a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

LG’s new fridge, washing machine and oven can chat with you using Line’s messaging app

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 3:08 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Asia, Korea, lg

lg homechat
LG last year announced an interesting new service that lets customers chat with their home appliances using their smartphone, and now its first range of ‘smart’ appliances that include the HomeChat service are available to buy. Initially available in LG’s home market of Korea only, the range include a fridge with a camera, a washing machine that responds to chat messages, and a microwave/oven with NFC and WiFi baked in. Quirky? Yes. Useful? Maybe. The fridge camera can send photos of its contents back to you so you know what items you need to buy when you’re out shopping. The washing machine…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: , ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Chat app Tango plans push into China, positioning itself as a window into the West

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 2:57 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Asia, messaging, messaging app, Product Updates, Profiles and Interviews

Tango Culture - Tango sign
It was quite a surprise when Tango, a free messaging and calling app for iOS and Android, scored a $280 million funding round led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba earlier this year. After all, Tango’s largest market is the US — out of its 200 million registered users, 50 million come from the US. Back when the deal was announced, co-founder and CTO Eric Setton was pretty vague about future plans for Tango in China, only saying it would help boost the messaging app in China and other parts of Asia, but that there wouldn’t be a China-specific partnership involved….

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Chat app Tango plans push into China, positioning itself as a window into the West

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 2:57 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Asia, messaging, messaging app, Product Updates, Profiles and Interviews

Tango Culture - Tango sign
It was quite a surprise when Tango, a free messaging and calling app for iOS and Android, scored a $280 million funding round led by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba earlier this year. After all, Tango’s largest market is the US — out of its 200 million registered users, 50 million come from the US. Back when the deal was announced, co-founder and CTO Eric Setton was pretty vague about future plans for Tango in China, only saying it would help boost the messaging app in China and other parts of Asia, but that there wouldn’t be a China-specific partnership involved….

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: 
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

onOne offers its handy $100 Perfect Effects 8 Premium photo software for free for a limited time

May07
by on May 7, 2014 at 1:47 am
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

Screen Shot 2014-05-06 at 5.23.06 PM
It’s not every day that a high-quality photo editing app that normally costs $100, becomes available completely free of charge. But today, and for a limited time, onOne is offering just such a deal with its Perfect Effects 8 Premium Edition. The software comes as a standalone package and as a plugin for Photoshop, Photoshop Elements, Aperture, and Lightroom. Perfect Effects is just one of eight modules included in the company’s Perfect Photo Suite 8, which is sold separately. This is a fully licensed version that won’t time out. It’s unclear at this point how long the promotion will last, but…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: , ,
a couple of laughzillas on a blue diamond background

Hands-on: Acer’s speedy Core i3 C720 Chromebook

May06
by on May 6, 2014 at 9:33 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Google, Mobile

0506_acer1
At the Intel Chrombook event today, Acer introduced its first Core i3 Chromebook. Built for performance, the latest addition to the Acer line didn’t disappoint during a quick hands-on. Unless you’re using a Google Chromebook Pixel with a Core i5 processor, Chromebooks are generally pokey computing affairs. While loading Chrome apps and sites isn’t exactly performance intensive, the snail-like speed of those Chromebooks becomes noticeable next to mid-level Windows or OS X notebooks. The Acer C720 removes that sluggishness in a $349 package–far less expensive than the Pixel’s $1,299 price at launch. Thanks to the notebook’s 4th-gen Intel Core i3…

This story continues at The Next Web

└ Tags: