Someone’s built a Bitcoin-like system for real gold
There’s no short, elegant way to describe Bitcoin, but if you put a gun to our heads, we’d say that it was digital gold. That’s because the cryptocurrency is based on a limited quantity of resource that is then used as a method of exchange. Unfortunately, Bitcoin’s popularity within the high-minded financial sector has grown to such an extent that honest-to-goodness real gold is getting in on the act. BitGold (yup) is the brainchild of Toronto-based Roy Sebag, who has cooked up a digital payments platform that connects real-world vaults with online customers.
Once you’ve sunk your cash into the system, you’ll be allocated the equivalent weight of gold in one of ten vaults around the world. Then, when it comes time for you to buy something, you can do so from the BitGold site, your mobile device or with a BitGold Mastercard. The pitch here is that the service isn’t a bank, so it won’t lose your deposit, it’s not a cryptocurrency and there’s no securitized assets. Instead, you’ll just be able to buy gold and hope that its value increases over time before blowing it on an upgrade to business class.
If you’re into meaningless jargon, the company’s about page has a reserve so vast it would fill Fort Knox twice over. For instance, BitGold believes that “cooperation under a unit of elemental-measurement promotes a more equitable distribution of wealth and opportunity.” The piece goes on to say that by reexamining the “elemental properties of gold, it becomes clear that gold provides a globally neutral, natural unit of account.” We’re not entirely sure how going back to pre-fiat currency payments will kickstart a quasi-socialist utopia, but hey.
Of course, as we keep saying, students of history, economics and both will have already worked out the key flaw with this system. Like any commodity-based system of exchange, the temptation will be to sit on your stockpile of wealth in the hope that scarcity causes it to increase in value. This, in turn, creates a recession that sends the value through the floor — and unlike fiat currencies, can’t be fixed by creating more liquidity since you can’t make more gold. This is how the US came to wind up in the great depression of the 1930s, which was only solved when the gold standard was abandoned.
Filed under: Internet
Source: BitGold (BusinessWire)
Channel 5 steals Football League highlights away from the BBC
If you support a football team that’s in the Championship, League One or League Two, watching match highlights in the UK is a real pain. The BBC’s Football League Show starts at 11:55pm, which means staying up past midnight just to see 5 seconds of your favourite striker missing an open goal. Well, that’s about to change. Channel 5 has stolen the rights to Football League highlights from the BBC, and next season it’ll be launching a new 90-minute show on Saturdays at 9pm. That means it’ll finish just in time for Match of the Day — the perfect appetiser while you wait for Lineker and friends to recap the Premier League. Channel 5 is hardly known for its stellar sports coverage, but now that it’s got Football League TV rights for three years, hopefully it’ll learn to do a better job than the BBC.
[Image Credit: Justin Setterfield/Getty Images]
Filed under: Home Entertainment
Via: Guardian
Source: Football League
Amazon deals: Kingston 64GB microSD card for 51% off, Omaker portable speaker for 61% off
Amazon has a couple of good deals on microSD memory and portable Bluetooth speakers today.
First up, Amazon is offering the Kingston Digital 64GB MicroSDXC card for $38.99, which is 51 percent off its list price. This isn’t the best deal we’ve seen on cards this size, but if you’re in a hurry, it’s better than no deal at all.
Get the Kingston Digital 64GB MicroSDXC for $38.99 on Amazon
Next, the UE MINI BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker is down to $69.99, down from its list price of $99 and $10 cheaper than the previous best. Available in four colors, the UE MINI BOOM has an average score of 4.4 out of 5 stars, with users praising its loud sound, deep bass, and longer than average Bluetooth connection range.
Get the UE MINI BOOM Wireless Bluetooth Speaker for $69.99 on Amazon
Finally, if you’re looking for a more rugged Bluetooth speaker, Amazon is also discounting the Omaker M4, a splashproof and shockproof speaker featuring a compact, sturdy design and NFC connectivity. This is another well reviewed product, with an average score of 4.6 across 400 reviews. The price is 61 percent off the list price.
Get the Omaker M4 Portable Bluetooth 4.0 Speaker for $ $26.99 on Amazon
Let us know if you picked anything up!
