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Yesterday I reported an update on the Office of Broadband Development as was reported at the Minnesota Broadband Task Force meeting. In short, the proposal had been modified to move the Office to DEED and maintain a budget of $1 million over two years.

Late last night, the  Jobs and Economic Development Finance conference committee adopted the Office of Broadband Development language to be sent to the floor for a full vote.

They placed the Office under DEED’s jurisdiction and the decide that the director will be appointed by the governor. The office is slated for $250,000 per year (and admin support).

I’ll paste the pertinent info from the bill below…

The Budget Info:

(o) $250,000 each year is from the general
7.16fund for the Broadband Development Office.

…

27.26   Subd. 4.Administrative Services
…

28.8$100,000 each year is for the support of
28.9broadband development.

And description…

Sec. 13. [116J.998] OFFICE OF BROADBAND DEVELOPMENT.
77.8    Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
77.9have the meanings given them.
77.10(b) “Broadband” or “broadband service” means any service providing advanced
77.11telecommunications capability and Internet access with transmission speeds that, at a
77.12minimum, meet the Federal Communications Commission definition for broadband.
77.13(c) “Local unit of government” has the meaning given in section 116G.03,
77.14subdivision 3.
77.15(d) “Office” means the Office of Broadband Development established in subdivision
77.162, paragraph (a).
77.17    Subd. 2. Office established; purpose. (a) An Office of Broadband Development is
77.18established within the Department of Employment and Economic Development and shall
77.19remain in existence until the commissioner certifies that the state has met the broadband
77.20goals established in section 237.012. The director shall be appointed by the governor and
77.21shall serve in the unclassified service. The director must be qualified by experience and
77.22training in broadband. The office may employ staff necessary to carry out the office’s
77.23duties under subdivision 4.
77.24(b) The purpose of the office is to encourage, foster, develop, and improve broadband
77.25within the state in order to:
77.26(1) drive job creation, promote innovation, and expand markets for Minnesota
77.27businesses;
77.28(2) serve the ongoing and growing needs of Minnesota’s education systems, health
77.29care system, public safety system, industries and businesses, governmental operations,
77.30and citizens; and
77.31(3) improve accessibility for underserved communities and populations.
77.32    Subd. 3. Organization. The office shall consist of a director of the Office of
77.33Broadband Development, as well as any staff necessary to carry out the office’s duties
77.34under subdivision 4.
77.35    Subd. 4. Duties. (a) The office shall have the power and duty to:
78.1(1) serve as the central broadband planning body for the state of Minnesota;
78.2(2) coordinate with state, regional, local, and private entities to develop, to the
78.3maximum extent practicable, a uniform statewide broadband access and usage policy;
78.4(3) develop, recommend, and implement a statewide plan to encourage cost-effective
78.5broadband access, and to make recommendations for increased usage, particularly in
78.6rural and other underserved areas;
78.7(4) coordinate efforts, in consultation and cooperation with the commissioner of
78.8commerce, local units of government, and private entities, to meet the state’s broadband
78.9goals in section 237.012;
78.10(5) develop, coordinate, and implement the state’s broadband infrastructure
78.11development program under section 116J.999;
78.12(6) provide consultation services to local units of government or other project
78.13sponsors in connection with the planning, acquisition, improvement, construction, or
78.14development of any broadband deployment project;
78.15(7) encourage public-private partnerships to increase deployment and adoption
78.16of broadband services and applications, including recommending funding options and
78.17possible incentives to encourage investment in broadband expansion;
78.18(8) monitor the broadband development efforts of other states and nations in areas
78.19such as business, education, public safety, and health;
78.20(9) consult with the commissioner of commerce to monitor broadband-related
78.21activities at the federal level, including regulatory and policy changes and the potential
78.22impact on broadband deployment and sustainability in the state;
78.23(10) serve as an information clearinghouse for federal programs providing financial
78.24assistance to institutions located in rural areas seeking to obtain access to high-speed
78.25broadband service, and use this information as an outreach tool to make institutions
78.26located in rural areas that are unserved or underserved with respect to broadband service
78.27aware of the existence of federal assistance;
78.28(11) provide logistical and administrative support for the Governor’s Broadband
78.29Task Force;
78.30(12) provide an annual report, as required by subdivision 5;
78.31(13) coordinate an ongoing collaborative effort of stakeholders to evaluate and
78.32address security, vulnerability, and redundancy issues in order to ensure the reliability of
78.33broadband networks; and
78.34(14) perform any other activities consistent with the office’s purpose.
79.1(b) In carrying out its duties under this subdivision, the Office of Broadband
79.2Development shall have no authority to regulate or compel action on the part of any
79.3provider of broadband service.
79.4    Subd. 5. Reporting. (a) Beginning January 15, 2014, and each year thereafter,
79.5the Office of Broadband Development shall report to the legislative committees with
79.6jurisdiction over broadband policy and finance on the office’s activities during the previous
79.7year.
79.8(b) The report shall contain, at a minimum:
79.9(1) an analysis of the current availability and use of broadband, including average
79.10broadband speeds, within the state;
79.11(2) information gathered from schools, libraries, hospitals, and public safety facilities
79.12across the state, determining the actual speed and capacity of broadband currently in use
79.13and the need, if any, for increases in speed and capacity to meet current or anticipated needs;
79.14(3) an analysis of incumbent broadband infrastructure within the state and its ability
79.15to spur economic development;
79.16(4) an analysis of the degree to which new, additional, or improved broadband
79.17infrastructure would spur economic development in the state;
79.18(5) a summary of the office’s activities in coordinating broadband infrastructure
79.19development under section 116J.999;
79.20(6) suggested policies, incentives, and legislation designed to accelerate the
79.21achievement of the goals under section 237.012, subdivisions 1 and 2;
79.22(7) any proposed legislative and policy initiatives; and
79.23(8) any other information requested by the legislative committees with jurisdiction
79.24over broadband policy and finance, or that the office deems necessary.
79.25(c) The report may be submitted electronically and is subject to section 3.195,
79.26subdivision 1.
79.27EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

