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Google’s modular phone project begins to take flight as first resources for Ara are released

Apr10
by on April 10, 2014 at 3:33 am
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets

Project Ara, the modular smartphone initiative announced by Google last year, is taking shape after the first Module Developers Kit (MDK) was released today. Among the information is an 81-page document that details the of customization open to developers, and thus the kind of things that we end users can hope to expect from our devices, although the project is still at a very early stage. Interesting nuggets include three different sized ‘endos’ (phone chasis); the potential for multiple batteries, which can be swapped out without turning a handset off; plug-in peripheral devices like a Pulse Oximeter Module, which measures blood oxygen saturation,…

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The next Asian messaging app exit may be worth more than $19b

Apr09
by on April 9, 2014 at 9:59 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Apps, Around the Web, Asia

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Thomas Clayton is the CEO of Bubbly, a social media startup backed by Sequoia Capital, SingTel Innov8, and JAFCO.  It’s clear that the Messaging Age is among us. As Facebook becomes more of a place for parents, potential employers and schools, coaches, etc. to check up on people, young users no longer want to use it as a place to have uninhibited social interactions with their friends, and they’re increasingly choosing to log out. Furthermore, users are getting sick of the lengthy text updates and exhaustive photo albums clogging up Facebook newsfeeds. It’s becoming obvious that we’re entering an era of brief, impactful, fun sharing…

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Tag for iPhone lets you selectively share your location so your friends can find you

Apr09
by on April 9, 2014 at 9:24 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

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We hear about new location-sharing apps just about every week, but even with all these entrants, no one company has truly helped users easily link up with their friends while they’re out. On one side of the spectrum you have Foursquare for general location broadcasts and on the other side you have apps like Apple’s Find My Friends and SocialRadar for ubiquitous updates. Tag, a new app for iOS, wants to find the sweet spot in the middle where you can actively share your location with your friends without it feeling either too public or too invasive. An Android version…

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Automattic acquires long-form content aggregator Longreads

Apr09
by on April 9, 2014 at 9:08 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Automattic today announced it has acquired long-form content aggregator Longreads. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed. Longreads was founded five years ago in April 2009 as a service dedicated to helping readers “find and share the best storytelling in the world, including both nonfiction and fiction.” The only requirement is that the content shared in question is over 1,500 words. Longreads Founder Mark Armstrong says Longreads’ goals and Automattic’s goals are complementary: “For us it is to serve readers the best storytelling in the world, and for Automattic it’s to power a world where publishers and writers have…

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3D Hubs opens an API to connect its network of 3D printers with more creators

Apr09
by on April 9, 2014 at 8:47 pm
Posted In: Around the Web

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Collaborative 3D printer network 3D Hubs can now link 3D content creators and users together into its global community of over 3,800 3D printers in 80 countries with the release of a new enterprise-grade API. Autodesk, the design software company, is the first to jump on board, integrating the new API into its 123D app family. The Autodesk 123D family of apps provides free 3D design software with content modeling and fabrication services for people who want to make their own products. An online workflow from the 123Dapp.com site to 3D Hubs is now in place, while the 3D Hubs API will be fully integrated in the next few months,…

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