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The Movo Wave is a reliable fitness tracker for people on a budget

Mar05
by on March 5, 2015 at 1:02 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, fitness, Fitness tracker, Gadgets, Movo, Product Reviews

Movo Wave
I’m not a fitness buff by any stretch of the imagination. I loathe gyms, avoid diets like the plague and have no interest in sports. In a way, that makes me a solid candidate to review an activity tracker. So, over the past few weeks, I’ve been walking and jogging to see how well the Movo Wave tracker works. The company says it’s one of the most affordable trackers available in the US. It’s right about that: at just $30, the Wave is way cheaper than popular entry-level options like the Misfit Flash ($50), Jawbone Up24 ($130) and the Fitbit Charge ($130).…

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Fairphone’s second ethically-sourced handset is coming this summer, but it’s still not all that ‘fair’

Mar05
by on March 5, 2015 at 12:32 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider

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Making a handset bereft of conflict minerals is an incredibly tricky business, in fact, it’s so difficult that Fairphone, a Dutch company that wants to make a 100 percent ethical device, still can’t get all that close to its goal. The company began as an awareness campaign about conflict materials, but later grew into a business. It launched a crowdfunding campaign to see if the idea of creating a conflict-free handset would fly. Fairphone’s spokesperson explained more: We said that if 5,000 people in one month pre-order the phone – put down €325 for a phone that doesn’t exist yet…

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Windows Phone 8.1 update 2 reorganizes the settings and supports Bluetooth keyboards

Mar05
by on March 5, 2015 at 11:04 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider

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Microsoft’s latest Windows Phone 8.1 update will give you the option to pin individual settings to the Start screen, according to Windows Central. The update has also organized the settings into one page and sorted them by categories with a search function built in. Other improvements include the ability to tailor privacy settings by disabling camera access to specific apps and a new quick text function. Quick text is a set of pre-defined messages that you can paste within your phone’s keyboard. Microsoft has introduced Bluetooth keyboard support for Windows Phones as well. This comes shortly after the release of it’s foldable…

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Drone owners should be required to register, says House of Lords committee

Mar05
by on March 5, 2015 at 11:00 am
Posted In: amazon, Around the Web, drones, Gadgets, House of Lords, Insider, parliament, UK

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A committee of the UK’s House of Lords says drone owners should be required to sign up to a register. It’s one of a series of proposals outlined in an investigation into the safe use of unmanned aerial vehicles. In its ‘Civilian Use of Drones in the EU’ [PDF] report, the House of Lords EU Internal Market, Infrastructure and Employment sub-committee says drones could account for as many as 150,000 jobs in Europe by 2050. The proposals for a register of drones would initially only cover commercial users, but would later be expanded to include individual consumers. The database would be designed…

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How the PuzzlePhone is shaping up as a rival to Google’s Project Ara modular smartphone

Mar05
by on March 5, 2015 at 10:23 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Mobile, MWC, Product Updates

puzzlephone 3
Circular Devices, the company behind the upcoming PuzzlePhone modular smartphone, took to the stage at the Mobile World Congress’ startup conference 4Years From Now (4YFN) to reveal its progress. The company has partnered with Spanish manufacturer ImasD, meaning that the PuzzlePhone will be powered by ImasD’s Click ARM technology, in which ARM stands for ‘Advanced Removable Modules.’ As you may remember, the PuzzlePhone is modular, making it easier to repair, customize and upgrade than the average smartphone. In that sense, it is quite similar to Google’s Project Ara, which will first launch as a pilot program in Puerto Rico later this year. PuzzlePhone’s design consists of three modules: “The Heart” (battery),…

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