Starbucks Order & Pay Mobile Ordering Now in 25 States

Posted: June 16, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

If you’re wide awake, there’s a good chance caffeine is involved. Good news for coffeeholics…Starbucks expects mobile ordering to be complete nationwide this year…and according to geekwire.com, has 4000 cafes live today. The Order & Pay service is available in 25 states…amazingly, California is not one of those! This amounts to about half of Starbucks stores. You should know they don’t have plans to include the ones in grocery stores and airports. Coffee drinkers are embracing the service…19% of all US Starbucks transactions are now done from the app. Order & Pay is iOS only right now, but they will add Android users later this year.

There’s a lot of activity moving us towards self-driving cars, but you might remember the James Bond movie where Bond drives a BMW with his smartphone. Techcrunch.com reports that Range Rover has a prototype Sport model that can actually be driven from an app! It’s not intended for fast getaways from foreign spies…the speed is limited to 4 mph, and the phone has to be within 10 feet of the vehicle. Rover sees it as a possible help for tight parking spaces or for treacherous terrain. No word on its availability to the public, but Rover is working on making it use voice commands, and also keeping it super secure…so crooks can’t just hack and drive away your SUV from a distance!

Find in iOS 9 Beta Points to Larger iPad

Posted: June 15, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A developer running the beta of iOS 9 has found a hidden, larger keyboard layout in the system, according to theverge.com. The scaled up keyboard isn’t a dramatic departure from the present one, but does add a narrow top row of symbols keys, adds a redo key, a tab key, and a caps lock key. A widely rumored 12 inch plus iPad dubbed the ‘Pro’ is expected out later this year.

Engadget.com reports that Google has killed off the widely disliked bookmark manager, and reverted to the previous version. The cluttered, slower version can still be downloaded as an extension from the Chrome Web Store for those who really want it.

A security researcher was able to hack a page on Uber’s website, with a humorous result. Businessinsider.com says Uber’s micro-site on their website with a petition to get San Francisco to allow them to operate on Market Street had the flaw. The hacker was able to just key in ‘zipcode,’ instead of numbers. Being a security researcher, he didn’t dump malware code or steal information…he uploaded an ad for arch rival Lyft to Uber’s site!

Samsung’s (Even) Bigger Galaxy S6 Edge Plus

Posted: June 12, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Samsung is apparently subscribing to the philosophy ‘go big or go home.’ Previously, we reported they were working on a Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, which would sport a 5.5 inch screen. According to bgr.com, which picked up a report from usually reliable SamMobile, that screen size will be a 5.7 inch dual edge display. It looks to drop third quarter, and will have a hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor running Android 5.1.1.

While we’re talking bigger, the big news at Twitter has been that CEO Dick Costolo is resigning, but another big announcement you might be more interested in flew under the radar. Appleinsider.com says Twitter will be raising the 140 character limit in direct messages to 10,000 some time in July. The down side is with last April’s change to allow messages from people you don’t follow, now more spam direct messages may be popping up with other peoples’ DMs you get on Twitter.

The ‘Small’ Tesla Model 3 May Have Serious Cruising Range

Posted: June 11, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Sometimes you see something you know will be a game changer. While a lot of eyeballs have been on Apple’s WWDC this week, Elon Musk spoke at the Edison Electric Institute get together in New Orleans. According to bgr.com, Musk let it drop that the compact Model 3, which is 20% smaller than the pricey Model S, Will have a driving range of at least 250 miles. If Tesla holds to the $35,000 price point on the smaller car, they won’t be able to build these things fast enough, and other car makers will breathlessly be trying to play catch up. The Model 3 will be rolled out next March, and should be launching in late 2017.

On the subject of the aforementioned Apple, major supplier Foxconn is reportedly in talks to open a factory in India. Reuters says this would allow them to avoid the wage inflation in China, and in addition help them keep Apple business in a market Apple wants to develop. Foxconn is shooting for developing 10-12 facilities in India, between factories and data centers…all by 2020.

Google Now Takes a Leap Forward & More on Microsoft’s Surface Hub

Posted: June 10, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

As things move further towards software and assistants that actually work, bgr.com reports that Google Now can answer a new set of questions without the user including place names or addresses. If you’re standing in front of a restaurant, you can ask ‘when does this restaurant open,’ and Google Now will answer based on your location. If you’re next to a monument, you might query ‘when was this built,’ and it will tell you. A spooky cool new feature just announced by Google at an event in Paris.

