Google’s Chromebook Has Taken Over Education; New 10 Terabyte Hard Drive

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

Even as they seemed to be slipping away as a company back in the bad old days, Apple was a powerhouse in schools. Not anymore. According to 9to5google.com, Google’s Chromebooks have emerged as the clear leader in classrooms, leaving Apple in the dust. Chromebook’s now account for over half of all devices in US classrooms, up from 1 percent in 2012. Meanwhile, Apple has dropped from 52% to 24, and Microsoft from 43 to 24%.

If you really, really need an insane amount of storage, and want to trust it to a single drive, Western Digital has what you need. They just rolled out a helium-filled 10 terabyte hard drive that uses 44% less power than their 6TB model. Geek.com reports it will set you back around $460. That’s light years away from my original 10 MEGAbyte hard card back in the 80’s!

Samsung Shows Galaxy ‘A’ Series; 4 Inch iPhone May Drop in Early 2016

Posted: December 3, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The updated Samsung Galaxy S smartphones will probably bow in 90 days or so, but they have just previewed the ‘A’ series. The next gen Galaxy A3, A5, and A7 feature faster charging, support for Samsung Pay, and upgraded cameras. 9to5google.com says the screen sizes remain at 4.7, 5.2, and 5.5 inches. The low end A3 doesn’t get fast charging, HD screen, and the upgraded cam. The A series will launch in China in a couple weeks, with a global launch a bit later.

Meanwhile, in Cupertino, word is that Apple may drop a new 4 inch iPhone with Apple Pay early next year. Theverge.com reports that the smartphone will have the same processor as the 6S, but keep the camera of the iPhone 5S. This word is from usually reliable KGI Securities. It reportedly will have a front glass that slightly curves at the edges like the 6S and 6S Plus, but WON’T support 3D touch. It may be between $4-500 without contract.

Online v. Store Sales; Amazon’s ‘No Blue Light Special’ For Tablets

Posted: December 2, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , | Leave a comment

Cyber Monday, which now lasts about a week, showed an interesting trend this year. In a Reuters.com report, they found online sales were up 16% to $3.07 billion, with 26% of online shopping on mobile devices, according to the Adobe Digital Index. Amazon was up 21.1%. As for brick and mortar stores, they were down 10.4% from last year to $20.43 billion, as reported by ShopperTrak.

Amazon is introducing a new feature on its Fire tablets for night owl readers. According to thenextweb.com, Blue Shade filters out blue light to help you get to sleep better. You can find it in the quick settings menu. In addition, there are warm light filters. The online giant also added a tool called Activity Center, which allows parents to check on how long the kids are playing games, watching movies, or reading on their tablets…AND you can check their browser history. They have also introduced a kid friendly browser with a curated set of over 40,000 YouTube videos and websites. The updates are rolling out to Fire HD 10, HD 8, and other Fire models.

Facebook’s WhatsApp Leans on Telegram; Apple May Drop Headphone Jack on iPhone 7.

Posted: December 1, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Facebook is using its muscle to make it tougher to use a competitor for one of their apps. WhatsApp has started blocking outbound links to Telegram, the secure messaging service. Businessinsider.com reports that any such links are dead, and can’t be copied an pasted out of WhatsApp. The blocking came with a silent update yesterday. In an unintended but ironic side consequence, the app also now blocks links to telegram.com, a domain for a newspaper in Worcester, Mass that has nothing to do with the Telegram messaging app!

A rumor that has popped up everywhere the last 24 hours, including gizmodo.com, is that Apple may drop the headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, opting for earbuds that plug into the Lightening port. Besides meaning you couldn’t charge the phone and listen at the same time, or use your old…and perhaps expensive headphones…this means if you listen on a computer, iPad, or any other device that uses the standard 3.5mm headphone plug, you either will have to carry a dongle adapter around with you, or two sets of headphones or earbuds. You also won’t be able to plug directly into another system and feed your music from your phone to it…like at a party where they’re playing terrible music, and need a musical rescue! While Apple has done this sort of thing before…think the floppy disk and DVD/CD slot…it’s likely that dropping the headphone jack will REALLY make people mad, and could hurt sales. Let’s hope common sense prevails at Apple in this case!

Bigger, Thinner MacBook Air Coming; Amazon Unveils Delivery Drone

Posted: November 30, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

There may be new, thinner MacBook Airs on the way by next June, including one with a 15 inch screen. 9to5mac.com reports that they will sport substantial internal changes, including battery, cooling modules, and more. Apple is still deciding whether to keep the 11 inch air, with the new iPad Pro now out.

Amazon has revealed a new delivery drone design with a 15 mile range. Geekwire.com says its intended to be able to deliver a small package directly through the air to your doorstep in 30 minutes. Amazon has a new video showing off the drone featuring Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson, who along with his colleagues, is starting a new car show for Amazon. The version 2.0 drone flies at under 400 feet, and weighs less than 55 lbs. Amazon says it won’t launch Prime Air until they are able to demonstrate safe operations.

AmazonDrone V.2.0

Apple Buys Motion Tech Co That Worked on Star Wars; VW Introduces 3D Smart Glasses in Factories

Posted: November 25, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

It had been rumored earlier, now it’s confirmed that Apple bought Faceshift, the company that makes motion capture tech used in Star Wars. Techcrunch.com reports that the tech captures facial expressions in real time for creating animated avatars and other figures. Mainly used in games and movies, it may be used in facial recognition for security purposes, and augmented reality.