79.28    Sec. 14. [116J.999] COORDINATION OF BROADBAND INFRASTRUCTURE
79.29DEVELOPMENT.
79.30    Subdivision 1. Definitions. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following terms
79.31have the meanings given them.
79.32(b) “Broadband” or “broadband service” has the meaning given in section 116J.998,
79.33subdivision 1, paragraph (b).
79.34(c) “Broadband conduit” means a conduit, pipe, innerduct, or microduct for fiber
79.35optic or other cables that support broadband and wireless facilities for broadband service.
80.1(d) “Local unit of government” has the meaning given in section 116G.03,
80.2subdivision 3.
80.3(e) “Office” means the Office of Broadband Development established in section
80.4116J.998.
80.5    Subd. 2. Broadband infrastructure development. (a) The office shall, in
80.6collaboration with the Department of Transportation and private entities, encourage and
80.7coordinate “dig once” efforts for the planning, relocation, installation, or improvement of
80.8broadband conduit within the right-of-way in conjunction with any current or planned
80.9construction, including, but not limited to, trunk highways and bridges. To the extent
80.10necessary, the office shall, in collaboration with the Department of Transportation,
80.11evaluate engineering and design standards, procedures and criteria for contracts or lease
80.12agreements with private entities, and pricing requirements, and provide for allocation
80.13of risk, costs, and any revenue generated.
80.14(b) The office shall, in collaboration with other state departments and agencies as the
80.15office deems necessary, develop a strategy to facilitate the timely and efficient deployment
80.16of broadband conduit or other broadband facilities on state-owned lands and buildings.
80.17(c) To the extent practicable, the office shall encourage and assist local units of
80.18government to adopt and implement policies similar to those under paragraphs (a) and (b)
80.19for construction or other improvements to county state-aid highways, municipal state-aid
80.20roads, and any other rights-of-way under the local unit of government’s jurisdiction, and to
80.21other lands or buildings owned by the local unit of government.
80.22(d) Special consideration must be paid to projects under this subdivision that will
80.23likely improve access to broadband by rural or underserved communities.
80.24    Subd. 3. Reporting. As part of its annual report under section 116J.998, subdivision
80.255, the office shall report on activities taken under this section, including, but not limited to,
80.26the number of current and planned projects using the “dig once” approach, any gains in
80.27broadband speed or access associated with the project, and any costs or cost savings to
80.28the state, private entity, or end user of broadband services.
80.29    Subd. 4. No right of action. Nothing in this section shall be construed to create
80.30any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any
80.31party against the state of Minnesota; its departments, agencies, or entities; its officers,
80.32employees, or agents; or any other person.
80.33EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

…

Sec. 18. [161.462] FIBER COLLABORATION DATABASE.
83.2    Subdivision 1. Purpose. The purpose of the fiber collaboration database is
83.3to provide broadband providers with advance notice of upcoming Department of
83.4Transportation construction projects so that they may notify the department of their
83.5interest in installing broadband infrastructure within the right-of-way during construction
83.6in order to minimize installation costs.
83.7    Subd. 2. Database. (a) The Department of Transportation shall post on its Web site,
83.8and update annually, the list of upcoming construction projects contained in its statewide
83.9transportation improvement program, including, for each project:
83.10(1) the geographical location where construction will occur;
83.11(2) the estimated start and end dates of construction; and
83.12(3) a description of the nature of the construction project.
83.13(b) The commissioner shall post the information required in paragraph (a) as far in
83.14advance of the beginning of construction as is feasible.
83.15(c) The department’s Web site must allow a provider of broadband service to register
83.16to receive from the department electronic information on proposed construction projects
83.17added to the database in specific geographical areas of the state as soon as it is updated.
83.18EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

