The Austin Times

A Multicultural News Source

Google picks 8,000 winners of ‘Glass’ contest

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Google has picked out 8,000 people who will be given a chance to don a pair of Internet-connected glasses and make a fashion statement likely to be envied by gadget-loving geeks around the world. The pool selected by Google won a contest conducted last month requiring U.S. residents to submit 50-word applications through Twitter or Google's Plus to explain how they would use a technology that is being hailed as the next breakthrough in mobile computing. After sifting through a litany of … [Read more...]

Black, female, and a Silicon Valley ‘trade secret’

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How diverse is Silicon Valley? Most tech companies really, really don't want you to know, and the U.S. government isn't helping shed any light on the issue. In an investigation that began in August 2011, Money Magazine probed 20 of the most influential U.S. technology companies, the Department of Labor, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and we filed two Freedom of Information Act requests for workforce diversity data. A year-and-a-half, a pile of paperwork, and dozens of … [Read more...]

5 things we learned at SXSW 2013

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Hoopla surrounding South by Southwest Interactive, the techie festival that wrapped up here Tuesday, has exploded in recent years. The event is famously known for helping to boost Twitter in 2007 and Foursquare three years later, giving it a rep as a launching pad for new digital tools. Fresh-faced startups converge on Austin, hoping to get venture capital and buzz. It's one of the reasons attendance at SXSWi this week swelled to an all-time high of 30,621, up some 25% from last year. It … [Read more...]

Austin startup smashing mobile barriers

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Omar Naseef, a native Austinite and UT grad, is on a mission. By launching YoMobi, he and partner Katherine Ruiz are poised to shatter barriers and make mobile commerce accessible to all entrepreneurs and small businesses. He identified an inequity: that nonprofits and micro-businesses who couldn’t afford to hire their own IT staff or site developers were falling behind in converting their sites for mobile users. "Mobile technology has revolutionized commerce and created a whole new … [Read more...]

Michael Dell bets on a private turnaround

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  Michael Dell once gave up day-to-day control of the computer company that bears his name - an experiment that went poorly and ended relatively quickly. But now he is putting up some of his own wealth to reverse the company's fortunes. Dell Inc will go private in a $24.4 billion deal led by Michael Dell and including capital from private equity firm Silver Lake and a loan from Microsoft Corp, the parties said on Tuesday. Michael Dell will put up his equity stake in the company, … [Read more...]

First leaked picture of the Samsung Galaxy S IV emerges

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An image alleged to be of Samsung’s (005930) upcoming Galaxy S IV smartphone was published on Friday by SamMobile. If authentic, the image reveals that Samsung will finally ditch its traditional home and navigational buttons for on-screen keys. The bezel around the device is thinner, giving the upcoming Galaxy smartphone a near edge-to-edge display, similar to Motorola’s DROID RAZR M. The Galaxy S IV is rumored to feature a 4.99-inch Super AMOLED full HD 1920 X 1080 display, and include a … [Read more...]

Microsoft opens its own social network

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After a long period of closed beta testing, Microsoft made the beta version of its social network, Socl, available to everyone on Tuesday. Socl initially launched this May. It's a search-meets-social networking website that looks more like Pinterest than Facebook, and has until now been open only to invited Microsoft employees and college students. Now, everyone with a Microsoft or Facebook account can access it. The sign-up process is effortless -- users simply connect their account with … [Read more...]

Is the iPad Mini Worth Buying?

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Apple has unveiled a new member of the family: the iPad Mini. This device is a clear response to the market pressure the cheaper Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the Nexus 7 have placed on the existing iPad. So how does this scaled down version of the iPad compare with its newly refreshed big brother and the Android tablets that still come in at a lower price? Comparing Specs with the Competition Screen Size: iPad Mini's screen comes in at 7.9 inches, compared to the 9.7 inch screen of the iPad and … [Read more...]

New iPhone nears as holiday lineups unveiled

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After weeks of speculation, anticipation and a dose of hype, Apple is widely expected to announce a new smartphone at an event in San Francisco on Wednesday. Apple isn't saying anything about the topic of the event, but the email invitation it sent to reporters contains a shadow in the shape of a "5'' — a nod to the iPhone 5. It is being held in San Francisco at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Theater, where Apple has held many product launches. The new model is expected to work with … [Read more...]

Windows 8 computers to go on sale in October

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Computers running on the next version of Microsoft's Windows operating system will go on sale in October. Microsoft Corp. announced the time frame for Windows 8's mass-market release Monday in Toronto. A specific sales date in October wasn't provided. Most industry analysts expected Windows 8 would go on sale in the fall to ensure that the machines running on the operating system would be available for the holiday shopping season. Consumers and businesses who don't want to buy new … [Read more...]

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