Pictures leak of the Motorola-made Google smartwatch that might have been
You may not have to wait until later this year to see a smartwatch from Google or Motorola — in fact, you may be looking at a jointly developed watch right now. Android Police claims to have photos of Motorola-built prototype wristwear from 2013, nicknamed Gem, that was intended as an official Google device. The gadget runs Android and includes both dedicated controls for fitness and voice commands. It also mentions a “3 Bit mode” that may have been meant to save battery life by reducing the on-screen color palette. Unfortunately, it’s not clear whether we’ll ever see a finished version of Gem as we know it. The watch would likely need changes before it shipped, and Lenovo’s acquisition of Motorola’s phone business casts doubts on the whole project. If you’re only looking for a possible peek at Google’s early watch strategy, though, you’ll get your fill at the source link.
Filed under: Wearables, Google
Source: Android Police
Mt. Gox reportedly subpoenaed by the feds, CEO confirms leaked proposal was legit
The strange days of (former?) Bitcoin exchange Mt. Gox continue, as its CEO Mark Karpeles confirmed to Fox Business that a PDF leaked by The Two Bit Idiot is “more or less” legitimate. According to Karpeles, it was a “bunch of proposals to deal with the issue at hand, not things that are actually planned and/or done.” The Wall Street Journal reports its sources confirm that federal prosecutors sent a subpoena to Mt. Gox earlier this month, requiring it to preserve documents. Since the exchange turned out the lights last night, the price of Bitcoin has actually risen again, and is currently showing a buy price of $581 on Coinbase.
Filed under: Internet
Source: Fox Business, Coindesk, Wall Street Journal
FCC Launches ‘FCC Speed Test’ App for iPhone [iOS Blog]
The FCC today launched a new ad-free FCC Speed Test app for iOS devices, designed to measure mobile broadband performance. The app is an expansion of the Measuring Broadband America program, which aims to measure both fixed and mobile broadband to “bring greater clarity and competition to the broadband service marketplace.”
Like other mobile speed testing apps, the FCC’s app analyzes mobile broadband performance (both Wi-Fi and cellular) and displays a breakdown of download and upload speed, latency, and packet loss. It also keeps a historical record of mobile speeds for comparison of performance over time.
The FCC is using data collected from the app to build an aggregated map of mobile broadband performance across the country, but it does not collect personally identifying information aside from carrier, country code, and GPS location.
Privacy is paramount. The FCC has taken significant measures to ensure the privacy and confidentiality of volunteers for this program. Using privacy measures developed and reviewed by a diverse team of privacy experts, any data that could potentially identify specific smartphones is analyzed and processed to ensure privacy protection.
The FCC previously launched an FCC Speed Test app for Android back in November and has published multiple reports on broadband performance as part of Measuring Broadband America.
FCC Speed Test can be downloaded from the App Store for free. [Direct Link]
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Must See HDTV for the week of February 25th: Oscars, Gravity and Game of Arms
The Winter Olympics are over and your normal programming schedule is back in full swing. The NHL is back for hockey fans, but Sunday is the big night for movies, as the 86th Annual Academy Awards air on ABC, hosted by Ellen Degeneres. The Best Picture category is looking particularly stacked with American Hustle, Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Gravity, Her, Nebraska, Philomena, 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Tonight the battle of odd reality TV shows takes off as Discovery heads to the mountains for Battle of the Ozarks and AMC airs its Game of Arms arm-wrestling competition. Legit returns this week on FXX, while FX premieres season two of The Americans. Otherwise, we’d keep an eye out for Fred Armisen who is leading the band for Seth Meyers on Late Night, and kicking off a new season of Portlandia on IFC. Gravity is also coming home this week on Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D, while gamers can pick up Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare or Thief. Check after the break for trailers plus our weekly listing of what to look out for in TV, Blu-ray and gaming.