…

Sec. 26. STATE BROADBAND STRATEGY; REPORT.
92.19The Office of Broadband Development shall conduct research and produce a report
92.20recommending a set of programs and strategies the state can pursue to promote the
92.21improvement, more efficient and effective use, and expansion of broadband services in
92.22ways that will have the greatest impact on the state’s economic development, by which is
92.23meant enhancing the ability of Minnesota citizens and businesses to develop their skills,
92.24to expand businesses to new markets, develop new products, reach more customers, and
92.25lower costs. While the state’s broadband goals in Minnesota Statutes, section 237.012,
92.26address the universal provision of greater broadband access and speed statewide, this report
92.27must consider broadband as an economic development tool and must examine and analyze:
92.28(1) how the state can best use its limited resources to adopt strategies and make
92.29investments to improve the use of broadband services by subgroups of broadband users,
92.30including mobile broadband users, that promise to deliver the greatest economic impact
92.31per dollar of state investment;
92.32(2) roles the state can play in addition to financial assistance for broadband
92.33infrastructure, including supporting education and training for Minnesotans to enable
92.34them to use broadband more effectively; and
93.1(3) strategies and opportunities for state investment to leverage additional amounts
93.2of private capital and financial assistance from the federal government in order to achieve
93.3these goals.
93.4By January 15, 2014, the office shall submit the report to the chairs and ranking minority
93.5members of the senate and house of representatives committees with jurisdiction over
93.6broadband issues.
93.7EFFECTIVE DATE.This section is effective the day following final enactment.

Apple is expected to debut a new iPhone, iPad and iPad mini tablet later this year. Earlier rumors have suggested that the company’s popular 7.9-inch tablet would see a variety of improvements over the previous model. According to MobiLeaks, the second-generation iPad mini will be equipped with an improved Retina display with 2048 x 1536 resolution that works out to 324 pixels per inch, and it will feature Apple’s dual-core A6X processor as well. The device’s camera will reportedly be upgraded with an 8-megapixel sensor on the back and a 2-megapixel sensor on the front. The thickness of the next iPad mini is also said to be increasing from 7.2mm to 7.5mm, likely to make room for a larger battery. Apple is expected to release the second-generation iPad mini sometime this fall.

This comes as little surprise, with rumors and leaks being rampant, but Google today unveils a new version of its popular Maps application at its I/O conference. A sign-up page had briefly been available earlier in the day, allowing users a glimpse at the new features. Then of course, there is a listing for “Google Maps: Into the Future” right on the conference site. Now we receive confirmation.

The new update brings a number of features that do, in fact, bring the service “into the future”. The updates are for both mobile (tablet and smartphone) and browser — some for each.

Google began by pointing out that Maps launched an API back in 2005 and now boasts one million users, while Maps itself now has one billion monthly customers. Google also discussed its success, and accuracy, on the iPhone (take that Apple) before getting down to what we all wanted to know — what is new in this latest version of the famous mapping program.

Well, for starters there are new ratings for restaurants provided by Zagat integration, users will also get offers for the locations they find — for instance you may find a $1 off at Starbucks coupon.

As for mapping itself, there is now dynamic rerouting to get you around traffic, new transit maps and options, as well as the ability to upload Photosphere images to Maps for any location. There’s an Explore feature that lets users find interesting locations in their current area (museums, parks and the like), a brand new search that includes reviews from friends, Google Now-like cards and 3D images courtesy of Street View. Mapping can even highlight roads when a destination is clicked — displaying labels on previously unnamed roads and showing routes to the destination.

Perhaps the coolest feature may be the integration of Google Sky which now shows real time imagery. When users zoom out to view the whole Earth,  they can see clouds, the position of the sun and even where the Earth is in its rotation.

Features like Sky are available now, while others, like Explore, will be coming this summer. The latest version can be seen at maps.google.com/preview.

It’s been a week full of exciting announcements and surprise celebrity guests here at the BlackBerry Live conference in Orlando. Onstage during the keynote, Thorsten Heins welcomed Lewis Hamilton of the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team to introduce BBM Channels. He later joined Nick Fry, Former CEO and Consultant to the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team in a panel session at the conference.

I was fortunate enough to have some time to chat with Lewis about how he’ll be using BBM Channels to connect with his fans and the source of his ambition and drive for greatness. Check out my brief video interview with him below:

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

In the interview Lewis talked about how the team is always looking forward to new technologies in social media that allow them to connect to their fans. Fans are a big source of inspiration and with BBM channels, he’ll be able to connect with them in a new and highly engaged way.

BBM Channels allows individuals and groups to create a dedicated channel and share information and updates with the immediacy that BBM offers. BBM customers around the world will be able to connect and share information, broadcast about themselves to their channel, or join their favorite communities and share their experiences of the channel with their BBM contacts.

I then had the chance to talk with Nick Fry about synergies between the BlackBerry and MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS brands and how to manage a large team in mission critical operations. BlackBerry is helping the team harness the power of every individual on the team, something that Fry says is essential.

[ YouTube link for mobile viewing ]

How will you connect with the brands and celebrities you’re passionate about on BBM Channels? Let us know your thoughts below and be sure to check out the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team BBM channel.

Google’s search capabilities are king, and they’re getting richer now with features including the use of more powerful voice recognition on mobile devices and desktops,

At its Google I/O conference Wednesday, company execs introduced “conversational search” capabilities. As Google implements its “hotwords,” users will no longer need to click the microphone in the search bar to start using voice recognition. All users have to do is say, “OK, Google,” and then speak commands. Google relies on natural language processing to figure out what users want to do and then serves up results.

Combine that with Google search’s ability to go beyond serving up graphs and other data in response to user questions and actually weave in additional information Google thinks users are looking for. For example, if you search for China, Google will not only show changes in population over the decades, but it will also graph the countries  China’s population is often compared to — India and the United States.

