Google Q4 Earnings

Google revenue for their fourth quarter of 2013 was up by 17 percent. The revenue of the search giant in Q4 was $16.86 billion with the net profit of $3.38 billion, which is even more then was expected from the Wall Street.

Google sites is still their biggest profit, bringing in $10.55 billion, which is 67% of total Google revenues. Network revenues brought $3.52 billion  and so called "other" revenues were at $1.52 billion. Larry Page, the CEO of Google had this to say about the fiscal results for Q4


“We ended 2013 with another great quarter of momentum and growth. Google’s standalone revenue was up 22 percent year on year, at $15.7 billion” he also added ”We made great progress across a wide range of product improvements and business goals. I’m also very excited about improving people’s lives even more with continued hard work on our user experiences.”

Fiscal results were great, but this wasn't the biggest story from the search giant in the last couple of days, Google selling Motorola Mobility to Lenovo was. We still have to wait and see what this decision will have for the company in the long term.

Source technobuffalo.

Apple Record Sales Over the Holidays

Apple has reported their financial results for fiscal Q1 of 2014, and no surprise here the results are better then ever. Their revenue in Q1 is $57.5 billion with $14.5 billion net profit. Just for comparison, last year in Q1 of 2013, Apple had a revenue of $54.5 with a net profit of $13.1.

During this holiday season they have sold a record number of iPhones and iPads. The number of iPhones that were sold is 51 million, no information was given how much of 5s and 5c just the total sale. Apple tablets iPad Air and iPad Mini with Retina display reached a number of 26 million units sold, which is also a record for the company.

The interesting part is that the Wall Street is actually disappointed by these results, because by their predictions Apple was supposed to sell even more iPhones and iPads. Guess some people are never happy, even when the sales results are better then ever.

Source engadget.

Lenovo buys Motorola from Google

Lenovo has just bought Motorola Mobility from Google for $2.91 billion. The news came as sort of shock as there were no big rumors about Google selling Motorola, the company they bought in 2011 for $12.5 billion.

Lenovo is a huge company that is currently number one in pc sales and so this purchase of Motorola is pretty straight forward. They want to make a push in the smartphone market, so this is basically their best option. Motorola has been making smartphones for many years, they have both experience and name recognition.

But this move from Google was not expected, as the search giant is recently trying to develop their own hardware. Google Glass is a product that they have been testing lately, and their acquisition of Nest was also a step forward to developing smart household appliances.

So why would a giant company like Google sold their own smartphone division. They already make operating system for smartphones, the most popular OS in the world Android. Doesn't it make sense to control your own hardware and software, Apple is the best example for this winning strategy and even Microsoft is becoming more and more involved with developing their own hardware. Looks like Google might have shot themselves in the foot with this one.

Source technobufallo.

Nokia Sends Invitations for MWC

Nokia has more stuff they want to show us. Microsoft still hasn't hasn't bought their mobile department, but it is in the final stages, so this could be the last hardware devices we will see from Nokia for a while. The event will be at Mobile World Congress at February 24.

What will Nokia announce at MWC is still unknown. Smartphone, tablet or possibly something else. The most leaks lately where about Lumia Icon, a 5 inch Windows Phone 8 smartphone. But then again there was a lot of rumors about Nokia Normandy, smartphone with Android operating system. This is their last chance to get that smartphone to the market, because once Microsoft finishes the purchase they want be interested in developing an Android smartphone.

There is a possibility that we want see any kind of new device and Nokia executives will use this opportunity to talk about the future of the Finish company. Anyone one way or the other we look forward to hear what Nokia has to say at MWC.

Source technobuffalo.

Netflix has 44 Million Subscribers

Most popular Internet streaming service Netflix keeps getting bigger and better. Number of subscribers is increasing and their original content TV series are getting awards and are consider great by both critics and fans. House of Cards is on the top of the list.

Netflix ended last year with 44 million subscribers world wide, which is an impressive number no matter how you look at it. The interesting part is that in the US only there are currently 33 million subscribers and 15 in all the other countries combined.

However there are still a lot of countries and regions in the world where Netflix is not available. Most of Europa and entire Asia do not have this streaming service available. In Europa only a few of the northern countries have Netflix. It's strange that a modern and develop country like Germany doesn't have Netflix.

Internet streaming services like Netflix are bringing a true revolution in the way we watch TV series. Now TV content is available to the viewers 24/7 and across a multiple devices like smartphones, tablets, laptops and of course TV. People are no longer forced to watch their favorite TV series at the exact same time on the exact same day in the week. Some would say finally.