Pebble Time enters mass production, new updates on the way too
A couple of months ago, Pebble Time landed on Kickstarter, offering a number of improvements over its predecessor. Mass production of the new smartwatch has begun this week and watches should be landing in consumer hands before the end of the month.
Although production has begun one week later than planed, Pebble insists that the majority of backers will see their smartwatch ship out this month. Although some backers who joined at the tail end of the reward period may have to wait until the first week of June. The factory will manufacture smaller quantities of the Pebble Time to start with, before steadily ramping up to maximum production capacity come mid-May.
As for what the new Pebble Time has to offer, there’s a pretty drastic overhaul of the original design. Hardware wise, there’s a new e-paper display with Gorilla glass protection, a quick release feature to make changing straps a doddle, and a smart accessory port.
Pebble Time is also set for some new software features, including a new time-line interface, a sports app, an expanded app storage limit, and voice replies to Android notifications, which will all be ready at launch. Voice note apps, a weather watch interface and album art support for the music app are also planned for a future update. You can check out some of the features in action below:
Pebble Time passed its $500,000 funding goal in less than an hour, so we’re sure that there are plenty of backers eager to get their hands on their new smartwatch later this month. Are you one of them?
Samsung to launch Iron Man editions of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge this month
If you are a die-hard Iron Man fan, we have a great news for you! Samsung is taking its partnership with Marvel to the next level and releasing ‘Iron Man versions’ of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
A few weeks back Samsung had released themes based on the characters of Avengers: Age of Ultron for both flagship devices. And recently artist renditions of Avengers-themed Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge surfaced, but Samsung didn’t confirm their existence, except the ones that reflect the design of Iron Man’s armored suit.
Iron Man is a Marvel superhero who is also a part of the Avengers. Samsung and Marvel Entertainment made a global partnership for marketing in June, and as part of that pact Samsung products, including its tablet PC and the S6 Edge featured, in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron.’
“The color of the new Iron Man phones will be red. We will decide on other details soon after discussions with Marvel Studio. It will be released either at the end of May or early June,” said Lee Young-hee, Head of Marketing for Samsung’s mobile division.
Samsung is trying to increase brand awareness and solidify its position as a future-oriented product manufacturer by partnering with popular content providers such as Marvel Entertainment.
Source: Korea Times
The post Samsung to launch Iron Man editions of Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge this month appeared first on AndroidGuys.
Shots fired: T-Mobile says “Never Settle for Verizon”, offers free trial service for Verizon customers
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Everybody seems to be stealing OnePlus’ slogan these days. Verizon recently launched a campaign that tells its customers to “Never Settle”, a campaign that T-Mobile has jumped on today, but with a twist. T-Mobile says it agrees with Verizon that customers should “Never Settle”, except that they should “Never Settle for Verizon“, launching a series of eight ads that spell out exactly why you should side with the Un-carrier instead of Big Red. All the ads are embedded at the end of this article, but if you don’t want to watch them all, T-Mobile has basically said that it is superior to Verizon because of:
- 0-year contract arrangements
- Unlimited data
- Unlimited data in 120 countries
- Fast data
- Data rollover
To further entice Verizon customers, T-Mobile has today announced the Never Settle Trial, which Verizon customers can sign up to for free to try T-Mobile’s network just to prove these points. T-Mobile CEO, John Legere says “I’m so confident in our kick-ass network experience that we’re footing the bill so Verizon customers can give T-Mobile a try.” The trial works by Verizon customers porting over their number to a T-Mobile device and tries it out for 14 days – if you’re sold after 14 days, T-Mobile will even foot any Early Termination Fees from Verizon up to $650. You can sign up for this offer between May 13 and May 31. With ad campaigns like this, you wonder why T-Mobile is still only the fourth largest carrier in the U.S.
What do you think about this latest ad campaign from T-Mobile? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Source: T-Mobile
The post Shots fired: T-Mobile says “Never Settle for Verizon”, offers free trial service for Verizon customers appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
Foursquare is bringing mayorships back for Swarm
When Foursquare split its app into two separate services, Swarm and Foursquare, some users were unhappy that their favorite gamification elements had been nuked. If you were checking in with Swarm, for instance, it was no longer possible to unlock badges and compete for mayorships with the entire community. Well, it seems Dennis Crowley’s startup is finally relenting and giving the people what they want. The company says global mayorships with be added to Swarm “soon” and that henceforth, all check-ins will count towards them. While badges are still noticeably absent, Foursquare is rolling out 100 new stickers which users can add to their check-ins, photos and messages. Will it be enough to win back those that checked out after the Swarm-Foursquare split? Maybe not, but at least the company has recognised what made Foursquare such a hit in the first place.
