Items tagged with Misc
We take a short break from all the frenetic and amazing happenings at Computex to bring you a hilarious/not-so-hilarious story of a Scottish fellow who spoofed the Google Street View car and got himself a visit from the local authorities. Back in August of 2012, Dan Thompson, owner of Tomson Motor, saw the Google...
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It was the stuff of gaming lore, but after being unceremoniously buried in an Alamogordo, NM landfill in 1983 after selling poorly, a multitude of Atari cartridges were dug up this spring. It was a lark for anyone remotely keyed into the story, but then--what exactly is supposed to happen with 1,377 unsold Atari game...
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Earlier this month we covered a great project called MotionSavvy that seeks to help deaf people communicate better with the hearing using Leap Motion technology that converts sign language into audible speech. Another company working to deliver essentially the same service--also with Leap Motion--reached out to let us know what they’re...
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That was fast. About a year after Google’s Motorola started manufacturing the Moto X domestically at a plant in Texas, the factory is shutting down; it will cease operations at some point later this year. The Texas plant was an exciting experiment; never before had a smartphone been actually manufactured in the...
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Is the FCC trolling ISPs (on our behalf)? The agency is considering raising the standard minimum speed for what is considered “high-speed Internet”, which would potentially force ISPs to work faster to roll out better service to more areas. Currently, broadband Internet speed is defined as 4Mbps, but according to an anonymous FCC...
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Back in December, we caught wind that Japan’s Softbank was looking to snag T-Mobile, and now that deal is closer to becoming reality, according to new reports. Deutsche Telekom AG currently owns a majority stake in T-Mobile, but it’s apparently willing to sell that majority to Softbank while keeping a...
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We use a number of Futuremark’s benchmarks when we test systems around here, and there’s a new one coming called 3DMark “Sky Diver”, a DX11 bench aimed at gaming laptops and midrange PCs. “Sky Diver is the ideal test for benchmarking systems with mainstream DirectX 11 graphics cards...
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ASUS announced its latest 4K monitor, and it’s a 28-inch 4K panel that starts at $649. ASUS touts the PB287Q’s color reproduction, saturation, and smooth color gradations. The monitor also boasts a zippy 1ms response and 60Hz refresh rate. Ports include DisplayPort 1.2 and two HDMI ports, the second of which supports MHL, and the...
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A company called New Matter has developed an inexpensive 3D printer called the MOD-t that aims to bring 3D printing into the average home. It will cost just $249--although if you snag an Indiegogo bundle you could pay as little as $149 or $199--and it’s designed so that you have to do essentially zero calibration on your own. However,...
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There are data breaches and then there are data breaches. The Target breach, for example, was (and continues to be) a total disaster for the company with millions affected. Other hacks are made better or worse by a given company’s attitude and response. Spotify has apparently experienced some sort of breach of its own, but if you’re...
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Although Microsoft has stopped supporting Windows XP, many people haven’t bothered to update from the legendary and now terribly aged operating system (you guys, seriously, just do it already). However, in what is the most perfect XP-related real-life joke ever, someone discovered that there’s a hacky...
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EVGA took the wraps off of its hot TORQ X10 gaming mouse at CES this January, and now the device is up for preorder at Newegg. For now, the two iterations of the TORQ X10 are deeply discounted; the original is available for $49.99 (down from $99.99) while the Carbon version is $69.99 (down from $129.99). The mouse...
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No matter how advanced tools like Google Maps have gotten, this is the question we all still have whenever we map a route: How long will it take me to get there--no, really? Maps always give you an estimate, and they try to take into account factors such as traffic, but they’re not ideal. Further, if you want to...
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You’re not the only one who’s a little concerned about the hypnotic effect of screen time on your kids. A pair of former Googlers, Pramod Sharma and Jérôme Scholler, felt the same way, and so they developed a gaming platform called Osmo that connects the physical and digital worlds. The idea...
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Back in 2011, the FCC put forth a plan that would convert some of the subsidies that bring telephone service to rural areas to Internet access. The idea is simple: Years ago, it was decided that rural areas needed the same access to current communications technology that more populated areas enjoy. Back then it was telephone service, and now...
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To the surprise of few, Samsung is reportedly working on a VR headset that would compete with the Oculus Rift (now a Facebook joint) and Sony’s Project Morpheus. (And, for that matter, dark horses like GameFace Labs.) According to Engadget, this isn’t just a vaporware project; Samsung already has early...
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Google’s push for gigabit Internet service has, directly or indirectly, created pressure on ISPs to explore the same, and Cox is the latest company to dip its toe in the gigabit waters and plans to get the service out to its first residential customers as early as Q4 this year. According to the Wall Street...
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Whuh-oh. In the quest to conquer the Internet of Things (IoT), Google’s Nest just had a hiccup; Nest Protect Smoke + CO Alarms are being “recalled” by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission due to an alert failure problem. The issue is that the Nest Wave feature, in which a user can wave his or...
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Get ready to see a lot of people talking to their computers. Google has officially rolled out a new feature in Chrome that lets you conduct a voice search on a desktop or notebook using just your voice. From a Google page, you can simply say, “OK Google” and say whatever you want to hunt for. This was a feature that Google had...
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Usually, technological advances substantially outpace legislation to manage them, but give a tip ‘o the cap to the California DMV for drawing up regulations for autonomous cars before the vehicles become widespread. In two separate “packages”, the DMV has rules both for testing autonomous vehicles by...
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Spotify has proven to be quite a popular streaming service since its launch in 2008, as the company announced today that it has reached 10 million paying subscribers. That’s 10 million people across 56 markets paying for the Premium level of the music streaming service that lets you find and play virtually any song on any connected device...
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With apologies in advance for the amount of time you (we) will waste today on Google’s homepage, the current Google Doodle is a virtual Rubik’s Cube. As in, you can actually click the image and then try (and fail) to solve it. The occasion is the fact that today is the 40th anniversary of the enigmatic cube, which has now confounded...
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