February 2010
130 posts
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Mobile devices are splintering the Web
Smart phones, with their app platforms, and now tablets, with their, um, app platforms, are segmenting Internet content, according to a post by Advertising Age.
Are the days of any device being able to access anything on the Web quickly becoming numbered?
January 2010
206 posts
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Newspapers as cleaning rags, diapers as heating... →
The Times’ Greenspace highlights a site called AltUse, which reduces our daily hardcopy labor of love into a pile of rubbish to clean your coffee table with.
Actually, dogs have been peeing on our publication for years. We can live with it.
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Seesmic Look: A Twitter app for tablets that...
A week before anyone even knew the name iPad (except for Mad TV, but the writers there are clearly visionaries), the team behind the popular Twitter software Seesmic had already announced its designed-for-tablet app.
Seesmic Look opens a window to a simplified, channel-surfing-esque experience to browsing tweets. Seesmic CEO Loic Le Meur says, “Think Mom and Dad.”
Image via Seesmic
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Kindle not ready to surrender to iPad →
Video killed the radio star.
Will iPad kill the Kindle?
Steve Jobs lauded the Kindle in his big reveal on Wednesday. But moments later, he said: “We’re going to stand on their shoulders and go a little further.”
Players in the tech space are saying that the competition will come down to: battery life, weight, cost and reading experience.
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California cellphone rules don't appear to be... →
Think your commute is safer now that California requires drivers to use hands-free cellphones?
Think again.
The Highway Loss Data Institute found that rates of crashes before and after the landmark law took effect in 2008 have not significantly changed.
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“For as long as I’ve been alive, publication formats have been getting smaller....”
– Renowned magazine designer Luke Hayman on Five ways the iPad will change magazine design
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Apple's New Tablet: A Bitter Pill to Swallow? →
This week the world was waiting with bated breath, anticipating Steve Jobs’ big reveal of his latest innovation. iPad was received with mixed reviews. Some disappointment here, some feminine hygiene jokes there. Some people are calling it a big iPhone; others are calling it the future.
BusinessWeek stepped back and posed the question: Does our society truly need one more high-tech...
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Sweetheart iPhone App →
You want love? There’s an app for that.
Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the New England Confectionery Company allows you to customize virtual candy and put your own personal messages on the classic pastel-colored candy hearts we all adore: Sweethearts.
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Make a $2 adjustable car phone mount in 10 minutes
We’re skeptical about how easy Instructables makes this sound.
It looks pretty ghetto, but we’ll give it a shot and report back.
Photo credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
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“We’ve started running ads to the pirate users more aggressively. Some of those...”
– Tapulous business development head Tim O’Brien on its most popular iPhone game. Speaking of which, of Tap Tap Revenge’s 2.5 million downloads, a million comes from piracy.
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Apple App Store has lost $450 million to piracy →
Even a totally closed system (that gets even stronger with the introduction of the larger-screen iPad) falls victim to piracy.
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Ten ways the iPad could change your life forever →
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An iPhone app to control your house remotely
Protection One has released an iPhone app that interacts with its home control system allowing customers to control things in the home without being there.
The eSecure app lets homeowners close and open garage doors, turn security systems on or off and monitor the liquor cabinet (not kidding).
It will also send you a text in the event of break-ins, elevated smoke or carbon monoxide levels and...
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Create your own Jackson Pollock on your phone →
For just 99 cents, you can become just like Pollock—swirling splashes of paint everywhere. Well, at least everywhere on your iPhone screen.
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“What is this about an Apple announcement yesterday? Oh, just an iPhone for...”
– Six Apart software engineer Leah Culver on Twitter
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More than 370 devices run on AT&T wireless...
Among the 370 or so devices that AT&T supports on its wireless Web is a ton of netbooks, some e-readers including the Kindle and two digital picture frames, according to an AT&T news release.
Why a digital picture frame needs persistent Web access is beyond us.
Photo credit: Vialta
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Nobody wants to go into the office anymore
As if they ever did.
A Gartner report finds that virtualization — that is software that allows employees to work remotely — is quickly becoming the biggest trend of the year.
More companies are looking at ways for employees to take their laptops to cafes and setup shop there, rather than commute into the office.
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Despite more phones tapping into 3G Internet,...
You might think that the raise of Internet-enabled smart phones would eliminate (or at least minimize) the need for Wi-Fi hotspots. Not true.
AT&T reports that it’s seeing way more connections to the hotspots it owns (most notably, Starbucks).