This is possible as Google keeps expanding knowledge graph, which now has more than 570 million entities, such as people, places and things, said Amit Singhal, a senior vice president and Google Fellow.

Coming soon: More knowledgeable searches

The knowledge graph operates with searches in English and eight other languages. Starting today, Singhal said, it will be  available in simplified Chinese, traditional Chinese, Polish and Turkish.

Google is also integrating personal data into searches in Chrome on desktops and laptops, which makes loads of sense. Flight reservations, restaurant reservations, package deliveries, and other user-generated information can be rapidly pulled up in the familiar interface of Google search results. That could put an end to going through emails of paper for this sort of information, saving users time.

Google has provoked lots of buzz and some concerns with its Google Now feature on mobile devices. The application will soon allow users to set reminders — to call someone, buy something — and expect them to occur only at the right time.

Parlaying personal and general data

Johanna Wright, vice president of search and assist for mobile at Google, took some of these new and upcoming features for a spin. As an example, she said she wanted to plan a day trip to Santa Cruz, Calif. So she said “OK, Google” — bringing Google to attention — “show me pictures of the Santa Cruz boardwalk.” Up came multiple pictures in a horizontal bar at the top of search results. She wanted to know the length of the trip and said, “OK, Google, how far is it from here?” Google figured out that “here” was her current location, in San Francisco, and “there” was Santa Cruz and displayed a map and spoke back that the drive would take an hour and 21 minutes.

She then asked seafood restaurants and got a list. Then she asked Google a tough question: “How tall do you have to be to ride the Giant Dipper?” Google came back with, “You must be at least 4 feet 3 inches tall to ride the Giant Dipper. “Nice,” she said. “Looks like my son can go on.”

On a mobile device, Wright also directed Google Now to send a quick email based on her voice commands, which happened right away, and set a reminder for her to call a friend when she arrives in New York on a business trip. FInally, she was able to tell Google to show the pictures she made during a previous trip. And about 16 pictures came right up.

The combination of personal data with more traditional search data is a logical next step for Google, which has no shortage of either. While Google Now has critics, it could become more popular with these new features. And how could people — investors included — question Google’s innovations in search, its core product. The voice recognition capabilities make searching still more intuitive and set the bar still higher for everyone else.

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With a new financing move, QTS (Quality Technology Services) has a substantial amount of money in its coffers to propel the company’s growth going forward. The data center and managed service provider announced its credit facility has increased to $575 million. Along with its $135 million increase, the credit facility was converted from a secured facility to an unsecured facility and the term extended through May 1, 2017.

“QTS appreciates the confidence and trust of our lending partners. This announcement is a strong endorsement of our company’s success and growth and reinforces our partnerships with these financial institutions,” said Chad Williams, chief executive officer, QTS. “The credit facility allows us to further execute our development strategy. The financial flexibility enables us to focus on the continued expansion of our facilities in Atlanta, Richmond, Santa Clara and Sacramento and commence development of our recently acquired facility in Dallas.”

QTS’s expansion is continuing across the United States. Data Center Knowledge recently covered QTS growth in major markets such as Dallas (QTS Enters Dallas Market, Buys 700,000 SF Facility), Sacramento (QTS Acquires Herakles to Expand into Sacramento), and a new project in Richmond (New QTS Lab Will Advance High-Security Federal Clouds).

QTS engaged KeyBank National Association to serve as administrative agent and KeyBanc Capital Markets to serve as sole lead arranger for the amendment and extension. Eight additional financial institutions have joined KeyBanc Capital Markets as credit facility participants, including Bank of America Corp., Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas, Goldman Sachs Bank USA, an affiliate of The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley Bank, Regions Bank and Stifel Bank & Trust.

Google’s new Maps feature that we told about earlier today is officially a reality. So many things to list and such little brain power to remember them all. Let’s try and cover the stuff that got the most reaction from the crowd. There have been some major improvements to the 3D rendering. Getting to see St. Peter’s Basilica in 3D at I/O on Google Maps is excellent, but what really took the cake was the integration of user photos of the Basilica. By clicking on a user submitted Geo-tagged photo, Google Maps now helps to bring the interior of the Basilica on other wonders of the world right into your house through the browser.

And of course like all of the other neat services, Google Maps can now become more personalized as you use it more and more. Picture this: you see a restaurant that may be of interest to you in a particular area, so Google Maps will showcase only the important items like specific roads or landmarks it is for you to get to the restaurant, so Maps will only show the information to you that matters most. Oh and you have friends that may +1 a restaurant or locale, so Google Maps will begin offering you recommendations based off of your friends’ interests. Pretty cool indeed. So the more you interact with the map, the better it gets. When you set your Home and Work locations, star favorite places, write reviews and share with friends, Google Maps will build even more useful maps with recommendations for places you might enjoy.

Another feature that garnered a lot of applause from the crowd at I/O was the new planet view for day and night. The day view shows you the world with real time clouds, and the night view brings you a lite up Earth as seen from high above. Google I/O is moving right along and keeping up with everything they announce in the Keynote is taxing to say the least. Good thing this event goes on for the rest of the week and good thing we have our main man Rob Nazarian there to get all the details for you.

