Android Application Culture

Cyanogen Launches Installer App To Bring Aftermarket Android To The Masses

As reported on TechCrunch. by Chris Velazco Cyanogen Inc. revealed a few months back that it closed a $7 million seed investment from Benchmark Capital. The vision it laid out at the time was no small one: it wants its cooked version of Android to become the third most-used mobile OS behind iOS and Android proper. Naturally, that involves getting CyanogenMod onto as many devices as it can, and today the company took one giant leap in…

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Apple History

Apple II’s 35-year-old operating system is now open to the public

As reported on Engadget. By Matt Brian In a world of super-fast OS X and Windows machines, it’s easy to forget that early desktop computers were a lot more basic. That was the case for the Apple II, Cupertino’s first mass-market computer that utilized a cassette tape for data storage and just 4K of memory. Now, more than 35 years after its release, the Computer History Museum is making the original DOS source code for the iconic computer…

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Application

Out in the Open: How to Get Google Maps Directions Without Google

As reported on Wired. BY KLINT FINLEY Open Source Routing Machine creator Dennis Luxen. Photo: Mapbox   One of the best things about Google Maps is that you can get directions from one place to another almost instantly. But what if you want to build your own website or application that does much the same thing? Sure, Google Maps offers an API that lets developers integrate some of its tools into their applications, but if you do that,…

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Random Science Tech

Some drones can kill you, this one could save your life

As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris An Iranian research lab has created a drone to save people drowning at sea. Developed by Tehran-based RTS Lab, Pars is a multirotor drone that is designed to carry and drop floatation aids to people in trouble. First conceptualized only a year ago, Pars is now a functioning prototype that recently underwent testing in the Caspian Sea. Located around 100 miles from Tehran, the Caspian has bore witness to a…

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Apple Art Design

This Is Apple’s New Mothership Of An HQ

As reported on TechCrunch. by Jordan Crook The most realistic and detailed images yet of Apple’s new spaceship headquarters have just been published in an awesome piece on Wired. The latest images of the 2.8 million square-foot campus show an expansive cafeteria, an underground parking garage, and a subterranean auditorium where forthcoming Apple products will be unveiled to the media. The office will sit on a 176-acre plot of land, most of which will be dedicated to…

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Apple Tablet

Retina iPad mini is now available, prices start at $399

As reported on Engadget. By Mariella Moon Sure the iPad Air is thin, light and has amazing battery life, but the arrival of its smaller cousin is about to make your choice more difficult. Apple’s upgraded 8-inch slate, the Retina iPad mini, is now available, popping up in Apple’s online stores around the globe. According to an internal Apple document posted by MacRumors, while some countries are getting both WiFi and cellular models, mainland China will have to make do…

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Environmental Mobile

Upp is a $199 hydrogen fuel cell for USB devices that lets you fill up instead of plugging in

As reported on Engadget. By Sharif Sakr Hydrogen fuel cells have been helping astronauts for nearly half a century already, so it’s about time they became small enough — and cheap enough — to be of use to everyone else. That’s exactly what Intelligent Energy claims to have achieved with its the latest fuel cell system, called the “Upp.” At 500 grams and with a retail price of $199, it’s not meant to compete with regular lithium ion…

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Art Business Microsoft

A visual history of Microsoft’s anime fetish

As reported on The Verge. By Aaron Souppouris Yesterday, the world was introduced to Inori Aizawa, an anime character created to promote Internet Explorer in Singapore. Many saw the move as unusual, but some of Microsoft’s Asia-based subsidiaries have been using anime to boost their products’ appeal for years. Over the past decade, Microsoft has used over 10 individual characters to improve user and developer awareness of its software and infrastructure. These are its most memorable.  …

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Entertainment

‘Star Wars: Episode VII’ is coming December 18th, 2015

As reported on The Verge. By Bryan Bishop It took a while, but we finally have a date: Star Wars: Episode VII is coming December 18th, 2015. The date was announced in a blog post on the official Star Wars website, and it comes more than a year after Disney announced that it was acquiring Lucasfilm— and that more films would be on the way. When Episode VII was first announced 2015 was pegged as the year, while the broad assumption was that the…

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Politics

Engineers Build The World’s First Real 3D-Printed Gun

As reported on TechCrunch. by John Biggs The Liberator, for all the hoopla, was not really a gun. This 3D-printed firearm, on the other hand, is a gun. It is a copy of a 1911 made using public-domain plans and a laser sintering system that solidifies metal powder. It fires just like a real semi-automatic pistolThe gun, created by Solid Concepts, is completely legal. The company has a Federal Firearms License and it’s trivial to find the blueprints online. The company…

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