Source engadget.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft in Open Beta

Blizzard has announced that Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft can now be played by anyone in open beta. Game is first available in North America and Europe but in the next few day it should be available world wide. Just a quick warning, the game is very addictive, just like everything else from Blizzard.


Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft was announced last March and closed beta testing began later in the year. The fact that Blizzard has started open beta means the game is nearly finished and we could see it in the full version very soon. But then again with Blizzard you never know. Their policy is we will release the game when it is finished. Not that there is anything wrong with that, millions of fans around the world are not complaining.

Blizzard already has many great games like Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo and it looks like Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft is another hit.

Official announcment.

Surface 3 and Surface Mini

Surface 2 and Surface Pro were released a few months ago and so far we have no official sale numbers. But no matter because there are already leaks about Surface 3 and Surface Mini that Microsoft is planing to launch during this year.

First to launch will be Surface Mini, it is expected sometimes in the first half of this year. Microsoft is looking to compete with the iPad Mini and a lot of 7 or 8 inch Android tablets that are already on the market. It's still unknown will the Surface Mini come with the Pro version and full Windows 8 or will they just release the Windows RT version.

Al tho we don't know the number of Surface 2 units sold, no one can deny that this is a powerful and well build tablet. Only major criticism was the lack of apps compared to the competition. So much is expected from Surface 3 which we expect later this year. No details were officially released but there is a number of tweets hinting what the Surface 3 tabled could look like.

These are some of the features that are expected:

-Nvidia's Tegra K1 chipset to power Microsoft's Surface 3 tablet.

-The firm might be working on Surface Mini and LTE versions of Surface 2.

-InstantGo support to arrive with Windows 8.1 OS' first update for Intel's BayTrail+ chips.

-AMD's Mullins CPU to be used in Xbox TV instead of Microsoft's own designed chip.

-Company's plans for Microsoft Notebook is currently on hold.

Source gadgets.ndtv.

iOS 7.1 Beta Released for Developers

Apple has finally released iOS 7.1 beta to developers. Beta was available in the beginning of January offering visual changes and now bug fixes and improvements. So this must mean that the consumers will get the update in the coming weeks.

It's still unknown what changes will iOS 7.1 bring to the iPhone and iPad. Let's just hope that the Cupertino based company has figured out what they didn't do right with the iOS 7. There was a lot of unhappy people with the latest operating system, which is something you don't see very often coming from Apple costumers.

Source 9to5mac.

Google Glass at NBA Game

Ever wonder what the NBA game looks like from the players perspective, well January 24 at Sacramento King and Indiana Pacers game you are about to find out. Google Glass will be worn by some of the players, coaches, mascots fans and many others at the stadium and all of that will be broadcast live.

Google couldn't get any better advertisement for their future product then this one at the live NBA game non the less. One of the best leagues in the world NBA, with millions of fans all over the world, who are about to see players using Google Glass. Maybe Google could use this opportunity to announce the launch date for their Google Glass product, but that's not likely to happen.

That's not the only news regarding the Sacrament Kings. From March 1 they will be the first sport team that will add bitcoin as a payment value equal to all the others currencies. Looks like the Sacramento Kings are a true modern organization up to date with the recent events.

So if you are an NBA fan and you are interested to see how this new technology works in real life situations then you should definitely tune in on January 24 game.

Source pcmag.

Nintendo not Optimistic About 2014

Gaming consoles where a big hit during this holiday season. Microsoft and Sony are more then happy with the sales results, both Xbox One and PlayStation 4 have solid millions of units in a very short period. But not everyone is making good sales in the console market, Nintendo Wii U is having bad results.

Nintendo is already trying to lower their expectations about Wii U sales. Initial expectations where 9 million units from April 2013 to March 2014. Now that number has been lowered to just 2.8 million units, witch isn't even a third of what Nintendo expected. One of the reasons for this announcement was a very bad holiday season sales for Nintendo hardware and software.

There are many reasons for bad sales results. Even the Nintendo fans agree that the Wii U hardware isn's as strong and as up to date as the rivals hardware of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. Another thing is thirt party games. Nintendo is having success with their franchises like Zelda, Mario, Metroid Prime and others but without third party games it's very difficult to sell that many units as the competition.

With all the old competition having record sales and new many new rivals coming to the market in this year. Steam machines and Oculust Rift are just some of the consoles that are expected. The year 2014 might even be thougher then Nintendo expects.

Source engadget.

Tizen Smartphone Delayed Again

Samsung has been trying for some time now to launch their own operating system named Tizen. Their best hope was Japan but it seems like that has been delayed and the hole future of the OS is very uncertain. Japanese carrier announced that they will not support Tizen because the market is not big enough for another operating system.

