Wired Tech Biz

Syndicate content
Dispatches from Silicon Valley.
Updated: 32 min 52 sec ago

Twitter Convert Kanye West Changes His Rap

13 hours 50 min ago
Rapper Kanye West, who might be more famous for his controversial pronouncements over the years than for his music, would seem the perfect candidate for starting a Twitter account, but rejected the notion. However, he changed his mind by starting an account and rapping at Twitter's headquarters on Wednesday.


Categories: Technology

Let the Little Guys Get In on Pre-IPO

29. July 2010 - 1:00
The rich are adding to their millions with pre-IPO stock, but today's internet stock rockets are social networks built by their members -- so shouldn’t Regular Joes get a cut, too?


Categories: Technology

What's the Fastest and Best ISP in Your City? Look It Up Here

29. July 2010 - 0:25
Rankings of the best and fastest ISPs in U.S. cities are now available, thanks to stats from Speedtest.net. And while the country is far from leading the world, the nation's tubes aren't nearly as bad as many suspect.


Categories: Technology

Letter From Silicon Valley: Doing the Math on Android vs. Apple

28. July 2010 - 20:05
The fight between Google and Apple is not over phones: It's a software-platform war. The trouble with this horse race is that one horse's progress is measured in meters and the other in yards. The comparison between Android and the iPhone is meaningless.


Categories: Technology

@Twitter Users #Fail as Branding Automatons

28. July 2010 - 19:28
Just about everything people say on Twitter is public, offering marketers a rare chance to listen in on what folks are saying about their brands, and to trumpet their messages to the masses. But Twitter users fail spectacularly when it comes to disseminating branding messages to each other.


Categories: Technology

Low-Tech Shatner Eyes Twitter, Says What The "$#*!"

28. July 2010 - 14:40
LOS ANGELES - William Shatner confesses he has problems with the digital age. At 79, he doesn't use Twitter and can't remember computer passwords. So what is the Sci Fi icon doing in the first TV series dreamed up from a Twitter account?


Categories: Technology

Report: Mobile Geo-Marketing Not Where It's At, Yet

27. July 2010 - 19:17
Marketers should avoid advertising on Foursquare and other location-based social networks because not enough people use them, according to a Forrester Research report.


Categories: Technology

Ask.com Returns To Answering Questions, Web 2.0 Style

27. July 2010 - 15:19
Starting Tuesday, the search site that refuses to die is re-re-inventing itself as a question answering service. This time Ask.com is adding a Web 2.0 twist on its origins as a site that promised to understand what you were asking and provide the one right answer.


Categories: Technology

iPad Owners Are 'Selfish Elites.' Critics Are 'Independent Geeks.' Discuss.

26. July 2010 - 22:53
According to a survey of more than 20,000 internet users, iPad owners are uncaring elites, while those who denigrate the device lack sex appeal. That's about what our personal anecdotal experience has been ...


Categories: Technology

Results Show Interactive Old Spice Ads Work

26. July 2010 - 20:35
Sales of Old Spice have more than doubled since the brand launched its viral video sensation featuring Isaiah Mustafa addressing his viewers directly in near-real-time.


Categories: Technology

Energy Department Has a New Commitment to Solar (and a New Blog)

25. July 2010 - 15:35
The Department of Energy launched a new blog last week, the aptly named (yet uninspiring) Energy Blog. Among other announcements and musings (OK, really more statements than deep thoughts) is a call to develop three Energy Innovation Hubs, one of which will drive research to turn sunlight into fuels.


Categories: Technology

IPad Goes Under the Gauntlet at Universities This Fall

24. July 2010 - 15:35
The iPad is about to have its academic chops put to the test this fall in a number of programs around the country. Colleges and universities are looking to adopt the iPad as a collaborative tool, a standardized mobile device to integrate into curriculums, and, in some cases, even a cost-saving device.


Categories: Technology

Facebook 'Suspects' Zuckerberg Contract Was 'Forged'

23. July 2010 - 14:23
Facebook says it 'strongly suspects' forgery is involved in a contract showing its founder Mark Zuckerberg signed away more than half the rights to Facebook for $1,000 in 2003. The suit to take over the company seven years later is “absurd,” the company says. Paul Argentieri, the lawyer for the man who says he paid Zuckerberg in 2003 in part to 'The Face Book,' countered that he finds such statements 'hilarious.'


Categories: Technology

Is Flipboard Legal?

23. July 2010 - 5:48
Social news app Flipboard was yesterday’s hot new app, despite — or perhaps because of — technical problems that prevented some features from working. But there might be a bigger snag: Is Flipboard scraping content it doesn't have the rights to?


Categories: Technology

Automated Stock Trading Could Speed Up Your ISP -- No, Really

23. July 2010 - 5:00
Optical networks connecting the world's trading centers grow ever faster, as the race continues to process financial transactions milli- or even nano-seconds faster than the next guy can. Regardless of what you think of high-frequency trading, it will help you in the long run.


Categories: Technology

Apple Is Not the New Microsoft. And, Yet ...

23. July 2010 - 0:05
Apple reported record revenues earlier this week, but Microsoft had a blowout quarter of its own, reporting revenues Thursday of $16.04 billion -- enough to keep the Redmond giant ahead of the Cupertino company in this particular financial metric. But that's not the whole story.


Categories: Technology

Skype Finally Breaks Free on the iPhone

22. July 2010 - 19:36
Skype and the iPhone are so happy together, now that the new version of the software can receive calls in the background and make calls over AT&T's 3G network. We credit AT&T's new data limits with making this happen, and Skype agrees.


Categories: Technology

Apple: The New World Leader in Software Insecurity

22. July 2010 - 16:59
Apple has displaced Oracle as the company with the most security vulnerabilities in its software, according to security company Secunia. Over the first half of 2010, Apple had more reported flaws than any other vendor.


Categories: Technology

Zuckerberg 'Quite Sure' He Didn't Sign Away Facebook Control

22. July 2010 - 5:26
Just as Facebook announces it has a half billion active users, a pesky lawsuit alleges Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg signed over control of the company to an early investor. The suit threatens to steal attention from the company's impressive milestone.


Categories: Technology

iPad Fuels Disruptive Magazine Publishing

21. July 2010 - 21:42
While some publishers eye the Apple iPad hopefully as way of migrating the print experience into a rich, multimedia domain as never before, others are already leaping over paper entirely to reach new readers with original digital publications.


Categories: Technology