Category: News

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‘Reading Rainbow’ Crushes Crowd Funding Goals – LeVar Burton Thanks Supporters on Youtube

reading rainbow online kickstarterLeVar Burton is trying to bring Reading Rainbow to the web and produce a specialized classroom version of the show which will be freely available to educators. Their goal for the project? $1,000,000.

With 33 days to go on the project backers have already pledged $2.5 Million.

Produced from 1983 to 2006, the project producers believe that the next frontier to help improve child literacy isn’t TV, but the internet. The fact that the project reached its goal before the end of its first day, it would appear a lot of people would agree. An emotional LeVar Burton took to Youtube to express his thanks.

The project still has a month to go, and there are plenty of fun perks left to grab. Head on over to the Kickstarter page to check it out, but you don’t have to take my word for it…

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AT&T Offers Up Samsung Galaxy S5 Active Rugged Phone for $199

samsung galaxy s5 active ATTAT&T has finally taken the wraps off of their next rugged Galaxy Smartphone. Following in the footsteps of the Rugby and the Galaxy S4 Active, the Galaxy S5 Active improves upon the line by offering up a more ruggedized experience with none of the previous compromises made by other “tough” phones.

The S4 Active was similar to the regular S4, but had an LCD screen instead of Samsung’s juicy AMOLED display, and the camera was an 8MP shooter instead of the normal S4’s 13MP shooter.

samsung galaxy s5 active ATT frontThe normal Galaxy S5 is already water resistant, capable of surviving being completely submerged for short periods of time. This means very little re-engineering needed to happen to toughen up the S5 Active. It’s the same terrific AMOLED display with the incredible new 16MP camera sensor capable of shooting 4 video. This new Active is the same hardware, but bulked up in a more rugged shell. A little thicker, a little wider, but capable of taking more abuse.

The hardware navigation buttons also make a return. These have proven to be terrifically handy, allowing you to partially operate the phone when water or muck is on the screen, or when the phone is fully submerged. Capacitive touchscreens don’t work well with water, especially when they’re under water.

If the S5 is Bruce Banner, the S5 Active is the Hulk. It’s available now as an AT&T exclusive for $199 on contract, and customers can receive a $50 credit if they buy one with a Gear Fit smartwatch.

Related:
Galaxy S4 Active Review
Galaxy S5 Review

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Ohio Congressman Submits Bill Blocking FCC from Reclassifying Broadband as Utility

480px-Bob_Latta,_official_110th_Congress_photo_portraitIn our on going saga reporting on net neutrality, one potential outcome has always been Congress getting involved directly to craft legislation. Of course that knife can cut both ways, and while bills supporting online consumer protections have withered, a counterpoint has been introduced by Ohio Republican Bob Latta.

“At a time when the Internet economy is thriving and driving robust productivity and economic growth, it is reckless to suggest, let alone adopt, policies that threaten its success,” he said. “Reclassification would heap 80 years of regulatory baggage on broadband providers, restricting their flexibility to innovate and placing them at the mercy of a government agency.”

Latta’s bill would block the FCC’s ability to classify broadband networks as Title II or “Common Carriers”, the last threat the FCC had to keep carriers and ISPs in line.

Cable companies applauded the legislation, while we can be fairly sure that companies like Netflix, Google, and many other online services wont be thrilled by this latest move.

While we wait for the FCC’s proposed “Fastlane” rules which would essentially end the neutral internet, Ted Cruz is also planning on introducing similar legislation to the Senate.  No small wonder considering the teams of lobbyists currently campaigning in DC…

 

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Wireless Charging to Get Less Confusing Thanks to New Broadcom SoC

PR_IMG_BCM59350_Wireless_Charging_HiResOk, so wireless charging isn’t that confusing a concept. You take a device, slap it down on a pad, and it charges the battery. What IS confusing is having to deal with two different standards for wireless charging which aren’t cross compatible.

There are two different versions of chargers Qi and PMA, and each has carved out a niche of the market. It gets even more confusing with companies like Nokia. International Lumias support Qi, but AT&T is partnered with PMA, so their phones wont support Qi chargers anymore. It’s a tricky roadmap to navigate for consumers who want to know which accessories will work with their phones.

Broadcom has announced a new SoC which should eventually ease that confusion as it’ll work with both standards. It’s an exciting innovation. Having competing “standards” is a sure fire way to halt progress of a new technology. Anyone remember the Blu-Ray vs HD-DVD war for HD content? Of course you don’t we all moved over to Netflix.

Broadcom’s full pr below for all the technical details.

Continue reading “Wireless Charging to Get Less Confusing Thanks to New Broadcom SoC”

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Google Shows Off Driverless Car Prototype With No Steering Wheel

Vehicle Prototype Image Banner Cropped 600pxTil now, Google’s prototype driverless cars have been actual production vehicles, often Toyotas, retrofitted with sensors and cameras.

Well Google is following in Tesla footsteps by building their own vehicle designed from the ground up to be a self driving people mover. It looks like a toy version of a Fiat or Smart, but it carries two people in comfort. It’s basically a rolling couch with seatbelts and some navigation equipment.

As  this is very much a prototype, the initial run of vehicles will be capped to 25mph, but they have enough faith in the platform to build out 100 of these little cars to push the driverless program forward. Google is hoping to bring cars like these to market in the next couple years, and it’s no small stretch to think we might see them start filtering into taxi fleets or partnering with services like Uber.

You can see the little prototype in action below.

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LG Announces G3 Flagship Phone with Quad HD Screen

LG_G3_3Today LG took the wraps off of their long awaited follow up to the popular G2 Android phone. The LG G3 continues in the design language of the G2 and G Flex, while taking the brand upscale and including some bleeding edge specs.

LG_G3_Metallic_Black_BackThe G3 retains the power button placement on the back of the phone under the camera, but now the build material of that backplate has a metallic finish which LG claims is fingerprint resistant.

The screen has also increased over the G2’s 5.2″ diagonal to a 5.5″ diagonal, placing the G3 screen firmly in the territory of last year’s phablets. The major talking point however is the bump to screen resolution. Called “Quad HD” the G3 display contains 2560×1440 dots, or four times the resolution of a 720p display. This delivers and insane pixel pitch (538ppi), which should make text and fine photo detail crisp. Continue reading “LG Announces G3 Flagship Phone with Quad HD Screen”

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Solar Roadways Breaks $1 Million Crowdfunding Goal

solar roadways indiegogo conceptWith 5 days to go on their IndieGoGo, Solar Roadways has shattered their $1 million funding goal by a solid $300,000.

The crowdfunding campaign was to help kick start manufacturing for the first round of this new roadway construction process which incorporates solar cells and LED lights into hexagonal tiles that can be used to replace sidewalks, driveways, and streets. The cells are protected by a tempered glass which is durable enough to handle vehicles up to 15 tons.

The main benefit of this kind of retrofit is it takes ground that’s already dedicated for one purpose to generate electricity.  It’s a futuristic idea, that every piece of passive asphalt and cement could instead be generating power. Other solar farm proposals might need large areas of land, which means pushing them farther away from populated areas.

There’s still time left to contribute to the campaign, with some fun perks for donating. If you’d like more info on the Solar Roadways project, we’ve got their pitch video below.

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Google Plus App Updated! Feature Walk Through of the New UI!

new google plus app on HTC one m8

We normally wouldn’t make such a big deal out of an app update, but Google has made some pretty significant changes to the Google Plus UI for Android.

Utilizing a sleeker and bolder interface, the whole experience feels a little snappier too. We go hands on in the video below to compare it to the older G+ app, and show off all the goodies!

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