Articles by Nick Kolakowski

• Microsoft's NSA 'Transparency' Push Remains Pretty Opaque

  Microsoft will encrypt consumer data and make its software code more transparent, in a bid to boost consumer confidence in its security. “Like many others, we are especially alarmed by recent all…
• Spotify Royalties: Still Iffy, Especially for Indies

  [caption id="attachment_14721" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Spotify's revenues chart.[/caption] Despite its popularity among listeners, it’s questionable whether the streaming-music model is…
• What Does Apple Want With Topsy?

  [caption id="attachment_14709" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Topsy analytics.[/caption] Apple has purchased social-analytics firm Topsy for $200 million—but why? Unlike Apple’s other acquisiti…
• 

  BlackBerry Ejects Its C-Suite

  When BlackBerry announced Nov. 25 that virtually all of its C-suite executives would depart the company, Twitter and the tech media exploded with jokes about rats abandoning sinking ships. But th…
• 

  Sony, Microsoft Claim Strong First-Day Console Sales

  [caption id="attachment_14524" align="aligncenter" width="618"] A shot from Microsoft's "Halo" game for the Xbox One.[/caption] The Sony vs. Microsoft console wars are the equivalent of a fightin…
• Virgin Galactic Now Taking Bitcoin for Suborbital Flights

  [caption id="attachment_14459" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Wheeee.[/caption] Despite Bitcoin’s growing popularity, the venues where you can actually spend the virtual currency still remain r…
• HP Deploying Autonomy Software to Data Backup

  Hewlett-Packard’s always had a hard time figuring out what to do with Autonomy, its data-analytics subsidiary. Originally acquired as part of former CEO Leo Apotheker’s abortive attempt to transi…
• Wolfram Language Coming to Raspberry Pi

  [caption id="attachment_14449" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Wolfram's software running on Raspberry Pi.[/caption] Earlier in November, entrepreneurial mathematician Stephen Wolfram announced…
• Smartwatches Could Prove a Short-Term Dud

  [caption id="attachment_14406" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Samsung's Galaxy Gear: chic, perhaps, but not well-reviewed.[/caption] Smartwatches might prove the must-have consumer items of 201…
• Salesforce, HP Teaming Up to Sell 'Superpods'

  At this year’s Dreamforce conference in San Francisco, Salesforce announced a strategic partnership with Hewlett-Packard. Under the terms of that agreement, the two companies will collaborate on…