Articles by Nick Kolakowski

• Valve's Steam Initiative Needs 'Half-Life 3'

  [caption id="attachment_12843" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Gamers have been waiting years for the sequel to 'Half-Life 2' (shown here).[/caption] In late September, Valve made several announ…
• Investors Want Bill Gates Gone from Microsoft: Report

  [caption id="attachment_12827" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Gates.[/caption] A trio of Microsoft investors wants Bill Gates to leave the company he helped co-found, according to a new Reuters…
• The Next Big Fiber Showdown: Austin

  Google might have big plans to wire America with high-speed broadband, but at least one carrier isn’t willing to let Google Fiber have a free run: AT&T has announced that it will deploy a “100 pe…
• Is the Wearable-Electronics Market Big Enough for Everyone?

  [caption id="attachment_12760" align="aligncenter" width="618"] The view through Recon Instruments' HUD.[/caption] For the past several months, Google has been methodically building hype for its…
• Microsoft Improving Power Map for Excel

  Microsoft seems intent on improving its Power Map for Excel tool, which allows users to visualize data in 3D. In theory, a Power Map holds a lot of uses for anyone who works with either geospatia…
• Pew: 15 Percent of Americans Avoiding Internet

  This could be hard to believe for Americans equipped with at least three Internet-ready gadgets at any given moment, but 15 percent of their fellow citizens do not use the Internet or email, acco…
• HP Moving Further into Cloud-Based Analytics

  Hewlett-Packard is launching cloud-based analytics software tethered to its HAVEn Big Data platform. The analytics-as-a-service offering will include tools for customer intelligence, supply-chain…
• Kindle Fire HDX Offers Clues to Amazon's Tablet Evolution

  [caption id="attachment_12645" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Amazon's Kindle Fire HDX.[/caption] Amazon’s Kindle Fire tablets are handheld vending machines for the company’s e-books and stream…
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  A Timely Revision of Elop’s ‘Burning Platform’ Memo

  Microsoft’s purchase of Finnish phone-maker Nokia will enrich the latter’s CEO, Stephen Elop, to the tune of roughly $25.4 million. That’s a generous number, considering Nokia’s much-publicized t…
• Apple Didn’t Skimp on New iPhones’ Parts

  [caption id="attachment_12620" align="aligncenter" width="618"] Apple's iPhone 5S.[/caption] Apple’s high-end iPhone 5S cost at least $191 to build, according to a new teardown report by research…