Parmy Olson's Blog, page 63

Surviving Apple's iWatch: A Q&A With The Founder Of Pebble

Pebble, the colorful smartwatch with an e-ink display, still holds the record for the most successful Kickstarter project in history. It took in $10.2 million last year when its founder, Eric Migicovsky, was looking for a measly $100,000 to get his company off the ground. Since then, Migicovsky has rounded up another $25.7 million in venture capital funding and sold more than 100,000 Pebble watches. At a time when the tech community is holding its breath for big disruptions in wearable technology, Pebble is leading a group that includes the Nike Fuel Band, FitBit and Misfit Wearables.

BlackBerry Lost Nearly $1 Billion In The Last Quarter

BlackBerry's stunningly rapid decline is not over. Just eight months ago the company launched a new software platform and phones that it hoped would turn around its business, unveiling the BB10 operating system and Z10 smartphones. The sleek devices and clever platform were center stage at a swanky launch event in New York, one which included an appearance by "brand ambassador" Alicia Keys.

Samsung's Latest Enterprise Software Play: The Release Of 1,000 APIs

On the same week the BlackBerry announced it was being shopped for $4.7 billion, Samsung is talking about how it's going to grab that company's old user base of business executives and industry buyers.

Samsung Goes Curved, And Gold, With New Smartphones

Samsung has shown today how it can be both a trail-blazer for new form gadget factors, and (it seems) a fast-follower of other popular innovations.

Duolingo Takes Online Teaching To The Next Level, By Crowd Sourcing New Languages

The makers of language-learning software Rosetta Stone should take heed: the crowd is coming.

BlackBerry's $4.7B Sale Seen As Raw Deal For Shareholders

The deed is done. BlackBerry has received a letter of intent to be acquired for $4.7 billion from an existing shareholder that owns nearly 10% of the struggling mobile-device maker.

As Gadgets Shrink, ARM Still Reigns As Processor King

Back in the day when computers were something you plugged into a wall, it made sense that their processing brain could pack as much power as possible. This prompted the reign of chip maker  -- albeit one that would be limited desktops and servers.  Today the computers we use are smartphones and tablets, devices that rely on batteries, and they need a processing brain that sips, rather than chugs, electricity like Intel. In the last decade, has thus become one of the most important technology companies on Earth, thanks to its designs for power-efficient chips that are best suited to mobile gadgets.

Apple Questioned Over iPhone Fingerprint Security By U.S. Senator Franken

Apple has tried to pre-empt privacy fears over the unique, fingerprint scanning feature of its new iPhone 5S, for instance setting up an FAQ page explaining how Touch ID technology works, and why it cannot be exploited by hackers.

Apple Seen Boosting Production Of Gold iPhone Due To Strong Demand

It's a golden launch day for Apple.

The Win For Games: They Grab Two-Thirds Of App Store Sales

App developers who want to follow the money may find their best bet is in making a game. New research from Gartner shows that mobile app stores sales will hit $26 billion globally this year, up from $18 billion in 2012, and that most of that revenue will come from games.