Michelle Maisto

The German government has announced that, in light of various threats to its networks, it is reorganizing its information and communication structures, which will include ending its contract with Verizon. The announcement was a clear indication that the practices of the National Security Agency (NSA) are impacting American technology companies’ profits—and credibility. Executives including Cisco […]

Livescribe 3 Smartpen Reimagines Note Taking for a Mobile World by Michelle Maisto Livescribe 3 Smartpens The Livescribe Echo (at the bottom of the image) was an early-model smartpen. The new Livescribe 3, above it, is more penlike. To turn it on, a user twists its textured center. The “eraser” tip at the bottom can […]

What if personal robots were as ubiquitous as smartphones? What if they were as affordable as smartphones and we could download apps to them to customize them. In the way that we think about coffee shops or offices without WiFi connections as deficient, in how many years will a home without a robot seem to […]

Nothing suggests a new Apple iPhone is coming like good deals on the latest model. T-Mobile on June 26 announced two of them. For the first time, customers will be able to pair an iPhone 5S with prepaid service when making a purchase at Apple stores. And, Costco customers, on a run for jumbo packs […]

Salesforce.com and Philips are, together, out to transform the health care industry, they announced June 26. Combining Philip’s expertise in medical technology and clinical applications and informatics with Salesforce.com’s know-how in enterprise cloud computing and customer engagement, the pair have created a cloud-based health care platform and two clinical applications, Philips eCareCoordinator and eCareCompanion. Both […]

Automakers continue to explore what connected technologies might make possible for drivers. Two such possibilities were introduced at Ford’s fourth annual Trend Conference in Michigan on June 25. One, 911 Assist, automatically calls for help after a crash, as well as offers first-responders potentially life-saving details; the other, Mobile Interior Imaging, which Ford is tinkering […]

The intended focus of Yahoo’s June 25 shareholders meeting was the company’s successes in 2013. CEO Marissa Mayer called it a year of “tremendous progress.” What the company’s vocal shareholders wanted to talk about, however, and what dominated the question periods, was the nomination—and election, during the meeting—of former Walmart CEO H. Lee Scott to […]

AT&T and DirecTV executives told tales of changing times, fast-advancing technologies and underserved Americans in rural areas, as they presented their case for a proposed merger before the U.S. House of Representatives Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform, Commercial and Antitrust Law June 24. After the morning’s hearing with the House (which all testimony that follows is […]

Dish Network has introduced its Wireless Joey system that it said will enable people to watch TV anywhere around their homes that they’d like. More compellingly, for some, it also prevents instances of having to run ugly wires, or arduously nailing down even not-ugly wires, all the way around a room, because the place where […]

Sprint hosted a press event in Chicago June 23 to—like T-Mobile did the week before in Seattle—talk up major improvements to its network and announce an offer to let consumers try it out for free. Sprint has undergone a “complete rip-and-replace overhaul” of its 3G network and has deployed 4G LTE in 471 markets, CEO […]