Author: Josh Wolford

We know that Google Glass is coming soon – by the end of this year, actually. A fully-polished version of Google’s smart eyewear will be ready for the average consumer some time in 2013 and will cost “less than $1,500.” At SXSW, Google just unveiled some of the first third-party apps that will be available on Google Glass. There’s nobody in the Brin household that will go anywhere without Google Glass on their eyes. Long story short, the Glass revolution is upon us.

But will it be a revolution? Wikipedia founder and frequent Quora contributor Jimmy Wales has some thoughts on the new tech.

Jimmy, will Google Glass succeed? Honestly, he says he doesn’t know.

“This kind of technology is obvious and obviously coming. Will Google Glass succeed? Dunno. Even great companies like Google and Apple have failed product introductions. Remember Apple Newton? Remember Apple TV? But give it 10 years, or 20 years. Let the technology get small enough and come down in price enough that you can’t tell the difference between Google Glass (or Apple iEye, ha!) and and a normal traditional pair of glasses, and I think they’ll be popular enough.”

Wales does think that Google Glass looks “extremely cool and fun,” though. And he says that he will probably be getting his own pair.

“Will I be getting my own pair? Probably! Will I wear them around on a normal day with normal people? I don’t know. Depends on the tradeoffs between looking weird and having a cool interface to the world.”

And what about the negative feedback that’s already emerging?

“It’s interesting to see all the pushback it is getting before it’s even on the market, of course…the privacy implications are interesting, although of course it’s true that the ubiquity of cellphones and the social pressure not to stand around like a jerk filming people makes a difference.”

What do you do if you get caught mining for gold at a nationally televised NBA game?

You own it, that’s what.

[via reddit]

Tech leaders have crafted a joint letter to President Obama and the nation’s top lawmakers, asking that Washington work together to craft some sort of comprehensive immigration reform by the end of this year.

The letter was signed by over 100 Presidents, CEOs, partners, and chairmen of both major and minor tech companies. Some of the notable names include Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Google Chairman Eric Schmidt, HP CEO Meg Whitman, and Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer.

It was addressed to President Obama, Speaker of the House John Boehner, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Here’s a bit from the letter:

As you know, the United States has a long history of welcoming talented, hard-working people to ourshores. Immigrant entrepreneurs have gone on to found thousands of companies with household nameslike eBay, Google, PayPal and Yahoo! to name just a few. These companies provide jobs, drive economicgrowth and generate tax revenue at all levels of government.

Yet because our current immigration system is outdated and inefficient, many high-skilled immigrantswho want to stay in America are forced to leave because they are unable to obtain permanent visas. Somedo not bother to come in the first place. This is often due to visa shortages, long waits for green cards,and lack of mobility. We believe that numerical levels and categories for high-skilled nonimmigrant andimmigrant visas should be responsive to market needs and, where appropriate, include mechanisms tofluctuate based on objective standards. In addition, spouses and children should not be counted againstthe cap of high-skilled immigrant visas. There should not be a marriage or family penalty.

They go on to say that bipartisan legislation like the Immigration Innovation Act of 2013 and the Startup Visa Act and startup Act 3.0 are good steps to “encouraging innovation here in the U.S. by allowing American companies to have access to the talented workers they need while simultaneously investing in STEM education here in the U.S.”

Tech companies have a history of lobbying congress to free up green cards and temporary worker visa for high-skilled workers. This new push is a continuation of that message – that we need to keep the best and brightest inside our borders.

Tech CEO letter by JMartinezTheHill

[via The Hill]

Congratulations, Mark Zuckerberg. Your employees at Facebook approve of the way you’re running the company at a higher rate than employees at any other company in the country.

Glassdoor has just put out their annual Highest Rated CEOs list, and Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg tops it with a 99% approval rating.

Glassdoor’s annual list comes from voluntary survey participation from employees of each company that visit the site. According to Glassdoor, no CEO could even make the list unless they had at least 100 ratings over the past year. Apparently, Glassdoor logged over 500,000 different ratings from employees in 2012.

The survey is simple – just one question: “Do you approve or disapprove of the way your CEO is leading the company?”

Rounding out the top five are Bill McDermott & Jim Hagemann Snabe of SAP, who also garnered a 99% approval rating. Next is Dominic Barton of McKinsey & Company (97%), followed by Jim Turley of Ernst & Young (96%) and John Schlifske of Northwestern Mutual (96%).

Other notable names from tech that made the list include Google’s Larry Page, who came in 11th with a 95% approval rating. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos took 16th with a 93% rating and Dell’s Michael Dell came in 49th with an 81% rating.