Keep it locked here and we will bring you the rest of the Google Maps story as we get.

source: Google Maps Blog | Maps Desktop Preview

Come comment on this article: New Google Maps makes the Map the UI just a little better and easier for all

Data center hardware nerds, where are you going to be on June 18 at noon? You may not be sure right now, but keep reading, because Facebook and the Open Compute Project are holding a hardware hackathon at Facebook headquarters that Tuesday. The winners will get time onstage to present to the audience at GigaOM’s Structure conference on June 19 and up to $10,000 in seed funding and mentoring from the foundation to prepare their idea for a venture capital pitch.

The social network started borrowing the concept of hackathons from the software world at its Open Compute Summit in January, and now plans to make them a bigger deal for participants and the industry. There are a few tricks to making hackathons a success however, from tools to setting expectations. On tools, the trick is bringing in software that makes the job of collaborating on hardware designs faster and cheaper. The Open Compute hackathons use Upverter, a company that allows people to build circuits in a web browser and share them easily, as well as GrabCAD, a company that provides libraries of CAD files, so each hacker isn’t starting from scratch when it comes to designing standard physical products.

As for expectations, John Kenevey, the technical evangelist for Open Compute and a program manager at Facebook, is keeping them modest. Unlike a software hackathon where a finished product might result, the hardware ideas or prototypes are still pretty rough. Results are judged on the completeness of the design, its applicability to scaled-out computing and the probability of the hack attracting funding, says Kenevey. For this competition both VCs and angels will vote on the winner.

This time around, Facebook and the Open Compute Project are offering not just pizza and breadboards, but access to future capital. If the participant is an entrepreneur, The OCP will give $10,000 toward the development of the idea; coaching from the OCP foundation; and set up pitches with SKTA Innopartners, other VC firms, and angels. If you are a weekend hacker and win, the OCP will pay to patent your idea. In addition to monetary awards, you get to present at GigaOM’s Structure conference on June 19 before an audience of venture capitalists, executives in the infrastructure business and fellow entrepreneurs.

The hackathon will be limited to about 100 people and registration is open. Participants should have general experience in designing hardware and will need to submit their idea when registering to see if they make the cut. Given that participants will have 12 hours to perfect their inventions, they should start thinking about them once they are selected.

The Open Compute Project is looking for ideas around scaled out computing and the internet of things for this event. There are lots of options in those categories, so good luck.

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T5 Data Centers has completed a loan for $113 million to expand its data center in Dallas, the company said this week. With this additional loan, T5 Data Centers has raised a combined $500 million over the past three years.

The loan will be used to expand T5@Dallas Data Center in Plano, Texas, which will ultimately deliver 22.5 megawatts of critical IT load power and house 247,000 square feet of space. The new funding round is being led by JP Morgan Chase Bank  and includes investments from Wells Fargo Bank, RBS Citizens Financial Group, and Raymond James.

This is the perfect time to invest in data center expansion,” said Pete Marin, President and CEO of T5 Data Centers. “There is unprecedented demand for new data center capacity as more companies invest in private cloud and expanded enterprise infrastructures. According to Cisco’s Visual Networking Index, a zettabyte of data will cross the Internet in 2016 – that’s 1,024 exabytes or 1.1 trillion gigabytes of data. Companies are looking to capitalize on cloud computing resources to house their data, which is driving demand for high-capacity, custom-built data centers like T5@Dallas. ”

T5 currently offers wholesale data center space in business-critical data center facilities in Atlanta, Los Angeles, Dallas, and Charlotte with new projects announced in Portland and Colorado Springs.

“Market demand and the boom in cloud-based business is driving demand for server-ready facilities, and T5 plans to be at the forefront with affordable, high-performance customizable and turnkey data centers,” said Marin. “We are committed to delivering operational excellence and unsurpassed customer service so our customers can rely on a single source for their enterprise and cloud computing needs. The market is ready for a vendor that can supply extensible enterprise and cloud computing resources as needed.”

Google CEO isn’t very happy that Microsoft decided to integrate its Google Talk messaging service into its Outlook webmail platform without extending a similar offer to Google for the Gmail platform. Page, speaking during the Google I/O developers conference Wednesday, said that Google always pushes to have open-source platforms that other companies can use but lamented the fact that much of the tech industry doesn’t extend the same courtesies for many of its own innovations. Page went onto say that he was “sad” that companies such as Microsoft were “milking off” Google’s innovations by not being as open with their own software.

Today, the President and Vice President released their 2012 financial disclosure reports.

The Ethics in Government Act of 1978 requires high-level federal officials to publicly disclose their personal financial interests. The public filing system serves to prevent financial conflicts of interest by providing for a systematic review of the finances of government officials. Those finances are set forth in annual disclosures which are reviewed and certified by ethics officials. Neither the President nor the Vice President have any conflicts of interest, and their reports have been reviewed and certified by the independent Office of Government Ethics. We are continuing this Administration's practice of posting these forms online here in the interests of transparency:

View the President's 2012 financial disclosure report (pdf)

View the Vice President's 2012 financial disclosure report (pdf)

White House staff are also completing their forms and we anticipate they will be available here next month, also in electronic form.

