Once upon a time, it was only a farfetched dream that our clothes could communicate messages to friends and family members. That concept might not be so foreign now that young inventors have created a prototype smart hoodie that sends preset messages with simple gestures. That sounds pretty cool, but are there practical uses for the product besides just saying “hi”? [More]
technology
Can’t Decide Which Smartwatch To Buy? No Worries, Amazon’s Here To Help
By 4.29.14
Wearables are all the rage. But are you too indecisive to actually choose which product best suits your needs, or lack the time to research the hundreds of different options available? Fear no more, technology-hungry consumer, because your knight in shining armor has arrived: Amazon. [More]
Nissan Touts First Self-Cleaning Car After Testing Water, Mud Resistant Paint
By 4.25.14
I think it’s safe to say that it’s been at least a year since I last washed my car. Not that it doesn’t need it; I just rarely drive and can’t seem to find the time to actually run it through a car wash. But if a new paint being tested at Nissan takes off, none of us would have to worry about washing our cars again. [More]
Walkmans Are Totally Ridiculous To Kids Who’ve Never Made An Awesome Mix Tape Before
By 4.15.14
There are probably many remnants from our not-so-far-off past that sure, seem a bit archaic — remember when you had to rent a VCR from Blockbuster? — but because we lived through technology like cassette players and video stores, it’s just fun nostalgia. For kids who never had to hone their fast-forwarding skills to hit just the right song or labor over mix tapes though, something like a Walkman is downright weird. [More]
Google Play Changes Purchasing So Kids Can’t Go On In-Game Shopping Sprees
By 3.17.14
Many smartphone or tablet owners have done it, whether we have kids of our own or not: handed our devices over to a youngster that we’re tasked with entertaining. Now Android users can lock kids and other guests out of accessing their real wallets with in-game currency purchases. [More]
Bar’s Ban On Google Glass Won’t Stop Creeps From Secretly Recording Video
By 3.5.14
Customers’ concerns of being recorded while enjoying themselves has led a San Francisco bar to ban the use of Google Glass on its premises. But is a ban of the smart glasses really necessary? [More]
Wearable Fitness Gadgets: Long-Term Success Solution Or Short-Term Pick-Me-Up?
By 1.29.14
If your New Year’s resolution was to get healthy, then you’ve probably heard about popular health- and fitness-tracking technology, such as, Fuelband or FitBit. The gadgets monitor your activity and report progress toward goals, but are the devices actually effective long-term? [More]
Easy Access: Are Virtual Room Keys The Future Of Hotels?
By 1.27.14
Smartphones can do just about everything these days: handle your bank accounts, monitor your home for burglaries, and now unlock your hotel room. A chain of boutique hotels is hoping the use of virtual keys will be the next big thing in hotels. [More]
Smartphones Get More Advanced, But Most Americans Still Just Use Them For Pictures
By 1.16.14
I’ll admit it, sometimes my phone gets the best of me. Apparently, I’m not alone. Smartphones are getting smarter, while we consumers are just getting more confused. [More]
Fisher-Price’s Apptivity Seat: Harmless And Educational Or Captive Brainwashing Device?
By 1.15.14
We know consumers’ love for all things technology begins early, but what’s too early? The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood defines too early is when you hold your infant or toddler captive with an iPad dangling infront of his or her face. [More]
Scratch & Sniff Internet Ad Technology Has A Long Way To Go
By 4.23.13
Visitors to the sports section over at The Onion may have thought they were part of an exciting technological experiment this week: a banner ad invited them to check out the world’s first scratch and sniff banner ad. Unfortunately, that dream is as illusory as that of getting a cash reward from Bill Gates for forwarding an e-mail or getting a free iPod for punching an animated monkey. [More]
How Far Off Were The Predictions Of 1967’s Home Of The Future?
By 1.30.13
Faced with an amazing array of new technology, post-World War II America was obsessed with “the future” and how, within decades, we’d be living in geodesic colonies in the desert with self-sustaining farms. Not all of that has come true. [More]
More Nexus 4 Phones Plummet To The Ground, Smash Themselves
By 1.28.13
Google is always innovating. They’ve brought us the beginnings of a consumer fiber network, smart glasses, driverless cars, and even bringing donkeys back to life. One little-known Google project is the Nexus 4 smartphone, which is unlocked, shiny, and comes with its own field of gravity that pulls it to the ground, violating all known laws of physics. Or so our readers tell us.
Retail Managers: You’ll Get More Product Info From A Smartphone Than A Sales Associate
By 12.19.12
Times used to be, you had a question about a product and needed information about it, and you asked the sales associate at the store. But now it’s not just consumers who stay home to online shop who are finding the best information and prices about items they’re shopping for, even retail managers say customers in a store are better off turning to their smartphones to get info, rather than asking a sales associate for help. [More]
Sorry, You Can’t Buy Nexus Devices With Your $350 Google Play Store Credit
By 11.19.12
Michael’s plan seemed like a really great idea at the time he hatched it. He wanted to make sure that he would have the money for a Nexus 4 set aside, so he purchased $350 worth of credit for the Google Play store. The phone’s available for sale there, so this made perfect sense. Until the phone actually launched. When he could finally get through to place his order, he learned that Play Store credit specifically couldn’t be used on Nexus devices. Oh, no. [More]
If You Bought Your Nexus 7 Elsewhere, Don’t Expect Support From Google
By 11.6.12 — Updated: 11.7.12
Verizon’s iPhone 5 Math: Using The Same Amount Of Data Faster Counts As More Data
By 10.17.12
We keep hearing about a wi-fi bug that leads to iPhone 5 owners racking up huge data bills when they thought they weren’t on the mobile data network. When Matt contacted Verizon about it, the ever-helpful customer service representative told him that it was just because the iPhone 5 is a 4G LTE device. This is probably the cause of many data complaints that new smartphone users have, but isn’t the case for Matt. He says that he hasn’t changed his browsing habits: using the same amount of data in a shorter amount of time doesn’t mean that he uses more data. At least, not according to the math that everyone except Verizon uses. [More]
We Switched To Verizon For Better Coverage, Just Got Dropped Calls And Terribleness
By 10.8.12
Jonathan and his roommate both ditched AT&T at the same time in favor of Verizon. They’ve experienced years of spotty coverage and dropped calls nearly everywhere they went, and wanted Verizon’s famed ubiquitous rock-solid coverage. They brought home their new iPhones and discovered that instead of vastly superior coverage, they had incredibly craptastic coverage and even more dropped calls. Verizon representatives told them that was weird… their area is supposed to have great coverage. When Jonathan tried to wrangle a free femtocell out of Verizon for their trouble, Verizon wouldn’t budge. His roommate fled back to the less terrible coverage of AT&T, but Jonathan hasn’t made that leap. [More]