Last year’s winner, Apple CEO Tim Cook, fell to #18. Last year, he had a 97% approval rating, compared to this year’s 93%.

Back in January, Hulu CEO Jason Kilar announced that he would be stepping down at the end of Q1. And as that time fast approaches, Hulu has finally announced who will replace him when he leaves.

According to Kilar, Andy Forssell will be tapped as acting CEO when he steps down at the end of March.

Forssell is currently the Senior Vice President of Content at the company who signed on in 2007.

“In his time at Hulu, Andy has accelerated the growth of the content business from just two content providers in 2007 to more than 410 today, and has led the expansion into original programming. Andy brought to Hulu more than a decade of experience at Siebel Systems and Oracle Corporation where he served in a number of leadership roles including product development, customer care, datacenter operations and supplier management for their hosted CRM software-as-a-service businesses,” says Hulu’s about page.

Kilar sent this letter to the Hulu team, and it’s been cross-posted to the Hulu blog:

Team –

As you all know, I will be departing Hulu at the end of this quarter. I wanted to share the news that Andy Forssell will be stepping up to lead Hulu as acting CEO after I depart later this month. You know Andy well; he’s been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. Andy exemplifies the Hulu culture and has been central to Hulu’s journey, helping to grow this company from 2 content partners and no revenue to over 450 content partners and approximately $700 million revenue in 2012. In his role, Andy has built strong relationships with many of our Board members. Andy has the Board’s strong support in leading the team during this important time.

Disney and News Corporation are currently finalizing their forward-looking plans with Hulu, and the senior team has been working closely with them in that process. Once the plans are finalized, a permanent decision will be made regarding the CEO position.

As I mentioned to you all at the beginning of this year, Hulu’s focus remains on delivering a fantastic 2013 for customers and shareholders. Hulu is well on its way, with new records being set in Q1 across both revenue and subscriber additions. The unwavering focus on delighting Hulu’s customers is clearly showing up in the outputs of the business.

Jason

Today, Foursquare is releasing an update to their Android app that they say will help put recommendations front and center, right when you open the app.

“When you’re in a new city or neighborhood, Foursquare will show you popular places, sites, and must-see attractions. When you’re on your home turf, we’ll tell what spots are “new and notable” – places that have recently opened in your area,” says Foursquare.

Foursquare says that the new app will also highlight places on your to-do lists and uses that to make timely recommendations.

Back in February, Foursquare updated their Android app to display a map right when you open the app, complete with friends who are checked-in nearby and recommendations. That update also improved the Explore tab and made some tweaks to search.

You can grab the updated app today from Google Play.

Are functional hashtags on their way to your Facebook news feed?

According to the Wall Street Journal, the answer is yes – but not in the imminent future.

They quote people familiar with the matter who say that Facebook is “working on incorporating the hashtag,” but it’s unclear exactly how long the company has had these plans or how close they are to fully realizing the concept.

As you’re probably aware, Facebook lets users tag people using the @ symbol but does not support links when users use the #.

Besides the obvious plus of being able to organize and subsequently search and browse topics, hashtags would give Facebook another structure to build ads around. Plus, anyone looking to do any viral marketing on Facebook would welcome the chance to steer conversation using hashtags. It’s sure worked for Twitter.

Oh yeah, and your idiot cousin wouldn’t look so idiotic anymore when she uses hashtags on Facebook.

Back in January, at CES, Redox Instant CEO Shawn Strickland said that the service would move out of beta and be open to everyone by the end of March.

And it looks like he’s a man of his word. Today, Redbox Instant is officially open to the public.

“Disc + digital for everyone! We’re now open to the public,” tweeted Redbox Instant this afternoon.

Redbox Instant, which launched its private beta back in December, costs $8 a month and gives subscribers access to over 4,500 movies (no TV shows yet). There’s also a bonus 4 free DVD rentals built in to the monthly price, which pays for over half the fee itself.

Redbox Instant doesn’t boast the quantity or quality of content available on Netflix Instant. A recent analysis showed that out of the “first 50″ titles streaming on Redbox Instant, 40 are available on Netflix too. It’s not to say that Redbox doesn’t bring anything to the table, but it’s going to fight to compete with the entrenched services like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime Instant Video.

Back in February, we learned that Redbox Instant would be coming to the Xbox 360 as a console exclusive. Of course, to access that app you have to be a Xbox Live Gold member.

[GigaOm]

If you were wondering which RSS reader is going to step up and fill the void left when Google yanks Google Reader out from under us on July 1st, Digg has your answer.

