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Amazon launches fireTV – a media streaming and gaming device

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 3:14 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider

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Amazon today unveiled its first media streaming and gaming device, the Amazon fireTV, confirming rumors of a proprietary media set-top box. The black square box is equipped with a quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM, and of course, runs on Android. The fireTV launches with a number of video apps, such as Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Vimeo, and Internet-streaming service Frequency. The usual social app suspects are also available, including Facebook and Twitter, and music apps like Pandora and iHeartRadio. The included remote control comes with a microphone for voice search, eliminating the lengthy process of typing sans-keyboard. The fireTV also comes with…

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Canonical to close Ubuntu One file services, says competing in ‘free storage wars’ was unsustainable

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 3:04 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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With ever-increasing competition from the likes of Dropbox, Google Drive and Microsoft’s OneDrive, Canonical today announced it will exit the “free storage wars” and shut down its Ubuntu One file services. Canonical said that to continue offering Ubuntu One “on a global scale”, the project would require additional investment that simply wasn’t in its best interests. “We choose instead to invest in making the absolute best, open platform and to highlight the best of our partners’ services and content,” Jane Silber, Canonical’s chief executive said in a blog post. If you navigate to the Ubuntu One homepage, you’ll see that…

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Wallaby’s new Chrome extension recommends which credit card to use when buying online

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 3:00 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

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If you’re into maximizing the amount of rewards points and cash-back you get from your credit cards, Wallaby has a new Chrome extension just for you. The company also released a significant update to its iPhone app to coincide with the launch. Wallaby is a credit card optimization platform. It tracks your rewards programs, credit limits, due dates and other relevant information to keep you informed on your cards. Wallaby is also beta testing a first-party credit card that syncs up purchases with your existing plastic based on its algorithms. When you click the Chrome extension icon, Wallaby will scan…

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Kodak launches new Moments HD photo printing app for iPad

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 2:40 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web, Insider

Adding to the existing version for iPhone, Kodak Alaris – or ‘Kodak’ to you and me – has launched a new incarnation of its Moments app specifically for iPads. But unfortunately, it seems to be a US-only for now. The Kodak Moments HD app is all about helping you create, edit and print photo-based books on the fly, and includes a postal AND same-day pick-up service from picture kiosks. The app lets you order standard prints and enlargements, and can also integrate with Facebook, Instagram and Flickr to grab snaps from your social sphere too. It’s been a turgid time…

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Render offers an early look at the new reversible USB Type-C cable

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 2:08 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

Although micro USB is growing in popularity, it will soon be succeeded with a new cable architecture called USB Type-C. It’s smaller than micro USB and it’s also reversible, so you won’t have to worry about its orientation when jamming it into your devices. Details of the new connector were released last December, but slides from a presentation at the IDF conference in China have revealed what it could actually look like. The renderings were produced by Foxconn and in the slides, it makes clear that the design could still be altered before it hits the market. It does provide…

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