Google Builds Affordable Housing in Mass.

Why are technology companies like Google flocking to invest in affordable housing? Tax breaks. But their investment is creating new jobs and rebuilding a community. I wonder if these will be eco-friendly homes.

www.boston.com

When most people hear the name Google, they think Internet searches, not affordable housing.

Google and other companies know something that others don’t: Rental and low-income housing projects are now among the most lucrative investments available, with businesses from Apple Inc. to Sherwin-Williams Co. buying millions in government tax credits used to finance affordable homes in Massachusetts and other states. These companies use the credits to significantly reduce their tax bills

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet to sell at $199, challenging iPad

Light my FIRE! I will be ordering a FIRE (Note: I already have PRIME). Its great to see Amazon continue to evolve their tablet offering. I have to give Amazon credit for starting the eReader revolution, which led to the iPad /tablets wars - and now they are back with the FIRE. I am particularly impressed by the price point - This one will fly off the shelves.

Amplify’d from www.chicagotribune.com

The Kindle Fire will have a 7-inch display and sell for $199, compared with $499 for Apple’s cheapest iPad, Amazon executives told Bloomberg News. The device, a souped-up version of the Kindle electronic-book reader, will run on Google Inc.’s Android software, the Seattle-based company said. Read more at www.chicagotribune.com

See this product: Kindle Fire, Full Color 7" Multi-touch Display, Wi-Fi

Unlike Microsoft, Google can claim 99.9 percent cloud uptime

It may be time to consider moving your corporate email server to the cloud. It is hard to match Google's reliability and cost in a self-managed environment.

Amplify’d from www.zdnet.com

Last year, Gmail for consumers and Google Apps customers achieved 99.984 percent uptime, and was up for 99.99 percent for the first quarter of this year — equating to less than five minutes of downtime on average per month. Read more at www.zdnet.com

 

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Is it Time to Kill Your Web 2.0 Identity?

If your answer is yes, then look no further than the Web 2.0 Suicide Machine site (suicidemachine.org). You might remember that Facebook tried (unsuccessfully) to shut these guys down a year ago. According to this article, your FB account doesn't disappear - it gets moved to a new group, which may create new privacy concerns.

Amplify’d from www.thestar.com

Friend requests, status updates and endless tweets – it’s enough to tempt some to disappear from cyberspace without a trace.

The vanishing act is as easy as taking a deep breath and handing over an account number and password. Read more at www.thestar.com

 

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The Google-Powered, Digital Dead Sea Scrolls are a History Buff’s Dream

Amplify’d from gizmodo.com

Five of the Dead Sea Scrolls—the world's oldest biblical documents—are now viewable online as searchable, high-resolution images thanks to Google. Talk about some priceless Google Docs Read more at gizmodo.com

 

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Newspapers to insert 'iCircular' ads on phones

Its great to see the AP leading the digital charge in a changing media landscape. This is exactly what the ailing newspaper industry needs to help it generate new revenue opportunities by staying in front of their audience across platforms.

Amplify’d from www.boston.com

Major newspapers and retailers are teaming up to put more advertising on mobile phones through a new service developed by The Associated Press.

The feature, called iCircular, will start appearing Monday in the mobile phone applications of the participating newspapers. It's the pilot phase of a project announced nearly a year ago by the AP, a not-for-profit cooperative owned by newspapers.

Last year, for instance, print advertising at U.S. newspapers totaled $22.8 billion and digital advertising was $3 billion. In 2005, U.S. newspapers got $47.4 billion from print ads and $2 billion from the digital side, according to the Newspaper Association of America.

the AP's revenue has fallen from a peak of $748 million in 2008 to $630 million last year Read more at www.boston.com

 

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Google Buys German Daily Deals

If it wasn't apparent, Google is serious about local search – and its a global play.

Amplify’d from www.thestreet.com

Google(GOOG_) on Monday announced its acquisition of German daily deals business DailyDeal in an attempt to bolster Google Offers, its Groupon competitor. Total revenue for Google Offers dropped 23% from July to August, according to deal aggregator Yipit. Read more at www.thestreet.com

 

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Google readies social news magazine app

This is bad news for Flipboard and its backers. Just last week Google became a print publisher, so I expect to see their media activity to continue.

