I suppose Twitter has to make money somehow. According to a new report from the You get an ad! You get an ad! Everybody gets an ad! According to the It doesn’t take too much of a leap to see how these sorts of ads can be applied to other goods or services. Imagine, if you will, an ad for a movie or local sporting event that has a “Buy tickets” button instead. According to the
It seems a little bit like something from a retro-futurist’s dream: Tell a small handheld device your grocery list, and it’ll go ahead and prepare an order that will be delivered to your door. It sounds a little like a smartphone, but it isn’t: It’s Amazon Dash is about the size of a remote control, and it features both a microphone and a barcode scanner, which allows you to either speak the name of the item you need (say, “cheese”) or scan the barcodes for whatever you need. The Dash then sends your order to Amazon Fresh using its Wi-Fi connection: All you need to do is review the order on your smartphone, tablet, or computer to schedule your delivery and make the purchase official.
It's coming: XPocalypse—the end of Microsoft’s support of Windows XP on April 8. Anyone who still has a PC with Windows XP is either scrambling to figure out what to do with it—or in some state of blissful denial about it all. Or, they are lashing themselves to the mast of their old XP schooner, determined to ride out the storm. If you opt for the wisest path (upgrading), you still need to choose between buying an entirely new PC or just upgrading the OS on your current machine.
The roots of the iPhone can be traced to many corners of Apple’s campus in Cupertino, California, but a Silicon Valley courtroom on Friday heard how some of the most recognizable software features came from a team working in a dark, dirty, windowless room with special security to keep others out. The story of the iPhone’s software design was related by Greg Christie, an Apple vice president and software designer, as part of Apple’s patent infringement case against Samsung. Christie is one of the inventors listed on the patent for the “slide to unlock” function, which is one of the patents in question in Apple’s lawsuit against Samsung, on trial in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, California.
3D printer prices are dropping into a range that could appeal to home users. A handful of 3D printers priced at less than $500 were shown at the Inside 3D Printing trade show this week in New York. They can print small objects in limited colors, but prices of more advanced home 3D printers are dropping as well, opening up the market to a wider audience. 3D printing involves taking a filament like plastic and discharging it through a nozzle on a substrate to make parts, and has been used to make a range of items, including smartphone cases, toys, automotive and aeronautic parts, and even a space probe. 3D printing allows for faster and less expensive production of parts for such items, and designing and prototyping the parts becomes easier, said 3D Systems CEO Avi Reichental during a keynote at the conference this week.
The official calendar for Joshua Wright, a commissioner with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, shows he has had many meetings with technology company lobbyists, but none with consumer advocates, even though consumer protection is a major part of the agency’s mission. Wright, a Republican appointed as commissioner in January 2013, has had only a couple of meetings related to consumer privacy and none with any consumer privacy groups, according to the calendar, obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request by the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Wright’s office disputes the allegation that he has failed to meet with consumer groups, saying he has met with more than a half-dozen consumer advocacy groups. Wright has met with the American Antitrust Institute, a consumer-focused antitrust enforcement advocacy group, and has discussed privacy and consumer protection issues with the National Asian American Coalition, according to his office, but those meetings don’t show up on his calendar.
The UK government has signed a £5.548 million contract with Microsoft for a year’s worth of Windows XP support after the operating system’s support reaches end of life on 8 April. Under the agreement, Microsoft will maintain critical and important security updates for Windows XP, Office 2003 and Exchange 2003 until 8 April 2015. Hints that the deal was about to be agreed were According to a Cabinet Office spokesperson, the deal will provide “continuity for all eligible government and public sector organisations while they migrate on to alternative operating systems”.
Sony's life-tracking wearable is shipping to customers, but it's just a useless rubber wristband until two apps go live in Google Play.
Microsoft has toughened its criteria for classifying programs as adware and gave developers three months to conform with the new principles or risk having their programs blocked by the company’s security products. The most important change in Microsoft’s policy is that adware programs will be blocked by default starting July 1. In the past such programs were allowed to run until users chose one of the recommended actions offered by the company’s security software. Interestingly, Microsoft’s crackdown on adware comes as it
It looks like Apple's free
3D Systems' CEO says modular parts for Project Ara will have basic circuitry at first but grow more sophisticated over time
It looks like a Chromecast, but packs all the channels of a full-size Roku box...with just a couple of trade-offs.
T-Mobile’s CEO John Legere said Thursday he was disappointed with BlackBerry’s decision this week to The Canadian smartphone maker said earlier this week it will not renew the license of T-Mobile US to sell its products when it expires on April 25. The decision is regarded as a fallout of T-Mobile’s email in February to BlackBerry customers, promoting Apple’s
