Panda dung, robot undergrads, and the world's wackiest tech awards

By Michael Fitzpatrick, contributor

FORTUNE -- If you ever wondered if artificial breasts can survive scalding hot springs, whether panda dung will dissolve garbage, and if a robot could enter university, then Japan would be the to satisfy your curiosity.

Such esoteric research is meat and drink to certain branches of the $130 billion research and development industry here. To which, when the annual Ig Noble prizes are presented at Harvard today, its organizer Marc Abrahams will give silent thanks. He couldn't do without them, he says. "Japan has been putting up stuff for so long it's hard to miss," he says hinting today will be another bumper year for Japan.

He refers to research that, while attempting to solve problems and drive industry, has achieved some crooked profundity while generating the added bonus of making people smile.

So far, in the prize's 22-year-history, two nations stand out amongst others in eligibility says Abrahams. "Japan and the UK both have consistently produced impressive numbers of Ig Nobel Prize winners," he says. "I think that's partly due to something the two cultures share. Most other countries punish their eccentrics. Japan and the UK, in contrast, are proud of their eccentrics."

MORE: Fear and loathing in Japan

That certainly might be true of Japan. For the people who transformed post-war penury into the world's number two economy -- often thanks to persistence and tinkerers' ingenuity -- offbeat inventors do have a special place in the heart of the nation's inspiration-seeking salarymen. Some popular TV here is devoted to lone inventors and their innovations that seemed quirky at the time but quickly become novel or breakthrough. Nintendo's (NTDOY) Wii or the Tamagotchi are two examples.

Noble prize winners (18 so far) are appreciated, too. Japan wants to produce 30 Nobel prize winners over the next 50 years. And in that quest spends more on R&D as part of gross national product than any other (3.47% of GNP compared to US 2.81% and China 1.55%). While Japan has the third largest budget globally for R&D and over 700,000 researchers.

Ironically it is this driven, earnest approach to innovation that ingenuously sparks a fair bit of unconventional research, and the unintentionally funny. "I think the reason why we have a disproportion (of Japanese Ig Noble winners) is the strict matter-of-fact-ness of Japanese researcher," points out Masataka Watanabe, chief science promoter for one of Japan's great centers of innovation -- Tsukuba University.

"Such a paradox is caused by Marc Abraham's sense of humor. Japanese laureates don't see their research as funny. But Marc has found funny things in them." This admission to a sense-of-the-absurd-failure might be closer to the truth in the land where irony is as rare as a Zen barbecue.

The Japanese have so far romped 15 Ig Noble prizes after 22 years of roping in actual Noble prize winners to give out the tounge-placed-firmly-in-cheek awards, which like the real Nobles are divided into categories including Peace, Biology, and Physics. As a type of invention's homage to the god of unintended consequences, Daisuke Inoue's 2004 Peace prize for inventing karaoke and "providing an entirely new way for people to learn to tolerate each other," was apt.

MORE: Welcome to the 'Republic of Fakes'

Japanese scientists have done particularly well in chemistry. Unknowing his research into why birds, literally, gave a miss to a metal statue in his local park would induce mirth worldwide, Yukio Hirose, a metallurgist at Kanazawa University, now sees the joke and gratefully received his prize in 2003. "The Japanese selected have been good sports for the most part," says Abrahams. "There were some who would not take part…" but he is quick to draw a veil over the details.

Some reveled especially in the media spotlight. The prize winner for that has to be "the one and only" Dr. NakaMats says Abrahams. "He is, above all, the Wizard of Oz." Modestly claiming to have invented the floppy disk, the fax and have patented over 3,000 other inventions beside, Dr. NakaMats, whose real name is Yoshiro Nakamatsu, is in a class of his own when it comes to Ig noble prize winners. In 2005 the 84-year-old won the Nutrition prize for photographing and analyzing every meal had eaten over 34 years.

He is better known in Japan as the country's favorite eccentric boffin who gets his ideas "while 0.5 seconds from death" holding his breath underwater. There is, he says, much method in his madness and the genius of Japanese invention. "There are many innovators in Japan. Because we are very poor in natural resources so we must use our intelligence and human resources," he explains.

