Month: November 2013

Tech

Answers to All the Tech Questions Your Family Will Ask You This Holiday

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As reported on Wired. BY ROBERTO BALDWIN Thanksgiving, 1942. Image: Library of Congress   Maybe it’s your mom and/or dad. Maybe it’s a sibling or a grandparent. Or maybe it’s just that one friend who still uses a Motorola Razr from the early 2000s. Whoever it is, there’s a high probability you’ll be devoting some time to fixing their gadgets and answering a backlog of questions this holiday season. The WIRED staff feels your pain. Covering technology for…

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Space

NASA unveils plans to bring Kepler space telescope back to life in search for new planets

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As reported on The Verge. By Kwame Opam The Kepler space telescope may have life left in it yet. Back in August, NASA elected to abandon attempts to repair the spacecraft after two of its gyroscope-like reaction wheels failed. Without at least three wheels working to stabilize the craft in orbit, it was left unable to precisely pinpoint exoplanets in distant solar systems. After making a call for new proposals on how to extend Kepler’s mission, NASA is…

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Culture

The Battle For The Connected Home Is Heating Up

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Matt Turck Editor’s note: Matt Turck is a managing director of FirstMark Capital. Follow him on Twitter at@mattturck. Almost 15 years ago, a friend of mine at McKinsey spent a few nights writing a document called “The Battle for the Home”. The thesis at the time was that with broadband, the home PC was gradually going to challenge the TV as the core home digital system. Over the following few years, that…

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Google

Google Makes Talking To Your Computer Slightly Less Crazy With Speech Search Chrome Extension

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Darrell Etherington Google has a new Chrome extension released today that brings a recent mobile feature to the desktop. The feature is automatic voice search, which is triggered whenever you utter the phrase “Okay, Google.” The company announced the new feature on Google+ today, (via9to5Google), and it’s live now and available for users in U.S. English. Previously, Google had made it possible to search the web from the desktop by speaking, but you had…

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Business Internet

Onboard JetBlue’s first Fly-Fi flight, with the fastest internet in the air

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As reported on Engadget. BY ZACH HONIG On a flight yesterday from JFK to Austin, JetBlue finally decided to flip the switch onFly-Fi, giving lucky passengers an early look at the airline’s next-generation in-flight WiFi for the very first time. A flight attendant announced the service — which is free until 30 planes are retrofitted — and passengers seated around me pulled out their laptops, tablets and smartphones and tried to hop online. Unfortunately, a recent update caused…

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Government

New York puts state troopers in unmarked SUVs to catch texting drivers in the act

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As reported on The Verge. By Chris Welch New York state is getting even more aggressive in its pursuit of drivers that text on the road. Thirty-two unmarked SUVs are now traveling the state’s highways in hopes of catching distracted drivers in the act. The tall vehicles give state troopers a better vantage point than traditional police cars, which put them at eye level with other drivers and can make it difficult to spot when someone…

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Business Culture

Half Of All PCs Shipped in 2014 Will Be Tablets; Android 65%, Apple 30% And More Profitable: Canalys

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As reported on TechCrunch. by Ingrid Lunden The growth of tablet sales has been outstripping that of more traditional desktop and laptop personal computers for a while, and now it looks like we are finally approaching the tablet/PC tipping point, where the cheaper, more portable tablet is becoming the de facto PC: 2014 will be the year that tablets account for 50% of all “PCs” shipped globally, according to researchers at Canalys. Leading the charge will be…

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Google

Google now inviting developers to buy Glass

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As reported on Engadget. BY JON FINGAS Now that Google has offered a preview of Glass’ SDK and opened the Mirror API toall developers, it has a strong incentive to get its eyewear in the hands of app writers. Accordingly, the crew in Mountain View is now inviting developers to buy Glass’ Explorer Edition; you’ll find one such invitation pictured above. We’ve asked Google about the scale of the expanded Explorer program, and we’ll let you know if it…

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Application Entertainment Google

Chromecast stand-in CheapCast now beams browser tabs to your display

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As reported on Engadget. BY TIMOTHY J. SEPPALA  CheapCast is a great way to get some of Chromecast’s functionality for free, sure, but it’s been lacking a few of the Google dongle’s features since the app launched. If you’ve been hankering to beam browser tabs to your TV (via an HDMI-or-WiFi-connected mobile device, of course), CheapCast’s latest update enables just that.Android Police notes that this seemingly only works with tabs and not fullscreen casting, while DRM’d services like Netflix and Google Play Movies “actually…

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Apple Culture

Lumen Bluetooth smartbulb challenges Philips Hue to offer app-controlled home lighting

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As reported on Engadget. BY MARIELLA MOON The smartbulb throne isn’t exactly the most exciting one to occupy, but Philips Huehas its fair share of challengers, such as the freshly released Bluetooth-controlled Lumen. Similar to Hue, you can tweak not only the bulb’s color, but also its intensity. In addition, several modes come baked into the light source, including one that programs the Lumen to flash whenever a call comes in, and another that syncs its effects…

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