over year across the networks of major media companies, according to a note from Nomura Research, which is based on recent […] Read More » Check out Shadow: A portable panic button that phones for help Kevin C. Tofel Feb 3 2015, 8:52am PDT In an emergency situation, your best friend might be your smartphone. But what if your personal security is threatened and you simply don’t have time to dig for your handset, unlock the device and place an emergency call? Enter Shadow: A small device you wear that […] Read More » LoopPay could be the secret weapon inside Samsung’s Galaxy S6 Kevin Fitchard and Kevin C. Tofel Feb 3 2015, 7:42am PDT On March 1, Samsung will hold an event that will likely introduce us to its next flagship phone, the Galaxy S6. We’ve heard reports of the phone having a metal casing instead of plastic and a reduced touch of TouchWiz, Samsung’s twist on Google Android and […] Read More » Homes need better Wi-Fi. Is Eero the answer? Stacey Higginbotham Feb 3 2015, 6:00am PDT Bad Wi-Fi isn’t just a problem that forces people to move from a comfortable chair in search of a better connection so they can stream their favorite TV show. Increasingly as we connect Wi-Fi-connected appliances or door locks, having bad coverage in an area of the […] Read More » The whole world is sucking down mobile data like it’s water Stacey Higginbotham Feb 3 2015, 5:00am PDT We may be pushing more of our cellular activity over to Wi-Fi, but we’re still guzzling mobile data like it’s going out of style, according to the latest estimates from Cisco’s Mobile Visual Networking Index. The telecommunications equipment vendor puts out its Visual Networking Index twice […] Read More » Web inventor warns against zero-rating net neutrality threat David Meyer Feb 3 2015, 3:52am PDT Zero-rating – where carriers charge nothing or very little for the data used by specific apps and web services – is a threat to net neutrality, web inventor Tim Berners-Lee has warned. The practice is becoming very popular, with mobile operators in particular making special offers […] Read More » It’s on! FCC plans strong net neutrality for mobile and broadband Jeff John Roberts Feb 2 2015, 1:59pm PDT The Federal Communications Commission plans to reclassify broadband internet providers so they can’t favor some websites over others, which is the outcome that has been urged by net neutrality advocates, and which would amount to a victory for the open internet. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler has yet to release a […] Read More » This $6 app turns your Android into a PlayStation Portable Kevin C. Tofel Feb 2 2015, 1:50pm PDT Sony sold an estimated 80 million PlayStation Portable devices before discontinuing the hardware last year. But PSP fans can still get their game on with PPSPP, a PlayStation Portable emulator app for Android phones and tablets. Liliputing spotlighted the software on Monday, noting that there’s both […] Read More » The Moto X is a hit in China, with 1M bookings in just 5 days Kevin C. Tofel Feb 2 2015, 12:39pm PDT Lenovo’s $2.91 billion purchase of Motorola from Google is starting to look like a smart move, particularly in its home country of China. The official Motorola account on Weibo announced one million online bookings for the second edition Moto X on Monday, just days after the […] Read More » Apple to build $2B solar-powered “command center” data center at Arizona factory site Katie Fehrenbacher Feb 2 2015, 12:19pm PDT The question of what Apple plans to do with its factory in Mesa, Arizona, which it was going to lease to now-bankrupt former partner and sapphire glass maker GT Advanced Technologies, is now answered. On Monday Apple and the Governor of Arizona, Doug Ducey, announced that […] Read More »