Nakamatsu is now busy trying to save ourselves from ourselves as he watches humanity flail around fretting over energy. To such ends he claims he has invented an air-conditioner that uses just 1% of energy used by conventional units. Verifiable or not we need people like Dr. NakaMats to, as the Ig Nobles put it, "make people laugh, and then make them think."

mvella1271 20 Sep, 2012

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Occupy Wall Street activists join the Apple iPhone 5 queue

Peaceful protest? Photo: Jessica Mellow

FORTUNE -- Looks like the launch of the iPhone 5 is about to get political.

Veteran line-sitter Jessica Mellow, who's been camping out in front of the big glass cube of Apple's (AAPL) Fifth Avenue store since last Thursday, reports that at 10 p.m. Wednesday  -- a day and a half before the Friday morning launch of the iPhone 5 -- a contingent of activists from the Occupy Wall Street movement showed up and began settling in for the night.

"They took about 20 spots, and they have nicer sleeping bags than we do," she says. "I hear there are more on the way. All I know is that they are planning some sort of (peaceful) protest. They want to put up tents but I don't think they will be allowed. And they are protesting Foxconn and slave labor in China."

We're going to have to check it out.

See also: iPhone 5: Customers in the Big Apple camp out 8 days early.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt 20 Sep, 2012

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Apple's iOS 6: The reviews

FORTUNE -- The sixth major update of Apple's (AAPL) mobile operating system is old news to the developers and tech writers who've been playing with it all summer. But the formal reviews of iOS 6 only began to appear on Wednesday, when the software became available for download to the other several hundred million owners of Apple mobile devices.

With the caveat that some of the features the reviewers describe only work on the most recent models of the iPhone, iPad and iPod touch (check here for details), here's a sample of what they had to say:

David Pogue, The New York Times: Loses Google Maps, but Adds Other Features. "In the end, iOS 6 is to software what the iPhone 5 is to hardware: a big collection of improvements, many of which are really clever and good, that don't take us in any big new directions. Lots and lots of nips and tucks — that's Apple's motto lately."

Dan Moran, Macworld: Refined iOS 6 highlighted by stunning Maps overhaul. "Following on the heels of the massive update that was iOS 5, iOS 6 might seem like merely a modest update. But that doesn't make it insignificant by any means: A key app has received a substantial overhaul in this latest update, Apple has added an intriguing new—if yet unproven—built-in app, and the company has even, for the first time, removed a piece of software present since the iPhone's launch."

Darrell Etherington, TechCrunch: The Highs, The Lows, And Everything In Between. "Overall, iOS 6 is a big step forward, but that's hardly surprising given Apple's track record. As always, there will be those who say it doesn't push the envelope enough, and Maps has already ruffled quite a few feathers. But that Maps has raised such an outcry is perfect example of why Apple's generally doing things right with iOS updates: it stick out like a sore thumb, and in truth, it's not a big enough step backward to do anything beyond mildly inconvenience a few folks. Plus, it's inevitable that Google will offer up its own standalone Maps app to address that single deficiency."

Jacqui Cheng, ArsTechnica: iOS 6 gets the spit and polish treatment. "Does Apple's latest OS deliver the kind of improvements that Apple's existing and potential user base has come to expect? After having used iOS 6 for several months from the beta period through the final release, our answer is a qualified yes. It's clear that Apple's current focus with iOS 6 is refinement rather than revolution, but we're not just talking about small refinements here; iOS is more robust than ever, with a few significant improvements to the kinds of things Siri can do, a complete overhaul of Maps, improvements in privacy controls, a far more useful Photo Stream, and new phone call and Do Not Disturb features. That's in addition to a generous helping of fixes and feature improvements sprinkled throughout the rest of the OS."

Federico Viticci, MacStories: Thoughts on iOS 6. "Adding features for the sake of adding is not innovation. Users want their devices to keep working with the same degree of functionality, which is why I see Maps as a real, tangible problem today. But this doesn't mean iOS 6 isn't a notable update. iOS 6 is a good improvement over iOS 5 with several welcome refinements and additions like Facebook, more languages for Siri, and a faster Safari. In my opinion, iOS 6 has, right now, worse Maps and App Store search; especially for Maps, if you rely on features like Street View and public transit directions, I can't recommend the update until an official Google Maps app comes out. For everything else, iOS 6 improves on almost every aspect of the operating system, and sets the stage for a stronger platform in the future."

