loading-chartbeat – Page 43 – Tech Today w/ Ken May

Amazon’s new Kindle Fire will come with free news from the Washington Post

Jeff Bezos runs Amazon and owns the Washington Post — is it any surprise that those two entities might start getting a little cozy? According to a new report from BusinessWeek , the a group of folks at the Post are working on a sort of curated Washington Post app that’ll be preloaded on the forthcoming Kindle Fire HD tablet . The kicker? It’s expected to be totally free to those Fire owners, and the app will eventually roll out to other Kindles, as well as iPads and Android tablets… though owners of the latter will have to shell out a subscription fee. This isn’t the first time that we’ve seen Kindles and traditional reporting collide — let’s not forget that Amazon once made a ginormous version of the Kindle meant in part to make newspapers more palatable on an e-ink screen — but it’s a big, smart step for a media company that has its metaphorical eyes set on a national audience. After all, just look at the numbers. Amazon has been historically cagey when it comes talking device sales, but if this preloading deal pans out, the Post’s readership could just explode. The folks in Seattle once said (years ago) that Kindle Fire sales accounted for 22% of all US tablet sales, and some back-of-the-napkin math suggests that Amazon moved just under 5 million Kindle Fires back then. There’s no denying the tablet landscape has grown and shifted since then but man, that’s still a solid chunk of new readers for a newspaper that has less than half a million daily readers. Our only question: when are other newspapers going to clamor for that same juicy access? Comments Source: BusinessWeek

HP’s $199 Windows laptop arrives alongside a pair of tablets

Contrary to earlier rumors, HP’s Chromebook-like Stream 14 turned out to be more expensive than people had hoped for when it was announced a few weeks ago. Having said that, today HP is finally introducing its $199 laptop with Windows, staying in line with what a company representative had told us before in regards to the Stream line expanding beyond the 14-inch machine. But there’s more, since HP’s new, budget-friendly , 11.6-inch laptop isn’t the only fresh announcement. There’s a 13.3-inch model as well, priced at $230, which, along with the $199 Stream, features an Intel Celeron processor and 32GB of flash storage. In addition to this pair of notebooks, HP is also introducing two Windows 8.1 tablets: the HP Stream 7 and HP Stream 8. If the moniker for each didn’t give it away, they are 7- and 8-inch slates, respectively, with the former costing a mere $99 and the latter going for $149. Unfortunately, HP isn’t sharing many more details (like other specs) at the moment. We do know, however, that the company hopes to lure in customers by including a bit of free mobile data every month and access to Microsoft’s Office 365 Personal productivity suite, which is definitely a nice bonus. All devices announced are expected to be available in the US by the beginning of November. In the meantime, stay tuned — we’ll be adding hands-on photos and additional info shortly. Filed under: Laptops , Tablets , HP Comments

Jawbone’s trackerless Up app syncs with Apple Health, other fitness services

As it promised mere weeks ago, Jawbone has launched a new version of Up for iOS that syncs data from numerous health services and doesn’t require its own tracker. Confusingly, the Jawbone app which does require an Up or Up24 tracker is also called ‘Up’ and is still available . However, the new version is more of a fitness catchall app that works with Apple’s Health and over a hundred other apps (and their trackers), like RunKeeper and IFTTT. Interestingly, it even works with Nest’s thermostat to “create an ideal sleep environment.” In fact, the new Up wants to manage all aspects of your health by tracking your sleep, nutrition and workouts. Once it learns your habits, the “Insight Engine” will then give you personalized health tips and other info. There are also social functions, including team tracking and the ability to boast about fitness milestones. Apple had pulled HealthKit apps a few days ago due to bugs, but after some scrambling they’re now back — you can grab Jawbone’s UP for iOS here . Filed under: Wearables , Software Comments Via: MacRumors Source: Jawbone

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Jawbone’s trackerless Up app syncs with Apple Health, other fitness services

One of the greatest pinball tables ever is going digital with your help

Ask pinball fans about classic tables and they’ll probably mention The Addams Family . It was widely available, well-designed and full of technological firsts, such as computer-controlled flippers. However, it hasn’t been recreated in software in its 22-year history — something FarSight Studios hopes to fix with a crowdfunding project to reproduce the table in Pinball Arcade . So long as the developer reaches its funding goal, you’ll get to play the Addams Family almost as if you’d stepped into an arcade circa 1992. The smart flippers, actors’ voices and Thing’s creepy animatronic hand should all remain intact. Thankfully, it doesn’t cost much to contribute and (hopefully) keep this vintage machine alive. Pledging $7 will get you access to the table on one of the platforms Pinball Arcade supports, including most mobile devices, consoles and PCs. It only costs more if you want more platforms or special access, including the behind-the-scenes menu (if you pay $15) or the coveted Special Collectors Gold Edition ($100). The digital Addams Family won’t arrive until February if all goes according to plan, but that’s a trivial wait if you’ve spent ages yearning for a version of the table that you can afford to take home. Filed under: Gaming Comments Source: Kickstarter

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One of the greatest pinball tables ever is going digital with your help

AT&T’s latest promo doubles your data on shared phone plans

Given the avalanche of new smartphones this fall, there’s a good chance that your data use is about spike as you put that fresh hardware through its paces. If so, AT&T might just have you covered. It’s running a promo between September 28th and October 31st that doubles the amount of data you get with its Mobile Share Value plans, whether or not you’re a new customer. Signing up for the special rates nets you up to a hefty 100GB per month of shared data at the high end. However, the starter offer is arguably the best — $130 per month (plus line fees) gets you 30GB to play with, which should hopefully accommodate your family’s Netflix viewing habits. AT&T’s deal isn’t necessarily as sweet as what you’ll get with Sprint or T-Mobile, which start at a respective $100 and $140 per month for roughly the same service. However, it’s competitive enough that it could keep you on Big Blue’s network for a little while longer. Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , AT&T Comments Source: AT&T

