Hasta La Gadget!

Some of you guys might be thinking that with Google policing its search engine and removing copyrighted material and unsafe material, you would think that those practices might apply to fake ads as well, right? Well that does not seem to be the case, according to a Whitenoise contributor who discovered that attempting to search for “iTunes” on Google will yield an ad space at the top of the page in which it will actually take users to a malware-ridden website, meaning that if you do not have the appropriate protection installed or are attempting to install iTunes on a new computer, what you will get is a face full of malware instead.

Thankfully for those who take the time and explore the search results page, the first non-ad link is a legit link to the iTunes page on Apple’s website. Now this isn’t really Google’s fault as it is not Google’s algorithm that causes the malware to be linked and listed, but rather it’s Google’s advertising format that puts ads at the top, For legitimate businesses this is of course great placement, but for the less tech savvy who just wants to download iTunes, this could prove to be pretty dangerous. Of course if you had installed a Chrome extension like AdBlock, you’ll never see the ad to begin with, so that’s something you can take into consideration. In any case for the sake of new computers out there, hopefully Google will be looking into this listing soon.

Google Search For “iTunes” Lists Malware Website For First Result original content from Ubergizmo.

Remember that Oculus Rift prototype that ran away with our Best of CES 2014 award? Turns out Valve helped make it a reality. Speaking at Steam Dev Days, Valve’s Michael Abrash explained that the two companies collaborated on the Crystal Cove …

Different customers have different expectations when it comes to carriers. Some are looking for the cheapest plan, some are looking for the fastest speeds, some choose a carrier because they like the image they portray, and some choose a carrier for its customer service. Basically at the end of the day everyone has different reasons for choosing the carrier they did. However it seems that as of late, T-Mobile’s customers are here to stay, at least according to a report from Wireless Week who revealed that T-Mobile actually sports the lowest churn rate at 15.4% for Q4 2013. It should be noted that the churn rate is based on customer surveys as opposed to actual figures released by the carriers themselves, so they might not necessarily be representative of the entire story. In any case this is a huge drop from the carrier’s churn rate back in Q3 2013 where it was sitting at a whopping 42.9%, meaning that almost one in two customers would switch to a different carrier.

In fact T-Mobile’s churn rates are so low that they beat out the likes of Verizon, who has typically had some of the lowest churn rates (Verizon sits at 17%), but did not beat out their rival AT&T whose churn was estimated at 11.1%. As far as Sprint is concerned, it does not look too good as their Q4 churn rates was at 31%, although admittedly it is an improvement over the 41.7% in the previous quarter. What could it be that made T-Mobile customers suddenly decide to remain loyal to the carrier? Perhaps it could be the carrier’s Uncarrier program, and also maybe the fact that they started to officially offer the iPhone as well. However recently T-Mobile has unveiled newer and more aggressive plans, which means that at the end of Q1 2014, we can expect the carrier’s churn rates to be even lower, or at least that’s what we hope. What do you guys think? Will T-Mobile’s new plans make customers want to stay?

T-Mobile Sports The Second Lowest Churn Rate For Q4 2013 original content from Ubergizmo.

3D printers have their uses. They are able to print all sorts of small-ish objects, ranging from toy dragons to even bones which are used medically, but wouldn’t it be cool if 3D printers could print something a lot bigger, say a house, for example? If you think that’s impossible, think again because the folks at the University of Southern California have designed a giant robot that is able to 3D print a house! In fact it works so fast that a 232sqm home can be actually built and finished in 24 hours! Dubbed Contour Crafting, the robot was the brainchild of Professor Behrokh Khoshnevis who calls it, “basically scaling up 3D printing to the scale of building,”

The printer will rely on being positioned on two tracks and will be able to work in both the X and Y axis once it has been calibrated. Now we’re sure some are wondering how might this affect the jobs of construction workers? Well undoubtedly there will be some side-effects to this, but according to Khoshnevis, “the reality is that a lot of new jobs can be created in this sector as well (from it).” In fact this technology might not necessarily have to be limited to just the Earth, but could also be sent into space where the technology might then be able to help create habitats on other planets. Now that would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it?

Giant 3D Printer Can Print A House In 24 Hours original content from Ubergizmo.

The team at T-Mobile USA let it be known at CES 2014 that they had no love for their fellow carriers, going so far as to offer early termination fee … Continue reading