Category: Articles

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Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Glance Lock Screen Now in Public Beta: Smart Alerts, Better Battery

Qualcomm snapdragon glance dynamic lock screen screen shotThe next stage of our mobile devices will be contextual notifications and smart alerts. Google Now feeds us info before we search for it, and now Qualcomm wants to improve your at-a-glance experience on you lock screen.

Snapdragon Glance analyzes your behavior, and will attempt to prioritize notifications based on your past actions. It will also rank apps and contacts for quick access to the services you use most and the people you most often communicate with.

Snapdragon Glance also works in tandem with Qualcomm’s Battery Guru to help improve run time.

While this all sounds great, there is a small hitch. To run this new lock screen, you must have a phone using a Qualcomm processor, and it must be running Android 4.3 or higher, so a pretty significant chunk of the Android ecosystem wont be allowed to play. If you do meet those criteria, it’s free on Google Play.

Qualcomm Snapdragon Glance on Google Play

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Newegg Premier Membership aims to take a bite out of Amazon Prime

newegg premier membership serviceOh, the time I used to spend putting together dream workstations on Newegg. Looks like they’re getting tired of people like me putting products in our shopping carts, and are looking for ways to make it easier for us to push “Ship”.

Welcome Newegg Premier, a $49.99 per year membership fee gets you three day shipping (better rates on 2-day and overnight), no restocking fees on returns with complimentary shipping, early notifications on sales and events, and exclusive deals. You can sign up for a free 30 day trial, and Newegg will throw in 100 “Egg Points” (worth a dollar towards your next purchase).

Newegg will have to combat Amazon’s included media services, but the timing on this move could be pretty good, as there are rumors Amazon might be increasing the price of Prime. For people focused on the shopping experience, this could be an interesting (potentially cheaper) alternative.

Newegg Premier Membership

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Microsoft Offering Free Nokia Lumia 1020 or 1520 with iPhone 4 or Galaxy S2 Trade in!

lumia 1520 1020 trade in your iphone 4 or galaxy s2 microsoftHere’s the scoop.

Trade in an iPhone 4, 4S, or a Galaxy S2 in good working condition.
Sign up for a new two year agreement on AT&T.
Walk out with either a Lumia 1020 or Lumia 1520 for free.

But seriously, if you were shopping a new phone, and were considering a Windows Phone, you can pick between the best smartphone camera on the market, or one of the best phablets available. All you have to do is turn over a phone which was likely destined for a recycling center.

Full details on the Microsoft Offers page!

nokia lumia 1020 pureview camera test video samples somegadgetguy

(via Baran Gercek, Analie Cruz)

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UPDATED: Sony’s Next Stage? Reforming TV Business, Selling Off PC Division

Sony logo*** Update: Enobong Etteh from BooredAtWork.com joined me on Youtube to discuss all the Sony news announced today (embedded below)*** 

It seems to be the major challenge for large corporations, adapting to current market trends, and attempting reorganization.

Sony has their hands in a lot of different tech markets: phones, PC’s, TV’s, Cameras, Playstations, and media (TV/Films/Music). That’s a big ship to steer, and they’ve attempted two previous company wide reorganizations in 2009 and 2012. Ahead of their positive third quarter financial statement showing a 20% revenue increase over the same period in 2012 thanks to the PS4. Unfortunately they’re forecasting a shocking $1 Billion loss for the fiscal year, and now  Sony is announcing their next major corporate reform plans.

Their intention with TV’s is to reduce R&D costs, and streamline manufacturing. They’ve reduced losses from this division from 147 Billion Yen to 69 Billion Yen over the course of a year, and they estimate they should be able to reduce that further to 25 Billion Yen ending fiscal year 2013. They don’t expect the TV division to become profitable until early 2015 (ending fiscal year 2014).

sony-vaio-flip-575x368More drastic, Sony is also selling off their VAIO PC division. Rumors pointed to VIZIO or Lenovo possibly acquiring them, but it’s now official that Sony will be selling to Japan Industrial Partners Inc.  It’s unknown how much the PC line will be sold for. Sony will cease design and production of new PC models after the current announced line up of PC’s is released this Spring.

On top of these measures, Sony will also be cutting 5000 jobs in response to this new poor forecast. In early trading this morning Sony stock is up almost 5% following the announcements.

Enobong Etteh from BooredAtWork.com joined me in a Google Hangout to discuss the announcements:

Full Sony press release below.

Continue reading “UPDATED: Sony’s Next Stage? Reforming TV Business, Selling Off PC Division”

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CBS Interviews Elon Musk: Tesla Model S completes cross country road trip in 76 hours

model-s-blue-front2_960x640This is a giant leap for EV’s!