Rene Ritchie, iMore: The definitive guide to Apple's iOS 6 software features for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad. "iOS 6 is nowhere near as audacious as iOS 2, which brought the App Store, or iOS 5, which cut the iTunes cord, took us to the iCloud, and brought Siri along for the ride. It doesn't remove user and developer pain points the way iOS 3 did with cut/copy/paste or iOS 4 did with multitasking. iOS 6 is more of a soft-reset and a way to set the stage for iterations to comes. It strips Google almost completely out of iOS and introduces an all-new Maps app and increased Siri intermediation. It introduces Passbook, which isn't a digital wallet, but does provide a single repository for tickets and balances, and starts to make mobile transactions convenient and comfortable. It abstracts and outsources sharing with new Facebook and enhanced Twitter integration, so Apple no longer has to worry about creating awkward new networks of their own. And it increases support for China, which has become a hugely important market for Apple."

Raymond Wong, BGR: Refining the world's most refined mobile OS. "In the end, iOS 6 is yet another welcome update to polish off what was already a solid OS. It's got a ton of small features to make daily inconveniences that much more manageable, and that's really what technology should be; it should work to make our lives easier. iOS 6 does that in the simplest of ways. It doesn't break previous conventions for anything bold and new, but who cares? iOS worked beautifully when the original iPhone was released and it'll work again with the iPhone 5 — with virtually zero 'learning' required."

Philip Elmer-DeWitt 20 Sep, 2012

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HP and IBM: Two paths, one future

By Kevin Kelleher, contributor

FORTUNE -- On the face of it, Hewlett-Packard and IBM have a lot in common. Both are storied brands with rich legacies that shaped high-tech. Both are working with companies large and small to help manage their technology. Both are angling for a piece of the markets -- like cloud computing and big data -- that promise years of growth.

And both have new chief executive officers: Meg Whitman moved into HP's (HPQ) CEO office a year ago; Virginia Rometty took the reins at IBM (IBM) in January. Both companies share a similar vision for success. And both face similar challenges to get there, like a sluggish global economy and the rise of disruptive new technologies.

Despite this bedrock sameness, HP and IBM are pushing forward on different paths. HP is in the midst of a multi-year turnaround, while IBM is building on a long-term plan outlined years ago. Neither company's path was charted in large part by its current leader. Why? First, their views on the role of hardware versus software in the future of IT; and second, their approach to mergers and acquisitions.

IBM's last decade has been marked by steady leadership pursuing a long-term course. To move forward from its recent history as a maker of big computers, the company famously pushed into IT-consulting services and software, taking a step away from hardware in 2004 by selling the PC division to Lenovo for $1.75 billion.

MORE: What does power really mean to women?

Like IBM, HP saw years ago that the future of big tech was not in selling big computers to companies, but in taking on the increasingly complex tasks of managing them and all the antecedent technologies. But unlike IBM, HP maintained that hardware would continue to play a key role in its tech outsourcing business -- a bet the company made when it spent $25 billion for Compaq in 2002.

After Compaq, HP continued to grow. It went from a company that made $57 billion in revenue in 2002 to one that made $127 billion last year. By contrast, IBM grew relatively slowly -- from $81 billion in revenue in 2002 to $107 billion last year.

Over the past decade, HP has trumped IBM in revenue growth through its aggressive acquisitions. Under Mark Hurd's tenure, between 2006 and 2010, HP spent big on tech brand names like EDS ($13.9 billion), 3Com ($2.7 billion), Palm ($1.2 billion) and 3Par ($2.4 billion). Under Hurd's ill-starred successor Léo Apotheker, HP spent $1.6 billion on ArcSight and $11 billion on Autonomy, two software companies.

IBM, by contrast, has made many mergers and acquisitions since spinning off its PC division, but only once in that tine has it spent more than $2 billion -- for business software maker Cognos for $5 billion in 2008. Instead, it's made a handful of billion dollar deals in that time span: Internet Security Systems ($1.6 billion), data analytics firm Netezza ($1.7 billion), Sterling Commerce ($1.4 billion), and others.

