Category: News

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Quechua partnering with Archos for Rugged Android Smartphone

quechua-phoneI love rugged phones. There are a ton of smartphone gimmicks out there, but features like “drop resistant” and “waterproof” really light me up.

Quechua makes rugged outdoor activity clothes and gear, and now they’re moving into the world of consumer electronics. Working with Archos, they’re targeting the rough and tumble set. The Quechua phone will have a five inch screen (resolution to be announced) with a 1.2GHz Qualcomm quad-core, 1GB of RAM, 4GB of storage and a MicroSD card slot for expansion.

Not the most exciting specs to be sure, but it’ll be IP54 certified against water and drop damage. It will also sport a huge 3500mAh battery, which on these low power specs, should provide excellent run time. No LTE, but this looks like it’s following in the footsteps of other branded devices like Caterpillar’s licensed rugged phone.

Released for European markets, expect a price of €230 (about $310), and here’s to hoping Archos brings a similar design to the USA. This also reinforces how competitive the entry and mid level unlocked markets will be over next year.

Quechua Press Release (via Gadget Tech)

 

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German Federal Motor Transport Authority Gives Tesla Clean Bill of Health Following Vehicle Fires

model-s-blue-front2_960x640Posted on the Tesla website yesterday, the German Motor Authority (KBA) reviewed the Tesla data provided following the incidents in Seattle, Tennessee, and Mexico. The KBA has the power to perform investigations and initiate recalls.

They’ve concluded that no manufacturer defects were found and Tesla was not responsible for the vehicle fires. This could’ve been a disaster for Tesla as Germany is aggressively pushing alternative energy and electric vehicles. As Tesla sock has already taken a hit, a move from the KBA would likely have tainted Tesla’s reputation for an entire generation of consumers.

Instead, Tesla got a fist bump and a “we cool”, so hopefully this will help their reputation recover in Europe. Nice timing indeed as the Model X Sport Crossover should start delivering next year.

It also leads me to wonder why vehicle fires in internal combustion engine cars aren’t covered as viscerally in the media as the three fires Tesla Model S sedans have encountered…

Read the full statement at the Tesla blog.

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The Future of Amazon Delivery? Drone to door service. 30 minute local drop off!

image-gallery-02._V367569984_Amazon is pulling out all the stops in their competition with traditional brick and mortar retailers. They used to be free from taxes, but many major markets now tax internet sales. They’re currently experimenting with local storage lockers, they might single-handedly save the US Postal Service, and they’re now talking high tech.

Yup. Drone technology might be the new front in their war on package delivery times. Dubbed Prime Air, these unmanned aircraft will be capable of carrying up to a five pound payload. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but over 80% of Amazon’s shipments are less than five pounds. For customers within a Prime Air zone, packages could be delivered in as little as 30 minutes. It sounds like a great solution for those times you need a cable or memory card quickly. There’s no way I could make a trip to an electronics store and back home in Los Angeles in less than half an hour.

Sign me up!

Pump your brakes there Juan. There are still plenty of kinks to work out. Sure there’s still technology hoops to jump through, but the bigger issue is getting swarms of flying devices through FAA approvals.

Still, CEO Jeff Bezos is optimistic that we could see an Amazon Air Force relatively soon, like four or five years. Maybe on the outside chance this happens quickly, we might even see a limited trial of the service by the end of 2015.

We wont have flying cars like Back to the Future 2 promised us we’d have, but if I don’t have to leave my house for deliveries, that might be almost as good! Check the Amazon video below for more info on Prime Air.

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Cyber Monday PSA: Moto X is on sale for $350 off contract!

moto x cyber monday sale motorolaMotorola’s fresh spin on Android can now be yours for a very nice price!

If you’re shopping Cyber Monday deals, this is a pretty good one. How about $150 off a Moto X?

This brings Moto’s top handset in line with Nexus phones, and Moto is already rolling out KitKat. For the 16GB model, you can schnag one today only for $350. No contract, no financing. $350 and you own it outright.

