Every day, we compile a list with the most interesting tech stories published over the last 24 hours. Today’s list features a motley mix of topics, including a look at Google’s new electronic wallet, an interview with Michael Dell – who doesn’t think the PC business is dead
First Data
As rumored, Google just announced that it is officially launching its cell phone-based mobile payment solution Google Wallet today. After introducing the service in May and launching a limited trial at the time, Google today launched it nationwide, in partnership with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint and First Data. For now, however,
adoption
When it comes to using text messaging, Americans used to lag behind the rest of the world. Now, however, it looks as if U.S. cell phone owners are doing their best to catch up with other nations. According to a new PEW Internet and American Life Project study, 73%
iPad
Using the iPad to display sheet music isn’t new. Tonara, however, adds some much-needed functionality to these scores which its competitors just can’t mach: it listens to you while you play and automatically flips pages. The Israel-based company competed in TechCrunch’s Disrupt Startup Battlefield last week, but
canonical
Google just announced that it will now do its best to lead searchers directly to the single-page version of the online content it indexes instead of the paginated versions of the same content. Whenever an obvious “view-all” version of the text is available, Google will now link to that instead
Every day, we compile a list with the morning’s most interesting tech stories. Today’s list features a look at Google’s progress in getting its book settlement talks back on track, as well as some thoughts about how to name startups and posts about Windows 8, News.me
Google just announced that developers can now access an API that exposes public data published on Google+. While a select group of developers already has access to a more complete API (though this is officially still under wraps), those with the right skill set can now finally start accessing data
beta
A small but growing group of startups now makes its beta testers pay to join their private betas. “Paid beta” used to be a derogatory term for software that was shipped too early and with too many bugs. Now, however, companies like Mightybell and Cabana have decided to use small
Facebook today announced a major new feature that could put renewed pressure on Google+ and Twitter to out-innovate the social networking market leader. Facebook users can now choose to allow others to asymmetrically follow them thanks to the new (and optional) “subscribe button”– just like on Twitter and Google+. This
Bing
Social search is, without doubt, one of the hottest topics in the search engine business today. Google and Microsoft have made it the central focus of their latest search engine features and numerous small players are also trying to get a foothold in this nascent business. Among these smaller players
History of Microsoft Windows
Today, Microsoft made the first developer previews of Windows 8 available to all who would like to try them out. I couldn’t help myself, of course, and immediately grabbed a copy once it was available to install it on my test PC. During its public keynote demos, Microsoft mostly
Every day, we compile a list with the morning’s most interesting tech stories. Today’s list is inevitably dominated by the first preview of Windows 8 that Microsoft gave to its developers (and the rest of the world) at its BUILD conference this morning. In addition, though, we also