MORE: IBM's Ginni Rometty looks ahead

But there is another aspect to the story. Ever since Lewis Platt stepped down as HP's CEO in 1999, the company has gone through seven different leaders, including two interim CEOs. That's as many CEOs as IBM has seen since Thomas Watson, Jr., retired from IBM in 1971.

The pace of CEO turnover can be crucial: While IBM has had the luxury of laying out five-year plans, HP has shifted from hardware execs Fiorina and Hurd to software exec Apotheker to e-commerce veteran Whitman. And those transitions -- or lack thereof -- have had a big impact on the two companies' strategies.

In other words, HP's M&A moves in the past decade chronicle the strategy of a tech giant pushing into hardware and software alike, a clear bet on a future that would rely on both. IBM, by contrast, saw its future more in the zeros and ones of software than the physical machinery of hardware.

HP paid big for its bets on hardware, wagering it would win out in the end. IBM, meanwhile, made lots of smaller bets on software, which has proven to be a cheaper business to start-up than hardware. That doesn't mean IBM won't pay out for acquisitions: The company has indicated it will spend $20 billion on deals through 2015 -- more than it has spent in the last 10 years.

MORE: Investing in the Most Powerful Women

What it means is IBM believes its big investments will be in software companies that are only starting to show their stuff. HP, of course, will also be looking for good software investments, but it wants to counterbalance them against some of the hardware companies that it bought over the past several years. It's a debate between pure software versus a mix of software and hardware.

HP's bet is risky because the world of tech is more and more driven by software. Hardware is and will always be an important component of tech, but in many areas -- personal computers, servers, switches and routers -- software is driving efficiencies and innovation. Hardware, while ever improving, is increasingly seen as more of a commodity business that delivers low margins.

Software, of course, has long been a high-margin business. Even though HP, through its years of acquisitions, has seen its revenue grow faster than IBM's, it is IBM that has enjoyed the bigger profits. Last year, IBM's operating profit was 27% of its revenue, versus an 8% margin for HP.

That's where IBM and HP stand today. The bigger question for their new CEO's is, where will these companies go? Where can their leaders take them?

Rometty has indicated she will build on the strategies set down by her predecessors, although she is willing to put a bold stamp on the company if that's what it needs. Whitman has been frank about the challenges facing HP, yet willing to make tough calls on its future. Whitman resisted demands from investors to spin-off HP's PC business. And this week, she reiterated her desire to make the company a player in the growing market for smartphones.

There is room for both companies to thrive, whenever the global economy finally improves. IBM will tell companies it's got the consulting, infrastructure and software expertise they need to push into the brave new era of tech. HP will say it offers the same, but it has the soup-to-nuts solution -- from consultants to apps to PCs and smartphones -- that's even more comprehensive. Both will battle other giants in the space, like Oracle (ORCL) and Dell (DELL).

Will both thrive? The financial markets measure a discrepancy. IBM is up 13% so far this year. HP is down 29%. IBM has a market cap of $236 billion. HP is valued at $36 billion, or less than a sixth of its rival's value.

But before you consider any of those statistics, consider the single metric that many people believe says more about a tech giant's future than anything. IBM has spent $18 billion in research and development over the last three years, or 6.0% of its revenue in that period. HP has spent $9 billion in the same period, or 2.5% of its revenue. To plan for the future may mean spending less on high-ticket acquisitions and more on research and development. As both companies steer toward a brighter tomorrow, that strategy seems one well worth betting on.

Michal Lev-Ram, writer 20 Sep, 2012

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Salesforce's major transformation

FORTUNE -- Salesforce has long been known for its cloud-based customer relationship management software for salespeople. That's why, after all, its ticker symbol is CRM.  But during a lengthy keynote speech at the company's annual Dreamforce conference on Wednesday, CEO Marc Benioff unveiled a slew of new products he hopes will be snapped up by HR and marketing teams, among other business groups.

Much of the new software is the product of recent acquisitions. Take Work.com, a feedback and performance review tool that was started by a small company called Rypple, which Salesforce acquired late last year. San Francisco-based Salesforce says Work.com will "liberate performance management from a top-down, once-a-year process into an integrated daily solution that makes a meaningful impact on business performance."