Blu-ray, Streaming movies & Games
- Thor: The Dark World (3D)
- Gravity (3D)
- Nebraska
- Blue Is The Warmest Color (also on Netflix)
- Adventure Time (S3)
- King of the Hill
- Plants vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare (Xbox 360, Xbox One)
- Thief (Xbox 360, PS3, Xbox One, PS4, PC)
- Tales of Symphina Chronicles (PS3)
- Rayman Legends (Xbox One, PS4)
- Castlevania Lords of Shadow 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
Tuesday
- Glee (spring premiere), Fox, 8PM
- NCIS, CBS, 8PM
- The Bachelor, ABC, 8PM
- The Voice, NBC, 8PM
- Pretty Little Liars, ABC Family, 8PM
- Rizzoli & Isles (winter premiere), TNT, 9PM
- About a Boy, NBC, 9PM
- NCIS: LA, CBS, 9PM
- New Girl, Fox, 9PM
- Supernatural, CW, 9PM
- American Experience, PBS, 9PM
- Face Off, Syfy, 9PM
- Twisted, ABC Family, 9PM
- Brooklyn Nine-nine, Fox, 9:30PM
- Growing Up Fisher, NBC, 9:30PM
- Clash of the Ozarks (series premiere), Discovery, 10PM
- Game of Arms (series premiere), AMC, 10PM
- Mind Games (series premiere), ABC, 10PM
- Perception (winter premiere), TNT, 10PM
- The Profit (season premiere), CNBC, 10PM
- Person of Interest, CBS, 10PM
- Chicago Fire, NBC, 10PM
- Justified, FX, 10PM
- Tosh.0, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Opposite Worlds, Syfy, 10PM
- Cougar Town, TBS, 10PM
- Kroll Show, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
- Are You The One?, MTV, 11PM
Wednesday
- Survivor (season premiere), CBS, 8PM
- Revolution, NBC, 8PM
- Melissa & Joey, ABC Family, 8PM
- American Idol, Fox, 8PM
- Opposite Worlds (season finale), Syfy, 8PM
- WWE Main Event, ION, 8PM
- Suburgatory, ABC, 8:30PM
- Baby Daddy, ABC Family, 8:30PM
- Modern Family, ABC, 9PM
- Law & Order: SVU, NBC, 9PM
- Tomorrow People, CW, 9PM
- Psych, USA, 9PM
- Mixology (series premiere), ABC, 9:30PM
- The Americans (season premiere), FX, 10PM
- Legit (season premiere), FXX, 10PM
- Workaholics, Comedy Central, 10PM
- Unsung Hollywood: Pam Grier (series premiere), TV One, 10PM
- Kings/Avalanche, NBC Sports Network, 10PM
- Captain Philips: Somali Pirates Inside Story, Discovery, 10PM
- Nashville, ABC, 10PM
- The Real World, MTV, 10PM
- Chicago PD, NBC, 10PM
- Men at Work, TBS, 10PM
- Criminal Minds, CBS, 10PM
- Ali G: Rezurection (series premiere), FXX, 10:30PM
- Broad City, Comedy Central, 10:30PM
Thursday
- Knicks/Heat, TNT, 8PM
- Countdown to the Oscars, ABC, 8PM
- American Idol, Fox, 8PM
- Big Bang Theory, CBS, 8PM
- Community, NBC, 8PM
- The Vampire Diaries, CW, 8PM
- Parks & Recreation, NBC, 8:30PM
- The Millers, CBS, 8:30PM
- Grey’s Anatomy (season premiere), ABC, 9PM
- Rake, Fox, 9PM
- Reign, CW, 9PM
- Hollywood Game Night (spring premiere), NBC, 9PM
- Two and a Half Men, CBS, 9PM
- Anger Management, FX, 9:30PM
- The Crazy Ones, CBS, 9:30PM
- Portlandia (season premiere), IFC, 10PM
- Scandal (spring premiere), ABC, 10PM
- Vikings (season premiere), History, 10PM
- Parenthood, NBC, 10PM
- Elementary, CBS, 10PM
- King of the Nerds, TBS, 10PM
- Nets/Nuggets, TNT, 10:30PM
- Jerks with Cameras, MTV, 11PM
Friday
- WWE SmackDown, Syfy, 8PM
- Cold Justice, TNT, 8PM
- Last Man Standing, ABC, 8PM
- Undercover Boss, CBS, 8PM
- The Neighbors, ABC, 8:30PM
- Grimm, NBC, 9PM
- Inside Job (series premiere), TNT, 9PM
- Hawaii Five-o, CBS, 9PM
- Bellator MMA Live, Spike TV, 9PM
- Enlisted, Fox, 9PM
- Shark Tank, ABC, 9PM
- All Access: Canelo vs. Angulo, Showtime, 9PM
- Raising hope, Fox, 9:30PM
- Blue Bloods, CBS, 10PM
- Game of Stones (series premiere), Disocvery, 10PM
- Banshee, Cinemax, 10PM
- Helix, Syfy, 10PM
- Save Our Business (series premiere), TNT, 10PM
- Hannibal (season premiere), NBC, 10PM
- Joe Rogan: Live from the Tabernacle, Comedy Central, 11:59PM
Saturday
- Penguins/Blackhawks, NBC, 8PM
- Happy Face Killer, Lifetime, 8PM
- Mythbusters, Discovery, 8PM
- Ripper Street, BBC America, 9PM
- Black Sails, Starz, 9PM