“The market is not big enough to support three operating systems at this time,” official statement from the carriers representative.

South Korean company was planing to launch Tizen smartphone last year but that was delayed and now more bad news. According to Samsung the new operating system is bringing some new features that will push it ahead of the competition and it is all running on HTML-5. Tizen is supposed to be used as multi platform operating system, it would run on everything cameras, smartphones, laptops, tablets and tv's.

Samsung is the worlds top seller of  Android devices, leading the sales in smartphones and tablets. Their biggest competition is Apple and looks like they want to take a page from their book and control both hardware and software, which is a pretty good idea. Samsung feels responsible for the growth of the Android operating system and they want to do the same thing with Tizen.

According to the rumors we should see the first Tizen smartphone on Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Source WSJ.

Nokia SmartWatch Concept Looks Great

Everybody in the IT knows 2014 is going to be in the sign of the smartwatch. Maybe it want be the device that changes the way we view technology and the way technology effects our everyday lives but it's definitly going to be the device everybody is talking about. Wearable technology is the future and smartwatch should be the first step.

Nokia is one of the companies that is developing a smartwatch of their own. So far very little is known about this device. You can check some of the images on the Facebook link. There are already many big companies that are developing smartwatches. Sony, Samsung, Pebble and others have their own devices but only Pebble is getting good sales results and none of smartwatches has brought anything revolutionary. The real revolution is expected from Apple's iWatch coming later this year, but will have to wait and see about that.

Microsoft is one of the big companies that has recently started to develop it's own hardware and according to rumors they are interested in producing wearable technology. Nokia's device department has been recently bought by Microsoft so the future of their smartwatch is unknown.

Sony and Windows Phone

Sony has been rumored to bring a Windows Phone device from the very start of the WP release. So far we have seen some prototypes but never a smartphone with the WP operating system was released from Sony. Well it looks like the year 2014 just might be the year when Sony will deliver a Windows Phone smartphone.

In the last few years Sony has been making great smartphones for Android, but they still don't have great sales results compared to Samsung, the company that's dominating the Android market. So the Windows Phone option just might be the new thing that Sony is looking for. Even Sony Mobile Europe chief Pierre Perron said that they don't want to be a company with just one OS.

“We don’t want to be a single OS manufacturer, I don’t think it’s a viable position in the long term,” Perron said.

Microsoft wants more of the big companies to get involved in the Windws Phone ecosystem, and even they bought Nokia and are planing to develop there own hardware they still want other companies to use their operating system. In recent talks with Samsung and HTC, Microsoft has offered them a free Windows Phone on all smartphones that they produce. This is an attempt to compete with Android, will just have to wait and see if this strategy will bring better results.

Source techradar.

Microsoft Treshold Update in 2015

Microsoft is expected to bring Windows Phone Blue update early this year. This update should be the beginning of cross-platform unification that is coming in 2015. According to the recent rumors Microsoft is working on Treshold update that will unify Windows, Windows Phone, Windows RT and Xbox UI.

This will not be a single operating system that is going to be running on all the devices, this will be a number of shared UI elements across the different platforms. Treshold update could bring us a unified app store which is for now just wishful thinking, considering how many different app stores Microsoft has over different operating systems. IT giant from Redmond is hopping that Treshold update will make it easier for you to work and have fun using Windows.

One of the first unification process should be the merge of WindowsPhone and Windows RT. Microsoft isn' happy hawing so many different operating systems for so many devices so this could be the first big unification.

The year 2014 is very important for Microsoft, because the company is currently in transformation. They also want to build hardware not just software like it's been the case for all these years. Recent purchase of Nokia is a step in that direction. So this should be a very important year for Microsoft.

Source ZDNET.

Google Buys Nest for 3.2 Billion

Google has just announced that it will be acquiring Nest Labs for 3.2 billion Dollars. Nest Labs is best known for it's smart thermostat, a product that become very popular on the market. Google has been rumored to be working on the similar device but it looks like buying the competition is easier.

Acquisition deal is expected to be closed in a few months when the regulatory approves the buy. Never thought that the company behind something like the smart thermostat will be worth that kind of money. Well it's no secret that the large companies like Samsung, Google, Apple and many other are looking into the smart appliances market. This should be the next step for the large IT companies in creating a smart house.

Nest Labs has issued a Q&A where they addressed some concerns.

Will Nest continue to support iOS so I can have the Nest app on my iPhone or iPad?
Yes, absolutely. We’ll continue supporting iOS, Android and modern web browsers so you can check in on your home and control the temperature from wherever you are.

Will Nest and Google products work with each other?
Nest’s product line obviously caught the attention of Google and I’m betting that there’s a lot of cool stuff we could do together, but nothing to share today.