How exactly? By putting feedback and rewards capabilities within apps that employees and managers use regularly. (Of course, its success will at least partly depend on the company's ability to build Work.com into all sorts of apps, not just those made by Salesforce). Salesforce also announced the Marketing Cloud, which helps companies track and manage social media activity and is a combination of technology from recent acquisitions like Buddy Media and Radian6.

MORE: Intel wants to reinvent computing--again

Branching out from its core product isn't an option for Salesforce -- it's a necessity for the company to keep growing and keep investors happy, not to mention stave off increasing competition from larger enterprise players who are entering the cloud-based software space. At last year's Dreamforce Benioff pushed Chatter, his "Facebook for the enterprise." But it's clear Salesforce is ramping up its efforts to expand, and is making the necessary acquisitions to accelerate the process.

Of course, new products bring new competitors, and even though Salesforce has made a name for itself as the cloud-based CRM vendor, it's new to the hotly contested, so-called "human capital management" set of software tools used by HR departments. Meanwhile, large, traditional enterprise software companies like SAP (SAP) and Oracle (ORCL) have thrown billions -- not just millions -- of dollars on similar acquisitions.

There are also plenty of smaller, nimble competitors that Salesforce will be up against with Chatterbox, yet another new product that was officially announced this week. Chatterbox will allow customers to manage and share business files -- it's no surprise Salesforce is calling it the "Dropbox for the Enterprise." Several other players have already made headway in the file sharing business, like Box, which says it is being used in 120,000 companies (customers include AARP, Red Bull and P&G).

MORE: Can the Lumia smartphone save Nokia?

So what's next for Salesforce? Expect the company to expand its HR offerings with recruitment tools and other software. And expect more acquisitions and more attempts to push itself as a platform for developers, not just an application provider. Oh, and you can also expect Dreamforce to continue to be one of the most over-the-top technology conferences out there. Salesforce pulled out all the stops for this year's 90,000 attendees -- both MC Hammer and the Red Hot Chili Peppers performed.

Michal Lev-Ram, writer 20 Sep, 2012

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New Internet lobbying group takes on Big Media

FORTUNE -- The media industry has been lobbying Washington since before the Silent Film Era. The tech and Internet industries, which are increasingly pitted against Hollywood and the music business (mainly over piracy) have been slower to establish themselves on K Street.

That's been changing in recent years, and today marks the launch of the Internet Association, banding together such companies as Facebook (FB), Google (GOOG), Amazon (AMZN), eBay (EBAY) and several others to fight for what it calls "a free and innovative Internet."

There are good reasons for the industry's initial reluctance to plant a foothold in Washington: the commercial Internet was created largely by fast-moving, fast-growing companies often run by technolibertarian types and financed by venture capitalists who by and large felt no need for Washington's help and no desire to entangle themselves in politics. Unlike many new industries in earlier times, information technology and the Internet grew during a long period of deregulation, and government mostly left those industries alone (with certain notable exceptions.)

That's changing, with government now taking on issues such as intellectual property, antitrust, and taxation. At the same time, Silicon Valley -- in particular, the Internet industry -- has finally learned that it must counter the media industry's formidable political power with some power of its own.

Intellectual property is the new group's main concern, at least for the moment. Silicon Valley was spooked by the attempts to pass the Stop Online Privacy Act (or SOPA, in the House) and the Protect IP Act (or PIPA, in the Senate). Those bills were basically shouted down early this year by a public led by various interest groups. But it was considered a near-miss by a Hollywood that seems intent on imposing highly restrictive rules on Internet traffic through its dubious effort to fight piracy.

The group calls itself "an umbrella public policy organization dedicated to strengthening and protecting a free and innovative Internet." The association's CEO, Michael Beckerman said in a statement that the member companies "are all fierce competitors in the marketplace" that nevertheless "recognize the Internet needs a unified voice in Washington." The "future of the Internet is at stake," he said. Beckerman is a former staffer for the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees Internet and telecommunications policy.

The other companies in the group are: AOL (AOL), Expedia (EXPE), IAC (IACI), LinkedIn (LNKD), Monster Worldwide (MWW), Rackspace (RAX), salesforce.com,TripAdvisor (TRIP), Yahoo (YHOO) and Zynga (ZNGA). Notably absent are Apple (AAPL)  and Microsoft (MSFT).

