Wearables are the hot new category that everyone is interested in and we all are waiting to see how it will shake out. We already have Pebble, Samsung, and several others fighting for the space of smart watches. We expect an iWatch and we have seen Android Wear in devices like the Moto 360 and LG G Watch. I personally have used several different smart watches and there is one watch that has caught my eye intensely. That watch is the Kairos Mechanical Smartwatch Hybrid.
Blake’s Stage Of Rage: Lavabit, Secret Courts, And Trampled Freedom
As I write this have finished reading a write up at The Guardian by Ladar Levison the founder of Lavabit, an email service that gained notoriety for its use by Edward Snowden in the wake of Snowden’s NSA leaks. Lavabit’s mission was simple. Provide a source for email that was secure and encrypted. That is to say, the email service’s main goal was to keep those emails private. In this write up (which I implore you to read) Ladar talks about some of the details of his legal case that eventually lead to the closing of his business/service.
Surface Pro 3 Gets Official, Actually Seems Pretty Sweet
Today Microsoft announced the release of the Microsoft Surface Pro 3. For those living under a rock, the Surface Pro represents Microsoft’s vision of how tablets and laptops can occupy the same space and how Windows 8 as an operating system can handle different use cases. I suppose there are arguments to be made about the successes and failures of that vision but today breaks the mold, literally. Today, Microsoft shows off the new Surface Pro 3, the first in the line of laplets (I just made that up, don’t hurt me) to deviate strongly from the original’s design.
Monument Valley Review: A Game Deserving Of Monuments Built To It
There is an embarrassment of riches these days if you are a gamer. You can play high quality games at any time of the day … Read more…
The War Is Approaching: ComiXology, Amazon, Apple, and Payments
Last week ComiXology, a digital comic books distribution platform, made some changes in the way they do business. They uploaded a new app to the Apple App Store to replace the app that they have had up for some time. The changes that were made were not minimal. They stripped out the in app purchase (IAP) system that they had been using and put in a cloud syncing option so that users could log in to the Comixology.com website to make purchases and then sync them to the app. Unsurprisingly, some people were upset.
Get Your Read On With The Humble Image Bundle
File this under: “Not Tech-But Geeky and Needs to be Talked About.” Yesterday Humble Bundle released a new bundle called the Humble Image Bundle and supplies up to 9 volumes of comic books published by Image Comics. The bundle breaks out into 3 different tiers featuring different books. The tiers break down as follows:
The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly: Amazon Purchases ComiXology
ComiXology, the company that is at the top of the heap for digital comic book distribution was purchased by Amazon last week. Let’s take a look at the good, bad, and ugly.
My View On The Dot View: HTC’s Case For The One M8
I’ll be honest. I am not a huge fan of cases. When I buy a phone I don’t want anything to add to the bulk of that phone. Every now and then I will flirt with cases. I will buy them, use them, stop using them, etc. For the most part I just end up not using them. Sometimes my feelings on a case depend on the case and the device. Some devices are so ugly that they demand a case (I’m looking at you G2.) Some devices are so pedestrian that cases add excitement but I still fall back into that hatred of extra bulk. Then there are devices that are so beautiful that it almost seems criminal to put a case on them. Last year’s HTC One fell into that last camp and this year’s HTC One (M8) falls into that camp even more.
All New HTC One (M8) Reviewed
In 2013, HTC was coming off of a rough year. They had gone a year with the One X as their flagship device, and though reviews placed the device on equal footing with the Samsung Galaxy S III, sales were faltering. At that time HTC was using a similar camera to the S III and was also using a polycarbonate shell.