Handily answering concerns about range and charge time, two Model S Tesla sedans have completed a cross country road trip starting in LA and arriving in New York a little more than three days later.

Tesla’s Supercharger stations quickly recharge or swap batteries on the Model S, making electric vehicles a more attractive solution for people who drive long distances. More Supercharger stations need to be built for the system to appeal across the country, but this is fantastic progress considering how non-existent the infrastructure for EV’s was even just a couple years ago.

Now hopefully I’ll NEVER have to field that inane question from people here in LA “B-b-b-but what if I suddenly and unexpectedly want to road trip to Vegas like I never do?”

Interview below.

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Democrats Intro Open Internet Preservation Act to restore the FCC’s Open Internet Order

USA Captiol Building at DuskOur political process is still struggling with technology’s rapid march, but a few Democrats are at least trying to repair the damage dealt to the Open Internet Oder by an Appeals court last month.

The saga so far: The FCC backs the OIO which would’ve put in place the authority to manage data networks almost like they do phone networks. It would’ve been a huge win for Net Neutrality advocates. Verizon sued them, claiming this would’ve infringed their First Amendment rights and that the FCC lacked the authority to handle broadband this way. The Appeals court sided with Verizon, stating that data networks are not “Common Carriers”, so the FCC can not regulate them. The court however left intact one element of the OIO in that if Verizon decides to unfairly degrade a competitor’s service or charge a competitor more for the same service, they at least have to disclose they are doing it.

waxman twitter profileIntroduced by House Rep Henry Waxman, the Open Internet Preservation Act would restore the FCC’s ability to enforce regulation. Basically it’s a bill designed to puzzle piece back in the sections which the Appeals court cut out. It’s completely not surprising that Waxman is backing this bill, as he has a pretty solid record on consumer protection legislation. I used to live in his district here in California, and his staff is incredible at fielding concerns from his constituents.

While this bill is a very nice gesture, we’re just not seeing a lot of movement in the House at them moment, and it seems highly unlikely that enough Republicans will cross the aisle to support legislation granting more regulatory authority to a government commission. We also have to ask if we should start having conversations about declaring broadband networks common carriers to avoid future legal showdowns.

House Bill: The Open Internet Preservation Act

(Capitol Building pic Courtesy of Martin Falbisoner via Wiki)

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Microsoft names Satya Nadella CEO, Gates steps down as Chairman

satya nadella microsoft ceoIt’s official! The rumors and speculation can finally end. Satya Nadella has been named the third CEO of Microsoft as Ballmer exits.

46 year old Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India, and has been with Microsoft for 22 years. He comes from Microsoft’s Servers and Tools Business, where he pushed cloud initiatives, supporting many other divisions within Microsoft including XBox, Bing, Office, and more. He’s an interesting pick, as his background would suggest Microsoft is focusing on bringing more cloud integration to consumer products. I personally hope to see more unification between various products, and cloud data is going to be key in delivering on a “One OS Per Person” strategy.

A New Chairman of the Board…

Bill Gates is also stepping down from his position of Chairman, and will be moving to a new position on the board. He’ll be “Founder and Technology Advisor”, and will be working directly with Nadella in shaping future Microsoft strategies.

John W Thompson Microsoft ChairmanJohn W. Thompson of Virtual Instruments (former CEO of Symantec, and former General Manager of IBM Americas) will move into the Chairman position on Microsoft’s Board of Directors. This appointment further reinforces their focus on cloud computing.

Following news of the announcement, trading has been quietly positive. At the time of this post, MSFT was up almost two tenths on the NASDAQ.

Microsoft has put together a wonderful Welcome Page for Nadella’s announcement with interviews and video, and you can read the full press release below.

Continue reading “Microsoft names Satya Nadella CEO, Gates steps down as Chairman”

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More Apps Coming to Chromecast Soon! SDK is Available for Developers!

google chromecast tv hdmi dongle somegadgetguyChromecast is one of the most cost effective ways to start streaming to your TV, and its ingenious use of apps and services on your phone or tablet makes for a terrifically easy learning curve. If there’s been a complaint, it’s been in the selection of services compatible with Chromecast. Picks have been slim.

That should change very soon! Google has finally seen fit to release a proper SDK, so now app developers will be able to build Chromecast functionality into their offerings. The possibilities are endless. Video and audio players are a given, but what about cloud storage? Gaming? Chromecast might enable a whole new relationship between your phone and TV! And it’s cheap!

Hit the Chrome blog for more info, or grab the SDK now if you feel like tinkering.

Related:
Chromecast Supports 10 New Apps!
Chromecast Unboxing, Setup, Review, and Viewer Questions!
Buy Chromecast!

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