Google launches cloud-based Google Play store
A digest of the top business and technology news stories from the past week.
Google launches cloud-based Google Play store
Google has revealed its latest digital innovation via the launch of the Google Play online store, which looks set to give Apple iTunes and Amazon a run for their money in the digital content stakes.
Google revealed Google Play last week and said it would be integrating Android Market, Google Music and the Google eBookstore into the online platform.
Writing in the Google blog, Jamie Rosenberg, the internet giant’s director of digital content, posted how Google Play would eliminate the hassle of moving files between computers and synching across devices.
As well as this, Google Play is cloud-based so people can store all of their digital content – be it books, music, films or apps – online.
Dublin’s Acquirer Systems opens North America office
Payment testing solutions company Acquirer Systems has opened a new North American office in Charlotte, North Carolina. The move will help support its growing customer base in the US and Canada, the company said.
The privately held Acquirer Systems was founded in 1997 and is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland.
Acquirer uses a transaction-based testing approach so customers can emulate and test complex end-to-end EMV chip environments. This allows them to identify issues early in play and to save money and time during the implementation phase, said CEO Fergal Molloy.
The new US office will serve as a hub to support EMV migration in the region, he said, and will provide local support to banks, processors and vendors in the North American market.
NUI Maynooth’s IVI expands to the US east coast
NUI Maynooth-based Innovation Value Institute (IVI), creator of the IT-CMF framework for CIOs and IT managers, has expanded its operations to the US east coast with the establishment of a chapter in Secaucus, New Jersey.
The IT-CMF sprung from a collaboration between Intel and NUI Maynooth to develop a gold-standard approach to help organisations derive greater value from their investment in IT.
IVI general manager Martin Delaney said the establishment of the east coast chapter reflected IVI’s growth in the US over the past six years, with Pacific Gas and Electric and Abbott among the recent additions.
He said the chapter would meet quarterly and would build an IVI community to support the adoption of the IT-CMF locally in what was a very important market.
Reddit appoints Yishan Wong as new CEO
A former director of engineering at Facebook Yishan Wong has become the new CEO of content-sharing website Reddit.
Wong was previously a director of engineering at Facebook and left to do start-up consulting. He has also been a member of Reddit since 2005.
Wong announced the news in a blog post, saying he was surprised to get the job. He believed he “didn’t match the profile of what you might consider (or so I thought) a CEO candidate.” However, he said he soon learned Reddit was not looking for the typical candidate.
Reddit was previously acquired by Condé Naste Publications in 2006. In September 2011, it announced it would spin out to become its own independent company under the firm which owns Condé Naste Publications, Advance Publications. As a result, it was looking for a CEO to help complete the spin-off.
Apple sued over wireless patents in latest mobile lawsuit
A subsidiary of Mosaid Technologies which shares patent-licensing revenue with Microsoft has sued Apple, claiming Apple infringed on eight of its wireless communications patents with the iPhone and iPad in the latest mobile patent lawsuit.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Core Wireless filed the complaint in a court in Texas recently and is requesting unspecified damages and future royalty payments for each Apple product which allegedly infringes these patents.
It is also looking for damages that are “not colourably different” from Apple’s products which allegedly infringe the patents.
Within Core Wireless’ complaint, Mosaid Technologies claims Apple infringes these patents with iPhone models from the 3G to the 4S and with the iPad and iPad 2.
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