For more information

• See the 2011 financial disclosure reports
• See the 2010 financial disclosure reports

Google already reaches millions of students through its Apps for Education classroom tools but, at its annual developer conference Wednesday, the tech giant said it’s making an even bigger push with Android.

Starting this fall, it plans to offer teachers across the country an education-focused Android app store, called Google Play for Education, which has been in pilot testing with various schools.

“There’s a big part of all of our lives – and the lives of our kids – that mobile technology hasn’t touched. When I visit my kids’ classroom, it looks pretty much like it did when I went to school,” said Chris Yerga, an engineering director at Google. “Google Play for Education was built from the ground up to meet the unique content needs of educators.”

Through the new store, teachers will be able to search for educator-recommended apps appropriate for their grades and subjects. And, as long as each student has their own Google account, teachers can deploy their app selections to the tablets for an entire class or grade from their own account.

Apple is also pushing aggressively in education — last year, it sold 4.5 million iPads to schools and reported one billion downloads for iTunes U. But Google is clearly getting ready to take on its Silicon Valley rival in the education market in a bigger way. Google’s existing school presence through its Apps for Education, which has more than 20 million users, could help the company in its latest effort, as could the seemingly teacher-friendly management features built into Google Play.

Ahead of the launch this fall, Google said it would start accepting app submissions from developers this summer.

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Colocation and cloud hosting provider InfoRelay Online Systems has opened a new data center in New York City, moving into newly-expanded space in a 365 Main data center at 65 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. The new facility marks InfoRelay’s second data center in downtown New York, bringing the firm’s nationwide presence to 15 locations.

Virginia-based InfoRelay says that the new facility will ensure that its current and future clients have immediate access to expansion space for their IT infrastructure. The building houses a number of global networks, such as Level 3, AboveNet, Verizon and AT&T, providing various connectivity options for colocation clients.

“Demand for data center real estate driven by the insurance, financial and web hosting sectors has contributed to our latest facility opening,” said InfoRelay Marketing Coordinator Jonathan Maxim. “A number of InfoRelay clients sought out data centers with higher availability that still offered competitive pricing. We worked with them to remove any bottlenecks in their expansion efforts.”

365 Main recently announced the expansion of its New York data center, doubling the size of the facility to address increasing demand.

“Serving the needs of customers like InfoRelay drove the growth of our New York location,” said 365 Main CEO Chris Dolan. “This move by InfoRelay to build on our DC relationship by adding New York is an endorsement of our vision to put our customers in close proximity to their clients as well as recognition of our strong services.”

“Our managed services and cloud business thrive in 365 Main’s carrier neutral data centers, so it’s very reassuring to have them available to support our growth,” said Russell Weiss, President at InfoRelay. “Beyond that, we appreciate their exceptional customer service and capable approach, which always makes working with them easy. The company is a true partner in our growth strategy.”

Michael Watkins, author of The First 90 Days, explains how to secure early wins during a transition.

In February 2005, when Google released the earliest version of its Google Maps product, the company changed the way the world views online maps. Almost overnight, Google made incumbents like Mapquest look antiquated. And with the passage of time, the Mountain View, Calif.-based search and information giant has been quietly making incremental yet important upgrades to its the maps product. But on Wednesday, the company launched the first substantial and major overhaul of Google Maps, and created a product that is finely tuned to today’s modern, data rich web.

When compared side by side with early versions of Google Maps, the difference between the maps of 2006 and 2013 is the equivalent to the difference between a Rio MP3 player and an iPod. “We originally created the draggable maps and now we sat down and basically wondered how were we going to reinvent the mapping experience,” said Jonah Jones, lead designer for Google Maps, who has spent the past seven years at Google working on maps. “It wasn’t as much dissatisfaction with the current maps, but more about how we can do this better.”

The new Google Maps marries data, social and the concept of hyper-personalization, tastefully layering those principles on top of beautiful and detail-rich maps. Google used the popular Google Earth app to enhance the Google Maps experience itself.

In doing so, Google is acknowledging that today we live on a much faster internet; we work on personal computers that have a lot more muscle and as consumers we have an expectation that everything should be personal to us. “There was more and more information which was being layered on the maps and we wanted to simplify and personalize that,” Jones said. “We think this is what next generation of what mapping looks like.”

Instead of delivering graphic tiles that have traditionally made up the base layer of a map, Google now uses vector maps and is using data as a stream, processing it on the graphical processing unit (GPU) of the new fangled computers and creating a brand new map, which is personalized not just based on a Google account. Like a chameleon, it changes personality and redraws itself based on what you want to focus on — venues, driving directions or recommendations.

It’s about the data stupid

And though it will be sometime before the new maps offering finds its way from the desktop and Google’s Chrome browser to the mobile devices, it really is the sign of the times and where mapping is headed. Since the introduction of Google Maps, Microsoft, Nokia and Apple have all introduced maps and mapping products. The enthusiasm of these technology giants for mapping is best described by Foursquare’s Dennis Crowley when he says maps are the bridge between our physical and digital worlds.

