Apple’s CEO Tim Cook had some surprising things to say during his interview at the sold out D-Eleven conference. Cook pledged to open more of his company’s APIs to third party developers.

Apple’s current policies are well-known for being restrictive. Cook weighed in on the current wearable computing trend. Apple is more interested in wrist band devices with biometric sensors, than products like Google Glass, which according to Cook is unlikely to have broad-range appeal.

Cook refused to confirm the existence of the long rumored iWatch, but he didn’t deny its existence, either. Some analysts believe that an iWatch announcement will be made at Apple’s World Wide Developer’s Conference in a few weeks.

Youtube Getting Slower…On Purpose

A new slow-motion feature has amateur filmmakers everywhere excited about the future of Youtube’s lackluster editing suite.

Since its launch in 2005, Youtube has received several updates, but most of the changes affected only the user interface. Updates to its on-site editing tools have been few and far between. YouTube’s latest update gives the impression that the video portal is ready to  improve the site experience for video makers, as well.

The smooth slow motion feature may not be the most practical video editing tool, but it’s a welcome addition to YouTube’s basic editing options.

Intel Buyouts Inbound!

Intel’s new CEO Brian Krzanich has been hard at work, making his first acquisition only twelve days after moving in to the position. The chip maker announced that it bought the satellite navigation chip business unit of ST-Ericsson, which supplies chips for GPS navigation systems and mobile phones.

This sort of acquisition is important for filling out Intel’s mobile offerings. The move is said to complement its previous acquisition of the mobile chip business of the German chip outfit Infineon. It should also help Intel compete more completely against rivals like  Qualcomm, which already has strong GPS assets.

Moist Apples Cause Payout

In response to a class-action lawsuit, Apple has agreed to pay $53 Million to customers who were denied warranty coverage due to water damage. The warranties covered iPhones and iPads, which come with a technology that allows Apple employees to determine whether or not a device has come into contact with water.

According to court documents, Apple’s liquid damage policy required their employees to deny warranty coverage for any device if the indicator had been triggered.  The plaintiffs alleged that the indicators, which were manufactured by 3M, could be triggered by moisture or humidity during ordinary use.

Apple disagreed with the claim, but opted to settle, rather than have the case heard in court.

Why Compete? Reglatory Capture!

In the near future, Verizon’s version of the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be twice as fast as the iPhone 5 and the HTC One.  Samsung’s flagship smartphone is the first device to support the carrier’s Advanced Wireless Services spectrum, which will double the smartphone’s standard data speeds.

Verizon has slowly been buying and expanding its AWS airwaves to build its next-generation network. The expansion is expected to significantly increase the capacity of existing LTE networks, and allow supported devices, like the Galaxy S4, to access significantly faster speeds.

Discover Spotify Discover

Spotify, the Swedish streaming music provider, is launching a new recommendation feature called Discover. Though the recommendation feature already existed on the site, the new feature integrates your friend’s recommendations into a newsfeed made entirely of new stuff for users to listen to.

Like Pandora, Spotify evaluates multiple factors including your playlists and friends, and uses an algorithm to build virtual radio stations of songs you might already know. Discover will work similarly, but it will focus on new releases, new acquisitions, and content from partners like Songkick and Tunigo.

In addition to Discover, a new preview function allows users to fade in and out of music samples and bookmark them for later.  Most users will be able to try this function as well as the new Discover feature immediately on the web app.

From Fe to Au, Or Something Like That…

Modern day alchemists may have discovered a less expensive way to produce materials needed for consumer devices.

A team of scientists, including some from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Argonne National Laboratory, were successful in their efforts to turn cement into metal. The process is called electron trapping, and it converts liquid cement into liquid metal, which can then be used as a semi-conductor.

DOE physicist Chris Benmore spoke about the implications of their discovery, saying, “This new material has lots of applications, including thin-film resistors used in liquid-crystal displays.”

Previously, only metals have been able to transition to a metallic-glass form. Turning lead into gold, the original purpose of alchemy, has yet to be accomplished, but turning cement into metal is a significant scientific achievement that may prove to be equally profitable.

The FireFoxconn Tablet

Mozilla has announced that its partnering with Tiawanese device maker Foxconn to produce a new Firefox OS device.

Producing  iOS devices for Apple has made Foxconn one of the largest electronics manufacturers in the world. A weakening demand for the iPhone has left Foxconn with unused production capabilities. Partnering with Mozilla on a new product, with the goal of expanding into other markets is a smart strategic move, according to some analysts.

The device, which many suspect is a Firefox OS tablet, will be going after growing markets in South America, and Eastern and Southern Europe. Expect to see more information about the device at Mozilla’s confirmed product launch, set to take place on June Third.

Financial Reporting Just Got Faster

The FT is launching a new service called FastFT which will provide live commentary on market-moving news.  Being described as Twitter with context, FastFT hopes to serve up live commentary and up-to-the-minute contextualized reporting on significant market events.

The service will be free to subscribers, but access will also be available on a limited basis as part of the free eight articles per month that non-subscribers have access to.

FastFT will be monitored by a worldwide team of journalists, who will headline and summarize Tweet-like messages Twenty-Four hours a day, during the week, when the markets are open. Each story can be expanded to reveal additional information.

Though FastFT won’t replace existing financial reporting methods, it is sure to serve as a great accessory for market analysts who are always looking for new ways to consume content.

Skee-Ball, Skee!

Google has introduced another game to its Chrome Experiments division. It’s called Roll It and is essentially a skee ball game that you can control with your phone as you play on your computer.

To play, all you need to do is visit the same webpage on your android or iOS browser as you would on your computer. Once connected you use your phone in the same way you would use a Wii Remote, moving your phone in a rolling motion to roll a ball on screen.

Graphics are displayed on both screens providing an experience not usually seen on a mobile platform. This game is a follow up to another Experiment called Racer, which was revealed at Google I/O, and Super Sync Sports which was released earlier this year. The games takes advantage of HTML5 features like WebSockets, Canvas and CSS3.

With the market moving toward cloud based gaming, we can expect to see more of these types of games continue to rollout.

To keep up with this and much more news, don’t forget to watch us live and online on the Morning NewsDesk Show with Kristin Feledy.

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writing credit: Andrew E. Lowe