Barnes & Noble Adds Google Play Store To the Nook
An anonymous reader writes "When Barnes & Noble first released its Nook tablets, one of the big problems with the devices was that their custom version of Android only had access to the Barnes & Noble app store. They took the 'walled garden' approach, preventing users from accessing Google Play, which had a much larger selection of software and many more options when it came to free apps. Now, the company is reversing that decision. A software update is being rolled out to give the devices access to Google Play. 'The bottom line: if something's available for Android, it's now available for Nook, assuming it's compatible from a technical standpoint. Among other things, that means you'll be able to install Amazon's Kindle app on a Nook and read books you've purchased from Amazon. For the first time, the notion of someone with a heavy investment in Kindle books buying a Nook doesn't sound completely impractical.' The company is gambling that the devices' increased utility will make up for the ...
amazon
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google
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kindle
noble
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notion
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Through Dirt-Cheap Genetic Testing, Counsyl Is Pioneering A New Bioinformatics Wave
For cynics who say that Silicon Valley has become too mired in photo-sharing apps and addictive games, take a 15-minute drive to South San Francisco. In a non-descript lab is a company that may be paving the way for the Valley’s next wave of disruptive startups, which marry software with data from the human genome. Counsyl is doing genetic tests that look for more than 400 mutations and at least 100 genetic disorders for parents who are planning children. At $599 total, or $99 with insurance, their tests cost a fraction of standard ones, which often only look for a single condition like cystic fibrosis, and run anywhere from $100 to $500. A full panel of tests for Ashkenazi Jews, a minority famously at risk for various genetic conditions, can run about $4,000 to $5,000 from companies like Quest Diagnostics. Founded six years ago, Counsyl has grown to handle carrier screening for 2.5 percent of all births in the U.S. To ramp up, Counsyl has quietly taken in roughly $65 million in funding ...
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san francisco
scientists
seneca
silicon valley
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Foursquare Redesigns Its Venue Pages For The Web To Capitalize On Its 50M Monthly Unique Visitors
Foursquare recently raised another round of funding, with the announcement coming just a few days after it released its latest iOS app redesign. Today, the company has launched redesigned venue pages, to fit in with what they did last year on the web with its homepage, focusing on explore and discover functionality. The changes are to capitalize on the traffic that Foursquare gets from its now #1 referrer on the web, Google, which traffic has doubled from over the past year. This is an important play for Foursquare, as its competing with Google’s own Local product, Yelp….and it seems like Facebook too, after its redesign today for local business pages. Foursquare’s lead engineer for the web, Mike Singleton, told me that the site now gets over 50M unique visitors on the web, which is 17M more than actually use its app. That means that Foursquare is quietly breaking through as a place for information about venues, its most prized asset: People are coming from Google for different reasons, ...
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Google Makes Mobile Search Faster, Adds Expandable Sitelinks And Experimental Quick View Cards For Wikipedia Articles
Today, Google has introduced a few new features for when you’re searching on the go. The ability to find the information that you want on the fly is something that is required for mobile searching and the company continues to tweak its result pages to help you get to the details that you need to make decisions or perform another search or task. All of these tweaks are speeding up mobile search, 30% over the last 12 months, the company says. With Quick links and Quick view, that 30% might increase. An example of the new features, starting with “Quick links”, you’ll find “In Theaters” underneath a search result for say, Rotten Tomatoes, when you’re looking for movie reviews. The links expand and then give you the information that you need right away. From those quick views, you can then find a list of movies in a theater near you. By taking out a few extra steps of tapping, Google wants to send you on your way happy and satisfied. Along with those Quick links, Google is experimenting ...
ability
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decision
english
google
information
jurassic
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rotten
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sitelinks
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wikipedia
YC-Backed Heap Takes On Google With Their “Modern Take On Analytics”
In a startup's never-ending battle for new users, data is king. When the decision to put that shiny signup button down here vs. up there can mean the difference between 40% of new visitors signing up instead of 20%, good data analysis can be what puts food on the table. YC-backed analytics service Heap wants to make analytics better. They want to help you to code less, but grow more.
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