Segway Scooter; Dyson’s New Gorilla V10 Cordless Vac; Outlook Cortana for iOS & Android; Whole Foods Amazon Delivery Expands

Posted: March 6, 2018 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

You see a few Segways around, but they never caught on as anticipated. Now, businessinsider.com reports the company has launched an Indiegogo preorder for the Loomo, a robotic platform that you can ride, or park a bag or briefcase on and it will follow you around. It’s kind of a mashup of a hoverboard and a personal robot with a personal assistant…like if you could ride R2D2 and it responded like Alexa. The Loomo is $1300, not cheap, but it not only will carry you or your stuff, or follow you around like a puppy, but will also shoot pics or video on command. It takes about 3 hours to charge, and has a range of 22 miles. It runs on a customized version of Android. BTW, if you think the $1300 pre-order price is a bit steep, it will be $1800 later at retail!

Dyson’s vacuums suck like no others. That’s a good thing when it comes to vacuums, of course. Now, they’ve rolled out the Cyclone V10, the most powerful cordless one yet, which they claim can completely replace a corded canister vac. TechCrunch.com says the suction is 20% better than the V8 model it replaces, and the new canister holds 40% more dirt and dust. It also is lighter due to some ceramics used in place of metal. The vac charges in 3.5 hours, and will run an hour on normal, or 10 minutes on super suction. There’s also an in-between setting for semi-super suction and more battery life. The new rig sports LEDs that tell you when to clean the filters, which has been kind of a guess up to now. Being a Dyson, it’s $499…of course, and on the market in April.

A huge number of businesses use Microsoft Outlook for their email and calendaring, and now Redmond is testing out using Cortana with Outlook over iOS and Android to read you your emails while commuting. According to arstechnica.com, Google Assistant doesn’t offer that functionality with Outlook. Siri will, but only if you have the email poured into the Apple Mail app, not with the Outlook app. Right now, the Cortana for email is only being internally testing, but if it works well enough, they plan to roll it out for a public test before long.

Amazon continues to eat the world, and is making it a bit easier for you to eat, too…at least in San Francisco and Atlanta. Geekwire.com says those cities are getting the expansion of Amazon’s Whole Foods grocery delivery service. The service is already available in Austin, Cincinnati, Dallas, and Virginia Beach. You will be able to get 5% back on purchases on the Amazon Rewards Visa Signature Card, just like in store purchases in these Whole Foods delivery cities.

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Verizon Says Demand for Pixel Outstripping Supply; Flying Airbus Taxis by 2017; MacBook Pros Get Updated Again This Year; Caffeine Blocks Inflammation; Smartphone Air Freshener

Posted: January 17, 2017 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

The buzz on the Google Pixel phone is enough that demand at Verizon is outstripping supply. 9to5google.com says it has accounted for over 12% of smartphone sales at Verizon. Right now, it looks like you won’t be able to score most Pixel models until March!

Forget Uber…which knows nothing about flying. Airbus is shooting for testing self-flying taxis by the end of 2017! Zdnet.com reports that commuters could book an Airbus flying cab with a smartphone app. There are obvious regulatory hurdles before this can happen, but as they point out, it could free up roadways and the cost associated with them enormously. Besides Uber’s flirt with this, you have Terrafugia, Aeromobil, and EHang working on them, but Airbus is really the 800 lb. gorilla for the flying cab future, with their vast aircraft experience.

The new Macbook Pros that dropped this fall have been panned for lack of ports and battery life. Now, 9to5mac.com reports that they will be refreshed again this year, and get Intel Kaby Lake processors, and 32 gigs of ram. The processors are more stingy with power consumption, and the higher ram will ease a knock from actual pro power users who need all that memory. They will probably debut this fall.

Ok, take another big swig of that coffee! There have been numerous studies finding correlation between caffeine, coffee, and better health, but according to a new one from Stanford picked up by theverge.com, we may now know why. Caffeine may apparently be able to block inflammation! The study actually started as one on aging, but it turned out that people who consumed more caffeinated beverages had less inflammation, had lower blood pressure, and were generally healthier. Have another cup!

In the another first world problem department, isn’t it a hassle to have to change that room air freshener cartridge, or grab a can of air freshener? What if you could do it from your phone? Engadget.com says there’s an Indiegogo campaign for a tabletop air freshener called Moodoo. You can put up $139 for one, plus 4 scent capsules, and will be able to control it from your phone…including setting up ‘fragrance playlists.’ Yeah, this is a major first world problem for sure!

Possible iPhone 7 Headphone Jack Solution; Refreshed MacBook Pros Due in October

Posted: September 29, 2016 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

iphone-7-fuze-case

Although I haven’t really had an issue with it, many people are still plenty upset about the lack of a headphone jack on the iPhone 7 and Plus. Personally, I’ve used some 30 buck wireless Bluetooth ones, and tried out my quality wired ‘cans,’ and just used the dongle Lightening adapter. If you are one of those people who are feeling the pain, Fuze may have a solution coming in the next months. Thenextweb.com reports that Fuze is an indiegogo project that resembles a Mophie Juicepack battery pack case. The difference is…besides the Lightening jack at the bottom, there’s also a 3.5 mm audio jack. When it comes out, you can double your battery life, charge, and listen to your wired phones to your heart’s content. It will be $69 retail, but super early bird backers can get it for $49 if you head to indiegogo.com. Choose from white, Black, gold, rose gold, or blue.

Apple is set to freshen MacBook Pro models the end of October. The latest word, according to macrumors.com, is the they will have the previously touted OLED touch bar replacing the function keys at the top of the keyboard, a fingerprint scanner for security like the iPhones have, USB-C ports, and a thinner profile.

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.

Magnetic Accessories Don’t Agree with iPhone 6

Posted: December 15, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

9to5mac.com cautions to stay away from accessories with magnets for iPhone 6 and 6 plus. They interfere with the camera and NFC…better known as Apple Pay.

Indiegogo has launched a new service called Life, for funding life events and raising money for individuals…not charities. Engadget.com says it will be a good option to help a family in need.

Users that signed up for Skype Translator can now give it a go. Thenextweb.com says real time translation is live between English and Spanish for voice, adding to the 40 languages via instant message.

When Will Apple Watch Be Here?

Posted: September 25, 2014 | Author: | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , | Leave a comment

If you were planning to blow your Christmas money on an Apple Watch, well Happy Valentine’s Day! Macrumors.com cites a report from the Information saying the Apple wearable won’t be out until Valentine’s Day or later. Maybe your Valentine will buy you one!

We told you about the Sherlybox months ago, now there’s Wedg…no ‘e,’ another private cloud device. Techcrunch.com says Wedg is in a crowd funding campaign on Indiegogo, trying to raise about $220,000.

Just another good reason to make your car payment on time…NYtimes.com reports that lenders are installing remote start interrupt devices on cars bought by subprime borrowers…some 25% of new auto loans. With GPS, they can track you, too.