Samsung to Tap Silicon Valley Innovation in Post-PC Era

Samsung disclosed details this week regarding its planned Silicon Valley innovation center, which will help build partnerships between entrepreneurs and the company’s nine product divisions to develop new product ideas. The center is also expected to encourage expansion of the company’s mergers and acquisitions strategy by determining which companies and emerging technologies can help fill existing product gaps. Continue reading Samsung to Tap Silicon Valley Innovation in Post-PC Era

Opinion: The Pitfalls of Wearing Google Glasses in Public

While Google Glasses have generated a lot of media attention, we don’t know if the technology will achieve a level of social acceptability. Alexis Madrigal of The Atlantic discusses the tech savvy town of San Francisco and what happened when two people walked into a bar wearing the new device. Unlike a phone, Google Glasses are not hidden in your pocket or stored at home — they are on your face, right out in the open. Are people ready for this? Continue reading Opinion: The Pitfalls of Wearing Google Glasses in Public

Five Ways Big Companies are Effectively Using Gamification

According to M2 Research, companies will be spending around $2 billion on gamification services by 2015. “By that same point, Gartner Group’s Brian Burke forecasts that 70 percent of the Global 2000 will employ gamification techniques, but that 80 percent of those projects will fail unless they’re designed thoughtfully,” writes GigaOM. Continue reading Five Ways Big Companies are Effectively Using Gamification

MPAA Chief: Hollywood and Silicon Valley Can Fight Piracy Together

MPAA Chairman and CEO Chris Dodd is calling for Hollywood and Silicon Valley to join together against piracy. Dodd spoke at the Content Protection Summit in Los Angeles and criticized the idea that piracy debate is just a two-sided choice between free speech or copyright protection.

“Hollywood and Silicon Valley have more in common than most people realize or are willing to acknowledge,” he said. “Not only does Hollywood work closely with Silicon Valley to create and promote films; Hollywood film and television creators are tech companies.”

“They celebrate innovation through the world’s most cutting-edge content, and they embrace technology as imperative to the success of the creators in their community,” he added.

With the Protect IP Act and Stop Online Piracy Act, Hollywood and Silicon Valley were pitted against each other, but Dodd emphasized the need “to present a united front to deal with preventing theft of intellectual property,” Variety reports. He did not, however, advocate for any new legislation.

“We can have it both ways,” he said. “We can have an Internet that works for everyone. And in order to continue providing the world’s greatest content, we must protect the rights of our creators so they can produce for their audiences and also profit from their work.”

Corporate Shuffle: Meg Whitman Has Big Plans to Turn Things Around at HP

  • Just after taking over the reigns at Hewlett-Packard last week, Meg Whitman spoke with Kara Swisher of All Things D about her initial plans regarding her new role.
  • As HP’s new CEO, Whitman plans to focus on four major issues: meeting Wall Street’s expectations for HP over the next 45 days, integrating HP’s $10 billion acquisition of Autonomy into the company, making a decision whether to keep or spin off the Personal Systems Group (which includes HP’s consumer PC business), and meeting and getting to know HP’s employees.
  • “I took this job, because HP really matters to Silicon Valley, to California, to this country and to the world,” said Whitman. “This is an icon and the place where the initial spark to create Silicon Valley came from and I am resolved to restore it to its rightful place… I have the skills to do that.”
  • Whitman takes over for former CEO Leo Apotheker. According to All Things D, “the troubled tech giant has had a lot of leaders — seven CEOs since 1999.”