Solar Powered Bike Lock
Posted: May 19, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple CarPlay, Pioneer, Skylock, Steam Leave a commentFor your two-wheeled transport…and specifically making sure it stays yours… cnet.com reports on the Skylock from Velo Labs. Velo is crowd funding a solar powered bike lock you can access from your smartphone. An hour in the sun, and it’s good to go for a week. It will notify you via your smartphone if your bike is moved around, and you can lock and unlock it from your phone via either Bluetooth or wifi. The company was founded by former Boeing and Jawbone people. Skylock similar to BitLock, but BitLock doesn’t work over wifi and isn’t solar. It’s $159 for backers, and will be $249 retail.
If your transportation leans towards the 4 wheeled variety, Pioneer has demoed a number of automotive entertainment systems using Apple’s CarPlay. 9to5mac.com says Pioneer demoed them this past week…they’re already discounted on Amazon from $536 to $984!
The Steam PC gaming system continues to gain steam…Gamasutra.com says more games have been released on Steam so far this year than in all of 2013! The Steam game platform from Valve Corporation runs on Windows, Apple OSX, and Linux. Valve has plans to convert Steam into an open platform, where any developer can publish their games, with Steam users acting as the curators.
Samsung Galaxy Gear Dropping Android and Name?
Posted: May 15, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Facebook, Galaxy Gear, Google Glass, iOS, Samsung, Tizen Leave a commentIn something of a big break, Samsung is moving the Galaxy Gear smart watches from Android to the Tizen operating system. Tizen may be pushed as an over the air update to Gear watches. Geek.com says they will likely also drop the Galaxy name.
A useful feature has been added to Facebook for iOS…thenextweb.com reports you can now create posts offline, and they’ll automatically upload to Facebook when you have a better signal, or switch out of airplane mode if you’ve been flying.
Cnet.com says UC Irvine Med school has handed out Google Glass to all the medical students. Irvine is the 1st med school to fully incorporate Glass into its 4 year curriculum. It could be a boon for doctors to check files or lookup info without having to use their hands. (At $1500 each, don’t hold your breath for your employer or your school to do this!
Order That Takeout From Your Phone
Posted: May 12, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: LG, Microsoft, Skype, Square, Tablets Leave a commentOrdering takeout from your phone just got easier. Techcrunch.com reports that Square has launched a new app called Square Order, which lets you order from nearby restaurants, pay for your food, and then the app pings you when the food’s ready for pickup. Meanwhile, Square has quietly pulled Square Wallet from the App Store.
LG adds to their 8.3 inch tablet by rolling out no less than 3 additional sizes of the G Pad: 7, 8, and 10.1 inch versions will be available soon…maybe this month. 9to5google.com says all use the personalized ‘Knock Code’ screen lock feature.
The Microsoft morality police have struck, and removed the hidden rude emoticons from Skype. Geek.com says Microsoft has known about them, but no reason was given for pulling the trigger on them now. No more fubar or mooning, until someone comes up with a hack!
Bye, Bye ‘Feature Phones’
Posted: May 7, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: CardMunch, Evernote, Feature phones, iBeacon, Smartphones Leave a commentThe so-called ‘feature phone’ is all but gone. Anandtech.com says ARM expects a billion entry level smartphones by 2018- twice as many as are shipping now- and $20 Android smartphones coming later this year! They don’t expect manufacturing scale to allow anything much cheaper…but that ought to be cheap enough!
9to5mac.com reports that Walgreens and retail giant Walmart are testing Apple’s iBeacon indoor positioning system. Walgreens already has them in 10 test stores. Walmart says 90% of retail still happens in store, and has to do with proximity.
Thenextweb.com says LinkedIn has shut down its CardMunch business card scanning app, and has partnered with Evernote for card scanning. Just a month ago, Evernote added the ability to reach out to LinkedIn connections without leaving the Evernote app. The updated Evernote app is already out for iOS, but Android is still ‘coming soon.’
Getting a Break From Replacing Broken USB Cords
Posted: May 5, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: AMOLED, Galaxy Tab, iOS 7, Kickstarter, USB Leave a commentIf, like most people, you have USB charging cords you have to shake or wiggle to use because of a break, there’s a Kickstarter cord called Snakable coming out in August. Techcrunch.com says its articulated at the ends where wires usually break, it comes in micro USB and Thunderbolt, will have several color options, and will be $30.
