Tag Archives: googl

Round smartwatches a trend with LG, Motorola, Samsung on board

“Three makes a trend” is a rule in journalism, and it appears to fit smartwatches sporting round displays. LG Electronics on Thursday introduced a smartwatch with a circular screen called the LG G Watch R. Presumably the R stands for “round.” It joins the previously announced Motorola Moto 360 and an under-development Samsung Gear wearable device as smartwatches with round displays rather than the square or rectangular displays used in first-generation models. The LG G Watch R looks like a traditional wristwatch but runs Google’s (GOOGL) Android Wear operating system. It features a 1.3-inch plastic OLED (organic light-emitting diode) display that covers 100% of the watch face. The device has a stainless-steel frame and leather band, and is water-resistant for up to 30 minutes in one meter of water. The device can run Android Wear apps from the Google Play Store and comes with a suite of LG…

Apple tablets losing ground in education; Jumbo iPad planned

The Los Angeles Unified School District’s decision this week to halt its deployment of Apple iPads to students is part of a shift away from tablets in classrooms. A report by Futuresource Consulting shows that notebook computers have returned to favor in school purchases of computing hardware. Tablets accounted for 41.6% of computing-device sales in the U.S. K-12 education market in the second quarter, with various types of notebooks making up the majority 58.4%. A year ago, the tables were turned as tablets overtook notebooks as the preferred computing device for students and teachers. In Q2 2013, tablets, led by Apple’s (AAPL) iPad, accounted for 50.9% of device purchases, with notebooks trailing at 49.1%, Futuresource says. Adoption of low-cost Google (GOOGL) hromebooks has driven growth in the notebook segment. Acer and Samsung are currently the leading providers of Chromebooks to the U.S. education market, Futuresource says. In the second quarter,…

Amazon, Not Google, To Buy Gamer Video Site Twitch

Amazon.com, having presumably outbid Google, said on Monday that it’s reached an agreement to acquire Twitch, a popular live-streaming platform and community for players of video games. The price: $970 million. Google (GOOGL) and Google’s YouTube had been rumored for months to have been in talks with Twitch. There perhaps had been other bidders for the online video site, which says that it has 55 million users. “We chose Amazon (AMZN) because they