Tag: gadgets

Office 2016 starts rolling out on September 22

Microsoft’s next major Office update is now only a few weeks away: the software giant just announced that it will start rolling out Office 2016 starting on September 22. While it’s not nearly as exciting as new hardware, it’s still a significant release for Microsoft. It’ll be the first version of Office built specifically for Windows 10, and it also brings in some long-awaited features like real-time co-authoring and the addition of OneDrive attachments in Outlook. It also comes a few months after we saw the release of Office 2016 for Macs . You can still get a taste for Office 2016 on PCs today with the Public Preview , and it looks like you’ll be able to easily upgrade to the final versions of those apps once they’re available. Filed under: Software , Microsoft Comments Tags: microsoft, Office2016

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Office 2016 starts rolling out on September 22

Apple’s new iPad Pro is an expansive 12.9 inches, available in November

We were expecting new iPhones today, and we were even expecting Apple TV announcements, but whether Apple would update its iPad line was more difficult to say. It seems Apple is bucking its own announce-new-iPads-in-October trend, however, because the company just added a 12.9″ iPad to its lineup. The so-called iPad Pro is 6.9mm thick and weighs 1.57 lbs—slightly heavier than the 1.54 lbs first-generation iPad. According to Apple, it will have a 10-hour battery life. The new tablet will be called the iPad Pro, and the entry-level version comes with a healthy 32GB of storage, rather than the 16GB of the other iPad base models. The iPad Pro also comes in a 128GB version. Pricing on those Wi-Fi-only tiers is $799 and $949. An LTE version (which comes with a 150mbps LTW modem) will only be available in the 128GB version, and will cost $1079. Apple confirmed that the iPad Pro’s screen has a 2732×2048 resolution, as had been rumored in the weeks leading up to this event, with 5.6 million pixels.Taking the stage at Apple’s launch event in San Francisco on Wednesday, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Marketing Phil Schiller explained the design choice. “Let’s start with the display: Why make a bigger one?,” he said. “You can touch your documents, touch your books, interact with everything. It does things an iPhone can’t do since it doesn’t have to be pocketable, does things a notebook can’t do because it’s holdable.” Read 9 remaining paragraphs | Comments

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Apple’s new iPad Pro is an expansive 12.9 inches, available in November

Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

If you find yourself in need of 24-hour access to ad-free music streaming , Pandora now offers an option with its new One Day Pass. For 99 cents, you’ll gain access for the Pandora you know and love without all of the distracting advertisements the free tier includes. This means that for under a dollar, you can switch over to the one-day option for times ( dinner parties , etc.) when you’d rather not have tunes interrupted by the occasional marketing pitch. Pandora’s One Day Pass will be available for listeners in the US Thursday, September 10th through the streaming service’s Android and iOS apps . Filed under: Software , Mobile Comments Source: Pandora Tags: audio, internet, internetradio, mobilepostcross, music, musicstreaming, onedaypass, pandora, software

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Pandora’s One Day Pass is 24-hours of ad-free listening for 99 cents

AT&T offers a plug-in WiFi hotspot for your car

Your existing car probably doesn’t have a built-in WiFi hotspot , but AT&T will soon have a way to add one and deliver that sweet, on-demand internet access. The carrier is launching the ZTE Mobley, a WiFi hotspot that plugs into your car’s OBD-II port and shares an LTE data link with everyone inside. Yes, you could just tether your phone, but AT&T is counting on simplicity to reel you in — the hotspot goes live shortly after you turn your car on, and you don’t have to worry about battery life. It won’t cost you much to give this concept a shot, at least. The Mobley will be available for ‘free’ on a 2-year contract, or $100 outright. The biggest expense is the data itself, which will cost you $20-plus for stand-alone service or $10 if you add the Mobley to a shared plan. Filed under: Transportation , Wireless , Networking , Mobile , AT&T Comments Source: AT&T Tags: att, car, hotspot, mobilepostcross, mobley, obd-ii, router, transportation, wifi, wireless, zte

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AT&T offers a plug-in WiFi hotspot for your car

