The new design and branding are intended to be more appealing to traditional homeowners looking for something more appropriate for their existing decor, and less sci-fi – and there have been functional improvements to the product to boot. All told, the Ring has proven itself a terrific addition to my connected home setup, and one that proves its worth at a basic level more often than… Read More
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This past weekend, Crimea made tech news when it emerged that Apple and Valve had sent out notices to developers in the region informing them their accounts would be cut off, in line with U.S. sanctions against the region. Now Apple has extended that further, ordering retailers to halt all shipments and sales of products like the iPhone and Mac computers and services in the region… Read More
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Amazon has a new tool for its Kindle Direct Publishing authors, via a new KDP EDU wing of the same aimed at educators and academic institutions. It’s called the Kindle Textbook Creator, and it lets authors prepare electronic textbooks for students, for publication across Fire tablets, Android devices, iPhones and iPads, Mac and PCs. It’s kind of like iBooks Author for Apple and… Read More
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Google is gearing up to sell wireless service directly to customers as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO), by acquiring excess network capacity from Sprint and T-Mobile and reselling it to customers under its own brand. This is the same approach used by Cricket Wireless, MetroPCS, Pure Talk, Republic Wireless and many others in the U.S., but Google’s arrangement apparently… Read More
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Harman, one of the world’s largest audio companies with brands like JBL, Harman Kardon, Infinity and many others under its wing, is now investing big in the technology and networking that goes into delivering data wirelessly. Today, the company announced two acquisitions that collectively put a dent of at least $1 billion in its coffers, but also position it to move… Read More
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A company offering a marketplace where consumers can buy and sell their unused gift cards, Raise.com, announced this morning it has taken in a sizable $56 million round of Series B funding, led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA). The additional funding, which brings the company’s total outside investment to $81 million, comes after a period of rapid growth following the release of… Read More
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Music streaming service Spotify is updating its iOS app today with features reminiscent of two other popular apps out today, Snapchat and Tinder and their press-to-play and swiping gestures. Perhaps not a moment too soon, considering Snapchat’s potential interest in a music service of it own. Specifically, a new Touch Preview option lets users listen to a song by pressing… Read More
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You might not all be fans of the San Francisco Bay Guardian (in fact, I bet a few of you haven’t heard of it), but I think it’s fair to call the weekly paper a San Francisco institution. It also meant a lot to me personally — not only was my first journalism internship in the Bay Guardian’s news department, but as a reader, the paper introduced me to both progressive… Read More
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It was a very Windows day, with Microsoft unveiling lots more about Windows 10, the next generation of its operating system, including how it will work across mobile, tablet, desktop and other platforms. The biggest surprise was probably the new HoloLens augmented reality headset Microsoft created, and the Windows Holographic software it built to support said gadget. But there was more, too,… Read More
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Thanks to several technological improvements over the last century, life for farmers is much easier than it used to be. But managing water consumption and distribution on farms is still a fairly manual process. Farmers have traditionally hired farm hands to drive through acres of fields and manually check the health of their crops and wetness of the soil. Read More
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