Mobile Tech

Motorola's making a big splash with the launch of Project Ara, an ambitious, open source hardware initiative that allows consumers to customize their entire phone, down to the specific components and display. Ara's approach centers around an endoskeleton, or "endo," that is the core frame holding th...

British American Tobacco issued an apology after an ad for its e-cigarette brand, Vype, popped up in an iPad app for children. The Vype banner appeared inside the "My Dog My Style HD" game and was spotted by author and educator Graham Brown-Martin, who took to Twitter with a screenshot of the kiddy ...

CROWDFUNDING SPOTLIGHT

The IF Convertible: 3 Devices, 1 Data Plan

Back in 2011, in the dark, pre-tablet days of the netbook, Motorola introduced a phone and laptop combo called the "Atrix." The then-powerful 4G, dual-core AT&T phone slotted into a unique receptacle on the back of the optional laptop's clamshell hinge -- a bit like a game cartridge slides into ...

LG Electronics has swung into the curved smartphone market with the launch of its LG G Flex. Surfacing on the heels of Samsung's Galaxy Round, which curves horizontally, the LG G Flex curves vertically, and the shape is optimized for the average face. The design apparently boosts voice and sound qua...

New Relic last week previewed a new software analytics tool that aims to let companies use live application data to provide clear, actionable business insights across an organization. To be launched next year, Rubicon will be built on the world's largest Big Data database, according to the company.

OPINION

What's Missing in the iPad Air

Apple fans seem to thing anything Apple brings out is perfect and to suggest otherwise is heretical. Given that I think fanboys give up their intellectual freedom to the vendor or product they religiously follow, I tend to wear the Apple Heretic badge with honor -- and thus I'm going to point out th...

Ever since the days of the fax machine and clamshell PC, I've delighted in the concept of working away from home or office. I have fond memories of lugging those clunkers in and out of motel rooms through bone-chilling blizzards and driving rain from the back of my car -- adding to the carry-load, c...

TiVo was one of the first to enable consumers to time-shift their TV viewing via DVRs, and now the company is targeting place-shifting capabilities as well with out-of-home streaming via the TiVo Roamio Pro and TiVo Roamio Plus DVRs. The two Roamio devices were launched earlier this year, but on Thu...

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called President Obama to protest after she received information that U.S. intelligence was perhaps spying on her mobile phone. Obama assured Merkel that the U.S. "is not monitoring and will not monitor" her communications, but the White House reportedly stopped short...

Nokia on Tuesday announced a slew of new products, including its first Windows tablet, the Lumia 2520. Two phablets with 6-inch screens, the Lumia 1520 and 1320, were also in the lineup. Features that distinguish the 2520 from other tablets include the use of Zeiss lenses for the first time in a tab...

A Swedish court reduced the fine for a teenage boy who uploaded a pornographic video of his unwitting then-girlfriend. The original fine was going to be about US$20,000 but was reduced to less than $4,000 after the ruling. Notably, the court justified its decision by asserting that young people are ...

A desktop is a fine spot for browsing the world's spoken-word media, and the Chrome browser is a fine tool to do it with. This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the top must-have, free apps for the Chrome browser environment. We include some for Internet radio, some for podcasts and one for qui...

Unbounded Robotics unveiled the UBR-1 on Monday, a $35,000 platform designed to provide engineers with functional robot hardware to aid development of apps for the device. The company is a spinoff of Willow Garage, the robotics maker that launched the PR2, a $400,000 robot that in addition to functi...

Demo's fall conference took place last week, and it didn't disappoint. This show has proven to be both a great and an expensive experience for me every year. Great because the technology shown is often truly amazing; expensive because I almost always end up buying one or two items, and my taste tren...

WHICH APPS DO I NEED?

All Things Appy: 5 Best Firefox Tools for Shopping Online

Price-matching, product reviews, historical pricing data and automating the coupon process are all superb uses for apps in the desktop browser environment. This week's All Things Appy takes a look at the five must-have, free apps that complement online shopping. Our No. 1 choice, Amazon Price Track...

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