- Lucas Bros. Moving Company, Fox, 11PM
- Golan the Insatiable, Fox, 11:15PM
- Saturday Night Live: Jim Parsons / Beck, NBC, 11:30PM
Sunday
- 86th Annual Academy Awards, ABC, 8:30PM
- NASCAR Sprint Cup Series @ Phoenix, Fox, 2:30PM
- The Amazing Race, CBS, 8PM
- The Walking Dead, AMC, 9PM
- True Detective, HBO, 9PM
- Talking Dead, AMC, 10PM
- Girls, HBO, 10PM
- Looking, HBO, 10:30PM
- Comic Book Men, AMC, 11:59PM
Filed under: Home Entertainment, HD
Daily Roundup: Mt. Gox goes offline, OS X update, Disney’s new app and more!
You might say the day is never really done in consumer technology news. Your workday, however, hopefully draws to a close at some point. This is the Daily Roundup on Engadget, a quick peek back at the top headlines for the past 24 hours — all handpicked by the editors here at the site. Click on through the break, and enjoy.
Twitch arriving on Xbox by March 11th
The second half of Microsoft’s big Xbox One update is expected just ahead of Titanfall’s March 11th release. Aside from being able to broadcast your gameplay via Twitch.tv, Xbox owners will exclusively be able to archive streams right from the console.
Bitcoin exchange goes offline
We knew things were shaky at Mt. Gox after it halted Bitcoin withdrawals on February 7th, though it seems matters are getting even worse. Earlier this morning, the exchange’s website and Twitter footprint vanished, leaving its customers to speculate about bankruptcy or pending acquisition.
OS X update fixes security hole
Apple recently mended an iOS web networking security hole, and now it’s bringing that same fix to OS X, along with a few new FaceTime features. But if you aren’t running Mavericks, don’t worry — specially tailored updates are in the works.
Disney’s new iOS app
Disney’s new iOS app, Movies Anywhere, has the makings of a wonderful road trip companion. Users can stream their Disney content from iTunes, as well as purchase and play over 400 Disney movies within the app.
Filed under: Misc
MLB At Bat Updated for 2014 Baseball Season With Full iOS 7 Redesign [iOS Blog]
In what has become a yearly tradition for late February, Major League Baseball today updated its MLB At Bat app for the 2014 baseball season. The app, perennially one of the most popular — and highest grossing — on the App Store, received a top-to-bottom redesign to match iOS 7 and to improve the user experience.
Photos and video are more prevalent in At Bat, running edge-to-edge and inline with other content. For example, video embedded in a news article displays within the article itself, with users able to tap a full-screen button if they wish. The redesign emphasizes MLB’s aim to improve the fan experience and help technology augment the game and otherwise get out of the way.
Showing how the design team has embraced subtlety, text and selection highlights in the app change depending on which team a user selects as their “favorite”. For example, a Red Sox fan will see red highlights throughout the app, while a Yankees fan would see navy blue. A MLB spokesperson told MacRumors that the app is the mobile focus point for millions of baseball fans and the design teams strive to make the app seem like home, no matter which team they’re a fan of.
Long hailed as the standard bearer for introducing features that matter to fans, At Bat this year will report for live Spring Training games with a full app re-design for iOS 7 on iPhone and iPad, among other new enhancements. Fans again will have access to the core functionality At Bat has pioneered over its first five years, including: personalized team experiences to deliver a linear feed of content for a designated favorite team; searchable libraries of tens of thousands of video-on-demand highlight clips; and customizable original news reporting and fantasy baseball analysis from MLB.com club beat reporters and national columnists.