Filed under: Misc
Via: TechCrunch
Source: Foursquare
Yes, a special Galaxy S6 Edge Iron Man edition is coming!
Galaxy S6 Edge Avengers Edition concept
Samsung and Marvel are two of the world’s savviest companies when it comes to marketing. Now they are teaming up for their flashiest and likely most lucrative collaboration yet.
Fresh out of a viewing of Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, a Samsung executive told the Korean press that a special Iron Man edition of the Galaxy S6 Edge is coming soon.
“Samsung is prepping up to rollout the Iron Man edition of the S6 Edge, which will be in red,” EVP of mobile Lee Young-hee told a crowd of about 50 reporters that accompanied Samsung’s brass at the movies.
The Iron Man edition of the Galaxy S6 Edge will launch at the end of May at the earliest, or sometime in June. It’s not clear if the device will be just a red version of the S6 Edge or will feature other customizations. Lee said Samsung is yet to iron out all the details with Marvel.
Back in March, a Korean designer published his concept of an “Avengers Edition” Galaxy S6 Edge collection, featuring color schemes matching the characters from Marvel’s blockbuster, including a red and gold Iron Man edition. But there’s no guarantee that Samsung’s special edition will feature a similar design.
Samsung’s marketing partnership with Marvel gave its products prominent placement in Age of Ultron. According to the brand tracking firm Concave, Samsung is the most visible brand in the action flick, outshining Audi, Under Armour, and Harley-Davidson.
Samsung has several Avengers themes for the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge, but creating a special Iron Man version would take the brand connection to the next level.
There’s no word yet on special editions for the other Avengers, though we suspect Samsung will at least consider it, if the Iron Man S6 Edge turns out to be a hit. And why wouldn’t it?
NIH bans funding for genetic engineering of human embryos
Researchers from Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou, China made headlines late last month upon announcing that they had successfully edited the genes of a human embryo. This revelation set off a firestorm of controversy as the scientific community took sides in the ethical debate of genetic manipulation. Now, the National Institute of Health has weighed in on the issue and is denying funding to research that involves meddling with the human germline.
Despite the funding ban, the NIH recently acknowledges the scientific value of CRISPR/Cas9, the gene editing technique behind the Chinese team’s breakthrough. “This technology is also being used to develop the next generation of antimicrobials, which can specifically target harmful strains of bacteria and viruses,” the NIH statement reads. “In the first clinical application of genomic editing, a related genome editing technique (using a zinc finger nuclease) was used to create HIV-1 resistance in human immune cells, bringing HIV viral load down to undetectable levels in at least one individual.” What’s more, the NIH has — and will reportedly continue to — fund this sort of genetic research. What it will not do is give money to any effort that edits the human genome itself.
“The concept of altering the human germline in embryos for clinical purposes has been debated over many years from many different perspectives, and has been viewed almost universally as a line that should not be crossed,” the statement reads. “Advances in technology have given us an elegant new way of carrying out genome editing, but the strong arguments against engaging in this activity remain.” The NIH cites unpredictable changes to the human gene line, a lack of current medical applications, numerous legislative and regulatory prohibitions and the ethical minefield of changing our kids’ genetic structures without their permission. In short, the NIH argues that unless there is a real, compelling need to edit the human genome, it will not fund such efforts. So until we have to start fortifying our astronauts against brain-melting solar radiation during interplanetary voyages, germline manipulation efforts will need to find alternate funding.
[image credit: Getty]
Filed under: Science
Via: IGN
Source: National Institute of Health
7 best Android apps to transfer files from Android to PC and other ways too!
One of the more common things people need to do is transfer files from their mobile device or tablet to their desktop. Sometimes it’s a photo, sometimes it’s a song, and many other times it’s some sort of document, presentation, or other file that needs transferred. There are actually quite a few ways to transfer files from Android to PC (and back again) and we’ll take a look at them here.