Amplify’d from news.cnet.com

Google representatives did not respond to a CNET request for comment. However, AllThingsD confirmed the news from several sources and reported this evening that Propeller is the name of Google's attempt at making a "Flipboard killer." Read more at news.cnet.com

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Why Google bought Zagat

The local market may be the next frontier, but Google may have defined a new approach to getting there by purchasing a traditional media company. The Zagat acquisition illustrated that tradition media products are seen as important components in new advertising strategies - because of their market credibility and data. Many people forget that there is a wealth of information in databases that power print products - and Google believes this data can be leveraged to produce new dynamic mobile advertising driven products. Its a perfect time for media execs to start showing off their data!

Amplify’d from news.cnet.com

The next big battle in mobile could be over who will dominate the untapped local search and advertising markets

buying local restaurant guide Zagat will add yet another layer to its strategy for attacking what is expected to be a lucrative and fast-growing segment of the online advertising market.

U.S. mobile ad spending is expected to grow from $790 million in 2010 to $4 billion in 2015. The local portion of that total is projected to grow from $404 million to $2.8 billion, according to BIA/Kelsey Read more at news.cnet.com

 

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Nike's Back to the Future Shoe for sale

I loved the movies as a kid, and the Universal studios ride is pretty cool. But nothing could be better than getting my hands on a pair of these futuristic kicks.

Amplify’d from content.usatoday.com

- 1,500 pairs of the 2011 Nike MAG will be auctioned on eBay with all net proceeds going directly to The Michael J. Fox Foundation. The auction ends Sept. 18, and you can start bidding now.

See more at content.usatoday.com

 

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Google Buys Zagat

This seems like a great strategic play for Google, who is now the authority on where to eat. Google will be able to mesh the content of this traditional publisher with its dynamic map/shopping tools to offer real time and highly detailed online product. The really question is will the Google name negative impact the authoritative voice of the Zagat. Either way, Google is now into print media.

Amplify’d from www.businessinsider.com

Google's acquisition of Zagat is very smart.

Now Google can plug the best local content into its many products and have the best local search product.  Read more at www.businessinsider.com

 

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150,000 iPhone 5 a day as Apple ramps for launch

You can only wonder if the increased production is due to anticipated demand or because Apple employees keep losing the prototypes.

Amplify’d from www.slashgear.com

With the launch of the iPhone 5 expected to be a matter of weeks away, it’s hardly a surprise that Apple’s production partners should be beavering away at building the fifth-gen iOS smartphone. Still, from the latest channel leaks, it sounds like Apple isn’t leaving stock levels to chance: DigiTimes‘ sources say Foxconn, Apple’s OEM, is churning out 150,000 handsets per day. Read more at www.slashgear.com

 

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Most bosses monitor or block social-network use at work

It's clear that the companies surveyed don't get it. This survey draws to mind a CEO I was consulting for – his head of IT was going at length about texting charges and how they could save thousands of dollars but eliminating it from their standard mobile service. The CEO, a 50-ish gentleman, looked at him and said that's how I communicate with my kids and our sales team uses it to communicate with some of our clients. He understood that people utilize tools in their personal lives that have an impact on their business lives. To that point, allowing employees to leverage tools they know to promote business is a good idea.

Amplify’d from www.theregister.co.uk

Viruses, loss of confidential data and fear of employees tooling around doing sweet FA on Twitter are the top reasons that employers give for putting the brakes on social media in the workplace. And it's stopping them benefiting from new collaborative technologies, says ClearSwift Research. Read more at www.theregister.co.uk

 

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10-inch Amazon Tablet Set for Early 2012

Unlike other entrants to the tablet wars - Amazon has a well-established platform and a viable audience. Functionality will play a role in the adoption of the Amazon tablet - but as long as you can read books - stream videos ( I have Prime!) - check email and surf the web - it should do just fine. I only hope that their tablet surfaces for the holiday season at a reasonable price point.

Amplify’d from www.tomsguide.com

Amazon's much-rumored tablet is said to be going into production in the first quarter of next year. Digitimes cites sources from upstream component suppliers that say the as-yet-unconfirmed 10.1-inch tablet from Amazon will hit mass production in the first quarter of 2012

A month later, Digitimes said that Quanta had received the work order for a 7-inch Amazon tablet and that the contract would contribute $3.5 billion to Quanta’s 2011 revenues. Now Digitimes says that Amazon plans to ship this Quanta-made tablet in October of this year, while the larger 10-inch tablet will not ship until 2012. Read more at www.tomsguide.com

 

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