Articles by Frank Catalano

Frank Catalano (@FrankCatalano) is a veteran tech strategist. He brings a long history in both traditional and digital media to his reporting and analysis. His contributions have covered education technology, culture, science fiction, the arts, and the confluence of media & technology.

Turning Steve Jobs’ life into opera: Balancing man, myth and the technology that changed everything

Geared Up: Alexa from end to end, a hot-selling Elon Musk keepsake, and more crazy moments of 2018
Interview: NYPL’s chief digital officer says public is better off when libraries are ‘risk averse’ about tech
Amazon reports ‘record-breaking’ holiday season with its own devices selling ‘millions more’

Latest from Frank Catalano

Turning Steve Jobs’ life into opera: Balancing man, myth and the technology that changed everything

by Frank Catalano on February 17, 2019February 16, 2019 at 9:50 amComment

It was not the project that Mark Campbell had been dreaming about. “It was actually Mason Bates, the composer, who suggested the idea of Steve Jobs as an opera,” recalled… Read More

Returning to journalism, 30 years later: Can the profession’s standards survive its disruption?

by Frank Catalano on February 9, 2019February 14, 2019 at 3:43 pm 3 Comments

Many people don’t have a clue how journalism works. Journalists may have less access to events and their newsmakers than the general public does. All this for a career with… Read More

Hands-on with Bottomless coffee: Can the internet really keep refilling a caffeine addict’s endless cup?

by Frank Catalano on December 30, 2018December 29, 2018 at 7:44 amComment

In my home, we’d rather run out of toilet paper than fresh coffee. The former can be replaced by facial tissue. But nothing adequately substitutes for the latter as a… Read More

Podcast

Geared Up: Alexa from end to end, a hot-selling Elon Musk keepsake, and more crazy moments of 2018

by Frank Catalano on December 27, 2018January 16, 2019 at 8:00 amComment

A voice-activated microwave. A smart toilet. And a flamethrower … not. Those products represent a handful of the highlights for our Geared Up gadget geeks from 2018. On this year-end… Read More

John Legere all but confirms T-Mobile TV’s launch will be delayed to 2019, and promises ‘real, live’ 5G

by Frank Catalano on December 27, 2018December 27, 2018 at 10:07 am1 Comment

T-Mobile CEO John Legere is outlining how he sees 2019. It’s a vision of 5G, taking on cable and satellite TV, and continued jabs at the company’s mobile competitors —… Read More

Podcast

Interview: NYPL’s chief digital officer says public is better off when libraries are ‘risk averse’ about tech

by Frank Catalano on December 26, 2018January 15, 2019 at 8:12 pm 2 Comments

First: It’s not just about digitizing books. That’s the biggest misconception that the public has about the role of digital technology in libraries, according to the chief digital officer of… Read More

Amazon reports ‘record-breaking’ holiday season with its own devices selling ‘millions more’

by Frank Catalano on December 26, 2018December 26, 2018 at 10:39 am1 Comment

If you bought an Echo Dot, Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote, or Echo as a gift — or received one — you’re not alone. Amazon says those… Read More

Analysis: Microsoft, Google, Apple — why is Amazon the lagging tech giant in the classroom?

by Frank Catalano on December 24, 2018December 26, 2018 at 6:08 am1 Comment

Is Amazon a sleeping giant of education technology? Or one of its biggest, underreported failures? Those are questions to which answers have varied, especially in 2018. But now it seems… Read More

Seattle and King County get text to 9-1-1 service, but officials still say call if you can

by Frank Catalano on December 21, 2018December 21, 2018 at 10:08 am 2 Comments

People in Seattle and the other cities or unincorporated areas of King County, Wash. now can text emergency responders for help, in addition to calling. On Thursday, King County announced… Read More

Canada’s Corel acquires desktop virtualization company Parallels, financial terms not disclosed

by Frank Catalano on December 20, 2018December 20, 2018 at 8:03 amComment

Corel Corporation is acquiring privately held Parallels, best known for its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software. Ottawa-based Corel announced the purchase of the Bellevue, Wash.-headquartered Parallels Thursday morning. Financial… Read More

T-Mobile reportedly delaying launch of planned TV service until 2019

by Frank Catalano on December 19, 2018December 19, 2018 at 4:55 pmComment

T-Mobile, which had planned to launch T-Mobile TV this year, reportedly is delaying its debut until 2019. Bloomberg reports that the project “proved more complex than expected,” citing sources said… Read More

LinkedIn finds Gen Z workers put more emphasis on mastering ‘hard’ skills than learning ‘soft’ skills

by Frank Catalano on December 18, 2018December 18, 2018 at 5:31 amComment

A new survey released by LinkedIn shows a disconnect between what types of skills the youngest workers think are important to succeed in the workplace, and how employers view those… Read More

Amazon reportedly working with big consumer brands to reduce its costs on ‘CRaP’ items

by Frank Catalano on December 17, 2018December 17, 2018 at 7:22 amComment

That heavy bottled water? Or those bulky, cheap paper towels? Amazon would prefer that you order them in larger quantities — or that the manufacturer take responsibility for shipping them… Read More

