As reported on The Verge. By Verge Staff Google’s Android operating system has undergone a pretty incredible metamorphosis since it debuted on the T-Mobile G1, which celebrates its fifth anniversary this week. Half a decade might seem like a long time, but on the scale of the PC’s growth, it’s a blink of an eye. You could make a pretty convincing argument that no consumer technology in history has evolved as quickly as the smartphone, and…
As reported on TechCrunch. by ALEX WILHELM Today BlackBerry announced a $9 per share offer for its outstanding stock, a deal worth around $4.7 billion. The $9 per share price is a slight premium over its current stock price, which traded at $8.23 before it was halted pending the news. BlackBerry had declined more than 5 percent on the day. Fairfax Financial, which offered the $9 per share deal, already owns about 10 percent of the company’s stock. BlackBerry’s…
As reported on TechCrunch. by SARAH PEREZ Good news! Today you can blame your non-responsiveness to all those important emails you’ve been ignoring on Google itself. The company’s online email service Gmail has been experiencing issues leading to delayed emails and attachments failing to download, the company confirmed. Earlier this morning, Google said an estimated 0.24 percent of its Gmail user base was affected by these problems, but in an update released later this afternoon, the…
As reported on Engadget. By Sean Buckley Remember that snazzy special edition electric skateboard we saw roll out at Expand? It’s almost ready for launch: ZBoard has launched a Dragon Innovation crowdfunding campaign for its San Francisco Special. Although the limited edition ZBoard’s specs haven’t changed since earlier this year (20-mile range at 19 MPH) its facade has been given a few tweaks. In addition to wearing a brighter shade of orange, the San Francisco Special now features LED headlights,…
As reported on Engadget. By Sarah Silbert Here it is: Microsoft’s powerhouse Surface Pro 2. As we’ve seen and heard already, Microsoft’s follow-up to the Surface Pro is thinner and considerably faster. We got our hands on a 256GB model to form some initial impressions and begin to determine whether this guy is worth the $899-and-up going rate, a $100 jump from the original Pro’s pricing scheme. Head past the break to dive in. Microsoft Surface Pro 2 hands-on See all photos11…
As reported on Wired. BY DOUGLAS WOLK Musician Eleanor Friedberger acts in a short video piece the Station to Station crew is directing during a pitstop in the town of Raton, NM. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Musician Tim Koh and music curator Henrietta Tiefenthaler work on their various devices in the dining car on the train ride to Santa Fe, NM. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Enigmatic switches on the Station to Station train. Photo: Bryan Derballa/WIRED Chef Leif…
As reported on The Verge. By T.C. Sottek Artist Benjamin Muzzin has spun the humble digital monitor into something much more fascinating in an installation called Full Turn. By taking a flat display and rotating it at a very high speed, Muzzin transformed what would have been a 2D image into a protean, 3D sculpture of light — one that twists, pulsates, ebbs, and grows with mesmerizing fluidity. “With this project I wanted to explore the…
As reported on TechCrunch. by JOHN BIGGS Access to information is addictive. The moment we have more of it – and more of it available at opportune times – the more we crave. I learned this first-hand when I began wearing a Pebblesmartwatch in earnest. While I’ve long rejected the idea that a smartwatch is a valuable addition to the infonaut’s arsenal, I now realize that being able to see, at a glance, who is calling,…
As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Already feeling secure about using just your fingerprint to unlock the new iPhone 5S? European hacker association Chaos Computer Club claims it can be circumvented with “easy everyday means.” According to CCC hacker “Starbug”, tactics laid out in ahow-to from 2004 are all that are required, with just a higher res fake needed to beat the Touch ID reader. The process, requires a 2400 DPI photograph of someone’s fingerprint from a glass surface,…
As reported on Engadget. By Michael Gorman Things haven’t been going well at BlackBerry for awhile, what with lackluster adoption of BB10 and the hardware running it, and rumors that massive layoffs are coming before the end of the year. Today, the company confirmed the latter rumor, announcing that it will lay off around 4,500 employees as a part of a plan to reduce its operating expenditures by half over the next year. The plan’s necessitated by an…