What will happen to the Nest warranties on products?
No change there – we stand behind our products like we always have.

Will I still be able to find Nest products at my local retailer?
You bet. We intend to continue selling through the same partners in the US, Canada and the UK.

Will Nest customer data be shared with Google?
Our privacy policy clearly limits the use of customer information to providing and improving Nest’s products and services. We’ve always taken privacy seriously and this will not change.

More on the story right here.

Beats Music Streaming Service

Beats Music, the company owned by Dr. Dre is launching it's on streaming service on January 21. This streaming service has been rumored for months and now we have some details about when it's going to launch and about their individual and family plans.

There is a big competition in streaming services, companies like Spotify and Pandora are already offering excellent services, and iTunes radio is also growing. But no matter the competition Beats team is very confident that they will be the best service and gain many subscribers because of their better algorithms and new strategy.

At first Beats Music Streaming Service will launch in the U. S. only, but it does have plans to expand to other markets. There will be no free option so you will have to pay to use their services. Beats Music is starting on January 21 and we will see if they have what it takes to challenge other streaming services and take control of this very competitive market.

Source NYT.

Razor Project Christine Brings Revolution to PC

PC has been the same for decades, maybe this is just the revolution the PC needs. Especially when you see the sales results for the last year, PC market sales are down 10%. Well Razor is trying to bring something new with it's Christine project.

Razor is the company that's best known for PC peripherals and now they are trying to bring something new to PC. At CES they have shown project Christine. The idea of this project is to simplify setting up your PC and to make any additional upgrades easier, also eliminating the obsolete.

Min-Liang, Razor co-founder, CEO and creative director said “Project Christine is a new concept design that will revolutionize the way users view the traditional PC. This is the first gaming system that is able to keep pace with technology and could allow consumers to never buy another PC, or gaming system, again,” he also added We have a history of bringing incredibly innovative concept systems to market and it’s fair to say that Project Christine is a very exciting new prospect for future development.”

Many gamers and users tend to agree with Razor CEO. Project Christine would allow PC user much more freedom and it would make an entire experience more simple and easier, and that's exactly what new generations want.

 More on design in this short YouTube clip.

Project Christine even has it's own website, you can check it out for more info right here.

New iPhone With Bigger Screen

One can never have enough rumors from Apple. Cupertino based company has many great and popular products and much is expected from them this year. Will they deliver and change the technology market once again, that remains to be seen.

New rumors are about the iPhone and it's new lineup that's coming later this year, probably named iPhone 6. According to Cantor Fitzgerald they claim that the new iPhone will have two screen sizes. One is 4.7 inch which is bigger then their 4 inch size that they are currently using and another is a 5.5 inch size which is technically a phablet.

One of the few complaints that users and critics have about the iPhone is it's small screen size. Smartphones are getting bigger and looks like Apple is on board with the new trend. Phablets are also a hit among buyers and the rumored 5.5 inch iPhone could become very popular very soon.  Apple probably want rush to get this new smartphones on the market as soon as possible, so we can expect it in late 2014.

Their current model iPhone 5s is having record sales so apart from the screen size you can't expect big changes from Apple. This isn't even the most expected product from Apple this year, iWatch is, but the iPhone brings the most profit so they will pay extra attention to it. It's still early in the year so we can expect many more rumors regarding the new iPhone lineup.

Source Streetinsider.

John Carmack and Oculus Rift

Much has been written about Oculus Rift and even more is expected from this device. Oculus Rift is coming sometimes this year and we still don't know much about it.

John Carmack a well known name in the gaming industries is working on software for the Oculus Rift. Before John Carmack worked at Id Software until November last year. What exactly is his job is still not known, only that he is developing software.

CEO of Oculus Rift Brendan Iribe said “He’s working on a lot of exciting tech. But, his heart and soul and history certainly lies in the game-development side,” and he added “over the next six to twelve months, if you monitor the careers page, we are putting our team out there… Pay attention to that page and you’ll see more and more game developers showing up.”

Big announcements from the Oculus Rift team, but one thing is sure, we still haven't seen anything and the new gaming device might just be the revolution in gaming that we have been waiting for.

Source Engadget.

China Lifts Ban on Foreign Game Consoles

Next generation game consoles were a big hit during this holiday season, but not everywhere in the world. China is a country where it's not legal to sale foreign game consoles, well at least that was the situation until now.

China’s State Council has temporarily lifted the ban for foreign game consoles. Witch was in effect for full 14 years, ever since 2000. No further detail were provided, very short message from the Council. Keep in mind that the key word here is temporarily. But non the less this is great news for all the gamers in China and the game consoles companies. Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo can now sale their popular consoles in China one of the biggest markets in the world.

