Android – Iphone – Applications

Google co-founder Sergey Brin told reporters last week that “Android and Chrome will likely converge over time”. Both open source operating systems use Linux and Webkit browser code. The operating systems are very similar in user interface as well.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: Android, Google

Chegg isn’t the only online textbook rental company that raised funding this week. BookRenter.com announced that they have raised $6 million in funding as part of the company’s first round. Investors included Storm Ventures and Adams Capital Management.

BookRenter’s growth was “300 percent year-over-year,” stimulated by the the back to school season. BookRenter is led by CEO Mehdi Maghsoodnia.

Currently BookRenter has 80,000 customers across 5,000 college campuses and is predicting that they will earn $10 million in revenue this year.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: OS

Roger Avary is one of the writers of the movie Pulp Fiction. He wrote the movie along with Quentin Tarantino. This past August Avary pleaded guilty to manslaughter for causing a car accident that killed a passenger and injured his wife. He has to serve one year of jail time as the punishment.

However the punishment did not hinder Avary to carry on writing. He is sending some status updates in 140 characters through his Twitter account. The Twitter account has not yet been verified but a friend of Avary’s says that it really is him tweeting from behind bars.

How Avary would have access to a computer while in prison is a mystery. The tweets are coming from the “web” so it is assumed that they are coming from a public computer. His Twitter account has over 10,000 followers.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: OS

News Corporation and their subsidiaries along with the Denver Post and the Dallas Morning News might be pulling their stories from the Google search engine very soon. Microsoft is rumored to be in talks with News Corporation to partner on a deal that will add the stories into the Bing search engine and news website. The Denver Post, the Dallas Morning News, and The Wall Street Journal would charge for content and remove it from Google News.

Rupert Murdoch was interviewed recently on Sky News and he claimed Google was stealing content from his company. MediaNews Group Inc. CEO William Dean Singleton said that the Denver Post will block Google News when the Denver Post starts charging.

“There’s value in that traffic and I think publishers recognize that value,” stated Google News Head Josh Cohen. “The reason they’re not opting out is they’re getting something from that relationship.”

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong \\ tags: App, Google, OS

Siri is a startup that utilizes speech-to-text and searches for what you want it to through voice commands. They call it a virtual personal assistant (VPA). The company raised $15.5 million in its second round of funding from Menlo Ventures and Morgenthaler Ventures.

For example you could tell the device that you want to see a movie and it will find tickets prices and showtimes. Or you can call a cab when you are out of town. Previously Siri raised $8.5 million in funding. The company has not officially launched its product yet.

Popularity: unranked [?]

written by Duy Phong