Month-over-month, connections are skyrocketing, and connections from smart phones and “integrated devices” (like the Kindle and iPod...
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95% of email is spam →
We assume the remaining 5% is cats.
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“We have personally reviewed these plans, and we have very high confidence that...”
– Apple COO Tim Cook in an earnings conference call, believing that AT&T would improve its cell phone service
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Women mock the iPad, calling it iTampon →
You saw this coming. And you probably saw it on Twitter all day, but in case you missed it…
Insert your favorite iPad joke here.
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5 must-have free social apps for BlackBerry →
According to Mashable, across the globe BlackBerrys still outnumber iPhones.
They have also suggested five social apps you should have, if you are a BlackBerry owner. In order: BlackBerry Messenger, Facebook, UberTwitter, Evernote, and Pandora.
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Verizon Palm phones can transform into Wi-Fi...
Palm Mobile Hotspot is probably the coolest thing about the new Palm Pre Plus and Palm Pixi Plus on Verizon Wireless. The app turns your phone into a Wi-Fi hotspot allowing you to connect a laptop to the Internet where ever you have phone service.
Photo credit: Daniel Acker / Bloomberg
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Would you entrust all of your data to this cloud?
CyberSynchs wants to back up the personal data on your phone — music, ringtones, text messages, calendar, voicemail, etc. — to its cloud servers.
Hey, at least it’s not Google.
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Android phones finally get iTunes-like sync...
One of the best parts about the iPod (and by extension, the iPhone) is iTunes. It’s a great digital jukebox, an easy way to organize digital media and synchronizes seamlessly with Apple devices.
T-Mobile has hooked up with an iTunes of its own in DoubleTwist. The software supports BlackBerry and the Palm Pre in addition to Android phones. The program will manage your music and videos to be...
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iPhone in 2010: Mobile Commerce, Social Networking →
iPhone App Store coming of age?
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Breaking: Apple unveils new iPad tablet computer →
Confirming weeks of speculation, Apple Inc. announced today that it would roll out a tablet device that would allow users to play music and movies, peruse books, access e-mail and surf the Internet.
The device was unveiled by Apple’s iconic chief executive, Steve Jobs, during a news conference in San Francisco.
Follow the live coverage at L.A. Times Technology.
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Adidas launches shoes that double as game... →
The idea behind the new Adidas Originals is that you’d hold the shoe in front of your computer’s webcam and interact somehow to play along with a game on-screen. In other words, do not attempt this in public, you loser.
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“It began to weigh heavily on us. We were considering IVF and adoption when...”
– Glasgow, UK resident Lena Bryce told the Sun, celebrating the aid of an iPhone app to help her track her fertility and conceive a child
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U.S. Army gets an iPhone app →
“The key words that we look for — that we invest around — are mobile,...”
– Technology start-up investor Fred Wilson in a video interview, rattling off the features that make portable gadgets unique — accelerometer, compass and GPS included
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Drive-thru H1N1 flu shots
How did we miss this ridiculous anecdote? Some places in L.A. offer drive-through H1N1 flu vaccines. Do you want fries with that?
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WatchMcGraw-Hill CEO spills the beans on Apple tablet details
Whoops.
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After three months, only 35 subscriptions for... →
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“What we are bringing back to the end user is the entire emotional experience of...”
– BACH Technology Chief Executive Stefan Kohlmeyer, explaining the company’s MusicDNA project. The task is to replace the ubiquitous MP3 with song files that contain lyrics, band news and images.
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Umbrella today?
The Umbrella Today site (and now the iPhone app) allows you to type in your location and it will tell you whether or not you need an umbrella for the day.
Type in “Los Angeles” and it says NO, in huge letters.
We hear very soon, though, there may be cause for the app to say YES…
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FCC probes Google, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and... →
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“If you are coming to NYTimes.com from another Web site and it brings you to our...”
– New York Times President and Chief Executive Janet Robinson in an FAQ, clarifying how the 2011 paywall meter system will work. So, we can still Tumble and tweet the N.Y. Times then?
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Driving gets in the way of a good conversation →
Yeah, screw cars. They cause conversational accidents.
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Palm's Pre Plus and Pixi Plus available on Verizon...
The Palm Pre was forecasted to dominate the market when it first shown at CES 2009, and it… Well, it didn’t.
Most of the blame there can be left at the foot of the exclusive deal with Sprint. But as of Monday, the Palm Pre Plus and its little sister, the Palm Pixi Plus, can be purchased on Verizon Wireless.
In addition to joining the largest U.S. carrier, the Pre Plus has an improved...