The 2016 Toyota Prius is here

The spy photos were right. The teaser images we saw of the new, fourth-gen Toyota Prius correctly previewed the model that was unveiled in Las Vegas tonight. Despite the overwhelmingly negative reactions from our readers, Toyota says the new look for the world’s best-selling hybrid has a “striking exterior design” and is “easy on the eyes.” To each their own.Slideshow-318163 When Toyota showed off the hydrogen-powered Mirai, it said that the design was meant to evoke, “the flowing shape of a droplet of water to express the vehicle’s characteristic of drawing in air and emitting water.” Toyota says the new Prius is a “sibling” to the Mirai, and the design claim is that the car was “Inspired by a runner in the starting blocks, ” and that, “the sporty design conveys a feeling of forward motion.” Whatever the inspiration, the two vehicles look similar. The new Prius is a bit bigger than the outgoing, third-gen version: 2.4 inches longer, 0.6 inches wider, and 0.8 inches lower, to be exact. This is the global vehicle built on Toyota’s New Global Architecture (TNGA). Toyota claims the new platform gives the Prius a lower center of gravity which, when combined with the new, responsive suspension package, will, “dial up the driving excitement.” Inside we see the same center-mounted dash layout from previous Priuses. The glossy white plastic surrounding the gear selector is a bit reminiscent of the first-gen Chevy Volt , too. Overall, we like the clean, uncluttered layout. The exterior will come in seven colors, including the new Hypersonic Red. Unfortunately, Toyota isn’t giving us specifics of the powertrain or fuel economy of the new Prius. Fortunately, the company is making the previously rumored 10-percent miles per gallon improvement over the third-gen model official. Since the current Prius gets 51 mpg city, 48 highway and 50 combined, we can look forward to something like 56/53/55 city/highway/combined fuel economy for the new Prius. Even more exciting for hypermilers , an available Eco trim “will achieve an even greater improvement.” Anyone want to bet if the Eco Prius will hit 60 mpg in the city? Filed under: Transportation Comments Source: Toyota Tags: 2016Prius, autoblog, EV, hybrid, official, partner, Prius, syndicated, toyota, video

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The 2016 Toyota Prius is here

Android Lollipop is the OS of choice for one in five users

If you own an Android device, find four similarly outfitted friends and line up, shoulder-to-shoulder. Look to your left. Look to your right. Chances are, one of you has Lollipop, the latest Android mobile operating system. Twenty-one percent of Android devices use Lollipop, according to the company’s own breakdown . This figure is up significantly from May, when Android reported just nine percent of its devices used the new OS. The largest share of the Android OS pie goes to Kit Kat, with 39 percent, followed by Jelly Bean with 32 percent. Android’s next update is called ” Marshmallow ” and while it doesn’t yet have a release date, it should hit devices soon. Marshmallow’s focus is ” polish and quality , ” according to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. We checked out the M Preview version in June and found that ” when M works well, it works really well .” A few notes regarding today’s numbers: The Nexus 9 , Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge all come with Lollipop right out of the box. Also, Android’s figures reflect “devices running the latest Google Play Store app, which is compatible with Android 2.2 and higher.” That means older devices, or those without Google Play, aren’t counted in this particular survey. Filed under: Gaming , HD , Google Comments Via: VentureBeat Source: Android Tags: android, google, hdpostcross, lollipop, marshmallow, OS

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Android Lollipop is the OS of choice for one in five users

Google’s driverless cars skirt deer and pedestrians in Texas

By the looks of things, Google’s self-driving cars have been learning a lot in Austin, Texas . In its first report since it began testing autonomous vehicles in the city, the company details the challenges its cars have had to face while driving on its roads. For instance, they’ve been spotting and avoiding a lot of deer, some of which might have ended up as road kill if they happened to come across ordinary vehicles instead. The system also had to learn to identify new infrastructure, such as horizontal traffic signals. Google has learned, however, that one of the major problems it has to tackle is pedestrians stepping off the curb onto the road while hidden by other vehicles. On August 20th, a Lexus unit was rear ended after spotting a person starting to cross the road. See, its human driver took over to make sure he doesn’t end up harming anyone, but it turns out — based on the footage of the incident — that the accident wouldn’t have happened if he just allowed the car to brake on its own. Clearly, Google’s doing what it can to achieve its original goal of developing autonomous vehicles that can drive better than humans. In addition to discussing what it has learned in Austin, Mountain View has also revealed through the report that it’s deploying more of its egg-like prototype models in the city this September. Filed under: Transportation , Google Comments Via: USA Today Source: Google Tags: google, googlecar, self-drivingcar

