Month: February 2015
Chromecast owners can celebrate Valentines Day with free stuff from Google
Valentines Day is nearly upon us, and that means everyone is pulling out their best deals to try and get people into the spirit of things. Google is no exception, and is offering Chromecast owners a bunch of free stuff to celebrate the day. If you have a Chromecast all you have to do is…
You’ll be able to make contactless payments up to £30 from September
Contactless card payments are a bit of a mixed bag. The lack of PIN security is enough to make some people wary of it, but holding your card on a sensor is ever so slightly easier than sticking your card into the reader. If you are a fan, the £20 upper limit is a bit of…
Scientists are teaching computers to understand photos
A picture might be worth a thousand words, but your computer’s not likely to pick up on any of them. That looks likely to change in future though, thanks to computer scientists at the University of Rochester. Professor Jiebo Luo and his colleagues wanted to try teaching computers to recognise the emotional information that photos…
Corning has announced new scratch-resistant smartphone displays
We're at the point now where manufacturers have figured out that people want a phone that smashes when you drop it, but there is still the problem with scratches on the display. To combat this Corning has revealed that it is working on 'Project Phire', a new type of smartphone glass that combines the two. This…
Dear Uber: rescue kittens aren’t toys, and they won’t save your reputation #UberKITTENS
Uber – the somewhat notorious minicab app – has launched a scheme allowing customers to 'rent' rescue kittens 'on demand' in Australia. Called UberKITTENS, it's a programme that's been running periodically in America for a while. And one I strongly disagree with. Uber knows its reputation is shot to pieces. Multiple rape cases, incredibly inappropriate comments from its executives, ramping prices…
Microsoft’s CEO thinks pens will be gone by 2025
Writing tools have been around for millennia, and the pen is one of those things that pretty much everybody recognises and knows how to use. Writing has been having some serious competition from typing-based machines in the last few decades, and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes the pen will be gone by the year 2025.…
8 Valentine’s gifts for the cat in your life #LoveWeek
In many ways, cats are the perfect partner. They snuggle up to you every night. They bring you treats. They lick your nose and rub your legs and never insult your mother. Granted, they won't ask for your paw in marriage, but they will stay by your side through thick and thin, as long as there's tuna…
Google Glass 2.0 is already in development
Google may have given up on the Explorer version of Google Glass, with plans to reset the entire Glass programme, but that doesn't mean it's giving up on Google Glass altogether. Quite the opposite actually. Tony Fadell, CEO of Nest and the man now tasked with overseeing the future of Google Glass, has revealed a…
A leaked photo suggests that Samsung wants lots of Galaxy S6 variety
Samsung has a lot riding on the upcoming Galaxy S6, and it really needs to release something great to fight back against the immense popularity of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. If this leaked image is to be believed, one way its going to do that it by making sure there is plenty of variety…
New blogging platform Typed – a big hit on Indiegogo
Over the years many companies have tried (and failed) to take on Wordpress and Tumblr and produce secure, easy to use, popular blogging platforms. Posterous, which let you post by email, was huge for a while, and I also had a soft spot for Jux which created striking image lead sites. Sadly both are now…