By FARHAD MANJOO
Emotionally abusive comments are becoming more common online, and the consequences could include scaring away from the web those subject to attacks.
Published: August 15, 2014 at 12:00AM
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The hotel of the future? Despite the robots, it’s mostly the same
Hotels should be at the forefront of technology, but adopting it can be a challenge when customer service matters above all.
August 14, 2014 at 8:50PM
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Samsung has agreed to purchase home automation company SmartThings for the price of $200 million. Several weeks ago, the two were reported to be in talks about a deal and it appears that an agreement was reached. Samsung will allow SmartThings to function as an independent company as a part of Samsung’s Open Innovation Center in Palo Alto. From here, SmartThings will receive the resources it needs from Samsung while also providing Samsung with technologies to use.
Home automation is becoming a major trend, with more and more companies investing in it. Google’s purchase of Nest and Apple’s introduction of HomeKit show that the big players are interested in it. Samsung, however, has a strong shot at getting a system set up first. SmartThings already has a viable system worked out that includes a $99 hub that connects all of your devices together. What SmartThings needs is exactly what Samsung has: stable financial backing and strong marketing impetus. Needless to say, we’re looking forward to watching this play out.
“SmartThings has created a remarkable universe of partners and developers and now has the most engagement of any smart home platform in the world”
The company will continue to operate independently under founder and CEO Alex Hawkinson, and will become part of the Samsung Open Innovation Center (OIC), which is responsible for bringing software and services innovation to Samsung Electronics. SmartThings will move its headquarters from Washington, DC to Palo Alto, California.
Founded in 2012, SmartThings gives people power to monitor, control, and automate their homes from wherever they are through a single mobile app. SmartThings’ open platform supports more than 1,000 devices and 8,000 apps created by its community of device makers, inventors, and developers.
“SmartThings has created a remarkable universe of partners and developers and now has the most engagement of any smart home platform in the world,” said David Eun, Head of the OIC. “Connected devices have long been strategically important to Samsung and, like Alex and his team, we want to improve the convenience and services in people’s lives by giving their devices and appliances a voice so they can interact more easily with them. We are committed to maintaining SmartThings’ open platform, fostering more explosive growth, and becoming its newest strategic partner.”
“As an open, standards-agnostic platform for the Internet of Things, our vision has always been to innovate, build, and make the world smarter, together,” said Alex Hawkinson. “With Samsung behind us, we will be able to attract more device makers and developers to unlock the limitless possibilities of the consumer Internet of Things. We are thrilled to become part of the Samsung family and continue our goal in making every home a smart home.”
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10 years of podcasting: Code, comedy, and patent lawsuits
“Thank you very much for taking the time to download this MP3 file.”
August 14, 2014 at 6:34PM
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Welcome back to Android Gaming Weekly, our weekly recap of new game releases. We still plan to cover upcoming releases and games we’re playing, but this column is dedicated to new games that you can start playing right now. Check out our top picks and let us know in the comments section if you have any suggestions for next week’s post.
Description: Lead your team to victory! Step up to the plate for Tap Sports Baseball, a unique and exciting baseball game for casual fans and hardcore stat addicts featuring real players from the big leagues!
Description: A unique mix of RPG and strategy: everything in King of Dragon Pass is about choice and control. Choose your counsel carefully, sign diplomatic agreements or declare war on nearby clans.
Description: Oh, snaps! Finn broke the Time Totem and junked up all of time. Now there’s only one way to save the day… PUNCHING! Send your fists flyin’ to restore order to the Land of Ooo.
Description: Bik is a retro-style adventure game that takes inspiration from classic point-and-click adventure games like King’s Quest, Space Quest, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Full Throttle, The Dig, The Longest Journey, and the list goes on.
Description: As the Gravity Duck you will flip gravity to help you reach the goal while avoiding obstacles in this silly puzzle platforming game!
Description: Help Granny use a keyboard and find out what she’s typing!
Description: Incoming! The goblins are coming. Defend yourself against hordes of incoming monsters. Choose the right combination of towers and reinforce your defenses with magical spells. Countless levels in different worlds await you. Take command and defeat your enemies wave after wave!
Description: Take urgent care of the world’s unluckiest patient, Bob, with your very own shaky hands. As the would-be surgeon Nigel Burke, perform all kinds of crazy surgeries to try to save his life — or fail hilariously in the process while poor Bob… Well, dies.
Description: Unpossible will test your skills, your reflexes, and even your memory. It will make you smile. It will probably make you scream. You will die often and it will always be your fault. Fight to learn the obstacles…they already know how to fight you. Relentless. Thrilling. Unpossible!
Description: Manuganu is back with lots of action and brand new features for new adventures. Help him in his quest to rescue his best friend.
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Mark Zuckerberg Would Rather Drench Himself than Give $100 to Charity
A new viral sensation is sweeping our nation’s billionaire technologists: Daring their rich friends to either donate $100 to ALS research, or dump a bucketful of ice water over their heads. The latest mogul to save a hundred bucks is none other than our frugal friend Mark.
August 14, 2014 at 4:09PM
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Right on the heels of the Android 4.4.4 soak test starting its rollout for the Sprint Moto X, AT&T has released the Android 4.4.4 update to its own model of the Moto X. But you don’t have to be a participant of the soak test program to get it, because it’s available to everyone!
The update is not very significant. There’s not much included other than the security and backend fixes that are a part of the Android 4.4.4 update, though Motorola did include the option to turn off the carrier name in the status bar. That will be useful for those of you who hate seeing “AT&T” in the of your display.
If you want this update, it seems that the rollout is very wide. I got the update on my Moto X immediately, and you might too. Go to Settings > About phone and check for updates, you may very well get it on your first shot. It’s a bit big, so there might be something cool waiting for us as well. Let us know how it goes!
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Why Are You Spending $200 on Headphones?
You can get virtually the same sound for a tenth of the price.
August 14, 2014 at 2:20PM
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El video grabado en 1998, forma parte del álbum Xscape y lleva por nombre A Place With No Name
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It appears that Motorola’s insanely quick update pace has slowed down as of late. While KitKat is abundant on the company’s more recent devices, updates to the very latest — and insignificantly different — versions of Android have slowed down. However, Sprint and Motorola have one for us now.
If you’re the owner of a Sprint Moto X and are part of the Motorola Feedback Network, you should soon be getting an update to Android 4.4.4 KitKat. You really won’t notice much of a difference from 4.4.3, if any at all, but it’s always good to be on the latest version of Android. Plus, the security and backend fixes in 4.4.4 are worth it.
Despite these Android versions being very small changes, it’s definitely good to see Motorola keep focusing on updates. Hopefully the update to Android L will be quick whenever the OS launches. For now, download Android 4.4.4 to your device and tell us how you like it!
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