Business Hardware Dev

Samsung VP confirms work on a watch, among other future products

As reported on Engadget. By Richard Lawler Rumors of a new smart watch are following more than just one particular tech company, and like Apple there have been suggestions Samsung is working on such a product. Bloomberg reports mobile executive VP Lee Young Hee said during an interview that “We are preparing products for the future, and the watch is definitely one of them.” As to when, he only indicated it would be important to be the first one to…

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Google

Google Flight Search reaches France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK

As reported on Engadget. By Jon Fingas While Google Flight Search covers the far corners of the Earth, many of the people who live in those corners haven’t had a similar option to explore the world of air travel. Google is taking at least a small step toward ending that discrepancy with a fresh expansion to Europe. Jetsetters in France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK can now find flights to and from many parts of the world, with…

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Hardware Dev

Nike selects ten companies to participate in Accelerator program

As reported on Engadget. By Nicole Lee A couple of months after Nike opened its Accelerator startup program for registration, the sportswear giant has deemed just ten companies out of hundreds of applicants to be worthy enough to jump on board the Nike+ API train: FitDeck, GoRecess, Chroma.io, CoachBase, GoFitCause, HighFive, Sprout At Work, GeoPalz, Incomparable Things and RecBob. Selected ideas range from a deck of fitness cards to interactive gaming rewards. As a reminder, the TechStars-run program was designed to encourage…

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Military Politics Story

I Tried to Make the Intelligence Behind the Iraq War Less Bogus

As reported on Wired. BY NADA BAKOS U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Shane Chapman yells for a medic after a car bomb explodes in Mosul, Iraq, March 2008. Photo: U.S. Army   Ten years ago this week, the U.S. invaded Iraq, citing intelligence that turned out to be bogus. I had to work on some of it — and I also had to work on keeping the really, really terrible versions of it out of our analysis. Specifically, I…

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Culture

Defense Distributed gets license to make and sell 3D printed guns

As reported on The Verge. By Adi Robertson Cody Wilson, who heads 3D printed firearms group Defense Distributed, has apparently received a federal firearms license officially allowing him to manufacture or sell the group’s guns. Defense Distributed posted a Facebook photo of the license with a note reading “The work begins!” Wilson tells Ars Technica that his Type 7 license will allow him the same rights as other manufacturers: “I can sell some of the pieces that we’ve been making.…

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Culture Tech

The CIA’s eerily accurate technology predictions from 1962

As reported on The Verge. By Jacob Kastrenakes We’re not too surprised to be using touchscreens or making video calls because it’s long been predicted by science-fiction. But it wasn’t just authors of dystopian novels and pulp films that were making guesses — one CIA analyst’s job was to predict the future as well. Analyst Orrin Clotworthy was tasked with forecasting an accurate report of what the future’s technology would look like, and how it could…

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Science Space

European Space Agency wants you and your drone to help it dock spaceships

As reported on The Verge. By Jeff Blagdon Wondering what to do with that Parrot.AR Drone collecting dust on your shelf? Why not help scientists at the European Space Agency (ESA) work on automated spaceship docking methods? The agency recently released an augmented reality app for iOS called Astro Drone (video below) that lets users simulate docking their Parrot.ARs with a virtual ISS. The (hopefully) millions of hours of resulting sensor data will go toward ESA’s early work on creating…

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Business Culture Games

What Games Are: Where Did Wii U Go Wrong?

As reported on TechCrunch. by TADHG KELLY Two years ago I was very excited by the possibilities of the Wii U. I instantly fell in love with the idea of the tablet/joypad game controller and saw all sorts of possible uses. It seemed like it might well be the console that could do it all, from first-person shooters to real-time strategy, and also lots of funky stuff like drawing games, things to do with cameras and…

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Google

God Damn It, Google

As reported on TechCrunch. by DEVIN COLDEWEY A couple years ago, I wrote a post called Google, Rome, and Empire. The gist of the article, of which I was very proud at the time, was that Google’s grand plan mirrored the structure of Roman roads in their build-out period, and that Google would unify its dozens of small properties with its five or six big ones by means of a single meta-service. I envisioned this rich tapestry…

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Apple

Apple’s Forward Stance

As reported on TechCrunch. by JOHN BIGGS Apple doesn’t need a miracle, but clearly the marketing department thinks the company needs to step things up. To wit: Apple’s latestiPhone web page, which touts “There’s iPhone. And then there’s everything else.” It’s a brassy, ballsy statement worthy of Steve Jobs himself and it seems to show an Apple undaunted yet clearly aware that it can’t just say nothing about the competition. For most of the past few…

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