At IFA 2016 in Berlin, Mercedes-Benz announced a new project called ‘In Car Office’ to incorporate more smart productivity features into your ride. The features are going to go live in Mercedes vehicles during the first half of next year, and will add Microsoft Exchange support, for one, letting your work calendar, to-do list and contacts help your vehicle offer up suggestions… Read More
At this point I think the world knows that stickers and emoji aren’t frivolous. There are certainly plenty of examples to suggest that this new kinda of media type is being taken more seriously than it was say a year or two ago. Read More
If you’re going to do yet another VR headset, the least you can do is bring something new to table. For Alcatel, that means an all-in-on solution, doing away with the need for a tethered computer or handset. The Vision is a self-contained VR device. All the hardware you need is right there in the box. It’s not clear exactly what niche the company is trying to address here.… Read More
When you hear “startup,” you probably think of Facebook, Airbnb or Uber before Casper or Blue Bottle Coffee. But while companies that produce tangible goods like food and clothing receive less media attention, they’re proving just as innovative as their more high-profile tech counterparts. Read More
At $1,500, the 38UC99 works out to around $39 per inch of curved gaming monitor. And it’s a pretty lovely thing to behold – particularly when lined up alongside two other 38-inch gaming monitors. That’s 114 inches of brightly lit gaming action for a mere $4,500. It’s a pretty impressive display, in the way that only something prohibitively expensive can be. Of course,… Read More
Google’s making it easier for Google Analytics users to find the important trends in their data. The change is already live in the Google Analytics app for iOS and Android, where, in the Assistant screen, you should now see automatically generated insights. For example, if your website or app had a sudden jump in new users, Google Analytics will highlight that, and tell you where those… Read More
Wacom’s IFA announcements thus far have centered around the company’s consumer-facing Bamboo line. Earlier this week, the tablet maker showed off two new versions of its sketchpad digitizer, in keeping with what’s been something of a broader trend at this year’s show. Unveiled this morning, the Intuos 3D is a bit closer to the company’s root’s. The offering… Read More
Fall tends to bring new hardware from Google, which mainly involves new Nexus smartphones built in tandem with OEM partners. This year, things could be quite different since Google has a number of hardware projects in the works, and the Nexus brand is reportedly being replaced with a Pixel-badged line of smartphone devices. All will be revealed on October 4, according to a new report from… Read More
Here’s a stat that’s sure to worry Google: smartphone applications now account for half the time that U.S. users spend online, up from 41 percent back in July 2014, according to a new report from comScore. And when you add tablet applications into the mix, that figure rises to nearly 60 percent. The new milestone was achieved this July, the report says, and is a testament to… Read More
British media company Sky just disclosed an investment of $4.5 million (€4 million) in French startup Molotov. From what we’ve heard and according to Sky’s statement, this is just a fraction of a bigger round that is going to be announced at a later date. “This investment is part of a larger Molotov financing round,” the release says. The reason why Sky is announcing… Read More
Where to start? There’s the weight: 17 pounds. The screen: 21 inches, 2560 x 1080, curved. The power supplies: two. The fans: five. Rear ports: 21. Or how about the gaming pad that flips over, trap door style to reveal a number pad? Most ridiculous of all is the fact that, in spite of everything, the Acer Predator 21 X still somehow qualifies as a laptop – though actually trying to… Read More
Sony has issued a notice that YouTube will no longer work on some 2012-era smart TVs. But it’s not Sony’s fault, guys! It’s YouTube and the dastardly engineers who pushed the YouTube app past the TV’s performance capabilities thus proving once again it’s best to offload smart capabilities to set-top boxes. The app will be removed from 2012 Bravia TVs on… Read More
While Elon Musk isn’t building a Hyperloop transportation system himself (he clearly has a lot on his plate already), SpaceX is building a test track for Hyperloop pods from others. SpaceX is hosting a Hyperloop Pod Design Competition for student and engineering teams, and 23 winners were selected earlier this year to build their pod prototypes and race them on the test track, a 1-mile… Read More
Razer is doing some housecleaning with a fall refresh of its laptops, just in time for the Penny Arcade Expo. This includes a crucial tweak for their Blade Stealth ultrabook: a larger 53.4WH battery. For comparison’s sake, it’s bigger than the 38Wh on the HP Spectre and the 37Wh on the Surface Pro. This is a welcome change, since my main issue with the first Stealth was its… Read More
Robots are friends! Or at least, at Haneda Airport if you see one of the little buddies above, you can feel confident approaching it and ask it for help. The Hitachi EMIEW3 humanoid robot begins its first proof-of-concept tests at the major international airport in Tokyo today, opening in Passenger Terminal 2 and providing helpful info to travellers in both English and Japanese. The EMIEW3 is… Read More
After raising $4.5 billion at a $60 billion valuation earlier this year, Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial — which operates the Alipay payments service — is hungry to put some of that money to use to build out its business. The company, alongside key Alibaba investor Primavera Capital, is investing $460 million into Yum China, a new spinout from Yum Brands — the parent company… Read More
Nintendo wants to harken back to its heydays with the new, unreleased Nintendo NX console in more ways than one: A new WSJ report says it’ll use cartridges in place of discs, which have been standard on the game company’s home consoles since the introduction of the GameCube in 2001. Cartridges are still in common use elsewhere in the Nintendo console lineup – it’s… Read More
Bower & Wilkins, a British audio company started in 1966, is releasing a Bluetooth version (that means wireless, friends) of their well-received P7 headphones. I had the chance to review the wired pair a year ago, and said they’re where “audiophiles meet the bourgeois“.
After all, the earcups are made from memory foam and the hinge design looks more like a fine art… Read More
LG’s SmartThinQ Hub looks a lot like the Amazon Echo. It’s the first thing that occurred to me when it was announced right around CES of this year, and it was probably the first thing that occurred to you, too. And like the Echo, LG’s tall black speaker tower connects to various smart home devices, streams music and offers up notifications. When it was announced, it appeared… Read More
I mean, yeah, it sounds good. It’s a $3,200 Walkman. It had better sound good. And hey, it sounds even better when paired with a $2,300 pair of Sony headphones (MDR-Z1R) and that new $2,200 Sony headphone app (NW-WM1Z). That’s a grand total of $7,700 for me to listen to a really crisp cello cover of “Every Breath You Take.” Is it worth it? That’s not for me to… Read More
