These cute little robot looking speakers are actually the Thodio iBox iPod speaker docks. The obscure looking docks offer several customizable features for your ideal setup. → Read More
In one more step towards the Groupon-ification of everyday life, ShopSavvy, the app that allows you to scan in a barcode, do a product lookup and find comprable deals on products nearby or online is announcing a greater push into geo-location today. ShopSavvy will be partnering up with Groupon and offering its over 10 million users the ability to see relevant local deals in its “Deals” tab.
ShopSavvy boasts 50 million product scans a month and its “Deals” function takes into account a shopper’s location, shopping history, and preferences when serving up most offers. The app shares a crowded space, competing with apps like Barcode Reader (really creative guys), Pic2Shop and now Groupon itself. But the land grab for mobile here is in hyper-targeted relevancy of deals and if it can pull that off using data from its bar code scan history it will have a leg up on the competition. → Read More
The Keyport Slide is about as sexy as a key ring can get. It says loud and clear that you’re above silly key chains and all that nonsense. It is without question the best way to carry your keys and break the ice at a hotel bar. It’s just too bad that it won’t replace my key chain. → Read More
Companies like Exclusive Resorts and Quintess cater to the wealthy by giving them access to luxury home rentals at relatively reasonable prices. If you’re traveling with a family or multiple couples, it ends up being a lot less expensive than staying at a high end hotel. And it’s definitely a better deal than buying a vacation home, unless you expect big gains in property values.
There’s a big “but” though. Like country clubs, you have to pay a large fee to get in. Hundreds of thousands of dollars to become a member.
Here’s how the Exclusive Resorts/Quintess model works: Pay a few hundred thousand dollars and then you get to rent the homes they own for about $1,000/night. That’s not bad for, say, a $4 million home in Tuscany with five bedrooms. A home like that usually rents for 4x that. The picture above is one of the Exclusive Resorts Tuscany homes. → Read More
As part of today’s roll-out of Gingerbread updates to the Nexus One and Nexus S, Google also took an aggressive jab at Facebook: it has removed the ability of Facebook users to merge their ‘Facebook phone directory’ with the Contacts application on the Nexus S. In doing so Google has rekindled the battle over contacts that it initiated last November, in which Google has argued that Facebook is locking up user data. But before we get into the implications, it’s prudent to explain how things have worked until this point.
Right now when you fire up the Android Facebook application on the Nexus S for the first time, you’re given the option to ‘Sync friends with Contacts’. Enable the feature, and the next time you open your Android address book you’ll see your Facebook contacts — including their phone numbers, assuming they’ve added them to their Facebook profiles — listed alongside the contacts stored in your Google address book. In short, your Facebook and Google contacts are all seamlessly listed in the same place. It’s pretty nice.
But now Google has decided to turn off the feature on the grounds that users can’t export any of their Facebook contact data — they can see it in their address book, but the data isn’t actually stored as part of the phone’s contacts database. → Read More
I was just talking with Jolicloud founder Tariq Krim the other day at Mobile World Congress, and we discussed the fact that everyone seems to design their software to work just within the limits of the hardware we have. Programs are designed around the idea of having 4GB of RAM and hundreds of gigs of hard drive space, but for so many things this is total overkill. Can’t you do all this stuff with a tenth or hundredth of the resources?
Of course! → Read More
Nexus One owners, the surprisingly long wait is (almost) over: today Google has begun pushing out the latest version of Android, codenamed Gingerbread, to Nexus One devices. The rollout will likely take a few days, but you should be expecting an Over The Air update very soon.
And there’s more good news: Nexus S owners are getting an OTA update as well, which includes fixes for some annoying bugs (including a random reboot issue) and additional support for Near Field Communication. The update for Nexus S owners also includes a big change to the way Facebook syncing works (in short, it doesn’t) — see this post for more on this aggressive move by Google.
The improvements to NFC for the Nexus S are especially interesting because they give a taste of Google’s future plans for the technology. The new functionality is best demonstrated by additions to the Tags application, which ships on the Nexus S.
