We’ve all the heard the highly publicized recent tale about an unsuspecting wireless subscriber who was shocked to receive a six-figure mobile phone bill that included tens of thousands of dollars in international roaming charges. While the story made sensational news and is certainly an extreme example, bill shock can happen both domestically and internationally [...]

Millions of Microsoft customers may soon be able to use their smartphones for virtual meetings, collaborating remotely via telepresence. Polycom is making its telepresence solution part of Microsoft’s Lync unified communication platform, extending a partnership that is already a key part of Polycom’s business.

With Americans spending more time using smartphone apps than browsing the Web, application developers often have their pick of job offers — especially if they develop for the Android operating system. But while employers are increasingly searching for Android developers, most full-time app developers are still focusing on iOS, acccording to the latest report from [...]

Investments in software startups dominated the venture capital landscape in the third quarter of 2011, according to data from Thomson Reuters compiled in the quarterly MoneyTree Report. Venture capitalists invested $2 billion in the software industry during the third quarter, up 23% from the previous quarter. Investment declined slightly in every other sector tracked by [...]

Microsoft says it is focused on helping developers build the next generation of client applications that are “tethered to a back-end cloud,” and app developers here in Austin are paying close attention. Microsoft is calling its new Windows Server 8 “the cloud-optimized server operating system.” The company says Windows Server 8 builds on its experience [...]

Residents of five Central Texas counties received phone calls this weekend telling them to evacuate their homes ahead of uncontained wildfires. The calls came from the Emergency Notification System of the Capital Area Council of Governments (CAPCOG). Most of the calls came on landlines, which are registered automatically with CAPCOG through the counties’ 911 databases. [...]

Austin American Statesman | August 25, 2011 | Lori Hawkins LibreDigital Inc., the fast-growing digital content distribution provider, will stay in Austin and expand here after its recent acquisition by Chicago publishing giant RR Donnelley & Sons Inc. …… Read full article here via Austin American Statesman

Bazaarvoice | August 26, 2011 | Press Release Bazaarvoice, Inc. announced today that it has filed a registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission relating to a proposed initial public offering of shares of its common stock. The shares will be offered by Bazaarvoice and certain of its stockholders. Morgan Stanley & Co. [...]

Cupertino, Calif.-based Apple Inc. (APPL) and its iPad 2 is still the most popular tablet around the globe, even after it’s been on the shelves for four months. In the last couple of weeks, Apple has finally chipped away at a vast backlog of orders that has caught up to demand and is shipping tablets [...]

Austin-based Freescale Semiconductor Inc. (FSL) announced a trio of new members to the company’s i.MX50 product family, placing a big bet on the thriving eReader device market while more powerful tablet computers threaten to unseat eReaders.   The family of i.MX50 chips launched in 2010 with the i.MX508, a SoC, or system-on-chip design that combines [...]