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Showing posts from May, 2014

London office of Hailo taxi app is vandalised following private hire car move

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firm which makes a taxi app, Hailo, has had its London office vandalised following a move to make the service usable by private hire cars, and not just licensed black cab drivers. The Hailo app lets customers call a taxi to wherever they are, and is available on Android and iOS, but the move to expand its remit has been met with anger from black cab drivers, with a fight reportedly breaking out at the London office – according to the BBC, police were called to the fracas. The building has also had the word 'scabs' daubed on the wall. There is evidently much anger at the fact that Hailo is now being opened up beyond an exclusive service for black cabs. Hailo was co-founded by three London black cab drivers – Russell Hall, Terry Runham and Gary Jackson. Ron Zeghibe, the Chairman of Hailo, defended the firm's decision in an open letter on the company blog, arguing that they need to move with the times, or the app will become irrelevant in the long run, and everyone wil...

LG G3: All the latest news from the rumour mill

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s ever with the smartphone industry, the rumours surrounding the LG G3 have been flying in thick and fast. With the launch date imminent – it's 27 May, which is next Tuesday – we thought we'd have a quick scan over the most prominent speculation concerning LG's incoming flagship. One of the most recent leaks concerns the size of the handset, and an image posted by @evleaks (via BGR) which depicts the phone in a case, with the thickness being 13mm with the case on – suggesting that this could be a somewhat thicker handset than the usual high-end Android efforts. (See the image above). The device may need the space for the battery – after all, we've actually heard confirmation that the LG G3 is going to do something special with the display, offering a 2,560 x 1,440 resolution, no less, on a 5.5in screen. That's an incredible 530 ppi, though it starts to get to the point where you wonder how sharp you need a 5.5in screen to be – and whether it's worth it in t...

Facebook pushes out “I’m a voter” feature globally

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Are you a voter? Increasing apathy regarding politics may mean the answer to that question is a no, but Facebook is going to be offering those who do vote the chance to declare that fact for all to see. Previously, the 'I'm a Voter' feature allowed those in the US to declare they'd chosen their political allegiance in the 2012 election – and some nine million Americans did so. Now, the Telegraph reports that Facebook intends to roll this system out globally – to places where elections are taking place, naturally – and recently brought the concept to India, during the election last month, where some four million Indians utilised it to let their friends know they were politically active (or perhaps we should say, not totally politically dormant). You could look at this as a move to encourage people to get to the ballot box and cast their vote – by seeing that their friends have done so – or a move for Facebook to eke just a little bit more data out of its user base...

5 good reasons why you shouldn’t buy the Samsung Galaxy S5

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0 inShare Samsung’s latest flagship has been revealed, and while it’s not on sale until April, you might well be pondering your purchase ahead of time. Choosing your next phone is often a complicated process, and while the Galaxy S5 is full of shiny newness and a fun new UI to explore, it might not be the phone for you. How do you determine what your next phone is going to be? Do you rely on what the guy in the store has to say? Do you look at which phone gets the best reviews? Do you rely on side-by-side comparisons, benchmarks, or photography contests to choose which phone will be your next? At any rate, there’s a good chance you do just a little bit of homework before shelling out for your next smartphone. If you’re hung up on the Galaxy S5 as your potential new phone, there are a few things you should bear in mind before you leap for Samsung’s latest Android darling. (Note that we've already covered 5 things to look forward to with Samsung's upcoming flagship, b...

Google set to release new futuristic 3D imaging tablet.

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Google has announced the development of its first 3D imaging tablet. Sources close to the tech giant told the Wall Street Journal this week that the slate will have a wealth of advanced tech, including two rear-facing cameras, a 7in screen and advanced imaging software that can capture 3D pictures of objects. 4,000 of these prototype tablets are rumoured to be in production from the beginning of next month. Read more: A closer look at how Google's Project Tango could be truly revolutionary Android-based Project Tango is an ongoing research project, part of the company's Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) group, which released a prototype smartphone with Project Tango 3D technology under limited release in February with similar tech specs to the upcoming device. Limited releases aren't unusual for Google, as a similar launch was given to Glass. Specifically for developers, ideas for software and hardware can be sent to ATAP for the chance to get one of these...

Sad faces all round as Microsoft pulls "offensive" Skype emojis

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Microsoft has stripped Skype of a small number of emojis, which are digital ideograms or "smileys", after community managers worried that they were potentially offensive to its users. The changes were made over a month ago with the release of Skype 6.14, but the service's users are now mobilising to protest against the decision. Skype message boards and forums are filled with complaints from users who believe that the emoji update is curtailing their rights to express themselves in the name of "political correctness" and "sensitivity." The offensive emoticons that were removed include a smiley face flipping the viewer "the finger" and, bizarrely, a pair of women's legs wearing high heels – reportedly an Easter egg emoji related to former Skype CEO's personal assistant, Stella Hollest. In particular, many users are raising their eyebrows because Skype has kept a number of emoticons that could easily fall into the offensive ...

Google Glass Gets Even Creepier? Bad News Or Good?

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C reepy technology not unique to Google. Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) is coming under fire (again) for the privacy implications of Google Glass. On the one hand, being able to capture a photo with nothing but a wink is worryingly creepy. As is real-time facial recognition. On The Other Hand, technology companies from LG to Microsoft to Apple are also raising privacy eyebrows. How can you prevent it happening to your business? http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2013/12/19/google-glass-gets-creepier-otoh/

Moto 360 smartwatch to retail at $249

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Motorola has accidentally let slip the price of its Moto 360, and it's pretty much in line with what we were expecting. Phone Arena spotted that the asking price of the smartwatch was spilled when the company posted about a competition it was running to allow folks the chance to win the Moto 360, and in the T&Cs blurb, the device was mentioned as having a retail value of $249 (£148). That certainly sounds about right, and this is a pretty tempting sounding price point – while it's not cheap, we knew it wouldn't be, and the Moto 360 is a premium looking affair. In our humble opinion, it's the first really good looking smartwatch which stands a chance of actually capturing some mass market share due to its appealing aesthetics. Motorola may have beaten Apple to the punch here, as there's still no sign of the iWatch. While, as we've noted, the price translates to around 150 notes in our money, of course this won't be the case when the Moto 360 laun...

Website of the Day

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Ludlow Kingsley made a stop-motion website to raise funds for 826LA, a non-profit teaching creative writing to kids. The hands-on, playful site reflects the ethos of both companies. https://www.826.lk.la/

Mobile app of the day: Waygo

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I will admit from the off that Waygo might be one to watch rather than an app you will want to download immediately. But do read on, because its potential is huge. Waygo's core capability is translation – you point your handset's camera at the written word, and Waygo returns an English language translation. Imagine its value: Direction signs, menus, information leaflets, information from newspapers, all manner of foreign words can have their mystery revealed. The translation happens on the device itself, so there's no need to be online. You can see the pinyin translation of each word, and can share translations via text, Facebook, Twitter and email. At present Waygo works for Chinese and Japanese only, but the developer promises that more languages will be added. You get ten translations per day for free. That probably won't be enough for anyone travelling in China or Japan – and if you think you will need more there's an in-app purchase to upgrade the allo...