| Google Acquires Nest Labs for $3.2 Billion Posted: 13 Jan 2014 04:48 PM PST  $3.2 billion in cash for the makers of thermostats and smoke alarms
Google has announced their acquisition of Nest Labs, a company that developed and manufatures the Nest Thermostat and Nest Protect. According to the press release no changes will be made to the Nest's leadership structure and will operate under Google's umbrella with its brand identity. The Nest Thermostat, priced at $249, is a self-programmable device that is capable of cooling and heating up a consumer's home once it becomes familiar with the owner's preferences. In addition to eliminating the need to manually adjust the temperature it will also indicate, with a green leaf symbol, whenever a change in temperature will cut the energy usage in a person's home. As for the Nest Protect, which is priced for $129, it is a smoke alarm device that will inform a consumer, by lighting up and speaking, whenever it is about to go off rather than immediately sound an alarm. This gives the consumer enough time to stop it from sending out a false alarm by simply waving their hand at it. Both devices can be operated by an app to adjust the temperature or receive a notification about smoke and CO detection while also capable of working together. Despite being acquired by Google, Nest Labs co-founder Matt Rogers assured owners that the company will maintain their support of iOS, Android, and modern web browsers. Product warranties will also continue to be valid. No information was provided as to how Google's products and services will be incorporated into Nest and its devices. Closure of the sale will take place within the next few months. But is Google making a smart purchase by spending $3.2 billion on Nest Labs? |
| 10 Coolest Things We Saw at CES 2014 Posted: 13 Jan 2014 02:20 PM PST  Best of CES 2014: Steam Machines, Razer's Project Christine, and more
The dust has settled on this year's CES and we are glad to report that the PC rocked the show. The highlight of the event was Valve's official unveiling of 13 Steam Machines and many of the small form factor chassis look awesome and we can't wait to try them out. It wasn't all about SFFs, however. CyberPower's lunch-box shaped Battle Box PC proved that there is still plenty of room for innovation with larger cases. And then there were new innovative PC gaming devices like the updated Oculus Rift and PrioVR virtual reality suit. In addition, the biggest surprise of the show was Razer's highly modular Project Christine PC. The following list contains the 10 coolest things we saw at the show. Do you have a personal favorite? Let us know in the comments below! |
| Where Will Acer's New CEO Lead the Company? Posted: 13 Jan 2014 12:09 PM PST  Tough road ahead for Acer
Acer was riding pretty high back in the netbook era, sales of which helped the company post record revenue of $17.5 billion with net operating profit reaching $478.1 million in 2009. At the time, Acer predicted it would supplant Hewlett-Packard as the world's No. 1 PC maker by 2012. Instead, Acer saw its CEO Gianfranco Lanci walk away after a disagreement with the board, and not long after, the PC maker posted its first quarterly loss. Fast forward to today and all eyes are on Acer's new chief, Jason Chen. Chen delivered his first press conference on Monday and according to Reuters, investors were disappointed that he spent more time talking about the company's past mistakes than what its plans are for the future. As to the mistakes Acer made, Chen said Acer jumped the gun in investing in touch panels and ultrabooks rather than focusing on tablets. "We wanted to stimulate demand using new technology and we took the initiative more aggressively than anybody else, to the point where we got hurt," Chen said. "Hopefully we won't repeat the same mistake we made before." Acer is now the world's 4th largest PC maker, behind Dell, HP, and Lenovo (in that order), according to data by both IDC and Gartner. In the fourth quarter of 2013, Lenovo and Dell were the only two OEMs to post positive growth. Acer, meanwhile, saw its share of the PC market drop from 8.7 percent in Q4 2012 to Q4 2013. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| SimCity Update Finally Adds an Offline Mode Posted: 13 Jan 2014 10:30 AM PST  SimCity fans are about to their most requested feature
Maxis Emeryville has a New Year's resolution, one that you're going to like. It's to implement an offline mode for SimCity, which Maxis Emeryville GM Patrick Buechner said will roll out as a free download with Update 10 to all SimCity players. Users have complained since SimCity's release of the requirement for a persistent Internet connection, especially when EA's servers were having trouble. When the offline mode launches, all of your previously downloaded content will be available to you anytime, anywhere, without having to check in with EA's mothership. As for when you can expect the update, Buechner says he and his team are in the late phases of wrapping up its development, which mostly entails testing final release candidates. "Bringing the game offline means big things for our wonderful community of modders," Buechner said in a blog post. "They can now make modifications to the game and its components without compromising the integrity of the online game. Modding is a big part of our studio's legacy and we're excited to see what you guys create." As for the online game, all of the benefits of being connected will stay intact, including access to multiplayer, the Global Market, and Leaderbords. All of your pre-existing saved cities and regions will also be accessible when you log into the online game. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Sprint Keeps Mum on Decision to Axe One Up Early Upgrade Program Posted: 13 Jan 2014 09:41 AM PST  Sprint's One Up plan only lasted four months
Wireless carriers are currently engaged in a high stakes game of one-upmanship as they each try to add more subscribers by offering increasingly tantalizing offers. Sprint's strategy was literally called "One Up," the name it gave to an early upgrade program it introduced just four months ago. One Up customers could purchase an eligible smartphone with no down payment (depending on the device) and spread out the full retail cost over 24 monthly installment payments. In exchange, One Up customers could upgrade their handset every 12 months and start the process anew. Now the program is no more. A support page on Sprint's website indicates the program was retired on January 9, 2014, though no reason is given. In its place, Sprint is now pushing customers to check out its new "Framily Plan," which is something completely different. By getting additional family members and even friends to link their accounts, individuals can enjoy group savings. "Sprint Framily offers unlimited talk and text and 1GB data while on the Sprint network for as little as $25/month per line with no requirement to share data," Sprint explains. "The consumer invites up to nine family members, friends, and others to join Sprint and save." The offer is eligible to new and existing subscribers. Furthermore, all accounts within a Sprint Framily group are billed separately and are individually liable for their bill. It's an interesting proposition, though it still doesn't explain why Sprint abandoned its early upgrade program, and did it so quickly after launch. Image Credit: Flickr (TheDarkThing) Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
| Microsoft Reportedly Prepping Windows 9 Announcement Posted: 13 Jan 2014 09:10 AM PST  Microsoft hopes new branding will help distance itself from Windows 8 criticisms
There will be an update to Windows 8.1 sometime later this year, which isn't surprising because Microsoft never stops working on Windows. Beyond that, however, Microsoft is reportedly gearing up to announce Windows 9 during its Build 2014 developer conference in April. Should things go plan, Windows 9, or "Threshold" if you prefer to use the codename, will launch to consumers a year later. This is according to Paul Thurrott, who says that "Windows 8 is tanking harder than Microsoft is comfortable discussing in public." By Thurrott's figures, Windows 8.1 is installed on less than 25 million PCs, and one thing Windows 9 desperately needs to do is find a better balance between traditional PC users and those who are adopting newer touch-friendly form factors. "In short, it needs to be everything that Windows 8 is not," Thurrott says. But will it be? Well, one of the reasons Microsoft is dropping the Windows 8 brand in favor of Windows 9 is to distance itself from its current OS. A name change alone won't get things done, and while details are light at the moment, Thurrott says the Windows team will focus on maturing and fixing the Metro design language. A windowed mode that works on the desktop could be in the cards. Follow Paul on Google+, Twitter, and Facebook |
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