Microsoft and Dropbox announced a surprise office integration partnership, LG and Google officially become BFFs for the next 10 years, the real reason the Jobs monument was torn down.

Plus our Kickstarter of the week & more!

Direct Download:

MP3 Audio | OGG Audio | Video | HD Video | Torrent | YouTube

RSS Feeds:

MP3 Feed | OGG Feed | iTunes Feed | Video Feed | Torrent Feed

Become a supporter on Patreon:

Show Notes:

Dropbox and Microsoft form surprise partnership for Office integration | The Verge

Microsoft and Dropbox are teaming up today to more closely integrate Dropbox into Office. The surprise partnership will benefit Dropbox users who use Office across desktop, mobile, and the web as Microsoft’s productivity suite will soon become the standard way to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored on Dropbox storage.

Dropbox is also adding options to its own mobile apps to push its users over to Microsoft Office to edit documents. If you’re on a mobile device that doesn’t have Office installed then you’ll be prompted to download the apps to edit, and any changes will sync back directly to Dropbox seamlessly, just as you’d expect.

In the first half of 2015 Dropbox is planning to support Office Online directly from its web app. Editing for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents will be managed through Microsoft’s Office Web Apps

Google and LG will license each other’s patents for the next decade

Samsung isn’t the only Android device maker getting cozy with Google’s patents, apparently. LG has just entered into a cross-licensing deal with Google that will let the two companies use each other’s patents (including new ones) for the next 10 years. The two sides are coy about just why they’ve forged the long-term pact, although there are few possibilities. For a start, one or both sides may simply want to borrow the other’s features — a blanket agreement eliminates the chances of lawsuits and simplifies the licensing process. There’s also a chance that Google is using the deal to guarantee that LG won’t stray too far from the official Android strategy.

The real reason Russians tore down Steve Jobs’ monument

Steve Jobs’ monument in Russia was torn down the day after CEO Tim Cook opened up about being gay last week. The incident was immediately blamed on homophobic Russians and the country’s anti-gay laws, but the school where the monument was destroyed, says that’s not actually what happened.

School officials told Russian news outlets today that the iPhone statue was removed for a reason any Apple fan can relate to: its screen was broken.

In fact, the press service for the Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies insists that it was actually notified that the statue was going to be removed the day before Tim Cook came out publicly, because its screen sensor was faulty.

Students at the college also confirmed that the giant iPhone statue wasn’t working properly, and that its removal wasn’t a result of the country’s anti-gay laws that ban promoting “non-traditional sexual relationships” to people under age 18.

Potential class action over Apple Pay launched against CVS, Rite Aid

A law firm is now looking into filing a class action suit against retailers that have blocked Apple Pay. If filed, the suit targets both CVS and Rite Aid, neither of which are Apple Pay partners and both had subsequently blocked Apple Pay from working within their respective stores. The law firm of Schubert Jonkheer & Kolbe are now looking into whether or not the actions of CVS, Rite Aid, and other Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) members may be violating antitrust laws.

KICKSTATER OF THE WEEK: Lumera: transform your camera into the smartest one by Lumera Labs — Kickstarter

Lumera comes with a built-in dual wireless connection using Bluetooth low energy to remotely control camera parameters and saving battery mode, and WiFi for video live view and fast image/video transfer.

With Lumera Android-iOS App, you will be able to:

• Wirelessly capture images and videos.
• Remotely view and edit camera parameters like shutter speed, ISO, focus and zoom area, white balance, drive mode, aperture, image quality and format and more features to come.
• Wirelessly stream live view to your iOS or Android device.
• Setup timelapses from your smartphone.
• Tag GPS location to your photos, when you need to.

Dropbox and Microsoft form surprise partnership for Office integration | The Verge

Microsoft and Dropbox are teaming up today to more closely integrate Dropbox into Office. The surprise partnership will benefit Dropbox users who use Office across desktop, mobile, and the web as Microsoft’s productivity suite will soon become the standard way to edit Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files stored on Dropbox storage.

Dropbox is also adding options to its own mobile apps to push its users over to Microsoft Office to edit documents. If you’re on a mobile device that doesn’t have Office installed then you’ll be prompted to download the apps to edit, and any changes will sync back directly to Dropbox seamlessly, just as you’d expect.

In the first half of 2015 Dropbox is planning to support Office Online directly from its web app. Editing for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents will be managed through Microsoft’s Office Web Apps

Google and LG will license each other’s patents for the next decade

Samsung isn’t the only Android device maker getting cozy with Google’s patents, apparently. LG has just entered into a cross-licensing deal with Google that will let the two companies use each other’s patents (including new ones) for the next 10 years. The two sides are coy about just why they’ve forged the long-term pact, although there are few possibilities. For a start, one or both sides may simply want to borrow the other’s features — a blanket agreement eliminates the chances of lawsuits and simplifies the licensing process. There’s also a chance that Google is using the deal to guarantee that LG won’t stray too far from the official Android strategy.

The real reason Russians tore down Steve Jobs’ monument

Steve Jobs’ monument in Russia was torn down the day after CEO Tim Cook opened up about being gay last week. The incident was immediately blamed on homophobic Russians and the country’s anti-gay laws, but the school where the monument was destroyed, says that’s not actually what happened.

School officials told Russian news outlets today that the iPhone statue was removed for a reason any Apple fan can relate to: its screen was broken.

In fact, the press service for the Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies insists that it was actually notified that the statue was going to be removed the day before Tim Cook came out publicly, because its screen sensor was faulty.

Students at the college also confirmed that the giant iPhone statue wasn’t working properly, and that its removal wasn’t a result of the country’s anti-gay laws that ban promoting “non-traditional sexual relationships” to people under age 18.

Potential class action over Apple Pay launched against CVS, Rite Aid

A law firm is now looking into filing a class action suit against retailers that have blocked Apple Pay. If filed, the suit targets both CVS and Rite Aid, neither of which are Apple Pay partners and both had subsequently blocked Apple Pay from working within their respective stores. The law firm of Schubert Jonkheer & Kolbe are now looking into whether or not the actions of CVS, Rite Aid, and other Merchant Customer Exchange (MCX) members may be violating antitrust laws.

KICKSTATER OF THE WEEK: Lumera: transform your camera into the smartest one by Lumera Labs — Kickstarter

Lumera comes with a built-in dual wireless connection using Bluetooth low energy to remotely control camera parameters and saving battery mode, and WiFi for video live view and fast image/video transfer.

With Lumera Android-iOS App, you will be able to:

• Wirelessly capture images and videos.
• Remotely view and edit camera parameters like shutter speed, ISO, focus and zoom area, white balance, drive mode, aperture, image quality and format and more features to come.
• Wirelessly stream live view to your iOS or Android device.
• Setup timelapses from your smartphone.
• Tag GPS location to your photos, when you need to.