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Microsoft Build 2014: Everything announced on day 1 in one handy list

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 8:13 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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At its Build 2014 conference in San Francisco today, Microsoft made a slew of software and hardware announcements. Here’s a quick recap of everything announced at the event – and we’re not including the fact that all attendees were treated to an Xbox One and a $500 Microsoft Store gift card. Damn. Windows Phone 8.1 Among its first announcements was Windows Phone 8.1, an update to its mobile operating system featuring a personal digital assistant named Cortana, a new Action Center, and support for customizable lock-screens and backgrounds. Windows Phone 8.1 will ship on devices starting in May with the…

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Evernote updates Penultimate for iPad with a redesigned pen menu, easy stylus pairing, and more

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 7:59 pm
Posted In: Apps, Around the Web

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Evernote today updated its Penultimate handwriting iPad app with easier pen selection and stylus pairing, natural gestures for turning digital pages and a fresh note layout for its regular Evernote apps. The pen selection menu was redesigned for today’s update, giving users the ability to set a default color for each pen width. While the full range of color options are still available, it means Penultimate aficionados can set up a few of their favorite marker combinations for quick access. This part of the app also sports a new area for connecting the ‘Jot Script Evernote Edition Stylus‘ by Adonit….

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Over $112 million was pledged to Kickstarter projects in the first three months of 2014

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 7:26 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Insider

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Kickstarter today published new figures detailing how successful its crowdfunding platform was during the first three months of 2014. Over $112 million was donated to eligible products, equal to $1,244,868 on average each day. It’s a huge sum, although Kickstarter attracted $480 million in pledges last year – which is roughly $120 million for each quarter. Of course, the amounts raised on Kickstarter are dependent on the projects submitted. Pono Music, a new portable music player, raised over $5 million last month and was undoubtedly its most successful crowdfunding campaign over the three-month period. Only the Pebble smartwatch, Ouya video game…

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Amazon Fire TV first impressions: Amazon delivers a game pad, voice search, and streaming at lightning speeds

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 7:17 pm
Posted In: Analysis and Opinion, Around the Web, Gadgets, Insider, Product Reviews

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Do you have any HDMI slots left on your TV? Didn’t think so – but you can’t blame Amazon for entering the streaming device market given its existing arsenal of entertainment and readily available data on competitors’ devices. Indeed, this makes sense. Amazon is the world’s largest online retailer, and receives thousands of users reviews for the Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Roku, and smart TVs. Why wouldn’t it use this data to its own benefit, even if it is slightly late to the table? We managed to grab a hands-on with the new $99 Fire TV device earlier today, and…

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Can you have a baby AND run a startup? Here’s how weeSpring manages it

Apr02
by on April 2, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Posted In: Around the Web, Entrepreneur, Insider, Profiles and Interviews

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For many founders, their startup is their baby – it needs all the love, attention and care that a real infant requires. The founders of weeSpring are in the almost certainly unique position of running a startup dedicated to baby products and looking after a young child… with another on the way. How do they balance their business ‘baby’ with their real baby? The latest episode of Techstars‘ Startup Stories series finds out. Startup Stories is a series of short documentaries about Techstars companies, hosted exclusively by The Next Web. When you’ve finished watching this, make sure you catch up with Startup Stories episode 1: Sendgrid, episode 2:…

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