We now have more information about Microsoft’s Surface Hubs. The 55 and 84 inch hub displays first shown in January will be out in September. Primarily intended for business conference rooms, they are a cool $6999 for the 55 inch model and $19,999 for the king sized 84 inch screen. Both feature 100 points of multitouch, 3 simultaneous pen inputs, dual hi res cameras, and microphones that reduce background noise during conference calls. They run a slimmed down version of Windows 10. Preorders open up July 1st.

A Killer App for Apple Pay & Better Battery Life

Posted: June 9, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We’ve noted that while Apple says they hope to have half the top 100 retailers signed up for their iPhone based payment system by year’s end, they’re a long way away. Something shown at WWDC may be the proverbial killer app to energize the system. TechCrunch.com points out that Apple announced a new partnership with Square. Square will make a new card reader for small businesses that will take Apple Pay by NFC, or the regular old credit card swipe.

Something long clamored for by users is better battery life. iOS 9 rolls out improvements that will give an extra hour of use without doing anything differently. In addition, cnet.com reports there’s a new low power mode that Apple claims will net you an additional 3 hours of battery life on iPhones and iPads. It turns off processes under the hood, and Apple claims it won’t restrict your usage as much as the Android low power mode does. That said, Google is expected to give users more battery savings in the upcoming Android M.

DJI Eye in the Sky

Posted: June 8, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The latest DJI Eye in the Sky has….well, eyes. The company has unveiled a drone equipped with a guidance system using stereo cameras and ultrasonic sensors, that allows it to detect objects up to 65 feet away, and keep it at a preconfigured distance. Theverge.com says it’s the Matrice 100 model, and it’s built to be developer friendly and modifiable for various tasks across varying industries. It can fly 20 minutes-longer with an extra battery. No price has been announced yet.

GE Engineers have come up with a way to get more power from wind turbines, without making them so big they can’t be moved across country for installation. The ecoROTR has a 60 foot wide geodesic dome in the center, driving air to thicker…but not longer blades. According to gizmodo.com, this makes for a 3% increase in energy production. For an entire wind farm, that will be a significant boost in power generation.

Half of Top Merchants Will Use Apple Pay By Year’s End?

Posted: June 5, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Apple has been working overtime reeling in merchants and financial institutions for its Apple pay system. Appleinsider.com says Cupertino expects to sign a number of large merchants before the end of 2015, pulling around half of the top 100 US merchants into the Apple fold. It’s an uphill climb, with only 4 of those pledged to support the iPhone based pay system so far. Most are hesitating citing customer demand, so that could change quickly if demand does.

Not all tech is zoomy and connected to the web. Some can save people from injuries or patch us up after the fact. Safer Sports Technologies has developed a lightweight insert that goes in a baseball cap to protect a pitcher from being beaned. It’s a combination of carbon fiber and kevlar, and runs ear to ear across the middle of the forehead. The two ounce insert apparently feels like it’s barely there. With it installed, the pitcher can survive a line drive to the head of up to 94 miles per hour! It’s a $5000 kickstarter right now, and you can get left and right kid sized ones for a $60 pledge, or for $80…the full wrap pro version for adults.

Google on Verge of Releasing 1st New Nest Product Since They Bought It

Posted: June 4, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

Media invitations have been sent for an event June 17th for a Nest news conference in San Francisco. No other details were offered, but a lot of buzz is on it being Nest Audio. Google watchers say it could be something like the Amazon Echo. Businessinsider.com notes that whatever it is, we should know between 9:30 and 10 am on June 17th.

Reports out of Asia picked up by bgr.com indicate that besides an iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, Apple will again offer a 4 inch screen model that may be called the 7c in 2016. Sources say it will be a completely redesigned phone. The 7 and 7 Plus are expected to be the same 4.7 and 5.5 inch sizes as the 6 series and their successors due out this fall.

Apple TV Confirmed As the Hub for HomeKit

Posted: June 3, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

As Moscone Center in San Francisco is being readied for Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference next week, more keeps leaking out. This week, several early HomeKit devices from 3rd parties rolled out, and now thenextweb.com reports that…as expected…you’ll need Apple TV to remotely control HomeKit gadgets. Apple has posted a setup page to help people configure the system. If you already have Apple TV, it needs to be 3rd generation or later with software version 7 or newer.

Amazon has rolled out free shipping on small and light products…that is, ones that weigh less than 8 ounces. According to geekwire.com, ‘Fulfillment by Amazon Small and Light’ will also focus on items that cost less than 10 bucks. No more $35 minimum purchase requirement or Prime membership for free shipping of these small and light items. It won’t be free TWO Day shipping though…expect your items in 4 to 8 days.

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