AirDroid
[Price: Free]
AirDroid is one of the most popular ways to access your Android device from your PC. With it you can do things like send/receive SMS messages, see notifications, and they’re currently testing out ways to control Android and use apps like WhatsApp, WeChat, etc but that feature requires root. There are also plenty of other features. Of course, you can also send files to your PC from Android and vice versa and you don’t have to connect your device to any specific network to do it. It’s a great way to put your Android device on your computer.
Cloud Storage (Dropbox, Google Drive, OneDrive, Box.com, etc)
[Price: Varies]
One of the most popular ways to deal with files is to put them in cloud storage. Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Drive, Box.com, and many other cloud storage companies let you sync your device to the cloud and also have integration with PC. Thus, you can send files to the cloud then access them in your web browser or download them to your PC for later use. Then you can upload stuff to your cloud storage from your PC and access them on your Android device. Cloud storage is a lot better than it used to be and it still has a way to go, but it works for this purpose quite well.
ES File Explorer
[Price: Free]
ES File Explorer is one of the best file managers for Android and along with its great set of features is the ability to interact with other devices on a network. For instance, you can connect your Android device to the same router your computer is on and then ES can see that computer (based on that computer’s privacy settings) and send files directly to the PC over the WiFi network. This is great for people who want to kill two birds with one stone in both a transfer app and a file manager and ES makes it fairly easy. There are other file browsers that allow for this as well so if ES isn’t doing it for, don’t be afraid to look around!
Mobizen
[Price: Free]
Mobizen is an app that doesn’t get a lot of press but works fairly well. Like AirDroid, you can connect your PC to your Android device and vice versa using Mobizen and that means you can do stuff like drag-and-drop file transfers, see your notifications, and do some other interesting stuff. It boasts being able to mirror Android to your PC for screen recording but that functionality is a bit limited. It’s great for presentations but not so great for long form recording. In any case, Mobizen is another solid option and it’s worth a shot.
Pushbullet
[Price: Free]
In the space of apps that connect PCs to Android devices, Pushbullet is right up there with AirDroid as one that is considered “among the best”. It does the SMS send/receive from PC along with stuff like copying a link from Android and pasting it on PC, check notifications, and file transfers. Like AirDroid, your device connects to your PC regardless of what data network its on so you can transfer files and check messages from anywhere which is nice and the developers have been working hard to create a clean cut and efficient interface as well. There’s also a Chrome extension for those who want that.
SuperBeam
[Price: Free / $0.99]
SuperBeam is a simple application that connects your devices directly over WiFi. To use it, both your Android device and PC will have to be on the same WiFi network but otherwise it works very well. SuperBeam has a clean interface that helps make it easy to use which we appreciate. You can also connect devices using NFC or QR code scanning if need be. It also keeps track of all file transfers so you can see the logs if needed and you get even more features if you buy the pro version.
Sync by BitTorrent
[Price: Free]
Sync by BitTorrent is an application that those with security concerns should definitely read more about. Sync allows you to pair your device with a computer without using the cloud or anything like that so you can transfer files between your devices securely. The app lets you view various folders and files that you pre-determine so it actually does work a bit like cloud storage but it’s as if your device is the cloud storage server. It’s simple to use and also totally free.
Non-app ways to transfer files
If apps aren’t your deal, there are still some other ways to transfer files from your PC to Android and vice versa.
- Use Bluetooth – If your laptop has a Bluetooth module or if you have a Bluetooth dongle for your desktop or laptop, you can pair your device with your computer using Bluetooth and send files that way. Do be warned, the transfer rates are very slow and you’ll probably only want to do this with small text files, pictures, or documents. You probably don’t want to use this for stuff like large videos or lots of files at once.
- USB On-The-Go – USB OTG cables allow you to connect your device to USB devices such as mice, keyboards, and external hard drives. That also includes flash drives. You can use the cable to transfer documents to your flash drive or external hard drive or off of those things on to your Android device. They’re also relatively cheap on sites like Amazon and eBay.
- Share to email – This only works with small files like photos or documents, but you can send most types of files over email. There is a size limit for most services (usually around 20MB), but that’s more than enough for something like a simple PDF file, a document, or even some music files. It’s not optimal but it’s easy and everyone has email.
Wrap up
If we missed any great apps or other ways to transfer files from Android to PC (and back again), let us know in the comments!
To see our complete list of Android apps and games lists, click here!
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