Quantities will be limited, and the sale runs through today only, but for those lucky folks who can buy one at this price, you can pick one up for Sprint, Verizon, T-Mo, or AT&T. No carrier or color/customization restrictions. Go nuts! Sale starts at 8am Central time!

You folks buying phones this holiday season, will this price point tempt you to open your wallet? Are you considering a Motorola this year? Drop us a comment below!

Moto X Cyber Monday Online Specials.

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Los Angeles: Holiday Pet Portraits for Charity – The Tailwaggers Foundation & Project Angel Food

Santa PawsTech blog though this may be, I have a soft spot for our furry family members.

The Tailwaggers Foundation provides funds to 501 C non-profit organizations who provide treatment to sick and injured animals. They’ll be holding two charity events in LA. The first in West Hollywood December 7 and 8, and the second in Hollywood December 14 and 15. Bring your pet to get his or her picture taken with Santa Paws and Mrs. Claws! Photos are $20, and all proceeds from these two events will go towards helping sick and injured animals around the country and helping supply Project Angel Food, which helps feed people suffering from HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life threatening illnesses.

For more info please check out http://thetailwaggersfoundation.org/ and http://www.angelfood.org/

Full press release with all the details after the jump, and for no good reason, here’s a pic of my pup.

biggelow bear the shar pei sleeping under his blanket

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New Chrome Extension adds voice search, just say “Ok Google”

google voice search chrome extensionUnifying controls is the name of the game!

Now across all of Google’s products you can initiate a voice search with the phrase “OK Google”. Installing a Chrome plugin will enable this new feature.

Take heart you security conscious folks, the feature is held primarily to whenever a Google search tab is open, but even on a Google search tab, it’ll stop listening after five minutes. I personally think persistent observation is creepy, so I’m happy to see there are user activated controls to keep it in check.

google voice search listening chrome extension

Download the extension for your Chrome browser, and maybe it’ll come in handy while your hands are messy this Thanksgiving! I always seem to need to search for something when my hands are covered in gunk…

Google Voice Seach Hotword BETA

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Acer refreshes $299 C720p Chromebook, adds Touchscreen, doesn’t raise price!

Acer C720P_touch_handThe mobile computing landscape is getting ridiculously competitive. Chromebooks, Netbooks, Tablets, proper latptops, and hybrids. The bang for buck ratio is disrupting-ly low. An incredible number of options for a variety of usage scenarios.

Acer is sweetening their Chromebook offering. The c720p is a refresh of their C720. The hardware is almost exactly the same, even down to the somewhat mediocre TFT LCD panel used on the screen. What’s nice however is they’re adding a touch panel to that screen. What’s even nicer is that touch panel isn’t going to increase the price. The C720p will retail for the same $299 that the original did.

Not too shabby.

ChromeOS doesn’t particularly need touch, but playing with it on my Windows 8 laptop, I think we’re just entering an era where adding touchscreens will be the norm. We’re all sort of learning to just interact directly with things on our screen. When I’m really tired, I have to remember that my desktop does not have a touchscreen… You’ll still see finger prints on my monitors though…

Sporting an 11.6″ screen, an Intel Celeron processor, 2GB of RAM, and 32GB of flash storage it looks like it could be a decent seller this holiday season. Expect to see lappys shipping mid December.

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Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?

htc one mini camera test video samples somegadgetguyBlah blah blah abstraction layer… Herp derp blerp API’s…

Long story short, Google is trying to improve the software / hardware relationship our smartphone cameras rely on. This should expand the tool set developers have at their disposal when making photo and video services. Google specifically is discussing better multi-shot tech which should improve sport and burst modes and deliver more flexible HDR settings. An HDR photo depends on a series of pics taken quickly at different exposures. Other smart modes could be improved too, like the ability to take a series of shots to remove distracting elements from your photos.

All well and good from a consumer app-y position, but the idea of delivering RAW files could be really interesting for people who really want to control their photo output, even from their phones.

Continue reading “Google confirms camera RAW support is coming to Android. So what’s that mean?”

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