It’s Digg. The answer is Digg.

On their blog, Digg has just announced plans to build a reader to replace Google Reader both in function, and in our hearts.

The news aggregation site says that RSS isn’t dead yet , and it’s worth saving. Apparently, Digg has had plans to build its own reader for some time, planning to start the project in the second half of 2013. But Google’s announcement that they were canning their own Reader has forced Digg to “move the project to the top of their priority list.” Work on the new reader begins today.

According to Digg, the reader will be comparable to, if not mimic Google Reader – even down to the API.

“We hope to identify and rebuild the best of Google Reader’s features (including its API), but also advance them to fit the Internet of 2013, where networks and communities like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Reddit and Hacker News offer powerful but often overwhelming signals as to what’s interesting. Don’t get us wrong: we don’t expect this to be a trivial undertaking. But we’re confident we can cook up a worthy successor,” says Digg.

Digg? Why not Digg? Someone has to step up. There are plenty of Google Reader alternatives out there right now, such as Newsblur, Feedly, FeedReader, and Bloglines. Plus, there are those magazine-style readers that kind of work like an RSS reader – we’re talking things like Flipboard or Pulse. But Digg, even having seen some troubled times over the past few years, has that name recognition. We’ll be anxious to see what they come up with.

The White House is launching a new audio series, powered by SoundCloud, that takes you into the daily life of the man behind the most powerful man in the world, Vice President Joe Biden.

It’s called “Being Biden.”

“The series will combine a photo that offers a glimpse into the Vice Presidency with an audio recording of the Vice President narrating the moment and its significance. He will tell the story behind the story – of where he was when the photo was snapped, why it matters to him, and how the experience fits into the broader narrative of this Administration. From meetings at the White House to travels around the country, the Vice President will share his perspective in candid, behind-the-scenes snapshots,” says the White House blog’s Macon Phillips.

The series will be available on whitehouse.gov/beingbiden, and you’ll know when a new episode is available by following the VP’s Twitter account. You can even sign up for email alerts if you want.

In a new audio series, Vice President Biden tells the story behind a photo. Listen to the VP introduce #BeingBiden: soundcloud.com/whitehouse/wel…

— Office of VP Biden (@VP) March 14, 2013

Google is shaking things up even more today as the Wall Street Journal reports that the company is breaking up their mapping and commerce units.

According to the report, Google’s mapping unit will become part of the search division, and the commerce will fall under the advertising division.

The personnel blowback of this is that Google SVP Jeff Huber is out of a job – but not really. He’s actually moving on to another Google unit.

Huber joined Google back in 2003 and up until now was the Senior Vice President of Geo and Commerce, overseeing maps, payments, and travel. He also led engineering & development for AdWords, AdSense, DoubleClick, and for Google Apps.

Huber will be joining Google X, the Sergey Brin-led secret projects wings of Google that is responsible for the company’s crazier ideas – like Google Glass.

Finishing up my first decade at Google, and excited to begin the next one at Google X. What would you like to see X do next?

— Jeff Huber (@jhuber) March 14, 2013

Of course, this isn’t the only big shift at Google this week. Yesterday, we told you that longtime Android head Andy Rubin was stepping down and being replaced by Sundar Pichai, SVP of Chrome and apps. Google CEO Larry Page said that Rubin would be starting a “new chapter” at Google, but didn’t do into any more details? Is everyone running to Google X?

In other, non-personnel-related drama, Google also announced that they were shutting down Google Reader on July 1st. So much drama in the MVHQ.

[Wall Street Journal]

Is your maternal grandfather a fairly good indicator of whether or not you’re going to be bald? Yeah, kind of. But he’s not the only thing you should worry about. Sure, there are some “nurture” elements to hair loss, but a lot of it is “nature,” and therefore you’re screwed, bro.

[AsapSCIENCE]

Today, CBS has launched a brand new app optimized for both the iPhone and the iPad that will allows users to stream full episodes of the network’s daytime, primetime, and late night shows for free.

Daytime and Late-night shows will become available on the app 24 hours after airing on CBS. Most primetime content will take 8 days to hit the app after its original airing. The app will let users stream most of CBS’ most popular shows including NCIS, The Good Wife, CSI, How I Met Your Mother, and The Late Show with David Letterman.

The app not only features streaming shows, but personalized show trackers that will notify users when new episodes of the show become available on the app.

