If you happen to find yourself taking an evening stroll past 15th Street and 9th Avenue in Manhattan tomorrow night, you’ll have the opportunity to full enjoy this clever Corona billboard. Playing off the fact the drink is usually served with a lime wedged in the bottle’s mouth, from the right angle, and on the right night, a crescent moon fills in for the missing fruit.
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Remember this ad? The ad where Microsoft attempted to position the iPad as a chopstick-playing toy and the Surface as a PowerPoint-editing machine?
Yeah, that’s why we can’t have nice things.
Microsoft just released Office for the iPhone. It lets users edit any Word, Excel or PowerPoint document. As the oh-so-catchy name states, Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers is Office Mobile for Office 365 subscribers only, meaning the app is essentially $100 a year. It’s not “Office for iOS.” It’s just a way to open and partially edit Office files for those saps paying for Microsoft’s pricey cloud platform.
Judging from the screenshots, it looks like a quality application. It supports rich-media content like charts, animations, SmartArt graphics and shapes. And since it works through Microsoft’s cloud service, all changes saved on the phone are also made to the original.
But forget about a native iPad app. Microsoft can’t kill the only legitimate selling point of its struggling Surface tablet.
Microsoft might have moved enough Surface tablets to avoid calling it a flop, but the tablet was far from a blockbuster hit. Ever since it launched the Surface, Microsoft has supported it with constant ad campaigns touting the tablet’s productivity chops. The latest TV spot pits the Surface RT against the iPad, deeming its offering as the superior choice for those who need to get work done. However, in Microsoft’s world, “work” equals editing a PowerPoint deck. This is something you can do quite handily on the iPad using Keynote and, in fact, I suspect Keynote users are well aware of the benefits of their superior platform.
Middle-manager infighting must be rampant at Microsoft. On one hand, the company has to properly support its Windows 8 ecosystem, which means it has to position its tablet offering as the only MS Office solution. But then, likewise, a true mobile version of MS Office would have a better shot at fighting Google Docs. In this case the Office team lost, relegating Office to just the iPhone — and in a truncated version at that. Windows 8 wins, the Surface stays slightly more interesting, and everybody in Redmond wins.
Only the consumer loses.
Bosch recently released an $450 charging solution for EVs, but if you want to go wireless, it’s going to cost you a lot more. The company has formed an exclusive partnership with Evatran for the distribution and installation of its wireless chargers for the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt. Each Plugless Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging System (now that’s a tongue-twister) costs $2,998 for the Volt and $3,098 for the Leaf, not including taxes and installation fees. It’s comprised of a wall-mounted control panel that provides electricity to the parking pad, which transmits power to your vehicle. You’ve got to admit it’s convenient when all you have to do to juice up is park on top of the pad, but would you actually shell out that much cash in the name of convenience when plugging a (cheaper) charger in is no Herculean task?
Via: Plugin Cars, Autoblog
Source: Bosch
It’s a rite of passage, the post-launch teardown, and one the 11-inch MacBook Air couldn’t escape after its bigger sibling suffered the indignity on Wednesday. iFixit stripped the slimline ultraportable to its component boards in the hunt for something electronically interesting, finding a bigger battery than the old model, as well as new flash storage
It goes without saying that plants need the sun to survive, thanks to the scientific process known as photosynthesis. The thing is, some plants do not like bright and sunny days, but rather, prefer a dark and dank atmosphere. However, for those of us who like to potter around with green stuff, hoping to grow plants around the home, but if you so happen to live in an area where sunlight is at a minimal amount, you might want to skip having mold growing. Click & Grow has come up with something interesting, where it is called the Grow Light. Click & Grow so happens to be a designer of indoor smart gardens, and with the introduction of their spanking new Grow Light, they could be on to something here.
Click & Grow founder Mattias Lepp said, “The advanced growth medium we use in each Smart Flower Pot, combined with our new Grow Light brings the joy of growing plants to everyone, anywhere, using clever technology. The Grow Light has a pre-programmed timer that allows users to activate the system in coordination with their personal schedule.”
The Grow Light does not need much juice to run, as it boasts of LED technology that requires a mere 3 watts of energy,which is the equivalent of a marginal $2 to $3 dollars a year of additional electricity. This ought to be the ideal addition to the Smart Flower Pot, which so happens to be a high-tech and self-watering smart garden which makes growing plants when you do not have a garden (read: indoors) nice and easy. This is made possible thanks to Click & Grow’s nano tech growth medium that supplies plant roots with just the right amount of oxygen, water and nutrients at any time that it requires. It will mimic the organic decomposition cycle of nature, and just to keep things on the green side, Click & Grow’s growth medium would remain hormone-free, pesticide-free and fungicide-free. The Click & Grow Grow Light would retail for $49.00 a pop if you are interested in picking one up.
