BrandsMart USA opens Sony store within a store concept
BrandsMart USA and Sony Electronics Inc. have collaborated to open a showroom just for Sony products inside a Miami store. The electronics retailer is celebrating the first “store within a store” concept with Sony this weekend at its north Miami location in 167th Street. Unlike the many other brands carried in the store, the specially […]
Cloud music is still the future for Apple, Amazon — really
Given recent headlines about cloud music, you might be forgiven for thinking that the feature is huge with consumers. Word came Monday that Apple has finally caught up to Google and Amazon and begun to stream songs from the company’s cloud. The following day, CNET broke news that Amazon is very close to reaching agreements […]
Wind turbines to spin at Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach
Wind energy is coming to South Florida’s hospitality industry. The Hilton Fort Lauderdale Beach Resort is installing wind turbines to make some of its own electricity and to attract more guests and conventions that seek out hotels with eco-friendly features. The hotel plans to spend more than $500,000 to erect six turbines — each roughly […]
iOS 6 Passbook vs. Google Wallet
Apple’s Passbook will beat Google Wallet by killing the whole mobile-payment game. Sorry, Google Wallet fans, but Apple may have just pulled the mobile-payment rug from under Android’s feet. In signature Apple fashion, the new iOS 6 Passbook app takes a shockingly simple approach, which is just why it’ll prove a hit. Google Wallet’s dilemma […]
Dutch bank hit with record fine for passing money through U.S. financial entities on behalf of Cuban and Iranian clients
In the largest fine ever assessed against a financial institution for violating U.S. sanctions on Cuba and Iran, Netherlands-based ING Bank will pay $619 million to the U.S. government, the Justice Department announced Tuesday. ING agreed to pay the fine for secretly moving more than $2 billion through U.S. financial institutions in 20,000 transactions from […]
Here comes the greatest Internet landgrab in history
Frank Schilling made his fortune in the aftermath of the dot-com bust, buying up thousands of domain names others didn’t want. He kept at it, aggressively building a portfolio of more than 320,000 domains that, through a combination of ads and outright sales, have made Schilling a decamillionaire many times over. Now the 43-year-old domainer […]
Isle hangs in there
Their largest competitor just unveiled a $150 million expansion, which might make some casino managers want to fold. But the Isle Casino & Racing in Pompano Beach has tried a different approach: They doubled down. Something must be working. The casino’s slot revenues — their main income source — are up about 10 percent year-over-year […]
Apple draws up battle strategy against Google at WWDC
They are classic “frienemies,” collaborating when the interest is mutual and going for the other’s jugular when the opportunity presents itself. So it was that on Monday Apple made clear that it’s willing to cut ties with Google if that’s what it takes to move its own agenda forward. Among the product and technology announcements […]
Guy Harvey Outpost hotel brand starts up in Florida
Will fans of Fort Lauderdale-based marine artist and conservationist Guy Harvey stay at waterfront hotels and inns that bear his name? That’s the question analysts are asking as the Guy Harvey Outpost brand launches its first Florida resort this summer: the 211-room TradeWinds Sandpiper Hotel and Suites on St. Pete Beach. Harvey, 56, who was […]
LinkedIn acknowledges security breach, asks users to change password
The professional social network LinkedIn said Wednesday some of its members’ passwords were stolen after reports said more than 6.4 million accounts were breached. “We can confirm that some of the passwords that were compromised correspond to LinkedIn accounts. We are continuing to investigate this situation,” LinkedIn director Vicente Silveira said in a blog post. […]
These entrepreneurs aim higher than the bottom line
South Florida’s social entrepreneurs use business methods to improve education, environment and living conditions. Amid South Florida’s flashy consumerism wave, a vastly different breed of entrepreneur — aimed at solving social problems — is quietly gaining momentum. Take Navroze Mehta and his daughter Sonali Mehta-Rao, who became increasingly aware that master craftsmen in India were […]
Internet switches to IPv6, Trillions of new net addresses now possible
A new Internet standard giving the global network more room to grow came into effect Wednesday, a move that users probably won’t notice. The switch occurred at 0001 GMT Wednesday, when Internet operators switched to a new standard called IPv6 that allows for trillions of “IP” numbers or addresses, up from the current 4.3 billion. […]
South Florida’s B hotel chain to expand in Orlando and downtown Miami
Weston-based B Hotels & Resorts is expanding into Orlando and downtown Miami. The chain will place its name on two existing hotels that will be renovated to meet B standards. The downtown Miami operation will be the first for the chain’s b2 line, which offers more limited services than B resorts, much like Courtyard by […]
Intel open to putting Windows Phone on its chips
Intel has opened the door to potentially supporting Microsoft’s Windows Phone operating system on its chips, according to a report by Computer World today. Intel is taking a wait-and-see approach to the Windows Phone platform, which has won some critical praise but limited commercial success. Instead, the company is largely betting on the continued success […]
Heat’s Miller to auction Broward mansion
Miami Heat forward Mike Miller plans to auction his oceanfront mansion to the highest bidder. Miller listed the six-bedroom home in the Hillsboro Shores community for $9 million in January. A handful of buyers came forward but didn’t think he was serious about selling, said Trayor Lesnock, president of Platinum Luxury Auctions. So he and […]
Nano-SIM design gets green light — but did Apple win?
According to ETSI, it has finally come to an agreement on the Nano-SIM standard. The only issue is, it didn’t say which company won. The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) announced today that its committee has come to an agreement on the Nano-SIM standard. There’s just one issue: the organization didn’t say which technology was […]
RIM promotes Playbook tablet in South Florida
Maybe you’ve heard that Research in Motion, the maker of Blackberry mobile devices, has updated its Playbook tablet to rival the iPad. Or maybe you haven’t, which is one of the company’s biggest challenges today: getting the word out. People think of RIM as limited to business Blackberry handsets, not consumer products. “That’s a problem,” […]
Judge says 37 Oracle APIs are not copyrightable
In a ruling in the Oracle vs. Google case, a San Francisco district court judge says 37 of Oracle’s APIs are not copyrightable. Oracle plans to appeal the ruling. The structure, sequence, and organization of the 37 Java APIs at question in the Oracle v. Google case are not copyrightable, Judge William Alsup of the […]
South Florida helping state’s economic recovery, economist says
Florida’s economy has gained momentum in the past year, with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach counties helping the state on its slow trek to recovering from the devastating Great Recession, according to an analysis released Friday by the Wells Fargo Economic Group. “All indications point to stronger gains this year,” Wells Fargo senior economist Mark […]
HP boffins create net-zero energy data center
Farmers make hay when the sun shines, and maybe data centers should crunch data and do the bulk of their work then, too. That’s what the techies at HP Labs, who have been marrying renewable energy and data centers together in a testbed, are beginning to think. The HP boffins have managed to talk at […]