“We have been methodically and strategically finding new ways to satiate the appetite for our content on new platforms, while tapping into the tremendous revenue provided by doing so,” said Leslie Moonves, President and CEO of CBS. “Our announcement today achieves both of these objectives, while protecting our very healthy current ecosystem. In addition, by making our shows available on all the leading mobile devices out there, we are confident we will bring a whole new set of viewers to the CBS Television Network and build upon our standing as the #1 network in the business.”

CBS says that they will integrate the existing CBS Connect app by the beginning of the fall TV season. With that integration, the new CBS app will feature social feeds, live events with CBS personalities, and other extra content.

The app is currently only available on iOS, but will launch on both Android and Windows 8 later this year.

Apparently, you’re not the only one who’s furious that Google has decided to shut down Google Reader on July 1st, as part of its spring cleaning program.

Ah, yes, the classic Hitler reacts video. And oldie but a goodie. And as it turns out, an absolutely perfect way to channel the frustration over Google’s decision. Seriously, I never thought I could say that Hitler is speaking truths, but damnit if he isn’t right. Don’t even say the words Twitter or Flipboard to me. I must go mourn.

Google has just released a new single-page guide for beginning webmasters that features information on looking good in Google search results through page titles, proper domain names and sub-pages, and meta descriptions. It also offers a brief primer on images and links to additional info and support.

The cheat sheet is a single page, “short how-to list with basic tips on search engine-friendly design, that can help Google and others better understand the content and increase your site’s visibility.”

And it’s available in 13 languages.

“We hope this content will help those who are just about to start their webmaster adventure or have so far not paid too much attention to search engine-friendly design,” says Google.

You can grab the pdf today.

As you may have heard, Google has just announced that they are closing the doors on their 8-year-old RSS aggregator Google Reader. The company cites declining usage and a need to focus on other products as reasons for the shutdown. Google Reader will officially go dark on July 1st, giving users over 3 months to migrate to another service for their RSS needs.

Although Reader isn’t the only Google product getting the axe in this round of Spring Cleaning, it’s the product with the most impact. And people aren’t happy. Sure, Google can cite declining usage and we believe them. The hard truth about RSS is that it’s a useful technology that definitely has a strong following, but never permeated the culture in the way that social media has over the past few years.

But that doesn’t mean that loyal Google Reader users don’t have a gripe here. And they are taking their gripes and turning them into online petitions.

Probably the fastest-growing petition to save Google Reader is this one, hosted on change.org. As of the writing of this article, it’s gaining a few hundred signatures every few minutes. Right now it’s fast approaching the 50,000 signatures it needs to hit its threshold.

The petition, titled “Google: Keep Google Reader Running,” makes this argument:

So, please don’t destroy that trust. You’re a huge corporation, with a market cap which rivals the GDP of nations. You’re able to dedicate 20% of your time to products which may never seen the light of day. You experiment in self-driving cars and really cool eyewear which we trust (trust!) you’ll use in a manner respectful to our needs, interests, etc.

Show us you care.

Don’t kill Google Reader.

That’s not the only petition housed on change.org. There are others, including this one with a few thousand signatures that plainly asks Google “please do not shut down Reader.”

“Many of us use Google Reader on a daily basis to keep track of our favorite blogs, archive tweets, keep updated on specific craigslist searches, and for many other uses. Its simplicity is its strength,” says the petition.

Moving away from petition-hosting sites, we have this new single-serving site dedicated to keeping Google Reader alive. It’s called keepgooglereader.com and the entire site serves as a petition platform that allows users to sign and comment. As of right now, it’s up to around 19,000 signatures.

Up until just recently, a petition existed on the White House’s We The People petition site that asked the Obama Administration to ask Google to consider keeping Reader alive. Of course, the Federal Government is not going to intervene in the decisions of a company like Google with regards to which products they shutter.

That petition was removed for violation of the site’s terms. Most likely, due to this clause:

“You agree not to create petitions that fall outside this limited purpose – for example, petitions that advertise or call for the endorsement or purchase of commercial goods or services.”

This outpouring of support for the doomed Google product isn’t surprising. Google knows that Reader has a loyal following and they said that this was a hard decision. Petitions or not, it’s hard to see Google reversing course on this one. Since 2011, Google has canned 70 different products of services during various “spring cleaning” exercises.

[Image via byrion, Flickr]

After promising Windows 8 users that a native app was on the way, Twitter has finally delivered. Twitter for Windows 8 has just hit the Windows Store.

Twitter first announced that they were working on an app for Windows 8 back in October 2012, saying that Windows 8 “needs a great Twitter app.” Twitter, who is all about user consistency and uniform experience, simply couldn’t let the Windows 8 experience on Twitter be controlled by a handful of third-party apps.