Heads up if you use Apple’s iOS 7. Zdnet.com reports that a researcher has found a bug, and your email attachments are NOT encrypted at rest, as Apple has claimed. No word on when the patch will be out, but Apple has now said they’re working on it.
9to5google.com says Samsung’s next tablet will be called the Galaxy Tab S and have a hi-resolution AMOLED display and a fingerprint scanner like the Galaxy S5 smartphone. It’s expected in 10.5 and 8.4 inch versions, with two color options…Titanium Grey and Shimmer White.
A Freebie from Hulu
Posted: April 30, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Hulu, Pocket Printer, Score Alarm Leave a commentStarting this summer, Hulu will allow free viewing of select full TV episodes on mobile devices. It will be ad supported. Blog.hulu.com says the video service is now up to 6 million subscribers.
Want real-time alerts for all your favorite sports on your Android device? Thenextweb.com says download Score Alarm. You can set alarms for 19 different sports. It gives you in app stats as well as scores.
Mobile is great, but printing hasn’t joined the party…until now. An Israeli team has made a softball sized printer that rolls across a page and prints. Mashable.com reports the ZUtA Pocket Printer will last an hour on a charge and print 1000 pages on an ink cartridge. It has little wheels that roll in any direction. You set it in the upper left hand corner of a page, and turn it loose. No pricing info has been released yet.
Another Tech Player Rolls Their Own With the Cloud
Posted: April 30, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amazon, Bitcoin, Square Leave a commentAnother huge player is getting into designing its own chips. Gigaom.com says Amazon has picked up several ARM chip engineers as they bulk up their cloud services.
Thenextweb.com reports that Yelp has added ‘accepts Bitcoin’ to the attributes of its business listings. Bitcoin fans will be raving about this in reviews.
Speaking of payments, Square will now let merchants collect payments offline and in advance for order pickup. Techcrunch.com says they will be offering a separate Pickup app, so you could order food on the web, then swing by and pick it up.
Google Edges iOS in Mobile Ads
Posted: April 24, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized Leave a commentAn important victory for the Google system…computerworld.com says Android mobile ad traffic worldwide has beaten Apple’s iOS for the first time. First quarter, they hit nearly 43%, with iOS pulling in 38%, according to mobile ad network provider Opera mediaworks.
If you don’t like using tabs on your small screen iOS browser, try Opera Coast. Gigaom.com reports that while it’s been out for the iPad since fall, Opera Coast was just released for iPhones and iPod Touch. You swipe and tap instead of tabbing.
Flying under the rumor radar, but not getting past macrumors.com, Apple may release fresh Macbook Airs next week. A faster processing speed and otherwise just tweaks are expected….a 12 inch, thinner Retina model is anticipated for later this year.
Blazingly Fast WiFi is Coming
Posted: April 21, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Android, Apple TV, Fast WiFi Leave a commentIf you haven’t upgraded your router, wait until next year if you can. Bgr.com says Quantenna has announced not 5G, but aTEN G Wi-Fi chipset that will be out next year. They claim it’s exponentially faster and has a much greater range.
Sure to gin up speculation about a full Apple television again, 9to5mac.com reports that Apple has added A&E, History Channel, & Lifetime to its Apple TV lineup.
If you really like tweaking your apps on Android, check out App Config. Thenextweb.com says it will let you turn your screen on full brightness for Netflix, but keep it dimmer for apps with data. The free version is ad supported.
Pay By Palm
Posted: April 14, 2014 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Apple, Biometrics, CarPlay, Encryption Leave a commentA new startup is demoing a way to pay at stores that’s always with you…Quixter has a reader that reads the veins in your palm…no card, no phone no wallet. Techcruch.com says its up and running at a university in Sweden. Since it involves replacing readers at point of sale, don’t look for it to spread like wildfire.
Gigaom.com says continued security concerns on the web are prompting Google to look at listing encrypted sites higher in search results. Thousands of websites will encrypt so as not to lose their ranking.
Car electronics maker Alpine will be out this year with a standalone aftermarket console that supports Apple’s CarPlay. Macrumors.com reports it will sell for between $500 and $700.
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