At an unassuming table in a CES exhibition hall, a Dutch company had what looked to be a handful of hair ties on display. But unbeknownst to people passing by something much more potent was being shown off. It was a bracelet that releases a nasty smell to ward off an attacker. It’s called the …
Read More »Patrick Holland
Litter Robot Open Air III cleans the cat’s box for you
From far away the Litter Robot Open Air III looks like the pod from “2001: A Space Odyssey”. But as you get closer to it, you realize it’s full of cat litter. And here’s the cool part: The Litter Robot cleans up your cat’s doo-doo so you don’t have to. Without conducting an official poll, it can be said that …
Read More »Helite Hip’Air is a belt with airbags to protect your hips
Hip injuries can be deadly, and it takes nothing more than a simple fall to get one. But at a tiny booth at CES in a Mandalay Bay Hotel ballroom, a woman wearing fluorescent airbags around her waist had the answer: the Hip’Air. The Hip’Air deployed. Helite She was from a French company called Helite that specializes in wearable airbags …
Read More »NeoMano robotic glove helps paralyzed hands grip again
A spinal cord injury can have a lasting effect on the quality of the life you’re able to lead. Depending on the severity of damage, symptoms can include pain, numbness or even paralysis, rendering everyday tasks nearly impossible. But a new robotic glove called the NeoMano hopes to help people who suffer from spinal cord injuries regain use of their …
Read More »Zanco Tiny T1: The world’s smallest working phone
Last year, we saw the return of the Nokia 3310, a small feature phone with long battery life that echoed a past when phones were simple and cheap. The company Zanco is looking to take those qualities to the extreme with its Tiny T1 phone. The T1 is about the size of a domino and looks more like a key …
Read More »YouTube on the iPhone will support vertical and square video
Platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have made recording and watching vertical videos commonplace. But if you’ve ever played a vertical video on YouTube, two giant black bars filled most of your screen. YouTube’s latest update for the iPhone changes that. On Tuesday, in a Twitter post, the venerable site for internet videos announced that the YouTube player for iOS will …
Read More »Amazon patent application points to a service like YouTube
The battle between Amazon and Google escalated earlier this month, when YouTube announced that it would cut access to its service on Amazon Fire TV devices starting Jan. 1. That announcement was made on Dec. 5, which is important because that same day Amazon filed a patent application for an internet service that would allow the transmission of videos, photos …
Read More »Google introduces new parameters for developing Android apps
Every year, there are billions of Android apps downloaded from the Google Play store. In an attempt to keep people’s experience using those apps favorable, Google is making some changes to the requirements for developing new apps and updating older ones. In a blog post on its developer website, Google shared three initiatives it would be implementing to improve the …
Read More »Google Chrome browser gets native ad
In June, Google announced that its Chrome browser would block ads on websites that are not compliant with the Better Ads standards. We now know when this functionality will go live: Feb. 15, 2018. It won’t block all ads, just ones that are deemed aggressive by the Coalition for Better Ads, whose members include Google, Facebook, Procter & Gamble, the …
Read More »AirBNB adds split payment option to help booking for a group
On Tuesday, Airbnb made booking for a group less painful by adding a split payment option. This means one person doesn’t have to float the tire cost of a rental for a group. The new feature was a top request when Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky took to Twitter a year ago to ask: “If Airbnb could launch anything …
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