Valentine’s Day doesn’t need to be lonely this year. You have Alexa, and even though Amazon’s virtual assistant isn’t a real person, there are a lot of ways Alexa can help you through this February 14. Here are some things to try if you find yourself feeling down. Composite of photo by Burak Kostak/Pexels and
Month: February 2020
When shopping around for your next fridge, one of the best first steps is to narrow down your choices and decide on a brand or two where you want to place your focus. But, which brands are best? Which have the most useful designs, or the most impressive features? Which will last the longest without
The moment you’ve been waiting for has finally arrived.Image: CBS The first two episodes of Star Trek: Picard have carefully laid the groundwork for a future where the Federation, tired and beaten back by tragedy after tragedy, is embroiled in an existential crisis. Now, one of its most tireless advocates, the veil lifted from his
The Apple Watch is beating not just one or two traditional watch makers with its shipments, it’s crushing the entire Swiss watch industry single-handedly, according to statistics released by research firm Strategy Analytics. In 2019, it estimates Apple sent out just under 31 million Apple Watches, while the Swiss watch industry shipped 21 million in
With Android 11 creeping closer it’s hard not to start thinking about what new goodies it may bring to the table. Android is a mature platform now that’s stylish, easy to use, and packed with useful features, but when it comes to software there are always improvements that can be made. Google can also draw
Moteefe, the e-commerce platform for on-demand production of merchandise has raised $5 million in Series A funding. Leading the round is Gresham House, and Force Over Mass Capital. It brings total funding to date to $12.5 million, and will be used to expand into new geographies including Australia and LATAM. The U.K. company also plans
The humble handwritten memo book plays a vital role in the work of police officers that still use them, acting as a log of everything that happens during each shift. But in New York City, cops are jotting down their final notes ahead of a switch later this month to a digital solution. The NYPD
Motorola might be all set to return to the flagship phone market. A new report by XDA Developers offers the first look at a pair of high-end phones the company will unveil at its forthcoming Mobile World Congress showcase. Likely called the Motorola Edge+ in the United States and Motorola One 2020 in other regions,
Antler is a ‘company builder’ which emerged a couple of years ago, running startup generator programs and investing from an early-stage, bringing together a heady mix of technologists, product builders, and operators together with its own technology stack. Now, plenty of ‘company builders’ have come and gone. It’s a bit like Apocalypse Now: everyone goes
Ditch your controllers and go “hands-on” with these free sideloadable games. This past December, Oculus introduced native hand-tracking functionality for the Oculus Quest, offering users the chance to navigate the Oculus Home interface with their bare hands as opposed to the Touch controllers. It’s a neat addition to the existing Quest experience, albeit an extremely
The once-polarizing world of open-source software has recently become one of the hotter destinations for VCs. As the popularity of open source increases among organizations and developers, startups in the space have reached new heights and monstrous valuations. Over the past several years, we’ve seen surging open-source companies like Databricks reach unicorn status, as well
Image: Not BID WIN SAVE. (Antoine Taveneaux, WikiCommons) Two women with a very solid plan to make money and perhaps a shaky grasp of Pennsylvania gambling law were foiled last month in a glorious but short-lived Facebook raffle scheme. Recently-filed criminal complaints estimate that admins Brittany Winings, 32, of Northern Cambria and Tiffany Dupas, 26,
An emotional VR/AR journey inspired by the stories of over 12 formerly incarcerated women. Riding high off a 2019 Emmy nom for their work on Yemen’s Skies of Terror, Al Jazeera Contrast, the digital wing of Al Jazeera’s Media network, was in attendance at this year’s Sundance Film Festival for the premiere of their latest
You need a better place to store your beverages, and your standard fridge isn’t working anymore. A stand-alone beer fridge can provide customized temperature solutions and a place to have your favorite beers right at your fingertips. Beer fridges give you better temperature controls over your beverages. For different types of beers and drinks, you
After a proper jacket, your pants are the next most important piece of kit to keep you warm and comfortable while you shred the slopes. They have a tough job to do: a good pair of ski or snowboard pants keeps your legs protected from the elements, allows for unrestricted movement, and prevents abrasion during
