Digital ID cards are still a rarity in most countries, but they’re a staple of everyday life in Estonia — locals use them for everything from e-voting to buying mass transit tickets. You currently have to live in the country to take advantage of…
Technical
Feedback Loop: It’s Google all the way down!
This week’s edition of Feedback Loop is nearly all Google. We dish on Android “L,” debate whether smartwatches are even useful, wonder if Android TV will save smart televisions, fondly remember our friend Aereo and talk about the games we’ve picked…
MIT’s Local Warming system warms you while you wander
Thought experiment time, folks: what would do you if you wanted to warm up a few people in a big, chilly room? Prevailing logic says to crank up the heat, but let’s be honest here: sometimes the prevailing logic sucks. The folks from MIT’s Senseable…
Can’t pay a bill or activate your phone on Verizon? It’s not you, it’s them
Verizon Wireless acknowledged today that its billing system is having issues for customers across much of the US. According to subscribers tweeting on the.disgusting.ick. hashtag, issues have extended over the last two days, preventing them from doing…
Engadget Daily: living in Google’s world, the faces of Android Wear and more!
Today, we take a look at the Android L Developer preview, compare the three faces of Android Wear, evaluate a $1,000 bread-making robot and dive into the hyper-connected world of Google. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24 hours….
Astronomers discover Earth-sized ‘diamond’ 900 light years away
The world’s largest diamond, the Cullinan, is a tad over 3,100 carats uncut. It’s estimated value is some $2 billion, and it only weighs about 1.37 pounds. That stone, while enormous relative to others like it, is but an invisible speck when up…
Living in a Google world: Why Android L means you’ll never have to disconnect
The biggest news to come out of Google’s developer-focused I/O conference isn’t Android TV or even the several new Android Wear smartwatches; it’s that Android is about to become much more than a mobile operating system. It’s about to consume your…
Google gives us a simulated ride with Android Auto
Meet Google’s answer to Apple’s CarPlay: Android Auto. It’s a new platform announced today at the annual orgy of software and hardware development known as Google I/O, and it puts the (almost) full power of Android in your car. Why almost? Well,…
Engadget Daily: Google I/O 2014, the deal with Android Wear and more!
Today, we discuss tomorrow’s Google I/O conference, review the Galaxy Tab S, take a look at Misfit’s new Pebble fitness tracking app and explore the potential of Google’s Android Wear platform. Read on for Engadget’s news highlights from the last 24…
Sit back and watch hacks around the world in real time
Want to feel anxious about your internet connection? The security firm Norse is more than happy to oblige. It’s running a live hacking map that shows the attacks against a worldwide honeypot (that is, purposefully vulnerable) network as they happen….
Globalstar Sat-Fi satellite hotspot available now for $999
Globalstar, the company behind the affordable Spot satellite phone, has a new device on the market that can turn any smartphone into a globally connected handset. Sat-Fi is not a WiFi hotspot in the traditional sense — you can’t simply connect and…
Google wants to sell you your next domain name
Right now, it’s possible to buy a domain name using Google services. You can start the process on Google’s own pages, process the transaction through Google Wallet and manage that domain through Google Apps — but you didn’t actually buy that domain…
Inhabitat’s Week in Green: ‘Eyeronman’ vest, eco hobbit home and a labyrinth of plastic waste
Buildings account for nearly 40 percent of emissions in the US, so greening our architecture will go a long way toward curbing climate change. In Singapore, a developer built the world’s largest vertical garden on the exterior of a building, setting…
Feedback Loop: Amazon’s new phone, trust issues with password managers and more!
Do you need a break from watching the World Cup? Good! Because the latest Feedback Loop is right here. Amazon released a new phone this week and we discuss if it meets our expectations; we speculate on what makes password-management apps trustworthy;…
Solowheel unicycles are now cheaper and lighter, but still hard to tame
I’m not going to lie: Various parts of my body are still in agony as I’m typing up this article. Yesterday, I attended Inventist’s Beijing event where it launched four new Solowheel electric unicycles, as well as the two-wheeled Hovertrax. And in…