Tech 2.0 for Thursday, February 28, 2013

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Contributor: Matt Davenport

Email: mdavenport@kpvi.com

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Published: 2/28 1:32 pm

Updated: 2/28 1:40 pm

jrinella

Sergey Brin- smartphones are "emasculating." "You're standing around and just rubbing this featureless piece of glass," Ha! #NotDoingItRight

Feb 28th, 2013 at 1:39pm

Zoeytrope

Smart Phones Are “Emasculating,” Says Man With Ridiculous Piece of Plastic Strapped To Head http://t.co/dwwZkX77nv

Feb 27th, 2013 at 2:42pm

wired

Google Glass will help you avoid the "emasculating" act of compulsive smartphone checking, says Sergey Brin. http://t.co/RhGSeLl0hm

Feb 27th, 2013 at 2:15pm

Not only are smartphones actively becoming smarter, they're getting tougher too. South Korean manufacturer Samsung has been tightening security on the Google Android software for its smartphones. The new Android would be in line for the updated software. It would protect phones from Malware, a software used by hackers to steal sensitive information from other's phones. The new phone and software are expected to be introduced March 14.

Google's chief financial officer says the company plans to cling to its steadily growing stash of cash to pay for potential acquisitions and other investments that could boost the Internet search leader's profits. Patrick Pichette explained Google Inc.'s rationale for holding on to its $48 billion in cash in response to a question posed Thursday at a Morgan Stanley technology conference. The money-management policies of publicly traded companies are getting more attention as more firms hoard huge amounts of cash instead of introducing or increasing dividends to reward stockholders. Apple Inc., the world's most valuable company, is currently under the most scrutiny because it holds $137 billion in cash. Pichette says Google wants to have plenty of cash so it can "pounce" on acquisition opportunities. He didn't identify potential targets.

Apple says people have downloaded more than one billion items from iTunes U, which features free books, lectures and other information from schools, libraries and museums around the world. Apple Inc. said Thursday that there are now single iTunes U courses with more than 250,000 students enrolled in them. Eddy Cue, senior vice president of Internet software and services, calls this a "phenomenal shift in the way we teach and learn." Apple says more than 1,200 universities and 1,200 K-12 schools host courses on iTunes U. Stanford University in Palo Alto, Calif., and The Open University, an online learning center based in the U.K., each had more than 60 million pieces of content downloaded. More than 60 percent of the iTunes U app downloads are outside the U.S.