Like last year, there are two main subscription packages for the iPhone and iPad — a $130/season MLB.tv Premium offering that includes live home-and-away television broadcasts for out-of-market games, as well as live home-and-away radio broadcasts. It also includes the ability to watch on any device regardless of how the viewer purchases the package — users can buy MLB.tv Premium via a $130 in-app purchase can watch live games within the app, as well as on the Apple TV, Xbox, PlayStation or any number of other connected devices.
The cheaper At Bat 2014 product, available as a $20/season in-app purchase, offers home-and-away radio broadcasts with no blackout restrictions. Both the Premium and At Bat services are also available as month-to-month subscriptions, though the whole-season package is quite a bit cheaper than buying month-to-month.
MLB Advanced Media told MacRumors that the company is aware that customers would very much like to stream local games without blackout restrictions, but that the content deals to allow that are extremely complex and difficult to negotiate. It also is well into its iBeacon rollout and expects to have twenty ballparks outfitted with the devices by Opening Day. The At The Ballpark app will see an update before then to support the new iBeacons.
MLB At Bat is a free download from the App Store for iPhone and iPad. [Direct Link]
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Square Testing ‘Pickup’ App to Speed Up Ordering of Takeout [iOS Blog]
Square is testing a new app called Square Pickup that allows users to order and pay for takeout food. The app is currently in beta testing with select San Francisco restaurants, according to Priceonomics.
Instead of calling a restaurant to place a pickup order, users can just make the purchase with the Square Pickup App. The app is loaded with the restaurant’s menu. Just choose what you want, pay with Square, and then pick up your food when it’s ready. The app is currently in beta testing for both iOS and Android.
Square is not the only big company innovating with restaurants and in-app purchasing — earlier this month, OpenTable began testing a feature that would have guests paying for restaurant checks in the OpenTable app.
Square is processing billions of dollars worth of credit card transactions annually and has an extensive point-of-sale system aimed at restaurants and other small businesses.
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Moto takes to Twitter for Q&A, Moto X successor coming ‘late summer’ and more
Motorola isn’t showing off any new devices at Mobile World Congress 2014 in Barcelona this week, but the company made a few announcements in the form of a Q&A on Twitter today.
Among the news was that the successor to its Moto X flagship smartphone is coming this year in ‘late summer.’ Still owned by Google at the time, Motorola released the Moto X in August 2013, so it’s due for a refresher. Motorola said to stay tuned for more details about the upcoming smartphone.
Other news is that it is bringing a smartwatch to market this year that addresses ”consumer issues like style & battery life” and Moto Maker will be rolling out to Western Europe and Mexico in Q2 2014.
It’s sure to be a big year for the now Lenovo-owned company, that’s all we have to say.
via Twitter[1], Twitter[2], Twitter[3]
The post Moto takes to Twitter for Q&A, Moto X successor coming ‘late summer’ and more appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Get the Samsung Galaxy S5 wallpaper here, now in Blue!
Yesterday we posted up one of the wallpapers featured on the Samsung Galaxy S5 when it was announced at MWC 2014 yesterday; despite being the most anticipated device at MWC, the Galaxy S5 failed to illicit the kind of impression that its predecessors have, however, it appears that the most lasting image that people are left with of the device is its wallpaper. That wallpaper has been a hit on the internet, though some might say it’s a bit too colourful (check out that wallpaper here). For those that think that, there was also an alternate blue wallpaper featured on the new Samsung device, though it has been difficult to track down, until now. It’s been heavily requested, but I’m glad to say that we’ve found it: the Samsung Galaxy S5 wallpaper in blue.
Thanks to Jahir Hussein, the blue wallpaper can now be downloaded in all its glory down below:
It might actually be a bit lighter than the version seen on the Galaxy S5, but try it out and let us know how you find it. If you’re going to rock this wallpaper on your device, let us know what your device is, or even better, share your homescreen with us in the comments below.
Source: Google+
Crackle’s free video service comes to the PlayStation Vita
PlayStation Vita owners looking for a free video fix no longer have to dig through YouTube — after a long wait, Crackle has launched its service on Sony’s handheld. Much like on other devices, Vita owners can now stream no-cost movies, TV shows and shorts, whether they come from Crackle itself or major studios. You don’t need an account unless you’re keen to sync your viewing list across multiple platforms. If you’re the sort of gamer who’d watch Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee after a round of Tearaway, you can visit the new content portal today.
Filed under: Gaming, Home Entertainment, Internet, HD, Sony
AIVAnet 