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AT&T’s latest promo doubles your data on shared phone plans

Belgian brewery to reduce truck use with underground beer pipeline

In order to cut down on the number of trucks it puts on the streets, Brouwerij De Halve Maan is working with the city of Burges to construct an underground beer pipeline. While the brewing still happens at its original site, filtration, bottling and shipping operations were moved outside of town in 2010. To get the tasty beverages from point A to point B, dozens of trucks go back and forth each day, but not for much longer. Folks familiar with the Cleveland, Ohio-based Great Lakes Brewing Company may recall that it uses an underground system to send its suds from a production facility to a taproom/pub across the street. The effort in Belgium will be much more elaborate though, replacing the 3-mile tanker route with 1.8 miles of polyethylene pipe, and cutting transit time to between 15 and 20 minutes. De Halve Maan claims the system can send out 6, 000 liters per hour — on top of cutting traffic and reducing emissions. What’s more, the brewery (er, brouwerij) will foot the bill for installation and road repairs, reducing the financial burden on the city. [Photo credit: Bernt Rostad/Flickr] Filed under: Transportation Comments Via: Wired , CityLab Source: Het Nieuwsbladsaid (Dutch)

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Belgian brewery to reduce truck use with underground beer pipeline

Intel plots a mobile coup with $1.5 billion investment in Chinese chipmakers

While Intel is prominent in the mobile world, it’s often playing catch-up with the undisputed king of the market, ARM (and as a result, Qualcomm ). But that doesn’t mean it’s not willing to spend money to reverse that trend. The company has announced that it’s paid $1.5 billion for a 20 percent share in two of China’s biggest mobile chipmakers, Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics. The deal will see Spreadtrum jointly create and sell a range of Intel-based system-on-chips (SoCs), which Intel says will power devices from the middle of next year. It gives Intel the boost it needs to begin competing against its more established rivals, but also offers the chance of cracking the world’s biggest smartphone market (where Qualcomm is currently facing an antitrust probe). While Spreadtrum is known for low-cost chips that power Mozilla’s Firefox OS smartphones , there’s every chance this deal could see Intel make more of a splash in the booming Android market. Filed under: Cellphones , Wireless , Mobile , Intel Comments Via: Recode Source: Intel

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Intel plots a mobile coup with $1.5 billion investment in Chinese chipmakers

Soon you can own the world’s first electric keyboard

When Hermann von Helmholtz designed what was essentially the world’s first electric keyboard, he didn’t do out of a need to lay down crunchy riffs on the shores of the Rhine. What he needed was a way to generate tones and mix timbres in a bid to better understand the musicality and substance of vowel sounds. He ultimately came up with a series of electrically activated tuning forks hooked up to brass resonators , and now you can try to own one of your every own… assuming you’ve got between at least $20, 000 burning a hole in your pocket. This particular unit — hewn of wood and keys whittled from African ivory — wasn’t made by Helmholtz himself, but it is one of the few remaining examples of such 19th century tech still in existence. To hear auction broker Bonhams tell the tale, there’s just one other floating around the United States (another seems to be in safe hands at the University of Toronto ). Intrigued? The Helmholtz synthesizer will go up for auction in New York come late October along with a slew of other scientific curios from back in the day. Comments Source: Bonhams

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Soon you can own the world’s first electric keyboard

PayPal’s new deals let you pay with Bitcoin at more online stores

PayPal has been coy about embracing virtual currencies so far, but it just took a big step toward welcoming them with open arms. As of today, the company’s deals with processing firms BitPay, Coinbase and GoCoin let you pay with Bitcoin at North American online stores that both use PayPal’s Payments Hub and accept digital cash. This doesn’t mean your PayPal wallet can suddenly hold Bitcoin; the service says it’s only moving “gradually” toward full support, and wants to see how things shake out. However, it should now be easier for many outlets (primarily smaller ones) to accept Bitcoin. Don’t be shocked if some of your favorite internet shops flick the switch and give you an alternative to paying with old-school money. Filed under: Internet Comments Source: PayPal Forward

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PayPal’s new deals let you pay with Bitcoin at more online stores

AT&T tempts cord-cutters with $40-a-month broadband with HBO and Amazon Prime

If you tried to count the number of times that we’d wished cable companies would offer nothing more than HBO Go and broadband, you’d run out of limbs well before you hit the total. AT&T, however, is following Comcast’s lead in offering a cord-cutter bundle that offers us exactly what we want without any of that messy cable grift we normally have to pay for. The $39 a month U-Verse + HBO bundle offers U-Basic TV and U-Verse Internet Max Plus, paired with HBO and HBO Go but also, more notably, a year’s free Amazon Prime subscription as well. The company is also trialling a package that ditches the U-Basic TV and HBO options and just offers you broadband and Amazon Prime for $29 a month, although that’s only available in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and San Francisco. The catch here is that once the 12-month contract expires, you’re bumped up to AT&T’s standard rates, but, hey, at least that’s a year you don’t have to worry about paying through the nose for 900 channels you’ll never watch. Filed under: Home Entertainment , Internet , HD , Amazon , AT&T Comments Via: Variety , Re/code Source: AT&T

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AT&T tempts cord-cutters with $40-a-month broadband with HBO and Amazon Prime