When we first saw Recon Instruments’ Jet at Google I/O last year, we expected to be using it to monitor our heart rate and speed on the track by fall. But alas, it wasn’t to be. In November the company delayed the launch of the extreme sporting…
Technical
Microsoft wants you to help improve Kinect 2.0’s voice recognition
Using the Xbox One’s Kinect for voice commands is still pretty hit-or-miss for many, and Microsoft knows it. With the console’s next update, Redmond is adding an option for speech data collection as a way to crowdsource the sensor’s improvement….
The end of image searching?
If imonomy can deliver on all its promises it stands to be a catch all save all for blogs on the borderline with social engagement and revenue issues with little to no upfront investment.
Apple, Facebook and Google will tell you when the government wants your data
The companies that asked the US government for permission to publish federal data requests last year have apparently lost their patience waiting for a reply. Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft are updating their privacy policies to expand the…
Paperfold is a foldable, transformable smartphone prototype
If Kyrocera’s folding smartphone Echo didn’t have enough screens for you, try this on for size. The Human Media Lab at Canada’s Queen’s University has created a fully functional smartphone that uses not two, but three different snap-together e-ink…
Facebook’s mobile ‘fate’ looks more promising than its earlier phone
Older, wiser Facebook is definitely shifting gears away from user growth, and more towards innovating on the new Facebook mobile platform.
Brand Integration: How that taco got in your YouTube video
“The YouTuber is the conduit and gatekeeper to young audiences,” and smart companies are using them to spread their brands.
Cox wants to hop on the gigabit internet bandwagon this year
In case there was any doubt that gigabit internet access is spreading like wildfire in the US, Cox has revealed plans to introduce an ultra-fast service of its own. The cable provider tells Bloomberg that it hopes to have 1Gbps speeds available by…
WSJ rumor has AT&T talking about buying DirecTV
With Comcast attempting to gobble up the second latest cable business in the land, it’s no surprise that other rumors are said to be on the table, but this one comes out of left field. The Wall Street Journal reports AT&T has approached DirecTV about…
Simplified mobile prototyping catapults developers beyond voiceless screenshots
Gibson has crammed a digital recorder inside a guitar cable
When I was an aspiring musician a few years back, I’d always forget new guitar licks that would arise from just messing around at rehearsals. Well, Gibson is looking to remedy that, and has partnered up with Tascam to do so. The result is the Memory…
New York City is cleaning its ancient Egyptian monument with lasers
A 69-foot, 3,500-year old granite obelisk has stood in New York City’s Central Park for 130 years, and it’s never, ever, been cleaned. The ancient pillar is deceptively fragile, and conservationists have been hesitant simply to hose it down. The…
A blogger’s confession: Why I don’t get anything done at work
We are living in a virtual world, and I am a virtual girl
Virtual assistants, permanent secretaries or temporary employees. Decisions on scalable virtual offices growing tougher with expanding virtual economy.
Samsung blurs the line between phone and camera (again) with the Galaxy K zoom
Last year, Samsung tried something a little kooky: it made a mash-up of a middling smartphone and a solid point-and-shoot camera (you know, the kind smartphones have nearly driven to extinction). The resulting chimaera was called the Galaxy S4 Zoom,…