Twitter for Windows 8 features many of the things that will make it familiar to Twitter users (of any kind), like the home, connect, discover, and me tabs. But it also sports some app-specific features that makes it a truly Windows 8 experience. For instance, the app has a snap view, which lets users adjust the size of the app and run other apps beside it.

The app also has landscape view for photos and two new charms, share and search, which let users tweet and search from any app, respectively.

And as you might expect, there are also Twitter live tiles and notifications which will display no matter which app is running at the time.

“Twitter for Windows 8 brings you all the design, features and functionality of Twitter combined with the fast and fluid technology of Windows 8,” says Twitter.

Twitter for Windows 8 is now available in 22 languages.

Google is continuing its habit of announcing product closures in bulk with another round of “spring cleaning.” The first “spring cleaning” actually happened in the Fall of 2011, when Google axed things that you probably don’t even remember at this point – things like Google Desktop, Google Notebook, Sidewiki, and Aardvark.

The point is, Google has been doing this sort of thing for a while now. But this time around, one of Google’s decisions to shutter a specific product has people more riled up than we’ve seen in the past.

As you may have heard, Google is shutting down Google Reader, the RSS feed reader first launched in 2005. Google cites a decline in usage, but some fo the reaction on Twitter and blogs would lead you to believe that there is a sizable contingent that cares deeply about the future of the web’s best RSS reader.

Like any other product that Google spring cleans, Reader is being cut so that Google can “focus, otherwise spread themselves too thin and lack impact.”

But Google Reader isn’t the only product or service getting the ax at this round of cuts.

Google is retiring Building Maker. The app, which let people make 3D models of buildings for Google Earth and Maps, will go dark on June 1st. The company is also shutting down Google Cloud Connect, stating that Google Drive on your desktop “achieves the same thing more effectively.”

More closures include Google Voice app for BlackBerry, after which Google suggests users take to their HTML5 app. Google Search API for Shopping is also on the chopping block and will be shut down completely on September 16th.

More closures:

Apps Script will be deprecating the GUI Builder and five UiApp widgets in order to focus efforts on Html Service. The rest of the Ui Service will not be affected. The GUI Builder will continue to be available until September 16, 2013. For more information see our post on the Google Apps Developer Blog.

CalDAV API will become available for whitelisted developers, and will be shut down for other developers on September 16, 2013. Most developers’ use cases are handled well by Google Calendar API, which we recommend using instead. If you’re a developer and the Calendar API won’t work for you, please fill out this form to tell us about your use case and request access to whitelisted-only CalDAV API.

Beginning today we’ll no longer sell or provide updates for Snapseed Desktop for Macintosh and Windows. Existing customers will continue to be able to download the software and can contact us for support. We’ll continue to offer the Snapseed mobile app on iOS and Android for free.

Since spring cleaning began in 2011, Google says that they have shut down 70 features or services.

One of the most popular feed readers around is shutting down this year – due to declining usage.

Google Reader, the platform Google first launched in 2005, is simply one of the many Google services on the chopping block this week. Google has just put out their annual list of spring cleaning, which consists of features and products that Google is canning in 2013 in order to “focus, otherwise they spread themselves too thin.”

Here’s what Google had to say about Reader in a blog post:

We launched Google Reader in 2005 in an effort to make it easy for people to discover and keep tabs on their favorite websites. While the product has a loyal following, over the years usage has declined. So, on July 1, 2013, we will retire Google Reader. Users and developers interested in RSS alternatives can export their data, including their subscriptions, with Google Takeout over the course of the next four months.

“If you’d like to download a copy of all your Reader data before then, you can do so through Google Takeout. You’ll receive your subscription data in an XML file, and the following information will be downloaded as JSON files,” says Google.

You can go here to start downloading your Reader data from Takeout. Google assures users that the data will be easily transferrable to another similar product.

“These changes are never easy. But by focusing our efforts, we can concentrate on building great products that really help in their lives,” says Google.

But from the immediate backlash seen on Twitter and other social media, it’s clear that this decision is not going over well with longtime Google Reader users. There’s already a petition on change.org asking Google to reconsider.

Other Google products to get the axe alongside Reader include Google Building Maker, Google Cloud Connect, and Google Voice for BlackBerry.

Last week, we showed you the incredible re-imagining of AMC’s hit series Breaking Bad as a mid-90s sitcom. At that time, I told you of my fondness for these types of things.

So it should come as no surprise that I’m equally as excited about this VHS-era reworking of HBO’s Game of Thrones, inspired by the Breaking Bad video.

Terrific work. Please keep it up, internet.

[hunterlsanders]