Author: Connor Livingston

The short answer: no. The longer answer is that they have to do something. When Microsoft first made the jump into the smartphone arena with their Windows Phone 7 operating system, it’s likely that they knew they had a tough road to climb and that they would be the third option for most phone buyers, at least in the beginning. They probably weren’t prepared to be such a distant third with iOS and Android phones taking more than the lion’s share of the pot. Windows Phone 8 hasn’t been as well received as they had hoped, either. They’ve been paying developers directly to produce apps for them – $100 per app…

It’s an all new design, and while many aren’t very impressed early on, it’s still going to get  a ton of buzz. It’s Apple. Users can’t wait to get their hands on it. Some of the features that are coming through are outstanding. Some are meh. Here is a list of the new features in visualized format courtesy of Visual.ly, followed by the promo video from Apple. Infographic designed by Hasan Alkhatib. …

To promote their Creative Days month-long event across Europe, Adobe is coming up with some creative ways to use their software to make people get engaged. One of the most creative that we’ve seen is their “live Photoshop” stunt that they pulled at a bus stop. They would take pictures of people sitting at the bus stop, then Photoshop them live on a screen visible from where they were sitting. The unsuspecting victims would watch helplessly as their images were distorted, contorted, and put into strange situations. Nobody seemed to object, at least in the video. …

If you avoided Gmail and stuck with Yahoo mail for the sake of privacy concerns, it’s time to find a new provider. Starting Monday, June 3, classic email will be discontinued and users will have to accept the new terms of service that require that content of all emails are scanned. According to the new terms of service, Yahoo must be given permission to “scan and analyze all incoming and outgoing communications content sent and received from your account.” It’s for the ads, of course, but they’re hiding it behind the guise of spam and malware protection. Users will be allowed to opt out of the targeted…

The good part about comprehensive socialism is that it’s excellent for buying votes and winning elections as the masses in the middle and lower class see an opportunity for them to get more money that they didn’t have to earn. The bad part is that, when mixed with isolationism and paranoid political accusations, it forces a country to allow its people to be hurt as a result, especially in the long run. That’s the problem that is facing the people of Argentina right now and Google has been forced to make a move of their own against the policies of the current regime. The doors have all been shut outside…

Coffee isn’t exactly a technology topic that we would normally cover, but when it’s the subject of an infographic that was creatively placed on a Starbucks sleeve, it qualifies as something interesting enough to post. Visual.ly desiger Raj Kamal put this little graphic together. This isn’t an official Starbucks infographic, but it should be. As the designer said, “I am an infographist who has nothing better to do, but to annoy everyone around me.” We’re definitely not annoyed. In fact, we’re pretty impressed. Here’s the original graphic as it was put together followed by an enlarged and vertical…

For all of their technological genius and massive resources, Google sure doesn’t know how to make hardware. It’s a problem that has plagued them for years but it seems to be best highlighted with the Chromebook Pixel. Over at CNET, they were focused on one of the major bugs with the laptop – the challenge the device has with connecting to cameras. There’s good and bad that comes with having an operating system that is designed to be light and shareable. One of the bad parts is that you often miss some of the common accepted notions that other operating systems (and their users) take for granted. Because…

In one corner, you have a real many who has dreams of a greener world that travels to space using genius and money. In the other corner, you have a fictional character who saves the world from bad guys using genius and money. The similarities don’t end with intellect and cash. Elon Musk has been successful in three completely different arenas: eCommerce through PayPal, environmentally friendly cars with Tesla, and space travel with SpaceX. His list of accomplishments are the type that you’d normally see from a fictional character, which makes the comparison to Iron Man’s Tony Stark an easy one…

It isn’t easy for anyone, even law enforcement agencies like the ATF, to break into an encrypted iPhone. They are often forced to look for help from Apple itself. The rise in requests from law enforcement agencies has compelled the Cupertino company to create a waiting list to get to the data of alleged bad guys. Currently, that means 7 weeks or more before requests can be fulfilled. According to CNET: An agent at the ATF, the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, “contacted Apple to obtain assistance in unlocking the device,” U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell wrote in a…

The blogosphere is normally abuzz with stories about Facebook that demonstrate negative sentiment towards their activities. Most of their moves are scrutinized and the company is often targeted for its activities, failures, and missteps. Facebook Home, the app that was supposed to be the “next version of Facebook” according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, has been so underwhelming with its numbers that most bloggers started ignoring it shortly after its launch. This could all change once it’s allowed to be released to a wider audience. Currently, it’s only available on the HTC One X, HTC One X+, Samsung…