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Google’s driverless cars skirt deer and pedestrians in Texas

Here’s the world’s first Ultra HD Blu-Ray player

Samsung has announced the first ( consumer ready ) Ultra HD Bluray player , alongside word that movie studio Fox is already getting its releases ready for the new format. That means 4K movies, yes, but also compatibility for HDR video. Here’s a closer look at the curved player — perfect for that new curved UHDTV, right? Check out all the news from Berlin at our IFA 2015 hub . Filed under: Home Entertainment , Samsung Comments Tags: 4k, hands-on, hdr, hdrvideo, ifa, ifa2015, samsung, uhd, uhdbluray, UltraHighDefinition, video

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Here’s the world’s first Ultra HD Blu-Ray player

Waze sued for allegedly stealing map data

Google and its mapping service Waze are being dragged to court over allegations that Waze stole data from a rival’s map database. The lawsuit filed in San Francisco federal court on Tuesday by PhantomAlert alleges that the navigation app used proprietary data from PhantomAlert without permission. Both apps share road, red light and traffic information. According to PhantomAlert CEO Joseph Seyoum he noticed that Waze was using the same fictitious location information in its app that his company had used to test PhantomAlert. The only way Waze would have that fake location data is if it was using information from Seyoum’s company. In a statement Seyoum said, “I started PhantomAlert seven years ago as an entrepreneur with a dream, and now that dream has been crushed by companies that are profiting from the years of blood, sweat and tears our team put into our product.” PhantomAlert lawyer Karl Kronenberger alleges that Waze used his client’s data to increase its value and become more attractive to potential buyers. Both Google and Facebook were reportedly interested in purchasing the mapping app with Google securing the deal for around $1 billion n 2013. The suit seeks monetary damages and an injunction against Waze and Google regarding the app. Google has not responded to queries for comment about the lawsuit. Filed under: Transportation , Google Comments Via: CNET Source: PhantomAlert Tags: google, Lawsuit, Mapping, Waze

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Waze sued for allegedly stealing map data

Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month

Just as rumored , Hulu has finally decided to offer a version of its subscription without the ad breaks . Ad-free Hulu will cost $12 per month, as opposed to the regular $8 subscription (or the shows it offers for free), and of course it will soon include more movies (that Netflix doesn’t have ) thanks to the company’s deal with Epix . One small catch however is revealed by the FAQ , which indicates that due to licensing, a few shows will still have ads before and after (but not during) episodes. Hulu’s ads have always separated it from online streaming competition like Amazon and Netflix, and even though ads are a way of life on cable and broadcast television, its annoying tendency to repeat the same few selections always drove me crazy. Now, with more original content ( Seinfeld , The Mindy Project , the just-renewed Difficult People and others ), it’s a serious, although slightly more expensive, competitor for our attention. Developing… Will all shows and movies be commercial free? In response to feedback from our viewers, we started offering a commercial-free experience on Hulu. For a small number of shows, however, we have not obtained the rights to stream commercial free and they are not included in our No Commercials plan. You can still easily access these shows with a short commercial before and after each episode with no interruptions during the episode. Specific shows that still have commercials accessible through the No Commercials plan will be noted throughout the signup, switching, and playback experience. While the list of shows may change, these shows are currently: Grey’s Anatomy, Once Upon A Time, Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Scandal, Grimm, New Girl, and How To Get Away With Murder. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD Comments Source: Hulu Tags: ads, breaking news, hdpostcross, hulu

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Hulu without the ads is here, for $4 more per month