Uploaded a photo to Facebook but didn’t post it? It may have been shared with other apps anyway

by Frank Catalano on December 14, 2018December 14, 2018 at 8:14 amComment

If you uploaded a photo to Facebook and decided not to post it, there’s still a good chance it was shared with third-party apps — at least if you uploaded… Read More

Video

Interview: Gates Foundation CEO on global progress in 2018, and the biggest threat to the world’s future

by Todd Bishop & Frank Catalano on December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 at 6:15 amComment

As the CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Sue Desmond-Hellman oversees the world’s largest philanthropy, on a mission to transform U.S. education and global health. But when asked… Read More

Need a Lime bike? Google Maps now shows availability in Seattle and 12 other cities

by Frank Catalano on December 13, 2018December 13, 2018 at 6:13 amComment

That cluster of Lime bikes on a corner is getting a lot more visible — even if some of them aren’t upright. Thursday, Google announced it would display nearby Lime… Read More

Washington state ranks in top 10 in annual Speedtest U.S. broadband performance report

by Frank Catalano on December 12, 2018December 12, 2018 at 1:06 pmComment

Even if it feels like your broadband connection is slug-slow at times, on the whole fixed internet connection speeds are rapidly rising. And Washington is in the top 10 of… Read More

EagleView completes $90M acquisition of Australian aerial imagery firm Spookfish

by Frank Catalano on December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 at 11:15 amComment

Privately held aerial imagery and data analytics company EagleView Technologies has completed its previously announced acquisition of Spookfish, an Australian firm that also does aerial imagery. Bothell, Wash.-based EagleView said… Read More

Rhapsody and Sony Music Entertainment bring ‘Powered by Napster’ streaming service to Japan

by Frank Catalano on December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 at 10:05 amComment

Napster is coming to Japan. Or, at least, its underlying technology is. Seattle-based Rhapsody International and Sony Music Entertainment (Japan) Inc. announced Monday that the two companies will partner on… Read More

Amazon reportedly taking action against global staff over leaked or sold third-party seller data

by Frank Catalano on December 10, 2018December 10, 2018 at 10:14 amComment

The alleged leaking or selling of inside information about Amazon third-party merchants by Amazon’s own employees is now said to have led the giant online retailer to take action against… Read More

Video

Articles by Frank Catalano

Top Stories from Frank Catalano

Turning Steve Jobs’ life into opera: Balancing man, myth and the technology that changed everything

Latest from Frank Catalano

Turning Steve Jobs’ life into opera: Balancing man, myth and the technology that changed everything

Returning to journalism, 30 years later: Can the profession’s standards survive its disruption?

Hands-on with Bottomless coffee: Can the internet really keep refilling a caffeine addict’s endless cup?

Geared Up: Alexa from end to end, a hot-selling Elon Musk keepsake, and more crazy moments of 2018

John Legere all but confirms T-Mobile TV’s launch will be delayed to 2019, and promises ‘real, live’ 5G

Interview: NYPL’s chief digital officer says public is better off when libraries are ‘risk averse’ about tech

Amazon reports ‘record-breaking’ holiday season with its own devices selling ‘millions more’

Analysis: Microsoft, Google, Apple — why is Amazon the lagging tech giant in the classroom?

Seattle and King County get text to 9-1-1 service, but officials still say call if you can

Canada’s Corel acquires desktop virtualization company Parallels, financial terms not disclosed

T-Mobile reportedly delaying launch of planned TV service until 2019

LinkedIn finds Gen Z workers put more emphasis on mastering ‘hard’ skills than learning ‘soft’ skills

Amazon reportedly working with big consumer brands to reduce its costs on ‘CRaP’ items

Uploaded a photo to Facebook but didn’t post it? It may have been shared with other apps anyway

Interview: Gates Foundation CEO on global progress in 2018, and the biggest threat to the world’s future

Need a Lime bike? Google Maps now shows availability in Seattle and 12 other cities

Washington state ranks in top 10 in annual Speedtest U.S. broadband performance report

EagleView completes $90M acquisition of Australian aerial imagery firm Spookfish

Rhapsody and Sony Music Entertainment bring ‘Powered by Napster’ streaming service to Japan

Amazon reportedly taking action against global staff over leaked or sold third-party seller data

How a ‘driveway moment’ with Microsoft’s Brad Smith led to the creation of nonprofit Code.org

Expedia sees Google as a continuing threat, but its CEO sets aside calls for regulating the search giant

Microsoft confirms Chromium is the future of its browser, and Edge is coming to Windows 7 and 8

Lyft files for IPO in confidential SEC filing, number of shares and price range to be determined

Taps for Amazon Tap? Groundbreaking portable Alexa speaker disappears from Amazon

Didn’t know you had a Quora account? The latest internet data breach appears to surprise many

Is Microsoft Edge on the edge? Report cites new Chromium-based replacement for Windows 10

Microsoft commits $10M to Code.org as survey finds obstacles to teaching computer science

Amazon reportedly testing much larger, Amazon Go-like cashierless grocery store in Seattle

Microsoft and law enforcement in India partner, shutting down alleged ‘virus alert’ call centers

Women Who Empower: The Art of the Coffee Meeting: Building and Managing Your Network

News & Brews: Regulating Big Tech

Living with Tech: Moviemaking