Both Sony and Microsoft released their new consoles in November and the sales results were great so far. Sony sold 4.2 million PlayStation 4 units and Microsoft 3 million Xbox One units. This decision will definitely increase those numbers. great

Source The Reuters.

iWatch in Production Problems

Much has been written abut the upcoming smarwatch from Apple in the past year and it looks like this year want be any different. Probably the most anticipated gadget of 2014 is Apple's iWatch. Another market that the people from Cupertino want to reinvent already has a lot of competition out there and even more coming in the course of this year.

Apple isn't one of the companies that will release a half product to the market, they want to release the device when it's ready and functional. According to the recent rumors iWatch is having some production problems. Display of the smartwatch has become a big issue, it's draining to much battery and for the device that small battery life is the key. No costumer wants to charge their smartwatch more then once a day.

Samsung Galaxy Gear is one of the devices that has this kind of problems. While Pebble smartwatch can go 5 to 7 days without recharging, no wonder Pebble is the number one smartwatch. If Apple wants the iWatch to be a hit product then this is definitely a problem they have to solve.

The iWatch is rumored to have a release date sometime during fourth quarter of 2014, let's just hope this display and battery issues don't delay the iWatch even further.

Source the Verge.

PlayStation 4 sold 4.2 million devices, Xbox One 3 million

Both Sony and Microsoft have reason to brag about sales in the last quarter of 2014, as far as the new generation consoles are considered. Gamers have been waiting a long time for next gen consoles and the sales results show that.

During the CES Sony event they announced that in 2013 4.2 million Playstation 4 units have been sold. This is an impressive number considering that the console was launched 15 November for North America and 29 November for Europe.

Earlier Microsoft issued a press release about Xbox One sales in 2013. The console that was launched 22 November in 13 countries was sold in 3 million units in 2013. Still less then PlayStation 4 but an impressive number not the less and people at Microsoft are happy with the results.

Looks like this holiday season was all about gamers and consoles. Next gen consoles have just arrived and they have a lot more to show in the upcoming years, so it's going to be interesting to see how things go from here.

More on the story right here.

Diablo III: Reaper of Souls in March

On March 25 the expansion of the best hack and slash game series is coming. Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is being released for Windows and Mac, the console version on some later date. Crusade against evil is getting bigger and better.

Diablo 3 was released two years ago and has seen many changes since. The most notable change is the cancellation of the Auction house, both real money and gold. Al tho the Auction house did bring more money to Blizzard, the fans never really accepted it and this is definitely a brave move that gamers applaud. One more thing that gamers didn't like was the fact that you have to be connected to the internet all the time in order to play the game. But being connected to the Battle.net also has a lot of benefits.

The expansion is bringing many new elements in to the game. In Diablo III: Reaper of Souls there is a completely new act and a new character to play with. These are some of the new features.

• Act V: A dark and terrifying chapter sending players on a final confrontation with death itself
• The Crusader: A new playable hero—a veritable war machine made human
• Level Cap to 70: Formidable new spells and abilities that take players to new heights of power
• Adventure Mode: A new game mode that gives players the freedom to go anywhere and slay anything
• Bounties: Randomized objectives that reward players in new ways for exploring Sanctuary
• Nephalem Rifts: Fully randomized dungeons offering endless replayability and heaps of loot
• The Mystic: A powerful new artisan who provides heroes with loot-customization options

Even more to see on this YouTube clip:

Let's just hope that Blizzard is more prepare this time and that servers can hold all the gamers that will be eager to play Diablo III: Reaper of Souls on March 25.

More on the story right here.

Smartwatch from Microsoft

The year 2014 is shaping up to be the year of wearable technology and there is a huge interest in smartwatches. Microsoft is becoming more and more a company that is developing hardwer. They already have game consoles, tablets and now with the acquisition of Nokia they will have smartphones. Samrtwach seems to be the next logical step. Tech giant from Redmond was late in both smartphone and tablet race, one mistake they don't want to repeat with the smartwatch.

As far as rumors go smartwatch is already being develop at the company and the man in charge of this project is Alex Kipman the "father of Kinect". Allegedly his team is working on 1.5 inch smartwatch that is running Windows. Which version of Windows is still not known. Will it run WindowsPhone or maybe some new version of Windows. Microsoft already has many OS version of Windows so a new smartwach operating system seems unlikely. Probably it will have some version of WindowsPhone.

No release dates for this smartwatch have been announced and with the competition already developing these type of devices Pebble, Samsung, Sony and according to rumors Apple later this year. Microsoft will have to work fast on this one.

More on the story right here.