Technology & Business
Google's self-driving cars see 750MB of data per second
Google's self driving cars are an amazing achievement and likely will herald the future of personal transportation. We now learn that 750MB per second. Google's Self-Driving Car gathers almost 1 GB per SECOND. Here's what it "sees" making a left turn: twitter.com/Bill_Gross/sta… — Bill Gross (@Bill_Gross) April 30, 2013 Bill Gross snapped (supposedly) the above image at an XPrize event. He says on his blog : "If it sees a cigarette butt, it knows a person might be creeping out from between cars.
LG designing a new Nexus phone
Putting aside all the supply issues related to the Nexus 4, this device really put LG back on the smartphone map. Now Korea Time is reporting that LG is already hard at work designing the next version of the Google branded uber-phone. Considering when the Nexus 4 was released, I doubt we'll see the Nexus 5 during this month's Google IO but we'll have to wait and see.
Best rechargeable batteries
I often get emails asking me which rechargeable batteries I personally use... The answer is SANYO ENELOOP rechargeable batteries. I wrote a review about them here. Hope this helps
Say hello to the world's smallest cell phone
Smaller is usually better but take a look at the world's smallest cell phone from Willcom, doesn't it look like a dolls accessory? I'm guessing you won't be using this to snap pictures or play games but I'm sure someone somewhere on our big blue marbel may be looking for this type of diminutive device. The phone comes in white, black or pink and can be had for a cheap $380 in Japan.
Google's Free Fonts now easier to download
Google has made its jam packed font collection easier to download via sync with SkyFonts. The announcement was made on their blog. The goal of Google Fonts has always been to bring beautiful, open-source fonts to the web, fast and free of cost. Starting today, you can download these fonts for offline access on your desktop. We’ve made all of the fonts from the Google Fonts directory available in SkyFonts, a tool from Monotype that allows you to install and sync fonts from the web onto your Windows or Mac OS X devices.
Astrid Tasks acquired by Yahoo and will be shutdown
Yahoo has bought the popular task manager Astrid for an undisclosed amount. Yahoo has been busy buying smaller software manufacturers and revamping its existing properties (Yahoo mail, Flickr, etc). The Astrid announcement was made on its blog. They have informed annoyed users that the service will be shutdown in 90 days and that they will allow users to download exisiting data. Astrid was a well designed software that whose loss will be felt in the productivity sphere.
Get Google Now on IOS !
It is unbelievable that this type of major news comes just a but before Google's annual conference but it did. Google Now comes to IOS via the Google Search app, which means the leaked videos we saw a while ago were true. It isn't as full featured as the Google service just yet (no boarding passes, events, concerts, etc) but no one knows what the future holds. You can read the announcement on Google blog post here.
Why Facebook created Facebook Home
Facebook Home finally clarified the company’s mobile roadmap. Facebook will integrate into existing smartphones and will not create a phone of its own (aka no Facebook phone). The new Android launcher rolled out in the US for select high end smartphones last week and ratings on the Google Play store show that it isn’t for everyone (44% of reviewers had given it a 1 star when I wrote this article). What is Facebook Home? Facebook Home is an Android launcher that “put’s people first”.
LinkedIn Buys the Pulse News Reader for $90M
The rumors were true. Pulse is now part of the LinkedIn in family. As part of the blog post confirming the acquisition, we learn that Pulse has 30 million users and 750 publishing partners. LinkedIn has confirmed that it will not shut down Pulse but will use it to pull information into its own site. No word yet on whether LinkedIn intends to continue developing Pulse.
Samsung Galaxy now comes in 5.8 & 6.3 inch Mega size
Samsung recently released the much anticipated Samsung Galaxy SIV (S4) and the market was clamoring to see what Samsung would do with the Samsung Note 3. Imagine our surprise when Sammy announced a brand new line of Galaxy phones called Mega. The Samsung Galaxy Mega will come in 5.8" and 6.3" models but isn't targetting the high end crowd. Based on the released specs, these will be mid level phones (performance wise). As an example, the 5.8" will come with a 189.