It was a big week for tech/geek/social media-ites replete with billion dollar deals, stock splits and wearable technology. Here’s a few highlights from this past week…
Facebook Does a Photo Flashback
Social media giant Facebook purchased the groovy picture app Instagram for a few bucks: $1 billion to be exact.
Some were not so impressed with the merger:
Additionally, Instagram recently made their app available to the Android platform whereas it was previously only available to iPhone users.
According The Washington Post, the Android version has already been downloaded over 5 million times. That’s a lot of Toaster and X-pro II pics of brunch, fingernails, and cuddly animals.
Wearable Tech
Last week Google’s “Project Glass” made it’s debut (and will also most likely be available ), and this week ushered forth a smart little device called Pebble: the E-Paper Watch.
If you’ve ever got your phone out of your pocket just to:
Check the time.
Change the song.
Read an text.
Check your pace on a jog or bike ride.
Then you might want The Pebble.
The Pebble is a gadgeteer’s dream, and apparently the demand is high. The Kickstarter goal was set at $100,000, yet at the time of the publication there is over $1.4 million pledged.
The more I write about it and watch this video, the more I want one.
Google Gets the Ax
Later in the week, after reporting 61% net increases for first quarter earnings, Google announced it will be splitting its stock for current stockholders.
Under the plan, expected to win approval in June, all current stockholders would get one share of the new Class C stock for each share they now own. This effectively splits Google’s stock price in half. Source: BARBARA ORTUTAY AP Technology Writer
By breaking their stock in two, Google hopes to make their pricey stock (currently over $650 per share) more appealing and affordable.
