Cunning NYC

The book stores are fighting. Barnes & Noble, the American Booksellers Association, IndieCommerce, and Canadian bookseller Indigo have announced a boycott on all Amazon published titles. Amazon has taken steps to engage in exclusive deals with publishers and authors, prohibiting other booksellers from selling titles in their stores. I’d cry foul, too.

Sources: http://bit.ly/xiDwZf  http://tnw.co/wr4ZXt  http://bit.ly/yYv3oP 

Amazon and brick & mortar?! This time with Google and Microsoft. The brick and mortar is taking the online offline again. Google opened its first physical location in Australia with an Android themed retail store. Microsoft is planning to open four new stores in the coming months, with a goal of 75 within two years. And finally Amazon, with its growing list of retail friends, is planning a boutique location in Seattle. The store will carry e-readers and accessories, as well as Amazon Exclusive (its publishing platform) titles. 

Source: http://vrge.co/z5BvbV

Did you know there are over 750 public government datasets available for use? 2011 was the year of the API, as the number of publicly available government APIs quintupled. Gilt Groupe recently released its first public API as well, adding to the most popular API category of ‘internet and social’. Similar to the race to develop company websites in the 90s, and the more recent splattering of unfounded brand social channel creation, the API is becoming the new competitive asset. If your company doesn’t have an API, you’re falling behind.

Source: http://tnw.co/zfYmYW

The central bank of Hungary is turning old monetary notes into briquettes that are sent to humanitarian organizations for heating. It takes about five million forints ($22K) to make a single one-kilogram briquette. The bank has burned around 200 billion forints ($913 million) thus far.

Source: http://read.bi/xOolS9

You know you’re in trouble when Halliburton jumps ship. The energy services company recently switched to every creative’s favorite mobile tool. RIM is still holding out for BlackBerry 10, which they hope will help the company compete with Apple and Google.

Source: http://nyti.ms/zgPyER

You may have noticed a recent brief burst of posts coming from our feed. This is the beginning of a new feature here on the Cunning Tumblr.

What began as a monthly inter-office peek inside my Google Reader feed is now an external series of presentations. Click on the ‘Reports’ tab above to digest these presentation recaps as individual posts (PDF versions of the original formatted presentations will be posted soon).

The topics usually cover what’s newsworthy in the tech and web space, with a sprinkling of business and science, and ends with a How To section on some new social tool that all the kids are talking about. It’s like a Lunch and Learn from the safety and comfort of your own chair (and your own lunch). 

Enjoy!

MIT has announced its MITx initiative, the first truly free college education program. MITx, scheduled launch in prototype phase in spring 2012, will provide free MIT level courses to anyone in the world, regardless of academic background. A successful completion of the program awards an MITx certificate. The progress and successful of the program will be a study for resident MIT students, with the eventual hopes of providing the framework to other universities. 

(Source: onforb.es)

The battle for detailed mapping has begun, and Google, with its head start on indoor positioning, is leading the pack. Other competitors include Nokia, Microsoft, Qualcomm and RIM. While Google is relying on cellular antennae and WiFi hotspots, other organizations are experimenting with gyroscopes, compasses, and movement tracking (analyzing location based on distance from a known location, such as a door to a building). The rollout of interior mapping from Google is available in several major US airports and in partnership with over 25 retailers.

(Source: onforb.es)

IFTTT is the duct tape of the web. Following the format of a material conditional, If This Then That allows the user to set up triggers and tasks for 39 different media channels. The large buttons and simple layout make ‘programming your web’ a breeze. For example, if I star an article in Google Reader, it is automatically sent to Instapaper where I can read it later. IFTTT is positioned to be a major player in the personalized web space, acting as an assistant and streamlining the user experience. The site just raised $1.5M in its first seed round.

http://ifttt.com

(Source: tcrn.ch)

RIM isn’t going away yet. However, software delays and internal ‘pivots’ continue to push the Canadian company further behind the pack. According to the Financial Post, RIM is conducting an internal review of its corporate board structure and may be replacing co-founders Mike Lazardis and Jim Balsillie. On the product development front, a failed Porsche-designed smartphone caused share prices to to take a dive, putting the overall RIM value below that of the Apple App Store. However, RIM is putting up a fight with the announcement of their BBX (BlackBerry 10) operating system and the incredibly sexy BlackBerry London (pictured above). This fight isn’t without its hiccups, such as an unfortunate delay in chip development that has pushed back BBX and London to late 2012. 

(Source: nyti.ms)

Following in the footsteps of the DHL Facebook App Social Memories, Scribr looks to publish anything that has been a part of your digital life. Ever. Users are invited to connect Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare, Flickr, and Tumblr to the publishing service, then edit, omit, embellish how they see fit. It’s described as an online journal service first and foremost, but, when finished, can be printed in a large format color book. Scribr will even send each user an email at the end of the day asking how the day went, and will record the response on the appropriate page.