Items tagged with Misc
Yesterday, Valve’s Steam gaming service hit a milestone by logging more than 7 million concurrent users. The exact number is 7,190,629, and the peak moment occurred somewhere between 10 and 10:30am on Sunday morning (Pacific Time, it seems). It’s probably no coincidence that Valve commenced its Autumn 2013 sale just days ago, offering...
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In case you forgot, Cyber Monday is coming, and although you very well could spend more money tomorrow than you did on Black Friday, you definitely won’t be trampled to death. Put that in the plus column right there, friend. Amazon, of course, has a plethora of Cyber Monday deals, but the e-commerce behemoth is extending many of its...
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According to a report from MarketsandMarkets, the 3D printing industry is poised for huge growth in the next several years. By 2020, the industry should hit upwards of $8.4 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of a healthy 23%. Of note is that much of that growth will come from the healthcare and aerospace...
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Lian Li makes some killer cases, but the company is not above gathering input from users on designs and features. The latest chassis it’s soliciting feedback on is the prototype for the PC-A51, which is in the same line as the PC-A05N. As it stands, the PC-A51 is a nice-looking case, sporting a black-and-red...
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The instructions for the game say it all: “Punch yourself in the face to stay awake, but don’t punch too much or you will die.” It’s a game that isn’t especially scintillating, but it’s a simple and funny commentary on the whole Black Friday experience. Basically, you have to punch...
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More and more 3D scanners are emerging to complement the many 3D printers on the market, and Robocular is hoping its 3D scanner will appeal to the masses. The company is raising funds on Kickstarter so it can basically just scale up production; the money will go toward acquiring injection molds and bulk quantities of components. The Robocular...
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Here’s the bad news: Hyperkin’s RetroN 5, a gaming console that incorporates and accommodates a host of vintage game cartridges, will be delayed until Q1 2014 because of some faulty pins that the company discovered on some of its packaged units. Thus, the console won’t be available until the...
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I recall an anecdote about a fellow that got his house wired with electricity way back when. Workers installed wiring and sockets, but the man didn’t have any light bulbs yet, so he screwed a potato onto the light socket to prevent the electricity from leaking out all over the place. That’s the image I...
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It’s not like companies don’t sometimes launch “anti” ad campaigns where they sandbag the competition and point out all the other guy’s flaws, but it's a risky tactic that can backfire. That may be happening with Microsoft’s rather bizarre anti-Google “scroogled”...
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What was rumored has now been confirmed, and Apple is the proud owner of Primesense, a 3D sensing company that was responsible for the hardware and chip design used in the first-gen Microsoft Kinect motion control sensor. Israel’s Globes broke the news, indicating that the deal is done. The final bill was...
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Google’s Chromecast streaming device struck a chord with consumers this summer when it debuted, with the company selling out of the $35 device within days. The company is about to turn things up a notch by soon releasing the official Chromecast SDK (called the “Google Cast SDK”). According to some developers who have shared...
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Facebook CFO David Ebersman shook things up when he casually mentioned in a recent earnings call that the social network was seeing a drop in daily use among teens, but it’s possible that the reason he was didn’t make a big deal about it is that there’s nothing to be alarmed about. That’s the...
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Unfortunately for llamas everywhere, media player Winamp may not be dead after all. Fortunately for longtime Winamp devotees, that’s because Microsoft may be purchasing Winamp and ShoutCast (a media streaming service, like Winamp also formerly a property of Nullsoft) from AOL. This is just a rumor, but...
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It was about a year ago that Microsoft first launched its “Scroogled” anti-Google campaign that pointed a long crooked finger at the search giant’s Google Shopping practices. Although Microsoft’s various accusations against Google are technically valid, they’re not particularly damning in...
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Motorola is forging ahead with the concept of modular, customizable smartphones first put forth by designer Dave Hakkens with his Phonebloks. The company said recently that it was officially pursuing such an idea with Project Ara, and Motorola is already putting together important partnerships to make it happen. 3D...
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Tremendous news, everyone: If you’d rather play your new Xbox One all day long than go to work or school on when the new console debuts on Friday, Microsoft’s Major Nelson wrote a doctor’s excuse for you. (He’s not technically a doctor, but the rank of “major” must lend some...
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A British company called CEL has developed a 3D printer that portends to offer extraordinary ease of use without sacrificing high-end features. The stylish Robox 3D Printer will cost $1,364 when it launches in the U.S. early next year, and it includes CEL’s AutoMaker software that’s designed to let users...
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Smartphone theft (and, let’s be honest with our absent-minded and clumsy selves, loss) is a major problem, and a potential solution proposed by lawmakers in San Francisco and New York has been shot down by the big four wireless carriers. San Francisco DA George Gascón (who has been working on solutions...
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Google is opening up six new showrooms for its Google-branded wares in six locations around the country in an effort to keep pace with the retail presence that Apple and Microsoft have been pushing. The sites will apparently operate as giant kiosks in malls, and you can find them in the New York, Washington, Chicago...
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UK Prime Minister David Cameron is on a crusade to clean up the Internet, and he’s convinced the likes of Google and Microsoft to help him do it. In a press release straight from Downing Street, the UK government revealed that the two tech behemoths have developed new search algorithms for Google and Bing to...
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Is there anything a smartphone can’t do these days? Apparently, they now double as spectrometers, at least when you add a special kit that’s been developed by collaborators at Public Labs. The Public Lab Smartphone Spectrometer is a small injection-molded plastic device that you can adhere to a smartphone...
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The times, they are a-changin’, at least in terms of TV content. Netflix is quickly establishing itself as a strong player in the original content market, producing hits like “House of Cards”, “Orange Is The New Black”, and extending beloved but cancelled series such as “Arrested...
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