With all the bad news from Volkswagen over fudging fuel economy for their diesels using software, here’s a cool use of tech they are introducing. According to engadget.com, after a 3 month test at the Wolfsburg plant, VW will be issuing 3D smart glasses to all plant logistics workers. The glasses will give them a heads up display of pin locations and part numbers, which should speed up parts picking. To make things hands-free as possible, the camera will also function as a barcode scanner.

iPhone Getting Leg Up From US Carriers; Amazon Resets Some Passwords

Posted: November 24, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

As subsidized 2 year contract plans are eased out by mobile carriers, the iPhone is getting a boost that may increase Apple’s market share. The most advantageous replacement plans that eliminate down payments or allow frequent upgrades are only available for the IPhone. Of course, now Apple has their Upgrade Program as well, where you are basically leasing the phone, and can get a new one every year when you trade in the old one. Businessinsider.com says Apple has had the highest conversion rate from Android users ever since these new programs kicked in. Samsung has been rumored for a couple of months to be ready to copy Apple’s upgrade plan, but so far hasn’t.

Amazon has reset an unknown number of customer passwords over security issues. Geekwire.com reports that all the giant online retailer has said so far in emails to customers is that their password may have been improperly stored on a customer device or have been transmitted to Amazon in a way that could expose the password to a third party. Amazon stressed it had no reason to believe passwords had been leaked, but sent the change notice out as a caution. Even if you didn’t get one, you may want to change your Amazon password.

Shop ‘Till Your Fingers Drop; Uber Moves into Mobile Health Care

Posted: November 23, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are rapidly turning into a week to 10 day long orgy of deals from both online and brick and mortar retailers. Bgr.com notes that Amazon.com’s ‘Black Friday’ sale went live a full week before Black Friday. Target’s Black Friday ’10 days of deals’ is already live, with Target Redcard members getting an automatic 5% additional off on deals, and 25% off on toys through the day before Thanksgiving. Walmart will light off Cyber Monday deals the Sunday evening before…the 29th, starting at 8 P.M., with online only bargain prices on over 2000 products. Wanna buy a car? Chevrolet is saying it’s Black Friday ALL MONTH LONG! When it comes to retail, times and days have a very elastic meaning. Happy shopping!

Uber is experimenting with something bordering on mobile health care. For 4 hours last week, they offered customers a flu shot for 10 bucks across 36 cities. You summoned a nurse to show up and administer the shot, according to buzzfeed.com. This week, the company announced they’ve hired their first health advisor, who is director of the Computational Epidemiology Group at Boston Children’s Hospital. He is John Brownstein, and he says Uber’s drivers may someday shuttle patients to clinical trials or doctor’s offices…or, as with the flu shots, bring a medical professional by for a ‘house call!’

Virtual Reality Headset from Samsung & Oculus Here; Volvo & Microsoft Team for VR Car Shopping

Posted: November 20, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

We’re about to get a real feel for how fast virtual reality will catch on. Samsung and Facebook’s Oculus VR division are dropping the Gear VR headset for $99.99. Cnet.com notes that it basically lets you strap a samsung smartphone to your head. It debuts with a Netflix app, and over 100 other apps and games, to offer what Oculus is calling ‘bottomless content.’ Apps on the special app store will go for $1.99 to $9.99.

In a more specialized…and maybe long term use of virtual realty…Volvo has partnered with Microsoft on a HoloLens based virtual car shopping experience. Geekwire.com reports they are testing out sitting in your living room, office, or wherever, strapping on the VR headset, and checking out and configuring car models. One touch in midair, and you change the color…another the interior, and so on. You can rotate the model on the table in front of you, then gesture and poof….it’s full size, and sitting on a rotating platform across the room. Volvo expects to have the HoloLens based system available to customers next year.

Facebook Enters Crowdfunding; Ford Sees Self-Driving Cars in 4 Years

Posted: November 19, 2015 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A lot of projects have been launched on Kickstarter or Indiegogo. Now, it appears that Facebook is dipping its toe into the crowdfunding pool. According to techcrunch.com, they’ve just released something called Fundraiser, which lets non-profits set up a campaign page where they can roll a video, collect cash, and let people share on their newsfeed. As it stands, Fundraiser competes with Crowdrise, but it wouldn’t take much for Facebook to drop the ‘non’ from nonprofit. With people able to donate and never leave Facebook, it will be easier than ever to fund nonprofit projects…and perhaps in the near future, FOR profit ones.

The race is really on…figuratively, at least…to autonomous cars. Recode.net reports that Ford’s CEO Mark Fields said this week that he sees completely self-driving cars on the streets within 4 years. That’s even quicker than Google’s prediction of 5 years. Ford has started testing autonomous cars at Mcity, the 30 plus acre test layout operated by the University of Michigan. Mcity has a full scale urban streets test layout. The Ford CEO also said they have plans to include Apple Car Play and Google’s Android Auto in some of the Ford line, but he didn’t specify what models or the timetable.

← Older Entries
Newer Entries →