Press Release
[ Click & Grow introduces the new Grow Light copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Do these look like dinosaurs to you?
(Credit: Microsoft and Sony)
The gaming world is all aflutter with the impending debut of the latest and greatest gaming consoles from Microsoft and Sony. It’s been fun debating their strengths and weaknesses and design aesthetics, but this could potentially be the last go-round for the dedicated living room gaming console.
CNET Senior Editor Dan Ackerman talks about why he thinks the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 may be the last of their kind. One major factor is the move away from gaming on discs and the shift of entertainment consumption over to streaming services like Netflix.
Microsoft is already de-emphasizing physical game media and putting a damper on the used game market for the Xbox One. It’s a sign of the changing times. Streaming gaming services are picking up steam. Ackerman sees future Xbox and PlayStation machines as having more in common with a Roku than with their current forms.
Not everyone agrees with this concept of the gaming future. Some readers have chimed in to differ. “The box might get smaller but that doesn’t change that they will still be there. As others have already said. We will NEVER have the infrastructure need to go to pure streaming in its current form,” … [Read more]
Related Links:
Microsoft’s Marc Whitten on why Xbox One offers a better value
Will you buy an Xbox One or PlayStation 4?
Analyst: Xbox One to cost $399, PlayStation 4 priced at $349
How Sony and Nintendo can battle the Xbox One
Xbox One and PS4: Two peas in an E3 pod
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Seven months after Andy Lees became Microsoft’s vice president of corporate development, the executive has decided that it’s time for a rest. AllThingsD is reporting that the deposed former Windows Phone chief is taking a sabbatical to spend some time with his family in England, but will return to a new, currently undefined, role at Redmond later in the summer. Given that the country is currently suffering through one of its traditional summers, we suggest Mr. Lees packs an umbrella.
Update: Microsoft has contacted us to clarify that Lees is permanently relocating to the UK, but will remain with the company — at a position that’ll be announced once his sabbatical has ended.
Filed under: Mobile, Microsoft
Source: AllThingsD
Apple‘s Steve Jobs had to be convinced of the potential for ebooks on the iPad, Eddy Cue has revealed, describing how he needed to petition for iBooks support during testimony at the ebook price fixing trial this week. Cue first pitched a digital bookstore in 2009, Cue told the court, AllThingsD reports, but Jobs “wasn’t
I’m not the most athletic person in the world, but I do realize that the time has come for me to step up the pace, or I’m going to pay the price someday. Everyone knows that exercise, quality sleep and a good diet are some of the keystones of a long and healthy life, but not everyone has the tools, or motivation they need in order to be successful.
Check out the brand new Fitbit Flex, a slim, and stylish activity and sleep tracking monitor that’s with you all the time. The water resistant Fitbit Flex helps make fitness part of your everyday lifestyle. The new Fitbit Flex tracks steps taken, distance travelled, and calories burned, encouraging you to walk more and do more via bright LED indicator lights located on the wristband that give you immediate feedback on your progress. It can also track how long and how well you sleep, allowing you to learn how to sleep better, and it can help you keep track of the food you eat, leading to mindful munching.
The Fitbit Flex can be worn almost all the time, including in the shower, so it becomes a lifestyle, not a chore. With its Bluetooth capabilities, it connects wirelessly to both Apple and Android devices, updating your stats and notifying you of your goals and achievements. The Fitbit Flex also monitors your sleep times and hours, as well as being able to wake you gently each morning with a silent vibration of your wrist, so much better than that beeping box on your nightstand.
So, set some goals for yourself, monitor what you eat, sleep well, and keep track of it all with the Fitbit Flex, simply choose the color that fits your mood; Black, Slate, Teal, Tangerine, get your Fitbit app and get ready to get Fit, and share your progress with your friends. All for under 100 bucks at fitbit.com. Please be sure to visit the website to make sure Fitbit is compatible with your device.
[ The New Fitbit Flex – a Health Coach on your Wrist copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
On Thursday, Jimmy Kimmel introduced his newest YouTube Challenge, this time in honor of Father’s Day. But there was also a word of caution: when creating your video for “Hey Jimmy Kimmel, I Made My Dad Breakfast In Bed,” use some common sense and don’t spill hot coffee on him.
Take a look at the challenge above and let us know if you’re going to participate… or if you fear your son or daughter might. Perhaps you’ll want to prepare some counter measures.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