Until now Tags has allowed users to tap their phone on NFC tags at various venues to read information off of them (unfortunately these aren’t very commonplace yet — I have yet to actually use the feature in a real-world situation). → Read More
The ongoing dispute between the Indian government and RIM is… well, ongoing, and I get the feeling neither side will be happy with the inevitable compromises. This week the understandably sullen RIM mentioned in a statement what it has likely been telling Indian officials the whole time: Blackberries aren’t the only devices with encrypted data services. It suggested Google, Apple, Cisco, HP, and several other companies as examples of other companies with similarly protected services.
Will pointing their finger make a difference? Probably not. → Read More
Looking for a new headset for your 360 audio pleasures? You might have heard of the Chimaera when it was announced back at CES. They weren’t quite fully baked back then, but they’re ready for your dollar now. I just hope you’re well-provided with said dollars, because these wireless surround sound headphones ain’t cheap. → Read More
It’s hard to hate on bikes — they’re one of the most efficient ways to travel. Whether you use your bike for travel, recreation, or exercise, the new iBike Dash iPhone kit can help make your ride more elucidative. → Read More
No, the FTC hasn’t taken on Apple over its controversial 30% fee for subscription-based apps on the App Store. But, according to Cecilia Kang at the Washington Post, it is investigating whether the feature makes it too easy for children to purchase digital goods without realizing they’re spending real money (and without their parents’ permission).
According to the report, Representative Ed Markey (D, Mass.) sent a letter to the FTC earlier this month about the issue, after reading a previous article in the Washington Post describing the trend. FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz responded that they would be looking into the matter: → Read More
We haven’t heard anything regarding the Alex e-reader for a long time. I nearly reviewed it, but can say now that due to its performance it really wasn’t fit to be reviewed at the time. I was told then that a successor was in the works, and although we’ve heard no more from them, this week finds a notable change on their site: the Alex is no longer “out of stock,” but has graduated to being “phased out.” → Read More
It’s not the best time to be a gamer in Vietnam. The country’s government, by way of the Ministry of Information and Communication, has decreed that ISPs there block access to online games between the hours of 10pm and 8am. No late-night raiding for you, I’m afraid. → Read More
It is nearly the end of the road for Blockbuster as we know it. The company has put itself up for auction and is accepting bids higher than “stalking horse” Cobalt Video Holdco bid of $290 million. The plan, then would be to accept a higher offer from any potential bidders or sell the assets to Cobalt.
What will you get for your $290 million? → Read More
The next, and supposedly final, Transformers movie is due for release on July 1, but how can you have a popcorn movie without the popcorn? In this case “the popcorn” is Transformers themed 3D glasses. Hmm. → Read More
Ever since the first gen iPhone, it seems the case has become more fragile; plastic followed aluminum, glass after plastic. Those reminiscent of the days when the iPhone was cased in element 13 can buy this sticker, which covers the glass back of iPhone 4 with faux aluminum. This sticker reportedly offers scratch protection and is completely water/grease-proof. It even has a cutout for your mirror-finished Apple logo. → Read More
The Apple rumor economy has always been fascinating. More so than any other company, people obsess over little tidbits of information which may be true, may be half true, may be half false, or may be totally made up. And despite pretty much no one outside of the company ever knowing anything concrete, the rumors get talked about to death.
I probably do this as much as anyone. Apple is arguably the most important and inarguably the most valuable tech company right now. Speculation is fun, and can even be thought-provoking. But today things got taken to a whole new level. → Read More
Don Draper, look away. London-based blur Group has officially launched its Creative Services Exchange, which in their words aims to disrupt the traditional Madison Avenue agency model for the advertising/creative industries. And in doing so, cuts down time to market and, of course, costs.
It’s the usual Internet take on an old industry: offer a platform that more or less cuts old the middle person (unless you’re the blur Group), matching buyers with sellers directly. In this instance, the middle person is expensive creative agencies, while the buyers are those with a creative brief – web design, copy writing, marketing campaign, viral video and such – and the sellers are professional creatives. All 9,500 of them vetted by the blur Group themselves. → Read More
Check out these neat little earbuds from Urban Ears. These hipster buds come in eight different colors, have an inline mic and remote, and the ends snap together around your neck when not in use. → Read More
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