Classic Layout

Apple to add polish, not product lines, in 2016

Apple spent 2015 catapulting new toys and services at consumers. The year ahead will be all about refining its aim. The Cupertino, California, company wants to touch every aspect of your life, whether on the go with an iPhone 6S or Apple Watch, at your office with an iPad Pro or MacBook, or in your …

Read More »

Spotify can play DJ at your next party

Spotify is getting into the DJ business. Starting Wednesday, the streaming music service is releasing a feature for its iOS and Android apps known as Spotify Party. Party is designed to serve up mixed playlists of music that can get your guests to wind up or wind down at your next soiree, reception or blowout. The feature is Spotify’s effort …

Read More »

WhatsApp’s ‘sad day’ in Brazil comes to a quick end

Not long after one court muzzled WhatsApp in Brazil, another one put it back in business. The hugely popular messaging and voice app had been ordered shut down throughout the country for 48 hours starting at midnight Thursday local time, according to Reuters. The shutdown stemmed from WhatsApp’s noncompliance in a criminal proceeding, according to a statement provided to Reuters …

Read More »

US Postal Service to hoverboards: You’re grounded

The US Postal Service has a message for hoverboard makers: Keep those things off our airplanes. USPS is limiting shipping options for self-balancing scooters due to safety concerns after reports that some hoverboards have caught fire. “Effective immediately and until further notice, the Postal Service will ship the hoverboards only using Standard Post/Parcel Select, which travels on ground transportation, due …

Read More »

Pebble Health bakes in all

Finally, Pebble watches can be regular fitness trackers. And older Pebbles can get some of the benefits of newer ones. Pebble’s smartwatches have always traded off having more advanced features in exchange for longer battery life and an always-on screen. One feature that never really made the cut was fitness tracking: Pebbles track activity in the background and work with …

Read More »

How Nest aims to own your smart home

Alphabet, the mama-bird parent company of Google, is hoping 2016 is the year Nest leaves the, well, you know what. Nest, which makes thermostats, smoke detectors and security cameras that connect to the Web, has operated pretty much independently since Google bought the company in 2013. And that was before the company formerly known as Google pulled apart its various …

Read More »

How to avoid Star Wars spoilers online

My son and I are excited for “The Force Awakens,” but we will likely wait to see a matinee next week when he is on holiday break from school and the crowds have (hopefully) thinned out a bit. Until showtime, I would like to continue my life online while avoiding any and all Star Wars spoilers, which I expect to …

Read More »