Dan Mitchell, contributor 20 Sep, 2012

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How good is Amazon's new Kindle Fire really?

FORTUNE -- When the first Kindle Fire arrived last year, some critics and users were quick to judge. The hardware could have been faster and better designed, the software less spastic. And where were the volume buttons?

Fast-forward a year or so and there's a slew of new Kindles to buzz over. The first to arrive, the 7-inch Kindle Fire HD, is entirely new. Weighing in at 14.6 ounces, this tablet keeps that stealthy all-black scheme, but it's now wider and squatter. Instead of shrinking, the black borders around the screen are larger, some would say unnecessarily so. The corners and back are more rounded. That's mostly a good thing, as it's easier to hold for longer periods of time.

MORE: How Amazon can top the tablet market

Newer tablets seem to be adopting quad-core processors, but Amazon (AMZN) chose instead a dual-core Texas Instruments' CPU here, along with 16 GB of storage, 1GB of RAM, Bluetooth, a gyroscope, a new set of built-in Dolby Digital Plus audio speakers, and dual WiFi antennas that CEO Jeff Bezos says translates to faster download speeds and more consistent reception. The display has been streamlined to reduce glare.

We spent a week with the Kindle Fire HD in tow, and  found it to be a significant improvement over last year's version all-around. For the most part, it feels like the hardware has caught up with software. Apps, books, videos and other media opened faster. Images are brighter and sharper on this new display, though in most cases, you still won't be able to read comfortably in the sun. As for those Dolby speakers? They're the loudest we've ever heard on any tablet: lacking in bass, but sharp and clear.

Amazon's software, a heavily customized version of Google's (GOOG) Android operating system, still resembles a book shelf, with a carousel-like row of recently browsed media to swipe through. But in lieu of a bottom row of favorited media, the row is now context-sensitive, changing based on the piece of media at the forefront of the carousel. If a book is highlighted, then the row below reveals several other works "Customers Also Bought." It's smart -- certainly another way for Amazon to potentially boost its sales even more via recommendations -- but  keeping the ability to somehow pin your favorite apps to the homescreen would have been useful. And for those wondering, the newest version of Amazon's Silk Browser is reportedly 30% to 40% faster. Anecdotally, we noticed Web sites loading faster, but not as fast as Chrome on other Android tablets or on Apple's (AAPL) iPad.

MORE: 5 ways the Kindle can become a top tablet

Amazon's Kindle Fire tablet may be a big improvement on last year's model, but there are some issues holding it back. The display may be sharper and brighter, but the tablet didn't always respond to our touch. (Opening a book for instance, sometimes required two or three taps.) We also never reached the 11 hours of battery life Amazon has advertised -- in the real world, it was more like 8.5. And we wish Amazon would include a power adapter in the box. Instead, that's a $20 item owners have to buy separately, which shouldn't have to be the case.

There's also the question of what you're using this for. Is it, as Bezos recently said, "the best tablet at any price?" No. Google's Nexus 7 is lighter, priced similarly and better geared towards multitaskers, though it offers half the storage that Amazon does. And of course, if price isn't an issue and you don't mind the somewhat larger size, the iPad still can't be beat where the union of hardware and software is concerned. But if you're invested in the Amazon ecosystem, the Kindle Fire HD is one of the better mobile solutions for accessing it.

JP Mangalindan, Writer 20 Sep, 2012

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Apple's iOS 6 due for release at 1 p.m. Eastern, 10 a.m. Pacific

FORTUNE -- iOS 6, the newest version of Apple (AAPL) iPhone/iPad software platform, is scheduled to arrive today, Wednesday Sept. 19. The timetable below was posted on Twitter. Check it to see when software update will be released near you.

Click to enlarge.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt 19 Sep, 2012

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The verdict on Apple's new map app: Compared with Google Maps, it sucks

Apple's and Google's map apps. Source: Mashable

FORTUNE -- "Here's the thing," Daring Fireball's John Gruber wrote in May when 9to5Mac first reported that Apple (AAPL) was about to replace Google's (GOOG) iOS Map app with its own. "Apple's homegrown mapping data has to be great. Mapping is an essential phone feature. It's one of those handful of features that almost everyone with an iPhone uses, and often relies upon."

