The long-awaited ( and long-rumored ) Nexus 6, the 6-inch (technically 5.96) monster phablet, is finally, officially here . The Nexus 6, like its predecessors before it, will be the first device in the world to ship with Android’s new operating system, Lollipop. It’s the purest vision of what an Android phone should be. Apparently Android phones should be huge. Read more…
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Google’s Nexus 6 Superphone Is Here, and It’s a Monster
Google has officially announced Android L (henceforth known as Lollipop). While we heard a bit about it back at Google I/O, there’s plenty more to hear about. This is what’s coming in Google’s latest. Read more…
In the middle of the 19th century, Chicago embarked on a quest to literally lift itself out of the mud. Water couldn’t drain from the low-lying city, so its streets became impassable swamps. The most reasonable solution, Chicago decided, was just to raise the whole goddamn city by 4 to 14 feet. Read more…
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Chicago was raised over 4 feet in the 19th century to build its sewer
The current drought in the U.S. certainly feels like it’s one for the history books. But it’s likely not the worst North America has seen in the last millennium. A new study from NASA shows that a drought in 1934 was by far the worst to strike the continent in 1000 years. Read more…
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The worst drought of the last 1,000 years was in 1934
This is big news: HBO just announced it will launch a web-only service sometime next year. Meaning, you can get HBO with no cable subscription. Yay! Read more…
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Yes! HBO Without a Cable Subscription Is Coming Next Year
You may think that radio is dying in an era when on-demand music streaming is nearly ubiquitous, but some of the world’s biggest broadcasters (unsurprisingly) disagree. The BBC, Clear Channel, HD Radio’s Ibiquity and a handful of others are researching a “hybrid” radio format that would give smartphone users the advantages of reliable, low-intensity digital or FM radio with the interactivity and “enhancements” of internet streaming. In theory, this would keep your costs down and your battery life up without giving up the creature comforts of modern technology. Supposedly, there’s a lot of demand for this — a BBC-commissioned study claims that the “majority” of smartphone owners want radio of some kind, and two thirds of them liked the idea of hybrid radio. Whether or not it pans out as hoped is another matter, though. There’s no definite timetable for when this hybrid format would be ready, and getting manufacturers to cooperate may be tough. Apple , Microsoft and others frequently have a vested interest in promoting internet-only radio services, and access to DAB or FM isn’t usually a major factor in phone purchases. Even so, don’t be surprised if your next phone puts a bigger emphasis on broadcasts. Filed under: Cellphones , Internet , Mobile Comments Source: BBC Media Centre
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Broadcasters want phones to come with a ‘hybrid’ radio format
An anonymous reader sends this excerpt from The Guardian: Businesses and governments around the world increasingly are turning to voice biometrics, or voiceprints, to pay pensions, collect taxes, track criminals and replace passwords. “We sometimes call it the invisible biometric, ” said Mike Goldgof, an executive at Madrid-based AGNITiO, one of about 10 leading companies in the field. Those companies have helped enter more than 65M voiceprints into corporate and government databases, according to Associated Press interviews with dozens of industry representatives and records requests in the United States, Europe and elsewhere. … The single largest implementation identified by the AP is in Turkey, where the mobile phone company Turkcell has taken the voice biometric data of some 10 million customers using technology provided by market leader Nuance Communications Inc. But government agencies are catching up. Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Google Glass Explorers will soon be able to see all their phone’s notifications (not just the ones from compatible apps) right on the eyewear’s screen. It’s the same feature that comes with Android Wear , which allows the platform to forward each and every notification to smartwatches, so users won’t have to take out their phones unless it’s for something truly important. Explorers have to wait for the latest MyGlass software to arrive sometime later today to be able to glimpse each ping with just a flick of the eye. Once they’ve installed the update, they’ll need to activate Notification Sync in their phone’s settings. There are a few pages to go through during the process, but nothing overly complicated, so long as they follow the video after the break. Filed under: Wearables , Mobile , Google Comments Source: Google Glass
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Google Glass can now display all your phone notifications
Sometimes, you just need to quickly grab some free Wi-Fi while you’re walking through town. You probably know that nearby coffee shops offer Wi-Fi, but tons of retailers and restaurants offer it too—you just need to know where to look. Read more…
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All the National Chains That Offer Free Wi-Fi
If there’s one group that will surely embrace smartwatches, it’s those who like to change their background image and the look and feel of their devices every day. But the FES Watch doesn’t just let you change the watch face whenever you tire of the current design, using E-Ink technology it actually lets you change the look and style of the entire timepiece. Read more…
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You Can Customize This E-Ink Watch Down to the Strap