Smartphones have become much more than just communication devices, and it’s years since they’ve been viewed just as that. In addition to playing the role of a capable media player, portable gaming device and personal information manager, your smartphone is probably your choice for all sorts of casual web browsing as well. In fact, when late Steve Jobs announced the first iPhone back in 2007, he touted internet browsing as one of the primary features of the new device.
In this arena, Android holds a distinctive advantage over iOS, owing to its open-source nature and larger variety of capable choices when it comes to picking your preferred web browser. Google Play Store is riddled with these, making the choice a tough one, so we decided to put together a list of some of our favorite web browsers for Android, along with the good and bad for each of them.
Meow! Just when you think you have seen it all, some cat loving entrepreneur has created a smart food dispenser to look after your four legged feline. It implements really cool face recognition technology that identifies your cat and feeds them while also informing you of your cat’s diet via your smartphone. Download the ‘Bistro’ app and monitor your cat’s diet, weight etc as well as connecting to other crazy cat people… I mean cat lovers. If you have multiple cats, this device will identify them individually too thanks to the face recognition technology, therefore you know exactly which one of your cats is eating. My concern would be if one cat is eating then the other one attacks it and chases it away and begins to eat that cat’s food, then would it weigh the cats wrong? Maybe the technology is advanced enough to tell if that happens. Plus it seems it will only dispense dry food as it does not mention anything about wet food from cans. The Bistro Smart Cat face recognition food dispenser is on indiegogo, a website that helps projects attract investors. It only started two days ago and has already reached 60% of its requested 100,000USD target. If you are a cat-fanatic then you will definitely need to check out the video however you may want to look at BestBuyMadeira for our great selection of smartphonesto pair up with this cool cat face recognition food dispenser.
Essential Calls is an Android app that lets calls from white listed contacts bring your phone out of silent mode and ring or vibrate, whichever you prefer. The app has a Lite version and a premium version. The Lite version lets you white list only two contacts (a bit too restrictive to be honest) while the premium version lets you add unlimited contacts and get SMS alerts for text messages sent by them.
Launch Essential Calls and add the contacts that are super important. It might be a good idea to let those contacts know that they should only get in touch with you in case of a real emergency so that the app serves its purpose as well as yours. Tap the plus button to add a contact from your phone book or just add a contact directly to the app. Tap Activate. You can now set the phone on silent or vibrate, whatever suits you when you don’t want to be disturbed.
With the app active, an icon appears in the notification area with the silent or vibrate icon still visible. When you receive a call, the silent/vibrate icon disappears and your device either rings or vibrates to alert you. You can choose whether the app should vibrate or ring your device when a call from a white listed contact comes through. Tap the more button and select how you want to be alerted. You can also disable the app’s notification area icon.
Lenovo showed off a smart glasses prototype on Thursday, part of a push to attract developers and other hardware manufacturers to a new partner program.
The wearable device looks similar to Google Glass, but has its battery attached down at the user’s necks. More details will be announced in October.
Lenovo is also looking for partners to help it develop products ranging from wireless routers to air purifiers for its home market of China. The PC maker wants to team up, and even invest in tech companies that work on products beyond PCs and smartphones.
To that end, Lenovo has established the “NBD” platform. If it wants to address a broader market, including connected devices that make up the so-called Internet of things, Lenovo can’t just build the hardware independently, and hope it sells, company executives said to journalists on Thursday.
“Right now there are too many kinds of devices you can develop for the Internet of Things. It’s too rich. Not one company can do it all,” said Chen Xudong, Lenovo senior vice president.
MICHAEL KAN
The NBD platform, which in Chinese stands for “new bench,” can offer funding, manufacturing, hardware research and other logistical support to partners. It’s currently geared for the Chinese market, but Lenovo could use it to jumpstart products for international distribution.
“We hope to use Lenovo’s advantages to combine with innovators,” Chen added. “This platform can help them quickly start selling products, and create a supply chain for the market.”
In addition to Lenovo’s own smart glasses prototype, the vendor is partnering with U.S. smart glasses maker Vuzix to bring its own product to China. The M100, which uses Android 4.0.4 and a 1GHz dual-core processor, will first go on sale to developers for 8,000 yuan ($1298) in August or September, and is meant for business users.
German company Luftmed is working with the NBD program to sell an affordable air purifier in China that can be controlled via smartphone. The New Air X330 is meant to offer cleaner air and more accurate statistics than competing products.
Also on display Thursday was a wireless router, developed in partnership with other Chinese companies, that can be managed remotely via a mobile device.
As it branches out beyond PCs, Lenovo has typically introduced new product categories in China, before deciding whether to sell them internationally. It took this approach with smartphones, tablets and smart TV products.
Other Chinese companies are also seeking to extend their influence through partner programs. In April, the country’s leading search engine, Baidu, announced its own projectto attract hardware makers to build smart devices using the company’s technology.
Previously owned by Robin Williams, this California vineyard estate includes amenities from an infinity pool and tennis courts to stables and hiking trails.
Apple banned Blockchain and other Bitcoin wallets from its App Store earlier this year. But Blockchain is back.
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The world's top Bitcoin wallet program, Blockchain.info, is back on Apple's App Store.
The software lets people receive and spend the increasingly popular digital currency Bitcoin. Blockchain.info's popular app was kicked out of Apple's system in February. At that time, Apple turned its back on all Bitcoin-related wallet services.
Although Blockchain.info's 100,000 users on iOS could still use their app, no one else could download it.
But Apple(AAPL, Tech30) recently reversed its antagonistic stance toward Bitcoin and has started to allow a few Bitcoin wallet apps to trickle back in. On Saturday, Apple notified Blockchain.info it could return. The British startup republished its app on Monday.
The app should appear in the App Store as soon as Apple's computer servers update their systems.
"This represents a pivotal change for Bitcoin," said Blockchain.info's CEO, Nicholas Cary. "When Apple banned the last app, they told thousands of developers around the world their time and energy wasn't worth anything. I think this will be a shot in the arm for the whole industry."
Those computer developers instead turned their energy toward Android. Google's(GOOGL, Tech30) mobile operating system has become a hotbed for Bitcoin-related wallets and trading services. Bitcoin developers have also received millions of dollars of support from venture capital firms such as Andreessen Horowitz.
Cary thinks Apple didn't want to miss out on the opportunity.
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Blockchain.info's number of digital wallets has grown from 950,000 to 1.9 million since the start of the year. The startup's attorney, Marco Santori, expects Apple's decision to quickly push that number past 2 million. Jose Pagliery is also the author of Bitcoin - And the Future of Money, available in bookstores on Sept. 1 (Triumph Books, Chicago).
