Gadgetory

I'm Bridget Carey but now on google plus I don't have to be Bridget Carey this is your scene that update google is reversing its stance on using real names in Google+ accounts ever since Google+ launched 2011 it was a requirement to use your real name on the service but in a blog post google announced that it had a change of heart and it now lets you use a pseudonym for a handle instead of your real name in order to compete with facebook google wanted to create a community of real people but real names became problematic when google+ began integrating with other services like YouTube or some established accounts don't use real names the policy became a divisive issue on one hand real names help cut down on nasty comments and trolling but lately privacy is a growing concern with Facebook collecting data on us and reports of NSA tracking but whatever your philosophy Google's doing this to get more users Apple is also having a change of philosophy it's now working with IBM a company that was once its biggest rival under Steve Jobs Apple wants to work with IBM to help make more business software on the iphone and ipad of course many people already use their iPhones and iPads for work but this would bring Apple to the next level for businesses by creating apps that are just for specific industries like retail health banking and travel now this partnership is another blow to blackberry but blackberry hasn't given up yet it's announced that it will have its own voice controlled assistant just like Siri and Cortana but it won't have a name it's just called blackberry assistant and you'll be able to find it on the blackberry 10.3 operating system update which will also come loaded in the new square-shaped blackberry passport phone the passport has a physical keyboard and it's coming out in September BlackBerry's assistant can do some typical tricks like setting reminders about meetings or reading your email messages aloud which could be helpful when you're driving we'll have to wait closer to launch to get a demo with more examples of how it works and looking ahead we may soon hear something from Amazon about a new ebook subscription service some test pages leaked online Wednesday were quickly removed after it was noticed by some users on Kindle message boards and soon after reported by GigaOM on the test page amazon calls it Kindle unlimited and for ten dollars a month kindle owners get unlimited access to more than 600,000 book titles and thousands of audiobooks this would compete with some existing services by scribd and oyster which are also like a Netflix for books that your tech news update you can get more details on these stories at cnet com and you can always stay updated by following along on Twitter from our studios in New York I'm Bridget Carey