Datamation Staff

Ars Technica: In a blog post, NASA has announced that it is opening up a new open source portal at code.nasa.gov. For the time being, the site will host a directory and documentation for NASA’s current open source software development. Over time, the agency hopes to expand the site into a true collaboration hub that […]

eWeek: The Apache Software Foundation has officially released version 1.0 of Hadoop. Numerous large enterprises have been using the well-known open source tool for working with big data sets for some time, but Apache officials say the 1.0 release designates that Hadoop has achieved new levels of stability for enterprise users. “In addition to the […]

Fox News: Yesterday, reports surfaced that Google had broken its own rules by participating in a sponsored post campaign designed to boost the page rank for its Chrome browser. Although it denies wrongdoing, Google has announced that it will demote Chrome in the page rankings for the next 60 days as a result of the […]

BBC News: Google has purchased 187 more patents and 36 patent applications from IBM. Some of the key patents included in the deal cover “using semantic networks to develop a social network,” “identifying common interests between users of a communication network,” a method for using web-based applications across additional devices and a “computer phone.” Last […]

Computerworld: Microsoft is celebrating the success of its efforts to get people to upgrade their browsers. Fewer than 1 percent of U.S. Internet users accessed the Web via Internet Explorer 6 (IE6) in December, a record low since the browser’s debut in 2001. In honor of the news, Microsoft posted a photo of a cake […]

All Things D: Yahoo has concluded its search for a new CEO. The position will go to Scott Thompson, who currently heads up eBay’s online payments division, including PayPal. Thompson also previously served as PayPal’s CTO. Yahoo had been looking for a new CEO since it fired Carol Bartz in September. For the past few […]

Search Engine Land: Google appears to be running a sponsored post campaign for its Chrome browser that breaks its own rules about paying for links in order to boost search rankings. A Google search for “This post sponsored by Google” finds more than 400 blog posts that appear to have been written as part of […]

PCMag: According to mobile analytics firm Flurry, iOS and Android downloads for the week of Dec. 25 to Dec. 31 hit 1.2 billion. “The final week of the year, between Christmas and New Year’s Day, grew by 60 percent over the early-December baseline, historically punching through the billion download barrier for the first time ever […]

Financial Post: After a particularly difficult year for the company, RIM co-founders and co-chairmen Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie may soon be booted off the company board. Unnamed sources say that independent director Barbara Stymiest could soon replace the pair as chairman of the board. Lazardis and Balsillie also serve as co-CEOs, a position they […]

The Register: HP is apparently one of the many tech firms planning to launch ultrabooks at CES. The company has released a very short promo video for a new product called the Envy Spectre. The video is little more than a teaser, but it does reveal a very thin profile for HP’s upcoming ultrabook. RELATED […]

Computerworld: Microsoft is finally convincing users to upgrade from Windows XP. According to Net Applications, XP had 46.5 percent of the market in December, a new low for the 10-year-old OS. In the past four months, XP has fallen more than six percentage points in Net Applications’ rankings. Windows 7 picked up most of those […]

AppleInsider: Net Applications’ December data shows that Apple devices accounted for more than half of all mobile Web browsing for the month. The iPhone and iPad together accounted for 52.1 percent of all mobile Web traffic. Second place went to Java ME with 21.3 percent market share. Google’s Android platform finished in third with a […]