The centrality of mapping (second only to e-mail) seems to have slipped Gruber's mind when he wrote his glowing review of the iPhone 5 running iOS 6 -- the first version of Apple's smartphone platform to be issued with Apple's map app, rather than Google's, on the home screen.

Among the reviewers who do mention it, however, the verdict is pretty much unanimous: Compared with Google Maps, Apple's map app sucks.

The most biting comments come from Waze CEO Noam Bardin in an interview with Business Insider's Megan Rose Dickey.

Bardin, it must be said, has a pony in this race, since Apple partnered with both Waze and Tom Tom for turn-by-turn navigation data and seems to have relied more heavily on the latter. Still, you might expect Bardin to be rooting for his partner's app. It certainly doesn't sound that way:

"Apple went out and partnered with the weakest player," he told Dickey. "They're now coming out with the lowest, weakest data set and they're competing against Google, which has the highest data set. What's going to happen with the Apple maps, is that you're literally not going to find things. When you do find them, they might be in the wrong place or position geographically. And if you do have it, the route to it may not be the optimal route."

Google has said it is going to continue to make a native version of its map app for the iOS 6 -- albeit with ads and not pre-loaded on the home screen. It Apple approves the Google app, you should be able to download it -- for free -- from the App Store and, if you like, move it to the iPhone's home screen. You won't be able to get rid of the ads.

Philip Elmer-DeWitt 19 Sep, 2012

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Today in Tech: Microsoft hires TV exec to boost original content

The iPhone 5 reviewed; Yahoo giving shareholders $3.65 billion.

iPhone 5 review: Finally, the iPhone we've always wanted [CNET]

Well, guess what? Now it has 4G LTE and...well, maybe not a giant screen, but a larger screen. That's not all, though: the already great camera's been subtly improved, speakerphone and noise-canceling quality has been tweaked, and -- as always -- iOS 6 brings a host of other improvements, including baked-in turn-by-turn navigation, a smarter Siri, and Passbook, a location-aware digital wallet app for storing documents like gift cards, boarding passes, and tickets.

The question is: a full year later, is that enough? For me, it is. I don't want much more in my smartphone. Sure, I'd love a new magical technology to sink my teeth into, but not at the expense of being useful. Right now, I'm not sure what that technology would even be.

With Hollywood hire, Microsoft bolsters entertainment efforts [THE NEW YORK TIMES]

Ms. Tellem will oversee a Microsoft production studio based in Los Angeles that will create both traditional "linear" programming and interactive programming that fuses video and gamelike content, they said. She will report to Phil Spencer, the corporate vice president of Microsoft Studios, part of the Microsoft entertainment division that oversees the company's Xbox console.

Yahoo to give shareholders $3.65 billion, Mayer explains why in leaked memo [BUSINESS INSIDER]

Yahoo will be keeping $650 million.

"This outcome is terrific for Yahoo," writes Mayer.

"It generates liquidity to create substantial value for our shareholders, while retaining a meaningful amount in the company to invest in our future."

"Also, because we still own 23 percent of Alibaba's common stock, we have the opportunity to benefit from future upside when Alibaba IPOs."

Rethink Robotics Inc. introduced Tuesday a low-cost—and cute—robot named Baxter that can do such factory chores as picking parts off a conveyor belt, so long as they don't weigh more than five to 10 pounds. ... Boston-based Rethink, founded in 2008, said Baxter eliminates the need to hire specialist technicians. Rodney Brooks, chairman of Rethink, said most workers would be able to learn to operate Baxter within half an hour. Rethink touts the robot as appealing for small and midsize manufacturers that previously haven't been able to afford robots and lacked the expertise to program them.

While conventional wisdom may hold that YouTube videos are amateurish and unprofitable compared to television, Maker Studios is making inroads to prove that wrong

Maker is one of a phalanx of new web-video powers, joining Machinima, FullScreen and Big Frame in pioneering the field. They aid prominent YouTubers in production, marketing and merchandise, while also amassing networks of and selling advertising for other YouTube channels.

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JP Mangalindan, Writer 19 Sep, 2012

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Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/fortunebrainstormtech/~3/dZAg3ZkIKWc/
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