He is right. While Crowley has always wanted to build Harry Potter’s magical map, it seems Google has built something for today. “Maps is the interface,” said Bernhard Seefeld, Google Maps Product Management Director, who pointed out that the passive information alone makes the new maps richer and deeper.

It takes a few seconds to realize that the key to these new maps is interweaving various disparate streams of data — from restaurant reviews to places of interest to transit maps. The usage of the maps — especially when logged into Google — is going to make the experience of the maps better.

It is pretty obvious that data is going to be a key part of building user experience in tomorrow’s apps and the new Google Maps is a good early example of that. For instance, when plotting a route, the new Maps shows you all options — walking/biking, public transit and driving — and highlights the time it will take you to get there using different routes. It also tells you when the next bus or subway is going to come.

You can do all of that on Google Maps today, but this is now just a simple, one click experience. It seems after years and years of collecting data, Google is finally putting that data to work.

Little things that matter

Search is front and center of this new product. The big, bold graphical interface is inviting and attractive. The new Google Maps web app is packed with dozens of minute but important design improvements that are meant to make using maps immersive and simple. In its official blog post announcing the new product, the company’s spokesperson writes:

In addition to a customized map, we’ve also made it easier to find and discover the best local places. Search results are labeled directly on the map with brief descriptions and icons that highlight business categories and other useful information like restaurants that are recommended by your Google+ friends. Info cards provide helpful information such as business hours, ratings and reviews so you can quickly decide where to eat, drink and play.

I got a chance to take a closer look at Google Maps before today’s launch and was impressed by the subtle design touches. For instance, the new maps takes a lot of inspiration from old print maps (in an atlas) where the changing landscape and different bodies of water (lakes, rivers, seas and oceans) had different hues. The colors of the mountains, deserts, plains and grasslands were different in those maps. Google has taken some of those elements and incorporated them in their new maps.

There are more subtle changes: the fonts are different, cleaner and more legible. When you plot a route, the roads taken become more prominent while the rest of the map fades into the background. Smaller bylanes that are unmarked become more prominent and their names legible. Yes, these are little things, but when you are lost, these little things matter. (We’ll be diving into the little design things that matter at our RoadMap event in November in San Francisco — sign up here to get first access to our tickets that will go on sale this Summer).

For instance, there is a carousel at the bottom of the screen that brings together all sorts of images — Street View, Business Photos and Photo Tours — and gives you an easy view into the venue or location you might be visiting. These stitched together photo tours are pretty awe-inspiring and in some cases you feel like you are almost there. This stitching together is based on proprietary Google technology. And then there is the whole Google Earth 3D app packed right into the Google Maps (as long as you are using a WebGL compliant browser.) Just play with it and you will know what I am saying.

Of course, this is Google, so it has to be about the ads. Even the ads are native and tightly integrated into the overall offering — not offensive, intrusive or out of place. The focus is on more action-oriented advertising such as making hotel reservations. Even in a few minutes it became obvious that there is a certain blurring of the lines between what is actual information and what is advertising. I guess, that suits Google’s mercantile goals.

Privacy nightmare?

While Google likes to say that it will have our “friend’s recommendations” and social signals in the new apps, in all honesty they are unlikely to have that information. I don’t use Google+ and neither do others who are happily poking away on Facebook.

What Google will do, however is use brute force machine power to make best guesses about our likes and favorites, and in doing so, they will make the same mistake others make: they will have built a product that lacks empathy.

Google, for instance will know where we live and where we work — after all, we are going to mark those spots and use those markers to find things to do and roads to drive on. It will also know where we are going, how we are going there and when we are going. And this brings up the same privacy issues I have with Facebook and its Home (and other mobile apps.)  And just like my ongoing skepticism of Facebook’s ability to do the right thing, I am pretty sure Google is going to put profit before people. That conversation is for another day, perhaps.

So what do I think?

Ever since Google search was integrated into the browser, I have lost a reason to go to do search on Google.com. But I am very likely to make the new Google Maps as my starting point on Google.com. While a 15-minute demo doesn’t mean a hit product, it is safe to say that this is a worthy upgrade and it showcases Google’s core competencies: putting its big infrastructure and data to work. It also highlights that when it comes to mapping, Apple is not even close to catching up.

What is more disappointing is that the new Google mapping experience isn’t available on the mobile devices as maps are more useful when on the go. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait eight years for the mobile version of these new Maps.

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As the costs for college continue to skyrocket, the task of finding money for higher education is now harder than ever. Though exclusionary scholarships tailored to certain kinds of students are often a way for those with a specific background (such as women who want to study Computer Science) to go to college, one prestigious U.S. university is now seeking to change an 80-year-old scholarship that discriminates based on race.

According to a New York Daily News report, Columbia University is now supporting a change in the Lydia C. Roberts Graduate Fellowship and Lydia C. Roberts Traveling Fellowship. The scholarships are currently available only to students from Iowa who are Caucasian. The university has reportedly filed an affidavit in the Manhattan Supreme Court in favor of modifying the scholarship.

The scholarship was founded in 1920 by Lydia C. Chamberlain, who set out the criteria by which scholarship applicants should be judged. According to the Daily News, organizations such as the NAACP have been calling on Columbia to cut the scholarship for decades. The scholarship hasn’t been awarded since 1997, and at least one former student who received it and spoke with the Daily news claims not to have known that being white was a stipulation of the award.

