Amazon’s Fire Phone Launches to Mixed Reviews
Amazon is the latest tech and Internet giant to make a foray into the world of smartphones, and the company’s upcoming Fire Phone has generated a great deal of debate among industry onlookers. Some believe it is going to be a spectacular and embarrassing flop for Amazon, while others think it will inevitably succeed as […]
HomeKit to Sync Up with All Your Apple Devices
At this year’s Worldwide Developers Conference, Apple unveiled its HomeKit suite of “smart home” tools. HomeKit will allow users to control everything from their furnaces and air conditioners to their thermostats and security systems from a single connected iOS device. Smart home technologies are already widely available, but there are some significant limitations on the […]
Apple’s Swift Programming Language Makes Surprise Debut
Apple made a surprise announcement this past Monday at the company’s annual Worldwide Development Conference by unveiling Swift, a new programming language which is expected to supplant Objective-C, the current standard. The company also confirmed that Swift and Objective-C will share LLVM complier and runtime, allowing them to operate simultaneously within the same piece of […]
Apple Launches the Connected Home with HomeKit for iOS 8
With the age of the “smart home” close at hand, Apple unveiled its new HomeKit tool suite at this year’s Worldwide Developer Conference. HomeKit is designed to help manufacturers of smart home products integrate their technologies into OS-powered Apple devices more easily. From an end user standpoint, HomeKit will afford expanded access to smart home […]
Tech Company Execs Fuming Mad Over NSA Spying
The tech industry, and the world at large, is still reeling from the explosive revelations made public by infamous whistleblower Edward Snowden. In a recent interview, prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen claims that many tech industry leaders are fuming not only over the scandal, but at the Obama administration’s refusal to scale back its surveillance […]
FAA Opens First Drone Test Site
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened the first of six planned testing facilities for unmanned aircraft. The first test site is located in North Dakota, and became operational a full two months ahead of the previously announced schedule. Officially, the North Dakota site will be used to allow drones to conduct soil […]
Fitness Wearable Tech in Flux as Nike Pulls the Plug on FuelBand
According to recent reports, Nike has dismissed between 70 and 80 percent of its FuelBand department. Tech media giant CNET surmises that the move signals a shift in strategy from Nike, away from computer hardware towards computer software. The Nike FuelBand, which the company hoped would herald a successful entry into the wearables market, has […]
Web Encryption No Match for the NSA
Late last year, Reuters reported that the National Security Agency had struck a secret deal with RSA, one of the world’s leading Internet security providers. According to the Reuters report, the National Security Agency inserted a so-called “back door” into the RSA’s encryption system. This back door compromised the privacy and security of end users, […]
3D Printing Market Set to Explode in the Coming Years
When 3D printing first became a reality, some insiders dismissed it as a fad that would soon disappear. Current market trends seem to indicate that they’re wrong. At the end of 2013, the global market value of the 3D printing industry was approximately $2.5 billion, $700 million of which was generated by actual printers. An additional […]
Google to Launch New Wearable Device “Android Wear”
Google’s increasing their presence in the wearable device market, unveiling Android Wear, which may be a game changing technology. The first Android Wear-powered products are expected to be smartwatches, and should be available to consumers by the end of the year. Google is staying largely mum on its specific plans, but did say that it was […]