Thunderbolt 3 has been the fastest and most fully featured port for years, but a new generation is on the horizon. Set to compete directly with the impending USB 4, Thunderbolt 4 isn’t likely to be drastically different from Thunderbolt 3, but may have a few new features that make it the port of choice
Nintendo unveiled a new Animal Crossing: New Horizon‘s-themed console this week that is slated to launch on March 13 for $300 with pre-orders now open for those interested in buying. The limited-edition Nintendo Switch is curently available for pre-order at , , and In accordance with New Horizons‘ vacation-themed setting, this new Nintendo Switch’s aesthetic
This morning The Zebra, an Austin-based insurance marketplace startup, announced it has closed a $38.5 million Series C. Accel led the funding event, which was participated in by prior investors Silverton Partners, Ballast Point Ventures, and the company’s CEO Keith Melnick. Floodgate and Weatherford Capital also invested in the round. According to Melnick, the company
WhatsApp patched a security loophole in its desktop apps last month that could have potentially allowed hackers to access your computer’s local files. Discovered by a cybersecurity researcher at PerimeterX, the vulnerability affected the messaging service’s Windows and Mac clients when they were paired with an iPhone. The flaw was found inside WhatsApp’s Content Security
With more than 20,000 confirmed cases and more than 400 deaths all over mainland China, the Wuhan coronavirus has shut down several public spaces and levied a financial hit on the world’s second-largest film market during the Lunar New Year period that was expected to bring in more than $1 billion. Fear over further spreading
Elizabeth Warren’s shadow on a flag at Roosevelt High School in Des Moines, Iowa, in October 2019.Photo: Charlie Neibergall (AP) CEO Gerard Niemira of Shadow Inc., the developers of the unfortunately named election app that caused Monday’s Democratic presidential caucus in Iowa to turn into a much bigger shitshow than it usually is, told Bloomberg
On this episode of Digital Trends Live, hosts Greg Nibler and Luke Larsen discuss the biggest trending stories in tech, including the Iowa Caucus election app, a Google Photos bug, Apple offering onsite repairs, Spiderman “stuntronics,” Elon Musk wants to hire you, and more. Mattis Curth We then head to the art world, where we
[embedded content] Images of a supposed pre-production Xbox Series X unit made the rounds online last month, showing off the console’s ports. Aside from the standard USB and HDMI, one mysterious larger port left fans scratching their heads. If a new report is correct, this port could be for expanding storage capacity. The long port,
Fearing weak fundraising options in the wake of the WeWork implosion, late stage startups are tightening their belts. The latest is another Softbank-funded company, joining Zume Pizza (80% of staff laid off), Wag (80%+), Fair (40%), Getaround (25%), Rappi (6%), and Oyo (5%) that have all cut staff to slow their burn rate and reduce
You can now switch to hand-tracking by simply putting down your Touch controllers. The Oculus Quest just keeps getting better. Yesterday Oculus announced the rollout of their 13.0 software update, revealing a sprinkling of new features and enhancements heading to the standalone VR headset this week. The most noteworthy of which, a new hand-tracking option
The cameras on our phones are getting good enough that it’s becoming hard to justify having a dedicated picture-taking device. Fujifilm’s X100 series has always made one of the strongest cases for it, however, and the latest iteration makes it more convincing than ever. I reviewed the original X100 back in 2011, and the series
Everyone wants to lend to small businesses, as the fintech boom continues to bring constituent players closer together in feature-terms. Thinking broadly, the rising focus on small-business lending amongst B2B fintech and finservices companies feels directionally similar to the rise of consumer-oriented fintech startups adding banking-like features last year. This week, several stories underscored the
[embedded content] Saints Row IV is the most ridiculous game in the series, and Nintendo Switch players will soon be able to share in the patriotic mayhem it embraces. The game will arrive on Switch as Saints Row IV: Re-Elected on March 27. Unlike the first few Saints Row titles, Saints Row IV leans into
The $1,500 enterprise-focused headset is one of the first devices to feature Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 chip. Yesterday, French startup LYNX officially unveiled the LYNX-R1, a standalone mixed reality headset capable of both VR as well as passthrough AR. The enterprise-focused device features a variety of impressive features, including hand and eye tracking as well as
Small businesses are famous for their entrepreneurial and innovative spirit and are often free to act without bureaucracy. That’s one reason small companies take so well to tech, and strive to use as many automated devices and services as possible to streamline their operations and get more done. For all kinds of companies, tablets are