Update: The official blog post is up now.

Last week, images of a new Google Maps redesign leaked. Last night, the sign-up page with details about new features leaked. Today, at Google I/O, Google discussed the new offering further.

First, they talked about the next generation of Google Maps for mobile coming to Android and iOS. This involves a new design

It includes a new Zagat experience, with Zagat badges in the interface for restaurants, and some Google Offers integration. If you find Starbucks, for example, you can see an offer from Starbucks, and save it for later or use it. You can take pictures and submit them to Google Maps, and they’ll instantly appear from that place.

There is also a new five point rating scale across Google Maps across mobile and desktop.

As far as directions, some new features were announced: a revamped incident experience (live coverage of incidents from around the world). You can see incident alerts in real time. Another one is dynamic re-routing. If you’re driving, and something happens ahead of you, Google will give you an early warning and give you a better route to take.

Then came a demo of new fully dedicated tablet Maps experience. There’s a new “Explore” experience, and you can find stuff to eat, drink, places to shop, places to play and be entertained, and what have you, if you’re in an unfamiliar place. This is coming to Android and iOS devices (smartphones and tablets) this summer.

Finally, came “the future of Google Maps,” which is more what we were expecting. Thee new google maps is “built for you,” has immersive imagery (which includes Google’s indoor imagery), and makes the map the user interface. It’s been rebuilt from the ground up.

It includes social features, and makes recommendations when you are looking at an area where someone you know has left a review. There is also heavier integration with public transit information and a new schedule viewer, which is dubbed “the future of getting directions”.

Again, here’s a rundown of the basic features from Google’s leaked sign-up page:

The most comprehensive map, now built for you: The new Google Maps draws you a tailored map for every search and click you make. So whatever you’re trying to find or wherever you’re trying to go, you’ll always have a map highlighting the things that matter most.

Discover more with every search: The new, smarter search box is your starting point for discovery. One search makes all the information you need available at a glance – read up on your destination, see ratings and reviews and sometimes, even take a peek inside.

Dive into your world: From outer space to the streets, the new Google Maps gathers all the imagery of a location into one spot making it easy to explore your world from every angle.

Earth View: The things you love about Google Earth are now directly integrated into the map, so you can see the planet without a plug-in. Or a passport. *Available on WebGL-enabled browsers.

Flight Search: New flight directions help you find flight options, ticket prices, and estimated travel times right on the map.

Find the best way there: You can now compare multiple modes of transportation right on the map to find the best way there and the best way home.

A map that gets better with use: As you search the map, star places you like and leave reviews, the map starts to adapt and can suggest things like restaurants you might enjoy or the quickest way home. In other words, the more you use the new Google Maps, the more helpful it becomes.

Google also announced that there are now one million websites using Google Maps in their sites, visited by a billion people a week.

Google Maps is up to 200 countries, as it recently added North Korea.

More from Google I/O here.

Google Maps APIs used by more than 1 million active sites and apps, reaching 1 billion unique visitors every week.#io13 #keynote #io13maps

— Google Developers (@googledevs) May 15, 2013

I expect a blog post will be going up soon to give you a more comprehensive look at the new Google Maps.

You should be able to go here to request an invite to the preview.

Endomondo is a free or premium cross-platform sports tracking app that uses GPS and other techniques to track workout session. The company ported their iOS/Android app over to BlackBerry 10 due to overwhelming customer feedback.

The best part about Endomondo is how thorough the app is. With over 15 million users the company has developed and polished their app to a high degree of functionality and features.

Here are a few of the features found in the free version:

• GPS tracking for lots of activities
• Workout history
• Route mapping
• Pep talk delivery to friends
• Access to the social community

Here are a few of the features found in the premium version:

• Interval training
• Workout graphs
• Beat yourself challenges
• Weather info
• and more…

Click here to download Endomondo for BlackBerry 10 free from BlackBerry World.

The premium version is available for a $2.99 monthly or $19.99 yearly subscription.

Britney Spears says she wants to add a little girl to her boy-dominated brood, and now everyone wants to know who it will happen with.

Spears was talking to “X Factor” host Mario Lopez recently about family, and when he mentioned that he was jealous that she had boys (he himself has a 2-year old daughter), Britney declared she wants a little girl. But since she broke things off with ex-fiance Jason Trawick, when will it happen?

Not anytime soon. The singer is working on a new album (and fans are hoping for a tour to go with it), and will be headlining her own show in Vegas soon.

“I’m excited,” she said. “I love Vegas any time I get to go there, so I’m excited, I’m pumped. I haven’t done a show in a really long time, so it’ll be fun.”

#TaraEllaDiscussion Britney Spears wants another baby so she can have a daughter: “Awww… bit.ly/143IWKK bit.ly/i9QbYQ

— TaraElla Related (@taraellarelated) May 15, 2013

#Music: Britney Spears ‘planning baby’: Britney Spears has apparently been talking about having another baby. bit.ly/Zh2BbK

— Tri Adi Atmoko (@Topi_Jerami) April 5, 2013